Chapter Text
Nicole was half asleep despite trying desperately to stay awake half an hour after Wynonna had followed her sister. She had managed to warm up a bit since they got back inside but not even her favourite sweats and hoodie made her feel better on the inside.
“Nicole?”
Nicole jumped at Waverly’s voice outside their door.
“Yea?”
Waverly opened the door and stepped inside, closing it again behind her.
“I know we should talk but I really don’t have the energy,” Waverly said, her voice tired. “Wynonna is brushing her teeth and will probably be a while before she’s done with her hair.”
“She’s caring about her hair now?” Nicole questioned.
Waverly shrugged. “I think it helps her feel normal.”
Nicole couldn’t say that wasn’t a fair point.
Then Waverly was suddenly very close up in her space, looking at her intently in a way that made Nicole not just feel watched but studied.
“Can we just?” Waverly whispered and bit her lip anxiously.
Nicole hesitated, but she also had no idea what way was a good way of dealing with the situation they were in. And Waverly didn’t look scared, her eyes were bright and present.
Nicole nodded.
Somehow, they ended up on the floor. Nicole sitting with her back against the door with Waverly in her lap, kissing her until neither of them could breathe. Where Waverly’s hands had wandered the first time they kissed, this time her fingers were digging into the base of Nicole’s scull. It felt like Waverly was holding on to her for dear life, and in a way, Nicole loved it; she was the thing that Waverly thought to cling to in the storm they were in. But while Waverly’s hands were still, her body was not. Waverly was pressing herself so close to Nicole that there was no space between them. And with Waverly wrapped around Nicole so fully there was a lot of touching to focus on. Especially since Waverly pressed into her in waves that made Nicole lightheaded. She had placed her own hands on Waverly’s thighs and pressed her palms flat against her, trying not to bite down with her fingers but also letting Waverly know the want for contact went both ways.
The fabric under Nicole’s fingers soon grew warm as heat radiated off the pair of them, and while Nicole had shivered at first at the cold wood against her back, she soon grew grateful for it, or she would have lost her sense of space completely.
Waverly kissed her with warm and hungry open mouth kisses, only once trailing down her neck but quickly going back to Nicole’s mouth. Nicole tried to keep the pace but felt overwhelmed at the contact and softness of it all. Just as she thought she’d figured out Waverly’s pattern she changed it and did something new and Nicole had to stop herself from pressing Waverly down against the floor. The light scratches of Waverly’s fingers on her neck together with the soft bites and kisses to her lips made Nicole see stars behind her closed eyelids.
“Hey dorks,” Wynonna interrupted from the other side of the door and Waverly almost fell out of Nicole’s lap. “Can I come in or what?”
They quickly got off the floor.
“Baby girl, you okay?” Wynonna gave Waverly a concerned look.
Waverly just nodded.
“Well you’re sleeping in here with us.”
“I could stay with Jeremy on the couch.”
“No, you couldn’t. Because I sent him off to sleep in your room. And there is no way I’m letting you out of my sight tonight.”
Nicole watched Wynonna fidget uncomfortably, clearly anxious. It made Nicole feel guilty about kissing Waverly instead of talking to her. What had happened was traumatic and what Waverly needed might not be the same as what she wanted. One look at Waverly though, and she was convinced of the opposite. Her face still looked worried but the tension in her shoulders was gone.
“I’m okay, Wy.”
Wynonna dragged in a matrass for Waverly to sleep on in between the two beds, along with a mountain of blankets. Nicole got into her own bed and laid down with her thoughts in chaos. She hadn’t heard any noises from outside so the search party wasn’t back, and yet she couldn’t make herself feel bad for Tucker for still being outside in the cold. That guy could freeze to death for all Nicole cared.
Wynonna fell asleep quickly and started to snore quietly and Nicole was starting to drift off when she felt a dip on the side of the bed.
“Nicole?”
Nicole surfaced immediately from the almost sleep to look at the shadow of Waverly above her.
