Ch. 10
A/N: Wow, I really didn't expect the response I got from the last chapter, seriously, thank you! So, I was told in no uncertain terms to push all distractions out of my life and focus solely on preparing for an extremely important test that I have coming up in a few weeks. Luckily for you, my dear readers, I have never been very good at following orders and what they don't know can't hurt me, as long you keep this a secret ;)
Side note: I never said Gail would grovel; the girl is barely capable of apologizing...
"Well that was unexpected." Frankie commented as she watched Holly storm off. She had known the other girl for years and had never been able to get that kind of a rise out of her. She was one of the calmest people Frankie knew; she always let everything slide right off her back. But clearly the song had struck a nerve. Whoops.
Gail glared at the brunette but didn't say anything. Why had she changed the lyrics? It had to have been the tequila. Tequila made it seem like a good idea, then again tequila made most things seem like a good idea, liking singing karaoke in a bar filled with future colleagues.
"What?" Frankie asked throwing her hands up in question.
"You had to pick that song?" Gail demanded, thanks to the girl's machinations she now had a friend mad at her and she was too drunk to do anything about it.
Frankie snickered, "I thought Holly would like it." She had honestly thought her friend would've been flattered, she knew she would've been if someone who looked like Gail had been singing to her. The only thing that would've made it better would've been if Jess had been around to witness it. Her head would've literally exploded. It would've been great.
"Clearly, you were wrong." The blonde bit out. She needed more booze, something, anything to erase the disappointment she had heard in Holly's voice. She hated disappointing people, but she should be used to it by now.
"She'll get over it." Frankie responded confidently. She may not have expected that reaction, but Holly would get back to normal, she always did.
Gail snorted, "I wouldn't. I would've turned you into my own personal piñata."
"Please, it's Holly, she is like the most chill person I've ever met. She'll untwist her panties about it in no time you'll see." Frankie downed the rest of her drink.
"She didn't look very chill." The blonde muttered as she remembered the expression on the brunette's face, it was one she hadn't seen before. Maybe Holly had been body-snatched too. Maybe pod-Holly had returned from Vancouver. Gail had to actually restrain herself from texting the medical student and asking.
Just then Steve came up, the boy had watched the whole interaction from a safe distance away. "I don't think I've ever seen Holly that pissed before." Echoing Frankie's own thoughts from earlier.
Gail punched him in the arm, which Frankie mirrored on the other side. "Ow! What was that for?" He whined.
"For being a wimp." Frankie growled.
"For being a traitor." Gail snarled.
"Jeeze, I should've stayed on the other side of the bar." He complained while rubbing his arms. He noticed the glare he was receiving from each of the girls, "Which is where I'm going now, see ya!" And he took off once more, before he became the girls' punching bag, again.
Frankie rolled her eyes, but when she saw the look on the blonde's face, she decided to hightail it out of there too. She started to head back to the tables currently occupied by her housemates and neighbors, when she noticed Dov throw an arm around the back of Chloe's chair and lean in closely as he tried to get the redhead's attention. So Frankie changed course and instead headed towards one of Oliver's cop-friends who had been giving her the up-down all night.
"This is why I hate people." Gail grumbled to herself as she slipped onto a stool at the bar and tried to get the bartender's attention.
Jerry slid a glass her way, "Didn't work for me either." He morosely took a sip of his own drink.
Gail hadn't noticed her neighbor when she had grabbed the stool but she took the drink gratefully and winced at the familiar burn of the whiskey before asking, "What are you talking about Barber?"
"The song." Jerry pointed out. He had tried serenading his own crush that night and yet she was currently sitting on the lap of her boyfriend, surrounded by their friends. He had gone to the bar to get away from the sickening display where he had found his blonde comrade, who looked as downcast as he felt.
"I didn't pick it." She pointed out. It hadn't been her choice to sing the song, though she had also thought it was kind of funny at the time too. But if it had been up to her, she would've picked something subtler. That's if she was picking a song for someone else to sing, of course.
"I didn't either, Sammy picked the song. Didn't stop me from singing it to her, though." Jerry pointed out sullenly, before looking at the blonde and smiling slightly, "It was a good performance though."
Gail nodded in agreement, "Yours too." They clinked glasses and returned to their silent meditation.
"Ok party poopers, cheer up, the night is young and the booze is plentiful," Oliver threw an arm around each of his desolate friends seated at the bar. It was his birthday, which meant he was the only one who could cry if he wanted to.
Both Jerry and Gail chuckled. The blonde leaned over the bar and finally got the bartender's attention, Traci was right, it was all about the boobs. She ordered another round for herself and the boys, but she made sure to put it on Frankie's tab, figuring it was the least she could do.
The night went on and Gail eventually found herself having fun again, laughing at everyone making a fool of themselves. The drunker they got, the worse the performances were, and the more ridiculous the song choices. But everyone had a good time, especially the birthday boy. She even managed to push the nagging thoughts of the look on Holly's face to the back of her mind as she downed shot after shot. They stayed till last call, when the college kids finally bid farewell to the coppers, all of the girls planting kisses on the birthday boy's cheeks, which his girlfriend, Radish-no, Artichoke-crap, maybe it was Celery-yeah, Celery was surprisingly ok with. The youngsters piled into cabs and made their way home, with a quick pit stop for food, at Gail's demand.
