Chapter Text
Half a pack of ice pops and one watch of Mamma Mia later, Hope was nearly wiped out. She was half asleep on Stefan’s couch, and Josie had to prod her awake.
“Hope?” she asked, “Too much ABBA?”
“No, no,” Hope said with a yawn, “I just didn’t realize how late it was.”
“Want me to walk you home?” Josie asked as she stretched.
“I’ll be fine by myself,” Hope said, “but I’ll…oh crap!”
“What?” Josie asked.
“I told your mom I’d call her once I found you. We’ve been here for hours…” Josie laughed.
“Come home with me then,” she said, “We’ll sort it all out.” She shut the TV off, and got up from the couch. Hope helped her throw away the ice pop wrappers and asked,
“Do you think Stefan will be mad that we raided his stash?” she asked.
“Nah,” Josie said, “He only bought these for me. He hates ice pops.”
“How can someone hate ice pops?”
“Maybe it’s because he’s old,” Josie said. That seemed like a reasonable answer. They finished cleaning up, and Hope said,
“It’s cold. Take my jacket.” She handed it to Josie, who said,
“You know you’re probably not getting this back, right?”
“I can live with that,” Hope replied honestly. They left Stefan’s apartment, and Hope found herself regretting giving up her jacket. Only for a second, because when she saw Josie furling into the jacket with a cute pout on her face, she knew it was worth it.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Josie asked.
“It’s nothing,” Hope said, “I’m just really happy.”
The walk to Josie’s house-which shouldn’t have taken that long-ended up being two times longer because of Josie’s need to stop at every tree and look at the leaves. Leaves which were all on the ground.
“Josie, the leaves are dead,” Hope said, “What’s the appeal?”
“The appeal is that sometimes you can catch the ones that are still there,” she said. The leaf Josie plucked was yellow, but it still managed to stay on the tree, “I think they’re good luck.”
“Why?” Hope asked.
“Because no matter the odds, they hang on,” Josie said, “I get it, it’s stupid, but-”
“I don’t think it’s stupid,” Hope said, “and I like learning new things about you.”
“Really?” Josie asked.
“Yeah.” Josie grinned, “What?”
“You know this means I get to learn a weird fact about you now.”
“I don’t have weird facts,” Hope said.
“Fine, superstitions then,” Josie said, “Come on, you’ve gotta at least have one!”
“I might have…one,” Hope said as they walked down the street.
“Which is?” Josie asked as she took Hope’s hand. They walked hand and hand for a bit until they approached an intersection.
“Promise you won’t laugh?” Hope asked.
“I would never,” Josie said, “Tell me.” Hope sighed.
“Okay,” she said, “So…when I cross an intersection, if the first car I see has a Virginia license plate, that means I’m gonna have a normal day. But when the state is different, that means something…out of the ordinary will happen.”
“Has it ever worked?”
“Well when I first moved here, I only saw Virginia. Like, not even a DC plate. Virginia, Virginia, Virginia. Then when I first made it to school, I saw Michigan. Two minutes later, I met you.”
“So I’m out of the ordinary?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Hope said, “You are.” Josie raised an eyebrow at her, “Well, not in a bad way! My first boyfriend had the personality of a slice of bread, trust me when I say you’re an upgrade.” Josie laughed.
“Relax,” she said, “I know what you meant.” They linked hands again, and they got to the intersection, “What do you see?”
“It technically only works in the morning,” Hope said, “It’s almost six. Today’s already happened.”
“Come on,” she said, “Humor me.”
“Fine,” Hope said, her eyes narrowing in on the first car she saw. It was a white Toyota Camry, with one of those personalized license plates. She leaned forward, and read the state on it.
“Indiana,” she said. Josie jumped with excitement.
“So something cool is about to happen?”
“Keep in mind my superstition is wrong about ninety five percent of the time.”
“The five percent has worked before, right?” Hope nodded, “Maybe it will again. And, we’ve got the added bonus of my yellow leaf. I sense greatness.”
“You’re being an optimist,” Hope said, “Who are you, and what have you done with Josette Forbes?”
“I’m still her,” she said, “I’m just…trying something new.” Hope could live with that.
