Chapter Text
Hope was a bundle of nerves. Classes were finally ending, and today, after all the waiting, they were graduating high school. Her nails were practically destroyed from all the biting she’d done in the last few hours. It made sense: she’d have to walk across the stage and accept a diploma in front of an entire crowd. Total nightmare.
Still, in Hope’s opinion, this had been the best school year of her life. After the winter formal, everything seemed to fall into place. Her first date with Josie, despite becoming a total disaster when Josie slipped at the beach and fell straight into the water, ended up perfect. The two of them had just laughed until their stomachs hurt. They were a very peculiar couple, always arguing over silly things or getting jealous over nothing. But honestly? That was part of the magic, because their make-ups were… intense. One of them always ended up in the other’s bed afterward.
Hope never imagined how sweet and cheesy a lovestruck Josie could be. The brunette was always checking on her, taking care of her, touching her hair, smiling at her like an idiot in love, you know, things that only made Hope fall even harder. And now, after all these months, they were graduating. She wasn’t worried about losing her girlfriend, far from it. They’d already talked it through. By pure coincidence, the universities they were going to were incredibly close to each other (like an hour and a half apart), so they could pretty much see each other all the time.
The real problem was Maya. She was leaving to study medicine in London. And that hurt Hope in a completely different way, it was like saying goodbye to a sister.
“Baby, are you okay?” came her girlfriend’s voice from behind. Josie was sitting at one of the library tables, watching her with concern.
Another thing that had changed in their relationship, something Hope adored, was the pet names. Josie always called her love or baby. (On the rare occasions when she was jealous or angry she’d call her “freak.” Hope would never admit it out loud… but she kind of missed that a little.)
“Jo…” Hope tried to say she was fine, she really did. But the moment she met her girlfriend’s warm brown eyes, she completely crumbled. “I’m just a little sad… about everything with Maya.”
Josie’s expression softened instantly. She knew exactly how torn up Hope was about one of her closest friends leaving. Both girls were wearing blue graduation gowns for the ceremony, and the color made Hope’s green eyes look almost pale and glowy, which only made Josie stare even harder.
“Hope…” Josie murmured gently as she covered her girlfriend’s hand with her own. She started tracing slow, sweet circles over her knuckles, grounding her instantly. “We’ve talked about this already, remember? Don’t worry. You two can still talk on video calls, and whenever we can, we’ll go visit her in London.”
Hope leaned into the touch, her skin always tingled whenever Josie touched her. It was embarrassing how easily she melted.
“But… what if she stops caring?” she whispered, her voice suddenly small. “Sometimes distance ruins relationships, Jo. I’ve seen like… a million movies about it.”
Josie shook her head immediately, amused by her girlfriend’s dramatic spiral.
“You’re being paranoid, babe.” She shifted closer, sliding onto Hope’s lap and wrapping her arms around her neck. She tilted her head, forcing the girl to meet her gaze. “There is no universe where someone forgets how amazing you are, Hope Mikaelson.”
Hope’s lips parted. “You mean that?”
“As seriously as the fact that Ethan almost failed Biology.”
They both burst out laughing, instantly remembering the disaster of that week, Ethan showing up at Hope’s house in full panic mode, practically begging for help and accidentally interrupting a very passionate make-out session the two of them had going on the couch.
Hope still held a little resentment about that interruption, but she’d helped anyway. Begrudgingly.
“Are you ready to grow up?” Josie asked softly as she ran her fingers through Hope’s hair.
“A little,” she admitted. “But honestly? I’d rather go back and redo high school from the beginning.” She laughed quietly. “Still… I know college is going to be a whole new chapter. A good one.”
Josie snorted and covered her mouth dramatically. “If we went back to the beginning, you’d have to deal with our early-morning fights again, baby.”
“I wouldn’t mind. You were extremely sexy when you yelled at me and humiliated me in front of the whole school.”
Hope stuck her tongue out at her, when she saw Josie rolling her eyes.
After talking a bit more, they left the library hand-in-hand. No one stared at them anymore when they walked down the hallway. Back when they first started dating, everyone had lost their minds, seeing two sworn enemies suddenly becoming a couple, so the gossip spread through the school like wildfire.
They ignored the stares, just like Ethan and MG had when they first got together. The real problem had been Connor. When he found out, he cornered Josie in the hallway, yelling horrible things about how she’d “used” him. Hope had rushed in immediately, and so had Ethan, Cleo, and Jed. Connor had tried to put up a fight, but the second he realized his friends weren’t backing him up, he backed down. And honestly? Everyone knew he was still scared of Hope and Ethan after the beating they’d given him months earlier.
Eventually they reached the gym, where the graduation assembly would take place. The place was packed with rows and rows of chairs. They sat with their group of friends. Over the last few months, the friend circle had grown into something huge and solid, Hope and her friends now got along great with Alyssa and Kaleb. After some unexpected events, Cleo and Kaleb discovered they had two major things in common: supernatural tv shows and music. At this point, no one would’ve guessed they’d once been rivals.
You could even say there was something more than just a friendship there, but Hope couldn’t prove it yet.
A tragedy, really. Maybe one day they’d confess it to the group.
“Did you bring extra pants, Hope?” Maya whispered, leaning toward her from the row beside her. She was sitting with Ethan and MG, all three of them already trying not to laugh.
“No. Why?” Hope lifted an eyebrow, suspicious.
“In case you pee yourself from fear,” Maya snickered, and the others broke into quiet giggles. Even Alyssa, Cleo, and Kaleb, sitting in the row ahead of them, turned slightly to enjoy the joke.
“Shut up, idiot,” Hope muttered, rolling her eyes.
