Thank you so much everyone for reading/reviewing and thanks to 1076kd for the flashback idea! Enjoy!
"Hey, babe. I'm home!" Holly shouted one night, knowing that Gail had been home for a while since she had to work later than normal.
"Living room." The blonde said back, pausing her game once Holly appeared.
The brunette greeted Galileo first, knowing that there was no way around it. If he didn't get attention, then he would continue to jump all over Holly and she would never be able to get to her girlfriend.
A minute later, Holly was sitting down on top of Gail, straddling her lap and leaning in for a kiss.
"Well this is nice." The blonde said, keeping her hands on Holly's hips in order to stabilize her.
"How was your day, honey?" Holly asked, running her hand along Gail's neck and into her hair gently.
"It was fine. How was yours?" The blonde asked, leaning in to connect their lips again.
"It was long, but good."
"Oh, your mom called. She and your dad are coming over for dinner on Wednesday if that a works for you?" She said, enjoying the smile that took over her girlfriend's face.
"Any reason why my mom calls you now instead of me?" Holly asked with a chuckle, actually loving that fact.
"Because you didn't answer her call apparently, and we talk once a week, Hol. Have for a while now." The blonde said with a blush.
"Seriously?" The brunette asked, completely melting at that fact.
"Yup. Diane tells me all the time that I'm her favorite out of all of her kids. I don't think I was supposed to tell you that, but whatever. Might as well get used to it." The blonde said simply, straight-faced as Holly grinned at her.
"I love you, you dork." The brunette said sincerely, kissing Gail gently.
"I love you too, Lunchbox." The blonde said seriously, leaning forward to start and deepen another kiss.
After 15 minutes of kissing interspersed with some jokes, they both got off the couch and headed for the kitchen. They made sure to always try to eat dinner with each other or spend time making dinner together.
Honestly, Gail hated the idea at first, but had quickly grown to love that added domesticity. She loved watching Holly move fluidly throughout the kitchen, exchanging quick touches or kisses, and telling jokes, or talking about something that happened at work earlier.
That night they had decided on making pasta and Gail was stirring the pasta when she heard her phone ring.
"Can you grab that, Hol?" She asked the brunette, who was sitting on the kitchen island, watching her girlfriend happily.
"Oh hi, mom, what's up?" Holly asked with a chuckle as Gail smiled. "Geez, way to make me feel loved. No you didn't call me by mistake, I just happened to answer her phone. We're making dinner. Pasta." Gail chuckled as she listened to their conversation.
"Told you. Favorite." Gail stage whispered, pointing to herself with a cocky grin on her face, smiling as she dodged the potholder that Holly had just thrown at her.
"Yeah, that should work just fine, mom. I'm doing well, thanks. Yeah, if you called me as well, you might know that. Okay, fine. Yes, I saw that I had a missed call from you the other day. No, I did not call you back." The brunette said slowly, placing her head in her hands. "Because I got distracted probably, plus you didn't leave a message." She reasoned, smiling as Gail chuckled.
"I do understand that Gail is better than me and Josh. I think so too. Of course I do, why else would I be dating her? Yes, you should let me get back to making dinner." The brunette said with a laugh.
"She's not actually helping, Diane!" Gail yelled in the background, just loud enough for Holly's mom to hear her perfectly.
"Well, maybe I'd be helping if I wasn't talking to you on the phone!" Holly said to her mother. "Alright, see you then. Love you too. Yes, I'll tell her."
"So, how's Diane?" Gail asked with a smile as she turned around and watched Holly.
"Slightly disappointed that you didn't answer. But, she's good. Dinner is now on Thursday night. Cool with you?"
"Yeah, should be."
"Oh, babe, you have a voicemail on here." Holly said, seeing the little icon at the bottom of the screen.
"Can you just see what it's about? Who knows if I want to deal with that right now." She said, turning off the stove and bringing the pasta over to the sink to drain the water.
"That was your shrink's office calling to remind you of your appointment tomorrow at 12." The brunette said slowly, watching as Gail tensed up before she turned around.
"Oh." Was all the blonde managed to say, wringing her hands together.
"I didn't know that you were seeing your shrink again." The brunette said slowly, not wanting to push.
"Uh, yeah. I have been for a while now."
"Since Perick?" Holly wondered.
"Yeah." Gail said, looking down at her hands.
"Honey, why didn't you tell me? What you went through was horrific, you don't need to be ashamed of going back to your shrink. It's completely normal."
"I just don't want our whole relationship to be based around my problems."
"Gail, your problems are my problems. If you're not comfortable or happy, I need to know. That's what a relationship is all about, we're supposed to take care of each other. Okay?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Were you having nightmares again or something?" Holly asked, smiling slightly as Gail walked forward and initiated minor contact.
"Yeah."
"Why didn't you wake me? You know you always can. I'm here for you, Gail. Whether you want me to play video games with you, be your drinking buddy in the middle of the night, make you cookies, do a late night cheese puff run. I'm here, okay? So wake me up if you need to talk, or you're scared, or if I'm asleep when you get home and you just want to say hi. Really."
