Ch. 2

A/N: Normally, I post my chapters one at a time but I decided to make an exception...

It felt good to be moving. She hated to admit it, but she missed running. Not running the track, like she had to in high school, where she did laps and laps in a small circle, always ending up where she began, having to go with the flow. She liked running outside, in the park, making her own circuit, having some control on where she went. In the early morning hours, there was no one around, no one to bother her, but she was still alert, still on edge. She turned the volume of her music up as she headed in one direction. According to the signs, everyone else went in the opposite direction, but she had never found it fun to follow what everyone else did, so this was a Frostian decision if she ever made one.

Gail had stopped for only a moment, ducking down quickly to retie her shoe, which had come loose in her running. She didn't want to break her momentum, but she also didn't feel like tripping and breaking her neck. She had just started to pick herself back up when she felt someone careen directly into her, sending her and the person straight to the path, a tangled mess of limbs.

"Ow! What the fuck? Watch where you're going asshole." Gail had gotten the wind knocked out of her, but still managed to find enough breath to rip the person who had used her as a crash test dummy to pieces.

"I am so, so sorry, I didn't see you there and I didn't expect anyone to be out. I had been studying before I came running and was trying to remember what the next step in gluconeogenesis was when you just popped up out of nowhere. I swear I had only closed my eyes for a second, not that I could have seen you anyway you are wearing dark clothes and it's kind of dark out here, and you were crouched down for some reason."

Gail looked up at the flustered brunette, the one that had already climbed to her feet and dusted herself off. She was surprised by how pretty the woman was, she was tanned and toned, and thanks to the view from the floor, Gail had a great view of the woman's shapely legs that seemed to go on forever. But that was neither here nor there, the point was that this person had physically assaulted her and was now assaulting her ears with an onslaught of words. Not that she didn't like her voice, it was a nice voice, soothing even, but again that wasn't the point, "Why are you saying all these words?" Gail bit out.

The other woman just tilted her head and smiled a small, shy smile, one that seemed to quirk to the side. She had been surprised to crash into the stunning blonde, with the piercing blue eyes, the ones that were staring daggers at her at the moment. She would have thought there was no way she wouldn't have noticed someone who looked like this, she really must have been distracted. "Sorry, are you hurt?" She offered a hand to the blonde who remained on the floor.

Gail glanced at the proffered hand like it was a snake and she couldn't figure out if she was about to be bitten. She wasn't hurt, not really, but this stranger didn't need to know that, she could've been hurt and that was all that mattered. "Nah feels great to get run over by a truck."

"I'd hardly say I was the size of a truck."

Gail shrugged, this woman was superfit, a truck she was not, "Whatever." Gail got to her feet and dusted herself off.

"I really am sorry though, I didn't see you."

"Then maybe you need to get your eyes checked or next time you should watch where you're going." Gail put her headphones in her ears and prepared to head in the other direction.

Wow, this girl just doesn't give a rest, "You know you're heading the wrong way." The brunette pointed out.

"Do you always do what you're told nerd?"

"I do when it keeps me out of danger of getting hit again."

Gail smirked, "Well Danger's my middle name." She was already walking backwards and was starting to turn around so she could get back to her run. She hadn't come here to talk to people.

"Do I get to know your first name?" The brunette asked the retreating blonde.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to talk to strangers?" Gail called over her shoulder to the girl who was watching her jog away.

The brunette stayed rooted to her spot till the blonde was out of view, Ehh...can't blame a girl for trying, she thought to herself before heading off in the opposite direction.

Gail got back to the silent house after her run. Everyone was still passed out having crawled into bed only a couple of hours previously. She hopped into the shower and threw on a pair of jeans and a black shirt, she still had a couple of hours before her classes started but she knew she wasn't going to be able to catch any sleep. She grabbed her laptop and checked the syllabi for her classes. The first class that day was her Introduction to Criminology class that, as she found out last night, she would be in with Traci and Chris. This meant she would be able to grab a ride in Chris' truck on her way to the university. Not that it was a far walk, but she had already gotten all the exercise she intended to for the day plus her ass still kind of hurt from where she hit the path during her run that morning.

