Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So, tonight’s the big night huh”, Lizzie asks unenthusiastically as her twin sister picks at her pancakes.

“Yeah” Josie sighs nervously. Tonight was the night that her and her girlfriend of three months, Penelope, were going to perform an ancient spell that reveals their soulmate.

Josie was happy in her relationship with Penelope. She always did everything right and knew exactly what to say to make her girlfriend feel better. The raven haired girl defended her against bullies, kissed her like she was the only girl in the world and always provided a shoulder to cry on.

Technically, there was nothing wrong at all. Josie knew Penelope loved her and she loved her back… but she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. She always felt like something was off, but could never quite put her finger on it. She didn’t feel as complete as she felt like she was supposed to.

Either way, Josie wouldn’t be surprised if her and Penelope were soulmates. She felt like Penelope balanced her out well; she was bold and loud, never afraid to speak her mind. She was definitely dark, but not in a bad way.

On the other hand, Josie was quiet and reserved, always caring for others before herself. In fact, she never thought of or took care of herself because she was always so busy worrying about her twin sister. Penelope always urged Josie to get out of her comfort zone and start being more selfish, and as much as she knew that her girlfriend was doing it out of good intentions, the brunette witch felt like Penelope was a bit too aggressive sometimes, and it scared her.

She looked up from her breakfast and glanced across the dining hall, finding Penelope smiling at her confidently at a table surrounded by her friends. She gave a small smile back as Lizzie observed their interaction, knowing that something was obviously wrong.

“You okay, Jo? What’s wrong” the blonde twin asked.

“I’m just a little nervous for tonight, that’s all. But Penelope really wanted to do this and I feel like it would benefit the both of us if we really knew if we were meant to be together or not. We love each other, but I would like to know if this is the real thing or not. And maybe if I knew for sure that she was my soulmate I would feel better, like not feel like something is off? I don’t know” Josie replied, blinking rapidly. Lizzie could see how anxious her sister was, like she was debating with herself internally and looked at her with sorry eyes.

“But it’s okay, I’ll be okay. You know that. I’ll let you know what happens as soon as I know” Josie says as an attempt to not worry her sister. Lizzie smiles.

“You better” she teases,” but no offense, I think you could totally do better than Satan over there. She’s a stone cold bitch. You know how I can tell? Because I’m one too. Bitches always recognize bitches” the blonde twin states.

To be quite honest, Lizzie did not like Penelope. In her opinion, she was too clingy with Josie and constantly wanted to go on dates and hang out, taking away the siphoners' much needed quality time with her twin. The Saltzman twins were known for being attached to the hip, but Penelope Park changed that quickly as she stole Josie away to sleep in her room almost every night, stripping her of their traditional nightly twin cuddle. As much as the brunette twin wanted to spend time with her sister, she had a hard time saying no to her girlfriend. Lizzie wanted more than anything for Penelope to not be Josie’s soulmate so she could finally get her sister back, as selfish as it was.

“Lizzie!” Josie whines, “be nice. You-” her voice drifts off as auburn hair and blue eyes catch her gaze.

...

As Hope grabbed her usual orange and PB&J for breakfast, she overheard something that stopped her dead in her tracks, courtesy to her supernatural hearing.

“So you and Josie are really doing the spell tonight? You’re gonna find out if she’s really your soulmate or not? And aren’t you nervous at all, like what if she’s not your soulmate?” she heard a voice ask.

“If everything goes right, they’re gonna be doing much more than a spell”, another voice teased.

“Guys, shut up. But yeah, we’re really doing the spell. After chemistry of magic, I’m gonna go back to my room and set everything up. It’s gonna be super romantic and it’ll be a moment neither of us will ever forget. I have no doubt in my mind that she’s the one, and I don’t think she does either. So no, I’m not really nervous”, Penelope replied and smiled.

Hope felt her heart break as she heard their conversation, sighing as she tried to hide her pain. She glanced across the room and unexpectedly met Josie’s eyes as they watched her with a look she couldn’t read. The tribrid quickly smiled back and looked away, eyes glowing yellow as she sped out of the dining hall.

