More of the after effects of the trio's night of drinking . . .
Have I mentioned that Wynonna and Nicole are my brotp? Cause they are.
Waverly had to walk from Nicole's in town apartment to the Sheriff's Department, as she couldn't really remember where she had left her Jeep. She hoped she had left it at Shorty's last night, and she probably should have stopped there first to check, but a hungover Waverly was a single-minded Waverly. Besides, the streets were still a little too dark for her to feel comfortable traipsing around Purgatory in her condition - namely, without a shotgun.
The Sherrif's Department was deserted, save for the lone deputy nodding off at the front desk - it really was a pretty quiet town, save for the whole undead invasion hell-bent on destroying anyone with the last name 'Earp' issue.
She stormed into the Black Badge office - well, as much as one could 'storm' when one was more hungover than a wanna-be Irishman the day after St. Patrick's Day.
Wynonna was passed out on the conference table, leather jacket draped across her in lieu of a blanket, an unflattering line of drool hanging from her lips. Waverly staggered to the table and pulled back a chair. wincing as it screeched against the floor. She didn't even have to look up to know that Wynonna was still asleep, her sister could sleep through the apocalypse; especially when she was sleeping off a hangover.
Wobbly, she sunk into the chair, propping her elbows on the table and burying her face in her hands. Her brain was racing through a million different thoughts, none of them helping to ease her anxiety.
She just needed to sit for like two seconds, and -
She must have fallen asleep, because next thing she knew Wynonna's voice was startling her awake.
"Babygirl?"
She glanced up to see Wynonna studying her, drool gone and sunlight pouring in the windows.
"You ok?"
She returned her head to her hands and grunted, not wanting to risk shaking her head.
"Drink a little too much last night?" The table rocked as Wynonna lowered herself to the ground.
Waverly nodded, and it was a mistake, her stomach roiling. She shot up from the chair and ran to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before she lost the contents of her stomach, which admittedly wasn't much. She fumbled for the flush handle, staring blankly into the water as it swirled around the bowl.
Her stomach felt better, but her mind was still racing, trying to remember exactly what had happened the night before. Finally, she pushed herself to her feet, head still pounding. Wynonna was waiting on her right outside the stall, glass of water in hand, but she pushed past her sister to brace herself on the sink.
"I told you two you wouldn't be able to keep up with me, but you just had to try."
She leaned forward until her forehead thudded against the mirror over the sink, silently cursing past Waverly for thinking that she could keep up with Wynonna when it came to pounding back whiskey. She groaned loudly, and Wynonna's hand came up to rub circles on her back.
"It's all good, a little alcohol poisoning is good for the soul."
She pulled back to glare at her sister in the mirror, but Wynonna only grinned before setting down the glass of water on the sink and producing a wrapped toothbrush from somewhere.
"Here, brush your teeth, you'll feel better."
She groaned, but complied, the minty foam helping to calm her stomach and ridding her of her dry mouth.
"Thanks."
Wynonna grinned, white foam spilling over her lips as she worked her own brush around her molars. She pointed to the glass, and Waverly noticed a foil pack of Advil sitting next to it.
She popped the pills, waiting for her stomach to protest, but it never came.
Wynonna clapped her shoulder. "You'll feel better in no time, babygirl. Hey, how's Haught? She look as rough as you or can she handle her liquor?"
Waverly avoided her sister's eyes guiltily, brushing past her to the main office.
"What, the fake girlfriends not speaking this morning? You sure were awfully chummy last night!"
When she didn't respond, realization dawned in Wynonna's eyes.
"Wait, you left before she woke up this morning, didn't you?"
She rummaged through the backpack of clothes that Wynonna left at Black Badge for when she had a nasty run in with Revenants, or when she got jelly donut on her shirt, or when she was too drunk to go home and change.
"She wasn't exactly coherent before I left, no."
"Damn! Hot and cold, huh? I thought she was your new best friend!"
"Hot and cold?" She ignored the drumbeat in her head, pulling out a tank top that looked like it would fit.
