Chapter 2
When Hope returned to her bedroom, Landon was already there, standing by her desk. The agitated expression he bared on his face and his tightly folded arms let Hope know she was going to be in for a night of tension and drama.
She let out an exhausted sigh as she made eye contact with him. “Landon, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? That’s all you have to say to me?” He didn’t even give her a chance to explain herself before launching into her. “Do you have any idea how worried I was? I’ve been trying to contact you for hours!”
“Well I was obviously busy!” Hope retalited, trying her best to keep a cool tone unlike Landon who seemed to be growing more hot headed by the second.
“You couldn’t have even texted to let me know you were okay? Of course not! Why would you have time to check in with your worried fiancé when you’re always running to answer the Saltzmans’ every beck and call?”
Hope let out a disgusted scoff. “Do you even hear yourself right now? Josie almost died and you’re throwing a strop! Stop being so dramatic!”
“Oh so I’m the dramatic one? Not Little Miss Tribrid who practically throws herself into the clutches of evil so she can always be the hero? Do you know how much that hurts to watch Hope? ”
“It’s not like I always have a choice.” Hope argued back.
“But this time you did! Why did you have to be the one to turn Josie? Why not MG or her mother?” Landon challenged.
“Because she asked me to! Because she trusts me, and she’s my best friend and I will do anything for her.”
“And what does that make me Hope? Am I just an obstacle in your way of getting to precious Josie Saltzman. Will I always come second to her? Even when I’ve travelled thousands of miles just to see you?”
“You didn’t have to come this weekend, you knew it was the twin’s birthday and what was going to happen!”
Landon grabbed his coat from the back of Hope’s desk chair. “Fine,” he shrugged dramatically, “I’ll just go back to California. I’m clearly not wanted here!”
Hope rolled her eyes, waiting for him to calm down but couldn’t ignore the growing anxiety in her chest as he came closer to exiting the door. His hand was just twisting the doorknob open when she shouted for him.
“Wait Landon! Don’t go, please.”
She hated herself for being so weak, for not standing her ground. But even after all these years, she still couldn’t shake her fear of abandonment. If Landon left now, who knew when he’d come back to her.
Or if he would come back. The last time they had an argument Landon didn’t answer his phone for two whole weeks, it took an anxiety-riddled Hope to drive all the way to Berkeley for him to accept she was sorry. She didn’t have time for that right now, she needed to be here with Josie as she transitioned, so she needed Landon to be here too.
He turned around and raised an eyebrow at her. “And why shouldn’t I? Your priorities clearly lie elsewhere.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you.” Hope sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’ll make it up to you I promise, it’s just been a stressful weekend you know.”
He closed the door quietly before stalking closer to her once more. He reached an arm out to cup her chin and drag her eyes up to meet his own. Just as his lips brushed against hers and she leaned in for a kiss, he took her hand in his and brought it down to the buckle of his belt. He leaned forward to whisper softly in her ear. “I can think of a way you can make it up to me right now.”
An hour later Hope lay on her back, half naked and exhausted but yet couldn’t bring herself to shut her mind off. All her thoughts lay with Josie. She felt bad that the entire time she and Landon were having sex, her mind kept wandering to the brunette and how the newly turned heretic must be feeling as she adapted to all these new changes.
She felt a deep desire to seek out Josie, even if it was just to see her for a minute. She knew Landon wouldn’t be happy with her, but judging by how loudly he was snoring beside her she would be back before he’d ever notice she had left.
Slipping out of bed, she grabbed her Salvatore bathrobe and slippers from her closet. She gave one quick glance back to ensure Landon was still sleeping soundly before leaving her room as quietly as possible to tiptoe down the hallway.
Surprisingly, she found Josie sitting outside the twin’s bedroom door, her head leaning back against the wood as she stared into space. Josie didn’t explicitly express any emotion on her face, but Hope could tell she was deep in thought about something.
“Jo?” Hope whispered as she cautiously approached. “Are you okay?”
Josie blinked in surprise as though she hadn’t noticed the presence of another person before her. The heretic’s face instantly brightened upon recognizing the tribrid. “Hope! I missed you!”
Hope let out an awkward chuckle as Josie stood up to wrap her arms around her. They’d only seen each other just over two hours ago, surely she had been busy catching up with her family.
When the heretic placed her head in the nook of Hope’s shoulder and pulled her body closer, Hope could tell something was wrong.
“Hey it’s okay Josie, I’ve got you.”
And in that moment, she never wanted to let go of the girl clinging so tightly to her. It made her feel needed, she hadn’t felt like that in a while.
“I’m sorry Hope,” the other girl whimpered, it sounded as though she was trying to hold back tears. “I’m just feeling a lot right now. There are so many emotions at once, and I don’t know how to deal with them. Can you stay with me please?”
“Of course,” Hope answered, squeezing Josie’s shoulder in reassurance before slipping the brunette’s hand into hers. “But Jose, where are your family? Why did they leave you alone?”
