44. That Beautiful Bright-Eyed Girl

       It always made Nicole’s heart hurt a little bit when she had to leave Waverly’s arms in the morning. Whether it was because she had to work out or because she had to go to work, she hated it. 

       Today, fortunately, was not one of those days. 

       She woke, smiling as she felt the smaller girl’s back pressed into the curve of her front, getting a fresh smell of her shampoo with each breath she took. Nicole pulled her impossibly closer to her, hearing a light sigh come from her. She snuggled her head into the top of her’s and closed her eyes, falling back asleep after a few short minutes. 

.  .  .

       A few hours later, the Officer’s eyes blinked open again, now finding herself as the little spoon. She flipped herself over, burying her face in her girlfriend’s chest. She felt the smaller girl hug her closer after a few seconds, so she scooted, clutching the front of her shirt. “My Wavey.”

       The brunette chuckled sleepily, tugging the quilt up to the redhead’s chin. “Your Wavey?” 

       “Mm.”

       She smiled, pushing a kiss into the top of her head. “I’m all yours, Cole,” she mumbled as they both dozed off again. 

.  .  .

       Waverly opened her eyes, looking down at the sleeping redhead. She pushed her hand through the back of her hair, reaching behind her to feel around for one of their phones. She found one and clicked it on, gasping at the time. She guessed the mixture of the plane ride, hard sex, and playing in the pool with the hot sun’s rays shining down on them proved to be exhausting. They had trotted up to bed at about 6 the night before and it was now 3:30 in the afternoon. 

       “What’s wrong?” Nicole mumbled into her shirt. 

       “We just slept for like 20 hours, Nic.” 

       “Oops.” Waverly rolled to her back, stretching her legs out. “Nooo,” the redhead complained, reaching out for her.

       “What?” She asked, looking towards her. Nicole tugged at her sleeve, looking up at her with sad eyes. “What, Sweetie?” She asked again with a laugh, stroking her hand down her face. 

       “Come back,” she whined quietly. 

       “I’m right here,” she giggled. The redhead pushed her bottom lip up, furrowing her brow. She tutted, scooting closer to her, wrapping her arm around the redhead. “What’s wrong?” 

       “I just . . . want you,” she mumbled.

       Waverly ran her thumb in a circle in between her shoulder blades. “M’kay, Love,” she sighed. If a lazy cuddle day was what she wanted, that was what she was gonna get. 

       Three hours and eight positions later, they stumbled downstairs after ordering some Thai food. Waverly popped out the recliner and Nicole laid back onto her chest. She figured she could use this lazy day to get some school work done, much to Nicole’s objection. 

       “We’re on vacation, Wave,” she complained, tipping her head back to look at her. 

       “I knowwww. But I have a paper due in two weeks.” 

       “And that means you’ll have a week to do it when we get back.”

       Waverly groaned. “I don’t like waiting until the last minute.” 

       “Babe, a week is not last minute.”

       “To me it is,” she mumbled.

       Nicole pursed her lips, sighing through her nose. She let go of her hands, allowing her to open the laptop propped up on her stomach. It was her vacation too, and if she wanted to do some work during it, she had no place to try and stop her. “What’s this paper about?” She asked, watching her click around on the computer. 

       “Research paper about the tell-tale signs of child abuse,” she mumbled.

       Nicole blinked for a second, not realizing becoming a teacher could be so graphic. “Sounds . . . fun.”

       Waverly shut the lid of the laptop, setting it on the table next to them. “Yea, ya know, maybe that can wait,” she sighed.

       The Officer smiled, flipping over. “Much better,” she cooed, kissing the bottom of her jaw.

       The brunette leaned the chair back, pulling the redhead up higher so her head was right next to her’s. “We should do this more often.”

       “Do what?” 

       “Absolutely nothing.”

       Nicole chuckled, pulling her in for a kiss. “Good with me.” The smaller girl traced her finger down her chin, tipping her up for another kiss. “Very good with me,” she muttered. 

