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The rising sun shining through curtains rouses Waverly from her sleep, but as she awakens she lies still, soaking up the familiar feeling of safety. In her arms, she feels the soft weight of Nicole’s body, and she listens to the older woman’s heavy breathing for a moment.
Nicole has one leg straddled between Waverly’s, one arm spread below her own head and the other thrown across Waverly’s stomach. Waverly doesn’t want to move, but the clock shows it’s 6:30 in the morning, and Waverly’s got a long day ahead of her. Nicole, on the other hand, has a day off, so Waverly removes herself from the redhead’s loose grip slowly, trying not to shift the bed as she crawls off the mattress.
Her shirt and pajama shorts are on opposite sides of the room, somewhere within the vicinity of Nicole’s. As Waverly pulls on her pajamas, she glances at Nicole in bed, who has shifted and found the fluffiest pillow on the bed to replace Waverly.
The younger woman sighs at the sight, wanting to crawl back into bed and move that stupid pillow out of her girlfriend’s arms. But she looks peaceful, so Waverly continues to the bathroom, where she brushes her teeth and combs her hair. She’s reaching to turn on the shower when she hears movement in the bedroom.
Stepping back out, Waverly finds Nicole moving to climb out of bed, her hand to her mouth as she yawns.
“Good morning, cutie,” Waverly says from the bathroom doorway.
“Morning,” Nicole says groggily with a small smile, not missing the way the brunette’s eyes scan up and down her torso.
“You don’t need to get up,” Waverly says, moving to sit on the other side of the bed. “You deserve to sleep in every now and then, baby. I can bring lunch by later if you want to hang out here.”
Nicole nods, crawling back under the covers as if all she needed was the little push. She lays her head back on the pillow, pulling the sheets up to her chin as Waverly pats the comforter along her legs, tucking her in.
The softness of it, the domesticity of Waverly’s actions reminds Nicole of something she meant to bring up to Waverly last night. Before they got distracted.
“Waves?” Nicole says, pushing herself up on her elbows, making the brunette pause as she had just started to stand. “Can we talk before you go?”
“Nicole,” Waverly draws out. “I have a lot to do this morning. Maybe tonight?”
Nicole picks herself up into a sitting position, pulling the sheets up with her. She fixes her gaze on Waverly’s face, watching the younger woman’s facial expression change when Nicole refuses to look away.
Waverly just nods, swallowing.
“Okay, Nicole,” Waverly says, moving to sit next to her girlfriend at the headboard. “What do you want to talk about?”
Nicole takes her hand, squeezing reassuringly, because they both know what she wants to talk about and Nicole doesn’t want Waverly to be nervous about it.
“Well,” Nicole starts slowly. “The other day, with Bulshar’s ring, you thought I proposed to you. I mean, it looked like I was proposing to you.”
Waverly swallows again, hard, looking down at the dark ring that was now stuck on her finger.
“You said yes, Waves,” Nicole responds. “I just feel like I needed to say something after, but we were pretty busy and trying to host a dinner party and you fought a zombie and now I’ve just been putting it off-”
“Nicole,” Waverly interrupts the redhead’s rambling, refusing to look at her. “I’m sorry if it freaked you out, I am. It just surprised me to see you there, holding a ring, and I didn’t have a reason to say no, but I know it’s too soon. I just- lesbains and UHauls, and-”
“Hey,” this time Nicole cuts off Waverly, lifting her chin to turn her face until they’ve locked eyes. “It didn’t scare me. I want to marry you someday.”
Waverly can feel tears burning in the corner of her eyes, reaching up with her free hand to wipe them away, trying not to let anymore out.
“Still, I should explain,” Waverly says quietly. “I’ve been abandoned by a lot of people, Nicole. My dad never treated me like his daughter; I mean I wasn’t. My mom… you know. My real father didn’t even stick around long enough to meet me. Even Wynonna left for awhile. And Champ, he stuck around, but not really. It’s not like he was loyal.”
Nicole bites the inside of her cheek, stuck between letting Waverly talk and reminding her that Champ, her parents, and her father weren’t shit. But she holds her tongue, opting to squeeze the younger woman’s hand, wrapping about her arm around her to pull her close.
