Nicole was sitting at her desk, just gazing blankly at the paperwork that sat before her on Tucker. Yesterday she had made the biggest mistake of her life. Yesterday she stupidly made the choice to not give Waverly the DNA results when they came in.
"What was I thinking…" Nicole said quietly to herself. She checked her phone for the 9th or 10th time in the last 15 minutes, desperately wanting to see Waverly's name pop up. Yesterday, Nicole had left her a voicemail apologizing, and sent numerous texts trying to tell Waverly that she wanted to talk and explain everything. After a sleepless night, Nicole decided that she needed to give Waverly space and had sent a final text to Waverly that morning saying:
I know you're mad at me, and you have every right to be. I'm so sorry Waves. You have had so much happen lately and you were finally smiling and letting some of the stress go and I just didn't want to see you hurting. I'm sorry baby, I truly am. I won't keep bothering you, I'm sure you need space. If you still want me, I'm here for you, no matter how long it takes. Xo.
Nicole knew she fucked up, she knew Waverly had a right to be mad at her, but God did she hate not having the woman she loved happy with her.
Nicole had been checking the office mail when she found a letter addressed to Waverly from the DNA lab. Waverly had been so emotionally drained lately and things with Wynonna and the baby were making it even harder on the youngest Earp. Nicole knew that no matter what the results said, she would be there for her girlfriend. Waverly was an Earp; DNA test confirmation or not.
Throughout their many talks about Waverly's struggle in knowing who her biological parents were, Waverly had mentioned numerous times that she didn't know if she even wanted to know the results and that she was scared to open the letter one day that would give her the truth; was she or was she not an Earp.
While Nicole held the letter for Waverly in her hands, all she thought about was how many times Waverly had told her that she was scared to open the letter and see the answer, but that she wanted to know. Nicole, in that moment while holding the letter, acted without truly realizing the possible consequences of her actions. Nicole opened the letter and read the results.
Nicole folded the letter back up and held it to her chest. "Oh Waverly…" Nicole said softly as she frowned. Nicole decided that she would wait and tell Waverly everything later that evening when they had some time alone time because Nicole knew the answer would devastate Waverly; with all the pain and heartache Waverly had gone through in her life, Nicole was hoping that she would be able to soften the blow.
Nicole put the letter in her purse and closed it. She would give the letter and results to Waverly tonight and she would help her girlfriend in whatever way she needed.
Of course, as fate would have it, Waverly found the letter in Nicole's purse and left Shorty's telling Nicole to not follow her. Waverly had come to the bar to meet Nicole for some pool and beers. When Waverly got there she walked in to the bar and immediately curled in to Nicole's side, talking about how she felt overwhelmed.
Nicole felt her heart break a little while looking into Waverly's defeated, exhausted, and sad eyes.
"I seriously don't know how much more I can take right now," Waverly huffed as she hugged Nicole tightly.
"I know baby, and I'm so sorry," Nicole said quietly as she kissed the top of Waverly's head.
"It's okay, we'll get through this together right?" Waverly said with a slight smile as she looked up at Nicole's hazel eyes.
"Always," Nicole said with a grin, leaning down and giving Waverly a quick kiss on the lips.
"Good, now, I have had a mildly shitty few days so I think you and I need to have some fun!" Waverly said with a smile as she backed away from the redhead and grabbed the pool cue. "Ready to get your ass kicked Officer?" Waverly said as she grinned and wiggled her eyebrows.
"Oh? You think you can win huh?" Nicole said with a chuckle, "Alright, let's see what you got Waves!"
As Nicole watched Waverly smile and start setting up the pool table, Nicole knew she couldn't give Waverly the results then. This was the first time in a few days she had seen the brunette happy. I just want her to enjoy being happy for a little longer until I give her that letter and that smile fades. I love this girl so much, and I hate knowing that after she finds out the results, her heart is going to break, Nicole thought to herself.
Then Waverly found the letter and everything went to hell.
Fast forward to now, where Nicole is sitting at her desk, replaying yesterday over and over. Nicole kept thinking about how she told Waverly she loved her, and Waverly walking away. Nicole knew Waverly wasn't going to say it back in that moment, she didn't expect her to. Nicole was just hoping it would maybe explain a little of her reasoning why she did what she did.
Nicole knew she should have just given the letter to Waverly; she just didn't want to add more heartbreak onto the one person in the world she loved. Now look where I'm at, Nicole thought to herself as she closed her eyes and laid her head down on the desk sighing.
