imagine that hermes’ favorite toy is that toy sheriff he’s gonna get, right? and since its his favorite toy, the sheriff just so happens to end up his favorite person

Loyal Lines, Loyal Stunts (wayhaught college au) : Chapter 6

Notes: So i did an update and I am leaving for a funeral, but i am going to try and update a few chapters before i do that plane flying thing. 

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16373183/chapters/38681555#workskin

Fanfiction: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13091723/6/Loyal-Lines-Loyal-Stunts

Tw: for cursing (its wynonna) and verbal abuse (oh willa) Also two things: Pinwear day are special days designated by your greek organization where you have to wear your groups pin and dress in business casual wear. Flashbacks, memories, and lyrics are italicized; Text messages are bolded. 

Waverly woke up yet, again alone. Well not completely Vanessa, her roommate, lurked into their room early in the morning. She tried not to think too much about the day prior and didn't even check her phone. A part of her was racked with worry that Nicole wouldn’t even message her after the yesterday. She knew that Nicole was worrying about her and wondering if she was okay and likely wonder why exactly she walked up to the revenants unscathed. Ignoring the thought Waverly tried to get through the day without dwelling too much about what she could not fix and what she knew would eventually have happened. She knew eventually she would have to face the skeletons in her closet sooner or later. Despite the inner turmoil she was facing she made everything seem normal for everyone around her. She upped her normal pristine image it being pinwear day gave her an excuse to dress up. She wore her hair pin straight and her pink turtleneck with a pair of loose black pants. Waverly woke up extra early just to put the effort into the silkiness of her long brown tressles. Wynonna would be proud at the hair maintenance skills she donned from her. Her too long tan coat was not dragging on the ground due to a pair of her favorite heeled boots. She dug the boots from the bin in the bottom of her small dorm closet filled with things from her home in purgatory. When she fished them out of the container she also stumbled upon a dirty wrinkled leather vest. Unfolding the vest she sat on her rug gazing at the object with lost eyes. The vest’s back was partially covered in a single  faded off white bottom banner. The banner was clinging to the vest with thick black thread and a leather epoxy that still faintly smelled of burning rubber. That smell reminded her of the rotating wheels of a big wheel Dyna pulling at freshly laid asphalt. Blue stitching was fraying underneath Waverly’s fingers as she traced over the letters. The letters were coming undone but still read out angel face in a thick scripted font. Waverly's alarm tone and a groaning fast asleep Nessa shook her from her memories. She shoved the vest back under the mountain of shoes that desperately needed to be sorted through. These boots that clicked against classroom floors made her slightly taller but not as tall as Nicole. In her mind she wondered if she would be tall enough to rest her forehead to Nicole’s without having the taller girl lean down for her.There i go again she internally chastised. Besides the revenant business Nicole also filled her mind. It wasn't just then as she left the dorm Nicole also invaded her thoughts all day. Even when she was getting compliments left and right in between tutoring and mandatory workshops she thought of what her friend was up to. In the middle of her busy schedule she never did get to message her about if she was okay after everything. She felt worse about that then when Champ surprised her in the history building hallway. He was wrapping his burly frame around her from behind and she prayed it was Nicole. But, it wasn't and she let him annoy her while she printed off copies for a tutee. Waverly texted Nicole but the conversation was awkward. Even more so after Nicole asked if she was doing any better for the 10th time.

Nicole

If you are okay, are we just not going to talk about the pink elephant?

Waverly

What elephant?

Nicole

(-_-) okay then i guess if that is how you want to be.

Waverly

Im sorry. I guess i just want to forget that it ever happened?

Nicole

Ok, but would you want to file a police report to feel better?

