I own nothing. This story is written by SoapBoxDerby from /works/17745335/chapters/41868266
As soon as her alarm went off at six in the morning, Nicole bolted upright in her bed. Normally, being the "lazy teenager" her mom jokingly christened her, Nicole wouldn't dare be up before noon on a Saturday. But this Saturday was different.
It was the High School Softball State Championship.
Leaping out of bed, the lanky redhead quickly rushed through her morning routine, finally tugging on her favorite jeans and a baseball tee sporting the "Purgatory High Blue Devils" logo that was printed on half of everything she owned. She wouldn't change into her uniform for another few hours, since they had to drive 200 miles just to reach the Championship. While living in the middle of podunk-nowhere certainly had its benefits, the dramatic voyages that took place anytime the Devils had an away game was exhausting.
Bounding down the stairs two by two, Nicole had expected to land in an empty dining room, grab an apple, and hurry out the door. She did not, however, expect to walk in on a perfectly set table, including a wide variety of breakfast foods, a beaming mother, and a barely-conscious, begrudging little brother.
"Mom..?" Nicole tried, easing into the room like a cautious, uncertain cat. "What's all this?"
"Oh sweetheart!" her mother cooed, scooping Nicole into her arms. "We're just so, so proud of you!"
Now, Nicole Haught was a tall young lady. Since beginning grade school, she was always at least two inches than the rest of the girls in her grade, and was even taller than all the boys until they'd hit ninth grade. Now, at the end of her junior year of high school, Nicole stood at a proud 5'9 with room to grow still, according to her doctor. And even so, Anne Marie Haught towered above her eldest, and no matter how tall she got, Nicole would "always be her wittle baby girl."
"Mom!" Nicole groaned, fighting in vain against her mother's powerful arms. "Mom, come on, I have to pick up Wynonna in ten!"
"Not until you've had a proper breakfast, young lady!" Anne Marie insisted, though finally relenting her affectionate offense. Toby snickered.
"Shut up," Nicole growled as she sat at the table and let her mother pile hash browns and eggs and ham on her plate. "Why are you even up?"
"Mom made me, duh," was her brother's eloquent response.
"Now, Nicky, you know how proud Toby is of you, even if he won't admit it," Anne Marie assured. "Almost as proud as I am! My very own mini-me, playing for my team in my position!"
It was true, the Haught family matriarch had captained and pitched for the Blue Devils twenty-five years prior, and had even sported the same number that was stitched proudly on the back of Nicole's jersey. This wasn't coincidental, of course - Coach Randy had coached Anne Marie his very first year working at Purg High, and knew that he had to renew Mrs. Haught's retired number when her prodigy daughter first stepped onto the pitcher's mound.
As fond as Nicole was of her mother, and as touched as she was by her waking up at the butt-crack of dawn to make her breakfast, Nicole knew that Wynonna would whine her ear off if she was late in picking up her best friend. So, shoveling down a few forkfuls of hash browns and ruffling Toby's hair, Nicole was on her feet.
"Thanks for breakfast, mom, but I gotta run if I want to pick up Wynonna in time."
"But honey, what about-"
"Love you, mom!"
And with that, she grabbed her phone, wallet, and keys and was out the door.
Ten minutes later, as she was easing into the Earp homestead driveway, a ruffled Wynonna Earp flung the door open and glared daggers into Nicole's soul.
Fuck. What now?
Wynonna crouched into the passenger seat and held up her phone.
"Is your phone on, doofus?" Wynonna growled. "I've been calling you for an hour! You're late!"
"What?" Nicole defended. "We were supposed to leave at 6:30. It's 6:30!"
"No, dumbfuck, the bus was leaving from the school at 6:30! They left without us!"
Sure enough, as if on que, Nicole's phone began to buzz, caller ID reading "coach."
The wary redhead slid the accept call button as her coach's voice pounded in her ears.
"Haught, you better be turning into the school parking lot this very second or I'll have you running twenty laps before every practice next season," a gruff voice boomed.
"Coach!" Nicole tried. "Sorry, a miscommunication. I'm at Wynonna's, I have her, too, we're about thirty minutes from the school right now. We can make it if-"
"Nicole, I can't ask these kids to wait thirty minutes!" Coach Randy interrupted. "We have to leave now. Thank god you're at least up. Listen, you know where we're headed, just meet us there. And Nicole, don't let Wynonna talk you into doing something stupid like stopping for burgers or sabotaging the other team. Just because you're not with me doesn't mean I won't get in deep shit if you screw up."