It was well after 3am when Gail and the rest of her housemates finally stumbled their way to their beds. She didn't bother changing, just peeling herself from her jeans before collapsing on top of the covers, letting Chloe turn off the light and close the door. But before she let her dizzy head finally drift off into unconsciousness, she pulled up a familiar contact on her phone. She opened their conversation, ignored the unanswered text from earlier in the week, and tapped out a text to the best of her inebriated ability.
Officer Danger: Sprry for the sonngg I didntdo ti on pupose.
She tried to stay awake long enough to get a response, not taking into account the late hour. But sleep won out and the blonde fell into a dreamless state, the alcohol fuzzing her brain enough to stop thinking for a while.
Gail awoke late the next day. She was nursing a wicked hangover despite the pizza they all scarfed down on their way home from the bar. She groaned as she sat up in bed, clutching at her aching head with her hands. She knew she should've drank more water before bed. Oh well, too late now. She glanced across her room and noticed the absence of her roommate. She prayed the redhead had already made coffee.
The blonde stumbled her way to the kitchen and collapsed onto a stool at the breakfast bar. Chloe didn't bother turning around as she greeted her roommate, "Morning, or should I say afternoon?" She was still surprisingly chipper, much to Gail's annoyance.
"God, Princess take it down a notch or ten. My head can't handle your peppiness." She grumbled and buried her face on her arms.
Chloe slid a cup of coffee, a large glass of water, and two painkillers next to the blonde's head, nudging her arm. "Want food?"
"Maybe."
"How about some pancakes to soak up whatever alcohol is left in your system."
"Only if you can make them without talking."
Chloe playfully zipped her lips and threw away the key. She turned back to making the batter. She was going to need a lot of pancakes, considering the blonde was the first to wake up but she was sure the rest would be close behind. She had been the only one smart enough to actually drink some water the night before, plus she had already had her aspirin so she was basically back to normal, maybe a little paler than usual.
Sure enough, she had just finished the first batch of flapjacks when the rest of the house stumbled down the stairs.
"Peck, where are your pants?" Juliet asked as she joined Chloe in the kitchen and poured herself and the rest of the girls some coffee.
Gail didn't bother lifting her head up, "Don't know, don't care."
"It's a good look for you." Frankie remarked, her voice more gravelly than usual, as she plopped down beside the blonde.
Gail merely grunted in response. She didn't look up until she felt Chloe nudge her again with a plate. "You can stay, Princess."
"You're welcome Grumpy." Chloe joyfully responded. "Ok, who else wants some?"
The three other girls raised their hands. Gail was too busy drowning her pancakes in syrup to comment on the lack of Traci, she vaguely remembered something about her going home with Dex.
By the time all the girls were done eating, they heard the front door open and Traci walked in still wearing the outfit from the night before.
All the girls whistled and jeered. Traci flipped them off and pointed out that it wasn't a walk-of-shame when it was her boyfriend but she went upstairs to shower and change anyway.
The rest of the girls eventually followed suit before the freshmen settled into their living room, they all needed to study for midterms, and they needed to get a head start before the boys woke up and distracted them. They also had to hope the alcohol from the night before hadn't erased everything they had learned the afternoon before.
It didn't take long before the girls starting quizzing Gail on the info. Sure enough, every answer she provided them was almost word-for-word what their professors had said in class or what the book said, though her answers were more terse and usually accompanied by some kind of snarky remark. She was better than Google, though more cutting.
She may have been participating but Gail was only half paying attention, she kept staring at her phone. She hadn't remembered sending the text the night before, but she must've since it was still open on her phone when she awoke. But there hadn't been a response.
"You know your phone usually rings to let you know someone's trying to get ahold of you." Traci pointed out, trying to get the other girl to focus back on studying. Not that she seemed to need it.
"I was just checking the time." The blonde grumbled.
"Well, it's about thirty seconds past the last time you checked."
Gail unglued her eyes from her phone long enough to glare at the girl. "No need to be jealous of a phone, Trace, it's not the phone's fault that you can't be as awesome as me."
"Whatever, do you think the boys are up yet?" Traci wondered aloud to the room. Both Chloe and Andy pulled out their phones to wake them up if they weren't already.
"Who cares?" The blonde grunted.
"What's your problem?" Andy asked.
"My problem is that it's just more leeches coming over to latch on and maybe I'm sick of it." Gail grabbed her books and headed up to her room, thundering past Frankie who was on her way to the kitchen.
"Hey! Watch it Peck, you aren't that dainty," Frankie complained rubbing her shoulder before heading to the fridge.
She grabbed a bottle of water and turned to leave but a very serious-looking Chloe blocked her path.
"You need to fix this." Chloe demanded.
"Fix what, Muppet? You require a bit more fixing than even my extraordinary hands are capable of." Frankie snidely replied.
"Not cute. Fix whatever it is you broke that has my roommate grumpier than usual."
"Your roommate has a hangover, like me, can you lower your voice?" Frankie winced a bit before taking a swig of her water.
"All I know is that she hasn't been the same since her doctor friend walked out after the show you two put on. The one that you had me help you with. The one you said would help Gail out. Well, she doesn't look too helped. So fix it." And Chloe marched back out to the living room.
