29. Lord Have Mercy

       Waverly drove Nicole to her house a little after 11 AM so she could go to work, and then she headed back to the Homestead. She laid in bed all day, not having any energy to do anything. If she wasn’t crying, she was gripping Nicole’s hoodie to calm herself down from a panic attack. And if she wasn’t doing either of those things, it was because she had passed out from exhaustion for an hour or so. Everything that had happened in the past few days was catching up to her. This was one of the first times she was actually alone. Gus was working and Wynonna was- who knows. Her brain was racking over everything: Nicole was getting surgery in two days. She was worried about her and how she would recover, not knowing if she would completely recover. Tucker was in jail for holding hostages because of her. The guilt she felt from that made her squirm. Her side ached annoyingly from her graze. And, yea, Willa was gone, but the things she had said to her and Nicole still stung. She felt horrible for smacking Nicole so much the night before. She didn’t deserve that, even though she did kiss her sister. But they weren’t together then, and both of them were drunk off their asses. She knew Nicole would never lay a hand on her, and she didn’t even apologize for it. But, over everything, her mind kept going back to Champ and that guy at the club, Ethan, he had said his name was. Nicole had tried to put it on herself, but she knew it wasn’t her fault. It was her own fault. She shouldn’t have needed her to save her. She should have been able to turn around and tell him off herself, just like she had with all the drunks at Shorty’s before . . . well, before Champ decided to pull his little stunt. She hated how he had turned her into this weak, helpless girl. And she was trying to just forget about it because he had barely even done anything to her. She knew that there were so many girls that had much, much more terrifying things happen to them. Yet, she couldn’t shake it off.

       Waverly cried. She cried until her eyes couldn’t shed any more tears. And then she just sobbed dryly, eyes burning. The only times she got up were when she had to run to the bathroom, contents of her insides deciding to make a reappearance. Even after a while of that, she had emptied everything in her stomach, bile and all. The only thing she wanted was for Nicole to hold her and tell her it was all going to be alright. But she was at work. And she had a 12-hour shift, so she probably didn’t need her whiney girlfriend bothering her.

       Her phone rang at about 6:45, startling her awake. She recognized the ringtone as Thinking Out Loud, the one she had set up for Nicole’s contact. She let out a breath, swallowing the dryness down her throat.

       She answered it, placing it on speaker and placing it in front of her face on the pillow. “Hello?” She rasped.

       “Hey, Baby!” Nicole’s cheery voice filled the room.

       “What’s up?” She asked as energetically as she could possibly manage.

       “Nothin much, just bored, missin’ you,” she sighed.

       The smallest smile tugged at Waverly’s lips. “I miss you, too,” she managed to get out without her voice cracking.

       “Soooo, what’d you do today?”

       Cried, puked, had a panic attack, cried some more, had another panic attack, puked again, passed out, cried again cause I needed you here, and so on and so on . . . That’s what had actually happened, but she wasn’t going to say that. Obviously.

       “Uhh, been doing research for Black Badge mostly,” she lied, voice wavering the slightest bit.

       “Ooh, learn anything new?” She asked giddily.

       Waverly pulled the blanket up to her chin, swallowing the lump in her throat. “No, not really . . .” She squeezed her eyes shut, pushing away all the hate that she felt for lying to her.

       She was about to make an excuse to hang up, but she heard Nicole’s radio fizz over. “Haught, come in,” she heard the dispatcher’s voice call over.

       “Yea, Lucy, what’s going on?”

       “Mrs. Nolan called in another complaint about strange sounds in her barn.”

       She heard Nicole sigh. “10-4, I’ll go check it out . . . again.” She paused and Waverly heard the sounds of her moving around. “I’m sorry, Wave, duty calls.”

       “It’s ok,” she replied. “I’ll text you later before I go to bed, yea?” She knew she would probably not do that.

       “Yea, sound’s good!” She heard her car door shut. “Alright, Babe, love you. I’ll talk to you later.”

       “Yea . . . love you, too. Bye, Nic.”

       “Buh-bye.” The line went dead and Waverly let out a long, shaky breath, bringing her hands over her face.

       “You’re such a fucking asshole!” She growled at herself, smacking her hands down onto her mattress. A wave of something fell over her. She didn’t know what it was, but she just stared at the ceiling, feeling . . . nothing.

       She flipped to her side after about an hour. A glint of shine from her desk caught her eye and she knew exactly what it was. Slowly standing up with a blank look in her eyes, she walked over there, resting her hands on the edge, looking down at the silver skinny handle of the tool. Picking it up, she pulled the cap off the end, revealing the pointed blade. She trudged back over to her bed, sitting down on the floor and leaning her back against it, gripping the tool, knuckles white.