And with that, he hung up.
"Well, look who fucked up this time!" Wynonna mocked triumphantly as Nicole peeled out of the driveway and started their drive.
"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gotten that DUI," Nicole murmured under her breath.
"What was that, Haught?"
"Nothing!"
Despite some initial concerns, Nicole discovered that most of the two-hour drive to the State Championship was weirdly fun. Wynonna insisted that they stop at at least one gas station for a slushy and some Redvines, and probably would've annoyed Nicole to the point of purposely crashing the car into a tree had the redhead not wisely relented when she did. After all, the all-star pitcher knew a losing battle when she saw one. After that, an uncharacteristically docile Wynonna Earp slurped her frothy drink while feeding her "personal chauffeur" the sticky candy, all the while the two traded their best Coach Randy impressions.
About thirty minutes from their destination, however, Wynonna started reverting back to her obnoxious self. Being her best friend, Nicole would generally take this behavior with a grain of salt, but while stuck in an overheated car in what was blooming into the nastiest summer Purgatory had seen in decades, and having driven three times more than she was used to in a day, Nicole was coming close to crashing into that tree.
"And besides, just who the hell does Stephanie Jones think she is, anyway?" Wynonna groaned for the third time. "Butt lift? Butt li-you know what, Steph?! We all know that you stuffed your bra till your daddy could buy you your stupid, perfect, perky boobs!"
"Wynonna!" Nicole cried, fingers turning white against the steering wheel. The brunette retreated somewhat, unused to Nicole's voice raising above anything more than a joking banter's volume.
"Uh… okay, who pissed in your cornflakes?"
"It's just… listen, I love you, 'Nonna, but do you ever shut up? Do you have to talk 24/7? A little peace and quite never hurt anyone! Are you, like, afraid of silence or something?"
"Do not psychoanalyze me, Haught, that is a deep dark hole from which there is no emerging."
Nicole shifted, hearing the bite in her friend's words. They were both hard-headed young women, and that was part of what made them such great friends. But when they fought, it could get a little messy. Knowing this and feeling the mood shifting, Nicole knew it was probably better to keep her trap shut, but she just hated the idea of letting Wynonna have the last word. And so, before she even processed them in her brain, the words were spilling out of her mouth:
"You can't keep blaming all of your issues on your father's disappearance. Sooner or later, you're going to have to take the blame for some of your shit."
Nicole hadn't even realized that she assumed Wynonna's fear of silence had something to do with her missing parents. In fact, she hardly paid the fact any mind. But she was irritated, and hot, and her stomach was cramping from all the Redvines, and goddammit, she wanted some peace and quiet.
And quiet was what she got.
Wynonna was silent for the rest of the ride. Nicole tried to change the subject, tried on another Coach Randy impression, she even tried apologizing, which the two had agreed never to put each other through, but nothing worked. Wynonna just gazed out the window and popped her knuckles.
Now, the relationship between a pitcher and a catcher in softball was an essential one, many may even argue the most vital in the whole game. As the catcher would communicate with handsignals, the pitcher tossed curve after curve, fastball after fastball, all the while the two members of the same team were separated by an enemy player: the batter. It was up to the pitcher and catcher to strike out the other team's batter. This was their goal. Should the chemistry between pitcher and catcher be off, the fate of the entire game could be thrown in favor of the enemy.
As luck would have it, Wynonna was the Blue Devils catcher.
As Nicole's rusty Saturn pulled into the stadium parking lot, she turned to her best friend in one last ditch attempt to smooth things over before the big game.
"Nonna, look… I'm sorry. About what I said. I didn't mean it-"
"Yeah, except you obviously did, nimrod," Wynonna interrupted. "Whatever, just forget about it."
"Yeah, but what about the game-"
"The game?!" Wynonna repeated as the two players claimed out of the car and lifted their bags onto their shoulders before starting for the stadium. "You really only want to make this better because you're worried about the game?"
"No, Wynonna, stop-"
"Fuck off."
And with that, Wynonna stormed ahead of her best friend and left Nicole standing in a great, big oil puddle in the middle of the parking lot.
As they they changed, Wynonna ignored her. As they hurried to catch up to their warming-up teammates, Wynonna ignored her. As they listened to Nedley's pre-game talk, Wynonna ignored her. In fact, Wynonna didn't even look at her as they took up their positions for the first time that game.
