Pt. 7
With Alex out on her date, Holly prepared them a lasagne for dinner that night. Gail sat on the kitchen worktop next to the stove top, chatting away to the older girl as she moved around the kitchen, chopping and cooking up their food.
Holly had swapped her glasses for contact lenses again, and Gail found she enjoyed them now as much as she had done a few nights previously.
"You know when you wear your glasses your nerd factor boosts by at least twenty?" She asked.
"Well they are the source of my nerdy powers." Holly retorted.
"So how does that work? You get a power boost only when you're wearing them, or you have to wear them for a couple of hours to recharge the power supply that feeds you for the rest of the day?" Gail asked.
Holly considered the question. "The second one. But I have to wear them for five or six hours, I have a pretty large, powerful supply that needs replenishing; it takes time."
"You should wear them all the time, save the trouble of constantly worrying about if it's is going to run out." Gail suggests.
After a moment of consideration, a teasing smile appeared on Holly's face. "Gail Peck, is this your very roundabout way of complimenting my glasses and saying I should wear them more often?"
Gail scowled, more at herself than at Holly. "Maybe. They suit you." She shrugged.
"Because I am such an enormous nerd?" Holly inquired.
Gail's scowl lifted at Holly's ability to not make a big deal of the rare moments in which the blonde exposed her, usually very well locked away, thoughts and emotions. "Exactly."
Holly grinned at her, an almost knowing look in her eyes. "Of course."
They continued chatting, or Holly did, mostly, as Gail was largely just watching the brunette intently, occasionally chipping in to conversation or answering Holly's questions. By and large though, Holly seemed content to continue talking uninterrupted about her Med school course, and then when she had finished talking about that, about her apartment hunt.
Gail just watched, taking in the grace in the way the other girl moved, the ripple in her bicep muscles as she stirred the béchamel sauce, the way her eyes seemed to literally sparkle when she was discussing something she was passionate about.
If Gail had ever before been able to pretend that she couldn't really know if she was falling for Holly Stewart because she didn't really know her that well, this past few days had disproved that. She was, to Gail, both the most interesting and the most beautiful person on the planet. She made her feel warm and comforted inside, but also tingly and excited. She craved to touch her, or to be touched by her. When she was the first and only person her thoughts went to when she was turned on. When she lay in Alex's bed at night she wished over and over that it was the other Stewart girl lying next to her. When they were in conversation together she wished it would never end.
She was in far deeper than she expected.
So deep, that it made those fears of rejection seem less and less significant. The idea that in a month they would once again be living in different cities gave her a sense of urgency. A feeling that if she didn't act soon the chance would be gone. She knew she'd already missed one chance when they'd been talking over the toilet bowl a week earlier. Like fuck was she missing another.
Maybe it was that realisation that she was running out of time. Maybe it was the way Holly's already excited face would light up whenever she glanced up at the blonde girl watching her from the worktop. Maybe it was those goddamn glasses. But whatever the reason, Gail was unable to stop herself.
As Holly moved past her to retrieve something from the fridge, Gail put her hand on Holly's shoulder, stopping the brunette in her tracks and turning her to face her. Before a look of bewilderment had managed to properly form on Holly's face, Gail had moved her hand to Holly's jaw, leant in, and pressed their lips firmly, yet somehow also softly, together.
Like before, Holly took a moment to react to the unexpected move, but unlike before, when she did react, she let herself fall completely into it. Gail felt Holly moving her soft, plush, lips gently against her own. Her hand came to rest gently on Gail's hip. It was tender, but not tentative.
It didn't last very long, although it felt to Gail like it may have. When Holly pulled back she didn't step away like she had before, putting distance between them. She hovered, only inches from Gail's own face, her dark eyes flickering up to meet Gail's pale blue orbs. She had a light confusion dancing across her expression, but a dark desire in her eyes.
Gail bit her lip, waiting for what was going to happen next.
"What… you kissed me?" Holly whispered eventually.
Gail nodded softly.
"And you're not drunk?" Holly enquired.
Gail shook her head, the movement barely visible, but there.
"You…" Holly whispered, Gail could see the processing going on behind her eyes.
When Holly had remained silent for a few minutes, Gail's insides started to clench. "Sorry." She whispered.
Holly's eyes darted up to meet her own. "No, no. Don't be sorry. Just… give me a moment."
Gail waited. She bit her lip and she waited, for what felt like an eternity. "Tell me what you're thinking." There was a hint of desperation in her whisper that she couldn't contain.
"I… you're my sister's best friend." Holly replied, slowly and quietly.
Gail nodded gently.
"You kissed me, because you like me?" Holly asked; tentatively, nervously.
Gail nodded again.
"How long?"
"Years, maybe. But since November. Since you came to my house, after Ellie. That's when I really… knew?" Gail took a deep breath to calm herself. Exposing herself like this was really not her thing, but she didn't want to put Holly off when they had got this far with her usual reclusive act. This may have been it, this may have been the moment, and she did not want to fuck it up now.
Holly nodded once, as slowly as Gail had ever seen anyone move their head. "So at the party, when you kissed me. It wasn't because you were upset. You didn't just want to kiss a girl to see what it was like?"
Gail shook her head. "I wanted you to know I didn't want Ethan. It was stupid."
"Because you wanted me?"
Gail nodded. Then there was silence. "I'm sorry." Gail offered again.
"Stop apologising." Holly smiled softly, it wasn't her usual smile, but it was just as reassuring.
"Did you… do you, like me?" Gail asked eventually. This was the question, the moment that could crush her. She held her breath in anticipation.
Holly nodded. "Yes, I like you; I can barely stop flirting when you're around, I played video games just to be near you for Christ's sake, of course I like you, but… I thought you were straight. I knew you had a crush on me a few years ago but I thought you were straight."
"You knew?" Gail's eyes widened in mortification.
"You used to turn bright red every time you spoke to me." Holly laughed softly.
Gail could feel her skin turning equally red right then.
Holly reached up to stroke her cheek. "Don't be embarrassed, it was cute."
"But you like me? Now I'm less weird, you like me?" Gail's heart was beating out of her chest, she needed to hear it again. To be sure, absolutely sure, that this was happening.
"You're still pretty weird, Gail." Holly said softly. "But I like it, I like weird."
"You do?"
