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“Wynonna,” Waverly called out, knowing on some level that she’d be ignored but desperate to get her to stay anyway.
The door slammed shut. The realization she’d been left alone, again, causing the familiar ache to burn bright in her chest. She thought maybe things would be different this time. Maybe they could share in their grief together, support each other. But no. Wynonna went back to her old ways and ran from her problems, drowning them in drink and shutting everyone out.
Waverly started to blame herself for getting her hopes up that Wynonna would have changed, that anyone in this town would actually change.
She sank down into a chair and pulled out her phone looking for a distraction from the sinking feeling pulling her under.
Thankfully she had a message from Chrissy asking how she and Wynonna were doing. She sent her response and then hesitated before asking Chrissy if she’d heard anything about Officer Haught.
Officer Haught, who was never far from her thoughts these days. Officer Haught, smiling at her on the front porch and filling Waverly with warmth even in winter.
She wasn’t stupid. She knew what Nicole’s looks meant. She’d been stared at plenty before but Nicole’s eyes held so much more yet none of the feelings of being objectified.
Her phone chimed with Chrissy’s response, pulling her out of her thoughts.
‘Last I heard from my dad was that Nicole was “craving a cheeseburger so that meant she’s probably going to be fine” lol’
Waverly huffed out a laugh at Nedley’s medical assessment but then it gave her an idea. She needed something to do instead of sitting here feeling sorry for herself.
Buy a cheeseburger or stay here and wallow in her misery.
The choice was clear.
******************************************************
“Visiting hours are over,” the hospital receptionist said over her glasses.
“I know but, Nedley asked me to check on her,” Waverly said with her best smile. It wasn’t completely a lie, she just neglected to mention it was not the Sheriff but his daughter. And she wasn’t really ‘asked’ so much as given the idea.
The receptionist stared at her for a long moment, deciding something until she finally said, “Ok, just this once. And only because it’s you,” she added with a smile. “But...” she held up her finger before Waverly could respond, “If she’s asleep, you turn your little butt right around and skedaddle, got it?”
“Yes, ma’am, thank you.”
As she approached Nicole’s room Waverly heard the TV on so she decided it was a safe bet Nicole was awake. She knocked softly before opening the door.
“Waverly?” Nicole stared at her like she was trying to figure out if she was real or not, clearly affected by whatever medication they had her on. “What are you doing here?” she asked, clearly delighted with her surprise visit.
“Hey there. I just thought I’d check on you. How’re you feeling?”
Nicole turned off the weather report and sighed. “Bored out of my mind and in desperate need of real food. I’m really glad you’re here though,” she finished with a lopsided grin.
The blunt honesty of her slightly slurred answer made Waverly smile in amusement. “What, the Jell-O’s not cutting it?” Waverly teased.
Nicole gave her an incredulous look.
“Well,” she half whispered before easing the door closed, “I may have snuck something in that you might like a bit better…”
Nicole’s eyes went wide with anticipation. “If there’s a cheeseburger in that giant purse of yours, it’s true love.”
A strong blush instantly reddened Waverly’s face and she opened her mouth as if to say something but couldn’t think of a single word. At least in English. “Ça doit être vrai,” she said with a shrug. French? Really? She mentally chastised herself. She pulled out the bag with the burger to distract from her awkwardness.
Nicole swallowed audibly. “Waverly Earp, you are...somethin’ else.” They both just stared at each other for a long moment until Nicole shook her head, snapping them both out of it. “Here, have a seat,” Nicole said, gesturing to the only chair in the room.
Waverly sat down, handing over the brown paper bag and setting the drink on the bedside table as Nicole dug in. Before Waverly could over analyze the interaction they’d just had, she was distracted by Nicole quietly singing a song.
To her cheeseburger.
'Cause you're his cheeseburger
His yummy cheeseburger
He'll wait for you, ya
He'll wait for you
Oh, you are his cheeseburger
His tasty cheeseburger
He'll wait for you
Oh, he will wait for you
Waverly looked around the room, trying to figure out what was happening. “Um…Nicole? Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
“Hm? Oh, don’t tell me you’ve never heard the song ‘His Cheeseburger’.” Nicole looked at her expectantly.
Waverly laughed, “The what?”
“Veggie Tales?” Nicole said at Waverly’s blank look.
“Why are they singing about cheeseburgers if they’re tales about veggies?” Waverly joked.
“What? No, the veggies are singing - here, let me show you the video,” Nicole said as she reached her hand out for Waverly’s phone.
Waverly could not stop the wide smile on her face as Nicole concentrated so hard on typing that her tongue stuck out between her teeth.
