AN: Holy moly! I didn't think that you guys were going to actually like this. It's overwhelming how many follows and favorites and reviews that I've gotten.
I guess here is chapter 2. I went over it and changed parts, then changed them back, and eesh.
Enjoy!
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.
Shit.
What'd you do?
Shit. I think I have a date.
How do you not know if it's a date?
And I thought Gail Peck didn't do dates?
You and me both Trace, you and me both.
I'm going out with the person I was with yesterday.
Holly. Holly is the person I was with yesterday.
You hooked up with her? Congratulations. Still don't wanna hear about it.
Fuck off.
Crenshaw comes back from bothering Dov with a bag of chips in hand. Before she can say anything I snatch them from her and begin munching away. The clock on the wall reads 4:30. Only an hour more of my shift, I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is another hour with Quinn. She insists I use her first name. She's stupid.
"Did you know that there is a stapler that surgeons use to bind bowel sections together?" Quinn tells me while playing with the Swingline that is sat in front of her
I shove another chip into my mouth and look at her with a face of disgust, "What made you think I wanted to know that?" She just shrugs in response reaching for the paper clip holder.
"Did you know that there is a 7 meter long paper clip statue thing in Norway? I saw it once, it was pretty cool." She plucks one of the paperclips out of the holder and straightens it out before tapping it on the desk.
I just shake my head, feigning interest in the continuation of the pointless facts she seemed to think I was enjoying. I see Oliver walk into the station and can't help but to give him the stink eye when he catches me staring at him. Casually I run my thumb over my neck and point at him. He just laughs and sits down at his desk.
Quinn continues telling me more useless facts for the remainder of my shift. Switching from office objects, to facts about Canada, to worldly facts, and then eventually facts about the solar system. I swear to high holy heaven if Oliver tells Frank that I'm a good fit to be this girls TO I might just have to kill him. Or her.
I rush out of the station after changing out of my uniform. Both Chris and Dov ask if I wanted to get drinks at The Penny to which I replied, "If I hang out with you two losers anymore I might become one," I flashed a cheesy grin and slap both their backs.
The last hour has been spent trying to figure out what is appropriate to wear to this date. Finally I decided to settle on a pair of black jeans, a stripped sweater and my trusty combat boots. The trip to Holly's house was a lot longer than I expected it to be. Or even thought it was for that matter. I ended up being fifteen minutes late.
I pluck a dandelion from the lawn on my way to her front door. My knuckles rap on the wood and I wait patiently for someone to greet me. A couple seconds later, a not very pleased looking Holly swings the door open with one shoe on and the other one in her hand. "Sorry I'm late," I say and present the dandelion to her and smile.
"That's a weed," she states before turning around in the doorway and walking back into her house. I peek my head in and look around for a second before her voice drifts though the house, "You can come in."
"Right," I mumble to myself stepping through the threshold closing the door behind me. I place the dandelion on the table next to the door and take a couple tentative steps further into her house. "What's the rule with shoes?" I ask.
"Just stay off the carpets. I had them cleaned this afternoon." Fair enough, I walk into the kitchen looking around the place. Pretty nice place she has. But that has to be obvious she is a Doctor. At least that's what Traci called her.
Holly appears in the door way with her jacket on and purse in hand, looking slightly happier than she did three minutes ago. I look her over and can't help but to let a small smile grace my face. She pulls off jeans very well. Hell, I pull off jeans very well (if you know what I'm sayin'). She lets out a huff and looks at me expectantly.
"What?" I ask shrugging my shoulders, "Oh, you look nice."
"Thank you," she says giving me what I am only going to come soon to find out is her trademark lopsided grin. "You don't look too bad yourself Officer."
"I guess I clean up well. I don't do this much," I gesture between the two of us. "The last date I went on was like three years ago."
"I was just fuckin' with you on the whole date thing. This can just be two friends getting dinner. Whatever." She nods her head in the direction on the front door, "Ready?"
"But I'm not your friend," Holly looks at me with her mouth hanging open. "I know your name, address, phone number, and that you're pretty great company."
"That's friendly enough in my book. So you ready?" She asks again.
"Sure. I'll drive."
We decided on a little Chinese place a couple blocks down from where Holly lives. She swore up and down that they had the best dim sum anyone could ever eat. And since I am Gail Peck, food connoisseur, I had to see if she were lying or not. And I love dim sum.
The place was tiny, I mean like hole in the wall, looks like it should have been shut down eons ago, tiny. We shuffle into the restaurant and into a booth in the back corner, settling in. The server comes and takes our food and drinks order and hurries off into the back. I look around the place, there is one other couple about four booths down from us and that's it.
"This place is kinda sketchy, Holly." She shrugs her shoulders and takes a sip of her water.
"The people are super nice though."
"That doesn't make the situation better, I thought we were walking into our imminent death when we came in." Holly rolls her eyes at me.
