Chapter 26: We Talk

Type: RomCom

Rating: T

*Blows dust off this one* Remember when I said that if people had prompts they might end up here? Well. One did.

From Gail-Shark:

Golly prompt: Could you fill some of time between 4x10 and 4x12? A night in or out perhaps. Whatever the setting, I'd like to witness any rising sexual tension between them. Many thanks.

Okay! Some time is filled in. A night in. A night apart. And then Chloe wondering what the actual fuck is going on.

This takes place back in the early chapters of OWtO. You can figure out when.

"I cannot believe I'm telling you this."

"I can't believe you went to Cancun and you've never been off the continent!"

Holly huffed at Gail. "Shut up. Not all of us go backpacking through Europe after high school."

The blonde smirked. "You don't even speak another language."

Flipping her off, Holly got to her feet. "I'm getting another beer."

"Do you have anything other than the microbrew? I think I'm hipster'd out."

"Oh, so I'm getting you a bottle?"

"I'm already too drunk to drive home, nerd."

It took Holly a moment to realize that meant Gail was planning on staying the night. She tried not to blush at the thought. Which was really not working. "You don't have a car."

From the living room, the blonde made a noise. "Whatever."

Giving up to the inevitable of another awkward night of a cute blonde in her house, Holly sighed and took two beers out of her fridge. "How's your wrist?"

Gail held up her right wrist and inspected it. "You can barely tell."

That, in and of itself, was a miracle. The woman was so pale, the burn should have stayed visible for months. Here it was, barely a few weeks, and it was gone. "Good. That was …"

"Yeah, totally was a shitty, sucky, day." Gail grimaced. "That's when McNarc blabbed."

"Mc… McNarc?"

"McNally. Princess Girl Guide never-hurt-a-fly, good-guy Andy McNally. Slept with my ex."

Holly had heard bits and pieces of this before. "Nick?"

Making a mmmm noise, Gail took a healthy swing from her beer. "You know the best part? I was actually totally just going to ignore the fuck out of it. I mean, what the hell do I care?"

"You did cheat on him."

"He was in love with McNally! Ugh. But hey, no, Peck gets no second chances." Gail grimaced. "Why am I telling you all this?"

"Because I don't judge you?"

Gail pointed over at Holly. "Yes. That. You're like the only not shitty person I know. My 'friends' suck. I need new ones."

Holly tried to deconstruct the convoluted story a few times and failed. "Okay… Wait. You dated Nick before?" There had been allusions to that at the wedding. They didn't talk about the wedding, though. They certainly didn't talk about the kiss, unless one counted the drugged remark about how Holly's lips were soft a few weeks ago.

"Nick is the guy who left me at the altar. Tried to get me back. But nooo, I screw up once and that's it. Asshole."

"Wow." Holly stared at her friend. "Wait, wait. He left you at the altar? And then hooked up with McNally?"

"Yep! Said I was cold. No… Wait. That was Chris. Nick said I wasn't girlfriend material."

"Jesus, I thought I made bad relationship choices."

Gail hoisted her beer. "Gail Peck! Making your life choices seem better by comparison!" She took another swing. "Do you need to feel better about disappointing your parents? I'm aces at that one too."

Holly smiled. "No, I get along with my parents."

"See? You feel a lot better about stupid things now, don't you?"

Except for kind of tipsy kissing Gail, yes, she felt much better. Holly sighed. "Except that I'm perpetually single? Sure. Career success, romantic flop."

Gail, draped on the couch, looked up thoughtfully. "I offered to help you with blind dates."

"Yeah, because those work out sooooo well for you."

They both snort-laughed. "No idea what Herr Peck is trying, there," admitted Gail. "They've been horrible."

And Holly couldn't understand why. "It doesn't make sense. You're a total catch. You're funny, smart, talented… You have a cool job."

"And I'm hot as hell," Gail added.

"That too, yeah." There was a pause after Holly said that. Shit. Was she not supposed to say anything?

"Question. What's the social ettiequte for telling another girl she's hot?"

Holly bubbled a laugh. "What?"

"I mean, if I tell a guy he looks good, it's pretty much always taken as an in-your-pants kinda comment. But girls kinda default to 'no homo' with that stuff. Does it change when you're a lesbian?"

