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Nicole Haught is standing outside of a coffee shop in the city when she sees Waverly Earp for the first time in 6 years. She hates to admit it to herself, but even after everything they’ve been through, Nicole still thinks Waverly is as beautiful as the day they met. She still gets that same feeling too: her stomach bottoms out, her heart jumps into her throat, and everything else in the world blurs out until the only thing in focus is the Earp girl, walking in her direction.
She doesn't notice him at first, but as a few people on the busy city street disperse, Nicole follows the curve of Waverly’s arm down until she sees that her hand is holding onto that of… Champ Hardy? A familiar sensation bubbles up in the redhead’s stomach, one that’s a mix of anger and jealousy and leaves a bad taste in her mouth.
She’s about to look away and pretend like she never saw the girl that captivated her heart for her entire high school career, but she takes one more look at Waverly’s face and-
Waverly Earp sees Nicole Haught.
And they both feel it.
They’re both transported back to the feelings they had for each other, but were both too scared to express for fear that they would lose one another. They both knew there was something deeper than friendship there, but neither one of them had the courage to take the next step.
Nicole notices that Waverly’s eyes shift from being glazed over from listening to Champ going on and on about something or other (no doubt something about himself) to being bright, like she’s seeing her first sunrise, or like she’s come home for the first time in… 6 years.
There’s a ‘hello’ and a ‘long time no see’ and a ‘god how I’ve missed you’ that they’re silently communicating to one another from the far distance apart that they are.
The two have always been able to communicate with just a look. Nicole knew Waverly better than anyone ever had and ever will, and vice versa.
Waverly was Nicole’s first friend when the redhead moved to Purgatory in time for her freshman year of high school. It was like a magnet had drawn the two of them together. They both had a space in their heart shaped like the other girl that they didn’t realize was empty until the two crossed paths. They shared anything and everything about themselves with each other, swapping secrets and smiles through the four years they spent attached at the hip.
Nicole was the only one Waverly felt comfortable talking about her crazy family history with, the only one she went crying to when she broke up with Champ Hardy after she caught him sleeping with Stephanie Jones at a party, the only one she let cuddle her when she needed a safety blanket to be okay again.
Waverly was the only one Nicole felt comfortable having in depth conversations about her sexuality with, the only one she went to when she got drunk off her ass after seeing Champ making out with Waverly for the first time, the only one she let patch up her hand after she punched Champ Hardy for cheating on the most amazing girl in the world.
Everyone at Purgatory High thought the two would become a couple at some point. They could all see the deep love the girls had for one another. The running joke their senior year was that if the school handed out superlatives, Nicole and Waverly would be named cutest couple. They had both pretended to be offended by the implication, which promptly made every citizen in Purgatory roll their eyes.
The two were stuck in a will-they-won’t-they situation for a majority of their friendship, which ultimately put a strain on what they had. Both constantly afraid that their feelings would slip out, both painstakingly hoping the other would confess their feelings first.
And in the end, that was their downfall.
Nicole was due to go off to college and then hopefully the police academy after they graduated high school, but Waverly was staying behind in Purgatory. A few days before the redhead was due to ship off, the two girls got into a fight that put an end to their friendship. It was stupid and unnecessary and driven by unspoken emotions bubbling up to the surface. ‘I’m in love with you’ nearly spilled out of both of their mouths in a desperate attempt to salvage what they had, but the fear surpassed the feelings. The fight ended with both girls in tears, Nicole storming out, and 6 years of radio silence.
They both fucked up, and they both understood that now.
And at the same moment in time, they both realized that they were still deeply, madly, crazy in love with each other.
Waverly smiled that smile that was reserved for Nicole, all pearly whites and crescent-shaped eyes.
Nicole smiled that smile that was reserved for Waverly, the one that seemed to split her face in half and make her dimples look like craters on the moon.
They felt like two teenage kids in love for the first time all over again.
Their mutual reverie is suddenly cut off by a blonde stepping out of the coffee shop, intertwining her hand with Nicole’s, and placing a soft kiss on the taller girl’s cheek.
Nicole looks over at her girlfriend with a small smile, one that doesn’t quite carve the dimples into her cheeks like it did when she smiled at Waverly. If her girlfriend notices, she doesn’t show it, and just tugs the redhead in the direction of the fast approaching couple.
Nicole looks back to the Earp girl, much closer now, and notices a twinge of hurt in her eyes. Nicole responds by looking over to Champ and then back again, the same hurt shining in her own eyes.
Waverly, seemingly having forgotten the boy-man attached to the calloused hand she was holding, just looked down at the sidewalk. She knew it was silly to feel hurt over Nicole having a girlfriend, but she couldn’t help herself. All she could do was wish that it was her holding Nicole’s hand, her standing on her toes to kiss Nicole on the cheek, her living happily ever after with Nicole.
Maybe there was something she could do about that.
But, she couldn’t.
At least, not at that moment.
And as Waverly looked back up into Nicole’s gentle brown eyes, she knew the redhead was thinking the same thing.
The distance between the two couples kept shrinking until they were about to pass each other. The eye contact between the two former friends remained until they were nearly side by side. As the two women passed, they both reached out their pinkies, causing them to share the slightest of touches.
The jolt of warm electricity that spread from their littlest fingers through the entirety of their bodies was more than either had felt for their current partners in a long time. Scratch that, it was more than either had felt for any of their partners ever.
Looking back at Nicole, Waverly knew she was going to be single by the morning. But, hopefully, she wouldn’t be single for long.
And looking back at Waverly, Nicole knew one thing. She had a call to make when she got home.