“Here. Watch this while I eat,” Nicole said matter-of-factly as she gave Waverly’s phone back.
“Ok.” Waverly nodded her head once in mock seriousness before a grin slipped out again.
But before she could press play Nicole moaned loudly as she took the first bite and closed her eyes.
Waverly’s breath hitched and she immediately flushed all over, her whole body reacting to the sound. A sound she wanted to be pulling from Nicole. She never thought she’d be jealous of a cheeseburger. She mentally smacked herself. This is not the time .
Nicole caught her staring but thankfully misinterpreted it. “Do you want some? It’s so good.” she asked as she held the burger out.
“Oh, um.” Yes. Yes she did want some. But not the burger. “I’m good, thanks.”
She quickly hit the play button to distract herself and cover up any more sounds Nicole might make. The abrupt change from inappropriate thoughts to a silly kids song left her a bit jarred for the first bit but she recovered soon enough.
Waverly nodded her head slowly as the song finished. “That…explains a lot,” she said as she tried to hold back her laughter.
“We used to watch them at after school care. I know it’s silly…I mean they’re literally called ‘Silly Songs with Larry’ but it takes me back to simpler times, before life got all complicated. You know?”
“Yeah, I do.” Waverly gazed at Nicole while she finished up her food, glad to have a bit more of Nicole’s story which just made her crave more of it.
“That was so good. Where was it from?” Nicole asked as she started to clean up, sounding just a bit more put together now that she had some real food.
Waverly shook herself out of her thoughts. “Um, Shorty’s.”
Nicole looked up and held her gaze as she wiped her mouth with a paper napkin, “I guess I should stop by there more often.”
“I guess you should,” Waverly said, voice low, matching Nicole’s slight suggestive tone, surprising even herself. Neither of them could look away for a moment, the air suddenly shifted. Waverly cleared her throat before busying herself with taking Nicole’s trash to the bin, needing to take a breath.
“Feel better?” she asked when she got back to her chair.
Nicole leaned back against the pillows and sighed. “Like, a thousand percent.” She closed her eyes and smiled, content.
She looked so peaceful Waverly stood up to leave. “Well, uh, I should let you get some sleep.”
Nicole’s eyes shot open. “Oh, okay.” Waverly thought she saw a flicker of disappointment but it was gone just as quickly. An easy, now only slightly drugged smile spread over Nicole’s face as she said, “Well, thanks again. I owe you a cheeseburger.”
Waverly let out a short breath of a laugh as she gathered up her purse. “Yeah, that’s not happening,” she said without thinking before turning to face Nicole. At the hurt look on Nicole’s face she quickly amended, “Oh! Crap. Not because I wouldn’t - I mean I’d love to get food with you - it’s just - I’m vegan!”
Instead of fixing the situation, Nicole now looked horrified.
Waverly quickly added, “I’m so sorry!” For what, she didn’t know but she just wanted to alleviate the kicked puppy look on Nicole’s face.
“ You’re sorry?! I just scarfed down an entire cheeseburger right in front of you! I even offered you some! I’m so sorry!”
“Oh,” Waverly let out a breathy chuckle of relief at that. “Seriously, don’t worry about it.”
Not even hearing Waverly’s response, Nicole added quietly, “Shit. You even had to buy it. A meat burger. With cheese .”
“Nicole, really, it’s okay.” Waverly’s brow furrowed in confusion. She’d never had this kind of reaction before and wasn’t quite sure what to do.
Nicole dropped her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. “I just can’t do anything right, can I?”
At that, Waverly sat back down but this time on the bed, feeling the need to be closer. “I have a feeling this isn’t about the cheeseburger anymore, is it?”
“No, I’m sorry. I just…” Nicole sighed, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I feel pretty useless at the moment.”
“Hey,” Waverly said gently, reaching out for Nicole’s hand. “Cut yourself some slack, you’ve had an extremely rough day.” She brushed her thumb over Nicole’s knuckles and watched her sigh heavily, body sinking limply into the mattress. “Do you need to talk about it?”
Nicole took a minute to respond. “Honestly, I’ve lost a lot of blood and haven’t even begun to process all this.” Waverly smiled sympathetically and gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m also super drugged up, if you couldn’t tell.”
“Only a little,” Waverly teased a bit.
“I’m sorry, I’ll let you get back to your night. It’s probably a lot more exciting than this.”
“It’s really not.”
“No...boy-man?”
Waverly tried and failed to hide her smile. “We broke up.”
“Judging by that smile, I’d say congratulations?” Nicole bit her lip to keep from grinning.
“Thank you,” Waverly said, letting herself smile fully.
