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"Welcome to our new freshmen of Purgatory University!"

The dean said his greetings already during freshmen orientation, but the enthusiastic train wasn't finished until the next two weeks as the college freshmen settle in the campus.
Waverly Earp and Chrissy Nedley were one of those freshmen. The two holds a bond so strong that not even chainsaws on steroids could break it. Since kindergarten, they've had the same class together and practically were best friends throughout their educational
journey. Even in high school they only had each other when everyone else didn't approve
of their punk phase. It started in junior year but Chrissy grew out of it by senior year. Waverly, however, still takes pride in the black lipstick and platform shoes she wears.

Chrissy Nedley enrolled herself in college in hopes of becoming something that won't land her a boring nine-to-five job in Purgatory, unlike her sheriff father. Her dream for freshmen year is to become that basic party girl but saving her brains for studies instead of giving it.

Despite her gothic look, Waverly is a smart cookie with different plans this year. Ironically enough, she's a history major and she has no intention of screwing her ambitions up for anything. Even though she wanted to study abroad, the young Earp didn't have much choice but to enroll in the same college as her sister, Wynonna, and her other alumni sister, Willa.

"Hey, did you get your schedule?" Chrissy approached Waverly excitedly with her schedule in hand.
"Uh- yeah! I got it right here." Waverly snapped out of her blank state and held up her schedule. Chrissy took a look at it and compared it with her own, the smile dropping slightly.

"Damn! I know we don't have the same majors but our schedules are nearly opposites of each other!" Chrissy said, disappointed that she won't be seeing much of Waverly around campus.
"Don't sweat it, Chrissy," Waverly told her. "We're still dorm mates, remember? Or are you planning to spend your nights in some boy's dorm?" She joked.

Chrissy slapped her shoulder lightly before looking back to someone calling her. "Very funny, player. Anyway, I gotta run. But I'll see you tonight!" She winked, walking away from Waverly.
"You mean when we sleep in the same room? Because we're roommates!" Waverly called out to Chrissy as she fled to another friend.
Waverly looked down at her schedule to see where her first class was.
Mathematics - Building GR-16?
Waverly read in her head.
Where the hell is that? She flipped to the back of her schedule to see a poorly printed out map of the campus. Having quite a skill at reading maps, Waverly figured she could look for the building herself instead of asking someone like a cliche' freshmen.
The freshmen had a longboard tucked under her hand and on her waist and dropped it on the ground. She stepped onto the longboard and double checked the map for the right building. After deciding where to go, the young one pushed off with one leg and let the longboard take her where she needed to go.
Though it was a college campus and the new freshmen were bound to surround the perimeter, there was a fairly wide enough road that pathed around campus, and there weren't that many people in Waverly's way otherwise. The brunette rode her longboard swiftly, not worrying about anyone that might get in her way.

During her ride to the building, Waverly started to become skeptical about the path she was taking. The more she passed by buildings the more structures she became unfamiliar with. She only got to glance at her schedule every once in a while because she didn't wanna risk running into someone while her head was down.
The longboard was still rolling swiftly on the smooth pavement road, and Waverly began to worry more about her location. In the feat of the moment, she stared at the schedule and map for a few seconds more then she needed. That's when she spotted her mistake: the map was flipped, and she had been riding along the wrong part of campus this whole time.
"Oh, shit!" She muttered and looked up, the first thing seeing another student on a skateboard, riding towards her. "Oh, shit!" She said again, except loudly and unable to stop herself from crashing into the student on the skateboard.
The two fell onto each other and went tumbling on the ground, their skateboards clashing off to different directions. Luckily for Waverly, her fall was cushioned by the poor student under her. For the other person- her snapback that she wore backward went flying off her head as she held onto Waverly, her back hitting the ground.
On top of the red-headed student, Waverly rolled off of the body and sat up slowly. "Fuck me!" She exclaimed, rubbing her forehead with her palm.
"I would, but you crashed into me with your stupid longboard." The redhead replied, still lying on her back. "God- watch where you're going!"
Waverly turned around to see the woman wincing in pain from the impact. Feeling a bit bad for her, the brunette took offense in the insult on her longboard.

"Are you kidding me? You
watch where you're going! And your skateboard... sucks!" She tried with her clapback.

The stranger finally sat up to make eye contact with the Earp. "I wasn't the one eye-boggling her schedule, now was I?" Nicole made a point that Waverly didn't wanna admit she was right of. "Freshmen, huh?" The student got up and collected the skateboards that rolled off.

When she got back with her deck she held the longboard for Waverly as she got up. "I'm Nicole Haught, what's your name?" She asked, handing the longboard to Waverly and putting on her snapback.
"Waverly Earp." She answered, snatching the longboard from Nicole.

"Waverly Earp," Nicole repeated the name, having this look like she heard the name before, and set her board on the ground. "You suck at skateboarding." She bluntly said before hopping onto it quickly and riding away.
Waverly shouted at the cocky student in the distance. "It's called longboarding, idiot! Different than skateboarding!" She sighed and rolled her eyes.
So much for a first impression.
She turned around and bumped into another student, except he was male and more geek looking. "Come on, did you not just see me crash into that chick!?" She scolded.

"Ah, don't worry about her. She's just a little uptight." The man pointed at Waverly's longboard. "Hey, cool deck!" He complimented, yet he looks like he has nothing in association with skateboards.

"Thanks..." Waverly clutched onto her board. She stepped off to go on her way until she realized that she has no idea where she's going. "Actually, can you help me?" She pulled out her schedule. "I can't seem to find this building."
The male student took a look at the schedule. "Oh!" He snapped a finger promptly. "The G building is right over there." He pointed his finger straight ahead. "You're gonna follow this road and turn left when you get between those two buildings. Just read the signs and you'll be sure to find it." He explained simple enough for Waverly to understand.
"Ah, geez." Waverly stuck her hand out. "Thank you..."

"Jeremy. Jeremy Chetri." He shook her hand. "And you are?"
"Waverly Earp." Right as she said her name Jeremy knew exactly who she was.
"An Earp!" He said eagerly. "You should join out skateboarding club after school!" He leaned in closer to Waverly. "But it's not actually a skateboarding club, we just like to call it that so our funds won't disappear and it's more supernatural than kickflips," Jeremy whispered. "Take this as a personal invite, by me." He smiled.
Waverly smiled back to be friendly. "Sure, sounds good! But where is this club exactly?" She remembers Wynonna mentioning doing extracurriculars after school. She didn't believe her when she said she was in a club that didn't kick her out on the first day, perhaps that's what she
meant.
"How about..." Jeremy took another look at Waverly's schedule. "I meet you at your last period? I can introduce you to the members instead of letting you go blind-sighted." He suggested.
"Definitely." Waverly gave a closed-mouth smile to Jeremy and dropped her board. "Thanks for the help again! I'll see you after class!"

"Okay, bye-" Before he could say it, Waverly was already skating off.

-

Mathematics was a breeze for Waverly, most of the time was the professor going over the syllabus and expectations for the class. The professor went over the guidelines and what to do/not do during class, but Waverly already knew the only thing that mattered was the final, a test that determines whether or not a student's learned anything.
She will admit however that she got some weird looks from people as she entered the classroom. Her intimidating look gave people the wrong impression and made them to believe that Waverly might've stumbled into the wrong class... or maybe walked into the wrong college.
Either way, she expected people to judge her. Just like her two sisters, Wynonna especially who's known for being infamous, the youngest Earp had a sense that no one thought that Purgatory University was somewhere she belonged. Hell, she never felt like she belonged anywhere.
Class was over, and Waverly had twenty minutes to kill before her next period. Introduction to World History...
The freshmen read off the schedule. Just by the name, she could tell already that she was gonna ace this class. Her favorite subject had always been history, she even majored in it.
HE-2... Are you kidding me? That's all the way across campus! The map looked right to her this time, it was facing the right way and clear.
Waverly dropped the longboard on the pavement and pushed off on it with ease. Sure, her next period was on the other side of the school, but Waverly quite enjoyed the smooth cruise, being able to feel the wind against her face and have alone time was certainly a mix she liked.
While she rode her board Waverly took a look around her surroundings. Around the area was a mix of college kids walking or hanging around. Most of those students looked pretty normal, though normal wasn't really a word Waverly could associate herself with.
College life looks so... boring.
She thought. Where's the fun part of that? God, if only I convinced Gus to let me study abroad- Wynonna? Who the fuck is that next to her!?
The brunette caught Wynonna a distance ahead of her, leaning against a pillar and talking to Nicole-fucking-Haught. Yep, the same Nicole Haught Waverly wanted to rip the red-locks on her head after a nasty interaction with her this morning. She doesn't recall Wynonna hanging out with some 'Nicole', then again she didn't know (or care) of who the older Earp was hanging out with, she was always with her boyfriend Xavier Dolls' after all.

But still, Nicole Haught!? Who would be a worse person Waverly could think of that would hang out with her sister? Actually, she took that question back. There were nastier people she could be in the atmosphere of.
Waverly gave the two a good stare, trying to process what she was seeing. Wynonna had a smile on her face and acted as if she was invested in the conversation she was having with Haught-shit. It was a good thing the duo couldn't see Waverly from where they were, or else Nicole would get another biased impression of Waverly.

The young woman glanced ahead of her and saw that she was about to crash into another person walking towards her. This time she swerved
to the side and luckily avoided them. What she didn't avoid was the person yelping and Nicole peering at the sound, catching Waverly trying to control her balance on her board and smirking smugly.

-

The rest of the day for Waverly felt like a normal protocol for her first day of college. Although people still gave her dirty looks every time she showed up in the classroom, Waverly cared less about them and more about this 'club' Jeremy told her about.

Back in high school (which wasn't even that long of a time ago) Waverly was just another goodie-two-shoes, being the top of her class and earning her position as JV cheerleader for two years. It wasn't until junior year when Waverly switched gears and wore black more often than white.
While her change of wardrobe was a fling, the attitude of being edgy didn't work for Waverly. She thought back to her days where she attempted to skip school for the first time with some friends, apparently, gym was too good for them. Moral of the story, Waverly regretted skipping class so bad that she snuck herself back in school, her excuse for showing up late being in the nurse's office, handing the teacher a post-it of a random signature (surprisingly it worked).
"Any questions?" The professor asked and Waverly snapped out of her daydreaming. "Good, class is dismissed." The professor concluded, and just like that everyone started spilling out of the room.
Waverly picked up her bag and longboard and walked out of the classroom. Jeremy was already waiting for the freshmen outside and approached her instantly when she stepped outside.

"So, how was the first day of college?" He greeted.

"It was... okay," Waverly told him, still holding a grudge against Nicole, the bitch who frankly ruined her mood for the day.
"JUST okay?" Jeremy mocked lightly. "Ah, that's okay! Anyways follow me and I'll lead you to our secret club!" He did some weird gesture that was adorably nerdy to Waverly.
"Secret club? Don't you get funds for it?" Waverly raised an eyebrow.
"True, but..." Jeremy dragged his words. "We do way more than your typical normal club, also we don't participate in club rush so not many people know about it." He explained, walking with Waverly.
The two walked to the outskirts of the campus and to the sides of the football field. Given that Purgatory University is the only establishment besides the rest of the forest around it, Waverly guessed that Jeremy was taking her to a secluded location.

Eventually, on their mini hike, the couple hit a road, which Jeremy structured Waverly to follow on with him. The road leads them to a cabin on the side, but it was still kind of hidden in the woods.
They stopped at the door and Waverly suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach. "Ha, this is quite the location." She said while Jeremy pulled out his keys. "You're not gonna murder me, are you?" She jokingly asked, feeling more afraid.

Jeremy finally pulled out the keys to the door. "Here we are! Oh and- no, I have no intention of kidnapping you or anything." He jiggled the key inside the doorknob. "If I did, then you wouldn't be able to meet the gang!" Jeremy unlocked the door and swung it open. "Meet the club!"
Inside was a hangout room with a pool table, a few couches, and a bar all cramped in a medium-sized room. A range of people was scattered within the room, including Waverly's sister Wynonna, who was sitting down on the couch with her boyfriend Dolls.

"Hey, everyone! Meet our newest recruit, Waverly." He gestured to Waverly with one hand, and the people shifted their eyes over to Waverly. On the contrary, Waverly scanned the room to identify the people. Apart from Wynonna and Dolls, who she recognized immediately, she saw an Asian man talking to some guy with a thick mustache on the bar, a Latina playing pool with some redhead-
Oh my fucking god. Waverly's heart dropped.
Nicole Haught turned around to see Waverly standing next to Jeremy, shooting her that smug sneer again.

