A/N: This story (about 15 chapters) is completely plotted and half written, so my mission is to get the entire thing uploaded before the new season of Wynonna Earp airs. Send me motivational vibes dear readers, I'll need all the help I can get.

Hope you enjoy this latest chapter at long last.

- Lu

The doctors didn't have an explanation for Nicole's amazing recovery time. She just shrugged and smiled and mumbled something about good genes. She was discharged from the hospital within a couple of days with ribs that were almost entirely healed and only the slightest reminder of a headache. For their sake, she pretended to be more pained than she really was, because she could see someone of the doctors doubting the very ground they stood on as she walked through the hospital doors. She hadn't heard from Waverly or Wynonna but Nedley had been by and filled her in on the situation. She could sense, even from town, that Waverly was worrying herself sick about her sister.

She spent two days of forced leave sitting in her apartment and wrestling with the idea of telling Waverly everything. The falsehood of their entire relationship was killing her. Every time she thought of Waverly her heart gave a little flutter but was shortly followed by a sinking sensation of guilt.

She decided that, one way or another, she needed to find a way to tell Waverly the truth.

As if conjured by her very thoughts, she almost crashed into Waverly as she exited the station the following morning. They both jumped backwards as if afraid they'd receive an electric shock.

"Whoa," Waverly said laughing awkwardly, "Where's the hold-up?"

Still fixated on a way to force the truth from Waverly, Nicole didn't actually hear anything she said. She was staring at Waverly, suddenly terrified of the truth.

"Yeah," Waverly muttered, her cheeks flushing, "Coz, you're a cop?" She mimed a hold up.

Nicole shook herself. "Right, sorry." Completely abandoning niceties, she grabbed Waverly by the arm and steered her away from the station, dropping her head and her voice. "Um, can we talk?"

"Yeah, yeah, God, we're totally overdue," Waverly said eagerly.

"Good," Nicole sighed with relief, suddenly light headed with the thought of not having to lie. She cleared her throat nervously as they stepped off the curb. Her thoughts were flying; she couldn't pin down the best way to start this conversation.

"I'm not…I'm not crazy, right?" she said conspiratorially, glancing around. "There's something going on here?"

Waverly exhaled with a similar sense of relief and Nicole tried not to be too hopeful.

"No, you're not crazy."

"Okay," Nicole sighed, nodding encouragingly.

"Well, I'm not sure I'm really ready to…get into it," Waverly said, her hands flying around like Nicole realized now they always did when she was nervous.

Nicole stared at her wide eyed and innocent. "Why?"

"Because it's different for me, right? And, you know, it's really personal."

Nicole shook her head. "But it's personal for everybody, right? I mean, they must know, people must whisper about it?" She reigned in the impatience that was beginning to show in her voice. She was so close, she could feel it, but she didn't want to push Waverly too hard. Of course she was wary of talking about it; her sister had been locked in a mental asylum for talking about demons.

"Oh God, I hope not!" Waverly exclaimed, horrified. "No, I kind of only just discovered it when…I met you."

Now Nicole was genuinely confused. She started, a deep frown crossing her face. "Me?"

Then a thought hit her, oh God what if Waverly already knew? What if she knew that Nicole had been lying to her this whole time?

"Yeah," Waverly mumbled shyly, "You're kind of…special."

She didn't sound angry that she'd been lied to or suspicious that Nicole wasn't entirely human, so that was a plus. Nicole stopped walking, trying to steady the pounding in her chest. She tried to find words.

"Oh, okay," Nicole stuttered. "Ah, I might be a bit more open minded but it's not like I have some mystical gift or something!" She sounded way too defensive. She took a deep breath as Waverly turned to face her.

"No, I get it," Waverly said. She was smiling. Was that good or bad? "You're a lesbian not a unicorn, right?"

"What?" Nicole exclaimed, beyond confused now. She stared at Waverly, trying hard to read any anger or resentment in her spirit, but finding nothing. She shook her head, trying to speak.

"What?" Waverly replied instantly, her face falling. She searched Nicole's eyes as if she hadn't expected such a negative reaction.

"You're…you're making fun of me?" Nicole hesitated.

"No!" Waverly replied, looking confused and stricken. "Sorry, don't you want to talk?"

Nicole shook her head in frustration. She wanted Waverley to tell her the truth! She wanted to stop lying and pretending as if she knew nothing about the evil that Waverly was facing day in day out. But they were getting nowhere.

Nicole sighed and looked away. "I want the truth," she said simply. She locked eyes with Waverly for a heartbeat, silently begging her for all the answers. She was met with a blank stare. With an even deeper sigh, Nicole weaved around Waverly and stormed off down the street.