It took fifteen more minutes before they reached Josie’s neighborhood. That had been on Hope, though. She’d asked to stop for hot chocolate in fear that her fingers would freeze off from the cold. They were turning on Josie’s street when they heard a branch crack.
“What was that?” she asked.
“Maybe a bird,” Hope said. Josie took that as an answer, and they kept walking. They were getting closer when they heard that same crack again.
“That can’t be a bird,” Josie said, “It sounds weightier.”
“Then maybe it’s a squirrel.”
“Maybe,” Josie murmured, “Here, hold this.”
“Wait, what are you-” Hope started asking, but never got to finish because Josie handed her a hot chocolate cup then ran off, “Josie!” She watched her girlfriend creep near the bushes. She listened in, then half-reached, half-fell in.
“Jo?” she called again, “Jo!” She didn’t answer, “Oh, screw it!” She ran after her. If she found the portal to Narnia in that bush, she was never looking at a license plate ever again.
Luckily for her, by the time she got there, Josie was pulling herself out. There was no portal, but Josie’s hands weren’t empty. A small orange tabby was in there.
“Isn’t she cute?” Josie asked.
“Yeah, cute and possibly rabid!” she exclaimed, “Put that away…”
“She’s not rabid,” Josie said, “Look, she’s got a collar.”
“Great, we can figure out who she belongs to.”
“Not a cat person?” Josie asked.
“Nope,” Hope replied. Cats were the bane of her existence ever since her Aunt Rebekah had gotten one when Hope was seven. She and her parents had gone to visit for the summer, and that cat had nearly scratched up all of Hope’s clothes. One of the biggest nightmares of Hope’s life, and she used to date Maya.
“I love cats,” Josie said, bouncing the tabby, “They’re good company.”
“How?” Hope asked, “All they do is purr and irritate you.”
“Oh come on!” Josie exclaimed, “How could you hate something so furry?” She inched the class closer to Hope, who said,
“I will throw the cup of hot chocolate at that thing.” Josie pouted, “What’s her name?” Josie balanced the cat on her arm, and checked the collar.
“Sla,” she said. Hope frowned.
“Sla? Just Sla?” Josie nodded, “No way…” Hope grabbed the collar, and she said, “Josie, that says Slade, not Sla. The rest of the name is faded.”
“Oh,” Josie said, “I like Sla better.” Hope took a deep breath.
“Can we just put the cat back and get home? I’m freezing.”
“There’s no address on the collar,” Josie commented, “Just a name.”
“Fine, we can drop her off at an animal shelter or something.”
“We could,” Josie said, “Or…”
“Josie…”
“My birthday is in a week!”
“You can’t just keep-wait. Your birthday is next week?”
“Well, in ten days,” Josie said.
“That would put your birthday on December 15th,” Hope said.
“Yep,” she said, “So I don’t get presents often,” she said, “Mom just waits for Christmas.”
“Why didn’t you tell me it was so soon?” Hope asked. Josie shrugged.
“I didn’t think I needed to,” she said, “It’s really not a big deal.”
“It totally is!” Hope exclaimed, “What do you want? I can get you anything.”
“Well-”
“Except for this stolen cat!”
“I just don’t see a problem with holding onto her until we can find the owners. The animal shelter has a lot of pets to take care of. She’ll be safer with me.”
“Jo-”
“Please?” she asked, “This is out of the ordinary for me, I like it.” Hope knew she couldn’t say no to her. So they took the cat back to Josie’s house. Josie snuck her under Hope’s jacket.
“Mom hates animals,” she said as she unlocked the door. She gestured for Hope to come with her, and called out, “Mom? I’m home!” There was no answer. Hope slid her boots off by the door, and closed it. Josie had gone to the kitchen, and she was letting Sla walk on the counter.
“Mom?” she called again. Hope came to join her and said,
“Maybe she left?”
“Not maybe, she did,” Josie said, picking up a note, “They had to see my dad at the hospital. She left my phone here for me to call if I came home.”
“I’m sorry,” Hope said, “She wouldn’t have left if I’d called like I said I would-”
“It’s fine,” Josie said, “I’m not upset with her, or you. Plus now, I can find a good place to hide Sla.” She grinned, and Hope shook her head.
“Okay,” she said, “Where are we keeping her?”
