cause I know that it's delicate
Hope raises the steaming mug to her lips and morphs her face into an unreadable expression with ease. If Hollywood has trained her for one thing, it’s this. She takes a sip and lets the liquid coat her tongue and stay in her mouth for a second.
The curious eyes of Caroline Forbes are on her, watching her every move.
Objectively speaking, Caroline is beautiful. Her blonde hair is framing her face, her blue eyes sparkle with mischief and excitement. She doesn’t look like she’s in her early forties, her flawless body and perfect skin make her look like a college student.
Subjectively speaking, Caroline is not just beautiful in her appearance, but also a captivating individual and amazing conversationalist.
Hope is enamoured with the woman sitting right across from her. Caroline has this certain glow and charm that appeals to everybody. Hope is convinced that if she were to take a look at a high school yearbook, Caroline would be listed as homecoming queen or prom queen. Probably even as her year’s class president.
“And?” Caroline asks full of anticipation.
Hope swallows and let’s the mug in her hand linger close to her mouth. She pretends to think about Caroline’s question as she licks her lips and hums in deliberation.
“I must say…” Hope starts and watches in amusement as Caroline’s eyes go wide and her hands move to grab Josie’s arm eagerly.
“This is some bloody good tea.”
“Yes!” Caroline squeezes Josie’s arm and then claps her hands together enthusiastically.
Josie giggles at her mom’s antics and Hope can’t help but smile at the sound. They’re sitting in what’s considered the living room area of the open floor house. Two couches facing each other with a coffee table in between. Caroline has made English breakfast tea and is currently serving some for herself and Josie, now that it has Hope’s seal of approval.
“In high school I had this boyfriend.” Caroline starts and Josie immediately rolls her eyes. “He was a British exchange student and it’s not like we had a ton of time for tea whenever we were hanging out, but he still taught me exactly how to get it perfectly right. It starts with the tea blend itself, so I get mine shipped from England.”
Hope gives her an impressed nod before taking another sip. “He taught you well.”
“Yeah.” Caroline sighs, her gaze drifting off. “The one that got away”
Hope meets Josie’s eyes from the other side of the coffee table. Josie subtly shakes her head and rolls her eyes again. Hope almost laughs out loud at the obvious hint Josie is giving her. She should probably not dig further.
Suddenly the oven goes off and Caroline springs to action. “The cookies!”
She’s out of Hope’s vision within seconds and starts rummaging around in the kitchen. Hope takes the opportunity to take another sip of her tea and savors the taste. It tastes a little like home.
“So yup, that’s my mom.” Josie says softly, she’s trying to keep her voice down. “Very talkative and nosy. Also painfully straight.”
Josie pins Hope with a piercing gaze at the last part and Hope almost chokes on her tea.
“What?” Hope clears her throat and puts her mug down.
It almost sounds like Josie is calling her out for her obvious infatuation with Caroline. Hope swallows thickly and really hopes that she’s misreading Josie’s hard stare.
“I’m just teasing.” Josie says, a smirk working its way onto her face. “My mom has this habit of getting every person to fall in love with her, I’m just giving you a fair warning.”
Hope chuckles lightly and calms her racing heart. Yes, maybe she’d made eye contact with Caroline a few times too often, but that’s only because she’s trying to make a good impression.
Also Josie looks so cute today, in her sweatpants, oversized tee and with the messiest bedhead Hope has ever seen. She can’t even look at her friend without feeling the urge to smile like a fool.
Of course even in a situation like this Hope’s brain works in overdrive and immediately gives her an idea on how she can get some payback.
“Okay, so now that I’ve met your mom and seen your sister on instagram and here.” Hope points to the photos all around them for emphasis. “I really need to know what you guys eat or drink. This is not normal.”
Josie crooks her head and furrows her brow in confusion. So Hope has to be a little more direct.
“I know you are not technically related but your gene pool is just … damn.”
Hope is pretty much at a loss of words and doesn’t know how to voice her exact thoughts. They still seem to have the desired effect when Josie’s cheeks flush red instantly. Hope grins and takes another sip, staring at Josie while doing so. If Josie gets to tease her, she’ll tease right back.
Caroline interrupts whatever it is they have going on with a statement that leaves Hope in panic.