Holly smiles widely, and Gail's heart melted. "Yes." She leant in and pressed her lips gently against the younger woman's again, as if to demonstrate how much she meant it. She moved to pull back, but Gail held her in place, tracing her tongue over Holly's lips before the older woman opened them and let her in. She cupped Holly's jaw, running her thumb across the smooth skin of her cheek, as Holly's hand slipped into her hair. It was deep, and passionate, and there was a longing there Gail never before knew existed, but when she moaned into the other woman's mouth, a switch seemed to flick in Holly's mind, and she pulled back.
"Wait, hang on a moment." Holly whispered. "We should, we should talk more. This isn't simple, this isn't just two people liking each other, you're young, and you're my sister's best friend. And you're leaving soon. We just, we need to talk. I need to think."
"We can talk." Gail replied softly.
"Ok. Cool. You start, you talk, I'm just… I can't think, right now… of how to start talking."
"Ok… Since when?" Gail asked.
Holly looked at her, confused. "Since what?"
"Since when did you start to like me?"
"Well, like I said, you were cute, you always have been cute, even when it stopped being child-cute and started becoming woman-cute. But I guess last summer, when we started to hang out normally for the first time. You made me laugh so much, all the time, and you were really sexy when you were insulting your friends but I could tell you had this enormous heart."
Gail struggled to keep the bashful smile off her face as she protested Holly's description of her. "I'm not cute, Holly."
"Ok, except you are." Holly's lips twitched into an affectionate, teasing smile.
"Stick with sexy, I liked that one." Gail demanded lightly.
"Why can't you be both?" Holly asked. "Because you are. And you're gorgeous, and hot, and beautiful. All of those."
Gail was blushing so hard she was fairly certain she was close to combusting, such was the heat of the blood running through her face.
"Inside and out. I almost didn't come to see you when I found out about Ellie because I was worried it would be too confusing. But I didn't have a whole lot of choice, I didn't know anyone else who would be home in the city. I was so glad I did though. You made me feel like a person again. What she did should have broken me for months, but it didn't, because of you."
Gail had to look away, she wasn't used to anyone such an open declaration of feelings, and she didn't know how to react.
"Sorry," Holly whispered. "Was that too much? Sometimes when I start to talk about my feelings it just all comes pouring out. That was pretty intense, please don't be scared off." Holly looked at her pleadingly. "This is why I wanted to talk about things, because we should be honest, about this, about us. About where we stand because to be honest I'm kind of confused right now, and you probably are too, but if we aren't in the same place…"
Gail looked back into the dark eyes in front of her, and could see they were flecked with specks of worry. "I'm not scared off."
"Good, because when I'm with someone, I like to tell them all the time how wonderful they are. So you're going to have to get used to it. If this is going to be a thing; us, and the kissing…"
"You're a sap." Gail teased.
"Yet you still like me." Holly grinned so widely Gail thought she was going to strain a muscle. "I still can't quite believe that."
"You'd better start believing it, nerd."
"This is… completely surreal to me." Holly whispered. "I should probably finish cooking. I can think, while I cook. If that's ok with you, me just… thinking for a few minutes?"
Gail just watched her cook, simultaneously excited and terrified by what may be going through the brunette's mind. Then Holly finished preparing the food and put it in the oven. She turned around, and the two girls eyed each other in silence for a few minutes. Holly still looked lost in thought, and Gail was unwilling to interrupt her.
"Why did you kiss me?" Holly eventually asked, quietly.
"Because… you were there, and I liked you and I was sick of you not knowing I liked you and…"
"No, sorry, I mean, what did you want from it? Did you want us to become a thing, to, you know, kiss again?"
Gail looked around nervously. "I was kind of hoping so, maybe, yes?"
"Because you're leaving in a few weeks, don't you think maybe that could be… difficult, or setting yourself up to be let down, or something."
"I guess I just wanted to try, to give it a go, even if the chances aren't great. I looked at you and I kind of realised that I didn't care about the other stuff, I just wanted… you… now, for the next two weeks, whatever we could have, I wanted it..." Gail trailed off, now extremely nervous and uncomfortable.
And then, because timing is ever the enemy of romance, the front door swung open and slammed shut.
"Rob?" Holly called out.
"Hi. Is dinner ready?" A low, surly voice returned.
Holly glanced at her phone. "Ten minutes."
"Cool." They heard a pair of feet trudging up stairs.
Holly leaned back against the table in silence. Too much silence.
"What do you want, why did you kiss me back?" Gail asked, unable to stand it any longer.
"I wanted to give it a try too, I do, still want to give it a try, in my heart, there's no question that's what I want. I'm just… I've been making out with my little sister's best friend. No, that's too weird, I don't like thinking like that at all. And you're eighteen, you're basically a fetus."
"I am an adult." Gail pointed out.
"A very young adult. I'm a very different person than I was when I was eighteen. You're about to go to university, everything is about to change for you."
"Everything is already changing for me." Gail argued.
"You're not scared?"
"About change. About me?"
Gail sighed. "I've spent four years coming to terms with how I feel about you, Holly. I was scared, at times. But right now it makes sense. More sense than anything has ever made to me, really."
"Ok. Right. Good, because I don't… I know you wouldn't do this, but you need to know, I don't want to be your experiment before you leave. I trust you, I believe that you genuinely like me, but you need to know that I'm trusting you."
"I'm not experimenting." Gail assured her. "This is real to me, how I feel, everything is real, it's not some sort of weird, sick game."
"Ok. Good. I didn't think it was, no, I knew it wasn't. Ok." Gail could pretty much see Holly's mind working in overdrive behind her eyes. "I have such a good time with you, I think you're so attractive and you make me laugh so much. You make my heart jump around whenever you're near, I only ever remember feeling like that with Ellie before, but I can't really compare because every time I think of her now I just get angry. I know you're special though, you're something to me. But I also know you're young, and you're Alex's best friend –and she will murder both of us if she finds out about this, by the way-, and you're leaving soon. So I don't know what that means. Where does that put us?"
"I don't know." Gail confessed. "I want to be with you, I know that. I also don't want to die at Alex's hands. But apart from that, I don't know. What about you?"
"The same."
Gail sighed. "Ok, so I guess the question we need to answer now, is… well, you need to answer it, because I know what my own answer is, do you want to try this, us? Do you want to give us a go and see where that takes us?"
Holly looked her straight in the eye, pondering the question for a moment. "Yes." She said slowly, then seemed to gain more confidence. "I do, I want to try something between us, even if it's just for the next few weeks, I want to give it a go. I don't know what that means, what we will be, or what will happen, but I want to try."
"Does this mean I can kiss you again?"
Holly smiled, answering Gail's question by pressing their lips together, gently letting herself sink into it as Gail brought both hands up to hold her face, taking in the knowledge that they had just agreed to embark on something, some sort of thing that was more than friendship that was theirs.
