Waverly hummed along to the music playing in the truck as Wynonna drove, pulling out her phone when she felt it vibrate in her pocket.
Purgatory Blue Devils (bluedevilsCEWHL)
Blue Devils GAME DAY!
We look to stretch the win streak to 5 as we finish out the road trip with a stop in Edmonton.
Tune in TONIGHT 7PM as we take on the Drillers
8 December—3:30 PM MST
It was Nicole's first game back in her hometown, and Waverly had all but begged Wynonna to drive them up to see it. They hadn't had the opportunity to get out to any of the Devils' road games (mainly because they'd been all the way across the country), but Gus had gotten them coverage at the rink, and Waverly suspected that Wynonna agreed just because it meant she got a day off from work.
Noticing the time, she knew her window to talk to her girlfriend before the game was closing, and she dialed the number. It rang only once before Nicole answered.
"Heyyy cutie!"
"Hi Sweetie Pie," Waverly smiled as her heart soared at the cheer in Nicole's voice. She heard Wynonna gag from the driver's seat. "I just wanted to talk to you before the game."
"I may or may not have been waiting on your call."
"What's it like being back in Edmonton? Get to go to any of your old stomping grounds?"
"Ya know, honestly, we've stuck around the hotel for the most part. A couple of the girls and I went out to one of the diners near where I grew up, but other than that it's been like any other stop on a road trip. Maybe if I had a little more family ties here I'd feel a bit more nostalgic."
Waverly listened to Nicole explain, and couldn't help but feel a little sad for her as she nonchalantly mentioned her family once again. Going back to your hometown was supposed to be special and exciting, but Nicole sounded less than enthused.
Since they'd met, Waverly had been sure to include Nicole in as much as she could, inviting her over for dinner quite often. Waverly in her own way knew what family struggles were like, but couldn't imagine losing the only people she'd ever had in her corner. She'd had Gus (and Curtis, up until his passing) and Wynonna to call family, and from the very start she had tried to give the redhead some sense of family.
"Well that sounds like fun."
"Mhm." The redhead hummed through the phone. "Are you guys on the road?"
"Yeah, we're about forty five minutes out."
"Tell me you're not driving while talking to me on the phone." Nicole said sternly.
"No, no," she assured. "Wynonna's driving."
"I'm not exactly sure that's safer."
At mention of her name Wynonna snapped her head over, swerving the truck nearly into the next lane as she did so, the car behind them laying on their horn. Wynonna stuck her hand out the window to flip the driver off.
"Put it on speaker," she heard her sister say, and did as she was told, "Yo Red!"
"Hi Wynonna."
"Your biggest fans are on the way. We made big ol' embarrassing signs, I brought a cow bell and I'm ready to start a brawl in the stands if need be."
"Wynonna, no. Please for the love of everything good do NOT do that."
"Say goodbye Wynonna," Waverly said, taking her phone off speaker. "Just me now." She assured her girlfriend.
"Please tell me she's joking about all of that."
"No signs, and I'll restrain her myself if she even thinks about starting a fight," Waverly explained. "But, we did compromise and she does have a cow bell."
"Why would you trust her with that?"
"She wanted to bring an air horn."
(Waverly debated telling her about the full face of light blue and white paint that Wynonna had spent all morning on, but she'd rather save that surprise embarrassment for when the girl saw them at the game).
"Suddenly I'm okay with the bell." Nicole said through an amused chortle. "Nothing official, but Sheriff's been hinting at starting our line tonight."
"Well that's exciting!" Waverly beamed, prideful. "You know how proud it makes me when I hear my baby's name announced in the arena."
This comment earned another gag and a vomiting gesture from her sister beside her.
"You know it's actually second on the list of places I like to hear my own name."
"Where's the first?" She asked, clueless.
"You—you're kidding, right Waves?"
"No," she knit her brows together in confusion. What on earth was Nicole talking abou—"Ohhh," she said in her realization of Nicole's implication, blush rising to her cheeks, "Well I'm quite fond of that place too."
Waverly heard talking in the background on Nicole's end and her girlfriend's voice in the distance, meaning that they had probably reached the end of their time.
