Freedom's Just Another Word

by snarcasm318

A/U: College is supposed to be their first taste of freedom, but for the last year Gail Peck had real freedom. Now she's back, within the grasp of her controlling parents, and forced to face the nightmares she's tried to leave behind. She's used to dealing with it alone, but does she have to?

26. Chapter 26

Ch. 26

A/N: I know, I know! It's been forever since an update. I have not given up on this story, hopefully you haven't either, and I promise I won't till it reaches its conclusion which isn't happening yet. I'm also sorry for missing our anniversary my dear readers. I know it's a little late, but I hope you accept this chapter as my gift.

I have to thank Purple2015 for giving me advice on the chapter, even though it still took me forever to write it. Without her, I may never have finished the thing.

Amended disclaimer: The guest characters continue, none of them belong to me.

Oh! And Happy Halloween!

---

Gail glanced around her room helplessly for any clue as to what in the hell just happened with Holly. The brunette had gone from complete radio silence to aggressively pursuing her, which just wasn't Holly's style. Actually, it was Gail's style. Maybe it was karma for all the times Gail had sought solace in Holly's bed that the brunette would do the same thing when she was upset. But they were supposed to be moving past that. At least, that's what it seemed Holly had wanted.

The sound of the front door closing sprung her back into action. Standing around wasn't going to fix whatever was wrong, so Gail grabbed her own jacket off the floor, and sprinted down the stairs. She barely stopped to pull on her untied boots when the alarm on her phone reminded her that she needed to get ready for work. Silencing the device she headed out her door, looking for any sign of the direction Holly may have taken. No sign of the brunette so she headed towards the med student's apartment. She didn't have time to waste so she hurried the few blocks over, but when she got there no one answered the apartment door. Without a clue as to where to find Holly and no time to search for her, Gail did the only thing she could: she pulled out her phone and called the brunette, but the call went to voicemail without an answer. Instead of leaving a message, Gail shot off a text asking the brunette where she was. But Gail couldn't wait for the response as the back-up alarm went off on her phone telling her that she would definitely be late for her shift. So with a heavy heart, she hurried home to grab her stuff for the bar.

"Peck, you're late!" Gail had barely managed to get through the door before she heard the gruff voice of her employer busting her.

"Sorry, Boss. Flat tire."

"You don't own a car."

"Flat foot?"

"You're going to have a flat ass when the door hits you on the way out if you keep up the smart remarks." Charlie growled in the direction of his employee as he finished serving the patron in front of him.

Gail bit her tongue and pulled her apron around her waist as she hurried to fill in behind the bar.

Charlie held up a hand, "No, Peck, you're on tables tonight." He tossed her a pad of paper to write orders on and jerked his head in the direction of the restaurant in dismissal.

Gail froze, her jaw dropping in disbelief. "For being five minutes late?"

The older man ignored her and called out to Traci as she passed by with an empty tray. "Hey, Nash, you're behind the bar tonight."

Traci stopped loading plates to stare up at the man in confusion. She looked between him and the silently seething blonde. "But, Boss, Gail's here."

"I'm aware. Switch spots, or you can both start looking for a new job."

"Asshole." Gail muttered under her breath just out of earshot as she moved to start loading the plates Traci was supposed to be. She ignored the apologetic look from her housemate.

Charlie waited long enough to ensure that both girls traded places around the counter before heading back to his office. Once her boss had returned to the back Gail immediately pulled out her phone. No answer from Holly, so Gail sent one more message telling her to come by the Penny so they could talk.

"Where were you?" Traci asked as she handed off the orders for the tables she had already taken.

"Doesn't matter. What the hell crawled up his ass?" Gail grumbled. She didn't even bother looking at the slips and just continued piling plates distractedly.

Traci shrugged. "No clue, but he's been like that all night." Their boss had been on a warpath long before the blonde had shown up.

"Awesome." Gail replied sarcastically picking up the loaded tray and setting her shoulders.

"We can switch." Traci offered.

"We can also get fired. I don't know about you, Nash, but I could use the money." Gail grit her teeth in determination and headed off to the hungry masses.

She hated waitressing. Carrying trays of food that she couldn't eat, having to be at the customers' every beck and call, listening to them bitch about the food being cold, or her giving them the wrong order. Like Gail really gave a fuck that someone wanted their steak cooked medium rare and when she brought it out it was "definitely medium well". She had almost slapped the dude with the somewhat dry cow when he wanted the food remade and the rest of the bill comp'd because it brought Charlie back out and gave the blonde another tongue-lashing.

To make matters worse, Gail still hadn't heard from Holly despite checking her phone every time a tray wasn't in her hands.

"Oh my god, I think hell froze over." Sam called out as he led the brigade into the bar. He was the first person to catch sight of Gail navigating her way through the tables.

Gail scowled in his direction, but went over to take their orders anyway.

"Did someone put you on time-out, Peck?"

"Shut up, Sammy, or I'm going to give you the Server's Special Sauce on your burger."

Swarek frowned at the blonde, but shut his mouth anyway. Instead, he scanned the bar for someone to hit on. Spotting a group of girls sitting a few tables over, he turned to his favorite wingman. "Frankenstein, want to help a friend out?"

"Since when are we friends?" Frankie replied without hesitation. Her attention had been on the redheaded freshman seated next to her, whose chair happened to be in direct contact with hers rather than on the boy speaking to her. She received an elbow to her side for the comment and a look of rebuke from Chloe even though a smile danced along the younger girl's lips.

"C'mon Anderson. Both Barber and Ward are all domesticated and shit. You're my only hope," Sam whined until he caught sight of the way his friend was looking at her housemate. "Unless you've joined their ranks."

Frankie finally focused her attention on her fellow senior, "Sammy, in all the times I've attempted to help your ass out when have any of the girls chosen you over me?"

"There's like seven of them over there, you can't possible take them all back to your bed."

"Can't and won't are two very different things, Swarek."

"Prove it, come with me."

Frankie glanced briefly back at Chloe, her hand resting under the table on the other girl's thigh. "Nah, I'm pretty good where I am."

"You're either super lazy or really fucking whipped. Which is it, Anderson?"

"Just because you have a dick, Sammy, doesn't mean you have to be one."

"Dude, I'm asking you to have my back, you don't have to hit on any of them for yourself."

"Why do you even need my help anyway?"

"I don't need it, just want it. Come on, I'm bored." Sam pleaded.

Frankie rolled her eyes. "Sounds like a personal problem."

Chloe gently elbowed the senior again; she leaned in a little closer and dropped her voice. "Be nice."

"You want me to help him?" Frankie asked suspiciously. She was also leaning close so no one else in the group could hear their conversation over the noises in the bar.

Chloe shrugged confidently, "You can do whatever you want, so long as I'm the only person you take home tonight."

It still sounded like some kind of test, "What if I want to stay right here?" Frankie asked curiously. She was rewarded with one of Chloe's bright smiles, but before the freshman could reply, the older boy was cutting in again.

"Five minutes, Frankenstein, you can spare me five minutes." Sam had already stood up from his seat and made his way over to where Frankie was. He tipped her chair back trying to jostle her from her seat.

Frankie pressed her weight forward, slapping the legs of her chair back onto the floor. She gave Chloe's leg a squeeze before standing up. "Stop whining, it's really fucking annoying." She knew that her friend wasn't going to give it a rest so she shoved past him to head in the direction of the girls Sam had been ogling.

"Yes!" Swarek fist pumped before he quickly followed his friend.

After the two seniors wandered off the group turned their attention back to the blonde server, who was tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for their orders.

"No, but really, does Charlie want to lose customers tonight?" Nick asked unafraid of his ex-girlfriend and all too familiar with her style of waitressing.

"I guess no one wants to eat tonight." Gail huffed as she grabbed her stuff and walked away despite the protests from the rest of the group. She decided to serve her other tables while her friends stewed before heading back to the large table.

When she finally did return the girls in the group rattled off orders for everyone before any of the guys could say something stupid.

After writing down the orders, Gail looked over the group once more. Frankie had reappeared in the seat next to her roommate, but Sam had now taken up residence at the other table. There was still one absent from the group.

"Where's Chris?" The big guy was missing...again. After abandoning the girls the other morning, Chris had apologized profusely claiming his phone had died while he was out with some friends the night before and that he had forgotten his promise. It hadn't been enough to placate all the girls, but him offering to buy them drinks at Sammy's birthday had cleaned the slate. Oddly enough in order to make good on that offer he had had to borrow money from Dov.

"He said he'd meet us here, something about a project." Dov explained. He had his arm draped around Sue's chair while his girlfriend showed him some kind of coding on her phone.

Gail was pretty sure that Chris didn't have any classes without at least one of the freshmen from their group, so it was weird for him to have an assignment that none of the rest of them did. But she was too busy to think much of it as she pulled out her phone to check it again after hanging up the order slips for the others.

"Hey, if Charlie busts you you can kiss this job good-bye." Traci warned when she caught sight of Gail on her phone for the fifth time that night.

"Then why don't you be the lookout instead of lecturing me?" Gail snapped, taking out some of her frustrations on her well-intentioned friend.

Traci could tell that something was stressing the blonde out. She was being even bitchier than usual. "Want to tell me what's so important that you're glued to that thing tonight?"

"No." Gail shoved her phone back into her pocket before gathering up more plates of food.

"Well if you change your mind..."

"I won't."

She dropped off some orders before getting flagged down by newcomers. When she made it back to her own set of friends with their food, Chris had joined them. Gail took one look at her friend and decided that he looked like shit that night. He was sweating and seemed to be ready to crawl out of his own skin. His leg was bouncing at a pace that would be fast even for a mouse's heartrate. The dude had dark shadows under his eyes and his usual boyish smile was nowhere to be seen. Dov was talking to him, but Chris seemed more concerned with checking over his shoulder every five seconds.

"Diaz, you hungry?"

Chris looked up, surprised to see the blonde with a tray in her hand, "Why are you waitressing?"

"Because despite what the rest of you lazy assholes do, I actually work for a living." The rest of the group started to bicker, but Gail ignored them. "So food, yes or no?"

"Yeah, food, definitely, thanks."

"What do you want?"

"Oh, right, ah...ummm...how about a burger and fries and onion rings."

"Alright." Gail didn't bother writing it down, but before she could ask if he wanted something to drink she was distracted by a couple of guys standing behind her friend. The two men were in each other's faces yelling.

"Hey jackasses, knock it off or take it outside!" Gail shouted, but her words fell on deaf ears as the two men started shoving one another.

"What, is it a fucking full moon tonight?" Gail muttered to herself.

The shoving turned into fist throwing and suddenly one of the guys crashed into Chris. Rather than break up the fight, like Gail expected him to, she watched as her friend hulked out and cold clocked one of the guys. That dragged Chris into the growing fight, and with it the rest of the boys.

Everything had gotten out of hand and all the shouting had drawn Charlie back out into the restaurant. At the sight of the manager, most of the boys had stopped fighting and had managed to pull Chris back as well.

"I don't know what's going on, but all of you can get the hell out of here." Everyone started shouting again, trying to argue with the owner of the establishment. But Charlie didn't care. "You have ten seconds or I'm calling the cops."

While the guys that had started the fight left at the mention of the police, Gail's group had started to settle back into their seats.

"No, I mean all of you. You're out of here too." The group grumbled, but they gathered their belongings to head out for the rest of the night. He looked over at Gail and Traci, "And you two can join them."

Both Gail and Traci immediately protested.

"What the hell?"

"We didn't even do anything!"

But Charlie was unmoved, "I don't care, I want all of you out of here."

Gail looked like she was ready to keep arguing, but Traci grabbed a hold of her and dragged her away to grab their stuff from behind the bar so they could leave. "Relax, he'll get over it by tomorrow."

"It's fucking bullshit."

"I know, but at least he didn't say we were fired."

A sharp look from their boss had both girls hurrying out of the bar with the rest of the group, most of who were looking rather sheepish.

Gail made a beeline straight for Chris, giving him a hard shove, "What the hell was that?"

Chris held up his hands and backed away from the livid blonde. "They hit me first."

"Yeah, well, they weren't the ones to get us kicked out." She gestured towards Traci, who was also angrily staring at the tall boy. "You cost both of us a night of tips."

"Hey, I'm really-" Chris started saying, but Gail cut him off; she was in no mood to hear his apologies.

"Save it, Diaz! What the fuck is wrong with you? And I don't mean just now." She was still advancing on the boy who was continuing to back away and down the street.

Dov tried to intervene, grabbing a hold of his merciless blonde neighbor. "Hey Gail, calm down."

But Gail jerked her arm away, shaking Dov off hard. "No, this isn't the first time he's screwed up lately."

It was true and the group knew it. Everyone's attention turn towards Chris for an explanation, but the boy looked to be floundering. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before running a hand over his face and letting out a deep breath. "I'm just...I'm just a little stressed. Sorry."