A door slammed upstairs.
"When do you move into your own apartment?" Gail asked, glaring at the ceiling, Holly's cheeks both still under her hands.
"A couple of weeks, hopefully, if we can get our lease sorted."
"Maybe we'll be able to work things out better once you're not living here." Gail suggested.
Holly offered a weak smile. "Hopefully."
"Hey." Gail stroked her cheek with her thumb. "Don't start doubting this yet."
Holly smiled. "I never took you for the optimist."
"I'm not." Gail admitted. "I guess I never thought until an hour ago that you could possibly like me. It's giving me a newfound sense of hopefulness. Don't worry, I'll be back to my usual self tomorrow."
"Don't completely stop being hopeful. We're going to need a little hope if this is going to be something."
"I won't if you won't."
Holly smiled, and pecked the younger woman's lips. "Deal."
They heard movement on the stairs, and both sighed, as Holly started getting plates out of the cupboard.
"Has it been ten minutes yet?" Rob grunted from the kitchen doorway.
"I don't know Rob, check a clock." Holly had an exasperation in her voice that Gail had definitely heard in Mrs. Stewart's before.
Rob scowled and opened the oven door to look at the dish inside.
"If you let cold air in it will only take longer." Holly warned, and received a dirty look from her brother in response.
The oven timer went off moments after he closed the door again, and he grabbed some gloves to pull it out, before serving himself a plate of food and skulking off to the living room.
"Don't worry about serving us Rob, it's not like we cooked it or anything." Holly called after him.
Gail crept up behind her as she started to serve their plates. "You're surprisingly sexy when you're being your mother." She whispered.
Holly started slightly, before recovering and elbowing the blonde in the ribs. "Do you want dinner?"
"Always." Gail grinned, taking their plates to the table.
They didn't talk much over dinner, mainly worried about what Rob may hear from the other room. But it was a surprisingly comfortable silence, filled with bashful glances and an occasional comment by Holly about how attractive Gail was when she ate.
When Rob left the kitchen after reappearing to put his dirty plate in the dishwasher, he glanced at them. "You two are being weird." He observed before disappearing off upstairs.
Holly shook her head as Gail burst out laughing. "Sometimes I wish he was my brother."
Holly screwed up her face. "Let's not think about that one too much."
"Yeah, maybe that was a little weird." Gail admitted, as her phone beeped. "Shit." She said as she glanced down at it.
"What's up?"
"Mom's demanding I come home." Gail replied dejectedly.
"Oh, that's annoying. I guess she hasn't seen you in a week though."
"Yeah, but trust her crappy timing to ask now." Gail sighed. "Sorry, I need to go or she'll blow up at me."
"It's ok." Holly assured her. "I can drop you off if you want?"
"It's fine, this time of day I'll be quicker on the subway."
"Ok, you grab your stuff and I'll clean this up."
"I am sorry." Gail repeated.
"It's ok, Gail." Holly smiled. "Get your stuff, I'll see you in a minute."
Four minutes later, Gail was stood at the open front door facing Holly. "Is there anyone out on the street?" She asked.
Holly peered over her shoulder. "No, why?"
Gail responded with a gentle kiss. "I'll text you later."
Holly grinned. "Ok. I'll see you soon. We'll work something out, I promise."
"I know." Gail responded, "Now shut the door or I'm going to keep wanting to kiss you. I can't walk away while you're stood right there."
Holly laughed. "Just that irresistible, am I?"
"Kind of." Gail shrugged. "Now shut it."
"Ok, ok." Holly grinned. "See you soon, Gail." And she shut the door.
Pt. 8
The next two weeks were nothing short of torture. They texted, they snuck in secret rendezvous in the hallway or, sometimes, when they were feeling more daring, in the bathroom, when Gail went to visit Alex, they even went out for coffee together, but any extended time together in a remotely private environment was impossible to find. It was driving Gail crazy. If they were ever actually going to get the chance to explore this thing between them they would need to find the opportunity to spend some actual time together; but that was seeming near impossible, and every near meeting was driving her more and more crazy for the beautiful, olive-skinned brunette, with no end in sight to the torturous secrecy and unfulfilling encounters.
Until Holly finally moved into her new apartment.
Gail was watching television with her father when her phone started ringing, Holly was due to move in tomorrow, but her mother had insisted they go shopping together, meaning she couldn't help with the move. She picked up the phone straight away. "Hey, you." She smiled, standing up to leave the room.
"Hey, guess what?"
"What?"
"Samantha can't move in until Monday."
Gail's brow furrowed. "So…?"
"So, I have the apartment completely to myself for two days."
Gail's ears perked up at that. "You mean…?"
"Do you have any plans for the weekend?"
"Not once this awful shopping trip with my mother is over, no."
"Good." Gail could almost hear Holly beaming through the phone. "I'll text you once my family have left."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
"I can't wait."
"Me neither."
There were a few moments of silence, neither really knowing what to say.
"So I'll see you tomorrow afternoon?" Holly asked eventually.
"Definitely."
"Good. I should… go."
"Yeah, me too. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow." Holly repeated her.
"Holly?"
"Yes?"
"I really can't wait."
"I know. I can't either."
"Good. See you soon."
"Bye, Gail."
~x~
Holly texted Gail at 5.33pm to let her know her family had finally gone home. Gail was outside her door at 5.41. Bored of waiting for Holly's message, Gail had headed to a coffee shop near her apartment to wait over an hour ago, in order to make sure she was there as soon after Holly's text as was possible.
Holly had barely opened the door when Gail launched herself at her, hands buried straight in her hair, lips on her mouth, legs wrapped tightly around her waist.
Holly almost stumbled over backwards underneath the blonde, clearly not expecting the two weeks of longing looks and unsatisfying stolen kisses to manifest into such raw, physical desire. Gail felt the other woman get a firm hold of her thighs and pull her up once she steadied herself, stopping the blonde's slow slide down her body.
Gail eventually retracted her lips, and looked down at the usually taller brunette, a grin on her face the likes of which she'd never felt herself give before. "Hi."
"Hi there." Holly grinned back up at her. "Long time no see. Do you want the grand tour of the apartment?"
"Not even slightly." Gail said, a gentle forcefulness in her voice, before she placed her lips back upon Holly's. It was passion, the likes of which Gail had rarely experienced before. Holly was a talented kisser, she knew just how forceful to be without it being too much. The passion and desire that were building was even more impressive given how little they were able to touch each other in this athletically demanding – at least for Holly – position.