        They shared soft kisses for the next 20 minutes, only pulling away when they heard the doorbell ring, signaling that their food was there. Nicole grumbled a complaint as she crawled off the recliner, heading to go get the door. After paying and thanking the man, she set the bag down on the table in the living room, removing all of the containers from inside. “Wanna drink?” 

       “Ya, watcha got?”

       The redhead padded off to the kitchen, opening the fridge. “Uhhhm . . . beer . . . beer . . . annnd more beer. What’ll it be?” She questioned with a smirk, peeking her head around the corner.

       Waverly threw her a look. “I wonder?” She chuckled, heading back in and grabbing them each a can. “You and your damn Bud Light,” she grumbled as Nicole tossed her one. 

       “Dilly Dilly.” She cracked it open, tipping it to her with a wink before taking a drink. 

       “You are so freaking weird.” 

       “Hey, you better be grateful. I’m breaking the law for you.”

       Waverly cocked an eyebrow. “And how’s that?” 

       “You, My Dear, are underage,” she informed, pointing at her with the end of her fork.

       The brunette propped her arms up on the table. “How do you mean?” She asked, tilting her head. 

       “Legal age is 21. And you are not.”

       Waverly grabbed her purse off of the couch that she was leaning back into, pulling her wallet out. She tossed a card at the taller girl. “I do believe I am 23,” she corrected, wiggling her brows at her.

       Nicole slowly looked up at her after reading over the card, jaw popped open. “You did not get a fake ID.” 

       “Oh, but I did,” she smirked. 

       “Waverly Earp,” she tutted, shaking her head with a small smile. 

       “Did you really think I would come here knowing I couldn’t drink?” 

       “I dunno, I figured you forgot,” she shrugged. She looked over the card again. “I’m honestly impressed, this looks legit . . . Casey Douglas .”

       She squinted at her. “You realize my sister is a felon, right?”

       Her eyes widened. “Wynonna did this?” 

       “She has her . . . connections.” Nicole shook her head again, tossing the card back to her. They dug into their first meal at the condo, chatting about nonsense, food being flicked on more than one occasion by both parties. 

       “Earp, do that again and you’ll pay for it,” Nicole warned, wiping rice off of her face with a laugh.

       Waverly giggled, but it slowly faded as she got lost in thought. “Nic?” 

       “Hmm?” 

       “Do you . . . Do you ever think I’ll find out who my real father is?”

       The Officer immediately stopped chewing, looking up at her with her jaw unhinged, mouth closed. She swallowed, clearing her throat. “I mean . . . I don’t know . . . Do you want to?”

       The brunette leaned her head back onto the couch. “Yea, kinda. I’ve been researching the Earp family history my whole life just to find out it's not even mine.”

       Nicole sighed, heart twinging a little. “Just because you’re not an Earp by blood doesn’t make you any less an Earp,” she defended.

       Waverly shrugged. “Still. There’s a whole half of me I know absolutely nothing about.”

       Nicole crawled around to the other end of the table, kneeling in front of her and cupping the side of her face. “Listen to me. You are no different than who you were before you found out about the DNA tests. You’re still that beautiful bright-eyed girl that I fell in love with and nothing can change that. It doesn’t matter who this guy is because he didn’t have anything to do with who you grew up to be. If you want to try and find out who he is or was, that’s totally ok. But just remember that you are Waverly Earp no matter what.”

       The younger girl slowly met her eyes up through her lashes. “I see why Wynonna calls you a walking bumper sticker now,” she mumbled with a small smile tugging at her lips.

       Nicole smiled sweetly at her, running her thumb along her cheek “I guess I am,” she shrugged lightly, dropping her hand back to her lap, picking at her finger. 

       “That’s what I love about you,” she said, nudging her knee. Nicole looked up at her with a blush. “You’ve got a way with words, Haught Shit.”

       She covered her face with a groan. “Oh god!” Waverly giggled, pulling her hands away. “I wanted one week away from that! One week!” 

       “Oh please, I know you two talk every day,” Waverly said, giving her a knowing look.

       She scrunched her face up. “Sending each other cute animal videos on Instagram is not considered talking every day,” she retorted.  