       After another hour, she absentmindedly put pen to paper, or in her case, knife to skin. She drew 20 lines along her left thigh before shakily dropping the exacto knife the floor, balling her hands into fists at her sides. She inhaled sharply, looking down at her leg. She let out a few whimpers, pushing herself up off the floor, walking unsteadily to the bathroom. Clutching a wad of toilet paper, she slid down the wall and pressed it against her leg as the tears began to fall again. She was brought back to the reality of it all, what she had just done to herself. She had heard stories of people hurting themselves and she never knew how someone could get somewhere so dark that that was their last resort. She realized she was now one of those statistics. A sob choked through her, leaving her a coughing mess, slowly dropping her hand from her leg. She stood up and threw the wad away, washing her hands, and making her way back into her room, curling up on her bed. She cried herself to sleep, sobbing into Nicole’s hoodie. 

.  .  .

       Nicole woke up, feeling like a ton of bricks was sitting on her chest. Turns out, it was just Calamity Jane. She pushed her off with a groan, sucking in a deep breath of air, lungs fully inflating for the first time in hours. She sat up, twisting her arms around with a yawn.

       She spent the next hour working out. It was raining, so she couldn’t run outside, so she did so on the treadmill. She worked as much as she could manage with her hand on her arms and chest, ending it with a hundred or so sit-ups. She showered and checked her phone. Still nothing from Waverly.

       She wasn’t going to lie. She had sounded off last night. She just figured she was tired or something, but it just rubbed her the wrong way. And she said she would text her, but she never did. There was this pit in her stomach and she didn’t know why. Checking herself over in the mirror, she grabbed her keys and hopped in her car, heading towards the bakery in town to pick up breakfast.

       She pulled up to the Homestead at 10 o’clock, readjusting her sling and picking up the coffees and a box of donuts. She gave the front door a knock with her foot. Gus answered the door. “Oh, for Heaven’s sake, Nicole, you don’t need to knock, come in!”

       She flashed her dimples with a blush, walking into the kitchen. “I brought ya’ll breakfast,” she informed.

       Gus nodded with a chuckle. “I see that.”

       Nicole rubbed the back of her neck. “Is Waves awake?” She asked.

       She watched Gus frown. “If she is, she hasn’t come down yet.”

       Nicole furrowed her brow, grabbing the coffees off the table. “Well, I guess I’m bout to go find out,” she said with a smile, turning up the steps. She cracked her door open, peeking her head in, seeing the bundle of blankets on the left side of the bed. She smiled, slowly making her way into the room. She walked around to her side of the bed, looking at her sleeping face. She set the coffees down on the nightstand and kneeled next to the bed, wincing as she knelt on something hard. She moved her leg, looking downward, picking up the silver tube, cocking an eyebrow of why it was on the floor. Her breath hitched. “No,” she breathed, looking at the red staining along the edge. She dropped her hand to Waverly’s leg that was sticking out from under the blanket. Her heart went from beating a million miles an hour to not beating at all when she looked to her thigh, seeing a couple of red lines on her skin running below the hem of her shorts. She swallowed hard, gently pulling up the bottom of her shorts, seeing the lines quadrupling in amount and doubling in severity. She looked up to her face with teary eyes, now seeing how pale she looked, how her jaw was clenched in her sleep. Her lip wobbled and she shoved the knife in the pocket of her pants, quickly standing up off the floor and rushing out of the room.

       She ran down the steps and Gus stepped in her way as she pushed for the front door. “Woooah now,” she said, placing both hands on her upper arms. “What happened, Hun?” Nicole darted her eyes around her face, mouth falling open in an attempt to say something. She dropped her head, opening the floodgates. “Nicole?” The woman asked softly.

       “I- I- gotta-” She covered her mouth, silencing the sound that tried to escape. She shook her head, pushing past the older woman, heading straight out the door. She ripped her sling off, feeling like it was strangling her, and braced herself against the front porch, holding both arms out, leaning forward against the railing. She dropped her head, watching the tears hit the wood. She tried to slow her breathing, but she couldn’t. Smacking her hand down, she pushed herself away, turning around and pushing her hand through her hair. The sobs shook through her as she slammed herself against the house, sliding down. She tried to make herself as small as possible, clutching her knees to her chest, gripping her arms tightly around them. She knew something had been wrong, and she just brushed it off. She could have been there. She could have prevented this. But she didn’t call. Why hadn’t she called her? Waverly knew damn well that she would have dropped everything for her. Everything. What had happened? She was fine that morning. Well, apparently not. Nicole’s whole body shook and she dug her nails into her sleeves. She had so many questions but was terrified of the answers.