That was one of the cool things about Gail. She'd just ask that stuff, without being ashamed of not knowing the answer. "Yeah. No homo… That's what God said before he gave men a prostate," Holly muttered.

Gail laughed. "That's good! I'm gonna use that one on my idiot roommates." She grinned.

"Why do you live with them?"

Groaning, Gail sunk into the couch. "I needed to move out and Nick… Eh. I was tired of being this sad, broken, girl living at home."

They'd somehow moved into more serious territory apparently. This was probably related to why Gail had nightmares on painkillers and didn't like sleeping in the dark. And ... You walked into someone's life with a lot of history. Yours and theirs. People were allowed to have their own history.

Taking a deep breath, Holly exhaled it slowly.

"You know what's great about us?"

"We like tequila?"

Holly smiled. "We tell each other stuff." As Gail looked nervous, Holly added, "And we don't have to." Now Gail looked confused. "I mean you don't have to tell me everything just because we're friends, Gail."

"Oh." Gail frowned a little. "I don't like shared experiences."

"What? Like movies?"

"Theaters. Movies are cool, theaters are gross."

Making a face, Holly took a long swing of her beer. "Yes, yes they are. What about things like comic cons?"

"Oh god, nerd central. And worse, dorks and dweebs."

Holly huffed, indignantly. "Those are my people."

Gail snorted. "Are not. You are smart, sexy, and funny as hell, Stewart. But you don't dress up like Captain Nerd from..." Holly trailed off. "Oh my god! You fucking cosplay!"

Protesting, Holly held up a hand. "I may dress up now and then but-"

"Photos! Tell me you have photos! I have to see this."

"Hell no, Peck!" There was a moment and they both launched for Holly's phone. Gail got it first. "Give me that back! I'm not telling you the passcode!" She reached around Gail's body to get at her phone, but the unathletic woman was doing a great job of keep away.

Squirming away, Gail pushed Holly aside and all but danced around the coffee table. "Like I can't guess your passcode." She stuck her tongue out and Holly was horrified to hear her phone unlock.

"Gail, I swear to god, if you read my texts, I will kill you!"

Gail rolled her eyes. "Sexting some hot chick? Oh! Dr. Stewart, are there nudes here?" She tapped on the screen and scrolled and then froze. "Woah."

Oh Jesus. Holly covered her face. "Look, the Star Trek thing was a dare."

"Screw the Trek, hello Slave Leia." Gail turned the phone and Holly felt mortified. She didn't look. "That's you. And so is the Betty Page shot. You should put that up on Grindr! Wait. No. That's dudes. Is there a lesbian version?"

Holly nodded. "Scissr."

"Seriously?" Gail laughed and tossed the phone back into Holly's lap. "You're hot as hell, though, Holly. Why the hell are you single?"

Groaning, Holly changed her passcode. "I don't know." She eyed Gail. "How did you guess my passcode?"

"Your birthday is a shitty code. Also please don't use your parents' birthdays. Or your address. Or the last four digits of your phone number."

Holly scowled and tapped the code again. After staring for a moment, she tapped in a four digit string. 8727. Let's see Peck guess that one.

"Why do I even talk to you?" Holly huffed at Gail, but she smiled. Talking to Gail was one of the highlights of her days right now.

Waking up to hear Chloe belting out 'I kissed a girl and I liked it' was not on Gail's favorite ways to wake up. And it had been the first night in a long time she hadn't had a nightmare. The first night since breaking up with Nick. Not that it was his fault she couldn't sleep. Damn it. Fucking Perik.

"The taste of her cherry Chapstick..."

Gail grabbed her pillow and covered her face, muffling her scream of anger.

What the hell had she been dreaming about anyway?

There had been the cottage in winter, with snow and ice and a fire in the fireplace. And Gail had actually heard the wind whipping around her and making her shiver. But more than that, there was someone lying on a bearskin rug in front of the fire. Toned and fit, with long legs and dark eyes, looking up at her with what Gail would only call a 'come hither' expression.

And the only thing covering Holly was an unbuttoned, white shirt.

Oh right.

Her face burned red. Shit. She'd been having a sex dream about Holly fucking Stewart.

"It felt so wrong, it felt so right, don't mean I'm in love tonight."

