Erin trudged in the door, kicked off her shoes, and lowered herself into her plush armchair. Holtzmann did the same thing, except she sat herself down on the couch. The factory bust had taken a lot out of everyone. The two women both let out a heavy sigh and relaxed for the first time that night.
Holtz took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, "What time is it?"
Erin glanced at the clock on the wall, "2:15" She said as she let out a contagious yawn.
The engineer groaned and laid down on the couch, muttering something under her breath. Erin couldn't help but smile at the sleepy blonde nesting into her couch. She started to stand; "I should probably go to bed-" She winced at the shooting pain in her lower back, "Fuck!"
Holtzmann immediately perked up and was quickly on her feet, "What's wrong?"
Erin made a shooing motion, "It's nothing, I'm fine," she stood hunched over, gripping her lower back, "I think the fall messed up my back a little, that's all."
"Here, let me look at it." She led Erin to the couch and turned her so she was facing Erin's back. Holtz began to lift Erin's shirt gingerly. Erin felt her heart rate increase as she became more nervous. She could feel cold fingertips ever so gently tracing a shape on her lower back and it sent a shiver up her spine. The engineer let out a long, low whistle.
"What does it look like?" Erin asked.
"Well, if you turn your head to the side, it kind of looks like George Washington… if he got hit in the face with a baseball bat." Holtz concurred.
"What? That's not what I meant; what's wrong with it?" Erin persisted.
"You've got a pretty nasty bruise. It looks like it's swelling quite a bit, too. Stay right here." She ordered as she got up from the couch and moved into the kitchen. It took a few moments before she returned. She held a bag of frozen peas in one hand and extended the other one for Erin. Erin reluctantly grabbed the blonde's hand, and she was surprised to find that it wasn't as rough and calloused as she had imagined it would be. In fact, Holtzmann's hand was quite soft. She led her to the bedroom, and motioned for Erin to lie down. Erin obeyed and, with only a few whines from the pain, laid down on her stomach. Holtzmann gently placed the frozen peas on the injured part of Erin's back.
"Thank you." Erin sighed, feeling her tiredness taking over.
"Not a problem," Holtz sat on the edge of the bed and cautiously began rubbing Erin's upper back, steering clear of the lower half, "I mean, you blew yourself up today, you deserve it."
Erin closed her eyes and sighed as she melted under the massage. Her words became slurred by her grogginess, "But you blow yourself up just about everyday, I can't imagine this being very impressive to you."
"I don't do it on purpose, though," She started to work at Erin's shoulders, "that takes guts, girl."
"Or at least a lot of stupidity." Erin countered very softly.
"If it gets the job done, it gets the job done." She shrugged.
Erin didn't answer; she had drifted off. The frozen peas on her back and Holtz making small circles had lulled her to sleep. It was the first night in weeks that Erin didn't have a nightmare.
Erin awoke the next morning not to the sound of her alarm, but rather to rays of sunlight warming her face. Her eyelids felt heavy and her body ached. She opened her eyes slowly, and was startled by the sight of nothing but neon green. She jumped at first, but then quickly realized that something had been stuck to her forehead and was covering her eyes. She reached up and pealed a green sticky note off of her forehead. She flipped it around to reveal a message. The note said:
I shut off your alarm
so you could sleep in
Erin followed the arrow with her eyes to her nightstand, where a container of Ibuprofen and a glass of water had been set out. Attached to the Ibuprofen was a second sticky note.
I figured you'd be
pretty sore.
Enjoy!
Holtzmann had signed the bottom of the note with a doodle of herself lighting something on fire. Erin chuckled and reached for the bottle. As she stretched, she felt achy from head to toe and was grateful for Holtzy's intuition. She tossed a couple of the pills in her mouth and knocked them back with a swig of water. It took all of her strength to pull herself out of bed and get to her feet. She got showered and dressed at a slower pace than usual, but she was not going to let her soreness stop her from getting her job done. Holtzmann was nowhere to be seen in the apartment, so Erin assumed that she had gone to work. Erin put on her coat and grabbed her satchel full of books and papers. Just as she reached for the door to leave, it swung open to reveal Holtz with an enormous box of donuts.
