Finally Home: Wayhaught

Rosita had stabilised, but had been in intensive care since the incident; one lung collapsing, broken ribs and internal bleeding are not something a person recovers from over night. Inevitably, Waverly had spent every second at her bedside, determined to see through the entire process of her recovery. Deep down, Nicole knew it was because she felt guilty about it; she blamed herself for the fact that Rosita was at that bar because of her, standing up to Tucker for her and getting shot defending her. Nicole had been trying really hard to not be a burden, to let Waverly do what she needed, to help Rosita heal and support her through it, but she really needed her girlfriend, more than ever before.

Being shot by Tucker had been the worst experience of her life, but it had been blinkered, softened by the fact it brought Waverly back to her, it brought them together. Her first day on the job in Purgatory had been terrifying, but again she’d been comforted by Waverly being round the corner, by Waverly promising her she could do it. Going back to Toronto for the trial of Tucker had been more terrifying than she had imagined, but it had been the final chapter of her life in Toronto, a goodbye and had helped a surprising amount with the nightmares which had been so frequent before. Now though, everything was back, but worse. Not only did she feel the pain in her hip whenever she closed her eyes and the numbness in her legs when she woke up panicking she couldn’t walk, but now every time she picked up her gun in the morning she saw Waverly covered in blood, she saw the pale face of the boy who had haunted her as he dropped to the floor, her bullet piercing his skull. She’d spoken to Nedley about it, but even hearing the assurance she’d done the right thing from the man she respected more than anyone in the world didn’t calm her restless nights or shaky days. It wasn’t just that she’d killed someone, although that was a part of it, it was also the fact that if this was going to happen it should have happened a year ago, in Toronto, in the cold warehouse so no one else could get hurt. Now Rosita was hurt, she had to take extra care whenever engaging in physical activity and she’d killed Tucker anyway.

With a lazy hand, she flipped over her phone, sighing at the photo of her and Waverly, hiking up some mountains as her lock screen, and scrolled through the contacts until she landed on the one person she could talk to about everything: Ash.

“Nice of you to make time in your busy schedule to call your best friend.” Ash teased from the end of the phone, causing Nicole to wince.

“Shut up. I actually did make time for you because I know you’re on lunch break right now.” Nicole muttered, rubbing her temples with her free hand.

“Actually you’re just trying to not fall asleep at work and realised you haven’t spoken to me in a week.” Ash shot back and Nicole rolled her eyes.

“Sleep? Never heard of her.” Nicole mused, leaning back in her chair.

A groan came from the other end of the line. “You are so dramatic.”

Defeated, Nicole sighed, letting her eyelids flutter shut momentarily. “I miss you.”

“Well shit, now I know something really is up. You’ve gone soft.” Ash joked, but Nicole didn’t reply and there was a moment of realisation for her friend. “Nicole, seriously what’s going on. Are you and Waverly okay?”

Nicole sighed. “Yeah, we’re fine.”

“Just fine?” Nicole didn’t need to see her best friend’s face to be able to know her brow was raised at her.

“We’re fine.” The redhead repeated.

“Okay no offence, but normally I have to beg you to shut up about her in order to get a moment to bitch about my class and-“

“I killed someone.” Nicole stated blankly, her voice low and slightly wobbly.

Ash inhaled sharply from the other end of the line. “Are you gonna ask me to hide a body because I-“

“I’m serious. Tucker. I killed him.” Nicole cut her off again.

“Tucker Gardner?!”

“Yes.”

“Nicole what the hell are you talking about? He’s in prison! You saw me after the trial? You told me he was sent away for life!” 

“Well he escaped. Or someone helped him break out.”

“Okay, okay back up. How did you not know, surely an alert should have been put out or something?”

“They didn’t realise for a few hours and then they wanted to keep it quiet so they didn’t look bad.” Nicole winced. “They’re being investigated now, but it doesn’t matter, it’s too late, he’s dead and I killed him.” She pressed her palm in her forehead as though that would numb her headache.

“Nicole he was an awful person. Also I feel like there’s more to this story than you’re telling me.” Ash prompted.

