A/N: Thanks for the kind comments and follows... hope you enjoy!
Early on Friday afternoon, Waverly took one last glance in the mirror, picked up her lip-gloss, and applied another coat. It was the fourth day in a row that Nicole was giving her a ride to work, and Waverly found herself increasingly anxious, though she couldn't exactly put her finger on why.
Champ would be back tomorrow, and things would go back to normal. But Waverly would be lying if she said that she hadn't enjoyed this time to get to know Nicole. She knew very little about the deputy before Tuesday, when Nicole rescued her from the side of the road.
Since then, Nicole had insisted on picking Waverly up to take her to work every day, and driving her home at the end of her shift. Last night, she had even contemplated inviting Nicole to hang around for a little while and have a drink when she dropped her off. Waverly just wanted to extend the time she had with her newfound friend. But, for whatever reason, she chickened out. Something about Nicole was making her hold back just a little—keep just a tiny bit of her thoughts and feelings to herself.
Waverly had never been shy, and always been quick to flirt. Hell, as a bartender, being friendly and flirtatious was practically in her job description. But Waverly knew, of course, that Nicole was a lesbian. And Waverly had no experience with women, so she was worried the flirting meant something different to Nicole than it did to Waverly. With guys, frankly, she didn't care about leading them on and shutting them down. But Nicole was different. Waverly wanted—needed—Nicole in her life. And the thought of hurting her burned Waverly deep in her chest. It made her breathless.
Even so, Waverly really couldn't prevent herself from indulging. Something about the way Nicole looked at her and spoke to her and listened to her made her feel more wanted than anyone ever had before—Champ included.
It set her on fire.
It drew her to Nicole, and to reciprocate the winks and innuendo and passing touches. Being flirted with by Nicole was so different than being flirted with by any of the men at Shorty's. Mostly, those men and boys (and boy-men) made her feel grimy and used; made her feel objectified in the worst and darkest ways imaginable. But Nicole… Nicole made Waverly feel alive. With Nicole, she felt wanted and safe and important. She felt good. Waverly was beginning to crave the feeling of Nicole's eyes on her, her laugh melting over her skin, her fingertips lightly ghosting over her hands and arms and shoulders in passing as they existed in each others' space.
As she continued fussing with her hair in the mirror, Waverly was brought out of her daydream by a jarring honk of a horn below. She glanced out the window to see Nicole's bright white teeth shining at her from behind the wheel of her patrol car, having now figured out which window Waverly would peek out of.
Butterflies instantly overtook Waverly's body as she took the stairs, two at a time, and blew out the front door, floating to Nicole's car.
"Hey," Waverly exhaled as she slid into the passenger's seat, smile firmly in tact.
"Hey," Nicole responded, dreamily, with her head rolling back on the headrest. The two smiled at one another for a beat.
"How has your day been so far?" Waverly asked.
"Oh, pretty good, I guess, Wave. The radio's been pretty quiet. I spent most of the mornin' filing reports and taking calls from the locals abou… wait… what?"
Waverly's smile was stretched from ear to ear and her blush was threatening to overtake her whole face. She didn't realize how drastically her expression had changed since Nicole started talking, but she clearly couldn't hide it any longer.
"Oh, it's nothing, really… what were all us crazy locals calling about?" Waverly tried to change the subject, flustered.
"No, no ma'am. You're not getting off that easy!" Nicole laughed and took her right hand off the steering wheel and nudged Waverly's shoulder lightly.
Waverly's body lit on fire, starting at the point Nicole touched and radiating through her chest. She caught her breath in her throat and looked at Nicole again, knowing that she was blushing hard.
Waverly steadied herself and grinned internally, suppressing her smile.
"You know, I hope that's not the interrogation technique you use on suspects. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to assault someone into talking," Waverly said, seriously.
Nicole guffawed and came to a smooth stop at a stop sign, but didn't miss a beat.
"Oh, Miss Earp," she said, voice low as she turned towards Waverly, looking her up and down, "you have no idea what techniques I use to get people to do what I want."
Waverly's jaw dropped and she went slightly pale, giving Nicole the exact reaction she was looking for. She smiled, turned her head back to the road, and continued on to Shorty's.
Waverly sat there for a few moments, still stunned and chilled by the tone in Nicole's voice and the look in her eyes as they scanned her body. She took in a slow, deep breath, and then spoke, deciding it best to change the subject entirely.
"So what time do you get off work tonight?"