Nicole loved softball. It was her favorite thing to do, besides be the cheerleading squad's personal experimental lab rat behind the lockers after practice. The cheering crowd, the smell of hotdogs and beer, it was all great. And yet, everything about this game felt wrong. Stepping onto the pitcher's mound and cradling the ball to her chest, Nicole sighed. None of it felt right without Wynonna making inappropriate gestures in her direction.
The redhead had been so caught up in her own business that she hadn't even paid attention to who was batting for the Ghost River Cowboys until she saw the figure step up to the plate. Even though the two weren't on speaking terms, both girls' eyes narrowed at the stocky, obnoxious brunette.
Champ Hardy.
Nicole dug the toe of her cleat into the dirt. The last time she had seen Champ, he had his tongue down Chrissy Nedley's throat at a party and was trying to hike his hand up her skirt. The blonde, entirely too drunk to be able to confirm consent, was weakly pushing at his shoulders and shaking her head. And the craziest thing was that no one was doing a thing about it, because he was Champ Hardy. Champ Hardy, who was the star batter for the Ghost River Cowboys and claimed the title of rodeo star during his summers.
Needless to say, Nicole had taught him a thing or two about touching girls who didn't want to be touched.
"Oh, hey there, Red!" Champ called across the field to her. "Didn't know they let dykes play softball!"
Had Champ been educated in a lick of lesbian culture, he'd have realized just how hilariously ironic his "insult" was.
"It's okay, Champ, just because she gets more pussy than you do doesn't mean you have to compensate with shitty jokes," Wynonna bit back.
Nicole blinked. Weren't they fighting?
But when the pitcher smiled a vote of thanks to her catcher, Wynonna just rolled her eyes and focused on the ball in Nicole's hand.
Whatever.
Despite Wynonna coming to Nicole's rescue, their chemistry was, indeed, off. After reading a play wrong, Nicole pitched three balls out of the strike zone in a row, Champ not even attempting to swing at them. But not before Nicole was able to pitch a successful change-up and an absolutely killer curveball, setting Champ at two strikes. One more strike, and he was out. But one more ball, and he would get to walk to first.
Nicole inhaled sharply, closed her eyes, and willed herself to pitch the fastest fastball that this stadium had ever seen. She popped her neck, opened her eyes, and wound up, ready to open a big can of whoop-ass right into Champ Hardy's face, and then…
She was lying flat on her back.
From the stands, a harmonization of cheers and boos. She could hear Champ Hardy giggling fiendishly while scurrying to first base. She could also hear Wynonna hollering at the top of her lungs that Champ Hardy didn't have to work for a thing in his life, and he was only taking second because Nicole had a shitty play, and his dick was only the size of an Expo marker anyway, and no she didn't know from experience, thank you very much.
After that, they were both benched, Wynonna for inappropriate behavior and Nicole for risk of possible injury.
"You should've seen your face!" Wynonna jeered. "Oh my god! You were so determined, hell, we thought the devil had jumped inside you for a second, and then you wound up so tight that you just lost balance and fell on your fucking back!"
Nicole's face stung, it was so red. Partially, she was embarassed, but mostly she was angry that she had been benched for the final game of the season, the state championship, no less. And when the Blue Devils actually won that game, despite having benched their best pitcher and catcher, Nicole felt even worse, because she knew she hadn't done a thing to help. So the guilt in feeling shitty about winning was really the cherry on top.
And yet, when the game ended and the alarm rang, Wynonna's arms wrapped around her in a hug and it all melted away, because the dynamic duo was back.
"So… so you don't hate me?" Nicole asked as she pulled away.
"Hate you? I barely know you!"
Nicole cocked her head as if to say 'I'm serious, Earp.' Wynonna sighed.
"Of course not, Haught. You're my best friend. Besides, seeing you land on your ass in front of the entire world of high school softball fans certainly didn't hurt. Your ego needed to be knocked down a few goods pegs."
"Thanks?" Nicole said. "Listen, I love our team, but I"m really just not feeling a big celebratory dinner at Golden Corral's. Home?"
Wynonna nodded.
"Home."
The sun set as they drove back to Purgatory (Nicole cursing as they passed Ghost River High). Wynonna, who had insisted she drive back so as to avoid "psycho-bitch Haught," decided at the last second to not take the turn into the Earp Homestead.
"Woah, where are we going?" Nicole asked, wondering if Wynonna had snuck a shot or two of whiskey from her flask she would often mysteriously produce from a pocket.
"You need food," was Wynonna's response. "Greasy, fatty, indulgent food."
"I didn't know you knew the word 'indulgent.'"
"See, I was gonna pay for you."
