A/N: Hiya, me again! I know, this is a quick update from me, right? But as this is the last chapter I didn't want to leave it hanging for too long. Before getting on with it though, I do have a couple of things to say!

Firstly, just a massive thank you to everyone single one of you who sent me feedback and comments, whether it be in a public review or a private PM. There's too many people to name. I honestly feel so flattered you took the time to do that and I enjoyed reading all of your thoughts and opinions. Particular applause to those of you who have been reading from the very start as who knew this would turn into a marathon?! When I first had the idea, I thought it could be covered in 40k words, maybe 10-15 chapters. It snowballed, clearly. And it's the longest thing I've ever written. Yikes. So cheers all, it's been a pleasure.

A very special thanks goes to Kravn, who has beta'd this from chapter 11 onwards. Poor girl only sent me a nice message on my grammar and ended up stuck with me for six months – what a star. I'm betting anyone who has read this though will notice there is a clear upturn in quality from that point, and that is solely down to her. Not just for the editing and catching all my tired typos though of course, but also for all the ideas, suggestions, insights and pokes she has given me! 99% of them have worked their way in here and the story is all the better for it; especially the "I think Gail would feel…" bits! Not to mention the "awkward!" markers – seriously, you guys should thank her for making me change those ridiculously long and garbled sentences that she spotted. It gave you a chance to have a clue what I'm talking about at least! She has been an absolute joy to work with throughout and anything that is still a mess or a mistake, well, that's all mine. Kravn; you're a legend – thank you.

Lastly, to answer questions I've already have just in case anyone else is wondering; yup, this really is it, end of story. No plans for a sequel, so I do hope you like where I've left it. There may be a semi-related, quasi-epilogue, final chapter-esque one shot from me in future but we'll see how that turns out. I make no promises! For now, I'm going to go catch up on my reading!

Hope you enjoy the ending. On with the show.

Cheers,

Sam

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Hours later, Gail found herself pacing back and forth outside Holly's home, wondering why on earth she had thought that this was a good idea. She had initially wanted to go and pick Holly up from the airport but that would have only given her four hours to prepare for seeing her again. And she figured the brunette would be tired and stressed after the early start and flight. So Gail had decided to visit her later, letting her settle in back at home first. She had planned on getting there about seven-ish, but it wasn't even quarter past six when she left her flat, not being able to wait any longer.

However, now that she was finally here, she was struggling to gather up that last bit of courage to knock on the door. She stopped on the street, looking up at the familiar house. Holly hadn't called her in the last three weeks. Would she really be happy to see the cop just show up on her doorstep? She looked down at herself and critically assessed the outfit she had picked out so carefully. Maybe this is overkill? she thought and quickly turned away.

Yet as soon as she did so, she recalled the last time she saw her girlfriend. She remembered the guilt she felt as she turned her back on Holly in the cabin and how her heart had clenched with every small step she took away from her. Then she remembered the rush of elation that hit her when she whirled around and kissed Holly instead. She had never felt such a strong sense of belonging and relief as she did in that moment when Holly wrapped her arms round her and returned her kiss, pouring every last ounce of feeling and soul into it. She wanted that again.

Turning back around to Holly that day was maybe the best decision she had ever made. As she replayed it again, in those few seconds she realised that she would always come back for Holly. No matter how far she ran or how scared she was of being in the damn tree, she would always turn back. Her mind made up, Gail spun around and marched to the door

She rapped decisively on the wood with her knuckles and listened for signs of someone on the other side. As she waited she bounced nervously on the balls of her feet like a boxer warming up for a fight, rocking her head from side to side and puffing out a few breaths from between pursed lips. The door swung open and she swiftly schooled her face into what she hoped was a nice, normal smile.

Holly pulled open her front door without checking the peephole and so when she caught sight of the blonde standing on her doorstep she was completely shocked. She blinked and adjusted her glasses before breaking into a brilliant, beaming smile.

"Gail!" she exclaimed.

"Hey," replied the cop shyly.

"Hi," Holly said, still not quite able to believe that the woman who had consumed her thoughts for the last three weeks was suddenly standing in front of her again.

"Hey," Gail said again. She had spent so long building up to this that the ability to form sentences had deserted her.

"You said that already," the brunette replied, leaning against the door frame and drinking in Gail's presence.

"You know, it sounded familiar," frowned the cop and she shifted her weight from one hip to the other, feeling like an idiot. A repetitive, inarticulate idiot.