Nicole shook her head then instantly regretted it as the throbbing in her forehead intensified. “It doesn’t matter, he’s dead because I shot him.”

“Of course it matters, don’t be an idiot Nicky, I’m serious tell me.”

After a moment of pause, where Nicole tried to find some sort of inner strength to be able to speak everything out loud for the first time, the breath she’d been holding in, coughed out as she spoke. “I thought… I thought he shot her, Waverly.” She stuttered around the words.

“What?! Did he?! Is that what you meant by okay? Nicole do you need me to fly out because I will, I’ll take a-“

“He didn’t.” Nicole said quietly. “But I thought he did.” Silence settled again as Ash tried to piece together the tiny slivers of information which Nicole was giving her, but before she could reply Nicole burst out again. “I just came into Shorty’s and she was there on the floor, she was just on the floor covered in blood and then he turned and I saw him, I saw him again, right there and he had a gun and I didn’t think, I just saw her there on the floor and there was blood, so much blood and I thought she was dead Ash.” Now Nicole was up, pacing around her new office, staring at the wooden floor which her boots slammed against angrily. “Oh God, I thought she was dead, I really thought he’d taken her from me after everything and-“

“Nicole sit down. I can hear you pacing from here. You’ve got to breathe. Sit down and list everything on your desk.” Ash commanded down the phone and Nicole swallowed, sinking into her chair and shaking. She didn’t say anything though, until she heard Ash cough and her voice booming in her ear again. “Seriously list that shit.”

Nicole sighed and scanned the desk, her voice trembling as she spoke. “My computer, my desk phone, my work phone, some old files, the case I'm working on for Waverly, my coffee which is cold, the pen that Wa- the pen Waverly bought me when I became Sheriff, a photo of you and I, a photo of Wynonna and Waves, a photo of Waverly and I, the lunch I made myself.” Nicole finished, sinking further in her chair. 

“Jeez how big is your desk.” Ash teased, causing Nicole to let out a short, breathy, almost wet laugh. “Seriously Nicole, he had a gun pointed at you, it was self defence anyone can see that and that’s before they even know all the other shit that asshole did to you and your family.” A slight pressure released in Nicole’s chest at the final statement. Family. She felt the tension in her shoulders ease a little bit. Waverly might be busy, they both might be busy, they might both be struggling, but they would find their way back to each other always, they always did. Wynonna too, she still had her, even though they fought… a lot… she knew the brunette always had her back and she would always have Wynonna’s. Ash must have noticed her wander off into her own thoughts, so tried to draw her attention back quickly. “Have you spoken to Waverly about this?” 

Nicole swallowed and shook her head, then realising Ash couldn’t see her she cleared her throat. “No. She’s busy.” She didn't mean for the words to come out quite so harshly, but her tone was sharp and there was a bite to her words. It wasn’t Waverly’s fault she cared so much for people, but Nicole couldn’t help feeling lost and alone; she felt guilty for being angry at Waverly for not being there for her, especially when her girlfriend was going through her own stuff.

“What do you mean busy? Nicole you killed the man who left you in a wheelchair for half a year, what could possibly be more important than you right now?”

“The reason she was covered in blood was because he shot her best friend… who was protecting her.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah oh.” Nicole sighed, kicking at the rug with her boot, careful not to scuff it.

“I still think you should speak to her. You live together for god sake, make her dinner or something, that way you can sit and chat?” Ash tried and Nicole considered it. She had no idea what time Waverly would be home, or if she would spend the night at Chrissy’s again or if she’d go back to the hospital to take supplies.

Instinctively, her hand fell to the drawer in the left of her desk and she pulled out a little black velvet box, popping the lid and turning the box slowly, examining the ring. Her eyes glazed over slightly as she remembered collecting it a couple of days after the incident; how she went home and sat on their bed alone, sobbing and holding both rings tightly in her fist before composing herself and hiding them away at her office. 

“I don’t even know if-“ there was a loud knock at her office door and she quickly shoved the ring back into the drawer and cleared her throat. “Talk to you later, I’ve gotta go.”

“Bye Nicky.” Ash chirped back.

“Come in.” Nicole called, straightening up in her seat.

