As with every morning recently, Hope and Josie wake up wrapped up in each other's arms. Hope loves that Josie's warmth envelops her completely. She loves how she can feel the rise and fall of Josie's chest. Hope feels safe in her arms - the whole world could be falling apart, they could be in the middle of a fire, but as long as she's in Josie's arms, Hope is content.
When they get up and go for some training, Hope watches Josie with the biggest grin. She is so unbelievably proud of how far she has come already, and she can't wait to see what happens next. A few other people who were turned during the battle are being trained by the Mikaelson too, but Hope doesn't even look in their direction. All she looks at is Josie, wondering how on earth she got so lucky. How on earth she is the person who gets to love Josie...
Love.
There's no better word to describe what she feels for her. And even then, she feels it doesn't do it justice. What she feels for Josie, is more potent than anything or any being. It's strong and it's powerful and it's beautiful.
And Hope loves. She loves her so deeply, so much that it hurts. Realizing that, at this moment, it doesn't scare her. She doesn't panic, she just smiles, the happiest she has ever been, as she plots in her mind how she will tell Josie. She decides to do it over a date, something still within the school grounds because Josie isn't quite ready to be in public yet, but something that is still fun and that they will both enjoy.
Freya approaches her, the two of them watching the training from a distance. Hope is standing leaning against a pole, with Freya on her right.
"She's doing incredibly well," Freya says.
"I know." Hope responds. "I'm so proud of her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Training eventually ends. Hope stayed through most of it, only sneaking off briefly to set up the date she has in mind. Once Josie's taken a sip of her drink, she skips along and grabs Hope's hand.
"Hey, you." Hope states, leaning in for a kiss. Josie blocks her. Hope frowns.
"I'm all sweaty and gross." Hope chuckles, pulling Josie in by her hand.
"I don't care." Their lips connect in a sweet kiss that lasts a few seconds. They start walking towards their rooms. "So, once you've gotten cleaned up, I have a little surprise for you."
"What is it?"
"Not telling you. What I will say is that it's a date, nothing major because of everything that has been going on, but something relaxing that I think we will both enjoy."
"Tell me." Josie wines. She flirts, twirls her hair, flutters her eyes in an attempt to get an answer from Hope.
"You can't try all you want, but it won't work."
"Boo." Josie pouts.
"Well, if you hurry up and get ready, you'll find out now, won't you?"
Josie speeds away in the blink of an eye. Hope goes to her room, changing into clothing that is much more date-worthy. Not even twenty minutes later, there's a knock on her door. She knows Josie is on the other side and Hope has to say, this may be record time that Josie has gotten ready for something.
"After you," Hope says, leading the way. They leave the school, walking through some of the trees until they reach the lake. Josie realized it was where they are headed a few minutes into the walk. When they arrive, she sees gorgeous lights scattered around, illuminating the area in a perfect glow. She can tell Hope used magic for this because there are even some lights floating above the water. She sees a blanket laid out on the ground, with a picnic box on top. They sit down and Josie opens the box, finding their favorite snacks inside. She immediately reaches for the bag of her favorite candy, enjoying how the fudge seems to melt on her tongue.
"I packed our bathing suits in there in case we wanted to go for a late-night swim after," Hope says.
"Babe, this is perfect. Thank you." She leans in to kiss her girlfriend. Hope gladly accepts. It's as soft as ever, gentle as their lips collide in a beautiful display of affection.
"Y'know, I have to admit that there's a reason behind this date." Hope starts, not entirely sure how to approach it, she just knows that she has to say it, even though she thinks it's probably obvious. It's easy to see in the way she looks at her, how she talks about her, how even the mention of her name has her smiling.
"What do you mean?" Josie asks, taking a handful of chips out of the box, and looking at her girlfriend with curious eyes.
"Well, I um-It's not just because I think we deserve a date, but because I..." Hope pauses. She waits until Josie finishes the chips before she grabs her hands. Then, taking a deep breath, she stares into Josie's brown orbs. "Josie, these last few weeks have been hard. I mean, we've been to hell and back, but we have still stuck together. Through it all. And, I just feel so so lucky that I get to do life with you, this kind, beautiful, amazing girl."
Hope can see the smile on her girlfriend's face. Like always, it makes her smile too. And she knows, as she looks at her, as she looks into those eyes, everything will be okay. She feels the comfort to be able to say anything, to do anything. She can see that Josie seems unsure of where this is headed, but she knows that when she opens her mouth next, it will all make sense to her.
"Josie...I love you. I love you so much. I love everything about you." Hope stops. She gives Josie time to process, watching as her face relaxes and her eyebrows scrunch together after. "And I don't expect you to say it back, not if you're not ready, but I needed you to know."
More silence. Not awkward or weird, but calm and relaxing.
"I really hope I didn't ruin anything by saying th-" Hope is cut off.
"I love you too." Josie jumps in, not giving Hope a chance to finish, to suddenly overthink her lack of an immediate response.
"What?" She asks as if she didn't hear it the first time when she definitely did, as if she hasn't quite processed that Josie said it back.
"Of course I love you. Are you kidding?" Josie lets go of Hope's hand to put her own on either side of Hope's face, her thumbs stroking her cheeks. "I love you, Hope Mikaelson, always." They lean in for another kiss, this one now having more meaning than any of the others before, because the emotions that have always been mixed somewhere in there have finally come to the surface and been let out. They both have finally acknowledged what they have known all along.
They love each other. Hope and Josie love each other.