Chapter Text
“St. James…” Josie whispers to herself, she had heard of the name before, but she had trouble remembering from where, maybe her mother had mentioned it during her travels? Or was it from the town history she read through? Wait, St. Ja-…St. James Infirmary? “Hope, are you taking me to an infirmary…that has music coming from it?” Josie frowns in confusion.
Hope chuckles, “Just trust me.” Did she trust Hope? They met a day ago, and the recent years have made Josie more cautious than she was in her teen days, but to her surprise, she finds that she does trust Hope as she follows her into the infirmary which did not actually look like one from inside, “St. James is a jazz club owned by Ma- someone I know. I’m surprised you know about the infirmary part though; it was remodeled years ago.”
Josie takes in the view, “I think my mom was here once, she told me about it, and I…kinda read the town history.” It was a simple place with a bar on the opposite side of her, and a few tables in the center of the place, it wasn’t overly crowded, and she liked that. To her left, she sees a mic and a few instruments on a small stage; a drum set, a piano, a saxophone, and a guitar. She wonders if there’s a band that plays here every night, or if the stage is just open to anyone. She then notices that every instrument is abandoned at the moment, except for the piano. There, sitting by it, an old man in a hat, plays a tune she swears she knows, but can’t quite name it. The place is filled with framed pictures of different artists and instruments, with mellow and colored lights that somehow fits together perfectly. Josie can already see herself falling in love with the place.
“My one and only love.” Hope says, and Josie breaks out of her trance and looks at her, confused, “The music, My One and Only Love, by John Coltrane. The piano version, of course.”
“Do you also happen to play? What more talents are you hiding, Marshall?” Josie says in a playful tone.
Hope chuckles, “I do play a little piano, but not a lot. My uncle used to play really well, and he taught me a few tunes, that’s it.” Hope raises her hands up a little in surrender, “This is one of my favorite songs, and I kinda grew up here, so I’m a little bit of a jazz fanatic.”
“It’s funny, this tune feels so familiar, but I don’t remember listening to this song before. It’s beautiful though, I really like it.” Josie says.
“It’s a very old, but popular song, maybe your parents played it when you were young?” Hope guesses.
“Maybe.” Josie shrugs, “So, you grew up here?”
Hope nods, guiding her to a table to sit down, and pulls out Josie’s chair for her, “This place is a neutral territory for all three factions, and someone very close to me owns it, so I used to come here quite often as a kid. In fact, I’m pretty sure I was here as a baby too.” Hope laughs.
Josie feels like she’s missing some information there, maybe an inside joke that Hope has with people close to her, but Josie refrains from asking about it. She figures that if Hope wants to tell her, she will, so she simply smiles, and continues to listen to Hope talk. Hope tells her many memories from her childhood, like the first time she painted with her dad, and the hide and seek games she played with her mom. She also tells her that she couldn’t be with her father for most of her life for some unavoidable circumstances, but she knows his love for her. Hope doesn’t explain the circumstances, and Josie doesn't ask.
The two spend the evening, talking, and eating. Just enjoying each other’s presence, and the pleasant music in the background. Josie doesn’t notice the time passing with Hope, and before she knows it, Hope is paying the bill, and they’re leaving the club.
“If it’s not too late, I have one more thing planned.” Hope says, and Josie doesn’t even have to think before nodding her head. She wishes the night would never end, because the more time she spends with Hope, the more she craves it.
Hope walks her to a small bakery, and she guesses that the final stop of their date is for her to try those beignets Hope told her about, “Beignets?” she asks.
“Yes, but…” Hope trails off, and a small boy not older than the age of eleven runs out of the bakery with a bag in his hands, “Hey, Jake.”
“Hi, Hope.” The boy smiles brightly and hands Hope the bag, “Here, mama says they’re freshly made for you.”
“Thanks for getting these to me, buddy. Did you finish your homework?”
“Yep! All done.” Jake says, he finally looks at Josie, and turns back to Hope, lowering his voice, “Hope, there’s a very pretty girl next to you.”
Hope laughs and speaks in the same volume, though fully aware that Josie can hear everything, being right next to the two, “I know. Isn’t she the most gorgeous girl ever?”