Holly ran her eyes down her girlfriend, taking in the figure hugging royal blue dress with the plunging neckline, those flawless legs and the sexiest pair of high heels she had ever seen. "You look…incredible. You're stunning, Gail," she said, stumbling over her words when she couldn't think of a description that would do the blonde justice.

The police officer ducked her head and shook off the compliment. She suddenly thrust out her hand and pushed the bouquet of flowers she was holding towards Holly. "These are for you," she told the brunette. She swallowed hard, trying to fix her suddenly dry throat. She could hear her own heartbeat roaring in her ears and hoped the other woman couldn't hear it too.

Holly took them and gently touched the delicate petals of one of the roses with the tip of one finger. "Thank you," she said with a smile.

"So," Gail started, still feeling nervous. "Is this how you imagined it? You said that you fantasised about finding me on your doorstep; dressed to kill, bringing you flowers and taking you on a date…remember?"

The brunette definitely remembered but even in her wildest dreams she hadn't thought it would be quite like this. Her mental picture had absolutely included a dress, legs, heels and cleavage…though not in such exquisite, perfect detail. More importantly, her imagination clearly wasn't inventive enough to accurately foresee the rush of love and affection that coursed through her at the sight of Gail either. She carefully placed her flowers on top of the coat rack just inside the door. "It's better," she told her in answer to the question. "So much better!"

Gail didn't have time to prepare before Holly launched herself through the doorway and into her arms so their first kiss almost missed the mark, but within a couple of seconds she adjusted her angle and met the brunette in a passionate embrace that left them both feeling weak at the knees. Gail moaned as Holly's soft lips moved against her own, the contact making her tingle. The tingling turned into white hot heat when Holly brushed her tongue against her lower lip and she opened her mouth, immediately granting access. She felt the pathologist's hands cup the back of her neck and pull her closer. Her stomach swooped, settling lower as the flood of arousal consumed her. However they were rudely jerked out of the moment when a passing car honked its horn at them.

Holly leant back slightly and giggled delightedly when she noticed the happiness shining from Gail's eyes. "Almost as embarrassing as getting the porch lights flashed at you, right?" she asked, her arms still wrapped round her girlfriend.

"You had the porch lights flashed at you?" the cop asked, lifting one eyebrow. She forced herself to use the moment to take a few deep breaths and try and slow her pounding heart. She had fully expected their first meeting after all this time to be awkward and shy, and with her stupid initial inability to say anything other than 'hey' it had indeed started off like that. For whatever reason, Holly hadn't called her whilst she'd been away and so she felt incredibly vulnerable coming over here. All the 'what ifs' that had been flying through her mind since Holly left had reappeared all at once on the drive over and she had worked herself into a complete state of anxiety. What if she's avoiding me…or she's changed her mind about me…or forgotten me? Should I have called first? But then as soon as Holly called her stunning, everything had faded away and all she could think about was how crazy she was about this woman. It felt like they had never been apart.

"Hmm. Once or twice maybe," Holly replied. She smiled tenderly at her girlfriend, drinking in every detail of that beautiful face and stroking the skin at the back of her neck with her fingertips. "You cut your hair," she stated, the close cropped style suddenly grabbing her attention.

"Yeah. Not by choice," Gail told her, wrinkling her nose. "It was an unfortunate side effect of them wanting to staple my head back together,"

"I like it," Holly replied, running her fingers over the short, soft hair at the base of Gail's skull. "It suits you," she said; and it did. It wasn't a style she ever would have foreseen Gail going for but it looked good on her.

"You should have seen it to start with. I think the nurse might have used a lawn mower. Still anything's better than a gaping head wound, right?" the police officer asked.

The brunette shuddered slightly and shook her head, moving her hands down to the cop's shoulders and gripping them tightly. "Don't. Don't joke about it. I was so scared when Oliver showed up at the airport,"

Gail acknowledged her inappropriateness with a nod that passed as an apology. "I know. But I'm fine, I promise. It's healing up nicely, so they tell me,"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," she replied. She stared hard at Holly, searching for something behind those dark brown eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked, seriously.

The doctor pondered that one for a moment. "It's been a tough few weeks. But yeah. I'm okay,"

Gail sighed. She wanted to say something reassuring, but her feelings were bursting to be set free and she knew that if she spoke, everything would come tumbling out. So instead she nodded and pulled her girlfriend in for a tight hug.