"We're not going to die, I've been here a thousand times. Seriously best dim sum I've had in the city."
"You already said that, like thirty times on our way over." I reach for my glass and take a drink from it.
"Was your hangover as shit as mine was this morning?" She asks leaning back into the booth.
"I didn't throw up, so I'll take it as a win. I did however drink my weight in coffee, so there was that." Holly laughs and nods her head agreeing with me.
"At one point I thought I was going to overdose on caffeine."
"At least you didn't have to deal with Quinn Crenshaw: pointless facts enthusiast. Did you know that you can only fold a standard 8.5 x 11 piece printer paper in half seven times? She showed me, more than once."
"She seems like a winner." Holly smiles and thanks the guy after he sets the food down on the table.
"Oh she is. She is the best person I've ever had the opportunity to work with," I answer sarcastically. "But I have to be nice to her. Daddy dearest is my mother's boss."
"So are you gonna be stuck with her?" She asks after finishing a bite of food.
"You mean is she going to be my rookie? I hope to hell not, but knowing Frank and Oli they probably think since were both on the same level parent wise, yes." I pop one of the dim sums in my mouth and almost let out a loud moan of approval. "Holy shit."
"I told you," she almost yells pointing her chopsticks at me. "The best!"
"I mean, I've had a lot of things in my mouth that I would consider to be the best, but this definitely takes top 10." I tell her with my mouth half full. "How can you even use chopsticks? I get like halfway through my meal and grow too impatient because it takes like three extra seconds to pick up your food."
"I've never had a problem with them. It might just be you, Gail."
"So you're a doctor?" I ask her after a few minutes of silence. She nods and finishes her mouthful of food.
"Technically yes.
"As opposed to untechnically?"
"Well like, I can save your life if need be. But I'd rather cut you up."
"This whole date just got very murder-esque." I narrow my eyes at her, "You don't plan on like taking me back to your place and cutting me up into tiny pieces then baking me into pies and things, do you?"
"Do I look anything like Sweeney Todd or Mrs. Lovett?"
"I don't have any idea what you Forensic Pathologists get up to in your spare time. Shit, you could be on Toronto's most wanted."
"Wouldn't you know if I was?" She asks almost as if it were a stupid thing to even say out loud.
"Touché."
"How about I show you?" She says as we finish off the rest of the food.
"I've already seen your boobs, Holly. They're quite nice." I whisper to her adding a wink for good measure. The tip of her boot meets my shin quickly and I lean down groaning.
"Not what I meant, perv." She flags the server down and asks for the bill. When it comes to the table I snatch it up quickly before she even has a chance. I pull my credit card out of my wallet and place the tray back on the edge of the table. "I can pay my half."
"Don't worry about it, it's the least I could do after the comment I just made." Holly hums in appreciation, "But, I wasn't lying, you do have nice boobs." She can't help but to put that beautiful lopsided smile on her face.
"Thank you."
"Oh, you're very welcome."
Holly gives me directions as I weave through the city towards the destination. The closer to the place she's taking me the more I recognize the area. Not just because I patrol around here often, but because there is this arcade just up the street that the boys and I go to whenever we're not feeling The Penny. She tells me to take the next left and that the place would be on our right.
I look over at her skeptically, excitement bubbling just under the surface of my skin as I turn into the arcade parking lot. At this point my face is beaming and the smile on her face is just as bright as mine. I tap my fingers against the steering wheel looking over at her.
"This isn't really where you spend your spare time is it?" I ask turning in my seat towards her.
"Not a chance in hell, but it seems like a place you would love to go." She nods her head towards the building, "So arcade it up? Or I can take you to the bookstore that I frequent when I'm not at the lab." I can't help but to let out a hearty laugh at that.
"You are really quite the nerd aren't you?" She just shrugs and opens the door looking at me.
"You comin' in?"
"Did you really feel the need to ask that question?!" I hop out of the car and am around the car within seconds. I grab Holly's hand and pull her into the dimly lit arcade. I could care less if I look like an adult child right now. This place is bomb.
"It smells like dirty teenager in here," Holly whispers into my ear while I exchange a $10 for some quarters.
"All part of the experience, baby, all part of the experience." I pour the quarters into a plastic cup and look around the arcade for a moment before turning to Holly, "And what game would you like to play first?"
Holly looks around the room. You can totally tell she is out of her element and has no idea what is even happening, "I have no idea! Surprise me!"
"Zombies," I state grabbing her hand and leading her towards the zombie shooter game.
I plummet the allotted amount of quarters in the machine and the game begins. She grabs her gun and points it at the screen as I follow suit. The game begins and the zombies start barreling towards us. I start shooting at them, making sure to get head shots. Holly just starts shooting randomly over the screen, effectively killing none of the zombies that are unleashing hell on her.