"Yeah, last night you guys were inseparable! It was kind of adorable really."
"Adorable?" She slipped her top from the night before off and the new shirt on.
"Are you just going to repeat everything I say?"
"No?"
"Are you ok?"
"I don't know."
She collapsed into one of the chairs as a thought struck her.
"Wait, how did you know I was at Nicole's?"
Wynonna studied her, and it was like those piercing blue eyes were staring right into her soul. It was a long moment before the elder Earp barked a laugh.
"Damn, babygirl, you really don't remember last night, do you?"
She fought down the sense of overwhelming sense of frustration that threatened to overtake her. Her head was pounding, she had an uneasy peace treaty with her stomach, and she had probably just ruined her chances with the only girl in town dumb enough to possibly date her. Not that Nicole was dumb, the opposite, really but -
"No, Wynonna, I don't." She snapped.
Wynonna held up her hands, backing away to stand next to the coffee maker - which was currently making half dead gurgling noises.
"Well, grumpy-pants, we were all at Haughtpants' - hey! That's what I'm gonna call you guys now! Haughtpants and Grumpy-pants!"
She laughed at her own joke, and Waverly glowered at her.
"Ok, ok, chill! after we all closed down Shorty's, we went back to Nicole's place - which by the way, her cat loves me; we're total besties - and then after a few games of poker I cut outta there and you guys stayed."
"Oh." She leaned on the table, grateful that her headache had at least started to ease.
Silver linings.
"Oh?" Wynonna passed her a cup of black sludge that smelled similar to coffee.
"Yeah, I just - "
There was a knock at the door and she jumped, watching as Wynonna moved to investigate.
Nicole was standing on the other side of the door, coffee carrier balanced in one hand.
She looked, well, stunning for lack of a better word; especially for someone who had probably matched Waverly drink for drink last night.
She was pretty sure that she didn't look like that right now.
Nicole's hair was perfectly plaited into her signature braid, and her eyes were bright and sparkling. The top two buttons on her uniform shirt were popped open, and Waverly couldn't help the way her eyes lingered on the exposed skin of her neck.
The hand that wasn't holding the coffee carrier was gripping her belt, slender fingers wrapped around the buckle.
She felt her draw drop and her mouth go dry again.
"Haughtpants!" Wynonna cried out, extending a hand towards the officer. Their fingers met in a complicated dance, and Waverly found herself wondering at what point last night that they had been coordinated enough to create a secret handshake.
"Earp!" Nicole looked over Wynonna's shoulder and locked eyes with Waverly, left lid dropping in a wink. "Hey, Wave."
Ummmm. . . had she missed something? From what she could piece together, she had gotten extremely drunk, ended up in bed with her crush, ran away before said crush could wake up, and now Nicole was . . . smiling at her?
She lifted a hand in a small wave. "Hey, Nicole."
The redhead picked one of the coffees out of the carrier and handed it to her. "Thought you might need some this morning, coffee here isn't so good."
"Oh, umm, thank you."
She took a sip, lots of cream, hint of caramel; just how she liked it.
"How did you?"
"Lucky guess." Nicole winked again, and she felt her heart speed up.
"Please tell me one of those is for me?" Wynonna begged.
"Right here, black, just like your soul."
Wynonna snickered, offering up her hand for a high five.
"Nice one, Haughtpants."
"Oh! Wave!" Nicole fumbled in her back pocket. "You left this at my apartment." She handed over Waverly's phone. "Musta missed it when you headed out this morning."
"Uhh, yeah, thanks."
So Nicole definitely knew that she had slept over.
And obviously she remembered more than her about what had happened last night.
And she had woken up in the same state of undress as Waverly.
So she was just ok with all that?
She didn't have much time to ponder because Dolls was brushing past Nicole on his way into the office.
"Officer Haught, what have I told you about coming into my office?"
"Oh, sorry - I was just leaving."
Wynonna slung an arm around Nicole's shoulders.
