3. It's Officer Haught
It’s been a week since Waverly broke up with Champ. It didn’t take long for her to get over him, especially since she got to see Nicole every morning. They hadn’t seen each other outside of the coffee shop since that day, but they were definitely more confident in their flirting. Waverly figured since Nicole was gay, a little flirting wouldn’t bother her, even if she didn’t like Waverly as more than just a friend. And Nicole figured that since Waverly was getting over Champ and wanted a distraction, a little flirting wouldn’t bother her, even if she didn’t like Nicole as more than just a friend. And they were content with where they were currently at; but both of them wanted more.
“Hey Baby Girl,” Wynonna said as Waverly sat down at the bar in front of her. She was cleaning out the inside of a glass with a rag. “Are you enjoying your day off?”
“Yeah. It’s a little boring though. I haven’t had a day off in weeks.”
“Well, you deserve it. Especially with how smoothly you ran that place all by yourself with Darren on vacation.”
“Yeah. That was a little rough, I’ll admit.”
“So go relax! Have some tea, read a book. Maybe get Champ to help de-stress you, if you know what I mean.” She winked.
Waverly cringed at the thought. “Oh, I didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Champ and I broke up.”
Wynonna nearly dropped the glass, but caught it before it hit the ground. She set it, and the rag, down on the counter. “What?! When did this happen?”
“Last week.”
“Well what happened?”
“I just wasn’t feeling it anymore.”
Wynonna let out a sigh of relief once she heard that Waverly was the one who broke up with him. “Waverly, Champ treated you like shit for so many years. I’m glad you finally came to your senses.”
“Really? You don’t think I made a mistake?”
“No way! You were high school sweethearts, but he’s still stuck in high school mode. And you’ve grown up. You should be with someone who’s grown up too.”
Waverly exhaled nervously. Wynonna hadn't been around during Waverly’s teenage years, but since she came back to Purgatory last year, she’s felt closer to her than ever. “Actually, there is someone else that I like. Someone who’s grown up,” she said almost inaudibly, half hoping that Wynonna didn’t hear what she said so that she wouldn’t have to talk about it, but also half hoping she did so that she could share everything.
“Really?” Wynonna smirked as she leaned down on her elbows to get closer to her little sister. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
Guy. Of course she would assume it’s a guy. Everyone always assumes it’s a guy. What am I thinking? It’s Wynonna; boyfriend stealing Wynonna. She’s never going to understand. “Actually, never mind. It’s no one,” she replied sadly as she stood up from the stool.
“Wait a minute, Waverly. It’s okay. I wasn’t trying to-“
“No, it’s fine. I have stuff I need to get done.”
“On your day off?” Wynonna asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes. On my day off,” she snapped before walking out of the bar.
Wynonna shook her head and chuckled as she picked up the glass. “That girl’s got it bad.”
---
After Wynonna’s shift at Shorty’s, she went home, figuring she could spend some time with her sister. She knocked on the open door to Waverly’s bedroom.
“Knock knock!” Wynonna lilted.
“You don’t have to say 'knock knock' as you knock. The actual knocking is pretty self-explanatory on its own,” Waverly snipped from her bed without looking up from her book.
Wynonna rolled her eyes. “Okay, stand down,” she said as she put her hands up in defense. “I come in peace.” She dropped her hands as she made her way towards the bed. Waverly set her book down on the bedside table – next to her tea – and grabbed a stuffed animal to hug.
Wynonna sat down at the edge of Waverly’s bed. “I’m sorry if I was being pushy earlier.”
Waverly sighed. “It’s okay. You were just being curious. I might have overreacted a little.”
“And I think I know why.” The older Earp gave a reassuring smile.
“You do?”
“Of course I do. I know you, I’m your sister. Sometimes I know you better than you know yourself.”
“Wow, I’m actually a little relieved to hear you say that.” She sat up and threw the stuffed animal aside. “I’ve been so nervous to tell you.”
“Wave, it’s okay.” Wynonna grabbed her hand. “I know exactly how you feel.”
“Wait, what? What do you mean?”
“I mean, he’s my boyfriend, so I don’t blame you for liking him. He is hot, afterall.” Wynonna nudged her sister’s leg with her elbow.
Waverly jumped off of the bed. “Hold on a minute. You think I like Doc?!” Waverly bemused, wildly gesticulating.
“Waverly, it’s okay. Calm down.”
Waverly laughed at the accusation and shook her head. “No Wynonna. You’re the town's boyfriend stealer, not me.”
“Okay, ouch. That would probably sting a little more if I didn’t actually receive that superlative in high school," Wynonna noted. "Why are you attacking me?”
“Because you won’t leave me alone!” Waverly stormed out of the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.