But, Waverly made sure to decline. A report would only escalate the lingering situation from a possibility to catastrophic inevitability. She was sitting in a large upholstered chair in the student center, as she thought back to her stop on the police talk. One thing Waverly would never be, on purpose, was a tattle tale or a narc no matter what her elder sisters might refute. Especially Willa, Willa who she tried to stuff so far in her mind that her stomach churned at the thought of her name. While physically Waverly seemed to be stoic as she let the chair swallow her, her mind went to her dark place. The sound of lightning clapped against the sunny and cloud covered sky. A storm was churning passed the mountains in the far distance the gray and black peaks creeping towards Purgatory.

“You ruined everything, you always ruin everything,” Willa spat at a frightened six year old Waverly. Waverly was tucked behind a rickety wooden sitting chair in the homestead’s kitchen.

Her small hands trembled and her eyes grew puffy hoping this chair could block the storm growing in her sister. She had a clear shot of Willas face, contorted with anger and raging irises burning past the chair frame. Their eyes were always so similar but, Willa always carried a deep resentment in her own. Waverly hoped that the chair would deflect the words being hurled her way or at least the stinging slaps that could follow. Their father, Ward, was dragging Willa’s latest older boy toy down the dirt driveway of their home. Leading the boy no doubt to where his parents beat up minivan was parked in the driveway. The girls were left home alone while Ward attempted to play sheriff half sober. These days he had been doing a worse job than usual as the drinking was getting worse. When he came home early for lunch and caught Willa necking said boy in her room the blame fell on Waverly at least from Willa’s perspective. No matter how many times she protested and Wy backed her up Willa was upset. No she was livid. Willa grasped one of wards almost empty small bottles of whiskey. She downed the small amount left and hurled the bottle in Waverly's direction. Twelve almost Thirteen year old Willa was every inch of her daddys image. The wicked words and the bullheaded stubbornness. One thing they all inherited was his fight versus flight instincts. Waverly ducked the shattering glass and sobbed outloud. “Please Willa i promise,” Waverly’s squeaking voice cried out. “Always crying like a baby, that’s how i know YOU aren’t my sister, YOU cry too much.” Willa cut her sister off. She was taunting Waverly by circling the table after her. Waverly didn’t know why but her sister seemed so much bigger and far scarier than any other time before this. Little did baby Waverly know that things would only get so much worse the year after. Wynonna had stepped in once she hid the guns they kept in the house from their dad. She was sure he would have killed that 15 year old for messing with his 12 year old, drunk or not. Wynonna began pulling Willa to sit in the living room forcibly trying to put some distance between her sisters.

Willa continued to jire, “She's not our blood Nonna. She is just some half breed that momma had and now we have to put up with.” Waverly curled herself into a ball and waited to hear Willa running out of the house. A loud bang of the front door slamming confirmed what always would happen. When Wynonna returned to the kitchen she grabbed a dusty old broom and pan to collect the glass on the floor inches from her shuttering sister. Waverly was panting and crumpled under that wooden chair it did protect her. After sweeping the shards and sitting them far away from drunk old men and clumsy kids Wynonna huddled next to her baby sister. “Don’t listen to her she’s wicked when she’s mad.” Wynonna attempted to coax her sister from under the chair. Waverly, then sniffling, made her way onto her sisters lap. Wynonna tousled the little girls growing mane, “You know you are the best Earp because your better than us. Stay better baby girl.”

Wynonna was so young trying to hold it together. Trying so hard to maintain the insanity until it happened. The incident that changed so much for the Earp name and how people viewed their family was on the horizon, but none of them knew that then. Waverly loved Wynonna but, feared Willa even when they eventually reconnected. Time would help her forgive but Waverly could never forget the way her heart sank when Willa’s voice echoed in her ears. When Ward did enter the house again he just pulled a bottle of whiskey from his coat pocket. He sat in the same chair he always did and drank away. Waverly wondered if he even could hear her sobs or even cared about her whether she was his or not.