"You're kidding." Nicole let out a laugh.

Perfect.

-

Wayhaught art this fic was based on. You can find the artist here:
dbenitez95

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Waverly, let me name off the members of this group."

Jeremy closed the door and gestured for everyone to get together. "Let's start with... the couch." He pointed at the couple sitting on the couch. "As you know, that's Wynonna, and her boyfriend Xavier Dolls. Aren't they the cutest couple of senior year?"

Dolls and Wynonna waved at Waverly. "Hey, stranger." Wynonna looked at Jeremy. "You should've told me about our new member, otherwise we would've baked a cake for her." She sarcastically said, winking at Waverly.
"Anyways," Jeremy gestured to the two men on the bar. "That's Perry Crofte and Doc Holliday-"
"Wynonna didn't tell me about a little sister," Doc commented.
"I do, remember last year's Christmas party?" Perry reminded Doc, but the man with the mustache still looked dumbfounded.
"Maybe she did tell me, but I vaguely remember." Doc tipped his hat. "How you do?"

Waverly smiled.
So 1800s... She thought in the back of her mind, but she figured that's just how he acts.
"If you're wondering about his way of words, Doc's a senior too," Jeremy explained.
"And I'm just another sophomore, right Jeremy?" Perry added.
"I made Perry join this club after he told me his dad found some glowing stuff in his garage. He's a total conspiracy theorist now." Jeremy whispered to Waverly. "And he loves it!" Despite the intimidating vibe she was getting from the room, Jeremy's enthusiasm
calmed Waverly down a bit.
"If you direct your focus to the pool table, you'll see our super juniors." Jeremy shifted Waverly towards the pool table. She met eyes with Nicole and instantly got irritated. The redhead smirked and brought herself up to sit on the pool table.
That stupid smug smile on her face...
Waverly thought.
"Don't ever call us super juniors again." One of the women with the pool sticks said. "I'm Rosita." She greeted Waverly. "Bustillos."

"Hi," Waverly muttered awkwardly.
"And that's Nicole Haught- but you know her already," Jeremy said casually, not realizing that he subtly embarrassed Waverly. "She's the reason why our name's the 'skater's
club'. Even though like three of us knows how to actually skateboard."

Perry raised his hand in pride. "I'm one of them!"

"Dolls is the other one." Jeremy pointed at Dolls' deck leaning against the side of the couch.
"I like that longboard, Waverly Earp." Nicole chewed her gum. "I'm surprised it didn't fall apart from your reckless riding yet."

"I can say the same for your trashy board." Waverly shot back, but she knows her insults will never compare as good as Nicole's. She isn't quite good at roasting contests.
"Wow, you guys hate each other!" Wynonna laughed loudly. "Can't wait to see how this escalates..." She mumbled to Dolls.

Waverly rolled her eyes and was about to leave until Jeremy pulled her to the round table in the middle of the room.

"Anyway! Let's explore today's topic, shall we?" Jeremy said, trying to break the tension.

Perry and Doc hopped off the bar stools and took one side of the table while Rosita and Nicole placed their pool sticks down and joined the table, parallel to Dolls and Wynonna. Ironically, Nicole chose to stand fairly close to Waverly, her intentions of toying with the freshmen.
Jeremy pulled out a map from his backpack and laid it out on the table. "So, here's a map of the forest, and it looks normal, right? Just some trees and weeds and snow. But has anyone ever actually been..." He pointed to a red mark on the map. "This part of the forest?" He tapped on the mark vigorously, grabbing everyone's attention to look at the map except for Nicole and Waverly.
While Jeremy went on more about forests and the supernatural, Waverly couldn't help but ignore what Jeremy says and think about how the cockiest person in Purgatory is just happening to stand so close to her. As much as she hates to admit it, Waverly was quite intimidated by Nicole's presence.

Nicole wasn't paying attention to the map either, for she leaned to the side enough for her face to hover over Waverly's ear. "Don't think you're getting off this easy, Earp." She whispered, saying 'Earp' with a hard 'P' at the end.
Waverly looked into Nicole's face, all furious and irritated at that overconfident face. Arrogant and all, her mind began to study Nicole's face. The dimples created by her sly smile, her one freckle on the left cheekbone, the slightly furrowed eyebrows when she looks at Waverly, and those eyes that prompted fire-

Snap the fuck out of it! Waverly blinked hard after having a weirdly sensual moment to herself.
Shit, she's still staring at me... And Waverly still stared at Nicole, all brash but uncomfortably sexy-
"Go fuck yourself, Haught." Waverly hissed back, but being less discreet than Nicole was. Apparently, her voice was loud enough for everyone to look up from the map and glare at Waverly and Nicole. Most of them looked surprised, but Wynonna looked as if she was holding back another set of laughter.
Before she could defend herself, Nicole tsked and raised her hand. "I just tried to welcome her..." She smiled and snickered softly.
Everyone nodded a little and went back to talking about the forest. It was at that moment of embarrassment when Waverly wanted to absolutely smack the shit out of Nicole so hard that her snapback goes flying into another dimension. As specific as that sounded, she really did want to get back at Nicole for making an impression to the people in the room for her.
As for Nicole, she thought that messing with Waverly all year was going to be a blast. Even if she had that young, annoying personality of her's, she couldn't argue that Waverly's angry face was adorable, nor can she argue that the Earp had more appeal and intrigue than her older sister, who she's hit on before. Though Wynonna told her 'don't sweat it' when Nicole confessed at the time, she figured two time's the charm...
"Okay!" Jeremy concluded the conversation, snapping Waverly and Nicole from their own worlds. "How about we split up in groups of two and explore the forest? Preferably the parts we haven't explored yet."

"I got Perry!" Rosita called and held hands with the sophomore.
"Obviously we're going together." Wynonna linked arms with Dolls.
"Doc...?" Jeremy gestured to the senior in front of him, and Doc nodded with a 'yes'.
Everyone seemed to have picked their partner, and predictably that left Nicole and Waverly to be paired together.
Best luck ever. Waverly groaned internally.
Nicole turned to Waverly and grinned. "Hi, partner." She said as she held her hand out for a handshake. Waverly gave her a death stare and slapped the hand out of her view.

"Phew, alrighty then!" Jeremy said out of the blue. "I guess that wraps up today's meeting." He stripped the map off the table and put it back in his backpack and everyone else dispersed from the table.
Rosita grabbed her bag from behind the pool table as Perry and Doc began to leave the clubhouse themselves. Rosita caught up with the duo at the last moment, and seconds later they disappeared into their own adventure.

With the other four left in the room, Waverly started to worry about being left alone with Nicole. Not only did the reception suck ass out in the woods, but Waverly didn't know her way out.

"Wynonna! Can I come home with you?" She asked her sister.
"Actually, baby girl, me and Xavier have plans, and we're not gonna be back until late..." She winked at Dolls and the man scoffed.

"Sorry, Waverly." Dolls took Wynonna's hand and exited out of the clubhouse.
"Love you, Waves!" Wynonna yelled out one last time before leaving.
Some sibling.
Waverly thought. At least she had Jeremy to turn to. "Jeremy, you think you can drop me back to campus?"
Jeremy picked up his backpack and tsked. "Actually, I got curfew. Plus, my house is just right up this road." He excused, then noticing Nicole still being in the room. "Hey! Nicole's still here. She can show you the way out, she always uses the path we use to go back to campus anyway." He suggested, knowing that the two could use some time together, he's been observing their aggressive friendship after all. A matchmaker at work, he'd call himself.
Nicole gave Waverly an excited look. "Fun!"

Waverly gritted her teeth at Nicole and turned around to Jeremy, hoping he can still save her. However, before she could process Jeremy was already out the door. Waverly huffed and looked back to Nicole.
Nicole licked her lips and shrugged her shoulders. "Guess we're stuck together." She smirked, and Waverly groaned.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"You ready, cutie?" Nicole asked, hanging the keys of the shack from her hand.
"Don't call me that." Waverly sternly said.

"What, cutie?" Nicole cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah, idiot." Waverly protested, acting angrier than she actually was.
"Mm, you're right. You're more of a six and a half, anyway." Nicole clapped back easily.

Waverly's heartbeat grew faster at the rage she was feeling towards the redhead. Nothing in the world could give her a bigger headache than Nicole Haught was serving right now. How in God's mind will she put up with this during the walk home?
Nicole held the door for Waverly, then noticed fury on her face. "Aw, why so sour?" Nicole pouted. "Can't deal with my sense of humor?"

"You think you're so funny, huh?" Waverly replied, walking out of the shack with the longboard in hand.

"I'm funnier without that stick up your ass." Nicole closed the door and locked it. Waverly bit her lip hard in resistance
to not yell profanity at her. Despite her yearning to tell Nicole off, she figured she'd save the smack talk for another time.
Waverly stormed off to the trail without waiting for Nicole. Even though she had no sense of direction of where she was going it was better off for her to deal with being lost than going through a roast session with the 'superior junior'.
"Hey, wait up!" Nicole jogged and caught up to Waverly. "You're gonna get lost in these woods if you don't have someone with ya," Nicole warned.

"I can walk to the campus myself," Waverly told her, avoiding eye contact.
"Weren't you just begging Jeremy to help you walk back?" Nicole questioned, smiling when she got a reaction out of the brunette.

Waverly turned to Nicole and groaned. "That was before I knew that someone annoying was gonna ride my ass back to the dorms." She scolded, then started walking again. "If you're gonna fuck with me the whole time I'd much rather be lost on my own."
Nicole took a moment to process how angry Waverly really was, then felt a little bad about it. She sighed and caught up to Waverly once more. "Alright, was it something I said? If so I am so very much sorry." She apologized, though sounding sarcastic during it.

Waverly stopped in her tracks and huffed. "Fine, I'll take your half-ass apology." She turned to Nicole. "But can you not act like the cockiest cockhole
on the face of the Earth?"

"Look who's fucking now." Nicole retorted. Waverly had a 'huh' look on her face, not understanding what she just said. "Sounded better in my head." She defended.
Waverly put down her longboard and rested her foot on the grip tape. "How about we just skate back? So my headache doesn't grow as you're talking to me." She suggested sourly.
"We can't." Nicole shut the idea down. "The trail's too rocky to skateboard on, genius."

Rolling her eyes for the millionth time today, the feisty brunette stomped down on the edge of her board and caught the other side with her palm. "Whatever." She continued to walk along the path with Nicole, giving her the silent treatment as best she can. Though the quiet was uncomfortable to walk through, and frankly awkward, Waverly's pride took control and gave Nicole the bitchiest attitude that she could form.
A few minutes passed of Nicole kicking the same rock over and over again while walking before she wanted to break the ice. "So... college... why here?" She stammered after struggling with a question to ask.
Waverly glared at her but found her lack of social skills weirdly charming. "Why here?" She repeated. "Way to phrase it, genius."
"Quit being a smart-ass and answer it already," Nicole said impatiently.

"It's pretty predictable. I mean Wynonna and Willa went here to be close to home... I guess I'm doing the same?" Waverly answered. "Plus it's cheap, and most of everyone from high school is here."
"People from high school are bleak." Nicole countered. "Unlike you, I came here to get away from everyone I knew in my old town."

"Don't you miss your folks?" Waverly asked.

"As much as they miss me: which is not at all." She tsked. "They dropped me off here without a care. Well, except for my father- he was a pretty cool guy. Then my deadbeat stepdad took his place- but that's a story for another day, I guess."
"Oh," Waverly muttered, unsure of how to respond. "Well, don't you feel lonely here?"

"Definitely not." Nicole lit up a little. "I see this as an opportunity to explore new things," Nicole explained. "Like right now, have you actually been inside the woods?" She pointed to the forest, which was on the side of them besides the trail.

"Not really," Waverly replied. "As a matter of fact, I'm pretty terrified of it."

The statement made Nicole's eyes widen with surprise, it was as if someone just told her that the Earth was flat. Then, a lightbulb lit up in her mind and she smirked smugly. "Why don't we take care of that fear now?"

"Huh?" Waverly paused her walking.
"I mean it- let's explore the woods right now!" Nicole exclaimed.

"Oh, no. Hell fucking no." Waverly protested. "It's almost dark and we're alone- haven't you ever seen a horror movie?"

"Don't you have a sense of adventure?" Nicole jeered.

