A/N: This is the first thing I've written in years, but these two are just absolutely going to be the death of me! Rated T for now, may change in the future. I'm not sure how frequently I'll update, but I'm sure there will be at least 3-4 more chapters. Enjoy!
_

Realizing it was already 4:02, Waverly tugged a Shorty's long sleeve v-neck over her tank top, slipped into a pair of boots, grabbed Champ's keys off the kitchen counter, and was out the door. Mumbling to herself as she skipped down the dusty path to the old pick-up truck, she knew Gus was going to berate her for being late. At least Champ had dropped off his truck that morning for her on his way out of town. If she had to walk, it would take her at least half an hour. She climbed into the cab, jammed the keys in the ignition, and the truck roared to life. She pulled out of the homestead and flipped on the radio, instantly singing along.

"You don't gotta go to work, work, work, work…"

"Geez, I wish I didn't have to go to work!" she said out loud to no one. She kept singing along, barreling down the empty road that stretches the two miles between the Earp home and Shorty's.

All of a sudden, the truck slowed, and started chugging. Waverly was brought out of her Fifth Harmony-induced daze, her eyes grew big as she stared at the steering wheel and then the dash, pressing the gas harder and harder, willing the old truck to keep moving. It was then that the big red "E" on the left of the dash jumped out at her, and the truck chugged to a dead stop.

"Fucking CHAMP!" she yelled to herself. "That asshole left me a car without enough gas to even make it to the closest gas station!" She groaned loudly and dramatically rested her forehead on the steering wheel. After about thirty seconds of moping, Waverly pulled out her cell phone and called the bar.

"Shorty's! What can I do ya for?"

Waverly internally smiled briefly at Gus's warm voice and familiar greeting. "It's me, Wave. Listen, I am so so so sorry, but I'm going to be late…" she glanced at the clock, now reading 4:13, "well, obviously. You can tell time. Champ left me a truck with no gas, so I'm about a mile away and now on foot. I'll make it up to you by closing solo!" she pleaded, with the most sincere tone to her voice.

Gus sighed audibly into the phone. "It's okay, Wave. But you should have known to check the gas gauge. How many times has Champ run out of gas himself? What, four times? This year?"

They both chuckled lightly, "You're right, Gus. I should have known."

"Okay, well get here as soon as you can, we are pretty swamped."

"Will do. Thank you, and I'm so sorry again!"

They disconnected, and Waverly exhaled deeply. Grabbing her apron from the passenger's seat, and stuffing it in her handbag with her phone charger and keys, she climbed down from the truck and started her walk in.

As Gus hung up the phone, shaking her head, a voice from behind her caught her attention.

"I'm sorry to be so nosey, but was that Waverly? Did I hear she ran out of gas?"

Gus turned and faced the red-haired Sheriff's Deputy, smiling and chuckling to herself.

"She sure did. Her no-good boyfriend left her a truck on E, and so she's walking the last mile. She should be here in about 15-20 minutes."

"Oh. Well, you know, I could go get her? I mean, it is starting to get dark out early this time of year. It's not entirely safe to be walking?" She asked as if it was a question, but she was already reaching for her Stetson and digging her keys out of her pocket.

"Well it doesn't look like you need any convincing, Officer Haught. She should be about a mile down the road, to the east."

"Got it. We'll be back in no time!" She gave Gus one firm nod and turned on the heel of her boots, out to her patrol car.

She didn't need directions from Gus. Despite hardly knowing the girl, she knew exactly where Waverly was coming from and where she lived. Not that she was a creepy stalker or anything—it's just that everyone in Purgatory knew where the Earp Homestead was. It was somewhat of a local landmark.

Sure enough, as the officer made it around a particularly sharp curve in the road, she caught sight of Waverly walking down the opposite side of the dirt road, about 200 yards ahead of her. If she was aware of the involuntary grin that spread across her face at the sight of the girl, she didn't care.

She eased to a stop as she reached Waverly, rolling down her window and squinting slightly at the setting sun as she shifted her head out the window with a smile. "Heard you might need a lift?"

Waverly let out a low laugh and tilted her head, mirroring the other girl's smile. "It appears as if you heard correctly, Officer." Waverly held her hands out, palms up and spun around slightly, jokingly showing that she has no car with her.

"Well you are a pedestrian no, more, Miss Waverly. Hop on in. I won't even make you sit in the back, where my usual passengers go."

