The two are sharing Gail's couch, Gail at one end with her feet rested on the coffee table and Holly at the other end with her feet under her. They're once again watching some tv program. It flicks to a commercial for a local butcher; Gail asks Holly, "what did the butcher name his daughter?"
Holly confused asks, "what?"
"Paddy, meat Paddy." Gail laughs, "get it? Patti, paddy."
Holly pushes Gail with her foot, "funny." She leaves her foot in Gail's lap.
Gail picks it up and starts massaging it. "I knew you'd like it."
Holly rolls her eyes, at Gail's joke or Gail's touch on her foot, she's not sure.
After a couple of beers, when their lips are more loose, Gail brings it up again because the butcher commercial aired again, "come on Hols think about it, if you ever had a baby and you were playing patty cake with the baby, Trish would have been so confused. She would have thought you were calling for her every other word." Gail begins to laugh at her joke.
Holly can't help herself, she laughs too. "You're insane."
Gail smiles at her, "sure, but you like it."
"I do." Holly thinks for a second, "her name is Patricia, but she likes the short form Trish, she felt Patti was for the previous generation."
"I'm surprised she didn't choose Patsy," Gail says sarcastically.
"What's wrong with Patsy?" Holly asks with a smile on her face, does she find this conversation funny or is she just happy about the foot massage.
Gail shrugs her shoulders, making Holly laugh. "While we're on the subject," Gail starts.
"And what subject are we exactly on?" Holly asks with a raised eyebrow.
Gail laughs, everything has gotten funny after multiple beers, "you know what's a great song?"
Holly shakes her head, "what?"
'"Patricia the Stripper' by the Wombats. It rhymes," Gail informs.
Holly laughs, also at the everything is funny stage, "what? That doesn't even make any sense."
"When you and I say it, no. But when the Brits say it, yes." Gail shakes her head as her fingers continue to graze Holly's feet, "those Brits eh, they have a way with word," she says rather fondly.
"I have no clue what you're talking about," admits Holly as she stares at her feet in Gail's lap, watching the blonde's hand.
"Seriously? You don't know the Wombats?" Gail shakes her head in disappointment, "you take me to a flat earth convention and you have no clue who the Wombats are."
"Are the Wombats Flat Earhters?"
"I have no idea, I'm just saying," Gail says as she starts to laugh again.
Holly laughs again too, Holly has found when she goes home from spending time with Gail her face hurts from smiling and laughing, "has anyone told you you're insane?"
"I have been hearing it more and more frequently these days…" Gail smiles over at Holly.
Gail doesn't really know where she stands with Holly. Are they just friends; are they slightly more than friends? Holly and Trish have been on a break for over two months and Gail doesn't see the Trish and Holly actually getting back together again, that might just be more wishful thinking on the blonde's part. And from the way Holly talks, Gail feels the doctor doesn't want to get back together with someone who may potentially cheat on her again.
Holly is still staying over at Rachel's, Gail is curious to see how long that will last, when Rachel finally tells Holly to find somewhere else to stay. From what Gail has learned, Holly doesn't have any family left. She was an only child and her parents passed away in a freak car accident when she was in University. Turns out Holly studied at the University of Toronto; she was driving home for the Christmas break and entered a vacant house. One of the nearby neighbours came over and explained things to Holly, saying they didn't have her contact information and didn't know how to reach her to tell about the Stewarts' untimely demise. Holly ended up taking a semester off of school, arranging her parents' funeral, packing up her family home, just taking some time for herself. With her good grades, her teachers were willing to allow her the time off, saving her spot for the following year. Gail's not sure where Holly will go when Rachel kicks her out, Gail thought about offering her house, but Gail's not sure she's strong enough to be around Holly that much.
"Well, I should get going; I have the early start tomorrow," Gail finishes her drink and stands up.
"Night Gail," says the rookies.
Gail makes her way out of the Penny; she stands in the cool night air for just a moment. She hears the door open behind her, she's about to turn around to tell Chris he doesn't have to walk her home, when she feels a hand being placed lightly on her shoulder. "Hey," says Holly.
"Hey," Gail turns to face the brunette. "You know you can stay and drink with the others, I know you have tomorrow off."
