Wynonna broke the kiss, however much she didn't want to, pulling away as far as she could in her current position. Nicole looked down at her, puzzled, pulling back and helping Wynonna back into a sitting position.
"You just broke up with my sister." Wynonna says, as if that's an adequate explanation. And it is, sort of. That's not whats really bothering her, though. She can't quite put her finger on it, "I know Waves left but it feels weird."
Nicole nodded, "I get it, you don't want to hurt Waverly anymore. But we were only together a few weeks, and yeah I liked her she was cute and we clicked. But she broke up with me and I wasn't exactly surprised. She's just barely realized she even liked girls."
Wynonna nodded. Biting her lip and looking down at her drink, "It's not just that." Nicole nodded, taking a sip of her drink and waiting patiently for Wynonna to figure out whatever it is, "this, between us, I've been feeling it for awhile. When Dolls first disappeared and before the Waverly thing. I just, Doc left and Dolls disappeared and now Waverly-."
Nicole smiled at her, "I'm not going anywhere, Wynonna. I've known, since the whole Officer Haught Protection Program comment. You're not exactly subtle when you check out my ass."
"I'm not subtle?" Wynonna laughed, "Who told who they had a top shelf ass?"
"Well you do." Nicole shrugged.
"I really do." Wynonna agreed solemnly, doing her best to keep her face slack as she took a sip of her drink. Nicole matched her look evenly and then they both burst into a fit of giggles. A few more glasses and terrible jokes later found them curled up together on the couch, watching some movie on Nicole's laptop that neither of them were really paying attention to.
Wynonna was laying with her head against Nicole's stomach, and Nicole's fingers were absently toying with her hair, while she watched Wynonna slowly drift in and out of a rum induced sleep. She was content to lay there for the rest of the night, if that meant Wynonna would actually get peaceful sleep.
"Do you think Nedley would ever seriously deputize me, outside of the very unofficial black badge stuff he's pretending I'm authorized to do?" Wynonna asked.
Nicole hesitated. Her first instinct was to say not a chance in Hell, but the tone of Wynonna's voice made her think she was serious, "I don't know. You've proven yourself to be fighting the good fight, but you'd have to get the training."
"I could do that." Wynonna mumbles against Nicole's stomach. Her eyes are closed, her arm dangling off the couch, fingers hovering above the rim of her glass, "except that this entire town hates me. Even though I save all of their asses."
"The entire town doesn't hate you." Nicole argued.
"Name one person."
"Me."
"Name anyone else."
"Nedley." Wynonna scoffed, mumbled something Nicole didn't understand, and then she was snoring softly sound asleep. Nicole's fingers played through the strands of her hair, absently untangling any knots she found until she was asleep too.
Nicole wasn't a morning person.
Wynonna figured that out pretty quickly months ago, finding herself staring at the back of Nicole's head as she gulped down her first coffee of the day the few times she'd woken up from their nights of investigating at the station. She would take two cups of coffee and some sort of food before she was her normal self. Wynonna could understand that, she felt the same way when she wasn't drinking.
But waking up with Nicole was different.
At some point in the middle of the night they'd both woken up, needing to move one way or the other, and curled up on some blankets on the floor in front of the couch. When Wynonna woke up she was tucked against Nicole, the cops chin resting against her head and her long arms wrapped tightly across her back.
It was strange, to wake up tucked against someone feeling safe and protected. It wasn't something Wynonna was used to. Her wake up was usually on the edge of a nightmare, her heart would be racing and she'd need a drink like now. This was different, she found herself shifting slightly and closing her eyes, content to just lay with Nicole in blissful peace.
Nicole must have been awake though, because one of her arms moved and fingers brushed beneath Wynonna's chin, tipping her head up. She opened her eyes slowly, meeting Nicole's half asleep gaze that still seemed to start a fire deep within Wynonna.
Nicole gave her a soft kiss on the lips, tentative and unsure. Wynonna leaned in and kissed her harder, more determined reaching up and weaving her fingers through Nicole's hair, holding her closer. Nicole smiled against her lips before kissing her back with vigor.
They spent the early hours of the morning tangled up in each other, soft touches and slow kisses in the lull of the morning. By the time either of them thought about moving the unsureness of the night before was in the past, even though neither of them spoke.
Nicole got up first, heading to the bathroom first and then into the kitchen to make coffee afterwards. Wynonna got up when she heard the first sputters of the ancient pot Nicole had drug up from god only knows where and stumbled into the bathroom, stripping down and jumping into the shower.
When she stepped into the kitchen half an hour later, dressed in some comfortable jeans, her holster and her leather jacket Nicole was setting a cup of coffee on the table for her and drinking her own, leaning against the counter smiling at her mischievously.
She'd fixed her uniform and re-braided her hair, her hat was sitting on the counter next to her hip with her keys and her boots were laced up perfectly. Wynonna sat down at the table, lounging back in the chair as she grabbed the cup of coffee. As usual it was made perfectly for her, she didn't know when Nicole had seen her order coffee, but she knew how Wynonna liked it.
