Who: Waverly & Doc What: She's got a confession to make When: Last week Where: Doc's apartment Warnings: Nah Status: Completed GDoc
Waverly had been avoiding talking to Doc and her sister about Ben. All they really knew was that she’d gotten her own place, but still showed up for whenever they needed someone to watch Alice. She knew they wouldn’t like the fact that she wasn’t just WITH Ben, but living with him, too. She also knew that she was dragging her feet about the whole thing and needed to take care of it.
Doc first. Between the two of them, Waverly felt he might understand better than Wynonna. The trick would be to catch him at home without Ben or Wynonna around. Her sister lived just across the hall! Fortunately, she and Ben had been scheduled at the same time, and she was off for the night. Now, hopefully, Doc wasn’t at the Den watching his favorite dancer perform.
Waverly gulped then knocked on the gunslinger’s door.
With Doc’s new job as a detective for the local police department, he didn’t have nearly as many nights free as he did when he worked construction. Lucky for Waverly, this was Doc’s night off and he’d decided to stay in, idly flipping through Netflix and sipping a glass of whiskey. He’d just settled on some junky reality show when he heard a knock at the door.
Setting down his glass, the gunslinger covered the short distance to the door and, after a quick glance in the peephole, opened it with a smile on his face. “Waverly! To what do I owe the pleasure?” He stepped aside and waved her in, closing the door behind her and clicking the lock into place.
“You want anything to drink? Eat? I promise I actually have real food in the house this time.”
Doc could always put a smile on Waverly’s face, and it appeared as usual as she stepped forward to wrap him up in a hug. “Hey, Doc!” She lingered in the squish for a moment then went inside.
“I ate already,” she said. “But I’ll take a beer if you have any.” Whiskey sounded better, especially the stuff Doc got, but that went a bit beyond liquid courage and straight into inebriated distraction.
Ironically enough, Waverly could always put a smile on Doc’s face too. There was just something about the youngest Earp that brought out the best in people, Doc included. He returned the hug, happy to allow her to linger in the embrace until she felt the need to pull back.
“Beer it is.” Doc winked at her over his shoulder as he headed into the kitchen and pulled a cold beer from the fridge. Easily, he twisted off the cap and held it out to her. Then, he corralled her into the living room and waved for her to have a seat wherever she wanted. Doc returned to his spot on the couch and reached for his glass of whiskey.
“So, how are you?” Doc asked, blue eyes never leaving her face as he took a sip from his glass.
Anxiety began to boil up in Waverly. Her smile was a bit more tight when she accepted the beer. When she sat down on the recliner it was more of a perch on the edge than an actual sit. The last thing to give away her nerves was the long drink of beer she took before she opened her mouth.
“Good!” she chirped. “I’m good. Work is going well. More people coming in as it gets colder out. I moved in with Ben. I plan to make an appointment with that cottage core consignment place downtown because I need warmer clothes. And I’ve been looking at costumes for Halloween.” Why yes, that was all in a rush. “How’s the new job?”
Waverly smiled hopefully.
Doc noted the way in which she perched on the edge of the chair instead of settling in. How she took a long drink from her beer before answering his question. Neither gesture brought Doc comfort and his grip may have tightened on his glass as she started to speak.
“You what?” An array of emotions flooded Doc’s face and reflected in his blue eyes. Mostly shock and surprise followed by confusion and then wariness. She’d moved in with Ben? Last Doc heard, Ben and Waverly weren’t even speaking. Now, they occupied a space together? Did Wynonna know? Clearly not or else Doc would have found out this tidbit of information way before now.
Doc downed the whiskey in his glass and got up, moving to the kitchen and refilling it. He took a moment, gathering himself, his thoughts, and then walked back into the living room. He settled on the couch and looked over at Waverly in the recliner.
“Waverly. I don’t know what to say.” It hurt that she’d potentially kept something from him and worse, kept it from her sister too. What about Nicole? It felt soon given how close Nicole and Waverly were back home. They were engaged. Yet, Doc understood loneliness too. A need to have someone even if it wasn’t the someone who held your heart. Was that what this was?
Waverly visibly flinched when she saw how much her news affected Doc. She’d been keeping secrets. Mainly because she knew how he and her sister felt about Ben. Not that they didn’t have reason, but she got to see a side of him no one else saw.
“...I moved in with Ben?” A meek look came over her. “To a house we picked out together.” Another bomb. Yay.
“I know what you’re going to say!” Even though he’d just said he didn’t know. “It’s really sudden. Ben’s an asshole. But it’s been seven months since I got here, and a lot has happened in that time. Ben and I were married and then we had kids. It all just…brought us together. And he’s different with me. He said I’m his queen for crying out loud.”