“These cookies look so good, you guys better be hungry!”
Josie’s mom is still busy getting the cookies out of the oven, but seems eager to share them with the two of them. Hope’s eyes go wide and she bends over the coffee table to whisper to her friend.
“Josie, I can’t eat any.”
Josie looks over Hope’s shoulder and watches her mom in disbelief. It’s like she’s ignoring Hope’s distress and focusing on something else entirely.
“This woman is unbelievable. The last time she made me cookies was ages ago!” Josie says under her breath. “But you didn’t even ask for any and here she is, happily making them. I have to bring you here more often.”
At any other given moment Hope would have laughed and teased Josie about it, but not when she’s about to ruin whatever impression she’d made on Caroline so far.
“Jo, I can’t eat any. I’m on a strict diet.”
Josie snaps her eyes away from the kitchen island and meets Hope’s urgent stare. Hope has already noticed that using the nickname works wonders on Josie. “Oh.”
“Yes, oh.” Hope mutters back.
“It’s okay, just tell her, she’ll totally understand.” Josie says softly. “And it’ll leave more for me.”
Josie has a delighted expression on her face. Those cookies must be top tier. Hope spares a quick look over her shoulder to see Caroline place the last few cookies on a plate.
“Okay, so you’re telling me I should not eat the cookies your mom made solely for me? She literally whipped up that cookie dough from nowhere just so she could offer something to me, her guest. I can’t say no.” Hope hisses under her breath.
Josie leans closer to Hope and hisses back. “Relax. She’ll understand.”
Hope’s parents did not raise her that way. She was taught to always accept offers and be nice and respectful when invited into someone’s home. She just can’t say no to Caroline’s cookies, but she also can’t eat them without messing up her meal plan.
“Jo, help me.” Hope tries again.
“What on earth do you even want me to do?” Josie whispers. “Do you want me to tell her for you?”
Hope shakes her head violently, she doesn’t want to make Caroline upset in any way. So rejecting her cookies is not an option.
“Sit beside me?” Hope pats the spot next to her with a pout on her face.
Josie looks taken aback and with a last glance towards her mom she slowly rises to her feet. She rounds the coffee table and plops down to Hope’s left. She had miscalculated their proximity a little and ended up brushing her leg against Hope’s involuntarily.
Hope takes a deep breath and tries to focus on the task at hand. She has to come up with a plan. She’d mostly asked for Josie to sit next to her just so she could feel less on edge.
It’s amazing how much Josie’s presence can calm her down. Now that their thighs are touching, granted there’s still fabric separating them, she feels less nervous and like she can actually face Caroline and her cookies.
“I don’t know how that’s supposed to help, but okay.” Josie leans in and whispers directly into Hope’s ear.
Suddenly this idea doesn’t seem like the brightest Hope could have had. Josie’s hot breath tickles and sends a shiver down Hope’s entire side. The initial ease Josie’s closeness had evoked now made Hope feel incredibly hot all over.
She shifts in her position on the couch. A weird sensation is taking over the inside of her stomach, it’s a barely there tug. Her exposed thigh burns where it touches Josie’s sweatpants.She really regrets coming straight from the gym without further covering up her gym shorts.
It takes a second for Hope to recover and get back to reality. Josie seems unbothered and unaware of the inner turmoil Hope is currently trying to suppress.
Hope is debating what to say next, but Caroline steps up to the coffee table and shows off her plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. As she sets it down she pins Hope and Josie with a curious look.
“I see we’ve changed our seating arrangements.”
Josie and Hope nod in unison and can’t meet Caroline’s eyes. They probably look guilty of something, the suspicious eyebrow raise Caroline gives them confirms that.
“Alright then. Dig in!” Caroline pushes the plate closer towards the younger women.
Josie reaches for a cookie and her eyes widen in surprise when Hope hesitantly does the same. Their eyes meet briefly and Josie clearly asks Hope something along the lines of what are you doing? Hope pulls her lips into a forced smile and continues the silent conversation with a look that translates to I don’t know, please help.
Caroline watches in horror as Josie impulsively shoves an entire cookie into her mouth to create a diversion.
“Josie! Easy!” Caroline says with a scolding undertone.
