AN/ Apologies to both littlesolo and annabanana6 for the lateness
Part 7
Gail placed the napkin into her lap and glanced around, suddenly concerned that her parents could be having dinner here after the fiasco of yesterdays at Steve's. But no, the mayor was there with his wife and some guest but it looked like the restaurant was free of white shirt law enforcers.
"Everything okay?" Asks Holly after speaking with their waiter.
"Hm?" Gail replied still looking over the room before turning her attention to her girlfriend. "Yes." She said lifting her glass of water to her mouth. "I didn't know you spoke French."
Holly grinned. "I'm sure we still have a lot to learn about each other."
Gail narrowed her eyes at the older woman. "You don't have a wife and three kids tucked away somewhere do you?"
"No." Holly replied after a moment of deliberation.
"Are you wanted for a crime?"
Chuckling Holly shook her head as she placed her own napkin across her lap and smiled as their starters arrived. "Not that I know of."
Gail sighed. "I'll check for you tomorrow." Then she looked down at the elegant plate in front of her containing a duck terrine with foie gras, celeriac and damson. "This looks really good." She said before starting in with her fork.
Holly had chosen the scallops which were accompanied by truffles, sorrel and celeriac. "It does." She then carefully placed a flake of truffle over a scallop and placed it over onto Gail's plate with a grin.
Not to be outdone Gail reciprocated with a slice of her terrine and foie gras.
"We're so getting thrown out." Gail said with a shake of her head. This was not the type of place diners shared their meals.
"You possibly," Holly commented as she tried Gail's choice of starter. She hummed in approval. "Me, however, they like."
Gail's eyebrow lifted at that. It wasn't the first time Holly had casually made reference to having and catering to expensive tastes. She looked around again wondering if Holly had brought previous dates here, wondered if the other women were impressed by it in a way that Gail didn't seem capable of.
The food so far was some of the nicest she'd eaten in a while, and dressing up was always fun, but to Gail, Holly could have taken her to the local all-night café down from 15 and she would have been just as impressed.
Holly watched the skin pucker at Gail's brows and wondered once more if she shouldn't have just driven them back home. "We can go back to playing twenty questions if you'd like?" She offered as the silence stretched.
Snapping her eyes up to Holly, Gail blinked before registering what she had just been asked. "Sure, um, favourite movie then?"
"The Wizard of Oz is a close second, but it has to be 2001: A Space Odyssey."
"Labyrinth."
Holly grinned at that. "Not get on with Steve when you were younger?"
Gail smiled as she shrugged. "Maybe I just wanted someone to come take me away from my life." Now wasn't that just a little too close to the truth. Gail dropped her eyes and concentrated on finishing the last of the food on her plate.
Holly sat her silverware down onto her empty plate and stared at her friend. This was supposed to be a nice date that she hoped they would both remember fondly, but it hadn't had the best starts and she was beginning to wonder how to turn it around.
"So," Gail began as wait staff appeared from nowhere and quietly removed their used dishes just as she placed her own utensils down. "Let's get the awkwardness out of the way while we're alone… have you booked a suit here for tonight?" Gail asked Holly giving her a knowing look.
Blushing, Holly picked up her wine and swirled it around in the glass before sipping at it.
"That's very presumptuous of you, Holly." Gail continued with a grin, not a bit upset at the prospect, she had assumed it would be something like that when she saw Holly sneak a holdall out to her car when she had told Gail to use the upstairs bedroom to get dressed earlier. "My, my, Holly. Just what kind of girl do you take me for?"
The blush deepened and Holly looked slightly abashed at Gail's gentle teasing. The truth was she was still debating the outcome of this evening.
"I did have a plan for an after dinner walk," Holly explained. "The room is there to give us somewhere comfortable to go and change. It'll be cold outside this close to the water."
Gail smiled. "To change?" She teased again. "Is that really the only reason for booking a room?" Her grin widened as she waited on the answer.
Holly licked her lips and took another sip of her wine. Wine she'd ordered because she hadn't considered the possibility of driving them back to her house once they were seated at the table. "It's one option." She admitted.
"And the others?"
"We can still go home after this, if that's what you'd prefer. But yes there is somewhere else other than the room I thought we might stay."
