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Waverly grabbed a pair of blue jeans out of the laundry basket at her feet.
Right front pocket, nothing. Back pockets, nothing. Left front pocket, bingo.
She placed the tissue on the shelf next to the machines. There was also a candy wrapper from a hard candy, probably one of those cinnamon ones that Nedley keeps in a jar on his desk.
The jeans went into the washing machine.
Waverly remembered the first time she did laundry at Nicole’s house. Actually, she remembers when Nicole first offered for Waverly to do laundry there. Nicole was shocked to learn that Waverly spent one day a week at the laundromat in town and insisted. They had been trying to plan a date and Waverly had a need to do laundry that was creating a scheduling conflict with their plans. It worked out rather well in the end. They got a stay-in movie date, Waverly got laundry done, and they both realized how much they enjoyed the domesticity of it. They were still rather new in their relationship so neither was willing to admit it to the other at that time.
Waverly checked more pockets and added the clothing item to the machine.
She remembered the first time she did Nicole’s laundry. They still hadn’t gotten a working washing machine out to the Homestead, so it became a regular thing to go to Nicole’s house and do it there. Their days off would not always match up so occasionally Waverly was there while Nicole was at work. That particular day had come after a busy and stressful week for Nicole and Waverly had wanted to do something nice for her girlfriend. So while doing her own laundry, she started preparing dinner for Nicole to come home to. After it was prepped and ready to go, she got bored and started straightening up a bit. Then she came upon Nicole’s pile of laundry which, due to its accumulation, looked overdue for its turn in the machines.
When Waverly opened the dryer door on Nichole’s load that first time and saw small white balls of paper in the lint trap, she learned a very important lesson about her girlfriend. Nicole keeps tissues in her pockets. And the occasional candy wrapper.
Or the occasional… knife?
Wait, Nicole never forgets to take her pocket knife out.
Waverly inspected the jeans more closely. The stitching on the back pockets indicated they were the jeans Nicole wore last night.
They had gotten dressed up, as much as one does on a regular Saturday night to Shorty’s Saloon. Nicole had worn her nice jeans. They were western style, boot cut, dark blue, and had extra flourish in the decoration on the pockets. Whenever Nicole wore them, one or both of Waverly’s hands often found themselves in those back pockets, squeezing gently.
Waverly remembered it was the same last night. Well, mostly the same. There were a few times when Waverly grabbed or held onto Nicole, she had gotten shrugged off. Waverly had come up from behind Nicole as she stood at the bar, hands going for front pockets this time when they were hastily grabbed by Nicole’s own and held strong.
Nicole had turned her head, “Give me a minute, babe. I’ll bring the drinks,” she let Waverly’s hands go.
And when Nicole sat down at the table she didn’t scoot her chair closer to Waverly like normal. While Waverly and Wynonna chatted about various things, Nicole didn’t add much to the conversation. Waverly finally managed to scoot close enough to Nicole to place a hand above her knee. It was met with another grip that prevented it from roaming.
“What is with you tonight?” Waverly finally asked Nicole.
“I’m fine. I just… I need to use the restroom.”
Waverly eyeballed Nicole as she pushed out of the chair, the legs scraping loudly as it kicked back. She turned to Wynonna and eyeballed her once Nicole was out of sight.
Wynonna did not seem thrown. In fact, she seemed purposefully composed.
“What do you know?” Waverly accused.
“I’m sure it is fine, baby girl. But I’ll go check on her.” Wynonna said.
When they returned to the table, Nicole seemed more relaxed. A conversation between all three continued until a pool table opened up.
Waverly had kept her hands to herself during that time. When they were up and moving around the green-topped table, she had a hypothesis to test. Was Nicole shying away from all touches or just certain ones? They were light at first, fleeting. Neck, shoulder, back. When Waverly held on a little longer to Nicole’s arm and started moving along its length, her hand was grabbed once again. This time Nicole smiled as she pulled it to her lips and gave it a kiss.
