For those of you that were wondering what Steve managed to do...here you go.
Also, Kiarcheo, I think you will find the answer to your inquiry here ;)
Quick shout out to everyone who has followed this story thus far. You guys are awesome, lots of love!
"Seriously Steve, how in the hell did you manage this?" The laughter in Gail's voice was a bit more obvious than she intended, but the boot on Steve's right foot, and the look of embarrassment was enough to tell Gail this was going to be a good story.
Steve climbed down carefully from the hospital bed, careful not to place too much weight on his right foot. "If I tell you what happened, you will never let me live this down."
"Probably not, but you owe me the story, considering you are the reason I am not getting laid right now." At this little confession, Steve pulled a face, glaring at Gail.
"Why the hell would you say that? I don't want to hear about you getting busy with some gross guy."
Gail grabbed his stuff and helped him hobble from the room and towards the exit. "Well I guess it is a good thing that it wasn't some gross guy."
"Yeah, yeah whatever. I will tell you the story, but can we go get something to eat first?" Gail nodded and led the way out to Holly's car.
Half an hour later found the two youngest of the Peck clan sat at the back of an all night dinner, elbows deep in burgers and fries. Steve had made a valiant effort to avoid the topic of his injury so far, but Gail was growing a bit impatient.
"Ok, spill." Gail demanded, pulling Steve's plate from his reach.
After a short stare-off Steve gave in and started the short story. "Ok, first things first, you tell anyone how this happened and I will tell the entire division about the time you peed your pants in that haunted house."
"You tell anyone about that and I will decapitate you and get Holly to hide the evidence." She shot back, sounding completely serious.
Steve put his hands up in mock surrender, but continued the story none the less. "Well, I was going over some casework, trying to get everything together for court next week. I went down to the evidence room and was digging through boxes. I pulled a big box out and the bottom was wet, so everything fell out of it and onto my foot. Turns out I broke my foot. Awesome right?"
"Oh man, that is great. What was in the box?"
"That is really not important." Steve said, brushing of her comment. He made a grab for his plate to be met with Gail sliding it further out of his reach.
"You aren't getting this back until you tell me what was in the box."
"Jesus Gail, fine. It was a box full of mannequin heads okay. Now give me my damn food back."
Gail burst into a fit of laughter. "Holy shit, seriously? You broke your foot with plastic heads? Oh this is too funny." Gail, satisfied with Steve's admission, slid the plate back over.
He shoved a handful of fries in his mouth, stopping to point one at Gail. "Remember what I said, you tell anyone and the whole station is going to hear about the haunted house."
"Fine, I won't tell anyone except Holly." It was a promise, she might actually keep. This was too good not to share with someone though, and Holly had no reason to tell anyone else.
This seemed to catch Steve's attention though. "So Holly, huh?"
"What about her Steven?"
"Well it's just you have been spending a lot of time with her lately, and apparently she gets to know all your secrets. You have already mentioned her like four times since we left the hospital. Not to mention you told me I interrupted your sexcapades, and then I find out you took Holly's car to come get me…seems pretty obvious."
"Oh." Gail didn't realize that her admission at the hospital might seem a bit revealing once she led him out to a car that was obviously not hers. Steve of course had asked whose car she had, and seeing no reason to lie, Gail had told him who the owner was without a thought. Obviously Steve had put the two together and had just waited for an opportunity to breach the subject.
"I like her. She always does a fantastic job with our cases, plus, you seem happy."
"I am happy. She is amazing." Gail's smile quickly slid into plain view. "It is new though. So don't scare her off."
Steve laughed. If his sister was happy, then so was he. "I guess I owe Holly an apology too then. Not only did I steal her girlfriend for the night, but I cheated her out of her car and getting lucky."
"Oh my god Steve, seriously? You didn't really interrupt anything. I just wanted to give you a hard time. I am pretty sure it would have stopped before we got to that."
"Yeah right. I'm not blind Gail, Holly is a 10. You can't tell me you weren't going to at least try to get some action."
Gail pushed her arms out in front of her, letting her head follow until it sat snuggly on the table top. This was not a conversation she wanted to be having with her brother. They had never really talked about their sex lives before, and she didn't really want to start now.
"I'm just teasing you Gail, calm down. But seriously, I don't believe you for a second if you say you didn't have any intention to sleep with her tonight."
"Ugghhh…stop talking, please." She glanced up glaring for good measure.
Steve just shrugged his shoulders and continued on anyways, not really caring that his sister was growing increasingly uncomfortable. "I don't know why you are making such a big deal about it Gail. It's really obvious how much you like her; you wouldn't shut the fuck up about her all night, so I'm just assuming that you two are in pretty deep."
Gail slid back up into a sitting position. "I am. I really am. I think she is too. I mean, yeah we just made things official, but I am pretty sure we have basically been together for a while now. But, we haven't had sex yet, so just let it go okay?"