"Women," Frankie muttered as she headed back to her room. She had never been good at taking orders, and she wasn't about to listen to a girl that she could barely stand most of the time, no matter how often she imagined her naked.
Frankie had no idea how she ended up there, honestly, but sure enough by Monday afternoon, she was standing outside of the apartment she had become familiar with in the last few weeks but had had no intention of returning to. She reasoned that she was doing the right thing; since she had pissed off a friend and that it had nothing to do with Chloe annoying her. But since when did she care about pissing people off? Well, there was a first time for everything. So she knocked and waited impatiently.
She heard footsteps approach the heavy door before it swung open to reveal Holly in a pair of sweats, her glasses slipped up to the top of her head. She looked equal parts surprised and annoyed, "Frankie? Lisa's not here."
"Actually, I was looking for you."
Holly shifted her weight so that she was leaning against the doorframe but didn't invite Frankie in. She crossed her arms in front of her chest reflexively and cocked her head to the side, "Why?"
"Apparently, I'm supposed to apologize for the song." Frankie reluctantly explained, every word dragging from her lips like it was actually painful for her. Then she grumbled something about an annoying Muppet under her breath that Holly couldn't make out before continuing, "It was just a joke Hols, I didn't know it would piss you off so much."
"Great apology." Holly sarcastically replied. She continued to watch the other brunette warily. She was mildly curious about what brought her friend over in the first place. She had been the butt end of Frankie's jokes plenty of times and none of those occasions had ever garnered an apology. That included the time Frankie had shown an awfully embarrassing picture of Holly to some girl Holly was trying to pick up in a bar, successfully killing the moment, for no better reason than she thought it was funny. That was also the reason that Frankie was no longer allowed to be Holly's wingman, ever.
"Hey, I'm trying here. You know this is more than I usually do." Frankie replied defensively. She sighed deeply, she still couldn't believe she was doing this, but she trudged on, "Look if you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at me. I picked the song, I got Steve to help, Gail had no idea and she was three sheets to the wind at that point." She was there to help the younger Peck out; the older one was fair game to throw under the bus, especially after he had abandoned ship.
"I noticed." Holly conceded but her face remained set, unreadable.
Frankie wasn't used to her friend being so stubborn, that was usually her job. Holly was the type to make someone else feel better; she forgave and doled out second, third, fourth chances like Oprah gave out new cars. "So why are you still mad? You never get mad, and you definitely never stay mad."
"Well people change." That statement felt heavier than the three words it contained.
"Really Hols? That's the best you got?" Holly just shrugged in response, "So how long do you plan on staying mad for?"
"I'm not mad, I'm..." The medical student trailed off, she was at a loss for words. She didn't really know how to explain what she felt. The anger had already past but the embarrassment and hurt still stung and she knew she was overreacting but it didn't change the way she felt. But she also didn't feel like admitting that to her friend, anger was safer.
Speechless Holly was also something Frankie had never seen before; Holly was a rambler. This was weird.
"You're..." Frankie tried to encourage the other girl.
"Done with this conversation." Holly replied bitterly and moved to head back in but Frankie caught the door with her foot.
"Seriously? What the hell is going on with you? It was a song, a joke, something to laugh about. You know, ha ha. Why is it bugging you so goddamn much? Jess wasn't even there!" Frankie's voice was rising; she had already reached the end of her very short rope.
"I'm aware!" Holly responded defensively. She was well aware that Jess hadn't been there. That hadn't just been by happenstance.
"So, then what is it? Is it about Gail?" She saw something flicker in her friend's eyes, "Is that why you're so mad, because Gail was singing it? God, I wish a hot blonde would sing to me."
Holly was thankful that her tan skin covered her blush, "Of course you would. Why her Frankie? Why'd you set Gail up to sing it?"
Frankie eyeballed her friend, as she weighed out what to say next. She could say she did it because she had a feeling the blonde had a major crush on her that she just wouldn't admit and she wanted to help them along. She could say that she wanted Holly to come to her senses and dump Jess' annoying ass. Or she could play dumb, "Why not her, Hols? Why did Gail singing the song get under your skin so badly?"
"Because it's bad enough when one of your friends is setting you up, let alone three of them." Holly replied huffily. How hard could it be to believe that?
Frankie studied her skeptically, "You sure that's all it is?"
"What else would it be?" Holly stubbornly replied.
"I don't know, maybe it bothered you because you're starting to have more than friendly feelings for Gail," Frankie watched Holly open her mouth to protest, but she plowed on, "Hey, I don't blame you. Gail is hot but you have a girlfriend and you're playing with fire."
Holly shook her head in disbelief, her friend had so much gall and she was completely wrong. "I'm not doing anything, and just for the record, you don't know everything."
Frankie paused, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Holly rubbed her heels into her eyes wearily, "I thought you came here to apologize? Right now all you're doing is pissing me off all over again. Why don't you quit while you're behind?"
"Seriously, did Jess finally rub off on you? You've never been like this."
Holly laughed bitterly, "God, why does everything come back to Jess?"
"Umm because she's your girlfriend and she's a bitch and you put up with it."
"Not anymore." Holly stated evenly.
"What?"
"I said not anymore, did I stutter Frankie?"
"Please, don't tell me Jess dumped you again?" They had been there before, more than once. The bitchy ginger would throw her friend aside for however long and then come groveling, begging the brunette to take her back, which she eventually would.
