recklessly-indulgent asked: Prompt: One of the girls gets sentenced to sleep on the couch, only for the other to climb on the couch too because she can't go to sleep angry.
Really, when Gail thinks about it, this was all Steve and Traci's fault. They'd been the ones who had bought that big house with a big yard and promised Leo that he could have a dog.
And they were the ones who had asked her to take Leo to the animal shelter to choose a stupid mutt while they started unpacking.
So considering the facts, Gail doesn't think it's fair that she's the one being punished. She'd done exactly what she had promised Steve and Traci she would do. She'd let Leo look around and spend time with the dogs, and she'd steered him away from a Saint Bernard because she knew Steve had an irrational fear of the movie Beethoven.
She'd returned Leo home, safe and sound, and happily clutching the lead of a 7 month old black Labrador that Leo had opted to call Oreo after the slobbery pup had stolen the cookie – of the same name of course – straight from Gail's hand, making her scowl unhappily while Leo laughed around a mouthful of his own in amusement.
Steve and Traci had fallen in love with the brown-eyed cookie thief the moment they'd set eyes on him, and Gail had classed the whole thing as a job well done.
She doesn't think that it's fair therefore, that she's been banished to sleep on the couch.
Gail huffs grumpily into the darkness as she fluffs the cushion beneath her head, desperately trying to get comfortable. The patchwork-blanket Holly had thrown angrily her way before disappearing to their bedroom, getting tangled around her legs as she rolls over onto her side.
She let's her arm dangle over the edge of the couch, her hand instantly reaching out to gently stroke against soft, ruffled fur.
Okay, so maybe Holly does have a right to be a little mad at her, Gail relents as a loud snore echoes around the room.
Gail doesn't think she can be blamed too much, she's not even a dog person really, never having had one while she was growing up, and she didn't leave the house that morning with the intention of bringing a dog home with her, it just sort of happened.
She was more than happy to just sit back and let Leo interact with the dogs while he decided which one would become his. It's not her fault that this sad looking Golden Retriever had stealthily padded up to her and rested his head on her knee. And it's not Gail's fault that he stared up at her with his sweet, chocolate brown eyes that rapidly filled with increasing adoration when she reluctantly scratched at his ears.
Really, Gail concludes, it's the lady at the shelter's fault. She'd been the one to witness Gail and Snoopy sharing a moment, and she'd been the one who told Gail that Snoopy's owner had died 6 months ago and that the dog had seemed depressed ever since, completely uninterested in playing with the other dogs or seeking out human interaction.
How after hearing that sob story, was she supposed to just walk away and leave the damn dog behind when he stared after her as she got up to leave and whined longingly?
Gail hadn't intended to come home with a dog, but she had, and she thought Holly, lover of all the animals in the kingdom, would have been happy with her noble rescue of a sad, abandoned dog.
Holly's wide eyes and disbelieving frown when she'd gotten home to find Gail and Snoopy sitting on the couch together watching The Hangover had proved otherwise though.
Apparently, them having a pet was fine. What wasn't fine was their lack of discussion about the possibility and Gail's choice to go ahead and commit to bringing a dog into their family before discussing it with Holly first.
And perhaps her petulant, unapologetic response to Holly's yelling had played a part in her current predicament, but Gail had seen the way Holly's eyes had softened momentarily when Snoopy brushed affectionately against her legs and licked at her hand, and so she couldn't really help that her mouth had twisted into a smug smirk
"Pretend to be mad at me all that you want, Lunchbox, but I can see your heart filling with love for him already," Gail had teased from her stretched out position on the couch. "We're Snoopy Stewart's new wolf-pack," she added, trying to be cute as Snoopy returned to her and climbed back up onto the couch to curl up at her feet. "Come over here and cuddle with us like I know you want to."