"What, why not? Are you freaked out that she is a woman?"
"What? No. It isn't that. Not completely. Well a bit, but it's mostly just because we are trying to take things slower. Before, we were spending all our spare time together, and I was staying at her house almost every night. So when things became official, we just decided to slow things down a bit. But Steve, I seriously don't know how I am going to keep this thing in check for much longer." Despite herself, Gail opened up to her brother, finding she really didn't care as much as she thought she would talking to him about their relationship, in or out of the bedroom. "And then there is the fact that she is a woman, sure. I'm not freaked out that I am dating a woman, and I could seriously care less what that makes me. If that makes me gay then who gives a shit, but I have never been with a woman and I don't want to fuck this up. Holly deserves the best. What if I suck Steve? Like what if we end up in that moment and I just have no idea what I am doing?"
"Gail, first things first, if you two want to go slow, okay, if not, who cares? Sometimes things just move fast and it works out perfectly fine. Seems to me that whatever your relationship was before, you weren't ever just normal friends. So yeah, it is new, label wise, but I think you two have been dating a lot longer than you care to admit. Don't stress over if you have been together long enough. It will happen when it happens. And yeah, she is a woman, and it will be completely different than being with a guy, but you care about her right?"
Gail nodded.
"Okay, so then I am sure you will figure it out. She cares about you too, so it will be okay. It isn't rocket science. Just do what feels right. And if you are seriously that nervous about it, do a little research. The internet is full of educational videos." Steve winked at her from across the table.
"Eww, don't say that to me, I am your little sister. Can we leave now, before I can never look you in the eyes again?" Steve nodded and pulled out his wallet to leave some bills on the table.
Gail drove Steve home, and then began making her way back over to Holly's place. Steve had crossed a bit of a line, but he had been right. Gail and Holly were further into this relationship than either of them dared to admit. Who really cared how fast they were moving, or how slow. Gail just wanted to spend the night with her girlfriend, and hopefully it wasn't too late and Holly would still be awake. She would have to worry about the logistics of lesbian sex later.
She reached the apartment in record time, parking in Holly's spot and taking a moment to herself to just let the stress and nerves fall from her. She sat in the car, eyes closed for a moment. Gail turned the car off, and grabbed her bag. She took a moment to straighten herself up a bit. She pulled the visor down for the mirror, but was stopped when a picture fell out. Gail picked it up and a smile formed on her lips instantly. It was a picture of her and Holly kissing. Holly must have snapped the picture stealthily one day without her noticing. It tugged at her heart in the best way possible. The realization that not only had Holly taken the picture, but that she kept it hidden in her car, where she could look at daily made Gail fill with warmth. She pulled her own phone from her pocket and snapped a picture of the photo before placing it back in its hiding spot and making her way up towards her waiting girl.
Gail climbed up to Holly's place and entered the apartment. It was quiet and dark, the only sign of life coming from the master bedroom. Gail removed her coat, and dumped her stuff on the kitchen counter before heading for the bedroom. She really hoped Holly was still awake, but she wouldn't be surprised to find her passed out in bed with a book still in her hand, glasses askew. Slightly hopeful still, Gail paused long enough to double check herself before reaching out for the doorknob. She could hear muffled sounds coming from the room. Maybe the TV was on and Holly would be awake after all. Gail smiled to herself and pushed the door open.
"Oh my god, oh my god, I'm so sorry." Gail shouted slamming the door shut again. What the hell had she just walked in to? Like seriously what the hell was that? Gail closed her eyes for a moment, trying to decipher what exactly she had just witnessed. She could hear Holly rustling behind the door, struggling with something. Gail pulled her hand back from the door and backed her way into the kitchen, still a bit uncertain of what she had just seen.
Gail heard the bedroom door rip open and Holly rushed out tripping over absolutely everything in the process. "Gail…I um, I can explain."
"Oh no. You don't have to explain anything Holly." Gail tried her best to avert her eyes all the while holding her hands up in surrender. "I should have told you I was coming back over. I should have knocked or something."
"No, no, you don't have to do that. I, um, I just….Gail? Could you just turn around please?" Holly sounded almost pleading. Gail sighed to herself, turning to face the other woman regardless.
Gail didn't think she had ever seen Holly look so embarrassed before. It actually made her smirk a bit. Finally something that made the impenetrable Holly Stewart blush. There was something about this realization that forced Gail out of her stupor and brought a laugh out of her.
Holly stood there, still seemingly unsure of how to quell this situation. "So um, I really am not sure what to say."
"What is there to say Hols? It seems pretty clear what just happened. I came in unannounced and caught you in the act."
Holly's checks darkened further. "Look Gail, I really hadn't intended for you to walk in on that, I didn't think you would be coming back tonight, at least not so soon, and I just couldn't get earlier out of my mind, and I just was a bit flustered, and I…."