Holly narrowed her eyes, "You know what Frankie? Why don't you remove your foot from your mouth and use it to walk back home."
"Okay, okay I'm sorry. Really I am Hols. Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, I want to get back to studying and erase this conversation from my memory."
"How about you just erase everything minus me actually apologizing?" Frankie replied with a sly grin, trying to salvage the situation.
Holly shook her head at her friend's antics, "You won't quit will you? Fine, Frankie, I forgive you. I'm not mad, can we drop it now please?"
"Absolutely, but one more question..." Holly rolled her eyes, "How hot was it to have Gail singing to you."
"Good-bye Frankie." This time, Holly successfully closed the door in her friend's face.
"Smell ya later Hols." Frankie smirked as she shouted through the door. That had been an enlightening conversation. Now she just wondered, if Holly and Jess had broken up before or after the song. She decided she would find out eventually, but she contemplated whether or not to mention it to the blonde. Nah, it would be more fun to wait and see what happened.
It was Tuesday before Gail made any attempt to talk to Holly. She hadn't sent any texts after the one Saturday night, well technically Sunday morning. She hadn't heard anything from the brunette either. She hadn't even seen her running that morning or the morning before. But on Tuesday, she convinced Chris to drop her off at the clinic after her classes. She made sure she showed up early and she walked over to a nearby cafe and ordered two coffees, then she went back and grabbed a seat. Now she just had to wait and hope that Holly was planning on volunteering that day. She waited nervously and was busy fiddling with the cups when she heard footsteps approach.
"Gail?" Yikes, her real name, she must still be pissed. "What are you doing here?" Holly asked with genuine surprise.
"I thought you might need my help again. You said that the clinic could always use volunteers so I'm volunteering. I also brought coffee." Gail held up one of the cups she had been toying with, offering it to the brunette. The nervousness was evident in her voice, she really wasn't very comfortable trying to make or keep friends. In fact, she normally didn't give a rat's ass if someone stopped talking to her, but for some reason Holly was different, her friendship mattered.
Holly really hadn't been anticipating the blonde just showing up, considering they hadn't really spoken properly in the last week, unless you counted her blowing up on the blonde at the party, but she didn't really want to. What she had wanted to do was to reach out to the other girl but at the same time she knew Gail would be busy with midterms, so she hadn't wanted to distract her either. She was also still trying to figure exactly why she had overreacted, and kept replaying her conversation with Frankie from the day before in her head. "Did you talk to Frankie?"
"No, why?" Gail was confused about what her housemate would have to do with her showing up. Besides, it being Frankie's fault that the brunette was pissed at her in the first place, but volunteering and the coffee had been Gail's way of apologizing and had been her own idea.
"No reason." Holly looked nervous for some reason, "Umm...You really don't have to volunteer. You have midterms this week, you should be studying."
"Well, the thing about languages is that by using them, you're technically studying," Gail pointed out. She had already rationalized her appearance in her own head so that she didn't look like some creepy stalker. Plus, she had completed most of her exams the day before, so it really wasn't a big deal, she was just helping out the community.
Holly nodded, but still looked unsure. She hadn't really been expecting Gail to volunteer again after the first time, at least not without some kind of pressure from Holly. As usual the blonde was catching her off-guard.
"I mean I can go if you prefer." Gail offered when she saw the look on the other girl's face, maybe she had overstepped. She got up, she would have to call for a ride or grab the bus. She hated the bus, strangers always wanted to talk to her.
"It's up to you, but since you're already here I'm sure they would like the help."
Holly started to head towards the door, but as she passed by the blonde, she felt a hand lightly touch her arm to stop her. She stopped where she was, which was dangerously close to the blonde, and looked into the stormy blue eyes. Gail's voice was soft and nervous when she spoke. "Listen, the other night I was really drunk."
"I figured." Holly interrupted Gail's train of thought, but she was stating the obvious. After all Holly had been one of the few sober people there and that was only because she had shown up so late.
"You're observant." Gail flippantly responded, before getting back on track with her apology of sorts. Does it count as an apology if she doesn't actually say she's sorry? "Anyway, that song was stupid, I shouldn't have sang it. I didn't even know you were there when I started it."
Well that would explain the lyric change during the song. "It was also inaccurate."
"What?" Gail asked curiously.
Holly ignored the question and glanced at her watch, "Come on, if you're serious about helping out we have to get inside, or we're going to be late."
Gail nodded and finished off her coffee before tossing it in the trash. She followed the brunette in. She would just have to wait to ask.
The clinic had been packed. There was a stomach bug going around so there were sick kids everywhere. The two girls had been extremely busy going from patient to patient, with little time in between to talk. Holly appreciated the fact that Gail was being a trooper, still being the goofy, sweet friend to the patients that she had seen last time. She knew how the blonde felt about germs but the girl was trudging along doing a fairly decent job hiding her displeasure, at the very least the kids had no idea how much they grossed Gail out.
"Thanks for coming today." Holly thanked the other girl as they walked out of the clinic together after finishing their shift.
"Don't mention it." Gail shrugged off the gratitude before pausing nervously, "So, are we good, Nerd?"
Holly was ready to reassure the girl that of course they were, but then she got a better idea. With a wry smile on her face, she shrugged, "Depends."
