Josie slips into bed that night after returning home from work and having her shower, trying not to make too much noise or movement.
But she fails, since Hope is such a light sleeper.
The auburnette turns toward her, her voice a bit hoarse, "Hey, how was work?"
She turns on her side to try and face Josie, though she groans a bit, since the position puts pressure on her leg.
The brunette sighs as she pulls the sheets up to cover her body, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you—"
"It's okay, Jo," Hope smiles lazily at her, her eyes fluttering open and closed.
She's been increasingly tired lately, because of her body trying to heal and her nearly drowning every morning...plus anytime she falls asleep, she wakes up quickly when a nightmare inevitably occurs.
Hope sighs, closing her eyes as she slides a hand to rest on Josie's waist, and she mumbles, "Are you okay, Jo? You've been acting...different."
Josie feels a pang of guilt. She's only been lying to Hope for a day, and the Tribrid has already sensed that something is wrong.
Josie smiles weakly at her wife, reaching up to cup her cheek, running her thumb across the smooth skin as she whispers, "Go back to sleep, baby. We'll talk in the morning."
Hope nods lazily before pulling Josie closer by her waist, and the brunette takes the hint, scooting closer until she's pressed against her.
She wraps her arms around Hope's body, grasping her shirt for security, and strong arms hold her close.
"Goodnight," She hears Hope whisper, before she feels a soft pair of lips against her forehead.
She closes her eyes at the tingling feeling she gets in her stomach.
But the warmth growing inside her is quickly replaced with guilt.
Hope is being pretty close to perfect recently, besides the sneaking out of bed every morning and the secrets about her past and her family and her healing.
But the way Hope's been taking care of Josie...That's perfect.
And Josie's not sure when she started feeling guilty for having her own secrets. She and Hope aren't really a couple. And Hope's allowed to have secrets, so why should Josie feel bad for having one of her own?
But she thinks about what Hope would think if she knew that Josie and Lizzie were planning to meet a drug dealer tomorrow without her there...She'd be pissed. She'd get all protective.
Josie sighs at the thought as she closes her eyes, resting her head against Hope's chest, "Goodnight."
—————————————
Josie wakes up abruptly to the sound of a door slamming and Peaches letting out a bark.
She sits up quickly, looking around in confusion.
The sun's shining through the windows of the bedroom. The spot beside her is empty.
Before she can move or think, the bedroom door swings open and Hope comes in, going directly to the closet and grabbing a shirt.
Her hair is damp and she's in her bikini top and trunks, so Josie knows she was down at the beach.
"What's going on?" She asks confused.
She can feel tension radiating from Hope, and the Tribrid scoffs, shaking her head.
She asks sarcastically, "Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?"
Josie's eyes widen and she quickly gets out of bed when Hope reaches into a drawer, pulling out a gun, "Woah, Hope! What the hell is going on?!"
Hope puts the gun on the dresser, pulling her shirt over her head before turning toward Josie, and the brunette really doesn't like the look she's receiving, "I just got a call from Keelin. She was out this morning with Nik, and some guy walked up to them, wanting to talk about you."
Josie pauses, "Oh."
She knows who that might be.
Hope continues as Josie looks down at the floor, "About you and me, and how we're in a fake marriage. Threatening to turn us in—"
Josie sputters a bit, "Well, uh-she won't believe that, right? I mean we did a good job pretending around them..."
Hope narrows her eyes at Josie, asking knowingly, "Why aren't you asking me who it was?"
Josie freezes, looking back up at the Tribrid, caught.
Hope scoffs, "Fuck you, Josie."
Hope grabs the gun and pushes past her, heading out the bedroom door.
Josie follows after her, "I'm sorry, Hope, please—"
"You owe him money? This guy said he talked to you and Lizzie last night?"
Josie grabs Hope's arm to turn her around, "Hope, I'm sorry, okay? I'm so sorry—"
"He broke into my fucking house, Josie! And he's paying visits to my family!"
"Hope—"
"Did you know?"
Josie furrows her eyebrows, so Hope clarifies,
"Did you know he was the one who broke in?"
Josie looks away from those sharp blue eyes that burn holes into her.
Lizzie rushes into the room, having heard the yelling right after she blew out her muting black magic candle.
She sees her sister looking away from Hope, tears in her eyes at the harshness in the Tribrid's voice, though her anger is justified, "Hope, let me explain—"
"Please do," Hope gestures toward the blonde.
Lizzie sighs, "I'm an addict, Hope. I'm clean now, but I was really bad before—"
"Was this guy your dealer?" Hope asks, barely softening, but Lizzie can still tell she's trying to calm herself down.
Lizzie nods in confirmation, "I still owe him a lot of money. And Josie wanted to tell you, but I asked her not to..." She tries to help her sister, seeing that she's distraught over how quickly things shifted between herself and her wife.
Hope sighs, shaking her head as she looks away from the two.
Josie tells her, voice cracking as she grows emotional, "We're going to handle him, Hope. I promise, we will—"
"No, you're not," Hope shakes her head, shooting the brunette a stern look, "You two are staying right here. I'll be back."
She grabs the car keys before making her way to the door, with both Josie and Lizzie following after her, despite Hope's order to stay in the house, "Hope, no, you can't go after him, please. You're not even cleared to drive yet," Josie tries to grab her arm and pull her back.
"Josie, let go and stay here. I'll be fine."
"No, you won't Hope! I know you can't heal like you're supposed to, and if he hurts you, Hope..." She sobs, not able to complete the sentence.
Hope turns to face her, cupping her face in her hands and wiping her tears away, "Josie, I'm your wife, okay? I'm taking care of this for you. He's not gonna bother you again. Stay here with your sister. I'll be right back."
Hope leaves a kiss to her forehead before turning and making her way to the driver side of her car and getting in.
But against Hope's orders to stay, Josie goes to the passenger side and gets in.
"Shit," Lizzie mumbles, getting into the back seat.
"Get out of the car, Josie," Hope turns toward her.
Josie shakes her head, "You first."
Hope groans before putting the car in drive and pulling off, looking at Lizzie through the rear view, "Start a locator spell."
"Hope, please—" Josie begs.
"Just start the damn spell, Lizzie!" Hope shouts.
Lizzie does as she's told, but Josie keeps trying to calm Hope down and get her to think this through.
But she doesn't listen.