64. You Sure?

Nicole trotted down the stairs in full uniform as she worked the black tie up through the neck loop. She crinkled her eyebrows when she noticed Sam sitting on the couch with a pillow beside her and a blanket in her lap.

“Did you sleep on the couch last night?” Nicole asked as she slipped the tie through the knot.

“Mhm.” Sam brought her coffee mug with both hands wrapped around it up to her lips.

Nicole looked down the hall towards the spare bedroom — which still had the door closed — before looking back at her friend in confusion. “Why? You don’t like the bed?” She chuckled, half joking and half hoping that wasn’t the case. Although, she was prepared to buy a mattress topper if her friend was uncomfortable.

“I accidentally locked the door before we went out and couldn’t find a key. I was going to ask you, but you were a little...preoccupied.” An amused smirk spread across Sam’s face as she slowly brought the mug back up to her lips without breaking eye contact.

Nicole’s eyes widened for a moment before she brought her hand up to the back of her neck and chuckled in embarrassment. “So, you remember that, huh?”

“Oh, I’m never going to forget that. I will forever have that image of you schtupping Waverly burned into my memory. But at least now I know what your strap-on looks like.” The dark brunette grinned.

“Hey, you should’ve knocked,” Nicole shrugged.

“I thought you two would be asleep with how drunk you were! But you’re right. With all of the eye humping, and then actual humping you were doing on the dance floor last night, I should’ve known you were coming back here to fuck.”

“We were not humping each other!” Nicole defended as she sternly folded her arms across her chest.

“Yes. Yes, you were. I have video proof.” She brandished her phone in front of her face with a sly smile. “Ten minutes of pure lesbian content right here. Oh, and not to mention the best part…when you slipped on a puddle of beer and fell on your ass!”

Nicole rolled her eyes as she sat down on the armrest of the couch beside Sam. “Let me guess, you’re going to keep it for blackmailing purposes?”

“No way! More like I’m going to keep it to play at your future wedding.” Sam cackled as Nicole tried to wrestle the phone away from her. They froze at the sound of Waverly clearing her throat from the bottom of the stairs – Sam with her arm stretched above her head and Nicole on top of her reaching for the phone.

“What are you doing?” Waverly asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“She has video footage of us dancing last night,” Nicole pouted as she straightened herself up and gestured towards her friend.

“And footage of Nicole falling on her ass,” Sam added with her index finger pointed up in the air.

“Oh! I want to watch!” Waverly exclaimed excitedly as she jumped onto the couch beside Sam, both of them huddled around the device as Sam hit play. She skipped to the part where Nicole slipped on the floor, and both of them laughed.

“Oh my god, how do you manage to look cute even when you’re falling on your heinie!” Waverly giggled as she looked over at Nicole, who was shaking her head in disapproval while she got up to put her jacket on.

“It’s a gift, I guess.” Nicole walked over behind the couch and kissed the top of Waverly’s head. “Bye, love.” She then glared at Sam, who was just looking back at her with innocence. “I’m going to get you back you know.”

“Don’t hold back,” Sam challenged, earning a look from Nicole that silently said ‘challenge accepted’ before the redhead walked out the door.

After finally noticing the pillow and blanket, Waverly asked, “Did you sleep out here?”

“Yeah, I locked myself out of the spare room apparently. Couldn’t find a key.”

“Oh, Nicole lost the key for that door a while back. But the doorknob is messed up, so if you just jiggle it a bit a give the door a good push, it should open.”

“Good to know. I could’ve avoided that whole situation last night.” Sam gave a light chuckle as she shook her head.

Waverly drew her eyebrows together in confusion. “What situation?” Suddenly, the memory of Nicole’s oldest friend walking in on them came back to her. Her eyes widened as her face quickly turned a deep shade of red. “Oh, right. That situation.”

“I was going to ask Nicole for the key, but she was a little busy,” Sam teased lightheartedly, trying to make the situation less awkward so that Waverly wouldn’t feel so embarrassed. The girl was looking redder than that one time Nicole had gone to the beach without putting any sunscreen on. Something about being stronger than the sun. Needless to say, she learned her lesson.