It was good that the recounted memory was fading and the color was coming back to her face, because when she looked up Wynonna was striding towards her seat. Waverly smiled as her sister clad in a fringe leather jacket, spandex jeans, and a lasagna del ray shirt sauntered in front of her. Wynonna sent finger guns Waverly’s direction when she was close enough to see her sister’s lopsided smile. Waverly returned the motion and Wy sat on the ottoman in front of her. There were a few wide eyed boys in the student center and a few concerned gazes from professors on break. No matter how many times her sister visited campus she always seemed to get odd stairs.

“Heyyy baby girl you look...nice,” Wynonna said raising her eyebrow.

Waverly shook her head and closed the book in her lap placing it in her bag, “It is just pinwear day Wy i have to look nice.”

“Nah Earp i have seen you on other cult days and this is a whole nother level.” Wynonna waggled her eyebrows, “ You got a hot date.” “Yea sure i am blowing off our talk off to get lucky with the guy of my dreams,” Waverly joked back. “Or girl, which is fine by me,” Wynonna interjected loudly receiving and playful slap from her younger sister. “Where is Officer Ginger these days Waves.” Waverly sighed, “Well that is kind of why i need to talk to you.” Wynonna’s eyes got wider. “No, not for advice it has to do with what i texted you,” Waverly quickly replied. “Right, Rev scum party of three,” Wynonna muttered as she fiddled with a charm on Waverly’s bookbag. A group of girls all dressed in similar clothes filed out of the dining hall and others started to pour in from the external doors. Wynonna grimaced, “Look waves your cult of Heathers’ has arrived to indoctrinate you.” “Ha ha,” Waverly fake laughed as she made her way over to some of her fellow sigmas. They all stood against the largest open wall in the student center and proceeded to make pose after pose after pose. There was a flash with every position as a tall fraternity member was taking each photo with a plastered puppy dog grin on his face. Wynonna stared at the event like it was the prohibition era and bottles of whiskey were being poured into a river. Horror oh the sheer horror, she never understood why Waverly would join the group. Then again Wynonna never really found herself wanting to assimilate into normalcy for or with anyone. When Waverly was finished talking and returned, Wynonna was standing making googly eyes at a very familiar football coach. Waverly groaned and slipped her bag on before dragging her sister outside. “Call me later Xavier,” Wynonna said a bit too seductively for Waverly’s comfort as they passed him on the way out. He smiled in her direction and Wynonna’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “Really Wynonna,” Waverly silently judged and chastised her sister but was inwardly kind of happy that Wynonna was in her usual swing of affairs. “Oh don’t get your panties in a bunch. He is actually kind of cool,” Wynonna said as she rounded the old red jeep and hopped in the passenger seat. Waverly had slipped into the driver’s side Wynonna’s keychain dangling on her fingertips as she slid the key inside and turned over the ignition. The jeep stalled with a stuttering puff after a coaxing coo and tap on the hood from both sisters the engine turned over. Waverly pulled out of the teacher/visitors lot and started her way back to Wynonna’s place. The car ride was filled with a bit of blaring rock and roll as they took to the freeway. The song switched as Waverly took their exit and a familiar song hit Waverly’s ears. Wynonna started to choppily belt out; Saturday night I was downtown Working for the F.B.I. Sitting in a nest of bad men Whiskey bottles piling high Boot legging boozer on the west side Full of people who are doing wrong Just about to call up the D.A. man When I heard this woman singing a song. Waverly chimed in with her sister, actually keeping on note with the radio playing Long Cool Woman by The Hollies. They finished the song just as Waverly stopped the car in front of a slightly dilapidated apartment complex. Wynonna stepped out and led them both upstairs, they passed the old but reliable chopped silver yamaha xs650 parked under a crooked tree. The bike had seen better days but the shiny extended handlebars glimmered in the cloudy sunlight. It was nicknamed peacemaker after the similar looking revolver that Wynonna kept on her person at all times. That gun had saved both sisters many many times and deserved to be commemorated in some way. When they were both sprawled on Wynonna’s beat up leather each sipping on a beer Wy broke the unspoken tension. “What happened babygirl,” Wynonna’s voice was filled with concern. Waverly sat up straighter against the couch arm holding the glass bottle with both hands. Her line of vision peering into the light brown bitter brew. The inside of her lip was being tugged by her teeth as she formed her thoughts. Wynonna was patient and just watched her little sister until she was ready to speak. The ticking of a clock on the wall reminding them both that time was still passing in the silence. Waverly took another sip of her beer before recounting yesterday to her sister, when she got to the part where she was sitting in Nicole’s car she hesitated. Her sister did not like cops of any kind and she knew Wynonna would not be too ecstatic that Waverly was interested, seriously interested, in hopefully a future deputy of the law. Wynonna sensed her sisters apprehensiveness and tapped her knee ushering her to go ahead.

