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Gina Linetti did not get dumped. She did not cry over meaningless sex, and she most certainly did not let anyone see her do it.
There was a knock at the door.
It had been two days since the proposal, and two days since Gina had last turned up at work. She hadn’t spoken to anyone, and she didn’t even reply to the hilarious snapchat Kevin had sent her that morning. Gina didn’t want to speak to anyone, she just wanted to wallow in misery until she’d had enough of her pity party and was ready to stride back into the precinct with a new malicious streak.
The knock came again.
"Gina c'mon. I know you're in there I can hear Adele." A muffled voice called.
Sighing from under her wolf blanket, Gina lowered the volume. The soft tones of ‘All I Ask’ still filled the room, she wasn’t an animal. You don’t interrupt an Adele album. But, she doesn’t move to open the door. A feelings talk was really the last thing she wanted, in fact, she wanted to pretend this whole thing never happened. Which is apparently what Rosa was doing.
"Do you want me to scale the building and climb through the window? You know I will!" Jake shouted, knocking again.
"Go away Jake." Gina whined. She considered ignoring him again, but then, she really didn't feel like gazing sadly out the window when it started to rain to see his flattened body on the sidewalk. It would really ruin the moment.
Rising from the couch, Gina flung her blanket over her head and round her shoulders, padding slowly over to her door and wrenching it open so quickly Jake practically fell into the apartment.
"Hey." He said, his gaze soft and serious as he righted himself from almost head-butting her floor.
Gina hated it. "Can we not?"
"What?" Jake said, apparently oblivious to Gina’s mood.
"This whole thing, Jake. I don't want to talk about it and I really just want to pretend nothing happened." She explained, letting out an annoyed huff as she tightened her blanket around her shoulders.
"Sad face emoji?" Jake asks with a tiny smile in an attempt to cheer her up.
Gina doesn't return it. "Don't steal my shit."
Jake's smile drops, and he leads them both over to the couch, Gina dropping down heavily and resisting the urge to curl up against his shoulder.
"It's okay to be upset." Jake says, leaning against her.
Gina doesn't say anything at first. She knows it is, but she shouldn't even be upset. This shouldn't have happened. Rosa should have never gotten under her skin, and she should have never assumed they were more than just fuck buddies.
She tucks herself under his arm, clinging to him like they used to when they were kids. It gives her a small amount of comfort, but she notices the nostalgia is tainted. She used to sit like this with Rosa. Something else she’s ruined. "I just don't get it."
"She's Rosa. Probably didn't even realise it had turned into something more." Jake says. He was one of few to know Gina felt something more than just friendship for the formidable detective. Well. He had told Amy and Boyle, which meant the whole squad knew, but he was the only one Gina had ever confided in.
"Not helping Jake. How could she not have realised? Half my shit is still littered around her place, turning it into a true palace." She pauses for a second. "You'll have to go retrieve it for me. No way am I letting her keep that disco docking station."
Jake hums, both arms now wrapped tightly around his friend trying not to imagine in what world Rosa would allow a disco docking station in her secret apartment. "Have you spoken to her?"
Gina fights the tightness in her chest. She wasn’t crying, not even when she crumbles into Jake’s embrace and pretends they’re twelve again. "No? What is there to say? Hi Rosa, sorry you didn't get the memo that I was totally into you, please break off this engagement and return to your true destiny."
“Maybe don’t lead with that,” Jake says, smiling at the small huff of amusement he gets from Gina. “But, you should talk to her. That’s what you’re always telling me when I have problems. Ignoring everything doesn’t work, we’ve tried and tested that. If she knows what’s good for her she’s already regretting agreeing to marry that jerk.”
Gina sniffs once, but she’s not crying. “I thought you said he was awesome?”
Jake shrugs, and kisses the top of her head. “That was before he came between you and Rosa.”
“But that’s my point.” Gina says with a sigh. “If it was anything then that wouldn’t have happened. She’s not the type to get distracted and betray someone chasing someone else. Not if she was serious about us, which she clearly isn’t.”