       Gus sat on the couch inside, heart crumbling to pieces as she listened to the girl outside. She hadn’t remembered the last time she had heard someone cry like that, like every ounce of life was leaving their body. She slowly shook her head, looking down at the mug of coffee in her hand. She wanted to comfort her, but she knew that Officer well enough to know that she would have come in or called for her if she wanted it. She sighed, resting her forehead on her palm, tangling her fingers in her salt and pepper hair.

.  .  .

       Waverly came down the steps 30 minutes later. “Mornin, Gus,” she yawned.

       Gus turned to her, eyebrow cocked. “Waverly,” she greeted, almost in question of her rather calm nature. Waverly turned to her, giving her a small smile. “Your girlfriend went outside,” she said into her mug.

       The younger girl set the coffee pot down on the counter. “She’s here?”

       Gus gave her a weird look. “Mhm.”

       Waverly walked over to her, messing with the strings of her sweatpants she had recently slid on. "How long's she been here?”

       Gus blinked at her, now very confused. “For a while now,” she confirmed.

       “Ok . . . I’m gonna go see her,” the brunette said slowly.

       Gus turned to her before she reached the door. “Be careful with her,” she warned. Waverly cocked an eyebrow but nodded anyway. She walked out the door, catching a ball of redhead in of the corner of her eye.

       She turned quickly to her, eyes widening. “Nic?” She asked softly.

       The Officer slowly raised her head at her, face covered in red blotches, lip quivering. "Why didn’t you call me?” She asked quietly, face contorting with sadness.

       The brunette’s stomach dropped. “Wha . . .” Nicole pulled the knife out of her pocket, tossing it to her feet. She inhaled sharply, looking up at her. Her hands began to shake. “I-” She covered her mouth, running inside.

       Nicole pushed herself up off the ground, quickly moving towards the door on shaky legs. “Wave . . .” She called as she ripped the door open, but she was already upstairs. She pounded the side of her fist against the door, a new wave of tears rolling down her face. The redhead pushed herself inside, collapsing to the floor.

       Gus rushed over to her, pulling her into her arms. “Nicole, you gotta tell me what happened,” she said softly, rubbing her hand up and down her side. “Shh, what happened?”

       “Sh-she cut herself,” she sobbed, gripping her arm, shoving her head into her chest.

       Gus shut her eyes. “Lord have mercy.” She slid out from underneath the redhead and pushed the front door open. “WYNONNA!” She yelled to the girl in the barn. She waited until she saw her run out and sat back down, pulling Nicole back into her arms.

       Wynonna came in, holding the blade. “Why the hell is- What’s wrong?” She asked with concern, looking down to the two women on the ground.

       “Your sister,” her aunt breathed. “Go make sure she is ok and don’t you dare take that damn knife up there with you.”

       She furrowed her brow, looking down at it, noticing the red edge. Her breath stalled and she dropped it like it was on fire. “Oh my god.” She dashed up the stairs, two at a time, swinging her door open, finding her sobbing face-first into the ground. She slid down next to her. “Babygirl.” She pulled her into her lap. “I love you so much,” she mumbled as she kissed her forehead, tears rolling down her face at a rapid pace. The sobs shook through the smaller girl, and Wynonna was soon sobbing along with her. They cried with each other for several minutes, clutching themselves to each other for a little while once they calmed down a bit. 

       “I’m so sorry.”

       The dark brunette shook her head. “Nope, don’t say that.”

       Waverly heard a loud sob come from downstairs. “Does she hate me?”

       Wynonna pushed the hair away from her face. “Who?”

       “Nic.”

       She raised her eyebrows at her. “I don’t think that girl could ever hate you, Waves,” she smiled. “And if she does, well, haha, I worry for her future health.”

       Waverly laughed a little, leaning her head on her shoulder. “I’m never doing it again,” she mumbled after a few seconds.

       Her sister lifted her head, looking at her with worry in her eyes. “Please don’t,” she whispered.

       Waverly took her head in both of her hands. “Never,” she promised.

       Wynonna nodded with teary eyes, clearing her throat to clear them. “I suggest you go talk to that girl of yours because I still need to get a dress for tonight and I need your fashion expertise,” the older Earp admitted with a toothy smile. Waverly rolled her eyes, scooting off her lap. She stood up and saw the coffees on her nightstand. She picked them up, noticing one had a heart on the outside. It was still warm and she smiled, looking up at the wall in front of her. She squinted a bit. Something was off. She walked closer to her Polaroids, noticing the new addition. Wynonna leaned against the doorframe, watching her take it off the clip.

       “Why were you watching us sleep?” She asked with a goofy smile on her face. Wynonna laughed, leaving the room. She followed closely behind, 2 coffees and photo in hand. Her jaw clenched, seeing Nicole leaning against the wall downstairs, Gus sitting close next to her. Gus looked up, pat her knee, and stood, walking to the kitchen with Wynonna. Waverly took a breath and slumped down next to her, handing her the coffee with the photo sitting on the lid. “So Wynonna watches us sleep apparently.”

