"Gail! You're back." Chris shouted gleefully from their beat up couch.
Gail grunted in return, ignoring her roommates chatter and going to drop off her bag in her room. All she wanted was a shower, some food, and sleep.
"Where have you been? Traci said you were fine but didn't say where you went." Chris followed her to her room, worry evident in his voice.
"I was gone for the weekend, mom, no big deal."
Her roommate deflated a bit. "A little warning next time you're disappearing for days, I was about to file a missing persons."
Gail saluted him on her way to the bathroom. She needed a shower and a nap asap. The flight back to Toronto was horrible. She couldn't switch her ticket to she could sit with Holly, so she was stuck between a clueless father with a new born and a woman who thought her shoulder was a pillow. Halfway through the flight the baby vomited in her lap, there was pretty bad turbulence, and she didn't get a wink of the sleep she had planned on. Gail and Holly had stayed up late, taking in as much of their last day they could, and then got up early to make the flight.
She showered and then passed out on her bed, still wrapped in her towel. Only to be woken hours later by an obnoxious knock on her door.
"Go away." Gail growled at whoever had the nerve to wake her.
"Traci will be here in twenty to pick you up, something about you owing her an explanation." Chris played messenger.
"Tell her to fuck off. I'm sleeping until shift."
"She said not to make her drag you out unless you want everyone to know about Little Miss Sunshine." He countered confusingly.
Gail groaned into her pillow, knowing she didn't have much of a choice in her plans for that night, and flicked her comforter off her back. "Tell Trace she's buying."
Chris chuckled. "She guessed so."
Gail didn't put effort into getting ready, jeans, tee, and a beanie to cover her disastrous hair. She sighed at herself for falling asleep while it was still wet, it was already difficult to deal with on its own, it didn't need help to further its mess. Just as she was slipping on her regular combat boots her phone pinged with a text. Assuming it was just Traci telling her she's arrived, Gail pulled her leather jacket over her shoulders and slipped out of her shared apartment to meet the detective out front.
But when she got to the front entrance she was met with an empty curb, her friend nowhere in sight. Gail was perplexed so she took out her phone to double check, and low and behold it hadn't been Traci but Holly who had texted her. She didn't have time to stop the smile that took over her features.
Lunchbox : What did my dad say to you?
Lunchbox : It's been killing me since we boarded the plane
He warned me about your booger picking habit
Lunchbox: ?
It's ok lunchbox
I told him I already knew. I mean I did share a room with you for about two months
Lunchbox : Really what did he say?
It's classified and you don't have the clearance to know. But I'll tell you
I plan on exploiting it
Lunchbox : I hate you
Gail jumped, almost dropping her phone, a car horn had gone off right in front of her. Inside said car Traci was laughing her ass off. She sent her so-called friend the iciest glare she could and entered the vehicle.
"Some cop you are, I pulled right up in front of you and nothing." The brunette mused and pulled out onto the street.
"I was distracted." Gail grumbled.
"By who?"
"My phone. Do you not listen?"
Gail zipped her tent as quietly as she could, but it was difficult with a flashlight in her mouth and her hands were freezing already, numbing her fingers. Luckily she was small and had only needed a small gap to crawl through. She scanned the sea of tents, after deeming it clear she moved forward.
She couldn't sleep. It was too quiet yet too loud, between the lack of soft snores and loud chirp of crickets, Gail couldn't get her brain to shut down and go into the blissful sleep she deserved after the day she had. So she decided that waking Holly was her only solution.
"Psst. Lunchbox." She stage whispered to the tent she knew as the brunette's. The tent she was told she couldn't occupy with her friend because they were supposed to be in different groups. Something about making more than just one friend. Gail made a face at the stupid thought. One friend was plenty. Besides Holly had already been more maintenance than she was willing to give out, adding another to that list would kill her. Gail flicked her light on and off directed at the bright blue fabric, "Holly."
"Gail?" Was the horsed reply. Holly, Gail smiled.
"Yeah."
There was some rustling. "What're you doing?"
"I can't sleep." Gail confessed and kicked the dirt. More rustling and a zipper Gail assumed to be her sleeping bag. A moment later she was greeted with a groggy brunette.
Holly hid her hands deep in her sweater pocket as a shiver ran through her. "Why can't you sleep?"
Gail shrugged.
"Do you want to come into my tent with me? I think there should be room, maybe a little squishy…" Holly was tired, that much was clear. Her eyes half open and voice raspy. But she was there for her none the less. Gail smiled despite herself.
"Can we just sit for awhile?" She asked hopefully and continued to dig a hole by kicking with the toe of her shoe.
"Yeah." Holly smiled and held out a hand. Gail gladly took the offered hand and together they walked down to the fire pit just off shore of the tiny island both of their groups had chosen to camp at for the next two nights. They sat on one of the big longs that had been turned into a bench and stared up at the stars, Holly pointed out the constellations she knew and Gail happily listened to her friend tiredly but excitedly share her knowledge.
"Alright I've gotten you food and drinks and have ranted about my latest baby-daddy issues, it's time for you to spill." Detective Nash stared dead into her eyes, leaving no room for escape. She squirmed in her seat much like she felt on the inside.
"Not much to tell, Trace." Gail shrugged sipping on her newest drink. Truth was there was a lot to tell, the few days in BC had changed everything. Her feelings, the ones that had never gone away, the ones that continued to shift and grow since they were reunited, had been undeniably confirmed in the graveyard.
Traci set her with a pointed look, the equivalent of Holly's head tilt -minus a few situations this not being one. She groaned internally. With a long exhale she began. "There was conversation and family dinners and a wedding. Then a horrible flight and annoying roommates."
"So you said sorry and made up?"
"I do not apologize." Gail said incredulously.
Traci raised a challenging brow, "oh really?"
"I have nothing to apologize for, I'm amazing."
"You're something alright." The detective smirked and downed the rest of her drink. "How'd you get to her? Last I heard you couldn't call."
"I found her dads flower shop and sat outside until he came." Gail replied simply. Traci was giving her a poorly held in smile. She pushed her empty glass toward the detective, "I need more if you're going to look at me like that all night."
"I'm stopping." Traci straightened her back and flashed the blonde one more smile.
Holly plugged in her earbuds and began her run. She took her favourite route, the one that cut through a small playground and looped by a secluded pond that she had never seen anyone at in all of her time in Toronto. She let herself fall into autopilot, taking the turns without thinking about them, turning off her mind and focusing only on her breathing. In and out. In and out. Listening to the thump of each step. Feeling each and every pound of her pulse.
Twenty minutes of that passed, Holly relished in the strain in her muscles, in the pull of each breath. That was until she spotted a police cruiser and her stomach jumped with excitement at the possibility of seeing a certain blonde, all of her concentration lost with the simple notion. A notion which was highly unlikely because Gail had been on the same flight as her that morning, they'd shared a ride, there was no way the blonde would be working. Still the excitement stayed, simmered in her bloodstream as her run continued like nothing had happened.
Gail. The warm glow in her chest at the name, the smile, the breath taken away at the sound of her laugh, it was a problem. Holly hadn't had time to go over how she felt, hadn't had time to really analyze or decide what to do with the feelings. So she spent the rest of her run going over it and came to the conclusion that she would go with the flow and let things happen however they may.
A/N: Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it