I gave you a cliffhanger! And still no Golly Reunion. I should fix that.

Her head hurt worse than it looked. At least she hoped so, since other than the bruise on her forehead and the stitches, she didn't have much of any visible damage according to the nurse. The gunstock had nailed her right above the eye, on the same spot as her scar from Perik. Touching her forehead, Gail felt the lump and the string, or whatever the hell they used to stitch her up. Cat gut?

The curtain opened as she mused over how to escape and get some sleep at home. "Jules, I'm fine-"

It wasn't Juliet. It was Holly. A frantic Holly. "Gail, there's ... Oh my god. Juliet said you were in the hospital." Her eyes circled around Gail's head. "You're all bloody."

"Oh. Head wounds bleed a lot, you know that." Gail winced as she sat up on the hospital gurney for inspection by her best friend. Her shirt was covered in blood, which was probably scary to look at. "I'm okay."

Holly frowned. "What happened?"

"Guy with rifle. Ran out of bullets. Used my head as a backstop or whatever..."

"Did you just try to make a sports joke?"

"Not working, huh?" Gail smiled tiredly.

"I think you have a head injury," said Holly, gnawing her lower lip.

Watching Holly worry about her made Gail feel warm. That may have been the pain medication, "I'm fine. See? Five stitches on my head." Gail pushed her bangs up to show off the work.

Holly reached over and ran her fingers over the bump. "It looks horrible, honey," she whispered. "You're going to have an X on your forehead."

Gail sighed. "Is that ... Great." The stitches were going across the scar from Perik and the door. She hadn't yet looked at them and now decided she didn't want to. In a weird way, she was happy to be so pale. No one would notice the scar.

The warm hand on her forehead paused. "Does it hurt?" Holly's voice was tight and soft. Scared.

"Yeah," she admitted. "I have a raging headache. But I'm okay. Nothing sleeping twelve hours won't fix."

The doctor frowned. "Are you sure you're okay?" Holly eyed Gail up and down. It was making her a little dizzy.

Gail nodded and winced. "I've had worse, Holly."

But Holly was discombobulated. Flustered. It was really cute to watch, if exhausting. "Good. Okay. Because I worried. I mean, I worry but I really worried. When they called, they just said you were hurt and needed a ride home. And ... And I kept thinking about that guy, back in Toronto, who shot at you, and-"

"Holly," winced Gail, the headache starting to break through the non-opiate painkillers.

It was hard to stop Holly when she was in babble mode. "Sorry, I know. This isn't that, and it's not like you were running away from me when, whatever, and that's fine. It's me. God, I'm being a total spaz."

The fears Gail had been having, the worries about repeating the past started to fade. Juliet and Nick were right. Not that she'd tell them. "Holly," she tried to cut in again. Why had Gail been so scared before? She knew exactly where this level of anxiety came from. She'd feel the same way if it was Holly sitting there and while she doubted she'd run at the mouth, Gail understood the feeling.

But the doctor in full on spaz mode was not to be stopped. "It's just when I heard all I could think was its really not fair of life to lose you again. Not that I lost you lost you, I just really missed us when we weren't us. And us was pretty good, wasn't it? Aren't we? I thought, I don't know, you're one of the most important people in my life —"

Gail cut her off the only way she knew how. She reached over and cupped Holly's face, pulling it towards her and kissing her. "You really babble," she muttered into the stunned silence before kissing her again.

And Holly melted into the kiss like it was secretly what she'd wanted all this time. It was not, perhaps, the most polite way to calm her down, but it was effective. The point, and there was one, was that she couldn't figure out how to tell Holly that she was still the most important person to her, and all that stupid worrying about ruining a friendship and losing Holly was, well, stupid. They were always headed to this. They were endgame.

"Gail," Holly sighed when they finally stopped, reaching up to touch the bruise again. "Why do you have to do that?" Her voice was tender, though.

"Well. You were saying all those words, and I remembered what they meant." Another soft touch of her lips to Holly's started to warm her in ways that had been lonely for a long time.

"Oh, good," whispered Holly, her fingers touching the edges of the stitches on Gail's forehead.

The words, what they were, didn't matter. Their meaning, though. That was the moment Gail had realized she wasn't the only one making something out of nothing, back in Toronto, back in that interrogation room. That there was a thing between them and it was stupid to deny it. And here they were again, still caring, still having a thing, and it was just stupid. "I'm sorry I scared you," Gail said quietly

Holly sighed and wrapped her arms around Gail's waist. "You're so much trouble," she told Gail, holding her close. "You take so much looking after."

"You knew that a long time ago." Gail rested her head, the not bruised side, against Holly's. "I missed this," she whispered.

"Me too," replied Holly, just as softly.

The curtain moved and Juliet looked at Gail, a bit surprised. "Oh. Hi, Doc."

With her back to Juliet, Holly replied wetly, "Hi, Juliet."

"You … don't need a ride home, huh?" Juliet gestured at Holly and mouthed 'nice work,' complete with thumbs up.

Gail flipped her partner off. "I think we're okay, yeah."

"Well. Okay. Hayes said to take the rest of the week off. And good work. But, ah, next time don't stop a rifle with your head, okay?"

"Better the gun stock than the payload," mused Gail.

Holly's hold tightened for a moment. "That's not funny yet, Gail," she cautioned, and then let go to wipe her eyes. "I'll get her home," Holly said to Juliet.

"Remember to take away her keys," Juliet teased. Reaching around, she squeezed Gail's shoulder and mouthed 'Call me' before heading out.

Rolling her eyes, Gail winced. "Okay, why does that hurt?"

"You got hit in the head," sighed Holly, taking a hold of Gail's face to give her a better look. "Did they clear you for a concussion?"

"Yeah."

Holly nodded. "Okay. Let's get a bandage on that and get you signed out, honey." When Gail smiled, Holly eyed her. "What?"

Picking up her jacket and purse, Gail walked out of the curtain room. "You called me honey," she grinned. "Come on, Lunchbox. Take me home."

Back at her house, a simple two bedroom with yard, Gail found herself being cosseted and pampered by a fussing Holly. She had tea and cookies, but was listening to Holly complain about Gail's austere style and lack of adult food. The style had been a thing for the last year. Gail hadn't really decorated since moving in, though in her defense, she'd left everything but her video games, books, movies, and clothes in Toronto. The less the better. She'd even sold off most of her gun collection.

"I know you can cook, Gail. How is your fridge empty?"

"I go shopping every day," she yawned. "Can you please order a pizza or something and come sit with me?"

Holly put her hands on her hips and stared. "You? Shop every day? How did I not know this?"

Gail smiled. "Small markets. How do you think I made that awesome pasta for you?"

"You made the pasta... Gail, how long have you been wooing me?"

"Don't call it wooing, Holl, that's horrible," she groaned. But Holly just stood there, tapping her foot. "A while. Okay? Happy?"

The pathologist leaned down and kissed Gail softly. "Happier. Chinese food?"

Smiling, Gail nodded and tried not to wince. "Beef something, please."

"Take another pain killer, honey." Holly gently brushed her thumb over the lump on Gail's forehead. "Please."

The please did it. Gail watched Holly as she walked to the kitchen for the take-out menus and sighed. She picked up the bottle of painkillers off the end table and popped one. "They're going to make me goofy, Holly."

