3. I Will Be There

Waverly’s morning consisted of telling the drunks of the town for the 100th time that they don’t serve alcohol until 11 AM, slowly developing a headache from the crying baby a couple brought with them, and consoling a wife and cleaning up the broken dishes after her angry husband flipped a table.

She didn’t think her day could get any worse, but then the one and only Champ Hardy strolled into the bar like he owned the place. His face was terribly bruised, but it didn't seem to bother him any. “Fantastic,” Waverly grumbled to herself. She walked around the bar to wait on some tables so she looked busy. 

Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t bother her.

She rolled her eyes as she immediately saw that he was walking over to her. “Heeey, Baby,” he greeted, pressing a wet, slobbery kiss on her cheek.

“Hi,” she grumbled, walking in the opposite direction with a customer’s cup that needed to be refilled.

“What’s wrong?” Champ questioned, following behind her like a lost puppy.

Waverly stared off annoyedly as she stuck the cup under the drink dispenser and let it fill back up with soda. “Nothing, Champ. Leave me alone so I can do my job. Please?” She turned again to return the cup to the table, setting it down with a smile. 

“Well . . . Maybe I can make you feel better, huh?” Champ smirked a little and pulled her back into him by the hips.

“No, you can’t,” she huffed as she wiggled out of his grip. “You’re just making it worse.” There were a few stares from the people around the bar, so she pushed him towards the hallway of the bathrooms and crossed her arms in front of her chest when she stopped in front of him. “I am sick and tired of you screwing around, and then acting like nothing happened. I know what you did last night, and I- I can’t do this anymore, Champ. I’ve been putting up with you and your games for far too long.” She flicked her eyes across his face that was completely twisted in confusion, and it was only then that she realized that Champ had no idea where she was going with this. “We’re done, Champ. I tried to make it work, but I wanna real relationship, and I know that however hard you try, you can't make it one because you are a child.” She poked his chest. “You don’t even have a job, for God’s sake! It's time to grow up and start living in the real world, Dude. Where not everything revolves around you ‘cause, believe it or not, you’re not that great. Shocking, I know.”

Waverly pushed past him and walked back behind the bar, placing both hands on the counter to help balance herself since her entire body was shaking. It made her feel good even though it was one of the most nerve wracking things she had ever done because she knew deep down it was for the better. Waverly let out a raspberry as she grabbed a rag and wiped some condensation from some glasses off the bar. She looked up after a minute or two, watching Champ walk out of Shorty’s scratching his head. 

Waverly knew she was working a double-shift today, so she poured herself her third cup of coffee, and slowly sipped on it, taking in the calm environment of the bar she knew wouldn’t last for long.

.  .  .

It was nearing 7 PM, and Waverly was exhausted. She had been up on her feet all day long and still had a few more hours left to work. All she wanted was to go lay in her bed and watch Netflix, but alas . . . she was stuck at the damn bar. She continued on, though, handing out beers and pouring shots for the demanding customers as the bar continued to fill up. She glanced up towards the door as she bent to drop a dirty glass in the bucket, and her face brightened up when she saw Wynonna and Doc walking in.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite bartender,” Doc drawled, tipping his hat at her as he took a seat in front of her.

“Hi!” Waverly giggled.

“Gimme two whiskeys, Babygirl,” Wynonna said as she sat next to him, patting the counter.

“Coming right up,” she grinned, grabbing the glasses and bottle. She poured it and slid the glasses towards her sister and her “boyfriend” or whatever Wynonna was calling him these days. She leaned across the bar to get her head in between the two of them. “I broke up with him,” she whispered. It felt weird to say it out loud for the first time. 

Wynonna let out a loud gasp. “Aye-yo, Waves! How’s it feel?” her sister asked, giving her a high five.

“It feels good. I thought it would have stung, but I feel fine.” Waverly finally had some energy in her voice again.

“That means it was never true in your heart,” Doc said, tapping his chest.

“Yea . . . I guess it wasn’t,” she shrugged, sliding back to a standing position. “Ok, well your fellow alcoholics are waiting for me. Talk to you later, guys.” She pat the counter in front of them a few times before walking along the bar and continuing to serve people.

“I swear to God he better not try anything,” Wynonna grumbled, sliding her finger around the rim of her glass.

“He sure won’t be walking back in here if he does. He’d be a dead man before he could put one foot through that door,” Doc assured with a sound of disgust in his voice. “She deserves nothing but the best, and that disappointment of a man was certainly not that.” Wynonna nodded in agreement and took a sip of her drink. She let out a sigh, and they walked from the bar to go chat up some townsfolk that were wandering around. 

