87. You’re Gonna Be Sorry for the Rest of Your Life...

       “Cole . . . What did you do?” 

       The redhead turned away from her and walked over to the sink, pulling her switchblade out of her pocket as Waverly followed. “I did what I should have done two years ago,” she muttered flatly. She flicked the blade open, and a gasp left the brunette’s mouth. There was dried blood coating the first three, give or take, inches of the blade.

       “Haught, what the fuck?” Wynonna said quietly from behind her, also having noticed the blood on the knife as she stuck it under the faucet and cleaned it off. “D- Did you kill him?” 

       She turned her head towards her, cocking a brow. “If I did, I wouldn’t still be holding the murder weapon.” 

-  -  -

       Nicole backed the truck up to the door of her garage, shutting it off as she climbed out and checked on Champ in the back, seeing that he was still passed out. She unlocked the side door of the garage and pressed the button on the wall to open the right side garage door. She pulled the bandana down from over her face that had been concealing her identity in case anyone saw her when she kidnapped him, and opened the tailgate, grabbing his legs and dragging him out. 

       After only a bit of struggle, she had gotten his body onto the tarp in the middle of the room and stripped him down to just his boxers. She sat him on the chair that was sitting in the middle of the tarp, taping his legs to either front leg, wrists to the armrests, and tying a piece of rope around his middle to secure his body to the chair. She let out a heaved breath as she threw the tape to the side, pulling the beanie off her head and unzipping her jacket, wiping her forehead of the gather of sweat.

       She had headed straight for her garage after she left the house. After getting everything set up and changing out of her work uniform, she had headed out and scoured all of Purgatory for a few hours until she finally found him. 

       Nicole let out a breath as she looked at his stupid face hanging forward. It was going to take everything she had not to kill him. She pulled her gloves off and tossed them towards the bag in the corner of the room, wrapping her hands and walking over to the liquor cabinet, taking a swig out of a ¼ of a bottle of whiskey. She walked back and kicked out one corner of the tarp that had gotten folded over, then setting the bottle down on top of it. 

       “Alright, Chump,” she sighed, reaching into her pocket and pulling her switchblade out. She flicked out the blade, taking a step towards him. “Wakey, wakey.” She flipped it around and brought it down hard, drilling the point of the blade through his right hand, hearing it hit the wood of the chair as it came out the other side. 

       The boy-man’s head snapped up and his eyes went to his hand. He let out a pained yell, trying to use his other hand to get it out, but he quickly noticed that he was restrained. 

       And it wasn’t a shock of by who when he read the last name engraved onto the knife’s handle.

       “I could have just shoved my foot into your nuts, but I figured I did enough of that last time.” 

       His eyes shot up to her, and she watched his face pale. He began to wiggle around again as if it was of any use. “No, no, Sheriff’s Deputy Hau-” 

       Nicole drilled her fist into his stomach, and he let out a sharp groan, making an attempt to double over even though the ropes were keeping him from it. “ Sheriff Haught,” she corrected through her teeth, leaning in towards him.

       He stared up at her, whimpering in fear. “D-Don’t hurt me. Please, I-I’m sorry, ok?” 

       She let out a scoff, turning her back to him as she pulled her jacket off and tossed it to the floor. She turned back towards him, watching as his wide eyes traced up and down her body. It seemed that she was a lot bigger than he thought, and the jacket had been hiding that. She popped a few of her fingers. “Here’s how this is gonna work. We’re gonna figure out why it’s so important for your obviously very fragile masculinity to repeatedly torment my wife.” 

       “Wife,” he muttered under his breath. But the redhead was quick to punch him across the nose, hearing the crack. He let out a cry, “What the hell, Dude?!” He tipped his head back as blood dripped from his left nostril. 

       She grabbed his chin and made him look at her. “And any time you belittle her, talk bad of her, say anything inappropriate about her, or lie, you’re gonna regret it.” 

       “What’re you gonna do, huh?” He asked as she stood up straight before spitting blood at her. 

       She let out a low growl as she wiped it off her neck with the bandana, quickly moving towards him and giving him an uppercut to the jaw with the opposite hand from last time. “Or maybe you’d prefer-” She grabbed onto the knife handle.

       “NO, NO-” He let out a piercing cry as she twisted it. 

       The fire in her eyes burned deep as she let go of it. “Or maybe even this?” Nicole reached behind him and grabbed her stun gun off the floor, pressing it against his chest and holding down the button as he jerked around, screaming in pain. 

