Lizzie sighs just as she is about to enter the library. She had gotten back her first algebra test recently, and had gotten a less than stellar grade. That's why she was currently on her way to study with the schools resident nerd, Hope Mikaelson. It's not that Lizzie had a problem with Hope, but she was very shy and kept to herself.
Lizzie had tried to reach out before but Hope hadn't seemed interested in anything other than school work, and she constantly turned down Lizzie's invitations to hang out. So they just went about their lives, Lizzie spotting Hope in the corner of every room with a book under her nose. Lizzie didn't have to be good at math to know Hope Mikaelson would be the logical choice for a tutor. When she had asked the quiet girl if she would help her she looked up at her in surprise before stuttering out a yes.
Now here Lizzie was, on a Friday afternoon, readjusting the backpack strap across her right shoulder, as she pushes through the double doors. She heads to the back of the library where tables are lined up. There she spots the auburn haired girl she is to meet with.
"Hey," Lizzie says as she sits down across from the girl. Hope flinches from the intrusion and looks up from her book and notes.
"Hello, Elizabeth," she says, pushing the glasses she's wearing up. "Are you ready to study?"
Lizzie rolls her eyes at the other girls formalness. "You can call me Lizzie, Hope," she replies as she pulls out her books.
"Okay," Hope replies simply before grabbing her book and opening to the needed page. "Let's get started."
Hope begins to solve an algebra equation, Lizzie trying to keep up with the explanation. Lizzie does a couple practice problems, Hope gently correcting her when she's made a mistake. By the end of it Lizzie has felt more confident and knowledgeable.
"Thanks again for your help," Lizzie says as she starts packing up, Hope giving her a small 'you're welcome. She looks down at her phone and realizes it's seven o'clock, and that she has enough time to get ready for the party.
When she looks back up, Hope is back to reading the book in front of her and taking notes. Lizzie decides as a thanks to Hope she could invite the shy girl out. She can only imagine how much Hope needs it.
"Hey, Hope," Lizzie says, grabbing the girls attention. "Come to a party with me tonight. I'll shoot you my address and we can go together."
Lizzie sees Hope tense up, and sensing her protest, places a hand on her shoulder. "Please? As a thank you for helping me out. You can tell your parents you are staying at mine, which you really can if we are out too late," Lizzie says and Hope stares at her contemplatively for a moment.
Finally, to Lizzie's surprise, she nods her head in agreement and Lizzie gives her a small smile.
"Great! I'll see you in a couple of hours," Lizzie says before giving her a wave and heading home.
When she gets back to her place she shoots Hope her address, telling her to be there by 9:30. She heads upstairs and stops at Josie's room, seeing her sister laying on bed and using her phone.
"Hey, Liz. How was studying," she asks, looking up from her device.
Lizzie smiles slightly. "It was good. I actually understand it now."
Josie smiles back. "That's good! I'm glad Hope could help, I knew she would."
"Yeah. Speaking of her, she's coming with to the party tonight," Lizzie says.
Josie raises her eyebrow in surprise. "Hope Mikaelson? A party? That's an equation I never thought I'd see. Can't wait for the result," Josie says, laughing at her own joke. Lizzie rolls her eyes in response.
"'Yeah, it's the least I can do since she's helping me out," Lizzie says and Josie hums in response. "I'm going to go get ready."
She heads to her room and starts getting ready before they hear the doorbell ring. Josie goes to
answer it while Lizzie finishes her makeup. Lizzie hears footsteps approach her room and looks up to see Josie enter, Hope on her heels.
Hope is dressed fairly simply, in a red top, black jeans, and black boots. Her hair is in loose curls, she's ditched her glasses, and has on light makeup. It's nothing special but it's so different from her usual sweaters, ponytail, and glasses combo, that it takes Lizzie by surprise and she finds herself staring,
"Hey," Hope says quietly, causing Lizzie to snap out of her trance. She plays with the black leather jacket she has draped in her arm anxiously and Lizzie picks up on the action. She's still the nervous Hope Mikaelson she has known for years, she thinks as she gives her a quick greeting.
Hope takes a seat on the bed as she watches the twins talk and Lizzie get ready. Lizzie pulls her shirt over her head to put on the top she's chosen, and she can feel eyes on her. She turns her head to find Hope staring before she quickly averts her eyes for being caught. Lizzie's heart quickens a little, realizing Hope had been checking her out.