"We should slow down." Holly said eventually breaking their kiss.
"Why?"
"What?"
"I have thought about pretty much nothing but you for two weeks. We have this apartment to ourselves for two days, not even that, and I'm moving to another city in fourteen days. I really see no argument for slowing down at all. I just want you, so much."
Holly weighed up the other woman's points. "Are you sure you're ready?"
"Never been surer." Gail leant down to plant a kiss on Holly's lips, but the older woman only acquiesced for a few seconds, before pulling back. Gail gave her an inquisitive look.
"I need to put you down if I'm going to be using my arms at some point in the next hour, which I'm guessing I probably will." Holly explained.
"You're meant to carry me to your bed." Gail explained.
Holly snorted, but Gail gave her a serious look. "Fine." Holly sighed, and started walking towards her bedroom. "You know, you seem to have a thing about trying to be taller than me when we're kissing. You are here, and you were on my kitchen work top too. Do you have a complex or something?" She mused as she shuffled towards her door. It wasn't as elegant as Holly was sure as it was meant to be look, but it wasn't like Gail was significantly smaller than her. Truth be told, she was fairly impressed with herself.
"I don't know, I hadn't thought about it that way. I guess I do kind of like looking down at you when we kiss."
"Ah, good thing I'm not a stickler about being a top then."
Gail looked down at her, confusion on her face.
"Never mind, I'll introduce lesbian language to you another time." Holly kicked the door open, and shuffled over to the bed.
"Gail?" The blonde looked at her, questioningly. "Kiss me."
Gail did as she was told, and Holly lowered her down to the bed, not breaking their embrace. No longer forced to have her hands placed underneath the other woman's thighs, Holly ran her fingers up Gail's body to cup her face, rooting them as their lips and tongues melded into each other.
Holly suddenly broke their kiss, pulling up to look around the room.
Gail reached up to cup the other woman's cheek, a confused expression forming on her flushed cheeks and swollen lips. "What's up?" She asked softly. "Is something wrong, was I too forward?"
Holly looked down and met the blonde's eyes, darkened significantly from their usual penetrating blue. She smiled gently. "No, it's not you, it's just… hang on." She jumped up off the bed, provoking Gail's lips to form a slight pout as she pushed herself up onto her elbows to watch the older girl's actions.
Holly flicked on the light on her bedside table, then pulled closed the drapes and switched off the main light, before hurriedly exiting the room. Gail heard a drawer open and close from the kitchen, and then Holly re-emerged, holding some matches and a single candle, which she placed on her dresser and lit, before turning on some soft music. She turned around to face the blonde, a slightly more relaxed expression adorning her face.
Gail just smirked at her.
"What?" Holly asked.
"What was that?"
"It just… wasn't very romantic in here, and I realised that if we're going to do… this, I wanted it to be nice, and romantic."
Gail's smirk quivered slightly as she tried to supress a genuine, heartfelt smile. "You're a sap."
"You've said that already."
"Well you are."
Holly walked over to the bed, leaning her knees against the mattress, but not quite yet clambering on to it. "Is that going to be a problem?"
Gail looked at the woman in front of her, taking her in properly for the first time since she'd arrived. She was wearing a slouchy blue t-shirt that hung from her curves, through which she could just about see the outline of a dark bra, and tight jeans which perfectly showcased her hips. It should have been a very casual outfit, but it just made her look so effortlessly sexy. "I don't think so." Gail murmured, tongue darting out to lick her lips.
Holly smiled at the obvious perusal of her body and climbed back on to the bed. "Are you sure you're ready to do this?" She asked, as she straddled Gail's thighs.
Gail considered admitting to the number of times she had touched herself thinking of Holly already that week, but thought better of it. "I'm sure."
Holly inspected her features carefully. "Say if you decide otherwise, promise me that. I won't mind."
"You probably will, but I promise." Gail smiled, sitting up to trap Holly's lips in a deep kiss, losing her hands in soft long brown hair.
Gail soon felt hands tracing the skin of her lower back, and she broke their kiss to pull her tank top off over her head, indicating for Holly to do the same before they rejoined lips and the task would become impossible again.
As their kiss became increasingly heated, Holly's fingers began exploring a pale stomach, gaining increasingly in confidence as they became more and more lost in each other, losing, to what had seemed to Gail, to be her earlier trepidation. The blonde smiled into their kiss involuntarily at the realisation of what was happening to the other woman.
Gail's hands ran over the soft skin of Holly's back with increasing speed and need as attention was moved from her lips to her neck, where her skin was being nipped, licked and sucked with a care and devotion that sent blood straight to her clit.
She was so engulfed in the pleasure of the sensations that she didn't notice Holly's hands' disappearance from her stomach until she felt a bra strap slip over her shoulder, and a rush of cold air on her nipple as a bra cup was pulled down to expose her right breast. The cold air, however, was immediately blocked by a hand, stroking her erect.
Feeling like she was falling behind in giving pleasure, Gail reached up to the back of Holly's bra and fiddled with the clasp. After a minute or so of ineffective fumbling, Holly's hand, the one not gently fondling a pale breast, slipped behind her back and flicked it open, before returning to its prior position on Gail's cheek.
"Well that was embarrassing." Gail whispered, unable to speak normally while Holly's hands and tongue continued to devote their attention to stimulating every nerve in her body.
"We've all been there." Holly murmured into her neck, as she slipped Gail's other bra strap down her shoulder and exposed her left breast to the attentions of her hand.
Gail moaned as her arousal increased to levels it had rarely reached before. However, increasingly aware that she was yet to attempt to evoke the pleasure in her partner that she herself was receiving, she slipped her hands under the loose cups of Holly's own bra, pinching lightly the already hardened nipples.
Gail immediately felt a momentary stilling in Holly's movements, and then hands disappeared from her breasts to undo the clasp of her own bra, before Gail was pushed gently on to her back. Holly slipped off her own opened bra before lowering herself back down on top of the blonde, pressing their chests together. Gail had not expected the feeling of another woman's hardened nipples brushing against hers to feel as good as it did, and pulled Holly's mouth to hers, moaning into it.
She could feel Holly shuffling on top of her, and in between the pleasure and arousal, a quick thought of bewilderment flashed through her mind. That was quickly settled however when Holly's thigh ground into her crotch. Her hands slipped down instinctively to grab the other woman's ass, pulling them together with more force, increasing the pressure against her own clit whilst pulling Holly onto her own thigh. After a few minutes of rocking against one another, the combined waves of pleasure coming from her breasts, her mouth and her clit forced her to break their kiss, pushing her head back into the mattress to gasp loudly.