Jake shakes his head. “You don’t know that unless you talk to her.”
“What? No. No, I’m done with her Jake! You don’t get a second chance with Gina Linetti, especially after you’ve left a nice little turd over my beautiful glittery heart.” Gina growls, with a little less aggression than she intended. It was hard to rile up hatred when she was this upset.
Jake tightens his hold on Gina, bringing his legs up onto the edge of the couch so they could snuggle up like they used to. He only wished they were upset about there being no ice cream in the freezer rather than adult stuff with feelings.
They sit together for what feels like hours, just listening to the CD that was still playing softly in the background.
“I’m gonna say one more thing and then we’re watching Die Hard.” Jake says slowly, unsure if Gina was even still awake.
She grumbles a little, shifting and stretching before settling back against his side. “Ugh, fine.”
Jake takes a deep breath, and then speaks. “I get that you’re upset, I would be too. But I really think you should talk to her, or let her come to you. If she doesn’t, then fine, it’s over and we can hate her from a distance at work. But really Gina, I think you should give her a chance to explain herself if you’re this torn up. If you can’t fix it, at least you’ll have closure.”
Gina says nothing, but she nods a tiny nod before getting up to find the DVD.
Jake doesn’t push the conversation any more, for now he’s just going to be there for his friend.
-----
Jake sighed as he came into work, dumping his bag on his desk. It had been a long night with Gina, and he was no closer to cheering her up or finding a solution. He was trying to help fix this mess, but it was kinda hard when he really had no idea why Rosa had gone after Adrian. Plus, he was actually super mad at Rosa. Like, super mad. He thought she was gonna be there for Gina, and now he had this shitstorm to deal with. It was even worse than when Charles got dumped. At least he had a protocol with Boyle, this was new and dangerous ground. Speaking of, the amount of break ups Boyle had been through he should be of help in cheering up Gina. He’d definitely have some kind of food suggestion that Jake could maybe try. Abandoning the growing pile of paper work on his desk, and avoiding looking towards a certain corner of the precinct, he makes a beeline for Charles.
Charles is sat at his desk, a frown etched into his features and he’s bent over something he clearly doesn’t want anyone to see. A letter?
"What's that?" He asks, peering over Charles' shoulder to try and read the piece of paper in his hands.
Boyle scrabbles to hide it, shoving it under his shirt with a panicked expression as he spins dramatically in his chair to face Jake. "Nothing! Nothing, it's um, it's a suicide note! From uh, Scully."
Scully barely looks up from the noodles he was devouring.
Jake looks between Boyle and Scully before nodding slowly. "Riiiiight. Okay but what is it really?"
Boyle starts to stand up, flustering with case files as he attempts to flee. "Nothing, honestly, it's super boring you wouldn't-"
"You think it's boring?"
Jake arches an eyebrow as Rosa jumps into the conversation, but he doesn't look at her. Out of principle. It was his duty as Gina's best and oldest friend. It didn’t matter that Rosa was his partner too, she’d crossed the line. She was in the wrong and Jake wasn’t going to speak to her until she fixed it.
Boyle looks between Jake and Rosa. "Um, no, it was fine, I just-"
"Just fine? I need more than fine." Rosa growls.
Jake glances over at her then, and he's surprised by what he sees.
She's hunched over her desk - not an unusual sight - but her hair looks a mess, make-up smudged with dark circles under her eyes. She's got four empty coffee cups littered across her desk, and various stacks of crumpled up bits of paper have spilled onto her keyboard thanks to the fact there was a mountain of them in the bin beside her.
"Wait so that's your suicide note Boyle's got shoved up his shirt?" Terry asks suddenly, moving over to the commotion.
Rosa's nostrils flare as more people get involved. "What? No. It's just... a letter I wanted him to look over."
"A letter to whom?" Amy pipes up, leaning over in her chair.