"There's no way that you're gonna get me to walk through those trees. It's sketchy and you're gonna get us killed." Waverly started walking again on the trail.

Trying to change her mind, Nicole ran in front of Waverly and raised her hands to stop her. "Come on, it's Purgatory! Nothing's gonna happen to us... probably."

Waverly looked at Nicole with a dumbfounded expression. "You know what character you're being right now in a horror movie? The dumb one that makes the stupidest decisions!"

"Oh yeah?" Nicole started. "You know what character you are? The type that doesn't like to have fun and completely ruins the movie!"
"What does that even mean!?" Waverly hollered.

"It means you're lame!" Nicole spewed out.
Waverly gasped. "You really are the stupid one from the movies!" Waverly poked Nicole's chest firmly, pulling the last straw from the angsty redhead.
Nicole snatched Waverly's longboard that was resting under her arm. "Is this what the stupid one would do?" She asked before chucking the longboard towards the forest, throwing it far in between the trees.

Waverly made an 'o' expression and turned to Nicole. "Are you fucking kidding me!?" She screamed.

"See?" Nicole laughed. "Now you have a reason to explore the woods, rookie!"

In a feat of wrath, Waverly grabbed Nicole's skateboard and swung it in the same direction where Nicole threw her longboard, only throwing it further into the woods. Nicole watched her board fly into the forest and put her hands on her head.

"God damn it!" Nicole cursed out loud.

Waverly burst out in laughter. "Ha! Now we're even! Go fetch!" She mocked sinisterly until Nicole turned around with a serious mark on her face, looking like she enjoyed the board chucking a lot less than Waverly. She had the look of not only distraught- but also disappointed. "Oh, shit..." Waverly murmured to herself.
Before she could apologize, Nicole gave the worried freshmen a sly smile. "Gotta get your board too, Waves." Suddenly Nicole took Waverly's wrist and ran with her into the forest.

The two ran far in the forest until they lost track of the path they were just on. Waverly looked up at the sky and noticed that it was getting really dark, and although she was mainly horrified of getting lost in the forest she will admit that this is the most spontaneous she's been in a while.
Nicole finally let go of Waverly's wrist and jogged over to a tree, pulling out Waverly's longboard out of the leaves. "Here!" She raised the board up high in triumph. "All in fine condition!"
She breathed hard and heavy, and Waverly noticed the one strand of sweat rolling down Nicole's face and down to her neck, below the neck her chest rose and fell at a rapid speed. Waverly blinked heavily.
What the hell am I doing?

The shorter woman went up and took the longboard from Nicole. "I'd say thank you but you're the one who got us in this situation."

"I'll take it." Nicole accepted.

Waverly shifted herself to the other direction to walk back until she stopped herself. As much as she hates to be in the woods, she knew that she also needed to compensate for throwing the annoying redhead's board as well.

She turned back to Nicole. "Ugh, fine. Let's get your board." She said.
"I didn't even say anything." Nicole chuckled.
"Just- don't make this harder for me." Waverly walked pass Nicole to find her board. Licking her lips happily, Nicole followed.

Moments of rummaging through the trees later and Waverly eventually found Nicole's skateboard lying on the ground, much further away than her longboard. She picked it up and handed the deck to Nicole. "Safe and sound."
"Why thank you," Nicole said. "See how fun exploring things is? You even forgot about your fear of being in the woods." Nicole foolishly reminded.

The realization hit Waverly, and she looked up again to see that it was pitch black. Her heart dropped as she looked around her surroundings as well, observing the many trees that didn't leave a definite path to the trail she was once on. Not only was the young Earp lost in the woods at night, but it just had to have been with the worst person she could imagine.

Waverly yelped and got closer to Nicole. "You better get us out of here fast or else I'll seriously stick that skateboard somewhere worse!"

"Chill! I've been in these woods long enough to know where we are..." Nicole looked around and made hiss sound with her mouth. "On second thought... we actually might be lost."
Waverly grew a mix of mad and scared and hit Nicole's arm. "You fucker!"
Nicole stared at Waverly in fear, then broke into giggles. "I'm kidding, don't get your panties in a knot." The redhead started walking. "Come on." She gestured for Waverly to follow but was taken aback when Waverly linked her arms with her own.
She huddled into Nicole, trying to get warm and latching on for her life. The turn of action made Nicole feel... soft. It was a weird feeling given that Nicole has done nothing with Wynonna's little sister but toy and tease her all day, so the reason why she felt this way was beyond the junior's knowledge.
It was a lovely walk, too. Eventually, Nicole led Waverly back to the trail and the two had a conversation that didn't involve insults. They talked and walked all the way back to the main road that connected to the campus.

Once they hit the main road, Waverly let go of Nicole's arm and brushed herself off. "So um, that was nice and all... but I still hate you." She said shamelessly.
Nicole grinned. "Right back at ya, cutie." She winked, making Waverly hurl internally. "But admit it, you had fun." She elbowed the brunette until she'd agree.
"Okay, fine- yes! But don't push it, Haught." Waverly
advised.
A pair of headlights started to shine Nicole and Waverly's backs. The both of them turned around and noticed a truck pull up beside them. The truck was filled with a bunch of fraternity boys, and one of them, some guy with a polished haircut, popped out from the sunroof. "Waverly!" He called out.
Waverly jogged to the truck. "Champ- hey!" She greeted.

"What are you doing out here? It's cold. Me and the boys are heading to the dorms for a party. Need a lift home?" Champ asked.

"Yes, please! My feet are killing me." Waverly said.
"Wait- who's that?" Nicole whispered.

"Oh, didn't you know? That's my boyfriend." Waverly revealed. Nicole dropped her jaw as Waverly put her longboard in the back of the truck and opened the door, looking back at Nicole. "Shoot, do you need a ride?" She asked.
"Actually, there's no more room." Champ corrected, giving a dirty look at Nicole.
Waverly looked at the redhead, feeling bad for leaving her behind. Saving the Earp from feeling horrible, Nicole scoffed. "I didn't need one, anyway." She assured.

"Okay then." Waverly hopped into the truck. "Thanks again, idiot." She teased. The door closed and the truck drove off onto the road, leaving Nicole behind.
Nicole inhaled deeply and dragged out a curse to the night sky. "Fuuuck!" She let out, then set her skateboard down. She checked behind herself and began to ride her skateboard back to campus.
Why did she curse into the sky? She wasn't sure herself, it was probably due to her having to ride another mile back to her dorm.
But the real reason why? Nicole didn't want to face the truth just yet.
She was crushing on Waverly Earp.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Waverly woke up to the sweet sounds of the blaring alarm from her phone.
She yawned as she tapped the 'stop' icon on the screen. In the few seconds, she was awake, she completely forgot what had happened last night. Hell, it took her even more time to realize where she was.
Dorm. The freshmen looked around the room.
My dorm... It was much smaller than the homestead, given that she had to share a dorm with her long-time best friend, Chrissy Nedley. Speaking of her roommate, Chrissy was nowhere to be found. Waverly figured that she spent the night in a much more intriguing place.
Either way, Waverly felt musty and it was the perfect time to take a shower. She hopped off the bed and collected whatever she needed to shower- shower bag, slippers, and a towel. She would've brought clothes with her but the rookie guessed that it'd just be more convenient if she came back to the dorm in her towel to change. Besides, walking down a hallway in a towel felt socially acceptable compared to changing in a wet stall, it's college after all.
One moment after the other and Waverly was strolling down the empty hallway, wearing nothing but her towel. She wasn't paranoid about people seeing her in the fabric, in fact, she was more concerned for the cleanliness of the bathrooms.
Waverly opened the door to the bathrooms. Again, the stalls were empty, and Waverly felt blessed for it being a Saturday morning. She slipped out of her towel and hung it over the stall handle and turned on the water. Immediately cold water started coming out of the showerhead and jolted Waverly's nerves. It took her several tries at the handle to get the perfect temperature, then Waverly could get that relieving shower she needed.
While cleansing herself, Waverly began to have odd shower thoughts. More specifically, she was thinking of Nicole Haught. The same Nicole Haught with the cocky smile, and the same woman who
yeeted her beloved longboard into the woods.
What a douchebag. Waverly thought.

Despite her dick moves, she admits that there was some
charm to the college student. As arrogant as she is she's also bold. Pretty bold. A little too
bold. God, what was the brunette thinking?
When she was done, she turned off the handle and wiped herself down with the towel. With the towel wrapped around her like a burrito, Waverly swiped the shower curtain open and yelped at the sight of Nicole in front of her, back turned and brushing her teeth.
Once she heard the sound of Waverly’s yelp and the creak of the shower curtain, she turned around with a toothbrush in her mouth.
”Hi.” That was all Waverly could say, all flustered and embarrassed.

“Quite the greeting.” Nicole muffled through the foam in her mouth. She turned to spit in the sink and washed her mouth quickly. When she was done she rotated back to Waverly, who surprisingly stood her position. “Enjoyed that shower?”
“Very,” Waverly replies, giving a sarcastic smile. She stepped out of the stall, and with the luck she was having this week, her towel accidentally hooked onto the stall handle and peeled off her body.
As soon as that towel hit the ground Waverly’s face turned white, while Nicole’s widened with a grin.
”Woah there perky tits!” Nicole exclaimed. "At least take me out to dinner first!"
Waverly shifted to pick up her towel and without knowing she flashed the redhead and followed up with a mooning.

Nicole tried so hard to avert her eyes somewhere else. However, the situation was pretty wild in of itself already, so there really was no use of trying to making it better.
After re-wrapping herself in the fastest pace, she faced Nicole again all red and embarrassed. It was kind of cute to Nicole, seeing Waverly blush hard was adorably funny.
”You didn’t see anything.” Waverly scolded.

Nicole raised her hands. “I didn’t see anything.” She repeated, then winked.
”Shut up!” Waverly stormed passed Nicole and out of the bathroom.
”I didn’t say anything!” Nicole yelled back.
-
"You look at any clubs yet?" Chrissy asked. The question snapped Waverly back to reality. Since this morning, she couldn't stop thinking about that particular incident. The one where a towel ripped off of her and her vulnerable body just had to be right before Nicole Haught's brash, oh so smugly eyes. All she wanted right now was to forget that ever happened. Hell, at this point she may as well avoid Nicole for the rest of college.
"Not really. I haven't been able to much." Waverly replied. At the same time, she was lying since Jeremy pulled her into the official but unofficial 'skater's' club, which was just really an excuse to get funds and a venue to hang out in.

Waverly looked around the main court of campus. Around her and Chrissy were booths and booths of clubs and programs the college had to offer. For a small town university, there were a decent amount of things to join: debate club, drama club, robotics, etc etc. None of them appealed to Waverly though, the freshman was still trying to figure herself out.
Among the booths, she spotted Jeremy and Perry who were sitting on the edge of the fountain. Closing in on them were frat boys that looked like they wanted to bully the two.
"Hey!" One of them called out.

"What are you doing on our property?" Another one of the boys said. About five of them charged Jeremy and Perry, who literally wasn't doing anything but sitting on the edge of the fountain. They stood up immediately and backed up from the fraternity boys.
"Your property?" Perry asked. "Since when did you own anything?"
"Don't talk back to your upperclassman, smartass."

At that moment Nicole rolled in on her skateboard, coming in between Perry and the fraternity group. "Is there a problem, Bryce?" She questioned.

"Yeah." Bryce pushed through Nicole to get to Perry and Jeremy. "These queers are blocking our property." He accused.

"How about you just fuck off, huh?" Nicole poked Bryce's chest harshly, and the group of five started to circle around the redhead.
Oh God. Waverly thought.
She sensed a nasty confrontation coming. "Hey, Chrissy- I'll catch up with you later." She announced then left her friend briefly to see what was going on at the fountain.
She marched up to the boys in Nicole's defense. "What's going on?" She said without thinking.

"What the hell do you have to do with this?" Bryce prowled forward, and Waverly stepped back cowardly into Nicole.

"Hey, isn't that Champ's chick?" One of the frat boys pointed out.
Bryce looked back and furrowed his eyebrow.

"Look- just leave us alone!" Nicole suggested aggressively.

"Waverly Earp: Champ's bitch." Bryce greeted hardly.
The comment was enough to spark a fire within Waverly, who really was tired to hear people think that anyone owns her.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Nicole stepped up, unfazed. It was a short bit of appreciation Waverly had for the junior to stand up for her without question.

