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i.
Nicole wasn’t really sure what she was expecting to happen during move-in day in regards to her roommate. They had followed each other on Instagram, exchanged numbers, texted a few times, but she didn’t know her. She had stalked her feed a few times, asked the general questions, divided up who was bringing what for the room and that was it. To say she was nervous was an understatement.
Since Nicole had already been in the dorms at Purgatory University for a few weeks for training, she decided she should probably clean the room a bit before Waverly showed up and walked into a mess of shin guards, headbands, and pre-wrap. There is nothing she is going to miss more in this little space than the ability to spread out her equipment to air it out, but something tells her Waverly isn’t the sports type and that she would not appreciate seeing a used sock laying on her desk. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her right now.
Just as she finished packing up her bag for morning fitness she heard a key being turned in the door. Nicole froze in place as the door was pushed open and her roommate walked through. Waverly Earp was breathtaking. Nicole knew this, of course, she had seen her pictures on Instagram, but standing there watching Waverly angrily yell at the door while she tried to get the key out of the lock she realized she was more than beautiful.
Nicole snapped out of her daze and dropped the sleeve into her bag before turning, “Here let me help you with that.” She walked over to the door and slipped her hand over Waverly’s, her breath stilling for a second. Waverly slipped her hand out from underneath and gave her a deep sigh and an eye roll.
“I think I can get my own key out of the door Red, don’t need a knight in shining whatever you are wearing.”
“Are you seriously telling me you don’t know what athletic clothes look like or did you just give up at the end there? Also, I have a name, that isn’t Red.”
Nicole jiggled the key a few times before it slid out of the lock. With a grin, she deposited it onto Waverly’s outstretched palm. “Listen its an old door, I’ve been here for a couple of weeks. I wasn’t trying to be your knight in shining whatever, I was just getting your key unstuck because trust me, the first days I was here I had to call a custodian and I don’t think you want to do that.”
Waverly shook her head and brushed past her into the hallway to get the rolling bin that was currently in the hallway with all her stuff. Nicole sighed, it was going to be a long year if Waverly kept whatever this was up. She moved out of the doorway and push the door until it clicked, effectively stopping it from closing. She watched Waverly as she brought the cart in herself and started to unpack it. Her eyebrows furrowed at the thought of her moving in alone.
“No one came with you?” Nicole asked curiously.
“My dad is dead, my mom left, and my sister goes to school six hours away from here, so yeah. No one came with me Red,” she replied, a hint of anger in her voice.
“Listen I didn’t mean anything by it, I know what it feels like to be alone-”
“Yeah okay Superstar, sure you do.”
Nicole shook her head, “Listen you can think whatever you want about me but you don’t know my life the same way I don’t know yours so maybe this roommate situation should stick to just that.”
“Fine by me Red, I wasn’t expecting you to be my soulmate or anything.”
Nicole closed her eyes, she didn’t know why that hurt. She had never instantly hated someone so deeply as she did after Waverly snapped at her. Waverly doesn’t know her. She didn’t know what it took for her to get there that day.
She grabbed her workout shoes and her headphones heading towards the door while putting her lanyard over her neck. Even though they said to leave it at that she feels like its just common decency to tell someone where you’re going. So as she turned the doorknob she murmured that she’s going to the gym and that she’ll be back later. She thinks she heard some sort of grunt that means her words were acknowledged and she headed out.
As soon as she was out of her dorm hall she took off running in the direction of the field. She didn’t notice she was at a full sprint until suddenly the hard pavement underneath her feet turned into the soft cushion of the field and she was screaming louder than she ever had. The frustration at getting off to a rough start with Waverly rolled off of her and the pure dread that she had been feeling all day suddenly made so much more sense. She was overwhelmed with the drastic change of college and a full training schedule, and classes hadn’t even started yet. She wasn’t ready to instantly hate her roommate.
She walked around the field for another half hour or so trying to calm her emotions. It was getting late and she had to get to the dining hall now if she wanted to eat something before she went to bed and woke up early for morning fitness. She took the walk from the field to the dining hall slowly, dreading being back in her room for any longer than she absolutely had to. The dining hall was packed, newcomers who just finished setting up their dorms filled the lines and the tables, so Nicole took her field outside and sat on the lawn that was situated in the middle of the dorm quad. She ate her food, enjoyed the sunset while listening to some music and then figured she avoided her room for as long as possible that evening.
