Okay well it's not a Wednesday but the weather was horrible (like snowing horrible which for where I live in Australia is crazy) and was the perfect excuse to waste a day on this. Thanks for the follows and the reviews, really encourages me to write more :)

Gail had the slightest swing in her step as she entered her last session Chemistry class, spotting Dov at their usual table and plonking down beside him. He turned to look at her, opening his mouth most likely to complain about the subject when he noticed Gail's somewhat carefree expression, the trace of a smile ghosting her lips.

"Can you stop looking so happy," Dov asked seriously with a frown, "we're in Chemistry."

Gail rolled her eyes at Dov's melodramatics even though she probably would've shot him down too if he'd walked into class with a look other than dread on his face.

"But Dov, today is such a great day," she reasoned with him, trying her best to seem genuine.

"The sun is shining, I had bacon on my sandwich for lunch," she paused for effect, taking in Dov's bewildered expression, "and I understand yesterday's work!"

Dov frowned at her, simultaneously confused by Gail being happy about Chemistry and Gail apparently understanding Chemistry.

"So this Weston guy was your saviour, then?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"First of all, that is a disgusting notion you're suggesting," she said, stomping out any room for misinterpreting her extreme dislike for Weston, "and secondly I think my knowledge actually regressed in his presence."

Again Dov was confused if not slightly exasperated that he still had no idea why Gail had all of a sudden figured out the work that only 24 hours ago had them both at the verge of a breakdown.

"So what, did you have a little one-on-one with Mr. Carver or something?" Dov asked suggestively as he let his eyes travel to where their teacher stood at the front of the class, bursting into laughter when Gail punched him in the shoulder, hard.

"No. You're disgusting." Gail shot back, training her eyes to the front of the class and ignoring her friend who was still smiling to himself at his dumb little joke.

"But seriously," He offered her, leaning toward her to whisper as their teacher began to start the lesson, "tell me, I want to know."

While part of Gail wanted to pretend she couldn't hear him and let him suffer, she knew his insistence to know was probably due to the fact he still had no idea what he was doing, and that was something she could relate to. They were supposed to have each other's backs when it came to this god-awful subject, helping one another when they could.

"I just bumped into some girl I knew at the university library," she explained in a hushed tone, "she's doing a Bachelor of Science or whatever and offered to explain it."

Just when she thought he would finally drop it and let her go back to listening to what their teacher was explaining on the board, Dov opened his mouth again.

"How do you know a girl from the university?" He asked, surprise evident in his tone. Her best friend was well aware that Gail was not exactly the social type and definitely not in the habit of making new friends.

Gail turned her head fractionally toward him, beginning to form an answer when she realised she really wasn't sure what to say. Somehow, 'I spilt a bucket of coffee in her lap and she's been stalking me ever since', didn't seem suitable and would probably only fill Dov with more questions rather than shutting him up. So instead she hushed him and turned back to face their teacher who was now prattling along, making it clear that their conversation was over.

XXXX

Gail sighed and flopped back onto her bed somewhat dramatically when she got home. Now that she'd eaten and put her books away she found herself extremely unsure of what to do with herself. The same feeling of weightlessness that made its appearance yesterday was still persisting; she had no urgent homework or assignments, she no longer felt like she was drowning when it came to Chemistry, her room was spotless and her parents probably wouldn't be home until after she'd gone to sleep. She had literally nothing to worry about. So why was it that instead of finding some solace in this new found levity that Gail's mind was still churning over every feature of her life, scouring it for something that she should be doing?

Gail had always scoffed at Dov when he teased her for being uptight, insisting he was confusing the term with motivated, driven; disciplined even. But maybe he was right, she thought as she bounced her legs up and down from where they were hanging off the end of the bed. She couldn't even force herself to take an afternoon nap for god's sake.

