When we honestly ask ourselves which
person in our lives mean the most to us,
we often find that it is those who, instead
of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have
chosen rather to share our pain and touch
our wounds with a warm and tender
hand. The friend who can be silent with
s in a moment of despair or confusion,
who can stay with us in an hour of grief
and bereavement, who can tolerate not
knowing, not curing, not healing and face
with us the reality of our powerlessness,
that is a friend who cares.
–Henri J. Nouwen
It was quickly known that, just within a year of knowing each other, that Serena Moon belonged to Wynonna Earp. No one ever tried to befriend the Dynamic Duo of Purgatory, because they were more trouble than they were worth.
That sat just fine with Wynonna, who was in detention with her best friend this very moment. Serena hadn't actually done anything, but one of their teachers pointed at her and went, "Earp, detention after school!" to which Serena, bewildered, had told him, "I'm Serena."
"Same thing," the teacher had absently said, before turning back to his teaching.
Serena herself was fiddling with her necklace, leaned back in her seat and groaning loudly every few seconds. She had always hated how boring it was and Wynonna knew it.
She couldn't bring herself to feel guilty, however. She was still gleefully repeating the teacher's earlier words in her mind.
"Earp, detention after school!"
"I'm Serena."
"Same thing."
That had thus concluded just how close the two were, if the town already saw them as essentially the same person. It certainly felt like they were two halves of a whole sometimes. Or, as Serena liked to put it, "Two halves of a whole idiot."
When they were not together, Wynonna felt like she was stripped bare. It felt wrong.
Which, of course, was also why she was so satisfied they had gotten detention together.
"Ms. Moon!" the teacher said loudly, halting Serena as he loomed over them. "Stop that noise at once! This is detention, you're supposed to be quiet!"
"But Wynonna is all the way over there!" Serena complained, gesturing to the other girl, who smirked back in response. "And I'm bored!"
"Yes, well, when we put you two together, bad things happen!"
"No they don't."
"Yes, they do."
"Are you sure?"
"I am positive, Ms. Moon."
"Talk about a change in biology," Wynonna snickered.
The man, she thought his name might be Mr. Michaels, glared at her. "That isn't funny, Ms. Earp."
A small, balled up gum wrapper hit him on the head, and Mr. Michaels whirled on Serena, who blew a bubble so large that it popped over her nose.
She crossed her eyes to stare at it.
"Very well," he seethed. "But no funny business, understood? You're to sit there in silence."
"No problem, teach," Wynonna saluted him and plopped down next to her friend, who was pulling the gum from her face and putting it back in her mouth.
Serena passed her a stick, mumbling under her breath, "It's Friday, we shouldn't be stuck here this long. You got the stuff?"
"I can hear you, Ms. Moon!"
"Yeah, I got it," Wynonna hissed back, reaching into her pocket to feel the smoke bomb and matches.
"You too, Ms. Earp!"
"Sorry, teach!" the brunette flashed him a smile, and then popped the stick of gum in her mouth. Mr. Michaels only sighed.
Wynonna subtly passed Serena the smoke bombs and eyed the open window, wondering if they would make it out, before making short work of the matches.
Serena nodded to her, and as Mr. Michaels looked up, started throwing the smoke bombs as the two moved toward the window.
Wynonna went out first, and then Serena, clambering out after her and taking off at a sprint.
The teacher could be heard bellowing after them, cursing the entire time, and both girls laughed as they headed down the street to Serena's.
~~~xxx~~~
Serena perched herself on the back of the Hardy's horse, hoisting Wynonna on up after her with much effort. The other girl had wanted to go for a joyride, and here they were, sneaking a horse from the barn while the Hardy's were in town, trotting through the field and into the forest.
"D'you know how to ride this thing?" Serena gripped the horse's mane tightly. They had not known how to put a saddle on, so they had not bothered, and this was rather uncomfortable.
"Not really," Wynonna admitted, fingertips digging into the other girl's hips. "At least it knows what to do, though, right?"
"Yeah, but it's going so slow…"
"I think it's a he."
"Oh. Well, he's going really slow. I thought you wanted to have fun?"
"I do!" Wynonna pinched her side. "Maybe if we give it a good kick, like they do in the movies?"
Before Serena could protest, Wynonna drove her heel into the horse's side, and it took off at a dead sprint, leaving both girls to scream.
Serena leaned forward and wound her arms around the horse's neck, holding on for dear life as Wynonna latched both arms around her waist tightly, shrieking.
"You idiot!" the former howled. "You're gonna get us killed!"
"I didn't mean to!" the latter bellowed.