"You heard me!" Bryce responded.

Nicole got up in Bryce's face. "I should beat the shit outta you." She threatened.

Bryce's hand pulled back to sock Nicole in the face until one of the
frat boys refrained him from throwing the punch. "Bryce- wait!" He warned, staring ahead.
Waverly looked back to see her infamous sister Wynonna and Dolls come to the rescue. Once Jeremy and Perry set eyes on the power couple they silently fist pumped in the air.
Wynonna got in front of Nicole and pushed Bryce back, Dolls backing her up. "You better bippity-bobbity back the fuck up there, B-Train," Wynonna said sternly, her wit never giving up on her.
"I don't go by that anymore, bitch." Bryce protested but growing a little scared of the elder Earp.

"What was that?" Dolls leaned his ear towards Bryce, who was even more scared of the tall and muscular senior.

"N-nothing." He stammered.

If it wasn't a crowd already, another person joined the party to defuse the situation. Champ came from behind his fraternity brothers and put his arm around Bryce. "Hey! What's going on!" He cheerfully said, oblivious to the status. His eye spotted Waverly, then the tall redhead next to her. "Waverly! What are you doing with these people?" He gestured to the diverse crew Waverly sided with.
"They're uh, just acquaintances," Waverly explained shortly.
"Acquaintances?" Nicole repeated, giving Waverly a look. The brunette glanced at Nicole with a 'sorry' expression.
"Whatever," Champ replied. "Anyway- it's time to open our booth. Let's go boys!" He cheered on and the rest of the fraternity joined in. They headed towards the booth and cleared the fountain, but Champ stayed to talk to Waverly furthermore.
"Oh, by the way, babe, you coming tonight? The party at our fraternity?" He reminded.
"Um, I don't know..." Waverly trailed off. She wasn't in the mood to toy with her boyfriend right now, and she predicted she wasn't going to have the patience to deal with her drunk significant other later either.
Champ grabbed Waverly by the waist. "Come on, baby!" He pressured. "It's gonna be really fun and it's your first college party." He attempted to perform PDA on his girlfriend, and Nicole stood there to witness it all. Even Nicole could tell that Waverly didn't want to talk to this dumb, horny jock.
Champ nuzzled his nose against Waverly's cheek until she gave in. "Okay, okay! Fine, I'll go." She accepted the invitation with a hint of annoyance.

The man slobbered kisses on Waverly's cheek. "Great! I'll see you later, sexy." He let go of his grip on Waverly's waist and walked off, Waverly wiping off the saliva he left on her skin. She hated being called that name, sexy, especially in public. The vulgar word sent chills down Waverly's spine.
"Acquaintances?" Nicole crossed her arms. "That's all we are to ya, huh?"
Waverly turned to see the gang waiting to hear an explanation, with the exception of Rosita and Doc. "Well I mean I just met you guys yesterday." She defended.
"Ah, give her a break," Perry said. "She's just trying to save her reputation, no offense taken."
"Perry's right, God forbid anyone who lets my sister turn into me," Wynonna added.
"Wynonna-" Waverly tried comforting.
"It's cool, kid. Go have your fun." Wynonna patted Waverly's shoulders. "Just not too much fun, especially with stone head over there." She nodded at Champ, who was creating the loudest ruckus with his buddies at the booth ahead of the gang.
"Promise." Waverly smiled, feeling better.

"We gotta dip." Wynonna tapped on Dolls. She strolled pass Waverly and pecked her forehead before leaving with her broad boyfriend. Jeremy and Perry followed alongside them, Jeremy waving Waverly a goodbye.

Nicole waited a few seconds before catching up with the rest of them. She poked her tongue inside her cheek and looked at Waverly. "I'll see you later, acquaintance." She told her coldly and shouted, "Wait up!", jogging up with the group and stranding Waverly at the water fountain.
Yeah, I had that coming. Waverly thought shamelessly.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

There she was, Nicole Haught sitting under a tree in the middle of campus, and surprisingly
enough- reading a book.
Waverly had just gotten out of class, and since her next period doesn't start in another hour she decided that she should take this opportunity to apologize, or at least attempt, about the interaction between the 'skater's club' and the Fraternity.

The freshmen
walked over to the tree where Nicole sat under, battling herself internally whether to talk to the redhead or leave the subject alone. Before she knew it her feet took her to the studying woman after all.

"Hey, stranger," Waverly said gleefully.

"Acquaintance," Nicole replied, gluing her eyes to the book in her hand.

Waverly rolled her eyes and groaned. "You're still on that?" She irritably told her.
"I'm just establishing my relationship with you. Since- you know- we're nothing above that." Nicole turned a page of her book.
"Okay, I was gonna apologize to you for what happened earlier but since you're being a total smartass right now I'm just gonna leave," Waverly concluded.
She turned away to flee the scene until Nicole halted her.

"Wait." She stopped the brunette from storming off.
Waverly gleefully walked back to Nicole. "Yes?" She crossed her arms.
"You said you wanted to apologize." Nicole recited, keeping her eyes on the book.
"Yeah, I did," Waverly said. "So um, here it goes: I'm sorry for what happened earlier- with you and the frat boys."

"Well, you shouldn't be apologizing, it should be those douchebags who ridiculed Jeremy and Perry over nothing." Nicole turned another page. "And they're not just an acquaintance to me." She emphasized.

"Hey." Waverly started. "They're just frat boys being frat boys." She defended.

Nicole slammed her book shut and stood up to look Waverly in the eyes. "They called you Champ's bitch." She pointed out.

A fire started to light in Waverly. "So what?" Waverly
deflected. "They're young and stupid- it's no big deal!"

"So you're just gonna dismiss their behavior like that?" Nicole asked. "Oh, I know why: it's because of Champ huh? You just let him let his boys walk all over you like that, right? Is that how heterosexual relationships work?"

"You don't get to tell me how to handle my relationships!" Waverly refuted as Nicole gritted her teeth. "Besides, you're probably just jealous." She said, instantly regretting what came out of her mouth.
Nicole stood there for a moment in shock. "Jealous?" She repeated offensively. "I was just telling you that you don't deserve how they treat you, but right now you're being a real bitch." She picked up her skateboard on the grass, getting ready to leave.
Waverly felt herself break a little when Nicole said the word 'bitch'. She couldn't define if she was mad or heartbroken at Nicole- either way, it resulted in fury. "I'm the bitch?" Waverly scoffed. "You have been nothing but a brain tumor to me! Telling me how to live my life and calling me a bitch. Look who's talking."

"Well, it takes one to know one!" Nicole took a few steps past Waverly before turning to her one last time. "By the way, I hope you have a wonderful fucking time at your party tonight! I hope you have a hoot being a frat boy's eye candy!" She yelled, then rushing off.

The pot boiled more and more in Waverly. She had to ask God why every conversation with Nicole ended with Waverly hating her more because she just couldn't understand it. She hated that she'd have to put up with the judging upperclassmen for the next two years of her life.
Though deep down she admitted that Nicole was lowkey right, it sucked that she was being treated like an object to Champ's fraternity brothers. In fact, the more she thought about it the more it made sense to her that Nicole only wanted to protect her.
She shook her head in shame.
What the hell's wrong with me? She thought to herself.

-"So," Chrissy said in a sing-song tone.

"What?" Waverly was sitting on her bed, applying black lipstick.

"How do you feel about going to your first frat party?" Chrissy put on her earing before gleefully turning around to Waverly, her smile dropping when she saw the dark tone of her lips. "Are you seriously wearing black lipstick?" She asked.

"And what about it?" Waverly said casually.

"People are gonna think you're..." Chrissy trailed off.
"Like what?" Waverly asked. "A freak?" She mocked.

"All I'm saying is- first impressions matter," Chrissy suggested. "You just look... intimidating. Scary, almost."
"Maybe I want them to be scared of me," Waverly smirked menacingly.
The statement made Chrissy laugh. "Who'd be scared of a 5'4 freshman?"

"With my platforms, I'm 5'6." Waverly corrected.
"Oh, God." Chrissy groaned. "You're wearing your platform shoes too?"

Waverly stood up from the bed. "Oh come on, you love em'." She nudged her roommate with her elbow.

"I do. But I'm not sure if they will." Chrissy put her hair down and started combing through it. "At least Champ's into it."

"I don't need his validation, either." Waverly huffed. She didn't need anyone's validation. Not those fraternity boys, Champ, Chrissy, especially... Nicole. There she was again, thinking of her again. If she couldn't stand being in the same area as her, why is she so damn relevant to her?
"Whatever you say." Chrissy pulled out a black choker and put it around Waverly's neck. "Here, to complete your signature gothic look."

"Why thank you," Waverly smiled with pride.
Chrissy grabbed her purse and opened the door. "Now, let's get going." Waverly joined her at the doorway. "And let's get you some Champ tonight," Chrissy said teasingly, which made Waverly wanted to barf.

"You know I'm not ready yet." The brunette said. Even though she had a whole not-so-innocent theme going on with her appearance, she hasn't actually had sexual intercourse. No matter how many times Champ tried to get on her while they were watching a movie on his couch, Waverly insisted that they're better off doing it when she's ready.
Hell, people would make fun of her if they found out that she hasn't even had her first kiss yet. Alike her stance on sex, she wanted to wait until it was a perfect time, and until she absolutely knew she was ready. Surprisingly, Champ has an increasingly high sex drive, but he knows his boundaries. The freshmen hoped that he would keep that up tonight, knowing that alcohol and the raging hormones don't mix.

"Let's go, shall we?" Chrissy pursued, waiting for Waverly to get out of her head. Waverly gave her a shy close-mouth smile and continued to leave the dorm with her best friend, who she fully trusts to protect her throughout their first-hand experience of college parties.

The youngest Earp knew that she was in good hands.
-
Unfortunately, Waverly Earp found herself to not be in good hands after all.

Once she hit up the fraternity house, Chrissy left her right away to catch up with whatever boy toy called her over for a drink. Waverly entered the dim lit house, which was cloudy with smoke and crowded with drunk college students.

The freshmen didn't expect any warm welcome- for Christ's sakes she was at a frat boy party, why would she expect cocktails and dinner platters of shrimp? It took her some navigating around the house until she finally found her boyfriend, who was already cross-faded while playing beer pong.

If she didn't force herself so much, Waverly would've left the party right then and there, but due to the pressures burdened on her she sucked up her doubts and went over to Champ.
"Hey, Champ." She said unenthusiastically.

Champ grinned and swung his arm around Waverly's shoulders, pulling her tight. "Hey, baby!" He practically yelled into her ears, then pressed his face harshly against Waverly's cheek to give her a kiss.

The scent of Jack Danial's and slob coming from Champ's mouth reeked.
Why can't boys just have a lavender smell?
Waverly complained internally. "Already had a lot to drink, huh?" She smoothly pushed Champ away and smiled innocently.

"Duh! This is just the pre-game!" Champ hollered. "We're gonna get so fucked up tonight!" He got a cup from the table and gave it to Waverly. "Drink up!"

Waverly accepted the red solo cup from Champ and naively drank from it, wincing from the rancid taste of alcohol.
How the hell does Wynonna go through bottles of these every day?

"Here, play beer pong with us!" Champ suggested obnoxiously. He replaced the drink in Waverly's hand with a ping pong ball.

Without thinking, she lightly threw the ball into the cup on the opposite side of the table. Surprised that she got it in, she let out a winning expression and fist pumped the air. The other people around her cheered alongside her, and for once she felt like she was actually having fun at this damn party.

In the corner of Waverly's eye, however, was a similar figure she almost recognized. The man stood out of everyone since most of the people in the house were shit-faced and sweaty, but this guy didn't look like he was drinking at all. He lingered in the background and Waverly couldn't completely make out who he was. Army jacket... black hair... Asian... was this man Perry?
"Another shot!" Champ interrupted Waverly's piece of mind and nearly shoved another solo cup in her face to drink from. Giving in like the peer-pressured kid she was, Waverly drank the foul tasting booze.

"One more shot! One more shot!" Those were the only words she could hear from the frat boys. She had spent the night accepting shots from the strangers around her. The Earp couldn't make out if the reason she was having a decent time was due to the alcohol or herself. Either way, she could feel her soul checking out of her body.

Eight and a half shots later and Waverly stumbled to rest on the couch. Even though she wanted to be left alone to recollect herself, Champ joined her in seek of being touchy with his plastered girlfriend.