As they pulled into the parking lot, their faces were illuminated by the neon lights of Shorty's Diner, a place they would frequent often after a hard practice or a losing game. It had sort of become their safe haven, a place where they could lick their wounds and recoup and recover before the next day of hardships.
"Really? Our loser restaurant?" Nicole asked. "Shouldn't we be at Black Badge Buffet?"
"That's our winner restaurant, Haught. The Blue Devils may have won the game today, but you, babygay, suffered a huge ego blow. Ergo, we eat at the loser restaurant."
Nicole grumbled and followed her friend inside, thankful she had the sense to change out of her cleats and into converse earlier. Still, her back was still sticky with sweat and her jersey was starting to irritate the skin at the nape of her neck.
"How many?" came a sweet, cheerful voice. Then, a gasp. "Wynonna!" And a blur of brown hair before Wynonna was being drug down by the neck in a spine-cracking hug.
Nicole had met Waverly Earp before. Waverly, the sophomore who was already captain of the cheer team. Waverly, who got A's in everything. Waverly, who grew up just down the hall from her and Wynonna and Nicole had never had the courage to even talk to her. For being best friends with her sister, it was rather odd that Nicole could count the number of conversations she'd had with the cheerleader on one hand.
That didn't stop her heart from leaping into her throat when the blur of brown hair and red uniform t-shirt dashed across her vision.
"And Nicole!" Waverly smiled, finally letting go of Wynonna. "Wow, you look great."
Nicole blushed, positive Waverly was just being kind. After all, her uniform was sticking to her in unsavory ways, her hair was thrown back in a tangled, messy ponytail, and there was still dirt all along the back of her. In fact, if there was a time Nicole felt like she looked the least great, this was probably it.
"Waverly, Nicky and I need a booth, stat."
Waverly glared.
"'Nonna, it's the third day of summer. We're busy, and we save the booths for party of 3 plus." But glancing once more at a dirty, sweaty, muscly, tight - wait, what? - Nicole, Waverly changed her mind.
"You know what? You guys take the booth, I'll figure something else out. I'll be right with you!"
Nicole, dumbstruck, followed Wynonna to the only open booth and sat.
"Hey, don't look so guilty, we deserve it more than anyone else," Wynonna assured. Then, her eyes narrowed.
"I know that look. I know it all too well. Who is it?"
"What?!"
Nicole panicked. Whenever she encountered Waverly, Wynonna was rarely around, and if she was, the eldest Earp was too preoccupied with whatever trouble she was getting into to notice the flush in Nicole's ears or how her breathing got shallower. But now, there was nothing between the truth but a ketchup bottle and some salt and pepper shakers.
"I know the look, you get all red and sheepish and you tuck your head, don't lie! Who is it? Is it Chrissy Nedley?"
Nicole glanced across the diner at Chrissy, who was batting her eyelashes at stupid Carl. She willed herself to crush on that girl, any girl, but Waverly. But she couldn't.
"No, too ditsy for you. Uhh… oh my god, are you experimenting? Is it Chetri?"
Nicole's face twisted up. No offense to Jeremy, but if she was going to switch to the other team, it wouldn't be with him. Besides, her gaydar was on point and she was pretty sure he had a thing for John Henry, who had taken her spot as pitcher when Nicole was benched.
"Come on, Nicky, give me something here!"
Just then, before she could answer, one Waverly Earp plopped down in the booth, sidling up to Nicole, and set a chocolate milkshake down on the table with three straws poking out.
"Break time!" Waverly cheered. "Tell me all about the game."
And Wynonna knew. Boy, did she know. Nicole wasn't sure what gave it away, and just as she was starting to work out whether her crush was super obvious or if it was just big sister intuition, Wynonna was grabbing the redhead's hand and pulling her out of the booth (and across Waverly's lap in the meantime, which wasn't helping the situation).
Dragging her into the bathroom, Wynonna threw Nicole against the closest stall door.
"You're shtupping my baby sister?!" Wynonna bellowed relentlessly.
"What? No, Wynonna, I'm not, I just-"
"You were just eye-fucking her so hard I could hear the condom break!"
"Just… ew. No."
Wynonna sighed as she eased up, but still kept a hand tangled in Nicole's jersey. "Listen, Haught, you know I didn't give a shit when you came home and told me you had kissed Shae Pressman at the seventh grade dance under the bleachers. But do you remember my one rule?"
"No… coming onto you?"
"Do you remember my two rules?"
Nicole sighed. "Sisters are off limits."
"Exactly!"