“We were in her car talking. Well i was talking and she was listening. She was looking at me different nonna,” Waverly’s accent started to peak out more and more as she recounted. “I was scared like good scared. Scared like how i want to try parachuting out of a plane at 15,000 feet or maybe swimming out so far into the ocean that i can't see the bottom anymore.” “Woah there wave extreme much,” Wynonna stopped her sister for a moment. This was a bit intense and she knew all about her sisters emotions with relationships. She could pine over a guy that was for sure and even if he was no good for her, her sister was too good to leave. Wynonna did admit to herself that this did seem different though. It seemed honest still, she always aired on the side of caution when it came to Waverly. Reckless was her thing and safety was for her sweet baby sister.

“Wynonnaaaa,” Waverly near shouted causing her sister to startle. Waverly looked annoyed bordering upset and Wy chose to tell her to continue rather than face her wrath. “As i was saying she scares me Nonna. I don’t even know if i am gay i know i am not straight but i kind of went in to kiss her” “Kind of ?” Wynonna questioned as always. “The revenants showed up,” Waverly said ignoring the lingering question. Wynonna’s face went from playful to straight laced. Her fingers gripped the bottle a bit tighter. “It was Jim, Jonas and Peeper, they were burning tire in the parking lot of my building.” Waverly gulped from the beer ingesting more liquid courage. “I panicked and ran up to them, it was stupid i know. But, when they saw me Whiskey Jim went to grab me.” “Asshole,” Wynonna scoffed while sipping on her own beer to keep composure. Waverly rolled her eyes and continued, “When i reminded them that campus was filled with cops, was off limits, and that i happened to be their boss's sister in law they peeled off.” Wynonna gave a knowing eye, “And…” “And i reminded them i was a pretty accurate shot with a shotgun or a rifle their choice,” Waverly giggled nervously. Wynonna returned a cheeky smile and pulled her sister in for a side hug. She kissed her sisters forehead. Waverly was no longer a baby, but it would always be Wynonna’s job to protect her. Gus would kill her if anything happened to her niece, really either of them. Gus sent them both east in hopes that they would escape Purgatory’s small town curse. “No doubt they let bobo the clown in on that little act Waves, but at least even he has his own fucked up rules to follow. I am glad you stuck up for yourself just be careful with the revs they are unpredictable. And…” Wynonna was stalling. “And be careful with Officer Haught, i will.” Waverly knew what he sister was going to say. Wynonna snorted, “Officer Haught, that is going to be fun. Eh, yea haught shot too.” *** Nicole was helping Chrissy and the rest of the Tau Zeta crew clean up for the party after her shift. She was quiet most of the time methodically carrying out her plan of action. She designated everyone jobs just to keep things organized. When they were all finished the non- housemates went home for the most part. Before Chrissy left she’d asked if Nicole was okay, but she shrugged off the suggestion that she wasn’t. Those that lingered would just head to the game early on Tomorrow morning. Nicole made sure to take off work for tomorrow night to help keep the peace in her own home. She would work late doing another security officer’s shift but would not be late enough to miss the smell of weed and alcohol filling her house. Instead of dwelling on her dread she was dragging herself, a beer, and a slice of gluten free pizza up to her room. Once she stared at the slice in her bedroom light it looked less appetizing but her stomach was in knots so she ate it anyway. Nicole put on a random tv show trying to tune out the voice in her head. Waverly is lying. Nicole closed her eyes hoping to ignore her internal conscience that told her something was wrong. The voice that told her Waverly was in trouble. Instead ignoring the voice just made things worse and she found herself getting frustrated. She rolled over and found her phone on the side table. Gliding her finger to the phone app and hovering over Waverly’s name she hit the green dial button. Nicole sat on the bed head in hand and phone to ear. She was determined to get an answer from Waverly. Determined to find out why the girl insisted she was okay but shook in her arms until she found sleep. Then again as the phone rang, Nicole wondered why did she care. Yes they were friends, but they definitely weren't anything more. There was nothing more in the way Waverly looked at her and definitely nothing more in that almost kiss. Nicole’s thoughts were stopped when a fresh with sleep Waverly Earp answered the phone. “Nicole,” Waverly asked quietly. The chords of an acoustic Ring of Fire had woken her up. Sighing Nicole whispered back, “Hi Waves, i just wanted to make sure you were okay again. Text are one thing but hearing your voice is another.”

