I.

Despite Gail's earlier assurances as they ate lunch that she would be sick of her friends within an hour and that Holly should expect a text at about 9pm asking to be picked up, it is close to 11 by the time her phone rings. Not that Holly is waiting on tenterhooks for the call; as she settles down to catch up on her research after eating half of the Thai food she had ordered for dinner –suspecting that a drunk Gail may need more than just a couple of spring rolls to satisfy that seemingly endless appetite- she realises that spending most of her free time that week with the blonde has caused her to fall further behind than she had expected. Which raises questions Holly doesn't really want to answer about what proportion of her days had been spent on various work projects instead of socialising before Gail had entered so fervently into her life.

So when Gail's caller id pops up on the screen of her phone, she herself is so engrossed in her work that she has no perception of how long it has been since she settled down to work. The slight slur and unusual vigour to the voice on the other end gives her a slight idea, though.

"Doctor Stewart." It says.

Holly feels her lips curling up into a smile at the sound of the other woman's voice. "Officer Peck. What can I do for you?"

There is a slight pause before she replies. "Are you angry?"

Holly's brow furrows in confusion. "Why would I be angry?"

"You called me Officer Peck."

"You called me Doctor Stewart."

"I did?"

"Yep." Holly smirks slightly.

She pauses again. "Oh, okay, that's cool then." And another pause. "I don't have dementia, I told everyone I was leaving so they kept buying me drinks. Loads of drinks. Nick got me at leeeaaaast three." She drags out the word, jumping at least an octave in pitch. "Maybe he wants to get back together now Andy's gone again." Holly's eyes narrow as she wonders where this may be going, but remains quiet, waiting for Gail to get there on her own. "But why would I do that when I've got you? Nick's stupid if he thinks he's better than you."

A faint smile re-emerges on her face. "Thank you, Gail."

"I mean it, you're my favourite. And you don't know it, because you can't kiss you, but you're a really good kisser. You're like magic, like POW!" Gail's voice suddenly disappears and Holly hears a loud crashing sound then a slightly scuffling.

Then Gail's voice is back again. "I dropped my phone. I was doing an explosion with my arms, which is stupid because you can't see me… you should see me, we should FaceTime!"

"I don't have an iPhone, Gail."

"Skype?"

"I think just talking like this is fine for now."

"Are you sure? I have the app and everything."

"I'm sure."

Gail hums softly on the other end of the line.

"Do you remember the first time we kissed?" Gail asks, eventually.

"Of course I do."

"I thought for ages that you forgot because you were drunk or something, because you never said anything about it."

"I was slightly drunk, but I didn't mention it because I didn't want to scare you off. I liked you, and I thought if I kissed you, maybe if you liked me too you'd say something, but you never said anything so I just left it. I also did it to shut you up though, remember, you kept asking all those ridiculous questions." Honestly Holly has no idea how much of that kiss really was to shut Gail up and throw her off her game, even though it obviously had that effect. Looking back, she remembers Gail's incessant questioning and her complete lack of inhibition when it came to so naturally firing insults at her, being so cute and intriguing that with that much champagne in her system there was really very little chance of Holly not kissing her.

Gail ponders this for a few moments before responding. "I'm drunk now too." She eventually says fervently.

"I'd guessed that."

"Will you still pick me up even though I'm drunk?" She asks solemnly.

"As long as you promise not to throw up in my car."

"I promise." Holly can almost hear Gail nodding on the other end of the line.

"Then I can pick you up. Do you want me to come now?"

"Please. These guys are losers. They tricked me with those free drinks. I wanted to be with you."

"I'm on my way. See you soon. Maybe don't have anything more to drink before I get there."

"It's out of my control. People just keep giving them to me." Gail replies earnestly.

Holly sighs slightly, but can't help an amused smirk appearing on her lips. "Whatever you say honey, I'll be there soon."

"Thank you."

Holly waits to see if Gail is going to end the phone call as she pulls on her jacket, but hears only the soft sound of the blonde's breathing for a few long moments, until the faint but clear sound of a door opening and a distant hum of background chatter can be heard on the other end of the line, and an excited male voice speaks.

"Hey Gail, are you coming back in?"

"Yeah, yeah, in a minute."

"Cool, hurry up, Traci's destroying Dov at darts!" The door shuts again before Gail has time to reply, silencing the background noise once again.

"That was Chris, I should head back inside." Gail says into the phone. "Are you on your way?"