Waverly laughed again as she rounded the front of the car, plopping into the passenger's seat and pulling the door shut behind her. She accidentally slammed it, and they both jumped slightly, startled by the loud noise. Waverly, in all her grace, bumped the travel coffee mug that was in the center console, tipping it over and spilling what was leftover onto the other girl's right pant leg.

"Oh my god! I am so so so sorry! Oh gosh, I am such a klutz." Waverly frantically started digging in her handbag, looking for napkins or something to help clean up the mess, all the while mumbling to herself about how careless she is. Finally, she pulled out a few cocktail napkins and reached over and started patting the khaki thigh dry, over and over again repeating, "I'm so so sorry, god I'm an idiot."

Waverly was only able to berate herself for a few seconds before warm hands closed over hers on the other girl's lap.

"Waverly," she chuckled, "Waverly stop. It's really okay, I promise!" Waverly looked up and finally noticed the big, dimpled smile shining back at her.

"Oh gosh, I am really so sorry, Officer Haught. I'll pay to have them dry-cleaned, and I…"

"Nicole."

Waverly stopped and stared, confused.

"My first name. It's Nicole. You don't have to call me 'Officer Haught' all the time." She smiled warmly.

"Oh," Waverly said. "Nicole? Okay, well Nicole, I'll get the dry-cleaned for you, I promise!"

"It's really not necessary. The Department launders our uniforms weekly. I drop off tomorrow, anyways. No worries at all, it's really fine."

Waverly nodded, and then realized that they were still, essentially, holding hands on Nicole's lap. Sheepishly, she withdrew her hands, leaving the cocktail napkins for Nicole to pat herself a little drier. After a few seconds, Nicole picked one up, uncrumpled it, and read off the number written on the back.

"Tyler. 432-555-6719. Call me, sweet cheeks." Nicole couldn't help the eyeroll. "How charming. Here," she handed it back to Waverly, who looked at her like she had three heads.

"I don't want that," Waverly said, matter-of-factly.

"You don't?" Nicole asked.

"No! Of course not," Waverly was incredulous.

Nicole felt a little flutter in her stomach, but that was short-lived when Waverly followed up her declaration with the simple, "I have a boyfriend already."

"Oh. That's right. He's the one who left you the bum truck, right?"

Nicole shifted the car into reverse to turn around and head back towards Shorty's. Habitually, she reached her hand over to the passenger's seat, placing it just above Waverly's shoulder as she turned around to look behind her while she reversed.

Waverly nodded, "Yep. That's the one…" Facing her, Nicole could see the way Waverly's shoulders sagged, and the corners of her eyes dimmed.

"Hey," Nicole said, intentionally letting her hand slip from the seat to Waverly's left shoulder, "After I drop you off, I could run to the gas station and get a gas can and come back and…"

"Oh, Offic—Nicole, you are too sweet, but you really don't have to do that. You've already done more than enough. I can't believe you came to get me. How did you even know?" Waverly laughed again and pointed at Nicole's leg, "You're already regretting coming to get me… "

Waverly met Nicole's eyes and smiled wide, fully back to the bright, bubbly girl she was when Nicole first pulled over.

"Besides," Waverly continued, "I am going to have a real good time telling Champ he gets to walk to the gas station and walk back to fill up his car. Let me make him do it." She smiled again.

"Well, I really wouldn't mind, Wave, but if you insist!" Nicole returned a truly bright smile. She slipped her hand off Waverly's shoulder and onto the gear and shifted into drive. A few seconds down the road, she glanced at Waverly, who was staring out the window. "I overheard you talking to Gus, by the way." Waverly leaned her head against the window, but turned it slightly so she could look at Nicole. "That's how I knew… since you asked."

Waverly nodded, "I assumed as much. But I meant what I said, I'm sorry I spilled. No good deed, I guess. You'll think twice about being so nice next time, I'm sure."

Nicole looked fully over to Waverly, "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I could never turn down the chance to save a damsel in distress," she said, purposely being cheesy and dramatic, "… especially such a pretty one," she said, in a slightly more serious tone.

Waverly blushed and dipped her head, chin meeting chest. She felt a warmth fill her chest and her lungs, and a lightness that she hadn't felt in a long time. "Well thanks again, I really appreciate it," she said softly. They both smiled at each other, for what felt like the twentieth time in the five minutes they had been together.

The drove the rest of the mile is comfortable silence, and Nicole finally pulled back into the same parking spot she had vacated earlier. Waverly grabbed the handle, ready to throw open the door when she groaned slightly, dreading the 6-plus our shift she had ahead of her. "I just realized I shouldn't have offered to close for Gus, earlier. Since I have to walk home, it's going to be so late before I get back," she said more to herself than anyone else.

