Time After Time (Book 1)

Chapter 6 Part 1

"I mean, obviously I'm not sure anything is gonna come out of it. I mean, I'll have to see her around school and everything. Not like I'd want to hide it or anything, I mean, unless she does. And nobody wants a secret thing where we only see each other when no one's around or always talking on the phone. Though I do like the sound of her voice. It's like a soft yet strong voice. And her eyes. Her eyes are like this glossy, chocolate brown color that's not really a color. You know? Like they're glossy in the light, and then....oh my god, who am I right now?" Hope takes a break from her monologue. Emma laughs as she takes a sip of her tea. "A normal teenager? Though I do love hearing you talk about something a simple as having a crush on a girl, on Josie of all people too. You don't need a counselor Hope, you need a friend." Emma leaves Hope to her thoughts.

Hope wasn't sure what to do. She thought about going to one of the twins but quickly dismissed it. They barely know each other. She can't exactly talk about kissing Josie with Josie, and definitely not Lizzie. Penelope is absolutely out of the question. Landon is gone, that leaves one person left. No matter how angry he was with her. "Perks of being an Alpha. Bunch of people you get to boss around." "More like a bunch of shadows waiting to be told what to do." The twins were keeping themselves busy. It was their Ma and aunt Lizzie's birthday after all. While Lizzie did object to them doing anything since they are family, the twins insisted. Stating that after they were born, their ma and aunt Lizzie's birthday didn't matter much anymore. It just meant they were 'getting old' in their ma's words. "Hey." The twins jump at the sound of their ma's voice. "Hey, what's up?" Marshall asks. "I was wondering if you guys have seen Lizzie?" Josie asks them. "Uh, I think she went to get everything organized for tonight." Andrea nods. "Ok, I just kinda wanted to talk to her about something. Thanks guys." Josie walks off before stopping halfway. "Josie." "Hope." "Listen-" "I just-"

Hope takes a deep breath. "You go first." Josie nods. "So, about that....kiss.." she whispered. Hope nods. "Yeah?" "Um....did you...like, did you...mean it?" Hope bites her lip and slowly nods. Josie sighs. "Me too. So, what are we gonna do now?" Hope looks around for any wandering eyes and ears before pulling Josie away to her room. The twins spot their mother's walking away hand in hand before glancing at one another. They quickly follow, careful not to get caught. "Where do you think you're going?" Lizzie asked them. "Sh!" They twins told her as they kept following. Lizzie groans and rolls her eyes. "I swear, if they weren't my niece and nephew, I'd kill them already." She mumbled to herself. "What?" "What?" Lizzie turns to find Rafael staring at her. "Did you say something?" He asks her. "Um, yes. I did actually. So, I was thinking of wearing blue tonight. You can color match with me if you want." Rafael nods awkwardly. In the hall, the twins carefully follow, a couple steps behind as their mom's go into Hope's room. They try to listen before realizing they couldn't. "Fuck, mom has her room sealed." Marshall sighs. "Of course she does, she's mom." Andrea rolled her eyes at her twin. They decide to syphon from the door, not completely that it opens but just enough so that they can hear past it.

"So, what did you want to say?" Josie asks. Hope starts fiddling with her shirt, looking anywhere but Josie. "Um, so I'm sorry if I offended you or anything-" "Oh, no. No, of course not. It's, it's ok." Josie shakes her head. "No it's not, I just jumped you, pretty much. It was non-consensual, and it-" Josie grabs her hands. "Hope, it's ok. Really. And actually, it was consensual. I liked it." Josie turns her attention the floor. Hope smiles. "You did? Really?" Josie nods. "Yeah. Actually, I was wondering. Um....would you like to be my escort for my birthday later tonight?" Hope chuckled before nodding. "Actually, I was just about to ask you the same thing." Josie grabs Hope's hand. "Then I would be honored if you would escort me to my birthday party tonight." Hope kisses Josie's hand. "I would be honored to escort you." Josie walks Hope to the door before letting go of her hand. "Ok, now Lizzie has everyone setting everything up. I need to go see if my mom has arrived yet." Hope bites her lip. "What?" Josie asks. "I actually overheard Penelope talking about some phone call your dad was on....your mom isn't coming Jo." Josie stares at her. "Are you serious?" Hope slowly nods. "I'm sorry." Josie sighs. "It's ok, I'm just gonna grab Lizzie and go shout at my dad. See you later tonight?" She asks. "Absolutely." Hope nods.

The twins separate and hurry to the main hall. Josie goes to find Lizzie but Hope stops in the hallway. "I could have sworn I heard someone." She looks around for someone. Anyone who was near. She shrugs and goes to her room to grab Josie's gift. Rafael stops her halfway. "Hey, look I know we're not exactly on the best terms right now. But I need your help." "With?" "Well, growing up in foster care, it didn't really have a class for what to do when you're someone's birthday date." Half an hour later, the two found themselves in the gym, for Rafael to practice on how to be someone's date. "I still can't believe you slept with Lizzie Saltzman." "Look, I was mad, she was there.... you're leading." "And you're officially a gigolo." Rafael lets go of Hope's hand. "Thanks for this. I guess I'll see you at the party." "Um, yeah I guess so. I gotta get ready for Josie anyways." Rafael turns around. "For Josie?" He asks. "I'm her date." He nods. "Ok, cool." He goes to leave before being stopped by a barrier spell. "The hell?" Hope goes to check the exit. "Barrier spell. Fantastic." "Sorry kids." Penelope stands at the door. "Let us out of here Penelope." "You'll be free...in an hour. Plenty of time to practice that waltz." She walks off.

Meanwhile, the twins try to get into their dad's office. "Why is your door locked?" "Yeah and when were you going to tell us that mom wasn't coming home?" Josie and Lizzie shouted from the other side. "I was going to tell you, there's a strike at the airport in Mozambique." They look at each other. "She couldn't compel someone and hopped on a private jet?" "She'll explain everything later ok? But right now, I need you to go because I am wrapping your birthday presents." "No, you're not. You're lying through your teeth." They twins place their hands on the door and start syphoning. The door bursts open and Josie stands there, stunned. "Who's this trollop?" "Oh my god...." "I need you both to leave, right now." Alaric tells them. "How old are you?" Jo asks them. "Sixteen." They both answered. "Today, it's our birthday." Lizzie crosses her arms. "You're twins?" "What are we interupting here exactly?" Lizzie asks as she looks at Alaric. "Lizzie." Josie lightly touches her sisters arm. "What?" "Lizzie it's her." "Her who?" Josie walks over to Alaric's bookshelf and grabs a photo frame. "Her." She shows Lizzie a photo from their fathers wedding night. "Holy crap.... you're bio mom."

----

I'm splitting this into two parts cause alot happens in this episode