“Huh. Leave it to Waverly to be the one to leave her own room during an argument,” Wynonna said in amusement.
---
Nicole was sitting at her desk doing some paperwork when she heard angry footsteps coming down the hall towards her desk. She looked up to greet the civilian, but when she noticed that it was Waverly – who dropped down into the seat across from her – she quickly became confused.
“Hi?” She said hesitantly, unsure if this was real life or one of her dreams again.
“Hi.” Waverly replied angrily with her arms folded tightly across her chest, looking at the wall behind Nicole instead of directly at her.
“Um, is everything okay?”
“Yeah. This is my face when everything is just dandy,” the brunette replied sarcastically.
Nicole had never felt more dumb than in that moment. “Sorry, that wasn’t–" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "What I meant to say was, what’s wrong?”
“Oh you know, just the usual. My sister just accused me of stealing her boyfriend.”
“What? Wynonna has a boyfriend?”
Waverly glared at her. “Not the point, Nicole.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” She made a mental note to talk to Dolls later. “So, what exactly did she accuse you of? Having an affair behind her back?”
Waverly shifted in her chair. “Well, she didn’t exactly accuse me of anything action-based like that. More like she accused me of liking him.”
“Oh. Well, do you?”
“Are you serious?” Waverly spat as she stood up from the chair. “No. I don’t fucking like Doc!”
Another mental note: His name was Doc.
“But I can’t just tell her that I like–” She froze. She couldn’t believe how close she had just gotten to carelessly outing herself.
Nicole waited for her to finished her sentence, but then quickly realized that she wouldn’t do it on her own. “Like who?”
“Nobody. Never mind. I’ve gotta go.” She rushed out of the station without looking back.
“What was that about?” Dolls asked as he walked out of the break room holding a coffee and a donut.
“Jesus Dolls!” Nicole jumped as she held her hand over her chest. “Were you spying on me or something?”
“No, I was just getting some coffee.”
“Were you in there this whole time?”
“No. I just teleported in here recently,” he said dryly.
Nicole rolled her eyes. “So I guess you heard that whole thing then?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
“Including the part about Wynonna having a boyfriend?” She asked hesitantly.
“Yep.” He shoved the rest of the donut into his mouth as he slumped down into the chair that Waverly was previously sitting in.
“I’m sorry man. I was going to tell you after Waverly left. I hate that you had to find out that way.”
“It’s okay.”
Nicole looked at him sympathetically for only a short second, knowing that he hated when people pitied him.
“So, what do you think Waverly was going to say at the end there?” He quickly changed the subject.
“I have no idea,” Nicole replied as she continued to finish her paperwork from before.
“Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea.”
“Oh yeah?” Nicole replied without looking up, pretending that she was only half paying attention to him.
“I think she was going to say that she likes you.” He smirked.
She was starting to get annoyed by him. All she wanted to do was get her paperwork done and get out on time for once. She set her pen down. “Or, she likes some other shithead and that’s why she was embarrassed to tell me and Wynonna,” she remarked pointedly before picking the pen back up and writing once again.
“Is that really what you think?”
She sighed. If he wasn’t going to let her finish her work, she might as well get everything off her chest. “Honestly, I don’t really know what to think with that girl anymore. She confuses the hell out of me. One minute she’s getting close to me, and the next she’s pulling away. I don’t know what any of it means.” She relaxed against the back of her chair.
“Well you can always just ask her. Go over to her house tonight and get your answer.”
She tittered. “Yeah, right. What, I’m just supposed to show up randomly at her house to ask her if she likes me?”
“No, but you could go over to her house to return this,” he held up a light brown suede handbag, “And then casually bring up your conversation from earlier.”
“Is that Waverly’s bag?”
“It was sitting on the floor here. She must have left it when she was in a hurry to hide the fact that she likes you.” He grinned.
Nicole pursed her lips and snatched the bag away from him. “Fine. I’ll return the bag. But only for the sake of retuning the bag.”
Dolls stood up from the chair and grabbed his coffee from her desk. “Okay, Nicole. Whatever you say.” He looked at her knowingly before walking away.
“I mean it Dolls! I’m showing up in the squad car and in uniform!” She yelled as he walked back over to his desk.
---
Waverly was sitting at the kitchen table eating some leftover pot roast from the night before when Wynonna walked in.
“Hey Baby Girl,” she said delicately as she sat down in the seat across from Waverly.
“Hey,” Waverly replied shortly.
Wynonna sighed. “Look, I messed up, okay? I know I haven’t really been here all that much to practice proper sister-talk etiquette, but I promise I’ll get better at it. Starting now.”
“Now?” Waverly asked nervously.
