Holly held her hair up and turned her head from side to side. With a frustrated sigh she let it fall. She couldn't make a decision, hair up or down, glasses or contacts, casual or dressy. It was different, this dinner with Gail, she couldn't quite put her finger on it but it was there.

"I like it down." Came an all too familiar voice. Holly jumped at the sudden intrusion.

"What?" She asked when she calmed.

"Down, I think you should wear it down." Julia gestured to her mothers hair.

"Yeah?" She ran her hand through her hair again and looked at her reflection. Julie nodded, watching them in the mirror.

"Can I stay up until you get home from your date?" The girl hopefully stood on her tiptoes, popping her head over Holly's shoulder. Holly stopped playing with her hair and stared at her daughter stunned.

She shook her head. "It's not-I'm not going on a date."

Julia laughed. "I've seen you get ready for a date before, mom, and this is definitely that." She playfully poked the woman's side. Holly squirmed away, suppressing a squeal she knew would only spur the girl on.

She fixed Julia with her best warning-mother-glare and a pointed finger, "you know I hate that."

"And you know I love it." The blonde smile sweetly. They shared a few more seconds of challenging glares/smiles, and then turned back to the mirror to further examine Holly. "You didn't answer my question."

"You can stay up until I get back from dinner as long as you finish your homework, and are already in bed reading or something else quiet by the time I walk through the door."

"Deal." Julie beamed and shot the brunette with a pretend hand gun. She stopped just outside the bathroom door, popping her head around the corner, "you look great by the way. Gail's not going to know what hit her." She winked and disappeared before any protests.

Gail was anxious. Very, very anxious. She had a date, a date that she wasn't sure was really a date but didn't have any other name to call it, a non-date date with the love of her life.

Since the day Holly walked into her classroom they'd talked, a lot. In the beginning it was hard, they walked on eggshells around any subject deeper than their days, afraid of stepping on a nerve or losing the other again. But after hanging out a few times, casual lunches, coffee breaks, they agreed that if they were going to continue to see each other in any capacity that they needed to clear the air and finally get some heavy things off of their chests -the things that had been plaguing them for a decade. There were tears, lots and lots of tears, choked words, and barely audible confessions. And with some building, pushing boundaries and a movie night, they found themselves again, they found how they clicked.

So there she was, knee bouncing under the table, worrying her bottom lip, and checking her phone every thirty seconds waiting anxiously for Holly. Gail watched the door, the windows around for the doctor. Just as she was about to check her phone for the inevitable text telling her that Holly couldn't anymore, that it was all too much, she saw her. Her hair was down and a little messy from the wind, her glasses were missing and replaced with contacts, and she was dressed casually with dark slacks and a button up. The familiar flood of warmth washed over her chest, just as it did every time she saw the brunette, same as when they first met.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. Nate and Julia were giving me a hard time." Holly apologized as she approached the table. She was a little frizzled, scatter brained as Holly referred it as.

Gail released her lip, suddenly realizing how hard she had been bitting it. "Aren't they always?"

Holly cracked a smile. "True." She pulled out her chair and sat down when Gail gestured her to.

"Were they troubling you with how great you look?" Gail asked, not sounding at all as cool and collected as she'd aimed for, but brushed it off by busying herself with the menu.

"You can say that, yes." Holly followed the blondes example and pursued the menu. "You look good too." She added shyly. Gail willed herself not to blush at such a small comment.

"How'd Nate's game go?" She changed the subject, it was safer.

"It was a really good game. They lost 5 to 4, but we're about to tie it when time was called."

"Did he get any jail time?" Gail questioned very seriously, peaking over her menu to watch the brunette across from her. Holly grinned adoringly, unknowing about the blue eyed stare.

"No penalty-box, but he did almost start a fight at halftime."

As Gail went to reply with some snarky comment the waiter arrived to take their orders.

"Speaking of games, Julia wanted me to ask if you could pick her up after practice on Monday. I have to work late, Nate has a study date after school, and normally I'd then ask my sister but Julie's requested you." Holly met her gaze, a little nervous, and almost going into babbling territory. Gail was all too amused by the display.

"It's the same rink as Nate's right?" Holly nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" She echoed unbelievably.

Gail shrugged. "Yeah."

"You can say no if you want. I can tell her you're busy too or something, it's totally fine."

"I want to." Gail placed her hand over Holly's in reassurance. A tingle ran up her arm, creating that suspense just before a shiver all the way her spine.

"Okay." Holly whispered.

"I hope you know that we're not eating our vegetables." She lightened the mood, taking her hand back reluctantly.

Holly chuckled. "I'm willing to make that sacrifice."

She knew from the moment she set foot in the classroom that she hadn't gotten over Gail. That even after ten years the blonde still made her palms sweaty, still made her pulse race, still gave her butterflies, she still took her breath away with the simplest of acts. For years after Gail left she'd fought with herself, made herself believe she could stop the dreams, that they weren't even that good for each other and it was better that they ended things before it blew up. She tricked herself into believing she was better off, and denied that there was an ache in her gut.

Until she walked into that classroom.

Until she laid her eyes upon the teacher.

Because when she did, when she had to put her hands in her pockets to subtly wipe away the nerves, there was no denying the hold Gail had on her. She had been, and always will be Gail's.