"I'm definitely okay now," Holly mumbled against her neck.

They stood there for a beat before the cop broke the mood. "So can we go inside? Because I'm supposed to be taking you on a date and I didn't plan on just hanging out in the street,"

Holly laughed and tugged her girlfriend into the house. They stumbled into the kitchen and Gail kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag onto the counter. Holly watched her adoringly as she roamed around the place like she owned it. She had been longing for this woman for what seemed like an eternity and now seeing her casually make herself at home in Holly's kitchen was just perfect. It made the turmoil of the previous weeks fade to grey. The constant pestering of McGregor for news of Gail's injury when she was away. All those days she had spent checking her phone every five minutes, waiting for her cop to call. The uncertainty she felt whenever she was around Steve, wondering whether to ask about his sister. The excitement of finally getting on that plane back home to Toronto and the depth of disappointment when there was no blonde waiting there for her. Holly had been determined to track Gail down today once she had grabbed some lunch, had a nap and taken a shower; she was going to head down to the station and start there, having never been to Gail's home. But then her plans were tossed out the window with that knock on her door and the unbelievable joy of finding her girlfriend on the other side.

The reunion had started off a little shaky, but a bunch of flowers and a searing kiss had quickly changed that. And now Holly stood there, overwhelmed with joy and biting her lip slightly to avoid blurting out how much she loved this beautiful, strange, spiky, strong woman in front of her. It was too soon, despite what Oliver had said to her that day at the airport. Instead, she recalled their time apart and how difficult everything had seemed: the trial, the constant police presence and trying to stay up to date with her work load. It didn't make sense that it was more challenging and stressful than the previous months under guard and especially their time on the run. Yet Holly knew that there was something missing; something that made all the difference in the world. Gail hadn't been with her and her heart had ached for the blonde's presence, which made everything seem that little bit harder.

"God I missed you," she said quietly.

The blonde turned from where she was poking through the cupboards looking for wine. Tequila was all well and good on most occasions, but this was supposed to a romantic evening.

"I missed you too," she replied, her voice perhaps more tender than Holly had ever heard before.

The brunette's smile faltered a little, wondering whether she would ruin things by bringing it up but deciding she had to ask. "Then why didn't you call?"

Gail nearly dropped the bottle of red she had found. What? Holly was waiting for me to call her? "Why didn't you call me?" she asked indignantly.

"Honey, I didn't have your number," Holly told her. "I only had your work phone – the one that was tapped,"

Gail gaped at her. She hadn't even considered that. This was ridiculous. She had been desperately waiting to hear from the brunette…and Holly had been doing the same thing? Because she didn't have her number? For fuck's sake! "You could have asked!" she said, thoroughly exasperated. "Steve would have given it you! Or Sanderson!"

"I know, but I was out of the country for a while. Then when I came back I didn't know how open you could be with the whole IA thing hanging over your head. And I was worried they might be listening in on my calls again," she explained, starting to babble a little as she tried to clarify her thought process. "I wanted to ask Steve and Scott when he came back, but I just didn't know if you'd be okay with me talking to them about you! And then when you didn't call me, I thought maybe…maybe you were having second thoughts….?"

"What?" Gail exclaimed, completely flummoxed by the fact that Holly had experienced the exact same doubts she had. However, her girlfriend misunderstood the surprise for annoyance and quickly tried to apologise.

"I know, I'm sorry, but you didn't call me either! And I know you would have known my number, because of that whole Rain Man thing you've got going on!"

"I wanted to call you…" Gail started to laugh, recognising how stupid they had both been.

"So why didn't you?" the brunette queried, finally realising that for some reason Gail was amused, not annoyed.

"Well I was in the hospital while you were away. Then when you came back, I wanted to give you some time to settle in. I knew you were at the trial every day, then Steve told me you were working in the evenings and supporting your sister… I just figured you had enough on your plate. I didn't want to be a nuisance and add more pressure, you know?" the cop explained, her justification sounding silly even to herself.

"Gail, I would have loved to hear from you. You will never be a nuisance to me," Holly said, her tone serious. She moved over to where her girlfriend stood, wanting a physical connection to prove how sincere her words were. She stroked Gail's back as the blonde poured two glasses of wine.