Holly, not one to miss an opportunity, slipped down her body to capture a pert, pink nipple between her lips, evoking a loud, gratified moan from the woman under her. She slipped her hands between them to start undoing Gail's flies while her lips continued to focus on maintaining the steady stream of gasped swear words now leaving Gail's mouth. She bit down softly, before quickly running the very tip of her tongue over the peak of the straining nipple over and over, then moving to the other breast when Gail gasped out her name.
Gail managed to lift her head long enough to glance down at the other woman, and the visual of the object of her desire sucking upon her breast sent waves of bliss coursing through her body. Her aching clit needed attention, soon, and she slipped a hand down to her panties, surprised to find her flies already undone. She stroked herself through the soft material of her underwear, then realised that it wasn't her own sex she really wanted beneath her fingers.
She grabbed Holly's face, pulling it up to kiss her, then slid her hand down the other woman's chest and into her underwear, unobstructed by her also opened flies. Holly shuddered and stilled over her.
"Gail." She gasped.
Gail traced the soaked folds a couple of times, trying to map out the unfamiliar landscape with the tips of her fingers. She scrunched her face up in concentration, comparing what she discovered to what she felt when she touched herself, grateful that Holly seemed so lost in the sensations that she didn't appear to be noticing Gail's thoroughly unerotic concentration face. It didn't take her long to identify her clit, from its hard roundness but also the loud moans above her whenever she touched it. She concentrated her attentions there, rubbing it back and forth, then in circular movements as she saw Holly's arms start to shake.
Sensing the brunette may be about to collapse on top of her, Gail paused to flip her onto her back, taking a moment to slip out of her jeans as she positioned herself over the other woman. Holly looked up at her with dark eyes, reaching up to lightly circle her nipples with her fingers, and Gail pushed her own hand back into her pants, to continue pushing the brunette closer and closer to the edge. She traced kisses along the other woman's collar as she increased the pressure to the other woman's sex.
After a while, she heard Holly attempt to say something, but was unable to properly distinguish her words from her moans. She slowed to listen carefully to the brunette's exclamations, eventually making out an "inside, please, God" in between the groans of pleasure.
Gail complied, slipping down to circle her entrance, before pushing in her finger to the first knuckle, then slowly deeper until she couldn't enter any further. She felt Holly's breathing halt briefly as she entered, then release. She pulled out and repeated the action.
"Another one, shit, another finger." Holly gasped.
Gail entered with another finger, slowly, attempting as much as she could to ensure Holly was accommodating her painlessly, then once she felt comfortable she was evoking pleasure and not pain, began to pump steadily.
Her face took on that expression of heavy concentration once again as she considered how best to stimulate Holly's clit from her current position. She tried to rub with her thumb but her fingers stilled as she tried to concentrate on the dual movements, so she gave up and pushed her palm to cup the other woman hard instead, vowing to work out later how to best co-ordinate her digits later on.
Holly moaned her name.
"More?" Gail asked.
Holly just shook her head. "No, shit, this is perfect. Fuck, Gail, you're perfect." Gail lowered herself to kiss Holly deeply at that, needing to feel Holly under her tongue. She felt Holly's movements around her nipple slow, then stop completely, before the muscles around her fingers started to clench hard and the brunette pulled back from the kiss to moan loudly.
"Gail, yes! God, Gail!" Holly was letting out a hoarse shout more than a moan now, and Gail continued to move her hand, kissing under Holly's jaw until she relaxed under her touch.
Gail knew she could pull out now, but she wanted to try something. Placing a light kiss on Holly's lips as her breathing started to slow again, she kissed down the other woman's neck, and took her nipple between her lips. She relished in the unfamiliar feeling, sucking briefly before forcing herself to continue her journey, kissing over the other woman's stomach.
"What are you…?" Holly breathed, peering down at the top of the blonde's head. Gail looked up, eyes sparkling, as she journeyed further southwards, pushing Holly's jeans and underwear down her legs. "Oh, Gail, you don't have to…"
She was cut off however, by Gail's tongue on her now extremely sensitive nub. Holly's hips bucked up into her face, and Gail wrapped her arm around the other woman's thigh as she revelled in the sweet, musky taste of Holly's sex.
As her fingers resumed pumping, she licked, gently, then hard, then sucked, then resumed the quick and light movements which seemed to get the other woman losing the most control. She felt hands in her hair, and grinned into Holly's folds, continuing her lapping until the now somewhat familiar clenching reoccurred, and she felt the other woman collapse underneath her. She looked up at her, just about seeing her closed eyes and lip caught between her teeth, over breasts and stomach, pushed up as she arched her back.
She moved to kiss along quivering thighs, then back up her chest to her lips. Holly groaned underneath her, wrapping her arms around the pale woman's back to hold them so close together that were it not for the sharp contrast in their skin tones you would not be able to tell where one woman ended and the other began.
Eventually Holly rolled them over, kicking her jeans and panties off from where they had gathered at her ankles, and pulling Gail's panties down, leaving them both completely naked for the first time. She pushed her thigh into Gail's newly exposed crotch, evoking a loud gasp from Gail, who tried to slip a hand down to touch Holly in response. Holly caught her on the way down, and clasped the fingers between her own.
"No." She warned. "You've done your bit, perfectly. Twice. It's my turn." She smiled, and pushed her thigh hard against her once again. Gail just fell back, involuntary gasps escaping her lips and eyes fluttering shut. As Holly continued her grinding, slipping a hand in between them to heighten the sensations she was causing, Gail opened her eyes once again. The sight of Holly riding her; perfect round, perky breasts bouncing gently, nearly pushed her over the edge there and then.
Holly seemed to sense she was near, because she then slipped down her body to kiss behind her knees and up the sensitive insides of her thighs, maintaining her hold of Gail's hand as she moved positions. Gail felt a momentarily sense of loss at the lack of pressure to where she needed it most, but it was soon replaced by Holly's tongue. She felt Holly trace around her entrance, then flatten her tongue and run it all over her sex. Gail squirmed under her, and Holly started sucking lightly, then harder on her clit.
Gail cried out, and looked down her body. She caught Holly's eye midway through her ministrations, and squeezed her hand to let her know she was near. Holly squeezed back, and alternated her hard sucking with powerful swipes of her tongue. Waves of ecstasy shot about through her body and she felt her legs tighten around Holly's head with such strength it must have been painful, but Holly kept up her efforts, until Gail had stopped calling out her name and her muscles finally relaxed.
