Part 4
Gail blinked and inhaled deeply as her fuzzy mind informed her that there was laughter coming from somewhere nearby.
Groaning she turned over onto her back and looked around for Holly as she rubbed the morning sleep from her eyes. It disappointed her to find herself alone in bed when she clearly remembered being wrapped up tight in Holly's arms as she fell asleep last night.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at the door as she heard a distinctive male laugh, but why Chris would be at Holly's she had no idea.
Grumbling to herself and in desperate need to find her girlfriend, if only to drag her back to bed, Gail shoved on the nearest clothes she could find and slipped into a robe before going in search of Holly.
She stopped in shock as she saw a mass of faces in the living room all spread out as Chloe and Dov battled away at Street Fighter II on Holly's old PlayStation 2.
"Hey Gail!" Chris called at her as he walked into the room from the kitchen area. "You almost missed out." He said gesturing to the plate of food he was carrying. "I got seconds." He grinned at her before trying to squeeze onto the couch beside Dov. "Winner stays on right?"
Gail shook her head in annoyance that her last day of freedom before another week of chasing down bad guys was being ruined by her idiot friends.
xxxxxx
Traci was sat with Andy and Leo at the breakfast bar finishing up their own food as Gail walked in with a look that meant certain pain to all that got in her way.
It was entertaining, and Traci had to hide her smile by turning away and looking at Andy who was clearly still intimidated by Gail if the frozen look on her face was anything to go by.
"Where the hell is my gun?" Gail asked as she ignored Holly at the stove and opened up drawer after drawer before starting on the cupboards.
Huffing and not finding the chuckles from at least two of the other women in the room with her funny, Gail slammed another door closed before turning to rest her back against the worktop and fold her arms across her chest.
"You, kid," Gail said to Leo who was looking at her with undisguised glee at the prospect that she was going to tell someone else in the house off. He'd seen her shout louder than his mom and gran and he always thought she enjoyed it. "You get a pass 'cause I doubt you drove yourself here, so eat up before it gets cold." She continued, "But the rest of you…"
Holly shook her head at Gail then came over and ushered her over to one of the free stools and sat her down even as she continued to groan. "Sit, I'll get you some breakfast."
"There are people in your house Holly, you should call it in, we can claim self-defence I swear." She informed Holly who just went back to the stove unconcerned at her distress.
Gail sighed then studied the pair in front of her, Andy looked at least a little bashful, unlike Traci who wasn't even trying to hide her amusement now.
"What did you do Trace, sell tickets?!"
Traci laughed. "I should have right?" She replied as she helped Leo cut up another pancake. "And I'll have you know we were all invited this morning."
"No way!" Gail flashed an accusing look at Holly but the older woman just placed a plate of food down in front of her before patting her on the head in a very condescending manner before moving away again.
"Eat, before it gets cold." Holly said with a smile to herself as she repeated what Gail had said to Traci's son. She was kinda acting like a child right now so it fit.
"Hardy, har." Gail muttered as Andy finally joined in with Traci's laughing.
But Gail did as she was told and smiled her thanks to Holly as a glass of juice was placed down in front of her.
"So, seriously, what are you all doing here, other than scrounging for food?" Gail asked as she accepted that she didn't have much chance of kicking anyone out of Holly's and taking her girlfriend back to bed.
"Your hair's funny." Leo spoke up causing Andy to quickly cover her mouth so as not to make her laughing obvious to the temperamental blonde.
Gail narrowed her eyes at the boy who grinned up at her, kicking his feet against the footrest of his stool, then she took a sip of her juice. "Wait until your mom isn't around and I dip your face in that syrup, then we'll see who looks funny."
"Hey, play nice you two before I have to separate you." Holly said as she sat down beside Gail with her own plate.
"Hey." Gail smiled at her and leaned over stealing her first kiss of the morning.
Holly just smiled although her eyes went to Traci not sure how she and Gail should act around the other woman's son, but she wasn't going to reject a kiss from Gail.
Traci just smiled at the pair.
"You kissed!" Leo called out wide eyed.
"Uh huh," Gail replied still eating. "Girls are much nicer than boys, boys are yucky!"
Leo shook his head rapidly in disagreement. "Girls are yucky!"
Gail stuck her tongue out at him. "Whatever kid." He laughed and went back to his pancakes.
Holly stroked her thumb across the material of the shorts Gail had on as she was surprised by how well the blonde had handled that situation. Holly had seen Traci struggle to think of something to say but she just smiled when Gail spoke and her son seemed fine to agree to disagree on which gender was 'yucky'.
A throat clearing caused them all to look up to see Nick stood awkwardly in the doorway carrying a few dirty plates.
"I was just bringing these back." Nick said although he was frowning and seemed to have his eyes fixed in Gail's direction.
"What?" Gail asked impatiently as he just stood there.
Shaking himself Nick walked over to the sink where a basin of soapy water was waiting and slid the dishes in. "Nothing," He said turning to walk back out of the room but stopped just as he came even with Gail. "I just…didn't think you liked eggs."