       The Sheriff let go after a few more seconds and Champ let out a relieved breath, blubbering to himself as he closed his eyes. She let out a sigh, grabbing the bottle off the floor and taking another drink. “That’s what I’m gonna do.” 

       “I’m sorry!” He cried, wiggling around in his seat. “Just let me go!”

       Nicole’s jaw locked as she set the bottle down. “You’re sorry ?!” 

       “I am. I really am, I promise I-” 

       Her fist hit his face so hard, she almost knocked the chair over. It wouldn’t have mattered, though, because her boot hit his chest, sending the chair backward anyway. She stepped over him and dropped down, curling her hand around his throat tightly to quiet his pleas for mercy. “I said don’t lie to me.” 

       “I’m n-not,” he forced out, but her grip tightened until she had to stop to make sure she hadn’t knocked him out again. 

       Thankfully, she hadn’t. 

       Her chest heaved with anger as she stared down at him. “Don’t fucking tell me you are sorry, you piece of shit. Because if you were, you wouldn’t have gone back to her. If you were, you would believe that what you did was wrong. If you were, you wouldn’t be tied to a fucking chair right now, begging for me to let you go! . . . Maybe you’re sorry now. But I need to make sure that you’re gonna be sorry for the rest of your life. And that means you‘ll be here until I’m sure of it.” 

       Her face soured slightly as he spit another mouthful of blood, this time to the side. He looked back up at her, a sickening smile pushing onto his face. “I just need you to remember when you start to think that you know her better than I do . . . She was screaming my name for four yea- .” 

       “Shut the hell up, you disgusting motherfucker.” Nicole’s teeth bared as he let out a laugh, beginning to moan in a high pitched voice, mocking what he had been implying before. The Sheriff’s stomach rolled over, and her face went deep red with anger.

       But before she even realized it, her fists were speaking for her. 

       They were connecting with his face, one after another with more weight behind each swing until her brain allowed her to push off him with a shaky curse. She stared down at his blood-covered face for a few seconds, allowing herself to start breathing properly again before slowly reaching over and pushing her fingers against the side of his neck, feeling a slowed pulse. A small, but definitely there, breath of relief left her lungs. She hated him with every ounce of her being, but going to jail for murder wasn’t worth it. She’d rather be able to keep a close eye on him for as long as he lived. 

       Nicole pushed herself up on her shaky legs, walking around the chair and tipping it back up onto it’s legs, watching as his head flopped forward, bobbing from side to side for a second as he remained unconscious. She walked over once more and grabbed the whiskey bottle, sliding down the wall and taking a pull from it.

       Time was inching towards 2 AM now, and she planned to sit there andx wait until he woke up again. 

       She was nowhere near done. 

.  .  .

       Nicole rolled the now-empty whiskey bottle in circles in between her hitched legs, her eyes having never left the boy-man in the whole 4 hours she had sat there. The sun was just starting to come up, and she didn’t know if that had anything to do with it.

       But Champ stirred. 

       Her brows raised as his head lifted with a groan, watching as he took in his surroundings. She pushed herself to her feet and walked over to him, watching as he turned his head to look at her. 

       She gave him no time to speak as she grabbed his chin and lifted it, using the other to hold a finger in front of his face. “Follow my finger.” He did so as she slowly moved it around. “What’s your name?”

       “Champ,” he mumbled. 

       “What month is it?” 

       “April.” 

       “Do you know where you’re at?” She dropped her finger, standing up straight. 

       He threw her a look, though the swelling all over his face made it somewhat amusing. “You strangled me and then brought me here, so no. I don’t.” 

       The redhead gave him a little smirk. “Good.” She turned and walked over to the bar, pulling a water bottle out of the mini-fridge before walking back over and opening it. “Drink.” She forced it to his mouth and tipped it back, waiting until he made a sight drowning noise to pull it away. 

       “What? Did you poison that or something?” 

       She rolled her eyes, putting the cap back on and dropping it beside him. “No. I just don’t need you dying.” She dropped down to a knee in front of him. “The rest haven’t even had a turn with you yet.” 

       If his eyes weren’t scared before, they sure were now. 

       “No, please. I don’t wann-”

       He was quickly cut off by a wail of pain as she ripped the knife out of his hand. She pushed her hand against his shoulder. “Sit up.” 

       He continued to curse and complain, but did so. She flipped the blade around, positioning it in her hand almost like a pencil. “Woah, hey, no. What’re you doing?” 