       Nicole laid one leg flat, setting the drink next to her, and looked closer at the picture with a small smile. “That’s not creepy at all,” she mumbled, looking over to her.

       Waverly sighed, leaning her head on her shoulder and interlocking their fingers on her lap. “Are you still going to be my date tonight?” She asked softly.

       Nicole lifted her head from resting against the brunette’s. “Yea . . . why wouldn’t I be?”

       Waverly shrugged. “I figured you probably hate me now.” 

       The redhead smiled at her. “I think it is impossible for me to hate you, Waverly Earp.” She pushed her forehead against the smaller girl’s.

       “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

       Nicole slid her arm behind her, pulling her closer and gripping the shirt at her waist. “Well, I don’t . . . I’m just very extremely worried and confused.” 

       “Very extremely?”

       Nicole gave her a look, showing she was serious. She sighed, not really knowing what to say. “Let’s start with . . . what you were actually doing yesterday because I have a feeling you weren’t researching anything.”

       Waverly shook her head slowly. Nicole raised her eyebrows, wanting more than that. She looked down, messing with the ring on her index finger. “I . . . There was no one here when I got home from dropping you off. I didn’t have anyone to distract me, so I got lost in my head again. Started thinking about everything that has happened lately.” She explained all the events that she had been stressing over and why she was. Nicole never butted in, even though she knew most of her opinions about herself were so, so not true. “I cried. For hours. Threw up everything. Passed out at least 3 times. I just . . . I really needed you, but I couldn’t.”

       Nicole swallowed. “Couldn’t what?” She asked softly, rubbing her thumb in patterns on her waist.

       The brunette sniffled. “I couldn’t do that to you. And that’s why I didn’t call you when . . . cause I just couldn’t.”

       Nicole shook her head, turning her body toward her. She pulled on Waverly’s knees, turning her as well. Waverly had her head down again. “Look at me.” The brunette shook her head. Nicole scooted her forward. “Baby, look at me. Please.” She dropped her hands to her ankles. “Wave.” She slowly looked up, tears in her eyes.

       “I need you to listen to me . . . If you asked me a month ago if there is someone I would do absolutely anything for, I would have said no. But, if you asked me now . . .” She shook her head in awe. “Waverly, you- you’re my world. I’ve quickly fallen deeply in love with you, so quickly, in fact, that it almost scares me. I don’t know why the universe decided to take it's sweet time to bring us together because, before you, I was just living to be living. But now, I’m living because I get to see your smile. I get to listen to you talk about your honestly really awesome history stuff and watch you get flustered when you babble on about something for 10 minutes without even realizing it. I get to fall asleep with you in my arms or in some cases in your arms.” She handed Waverly the picture.

       “You’re a cuddly drunk,” she mumbled.

       Nicole nodded with a smile, tipping her head a little. “I know . . .” She cleared her throat. “I know that I might not be able to always make you feel better. But I do have arms that are always ready to give you a hug. I’ll always have a shoulder for you to cry on. I have ears that’ll listen to whatever you need to talk about. And . . . I have a heart. A heart that beats for you and is aching to see you happy. Yea, I know, sometimes life is hard. And some days are rough. But, I promise I’ll always be here to keep you upright . . .” A tear slowly made its way down her face. She reached up and put a hand on Waverly’s cheek. “From now on when you need me, call me, text me, drive to me, I don’t care, just get in touch with me somehow. I don't care if I am sleeping, or working, or have my own shit going on. Hell, I don’t care even if we are fighting about something. I’ll help you through it with the best of my abilities. Big or small, I’ll be there, Wave. I know what it feels like to feel alone, but I can promise you that you aren’t. You’ve got your asshole of a sister, your most amazingly amazing aunt, and your pretty cool girlfriend. We all love you, Wave.” She wiped her face with the inside of her jacket. “You probably think that we’re upset with you for . . . but, we’re not. We’re gonna help you through this so it doesn’t happen again . . . and if it does- please don’t do it again-” She cupped her cheeks, closing her eyes. “But, if it does, we’re still gonna be here, just like we are now.” She wiped her thumbs gently under her eyes. “Ok?”

       Waverly locked eyes with her, quickly lurching forward, knocking her back with a hug. She wrapped her arms around her neck, resting her head on her shoulder. Nicole tightly wrapped her arms around her middle, relaxing her muscles. She sat them up after a few seconds, pushing Waverly’s legs behind her back. She quickly moved her hands, cupping her face, pulling the redhead into a teeth-knocking kiss. Nicole hugged her arms tighter around her body, holding her as close to her as possible.