Champ started to place his hands on Waverly's love handles. "Did I tell you how damn sexy you are?" He slurred.
He showered Waverly in unneeded kisses again across her face, and every time he got near to her lips she'd turn her head away. "Not on the lips!" She scolded numerously.

"Oh come on, babe! What's up with you being a
prude?" He sloppily questioned.

The fondling went on and it was obvious that Waverly wasn't into the PDA at all. She'd call for help but it seemed as if no one cared because the college students around them were equally as drunk and poor-minded as the brunette.

She wanted to take all the power she had left in her to shove Champ to the other direction, though her drunken head and limp body could only softly resist against Champ.

Since her vision is blurred as well, Waverly took another look around the room. It was nothing but party people in her sight until she caught a glimpse of another person she could recognize if the alcohol wasn't taking over her brain.
It wasn't Perry because this man was wearing entirely different clothes, yet he stood out from everyone else in the crowd. Wholesomely, he looked like a virgin who's lost in a grocery store.
Is that... Jeremy? She took one last blink of him before shutting her eyes. Everything she saw was giving her a headache, so hearing was the last sense that Waverly could comprehend properly.

"You know what, let's go somewhere private." Champ powerfully whispered. He picked up Waverly bridal style and stood up from the couch to take her somewhere else. At first, Waverly thought his intention was to get her out of that party and take her somewhere nice and quiet so she could rest. She could tell Champ was carrying her up a flight of stairs and into an empty bedroom. He dropped her on the bed and belly flopped onto her, his body weight crushing the petite woman.
"How about we turn this night into something special..." Champ lazily pulled on Waverly's clothes. "Our first time."
"Wha- n-" Waverly stammered and couldn't get a coherent sentence out of her mouth. It didn't matter anyway- Champ was ignoring whatever fight Waverly had in her.
"Come on, I'll be quick," Champ muttered on her neck, then Waverly heard the sound of his belt unbuckling.
In a matter of seconds, her mind started spiraling. After finally processing what was happening, she panicked as a top fear of her's was about to come true. She attempted to wiggle out of Champ's grasp but the pressure of his body on top of Waverly's overcame her. She began kicking her legs and flying her arms around, trying to get out of being pinned down.

"Cha- Champ! P-please stop!" She cried miserably. Champ continued to drag down his pants and went for Waverly's skirt.

Again, Waverly wailed for a single person to help her, but the bedroom door was shut and loud music blared outside. She was alone and no one could even hear a peep of her screams.

After her countless effort of preventing herself from being raped, she grew tired and whimpered. Waverly shut her eyes has hard as she could and went limp, hoping that this was all in her imagination and she would wake up in her dorm.
All she could do was wait for it to be over.

The bedroom door then boomed open, and Waverly opened her eyes to see who's coming to save her. Her vision was still foggy and all she could see was Champ still on top of her and a figure behind him.
"Mm, what!?" Champ's upper body went up but still had his hands pinned on Waverly. He didn't bother turning around and he was close to putting it in until a blunt object hit his head. Waverly saw a flat board being whacked over Champ's head and knocked him out instantly. His body went soft against Waverly's frame and she was finally able to get him off of her.

The room was dark and the only thing illuminating light was the light coming from the doorway. Waverly made out the person who hit Champ over the head to be a tall silhouette wearing a snapback. They urgently ran out of the room, a detail that didn't make sense to the brunette.
They practically saved Waverly from having a traumatic date-night rape, but she didn't know who they were so she could thank them. That was up until she got one last flash of the shadowed body.

As they ran out of the room Waverly noticed red hair pouring from the back of the snapback.
Tall... snapback and red hair...
Waverly thought.

...Nicole?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Waverly woke up the next morning with a groan.

Still thinking she's in the fraternity house when she opened her eyes she jumped at the figure hovering over her.

"Mmh- no!" She yelps shortly. She wiggles around with effort to get out of the person's grip until she realizes that the person over isn't her criminal boyfriend Champ- it's Chrissy Nedley.

"Hey, hey!" Chrissy calmly says. "It's okay! It's okay! It's just me!"

The roommate gently handles Waverly until the young Earp is no longer afraid. It took her a hot minute to understand that she's safe and inside her own dorm. Relieved, Waverly lays back onto her mattress.

"What happened?" Waverly groggily asked.

"We found you and Champ passed out on a bed in one of the frat's rooms, so we picked you up and took you here," Chrissy explained.

"Oh," Waverly replied. She had already forgotten what happened half the night, yet she could still recall Champ... and the savior who kept that pig from hurting her.

"Crazy night, huh?" Chrissy said. "How was losing your v-card?" She winked innocently.
"What? No." Waverly sat herself up, and the room spun around her. "I didn't lose anything last night... well, maybe my boy...friend?" She hesitated, still trying to pick up the memories from the night before.

"Did something happen?" Chrissy dropped the friend act and kicked in her mom instincts.

"Uh, yeah." Waverly shook her head to get the dizziness out. "Champ... tried to have sex with me when I didn't want to..." Waverly trailed off, and the words coming out of her mouth chilled her.

The statement chilled Chrissy too, and her worry dropped into a rage. "Are you kidding me? That god damn pig!" Chrissy got off the bed quickly and went for her phone. "I'm gonna ruin his fucking life! I'm gonna call the fraternity, his parents, the school-"
"Chrissy, stop!" Waverly pleaded. "We can't do anything about it."

"Why the hell not?" Chrissy protested.

"Because!" Waverly rubbed her eyes. "We're only gonna get ourselves in trouble. Booze and drugs on campus? How do you think that's gonna go when it gets on our transcripts?"

"How do you think it'll go when it gets on Champ's record?" Chrissy charged and sat on Waverly's bed again. "We can get him back, you don't need to hide this."

"It doesn't matter! And besides- who are they gonna believe? Champ's just gonna deny it and there's not enough evidence." She defended mindlessly. As much as she hated Champ she couldn't risk getting the reputation of just being a victim. "Also, someone saved me from getting..." She paused, she didn't want to say the word. Saying the R word
would be too vulgar for her.

Chrissy nodded. "I know." She acknowledged Waverly's uncomfortableness.

"Champ was on top of me until someone knocked him out with something," Waverly recalled correctly, then her eyes widened.
It was Nicole. She thought.
It was so her.
"Do you remember who it was?" Chrissy asked.

Waverly nodded slightly. "I think so."

"Okay- that's good!" Chrissy said. "We can get this person's confession and we can put Champ away-"
"Can you just drop it?" Waverly snapped. "At least... for now?"

Chrissy sighed and put her hand on Waverly's lap. "I shouldn't have made you go to that stupid fraternity party." She sulked in guilt. "God- I am so sorry, Waverly." She apologized as she was on the verge of crying.
"Hey, it's not your fault." Waverly comforted. "If you think about it- I don't have to deal with that idiot again. I just need to avoid him." Waverly said. Champ really was a dick to her. In fact, Waverly could tell that Champ wanted sex more than did he want romance.

"He really is a dickhead." Chrissy scoffs. "I've been knowing since high school."
The two shared a nice triumph laugh. Waverly Earp was officially a free woman now that she's no longer Champ's. The only thing left to do was let him get what he deserves.
"We're gonna get him back, okay Waverly?" Chrissy promised. "I swear we're gonna get what's coming to that... R-word."

Waverly appreciated Chrissy refraining from using that vulgar word. She appreciated Chrissy in total for being on her side the whole time. She didn't even hesitate to believe Waverly's claim, and for that, she's grateful to have a friend like her.

Another person she's grateful to have, ironically, is the person who stopped Champ from harassing Waverly. If she was right, she owed the one and only Nicole Haught a thank you for her act of heroism yesterday. Waverly lifted the blankets off of her and stood up to get ready.
"Where are you going?" Chrissy interrogated.

"Out. I'm gonna thank the person who saved me." Waverly responded vaguely.

Even if Nicole Haught was going to deny it, Waverly's definitely gonna get some answers out of her. She was determined to get Nicole to admit that she knocked the shit out of Champ, and she's gonna admit that she went to the party in the first place to watch her, protect her, and save her.

-
"So, how does a girl like you not get a major hangover?" Nicole said in a badgering manner.
The two were out in the middle of the forest on a mission that the 'skater's club' planned two days ago. Everyone had picked their partner and Waverly ended up being paired with Nicole Haught. At the time, she wasn't fond of the girl at all, but since then, however, she silently thanked God for giving her a chance to confront Nicole.
"Don't know, maybe it's in my genes," Waverly said, gripping onto Nicole.
"You sure are enjoying invading my personal bubble there." Nicole teased. "We're in broad daylight- how could you possibly be afraid?"

Knowing how clingy she was being, Waverly let go and brushed herself off. "Shut up."

Nicole scoffed and looked around. "What did Jeremy want us to look for again?" She kicked the leaves on the forest floor.

"Anything abnormal," Waverly replied. "Anything supernatural, specifically." She drew on the ground with her foot, trying to gather the courage to talk to Nicole about last night.

"Interesting." Nicole kneeled down to tie her shoe.
"So-" Waverly blurted suddenly. "What did you do last night?"
"Why do you want to know?" Nicole said, her back turned on Waverly. "You trying to invade my personal life, too?"
"No," Waverly said. "I just wanna know how your night was. Did you do anything... special?"
The young Earp was terrible at interrogating.

"Mm, not really," Nicole answered casually.

"Really?" Waverly crossed her arms. "Did you go somewhere? Like a fraternity party... in particular?"

"Nope." Nicole negated. "I was in my dorm the whole night."

"Alright- just admit that you were at the party!" Waverly snapped.

Nicole stood up from her kneel and faced Waverly. "I was not!" Nicole hoarsely said. Waverly could so tell Nicole was lying, her pitch went higher and she wouldn't even give the woman eye contact.

"Come on!" Waverly yapped. "I know you were at the party!"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Nicole deflected.

"Yeah? Well, I know you were there because I could recognize your snapback and red locks from a thousand miles away!" Waverly persisted. "Just admit it!"

Finally, Nicole broke. "Fine!" She threw her hands up. "I was there! You happy?"
"Yes!" Waverly jumped in celebration. Nicole began to walk forward, and Waverly had to jog up to catch up to her.
"Wait! At least give me an explanation!"

"No way, I've already said too much." Nicole kept fast walking while Waverly tried to keep up.

"Well, can I at least thank you?" Waverly pleaded
"Why thank me for something I didn't do?" Nicole kept her pace.

"Because you did do it! You knocked out my ex-boyfriend and I know you did!" Waverly kept pushing and wouldn't stop pursuing. She was practically like a lost puppy, and although it was cute to Nicole she found it equally annoying.

Nicole stopped in her tracks. "Will you quit the puppy dog act?"

"Will you talk to me?" Waverly asked hurriedly. She bit her lip in anticipation.
Nicole saw the curiosity on Waverly's face, and looked up at the sky and then to Waverly. "Whatever." She licked her lips. "You sister was worried you'd get hurt, so she sent me, Jeremy and Perry to spy on your while you were at the party."

"Wynonna...sent you?" Waverly cocked an eyebrow. "I guess she does care about me..."
"Yep. You are a cute drunk, though." Nicole patted Waverly's shoulder.
"Well, you know..." Waverly started to walk slowly around Nicole. "What you did was really brave. You stopped Champ from-" She choked on her words. "From doing the wrong things to me."

"You're welcome, I guess?" Nicole told her.

Waverly kept circling Nicole. "Did you know that I'm a virgin? I haven't even had my first kiss yet."

The statement made Nicole laugh harder than needed. "You? Haven't had your first kiss yet?"

"Yeah." Waverly stopped walking. "So what?"
Nicole scoffed for the second time. "Nothing. It's just that you're in college and you haven't locked lips with anyone. That's kind of hard to believe."
"Well, believe it." Waverly retorted. "I've been waiting for the perfect time to do it. I want it to be romantic and special, y'know?"

"Ugh." Nicole huffed. "Romantic's overrated."
"Maybe for you, but I'm still waiting for that moment." Waverly twirled her hair with her index finger, shooting Nicole with a flirty look. For the time that she's been with Champ, she never found that perfect moment to kiss him, it just never came to her mind. On the contrary, Nicole had a thing about her that drew Waverly in. She couldn't pinpoint what that thing was, but it damn sure made the girl want more of it.

Nicole continued to kick the leaves until a lightbulb went in her head. "How about this?" She went up to Waverly and put her hands on her hips. "Why don't ya kiss me? So I can prove to you that kissing isn't as romantic as you thought to be." She boldly suggested. Waverly widened her eyes and blushed. "Oh! With consent, of course." Nicole added.

