Red Dead Redemption: Wayhaught

09: "This place ain't civilised... you're too smart for me, sister."

in this chapter...

Waverly and Nicole try to adjust to being back to their busy, stressful everyday lives after being in their sheltered bubble all weekend. And Wynonna has something to say to Nicole - how will that conversation play out?

How will they cope now they know what it's like to be together?
What is happening at work?

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a/n: 

This one is a little shorter, but it focuses more on their day to day lives as separate people - something which I've definitely neglected a little I admit.

 I hope this is a nice refreshing chapter after all of the sweetness and a reminder that life isn't always perfect, things can get stressful, but in the end things will be okay. I like that there is a little more description and internal reflection here, I want to explore their personalities a little further than just externally. I'm soft I know lol.

p.s. lets just say Ash is asleep when Nicole gets home, because it's after 10pm and she is non existent in this chapter lol for continuity sake haha!

Please read the end notes though because I have some important questions I need answers too before the next update!

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Nicole rested her elbows on her desk and, leaning her head on her hands, ran her fingers though her shoulder-length red hair, sighing loudly.

"Rough day, Sheriff Haught?" Jack, one of her her closest friends and deputy, leant against her door which she had forgotten to shut. Cursing herself silently for the implication that company was welcome via the open door, she lifted her head up forcing a small smile.

"Something like that Anderson." She nodded before adding. "Lot of paperwork on this Baker case, plus I didn't get the best nights sleep." Shrugging, Nicole thought back to last night and how cold she had felt, despite being under a thick blanket: sweating, but still somehow cold... and empty. The same bed she'd had for 7 years suddenly felt too big for one person, and even though Ash had been lying next to her, she felt lonely. Feeling lonely was something which completely caught the redhead off guard. All her life she'd kind of been on her own, her parents weren't the most attentive... or parental for that matter... and she kept a couple of close friends in favour of a crowd. Loneliness just wasn't something she experienced, her own company didn't scare her, like it did most people. On her own she was totally in control of everything, she had all of the freedom to do - or not do - whatever she wanted; taking time for other people seemed almost like a distraction from her busy schedule. But now something had changed... everything had changed. Never could she have imagined having the desire to just be with someone: doing nothing. For Nicole socialising had been something she needed to check off her to-do list for the day, and as much as she loved seeing Ash or Jack, she could easily have gone weeks without seeing them and felt comfortable knowing she could call at any moment and catch up, but now it was different. She wanted, hell needed, to see Waverly, badly, to hold her and spend hours just sitting together not doing anything necessarily productive, just being present, with each other. It was entirely new territory for Nicole.

Awkwardly the young deputy in the door shifted in his boots and ran his right hand through his jelled blonde hair. "Well I'm afraid I'm not going to be your favourite person today then, Sheriff." He strolled over to Nicole and dropped some files on her desk with an apologetic smile; seeing the confusion lacing her brow he continued hastily. "They found a body and... they think it's one of the Baker boys." He worried his lip uncomfortably, knowing how important this case had been to Nicole, it had been all she'd spoken about for the last month and a half. Jack Anderson had been Nicole's deputy for 4 years, but had never seen her so determined or fixated on any case; the Sheriff had spent many late nights working away at this one, finding time between smaller cases to cram in as much focus on finding the brothers as she could, and now it might all have been for nothing. Silently Nicole cursed herself. She had managed to put the case out of her mind for one weekend, one goddamn weekend of freedom and happiness to spend with her girlfriend, and now she'd ruined the case she'd invested everything in.