I care about you

It was a thunderous day. Rain kept falling without mercy drenching any and every thing in Mystic Falls. One would think it would be a nice day to sit down, relax, and have some food in this weather. But of course that wasn't the case with the Super Squad. Because of course a Monster had to show up and require their attention and skills. Whatever it was, the Super Squad had decided to meet to make a plan and go out in the unyielding weather to fight it. Well, Super Squad minus Josie.

Since the whole Dark Josie fiasco, Josie had locked her magic away and still months later, hasn't had the strength to take it back. Call her weak but she is scared that as soon as she started doing magic again, her dark self would come back. Even though she was promptly cleansed of Black Magic, the fear still lingered.

But that didn't mean she didn't miss doing magic. God how she missed it. She missed feeling that rush when she siphoned. The feeling of magic coursing through her veins. The raw power in her hands ready to be commanded at her will.

But on top of that, she also missed the feeling of one particular person's magic. Hope. God her magic was so addicting. Such immense power in such a small body. She missed practicing spells with her. Holding her hand as she siphoned her. Learning illegal spells with her. Just, in general spending time with her. God, she just missed Hope.

So many things had changed in the coming months. People in the school were throwing her comments and stares less and less day by day. She would be lying if she said it didn't hurt. Because it did. So much. But she knew she was to blame so she took it all with nothing said back.

The Super Squad were just plain awkward. They didn't know what to say thinking saying the wrong words would send her over the edge. MG tried to be cheery and normal but his face gave it all away. Rafael and Landon tried to be their normal selves but she caught them thinking before talking. Kaleb and Jed were just clueless on what to say so they never made conversation other than small talks where they were forced to talk to her. And well, Josie didn't blame them. But she just wanted everything to go back to normal. For everyone to not treat her like some foreign object. Was that so much to ask??

Even her dad was walking on eggshells around her fearing that if he took his eyes off for a second she'd go running off doing Black Magic. As if. She didn't even do it willingly the first time. She was manipulated. Sometime she really just wants him to pay more attention to her and understand her more. Be a better father. And on top of that, her mom was nowhere to be seen. Still away and still trying to find a way to avoid the Merge because she thought since Lizzie was alive, the Merge hadn't been avoided. You know one would think being possessed warrants a visit from your mother. Apparently it didn't.

Lizzie was trying not to act like their parents but was failing miserably. She was overprotective, barely let her out of her sight, and doubted every spell she studied. Lizzie just wanted her sister to be okay. Josie understood that. But sometimes she just wants people to trust her. Was that so much to ask??

Actually, the only person that did trust her, was Hope. All these months, Hope was the only person that acted normal around her. That didn't treat her like some delicate object that might break if she raised her voice too much. She treated her normal. Like she always did. With care and adoration. She was always there trying to make her feel normal in the midst of everything. It helped but not too much. Because she was still outweighed in front of, well, everyone. And that was the reason Josie slowly but surely isolated herself.

It wasn't her intention. Never was. But at one point, it just became too much. Facing everyone and tricking herself into believing everything was fine when nothing was. People were scared of her. Alyssa Chang hated her. Her friends, her sister, even her parents, had no idea how to act around her anymore. So she decided to save them the burden of doing so. She spent less time in her room if her sister was around since her dad refused to let her room alone, she spent more time in the library studying, she ate meals alone more often than not, she actually barely ate 3 times a day, and she lost all her friends. She became the self proclaimed loner. At first there were some questions about where she was but soon enough, no one cared to ask. She would be lying if she said that hadn't hurt but she brought this upon herself and besides, no one should be forced to deal with her.

But she would be lying if she said there was absolutely no one that asked and cared about her wellbeing. Because there was one person. Hope. It was always Hope. It was as if she knew exactly what Josie was doing so once in a while she would spend time with her to make sure she was okay. Whether it be by partnering up in projects together or doing homework together. Don't get her misunderstood, if it was up to Hope, she would spend everyday with her to make sure she was okay. That was how Hope was with her. Too caring. But that was the thing. Spending too much time with Hope made Josie feel things she was scared to feel again. So she had limited their interactions. Pushed Hope as much as she could and watched everything happening around her from a shadow.

And things did happen. Aside from people treating Josie like a glass doll, alot of relationships had changed. Lizzie and MG were dating, Kaleb and Jed were dating, Hope and Landon broke up, and Rafael's bond with his father improved when he started learning more about his family.