"On?" Gail wondered warily. She narrowed her eyes, wondering what the other girl was going to get her to agree to next.
"On what you feed me." She responded cheekily.
Gail smirked; it was the same thing she had said two weeks earlier. "Oh, so I have to feed you?"
"Yep." Holly beamed a flippant smile at Gail.
Well, if the brunette wanted to eat with her then she probably wasn't still mad at her. She'd take it. "Alright, what do want?"
"Pizza." The brunette responded decisively.
"Pizza it is." Gail followed Holly to her car, and slipped into the passenger seat. She shot Chris a text letting him know she wouldn't need a ride home.
On their way to the pizza parlor, the two girls were each lost in quiet contemplation as the radio softly played in the background.
Holly finally cleared her throat, "I'm sorry."
Gail turned to look at her, confusion etched all over her face, "For what?"
"For overreacting the other night. I don't know why I did, it was just a stupid song right? And it was something I really should've expected when I saw Frankie was messing with the machine." Holly explained apologetically.
"Meh, you were better than I would've been." Gail probably would've annihilated the whole group. At the very least she would've already have planned out her revenge by now. "Although, should I be worried about some kind of Revenge of the Nerds type of shit?"
Holly chuckled, "Have you actually seen any of the movies you reference, or do you just really like the titles?"
"Are you doubting my Pop Culture awesomeness?"
"Who me? No, I would never." Holly replied faux-innocently.
"Hmph." Gail nodded in acceptance as they pulled up to the pizza shop, glad to be back to their usual banter.
They each ordered a pie and grabbed a seat to wait for them to be made. Gail was still trying to figure out the cryptic comment the brunette made before their shift. "So what did you mean the song was inaccurate?"
Holly had been looking at the pictures on the walls around the restaurant. But she turned her attention to the blonde before she pointed out the obvious, "Well you're not in love with me right?"
"No, of course not." The blonde responded quickly, slightly flustered. She wasn't in love with anyone. In fact, when she thought about her past relationships she was fairly certain she had never been in love. She wasn't entirely certain she was even capable of loving anyone. So surely she couldn't be in love with a girl she had just met.
Holly nodded and went back to glancing at the pictures on the wall before adding, "And I'm not 'Jessie's Girl', at least not anymore."
Wait, what? When had that happened? Gail looked at the other girl dubiously, "You're not?"
Holly shook her head, as she looked down at the table and started playing with the silverware. She fidgeted with her glasses as she collected her thoughts. "No, actually we had broken up the night before the party. I wasn't even planning on going since I was still trying to get ahead of my work but I thought it might make for a nice distraction and to see my friends." She glanced up at the blonde quickly who was watching her intently before glancing back down. "I didn't know they were going to make fun of me in front of everyone."
Gail winced a little, "I wasn't making fun of you. "
"I know but it certainly felt that way at the time, it also didn't help having my failed relationship thrown in my face." Holly pointed out. She didn't sound angry just hurt.
"I'm really sorry." Ok, that was definitely an apology, but it only seemed fair since the brunette had actually said the words first.
"I know," Holly let out a deep breath shaking off the last bits of anger and resentment. She quirked a smile at Gail, "It was a good performance though."
"It was?"
She nodded. "You have a great voice, and your rocker face made Ollie proud."
Gail laughed a little at that one. They eased into a normal conversation. Holly filled the blonde in about her trip and her grandparents. She told Gail about how surprised and excited they had been when she had shown up out of the blue. She also thanked her again for setting up the whole thing in the first place. They talked about Gail's midterms and if Holly had gotten any work done while she was away. Gail also filled Holly in on some of the highlights she had missed from the party. The two girls laughed and chatted while they ate. They teased one another about their pizza selection and got back into the ease of their friendship.
It wasn't until they were in the car again heading back to Gail's house, that the blonde decided to broach the subject of the other girl's break-up.
"This isn't one of those 'I just need space' kind of things is it?" She asked curiously. How many times had she seen those types of break-up from McNally and Callaghan? They were stupid in the blonde's opinion, either you were broken up or you weren't, space was just delaying the inevitable.
"I don't believe in space." The brunette stated honestly, mirroring the other girl's thoughts, "Plus, this was a long time coming."
Gail waited quietly, expecting the brunette to elaborate but she didn't and Gail didn't push, instead she simply agreed, "Space is for losers. So can I offer my services?"
"Services?" Holly looked at Gail curiously before teasing, "I don't think I need a hooker, it's only been about a week."
"Very funny, I meant as your break-up buddy, though now I'm regretting the offer."
"Well, I appreciate it but I'm good." The other girl looked skeptical, "Seriously, no worries."
Gail accepted the rejection, "Well it's an open invitation."
"So is mine about you invading my study space. I mean, if you still need somewhere."
"I'll keep that in mind, Nerd. Thanks for the lift."
"Thanks for coming today, Danger. We should do it again."
"We'll see, maybe if you're lucky." She hopped out of Holly car. "Later."
Holly shook her head but waved before she pulled away from the curb. Why was this girl always surprising her?
