Sorry its taken so long. I hope to get the next chapter up a bit quicker. Thanks for reading.

Never has a shower been so noisy. So many thoughts are running through my brain this morning that all are fighting for prominence, but there is only one clear winner.

That kiss. I stand still under the showerhead to muffle all the noise. As I run my thumb over my bottom lip, I recall the sensation. Her lips. Her smell. The way her touch made my skin burn. I jolt back into reality when I hear a knock on the door. "Hurry up Gail, you're going to run out the hot water." Traci shouts.

I hop out of the shower and rub the steam from the mirror with my hand and look at myself. It's time to face the day. It's just a pity I have to do it around all these people. Do I act like nothing happened? I know I'm not ready to share this with everyone, I don't even know what 'this' is, but at the same time I know I don't want to hurt my friends feelings.

I mean, what could she possibly be expecting from me at this point? We haven't even had a chance to talk about anything. After the kissing and the hugging, we didn't really say much at all. We just lay on the ground in silence holding hands, which was nice. Even though she talks a lot, she knows when to shut up. She's good like that.

I have this feeling the coming hours are going to be incredibly weird and kind of awkward, as I know I'm going to have a hard time stopping myself stealing glances at her. They are all totally going to notice, Holly included.

I take a deep breath as I enter the lounge. Traci and Chris are sitting at the dining room table while Holly is helping Steve dish up breakfast. Traci waves me over and I sit down on an empty chair, as Steve puts a plate of food in front of them. Holly is smiling, concentrating on what she is doing. She picks up a plate and brings it over to me and she places it in front of me and walks back to the kitchen counter. I notice she has arranged my bacon in a smiley face.

"Hey, why don't we all get smiley faces?" Says Chris.

I choose to ignore him.

"So Holly, how have you been feeling? Since the shooting I mean." My brother asks.

She stops what she's doing to think about her answer. "To be honest I've struggled to process it all, actually I think I still am. Can't say I would ever get used to be being shot at. I don't know how you guys do it."

Despite her colossal meltdown the other night, which i could tell was probably out of character, I am completely envious at how easily Holly can open up like that, especially to people she has only just met. I can barely talk to my friends, or maybe that's because I don't want to. But I do want to talk to her.

"Luckily it doesn't happen too often, but when it does, your training kicks in and you have to trust it. You have to trust your colleagues have your back. Still it can be a mental battle, I don't think anyone could ever get used to it." Says Steve.

"That's what the shrinks are for" Traci laughs.

Holly shakes her head in disbelief. "Cops are awesome."

"Yes we are" Steve laughs and we all nod in agreement.

"Still, it helps being here, around people. Normally I would have probably locked myself self in the morgue. Your sister has been a great support." Holly turns and casually winks at me and I can't help but smile back. You're so perty.

I feel Traci's hand land on my shoulder. "Well you've got your own personal bodyguard now. We all need one of those." she pats.

Holly's eyes are burning holes in mine, and I can't seem to look away. "I still can't believe she did that."

"That's Gail for you, full of surprises." Says Chris.

Holly drops her head as she cuts up some bread, and grins widely. "Yes she is." She chuckles. I can feel my cheeks burning, as I can tell me catching a bullet is not what she was referring to.

"Actually I am not surprised at all. It was what I was talking about Holly. Her instinct kicked in. Gail is getting all embarrassed, we should stop talking about her or she will probably be punishing us for the rest of the day." Says Steve.

"For once you are right about something, loser." I say, chewing on my bacon.

"So what are we doing today?" Traci asks.

"I thought we could go fishing. I know a great spot, we could take a picnic?" Holly replies.

"That sounds like fun." Says Chris. The others agree.

I roll my eyes and rest my head in my hands. Oh god.

Holly's slams a 6 pack on the table. "Lighten up Gail, I have alcohol, and this has your name on it." And it literally does. 'Gail's Beer' is written in marker across the card wrapping. What a nerd.

"Fine I'll go." I huff. I have found it never takes me long to give in to her, even when we first became friends, she's always had that hold over me. She doesn't take any of my bullshit.

