A/N: Thanks for the feedback on the first chapter. And how was that finale? Wow! I'd been hesitant to begin uploading this story, afraid that new episodes would destroy its plausibility, but everything from the whirlwind of an episode just gave me so much motivation and inspiration and now I'm so excited to show you all this story. For the first time in my writing life I've actually written the ending before anything else and I enjoyed it so much, so guaranteed I want to keep posting till we get there.

Nicole was sitting in her car, staring at the open door of Shorty's bar. She was trying to summon the courage to actually start her task. She had seen Waverly Earp within two days if arriving in Purgatory but it had taken her almost two more weeks to get to this point. It had taken most of that time to make her head stop spinning. There was a reason that living angels usually did not stay long within the Triangle. She had expected the Sanctuary to be an assault on her senses, but she hadn't been prepared for the constant buzzing in the back of her mind that reminded her of the thousands of angelic souls that were protected in their afterlife within the boundaries.

To top it off, she knew that once she introduced herself to Waverly there would be no pretending she didn't actually have a job to do.

With a resigned sigh she climbed out of her cruiser and entered the smoky darkness of the bar. Once her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she was met with the sight of Waverly Earp frantically batting at the beer tap while it stubbornly sprayed liquid all over her. She swore and gave the tap a hard smack which seemed to subdue it. Nicole couldn't help but grin as she walked down the three steps into the bar.

"I didn't know Shorty's had wet t-shirt competitions," she teased, unable to hide her laughter at the flustered expression that Waverly wore. She walked up to the bar. "You okay?"

Waverly Earp smiled and Nicole felt her heart stop. It was an awful cliché but it was exactly what it felt like as her lungs suddenly emptied of air and her chest tightened.

"Yeah," Waverly replied, sheepishly, completely unaware of the effect she'd had on Nicole, which only made it all the more adorable. "I'm just a bit jumpy. Had a crazy night."

She picked up a towel from the bar and began to pat herself down. Nicole tried not to let her gaze drift to where the top buttons of Waverly's shirt had popped open, revealing a sliver of pale, lacy bra.

She tried to cover her embarrassment with a smile. "Sorry I wasn't here to see it," she said, placing her hat on the bar. She gave Waverly another broad smile. Perhaps it wasn't going to be difficult to weave her way into Waverly's life by pretending to like her. When she'd heard from people that Waverly Earp was the darling of the town – beautiful and cute at the same time, kind, compassionate, generous, smart and talented – she'd had her pegged as one of those irritating girls that everyone had hated because they were just so sickeningly perfect. But the girl standing in front of her, flicking her hair over one shoulder while sighing at the beer that was gradually making her white cameo go see-through, wasn't perfect. She was mumbling and awkward and uncoordinated and absolutely stunning.

Nicole cleared her throat, aware that her gaze had drifted again and that she'd probably been staring in silence for too long. She held out her hand. "I've been, ah, meaning to introduce myself. I'm Nicole, Nicole Haught."

When Waverly took her hand, her fingers were long and slender. Nicole thought she'd probably be a really good pianist. Waverly gave a shy smile that was deadly.

"Hi," she said awkwardly.

Nicole blinked. "And you're Waverly Earp," she said and then immediately cringed and the embarrassing stupidity of the sentence. Waverly didn't seem to notice or mind because she gave another little smile, her head tilting.

"Yes," she said as if she was admitting to a crime.

"You're quite a popular girl around here," Nicole said quickly.

Waverly's response was an embodiment of the awkwardness that Nicole felt.

"Oh you know, it's all in the smile and wave," she said, giving an example that made Nicole smile despite herself. She glanced down self-consciously and when she looked back up she found herself caught in the largest, doe-like eyes she'd ever seen. Stunned, every word she knew flew out of her head and her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.

Somehow she managed to break away and her brain flickered back into life.

"Ah," she said, covering, "Can I get a cappuccino to go?" She didn't drink coffee but her gaze had settled on the coffee machine and it was all she'd been able to think of.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, we're not actually open yet so…"

Nicole glanced around at the deserted bar, chairs still sitting on tables. Stupid. She'd had a cover story for walking into the bar, she'd just completely forgotten what it was.

"Oh, right," she said, hiding her embarrassment with a laugh. She held her hands up in mock-surrender. "My bad. It's just when I see something I like, I don't wanna wait."

She clamped her lips together, hoping that nothing else would escape. Why had she said that? Oh God. She sincerely hoped that her father wasn't sensing her right now because she was acting as if she'd never talked to a mortal in her life.

Waverly froze with the towel pressed to her chest. She looked up, eyes wide with surprise. Great. She'd blown it and frightened her. She could feel her chances of developing a strong enough relationship with Waverly Earp to carry out her task flying out the window.

"And your door was open," she added, pointing like an idiot at the open door as if that could explain this entire train wreck of an encounter.

"Right," Waverly said, sounding unsure. She shook her head and flung the towel down. "God I'm sopping wet. You know I keep telling Shorty he needs to fix the darn taps"

Nicole laughed, relieved to change the topic.

