Sorry it's been a little while. Hope you like this update. It's a shorter chapter but that's because the end felt like a good place to finish this part, got lots of ideas for where I'm going next, so hopefully the next chapter should be relatively quick and a bit longer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.

Gail is not sure how she's ended up where she is right now. Yes she thought it would be funny to set up Chris and Ashley, but Ashley ruining her fun and turning this into a double date, is something the blonde was not expecting.

But that is what's happened. Eurgh, barely a week ago she and Holly had their first official date, and now here she is sitting with Chris in a cocktail bar, awaiting their women. The nervous energy pouring off of Chris is really starting to annoy her. She's currently keeping herself amused trying to think of ways she's going to get Ashley back for this, the wily minx. Although she must admit the cocktails here are pretty good, she's currently sipping on a 'Smokey old fashioned' and it's kind of fantastic.

"Gail are you sure I look okay?" Chris starts pulling at his shirt again.

She can't help but roll her eyes. "Chris if you're going to be this whiny for the whole of the date, your shirt is going to be the least of your problems."

Chris stops what he's doing, he looks petrified now. Gail sighs. "Your shirt is fine. Ashley's cool alright, you've got to stop being so wet."

"What does that even mean?" He's slightly offended.

"Just be yourself okay. Stop worrying so much. You're a catch." She pats him on the arm hoping she has reassured him.

He can't help the beaming smile that hits his face. "Aw thanks."

Now Gail doesn't know what's worse, the smug self satisfied beaming grin he's currently got on his face or the picture of pure worry he was wearing a few minutes ago. Come on Holly where are you; she knows it's the woman's prerogative to be fashionably late better than most, but she could really do with saving right about now.

XXXXXXXX

Holly and Ashley are currently walking from the ATM where their cab dropped them off to the bar, and Holly feels like she needs to give her best friend a little pep talk before they get there. She likes Chris and she knows Ashley's sense of humour can be questionable at times, she's not sure Chris will really get it; he's a sensitive soul after all.

Holly grabs Ashley's arm momentarily halting their progress. Ashley wonders what's going on, especially when she sees the look of pure concern on the other brunettes face.

"Promise you'll be nice."

Ashley shakes her head. "What am I Cruella De Ville?" She continues to walk, causing Holly to do the same.

"Look it's just that Chris is a. . ."

"A nice guy, yes I get it Holly. I told you I'm willing to give this a go. But if he's a complete wet blanket, which to be fair, is what you're painting him as, then there's not much I can do about that."

Holly panics perhaps she has she playing up the 'Chris is a nice guy angle'. "No he's not a sap or anything."

Ashley stops in her tracks. They are outside the bar now. "Holly, I'm 32 years old. Let me make my own mind up about him."

Holly nods, and watches has her friend exhales and adjusts her dress. "How do I look?"

Wow, Ashley is genuinely nervous about this, she really is going to give this a real go. Holly gets excited at the fact that it seems her best friend is going to be true to her words, and actually give herself an opportunity at a real relationship. Even if that doesn't end up being with Chris, she's bound to meet someone; like she did with Gail.

She grins. "You look amazing."

Ashley smiles back. "You might wanna drool a bit less in front of your girlfriend."

She winks at Holly, causing her to shake her head back at the woman. Ashley confidently pushes the door to bar open after smiling at the impressed bouncer and waltzing in followed closely by her best friend.

Gail sees them as soon as they walk in and whacks Chris on the arm. "Look lively."

Chris looks up and his eyes almost pop out of his head at the sight of Ashley, she looks amazing. Gail has barely noticed, she's too busy having a similar reaction to the sight of Holly, she looks absolutely stunning, awe inspiring even, these ladies have certainly dressed to impress tonight.

Chris and Gail's reactions are not lost on the two women that have just entered the bar, Ashley grins at Holly, who can't help but feel a little smug at the way Gail is currently looking at her as if she's a prime steak that she wants to devour.

Ashley strides straight over to Chris who rises from his seat to greet her. "Officer Diaz, nice to see you again."

Chris leans in and kisses her on the cheek, a move which impresses Ashley; if he was that much of a dweeb he would have definitely given her a hand shake. "You too Doctor Jones, please call me Chris."

"Only if you call me Ashley."