"Tell me something new. Hi, yes, I'd like to make a delivery order? Thank you." Gail closed her eyes and leaned back on the couch. She must have dozed off because she came aware of the smell of beef and vegetables with noodles and the feeling of someone playing with her hair. "Hey, wake up," said Holly softly. "You need to eat."

"Yeah," yawned Gail. She sat up. "I'm hungry." Looking at Holly and her quiet smile, Gail redirected her reach for the food to kiss the woman again. "And there needs to be a lot more of that," she added.

Holly made a face. "Your breath is terrible, Gail. And how high are you?"

"Not very. It's non narcotic." She smiled. "Do we have to have a talk now? Like how I'm still in love with you? And you're into me, so we should try this whole dating thing again, only with less stupidity, and maybe we can do things like kissing?"

Rolling her eyes, Holly made Gail a plate. "I'd like that," she said, the half smile on her face.

Gail blinked. "Wait what?"

"What?" Holly looked confused.

"That's it? That's all we have to talk about?"

Smiling, Holly kissed Gail's cheek. "Yes. Because I have been wooing you for a while too, Gail."

"Mmmmm no, no, don't call it wooing. That's not something a grown-ass adult should say."

"Shush," smiled Holly. "Look. Are you going to run if we have a fight?"

"No. Are you?"

"No. So. We don't do what we did last time." Holly looked very pleased with herself. "Except the part where friends become girlfriends. I was a fan of that last time."

Gail smiled. "No drunken hair chopping either."

"I did like that haircut," sighed Holly, reaching over to run a hand through Gail's bangs fondly. She leaned in and very softly kissed the bandage. "Eat." And she sat just far enough away to prevent Gail from easily making a move. The brat.

That night, though, Holly spent the night. Unlike all the other times in the last year, it wasn't in the guest room. This time, Holly went in there to find the clothes she'd left and came back to slide into bed with Gail. It was comfortable and familiar, having Holly's arm wrap around her waist.

"If I hit my head again, will you sleep with me?"

Holly laughed quietly. "I won't have sex with you if you hit your head again."

"Noted," yawned Gail, snuggling back into the little spoon spot. Finally she felt like sleep would be easy.

The sunrise always hit her face in the morning at Gail's, even in November. The woman didn't have good blinds, that's all there was to it. "God, Gail, don't you own this place?"

Behind her, a sleepy voice replied. "I do." Lips touched Holly's bare shoulder and she shuddered.

"Please invest in some blinds," Holly sighed.

Gail made a noise. "I have to get up early." Gail moulded herself against Holly's back, bare skin pressing against bare skin.

"On Saturday?"

"When it's worth it," whispered Gail, the air from her words curling around the shell of Holly's ear. Holly sucked in her breath as Gail's hand ran down her side and across her stomach.

Their date Friday had ended exactly how Holly had hoped it would. They'd gone out to a nice dinner by the water, romantic as hell, and then a little walk before Gail suggested they go back to her place. The taxi ride back had been quiet. Gail held her hand, smiling. Holy had run her thumb over the back of Gail's hand, feeling as nervous as she had been the first time she'd brought Gail to her bedroom with this intent.

That first first time had been so unexpected. They'd been at Holly's townhouse binge watching Eureka, which Gail had not seen but quickly decided she liked. And at a pause between episodes, Gail had turned off the TV and taken Holly's face between her hands, kissing her. Holly hadn't even babbled. It had just been a moment of undisguised want in Gail, a demand to have Holly now.

It had been the build up of a week of frustration. A week of kissing and first base finally inching it's way into second. Hands under shirts, touching the soft skin at the small of Gail's back, gently setting Holly on fire. It had been eight days where, every free chance Gail had, she was at Holly's townhouse.

And then Gail, finally, finally, was in her bed. Holly was in Gail's arms, and all of the fears about being a straight girl's experiment had fallen away. Sure, Gail had been a little tentative and nervous the first few times they'd had sex. Most of the time you were a least on edge when you were with someone new, and that was totally understandable. Holly had been worried about being someone's first, which was a first for her. All of Lisa's jokes about her being into straight girls aside, Holly had always balked at that. Kissing was one thing. Sex was much bigger.

Sex with Gail though... It was like how they started dating. Slowly, carefully, accidentally, and then suddenly all at once. First they were just being friends. Then Holly felt an undeniable ache, an actual pain when she saw Gail. She had a need crawl from under her skin, a demand to find out what that pale skin felt like, tasted like. Having the need reciprocated just made her burn more.

Since moving to Vancouver, the need had built up again. It had never really gone away. Holly doubted it ever would. Gail had left an indelible mark on her heart, carving a space for herself and leaving a vacuous hole when she'd gone. Nothing had filled it since, not even having Gail now.

That had been the problem. Gail wasn't the same person who'd broken her heart, which was good. She was better in a lot of ways, more reliable and more mature. But it meant she didn't fit into Holly's life and soul quite the same way. And all the unplanned moments that had led to them being a them again shored up the shattered pieces but it didn't fill her the same way.

Holly decided that was okay. They weren't the same and that was okay. They could be better. And better was working. Better talked about their feelings. Better confessed to fears. Better planned dates.

Well, they planned to as much of a degree as a fairly new detective in Homicide and the newly appointed head of field forensics could plan anything. There had been two murders and one accidental drowning in a hockey rink that ended in canceled dates before they'd finally managed this one.

And that night had brought them to this wonderful, very naked, morning. A bit bright for Holly's taste, especially after how long that night had been, but Gail was definitely proving that early mornings with her were worthwhile. The pale fingers traced circles on Holly's thigh and then up. Oh god.

"Gail," she sighed, torn between arching her back into Gail, to feel more skin, or her hips into the hand that was really doing a good job at drawing her attention. The hand was winning right now.

"I really, really, missed this." Gail's voice was low and sultry. Her fingers were teasing Holly, barely touching her and still lighting her on fire.

Hand. Had to be the hand. "Don't stop," pleaded Holly, and she reached back to pull Gail closer. Gail didn't stop. Thank god she didn't stop. Holly squeezed her eyes closed and groaned. She had missed that too. There had been other women since the last time she'd been with Gail. Some women were more experienced certainly. But there was a chemical reaction with Gail that was different.

Gail quickly, confidently, brought Holly over the edge with that hand. God that hand. She fell apart under the hand and it felt so good and so right. "Morning," said Gail, and Holly could hear the smirk.

"That's not becoming," Holly replied, shuddering. "The smugness."

A soft kiss to her shoulder prefaced Gail's reply. "Go back to sleep." Gail snuggled up, bringing the blanket to their shoulders.

Sleep was the furthest thing from Holly's mind, though. She shifted in Gail's arm, facing her. Smiling at her. "In a minute," she replied, running her hands up Gail's arms and nudging her onto her back. "Was that an apology for your lack of proper blinds?"

Gail smiled and lay back. "I like the sun. Sets my body clock."

"Circadian rhythm," corrected Holly, running a finger down the valley between Gail's breasts. "You sleep better here," she realized.

In Toronto, Gail had slept irregularly at best. She often woke up in the night. She'd had nightmares. And she'd never wanted to talk about them, which made it a terrible idea to bring up right now during sexy times. Well done.

With a loud exhale, Gail tucked her hands under her head. "I left my heart in San Francisco," she sang softly. Avoiding the topic.

"Sorry," whispered Holly, kissing Gail's shoulder and then collar. "I missed this too." Gail smiled and started to pull her hands out to touch Holly's back. "No. Keep 'em there," murmured Holly against Gail's skin.