Mikey pushed in and her posture relaxed a little bit. “Susie's at the front desk, Jamie said they’d take it, but -“

“I’m coming.” Nicole rolled her eyes and as Mikey left, she lay her head on her desk and groaned loudly. A buzz from her phone forced her to lift her head up and she saw a string of texts from Ash.

A: Make the dinner

A: You’re welcome

A: istg Nic you would be single for life if you didn’t have me

A: idiot

A: tell me how it goes

A: even the makeup sex

A: go gettem Nicky

A: p.s. if you make lasagne again I’m disowning you

A: and then you’re fucked

A: who’s gonna save your dumb gay ass then

A: gotta teach these little shits now

A: keep me updated

A: bitch

Nicole felt her lips twitch a little at the texts and let her hand grope blindly for her coffee mug with a retro logo of a fish and a lake on it which she’d bought on a hiking trip with Waverly.

“Fucking Susie.” She muttered, pushing up off her chair. The old woman would only speak to Nicole about any issues - which usually were just stray animals, but she was convinced her house was a target for gang crime or some sort of serial killer drop off. At least she could make new coffee on the way back.

“Are you sure you’re not the one trying to date me?” Rosita mocked drowsily from the bed.

Waverly sat up straighter, leaning forward now that her friend was awake. “What?

“You’ve been here more than Chrissy.” Rosita laughed slightly, before wincing as her chest screamed at the action. Waverly noticed and instantly moved to get up, almost tripping over her blanket. “Sit down it’s fine, they’ll come soon anyway now I’m awake.”

Reluctantly, Waverly tucked back into the chair. “Chrissy runs her own business, Wynonna, Doc, Jer and Robin can live without me for now.” She shrugged softly.

“You left that lot alone? Oh boy, we’re all gonna be killed by demon pixies.” Rosita teased and Waverly squinted her eyes.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” The comment which was supposed to be funny, came out wrong due to her lack of sleep and short temper.

“What? No? It’s just I know you have work to do Waves. Of course I appreciate you being here, I love spending time with you, but you know you don’t have to. I promise I’m fine to just watch TV or chat with hot nurses.” She winked, but Waverly just looked at the floor.

“I promise my work is fine.” Waverly forced a smile, knowing she had a lot of paperwork, but that this was more important.

After a moment of silence, Rosita smirked. “Well at least he’s a shit shot, even I can shoot a gun better.” Waverly didn't reply, her eyes simply widened as she stared at her friend. “What? He missed vitals on both Haught and I.” 

Waverly grimaced and shuddered slightly remembering the call from Ash about Nicole. She remembered the photos from the trial, Wynonna's account of what happened and the smell of metal and scream of pain as Rosita dropped into her lap in the bar. He might have been a poor shot, but he'd caused more pain to her and her family than she ever thought was possible. 

He was too passionate. She remembered Nicole explaining to her how if you let emotion take the wheel, that's when it got messy. Her smile faded when she remembered their earlier conversation when Nicole had left for work this morning.

"Waves?"

Waverly pulled the strings of her backpack tight and spun round to face Nicole who had stumbled sleepily into the kitchen. The redhead rubbed her eyes sleepily, before locking them on the clock above the fridge. Waverly felt a pang of guilt shoot through her at the sight. Nicole looked tired, so tired, her eyes were puffy and glazed over and her brow was furrowed in a way that Waverly couldn't figure out if it was anger or hurt. Either way, she hated it. All she ever felt recently was guilt and the one person who normally showed her it was okay was only making it worse. She felt guilty for that too, for pushing Nicole away, for not spending any time with her. All she could focus on though was Rosita, anything else and it became overwhelming. All she could think was how it should be her and not Rosita and then she felt guilty knowing how Nicole would feel if she said that. She felt guilty that she didn't know what to say to Nicole, that she didn't understand what had even happened and that she'd barely seen her girlfriend since that afternoon.

"Wh- what are you doing?" Nicole mumbled, sleepily shuffling into the kitchen. "It's four a.m."

Waverly shifted awkwardly in the dim light filtering in from the living room, creating a warm amber against the cold blue glow from outside.