The final test, Waverly came up from behind and reached for Nicole’s front pockets again. Her hands were gently grabbed and moved to Nicole’s breasts.
“Waves, I know you like proving you are a supportive girlfriend but this is just getting ridiculous.” Wynonna quipped.
They all laughed and the air finally felt lighter. Nicole spun around and finally kissed Waverly like she meant it.
When Waverly’s favorite song came through the speakers, Nicole reached out to dance with her. Wynonna complained about having to wait for Waverly to take her next shot, but Wynonna eventually gave up, cleared the table, and declared herself the winner.
Waverly remembered smiling and sipping her drink as she sat out the next game to watch Nicole play against Wynonna. At one point Wynonna didn’t have a straight shot so she left Nicole with a bad lead. There was only one shot Nicole could reasonably take, and it wasn’t easy. Nicole was too nice to do the same to Wynonna and too stubborn not to make an attempt. Whatever the shot involved had Nicole bent over the table and Waverly could not take it anymore. Nicole went from dismissive to super romantic and whatever flipped that switch in Nicole had just flipped a switch in Waverly.
By the time Nicole had turned around in defeat, the shot missed, Waverly was upon her pushing her back against the table.
“Home. Now.” Waverly said pushing her hips forward into Nicole for emphasis.
“But…. Plans.” Nicole said looking panicked.
“Do your plans involve fucking me?” Waverly said quietly with that sweet innocent tone she used to charm the regular residents of Purgatory.
“Uh… Yes?” Nicole replied, sheepishly.
“Then take me home, officer.”
As Waverly pulled Nicole out of the bar, she turned back to see Wynonna shrug and say “Sorry, dude.”
Wait, why was Wynonna sorry?
Nicole’s surprised voice behind her in the laundry room brought Waverly back to the present and to the small Old Timer folding knife she held in her one hand and the pair of jeans in the other.
“Oh, hey! You’re doing laundry!”
Waverly remembered when Nicole told her about the knife, one of the few familial keepsakes she had, and one of the few times Nicole had talked about her family.
The knife had belonged to her grandfather. It was an engagement gift from her grandmother after he had finally asked her to marry him. He had given it to Nicole on her 14th birthday. Her party with her friends had been the day before. Nicole had invited the twins over, a boy and a girl, who had recently moved in next door. Grandpa had sat her down and had a very serious conversation about her very obvious crush on one of the twins. “Someday, I hope you can give this to a boy who asks you to marry him.” He had said.
It was a few months later when her grandfather had waited until the rest of the family was conveniently out of the hospital room so he could talk to Nicole alone. He had paid attention and realized he was wrong about which twin Nicole was falling for. He told her he understood and it was okay. Waverly was heartbroken when she heard the story, Nicole wondering if coming out would have gone more smoothly with the rest of her family if he had not passed away. It as a rare instance for Nicole to be without that knife.
“I can’t believe you left it in your pocket.” Waverly held out the knife to Nicole.
Nicole’s eyes got really wide.
“Thank you, I was feeling a little naked this morning,” Nicole said as she grabbed it and put it in her pocket.
“You were definitely a little naked this morning,” Waverly smirked.
“Speaking of…” Nicole grabbed Waverly around the waist and nuzzled her neck, “we could definitely get a little naked again right now.”
“But… laundry.”
“Laundry can wait.”
The jeans fell back into the laundry basket.
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Nicole watched Waverly’s chest rise and fall, deep and slow, as she slipped out from the covers. She made sure to pull the bonus blanket over Waverly so she wouldn’t get cold and wake up too quickly.
She slipped into the jeans and shirt that had been quickly discarded earlier and left the room.
The laundry basket sat on the floor with only a few items left to finish the load. Nicole grabbed the dirty jeans and reached into the left front pocket. She pulled out the diamond and gold band that was tucked inside and moved it to the pocket of the jeans she was currently wearing. She tossed the rest of the clothes into the washing machine, put in the soap, and hit start.
Nicole planned to make a late lunch to wake Waverly with. The other plan… that would have to wait until later.