It's here that Holt comes wandering out of his office, and Rosa resigned herself to her fate. It was futile to try and keep this quiet. Everyone knows about her and Gina already, they might as well witness the fallout of her fuck up. She looks up at Holt as he speaks, "You're all detectives. I think you've already figured out the name at the top of the letter."
"Actually she didn't put a name." Boyle said, slowly pulling out the crumpled paper from beneath his shirt.
Jake remains silent as he tries to calculate the most effective way of getting that letter off of him. Not that he wants to help Rosa but… he does want Gina to be happy. Despite her claims of absolute hatred, he knows she’s really hurt by Rosa’s actions.
"Rosa you gotta put her name." Terry says. Everything about his posture screams sympathy and Rosa wants to bury herself in sand after killing everyone in the room. "This is Gina."
Amy hums, gesturing to the letter. "What did you think of it Boyle?"
Boyle shifts on his feet, starting and stopping his sentence a few times before he actually comes out with it. "Well.. I mean it's, it's very... It's not that it's... I’d say really…I mean…It's quite blunt."
Jake snorts, crossing his arms. He can feel Rosa watching him like a hawk, but he still refuses to engage with her. "Just print something off the internet; I'm sure it would have totally the same effect."
"Jake." Amy warns, a slight shake of her head.
But he's angry, and biting his tongue will only work for so long.
Rosa growls again, rising from her desk with her hands balled into fists. "Well what should I do then? Tell me Jake, seeing as you won't answer my texts, or my calls."
Jake shakes his head, glancing at the warning look Amy is giving him and then utterly ignoring it. "She doesn't want a letter, Rosa. She wants an explanation, and she wants you."
"That's what I'm trying to do." Rosa grumbles, falling back into her chair with a huff. "But I can't-"
She snatches the letter Boyle had too close to her, screwing it up and launching it across the room, landing nicely in Hitchcock's soup. She slumps back into her chair, knocking off a few more balls of paper.
"Why don't we all help?" Amy suggests in an attempt to diffuse Rosa’s anger, pen and paper already in her hands.
Terry nods his agreement. "Let's go to the briefing room and make a plan. Terry loves writing letters."
Jake doesn't budge. "Yeah, this is pointless, you all get that right?"
From the looks on everyone's faces, they don't.
"Why? Rosa can try get Gina back, it's not impossible." Boyle says, shrugging and nodding at everyone in turn.
Jake laughs twice, over exaggerated and hollow. "First, if Gina sets her mind to something no letter would change it. Second, the letter thing won't work anyway it’s a conversation she wants not Shakespeare grovelling, and finally, my biggest point. This is pointless because Rosa fucked up and is engaged to some dude she's known for like two weeks. Cool as he is, he's no Gina so," He throws the case file he's been holding onto the nearest desk, holding his hands up in a show of weird victory.
"Jake-" Rosa begins, but Jake's already disappeared towards the evidence lock up.
"This is...bad." Holt says.
Rosa stands up and in one fluid motion flips her desk, sending the monitor and all her paperwork flying across the room. Amy nearly jumps out of her seat and no-one follows when Rosa stalks off to the break room and slams the door so hard the windows rattle.
"Oh dang." Terry mumbles.
----
"Has anyone seen Rosa?" Amy asked, a half completed form in one hand and a stack of folders cradled in the other.
Jake barely looks away from the Rubix cube he was peeling colours off. "No."
Amy sighs. "C'mon Jake. You can't ignore her forever."
"Can and will! It's already working; I genuinely have no idea where she is. I haven't seen her for like, a while." Jake said, spinning round in his chair.
Terry paused, glancing up from his keyboard. "Actually, I haven't seen her all day. She clock out?"
"No, system says she's still in the building. She's not out on a case or off the clock." Amy said, a frown beginning to form on her face.
Holt came to stand beside Terry's desk, slowly stirring his coffee. "Anyone text her? Phone her?"