Chris smiles. "Shall we get some cocktails?"

"Now you're talking my language." Ashley eagerly follows Chris to the bar.

Gail and Holly watch them go. Gail pulls on her girlfriends arm. "Remind me again why we're here?"

Chris and Ashley are evidently getting on well enough without them. Gail pulls Holly in for a quick kiss. "Hi, by the way."

"Hi."

"You look amazing." Gail can't help her eyes drifting down across Holly's body, which makes the older woman feel truly desirable.

"You don't look so bad yourself Officer Peck."

Holly looks Gail up and down this time, and when their eyes meet in the middle they both wonder why they agreed to this date, when they could be at home getting up to much more exciting activities.

XXXXXXXXXX

The foursome have been at the cocktail bar for about an hour, and much to Gail's amazement they're all having a really good time. They have snagged themselves a booth, and conversation has been flowing; in fact Gail has found herself impressed with Chris's 'game' once or twice, and has smiled at him enthusiastically to show him as much.

Ashley has been pleasantly surprised by Chris, turns out he is a nice guy, but he's also funny, considerate and actually kind of dreamy, tall dark and handsome he totally is. But the dynamic between the four of them has been far too agreeable so far; and Ashley feels like the evening's going well, but could do with an injection of well meaning banter. Gail is far too relaxed, she and Holly have been holding hands under the table much to hers and Chris's amusement, but she's managed to keep it in so far. Not much longer though, she's dying to tease her favourite couple a little, so the hand holding, along with the fact that Gail and Chris used to date is going to be an upcoming topic of conversation.

Of course when Holly imparted that little gem on Ashley, it had been in the strictest confidence, and she had only told her best friend to stop it from becoming an awkward revelation at a later date. But Ashley knows she can use it to make her new friend squirm, and probably Chris too, which will help her get a little more of a glimpse of what he's made of.

"So, Holly tells me you two used to date."

Chris nearly chokes on the mouthful of drink he's just consumed, and Holly flings her leg in Ashley's direction, making a solid connection with her shin. Gail knew this was going far too well. Ashley just smiles gleefully and waits for a response, which it appears she's going to get from Chris.

"Er yeah, we went out for a while." Chris has finally regained his composure, and managed to swallow the rest of the alcohol in his mouth. "Is that weird for you?"

Before Ashley has a chance to tell Chris that she has no problem at all. Gail butts in. "It shouldn't be. I mean I don't have a problem with the fact that you've slept with my girlfriend."

Now it's Gail who's grinning gleefully, she wiggles her eyebrows at Ashley and starts to chew on her straw wondering what might happen next, the psychologist at least has the decency to smile a little ruefully. Touché Peck, she looks at Holly who is looking back at her with a look that screams, 'you started this'. She glances over at Chris who she hopes has taken this little nugget of information well. Apparently not, to say he looks shocked would be an understatement.

"I need to use the bathroom." Chris scarpers from the table.

Ashley sighs; maybe the evening wasn't ready for that kind of banter after all. Gail feel's a little bad, the three of them watch him head, not for the bathroom but straight outside. Ashley throws the napkin she has been holding down onto the table.

"I suppose I better go and try and make this better." She raises her eyebrows and slips out of the booth, and heads towards the front door. Gail watches her all the way, and then turns back to face Holly. She looks really mad.

"What? She started it."

Wow these two are like a set of children, Holly loves that her best friend and her girlfriend get on so well, but jezzhe they can be so petulant sometimes. Holly just shakes her head and downs her drink, before heading to the bar to get another round in, hoping that Ashley and Chris will be joining them for another.

XXXXXXXXX

Ashley hopes Chris has just stepped out for some air, and hasn't fully run away. She breathes a sigh of relief when she finds him leaning against a railing in the street, she joins him. He glances over and smiles slightly that she's joined him. She decides to open with a joke.

"We make quite the love square, huh?"

Chris can't help speed at which his first question falls from his lips. "Are you a Lesbian?"

"What? No." Ashley is genuinely shocked. "Look it was like 15 years ago, it only happened once, and I haven't slept with a woman since." She hopes that clears that up.

But Chris has his own trail of thought which he can't currently let go. "You know Holly warned me about you, via Gail."