But that wasn't enough to appease his friend who just shook her head at him. "Well join the club." With that Gail stormed off in their direction of their houses.

"Seriously, what is with her tonight?" Dov asked the group, but everyone else just shrugged.

"She was late today, that's why she was on the tables." Traci told the group as she looked worriedly in the trail Gail had left in her wake.

"That's really weird. Gail's always on time, annoyingly so." Nick commented, having known the girl the longest in the group. His ex was many things, punctual being one of them. It was one of the many ingrained Peck traits that she hadn't been able to shed.

Chloe looked just as worried about her roommate as Traci. "Should one of us go check on her?"

"No!" Most of the group resolutely responded causing the redhead to frown at their reaction.

Frankie had her hands in her pockets, but she nudged the freshman next to her with her elbow to draw her attention. "Give her some space, Chloe. She needs to cool off."

Chloe still didn't look completely convinced, but nodded anyway.

"Alright, gang who's up for a movie night?" Jerry suggested as he looped an arm over his girlfriend's shoulders. In agreement, they all headed back to the Mancave.

By the time Gail reached her own house, she was even more worked up than before. The entire night had turned into a disaster, and to make matters worse Holly still hadn't responded to any of her messages. She hit the call button one more time, but again the phone went straight to voicemail. Gail was starting to regret her decision to stop the brunette; maybe it would've been better if she had just kept going. How many times had Holly let her use her without any explanation? Why couldn't Gail have just done the same?

Right, because she had real feelings for Holly and she was too much of a chickenshit to admit them. So she skirted around them and attempted to show Holly that she was in it for real. Clearly, her efforts hadn't been working because when something happened instead of turning to Gail as a shoulder to lean on she turned to her for a bed buddy.

"Fuck!" Gail snarled as she kicked the garbage can at the end of their driveway out of frustration with herself. She didn't know what had happened with Holly, but whatever it was had taken place at the clinic, and Gail had only been a few doors down. She hadn't been able to help the med student then, and she had no clue how to help her now or even where to start.

Gail looked down at her phone again. There was only one person she trusted enough for relationship advice, but they hadn't spoken in weeks. Her finger hovered over the name as she contemplated the reaction she would get. She wasn't sure that she'd be welcomed, but this was Holly, and Gail knew she had to do something. She let her finger drop and brought the phone up to her ear, silently praying for a voice on the other end.

---

"I'm glad you called, it's been too long."

Gail smiled slightly as Celery stepped out of the way allowing the blonde entrance into the apartment she shared with Oliver. She had lost some of her anger along the way; instead it was diluted with guilt and anxiety.

"Hey Celery, sorry for coming over so late." Gail brushed a hand through her messy hair as she pulled her watchcap off. She had gotten a trim over the weekend so it wasn't nearly as unruly as it had been getting, but it was still short, and that caused Gail to run her hands through it more. Especially when she was nervous. "Is he busy?"

"Not at all, and I think he would love the company. Why don't you head into the living room, while I go make us some tea? You look like you could use some."

"Only if it has whiskey in it." Gail mumbled half to herself.

"I'll see what I can do." The older woman winked at her before heading into the kitchen.

Gail took a deep breath and went in the direction that she had been pointed. She could hear the television playing and Oliver's voice as he filled in some of the lines. They hadn't really spoken since the awkward day in the hospital when Gail knew her family had officially screwed Oliver over. He still hadn't been cleared for duty and she hadn't wanted to upset his recovery if he didn't want to see her. But she really needed someone to talk to, and before she met Holly, Oliver had always been the person she turned to when she needed a rock.

So without any warning she blurted from the doorway, "I fucked up."

Oliver's head snapped up at the sound of the blonde's voice, a wide grin spreading across his face at the sight of his little buddy. "Hello to you too, Peckling."

Gail didn't step any farther in, choosing instead to hover in the doorway. She rocked slightly running a finger along the molding and avoiding eye contact as she asked, "Oh so I'm back to being Peckling now?" Her voice was quiet.

Oliver sighed and Gail tensed, which only made the man feel worse. "Come and sit down. We're going to chat for a bit."

Oliver watched as Gail silently moved across the room before plopping down on the couch opposite him. She was still staring at the ground at first, but then when Gail looked up and those blues looked so damn guarded Oliver's heart sank. He hadn't seen her look at him like that since they first met, when he was just one of Steve's friends. Gail wasn't even 14 at the time, and she already regarded the world around her with an incredible amount of distrust. But they were way past that. Too much had happened for him to ever not consider the blonde his friend. He loved her too much for that.

"Look, Gail, I'm sorry about that day in the hospital. It was just a shitty day on top of a shitty week, rounding out a shitty month. I shouldn't have been shitty to you on top of it."

The blonde's face didn't budge though, so Oliver continued. "I'm still your friend. For real. Well, if you'll have me."

"So you don't blame me?"

"Blame you?" Oliver looked genuinely confused, but of course Gail would blame herself for what happened with the rest of the Pecks. "I never blamed you for what happened. It wasn't your fault that I got hurt, or that IA got pissed at me for it. It's all okay."

"What did they decide?"

"No more riding solo. I get to be a rookie again and ride with senior officers for a while."

"Shit, Ollie, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. They didn't take my badge and now I get to annoy Noelle again." A devious smirk crossed her friend's face causing Gail to laugh slightly.

"I bet she's gonna love that."

"Of course she is. I'm the best rookie she's ever had." Oliver replied confidently. "Seriously, it's all good. As soon as the doctors clear me I get to go back. But I may need your help."

"With?"

"Weapons."

"Not shoes?"

Oliver laughed loudly at their running joke. "Not this time. I'm gonna need to spend some quality time with my firearm down at the range. Think you can beat me?"

"Listen old man, you'll be lucky if you don't break a hip trying to keep up with me."

"We'll see." Oliver smiled, happy to have his friend's snark back. "So what brings you here?"

Gail sighed and sank further back into the cushions. "I think I fucked up with Holly."

Oliver's smile dropped and concern flooded his features. "What happened?"

So Gail explained about the weird turn of events. How they had gone to the clinic as usual, but something happened that had Holly running for the hills and ignoring Gail entirely. Gail told Oliver about her showing up looking upset and then her bailing unexpectedly. She decided to leave out the almost sex part, moving on quickly to the storming out, and the part where she went looking for Holly, but how she ended up late for work, and in trouble there too.

"Damn."

"Yeah, so what does it mean?"

"Sorry kiddo, but Holly and I aren't that close so I can't really tell you what's going on in that big brain of hers. Have you tried talking to Steve or Frankie?"

Gail had considered turning to her housemate, but she knew Frankie was protective of Holly and would definitely blame the blonde, which Gail really didn't need on top of her own guilt. Steve would do the same, and Gail would rather stab herself in the eye than turn to her brother at the moment, she was still annoyed with him from the last Peck dinner. "Steve's useless and I don't know that Holly would want Frankie going all detective on her trying to figure out what's going on if she doesn't want to talk."

"Makes sense. But Holly doesn't really seem like the type to pull a runner for no good reason. Whatever is going on maybe she just needs some space?"

"Okay, so I give her space, but then what? What if she...what if she doesn't come back to me?"

"Hey," Oliver reached over to pat a reassuring hand on the blonde's knee. "Holly isn't going to just bail on you, Peckster, you're way too cute for that."

"I'm not cute." Gail protested with a dark scowl that just made Oliver laugh more at her. She rolled her eyes and focused back on the point of the conversation. "Okay, but how do I show her that she can count on me?"

"What does Holly normally do for you?"

"Listens, and she's just...I don't know, she's just there when I need her to be."

"So do that, Peck, be there for her by actually being there, and if she wants to talk then listen. And if she doesn't, that's okay too. You can do this, darling, you just need to woman up."

Gail snorted, "Woman up, really?"

"What? You normally tell me to nut up, that was the most appropriate equivalent I could think of."

"So I just have to be there."

"Yeah, I honestly don't think this is about you. I think whatever is going on is about Holly so whatever it is she needs, give her."

Oliver's words reminded Gail of the conversation the two had had that day on patrol. "The secret to a happy life, right Shaw?"

"You know it!" He said with a wide grin as Celery came in with two mugs of tea. When she handed the blonde hers she gave her another wink before dropping a kiss on Oliver's head as she gave him his drink. "Thanks, love."

"Of course." She turned back to the younger girl, "Gail, are you hungry?"

"She's always hungry." Oliver answered for his friend as the blonde nodded in agreement.

Gail took a sip of the hot drink in front of her, but the burn she felt came more from the liquor the wiccan had given her at her request. It kind of helped take some of the edge of the night off. So did talking to Oliver. Something about being in the pair's presence made Gail feel better, which was a surprise considering she was normally sickened by most couples' coupling. Maybe it was how happy her friend seemed in Celery's presence. She knew how hard the break-up with Zoe had been and it couldn't have been easy dealing with the shooting just after moving in together. But Oliver still looked at Celery with wonder and Celery looked at him like he was her home. Oh god, Gail realized she had been living with Chloe for far too long if she was getting this sappy. Another sip of her spiked tea helped her wash down the fuzzy feelings.

"So she takes after you?" Celery lightly teased as she headed back towards the kitchen. "I'll fix something up to cleanse the soul."

"What does that even mean?"

"I learned to stop asking a long time ago."

"Will there be kale in it?"

"Oh definitely."

"Hmph." Gail grunted. She wasn't the biggest fan of vegetables.

"Kale won't kill you."

"You don't know that!"

"Celery does, she can see the future."

"Do not start."

"I'm being serious."

"Yeah, well unless she can tell me where the hell to find Holly I don't really care to know about my future." A future of doing Peck things, she knew it was inevitable and didn't need a psychic or a witch to tell her that. She took another long sip from the mug in front of her to distract herself from those thoughts.

"Things were going well between you two huh? Before this little blip, I mean."

"Yeah" a small, shy smile tugged at Gail's lips, but it dropped just as quickly as it appeared "at least I thought they were."

"That's good. Holly's good...a good person...good for you."

"She's the best." Gail quietly admitted into her mug, draining the last of the tea and whiskey in one large gulp.

"Hey, you're going to work this out, whatever it is that happened."

"Yeah," Gail seemed to agree, but there were still doubts niggling at the back of her mind. "But..."

"But...?"

"What if...what if Holly finally realized that...that I'm not...I'm not..." Good enough. Stable enough. Just not enough. She couldn't say the words, but they plagued her mind all the same. Had Holly finally realized that Gail just wasn't girlfriend material? That she wasn't the person for any of the serious stuff. Gail hadn't exactly given Holly a lot of faith to go on.

Oliver studied the blonde seriously before encouraging her to go on, "Not what?"

But Gail shook her head slowly, "That I'm just not." Instead of looking at Oliver, Gail glanced back at the kitchen and wondered if it would be rude to ask Celery for another whiskey tea, or maybe just the bottle of liquor instead.

"Gail," Oliver waited for the blue eyes to focus on him. "How many chances has Holly had to just walk away? How many times have you pushed her away?"

"Too many."

"Was she still there when you needed her?"

"Yes."

"If you weren't whatever it is you seem to think you're not, do you think she would've stuck around?"

Gail shrugged at the convoluted wording.

"Okay, can I ask you a different question?" Oliver didn't wait for an answer. "If the only thing Holly wanted was for you to be a friend would you still be there for her?"

"Yes." Gail replied without any hesitation.

"Then that's all you need to do. Just be there."

"You make it sound so simple."

"Sometimes it is. You're great at helping people." Gail scowled. "You are. I know you don't like people, but you still always know how to help them. You'll know what to do."

Her silent phone taunted her. "I have to find her first."

"You will." Oliver glanced in the direction of the doorway where Celery was walking in with two plates. "But first, let's eat."

Gail smiled. "Thanks," she said sincerely to both of the people who had taken her in. She'd have to leave soon considering how late it was getting, but for a little while longer she let herself relax into the warmth and comfort of having Oliver Shaw back in her life.

---

When Gail made it back home she could still see the lights on in both houses. She decided to try calling Holly one more time while she waited out on the porch. She listened as the phone rang only once before going to voicemail indicating that the brunette had turned her phone off entirely. Gail could take a hint and decided not to bother sending a text that time. She let out a deep sigh and glanced up at the dark sky, not able to appreciate the way the stars burned a bit brighter than usual. She took a deep breath as her hand made its way to the doorknob and she steeled herself as she hoped she didn't actually run into anyone on her way to her room.

Of course, life was never that simple when living in a house with five other girls, girls who had a performance to prepare for.

"I used to have dreams, crazy dreams. Oh they're dopey. Why? Burt Reynolds. I don't know why. He never did much for me in life, but in my dreams…it was always Burt and I, Burt and I, Burt and I." Andy's voice impersonating an old woman with a terrible New York accent grated along Gail's ear drums. But it was soon covered by the sound of the rest of the girls laughing.