The police officer poured slowly and turned the bottle as she finished, careful not to spill a drop. "I guess I got a little worried when you didn't call me. I did the same thing you did– I started to think maybe you'd changed your mind too,"

Holly shook her head. "Not a chance," she assured her.

"Me neither. Just so you know," Gail said, wanting Holly to know that she felt exactly the same as when they parted. "I don't ever want to be like a cat with you, Holly," she said seriously. "I don't want to get scared and run,"

Holly nodded, remembering the conversation they had shared all those weeks ago when Gail had told her that weird analogy about being a cat stuck in a tree when it came to relationships. "I'll try not to scare you," she promised. "I thought maybe that was why you didn't call too and I was kicking myself,"

"What do you mean?" asked the cop, not understanding.

"I thought perhaps you had gotten scared. So I wanted to check up on you but I didn't want to put pressure on you and scare you away even more," the brunette explained.

"You do scare me a little bit," Gail admitted. "But in a good way. In a way that makes me not want to be scared,"

"I was just worried that Oliver told you what I said to him and that had freaked you out…" Holly suggested slowly, watching for Gail's reaction but the blonde simply frowned, not knowing what she was referring to. The pathologist breathed a sigh of relief. At her lowest point over the past three weeks, she had sat in her old room at her parent's house, a text message already typed up and ready to send to Sanderson asking for Gail's number. But before she could send it, she suddenly thought of yet another reason Gail might not have called. What if Oliver had told Gail all about their conversation at the airport? He had said that she should tell Gail herself that she loved her but if he had mentioned it, then maybe it had terrified her girlfriend so much that she had run away. Holly knew the blonde was incredibly guarded; it had taken weeks to break down her walls. And although she knew Gail's feelings for her were deep, she probably wasn't quite in the same place. So Holly had already decided to hold back on that until Gail was completely ready to hear it but if Oliver had already let it slip….

"What did you tell Ollie?" asked the blonde, still confused.

"It doesn't matter," Holly said, breathing a sigh of relief. So Gail hadn't been frightened off by the strength of her feelings. It was all just a stupid mix up; both of them waiting for the other and giving in to their insecurities too easily. She shook her head in self-disgust before speaking up again to try and draw a line under those horrible weeks. "Okay. Can we just agree that we're both idiots then and move on?" the pathologist asked, wrapping her arm round Gail's waist.

"Deal," replied the blonde. She handed Holly a glass and they clinked them together to seal the agreement.

Holly sipped her wine and gave Gail a quick kiss on the cheek before moving away and turning to lean against the counter. "So, you said something about a date?" she hinted, wondering what her girlfriend had planned.

"Yup. We've got reservations at eight, so you'd better get ready," Gail answered. Holly was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a loose top that hung off one shoulder. She was barefoot and her hair was casually pinned up in a loose bun at the back of her head, leaving that glorious neck bare. She guessed that wherever Holly had been sent under witness protection, the weather was good because the doctor's bronzed skin tone definitely had the hint of a deeper tan now. She wondered if that tan was all over, before shaking herself out of that thought. As much as Gail appreciated the outfit, she thought her girlfriend would probably want to change into something slightly less casual without having her clothes torn off her.

"Let me put my flowers in water," Holly said. She walked back into the hallway and collected the abandoned bouquet, then busied herself filling a vase with water and cutting the stems back.

Gail sipped her wine as she watched her girlfriend happily arrange the flowers, humming away to herself as she did so. She had never bought anyone flowers before and although a few guys had bought her bunches in the past, she didn't get the point until now. She was finding a lot of things were different with Holly, despite the fact they had only been officially together for a month of which most of that time was spent apart. Gail constantly thought of the brunette and had this strong compulsion to make her smile. It popped into her mind a hundred times a day. There were times where she would walk past a bakery and wonder whether Holly would like it; she would hear a joke and would remind herself to tell Holly later; or she would notice an exhibition at a museum and would think that Holly would like to see it. And now she knew the pathologist seemed to love receiving red roses, Gail was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to go past a florist without feeling the urge to buy her some.