Gail did. Mostly. At one point, she did reach down and tangle her hand in Holly's hair. Considering what Holly was doing at that moment, she could forgive that. Considering Holly was taking her sweet, sweet time, it was understandable that Gail was impatient and vocal. It was lovely to hear her vocal. God, she'd missed that too.

Maybe they finally were getting it right. She hoped so.

When Holly suggested they keep their relationship quiet, Gail was surprised.

"You get how Nick and Juliet have been conspiring to get us back together, right?" And in fact Juliet had seen them hugging in the hospital in a more than just-friends way.

"I do." Holly fixed her hair in the mirror, tying it back into a bun. "Does this look okay?"

Gail's eyes roamed Holly up and down. She was wearing a dark grey pantsuit with a purple shirt. "Buttons," sighed Gail. "I mean, I appreciate the cleavage, but lawyers like us ladies to look a little dowdy."

Holly sighed and looked down, buttoning up all but the topmost button. "Better?" When Gail nodded, Holly exhaled nervously.

She was always a little skittish before court, which Gail found endearing. She found almost everything about Holly endearing. "Put on a lab coat and you're about five seconds from one of my fantasies."

Her girlfriend rolled her eyes. "You're not helping."

"Sorry." Gail pushed off the doorframe where she'd been watching Holly transform into the judicially scrumptious Dr. Stewart. This was an aspect of the woman she'd not known she'd liked. Quirky field Dr. Stewart and sassy lab Dr. Stewart were wonderful. The Dr. Stewart headed to court was like the sexy librarian times a hundred.

Yeah, totally gay.

"Stop looking at me like that," muttered Holly.

"Stop looking like that. Seriously, not telling other people ... I get it, Holl. I do. The only person who needs to know how serious I am about you, is you." Gail crossed the room and took Holly's hands.

The warm brown eyes smiled at her. "You're serious about me?" Holly looked shyly delighted.

"I've always been serious about you," Gail said quietly. "Stupid sometimes, but always serious." She leaned in and kissed Holly long and slowly.

Holly melted into her for a moment. "How is this helping me with my court case?"

"Relaxes you." She grinned. "Running around your car a few times also helps. But it might get you a little sweaty."

"Hmm." Holly rested her hands on Gail's shoulders. "Okay, that helps." She closed her eyes and leaned into Gail.

Holding Holly close certainly made Gail feel less stressed. "If it makes you feel better, we can keep it quiet." Whispering a thank you, Holly kissed her cheek and let go.

Of course, they'd been so much in each other's pockets for so long as friends, it changed very little to keep their relationship change quiet. They had been flirting with each other and giving each other meaningful looks for months. So really all that changed was what they did after the dinners and the jobs and the sports games.

They didn't even change how they set up their dates. One or the other would swing by after their shift, hang out, and they'd figure out what they wanted to do. Gail was pretty sure that Juliet was on to them, though, given the looks she kept shooting on her way out at the end of the day. Still, all she'd seen in the hospital that day was hugging.

More often they ended up at Gail's little house. Her family had money, but with all the various corruption suits, Gail doubted she'd ever see a dime. Of course, having lived cheap with Dov and Chris, and then at her parents for most of her life, she'd socked away the first three years of her salary and spent next to nothing. When she moved out to Vancouver, it had all been on a whim. Including buying the house.

At the time, it had been a fixer upper. The half year undercover had given her a weird skill set of construction, which wasn't a lot but it was enough to Home Depot her way through making the place livable. The floors were a mess with nasty shag carpet, so Gail ripped that out and found decent hardwood that just needed a weekend of sanding and then another of staining. The walls needed paint, and the appliances, well... By the time she'd made detective she had all of those. Police auctions were wonderful things for tools, appliances, and everything in between.

The first time Holly had seen it, she'd been astounded. The doctor had moved into a small condo apartment and joked it felt palatial after San Francisco. But Gail's house was an actual house, with bedrooms and a back yard and greenery. So they spent their time at the nicer house, and Holly started to help with the odds and ends of home repair Gail had never gotten around to.

It already felt like 'their' place before they were dating, so it was logical that it stayed their place after. Before they'd starting dating, Holly had a key. After, that key meant some nights when Gail got in late, there was a beautiful woman waiting in her bed.

Like tonight.

Gail had gotten a call about a suspect in their horse trampling case near the end of the day, which led to her to four different stable before the one in North Vancouver came up gold. Of course, lockup and paperwork had her home at a little after three. She was surprised to see Holly's car there. She was more surprised to see a dinner left out for her and the house was clean. Dishes were done, laundry was folded and in the basket on the dryer, the trash was out and ready for pickup.

When she got upstairs though, Gail was convinced the universe had finally decided to pay her back for everything. Holly was asleep, dark hair swept back into a braid, the thick winter quilt Holly had bought for her tucked up to her chin, leaving her shoulder visible. And bare.

God. If this was an apology from the universe for Perik, the shooting, her brother, and everything else, Gail would take it. She took a quick shower before fixing the blankets over Holly's shoulder, sliding in the empty space and watching Holly's sleeping face.

This moment, this little bit of quiet in the gloaming hours was worth it. This was the answer to all the questions before. Why had things gone wrong with Chris and Nick? They'd both wanted her to change and be someone else. There were never allowances made, there were never moments where they just did what she needed, or chose her.

And Holly. Holly chose her. Holly took care of her quietly and dependably. Back when they hadn't dated, Holly listened and did what Gail needed even if she couldn't find the words to ask for it.

"I am in love with you," Gail whispered into the night. Her girlfriend didn't twitch, sleeping deeply. "I need to tell you that when you're awake."

For the first month, Holly was on cloud nine. She and Gail were comfortable in that part of their relationship. The sex was good. The dates were good. They were great. They so easily fell from 'just friends' into lovers again, Holly worried about making the same mistakes.

Was she making a mistake by wanting to keep things quiet? Was it inviting other Penny type incident? They'd told Lisa, who said it was about time. Gail didn't really have anyone to tell but Nick and Juliet. And maybe her brother. Holly had her siblings, her parents, and a bevy of friends across two countries now.

Gail had been bad at making friends before and she was worse now. Trusting people didn't come easy to the blonde. After all the betrayals in her life, Holly couldn't blame her. And yet it was Gail who pushed, lightly, for them to tell people. The safe people first, ones who wouldn't judge them. Though that did put Lisa into question, the woman was a friend to both of them.

After Lisa, Gail told her brother. Holly sat on the couch, nestled under Gail's arm, and listened to Gail explain things to her brother. Apparently she'd not mentioned Holly moved out there, which made it a little more awkward. "Well, Steve, she did... Look, hang on."

The phone was pressed to Holly's ears. "Hello?" The word came out reflexively.

"Hello?" It was a male voice. Steve. "Hi, Holly?"

"Yes," sighed Holly. "Gail is being... Gail." Behind her, Gail muttered that it was faster this way. Holly pinched Gail's thigh. "Hush. What do you want me to tell him?"

Gail leaned in and tilted the phone so they could both talk into it. "Tell my brother you didn't move here because of me."

"Oh, no, nothing to do with Gail. The money and the promotion. I didn't know for sure she was here until after I accepted."

That surprised Gail. "What, Boobs didn't tell you?"

"Who's boobs?" Steve was confused.

"Lisa, friend of mine from med school," explained Holly.

"Oh," muttered Steve. "I'm ... Okay, I'm just... Gail, get off the phone and let me talk to Holly privately."