When she got to her door she stopped for a second, debating going over to a teammate's room and sleeping there, but she wouldn’t let this control her life. So she turned the key and entered the room. Waverly was on her bed watching something on her laptop. Nicole gripped her pajamas and her shower caddy and headed for the restroom. After she was ready for bed she set her alarm, climbed under the covers, and tried to ignore everything else in her life.
ii.
Waverly was stressed. She had always been told by everyone around her that college was nothing like high school, and she always gave them the same eye roll that came with being told that her intelligence would somehow be challenged when the only thing in her life that was ever consistent was the fact that she was smart. Skip a grade smart. She knew that, she knew she was leaps and bounds above her classmates, it didn’t worry her to show it. So, she wasn’t worried about the transition from high school to college. Except she didn’t take into account her overloaded schedule, the uncertainty of being without her sister for the first time ever, and the fact that her roommate had to get up at five in the morning for practice everyday and she rarely went to bed before midnight. Waverly was stressed and exhausted and just waiting for something to push her over the edge before she snapped.
She wouldn’t have been surprised if that person was Nicole. The taller girl just knew how to hit every button Waverly has. She couldn’t stand her. An athlete that got every single thing handed to her, she just radiated that energy and it put her off. She could really only take so much.
She needed her sister with her. Wynonna had been insistent that they go to separate schools, something about growing up. Waverly knew she was right, knew she had to exist outside of her sister. But she was so alone. It didn’t help that she was a year younger than everyone. The “genius” child who, even in only the first week, people only used to try and get ahead in class, or to sit next to for the upcoming tests they knew were bound to happen. That’s why she chose the back for her bio lecture that day, no one expects the smart people to sit in the back.
The professor started talking about photosynthesis and Waverly zoned out doodling on her notebook until she suddenly felt a presence sit next to her.
“I didn’t realize you were an artist,” she heard next to her.
Waverly swallowed a sigh as she recognized the voice, “I thought we agreed Superstar, roommates, and that's it.”
“Nicole shrugged, “It was either sit next to you or Jeremy and to be honest, he's nice, but I didn’t need his rambling all lecture and I figured you be quiet for most of it.”
“And you thought to start that off by talking to me.”
“Yeah, Waverly, its called being friendly. You should try it sometime.”
Waverly rolled her eyes and went back to doodling. She felt Nicole’s eyes linger on her for longer than they should of, but she wouldn’t return it. No matter how much it made her skin burn.
She heard Nicole let out a small sigh before she took out her notebook and turned her attention back to the professor at the bottom of the lecture hall. They sat there for the rest of the time before the professor released them all. Waverly packed up her things as quickly as she could wanting nothing more than to just go back to her room and study for the French quiz she had in her next class, but Nicole seemed to be taking her precious time getting up to leave.
“Jesus christ Red could you move any slower?” Waverly asked.
“I mean I could probably try.”
“God, you are just something today.”
“What does that mean?”
“You heard me.”
“Fine sure, whatever Waverly. Have a good rest of your day. I’ll stop trying,” Nicole started to pack up her stuff.
Waverly could feel the anger rising up in her, “You were the one who said we should be roommates and nothing more. That was you. Unless you suddenly have selective memory and forget that part. You don’t get to sit next to me and act as if I owe you something suddenly. I know you may be used to everything going your way but you know this one thing you messed up, not me.”
Nicole stood there silently, Waverly was almost sure she wasn’t going to reply back, so she started to shove her way through. Nicole grabbed onto her shoulder and turned her around, “I told you that you don’t know me. You don’t know my life you don’t know anything.”
“I know enough to spot a spoiled brat when I see one.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Whatever, Red. Go cry to mommy and daddy and leave me alone.”
That seemed to stir something in Nicole, she went stiff and Waverly could see what she thought might have been tears welling in her eyes. Instant regret filled her whole body and whatever she said had been too much and she didn’t know what to do.
“Nicole-”
Nicole shoved her way past Waverly and walked as quickly as she could down out of the building.
Waverly stood there shocked. She didn’t know what she had done but she hadn’t seen that much emotion out of her roommate for the few weeks they had been living together. She walked out of the classroom and headed in the direction of their dorm building hoping that maybe she would pass Nicole on the way. But she went the whole way to her door without seeing the tall redhead and she didn’t know what to do, so she took out her phone and called the one person who could help.
iii.
