I Hate the Way...

Part 70: "When Does This End?"

Hope hummed, "Yep, I've finally got some power back, thanks to her," she pecked Josie's cheek.

Raf let out a sigh, looking at Josie, "Are you being careful?"

Josie furrowed her eyebrows, blushing more, "With the sex?"

"No!" Raf deadpanned, while everyone else in the room seemed to stifle a laugh. "With the siphoning!"

"Oh," Josie cleared her throat at her mistake, "Yes, Hope makes sure that I take things slow."

"Now she isn't talking about the sex," Hope clarifies.

But she quickly grunts after the words leave her lips, feeling Josie's elbow jab her in the ribs.

Raf deflates a bit, sighing as he ushered the two over to grab some pastries, but Hope made sure to stay glued to Josie, and kept her eyes on him the whole time.

"So when does this end?" Ethan suddenly asked, making the couple look a bit confused, "I mean, are you two planning to file for divorce yet?"

Ethan's question hung in the air like an unexpected bucket of ice water, and Josie's stomach dropped. For a brief second, she glanced away, her fingers tensing in Hope's hand. But a forced smile remained in place, trying not to seem too bothered by the idea of getting a divorce.

"We, um," Hope glanced in the brunette's direction, wondering why she was tense and avoiding her gaze, "we haven't really talked about it."

The mood suddenly shifted in the kitchen, even if it was subtle.

Josie hadn't exactly expected to hear the word divorce this morning, not when they were still coming from a high last night and this morning. Even if it is all technically pretend.

She's not pretending anymore. And her gut tells her that maybe Hope feels the same way.

Her mother's words from her dream last night reply in her mind. 'Trust your gut, honey.'

MG interrupted her thoughts, "Well you can figure that out later. Right now, we have a wedding to plan."

Raf smiled as he reached for Ethan's hand. Before a thought crossed his mind, "Hey, why don't you just plan to file for divorce after the wedding? Hope can be your wedding date, then you'll have a clean break after that."

Josie's forced smile faded, uttering not too convincingly, "Yeah...that could work." She glanced over at Hope, searching her expression for any signs of how she may feel about that. Hope met her gaze, something unreadable in her eyes.

Before either of them could reply, Lizzie threw a piece of fruit at Raf's face, noticing her sister's change in demeanor, "Can we focus on getting you two married and not getting them unmarried?"

Ethan pipes in, "What Raf needs to focus on is those dance lessons we signed up for. My feet are starting to get sore from him stepping on me."

Raf rolled his eyes at that.

Lizzie flips through one of her 5 notebooks, "Dance lessons should be on page 42..."

While everyone turned their attention to Lizzie's very thorough notebooks, Josie leaned closer to Hope, keeping her voice low, "Are you...okay with this?" She asked softly, her thumb brushing over Hope's hand gently, "I mean...with us, and what happens after?"

Hope's eyes softened as she turned toward Josie, her gaze filled with warmth and something deeper, something Josie has recently begun to believe might be real. "Honestly? I don't think I can really imagine an 'after' right now." Josie nodded her head slowly at the response, trying to figure out what that truly meant for them. Hope noticed she was in her head, but a part of her assumed Josie was just ready for that day to come.