I want to write you a song
Chapter 11 – I want to write you a song
I want to write you a song
One that's beautiful as you are sweet
With just a hint of pain
For the feeling that I get when you are gone
I want to write you a song
I want to lend you my coat
One that's as soft as your cheek
So when the world is cold
You'll have a hiding place you can go
I want to lend you my coat
Nicole took one step behind to admire her work and she couldn’t help but smile proudly about herself. She had done a good job and she was sure that Waverly would like it, too. With one last movement, she placed it in the perfect spot inside of the brunette’s office. Now the only thing she had to do was to get out of there before Waverly arrived for work and wait to see her reaction. She hoped it would be a good surprise.
The redhead looked around the place to make sure she hadn’t forgotten any tool behind and then she walked out of there quietly. She put the key inside of the lock, now she just had to turn it around and…
“Nicole?”
She froze with the voice behind her. She was so close to doing exactly as she had planned. It was an almost perfect plan.
“Morning, Waves,” Nicole turned around to look at the woman.
“You were inside my office…”
“I was.”
“How did you get in?” Waverly was frowning, but she had a joyful smile on her lips.
“I have the key,” Nicole showed the bunch of keys in her hand.
“Really?”
“To be fair, I have the keys to every office here.”
“And can you tell me why you were in my office before I even arrived?” Waverly put one hand on her hips.
“Well, I…” Nicole couldn’t understand why she didn’t show it to Waverly already. “You know what? You should go in and check for yourself.”
“You are weird this morning,” Waverly giggled and walked past the redhead. Getting inside her office, she noticed something she had never seen before. It was made of wood, but she couldn’t quite understand what it was. She got closer to it and noted that it smelled good as it was recently built. “Nicole… Is this a reading table?”
“It is,” the redhead buried her hands in her pockets, blushing a little bit.
“Did you make it?” Waverly ran her fingers over the wood so lightly, afraid that she would ruin Nicole's work if she wasn’t careful enough.
“Yes. The other day you were saying that your neck was hurting because you were with your head down over your desk for so long. I thought you could use one of these. If you move this,” Nicole showed her one of the pegs, “it can hold the book and you can adjust to use more than one book at a time. Oh, and here you can adjust the height of the table, so you can use it when you are sitting or when you are standing up. By the way, I used demolition wood, so it’s like recycling, right?”
Waverly couldn’t believe her ears and if she was honest, she knew she had to put a lot of effort so she wouldn’t end up bursting into tears. She moved into Nicole's personal space and threw her arms around the redhead in a tight hug. Once she had her face in the woman’s chest, the smell of vanilla filled her completely. Waverly was sure that was the most comfortable place in the world for her.
“Thank you,” Waverly felt her voice almost failing her.
“It was nothing, Waves. Really.”
“Of course it was. You built it with your own hands,” she moved a little so she could look at the redhead in her eyes. “That is amazing.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” Nicole said. “You deserve the whole world. I wish I could do more.”
“I’m happy just to be around you,” the brunette moved back to the inside of Nicole's arms.
“I am, too. It’s probably selfish, to want you close to me as much as possible because you are so much more than I deserve, but that is what I want,” the redhead confessed.
“If it is, then I am also selfish because that is all I want, too,” Waverly whispered.
Nicole smiled. There was so much she wanted to say to Waverly, but she didn’t know how to put all those feelings into words.
“So, do you want to try out your new reading table?” It was the only thing Nicole managed to say.
“Most definitely,” Waverly walked behind her desk and chose some of her heaviest books to place it at the table. “Looks great. You built me a strong table.”
“I carried your bag for years, Waves. I know how heavy your books are.”
“Show-off,” Waverly grimed. “Alright, so tell me, any plans for tonight? A party maybe?”
“No,” Nicole replied confused. “Why?”
“It’s Halloween, silly.”
“Oh yeah. You’re right. I had completely forgotten that,” Nicole said. “But no, I’m not getting out tonight. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go to a party. At least not yet. I’ll just stay at home.”
“Well, trick or treat can be fun, too.”