She threw herself back out of bed, obviously not in any mental state to relax and unwind and began pacing agitatedly back and forth in front of her window. She craved for that heavy weight to return, to bring her down and cement her back where she felt comfortable, for in its absence she could feel an uncontrollable anxiety bubbling within her. She wasn't sure if either option was particularly any better than the other, but at least the heaviness was something she was familiar with. It felt safe for her. Gail stopped pacing abruptly, deciding she needed to get out of the house and do something before she made herself sick. She changed quickly and jammed her feet into her running shoes, certain that at the very least a run would give her something else to think about. Maybe Holly would even be there.

Gail frowned at herself in the mirror at this last thought, finishing sweeping her platinum blonde hair into a ponytail. Just because Holly was at the park one time didn't mean she'd see her again, although Holly did have a funny way of showing up where ever Gail went. Anyway, going on a run with Holly would probably do nothing to improve her mood right now. Holly was practically the epitome of carefree and ease, qualities that Gail was perhaps secretly a bit envious of but at the same time irrationally irritated by. Since the purpose of her run was to block everything out though, she shook these thoughts off as she strode out onto the pavement, making her way toward the park at a steady yet determined pace.

Gail wasn't even sure how many laps she'd made of the park by the time she stopped, blood roaring loudly in her ears. As she pushed through the burning and constricting of her lungs she noted it was starting to get dark so she must've been here for a while. All of a sudden she felt a bit light headed and dropped down into a bench sitting alongside the running track. She berated herself internally for obviously pushing her limits, knowing she would pay for it later as she could already feel a familiar burn seeping into her legs. A burn which would remind her of her carelessness tomorrow with every step she took. Her frustration with herself was further compounded when again, she found herself glancing in the direction where she'd bumped into Holly for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon. Obviously Holly had never made an appearance today and even though Gail had not expected her to do so she still felt a little… disappointed?

This train of thought was interrupted as she shivered violently, her sudden loss of movement making her more vulnerable to the chilly air which was beginning to settle as the sun fell. She sighed and headed back toward home at a much slower pace than when she had started, relieved that even if the run had been unsuccessful in clearing her head that she would at least be too exhausted for her mind to keep running over time for the rest of the night.

XXXX

Frustrated at her lack of progress, Gail shoved her books out of the way, tilting her head back and bringing a hand up to work a crick out of her neck. She stretched her legs out from where she'd been sitting cross legged on the bed, wincing when her legs that were still tender from the day before screamed in protest. Of course just when she had started to feel confident about the Chemistry test on Friday her teacher had decided to throw in a new concept at the last minute. A concept that was making very little sense to Gail at the moment.

"Hey sis," a deep voice from her doorway greeted, her brother stepping into her room and flopping down onto her bed, sending her books sliding off the edge.

"Hi Steve," Gail greeted matter-of-factly.

"Wait you are Steve, right?" she asked trying her best to sound unsure, "I mean you kind of look like the guy who used to live here. Haven't seen him in a while though so I can't remember exactly…"

"Here I was thinking you were enjoying my absence," he replied teasingly, laughing when Gail reached out and kicked him with her foot.

"I was. I forgot how annoying you are," she tossed back at him, crossing her arms.

"So how's the police life treating you big brother?" she asked, enquiring about his recent promotion from rookie which had seen him engulf himself even more in his work.

"It's awesome," he answered with a lovesick expression on his face causing Gail to snort with derision.

"Well it's good to know you're entire life up until now has not been a giant waste of time," she remarked bitterly.

Steve rolled his eyes at her and shoved her socked foot away from where it had come to rest beside him after she'd kicked him. He reached over the side of the bed and scooped up the books he had knocked off a few minutes prior.

"And why exactly are you wasting your time on Chemistry?" Steve asked waving her textbook around.

Gail narrowed her eyes at him, snatching the textbook out of his hands.

"I mean, it's not like you need it to get into the police force," he informed her with a shrug.

Gail felt a flash of anger ripple through her, not necessarily directed toward her well-meaning but clueless brother but rather at the subtext surrounding the notion that joining the police force was inevitable for her.

