61. Let's Get You Home

       “ God, Waves ,” Nicole breathed quietly, tightening her fist in her hair and leaning her head back to hit the bathroom mirror.

       The party so far had been . . . quite eventful. Time was ticking towards 12 AM and everyone there was pretty much drunk off of the spiked blood orange punch and jello eyeball shots.

       And for the couple. 

       Well. 

       This was their third trip to the bathroom. They were averaging once an hour at this point, for they quite honestly couldn’t get enough of each other tonight for some reason. 

       Waverly moved her hand from her hip, jabbing two fingers into her. The Officer’s eyes rolled back in her head and her ankles locked behind her back as her centre throbbed in beat with her racing heart. She unclamped her right hand from the edge of the counter and bit down on the side of it as her muscles tightened all over her body. 

       Waverly smiled as she looked up at her, lessening the pressure of her tongue and slowing the pumps of her fingers as Nicole body slowly went limp, chest heaving as her eyes fluttered open. Waverly stood up off of her knees, gently easing her fingers out and pushing them into her mouth. 

       The redhead let out a breathy chuckle, sitting up and easing her closer by her hips, giving her a soft kiss. “You’re getting too good at that.”

       “Oh yea?” She slurred with a smirk, placing her Woody hat back on. “Why’s that a problem?” 

       Nicole smacked her hands on the tops of her thighs a few times. “Cause I think my legs are numb.”

       “Oh my God,” she laughed, stepping over her legs and holding her hands out. Nicole pushed herself forward, grabbing her wrists and hopping down. Waverly switched her hands to her hips, looking up at her with raised eyebrows. “Good?” 

       “Yea,” Nicole mumbled with a blush, reaching down and pulling her jeans up from around her ankles. The brunette gave her one more kiss as she zipped and buttoned them for her. “You’ve got a little . . .” The redhead wiped the bottom of her chin with her thumb. 

       Waverly licked her lips, turning and grabbing the air freshener off of the shelf behind her. “It smells like sex in here.” 

       Nicole laughed, placing her hand on the small of her back as she opened the bathroom door and walked out. They saw one of the bartenders from Shorty’s dressed as a zombie making out with his zombie girlfriend on the futon as they returned downstairs. 

       Jeremy grabbed Nicole’s shoulder as she passed him at the DJ stand, bringing his face near her ear. “Can you take over in 5?” 

       She looked back at him, glancing over his Albert Einstein costume. “I made an hour set the other night. Should be under Halloween or something like that. I’ll take over after that’s done.” 

       He nodded. “What were you two doing up there?” Nicole’s face blushed and she pulled her lips into her mouth, wiggling her eyebrows. His face scrunched up as Waverly returned with a cup of punch for both of them, handing her one. “That’s gross, Dude.” 

       She smirked, leaning her head towards his. “You’re just jealous.” 

       “I am not,” he huffed. 

       “Really? Cause I’ve done it more today than you ever have, Mr. One and a Half .” 

       He glared at her, stepping back behind the stand. “Fuck you.” 

       Nicole grinned as they walked off. “Go find you a mans!” She shouted. 

.  .  .

       The Deputy's alarm for work went off at 7 AM. Her eyes opened annoyedly and she stared at her phone beeping on the nightstand for a second. She heard a groan and felt a hand smack her side. Waverly had closed up Shorty’s at three that morning so she wasn’t in the mood to be woken up yet. 

       The redhead reached over and shut it off, flipping to her back. She tried to take in a deep breath, but she quickly realized how stuffed up her nose was. 

       And that realization led her to a few more. 

       One. Her mouth was as dry as the Sahara Desert, most likely from breathing through it all night. And her throat felt raw and swollen. Two. There was a deep throbbing behind her eyes that made her not even want to open them. Three. Her whole body was sticky. And upon further inspection, she concluded that her sheets were soaked from sweat. She slowly sat up, rubbing her face.

       It happened every year. Every year at the beginning of December, she came down with something. She had for as long as she could remember. Sometimes it was just a head cold, but other times it was the flu or something along those lines. 

       She groaned as she stood up and gathered her uniform. A little cold was not going to stop her from going to work. 

       After a hot shower that helped clear up her sinuses a little bit, she downed some DayQuil and kissed Waverly on the forehead before driving off to work. 