“I don’t think that will happen either,” Nicole laughed humorlessly.
“Why is that?”
“I’m a junkie, Waves. Most parents don’t want their kids close to someone like me, so they don’t usually take their children to trick or treat at my house.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea,” Waverly sighed.
“Hey, this is not your fault, it’s mine,” Nicole held one of the brunette’s hands. “But I’m working on that.”
“And I am proud of you,” Waverly squeezed her hand. “What if I go to your place and we watch a movie tonight?”
“You know you don’t have to do that, right?" Nicole moved a lock of brown hair behind Waverly's ear. "If you want to go to a party, you should. Don’t hold yourself back because of me, Waves.”
“I’m not doing that,” Waverly stated. “I want to be with you, to spend time with you.”
“Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent sure.”
“In that case, we could order some take out and stay in.”
“That sounds amazing,” Waverly smiled so big that her eyes looked like the moon. “I’ll leave work around six today, I think.”
“Awesome. I’ll wait for you at my place. I’ll let you work now,” Nicole kissed Waverly on her head before she walked out of the room, leaving the brunette daydreaming.
Nicole got home from work around 5:30 p.m. and she jumped into a quick shower before Waverly arrived. The redhead worked nonstop all day so she could get home before her friend, giving her time to organize everything. When she finally looked around the living room, she was surprised that it wasn’t as disorganized as it was some other days Waverly had been to her place. With a few last touches, everything was in the right place. Before she even had time to sit a bit, she heard a knock on the door.
“Hi, Waves. Come on in,” Nicole looked suspiciously at the bag in Waverly's hands. “I thought we would order some take out.”
“Oh yeah, totally,” Waverly walked in easily, feeling completely at home. “I stopped at the grocery store to buy some candies, just in case.”
“Candies?”
“For trick or treat,” the brunette clarified.
“Just don’t get your hopes too high, ok?” Nicole couldn’t help but be amazed by the woman in front of her.
“What do you want to eat?” Waverly changed the subject.
“What about pizza?”
“Perfect,” the brunette agreed. “I know a place that makes a killer vegan pizza.”
“Great. Can you call them?” Nicole asked. “I’ll choose a movie for us while you do it.”
“Sure.”
Waverly had hung up the phone and in less than 5 minutes they heard someone knocking on the door.
“Did you order from the fastest restaurant on the planet?” Nicole looked at the woman sitting next to her. “What is it with that smile on your face?”
“Nothing,” Waverly bit her lips to stop her smile to grow even bigger. “Why don’t you answer the door?”
Nicole walked toward the door frowning suspiciously.
“Trick or treat!” Alice screamed as soon as she saw Nicole. The redhead couldn’t believe it. Not far behind the little girl, there was Wynonna.
“Hey, Alice. Wow, your costume looks amazing.”
“Thank you. I told my mom that if I was Captain Marvel I would get a lot of candies,” the little girl explained.
“Nice. Is it working? Did you get a lot of candies already?” Nicole asked her.
“Yes. I think I will have like a gazillion candies before I get home,” Alice opened her bag in front of the redhead to show her the inside of it. “Well then, trick or treat?”
“Oh…” Nicole straightened up.
“Here you go, pumpkin,” Waverly came to the rescue with the bag of candies she had brought earlier.
“Thank you, Auntie Waves,” Alice then turned to her mom and whispered something.
“Alright, kiddo,” Wynonna smiled at her daughter. “Haught, can Alice use your bathroom, please?”
“Of course,” Nicole said.
“I’ll take her,” Waverly offered her hand to her niece. “Come with me, Alice.”
“How are you doing, Nicole?” Wynonna asked when they were alone.
“I’m okay, I think. I’m trying to follow the steps Rosita and Chrissy designed for my plan.”
“Good. Just keep doing your best. I know you can win this.”
“Thank you for doing this,” Nicole almost smiled. “You know, bringing Alice here tonight.”
“I wish I could say it was me, but it was baby girl's idea. It was all Waverly,” Wynonna admitted. “She was very persistent about it.”