Gail shook her head. "Please don't let my reaction from earlier ruin tonight."
"It hasn't ruined anything Gail, I just want us to do whatever makes you the most comfortable. If that's going home then I'm more than happy to, it won't ruin tonight."
Gail reached over and laid her hand gently over Holly's, smiling when the hand turned over and they curled their fingers together. "How about we decide this together after our walk?" She offered.
Holly lifted Gail's hand to her lips, kissing the back of it before returning it to the table. "We can do that, sure."
A touch bashful at the display but charmed as well, Gail glanced around quickly knowing she was blushing by the heat of her cheeks. "God, you're so embarrassing." She muttered quietly while trying to supress the need to grin in sheer joy, she shook her head. "I can't go anywhere with you!"
Holly laughed feeling better about her plans and knowing she could elicit such a reaction from Gail so easily. She'd never been one to tease her girlfriends, but she was really enjoying how different Gail was from all her previous relationships.
Gail studied the woman in front of her questioning how it was possible to be as enthralled as she was with Holly and still feel as free in their relationship as she did. She always held back, always. It was the only way to not get hurt again and again.
But with Holly…
Gail squeezed the hand still entwined with hers across the table, then looked up into the dark eyes in front of her. "I really…just, love you." She whispered, and smiled as she felt how wonderful it was to release that emotion for Holly.
She'd never said that before. Not without skirting around it, saying it without actually saying it.
But her declaration was interrupted by the arrival of their main courses. Just before the wait staff disappeared again, one refilled Holly's glass from the bottle resting on the table.
"Merci beaucoup." Holly said, watching on as Gail waved him off in favour of sticking to her water.
Then they were alone again.
Gail could still feel Holly's eyes on her and it made her nervous enough to keep her gaze on her food. "This looks-"
Holly shook her head at the blonde as she got up out of her seat. Gail didn't get to say that to her and then brush it off with talk about food.
Gail's eyes shot up as she heard Holly's chair scrape back. She watched Holly stand and then move around their table to stand in front of her.
Grinning like a fool Holly reached for Gail's chin and gently turned her face up before laying a tender kiss to her lips. "I love you too." She said as she pulled back an inch before kissing Gail again not caring about any onlookers.
"Oh." Was Gail's only response as they were frozen like that for a moment before Holly smirked and returned to her seat again.
"Oh." Holly repeated with a quirk of her eyebrow as she adjusted her napkin and picked up her wine glass, holding it out towards Gail until the blonde lifted her own glass and they clinked them together gently. "To us."
Gail smiled, she liked the sound of that. "To us." She agreed, their glasses touching once more.
xxxxxx
"Gail, can you just…" Holly tried to get out but was cut off by the blonde's lips. Her back hit a wall and Gail pressed her body into her and it was all Holly could do to keep pace with the kiss and try and prevent Gail's wandering hands from straying too far from a safe zone on her body while they were in full view of anyone using the hallway.
Gasping for breath she forced herself to turn away from Gail and shift towards their room and attempt one more time to get them into the room before they put on a show for the rest of the hotel guests.
She heard a moan of disappointment from the blonde as she shifted and turned, but Gail attached herself to her back, her hands taking advantage of their newfound freedom to travel well known paths over Holly's body as Holly jammed the key card into the door and pulled on the handle as quickly as she could.
Gail chuckled as she watched Holly practically fall into the room.
"So eager." She said with a smirk, stepping into the room and closing it behind her as Holly stepped further into the room.
Holly glanced around the room with a touch of regret, it hadn't really been in her plan to spend the night here and so she hadn't been too concerned with the type of room she'd booked.
"That looks familiar." Gail said walking over to the bed and fingering the holdall that had somehow magically appeared in the room. She eyed Holly for an explanation.
Holly shrugged. "We would need a change of clothes for that walk I had planned." She finished, gesturing to the bag.
Gail hummed and lifted the bag up and off of the bed, moving it to a nearby chair. Then she turned and placed her hands on her hips as she took in Holly standing there. There was half a room between them but she liked that, it added to the anticipation.
Who would make a move first, who was going to control their lovemaking, were they even going to make it to the bed?
