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Nicole had been on assignment at a larger police station in the city for two weeks. There was a big drug bust of an operation that had been going on for years and they needed extra officers to dismantle all the middle men and trace it back to the suppliers. She'd done a few arrests of classic rough guys with knuckle tattoos and shaved heads, but also some middle-aged clerks who had slipped into the business by way of blackmail, sweating through supermarket brand office shirts and adjusting glasses nervously as the cuffs were clamped over their wrists. Crime is an interesting business, she thinks to herself while emptily surveying the road ahead of her, leading back to Purgatory.
Upon arrival she drops the squad car back at the station, sharply inhaling as she exits the vehicle and the chill cuts into her. The town is beautiful draped in white, but winter takes the life out of everything warm and breathing. Her boots sink into knee deep snow and she realizes she is too dense, too heavy for this fragile world of crystalline powder. Finally she arrives at the Waverly's apartment - their apartment, a faint grin appearing as she glances down at the familiar straw welcome mat. Before they lived together, Nicole had rented a place near Shorty's for an exorbiant rate, and eventually Waverly had insisted she come live with her, if only to save on rent. Immediately after opening the door and dropping her bag inside, she sees Waverly running out of the kitchen towards her, easily breaking into a smile as she catches her in strong arms.
"Hey, Wave."
Waverly mumbles into the cold creases of her uniform, "Oh, Nicky, I missed you so much."
Nicole rests her chin on Waverly's head, long fingers twining through thick strands of hair, "Me too, baby." Waverly looks up and gently pulls Nicole by the starched collar of her shirt, lips meeting in an insistent kiss. She tastes of cool wind and warm, slightly minty breath exhaled in desperate clouds. Nicole's hands slip under her top and rest just above her hip bones, holding her warmth close as they kiss and kiss and kiss, bodies quietly pressed together.
"Well whaddaya know? My baby sister got herself a girl." Wynonna leans against the wall, loosely gripping a bottle and smiling. They move apart, immediately on guard, Nicole casting a concerned look at Waverly.
Waverly blushes, hands fallen to her sides where she nervously fidgets, "I didn't know you were awake already, I would have-"
"Waves, Waves, calm down. It's all good." Wynonna looks Nicole up and down, immediately protective of her younger sibling.
"You should have told me you found someone better than Champ. Especially a ladycop. So, are you going to introduce me to your officer?" She winks, reddening Waverly's cheeks further and playfully nudging her sister.
"Nicole, this is Wynonna, my older sister and mild alcoholic."
Wynonna shrugs and takes a sip from her bottle, "It's true."
"Wynonna, this is Nicole, my girlfriend."
"Don't you mean Nicky?" Waverly sighs and mutters for her to shut up but she's still smiling.
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A few drinks later and they're sitting in the kitchen, Wynonna getting up to go the bathroom.
"I like your sister. A bit of a hot mess, but I need that once in a while." Nicole muses.
"Yep, that's Wynonna. I'm glad you two are getting along." Waverly puts down her glass and walks over to where Nicole is standing.
"We've got a few minutes alone now." Nicole grins and Waverly catches her lips in a kiss, right there, pressed up against the kitchen counter with the faint scent of coffee hanging in the air.
Waverly takes advantage of Nicole's defenseless position trapped against the counter and trails kisses down her jawline and neck, right in the spot that makes her go weak in the knees. Nicole's hands slide down Waverly's back as she attempts to right herself, "accidentally" grabbing Waverly's ass and grinning like a 16 year old who's about to get laid. Wynonna clatters in loudly, walking into the doorframe and announcing her presence with a yelled expletive. They break away from each other, faint hickeys marring Nicole's pale skin. Wynonna immediately clocks what they were just doing but chooses not to mention it, instead smirking at Waverly which is infinitely worse.
A slight beeping sound cuts through the tension in the air and Waverly immediately nods towards it and says, "The laundry's done," before leaving to go take care of it.
"She loves you, you know." Wynonna abruptly delivers this revelation as she stands with Nicole.
"What?" Nicole looks up, surprised.
"It's in the way she looks at you and kisses you and how happy she is, God, you don't know how long it's been since I saw her that happy, how she feels safe and confident and loved. She's had boyfriends, but they were token ranchhands and the occasional guy who worked at a doughnut shop. It's different, and I'm not just saying that because you're a woman. It's just- no one she's been with has deserved her but you do. And I'm so happy for both of you." Wynonna looks away, embarrased at having delivered such an emotional speech.
Nicole is unsure how to respond, so she says the one thing she is sure of, "I love her too."
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It's late, around the time they stop delivering pizzas and start kicking people out of bars. They're sitting on the couch, watching reruns of old TV shows with the volume too low to hear anything. Waverly is lying with her head in Nicole's lap, breaths soft and slow, with Wynonna next to them, cradling a class of diluted Scotch.
"Was it hard?" Wynonna asks, out of the blue.
"Growing up gay, I mean."
"Oh." Nicole glances down at Waverly, brushing hair of her face. She checks to make sure she's sleeping before answering.
"Not until my parents knew. After that there was...tension. They didn't agree with it, but still let me live with them. They took me to church to hear sermons about the sin of homosexuality, which wasn't too bad." She speaks quietly, uncomfortable remembering things she has tried to bury.
"College was my escape. I dated a few girls, hooked up with a few more. People didn't care. It didn't bother them. When I went back home, went back someplace where that did matter, it messed me up."
A soft glow from the screen illuminates her eyes, and Wynonna could swear they glisten slightly, but any tears have been shed long ago.
"Right before I left to go out and live on my own, my dad said 'Expect bad things, Nicole. You've made a choice to be a dyke, and life will treat you like one."
She takes in a shaky breath and looks down at the beautiful girl in her lap, fingers trembling over smooth skin.
In an unusually subdued manner, Wynonna says,"That's fucked up."
"Well, you know what it's like to be treated as if there's something wrong with you."
Wynonna takes a long slug from her glass before replying, "Yeah, but that's because there were things wrong with me. There still are. They could never fix any of it."
After a long pause, Nicole says, "None of it matters now. You're killing demons and I'm in love with a pretty girl."
"Right you are, Officer." Wynonna nods.
Waverly stirs in her sleep, eyes slightly opening, and mumbles, "I love you, Nicole."
Nicole looks down at her, hair strands curling in her face, and she knows, "I love you too, Waverly Earp."
Then they kiss and touch and glow and Wynonna beams at them from the other side of the couch and they're thinking this small town might not be so bad after all.