"Deleted her number!" Jake announced proudly. It was childish and ridiculous, but it was the only thing Jake could think of doing that would make him feel like he was doing something to help Gina. Freezing Rosa out might push her back towards Gina.
"You know that's really not the way to deal with this. She's clearly upset. Rosa's your friend just as much as Gina is." Amy said.
Jake sighed, slinking further into his chair. "Yeah but Gina's like, my sister. I've known her forever and it's kinda upsetting to see her so sad over someone I thought had her back. Rosa's in the wrong here."
"I think she knows that, Peralta." Holt says.
Jake sighs again, louder. "Well hiding won't fix it. She needs to make it right, and I'm not helping her."
“That’s hardly a team attitude. Your colleague is having a hard time; do you not think she’d appreciate your support?” Holt prompts, knowing he’s unlikely to receive the answer he wants at this point.
Jake makes a face, and then answers. “Yeah, probably. But that doesn’t take away the fact that she’s the one who made the decision to break my oldest friend. Gina’s really upset Captain and I’m not feeling the whole team unity thing right now.”
"Fair enough, but you do need to talk to her soon. I can’t have this rift affecting your work. Speaking of work, Diaz should be doing some. We should find her.”
Terry shared a look with Amy. "I'm actually a little concerned."
Boyle chooses this moment to enter the room with a sandwich loaded with god knows what. "What's going on?"
"No-one knows where Rosa is but she's still in the building. Have you seen her?" Amy asks.
Boyle shakes his head. “No, I saw her come in but she didn’t speak to me. She looked tired though.”
“Maybe she’s napping in the evidence room?” Terry suggested.
Amy shook her head, “No, I’ve checked there.”
“There’s no point in suggesting other rooms because, you guessed it! Amy’s already looked.” Jake says helpfully, beginning to re-stick the colours on the rubix cube.
A knowing smile spreads across Boyle's face. "I know where she is."
Amy gives him a look of disbelief. “Seriously? I’ve looked everywhere.”
“Not in Babylon.” Boyle says with just a hint of smugness.
This gets Jake’s attention again. “Babylon? What’s Babylon? Sounds like a shower gel.”
“No, no. It’s meant to be a secret, which I may have accidently told Scully and Hitchcock about, but it’s a secret bathroom.” Boyle tells them. He figures the secret is out already, and with the way things are going for Gina and Rosa they won’t be using it together anytime soon.
Holt lowers his glasses a smidge. “A secret bathroom?”
Boyle nods. “Yeah, it was an old Captain’s office. I bet you Rosa’s there.”
“Why would she be in some old bathroom?” Jake asks, not that he was interested.
He almost doesn’t answer, but Boyle could never ignore Jake. “Well, it was sort of hers and Gina’s. So that’s where she’d go if she can’t be with Gina.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet.” Amy coos, crushing her folders to her chest.
Boyle nods again. “Yeah, well, I’ll bet she’s down there.”
“Alright, let’s go and get her.” Holt says, placing his coffee down on Terry’s desk.
Boyle scrabbles to block everyone’s departure, his hands flying out to stop them and scattering his mystery sandwich all across the floor. “Woah, woah! Nooooo, no that’s not happening.”
Terry scowls at him. “What? Man come on, we need to go get her.”
“Yeah dude, why’re you stopping everyone?” Jake asks, leaning forward in his chair with the half stuck rubix cube forgotten. “Not that I care, but…”
Boyle shakes his head. “No, listen. This is Rosa we’re talking about, an emotional and confused Rosa.”
“A dangerous Rosa.” Holt says.
“What? No. She’s upset, she won’t want everyone traipsing off to her hiding place to see her vulnerable.” Boyle explains, and the team begins to back off.
Holt nods slowly. “Yes, of course. Who do you suggest we send? I would have said Jake but we all know his position on the situation. Amy will only make things worse- no offence.”
“None taken.” Amy says with a grin that seems out of place.