Three hours later and Nicole was sitting at her desk, staring at a half-full cup of coffee and replaying the conversation over in her head. She kept coming back to Waverly's face, the hope and innocence that had fallen faster than a winter night. As she replayed every word from Waverley's mouth, her heart sunk even further. Waverly hadn't ever wanted to talk about the demons. She'd wanted to talk about…them. But Nicole didn't know what that meant. What were they?

Slamming shut the report that she hadn't even begun to read, she tossed her coffee cup in the bin and walked out of the station. It wasn't hard to find Waverly. She could sense her frustration from the other side of town. She followed the trail of tumultuous feelings till she spotted the hunched figure trudging stubbornly along the icy verge at the side of the road. She was close to the edge of the Sanctuary. Nicole could feel the uncomfortable prickle of the border as she pulled the car to a slow crawl beside Waverly.

"Waverly, what are you doin'? she called to the woman that made no sign of noticing the car.

"Being alone," Waverly snapped back, crossing her arms across her chest. She was clearly freezing but far too stubborn to admit it. Nicole rolled her eyes. "I want to be alone." Now Waverly just sounded like a petulant child.

"Alright. Well, you've reached the edge of town so any further out and you're going to freeze to death." She tried to sound joking but she was deadly serious. She didn't know what would happen if Waverly crossed the border of the Sanctuary – no one had bothered to tell her that – but she didn't want to find out if it was a bad idea.

The sound of boots crunching on snow answered her. Waverly's spirit trembled with pent up emotion.

"Get in the car," Nicole ordered.

"No thank you."

"I got a tazer, don't make me use it," she said in the same tone as before. She was only half-joking. Twenty more steps and Waverly would be at the border. Nicole could feel it ahead, buzzing in her senses like an electric fence.

To her relief, Waverly stopped walking. Nicole pulled the car to the side of the road and a moment later the door slammed and the cab was flooded with Waverly's jumbled emotions as she slumped into the passenger seat.

The silence stretched between them, as tangible as the icy air and the now-familiar scent of grapefruit.

"Okay," Nicole conceded at last. "I'll start. I'm sorry for being such an asshole before."

Waverly stared resentfully out the windscreen.

"First you want to talk, then you don't want to talk, then you tell me to talk, so…talk…"

Anger flared hot and searing in the confined space. Nicole was startled, she'd picked up dozens of emotions from Waverly but she was surprised anger was so dominant. She took a deep breath, trying to rid herself of Waverly's anger.

"Okay, well maybe we should figure out what exactly it is that we're talking about," she ventured, frowning.

"Gus is selling Shorty's," Waverly burst out before Nicole had barely finished talking. "She acts like she won't but she is. And everything's changing around me but it's all too fast, you know! And it's like, no one ever asks me if I'm okay with it. It's like could everybody just stand still for one frickin' minute!"

Waverly let out a breath and thudded her head against the headrest, defeated. Nicole stared at her, at a loss for what to say. She wanted the truth from Waverly, but there was so much more happening in Waverly's life than just the demons. Just because Nicole's whole world revolved around it, didn't mean Waverly's did. And she was so lonely. Nicole could feel it as an ache in her own chest. Waverly felt so alone, so scared, so lost.

"It's going to be okay," she said softly, placing her hand on Waverly's without thinking. Waverly's gaze hovered on their hands and then swung suspiciously to Nicole. Embarrassed, Nicole pulled back and looked out the windscreen.

"I just screamed at you, you shouldn't be nice to me," Waverly said, as if she was angry for the kindness.

The absurdity of her words caused Nicole to shake her head. "Yeah well I think you've just been dating too many shitheads," she commented dryly, conjuring an image of the hellscum Champ.

"We're not dating!" Waverly snapped, her eyes blazing defensively.

Awkward, Nicole glanced at her. "I know," she said softly. Sighing, she sat up straight. "God, Waverly, I would never ask you to be someone you're not." She couldn't help but channel the alarm that was pounding in Waverly's chest.

"Good!" Waverly snapped, not looking at her. "Just don't ask me to be anyone at all!"

"Fine!" Nicole shot back, the word heavy with anger that coursed from Waverly.

"Fine."

The air between them crackled with tension as they fell silent. Nicole glanced at Waverly but she didn't know what to say. They were both angry, they were both confused about the power of what they felt. They were both weighed down by too many secrets and too much responsibility.

"Well," Waverly said at last, "Maybe just friends?"

Nicole huffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure Waverly, whatever you want."

Without waiting for a reply she started the car and pulled around, heading back towards town. She didn't say another word as they drove, she couldn't trust the emotions she was feeling or the ones that were pulsing from Waverly like a beacon. What a mess.