At that moment, Wynonna's hands tangled in the front of Nicole's shirt and the latter looking very guilty, a curious Waverly burst into the restroom and gasped.
"Oh, my god," she squeaked. "Sorry, I… wow, this actually makes so much sense. Wow, okay, uh…"
"Wait, Waverly!" Nicole shouted, leaping away and ahead of the retreating waitress. "No, Wynonna and I aren't… no…. ew."
"Ouch," came a hurt voice, still within the bathroom.
"But you, you like… girls." Waverly stuttered.
"Uh…" Nicole rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, I guess. Not… Wynonna though. She's my best friend."
"But you're always together, I thought-"
"I mean, I like her!" Nicole covered. "Not romantically. Don't wanna… kiss her. You know? I love her, even, but… no kissing, nope."
"Oh… okay…" Waverly tried. "Listen, um, my break is over but the shake is on me. I'll be over in a second to take your order."
Nicole groaned as she watched Waverly walk back to her tables.
"I thought I was everybody's type," Wynonna pouted by the bathroom door.
"Jesus, Wynonna."
Waverly took their order, and was her usual cheerful self, but Nicole could tell she felt awkward. Still, the burger and fries she ordered did do her good, and washing it down with the chocolate shake made it all the better.
After they'd finished eating, Wynonna stretched and patted her stomach.
"Well, Haught, I'm gonna hit the bathroom and then we can scoot, how does that sound?"
"Yeah, whatever," Nicole shrugged, Wynonna not even waiting to hear her response.
She must have been sitting there, waiting, for at least twenty minutes, but she didn't notice until she felt a tentative tap on her shoulder.
"Uh… Nicole?"
Nicole looked up, and who should be looking down on her but a brown-haired, bright-eyed angel.
"Yeah?"
"Your car is gone."
"WHAT?!"
"Wynonna just texted me 'tell Haught stuff I took her car and Xavier Dolls back to the Homestead for some sexy time. Be back in a few hours.'"
"Gross," Nicole moaned as she drug her palm down her face.
"Yeah, and Wynonna was my ride home, too."
"When do you get off?"
"Five minutes ago."
Nicole shook her head. Leave it to Wynonna to up and leave her best friend and baby sister stranded at a diner at 10 o'clock at night for "a few hours."
"So, what do we do?" Nicole asked, shaking her head.
"Well, I have some summer homework that I could get-" But Waverly paused, noticing the color draining from Nicole's face at the mention of 'homework.'
"There's Lonnie's Lanes just next door," the brunette corrected, to which Nicole's eyebrows raised slightly.
"Like… like bowling?"
Waverly was quick to cover.
"Not like a date or anything! Just to pass the time, you know. They're open till midnight. I can pay."
Maybe it was the buzzing lights illuminating Waverly's face. Maybe it was the sheer exhaustion. Maybe it was the fact that, after falling on her ass in front of thousands of sports fans earlier that day, she determined there was no way she could ever feel more embarrassed than that. But Nicole turned on that Haught-Style charm, hooking her thumbs in her belt loops and leaning down close to Waverly Earp, a little closer than what would be considered appropriate, and flashed her signature dimples.
"Now what kind of date would it be if I let the lady pay."
And then she actually winked.
And who was Waverly to argue with that logic? (Though later that night, she would remind Nicole that, no matter how gallant and charming, she, too, was a lady.)
"Bowling it is, then."
Nicole slid on her letterman jacket and held the door open for her date for the evening, Waverly scurrying out into the warm summer night. They stood for a moment, breathing in the clean air after having been cooped up in a greasy diner.
"So, you haven't been to the homestead lately," Waverly said, and Nicole noted a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Yeah, uh, finals kinda kicked my ass. Plus, after I walked in on Wynonna and Doc on the couch-"
"Yikes, TMI!" Waverly giggled. "It's just, I don't know, I kind of missed seeing you."
Nicole quirked an eyebrow.
"No pressure or anything," Waverly covered. "Just, it's nice to see you around. It's really refreshing, a lot of crazy going on at home."
"I dig that," Nicole said, and she did.
They stood in silence a little longer, Nicole scraping a mysterious clump off the toe of her shoe and Waverly twisting the ends of her hair. FInally, after the clump was gone, Nicole motioned with her hand.
"Well, Waverly Earp, shall we?"
The corners of Wavelry's mouth twitched upwards.
"We shall."
"STRIKE!" Waverly squealed, throwing her arms up in the air. Nicole just took a deep swig of her coke and set the glass bottle on the table delicately, shaking her head. Coming back over to the table, Waverly nudge Nicole.