"What? It wasn't that funny!" Andy said between giggles.

"No, it really was. Maybe you shouldn't do that accent." Traci suggested as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"No, she just needs more practice. It should sound more like this..." Chloe recited the lines, exaggerating the way she said "Burt Reynolds", the name dripping with feigned wanting.

"No, I'm pretty sure that may have been worse." Frankie chuckled as she blocked the pillow Chloe tried smacking her with despite being pressed up against her side. After struggling to regain her cushion Chloe settled back down and caught sight of Gail stealthily making her way up the stairs.

"Hey, Roomie, come join us. We could use an audience." She called out, hoping that the blonde would join them and maybe lift her spirits a bit. She knew Gail had been really upset after what happened at the bar that night and hoped she wouldn't just go upstairs to mope.

"She is not the audience we need unless we want to be told we're awful." Juliet pointed out.

"She's no worse than Frankie." Traci argued, she smiled over at her fellow freshman and gestured for Gail to take the seat next to her.

Gail contemplated joining the rest of the girls for a much needed distraction. She was still pissed at the guys, but technically the girls hadn't been involved in the fight, or getting her kicked out of work. Deciding that she would still hear her housemates even in her bedroom, it might just be better to let them distract her. She plopped down next to Traci who shifted to let the newcomer stretch out more.

"Well fuck you very much, Nash." Frankie said with the same intonation as someone would say thank-you.

Chloe dug an elbow into Frankie's ribs again, causing Frankie to grimace. "Ow! Will you stop doing that?"

"Will you stop being mean?" Frankie made a face that Chloe mocked.

"So where have you been, Gail?" Andy's question caused all of the girls to turn their attention to the blonde.

"Out." She replied shortly.

"Well, clearly your mood hasn't improved. Did you go see Holly?" Traci asked, despite being within hitting range.

The mention of the med student caused Gail's stomach to drop. "I'm out of here."

But Traci caught hold of her housemate before Gail could actually get off the couch. "No, you should stay, hang out with us."

"Yeah, Roomie, you need to turn that frown upside down before going to sleep."

"I'm going to turn you upside down, Princess, before I shove your head in a toilet."

"You must be tired, threatening me with a swirlie is pretty weak," Chloe taunted.

"I'll show you weak..." Before Gail could launch the pillow on her lap at her roommate, Traci caught a hold of it and pulled it out of the blonde's grasp. When Gail turned to unleash on her friend beside her, Traci offered her a cookie, which quickly mollified her.

The rest of the girls focused on rehearsing their lines while Gail concentrated on destroying Traci's box of cookies and attempting to ignore the silent phone resting on her stomach. But even mocking all of her housemates wasn't enough to keep her mind from wandering back to the missing med student. It didn't help that her friends kept bringing her up.

"Maybe we should get Holly to give you some pointers, she was awesome at this scene." Frankie suggested when Andy continued to butcher the lines she was supposed to be saying. "If I hadn't known she was a big, ole lesbian I would've believed she was honestly in love with Burt Reynolds."

"Andy will get the hang of it and Holly's probably busy with med school." Juliet patted the freshman on the shoulder in support.

The rest of the girls looked at Gail. "Why are you looking at me?" She mumbled through a mouthful of cookie.

"Think Holly has time to help out?" Traci was the one to ask.

"I think Frankie has her phone number same as I do."

"It's late," Chloe pointed out when the senior beside her pulled out her own phone to text her friend.

But Frankie was unconcerned about the time. "Then she'll ignore it and text me in the morning." She sent off a message, not expecting a response till the sun was up.

"It is late. Maybe we should pick this back up tomorrow." Juliet suggested with a yawn for good measure. She triggered the rest of the girls to get up, stretch, and gather their things.

Except Gail.

"You coming up, Roomie?" Chloe asked when she noticed that the blonde was still sat on the couch staring at her phone.

"In a minute," Gail mumbled, focusing on the open message screen she had to Holly. She stayed down there until she was sure the rest of the house had settled in and were most likely asleep. A guarantee that she wouldn't have to deal with any more questions that night. She sent one last text before heading up to her own bed.

It was loud and crowded at the party. Everyone was there, drinking, dancing, hooking up. It was nothing new, just a regular college party. She had already seen all of her friends, passed by them in the haziness of the house where the lights were dim and smoke thickened the air. They were more focused on whatever game they were playing or whoever's pants they were trying to get in to even notice her, so she just wandered through the house aimlessly. That's when she saw her.

Holly.

She was standing across the room, laughing at something someone said with a red cup in her hand, and God was she gorgeous. Despite the darkness, through the smoke and sweaty bodies Holly saw her. The brown eyes lit up in recognition when they connected just a fraction of a second before that crooked smile made its appearance. She started to head in Holly's direction, but the brunette was already walking away. So she followed, trying to catch up, but always just out of reach. She trailed Holly up the stairs. She tried to speak, but couldn't hear her own voice over the noise. It happened so quickly. One second Holly was in front of her, and the next a body was coming out the shadows, grabbing the brunette from behind. Gail wanted to go to her, to save her, but she was stuck. Glued to the floor, and forced to do nothing, but watch helplessly as Holly fought against the covered attacker. His hood slid back in the struggle, just enough to show a face.

It was Burt fucking Reynolds.

Gail snapped awake, a sound dying in her throat that she wasn't sure was a laugh or a scream. She glanced across the room to find Chloe still sleeping and was glad for the millionth time that year that her roommate was a heavy sleeper. She didn't want to recount the dream she had just had or listen to some cracked out shrink talk from the redhead.

Ugh.

A glance at her phone revealed no new messages and that it was way too early to be awake before her classes. Resigned to another night of inadequate sleep, she filled her brain with ways to kill McNally, who she blamed for the abhorrent number of times she had been forced to listen to the same lines repeated over and over again that night; words that clearly impacted her dream. To make matters worse, she couldn't even ask Holly to help her hide the body. She contemplated heading to Holly's apartment, remembering the impromptu morning date they had watching the sun come up. But thought better of it. She had her own extensive day of classes ahead of her.

---

"God, your classes are long."

Gail froze at the sound of Frankie's voice, not expecting to see the older girl outside her last language class of the day considering she didn't have any classes in that particular building or any reason to be there.

"Umm...what are you doing here, Anderson?"

"You're coming with me," Frankie informed rather than asked the blonde.

"Like hell, Anderson, I'm heading home." Gail was in no mood for whatever Frankie had planned. She had barely spoken to the other freshmen during their morning classes, still pissed at Chris for the fight and the girls for infiltrating her dreams, combined with just generally not being in the mood to talk. She still hadn't heard a peep from Holly and had been stuck in class all day after barely sleeping the night before. Even Oliver's assurances hadn't been enough to stop the darkness from enveloping her throughout the day. Her only plans at this point consisted of going home, making something to eat, and then getting to work extra early before her boss got any ideas of actually firing her.

"Walking?"

"Not all of us have cars and some of us need to get to work tonight."

"Well, I need to go get my computer back from IT, and I need a bodyguard."

Gail rolled her eyes hard at the older girl, "They're geeks, not assassins, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Listen, if you want to be the one to explain to everyone why my dead body was found out in the marshes then be my guest."

"Has anyone ever told you that you a have a flair for the dramatics?"

"Yes."

Gail shook her head at the brunette, "I thought Juliet was taking your computer."

"She did, but she's...uhhh...too busy with Vag Mo's to go get it." She had also told Frankie that she was on her own after the senior had vanished with Chloe for half an hour during one of the practices that weekend. The two seniors had argued all day about it. Frankie had tried to use "method acting" as her excuse, but the director was having none of it. So now Frankie had to retrieve her computer herself if she ever wanted it back to complete her work. (She had briefly contemplated buying a new one prior to spotting the blonde.)

"So go by yourself." Gail suggested as she shifted her bag higher on her shoulder before she started her trek across campus in the direction of their house.

But Frankie just fell into step with the younger girl, "I can't. Normally I'd have Holly go, but she's busy."

The mention of Holly got Gail's attention. She stopped moving and looked at Frankie. "You've heard from her?"

"Well, no, but she only ignores my texts when she's in lab or something mandatory so she must be." Frankie replied with a shrug until she saw the look on her housemate's face. Her eyes narrowed. "Why? Is something wrong?"

But Gail tried to shrug off the concern, "Just wondering."

Frankie studied her for a moment longer, but Gail stubbornly refused to shift under the scrutiny. She had been on the receiving end of Elaine Peck's unwavering inspection her entire life, there was no way Frankie was going to unnerve her.

Deciding to accept the blonde's answer at face value, Frankie still attempted to use Gail's feelings for Holly to her advantage. "Anyway, do you want me to tell your girlfriend that you refused to help her bestie?"

Gail narrowed her eyes, "Don't be a tattletits."

Frankie made a mental note that Gail hadn't denied the use of the word girlfriend as she continued her pleading. "Just come with me." Frankie was practically begging at this point. "Please, Gail."

The please is what did it. She could see the desperation seeping off her friend and it wasn't really a good look for the usually cocky senior. "Fine," Gail begrudgingly agreed

The building that housed the IT department was halfway across the large campus from where Frankie had cornered Gail. The two girls made their way over in relative silence. Frankie led the way as Gail dragged her feet.

"Seriously, Peck, we could've been there and back by now." Frankie complained as they neared the building. They still had to get through the maze of a basement to get to the actual office where Frankie's computer was.

"I still don't see why you need me."

"I need a human shield and possibly a weapon. You happen to have your gun on you?"

"She can't possibly be that bad."

Frankie didn't reply, more focused on trying to follow the confusing signs to where IT was. She breathed out a sigh when she finally spotted the labeled door. She knocked, but when no one answered, she tried the door. It was unlocked, and after exchanging a look with Gail who nodded at her to lead the way, Frankie pushed it the entire way open. The office was relatively dark with only a few desk lights on. She could see a pile of computers with names attached arranged on a table across from them. Frankie figured that if no one was around to help her then she could just grab hers and leave a note. Then she wouldn't have to deal with any ex-girlfriends and could have her computer back.

As the two girls started across the dark room they were greeted by a set of very sharp teeth growling at them.

"What the fuck?!" Frankie exclaimed, jumping back behind the blonde.

"Guess you weren't kidding about the human shield." Gail snarked at Frankie when she found herself sandwiched between the brunette and a rather large dog. "Relax Cujo." Gail coaxed, holding her hands up and backing away slowly from the beast.

"Cujo was a St. Bernard. He's a belgian mallinois. His name is Bear." A voice explained, startling both girls even more.

The voice was attached to a very tall, slim figure dressed in black and as she came out of the shadows Gail was a little stunned at just how hot she really was. She had no problem believing that Frankie had fallen for the girls' looks no matter how insane she was.

"Finally found something to love you unconditionally, Root?" Frankie quipped as she had a stare down with the dog. It had stopped growling, but still stood between Frankie and the cargo of computers.

"He's not mine. Though he does come in very handy. Good dog, Bear." The girl, Root, gave the dog's head a pat as she dropped down onto a chair in front of a large interface. The dog followed her and laid down under the desk. The brunette kicked her boots up and twisted slightly in the seat in order to face both girls. She smirked as she gave Frankie the once over. "It's been a long time, Francine."

Frankie grimaced at the use of her full name. "Yeah, uhhh...I kinda just came to-"

"Pick up your computer." Root completed the thought before Frankie could. "The one you had Juliet drop off. Did you really think I wouldn't know who it belonged to?"

"Jules was just doing me a favor. Been busy, you know with stuff." Frankie's explanation was lame even to her own ears but she was too nervous to care. "But I could really use it back if it's fixed."

"Of course it's fixed. It really wasn't that difficult, but you had managed to let in a virus through a trojan horse. You should really do a better job of eliminating the spyware and of clearing the cookies off your computer. Really, that's just general maintenance, part of the Basics 101."

"Umm good, great, thanks. But you know if I could just get it back I'll be out of your way in no time."

But Root didn't move from her seat. She leaned her head back, her long brown waves cascading over the back of it. She swung slightly from side to side, the smirk never dropping. "What's the hurry?"

Frankie nodded her head in Gail's direction, ready to use her as an excuse. "I have to get my friend here to work. Can't have her be late because of me."

Root's eyes focused on Gail for the first time, but the smile remained static. "Abigail Peck."

Frankie snorted, "Abigail, really?" It was the first time she had heard the blonde's full name.

"Shut up, Francine." Gail snarled, but she was more unnerved by the brunette who somehow knew her. "How do you know my name?"

When Root didn't reply, Frankie cleared her throat and brought both girls' attention back to her.