"I thought you were asleep." She answered, avoiding the question. 

Nicole simply shook her head, not wanting to explain the nightmares or the fact she'd rather stay awake than see his face again. "I wasn't." She replied.

"Oh." Waverly brushed her hands down her dirty jeans that she'd had on for the past 4 days.

When Nicole didn’t reply, or move out of the way, she looked at the floor and started talking again. "I'm going to the store to get some new books for Rosie before visiting hours at six." 

Nicole frowned, her lips almost twitching into a pout. “It’s four a.m.” She repeated. “Please just come back to bed baby.” She almost pleaded.

Waverly shook her head, looking away, unable to stand the hurt on the redhead’s face. “I can’t, the only store that has them is like an hour in the opposite direction of the hospital.”

“There’s no way she finished the ones you got her yesterday already.” Nicole sighed, stepping further into the kitchen.

“She needs options.” Waverly replied instantly.

“She won’t even be up yet Waves.” Nicole muttered, rubbing her head mindlessly, suppressing a yawn with all her might. 

“Well I want to be there when she does wake up.” Waverly moved towards Nicole. 

What about when I wake up, Nicole thought with a sigh.

“Okay.” She replied, defeated, too tired and upset to fight.

Waverly strolled past her quickly, into the living room, petting Whiskey’s head at the bottom of the stairs and sitting on the step to pull on her old tattered trainers. Instinctively, Nicole followed her through the house. 

“Will you be home for dinner?” Nicole asked, her voice almost hopeful.

Standing up, Waverly slipped her backpack on and shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve gotta check on Chrissy, I’m not sure she’s been eating properly and I just want to make sure she’s okay, so-”

“Have you been eating properly?” Nicole interrupted.

“What?” Waverly moved towards the door, ignoring the question.

“Have you been eating properly?” Nicole repeated, leaning on the banister of the stairs, sleepily.

“I’m fine.” Waverly replied quickly, one hand on the door and the other filled with her car keys. “I’ll see you tonight.” She dropped the door handle for a split second and moved forwards to kiss Nicole’s cheek gently, before disappearing outside into the early morning chill.

Nicole sighed deeply and pressed her head against the wooden panel of their front door, looking down at her bare feet where Whiskey had spread himself out. “Come on boy, I guess we’ll go early today.” She mumbled, heading back upstairs to get into her running clothes, knowing she wasn’t going back to bed now.

So Waverly was pretty sure Nicole hated her now.

Every part of her wanted to go home for dinner, to sit opposite Nicole and share salad and stories, or to cook vegan burgers in the kitchen as Nicole sang way too loudly to Queen, or to cuddle on the couch with snacks and a movie and forget anything had ever happened. But she knew if they did that they’d have to talk about what had happened, because something had definitely happened, and Waverly did not want to have that conversation, especially not now, not after putting it off for so long that she was convinced Nicole would probably break up with her for being selfish.

“Yeah, silver linings I guess.” Waverly finally replied, looking at her blanket as she twisted her fingers round and round in it. When she finally looked up, she saw Rosita squinting at her, almost angrily and felt her stomach drop, worried she’d done something else wrong. “What?” She muttered, self consciously.

“You tell me.” Rosita replied, shaking her head and Waverly frowned.

“I don’t understand.” 

“Yeah me either.” Rosita continued, trying to turn but inevitably failing. “Don’t get me wrong, I love having you here, you’re my best friend, but you’re being such a downer

Waves. I’m the one who got shot, but you’re all moody.”

“Don’t say that.” Waverly winced at the comment about getting shot.

“What? You’re acting like someone killed your kitten, I-”

“She’s fine.” Waverly stated blankly and Rosita rolled her eyes.

“I know, but what is going on, you’re killing the vibe.”

Waverly pushed the blanket away stroppily. “What vibe, we’re in a hospital suite.”

“I’m being serious.” Rosita replied, as firmly as possible.

“I just want you to be okay.” The blanket fell to the floor as Waverly shifted, suddenly feeling too hot and cramped in the small room, as though she was suffocating. 

