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Maybe it's the chilly spring breeze, or the feeble sun warming her skin, or even the unbelievable lack of homework for the next day, but somehow, on this late April afternoon, Nicole is running in the direction of her usual hang out spot with much more vigour than usual.
Or, using better words, she's practically launching herself towards what's left of some old bridge just outside town, that during her childhood years became the designed place for every kind of meeting between her little clique of friends.
Most importantly though, at least to Nicole, it's where Waverly Earp, her best friend since she can remember and, quite frankly, favourite person on earth, waits for her pretty much every afternoon.
There she is, true to her words as per usual, discreetly sitting on one side of the ancient structure, looking down at the stream of water with dangling legs and her long braided hair.
Waverly, all smiles and honey eyes.
Nicole gets even more excited when she catches sight of her, the friction between her sneakers and the gravel covering the path is a little too much, and for a split second she's afraid she's gonna fall face first to the ground.
And as expected, she does.
It's not as ruinous as she thought but she's not exactly small, at least not as Waverly, and the collision with the gravel is noisy.
She's back up in a second, not the kind of girl that gets upset for such things.
Also, she's not particulary gracious in her movements, so she kind of got used to it.
In the process of dusting off her jeans, she realises that her hat fell to the ground.
Wait a second! Her hat!
The main reason why she was coming here going faster than The Flash! (Here we go again, Waverly's obsession with superheroes rubbing of her, even in her thoughts)
Nicole couldn't believe her eyes when her father came down their attic with the white Stetson in his hands.
He literally climbed all the way up there to finally get rid of an old lamp and ended up finding his daughter's most desired item. Without even knowing how much the girl yearned for it!
Of course Nicole didn't give him the time to even explain why exactly they had such beauty in a corner of their attic, and in less than a second she was out of the door, speeding down the street, clutching the hat to her chest like it was the reason she was breathing.
Still kind of mesmerized by the source of her sudden joy, Nicole doesn't immediately notice Waverly standing right in front of her.
"Nicole! Are you okay??"
She's more than okay! Even more now that Waverly is there with her!
"Waves! Yeah! Just, you know, was running a little too fast!" she says with an embarrassed grin.
Waverly is used to her clumsiness, she must find it even a tad bit cute, cause she smiles, laughs a little, and looks at her with the fakest stern look while she says "You should pay more attention when you run! Come on, let's sit, I got something nice for us!"
Waverly doesn't have to repeat it, Nicole already managed to take a place on the grey stone of the bridge and she's looking at her smaller friend a little smug.
"Oh come on, give me a hand! When will you stop making fun of me?"
It's a recurring joke between the two of them, Nicole being way taller than Waverly.
"How come I always find you already sitting on the side of the bridge, but you still ask me to help you when I'm around?"
It's an actual question Nicole asks herself quite often these days.
Not that she minds, of course.
Seemingly taken aback, Waverly scrunches up her nose and "It's-it's way easier with someone helping you up, you know? Not everyone is as tall as you, miss Haught!"
Nicole is giggling and once she successfully pulls Waverly up next to her, her brown haired friend just sticks her tongue out at her.
Timid Waverly is probably one of Nicole's favourite Waverly, only second to badass Waverly (like that time she stuck a pencil in Champ's hand because he wouldn't let her alone, that was legendary).
"Anyway, look in the paper bag to your left, Gus kept some leftover pie for us"
Nicole is smiling again at the word pie. Especially because it's Shorty's pie, which means it's more than good.
What did she do to deserve all of this today? No homework, Waverly by her side, apple pie and her amazing white Stets-
"Wow, what a cool hat! Is it new?"
It's like Waverly's reading her mind. Or maybe it's telepathy, who knows.
The fact that Waverly seems to like it makes her ever more giddy.
"You like it? Dad found it in our attic"
Waverly looks intensively at the hat, her big honey eyes have that specific look Nicole knows really well.
The one her little friend gets whenever she finds out something that looks old and brings an air of mystery with it.
It's no secret that the youngest Earp loves investigating in the past, whether it's about her family, or their town or whatever Nicole finds in her attic.
Usually that look in her eyes means trouble, but Nicole learned through the years that she must have a thing for trouble.
Or maybe she just has a thing for Waverly, who knows.
"Yeah, it looks really nice on you, like a perfect fit"
Waverly says after a moment, while she extends her arm and reaches for the paper bag.
She gets a slice of pie for herself then passes one over to Nicole. She accepts it gratefully and says a quick "thanks".
It's quiet for a moment, their munching the only sound audible.
"You know how I wanna be a sheriff one day, right Waves?"
They have talked about it a lot in the past, it's Nicole's dream, something she only shares with the people she really trusts.
"Yup, what about that?"
Nicole looks at the wind messing with the top of the trees in front of them.
"This hat really makes me feel like one, a sheriff I mean"
Nicole would probably feel like an idiot saying something like that to anyone else, but this is Waverly, she can tell her anything.
Her friend is vigorously licking her fingers clean from pie icing and nods.
She's the messiest eater Nicole has ever met, but somehow she finds it extremely cute.
Satisfied after her little snack, Waverly doesn't drop the topic "You know, it could actually be a sheriff hat! Lots of them wear Stetsons!"
Nicole looks at her curiously, her eyes lighting up.
"Didn't you ask your dad where did he get it?"
"I was too excited and just wanted to show you, I just ran all the way here"
Nicole is back being a little embarrassed about her eagerness but Waverly stops her "We should totally ask him about it! Imagine if you had like, a sheriff ancestor! How cool would that be?"
Nicole is beaming, like actually beaming.
"Let's go! I'm too curious to just sit here now!" Waverly is basically shouting, tugging her by the arm towards the path leading to town.
Nicole is brought back to reality by a sudden
realisation "My dad is at work right now, though"
Waverly just sighs and leans her back on the grey stone "Forgot about that"
There's nothing that kills Nicole's good mood more than seeing an unsatisfied Waverly.
But she also knows she's the best one when it comes to cheer her up.
Nicole takes the Stetson off and puts it on Waverly's head.
Then she giggles because the hat is too big for her friend. Of course.
Waverly turns to her with yet again her fake annoyed face. She's trying so hard not to laugh along with Nicole but she fails.
"Will you ever stop? It's not my fault I'm small!" she says through giggles.
A fault? Nicole thinks. Never.
"It really suits you, ya know?"
Waverly's eyes are bigger than ever, and she's staring right at Nicole while saying nothing.
"For real Waves! You look really pretty" she's pushing it just to see how Waverly will react. Not that she doesn't mean it, if course.
The little Earp turns the tiniest bit red, then she gets the most mischievous grin Nicole has ever seen on her.
A second later Waverly is running as fast as she can towards town, clutching the hat to her head so it doesn't fall.
Nicole is more than taken aback.
"Hey, where are you going? Come here!!" she shouts.
Waverly's voice already sounds so far away "Come on, sherrif, catch me!"
Her tone is so teasing, Nicole can't help but run after her trying not to let the gravel get her a second time.
Waverly may be small but she sure is fast.
I will catch her at some point, Nicole thinks.
No matter how long it takes, she already made her blush, her task of the day is completed.