Charlie was in a real pickle. It was Friday night and he had just received a call about a family emergency. He needed to leave right away but the bar was packed since the college students were celebrating the end of midterms. He couldn't stay so he needed to rely on someone else to close up the bar for the night. Both Traci and Gail were working, which meant he was going to have to trust the girls to do the job. The blonde had been working for him long enough that he knew she knew what needed to be done, but would the bar still be standing by the end of the night?
"Peck, Nash." He called both girls over to his office in the back of the bar.
"Sup Boss?" Gail asked once they arrived.
"I gotta head out and deal with something. Can you two handle closing tonight?" He wondered if the girls were up to it. They were only college freshmen and this was a big responsibility.
"Of course." They both nodded fervently.
He looked between the two of them, weighing out his options before handing a set of the keys to Traci.
"Hey, I've been here longer." Gail complained loudly.
"Exactly! So you," he pointed at the blonde, "Make sure she closes everything up right."
"And you," He pointed at Traci, "Make sure she doesn't burnt the place down."
"I would never." Gail held a hand to her chest dramatically in mock outrage.
Charlie ignored his bartender's theatrics, "Do not drink all my booze. Do not touch the good stuff and don't even think of opening up anything from the back for your friends. Any damages come out of your pay." He warned with a face that said he was as serious as a heart attack.
"Aye, aye, Captain." Gail saluted the man, causing him to contemplate calling for someone else to come in and do it.
"Understood Boss." Traci replied with a bit more seriousness.
Charlie shook his head and hoped that he hadn't just made a terrible decision, but he really didn't have many options. He checked his watch and realized that he really had to get out of there. He bid the girls good-night and silently prayed they didn't destroy the place.
Once the boss was gone, Traci and Gail exchanged wicked smiles. Traci whipped out her phone sending a message to their friends, before they both headed back to work.
They finally ushered out the last of the patrons out the door, minus their friends at 2am. They had eight hours to enjoy the bar and get it looking pristine, well as far as bars go, before it opened again at 10am. Let the games begin.
"Aw man this is so awesome, we have the bar to ourselves." Dov exclaimed as the kids all made themselves comfortable. He went to hop behind the bar and make himself a drink but was stopped by Gail.
"Whoa there, Epstein, touch my bar and lose a hand. That goes for all of you. The only one serving drinks tonight is me and you're still going to have to pay at least some of your tabs."
The whole room started to complain and they looked to Traci for help. But she just held up her hands and backed-up the blonde, "You heard the woman."
"Whatever," Dov grumbled and headed back out to where the tables were. He instead focused his attention on jerry-rigging the jukebox, so they could play whatever songs they wanted without actually paying for them. His computer science minor was finally coming in handy.
Gail quickly started pouring out shots and beers for the group. She was still in her brace but was used to working with it now. She even started to show off, flipping the bottles around and taught a few of her friends how to make some of the mixed drinks they ordered. Everyone was busy goofing around when she noticed Chris sitting morosely by himself at the bar.
"I feel like I'm going to regret this but who kicked your puppy Diaz?" Gail asked as she poured him a beer and slid it over to him.
"Denise and I broke up."
"Rough, what happened?"
"She said that the city was changing me and wanted me to come home. I think she just wanted more of a commitment."
"Like what?"
"Like a ring."
"Yeesh. Well if you ask me you dodged a bullet. You are a virile young man, we need to get you set up here."
Chris looked up at the blonde slightly hopefully, "How?"
"Hey ladies," Gail shouted grabbing the attention of the room, "This stud is now back on the market. Do I hear fifty bucks?"
Chris turned a beet red. "That's how you help?"
"Actually my job is just to get you drunk, so start chugging." The boy complied and barely finished his drink before the rest of the group had come over and began trying to cheer him up, with various platitudes. The girls eventually tugged him out of his seat and got him to dance with them, while the boys pulled him over to play games with them. He settled back into the group, who were successfully distracting him.
Time went on and the whole room was abuzz with chatter as everyone was goofing around. Sammy and Jerry were playing Andy and Traci in a game of pool, which by the looks of it they had money on. Nick was glaring at Swarek so badly that he missed the dartboard entirely where he was playing with Chris and Juliet. Chloe had been dancing in the middle of the room where both Duncan and Dov seemed to be fighting for her attention. The bartender observed the room from her usual perch. Which is how she saw Frankie staring daggers at the trio, her jaw clenching each time one of the boys touched the redhead. Gail was going to give her so much shit for that later.
That's when Gail noticed Frankie check her phone and head to the door, unlocking and opening it. Before Gail could ask her what she was doing, she saw Holly pop in through the doorway. She said something to Frankie, who just smiled in reply, before making her way over to the bar.
She slipped onto one of the stools in front of Gail, and quirked one of her signature smiles, "Hey stranger."
"Hey, yourself." Gail replied, "What are you having?"
"What do you suggest?"
"Tequila". The blonde poured out two shots, which they clinked together before each girl threw it down the hatch. She had been holding back from drinking, knowing that she had to be responsible tonight, but figured a couple of drinks weren't even enough to make her tipsy.
So she poured out two more, "So what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"
The brunette chuckled, "Martin Scorsese? You know one of these days, we're going to have to watch these movies and I'm actually going to quiz you."
"Oh ye of little faith." Gail shook her head at the other girl, they clinked glasses again and took the shots, "Seriously, what brings you out at this late hour?"
"Frankie said you were closing the place down tonight and asked if I wanted to join the party. Hope you don't mind."