“You know I am. In fact they said I’ll probably be good to go home in a few days. Chrissy said I could stay at hers and my sling only has to be for a few months.” Rosita paused. “But you already knew all that, so what’s really the issue.”

“You should have just let me go with him.” Waverly sighed.

“Waves-”

Shaking her head, Waverly hastily replied. “No. He came there for me and if I’d have just gone sooner and stopped stalling then no one would have got hurt.”

With wide eyes, Rosita replied. “You might have.”

“Well maybe I deserve it.” Waverly stated matter of factly.

“Woah, wait what?! Waverly what are you talking about, of course you don’t! No one deserves it, but you least of all!”

“You literally got shot trying to protect me!” Waverly snapped back, as if that proved her point.

Rosita sighed. “I didn’t realise how serious he was, but it doesn’t matter anyway. What happened is not your fault.”

“He was there for me.” Waverly replied.

“Yeah, yeah he was, but you were willing to go with him. You didn’t ask for what happened, I chose to stand between you.”

“But if I’d have told you about him then you would have known.” Waverly tried, finding a multitude of ways to blame herself.

“How the hell were you supposed to know this would happen?!” Rosita was incredulous as both of their voices became raised.

"That's not the point! It should have been me!" Waverly almost yelled.

"Okay and how would Wynonna feel about that? Or Nicole?" 

As much as Waverly thought she hid her reaction, she visibly flinched at the mention of Nicole as her body tensed.

“You haven’t spoken to her have you?” Rosita sussed out quickly.

“What? I live with her, of course I’ve spoken to her. We spoke this morn-“

“About any of this.” From the hospital bed, Rosita didn’t even need to gesture to make it abundantly clear what she was talking about. 

“No.” Waverly admitted, looking down. “There’s nothing to say.”

Rosita raised her brows at her “Waverly, she was there too.”

“She didn’t get shot.” Waverly muttered so Rosita had to strain to even hear it.

With a raised brow, Rosita calmly replied. “This time.”

Neither of them said anything as the uncomfortable reality settled like a dead weight onto the room. Eventually Rosita rolled her eyes. “Waverly, she just killed the man who tried to kill her and almost took her ability to walk. You two are good at communication, I can’t believe you haven’t spoken about it.”

“I just don’t know what to say. Can we change the topic, I really don't want to talk about it right now.” Waverly grumbled, reaching to pull the blanket back up over her, simply looking for any action to keep herself occupied. She picked her tea back up and took a huge sip, excruciatingly aware of the way Rosita was staring at her and examining her every move.

“Fine, but you should talk to her.” Rosita almost demanded.

Waverly stood up quickly, placing her tea back down. “I’m going to get a snack, I’ll be right back.” Before Rosita could say anything the small girl had barrelled out of the room and into the corridor, heading for a vending machine nearby.

She dropped the basket in the others at the end of the checkout, metal clinking against metal, as she began to stack everything on the belt - heaviest first. A smile twitched on her lips as she thought about all the shared shopping trips where Waverly would put the lighter things up first 'because they were at the top of the basket' and Nicole would have to rearrange everything.

The cashier recognised her and they made casual small talk, deliberately avoiding any mention of what happened in Shorty’s a week ago and the fact no one had seen Waverly in a week. 

Half an hour later, the squad car crunched over the gravel into their driveway, the sun low in the sky already after a long day. Nicole cut the ignition, hearing Luke Bryan cut off the stereo as she sat there for a moment, collecting herself and going over the plan.

Inside she laid out all of the ingredients on the kitchen table and made her way to her old stereo, putting in Scarecrow by Mellencamp and smiling for the first time in a week as she filled Whiskey and CJ’s bowls with food.

After the table was set, the wine chilled and the taco mix cooked, Nicole was cutting an avocado to put inside the shells when she heard the front door click and Whiskey bolt towards it.

“Waverly?” She flipped the volume knob on the stereo down a little bit, dropping the knife and wiping her hands as she walked towards the hallway. The small girl stood up from where she was crouched on the floor, petting Whiskey and smiled briefly at Nicole.

