Truly, madly, deeply
Chapter 15 – Truly, madly, deeply
Am I asleep, am I awake, or somewhere in between?
I can’t believe that you are here and lying next to me
Or did I dream that we were perfectly entwined?
Like branches on a tree, or twigs caught on a vine?
Like all those days and weeks, and months I tried to steal a kiss
And all those sleepless nights and daydreams where I pictured this,
I’m just the underdog who finally got the girl
And I am not ashamed to tell it to the world
Running her fingers over the cover of the book to close it, and then on her eyes, Waverly sighed tiredly. Being the only one in the history department was exhausting. She leaned back against her chair and wished she could take a quick nap, but that was not possible. The brunette was almost falling asleep when she heard a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
“Hi,” Nicole smiled closing the door behind her.
“Oh, your face was everything I wanted to see,” Waverly walked toward the woman and held her tight.
“Everything alright, love?” Nicole worried.
“Long day and I wasn’t sure that yesterday was real. It’s been so long,” Waverly pouted.
“Let’s try something that might help you remember,” Nicole put one hand on Waverly's face and the other on her back, pulling her closer. She leaned down and brushed their lips. With their eyes closed, they kissed slowly. Waverly was sure her legs were melting and if it weren’t for the redhead's hand around her, she would have ended up on the floor. Nicole not only smelled like vanilla, but she also tasted like it. When they ended the kiss, Waverly wished she didn’t have to move ever again. Nicole was smiling at her, showing those damn dimples. “I’m sorry, we are at work. We should remain professional.”
“I think we are alright in here,” Waverly whispered.
“Are you feeling any better?”
“Just to be next to you I feel like I’m on the moon. I’m so happy about yesterday. It meant the world to me. Being here with you means the world to me.”
“I know the feeling,” Nicole smiled and leaned down to another kiss. Waverly held her tight and kissed her back fiercely. She had all she ever wanted right there in her arms. She would do everything she could to keep this woman. “I’m sorry,” Nicole was breathless. “I’m trying to behave, but is very hard to control myself around you. You consume every part of me.”
“You don’t ever have to control yourself around me,” Waverly whispered.
“Be careful with what you wish for, Miss Earp. Maybe I’ll start kissing you in many unappropriated places,” Nicole brushed her lips and kissed all over the brunette’s neck. She giggled when she felt the skin under her lips shivering.
“Please do,” Waverly said. “I missed you today.”
“I missed you too,” Nicole rubbed her thumb over Waverly's cheek. “Do you want to do something this evening?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Waverly sighed. “Alice said it’s been ages since she last hung out with her aunts, so Willa and I agreed on taking her ice skating later today.”
“Oh, that’s alright.”
“You could come with us. I’d love that,” Waverly invited. “I like to see your cheeks flushed with the cold.”
“Very funny,” Nicole pushed the brunette playfully. “But I think I’ll pass today. Alice misses you, she deserves your entire attention.”
“Are you sure?”
“Definitely. Let it be an Earp girls’ night out.”
“Oh no,” Waverly gasped. “Are you saying you don’t want to go because you can’t skate anymore? I’m so sorry, I didn’t think about it.”
“Relax baby, it’s fine. I can skate, just not at a competing level, but I can still have fun,” Nicole told her. “I truly think you deserve a night out with your family. You’ve been working hard lately.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Waverly asked. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. We decided about it this morning.”
“I’ll be fine, I promise. And please don’t worry about having fun when I’m not around. You deserve to be happy every second of your life,” Nicole bent down to kiss the brunette. “I’m tired anyway. I spent the whole day going up and down a ladder. I’ll go home and rest. But you can text me some pictures of you embarrassing yourself while you skate.”
“Hey, I’m not that bad,” Waverly complained.
“I’ve seen you skating, baby. No need to lie to me about it,” Nicole teased. “But you are very cute when you do it. Besides, you couldn’t be perfect at everything. It’s only fair to the rest of us mortals for you to suck at least in one thing since you are so smart and great at everything else.”
“I’ll let you slip away with this one because you are very cute,” Waverly said.
“You should go now, so you don’t get there late. I’ll see you tomorrow, baby.”
“I miss you already,” Waverly stood on her toes to kiss Nicole slowly one more time.
“Auntie Willa, finally! We have been waiting for you since forever,” Alice said impatiently.
“We’ve been here less than ten minutes,” Waverly corrected her niece.
“Sorry, pumpkin. I got stuck at work,” Willa hugged the little girl. “Are you ready for some fun?”
“Yeah! Come on!”
The three of them got in and quickly started to put on their skates. Alice worked really hard to do it on her own, only accepting her aunts' supervision.
“Go ahead for a first-round by yourself, Alice. We’ll go right after you,” Waverly said. The girl happily accepted the offer and the two women didn’t take their eyes from her.
“You look happy today, kid. I like it,” Willa said.
“I am happy.”
“Is a certain redhead the reason for the bright smile on your face?” Willa teased.
“Maybe…”
“Alright, tell me everything.”
“Oh, Willa. She is wonderful. I feel like I’m the happiest I’ll ever be whenever we are together,” Waverly daydreamed.
“And you are sure she is really clean?”
“Willa!”
“Oh, I’m sorry if I want to make sure my baby sister is not going to jump with her head into something just to get her heart broken later,” Willa replied.
“She is clean. I promise.”
“Ok, I believe you. I just trying to look out for you.”
“I know. I appreciate it, I do. It’s just that she has been working so hard to get back on her feet, I don’t want people to be suspicious of her,” Waverly explained.