“I’m so sorry,” Waverly apologized.

Sam shook her head. “I should’ve knocked, so it was my fault. But I only saw for a second, so I don’t even remember that much. And I was drunk. I only really remember the situation happening, if that makes sense.”

Waverly felt the heat slowly leaving her cheeks and gave a couple of nods.

“And I do remember that your strap-on is purple,” she chuckled. “But don’t be embarrassed. It’s not a big deal, at least not to me. I’m just glad that Nicole has finally found someone who loves her back just as much as she loves them, because it’s about time.” She smiled, showing how genuinely happy she was about their relationship.

The corners of Waverly’s eyes crinkled as she nodded towards the floor while tucking her hair behind her ear. “Well, I’m the lucky one. She does so much for me and I just don’t deserve her.”

“I feel like the nicest girl in Purgatory is the most deserving of that kind of love.” Sam winked as she nudged Waverly’s arm, eliciting a chuckle from the younger woman.

“Still, I just want to make her as happy as she makes me.”

“From what I’ve seen, you definitely do. I can see just how much you love her.”

“I do love her, I really do,” Waverly whined with raised eyebrows and the corners of her mouth curved up in a smile. “Which is why I know that one day I’m going to marry her. But I don’t want to bring it up and freak her out or anything. We’ve only been together for a few months.”

Sam brought her hand up to her mouth as she stifled her laughter. These two were so oblivious.

“What?” Waverly asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, nothing,” Sam shook her head and waved her hand in dismissal as she cleared her throat. “That’s just really cute. And I’m sure you wanting to marry her won’t freak her out. Like, really sure.”

“I hope not. Because I’m thinking about maybe proposing to her soon. Especially now that Wynonna isn’t pregnant anymore. But I just don’t know if it’s the right time yet. What if she’s not ready and says no?”

Sam’s eyes widened as she opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. She couldn’t exactly tell Waverly that Nicole was wanting to propose to her, but she also couldn’t tell Nicole that Waverly wanted to propose. So there she was, stuck in the middle of the couple both wanting to propose to each other, and unable to say anything about it. Just when she opened her mouth to ask Waverly if she had already made any plans to pop the question, the lighter brunette quickly jumped up from the couch.

“Oh, fiddlesticks! It’s a little later than I had expected. I’m going to hop in the shower before I head over to the coffee shop.” She rushed over towards the stairs. “I’ll help you with that door on my way out!”

Sam nodded and waved before laying down on the couch and letting out a sigh. She shook her head and chuckled as she stared up at the ceiling. “Idiots.”

---

Waverly walked into the station with a bag of sandwiches from Mom and Pop’s in her hand, and a grin plastered on her face.

“Hey Waverly!” Lonnie greeted.

“Hey Lonnie, how are you today?” Waverly asked with a smile as she walked up to him.

“I can’t complain. Just manning the front desk.” He knocked a couple of times on the wood before giving his signature toothy grin.

“Anything exciting happen today?”

“Well, I got a phone call about a dead body in a bag…”

Waverly’s eyes widened.

“But turns out it was just some kids prank calling the station,” He shrugged.

With a sigh of relief, Waverly clenched her shirt over her chest.

“Other than that, the only exciting part of my day has been refilling the toilet paper holders in the bathrooms. Which is surprisingly a much more soothing task than expected.”

“Right,” Waverly chuckled awkwardly as she held the bag up. “Well, I’m going to drop off some lunch to Officer Haught.”

“Cool. See ya!” He waved before staring at the phone, waiting for it to ring with some news, preferably on the thrilling side.

Waverly rounded the corner and beamed when she saw the redhead she was looking for. “Special delivery for Officer Haught!” She waved a hand across the bag, as if it were on display.

Nicole looked up and smiled as Waverly walked around to stand beside her and set the food on the desk. “Baby, you brought me lunch?” She wrapped her arms around the brunette’s waist beside her and Waverly hooked an arm around the back of Nicole’s neck and twirled the ends of her red hair around her fingers.

