Work Text:
Erin slouched into her girlfriend of 8 months lab, a frown evident as she ignored Holtzmann's greeting. "What's up, babe?"
"I just talked to my parents." She muttered, rubbing her hands across her face. Holtz cringed. "What the hell did they want?" Erin shot her pointed eyes, and leaned on her arms against the blondes work table.
"We're having dinner at their place on Sunday." She smiled shyly, as Holtzmann's eyes went wide with alarm. Before she could protest, Erin cut her off, "We've been dating for 8 months Jillian! I want them to meet you. They don't even know!" She pleaded, grabbing her girlfriends hand and looking at her innocently through her lashes. Holtzmann hung her head back, letting out a loud grown.
"They're assholes Erin. I'll go, but I'm not going to be nice if they aren't." Holtzmann put her hands up in surrender. Erin smiled, leaning over to give her a kiss. When Holtz pulled back, dodging her kiss, Erin pouted, letting out a soft whine. Jill grinned, leaning forward to peck her softly. She couldn't deny the kiss even if she wanted to.
"Thank you!" Erin sang, biting her lip through a smile. "We have to bring something. Wine? No, they'll say I'm drinking too much...What about cookies? No, that'll just invite a comment about my weight," Erin rambled, now pacing through the lab and rolling her eyes. "Flowers?" Holtz suggested, already irritated with the idea of her parents. Erin stopped, and pointed at her with a smile.
"Flowers, that would work! I knew I was dating you for a reason." She blew a kiss, and Holtzmann dramatically caught it, pressing her hands to her chest as if she'd be shot. Erin simply rolled her eyes at her goofy yet endearing antics. "Now," Erin hummed. "What kind of flowers?"
"Babe, are you ready?" Holtzmann called, walking into the brunettes bedroom, flowers under her arm. She was wearing a simple black blazer and white jeans, her usual yellow-tinted glasses perched on top of her mess of curls. Though it was a basic and casual outfit, Holtz felt uncomfortable and strange in comparison to her usual eccentric clothing. She peered into her girlfriends adjoining bathroom, seeing her spraying hair spray into her loosely curled locks.
"Yeah!" She called, jumping when Holtzmann made herself known in the bathroom. "Oh," She muttered realizing she wasn't required to yell.
"Yeah, I'm ready. I just...have to make sure my bangs are even..." She stuck her tongue out as she fluffed around her bangs in the mirror. Holtz noticed her hands were shaking. "My mom always has something to say about the damn things.." She rolled her eyes. Holtzmann wrapped her arms around Erin's waist, making her stop her fussing and lean back into her embrace. Jillian rested her head onto her shoulder, looking at her in the mirror. Erin looked beautiful, a tight dress hugging her curves, the short v-neck gracefully accentuating her breasts, almost causing Holtzmann to drool over her.
"You look hot." She winked at her through the mirror, earned a small, nervous smile rather than the usual blush and beautiful grin she had learned to love causing. She frowned.
"Babe," She sighed, "We don't have to go if you don't want to. I know how difficult it is for you to put up with their shit. I don't want you to end up all upset and discouraged because of some ugly bullshit they have to say." Erin shook her head, breaking the embrace and heading into the kitchen.
"We're going, and it's going to be fun," She stopped on her heels, spinning and pointing a finger at Holtzmann's chest. "and you're going to be nice."
The blonde put her hands up in surrender, leaning down and pecking her stressed out girlfriends nose. Erin scrunched up in a smile, passing her and shoving things haphazardly into her purse. She was mumbling off a list to herself while Holtz leaned against the counter, watching with amusement as well as a tinge of resent. She plopped her glasses down onto the bridge of her nose, eyeing the bouquet of flowers she was instructed to pick up for the couple. She absolutely despised that her parents put so much stress and pressure on their daughter. Sometimes when Erin would come back from a visit with them, she wouldn't be herself for days.
It's like each time she sees them and has to endure their relentless judgement, she sent right back to being the insecure, bullied teenager she once was. Jillian is heartbroken seeing her now prideful confidence shattered so easily by people who are supposed to love her endlessly. Despite hating her parents for everything they had done and continue to do to Erin, she knew how much this meant to her and she wished more than anything that Erin's parents would just love their daughter unconditionally and let tonight go smoothly for her sake. She leaned over and gave a soft kiss to her girlfriends temple, once again tucking the flowers under her arm and taking her girlfriends hand to lead them out of the apartment.
After the too-short drive, they arrived at the restaurant where they were meeting her parents. Erin stayed put in the passenger seat, twisting her fingers nervously when Holtz shut the car off. She looked over at the blonde.
"It's going to go well." Erin said, unsure, looking for reassurance. Jillian pressed a tender kiss to her lips, resting her hand on her nervous ones.
"Of course it is, babe. We got this."
They walked into the high-class restaurant, and Holtz felt out of place in such a fancy enviroment. Though, Erin blended right in, her simplistic yet skin-tight black dress and her perfectly styled hair making her look elegant and sophisticated, as well as sexy as hell. Holtz forced herself to remove her eyes from her girlfriends swaying hips as Erin lead the way once she spotted her parents, loosely hanging onto her girlfriends hand, dragging her behind her. A tall, intimidating man stood to greet them, a small blonde with the same shining eyes as Erin's standing beside him, a tight smile on her lips. Holtzmann squirmed under their gaze as they stared her down.