Nicole could barely see as she ran past people walking to their next classes, desperately trying to be as far from everyone as possible. She knew where she was going to end up the moment she stepped out of the building. The field. She always ended up back at the field. As soon as her feet touched the grass she felt her body giving out until she was in the middle of the center circle sobbing so hard that she couldn’t breathe. She gripped the grass around her legs and held on while she cried and cried until she couldn’t anymore. She knew she was going to miss her next class but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
When she was too exhausted to cry she started to run sprints. She wanted the aching hole that was opening back up in her heart to stop, so she ran until her lungs burned and her legs ached but the distraction from the pain in her mind was welcomed.
She didn’t hear her teammate approaching her until she was behind her with her hand on her shoulder, “Haught I’ve been calling your name for like five minutes are you good?”
Nicole turned around and Rosita took in her puffy eyes and the sweat dripping down the side of her face and her tone instantly changed, “Oh sweetie.”
The care in her voice made Nicole break again and she fell into Rosita’s outstretched arms and cried on her shoulder while Rosita whispered words of reassurance into her hair. After she had calmed down again Rosita walked them over to the benches on the sideline. She took Nicole’s face and wiped under her eyes to get any residual tears, “You wanna tell me what's going on?”
Nicole let out a little laugh, “Waverly.”
“Ah, the roommate from hell, what did she do?”
“It wasn’t, we had a fight. And she said some… things.”
“Some things?”
“About my parents.”
“Oh, I’m guessing you still haven’t told her.”
“Rosita, half the time we spend together is filled with her hating my guts it never came up”
“Well maybe now is the time for it to come up.”
Nicole looked down at her hands, she didn’t owe Waverly anything, but she owed herself the chance to get her explanation out there, so she could stop assuming things about her.
So, she stood up, hugged Rosita, and started back towards her dorm.
iv.
“I messed up Wyn.”
“Baby girl I have a class in ten minutes what the fuck?”
Waverly sighed, “I told you I messed up.”
“Okay well are you going to elaborate or are you just gonna keep repeating the same thing. I told you I have a class in ten minutes.”
“Nicole and I argued after my bio lecture and I said something and I don’t know what it was but she, she got so quiet and then she ran out and I think she was crying and I don’t.”
“Okay hey, baby girl, calm down. I need you to breathe. Where are you?”
“I’m in my dorm waiting for her to come back what if she’s hurt or like what if she hates me more than before. God this is such a mess I don’t know what to do.”
“You need to calm down first, this is just an argument. You need to talk to her, and you need to stop being a royal bitch to everyone you ever meet. Trust me I know it's hard to let people in but you’ve been nothing but closed off and rude since you got there. I love you to death and you know that. I have to go my professors here, but Waverly, talk to her and figure this shit out so you can focus on school and stop calling me almost in tears.”
Waverly smiled, “I love you too.”
She hung up the phone and set it down on her dresser next to her bed, and sat on the bed wringing her hands. She just wanted to know Nicole was okay.
As if on cue the handle to her room shook, and the next thing she knew Nicole was stepping into the room.
v.
Nicole’s hand shook as she turned the doorknob of her room, she didn’t really wanna face Waverly looking like she just ran a marathon while sobbing, which granted she basically did. When her gaze locked onto the shorter girl sitting on her bed she was confused by the worry that was etched onto her face. She could tell the other girl was taking in her appearance and it seemed to shake her.
Nicole silently walked over to her side of the room and hung her bag on the end of her bed before she sat down on the edge of her mattress and stared at her hands. She could feel Waverly watching her, waiting for her to take command of the conversation. So she took a deep breath.
“When I was three my parents and I were on our way to the beach when a semi-truck merged into us and sent us flying over the cement divider on the freeway and we crashed into oncoming traffic. No one really to this day knows how I survived, but my parents didn’t. I’ve been told by the social worker who was put on my case the next day that I was lucky to be alive my whole life. My parents were only children and their parents had both had them at older ages so they were gone, and I was a three year old with no family. So I jumped around foster homes for a while, except when I was five I thought I had a couple who finally wanted me, but then they change their minds, they wanted someone younger.
“I mean I was five, what kinda fucked up person gives back a five year old. So back I went to the group homes and the foster homes and the parents who were just collecting a check and I had absolutely nothing until I had soccer. I could never afford to play on a big club team, so I stuck with my middle school and then high school team but I trained for hours outside of normal practices and I got myself to the level I needed to be to try out for the team here. I was in school working my ass off to get good grades, get good test scores. I was in soccer working my ass off to be the best player I could possibly be and I was working two jobs at night and on the weekends just so I could afford something if I didn’t end up getting this scholarship.