She really hated the idea of morning classes, the mornings were for sleeping when it was possible, not for learning, and especially not for learning crap she had been taught her whole life. But this was the only way she would be able to pull off her double major. Mornings were for cop crap and the afternoons were for her world language classes. Her family could force her to be a criminal justice major but they couldn't stop her from double majoring, that had been the loophole she figured out in order to get her schooling paid for. Speaking of money, Gail pulled up some employment searches for the area. She was going to need to work to afford her portion of the rent and to try to rebuild her savings account, which had been used to fund her European escapades. Her parents had thought that by cutting her off she would have been forced to come home sooner, but Gail had been willing to use every penny she had saved up waitressing (money that was meant to buy a car with) for the much needed trip. She had even managed to score some work while she was over there as a translator and tour guide depending on the city she was in. It had forced her to learn the languages quicker and had made it possible to avoid coming back here till the last possible moment. Unfortunately for her, the start of the school year meant the end of the agreement she had forged with her parents and she had to dutifully return home. Home, what a joke.

"How did you manage to do that?" Traci asked, as they exited their first class.

Gail let out a long yawn as she stretched, trying to get her back to pop, "Do what?"

"Answer the professor's question. You were asleep from the time he did roll call." The other girl pointed out.

Gail simply shrugged, "Oh, lucky guess?"

"Gail, you don't even have the books for this class there is no way you were prepared going in."

Technically, Gail had been reading cop protocols and codes since she was old enough to learn the alphabet, in fact she was fairly certain her parents read them to her as bedtime stories when she was even younger than that. Thanks to the Peck version of parenting, she was more than prepared to ace any type of policing test thrown her way, not that she had any intention of doing such a thing. She also had no intention of sharing anything personal with two people she had only met the day before. People, she was sure had already heard about the Peck Police lineage by now. "No need to be jealous Nash, I can always tutor you in how to be a Badass 101." Gail pulled her sunglasses back down to cover her eyes as they made their way to their next class.

By the time they finally took a break for lunch, Gail had already completed three criminology classes and still had two language classes to get through before her day was done. Mondays were her longest day but it was the trade-off for not having any classes on Fridays. By the time she walked home after all her classes, she was beat, so the last thing she was in the mood for was a run in with McNally the second she made it through the door.

"Gail can we talk?" The brunette asked with her pleading eyes.

"No." Gail didn't even bother looking at her as she kicked off her shoes.

"Seriously Gail it's been over a year and we're going to be living together, you're going to have to talk to me eventually."

Gail silently glared, making the point that she would have to do no such thing, and she pushed past the other girl on her way to the stairs, this is why she had rejected living in the same room as McNally, she would want to talk and Gail refused to have that conversation, again. It may have been a year but she had no intention of absolving any of the brunette's guilt or rehashing the past. She did, however, have every intention of leaving it where it was buried.

Before Gail could make it to the sanctity of her room she ran into Frankie on the landing.

"Where's the fire?" The brunette questioned as the blonde barreled passed her.

"Tired," Gail grumbled as she headed for her bedroom door.

"You sure it's not just you trying to avoid McNally?" Frankie had heard the two of the them talking from the staircase, the walls weren't exactly soundproof in the house.

"Not avoiding anybody." Gail tried to side step the other girl and the conversation.

"Really? So you didn't bail early yesterday to avoid Collins after you talked to him? He's not the reason you can't stand Andy?" It didn't seem like much of a stretch of the imagination, since the prickly blonde refused to talk to either person but clearly knew them from before. Plus, both Nick and Andy had mentioned that Nick and Gail had dated in high school. She was sure she could always get more of the scoop later from Juliet, since she wasn't going to waste her time talking to the other two herself.

"I don't know what you think you know but it's not any of your damn business." Gail hated when people gossiped.

"Maybe not, but it's his loss." With that Frankie continued down the stairs.

Guess finding out Nicholas is my ex-boyfriend wasn't enough to deter her. Crap, between McNally and him everyone will know in no time. Ugh.

Before Gail opened her door, she silently prayed Chloe would be out; she really wasn't in the mood to talk or listen to anyone else talk anymore. She opened the door to the empty room. Finally, some peace and quiet.