"Hey, I gotta go baby, but I'll see you at the game okay?"
"Mhm."
"I'll be looking for ya in the stands in warmups. Might even toss you a puck if you come down to the boards."
"How 'bout you score me a goal instead?" She bargained.
"Hmmm," Nicole pondered. "I can't exactly promise, but I'll see what I can do."
"Alright alright," she accepted. "You gotta go, good luck."
"Thanks baby, bye." Nicole answered and hung up to prepare for the game.
Waverly sat in the passenger seat of the truck, a content smile on her face as she looked at the snow that piled up along the sides of the highway, thinking about how happy and peaceful she had been. Just over a month ago she'd been on the complete opposite of the spectrum, stressed out and uncertain about her feelings for a certain redhead and about her sexuality in general. Everything had changed so suddenly when Nicole came into the picture, but now Waverly couldn't imagine being in any other state in her life. The smile on her face was an external symbol of her internal joy.
"You guys are gross." Wynonna's scoff broke her out of her bubble. "She's not even here and I can see you two making googly eyes at each other. You make The Notebook look bleak."
"I think you're just jealous because you can't do the same thing with Doc." Waverly said with a roll of her eyes.
She saw her sister tense and keep her eyes trained on the road.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? You don't have an it's complicated thing going on with a certain team doctor?"
"How would you know? You're not the most observant." Wynonna deflected, trying to turn the conversation to Waverly's own obliviousness in her own love life up until recently.
"You're not exactly subtle. Whenever he's in the room, you can't make eye contact, but you can't take your eyes off of him as he leaves." Wynonna stared her down incredulously and Waverly did have to admit that she didn't become privy to this information based on her own observations. Wynonna was right because she had missed the shift in the woman's relationship with Doc. "Fine, Nicole's the one who noticed and told me. I didn't believe her at first, but now I have proof."
"During the snowstorm, the power outage, we had a few drinks in the office. And then we maybe, kinda sorta kissed, but he walked out before it could progress beyond that and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it." Wynonna divulged all of the information in rapid succession. "I'm the one who does the leaving, who does he think he is?"
Her sister resorted to pouting like a moody teenager, and Waverly couldn't help but laugh to herself. She added a, "You'll figure it out, I'm sure, but you kinda need to talk to him to do that", and left the conversation there.
They'd gotten stuck sandwiched between Drillers fans who were less than accepting of their presence. When she and Wynonna had arrived, they were the first ones in their row, and had deposited their popcorn and bottled water on their seats before they went down to the boards to watch warmups. (This had elicited a smile out of Nicole, who, as promised, flipped a puck over the glass to them as a souvenir, rolling her eyes at the decoration of Wynonna's face). When they'd returned to their section, more fans had started to file in in orange and navy-blue team colors, fixing the sisters with dirty looks toward their Devils' jerseys. They'd made it known that their kind was not welcomed in this arena. They'd also been quite vocal in expressing their superiority when the Drillers took the lead on two separate occasions.
Now, as the third period rolled along knotted at two apiece, the tension between the fans was just as palpable as it was between the players battling on the ice.
The Drillers fans roared as their player won the puck back, but Waverly had cringed as she watched Nicole get laid out and turn the puck over on that very play.
"Someone needs to teach her how to get away from those." Wynonna half-chuckled as they watched the girl quickly pull herself back up and readjust her helmet. "She's gonna get hurt."
As if Waverly didn't know that. As if the thought didn't sit in the back of her mind any time Nicole stepped on the ice. She knew to trust the skills of her incredibly talented, incredibly sexy, professional hockey player girlfriend, but she held her breath any time Nicole was in the crosshairs of a big shot or in the path of an opposing player ready to line up a hit on her. She cared, sue her.
This time, at least, the redhead looked no worse for wear and jumped right back into the play.
Five minutes later, when the Drillers rang the post with a shot, the crowd collectively rose from their seats in anticipation of a goal, gasping as it bounced off the iron and back into play. She heard Wynonna yell next to her, and had only a split second to save the poor guy who had accidentally spilt his beer onto her sister. She didn't need them getting kicked out for starting a fight in the stands right as the game got into its most exciting stage.
