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“I’m leaving Waverly.”
Wynonna’s gut churned as she waited for her sister’s response. Waverly’s eyes said it all though. The little girl she let down so many times stood across from her in front of the McCready ranch, her hair blowing in the wind. The twelve year old wrapped her arms around herself, as if to protect herself from the pain she knew was coming.
“Where are you going?” still holding on to a sliver of hope that Wynonna just meant she was going to Shorty’s.
“I don’t know yet. Anywhere. Anywhere that isn’t here.” Wynonna didn’t mean to sound so harsh, it just came out that way. She was frustrated, she was sad and angry and every emotion in between. “I have to get out of here.”
Waverly swallowed around a lump that was beginning to form. She shifted on her feet. “I could convince Gus to let you stay here. I mean, I know they are using their guest room as a craft room, but I don’t mind sharing a room. You could stay there until you get some money to buy your own place.” Waverly was rambling.
Wynonna shakes her head. “No, Waves, I have to leave Purgatory. I just - I can’t be here anymore,” she says a little softer.
Tears formed in Waverly’s eyes and her vision got blurry. She kept her arms wrapped around her middle. “What about me?” she asked in such a tiny voice it broke Wynonna’s heart.
Wynonna felt tears, but she wiped at them furiously. “God, Waves, I’m trying to protect you.”
Waverly felt a fury inside of her belly. She was always the positive one, the happy one even after losing her father and oldest sister. Wynonna was all she had left, and the last handful of years her and Wynonna’s encounters became less and less frequent. Wynonna grew up and slept with every boy in town or spent her nights getting wasted. Waverly knew her sister was in pain, and didn’t particularly like the way Wynonna handled that pain, but Waverly always loved Wynonna unconditionally. She always forgave Wynonna when the older of the two didn’t show up for scheduled visits because she forgot or was too hungover.
“Well, I don’t want you to protect me! I want you to stay!” Waverly took a shuddering breath. The tears overflowed and the little girl brought her hands up to cover her eyes. She felt herself begin to sob. Soon though, she felt Wynonna pulled her in for a hug. Quickly, Waverly wrapped her around her middle and gripped Wynonna’s shirt tightly, determined to keep her right here.
Wynonna didn’t stop the flow of her own tears, and pressed a kiss on the top of Waverly’s head enjoying the moment for a bit. “I’m sorry baby girl,” she finally said, pulling away, maybe too harshly. She made a beeline to her beat up motorcycle. She had to get out here.
“Wynonna, please!”
But Wynonna started up the motorcycle mostly to drown out Waverly’s cries. She drove off without looking back because she didn’t think she could take another look at that little girl’s heartbroken face.
Waverly lay in her bed arms wrapped tightly around her stuffed rabbit. Her tears stopped a while ago, but the tears stains were still visible on her pillow. Her whole body felt numb, but at the same time everything hurt.
She didn’t know how long she laid there staying at the wall, but was broken out of her trance when she felt a dip in her bed. “Uncle Curits and I ordered pizza, I brought you a slice. Thought you might be hungry.”
Waverly heard the plate being set on her bedside table. Gus set a hand on Waverly’s calf, but Waverly pulled her leg away. Gus knew Wynonna left and watched as Curtis carried a heartbroken, sobbing Waverly back into the house after Wynonna peeled off.
“Leave me alone.”
“Waves.”
“Go away.”
Gus found herself trying to put her hand on Waverly’s calf again. “Don’t touch me.”
“Little girl, don’t speak to me that way.”
Waverly shot up in her bed backing up against the headboard. “Why didn’t you believe her?”
“What?”
“About daddy and about Willa! Why didn’t you believe her?”
Gus was at a loss for words. “Waverly, she said demons took your sister. Nobody was going to believe her, even if Curtis and I did.”
“You should have stood up for her! Nobody ever loved her enough, except for me. Maybe if you loved her she wouldn’t have left!”
“Of course I love Wynonna,” Gus defended herself. “Leaving was her decision.”
“It’s your fault,” Waverly said through gritted teeth. “You let them take her away,” Waverly said this time feeling that lump in her throat return. “Me believing her and loving her wasn’t enough. She needed an adult to be there for her and you just let them take her away from me.” Tears began to fall down her cheeks.
Gus was taken aback. She never expected an outburst like this from Waverly. Gus opened her mouth to say something, but Waverly scrambled out her bed and stormed out of her own room with her rabbit in tow. She ran passed Uncle Curtis who voiced his concern and finally collapsed underneath a tree crying for Wynonna all over again.