“So no, I don’t know what it's like for everything to go my way and I don’t know what it's like to have a mommy and daddy to go run and cry to. I never have. I worked for every single thing in my life so I’m sorry. I’m sorry that we fought and that you’re so emotionally guarded that you can’t just accept the fact that I just want to be your friend. I’m sorry that we got off to a rough start, but I’m so tired of trying to not like you. It’s exhausting so if you could just like turn your walls into fences or something so I can get somewhere I would really appreciate it.”
Nicole glanced up after she finished, Waverly was sitting on her bed silent. She opened her mouth as if she was going to speak and then closed it, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
Nicole smiled, “I know. That's why I told you. I meant it, Waverly, I just want us to be friends.”
Waverly nodded her head before she spoke, “My sister shot my dad. It was- He, he was not the kindest guy to put it simply. He was gonna hit me, so she shot him. It was awful, the worst day of my life. But the court ruled it as self-defense and my mother never forgave her so she took off. I was six and Wynonna was 7 so we went and lived with my Aunt Gus. Gus got sick a year ago and it went pretty quickly so it was just Wynonna and me for our last year of high school and I don’t know how we really made it by but my grades got me a scholarship here and Gus had left money for Wynonna and we knew we had to do this for not only us but for her. I know what it feels like to have nothing except for one special thing. Our special things are just a little different.”
Nicole nodded her head, “Thank you, for sharing.”
Waverly shook her head, “I feel like we could have avoided all of this if I wasn’t a massive bitch to you on move-in day. I’m sorry about that, about all of it. I really didn’t know.”
“Apology accepted. Now let's start fresh,” Nicole moved off her bed and crossed the room and extended her hand, “Hi, I’m Nicole Haught.”
Waverly cracked the most beautiful smile Nicole had ever seen and extended hers, “Hi, I’m Waverly Earp.”
vi.
As the weeks passed by, Nicole was getting closer to Waverly than she ever had to a person. Every moment that Nicole wasn’t at practice or in class she was with Waverly. Studying, eating, listening to music, watching tv, anything and everything they did together. They were practically inseparable.
Nicole and Waverly were laying on Nicole’s bed working on some bio homework when Waverly rolled over and set her face on her hands, staring up at Nicole. Nicole smiled before turning her attention to the younger girl, “What?” she asked with a smile.
“Teach me about soccer.”
Nicole laughed, “You want to learn about soccer?”
“Yes! So that when I go to all of your games I know what's happening.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Please, please Red! Please!”
“Fine, what do you want to know?”
“Hm, start with what you play.”
“Okay, I play center mid. My main job is to distribute the ball from the defense up to the forwards, and breakdown plays in the middle of the field.”
“So you’re like freakishly important for the whole team to function”
Nicole blushed, “No not exactly.
Waverly swats at her arm, “Shut up you know I hate how you downplay your talent.”
“Okay fine a little bit,” Nicole shakes her head.
She could have done this forever. Been laid in bed with Waverly next to her explaining the rules of the game that she loves more than anything. After a while of answering Waverly’s questions, she seemed to have a basic grasp of offsides, each position, and what runs are. Nicole watched as she explained everything, wanting to make sure she wasn’t boring Waverly, but with every word she said, it seemed like Waverly got more and more interested.
“Come to my practice tomorrow, you can watch and learn and then when we play Calgary on Sunday,” Nicole said, “You can wear my jersey in the stands and everything.”
“What like a girlfriend?”
Nicole choked on her breath when Waverly said that. While maybe somewhere deeply, deeply suppressed she had feelings for her best friend but she would never act on them. Her face turned bright red and she stammered out, “W-what? Psh I mean no just like so you have team gear and stuff.”
“Calm down Red, your face is starting to match your hair. I would be honored to wear the infamous Haught jersey.”
“Okay, but I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“Nicole?”
“Waverly?”
“Shut up.”
“Okay.”
The next morning Nicole woke up at her alarm to get ready for her morning training, she knew that Waverly had said that she wanted to go but she waited until the absolute last moment to wake her in fear of being attacked. She knelt next to Waverly’s bed and was about to wake her until she noticed the light freckles that were dusting her nose from the time they spent out on the lawn studying for their upcoming midterms. The light was reflecting off her face and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from her. She ran her hands over her cheek and through her hair gently then worked out the few knots in it. “Waves, you gotta get up if you wanna come to my practice.”
