Gail sighed deeply and threw an arm over her eyes. “Ok, fine. What is there to talk about?” she finally replied in a resigned voice.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Holly asked, trying to keep the annoyance from creeping into her voice.

“What do you mean, what happened?” Gail replied

“You freaked out on me.” Holly stated simply.

“You were the one who had to complicate everything by saying you loved me!” Gail pouted

Holly took a deep breath and closed her eyes. This wasn’t going to get any easier. She was going to hate herself, but she knew what she was going to do.

“Gail, “ she said sliding into bed next to Gail, “Come here!” pulling Gail to her with one efficient curl of her arm. They lay there for a moment, face to face, just holding each other, when Holly finally spoke in a gentle whisper.

“Yes Gail, I love you. And I’m not sorry I said it, although I perhaps should have waited for a moment like this when we were alone someplace safe.” She kissed Gail and realized she was crying from the hot silent tears running down Gail’s face onto her lips. Holly stroked her hair and pulled her closer. “I love you, and I am not going to stop loving you. I am not going to run away just because you think you can’t handle it. But now I need you to do something for me.”

“Ok.” Gail said in a tiny voice.

“I need you to talk to me. I need you to tell me what’s really going on inside your head. Think about this carefully, because if you tell me that you don’t love me, or that you don’t want me in your life, no matter how much it hurts, I will get up out of your bed, walk out that door and get on with my life without you. I can’t tell you it won’t break my heart, because it will, but I will do it just the same.” Holly said in a slightly shaky voice that nearly stopped Gail’s heart.

Gail’s knees came up between them as she started to curl back into a ball. Holly held her breath and waited.