"Nah the more the merrier. So what can I get you next?"
"Actually can we talk for a sec?" She gestured to the back hallway, where the office and storage rooms were.
Gail eyed her suspiciously, trying to figure out what the girl wanted to talk to her about in private but nodded. She waved over to Traci and gestured to the back to let her know where she was going then let the brunette lead her.
They went into the storage room, which was filled with crates of alcohol. Gail leaned up against one, "What's up?"
Holly bit her lip and nervously adjusted her glasses, "What did Jess say to you?"
"What?" She tried to rack her mind for the last time she had seen McD, it definitely hadn't been in the last week.
"Last week before I got back from Vancouver, I heard she came over to the bar. What did she say to you?" Holly asked again.
"Oh, that. Don't worry about it." Gail dismissed the other girl's concerns. She could handle McD, Holly didn't need to worry about it.
"But she did come to talk to you?" The blonde reluctantly nodded, "God, I can't believe her. Was that why you stopped responding to my texts?"
Gail refused to answer that instead she deflected, "I thought you and her were done, why are you bringing her up?"
"We are, or at least I'm done with her." The truth was that she had only just found out about her ex harassing her friend at the bar, "Lisa mentioned it but wouldn't tell me what happened."
"It really doesn't matter." The blonde tried to reassure the other girl, who hadn't stopped pacing the whole time they were talking. Her steps getting faster the as the conversation went on.
"It does. You're my friend and she had no right coming to your job and causing problems for you. I'm sorry for whatever she said or did."
"How many times do I have to tell you not to apologize for her? She's a big girl Holly, you're not responsible for what she does."
"I am when she was harassing you because of me. Because she was jealous of..." The brunette had continued her nervous pacing but stopped in her tracks when two pale hands grabbed a hold of her arms, grounding her. She lost track of her thoughts at the proximity of the other girl, especially when she looked into those deep blue eyes.
"Of what?" Gail prompted.
Holly opened her mouth to respond but the door to the back room flew open, interrupting them, and causing her to jump back from the blonde.
"What the fuck Gerald? What are you doing back here?" Gail furiously directed all her attention to the intruder.
The idiot rolled his eyes, oblivious to the moment he had ruined, "Seriously, Gail? I've been living next door to you for months, my name is Duncan."
"Well you act like a Gerald. Why are you still standing there?" Gail bit out.
"Frankie sent me back here to get some more tequila." The boy explained, he had only agreed because the senior girl frightened him, though looking at the murderous expression on the blonde's face he was beginning to regret that decision.
"Does Frankie work here?"
"Ummm...well...no...but, like..."
"No, she doesn't." The blonde halted his nervous explanation, leveling the boy with one of her best menacing glares, "Did I stutter when I said I was the only one serving drinks tonight? That means you only touch the alcohol once I've given it you. Leave now or you'll realize how serious I was about losing a hand. Or maybe another appendage."
The boy actually gulped before dashing out of the room with his tail between his legs. Holly laughed at the ability of the other girl to scare the boy away even though he was substantially larger than her, and could barely suppress her chuckling when the blonde huffed out an angry breath and turned her attention back to the bemused brunette.
"You were saying." Gail tried to bring back up what McD had been jealous about, as she mentally noted that she was going to have to mock Frankie later for sending Gerald back there just because he was flirting with Chloe.
"Forget it, you're right, we don't need to talk about Jess." The brunette dismissed the conversation. If Gail told her not to worry, then she wouldn't and she didn't really want to think about her ex anymore. "Maybe we should get back out there before they actually do start serving themselves."
Gail was still curious about what the other girl had been about to say but accepted that the subject was dropped. So they headed back to the main room. When they returned, Gail pointed out that Holly would need to catch up with the rest of the group, so the brunette ordered a Long-Island Iced Tea. The bartender fixed Holly's drink while Frankie introduced her to the rest of the gang. The seniors were already familiar with the medical student having met her when they were all freshmen. The rest of the kids greeted her warmly and Chloe was positively bouncing with excitement at seeing Gail's doctor friend again. She was already talking Holly's ear off. The brunette was nodding along and responding politely but sent a look back Gail's way that screamed: Is she always like this? Causing the blonde to laugh.
The alcohol kept flowing causing the group to get rowdier as the night went on. Eventually, the boys and girls started arguing over what game to play as a group, until Sammy challenged the girls to a relay to decide. The victors would choose what the group would do next. This was dangerous territory, considering there was a good chance that whatever the boys came up with was going to include the word "strip" in it, but the girls accepted, so Gail poured the beers, setting them up along the bar top. She decided to be the odd person out, making her the referee.
They began to assemble into two lines, arguing about who should go when, and rearranging themselves multiple times until Gail started counting down. At her mark, they started chugging, each person not allowed to touch their drink until the person before them finished. It came down to the anchor for each team, which pitted Sammy against Holly. Gail cheered along with the rest of the girls when her nerd won. After much debate, the girls finally settled on challenging the boys to a game of "Truth, Dare or Drink."