“I figured you could use some sustenance from all of the hard work you’ve been doing.”

“Oh, you mean the hard work of sitting on my ass, filing reports?” Nicole chuckled.

“Hey, that sounds like hard work to me,” Waverly shrugged.

“It’s definitely not fun. But someone has to get these reports done, since Nedley took Dolls with him on some sort of mission.”

Waverly drew her eyebrows together. “Mission for what?”

“No idea,” Nicole replied as she held her hands up in defeat. “But between you and me, I think he’s just testing us to see who he wants to pick for sheriff.”

“You think he’s about to retire soon?” Waverly asked in a hushed tone as her eyes widened in excitement.

Nicole nodded with a smile. “Yep. He’s been in his office a lot more lately while letting Dolls and I handle most of the cases. He looks like he’s ready for retirement.” She stood up and grabbed the bag as she led them over towards the break room to eat.

“So, you could be sheriff soon?!” Waverly asked eagerly as she followed Nicole into the room and sat down beside her.

“Well, I don’t want to get too excited. Dolls could get the job.” Nicole shrugged as she took the sandwiches out, handing one over to Waverly.

“Well, between you and me, I think you’re a shoo-in.” Waverly winked.

“Thanks baby.” Nicole grinned before taking a bite of her food. She hummed in approval as she reached out and grabbed Waverly’s hand with a smile. “Thank you for bringing me lunch today.”

Waverly couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face as she looked down at Nicole’s thumb rubbing the back of her hand. “I may have been a little selfish in my motives.” She looked up at the red-haired police officer. “I really just wanted an excuse to come and see you. I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

“Yeah? What specifically about me? Last night, perhaps?” Nicole smirked.

“Well, maybe a little bit of that,” Waverly replied with a knowing look before her face shifted to something more serious. “But mostly, I’ve just been thinking about how much I love you, and how lucky I am to have you in my life.” She looked up into Nicole’s eyes looking back at her with a faint glimmer as the light reflected off of them.

“I love you too baby.” The corners of Nicole’s mouth pulled up as she placed her other hand on top of Waverly’s, sandwiching it between her own. “More than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Do you think you could love me forever?” Waverly asked with hopeful eyes. Ever since she had let it slip to Sam that she wanted to marry Nicole, it was all she could think about. Before that moment, it had only been in the back of her mind. Being married to Nicole was just something that she knew she wanted. But now, it was something she had been picturing actually doing. She could see their little family, with Wynonna and Doc, and Alice. Of course, they didn’t need to be married in order for them to be committed to one another, and Waverly knew that. But the thought of calling Nicole her wife just felt right. She really wanted that, and she couldn’t see a reason why she had to wait for it.

Nicole nodded with a sweet smile as she brought Waverly’s hand up to her lips. “Waverly Earp, I could love you forever and then some.” She punctuated her proclamation with a gentle kiss on the back of Waverly’s hand.

The kiss was a small one, and it was only on her hand, but it was enough to give Waverly that feeling of dragons in the pit of her stomach – since butterflies were never good enough to convey just how much of an effect Nicole had on her. Waverly blinked a couple of times, urging the tears to retreat as she tried really hard to keep her emotions from getting the best of her. She knew that if she started crying, Nicole would know that something was up. “Good. Because I could too.”

They sat there for a few moments, just smiling as they stared into each other’s eyes, before Waverly pulled her hand away and picked up her sandwich.

Nicole slightly shook her head as she was brought out of her fantasy of carrying Waverly bridal style into their home to pack for their honeymoon. “Why do you ask?” She questioned before mirroring Waverly’s movements and picking up her own sandwich.

“No reason.” Waverly smiled with a slight shrug. She knew exactly what she was going to do.

---

Nicole slammed the front door behind her. “Sam!” She called out in excitement as she shimmied out of her coat.

“What? What’s wrong?” The dark brunette rushed out of the guest room in a panic while tying her cotton robe around her waist.