“Well, since I can’t buy you a cheeseburger, I guess I’ll have to find another way to repay you. Maybe if you ever get into trouble…”
Waverly chuckled. “You’ll get me off?”
Nicole’s eyes went comically wide. “Oh my god I didn’t mean...I mean, not that I don’t mean, I just -”
”What?” Waverly didn’t catch on at first to where Nicole’s mind went but when she did…
Oh. Oh .
Shit.
“I-I meant like if I get into trouble with the law,” Waverly stuttered out while trying not to think about Nicole’s hand under the skirt she was currently wearing. Damn skirt.
“Oh, right! Of course.” Nicole sighed out and they both laughed, Waverly’s a bit more strained as she shifted, trying to relieve some of the pressure between her legs.
Wait, did she say ‘not that I don’t mean’? But before Waverly could finish that thought Nicole was speaking again with a distracting smirk.
“Well, the offer is always on the table.”
“On the…” Waverly swallowed hard, trying desperately to stop the flood of images in her mind of her lying back on a table, her damn skirt flipped up and Nicole devouring her instead of the stupid cheeseburger.
Fuck.
She inhaled deeply before letting out a shaky breath. “G-good to know.”
The tension from earlier had come back ten-fold, Nicole taking pity and deciding to change the subject before Waverly spontaneously combusted. “How’s Wynonna?” she asked, and seemed to immediately regret the question when Waverly’s face fell.
“She’s...processing in her own way,” Waverly said, looking down and picking at her nails.
“Shorty’s?”
“Yeah,” Waverly scoffed, “She was drinking them dry when I went to pick up the cheeseburger.”
“Hey.” This time Nicole reached for Waverly’s hand. “She’s had an extremely rough day, too.”
“I know, and I don’t mean to judge.I just - I hoped we could get through it together, you know?” Her eyes started to burn with unshed tears. “I almost lost her today. After I just got her back.” Her voice cracked on the last word and Nicole reached for her.
“Come here,” Nicole whispered as she pulled Waverly against her shoulder and into a comforting embrace.
She couldn’t help the tears as they started, soaking into Nicole’s shirt. “I’m sorry. I just came here to give you some food and I’m crying all over you.”
“It’s okay to cry, alright? Let it out, I’ll be right here,” Nicole said with such sincerity.
Once again Waverly was surprised by Nicole’s reaction, it being so different to the usual response of ‘ don’t cry ’ from Gus when she was growing up and then from Champ. So caught off guard by this, Waverly couldn’t help the sobs that wracked her body. And Nicole just held her, rubbing Waverly’s back gently, the other hand running through Waverly’s hair which just made her cry harder until her tears eventually ran their course and slowed.
Nicole took a deep breath, sighing quietly into her hair, “I’m so sorry, Waverly. To both of you. If I had done my job and -”
“Whoa, stop right there.” Waverly pulled back from Nicole’s shoulder, wiping her eyes. “No. You can not blame yourself for this. He almost killed you!”
Nicole’s face scrunched up. “Actually, he kinda did. They had to resuscitate me.”
Waverly’s face blanched. “What?!” she yelled then jumped up off the bed to start pacing angrily. “They didn’t tell me that!”
“I can see why,” Nicole mumbled.
Waverly sighed, trying to calm down for Nicole’s sake. “Just, please stay away from re-” she caught herself before saying ‘revenants’, “-really bad guys.”
Nicole huffed. “It's kind of my job to go after them.” She looked down in thought and added quietly, “But I guess in this case I didn’t really have much of a choice.” Nicole fell silent, trying hard in her current state to put the pieces together. “He wasn’t just some bad guy, was he?”
Waverly looked towards the closed door like Dolls was about to come in and put an abrupt end to this conversation. “Just…please know that absolutely no one is blaming you but yourself. We’re all grateful that you even survived.”
Nicole’s eyes widened with confusion and fear.
“Please,” Waverly pleaded before reaching out to cup Nicole’s cheek. “I can’t lose you either.”
“Waverly,” Nicole whispered as she held Waverly’s hand against her face, clearly unsure of what to say. It’s not like she could promise nothing would happen.
“I should go,” she said, fearful she’d already said too much. About everything. She stood up, but when she looked at Nicole she couldn’t leave without…she hesitated for only a second before leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Stay safe,” she whispered and then turned abruptly to leave but was stopped by Nicole’s hand that wouldn’t let go of hers.
“You too,” Nicole breathed out, slowly letting go until their fingers finally slipped from one another.
Waverly nodded, not trusting her voice right now. She had just made it out the door when she heard Nicole’s faint, ‘I can’t lose you either’.