Waverly waved her hands awkwardly in the air. "Sorry," she mumbled, "do you mind just…?" It took Nicole a few seconds to realize that the wild movements of her hands were miming turning around and covering her eyes.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry," she said. She spun on the chair and fixed her eyes on the door. She was glad for the moment of privacy where she could allow her mortification to show. She stopped herself just short of dropping her head into her hands. She heard a muttered grunt behind her and wondered what on earth Waverly was doing.

"Oh," Waverly muttered. "Oh crap. Ah, Officer? I'm stuck."

Nicole frowned and then carefully turned around. Waverly was standing with her back to her, arms and hair and cameo a tangled mess above her head. She looked ridiculous and gorgeous. The temptation of lace that Nicole had spotted minutes ago was now revealed as a delicate bra that could have made a coma patient go weak at the knees.

"Oh jeez," Nicole said, dragging her attention away and jumping up from her stool. She rushed to Waverly's side to help. "Here, let me help you. I gotcha."

Laughing, she wrestled the shirt away from Waverly, a cascade of hair falling back down. Waverly's shampoo smelled of grapefruit.

"Oh God. Good job you're not some guy, right?" Waverly began, tucking her hair behind her ear and grinning sheepishly. "This would have been really, really awkward."

They were chest to chest and in a heartbeat Nicole became aware of every millimeter of space between them and the warmth radiating from Waverly's skin; not just the physical sensations of a warm blooded creature but the warmth of her spirit that told stories of buying groceries for elderly ladies; taking on a shift at Shorty's for a friend even when she was wrecked; helping children with their homework; sending love out into the world and not expecting any in return. This last one made Nicole's heart flutter as she tasted the sorrow and the loneliness. Being able to sense the spirit that lay within others was a blessing in so many ways but it wasn't easy channeling the good and the bad in everyone around her.

She met Waverly's gaze and knew that she had found a very special mortal indeed. Nicole smiled as she felt the purity of Waverly's soul wash over her senses. She ducked her eyes but was drawn back to the creature in front of her within a second.

Clutching the shirt to her chest in an adorable attempt at modesty, Waverly struggled to find words. Nicole, too, became aware that a possibly painful amount of time had passed as they grinned at each other.

"Um, I…" Waverly stuttered, "I-I owe you one."

Nicole felt a pulse of something dark – someone passing on the street or working out the back perhaps – and she was instantly pulled back to her purpose for being at Shorty's. She licked her lips, trying to regain her balance. She was here to…to meet Waverly Earp. And to find a way into her life. Right.

"Alright then," she said quickly, "Well how about you buy me that cup of coffee? How about tonight?" She tilted her head, a nervous habit that had always been her most annoying tell.

Waverly seemed even more flustered and Nicole thanked the universe for her angelic gift of charisma. Otherwise she'd been an even worse mumbling mess than Waverly.

"Oh, I can't," Waverly replied, too quickly. "I mean, I'd love to – like, like to, uh…but I have plans. Yeah. I'm a planner." Her sentence dissolved into a nervous giggle that almost had Nicole cringing. She still couldn't quite align the prom queen image that the townspeople had painted of Waverly and the awkward, mumbling girl in front of her. Nicole didn't say anything and Waverly just kept on rambling.

"I like to know what I'm doing at least two…or three days in advance." Suddenly she shook her head as if trying to break herself out of a spell. Her eyes snapped to Nicole's.

"I'm in a relationship," she said, so unexpected that Nicole withdrew. Her mouth fell open a little, shocked that Waverly had interpreted this as an invitation for a date. Then again, didn't she want that? Nicole frowned slightly.

"...with a boy. Man!" Waverly finished.

The ending caused Nicole to dissolve into laughter again despite her internal confusion. She nodded, smirking.

"A boy-man?" she clarified. She turned away, reluctant to leave the warmth that radiated from Waverly but knowing that one of them was going to spontaneously combust with embarrassment if this conversation continued much longer. "Yep. I've been there."

She hadn't, of course, not in a relationship way. Her brother could definitely be described as a boy-man, as could some of the men she'd met in the previous year in New York City. But she'd never dated a boy or man or boy-man. Mind you, she'd never dated a girl, woman or girl-woman either.

She turned her back to Waverly, certain that her lie would be visible on her face even through the smile that lingered there.

"Okay," she said, shrugging with dedicated casualness. She picked up her hat from the bar and then wondered if she should leave it behind so she had an excuse to come back. Too late, she'd picked it up. On a whim, she reached into her pocket and pulled out of of the little cards they'd given her at the station. She tossed it down onto the bar. It may not give her an excuse to come back, but hopefully it would give Waverly the excuse to call.

"Well, some other time," she said, noticing the steps right before she almost fell up them. At the top she turned back to the bar and saw that Waverly was still standing there in her bra, clutching the top to her chest. Even the smallest of smiles made her light up.

"I mean it," Nicole added daringly before turning and walking out before either of them could do more damage to the story of their first encounter.