Holly crept up her body, bringing their clasped hands to her lips and kissing them as she slid up the bed. She collapsed on her back next to the blonde, slipping her arm underneath the other woman's head and wrapping it around her shoulders. Gail rolled over, placing her check upon Holly's shoulder, and felt the other woman place a kiss to the top of her head in response.
"Wow." Gail breathed, eventually, stroking absent circles over Holly's toned abdomen.
"Wow." Holly repeated in agreement.
~x~
"So, any regrets?" Holly asked.
Gail tilted her head to look at the brunette incredulously. "After that? No chance."
"And you've never slept with a woman before?"
"Nope."
"Wow. I mean, you were… it was really, really good."
Gail couldn't help the slightly smug grin from taking over her features. "I did quite a bit of research. But I kind of mostly just want with whatever felt right."
"Well it felt really right. But I was kind of surprised you… did me first. I don't know, I figured because it was your first time…" Holly trailed off, not really sure whether she was offending the blonde or not.
"Honestly, me too. But then you were on top of me, and doing stuff and it was so hot I just wanted to touch you. So I did."
Holly smiled affectionately. "I can't believe you're going in two weeks." She sighed.
Gail's fingers stilled suddenly. Holly glanced down at them, but said nothing, as Gail rolled over onto her front, her face now in line with the brunette's.
"What did… what are… did you…?" She sighed, burying her head in the sheets for a moment, before lifting her head to look at the other woman once again. "I don't know how to ask this without seeming needy?"
"Holly ran her fingers over Gail's pale naked back softly. "Just ask. I won't think you're being needy."
"What's going to happen, with us, when I go? What is this? Is it just a fling? Because I know we said we'd just see what happened, but that, didn't feel like a fling, that felt like… something big."
Holly looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I don't know. I never wanted a fling with you, well, not really with anybody, but definitely not with you. But you're going to university and that makes things complicated."
"Because of the distance?"
"Partly, but it's only an hour away, the distance is manageable. Mainly because College is amazing, and you are going to have such a great time, you can go and be who you want to be and do what you want to do and you'll discover so much about yourself. I really don't want to hold you back from anything, and I would never intentionally do that, at all, not for a moment, but being in College with a twenty-two year old to think about and devote time to, it changes things. You're eighteen, and you should get the chance to just be eighteen."
"I'm nineteen in November." Gail pointed out.
"Even better; nineteen is great. Nineteen is when you go and drink in clubs for the first time and get felt up by strangers and make out with people you regret ever touching…"
"We both know I've done that already." Gail interjected.
Holly laughs softly. "Ok, true. I just mean, the next year, no, the next four years, could be anything you want them to be, and I'm concerned if you go into them with me, with us, as whatever we are, you're going to start to feel like I'm a burden to you."
Gail considered her for a moment. "Ok. I see your points. But think of it this way, whether we are together or not at the beginning of September; I will be thinking about you. And if what you're trying to say is that you're worried I'll resent you because I'll want to sleep around, that's never going to happen."
"It's not just sex, it's… it's hard to explain. But I'm twenty two, and twenty two year olds are very different to eighteen year olds, in so many ways, and I'm worried if we're together, you're going to skip being nineteen, or twenty years old and jump to being twenty two, or at least feeling like you have to act like you're twenty two. And twenty two is great; I love twenty two. But I wouldn't give up the years in between for anything." Holly paused to let Gail think through her words. "And that's not even starting on the fact that we would have only been together for a month – and not really that because we've barely seen each other for the past two weeks – before you left, and only really been friends a little while longer than that, it's not a very strong foundation for a long distance relationship."
Gail scrunched up her face in thought. "I don't know. It sounds to me like you're overthinking it."
"Well, I am." Holly conceded. "But that's not always a bad thing."
"Ok. Well. Can I ask you a question?"
"Always."
"If you don't like flings, but you think we shouldn't be together when I leave, why did you sleep with me? Was it because I pressured you?"
"No, Gail, absolutely not. You didn't pressure me into anything I didn't want to do." Holly says firmly, running her hand through the other woman's blonde hair. "I guess it was because I really, really like you, and I've struggled to stop thinking about you, I just… I liked you, like you so much that the idea of being with you outweighed all the arguments for not being with you. I'd rather be with you, including sex, for two weeks than not at all."
"Ok, well to me it seems that if you like me that much, and I like you that much, which I do, because I've liked you so much for so long that I really don't think I want it all to culminate in a two week fling, then we should be staying together."
Holly sighed. "I do like you that much, I really, really do. And I would love for us to stay together, to be a thing, like 'Holly and Gail', but I'm just worried that it's not the best thing for you."
"And what about the best thing for you?"
"How do you mean?"
"I mean, are you worried I'll hurt you; that I'll cheat on you because I'm younger and I'm going to college, or that I'll be living a life too immature for you to be involved in."
Holly looked slightly surprised. "What? No, Gail, not for a moment."
"Because I know you caught me doing a stupid thing at your party, but I was only doing that with him because I was sad that I couldn't be doing it with you. I don't just fool around with people at parties. I would never, ever do what Ellie did. The thought of hurting you like that makes me sick."
"No, I never thought you'd do that. I know you're mature Gail, but I also wouldn't get mad at you for living like you're a college student, as long as you're not sleeping around. And can we stop talking about the Ethan thing; I don't hold it against you. For one thing he shouldn't have taken advantage of you like that in the first place, knowing how drunk you were. But even ignoring that, I don't hold it against you at all, not as your friend, not as your best friend's older sister, certainly not as your… whatever we are here."
"Sexual partners." Gail suggested. "That's what doctors would call us, and you are going to be a doctor."
"Ok, yeah, we can call it that." Holly laughs. "But that raises more issues; me being in med school. You know that I'm not just going to be your average twenty two year old sexual partner, I'm going to be a very busy, stressed out, twenty two year old sexual partner? That's not going to be easy for you either."
Gail laid her head down on her arms, deep in thought for a few minutes. "Holly, you're overthinking this too much. Worse, you're only over thinking how I'm going to feel about things. I know I don't have your wordly wisdom, and I'm only eighteen, but I know what I want, and what I want is you. It's always been you, above everything. I even thought about you once when I was having sex with Andrew, and I know that's really weird to admit, but that's how much you've always been what I wanted."
"Ok, but…" Holly tried to interrupt her, but Gail reached up to put a hand over her mouth.