"Why are you so perfect, nerd?" Gail asked slowly, still slightly uncomfortable.
"I think my mom would disagree with that statement, seeing as you're obviously her favorite." Holly said, trying to get her girlfriend into a better mood.
"Well, obviously. Stewarts just have a soft spot for me apparently." The blonde said as Holly pulled her into a tight hug.
"That we do, Peck, that we do." She added, kissing Gail's neck firmly.
The day after the Perick incident, Holly was still sitting by Gail's bed in the hospital. The blonde was still under heavy medication and was in and out of it, mainly jabbering on about random things for 5-10 minutes before she would pass out again.
The brunette knew that her girlfriend was going to be fine, but still felt on edge seeing her in a hospital bed, connected to a multitude of wires. Many people had been in and out to visit Gail and stayed for a few minutes to chat with Holly or Gail, if she was awake.
Around noon, Holly heard a slight knock on the door and looked up from a book that she had Traci bring her.
"Hi, sweetie. How is she doing?" Diane Stewart asked as she walked into the hospital room, followed by her husband, Tom.
"Mom, dad, what are you doing here?" She asked, standing up to give them both hugs.
"We wanted to stop in and make sure everything was okay. And we're here to give you a break."
"No, mom. I'm fine right here." Holly said seriously, sitting back down in her chair.
"Holls, don't be like that. Come on, sweetie. How about the two of us head back to your place and you can have a shower while I fix you something to eat? You can see that dog of yours and maybe take him on a walk? Your mom can stay here with Gail." Holly's dad suggested as Diane looked at her daughter firmly, obviously not going to take no for an answer.
"Fine. I'll be back soon though." The brunette said, glaring at her mom.
"I wouldn't expect anything different." Diane said, kissing Holly's cheek.
The brunette turned to grab her purse and kissed Gail's forehead before whispering something in her ear and then following her dad out of the hospital room.
20 minutes later, Gail woke up and looked around the room, smiling painfully at Holly's mom.
"Hi Diane." The blonde crackled out, her medication having mostly worn off.
"Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?"
"I've been better. You didn't have to come and sit with me though." She said, looking down at the IV in her hand.
"Of course I did, sweetie. Tom and I wanted to make sure you were okay. He dragged Holly out of here to get a shower and some real food." The woman explained as Gail leaned her head back and licked her dried lips slightly.
"Good. That's good. She needed to get out of here for a while. I think she spent the whole night in here." The blonde said, not completely sure because of how the medication was making her loopy.
"I'm sure she did, sweetie." Diane said softly, lightly patting Gail's hand.
"You raised a good one, that Holly." Gail said with a slight grimace, the pain increasing. She wanted to call in a nurse, but also wanted to remain semi-lucid while her girlfriend's mom was in with her, not wanting to make a fool out of herself.
"Thanks, but that girl was a self-starter. She practically raised herself." Diane said truthfully, causing Gail to laugh lowly.
"I believe it."
"Well can I get you anything, sweetie? I'm here to help."
"Just take care of Holly, I'll be fine." Gail said, eyes closed, as she got nauseous.
"You're quite the tough cookie, Gail. Here you are in a hospital bed, and you're worrying about Holly."
"I always worry about Holly. I'd do anything for her, you know?" She said softly, opening her eyes to reveal the sincerity in them.
"I know, honey, but you're allowed to lean on people. You don't have to be strong all the time."
"I know. I lean on Holly, and she leans back sometimes. It works."
"You two are a good pair." Diane agreed heartily.
"Plus one forever." The blonde mumbled, starting to fall back asleep.
"I hope so." Diane said honestly as Gail nodded slightly.
"I'll ask her to marry me one day. But first, parental permission is necessary." The blonde said, almost forgetting whom she was talking to.
"I'm sure you'll get it easily, Gail." The woman replied with a big smile, but Gail had already fallen asleep.
After that, Diane had taken to calling to check up on the blonde on a weekly basis. Even if they just chatted for 5 short minutes, they at least got to catch up. Most of the time they talked about what she and Holly had been up to together, but occasionally they talked about Gail's work, or how the rest of the Stewart clan had been. At first, Gail didn't quite know what to think of it, but she quickly grew to enjoy their conversations, having gotten out all the awkwardness after the first few calls.
"You ready to eat and then take to the couch? I'm in dire need of my officer cuddles." Holly said, grinning as Gail rolled her eyes, feigning annoyance.
However, Gail was always the one who snuggled more into Holly, trying to get as close as possible, so Holly knew that Gail just continued to put up her badass front occasionally.
"Yeah, yeah. So needy." The blonde said jokingly, squeezing Holly again tightly, breathing her in after a long day of being apart.
"For you? Always." The brunette whispered, running her hands along Gail's back, loving the feeling of her girlfriend pressed up against her.