"Oh, I'm not exactly sure. I'm not workin' the overnight shift, I know. I think maybe ten or eleven? But don't worry, Wave, I can come get you even if…"
"No, no, Nicole, that's not why I'm asking." Waverly reached across the middle console and placed a hand on the crook of Nicole's elbow, her hands dutifully at 'ten-and-two' on the steering wheel.
Nicole's eyes fluttered down to Waverly's hand on her arm, and then up to meet Waverly's eyes briefly before returning to the road. "Oh? What's up then?"
Waverly smiled, and took another breath and began rambling. "Oh, I was just thinking, maybe, if you're not too tired, when I get off work maybe you'd want to stay when you drop me off? You totally don't have to if you're tired, or if you don't want to—I realize you might not want to, I'm being presumptuous—but you've just been so kind to drive me all week and I have really liked spending time with you and I was thinking I could make us some drinks, and I made a pie today, and I have a bunch of movies we could look through, or—I don't even know if you like movies, but—we could…"
"Waverly, Waverly, take a breath there, darlin'," Nicole said, laughing. She glanced over to Waverly to see her staring at her, a look of expectation and hope? Oh god, she hopes that's a look of hope, and she can't make the poor girl wait any longer.
"Of course I'd love to come over, Waves." Nicole smiled softly, and Waverly's smile lit up her whole face.
"Good." Waverly said, with a firm nod.
"Good," Nicole echoed. "And Waverly? I have, too."
"You have what?" Waverly asked, confused.
"Enjoyed spending time with you this week," her dimples shone on her slightly pink cheeks. "I may get slapped for saying this—and rightfully so—but Champ leaving you a gas-less truck is the best thing that's happened to me since I moved to Purgatory," Nicole said, sincerely.
Waverly's eyes dropped, slightly, at the mention of her bum boyfriend, but not for the reasons Nicole presumed. Though Waverly still was upset with him for not warning her about the gas gauge on the truck, she was mostly distraught at the reminder that he existed at all, and that he was returning tomorrow.
"Can we just not talk about him?" Waverly said, dismissively.
"Yeah, sure, Waves," Nicole paused a beat as she reached over and put her hand on Waverly's knee. "Listen, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
"No, no, Nicole, it's totally fine." Waverly placed a comforting hand over Nicole's on her knee, and looked back up at her as they pulled into the Shorty's parking lot.
Nicole's put the car in park and looked over at Waverly, unsure of what she'd see. Immediately, her heart started racing and fluttering at the same time, making her feel lightheaded at the look Waverly was giving her. One thing Nicole had noticed these last few days, is that Waverly Earp has a lot of different smiles. She has shy smiles and mischievous smiles and flirty smiles and bashful smiles and amused smiles, and a whole host of others—all beautiful. But there's this one smile that just lights up her entire face. Her lips pulled wide, to the corners of her blushing cheeks, her eyes sparkled even brighter than usual, and the lines around the corners of her eyes and across her forehead become prominent, evident that she's straining to contain the happiness she feels with that smile. Nicole smiled back at her, breathless and speechless, just basking in the way Waverly was looking at her and stroking the back of her hand with her thumb.
Their moment was broken by the sound of a car door slamming, a few parking spots down. Waverly glanced over and saw Wayne, a local who always showed up at 4:00 on the dot—right for the start of happy hour.
"Hey, so, I need to get in there, but I should be off by 11? Come by then, and wear something comfy to watch movies in!"
Nicole laughed at the playful and child-like tone to Waverly's voice, nodding as she retracted her hand from the younger girl's knee.
"Yes ma'am. Wouldn't miss it for the world."
Waverly hopped out and skipped to the bar, stopping briefly at the door to look over her shoulder and wave at Nicole. The officer pulled out of the parking lot and eased down the road, only to finally pull over when she was sure she was out of sight of Shorty's.
"What am I doing?!" Nicole said aloud, to herself. She banged her forehead on the steering wheel a few times, groaning to herself at how deep she'd allowed herself to fall. She knew Waverly was spoken for; she knew Waverly was straight; she knew Waverly was just excited to have a new friend. But none of that stopped Nicole from feeling butterflies in her stomach and trembling in her bones at the thought of an evening alone with Waverly Earp.