       “And when you gush about them to each other for an hour? That's not talking either?”

       The Officer pursed her lips, pushing herself up off the ground and grabbing a container of noodles before she sat back down on her side of the table. “How do you even know that?” She questioned quietly. 

       “Because you show me every single one.”

       Nicole stuck a forkful into her mouth, chewing slowly. “Cause they’re cute,” she mumbled.

       Waverly was quiet for a few seconds. “Yea, ok, they are pretty cute,” she admitted. The redhead smiled, fork hanging out of her mouth. 

.  .  .

       Unlike the previous morning, Waverly woke up to an empty bed. She took a few minutes to wake up before crawling out of bed in search of her girlfriend’s whereabouts. She wasn’t in the living room, wasn’t in the bathroom, wasn’t in the kitchen. She was just about to text her when she heard metal clanking from down the hall. She cocked an eyebrow, heading down it and opening the door, finding just the lady she was looking for. 

       Hot and sweaty in a sports bra and shorts lifting weights. 

       She let out a sigh as she leaned against the doorframe. She had walked in on her working out before. But it had only been when she was running or doing sit-ups. Why she had never seen her doing anything else, she didn’t know. But. What she did know was that she could stand there and watch her do this all day long. 

       So she did. 

       The Deputy let out a heavy breath as she set the dumbbells down onto the rack, turning to grab her water bottle. It was then that she saw a figure at the doorway, immediately recognizing it as Waverly.

       She stood up straight, pulling her earbuds out and pursing her lips. “How long have you been standing there?” She asked, wiping her face off with a towel. 

       “About . . . 10 minutes?”

       Nicole shook her head with a laugh as she walked towards her. “And did you enjoy yourself?” She gave her a brief kiss, heading down the hall and back upstairs. 

       “I did,” she confirmed. 

       “Stalker,” she mumbled.

       Waverly gave her a shove up the last step. “It’s called getting turned on by my extremely hot girlfriend doing some extremely hot curl-ups.” She squeezed on her biceps from behind as Nicole pulled some clean clothes out of her suitcase. “Which, by the way, seem to be working.” 

       After Nicole’s hand got better, she began working really hard on her physical fitness. And Miss Waverly had no complaints whatsoever after slowly watching the results. 

       Nicole chuckled, walking off to the bathroom. “Oh trust me, Baby. I know,” she assured with a devilish smirk, flexing in the mirror.  

       “Get in the shower, Jockstrap.” 

       The redhead pushed a hand to her heart. “Ouch!” She shook her head as they both began to strip out of their clothes, climbing in the shower.

       Waverly ran her hands up the taller girl’s back, massaging her shoulders, feeling the tightness slowly release. “What’re we doing today?” She questioned through Nicole’s moans and groans as she worked her way down her back. 

       “You’ll see.” 

       “Nic,” she warned. 

       “Beg all you want. I’m not telling you.” 

       “Fineee,” she groaned heavily. She worked her way down Nicole’s arms and dropped to a knee, getting her calves. She looked up at the redhead with a smirk.

       Let’s just say her back wasn’t the only thing massaged during that shower. 

.  .  .

       Nicole was now dressed in a black and grey tye-dyed Fall Out Boy shirt, black skinny jean shorts, and a grey beanie. She stood brushing her teeth in the mirror as Waverly walked back in from getting dressed. “This look fine?” She asked. Nicole’s eyes traced over her body, toothbrush falling from her mouth, clattering around at the bottom of the sink. 

       She had a tight navy crop top tank with overall shorts over it and one of Nicole’s blue flannels (that she had borrowed about 2 months ago) hanging over her shoulders. 

       “Ye-yea, looks a-amazing, W-Waves,” she stammered, face blushing.

       Waverly smirked, hopping up on the counter and wrapping her arms around her neck, kissing her deeply. “I don’t know why I even ask anymore,” she chuckled.