I stand up and take my plate over to the sink, where Holly is rinsing some mugs, and I stand next to her and look casually out the window. "You are such a nerd, you know that?" I say to her quietly. I turn around and lean against the sink just in time to catch Steve kiss Traci, and before I have time to say something mean to them Holly moves a strand of hair from eyes and places it behind my ear. I turn my heads towards her, eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, that has been bothering me." She says, cowering back getting back to her dishes.

"Don't be, it's been blocking my view for the last 5 minutes." I smile. Ugh, I'm such a dick.

I can feel my smile slowly fade as I begin to study her face. She isn't wearing any makeup. She doesn't have to. Her skin is perfect. So are her cheekbones. She is such a striking woman, and it's not just because of her beauty. It's her stature, confidence and athleticism. The way she carries herself. She makes me feel incredibly inferior and insecure. But what's new?

I feel a sudden kick to my leg. "Gail?" Holly whispers.

"Hmm" I manage to breath.

"You're staring".

It takes me a few seconds to refocus, before I realise how long I was staring. "Um, am not." Shit! That awkward stare I was expecting to happen only took 10 minutes to happen.

"Right... sure Officer" she says as she leans around me to put to put some cups away into the shelf near my head. She is dangerously close, and from what I can't tell, doing it totally on purpose. She pauses for half a second it front of me; lip looks me, before returning to the front of the sink. You're such a tease.

"If you must know, I was actually looking at that coffee mug" I say pointing to a mug on a shelf behind her. "I need coffee."

"Did you want me to make you one?" I offer.

She washes her hands and wipes them on a tea towel and leans against the sink next to me. "No, I think I'm going to go for a run, clear my head." What the hell does that mean?

She starts to walk towards Chris, Steve and Traci before looking back at me. "You're a total liar by the way" she smirks.

"What she lying about now?" Steve asks.

"Oh nothing. Just Gail being Gail. Would anyone like to come for a run with me?"


Traci and I sit on the porch drinking our coffee as we wait for Holly and the guys to get back from their run.

"Hey, sleepy head. You haven't really been your sarcastic self the past day, you doing okay?" Traci asks.

"Just tired." I say. I can't tell she wants to ask me more, but if past history is anything to go by, she knows not to push.

"Holly certainly has a good head on her shoulders, she seems like the type of person who deals with things head on." Traci States. Are you trying to tell me something Traci? I raise my eyebrows silently in question.

"She seems to be dealing pretty well with the shooting don't you think? Especially being an outsider, not used to getting into those types of situations. I know its hard seeing your friends get hurt, and you guys have gotten pretty close." Traci says.

I scoff. "What?" Traci quickly asks.

I take a second to think of why I did that. "Well... actually she completely flipped out the day of the shooting."

"Wait, was this when you called me at the precinct for her address?" She asks. I nod. "Oh I was wondering why you sounded so weird. What happened?"

Just be honest, it's easier. "We were gonna grab dinner at our place, but before we got in there she just bolted, and wouldn't talk to me. Normally I wouldn't even bother going after someone who doesn't want to talk, but it was too weird." I'm only just realising that the things she said that night obviously carried a lot more weight than I originally thought.

"Well she's seems fine now, so whatever you did just have must have helped."

"Actually it was more likely the shrink she saw the next day. What's taking them so long? Do you think Chris has fallen down a ditch?" I deflect.

"Yeah, he's probably acting dead so Holly will give him mouth to mouth. He totally has a thing for her. Who wouldn't, look at her?" she says pointing, as they all come running through the gates. What?

I laugh. "I didn't even notice." That won't end well.

"Well you have been off in la la land the past day, so it doesn't surprise me." Traci states as she gets up and walks down to greet Steve.

Holly runs up the steps and flops down next to me on the two-seat sofa. "Okay, hand it over, give me the coffee, I need the coffee". She takes it from my hand.

"I can make you another" I say as I go to stand up, but she grabs my and pulls me back onto the sofa.

"What, you afraid I'll give you cooties?" She laughs.

"Yes, who knows where that mouths been. You really smell by the way."

"Thank you." She smiles sweetly. "We should take a shower, and get going."

I turn my head in surprise. "We should what now?"

"Not we" she's says pointing to me. "I mean Chris, Steve and I. No, wait that came out wrong."

I can't stop laughing. She doesn't get embarrassed often, as she seems too smart to ever put herself in those situations, but the look of horror on her face is priceless,

"Fuck! You know what I mean."