Waverly groaned and rolled over, masking her face from Nicole’s view. Nicole shook her head and laughed, “Come on Waverly do you want to come or not?”
“Give me five minutes.”
“I’m leaving in fifteen”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
Practice that morning was easy. Since they played their rival school the following day, it was nothing more than some set play run throughs and some simple passing drills to get everyone’s touch down.
Waverly sat through it all though, watching attentively. Any time Nicole would look up into the stands Waverly would send her a thumbs up and a wink, and it made Nicole’s heart rush. Everything the younger girl did made Nicole’s heart rush.
She was falling in love with her best friend, and there was nothing she could do about it.
vii.
Waverly had never been to a sporting event before, much less a soccer game. Nicole had told her to get a spot directly in the middle of the field down close to the benches so that she could be close to the action. She was nervous. She had no reason to be, it wasn’t like she was the only playing in a soccer match. But she just couldn’t shake the butterflies in her stomach and the shakiness of her leg.
When the music started playing out of the speaker, she looked towards the side of the field that Nicole told her they would walk in on for warmups. Calgary had already been on the field stretching and talking to each other. She saw Nicole right away, her white warm-up jersey covered her arms while her blue shorts with the number fifteen on them sat against her toned thighs. Not that Waverly ever looked at her best friend’s thighs, or her back, or her arms, or sneaked a glance at her abs when Nicole was sitting in their room in nothing but a sports bra and some running shorts. Shaking her head Waverly pushed any resemblance of those kinds of thoughts away and went back to watching the team warm up. They started their drills and were on to shooting when the ref blew the whistle for the captains to go to the middle for the coin toss. Waverly was beyond glad she asked Nicole for lessons or she would have been complete loss sitting in these bleachers alone.
Nicole walked over to the bench to change into her game uniform and glanced up to the bleachers and made eye contact with Waverly right away. Waverly saw how her game face broke for a second and she smiled up at her while giving her a small wave. Waverly waved back and mouthed a quiet “kick ass Red” which in turn made the older girl laugh as she turned around to join her team in the huddle.
The first half passed by slowly, each team having about the same amount of possession. There were a few times when Nicole got the ball up the middle and had cut around a couple of players only for her cross in to be missed or overshot. Waverly could tell she was frustrated with her playing as she walked off the field with her teammates at half time.
It wasn’t long before the teams were back out on the field for the second half, Waverly had spent most of the break anxiously awaiting them. She had a feeling the second half was going to be far more physical than the first since tempers were running high and nothing had come of the failed attempts in the first half.
It happened so fast Waverly almost missed it. One second Nicole was going for a header off a corner and the next she was slamming her back on the ground and not moving. The commotion of the corner kick left her mostly ignored until Rosita grabbed the ball out of the air and threw it out, angered at the fact that the ref had let play go on for so long. Waverly saw her kneel down next to Nicole’s head. She whipped her body around and screamed over at the sideline for the medical staff.
Waverly was frozen. She had no idea what was happening but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Nicole’s motionless body. Her heart was racing and she could feel the tears running down her face but she couldn’t move. She barely noticed Rosita in front of her yelling her name until she was being pulled by the arm towards an ambulance.
“Rosita I can’t go with her,” Waverly said shaking.
“Bullshit, you’re all she has and I have to stay here and murder that Jordan girl who shoved her. So you’re gonna get in that damn ambulance and you’re gonna hold her fucking hand or whatever the fuck you guys do and try to call it platonic. And you’re gonna be there when she wakes up so she's not scared and alone, you got it?”
Waverly nodded her head and climbed into the back of the ambulance.
Nicole looked pale and small under all of the wires and straps holding her down. Waverly took a breath before she sat down next to her head.
“Hey, so you got kinda wrecked back there didn’t you. Th-That was hard to watch. You’re kinda scaring me superstar so I’m gonna need you to wake up soon so I can see those beautiful eyes of yours and stop thinking about how I don’t know what I’m gonna do if I lose you, okay?”
The ride to the hospital was short but painful, every moment Nicole stayed unconscious, Waverly’s anxiety grew. The paramedics told her that as soon as they reached the ambulance bay, they were going to take Nicole to surgery to stabilize her spine. Waverly numbly followed along until she was suddenly in a waiting room all by herself.
Without the adrenaline of making sure Nicole was okay rushing through her body, Waverly broke down. There was a real chance that Nicole was going to come out of that surgery paralyzed or not make it off the table at all. She was spiraling alone in the waiting room, so she called the one person she knew would come.