“You okay?” she asked, reaching a hand out for Waverly to take.
“Do you like me despite how stupid today got?”
Nicole was not prepared for that question. She pulled herself up to a sitting position and looked for Waverly’s eyes in the dark.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“That’s not an answer.”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “Yes it is.”
Waverly was quiet.
Nicole reached out to take her hand. “Yes, I still like you, Waverly,” she whispered.
“How?” Waverly asked, sounding like she had tears in her eyes. “I was so stupid and got myself into a really stupid situation.”
“Waverly, you didn’t get yourself into anything. That asshole dragged you through the woods.”
“He didn’t hurt me, maybe he wouldn’t have.”
Nicole wasn’t sleepy anymore. “He was threatening you. And you did what you thought would keep you safe.”
“But I wasn’t safe.” It sounded like Waverly was crying now. “Anything could have happened out there.”
A pit was growing on Nicole’s stomach and anger vibrated in her shoulders.
“It was his fault,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm. “He went crazy on you but now you’re safe.”
Waverly’s shoulders were shaking.
“I feel so stupid.”
Nicole almost cried to. She didn’t know what to do.
“But you?” Waverly whispered.
Nicole decided to answer without Waverly having to ask fully.
“Yes, I do. I still like you and I still want to be around you and I still think you’re absolutely beautiful.”
Waverly didn’t say anything.
“I mean it,” Nicole reassured. It was crazy that she had met Waverly just a few days earlier and was having such big feelings for her. And what was even crazier was that Waverly seemed to reciprocate. Doubt crossed her mind. “But you don’t have to.” Nicole swallowed. “You don’t have to like me back just because.”
That seemed to shake Waverly up a bit. She leaned forward and clumsily kissed Nicole on the mouth until she could steady herself and kiss her with more softness. Nicole had wanted Waverly to talk but if kissing was Waverly’s way of saying yes, or just figuring it out, Nicole was okay with that.
“Can I?” Waverly drew back. “It’s cold on the floor. Can I sleep here?”
Her heart beat hard in Nicole’s chest at the words but she nodded, humming in affirmation to make sure Waverly got it.
She lifted her covers up and Waverly climbed under and put herself in the spot of little spoon. At first Nicole had no idea what to do with her arms and hands but after Waverly pulled one of her arms around herself, Nicole relaxed a fraction and curled her fingers around the fabric of Waverly’s sweater. A few strands of hair tickled Nicole’s nose but Waverly pulled them aside. The butterflies in Nicole’s chest refused to settle with the girl in her arms but with every moment the feeling started to sink in more and more, and she followed her instinct to curl around Waverly protectively.
“Much better,” Waverly mumbled into their shared pillow, and Nicole’s chest swelled.
The room was cold against Nicole’s face but having Waverly in her arms warmed her body comfortably.
“What do we do if Wynonna sees this?” she asked.
“Dies,” Waverly answered.
Nicole chuckled. “Okay.”
Waverly woke up in a way she’d never woken up before. With a warm body pressed close to her own, hair everywhere and something warming her up from the inside that didn’t have anything to do with the temperature under the blankets. She realised awkwardly that she was acting more of a koala than big spoon to Nicole who still seemed to be asleep. Instead of untangling herself though, she held on tighter, breathing Nicole in. She smelled of honey, vanilla and a bit of sweat. Waverly found herself not at all minding.
She glanced over her shoulder and Wynonna lay in bed, still very much asleep.
Good, she thought. She felt like the thing with Nicole was a bit too new and crazy to mention to her sister just yet. Especially since Wynonna treated Nicole more like a friend than she did anyone else back home in Purgatory.
It took two tries to untangle herself from Nicole, who in her sleep seemed keen on keeping her close, making Waverly’s cheeks warm.
She padded off to the bathroom and then to the kitchen to make coffee. That’s when she noticed the police cruiser, ambulance and park ranger’s vehicle outside.