“Hey, I’m just stopping to collect some things to bring to Chrissy.” Waverly stepped forward to kiss Nicole's cheek before brushing past her into the living room. Nicole followed her silently through the house, holding her breath when Waverly saw the state of the kitchen. There were two glasses of wine set out either side of the bowl of salad and vegan tofu, taco mix in the middle of the table. A candle flickered in the middle and the radio still crackled softly from where Nicole had been cutting avocados.

Waverly stopped in the entryway. “Nicole.” She breathed out.

“I uh, I made dinner.” Nicole scratched her neck awkwardly as Waverly turned to face her.

Waverly’s eyes widened and for a second, Nicole felt her heart flutter at the sparkle in them. She stepped forward, about to continue the moment, trying to calm the pounding in her chest with deep, heavy breaths.

“Nicole, I can’t.” Waverly shook her head, turning back and going into the kitchen. The moment was gone and whatever drop of connection Waverly had allowed to slip through, disappeared just as quickly. 

Again, Nicole followed her into the kitchen, coming up close behind her. “What? What do you mean you can’t?” She asked with a slight desperation in her tone.

“I told Chrissy I would go over, she needs a few things and I told her I’d bring them.” Waverly grabbed snacks and shoved them into her backpack and unlocked her phone, pulling up a list.

“We need to talk.” Nicole tried, stepping back as Waverly pushed past her to grab some files and a pack of cards from the ‘junk' drawer.

“I don’t want her to be alone right now Nicole.” Waverly muttered, moving into the living room and closing up the backpack. Nicole sucked in a deep breath, trying not to raise her voice. 

“What about me?” She let slip and Waverly turned and stopped fiddling with the bag.

“What?” The small girl furrowed her brow, head tilted slightly.

“What about me? Being alone?” Nicole repeated, hating how weak her voice sounded right now. She had tried so hard to push it aside, to pretend to be okay, to be doing fine and working hard, but she was exhausted and hurt and honestly even a little scared, so a moment of weakness slipped from her lips.

“You’re not alone. You have me, she has no-“

“Do I?” Nicole snapped now. “Do I have you? Because I’ve barely seen you all week.”

Waverly shook her head, huffing out a breath. “Nicole.”

“I’m serious. Where have you been? Have you even eaten all week? Wynonna hasn’t seen you either!”

Waverly narrowed her eyes. “I’ve been helping my best friend. Who got shot. Trying to protect me.” She snapped. Every part of Waverly knew she was being unfair, that Nicole deserved to have someone to open up to, but she couldn’t do it right now, it was easier to ignore reality, to focus on one thing at a time.

“Right. Yeah.” Nicole muttered, looking away, hurt. “Well I made dinner.” She tried again, but her tone was sharp, angry and cold at the way Waverly had brushed off her gesture.

“Thank you. Can you save me some, I promise I’ll eat when I’m home.” Waverly replied, pulling her backpack on.

Nicole nodded and rolled her lips in frustration. “Sure yeah, whatever you want Waverly.” She muttered and watched the small girl practically run away from her towards the door.

“I’m sorry.” Waverly breathed out before she disappeared into the night.

“SHIT!” Nicole threw the dish towel she’d had in one hand across the living room, pressing her head into her hands in frustration. She stormed through the room and back into the kitchen, almost tripping over Whiskey who bolted around her feet. “Not now. Move.” She growled, pushing past him and cutting off the Mellencamp abruptly right in the middle of “You’ve gotta stand for something” and downing her wine on the table. She grabbed Waverly’s glass - of a wine that she didn’t even like - and sat in the chair, eating some of the taco mix without even bothering to make up the tacos properly.

Calamity Jane hopped onto the table and instead of scolding her and pushing her down, Nicole pulled her into her lap, a sad smile forming on her lips as she petted the kittens head gently. “You just felt bad that I was drinking alone huh.” The little ginger kitten nuzzled into her stomach and Nicole let a couple of tears fall. Suddenly she wasn’t even hungry anymore. She sat in silence at the kitchen table, drinking a wine which was way too sweet for her taste, the only sound was Whiskey scratching at the rug next door, trying to play with the little elephant toy Wynonna had bought for him. She couldn’t even muster the effort to cover everything up and put it in the fridge for later when Waverly came home whenever that would be.