"She knows everyone that goes to this school," Frankie explained to her friend. She had seen Root do that parlor trick plenty of times. Hell, she had done it to her the first time they met in a bar. Though, Frankie had already developed a bit of a reputation at that point and it had kind of been an ego boost that the hot brunette would already know who she was.

"But that's thousands of people." Gail replied disbelieving.

But Root just shrugged and continued swaying, "What can I say? I have access to unlimited amounts of data. Names are just one piece of the much larger puzzle."

Gail looked at Frankie, "Does she always talk like that?"

"Yes."

The blonde turned back to the computer genius. "So what's your name?"

"Root."

"That can't be your real name."

"My name is Root." The brunette replied a little more forcefully, continuing the staring contest.

Frankie interrupted the standoff. "She's not fucking with you, Peck. Even her transcript just says Root."

That didn't seem likely, but Gail chose not to question it. The fact that this girl knew her legal name was enough to unnerve her. If she had access to Gail's file then there was no telling what else she knew.

Just as Frankie was about to ask for her computer again the office door opened forcefully, banging loudly enough to cause both Gail and Frankie to jump as it bounced off the adjourning wall.

"Okay this uhh day job...thing...not really working out." A short brunette with olive skin stormed into the office, making a beeline straight for Root with a bag of food hanging in her hand. The girl handed the bag to Root without a word as she dropped to the floor to greet Bear. "Hey sexy."

"How come you never greet me like that?" Root playfully pouted even as she laid out the food on the table, ignoring Frankie and Gail completely as she focused on the newcomer.

"To be honest, I'm only in it for the dog." The girl replied, even though she looked up with a faint smile on her lips. After she finished petting the dog and cooing over him she stood up, adjusting the short black dress she was wearing with a wiggle of her hips.

"Anderson." The girl said as she regarded Frankie for the first time.

"Shaw." Frankie greeted her other ex-girlfriend.

Gail's jaw had become slightly unhinged when she got a sight of the girl in full. She was another gorgeous ex for Frankie. Significantly shorter than anyone else in the room but one look in her eyes told Gail that she was not someone to be messed with. And damn did she look fine in her current get up.

"Didn't know you had company, Root." The brunette grabbed a seat and her portion of the food, clearly unperturbed by the presence of the other girls as she became more focused on eating.

"Didn't know I was going to either. No worries though, Bear greeted them."

Shaw looked down at the dog affectionately and it started wagging its tail. "Good dog, Bear."

"How come you never dressed like that when we were dating, Shaw?" Frankie couldn't resist from asking.

Sameen Shaw rolled her eyes at Frankie. "It's for a job." She turned back to her current girlfriend. "One that I still don't understand why I'm doing it."

"Sorry Sam, you need an identity and you need to trust the machine." Even though Root's eyes raked over her girlfriend's form. It was obvious that she was enjoying the get-up at least.

"Wait, the machine put me in this silly ass job?"

"What's the machine?" Gail whispered to Frankie, the argument causing her curiosity to get the best of her.

Frankie nodded her head in the direction of the computer in front of Root. "Some kind of computer program. I'll explain later."

But Root was too focused on Sameen to pay any mind to Gail and Frankie's side conversation. "She has a reason for everything. Even if sometimes it requires you to act like a well-adjusted member of society. Trust her." Even as Shaw continued to grumble under her breath, Root purposefully checked her out. "For what it's worth, I really like the new look. You're definitely an autumn."

"I could stab you with my stiletto."

"Kiss kiss to you too."

Sameen rolled her eyes but the corner of her lips turned up almost against her will, "I swear to God, you flirt at the most awkward times."

Root smiled back, "That's what I'm here for."

Gail cleared her throat, "Not to interrupt your foreplay or anything, but we'd really just like the computer so we could be on our way."

Root reluctantly turned her attention back to her guests. "Aw, but we're just getting started here."

"Really, this has been fun. But I could really use my computer, you know class assignments and whatnot." Frankie offered a casual smile, but she was pretty sure Root could smell fear better than the dog still at her feet.

"I'm surprised you're even still bothering with your classes, considering you haven't applied for graduation yet."

Frankie swallowed down the bile rising in her throat at the mention of graduation. She could feel Gail looking at her and knew there was no way the blonde wasn't going to ask her about this later. But before she could respond, Root was speaking again. "Really you might want to shake a leg, unless you're planning on staying back to spend more time with that girlfriend of yours."

Frankie's posture stiffened at the mention of Chloe, she couldn't stop the slight snarl from overtaking her features. "Are you checking up on me?"

But Root just shrugged, "I just couldn't bear it if anyone hurt you, Francine. I mean, besides me."

"Maybe you should just focus on one girl at a time and stay out of my business, Root."

"Oh, but you made it so easy for me, giving me your hard-drive and all. It's like you wanted me to poke and prod."

"I wanted you to make it work again."

"Oh it is working. I just can't help it if it decided to show me some secrets. Everybody has them." Root gave Gail a meaningful look as she made the comment; she smirked when blue eyes narrowed at her. "Some of us just happen to have more access than others."

The look didn't go unnoticed by Frankie, but she would rather ask Gail about it when she wasn't stuck in a basement with not one, but two of her ex-girlfriends and her computer wasn't being held hostage.

"I'm sure that's great for business, but we really need to go. So can I have my computer? Please, Root."

Finally, the brunette swung out of her chair; long legs unfolding gracefully as she glided across the room. She picked up the device and brought it over to the other girl.

"Thanks." Frankie barely had a grip on her computer before she was spinning on her heel, ready to get the hell out of dodge. "Come on Gail, we wouldn't want you to be late again."

Gail didn't have to be told twice, she was hot on the heels of her housemate.

After the door closed behind the two girls, Shaw turned to her girlfriend a knowing smile on her face. "You had fun fucking with them, didn't you?"

Root looked back, her smile growing even wider as she reached over to steal a fry from her girlfriend. "It's amazing how easily the human brain can be manipulated."

---

Frankie and Gail booked it across campus to the parking garage that housed Frankie's car. The two girls were quiet as they settled in and started the drive back to their house. Construction was rerouting the traffic and the normally short trip home was about to take a lot longer.

It was Gail that broke the silence first, too many questions bouncing around her head for her to just ignore. "What was all that about?"

"What?" Frankie asked, keeping her attention on the slowly moving cars in front of them.

"How the hell did that girl know my name?"

"How the hell did I not know your name was Abigail. Can I call you Abby?"

"Do you want to make it home alive?"

"Chill out, Abs." Frankie smirked, not even bothering to look over to see the glare she knew her blonde friend was sporting. "I already told you that she does that to everyone, even me when we met."

"But how?"

"That computer of hers, the thing she calls the machine and treats like a living person, contains information on almost everyone in the city. It's how she's able to tell Shaw where to go to catch their marks for the PI business. They're very good at what they do."

"Too good." Gail grumbled as she propped her feet up on the dashboard. One person having that much access to personal information couldn't be legal or safe. "Told you, you should've just asked Dov."

Frankie shot Gail a look before knocking her boots back to the ground causing the blonde to huff in irritation. "Yeah, well, too late now."

Gail grunted as she pulled out her phone. She had only gotten one text from Holly much earlier that morning saying that she was okay and not to worry. That was it. No explanation of what had happened or where she had gone. Nothing about why she hadn't answered her phone. No message asking to hang out or meet up. Just a few words on a white screen. Gail had responded offering an ear if Holly needed someone to talk to, but she hadn't heard from the brunette after that. She had been too busy with her own classes and Frankie dragging her around to try to find the med student.

Frankie's phone pinged with a message from the cupholder where she had it stashed. She waited until she pulled up to a light to check it.

"The fuck? Why is BitchTits texting me about you?"

Gail immediately reached for the phone, "What does she want?"

The light changed so Frankie handed her phone over to her passenger, "Well she wanted to know if I had seen Holly, or if Holly's been with you. So what happened, Peck?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit, you were late to work and in a horrible mood yesterday, you're mopey as the fucking dwarf today. Spill."

But Gail didn't say anything as she focused on crafting a text back to Lisa, she hoped that she could find out what she knew about Holly if she thought it was Frankie responding. She sent the message and stared out the window. Whatever was going on with Holly clearly had everyone concerned.

"Is this what Root meant when she was talking about secrets?" Frankie asked, recalling the way the brunette had looked at Gail and the way the blonde had tensed at the comment.

Gail felt her stomach clench, but she kept her voice calm. "I have no idea what she was talking about." It was a lie. Gail had a feeling that she knew exactly what she had been talking about. The blonde was worried that the chick, Root, had found out the one thing that she hadn't told anyone but Holly. But it wasn't something she wanted to discuss with Frankie, or anyone else, especially not because some hacker had dug into business that wasn't hers.

"If something happened..."

"What, Frankie? What are you going to do about it?" Gail snapped; steeling herself against whatever accusation the senior would throw her way about hurting Holly.

"I was going to say you could talk to me about it." Frankie replied sincerely, despite maintaining her usual brusque demeanor.

"Yeah, right. Isn't this the part where you're supposed to threaten me?"

"I know that I've been friends with Holly longer, but that doesn't mean she's always right."

Gail sighed, dragging a hand through her hair causing it to spike up before trying to tame it back down. She weighed out whether or not talking to the brunette was a good idea. Oliver hadn't been much help deciphering Holly's actions and he had suggested talking to the girl beside her about it. And Oliver was usually right about things (but don't tell him that). "I don't know what happened. She's gone off the radar."

"Seriously? That's not like her."

"No shit Sherlock, is that the best you got there, Detective?"

"Well you aren't exactly giving me a lot to go on."

"I don't know what's going on!"

"Well fucking start from the beginning."

"No, forget it." If Holly didn't want to talk to people about whatever had happened, Gail wasn't going to be the one to spill.

The traffic had stopped again to let one side go.

"You should've gone down Second Street." Gail informed the driver as she stared at Frankie's phone, hoping for a response from Lisa.

"Now she tells me," Frankie grumbled. She reached over and plucked her phone from pale hands.

"Hey, you're supposed to be driving!"

"We're not moving." Frankie hit the contact info for Holly and switched to speaker before dropping the phone back down and returning her hands to the wheel.

The phone went straight to voicemail. "Stewart, turn your damn phone on and call a girl back." Frankie ended the message and turned to her companion who was staring out the window. "Seriously, Peck, what the fuck is going on? Holly never turns her phone off or hides like this."

"I told you I don't know."

"You don't get it. It takes a lot to get Holly actually upset, and she certainly doesn't show it. She's too calm and put together. And she's too busy helping everyone else. And most people, most of her girlfriends, were never there for her when she needed someone. They never cared enough about her to care about what would bother her."

"Ok, but what about you? Doesn't she talk to you?"

Frankie sighed, sure she and Holly had been friends for years, but like most friendships their's tended to ebb and flow with the rest of their lives. Holly had been busy studying and with her girlfriends. Frankie had been busy sleeping around and drinking. They were always there if they needed someone and hung out from time to time usually when they were both single, but it wasn't until this last year when Holly finally kicked Jess to the curb for good and Frankie needed to get away from her house that the two girls had developed a much better friendship. One that had Frankie actually caring about what was going on with the brunette.

"Sometimes, but we've gotten a lot closer this year."

"So you have no clue what's going on either."

"No, but I'm guessing this isn't about you?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because that she would probably tell me." Probably...Maybe...Most of their conversations did revolve around girls and relationships.

Gail rolled her eyes. But Frankie's words bothered her even more. Of course Holly would be the type to put everyone else's needs before her own, but the fact that no one in the past had ever cared enough to try to be there for the brunette who cared so much about everyone else was just unacceptable. But of course the blonde was stuck in traffic on a day when she had to get to work and didn't have time to find Holly.

The traffic finally started to move. Frankie glanced at the blonde, "So why haven't you gone to find her yet?"

"Why haven't you applied for graduation yet?" Gail deflected as they finally pulled onto their street.

"Who says I didn't?"

"That perky psychopath you call an ex-girlfriend."

Fuck, Frankie forgot. "And you believed her?"

"She seemed unnervingly honest."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"Yeah, well you looked like a deer caught in the headlights so it seems like she was on the money."

"Why do you even care, Peck?"

"Just making conversation. Plus, I have my sights set on that bedroom of yours and I would like it if you didn't hang around too long and fuck that up." Gail informed the older girl as she exited the vehicle and grabbed her bag.

"You sure know how to make a girl feel loved." Frankie replied as she locked her car and followed the blonde in the direction of their house. She was glad to be home, and hopefully done with the conversation.

But Gail had other plans, "So seriously, what did you do? Fail a course?" She asked as she unlocked the front door.

"No!" Frankie snapped in irritation. She had some of the best grades in her class.

"So why wouldn't you be graduating?"

"What do you mean you're not graduating?" Juliet cut in. She had been in the kitchen with the other girls after they returned from practice. They had all heard the two girls arguing on their way through the door.