Ashley is slightly offended that her friend felt the need to pre warn him. Chris continues. "Said you were into losers, who you never stood a chance of a future with. I can't help but think that maybe that's because you aren't looking for a future with a guy."

Well she can certainly see why he might have jumped to that conclusion. She places her hand on his shoulder causing him to look her in the eye. "I'm a psychologist, and a pretty damn good one. I think I would have figured out by now if I was gay."

She smiles, but Chris still doesn't look convinced. Ashley sighs again; she promised Holly she would try, although this seems to be an awful lot of effort.

"This is probably a little deeper than you should get on a first date." She has Chris's attention, he turns to face her again, but she is still leaning on the railing looking out into the road.

"You're right. I did date losers, because I knew there was no chance of a future." She glances over at him and smirks when she sees the level of concentration on his face.

"But not because I want woman." She laughs; this notion is utterly absurd to her. "But because I didn't want a future, with anyone."

"What, why?" Chris can't understand this, it's been a dream of his since he was little to settle down and have kids, get married.

Another huge exhale from Ashley, well here goes; at least if this date goes south it won't really be her fault, so Holly can't be mad. "My Dad died last year, he had Alzheimer's."

Chris isn't really sure how this ties in; but he can tell this is an immense source of pain for the older woman, she looks on the verge of tears from that last sentence alone, he places his hand on her shoulder as a show of support, but doesn't speak, there is obviously more to this story.

"My Mom and Dad had been married for 30 years when he got diagnosed. That was ten years ago. He got real bad, real quickly."

She can't help the stray tears that are falling from her eyes, it makes her so mad. "My Mom walked out on him a year after he was diagnosed, y'know when he really started to get pretty awful; she took my little sister with her. Said she couldn't cope, he was at the stage where he was forgetting who everyone was, I can understand that it would be difficult for her."

The tears are really falling now; Chris's heart is breaking for her. "But she just took off, I was 22 years old, and she left me alone, to look after him. Which I did, for 8 more years. He didn't just forget who I was, he forget how to feed himself, how to go the bathroom, eventually how to breath. And she thought she had it tough."

Ashley wipes her eyes, and tries to regain some semblance of composure. "They had a perfect marriage for 30 years, and at the first sign of trouble, she bolted. I haven't seen her or my sister in 9 years; they probably don't even know he's dead."

She's managed to stop the tears fully now, and is resigned to the fact that he's going to run a mile, but she may as well finish her piece. "So you see Officer Diaz, I'm scared of having that future with a guy. Alzheimer's is genetic, it's not the kind of thing that people tend to stick around for, so I guess I've been thinking I'd save myself the heartache."

"You stuck around." Chris voice takes her by surprise.

"Huh?"

"You stuck around for your dad. That makes you a pretty amazing person in my book." He's just about managed to keep his own emotions in check.

"Oh yeah, I'm a real catch." Her words are dripping with sarcasm.

"I think so." Ashley head whips up; he can't seriously still want to date her now she's dropped the genetic disease bombshell.

"I'm just sorry that your mom couldn't be as amazing as her daughter. You didn't deserve to have to go through that." Chris smiles.

"Shall we head back inside; it's getting kind of cold." Chris moves to head back towards the entrance, but turns back when Ashley makes no effort to follow.

She looks stunned. "You still want to date me after the emotional breakdown I just had?"

"Well you're definitely not a lesbian right?" She nods to agree. "There was nothing else in that little speech that did anything other than make me want to date you more."

Ashley smiles. "You're a freak, do you know that? Is this what nice guys are like?"

"What, nice?" He teases her.

"Yeah." She seems to contemplate this for a second. "I think I like it."

"I hope so." Chris smiles again, before leaning down and capturing Ashley's lips with his own. It catches her by surprise at first, but it doesn't take her long to get her bearings, and really lose herself to the kiss, she's never been kissed like this before, this must be how Gail kisses Holly, no wonder her friend never shuts up about it.

Chris pulls back still smiling, Ashley can't help but replicate. "Maybe you're not such a nice guy after all, not even two hours into our date and you're already putting the moves on me."

Chris shakes his head, and grabs her hand to pull her back into the bar; she pulls on his hand slightly. "Chris. Thanks."

"Anytime."

