What's going on everyone!? I've had so little motivation to write lately, but after seeing Aliyah's (Holly's) photo of her and Charlotte (Gail) I kinda wanted to get this one out for all of you. If you haven't seen it, you can find it on Aliyah's Twitter or Instagram and definitely all over Tumblr. Also, Eletoile I've read your work and absolutely love all of them! All of the kindness and word vomit is much appreciated.
"Come on Hol!"
"Not a chance Peck" Holly chuckled, shaking her head in protest.
"Please, please, please, pleaaaase!?" she whined, grabbing the collar of Holly's jacket and giving her a slight shake. "Does this not somewhat count as a sport? I thought you were into all of that mumbo jumbo" she breathed, her breath visible in the cold winter air.
"Sports, yes, I'm fairly into them, but this" she wiggled her finger at the snowmobile behind the blonde that was sitting idly in the shed, "isn't a sport. It's pretty much a death sentence! I knew you were trying to kill me!" she explained humorously.
"Holly," Gail began, "it'll be fun and I've done it like, over a hundred times, I promise you'll be safe. Trust me" she grinned, giving her best puppy dog eyes.
There it was, the 'T' word. Trust. They had talked about it a lot in the beginning of their relationship and Holly knew it was extremely important to show it to Gail rather than to deny her of it in any way. She began to pout as she lowered her shoulders and huffed out a defeated sigh. How could she ever say no to this beautiful woman even though she was a pain in her butt? "Fiiiiine...always winning with those eyes…If I die, I hope you feel guilty for making me do this; you're going to be the one that has to explain it to my family" she joked.
Gail started to chuckle. "HA! You're quite hilarious. I'd just dump your body and make my way across the world to hide before that happens. No one would know...except Steve…Dammit, I'm going to have to kill him too. Sucks, I was just starting to like him" she shrugged.
Holly giggled and lightly shoved Gail's shoulder. "Come on you psycho, let's get on this contraption"
Gail carefully steered the snowmobile across the frozen lake and towards what in the warmer weather would be the shoreline. She turned off the engine and Holly removed her arms from around her girlfriend's waist as Gail climbed off.
"Okay so, was it as horrible and terrifying as you thought it'd be?" she asked both jokingly and somewhat seriously as she held her hand out to help Holly off.
"It may or may not have actually been really fun" she smiled, taking the offered hand and placing a small kiss on Gail's cold lips.
"That's what I thought" Gail said proudly. "Come on nerd, let's go inside where it's warm and get some lunch. This is the best diner up here"
They stomped their boots against the side of the building and as they walked into the diner, a bell rang to announce their arrival. While taking their hats and gloves off, Gail led Holly to an empty booth in the far corner and they both took their jackets off before sitting.
Holly rested her hand on top of Gail's in the center of the table. "So Ms. Peck, I'd like to start off this lunch date by saying that you've already made it quite impossible for me to, even the slightest bit, make me want to go back to the dead people in the morgue tomorrow afternoon"
"Well, I don't exactly want to have to put my itchy uniform back on so it seems like we're on the same page...I'm happy that you're -"
She had been cut off by a brunette waitress that had stopped next to the table holding their menus. "Hellllooo ladies, can I-" the woman looked down at Gail and her eyebrows furrowed questioningly. "Gail? Gail Peck?"
It took Gail a few moments to register the familiar woman's face. "Sarah? Holy crap, hi!" Gail awkwardly shuffled out of her seat to embrace the brunette, causing Holly to purse her lips and mentally shoot darts at the other girl for interrupting their conversation. "How have you been? I thought you went to Thailand to study?"
'Pft, Thailand. How about London? Or Australia? Yeah, and those were just conferences' Holly thought, a tinge of jealously evidently burning inside of her.
"I've been good! Busy, but really good. I did go to Thailand actually, but I was only there for about a year or so before I realized I wasn't exactly enjoying myself. Plus, Gram really needed some extra help around the diner sooo here I am" Her arms flailed out as she gestured around the diner. "She's actually in the back office right now...if she sees you she'll freak with excitement. What about you? What brings you back to Muskoka in this cold? We both know you'd rather be huddled in a fortress of blankets. Another infamous Peck family vacay?" she asked.
Seemingly forgetting Holly's presence, Gail stuttered and shook her head. "Uh no, actually, Holly's birthday was yesterday so we're spending the weekend" she answered, motioning her hand at Holly. "Uh Sarah, this is my girlfriend Holly. Holly, this is Sarah"
'Yeah, her girlfriend. The person that she is romantically involved with'Holly's mind continued.
"Wow! Way to go Peck, she's pretty" she said, causing both Holly's and Gail's cheeks to turn pink. "It's nice to meet you Holly. I was probably Gail's only real friend growing up. I mean, she knew a lot of people but no one wanted to put up with her bullshit. Gosh, the trouble she got into"
"Oh come on! I wasn't that bad"
"Pleeeeaase! Your mother must've threatened to throw you in the water at least four times a day" She turned to Holly this time, "She can't swim. Must be a Peck thing; her brother couldn't either" she laughed.