“I’ve got some big news!” Nicole paused as she saw a man walk out of the room behind Sam. He put his arms through the hole of his shirt before pulling it down over his abdomen. It didn’t take long for Nicole to recognize him as the bartender from the night before. She cocked an eyebrow in Sam’s direction.

“I’m just going to see myself out.” The man said before skirting past Nicole and out the door. In all of her excitement since her lunch with Waverly earlier that afternoon, she hadn’t even noticed his car parked on the street in front of her house. Nicole stood there as she gave her friend a knowing look.

“He called me,” Sam shrugged before walking over towards the couch and sitting cross-legged on the middle cushion. Nicole quickly followed behind.

“And that’s how he ended up here?” Nicole sat down beside Sam, still giving her a knowing look.

“I know I should’ve asked, but I haven’t had sex in such a long time, Nicole. It’s been months. Literally, months. I mean, since Danny left I just haven’t really been in a mental space of even wanting it, but now…” She trailed off as her eyes simultaneously shifted down towards the floor before looking back up at Nicole. “I promise I’ll clean the sheets before I leave.”

Nicole gave a light chuckle. “I’m not mad that you had sex in my guest room. Although, I am really glad that I didn’t walk in on anything.”

“Oh, you mean like I did last night?” Sam laughed as she shook her head. “That would’ve been karmic if you had done the same.”

“Uh, more like traumatizing. A head’s up next time would be highly appreciated.” She narrowed her eyes at Sam, who nodded apologetically in return.

“From now on, I’ll tell you next time there’s a penis in the house.”

Nicole cringed as she wrinkled her nose. “Do you have to say it like that?”

The sound of Sam’s laughter filled the room as her shoulders bounced up and down. “I couldn’t resist.”

Nicole rolled her eyes and inhaled through her nose. She shook her head lightly as the playfulness of her demeanor shifted. “So, you and Danny have some sort of agreement about sleeping with other people then?”

“Actually, we didn’t before, but I talked to him this morning. He says he wants us to be able to see other people. Turns out he’s been sleeping with one of his coworkers for the past week now.” She rolled her eyes as she folded her arms across her chest. “But that’s fine by me. Bartender dude called, and he was able to satisfy me in a way Danny hasn’t even tried to in two years. So maybe I’m better off without him anyways.”

Nicole lowered her eyes in sympathy. She could hear the pain in her friend’s voice, but she didn’t know how to help. “Sam—”

“It’s fine. I don’t really want to talk about it anymore.” She shook her head as she forced a smile. “So, what was your big news?”

“Oh, right! So, Waverly brought me lunch today, had we had this moment, and I saw it.” She beamed.

Sam looked at Nicole with raised eyebrows. “Saw what?”

“Our future. I could see us getting married, and officially moving in together, and us having kids, and maybe a dog. Of course, Calamity Jane would have to approve.”

“Of the kids?”

Nicole narrowed her eyes. “Of the dog.”

“I’m just kidding,” Sam chuckled. “But that’s so sweet! Sounds like you know what you want.”

“I do know. And that’s the news I want to tell you.” She took a deep breath in through her nose and nodded before letting all of the air expel from her lungs. “I think I want to propose to her.”

Sam’s eyes widened. “Now?”

“Well, not right this very minute, but I want to start planning it. I’m ready to ask her.”

“Nicole! Oh my god!” Sam started laughing when she remembered Waverly’s confession from earlier that morning.

“What’s so funny?” Nicole questioned with a furrowed brow.

“No, nothing. You and Waverly are just perfect for each other, that’s all.” She reached her arms around Nicole’s neck and pulled her into a hugg as she rocked them back and forth in excitement. “I’m so so happy for you, Nic.” She gave one last squeeze before releasing the redhead from her embrace. “You better get it on video for me to see!”

“Oh, you’re going to be there when it happens.” Nicole grinned.

Sam slightly shook her head in confusion. “I am?”

“Yep. I’m going to do it before you leave next week.”

“That soon?!”

Nicole shrugged. “Why not? I already know I want to marry her. Why wait?”