“Yeah,” Wynonna smiled. “How about you talk, and I’ll just listen.”
“We really don’t have to talk about it. It’s okay.” She fretted.
“Nonsense. You’re my baby sister and I want to know about your life. So tell me, who is it that you like?” She clasped her hands together, patiently awaiting her answer.
“Oh, um…” Waverly fiddled with her fork. She wasn’t prepared to tell Wynonna about her having the hots for Officer Haught. But she couldn’t just say any random name, since everybody knew everybody in this town. And she couldn’t say the name of a guy she already knew, since Wynonna would try to make that hookup happen, which was the last thing Waverly wanted.
“Wave, what’s going on?” Wynonna began to worry. “Why can’t you tell me? It’s not someone bad, is it? Because I really don’t think you could do worse than Champ anyways…”
“No, it’s not someone bad. It’s just– different, is all.”
“Mhm?” She urged her to continue.
“Um, it’s a police officer.”
“Oh, someone of the law! That is different. I like it. Can I guess?” Wynonna replied enthusiastically.
“It’s Officer Haught,” Waverly quickly murmured as she stared down at her plate. She couldn’t bear to look her sister in the eyes. She was too afraid that she would find disappointment and quite possibly disgust.
“Officer Haught…” Wynonna thought back to all of her encounters with the law. “Is he the one with the bleached hair?”
“No. The one with the red hair,” Waverly replied nervously, still looking down.
“Red hair…” she pondered for a moment. “Oh, duh! Red! The club soda from last week!” Wynonna was too excited about her excellent recollection of law enforcement members to realize what it actually meant. As soon as she did, she froze. “Nicole Haught? Wavy red hair just below the chin, brown eyes, about 5’8"?
“She’s 5’9”, actually.” Waverly corrected, still looking down.
Although Wynonna was completely caught off-guard, she didn’t want to make a big deal out of the situation, since she knew that’s not what Waverly wanted. “My baby sis crushing on an armed officer. I like it.”
Waverly looked up. “You do?” She was surprised. She was expecting at least a little bit more of a reaction.
“Duh. I’d rather you be with someone who can shoot a glock than someone who can herd cattle.”
Waverly laughed. “It is a significantly better skill to have when it comes to defense.”
“Plus, she’s got a nice ass. You have excellent taste in women.” She winked at Waverly and smiled for reassurance.
“So, you’re not mad or disappointed?”
“Are you kidding? Of course I’m not. Why would I be?”
Waverly laughed at the words.
“What’s so funny?”
“No, it’s just, I said the same thing when I was asked a similar question. Which kind of makes me realize how silly I was being for thinking that you would reject me or something. Man, this whole coming out thing is a lot scarier than I ever thought it was.”
“Coming out.” Wynonna repeated. “You’re coming out to me,” she stated, thinking about what the words meant, and how she never thought she would say them about Waverly.
“Yeah. I– I guess I am. I guess I did.” She smiled, proud of herself for finally telling someone. “I just came out to you!”
“That’s exciting Baby Girl! But, coming out as what? Are you saying that you’re a lesbian? Or bi? Or what?”
“I uh…I’m not exactly sure? All I know is that I’m not straight.”
“You’ll figure it out. Don’t stress about it. It’s not that important anyways. What’s important is that you have a crush on Nicole Haught.”
“I do. I really do.” Waverly dropped her head into her hands.
“Does she know that you like her?”
“Oh god no. I’m not that brave. It was hard enough for me to tell you, and we tell each other practically everything.”
“Okay, that’s fair. Does she like you? I mean, does she even like pussy?”
“Oh my god, Wynonna!”
“What? It’s a valid question.”
“But do you have to be so crude about it?” She groaned.
“Sorry,” Wynonna shrugged, obvious that she didn’t actually mean it.
“Yes, she’s gay. But I don’t know if she likes me like that.”
“Does she flirt with you?” Wynonna was getting very intrigued.
“I don’t know.” Waverly shrugged. “How am I supposed to know that?”
“Okay, describe your interactions with her. How often do you see her?”
“She comes in every morning at 7:45 a.m. for an Americano with half and half steamed in and a dash of cinnamon.”
Wynonna grinned.
“What?”
“You know her exact coffee order. That’s so freaking cute.”
“Shut up!” The younger girl blushed. “Okay, so she comes in every day at 7:45 a.m., gets her coffee, we make some small talk for a minute or two, and then she leaves.”
“Okay, well there’s your answer right there.” Wynonna punctuated her statement with a wave of her hand.
“Which is?”
“She obviously likes you.” She stood up to make herself a plate of food. She couldn’t continue to smell Waverly’s food without eating some herself.
“Why do you say that?”