Land rushed by them, and as her hair whipped around her face in the wind, Serena panicked and shut her eyes, hoping it would be all over soon and that the horse had sense enough to return to the barn.
A few minutes later, when she opened her eyes and found the entire town staring at them as they sat atop the stolen horse, she realized it did not.
"Crap," Wynonna muttered, leaning her forehead against Serena's back. "We're dead."
"As doornails," Serena agreed.
~~~xxx~~~
"I can't believe you, young lady!" Aunt Suzy scolded. "I told you that Wynonna Earp is a bad influence, but have you stayed away? No!"
"She's my friend!" Serena protested. "I wanted to ride the horse!"
"All the fights, the suspensions, the calls about the two of you terrorizing someone or another, stealing apples and horses…" the woman put her hands on her hips, furious. "No more, I say! I forbid you from seeing that girl again!"
Serena recoiled. "What?"
"You heard me! If I so much as see you with Wynonna Earp again, I'll tan your hide!"
"But Aunt Suzy," the girl tried desperately, frantically. "Wynonna is my best friend, my only friend, you can't just...you can't…"
"You heard your aunt," Uncle Mike said sternly, deep voice, once so comforting, now causing her to choke as she heard his words.
"Please," Serena begged, unable to believe what was happening. "Don't do this! She's my best friend, you don't understand—"
"You'll make other friends," he laid a heavy hand on her shoulder, and she flinched. "Go to your room."
The girl, impulsive as she was, did not listen and bolted for the door.
She hadn't even made it five steps before Uncle Mike snatched her up and threw her over his shoulder, kicking and screaming, and locked her in her room.
~~~xxx~~~
Wynonna was still sore from her beating when Willa entered her room and informed her, "Daddy says that Mr. and Mrs. Persinger aren't allowing you to see Serena anymore."
"What?" Wynonna gaped at her, wincing as she hurried to her feet. "You can't be serious!"
She had known they didn't particularly like her and only tolerated her because she was a child, but this? This was too much.
"They say you're a bad influence," Willa shrugged carelessly. "Maybe you are. I say she is. I haven't liked her from the start. She was always so—"
"She's my best friend, Willa," Wynonna scowled at her older sister, who blinked at her. "Don't talk about her like that."
"I thought that, after the horse incident—"
"That was my idea, not hers!" the younger brunette waved her arms, ignoring the pain that spread through her back at the action. "She-I...we...you don't get it!"
"You don't need her," Willa rolled her eyes. "You have me."
Wynonna huffed. "Shut up, Will. I do need her, and I'm gonna go see her right now!"
She pushed past her older sister and made for the door.
Willa tugged her back, shoved her onto her bed, and shut the door hard behind her. There was the click of a lock, and when Wynonna jiggled the handle, the door would not budge.
"You can't do this!" she yelled, pounding hard on the door.
"Daddy said to!" Willa called back.
Wynonna sunk to the floor, feeling her eyes sting, but then glanced over and out the window.
Wait.
The window!
The girl rushed over to it and carefully pulled it open, allowing a breeze to hit her face, and smiled.
Willa wasn't as smart as she thought she was.
~~~xxx~~~
Later that night, Serena awoke to someone throwing a rock through her previously glued shut window, and she stilled abruptly, wondering if someone were breaking in.
Those fears were put to rest when a familiar, brunette head popped through the space where the glass had been.
"D'you think they heard?" urged Wynonna, who, like Serena, seemed to have stayed in her clothes all night. The other girl realized she should have expected something like this.
"No," she responded, as Wynonna climbed through the window, a bag slung over her shoulder. "They're heavy sleepers."
"I tried opening the window," the brunette stepped around the broken glass. "Didn't work."
"Uncle Mike bolted it shut so I couldn't climb out," Serena did not question the bag her friend had and instead began to hurriedly pack her own, getting the idea. "What's in yours?"
"Food. You get the clothes."
Serena nodded and then slung her bag over her shoulders as well. "You're lucky we're the same size."
"Lucky I have you," Wynonna grinned at her. "C'mon. They're not gonna keep us apart like that."
As she went through the window, the darker haired girl followed without hesitation, booted feet hitting the ground hard.
"Where to?" she questioned.
"Anywhere but here," Wynonna took her hand. "Let's go."
Serena followed.
~~~xxx~~~
The girls managed to stay away on their own for three days in the forest before they were found and brought back to their homes. Needless to say, every adult (and Willa) had been furious with them. Waverly had only wondered why they hadn't brought her along (oh, how Serena loved that kid).