"I can take you home later," Nicole says, immediately.

Waverly whipped her head to Nicole, staring. The corners of her lips curled up, "What, you think I'll still be in distress then?"

Nicole contained her grin, "I'd hate to risk it. Being an officer of the law and everything." They both laughed.

"But really, Nicole, that's too much. I'll find another ride. Thank you, though."

"Another ride? With who? One of the several gropey middle-aged drunks that will be left after last call? I don't think so. Seriously, it's no problem. I'm on duty until midnight, so I won't have been drinking and I'll be up, and being here later is probably exactly where I belong. Busiest bar in town is the most likely place in need of law enforcement late on a Tuesday." She flashed her white teeth as she turned and got out of the car, reaching the bar entrance in four long strides, and holding the door open for Waverly as she exited the car and tied her apron around her waist.

As she passed through the doorway she curtsied at Nicole, mouthing "Thank you." Nicole tipped the front of her Stetson in return, and both girls couldn't help but giggle as they crossed into the dark bar.

Waverly rounded the end of the bar, stuffing her handbag under the bar and clocking in at the computer. Nicole pulled up the seat she was in earlier, taking a long sip of her now-cold coffee as she watched Waverly move around, placing dirty glasses into the sink, wiping the counter in places, taking stock of the inventory of beer bottles and liquor, all as if it's second-nature to her.

Gus comes out of the double-swinging doors in the back, arms full of baskets of burgers and greasy fries. Nicole sees the flood of relief wash over her face to see Waverly there.

"It's about time!" she harps, jokingly as she breezes past them towards a table in the corner to deliver their food. Waverly just rolls her eyes to Nicole, suppressing a smile.

"She seems like a good boss," Nicole observes. Waverly closes the gap to the bar right in front of Nicole, and leans her elbows on it. "Oh, she is—she's great. She's also family—my aunt. She basically raised Wynonna and me after…" Waverly didn't finish the sentence, and she knew she didn't need to. Even without ever having a real conversation with Nicole before today, she knew she knew the story. Everyone in Purgatory did, for better or worse. It made it better—that she didn't have to retell it and relive it all of the time. But it also meant that's how she was defined to everyone in town. An Earp.

"It's really great you have such a strong support system. Your sister, too. I don't know her well, but I see her around the station some, and I think all of the handful of times I've spoken with her, she's mentioned you. She's fiercely protective, ya know?"

"Oh, trust me, I know," Waverly laughed low, under her breath. "When she first got back to town a few weeks ago, she found out I was dating Champ, and the next time she saw him, she threw him into that wall over there, held a forearm to his throat and threatened to castrate him if he ever hurt me. The whole bar was full. It went silent the second Champ's back thudded against the wall, so about 200 people heard the threat. He went ghost white… I thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head."

They both laughed.

"And you know what? I am one-hundred-percent certain that it was not an empty threat," Waverly grinned.

"I'm sure you're right about that," Nicole said, softly. They silently smiled at one another for a beat, and then Nicole placed both hands flat on the bar, leaned back, and exhaled.

"I guess I should get back out on patrol. But I'll be back for you. What time do you think you'll be done?"

"You really, really don't—"

"Stop it." Nicole put up a hand, seriously. "I don't want to hear it. What time are you done?"

Waverly sighed. "Probably about eleven?"

Nicole smiled, "Sounds good. I'll come back around 10:30, in case you're done early so you don't have to wait on me."

"Okay," Waverly nodded. "Do you want anything before you go? A to-go cup of coffee since I have it on good authority that you have none in your patrol car?" She grinned, and could swear she saw Nicole blush under the brim of her hat as she fitted it back on her head.

"You know, that'd be great, ma'am," she said, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet. Waverly turned back around with the tall paper cup, fitting the plastic lid on as she set it down and slid it across the counter.

"Uh-uh. No way. Put that away. This is on the house. So is the one you were drinking here."

Nicole shook her head and continued to open her wallet, counting out bills inside.

"Nicole. Seriously," Waverly grabbed her wrist and closed her wallet with the other hand, catching her off guard. They locked eyes, and Waverly's sparked as she repeated herself. "Seriously, this is on the house."

Nicole finally relented, putting the wallet back in her pocket and nodding at the sweet smile in front of her.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few hours. Have a nice shift!"

"You too, Officer Haught."

Nicole shook her head and turned towards the door, swearing she just saw Waverly wink at her as she left.