“That sounds like her,” Nicole chuckled.
“She said you wouldn’t spend any other sad Halloween, that she wouldn’t have it.”
“She is amazing. Either way, thank you for doing that.”
“Well, get ready for opening this door many times tonight,” Wynonna raised one finger. “Baby girl made me call all the parents in Alice’s class and tell them to stop by your place.”
“Waverly really is something else,” Nicole replied, and the two old friends fell into silence for a while.
“I’m ready, Mama,” Alice showed up running from inside.
“Alright, let’s go to our last stop before we go home,” Wynonna hugged the little girl.
“Auntie Willa.”
“That’s right.”
“Bye Nicole, bye Auntie Waves.”
“Bye, sweetheart. Have a good night.”
“See you at home, baby girl?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll text you,” Waverly rested her head in Nicole's arm.
“Okay. Bye for now. Good night, Haught.”
“Night. And Wynonna? Thank you for this,” Nicole genuinely said. Wynonna waved at them and walked away. The redhead closed the door and rested her back against it. She looked at Waverly and the brunette had a mischievous smile on her lips. “I guess you didn’t bring the candies just in case.”
“I’m a planner, you know that,” Waverly looked very proud of herself.
“Of course,” Nicole smiled showing her dimples. She approached the brunette and hugged her. “Thank you, Waves. I’ll never get tired of saying how extraordinary you are.”
“All I want is for you to be happy,” Waverly closed her eyes to enjoy the hug from the redhead.
“You make me happy,” Nicole confessed.
“Come on,” Waverly wanted to jump on her friend to kiss her, but she knew the redhead wasn’t ready for that yet. She decided to change her approach. “Let’s find some horror movie to watch. It’s Halloween after all.”
“You don’t even like horror movies,” Nicole objected.
“Yeah, but you can hold me if I get scared at some point,” Waverly teased the redhead.
They couldn't actually watch the movie at the moment they planed because it seemed like there was a kid knocking at the door every five minutes, demanding candies. Wynonna was not lying, she did call every parent from Alice's class. Almost all night went by between that and them eating the vegan pizza they ordered. After what they believed was the last kid of the night going away, they finally sat together on the couch. Waverly laid half of her body over Nicole and sighed happily. She wasn't really paying attention to the movie. The only thing the brunette could focus on was the warmth that was coming from the body under hers and the hand that was going up and down in her back.
"I bet you already regret asking that favor to Wynonna," Nicole joked.
"Not really. I enjoyed the night. Although I didn't cuddle with you as much as I planned. I know it's getting late, but I'm not ready to go back to the homestead yet," Waverly whispered the last part.
"I'm not ready for that, either," Nicole confessed. "Can I ask you one more thing, Waves? I know I already asked too much, but I have one last request."
"What is it?"
"Can you wait for me just a little bit longer? Just have a little more patience with me. I'll be a decent person again, I'm on my way there… I can feel it."
"You are a decent person, Nicole," the brunette joined their foreheads. "You are healing now, that's it. You are not bad because of this disease."
"I'll be worthy of your love. I won't stop fighting until I get there. But I feel like I'm not ready yet and I don't want to let you down again."
"We'll go at your pace, I promise," Waverly moved a little so she could look inside the heart eyes right in front of her. "I don't like it when you talk about yourself like that."
"I know, sorry," Nicole closed her eyes hard. "I promise that I'll try not to do that anymore."
"I think you are tired and you should go to bed," Waverly said. "It's been a long day."
"Will you stay?"
"If you want me to."
"I do. But only if you want, too," Nicole rushed out the last words.
"Of course I do, silly," Waverly giggled. "Come on, I want to fall asleep with you holding me."
They walked to the bedroom with Waverly guiding them, pulling the redhead by her hand. Nicole smiled when she realized their fingers fitted perfectly together.
I want to build you a boat
One that's strong as you are free
So any time you think
That your heart is gonna sink
You know it won't
I want to build you a boat
Everything I need I get from you
Givin' back is all I wanna do