Eventually, after what felt like hours sitting and staring at the wall she covered up the food and put it in the fridge, dragging herself upstairs. She got into her pyjamas without even bothering to put away her laundry properly, brushed her teeth quickly and dropped into bed, lying, staring at the ceiling numb and not even trying to sleep.

By the time Waverly got home, Nicole was already upstairs asleep. The small girl padded through the dark house into the kitchen and filled Calamity Jane’s bowl with water, sitting on the floor and nuzzling the kitten for a few minutes before heading upstairs. The bedroom was shrouded in darkness and she pulled off her dress and pulled on one of Nicole’s shirts, sliding into bed beside the sleeping redhead, turning her back to her and staring at the door which connected their room to the bathroom. 

She must have drifted off to sleep eventually, because when she awoke, the room was still pitch black and she rolled over instinctively to reach for her girlfriend, only to find the bed empty. Waverly blinked a few times to adjust to the darkness, finding both Whiskey and Calamity Jane asleep at the end of the bed and Nicole’s covers pushed back. The bed was still warm as if Nicole had only left recently and the scent of vanilla made Waverly’s heart flutter. She wasn’t sure what made her do it, but she slipped out of bed too, knowing she wasn’t going to fall back asleep anyway.

Waverly wandered downstairs in near silence, rounding the corner to find Nicole lying back on the couch, facing the wall, guitar in her hand, muting the strings as she plucked mindlessly, not even watching her left hand. She deliberately made her steps a little louder as she moved towards Nicole, to let the girl know she was there. The plan worked as Nicole sleepily tilted her head back and caught sight of Waverly who rounded the couch and sat next to her, staring at the wall. Nicole slid the guitar onto the floor, leaning it carefully against the couch, barely moving her body as she did so.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" She muttered softly and Waverly shook her head gently. 

"No, I just woke up." She replied and Nicole nodded in understanding.

The warm air of their living room made Nicole feel a little sick suddenly and she was about to get up and go into the garden, trying to avoid making Waverly uncomfortable, when the small girl started to speak again.

"I'm sorry I've been such an asshole." Waverly mumbled, playing with her hands in her lap, still looking at the wall opposite with the TV on it.

Nicole shook her head slowly. "You haven't, you've been looking out for your friend." She shrugged.

"Maybe, but she had Chrissy, you needed me."

Nicole sighed, she wanted to say she always needed her, that she would need her for the rest of her life, but now wasn't the time. Besides, she'd never been one to lean or depend on someone else, so she brushed it away.

"I had Wynonna." She muttered.

Waverly smiled a little, but rolled her eyes, shifting to look at Nicole. "Yeah, like you spoke to her about any of this."

"Well I didn't speak to you about it either." Nicole bit back a little harsher than she intentioned to. "Sorry." She mumbled. "I didn't mean that."

Waverly shook her head, looking back towards the wall. "It's true, and I'm sorry I've been avoiding you, I didn't think and I... I was scared." She sighed softly, thinking back to what happened the last time she avoided Nicole when Wynonna was missing and shuddering. This was clearly a bad habit she had, avoiding everything else and focusing on one thing, but the one who always seemed to get hurt was the woman she loved.

"You were scared?" Nicole asked, finally turning to look at Waverly. She noticed the girl was wearing her old blue and white striped shirt and her hair was pulled out of her face into a messy bun. Her jawline was silhouette'd in the glow from their living room lamp and her eyes were closed as she lay back in the couch. 

"Yeah, I was scared that I wouldn't be able to be what you needed. That you deserved someone strong, who could make you believe it was all going to be okay and that I was just going to disappoint you. I-" 

"Waverly you could never disappoint me." Nicole shook her head in disbelief, turning her body towards Waverly. "I think you're the most incredible person in the world." 

Waverly let out a wet laugh, shaking her head in disbelief. "I think you win that one Nicole." She didn't remove her gaze from the wall, but she opened her eyes slightly. "It's just through everything with Wynonna and moving here and the car you've been there for me in ways I never expected were even possible. You deserve for me to be able to do the same, but I couldn't, I just... I panicked. I only thought about what I needed. I wanted to go with him so you wouldn't have to see him again and then that... it all happened and I felt guilty for you having to do, to do that." She squeezed her eyes shut again. 