While Caroline’s focus lies on Josie, Hope guides the cookie to her mouth. Instead of popping the baked goodness into her mouth she forms a fist around it and feels it crumbling to bits and pieces. The warm chocolate chips melt and leave her hand covered in crumbs and chocolate smears.
She subtly hides the hand in her lap and pretends to be chewing. Caroline is now expectantly looking at her and waiting for praise or critique. Hope pretend-swallows and moans in delight. She is an actress after all.
“So good!” She says.
Josie next to her is still chewing on her cookie and looks profusely confused. The second Hope lets out another semi-convincing moan she stiffens next to her. Now it’s Hope’s turn to look confused. She probably went too far and Josie is trying to tell her that moaning in delight is not the best response to cookies.
Caroline looks pleased, but also skeptical. She points towards the cookies and encourages them to eat more.
Josie finally swallows and goes for another. She falters when Hope doesn’t do the same and her eyes fall to Hope’s hand. She can clearly see the chocolate smears and reacts immediately.
“Can you please get me some napkins, mom?” Josie asks with an extra sweet tone to her voice.
“That’s a great idea.” Caroline gets up. “But maybe tone it down a little.”
She points towards the cookie in Josie’s hand and goes towards the kitchen to grab napkins.
Hope and Josie turn to each other instantly.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Josie hisses and sets her cookie down on the table.
“I’m eating your mom’s cookies.” Hope deadpans.
Josie impulsively smacks her arm. “Stop whatever it is you're doing and just tell her.”
“I can’t. It’s impolite.” Hope turns around to see Caroline checking on the next batch of cookies.
Josie sighs frustratedly and picks her cookie up again.
“Is this some weird British teatime behavior?” She takes a bite. “A code of honor for cookies and tea?”
Hope ignores Josie’s dig at her home country and eyes the plate again. She realizes that there are way too many cookies left. It’s painfully obvious that she hasn’t had any more than her first one. She watches as Josie finishes her second one.
“How hungry are you?” Hope asks.
Josie mumbles “I haven’t had anything else to eat yet.”
Hope sighs in relief and can feel some anxiety over the situation slip away.
“Great. Follow my lead.” She takes a cookie and shoves it into Josie’s mouth without warning.
One hand holding Josie’s head in place, the other already smeared one force feeding her. She’s met with a muffled groan and Josie’s surprised, yet sour expression. She tries to say something through all the crumbles in her mouth. It sounds suspiciously like “what the fuck?”
“Sorry.” Hope whispers.
She tries to convey how bad she feels by giving Josie some time to recover and patting her on the shoulder. Just as Josie swallows Hope has the next cookie lined up.
Luckily Caroline takes her sweet time in the kitchen and Josie manages to devour four more cookies.
An hour later they’re still chatting away on the couch, Hope finally worked up the courage to excuse herself for a bathroom break. While washing away the chocolate remains she realizes something.
She’d spent the better part of the day getting to know not only Josie, but also her mom. Something that usually sparks some anxiety and annoyance is actually bringing her lots of joy.
Caroline easily includes her in conversation while still maintaining some boundaries and not pushing too much.
She seems more interested in Hope than Hope Mikaelson. It feels like catching up with an old friend and reminiscing over the past.
She hadn’t even once thought about putting up her usual guarded facade. Okay maybe when the cookie disaster had unraveled. Other than that she hadn’t faked any smiles or laughs today. And maybe that’s a good thing.
She steps out of the bathroom and shuts the door softly.
“Oh and Josie, this whole charade was entertaining to watch, but next time you bring her over, just text me what allergies or dietary restrictions she has. I’ll bake something we can all enjoy.”
Hope freezes as Caroline’s voice reaches her ears. Great.
At least she’s not yet visible to the couch area and has a moment to swallow up the guilt. She should've just had some cookies. She has this intense urge to make Caroline like her for some reason.
“She just wanted to be polite, mom.” Josie says softly.
A smile tugs on the corners of Hope’s lips. It sounds like Josie is standing up for her and it’s
making her all fuzzy on the inside. It’s a weird feeling, really, nothing she has ever felt before.
“Also who says there’s going to be a next time?” Josie adds.
The smile falls from Hope’s lips. The fuzzy feeling stops and makes her almost nauseous. But Josie is right. Who says there’s going to be a next time? Why would they ever hang out with her mom like this again? It dampens Hope’s cheerful mood instantly.