Up on the stage, the principal was deep into one of his long speeches about the future, success, and hard work. While he talked, Josie gently held Hope’s hand. Her thumb moved slowly over the back of her skin, drawing soft shapes that made Hope’s shoulders relax bit by bit.
“…and that is why today, we honor our graduates with their diplomas!” the principal finally announced. The entire gym filled with applause.
Hope clapped too, but her eyes drifted to the packed crowd. Her parents were somewhere out there. Josie’s family too. She remembered the first dinner where the Saltzman and Mikaelson families had met, it was awkward at first, but then turning unexpectedly perfect. Her mom and Josie’s mom got along so well that they started going out together every Saturday, either to the beauty salon or anywhere they could find an excuse to chat.
And of course, they had immediately begun teasing Hope and Josie about “their future.” Wedding plans, dresses, ceremonies, everything. Hope had laughed every time and Josie, meanwhile, had blushed so hard she almost melted into her chair. But she never acted uncomfortable with the idea. If anything… she looked kind of happy about it. Hope knew Josie’s parents were protective, very protective, so it made her really happy to know that they trusted her with their daughter.
Names started being called and Josie was one of the first. She stood up, smoothing her blue gown and adjusting the high ponytail she’d tied her hair into. The moment she began walking, heads turned. She moved with her natural grace light, confident, a little flirty without even meaning to be.
Hope could practically feel every guy in the gym staring. She smirked to herself.
Go ahead and look. Enjoy the view, you fuckers, but the one who gets to take Josie Saltzman home is me.
Josie reached the stage and took her diploma with the sweetest, proudest little smile. Hope’s chest warmed just from seeing it. When Josie glanced back at her for a second, she gave her a tiny smile, one just for her. And Josie’s smile grew even brighter.
Hope felt a rush of love she didn’t even bother trying to hide. Josie was hers and she was hers.
Hope’s parents, along with Josie’s, were taking pictures from every angle. Pedro was sitting on Lizzie’s shoulders, cheering at the top of his lungs. One by one, Hope’s friends went up to the stage until she finally heard her own name.
“Hope Andrea Mikaelson.” A long name, in her opinion.
Her legs felt shaky as she walked toward the platform to receive her certificate. Applause filled the gym, and she even caught a few freshmen staring at her with wide eyes. Everyone knew about the crazy things Hope had done during her time at school, stories that would probably live on long after she graduated.
“Congratulations, Mikaelson,” the principal said, looking her straight in the eyes as he held out her diploma.
“Thank you,” she murmured with a small smile, taking it. She frowned a little when he didn’t immediately let go.
The older man placed his other hand over Hope’s and lifted the corner of his mouth in something close to a smile.
“Try not to get into so much trouble in college, Hope,” he said, giving her hand a firm shake.
Hope laughed under her breath as more applause rose around her. She stepped down the stairs feeling a little dizzy, spotted her parents in the crowd, and lifted the diploma in the air proudly. Hayley burst into tears instantly and Klaus gave her his biggest smile. Hope went over to stand beside Josie, who had kept a spot saved for her.
“You look great up there,” Josie whispered, her earlier nerves replaced with a warm smile.
In honor of the graduating class, Jed was chosen to give the speech. He managed to bring more than one person to tears and was rewarded with hugs, cheers, and whistles. After that, a big screen lit up with a video showing the best moments from all their school years. People grew nostalgic, hugging each other and laughing through the sadness of it all. When the final bell of the year rang, everyone ran toward the parking lot, tossing their graduation caps high into the air.
Josie threw her arms around Maya and Alyssa, pulling them into a tight hug. Hope, meanwhile, found herself crushed between Cleo and Kaleb.
“Omg dude, we did it!” Cleo yelled, throwing one arm around Hope’s neck and the other around Kaleb’s shoulder.
Ethan and MG stood close by, whispering sweet things to each other with their fingers intertwined. Hope couldn’t help but think they looked adorable.
“Maya!” someone shouted, and the whole group crashed into the brunette, who was crying openly.
“I’m gonna miss you idiots so much,” Maya sniffed, smiling through her tears. “And by the way, your speech was amazing, bestie.”
Jed grinned proudly and pressed a kiss to his best friend’s forehead. The others congratulated him, and Alyssa shyly added, “She’s right… you were incredible.” She rose onto her toes to give him a soft kiss, and Jed’s ears turned bright red.
Hope felt genuinely happy watching all of them. Everyone was with someone they loved, surrounded by the friends who had shaped their lives.
Then she felt arms wrap around her from behind, warm hands resting gently on her stomach. A familiar breath brushed her ear, and the scent instantly made butterflies explode in her chest. She knew it was Josie before even turning around.
“We’re officially graduates,” Josie whispered. “How do you feel?”
Hope smiled and turned in her arms, facing the girl she loved.
“I feel amazing,” she said softly. “Especially knowing you’re still going to be in my life.”
Those chocolate-brown eyes met hers, and Josie blushed, though she smiled shyly.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easily, freak,” she teased. Hope laughed at the nickname and rested her forehead against Josie’s. “I told you I was going to drive you crazy. I always keep my promises.”
“I’m glad you did,” Hope breathed, holding Josie’s face gently between her hands before giving her a soft kiss. “I love you.”
Josie let out a shaky exhale, laughed nervously, and leaned in again. This time the kiss was longer, warm, full of love and that fire that had always existed between them. When they pulled apart, Josie whispered, “I love you too, Hope. Always and forever.”
They stayed there for a moment, staring at each other, thinking about everything they’d survived, pain, tears, fights, jealousy. But also laughter, comfort, trust, and all the small beautiful moments that made it all worth it.
Hope knew that if someone offered her the chance to go back in time, she would accept it only to live these years with Josie all over again. Because no matter what, they would always end up right here, together and completely in love.