"Is this your way of hitting on me? Because it's a lame gesture." Waverly jeered, but deep down she'd take the offer in a heartbeat.

"Is that a no?" Nicole leaned in and licked her lips.

Waverly swears that every time Nicole licked her lips it either made her want to sack Nicole's cocky face or... kiss it.
Kiss it? Why would Waverly think that? Maybe it was due to her blushing whenever Nicole darts her tongue out to take in her own lips. She never thought she'd study Nicole's actions so much but here she was, appreciating her face.

"Waverly..." Nicole said her name tauntingly.

It was then Waverly stopped staring and cleared her throat. "Definite. No." Waverly really wanted to say yes, but she swallowed her pride more than she did with her tendencies.

Internalizing the denial, Nicole stepped away from Waverly. "Okay... but I'm not surprised." She put her hands behind her back and stood on her tippy-toes. "I knew you weren't daring or spontaneous, anyway."
Waverly balled her hands into fists and pulling in her bottom lip between her teeth again. This time Nicole saw it and decided to say something about it. "You know, every time you get mad or react to something you bite your bottom lip?" Nicole commented. "You're gonna bruise it."

"Yeah?" Waverly took one step towards Nicole. "You do a tic, too. You lick your lips a lot, it makes me think your mouth's always chapped."

Nicole chuckled. "Is that why you won't kiss me?"
Waverly looked at Nicole with great loathe. "I'm not gonna guilt you into anything, but I'm just saying: you're looking at me like I'm the fudge to your sundae."

That was enough to draw Waverly in. She charged Nicole and clawed the sides of her face to pull her face to Waverly's, crashing their lips together in a furious passion. Waverly didn't think much on it, all she was focused on was getting Nicole to stop talking and prove to her that she was bold enough.

The thing that surprised Waverly, although, was that Nicole kissed back. She puckered her lips and kissed Waverly a second time after the first, more intense kiss. The redhead tasted like vanilla, and if she was being entirely honest, Waverly preferred it more than the beer breath off of her ex-boyfriend, and boy was the taste intoxicating.
Waverly then opened her eyes and seeing Nicole's face close up, she slid her hands from Nicole's cheeks to her chest and pushed her back roughly. Nicole backed up dramatically and brushed her thumb over her mouth. "I guess you are bold enough," Nicole said.
"I only did that so you could shut up." Waverly excused herself, but both her and Nicole knew that that wasn't true.

"Hm." Nicole stared at Waverly with a slight hunger. For her, she wanted Waverly as much as she wanted the junior. She's a yapping woman, but Nicole was into it.

"Ah..." Waverly didn't know what else to say. "I hope you know that this doesn't change our relationship. I still hate you, Haught."

Not surprised, Nicole laughed defiantly. "I hate you too, Earp." She winked. The two shared a thought, and the both of them knew that there was a type of feeling they had for each other. It was just a matter of one of them admitting it.

Waverly strode over to Nicole. "You know, you're much cooler without that conceited attitude." She took Nicole's right hand with her own and slowly caressed it.

"Well..." Nicole eyed Waverly's soft hand against her's. "You're nicer without that pretentious act you usually put on." The redhead breathed in hard as she felt Waverly's fingers dance across her palm. For once, she softened and let the flirty play continue. "I guess I should tell you-" Her sentence was cut off when a rock suddenly flew at her head, and Nicole fell backward and went unconscious instantly.
When she hit the ground, Waverly was taken by surprise and gasped. "Nicole!" She crouched down and cradled Nicole's head. "Oh my God! Nicole! Are you okay?" She noticed the small gush of blood coming out of her forehead and panicked.

While Waverly pulled out her phone to call 911, she heard voices from a far distance, yelling even. The yelling and sounds of footsteps were coming closer, and Waverly's heart dropped furthermore.
Fortunately, among those voices, she could hear Jeremy and Perry's first. She turned around to see the duo coming to her aid.

"Waverly! Nicole!" Jeremy called out.

"Run!" Perry yelled.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Run!" Perry hollered from a few feet away.

He and Jeremy ran to a panicking Waverly and a bleeding Nicole on the ground. It wasn't big, but there definitely was a cut above Nicole's eyebrow.

"Well help her, for Christ's sake!" Waverly screamed at the two boys standing over her.
"Nicole's out! We need to leave her!" Perry concluded selfishly.
"Oh no, I am not gonna die to these frat boys!" Jeremy grabbed at his hair. "I've only had sex one and a half times!"
"Shut up!" Waverly interrupted. "And help me!"

As the mob came closer Perry groaned and crouched down. "Okay, get her legs." He directed while picking up Nicole by her armpits. Waverly and Jeremy grabbed one leg and picked up the redhead miraculously. Nicole was surprisingly
light in comparison to her being a giant in height.
"Shit!" Jeremy spotted the group of frat boys running towards them from a distance. "Go!"

The three dashed rapidly through the forest while carrying the knocked out woman. They struggled and almost dropped her a few times, but they managed to jog far enough for the frat boys to not catch up.
"Where are we going?" Waverly asked, latching onto Nicole's leg.
"The truck!" Perry answered, out of breath. "Everyone else is meeting us at the road!"

"We're almost there!" Jeremy added, not picking up his weight as well as the other two.

Screams and hollers were still heard from afar. At first, the trio thought it was unlikely that the boys would catch up to them until they felt a wind go by their heads as rocks were being thrown again.

"Duck!" Perry warned at the top of his lungs.

What was first a marathon for their lives became a whole new game. Waverly, Jeremy, and Perry were now dodging rocks that were flying across the air, all while hauling the 130 lbs lesbian to safety.

Perry took a few hits in the back but kept going, while Jeremy was hit by a rock once on his arm and nearly dropped Nicole's leg. Waverly just kept her head down, praying to any God that she wouldn't get a rock to the face.

Then, the road was visible ahead of them. As soon as Waverly saw the truck with three recognizable faces, her adrenaline
increased with relief. She was never happier to see her quick-witted sister waiting for them on the back of Dolls' truck.

The three got to the truck quickly and immediately Dolls and Rosita pulled up Nicole while Wynonna helped Waverly up. Now on the truck, Waverly looked ahead and saw that the mob was as close as they were going to get.

The boys sprinted to the truck just as Jeremy and Perry hopped on at the last second, and the truck swerved off. "Freaks!" One of the frat boys yelled, and the group of angry men gave up.
Everyone settled in the back of the truck, and the first thing Wynonna did was slap, Perry. "What the hell was that!?"

"Some frat boys found us and started chasing us, it wasn't my fault!" Perry defended.

"You could've gotten my baby sister killed-" Wynonna looked down at Haught, who had a streak of blood from her gash. "...Or Haughtshot."

Rosita grabbed the med kit from the toolbox of the truck and applied gauze to her forehead. "We are so lucky that Dolls' is a cautious kinda guy." She wet the gauze with water and wiped the blood off of Nicole, sticking a bandage on the cut right after. "Let's hope it doesn't get infected."

"Why would the fraternity lead a witch hunt on us?" Wynonna wondered out loud.

Jeremy shrugged. "Maybe because we showed up to their-"

"Aph!" Wynonna covered his mouth before saying anything else. "Not a word." She ordered, trying to cover up her shtick of sending three of her crew to spy on Waverly at the party.
Waverly rolled her eyes. "Wynonna- I already know." She revealed. "You sent these three to watch over me at the frat house last night."

Wynonna scoffed. "What?" Her voice went high pitched. "Who said that?"

"Look, I'm not mad," Waverly said. "If it weren't for your spies something really bad would've happened to me."

Wynonna smirked. "Good." She held Waverly's hand. "You know I care about you, baby girl."

Waverly felt the sentiments coming in. "I know." She lightly slapped Wynonna. "But I can handle things myself, too."
Wynonna chuckled. "Duh."
The road started to get bumpy as it drove along the rocky path. The little vibrations and bumps from the bed of the vehicle were enough to wake Nicole into a mumbly state. She wasn't all the way awake, but she mumbled as her head hit against the metal as the truck kept moving.
"Oh, Nicole." Waverly pulled Nicole's head onto her lap to rest. "You're okay, you're okay." She wiped the hair out of her face.

"Mmhmg" Nicole sounded out, trying to get words out of her mouth. She opened her eyes and instantly smiled when she saw Waverly. The redhead gestured with her hand for Waverly to come closer.
"Hm?" Waverly leaned in closer to Nicole.

"I...I-should...t-tell y-you." Nicole struggled. "That you're a good kisser." She slowly slurred, but Waverly got the memo. Nicole shortly fell asleep again in the brunette's arms. The young Earp blushed and felt soft for a second until she realized that she and Nicole aren't the only ones in the back of the pickup truck.
Waverly shot her head up and saw everyone giving her that look.

"Well damn." Wynonna broke the silence. "Didn't know you were into gingers, Waves."

"We're not dating!" Waverly was quick to defend herself, almost too quick. Silence filled the space again, excluding Wynonna's attempt at pulling back from laughing.
Doc tipped his hat. "Marvelous weather we're having."

-
The gang made it back to the shack safely, well, for the most part anyways. Perry and Jeremy examined each other's bruises from the rocks at the bar and Nicole rested on the
twin bed that was in the backroom. Rosita and Doc stood beside the pool table while Waverly, Wynonna, and Dolls sat on the couch.

"So..." Dolls leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Who wants to explain what happened today?"
"Perry and I were exploring the woods, y'know, like the plan." Jeremy rubbed his arm. "And we walked in on the frat boys doing some hazing thing in the woods-"

"It was like some kind of like some demonic ritual." Perry inputted. "They were chanting, and when Jeremy tripped on a stick like the clutz he is." He hit Jeremy on the arm and the boy winced. "They looked at us with hatred, like we weren't supposed to see it."

"That's when they started chasing us." Jeremy finished. "I almost ripped my Achilles' heel!"

"Mm." Dolls uttered.

"Speaking of rituals." Wynonna jumped in the conversation. "What were you and copper doing in the woods?" She dramatically swung her head to her sister.

"What? Nothing." Waverly blurted.

"I could smell the bullshit off of ya." Wynonna snickered. "You guys were doing some hanky panky." She sing-songed
and poked at Waverly teasingly.

Waverly slapped Wynonna's hands out of her face. "Shut up! We weren't doing anything."

"Wynonna, I'd refrain from embarrassing your sister furthermore," Doc suggested. At that point Wynonna did back off, shooting her sister a wink, which only made the other Earp groan.
Then Nicole groaned loudly from the other room, hence she probably woke up with a beaming headache.

"I should check on her." Waverly excused herself quickly and fast walking to the backroom. When she got there Nicole still had her eyes closed but softly moaned in pain,

"Mhm, Waves?" Nicole muttered.

"Hey, I'm here." Waverly sat down at the edge of the bed and put her hand on Nicole's arm.
Nicole softened up at the touch and smiled. "Are you okay?" She whispered.

"I'm good," Waverly answered back.

"Good," Nicole replied.

A few moments passed by of Waverly stroking Nicole's arm with her delicate palm. "How's your head feeling?" Waverly asked gently.
"Fucking horrible," Nicole responded hoarsely. "But you're making it better, I guess."

"I guess?" Waverly giggled, and Nicole laughed along.

Dolls knocked from the doorway. "Hey, it's getting late. Everyone's leaving, do you need a ride back?" Dolls spotted Nicole laying down on the bed. "We can leave Nicole here to sleep, I'll lock the door on our way out."

Waverly let go of Nicole's arm. "Oh-"
"No." Nicole reached out to Waverly's hand. "Don't leave me, please. I don't wanna be alone." She softly pleaded.

The brunette went slack again and aid to Nicole's needs. "I'll stay with her. You go." She told Dolls.

The tall man nodded and joined the others to leave the shack. One after the other, people started to leave the shack, then it was just Nicole and Waverly left. "I'll take the couch," Waverly said.

Nicole didn't let go of Waverly's hand. "Wait." She opened her eyes. "Can you stay here, with me? I want you to sleep with me." The statement made Waverly eye's widen, and Nicole chuckled. "No pun intended, at least for tonight."

"Is there even any room for me?" Waverly said, for the bed they were on was a twin size.