       “It’s honestly really pointless,” she hummed into her lips. They pulled away and Waverly tugged at the ends of her hair coming out from under the beanie. “You ready to get going?” She nodded with a smile, so Nicole lifted her off the counter, setting her on the ground with a kiss. She pulled the keys out of her pocket, walking out of the bathroom and spinning it around on her finger. “Let’s roll!” Waverly giggled, grabbing her purse as they walked out the door. 

       “How long is this drive?” She questioned as Nicole backed out of the driveway. 

       “You’ll find out.”

.  .  .

       “Nicole. We have been driving for an hour,” Waverly complained. 

       “Yea?” 

       “An hour through the desert!”

       Nicole looked towards her, blinking under her sunglasses. “Baby Doll, couldya be a dear and tell me what that sign says right there,” she drawled, tipping her head forward.

       Waverly cocked an eyebrow, looking towards it, eyes slowly widening. “WE’RE GOING TO CALIFORNIA?!?!?!”  

       “No. We’re in California,” she corrected. 

       “OH MY GOD, I’M IN CALIFORNIA!” She took hold of the brunette’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “Wait, where are we going, though?”

       “Nunya beeswax.” Waverly threw her a look, but it quickly disappeared as she remembered that she was in California . 

       Her eyes were glued to the window for the last 2 hours of their ride. Nicole swore she watched her almost have a heart attack as the skyline filled with skyscrapers and the sides of every road had palm trees.

       They passed a Welcome sign and the smaller girl dug her fingers into the redhead’s arm so hard they almost went all the way through. “LOS ANGELES??!??!?!”  

       “Was it worth the drive now?” She asked with a smile, tugging her arm away. 

       “YES! OH MY- I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!” Nicole took her hand, kissing her knuckles. 

       They took a drive through the heart of LA, heading towards Hollywood. Nicole parked up on a hill and they got someone to take a bunch of cutsey pictures of them in front of the Hollywood sign. After that, they got lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and walked the Walk of Fame. 

       “I never thought I’d see this is real life,” Waverly admitted, swinging their arms. 

       “And here you are . . . walking on . . .” She looked down at Waverly’s feet. “Adam Sandler.” Waverly laughed, leaning into her. 

       They made their way back to the car a little while later. “Now where to?” The brunette asked. 

       “Do you really think I am going to tell you that?” Waverly sighed, leaning against the window.

       Her attention was regained 30 minutes later when she saw a hint of blue in the distance. “Nic?” 

       “Hmm?”

       “Is that?”

       “Mhm.”

       “Are we?”

       “Mhm.”

       Her eyes widened, jaw hitting the floor. Nicole beamed at her. “But I don’t have a-” 

       “They’re in the back,” she informed. They entered Venice Beach and Nicole pulled up to a beach house. 

       “Are we staying here tonight!?” 

       “We are,” she smirked. Waverly gasped, jumping out of the car, tracing her eyes across the shoreline.

       Nicole walked around, wrapping her arm around her waist. “Amazing, right?” She asked quietly. 

       “Yea . . .” She breathed out. Nicole smiled, kissing her temple. “Can we go?”

       “No. You’re not allowed to.”

       She looked up at her, furrowing her brows. “Why?” 

       She snorted. “I’m kidding, c’mon.”

       Waverly tutted, smacking her arm. “Don’t do that to me!” She chuckled as she grabbed a bag for each of them out of the trunk. “So this is why I couldn’t find my Lion King shirt this morning. You snatched it.” 

       “Are you really that mad, though?” She asked, pushing the front door of the beach house open.

       Waverly scanned her eyes around the main room. “N-No, not at all.” She didn’t even want to know how much she had spent to rent it for the night. They found the bedroom and Waverly was already changed into her bikini before Nicole took her shirt off. “Hurry up!” She complained, chucking her trunks at her face. 

       “I’m hurrying!” 

       Waverly huffed, walking over to the glass doors and stepping out onto the balcony. She had heard all of Nicole’s stories and descriptions of the ocean. She had seen pictures and videos of it. But nothing could compare to the sight in front of her. 

       Nicole stepped out with her a few minutes later, leaning forward onto the white railing. “Why do you spoil me so much?” The brunette questioned.

       She looked towards her, raising her eyebrows. “I don’t.” 

