WayHaught Watch a Meteor Shower

Nicole kept her face buried in Waverly's hair, biting her lip to keep from laughing. So they were going to have THIS conversation. She wanted to mess with her friend...just a little. "Know what?"

"That you're gay."

"Wait, you think I'm gay?"

Waverly panicked and began to sit up, but Nicole held tight and chuckled. "I'm sorry. I couldn't resist."

Waverly smacked Nicole's stomach, which caused her to laugh harder. "Ok, I'll be serious. When did I know? Well, I finally put words to what was going on inside me when I was 13. But it was horrible. I refused to accept it, I fought it. I hated it. I hated myself. Not to be Debbie Downer on such an amazing night...but it was really hard. So I isolated a lot. Then when I was 18 I met someone, a woman, who saw me...really saw me. She was like me, she understood me. She was secure and confident in life, in business, in her own skin. And she helped me learn how to live a life I wanted, a life I dreamed of, a life I would be proud of 50, 60 years from now. And so all of that has led me here, tonight."

Waverly was quiet, processing Nicole's story. "Did you love her?"

Nicole took a deep breath before answering. "Well, I thought I did. But it wasn't love. It was admiration, infatuation, and gratitude. We both needed something from each other at the time. And then..." she shrugged, "...it ended."

"What happened? At the end?"

Nicole sighed and shrugged. "Oh, what usually happens when two people are together for the wrong reasons...they grow apart, they head in different directions, the want different things. I needed someone who made me feel normal, accepted, special. She needed someone to need her. That all sounds very dramatic, but it was mostly about sex. I wanted more than that...and she didn't."

Waverly couldn't help but cringe, her body stiffening, and her stomach turned sour. That reaction confused the hell out of her. Part of her wanted to pull away from Nicole, stop touching her. But the other part of her—the part that had been inexplicably drawn to this woman from day 1—won out...so she burrowed closer to Nicole.

They lay that way for a while longer. The meteor shower passed, but still they lay there. Nicole let herself enjoy it, for only this single encapsulated moment. When she felt Waverly shivering, she took a deep breath and rolled them over. Resting her weight on her elbows, peering down at Waverly's surprised face in the moonlight shadows...surprised but not uncomfortable or scared. They watched each other, breathing, taking in the other's face.

Waverly whispered, "I like your hair down." She reached up with one tentative hand, touching it.

Nicole was fought every desire to kiss the woman only inches below her. She thought maybe, just maybe, Waverly wanted it, too. But she just couldn't. She wouldn't. Waverly was with Champ. So she took another breath, closed her eyes and rolled off Waverly and flopped onto her back. "We should probably get going. I have to work tomorrow." She lifted her arm to look at her watch. "Today."

Waverly was trying to clear her head, too. "Ok. Champ is picking me up in the morning to help me clear out Uncle Curtis's stuff."

Nicole groaned. Champ would get to spend the day with Waverly while she was going through her beloved uncle's things. She stood, offering Waverly a hand up. "I know that'll be hard on you. Call or text me if you need to talk...or if you just need a distraction. I'll drum up a knock-knock joke or two, just in case."

Waverly took the offered hand and stood up, laughing. "I will."

They folded the blankets, and Nicole hopped out of the truck, turning to lift Waverly down. She just couldn't stop herself from letting Waverly's body slide down her own, and it felt so good. She just wanted one more memory of this night.

With Waverly on her feet, Nicole stepped back and picked up the pile. She lifted the tailgate into place and moved to the passenger door to slide the blankets into the middle seat. When Waverly was settled, Nicole walked around to to her side.

Opening her own door, Nicole hesitated with one leg in the cab before climbing the rest of the way into her seat. Waverly gave her a shy smile from the middle seat, the blankets relegated to the passenger side.

Neither of them mentioned it as Nicole started the engine. Focusing intently on the rough dirt road, Nicole had both hands tight on the wheel.

Waverly asked if she could turn the heat on.

Nicole quickly glanced over at Waverly, shocked, and then back out the front window. "Waves...yeah...yes of course!"

They bounced around in truck cab when they hit a big dip and Waverly's hand landed on Nicole's thigh. They both looked down at it, then at each other, then out the front window. But Waverly left her hand where it was.

Nicole could barely breathe, heart in her throat, mouth dry. Her thigh burned where Waverly's hand rested. She knew she should move it. But she just couldn't bring herself to do it. And when they were back on the main road, with the pavement smoothed out, she released the wheel with one hand to cover Waverly's on her thigh.

Waverly had never felt so content. None of her dates with Champ had ever left her feeling this way. She shook her head...'this was not a date'. She glanced up at Nicole's profile. Things were changing in Waverly's life, inside her and out, and it was terrifying.

They were quiet the rest of the way to the Earp homestead. But it wasn't the uncomfortable sort of quiet. They each had a lot of thoughts racing around in their heads.

When Nicole pulled to a stop outside the Earp home, she released Waverly's hand to put the truck in park. Sitting there, in the dark, in the silence, neither knew what to do.

Taking the situation in hand, Nicole made the first move. She got out, turning to help Waverly down.

Standing in front of Nicole, Waverly leaned against the side of the truck. She looked briefly at the house where all was dark, then back to Nicole who was watching her intently.

"What are you thinking, Nicole?"

Nicole was thinking a lot of thoughts she shouldn't be thinking. She was thinking that she wanted to push herself up against the smaller woman. She was thinking that she wanted to kiss Waverly, to make her moan into her mouth. She was thinking that she wanted to smell Waverly's hair one more time before the magic of this night faded back into reality. But she couldn't say any of those thoughts. So instead she said, "Sleep well, Waves."

"You too, Nicole" Waverly pushed off the truck and Nicole watched her walk up to the house, watched her walk in the door, and watched her turn back to wave before the door was shut.

And with that, Nicole took a deep, head-cleansing breath.

The night had been amazing, it had been far more than she had been thinking possible all day long. Now it was over. Waverly was probably already calling Champ. So she climbed into the truck and headed back to town. Back to her own place. Alone.

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Nicole heard her phone chirp with a text message, but waited until she was parked outside her place to check it.

WAVERLY: get home safe?

NICOLE: just now

WAVERLY: tonight was amazing. Thank you

NICOLE: yeah. It was pretty great. Glad you were there with me.

WAVERLY: I have a lot of thoughts...but I don't know what they all mean

NICOLE: they'll sort themselves out..just listen and trust yourself

NICOLE: No matter what...I will ALWAYS be your friend

WAVERLY: Thank you. Good night, Nicole

NICOLE: Good night, Waves

Nicole smiled. Walking into her place didn't feel quite so alone.