Gail narrowed her eyes at him. "Really?" She asked, her voice lifting higher as she couldn't believe he was bring that up when he was in her girlfriend's house and after eating breakfast that Holly had made. "Maybe I just prefer Holly's idea of breakfast for two than yours."
"Whatever." Nick muttered as he left the room.
"What is his problem?" Holly asked not sure what to make of that, but she hadn't liked his tone with Gail.
Andy winced, looking at Holly and Gail sheepishly. "Sorry, that's probably my fault." She explained.
Gail shook her head. "Don't do that." She told Andy, not wanting her to blame herself for anything Nick did or said. "How is Sam anyway?"
Andy shrugged and fiddled with her empty plate.
"McNally?" Traci said figuring out something must be wrong and wanting her friend to share so they could try and help.
Sighing, Andy kept her eyes down as she explained, "Marlo turned up last night."
"Oh." Traci said knowing how hard that must have been for Andy, especially as she and Sam couldn't actually start dating because he was still officially with Cruz.
"Yeah, so…" Andy shrugged again not sure what else to say.
"Good." Gail said causing her to get more than one look of censure. "What?" She asked, "If they never break up how are Andy and Sam ever going to get their acts together?"
A moment of silence followed and Gail took advantage of it to finish her food and take her plate over to join the other dirty dishes steeping.
"She kinda has a point." Traci informed Andy.
"I guess." Andy conceded.
"So, is someone going to finally tell me why you all are here?" Gail asked plopping herself back down and eyeing everyone within view as a cheer sounded from the other room.
Andy stood quickly and scurried from the room muttering something about it being her turn.
Traci just smiled at Gail and helped her son down off the stool before depositing his plate and her own into the sink.
Gail watched her friends leave with a grin and a shake of her head. She was quite happy to be left alone in a room with her girlfriend. "What are you up to?"
Holly gave Gail her best smile and they both leaned in for a kiss. "I just thought a bit of fun with your friends was in order," Holly ignored Gail's snort at calling the people in her home 'friends'. "But don't worry, we'll get rid of them soon enough."
Gail grinned at that.
"I already told you I have plans for us later. Just the two of us." Holly continued before ducking forward to capture Gail's lips again. "So you can't be too mad at me, right?"
Gail got up chuckling. "Oh Holly, you have no idea." She said before wandering off to go fix her hair and dress, and maybe shower.
xxxxxxx
"No way!" Gail said, her eyes lighting up as Holly pulled in behind Chris and Nick's jeeps.
Holly watched the blonde practically bounce in her seat before scrambling out the second she pulled on the breaks. She was glad the blonde's mood had lifted so much from the depression that had settled in when they returned to her house last night.
She'd helped Gail to wash and then tucked her into bed, watching over her and cuddling with her until the blonde eventually fell asleep. Holly had stayed with her for a while before retreating out of the room to call Traci and talk over the events of the evening.
This morning's activity was partially Traci's suggestion and Holly had left it to the other woman to invite whoever else along with the three of them and her son. But she had asked Traci specifically not to ask Steve along because she didn't want Gail to have to focus on her family issues instead of just cutting loose for a few hours and having some fun.
"I take it back Stewart, maybe you do know how to have fun after all." Gail said as she waited for Holly to catch up with her to join the others milling around outside the large warehouse.
"Have you been before?" Holly asked catching Gail's hand in her own as they walked to the entrance.
Gail shook her head. "Nope, some of us went paintballing before though." The paintballing site was actually only about a mile from where they were. "That was fun."
"Maybe we can do that next time." Holly offered, eager for Gail to spend time outside of work with people she knew accepted her for who she was.
"Sure." Gail replied offhandedly as they met the others and stood around in a circle.
"So, how do we do this?" Chris asked wanting to set some ground rules in quickly if they were to be any.
Gail shrugged. "Depends how busy it is." She said not wanting to agree to anything that wouldn't be possible.
Holly cleared her throat drawing the attention of the others. "It's actually, booked out just for us for the next few hours." She added quietly.
"Sweet!" Chris said impressed.
"Then I say we do a proper race at some point." Dov put forward, aware that Leo wouldn't be able to go full out but how could you pass up not racing at one of the biggest indoor go karting tracks in Canada.
"I'm in." Nick said quickly followed by the others.
"Hey, how about we make this a little bit more interesting and put into a pot?" Dov asked looking around at his friends.
"This is supposed to just be a bit of fun guys." Holly said trying to be the voice of reason but was met with eye rolls and scoffs as everyone except Leo reached for their wallets.
Traci came up on Holly's other side. "Leo may look the youngest but he's far from the biggest kid with this bunch."
"So I'm learning."
Gail looked up from handing her twenty over to see Holly stood with Traci and Leo.
"Hey Nerd, you too." She called over and bit her bottom lip as the older woman started approaching her.
"I suppose it's only fair." Holly said reaching for her purse and adding her share to the pot.