Waverly's shift at Shorty's had flown by, and before she realized it, she had only one table, a few local drunks at the bar, and it was 10:38. She panicked, internally, for a brief moment, realizing that Nicole could walk in any minute. Waverly excused herself to the restroom with her handbag, brushing her hair and reapplying a bit of make-up. She would never admit it out loud, but Waverly understood, deep down, why she so desperately wanted to impress Nicole.
She replayed their moment earlier in the car, and the overwhelming rush she felt when Nicole's fingers wrapped around the curve of her knee and her thigh. The feeling jolted up and down her leg and made her feel warm all over. She had no idea what it was like to have feelings for a woman, but she was quickly realizing that she was going to find out—whether she wanted to or not.
She returned to the bar and begin the process of closing down—remaining customers be damned. Waverly was determined to get out of there right at 11, so that she could spend as much time with Nicole that night as possible, before Champ returned tomorrow. As she wiped down the bar and counted out her tips to balance the drawer, she waved off the last few drunken requests for another shot—convincingly telling the patrons that they'd already missed last call and needed to close out, despite knowing full well she had never given them the opportunity to order another round and prolong her shift. Grumbling, a few of them left, and only Waverly, Wayne, and one other guy at the end of the bar remained. Waverly smiled internally, victorious, and went to the far table to clear it off and wipe it down. As she stood up, she felt two hands wrap around her eyes from behind, and soft whisper of "surprise" in her right ear. Chills immediately shot through her, as she briefly marveled at Nicole's brazenness. Waverly smiled wide and turned around, being careful to not put too much distance between their two bodies.
Only, it wasn't Nicole.
Shocked, Waverly stumbled backwards, falling into the bench seat of the table and dropping a few dishes clattering to the floor. She stared up, panting, at the large grinning man above her.
"Geez, Waves, I didn't mean to scare you shitless. Get a hold of yourself. I was just trying to surprise you since I'm home early. Aren't you happy to see me?" Champ asked, still standing over Waverly.
"Champ! Uhh, yeauh, I mean, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be back until tomorrow afternoon?" Waverly stood up, collecting both herself and the dropped dishes while she caught her breath.
"Yeah, well, we ended the trip a bit early so I convinced the guys to go ahead and bring us back and drop me off here. I've been missing my girl, if you know what I mean," Champ said, suggestively, as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
"Right, sure," Waverly brushed past him towards the dishwasher to unload her arms, mind racing. By this time, it was a few minutes past 11:00, and the last two customers had just left after all the commotion that Champ caused.
"By the way, I didn't see my truck out there. What'd you do to it? You didn't wreck it, did you?" Champ asked, seriously.
"What?" Waverly whipped around towards her boyfriend, eyes blazing. "Are you serious right now? No, Champ. I didn't wreck your shitty truck."
At this point, Waverly was so put off she wasn't even looking at Champ, and had momentarily forgotten that she was expecting Nicole.
"Okay, well where is it? You know, I left it for you to be nice and so that's why I had the guys drop me off here, because I figured you had it, and…"
"To be nice?! You left me a truck with no gas to be NICE, Champ? Funny way of showing it. Well, your shitty truck is on the side of the road near the homestead because it had about an ounce of gas in it when you dropped it off. You figure out what to do about it."
"You mean you've left it there all week? You couldn't put gas in it? What, have you been walking back and forth to work? That's so stupid, Waverly…"
"No, she hasn't been walking."
Both Waverly and Champ snapped their heads towards the door and the sound of the new voice. Nicole stood there, out of uniform, hair hanging around her shoulders, wavy from her braid, with a loose v-neck sweater, jeans, and brown boots. Waverly's breath got caught in her throat for a moment, realizing it was the first time she'd seen the deputy out of uniform. It was not disappointing.
After recovering from the intrusion, Waverly looked towards Champ.
"That's right. Nicole has been giving me a ride; she picked me up the day your truck left me stranded." Waverly crossed her arms and faced Champ, defiant.
"O—kay…" Champ said, slowly. "Uhh, thanks, Officer. That was real nice of you."
Nicole looked at Champ, slightly incredulous. "Ummm, yeah." She turned her attention to Waverly, "I would say sorry for being a few minutes late, but I can see you're a little occupied?"
Nicole's question came out more irritated than she intended, but she was struggling to hide her disappointment and frustration at Champ being there with Waverly.
Before Waverly could even respond, Champ chimed in, "Yeah, it's not a problem, she hasn't been waiting. I assume I can hitch a ride back with her? Your patrol car isn't a two-seater after all."