"Now Dolls, why can't we just let Haught be apart of the team? She's a good cop, good head on her shoulders."
"No."
"But-"
"No."
"Hey, it's cool," Nicole interrupted with an easy smile. "I think Nedley's got me going out on patrol in a minute anyway." She raised the solitary cup left in the holder in salute. "Wave? Maybe we can do dinner later? Text me."
"Huh?" Dinner? Dinner? "Oh , uh, yeah, yeah, I will. Thanks again for the coffee."
"Anytime."
There was that smile again, that breathtaking smile that made her heart be faster and her stomach twist - but not in the bad way, in the very, good way - and then she was gone, the door closing behind her.
As soon as the door closed, the atmosphere in the room changed completely.
"Way to go Dolls, let the one good cop here leave."
"What's that supposed to mean, Earp?" Dolls's voice was hard, and Waverly felt herself cringing as she sipped her coffee.
"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about Deputy Marshall." Wynonna was leaning over the table obviously braced for a fight.
"Well, I don't, so why don't you spell it out for me?"
"For starters, I don't think that she would let an innocent man die for a science experiment."
"I didn't have a choice."
"You did have a choice, and you made the wrong one!" Wynonna was yelling now, and Waverly could feel the edges of her headache returning.
"Sometimes, difficult decisions have to be made." Dolls' voice was hard.
"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to work alongside someone who can make decisions like that without batting an eye."
Ok, so she probably should have been more concerned about what they were arguing over, it sounded important.
To be perfectly honest though, she was still distracted by the slight hint she had caught of Nicole's perfume. Was that lavender and . . . vanilla? Maybe something sweeter. . .
"Guys, if you don't need me I'm just gonna . . ." She jerked her thumb towards the door, but neither her sister nor the Deputy Marshall were paying her any attention. She grabbed her coffee and slipped out, Dolls and Wynonna still yelling behind her.
They didn't need her.
And if they did, they could find her.
The coffee seemed to be settling her stomach, and the Advil had worked wonders on her headache, now all that was bothering her was the weird jittery feeling in her chest that she was pretty sure had nothing to do with the amount of alcohol that she had consumed last night.
"Waverly!" Nedley's voice shocked her out of her inner dilemma. "Glad to see you back around. I was afraid yesterday might scare you off. It's good to have you around, you balance out the Earp weirdness around here. Wynonna's a little . . ."
He paused, and the sound of Wynonna and Dolls screaming at each other filled the silence.
"Well," He shrugged. "You know."
She laughed awkwardly. Sometimes she wished she could be the crazy Earp and just let herself . . . be. Without worrying what anyone else thought.
"Hey, since it's pretty obvious they don't need you with Black Badge today, you should ride along with Haught, maybe you'll get a taste for real police work."
"Oh, ummm. . ."
"I mean no funny business," He reached a hand to scratch the back of his neck. "I know you guys are dating and all, just ahh, she could show you some police procedure and you could show her how to get around some of our more rural areas. Get's kinda confusing out there if you're not familiar with the area. Plus, you know, everybody loves you, and it'd be nice if everybody loved Haught. Not that she couldn't win them over herself, I mean she charmed you; just ah-"
She caught a glimpse of Nicole headed outside, her white Stetson contrasting sharply with her red hair, long legs carrying her towards the door at a swift pace.
Her heart thudded, and her brain was sending the signal to her mouth before she even computed what she was about to say.
"You know, Sheriff, that's actually a really great idea."
"Oh, well, good, good." He seemed shocked speechless at her sudden agreement.
She strode after Nicole, eyes locked on her target.
Nedley's voice called after her.
"Just don't shoot anybody, Waverly!"
*runs and hides*
I know, I know!
Sorry?
Also, Nedley may have been a little out of character, I just have this thing for everyone in Purgatory absolutely adoring Waverly. And Nicole to be honest. I think they are going to be like the most loved couple of Purgatory in season 2.
Which just got upped to 12 episodes! yay!
Pretty please let me know what you think!