       “We get it! You love each other! I’m about to throw up all of these donuts!”

       Waverly pulled back, rolling her eyes. “I love you so much,” she sniffed, pulling her hood up on her head, running her fingers down the edges.

       Nicole smiled a dimpled smile. “Yea, well, I love you more, but it's ok,” she winked. 

       The smaller girl shook her head at her with a giggle. “Unless I’m hearing things, my sister said something about donuts.”

       “I can confirm you are not hearing things.”

       Waverly kissed her once more before standing up off her lap and pulling her up off the floor. “You look good in pink,” she smirked, pulling on the front of her light pink Adidas jacket.

       “I look good in everything,” Nicole shrugged, grabbing a vanilla dipped donut out of the box. Waverly tutted, plucking it from her hand as she was just about to bite down on it.

.  .  .

       “Wynonna!” Waverly hissed, watching her snag a piece of candy from one of the little stations in the middle of the mall.

       “Damn, Deputy Dimples has turned you into a narc,” she scoffed, sticking the sucker in her mouth. “Why are we in a mall looking for my super sexy ball gown? Shouldn’t we have gone to a dress store?” Waverly stopped, crossing her arms. “What?”

       “Did you know that there are dress stores in the mall ?” She asked, pointing at the store she was standing in front of.

       “Oh,” she mumbled. Waverly gave her a playful shove for the entrance. They began to browse around the rather large dress store.

       “What kind do you want?” The younger girl asked.

       Wynonna pulled the sucker out of her mouth. “I dunno, that’s why you’re here.”

       “Ok . . . do you have a color in mind?”

       “Not black . . . I don’t want to look like I am at an upscale funeral.”

       Waverly looked at her weird. “All you wear is black, Wynonna.” She pursed her lips, shoving the sucker back in her mouth. Waverly ran her hand along a red dress. “This one’s cute!”

       Wynonna examined it. “Eh.”

       “You have to at least try it on,” she complained. Wynonna gave in and they walked over to the changing rooms. She sat down on a bench as Wynonna changed and decided to text Nicole.

Waves : Baaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Nicole Haught ❤ ❤ : Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

Waves : Watcha doin

Nicole Haught ❤ ❤ : Driving  

Waves : Texting and driving?!

Nicole Haught ❤ ❤ : Shhhh, don’t tell the cops

Waves : I hate to break it to u, but I’m kinda talking to one rn

Nicole Haught ❤ ❤ : HOW DARE U

Waves :

Waves : Soooo, what r u wearing tonight?

Nicole Haught ❤ ❤ : ERROR 404: Message not sent

Waves : Niccc

Nicole Haught ❤ ❤ : ERROR 404: Message not sent

Waves : Tell meee

Nicole Haught ❤ ❤ : ERROR 405: User says if u ask again, she won’t watch Friends with u anymore

Waves : Ur an ass, u know that?

Nicole Haught ❤ ❤ :

Waves : I’d smack u rn if I could

       A few seconds after she sent the text, Waverly felt arms hug her shoulders from behind and smelled the sudden drift of vanilla dipped donuts. “Aw, no you wouldn’t,” Nicole chuckled.

       The brunette smiled as she hopped over the back of the bench and sat down next to her. “I thought you were busy all day?!”

       Nicole smiled, hooking her chin with her finger, leaning into a kiss. “I got done early,” she shrugged. “And I decided to come relieve you of some of the torture from your sister . . . She also asked me to come, though.”

       “Why?” Waverly asked slowly.

       “No clue,” she sighed. Waverly leaned sideways on her, wrapping Nicole’s arm around her front, resting her hand on her stomach. “How long’s she been in there?”

       “Like . . .” She lifted Nicole’s arm up, looking at the watch on her wrist. “5 minutes maybe?”

       They heard the sound of a curtain woosh open. Looking up, they saw Wynonna strut out of the changing room. “You like what you see, Haught Cakes?” She smirked, posing with her butt sticking out. Waverly looked up at Nicole, watching her stick her fingers in her mouth and wolf-whistle. Both Earp girls laughed.

       “I like it, Wyn. Do you?”

       “I dunno. Let’s look around some more.” Waverly nodded and she went back to change.

.  .  .

       An hour or so later, they were still in the dress store. Wynonna had tried on 5 more dresses, not being happy with any of them. “It’s almost 3 o’clock, Wynonna,” Waverly grumbled with a sigh.

       “Ya. And?”

       “I don’t want to have to be in a rush to get ready.”

       “Yea, Earp, maybe hurry it up just a little bit,” Nicole added.

       “We’re not gonna be late, chill out.” 