The thing that had come the most surprising to Josie was Hope and Landon's breakup. Because they were supposed to be the fairytale esque loves, weren't they? Weren't they supposed to stay together and defy the odds? Apparently not. Because when Lizzie had told her about the breakup she had also told her the reason they had broken up and Josie realized not everything was as it seemed. And maybe, fairytale did only exist in books and movies.

Speaking of fairytales, her feelings for Hope came crashing right back up. She didn't know when. She just knows that they did. And that she couldn't do anything about them. Because Hope was trying to take care of her not trying to make Josie fall in love with her. Love? Oh well. It wouldn't be far fetched. Josie did have a problem of feeling too much too fast. And well, she's been in love with that girl, probably since she was 13.

And even though Hope is promptly single as of a month, Josie was scared to pursue anything scared of rejection. Though that wasn't her only fear. She had issues. She didn't want to burden Hope with them.

So that's why she stays in her room, magicless, and never says anything when no one even considers her anymore for the Super Squad meetings. Though she comes to know about them just as soon as everyone else. How you might ask? Hope. It is always Hope. Because even though no one considers her a member of the Super Squad anymore and thinks she is incapable of helping, Hope doesn't. She always, always, comes finds her after the meetings and runs their plans by her in order to find weaknesses in them or just to inform her of them in general. It is with a kind smile she comes in and with a loving smile she leaves with an indirect promise to come back. Because Josie will never be able to say it but she wants Hope to be safe and alive. And she doesn't know if her face gives her away or Hope is just that good at reading her (probably the latter), Hope never fails to reassure her before she leaves.

Today was one of those days. The Super Squad found a Monster in town and Hope had come in to inform her of their plan and what they thought the monster was. They ran over the plan and Josie had found some faults which might get them hurt and Hope had attentively remembered them. And after they had gone over the plan, they decided to just sit and relax looking at the thunderstorm raging outside.

"It's kind of beautiful" Josie commented looking at the vengeful raindrops pattering on the ground.

Then added to elaborate, "Like how the skies were so angry that after keeping everything in for so long they just let it all out" she said with a small sad smile. Definitely not talking about the thunderstorm anymore.

"You're right. You know, a thunderstorm is an artist's favorite thing to paint. It resonates with them. It was my favorite thing to paint. Still is" Hope replied in the same way Josie had.

"People appreciate thunders though" Josie said next.

"Not the ones who don't understand it" Hope replied.

"Most don't" Josie said next.

"I do. I appreciate you. The sunshine, the dark, the thunders. Everything" Hope finally said looking right into Josie's eyes.

Josie was immediately pulled in like a magnet and looked into Hope's eyes and saw so much... Care? There. Love? No. No.

Hope smiled and Josie immediately reciprocated it. It felt... Warm. Good. It felt good to have someone still believe in her.

Hope's phone went off and just like that their moment was shattered.

She picked it up. It was Alaric telling her they were ready to leave. So she hung up and kept the phone in with a sigh.

"I should uh.. leave" Hope awkwardly and nervously said.

Josie couldn't form words so she just nodded.

"I'll see you soon" Hope still added in before walking towards the door.

Josie nodded with a small smile.

Hope smiled back and closed the door on her way out.

Josie let out a sigh then and waited for Hope to come back.

_______

It was late evening and Josie was sitting in the library studying extra material. At this point she was way ahead of every single class she had that if she studied anything, it was basically extra material.

And while she was sitting she had heard arguing from somewhere outside. And when she concentrated, she realized it was a voice she recognized. Actually, she recognized both of the voices. It was her dad and Hope. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying. She just knew Hope was angry at him for something and he refused to acknowledge his mistake. Then the argument was cut short by Hope and she left instead with the last word.

Worried, she got up and ran after Hope because it was still raining very heavily. She almost slipped from all the water on the ground that must've been left from soaking Alaric and Hope but no one saw that. Thankfully.

_______

Earlier,

The ride back from the monster hunt was quiet and thick with tension. MG had almost been killed. Everyone was in a somber mood still reeling from what happened. Alaric was focusing on his driving while MG was shaken to the core and Kaleb was trying to console him while the others were trying to calm down themselves.

Hope on the other hand, was silent. Silent as a statue and slowly seething. She was trying hard not to lose control. Because they were in this situation because they didn't listen to her.