Holt continues, “I would go, but I fear my… relationship advice isn’t always the best. Terry has too much of a conflict of interest with his friendship with both Gina and Rosa, which leaves…”
“Hitchcock and Scully!” Scully exclaims happily.
Jake laughs. “Yeah send those two, Rosa will rip them apart it’ll be hilarious!”
“Boyle.” Holt says, ignoring the outburst.
Boyle starts a little at being addressed, and then realises what the Captain was saying. “Oh, yeah, yes, of course sir. I’ll go get her.”
With that, Boyle disappears from sight, heading off down towards Babylon.
It takes about three seconds before the rest of the squad jump from their seats to follow him.
----
Dragging the crates away from the doorway, Boyle calls out a soft warning. He receives no response, but he didn’t really expect one anyway.
Slipping into the bathroom, Boyle sighs at the sight he’s greeted with. The light scent of lavender seems to make the whole thing seem sadder, with Rosa curled up beneath the sink in a makeshift bed, one of Gina’s unicorn blankets thrown over the top of her.
“Hey.” Boyle says, moving over to sit down on the toilet.
Rosa grumbles. “Go away.”
He huffs a laugh in return. “We know that’s not going to happen. Everyone’s wondering where you are upstairs.”
Rosa shrugs, staring blankly at the wall. “So?”
“This isn’t how you’re going to deal with this.” Boyle says.
Rosa snorts. “Oh, because you’re the expert now?”
Boyle shrugs. “Well, I was sleeping with Gina for-“
Rosa immediately lurches upright to throw a toilet roll at him, a scowl on her face. “Not helping.”
Batting away the roll that had hit him in the forehead, Boyle sighs, sliding from the toilet to sit cross-legged opposite Rosa. “What’s wrong?”
Rosa almost wants to laugh. “What’s wrong? Everything’s turned to shit and I have no-one to blame but myself. Jake said the letter won’t work, and she won’t answer any of my calls, and I don’t know what else to do. Pimento keeps calling me too, and I have nothing else to say to him.”
“Well, I’d say Terry could help with the Pimento problem, he never liked the man. As for Gina, maybe you should ask Jake for advice? He knows her better than anyone.” Boyle suggests, pretending he can’t hear the celebratory ‘yes’ Terry just let slip out beyond the open doorway.
Rosa glances in that direction, but she doesn’t react. “Jake won’t speak to me.” It’s said devoid of emotion. There’s absolutely no hint of sadness there. She wasn’t upset in the slightest that Jake has cut her off and refuses to help. Her lip was definitely not quivering.
Boyle reaches out and pats her knee. The fact that Rosa allows it speaks volumes to how upset she actually was. “He will if you go to him. He’s not great at ignoring people right in front of him.”
Rosa nods a little.
“What happened with Pimento?” Boyle asks tentatively, wary of how Rosa was going to react.
She sighs, and clenches her hands into fists. “I told him I had to break it off. That I wasn’t really in love with him.”
“Ouch. How’d he take it?”
Rosa shrugs. “Okay. I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about him.”
Boyle nods. “Did you try climb out the window after?”
That gets him a soft snort of laughter. “Nah went to the toilet and straight out the back door.”
They laugh, the sound echoing around the small bathroom and filling it with warmth for a moment. But it wasn’t the same. With Gina the laughter here had been endless, and Rosa was pretty sure the amount of times they’d giggled til it hurt down here was half the reason her abs were so defined. She missed her.
“I miss her.” Rosa says, unable to keep it to herself. She bites her bottom lip, teeth sinking in to stop herself from crying.
Boyle squeezes her knee, and he almost recoils when Rosa moves before he realises she was taking his hand.”You’ll get her back.”
With the confident way Boyle grips her hand, Rosa can almost believe him.
----
It’s nearing the end of their shift when Rosa finally gathers enough momentum to actually walk to Jake’s desk and stand firm.
"Can we talk?"