Director Nedley stood on the porch to the big house, too far away for Waverly to tell what expression was on his face. The sun was up but there didn’t seem to be many campers awake yet, since Waverly figured they would definitely be there watching if they were.
There were no lights on the cruiser or ambulance and a thin layer of snow covered all cars, telling Waverly they had been there for a while. Evidently there wasn’t a rush to get someone to hospital or to the police station.
She glanced at the front door and suddenly felt very exposed, standing there on her own.
“Wynonna!”
Wynonna, Nicole and Jeremy all came to the kitchen after a few moments, in a varied variety of wakefulness, by the look of Jeremy’s yawned and Wynonna’s closed eyes.
“Cops are here,” she said simply.
All of them turned towards the window and Wynonna seemed to suddenly wake at the sight of the other vehicles.
“Why are an ambulance here?” Nicole asked. “Did something happen?”
Jeremy suddenly wrapped Waverly in a big hug, making her jump in surprise.
“Wynonna told me last night and I am soooooo glad you’re okay!” Jeremy said, not letting go. Waverly hugged him back and immediately felt more grounded, despite the confusion in the situation.
“I don’t want to talk to the cops,” her sister said with a finality in her voice Waverly knew she could make budge.
“We have to.”
Wynonna said nothing.
By the time they were all dressed and sitting around the table with coffee mugs in their hands they could see a few other campers walking about outside and firmly being directed back to their cabins. Counsellors all welled out from the house in the direction of each cabin. But it was Nedley who moved towards theirs with a police officer at his side.
Wynonna stiffened at Waverly’s side but didn’t make any move to walk away.
“You think they still haven’t found him?” Jeremy asked.
“If I’d known he was going to run away I’d broken his legs,” Wynonna muttered.
Nicole gave Waverly what looked like a reassuring smile across the table while Waverly stayed silent, her jaw tense and aching.
A knock on the door sounded before the door opened and the two visitors came inside, kicking snow off their boots.
“Girls,” Nedley called out, then stopped. “And Chetry,” If he had any objection to Jeremy’s presence he didn’t say so. “This is officer Lee and he needs to speak to you.”
“Hello,” the man said, holding his hat in hand politely, his stance giving a relaxed vibe. Waverly didn’t know if that was reassuring or unnerving. Wynonna was tense beside her, but Nicole looked relieved and intrigued at the officer’s presence.
“Unfortunately we have some difficult news for you all,” Nedley said.
Waverly was feeling sick and lightheaded.
“Did he run away?” Wynonna asked with steel in her voice and for once Waverly was grateful for her sister’s blunt approach.
Nedley glanced at Wynonna but then directed his eyes to Waverly.
Waverly’s skin itched and she looked away.
The police officer cleared his throat and filled the silence Nedley had started.
“Tucker Gardner was found dead early this morning.”
Wynonna, Nicole and Jeremy all let out some kind of cuss or words of doubts, while Waverly felt like her own mouth was covered with sandpaper, possibly not for a lot longer with the taste of bile coming up her throat.
“What do you mean he’s dead?” Nicole asked.
“Can we sit down for a moment?” The officer nodded at Nicole but ignored her question.
They sat down without an answer being given.
“Any of you can call your guardians at any time. I will do that regardless later today,” Nedley said, his voice deep but uncertain.
“This is not a formal interview,” the officer said, leaning forward slightly. “I am just here to inform you of what has happened.”
Waverly leaned in towards Wynonna who instantly lowered her tough exterior to give Waverly’s shoulder a squeeze. She tried to draw courage from it but her brain took the pause to over-think instead and her head was again swimming with images of the night before.
Waverly didn’t even notice Nicole getting up before she could feel her hands on her shoulders. When she glanced up she realised she had tears in her eyes and quickly wiped them away.
“Tucker was found in the woods early this morning,” the officer stated.
“What had happened to him?” Nicole asked, voice steady.
