They were sat at the same table when Wynonna burst in, looking around for Waverly. "Where's my sister? she yelled, startling most in the diner. "Where is she?" Delores pointed to the table, Waverly looking at her sister, Wynonna staring back. "I thought you were fucking dead."

Nicole rushed to the door. "I can explain. Just don't hit me."

"Who the fuck are you?"

"The one who called you. Nicole. Nicole Haught."

Wynonna grabbed Nicole by the collar, slamming her against the wall. "You got me to come here on a lie. I've a good mind to-"

"Wyn, stop. I work with her."

"You dragged me all the way here."

Nicole remained pinned against the wall. "I brought you here for Taylor. She needs your help."

"What? Who the fuck is Taylor?"

Nicole pointed towards a woman with a baby. "Her husband locked her out of the house this morning, leaving her and their baby in the cold. She's new to town and would have ended up in the hospital. Mikey's condition was touch and go. I just thought."

Wynonna let go of Nicole. "Did she not have keys?"

Nicole shook her head. "He took them. To teach her a lesson."

"Bastard. Taylor you say. What's the baby's name again?"

"Mikey."

Wynonna turned, ignoring her sister, moving towards the table. She held out her hand to Taylor. "Guess we need to get acquainted."

Waverly stood there watching her sister's interaction. "I...I don't understand."

"I couldn't figure it out before," Nicole replied. "Why your sister kept everyone away. Then it came to me. She's as scared as the rest of us to show love."

"Oh please, we're talking my sister here. Don't give me love."

"She loves you. She simply can't bring herself to show it. She would do anything for you."

"She hates me."

Nicole shook her head. "The old guy over at that table. See him."

Waverly glanced over. "Perry's uncle."

"Comes here every year to make peace with his sister. That woman near the window, she's here for her dead husband. Fred, the young guy with the stupid Disney shirt on, is madly in love with his girlfriend, the four guys at the table behind ours, desperate for love."

"You don't know that. How can you know that?"

"Delores the waitress wants to go to Paris, drink wine by the Seine. Except, the real reason is to escape a marriage which died a decade ago. She thinks if they went to the most romantic place she can think of she'll find someone new to love, maybe love her in return."

"Stop. You don't know that."

"I know what it feels like to look at someone day in, day out, and not be able to show them how much they mean to me."

"Who?"

"The most generous, the most loving, the most annoying person I've met in my entire life."

"Gosh. They sound like hard work."

"They are. They consume me, every waking moment of this one day I agreed to live over, and over, and over."

"Do they know this?" Waverly asked.

"No," Nicole replied, gazing at her interrogator. "I've not found the right way to enter their heart."

"Perhaps, what you're trying to say doesn't need words."

Nicole let out a laugh, her phone buzzing in her pocket. "Fuck. Sorry, another errand. Can you wait here while I go sort out Greta."

"Who's Greta," Waverly said, as Nicole left the diner.

Greta's life saved, a slow walk through town, Nicole couldn't quite believe her final day in Purgatory was upon her. She headed to the bandstand, calling out Demetri's name, sensing he wasn't coming, trudging through thick snow to get to the clearing in the woods, spying the empty cool box, pulling out her wallet and from it Demetri's card, still with the photo of Frank's on the front. Turning over the card, there were but two words:

The future

She brushed away the snow which had accumulated on the old rusty chair, taking a seat on a cold afternoon. The music, that music, the one song which had enticed her to venture into the woods began to play, the lights in the trees flickering on, the fire bursting into life. "I know you're here," she said, checking the cool box to find two open beers.

"Couldn't let my star pupil go without a celebration. You rock girlfriend."

"I owe this all to you," Nicole replied, taking out the two beers.

Demetri appeared in a designer suit impressing Nicole, accepting the beer being held out. "I've always had a soft spot for Waverly. She deserves someone who will treat her right."

"Thank you."

"Girl, ain't me who did the work."

"She's worth it. Every single day."

"You would have got there," Demetri replied, taking a swig of beer. "Eventually."

"Yep. But, in how many lifetimes. She doesn't know how amazing she is."

"Well, that's your job now. Promised I'd look after the family. Bring them home."

"Wait. This was your game plan."

"I've one more, then my oath is fulfilled."

"Pass that by me again."

"Getting Wynonna to marry Doc was a doozy. You and Waverly getting together not so hard. Willa will take a special kind of love. But, hey, what's eternity if you can't have a little fun."

"You set us up."