Frankie cursed under her breath as all of the women in the house turned to look at her. "I didn't say that."

"She hasn't applied yet." Gail informed the small group. She shrugged unapologetically when the senior in question glared at her.

"You still haven't applied?! Frankie, the application is due Friday." Juliet's voice rose as she chastised her friend.

So Frankie ignored her and headed for the stairs. "I'm going to take a nap."

"Dinner's almost ready," Traci offered to the retreating senior.

"Not hungry." She waved her hand over her shoulder to let the others know she was over the conversation.

Everyone turned to Gail for answers.

"Hey, don't look at me. She wouldn't talk to me about it either." The blonde made her way into the kitchen and hopped up onto the counter that Traci and Chloe weren't using to cook. Pulling out her phone, she felt pathetic when there still wasn't a response from Holly.

"So how did you find out?" Traci had returned to stirring the pot on the stove before it overflowed, considering Chloe now looked too distracted to keep her eye on it.

"Root told us." Gail looked at Juliet as she said it, her face letting the senior know that she didn't appreciate the meeting.

"Who's Root?" Andy had been relegated to chopping the vegetables for the salad.

Gail tucked her phone back into her pocket, she reached over and stole a piece of cucumber from the pile McNally had created, careful not to touch the tomatoes. "One of Frankie's exes. And not the only one who had been there either. Her girlfriend was there too."

Juliet's mouth dropped in horror. "They were both there!" Damn it, now Frankie wasn't going to talk to her for at least the rest of the night.

"You couldn't just pick up the computer, could you?" Gail's question was more of an accusation.

"She's an adult, and sometimes she can even act like it." The freshmen all gave her an unimpressed look, making Juliet feel even more guilty. "I probably shouldn't be the one to go talk to her," she mumbled.

"Doesn't look like you have to be." Traci said as she nodded in the direction of the stairs. Chloe had managed to slip out of the room and was already halfway up the stairs.

---

When Frankie got to her room, she didn't even bother turning on a light even though the sun had already set. She kicked her door shut behind her, and dumped her bag near her desk before discarding her jeans and top on the way to her bed. She didn't bother grabbing new clothes or even throwing the other ones in the hamper before climbing under the covers and turning over. She was both exhausted and not tired at all, but she didn't want to think or talk, she just wanted to shut off her brain for a while and hoped sleep would make that possible. It was cold in her room so she pulled the covers up over her head and pretended the world didn't exist.

She wasn't even up there ten minutes before she heard a light knocking on her door.

"Go away." Frankie growled, assuming it was Juliet coming up to either bother her more about graduation or apologize if Gail told her about Root.

But the door opened and a mess of red locks popped through, a halo of light from the hall pouring in with her. "Hey, can I come in?"

Frankie could see the light against the wall she was facing. She didn't say anything, but she turned over in her bed and pulled back the covers, allowing for both the cold air and a certain redhead to invade her personal space.

"No jeans." Frankie instructed as Chloe closed the door behind her and made her way across the room.

Chloe stripped out of the garment and hightailed it into the warmth of Frankie's bed.

"Why do you always have it freezing in here?" Chloe asked with her teeth chattering. She wiggled in the bed for a little added friction.

Frankie kept her eyes closed; she chose to pull the freshman against her so she could warm her up in lieu of a verbal response. She could feel Chloe relax into the mattress beside her, accepting the embrace and body heat.

Chloe adjusted so she could look at the senior. It was dark in the room, but there was enough light from the window where Frankie hadn't bothered to pull the curtains. Frankie looked like she was trying to relax with her eyes closed and her breathing even, but there was a hardness to her features that Chloe knew shouldn't be there; one that usually went away when it was just the two of them locked away in Frankie's room.

"What was that about downstairs?"

Frankie burrowed her face into the girl beside her. "Shhh...sleeping," she mumbled against the sensitive skin of Chloe's neck. She smiled to herself when the freshman shivered at the touch. She moved in even closer and started to trail a line kisses along the exposed path.

"That doesn't feel like sleeping." Chloe giggled as she titled her head away to give the older girl more room. She sighed and one of her hands tangled into soft brown locks. God, Frankie could be so infuriatingly distracting but she was so, so good at it. Doing her best to gather her wits, Chloe focused on one of the things she did best: talking. "Why haven't you applied for graduation? I thought you were excited."

"Mmmm busy." Frankie said between kisses as her hand started to wander over Chloe's exposed hip. Frankie didn't want to talk and she thought she was making that point abundantly clear, she hoped Chloe would just take the hint and drop it.

She didn't.

"Yeah, but it's graduation."

"So?" Frankie reached the spot on Chloe's neck that never failed to get a reaction out of the redhead. She took the skin between her teeth and bit down hard.

Chloe sucked in a breath, but persevered, "S-so it's a big deal."

Once Frankie was satisfied with the reddened mark she had left, she moved on to unblemished skin. "If you say so."

"You are graduating right?"

"Mmmhmmm." Frankie's kisses were moving along Chloe's collar bone before heading lower, meanwhile her hand had slid up and under Chloe's shirt to the warm skin along her side and ribs. She decided that if Chloe was going to continue talking then she was going to continue her exploration.

Chloe caught the wandering hand, and pushed Frankie away gently causing the senior to let out a huff, but she stopped trying to distract the younger girl. She waited for green eyes to focus on her, "So what are you waiting for?"

Frankie shrugged as she leaned back, trying to look casual as she attempted to deflect as usual. "Haven't had a computer."

"Well you do now."

"Later." Frankie suggested as she tried to pull Chloe in again, but her efforts were denied.

"No, now. Come on, it'll take five minutes then we can get back to what you were doing."

"Seriously, Chloe, I'll do it later." Frankie complained as the other girl got out of the bed and went to collect Frankie's laptop from her bag.

She plopped back down on the bed with a bounce, jostling the disgruntled senior, and tucking herself back under the warm sheets. She dropped the laptop between them, but Frankie refused to take the device or even acknowledge that it was there so Chloe opened it and searched for the right page. Once she found it she turned it around for Frankie to fill out.

But Frankie slammed the screen down a little more forcefully then she should've before pushing the stupid thing to the end of the bed. She fell back into her spot and draped an arm over her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the frown that was now etched along the freshman's face.

"Why don't you want to register for graduation?" Chloe asked more earnestly. This was going way beyond simple procrastination and the freshman knew it, even if she didn't know why.

"Because it's stupid," Frankie grumbled.

"No it's not. I know you want to graduate, so seriously what's stopping you?"

Frankie ran a hand through her hair before settling the arm under her head. She wouldn't look at Chloe as the silence between them grew. She could feel the freshman staring at her and knew that Chloe expected a real answer out of her. She had promised the redhead that she was trying and wouldn't keep pushing her away. Instead of looking at the younger girl, Frankie looked at the hand closest to her, she tentatively brushed the back of her free hand against it before tapping it with her finger. She held her hand palm up and waited for Chloe to take the invitation. It wasn't until Chloe did that Frankie felt grounded enough to start talking.

"We have to mark if we're walking at the ceremony or not and I haven't decided yet if I am."

"Why wouldn't you?"

Frankie shrugged, keeping her eyes focused on their linked hands, "It's not a big deal."

"Of course it is. You've worked hard, when you aren't goofing off with Sammy." Chloe teased the senior. She gave the hand in hers a squeeze. "You should be proud."

"No one is going to be there."

The words were said so quietly that Chloe almost missed them. But she knew what she had heard. "What do you mean?"

Frankie cleared her throat, "I'm not going to have anyone there. Juliet's family is planning on flying out, Jerry had to request extra tickets, even Sammy has his sister on the guest list. I don't have anyone."

The words were so full of sadness and defeat that Chloe couldn't believe them even though she felt them dig deep into her chest. She knew Frankie came from a big family, and she was going to be the first graduate from Uni. How could there be no one there to celebrate her achievements?

"What about your parents and your brothers?"

Frankie guffawed bitterly, "There is no way in hell they're coming to the city. They blame the University for corrupting me and leading me to my life of sin. And the rest of my family resents the fact that I actually went to college." The sadness had been replaced with a bitterness that laced each measured word as they rolled off Frankie's tongue. These were truths she knew, ones she had been told, the ones she had been reminding herself every day since the entire senior class received the email telling them to apply.

"Oh." Chloe replied quietly as a heaviness settled over them.

"Yeah. See there's no point."

Chloe gave Frankie's hand a tug in an attempt to get the older girl to look at her. "I'll be there."

"You don't have to be." Frankie told her, the quiet sadness returning.

"I want to be," Chloe told her earnestly. In fact, she had thought about this before. Traci would obviously be there for Jerry and Nick for Juliet, while Andy and the rest of the boys had already snatched up Sam's extra seats. Chloe had kind of been hoping Frankie would've asked her to be one of her guests, but hadn't wanted to pressure the brunette if her family was going to be around. She hadn't once imagined that there would be no one in Frankie's corner. "I bet Holly would want to be too. And Gail. Plus, Traci and Andy and the boys are already planning on going. We all want to be able to cheer you guys on. So you'll probably have a louder section than anyone else."

Chloe's infectious smile was shining brightly even in the darkness of the room. Her excitement had grown with every word spoken and by the end Frankie couldn't stop the small smile that was tugging at her lips. She didn't want to feel it, but there was a warmth that had started kindling inside of her. A feeling that was new and unfamiliar, but not wholly unpleasant. She knew it had everything to do with the girl in front of her, with the big doey eyes that were looking at her so hopefully. She couldn't refuse her even if she wanted to.

"Ugh, fine Muppet, you win." Frankie groaned as she dragged herself up to grab the computer before settling back. Chloe was practically bouncing with excitement as she watched the senior quickly plug in her information and check the box confirming she would be walking. When she was done, Frankie leaned over the freshman to place the laptop on the ground before returning her attention to the girl that was now pinned below her. She settled herself more comfortably, "Happy?" She asked as she hovered over the prone freshman.

Chloe bit her lip and nodded, her eyes dipped to Frankie's lips before she pulled the older girl down into a forceful kiss. One that Frankie was more than happy to reciprocate as it banished away the bitter thoughts the day had drudged up. She easily got lost in making out with her own personal cheerleader, not caring about graduation or her family or even her loud-mouthed exes. She was a little surprised when the smaller girl flipped their position, but she could let Chloe dominate her, especially with the way her tongue was teasing her mouth, causing the desire to feel it everywhere else.

Chloe pulled away abruptly. "To be continued," she promised with a quick peck before sitting up to put some distance between them. She was more than a little smug at the dazed look on the older girl's face and at the way Frankie instinctively followed her. But she needed to get her pants back on so she could go to the kitchen where she was sure the rest of the girls were waiting for her.

"Where are you going?" The disappointment was transparent on the brunette's face.

Chloe giggled, "You look like the Pout Pout Fish." She brushed a thumb along Frankie's protruding bottom lip to highlight her comparison to the children's book.

"Do not!"

"Yeah, it's cute. But I have to go finish dinner."

As if on cue, they could hear the other girls downstairs hollering Chloe's name. "Coming," she called back in return.

"Not yet, but you could be," Frankie's voice a low rumble in Chloe's ear that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to rise.

"Later." Chloe suggested as her fingers traced along Frankie's bare arms that were holding her still. Goosebumps erupted in their wake that weren't just from the cold and she knew it. As much fun as it would be to continue what they started, that wasn't why she had come upstairs. "You sure you don't want to eat?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I do." The look Frankie gave the redhead was certainly ravenous.

Chloe laughed and pushed the senior back against her mattress so she could escape. "Seriously, you're the worst. I meant food with everyone else."

"No, thanks." Frankie propped herself up on her elbows so she could watch the other girl dress. It wasn't nearly as much fun as getting her undressed, but she wasn't going to waste any pants-less Chloe time if it was up to her.

Against her better judgment, Chloe went back to the bed once her clothing was fully restored. She brushed some loose strands away from Frankie's face, letting her hand gently trace the roundness of the senior's cheeks. "Want me to bring something up?"

"No, it's alright I'll come down later."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "In time to head out for drinking? Please eat something before we go."

"Promise."

"Good."

"You sure I can't just skip to dessert?" Frankie asked as she caught hold of Chloe's hips, but the redhead wouldn't let her have her fun.

"No, Traci and Gail have to get to work." Chloe stated firmly keeping the senior at arm's distance.

Frankie released her with a sigh, but the mentioning of Gail reminded Frankie of their conversation on the way home. "Has your roommate mentioned anything about Holly to you?"

"No, not since Sammy birthday. Why? Did something happen? Is that why she was late yesterday? And why she hasn't stopped looking at her phone the last two days?"

Chloe had a penchant for asking multiple questions without taking a breath to let the person answer. She was always narrating her thought process and it weirdly amused Frankie to no end. "I don't know. But Holly's not picking up her phone and Peck doesn't seem to know anything either."