       Waverly muttered something under her breath, crossing her arms and quickly turning to walk towards the bench. She hadn’t realized she had been standing in front of a shelf, so she ended up knocking her left side into it. The groaned through her teeth, clamping her hand around the front of her thigh.

       Nicole grabbed her arm and she turned towards her. “Are you ok?” She asked softly, furrowing her brow. Wynonna walked over next to the Officer.

       Waverly nodded quickly. “Yea, I’m good,” she assured, taking her hands away from her leg, seeing the darker tint on her black leggings and the red on her hands. “Noo,” she mumbled.

       “Wave . . .” Nicole said quietly. She looked up with a clenched jaw, tears welling up in her eyes. “Hey, no no,” She cupped her cheek. “It’s ok, we’ll go get it cleaned up. You’re ok.” She nodded, biting the sides of her cheeks. Nicole dropped her hand from her face, taking her hand. They started to walk out.

       “Nicole,” Wynonna called. They stopped and began talking quietly to one another, quiet enough that Waverly couldn’t hear. Wynonna pat her arm and squeezed her sister’s shoulder as she turned away. Nicole smiled at Waverly as they walked out.

       They got to the redhead's cruiser and she opened the back driver’s side door. “Scoot all the way over,” she said quietly. She did so and Nicole walked around, opening the passenger’s side door, pulling the first aid kit out of the glove box. She climbed in next to the brunette and closed the door. She opened the box, looking up and noticing Waverly was shaking. “Baby, you ok?” She nodded. “You sure?” She nodded again. “Ok . . . Scooch these down a little,” she said, gesturing to her pants.

       The smaller girl looked at her funny. “But . . .” She looked out the window.

       “They’re tinted, Love. No one can see in.” Waverly bit her cheek, pushing away the lump in her throat. “It’s ok. I promise,” she assured, pulling the brunette’s finger away from picking a hole in her own thumb. She swallowed, lifting her hips up, sliding her pants down to her knees. She clutched her arms to her front, looking out the window. Nicole kept herself calm. She didn’t want Waverly to see the pain in her eyes. She looked down at it, gently placing her hand next to it. She leaned forward, opening the center console and pulling a box of tissues out. She set it in between Waverly’s legs and grabbed the water bottle from the cup holder in the front. Tugging her sleeves up and turning herself sideways, she pulled a tissue out and opened the bottle. “I’m just gonna wipe it off a little, yea?” Waverly nodded, still looking out the window. She tilted her head towards her, looking into her teary eyes with very soft ones. “We’re gonna get through this. Together.”

       The brunette slowly smiled, blinking a tear out of her eye. Nicole handed her the tissue she was holding with a smile. “Together,” she nodded, wiping her eyes.

       The Officer grabbed another tissue and got her to pour a little water onto it. “Tell me to stop if it hurts.” She nodded, placing her hand on Nicole’s knee. She gently began to clean it off. Once she was done, she opened a gauze pack from the first aid kit and applied a little bit of pressure to it to help dry it and stop the little bit of bleeding that had started again.

       “Sit back,” Waverly said. Nicole cocked an eyebrow but did so. The brunette moved her girlfriend’s legs, putting one straight out against the backs of the seats and one bent at the knee, foot on the ground.

       “What are you-” Her question was answered when she laid back against her and placed her hand back on her leg with the gauze. Waverly smiled up at her, hugging her casted hand to her chest. “You could have just asked me to do this, Babe,” she informed, kissing her temple.

       She giggled a little, reaching behind her and patting along Nicole’s waist, feeling around for her pocket. She pulled her phone out and unlocked it. “When were you gonna tell me about your Fall Out Boy obsession?” She asked with a smirk.

       “Ok, first of all, it's not an obsession. Second of all, how do you know about that?"

       Waverly clicked the playlist she had listened to the other day cleaning, and the first song that started was Uma Thurman. “Well, after I listened to your playlist for like 4 hours, I kinda got the hint. Case and point,” she said, wiggling the phone. “That’s why I had your phone the other day, by the way, I can’t clean without music and mine was dead.”

       “Just because I have good taste in music does not mean I am obsessed,” she mumbled.

       Waverly kissed the bottom of her jaw. “It’s ok to be in denial,” she soothed. The redhead rolled her eyes. “I do have to say, though, your rendition of Sugar, We’re Goin Down in the shower the other day was lovely.”

       She could see the Officer blush in the reflection of the black phone screen. “I’m sure it was.”

       Waverly gasped. “Can I look at your pictures?!”

       Nicole’s eyes widened. “Uhmm, at your own risk. There could be some scary things on there, I don’t remember.” Waverly giggled evilly. “I bought myself my first iPhone when I started Police Academy, so . . . 4ish years ago? . . . Damn, I’m old.” Waverly nodded in agreement, scrolling to the bottom of her pictures.