Waverly had gone to Shorty's for a drink. After everything lately, she wanted alcohol. Why would Nicole do that to me? How could she do that to me? Waverly thought to herself as she sat at the bar and sipped on her martini.
"You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders," Rosita said as she slid another drink in front of Waverly. "Everything okay? I kinda came back in just in time to see you leave and your girlfriend looking like she had just been punched in the heart."
Waverly looked up at the other girl and sighed. "Everything is definitely not okay, hence the mid-day need for alcohol."
Rosita pursed her lips and nodded, "I work in a bar and drink throughout the day. I don't judge mid-day alcohol needs." Rosita grabbed a glass from under the counter and poured two shots of whiskey, then proceeded to hand one of the glasses to Waverly.
Waverly looked at Rosita and gave a smirk. The two tapped their shot glasses together and each took a large sip.
"Wanna talk about it?" Rosita asked as she poured another shot.
"Yes… No… I don't know…" Waverly sighed as she starred at the shot glass. "Nicole kept something from me, like a big something, and yesterday I found it and of course she is trying to say that she was doing it to protect me, and I believe that to a degree…" Waverly said quickly as she tipped the shot back and slammed the glass down. "She made a decision for me, then she kept it from me, so I told her she was controlling me, she said she loves me, I left and had to process the information that she kept from me, like personal information, and now I'm not talking to her, which is really hard because I know she cares but… Just why? Like why couldn't she just freaking tell me!" Waverly said in her quick jumbled pace.
Rosita stood across from Waverly on the other side of the bar with her mouth slightly agape.
"Okay, so you tak insanely fast, so let me make sure I got this right…" Rosita said as she closed her eyes momentarily and shook her head, trying to process all the information Waverly just spewed out. "So, from what I gathered, Nicole hid something from you, like didn't tell you something that was about you?"
Waverly nodded as she went back to sipping on her martini.
"Okay, and you found out yesterday that she had hid this thing from you, and she said she did it to protect you? Because she loves you?" Rosita said as she narrowed her eyes and looked at Waverly.
"Yep," Waverly said with a sigh.
Rosita paused for a moment, watching Waverly swirl her glass in her hand, clearly looking heartbroken and defeated. "Do you really think that she kept the information from you because she was trying to control you? Like do you think she did it to hurt you?" Rosita asked as she leaned forward.
Waverly put her glass down and leaned her head on her right hand. "Honestly… No… I think she thought she was protecting me, but that doesn't make lying to your girlfriend acceptable" Waverly said with a huff.
"No girl, I totally agree," Rosita said as she held her hands up in a surrendering manner. "I'm just saying… sometimes, we think we are protecting the person we care about, when in reality we are hurting them. People do crazy things when they're in love," Rosita said as she watched Waverly carefully.
Waverly knew Rosita was right, but right now, she wanted to be mad at Nicole, she wanted to focus all her energy on the red head and not think about the results she had just read.
After not hearing a reply from the Earp, Rosita continued speaking, carefully choosing her words. "I see the way she looks at you Waves, that girl worships you. She made a mistake, she fucked up, there is no denying that, but… I do believe she was honestly just trying to save you a little pain since you and your sister have had a lot of shit going on. Have you ever made a choice that hurt her because you were trying to protect her?" Rosita poured a shot for herself and tipped it back.
Hearing Rosita's final question caused the anger and frustration Waverly had for Nicole to quickly fall away. Waverly closed her eyes and put her hands on her temple. Black Badge, I made the choice to not include Nicole because I thought I was protecting her, even though I knew she wanted that promotion so bad, I lied to the BBD administrator and told them there was no one else because I wanted to keep her safe. I didn't tell Nicole all the things I was doing with BBD, I went undercover without telling her, almost got her fired kissing her when I was possessed, didn't tell her half of the 'I almost died' shit shows with Wynonna… And through all of that she was still there for me brining me the applications to find out if I was an Earp… Waverly thought to herself as a sense of understanding came over her.
When Waverly removed her hands and opened her eyes, she looked at Rosita who was wearing a small smirk and had one eyebrow raised.
"Uh huh," Rosita said with a pleased expression now crossing her face, "that's what I thought. It's okay to be mad at her for what she did, but, also remember that in newer relationships, sometimes we do stupid things trying to protect the other. You both have had to go through a shit ton in the beginning of your relationship and look at how far you guys have made it. I think you two just need to talk it out and work together to protect each other, rather than doing dumb things trying to protect the other."