Jake doesn't look up from his file, pretending he can’t see her standing there beside him. "About what?"
"What do you think, dummy." Rosa growls.
Clenching his jaw, Jake looks up to see Rosa waiting patiently by his desk, a bag of sour sweets in one hand. "Bribes Rosa?"
She shakes her head. "Nah. Gift."
Jake arches and eyebrow and then admits his defeat. Yes, he was furious with Rosa, but he was also super intrigued to find out why she did what she did. Plus, he did actually want her to get back with Gina, so he couldn’t really ignore her forever. Also on a totally unrelated note, those sweets were his favourites. He gestures to the seat beside him. "Fine. Have you broken it off with Mr I'm A Super Cool Detective yet?"
Rosa drops her gaze, and nods once. "Yeah."
Jake waits.
She huffs, dropping into the chair knowing full well the whole squad was now deathly silent and listening to her every word. "I stopped it as soon as I realised. I was a jerk. I just... I didn't know Jake. It was stupid, I only went out with him 'cause I didn't think she wanted anything more, and I let it move so fast because that's what I wanted with Gina. Not Adrian. That wasn't fair to either of them."
Jake nods as she speaks, letting the new information sink in. "Aaaaand?"
Rosa glares at him, rolling her tongue over her teeth. "And I'm an idiot for not realising. Not telling her what she means to me."
"Perfect. Now go tell her that."
Rosa frowns. "What? No. It's stupid."
Jakes nods again, opening up the bag of sweets and throwing a few in his mouth. He talks around them, knowing it will annoy Rosa. "Precisely. You fucked up, and Gina will listen if she knows you realise that. Show her how much of an idiot you are and she'll take you back. Eventually. You're gonna be jumping through hoops for a while."
Rosa falls quiet for a moment, thinking everything over. "So you really think the letter idea was stupid?"
"It's sweet, but it's too easy of a way out. This way you have to face her and get genuine." Jake says.
Rosa sighs, but she nods. "Okay."
She gets up to leave, but she pauses for a moment. "You think she'll forgive me?"
Jake gives her a bright and genuine smile. "A thousand push-ups."
----
Gina ignores the first knock. And the second. And the third.
In fact, she ignores all the knocking for a good ten minutes.
It's only when an envelope is slotted halfway underneath the door that she actually takes any interest whatsoever.
Gina considers not taking the bait, but she was never any good at resisting temptation. She slides it out from under her door, pretending she doesn't realise that Rosa now knows she's got her attention.
Her name is written across the entirety of the front, hand written, her first name in a beautiful script, and her second in a classic gothic style. Its wax sealed with a black wax, a skull pressed into it.
Three guesses who that could be from.
Breaking the seal, Gina reads the letter.
Gina,
I hate apologies, as you well know. I hate feelings, and emotions, and too long discussions. Yet, I'm gonna give you all that now.
I'm sorry. I know it's not enough, never will be, but I am. I've never been more sorry for anything. I was an idiot, and I hurt you.
What we have (or had) is perfect. You make me laugh; you understand my limitations and my boundaries just as I learned yours. Except I never realised we'd crossed over the line of friendship. Funny thing is, I wanted to cross that line so badly, but I could never bring myself to have that discussion with you. Every time I worked myself up to ask, you'd distract me, and I wanted to be distracted.
I can't tell you what made me chase Adrian. I don't know. My own frustration and uncertainty with us... I think that was a factor. I went after him because I didn't think we were a thing. It never crossed my mind that you might not want to drop me at a seconds notice, and so I dropped you first. I thought it would hurt less.
It didn't.
I'm sorry, Gina. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you, I'm sorry I let everything build up until I fucked everything up.
I understand if you don't want to talk. I'm outside right now, and you can either see me or tell me where to go.
I hate apologies, feelings, emotions, and long discussions, but for you? You're always the exception to the rule.
I'm sorry again, and I love you.