"How come I'm destroying you at this? I thought you were the jock and I was the book worm?"
Nicole looked up at the younger girl and fluttered her eyelashes.
"Book worm like you would know that brains and athleticism aren't mutually exclusive."
Waverly seemed a little taken back with surprise before flashing Nicole her award-winning smile and shaking her head.
"Pretty and smart, aren't I the lucky one."
Suddenly, the color drained from her face for the third time that night as she hurried to cover her slip-up.
"Oh god, I just meant- like, lucky to be out with you. Not going out with you! 'Cause we aren't… you know… I just-"
Nicole was standing and very close to Waverly by now, gazing down at the brunette. Waverly's mouth shut as her eyes scanned Nicole's, looking for something, though she didn't know what, behind them. Nicole leaned in close to Waverly face and brought her hand to cup the brunette's jaw, her thumb swiping over the apple of her cheek. And just when Waverly thought she might be brazen, just for once, and lean in to close the distance between them, Nicole revealed her intentions, showing the sophomore the eyelash on her thumb pad.
"Make a wish."
"Oh." Waverly giggled. "That."
Closing her eyes, Waverly blew the eyelash away, Nicole secretly savoring the way some of her breath tickled her neck.
"What'd you wish for?" Nicole asked, stepping away again.
"You know that isn't how it works."
"Will you tell me if it comes true?"
Waverly pondered for a moment before shrugging.
"I don't see why not. But don't tell the universe that, because they might decide that's grounds to not let it come true."
Nicole chuckled and picked up her ball that had rolled back into their machine a few moments ago.
"You're an enigma, Earp." And she meant it as the highest of compliments.
Walking up to the line, Nicole dripped the weighted ball through the finger holes and tried to line up her shot before a Waverly tsk tsked her way over to correct.
"No, no, you're doing it all wrong," the petite woman said. "You can't just walk up to the lane, you have to get a running start. And swing the ball backwards simultaneously! It's like a bow and arrow - you need the momentum."
Nicole quirked her brow but shrugged, deciding to take the advice. So she did, jogging awkwardly to the start of the line and swinging the ball backwards. Finally, she pendulumed it forward again and watched as it swung into the lane next to theirs.
"Oh, fuck!" Nicole groaned, covering her reddening face with her ears as Waverly burst out laughing. But then a crash, and Waverly was squealing.
"Nicole! Nicole, you got a strike!"
Nicole looked up, and sure enough, the ball that had traveled across the guardrails had landed a strike. Luckily, the players adjacent to them were quite understanding, albeit stifling some pretty hearty laughter.
"Well, that's something, I guess," Nicole shrugged. And before she knew it, Waverly was leaping into her arms, wrapping her own around the tall redhead's neck.
She smelled amazing. Like honey and lilies. Nicole breathed her in deeply and began to wrap her arms around the smaller girl's waist when Waverly leapt backwards as if burnt.
"Sorry," she giggled. "I was excited."
"You don't need to apologize." You don't ever need to apologize for anything.
"Well, that's game." Waverly said, looking at the scoreboard. "120 for me and… 39 for you. Unless you include the strike!"
"You know, I really don't."
Waverly laughed again before looking at her phone.
"'Nonna still hasn't texted. It's only been an hour, too."
"She'd better get back here soon with my damn car!" Nicole said. "I swear, she'll be paying for my post-game dinners for a year."
Waverly suddenly looked up from typing on her phone excitedly, and Nicole could practically see the lightbulb in her head going off.
"Chrissy Nedley is just getting off but she's spending the night at her boyfriend's, we could borrow her truck!"
"Her dad's my coach," Nicole grimaced. It wasn't that shew wasn't desperate to get home, but she felt like accepting this favor would somehow put her in debt with Coach Randy, and after the double stunt she pulled today, she was not looking forward to repaying that debt.
"Come on, Nicole! We can stop by 7-11 and get slushees!"
And before Nicole knew it, her childhood crush was grabbing her hand and pulling her out of Lonnie's Lanes and back into Shorty's.
After a stern talking to from Chrissy, promising that any damages made to her "precious baby" would be paid by the two, Nicole was situated behind the steering wheel with Waverly in the passenger seat as they rumbled down the highway to the Earp homestead.
The plan was, Nicole would drop Waverly off at home and then pick her car up from the homestead driveway, leaving Wynonna to deal with returning the car to Chrissy the next day. But when the two pulled into said driveway, a pale Waverly turned to Nicole.