Nobody knew this, but after Hope’s parents died, she performed the soulmate spell on her own. It was an extremely difficult time and she felt more alone than ever, especially considering the fact that she was immortal. She was desperate to know if there was someone out there who she was destined to be with– someone who could love her unconditionally as her parents did. Of course, she had her aunts and uncles who loved her, but it wasn’t quite the same. Hope would have done anything to love and be loved back in return and not be guaranteed a lifetime of loneliness.

The tribrid remembered the night she performed the spell.

She had locked herself in her room, spelling it shut so that nobody could disturb her private and life changing ritual.

Candles were spread in a circle around her as the flames burned calmly. She took a deep breath, attempting to calm her nerves. What she was about to do could alter the course of her life completely, and knowing this did nothing but heighten her anxiety.

She finally picked up the blade next to her and sliced her hand gently but deep enough to draw blood, dropping the red liquid onto her grimoire in front of her as she recited the spell.

After a few seconds, wind began to blow around her as the flames intensified, suddenly diminishing completely, leaving the room in smoke and darkness. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, preparing to find out who she was destined to be with forever. She felt the tears escaping her closed eyes, and when she opened them, what she saw was enough to make her immortal heart stop.

“JS? Who could that b-.....oh my god.” The air in her lungs vanished, and the tribrid couldn't believe her eyes.

“Josie Saltzman.” she whispered breathlessly.

Chapter Text

After breakfast, Penelope walks over to Josie as she’s saying bye to Lizzie.

“I’ll see you later okay? I promise. Before tonight.” Josie reassures her sister, looking her in the eyes.

“Okay. See you later” Lizzie says with a smile, but it quickly fades when she sees her sisters girlfriend. “Satan” she nods, grabbing her bag and making her way out of the dining hall.

Penelope raises her eyebrows and rolls her eyes, extending her hand out for Josie to take.

“What’s her problem?” the shorter girl asks, her voice hostile.

“She just doesn’t like sharing me. I’m her twin, it’s always been this way” Josie replies and takes Penelope’s hand, but doesn’t hold on too tight.

The couple walk to class hand in hand with whispers and stares following them in the hallways. The news of their plan to perform the soulmate spell has quickly spread, and Penelope stands a little taller with confidence as she walks through the halls of the Salvatore School. There is no doubt in her mind that Josie is her soulmate.

Josie, on the other hand, hates the attention. She’d rather the entire school not know the details of her love life, but she thinks that if Penelope is happy and confident, she should be too. She squeezes Penelope’s hand a little tighter and forces a smile.

On the inside, she still can’t help but feel off or shake the nervousness she’s been having all morning, but puts that thought in the back of her mind. Even if Penelope isn’t her soulmate, it doesn’t mean they can’t be together, she thinks.

They head into their first class– History of Magic. The couple walks in a bit late, causing heads to turn which makes Josie panic.

“Nice of you two to show up, please take a seat” Mr. Williams sarcastically says. This causes the class to chuckle lightly, and Josie feels her cheeks burn up.

As they made their way to their seats, Josie’s eyes met Hope’s, causing her to drop Penelope’s hand.

She didn’t know why, but it was almost like it happened instinctively.

The tribrid looked at her with sadness, but still gave her a small smile.

Penelope gave Josie a confused look, noticing the sadness behind Josie's eyes but decided not to worry too much, taking a seat at the desk she shared with her girlfriend. The brunette witch shook her head, looking at Penelope and grinned, and then turned her head back to Hope who had turned her attention to the board in front of them.

Josie hated this tension between them. The two were once friends– best friends actually.

They had a rough start due to Hope always running off on missions with Alaric, but eventually grew closer, especially after Josie came clean about the fire. And her crush on Hope. But even after that confession, their friendship still continued to grow. Until one day it stopped. The late night talks in the kitchen, the sleepovers, the late night wolf runs while Josie sat and watched; they all ended. She could never figure out where or when it went wrong, only knowing the pain of Hope pushing her away. The siphon pushed her memories of Hope away and focused on the girl sitting next to her who she loved, and could quite possibly be the girl she was destined to be with forever. She grabbed Penelope’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, earning a smile from her girlfriend.

…

The rest of the day went by quickly and it was almost time to do the spell. After their last classes, Josie met Lizzie back in their room, who had agreed to help her get ready to perform the spell.

“If she isn’t your soulmate, you should at least look cute so she can see what she’s missing” Lizzie smirked as she compared outfits next to Josie.

“Lizzie don’t be so mean. This could be the happiest day of my life aside from my wedding. Give her a break.” Josie replied.

“Relax Jo I’m only kidding. Now, what do you want to wear?” The blonde twin asks her sister with a smile.

They decide on a cute red dress with small flowers sprinkled all over. 

When Lizzie finishes helping Josie get ready, the sisters hug tightly. “No matter what happens, I’ll always have your back, okay? Don’t stress yourself out too much, it causes wrinkles. If she’s your soulmate, she’s your soulmate but if she’s not, I GUARANTEE there’s someone better out there for you. Hopefully someone I can stand” Lizzie says as they break their hug.

Her kind words ease Josie’s nerves and she takes a deep breath, knowing that as long as she has her sister, everything will be okay.

“How do I look?” The brunette says as she twirls around for her twin.

“Like wife material.” her sister responds.

…

It’s time. Josie walks to Penelope’s room, takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.

Penelope opens the door and grins.

“Hey babe, you ready?” she says with a hand extended. Josie takes her hand and looks inside the room.

There is a circle of candles that are lit with a super old looking grimoire in the center along with a knife. Her eyes move from the spell setup and onto Penelope’s bed, littered with rose petals. Josie blushes and nods in response to her girlfriend’s question. She was obviously very confident about this; so confident that she thought that they'd be having sex after. 

The raven haired girl gives her a quick peck on the lips and guides her to the center of the circle.

The couple sit down and take a few deep breaths. Penelope is the first to grab the blade, cutting her palm just deep enough to draw blood. She lets her blood drip onto the spellbook and hands the knife to her girlfriend.

Josie does the same, but winces at the pain. When she is done, they look each other in the eyes, knowing this is the moment where their lives will change forever.

“I can't wait to spend forever with you, Josie. I love you.” Penelope says.

Josie never fails to be surprised with her girlfriend’s confidence.

“I love you too”, she says with a shaky voice, nearly whispering the words, semi-forcing a smile. They lock hands, close their eyes and recite the spell.

Wind begins to gently flow around them, but later becomes more aggressive. The flames on the candles intensify and Penelope’s eyes shoot open at the sound.

Soon, the candles burn out, leaving smoke in the air and her desk lamp as the only source of light. She looks at Josie who has her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes still closed, hands still locked with hers, not realizing that the spell is complete.

Overwhelmed by excitement, she looks down, shocked that her blood had not formed any letters and remained in a puddle.

“That’s okay,” she thinks, “this just means that I get to choose my own soulmate instead of fate deciding for me”.

But then it hit her. She glanced at Josie, her eyes still closed, and looked down at the letters her blood had formed.

H.M.

“WHAT THE FUCK” Penelope yelled as she dropped Josie’s hands from her own.

“Pen what the hell?? What’s wrong??” Josie exclaimed, still dazed from the spell, not looking down.

“I fucking knew it. That’s why you’ve been acting weird today. That’s why you looked at her the way you did. God, I'm such an idiot!” Penelope spit out.

"Penelope what are you talking about?? Hey calm down," Josie was quick to jump to her feet to comfort her angry girlfriend, but then, Penelope screamed in a rage that sent a magical wave through the room, throwing Josie into the wall across the room.

Her bedroom door flew open, and the sight of the girl who walked in almost threw Penelope into a murderous rage. 

"What the hell is going on??" Hope exclaimed, her voice laced with worry. 

Chapter Text

Hope had an extremely rough day, to say the least.

Learning that her soulmate was most likely promised to someone else pained her more than she ever expected and for some reason, she beat herself up for it.

Although she never expected to be in a relationship with Josie, knowing that Penelope was the one who was lucky enough to know the most intimate parts of the brown haired Saltzman twin sent pangs of jealousy throughout her body. For the last few months, she avoided thinking about Josie in that way. It hurt too much.

She didn't want to think about Josie's kind brown eyes, her kind and soft voice or her plump lips that formed the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.

She didn’t want to think about the way the two used to laugh together, or the way Josie’s eyes lit up when she did a fire spell.

Hope didn't know what to do other than wallow in her misery, so she made her way into the kitchen to grab herself a tub of ice cream to drown her sorrows in for the night. The Mikaelson girl grabbed a single spoon, a pint of chocolate chip ice cream and made her way back to her dorm. 

On her way back, she heard a scream coming from one of the doors.

“Witches and their drama,” she thought. The tribrid assumed that it was probably some girls messing around. She didn't think much of it and kept walking. 

But then, she heard the voice that she would recognize anywhere.

"Pen what the hell?? What's wrong??" the sweet voice said.

It was Josie and Penelope. The spell.

Hope stopped dead in her tracks upon hearing the worry in her soulmate's voice. Did the spell not work? Are they not soulmates? Is Penelope hurting her? A million thoughts flooded through the tribrid's mind. 

"I fucking knew it. That's why you've been acting weird today. That's why you looked at her the way you did. God, I'm such an idiot!" said the deeper and angrier voice.

A loud crash and a scream followed Penelope's accusing words and Hope automatically barged in as if it was instinct, dropping her ice cream. She had to make sure Josie was okay. 

"What the hell is going on??” Hope exclaimed, her eyes automatically scanning the room to locate her soulmate.

She spotted her on the other side of the room, lying unconscious on the floor. She had clearly been thrown against the wall, hard enough to the point where she was knocked unconscious.

Panic spread through Hope's body. 

Penelope quickly turned towards the invader.

“Hope??? What the FUCK are you doing here.” Penelope spat.

The tribrid gave her no response. She was too busy taking in the sight of the body of her hurt soulmate on the floor.

Penelope scoffed with tears in her eyes.

“Oh of course, the all powerful tribrid Hope Mikaelson has to swoop in to save the day like always. Anyone ever tell you its annoying as fuck?” she sneered. 

Her soulmate was hurt, and Hope couldn’t even process Penelope’s words.

"Josie?? Josie! Wake up" The tribrid ran over to her soulmate and knelt next to her, lifting her head off the ground and placing it on her knee. Penelope was angrily kicking the candles on the floor, screaming with rage. 

"What the hell did you do" Hope said, turning her head towards Josie’s assailant, eyes glowing yellow and her voice low and threatening. 

Penelope glared back at the tribrid, her eyes dark and her hands balled up in fists. 

“Get the hell out of my room, dog.” Penelope uttered with venom in her voice.

“This is none of your business. Josie’s my girlfriend and you have no right to barge in and act like you’re saving her from me. You’ve done enough.” she sneered. The raven haired girl took a step towards Josie. But after what she did, Hope would make sure that Penelope would never come near her again. 

Hope carefully put Josie’s head down and using her werewolf strength, she lunged herself off the ground and into Penelope’s body, pinning her on the floor, her eyes still glowing yellow.

“Touch Josie one more time and I swear to god I will shift right here and bite your fucking head off. I’ll show you what a dog I can be.”

Penelope glared at the tribrid, her eyes dark. She moved her hand to grab the knife on the floor that had been used for the spell, lifting it behind Hope’s back, attempting to stab her.

However, the witch was no match for Hope Mikaelson. She quickly jumped off the body of the witch.

“Incendia” Hope uttered, setting Penelope’s hand on fire, causing her to drop the knife and left her screaming in pain. 

“Try me one more time and I’ll melt you into a pile of ash.” the tribrid spit, ending the spell, but not before kicking Penelope in the head with enough force to knock her out cold.

“Asshole” she muttered. Hope quickly ran to Josie, who was still unconscious. 

“Jo, I’m so sorry. I’m gonna get you out of here” she whispered, moving the hair out of her soulmate’s face and stroking her cheek. Hope lifted her up and carried her out of Penelope’s now destroyed room and locked the door, hiding the evidence of their brawl.

...

The tribrid quietly took Josie to her room where she knew there would be no prying eyes.

She had no roommates–one of the perks of having a father who funded the entire school. She carefully laid Josie on her bed and covered her in a blanket, wanting her to be comfortable when she woke up. 

“I’m gonna go get you a glass of water, I’ll be right back okay” Hope told Josie as if she could hear her.

She quietly walked out of the room and made her way to the kitchen. She quickly got a large glass, filled it with water and swiftly arrived back into her room. 

When she returned, Josie was starting to wake up.

The siphoner sat up and stretched, her hand on her neck as if it were in pain. She rubbed her eyes and looked around at her surroundings, recognizing the room she had been in so many times. It brought back a flood of memories. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hope with the water in her hands. 