       “Well.” She pushed her left hand against his peck before bringing the tip of the blade to his skin just above the dagger tattoo on his abs. He let out a hiss when she slid it down, trying to wiggle around, but she grabbed the stun gun from next to him and lifted it warningly. 

       “No!” He whined. “W- Are you carving me?!” 

       Nicole lifted her eyes to look at him. “I am.” She continued on as he wallowed in pain, writing HAUGHT backward, deep enough to where she was sure it would scar over, branding her name on him. She stood, dropping her face right in front of his. “This way, every single time you look at yourself in a mirror, you’ll see me. I’ll always be there. Watching you. Because, believe it or not, I’m not gonna kick you out of Purgatory. I don’t want you to go. In fact, you’re not allowed to leave. I want to watch you. I want to make sure I always know what you are doing. And you will do as I say or you’re getting a new addition.” She lifted the knife up in front of her, watching as his horrified eyes locked on it. She straightened up, flicking the knife closed. “Are we clear?” 

       “Y- Yes, Sheriff,” he stammered out. She nodded, teeth gritting together as she walked over to the Corvette and leaned back on it, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “What’re you doing?” Champ asked, not able to see him since she was behind him now. 

       “Shut up,” she grumbled, bringing it to her ear. 

       “Hello?” The voice on the other end of the line answered after a few rings. 

       “Hey . . . I didn’t wake you, did I?” She kept her voice quiet so he couldn’t hear her.

       “Oh, no no. I’ve been up. What’s going on, Dallas?” 

       “I, uh, I don’t know if Wynonna told you or not . . .”

       “Told me what?” 

       “The, uh. Champ. Champ Hardy got released from prison the other day,” she mumbled. 

       “The sack of shit that-”

       “Yea. Him.” She swallowed slightly, looking towards the back of his head. “And he found her at Shorty’s. Scared her half to death. It’s . . . She’s messed up again.”

       She heard the faint sound of a shotgun pumping. “Where is he?” The woman growled. 

       “I’ve got him, don’t worry.” 

       “Where?” 

       “I’ll text you the address. When can you be here?” 

       She heard the front door slam. “Oh, I’m well on my way already.” 

       Nicole let out a small breath of relief. “Alright. Thank you. I’ll see you in a bit.” 

       “Oh, Sheriff, you’ll hear me before you see me.” The line quickly went dead and she pulled the phone from her ear, seeing that she had hung up. She texted her the address of her garage and another text to someone else before walking back over to the boy-man. 

       “Who was that? Who’s coming?” He asked, his swollen eyes widened to the best of his ability. 

       She let out a low chuckle. “You know how I said you missed a lot while you were gone?” He swallowed, slowly nodding. She raised her brows at him, “One of those things was Michelle Earp.” 

       Nicole was sitting on the floor in front of him, cleaning her Glock when she realized that Mama wasn’t lying. She did hear her before she saw her. 

       The shotgun blast into the air from outside to be specific. 

       Champ had already been sweating buckets from fear, but the noise almost made him tip his chair over. Nicole raised her eyes to him, putting her gun back together before walking over to the door and pulling it open, waving her inside. 

       Michelle traced her eyes up and down Nicole’s body, leaving them on her hands for the most part. “I see you’ve had some playtime already?” 

       “Barely,” the redhead mumbled as she closed the door. She saw her eyes on the back of his head. “You can do whatever you want. Just don’t kill him.” 

       “I’ll do far worse than death,” she muttered, walking towards him. Nicole followed close behind but allowed her to do her thing. She slowly rounded the front of him, meeting his eyes with a scowl on her face as she took a second to admire Nicole’s handiwork. He looked like he was trying to get something out, but his fear was getting the best of him, leaving him mute for the time being. She took a step forward, tipping his head up with the barrel of the gun on his chin. “So you’re the puny bitch that tried to rape my daughter, huh?” A whimper left his mouth as she pushed his head up more. She let out a low chuckle, “I’ve been waiting to get my hands on you, Hardy. And, lemme tell ya . . .” She slowly cocked the shotgun, staring right into his mortified eyes. “You’ve messed with the wrong Mama.” She twisted the gun around and drove the butt down into his balls. 

       He let out a strangled cry, body falling limply forward with another wail. Nicole let out a sigh, moving over to her duffle bag and throwing everything in it, zipping it up and picking it up after she pulled her jacket back on. She walked over to him, seeing that he was still crying about his damaged goods. “Y’all have fun now.” His head shot up to her face, only then noticing that she was leaving. “I’ll be back here later. Don’t miss me too much, Hardy.” 