“Call it a mother’s intuition.” Caroline retorts.
Hope shakes herself out of her trance and decides to not eavesdrop further. With a few confident strides she’s back in the living room and reclaims her spot next to Josie. This time she’s to Josie’s left and their legs don’t brush. For the first time today she fakes a smile.
Caroline is eager to include her in the conversation right away.
“Oh, Hope, Josie was telling me about a screentest you guys have together? That sounds exciting!”
Hope reaches for her tea and furrows her brow in confusion.
“You probably mean the one we had like 3 weeks ago?” Hope takes a sip. “It was exciting, Josie is incredible. I’m still mad she didn’t get the role.”
Hope sets her mug down and sends Josie a quick wink for reassurance. Josie should have gotten the role and Hope will die on that hill. Caroline smiles fondly at the scene.
Josie seems a little taken aback, but then clears things up.
“No actually, mom was talking about the screentest we’ll have in two days.” Josie turns to see Hope’s reaction. “For tribrid tales.”
Hope needs a few seconds to process, is Josie joking or trying to confuse her? Are they fooling Caroline again? Afraid that she might mess things up, she opts for a simple “What?”
Josie clears her throat and sits up straighter, their legs brush for a second. She searches for Hope’s gaze and once she finds it starts talking.
“Emma called earlier, apparently they liked my tape so much that they want a screen test with you right away.” Josie says. “I actually wanted to ask you about that...”
Hope is usually not one to interrupt other people, it’s rude, but in this case she can’t contain her excitement. Just like that her mood has brightened up again.
“Wait what? We have a screen test?” Her eyes search Josie’s face for any signs of a bluff, but she comes up empty. Josie looks as genuine as always.
“Yup.” Josie answers.
A surprised squeak follows when Hope places her hands on both of Josie’s shoulders and starts shaking her.
“This is amazing!”
She can’t contain her excitement, especially when Josie giggles adorably and Hope decides that it’s her favorite sound in the world.
There’s a lot of new favorite things Hope has cataloged into her brain today. Josie’s crazy bedhead, the way she looks in baggy sweatpants and her obsession with her mom’s chocolate chip cookies.
Hope might have been staring at Josie for a beat too long before she stops shaking her friend around and releases her shoulders.
She clears her throat awkwardly. That’s a lot of physical contact without asking for consent. Hope feels bad for impulsively intruding Josie’s personal space like this. Luckily Josie speaks up again.
“Yeah, I actually wanted to talk about that.” There’s a weird undertone in her voice. “So this all happened super fast and I can’t help, but think that maybe you have something to do with it?”
She doesn’t meet Hope’s gaze and pins her eyes towards the floor instead. Hope now recognizes the meaning behind Josie’s words.
Even in this short amount of time of knowing Josie, Hope had picked up on how the brunette tends to question her position in the spotlight. Not once had she accepted any of Hope’s compliments without selling herself short in the process.
She’s probably thinking that Hope got her the screen test by calling in some favors, because she can’t see her own talent.
Hope gets serious instantly. Her body stiff and her gaze hard. She is nudging Josie’s side to get her to look up at her.
Her eyes fall on Caroline for a second. Josie’s mom is watching them intently, but she seems to be equally affected by Josie’s words and on the brink of saying something.
“Josie, you told me that you wanted to earn the role by yourself. I respect that. I actually think it’s very admirable.” Hope is back to softly bumping Josie’s thigh with her own.
“I didn’t do anything except for hoping and having my fingers crossed for you.” Hope doesn’t even realize she’s reaching for Josie’s unbandaged hand. “You deserve this! You’re so talented and it’s time people see that on the big screen. I'm so proud of you!”
Hope squeezes Josie’s hand and keeps them interlocked. Josie finally lifts her head, but still doesn’t look at Hope.
She does have an adorable blush slowly taking residence on her face. Hope notes that she really likes when she’s the reason for her blush. Josie looks almost bashful as her hand finally squeezes back and stops being limp in Hope’s grab.
“I know you technically don’t have the part yet, but I’ve seen you act with me before and we have great chemistry together, they will see that during the test.”
