Josie's eyes fluttered open, the room so bright it made her eyes ache. She took in her surroundings, remembering she was in Hope's room. In Hope's bed. She took in a deep breath as she suddenly became aware of the sleeping girl whose arm found itself draped across her side.
Josie mentally cursed Hope for doing that in her sleep, while simultaneously trying to fight the butterflies erupting and the blush creeping onto her face.
She lightly lifted the girl's wrist, slowly shifting out from under her touch. Just as she got out from under her arm, she realized she was incredibly close to the edge of the bed. Too close in fact, because the next thing she knew she was falling onto the floor with a loud thud.
Josie clamped her hand over her mouth, scared that her fall would wake the sleeping tribrid. Luckily, the tribrid was so exhausted she hadn't heard a thing.
She slowly stood up, her eyes trained on Hope just in case she was to open her eyes. Once she was able to turn and leave, she found herself transfixed by the sleeping beauty before her.
She stared at her hair, which was messily sprawled across her face, and her lips, which were slightly parted and the color of a rose. Josie fought the urge to lean over and kiss her before she turned and walked out of the door, peering over her shoulder for one last glance of Hope.
-
"Josie! Where the hell have you been?" Lizzie yelled, rushing towards Josie in the middle of the hallway. "You went to Hope's room last night and never came ba-," Lizzie's hands flew up to her mouth, her eyes widening as realization crossed her face. "Oh. My. God. Josette. Did you- did you sleep with Hope?" She asked, her voice now hushed and laced with what sounded an awful lot like disgust. Josie told herself it wasn't disgust that she heard, it was just shock.
Josie stared at her sister, her face a replica of her sister's as she stared with a dumbfounded expression. "Lizzie! No!" She said, but the blush creeping onto her cheeks told Lizzie a different story.
Lizzie's lips fell into an open-mouthed frown, her eyebrows furrowed together. It was obvious now, the hint of disgust that laced her voice was real, which made Josie's heart sink. The look on Lizzie's face made it apparent, she didn't believe her sister.
"Lizzie I did NOT sleep with Hope Mikaelson. She just asked me to stay in her room, she was scared." Josie explained nonchalantly, hoping her sister wouldn't ask where in Hope's room she slept. Luckily, her sister was more intent on figuring out why Hope was afraid.
"Scared?" She scoffed. "What the hell could the big bad tribrid be afraid of? No boogeyman would even dream of going after her."
Josie thought back to her conversation with Hope, remembering the way Hope could barely meet her eyes when she said she was afraid of the dark as if she was embarrassed. Josie knew she shouldn't be, her fear of the dark after whatever the hell it was she endured in Malivore and again when she defeated him was nothing except rational.
She grew irritated with her sister, upset that Lizzie was the type of person to make Hope feel ashamed of her new fear. "She was in Malivore, or have you forgotten? None of us know what it's like in there. She does." Josie whisper-yelled.
"She lived in there for two months. And then she had to kill him and experience it all over!" Josie finished, her chest heaving and cheeks pink.
Lizzie stared at her sister wide-eyed and with a look of shock, the disgust seemed to have passed. Her eyes met her feet as she realized she was being a bitch and was overwhelmed with embarrassment. She felt like a child who'd just been scolded. She'd been trying to work on it, however, it was much harder than it looked.
"You're right, Jo. I'm sorry," She said, not meeting Josie's eyes.
Josie looked at her sister, not expecting an apology, but grateful for one nonetheless. "Thank you." She said abruptly, her voice returning to normal, as she pushed past her sister.
Josie didn't mean to get so upset, if anything she thought she would've been flustered and stumbling over her words. But when she thought about how Hope would feel hearing what Lizzie said, invalidating her fears, she couldn't help it. She wanted to defend the blue-eyed girl.
She wasn't used to this feeling, truth be told. She rarely defended Hope to her sister, she usually let her just ramble on. She told herself the only reason she defended Hope is because she has a crush on her.
That's all it is, right? Just a crush that seemingly multiplies every time she sees the girl? Yes, of course, it is. There's no other explanation.
Josie hadn't even noticed, but she'd walked into the gymnasium. Right into the middle of their dodgeball game. She didn't even hear when all of them called her name or told her to duck.