"Are you worried about her?"

"No, I'm sure she's okay. She's probably just working too hard or something. Forget it."

"Nope, I'm going to go bother Gail now."

"Crap, don't mention I said anything or Gail won't serve me the rest of the weekend." Frankie begged before the redhead vanished entirely.

"Your secret's safe with me." Chloe promised before barreling her way down the stairs.

---

Gail's shift had come and gone uneventfully. Charlie was still in a mood, but less so than the day before and let both Gail and Traci work their normal shifts. About halfway through the rest of the girls showed up, and with an all clear from Charlie, the boys with the exception of Chris joined them. Gail had refused to serve Frankie though after she had been forced to spend the entire time she was eating fending off questions from her roommate about Holly. Chloe's interrogation had only encouraged Traci and Andy to join in and no matter how many times or in how many increasingly violent and threatening ways Gail had tried to end it, the rest of the girls continued to harp. By the end of the meal, Gail wasn't even talking just silently brooding as the rest of the girls talked about her and the med student. It had been a blessing that Charlie hadn't given her shit that night or she definitely would've said something to get herself fired (for good).

When her shift ended, she had ignored the group's entreaties to hang out and had gone home alone. The first thing she did when she got out of the bar was to call Holly's phone, but it went straight to voicemail, again. Taking Oliver and Frankie's advice to heart she had gone over to the brunette's apartment, but no one was there, which meant either all the girls were out somewhere drinking, which seemed unlikely considering it was a Thursday and they were due for another exam relatively soon, or they had all gone somewhere else to study. She knew Holly didn't really care for the library unless she was in a study group, it was too late in the night for the batting cages, and Holly only went to the lab on the weekends. She had even tried the roof, but other than an amazing view of the lights of the city she hadn't seen anything to even give her a clue of where to find her gir-to find Holly.

It was amazing, really. She knew Holly's routines better than her own roommate's. She could say it was the cop training ingrained in her, but it would be a lie. She just cared enough to know these things. She had dated Nick for years and the boy couldn't remember that she was allergic to tomatoes and Gail could never remember the day his parents died, yet she could probably recite everything the brunette had ever said to her. Fuck, she had it bad.

Which was probably why she spent another night staring up at her ceiling trying to figure out a way to get the brunette to talk to her. She knew she was alive and capable of texting considering she had received the one message, but it wasn't enough. She needed to see her, even if it was just to tell her to go away, to hear for herself that Holly didn't need her. So she spent the rest of the night coming up with a plan to do just that.

---

The last lecture of the day couldn't end soon enough for Holly. Normally, she loved her classes, always the most attentive person in the lecture hall having pre-read the material and with a list of questions ready to ask the lecturer. But there had been no questions that day, no desire to draw attention to herself (well, any more attention). She wasn't even fully present in the learning, taking notes robotically, and if pushed, she couldn't recall a word of what any of the presenters had said. When the class was finally released, she was the first person out of the door, not stopping to speak to any of the people who called out to her, not even her roommates. She just wanted to get to her car so that she could get back to the lab where she had been spending every last one of her free minutes over the last few days; working, researching, and studying (not eating though since food and drink weren't allowed in the autopsy lab). Hell, she'd have slept there if Dr. Torres hadn't kicked her out well past the normal time for her to go home. There may even have been a night where she tried to convince the doctor to let her work the night shift for "experience".

She was hiding. She was a mess and she knew it, but it was a new feeling for Holly. She was always the person people turned to because she was always the person who stayed composed. Family, friends, strangers, people chose to open up to her because she was stable, calm, analytical, not the emotional type like pretty much everyone else in her life. Though, she felt like none of those things at the moment. Which was why she was hiding, throwing herself into the work she knew she could do, the things she actually had control over.

Really the isolation was just self-preservation. She had to keep her phone off after receiving a whirlwind of texts, calls, messages, and notifications. It was amazing how quickly rumors could spread in just three days. Classes were painful enough, Holly had already been accosted by more than a few of her classmates trying to find out if what they had heard was true and she could feel the eyes of everyone else watching her, like they were just waiting for her to crack under the pressure. Oh, had she. Holly had barely made it out of Gail's house before the tears had started flowing furiously down her face, which was how she had ended up at the lab that night instead of her apartment when she needed a distraction and a place to hide.

Gail.

In case messing up in school wasn't bad enough, Holly had managed to fuck things up with the one person she had promised herself she wasn't going to hurt. She knew how much Gail already had on her plate and she didn't need Holly as a burden as well, especially not where the clinic was involved. She had seen how much working with the kids meant to the blonde. She didn't want to be the reason Gail couldn't stay there. It was why she hadn't answered the blonde's texts other than to say she was fine and not to worry about her. She had planned on calling her when she got a chance, but chance after chance, and Holly couldn't bring herself to reach out. So now Holly could add hypocritical to the list of things she was feeling. How many times had she told Frankie to just open up to Chloe? How many times had she promised Gail she could trust her? Could talk to her? And the blonde had just started to do that. Things were good and only getting better, but instead of going to Gail's to talk she had desperately tried to ignore the world crashing down around her by getting lost in the freshman. She had used Gail the same way everyone accused the blonde of using her, well technically in the same way Gail had used her.

She knew she needed to make things right, that she wanted to, but she felt no more put together than she had on the blonde's porch a couple of nights ago. And Holly needed to be the strong one; she needed Gail to know she was someone solid and dependable that she could count on. Of course vanishing without a word probably wasn't the best way to show all that. Why would Gail stick around? The blonde had made it abundantly clear that they weren't in a relationship, that she didn't want the burdens of one. Yet, Gail had been the one to ask her on dates, she was helping to change the direction of their relationship. And Holly had shot it all to shit. At this point, she hoped the blonde would give her another chance. She just needed to get through this school stuff first. Maybe once it was all over she could-

Gail!

There was the blonde, leaning against the hood of Holly's car, cap pulled down low over her ears under a hood meant to help keep out the cold more than just her leather jacket could. Her nose and cheeks tinged with pink from the frigid air. She didn't, couldn't believe it.

"Gail?"

At the sound of Holly's voice, Gail stood before she shifted her weight nervously from foot to foot and even though her hands were still tucked into her jacket pockets she was swinging them. Her fidgeting only worsened as she tried to talk.

"Hey."

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"You know a lot of people care about you. So when you vanish and don't answer your phone, people notice." The words echoed her own lecture to the blonde that day in the cemetery. "I was looking for you."

Holly was frozen. Rooted to the ground, and not at all convinced that what was happening was real. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or the exposure to all the chemicals in the lab. Because she couldn't really believe that the blonde would be there, concerned about her, after the way she had been acting. She tried to speak, but couldn't find any words, too overwhelmed with the need to apologize and explain, but preferring to just drink in the appearance of the blonde in front of her. Soon Gail was filling the silence.

"I know it's weird and kind of stalker-ish to just show up here and wait for you and all, but you aren't answering your phone. And you haven't been home and you're not talking to Frankie, or Rachel, or Lisa...or...or me...so I just wanted to make sure you weren't dead and you're not so maybe I should just go. I'm sorry this was...this was stupid of me."

"No!" Holly called out sharply, much louder than she had intended, but it did succeed in getting Gail to not walk away. Not yet. "Please, don't go."

She hadn't realized how much she needed to see Gail, until she could feel a weight dislodging just at having her near. "I...I just didn't expect to see you. But I'm glad you're here. I'm sorry I haven't been answering my phone. Things have been...things have been complicated." She forced the words out even though they felt like they were sticking to her throat as she suddenly felt the urge to cry again.

She could feel the blue eyes piercing through her.

"Are you okay?"

Holly decided to be honest, she shook her head no. Suddenly, without a word of warning Gail pulled her into a hug. And God, she was so solid. Holly buried her head into the crook of other girl's neck. She took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of leather, the house's laundry detergent, and a scent that was just uniquely Gail. For the first time all week she felt grounded, which made her feel even more like bursting at the seams, but she managed to keep the tears at bay for a while longer.

She shivered when the wind picked up, seeping through her jacket. Gail pulled her even closer.

"I thought you didn't communicate like this."

"I don't."

But she was. Gail, who hated relationships and people, had come to find her despite having every reason not to, despite having every reason to just let go. Holly couldn't even formulate the words to express how much it meant to her, so she just continued to hold on for dear life.

Eventually Gail had pulled back, her hands moving up to cup both of Holly's cheeks. She studied her seriously, searching her eyes for something before seeming to come to some kind of decision.

"Need to hit something?"

---

For all the noise and bustle at the batting cages, there were some things that were automatic. The zip of the ball as the machine released it, the rustle of clothing as she quickly twisted her torso in preparation to connect, and the thwack of the bat meeting ball guaranteeing a successful hit before a slight ringing sound was the only thing left as the ball went sailing to be caught be a net much further away.

It was easy. Reflex. Something she had been doing since she was kid playing tee ball or on the street with the neighbors. Throughout high school and college, the batting cages were the place she went when she needed to blow off some steam. Have a bad day, pound a few balls. It was cathartic to imagine it was her problems that she sent sailing away as far as possible. But Holly had never needed the cages as badly as she did that day.

Thwack.

Robbie had needed a metal plate in his humerus.

Thwack.

No one was willing to question the injury.

Thwack.

No one, but Holly.

Thwack.

The med student had managed to cause trouble for the child abuser and the doctor covering for him who was at fault.

Thwack.

And for that there were repercussions. What was the phrase? No good deed goes unpunished?

Thwack.

Well, for Holly that seemed to be the case by ten-fold when she found herself on the chopping block at her own school.

Thwack.

She had contacted the clinic's social worker, and after getting the same response from them as Dr. Santana had given, Holly had reported the Robbins family to Youth Protective Services herself that night.

Thwack.

And by the next morning Holly had received a message and phone call from the Student Affairs Deans of the medical school informing her that there had been accusations of misconduct on her part and she would have to report before the school's Disciplinary Board at their next meeting. They told her that she would have to prepare to defend herself and her seat at the school.

Thwack.

It had all seemed to spiral out of control even further from there. Somehow her classmates had found out something was awry and had started rumors and prying. Everyone wanted to know what could possibly get the top student in their class potentially dismissed.

Zip. Twist. Thwack. Zip. Twist. Thwack. Zip. Twist. Thwack.

Holly sent ball after ball flying off the end of her bat, not stopping or planning or second-guessing. And when the machine ran out she just gave a look to Gail that told her she needed to keep going. So Gail kept refilling the machine, and pitch after pitch was hurled straight at Holly who met each throw with her well-practiced rhythm.

And she kept going, for far longer than Gail thought any one person should, but the blonde didn't have it in her to stop her. So she let Holly keep pummeling each ball that made the mistake of crossing paths with her bat, pouring out her frustrations and fears into each swing.

Until, suddenly, she couldn't anymore.

First, a clink as the ball only managed to get tipped by the bat. Followed by a thud as the thick padding behind her absorbed the impact of the ricocheted ball. Another pitch, another thud when Holly missed completely. But she kept swinging. Thud after thud as the number of missed pitches was growing.

Then the bat was clattering to the ground when Holly's hands couldn't grip it any longer. And before she knew it strong arms were wrapping themselves around her, and for the second time that day, Holly was burying her face in Gail's neck.

Gail could feel the shaking in Holly's arms. She wasn't sure if it was the result of the vibrating bat in her hand for the last hour or the emotions she knew the brunette was trying so hard to restrain. Regardless, she'd hold Holly like that for as much time as she needed. It wasn't long before the wet, hot tears starting hitting her neck, but Gail didn't flinch, not even when the cold air froze them against her skin. She continued to hold Holly there in the cage without a care as to who was watching them or how long they were positioned like that.

The whirring of the machine had long since subsided when Holly finally pulled away. Wiping angrily at her face.

"I'm-"

"Don't Holly. Don't say you're sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I have a lot of things to be sorry for. I shouldn't have run away like that."

"Why did you?"

"I just...freaked out I guess. Everything was just spinning out of control and I wanted to get away from it all and I ended up at your place because..."

"Because I make for a really good distraction." Gail was used to that, of being that for people. She was a placeholder. Not anyone's first choice.

"Because you're the only person I wanted to see. You make me feel safe."

Well that was unexpected. "Oh."

"Yeah, and then I got a little carried away."

"It's okay."

"It's not. I was the person who said we should slow things down. I wanted more for us. And then I basically jumped you and ran away when you tried to talk." Holly rambled. She rambled when she was nervous, excited, or apparently extremely frustrated. She still hadn't forgiven herself for how she had acted earlier in the week.

"Holly, calm down. I promise you it's okay. I've been there. I know you weren't trying to hurt me." Seeing how broken up about the situation Holly was helped ease that particular fear of Gail's.