The phone rang twice before her sister answered it, “Baby girl this better be important.”
Waverly could barely stop crying long enough to reply to her sister.
“Waverly?, Waves what's going on? Are you okay?”
“No, it-it’s Nicole.”
“What happened?”
“She got hurt and she landed on her back and she's in surgery and she can’t die, Wyn, she can’t die because I love her and I haven’t told her and she can’t die before I get to tell her,” Waverly sobbed.
“Waves, baby girl, you need to breathe, okay. I need you to take deep breaths for me. What hospital are you at?”
“Purgatory Memorial.”
“Okay, I’m on my way. I’m gonna come as fast as I can you just sit tight okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good, everything is gonna be fine Waves. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Waverly hung up the phone and placed her head in her hands. Her exhaustion takes over her and the next thing she knows, she's being shaken awake by her older sister.
“Wynonna?”
“The doctors came out while you were asleep, the damage was more extensive than they thought so it's taking a bit longer, they said it should be no more than an hour until they’re done but they’ll come back out and update us.”
Waverly nodded, unable to fully wrap her mind around what her older sister had told her. She leaned against her sister enjoying being in the arms of someone else to console her.
It was around thirty minutes later when the doctor came back out. “Family of Nicole Haught?”
Wynonna stood up, dragging Waverly with her, “That's us.”
The doctor nodded, “Nicole made it through surgery just fine, there were three fractures in her spinal column and a misplaced disk. We won’t know about any motor movement until she wakes up, but our tests show that there shouldn’t be any lasting physical damage to her nerves.”
Waverly cleared her throat, “And soccer? What about soccer? Will she be able to play?”
“We won’t know about her motor ability until after she goes through extensive physical therapy. I’ve seen athletes go through worse and be able to go back to their sports but it is all very much a case by case basis.”
Waverly felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs. She didn’t know what Nicole would do if she couldn’t play anymore.
“She should be waking up soon if one of you would like to go back there.”
Wynonna pushed Waverly forward until she was following the doctor back through to the ICU. When they got to Nicole’s room Waverly hesitated outside the door. She couldn’t believe that this had happened in the first place, and being there in that room made it all too real to quickly. But she wouldn’t leave. She had to stay because she told Rosita she wouldn’t let her wake up alone. So she sat there, holding onto Nicole’s hand.
When she first felt the fingers in her hand twitch she thought the lack of sleep was catching up to her and she was hallucinating. Then the twitch turned into a full grasp and she turned her head up to Nicole’s face to see those beautiful hazel eyes.
“You look like shit Earp.”
“You’re one to talk Red.”
Waverly smiled until she couldn’t anymore and she broke down, “I thought, I thought you were dead you were just lying there on the field and there were so many people and I’m gonna find that girl who did this and murder her myself if Rosita hasn’t already. And you, you aren’t allowed to scare me like that anymore, okay? Because I need you here with me, I don’t think I could live in a world without you in it. That's not an option because I love you. More than I’ve loved anything else in the world and it would be really awful of you to go and leave me after you turned my whole world upside down in the best way possible.”
Waverly watched as Nicole slowly took in the information that she just rambled into her pain medicated face. The moment she realized what Waverly had told her the biggest smile crossed her face and Nicole moved her hand up slowly to cup Waverly’s face, “Waverly Earp I fell in love with you the moment you got your key stuck in our dorm door, and everything in between.”
“Yeah, superstar?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m gonna kiss you now, okay?”
“That sounds perfect.”
The first time that Waverly kissed Nicole she felt as free as she ever had. Waverly smiled into the kiss but pulled back when she felt Nicole wince.
“I’m gonna call the doctor in here now, so he can tell you everything.”
Nicole nodded and shut her eyes as Waverly walked out into the hall and asked the nurses to page Nicole’s doctors.
viii.
The next few days passed by slowly. Nicole was in pain, and Waverly sat there next to her bedside hopelessly not being able to do anything to help. It hurt her, to see the person she loved in agony, but Nicole said her just sitting next to her helped. Wynonna came in a few times to meet Nicole, and to get her sister food and changes of clothes. Nicole and Wynonna hit it off, and Waverly was glad except for when the two ganged up on her.
Rosita came by the second day with news that she didn’t murder the girl who did it but that the whole team targeted her for the rest of the game and she was eventually red-carded. It wasn’t enough but it was something.
Waverly didn’t know what the next few months were going to be like, but as long as she had Nicole with her, they would figure it out together.