“I’m afraid I can’t say anything right now. Instead I would like for you to tell me of the last you saw of Tucker.”
“Waverly,” Nedley addressed her gently. “Tell them what happened.”
Wynonna was pacing back and forth across the room she shared with Nicole. She was so mad she didn’t know what to do with herself, and since Waverly wasn’t there to stop her she was tempted to slam her fist into the wall. One look at Nicole stopped her though, since she looked even madder still.
“Why do they need to talk to her again?” Wynonna asked no one at all. “She already told them everything.”
“There’s procedure, Wynonna,” Nicole said wearily. “But how the hell do we explain what is going on here?”
“We don’t know what’s going on here!” Wynonna snapped.
“There is something in those woods and we left Tucker alone out there, and it killed him.” Nicole spat and Wynonna wanted to scream.
“We don’t know that!” Wynonna tried to keep calm but her head was pounding. “We can’t tell the truth to the cops. We’ll just get into a whole new level of trouble if we do. And I am not dragging Waverly into that again.”
Nicole looked on the verge of tears. “Something is out there, and I can’t lie to them, Wynonna!”
“Well, you fucking have to!”
Nicole sat down on the bed hard, burying her face in her hands.
“Maybe we should all stay a bit calm?”
Wynonna jumped, having forgotten that Jeremy was in the room with them.
“Screw this,” Wynonna mumbled in response. She walked out, not knowing where to go but needing to be somewhere else.
Wynonna found Doc smoking behind the big house. He greeted her with a tip of his hat and Wynonna slumped down against the wall next to him.
“So did you find him?”
“I did.”
She whipped her head round towards him, unprepared for such an honest answer.
“What happened to him?”
“I can’t say I understand how. But he seemed to have jumped off some sort of cliff.”
“How is that difficult to understand?”
Doc turned towards her, letting the silence stretch for a moment before he spoke. “The little detail of there being no cliff nearby.”
“So he was just injured like he’d fallen?”
“He was bludgeoned and not exactly in one piece,” Doc told her, like he was talking about the timetable for lunch.
She took a moment to let it sink in.
Doc cleared his throat. “He had it coming.”
Wynonna whipped around. “You saying he deserved a painful death?”
Doc shrugged.
Wynonna didn’t know what to think. She had wanted to kill Tucker for hurting Waverly. But wanting to kill someone and actually wanting them dead were somehow two different things.
Instead of giving Doc a retort she walked away.
What the conversation had given her, on top of the knowledge that Doc had no morals, was that the demon monster thing had gotten to Tucker before he could make it back to camp. And Wynonna had been the one giving him the final blow.
Nicole was back at the kitchen table in the cabin, looking out the window. Waverly had been taken to the big house to be formerly interviewed. She’d been on the phone with her aunt to allow it as long as Nedley was present. Nicole had actually tried to call her parents.
This is Jenny! Leave a message. Was all she’d been met with. She hadn’t seen the point in leaving a message though, so she’d just clicked the call off.
The lock screen on her phone had informed her it was December 23rd. She could see slightly sad decorations over the camp grounds with some broken fairy lights.
“It would be less sad if they just didn’t bother all together,” Wynonna said sitting down opposite Nicole.
“Do you think they’re going to close camp?”
“No.”
“Shouldn’t they?” Nicole questioned.
“Do you really think the majority of these kids have anywhere to go?”
Nicole was quiet at that. She definitely didn’t. Before her own call she knew Nedley had called her parents and probably not picked up either, preferring to feign ignorance if anything was wrong.
“I want more than this for Waverly though.”
“You know she just wants to be with you, right?”
“No she doesn’t.”
Nicole exhaled in frustration. “Wynonna, Waverly just wants the two of you to be together at Christmas.”
“What do you know about it?” Wynonna snapped.
“Nothing,” Nicole said simply. “I don’t have any siblings. It’s just me.”
Wynonna didn’t say anything but seemed to think it over.
