"What are you doing here Kendall?" Nicole asked in a low voice as she walked up beside Waverly and wrapped her arm around the brunette's lower back and held her tightly.
"Wow, and here I thought some part of you would be excited to see me after all these years…" Kendall said with a light chuckle as she stepped forward and closed the door to the office.
"I never really saw much of you when I was home, actually, I never really saw you, mom, dad… Yeah anyone… So sorry if I'm not exactly thrilled to see you now after not even hearing from you for what… 8 years? 9 years? I lost count..." Nicole said with a great annoyance dripping from her tone.
"Oh grow up Nikky," Kendall finally said in a snarky tone with an exaggerated eye roll, "You seriously have no idea about half the shit that happened at home."
"And that's my fault?" Nicole exclaimed with a dry chuckle.
Kendall squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. When she opened them again she looked at Nicole and said in a defeated tone, "Nikky, we need to talk okay? You know, a family discussion or whatever…" Kendall said as she looked away from her sister and pointedly at Waverly.
Waverly had sensed the tension in the room and after having just mending things with Nicole, Waverly didn't want to overstep so she looked up at the redhead with loving eyes and quietly said, "Maybe I should go baby and let you and your sister catch up."
Nicole shook her head side to side and quickly tightened her grip around Waverly's waist and held her close. "I need you…" Nicole whispered quietly as she leaned down and kissed the top of the brunette's head.
Waverly snaked her arm around Nicole's back and squeezed gently, telling her girlfriend that she wouldn't leave.
"She is my family, so if you have something to say Kendall, go ahead…" Nicole said sternly.
Kendall had watched the exchange between the two and had seen the way that Nicole and Waverly looked at each other, how Waverly appeared to calm Nicole down and keeping her grounded.
Kendall gave a slight nod as she slowly walked forward so that she was closer to the couple. "Maybe we should start this over…" Kendall said as she looked down to Waverly, "I'm Kendall, Nicole's older sister, you must be her girlfriend, Waverly…" Kendall said with a slight smirk as she stuck her hand out for Waverly to shake.
Waverly looked at the blonde and decided to try to take a different approach as she reached out and shook Kendall's hand and offered a warm smile, "Nice to meet you Kendall, I am indeed the girlfriend."
Kendall gave Waverly a genuine smile and look of gratitude before looking up at her sister. Nicole sighed and nodded over to the conference table in the room and the three walked over to sit down. Waverly and Nicole on one side of the table, Kendall on the other.
Waverly felt a little short when she had been standing between the Haught sisters; Kendall seemed to be around Nicole's height and now that they were standing close, Waverly could see similarities between the two. Kendall's hair appeared to have a red tint to it in the light and both of them had the brown puppy eyes.
"So… How have you been Nik?" Kendall said softly.
"Can we please cut the bullshit… What is going on Kendall? I haven't heard from you in years, growing up we were so close.. You practically raised me since mom and dad were never around, then you just up and leave, you come back to the house once and treat me like crap, then like 8 years later you show up at my work… What is this about?" Nicole said in an exasperated tone.
Waverly could tell that there was clearly many family issues here, but more than anything it sounded like Nicole was genuinely hurting from whatever had transpired between the sisters.
Kendall looked down, clearly fidgeting with her hands. After a moment of silence, Kendall took a deep breath and looked up. Nicole had her hands on the table and Waverly had reached over and taken the redheads hand.
"There is so much you don't know Nicole, so much about me, our family… About yourself…" Kendall said quietly as she looked her sister in the eyes. "Are you sure you want your girlfriend knowing everything? Things that you don't even know about yourself?"
Nicole didn't even hesitate as she squeezed Waverly's hand tightly, "I love her Kendall, I won't hide things from her…" Nicole said as she looked over to Waverly.
Waverly gave a light squeeze of Nicole's hand and a sweet smile. "I love you too…" Waverly said with a widened smile. Nicole's face beamed and she leaned over kissing Waverly's forehead, savoring the moment of feeling like the world was finally right again.
"Okay, then I'll explain everything… Just… This isn't easy for me to come here, mom and dad actually told me to not come but I couldn't just abandon you…" Kendall said with great sincerity to her voice.