“Do you have time to plan everything?”

“Waverly’s not the type of person to want an extravagant proposal. Actually, I’ve thought about just doing it at the homestead. Maybe I’ll plan a get together with everyone and pop the question.”

“That would be so cute! I love that.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, definitely. And I think she would really love that.” Sam smiled. “Speaking of Waverly, where is she? She’s usually here by now.”

“She went over to her Aunt’s house. Said she was going over there for a bit to help her with something.” Nicole shrugged.

---

Waverly paced back and forth in Gus’s kitchen as Gus and Wynonna watched her from where they were sitting at the kitchen table.

“Well, are you going to tell us or what?” Wynonna finally asked as she continued to rock a sleeping Alice against her chest.

“Yeah. Yeah, sorry. I’m just a little nervous.” Waverly paused her movements for a moment before she sat down in the chair across from them, but then quickly shot back up. Standing was much better.

“You’re not pregnant, are ya?” Gus teased as she eyed Wynonna, making it obvious that she was referring to her big news a few months ago.

“Hey, thanks to me you don’t have to wait until you’re a complete dinosaur to be a great aunt.”

Gus backhanded her older niece in the shoulder that didn’t have Alice laying across it.

“No, I’m not pregnant.”

“Are you going to tell us that you’re gay? Because we already know.” Wynonna smirked in her usual smartass way.

“I’m going to ask Nicole to marry me,” Waverly blurted out as she looked between the two frozen faces of her sister and her aunt before continuing, “Now, I know we’ve only been together for nine months, which is only three quarters of a year. But I know that I want to be with her forever. I can’t imagine being with anyone else. I love her, and she takes really good care of me, and if anyone can make me happy, it’s her.”

Wynonna looked over as Gus for a moment before shrugging. “I mean, I’m actually surprised you two haven’t already gotten hitched. You and Haughtstuff have my support.”

Waverly let out a quick sigh of relief before looking over at Gus, who was looking down at the table in thought. Waverly’s smile quickly dropped from her face and she began to feel nervous again. “Gus?”

“Do you know how long your Uncle Curtis and I were together before he asked me to marry him?” She said in a soft voice before slowly looking up at Waverly. Her expression was unreadable.

Waverly swallowed thickly before answering. “Two years.”

“Two years. That’s when I was sure. Because marriage is a commitment. It’s a commitment that a lot of people jump into before they really know what they want, and it’s a commitment that not enough people take seriously.” A small smile spread across her face. “Curtis wanted to marry me on our second date. Actually, he was sure on our first date, but he thought that would be too soon to ask.” She chuckled. “But I turned him down. He wasn’t surprised though. I think he was even expectin’ it. I said that I wanted to wait until we were both sure, and that it was silly to want to get married on the second date. His response to my rejection was that he was sure, but that he would wait for me to be sure too, no matter how long it took. And lookin’ back, I always knew that I was sure on our first date too. But I was too scared to trust myself and instead listened to everyone around me who believed that love and commitment have a set time limit on it. But it doesn’t. Only you can say when you’re sure, not anyone else. So…are you sure, Waverly?”

Waverly mirrored her aunt’s serious expression and gave a confident nod without a single beat of hesitation. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Then if it’s my blessin’ you’re after, you have it.”

With a wide grin, Waverly shuffled over behind Gus and Wynonna and wrapped her arms around them both as she pulled them into a hug. “Thank you both for your support. It really means a lot to me.” She gave Gus a quick kiss on the cheek before doing the same to Wynonna.

Wynonna nodded. “Yeah yeah, just let me know when you’re gonna do it so I know how much time I have to prepare my shovel talk for Red.”

Waverly drew her eyebrows together as she stood up from her bent position. “You already gave Nicole the shovel talk when we first started dating?”

“Yeah, but that was just the dating shovel talk. The married shovel talk is a much different one.”

Waverly rolled her eyes as she sat down at the table beside Wynonna and gently rubbed Alice’s back. She smiled at the thought of starting her own little family with Nicole, and one day, having a baby of her own.

