Feelings - A Hosie Story

Chapter 26 - "Promise you won't get weird"

With enough time to get ready, Hope takes a long and soothing shower. She stands there, allowing the warmth to wash over her body as she thinks of the night ahead. She has it planned perfectly, from start to finish. She knows exactly where they're going to go and what they're going to do...

But that doesn't stop the nerves.

In fact, it only makes them stronger.

What if something goes wrong?

What if Josie doesn't like it?

What if Hope says the wrong thing and messes everything up?

This date is happening. like actually properly happening. It's not just in some dream or a fantasy of her own making - it is reality. Hope is going on a date with Josie; the girl who she has finally kissed after so many years of wondering.

At the back of her mind, a part of her worries about her bloodlust. She knows she doesn't want to hurt Josie, but what if she can't help herself? What if it's too strong and Hope has to feed? Or what if an innocent civilian walks by with an open wound, and Hope just...snaps?

No. She can't think like that. Doubts are never good. Doubts only lead to problems.

She going to be positive. She has to be.

The longest part of the process of getting ready is choosing a nice outfit. Hope has never been one to spend hours caring about her appearance. The opinions of others and how they perceive her have never really mattered to the tribrid. However, this is different with Josie. Everything always is. Hope has to impress her, and show her that she's worth her time. Hope needs Josie to see how much she cares.

After twenty minutes of an internal debate, she finally chooses what to wear. It's nothing much, but it is perfect for her. It is simple yet suitable for what she has planned. Black jeans paired with a black shirt, some black boots and to top it off, a black leather jacket. Of course, same as any other day she wears her Mikaelson family crest necklace, along with a couple of rings. Once she's done with her hair, she checks the time on her phone to see that Josie is due to arrive at her room in five minutes. She sips the final drops left in her blood bag so that she doesn't have to drink when she's out.

Tick, tock. These five minutes are feeling slower than usual to her. Seconds feel like hours. She waits patiently, yet not so patiently for Josie to appear.

----

Josie is getting ready, but at the same time, she's receiving an interrogation from Lizzie. Her twin has constantly been asking who she's going on a date with and Josie's been deflecting the questions and changing the topic. Unfortunately for her, Lizzie is relentless. After forty or so variations of the same question, Josie finally gives in.

"Fine! I'll tell you! Just promise you won't get...weird."

"Why I would I get weird?"

"Last time I told you I was going on a date with someone, you made fake gagging noises and literally said ew." She quotes her sister. It's the truth. Lizzie had not been the most supportive then, although she's worked on changing that recently. in her defense though, she'd never liked Landon anyway. At first, there had been no real reason for her hatred towards him. She simply disliked him because she found him annoying. It was all phoenix this and phoenix that. She rolls her eyes thinking about it. He's all 'wow I can't die' and 'oh look at me I'm an imortal pheonix' and it honestly drives her insane. Yet in the end, her hatred became justified when he broke Josie's heart. In Lizzie's eyes, he'd signed off on his own death sentence. And Lizzie isn't one to let him forget his mistakes, not that it matters anymore seeing as neither Hope nor Josie is with him. Instead, he's off god knows where doing god knows what.

"That's because it was that stupid fried chicken. He doesn't deserve you! He never has and he never will" Lizzie repeats virtually the same thing she did back then, getting the same look from Josie. "Sorry...I'll be cool. I swear."

"Good...It's Hope." Josie pauses, to see her sister's initial reaction. "I'm going on a date with Hope." She clarifies. Josie lets out a long breath. She has no idea what Lizzie is going to say. She knows that her twin and Hope are now friends, but in some ways that actually makes it worse. Lizzie used to hate Hope, and after everything that happened with Penelope and then Landon, Lizzie is even more protective. So her response could go one of two ways. Good or bad.

"I had a feeling it was her."

"Then why'd you keep asking?" Josie grabs the talisman to complete her outfit.

"Because...I wanted to be sure." She says.

Josie lifts the curling irons, a silent way of asking her sister to do it. Lizzie takes them happily and carefully wraps a bundle of Josie's hair around the item. "And...now that I am sure, I'm happy it's Hope. I think she's good for you, and it has honestly been exhausting watching you two pine over each other for months."

"Hold on...you knew that Hope liked me and didn't think to tell me?" She can't believe her sister.

Lizzie hadn't done it for malicious reasons or because she hates Hope or anything else the older her would've done. She just assumed that Josie already knew, and if she didn't, then Lizzie thought it would be better to let Josie work it out on her own.

"I thought you'd work it out sooner." Lizzie chuckles to herself. Josie has the urge to jointly slap her system, although, with a curling iron so close to her head, it's probably not the best idea.

Ten minutes later, Josie is ready to go. She heads out of her room to meet Hope, fiddling with the talisman as her heart beats as though it's trying to escape its cage.

The door swings open before Josie can even knock. Nearby Hope stands in a glorious outfit. Josie thinks she looks stunning. She takes a moment to appreciate Hope's look. Yet she doesn't trust her ability to speak at this moment. Instead, she remains still.

Hope closes the gap between them. She wraps her arms around Josie's waist, giggling like a ten-year-old child who just got some sweets.

"Hey, you." Hope grins, checking Josie out without shame.

"H-hi. So, um...where is this restaurant and movie theatre?" Josie yells at herself to get a grip. She's not sure if she's nervous or still recovering from being speechless after seeing Hope, but Josie can barely get a word out without stumbling over it first.

"You'll see. Which do you want to do first, movie or dinner?"

"Definitely dinner. I'm starving." She says.

Hope pulls her even closer if that's possible. With a smile, she puts a hand on Josie's cheek and presses a kiss to her lips. It lasts a few seconds. A few magical seconds. Then it's over. When Josie pulls back, it's not without a smile on her lips. When she opens her eyes, it looks as though they are no longer in Hope's bedroom. It is a place she doesn't recognize. There are so many different sounds and colors and smells.

Josie asks herself...

Where are they?