The group arranged themselves into a giant circle and made sure the rules were clearly established: First player got to start the game by spinning an empty bottle and he or she got to ask a question of their choice to whoever it landed on. The person being asked was given the option to answer, take a dare, or take a drink. The catch being that the drink or dare was chosen by the person asking the question. If the dare was refused or not completed properly, or the question not really answered, then the person being asked had to drink twice the amount. Once the person answered, completed their dare or drank, then he or she got to spin. Since Holly sealed the victory for the girls she got to go first.
She spun the bottle, which landed on Frankie; she didn't hesitate to ask "Most embarrassing moment Anderson?"
Frankie racked her mind for something embarrassing, which was hard to think of considering she genuinely didn't give a shit what other people thought of her. She finally thought of one and physically cringed. "Freshman year of college I went to the gym with this girl I had a major crush on. We were both on the treadmills and I was trying to show off when I tripped. I tried to catch myself but failed miserably and my pants got caught on the machine and ripped off." Everyone groaned, "Yeah that wasn't the worst part, I hadn't had the chance to do laundry for a while so I was on my last pair of underwear. You know the one that looks awful on you but you're desperate enough to wear. Yep, that's what I was wearing." The group erupted in laughter.
So it went, ping-ponging around the room as the bottle kept getting spun. The group found out that Traci had lost her virginity at 14. Jerry passed on his question, which resulted in him dancing on top of the bar to Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy." Sammy revealed that he had put his father in jail. Andy passed on her question, which meant she had to give a lap dance to Sammy. Gail thought Nick's head was going to explode at that one, which she gleefully enjoyed. Dov had to do two jaeger bombs after he failed to hit the bulls-eye on the dartboard with his eyes closed. The group also learned that Juliet had gone to fat camp when she was in middle school, and that Gerald was deathly afraid of clowns. He spun the bottle and landed on Chloe, "Alright, Price thing you are most ashamed of?"
Rather than answer, Chloe decided to take a dare. Gerald smiled smugly, "Two words: Body Shot."
Chloe pondered her options for a minute, until she finally agreed and got up from her seat. Gail noticed Frankie visibly stiffen. But when Gerald went to get up too, the redhead shoved him back down. "Not so fast, you said body shot, you never said who got to take it."
The boy protested but Chloe sauntered over to Frankie and tugged her up from her seat, "Come on Crankypants." Frankie was stunned but didn't show it, she worked hard to keep her face impassive as they made their way over to the bar, "Oh bartender." Chloe called out as she hopped up onto the counter.
Gail made her way behind the bar and grabbed a lime, the salt, and the tequila. "Ready ladies?"
Chloe pulled up her shirt, exposing her taut abdomen as she stretched out. She propped herself up on her elbows, placed the lime in between her soft lips, and cocked an eyebrow at Frankie, challenging her to take the shot. Frankie's eyes hungrily took in the sight of the other girl but she was forced out of her reverie when Gail nudged her with the saltshaker. Frankie leaned down and slowly slid her tongue in a trail between Chloe's pronounced hip bones, just above her low-slung jeans. She placed the salt there and licked it up as Gail poured the tequila into Chloe's navel, which Frankie had to quickly drink up before it spilled all over Chloe's clothes. Her tongue dipped into the other girl's belly button and Frankie took her time licking and sucking to make sure all the booze was gone. She smiled as she felt the muscles below her mouth quiver. When she was finally done she moved up and took the lime from Chloe's mouth, her lips grazing the redhead's. The two girls locked eyes; an undercurrent of desire rippled between them until Gail threw a towel at Chloe, landing it on her face, effectively interrupting them.
"Enough eye fucking you two, we still have a game to play." Chloe cleaned up and the girls returned to the group, where everyone but Gerald was cheering and catcalling.
"That was so hot!" Dov said, but was silenced by a death glare from Frankie.
The game continued with almost everyone getting a turn at answering questions or doing dares. Much to Gail's annoyance Nick's spin had landed on her prompting him to ask her how she identified. She had to do two cement mixers (she almost puked them back up on her ex) when her response was "misanthropic", which apparently didn't count as a legitimate answer even if it did elicit a chuckle from the group. She took her turn, landing on Chris, who opted out of his question.
He had just returned from putting his clothes back on after streaking around the building when he spun the bottle and landed on Holly. "Alright Holly, have you ever done anything illegal?"
Holly had a coy smile on her lips when she responded, "Well since I'm in a room surrounded by people who want to be police officers, I think I'm going to go with a dare."
Chris studied the gorgeous brunette for a minute. When he had been talking to her earlier, he had definitely gotten the vibe that she was into him; she had been super friendly and laughed at everything he said. In his very inebriated state he came up with a great plan, "Ok, I dare you to kiss the hottest person in the room." Then he sat back in his seat with a smile on his face. The poor boy was clueless.
Gail, who had been sitting on Holly's left, felt a weird twinge in her stomach reminiscent of disappointment, when she watched the brunette rise from her seat and head to her right. She walked by each person, hovering slightly before tapping them gently on the head, and saying "duck", as she had made her way almost completely around the circle. Each person that Holly passed, made the knots in Gail's stomach turn to butterflies that fluttered with renewed vigor the closer she got to the blonde. The medical student paused the longest when she reached Frankie, who had her usual smug smile dancing on her lips but she too was a "duck". She continued her game until she finally reached Gail. Holly paused in front of the blonde, with a delicate smile on her lips as she softly said "goose".
A/N: Sorry, chapter got too long...next time "break-up buddying"...