Josie rolls her eyes, but she fails to hide her smile and the small blush appearing on her cheeks. The boy eagerly nods his head, and Hope continues, “I’m actually on a date with her right now, can you believe it?”
“No way!” The boy exclaims, and Hope just ruffles his head.
“Yep, but I need to go now, I’ll see you tomorrow. Tell your mom I said thanks for the beignets.” Hope says, and watches as Jake nods, and walks back to the bakery.
“You’re really good with kids.” Josie observes.
“Jake is very well behaved, he’s barely a kid. I actually hate kids in general, those little brats are so annoying.” Hope replies, and for some reason Josie has a hard time believing it.
“So, am I taking those home with me?” Josie asks, pointing to the bag. She expected to sit inside the bakery a while, and talk more with Hope, but seeing as Hope had asked them to pack it in a bag, Josie assumed this was the end of their night together. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little disappointed. When Hope had said that she had one more thing planned, Jose did not think it would be just picking up some beignets.
“Nope.” Hope says, “You think I’ll let you have all the beignets? No way, girl! You might be cute as a button, and hot as hell, but beignets are my first love. We’re sharing.”
Hope then leads Josie to a car parked near the bakery, “Where are we going?”
“Just someplace I know you’ll love.”
That’s the only clue Hope gave Josie, and she was left wondering where they were headed as Hope drove, “Can I play some music?”
“Yeah, sure. I have a Taylor Swift playlist, here.” Hope hands Josie her phone, and Josie frowns.
“How did you know I like Taylor Swift?”
“I mean, who doesn’t?” Well, she had a point there, “I have other artists there too, you can choose, I don’t mind.”
“Oh, it’s locked.” Josie says, and tries to hand her phone back.
“1023” Hope tells her, without removing her eyes off the road.
“Do you just tell everyone you meet your passcode, or am I special?” Josie raises her eyebrow.
Hope laughs, “Would you believe me if I said you were special?”
“Probably not.”
“No offense, love, but you’re completely wrong. You are very special.” Hope smiles, “And as for the passcode, if I’m being honest, I barely use my phone, so it really doesn’t matter to me. Besides, you seem pretty trustworthy.”
“1023…does that mean anything to you? I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“It’s okay, that day…that was the day I met someone very important to me…” Hope trails off, and Josie curses herself for asking, “It’s been years though, we were just kids when we met. It’s just a memory now.”
“A memory important enough for you to remember the date of, even after so many years.”
Hope glances at her with a smile, “Yes, the memory is important and special to me, but it’s just a memory. A sweet, childhood memory that I’ll always cherish, but I live in the present. I promise.” Hope reaches out with her right hand, and squeezes Josie’s hand in reassurance that she was not hung up on some old lover, and Josie takes it, “Also, I’m pretty sure they don’t even remember me now.”
Josie hums, “If you were as cute as you are now as a child, then I don’t think they could have forgotten you.”
“So, I’m cute now?” Hope smirks.
“Never said you weren’t.” Josie shrugs, and unlocks Hope’s phone, scrolling in search of a song, “That’s a lot of EDM.”
“Shut up.” Hope laughs, and Josie laughs along with her.
Josie finally plays a song, and they continue like that, till Josie notices that they’re leaving New Orleans, “Okay, seriously, where are you taking me? Why are we leaving the city and heading to…is that a forest?”
“It’s a bayou.” Hope answers, “My mother’s pack stays here. It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but there’s a clearing in the woods, and I thought we could stargaze for a while? Is that fine?”
Just when Josie thought this date couldn’t get any better, Hope takes her stargazing. It was one of her favorite activities, and she loves that Hope thought of this without even knowing that.
“Hope, I love stargazing.” Josie responds, and Hope smiles, parking her car.
“We have to walk for a little from here.” She says, before getting down, and opening Josie’s door for her, “Come on.” Hope holds out her hand, and Josie gladly takes it.
“I didn’t even see you get that blanket.” Josie nods to the blanket Hope currently has rolled up under her arm.
“That’s cause I’m quick. Like a ninja.” Hope tries to move her other arm holding the blanket in what Josie thinks is a martial art move, making the blanket fall, and Josie laughs.
“Yes, very much like a ninja.” Hope rolls her eyes, and bends down to pick up the blanket again, and continues to hold Josie’s hand with ease, as they walk to the clearing.