"This is my turn to talk." Gail said sternly. "So, you're worried you're going to be stressed and not make time for me? But you're also worried you're going to be overbearing and be a burden on me? Well, guess what? That doesn't work. You can't be overbearing and absent at the same time. If you can't make time for me, I'm not going to take it personally. Because like you say, I'll be living my own life. Sure, if we have to go weeks and weeks without seeing each other it's going to be tough, but I never stopped liking you even when I'd only see you for a few days every holiday, so I know I'm not going to stop liking you after a few weeks. That's just long distance, Holly, people do long distance all the time, and the distance for us isn't even that long."
Holly nodded slowly, Gail's hand still over her mouth.
"And I know, we won't have been together long when I go, but I think we like each other enough to make up for that. The way I see it, what this all boils down to is trust. You promise to not get mad at me if I get raging drunk at a frat party as long as I'm celibate, and to make time for me when you are able to, and to be faithful. And I trust you to do those things. I promise to not get too mad at you if you can't make time for me when you're really busy, and to give up some, but not all of the college frat parties to make time for you, and to stay faithful. And you trust me to do those things."
"I do trust you, Gail."
"Good. Then on your issue regarding my needing to be an eighteen year old. I will; I will be young, because like we've already discussed, you're not going to be able to be around all the time. I can see where you're coming from, and the fact that you've thought about it means so much, but at the same time, you're overthinking it."
Holly sighed. "It won't be easy." She conceded, eventually.
"That doesn't mean it's not worth trying." Gail argued.
Holly was silent for a few moments longer. "Ok... Ok, you're right, I do like you too much to not give us a go."
Gail could not have kept her smile down if she tried. She pressed her lips to Holly's and revelled in their softness, the reassurance they provided. "Good. Ok. And just so you know, this is just the first in a long line of arguments in which I'm going to prove I'm right. Well second, because I've had to talk you into this twice now."
"I am into this, I just, I like to make sure my decisions are sound, and that means going over every single possibility including the negative ones, but don't for a moment think I don't want this, because I do." Holly smiled. "We should write down those promises though, so we don't forget."
"You're making them sound like marital vows."
Holly shrugged, reaching over for a pad of paper, and rolling on to her front next to Gail to start writing. She is only two words in when the blonde snatches the pen from her hands and rips the paper out. "Your handwriting is horrific." She says in disgust.
Holly cocks an eyebrow as Gail starts to write on the new sheet.
Holly- promises to not get mad at Gail for doing things that undergraduates do, eg. getting off her tits at massive frat parties, and to make time for Gail in between her stupidly busy (but important) days of learning how to be the world's dorkiest Doctor. She also promises to be faithful.
Gail- promises to not get mad at Holly for being really busy when she has loads of Doctor-y work to do, and to every so often give up one of the afforementioned frat parties and spend time with Holly instead. Also promises to be faithful.
Both also promise to trust each other to keep their promises.
"There, it's all in writing now. No going back." Gail smiled contentedly.
"Very official. It's a shame you misspelt 'aforementioned', though." Holly grinned, leaning over to plant a gentle kiss on the other woman's cheek.
"Shut up. Hey, do you think we should make this a blood oath?"
"Not today, too much mess." Holly replied, rolling onto her back. "Urgh, I think I'm getting a headache from all this processing."
Gail shuffled over to cuddle into her side. "Half an hour nap then go for round two?"
Holly wrapped her arms around the other woman, holding her close. "You read my mind."
Gail closed her eyes, before a thought struck her, and they flashed open once more. "Oh, by the way, when you were rambling on about how we were doomed for failure a couple of minutes ago… ow?!" She cut off her own sentence with an exclamation of pain as Holly pinched her shoulder lightly.
"I was not saying we were doomed for failure." Holly retorts.
"Whatever, when you were being all rambly and pessimistic, you called us 'Holly and Gail', but I just wanted you to know, before that becomes a thing, that it's 'Gail and Holly'."
"Don't I get a say in this?" Holly asked.
"Unfortunately you getting a say is not in our weird long distance rules contract, so no."
"You're a dork." Holly teased.
"Actually, you are, it's in the contract."
"The contract said I was training to become the world's dorkiest doctor, not that I already was one."
"The fact that you already are a dork was implied." Gail argued.
"Go to sleep, Gail." Holly smiled.
Gail didn't reply, just wrapped herself tighter around the other woman's body, as her eyes fluttered shut again, this time staying that way.
Pt.9/Epilogue
"How do you have so many black clothes?" Holly asked as she folded another of Gail's dark t-shirts and placed it carefully in the open suitcase on the blonde's bed.
"You can't go wrong with black, Holly." Gail grabbed a couple of sweaters from her closet and threw them unceremoniously onto the crumpled up pile of clothes on her bed.
Holly picked up one of the sweaters and folded it, placing it next to the t-shirt in the suitcase. "I know, but this much is kind of morbid."
"Well to be fair, I am kind of morbid."
"You try to be morbid, really you're just a pussy cat." Holly retorted. The next sweater was thrown at her head. She pulled it off, scowling. "Keep doing that and I'll stop helping."
"It's ok, you're safe, I think I've got everything I need out of here." Gail smiled sweetly, closing the closet.
"Oh good, so you'll help me fold now then?"
"Why are you bothering to fold them? Just chuck them in."
Holly rolled her eyes, and moved to pick up another sweater, but Gail pulled her into her arms before she could reach it. Gail's arms wrapped tightly around her waist while Holly's settled around her shoulders.
"We're not going to get much packing done like this." Holly pointed out.
"Screw packing." Gail murmured. "It's nearly four o'clock."
Holly sighed. "Oh."
"Yep."
"I guess I should get my stuff together then."
"In a minute." Gail's hold on the other woman tightened even more, if possible.
"Are you going to be ok finishing this off by yourself?" Holly asked.
"Yeah, we've done most of it."
They stood in silence for a few moments, before Gail turned her head, pressing a kiss to the other woman's jaw. Holly twisted to meet her with her lips. Neither of them attempted to deepen it, both simply revelling in the softness and comfort of feeling the other against them.
"I'm going to miss you so much." Gail whispered when they pulled back.
"I'm coming to visit you in three weeks." Holly smiled.
"Our relationship will be almost twice as old by then as it is now." Gail mused.
Holly nodded. "Yep, well, we knew we weren't exactly being very conventional about this."
"Why can't you drive me there?" Gail asked. They'd discussed this three times already.
"Because you really don't want to be the girl who gets dropped off at University by their twenty two year old sexual partner. It's a little possessive. And I'm meant to be keeping out of your college life, remember?"
Gail groaned. "I can't believe it's tomorrow already."