"Steve, can you just go?" she asked sharply, frowning as she gathered all of her notes back into an orderly pile after he'd disrupted them.

"Nice to see you too, sis," he replied sarcastically as he made his way to the door, though she could tell by his face that he was not too put out by her less than warm reception.

Gail sighed as the door shut behind her brother, feeling a little bad at lashing out at him but still irked that he seemed to have no idea what it was like for Gail. It was easy for him to say she was wasting her time on Chemistry. Steve had always been the golden child, already innately programmed to excel at what their parents had planned for them. He'd been great at sport and public speaking; he could consume facts and solve mathematic equations with ease. He never had to choose a subject like Chemistry because he already had an impressive high school resume in his mother's eyes while doing the things he enjoyed. Gail however, had always struggled with maths and team sports and the mere thought of public speaking made her stomach drop. Giver her an essay to write, a novel to deconstruct or a landscape to sketch and she was in her element. None of these things were relevant to her predetermined line of work though, nor seemed like worthwhile contributions to her life after school, all things which her mother made quite clear throughout her school life.

So having her brother waltz in at a moment of pre-test crisis, in love with his job and pointing out the pointlessness of the subject she had spent hours working at, was a real kick in the gut. A reaffirmation that this was what her life was going to be like. Slogging her heart out over something that didn't mean anything to her, so that what? Her mother would be happy? Be proud of her? It was with these musings that Gail felt that familiar sinking feeling wash over her, of that heavy burden burrowing its way down and making itself at home. Initially she felt at peace, being reacquainted with what she had become so accustomed too, her mind calming somewhat as if this weight was feeding some perverse addiction she had.

Deciding there was no use stewing over the chemistry test anymore she piled her things up on her desk and slithered her way back to bed, nestling herself under the covers and preparing for sleep. As she lay there though she was taken aback by how suffocating the thought of her upcoming failure was becoming. The pressure that was usually a comfortable vice for her was now much more overwhelming after her few days of reprieve from it. As she lay there in the dark stillness of her room she thought back to how Holly had helped her in the library on Monday, wishing that by some small miracle she would run into her again before the test on Friday. On broaching the subject of Holly she was struck with the odd thought that in a way she'd be letting Holly down if she didn't do well, a thought that made her squint into the darkness in confusion. She had grown accustomed to disappointing her mother, disappointing herself as well, but for some reason the idea of letting Holly, a person who should have no real influence on her life down was troubling her.

A few more minutes passed before she realised sleep would not be visiting her anytime soon and so she snatched her phone up from where it was charging on her nightstand. It was only 10.30p.m. she realised as she unlocked her phone, holding her thumb poised over the contact she was hoping would answer the call she was contemplating making. Pushing through the hesitation she pressed down on the name and selected 'call', holding the phone up warily up to her ear, waiting for an excuse to hang up before the other person answered.

"Hello?" the friendly, automatically comforting voice on the other end of the phone answered.

"Hey, Ollie," Gail greeted, hoping he was still at work.

"Hey kiddo, what's the occasion?" he asked jovially, his tone shifting down a few notches as he added, "you're not in trouble are you? I'm not your one and only phone call from some jail cell, am I?"

Gail chuckled at this, as though she would be stupid enough to be caught doing something illegal with a mother like hers. Although now that he had brought it up, Oliver probably would be the first person she'd call in such a situation apart from maybe Steve. It was probably a bit odd that Gail considered Oliver; a 30-something, prematurely balding man one of her closest friends but in the years when Gail had been younger and her mother still Staff Sergeant at 15th, she'd spent many an afternoon hanging around the station with him. He was more of a father-figure than friend, perhaps a 'cool uncle' would even be more appropriate but she held a deep trust and fondness for the man who had regularly as a rookie risked reprimands from his T.O to hang out with her when he had other things to do. Asking how her days at school were, helping her with homework and trying to keep her chin up whenever her mother would dismiss her. She didn't see him as much anymore since her mother no longer actually worked at 15th (although still liked to check in more often than necessary) but she still knew he would have her back, hence why she was making this phone call.