“She buys coffee every morning from you.”
“Yeah? And?” She turned around to face Wynonna, who was taking dishes full of leftovers out of the fridge.
She turned around to look at Waverly. “They have free coffee at the police station,” she explained before turning back around to shovel leftovers onto her plate.
“Okay, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she likes me. Maybe the coffee there isn’t good.”
Wynonna set the timer on the microwave before sitting back down. “Nope, it’s good.”
“Oh, right. I forget how many times you’ve been down there.” Waverly rolled her eyes.
“Plus, she goes at 7:45, right before the normal morning rush at 8:00. Which means that she wants some time alone with you.”
“Maybe her shift starts at 8 and she has to get her coffee earlier to make it to work on time.”
“Doubt it. Oh, and there’s one more thing.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Waverly asked doubtfully.
“Last week, she and her police friend came to the bar for drinks and she ordered a club soda. When I asked her why she didn’t want alcohol, she said she was more of a coffee drinker,” Wynonna winked.
Waverly’s eyes popped open. “She– she really said that?”
“Yep. Heard it myself.” Wynonna stood up once more to grab her plate and take it back to the table.
“Well…that still doesn’t mean anything. She could just genuinely be more of a coffee drinker.”
“I don’t think so. Her friend was looking at her like it meant something more.” Just then, her face dropped. “Oh shit.”
“What?”
“I think her friend likes me.”
“Why?”
“Probably because I’m amazing.” She shrugged as she took a bite of pot roast.
Waverly rolled her eyes. “No, I mean why do you think that?”
“Oh. Well, because when Red…I mean, Haught, said that she was more of a coffee drinker, and that he was more into alcohol than she was, he looked at her like she had just revealed all of his secrets.”
“Huh.” Waverly thought about it. Maybe Nicole actually did like her. “Well, if that’s true, then at least that means that Nicole doesn’t have a crush on you! Which is a little bit of a relief.”
“Of course she doesn’t, because she like you!”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to believe that yet.”
“Why not? Because you’re scared of actually going for it?” She taunted.
“No,” Waverly replied seriously. “Because I’m afraid of getting my hopes up just to be let down. I really like her, Wynonna. Like, way more than I’ve ever liked anyone. I didn’t even know it was this possible to like someone this much. Every time I see her, I get butterflies– No, dragons, in the pit of my stomach. I think about her all the time, and knowing that I’ll see her at work, even if it’s just for five minutes, is what gets me up in the morning. I just want to be with her so badly that it hurts.” She sighed as she slumped back into her chair and picked up her fork to push her food around her plate some more; a move she often did when she was upset or nervous.
Wynonna looked at her little sister sympathetically and took her hand. “Can I be honest with you?”
“Yeah,” Waverly sighed.
“That was some extremely gay shit you just said.”
Waverly pursed her lips and slapped her older sister on the arm.
“Ow!” Wynonna complained.
“You’re not funny!”
“I’m kinda funny,” she replied confidently.
“I’m being serious here, Wynonna. What do I do?”
“Well, obviously you find out if she likes you or not.”
“And how do I do that?”
“You ask her.”
“Ha! Yeah right. Like I could ever do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not that brave.”
“You just came out to me about having a serious girl crush. You’re obviously pretty brave.”
“But I’m not that brave.”
Just when Wynonna opened her mouth to respond, the doorbell rang.
“Are you expecting company?” Wynonna asked.
“No. You?”
“No.” Wynonna’s face lit up when she was hit with a brilliant idea. “Oh, I’ve got a solution!”
“What?” Waverly replied, unamused.
“How about we let the universe decide? If it’s Nicole at the door, it means that she likes you. And if it’s not, then it means that she doesn’t.”
“What kind of fucked up game is that Wynonna?”
“Um, it’s a game I‘ve been playing for years. And it’s worked several times, thank you very much.”
“Well, it’s a stupid game. And I’m not playing it.” Waverly crossed her arms in protest.
“Sorry, but the universe plays its game with or without you. That's just how it goes.”
“Wynonna, seriously. I can’t do this. What if it’s not her? I’ll be crushed. And it’ll be all your fault.” Guilt was Waverly’s go-to tactic when it came to winning against Wynonna.
The doorbell rang again, this time it was followed immediately by a knock.
Wynonna stood up from the table and grinned. “Well, I guess we’re about to find out!” She said before skipping to the door.
Waverly watched her nervously as she turned the corner to open the door.
“Officer Haught! What a pleasant surprise!”
Waverly rolled her eyes and angrily jumped up from her chair as she marched over to the door. “Wynonna, that’s not funny! I swear, if you tell Doc about my crush on–” she paused when she saw wavy red hair.
“Nicole!”