Holly leaned back and looked at her. "Hey," She smiled. "Don't be like that, it's university, you're going to have such a good time. I'm jealous, really, first year of undergrad is amazing."
"I know. It just sucks that I have to go when we're just starting out."
"Well if you will decide to tell me how you feel less than a month before you leave…" Holly teased.
"At least I did tell you. I didn't see you making any moves on me."
"What, admit to fancying my younger sister's straight best friend? I would never have done that."
"Stop teasing me then." Gail pouted.
Holly smiled gently. "Sorry. I'm very glad you did eventually pluck up the courage to kiss me soberly, you know that?"
"Yeah." Gail breathed in, revelling in Holly's mild citrusy scent. "I'm glad I did too."
"Good." Holly leant in for a chaste kiss, then broke their embrace. "I need to finish getting dressed again, you probably should too if your dad's coming home soon." She indicated to Gail's legs, which were completely bare apart from a pair of thin, light blue panties. "Where did you throw my bra?"
"Not telling." Gail grinned, as she pulled on a pair of shorts.
Holly arched an eyebrow. "Is this one of those creepy things where you steal my underwear and take it away with you?"
"Ew, no." Gail grimaced. "It's just your t-shirt is pretty see through and I'm enjoying the view." She grinned.
"Yeah, well I don't think everyone on the subway will feel the same way."
"Should have driven here then."
"Alex has the car. And I couldn't exactly ask her for a lift since someone told her you're shopping with your mother today."
"Well someone else told me she wanted to have lunch, although I think she just wanted to get me into bed." Gail retorted, eyes narrowed.
"We did have lunch. And if I remember correctly, it was you who dragged me into bed." Holly smirked, eyes sparkling. "Have you decided what you want to do, about the Alex situation?"
"Why do I have to decide? She's your sister, she's going to be pissed at both of us." Gail whined.
"Because you've been her best friend since you were ten; your relationship is important to you. She's only recently started to even tolerate me as a sister; if she refuses to talk to me it'll just be like going back to when we were teenagers, and I can deal with that." Holly suggested.
Gail groaned. "She's going to kill me. Literally murder me in my sleep."
"We don't have to tell her." Holly suggested.
"Maybe… we should wait. Until Christmas, or something. Until we know we can do this. I mean, it's going to be hard enough without having to factor Alex in just yet. If you don't mind?"
"Of course I don't mind." Holly smiled. "As long as you tell me where my bra is."
Gail let out a melodramatic sigh. "I think it went under my desk."
Holly leant over to retrieve her underwear, unintentionally giving Gail a much appreciated view as her low scoop-neck t-shirt hung down from her body. But then Holly lifted off her tee anyway to put her bra on and the view Gail got from leering down her top paled in comparison.
"My bag is downstairs." Holly pointed out.
"Right, yeah. Ok. We should go downstairs then, I guess." Gail replied, a slightly glazed over expression on her face as her mind stayed stuck on the rather wonderful image it had just captured of Holly's bare chest.
"Come on then, perv." Holly giggled, nudging the blonde out of the door and down the stairs.
~x~
"I'll call you tomorrow evening." Gail repeated for the fifth time, as they stood on her door step, following one of their most intense make outs to date.
"You don't have to. You'll have mixers and stuff to go to, you don't need to call me just because you feel you should."
"I'll call you because I'll want to call you." Gail smiled. "Plus mixers mean people, and people are annoying, so I'll probably have loads to bitch to you about."
"It's good that you're going into this with an open mind." Holly teased. "You'll love it, you will. I can't wait to hear about how much you'll love it. I mean, it can be hard, to begin with, for everyone. And if you are struggling, I want to hear about that too; you can tell me, I'll understand. But I really just… I'm so excited for you."
"Sometimes I feel like you're living life vicariously through me."
"Just a tiny bit." Holly conceded. "I should get going, your mom will be home soon."
"Wait, Holly just one more thing. When people ask, you know, if I'm seeing someone, I'll tell them I have a girlfriend, right? That's what you are, my girlfriend?"
"The girl who is sleeping with you, promised to be faithful when we're living an hour apart and is driving down just to spend a weekend with you in three weeks time? Yeah, I'd say you could probably call me your girlfriend." Holly grinned.
"Good." Gail tried to be nonchalant, but couldn't help herself from beaming like a child on Christmas morning. "I just had to clarify, you know, for anyone who asked."
Holly reached up to rest her hand over Gail's cheek as she leant in for a kiss. "Makes sense. For the people who ask."
"Exactly." Gail smiled, kissing her again.
"Ok, well then, girlfriend. I'm going to have to request that you shut the front door or I'll never leave." Holly whispered into her lips.
"Am I that irresistible?" Gail grinned.
"You have no idea."
Gail kissed her one, final time, before stepping back. "Wow, this is really hard."
"I know." Holly picked up her bag. "Ok, right. Actually, I have one more thing to say."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Holly looked up at her, her expression deadly serious with the slightest hint of hopefulness. "I know when we first discussed us doing this I was kind of… pessimistic, about our chances. But these past two weeks have been amazing, and we are good together, so good together, and I think we can do this. I think we can make this work. I genuinely do, and I wanted you to know that because I haven't been very optimistic about us before, but I am. And I just needed you to know that."
Gail's face broke out into an enormous smile. "I think we can do it too, Holly."
"Ok, good. Then shut the door, because that was a good place to end it, today. Don't say anything more, let's just let that be the final thing we say. But shut the door or I'll stand here forever just looking at you in silence."
Gail nodded, grinning, and stepped back. She took one last moment to take Holly in, everything about her, then slowly, torturously, closed the door, hearing steps outside as the brunette finally walked away from her house. She leant back on the door, her heart finally feeling whole as that one thing that had been hovering over it, the tiny, niggling idea that Holly didn't believe in them; the idea Gail hadn't even realised had been casting a tiny shadow over her jubilation for the past two weeks lifted. Holly believed they would make it, Holly believed they would work.
And as it turned out, they did.
Bahaa, sorry that was such a cheesy final line, but I haven't actually wrapped up a story in years so I guess I didn't really know how to finish it.
Thank you for reading, and being so lovely, here and on tumblr (If you don't already follow me on tumblr, but want to, my username is largechildorsmalladult, or there is a link on my ff profile), you really have made me very, very cheerful this past day.
Also a quick sorry this section took so long to get published, I decided at the last minute to rewrite part of it because it wasn't quite working for me, and I really wanted this final section to work for you guys.
Thank you again, so, so much.
-B