"I'm just about to put on my shoes then I'll be out the door. I'll see you soon." Holly finds herself smiling uncontrollably at the prospect of seeing the officer again. Even if she is somewhat intoxicated. And they saw each other at lunch. And every evening for the last four nights. It should worry her that she feels this way this quickly, but the reality of how Gail gets her heart racing makes any kind of worrying nigh impossible.

"Hurry up!"

"I am, I'll be quicker once I put the phone down!"

Gail huffs audibly. "Fine." Holly can imagine her pout and it only stretches her smile wider. "I'm hanging up, get a move on, I miss you!"

"Bye Gail!" Holly manages to get in just before she hears the beep of the call being killed, although whether or not Gail heard her is a mystery to the brunette. That uncontrollable smile lingers on her expression as she gets into her car and starts the drive to the Penny.

II.

When she pulls up at the bar, Holly is instantly struck with a dilemma she hadn't previously considered; whether or not to enter the building and greet Gail in front of her friends. Or more precisely, whether or not Gail wants her to enter the building and greet her.

She decides it's probably safer to settle just for texting the blonde to alert her to her arrival, but when, five minutes after sending the initial text, she has received no response, she realises she's probably going to have to enter the bar, whether Gail wants her to or not.

Inside, Holly immediately spots the distinctive platinum blonde hair of her girl at the bar, talking to Detective Nash. Unlike Nash, Holly notes, Gail doesn't have a drink in her hands.

She realises that this is probably one of the better scenarios that Holly could have entered into; Traci has already seen Gail being more intimate -emotionally at least- with Holly than any of their other workmates. Not that Holly is really sure what she is so nervous about; Gail has already told her that most of her workmates know about them, and doesn't particularly care if the others find out, so long as they don't make a big deal about it.

Still, she finds herself only approaching Gail and the Detective tentatively, but Gail notices her before she reaches them and breaks out into a smile, putting Holly's nerves to rest somewhat.

Traci turns to see what has caused the sudden change in Gail's expression, and her lips too curl into a smile when she spots the source of the blonde's happiness. "Doctor Stewart."

"Holly, please."

"Holly. I didn't know you were joining us for a drink?" Traci asks.

"I… uh, I'm not… I'm actually just here to pick up Gail." Holly replies, unsure of whether or not Gail was expecting her to hang around, as she steps next to the Officer, who places a hand on her lower back, in a way that would be hard for many of the other officers in the room to spot unless they really looked, but still manages to reassure Holly that Gail is glad of her presence. "We can hang around for a while longer if you want?" She asks.

Gail shakes her head. "Take me home."

"Okay." Holly smiles. "Do you have a jacket?"

Gail scrunches her face up in thought, a look that doesn't pass Traci's notice. "It's with Steve, I'll grab it for you." The Detective says, and Holly offers a thankful smile in response as she leaves the pair alone at the bar.

"How many drinks did you have exactly?" Holly asks.

Gail shrugs. "Lost count, had to make this whole thing bearable somehow." She replies as she fiddles with the belt of Holly's coat. "Did you save me some take out?"

"Really? You can't remember if you brought a jacket but you remember what I was having for dinner?" Holly leans across and pinches her side.

"I never forget food Holly. Did you?"

"Yes."

"You're the best."

"Well I didn't want to have to deal with a drunk, hungry, cranky Gail for the first night of our weekend." Holly teases.

"Maybe cranky Gail will go home with Chris and Dov instead." Gail pouts.

"We both know that's not going to happen." Holly smirks, resisting every urge to lean over and plant a gentle kiss on those lips.

Traci re-emerges, Gail's jacket over her forearm, putting a halt to their gentle teasing. She chucks the jacket at the officer, who removes her hand from Holly's back to catch it. Holly instantly misses the touch, as light as it had been.

"You're off?"

Gail nods in reply.

"Well, have a good weekend." A wide smile stretches across Traci's face, and a glint of something Holly can't quite place sparks in her eye. What Holly can read though, is Gail's exasperated eye roll.

"Holly, will you tell her we're not just going to be banging all weekend?" Gail asks, reminding the two brunettes once again of the level of her intoxication. But whilst Traci releases a barely contained stifle, Holly blinks, finding herself in the rare situation of being unsure quite how to respond to the blonde. She's never been around a drunk Gail when she wasn't equally intoxicated (night of the great hair massacre notwithstanding) and she couldn't deny, if she's being truly honest, that she had been curious what the effects of a large volume of alcohol would be on her (at least, when she wasn't at her emotional breaking point). From this last minute or so, it would seem that the sober bluntness remains, but the determination to keep people out of her life no matter what the cost does not.