“I asked them to,” Josie responded. “They were all so exhausted, so I told them to go to bed. I thought I’d be fine, but now I’m not so sure that was a good idea.”
Hope flashed her a warm smile. “You want to go somewhere to talk?”
Josie bit her lip and nodded, allowing Hope to lead her away.
Hope guessed Lizzie was sleeping in their bedroom, and knew Landon would be less than impressed if she returned back to her room with Josie in tow. She guessed their best chance of privacy would be the library.
She led Josie down the hallway towards the main staircase, the brunette never letting go of her hand the entire way.
As she had assumed, the library was completely empty and silent. For the first time in at least a week, Hope finally felt some peace. She pulled Josie over towards the bookshelves and sat them both on one of the dark chaise lounges there.
“So, did you transition?” She asked, assuming that the brunette would be in serious discomfort now if she hadn’t. Hope was mostly glad she wasn’t there to witness it. However, a small, strange part of her felt guilty for not being there, as though it was her responsibility to stay and ensure Josie properly fed.
Josie grimaced in response to her question. “It was gross."
Hope wrinkled her nose in disgust and gave a huff of agreement. "Yeah those bags look and smell pretty nasty. I don't envy you."
"I think that feeding is something that’s going to take a while to get used to.” The heretic huffed.
“That’s okay Jo, you do all have the time in the world now,” Hope tried to joke but this somehow seemed to upset the brunette.
“All the time in the world,” Josie mumbled. “This means I’m going to have to watch everyone else die right?”
She pouted and her bottom lip started to tremble. “My dad, and Lizzie, -”
She started to ramble on, listing out the names of the non-immortal people in her life, tears now streaming down her face. Hope found herself caught in a panic, sure she’d known there was going to be mood swings but she didn’t expect them to be this intense.
“Josie!” She tried to distract the other girl, eventually resorting to shaking her by the shoulders. “Josie! Hey! You need to calm down! You can’t let your emotions take over, okay?”
Josie pulled away from her, and drew her knees up towards her chest, resting her chin on top. “I’m sorry Hope, I’m just so scared. Everything is going to be so different now you know? I’ve spent the last six years trying to accept the fact I wouldn’t make it past twenty two and now I suddenly have to cope with the fact I could live forever.”
“It’s completely normal to feel scared Jo, every transitioning vampire experiences some level of this. Maybe we should go get your mom, she can help you through it-”
“NO!” Josie practically roared in her face. Her sharpened fingernails were already digging into the sleeve of Hope’s robe, causing the older girl to wince. “The last thing I need is for my family to think I’m struggling, and for Lizzie to start regretting the decision. She deserves to be happy!”
Classic Josie, Hope thought to herself. Lizzie was probably sleeping soundly upstairs while Josie dealt with the storm of emotions brewing inside her brain.
“But what about you Josie?” Hope questioned, her eyes locking onto the brunette’s. “Are you happy?”
Josie broke their eye contact, averting her gaze to the carpeted floor instead. She didn’t speak for a minute or so, as if she required some time to process Hope’s question. This caused Hope’s frown to deepen.
“I’m happy I’m alive, and I’m happy that the Merge is no longer tearing me and my sister apart,” she spoke, finally. “And I’m really happy that I have you Hope, and that I know I have you by my side throughout this whole process.”
A small smile tugged on Hope’s lips. She leaned forward to pull Josie into a comforting hug. “I mean what I said Jo, I’m here for you every step of the way.”
Josie buried her head in Hope’s shoulder once more. The redhead would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy it. She felt a relief knowing that Josie could find comfort in her. As if of its own accord, Hope’s hand started to run its way through Josie’s brown curls, occasionally pulling any stray strands away from her face. Josie hummed in response, seemingly content.
“Let’s just stay like this for a while okay?” Josie mumbled into the soft cotton of Hope’s bathrobe.
“Sure,” Hope happily replied before leaning her head on top of Josie’s.
She didn’t take much notice when she heard Josie inhale sharply, as though she was trying to take in the tribrid’s scent. That is, until Josie suddenly jerked away from her, pushing Hope backwards in the process.
“Josie!” Hope cried at the sudden loss of balance.
She frowned at the look of hurt and slight resentment that was suddenly plastered across Josie’s face. “You smell like him.”
Hope tilted her head quizzically. “What?”
Her confusion only increased as Josie rose wordlessly from her seat. Her eyes refused to meet Hope’s again. “I should go.”
She seemed angry.
“Josie, wait! What just happened?” Hope stammered. “Where are you going?”
“Didn’t mean to keep you from your boyfriend,” Josie said in a chilling tone that almost resembled a sneer. “I’m going to go back to bed now. Goodnight Hope.”
The brunette turned away from her and stormed towards the door of the library in a huff, slamming it behind her as she left.
Dumbfounded, Hope reclined back into the chair, pondering how on earth she had managed to piss off two of the most important people in her life within such a short period of time