Nicole scooted as far to the other side as she could. "Now there is." She lifted the blanket and welcomed Waverly. The smaller woman snuggled inside the sheets and acted like the little spoon to Nicole's big spoon. To her amazement, they were in a comfortable position for their first time to cuddle each other. It was as if they were perfect for one another.
The redhead swung her arms around Waverly's waist and pulled her in closer. Waverly shuddered as she felt Nicole's breath hitch against her neck. The warm air from her mouth made the young Earp feel like jelly, and frankly quite intoxicated.

So there she was, Waverly Earp nestled in the arms of the woman who she called a cocky brain tumor just yesterday. It was the same girl who threw her beloved longboard into the creepy woods, the same woman who told Waverly that she's a bitch right in her face. The same college student that fought with her endlessly throughout the weekend, spewing insults at each other non-stop. That's the same Nicole Haught whom Waverly Earp was cuddling with right now, falling asleep in her arms.

And she never felt safer.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Waverly opened her eyes and looked around to see her dorm walls. Except, the walls around her didn't look familiar at all, wooden planks replaced the drywall.

The brunette turned her head to the other side of the bed and startled herself. Right next to her was Nicole Haught, whose hair sprawled across her face, sleeping soundly and looking content as ever. Waverly melted at the sight, then her eyes grew at the thought of them doing it
last night and she somehow forgot.

She shot her eyes downward and lifted the thin blanket off of her body, expecting to see herself in her underwear. As soon as she saw that she still had her clothes on her, Waverly relaxed and looked at Nicole again.

The redhead
was still in between dreams, her eyes twitched subtly while air came in and out of her nose. It was weird of Waverly to stare, but at the time she couldn't help but study her as Nicole was asleep.

The young Earp first noticed her rested eyelids and steady breathing then paid attention to the torso. The blanket didn't cover Nicole all the way, so her upper body was exposed. There were a gentle rise and fall of her stomach and Waverly grew smitten by observing it. She bit her lip and got her hand to place it on Nicole's tummy, feeling the tempo of that rise and fall. Her fingers traced and circled around the navel through the shirt, Waverly could spend all morning playing with Nicole's body.

Nicole breathed in hard and groaned softly, and Waverly pulled back her hand instantly.
She's waking up. The redhead
rubbed her eyes and opened her eyes to Waverly giving her eye contact.

"Uh, hi." Nicole greeted.

"Hey there," Waverly said.

"Were you staring at me all morning?" She conceitedly
asked.
"No."
Waverly scoffed, and Nicole called bullshit immediately. Waverly gave her a confessing look and rolled her eyes. "So what? You're the one who invited me in this bed."

"Stalker," Nicole called her.
"Weirdo." Waverly spewed.

Nicole chuckled lightly and rolled from her back to her side, her elbow propping her head up. "Did you sleep well?"
"You can say that, sure," Waverly replied, seeing Nicole lick her lips iconically and growing attracted to it. Then she snapped out of her thirsty state and decided to lay it down for Nicole. "Look, what happened yesterday doesn't make us more than friends. I need you to know that, okay?"

Nicole felt her heart break a little. Even though she knew that Waverly was going through some things, she felt lousy for thinking she pulled Waverly into something that wasn't her liking. "I know, you told me that yesterday," Nicole sucked up and said. "And the day before that."

Waverly felt guilty for pushing her standards, and a little awkward too. "Good, I just thought I needed to get that off my chest."

"Cool," Nicole responded dryly. "Now, if you don't mind I need to get ready for school." She threw the blankets off herself and Waverly. "That starts with this." Nicole then roughly pushed Waverly, making her fall out of the bed and knocking her to the cold hardwood floor.
"Jesus- fuck!" Waverly sat up, rubbing her hip that landed the impact.

Nicole gleefully sat on the edge of the bed. "Sorry rookie, you gotta learn not to be in someone's way somehow!"
Just like that, Waverly's romantic feelings went away and she grumpily threw up the finger to the woman, and Nicole just grinned with pride.
-
The walk back to campus was awkward for the air was filled with small talk rather than full on conversations. To Nicole, she didn't want to step on Waverly's toes since her warning she got from the brunette about being too 'friendly', whatever that meant. What she did knew was that there was a connection between them, and bond growing, and Waverly felt it too.

The duo got on the main grounds of the college and Waverly let down her longboard. "Guess this is where we part."

"Yeah, sure," Nicole answered solemnly.
Noticing her resistance, Waverly grabbed Nicole's palm. "Come on, please don't be awkward. You know I still see you as a friend." Waverly reassured, but Nicole still had that frown on her face. "It's better than acquaintance."
The joke brought a smile to Nicole. "You're such a loser." The redhead looked at Waverly's finger caressing the back of her palm,
"I know," Waverly said. She put her foot on the longboard, then another foot set on the other tongue of the deck. Waverly looked up and her heart dropped along with her grasp on Nicole's hand. Champ Hardy had interfere.

"Hey, Waverly," Champ said, acting as if he didn't just try to have sex with her the other night.

Immediately tears start to form in her eyes, but Waverly pulled back. "W-what do you want?" Her voice dropped from the fear of confronting her ex-boyfriend.

"You haven't been answering my texts, why are you avoiding me?" Champ asked gullibly.

Does he not know what he did? Waverly thought. It was possible, Champ was after all crossfaded off the drugs and countless shots he took. That doesn't excuse his behavior, however.
Oh hell no. Waverly gritted her teeth.
He does not get to get off
that easily.
The Earp slapped Champ's cheek and pushed him back, and Nicole watched silently. "Do you not remember what you did to me?" She yelled. "Or tried to do to me!?"

Champ stood there in awe, truly oblivious to what the woman was talking about. "Is it because we had too many and you wouldn't have sex with me?" He took the words right out of Waverly's mouth. "I know you were acting weird but I forgive you!"

"Forgive me?" Waverly recited. "Are you fucking kidding me? You tried to r-" No matter how much she wanted to say it, she couldn't. The 'R' word was far too vulgar for her still. She choked from tears and balled her fists.
At that moment Nicole intervened and stepped between Waverly and Champ. "Back up, dude." She warned calmly.

Champ scoffed. "What? You're not apart of this- mind your own damn business!"
"This is my business, asshole." Nicole cut him off.

Champ laughed in disbelief and threw his hands up like a child. "So what, you got a bitch to protect you now, Waverly? Huh? Is that what it is?" Champ sniffled hard. "Who even is she? The dyke you're cheating on me with?"

"Back the fuck up!" Nicole raised her voice and pushed Champ further back.

The student shoved her back and yelled profanity. "You're just gonna swoop in and steal my chick?"

"She doesn't belong to anyone, douchebag." Nicole gave one more harsh shove at Champ. "Now beat it, you attempted rapist!"

The insult made Champ stood still in shock. "Rapist?"

Thankfully, Dolls popped out of nowhere with Wynonna to defuse the situation. "What's going on here?"

Wynonna, having less chill, got up in Champ's face. "I know what you did, you rat bastard! Chrissy Nedley texted me the deets- you tried to fuck my sister!" She grabbed the collar of his shirt. "Oh the things I'm gonna do to your pretty face!-"
"Wynonna." Dolls pulled the raging sister back. "Stop, we're gonna get him later." He looked at Champ. "We're reporting you to the board."
Champ laughed. "Please! I got the whole fraternity behind my back."
"Walk away." Dolls said.
"Plus, you can't prove shit."

"Walk away." Dolls repeated, more sternly.

"It was her fault anyway- she wanted it."

"Fine, be like that." Dolls let go of his clutch on Wynonna, releasing her to advance on Champ.

"Come here, you cumshot!" The elder Earp chased Champ off, leaving Dolls with Nicole and Waverly.
Dolls turned around to see Nicole hugging Waverly, the brunette's head cradled in her muscular arms. "Go to class, kid." He brushed his hand on her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, we're gonna get him." He set down his own skateboard. "Now, I gotta get Wynonna before she gets expelled from killing a freshman." He skated off, and Waverly rested in Nicole's comforting hold.

When the time came, she pulled back and wiped the remaining tears from her face. "Ugh, gosh."

"You're gonna be okay?" Nicole asked.
"Uh... yeah, for now, I guess." Waverly sniffled. "At least, as long as I don't have to see Champ again."

Nicole nodded, then set her skateboard on the pavement. She was about to ride off without saying goodbye until Waverly stopped her.
"Nicole?" Waverly said. "Am I gonna see you again?"

The question struck Nicole because she was still iffy on pursuing a friendship for a person she had feelings for, she figured it was better if she just cut it off right there. That'd be a terrible decision, though, she couldn't leave the youngest Earp with two broken hearts. Plus, she felt guilty for Champ embarrassing Waverly in public, accusing her cheating on him and pinning himself as a victim. Classic frat boy move.
"I don't want to hurt you, Waves." Nicole simply said before riding off to her class.

That left Waverly alone, a bit better from Nicole's support but feeling unsteady with that answer. It was beyond her knowledge to know what that meant, yet she hoped that Nicole didn't just break up with her platonically, that'd be horrible of her.

Though, she couldn't help but doubt herself too. What if she made her uncomfortable? Or she pushed Nicole to not like her. Waverly Earp currently felt like the source of the problems.

She thinks she screwed everything up.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Nicole Haught was nowhere to be found, for the rest of that week at least.

Either the Junior has been avoiding Waverly since their last sour encounter or she's been kidnapped by a fraternity. Nevertheless, the brunette has been anticipating their next conversation.

A week straight of classes, studying, and sleeping drained the young college student. Aside from thinking about how she would apologize to Nicole, Waverly was on a non-stop grind to distract herself until the next time she could visit the shack.

It was subtle things Waverly did to find out Nicole's whereabouts. Every time she'd get out of class the woman would scan the campus trails, hoping to see a familiar redhead skateboard to her next class. However, she didn't see a person who made out to be Nicole. Hell, she didn't even eye one ginger in the area. So Waverly went on, doubtful and eager to run into Haught, even if it resulted in her boiling up.
Eventually, Friday came and classes were over for Waverly and she swiftly made the trip to the shack. One tiring walk in her knit turtleneck top over a skater's skirt and a longboard by her side later and the gothic chick stepped up to the front of the wooden shack.

Waverly took one deep breath and opened the door. Inside she only saw Jeremy and Rosita doing their own things across the room. Jeremy sat on the couch invested in a book while Rosita played pool by herself. No sign of Doc, Dolls, Wynonna, Perry, and most significantly Nicole.

"Where is everyone?" Waverly asked, disappointed.

"Out," Jeremy said, reading his comic book.

"What?" Waverly closed the door behind her. "What do you mean out? Don't we meet on Fridays?"
Rosita chuckled. "You know that this club is secretly not a club, right? We only meet when it's convenient."

"Like last Friday." Jeremy pitched in. "It was the first week of school, the administration expected to see some activity from the 'skater's club'".

"Geez, thanks for the heads up." Waverly huffed from tiredness and flipped her hair.

"You looking for someone in particular?" Rosita suggested. "Like a piping hot redhead?"

Waverly became flustered. "Well, I mean... I guess."

"Aw, look! You're blushing." Rosita teased.

"Oh leave her alone," Jeremy said. "But I don't blame ya. Even I noticed she's been dragging you on lately."

"The sexual tension's off the charts," Rosita added.

"Okay!" Waverly snapped. "Can you just tell me where she is? I need to talk to her."
"She's probably at the skatepark," Jeremy answered. "It's not that far from here, just follow the trail and take a right when it ends, you're gonna see a park with basketball courts and a playground, the skatepark should be right next to it."

"Wow," Waverly replied. "Thanks, Jeremy."
"Anytime, Waves." Jeremy propped his comic book back open. "Now get that Haught-shot!"

"Yeah!" Rosita joined. "Get it!"

Waverly blushed once more at the corny comments. "Sure."

-
The trip to the new destination was shorter than the last one, yet it was as tiring for Waverly Earp. When she got to the park it was merely empty, which was weird considering it was a Friday evening and she had expected to see people populate the area.

The playground: empty. Basketball courts: empty. Tennis courts: also empty. It was as if Jeremy sent Waverly to an abandoned park. Though in the corner of her eye, the brunette saw a small skatepark secluded from the rest of the courts and the playground, and smack-dab in the middle was Nicole Haught, doing tricks on her skateboard.

Waverly grew into a smile, jubilant to finally see the redhead after a long, stretched out week. As she crept closer, she recognized that Nicole was deep into her work. Sweat was glistening down her forehead while her footwork was focused completely on the skateboard. She landed a kickflip, then skated a short distance to do a nollie shove-it. Of course, Waverly didn't know what these were called at the time, but she was mesmerized by how dedicated Nicole was.

