Secrets (Hosie)

“What was that?” Cleo immediately calls as Hope makes her way inside.

“She came to return this. That’s all.” The blue-eyed girl huffs as she tosses the hoodie to the side and goes straight for the stairs.

“Hope,” Cleo says firmly as they make their way back up to Hope’s room.

Hope doesn’t answer the girl; instead, she flops onto her bed and buries her face into her pillow, knowing she’s in for an earful.

“What now?” She grumbles as Cleo sits next to her.

“You know what. You were rude to her.”

“She’s the one showing up to my house.” Hope points out.

“She was returning something you gave her, and on top of that, she was worried for you. She wanted to make sure you were okay, and you yelled at her and shunned her away like she wronged you.” Cleo sighs.

She understands why her best friend forced the Saltzman girl away, but she couldn’t help but feel bad for both girls.

She could see from just the short interaction with Josie that the girl was kind and genuine; she could only imagine how she must feel now that Hope had yelled at her and turned her away.

“So what? What am I supposed to do, huh? Be her friend now? All because she asked if I was okay? Please.” Hope turns over and scoffs. “She probably doesn’t even actually care; she just wants to spread gossip to her royal court and their loyal subjects at school.” She rolls her eyes and sits up, refusing to hear Cleo out.

“You do not know that, Hope.” Cleo pushes. “You don’t know her truly.”

“And you do?”

“No, but I could see the kindness in her eyes and how concerned she looked. You cannot just force away someone for caring about you.”

Hope runs her fingers through her hair and sighs. Truthfully, she didn’t want to be so harsh to Josie. She didn’t want to raise her voice and threaten the girl, especially because she knew the girl did no wrong.

But Hope wouldn’t take any chances. She refused. If she made sure Josie stayed away, she wouldn’t have to carry the burden of caring for someone else. She wouldn’t have to endure the risk of being hurt again.

“Hope, you’re not a heartless monster. You can’t continue to live like this, all alone and without caring for anyone.”

“I have you and my family.” Hope begins to argue, but she knows it’s a weak argument against Cleo’s words.

“You do and you always will, but Hope, you need to let someone in other than just us. We love you, but what happens when I’m away at school and your family is away on business? You think I don’t know how lonely you get and how much you hate it?” She asks.

The older girl can’t help the silence that falls over her as Cleo reads her like an open book.

“Look,” Cleo starts as she pulls the older girl into her arms. “I know being alone is your way of protecting yourself, but I also know you’re just hurting yourself in the end.”

Hope didn’t want to admit it, but Cleo was right. She was lonely. Her family was always away on business, and even Freya had to be kept at the office until late most of the time, and of course Cleo was always there for her, but she hated that the girl lived and went to school so far. She hated being by herself, but this was all she knew.

“I can’t, Cleo. I can’t let her in. What if she gets taken away too?” She whispers into her best friend's shoulder.

“You cannot continue to live your life in fear, Hope. Just try; that is all you can do.”

Hope takes her words in and thinks about them. She didn’t understand why Josie of all people would be the person to make her question things and want to change her habits—but maybe she didn’t need to understand it.

At least not yet.

—-----

It was the next day, and they were back at school. After yesterday afternoon, Josie drove over to Landon’s. She cried for ten minutes outside of his house, and when she finally went up to the door, she was immediately pulled in and pushed against it.

She knew Landon’s parents wouldn’t be home until late, and she knew what his expectations were for when she arrived.

He took her up to his room and forced his tongue down her throat. He grabbed her waist and made her grind against his bulge, to which she pretended she was going crazy over.

He pulled her hair too rough and said all the wrong things, as usual. She had to stop herself from crying when he pulled out his dick, and she had to jerk him off.

She hated every minute of her time with her boyfriend, but he was her reality check. He was who was supposed to love and obsess over.

He was supposed to be the one invading her thoughts, not Hope Mikaelson.

After she left his house, she went home and ran straight for the shower. She hated how the day turned out. Her stupid crush on the older girl clouded her judgment and made her look like a fool in front of her, and because of that, she had to go seek ‘comfort’ in her boyfriend, who made her want to throw up inside.