Hope finally catches Josie’s gaze and looks at her as genuine as possible. The sunlight hits Josie’s brown eyes just right and they have an amber-like glow to them. It’s really pretty and distracting.
More words of encouragement die on Hope’s lips as she looks at Josie.
Only when Caroline clears her throat audibly, Hope snaps back to reality. Josie seems startled as well. They face the older woman in anticipation.
“I for one think it would be amazing to have you two in the same film and it being the last one in the tribrid tales franchise.” Caroline says. “It would be a beautiful ‘full circle’ moment for Josie.”
Hope raises her eyebrow and waits for Caroline to elaborate, she doesn’t miss the warning glare Josie shoots her mom.
“You have no idea how many times I’ve had to sit through the first two movies.” Caroline sighs dramatically. “Might be because …”
“I was just very inspired.” Josie retorts cutting her mom off in the process. “After fulfilling our disney contracts I kind of wanted to try something different, maybe go to college, but I saw the first movie and it made me push harder and I started auditioning for bigger roles.”
Hope acknowledges Josie’s explanation with a nod, she only half registers Caroline’s offhand comment “I’m sure that’s all you loved about the movies.”
Josie mentioning that she had almost ended her career, makes her think back to a dark time in her life. Everything inside of her tightens uncomfortably as the memories come rushing in. She has the urge to find a different topic to talk about or fake another bathroom break.
That’s when she feels pressure being applied to her hand. It’s still clasped around Josie’s, but now the brunette squeezes and her thumb grazes the back of Hope’s hand.
Before she can even move to run off, her mouth falls open.
“I relate to the idea of trying something else, I quit acting when I was 15.” Hope confesses, she swallows thickly before continuing. “My parents died and acting on theatre stages didn’t bring me any joy anymore, because they weren’t around to see it.”
She takes a deep calming breath to wash down the guilt.
“I almost dropped out of school, too.” There is so much more to the story, so much more that Hope wants to say, but she can feel her chest clench subconsciously. “But I still ended up here, so clearly things worked out in my favor.”
When they leave Caroline’s house it’s almost 3pm. Josie has a bunch of cookies stuffed in ziploc bags and looks happier than ever.
Hope merges on the freeway when Josie starts shuffling some jazz and Taylor Swift music.
“So this was fun.” Hope breaks the silence.
Josie shifts excitedly in her seat. “You think?”
“Yes. I love your mom, she’s very nice.”
“Well she was on her best behavior, wait till she gets comfortable around you, she’ll grill you for all the juicy gossip you might have.”
Hope grins, because it sounds like Josie is planning on keeping her around.
“I’ll spill all the gossip I have.” Hope starts drumming to the rhythm of the music playing. “Are you feeling okay? Now that we know everything is okay and your mom is safe?”
Josie debates for a second, her hand fiddling with the ziplocs in her lap.
“Yeah, I think so. Thanks for everything.”
Hope can feel Josie’s eyes on her and locks gazes for a second before focusing on the road again.
“You’re welcome.” She says, after a beat passes Hope speaks up again. “I’m happy that you called me.”
“Yeah, me too.” Josie confesses softly.
They sit in a comfortable silence for the next few minutes until Josie turns down the music significantly.
“I feel like car rides are becoming our thing.” Josie says. “So anything you wanna share with the class?”
Hope chuckles and bites her lip in response. Car rides really are their thing now.
She thinks about what Josie had shared on their way to Caroline’s house and that it’s probably her turn to unpack some emotional baggage now. She sighs at how sad that sounds.
She debates for a couple of seconds, surprised that she doesn’t feel her usual need to divert. Instead she actually wants to talk and be open with Josie. Maybe it’s because she’s trapped in the vehicle, unable to run away both physically and mentally. Or she’s just that comfortable around Josie. Hope is not sure just yet.
“Remember when you called me out for acting weird and closed off sometimes?” She decides to get right into it.
Josie nods. “Yeah, it’s kinda creepy. You change completely, it’s like you hide behind a different persona.”
Hope snorts bitterly at that, because there is so much truth to that.
“I do this thing when I get uncomfortable or annoyed or literally whenever I feel like doing it I guess. It helps me cope.” She’s not satisfied with the way she had said it. “It’s like putting on a mask that’s appropriate for the situation I’m in. I push my own thoughts aside and just become what the people around me expect me to be.”