Nicole tried to do another shove-it until she messed up and accidentally jumped off her board, falling down onto the smooth pavement. At that point, Waverly was close enough for her giggle to be heard by the Junior. Nicole turned her head and saw Waverly, trying to hold her laughter in.

Nicole rolled her eyes and picked herself up. "Fancy seeing you around here. I thought I had the park to myself."

"Jeremy told me where you were," Waverly told her.
"So you really are stalking me?" Nicole grabbed her board off the ground.
"Haha, very funny." The brunette sarcastically said. "Are we going to talk or not?"

"What's there to talk about?" Nicole asked before getting her water bottle and downing it quickly. As she drank from the bottle, water from the nozzle dripped down her chin and descended to her neck. Waverly watched Nicole's eve's apple bulge as she drank while drops of water messily ran down her neck. She licked her lips aimlessly and realized her own thirst.

"Well?" Nicole breathed heavily.

"Um." Waverly shook her head a little to focus. "You- you have water on your chin."

"Oh." Nicole wiped off the streak of water with one swipe of the back her palm.

"Uh, anyway. I wanted to apologize, I guess." Waverly said weakly.

"I guess?" Nicole recited."Way to sound sincere."

"Can you not make this hard for me?" Waverly spewed.

"That depends, can you quit acting like a victim?" Nicole harshly replied, then saw the hurt in Waverly's eyes. She stared off then had an idea in her head. "Look, I'm tired. Let's sit down somewhere."

"Okay." Waverly agreed and started walking to the nearest bench.
"Not there," Nicole said, then pointed to the vert ramp. "There."

Waverly followed Nicole to the half-pipe and the redhead threw her skateboard to the top and climbed on the platform easily. Just when she wasn't expecting help, Nicole kindly lend a hand to Waverly, and first got her longboard to join the other and grabbed her hand to help her up. When the Earp got on the platform the both of them sat on the edge of the half-pipe with their legs hanging off of it.

There was a moment of silence before Waverly spoke first. "You've been avoiding me all week."

"And there's a reason for that." Nicole defended.
Waverly paused. "What's the reason?"
Nicole sighed. "Do you remember the last thing I told you?" Waverly shrugged, and Nicole continued. "I said that I don't want to hurt you."

Waverly turned to face Nicole. "But avoiding me has been the only thing you're doing to hurt me!" She protested. "Why would you do that?"

"I..." Nicole trailed off. "I don't know. It was just- you and Champ and the fraternity. Everything was going a hundred miles per hour and I didn't want to make things even more complicated. I'm problematic already- I don't need anyone else's reputation ruined because of me."

"Nicole," Waverly stared into those puppy dog eyes. "I don't care about reputation. All I care about right now is sealing this friendship. I really, really want to get to you know you and all that." She placed her hand on top of Nicole's, and as soon she felt that touch Nicole pulled her hand away.

"Jesus, don't do that." Nicole scooted further away from Waverly.
"What? Why?" Waverly asked.

"Because!" Nicole pestered. "Every time you do things like that, touch me, hold my hand,
kiss
me, you check yourself out right after and say that nothing in our relationship changes!" She ranted. "Every damn time I feel like I have a chance with you, yet it never happens."

Seconds passed after Nicole blew off some steam. "Wow." That was all Waverly could say.

"Yeah, wow," Nicole repeated. "Y-y-you can't just go on and off on me over and over again." She stammered. "It sucks."

"Well, if it makes up for anything," Waverly responded. "I don't have experience in these things. Feelings, romance, I don't know what the hell I'm doing, and if I'm being honest-not even my high school relationships amount to anything. So I forget and fall flat on my face when I feel something new."

"Do you need me to catch you?" Nicole smirked.

"God, yes please." Waverly huffed and leaned on Nicole's shoulder. As she rested the woman rubbed her back and Waverly felt safe again.

"Given that you have no idea what you're doing, you're forgiven," Nicole said. "Just quit shutting me out, kay?"
Waverly sat back up. "Duh."

Nicole looked up at the night sky and laughed. "I feel like I'm in high school."

"What's so bad about that?" Waverly inquired.

"We're both adults, Waves," Nicole said. "We don't write love letters and put them in each other's lockers."

"So what do we do?" The freshmen asked.
"We tell it to our faces, maturely," Nicole explained.
"Right." Waverly took a deep breath. "I like you, a lot. And I'm also afraid, so be patient with me." Waverly looked at Nicole again and saw an assuring look on her face. "...Or don't. I understand if you don't wanna waste your time on me."

"Waverly Earp." Nicole took Waverly's hand and interlocked it with her own. "I'll wait for as long as it takes."

The statement brought a wide smile to Waverly, and she held Nicole's hand tight. "You're cheesy."

"And your black lipstick is smearing." Nicole commented.

Waverly rolled her eyes and moved closer by Nicole's side. "So tell me, about
your
definition of high school." She said, and the redhead raised an eyebrow. "You said you feel like you're in high school, so what was that like?"

Nicole blew a raspberry, trying to recall her memories from high school. "Uh... let's see... I remember there was a lot of drama."

"What kind of drama?" Waverly asked.

"Stupid, pointless drama," Nicole answered. "Scandals about who like who, the cheerleading team talking shit about others, someone stealing from the band's locker room-"
"Wait." Waverly cut off.
"What?" Nicole said.
"Were you in band in high school?" Waverly questioned.
"Yeah, why?"
"Oh my god!" Waverly burst out laughing. "You were a band kid!"
Nicole's jaw dropped and acted like she was offended. "Okay, I'll have you know that we won a bunch of trophies from our competitions! I even earned my sections third place in jazz!"

"Jazz!" Waverly snorted. "That's priceless!"
"Come on! Why are you making fun of me for this!?" Nicole genuinely asked, laughing alongside Waverly.
"Nothing! It's nothing!" Waverly brought herself down from laughter. "It's just that you're so bold and bronze. Hearing that you were a band geek is just so funny to me."

"Hey! There is nothing geekish about my saxophone playing!" Nicole retorted, which only made Waverly laugh again.
"Saxophone!" Waverly chuckled. "That's even better!"

"Well laugh at me all you want but at least I have talent!" Nicole protested.

"Who said I don't have talent?" Waverly said in opposition.

"Oh yeah? What kind of talents does a punk girl like you have?"

"For one, I sing." Waverly bragged.

"Sing?" Nicole said. "I don't believe that."

"Yep!" Waverly confirmed with pride. "You're looking at one of the best vocal ensemble members of Purgatory High! It was great, I loved it. Plus, our wardrobe's black clothing."

Nicole chuckled. "Figures. What else did you do?"

"Let's see... I did cheerleading." Waverly pointed out.

"Cheerleading?" Nicole widened her eyes. "I can't imagine you so peppy, and cheery."
"That was before I grew into what I am today." Waverly made clear.

"A punk chick with a worn out longboard?" Nicole said.
"Exactly, but people aren't quite into that," The brunette swung her legs in the air. "I know Champ wasn't." It was weird since the two have been together for a while, but Waverly could tell that ever since her gothic phase broke out none of her ex-boyfriends were fond of it. It was one of those memories she kept in the back of her mind that made her feel ashamed for being herself.
"Well, I'm into that," Nicole reassured. "In fact, I dig it a lot."

Waverly smirked. "Good."

A moment passed by and Nicole looked at Waverly's longboard. "What about that board? What made you get into longboarding?"
"Oh, this?" Waverly dragged the longboard onto her lap. "It was a gift from Gus, my caretaker, on my 16th birthday. I was getting sick of walking to school every day so she gave this to me and said 'here, learn how to use it." She flipped it over and smoothed her hand over the forest green paint on the deck. "I've been using it for transportation ever since."

"Well, it's pretty rad." Nicole complimented. "It's definitely old, but I could say the same for mine." The redhead got her own skateboard to examine it. "My dad gave this to me when I have 14, I've been wearing this out ever since."

Waverly observed the board and could tell that it was beaten up. There were wooden skid marks on the heel and nose of the deck, skid marks in the middle from railing, and the navy blue paint was chipping off. "Damn, that is worn out. Have you ever thought of getting a new one?"
"Hm, well I could get a new one," Nicole said. "But this was a parting gift from my father before he dipped out of my life."

"Did he move away?" Waverly asked.
"Nope, he died." Nicole replied casually.

"Oh," Waverly muttered. "Sorry."
"It's fine, that was years ago, and he was a good man." Nicole honored. "A really good man. He was the Sheriff of Purgatory, you know. After he passed Sheriff Nedley took over. That's kind of the reason why I majored in criminology, in memory of my pops."
"That's beautiful." Waverly endorsed.
Nicole took another deep breath and changed the subject. "Anyways, do you know any tricks on your longboard?"

"Well, not really." The freshmen said. "Besides freestyling, which I suck ass at, there's not much you can do with a longboard."

"That's not true!" Nicole argued, snatching the longboard from Waverly's lap. "You can so do tricks on this." She then stood up and placed the board's end on the edge of the ramp. "For example, a drop down. Try it."
"Eh, I don't know." Waverly got up. "I don't know how to drop down. Hell, I haven't even thought about doing stuff at a skatepark like that."
"It's easy. Put your foot here." Nicole directed Waverly to put one foot on the tail and let the rest of the longboard hand over the edge of the ramp. "Okay, when you're ready you're gonna put your other foot on the board and drop down, but whatever you do, do
not
lean back."
"Don't lean back, got it," Waverly repeated. Even though the vert ramp wasn't high, she didn't realize just how scary it was to drop down otherwise. The drop looked simple yet long, and the number one thing she was most afraid of was falling.
"I'll count you off." Nicole put her hands on Waverly's shoulders. "One, two, three!" She let go of her shoulders and Waverly dropped down in the ramp, except that she instantly leaned back and yelped as she fell backward onto the half-pipe and landed on her butt at the bottom of the ramp.
"Shit!" Nicole cursed and slid down the ramp. When she got there Waverly propped herself up on her elbows and started laughing. "Are you okay?" Nicole asked.
"Yes, silly." Waverly grabbed Nicole's wrist and pulled her down. "Join me!"

Relieved, Nicole laid down with Waverly on the black surface. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. Just look at the stars with me," Waverly ordered.

Nicole rested her head on the ground and looked up, seeing the little stars that illuminated the sky. Waverly put her head on Nicole's chest and cuddled into her body. The brunette swung her arm around Nicole's stomach and stared at the stars with her.

"Nights like these are beautiful," Waverly said. "When I'm bored I just stargaze into the night. It relaxes me."

"What? Looking up at the sky?" Nicole touched Waverly's hand that was over her stomach.

"Yeah, it's nice y'know?" Waverly propped herself with one arm to look at the redhead. "You relax me, too."

Nicole blushed and sat up a little. "Even after I made you fall down a half-pipe?"

"Even after that." Waverly groaned and touched her back. "My back's blown out, though."

Nicole chuckled. "Sorry about that."

"It hurts, but you make it better." Waverly began. "You make everything better."

"Do I?" Nicole charmingly smiled.
Waverly then leaned in and passionately kissed Nicole, and Nicole gushed over it urgently. Their lips collided in a lovingly pace, and both of them smiled before parting their lips again for another kiss. It was a perfect moment too, no one was around them to disrupt them. It was rare, but they were purely along with each other, free to do whatever they wanted to do with to one another.

And that kiss was forever.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

So if you haven't noticed, I've been gone for 101001001010101 hours. I've taken an unannounced hiatus mainly because life hits you fast and hard and life hit me EXTREMELY hard recently (on a positive note, at least). Therefore I've been putting this fic on hold week after week because my life got so busy (I'm a junior in high school btw, you can just tell how much work I've got on my hands already).
That doesn't give me an excuse to leave you guys hanging, and for that, I solemnly apologize for dipping without an update (sorry!). What I can say for right now is that this fic will be put on hold until I find the motivation to write again. That could be a day, a week, three months who knows- but I know that I won't leave this fic abandoned. I'll bounce back eventually, and if I'm gonna do that I'm going to do it right.
Again I'm so very sorry if you were expecting a new update on our lovely wayhaught
story, but I promise I'll come back with fresh ideas and serve you guys the content that you're patiently waiting for.

Until then, go read my other fanfic if you haven't already, show some love on that! Thank you all for the support and I hope you understand that life gets in the way sometimes and you can't just avoid it.
I love you all, and let's pray that season four comes early! <4