       She climbed out of her cruiser and headed for the door. “Hold it!” A familiar voice shouted from behind her. She turned, seeing Wynonna doing a little jog to catch up to her. The brunette smacked her back as she walked past, and Nicole’s body stiffened with the shock of pain it sent through her sore muscles. “Good morning,- Sunshine . . .” Her words slowed as she turned her head to look at her. “What’s wrong with you?” 

       She walked into the station, heading towards her office. “I’m fine, Wynonna,” she mumbled, scaring herself, for she had just heard how hoarse her voice was for the first time. 

       “You don’t look fine.” She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. “Jeez, Dude, you’re burning up.” 

       She shrugged her hand off. “I’m fine ,” she huffed, walking around her and shutting the door of her office in her face. 

       Wynonna pursed her lips, pulling her phone out of her pocket. 

Nonna: Get your gf to go home. She’s got a fever ️️️

       She put her phone back after a minute with no answer. If Nicole wanted to suffer, she wasn’t going to try and convince her not to. She walked off to the break room, grabbing two donuts and wandering over to the BBD office, taking a bite off of each. 

       Nicole dropped down into her chair, pulling the couple of files from the day before that she hadn’t gotten to out of her desk drawer and picking up a pen. 

       Her head slowly raised as her radio fizzed right as she was about to start writing. “Units, we’ve got a report of a reckless driver going down the main road. Black Ford sedan.”

       She sighed, looking back down at that stack. That was an easy one person job and if she didn’t have to go then she wasn’t going to. “Haught, take it,” Nedley called over. 

       Her lips pursed and she stood up, shrugging her coat back on. “Copy,” she grumbled. Of course . She walked out of the station and jumped into her car, flicking her lights on as she pulled out. 

       As she went to pull out onto the main drag, the guy she was looking for flew passed her, driving down the wrong side of the road. She cut the wheel, firing out after it as she turned her sirens on. 

       The Officer easily caught up to it as it swerved from left to right. It wasn’t like a drunk driver, more like someone who was purposely trying to swerve around for “fun”. After a minute, the car finally slowed to a stop, pulling off to the side of the road.

       Right as she climbed out, she saw something drop out of the driver’s side window. She furrowed her brow as she removed her pistol from its holster. If that was what she thought it was, this guy might have had a few other things hiding. She approached, keeping the gun at her hip as she knocked on the tinted window, glancing down at the snowy shoulder to where the object was dropped to confirm her suspicion. 

       The window rolled down and a cloud of smoke drifted out the window. She brought her fist to her mouth and coughed a few times as she waved the hand with the gun in front of her face to clear it away. She squinted into the car, eyes widening at the driver. “Scotty, what the hell?” 

       The boy shot her a slightly nervous grin. “Hey, Coach."

       She put her gun away with a huff. “Do you realize how many laws you are breaking right now!?” He blinked at her with his bloodshot eyes. She glared at him, stepping back. “Get out of the car.” He complied, opening his door and climbing out, leaning against the back seat door and crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you have any common sense or did you hotbox that right out of ya?” She bent down and picked up the blunt, setting it on the roof of the car. 

       He turned his head and grabbed it, bringing it to his lips. “Thanks.” 

       She snatched it back, putting it out and setting it farther away from him. “Don’t be cute with me, Kid. You’re only going to make it worse.” Nicole reached into one of the pockets in her utility belt, pulling a pair of rubber gloves out and snapping them on. 

       “Wait, what are you doing?” He questioned, furrowing his brow as he dropped his arms to his sides.

       “I’m searching the car,” she informed as she sat herself in the driver’s seat.

       “Wh- Coach, you can’t do that.”

       She pulled down both visors and reached over to get in the glove box. “I can, actually.” 

       “No, pot is legal,” he retorted as she dug around in it, pulling 2 packs of cigarettes and a couple of lighters out. 

       “Not for 14 year olds,” she informed. “Anything in this car is in your possession, by the way.” She set her findings so far on the passenger’s seat. 

       “What?! But this is Dustin’s car!” 

       Nicole knew that was the second oldest out of the three brothers, Scotty being the youngest. She set the crushed beer can that was on the floorboards on the seat. “But you were driving it. How am I supposed to know this isn’t your stuff, huh?” 

       “Coach, it’s not!” 