---

Two days later

Chrissy and Waverly walked through the mall as they headed towards the ring shop. The more the store front came into view, the more nervous Waverly got.

“Relax. It’s just a ring.” Chrissy smiled as she nudged Waverly’s arm.

“It’s not just any ring. It’s an important ring. A ring she’s going to have for the rest of her life. One that symbolizes our entire marriage.”

Chrissy shook her head as she chuckled. “Waves, I don’t think the ring is what makes the marriage. It’s just a piece of jewelry. You and Nicole love each other. You’re practically already married. And no matter which ring you pick, she’s going to love it, because she loves you. So stop stressing out about this and just enjoy the fact that you’re going to get married before I am.” She winked.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Waverly sighed as she nodded. “This is why I brought you ring shopping with me.” She smiled as she looped her arm around Chrissy’s.

“What are best friends for?” The blonde smiled back as they walked into the ring store.

“Hello, what can I do to help you today?” A middle-aged dark-skinned woman with short brown hair asked with a bright smile.

“Just looking around for now.” Waverly smiled back.

“Okay. Let me know if you need any help,” The woman replied before walking back over to her seat behind the counter.

Waverly ran her hand over the glass as she looked through one of the cases. She frowned when she got to the end of it without liking a single thing. Everything just seemed too sparkly and flashy for Nicole’s taste. She didn’t quite know what she was looking for, though. She figured she would just know when she saw it, but now she was starting to regret not doing any research beforehand. She turned to Chrissy and sighed. “I should’ve asked Nicole what she wanted before coming here.”

“How can you ask her what ring she wants without her knowing that you’re going to propose to her?” Chrissy asked, as if it were obvious.

“I don’t know. But I have no idea which one to get her. None of these seem like something she would want. Or maybe all of them are something she would want? I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Just keep looking. I’m sure one of these is going to be the one. Here, let’s try this case over here.” She pushed Waverly over towards the other side of the store.

“But these are men’s rings,” Waverly stated with a furrowed brow.

“Rings are rings. Anyone can wear any ring. Just look, okay? Don’t give up yet.”

Waverly sighed as she shook her head in doubt. “Fine.” She browsed around for a few minutes, running her hand over the glass like she did before, and paused when a simple, thin gold band caught her eye. She could actually see this ring on Nicole’s finger. A small smile spread across her face, but quickly dropped when she saw the price tag.

“You find one?” Chrissy asked as she walked over towards Waverly.

“I think this one,” The brunette replied as she pointed towards the glass.

Chrissy gasped. “Oh my god, that one is perfect for her!” She beamed.

“Yeah, but look at how much it is.”

Chrissy peered down at the price tag. “Eighty dollars. That’s a lot less than you were planning on spending!” She said excitedly.

“Exactly.”

The blonde scrunched up her face. “I’m confused.”

“That’s too cheap! I can’t spend only eighty dollars on Nicole’s ring! She’ll think I don’t care about her. Like I’m saying she’s not worth spending more money on.”

“Waverly, that’s ridiculous. She’s not going to be looking for the price.” Chrissy folded her arms across her chest.

“I mean, isn’t a ring supposed to be worth two months’ salary? That’s what I read online…”

“Okay, that’s just a myth by the diamond companies wanting to scam people out of their money. There is no set price a ring should cost, and if anything, I can almost guarantee that Nicole would murder you if she found out that you spent two months’ salary on a ring for her.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Waverly, listen to me.” Chrissy rested her hands on the shorter woman’s shoulders in front of her. “Don’t think about the price right now. Does this ring feel right to you?”

Waverly nodded.

“Then you’re getting that ring. And Nicole is going to love it. And you can use the money you saved to buy a sex toy or something. She’ll really love you for that.” She smirked as she dropped her arms by her side.

Waverly chuckled and shook her head. “Okay, you’re right. I’m just being silly.” She looked down at the ring once more and smiled. She knew it was the one for her future wife. “Excuse me,” Waverly waved and the clerk hurried towards her.