Damn it!

"Shut the hell up, Chloe! I have a taser in here!"

Because not only was stupid Chloe singing that stupid, opportunistic song, but Gail's dream had predominantly featured herself kissing a girl. Kissing Holly. And unlike real-Holly, who had just pressed her lips to Gail's, dream-Holly had been a hell of a lot more forward. So had dream-Gail for that matter. Jesus frog jumping Christ, there had been a lot more than just kissing! And god it was good.

Fuck. What was it she told the stupid therapist? Oh, right, she wasn't switching teams. Crap.

Gail really didn't give a shit about kissing girls. The more she chatted with Holly about it, the more lesbianism seemed like a fuckton of a better idea than dating me. She hated people, equally, and it wasn't like Gail was unfamiliar to the idea. She totally got how checking out a hot woman could make her blood race around and throb in some of the best ways.

But. Holly was her friend. And if Gail had learned anything in the last four years, it was that friends were in short supply. True friends. It was really Holly and Traci, and that was it. Even Dov… Yeah, no.

For a moment, Gail pondered the idea of kissing Traci. Ew. Well. That was a good question. What about … Nope, she was not even going to try thinking about McNally. Slowly, Gail worked her way down the list of women she knew. Then she delved into the various actresses.

Anna Silk? Totally. Ditto Zoe Pamer. She had that cute, scientist vibe that Holly had. That kind of nerdy, awkward, adorkable expression of amusement and humor. Gail grinned, thinking about that dorky smile Holly got when she was pulling Gail's leg. Holly, who listened to everything Gail said and didn't judge her for it.

Shit. The last thing she needed was to screw up everything with Holly because she was having some weird crush on her. Gail rolled over and pressed her face into the mattress, hauling the pillow on top of her head.

The door knocked.

"Go away," she growled.

Chloe, very soft and quiet, cleared her throat. "I made coffee."

Gail hesitated. On the one hand it was coffee. On the other, it was Chloe.

"And cinnamon rolls."

Okay. That did it. Gail shoved her pillow off, rolled out of bed, and pulled on her robe. "You may live," she informed Chloe breezing past her into the kitchen.

"You look like ass. So does Dov."

"Bite me, Snow White." Gail and Dov had been on a special case, watching a building for guns and gangs. It was awesome, but it had sucked up her nights. She hadn't even seen Holly in days thanks to work.

Maybe that was why her subconscious was filling in Holly for sexy times. She wasn't getting laid either. Gail grimaced and sipped the coffee.

"The coffee isn't that bad," complained Chloe.

"News flash, Dork Queen, the world doesn't revolve around you." Gail took another sip and didn't comment on the taste of the coffee. It was pretty damn good though. The shuffling from the couch made her look over at the sleep tousled hair of Chris Diaz. "Hey, moocher, you going to start paying rent?"

Dov snorted. "That's rich, coming from you."

"He's sleeping on our couch, Dov. And that funky smell was all Diaz."

With a yawn, Chris asked, "How come you're not mad at Chloe? She's here, like, all the time?"

"She feeds me. You start cooking again, we'll talk." There had been some time when Chris made muffins. Though reflecting on that day was not a bright, shining moment. Ugh.

Chris was affable as ever, though. "I could sleep with you—"

"No," snapped Gail, snarling. "Everyone gets one breakup. You picked Dov over me, cope."

Right away, Dov held up his hands. "You're not sleeping in my room."

As the boys bantered about that, Gail had a serious thought. Sleeping on the couch was just not sustainable. And she wasn't serious, at all, about making Chris move out. He was pretty cool in his own way. But he was never getting back up in her business again.

Gail leaned back and studied the apartment. How could three people who didn't sleep with each other fit in there?

"Earth to Gail. Your phone is ringing."

She looked up at Dov. "Get the hell out of my room!"

"Hey, I'm not the one with Slave Leia as Lunchbox's photo. Who's Lunchbox?"

Shit. Gail held a hand out, imperiously. "Phone!" Rolling his eyes, Dov handed it over and she tapped to answer. "Hi, my roommates are assholes."

The rich laughter of Holly Stewart came across the line. "Hello to you too, sunshine. I know it's early, but I just got two tickets to a basketball game tonight."