With that they head back into the bar. Holly has long since returned from the bar, and was about to give up on the two of them coming back at all, her face lights up as soon as she sees them, which in turn makes Gail smile, she was almost in so much trouble. Holly notices two things straight away; firstly Chris and Ashley are holding hands, so they must have made up. Secondly, she can tell her best friend has been crying, so it must have been quite traumatic, which again screams to Holly that she is really giving this a go.

They retake their seats, Gail isn't stupid she can tell Ashley has been crying too, she has absolutely no idea what could possibly have happened out there that could cause tears, but it makes her feel awful. Chris can tell its a little tense, so he decides to break the ice again, and let the two ladies at the other side of the table that everything is absolutely fine.

"So Holly." He looks her dead in the eye. "Who's better in bed, Gail or Ashley?"

Holly immediately turns bright red, Gail can't believe Chris has just asked that question, Ashley looks at the two of them, and bursts out laughing. This is so awesome. Gail quickly regains composure.

"I wouldn't laugh too much Ashley, it's clearly me." Holly still wants the ground to swallow her up, while Gail is exuding confidence; Ashley is still laughing her ass off.

Between her laughs. "God I hope so." Ashley thinks if Gail can't top the night she and Holly shared then these two have massive problems.

"Laugh it up Jones, pretty soon Chris might actually be able to answer that question, based on the real McCoy."

Ashley quirks her eyebrow. "You sound a little worried Peck."

Gail smiles and its Holly's fingernails digging into her thigh that makes her stop her current line of conversation. Holly takes the opportunity to jump in and try and change the subject.

"So I hear the snow is on its way again soon."

Gail and Ashley smile at each other, and seem to come to a silent agreement for Holly's sake that they will call a truce for this evening. And just like that the date settles down and they all end up having a brilliant night.

XXXXXXXXX

Chris had dropped Ashley off at her place, and then headed home, while Gail and Holly had headed back to the forensic pathologists apartment. Holly had thrown her hand bag on the couch before heading into the kitchen and grabbing two bottles of water, the amount of alcohol they've consumed this evening, she knows they're going to need them. Gail throws herself onto the couch and gratefully accepts the water offered to her by her girlfriend. Holly perches herself on the arm of the chair and looks down at the blonde sprawled out.

"So that wasn't that bad was it?"

"It wasn't as painful as expected." Gail remembers the one downside of the evening. "Well not for me anyway. Is Ashley okay?"

"She seemed fine to me." Holly shrugs.

"No I mean when she went outside with Chris." Gail pulls herself up so she's sitting upright now. "She'd been crying right?"

"It looked like it yeah." Holly nods.

Gail looks confused. "But I don't get why? Chris was obviously freaking out about her being a lesbian; he seems to be doing that a lot recently. But I can't envisage any set of circumstances, or any topic of conversation in that particular situation, that might have caused tears."

Holly feels for her girlfriend, really she does, but this isn't her story to tell. "Well you don't know Ashley that well."

"No I do. I know I've only met her a few times, but she's strong. Real strong, she's not the type to have some sort of breakdown, over a guy."

Holly agrees that this is true, but she knows there's one subject which is guaranteed to induce tears for her best friend, she must have told Chris about her Dad. Which to be fair is huge and she can't wait to talk to her about it, but right now she understands Gail's confusion, and she feels a little bad that she can do nothing to alleviate it.

"Gail, she likes you. So that's why I know that she will share this part of her life with you when the time's right. But it's Ashley's story to tell, not mine. So please don't ask me okay?"

Wow it must be serious, Gail is intrigued. "Okay." She just nods her head, she knows not to cross Holly where Ashley is concerned, the two of them are more like sisters than best friends.

Holly reaches out and grabs Gail's hand pulling her up onto her feet, so their faces are mere inches apart. She lowers her tone so it's almost husky.

"Now why don't you join me in there?" She nods her head towards the bedroom. "And remind me again why you're the best sex I've ever had."

Gail feels her whole being fill with excitement. The best ever hey? That makes her feel really smug, but more than that it makes her want to cement her position at the top of this particular list of Holly's. She pulls the brunette into a searing kiss. It's not long before they are stumbling towards the bedroom, losing items of clothing along the way.

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