She knew there was nothing seriously wrong with Landon; she just couldn’t force herself to love him or be in love with him, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t keep pretending she was head over heels for him.

And because she was so ‘head over heels’ for him, she decided that starting that Monday, she would go back to spending her lunchtime with her friends and boyfriend in the cafeteria again.

She soon found to regret her decision though when she realized just how noisy everything was and how crowded the place was. She ended up sitting on Landon’s lap while their friends joked around and made plans for the weekend. She was bored of the conversation and was uncomfortable with all eyes on her.

She knew she was always being watched and talked about— that’s just what came with being popular, but today more than ever, she hated it. She felt like everyone could see through her and see what she was hiding.

As lunch passed on, she was contemplating going back to her spot, but when Lizzie dragged her into a conversation about winter formal dresses, she knew there was no escape now.

She was laughing at something Jed was saying when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed dark auburn hair. She caught it quickly and turned her head directly to the girl.

There by the cafeteria doors, Hope was standing there watching her. They locked eyes, and Josie could have sworn the girl smiled at her.

What the hell?

Josie couldn’t have been more confused than she was at that moment. Hope had yelled at her and shunned her away yesterday; now she’s staring and smiling at her?

Josie wanted to get up and confront the blue-eyed beauty, but the bell rang, and like a ghost, Hope disappeared without a trace.

“Hey,” MG pulled her aside as they began to walk to their shared class (which he thankfully wasn’t going to skip today). “You okay? You looked kind of out of it. I know you don’t like the cafeteria, so I thought I’d check in.”

“Yeah, just tired.” She said, but she knew her best friend knew her better, especially when he gave her his ‘You’re lying’ look.

“Fine.” She sighed. “I went to go check on that friend I told you about yesterday, and it didn’t go well.” She says briefly.

“What happened?”

“I went to their house, and well, I guess they didn’t really think of us as friends. They told me to leave them alone.” She says, sadly, still not over yesterday's events.

“Damn, I’m really sorry to hear that, Jo. Maybe this goes to show you’re better off not wasting your time on being their friend.” He offers.

Josie couldn’t help but beat herself up over the whole thing, even when MG comforted her and continued to let her know it wasn’t her fault.

She spent their entire class time moping over the auburn-haired girl that she didn’t even notice MG was breaking some bad news to her.

"...So I’m sorry, but I can’t today.” He finished. “Jo? Did you hear what I said?”

She shook her head, looked at the clock, and realized they had five minutes of class left.

“I said that I won’t be able to take you home today; Lizzie wants us to go suit shopping for the formal.” He says in the same guilty tone he always has when he has to bail on Josie.

“It’s fine.” She sighs. It really was fine; she just knew this meant she had to go home with Landon now.

She texted her boyfriend to ask him for the ride, and when he didn’t answer her right away, she knew the chances of him actually taking her home were slim.

And she was right.

The school day ended, and she waited for him in the library, knowing he was probably too preoccupied with classes to respond to her, but then forty minutes passed after the last bell and still no response from him. She stood outside the front gates of the school and finally decided to just walk home.

She honestly felt better off making the thirty-minute walk home instead of being stuck in a car with him, and she wouldn’t be as thankful as she was until she saw a familiar black car slowly pull up next to her.

“Josie.” The same voice that yelled at her yesterday called out so softly, she barely heard it.

Hope's car came to a complete stop, but Josie kept walking, even when she heard a car door open and close, and even when she heard footsteps creep up behind her.

“I’m talking to you.” The girl said more firmly.

Josie didn’t like her tone, and she really did want to turn around and look at her beautiful eyes, but the girl had hurt her yesterday and she didn’t want to deal with any more of her yelling and harsh words.

“Jo-”

“What Hope?” She finally yelled out. She spun around to the girl who was now frozen in place.

“I just wanted to talk,” Hope said.

“Don’t worry. I heard you loud and clear yesterday, I won’t try to be your friend.” Josie rolled her eyes and began to turn around before a soft, but firm grip on her arm stopped her.

Her eyes shot down to where Hope was touching her, and she could have sworn the girl's touch started a fire within her.

Hope must have surprised herself because as soon as she touched Josie, she immediately retracted her hand.

