Little Talk
Hope woke up, still confused by her dream.
"Josie?" she said her girlfriend’s name.
A big smile adorned her face at the thought. Her girlfriend.
"She left" Maya said as she handed her a sheet of paper "but she left you a note."
Hope took it and read it aloud.
“I had to go with Lizzie. You looked too cute to wake up. See you tonight, Hopey "
"That's nice" Maya said as she put on her shoes "I guess things are going well?"
She thought back to her last weeks with Josie and only smiled even more radiantly.
"Yes, I think things are going well"
Maya scoffed.
"That's an understatement, considering this is Josie's third time spending the night since the festival, so I'd say things are going very well."
"Maya…"
"Hey, don't worry. I like spending the night with Jessica, if you know what I mean" said the brunette suggestively.
"Jessica? What happened to Lucy? " Hope asked confused.
" we’re good friends, now" Maya said with a smile. "I'm glad you and Josie are fine, maybe that will keep you from being so tense all the time" joked the brunette, earning Hope to throw a pillow at her that she dodged without problems.
Hope's mind went back to her first date at the festival and how that night had ended better than she thought.
"Are you sure you don't want to ride the Ferris wheel?" Josie asked Maya, who decided to join them to the festival.
"No thanks Josie, I find it a bit confined up there"
Behind Josie, Hope was laughing. While she saw how the wolf preferred to go to the cotton candy
Josie sighed and then linked her arm through the tribrid's, pulling her toward the waiting line.
"Well, I guess it'll just be you and me, Hope"
"What if I don't want to get on?" Hope asked even as she let Josie drag her away.
"You don't have a choice" she smiled at her.
The auburn girl rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips as she lined up with her. The wheel slowed to stop and lower the passengers. Hope and Josie walked over and sat in the empty seat, swaying a bit as the operator closed the metal bar across their laps.
The journey began and the tribrid began to see what Maya meant by confinement, Hope thought with a slight grimace. To distract herself from the feeling of being lifted back into the air by the metal ride, she glanced at Josie and noted her serious expression as she watched the Festival. She frowned and rested her arm on the back of the seat. "Hey, are you okay?"
She looked at her with sad eyes and gave her a pale smile. "It's nothing Hope. I just thought I was going to sleep alone tonight, since Lizzie comes back tomorrow."
She hated how lonely she sounded at the time and wished countless times this was another life, one where she could take her to her room and hold her in her arms all night so she would know she was loved.
"Why don't you stay with me tonight?" The words came out before she could rethink them and when her big eyes looked at her, she stuttered: "With me and Maya, of course. I don't want you sleeping alone"
She studied her for a moment and Hope wondered what she was looking for on her face. Whatever it is, she must have found it, because she said, "Thank you." Then she surprised her by moving closer to her and resting her head on her shoulder. The tribrid smiled and put her hand around her shoulder. She sighed contently. "It’s beautiful here"
"Mmm" she agreed when the ride stopped at the top. They looked towards where the whole town was set before them with lights.
"Are you afraid?"
Hope looked into her concerned eyes and then her gaze fell to her mouth, not an inch away from hers. She breathed.
"Terrified"
Josie rolled her eyes, but smiled and pointed around her.
"I mean the height"
Reluctantly, she returned her attention to the landscape below.
"It doesn't bother me; it must be because I have you here"
" seriously? All you needed was me?” Josie joked.
"Yes, Josie Saltzman, you are definitely what my life was missing."
They sat down, each lost in their own thoughts for a moment before Josie said quietly, "I like being here, away from everything. It's nice."
She sounded melancholy and Hope kissed her forehead, rubbing her shoulders.
"Thanks, Hope"
the tribrid looked at her, surprised.
"For what?"
She shook her head, a sad smile on her lips.
"Because somehow, just when I think I finally understand you, you completely surprise me with something new. Something better than I ever imagined."
Josie lifted a hand and cupped her jaw, tracing her fingers along. The warmth in her eyes almost took her breath away. She leaned down and kissed her gently. Hope responded to the gentle pressure on her lips, her arm circling her waist as her other hand grabbed her shoulder, pulling her closer to her body.
She could feel her fingers digging into her shoulders as she arched against her. She turned her head to the side, deepening the kiss. Her mouth opened and at the brush of her tongue against hers, she could have sworn they were flying again until she heard a distant laugh and felt someone tap her on the shoulder.
She pulled away from Josie and looked up to see the operator looking at them with a smile on his face. "I'm sorry miss, the ride is over. Unless you two want to go again?"
She blushed and looked to see that Josie's face was as pink as she imagined her own to be.
"No, uh ... we're fine"
They quickly got up and walked away, ignoring the knowing looks and smiles from the crowd that had been waiting in line.