"Ow!" She yelped, bringing a hand up to the back of her head that was suddenly pounding. She whipped around, narrowing her eyes at the wolf in front of her.
"Jed, what the hell? Are you blind?" She snapped.
Jed's lips lifted into a smirk as he pointed around her, "No, are you?"
Josie looked around, realizing she was in the gymnasium. Was she really that lost in her thoughts? Her thoughts about Hope, her mind added. Her face turned a deep shade of scarlet as she muttered apologies and fled the scene.
She heard Jed calling her name from behind her, but she didn't even spare him a glance, too embarrassed to face any of the wolves. Much to her disappointment, he caught up with her.
He was still smirking, which just made Josie's embarrassment fester. "Are you okay? I throw pretty hard and I kind of hit your head." He said, lifting his hand near her head as if he was going to touch the injured area, though he must've decided against it when his hand returned to his side.
"Yeah, Jed, I'm fine. I barely felt it," she lied. Her head was pounding and she was fighting tears.
Jed looked at her warily, "I'm not dumb, you almost fell over when it hit you, I know you felt it."
Josie's blush deepened, her eyes meeting her shoes in an attempt to hide it. "C'mon Jo, at least let me walk you to the nurse? It's the least I can do after probably giving you a concussion."
Josie looked up, chuckling lightly. "Fine. You know, you probably gave me a brain bleed actually. Or a fractured skull. A concussion is the least of our worries," she joked, Jed not catching on.
His face filled with worry as the color drained from his face, "Oh god, you really think so? Fuck I'm sorry, do you need me to carry you to the nurse?" He offered his arms out, ready to pick her up at a moment's notice.
Josie broke out into a fit of laughter at the boy's worry, leaving the werewolf the most confused he'd been all day. He wondered if it was a side effect of the brain bleed he must've given her.
"Jed," she started, trying to speak through her laughter. "I'm joking."
His face was flooded with relief, and a hint of a blush. He wanted to laugh with the siphon witch but was still in shock from the fear of hurting her like that, so he stood in front of her trying to stabilize his breathing. "Oh, are you sure?" He asked, still worried about the girl's head.
Her laughter had died down to a light chuckle, her ability to speak normally returning. "I'm sure. But you should still walk me to the nurse's office. As reparations and because I feel quite dizzy."
He blushed, feeling guilty about hitting her in the first place. He motioned for her to go forward, as he followed. They walked in silence for a few moments before he spoke up.
"So, what were you doing in the middle of our dodge ball game anyway?"
Josie's mind flashed back to her thoughts about Hope and how defensive she'd gotten. "I guess I just got lost in thought."
Jed noticed the way her voice softened when she responded, wondering what it was she was thinking of, but deciding not to ask. They weren't even really friends, after all. "I told you to duck," he joked, earning a soft shove from Josie.
"Shut up," she said, a smile appearing on her face. His eyes lingered on her lips, noticing the feeling in his stomach as she licked them. He tore his eyes away, afraid of being caught staring.
Their walk continued in silence, up until they arrived at the nurse's office. "Well, you didn't pass out, so that's good." He said, his face completely serious.
Josie giggled quietly, finding it cute how worried he was. Then silently scolded herself for finding him cute, remembering a conversion with her sister about their 11-year-old crushes. "Yeah, it is. Thanks for walking with me, though. But no thanks for hitting me in the head with a dodgeball."
A smile appeared on Jed's face, catching onto the joke this time. "You're welcome, for both. You needed to be brought back to reality at some point."
"Yeah whatever, wolf boy," she said, rolling her eyes playfully.
"Well, um, see you around?" He asked tentatively.
"Yeah, see you around," she nodded, giving him a small smile as he started to walk away.
He returned her smile with a smirk and wave, turning around to walk towards the gymnasium- to no doubt get teased by the rest of the pack for hitting the headmaster's daughter. Josie bit her lip lightly, realizing she had blushed the entire time she was with the wolf. And hadn't thought of Hope except once, she noted as she walked into the nurse's office.
Josie hadn't noticed, but just a few feet away sat Hope. She had observed the entire interaction, her insides boiling with jealousy at an intensity she'd never felt before.
a/n
hi everyone tysm for reading my story. I love all of you. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and if you didn't, feel free to leave comments on how I can make it better!