"Fancy meeting you here."
Hope immediately senses Josie's anxiety radiating off of her, her grip tightening on Hope's hand. But the brunette doesn't show it outwardly, holding her chin up and making eye contact with the heinous human being who calls himself her father.
"Dad."
Hearing that, Hope immediately steps slightly in front of her wife, protectively, as the man approaches them, pretty much ignoring Hope's presence altogether until then.
He eyes her rudely, though he seemingly doesn't know who exactly she is.
Josie hates this already, "What are you doing here?"
Finally, Alaric turns his attention to his daughter, scoffing at the question, "As if you don't already know what brings me here, Josette. Why don't you make this all a lot easier on everyone, and admit that your marriage is a sham."
Josie has to bite her tongue at his tone. And she squeezes Hope's hand, knowing the Tribrid likely already wants to rip his head off.
"And I assume this was all your sister's idea, so that's all you have to say in your statement when you testify against her—"
The second he brought Lizzie into it, Josie snapped, "You want my statement? Here it is. Hope and I met 11 months ago, we went out, we fell in love, we got married. See you in court—"
"Hope?" Alaric hadn't cared enough to see who Josie married. He only wanted to prove it was a fake marriage.
He shifts his eyes to the woman who was about to be dragged away by his retreating daughter, until Josie pauses, a sly grin appearing on her lips.
"Oh, right. How rude of me. Honey?" She turns to Hope, "This is my father, Alaric. Dad, this is Hope Mikaelson. My wife."
Josie fights a successful smirk, nearly seeing the steam coming from his ears from his sudden rage.
"Mikaelson? You married a Mikaelson?! And the Tribrid at that?!"
"So you've heard of me?" Alaric's angry eyes meet Hope's, though Hope masks her emotions well, and more pride for her wife shows than anything else. Hope is less successful in fighting her own signature smirk, "Fantastic."
Alaric takes a threatening step closer, and Hope instinctively moves herself almost fully in front of Josie, making Alaric impossibly more angry. He practically looks through Hope to Josie, "How dare you disrespect me like this. I ought to--"
"I would think very carefully about the next words that come out of your mouth, Dr. Saltzman," Hope's eyes flash gold in an instant. She's tried to refrain from crossing any boundaries, for Josie's sake. But she won't hesitate if he crosses a line first. Josie feels like she loses the ability to breathe, hearing the protectiveness in Hope's voice, for her.
Hope see's fear flash through his eyes, but it's very quickly replaced by his usual rage. He steps into her personal space, uttering in a tone laced with poison, his distaste apparent, "Just as vile as your father."
Josie see's Hope's jaw lock, trying to hold herself back, along with Josie's hold on her hand and her forearm. She's about to drag her wife away, until her father speaks to her, "This is your last chance, Josette. Come with me, and fix this mess you and your sister caused. It's either me or her."
Hope is silent, thinking there's a possibility Josie chooses to go with her father. Why would she choose me over her own blood?
Josie should've expected to be put in this position. But after everything her father has done to Lizzie, and to her. After everything she's been through with Hope....
The choice is easy to make, "You should've never wronged Lizzie. We'll see you in court." Her gaze shifts to Hope, tugging her arm lightly, "Babe, let's go. Please." She still sees the hurt in Hope's eyes, though she doubts that Alaric can see it. Hope hides it well. She also sees confusion and slight disbelief in Hope's gaze, like she was expecting something different, but Josie's not sure why.
Hope nods and allows herself to be guided away by Josie, until Josie pauses to look back at him, "Oh, and Alaric?" He glares in her direction, and Josie says seriously, "Don't ever speak to my wife like that again."
Without sparing another second on him, Josie turns back around, missing the look of surprise on Hope's face, as they make their way to Hope's car. And with each step, Hope notices Josie's resolve wavering. The initial shock of the encounter helped her get through it without breaking down, but now her emotions are bubbling to the surface.
"I'm so sorry, Hope. Had I known he would be in town--"
Hope stops her in her tracks, "Hey, this isn't your fault, okay?"
"I know, but it's yet another thing you have to deal with--"
Hope stops her rambling again, "We'll deal with it together." She wraps her arms securely around Josie, almost immediately feeling her relax and return the hug, and Hope naturally leaves a kiss to the top of her head, "I've got you, love."
Josie lets out a relieved sigh, pulling away just enough to bring their gazes together. She leans into Hope's touch as the Tribrid cups her cheek, brushing her thumb lightly across the soft skin. She is about to ask Josie if she's okay, but she thinks that would be a dumb question. She clearly isn't okay. But she's surprised when Josie leans in, capturing her lips in a soft, tender kiss.
She pulls away, opening her eyes a couple of seconds later, "Thank you."
Hope can't help the small tug at the corner of her lip, "I didn't do anything, Jo."
Josie nods, "Yes, you did. More than you know." Josie will never forget how willing Hope was to defend and protect her.
Hope sees the emotion pooling in Josie's eyes still, threatening to overflow. But she tries to fight them, breaking their eye contact and clearing her throat as she releases her hold around Hope's waist, "We should probably get going..."
Hope nods slowly, not wanting to pressure Josie into facing whatever it is she's feeling.
She reaches for the door handle, opening it for her wife and helping her into her seat before shutting the door for her and going to the driver side to get into her own seat.
When she starts the car, Josie's voice cuts through the air again, "Hey, do you mind if we just go home? I know you had something else planned for tonight, I just don't know if I'm up for it after—"
"That's okay, Jo. It's no big deal, we can go home," If Hope is disappointed at all, Josie truly can't tell.
Josie leans over the console, leaving a kiss to Hope's cheek, "Thank you, Hope."
That manages to cheer Hope up a bit, who hums sweetly in acknowledgment, "Buckle up, love."