When Holly hesitated, Gail replied, "No. Steven, you don't get to be worried about my wellbeing right now."

There was a grumble. "Gail. I do."

"I know you do, Steve, but ... This isn't something stupid like Holly moving back to Canada for me. This is ... This is God apologizing for everything and giving me a chance with the most wonderful person I've ever met. So you get to say okay, and you're happy for me, and tell Holly something useful."

The man on the phone laughed. "Useful. Okay. Holly, she actually is allergic to tomatoes. She snores when she's drunk. And she is the most loyal woman you will ever meet in your life."

Holly tilted her head and looked at Gail. "I know all that. But it is useful. Thank you, Steve."

"Okay, happy Garbage Pail?"

"Yep," smiled Gail. "I'm hanging up now. I'll call you later." Without waiting for a reply, Gail hung up and tossed the phone onto the coffee table. "There. Now we've told people." She slid her arms around Holly and settled into the couch.

Holly laughed and tilted her head, kissing Gail's jawbone. "Do you feel better?"

"I do. I do," she said happily. "If Nick or Jules asks, can we tell them?"

"It's not a secret," agreed Holly. "I just don't want to parade everything. I want to ... I like being us. That's all."

Gail nodded. "I know. I just... Last time I didn't tell anyone and then I didn't know what to do when I was an idiot."

It suddenly made sense. For Gail, being public was a safety net. It was her gut check. "I'm sorry," she said and turned around to face Gail. Of course Gail needed to be open about it. She'd lived in nothing but secrets and lies for so long, she needed a bit of honesty in more things. "I'm not trying to hide anything."

"I know," nodded Gail. She grew silent, though. A sure sign she was at a loss for how to explain herself.

Holly cupped her face with her hands. "I understand, Gail. I do." She leaned in and kissed Gail slowly. "No secrets."

They kissed again, Holly inching her way until she trapped Gail against the couch. As she started to push Gail's shirt up, the blonde gently pushed her back. "Holl. If we're doing no secrets, I have to tell you something."

Blinking, Holly shifted her weight to sit back. "Okay." That was nervous making.

Gail wriggled into sitting up and took Holly's hands. "I'm ... I'm in love with you."

Holly stared for a moment. Of all the ways she'd wished for that to be said, making out on the couch after telling some friends they were dating was not on the list. She'd had the fantasy of Gail showing up at her place in San Francisco, announcing she couldn't live without her. She'd had the dream of being in Toronto for a case and Gail stopping her from leaving at the airport. Or Gail showing up with a boombox here in Vancouver.

This felt better though. This felt like them.

Smiling, she squeezed the hands. "You love me."

"I do," nodded Gail. "I love you." She lifted Holly's hands and kissed the knuckles. "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. You make me better. And I want to be better. I want to be worth having you here-"

"No," Holly cut her off.

Gail faltered. "N- no?" She looked terrified, like the world had come apart.

Taking a deep breath, Holly nodded. "No. You don't have to be- become worthy of me or anything , Gail. You never have."

The blonde blinked and hesitantly said, "But I'm a brat-"

"Oh, honey, yes, you are incredibly bratty, and childish. But you are so damn brave. You- God, you know when I knew I was in love? That moment you said you had to go back out there even though some psycho was shooting at you." Holly shook her head. "God, be worthy of me? Gail. I don't know if I'm good enough for you."

Gail's expression wavered between terror, relief, and confusion. "You? Holly, you're the best person I know!"

"And you, Gail, you are the strongest, bravest person I've ever met. You gave up everything to do what was right." Holly let go of Gail's hands to take a firm hold of her face. "You are incredible. And if I have to tell you that every day for the rest of our lives for you to believe it, then I'm going to be very happy."

Frowning, Gail gave up. "You've completely lost me."

Holly smiled and leaned in, resting her forehead to Gail's. "Because it means I'll spend the rest of our lives with you, honey."

"Oh," exhaled Gail.

They stayed like that for a moment. Then Holly asked, "Can I punch Nick?"

"Sure." Gail readily agreed to that. "Why?"

"For ... For whatever he did to make you doubt yourself."

Gail laughed. "Oh. Holl, that was way before Nick. I was raised to be self-destructive." Though she grew thoughtful. "It makes sense. If I have no one else to rely on, I'd have to lean on the Pecks, right?"

Cringing, Holly let her hands fall to Gail's shoulders. "I hate your parents."

"Get in line." Gail kissed her lips softly. "Come back here?" She started to lean back and Holly quickly followed, settling against her chest. Listening to Gail's steady heartbeat. "Thank you," Gail said slowly, carefully, as if the two words might bite.

"I love you, you know," replied Holly.

"I do. I know. It's why you babbled."

Holly laughed into Gail's shoulder. "That is sadly very true."

"I love that about you, though. The babbling." Gail squeezed her close.

Smiling, Holly closed her eyes. "I know."

"They're doing it," Nick said, looking out the window.

Juliet looked up from her crossword puzzle. "What?" She followed his gaze, spotting Gail and Holly in the parking lot. They were holding hands, hunched against the December wind. "Doing it? Are you twelve?"

Hiding behind his coffee, Nick muttered, "Its weird to say that my ex is having sex."

"Gail doesn't share that prudish streak," mused Juliet and she went back to her puzzle. Late one night, when they were undercover, they'd talked about sex. It was after more drinks than Juliet felt were sane or safe, after Gail had won the trust of the gang boss, and the criminals they'd integrated with asked Gail when she was going to bang Juliet.

Quiet clearly, and more soberly than Juliet felt, Gail had leaned in and told the men that you didn't go into those things drunk with the idea of banging. You had to really know a woman, to feel her skin on yours, her scent and her flavor, and you had to make love to a woman properly. Banging, a quick fuck, was transient. But sex... Sex could be transformative.

Of course Juliet had found herself blushing, and the men teased Gail, telling her to kiss. Gail had shaken her head and told them she might, but not in front of them. Because the best thing about being a lesbian was not having men involved in things.

That was what won them over, the gang. They loved Gail for her saucy romantic nature, her ability to drink with them, and her bitchy humor. And on their walk back to the seedy apartment, being trailed by someone, Juliet had pulled Gail in for a kiss. They had to make it look real.

Gail was a good kisser, she had to admit. That was not something she was about to tell Nick or Holly, though.

"Did you order yet?" Gail slid in to the other side of the booth.

Without looking up, Juliet rattled off the order. "Vegetarian omelet for the good doctor, french toast and bacon for the monster. Orange juice and coffee. Gail, seven letter word for precarious place, metaphorically."

"Thin ice. That upon which Nicholas stands." Gail picked up a water and sipped it.

The diner was a place Gail and Juliet had started to go to on the weekend, after Gail moved out. Juliet didn't see much of Gail in the beginning and realized she'd not come to hang out with the gang much. Sunday morning, Juliet showed up at Gail's and took her out for breakfast.

Over time, that became a thing. Sundays they did a breakfast and caught up on the week. When they became partners, Juliet thought about asking if they should stop, but then Sunday rolled around and they met at the diner as usual and chatted as usual. It was just a thing that friends did.

When Nick moved out, he hadn't come at first until Gail said he should. It confused him, watching Juliet do her crosswords and Gail just thinking. They picked up random threads of conversations, said a few words, maybe a sentence, and went back to their own world. Even now, nearly a year later, Nick was still confused about the general silence.