       Nicole started for the door and he jerked his head around to try and look at her. “No! No, Sheriff, you can’t leave me alone with her! She- She’s gonna kill me!” 

       She let out a huffed sigh, “She’s not going to kill you. And don’t worry . . .” She pushed the door open. “I’m sure Wynonna will be here before you know it.” 

       She heard his screamed begging and pleading as she shut the door, for she knew there was nothing he feared more than that woman. She climbed in the truck and started it with a raspberry, rubbing her hands up and down her face before heading home to check on Waverly. 

-  -  -

       “If you didn’t kill him with it, then what did you do with it?” Wynonna asked as Nicole let the water pass over the blade one last time before setting it down and moving to wash the blood off her hands. 

       “You’ll find out when you get there. Michelle’s waiting.” 

       “Mama’s with him?!” She questioned in shock. 

       The redhead nodded, shutting the tap off and turning around. “My garage. Go, Earp. I’m staying here for now.” She let her eyes fall back to Waverly, seeing the fear in her eyes as she stared right at her. Nicole's face softened as she took a step towards her, only acknowledging what Wynonna said before she rushed out the door partially. 

       “I . . .” 

       “It’s ok,” she said gently, pushing her hair out of her face. 

       Waverly swallowed and was about to say something, but the thought left her mind as her head snapped towards the stove, reading the time off of it. “Oh my God, school.” She went to rush off, but the redhead wrapped her arms around her.

       “No, Baby. Don't worry about that.” 

       “No.” She tried to wiggle away from her. “Th- They have a te-”

       “Hey.” She pushed her face into the top of her head, waiting until she calmed down. “I texted Mrs. Goddard earlier. She has it handled, Wave. You are ok .” 

       Waverly turned around in her arms, tears brimming in her eyes. “But-” 

       Nicole shook her head. “Breathe. Everything’s alright. We’re gonna shower, and then we’re gonna relax. Ok?” A single tear fell and the Sheriff wiped it as Waverly nodded. “Alright. Stay here for a second.” The brunette nodded once again and Nicole pushed a kiss to her forehead before walking over to Doc as he sat in the living room. He stood as she walked up, removing his hat. 

       “Is she alright?” He asked with a sad furrow of his brow. 

       “Thanks to you, she is,” she mumbled. “Doc . . .-” 

       He waved her off, shaking his head. “None of that. It was just the luck of the draw. I walked to the back and heard him yellin’, just as you had the first time, so I went out there.” 

       “Still. Thank you.” She swallowed back the lump in her throat. 

       He shook his head again. “Just take good care of her. She needs you, Nicole. And you best be there.” 

       The redhead nodded, pulling him into a hug. “Get Dolls and tap them out tonight around 6. I’ll be there tomorrow morning with Gus.” 

       “Yes, Ma’am,” he mumbled as she pulled away, placing his hat on and tipping it towards her as he grabbed his drink off the table and moved towards the door, looking to the brunette and giving her a little smile with another tip before heading out. 

       Nicole watched the door for a second before turning back towards Waverly, walking over to her and wrapping her arm around her. “Let’s go clean up, yea?” 

.  .  .

       “No. The answer is no and always will be no,” Nicole huffed as she made her way to her office. 

       “You can’t just not let me see him,” Jessie argued. 

       “Watch me.” 

       “Nicole! Come on!” 

       It had officially been eight days since it had happened, and they still had him at the garage. He was better off dead at this point. It was obvious that he had multiple broken ribs, a broken nose, probably some fractures in his face, and countless bruises and cuts all over his body. Not to mention that he’d probably need to go to the doctor to make sure he was still able to have kids. Almost everyone had gotten to have their time with him, even Shorty and Julian at one point, though Julian hadn't touched him. To the rest of the town's knowledge, he had gone on an “Out of Prison Celebration Vacation” since that's what they forced him to tell every person that called him.

       Waverly was doing surprisingly ok considering the circumstances. And not just she told everyone she was ok ok. Actually ok. Yea, obviously the first few days were rough, to say the least, and Nicole went a whole three days without sleeping just to keep an eye on her. But they were working through it. She was already back at school and Shorty’s, and was keeping up with everything quite nicely. Nicole made sure to check in with her multiple times a day and sit down and talk with her every single night so she could get out whatever she needed to. And she was sure the only reason she was ok was because of all of the love and support she was getting from her family. 

       Sure, there were bad days. Nights that ended in panic attacks. Times where she felt like she would never get through it. Little things that sent her into a complete breakdown.