       She opened the center console, pulling out a baggie of blunts, a pipe, and another bag of weed. “Don’t Coach me. You’re the one that screwed up.” She stepped out and moved him, opening the back door with a sniff and picking up the several empty bottles of various liquor. 

       He stayed quiet, so she finished searching the car, checking the trunk, under all of the seats and any other place she knew people liked to hide things. She set everything that was on the seat on the trunk and walked around to face him, turning him around and grabbing his shoulder. “Scotty Schlemmer, you’re under arrest for illegal possession, driving under the influence, reckless driving, and driving without a license. You have the right to remain silent . . .” She trailed on as she took him to her car, sitting him in the back seat. She didn’t cuff him. Maybe she should have. But she didn’t. 

       After packing everything in evidence bags, she drove him back to the station, taking him inside. Lonnie went to walk past them and she stopped him, pressing the bags to his chest. “Can you put these in the evidence room for me? Thanks.” She shot him a tight-lipped smile as she walked on and pushed Scotty towards the cells. She opened one of the doors and he walked in, a look of fear on his face. “Don’t do the crime if you can’t pay the time,” she sighed with a shrug, closing the door and turning away. “Someone will be in later once they’ve called your parents.” She gave him one more glance as she walked out, letting out a sigh and rubbing her face. 

       She grabbed a police report paper as she trudged back into her office, setting it on top of the stack she still had to get to. She leaned her head on her left fist as she began to fill it out. She groaned as she rubbed her eyes, keeping them closed for just . . . one more . . . second. 

.  .  .

       “Hey, Ned?” 

       The Sheriff looked up at Wynonna, who was standing in his doorway. “Don’t call me that.” 

       She rolled her eyes, leaning against the frame. “Is Haught Pants still here?”

       He blinked at her for a second. “Why wouldn’t she be here?” 

       “Cause she’s sick and I told Waverly to come drag her home, but I don’t know if she did or not.”

       He blinked at her some more. “Well, did you check her office ?” 

       It was her turn to blink at him now. “. . . I totally thought of that, yea,” she mumbled as she turned away. 

       He shook his head as he stood up and followed her out. She pushed open Nicole’s door and they both stopped at the doorway as they looked in. 

       There sat the redhead, bent forward as her head laid flat against the top of her desk, pen still in her hand as she snoozed. Nedley sighed, pulling his phone out. 

___

       Waverly’s eyes opened at the sound of her ringtone. She groaned, flapping her hand around on the nightstand by her side, lifting it slightly so she could see the name. Her brow creased as she saw Nedley’s name. She sat up, putting it to her ear. Nothing scared her more than getting a call from him while Nicole was at work. 

       “Hello?” 

       “Hi, Waverly,” he sighed. 

       “What’s wrong?” She questioned worriedly. 

       “Well. I’m gonna need you to come pick Nicole up.” 

       “Why . . .?” She was already off of the bed, yanking some jeans and a hoodie out of the closet. 

       “Wynonna said she texted you earlier,” he informed. 

       Her brow furrowed as she set her phone down on the bed on speaker as she pulled the pants up her legs. “I just woke up, Randy. What’s going on?” 

       “She said she had a fever and now she’s asleep at her desk. I don’t need her infecting my station.”

       The brunette picked her phone back up, putting it to her ear with a sigh. “Alright. I’ll be there in a few. Thanks, Sheriff.” 

       “No problem.” 

       She hung up the phone and shoved it in her hoodie pouch as she pulled some boots on and walked out of the bedroom, grabbing her purse and keys as she left out the door. 

       She got out of the car after she parked and walked inside to Nicole’s office. She looked in, watching Wynonna take a Sharpie out of the container of pens and such on her desk. “Nonna, leave her be,” she grumbled, walking over and snatching it out of her hand. 

       The older brunette pursed her lips at her. “You’re no fun.” 

       Waverly rolled her eyes, walking around the desk and pressing her hand to the side of her girlfriend's neck. “Oh, Nic,” she mumbled, dropping to her knees after she felt how hot she was. She rubbed her hand on her thigh, pushing some hair out of her face. “Wake up, Baby.” 

       The redhead’s eyes slowly blinked halfway open with a quiet groan as her body tensed up painfully. Waverly looked at her with worried eyes as she combed her fingers through her hair. Nicole lifted her head, rubbing her eyes as she looked around and realized where she was. “Shit.”