In the face of silence, Gail continues, ignoring Holly's slight tugging on her shirt. "Tell her. She thinks we've been screwing each other all week. Tell her we haven't done it yet."

"Gail…" Holly says softly.

"Holly." Gail whines.

Holly somehow manages to resist the pout she has come to adore so much, and turns to Traci. "We should get going."

Traci nods, smile still plastered on her face. "Probably."

"I'll see you soon, hopefully. Well, not hopefully because if I see you it usually means there's been a homicide, but, you know…"

"Shut up, nerd." Gail cuts off Holly's rambling, takes her arm and drags her towards the door. "Bye Trace!" She shouts without looking back.

III.

They don't really talk during the drive home, more due to Gail's singing and dancing along to the radio than because of a lack of things to say.

Holly can't help but glance over at the woman next to her more often than is probably safe, slightly entranced by her ridiculous moves. Gail's ability to look completely ludicrous and not care what anyone thinks of her –an odd trait when paired with her emotional reservedness, which makes Holly wonder quite when she became so detached in her relationships- whether she is drunk or sober, only intensifies the enchantment she has Holly under. When she first observed that indifference in the blonde was when she realised how good friends they would become. She'd spent her life seeking out people who embraced weirdness, and here she'd managed to somehow find someone who not only did that with fervour, but also with stunning beauty. A stunning beauty that somehow remains when she is pulling faces into the invisible mic she is singing into.

It is one of the only things they really had in common, that unabashed oddness; but somehow that was enough. It isn't an issue, it just makes everything else so much more interesting. She is forever discovering new things about Gail. Like the fact that she can sing. That is a new discovery of this car journey.

"We should go dancing!"

Holly doesn't hear the first time Gail makes the declaration, not expecting an interruption to what has been so far ten minutes of near constant singing to some truly dreadful music. That one isn't new to Holly; that Gail has an awful, and very particular taste in music. She discovered early on in their friendship that Gail will flick between radio stations at the end of each song in order to find a new tune which suits her desires, and nine times out of ten she lands upon a song Holly would never have chosen to listen to if she was alone.

"Holly!" Gail whines when Holly does not acknowledge her suggestion.

"Huh?"

"We should go dancing. Go out. You can take me to a gay bar!" Holly can hear the palpable excitement in her voice, and it breaks her heart slightly to deny her.

"We're almost home. And I'm not really dressed for dancing." Holly gestures to her jeans, slightly loose sweater and long black jacket; definitely designed more for fighting that biting Canadian winter cold than for a night out in the city.

"You are, leave the jacket in the car, those jeans are pretty tight, they show off your ass, so they're fine, and then… are you wearing anything under your sweater?"

"Just a henley. And I'm wearing those fluffy socks."

"The soft ones?"

Holly nods, smiling at the memory of Gail marching around her house in her favourite pair of warm, soft, fluffy socks the morning after she burnt herself at the grow op.

"I love those socks." Gail says, slightly dreamily.

"I know. But they're not really designed for gay bars."

"Why, are you worried some chick will see them and decide she doesn't want to go home with you?"

"Not in the slightest, if were to go I'd already know before we got in that I was going home with the cutest girl there." Holly flashes Gail a grin and squeezes her knee.

Gail scowls slightly. "Someone's feeling confident. Who says I'd go home with you?"

"Well I am your ride. And your friends are pretty smashed, so I wouldn't count on them picking you up."

"Maybe I'd find some other girl to take me home."

"Is that how this works, I get you on weekdays then weekends you're fair game for the rest of Toronto's lesbians?"

"Pretty much." Gail shrugs.

"Well I guess I would want some time off anyway. You know how far you've made me fall behind on my work?"

Gail frowns, this time Holly can see, even in her periphery, that it is deeper than just an attempt to antagonise her.

"That's not to say it hasn't been wonderful. I wouldn't change this week for the world."

Gail's face relaxes and Holly squeezes her knee again.

"I can catch up on work when you're on nights."

Gail groans, and they return to silence for a minute or so.

"So no dancing?" Gail asks, eventually, remembering how their conversation had started.

"Not tonight. We could go tomorrow if you want, though, I guess. If you're up to it."

Gail leans across and places a soft kiss on Holly's cheek, before returning to tuning the radio into a new song to sing along to.