Waverly yawned, “Mmhmm i’m okay Nicole just hanging with Wynonna, catching up.”

“Okay then Wave,” Nicole stalled having nothing to say to that. Waverly did sound better, less shaken and more stirred. Nicole guessed it had to do with her sister. They seemed close and she noticed how quickly Waverly relaxed after trying to contact her sister that night. Although in her eyes Waves seemed more mothering her older sister than what most would expect from a younger sister.

Waverly rubbed her eyes and sat up on the familiar bed she was sleeping on. When Wynonna insisted she stay the night as a safety precaution she couldn't say no. They fetched a few things from her dorm including her cheer uniform for the game and Waverly ended up watching Jeopardy with her sister. It was actually fun teaching Wynonna something other than latin curse words. They both needed the distraction from everything. Wynonna had more boy trouble than whiskey and she had a lot of whiskey. So now here Waverly was sleeping in her sister’s room while she worked in whatever bar she was serving at this week. Waverly played with a strand of hair nervously before she said, “are you angry with me?”

Nicole was surprised but, honest and replied. “Yes, because you didn’t tell me the truth and no, because i am just glad that you are okay now at least.”

Waverly smiled listening to Nicole's tone lighten up. There was a sigh as Nicole laid on her bed. “I’m glad i am okay too.”

“Does this mean you are going to tell me when you aren’t okay, Waves,” Nicole questioned her eyes feeling heavier than before. “Maybe,” Waverly laid under the blanket on her side wishing Nicole was there. Nicole laughed quietly, “just let me in i don’t bite and tell me about your day.”

It seemed like whenever she spoke to Waverly she let her do most of the talking. Nicole knew Waverly was usually being spoken to and told what to do rather than not. That came with being in a sorority that prided itself on group think rather than individuality. Nicole actually enjoyed hearing how Waverly’s day went, her day always seemed to include a funny story about her kindness. That was usually a contrast to Nicole’s day sure she was able to see the kindness on this campus but, she was also becoming more accustomed to the more illegal things on campus. For some reason they caught two seperate drug deals on campus today and they weren’t the usual adderall or pot deal. They were dealing newer party drugs than the WHU security was accustomed to and actual police officers had to come collect the drugs for evidence. All that seemed so crazy compared to Waverly's stories of helping librarians and students playing soccer in the quad. It wasn’t long before the lull of Waverly’s voice transported Nicole into a place filled with cotton candy dreams and gluten filled pizza.

Waverly was still talking when she heard the steady rhythm of breathing through the speaker. Nicole fell asleep and Waverly couldn't help but blush. “Goodnight Nicole, ” she whispered. Waverly left the phone on speaker on the pillow next to her.

A quiet but audible goodnight waves came back to her. Waverly fell asleep listening to Nicole relax back into a deep sleep and Nicole slept soundly with her phone resting on her rising and falling chest.