Chapter Text
Waverly couldn't believe it. How was she back in Purgatory after all her hard work to place the small town firmly in her rear view mirror? Waverly was back in Purgatory, back behind the bar at Shorty's, and back in the old apartment above the bar. So much for all that potential Uncle Curtis had always talked about. She had been back briefly for his funeral between classes but the memories here were overwhelming. Waverly lamented quietly about all of her lost dreams. Would she ever see the ocean or do something that made her heart pound with excitement? Waverly sighed. There was very little chance of anything life altering happening in Purgatory besides grief and stagnation.
But Waverly was back in Purgatory. Waverly was back in Shorty's getting everything set up for a morning shift she never thought she would work again. She wiped absent-mindedly at the same spot on the bar she'd been ‘cleaning’ for 20 minutes and it practically gleamed beneath her hand.
Gus.
Waverly was here for Gus and Shorty. And even though she hated to admit it, she was back for herself.
Waverly had needed a job to deal with that damn degree she had earned, to start paying down the sizable loan that accompanied it. All that work in every dusty library the Big City had to offer and all she was left with was a mountain of debt. But Gus and Shorty needed help running the bar after a particularly bad brawl had ensured Shorty would be out of the beer slinging game for quite a while. Waverly tried to focus on Gus, Shorty and the bar. They were the only things that mattered and if Waverly could help them while helping herself, maybe coming back wouldn't be so bad. The ache in her stomach didn't go anywhere, however. Waverly would just have to distract herself with work. Work hard enough that her bad memories would have nowhere to sprout.
Waverly got to work cleaning other things besides her spot on the bar. She busied herself with clearing up boxes and moving a particularly heavy one to the back office. The box was labeled with the logo of the Purgatory sheriff's office. Waverly had been informed that it was a box of old odds and ends from the bowels of the precinct's ancient evidence locker. Lonnie had finally gotten around to cleaning up. Waverly shook her head at the thought; some things really never changed. An assortment of old, busted looking revolvers, a collection of retired Stetsons, what looked like chaps, a surprisingly shiny sheriff's badge and other old timey knickknacks' filled the cardboard container. She picked up the badge and rubbed her finger across the raised ‘sheriff’ lettering before she placed it back in the box. Waverly wondered if this was an entirely legal way to dispose of the items, but what better way to keep history in Purgatory? If the current sheriff didn't mind, then neither did Waverly. Besides, the items looked like they would go perfectly on the walls of Shorty's. Waverly would have the discussion of placement with Gus later.
It was early in the day but, really, she had nothing better to do. It wasn't as if she could just stroll the streets of Purgatory, not without stumbling into any of the countless people Waverly wanted to avoid for as long as possible. The list of people she wanted to avoid was long and she was tempted to never leave this bar. At least here she could distract them while they were drunk. Now, the only thing here for her was the nearly empty apartment above her with her depressingly few boxed up possessions. So instead, Waverly distracted herself with cleaning every inch of Shorty's. Just as she went to clean the handles of the old bar taps, Waverly noticed movement in the corner of her eye.
In the split second her attention was diverted, Waverly found herself drenched in a particularly average and particularly stale, pale ale. This was definitely not her drink of choice.
Fudgenuggets.
Waverly frantically reached for the tap to shut the thing off. Relief washed over her as her hand found the appropriate amount of force to stop the violent spray of alcohol to her face, as she smacked the offending tap.
“I didn't know Shorty's had wet t-shirt competitions.” Confidence dripped from the newcomer’s words as Waverly finally managed to take in her current situation. Her eyes locked with a beautiful red headed stranger, as they leaned casually against a pillar near the entrance.
“You okay?” The woman asked.
Waverly took her in; her eyes traced the form up and down. Brilliant auburn hair draped her shoulders, leather jacket covered a blue flannel shirt over long legs in ripped jeans and red converse shoes rounded out the look. The head to toe scan Waverly gave did not go unnoticed, and a smirk appeared on the redhead's face.
Waverly tried desperately to recover, something very hard to do reeking of alcohol before noon. “Yeah, yeah. Just a bit jumpy. I had a crazy night.”
Crazy . If you could count hastily unpacking the contents of her Jeep into her old room upstairs and finding the biggest spider Waverly had ever seen. It was a wonder no one heard her shriek. The floorboards creaked more than she remembered and Waverly was sure she had heard something out on the fire escape. Maybe crazy was the wrong word…Spooky? But Waverly was too distracted with the brilliant brown eyes of the woman in front of her to reconsider her words.
The woman approached the bar and took her headphones off her ears, placed them around her neck and rested her hands along the bar.
“Sorry I wasn't here to see it.” The woman said, but something about the gleam in her eyes suggested she somehow knew more. The stranger extended her hand for a shake. “I've been meaning to introduce myself. I'm Nicole. Nicole Haught.”
The words sounded a bit strange to Waverly. Just how long had she been standing there watching Waverly clean? But all was forgotten as Nicole flashed a wicked smile.
“Hi.” Was all Waverly could manage as she shivered and internally panicked. Her brain’s signals consisted entirely of a constant siren of warning. It blared, ‘Damn this woman is Haught ’.
Waverly returned the handshake.
“And you are Waverly Earp. Quite a popular girl around here.” Nicole blushed, but confidence across her features still reigned. It was a line that probably worked on many before Waverly.
Waverly shrugged, her cheeks heating as she pulled back.