The lecherous grin on Champ's face made Nicole nauseous, but she pushed it down and forced a smile. "Sure, Champ. Not a problem," and she looked over at Waverly.
Waverly had yet to say much of anything since confirming what Nicole had said about their rides and she stood there in that moment, staring at the ground. She couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with Nicole.
Waverly didn't object to the ride right then, nor chime in to accept it, but before she knew it, Champ was pushing the two of them into the back seat of Nicole's patrol car while Nicole slammed the door behind him.
Nicole revved the car out of the parking lot, and drove at least 10-mph faster down the road to the Earp homestead than she had any time the week prior. After once catching a glimpse of Champ whispering in Waverly's ear in the rearview mirror, she trained her eyes to the road and decided it best to not consider what he was saying to her in the back seat. To her credit, Waverly looked miserable, but that wasn't really a sight Nicole wanted to see, either.
Nicole came to an abrupt stop by the Earp front porch and put the car in park, remaining silent.
"Thanks again, Officer," Champ said from the back seat. Nicole just nodded as she heard a few clicks from behind her.
"Oh, right. I have to let you out of back there," Nicole grumbled as she hauled herself out of the front seat and opened the back door, averting her eyes from either of her passengers. Nicole had a lump in her throat that she swore would be visible to Waverly, and she was on the verge of tears. She had to hold it together until she got out of there.
Waverly got out first, and mumbled a quiet, "Thanks, Nicole," under her breath as she brushed past towards the house. Champ patted her on the shoulder roughly, "See ya around!" and walked up behind Waverly, wrapping his arm around her lower back.
Dejected, Nicole got back in the car and started to turn around in the gravel driveway, willing the tears to stay in her eyes a few moments more. But as she shifted back into drive, she heard a banging on the trunk. She quickly applied the brakes and looked up in the mirror, seeing Waverly frantically signaling for her to stop. Nicole put the car in park and rolled down her window, sighing and covertly wiping the corners of her eyes.
"What is it, Waves?" Try as she might, Nicole couldn't hide the exasperated tone of her voice—after being so excited for that night and having it ruined, she just wanted to get back home.
"Listen, I… I just wanted to apologize." Waverly took a breath in, hands shaking as she tried to steady herself and say what she knew she needed to say. It wasn't lost on her that Nicole was holding back tears, and it broke her to think she was hurting Nicole. She had to make it right.
"I had no idea he was going to come home early, and he literally showed up at Shorty's five minutes before you got there or else I would have tried to give you a heads up, and…"
"It's fine, Waverly. Really… it's not your fault. It's whatever. It was nice of him to surprise you. Hope you have a nice night. I'll see ya 'round," she tried to roll her window back up, but Waverly lunged forward and grabbed the door with both hands, stopping her.
"No, Nicole, listen to me." She took a deep breath, steadied herself, and willed Nicole to look up at her. After a moment, their eyes locked, and Waverly instantly softened her voice and closed the last few inches between her and the car, so she could talk more directly to Nicole.
"I'm not just apologizing for messing up your night. I'm apologizing because I'm sorry that my night was ruined, too." She looked at Nicole with intensity that she hoped conveyed the words she knew she couldn't say. "I was really, really looking forward to spending time with you tonight. Can we please reschedule?" Waverly reached out her right hand, pushing a few strands of hair out of Nicole's eyes so she could see her better.
Nicole blinked, not expecting the touch or the request. "Umm, yeah, I'd like that," she shifted in her seat to look more directly at Waverly. "Movie night and homemade pie sure sounded good to me."
Waverly's stomach flipped at the return of Nicole's electrifying smile.
"Good, good," Waverly exhaled and smiled. "How about Sunday night? Champ always has dinner with his folks that night, and I'm sure Wynonna will be out somewhere with Doc and Dolls. I'll even bake a fresh new pie for you."
"A fresh pie? Well, Miss Waverly, you sure do know the way to a girl's heart," Nicole flirted, emboldened by Waverly's efforts. Waverly froze, but before giving her a chance to recollect herself, Nicole started to roll up her window, and shifted into gear.
"I'll see you at 8 on Sunday, Waves. I'll bring the movie."
"Yeah, see ya then." Waverly stepped back and smiled back as the tires on Nicole's car crackled over the gravel. She stood there until the car was out of sight, buzzing from head to toe. Then she glanced back at the door, knowing Champ was in there, waiting on her. She sighed and trudged back up the steps.