An hour or so passed, and Waverly told the bartender working beside her that she was taking a break. She wiped her hands off on her pants, pushing her hands into the back pockets of her jean shorts as she headed to the bathroom. She heard the door close behind her as she walked towards the last stall, pushing open the stall door.

Out of nowhere, though, she felt a pair of large, warm hands grab her hips and a bulge push against her back under her crop top. She stood there frozen for a second before letting out a shriek. She spun around and saw Champ, who looked like he had had a few too many, giving her the creepiest smile she had ever seen.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” she asked with wide eyes, trying to push his hands off her.

Champ tightened his grip on her waist to keep her where he wanted her. “Shh. I’m gonna show ya how much ya really do need me. I love you, Waves. I know ya didn’t mean whatchu said earlier.” He started pushing her into the handicapped stall despite how she was quickly switching between shoving at his chest and pulling at his hands to try and get him off.

“Champ! Let go of me!” He shoved her up against the wall and grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her head so she couldn’t use them. “Champ!” She thrashed her head around when he dropped his boozy lips to hers. “No! I don't want you and this is why!- Champ, hey, we can talk about it! Just-” He shoved his thigh between her legs and pressed against her, and she let out a loud cry as she tried to get him off.

“You just made a mistake, Waves. Look- Watch, ok? I’ll show you.” He began kissing her again and grinding on her leg as he felt her up with his free hand, sliding it up her shirt as she continued to bat her head. She was trying everything to get him away from her, trying to scream, trying to hurt him even, but it was all useless it seemed. Champ slipped his hand out from her shirt and slid it down to her shorts, letting out a grunt when he couldn’t pull them down and resorting to the button on the front of them. 

He had only managed to unbutton and unzip them when Waverly heard a loud crack and felt wetness on her face. 

Champ suddenly dropped to the ground, and Waverly dashed to the edge of the stall the second she realized she was free, shielding her face with her hands. She peeked out between her fingers after a second and saw Nicole checking his pulse, and then kicking the shards of a broken beer bottle away as she knelt down and slapped a pair of handcuffs on his unconscious body. 

Nicole looked towards Waverly, who was now hugging her knees to her chest. She stepped over Champ and squatted down to her level with a tightly furrowed brow. “Are you ok?” she asked in the softest voice. Waverly stared at her in shock for a few seconds before she began sobbing uncontrollably. The officer scooted closer to her and Waverly crawled into her arms. Nicole put her back against the stall wall and Waverly laid her head against her chest, facing away from her attacker as she curled up in between her legs, hugging the redhead's arm tightly to her chest. A single tear ran down Nicole’s cheek, but she quickly wiped it with a shaky exhale, and they sat there in silence, the only sound being Waverly’s sobs. 

About a minute passed, and Nicole heard footsteps, looking up to see Wynonna standing at the opening of the stall with her jaw dropped and eyes locked on Champ. “Wh- what the hell?” she questioned, pushing her fingers through her hair. Nicole put a finger to her lips, running her hand through Waverly's hair. Wynonna nodded her head and walked over to the sink to look at herself in the mirror for a moment. She turned around and slid down the wall so she was sitting facing Nicole and Waverly, and they all sat in silence again.

Waverly had stopped crying after a while and was only shaking in Nicole’s arms with the occasional heavy inhale. She sat up with a pained groan after a moment, though, and quickly crawled to the toilet. Nicole let out a silent curse when she began to throw up, scooting closer to her and taking her hair back before gently rubbing her back. Wynonna gathered her thoughts and walked out of the bathroom, leaving the two be for the time being.

Waverly let out a hard breath and slowly stood, Nicole following right behind her. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, turning it over and holding it against her mouth as she walked out of the stall, pushing her body as close to the wall to avoid his body. She walked to the sink and turned the water on, swishing some water in her mouth before spitting it out and splashing some water on her face. Waverly dried her face and hands with a paper towel, watching as Nicole walked out of the stall and tossed the shards of the beer bottle in the trash can. 

Waverly turned to her with a slow shake of her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, looking at the ground.

Nicole took a step closer to her with soft but concerned eyes. “For what? You didn’t do anything wrong."

“You shouldn’t have had to save me. I should've seen it coming.” 

Nicole saw she was tearing up again and took a careful step towards her. “Hey, no. Shh. Don’t cry. It's ok, Waves. It's not your fault,” she said softly, pulling her into a hug. Waverly gripped her arms around her middle, tightening her fists in the back of her uniform shirt. 

