Nicole stood up and threw the bandage she was holding on the table and walked out. She knew Willa was Waverly's sister, but boy did she want to give her a piece of her mind. She stood by the front door after she pulled it closed and took a breath trying to calm herself down a little. She glimpsed the barn as she was about to walk to her car, she remembered what Waverly had said yesterday about if they just 'popped out' to the barn. She wondered if Waverly had meant going to the barn just now when she said she should 'pop out'. She must have done, the words were too specific not to mean that. She's pretty sure she'd have figured that out quicker if Willa hadn't riled her up by being so damned condescending.

She walked over to the barn and was glad of the warmth of it when she entered. Looking around she saw the makeshift bed and sat on the edge. As she looked around she wondered if it was right to tell your girlfriend that you don't like her sister, probably not she thought as she got up and walked over to Wynonna's motorbike that was stood opposite the bed. She'd always liked the idea of a bike. She stood next to it and lightly touched the handlebars and moved her hand down the rest of it's body as she thought. Telling your girlfriend that you dislike her sister really wasn't something she should say to Waverly, they'd thought Willa was dead for years, to have her back and have your girlfriend dislike her probably wasn't helpful, she didn't want to get between Waverly and Willa, especially with everything else that's always going on.

As she wondered back to the bed she heard the barn door closing and saw Waverly slowly walking in. Nicole leaned against the wall next to the bed.

"I'm sorry" Waverly said apologetically looking away from Nicole "I should have told you about Willa redressing…I just…I..I liked you coming over…. and taking care of me, y'know?" She shrugged and smiled shyly

Nicole smiled "I liked it too…" she agreed softly

Waverly smiled at hearing that "And… I know I should have said something to Willa…i'm sorry"

Nicole stayed where she was as Waverley stepped closer to the bed

"It's just….I…I've never been very good at sticking up for myself with her….she always sort of scared me as a kid, y'know, she was so much older, she would pick on me, take my toys and torture them, and whenever Wynonna was playing with me she'd butt in and take Wynonna away…." Waverly sat on the end of the bed shaking her head "Having her around again just makes me feel like I did as a child, having her…bully me, push me around…and taking Wynonna away" she winced a bit at saying it out loud, she wasn't a child any more, surely she shouldn't still feel that way "I know I shouldn't think it, having her back is a miracle….but…the other day I followed Willa and Wynonna out here…. you know what I heard?" she asked sadly

Nicole just shook her head not really wanting to interrupt Waverly

"Willa said 'you're not alone any more'" She smiled sadly looking on the verge of tears "… as if I didn't even exist, like I haven't been here this whole time with Wynonna" she shook her head getting angry all over again at the thought of it "I didn't say anything to her because she wouldn't have listened to me…." Waverly sighed "Having her here, walking around on egg shells all the time, being shot I…..I'm exhausted" she sighed

"Hey…" Nicole said as she pushed herself off the wall and made her way towards Waverly on the bed. She sat behind her and carefully brushed Waverly's hair away from her neck and kissed it softly "I know baby". She could feel Waverly relax and tilt her head to the side so that more of her neck was available for kissing. Nicole was more than happy to take advantage and kissed her again.

But Waverly couldn't wait. She turned her head to find Nicole's lips, it seemed like forever ago that they had some time together by themselves and with the way Waverly was feeling, she didn't want to waste it. As she kissed Nicole she moved her hand to her face, relishing the feel of her soft skin. The thought of more soft skin raced through her mind and she felt the need to feel more, she moved her hands away from Nicole's face and found the bottom of her jumper, without much warning she pulled it up. Nicole was slightly surprise, but was more than happy to help and quickly threw her jumper behind her and reached for Waverly's shirt. Nicole pulled Waverly's shirt over her head and threw it to the side, Waverly still had on a vest but this was going in the direction Nicole had been hoping for for a while. She put her arms around Waverly and smiled into the kiss.

Unfortunately neither of them was paying enough attention to hear the barn door bang shut, Nicole opened her eye for just a second to look at the smile she could feel on Waverly's lips, but to her immense annoyance she saw Willa out of the corner of her eye.