"And you say it's me who always surprises you," she murmured in her ear. "Josie Saltzman was caught making out on the Ferris wheel at the festival" Hope joked.
"Shut up, Hope"
the tribrid chuckled when she noticed her blush even more than she had been and took her hand, happy when her fingers wrapped around hers.
When the festival ended hours later, they ran into Maya and the three of them got into Hope's car and headed to school.
Maya jumped as soon as they stopped in front of the entrance
"Well, Hope don't wait for me" She took a step back and then turned around.
Hope and Josie walked silently to the tribrid’s room. Hope opened the door and let Josie in.
Hope watched as Josie fidgeted in the middle of the room.
"So what will the sleeping arrangements be like? Do I sleep on the floor or do I take the bed? "
"We could both take the bed," Hope suggested.
Josie gulped with wide eyes.
"Look, Hope, you might want to get lucky tonight, but ..."
"I'm lucky" Hope told her, stepping closer. She knew she might be asking too much, too soon, but after everything they'd been through the past few days, she wanted to spend the night holding her. "When you walk into a room and it's me who you smile at, I'm lucky. When there's anywhere you could be and you're here with me, I'm lucky. And whether I spend tonight up in bed with you in my arms or down here on the floor, just wishing I was, I'll still be lucky "
Her mouth fell open in surprise and Hope could see the slight gleam in her eyes, but she recovered quickly, asking with a smile.
"Have you been rehearsing those lines, Hope?"
"Actually, I prefer to make it up as I go along" She joked in response. "So what’s it going to be, bed or floor? Or maybe the old couch?"
She stared at her for a long moment before looking down at the couch while shaking her head. "You know, I don't think that couch is big enough for both of us" Hope exhaled in relief and smiled at her when she said "Let's go to bed, to sleep, Hope" she clarified.
"Still Lucky, Jo" she smiled.
"I've lost you in the memory of Josie Saltzman" Maya said shaking her head. Despite the way she could now periodically find her friend staring into space with a goofy grin on her face, she had to admit that Josie's addition had been a welcome change in the tribrid’s life. she laughed more freely and was more relaxed than since she came to Salvatore school.
And it was as if the school itself had absorbed her mood and echoed her, the very atmosphere seemed happier. She could hardly believe it, she thought bemusedly, but the strange school was beginning to feel like home to her.
"what do you think of Josie?" She asked, finally remembering that she was in the room.
She had to smile. Josie was quickly becoming the sister she'd never had and she relished the connection. What time Maya wasn’t spending with Hope and learning about the person she had become, she spent with Josie. They had gone shopping with her sister Lizzie, they had seen all the old movies Mg loaned them while they ate junk food.
"I like her. She’s special, Hope"
"yes, she is"
A knock on the door, Hope got off the bed to open it, revealing Lizzie standing there.
"Hi Lizzie" she greeted and opened the door wider so that the blonde could enter.
"Hi, fleas, I was hoping we could talk ... alone, no offense" she looks at Maya.
"Okay, I think it's time for me to go to breakfast" the brunette said before leaving them alone.
"everything is alright? Is Josie okay? "
"She is fine" she assures "I knew the gnome will go with Raf"
Rafael had found his father and he had invited him to spend time with him, which the wolf immediately accepted.
"Sounds good" she said sincerely.
Hope watched Lizzie look at her with wide eyes.
"what?"
"Nothing, I guess I never thought you would give up your adoration for the Hobbit"
"I thought that too, but I'm very happy with Josie more than I thought I'd ever be"
“Look, Hope, don't take it the wrong way, but I want you to be sure of how you feel for my sister, I don't want her to suffer, I don't know if you can see it, but she loves you and would kill her if you left her and you're going on your epic quest to bring the bird boy back "
“I would never leave Josie, she’s beautiful and funny. She’s honest and somehow has a way of seeing inside of me to everything that I try to hide. And when she exposes it, she takes it as calmly as if she had already known it for a long time. The way she accepts me makes me accept myself” Lizzie could see the love so strong that Hope felt for her sister in her eyes “all of me, the wolf, the witch and the girl who just wants to be normal, like I'm never more me than when I'm with her, you know? "
"Wow, you have it bad for my sister, Fido" smiled Lizzie "but I'm glad, she deserves someone to love her with the same intensity with which she loves"
Hope laughed.
"But if you hurt her, it doesn't matter that you're almost immortal, I can swear that no vampire blood helps if I suck all the magic out of you" Lizzie threatened.
"It's okay. Lizzie"
The blonde walked to the door. But she stopped before leaving.
"Just don't impregnate my sister with your puppies yet, she's too young to be a mother," she said, making Hope blush.
The blonde laughed.