       “You call this not spoiling me?”

       Nicole turned to face her. “This is what you deserve,” she asserted. “Well, technically you deserve the world, but this is the best I can do.”

       Waverly blushed, looking down bashfully. “Quit,” she mumbled, hugging her arms around herself. 

       The Deputy took a step forward, tilting her chin up. “It’s true,” she shrugged with a smile. The brunette shook her head, turning away. Nicole turned her back gently, hand resting on her hip. “It is true, Wave.”

       She shook her head again. “I’m not that special, Nicole.”

       She widened her eyes. “Waverly, you are the most specialist thing ever, don’t you even.”

       She looked up at her through her lashes. “You really love me, don’t you?”

       “More than you know,” she smiled, pulling her in for a kiss. 

       They made their way down the beach, finding a spot to put all their things. Nicole tossed Waverly the bottle of sunscreen with a wink. “Come here,” she sighed. The redhead chuckled, sitting down on the towel in front of her. “The sun is gonna set right in front of us, isn’t it?” She asked, looking up at the 5 o’clock sun. 

       “It’s literally the coolest thing ever,” she answered excitedly. Waverly smiled, finishing up with her sunscreen. 

       “Come on! Come on! Come on!” 

       “Hold on!” Nicole grumbled, tucking their phones and wallets underneath their towels. “Unless you prefer your things stolen.” The younger girl scoffed, taking her hand when she stood up straight, dragging her along. She came to an abrupt halt a foot away from the water. “What?” Nicole asked, confused about what just happened.

       “There's no sharks, is there?”

       She smiled, shaking her head. “They don’t let you swim if there are sharks, Love.”

       “Are you sure?” She asked, an uncertain look in her eye.

       “Yes, I’m sure. It’s ok.” She squeezed her hands a few times, slowly walking her into the water. Once she watched the smile slowly rip her face in half, she let go of her hand. “C’mon!” She began to run in a trot farther out into the water, diving into it when it got deep enough. 

       “I’m dating a 7-year-old,” she sighed, shaking her head as she followed her out there, watching her pop back up after a few seconds. “Was that fun?” She asked with a goofy smile.

       She didn’t like the smirk on her face. 

       “How about you find out?” She was going to question her but wasn’t able to. Nicole charged at her, tackling her into the water. She let out a shriek when her head came back up above the surface of the water. She opened her eyes, finding the redhead laughing as she pushed the hair out of her face, arms still wrapped around her body. 

       “That was mean!” 

       “No, that was funny!” She shook her head with a laugh, crashing their lips together. Nicole pulled them both to their feet. “Do you wanna go out farther?” She questioned. The water was only at about high-waist level now. 

       “Race ya!” Waverly dove into the water, swimming quickly away from the redhead. Nicole laughed, diving after her. After several seconds, Nicole popped to her feet and latched onto the shorter girl’s ankles, preventing her from going any farther. She flipped her to her back, pulling her backward. Waverly let out a squeal as Nicole pushed her feet behind her back, lifting her up. The water was at her shoulders now. 

       “I win,” she smirked.

       “No, no.” She unhooked her ankles, dropping back to the ocean floor. “You know what the fun part about water is?” 

       “What’s that?” Nicole asked. She tugged her forward and lifted her up, arms crossing under her butt. The redhead giggled, hugging her arms around her neck. “So, this is what you feel like all the time.”

       Waverly laughed, giving her a loving kiss. “Fun, right?” 

       “Very,” she confirmed with a grin. She gave her another kiss, pulling her down as she fell backward in the water. 

       They continued to mess around in the water for a few more hours, watching the sun slowly set. The sky was painted with reds and purples blended with yellows and oranges. They both agreed that it was the prettiest one they had ever seen. 

       “How’s it even do that?” Nicole asked in amazement. 

       “I don’t think you want me to actually explain it,” Waverly pointed out. Nicole smiled, hoisting her up for the hundredth time that day. Waverly tangled her hands in her hair. They were standing in about thigh-deep water now. 

       “I’d rather think of it as magical,” she admitted.