"Okay, okay, enough of the embarrassment" She rolled her eyes and sat back down.
'Yeah, enough flirting'
"We are absolutely starving so hopefully you still remember my regular delicious order. Double it and bring Gram out here"
"Coming right up. I'll be back" And with that, Sarah turned and walked into the kitchen where Gail and Holly could no longer see her.
"Sooo, you guys were friends?" Holly questioned.
"No Hol, we were secret lovers that would make out in the food freezer in the back of the kitchen whenever we got the chance" Gail laughed because she knew that Holly had felt uneasy about the woman that she had never seen or talked about before. "Yes you jealous dork, we were just friends, so you can stop that thought of stabbing her with your scalpel"
"I was not thinking that!" to which Gail responded to by quirking her eyebrow at Holly, giving her the 'cut the bullshit' look. "Okaaaaay maybe I was..."
Another waitress that Gail didn't recognize arrived at their booth, placing two root beer floats on the table in front of them. The blonde thanked her for the drinks and continued.
"Long overdue karma for taking that girl into The Penny when I was there" she smirked, taking the straw into her mouth and sipping her beverage.
"Ha! I knew something was off...and how was I supposed to know you were going to be there?"
"Come on Hol, you're too smart to forget that one, it's a cop bar…" she began to count off of her fingers, "Two, it was a Friday. And three, I like my drinks"
Three Months Ago…
"Come on Holly, when's the last time you actually got out of your little cocoon in the lab and hung out with a pretty girl?"
'I've been out quite a few times actually. We went to a wedding together, have gone for breakfast when she had free mornings, she comes over and we drink beer while marathoning TV shows that I hate but she loves, we've gone to the batting cages and I showed her how to hit the ball…' It was what Holly wanted to tell her sister, but she couldn't; deep down as much as she would like to call those dates, they weren't. Despite knowing she stood no chance, she couldn't stop thinking of Gail no matter what she was doing and it was definitely becoming unhealthy; she was just asking to have her heart torn from her chest. 'She's straight you fool, hence her recent relationship history. Don't ruin a good friendship; you were already stupid with the kiss in the coatroom!' She sighed loudly into the speaker of her phone and responded, "Alright, fine Val, give me her number and I'll make plans"
Ok, maybe coming to The Penny was a bad idea. She sat nervously for a few moments in her car, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel and chewing on her bottom lip. Chris' Jeep was in the parking lot; surely he had taken Dov and Gail. 'Just suck it up, Holly. Maybe she was too tired and stayed home' she chanted, taking a deep breath and stepping out of her car.
She walked in and immediately headed for the bar, deciding that she needed some liquid encouragement for the rest of the night.
"Helllllloooo" a familiar voice sounded. "Can you make it two?"
Holly mentally cursed herself as she turned and noticed the beautiful blonde standing beside her. "Hey!" she smiled widely, "I didn't know you'd be here" 'Yes you did dumbass' She's mumbling something about trivia but Holly can't help looking at her gorgeous lips so she shyly tears her gaze away as Gail offers to buy the first round. "Actually, I'm meeting someone"
"Oh…sorry" Gail responds, a hint of what? Hurt? No, maybe disappointment?
As Gail asks if it's 'someone' someone, Holly just wants to tell her that there isn't anyone but her and once again her better judgement interrupts, telling Gail that she's unsure. Seconds after, the woman from the photo walks in and Holly makes her way over to her.
Out of the many open booths, she chose the one situated close to the table of rookies and just so happened to sit in a position which allowed her to have a full view of the room in front of her. She could truly say that she was trying to be interested in the woman beside her, but the date was not going well at all. More than a few times she would zone out and her eyes would wander across the room, settling on the platinum blonde who quickly lowered her eyes each time. 'God, what I'd do to have her sitting here instead'
"So how is it that Gail Peck actually managed to have a friend during her young and apparently mischievous years?"
"We were the only two girls that would play the racing or shooting games against the boys at the arcade up the street. A couple years after that whenever I stayed for the summer I'd help her and her grandmother in here because my mom wanted me to stay out of trouble.
"Was there a reason you never kept in touch?"
"It was a hassle trying to meet up all the time other than when my family was down here. And then I was trying to make my way through school and she got on a plane. After my grandfather passed I kind of just went my own way with a lot of things. I had the reckless college phase and all"
"Any specific reckless memories that you recall?" Holly smirked.
"Lots of girls" Gail winked, earning a glare from the brunette.
"I take back my curiosity. I don't want to know"
"Holly, I was just kidding!" she laughed. "If anything, I should be upset with all of your college flings…And don't try to tell me you didn't have any, I know you Stewart, not as innocent as everyone thinks"
"This conversation is definitely for another time. Now come over here and take a picture with me"