I don't know why I let them talk me into coming here tonight. It's such a waste of time; at least I didn't pay to get in. Where the hell are they anyway? Andy had been here a second ago, and Nick's said he would meet us here. Oh well, beer first then I'll find them. Gail had finally made it to the keg. She got her first beer and went to take a sip when she felt someone grab her from behind...

Gail awoke with a start to find Chloe standing over her.

"Hey, sorry I wasn't planning on waking you but your phone keeps going off, so I thought it might be important. Plus, some of us were gonna head out and grab some food, want to come?" Her perky roommate offered nicely, she seemed to be determined to make friends with the surly blonde.

"Ummm..." Gail was still disoriented from the dream but she tried to shake the tense feelings. She glanced at her phone and noticed multiple missed calls from her mother and a new voicemail. She decided to listen to it later, dodging her mother's calls was nothing new for her, plus she would just send Steve to do her dirty work if it was really important. Maybe food would be a good distraction, "Sure."

Gail and the rest of the freshmen headed over to the Lucky Penny, which happened to be the closest pub in walking distance to their houses. They ordered some food and some drinks and settled into a couple of tables. While the rest of the group was busy talking about classes and professors, Gail kept to herself. As much as she wanted to get out of her own head, she wasn't doing a very good job of it. She had never been much of a talker, always preferring to observe her surroundings. She had already done a full run through of all the doors and windows, made a point of locating all possible entrances and exits; she had also mentally catalogued all the patrons in the bar. She didn't do it on purpose but it had been part of her Peck training, and some habits were harder than others to break.

That was why she was the first to notice Nick as he entered the pub and headed to their table. It's also what gave her enough time to dodge the boy and make her way over to the bar. She still had a full drink and they had all ordered their food so she had no reason to be over there. She decided to ask the bartender to make hers to go so she could slip out and get back to the house without having to interact with anyone, but he was too distracted to notice she was trying to grab his attention. She overheard him yelling into the phone at someone about it being the third shift in the last week that they had missed and they were fired. He hung up and gruffly asked Gail what she wanted.

"How about a job?" Gail had plenty of experience waitressing and figured bartending couldn't be much harder.

"Do you always make it a habit of asking bartenders for jobs?" The man asked.

Gail shrugged, "Well if you have the power to fire someone you probably also have the power to hire someone."

"Ha fair enough, I'm Charlie, the manager," He extended a hand, "Ever been a server before?"

"Gail," she accepted the handshake, "Since I was fifteen."

"So like a year?"

Gail rolled her eyes, "Funny, you need the help, I need the cash, no need to make this difficult."

"Fine can you start now?" Thanks to his flakey waitress, he was understaffed for the night.

"Sure."

"Alright then here's an apron and a pad to take orders. If you make it through the night I'll get you a shirt when I get a chance. Order's up for the big table over there. Get a move on." He gestured to the window where, sure enough, the food for the table she just left was sitting.

Perfect, trying to avoid them and instead I get to serve them, they better leave me a big tip.

"Here," Gail said as she tossed the food to the rest of the freshmen.

"Umm Gail were you really that hungry, that you had to get the food yourself?" Chloe wondered aloud, she had noticed that her roommate had an insane appetite but she also didn't seem like the type to do something herself if she could force someone else to do it for her.

"Funny, look is there anything else you losers need before I go to the next table? No, good." Gail turned to leave without waiting for a response.

"Wait, did you seriously manage to get a job in the last five minutes?" Traci asked.

"No, I just like wearing aprons and bringing other people their food. Speaking of which." She again turned around to leave.

"Hey Gail, I didn't get a chance to order." Nick pointed out; the smile on his face was a clear indication that he was amused that Gail would have to serve him. It reminded him of the first time they met.

"Sucks to be you Nicholas." With that she actually did move to the next table to take their order.

Gail was at the bar grabbing a round of drinks for one of her tables when she felt someone tall walk up behind her. She didn't have to turn around. "What do you want Nicholas?"

"How about a chance to place my order?" The boy asked with a smile.

"Give it to someone else."

"You know you've always been a terrible waitress." He remembered the time Gail poured a pot of coffee on his lap after he asked for her number.

"Only to you and yet you keep coming back. Maybe you should learn from your mistakes, I certainly have." Gail grabbed her tray and left the boy behind, once again.