“You find something?” The woman smiled as she slipped the coil bracelet with a key dangling from it off of her wrist, ready to unlock the case Waverly was standing in front of.

“I’d like to take a look at this thin gold one please.” Waverly smiled as she pointed towards the gold band.

With a smile still spread across her face, the woman unlocked the case from her side and took the ring out to show Waverly.

After inspecting it up close, and earning a nod of approval from Chrissy, Waverly smiled. “I’d like to buy this one.”

“Lovely choice! What size?”

“Six.”

The woman quirked an eyebrow. “That’s a small ring size. But surprisingly enough, I do have this one in a six.” She put the ring back in the display case and grabbed one near it. “I’ll grab you a box.”

Waverly followed her over towards the register while the woman reached under the counter for a black ring box. “So, is this for a special occasion?”

“I’m proposing,” Waverly beamed as she handed over her card to pay.

“Oh how exciting!” The woman exclaimed as she handed Waverly’s card back over and put the receipt in the bag. “It’s not every day you see a woman proposing to a man.”

Waverly smiled weakly as she nodded. She glanced over at Chrissy, who was looking back at her, as if she were waiting for Waverly to say something, but Waverly just took the bag from the woman and smiled.

“I wish you a happy engagement and marriage!”

“Thank you,” Waverly nodded. “Have a good day!”

When they got far away enough from the store, Chrissy finally asked, “Why didn’t you correct her?”

Waverly shrugged. “I don’t always want to have to come out to people. It’s a little exhausting going through the whole thing of mentally preparing for someone to not take it well. And even when it is taken well, it’s often followed by an extra conversation, mostly about that one gay family member, and I don’t always want to have to deal with it. Sometimes I just want to buy a ring and leave like everyone else gets to, you know?”

“I’ve never thought about it like that,” Chrissy replied. “That really does sound annoying.”

Waverly shrugged. “It’s not that bad. You kind of get used to it after a while. But sometimes I just don’t feel like doing it.”

“Does it ever bother you that people just assume you’re straight?”

“I mean, I wish people would just not assume that I’m anything at all, but it’s just how it is. I’m not really surprised by it.”

Chrissy nodded. “You know what, since you and Nicole got together, I’ve been more conscious about assuming things. I don’t ask if someone has a boyfriend or girlfriend, I just ask if they’re seeing anyone. It’s actually pretty interesting because I’m not really surprised by their answer that way. If I were assuming someone had a girlfriend and they said they had a boyfriend, I’d be a little surprised. But when I leave it open for any answer and I don’t have any expectations, it’s not really all that shocking, you know?”

“You started doing that because of me?” Waverly asked, a slight smile creeping onto her face.

“Yep,” Chrissy nodded as one corner of her mouth pulled up in a half smile. “And I know I’m not the only one your coming out has had a positive impact on. So just know that even though you go through some bullshit, you’re also inspiring positive change.”

Waverly beamed as she continued to walk beside Chrissy with a little more pep in her stride. “Oh, before I forget, can you be at Shorty’s tonight?”

“Sure. But for what?” Chrissy asked in curiosity.

“That’s when I’m going to propose.”

The blonde halted her movements in the middle of the mall hallway and grabbed Waverly by the arm to pull her back. “Um, hold up. You’re proposing tonight? As in, in just a few short hours?!”

“I am,” Waverly nodded.

“Waves! Why didn’t you tell me tonight was the night?!”

Waverly shrugged. “Because I kind of just decided it.”

“Okay, we need to get back to Purgatory, pronto! Do you know what you’re going to wear? What are you going to say? Oh my god, I haven’t even prepared my ‘congratulations’ yet!”

“Chrissy, calm down. I don’t want this to be such a big thing. You know how Nicole doesn’t like to make a big deal about things, so I just want to keep it simple. Just like the way Nicole likes things to be.” She held up the bag with the ring in it and shook it. “Simple.”

“Okay okay, fine. Sorry for getting excited about my first proposal. I just like extravagant things,” Chrissy said sarcastically as she held her hands up in mock surrender.