Maybe if Ben showed that side to others once and a while (mainly Doc and Wynonna) the conversation would have started out far differently. All Doc knew was that Ben was a little rough around the edges (and that was putting it nicely) and hadn’t been cordial to either himself or Wynonna. Yes, Doc was attempting to give him the benefit of the doubt because Doc knew what it was like to not be a nice guy, but he hadn’t expected Waverly to suddenly move in with him in seven months.
He understood why she hadn’t said anything, but it still didn’t exactly sit right with Doc either. He took another sip of whiskey to steady his nerves. To clear his head. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. What the hell was he supposed to say to all of that?
“Waverly, you know I love you like a sister, but darling, that is very fast. Even with Dome shenanigans in play.” Especially with Dome tricks in the mix. That was like if he suddenly decided to have Kady move in here based on a relationship the Dome had concocted. It wasn’t fair for either of them. He sighed again and took another sip from his glass.
“And Ben hasn’t exactly been anything, but hostile towards your sister and me. I get why you didn’t say anything, but still, we’re family and I thought we meant more than that to each other. I thought we were past keeping secrets.” Which was the part that hurt Doc the most. The fact that Waverly actively avoided telling them because she knew how they would react. Doc was trying his damnest not to be an asshole about it. Still it all felt juvenile.
“Look. I’m not mad. I’m disappointed. I’ll get over it, but Wynonna and I need to spend time with Ben. We need to get to know him if he is going to occupy a place in your life.” He didn’t touch on the part where Ben said she was his queen. Doc had fed enough women a bullshit line or two to know what one sounded like.
“I’ll do my best to try with him, but you know I can’t say anything when it comes to your sister. Wynonna is her own woman and she’s protective of you. She’s going to give him a hell of a time and you keeping it from us, justified or otherwise, isn’t going to help the situation.”
“No, I get it,” she replied. Her eyes went to the beer bottle she held between both hands. She hadn’t touched another drop after that initial one. Part of her felt like the smallest bug in the whole world. The rest of her felt a little dejected. Stuck in the middle between Ben on one side and Doc and her sister on the other.
“I know he hasn’t been very nice to either of you. Or anyone for that matter. Other than me.” Her eyes finally lifted to Doc with her heart in them, wanting him to understand. To approve. “And I’ll talk to him about that because you two are my family, and he’s going to have to respect that.”
Finally, she took another long drink. “I’m sorry I kept this from you. And I’m sorry you don’t think I’m doing the right thing. That it’s too fast. But not everyone moves at the snail’s pace you and Wynonna do. I didn’t go looking for this. Don’t you think I feel guilty as hell? Like I’m cheating on Nicole? But she’s not here and my life can’t just be babysitting Alice and going to work. That’s lonely as hell. Not to mention pathetic.”
Doc sighed. “If he wants this to work as much as you do, then he’ll try. If he loves you as much as you say he does, then he’ll try.” And if he didn’t? Well, then Doc was right about him all along and he was nothing better than the latest bit of mud stuck to his cowboy boots. “Like I said, I’m willing to give him a chance because I love you.”
He didn’t want to be mad at her and he would get over it. He couldn’t speak for Wynonna. She would be upset that Waverly kept this from her, but her love for her sister would always trump that anger and disappointment. It was just going to take time.
“You could have just dated him, Waverly. You didn’t need to move in with him to have a relationship.” Doc hardly thought Wynonna and him were the standard in which anyone should compare their relationship. “Wynonna and I are complicated, Waverly. We always have been. I’m not saying you have to be like us, but moving in with someone you haven’t even known for a year is a big step.” Especially after having been engaged to Nicole.
He didn’t touch on the guilt she felt. He knew it wasn’t easy for her here without Nicole. “I know it’s not easy for you here, but, as I said, you didn’t need to get a place with him right away. You could have dated him without that step. Give us a chance to get to know him too.” But what was done was done and Doc knew there was no going back.
He downed the rest of his whiskey and walked over to where Waverly sat on the edge of the recliner. He knelt and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “But it is what it is, alright? I still love you and I’ll do my best to get to know Ben and be supportive.”
“Date him?” Waverly huffed as she rolled her eyes. “Because that would have worked so well. Have him pick me up at the apartment where Wynonna and him could bump heads constantly. Or you glaring at him from across the hall. Not to mention who knows how long we have here. I’ve seen people show up after I got here then get sent home. I didn’t just jump into this, Doc. There was actual thought involved.”
And this is why she hadn’t told them. This lecture right here about how quick it was. Like she wasn’t a full grown adult with two thoughts in her head. Or she just followed her hormones.