Holly fit in better faster. She came with a notebook and busied herself with whatever she was writing, covertly sneaking glances at Gail. That was last month. This month there had been hand holding and more overt, open looks. Gail was still often lost in thought but, when Holly looked at her, she would turn and smile back.

They didn't come every week, the plus ones, but they came often enough that it was comfortable to have them both there.

"Holly, what are you writing?" Nick had been guessing for months and now, finally, seemed to have the courage to ask.

"Sketching." Holly flushed and slid the notebook over.

It was more interesting than the crossword, which Juliet handed over to Gail to finish. The page had a rough sketch of a pensive Nick, looking off to the side. "Hey, this is good," Juliet marveled. "May I..." She hesitated at turning a page.

"Yeah, go ahead." Abashed, Holly sipped her coffee and leaned into Gail's shoulder.

There were pictures of coffee mugs and pens and pencils, things that Holly must have been looking at when she took the time to sketch. Some pages were ideas for articles. Doodle notes, where the ideas were represented in picture form. But then there were people. The form of the back of a waitress, in shadows, which Juliet recognized as the woman who served them grits at the southern restaurant they went to in winter. There was Nick, from Sunday breakfasts. Juliet and her crosswords. And Gail.

Sketch after sketch of Gail. Sometimes she was smiling, sometimes she was lost in thought. The sketches had dates in the corners and Juliet realized how long Holly had been drawing the detective. There was one from softball, where Juliet was sure she'd not seen the notebook around. Glancing up at Holly, Juliet raised an eyebrow and got a flushed nod in return. Holly had drawn Gail from memory.

"Wow," exhaled Nick. "Gail, did you know she could do that?"

Gail glanced over. "Oh, yeah. She has water colors too." Giving Holly a smile, Gail went back to the crossword. "Juliet, you spell worse than a child."

Even though Gail hadn't made a fuss, Holly looked flattered and shy. Juliet handed the book back. "I didn't know you were artistic," she told Holly, impressed.

It was Gail who answered. "Her father's the artist. He does landscapes in pointillism, like Seurat. I liked the impressionist stuff better, though. Feels like the paint flowed onto the canvas." She didn't look up as she spoke, reaching over for her coffee. "That's the sea in a storm painting you liked, Jules. The one in my dining room."

Juliet had been impressed by it, but all Gail had said at the time was it was a present. "It matches your eyes, which is weird."

Nodding, Holly held her notebook close. "It's why I gave it to her. I was surprised she kept it."

That made Gail stop. She pushed the crossword back over. "Of course I kept it." Gail looked a little confused.

"I'm with Holly," mused Nick. "You threw my things out."

"You left me at the alter, you dick," smiled Gail. "And fell in love with someone else. And ditched me without saying goodbye. Twice. I think it was justified."

Holly took Gail's hand with a soft smile. "It worked better than the pasta," she said quietly, and Gail grinned.

"See?" Nick gestured.

Narrowing her eyes dangerously, Gail asked, "What?" But she asked Juliet, not Nick.

"He thinks you guys hooked up." Juliet shrugged and raised a hand to the waitress. "S'cuse me, can I have more coffee, please?" Her boyfriend looked mildly appalled, but he was always on eggshells around his ex.

Gail called it a rational fear. "Yes, Nicholas, we're having sex. That's what people who date do, or have you forgotten." She turned to Juliet, "Are the crosswords because he's not satisfying you?"

Smiling, Juliet shook her head and made room for their plates and more coffee. "No, we're just fine."

"Oh, hey, I've been dying to know who's the better kisser," Gail said abruptly. "I mean, you're the only person who's kissed both of us."

Holly's voice sounded a little like a warning. "Gail."

"What? You're not about to kiss him to find out! That'd be like me kissing McNally. Bleck." Gail made a face. "I have to wash that thought out of my mouth." And she downed some coffee.

Juliet pointed at Gail with her fork. "You two've known her longer. Is she always like this?"

As one, Nick and Holly sighed. "Yes." Gail looked a little offended.

"I like Nick's kisses better, but that's a really subjective question, Gail. I mean, we were making out because of a case."

Gail looked thoughtful. "Okay, that's fair."

The conversation stopped at that point, on some mutual understanding that (based on his face) Nick still didn't quite understand. But Gail did, and so did Holly, and that was enough for Juliet. She liked how things had worked out.

Glancing over at Gail, Juliet smiled and lifted her cup. Gail returned the motion and leaned back in the booth.

This was a good life.

When Holly came over for their pre-planned date night in, Gail was making dinner. "Hey, no take out? I thought the cooking was just to impress me."

Gail smiled. "Take out and sex? I could stop, but the pasta's nearly done." There was something behind the smile. It was a look Holly had seen before. Tension. Gail had a bad day it seemed.

"No no, please woo me." She put her boots and jacket by the door and walked into the kitchen.

"I thought we agreed not to use that word?"

Holly wrapped her arms around Gail's waist and rested her chin on her shoulder. "How was work?"

"Bad," sighed Gail, rolling out the dough with a rolling pin that had no handles.

That was sudden. "I'm sorry." Holly frowned and asked, "Can I do anything?"

Gail paused in her rolling. "Um. Listen?"

That was a new request. "Of course." Holly let go and sat down at the breakfast bar.

Her girlfriend kept rolling out the dough. Then she cut it into sections and finally started to tell Holly about a case. A year and some before they'd met, Gail had gone undercover as a high priced call girl. Someone had been killing blondes and Gail went to smoke him out. She went on a date with the suspect.

Holly knew the story. She'd autopsied the girl that Dov and Chris had found in the woods. It had been her first solo autopsy. She'd still been at the lab, having worked through the night, when the building had been thrown into an uproar. A police officer had been kidnapped by a serial rapist and murderer.

And that officer was the woman standing in front of her. The woman Holly was in love with.

When Holly had told Gail she was brave, she'd had no idea. Gail had gone back to work after being kidnapped by a serial killer. She hadn't died, or been raped, but she'd probably had little or no hope. And then, after, she went back. And when the crimes started again, she went back and did what had to be done again to save them.

It cost her Nick.

"Today," said Gail slowly. "Today we had a call girl murdered."

Which meant today had been a hard day. An impossible day. "Gail," she said softly. Holly couldn't begin to fathom how that must have felt. "Does... Does Juliet know?"

Gail shook her head. "Nick does, obviously. But I don't... I never really talked to him about it. I didn't talk to anyone about it. Except my therapist."

That was good. Well. Better. "Do you want to talk to me about it?"

"Honestly? No. Not at all," sighed Gail.

"You don't have to," Holly said as gently as she could.

"Except I do. The ... The time I freaked out, in your bathroom, I had a, um, a flashback." Gail waved a hand. "See. Oliver was kidnapped and put in the trunk of a car. And so was I. So ... It really screws with your head." She exhaled slowly, as if breathing would help calm her down. It probably would. "And I'm probably not going to sleep much tonight. So if you just want to have dinner and hang out a while, I get it. I just... I don't want you to think I'm running away, or up a tree or anything."

The entire time, Gail hadn't looked up from her cooking. Instead, she'd made and hung the pasta. "Okay," said Holly softly. "Can... May I ask something?" When Gail nodded, she asked, "Where did you learn to make pasta?"

Gail blinked and looked up. "I... Okay, this is embarrassing." She blushed and looked down. "You really love pasta."

"I know," sighed Holly. "It's soooo good when it's fresh."

