Holly managed to get home a little before dinner. She found Lisa and Rachel sipping wine around the kitchen island and Gail by the stove, apron on, stirring something in a big, grey pot. She smiled to herself at the sight, her friends and Gail were actually getting along. She strode over, ignoring salutations from Lisa and Rachel and spun Gail around to face her. She looped her fingers through the string of the apron and pulled Gail abruptly against her.
Gail squealed a little at the sudden movement, but Holly was quickly rewarded with a soft hum from the blonde as their lips pressed together.
"You're home" Gail smiled when the eventually pulled apart.
Holly's hands still rested on Gail's hips. "I'm sorry I took so long" she said with a shrug. "I see you survived the day with these two" she said, nodding her head towards the women sitting at the island.
"Let me tell you..." Gail began as she glanced over at the Lisa and Rachel, "they aren't the worse people in the world to hang out with."
"Gee, thanks for the compliment, Peck. We love you too" Lisa smiled as she took another sip of her wine. Everyone else burst out laughing when Gail blew a kiss at Lisa who, with exaggerated enthusiasm, caught the kiss and placed it on her cheek.
Eventually dinner was served, thanks to Gail and her surprising talent in the kitchen. As food was inhaled, stories of the day were shared. That evening was spent packing up Holly's remaining items and loading them into two cars. Lisa and Rachel volunteered to drive over to the house with them and help unload, but there really wasn't that much. Holly and Gail figured they could handle it.
It was about ten o'clock at night when the car was finally unloaded, the boxes sitting randomly in the living room.
"I'm too tired to try and unpack these tonight" Holly said as she stood in the living room, her hands on her hips. Her eyes glanced over the boxes and mentally tried to place them in the different rooms.
"Okay, no worries. Call when you need help taking things upstairs. I'll come over" Gail said, as she reached for her jacket that was draped over the arm of the couch.
"You're not leaving, are you?"
"You've had a long day and I should let you rest, plus I've got the early shift tomorrow" Gail smiled, sliding one arm, and then the other, into her leather jacket.
"Oh, yeah, of course" Holly said, trying to hide her disappointment. "Thanks for helping today though. I really appreciated it."
"Um…yeah, no problem. I didn't really do much."
"You did a lot, so seriously, thank you" Holly said, grabbing the collar of Gail's jacket and pulling her close. "Let me know when you get home?"
"Of course" she smiled, leaning in to place a sweet kiss on the doctor's lips. "I'll call you." And with that, Holly walked Gail to the door. She waved as Gail got into her car and disappeared down the driveway.
Closing the door, Holly leaned back against the cool wood. She looked up at the big stair case in front of her. She slowly wandered into to the kitchen, seeing the table that could seat twelve. She then wandered into the living room and let her hand glide over the mantle of the fireplace as she walked to the other side. This house was just so big. She was extremely grateful to her grandmother for giving it to her, but it was too big for one person. She couldn't help but let her thoughts drift back to Gail and what she had said the day before. Would Gail want to live with her? Was it too soon? She shook her head as if to toss away the thoughts. Of course it was too soon, they had just gotten back together. For Pete's sake, they hadn't even slept together, let alone had a date that didn't involve one member of someone's family interrupting them.
As Holly shut off the lights and began her journey upstairs, she just couldn't get away from the thought that, one day, she could be heading upstairs to a bed that would be shared with Gail.
That next week was a very long and busy week for both ladies. Holly was bombarded with various cases during the day and was busy unpacking the few boxes she had at night. She really wanted to make the house feel like her house and not like she was living with her grandmother. Gail, on the other hand, was put on night shift and each one of Gail's shifts seemed to involve some drunk person who believed they were invincible. She couldn't help but grumble at the intellect of those who drink beyond their limit. Her only highlight of the day was calling Holly as she slipped into bed each morning.
"Hey Gail, did you have a good shift?" Holly answered the phone. She didn't bother looking at the screen, she knew it would be Gail. Gail had called every morning that week at the same time and it warmed Holly's heart to think that her voice was the last voice Gail wanted to hear before she went to sleep.
"Oh, it was okay. Picked up a guy who thought he was the next Justin Bieber. Talk about annoying on so many different levels" Gail chuckled. "Did you sleep alright?"
"I'm starting to get used to being here. I don't jump at every creak or groan that this old house makes" Holly laughed.
"Well, if you ever need a rather dashing officer to come and check out what the strange noises might be, you know who to call" Gail said with a smile as she nestled down under the covers.
"Oh, I know. Chris has already been by and saw that one tree branch just barely scrapes across one of the windows."
"Hey, what?!" Gail said, sitting straight up in bed.
"I'm just messing with you Gail. You know I would call you" Holly soothed into the phone.
"Oh okay, right" Gail replied, laying back down against her pillow.
"Look, I should let you sleep and I should probably get ready for the day" Holly said softly into the phone. She could have spent all day just talking with Gail, but she knew that the officer should rest and she should probably head to work at some point.
"Yeah, you're right. Um…I have a night shift tonight, but um…I have the weekend off…I don't know, but…" Gail rambled into the phone.
Holly smiled at the other end. She felt her heart flutter when she heard Gail stumble over her words. "Why don't you come by tomorrow, I'm going to spend my weekend painting, and I would love some company."
"Okay, great. I'll pack a bag before I leave for my shift tonight and I'll come by tomorrow morning after work."