The busted window had been covered with a piece of tarp, and after Suzy, for a second time, forbid Serena from seeing Wynonna, it was the latter who had her window bolted shut, instead.
Uncle Mike was sat in the corner of her room dozing in a chair. He was supposed to be keeping watch on her, but it obviously wasn't working, for Serena slipped out of bed and through the window easily.
Perhaps, if he had coffee, he could have lasted longer.
She hopped on her bike and pedaled hard, twisting and turning through town until she hit the backroad that would lead out to the Earp Homestead, gravel crunching under her tires.
She knew it was risky, especially when she saw the front porch light on and Willa Earp sitting there, gun in her hand, keen eyes watching.
Serena swerved her bike through the forest and went around the back to where Wynonna's room was, instead.
She hid her bike in the bushes, before creeping up to the window, which had bars on it; she cursed and rapped lightly on it.
Wynonna popped up almost immediately, voice muffled as she whispered through the glass (rather loudly), "Finally! I knew you'd be here! Listen, there are tools in the shed over there," she pointed around near the barn. "Get a crowbar. Daddy isn't very good with stuff like this. Should be easy."
Serena quietly made her way to the shed and slipped inside, searching through the toolbox. Just as she came up with the crowbar, she heard footsteps approaching.
Hastily, she hid herself behind the wheelbarrow, which was loaded high with various different things, just as the door to the shed swung open.
Crouching low and peering beneath the wheelbarrow, Serena could see that the boots in question were too small to be Ward's, but too large to be Waverly's.
It was Willa.
"I could've sworn I saw something," the older girl was muttering as she paced through the shed, moving things over and around, searching. "That Moon bitch has to be here…"
Serena found herself disliking Willa even more, and her heart pounded in her ears as the boots suddenly stopped before the wheelbarrow.
The dark haired girl held her breath, thinking that this was it, that she would probably die tonight because Willa Earp was a complete and utter psycho.
"Willa?" the sudden call had Willa visibly jumping (from what Serena could see) as the shed door swung open again, and small, slippered feet entered. It was Waverly. "What are you doing here?"
"Nothing," Willa said harshly. "What are you doing out of bed? I'm going to tell daddy-"
"Daddy sent me," Waverly's high voice was strong. "He wants you inside."
"You're lying."
"Nu uh! He sent me to get you 'cause he said he needed you. He wouldn't tell me why."
Willa growled. "If you're lying…"
"I'm not!"
There was the stomp of boots, and then Willa was gone.
"Rena?" Waverly whispered loudly. "Are you in here?"
Slowly, Serena maneuvered herself out from behind the wheelbarrow.
"How did you know I was here?" she frowned.
"Wynonna told me," the little girl bounced on the balls of her feet, eyes bright. "She said we're breaking her out. Are we?"
"Did your dad really want Willa?"
"No. I lied," Waverly bit her lip, glancing worriedly at the door. "Willa scares me. C'mon, we need to get Nonna."
Serena allowed herself to be dragged out of the shed, hunched over so as to not be seen, and back to Wynonna's window, where the girl was waiting for them, face smushed comically against the glass.
"I've got this," Serena mumbled to herself, as she hooked the crowbar around one of the bars on the window. "I've got this."
"Hurry!" Wynonna hissed.
The other girl pulled hard at the tool, causing the bars on the window to squeak and budge slightly, but not much more. Bracing her foot against the house, she yanked again, harder this time.
The bars moved further out, but still not enough, and so Waverly latched onto Serena's arms and helped her pull.
The bars came flying out of the window, and both girls were sent careening back, collapsing in a heap as Wynonna hopped nimbly out the window.
"Your bike here?" she asked hurriedly.
"Yeah," Serena clambered to her feet and pulled it out of the bushes. "Let's go."
Wynonna knelt beside Waverly. "Go to your room and go to sleep, okay? Daddy won't hurt you. I've gotta be with Rena."
"I wanna come!" Waverly insisted stubbornly, before trembling. "Daddy and Willa scare me, Nonna. Don't leave me."
Serena felt a pang. "I think we can fit you both on the bike, but it'll be hard."
Wynonna typically rode around on the pegs of Serena's bike, or they walked everywhere, which was fine. Three people, however…
"Let's just do it," Wynonna hastily grabbed the bike from her and began sprinting up the hill. "We'll go faster this way."
Serena hurriedly climbed onto the bike, and Wynonna got on the pegs, grabbing her shoulders tightly. Waverly was hoisted up onto the handlebars, and though Serena could not see, pushed off anyway.
They went down the hill fast, hitting bumps along the way as Serena leaned her head around Waverly's side to see, the bike jerking along.