IV.

When Gail wakes the next morning she is alone in Holly's large bed. The only slight hammering in her head makes her immediately grateful for the two large glasses of water Holly made her drink before she went to sleep. She pulls herself out of bed, locates Holly's discarded socks on the floor by the door, and exits the room, following the scent of coffee down the stairs.

Holly is sat at the breakfast bar, a book open in front of her, with one hand cradling one of the two mugs on the bar, and the other holding a phone to her ear, wearing a loose blue flannel shirt over the tank and pants she wore to bed. Gail can hear a woman's voice speaking in her ear, but not who or what they are saying. When Holly notices her she smiles widely, gesturing to the other mug of coffee as she does so. Gail takes it gratefully and sips it, surveying the brunette as she listens intently to the voice on the other end of the line.

"Sorry." Holly mouths apologetically.

Gail raises her eyebrows in response, and returns her mug to the counter top, shuffling over to place a long but chaste kiss on the other woman's lips. Neither woman notices as the voice stops speaking, until a loud, questioning voice projects from the speaker. "Holly?"

"Yes, Mom?" Holly says into the receiver as they pull apart, pinching Gail's stomach as the blonde starts giggling. "No, I'm still here, sorry." The voice returns to its previous continuous buzzing, and Holly rolls her eyes.

Gail shuffles around behind Holly, wrapping her arms around her middle and resting her chin on the other woman's shoulder as she peers down at the book on the counter in front of them. She recognises the story from her school years, and scans the page, before reaching down to turn it.

Holly lightly slaps her hand. "I'm not finished on that page yet." Holly whispers, covering the microphone on the phone with her hand as she does so.

"Should have read it faster then." Gail counters. She leans in to place a kiss on the lips centimetres from her own, but Holly pulls back, eyebrows raised, and glances pointedly towards the open book.

Gail sighs, and turns the page back again, before leaning in to claim her brief reward from the brunette's lips.

It doesn't take long, however, before Gail bores of waiting for Holly to finish reading her page and turns her attention to Holly's neck and shoulder, exposed where her shirt has slipped down her arm. She trails kisses along the collar bone there, enjoying the feeling as Holly shudders slightly under her touch.

She proceeds to continue the trail up the olive skin of the woman's neck to her ear, sucking on the points where her kisses evoke the strongest reaction from the woman in her arms. Gail smiles to herself as Holly's occasional interjections to her mother's ramblings become shorter and husky. She repeats her path across Holly's skin back and forth, slipping her hands under the other woman's tank top to massage the skin she finds there. Holly's hand drops to grasp her forearm, stopping her left hand in its path northwards.

Gail halts her ministrations in order to pout at the pathologist who raises her eyebrows warningly at her. Gail rolls her eyes but returns her mouth to its previous task, running her tongue along the skin behind her ear, forcing a Holly to purr softly.

Her movements grow less gentle the longer the conversation goes on, sucking and nibbling until eventually she bites down on her pulse point, causing a soft "shit" to escape Holly's lips.

However, despite her softness, it doesn't escape her mother's notice.

"No, no, sorry mom... Something just... A cat just got in and started causing trouble ... I know, I thought I'd nailed it down ... no you don't have to go, I'll deal with it later ... It's fine, honestly ... Mom, no ... Fine, okay, speak to you soon ... Love you, bye."

Holly turns to look at the blonde, who is grinning gleefully.

"Are you pleased with yourself?"

"Always." Gail leans in and finally meets their lips in the deep kiss she has been longing for all morning. "I don't like waiting that long for my good morning kiss, just so you know." Gail informs her when they part.

"Sorry, she likes to ramble a bit..."

"So it's genetic?"

Holly ignores the interruption. "I can't cut short conversations with her, I've never been able to lie to her."

"Why lie? Just tell her you have a smoking hot blonde who needs your attention."

"You want me to tell my Mom about you? Bear in mind that she will demand to meet you immediately."

"Hm, maybe not." Gail leans in to gently capture Holly's lips once again, before resting her chin on her shoulder once more. "What's the plan for today?"

"I was going to suggest we go out for breakfast but after that, I don't know. I didn't know if you'd want to spend all weekend together."

"That probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

"Charming. How's your hangover?"

Gail starts absent-mindedly flicking through the book on the counter now Holly's attention has been drawn from it. "I've had worse. Nothing a couple of aspirin won't sort out."

"Do you still want to go out again tonight?"