“This is it.” Hope says, as she sets down the blanket and the beignets, “You can see the sky clearly from here, without the trees blocking it, and I really love the quietness here.”
Hope sits down, and Josie follows suit, “I love it.” She smiles, and Hope offers her a beignet, “Hope, you were right, this is amazing!”
Hope hums, “Stick with me and you’ll get the best of-”
“Best of both worlds?” Josie sings. “Sorry, Lizzie and I stayed up one night binge watching Hannah Montana after our mom introduced it to us one day.”
“Lizzie…is that your sister?” Hope asks.
“Yeah, twin, actually.” Josie replies.
“You have a good voice.” Hope chimes in after a beat of silence.
“I barely sang for two seconds, but thanks.”
They talk for a while, enjoying the beignets, and then lie down on the blanket, looking at the stars.
“That’s the Orion, right?” Hope points.
“Um, no. That’s carina.”
“Oh, okay.” Hope trails off, “What about that one? Is that the Orion?”
Josie giggles, “Do you only know that one constellation? That’s crux.”
“Okay, you caught me. I don’t know anything about constellations.” Hope turns to face Josie, and smiles, “I just wanted to impress you.”
“Well, color me officially impressed.” Josie says, looking back at Hope with a smile on her face, “This has been the best first date ever.”
With a blow of the wind, Josie shivers. Hope frowns, “Are you cold? You’re shivering.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s fine though, don’t worry about it.” Josie says, but secretly prays, ‘Please worry about it.’
“Come here.” Hope says, pulling her close, “This is why I told you to dress warm. It’s colder here than in the city.”
Well, she has to thank Lizzie again, her plan worked, “I just thought the sweatshirt would be enough.”
“Why would you think a sweatshirt would be-” Josie pouts at her, “You know, if you keep pouting like that, I’ll believe anything you say.”
“Noted.” Josie grins.
“You’re just going to start using that on me all the time, aren’t you?” Hope asks, and Josie hums with a swift nod of her head, “Evil.”
“Why yes, yes I am, Hopey.” Josie says, quickly pushing Hope on her back and moving on top of her, “What are you going to do about it?”
“Just…this.” Hope says, using her strength to roll Josie over, “No offense, love, but I kinda like being on top.” Hope smirks, and Josie rolls her eyes.
“No fair, you’re using your wolf strength.”
“Who says I am? For your information, I train every day.” Hope says, “Just accept it, I’m stronger than you.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Josie replies, and looks up to see Hope looking back at her, all playfulness forgone from her face without a trace.
“I like your eyes.” Hope whispers.
“They’re just plain brown.”
“I still like them.” Josie giggles, “I like your nose too.”
“Stop it.”
“No.” Hope reaches out and touches Josie’s cheek, trailing her fingers down to the corner of her lips, “I like your lips.”
Hope leans closer to her, their lips now centimeters apart, and Hope’s gaze moves down to Josie’s lips, before looking back up into her eyes, “Can I ki-”
Hope’s words get interrupted by her phone ringing, making her sit up, and Josie releases a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“Hello?” Hope speaks into her phone, “Why? What’s wrong, Aunt Freya?”
Hearing the worry in Hope’s voice, Josie sits up as well, and places a hand on Hope’s back, offering comfort.
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” Hope grumbles, and disconnects the call, turning to Josie, she says, “Josie, I’m really sorry, I need to leave. I’ll drop you at your dorm.”
Josie nods, and helps Hope to clean up. They both walk back to the car in silence, and Josie wonders if everything is alright. Five minutes into the drive, Josie can’t take the silence any longer, “Hope is everything alright?”
“Don’t worry about it, love. My aunt just needs my help with something.”
It sounded much more serious than that, but Josie takes her vague answer without questioning it. She wanted to respect Hope’s boundaries, and believed that Hope would tell her when she wanted to.
Stopping the car at her dorm building, Hope turns to Josie, “I had a really good time tonight, maybe we can do this again sometime?”
“I would love that. I had a good time too.” Josie says, and leans in closer, but Hope moves away.
“I will…text you?”
“Yeah.” Josie nods, and gets out of the car, “Bye, Hope.” She says, and turns around with a frown. As she walks towards the door, she feels an odd sense of rejection with the way the night ended.