“I’ll show you,” Josie said. She picked Sla up from the counter, and she went upstairs. Hope thought they were going to Josie’s room, but Josie pulled down a ceiling drawer.
“You have an attic?” she asked.
“Yep,” Josie said, “but no one ever comes up here but me.” Josie put Sla in one of Hope’s pockets, and she climbed up the ladder. Hope followed her up. She expected to see one of the dusty attics you saw in horror movies, so when she saw a nicely renovated space, she was surprised.
“How come you never showed this to me?”
“Because it’s new,” Josie said, “I’ve been grounded for so long, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands.” She closed the door behind them and said, “That area over there is my reading corner. Then I have a desk made out of an old shelf in case I want to do homework up here. And over here is my beanbag set up, also a perfect place for Sla to live.”
“You didn’t know about this cat until today,” Hope said, “Why the attic space?”
“Well the space isn’t just for me,” Josie said. She clicked a few switches on the light board, and soon the room was filled with a dim light, “It’s for us.”
“I thought we broke up,” Hope said.
“We did,” Josie replied, “But it’s like you said. I’m trying to be optimistic.”
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Josie put Sla down, and she extended a hand out to her, “Come over here with me.” Josie took her to a small area where there were blankets and pillows laid out. She shrugged off Hope’s jacket, and draped it over the pillows.
“This is nice,” Hope said, allowing Josie to help her sit down. They laid across from each other, hands entwined, “I love it.”
“I love you,” Josie said, leaning over to kiss her. Their lips met, and as they did, the lights flickered from above them. Josie pulled away and blushed.
“Sorry,” she said, “It happens sometimes. I’m still working out the wiring.”
“Is flickering lights a superstition?” Hope asked.
“Not one I have,” Josie said, “and if it is, I feel like it can’t be very good.”
“I doubt that,” Hope said, “Flickering lights mean that something doesn’t work. It’s trying to work, but it can’t get there all the way.”
“Right,” Hope said, “The lights can either fix or break completely. All or nothing.”
“Yeah, all or nothing,” Josie said, and Hope noticed that she seemed upset.
“Hey?” she asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Josie said, but her voice cracked a bit.
“Jo?”
“All or nothing,” she said, “It’s something my dad used to say. He said if I ever wanted to be anything in life, I had to give it all, or I’d get nothing.”
“Oh,” she said, “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t,” Josie said, “My dad did. Josie turned over on her back, running a hand through her hair. Hope gave her a sympathetic smile.
“Josie…I know your dad’s done some terrible things, and you have every right to want to stay away from him. But if something else happens, and you ever want to run away again, can you at least promise you’ll take me with you? If you’re in trouble, I don’t want you to be alone.”
“I promise,” Josie said, “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
Caroline and Lizzie returned not that long after, and after helping Josie hide Sla, Hope returned home. Both her parents were there, getting out groceries for dinner.
“Hey sweetheart,” Mom said as Hope hung her jacket up, “Where’ve you been?”
“With Josie,” Hope said, “What are you guys making?”
“Chicken stir fry,” Mom said, “Do you wanna help?” Hope nodded eagerly, “Go wash up then help your dad cut the vegetables.” As they chopped, Dad said,
“You and Josie seem to be in a better place.”
“Yeah, we are,” Hope said, “We had a rough patch, but it’s better now.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said as he pushed the scallions in a bowl.
“What about you and Mom?” she asked.
“We’re just fine, love,” he said, and the two of them shared a fond smile. Hope pulled out the broccoli florets to boil, and she asked,
“Can I ask you guys something?”
“Of course,” Mom said.
“So Josie’s birthday is in about a week,” she said.
“That’s nice,” Klaus said, “Are the two of you doing anything special?”
“I’d like to,” Hope said, “but Josie didn’t even want me to know. I only found out by chance.” Her parents didn’t answer, and she knew they were exchanging looks, “This is the part where you tell me I’m worrying for no reason.”
“You are,” Mom said quickly, “Did uh…did Josie mention why she didn’t tell you?”
“ She just said it wasn’t a big deal,” she said, “Then we ended up changing the subject.”
“Maybe she has bad memories for her birthday,” Klaus said, “I’m sure it has nothing to do with you.”
“Maybe,” Hope said, “but I still want to do something for her.”