Was this what love felt like? she asked herself. She knew she had fallen head over heels for the brunette and that was why she consumed her every waking thought. She remembered that once she had finally told Holly how she felt, she had been filled with an unbelievable lightness that obliterated the nerves and caution that had plagued her. It was exactly like today; she couldn't think why she had been so nervous about coming here earlier because as soon as she saw Holly, she knew this was where she was meant to be. She had told Oliver weeks ago that she thought she might be in love. During her time apart from Holly, she had tried to push that feeling away but it had only grown stronger. Then upon seeing her girlfriend today, her feelings threatened to overwhelm her. She took another sideways glance at the beautiful woman standing beside her, arranging rose stems in her vase. Oliver had told her she should sing her love from the rooftops. She hadn't been sure she was ready for that exactly but now that Holly was in front of her, the urge to blurt it out was almost irresistible. Instead she settled for leaning over and placing a delicate kiss on her bare shoulder. The blonde was immediately rewarded with a surprised gasp and Holly's dazzling smile. Gail couldn't stop herself from grinning broadly and hoped that it conveyed what she felt in her heart even though she was too shy to say it.

"I can't quite believe that we're allowed to just go out," Holly mused as she gave the arrangement a last critical once over. "No security, nobody watching. Just us,"

"Are you worried that it'll be weird? I could ring McNally and get her to sit at the next table?" Gail smirked.

The doctor smacked her on the shoulder. "Don't you dare! It won't be weird. It'll be like being free again," she said, smiling as she linked one of her hands with Gail.

"Crazy, eh?" Gail grinned back. Her face was starting to hurt from all this happiness, which was definitely not something she'd experienced before.

"I just can't believe it," the pathologist said again, "Steve told us that we're in the clear, something about the gang falling apart? But I still feel like I should be watching over my shoulder, like it's not safe,"

"Are you scared?" the blonde asked, concerned.

Holly considered that for a moment. "A little. It's hard to turn that off, you know?"

Gail squeezed tighter on the hand she was still holding. "Yeah, I get that. But Steve's right. Kolarov and most of his top boys are locked up and apparently the gang is imploding. A few distant relatives have tried to take over but all that's happened is a lot of infighting. Ross Stone's team in Vancouver said there's already other gangs moving in on the Kolarov turf. They're too busy trying to save what little they have left to mount some sort of revenge. Besides Kate isn't top of the list; they would go for the traitors in the ranks first," the cop explained, wanting her girlfriend to know everything and hoping it would comfort her somewhat.

Holly dropped her head onto Gail's shoulder. "Thanks, honey," she whispered, grateful for the reassurance. She trusted the official judgement of the police service in releasing her family from protection but it would still take a while to get out the mind set of being hunted. Hearing it from Gail helped more because she knew her girlfriend wouldn't dream of telling her to relax unless she was convinced they were safe. The cop took her safety far too seriously for that.

The blonde's heart flipped when she heard that term of endearment again. She lifted her hand to gently tip Holly's face towards her own and kissed her softly.

The pathologist smiled as the broke apart. "Mmm. You know, we could just have our date here?" she suggested, running her hands over Gail's hips. "Do some more of that maybe?"

Gail caught her wrists lightly to stop any further roaming and lifted her eyebrows. "No way, nerd. The fantasy was me taking you out, remember? I am not wasting this dress," she scolded.

"It's definitely an outfit that should be shown off," the brunette agreed, making sure she ran her eyes down the length of Gail's body as her hands were being held captive.

"Exactly. So I'm going to wine and dine you. We've never been on a real date and I want to do this properly. Then once you're suitably wooed, maybe we can come back here and carry on with your plan…" the cop proposed, a cheeky glint in her eyes.

"I'll hold you to that," Holly warned her.

"No problem. So go get ready!" Gail said, giving her girlfriend a little nudge in the direction of the stairs.

"Yes, officer. But you're coming with me!" Holly ordered, tugging the blonde by the hand as she walked across her kitchen.

"You want me to watch you get ready?" Gail laughed, dragging her heels a little.

"Not watch me in a creepy way, you lunatic! Just hang out whilst I get changed. I haven't seen you for three weeks, I don't want to waste another half hour," the doctor told her.

Gail shrugged and grabbed the bottle of wine in her free hand while she let herself be pulled up the stairs. "That's not exactly conventional, is it?" she mused

"When has anything we've done in this relationship been conventional?" asked the brunette, throwing a raised eyebrow over her shoulder at the woman following her.

Gail thought about that. "True," she acceded. "So is it still fun getting dressed?" she wondered as her brain went off on a tangent.

"What do you mean?" Holly queried as they stepped into her room. She let go of the cop's hand and made her way over to the closet.

"Well, the most fun part of a date is getting dressed. I mean, how's that work if it's two girls getting dressed together?"

