While Gail took a shower upstairs, Holly went back downstairs to grab a glass of water and say goodnight to Jo. Jo had spent enough time in the Stewart household to know that even a slight chance of flurries was enough for Carol to put the house on lockdown. The guest bedroom on the first floor had practically become her home away from home.

Holly found Jo in the kitchen, as she knew she would, cleaning the last of the dishes from dinner. "You know you don't need to do that," Holly said from the doorway.

Jo shot a grin over her shoulder. "It's the least I can do. I'm still paying penance for that sixth grade science project."

Holly laughed and walked over to the kitchen island, hopping onto one of the stools and propping her elbows on the counter. "You can still see the scorch marks in the right light."

Jo groaned. "Oh man. I'm surprised your mother ever let me into the house after that."

"She loves you," Holly said.

Jo only shrugged and went back to washing a frying pan. "Gail is sweet," she commented after a couple moments of silence.

"Sweet?" Holly said, her tone incredulous. "Don't tell Gail that. She's a self-identified ice queen and is worried that her fierce reputation is going down the drain."

Jo chuckled. "Did you see her chatting with Laura?"

"Yeah, I noticed. Do you know what they talked about?"

"Derek."

"No way."

Jo nodded, plopped the now-clean frying pan on the drying rack, and turned to face Holly. "Yeah."

Holly blinked. "Wow. That's…she never talks about him."

"I know. I think your girl is sweeter than she thinks."

"Oh, she's a mush ball," Holly agreed. "Lots of bark, no bite." She paused. "Well, maybe a little bite…"

Jo made a face. "I thought we put a moratorium on the…bedroom details."

"You put a moratorium on it," Holly said. "I still reserve the right to brag about my gorgeous girlfriend and her talent in the bedroom."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Fine," she grumbled. She eyed Holly speculatively for a moment. "You know, you might've sweetened Gail, but I think her bark might be rubbing off on you, too."

Holly grinned. "Oh, sarcasm and I go way back. Gail just reintroduced us."

"I'm glad," Jo said. "I was afraid all those years of medical school sucked the fun right out of you."

Holly hummed in agreement. "They kind of did. But then…" She trailed off, her face softening as she thought of Gail, of those first couple "dates." The wedding, the batting cage. Holly had spent most of her early twenties with her nose in a book, but Gail made it so easy to let go—to laugh, dance, get tipsy in a coat closet.

"Jeez, you really do have it bad, babe," Jo said, shaking her head. But when Holly met her gaze, she was smiling.

"I'm in love with her," Holly murmured.

Jo's expression morphed from teasing to affection in an instant. She walked around the kitchen island and pulled Holly into a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you, worm."

—

"Oh my god, Hol, you were such a dork!"

Holly turned from her closet where she'd been rummaging for something Gail could change into. She chuckled good-naturedly when she saw the picture Gail was holding. It'd been taken her freshman year of high school. She had headgear and thick glasses and was wearing a t-shirt with the words FRANKIE SAYS RELAX printed across the front.

"Not my most glamorous look," Holly agreed.

Gail replaced the picture and moved over to the desk that was nestled in front of one the two windows in the small room. She perused the old college textbooks stacked haphazardly on the table, rolling her eyes when she realized they were all about science—half of them with titles she could barely pronounce. Gail then turned her attention to the frames on the wall. A few of them were pictures of Holly with her family—the rest were various certificates and diplomas.

"Where's your PhD, big shot?" Gail asked curiously.

Holly dropped the clothes she'd collected on the bed and moved up behind Gail, slipping her arms around her waist and resting her chin on the shorter woman's shoulder. "Had my own place by then," she murmured, nuzzling the sweet-smelling skin behind Gail's ear. Her hair was still slightly damp from her shower and she smelled like Holly's own shampoo, which turned out to be a completely turn-on.

Gail sighed softly, relaxing back into Holly's embrace. "How come I've never seen it?"

"It's in a drawer somewhere in my office," Holly murmured distractedly. The only thing between her hands and Gail's skin was a loosely tied towel and she was finding it nearly impossible to focus.

She pressed a wet kiss behind Gail's ear before tugging an earlobe into her mouth and nipping gently. Gail sighed softly and tilted her head to the side, offering up more skin to Holly's questing mouth. Holly immediately took advantage, nibbling and licking the smooth expanse of skin, before pressing a soft kiss to the underside of Gail's jaw. Gail whimpered softly, pressing back into Holly's body. Holly groaned quietly at the sudden pressure.

"Your room is just like you," Gail commented lightly.

"Huh?" Holly grunted. Her brain had checked out somewhere between Gail's throaty whimper and the subtle press of her ass against Holly's crotch.

"Your room," Gail said again with a soft laugh. "It's like you. Cute and filled-to-the-brim with nerdiness."

"You're such a sweet talker, Peck," Holly said, laughing softly at Gail's sum-up of her childhood bedroom. It was actually pretty spot-on. It was small and cozy, painted a warm shade of yellow, and there were an awful lot of science certificates and manuals scattered around.

"Ugh. That was really sweet, wasn't it?" She turned in Holly's arms and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. "You're really messing with my game here, doc."

"Oh, I think your game is just fine, officer."

Holly watched with satisfaction as Gail's eyes darkened a couple shades, her gaze dipping to Holly's mouth, then lower. She tugged Holly closer, fitting her pelvis snuggly against Holly's hips.

"So," she asked conversationally. She hooked a finger through Holly's belt loop and met her eyes. "How thick are these walls?"

Holly's stomach tightened at Gail's question, and the not-at-all-subtle way she'd just perused her body. "Pretty…Pretty, uh, thick," she managed to answer.

Gail grinned. "Goody."

—

Sorry this was a shorter chapter than usual, but I'm not sure when I'll get time to write again so I wanted to post something for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it. If you've got a sec, let me know what you think!

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