6. Chapter 6

A Seat Not Taken - Chapter Six

Author's Note: Edited after a mistake was noted. That was completely my fault and will make sure that doesn't happen again! Huge shoutout to the user who spotted my error in the dialogue between Nicole and Wynonna!

The next morning, Waverly woke up with a smile on her face. She immediately thought of last night and how her romantic evening with Nicole played out. She was glad that they agreed to take things slow; it was all overwhelming for her to adjust to, but she was happy. Waverly smiled even wider just thinking those words in her head. She was happier than she had been in a long time. Champ never made her feel this happy and this safe before. With Nicole, it was somehow easy.

Rolling over in bed, Waverly looked at her phone and was disappointed to see that there were no texts from Nicole. She then remembered that Nicole was on the night shift, so she probably went straight to bed at 6 this morning. Deciding to get some Christmas shopping done, Waverly got out of bed, dressed, then walked downstairs to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She stopped in the doorway, gazing wide-eyed at the African American man sitting at the kitchen table, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.

"Umm, excuse me," Waverly said finally. "Who the hell are you?" The man jumped and looked up from the newspaper he'd been reading.

"Shit," he yelped, desperately trying to shield his almost naked body from Waverly. "Wynonna!" There was a pounding on the stairs as the older Earp sister charged down the stairs, wielding her gun.

"What? What happened?" Wynonna yelled, brandishing the gun around the room. Waverly took in her sister's appearance; she was only clad in a black bra and matching panties.

"Wynonna!" Waverly shrieked, covering her eyes with her hands. "Put some clothes on!" She paused. "Both of you!"

"Wave, it's okay," Wynonna said gently, pulling Waverly's hands away from her eyes. "It's not like you've never seen this before." Waverly gulped, thinking back to last night, then settled back into the corner.

"Can someone please explain what is going on?" she finally said. Wynonna rolled her eyes.

"We're all adults here, Wave. I think you know what's going on." Waverly glared at her sister.

"How do you guys even know each other?" Waverly questioned. Wynonna looked at the man who looked back at her uneasily.

"We…work together," Wynonna said finally. Waverly narrowed her eyes.

"What's your name?" she asked, nodding to the man, who cleared his throat.

"My name is Xavier Dolls," he said holding out his hand. Waverly eyed it, but did't move to shake it.

"No offense, but I'm not shaking your hand based on the state you two are in," she said, looking between the man and her sister. The man, Dolls, pulled his hand back and stood up, making sure to keep most of his body covered with the newspaper.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get dressed," he said, darting up the stairs. Waverly eyed her sister until she heard the bedroom door close upstairs.

"You're sleeping with your boss?" she exclaimed. Wynonna grimaced.

"I didn't think you'd remember me talking about him." Waverly scoffed.

"He's all you talked about for a solid two weeks; all you did was complain about him. Well, I guess I found the reason why you've stopped complaining about him." Wynonna groaned.

"Why are you so mad about this? I don't need to get your approval to date someone; you sure never listened to me about Champ!" she said.

"I could't care less who you date, Wynonna!" Waverly exclaimed. "I just don't understand why you wouldn't tell me!" Wynonna sighed and slid into the Dolls' unoccupied seat, patting the chair next to her.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd just broken up with Champ and I thought you were still upset about it," Wynonna admitted. "Plus, I'm sure we've both had relationships that we haven't divulged to each other." Waverly froze, thinking about last night for the third time that morning.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Waverly said uneasily.

"Also, it's actually kind of recent too," Wynonna said. "I wasn't sure where it was going at first."

Waverly nodded and looked down at the table. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She wasn't sure where her…thing with Nicole was going. She wasn't even sure if she could say they were dating. They'd only been on one date, so it was probably too soon for that.

"I'm going Christmas shopping," Waverly said, breaking the silence. "Any requests?" Wynonna thought for a minute.

"A hug from my baby sister?" Waverly smiled and looked over at Wynonna.

"You don't have to wait until christmas for that," Waverly said, leaning over and wrapping her older sister in a big hug. The Earp sisters hugged each other for quite some time, only to be interrupted by Dolls entering the kitchen, this time fully clothed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Wynonna, there is an emergency at work. We gotta go," he said, grabbing his coat from the hook by the door. Wynonna nodded and ran upstairs to get dressed.