"I wasn't gonna hurt him," Wynonna told her once she'd gotten her back into her seat. "Just wanted to show him what happened when he invades people's personal space. Figured he would've learnt that in kindergarten, but I'd be glad to give him a refresher course."
"Anything that involves you yelling, swearing and throwing your fists is not a teaching moment, Wynonna."
Wynonna dismissed her with a wave of her hand, turning her attention to the game, watching the home team cycle the puck in the attacking zone, looking for a shooting lane. As time wound down, chances were becoming harder and harder to come by, but it looked like Edmonton was knocking on the door of a good one the way they were sustaining offensive pressure.
Their big defender wound up for a shot, but it turned out to be a slap pass diagonally through a seam to her teammate at point blank range of the goal. Waverly honestly wasn't even sure how the pass had gotten through, the Devils' defense doing well to block the lane. The Drillers looked poised to take the lead on the play; the winger's one-timer was looking at a gaping cage, but in Miller's desperation, she dove across the blue paint and got the puck with her right arm. The puck was loose in the crease as the mad scramble ensued, until a Blue Devils defender found it and nudged it to her goaltender's glove, Miller covering it and drawing a whistle.
The arena was buzzing now, the home fans feeling momentum continue to swing in their direction.
"Time out—Blue Devils." She'd heard the PA announcer call, indicating that Nedley had needed to give his team a moment to regroup and draw up plans for the final 1:15 of the third period. She'd anticipate the top line to go out for this important juncture of the game, but what type of plan would Sheriff be drawing up? Would he play just secure the point and get to OT? Or would he go for the score right here and now, trying to get the win and add another two points over a division rival?
As a horn signaled the end of the timeout, she watched the top defensive pair skate onto the ice, along with Jenna and Shae—the first line wingers, and Nicole. He'd removed Nicole from her traditional line, which Waverly found odd, but trusted the coach's decision. Nicole had been playing well, and her faceoff percentage had been climbing recently, so Waverly suspected Nedley wanted a virtually guaranteed win on the draw.
The two centers squared up in front of each other, settling in for the referee to drop the puck.
Timing it perfectly, Nicole won it back to her defenseman who passed the puck behind the net, and they worked the swing to get the puck up the ice. Harris received the pass from her defensive partner Carlson, snapping the puck up the left wing boards where Shae (on the side opposite to where she usually played) was waiting for it. Barreling up the center, Nicole found open space and the captain found her, giving the Devils a real chance. They'd caught the Drillers on their heels and were now capitalizing on a 2-on-1 with Shae and Nicole.
("One minute remaining in the period," The PA announcer warned).
Nicole now had a decision to make take the shot, or make a pass. Shae slapped her stick on the ice, all but screaming for the puck for the shot. Waverly, even from where she sat (higher up in the arena than she would've liked), could see the look on Nicole's face that told her she was going to shoot the whole way. Whether she faked the pass to throw off the goalie was another deal.
Whatever Waverly had expected, Nicole's next move was even better.
Flying in on goal, Nicole took her space and faked a shot on her forehand to get the netminder moving, waved her stick over the puck but didn't pick it back up on the deke, instead letting it slide through the goalie's legs on one of the slickest trick plays Waverly had ever seen. At first glance, it may have looked like Nicole mishandled the puck and got lucky, but no, she had meant to do exactly that.
The ginger threw her hands in the air as she was mobbed by her teammates for scoring the go-ahead goal with just under a minute to go. Waverly caught Nicole's eye as they skated toward the bench following the goal, and her girlfriend gave her a little look, acknowledging that she'd gotten her the goal she asked for. Her heart leapt.
"Blue Devils goal scored by number fifteen, Nicole Haught, assisted by number eight, Shae Pressman and number sixty-five, Bethany Harris at 19:08."
As the PA announcer announced the specifics of the goal, the home crowd fell silent, their previous superiority complex all but vanishing.