"I like the sound of that" Holly beamed.
"Um…have a good day at work, Holly."
"Sleep well, Gail."
And with that, they both hung up their phones, smiles across both their faces. Gail hadn't seen Holly in a week, and desperately wanted to see her again, even if it meant she would be tired, she wanted to spend time with her.
Gail slept soundly that day with the thought of seeing Holly after her next shift. Her shift, itself, was eerily cheerful. She got a few weird glances from Dov and Chris as she hummed while filling out some paperwork at her desk. She also ignored any of their questions and comments from them as she quickly grabbed her stuff after the shift and marched out into the crisp morning air. She drove herself over to Holly's, picking up some breakfast on the way. After practically skipping up the pathway, she knocked on the big wooden door of Holly's house.
"Hey, you are early, come in" Holly smiled as she opened the door for Gail. She stood to the side, inviting Gail inside. She leant in and gave Gail a quick peck on the check as she walked into the house. "Did you get to sleep at all?"
"Um...no, I just wanted to come over. I'm not that tired anyways" Gail said with a shrug.
Holly looked down at her with a disapproving frown.
"I brought breakfast" Gail smiled, holding up the tray which cradled two coffee cups and a brown bag that Holly could only assume were bagels.
"Well, we will warm these up later. Right now you are going to going to bed" Holly said, taking the coffee tray and bag, and placing them down on the side table in the hall. She then turned to grab Gail's hand and led her up the stairs.
"Seriously, I'm okay. I swear" Gail protested.
"Whatever you say" Holly smiled as she continued to hold her hand leading her down the hallway to the room at the end. As Holly swung open the door, Gail was surprised to see how big it really was. It had a big queen sized in the middle with little bits of Holly sprinkled around.
"Seriously, Holly. It's okay. I'm not tired. I can always take a nap later if I'm feeling too tired. I promise" Gail protested again.
"Oh, I never said you were sleeping" Holly smiled. "I said you were going to bed" she winked as she slipped Gail's duffle bag from her shoulder.
"Oh?" Gail smiled.
Holly leant in and softly placed a kiss on Gail's lips as she slowly let Gail's coat fall to the floor. Gail shivered as she felt Holly pull her closer, deepening the kiss. Gail couldn't help but let her hands fall to Holly's hips. She let her fingers wander between Holly's shirt and jeans in search of the soft skin the lay just beneath.
Holly moaned into the kiss as she felt Gail's fingers kneed her skin just above the waistband of her jeans. The sound simply encouraged Gail to pull Holly tighter to her. She tilted her head slightly to the side allowing for Holly's tongue to slip past her lips as her fingers worked around Holly's back.
Slowly, Holly walked Gail backwards to the bed. Gail felt the back of her legs hit the edge of the bed briefly before being pushed onto the bed. Gail smiled up at Holly. "So this is what you meant about me going to bed."
"We can stop if you want" Holly smiled down at Gail.
"No, no, no" she said quickly as she scooted back on the bed. "I'm good. I'm totally good" Gail smiled as she leaned back, propped up on her elbows.
"Because the last thing I would want is for you to get sick because you aren't getting your proper amount of sleep. It is important for adult between the ages of 36-64 to get at least seven hours of sleep each day" Holly said, standing straight, her hands on her hips.
"Oh my gosh, nerd. If you don't get over here now, I'm going home" Gail threatened.
Holly could only smile at her as she kneeled on the bed and began to slowly crawl up Gail's body. Her heart was beating a mile a minute thinking about the beautiful blonde before her. She had desperately wanted to be alone with Gail for so long. She slowly lowered her body onto Gail's reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Gail's ear. "You are so beautiful" Holly practically whispered as she took in the smile that spread across Gail's face.
In response, Gail simply cupped Holly's face and pulled her down into a kiss.
That morning was spent reacquainting themselves with each other. Each crevice was worshiped, each curve was caressed. The moans that escaped Gail's lips were like music to Holly's ears. Each time Holly called out Gail's name sent shivers running all over her body. Eventually they both fell asleep, arms and legs wrapped tightly around each other.
Holly was first to wake up. She looked over at the sleeping beauty beside her. She knew that Gail needed her sleep, and so she slowly slipped out bed. She gathered her clothes and pulled them on before quietly slipping out the bedroom. She tiptoed down the stairs and made her way into the kitchen, remembering to grab the food from the hallway table along the way.
It was early afternoon when Gail finally emerged from the bedroom to find Holly sitting in the living room surrounded by half emptied boxes.
"Hey, why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
Holly smiled the blonde in front of her. She stood up and walked over to her. Reaching up, she gently smoothed out down some of Gail's hair that was clear evidence of their earlier activities. "I thought you could do with some extra sleep" she said, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her lips.
Gail wrapped her arms around Holly's waist. She debated whether or not to respond sarcastically, but decided against it. "Thank you. I didn't realize how tired I was."
"You're welcome. Care to join me for lunch?" Holly said, taking hold of Gail's hand and leading her towards the kitchen.
"I would love lunch, but I feel bad. It is so late in the day and I haven't help you at all. Can't I do something for you first?"
Holly quickly turned to look at Gail. "Trust me, you have done a lot for me already" Holly winked. She then burst out laughing as she watched as Gail turned a bright shade of red. "Come on, let's get you fed" she said, grabbing a hold of Gail's hand and pulling her towards the kitchen.
AN: Thanks for reading.