They had all eventually left, and the rest of her shift went relatively smoothly. Despite her snarky, I-don't-give-a-shit attitude she had made decent tips. That was the perk to working in a bar not far from the University, lots of horny college guys wanted to impress the hot blonde serving them. Chris had offered to walk her back after she was done or to pick her up in his car. He had worried about his new friend walking alone at night, but she was used to it. They all seemed to forget that she had been on her own for the past year; so walking a couple of blocks back to the house wasn't anything to worry her. Sure enough, she made it home in ten minutes without seeing a soul. She sighed as she entered the house that was bustling with people. It was a little after midnight but everyone was still up and about, mostly bullshitting while pretending to do some of the reading for their classes.

"Hey roomie want to join us?" Chloe asked perkily from the couch after the blonde closed and locked the door behind her.

"Nah I'm beat I'm gonna hit the sack." She was beyond exhausted at that point, having barely slept the night before, sitting through five classes, and working the last five hours.

"Don't you need to get your work done?" Traci asked, they all had the same classes, even if they were in different sections, and she knew the blonde was taking other classes too.

"Trust me, she doesn't need to study." Andy answered before Gail had a chance to respond.

She was ready to point out that Andy was wrong, she studied plenty, she was just more efficient at it, but that would involve interacting with her and she would rather go to bed. Gail made it upstairs and quickly changed out of her alcohol soaked clothes and collapsed in her bed. Maybe if she was tired enough she wouldn't dream.

She could see them from where she was standing. It's not like they were hiding or anything, just sitting on the steps outside of the house talking closely and laughing. She could see him push a lock of hair behind her ear before he leaned forward slowly, but that was enough for her. She didn't need to see anymore, she needed more booze. So that's where she was headed but she didn't get very far when she felt a hand cover her mouth...

Gail bolted up in her bed, breathing heavily. Seriously, again. She glanced at her phone to check the time it was only 3:30 am. Three and a half hours, awesome. Her roommate must've come back sometime while she was sleeping because the room was dark and she knew she had left the light on, it was one of her habits, but she couldn't sleep with a light on here, people would notice. She was a grown-ass woman she should be able to sleep in the dark. She grabbed her music and willed herself to sleep.

It had only been an hour before she gave up, and climbed out of bed. It hadn't worked the morning before but maybe it would this time. She changed quickly and grabbed her sneakers. She headed over to the same park as yesterday. She followed a similar path as she had the other morning, but this time there was no one else around. She shouldn't have been surprised; she was probably the only person who felt the need to run this early every morning. She had almost reached the entrance of the park on her way back to her house, when she saw her. It was the same brunette as the day before. She glanced at her iPod and saw that it was 5:30am. The two girls passed one another, Gail responded with a head nod at the wave and crooked smile she received from the brunette. Looks like she wasn't the only one who ran in the morning.

It was finally Friday. Gail had survived an entire week of classes, working, and not sleeping. That morning, like the rest that week, she had gone for her run after being woken by a nightmare. She had seen the brunette as she had most mornings, which was weird since she never ran at the same time. The days they did see one another was always the same, they were always heading in the opposite direction, always a head nod, always a wave and smile. Gail noticed that those days tended to put her in a better mood, maybe knowing she wasn't alone, gave her some kind of peace of mind and it made it easier for her to let go of the thoughts plaguing her.

It was a nice change that day when she returned to the quiet house, knowing she wouldn't have to sit through boring lectures and could crawl back into bed if she wanted to. She didn't. She figured she could use the time to get her assignments done. Some of her housemates still had classes, but they mostly ignored her as she stretched out on the couch listening to her music and getting her readings done (Yes, she finally caved and got the books). By lunch she had already finished whatever new assignments there were for the following week, which meant she just had to review her notes for the rest of the weekend. This also meant she could relax the rest of the day, till her shift that night. Her plans for peace and quiet were quickly ruined by the arrival of her housemates, all excited for their weekend plans with their boyfriends. Gail rolled her eyes at them, as she pulled out her phone. She shot off a quick text to Chris asking what he was up to. When he said video games with Dov, she weighed out whether or not it was worth the risk of having to interact with Nick. The continued prattling of the rest of the girls in the house decided it for her and she made the trek next door.