It was the kind of problems that Gail loved to puzzle out with Holly. Sometimes one of them would lead, sometimes it was give and take, and sometimes it was a frantic coming together that cost favoured items of clothing.
Gail smiled and took a step towards Holly.
Holly stood there letting Gail come to her, ready for her this time. She took a step back to steady herself as she caught Gail in her arms and they kissed, tongues duelling for control as she was turned around and pushed backwards towards the bed.
The back of her knees touched just as she felt her dress hang limply on her arms. She chuckled into the kiss but Gail's lips were insistent.
Gail pushed the dress down and then her hands went to Holly's bra, unclipping it as she forced Holly backwards onto the bed.
Holly took a breath and moved herself further onto the bed as she watched Gail remove her own dress without fanfare and climbed up after her, inching her way up her body on her hands and knees.
It was sexy as hell and Holly welcomed the blonde back into her arms as she dipped her head to capture her lips again. With a groan she reached for Gail's bra as a hand massaged her bare breast.
Gail released Holly's lips and started trailing kisses down the body beneath her, nipping and licking as she went, pausing to suck Holly's nipple into her mouth as she felt hands thread through her hair.
She lapped at the nipple with the flat of her tongue before moving lower, her eyes lifting to meet Holly's dark brown gaze.
"Watch the pulling this time." She said with a wink causing Holly to laugh and tug on a strand of her hair as she continued moving south to where Holly needed her.
xxxxxx
Gail tucked the sheet around her naked body and watched Holly rummage around in the holdall that had somehow made it up to the room from the trunk of Holly's car while they had dinner.
"Ah, found it." Holly exclaimed before bouncing her way back onto the bed and under the covers with Gail. "Here." She said and offered the blonde the box she had just retrieved from her bag.
"What is it?" Gail asked looking at the rectangular box. "And can you do the little jump onto the bed again? I blinked." She said grinning as Holly covered up her naked body once more.
Holly rolled her eyes as she watched her girlfriend turn the box over in her hands.
"No to the second and to the first, open it and you'll find out." She told Gail with a grin as she shifted to face the blonde and watch her reaction, pushing her glasses back into place.
"I didn't forget an anniversary or something did I?"
"Did you?"
Gail shook her head at Holly. "So this is my surprise?"
Holly bit her lip wondering how the blonde would react, worried that even though they had been dating for weeks, maybe this would be a step too far for Gail. Maybe Gail was happy the way things were, maybe this would just mess everything up?
Holly's hand twitched, but it was too late to take the box back.
Swallowing nervously Gail looked at Holly again before slowly lifting off the lid. Inside, resting on a layer of velvet was a small diamond glinting at the edge of a five-pointed silver star. Attached to the star was a chain that joined a hoop of metal to a key.
Holly had given her a key.
A key she was familiar with, the key for Holly's house.
"Wow." She whispered, looking up from the key to stare back at Holly in question, not wanting to get the implication of Holly giving this to her wrong. She could practically see the panic in the older woman's eyes.
It faded as Holly watched a smile grow on Gail's face.
Holly couldn't control her grin as a sense of excitement filled her but she tried to explain with an air of nonchalance. "You're there so much anyway, you might as well just move in?"
Gail was stunned into silence, her eyes going wide. This was huge. She dropped her eyes back down to the key, touching it with her finger.
"Are you serious?" She asked in a whisper, keeping her eyes down.
Holly shrugged. "Only if you want to." She whispered, watching a pale finger trace over the star reverently. "You can say no Gail, it won't change things between us I promise."
"I want to." Gail answered softly looking up at Holly.
"Yeah?"
"Yes!"
Holly grinned then tapped her lips and Gail closed the distance to seal the decision with a kiss.
Gail grinned and pressed forward for another kiss and then another and another until Holly was laughing hard. She was happy she realised as she watched Holly recover. Happier than she could ever remember being, and she wasn't afraid to start thinking about a future with this beautiful, amazing woman that had somehow just walked through all her defences and straight into her heart.
"I love you, and your surprise." Gail said holding up the key and letting the star dangle down.
Holly's eyes lit up and she patted Gail on the hip before getting out of the bed again. "Come on, get dressed, we can go for that walk."