"Haha! Take that, suckers." Wynonna taunted the Drillers fans sitting adjacent to them, ringing her cow bell. "WooHOO! That's my baby sister's girlfriend crossin' up your goalie and makin' your whole team look silly," she said as she seized Waverly around the neck to emphasize her claim. The opposing fans looked more than disgruntled, and the big burly biker looking man seemed ready for a good old-fashioned donnybrook, especially as Wynonna had abandoned grabbing Waverly to free both her middle fingers to continue taunting them.
Apologizing, Waverly gathered all of their things and removed Wynonna from the situation before it could escalate. The game essentially over, she decided it best that they wait for Nicole down by the player entrance the redhead had told them to meet her at.
The two watched as the Devils began to file out of the door, some of them finding any family or friends they may have had at the game, others heading for the door toward the bus. It was a good few minutes after the majority of the players came out that Nicole walked through the door, followed by Jenna and Shae. Jenna split off to catch up with two people who Waverly presumed to be her parents, but Shae stayed back, giving Nicole a serious look. Waverly watched the interaction intently, sensing less than ideal vibes from whatever conversation was taking place. (Wynonna was too distracted by the team doctor to pay Nicole and Shae any mind).
It looked like a scene from a teen drama: Shae standing menacingly over Nicole like some HBIC cheerleader threatening the less popular girl, in this case Nicole, to stay out of her way (or in her lane, or to mind her own business, insert high school trope here). Nicole didn't necessarily look intimidated, but much more subdued than Waverly might've expected, and the brunette grew curious as to what on earth the captain could have to say to her girlfriend. Especially considering that Nicole had scored the goal that had won them the game.
Shae broke the conversation and headed toward the bus door. Nicole adjusted the team baseball cap on her head as she shook off the conversation, searching momentarily for the Earp sisters. Waverly watched her eyes light up as they made eye contact, and she skipped over to meet her girlfriend halfway, enveloping her in a hug, stealing a quick peck from her lips.
"Congratulations! What a game!" She praised while still in the embrace.
"Hey, where the hell did that goal come from Deputy Dangles?" Wynonna interrupted, breaking up the couple's hug to give Nicole a hug of her own.
"I uh, honestly don't know. I saw it on SportsCenter a couple times, but I never even tried it in practice." Nicole explained, though she seemed surprised herself. "I guess I saw the goalie look like she was ready to slide for a shot from Shae, and the opportunity was there."
"You pulled a little sneaky on them, Haught," Wynonna said, though her attention seemed to be pulled yet again by Doc. Waverly followed Wynonna's eyes to see Doc smirking at her sister, and watched as Wynonna excused herself quickly from their conversation and make her way over to the man.
Wynonna gone, Waverly turned back to Nicole.
"Speaking of Shae," she broached, "what was that over there? She seemed, pissed? Intense? Everything okay?"
Nicole sighed, gathering her explanation.
"Yeah, Sheriff pulled Shae, Jenna and me aside and said he liked the idea of playing us together on the first line, permanently," Nicole started.
"That's amazing, congratulations!"
Nicole blushed and thanked Waverly, but then continued.
"Shae pulled me aside and said that if we're gonna play on a line together, I gotta stay out of her way and 'let her get hers', whatever that means. I think she's pissed I didn't pass her the puck on that last play."
"That doesn't sound very captainly."
"She's actually a pretty good captain, just not my biggest fan." Waverly tilted her head, not understanding, so Nicole elaborated, "It's a long story, but some things happened a few years back in college, and she's still upset about it I guess. It's not a big deal, don't worry. I'm sure we'll be able to coexist. Bunny's pressure to win will keep her from sabotaging the success of the team over a stupid grudge with me."
Waverly wanted to probe, wanted to ask Nicole what happened back then that would make Shae feel this way toward her, but she figured her girlfriend would tell her if she wanted and if it were ever relevant enough to warrant explanation. She trusted Nicole, and so let it go, settling on focusing on the positive.
Her girlfriend had just scored a highlight reel, game-winning goal and got promoted to the top line on the same night. She was immensely proud.
"Well, then I'm happy for you." She stepped toward Nicole, bringing her into another hug, a grin breaking out onto her own face as she felt Nicole smile into their kiss.