"I don't know; how does it work with a guy?" Holly scoffed slightly as she flipped through some hangers.

"If you live together he gets dressed first and then…you…get dressed. It's very stupid, stupid question," the cop replied, shaking her head at the rubbish coming out of her own mouth as she sat down on the bed. Every time she had imagined being asked up to Holly's room, she had seen herself being a lot smoother than this.

"Uh huh," Holly agreed, rolling her eyes and smirking as she looked over at the blushing blonde. Gail was lucky she was adorable when she was embarrassed. She pulled out a shirt from the closet and inspected it, deciding it was smart enough to match Gail's spectacular dress. She sauntered over to the bed, took the bottle of wine from Gail and took a swig before pushing the blonde over onto her back. She handed back the bottle then pulled her glasses off, folded the arms inwards and placed them on the bedside table her. She didn't miss the fact that Gail's eyes followed her every movement.

"I'm getting changed. No staring at me like that, okay? Or we'll never get out of here in time for dinner," she told her, raising her eyebrows.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Gail agreed. "How well can you see without your glasses anyway?" she asked casually.

"Oh don't worry, I'll put some contacts in. I'm not going to be blinking at you across the table," Holly told her.

The cop nodded airily, pleased that Holly had missed the point of the question. She then proceeded to sneakily watch Holly get dressed from every angle she possibly could. She definitely shouldn't have worried earlier; getting dressed with a girl was far more fun than with a guy. In fact, it was sweet torture. Sleeping with Holly on their last night together was one of the best moments of her life and she wouldn't change it for the world but it had made these past weeks even harder. She had replayed it in her mind over and over until it was indelibly burned into her conscious. So then not only had she had the aching longing in her heart but her libido just wouldn't quit either. Her body had craved Holly's touch and watching the brunette getting ready for their date was very nearly tipping her over the edge. She caught glimpses of naked skin and for one heart stopping moment, a glorious expanse of bare legs as Holly changed her pants. It was all she could do to not grab her girlfriend and throw her across the bed; to hell with their reservations. Yet she managed to restrain herself, knowing there was plenty of time for all that later. For now, she could just revel being in Holly's company again and the feeling of all being right with the world once more.

Half an hour later, Holly put the finishing touches to her hair. She swivelled round on the low stool in front of the dresser to face the blonde who was lying on her stomach across her bed, chin propped in her hands. Gail had been telling her everything that had happened in the past few weeks; how she'd been cleared by IA and the trouble she and Sanderson got into during their time off work. In return, she had told Gail about being away with her family and then the trial; how brilliant Kate had been and the relief when the guilty verdict came back. Throughout the conversation, she knew Gail had been watching her every move; the blonde wasn't exactly subtle and Holly had spotted her staring even before she put her lenses in.

She leaned in to place a soft kiss on the cop's lips. "All done," she said.

Gail grinned and rolled over onto her back, pushing herself off the bed. "Come on then," she said, walking out the doors. "Times a'ticking!"

By the time Holly grabbed her heels and a handbag and strolled down the stairs, the blonde was waiting by the front door for her.

"So, are you ready, Dr Stewart?" she asked, taking in the magnificent sight of her girlfriend descending the stairs in a dressy black and white shirt, tight black pants and high heels.

"More than ready, Officer Peck," Holly said as she reached the bottom of the staircase and dropped a quick kiss on Gail's waiting lips.

"Will you go on a date with me?" the cop asked, thinking she should probably officially ask seen as she had essentially turned up tonight and simply told Holly they were going out. She held out her hand expectantly.

The brunette pretended to consider the offer but couldn't keep it up for long. "You don't even need to ask. I can't wait to go out with you. How about a thousand dates?" she asked.

"Hmmm. We'll start with a thousand and see how we get on I guess," Gail teased. "Cos you know, we might be completely incompatible,"

Holly laughed, knowing that nothing could be further from the truth. "You're insane, you know that right?" she asked, taking the outstretched palm.

Gail nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. But you love it," she declared, shrugging her shoulders in a casual attempt to hide the deeper meaning behind that statement.

Yet the pathologist didn't miss it of course. As her girlfriend led her out the front door, Holly squeezed the hand she held in her own, making Gail turn slightly to look her directly in the eye. She smiled to confirm the unspoken message between them and answered her with complete sincerity.

"I do. I really do."


The End :)