"Shit" Nicole said pulling away from Waverly, she knew Waverly hadn't told Wynonna about them, so she sure hadn't told Willa.

Waverly turned to see what Nicole was looking at "Oh my god" Waverly whispered when she saw Willa

They both quickly grabbed their jumper and shirt and covered themselves up.

"Sorry" Willa said in shock "Wow, Wynonna never said anything about you being a…. a gay"

Was she serious? Nicole looked at Waverly only to see her look down in embarrassment, at least that look had better be embarrassment.

"Oh geez, you haven't told her" Willa continued

Nicole didn't like her tone and was getting really annoyed with her now, first she had put up with Willa sticking her nose in while she was changing Waverly's bandage, now she comes in here and tries to embarrass and shame her girlfriend. She really wanted to say something, but she knew she couldn't say what she wanted to say or do what she wanted to do without upsetting Waverly, so she quickly moved off the bed.

"I have to go" Nicole said, even though she didn't really want to or have to, but she couldn't shout at a girl who'd been in a weird cult for god knows how long. She hoped Waverly wouldn't be too annoyed at her for leaving.

She walked towards the door pulling her jumper back on "Call me later"

Nicole got in her car and sat for a moment, she had to calm down, she didn't want to drive angry. She took some breaths and was about to start the car and drive away when Waverly came out of the barn. She saw her and started walking over to the car.

Nicole wound down her window "Is everything okay?"

Waverly leaned her hip up against the car "Yeah, everything's fine"

"Do you think she'll say anything?"

"I don't know" Waverly sighed "I hope not… I mean, I want to tell Wynonna my way, y'know, not as some sort of damage control… I will tell her, I promise" She smiled

Nicole smiled back "Will you be alight, in there with her?" she asked motioning towards the house "You can come to mine if you'd like?"

"No, it'll be fine… we don't want to leave her alone for too long, so…." she said making a disappointed face

"Okay…Hey what are you wearing tonight? To this party thing?"

Waverly smiled widely "Like i'm going to tell you" she laughed "That would spoil the surprise" she said leaning through the window and kissing Nicole "I'll call you later"

"Okay" Nicole said and wound her window back up. She started her car and began to turn around to leave. As she looked in her rear view mirror to take a final look at her girlfriend, she saw Willa standing outside the barn watching her leave.

Nicole was still laying on the floor of the main office trying to get her breath back when Nedley had walked in looking for his daughter. The bullet had hit her so hard she was thrown against the office door with such force that she felt doubly winded, once from the bullet and once from the door. As she laid there the pain was slowly turning into an intense ache every time she breathed in and out and a huge bruising was definitely starting to develop. She had no intention of rushing to her feet even after Nedley had found her. To try to take her mind off the pain she had been thinking about how the evening had began and the contrast to how it had ended. When she saw Waverly coming down that flight of stairs at the party, looking like a beautiful mermaid, she was so glad that she had found her purple dress. She didn't think she would ever have another reason to wear it again so she'd boxed it up and put it at the back of her wardrobe. But the look on Waverly's face was well worth rummaging in the back of her wardrobe for it. She'd really hoped that they might be able to have a dance together, what with them both getting dressed up, but Bobo Del Ray seemed to have other ideas. She was also wondering what exactly was going on with the Earp sister. Waverly had mentioned something about staying near the exits at the party before having to go look after Willa, so there was obviously something they all knew about and it must have something to do with Willa, hence her holding a gun up to both her and Wynonna and Waverly. Then finally before Nedley had come in she had wondered what Waverly had said to make Willa put down her gun, well momentarily putting it down before shooting her.

But then Nedley had come rushing in looking for Chrissy so she had to forget about all of that. Luckily for her Nedley had told her that the Black Badge Division had taken over the area and was dealing with the aftermath of Bobo's poisoning, so after Nedley had found her and his daughter and they had both been checked by medics he'd sent her home to rest.