       But she was ok. And she couldn’t be more grateful for her friends and family for helping her get to that point. 

       The Sheriff smacked the folder down on her desk, looking up at the nurse in front of her. “You’re not going to see him! Plain and fucking simple, alright?! I said no, Topher said no, your mom said no. It’s not happening. You’re just going to bring back a whole bunch of shit for yourself, and I don’t want to see you go through that!” 

       “That’s not fair!” She shouted. “He ruined my life for years. Years, Nicole! No one believed me! So I had to fight through it myself ! I didn’t have people like Waverly does! And it’s been seven years now. Why doesn’t anyone think that I can handle it?!” 

       “I thought I could, too.” 

       They both turned their heads, seeing Waverly standing in the door frame. The redhead looked up at the clock, seeing that school had just gotten out. “Wave . . .” She mumbled, slowly walking around her desk. 

       But she put her hand up, so she stopped, allowing her to continue as she walked towards Jessie. “I really did. I thought I’d be able to handle seeing him again. Probably cause I was able to handle it when I saw him 20 feet away at the courthouse shackled up with cops surrounding him. But it's different. It’s different when it’s just you and him. Sure, they’ve got him restrained somehow, but no one’s controlling what he says now. No one’s making him scared of his every move now. He’s scared of all of them.” She gestured towards Nicole. “But he’s not scared of us . . . So, no. I don’t think you should go see him. Like you said, it’s been seven years that you haven’t had closure. But I think that even if you do go to try and get some, it’s just gonna screw you up more than you were to begin with.” 

       “But . . .” 

       Waverly raised her brows at her. “Jess.” She let out a groan, stepping towards her and dropping her head onto her shoulder. Waverly let out a sigh, wrapping her in a hug. 

       The other girl pulled away after a few seconds, looping her arms loosely around her neck. “How’re you handling all of this so well, Dude?” 

       “I’m putting it behind me,” she said simply with a shrug. “There’s nothing I can do to change anything that’s happened, so why let it nag me day after day after day ?” She turned her head, walking over to Nicole with a little smile. “Plus I’ve got my rock, here.” The brunette hooked her fingers on her belt as she stood up on her toes to press a kiss to her lips. “She’s the only reason I’m sane, honestly.” 

       Nicole wrapped her arm around her middle as she sat back on the backrest of the chair in front of her chest when the brunette leaned back into her. “No, you’re doing good cause you are strong as diamonds, Baby.” 

       She tipped her head back to look at her. “Because of you.” Nicole pursed her lips when she looked back forward. 

       “So, what? I should just move past it?” Jessie questioned. 

       Waverly shrugged her shoulders. “It’s really the only thing you can do.” The nurse let out a groan and Waverly stepped towards her, putting her hands on her shoulders. "Look. It's bullshit. I know. All of this sucks so much. So let's just . . . I dunno. Go get food or something? Talk about something not him?" 

       She sighed, nodding with a little smile. "Yea." 

       "Ok." She turned and walked over to Nicole, pushing a kiss to her lips. "I love you." 

       She rubbed her thumbs on her hips, standing up straight and giving her another kiss. "I love you, too. Call me if you need anything. Or if You want my food order to bring me dinner." She gave her a toothy grin and Waverly rolled her eyes, shaking her head at her with a smile. 

       "Yes, Dear." She turned away, heading for the door. 

       "Have fun! I'll see you later, Jess." 

       "Bye, Nic," she said with a little wave as the other brunette dragged her out the door. They climbed into Waverly's jeep and she pulled away. "So," the nurse started. "Where we goin'?" Waverly looked towards her, and Jessie's eyes widened by the look that was on her face. "What?" 

       "Do you really wanna go see him?" 

       "W- Didn't you just say t-" 

       "My wife was in the room, Jessie. What was I supposed to say?" She darted her eyes up to the rearview mirror to make sure she wasn't being followed before flicking her turn signal on and turning down a backroad that would take them the long way.

       "Wait, we're really doing this?" 

       "I want a piece of him just as much as you do," Waverly said as she looked towards her, allowing her to see the anger pasted all over her face. 

       She swallowed through a clenched jaw. "How do you even know where he is?" 

       "She told me."

       "Nicole told you?" She asked, cocking a brow. 

       "Yes- Well, she told Wynonna. But I was I'm the room, so." She looked towards her, letting her face soften as she put her hand on her knee. "Jess, we don't have to go if you don't want to, I need you to know that." 

       "No, I want to," she assured. 