Gail grinned at her girlfriend and kissed her when she turned back around to face her. "So much better than your last idea." She informed her before kissing her one last time and heading over to Traci and Andy.
Proud of herself for having a small part in cheering her girlfriend up Holly started after the other girls as the guys started arguing over who to trust with the money. Chloe eventually claimed the duty and pocketed the cash.
That batting cages hadn't been the disaster Gail continues to make them sound, but as good as that night had gone Holly had high hopes of today exceeding it.
"Seriously, best girlfriend or what?" Gail asked as she slung her arm around Andy's shoulder to knock the other woman sideways. Andy pushed her back with a laugh.
"She's a keeper." Traci replied in a more serious tone than Gail's question had been asked in.
Gail looked over her shoulder at her oncoming girlfriend and couldn't help but silently agree, she may not be ready to declare it to the world but Holly was definitely becoming a bigger part of Gail's life.
Maybe the biggest.
And the surprising thing about that to Gail was that it didn't frighten her even a little anymore.
"You ready for this?" Gail asked as Holly caught up to her.
Holly smiled as Gail laced their fingers together and they entered the building, walking into a closed off visitors section where two members of staff were ready and waiting to go over safety and equipment with the group.
She stood with Gail as they listened to all the instructions about helmet wearing and how to strap themselves into the karts, which peddle did what and where the safety, no racing lane was.
They were then given overalls to wear and shown to the change rooms.
"You know, I'll split the money with you guys if we manage to just stop one of the guys from winning, we'll never hear the end of that." Andy said as they changed.
Gail grinned. "I'm in, though I'm kinda planning on crashing into each and every one of them out there."
"It's karting not dodgems, Gail." Traci said, a touch concerned over her son getting caught up in the cross fire if they all started doing the same thing.
Rolling her eyes Gail sighed. "Fine, but you'll regret saying that on the ride back." She warned.
"Isn't this supposed to just be a game?" Holly asked cautiously as Andy and Gail started talking strategy.
Gail snorted and stood to zip up her overall then walked over to her still seated girlfriend.
Leaning over Gail whispered, "I thought you'd know by now that I always play to win." Then she winked at Holly and sauntered out of the room.
Traci eyed Holly as she thought she saw the hint of a blush work itself up the other woman's cheeks.
Andy had also watched the interaction with interest. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen Gail this happy." She said softly. When Holly looked at her Andy smiled and stood. "I'm glad she has you." She added before leaving.
Chloe just smiled without comment then hurried to catch up with Dov before they started.
"I'll second and third that." Traci said quickly as she joined Holly who'd laughed at her comment. "I'm serious, you should have seen her before. The mood swings alone!" She shook her head in remembrance.
"Oh, come on, was she ever that bad?" Holly didn't understand why no one else saw just how much Gail protected herself from being hurt.
Traci shrugged, looping her arm through Holly's as they headed out to join the rest of the pack.
"She's been through a lot." She said quietly to the other woman. "It's just nice to see her find someone she can be herself around. She was never like this, not even with Chris."
Holly nodded along finding it interesting that Traci mentioned Chris but not Nick, whom she knew from Gail that she'd almost married.
"Of course, if you hurt her, we'll kill you." Traci added as sternly as she could causing them both to pause before a smile broke over Traci's face and they both chuckled.
"Duly noted."
"Good, now let's go before my son loses his mother." Traci said as Gail glared at them from afar, clearly wondering what the holdup was and blaming Traci.
Holly saw the same thing but it only made her smile. "You don't think that's cute?"
Traci snorted a laugh.
"No?"
"My god, you two are just…" Traci shook her head and walked away from Holly, partly to get out of Gail's firing line but also so she could join her son who was stood with the guys.
"What was that all about?" Gail asked as Holly finally joined her with the group as they waited to pick out karts.
Holly shook her head and shrugged, but couldn't keep the delighted grin off her face. "I think your friends just gave me their approval on dating you."
Gail frowned eyeing Andy who was nearest to them but McNally just smiled back at her and gave her a quick thumbs up. Gail shook her head wondering what was suddenly different now. They had all met Holly several times before, whether at 15, the Penny or at the apartment.
"Did we need their approval?" She speculated still puzzled by the idea.
Holly shrugged then focused on what the others were doing. If she couldn't get the approval of Gail's parents then to Holly it was all the more important that Gail's friends, her colleagues, the people she trusted with her life at work, accepted their relationship.
Traci and Andy's words made Holly feel like she'd passed some test she'd never known about.
She bumped shoulders with the blonde as they got closer to front. "So who do we take out first?"
Gail squealed and pulled Holly into a hug and kissing her soundly before releasing her and eyeing those around them looking for her first target. She was tempted to pick Chloe just for the hell of it but decided to play nice, the younger woman was just out of the hospital.
Her eyes narrowed on Dov. She wiggled her eyebrows at Holly then eyed Dov again hoping her girlfriend got the idea.
Holly nodded in agreement.
Gail bounced on her toes eager to get the racing underway. "You are so getting lucky tonight Nerd."