Safe Place ~ WayHaught

Breakups and YouTube Vampires

~Waverly POV~

Nicole's upstairs taking a shower right now. We were working on a project for English and the time got away from us. I think it's cute how much she seems to trust me already. Like how she told me that story yesterday when we skipped school. A lot happened with us yesterday, but nothing happened with us. I broke up with Champ today and it feels so great. That shit ticket was always making me uncomfortable and pressuring me into things that I really didn't want to do. Not to mention the fact that I'm gay, he could've been the sweetest guy on the planet, which he's not, and I still wouldn't be attracted to him. I'm just glad it's over.

"Hey, babygirl!" Wynonna looks at me and is obviously confused. "I thought you were in the shower?" She says this more as a question than a statement. I laugh and maybe start to blush a little before my answer.

"I'm not. Nicole-um-we were working on a project and it got late so I-uh-I said she could stay over." I smile at the thought of working with her on that project. "Funny story. We were using superglue to make this little slingshot type thing," I can't help but laugh at myself. "I-um-well, I thought it'd be funny to glue our hands together, but it got all over Nicole's clothes. I kinda owe her a new jacket." I know that I'm smiling like an idiot, but Nicole was so cool about it. I think she flirted with me a little bit.

"Oh. My. God!" Wynonna shrieks/laughs. "That's why you broke up with Champ! You're gay!" I turn a deep shade of red and Wynonna has her arms wrapped around my shoulders. She pulls back and smiles at me. I think she's about to say something, but-

"So, I guess you told her?" Nicole says with a smile that, I'm not going to lie, probably is single handedly lighting up the entire country. I don't think she even knows how brightly she's smiling at me.

"Well, she kind of figured it out on her own." I laugh before walking over and taking Nicole's hand to lead her back upstairs. "Come on. You said you want me to watch some web-series with you?" I start to rub my thumb over the top of her hand, it just feels so natural, but she just blushes and pulls her hand away from my own. I can hear her sigh and the smile leaves her face when she nods.

"I should-um-I'll sleep down here tonight." She starts walking towards the couch.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I-I promise I'll be cool from now on, okay?" I feel really bad because I can tell that I upset her. I didn't mean to, I just like her. A lot. I don't know why I thought she likes me too, but I really did. I mean, I can't be misreading those signs. Can I?

Wynonna motions for me to go upstairs and I do. Before I walk into my room, I see her give Nicole a hug and say something. I don't know what it is, but it makes Nicole smile.

~Nicole POV~

"You manage to get the superglue off, Haughtstuff?" Wynonna walks up to me and pulls me into a hug. I don't know why, but the nickname makes me smile.

"Yeah." I sniffle with my reply and start talking to Wynonna like she's my sister. "I just really, really, like her and I know she's been flirting with me and I think she actually might have asked me out once, but I don't want to be with her. I have dealt with so much this past year. My parents kicked me out. I had to move all the way out here. I keep having these really weird nightmares and I think something really bad happened to me, but I can't remember what it was exactly." I stop to catch my breath and let a few tears fall. "I'm just scared of getting hurt. I'm scared that, if I let myself fall for her, eventually one of us is going to break the other's heart. Waverly is the only friend I have and if something happens with that, I'll go right back to being alone." God it felt good to get that off my chest.

"Hey," Wynonna is looking at me and I can tell she's being sincere, which, from what I've seen, isn't something that happens very often. "Waverly has been through hell too. I'm just saying that, maybe you should talk to her. Tell her what you just told me. I know it's hard to open up, but Waverly is one of the most understanding people I have ever met. And I'm not just saying that cause she's my sister." Wynonna lets out a heavy sigh and helps me stand up before walking me over to the stairs. "It's gonna be okay. I promise."

"Thanks. It means a lot." I give her one more hug and she sniffs before returning to her usual, sarcastic self.

"Alright. But if things 'work out' just try not be too loud." She says with her classic smirk and grabs a bottle of whiskey. I slap her arm and roll my eyes before heading back up to Waverly's room. To talk.

~Waverly POV~

Nicole walks into my room and smiles at me before sitting down on my bed with me. I give her a small grin and scoot over a bit so we aren't touching. I feel bad about the hand thing because I can tell she's been crying.

"Hey, Nicole?" I start to talk, but phrase it as a question so I know if it's okay to say something. She just looks over at me and nods her head slightly, gesturing me to continue. "I'm really sorry about the hand thing. I know you said that we need to get to know each other better before we even talk about being a couple and I shouldn't have held your hand in a, you know, romantic way." I give my best apology speech and Nicole chuckles. She pulls me into a long hug and rubs my back in a way that tells me that she forgives me.

She pulls back and gestures towards my computer screen. I actually forgot that we were going to watch that show she likes. She's been wanting me to watch it with her since we skipped school yesterday.

"Oh! Yeah, you can put it on. I can't wait." I say and she types Carmilla into the YouTube search. She hits play and smiles at me while we sit on my bed watching the first episode. It's shorter than I expected, but I like it.

"So," I start my question and Nicole looks up at me after pausing the video. "Why is it call Carmilla? I haven't seen anyone with that name yet."

Nicole laughs for a bit and gives me a look that says just watch the show. So I do. Or at least, I try too. After, Nicole, finished laughing, the smile didn't leave her face. I almost can't stop myself from watching her smile. I'm trying to keep at a safe distance because I don't want her to get upset or uncomfortable again, but it's really hard. I think back to the first day of school, I can't remember if it was three or four days ago, but that isn't what's important. I was crying before gym class, some stupid thing that Champ did had upset me and I was starting to come to terms with my sexuality. I remember my head on Nicole's shoulder and her arms wrapped around me. She hasn't held me like that since, but I wish she would.

It's been about 12 episodes of Carmilla now and I'm getting really invested in this show. I start laughing at the subtitles because they're saying the characters actions, but in a very relatable way.

I don't even realize how close Nicole has gotten to me until I feel my hand on hers. At first, I think that I'm the one who grabbed her hand, so I slowly pull away. But she's looking at me now and pulling my hand back into her own. I smile for a moment, but she cried earlier when I tried to hold her hand like this.

"This is okay?" I question, I'm unsure of myself. She nods and let's go of my hand for a moment before wrapping her arm around my shoulders and pulling me in so my heads on her chest. I realize that she hasn't said a word since her talk with Wynonna.

I close the computer and look up into her eyes without moving away from my position. She's smiling at me and gently brushing my hair with the arm that's still around my shoulders. I want to ask if she's okay, but I decide against it and cut off the lights before snuggling back into my place in her arms.

"Goodnight, Nicole." I say softly and she squeezes my shoulder softly to say goodnight back. I'm worried about her, but maybe she'll talk in the morning. Before I know it, my eyes are closed and I'm asleep.