Demetri pulled out a cigar from his jacket, biting off the end. "I see into hearts. I saw yours. Saw what you really wanted in this lifetime. Also, you have the smell of love about you, like vanilla dipped donuts. It was simply a waiting game."

"Not a manipulation game."

"Oh, you were totally manipulated."

"I knew it," Nicole replied.

"You never stood a chance."

"I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

"She's one lucky lady getting you," Demetri replied, raising his beer. "Here's to the future."

The party was in full swing when they arrived, Mercedes ushering them in from the cold. The man on the grand piano started up a rendition of the song Nicole now knew by heart, stopping to listen to the words. "We could live here," she said, as Waverly took her hand. "I mean maybe rent. Get a small house. What do you think?"

Waverly pulled her to where others were dancing, taking Nicole's hands. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. I don't know how you did it, but thank you."

"Oh, well. Took a few hours in the planning. Nothing really."

"I can't believe Lauren is out, and proud, and living with Amy. And, Tommy is adorable."

"He is. Dribbles a little too much. My kids will be dribble free."

"Is that so?" Waverly replied, moving closer to Nicole. "How many?"

"A hundred."

"Kids! I'm working on two."

"I'd like to be a part of that project."

"We've only just met."

"I know. But, it's like I've known you my whole life."

"Cringe."

"Seriously, I'm a pretty good judge of character. And, you have character. So, that makes us perfect for each other."

Waverly's laugh filled the room. "You're not how I imagined."

"Self-centred, raging ego, hair to die for. Take your pick."

"All of them. But, there's something else. Something underneath all the froth that's endearing."

"Endearing. I'm endearing. Okay, you're chipmunkish."

Waverly's gasp had her laughing. "Chipmunk. You're...you're. God, you're infuriating."

"You know, if you hit me in front of everyone I'd probably orgasm."

Waverly went to raise her hand, bursting into laughter. "Never change. Do you hear me?"

Nicole pulled Waverly into her body. "There are thirty seven scenarios I've plotted for the remainder of this evening."

"Okay. Explain."

"I want you to understand," she began, "even if we never have tonight ever again, I will be there for you. I want to watch you soar. I want you to show the world what you are capable of achieving. And, I will be behind you every step of the way."

Waverly sank into Nicole's body. "I'm with Perry," she said, her body telling Nicole she wasn't.

"I know. This is complicated. You tell me what you want, and I'll be there. If that means as a friend, then hey, you got me."

"Can we go outside," Waverly whispered. "It's too stuffy in here."

The snow continued to fall as they stood outside Mercedes' house. The music had moved on, the song playing one Nicole remembered from her childhood. Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World, taking Waverly's hand, bringing her closer, bringing her into her life, bringing her into her heart. Their bodies swayed together in a snowy landscape at the end of a cold February Second, when the world could not have been more wonderful.

"I'll have to tell him," Waverly said, as the music finished. "It's not fair."

"Do what is right for you."

"Don't say that."

"You need time to work out what's right for you," Nicole continued. "There's no rush. I'll wait if that's what you want."

Waverly broke away. "I was warned about you."

"Unsurprising," Nicole said, staring out at the landscape. "I'm dangerous."

"Very. My gut says not to trust you."

"What does your heart say?"

Waverly was silent for a few moments. "It's getting cold."

Nicole remained on the porch watching the snow fall, knowing even with all the shifts that occurred on this one day, her chances of bedding Waverly on this one night were pretty much zero. It hardly mattered, her life now one where others mattered, her heart going out to George who she knew was probably on his way to the hospital for the last time.

Tomorrow would be different, she was sure of that. Purgatory Pete's new prediction telling her the day was done, February Third would arrive in a few hours, as it would for everyone else. She no longer knew if all her memories about Waverly would remain in the coming days, secretly hoping they would, accepting if they didn't she might still have a chance in all the days to follow given how her heart felt for the one priceless person in this world who meant everything.

A cab pulled up outside, Waverly emerging from the house with their coats. "You going my way?" she asked.

"Sure."

Waverly was the first to take her hand as the cab drove towards the guesthouse. Nicole felt the softness against her own skin, the enormity of this moment breaking her more than George had broken her, or Taylor and Mikey had broken her. She let the dam burst, let the person sitting beside her see the real Nicole in all its ugliness, and in all its pain, and in all its longing, and all the yearning the heart searches for day in, and day out on this treadmill called life.

6.00am came. The same song, Nicole about to throw the radio alarm clock across the room. "I like that song," Waverly said, pulling her body closer.

"Rise and shine," the guy on the radio announced. "It's a new day."

Date check: February 3rd...