Waverly offered a sweet smile to the bartender, "Thanks Rosie."
Rosita gave a sincere smile and leaned over placing a hand on Waverly's forearm, "Anytime Earp, now, go get your girl."
Waverly grinned and reached down grabbing her purse and left out of Shorty's to go to the station to find Nicole.
Nicole was alone in the station, minus the elderly secretary named Janet, who was currently working on the daily crossword puzzle in the newspaper. Nicole was still sitting at her desk with her head down on the files of reports that she had accumulated lately.
Waverly walked by the front desk where Janet was sitting and offered a cute smile and wave to the elderly woman. Janet smiled back and nodded towards the Officer's Quarters, where the deputies would sit at their desks to work on paperwork.
Waverly rounded the corner and leaned over the desk looking at the redhead who was sitting at her desk with her head down. As upset as Waverly had been with Nicole for what she had done, it pulled at her heart to see that her girlfriend was in what appeared to be a remorseful distress.
"So, this what Purgatory's finest does during their shifts…" Waverly said with a smirk as she eyed the redhead.
Hearing Waverly's voice caused Nicole to shoot up out of her chair, causing the officer to smash her knee on the desk and yelp in pain.
Waverly covered her mouth and attempted to conceal her giggle, but she was unsuccessful. Nicole looked up and saw Waverly trying to hide her laugh, and the redhead couldn't help but ignore the pain in her knee and smile softly at her girlfriend.
Nicole walked slowly over towards the front desk and through the small swinging door so that she was standing in front of her girlfriend; not too close as to make Waverly uncomfortable, but not far away to cause any unnecessary distance.
"Hey…" Nicole said softly as she looked into Waverly's green eyes.
"Hi…" Waverly replied quietly.
Nicole and Waverly both went to go talk at the same time, stopping and offering a small chuckle as they both blushed and turned away.
"You go first," Waverly said as she crossed her arms and leaned against the desk.
"Okay…" Nicole said as she took a deep breath, "I'm so sorry Waverly. I should have given you the letter as soon as it came in and I absolutely shouldn't have opened it. I fucked up… Bad. I betrayed your trust, invaded your privacy, and hurt you… Which ironically enough was exactly what I was trying to avoid. I never want to hurt you, all I want is to protect you, but looking back, I guess you don't need my protection. You just need my support and I'm sorry…"
Waverly could feel tears welling in her eyes and she looked up at Nicole. Nicole frowned and stepped forwards and held her hand out to the brunette.
"I'm still mad at you," Waverly said with a slight smirk as she reached her right hand out and took Nicole's hand in her own.
"I know and you have every right to be. I swear I was going to give you the letter, I wanted to sit you down and give it to you and tell you I would be here… I put it in my purse so that I could give it to you… It's just… You have been through so much heartbreak lately Waves and when I saw you come in to Shorty's and looking defeated, when you finally started to smile again, I didn't want to rip it all away without giving you a second to enjoy feeling happy again. There's no excuse for it Waverly, I'm so sorry I overstepped. I would never want to try to control you, I just didn't want you to have one more thing bring you down without giving you a moment of joy…" Nicole said as she looked at her girlfriend with pleading and desperate eyes.
Waverly took a deep breath and turned her body so that she was facing Nicole and reached out and took the redheads other hand in her own.
"I was at Shorty's before I came here and I was so mad at you… Literally I was so angry… And I think that a lot of that anger came from not wanting to face the results… And feeling like the one person who I trusted and thought would be there for me essentially betrayed me and made the choice for me" Waverly said as she sniffled. Waverly looked at Nicole and could tell that Nicole was feeling guilty and the officer had tears shining in her eyes.
"But… Rosita reminded me that sometimes in relationships, people unintentionally hurt the other when they're trying to protect them…" Waverly said as she squeezed Nicole's hands and caused the redhead to look back at her. "I thought about Black Badge and how I essentially made the choice for you to not be involved. I chose to lie to Lucado and the BBD administrator saying no one else was involved. I did that because I thought I was protecting you, and instead I hurt you… Even though I hurt you, you were still there for me and brought me the applications, told me you would be here for me…"
Waverly stepped forward and reached her hand up to tangle it in the red head's hair and pull Nicole's head down so that their foreheads were pressed together.