“Well she has a twin, right?” Hope nodded, “Why don’t you talk to her. If Josie has something against her birthday, who else better to ask than someone she shares it with?”
“Sure,” Hope said, “Can I be excused to call her?”
“Now?” Mom asked.
“I’ve only got ten days!” Hope said, and her parents laughed.
“Go, honey,” Mom said, “You’re about to drop all of that broccoli on the ground, we might be better off without you.” Hope glared at both of them, but she took the reprieve. She still had Lizzie’s number from when they were roommates in Richmond, so she was able to call her easily.
“Who is this?” the blonde asked. Glad to know she’d saved her name.
“It’s Hope,” she said.
“Oh I see, you want to talk to Josie,” she said, “She’s not as good as sneaking her phone away like I am. My mom’s had my old cell phone for weeks.”
“No, actually I wanted to talk to you,” Hope said. There was some silence after that. Hope knew the other girl was completely lost, “Lizzie?”
“I’m here,” she said, “Why do you want to talk to me?”
“Josie said it was your birthday in a few days. I was just wondering if there was anything special she would want for it.”
“She told you about our birthday?” Lizzie asked. Hope heard her tone change.
“Uh yeah,” Hope said, “Well not as much told as mentioned, but I know, so…” Lizzie went quiet again, “Is something wrong?”
“Well kind of considering Josie treats our birthday like the plague.”
“Why?” Hope asked. The silence came back, “Lizzie?”
“When our dad left, he promised he’d be back on our birthday. I knew it was a bunch of bullshit, but Josie used to be more optimistic back then. She'd never admit this, so don't tell her I told you, but she waited on our front porch for hours, and she missed our whole party. She’s hated our birthday ever since.”
“Oh,” Hope said.
“Yep,” Lizzie said, “I know you want to do something nice for her, but the best thing you could do is let it go. She really doesn’t like thinking about it.”
“Got it,” Hope said, “Are you doing anything?”
“Oh of course,” Lizzie said, “I throw a party every year. Josie will come to cut the cake, look sullen, then leave. Hey, maybe you should come. It might get her to lighten up.”
“Where’s the party?”
“It’s at this banquet hall downtown,” Lizzie said, “It’s dress attire, so no jeans.”
“Did you ask Josie if she wanted to do anything?” Hope asked.
“I didn’t see a point.”
“Well can you ask, for me? I really want to do something for her.” Lizzie sighed.
“Fine, but you won’t get anything,” she said. A moment passed, ““Look, I’ve gotta go, my mom is gonna check on me soon, but I’ll tell you in the morning.”
“Thank you,” she said, and she hung up the phone.
Josie was ecstatic the next morning since she’d been able to keep the cat hidden all night. Sla was currently enjoying the attic to herself with some food left from Josie, and her girlfriend was enjoying every second of it.
“I’m glad,” Hope said after hearing the news, “Fun early birthday present, huh?” The smile temporarily dropped from Josie’s face, then it came back as she said,
“Totally!” she gave Hope a kiss on the cheek and said, “I need to get to homeroom, but I’ll see you in English?”
“Sure,” Hope said. Josie walked away, and Hope could do nothing but smile as she watched her go. She looked so happy. What if doing something for her birthday ruined that?
“Are you going to keep staring like a lovesick idiot for the rest of the day?” Lizzie asked, which nearly made her jump in the middle of the hallway.
“Jesus!” she snapped, “You could announce yourself.”
“Sorry,” she said in perhaps one of the most unapologetic tones possible, “I asked Josie about a party by the way.” That got her interest.
“And?”
“And she hates my idea because she’s tasteless.” Hope refrained from rolling her eyes, “but she also said that her favorite birthday we ever had was when we were seven and our Aunt Elena took us to the pool. We went swimming and had a lot of ice cream. It wasn’t a bad party, could’ve been better…”
“That’s perfect!” Hope said, “We could have an indoor pool party.”
“And where would we have that?”
“My Uncle Elijah’s house,” she said, “He and my Dad like to stay close, so his house is only about an hour away. It’s pretty big, with a pool inside. You get your fancy party, and Josie gets a pool party, just like the one she liked as a kid.”
“Are we party planning together?”
“I guess we are,” Hope said, “Are you in?” Lizzie beamed at her.
“I’m in,” she said.