The last comment made her frown. Something she didn’t do very often. “It is what it is. Yeah, ok. You know who says that? Passive aggressive assholes who want to run a guilt trip. Congratulations.” She pounded a drink then placed the bottle on the coffee table hard enough to make it foam after which she stood up.
“Don’t do me any favors,” she growled. “I don’t need or want your approval. I just wanted your support. Maybe, you know, be happy for me that I found someone to be happy with that isn’t a person who isn’t fucking here!”
She started for the door before she would start to cry, not wanting Doc to see it.
The truth was that Doc didn’t know what to say. Waverly hadn’t exactly been completely mature about the situation either.
“Waverly, I’m trying, okay? You walk in here and drop this on me and expect me not to be a little upset. I don’t know Ben. I don’t know anything about him other than he was rude to me on day one. You obviously didn’t care about our support because you kept it from us. You should have had us all meet. Talk. Get to know one another. Maybe then you wouldn’t have had to worry about us all glaring at one another from across the hall.” Doc suddenly wished he had another glass of whiskey.
“I just want you to be happy. If it is with Ben, then fine. I don’t want a fight, but we are protective of you and we know nothing about Ben. Nothing. And you haven’t given us a chance to know him either. I’m sorry for what I said, but secrets hurt people, Waverly. This ain’t no exception.”
Doc followed her, but he made no move to touch her. “I’m sorry. I don’t like to upset you or make you mad. I just…wish you would have at least said something instead of assuming the worst of me and your sister.”
She stopped even though he didn’t touch her. Doc and Wynonna’s opinion meant everything to her. It sucked that they wouldn’t like this, but it wouldn’t make her change her mind. Still, the unspilled tears were in her eyes when she looked back to Doc.
“No. I expected you to be shocked, sure. But I’d hoped you’d trust my judgment.” She’d been the first one to trust Doc after all, but she wasn’t going to tote that out.
“Just…and maybe this went unnoticed because I never made it a big deal…think about why Ben. More specifically, why a guy.” Now the tears fell. “I couldn’t stand to be with another woman. That would be too much.”
“Clearly, you didn’t trust mine either or you would have told me a lot sooner,” Doc replied quietly. “It seems no one trusted anyone.” He didn’t like hurting Waverly. Didn’t like seeing her cry, but secrets did that. Lying did that and by not telling him or Wynonna, Waverly had lied. She’d taken the choice of how they would react away from them. That wasn’t fair either.
Honestly, if it had been any other guy, Doc would have probably felt differently. Ben reminded him of all the parts of himself he didn’t much care for. The parts that tended to hurt people.
“I’m sorry, Waverly,” he said again. “I don’t like to hurt you and I know being without Nicole hurts you like hell. I’m sorry your sister and I haven’t really been the support you need either. That’s on us. But if you want us to be supportive of this relationship, to try and get to know Ben, you have to bring him into our lives. You can’t keep secrets. You have to let us all sit down. Have a meal. Talk.”
He briefly touched her arm. “I’m willing to give him a chance, Waverly. For you. But I can’t do that without your help. I understand why you didn’t tell us, but if you want us in your corner you have to at least give us a chance to be there in the first place.”
It was as if the touch was all she needed. The tension drained from her body as she took in a deep but shaky breath. “That’s fair,” Waverly said as she nodded. “And at least you’re honest. Not just giving me lip service then bitching about it to someone else.”
It really was enough, and to prove it, she stepped forward to wrap her arms around Doc. He’d said she was like a sister to him. The feeling was mutual. She never had a brother. Doc came as close as it got without the wedgies, name calling or embarrassing public displays of weirdness.
“I love you, Doc,” she whispered with her cheek pressed against his chest.
“I want you to be happy, Waverly. Let’s all have dinner together and get to know one another. I’m willing to give him a chance.” And Doc meant it. He knew from experience that people were more than just what met the eye. Ben had shown Waverly he was more than just someone who was rude or rough around the edges. Doc wanted a chance to get to know that man. The man that had captured the heart of one of the most important women in his life.
She hugged him and Doc returned it, pulling her close. “I love you too, Waverly. I know I’m not perfect. I know I don’t always say the right thing or do it, but I will always be there for you. We’re family.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
Doc hugs were always the best. They made Waverly feel safe and cared for. Her arms tightened when he held her then she sniffled after her head got smooched.
“Thank you,” she whispered in a voice rough from emotions. “I’m sorry I upset you and make you worry. I never want to disappoint you or Wynonna. We’ll figure it out.” She’ll make it happen. One way or another.