"Ya know, the weirdest thing about this really is that you're a cop." Wynonna smirked, "I don't know if this is gonna work out."
Nicole laughed, setting her coffee cup down and picking up her hat and keys before she took two steps over to where Wynonna sat, leaning down to give her a long rough kiss. When she pulled away she leaned in and whispered in her ear. "If it would make you more comfortable I can handcuff you to the bed." and with that she walked out, leaving Wynonna to smirk down into her cup.
After stopping by the station just to make sure Dolls hadn't suddenly reappeared Wynonna made her way over to Shorty's. Since Bobo's disappearance most of his groupies had shrunk back into the trailer park, the revenants and humans alike, leaving the bar up for grabs. Wynonna, Nicole, Waverly and Gus had spent two weeks getting it back in order and it was a nice change to walk back into the bar.
It didn't feel the same as it used to, Waverly and Shorty both being gone, but it was one of the only places she'd ever felt comfortable in town. Having it back was almost as good as knowing that she might be able to break the curse now that she'd taken out Bobo.
Since that day Wynonna had already killed ten more revenants and while 77 was a lot to go, she felt pretty confident that she'd be able to handle whatever was thrown at her. She sat on her stool at Shorty's, bent over the recent file Nicole had given her, a glass of whiskey sitting to her right and peacemaker on her hip.
Most people didn't speak to her, not after the champagne incident, but the constant whispering she was used to was also gone. She felt like a normal girl again, able to go about town and not be worried that the next time she opened her mouth she'd become the town pariah.
After reading the file she figured it was a good time to go visit the trailer park, see if she could figure out who this revenant was. Most of those left in the trailer park were quiet now, providing her with helpful information about any of those they needed, in exchange for more time upstairs.
Wynonna was happy to give it to them, and until they slipped up or they were the only ones left, she wouldn't bother with them. She got on her Harley, enjoying the way she seemed to fit perfectly in its seat, like it was made for her. It was the best thing Curtis could have left for her, and she thanked him silently every time she got the chance to ride.
It didn't take her too long to track down the right revenant, which turned out to be a group of three, and after a minor altercation that busted her eyebrow she sent all three back to Hell and headed home to shower.
Nicole's cruiser was already parked outside when she pulled up, and Wynonna could see her in the living room on the couch, looking down at her phone with a frown on her face. Wynonna snuck into the house, she wanted to clean up the cuts before seeing Nicole.
It didn't work.
"Wynonna what happened?" Nicole asked from the couch, she was twisted around, studying her closely.
"Revenant. Don't worry, I sent him back to hell. I'm just gonna..." she motioned for the bathroom and slipped inside quickly. The gash above her eyebrow from the guys gaudy ring hurt pretty bad and she need three butterfly bandages to keep it together. She was pretty confident she needed stitches, but she wasn't about to go get them.
Satisfied that she had cleaned them well enough Wynonna made her way out to the living room and dropped down onto the couch beside Nicole, "anything fun happen?" she asked, twisting so she was facing Nicole, feet on the seat between them. Nicole turned to mirror her position, putting her feet on the seat between them as well.
"My mom wants to come for a visit." Nicole told her, "and bring my sister and her kid. Its not that I don't want them to come up, but I just-I left that life behind to start a new one here and they're just...too much."
Wynonna nodded, "how long do they want to stay?"
"Just for a few days. This town is so small though I don't know what to even do with them." Nicole stopped talking, Wynonna wasn't sure what to say, it wasn't like she had any experience with this particular situation.
Nicole opened up after taking a few shots and told Wynonna about her childhood, about her mom and her sister and figuring out she was gay, and Wynonna just sat and listened quietly. At some point they ended up cuddle together on the couch again, more takeaway and bottles of booze on the table. Nicole was telling her a story about her and her sister going horse back riding, and once again Wynonna found herself completely captivated by Nicole's voice.
She didn't mean to interrupt her, honestly, but she couldn't help but to lean in and give Nicole a soft slow kiss, and then another, and then Nicole cupped the back of Wynonna's head and kissed her hard, Wynonna pressed herself against Nicole tighter, desperate for connection of any kind.
"Wynonna..." Nicole mumbled against her lips, feeling Wynonna's fingers toying with her belt.
Wynonna looked up at Nicole from under her lashes, a silent question in her eyes, and whatever Nicole thought she was about to say flew out the window. She kissed Wynonna hard, Wynonna pushed her over so she was straddling Nicole's hips.
She kissed Nicole hard, deft fingers working her belt undone and tossing it gently aside, followed swiftly by her own. Nicole's fingers worked the buttons of her own shirt open while Wynonna peeled hers off, balling it up and hurling it across the room before she helped undo the last few buttons of Nicole's shirt.