Holly really hadn't been. In fact, it was the last she ever wanted to do. But she didn't know how to explain that without freaking out the blonde and she definitely couldn't turn back time (she may or may not have wished for a fucking Time-Turner more than once that week).

"Do you want to talk about it now?" Gail asked carefully, knowing how easy it was for her to get set-off when someone suggested talking when she didn't want to. She didn't want to do the same thing to Holly.

"Yes...No...I-I don't know." Holly wasn't sure exactly what she could and couldn't say. There was patient privacy to consider, as well as, the severity of the charges being filed against her.

Glancing around, Gail realized that talking about sensitive topics in the middle of a relatively crowded public area may not be the best idea. "Wanna get out of here?"

A quick look at her watch made Holly realize that she had already been wasting most of the blonde's day. "Don't you have work?"

But Gail just shrugged off the concern, "Late shift. How about some food? I'm famished."

"You usually are."

Which was how the two girls found their way to the little hole-in-the-wall schwarma place. Over the course of a late lunch, Holly had told Gail the entire story about what had happened at the clinic. She had left out the names of the patient and the doctor involved, but it didn't take a genius to figure out she was talking about Dr. Santana. Gail had listened patiently as Holly had gone on to explain what she did after she left that day and the fallout with her school. Gail was indignant by the end, but had repeatedly assured Holly that she had done nothing wrong. It was something the med student knew, but it certainly helped to hear.

Unfortunately, it had gotten closer to Gail's shift. Holly offered to drive the blonde to her job, feeling like it was the least she could do after Gail had spent the entire afternoon making her feel a little less shitty about everything. Before they could go though, Holly needed to stop by her apartment to grab some stuff before spending her night in the lab as usual.

Gail had decided to wait in the living room for Holly to get what she needed. When one of the bedroom doors opened and Lisa stepped out, Gail immediately regretted her decision.

"Bartender."

"I have a name."

"Yeah, and from what I hear it's synonymous with police."

Gail sighed. It was only going to be a matter of time before Lisa realized that Gail wasn't just a hot bartender or a student. "Do you have a point?"

"Is there someone you could talk to? On Holly's behalf. I heard the rumors, and I know she hasn't said anything, but if they're true she could get in a lot of trouble that she doesn't deserve. One of my fathers is on the disciplinary committee." Lisa plowed on when she saw Gail open her mouth to speak. Clearly understanding that she would only be able to hold the other girl's attention for a brief period of time and needing to get the words out. "And before you say anything, I already tried talking to him, he wouldn't tell me anything other than the fact that he had to recuse himself and that it's serious. I think she needs help from someone not connected to the school."

Of all the things Gail expected to hear from Lisa it was definitely not her asking for help. She had fully anticipated a lecture about how Holly didn't need anything distracting her or something about how she wasn't good enough...again.

The blonde nodded, "I'll try."

"Thanks. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Wow, you almost sound like you care."

"It's Holly, I do care." Lisa replied with more sincerity than Gail had ever heard her utter. Maybe this was why Holly put up with her bullshit. It was obvious that the other brunette cared about Holly. Of course, the good feeling could only last so long. "But I still don't like you."

"Oh, trust me, BitchTits, the feeling's mutual."

The two girls would probably always dislike one another, but at least they were on the same page when it came to the one person who kept them connected.

Holly came out of her room, holding her bag and her coat. The small smile on her face dropped at the sight of her roommate. She glanced worriedly between the two girls. "Everything okay?"

Gail smiled when she saw Holly. She couldn't help it. "Yeah, Nerd, everything's fine. You going to drop me off on your way to the lab?"

Holly still looked concerned as she nodded.

"What time are you coming home tonight, Hol?" Lisa asked as she passed the pair on her way to the kitchen.

"Probably late."

"Okay, well if you want Rach and I will probably go out for a couple of drinks, blow off a little steam if you're interested."

"Thanks, but I'm just gonna stick with work and studying tonight."

"Alright, be boring, see if I care."

Holly rolled her eyes at her friend before grabbing her keys and ushering Gail out of the apartment.

"What was that about?" She asked the second they were on the other side of the door.

"We were just talking." Gail reiterated. She didn't want to go into the specifics of the conversation, certain that Holly wouldn't appreciate them discussing her or the situation at school behind her back.

"You two never just talk. She didn't threaten you or insult you, did she?"

"No, she really didn't."

"Weird."

"I know!" Gail emphatically agreed, although she didn't have time to continue standing around discussing Lisa. She grabbed a hold of Holly's hand and pulled her down the hallway. "C'mon Lunchbox, Charlie's going to get his panties in a twist if I'm late again."

Gail didn't let go until they reached the brunette's car. It felt too good to hold Holly's hand again.

---

Gail had never wanted to be a cop. Or maybe, at some point growing up she had, but she couldn't remember it. Even if she had, her parents' insane expectations and "training" had effectively destroyed any desire she may have had. But right then, she kinda wished she were a constable. If she were, she'd be in more of a position to help Holly and the kid at the clinic who were at the center of the whole mess. She did want to help people, for some inexplicable reason. It was ingrained in her, helping people. The uniform could do that. But she didn't have one...not yet, at least.

It had been nearly a week since Holly had told her about the clinic and despite what Lisa had suggested, she couldn't just go to her family for help, despite the fact that they were police officers, detectives, Inspectors, and Sergeants. Hell, her godfather was the Chief of Police but she couldn't go to him either. Even Steve would get the sharks circling and she couldn't bring them into Holly's life like that. She definitely couldn't show her mother how much she cared about Holly, because if she did, there was a good chance Elaine would do something to destroy the one thing in her life right then that was making her truly happy.

Normally, she would go to Oliver for advice on how to help prove that Dr. Santana was covering up the abuse and trashing Holly's reputation to cover his own ass, but the man was still recuperating. That left only one officer that she thought she might be able to trust, if any of Oliver's stories were true.

"Half caf with umm skim and two sweeteners," Gail said as she held out the paper tray where there were two coffees nestled securely balancing one another.

"Are you kissing my ass?" Officer Noelle Williams asked as she eyeballed the young blonde who had the audacity to sit on her desk.

"It's-it's just coffee." Gail offered the officer a wide smile even as she nervously bounced the heels of her feet against the side of the desk under her.

"Cause you know I ain't going going easy on you just cause your parents are white shirts, are we clear?"

"Yeah, I'm just a civilian ma'am. I'm just here to ask a question."

"Then get off my desk." Noelle ordered and had to suppress a laugh when the blonde bounced off the table like frickin' Tigger. With a stern expression she forcefully grabbed one of the coffees out of the holder, upsetting the tray and causing Gail's own drink to spill on her despite her trying to dodge the hot liquid, the younger woman's mouth dropping open in surprise and annoyance.

But Gail said nothing as she wiped at her clothes and the officer took a seat at her desk. After a few agonizing seconds of silence, Officer Williams spoke up again, "Alright, Peck, what is it that you had to interrupt my morning instead of your brother's?"

Gail shifted uneasily where she stood, contemplating if she had made a mistake going to Noelle instead of handling the situation herself.

"The question, Peck, what's the question?"

Gail glanced around the busy bullpen. "Maybe we should speak somewhere more privately."

"Are you in some kind of trouble? Because I'm not the officer you should be talking to if you are."

"No ma'am. But a friend of mine found herself in a bit of a predicament trying to do the right thing, and I'm just trying to figure out a way to help her."

"It's not your roommate, is it?"

"How do you know Chloe?"

"Officer Best's family is good friends with the Prices. I've seen her around the station."

"No, Chloe isn't in any kind of trouble."

"McNally?"

"God, you know everyone. But no, Andy Girl Guide McNally wouldn't know trouble if it smacked her in the face. "

"I worked with her father you know? Your parents as well."

"My condolences," Gail offered.

Officer Williams worked to keep the smile off her face at the blonde's sarcasm. "So what did this friend do?"

"The right thing I swear, she reported a parent she suspected of child abuse."

"Okay, so what's the problem?"

"It was a very wealthy, powerful family and now they're retaliating against her and it could cost her everything she's ever worked for."

"If she made the allegations then Youth Services should have investigated the claim."

"They ignored it. Or couldn't find evidence of it, at least that's what they claimed."

"So what do you need from me?"

"There were other people involved too, how can I prove they're covering it up."

"You shouldn't be trying to prove anything." Officer Williams fixed Gail with a stern look, a warning. "But you could go to Special Victims, they're the experts on these types of cases. You can report it anonymously and not get yourself involved, Peck."

Gail didn't know anyone over there, but she was sure they would know who she was. "This is a lot bigger than I think you realize, a lot of powerful people are involved."

"More powerful than the Pecks? You could have the weight of the full force behind you if you went to the Superintendent or Inspector Peck."

"No, and you can't tell them either. Please, Officer Williams, Ollie said I could trust you." Well, he had implied it anyway.

"Damn it, Shaw." Noelle muttered under her breath. "If you want to file a complaint you can, and I can make sure someone trustworthy looks into it. I promise."

"That'll take too long." Gail was way too familiar with how long an investigation could take, especially if the police had no idea where to start looking.

"If this is as serious as you make it sound, it's the best way to get the ball rolling."

"Everything I say will be second-hand."

"Get your friend to come talk to me. I'll take care of her."

"I can try. Thanks for the advice."

Noelle watched the younger girl's shoulders drop in defeat as she went to leave. The sight tugging at her heartstrings no matter how much she wanted to be tough.

"Peck." She waited for the blonde to turn back around. "Your friend should bring whatever evidence she has: pictures, computer files, recordings. It can help if we have something to work with. And don't worry, we'll get the bastard."

Gail nodded in acknowledgment. She knew the officer was trying, but it didn't matter much before heading out the station. The lab was only a couple of blocks over, which was her next stop. She hadn't seen much of the brunette since she had cornered her the previous week; both busy with their own hectic schedules and Holly forced to avoid the clinic at the moment. But they had talked through texts and even a couple of late night phone calls when Holly couldn't sleep. Those nights Gail had offered to go over, but Holly had sworn that she just needed to hear the blonde's voice (it was a good voice). They had talked until the brunette fell asleep with the phone tucked against her ear.

Walking into the lab, Gail could see Holly enthralled by whatever she was doing. It was always a captivating sight, something Gail never would have thought. But science nerds were definitely her thing. She enjoyed the view for a few moments before clearing her throat.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Holly asked, looking up from the computer in front of her at the sound.

"Had to do something over at the station, figured you could use some caffeine." She offered the remaining coffee cup.

The med student happily accepted, but when she noticed spots on the blonde's clothes she couldn't resist. "Thanks. But you didn't need to wear it."

"Ha. Ha." Gail gave a dry laugh. "The real question though is what are you still doing here? I thought you have a test this week."

"I'm studying." Holly showed Gail her computer screen, where she had practice questions pulled up. "It's just...it's quiet here. And people can't just come in, except you for some reason."

"Peck." Gail explained with a shrug, but there was something off in the other girl's tone. "Did something else happen?"

Holly sighed, as she reached up to adjust the glasses on her face out of habit. "I went to ask Dr. Torres and Dr. Harris to speak on my behalf before the school board, and found out that the school had already contacted them to get information about me."

"Oof was it bad?"

"Well, they said I can continue on here for the time being...but I don't know."

Gail couldn't ignore the sadness and worry in Holly's voice. She knew that even beyond the normal doctoring stuff, the brunette loved the work she was doing in the lab. There was no way Holly could contain her excitement when she described the things she was learning, or the pride she had when she did something to impress the doctors there (which happened quite often for a first year). Being forced to give up her place in the lab would devastate Holly almost as much as being expelled from medical school altogether.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to the cops about what happened?"

It was something they had already discussed. Holly didn't see the point when her own school and the territory didn't seem to believe her. She didn't want them to accuse her of retaliation at this point.

"I've already reported him and the incident. Hopefully, the school will realize I'm telling the truth, and they'll push for charges against him. At the very least he deserves his license revoked. I just wish I had more than just my word against his."

"There's no proof anywhere?"

"I have no idea. I didn't have access to his chart. But even so, who knows what it actually says. I don't know, maybe the clinic can force him to hand some stuff over."

"Eva said this wouldn't be the first time he did something like this, but they hadn't been able to make anything stick."

"When did you talk to her?"

"Tuesday, during my shift."

"You shouldn't get involved in this, Gail. You like working at the clinic and this isn't your fight."

Like hell it wasn't.

---

Gail was a doer. When it came to friendships she wasn't the best at sitting still listening to girl talk or feelings, but if you needed something done, there was no better person to turn to. Need to break into an apartment: she'll pick the lock, pregnancy scare: she'll buy the test, drunk at a bar: she'll carry your ass home, need to go shoot shit: she'll load the target, want to get drunk: she made one hell of a margarita. It was the only way she knew how to help.