"What?! No!" Gail protested, stunned that Holly was already over by the holdall again and pulling out jeans and tops along with sweaters and boots.
"Come on, it'll be fun, honest."
Gail scowled, looking at the time on the bedside clock before watching as Holly dressed.
Holly turned expectantly and her face fell a little on seeing Gail right where she'd left her. "Come on Gail, you'll love it I swear."
"Come on nothing Hol, it's half two in the morning, I wanna stay warm and naked in this nice comfy bed." She said, "How about you come back to bed and we pretend we went for a walk?" She asked hopefully.
"No."
"But?"
"No."
xxxxxxxx
Gail wrapped her arms around her body as she tried to keep warm and keep up with her girlfriend. "The boys would never pull this shit, they don't even wake me early on Christmas day." She moaned as she glared around the boardwalk. Strangely they were the only two people out. Imagine that.
Holly rolled her eyes and pulled on Gail's elbow a little more. "That's because they value their lives Gail, they aren't being nice to you, its call self-preservation."
Gail scowled but wasn't prepared to admit that Holly was most likely right.
"God, your grumpy tonight." Holly said but with a grin to take any sting out of the comment.
"Ha, I'm always grumpy, and you knew that from the moment we met." Gail replied with a scoff. "Plus, it's the middle of the freaking night Holly!"
Holly shook her head. "I never knew you were such a delicate flower Gail. Maybe I should have left you in the hotel room."
With a sigh Gail looked around again. She was being difficult and she knew it. "Sorry." She muttered, pouting at her girlfriend in the hopes of being forgiven.
Holly leaned over and kissed the lips. "That's okay." And it was, Holly had known Gail would complain and she was enjoying her girlfriend's theatrics. "I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to me." She added with a grin.
Gail let out a heavy sigh. "I suppose I could give you back your key?" She offered giving Holly her best attempt at a pathetic look.
"Nope, sorry, you'll have to come up with something better than that." Holly said steering them towards a walkway down towards the harbour docks. "My bed gets lonely when you're not there."
Gail melted a little at that, and pulled Holly closer. "Sounds like I've got my work cut out for me then."
"I have faith in you." Holly replied then gripped Gail's hand and pulled her along the dock. "Come on, we're here."
Gail let herself be lead but when Holly finally stopped she was left astounded by the view in front of her.
"Well? Climb on." Holly said, already onto the deck of the boat.
Boat didn't really do the vessel in front of Gail justice, it was a power yacht and had to be forty feet at least.
"Gail?" Holly said, trying to break the blonde out of the trance she was in.
"Huh?" Gail asked, her eyes still taking in the boat. "Should you be on there?"
"Okay, relax, it's my fathers." Holly explained tugged the blonde reluctantly onto the deck with her. "My parents come out here for a month every year and spend most of their time out on this. When they aren't in the hotel or bothering me about my lack of visits."
"Uh huh."
Shaking her head Holly gave Gail a nudge towards the front of the yacht. "Go on up there and I'll be there in a minute."
Gail walked a step before spinning back around. "We aren't going anywhere right?" She asked her voice higher than normal, "It just it's dark and late, and did I mention late?"
Chuckling Holly shook her head. "No we aren't going anywhere but back to the hotel room when we're done here, now just go up there Gail."
Gail watched the older woman disappear and slowly did as she was told. She figured this was where Holly had planned the night to end before they'd gotten carried away. She walked with careful steps not wanting to get too close to the side, the boat may have been docked but there was a gentle rocking motion from the water.
Holly opened the hatch and climbed down into the galley, a touch of disappointment filled her as she spotted the ice platter of oysters and the chilled bottle of champagne and glasses she had asked the hotel for. The oysters hadn't been shucked so maybe they'd have them for breakfast, or take them back to their room.
Dismissing the thought for the moment she walked through into the main berth and got the thick blanket she'd come down for then headed back, but not before picking up the bucket with the champagne and the glasses.
They could celebrate a little while they were here.
Holly found Gail looking over the railing at the very front of the yacht when she reached the bow. "Careful." She called out as she set the bucket and glasses down before sitting with her back to the slop of the area that housed the main salon below deck.