"You kissed me right after I was possessed and you knew something was different, you knew that whole time something was different… As much as it hurt me yesterday to find out that you kept the results from me…" Waverly said as she glanced up so her green eyes met Nicole's hazel ones, "I know that you care about me… I know that you were trying to protect me… I think we both just need to make decisions together when it comes to doing stupid things to protect the other"
Nicole offered a light laugh and tightened her grip on Waverly's hips, "Yeah, yeah I can agree with that"
"So, from now on we talk things out together. No matter what comes our way we can get through it together, but I need you supporting me Nicole. Don't hide things from me because you think it will hurt me… In the end finding out you kept something from me is going to hurt ten times worse" Waverly said as she squeezed her eyes shut.
"I swear I won't ever keep anything from you again Waves… We will get through things together. I promise…" Nicole whispered.
Waverly smiled and leaned up while simultaneously pulling Nicole's head down so she could kiss the redheads soft lips.
Both were smiling into the kiss and tightening their grip on one another; as the kiss became more heated, Waverly took a step back and panted, "Who else is here?"
Nicole looked at the clock and said, "No one right now, but Jackson comes on in 5 mins and I'm off."
"Well…" Waverly said as she smiled seductively and started backing towards the door to the hallway with Nicole following, "Why don't we make the 5 minutes go by a little faster?"
Nicole offered a smile that clearly told Waverly she agreed with the scandalous idea.
Nicole grinned as Waverly grabbed her hand, and peeked out in the hall. When Waverly decided the coast was clear, she started dragging the redhead to the back of the station in the BBD room, both were smiling and giggling.
"Janet, I'm gonna help Waverly with… yeah… I'll be back in the Black Badge Office if you need me!" Nicole yelled down the hallway to her elderly secretary.
Janet was only half paying attention so she didn't hear the playful giggling noises down the hall from the two women, but was able to comprehend that Nicole was going to help Waverly in the Black Badge Office.
"Okay dear!" Janet called over her shoulder at the two.
Several minutes went by then the front door to the station opened and in walked a blonde woman wearing light colored jeans, with a black sweater and a grey vest.
Janet looked up from her crossword puzzle to see who had come in, "How can I help you dear?" Janet said with a smile.
"Hi, I'm looking for Officer Haught?" the blonde woman said with a soft smile.
"Is she expecting you?" Janet asked as she examined the woman.
"No, but I'm family so I'm hoping she will be excited about the surprise visit," the blonde said with a wink.
Janet grinned and excitedly said, "Oh Nicole's family? How lovely! She just went to the Black Badge Office. Go down the hall and it will be the last door on the right!"
"Thank you ma'am," the blonde said with a smile as she headed past the secretary and down the hall.
Nicole had Waverly pressed up against the desk in the middle of the room as the two passionately kissed. Nicole leaned down and lifted Waverly up and sat her down on the desk, while Waverly took her legs and wrapped them around the back of Nicole's legs to hold the redhead in place.
The two were so consumed in their make out session, they didn't notice a figure at the door. Suddenly the door opened and the two tore their lips away from each other and looked to their left to see the blonde woman standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.
"Wow, so this is what you do at work huh Nikky?" The blonde said with a smirk as she leaned against the door post.
"Kendall?" Nicole said with her eyes wide and mouth open.
Waverly was beyond confused as she looked back and forth from the blonde to her girlfriend. The way Nicole's forehead was scrunched, Waverly could tell that whatever Nicole's relationship with this woman was, it wasn't exactly a happy reunion. Waverly gently pushed the shocked redhead back some so she could hop down the desk and cross her arms to glare at the blonde.
Noticing that Waverly had hopped down and was giving her a hateful stare, the blonde couldn't help but throw an 'eat shit grin' towards the youngest Earp. "And you are?" Kendall asked with an amused tone.
"Her girlfriend. Who the hell are you?" Waverly asked with a bit of a jealous tone appearing as she took a step forward and tilted her head.
"Her big sister", Kendall replied as she moved her eyes from Waverly to Nicole, "Miss me sis?" the blonde added with a nervous chuckle.
"Ohhhh…" Waverly said softly as she looked back and forth between the two from her position in between the Haught sisters, though she was pretty sure neither heard her.
Waverly could see that Nicole's shocked expression had changed to one that read anger and annoyance, while Kendall seemed to have changed from snarky to a look that seemed more pleading and regret filled.
"What is happening…" Waverly said softly as she continued looking at the two.