"Right. So .. We went to that restaurant where they made the ravioli by hand and you lost your mind over the egg inside." She sighed. "I wanted to impress you, so I taught myself."

"It's working," smiled Holly. She caught Gail sneaking a look back and they shared a smile. "Can you make ravioli yet?"

"No! It comes out too thick." Gail shook her head, disappointed.

But Holly was impressed. "Do you know how to make home made pasta sauce?"

Shaking her head, Gail toyed with the pasta. "No. That's why I just do butter and lemons."

Holly walked around to the fridge and opened it up. "How about I do that. I mean, pasta this good should have sauce worthy of it. Besides, it's the one thing my mom can really cook."

Smiling almost shyly, Gail watched as Holly made the sauce and told her about her mother's lack of cooking ability.

In the end, Holly stayed the night. She sat up on the couch until she dozed off in Gail's arms. Then they went to bed and Holly held Gail, caressing her hair. And when Gail woke up with a nightmare, a memory, she sat up with her, talking about things. They talked a little about the dream, but then about the things they liked about Vancouver. They talked about things they'd like to do together. Things to do in summer or winter.

And as the sun came up, Holly watched Gail slowly drift into sleep. And she thought that she could do this. She could be here for this woman forever.

One day Gail would figure out why the universe liked to crap all over her. Maybe she'd been a murderer in a past life. That was the only explanation for why her mother was calling her.

"Hello, Mom," she said carefully, wondering if the woman was about to round the corner. Juliet's head snapped up from her lunch to stare at Gail. When Gail nodded, once, her partner winced.

"Gail." There was a pause of uncomfortable tension. "How are you?"

"Fine," Gail replied. "You?"

"I've been better," admitted her mother, which was weird.

"Oh." Gail looked at Juliet and mouthed 'help.' Her partner shook her head. Bitch. "How... How's Dad?"

"He's ..." Elaine stopped. "He's alright."

Gail drew up her face into a sneer. "Doesn't want to say hi, though."

"No, no he does not," admitted Elaine. "He does not know... "

"I just a pale fail, Mom. I get it." And she really did. She got why her parents were angry and hurt. They deserved it, but she understood their feelings.

Her mother didn't counter the statement. "Your brother... Steven said you were seeing someone."

Gail blinked. That's what she was calling about? "Why am I not surprised this is why you're calling?" She shook her head.

"I don't have much else to talk with you about."

"You mean to me. You're just gearing up for a lecture about ... What? Embarrassing the Peck name?"

Her mother sounded exasperated. "Gail."

"No, no, wait I know this one. See, I'm the only one who's still a cop, and I made detective, which hey, thanks for calling about that, Mom. You can't be ... You won't call for that, or anything. But the fact that I'm dating a woman? Hey, that gets a call. Awesome. Do I get to add homophobe to the reasons we don't talk?"

"I could care less that Holly's a woman," sighed Elaine. She sounded honest enough that it tripped Gail up. "I didn't think it was appropriate to talk about work, all things considered."

Gail blinked. "Oh."

"Must you always make the worst assumptions of me, Gail?"

"Apparently," she muttered. "Are you really calling to ask me about my love life?"

"No, I was calling to try and strike up a conversation and this is the excuse."

"Oh. Well... I have work, Mom."

"Ah. Of course... You ... You can call me. Gail. I would like to talk to you."

"I'll ... Keep that in mind."

"Alright. Have a good day, Gail."

"You too." She hung up and dropped the phone. "God. Talking to her makes me feel dirty."

Juliet refilled Gail's water. "I thought you weren't taking."

Gail tapped her phone. "That's the first time she's called me in two years, Jules."

"Except the time she yelled at me about you moving out here."

Smiling, Gail swept her phone into her pocket. "That was an interesting moment." Elaine had screamed at Juliet, accusing her of sleeping with Gail, which was nowhere near the truth.

"You never told me how she got my number."

"If I knew…" Gail paused and winced. "Shit. She said Holly's name." Gail hadn't. She'd made sure not to. Pulling her phone back out, she quickly texted her girlfriend to warn her.

"I used to think people were joking when they said Elaine was psychic."

"She has a lot of spies." Rubbing her face, Gail sighed. "She wants something. There's no other reason to call me."

Juliet swirled her iced tea. "She could just be being a mom."

"That doesn't exist in the Peck Dictionary," countered Gail.

"Neither do you." Juliet arched her eyebrows and sipped the tea.

Given how well the last time Gail had met any of Holly's close friends went, it was understandable that she was nervous when Holly dropped the bomb that her brother and parents were coming to town.

But all Gail asked was, "Exactly how much younger is your brother?"

"Drew's 13 years younger," she smiled.

"Man, and I thought the years between me and Steve were a lot." Gail shook her head. "When are they getting here?"

"Next weekend. Drew's looking at maybe teaching out here."

Gail made a face. "Are you both super smart intellectuals?"

"Our parents are so disappointed." Holly's parents were artists and hippies and frou-frou nuts.

Hesitating a moment, Gail asked, "Is there a reason you don't talk about them much?"

Holly pursed her lips. "We didn't do a lot of talking the first time we went out," she temporized.

"True," grinned Gail. "But I ... I want to know more." She hopped off the counter and took hold of Holly's waist, pulling her close. "I don't want to run up a tree."

Closing her eyes, Holly leaned into Gail, sucking up her warmth. "I'm adopted," she started, covering the pale hands with her own. We were fostered first, me and Drew and Alicia. She, Alicia didn't get adopted. She didn't want to be. She had blood siblings, and me and Drew didn't."

That part, in broad terms, Gail had known. The adopting at least. "How old were you?"

"Ten. I lived with them since I was seven, though." She squeezed Gail's hand. "Not my first foster family." It wasn't something she'd hidden from Gail or even tried to. It just didn't come up as much as people thought it did.

Gail gave Holly another squeeze and let go. "How did two died in the wool hippies end up with scientists for kids?"

They walked over to Holly's couch and looked out over the city. "Its their own fault," smiled Holly. "Every summer we got into this ratty old van and went driving around the U.S. and Canada, meeting people and just ... Just seeing stuff." Holly settled into the safety of Gail's arm, easily cradled against her. "The second year I lived with then, we were over in the Maritimes, Acadia, and we went to see the old Leper Colony."

"Okay, that's officially ew."

Holly laughed. "They wanted me to not be afraid of different people. Except..."

And Gail laughed. "Except you got totally interested in dead people?"

"One of the exhibits showed the difference between an infected skeleton and a normal one," sighed Holly. "Dad was teaching me to sketch, so I drew them in my notebook. And ..." She shrugged.

"And you kept drawing dead things, you nerd," chuckled Gail. "That's kind of cool, though. What did your parents think?"

"Dad thought it was cool. Mom still thinks it's creepy and wanted me to go to more therapy in case I'd been locked in a closet or something with a dead body."

"Yeah, I can see that..." Gail started to play with Holly's hair. "And Drew?"

Closing her eyes again, Holly relaxed as the fingers in her hair managed to sooth and ease out tension. "He was a baby when he was adopted, so he just wanted to do whatever I did." Unlike Holly, Drew was a teacher. He taught Forensic Anthropology at McGill and was looking for a permanent position. Holly thought his papers were really good, but she knew she was biased.

"They sound way more interesting than my family," mused Gail. "Cooler." But then she quieted.