"Yeah, I don't really do sports." Gail picked up her coffee and went back to her bedroom, pointedly ignoring her roommates.

"Oh come on. This time it really won't kill you."

"Even if I could go watch sweaty men running around, which I have no idea why you like it, I have to work."

There was actual disappointment in Holly's voice. "Again?"

"Crime doesn't actually go off the clock, doc." Gail kicked her bedroom door closed and had the delight of hearing Dov curse.

"Did you slam a door in your roommate's face?"

"My bedroom is off limits to the Dork King." She yawned. "Is that your only reason to calm me at ass crack o'clock? Sports?"

"Well I was going to sweeten the pot with dinner."

"My dinner is bound to be at 1am in a car with Dov."

Holly laughed again. "How healthy. I feel like I should send you a salad."

Gail grinned and sat on her bed. "I'm going to be in an unmarked car."

"Oh. A delivery would defeat the purpose of surveillance."

"Yeah, kinda." She stifled a yawn.

"Oh, nice," laughed Holly.

"Bite me. I've been getting three hours of sleep if I'm lucky."

"That's not healthy. After you're done, we should do something."

A small thrill ran through Gail and she kicked herself mentally. Bad hormones. You were not allowed to have a 'thing' for your friend. "Sure, whatever," she said as casually as she possibly could.

"Okay. Call me when you're free?"

"Sure thing." There was an awkward moment before Holly laughed, called her insane, and hung up. Gail groaned and dropped her phone onto her bed. This sucked.

She was not allowed to have an inappropriate, misplaced, crush on her only actual friend. Sighing, she sipped her coffee. Option one was to avoid the hell out of Holly. Gail didn't like that idea. Option two was to ignore the fact that she was having feelings. That one was practically a Peck special. Option three...

Okay so that was the big issue. Option three was to deal with her shit. Option three meant talking, to someone or another, about how she felt. Because Gail had a creeping feeling that her dream was indicative of more than just a screwy libido. She was no stranger to being turned on by women. This felt different.

Gail picked her phone back up and thumbed through the photos. She'd sent herself the somewhat racy photos of Holly, telling herself they were blackmail material. Looking at Slave Leia Holly, posing with a smirk, Gail felt a heat low in her center. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. This was bad. This was not just a misplaced crush. This was want. And what was worse, it was a hell of a lot more heady than what she'd felt about Nick or Chris.

Option three it had to be. Gail sighed and called her therapist. Not the department one, and not the one her mother picked. No, she called the one she'd found on her own and seen sporadically. "I'd like to make an appointment with Dr. Carson," she said the moment the phone picked up.

"Is this an emergency?" The nurse was astute.

"No." Well... It wasn't a time sensitive one. "I'm a patient. Gail Peck."

There was the sound of typing. "Ms. Peck. We haven't seen you since ... October?"

Not since the Perik interview. "I'm aware. Dr. Carson said I should call if I had any issues."

"We have an opening today."

"No can do. Thursday?" The bust was supposed to be done by then.

"Oh. Yes. Four PM?"

"Yeah, great. Thanks." Gail hung up and yawned, lying back on her bed. If she was lucky, the fleeting fancy would pass. If she wasn't... Maybe he could help with the other issue. After all, it was getting pretty annoying to sleep with a light on.

It was time to talk about her shit.

"Princess, I need you to earn your keep."

Chloe looked up from her book and stared at Gail. "Me?"

"Well, as high pitched as Dov's voice is, yes, you. Come here."

She frowned and looked at the blonde, who was standing in the weird niche 'breakfast nook' of the apartment. "Oookay." Chloe put her book down and walked over. "What am I doing?"

"We're moving this table into the living room."

"What? Why?"

"Because I said we are?"

Spontaneous rearrangement usually was a sign of a bad breakup. But Nick and Gail had been broken up for ages now. Weeks— No, months. Nick had moved on to Andy, and Gail was … Well Chloe wasn't actually sure at all as to what Gail was doing. Most nights she wasn't hanging out with them anymore.

Contemplating this, Chloe let herself be gang pressed into moving furniture. First the table and then they emptied the bookcase in there and put everything in the living room. Finally they cleaned the whole little room, top to bottom. Which was officially weird.