"Nicole, I can't go in there while they're… you know."
Nicole did know, and she didn't blame her. If they listened careful, they could almost hear the unholiness that was occurring just yards away from them behind thin walls.
"We can stay here," Nicole offered. "Until Wynonna comes out. We can ambush her when she gets into my car and get back at her for leaving us high and dry."
"But don't you want to get home?"
"Spending time with you is not a chore, Waverly Earp. I rather enjoy it."
Wavelry blushed.
"But what could we do until then?"
Though a flurry of unclean thoughts swarmed in Nicole's mind at this question, she instead drove the car part of the ways into the pasture adjacent to the homestead and put the vehicle in park.
"Chrissy keeps some blankets in the backseat, could you grab them?" The redhead asked as she climbed out of the car. Waverly nodded, and Nicole walked to the back of the pickup and unlatched the door of the cargo bed, letting it fall. Grabbing the blankets from Waverly, she laid them out and bunched a few to make pillows. It was Waverly's turn to quirk her brow.
"Stargazing," Nicole answered the silent question, offering a hand to help Waverly into the bed of the truck. She accepted, and with one fluid motion, she was three feet higher off the ground.
They settled on top of the blankets, having no need to cover and protect from the warm summer night. Gazing up at the stars, Waverly was content.
"What's your favorite star?"
"Oh… uh…"
Honestly, Nicole knew nothing about stars besides that they were fun to look at with pretty girls. So she turned the question around.
"What's your favorite?
"Pas Vrai," Waverly responded quickly.
"Hey, mine too!"
Waverly chuckled and settled back against the pickup bet. A few seconds later, she laughed again.
"What's so funny?"
Waverly sat up on her elbow to eye Nicole.
"'Pas Vrai' means 'not real' in French. There's not such thing."
Nicole reddened and rubbed the back of her neck.
"I don't know much about stars. I just think they're pretty. I wanted you to think I was smart like you."
"You are smart like me."
"I mean, I wanted to impress you."
Waverly blinked.
"Why in the world would you care about impressing me?"
Wasn't it obvious?
"Well, you're talented, funny, beautiful, I don't know…"
"B- Beautiful?"
Nicole was now the shade of the tomato ketchup she'd dunked her fries in that night.
"Well, duh."
They settled back on their backs and were silent for a few moments while Waverly tried to fight off a smile and Nicole attempted to calm the butterflies in her stomach.
"Sirius."
"What?"
"Sirius is my favorite star," Waverly confirmed. "You asked earlier."
"Mine's that one," Nicole responded, pointing to the brightest, biggest star she could find. "Because it shines the brightest."
"That's Sirius," Waverly said, and Nicole really thought she was pulling her leg.
"You're joking."
"No, I'm serious!" Waverly said, and they laughed at her joke.
"Here, I'm gonna snag some water from the backseat," Nicole said, sitting up and jumping to the ground, letting the gravel crunch under her shoes. Opening the back door and pulling a bottle from the back, she was too distracted to notice that Waverly had crawled to the edge of the pickup bed and was letting her legs dangle off the side, swaying them back and forth.
"Hey, what's up?" Nicole asked, offering the bottle. Waverly took it.
"Wynonna's probably gonna be done soon," she responded, and there sounded like a hint of something extra in her tone.
"Yeah, probably."
Waverly cocked her head at the brand new senior.
"Why don't we talk, Nicole?"
"What?"
"Well, I just think you're really cool, you know. I think you're so cool and I'd love to hang out with you. We grew up down the hall from each other but you never really gave me the time of day."
Nicole was closer now, her stomach only about six inches from Waverly's knees, and she felt a pang of guilt in her chest.
"Well, Wynonna always painted you as the annoying little sister, and by the time I grew up enough to see that she was wrong, you'd already grown up yourself and established your cliques and friend groups."
"Is that all?"
It wasn't.
"No," Nicole admitted. "You make me nervous."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
She did know.
Waverly was silent for a little longer before she spoke again.
"You make me nervous, too."
"Why?"
Waverly smiled.
"You're so out of my league."
Which was not true at all! Nicole always knew that Waverly was the one who was out of her league, and she had spent hours and hours in her room trying to figure out what she though would impress- wait. Out of her league?
"Friends don't have to be in the same leagues, Waverly."
Waverly bit her lip, and Nicole understood.
"All this time… you too?"
"Nicole Haught, I've had a crush on you since I first saw you at Wynonna's sixth birthday party."