"OK you're definitely cheating?" Dov accused as he lost yet another life to Gail's sniper.

"How could she possibly be cheating, Dov, she's sitting right next to us?" Chris defended his new buddy, even if he couldn't understand it either.

But Dov was undeterred, "No one is that good at this game."

"I am," was the only response Gail gave as she took out both of the boys, who were trying to double-team her.

"Whatever," Dov bitched as he threw his remote on the ground after losing his last life.

"No need to be pissy just because you now have to buy the pizza." Gail reminded the boy as she made quick work of his roommate.

"Don't you have work or something?" Dov grumbled as he placed the order for food for the three of them.

"What's wrong Dovey worried I'll kick your ass all night too."

"Bite me Caspar, I just want my couch back."

"Mmhmm," Gail proceeded to blow Dov up with a grenade when they heard the rest of the guys getting back from the gym.

"Whoa fellows, it appears there's a lady in our midst," Swarek called out as he crossed into the living room.

"I wouldn't exactly call her a lady," Nick joked as he winked at Gail.

"Shut up Nicholas," was her only response as she continued to blow things up on the screen, pretending each item was Nick's face.

Nick was quick to defend his point, "I'm just saying they've never been the recipient of your right hook or watched you talk with your mouth full."

"Wow, you are quite the charmer aren't you Peck?" Jerry joined in.

"Alright, you cocks are actually making me miss the hen house. You're lucky I'm waiting on my winnings or I wouldn't bother gracing you with my presence." There was very little that could undo Gail's swagger, not even being forced into the same room as her annoying ex-boyfriend.

After the guys showered and changed they joined the trio in the living room. They each took turns playing winner, the only person to not relinquish her remote was Gail.

"OK your ex-girlfriend is a beast," Sam said as Nick came down from his shower.

He took one glance at the screen, "I could've told you that, wait till you see her shovel food down, then you'll really be impressed."

Gail bit her tongue, she knew Nick was just trying to get a reaction out of her, goad her into talking to him but she had already used up her allotment of words for the boy. It wasn't long before the door rang, with the pizza having finally arrived.

"Alright losers, you're all just lucky I actually have to work tonight." Grabbing half the pie, she ducked out the door without so much as a wave.

"That girl's a piece of work." Sam pointed out as they heard the door slam.

"Oh you have no idea." Nick responded, helping himself to what was left of the food.

The Lucky Penny was packed, since it was the first Friday night of the semester. After the dinner rush, Gail had been set up behind the bar to help Charlie. Luckily, it being mostly college kids in the place, she just had to pour and pass out beers and shots, she left the mixed drinks up to the more experienced barkeep.

It wasn't long before most of her housemates/neighbors arrived trying to swindle some free booze out of the blonde, and failing miserably at it. It looked like they were only shy two of the girls as they pounced on a couple of open tables, pushing them together.

"Where's Traci and Frankie?" Gail asked as the seniors ordered their drinks.

"Traci went to see Dex and Juliet has a date." Juliet informed her housemate, something she would've known if she hadn't been hiding out at the boys' house all afternoon.

"Ooo jealous Peck?" Sam immediately teased.

"Hardly, we all know she's just trying to fill the void of not having me," Gail retorted as she opened tabs for each of them. She poured out their drinks and watched as they rejoined the rest of the group. A part of her was envious at how easy it was for them all to get along, the seniors easily taking the new kids under their wings, and each of the freshman quickly making friends with one another. But making friends had never come easy for Gail, she had always been guarded and few found her snarky sense of humor endurable. Not that she didn't have good reason to be guarded. Gail was a very loyal person to the few people she considered a friend, a title she didn't dole out often. In return for said loyalty, she had been privy to watching her boyfriend and oldest friend fall for one another, yeah that's what happens when you trust people. She tried to push the thoughts out of her head knowing where they would lead.

She glanced up at the door as she heard the bell above it sound. She was surprised when she saw that the newest patron of the bar was none other than the brunette from the park. Turns out she looks just as good in regular clothes, as she did in her running gear, although she technically had less skin showing. What surprised Gail even more was that she was holding hands with a very pretty redhead who was pulling her towards a booth in the back. She wasn't sure what the twinge in her gut was at the sight of the two women but whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant.