Work Text:
it’s march 13th, 2036
two days before the saltzman twins twenty second birthday
penelope was sitting in the passengers seat of the car, texting josie back and forth. josie and lizzie glued to the hip, getting as much time that they could together just in case. josie was also glued to her phone, constantly calling or texting penelope.
josie had called penelope exactly a year to the day, confessing to being in love with penelope all this time despite being physically apart for six years and penelope said the same to her. the two decided to start a long distance relationship after josie said she didn’t want to spend her possible last year of life without penelope even if it was from thousands of miles away. penelope couldn’t say no to that.
especially not when she’s been secretly with caroline these six years, hunting for a cure with her. they decided to keep that secret from the twins, knowing it would make the situation more intense if they were aware penelope was helping too.
‘you’ll be here tomorrow right?’ josie texted
‘it’s been six years jojo, of course i will. no matter what.’ she replied
‘i’m scared, penny. what if we don’t find a cure? we’re almost out of time.’
‘i’m sure your mom will find it. when she does, we’ll all celebrate not only your birthday, but the curse finally being broken.’
‘hopefully. now lizzie wants me to help her bake a pie? i’ll text you when that’s over. i love you pen.’
‘have fun! i love you jojo.’
penelope sighed, anxiously waiting for caroline to come out of the building she was in with some sort of cure. they had been following this lead all across europe for a year and a half and they only had two days left. they needed the cure now.
penelope got lost in her thoughts before she saw caroline rushing towards the car. she frantically put on her seatbelt just in case they needed to speed out of there like they had before.
caroline got in the car, tears in her eyes as she caught her breath, penelope staring at her with wide, waiting eyes, “caroline. is it a cure? or are we fucked?”
“it’s,” she breathed out, “the cure. we got it.”
“we got it!? holy shit! we found the cure! they’ll be okay!” penelope practically screamed, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt, “what do we have to do?”
“it’s a spell, it’s gonna take a lot of magic. we’ll need a lot of help. but we have the entire school.” caroline grinned, “they’re gonna be okay. both of them.”
————————————————————————
“dad?” josie said, entering alaric’s office
“hi sweetie. where’s lizzie?” he asked
“right behind me.” she said, “we made pie and we’re bringing it in to share with you.”
“any word from mom?” lizzie said, walking in and setting the pie down
“not yet. she’s with the lead now, we’re just waiting.”
both girls nodded before sitting down, anxious to know they’d witness the call that will probably make or break this situation. they only had two days.
the phone rang and instinctively, josie grabbed lizzie’s hand. “caroline?” alaric said as he answered the phone,feeling the girls staring at him
“penelope?” he questioned
“put it on speaker.” josie blurted, “why is penelope on the phone?”
“hold on penelope,” he said, “i don’t know if that’s a good idea josie.”
“dad. put it on speaker.” lizzie said
“god. okay, penelope hold on. let me put you on speaker.” alaric said. he wasn’t going to not listen to his daughters now
“penny? why are you calling?” josie said as soon as her dad put the phone on speaker
“someone could’ve mentioned the twins were in the room.” they heard caroline said faintly, laughing at whatever shock penelope had to have written on her face, “penelope honey, speak.”
“mom? what’s going on?” lizzie asked
penelope took a deep breath before continuing, “when i left, it was to help caroline. i’ve been with her for the past six years. you two didn’t know to not add stress to the situation.”
“oh.” josie mumbled
“but don’t worry.” she said and josie could tell from her tone that she was smiling, “we’ll be there soon. with the cure.”
“you found the cure!?” lizzie asked, a smile growing on her face, “penelope i have never liked you more than i do right now!”
“i can’t even be upset you lied about that.” josie sighed happily, “you have the cure.”
“we’ll be there with it tomorrow. just in time.”
they said their goodbyes and the twins and their dad stood in his office, hugging and crying. but for the first time in six years, any of these merge related tears were happy.
————————————————————————
march 14th, 2036. one day before the saltzman twins twenty second birthday. one day until the curse on the gemini twins is finally broken.
“how’s it feel being back?” caroline asked penelope as they drove through the entrance of the school
“familiar,” she said, “it still feels more like home than anything else.”
“because of josie?” she grinned
“despite being here all those years before josie and i dated.. i know that that’s exactly why.”
they were both tired. tired from the long flight overnight as well as some kind of jet lag. but mostly, they were tired from their six year long search. finding that cure was the one relief that all got to feel. it was worth all the exhaustion and fear and desperation. they parked and got out of the car, unloading their stuff out of the trunk before they both stopped at the sound of a familiar voice
“you’re here!” alaric exclaimed, hope following closely behind him
“no offense, dr. saltzman but i don’t think i’ve ever heard you that excited before.” penelope laughed as he quickly pulled them both in for a hug
“he’s been like this since you all called yesterday. it’s kinda weird.” hope shrugged behind her
“what can i say,” penelope smiled, “i think i saved the day.”
“wasn’t it caroline that got the cure? while you sat in the car?” hope smirked
“i helped. never doubt a fellow avengers squad member.”
hope laughed before pulling penelope into a hug, “we’re all glad you’re back. some more than others.”
“yeah.. i know.” penelope smiled as she pulled away
“oh no, i’m talking about mg. you told him he was in charge now and he’s been scared of fucking up for six years.”
penelope laughed, completely forgetting she had left that note for mg, “poor milton.”
“poor who?” penelope heard mgs voice from the top of the steps, grinning at him as he walked towards her before hugging her, “hi peez.”
“hi milton. you can step down as man in charge now. the hwic is back.”
“better not let lizzie hear you.”
“speaking of lizzie... where is she? i assume josie is where she is?” penelope asked, her heart rate speeding up at the thought of finally seeing josie again after six long years
“they’re in their dads office just waiting.” hope replied, “wanna go see them while alaric gets all your stuff?”
“the fact that you even asked is offensive.”
“lets go then. you know the way.”
penelope walked with hope, looking around to see if any changes had been made in the last six years. as they entered, she felt almost at home. the smell was familiar, this place was so familiar. there weren’t many changes aside from furniture either being moved or replaced with something new. penelope could even pin point the last place she stood when she said goodbye to josie six years ago.
penelope felt like she walked through the school in a daze until they reached the doors of dr saltzman’s office where she stopped in her tracks and she came to all of her senses. she met eyes with hope and lightly smiled at her, “come in when you’re ready,” hope whispered and went in and penelope stayed put, feeling like she needed to catch her breath first
“your dads helping them get all their stuff out of the car,” hope said, “they’ll be inside in a minute.”
“oh my god i don’t think penelope being back after six years hit me fully until now.” josie said, a mix of excitement and nervousness in her voice
penelope smiled as josie continued rambling and lizzie and hope interjecting every few words before laughing a little over josie acting this way. she sounded so giddy and nervous.
and it fully hit penelope then too. she was finally gonna see josie for the first time in six years. well, see her in person at least. after six years of pictures, facetime calls, phone calls, and no visits. she could finally see her again, hold her again, kiss her again.
she took a deep breath and slowly made her way inside, listening to josie continue to ramble about her and seeing her again. hope lightly smiled at her as she quietly knocked on the open door, catching only lizzie’s attention as she walked in.
she met lizzie’s eyes and was met with a look of warmth and love. a genuine smile on lizzie’s face when she saw penelope of all people, she laughed lightly when she realized josie was still rambling with her back facing penelope, not yet noticing her and hope burst into laughter.
“are you alright? you don't just normally burst into laughter.” josie asked, “oh god i’ve been rambling haven’t i?”
“jo.” lizzie said, grinning at her, “turn around.”
penelope felt her heart speed up and butterflies fill her stomach. she felt every nerve both good and bad. meanwhile, josie’s breath hitched in her throat and she then slowly turned around
“hey jojo.” penelope said as their tear filled eyes finally met and it felt like they were the only two people in the world. josie mouth was agape as she got up before she finally rushed towards penelope and threw her arms around her neck, penelope immediately wrapping her arms around josie.
“you’re here. you’re back.” she breathed, pulling penelope as close as she could, “after six fucking years.”
“i’m here.” she said, tears quickly falling, “god i’ve never felt this good being somewhere again.”
josie slowly pulled her face away, only enough to see penelope’s face, “i hate you for lying to me like that.”
penelope laughed, “technically, i didn’t lie. i just didn’t tell you. for six years.”
“you asshole.” josie started, laughing as she cried, “you helped find the cure.”
“mhmm.” penelope hummed and her eyes shifted back from josie’s eyes to her lips and josie’s eyes did the exact same as they just stood there, laughter dying down
“if you two don’t kiss already, i will come over there and make you.” lizzie said and the girls laughed again
penelope rolled her eyes with a smile and cupped josie’s face in her hands before finally pulling her towards her to press her lips to hers. as soon as their lips met, they were in their own world. their own little world of familiarity and safety and comfort. kissing josie is something that came so easily and naturally for penelope and the same goes for josie about penelope. it was one of the things they never had to think twice about and penelope knew that for sure since she kissed josie on her sixteenth birthday.
josie pulled away, resting her forehead on penelope’s immediately, taking a deep breath, “god i’ve missed you so much. six years too many.”
“good thing we have all the time in the world to make up those six years.” penelope said breathlessly as she stroked josie’s cheek with her thumb, “i love you, josie saltzman.”
“i love you, penelope park.”
“see and i thought we were gonna have to stand here all day to hear that.” lizzie said to hope
“is it weird we have an audience?” penelope laughed
“weird? yeah. do i care? not at all.” josie smiled, pressing her lips to penelope’s once again
this time, they were interrupted by none other than alaric and caroline, “i see you found the twins.” caroline smiled as both girls rushed to hug her
“should we all sit? talk about this cure and what we need for tomorrow?” alaric suggested and everyone nodded, taking seats. well, attempting to at least. josie grabbed penelope before she could even sit down and pulled her into her lap, earning a wide grin from her.
“so we have a spell, it works and it will lift the curse if done properly. which i know sounds scary, but to be fair you do have to do every spell properly for it to work.” caroline said
“how much power will we need?” josie asked
“as much as we can get. get the two most powerful witches for this.”
“hope.” lizzie stated
“and penelope.” alaric nodded
“me?” penelope questioned, “i’m sure i’m not that powerful to be such a necessity.”
“pen,” josie started, “you once gave everyone at this school a magical pen and each individual pen had enough magic in it to levitate an elephant.”
“don’t sell yourself short, you always were one of the most powerful witches here and i think it’s safe to say now that you’re back, you still are.” hope said
”penelope,” alaric said, “do you know what to do?”
she nodded, “i know that both josie and lizzie will need to siphon magic, and a lot of it at that, for this to work. and i know that it’ll end in josie and lizzie passing out like they would in the merge but they’ll both wake up. that’s how we know it’s broken.”
“so the plan is to begin the merge process as usual, then halfway through you two will step in and begin a different spell, josie siphons from penelope and lizzie from hope, then you perform that different spell and break the curse.” alaric stated
“just be aware that it’ll take a lot out of all if you to do this. it’ll be hard but you’re strong enough, you just have to remember to push through until it’s over.” caroline said and all the girls nodded. they’d have to be prepared but they could do it. they were sure of it.
————————————————————————
“i’ll take refuge in hopes room tonight.” lizzie said to the girls
“hm?” josie questioned
“it’s been six years. you two need the privacy.” lizzie laughed, “i can sleep there tonight.”
“thank you lizzie,” josie smiled, “see you in the morning on our birthday.”
“have fun but not too much fun. i’m looking at you, satan.”
“no promises.” penelope winked
“ew.” lizzie said as the girl laughed before she shut the door behind her
before penelope even had a chance to turn to josie and say anything, josie was grabbing her collar and pulling her in. she crashed her lips onto penelope’s and penelope immediately moved as close as she could, hands falling into josie’s hair as she kissed her feverishly.
josie quickly adjusted so she could lay under penelope and penelope followed, settling herself in between josie’s legs and leaning into her as much as she could and neither of them dared to break the kiss for a second, eagerly trying to make up for so much lost time.
josie began tugging at the hem of penelope’s shirt and penelope quickly obliged, breaking the kiss only for a second to let josie pull off her shirt before she pressed her body against josie’s once again. when she moved, a small moan escaped from josie before josie pulled her even closer before letting more moans escape
“penny,” she said breathlessly and penelope pulled away, knowing exactly what she was going for just based on her tone, causing her to smirk
“jojo.” she said, matching the tone and josie whined, clearly frustrated by penelope mocking her instead of doing anything
“penelope,” she said as sternly as she could in her current state, “i need you. now.”
“is that so?” penelope said lightly before slowly pulling off josie’s shirt, “i think i could say the exact same thing.”
she saw josie’s eyes go a bit wide before she smirked and pulled penelope back down to her, hands roaming everywhere they could touch. it felt like they were trying to memorize each other as if they hadn’t all those years ago.
penelope pulled away a bit to mumble a spell to lock the door before she immediately went back in to kiss josie, “you sure you want to jojo?”
“i don’t think i’ve ever been more sure.”
————————————————————————
“god i’ve missed that.” josie sighed as she laid cuddled up to penelope
“i’ve missed it too,” penelope said, running her fingers through josie’s hair, “i’ve missed doing every single thing with you. from this to all the simple stuff and everything in between.”
“well now you don’t have to miss it anymore because you’re here for good and so am i.”
before penelope could respond, there was a knock at the door, “hey josie? can we talk?”
“is that raf?” penelope questioned and josie sighed, “hold on!” she called as she got up, gathering her clothes from the floor to put back on while throwing penelope hers.
“he keeps trying to make moves on me even when i rejected him and even now when he knows we’re dating,” she rolled her eyes, “i kissed him one time when i was fifteen just to siphon magic and he’s still hung up on it.”
“i get that,” penelope smirked, “if i only got to kiss you one time, i’d be pretty hung up on you too.”
“you’re enjoying this aren’t you?”
“only a little. it’s fun to tease you in more ways than how i just did.”
josie rolled her eyes but tried to fight the smile forming on her face as she walked to the door and unlocked it before opening it, “hey raf.”
“hey.. so uh.. i wanted to ask if you wanted to be my date for your party tomorrow?” he asked, “i figured since it could be your last, i could finally have my shot at taking you.”
“straight to the point but insensitive much?” penelope said as she walked up behind josie
“penelope? what are you doing here?” he asked
“like here as in the school?” she laughed, “well i am her girlfriend so i’m here to be her date to her party. oh and to help her break the gemini curse since i helped find the cure.”
“no i meant what are you doing in josie’s room.”
“well, again, she’s my girlfriend and if that doesn’t get to you, then take a wild guess as to what was just happening when we had to take a second to open the door.” she said, tapping her fingers on her chin like she was thinking and josie giggled lightly
“i didn’t realize-” he started
“didn’t realize i was in a relationship? because that’s a lie, i’ve told you multiple times.” josie fired back suddenly and penelope instantly looked at josie, grinning wildly
“that penelope was back.” he finished, visibly uncomfortable now
“her being here or not wouldn’t have mattered. she’s still my girlfriend.”
“i know i just-“
“listen wolf boy,” penelope started, “you had your shot six years ago. give it up.”
“sorry i was worried that josie’s been lonely these past six years. that’s all on you.”
“so you express concern by hitting on her despite her numerous rejections, continue to do it after she states she has a girlfriend, and even do it when she’s with her girlfriend.” she said bitterly, “don’t make me remember that barrier spell i put on the gym before josie’s sixteenth. i can and will do it again.”
“he’s just a hurricane of toxic masculinity,” josie sighed, “raf, just leave. i’m not interested and i never have been and never will be. i have penelope. thanks for your concern but i don’t need it.”
with that, josie shut the door in his face before turning to penelope who mumbled ‘asshole’ under her breath, “you’re hot when you’re mad.” she stated
“keep him here and you’ll be seeing that a lot more,” penelope laughed, “i hope he knows i could easily kick his ass.”
josie giggled before pulling penelope back in and kissing her hard, all those feelings they felt fading away into comfort and calm, “round two?” josie questioned
“offended you’d assume i’d say no.”
————————————————————————
the next morning, josie surprisingly woke up alone. no penelope wrapped in her arms and no lizzie in the bed next to her. before she could begin to get out of the bed, she noticed a blue post it note stuck to her bedside table
‘sit tight if i’m not back yet. love, penny’
josie grinned to herself as she laid back down in the bed, staring up at the ceiling while she waited. today was the day, they were finally going to break the curse and then never worry about this stupid merge ever again.
the rest of the day went on pretty quickly, penelope brought josie breakfast in bed and sang her happy birthday, josie and lizzie had birthday lunch with their parents and hope, mg, and penelope had their own lunch during that time. the groups ended up all hanging out on the roof together, landon joining them at some point while they enjoyed the girls birthday as their small friend group.
then it was time. mg, landon, and raf wished them all luck, and then alaric and caroline led the way to where exactly this needed to happen
“so here’s the plan,” caroline started nervously, “lizzie and josie hold hands as normal and begin the usual chant for the merge. after they say it four times, hope and penelope grab one of their hands and begin a different spell. after josie and lizzie say the merge chant two more times, they begin repeating after you all and you’ll all say the spell.”
“then we say it until we pass out?” lizzie asked, “and then we wake back up? and that’s how we know it’s broken?”
“exactly.” caroline nodded
“i’ll nod when josie and lizzie need to start repeating after us.” hope said and everyone nodded, understanding this plan
“alright, we’ll start when everyone’s ready.” alaric said, visibly nervous
josie immediately wrapped her arms around penelope, hugging her as tight as she could
“this’ll all be over soon.” penelope whispered, “it’ll be okay.”
josie only pulled penelope closer before pulling away slightly to kiss her, “i love you penelope park.”
“i love you josie saltzman.” penelope nodded and josie pulled away to hug her parents after lizzie had walked away from them
“thank you for helping us.” lizzie said, “i know we’ve never had a good relationship but i know how much you love josie and how happy you make her.”
“lizzie,” penelope sighed before pulling her into a hug, “there’s no need to thank me. i’d do this for you two in a heartbeat.”
after a moment, josie and lizzie were hugging and crying, scared for what could go wrong. “we’re ready.” josie spoke up and everyone nodded
they slowly faced each other and held hands, beginning the merge chant and penelope and hope just stared, counting each time they said it until it got to four.
once they had said it four times, hope and penelope quickly grabbed the girls hands, hope starting the spell and penelope followed, the magic thick in the air. after two more times, hope nodded and josie and lizzie began repeating after them, siphoning magic from them.
they said the spell about three times before penelope and hope watching in shock as their eyes rolled back and they both fell unconscious. they reacted quickly, letting go of hands and catching the falling girls.
“how long do you think we wait for them to wake up?” penelope asked, voice thick with worry as she held josie, “how long is too long?”
“shouldn’t be more than a few minutes,” caroline said as she glanced between both girls laying on the ground, “if one wakes up and we wait minutes and the other doesn’t.. that’s the curse.”
penelope nodded as she fought back tears, looking at josie in her lap.
and then lizzie gasped and shot up, everyone’s eyes darting to her as she caught her breath and realized her surroundings, “jo?” she whispered and everyone anxiously looked over at josie, still unconscious and penelope let her tears fall
“give her a minute, we still have time.” caroline whispered as lizzie and hope rushed over next to penelope while alaric and caroline knelt down
“c’mon josie,” penelope whispered, “it has to work. i told you that it would be okay.”
and they all looked from one to the other, scared looks on their faces and a guilty look on lizzie’s face
and then after a few more worrisome minutes, josie coughed. quietly, but she coughed and everyone’s eyes went wide and they fell silent
she gasped, eyes flying open as she coughed more before trying to catch her breath. she brought herself back into reality, catching lizzie’s eye before relief flooded her face.
lizzie hugged her dad who was crying and turned to hug hope as penelope just stared at josie,
tears falling down her face and josie met her eyes before she started crying too
“hey jojo.” penelope whispered
“hi penny.” josie laughed lightly as penelope helped her sit up and josie hooked her arms around penelope’s neck, “i’ve seen that face.”
“when we dug you up?” penelope asked
“yeah,” josie whispered, “you helped save me both times.”
“we did it.” hope said out loud through tears
“never scare me like that again, josie.” lizzie laughed as she dropped to her knees before pulling josie in for a hug
“no more merge.” josie reassured lizzie before standing up to hug hope as well as her parents
“we saved the day.” hope laughed, “two thirds of the avengers squad.”
penelope laughed before hugging hope, “milton’s gonna be mad we saved the day without him.”
they all stood there together for a while, taking it all in as they hugged, cried, and laughed with each other
“now,” caroline started, “if we’re all ready, i think we have a birthday party to get ready for.”
they all began walking, josie linking arms with lizzie and grabbing penelope’s hand
“hey jojo,” penelope whispered after a moment before turning her head to smile at josie, “need an escort?”
josie laughed, “sure. do you know anyone who’s heart isn’t made of stone?”
“you better not get buried again by your possessed biological mom.”
“we are not digging you up again.” hope joined in
“and i won’t allow myself to be the center of attention for that long this time.” lizzie said
“very humble of you lizzie.” penelope grinned
————————————————————————
they had reunited with their friends, everyone excited to see both twins there and calm. all their friends hugged and congratulated them as well as complimented hope and penelope for being the whole reason it worked.
their friends slowly left, going to help set up for the party as the girls went to get ready, “wanna come get ready in my room? we have.. time.” penelope had whispered to josie
“are suggesting what i think you are?” she asked
“only if you’re down.” penelope winked
“ew. get a room.” lizzie chimed in
“exactly what i’m trying to do here.” penelope simply replied and lizzie pretended to gag before smiling and walking away to find hope again
“that’s a yes by the way.” josie grinned and penelope grabbed her hand before pulling her off to her room. as soon as they got there, penelope shut and locked the door before they just got lost.
they got lost in the kisses, lost in the pulling closer, lost in the grabbing and roaming hands, simply lost in each other. they got lost in the familiarity of the moment, they got lost in all the breaths, the moans, the giggles, the soft words, everything in between. it was something they had done many times before, knowing every inch of each other yet still surprising the other all the same.
penelope pressed her body to josie’s as they caught their breath, smiling lightly and clinging to each other, “pretty good birthday present.” josie laughed
“oh don’t act like you don’t know i actually got you something.” penelope replied, her fingers absentmindedly trailing along josie’s side
“when did you even have time? you were pretty busy saving the day finding that cure.”
“i bought it the day i bought my plane ticket back here.” penelope reached into the bag by her bed, pulling out a small black box and handing it to josie
josie opened it and tears filled her eyes as she picked it up. it was a small gold heart shaped locket, ‘p+j’ engraved in it along with a picture of them when they were fifteen inside of it
“it’s beautiful. i love it, i love you.” josie said as she put it on before smiling at penelope once again
“i love you more jojo.” penelope grinned and pressed a kiss to josie’s lips before slowly sitting up, “now that we’ve pregamed, let’s get ready for your party.”
josie laughed as she sat up after penelope as penelope grabbed josie’s clothes and handed them to her, “did you pick this out?” josie asked
“of course i did. it’s similar to the dress you are gonna wear to your sixteenth birthday party. i thought maybe this could be like a redo.”
“how did i ever get so lucky?”
“oh hush.”
both girls got ready quietly, stealing glances at each other as they did. penelope was finished first, wearing a black pantsuit and one of her trademark capes, “i’m gonna go down there. i’ll see you on the stairs.” penelope winked and josie laughed lightly
“see you soon.” she grinned as penelope waved and shut the door behind her
josie had finished getting ready and was about to head out, there was a light knock on the door. confused, she walked over and pulled it open
“lizzie!” josie laughed, “what are you doing here? i thought you’d be down at the party already.”
“i thought we could go together?” she asked
“of course we can.” josie grinned as she glanced around the room to make sure she was ready to go and walked out with lizzie, shuttling the door behind her. they walked through the halls together until reaching the entrance to the steps, “you go first jo.” lizzie said
“really?”
“yes josie! you deserve to be the first one!” lizzie said excitedly, “i wanna get to watch you the way you’ve always watched me.”
josie smiled as they approached the stairs before lizzie spoke up again, “oh and josie?”
“yeah?”
“don’t be the fall girl.” she winked and josie laughed before approaching the steps as the lights and attention all went towards her
“alright everybody! welcome birthday girl number one!” the dj yelled and everyone cheered, “and her lucky escort!”
josie grinned as she finally saw penelope only a few steps down. the crowd cheered as josie made her way to penelope before they linked arms and smiled at each other, “familiar?” josie laughed
“better this time.” penelope stated, “glad you willingly let me be your escort this time.”
“i wouldn’t have traded you being my escort now. or even back then, i’m glad mg was mia and i got to have you as my escort.” josie smiled as they began to walk down the stairs, eyes glued to each other
“just don’t fall down this time.”
“i don’t plan on it.”
they laughed, enjoying this moment like they were the only ones in the room and not in front of everyone at the salvatore school. they smiled at each other like they did when they were sixteen years old at the miss mystic falls pageant.
once they got down, everyone cheered as they turned for lizzie to come down the steps too.
“and her lucky escort!” the dj yelled and penelope turned to josie with a surprised look on her face
“hope is her escort? i knew they got along now but that well?”
“yeah,” josie laughed, “i guess i forgot to mention that they became best friends once i finally told hope the truth about the time i set her room on fire and told lizzie those lies.”
penelope nodded, for a long time she had been the only one to know she had done that when she had admitted it to her in a moment of deep talks when they were fourteen years old and josie seemed to have word vomit at that point. that word vomit also resulted in josie confessing to liking penelope and penelope asking her on a date so penelope remembers that conversation clearly.
“they learned how to calm each other down which is crazy.” josie laughed, “once hope and landon broke up, they got closer. i’m not too sure what’s going on with them as of now.”
“they look super happy.”
“they do. i think all four of us are.”
after lizzie and hope finished walking down the steps, the crowd cheered again and there was loud music and lots of dancing. everyone enjoying themselves, especially the twins. eventually, a slow song started and penelope dramatically bowed to josie, “care to dance?”
josie laughed before hooking her arms around penelope, dancing close to her as the music played
“we finally get to have that dance.” penelope whispered
“thank god for that.” josie whispered back
penelope pulled back slightly to kiss josie lightly before pulling her right back in to dance
“i’m so glad we found that cure. i don’t know what i would’ve done if we didn’t.”
“we’re lucky you helped. i don’t think my mom could’ve done it without you.”
“now we don’t have to worry about the future regarding the merge. just our future.”
“our future.” josie nodded, grinning, “i’m so excited to think about that. i can’t imagine my life without you.”
everyone at the party danced all night no matter how the music changed and the twins had the most fun they’ve had at a birthday party in a long time.
no more merge. penelope was back. josie could finally live the happy life she wanted to with penelope by her side and penelope could finally feel whole again with josie by hers.
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march thirteenth became a special day for penelope and josie. it started with the day penelope made her plan to help caroline back in 2030. it continued when josie had called her in 2035 to get back with penelope. it finally continued when they found the cure in 2036, then continued a year later when penelope finally proposed. the following year on the same day, they got married. the future was good and the future was happy.
penelope may have left once, but in the end, those six long years became the best thing to happen to her. well, second to josie. to her, josie was the very best thing to ever happen to her.