       “Tiny Jeremy!” It was a picture of Jeremy posing with a pair of huge sunglasses on. Nicole smiled. A few pictures later was the first actual picture of Nicole. She was standing in front of a big mirror in a sports bra and basketball shorts. “Aww, almost-naked baby Nic.”

       Nicole snorted. “That was the first day of Academy and our Commanding Officer told us to take a picture of ourselves so we could push ourselves to shape up.”

       “Hmm, that’s smart.” She scrolled to a picture of her and 3 other people. They were all wearing the same outfit. A white shirt with their last names in black letters across the front, black cargo jeans, a utility belt, and black boots.

       “Ah, our lovely training uniforms,” she sighed. The passenger’s side door came open, making Waverly jump.

       Wynonna peeked her head in. “You two look comfy,” she teased, placing her dress bag on the seat. She handed Waverly a drink carrier with two Starbucks cups in it. “Got ya’ll hot chocolate,” she smiled.

       “Aw, she does have a heart,” Nicole snickered.

       “Don’t push it,” the older Earp warned. “Nice underwear, Wave.” She gave her a look.

       Nicole looked down. “Yea, I agree, Baby,” she husked, running her pinky along the elastic.

       “Nicole,” Waverly snapped through her teeth, pulling her hand away.

       “That’s my baby sister, Haught.”

       She looked up at the warning look from Wynonna with a chuckle. “Can I take this off?” She asked, tapping her finger on the gauze on her thigh.

       “Ya.” She slowly took her hand away, realizing it had stuck to her leg.

       “This might hurt.” She gently pulled it off her skin and Waverly moved off her lap. Nicole checked it over once more and Waverly pulled her pants back up. Wynonna swallowed, making eye contact with the redhead. She clenched her jaw and Wynonna rubbed her hand along the side of her face. “You have to open the door, they don’t open from the inside,” she informed her.

       Wynonna opened her sister's side. “You realize how many times I’ve been in one of these, right?” She asked with a smirk as Waverly climbed out.

       “I don’t think that is something to brag about, Nonna.” She knocked her with her elbow, taking a sip of hot chocolate.

       Nicole climbed out holding the first aid kit and all their used materials. “What dress did you decide on, Earp?” She asked as she leaned into the car to put the things back.

       “The first one,” she mumbled.

       Waverly and Nicole glared at her. “Seriously?” Her sister demanded. “We could have been done an hour ago?” Wynonna gave her a toothy smile. “Just for that, Nic’s driving me home,” she huffed, leaning back into her girlfriend.

       Wynonna rolled her eyes, grabbing her dress. “Have a nice trip!” She exclaimed sarcastically, walking over to her truck a few cars over. Nicole and Waverly climbed in the cruiser and she pulled out of the mall parking lot. Waverly continued scrolling through pictures.

.  .  .

       Nicole looked over to her girlfriend when she heard her inhale audibly. She noticed her eyes were wide, mouth open. “What?” She asked with a laugh. She was staring at a picture of Nicole standing next to a guy. They were both flexing really hard with their heads turned, smiling wide smiles at one another. She zoomed in on Nicole. Her body now was absolutely positively amazing. But in this picture, she had abs for days and buff ass arms. “What?” She asked again, tipping the phone toward her. “Oh god.” Her face went bright red. “We had the option towards graduation to join a 70-day intense diet/workout program called Deadman’s Training. Barely anyone did it because it was an all-day-everyday thing and it got its name because some guy died doing it. Horrible decision. Horrible. The hardest thing I have ever done. That’s me with my trainer on the last day.”

       Waverly looked up at her. “I’m just gonna . . . send this to myself . . . for educational purposes.”

       Nicole pulled both lips into her mouth, looking over at her. “You, uh, might need to hold onto something before you swipe,” she informed.

       Waverly gave her a weird look before swiping. She quickly realized she should have listened. “Fuck,” she breathed, gawking at the full body picture of Nicole standing with her front to a wall, hands locked on the back of her head . . . completely naked. All her muscles, head to toe, were beautifully defined. “ You . . .”

       “Are a sexy ass motherfucker. I know, thank you.”

       “With a sexy ass. God damn, Nicole, I might just have you do this again.” 

       The Deputy looked to her, shaking her head quickly.  “Nooope, not happening.” She pulled her shirt up, flexing her abs. “I’ve still got a six-pack, you’ll be ok.” Waverly’s breathing picked up and her face flushed when she looked over to her. The redhead smirked, grabbing her hand and quickly pressing it against her abdomen. She watched her eyelashes flutter shut. Nicole licked her lips. “Told you you’ll be ok.”

       Waverly locked eyes with her. “We need . . . to make a pitstop,” she said, but the Officer knew it was a demand.