"Where are we going, Wy?" she cried over the wind.
"Anywhere but here!" Wynonna yelled in her ear, and Waverly screamed as they picked up speed.
Serena had no idea how long they had been riding for, but they had long since made it past the Purgatory sign and into the forest around it. Her legs ached as they climbed off the bike, helping Waverly down.
"Now what?"
Wynonna sat down hard, rubbing her temples, and pulled her backpack between her legs. Serena had not noticed she'd had it.
"Now," said Wynonna, spreading a blanket on the ground for Waverly. "We camp."
~~~xxx~~~
Yet again, it lasted approximately three days, and this time, Serena's aunt really did "tan her hide" but did not forbid her from seeing Wynonna again.
It seemed that, though Ward had done the same, he had not forbidden Wynonna from seeing Serena, either. It were as though every adult in town had given up on it, to be honest, because from then on, they shared every class together and were always placed next to each other.
Willa was furious about the whole thing, and thus, Wynonna (who was growing less and less fond of her sister's jealousy) spent most of her time out with Serena, or in the girl's room. They never ventured anywhere else in the house, because being around Serena's aunt and uncle was awkward, and to be honest, Wynonna didn't like them much.
Serena herself loved them to bits, but they could be so frustrating sometimes that she couldn't handle it. They were overprotective and hated her best friend, which she didn't like.
The two girls passed over their twelfth birthdays without much fuss, though this time, Serena brought Wynonna a cake and gave Waverly a stuffed puppy for her own birthday months later.
Things were pretty great, to be honest.
Well, until that day.
~~~xxx~~~
It was late at night when Aunt Suzy and Uncle Mike came to inform Serena that Ward Earp was dead and Willa Earp had disappeared.
No one knew why, or how, but the police had pulled Wynonna and Waverly from the house and sent them to their Uncle Curtis and Aunt Gus, the former raving about how demons had taken them and Waverly agreeing.
They thought Wynonna was crazy.
Serena, to be honest, was not surprised when the girl did not appear at her window. She did not think Wynonna would sneak out, not now, and so she did it, instead.
It wasn't hard to find the home of Curtis and Gus, and when she did, she found Wynonna sitting outside in the grass, alone in her pajamas, shivering in the cold air.
Serena stood beside her. "Hey."
"Leave me alone," Wynonna mumbled.
"Nah."
"Leave me alone!" the other girl furiously, suddenly stood and whirled on her. "I don't need you here!"
"You do, Wy," Serena shook her head and reached out a hand.
"No," Wynonna recoiled, angrily swiping a hand over her eyes. "I'll only-I'll only kill you, like I did daddy!"
"What?" Serena stared.
"You probably think I'm crazy, too, huh?" the brunette jabbed a finger in her chest, eyes shining bright in the moonlight. "You wouldn't understand, no one does!"
The darker haired girl's temper flared. "Well, maybe if you told me, I would!"
"You don't get it," Wynonna shoved her, hard. "Get out of here, go home!"
Serena hit the ground hard, and when she got up, pushed her friend back. "Make me!"
She struggled to reign in her own rising frustration, knowing that somehow, Wynonna needed this. Needed to take her anger out on someone.
The other girl swung on her, and Serena grunted when it met with her stomach. She raised her own fist and knocked Wynonna upside the head, but did not move again.
Instead, she let her friend hit her, over and over, until finally, she was slammed to the ground with Wynonna Earp hovering over her, wild hair falling from her braids, suddenly choking as she rolled away.
Serena sat up, shrugged off her coat, and silently handed it over, licking her bloodied lip as she watched Wynonna deflate, pulling the jacket around her shoulders.
She did not apologize, but Serena didn't care, only scooted closer until their shoulders were touching. Wynonna leaned into her, gripping her tight around the stomach.
"The demons took them," she whispered, her sudden change of mood expected by her friend, who curled an arm around the other girl. "Daddy and Willa. I got the gun, I tried to shoot one of them...I got daddy, instead. I killed him, Rena. I killed him. I don't wanna...I don't want you to die, too."
"I'm not. You've got me, still."
"You believe me?" Wynonna lifted her head, and her cheeks were wet, Serena noticed, but she did not mention it.
"You wouldn't lie to me," Serena said firmly. "ever. If you saw demons, they were demons."
Anyone else would have been skeptical, but Serena had always felt something off about this town, and besides, what she had said was true. Wynonna would never lie to her, and besides, who lied about demons, anyway?
"Thank you," Wynonna breathed, and pressed closer, quivering.
Serena knew it was not from the cold and held her tighter.