When they reached, everyone got out and went different ways while Hope and Alaric walked together. After a few minutes of walking, Alaric spoke,

"You're not a child anymore, Hope. Don't throw a tantrum right now"

Hope scoffed, "Tantrum? You call MG almost getting killed a tantrum?!"

"MG's fine. You're overreacting" he replied.

Pointing to MG and Kaleb at a distance with MG barely being able to walk by himself because he was still shaken, Hope exclaimed, "Does he look fine to you?!"

Alaric looked at them and didn't have an answer.

"You know, Dr. Saltzman, if you'd just listened to me we would've never been here in the first place. Josie is the most capable out of anyone in your Loser Squad. If it weren't for her, all your plans would be shit" Hope said next, seething.

"Josie is in a vulnerable state. And she hasn't taken back her magic. She's a liability to the group right now" Alaric replied.

Hope scoffed, "Yeah, and whose fault is that, huh?! Everyday you give her reasons not to take back her magic. Everyday you tell her how irresponsible and reckless she is at literally anything she does!" Hope snapped.

Alaric didn't even have a reply right now. So Hope continued,

"Do even know why she did Black Magic in the first place??" Hope asked then.

Alaric didn't have an answer so Hope added, "I'm not expecting you to know since you refuse to ever acknowledge your mistakes. I'll tell you why"

Alaric was dumbfounded at this point but let Hope continue anyways.

"She was confused. But more than that, she was angry. And hurt. That her father barely paid attention to her, her mother was nowhere to be seen, her sister didn't have time for her, and she slowly but surely lost her friends. Sound familiar??" Hope asked then. Because that's exactly what was happening right now. What they let happen.

Alaric tried to form words but none came out.

So Hope stopped walking completely and realized they had walked all the way to the library while arguing. So she turned around and faced him and snapped, "You blame her as if everything that has happened is her fault. But did you ever sit down and think that maybe it was your fault? That maybe you couldn't even be a decent father to her??" 

"Yeah and what would you know about that, Hope?!" Alaric finally replied back.

Hope scoffed, "You know, the time you put into bashing my father on the daily, you'd expect you'd be a better one"

And before Alaric could even think of something to reply, Hope left. Because if she hadn't, she would've done something that she definitely wouldn't have regretted. Because how dare he. Even if she shows an ounce of emotion, he immediately tries to make her feel bad about feeling by using her father's name. Her father was a way better father than him and she knows that. So instead of knocking some sense into him, she decided to take a breather outside. She was soaked anyways and werewolf plus vampire healing made it pretty much impossible for her to get sick so she went outside in the rain to have some air.

_______

Now, Josie,

As soon as she stepped out, she immediately shivered from the coldness and harshness of the raindrops. But she kept on walking because it felt good too. Whole day she's been locked in wanting to step out but she knew if someone saw her, they'll tell her dad and then he would go on one his many speeches about how she is irresponsible and then dismiss her without even listening to a word she says. Now she atleast had a reason. And Hope is the only, only, person that has cared about her in the coming months. So to hell if he says anything anyways.

And she was soaked by the time she found her. Hope was sitting on the docks just soaking in the rain. Atleast that's what it'll look like to anyone who didn't know her. But to Josie, Hope looked like she was trying not to lose control. Her coordinated breathing pattern was one hint of it. So Josie carefully moved forward and sat down beside her.

Hope wasn't startled but immediately looked at Josie with surprise on her face.

"Hey" Josie said with a soft smile.

"What are you doing here??" Hope asked instead.

"I heard you and dad arguing so I thought I should make sure you're ok. But if you don't want me to be here, I can go..." Josie rambled.

"No! No. I uh.. don't want you to go. It's just that it's raining pretty heavily and you might get sick if you stay out" Hope replied.

"I'll be okay. I enjoy the rain. Do you wanna talk about it?" Josie replied and asked.

"Remember the fault you found in the plan? They didn't care and MG almost got killed" Hope replied.

"Is MG okay??" Josie asked worriedly.

"Yeah he's fine. Physically atleast. Mentally, not so much. But I guess being seconds away from your death does that to people. Don't worry he'll be okay" Hope replied worried herself.

Josie nodded. Then said, "Wanna talk about what happened after?"

Hope sighed but obliged, "Well, I was trying to get Dr. Saltzman to understand that you are the best person we got and they should implement you more but well, he said things and got loud, I got loud, he refused to even think about it, so I ran off before I tore his head off"

"You didn't have to do that. It's my fault they've ghosted me. I am the one that isolated myself" Josie said next.