       Waverly pushed herself up off the floor. “Let’s get you home, yea?” She suggested gently, rubbing her back. 

       “‘M fine,” she mumbled with a sniff, scooting her chair in. 

       The brunette shook her head. “No. You’re sick, Love.” 

       “I’m fine, Waves,” she insisted. 

       “Haught, get your ass home,” Nedley huffed from the doorway. She looked up at him with a sigh. She’d be crazy to argue with him. She stood up and rolled the stiffness out of her neck, walking around her desk. Waverly followed, guiding her with her hand on the small of her back. “You’re out until that fever’s gone. Are we clear?” 

       “Yes, Sir,” she mumbled. 

       He gave her a nod and they walked out to Waverly’s jeep. “You need to stop being so damn stubborn,” she grumbled when she climbed into the driver’s side. 

       Nicole leaned her head against the window. “Mm.” 

       After a quick stop to pick up some of the basic things she’d need, Waverly parked in front of the house and grabbed the bag, getting them both inside. Nicole plopped herself face-first on the couch, tugging the blanket tightly around her. The brunette set the couple of cans of soup in the cabinet and the container of orange juice in the fridge before piling the heap of different medicines on the counter. She opened the new thermometer, walking over and sitting down next to the Officer. “Nic.” She rubbed her shoulder gently and the redhead flipped over, looking up at her with sad eyes. She held it up and Nicole took it and put it in her mouth. 

       It beeped after several seconds, and Waverly pulled it out, looking at the reading. She let out a huff at the 102.3 prediction. “C’mon. Let’s get you out of your uniform.” 

       “No,” the redhead whined quietly. “‘S cold in here.” 

       She stroked the backs of her fingers down her cheek. “You’re burning up, Babe. You need to get in something not so tight.” She pulled on the stretchy material of her top that hugged her figure. 

       Nicole reluctantly sat up, knowing she was right. She pushed off the couch and they both walked into the bedroom. The smaller girl turned her and went to unclip her utility belt, but the taller girl shuffled away, doing it herself. “Nic-” 

       “I can dress myself.” 

       The brunette’s face fell. She could tell Nicole felt like shit, so she was just trying to help. But if she wanted to be left alone, she wasn’t going to fight her about it. She shoved her hands in her pockets, walking out of the room with a sigh. 

       Nicole turned her head, brow furrowing as she watched her walk out of the room. She immediately felt bad for snapping at her like that. “Wave,” she mumbled. 

       The brunette turned around, raising her eyebrows, and Nicole stared at her with that stupid fucking “I’m sorry” face . She pursed her lips to hide a smile as she walked back over to her. “What do you want to wear, Love?” 

       She swallowed painfully with a shrug as she wrapped her arms around herself to try and warm her shivering body. Waverly rubbed her thumb on her hip before turning towards their closet and sorting through it. She held up one of her Blink 182 t-shirts with a questioning brow. Nicole shook her head. She tried again with the rainbow tank she got at Purgatory Pride. Another no. She bit the side of her cheek as she went in the opposite direction, showing one of her University of Calgary long-sleeved shirts. She smiled slightly at the small nod. Waverly took it off of the hanger and handed it to her as she moved to the dresser. “I want sweatpants,” the redhead mumbled as she tugged her uniform shirt off. 

       “I don’t want you to overheat, Honey,” she said softly as she grabbed a pair of black boxers and held them out to her. 

       “I won’t.”

       “You will. And if you get up to 104, I’m taking you to the ER, so you mise well play it safe with these.” 

       Nicole’s head poked out the top of the red shirt and she took the boxers with a sigh. Waverly dropped to a knee and began to unlace her boots for her, yanking them both off her feet and standing back up, grabbing her utility belt as well. She stood up on her toes to kiss her cheek before walking with her things out of the room. She set her boots on the rack in the living room and then took her gun out of the holster and set it in the gun safe for her. 

       She was plugging in the humidifier when the redhead sulked back out. She stood up and walked over to the couch as she sat down. “Do you want anything, Baby?" Nicole shook her head. "Ok," she sighed, sitting down on the recliner and popping the feet up. 

       The Officer let out a whine as she stood up and grabbed the blanket, plopping herself down on Waverly. "Warm." 