"But… how?" Nicole asked. "I mean, you never said anything, never did anything… I mean, Champ? And boys? I guess you could be bi, that makes sense, but I never saw you with a girl, and I have a pretty great gaydar, and I was pretty sure that-"
But Nicole couldn't continue, because Waverly had grabbed the corner of the softball player's uniform and drug her into a kiss.
It was very soft, at first. A gentle, close-lipped peck that left Nicole dizzy. Waverly, who seated on the pickup was still only four inches taller than Nicole, blinked open her eyes and searched the brown ones across from her.
"Was that okay?" Nicole asked.
"I'd like to try that again," Waverly responded.
Nicole surged forward this time, sealing their lips together, and it didn't take long for Waverly to respond in kind. This one also started soft, but quickly progressed as the seated girl opened her mouth slightly to deepen the lip-lock. Nicole moaned at this and stretched an arm out to caress a toned abdomen. Legs wrapped around her hips and locked at the back of her knees, and Nicole couldn't resist sliding both arms around Waverly's petite waist. She was grinning, and she knew that this was making the kiss harder, but she couldn't help it - Waverly Earp's legs were wrapped around her.
Suddenly, the sound of a door slamming shut sent a bolt of electricity (a different kind) through the pair and the two sprang apart, panting.
"Wynonna," Nicole said, Waverly nodding.
"Um… was that-"
"Amazing. Brilliant. Breathtaking. I'm going to kiss you again and again, Waverly Earp."
Waverly smiled and let Nicole help her down.
They would explain their first to kiss to Wynonna another time. What was important now was to give her the good, firm talking to the reckless brunette deserved, shove the keys into her hand, and watch her and Dolls drive out of the homestead in Chrissy Nedley's truck, which Wynonna would have to explain to Coach Randy. Once they were sure the car was out of sight, Waverly grabbed Nicole by the back of her neck and played with the short curls that her fingers instinctively found.
"So, about what happened…"
"We don't have to make it official or tell anyone if you don't want to," Nicole assured.
"I do. Nicole, I want you to be mine and for everyone to know it. But… maybe for the sake of Wynonna… let's just keep it a little secret for a while?"
Nicole nodded, smiling.
"I can do that."
Leaning down, she captured Waverly's lips in one last kiss, gently giving her bottom lip a soft nibble. Waverly groaned.
"You can't leave now…"
"Sorry, baby, that was definitely a goodbye kiss."
Waverly swooned at the new nickname, and couldn't wait to hear Nicole say it over and over, in countless situations. She couldn't wait to hear Nicole say it in a husky, raw voice situated between her legs-
But now was not the time.
"Let's make a rule that there can be no biting in goodbye kisses."
"Fine."
And then Waverly reached up and kissed Nicole, swiping her tongue across the redhead's bottom lip. Nicole shuddered.
"And no tongue. No tongue in goodbye kisses."
Waverly smirked as she reached up again but fell short this time, her lips coming in contact with the supple skin at Nicole's neck, then kissing along a sharp jawline.
"Waverly…"
"Hmm…"
"Wavelry, I gotta… gotta go…"
Nicole, unable to support herself, brought her hand to the door, trapping Waverly between the wood and her new kissing partner.
"You don't have to go anywhere," she purred, dragging her teeth ever so hauntingly along Nicole's jugular. "There are so many empty daydreams you need to make up for."
Suddenly, however, the brunette was tumbling backwards and Nicole was crashing forwards against her as the front door swung open to reveal a half-asleep Gus McCreedy, brandishing a shotgun. Waverly looked sheepish, Nicole was dead were she stood.
"Evening, ladies," Gus challenged. "Or, should I say morning?"
"Gus!" Waverly said. "You remember Nicole."
"Nicole?" Gus chortled. "Yeah, I remember Nicole. Hell, that girl's been spending more nights here than in her own home since she was up to my hip. She and Wynonna been thick as thieves since they were in grade school. What I don't remember is when she started plastering my babygirl to my front door and stickin' her tongue down your throat."
Waverly blushed, and Nicole shuddered again. But then, Gus propped her sawed-off back against the doorframe and shook her head.
"Better you than Champ Hardy. Just don't tell Wynonna for a month or two, and leave her some time to adjust."
Nicole exhaled and Waverly grinned, and after giving her youngest a kiss on the forehead, Gus began to ascent upstairs.
After she was out of sight, Nicole leaned back in for one last real goodbye kiss when they heard Gus holler down
"Oh, and if I wake up in the middle of the night to squeaking bed springs, I won't go so easy with Curtis' shotgun!"
They laughed.