"No, not quite," she replied, assuaging his curiosity slightly, "although I do need to ask a favour…"

XXXX

She stared blankly at her screen, the empty textbox in the new message she was composing taunting her as she kept typing and then erasing multiple versions of the same message which never seemed quite right. Oliver had been a bit reluctant at first when Gail had asked him to track down Holly's number, since it wasn't technically in relation to actual police work. After explaining Holly was interning at the morgue and was probably in the employment records at 15 he relented however, somehow the fact that she worked there making the invasion of privacy slightly less unethical.

This is why she was now stuck in a silent battle with her phone, unsure of what exactly to say. She sighed, biting the bullet and after a quick flurry of thumbs she hit send.

Gail: Hey nerd.

Gail realised she probably should have put a bit of context along with the fond insult that she decided to use as a greeting. Before she could overthink it much more her phoned buzzed in her hand.

Holly: You know this whole stalking thing is getting a bit out of hand…

She smiled at this, glad that Holly realised it was her and didn't seemed too weirded out by the unexpected contact.

Gail: Fairly sure you started it. I'm just getting into the spirit of it.

Holly: Well as nice as it is to have the stalking reciprocated is there a particular reason why you're texting me at 11 on a Wednesday night?

Holly: And though I'm not sure I really want to know, how did you get my number?

Gail: So you admit you started the stalking?

Holly: You're avoiding the question.

Gail sighed realising that even through text she felt uncomfortable deviating from the safety of their typical banter routine.

Gail: Fiiiine. I need more help with chemistry and you're the only nerd I know who isn't completely unbearable.

Gail: And no, you probably don't want to know how I got your number.

Gail waited nervously as there was a pause in the back and forth stream of dialogue, hoping that despite her inability to ask for help nicely that Holly would still say yes.

Holly: That's reassuring. And I don't know Gail… my time is pretty precious.

She frowned at this, realising that Holly was probably telling the truth. She had the internship, lectures and studying and no doubt other things to do in her life. It was a bit self-centred really to expect Holly to drop everything to help some obnoxious girl she barely knew and began to compose a reply telling Holly not to worry about it when her phone cut her off.

Holly: Meet me at the café tomorrow at 4?

Gail raised her eyebrows in surprise, not really expecting such a decisive reply after Holly's initial response but she still contemplated retracting her plea for help.

Gail: You sure?

Holly: Yup, I can only stay till 5 though.

She was still not fully convinced Holly wasn't just doing this out of politeness; her texting style was so different to Holly's usual demeanour that Gail was unsure of how to interpret her replies.

Gail: You know I took you as the annoying type to use lots emoticons and stuff.

Woops. She hadn't meant to actually write that out she realised, panicking slightly before following the text up quickly with a confirmation that would hopefully end the conversation.

Gail: See you tomorrow.

Holly: Oh, so now you think you know my 'type'? ;)

Holly: Goodnight Gail! :D sweet dreams xoxo 3 !

Gail felt her cheeks flush at Holly's obvious attempt to make fun of her little slip up but unable to let Holly have the last word she sent a final text, more for her own satisfaction than anything else before locking her phone and rolling over, hoping she could now slip off to sleep.

Gail: Good night. Loser.

Poor Gail, has no idea how to just be happy and content with herself :(

Okay so this was pretty angsty and Gail might seem a bit OOC here but I feel like at this age Gail is not quite as closed-off and distanced from those around her. Gail's always seemed really sensitive deep down and I think at this stage while her exterior might be a little prickly that she cares a lot more about what other people think of her/a lot more unsure of herself than when we first met her in the show. I also think growing up in such a toxic and emotionally manipulative environment that Gail probably would have a lot going on in her head, a lot of self-doubt and loathing which I think as she grew up she replaced with bitchiness/arrogance to stop herself from getting hurt so much but idk… Anyway, next chapter = more Holly/Gail and less angst!