Nicole sat up swiftly, knocking Wynonna back onto the couch, tossing her button up aside and her tank top following shortly after. Wynonna smirked up at her, eyes taking in every inch of her beautiful form before she pulled Nicole down on top of her, kissing her roughly, "are you sure about this?" Nicole whispered when Wynonna's hands stilled on the button of her pants.
"Absolutely." Wynonna answered, her eyes locking with Nicole's as she popped the button onher pants, "absolutely definitely."
Wynonna woke up in her bed, something she wasn't used to, with Nicole pressed against her, one arm protectively curled around her front, holding Wynonna in place. Wynonna smiled at the gesture, shifting slightly and closing her eyes. She wasn't going to fall back asleep, she knew, but it was nice feeling safe and protected for once, and she was going to bask in it for as long as possible.
Nicole woke up a few moments later, Wynonna felt her stretch and then curl up behind her. Nicole's lips were soft as they pressed against her shoulder, "Good morning."
"Morning." Wynonna smiled, not opening her eyes, "we need to go get pancakes."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I'm starving. Pancakes sound good." Nicole nodded, kissing the back of Wynonna's shoulder one more time before she rolled away and got out of the other side of the bed. Wynonna opened her eyes then, rolling over to watch Nicole patter around the bedroom, grabbing a dufflebag Wynonna hadn't seen the night before.
She dragged out a pair of jeans and a fresh shirt, putting them on slowly, watching Wynonna stare with a wry smile, "what?"
"You brought a duffle bag."
Nicole nodded, "I keep ending up waking up here, so I figured I should have some clothes to change into."
Wynonna nodded, "You can put some in the closet, if you want. Since you're here all the time anyways and stuff. It just makes-." Nicole walked over and silenced Wynonna with a kiss, ending her nervous rambling.
"I think I just might." she smiled down at Wynonna as she finished the buttons on her shirt, "Get dressed lazy bones, the pancakes aren't coming to you."
Wynonna smirked at Nicole's back, watching her head into the bathroom like she'd already been living here for years. Wynonna always thought she'd feel weird having someone practically living with her, but with Nicole it just seemed natural. Even having Doc around had been strange, waking up to him in the kitchen or on the couch, but with Nicole it felt right, like she was supposed to be there.
Wynonna opened her closet, grabbing a pair of jeans and a random shirt, pausing when she caught sight or a khaki uniform already hanging in her closet, "well played, Haught." she mumbled to herself before getting dressed.
Nicole moved in after her family left, bringing her scruffy looking brown and gray tabby with her. Wynonna was insistent that the cat hated her and she hated it, but Nicole knew better. She'd seen them snoozing on the couch together and seen Wynonna snare bits of chicken when she thought Nicole wasn't looking.
They got into a pretty good routine, during the day. They'd go to work separately, Nicole at her desk and Wynonna still in the office reserved for the BBD, but the door always stayed open for both Nedley and Nicole.
Two months after they moved in Nedley sent Wynonna for deputy training, issued her a test and deputized her, while she was still technically considered the BBD, she was also a purgatory deputy. Nedley, Nicole and Wynonna had gone to Shorty's to celebrate, and for once Wynonna felt like she had a home.
Things stayed the same when Waverly finally came home, bursting into the homestead early one Saturday morning to find Nicole and Wynonna cuddled up on the couch with Abby the tabby curled up at their feet. Wynonna had woken up first and nearly jumped off the couch from shock.
She recovered quickly though, wrapping her baby sister up into a hug so tight Waverly thought she might snap in half, "sorry, sorry. I just missed you." Wynonna told her afterwards, dragging her into the kitchen to catch up while Nicole slept.
Wynonna made them tea while Waverly spoke about her adventures, neither mentioned the sleeping officer in the other room, until Wynonna mentioned being an office deputy.
"Wyn, I'm so proud of you!" Waverly gushed, grinning over her tea, "I'm really happy for you, and for Nicole. I'm sorry I left the way I did, but I just needed time to sort myself out. I found out what I really am, who I really am. I'm seeing someone now, their name is Jay, they're a witch like me. That's why I was able to be possessed. And why daddy hated me."
"That makes a lot of sense, honestly," Wynonna told her, "But I need you to know, I don't care that you have a different dad, that doesn't make you less of an Earp, you're still my sister. You're still an Earp just like me."
"Just without the creepy curse and the alcoholism." Waverly teased. Wynonna smiled, glancing out to the couch, "are you happy? With Nicole?"
Wynonna looked back at Waverly, "I really am. It's weird, I know. Who would have thought I'd end up with a cop? And being a cop."
"I always knew you were meant to be great, Wynonna. You just needed to believe in yourself more." Wynonna reached across the table, waking Waverly's hand in hers and squeezing it. She didn't need to say anything, her sister knew.
"You wanna go rouse sleeping beauty so we can go to breakfast and you can meet Jay?" Waverly asked.
"Yeah. I'd love that, Waves. And I wanna hear more about this witch thing, too." Wynonna told her, wagging her finger playfully at her baby sister as she left the kitchen.