"That's rich…" Nicole whispered with an eye roll, then quickly receiving a light smack on the arm from Waverly. "Sorry…" Nicole said as she cleared her throat, "Continue…"
"I never wanted to leave you when we were growing up ya know? I actually fought with mom and dad about it for years. I never understood why they were hell bent on keeping secretes from you, from us. In their mind, the best way to keep family secretes seemed to be distance. I remember growing up and they were never around, God I was so happy when I found out they were having another baby because it meant I would finally have someone in my life who would actually be there. I promised I would be the best big sister in the world… I guess I dropped the ball on that one…" Kendall said with a bitter laugh as tears started falling down her cheeks.
Nicole's face softened as she watched her sister starting to cry. The red head leaned forward and put her hand over her sister's gently and said, "Kendall, what is going on?"
Kendall used her free hand and covered Nicole's, giving a light squeeze before letting go.
"Nikky, I never wanted to leave you, I never wanted to be away from you. Mom and dad were gone when we were growing up, and I could never figure out why… Why did they hate us, why did they not want to be around us, why did they have so many secretes… Then I turned 23, and everything changed… Do you remember my 23rd birthday?" Kendall asked as she looked at her sister.
"Yeah… I was 15. Mom and dad were gone… I made you pancakes, well, tried to make you pancakes…" Nicole said, causing all three women to smile, "I got you a…"
"A bracelet…" Kendall said as she pulled up her sleeve and showed the gold bracelet she was wearing, "I haven't taken it off."
Nicole seemed stunned that her sister was still wearing the gift after all these years.
"That evening mom and dad came home and scared the shit out of us… We had broken into the liquor cabinet… They didn't even care that we had been drinking. They told you to pack a bag with clothes and get outside in the car… You tried to argue with them and ask them what was going on but dad yelled at you and told you to hurry up… That was the last time I really saw you…" Nicole said quietly as she glanced over to Waverly, who was fixated on Kendall. Waverly must have noticed the redhead looking at her and offered a hand squeeze.
"Mom was up in my room and was telling me to just pack as much as I could, they wouldn't tell me anything else… I went to go leave and I remember dad pushing me out the door and I turned around and remember just seeing you standing there, confused, scared… I didn't want to leave, I mean in all my life mom and dad hadn't ever once taken me places or even acted interested in me. They weren't there for any of my other birthdays…" Kendall said with a huff.
"Where did they take you? Why didn't I ever see you or hear from you after that night?" Nicole asked as she scrunched her brow.
"That night they decided to tell me what our family is… What I am…" Kendall said slowly as she looked her sister dead in the eye, "What you are…"
Nicole and Waverly didn't take their eyes off of Kendall as they anxiously awaited for her to continue.
"Apparently the reason mom and dad decided to not be present in our lives was to keep us from finding out about our family. They say it's kept a secret for our protection and that finding out is a 'right of passage' and trust me Nicole, I wanted to tell you everything…" Kendall said as she leaned forward.
"You turn 23 this Friday and I couldn't let you go through this alone and I'm sorry I didn't come sooner but seriously mom and dad have been keeping tabs on me and finally I just said fuck it and came…" Kendall said in a rushed stated, obviously struggling to find the words to say.
Waverly and Nicole looked at each other, obviously both confused, then returned their gaze to Kendall.
"Nicole, our family… The Haught family…" Kendall said as she closed her eyes tightly before speaking slowly, "Is the oldest Lycan Clan in North America…" Kendall said as she opened her eyes to reveal glowing yellow eyes.
Upon seeing the blazing wolf like eyes that Kendall displayed, Nicole jumped to her feet.
"What the actual fuck?!" Nicole shouted as her eyes widened.
"Nicole… I know this sounds crazy okay, but please let me finish…" Kendall said as she stood and facing her sister, making her eyes fade back to their normal brown.
"L-Lycan as in werewolf? Like your family is actual werewolves? Oldest clan in America status werewolves?" Waverly asked jaw dropped. Without taking her eyes off of Kendall, Waverly reached behind her and blindly found Nicole's hand and she pulled the redhead back down beside her.
Kendall gave a grateful smile and nod to Waverly before sitting back down.
"So, I know this whole thing sounds outrageous…" Kendall said in an attempt of understanding.
"No… No it actually makes a lot of sense… Well kind of… I mean I guess that's why we never met other family members… Why mom and dad were never around…" Nicole said, obviously still in a state of shock but trying to understand what her sister was saying.
Kendall raised an eyebrow at how well her sister seemed to be taking in the information.
