A New Kind of Science / Holtzbert

Date Night Pt. 2

"Wow. It's really beautiful here, isn't it?" Erin broke the uncomfortable silence while she and Jillian sat down on the chartreuse colored blanket in the grass at Astoria Park. Through the trees they could see Triborough Bridge and Hell Gate Bridge on either side of them. They had set up their small picnic on the edge of East River in between the bridges. Erin looked up at the stars above them while Holtzmann took off her boots to get more comfortable before digging into the pizza they had picked up on the way there.

"Mhm." The blonde replied with her first bite of the cheesy food.

The other woman hummed at the gorgeous sight of the park before turning and grabbing a piece herself. She noticed that Jill had, at some point, removed her shoes and she wanted nothing more than to take her heels off as well. But, she was very self-conscious so she decided to deal with the tiny hint of pain that would appear in the balls of her own feet later. They heard the crickets that chirped while they ate and Erin closed her eyes many times just to enjoy the light breeze and the sound of the water of the river in front of them.

It wasn't until they finished eating that Erin spoke. "So, what else is in the bag?" She asked, remembering it was used to hold the blanket they sat on.

"Well..." Jill smiled at her as she closed the lid of the pizza box. She turned to face the bag on the other side of her and unzipped it, pulling out her small radio. She held it in her hands as if presenting it to Gilbert and set it down in between them. She pressed the power button and 'Rapture' by Blondie began to play.

Holtzmann immediately stood up and began to dance, flipping her long hair around. Erin stayed on the ground, looking up at the woman while she danced and she bopped her own head to the beat with a smile. It wasn't long before Holtz reached down, grabbing Erin by both hands and pulling her up to dance with her in the soft grass. The rap part came and Erin was shocked to see Jillian mouthing every word. She looked at her with an impressed expression as her dancing slightly slowed while she focused on Holtzy. She nodded, loving that Holtz knew all the words and Erin's shoulders began to move with more enthusiasm than before.

The song ended and 'Play That Funky Music' by Wild Cherry came on. Halfway through dancing, Erin was beginning to get annoyed at her heels constantly getting stuck in the grass. Holtzmann noticed her irritated expressions. "What's wrong?" She asked, still moving her hips to the beat as her arms rose above her head.

"Nothing. My shoes just keep sinking into the grass. It's okay. I'm fine." She waved a hand in front of her face as she kept on grooving.

"Take 'em off." Holtz suggested, still dancing as well.

"Nah. I'm good." Erin ignored the request and continued to dance. When the chorus of the song came, she began to sing along, which soon urged Jill to as well.

"'Play that funky music white boy. Play that funky music right. Play tha-'"

"Oh no." Gilbert said, looking down at her feet. "It's stuck again." She laughed and Jill stepped closer to help, but Erin didn't notice the woman approaching her as she forcefully pulled her leg up, and her shoe came out of the grass. But, she kneed Holtzmann in the chest and both fell down, landing on the blanket. "Ooo, ow!" Gilbert landed on her hip, but within seconds of expressing her own pain, she panicked looking to the woman laying beside her. "Oh my God, Holtzy, are you okay?"

The deep concern in Erin's voice caused the blonde to close her eyes briefly before rolling over to her side to face the former teacher. "Yeah, I'm-" They were eerily close. "...I'm fine." They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment before Erin laughed. "Are you okay?" Holtzmann asked, laughing as well.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm good." The brunette grunted, sitting up and putting her right hand on her pained hip. She sighed and looked up to the sky, letting go of her side and setting her hand down to the blanket. She leaned on that arm and felt another hand over her own.

"Oops, I'm sorry." Jill apologized as she sat up and took her hand away. Her nerves were back and she moved to turn the radio off.

"No, no." Gilbert looked back at her with an admirable smirk. "It's okay." She looked down at her hand, missing the contact from the other woman but ignored the urge to touch her again. She cleared her throat looking back at the water, sparkling with the reflection of the moon.

She felt Jillian standing up beside her. "Okay." The quirky inventor shouted. "Let's go."

"What? Where are we going?" Erin asked with sadness, hoping the night wasn't over already.

"That's another surprise." Holtz put the radio back in her duffel bag, which caused Erin to quickly stand with excitement that there was more. They both picked up the blanket and folded it before putting it back in the bag at Jill's feet. "I'll carry the pizza if you can carry my bag."

"Okay." Gilbert's voice cracked and she felt a wave of embarrassment before averting eye contact with her date and bending over to pick up the large duffel bag. She expected it to be much heavier than it was and was relieved to see that it was relatively light.

Jillian grabbed the box of leftover pizza and led Erin out of the park and back onto one of the busy streets of NYC. When they walked down 19th street in Queens, they came across a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk and Holtzmann gave him the whole box of pizza. She was still telling the man 'you're welcome' when she received the look from Erin that all girls dream about. The look of pure adoration while thinking to herself what a great human being this is and what had they done to deserve her. The moment she looked back over to the brunette, Gilbert looked away, trying not to show her admiration for the woman.

It didn't work, however, when the scholar's motor mouth opened. "You're incredible, you know that?"

Holtzmann shrugged and licked her bottom lip before walking closer to the road and putting her hand out to call for a cab. When she was unsuccessful, Erin whistled surprisingly piercing the blonde's ears. They got one though and hopped into the yellow taxi, heading to their next destination.