"Yeah, do you not?"

"I'm happy to, I just thought… well, it's been years since I drank heavily two nights in a row." Holly shrugs lightly with the shoulder Gail is not resting her weight on.

"That's because you're a dinosaur, Holly."

Holly responds by elbowing her in the ribs. "I am four and a half years older than you."

"Cougar." Gail smirks.

"Shut up. Don't pretend you don't dig it."

"I guess I kinda do. But it doesn't matter that you're an old crone, I'm the one who'll have been drinking for two nights straight, and my youthful body can handle any amount of alcohol."

"Whatever you say, Gail. I'll make us some dinner later then we can go to some bars. We should go get changed if we're going to make it to breakfast soon, though."

"Mm, hang on, I just wanna stay like this for a while." Gail murmurs, nuzzling into Holly's collar.

Holly turns her head and places a kiss on Gail's temple, twisting her own arms around Gail's as they maintain their hold around her waist.

"Are you wearing my socks?" She asks, glancing down at the floor.

"They're comfy."

"I wore them yesterday."

"Don't care." Gail hums into her shoulder, and the feeling of hot breath against her skin causes Holly to grasp tighter onto the other woman's arms, sinking into the soft body pressing against her back.

V.

When they finally make it to breakfast, Gail recounts her night to the brunette, who in turn explains the research she was working on in the blonde's absence. She has never been able to do that before; discuss her work with her partners, except for the few occasions she had dated other people with medical training. But Gail listens attentively, asking questions where she doesn't understand and actually showing a genuine interest in what she has to say. And when she doesn't look interested it's only because she's looking impressed, or almost proud, and it warms Holly's heart.

"I'm sorry, I've been talking about this for ages now. You can cut me off if you want." Holly says.

"No, no. You're kind of weirdly attractive when you're geeking out about stuff. I like it." Gail replies, not quite meeting Holly's gaze as she speaks.

"You're one of the first to think so."

"Everyone else are morons, Holly. I've told you this before." Gail says, before taking the straw to her milkshake in her mouth and drinking.

Holly chuckles lightly. "That's true." Holly takes a mouthful of pancake and chews, before speaking again. "So I have a question."

Gail stops slurping at her drink. "Yeah?"

"How much exactly did you tell your friends about us last night?"

"Us?"

"You and me. And what we do. Or don't do."

"Oh, right. Well, first of all; friends?" Gail asks, raising her eyebrows. Holly's mouth twitches into a knowing smile. She has heard regularly about the various ways in which her colleagues prove themselves to be terrible friends. But for all their faults, and yes they certainly have them; they certainly never seem to have made Gail feel she has someone she could trust in and rely on, who believes in her and sees past the shit and care for what was inside. In spite of that, though, she knows that Gail cares for them, and that they too care for her. They were never going to be her best friends, but those other friends; the ones who you can go drinking with, and gossip with and who may not completely get you but will pull you up when you're sinking, Gail has those, as hard-pressed as she is to admit it.

"Secondly, I don't remember a whole lot, but I didn't tell them much. I know I'm not like my usual… me, when I'm drunk, but I don't completely lay myself bare. I only told Traci stuff because she was implying that we were going to be having a dirty weekend together. And then I think I was telling Chris a little about you, but only you, not us or what we do together. But he was drunker than me so he probably doesn't remember that at all. But I don't talk to Chris about sex. Or anyone, really. I don't want them thinking about that."

"Okay. Good. I feel the same way." Holly smiles.

"So do your friends know about us?" Gail asks.

"My best friends do. I got a little excited when you said we were dating the other day, I had to tell them. I hope that's okay?" She could feel her cheeks going pink as she said it.

"What did you tell them?"

Holly smiles shyly. "Just that you're beautiful, and brave, and funny. And that I like you, and you like me. What did you tell Chris?"

"That you're more comfy to cuddle than him, mostly. I guess you're better at being complimentary than me."

"I'll take what I can get." Holly laughs.

"If I told him anything nicer he'd probably freak out and think you'd got Celery to put me under a love spell."

"Who's to say I haven't?" Holly raises an eyebrow questioningly.

"Like you need a love spell to get girls, with that brain and those boobs?"

Holly grins. "I think you may be a boob girl, Gail."

"I can't know for sure yet. I'll report back when I've been able to conduct a thorough investigation." Gail flashes a cheeky grin.

Holly flushes slightly. "Drink up your milkshake, Peck."