And the more important the person was to her, the more she'd be willing to do. Oliver could kill a person, and she'd help hide the dead body. So for Holly, well, for Holly she'd do just about anything.

Which was how she found herself in that basement again, when talking to the police hadn't helped.

"I've heard you're a hacker."

Root looked like she had been expecting the blonde, not a trace of surprise in her features when she noticed the girl in the doorway. "I'm more of an independent contractor."

"Is there a difference?"

Root leaned back comfortably in her chair as the other girl came further into the room after a quick inspection, and closed the door behind her. "I take it you're not here because your computer has a virus. So what is it you need? Straight A's for the semester? Something removed from your transcript? Name change?"

"I need information about someone and I need you to find things that are hidden."

"And why would someone whose family dominates the police force need me to break the law for her?" Root smirked when the pale skin before her blanched even further, "That's an awfully big risk I'd be taking. How do I know you won't just turn me in? This could all just be a set-up."

Gail knew the risks she herself was taking by enlisting the girl's help in a less than legal way. She had weighed out the options repeatedly and this was the best option she could come up with considering Youth Services had been no help and at that point the police wouldn't be able to do much either, not without something tangible to go on.

"Someone I know tried to do the right thing and report a child abuser. The doctor she was working with is not only covering it up, but also trying to get her kicked out of med school. The problem is that he's been covering his tracks for years. I need someone who can uncover them and quickly." She didn't want to give away too much information, lest she set this girl's sights on Holly, but Root always seemed to know anyway.

There was a flash of something in Root's face at the mention of abuse, a flash of pain or of recognition, but it was gone instantly and the tall brunette was speaking again, her voice neutral. "Amazing, isn't it? We've managed to perfect the apple - a genetically modified version that never goes brown. And yet, we still haven't upgraded human beings. The human race has stalled out, Abigail. And from what I've seen, most of it is rotten to the core. They're bad code."

"I have no idea what any of that means. I just want to know if you'll help me, and how good you really are."

"Provided whatever you're looking for exists electronically, or can exist that way, I can get it for you. I'm sure you'd rather I spare you the details."

"But won't you leave some kind of evidence?" Gail may not have known that much about computers or coding, but she had seen enough television, and grown up evaluating enough cases during dinner that she knew everything left a mark.

"Please, not the way I do it," Root replied confidently. She knew her reputation preceded her or the younger girl wouldn't have come at all. "So are you looking for fabrication or retrieval? Either way it's going to cost you."

"No, I don't want you to make anything. I need it to be real just not hidden and admissible in court."

"That'll cost even more."

"Whatever."

Root thoughtfully tapped the pen in her hand against her chin as she thought up a number, she wrote it down and passed it to the blonde, who scowled at her.

"Fine."

"Half now as a deposit, and half when the job is completed."

Gail pulled out a wad of cash, working for tips had to come in handy some day. She gave over the amount as well the name of the doctor, and as much information as she knew about him.

Root smirked as she counted the money in her hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, Abigail."

---

Holly had lied to her roommates about spending the whole night at the lab that Friday. They had just finished another exam, and while the rest of her class was celebrating together, Holly just wanted a quiet night in, away from medicine and all the chaos. Actually, she had wanted a quiet night in with Gail, but the blonde had to work.

The charges of misconduct against her had been dropped the day before. She didn't know exactly what had happened, but the school had called her to explain that some new evidence had come to light corroborating what Holly had claimed and opening an even deeper investigation into all of Santana's patients. The news had come as both a relief and a shock, adding to the tumultuous week of emotions she had already been struggling with, unable to focus like she should have on her studies. The exam had been hard and she knew she hadn't done as well as she should've, but it was done and over with.

Walking through her door, Holly was hit by an unfamiliar scent. Home cooking. While Holly was the one most likely to throw together a lasagna or something else relatively easy, Rachel stuck with breakfast foods, and Lisa, well Lisa stuck with having other people cook for her. She knew her roommates were supposed to have already left for whatever party they were going to that night. She had purposefully stayed at the lab long enough to make sure they would be gone when she got home. So she couldn't understand why there was music softly playing and a wonderful aroma coming from her kitchen.

She smiled widely at the sight of the lean blonde figure standing in front of her stove, stirring something in a skillet. "I thought you had to work."

"I did work." Gail gave her attention to the med student, lips turning up into a mischievous smirk. "I may have fibbed about the time though."

She would happily forgive the lie considering how amazing the surprise was. Gail had been the first person she called after the school had contacted her, but they had refrained from seeing each other since one of them had to work and the other needed desperately to study.

Holly walked over to give the chef a small kiss on the cheek, both in greeting and because she just couldn't resist the urge any longer. "That smells delicious."

"Don't get too excited, Lunchbox. It's just stir-fry. Anyone can make it."

"I haven't eaten anything that hasn't come from a cafeteria or a take-out container in like a month." Holly pointed to the stovetop, mouth watering at just the thought of real food. "That is a masterpiece."

"I'm glad you're so easy...to please."

Holly pinched the cook's side playfully for the implication, causing the other girl to huff in faux annoyance. "If I had known what was waiting for me, I wouldn't have stayed so long in the lab."

"It's alright, Rachel and the Boobjob only just left."

"Please tell me Rachel stopped Lisa from saying anything."

"She was fine." It was actually the most pleasant the snobby med student had ever been to Gail, but she was sure that had more to do with the good news about Holly and very little to actually do with her feelings towards the blonde.

Gail laughed at Holly's furrowed brow, clearly she wasn't convinced and she looked about ready to call Lisa and yell at her. So, Gail leaned in, and pressed a sweet kiss to Holly's lips. The brunette hummed in appreciation, and the tension slipped away.

"Have you been here long?"

"Not really, I told you I had to work today, but they did let me in, which saved me from having to pick your lock."

"Wouldn't want you committing crimes on my behalf, now would we?"

The normally observant brunette missed the way Gail's shoulders visibly tensed. She was too wrapped up in the amazing 180 her life had taken in just 24 hours.

"Do you think I have enough time to hop in the shower quickly?" She wanted to wash off the acrid smell of chemicals that always clung to her anytime she went to the lab, suddenly all too aware of how unkempt she felt after going into test mode and lab mode now that she had a hot blonde woman cooking for her in her own apartment.

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything, but since you brought it up..." Gail crinkled her nose for added effect.

"Rude," Holly laughed.

"Go shower, Nerd, and put on something comfortable. Tonight's about relaxing."

If the idea itself weren't so appealing, the soft smile on Gail's lips would've been enough to convince Holly to do just about anything. She couldn't help it. Throughout all the chaos over the last couple of weeks, the woman in her kitchen had been her rock, even when she felt she didn't deserve it. Gail had listened to her, had answered her phone no matter what hour Holly called at, and had even sent Frankie over to her apartment with food more than once, knowing that the med student wasn't eating. Sure, Holly had eventually told Lisa and Rachel what had happened and they had both offered to help however they could, and Frankie had texted her on almost a daily basis, but none of them were able to settle Holly the way Gail seemed to be able to.

Hair still a little damp after only towel drying it, Holly felt a hell of a lot more like a fully functioning human being after the shower and a quick shave (What? Sometimes a girl wanted to be prepared). She purposefully hadn't taken long, not wanting to waste another minute she had Gail all to herself, but when she made her way back to the kitchen she found herself too busy watching the way Gail was able to move so effortlessly around her kitchen like she owned the place to say anything. Everything about it just felt right after a few weeks of nothing feeling that way.

"Are you going to stare all night or are we going to eat?" Gail asked without turning around as she plated the food.

Taking in the pale form before her Holly was definitely craving something that wasn't food, but the growling in her stomach told her she'd have to wait at least until after dinner. "Let me help you with that."

But Gail waved her off, "You can grab us something to drink and pick where we sit."

She chose the kitchen island, not really caring for any distractions, and pulled a couple of beers from the fridge.

"That really does smell delicious."

"Well, hopefully it tastes that way too."

A tentative bite of the food provided confirmation that it was definitely more than just edible. Fancy: no, tasty: yes. They talked and laughed as they ate, seated close enough that their legs were touching throughout the meal, they ignored topics of asshole bosses and disciplinary committees choosing to focus on just about everything else. It was easy and comfortable for the two girls, making it possible to enjoy their little bubble.

"What are you smiling about?" Gail finally asked. They had finished the food long ago and she had noticed that Holly was just looking at her with a small smile on her lips, but wasn't saying anything.

"You." Gail's cheeks turned the most adorable shade of pink and Holly couldn't resist leaning in for a quick, soft kiss. "Thank you."

"I told you already, Lunchbox, any idiot can make stir fry."

"That's not true, and I meant thank you for all of it. For the surprise, for putting up with me the last couple of weeks, for not just giving up on me when you could've."

Gail took the other girl's hand in her own, tethering them to one another. "Holly, I have given you every reason in the book to turn your back on me and you always gave me another chance. I'm not going to just take off because it was your turn to need someone for a change."

Then the familiar smirk graced Gail's lips. "Plus, this wasn't completely altruistic of me."

Holly cocked an eyebrow, "No?"

"Nuh-uh. I wanted to spend my night off with the coolest chick I know."

"Well how about your next night off, you let me treat you to somewhere nice?"

The smile on Gail's face was enough to light up all of Toronto. "Sounds like a date."

After quickly cleaning up their dishes, the two women eventually migrated to the couch. TV watching turned to TV mocking turned to talking over the TV until words weren't needed because there were better things for lips to be doing.

"Maybe we should take this to my bedroom." Holly suggested from her position underneath Gail, limbs completely tangled. The blonde had been trailing a steady path down her neck while her hands wandered along her stomach and sides. Every inch touched by Gail left Holly desperate for more, and suddenly it seemed stupid to be waiting any longer. They had already proven that what they had went beyond just fooling around and she wasn't scared of falling for the capricious woman she was with, because it was too late. She had already fallen.

Gail sat up, pulling back enough to be able to look at Holly. She ran a hand through her short hair. When Holly saw the blonde open her mouth to argue she immediately cut her off.

"Before you say anything, I don't want to wait or take things slowly unless you do. And I'm not looking for a distraction. Tonight's been amazing. You've been amazing and I want to be here, with you. I want to be with you in every possible way."

"Okay."

"Okay?" Holly had expected at least a little more resistance.

Gail sauntered over to Holly's bedroom, when she realized she was alone she turned back to the couch housing the stupefied brunette, "Let's go, Nerd. You really shouldn't leave a girl waiting."

Holly didn't have to be told twice.

---

Holly didn't know what woke her up. Maybe it was a sudden draft or a shift in the bed, but when she woke up in the middle of the night the only thing accompanying her was the darkness of her room. It shouldn't have surprised her, not really, but it still did. When Holly had fallen asleep there had a person, a very naked person, beside her. Having woken up in bed alone so many times after being with Gail, it really shouldn't have shocked her. But this time had felt different. Everything had felt different. Well, not completely different considering there were some things that just come naturally, and one thing Gail and her had never lacked was chemistry. They may have lacked a certain amount of honesty, trust, and a level of intimacy that went beyond physical closeness. But not this time. This time had been different, after all.

She couldn't even fault the blonde for leaving. Not when she knew the reason for why Gail didn't like spending the night. Shit, had Gail had a nightmare and Holly been too tired to even notice? Clearly, she had been too exhausted to feel Gail leaving the bed in the first place. Although, the blonde kinda moved more like a ninja than a normal person and it wasn't really Holly's fault that she had barely slept the last week. It definitely wasn't Holly's fault that she had fallen into such a deep sleep after all the things they had done that night, well not just her fault.

The thoughts in her own head were so loud that she almost didn't hear the sound of her own door creaking open.

She could make out a lot of pale skin despite the darkness. "You're still here?"

"Yeah, Nerd, where else would I be?" Gail clamored back into the bed, quickly reclaiming her spot as she dove under the covers. "I can't exactly walk home in my birthday suit."

"I don't know if it counts as a birthday suit if you're wearing socks." Holly teased when she felt clothed toes brush against her own.

"It's freezing in here. I thought heat rises."

"Well, you are walking around naked, and it's still winter. It's probably a good thing Lisa and Rachel aren't around."

"Eh, could've given them a show." She shifted closer in the bed, not eliminating the gap between them completely but close enough to cause the bed to dip and for Holly to feel the slight chill emanating off of her. "Do you really want me to put on clothes?"

Holly smiled, one of those patented lop-sided grins that seemed to appear way more frequently in Gail's presence. "No, definitely not."

"Good, then come here and warm me up."

---

A/N: Unfortunately, updates will probably continue to be slow going for the foreseeable future. But we still have a lot of stuff to cover so don't give up on me yet! I'm all ears (eyes?) dear readers, let me know what you thought of the chapter and what you're still waiting to see happen. Your reviews keep me motivated.