"Dad, Mum, Hi!" Erin greeted, hugging them both. "This is Holtzm-" She cut herself off, clearing her throat. "This is Dr. Jillian Holtzmann," She gestured towards Holtz, who hesitantly put her hand out to shake the tall mans hand. Just as their hands met, Erin spoke up again, finishing her statement. "...my girlfriend." The man dropped Jillians hand instantly, looking at his daughter with wide eyes. The older woman's expression mirrored her husbands. Jillian smiled warmly despite their obvious reaction, and pulled out a chair for her girlfriend, clutching her hand underneath the table once they both sat down.
"So," Her mother started. She cleared her throat. "Pardon me, I'm Lucy. This is my husband Thompson." She held her hand out once again to Jillian, who took it and briefly shook it, trying her best not to come off cold. "I've heard a lot about you." Holtz replied blandly. A lot of shit about you, that is, she wanted to say. But she didn't for Erin's sake. Erin let out a shaky breath, and took the flowers from her purse, handing them to her father.
"Got these for ya, Daddy," She said softly. He took them with a loose hand. "Thank you, Erin." He said formally, placing them onto the floor carelessly. Holtz dug her nails into Erin's hand unknowingly, feeling the irritation with her father burn further.
After painful awkward silences and forced small talk, they ordered their food. Erin spoke up last, putting in her order for the Chicken Piccata. Her mother grimaced. "That's fun," Erin looked at her with a frown on her lips.
"I would have opted for the salad, but carbs are energy too, I've heard..." Her mother's passive-aggressive comment caused to Erin painfully chuckle in response, and Holtzmann shook her head, letting out a grunt of frustration. "Nope," She muttered to herself shaking her head, and Erin gave her a pointed look.
"So," Her father spoke up for the first time, catching Jillian off guard. "You're one of those lesbians now?" He peered at Holtzmann with an eyebrow raised, and she returned just as hostile of a look, moving closer to her girlfriend protectively.
"I'm bisexual." Erin said softly, "I told you that when I was 16, Dad." He snorted, shaking his head. Their mother shushed him, smiling uncomfortably, but he continued on. "Well, I find it unlikely that you will end up married to anyone but a man." Erin sighed softly, just shaking her head. "So," He started again, and Holtzmann felt the hair on her neck stand in irritation. "How is the college? You've got tenure now, correct?"
"She works with me and our other colleagues Abigail Yates and Patty Tolan on our individual studies." Holtz spoke up before Erin could. "We study the paranormal as well as create equipment to capture and encase entities for more up-close studies. I'm a nuclear engineer, so we work well together with her physicist skill set." He choked on his beer, and her mother closed her eyes, resting her hand on her face.
"Not this again, Erin..." She said bitterly.
"Mom," The brunette said firmly. "You can't tell me you didn't hear about the Ghostbusters saving New York City. That was me! That was us!" She gestured hurriedly between the two of them. "We work very hard on our study and I'm very proud of both my work and Holtzmann's work. She is a brilliant Nuclear engineer who creates astonishing equipment that we would be lost without!" She grinned proudly at Holtz despite the unsure glare in her eyes, and Holtzmann smiled back confidently, kissing the back of their intertwined hands.
Her father snorted, shaking his head. "Is your whole life a joke now?" Erin saw flames ignite in her girlfriends eyes, and she knew that there was no stopping her now.
"Alright, that's it." Holtzmann stood up and smacked her fist on the table, her finger pointed accusingly at her father. "With all due respect, sir," She spit venomously, "You are a goddamn asshole." Erin cringed at her girlfriends use of such foul language, all the while biting back a grin as her girlfriend said the things that she had wished to say to him her whole life.
"Excuse me-" Thompson tried.
"Nope. Shut up. Shut it and listen the fuck up. Your daughter is the most astonishingly genius, beautiful, strong woman I have ever met and I love her with all my goddamn heart. I wanted nothing more than for this dinner to go perfectly and I tried biting my lip but I'm not going put up with you putting her down and making her feel bad for the amazing work she does every day!" She fired off, her eyes wide with rage. Erin looked down, unable to hold back the grateful smile from spreading across her lips.
"Jill-" Erin tugged on her sleeve, feeling warmth radiate through her as she so carelessly defended her but panic as the anger in her fathers face grew. "Let's just go..." She tried, but Holtz didn't hear her.
"You can be homophobic to me, you can be bitter, rude, anything! But I swear to god, one day I'm going to marry this woman and you can either sit there and beam with motherfucking pride, or you can go fuck yourself 100 miles away from us. I'm not letting you tear her down like you did so many times before. Unlike you, I'm going to protect her, care for her; love her!"
In their stunned silence, Erin gripped Holtzmann's arm, tugging her out of the restaurant as she willingly complied. Once they reached the sidewalk beside the restaurant, Holtz was shoved against the cold brick wall. "Look, babe, I'm sorry but-"
Erin cut her off with a passionate kiss, her hands clutching her face tightly as she pressed her body against hers, holding her against the wall. She pulled back, breathing heavily and gazing at Holtz with powerful admiration. "Huh," Holtz smirked, despite the confusion riddling her expression. "I wasn't expecting that." Erin smiled shyly, looking down and laughing softly.
"I love you so much, Holtz," She sighed, resting their foreheads together. "Thank you."