       “Text Wynonna, tell her we’re bringing Taco Bell home,” she said, quickly slowing down and pulling into the parking lot. Waverly bit her lip, sending the picture to herself first, of course. She quickly got out of the car, grabbing Nicole’s hand and dragging her into the building. They walked casually into the bathroom and made sure no one else was there. Once she knew it was clear, she yanked the redhead into a stall, locking the door. She tried to pull Nicole closer, but she stopped her. “Waves, are you sure?” She asked, looking around. Waverly knew what she was referring to, but she didn’t care. She grabbed her hand and pressed it against her centre, pushing her fingers down. “Damn, Babe,” Nicole breathed, feeling how wet she had made her. She grabbed the left side of her pants, placing Waverly’s hand on the other and they tugged them down to just above her knees. She kissed her deeply, swallowing the moan she let out when she pushed a finger into her with no warning. She placed her legs on either side of her right leg, slowly rocking against it as she slid her finger in and out of the smaller girl. They kissed sloppily, silencing the other’s moans. Nicole bucked her hips hard as she stuck a second finger in after a few minutes, curving them slightly to hit her very sensitive spot. She moved her thumb up and started quickly circling around the bud. Waverly was gripping her shoulders, moaning forcefully into her mouth as she tried to keep her balance on her shaky legs.

       Nicole soon felt her walls already start to pulse around her fingers, so she sped up her rhythm. The brunette immediately wrapped her arms around her neck, legs almost going numb from the sensation that stormed through her body. She whimpered into her shoulder as she slowly retracted her fingers.

       Waverly lifted her head with a smile, flipping them around and pulling her pants back up. She cupped the Officer's centre, pressing her forehead against hers, still trying to catch her breath. “Yea?” 

       “If you don’t then I will,” she panted.

       She tipped her head, sliding her hand up to the hem of her briefs. “Well, we can’t have that,” she whispered, yanking her pants down. “I’ve never done this.” She traced a finger up her folds.

       “You’re about to,” Nicole said through her labored breathing. Waverly kissed her as she slipped her finger through, quickly moving around the nub, smiling as she heard muffled moans leave her mouth.

       The redhead was quickly where she had left off rocking against the brunette’s leg. She gripped Waverly’s shirt after a few more seconds, tipping her head back. Waverly shoved her fingers in her mouth, and she bit down on them to silence herself from the orgasm that ripped through her body. Waverly slowed her finger, pulling her head down into another kiss as she quickly shifted into her, not giving her a chance to fully come down from it. Nicole smacked her hand back onto the door, a whimper slipping out when Waverly pulled back for air. The smaller girl rolled her lip down, latching on as she added a second digit after a minute. “Shit,” Nicole moaned.

       “Shh.” Waverly held her by the hair to keep her head in place as she slipped her tongue back in her mouth and sped up the flick of her wrist. Nicole dug her nails into her side, pulling her closer. Waverly felt the flesh around her finger start to contract and heard her breathing speed up. With a smirk, she moved her thumb up, flicking it as fast as possible. Nicole’s body clamped hard around her finger and she let out a few cries as she came. Waverly let go of her hair after a few seconds, pulling back from her face.

       She opened her eyes, looking at her girlfriend’s proud face. “There’s no way you’ve never done that,” she breathed, fixing her pants.

       Waverly shrugged. “I just have a really good teacher.”

       Nicole smirked, unlocking the door. They both resituated themselves, fixing their hair and clothes before stepping out of the bathroom and ordering their food.

.  .  .

       “Wynonna, what time is it?!?!” Waverly shouted from doing her makeup in her room.

       “5:38!!” She yelled back. Waverly sighed as she put mascara on. She got some lipstick on her lips and decided it was good enough. She walked downstairs and found Wynonna taking a shot of something.

       “Hey! Dolls said no drinking!”

       “Dolls can suck my butt!” She screwed the cap on the bottle and shoved it back in the cabinet. “You ready?”

       “Yep,” she said with a smile.

       “You look great, Babygirl. Haught Shit’s gonna cream her jeans.”

       “ Oh my God, you’re gross,” she gagged. Wynonna snickered, walking towards the door.

       “You both look beautiful,” Gus gushed, walking towards them. She gave them each a hug and a kiss. They told her goodbye and hopped into Waverly’s Jeep.

       They pulled up to the station a few minutes later and made their way inside. “So, are we avoiding Willa or . . .?” Waverly asked.

       “I dunno, we're about to find out.” Wynonna pulled the door of the BBD office open and they both traced their eyes around the room. Dolls was writing things down at the table and Doc and Nicole were talking to each other. She was leaned up against the wall, facing away from them.

       The younger Earp grabbed her sister’s arm. “I-is my girlfriend in a suit?” She asked with an open smile.