"I'm sorry about the way you found out about us," Dolls said after Wynonna left. "That was no way to be introduced." Waverly shrugged and stood up.

"It's okay, I overreacted anyway," she said, holding out her hand. "It was nice meeting you, Xavier." Dolls shook her hand.

"You can call me by my last name, Dolls," he corrected. "Everyone does." Waverly frowned.

"Would you rather me call you by your first name?" she asked. Dolls shook his head.

"Dolls is fine, thank you." Waverly nodded and grabbed her coat.

"Well, nice to meet you, Dolls," she said. "I'm sure I'll see you around again." She opened the door and yelped. There at the door was Nicole, her arm raised as if she had been about to knock on the door. Nicole shrieked and jumped back, startled.

"Nicole!" Waverly exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" Nicole smiled.

"I came to see what you were up to," she said. Movement in the corner caught her eye and she looked up.

"Hey Nicole! Good to see you again!" Wynonna had returned from upstairs and walked into the doorway behind Waverly.

"Nice seeing you again too!," she said. Wynonna nodded once again and retreated back into the house to grab her purse. Nicole smiled instantly at Waverly and inched closer to her, grabbing onto her hand. Waverly grinned and ran a hand through her hair flirtatiously. Gazing down at Waverly, Nicole leaned her head to the side for a kiss, but pulled back when more movement caught her eye from behind Waverly. Dolls moved into her sight, who raised his eyebrows at the sight of the two girls. Nicole cleared her throat and let go of Waverly's hand, who turned around and inched away from Nicole at the sight of Dolls.

"Umm, we should probably go shopping now," Waverly said to no one in particular before pulling on her coat and stepping outside, shutting the door behind her. The two didn't say anything until they were in Nicole's Jeep and pulling out of the long driveway.

"Sorry about that," Nicole said, reaching a hand over to rest on Waverly's leg. "I didn't realize Dolls was there." Waverly frowned.

"You know him?" Nicole nodded.

"I met him yesterday. He works at the police station with your sister. Well, he's a U.S. Marshall, but they're using the police station as their headquarters.

"Why?" Waverly asked. Nicole shrugged.

"No idea. They're always very secretive about what goes on in their back corner of the station."

"Probably making out half the time," Waverly scoffed. Nicole chuckled.

"They're cute together." She paused. "They are together, right?" Waverly laughed sarcastically.

"Yep! I found out this morning when I walked downstairs and saw Dolls sitting at the table in only a pair of boxers."

"Eww," Nicole said, scrunching up her nose in disgust. "That must've been awful." Waverly nodded.

"So where exactly are you taking me?" she asked.

"I thought you said something about shopping," Nicole said. "I do have to warn you, I hate shopping." Waverly laughed and pointed at a side road coming up.

"Turn there," she instructed. "Don't worry, it'll be quick. It's Christmas shopping."

It turns out that Christmas shopping took four hours. The lines were crazy long due to the rush for last minute Christmas gifts and Waverly was not able to make up her mind. Nicole trudged along, Waverly practically dragging her into every store and making her shop.

"Wave," Nicole whined when she looked at her watch and saw it read 1 o'clock. "Can we take a break for lunch? I'm starving." Waverly laughed and paid for the sweater she was buying for Wynonna and grabbed onto Nicole's arm.

"Alright, let's go get lunch."

They ended up eating at the local diner in the next town over. Waverly ordered two burgers for the pair and a large milkshake to share. Once the food came, they ate in silence, too busy with the burgers and fries, as well as their large appetites. Finally, Waverly broke the silence.

"Are we dating?" she blurted out. Nicole stopped eating and looked at Waverly.

"I don't know," she admitted. "Do you want to be?"

"Kind of," Waverly said sheepishly. "I want to be able to call you my girlfriend and hold your hand and, well, date you." Nicole gazed, awestruck at the girl sitting across from her. She smiled and reached for Waverly's hand.

"I want to do all those things too," she said, smiling. "So, Waverly Earp, will you be my girlfriend?" Waverly giggled and smiled.

"I would love to."