Chapter Text
In the first weeks, there was this unspoken rule of tidying everything back where it belongs. Like you would in a vacation home or when staying over at a friends house.
Rachel was more than happy to uphold the odd practices of the homestead. Sleeping in a regular bed again, with Nicole reassurances of «it will be safe here,» got her the deep sleep she had only dreamed of back at the lab in Monument.
Purgatory was deserted, and Nicole had been back in town a couple of times to get food or look for CJ, but she always told Rachel it was best for her to stay home. Home …. It was neither of their homes. Rachel only had distant memories of home; from the moment her mother began working for BBD, there had been only bunk beds and communal kitchens.
The eerie quietness of the homestead whenever Nicole was out felt so vast that Rachel cooped up in Waverly's bedroom by the window just looking out for Nicole and her truck to return through the Earp stead gate.
She struggled with the mental clarity and ruminations the consequences of deep sleep and quiet surroundings gave her. Staying alert and on edge had its upsides.
Her mind regularly returned to the last day at the lab; her memories of getting out of the BBD facility where blurry, however the last glance she placed on her mother's body stod out clear in her mind. She had wanted to lift her down from her position, lay her body to rest, but Nicole had convinced her that seeing her mothers face would not bring her any more closure.
They didn’t speak about her again until they were in the car driving back to purgatory. A vet on the outskirts of Monument had to the best of his ability tried to straighten Nicole's bones with a makeshift cast. Drugged her up with painkillers and sent them on their way. Rachel had to drive, and the last words Nicole said to her before she zoned out was « Drive to the town of purgatory, it is west of here, use my phone if you need to» and « we will come back and bury her sweetheart, I promise.»