“I understand. But you better prepare yourself for that,” Willa warned her sister. “People might talk about it with you guys.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. But I can assure you that she’s doing great,” Waverly said. “She’s the same person she was before this disease. Well, except for hockey.”
“Is there any chance of her ever play again?” Willa asked.
“No, her knee won’t take it. I do believe she should be involved with hockey somehow, which made me think…” Waverly smiled at her older sister.
“Oh boy, here we go. Waverly Earp is having ideas,” Willa joked.
“Isn’t there anything she could do at your school? Hockey related I mean. She could be the coach.”
“Mr. Anderson is the coach and he is far from retiring,” Willa said.
“But is he the coach of both teams?” Waverly wondered.
“Purgatory High School only has a boys’ hockey team nowadays,” Willa clarified.
“What? How did that happen?” Waverly couldn’t believe her ears.
“Nicole was the last girl to be a hockey star from Purgatory, so we had to shut down the girls’ team.”
“How are we going to have other stars if we don’t have a team for them to play?” Waverly started to feel angry.
“The number of applications for the team started to decrease with time until the point we couldn’t join competition without a full team,” Willa said. “Look, I don’t like it either, but that’s what happened.”
“Well, Nicole could be the coach for a new girls’ team,” Waverly suggested.
“I don’t know kid, I don’t think I have the budget for that,” Willa reasoned.
“Look, I know she would accept it even if she won’t get paid.”
“What about when the competitions start and they have to go to other cities?” Willa asked.
“We’ll raise money for them. We can have fairs and other things. Please, Willa. Just give her a chance,” Waverly begged.
“I don’t even know if there are enough girls who want to play.”
“Just let her try. She can put up some posters at school and see if some girls want to take part. If there aren’t enough, we forget about it.”
“Ok, you win. I’ll talk to her tomorrow,” Willa said.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Waverly jumped over her.
“You could do me a favor and tell Wynonna I am your favorite sister,” Willa tried.
“Oh no. No way. I’m not getting between you two on this,” Waverly waved her off.
“Boring.”
“Come on aunties,” Alice showed up in a hurry. “I want to jump on the ice.”
“We’re on our way,” Willa screamed at her niece.
Driving on Main Street, Nicole wondered what she would be up to that evening. She stopped in front of Shorty’s and noticed that the lights were on and she decided to go in.
“Ms. Haught. What are you doing here?” Doc sounded disappointed.
“Hello, Doc. Kate.”
“No, no, no. We are not serving you anything,” Kate said. “Wynonna told us you are clean and there is no way we’re going to be the ones to ruin it.”
“I didn’t come today as a customer,” Nicole smiled. “I’m here as an old friend. I came here to thank you and apologize to both of you.”
“Well, go on then,” Doc said.
“I am aware of the trouble I caused to your business in the past and how rude I have been to both of you. I am truly sorry for that.”
“That woman who used to come here was not you,” Kate stated.
“It’s very kind of you to say that, Kate. Thank you,” Nicole recognized. “I know you two did everything you could to keep me safe, and that was a lot more than I deserved. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it and I’ll be here for the two of you whenever you need.”
“We’re glad you are feeling better,” Kate said. “Just don’t ever come back here to buy things from us.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on doing that anymore,” Nicole smiled.
“Unless you want to buy food,” Doc stepped in.
“You know what, Doc? I think you are right. I’d like a burger and fries to go,” Nicole said.
“Perfect. I’ll be back in a few,” Kate headed to the kitchen to prepare the food.
“Do you sell soda in here, Doc?”
“I do,” he laughed. “There is always a first time for everything, right? Would you like one?”
“Two, please,” Nicole said. “I saw Alice the other day. You have an amazing little girl.”
“My sunshine is everything to me,” Doc smiled wide. “She’s so smart. I don’t know how we will be able to win an argument with her when she gets older.”
“You’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Nicole said. She looked around and noticed a few people there, having fun and drinking. She felt incredibly proud of herself when she noticed she didn’t want to do that and she was happy with that decision. It felt like forever since she last drank, as it was another life. It was definitely a win. After a few minutes, Kate came back with the food. “Thank you. How much is it, guys?”
“It’s on the house this time,” Kate replied.
“I won’t fight against free food,” Nicole joked. “I’ll bring Waverly some other day as a repay.”
“We have vegan things now,” Doc said, proud of himself.
“She’ll be happy to know that. Thanks, guys. See you around,” Nicole walked out of the bar and went straight home.
Sitting on the couch with her food on the table, Nicole turned on the TV. She took a deep breath and decided to do something she hadn’t done in a very long time. With the remote control in hand, Nicole searched for a sports channel. There was a hockey game on ESPN. It was time. She was ready for that. She pressed play and for the first time since she moved back to Purgatory, Nicole watched her favorite sport on TV again.
Eating her burger and drinking her soda, Nicole enjoyed the game. She hadn’t realized how much she missed it until that moment. It was almost like her life was perfect again. The buzz of her phone distracted her for a moment and she noticed it was a text from Waverly. The redhead opened it to see a picture of the brunette, smiling sitting on the ice, as if she had just fallen.
“I'm blaming you for this moment. You jinxed me.” Said the message attached.
That was it. For Nicole, everything was perfect at that moment. She couldn’t wait for the rest of her life. It seems that she would love every second of it.
Wish I could freeze this moment in a frame and stay like this
I’ll put this day back on replay and keep reliving it
‘Cause here’s the tragic truth if you don’t feel the same
My heart would fall apart if someone said your name
And truly, madly, deeply, I am
Foolishly, completely falling
And somehow you kicked all my walls in
So baby, say you’ll always keep me
Truly, madly, crazy, deeply in love with you