“Oh you know, it's all in the smile and wave.” Waverly’s hands awkwardly betrayed her, as she promptly performed said smile and wave. Waverly blushed as she realized just how wet her shirt was and how uncomfortable the wet fabric was as it clung to her torso.
Nicole agreed. “I bet. Can I get a cappuccino to go?”
Waverly barely noticed the slight hesitation in Nicole's face. Nicole recovered quickly and turned to point the machine out, a discreet misdirection, to hide any lingering embarrassment.
“Oh, I'm really sorry. Um, we're not actually open yet, so.” Waverly mumbled. Desperate to end the conversation to confront the growing panic in her chest.
“Oh! Okay. My bad!” The redhead put her hands up like she'd been caught. Perhaps she had been. Both women could barely take their eyes off each other as electricity formed in the air, magic coursed between them.
Nicole schooled her features, all confidence and charisma. “When I see something I like, I don't wanna wait, there really isn't time for that. And your door was open.” Nicole pointed to the old wooden doors she appeared to have just walked through. She smiled again, a brilliant white flash of teeth despite the dusty warm bar lighting.
Waverly reached under the bar to collect a clean dish rag, her hand blindly groped for it as her eyes stayed locked with Nicole's. She quickly covered herself with the tiny towel, trying to dry her shirt and cover her frame at the same time. Nicole's gaze was electric and sent shivers up Waverly’s spine.
Waverly's mind blanked as her mouth ran away with itself. “God, I'm sopping wet, I keep telling Shorty he needs to fix the darn taps.” Waverly dropped her gaze to her soaked tank top. “Do you mind?” Waverly motioned for Nicole to turn around and cover her eyes with her own hands.
“Oh!” Nicole copied Waverly’s panicked eye covering motion, smile still plastered on her face as she turned to face away from Waverly.
Waverly turned away, but was ultimately unsuccessful in her resistance to turn around and peek at Nicole. Her brain didn't seem to want to function around the stunning redhead. Before her brain processed the possible consequences, Waverly found herself with her shirt pulled above her head but stuck painfully on her earring. Waverly cursed herself. What was she even planning to do once the soaked shirt was off? She scrunched her face, took a deep breath and called out to Nicole for help.
“Uh, hey Nicole, I'm stuck.” An embarrassed chuckle escaped with Waverly’s plea for help.
“Oh, let me help you.” Nicole rushed around the bar, ready to rescue the pretty lady. “I got you.”
Nicole took the situation in and helped Waverly unstick herself from her shirt's attempted imprisonment.
As Nicole lifted the shirt from her head, Waverly’s mouth betrayed her again. “Oh god, good thing you're not some guy. Or this would be really, really awkward.” The words came out in a rushed wheeze.
Nicole let her gaze linger with a more subtle confidence, lost in the soft hazel rings. Nicole shrugged the comment off, as if she could ignore the comparison if it meant more time with the pretty girl.
“Um, I, I owe you one.” Waverly managed as she hugged herself tighter. She almost wished she could disappear under Nicole's intensely interested gaze.
“Alright well, how about you buy me a beer instead? How about tonight?” Nicole tilted her head, her eyes sparkled with obvious attraction.
“Oh, I can't.” Waverly lied as panic fully engulfed her brain. “No. I mean I'd love to but-like, like to, uh…but I have plans. Yeah. I'm a planner.”
Waverly chuckled and Nicole bit her lip.
Waverly continued her panicked ramble. “I like to know what I'm doing at least two or three days in advance.” Waverly shook her head and blurted out honestly, “I'm not looking for a relationship. I've dated too many boys…men…I mean. I'm working on me, and don't plan to stay in Purgatory.”
“Boy-men.” Nicole sighed and stepped outside of their bubble. “Yep. I've been there.” She laughed, mostly to herself.
Waverly couldn't help herself as her gaze followed Nicole, her chest filled with an unexplainable longing.
“It's the worst. Okay, well some other time. I'll be around. I mean it.” She said as she ran long fingers through her restless red curls.
Waverly smiled as she desperately willed her mouth to stay shut.
As she backed up, Nicole asked, “Hey, is there, like, a back entrance to this place?” Nicole couldn't remember. She sheepishly pulled a pack of cigarettes from the backpack Waverly hadn't noticed slung across her shoulder. She waved the tiny box and looked around.
Waverly only nodded and pointed to the hallway on the side of the building that would lead to the back exit. An area that contained Shorty's dumpster and just enough empty space for such activities.
Nicole rubbed her neck with her free hand and blushed. “Thanks, Earp.”
And with that, Nicole walked smoothly out the back door with a swagger Waverly would have found distasteful from anyone else.
Nicole didn't breathe until her back hit the solid wooden door of Shorty's back entrance.
Holy shit!
Nicole took a cigarette from the box, put it between her lips and slid down the wood paneling, now an exhausted puddle on the ground. She sighed and slid the box back into her bag. She didn't have a lighter but that hardly mattered. Just another puzzle piece she couldn't place. The action was familiar, somehow. Nicole ran her hand through her hair again and laughed to herself. She didn't have very many consistent memories, but this…
How did she end up here? Purgatory was a strange place, but she'd only been loitering around Shorty's for a couple of days. When did that goddess of a woman get here? And how was Nicole going to sweep her off her feet? Because, now that they'd officially met, it was the only thought in her head. She needed more time with Waverly.
Waverly Earp.