Waverly shook her head as she wrapped her arm around Chrissy’s and urged her to continue walking. “So I guess this is a bad time to tell you that our wedding will probably be at the homestead.”

Chrissy whined as she trudged along beside Waverly.

---

“Come on Dolls, we’re going to be late!” Nicole yelled from where she was sitting on the front desk of the station, impatiently swinging her legs back and forth.

“Okay okay, I’m coming. I just have to finish up this last little bit of this report and then I’m done. What’s the big deal anyways?” He asked as he read the text on his phone from Waverly…

Waverly: We just got to the bar. You two can leave now! :)

“I don’t know. Waverly wants us all at the bar for something. She said it’s important, and I don’t want to keep her waiting.” Nicole replied.

“Sounds like you’re whipped to me,” Dolls chuckled as he typed his reply…

Dolls: Okay, we’re leaving now.

He shoved his phone in his pocket and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair as he walked out towards the lobby.

“Okay, yeah, I’m whipped. So what?” As soon as Nicole heard him coming, she jumped off the desk and rushed towards the front door. “I just like making her happy. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“No, there’s not.” Dolls smiled as he locked the door behind them. He knew exactly why they were going to Shorty’s, and he was finding it amusing that Nicole had no clue.

Nicole had to focus really hard on not speeding down the road. Waverly said she wanted them there by 8:00, and it was already almost 8:15. And Nicole was usually very punctual.

When she pulled into a parking spot, Nicole wasted no time in getting out of the car before rushing towards the door.

“Haught, slow down,” Dolls laughed. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

“She said to be here fifteen minutes ago.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure she’ll be fine if we’re a little late.”

“You don’t know Waverly like I do,” Nicole replied.

“Whatever you say,” Dolls mumbled with an amused smile as he shook his head.

As Nicole got closer to the door, she heard shouting. “Oh great, someone’s yelling. I’m sure it’s Waverly yelling something about us being late.”

“Would you chill out? I’m sure it’s just Wynonna being drunk and not realizing that she’s using her outside voice.”

Nicole sighed as she grabbed the front door handle and eagerly swung it open. When she walked inside, she immediately locked eyes with Waverly standing by the bar, but her smile quickly dropped when she saw the look of panic on her girlfriend’s face. It was only a second later when she realized that the entire place was dead silent, and everyone inside was motionless, as if they were frozen. She looked over to her right and saw what everyone was staring at, and that’s when it clicked. There was a teenage boy – about fifteen years old – pointing a gun at somebody. When she saw that he was pointing it at Wynonna standing behind the bar with her hands in the air, she drew her own gun from her utility belt.

“Drop your weapon!” Nicole shouted in a firm voice. As soon as the words left her mouth, the sound of a gunshot rang through the bar, followed by a second gunshot, and then some screams.

It took Nicole’s brain a moment to catch up to what was happening. She looked around the room, and everything was dead silent. She couldn’t tell if it was because her ears were ringing from the sound of the gunshots, or because nobody was talking. Her eyes landed on Dolls, who seemed to be calling for an ambulance as he looked at her with his gun pointed at the kid, who was now lying face down on the floor, with blood slightly pooling around his body. She looked around some more to make sense of the scene, when her eyes landed on Waverly. The brunette was shaking as she stared at her with wide eyes and a trembling hand over her mouth. Tears started to run down her cheeks, and Nicole wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay. That an ambulance was already on the way to get the boy some help, and that they were going to figure this out.

Nicole had lost all sense of time. It felt like it had been several minutes since the shots were fired, but in reality, it had only been about three seconds. Suddenly, something caught her eye. She looked down and noticed the blood dripping onto the floor from her abdomen. There was a giant patch of red on her uniform shirt, and suddenly she realized what had happened. She touched the spot to feel the blood, just to make sure it was real; to make sure this wasn’t all a dream. When she felt the warm liquid on her fingers, she immediately looked at Waverly, who was now running towards her, shouting something, but Nicole couldn’t hear anything. Before Waverly had reached her, everything slowly faded to black, and reality slipped away from her.