"We have a lot of supernatural crazy shit around here… Werewolves aren't that far fetched after what we've seen" Waverly offered with a nervous chuckle and shurg.
"Right…" Kendall said as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Well there is more about our family, our blood line, everything but that's gonna take awhile and I feel like there's a more pressing issue at hand…"
It was evident that Kendall was nervous about continuing.
"What do you more a 'more pressing issue'?" Nicole said with an eyebrow raising.
"The reason I'm here is because it's your time Nik…" Kendall said as she pursed her lips.
"What do you mean it's my time?" Nicole asked as she tilted head, surveying her sister. Kendall's face seemed to say it all.
"OH NO NO NO!" Nicole shouted as she stood up and began pacing.
"Nicole…" Kendall said in a stern voice, "You don't really have a choice…"
"Excuse me?!" Nicole yelled as she turned and faced her sister. "What do you mean I don't have a choice?! How is this fair?! My family treats me like shit my whole life, I leave and now you're here telling me I'm about to turn into a fucking werewolf?!" Nicole shouted in anger.
"Look, I came here to help you through the first stage because I love you Nik and I know what this is like…" Kendall said in a calm tone.
"You know what this is like? Are you shitting me Kendall?" Nicole said with a bitter laugh, "You said mom and dad didn't want you to come! From what you've told me it's clear they were there to fucking help you through this but they were willing to let me fucking turn into a werewolf without saying a damn thing?! Yeah mom and dad came and got you out of the house without much explanation but from what it sounds like at least you had the rest of the family there to help! What the fuck?! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! I DON'T WANT THIS SHIT!"
"There's more to the story Nik… Mom and dad are mad that you left home… But I came to help you accept this gift…" Kendall said cautiously.
"Gift?! GIFT?! I don't want this fucking gift! I don't want anything to do with our family!" Nicole yelled as she felt tears well up in her eyes. So many thoughts were racing through her mind.
"You don't have a choice Nicole… On Friday you turn 23 and you'll become a werewolf…" Kendall said in a stern voice. "I am here to help you…"
"I don't want your help! I don't want to fucking become a werewolf!" Nicole yelled as she ran her hands through her hair.
"You need my help or else you'll change and be the cause of this whole fucking town being ripped to shreds!" Kendall yelled. The frustration of having her sister not understanding that she didn't have a choice in the change finally winning over.
Nicole brought her hands down from her face and glared at her sister, then looked towards Waverly, who had remained silent during the sister's exchange. Nicole walked over and kissed Waverly's forehead, tears welling in the redhead's eyes. "I have to get out of here…" Nicole whispered to Waverly.
Nicole turned and walked quickly past her sister, but not before Kendall grabbed Nicole's arm, stopping her in her tracks beside her sister.
"You can't run from this Nikky…" Kendall said in a low voice.
Nicole starred in her sister's eyes and ripped her arm free, continuing out the door.
Kendall closed her eyes tightly and sighed.
Waverly picked up her coat and started to walk out to go find Nicole but stopped when she heard Kendall call her name.
"Waverly…" Kendall said in a pleading tone. The blonde turned around and looked at the Earp. "I never wanted to hurt Nicole. Our family is… complicated… I know she's scared and this is a lot to take in, but as much as it kills me, she doesn't have a choice in this… If she doesn't prepare for what's to come, a lot of people are going to get hurt…"
Waverly watched as the blonde walked closer to her.
"I would never let anything happen to my baby sister. Despite what she thinks everything I have done has been with her best interest in heart… Just… Talk to her, please… I am only here to help her…" Kendall said in defeat as she started to walk out the office.
"Does it change you? Like does it change the person you are?" Waverly asked over her shoulder.
Kendall stopped and turned around, offering a weak smile, "No, she'll still be the one you love, just with some fur and fangs every now and again…"
Waverly was a little shocked when the blonde leaned over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Be good to her Waverly, she is going to need you, especially with the change coming… You might be the only one who can save her" Kendall said with a smirk as she turned and walked out of the office.
"Wait! What do you mean only one to save her?" Waverly yelled after the blonde.
"Tell Nicole to call me… Nice meeting you Waverly…" Kendall said without looking back.
"You too…" Waverly said quietly as she scrunched her brow.
Waverly shook away her thoughts and focused on finding where Nicole had gone to. I guess we both have some major family issues… Waverly thought as she threw on her coat and left the station.