As Nicole pulled away, she felt the girl tense, and Waverly grew concerned.
"What's wrong?" she asked, but Nicole had gone stone-faced and serious, walking past her toward two people who she had failed to notice had entered the room.
She saw a man and a woman, dressed rather peculiarly for a hockey game, their attire more suitable for a Fleetwood Mac concert. It took not even two seconds for Waverly to deduce who these people were, what with their out-of-place getups and their bright red hair.
"Maureen. Patrick." Nicole addressed the pair, her arms crossed, voice flat. From the very little Nicole had told her about her parents, she knew that they were hippies who never had any real interest in raising a child and that Nicole hadn't spoken to them since she turned eighteen.
"Come on, we told you not to call us that. So stuffy." The woman spoke.
"Well I can hardly call you mom or dad, now can I?" Nicole snipped back.
"Oh heavens no, don't do that either. Please, you know we go by Celeste and River now." The woman, Celeste, motioned toward her husband. She could hear the scoff come from Nicole at the statement of her parents' "ridiculous hippy names".
"What do you want?" Nicole pushed on, and Waverly could tell she wanted nothing to do with the two.
"That's no way to talk to your parents, sunshine." The man spoke this time.
Nicole set her jaw, the tension in her body now visible in her cheeks.
"You haven't been my parents for the last three, almost four years." She said bluntly. "And you were hardly my parents for the eighteen years before that, now were you?"
The woman spluttered, looking for an explanation.
"We may not have been the most traditional parents, but we—"
"—The most traditional parents? Untraditional parents don't set curfews, or they let their kids dye their hair whatever crazy color they want. You guys left me home alone the whole summer between second and third grade to backpack across the continent to Burning Man." Nicole snapped, her first real bit of emotion since the encounter started. "I was home alone for two weeks until Uncle John and Aunt Kendra realized you'd split town." Waverly's heart broke at the mere thought of Nicole home alone at such a young age for such a long time. "Why'd you guys even come here?"
"We've seen you in the papers, heard your name around town, you've been doing so well. You're already so successful, sunshine," River spoke, trying to step closer to his daughter, "We gave you some space to spread your wings, but it's been long enough don't you think? We thought we'd try to reconnect."
Nicole laughed dryly to herself. Parents giving space was a couple of weeks, maybe a month or so, not nearly four years. Waverly knew as well as her girlfriend did that the two adults in front of them were here only to capitalize on the redhead's newfound celebrity and any monetary perks that came with it. That was the only reason they'd come around now, and not at the funeral for Nicole's aunt and uncle, when she would've needed her parents most.
"It's a little late for that." She said, putting back on her mask. The rest of the player entrance had cleared out, and catching a glimpse of Wynonna returning told Waverly that the bus was most likely ready to depart. "I gotta go, don't try to reconnect with me again. Please."
Nicole's words were firm and carried twenty-two, nearly twenty-three, years of finality in them. She was doing a good job of keeping emotion out of her voice, but Waverly knew this was reopening a lot of old wounds for her girlfriend.
She walked away without a response from the pair, Waverly following closely behind and Wynonna catching up to them confused.
Waverly grabbed Nicole's hands and gave them a supportive squeeze.
"Don't even try to tell me you're fine, because I know you're not." She cut the redhead off before she could feed her a bullshit excuse.
Nicole looked at her softly, grateful.
"I'm not," she admitted with a sigh, "but I will be." She leaned down to kiss her girlfriend, resting their foreheads together once she broke it. "I gotta go, thanks for coming, and being here for me."
"Always." She replied with a smile. "I'll see you when we're both back in Purgatory."
"Drive safe," Nicole responded, looking pointedly at Wynonna. The woman assured she would, and Nicole turned to catch the team bus.
As the sisters walked out of the arena toward the truck, Wynonna eyed her curiously.
"What the hell did I miss?"
"It's a long story, I'll explain in the truck." Waverly said, clocking the barely noticeable dishevelment of her sister's hair, the smudging of her face paint, and how she'd pulled her turtleneck up a little higher than it had been previously. "Where'd you disappear to?" she wiggled her brows suggestively.
"Shut up."