       "Are you sure?" 

       "100%." 

       "Cause we're about to make a whole lot of people mad right now." 

       "Oh, I'm well aware, Wave," she said with a hint of a smile. "It's worth it." 

       Waverly smirked, tapping her thumb on the top of the steering wheel. “Damn right it is.” 

       They drove on in silence for a few minutes as they both mentally prepared themselves for what they were about to do. Most of what Waverly had said was true. She was putting it behind her and she was surprised at how different it was seeing him like that in person. But she had thrown a little bit in there to throw off Nicole. She had really been thinking about doing this for the last couple of nights. 

       And there was no other person that she could imagine doing it with right by her side. 

       “Don’t they have, like, people with him at all times or something?” Jessie finally asked. 

       Waverly looked towards her as she turned into the garage’s driveway. “Ya.” 

       “. . . Who is here now?” 

       “Oh, ya know.” She opened the console and pulled out one of Nicole’s spare Glocks that she had taken out of their bedroom drawer, cocking it as she handed her one of Wynonna's switchblades she had snatched from the Homestead the day before. “Just my dad.”

       The other brunette blinked at her for a few seconds as she processed what she had just said, letting her brows slowly raise. “I . . . I’m sorry, your what ?” 

       Waverly sighed, turning the car off and climbing out. “Yep.” She pointed the gun in the air and fired off three shots. Jessie was quickly out of the car, rounding the front to begin to throw a million questions at her, but the side door flew open before she could. 

       “What in the Lord’s na -” Julian’s eyes landed on the two as they walked over and he immediately closed the door, putting his hands out as he jogged to meet them in the middle. “No, no, no, no, no. Absolutely not.” 

       “He’s your dad?!” Jessie questioned, mouth dropped open as she flicked her eyes between them. “Wait, you’re not an Earp ?!” 

       The Priest’s eyes shot open as he looked towards her. “Waverly-”

       “Julian, it’s fine. She’s not going to tell anyone, right?” 

       Jessie’s eyes widened at the look she was shot. “Of course not.” 

       Waverly looked back towards him with a smile. “See. It’s fine. Now let us in.” 

       His brow furrowed as he took a step towards her, dropping his hands to her arms with a rub. “Honey, you know I can’t do that.” 

       “You can,” she corrected. “Nobody has to know.” 

       “And Nicole told all of us you would say that. We swore to her we wouldn’t let you see him if you came here no matter what you said, and I’m not going to break that promise.” 

       “She’s not my keeper. If I want to see him, I can. I’m a grown-ass woman.” She tried to push past him, but he kept her there. 

       “Waverly . . .” He sighed, tipping his head beggingly. “This is for your own safety.” 

       “But it’s not anyone else’s decision but our own,” Jessie defended as Waverly, once again, tried to wiggle out of his grip despite him having over a foot on her and arms the size of The Rock’s. 

       Ok, maybe not that big, but still.

       “Don’t make me do this.” Julian began to try and usher them both back to the jeep. “Both of you need to go relax. Go see a movie or something together. I can assure you he is getting every last bit of what he deserves, and that’s coming from me.” 

       “But-”

       “Waverly.” 

       "Dad, please ?" 

       Her eyes widened just as fast as his did. She had never called him that before. She hadn't even meant to, but it just kind of came out.

       But by the softness that came on his face after the initial shock wore off, it seemed that it might have worked in her favor. 

       Julian let go of her and ran his hands down his face with a heavy sigh. ". . . You're right. You are allowed to make your own decisions when it comes down to it." He turned his head to look at the door with a hard jaw. "Let's make a deal, alright?" She slowly nodded. "You can go. But I'm calling Nicole and telling her the both of you are here." 

       Waverly looked towards Jessie with a questioning raise of her brow, and she shrugged with a nod. She looked back up at him with a little smile, standing up on her toes to push a kiss to his cheek. "Deal." 

       They both started for the door and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "It's y'alls fault if she knocks me out!" 

       "Lord knows my husband will," Jessie called back, giving him a sorry smile. 

       He swallowed as he put the phone to his ear, hearing it pick up barely through two rings. "Please tell me he didn't die." 

       "Hello to you, too, Sheriff. Uh, no. He didn't." 

       "Oh, thank God," Nicole breathed out in relief. 

       "You might have rathered that though." 

       "What?" 

       " . . . Waverly and Jessie just showed up," he mumbled, looking up and watching them go in. 

       "They what?! Julian, do not let them in." 

       "I'm afraid it's a little late for that, Nicole."