"They are the ones who chose to stay away. I have isolated myself in the past too, remember? My aunt was the only one out of my whole family who checked up on me once a while to make sure I was okay. It isn't about how much you try to isolate yourself. It's about the people that love you enough to push through and check up on you anyways" Hope replied with a small smile looking into Josie's eyes.

"You were the only one that checked up on me...." Josie blurted out next.

Hope gave a smile, "I do...", love you. "care, about you, Josie. Is that so hard to comprehend?" she asked.

If you asked Hope when did her feelings change for the brunette siphoner, she wouldn't know. It just did. It was like every single emotion she had buried since she was 14 came crashing right back up. After she had woken up, it was like a part of her mind had woken up too that showed her Josie in a different light. It was partly the reason she had broken up with Landon. But the main reason was that they weren't healthy anymore. Their relationship had become damaging. She lost feelings for Landon somewhere along the way but stayed because he couldn't die. But she forgot that not dying wasn't the only thing she needed to have a good relationship. Landon didn't understand her. As much as she wanted him to, he didn't. He tried but in the end, he was useless. Which ended up triggering big fights which could've been avoided if he realized what he was doing. So she did the both of them a favor and left him.

And in this time of her being single, her feelings for Josie intensified. It wouldn't be far fetched to say that she was in love with her. Because in a way, she has been in love with that girl, since she was 14.

"No. No. It's just that, no one cared enough since I was cleansed so I kinda didn't have high expectations?" Josie replied.

"Jo, it's their fault that they didn't care. Not yours. Because I don't see anything worth not caring here" Hope replied looking deeply into Josie's eyes with so much care and love.

Seeing the various emotions in Hope's eyes, Josie froze. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She wanted to tell her she still has a crush on her. That it never really went away. That she has fallen for her. This seemed like the perfect time. So she tried,

"Hope I....." but failed. She couldn't. She can't.

"What is it, Jo?" Hope asked softly. A certain desperation, a plead, in her eyes. Begging for her to say something.

"I... I.. Nothing. Nevermind" Josie shook her head. She still couldn't say it.

Hope sighed, "Josie. Can I kiss you?" she asked softly.

Josie's eyes widened hearing that and she froze. Again.

Hope patiently waited trying not to let the dread of rejection consume her.

After what felt like years but was probably minutes, Josie gave a shaky nod.

Hope smiled and slowly leaned in.

Inches from her lips, she stopped giving the other girl an out if she needed.

But Josie had been dreaming of this moment since she was 13 so she eagerly closed the distance and kissed Hope softly.

Their lips moved slowly and rhythmically savoring each other until they both had to part for air.

"Wow" Josie said first.

"Yeah?" Hope asked nervously.

"Yes. God I've been waiting to do that for so long" Josie blurted then.

Hope smirked, "Oh yeah?"

Josie went red realizing what she just said.

Hope chuckled, "Don't worry. I've been wanting to do that for a long time too. You know, I had a crush on you when I was 14"

Josie was definitely surprised hearing that. "You did?" so she asked.

"Of course I did. Who wouldn't?" Hope replied repeating her own words from that night with a loving smile.

Josie gave a full smile back hearing that.

Hope's own smile grew hearing that.

Then Josie sneezed.

Hope chuckled, "C'mon. Let's get you inside"

"No. I'm pretty content right here with you" Josie replied whining a bit.

"Jo. You'll catch a cold. We can make out in the rain later. C'mon. Get up and let's go" Hope tried again with an amused smile standing up and offering Josie a hand.

Josie took the hand and got up with a heavy sigh and a pout.

"C'mon, Jo. You know I can't resist that face" Hope said then looking at her pouty face which was too cute to be fair.

"What face?" Josie asked intensifying the pout.

"Josie" was all Hope said with an eye roll.

Josie finally relented, "Fine. But, would you um.. kiss me again?" she nervously asked.

Hope's smile grew hearing that and she stepped forward, put her hand on her cheek, and kissed her again.

Josie immediately melted into the kiss and kissed Hope back.

After a while, Hope pulled back saying, "Let's go. I don't want you getting sick on me" when she felt Josie shivering.

This time, Josie relented and let Hope take her back to her dorm. But after she changed into dry clothes and dried her hair, she spent the night in Hope's room anyways.

And if she got sick the next day, she's just happy that Hope was there to take care of her and absolutely refused to accept that that she shouldn't have stayed out so long.