"I was wondering if I could walk you home…"
"That's not necessary, I only live a couple of blocks away," says Gail.
"Um…that's okay," says Holly. "I have been spending way too much time indoors, and I could use some time outside with the fresh air."
"Okay then," says Gail, "you can walk me home."
Holly smiles softly. Gail takes a step in the direction of her house and hears Holly follow her.
"Something on your mind?" asks Gail. Gail enjoys the comfortable silence that always falls around Gail and Holly, but Gail can feel that Holly is out in the cool night air for a reason and Gail promised herself that she would help the brunette out in any way possible.
Holly's nervous, they cross the street and walk on the sidewalk, "kind of."
"Something I can help with?" Holly's quiet for the next block and a half. "Ah," says Gail.
"Yeah," says Holly.
"That's okay," says Gail. "You don't have to tell me." They walk in silence again, Gail sees her house, "here we are, are you okay walking back on your own?" She walks up her front porch and weirdly hears Holly follow her. "You don't have to-" Gail turns around to tell Holly that she doesn't have to walk her all the way to the front door, but Holly's lips are already on hers. "Oh," she says instead.
Holly pulls back, "oh," she says placing their foreheads together, bringing their lips together again, nothing more than just a kiss at first. By the third one Holly smashes their lips together, but Gail doesn't let it get much farther than that.
Gail brings her hand up to stroke Holly's cheek, "I know you want to move on from Trish, and I don't know what is going through your head, but I don't want this to be just a rebound for you." Holly's about to say something, but Gail kisses her quiet. "You already know that I like you, and I think I see a future for us, I have no trouble kissing you, but I don't think we can do anything more than that."
Holly continues to press their foreheads together, she sighs, she opens her mouth, "I'm sorry, I just really wanted to kiss you, and I know that it's not fair to kiss you, but I wanted to feel something and I wanted to see if this would make things better…" Holly sighs again, Holly feels off, she's been feeling off for several months now, not just because of her and Trish's break, but before that too. "Gail I think you're great, you're funny and smart and I really like you. I just don't feel like myself, for whatever reason I had this idea that if I were to kiss you, I would feel better again, and that's not fair to you."
"You're right Holly, that isn't fair to me," Gail looks into Holly's eyes, the eye contact making Gail lose her train of thought for a blip, those brown eyes, Gail could get lost in them and she would be fine with that, "it's also not fair to you. You need to figure out this thing with Trish, I know you see her every day, and you need to decide what she means to you." Gail pauses for a second, she runs her thumb over Holly's lips and repeats herself, "I don't want this to be just a rebound; I do see a future for us, something more than whatever you thought would happen here." Gail's eyes roam all over Holly's face, looking for any sign that Holly feels the same way.
Holly laughs sadly, "I should have thought this through more." Holly continues to stare into Gail's blue eyes, seeing a light in those eyes, "you see a future for us?" Holly starts to smile.
Gail nods her head. Holly pushes her up against the side of the house and kisses her heatedly, after several minutes of kissing and both becoming breathless, Holly has to pull back for air. Holly regains control, eyes still closed, "sorry."
"Oh…um…" Gail is a little lost for words, "don't be sorry." Holly rests her head on Gail's shoulder, "I'm not going to pressure you, I want you to take all the time you need." She feels Holly nod her head. "Did you want to come in?"
Holly stands up straight, "I do, but I shouldn't. Rain check?"
"Of course," Gail smiles faintly. "Did you want me to walk you back to your car?" Gail now feels like she could use the fresh air.
"No," says Holly, "I could use the alone time."
"You sure? It's not that far."
"Positive, thanks though." Holly releases her hold on Gail. "Goodnight Gail," she can't help herself, she leans in for one more kiss, watching the blonde close her eyes in anticipation, she could totally get used to this. She walks down the steps and walks along the street. Gail stands on the front porch until she can't see Holly anymore. Gail shakes her head, damn.
Hello, hows it going, have you heard of these cranberry pickle pies, apparently it's a Utah thing. I have so many questions, but ultimately, is the combo so random that it works? I don't know, if you do know, please let me know. Anyways, thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, see you next week, have a nice week