- Rosa x
Gina read it through twice before she let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Pressing the letter to her chest, she closes her eyes for a moment to absorb the information. She comes to the solid conclusion that Rosa was an idiot.
Tucking the letter into her dressing gown pocket, she unlocks her door, and pulls it slowly open.
Rosa stands, nervously pulling at her jacket sleeves, and any other time Gina would have teased her about it. The great Rosa Diaz nervous.
"I'm-" Rosa starts.
Gina interrupts almost instantly. "No, no, no. Sweetie, this is not your time to talk, this is mine."
Rosa doesn't say a word, her eyes glued to Gina.
"D'you really think a sad little letter that's jumped straight from the sixteen hundreds is gonna be enough for me to forgive you?" Gina asks.
Rosa doesn't answer.
"Permission to answer. Well done by the way."
"No. I don't think it's enough, which is why I'm here." Rosa says.
Gina hums, and turns to wander back to the couch she hasn't really moved from the past few days. "Come sit."
Rosa follows, locking the door behind her. They settle on the couch, Gina curled up against one arm while Rosa sits beside her, angled to face her with one arm tucked behind her head with her elbow leaning against the back cushions.
"Why couldn't you just talk to me? Am I really that unapproachable?" Gina eventually asks, and her voice is thicker than before. "Usually that would be ultimate goals but... not with you."
Rosa sighs, and drops both her hands into her lap. "No, no you're not. It's just... I was afraid of your answer."
Gina frowns, looking away from Rosa and at the blank TV screen. "Why?"
"Because I thought you'd say no." Rosa admits, her hands clenching into fists. "I thought you'd want to drop me as soon as I asked for commitment. You're Gina Linetti the free spirit. Why would you want to be tied to me?"
Gina fights the urge to go to Rosa, to press up against her and melt into her warmth until this whole shitstorm blew over. "You're an idiot."
Rosa huffs an empty laugh. "Yeah. I know."
They sit in silence for a few moments, before Gina speaks. Her voice is thick again, and it breaks Rosa to know that she's the cause.
"It hurt. You and Pimento. I had to watch that, listen to you say you wanted to be with him, like we meant nothing."
Rosa flinches, and her head dips in shame. "I'm sorry."
Gina blinks rapidly. She was not crying. "Yeah, well that doesn't fix this hole in my chest. You could lose Scully down in this void over here." She gestures to the left of her chest, and clenches her jaw against the lump in her throat.
"Tell me how to fix it." Rosa says. Her voice is low, and she doesn't even try to fight the dampness she can feel on her cheeks. She came here to lay herself bare for Gina, and that's what she intends to do.
Gina glances at her for a moment, and she lets out a quick breath as she loses control of her tears. Why should Rosa being upset upset her? It wasn't fair. "You know I thought we were already a thing? I mean, I knew we were a thing because of the sex and secret kissing but. As soon as we started seeing each other just to spend time together, I thought we'd already fallen into the dating category. I never said anything because I didn't want to scare you off. I know how you feel about that stuff."
"You're the only person I've ever taken to my apartment." Rosa admits with a pathetic little snivel.
Gina smacks a hand against her knee. "See! That there to me screamed Rosa's basically your girlfriend."
Rosa can't stop the smile that crosses her face, nor can she stop herself reaching to take Gina's cold hand into hers.
Gina sighs as she accepts Rosa's hand, threading their fingers together. She knew her battle was lost already. As soon as Rosa had stepped foot back into the apartment she knew she’d take her back.
"I'd really like that to be true." Rosa says quietly, ignoring the tremble in her lip.
Gina breaks. She shifts from being curled up around the couch to being snugly squashed into Rosa's lap, one hand instantly under her shirt to steal warmth.
Rosa doesn't even jump at the cool touch of Gina's hand; she simply wraps herself around the woman she loves, crushing her tight against her chest as if it was the last time she'd ever be able to.
"This doesn't mean you're forgiven." Gina grumbles, wiping a little snot and tears onto Rosa's shirt.