       The brunette smiled, pushing her hand up her shirt and running her fingers up her side. "You're gonna get me sick." 

       "Oh well." She closed her eyes and snuggled her head into her chest, tugging the blanket up over part of her face. The brunette tutted, pulling it down to her shoulders before grabbing the remote and flicking Netflix on. 

.  .  .

       Waverly’s eyes slowly opened. She stretched her arms above her head with a yawn and rubbed them. The first thing she thought of, thanks to feeling the layer of sweat on her face, was how hot she was. 

       And by the touch of her hand to the even sweatier 103 degree forehead of her girlfriend plus the blanket on top of both of them, it wasn’t hard to figure out why. She pulled it off of her quickly, rolling out from underneath her and standing up. The redhead managed to stay asleep and that only seemed to concern her more. She picked her phone off the ground where it must have fallen off of the armrest and checked the time, seeing that time had eased into the early evening since they had been awake last. 

       Waverly walked into the kitchen and picked up the thermometer. She went back over to the recliner and gently stuck it into the redhead’s open mouth, quickly pulling it out after one beep. “Poor Baby,” she mumbled, seeing that her 103 prediction was right on the dot. 

       Trudging back into the kitchen, the brunette measured out some medicine and poured a cup of orange juice, setting both on the coffee table before returning to Nicole’s side. She shook her shoulder gently, whispering her name until hazy brown orbs met her eyes. “Hey you,” she said softly with a small smile. 

       Nicole made an attempt to say something, but her mixture of a sore throat and insanely dry mouth left her not able to get any sounds out. She closed her eyes, trying to swallow. Waverly turned, grabbing the cup of juice and handing it out to her. She sat up and went to take a drink, but furrowed her brow at the orange color instead of the clear she was expecting. “It’s good for you,” the brunette said, sensing her confusion. She hitched her lip with a small huff of complaint as she took a small sip. “How’re you feeling?” Waverly asked as she took the cup back and the Officer rubbed her face with the inside of her collar.

       “Shitty,” she mumbled. 

       Waverly pursed her lips as she picked up the medicine and held it out to her. “More or less than earlier?” 

       The redhead downed it, washing it down with another sip of juice. “More.” 

       She took the empty medicine cup and walked back into the kitchen. “You’re fever’s gone up, too, Babe,” she sighed. Nicole tugged the sleeves of her shirt up, pulling her foot under the opposite knee as she watched her pad about the kitchen for a few moments in an attempt to organize everything again. “Do you wanna try and eat something?” 

       The Officer's face scrunched up at the thought of that. “No.” 

       “Not even some soup?” Waverly questioned, leaning her arms onto the island as her brow creased. 

       “No,” Nicole mumbled a little quieter, curling in on herself, wrapping her arms around her knees and spinning the ponytail on her wrist with her thumb. She hated feeling helpless. She hated when other people had to take care of her. But she already knew this was one of the worst illnesses she’d come down with in the last couple years, so she was just about useless. 

       She watched Waverly push up from the counter, turning and grabbing a pot out of one of the bottom cabinets. “Waves,” she whined, trying to unstick her hot body from the leather. 

       “You’re gonna eat a little, Nic. A few spoonfuls, at least.” 

       The redhead huffed, throwing her head back with a sigh. She knew she really had no choice in the matter at the end. 

.  .  .

       Within three days, Nicole’s temperature was back to normal, and in a week, she was as good as new. But right as Nicole was better, it was Waverly’s turn. She hadn’t caught it as bad; her symptoms were milder and her temperature never got over 101.5, but it still wasn’t fun for either of them. 

       Thankfully, she was healthy by the time finals rolled around the following week.

       The Officer took a sip of her coffee, looking out the window in her office at the snow slowly drifting to the ground. It was 8 PM and she had been at work for 6 hours and was hardly looking forward to the last 6. Her, Dolls, and Wynonna spent the majority of the day trampling through the snowy hills in search for a Revenant, so she was still trying to warm herself up a bit. They were now 39 down, so they had just had a small celebration for getting halfway through. 

       As for Wynonna, her and the baby were doing great. She and Doc were actually putting the finishing touches on the nursery now, as she was about 6 months along. And their relationship had smoothed out, as well. In no way were they in a relationship, but they sure did fight like a married couple. Even Wynonna and Dolls’ relationship’s holes had been patched up. It wasn't like it was before, but they were friendly to one another again after the apologies from both sides. 