A few hours later there was a knock on the door and Thunderbolt sat up quickly from where she had been laying on Nicole's legs curled up comfortably, and she glared at the door. Nicole hadn't moved since she lowered herself onto her sofa, but she raised her head slightly off of the cushion "Who is it?" she shouted

"Hey, it's Waverly" came a quiet voice the other side of her door

"It's open" Nicole shouted back

Waverly popped her head around the edge of the door as she slowly opened it, smiling when she saw Nicole spread out on her sofa.

"Hey!" Nicole smiled trying to shimmy herself up the sofa, but regretting it straight away as pain shot to her chest

Waverly rushed over to her "Don't move, it's okay" she said putting her hand out to stop her moving, when she stopped Waverly sat on the edge of the sofa next to her.

"How are you feeling?" Waverly asked as she leaned forward and softly brushed Nicole's hair from her forehead. She stroked her cheek a little then rested her hand on Nicole's shoulder.

"I'm feeling like your sister shot me" Nicole smiled and laughed a little

Waverly smiled sadly, it hadn't been 20 minutes since she got off the phone from Wynonna and been told that Willa was dead. She wasn't sure if she felt like joking about her sister or Nicole being shot by said sister.

"You okay?" Nicole asked concerned, that wasn't the kind of smile she was aiming for from Waverly

"Yeah…" she lied. Not only was her sister dead and her girlfriend laying in front of her injured, there was now a possibility that she wasn't even and actual Earp.

Nicole could tell that wasn't true, but before she could ask again Waverly diverted the conversation "Does it hurt a lot?" she asked, her hand hovered over Nicole's chest. She had too much on her mind, too much to figure out, so she tried to concentrate on the situation in front of her now.

"Only when I breathe or move…" Nicole smiled as she pulled the neck of her t-shirt down so that part of the large developing bruise could be seen. Waverly cringed and lightly stroked the bruise, she could see it was one of those bruises that was only going to get darker and darker.

"I'm sorry…" she grimaced

"It's not your fault" Nicole shook her head

"I-I know, it's just…." She looked Nicole in the eye "I was so scared i'd lost you too…" her eyes filled with tears. She really needed this to be the end of the people she loved dying or getting hurt or leaving.

"Hey" Nicole took hold of Waverly's hand that was still on her chest "It's okay, i'm okay and i'm not going anywhere" she moved her other hand to Waverly's cheek to wipe away a tear.

Waverly sniffed and another tear rolled down her cheek when she blinked "Y-you promise?"

"I promise" Nicole reassured "You're stuck with me" She smiled

Waverly smiled and sniffed again "And you are stuck with me" she smiled back

"Sounds perfect" Nicole said as Waverly leaned down and kissed her slowly.

Waverly pulled away reluctantly after a minute "I'm sorry, I have to go and see Wynonna at the Ghost River gate, I was on my way there…" She smiled sadly again "but i'll be back later okay?"

"Of course, yeah" Nicole answered as Waverly stood up "Hey, do you want to take my spare keys? they're in the dish by the door, then, y'know, you can lock the door behind you and I wont have to attempt to get up to let you in" she smiled

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course"

Waverly smiled as she took the keys out of the green dish, was this a big step? She turned to Nicole and smiled "Okay"

She opened the door to leave

"Oh hey, what happened in the end? did you manage to find Willa?"

Waverly stopped and turned slightly towards Nicole, but didn't look directly at her "Wynonna did" Waverly answered matter of factly

"Well, that's good, is she back at the station? She did shoot an officer of the law after all" Nicole smiled slightly

Waverly turned to look at Nicole, after a short pause she replied "She dead."

"Oh, Wave…" Nicole tried to sit up again, but regretted it as pain erupted in her chest "ergh!" She laid back down with a grimace "Wave i'm so sorry, what happened…?"

"Wynonna…she said she had no choice" She wanted to say more but knew it would not be a short conversation "When I come back we can talk about it okay?" she said as she started to close the door behind her.

"Okay, be careful" Nicole shouted just as the door closed behind Waverly