Holly didn't have to ask why Gail got worried. She knew her girlfriend didn't want to talk about her family with Holly's family. "You don't have to tell my parents anything," Holly cautioned.

Of course, even after Holly told her parents please not to ask Gail about her family, and really shouldn't adoptive parents be more sensitive about that, her father did at dinner. The first dinner was just Holly and family. They were all staying at a hotel and Holly met them there to drive them to dinner. It was a really nice, relaxing, catch up. Of course they asked about Holly's move and her job and the girlfriend. Her parents knew it was Gail and, while they'd been skeptical about it, trusted Holly to know herself. Drew had not known it was Gail and was surprised but, as always, supportive.

The next night, Drew had a meeting with the school and Holly's parents went to a dinner on their own. Night three was with Gail. Holly primed her parents multiple times, making them promise not to poke about why Gail had left Toronto. Her mother seemed to get it. It was hard to say how her father would react.

Gail met them a little late at the restaurant, mostly dressed for the day. Her hair was slicked back as if she'd washed her face but not showered. "Hi, sorry I'm late. We caught a counterfeiter." She leaned in to kiss Holly's cheek.

"Aren't you in homicide?" Drew frowned.

"He killed his partner," grinned Gail. "You must be Drew."

Her little brother grinned back and held out a hand. "I can't believe Holls only has my baby pictures up."

"I liked you better when you were cute and small," sighed Holly, wistfully. "Gail, my annoying brother Drew. My parents Maya and Dieter."

Shaking each hand in turn, Gail sat down. "It's nice to meet you. Holly's told me a lot about you."

"You have us at a disadvantage," drawled Dieter.

"Not much to tell," shrugged Gail. "I'm a cop, I do cop things. Holly showed me your art, sir. I really liked the impressionist stuff better than the pointillism."

Maya laughed loudly. "He doesn't do art because people like it, he does it because it calls to him."

"Well that explains Sunday on the Hudson River," muttered Drew. "Have you seen it Gail? It's hideous."

The blonde grinned. "No. Is it as bad as the clowns? Seriously, I have no idea how you didn't get nightmares from that."

Drew groaned, pulling up a photo on his phone. "The clowns were terrifying. Here, he has a picture of it on his website." Taking the phone, Gail made a disgusted face.

"Dad, when did you get a website?" Holly had her own phone out. "What's the URL?"

"DieterStewart-dot-art," grinned her brother. "He made it on his own. It's terrible."

"No one asked any of you," growled Dieter, but he was laughing.

Teasing Dieter about his art was a family hobby, though, and Holly was happy to see Gail fit right in. She knew enough about art, having seen Monet and many other famous paintings in person when she'd been in Europe.

She started to think they were in the clear when a Dieter asked, "So Gail. What do your parents do?"

While Holly froze, wondering which way her girlfriend would jump, Gail just looked surprised. "Oh. Nothing right now."

"Are they retired?" Her father's tone was innocent.

"In a manner of speaking." Gail looked at Holly who shook her head. She had not told her parents anything. "They're under house arrest."

That was not where anyone, not even Holly, had expected Gail to go. Maya cleared her throat. "Arrest? And you're a police officer?"

"So were they. I'm eighth generation Peck in policing," she mused. "But. They were arrested for conspiracy charges, cover ups, the sort of stuff they make TV shows about." Gail reached over for more bread. "Holly told you not to ask about Toronto, huh?"

Only Drew had the tenacity to answer. "She said it was touchy. She didn't mention the, er ... "

"The part where I turned my family in, yeah, generally it's a conversation stopper." Gail shrugged.

Maya sighed. "I'm sorry. That was ... inconsiderate."

But Dieter shook his head. "I wish you'd warned us, Holly."

"It's not my story to tell, Dad," sighed Holly, giving Gail an apologetic look.

"It's fine," insisted Gail, actually smiling. A little sadly, but she was indeed smiling. "It's been a couple years."

"Years." Maya looked surprised. "Holly, I'd adopt her as one of our strays if you weren't dating her."

Holly smiled and looked at Gail fondly. "That would be awkward."

But maybe the rest of her parents' visit wouldn't be.

Yawning, Gail woke up in the middle of the afternoon, feeling thick headed and heavy limbed. Napping was so tricky. You had to sleep just enough to get to where you could stay up until your normal sleep time and then sleep through the night. She was bad at sleeping. Or she had been bad at sleeping. Now, once she'd moved to Vancouver, she'd gotten better.

There was a noise downstairs and Gail sat up, suddenly clear minded and wide awake. Easing out of bed, she crept over to her closet and pushed the door open. Her gun safe was tucked in by her shoe collection, and she opened it as quietly as possible.

"Damn it," said the voice downstairs and Gail relaxed. Holly. Who was supposed to be out with her parents. Gail closed the gun safe and went downstairs.

In her kitchen, doing her dishes, was her girlfriend. "Hey," she greeted from the stairs.

Holly jumped out of her skin. Gail had actually never seen that happen before and smothered a laugh. "Jesus! Shit!"

Shaking her head, Gail padded barefoot over to her kitchen and got a glass of water. "Not that I'm unhappy, but ... Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be shopping with your mom?"

"Yes," breathed Holly, pressing a hand to her heart. "Why are you home?"

Gail blinked. "Uh. This is my house, you nerd." Her eyes drifted to her kitchen table where a bag was seated. "Oh, you snuck in to give me presents!"

Getting in between Gail and the table, Holly wrapped her arms around Gail's waist. "No peeking!"

"Is this because you missed my birthday?" Gail craned her neck to read the bag. It was a plain one, no labels.

"Yes, and stop peeking. It's wrapped anyway."

Pouting, Gail stopped and studied her girlfriend's face. "You know I hate surprises."

"It's a present," sighed Holly and she kissed Gail. "Why are you home?"

"Because I was out all night for work?" Gail tilted her head. At the end of the dinner with Holly's parents, she'd gotten called about the counterfeiter case.

"Oh," frowned Holly. "Is that what that was?"

"Yes, that thing I do for work." Gail wormed her way free. "Let me deduce." Holly rolled her eyes but said nothing. "You and your mom got me a present. And she wanted to rest after a hard day shopping before your dinner, which I'm now invited to I see. She feels guilty about the whole parent thing last night?" At Holly's nod, she went on. "And you, who do not need a nap, came here to leave my present for me, thinking I'd be at work all day and... Oooooh is it a dildo?"

Blinking a few times, Holly burst out laughing. "What?"

"Dildo? Something for just us to play with when we get back from dinner?"

Her girlfriend kept laughing. "It's a dress, you goof," she wheezed. "Really? You think I bought a dildo with my mother?"

Gail huffed. "I don't know. Your parents are all free love hippies!"

Cupping Gail's face, Holly kissed her in that toe curling way that stopped Gail from thinking about anything at all. Soft, tender, gentle, and inspiring. It was a moment that made Gail understand why Paris kidnapped Helen and why Menelaus launched a thousand ships to being her back. She knew why Odysseus would do anything to get back to Penelope. It was something beyond simple beauty.

Her eyes closed without Gail even noticing. She didn't realize her hands were gripping Holly's waist until her girlfriend drew a sharp breath. Gail's fingers had found the small of Holly's back, under her shirt.

"Hey," sighed Holly, her voice light and high. "We don't have to be at dinner until seven."

Opening her eyes, Gail smiled. "I'm done with my case," she replied, running her thumb along the top of Holly's pants.