I shoot at the couple that are attacking her and then go back to defending myself in order not to become flesh lunch. The words GAME OVER flash on the screen and I look over at Holly with a look that can only be described as 'what the hell'.
"You shoot at things for a living," she stated defending herself. "I've never even shot a real gun before. You should be happy we stayed alive as long as we did." She places the gun back into the holder.
"Holly, you shoot at their heads, there isn't much more to it." I holster the gun and turn towards the air hockey tables then turn back towards her. "Air Hockey?"
"Hockey is something I'm good at. Bring it on." She is off and over to the air hockey tables before I can even pick up the cup full of quarters. "I'm so gonna kick your ass at this," she says when I finally get to the tables.
"Over my dead body," I banter back putting the quarters in the machine.
"HA! I've got the advantage. Puck's starting in my half." She slaps the puck on the table in front of her, holding it underneath her mallet. "Prepare to be dominated, Peck!"
"Come at me Stewart!"
Holly checks the puck across the table at quite a quick speed. Luckily I connect with the puck and send it back towards her. I put up a good fight but am brought back to reality when she scores on me. I slap the mallet on the table and shout. She throws her arms up in victory. I take advantage of the situation and sink the puck in her goal.
"You're such a cheater!" She shouts pulling the puck out and placing it back on the table.
"I so am not."
"You are too!" She shoots the puck towards me but I deflect it just in time to not sink into my goal.
We argue back and forth until the game finally ends. Holly throws her arms in the air claiming that she is champion at air hockey even though she only one over me by one point. After playing a few more games we decide to leave the arcade and walk around the park that is just across the street.
We walked for a while in silence, enjoying the sounds of the summer night. Occasionally her hand would brush the back of mine or mine would brush the back of hers. As soon as the contact happened we would pull away quickly and separate by a couple steps.
I couldn't help but to steal glances at her when she wasn't looking. There's something about her profile that is just totally captivating. It's more than just her profile. That hair. That hair that is so gorgeously long and thick and flowing. It's mesmerizing how it just cascades over her shoulders, not a hair out of place. And then there is that mole that is just underneath her eye. And that stupid lopsided smirk she seems to always have.
I shake my head. Shit, Peck. Get it together, it's almost as if you've got a crush on this girl or something. I check the time on my watch and realize it's nearing one in the morning. I stop in my tracks, she's a couple steps ahead of me when she realizes that I've stopped. She closes the distance between the two of us, standing closer than any normal person would.
I clear my throat and look into her eyes for a brief moment, "It's getting late. I should get you home."
She looks at the gold watch accenting her tanned wrist, her eyebrows jolt up when she realizes the time. "Damn, when did it get so late?"
"Probably when you were kicking my ass in air hockey," Her smile nearly reaches her ears at my confession.
"So you admit, I am champion of air hockey?" I can't help but to roll my eyes at her absurdity.
"Yes."
"Yes what?"
"Yes, you, Dr. Holly Stewart are champion of air hockey."
"Thank you, thank you," She bows at the fake audience pumping her fists in the air.
"You are insane."
"That's not the first time I've heard that."
The car ride back to her place was spent pretty much in silence. The occasional direction given to make sure I don't get lost weaving through the streets. Once out front of her house she turns towards me pushing her glasses up to the top of her head.
"I had a great time," she says playing with the hole in her jeans.
"You weren't too bad of company," I cut the engine off and turn towards her. "This was kind of a date?"
"I thought you didn't do," she gestures between the two of us, "this."
"It's never too late to change, yeah?"
"True. I am all about growing these days."
"Can I walk you to your door?" I ask a little hesitantly ducking my head to look at the center console.
"I thought you would never ask."
"Gotta keep you safe. You know serve and protect."
"Oh of course officer," I hop out of the car and make my way around to her door opening it, offering my hand. She takes it gingerly, stepping out of the car.
We walk the short distance to her door and stand on the front porch for what seems like an eternity. Finally she snakes her hands around my hips and pulls me into a hug. Without even thinking about it I wrap my arms around her neck breathing in the vanilla scent of her hair. She pulls back after a couple seconds and presses her lips into my cheek.
"I seriously had a great time. I'll talk to you later," she unlocks her front door and steps inside, closing it behind her.
I stand there frozen for a couple minutes before bringing my fingers up to brush over my cheek. I shake my head and head back towards my car. The ride home was far too short to live out the Holly high that I was on so I drove around the block a couple times before finally pulling into my parking spot. If there was any sign that I was out with someone tonight Dov and Chris wouldn't let me live it down. They would be asking too many question and I wouldn't have very many answers to them. Not yet at least.
I press my forehead onto the steering wheel and take a deep breath in finally letting myself smile the Holly high out. Dammit, I've known this girl for 48 hours and I'm already in deeper than I should be. Don't screw this one up, Peck. Don't you dare screw this one up.
Hoped you liked it!
-K.