Rosa barely notices. "I know, but it's enough."
"So just to clarify, we're both on the same page about the girlfriends thing?" Gina asks, the sass returning to her tone.
Rosa smirks, pressing her nose into Gina's soft hair. "Girlfriends."
----
It's back to normal at the precinct after Rosa's sudden holiday weekend ends. No-one mentions the fact Gina comes back to work on the same day, nor how they're talking again how they used to.
Of course, they know exactly what happened thanks to Gina's social media report of the apology.
What they didn't know was how far Rosa was going to go to bend to Gina's will.
----
"Hey, Rosa can you throw me that last yoghurt?" Terry asks in the break room.
Gina pokes her head round the door frame. "Uh uh, I want it."
Rosa immediately throws it to Gina, despite the very real threat of Terry breaking her over the table.
x
"So, I just really need someone to go with me to this royal apple gala, it's a bit dressy and there's like, tonnes of types of apples to try."
Gina barely looked up from her phone. "Mmm, sounds delightful but I'm busy that day watching paint dry. Shame. Rosa has that weekend free though."
Boyle looked across to where Rosa sat with a pained expression in her eyes. She speaks through clenched teeth. "Yep. I'm free."
x
The rain was coming down hard and fast when they went to leave their usual bar. Jake instantly walked out and kicked through a giant puddle, soaking Amy.
This started the Great Puddle War, where everyone was splashing around getting their trousers wet.
"Oh, I want to demolish them all, but not get wet." Gina said, as if someone would solve her problem for her.
Rosa had an immediate solution. She scooped Gina up into her arms, and charged into the fray with Gina gleefully screeching death threats and victorious speeches whenever Rosa drenched someone.
x
"Rosa! Ro-ro, I need a new pic." Gina yelled across the precinct to where Rosa was currently booking a drug dealer.
Rosa paused, glanced over at Gina, and promptly palmed the perp off to Jake.
"Oo, can you like, just hold up your gun a bit and look badass in the background." Gina said, tilting her head and throwing up a peace sign while she got the right angle.
Rosa grunted. "Why am I always a background piece?"
"Because there is only one masterpiece." Gina said.
Rosa laughed, and then scowled with her gun up for Gina's selfie.
"Thanks babe." Gina said, kissing her fingers and then pressing them to Rosa's cheek. It was her way round the 'no affection in public' rule.
x
"You're so whipped." Jake commented one slow afternoon, gazing almost in amazement at where Rosa was perched on Gina's desk gluing sparkly ears onto headbands for her latest dance routine.
"What? No I'm not." Rosa growled.
Terry laughed immediately. "You are. Everything Gina says you jump to her every whim."
Amy swivels in her chair. "You went to that apple gala with Boyle."
Rosa shudders. "Don't remind me."
"Whipped." Jake said with a grin and a whipping mime.
"Dare ya to refuse her next order." Amy says
Rosa glares at her. "She doesn't order me around."
Everyone manages to raise an eyebrow at the same time.
"Fine."
After a few more minutes of general chit chat, Gina appears.
"Hey, Rosa, can you pick up some unicorn wall stickers after your shift? I feel like sprucing your place up a bit."
Rosa glanced at where Jake, Amy, Boyle and Terry were waiting with baited breath. "No."
Gina does a quick double take, and then her shoulders sag in defeat. "Guuuuys. You broke the spell."
"You were turning Rosa into a Gina robot!" Jake protested.
Boyle nods. "I only caught her punching one person at the gala! She came to the gala!"
"I know, I had a bet going with Holt. He said she'd snap after two months." Gina said with a sigh.
Rosa's lips twitched into a smile. "What did you bet?"
"I said you'd take it for a couple weeks then just turn into a mute so you couldn't respond, so if you could just like, not speak round him that would be great." Gina said with a grin, pressing one finger up to her lips as the Nine-Nine laughed.
It’s safe to say, Gina got what she wanted.