Nicole continued. “Not to be a Hallmark movie but you should be with your family at Christmas if you can. So I can’t say I blame Waverly for trying.”
“Family is overrated.”
Nicole bristled at that. “You have a family Wynonna. You have someone!”
“And you don’t, I get it!”
Nicole felt sudden tears of anger in her eyes and she felt stupid for trying to talk to Wynonna who clearly didn’t want to have that kind of talk.
The ambulance and park ranger vehicle had gone but the cop car was still outside. She watched it for a moment, waiting for Wynonna to speak. Nicole wanted to run, to yell, to do anything. Wynonna continued to stay quiet so Nicole decided that instead of sitting in an uncomfortable, angry silence she would go be anywhere else.
Since it was light out and some counsellors and campers out on the grounds Nicole dared go outside. The snow kept falling and the temperature was at a steady low. Out of habit she put her hood up before she remembered Waverly’s hat and put it on.
“You okay kid?” Nedley asked as she stepped onto the porch to the big house. The old man sat in a chair leaning against the wall with a cup of coffee in his hands. When she looked closer, she saw it had the letters to World’s Best Dad on it.
“You have kids?” she asked instead of responding to his question.
“You mean on top of you lot?” he grunted. “Yes, I have a daughter. But she’s with her mother this year for Christmas.”
Nicole wouldn’t even have considered giving a cup like that to her own father. She’d made him a card for Father’s Day once, and he’s taken it with some words of critique to her colour choices.
“Do you miss her?”
“Of course,” he responded quickly, in the same gruff voice. There was honesty in it though.
“I tried calling your folks but they didn’t pick up.”
“No, I tried too.”
Nedley was quiet for a moment before speaking again. “They’re a bit crap aren’t they?”
Nicole laughed. And the laugh turned into a sob.
“You’re doing good, Nicole.”
“How do you know?” she responded; her voice angrier than she’d meant.
“You’ll make something of yourself.” He said it with such certainty Nicole was thrown off course from her anger.
After another moment of standing there she sat down next to him. He said nothing else.
The door opened and closed as some of the staff members left for lunch but Nicole and Nedley lingered.
“Where is Waverly?”
“She’s in the house. The nurse is looking at that scratch she got.”
“Are we in trouble?”
“You won’t be.”
Nicole didn’t know what that meant exactly but she also had no energy to ask.
“What did you tell the cops?” Nicole whispered. “It’s not like you can say it’s haunted.”
“Some cops are less stiff than you might think.”
The words surprised Nicole.
“They know??”
“Of course they don’t. But some things you just can’t explain and they’re not stupid.”
“So they know it wasn’t us who killed Tucker?”
“They do, yes.”
Nicole exhaled, her breath becoming steam in the cold air.
“Why didn’t you wear the hat on the hikes?” he asked suddenly.
Nicole touched the hat on her head. “Waverly made it for me.”
“Well, that’s cute.”
“Cute?”
“Would you rather I say romantic?”
“No!” Nicole considered getting up but remained seated.
“So I guess you two will keep in touch when school starts again.”
Nicole’s stomach sank. “If we can.”
“They live in the next town over from where you’re going to school. I know you kids are lazy but I didn’t expect you to be that bad.”
“Wait what?” This was news to Nicole.
“You didn’t think to check how far apart you guys are going to be?”
“We,” Nicole hesitated, embarrassed. “I didn’t think we’d be able to stay in touch, so I didn’t ask.”
Nedley gave her a look.
“Well it’s not like I have a great track record of keeping friends!”
“Do you want to keep Waverly?”
Nicole swallowed. “Of course.”
“There you go then.” Nedley said, ending the conversation.
Waverly appeared at her shoulder a moment later.
“Hey what are you doing out here?”
Nicole was still in an embarrassed daze and didn’t know how to respond.
“Walk to lunch with me?”
Nicole wordlessly got up and left Nedley to talk to the nurse exiting the house after Waverly.