"Waverly you have been there for me. What are you talking about? You flew to Toronto to be with me, you were beside me at the trial, you literally wheeled me into my first day at work here." Nicole stared at Waverly's trembling lip desperately wanting her to be okay. "I'm not mad at you Waverly, I promise I'm not mad, I just... I miss you." She breathed out as Waverly finally opened her eyes and turned to look at her. The brunette's eyes sparkled in the gentle light, green and brown dancing together, lighting the natural spark in Nicole's heart as her breath caught slightly. It felt like years since she'd been like this with Waverly. It might have only been a week, but it had been one if the most intense weeks of her life. "God I missed you so much." She smiled softly.

Waverly's eyes lit up and a crinkle formed at the corners as she smiled and Nicole was sure it was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen in her life. "I missed you too." Waverly breathed out, leaning forward and connecting their lips gently, but passionately. Nicole pushed forward, wrapping her hands around Waverly's hips and twisting to pull her closer towards her on the couch. They found their regular pace almost instantly as Waverly's hands twisted around Nicole's neck, toying with her little red curls at the nape of it, as if nothing ever happened. Falling back together felt like the most natural thing, it always had done, even when they were physically apart, the moment they saw each other again it was as if they had never been apart, as if it was the only perfect thing in the entire world.

After a few minute's Waverly pulled away breathlessly. She rest her forehead gently against Nicole’s and bit her lip, her hands rubbing gently up and down the redhead’s arms, leaving goosebumps. “How have you been baby?” She asked innocently, but the nickname and the question made Nicole’s entire body feel as though it was on fire.

“Can we talk about it tomorrow? I just… I actually feel happy and normal for the first time in a week and I just want to stay this way.” The request caught Waverly off guard, but she was happy to oblige as she connected their lips again briefly and giggled a little when her stomach rumbled. She blushed softly, remembering that she’d promised to eat when she got in, but definitely hadn’t kept that promise. 

“I’m hungry, do you want tacos?” Nicole winked and Waverly nodded with a grin.

“Your tacos are my favourite.” She admitted, not realising what it sounded like until Nicole raised a brow and her face flushed a deeper red.

“Is that so?” Nicole teased, stopping walking into the kitchen and winking at Waverly. Waverly shook her head with a smile and stood up to follow Nicole into the kitchen.

“I hate you.” She mocked and Nicole grinned, stepping towards her and kissing her gently.

“But you love my taco?” 

“TACOS! I LOVE THE WAY YOU MAKE TACOS!” Waverly shoved her lightly, but still leant and kissed her again. Neither of them could get enough of the touch and hold of the other one after the week of brief cheek kisses and avoiding each other’s gaze.

“Okay sure cutie.” Nicole grinned, placing the two bowls of salad and black bean, tofu mix onto the table whilst Waverly began to fill the shells for them quickly and with a delicate precision. 

“Let’s play fortnite.” Waverly grinned, carrying her plate into the living room and dropping down on the couch hard.

“No way.” Nicole protested, shaking her head. “COD. It’s so much better, pleaseeee.” She took a huge bite of her taco, eyes wide and pleading with Waverly. 

“I hate that game, you can play that with Wynonna, fortnite is so colourful!” Waverly giggled, eating her own taco.

“Okay, how about Apex? Compromise?” Nicole tried and Waverly nodded.

“You can play, I’ll watch.” She grinned and Nicole shook her head.

“If I’m playing why couldn’t I just play COD?” She tried, switching on the TV. It was pitch black outside, probably around 2 in the morning and they were sat on their couch, eating leftover tacos and playing children’s games, but neither of them would have it any other way.

“Becauseeee I don’t like that game and you love me.” Waverly teased and Nicole leant froward kissing her softly and loading up Apex Legends.

“That I do cutie.” Nicole admitted, sinking into the couch, eating contentedly as the screen flicked between screens, watching Waverly’s face light up and her smile glowing in the light. That was definitely true, she hadn’t ever loved anyone like this.