She quickly pulls on her outfit as Josie says she's ready. The trio head out, taking an Uber to the party a few blocks away.
When they get there Josie's girlfriend, Penelope approaches them. She gives Josie a quick peck on the lips before turning to Lizzie and Hope.
"Sup, Lizzie," she says before noticing Hope standing behind her slightly. Her eyes widen and she throws both of her hands in front of her, gesturing to Hope. "Is that the Hope Mikaelson? Gracing our presence at a party?" Penelope explains as Josie tries to grab her hands to calm her already drunk girlfriend down.
Lizzie turns around and notices Hope looking down, flushing from embarrassment, and suddenly feels oddly protective of her.
"Knock it off, Penelope," she says as she turns to the raven haired girl. Penelope throws her hands up in surrender.
"I'm just shocked is all! It's a pleasant surprise," she says with a lazy smirk, wrapping her waist around Josie's. "There's drinks in the kitchen. We will catch y'all later.
Penelope salutes them as a goodbye, before starting for the backyard with Josie in tow, who calls out a quick, "call if you need anything," before disappearing among the crowd.
Lizzie turns to Hope. "Come on, let's go take a shot," she says as she steers them towards the kitchen. When she gets there she grabs a handle of tequila and some plastic shot glasses, and fills them. She hands one to Hope who takes it hesitantly. Lizzie notices her looking at it warily and grabs her hand.
"Hey, sorry, you don't have to take it if you don't want to," Lizzie says and Hope looks at her before looking down again.
"It's not that I don't want to. I just never have," Hope says and Lizzie nods in understanding.
"Well you can try sipping it if you want, but it's easier to just knock it back fast and suffer for a few seconds," she says and Hope nods.
"Alright, let's do this thing then," Hope says and Lizzie smirks at the girls boldness. They clink glasses before throwing the liquid back into their throats. Lizzie scrunches up her nose before pouring another for herself.
Hope holds out her glass, "May I have another too?" Lizzie nods and pours the alcohol into the glass before they down their second round.
She then pours herself and Hope a drink before they are heading outside. Lizzie spots her friend MG and they head over to him, Lizzie introducing the two to each other. They immediately hit it off when Hope sees MGs Batman key ring and brings it up to him. Lizzie smiles behind her cup as she watches Hope talk animatedly with MG about the latest Batman movie franchise. She has never seen Hope this excited before and she finds herself taking in every feature of Hope as she talks. Hope turns to her and blushes a little when she sees Lizzie staring.
Lizzie bites her lip before bringing the cup to her mouth and swallowing the rest of the contents in two gulps.
She excuses herself from the two to grab another drink.
Before she gets to the kitchen she makes a detour to the bathroom. It's there that she realizes how much the alcohol has caught up to her. As she washes her hands her mind wanders back to Hope and her smile. She shakes the thought from her head as vigorously as she does her hands to dry them, before heading out. She
takes a shot with her sister and Penelope, when she finds them in the kitchen. Then grabs herself and Hope another drink as the girl walks in with MG.
"Hey, sorry I took so long. I went to the bathroom," Lizzie says handing Hope her drink. She gives her a wide smile and thank her before taking a sip.
Hope makes eye contact with her over the lip of the cup and Lizzie holds her breath from the energy passing between them. She's broken out of her stupor when Josie grabs her hand, pleading her to dance. They make their way to the little makeshift dance floor in the living room of the house and start dancing along to the beat of the song.
Lizzie sees that Penelope has kept Hope company, easing her worries that they other girl won't feel left out. She continues dancing before feeling eyes on her again as she did earlier. She turns to see Hope staring at her intently, vaguely listening to what Penelope is telling her. Lizzie flushes under her gaze and she looks to make
eye contact with Hope. Instead of her usual quick glance away, Hope smirks at her once she realizes she's been caught and Lizzie gulps a little, feeling hot all over.
She tells Josie she needs another drink, before heading back to the kitchen. She just finishes pouring herself a jack and coke when Hope appears by her side.
"Hmm, you think you should be drinking that?" Hope asks and Lizzie scoffs.
"Yes. I'm fine, Hope. I can handle my alcohol," Lizzie tries to say without slurring.
Hope smiles a little, before holding out her glass. "Can we split it?"