She pulled the blanket around her and bent her knees, patting the surface between them in invitation.
Gail made her way over and sat down, smiling as Holly wrapped her up in a warm cocoon of her own body and the dark blue blanket.
Holly grinned as Gail snuggled and wriggled against her. "Warm now?"
"Yup."
"Hm." Holly let them huddle there together in the silence for several long moments. Then she pressed her lips to Gail's temple as the blonde rested her head against Holly's shoulder.
"This is nice." Gail said quietly. The gentle rocking was soothing and lulling her into such a relaxed state she knew she'd be quite happy just to fall asleep right there in Holly's arms.
"It is." Holly agreed softly. Her own eyes were closed as she enjoyed just holding Gail.
"Okay, so, the plan was to bring you out here after dinner and we'd take this to-"
Gail giggled and cut in with, "If you say the Falls, I'm going to wet myself."
Holly sighed, but grinned. "No. I was going to take you out to the middle, where we wouldn't be able to see much of land." She explained then nudged Gail. "Open your eyes but just look up, straight up."
Gail blinked as she did as instructed. "Wow." She could still see the low orange glow from the harbour boardwalk, but mostly, all she could see was stars.
Bright, twinkling, stars.
"It's beautiful."
Pleased, Holly squeezed Gail around her waist where she was holding her. "You have the key?"
"Yeah." Gail replied, shifting and searching through her pockets before pulling the box out for Holly from underneath the blanket.
Holly pulled the lid off and took out the key, letting the little chain hang and show off the star on the end. "What was it you said that night?" She asked remembering back to the night of the shooting and the horrible time spent waiting at the hospital for news on Sam and Chloe. She'd taken Gail back to her house that night, after her colleagues had been declared stable. They'd eaten something then gone to bed, Holly automatically guiding Gail into her bedroom with her. And they'd both undressed and climbed in and soon they were holding each other, and for a time, Gail had cried.
But after that, Gail had found it impossible to sleep so they had spent the night quietly touching, comforting each other that they were there, that they were whole and that they were both safe.
Gail blushed as she remembered, she'd stolen the line from what Chris had said to her in the squad car that day. "Only when it's darkest can you see just how brightly the stars shine." She murdered it she was sure, but she'd hoped Holly had understood what she'd been trying to say.
"Yeah," Holly said finding Gail's hand and placing the key, star and all, into the centre of her palm, closing over her fingers and then covering Gail's hand with both of her own. "So this is me telling you, that when the dark comes again, know that I'll always be there for you."
Gail had to swallow past the lump of emotion that lodged in her throat at Holly's words. Her job was dangerous, and as much as she prayed to never have to go through a day like that again, knowing Holly not only understood that is was her job to be at the centre of it, but that Holly would be there to get her through it like she did before.
"That's an awful lot to promise Holly." Gail said as tears stung her eyes.
Holly grinned and tilted her head back to take in the view of the night sky as she felt Gail turn to look at her. She shrugged before looking back at the blonde confidently.
"Like I said, I'm sure you'll make it up to me."
Gail laughed and fell onto Holly, hugging her as hard as she could. When she pulled back there were tears rolling down her cheeks and Holly was quick to help her wipe them away.
"So, how do you like your surprise now?"
Gail wiped her face dry. "I don't know what I ever did to deserve you but, damn, I'm never topping this. I absolutely love my surprise Holly, I love it and I love you." She said kissing Holly.
Holly deepened the kiss before they had to break apart to breathe. "Maybe I'm just being selfish Gail, I love being with you and I don't want to only see you when you have time off work." Holly explained as Gail cuddled back into her arms.
"Hm." Gail grinned and shook her head with a chuckle. "I can't believe you just called yourself my star!" She teased.
"Actually, I think I meant I'll be your 'guiding light'." Holly replied as she reached for the champagne.
"Oh, you are so never living this down."
"I thought it was romantic."
"And you call me insane."
xxxxxxxx
AN/ So sex scenes aren't my thing. This is as far as it gets in this fic.
Trustissueb, this is what you wanted, the next chapter is where I had planned to start this fic. But a little family drama and build up never hurts :D