Chapter 8: She's Got a Haught Date pt. 2

"Ice skating?" Waverly asked staring out the passenger seat window at the outdoor skating rink. "You're taking me ice skating?"

"Too cliché?" Nicole asked, her voice rising in pitch, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Way too cliché," Waverly turned to face Nicole. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Nicole smiled and quickly got out of the car. She made her way over to Waverly's door and opened it for her, holding a hand out for the smaller girl to take. Waverly smiled brightly at her and Nicole swore she felt the temperature warm around her.

Waverly Earp was extraordinary.

"This was the original plan. The arcade just seemed too fun to pass up," Nicole smiled. "Plus, I wanted it to get dark before we came out here. The view of the city from here is breathtaking."

"It really is beautiful," Waverly agreed looking around. "I used to come here with daddy before he, well you know..."

Nicole squeezed Waverly's hand and moved so she was standing in front of Waverly, blocking her view of the rink. "Hey, I know. Don't talk about it if it hurts," she whispered and reached up to wipe away a stray tear that fell from Waverly's eye. "We can go if you want? Go back to my house?"

"No," Waverly shook her head and gripped the front of Nicole's jacket. "No. I want to be here. I want to be right here, at this ice rink, with you."

Nicole stayed silent for a beat, carefully considering her words. "You know what the easiest way to purge bad memories is?"

"What?" Waverly asked, playing with the zipper of Nicole's jacket.

"You make new, better memories doing the things that caused the bad ones in the first place," Nicole hooked her finger under Waverly's chin and tilted her head up.

"Amazing at acting always knows the right things to say," Waverly said in awe. "How did I manage to snag that? How did I get so lucky?"

"I think we both know I should be asking that question," Nicole chuckled lightly and brushed her knuckles against Waverly's cheek. "Let's go get our skates."

"I didn't peg you as the ice skating type," Waverly said as they walked, hand in hand, to the kiosk to grab their skates. "You really know how to skate? Or are you just trying to impress me?"

"Both?" Nicole bit her lip and handed Waverly her skates after grabbing her own. "No, but I do know how to skate. I used to play hockey in grade school, actually."

"Hockey?" Waverly grinned as she sat down and laced up her skates. "So you've always been a jock, yeah?"

"Ah, yeah. My dad," Nicole shrugged. "He kind of...forced us all, I guess."

"Your brothers too, then?" Waverly asked as she stood up, offering her hand out to Nicole.

"They mostly played baseball and basketball. I was forced to play soccer. He said it would help build character or something," Nicole took Waverly's hand and stood. They made their way to the rink and stepped onto the ice. "Hockey was my choice, though."

"What made you want to start playing?"

"My dad, actually," Nicole shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. "He loves the sport. When I was younger, my parents never really paid attention to me. It was always all eyes on my brothers. I got sick of it one day and joined my middle school's team. And I was pretty damn good at it, too."

"Did that get his attention?" Waverly linked her arm with Nicole's as they skated around.

"For the first year, yeah. He came to every game, filmed them so I could go back and fix what I was doing wrong. He was my number one fan."

"And after the first year...?" Waverly looked up at her date.

Nicole sighed deeply. "Things went back to normal. My brother, Ethan, he got a football scholarship. So it went straight back to how things were before."

"Nic," Waverly frowned and squeezed Nicole's arm. "Did you stop playing?"

"Yeah," Nicole laughed bitterly. "I realized that, no matter what I did, I would always be overlooked ."

"Wait," Waverly stopped skating and faced Nicole, "so you're telling me that you quit playing hockey, even though you were extremely good at it, all because your parents were being assholes?"

"Well when you put it that way, yeah," Nicole nodded. "I guess so."

"And to think, Wynonna thought your stubbornness was inherited. Turns out you're just as bad as I thought you were."

"Ouch?" Nicole quirked an eyebrow.

"No," Waverly shook her head and planted her hands firmly against Nicole's chest, looking her in the eye. "You gave up something you loved, something you were good at, because your parents made you feel like you weren't. You claim you're no good at acting, because your parents made you think so. I see it now," Waverly paused for a moment. "I get it."

"Get what?" Nicole asked hesitantly.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but you've been denying your feelings for me because you're afraid that I won't think you're good enough. That I'll see "who you really are" and go find someone better," Nicole opened her mouth to respond but Waverly continued on. "Well, news flash, there is no one better than you. Even if there was, I wouldn't want them."

"What?" Nicole's voice was soft, almost far away. "You really mean that?"

"Yeah," Waverly shrugged and grinned. "You're alright, for the most part. You're tolerable...most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Nicole placed her hands on her hips. Waverly giggled and shrugged again before taking off across the rink. "Waverly Earp!" Nicole yelled and skated off after her.

Waverly giggled and glanced behind her to see Nicole gaining on her quickly; she really was a good skater. It was in that moment, seeing Nicole chasing after her with a huge smile on her face, that Waverly realized how little she truly knew about Nicole, that the girl chasing after her on this frozen lake was far more complex and layered than she ever thought. Waverly fell for someone she barely knew, yet someone she knew better than anyone else at the same time. After Nicole opened up about her parents, Waverly knew that she was determined to learn every single thing there was to know about Nicole Haught, even if it meant waiting years until she was ready to open up about those things. The thought of being with Nicole for years did something inside of Waverly. It made her heart flutter and her stomach flip, the thought almost making her knees weak.

The thought actually make her knees weak.

Well not really, but it distracted her enough to make her lose her balance as she tried to steer clear of the edge of the rink. Waverly's left foot came out from underneath her as she tried to cut sharply to the right, causing her to lose her balance. Nicole, ever so quick with her reflexes, managed to grab the smaller girl's hand before she went down, but the momentum of it all caused Nicole to lose her balance as well. Both girls crashed to the ground, Waverly's back hitting the ice and Nicole landing awkwardly on top of her. Waverly let out a low groan and began laughing a deep, hearty laugh. The panic that flooded Nicole's body instantly fled the second Waverly's laughter rang in her ears and she began to laugh, too.

They stayed there, on top of each other, laughing until their ribs hurt and trying to catch their breath. Nicole managed to calm herself first and looked down at the girl beneath her. Waverly's eyes were crinkling at the sides, her smile bigger than Nicole had ever seen before, and she gripped Nicole's upper arms in an attempt to ground herself. Nicole let her knees hold her weight up, one leg on either side of Waverly's upper body, and gently cradled Waverly's head in her hands. They didn't fall hard, but after her incident at play practice the day before, she didn't want to brush it off. If Nicole's head hurt after falling on wood, she knew Waverly's head had to hurt after hitting it on the ice.