They hadn't realized, but they had stood like that until Wynonna walked back in. “I brought the cleanup crew,” she mumbled quietly. She was standing with Shorty and Doc. Waverly stepped out of the hug and they turned to face them.

“We're gonna go get some fresh air,” Nicole said, looking at the smaller girl.  

“Ok,” Wynonna nodded. “I'll be out there in a second.” Waverly grabbed onto Nicole’s arm, and they made their way out of the bathroom.

They made a b-line for the double doors of Shorty’s and only when they were outside did Waverly loosened her grip on the officer’s arm. They walked over to a bench and sat down. Waverly leaned her head on Nicole’s shoulder and she responded by gently interlocking their fingers together.

The deputy looked up at the sound of the doors opening a few minutes later. She saw Doc and Shorty holding Champ’s arms and dragging him out of the bar. She put her hand on Waverly’s head to block her vision. They took him over to Wynonna’s truck and tossed him in the bed, and Wynonna soon came out after and walked over to the girls. She handed Nicole a bottle of water and sat down on the other side of her sister. Waverly sat up and took the bottle. She opened it and took a few small sips before wrapping her small arms around her older sister. “Can we go home?” she asked softly, releasing her sister from the hug.

“Yea, Babygirl, we can. Officer Haught is gonna drive us home since my truck is a bit busy right now, right Haughty?” She gave her a knowing look.

“Uh, yea. Of course.” They all stood up and walked over to Nicole’s cruiser.

Wynonna helped Waverly into the passenger seat and. “We will be right in ok, Babygirl? Hold tight.” She rubbed her thigh and gently closed the car door, walking around to the front of the car and leaning against the hood. Nicole followed and stood in front of her, and Wynonna rubbed her hands on her face. “What all did you see?” she asked with a concerned look in her eye. Nicole realized Wynonna still didn’t know what really happened.

“Well.” She took a second to put it all together. “I had just gotten to Shorty’s. I grabbed a beer, and then asked if Waverly was working tonight 'cause I wanted to ask her how it went with Champ- She told me earlier she was going to break up with him. The bartender said she had gone to the bathroom a few minutes before so I figured I would go stand outside the door to scare her 'cause . . . well yea, I'm a shithead. I got to the door and I heard some weird noises coming from inside, but I couldn’t tell what was going on so I went in. I heard a struggle and some muffled screaming so I bolted to the stall and saw . . .” She stopped wide-eyed and glanced into the car. Waverly was sitting sideways, picking at the car seat.

“C’mon, Haught, spit it out.” Wynonna’s voice brought Nicole back to reality.

“Sorry. Uhm . . . I saw Champ trying to . . . kiss her and he was, like, grinding on her . . . while she was pinned against the wall. She was squirming and crying and trying to get away . . . and I saw him going for her pants. I left all my weapons in the car because I was off duty and planned on having a few tonight, so I wacked him with my bottle and he knocked the fuck out. I made sure he wasn’t dead, and then I went to Waverly to make sure she was ok . . . She crawled in my arms and started sobbing, and then you came in a few minutes later.” Nicole looked at Waverly again.

“He tried to . . . damn,” Wynonna said, almost too quiet to hear.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t have got there sooner,” Nicole mumbled, looking down at her feet. She almost fell over when Wynonna knocked into her with a very forceful hug.

“The important part is that you got there when you did . . . before nothing else happened.” After a few seconds, Wynonna released her python grip on the officer and stepped back, wiping a tear from her face. “Thank you, Nicole. You saved my baby sister. I dunno how I'll repay you, Dude.”

“Well, you could stop with the puns, that’d be nice.”

“In your dreams, Haught Shit,” she sighed. They both chuckled a little and got into the car.

Nicole pulled into the Homestead driveway, and they all got out. She walked over to Waverly and the shorter girl pulled her into a hug, gripping the back of her shirt again. Nicole removed her hat and set it on Waverly’s head. 

Waverly looked up at her with the biggest smile she has seen from her that night. “You can keep it for the night if you want,” Nicole offered. Waverly responded by hugging tighter.

“Thank you for tonight,” she mumbled.

“I just did what anyone would have done."

Wynonna walked around to them. “C'mon, Babygirl, let's get inside. It's cold out here.”

Waverly stepped away, and Nicole gave her a small smile. “Have a good night, let me know if you need anything. I promise, I will be there.” The sisters waved her goodbye and walked into the ranch house. Nicole climbed back into her car and started it up. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she pulled out of the driveway and headed home with no idea of how that poor girl was going to recover from this.