"Oh, hello." Erin greeted, a little startled, "I thought you were at HQ."
Holtz shook her head, "Nope, just getting breakfast." She held up the box as she entered the apartment, "Where are you off to?"
"I was just going to head in and work on a few things."
"Oh no you aren't," Holtzy said, "Everyone is taking today off, and that includes you, Gilbert."
Erin let out a heavy sigh and very reluctantly agreed to some relaxation, but she insisted on doing some work from home. They sat in the dining room and started in on the donuts from the bakery down the street. Holtzmann focused on licking all of the frosting off of hers while Erin opened up her laptop to work.
"How are you feeling?" The blonde asked.
"I'm a little sore," Erin admitted while she typed away on her keyboard, "but the medicine should be kicking in soon." She looked up and smiled, "Thank you. And thank you for the donuts too."
Holtz winked as she made a slow lap around her donut with her tongue, and Erin pretended it didn't affect her.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Holtzmann sat up and pulled out her wallet from her pocket. She retrieved a couple of larger bills, sat them on the table, and pushed them towards Erin, "Here; for rent."
Erin pushed the money back, "You don't have to pay rent, Holtzy."
"I insist," She pushed the money back towards Erin again, "I'm living here, using water, and using electricity. I can't stand to be a freeloader, and I don't want to be a burden."
"You're not a burden." Erin replied almost too quickly, "I mean, you've only been here for less than a week, but it's nice to have someone to come home to, you know? I'm just so used to either having wishy-washy boyfriends in and out, or being here all by myself. It's comforting to know that there's someone who cares if I make it home or not," Erin just kept talking and couldn't really stop herself. Her inhibitions seemed to have disappeared, "And you're not a freeloader because you bring me donuts and drive me places. Also, you keep me company, and I love having you around. That's the most I can ask for. If anything, I owe you. It gets unbearably lonely around here sometimes and you make all of it go away."
For once, it was Holtzmann who was at a loss for words. She looked surprised at the confession. There was a long pause, and Erin began to wonder if she had said too much.
Erin broke the silence, "Sorry, I just-"
"It's ok," Holtzmann interrupted as she began to smile, "it got pretty lonely at my place too."
The two women shared a comfortable silence as they ate their donuts. Several minutes passed before Holtz spoke up, "You know, this is how I used to spend every Saturday morning when I was a kid. I would eat as many donuts as I could until I felt like I was going to barf. I guess that explains some of my eating habits." She chuckled, " I still do it occasionally. God, I love donuts."
"I used to spend every Saturday morning doing chores." Erin frowned at her half eaten donut.
"Really?"
"Yeah," She admitted, "my parents ran a tight ship. No room for messes."
"That sounds awful." Holtz shook her head.
"It was kind of fun, I guess. It taught me responsibility."
Holtz shuttered, "Ugh, I hate that word."
"Of course you do," Erin smiled, "what, did your parents never make you do chores?"
"Oh no, I did chores. I just didn't enjoy them, unlike you, Gilbert." Holtz assured.
"What's wrong with enjoying chores?" Erin asked, pretending to be very offended.
Holtz laughed and shook her head, "So many things."
Erin kicked her playfully, "You shut up!"
"Or what?" The engineer giggled, "You gonna clean me or something?"
"Don't give me any ideas."
Holtz leaned back in her chair, quite proud of herself, and propped her feet up on the table, "So what do you do for fun around here, Gilbert?"
Erin had returned to her laptop, "I read mostly."
"Thrilling."
"I know, right?" Erin said sarcastically, "Sometimes, when I'm feeling really wild, I'll watch TV."
"Wow, Gilbert! You really like to live life on the edge!" She punched her shoulder softly.
"I try. I would ask you what you do for fun, but I don't think I want to know the answer."
Holtz smirked, "Good choice. C'mon, Gilbert, there's got to be something really exciting that you do in your free time."
Erin shrugged, "Not really. Our job is enough excitement for me."
