It's Not Meant To End (WayHaught Fanfic)

Chapter 11

The next afternoon, Nicole went to visit Waverly in the Homestead. She brought with her two bags of popcorn her mother made and their old Titanic DVD.

The ride home last night was full of amazing stories they shared about Nicole's parents, about Waverly's embarrassing moments in grade school, Nicole's favorite lines from The Big Bang Theory series, Waverly's attempt to watch the series since last weekend when Nicole shared about it and the never ending kisses every stoplight they passed.

Aunt Gus and Uncle Curtis left the three of them in the living room as they watched the movie. Wynonna knew better, giving occasional coughs every now and then whenever Waverly and Nicole would sneak in a kiss.

It was almost dinnertime when someone unexpected showed up. The movie was already finished and Wynonna suggested to watch a Comedy when the figure, who look like someone in his forties, just as old as Curtis', walked into the door.

Wynonna immediately stood from the couch and glared at the visitor, like she was ready for a fight. Nicole felt Waverly flinch in her arms.

"What are you doing here?!" Wynonna hissed.

"Dad?" Waverly asked, bewildered. That's when Nicole knew why the older man looked so familiar.

Nicole left the three of them talking in the living room while Nicole busied herself inside Waverly's bedroom. As she stared at the medals Waverly had in her room, Nicole couldn't avoid hearing the conversation downstairs had now turned heated. Waverly was right. It wasn't that easy for them. They did really try to be happy.

Later on, Aunt Gus and Uncle Curtis joined in and they invited Nicole for late supper.

It was an awkward dinner since their father, Ward, was in the vicinity. Nicole focused on eating the string beans from the steak Aunt Gus prepared for them. Waverly avoided her gaze, but Nicole could tell she was trying to maintain her best appearance, not when she's sitting beside her father. She had his hazel eyes.

After what seemed like forever, Ward finally broke the silence. "I... I have cancer... I have been taking chemotherapy for two weeks now..."

Nicole stopped munching her food and others followed suit. Good thing Ward revealed the news when they were almost done with dinner. That kind of intensity would surely make someone's appetite go away.

The redhead only stared at the man's face as he trailed off discussing about what he's been trying to do to make amends. Ward wasn't bald but when Nicole looked at the man's fingers, they were all darkened as if he had frostbite. He was telling the truth.

~~~

After the dinner, Ward finally left. Nicole searched for Waverly around the house and found her sitting on their backyard swing, staring at the dark horizon of the night. Nicole had never trudged further into the Earp homeland. It was huge with a wide corn field in front of them beside a small barn.

"Hey," Nicole greeted the brunette. Waverly seemed to expect she was going to find her soon.

"Hi," Waverly greeted back. "Sorry, I left you unattended... I needed some time alone to think..."

Nicole smiled as she hesitated to sit on the other swing. "You want to talk about it or should I just give you space-"

"It's okay, Nicole," Waverly said, forcing a smile. "Please take a seat."

Nicole took a seat on the swing beside Waverly and began pushing herself from the ground a bit to sway into the night. She had never been on a swing before since grade school. And she remembered she had her first kiss with a boy on a swing. Her first realization that, contrary to what she saw in movies or read in books, the kiss didn't give her butterflies.

"Willa used to push me and Wynonna simultaneously every afternoon after lunch," Waverly chatted, smiling as she looked blankly before them. "We used to get scolded because it would make us dizzy and vomit all the lunch food we just ate."

Nicole smiled on the ground as she listened to the brunette narrate her childhood. "She must be so fun."

"Yeah, she was." Waverly deeply sighed. Then after a brief moment, she muttered, "Dad's said he's sorry... But I don't know if he really meant it. After all these years... Now that Willa's gone... and suddenly he asks forgiveness just because he has cancer..."

The redhead could read a tone of anger from the brunette. "I just... I hate him so much that I can't forgive him for what he did... and now, he's making us look like guilty daughters who have no conscience or care about him being sick."

Nicole looked at the brunette and stared at how beautiful she looked even at the end of the day. "I'm sure he's lost right now... and he's trying to make things right... and I guess that starts by apologizing-"

Confused glaring eyes met Nicole's. "You don't understand."

Nicole gulped a lump nervously as she gripped unto the chains beside her. "Well, I just think that you should, you know, at least listen to him. To what he has to say... Though not forgive him immediately..."

"Do you even know what you're talking about? He's the reason Willa's dead." Nicole could tell the conversation had gone downhill. She shouldn't have said anything. But she knew what it felt like dying and how she wanted to leave without anyone holding a grudge against her.

"I know... I know," Nicole hurriedly added. "And he's sorry, Waves... Maybe he just wanted to do something right before his cancer-"

"You know what, I think it's already late," Waverly interjected, abruptly standing up, making the swing bounce madly behind her. "I think you should go home, Nicole."

"What? Why? Okay, if you don't want to talk about him, it's fine-"

"No, I think you should just go home..." Waverly walked past her.

Nicole stood up and followed the brunette. "Is this what you do when you're faced with a problem, Waves? You left it to pause and run away?"

Waverly turned around to glare at the redhead. "I am not running away... You have no right, Nic."

"Well, I'm just stating my opinion-"

"I don't need your opinion... We're not dating. We're not even friends... In fact, I don't know what we are."

And that hurt Nicole like hell. That hurt more than her cancer. "Hey, I'm not asking you to-"

"Then don't... Just... I need to be alone, Nicole. Please," Waverly said as she walked back inside the kitchen.

And Nicole let her go.