       Nicole was torn from the window at the sound of footsteps approaching the door. She turned her head, finding her girlfriend walking in with tear stains on her face. She set her cup down on her desk as she went over to her. “What is it, Baby?” She asked softly, cupping her jaw in her hands.

       She shook her head, closing her eyes. “I’m just so stressed, Nic,” she sniffled. 

       The redhead’s brow softened as she gently pulled her into a hug with a sigh. She wasn’t surprised. She had been waiting for this to happen if she was honest.

       Over the past month and a half, besides the small hiccup of illness, Waverly had been grinding her schoolwork to the bone. Once she found out that if she put in the extra hours, she could get her Associate’s degree before the end of the year, she had gone beast mode and it now took up 60% of her free time, if not more. 

       Nicole wasn’t mad that they had been spending less time lounging around with each other. They lived together, so they were around each other every day. But she was mad at how hard she was pushing herself. The only living being on the planet that Waverly Earp was mean to was herself. 

       And, God , how she was. 

       She got that she was a perfectionist. That was understandable. But the way she beat herself up if something didn’t turn out right or she didn’t do as well as she could have was horrible. Nicole would sometimes find her in the living room at 4 in the morning hunched over a computer screen because she was retyping an essay for the 5th time. 

       But now?

       She had her final to study for; the one that “determined if she got her degree or not.” And Nicole knew she would do fine even if she didn’t study at all. She was Waverly freaking Earp. But that didn’t stop her from worrying her tail off. 

       “Oh, Wave, you’re ok, Baby,” she soothed, pulling back and running her thumbs along the base of her neck. “You need to take a break, o-” When her hands came up to rub the last tears falling, she noticed the heavy purple bags under her eyes. “Have you not been sleeping well either?” The brunette pulled the edge of her lip into her mouth as she shrugged and Nicole knew that was what she did when she lied. “Wave,” she said a little more sternly, tipping her head. 

       She let out a small noise of complaint as she dropped her forehead to her collar bone. “You’re gonna get mad at me,” she mumbled. 

       Nicole tipped her head up with her finger. “Why?”

       She stared at her guiltily for a second. “. . . Cause after you’ve fallen asleep for the past two nights, I’ve gotten back up and then gotten back in before you got up again.” 

       Her brows shot up. “ Waverly .” 

       She pulled away from her, closing the door before pivoting back towards her. “I can’t screw this up, ok, Nicole? And if that means that I’m holding my 5,000 flashcards in one hand and a Monster in the other, then so be it.” 

       “Ok, first of all, you can’t yell at me for drinking those anymore. Second of all, running yourself exhausted is not going to help you retain anything you are studying. Trust me, I did the whole college thing before, too.”

       She pursed her lips. “I know . . . But it all starts tomorrow, Nic.” 

       Nicole stepped towards her, rubbing her hands up and down her arms a few times. “I know, Love. I know.” She pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I’m gonna take you home, alright?” 

       “No, I wanna stay with you for a while,” she mumbled, hugging her arms around her middle and propping her chin up on her chest. 

       “You need to go to sleep.” She kissed her nose. “24 hours without it is equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.1%. Now double that for your dumbass . . . Do you really want to take your final wasted?” Waverly scrunched her face angrily, giving her a warning pinch on the butt. Nicole let out a small yelp, making a face at her as she turned and grabbed her coat off of the hook. 

       The redhead pulled up to their house and shut the car off, walking around and opening Waverly’s door for her. The brunette climbed out, gripping her arm as she almost lost her balance stepping up on the curb. Nicole grabbed her waist to steady her with a small laugh. “Alright, Sleeping Beauty.” She turned her and hoisted her up bridal style. Waverly smiled, snuggling into her neck as she carried her inside. Nicole set her on the bed and grabbed the pile of four blankets, draping them over her one by one before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips. “Goodnight, My Love,” she smiled.

       “Ni’ night, Cole,” she said through a yawn. “Love you.” 

       “I love you, too.” She gave her a chaste kiss before walking towards the door. “If I get home later and you’re up, I'll whoop your ass.” 

       “I might just make sure I'm up then,” the already half-asleep Waverly slurred, a smirk evidence from her voice.