Holtzmann thought for a moment, "Is there anything interesting that you really like to do? Like raves, demolition derbies, skydiving, snowboarding; anything like that?"
"Sometimes I go to the art museum to look at all of the paintings and sculptures."
"Well then," Holtzy hopped up from her seat, "let's go to the museum!"
"But I really need to work on this." Erin gestured to her computer.
Holtz reached over and shut the laptop, "It's your day off, let's get wild!"
"Do you really consider the museum wild?"
"Well when you're travelling with me, everything is wild." Holtz admitted. She held out a hand and wiggled her eyebrows, "C'mon, Gilbert, let's go be wild together!"
Erin rolled her eyes and took the over-excited woman's hand. She found it hard to say no to her. They left the apartment together, and Holtzy bounded across the street towards the parking garage while Erin took her time. Erin followed the bouncy blonde up to the second level of the parking garage and nearly bumped into her when she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Are you okay?" Erin asked.
Holtzmann didn't answer, she just stared wide-eyed at the empty parking spot in front of her. She clutched her messy hair with both hands.
Erin looked around, "Where's your car?"
"That's a good question." Holtz finally said. She looked up and down the rows of cars.
"Well where did you park it?"
Holtzy pointed at the empty parking spot.
"Oh no," Erin finally realized what had happened, "do you have your keys?"
Holtzmann franticly searched her pockets, but all she could find were a few hot sauce packets from Taco Bell, "… I think I left them in the car."
Holtz dropped to her hands and knees and began sniffing the ground. "I definitely parked it here." She concluded.
Erin was utterly confused, "Do your tires have a specific scent or something?"
"Oh yeah, and it's not a pleasant one, that's how I know this is where I parked it," She sat down on the cold concrete and rubbed at her eyes under her glasses, "Fuck me. I had some good parts in there."
Erin whipped out her cell phone and started dialing.
Holtz looked up, "What are you doing?"
"I'm calling the police to tell them that someone stole your car." An operator answered on the other end, "Hello? I'd like to report a stolen vehicle-"
Holtzmann panicked, jumped up to her feet, and yanked the phone out of Erin's hand.
"What are you doing?" Erin asked.
"Hello? Ma'am?" The operator said on the other end of the phone.
Holtzmann shouted into the phone, "THERE'S A BOMB IN THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING!" and quickly hung up.
"Holtzmann!" Erin was flabbergasted, "What the hell was that!"
"Listen," She leaned in and lowered her voice, "I didn't exactly get that car through… legal means…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Erin insisted.
Holtz shrugged and made a face, "I kind of won it from a guy named Machete back when I used to bet on mouse races in this old bar in Boston, and I'm pretty sure he killed a guy for it."
Erin rubbed her temples, "Of course you drive a stolen car, what else would I expect my crazy roommate to drive-"
"Hey, I'm not the crazy one! Machete is the one who killed a guy, I'm just good at betting."
"But still, the fact that you drive a stolen car is not a good reason for telling the cops that there's a bomb in the Empire State Building!" Erin shouted.
"I had to throw them off so they don't investigate my car!" She defended herself.
"You could've just hung up! God, now they're probably going to trace that call back to my phone…" Erin felt her heart start to sink.
"Don't worry about it," Holtzy placed an affirming hand on Erin's shoulder, "I'm sure they get crackpot calls like that all the time."
Suddenly, Erin's phone started ringing and her heart dropped immediately. She was relieved when she read the caller ID and found out that it was just Abby. She answered the phone, "Hello?"
"Hey Erin," Abby said, "sorry to disturb your peaceful day off."
"Trust me, it has already been disturbed. What do you need?"
"You might want to get down here."
"What?"
"Well, I came into HQ this morning to grab a few things, and Kevin was here. I told him he didn't need to be here because we were all taking the day off, but he told me someone left us a note." Abby explained.
"And?"
"And it was written… in blood… all over the wall."
A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Fair warning, the next chapter is going to be a little emotional. Also, there's going to be some Holtzbert in the near future ;) Thanks again! Please leave a comment, I like to know what you guys are thinking, and I'm open to suggestions!