Last chapter.
Guest: Yes, I will write more Golly.
She had faith in the universe.
And she refused to believe it was going to be a problem.
Against all the odds, things had worked out. She settled her last box in the spare bedroom at Gail's- their apartment. Since Gail had never really done much with it, it was so easy to make the place feel like them right away. It was less swanky than Holly's old townhouse, but there was something homey about the walk up that she just liked.
If Gail had adopted Sophie, it would have been a nice place to grow up.
Holly was pretty sure they weren't going to have children, though. Yes, they had talked about it in their many phone calls for the eight months they'd worked their long distance relationship from the somewhat crazy edges of feelings that refused to let go into something workable. Sustainable.
Move-in-able.
That's what Gail called it. She was given to being a little silly now and then.
They'd made it through most of a year without each other, miserable and sad. Then they'd given up on pretense and surrendered to a moment that led to a second chance, orchestrated in part by Chloe.
Chloe was in the kitchen with Gail, the two going through a routine that felt like they had their own language.
Oliver sighed. "Can you believe that?" He jerked his thumb at the two. "About four, five months after you left, Chloe and Dov are a mess. Next thing I know, those two are thick as thieves."
"It's good she has friends," smiled Holly.
"She is not my friend," snapped Gail, not really angrily. "You don't have to have empanadas."
Holly rolled her eyes at Gail. "She's a child."
But Oliver smirked and elbowed Holly. "You like her."
"Yeah, I do." She did. She really liked Gail and their place. "She's pretty awesome."
And while Gail would deny it loudly, she had good friends who cared about her. Holly claimed that her best friends were like family, Gail's really were family. They all had each other's backs, they took care of each other. All of them, except Chloe, had pulled Holly aside to make sure she wasn't going to crush Gail again. Even kind, gentle, Oliver had sat her down to ask what the whole story was.
Weirdly it was easy to talk to Oliver about the story. To him, she could explain that she'd made a choice in the silence of her fight with Gail from the Penny. He claimed to know nothing of that story, only that Gail begged him not to ask about it. Then she told him more. She told him about the fake girlfriend, the fear of being in love with Gail while being thousands of miles away.
And at that, Oliver moved around the table at the coffee shop and hugged her. Wonderful Oliver knew that she needed a shoulder when she told him about how hard it was to know that she was still in love and have to avoid Fifteen and Gail when she came back. Until. Until they finally saw each other. Until Gail pulled Lisa over for speeding. Until Holly couldn't deny that she had to see Gail.
Oliver believed her. Oliver stopped everyone else, except Steve, from harassing Holly about just showing up. And now that Holly was moving in, Oliver and his wife (Celery) were making sure the apartment was a home. While Gail and Chloe made food, Celery and Traci were hanging Holly's pictures. It was homey.
After dinner, Chloe stuck around to help clean up and Holly took advantage of the moment to ask why the tiny woman hadn't harassed her about Gail.
With wide eyes, Chloe looked at her and said the most terrifying thing ever. "Because she loves you."
That someone else, someone Holly barely knew, knew that Gail was in love with her, was daunting. Suddenly their relationship was so much more than just two people in love. Now it was two people who were under the pressure of their friends to find success with each other.
Perhaps sensing that Chloe frowned. "You're freaking out."
"I didn't know she told anyone," temporized Holly.
"Oh, she didn't." Chloe smiled. "I see her all the time. We're kind of besties now, even if she won't admit it."
Holly arched her eyebrows. "Besties?"
And Chloe nodded. "Sure. When she was freaking out over sleeping with you after she saw you on the highway, who do you think she called?" Holly was startled. Gail had called anyone? "And don't tell me you think she came up with all those texts on her own."
They'd delved right into embarrassing. "I hope some of those were private," muttered Holly, blushing.
Chloe laughed. "I knew it! I knew she was sexting you!"
Weirdly, though, knowing Gail wasn't trying to go at it alone, that she'd asked her friends for help in trying to 'win back' Holly, made her feel a little better. People who knew they were in love and were happy for it.
That night, after everyone left, Gail kicked on the dishwasher and fell onto the couch, her feet in Holly's lap. "God. When will people just leave us alone?"
Holly smiled and pressed her thumbs into Gail's arch, making her girlfriend groan. "After they get used to the novelty of us as an us," she suspected.
"Fuck them, I want to get used to us being us, in the same house and time zone."
That was a novel concept, Holly had to agree, and she smiled. "You're off tomorrow?"
"Rest of the week," muttered Gail, closing her eyes. Her hair was blonde again, though long enough to tie back in a pony tail. While Holly did think Gail was stunning with short hair, she was gorgeous with it at any length. "Why are you staring at me?"
"You may not be aware of this, but I find you very attractive."
Gail opened one eye, harrumphed, and closed it again. "Tell me something I don't know."
Swatting Gail's foot, Holly leaned back into the couch and relaxed. "I bet you don't have any idea how nice it is to not be traveling every other week," she noted. That had been a part of her job she'd loved and hated the last half year. In preparation for Canada's first body farm, she'd had to go to every single one in the States, as well as the ones over seas. It was exciting and delightful and educational and fucking draining.
Her girlfriend made a noise. "No, I don't," she allowed. "I bet you don't know how nice a shower is after six hours on a bike in the snow."
"It's summer, Gail," giggled Holly. "Do you know how incredibly hot you are in your uniform? I mean, you were sexy as hell in the normal one, but the boots for the motorcycle? Wow..."
"Not the first time I've heard that," yawned Gail, trying to sound dismissive and failing.
Holly patted Gail's foot and then got up. "I'm thirsty."
"Make yourself at home," quipped Gail, eyes still closed.
By the time Holly got back with water, she was not surprised to see Gail asleep. Yeah. The cop had pulled a shift every day for a month, including two parades and a mayoral 'thing' she'd been vague about. She was bushed and Holly didn't blame her. The week off would probably be spent sleeping.
Holly drank her water and then gently shook Gail awake. The cop stumbled her way through a shower and into bed, barely opening her eyes. When Holly joined her in bed, Gail surprisingly wrapped around her, pulling Holly close.
"Hey," smiled Holly.
"You smell good," mumbled Gail.
With a soft laugh, Holly closed her eyes. "So that's why I get cuddled?"
"Nah, cause you're you." Gail said no more, drifting off into sleep again,
The thought kept Holly up for a while. She remembered Gail telling her about Perik and Nick and why she hated not having room to wriggle about at night. She remembered Chris calling Gail the feistiest sleeper he'd ever know (which Holly knew was well before Gail was kidnapped). Holly even knew that Nick was surprised to hear Gail had spent the night at Holly's back the first time they'd dated. And when Holly tried to reconcile that with the reddish blonde haired woman, pressed up against her and holding her comfortingly, Holly couldn't.
Maybe she was lucky and got to see a different Gail. Maybe she was seeing who Gail really was. Or maybe she was different for Gail, and Gail for her, making it easier to find solace in things that weren't just sex. Protection. Comfort. Love. All those things everyone, every book and magazine tells you that you're supposed to crave, were so incredibly hard to find. You were supposed to find the right person, your one, and everything would magically be perfect.
Oh what a crock of shit. Nothing was perfect. Nothing was easy. Nothing came without a cost.
What really mattered most to Holly was that she was there now.
Holly smiled down at Gail. She got to be here.
The End.
Sometimes the end is the new beginning.