"Holly! Stop talking." Gail stood, closing the space between them, stopping only when Holly's hands were in her own. "It's not like this should really be news to either of us. You are a grown woman, and obviously you have needs. Everyone does it Hols; I just didn't think I would ever walk in on you in the middle of it."
"Yeah well…surprise!?" It was the best Holly could do to calm her nervous demeanor. At least Gail was taking this in stride and didn't seem freaked out about the whole thing.
"So, are you going to tell me what you were thinking about?" Gail couldn't help herself, her interest now peaked.
Holly just rolled her eyes in return. "Oh my god, you are insatiable."
"What? I'm just curious. Anything good?"
"What do you think I was thinking about Officer?"
Holly's response had gained a bit of confidence, and Gail couldn't help if that only fueled her further. "Well it isn't every day that I catch a sexy-ass nerd masturbating in bed, so how should I know? Then again, I guess I should be pretty offended if my girlfriend was thinking about anyone other than me."
"Yeah, well I sure hope you don't catch anyone else. I might have some questions of my own otherwise. And you should rest assured babe, you are the only one that has been on my mind, the only person that comes into my thoughts when I touch myself." Holly's hands slid up Gail's arms as she spoke, sending shivers down the young officer's back. Her words sparked a heat inside of her.
"Is that so Holly? Sounds to me like this isn't the first time then?" Gail probed, genuinely eager to know how much Holly will cop up to.
Holly's shyness had apparently fallen away completely, replaced by a confident teasing. "Oh, this is most definitely not the first time, not even close."
Gail felt her body respond instantly. "Oh, really? And when would the first time have happened to be?"
"Honestly?" Gail nodded in response to Holly's question. "The night we went to the batting cages. It felt like there was so much sexual tension between us, and I just couldn't help myself. I went to bed that night and every time I closed my eyes I heard your laugh, and saw your face, and felt your hands holding tightly onto my arms. It made me want you so bad."
Gail seriously didn't know what to say to that.
"What about you Officer?"
"What about me?"
Holly's eyebrows wigged slightly, trying to get a rise out of the other woman. "When was the first time you thought about me?"
"What makes you think I have?" She wasn't about to let Holly throw the 'two can play at that game' scenario into the mix. Gail wasn't going to divulge information that easily.
Somehow it only provoked Holly further. "Oh, I'd wager quite a bit that you have…a lot. Look me in the eyes and tell me you haven't, not once."
Gail was a pretty good liar, but there was no way she could trick Holly into believing she had never done just that. After a substantial pause Holly claimed her victory with that sideways smirk. "Exactly." She had lost this round for sure, and Holly made sure Gail knew that she knew. "So, when was the first then? Spill Peck."
Gail mumbled, barely audible to even herself. Holly took a step closer. "Say that again."
"I said it was the night of the wedding." Gail felt her face rush with heat from her honesty.
"While I was in the same bed with you!?" Holly's mouth had just about dropped to the floor.
Gail was slightly confused before realizing that her and Holly had been to two weddings and Holly must have assumed she meant the second one. "No, no, no, no! I meant Frank and Noelle's wedding."
The shocked look on Holly's face didn't budge a bit. Then again Gail just realized she had admitted to Holly that she had been fantasizing about her for a significant amount of time longer that Holly had about her. Well shit.
"The first wedding." Holly hadn't asked a question, so much as just thinking out loud.
Gail felt the need to answer her none the less. "Yeah." She changed a glance up at Holly again. She looked pretty pleased. "Don't get too smug, I was also extremely drunk."
"That doesn't exactly negate the fact that you, Gail Peck, couldn't keep your damn hormones in check after just a single peck on the lips. My, my."
"Oh my god Holly, could you have a bigger ego right now?" Despite her best attempts to appear otherwise, Gail couldn't help but love Holly's cockiness with the whole matter.
Holy merely shrugged her shoulders and took a seat in the living room. "So, are you ever going to tell me what your 'idiot brother' did to himself?"
Gail slid onto the couch next to Holly and started in on Steve's embarrassing story. By the end of the tale much of the leftover tension had subsided, leaving just two content and giggling women in its wake. Gail slipped down further into the cushions, letting her legs stretch out over Holly's lap.
"So I told him, Steve, about us. He likes you by the way." Gail stated calmly. This was not the first time she had sprung her outing herself to someone to Holly today, and it still took her a bit by surprise.
"Oh, what did he say?" Holly's fingers found the hem of her shirt suddenly, offering a comfortable distraction.
Gail let her own hands wander mindlessly across the fabric covering her own midsection. "He likes you, thinks you are a reliable nerd. Thinks that we make each other happy, and that we have been together for longer than we realize. I think he might be right."
"I think so too." Holly glanced sideways at Gail and smiled.
Gail returned the smile, "Who would have thought?"