Warm brown hands moved into her hair, pushing it back and out of the way to kiss again. "Good." She started to nudge Gail backwards towards the stairs.

They did make it to the dinner with time to spare, Gail wearing her new dress and her hair swept back. She'd made Holly go home and change and then come back and pick her up, which Holly said was ridiculous. There was no way Holly was going to drive an extra thirty minutes just to pick Gail up. Then she'd texted Holly a photo of herself in the dress, and Holly promised she was on her way.

The real point was, with Holly as her ride, they'd have to come back to Gail's. And that meant Holly would probably stay the night. Those were Gail's favorite nights, the ones where Holly stayed over. She loved waking up with her in the house, with her in the bed, with her in Gail's arms.

Gail wanted that every day, every morning, every evening.

At work the next day, she filed her last report and then turned to Juliet. "Hey, coffee?"

Juliet didn't look up but replied, "Muffin?"

"We haven't fake kissed for over a year, Jules. Give up." But Gail grinned and got up. "I'm buying."

"Oooooh, something's on your mind." Juliet grabbed her purse and followed Gail out and down to the tiny coffee shop they frequented.

In so far as partners went, Gail was actually fond of Juliet. The undercover spy knew who she was and didn't shy from hard choices. She was like a non-annoying version of Chloe. "Okay, so Nick moved in with you right when he moved out here, right?"

Juliet blinked. "Geeze, you never beat around the bush, do you?"

"Waste of time."

Her partner smiled. "That's why I like you so much," Juliet laughed. "You're thinking of asking Holly to move in before you finish the downstairs bathroom?"

Gail's downstairs bathroom currently had no sink. "She can help. She's a hands on lesbian."

"Romantic. Move in with me and help me finish my home repair." Juliet rolled her eyes. "What's holding you back? Need to rip out a toilet to be sure you appeal to her home repair skills?"

She punched Juliet's shoulder and picked up their coffee. "Bran muffins? Bran? You're disgusting."

Juliet stuck out her tongue. "We can't all eat sugar 24/7 and stay fit."

Smiling, Gail sat at a table. "How'd you know Nick would say yes?"

"Uh, well he's a dude. They're stupid and simple and uncomplicated." So true, realized Gail with a sigh. Then Juliet cleared her throat. "You're afraid Holly won't say yes."

Gail nodded. "Terrified. We've only been going out a few months."

Juliet frowned. "You messed up already, Peck. Second date is the U-Haul rental."

Groaning, Gail shook her head. "Why am I talking to you about this?"

"I'm your only girl friend," smiled Juliet. Then she faltered. "I mean friend that's a girl... I mean..."

Deadpan. Gail kept her face perfectly still as Juliet turned pink. "You are," she sighed. "I mean, Holly doesn't count since I'm sleeping with her."

"You suck," laughed Juliet. "And you're supposed to marry your best friend, Gail."

Oh. "No wonder it never worked out with Nick."

Smiling, Juliet sipped her coffee. "The penis probably didn't help either."

"Not his," smirked Gail.

Juliet paused for a moment and then laughed. "She's crazy about you, Gail." The woman smiled. "She's the smartest person I know. She's going to say yes."

You really never could tell from the inside. Gail thought it was the case, that Holly was in love with her. But when someone out there saw it too. "Okay," she exhaled. "Do I try to make it romantic?"

"Do you know how to do that?" Juliet sounded sincere, not like she was teasing. "Holly's not the flowers and Barry White kind of girl."

"Barry White? Nick used Barry White? See, this is explaining everything wrong with him," snarled Gail. They both laughed though.

She waited until Holly's parents and brother had gone home. It seemed like the kind of thing you didn't spring on a girl with her parents around. Not that Gail could claim a whole lot of familiarity with the idea of what one's family might or might not worry about.

The thing was, Juliet was right. Holly was not a flowers and romantic music kind of girl. She was a scientist who loved art. She thought sports were fun to watch. She liked running and swimming. Dancing. And Gail. She liked Gail.

That was promising, right?

So asking Holly to move in should be easy. You make a nice dinner, you get a nice bottle of wine, you compliment her, and you ask her to move in. Simple, right? "Move in with me," Gail said to herself, and made a face. She sounded 'cool' which really sounded totally dorky and stupid. "Holly, I love you. We should live together." Ugh! No, she wanted Holly to move in with her, she had to say the 'with me' bit.

And none of that sounded romantic. It sounded dorky and awkward. Was it hard for men? They had always done the asking in her life. There had never been asking with Holly. They had known each other, understood each other. They were on the same page and wanted the same thing at the same time. It didn't matter if it was sex or dinner or whatever, they knew. They wanted. They got.

This was the first time Gail felt that maybe, just maybe, they weren't on the same page.

Her front door opened and her girlfriend hooted a greeting. "It's snowing. I thought it never snowed here." Holly stomped and shook herself. "I actually think I missed bodies under snowdrifts," she mused.

Gail looked over and smiled. "Only you," she shook her head.

"Hey," huffed Holly, shaking her coat off. "You look all lost in your cloud. Catch a good case?"

"Nothing entertaining." Gail tossed the dish towel over her shoulder. "I'm not good at romance, Holly."

Holly blinked. "Luckily I think romance is a modern contrivance based on money and media?" Her girlfriend kissed her cheek and opened the fridge for a beer.

Gail smiled, the worried feeling fading. Holly was like her. Holly loved things that were weird, devious, abnormal. Holly hated normal. Holly barely tolerated perpetually happy people like Chloe, and preferred realistic optimism. Holly loved her. "Stay here," she said, leaning on her counter.

The brunette looked surprised. "What?"

"Stay here. With me."

"I was planning to," grinned Holly. "I mean, have you seen the snow? No way would I try driving home in this."

Gail shook her head. "No, I mean always." She was saying it all wrong, but that weirdly felt okay. "Don't go home. Be home."

Brown eyes stared at her, wide and a little confused. "Be home?"

Why was this so hard? "Here. Be home here."

"Gail, honey, I already feel like this is home."

Flinching, Gail looked at her hands. Okay no, this wasn't going well. This wasn't going anywhere near her plans. "I mean this should be your home. Our home."

Holly startled. "Our. Home."

"Yes? I mean, you're pretty much always here. And I like you. I like you here. I want... I want you here. In the morning and the night and ... Okay, I suck at this," whined Gail at length.

Holly put the beer down and picked up her hands. "Start over," she said quietly, rubbing her thumbs over the backs of Gail's hands.

"I ... Where?" Gail stared at the hands on hers.

Looking at their hands, Holly suggested, "Start with the simple part. You say 'Holly, I want you to move in with me.'"

Gail swallowed. "What will you say?"

"Gail. Look at me," said Holly quietly.

It was frightening, this new and unsteady ground. She swallowed and looked up. Holly was smiling at her. "I don't know what I'm doing here," whispered Gail, feeling the terror claw at her.

Holly shook her head. "Yes, Gail."

She blinked. "Yes?"

"I'm going to say yes," smiled Holly, her voice serious. "I'm going to say yes, Gail. I will move in with you and live here with you." She squeezed Gail's hands and leaned in. "I want to live with you."

Sucking her lower lip between her teeth, Gail nodded. "I want you to move in with me," she whispered. "You... You should move in with me." Holly quirked that smile and Gail breathed. "Holly. Will you move in with me?"

Holly tilted her head and kissed Gail softly. "Yes," she replied, as promised. Yes.

Next … let's go back to Toronto.