“I…” She trails off, not knowing what to say (or feeling too embarrassed to say it).

Josie gave her time to collect her thoughts, but a minute passed, and then two, and Josie was getting fed up.

“I’m leaving.” She tried once more when the older girl didn’t say anything. She turned around and this time Hope didn’t stop her; at least not physically.

When Josie was almost seven feet away, the girl called out once more. “Wait! Don’t go.” She said softly.

Josie stopped but didn’t turn around, she waited for the girl to say something— anything at that point.

“What do you want?” Josie asked, her back still turned toward the girl.

“I want to…” She trails off, her nerves getting the better of her.

“You want to what?”

“Apologize.” Is all the Mikaelson girl says.

The word hangs heavy in the air around them. Josie doesn’t know what to do, but by the tone of Hope’s voice, she knows the girl is sincere, so she turns around and when she does, she’s met with the sight of Hope looking down at her feet, with her hands fidgeting with the rings on her fingers.

She takes a few steps closer to the girl, still keeping a good amount of distance between them, and says, “For what?”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you like that. That was wrong of me.” She whispers.

“Why?” Is all Josie says.

“Why what?”

“Why yell at me and then apologize the next day? I thought you didn’t care.”

“I don’t care.” Hope’s eyes immediately shoot up and meet with Josie’s. She didn’t mean to say that, or at least she didn’t mean for it to come out like that.

“No sorry I didn’t mean it like that.” She huffs. She sees Josie’s hurt expression and Cleo’s words suddenly make her feel a lot worse.

“What did you mean then?” Josie asks, pushing her hurt aside.

“I yelled at you because I didn’t want to let you in.” Is all she says.

Josie knows there’s a deeper meaning, but she decides that for right now, she’s okay with not knowing.

For now.

“So what changed your mind?” She quips.

“Cleo,” Hope says with a hint of a smile.

Josie feels herself smile. “She seems nice.”

“She is. She’s the best person I know.” Hope’s normally nonchalant attitude falters as she smiles brighter at the mention of the girl.

“So now what?” Josie asks, stepping closer just a bit.

“I don’t know. Do you forgive me?” She asks shyly.

“Yes,” Josie says certainly. She knew she couldn’t stay hurt for too long, especially when the older girl’s eyes locked with her own.

“Can I give you a ride home?” Hope asks suddenly.

Josie is shocked by the offer, hell, she’s shocked by this whole interaction they’ve been having, but she can’t lie and say she isn’t absolutely jumping for joy right now.

“Sure.” She smiles and she mentally high-fives herself for not showing how excited she truly was.

They walk back to Hope’s car and without realizing it, Hope had opened Josie’s door for her, making the younger girl blush slightly at the small gesture.

When Hope gets in, she puts on soft Jazz, which Josie wouldn’t have expected the girl to listen to, but she finds herself enjoying the sounds of the instruments flooding through.

The ride to the Saltzman house is quiet, apart from the music, and they both enjoy it that way, both too lost in their own thoughts.

When they arrive Hope lowers the music and waits for the younger girl to collect her things.

“I’m glad you apologized,” Josie whispered.

“I’m glad you forgave me.”

Josie looked over to the girl and she knew then that her crush was about to get a whole lot worse. She also knew that she didn’t want this to end, so she decided to push away every logical thought in her brain and ask the one question she’d been dying to ask this whole car ride.

“Does this mean we can be friends?”

Silence.

Deafening, uncomfortable silence fills the car as Hope looks away and out the window.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Hope finally says.

“Why not?” Josie challenges, refusing to let this opportunity escape her.

When she doesn’t say anything, Josie speaks up once more. “Are you scared?” She asks.

“Yes.”

“You don’t have to be.” She hadn’t expected the girl to answer her, but she hoped this meant they’d be getting somewhere.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hope rolls her eyes and leans back in her seat, seeming to have decided she’s done with the conversation.

“Well, I do know I’m a pretty good friend, and I can be one for you if you let me prove it.”

“Yeah okay, we’ll see about that.” Hope scoffs. Josie doesn’t take it personally, she takes it as a challenge.

A challenge she’s going to win.

—------