“I feel safe with you, Nicole,” Waverly continues, wiping away another stray tear. “I trust you and I love you. And I know you’ve already done the whole marriage thing and it didn’t work out. So I don’t care how soon it is, or how long it takes either. I just love you, okay?”
Nicole nods, pressing a kiss to the side of Waverly’s eye, another to her nose, then her cheekbones, her chin, her jaw, her lips. Nicole smothers her in light kisses until the brunette is smiling again, still wiping at her eyes.
“And I love you,” Nicole says, finally pulling away from Waverly’s face. “My last marriage wasn’t real, Waves, and I want ours to be. But I’m not proposing to you during all this Bulshar shit, sweetie. And I don’t care how long it takes, we’re going to defeat him, because we have you, a crazy-smart angel, and Wynonna, who would do anything to protect her angel sister.”
“And we have you,” Waverly giggles, poking at Nicole’s side. “Sweetie pie, honey, my baby. You want to marry me.”
Nicole blushes at the string of pet names, and Waverly notices her mouth open just a bit as she contemplates saying something.
“What is it, love?” Waverly says, leaning back to get a better look at her girlfriend’s face. Nicole smiles a bit, blushing all over again.
“I want to show you something. But you can’t get too excited. Okay?”
Waverly nods eagerly, watching as Nicole stands up and wraps herself in the comforter. She walks to Waverly’s dresser, finding her drawer and pulling something out. When she drops back down beside the brunette, she’s hiding her hands. Waverly tugs at the comforter, getting impatient.
“Are you trying to get me naked, Waverly Earp?” Nicole teases, still hiding her hands.
“Nicole,” Waverly groans. “Don’t be such a tease. It’s not cute.”
“You thought it was cute last night,” Nicole grumbles, smirking.
“Did not,” Waverly responds with a smack to her girlfriend’s arm.
Nicole’s smirk turns to a full-on grin, nervous albeit, as she pulls out a small, velvety blue box from behind the comforter, pushing it into Waverly’s hands.
“You didn’t,” Waverly whispers, eyes wide. “Nicole.”
“Open it, Waves,” Nicole says, watching as the younger woman lifts the lid. “I just want you to know you’re not that only one who’s excited to be in this relationship, okay? I bought this an embarrassingly long time ago.”
“Nicole,” Waverly says, her voice muffled by a hand over her mouth. In the box rests a modest-though not entirely small- diamond ring.
Nicole’s smile grows less nervous as Waverly’s fingers brush across the ring, tears pooling in her eyes all over again.
“Can I try it on?” Waverly looks up at Nicole, her teary eyes still wide.
Nicole nods, reaching over to pull out the ring, dropping the box to take Waverly’s hand in hers. She slides the ring on, then brings the hand to her mouth to place a kiss there.
“Does it look okay?” Waverly asks teasingly as she lifts her left hand beside her face, grinning and wiggling her fingers.
“It looks gorgeous, baby,” Nicole says, leaning forward to plant a chaste kiss on the brunette’s lips, ignoring the soft sting of tears forming.
“You’re gorgeous,” Waverly whispers as Nicole pulls away, the comforter falling dangerously low on the older woman’s chest. “Did you just show me this to seduce me?”
“Well, that would be a bonus,” the redhead says innocently, shrugging her shoulders. “Is it working?”
“Maybe a little bit,” Waverly says with a grin, leaning forward to fit their mouths together, one hand twisting into the redhead’s hair and reaching for the comforter with the other, pulling it away from Nicole’s body.
Nicole pushes Waverly onto her back in response, throwing the ring’s empty box onto the bedside table and pressing herself against Waverly, lips locked and tongues already fighting for dominance- though Waverly doesn't fight her for long.
“Thought you were busy this morning,” Nicole murmurs between kisses.
“It can all wait,” Waverly breathes out as Nicole’s hands roam under her shirt, teasing soft skin, eliciting a unabashed moan out of Waverly’s mouth as the older woman reaches her breasts. “Just shut up and don’t stop kissing me.”
Nicole laughs lightly as kisses Waverly again, knowing just what she’s doing to the younger woman and that she never wants to stop.