Wayhaught: Red Dead Redemption - part two

06: Jeez, how big's your desk?

a.n: 

When I said this would be late, I didn't imagine it would be this late - oops - but I had to move some things into my new place, so apologies.

Anyway I'm just gonna say it, Ash is great, I stan Ash.

This is legit all Wayhaught stuff, no Rosita and Chrissy or Jeremy and Robin or Wynhaught (although we got a lot of that on Sunday right?!). I am so glad there's no Wynaught in this because I honestly wouldn't have been able to refrain from making a daddy joke hahaha

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in this chapter...

Nicole struggles to deal with the fact she killed someone...
Waverly struggles to deal with her own guilt...
An old friend convinces Nicole to make a move, but how will it go?...

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Nicole winced as she brought the bitter, black coffee to her lips: it was cold, she needed to go and make another one. With a groan she pressed her head into her desk and shut her eyes tightly. This had been one of the most stressful, exhausting weeks of her life and the worst part was she would actually rather be stuck at her desk with precarious mountains of paperwork than at home, snuggled in bed. She had been Sheriff for just under a month - not long enough to have settled, but not short enough to be given leniency for being new.

Rosita had stabilised, but had been in intensive care since the incident; one lung collapsing, broken ribs and internal bleeding are not something a person recovers from over night. Inevitably, Waverly had spent every second at her bedside, determined to see through the entire process of her recovery. Deep down, Nicole knew it was because she felt guilty about it; she blamed herself for the fact that Rosita was at that bar because of her, standing up to Tucker for her and getting shot defending her. Nicole had been trying really hard to not be a burden, to let Waverly do what she needed, to help Rosita heal and support her through it, but she really needed her girlfriend, more than ever before.

Being shot by Tucker had been the worst experience of her life, but it had been blinkered, softened by the fact it brought Waverly back to her, it brought them together. Her first day on the job in Purgatory had been terrifying, but again she'd been comforted by Waverly being round the corner, by Waverly promising her she could do it. Going back to Toronto for the trial of Tucker had been more terrifying than she had imagined, but it had been the final chapter of her life in Toronto, a goodbye and had helped a surprising amount with the nightmares which had been so frequent before. Now though, everything was back, but worse. Not only did she feel the pain in her hip whenever she closed her eyes and the numbness in her legs when she woke up panicking she couldn't walk, but now every time she picked up her gun in the morning she saw Waverly covered in blood, she saw the pale face of the boy who had haunted her as he dropped to the floor, her bullet piercing his skull. She'd spoken to Nedley about it, but even hearing the assurance she'd done the right thing from the man she respected more than anyone in the world didn't calm her restless nights or shaky days. It wasn't just that she'd killed someone, although that was a part of it, it was also the fact that if this was going to happen it should have happened a year ago, in Toronto, in the cold warehouse so no one else could get hurt. Now Rosita was hurt, she had to take extra care whenever engaging in physical activity and she'd killed Tucker anyway.

With a lazy hand, she flipped over her phone, sighing at the photo of her and Waverly, hiking up some mountains as her lock screen, and scrolled through the contacts until she landed on the one person she could talk to about everything: Ash.

"Nice of you to make time in your busy schedule to call your best friend." Ash teased from the end of the phone, causing Nicole to wince.

"Shut up. I actually did make time for you because I know you're on lunch break right now." Nicole muttered, rubbing her temples with her free hand.