Lizzie silently agrees by dumping half of her cup into Hope's. They go outside to finish up their drinks, and find themselves sitting by the fire pit.
"I'm glad you came, Hope. It's been really fun hanging out with you," Lizzie says and Hope smiles.
"Thanks for inviting me. I've had a lot of fun," Hope says and again their eyes connect.
Hope turns back to her drink first, finishing it. She gets up and asks Lizzie if she wants to take a walk. Lizzie agrees, finishing her own drink and following Hope to the front of the house. They walk together in silence, occasionally bumping into each other as they sway. The third time they graze hands, Lizzie grabs Hope's and hold it. Finding no protest, she intertwines her fingers and looks at the shorter girl who's looking at their hands.
Suddenly Hope stops, causing Lizzie to come to a halt as well.
"Hey, everything alri-," Lizzie attempts to say before Hope leans up and connects their lips.
The first meeting of mouths is awkward and quick. Hope pulls away, apology on her tongue before it's silenced by Lizzie who leans down and smashes theirs lips again. They stand their for a few moments, kissing softly. Then Lizzie gets bold as one hand grips Hope's jacket and the other caresses her face as she deepens the kiss. Hope responds in kind by grabbing her waist and pulling her closer, hands circling to the small of Lizzie's back.
When they pull away they are panting, heads leaned against each other. Their hands find their way form their previous position to intertwined in between the pair as they catch their breath. Hope pulls away when Lizzie shivers, already pulling off her jacket and draping it over her shoulders. Lizzie thanks her with another kiss,
melding their mouths together again and again. Finally they stop when Lizzies phone rings and she sees Josie's name appear across the screen.
Lizzie answers and tells Josie they will be back soon when she inquiries where they went. She puts her phone away and tells Hope they need to be getting back. Hope nods and they make their way back until they are met with Josie and Penelope at the front of the house.
"There you two are, where did you go?" Josie asks as she bounces from foot to foot, trying to keep warm.
"Just on a walk," Hope answers before Lizzie can respond. Josie nods and let's them know their uber will be there in a minute. They wait in silence until the car pulls up, Josie giving Penelope a kiss goodbye before heading to the car with the two girls in tow.
When they get back to the twins house, Josie wishes them a goodnight before heading off to her room. Lizzie grabs Hope's hand again and takes off towards her room. When they reach it Lizzie drops her hand to grab a change of clothes for her and Hope.
She feels Hope's arms wrap around her from behind when she finishes grabbing two shirts. She smiles before turning in her arms to face her, eyebrow quirked. Hope just gives her a small smile before leaning forward and kissing her. They stay like that for a minute before Hope starts trailing her kisses from Lizzie's cheek to her neck. She kisses her pulse point and Lizzie nearly moans from the touch.
She feels Hope faintly smirk before she pulls away, grabbing the clothes from Lizzie's hand in the process.
"Tease," Lizzie breathes out, regaining her bearings and watching as Hope throws her head back and laughs.
Hope turns from her and Lizzie follows her actions as she pulls her shirt over her head and replaced with the one Lizzie gives her. Lizzie blushes before turning around and changing herself.
When she turns around Hope is dressed and waiting for her. She moves the sheets from her bed, climbing in with Hope following her. Once they've settled Lizzie scoots down and wraps her arms around Hope's waist, laying her head on her chest. Hope wraps her arm around her in turn and rubs her back, interlocking their fingers with the other. They are quiet for a moment, both enjoying being wrapped up in one another.
"Well this is not what I expected when you asked for my help," Hope says, breaking the silence. Lizzie stiffens and looks up, searching her face for any regret from the evening. Hope senses the change and looks down, smiling with eyes crinkled. "I really enjoyed it. I really enjoy you," she assures.
Lizzie breath hitches at her words and she responds, "I'm glad you came. You're really great company."
Hope hums and lays back down again, closing her eyes. "Hey Lizzie?"
"Yeah, Hope?"
"Can we do this again sometime?" Hope asks shyly. Lizzie smiles as she rubs her thumb along the back of Hope's hand. She leans up to place a kiss on Hope's cheek, feeling her face warm up underneath her lips.
"I'd really like that," Lizzie states before returning to her position on Hope's chest.
"Cool," Hope states, before settling back and relaxing. Both girls drifting off to sleep, feeling content in each other's arms.