Just as Chloe worked up the courage to ask what the heck was going on, the doorbell rang. "Hot damn." Gail opened the door and ushered in the delivery men. "Over there."

Furniture. "Gail, what's going on?"

But Gail ignored her, signing a paper and then directing the men as to where she wanted various things. The bed frame and dresser took up pretty much all of the space. There was enough room to move around, but it was a small little cave of a room. As soon as the men were gone, Gail vanished into her room and started hauling her suitcases over.

And it all clicked. Gail was, voluntarily, moving into the weird alcove room. She was giving Chris his room back. Chloe smiled and, without a word, went into Gail's room and found all her clothes lying on the bed, still with their hangers. Taking an armload, Chloe carried them in and hung them up.

They worked in silence, moving everything over, rearranging, putting Gail's things on the bookshelves (which Gail kept moving around), and then, finally, they started to muscle the safe from Gail's room.

That had been a surprise to Chloe. Who the hell kept a gun safe in their bedroom? A Peck, clearly. The gun safe weighed more than both of them together and after trying to rock it, Chloe finally figured out to put it on a towel and use that to tug it into place.

By the time the boys were home, they were sweaty and tired, but Gail was moved out of her old room and had nearly everything up in her new one.

"What the hell happened?"

"Gail moved," explained Chloe, greeting him with a kiss.

Gail made a face. "Ew. New rules. No one goes in my room. And no sucking face either."

Ignoring the new rule, Chris poked his head into Gail's room. "Hey. You fixed the door?" He slid it back and forth until Gail shoved his face.

"Rules. Abide or die." She slid the door closed and they all heard a snap of a lock.

Dov squinted. "That was new furniture."

Bobbing her head, Chloe tugged him over to Chris' room. "We left the bed and dresser."

"Wow. Wow that is ..." Chris was flabbergasted. "I should thank her."

"I wouldn't," cautioned Chloe. "She's in a mood."

She was getting better at understanding Gail. Yes, the blonde was closed off and intentionally isolated herself. Yes, she shoved people away and tried to act like they didn't hurt her. But she was hurt. Hurting. Gail had the heart of someone who had been emotionally abused. And yet she wouldn't roll over on anyone. She was loyal.

The whole Nick thing for example. Whatever happened, Nick had left Gail standing alone in the rain. But when Chloe tried to ask about it, Gail just shrugged and said it happened. For someone who could be as cruel as Gail, it was practically a heartwarming moment.

And it told Chloe how much Gail was hurt.

"She can't still be upset about Nick," said Dov, dismissively.

Chloe poked Dov in the ribs. "If you want to thank her, Chris, buy her dinner."

"Awesome! Chloe, ask he if she wants Chinese, on me. I'll move my stuff in. Oh! And I'll use that desk for my computer."

"What computer?" Dov laughed and helped Chris move his things.

Leaving the boys, Chloe knocked on Gail's door. "Gail? Chris wants to buy Chinese for dinner. You in?"

To her surprise the door opened and Gail was dressed nicer. Somewhat. She had on a leather jacket, tight jeans, and a cute top. "Nope. Going out."

"Oh. Did your mom set up another date?"

Gail narrowed her eyes. "No." Her phone chimed and Gail smiled. She actually smiled at the phone. "Gotta go." And with that, the blonde was out the door. "Chris! Buy dinner tomorrow."

Chloe frowned and stepped out to try and see who was picking Gail up. The blonde cheerfully danced around the car, laughing at something. It was a really nice car. Nicer than anyone she knew had. Whoever it was, the driver made Gail laugh again, and then they drove off.

"Hey, Dov. Is Gail seeing someone?"

Her boyfriend looked surprised. "No. She has some friend she hangs out with a lot though. Some chick. Dark hair. I saw 'em shopping."

That was interesting. Gail had a friend. "That's good," decided Chloe. "She should bring her friend to the Penny on Friday."

"Yeah? I'll ask." Dov tossed the blankets from the couch into Chris' room. "You want to get something to eat?"

Chloe hesitated. The mystery of what was changing in Gail could wait a while longer. At least she had someone to talk to.

There you have it. Some rising sexual tension, and random tidbits like when Gail started going back to therapy, how Chris got his room back, and just how long had Gail been thinking about Holly like that.