“Does that make sense?” She asks when Josie doesn’t react.
“It does actually.” Josie says thoughtfully. “We’re actors, that's what we do. But you know that you don’t have to act all the time, right? You’re amazing, Hope, people would still like you, even if you didn’t meet all their expectations.”
“I know. It’s weird.” Hope sighs. “Anyways, today I didn’t do any of that and I feel very good about it.”
Josie perks up immediately and claps her hands excitedly.
“That’s awesome! Hope that sounds really great, like you didn’t have to hide yourself today. What do you think it is? The polluted LA air?”
Hope lets Josie’s question linger between them, she knows exactly what the reason is and that this reason is sitting right beside her. She could let the conversation play out in so many ways, not voice the one word on her mind, keep things normal and not awkward. Things already are awkward sometimes, it feels like they’re tiptoeing around each other and walking on eggshells, still testing boundaries.She doesn’t want that anymore, so she takes a deep breath and let’s the word form between her lips.
“You.”
It’s quiet. Too quiet. A Taylor song Hope doesn’t know is playing and suddenly seems way louder than before as the weight of Hope’s confession charges the air around them. Josie is silent and still besides Hope and seems to process the short word.
Hope can’t deal with the silence any longer and while it’s tempting to just move on and put on one of her masks, she shakes the idea the second it enters her brain.
“I’m usually not like this with people, not at all. But with you, I somehow decided to be different from day one.” She says. “You have this effect on me and it’s really fucking comforting and I don’t feel like I have to hide or pretend around you. Thank you for that.”
Josie is shaken from her trance and offers her hand. Hope instantly accepts and places her right one in Josie’s. She’s met by comforting warmth and soothing strokes.
“That makes me very happy. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough around me to be yourself.” She squeezes Hope’s hand.
“This is the part where you tell me that you’re comfortable around me, too…” Hope teases.
She really hopes it doesn’t sound like she’s pressuring Josie and she takes it as the joke it’s meant to be.
“I think I am now.” Josie says. “Not gonna lie, it took me a while to get here, but now I am.”
Hope understands. It’s because Josie had been a huge fan and is just getting used to actually knowing Hope. It stings a little, but she’s happy Josie is shedding her “you’re Hope freaking Mikaelson”- alter ego.
Hope remembers something from way back in Josie’s trailer and it seems like a great opportunity to tease.
“I’m glad that you feel more at ease with me, all that blushing and talking about a crush on your phone… for a second I thought the crush you had was in fact on me.”
She chuckles at how ridiculous it sounds in retrospect. The sound dies in her throat when Josie squeezes her hand so hard that it actually hurts.
“Ouch.” Hope mumbles. “You okay there, love?”
Josie releases her grasp a little and allows Hope to focus on the road again. She’s awfully quiet and has a far away look on her face. Just when Hope thinks she had said the wrong thing and thinks about taking it back, Josie breaks the silence.
“What if it was?” Josie swallows. “What if I had a crush on you? Would that jeopardize our friendship?” Josie asks, her voice sounding so small that all Hope wants to do is scoop her up and protect her from all that is evil in this world.
Hope bites her lip and grinds her teeth. She hadn’t intended to cause this tension. It was supposed to be a joke. She swallows thickly and squeezes Josie’s hand reassuringly.
“I don’t know.” Hope answers truthfully. “What I do know, is that I really like you and that you are an amazing person. This is all very new and delicate…”
She points at the car display that informs them that the song currently playing is in fact delicate by Taylor Swift. Josie bursts out laughing and Hope is glad she could ease some of the suspense.
“Every person you had or have a crush on should consider themself lucky.” Hope says.
Josie smiles and plays with Hope’s hand.
They’re five minutes away from Josie’s place when she checks her email inbox and finds the script for their tribrid tales screen test. She grabs Hope’s arm violently and stares at her phone in disbelief.
“Wait.” She skims over lines, Hope watches in amusement from the corner of her eye. “Hope?”
“Yes, Jo?” Hope has an idea what Josie’s distress is about.
“Am I…” Josie gulps. “Is my character your love interest?”
Hope smirks and she knows she must look incredibly smug, but all she says is “How about you play false god? It’s jazzy and has Taylor.”