Holly's eyes had narrowed in response and she'd let out a deep, measured exhale. "You know what, I don't think there's enough room for all three of us on the couch, and since he chose you to be part of his wolf-pack first, I think it's only right that you sleep out here with him on the couch tonight. You can snuggle up together and keep each other warm."
The smirk had fallen from Gail's face quickly then when she realised Holly was serious, and her protests about how the dog would be fine sleeping on the couch alone had been rebuffed with a firm, "But look how much he loves you, Gail. You're part of his wolf-pack, you can't just ditch him. I don't mind sacrificing my Gail-cuddle-time so that Snoopy can get his instead. It's so important to make him feel at home here with us, don't you think?" Holly asked sternly, raising her eyebrow pointedly in the way that always made Gail shrink into herself and nod in defeat.
And so that is how Gail Peck has found herself banished to spending her first night ever sleeping on the couch.
She hasn't slept without the soothing warmth of Holly's body pressed against her back and lulling her to sleep in forever, and as she lets out another long, irritated huff, and pulls the blanket tighter around herself, shivering a little against the cold, she's suddenly reminded of why sleeping alone sucks.
Gail listens to Snoopy's snores for a few minutes longer, contemplating how angry Holly would be if she crept into their room and tried to apologise at this late hour. But just as she's seriously considering getting up to grovel, she hears the soft pitter-patter of familiar footsteps creaking down the stairs.
Moments later, Holly is climbing onto the couch and shuffling into the space Gail eagerly makes for her. She doesn't say anything as she tangles their legs together and curls her arm around Gail's waist, tugging her body impossibly closer, and Gail can feel the tension leaving Holly's body as she slowly relaxes against her own.
"I'm sorry I didn't check in with you and get your okay before getting the dog," Gail whispers into the dark, trailing her fingertips up and down the arm Holly has wrapped around her. "It was an ass move."
"It was an ass move," Holly murmurs back, and Gail feels her eyes flutter closed at the sweet sensation of Holly's soft, warm breath ghosting against the nape of her neck as she cuddles even closer.
"I know. I'm sorry," Gail repeats, sliding her fingers between Holly's and drawing their entwined hands to rest against her chest. "I can take him back tomorrow if you wa-"
"No," Holly cuts her off in a rushed whisper, pausing for a second as another of Snoopy's sporadic snores fills the room. "You said it yourself earlier, we're Snoopy Stewart's new wolf-pack. We're not going to abandon him." Gail smiles into the darkness and lifts Holly's hand up to her mouth to dust a loving kiss against her knuckles. "There's only one problem," Holly continues, nuzzling her nose against Gail's shoulder. "You keep calling us a wolf-pack, and I'm a Stewart, and Snoopy's a Stewart, but you're not."
Gail feels her brow furrow in confusion as Holly loosen her grip on her, and she immediately turns in Holly's arms to seek out her eyes in the darkness. She watches in confusion as Holly reaches into the pocket of her pyjama bottom pants and pulls something out, and then she feels her eyes widening in understanding as Holly takes her left hand and slips a ring onto her finger.
"If we're going to be a proper family, I think it's only right that you're a Stewart too, don't you?" Holly asks with a beautiful smile that steals Gail's breath away, her eyes suddenly prickling with overwhelmingly happy tears. "So, Gail Peck, will you marry me and officially join my wolf-pack?"
Gail laughs in response and presses forward to kiss Holly desperately. "You're such a nerd, Lunchbox."
"Is that a yes?" Holly prompts, smiling knowingly.
"Yes, of course it's a yes," Gail hums against Holly's lips as she kisses her deeply again.
It feels kind of fitting then as Snoopy hops up onto the couch with them, curling up over their feet and nuzzling his head affectionately against their legs until they both reach down to scratch at his ears.
(Gail tries not to smirk smugly the next night when Holly leads Snoopy into their bedroom and encourages him to jump up on the end of their bed, and as they all snuggle down together and begin to drift off peacefully, Gail knows that Holly loves being part of the Stewart wolf-pack just as much as she does).