       Waverly nodded in agreement. “It is pretty magical,” she sighed. Nicole looked up at her with heart eyes. The brunette moved her hands, draping one lightly around her neck, other cupping her jaw. The Officer surged forward, kissing her with every drop of affection she could pour out. 

       They slowly made their way back to the shore, plopping down onto their towels. As they were bickering over what they should have for dinner, Nicole noticed someone approaching them in the distance. She kept talking to the brunette, but pulled her switchblade out from under the towel, holding it just in case.

       “I guess I’ll starve then. I only want pizza- What?” She noticed her fiddling with it in her hand. Nicole met her worried eyes. She tipped her head in the man’s direction. “Ok?”

       “People do that. Walk the beach at nighttime. Makes it easier for them to mug people.” 

       “And how do you know that?” 

       “Cause I’ve had it happen before. Twice.”

       Waverly widened her eyes. “Oh,” she mumbled. They looked back, seeing the guy still walking towards them. Nicole stood up. “No, Nic, don’t.” 

       “I’m gonna go see what his deal is.” The smaller girl swallowed nervously. 

       “Let’s just go back to the house,” she suggested, standing up. 

       “Yea, and let him go rob someone else? I don’t think so.”

       She turned her palms up. “That’s not our problem.”

       The Officer tipped her head at her. “If I can prevent it then it is."

       “Seriously, Nicole. Let’s just leave, ok?” 

       “No, I’m not gonna-” They had been too distracted to notice that the guy was standing right behind Nicole. And she had heard him breathing. She spun, flicking the blade out and pressing it to his neck, staring into his wide eyes. “What do you want?” She growled. He put his hands up, one holding a phone. He seemed to be in shock, unable to speak. She dropped her hand and he swallowed heavily. “What?” She asked again, calmer this time. 

       “Are you gonna stab me?” He asked shakily.

       He seemed to be drop-dead terrified, so she figured he was no threat. “Not unless you try something stupid,” she answered warningly. He nodded, putting his hands down. Waverly peeked out from behind the Officer, still holding herself close to the curve of her back. 

       “You’re probably going to think I am a creep or something, but I swear I’m not . . .” He held up the camera hanging around his neck. “I was taking pictures of the sunset and when I looked through them, I saw that you two were in the middle of most of them. I was just wondering if you wanted them maybe?”

       Waverly popped out from behind Nicole, squeezing between her and the man. “I wanna see!” She exclaimed.

       Nicole wrapped a strong arm around her front, tugging her closer to her chest. She still wasn’t fully trusting this guy. “Sure, let’s see ‘em,” she agreed. He nodded, pulling out his phone and pointing it towards them, swiping through about 5 pictures where Nicole was holding Waverly when they were kissing. 

       “Aww,” Waverly cooed, looking up at the smiling redhead. 

       “Can you airdrop them to me?” She asked. 

       “Yea, totally.” He clicked around, doing so. “Sorry for . . . almost getting my throat slit,” he said with a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. 

       “She just gets paranoid,” Waverly sighed, turning to look at her. The older girl stuck her tongue out. “Thanks again,” she said with a smile, looking back to the man. He nodded with a wave, walking off. She turned around to the redhead, who was picking up their stuff. She walked toward her, running her fingers down her arm. “Look at you . . . being all scary.”

       She threw her a look, handing her the towels. “Sorry . . . I just always picture the worst,” she mumbled as they walked back.

       Waverly hung on her arm. “I know, it’s ok. It’s a good thing actually. You’re always prepared.”  

       “I guess so,” she sighed, pushing the front door open. “So . . . what kind of pizza did you want?” She asked with a smirk. 

       After changing back into her clothes from earlier in the day, she left the house with the brunette’s pizza order. She had insisted to just get it delivered there, but Nicole said it’d be faster for her to just go and pick it up. So that’s what she did. 

       Though, her reasoning for leaving was a lie.

       She walked out of the gas station she stopped at and leaned against the Lambo, looking down at the box in her hand. “Hello, old friend,” she sighed, pulling one of the white tubes out of the box and lighting it up.