“Hope? What happened? Why am I here?” Josie asked quietly, looking extremely confused. Hope hadn’t spoken to her in ages, much less looked at her.

“Here, drink this.” Hope handed her the water, avoiding eye contact with her soulmate. 

Josie took the water and gave Hope a small smile.

She drank half of the glass and put it down on Hope’s nightstand.

She noticed how tense the tribrid was, and it made her sad. She missed the way the tribrid used to be comfortable around her.

Hope noticed the look on her face and sighed, sitting next to Josie’s legs on the bed. She looked into the brown doe eyes that held so much pain and confusion.

“I heard yelling when I was walking back to my room., the tribrid began to explain.

“I thought it was nothing, but then I heard your voice and you sounded so scared. I had heard around that you and Penelope were doing that soulmate spell, so I knew it was you two in there. There was a loud crash after you screamed, so I barged in and I saw you on the ground. Penelope-” 

“She threw me against the wall,” Josie gulped. “I guess we weren’t soulmates or something. I don’t know, but she was so angry. I've never seen her so furious before. She was accusing me of knowing that we weren’t soulmates, but how could I know, Hope? God, I was so terrified. I didn’t even get to see my letters, but I think she saw them. Why else would she have reacted that way?” she breathed, almost in a whisper. Tears filled her soft brown eyes.

“I’m really sorry…” was all Hope could get out. Josie didn’t know who her soulmate was. She never found out. Hope felt panicked and she couldn’t even look Josie in the eyes, knowing that she was keeping such a heavy secret from her. 

“But anyway, um, thank you for looking out for me. And bringing me here. That was the first time Penelope had ever lashed out at me. It was pretty scary, but she’s never laid a hand on me before, I promise. But you really didn’t have to do that for me, considering-” the siphon began to say. Hope quickly cut her off, “Don’t worry about it”, looking down shyly. “Did you um, want me to take you back to your room? I’m sure Lizzie is wondering where you are” the tribrid said quietly, still avoiding eye contact. 

Josie furrowed her eyebrows, thinking about what to say next. “If you don’t mind, could I maybe stay here? I know it’s been a while, but I’m not up for an interrogation from my sister. I could take the floor even”, she said, trying to look into Hope’s blue eyes. 

Hope’s heart skipped a beat and she almost smiled, but the feeling was quickly overtaken by panic. Spending the night with Josie for the first time in forever terrified her, but how could she refuse her soulmate? She had a super rough night after all. 

“No!” the tribrid quickly said. “I mean yes, uh, yes you can stay. And don’t worry about it, I’ll take the floor. Stay here, I’ll go get some blankets.” she said nervously, fumbling over her words.

Hope quickly got up, but was stopped by a soft hand grabbing her wrist. 

“You don’t have to do that you know. We could just share the bed, if that’s okay with you? I mean it’s fine with me. I’ll keep my distance” the siphoner suggested, blushing slightly. In reality, Josie missed spending time with Hope.

The last time they spent the night together felt like years ago, and the memory made her heart ache. She never realized how much she had missed Hope’s company. 

“Uh, okay, but don’t worry, just make yourself comfortable” Hope replied. She got up and slipped into the other side of the bed, keeping a good distance between her and Josie. They laid there in comfortable silence until she began to hear Josie’s breathing slow down slightly. The tribrid took that as a cue to turn over and shut her bedside lamp off. 

Then, in the pitch black darkness, something happened that made Hope freeze. She felt an arm go around her waist softly, and a head nuzzle into the crook of her neck.

The sweet smell of Josie filled her nose and she felt like she was on fire. Hope’s heart was pounding in her chest, and she wondered if Josie could hear it.

She softly laid her chin against the top of the brunette’s head and put an arm around her, embracing the moment, as guilty as it made her feel. The tribrid remembered that Josie loved to cuddle when she slept and it felt like no time had passed since the two had really spent time together.

Her heart was filled with both joy, fear, and sadness, fully feeling the weight of her secret on her shoulders. Hope decided she would tell Josie– she didn’t know when, but it had to be soon. It was bad enough that she had kept this secret for so long.

As the tribrid drifted off, tangled in Josie, she felt on top of the world and at the bottom at the same time. 

“What happened to us, Hope?” a sleepy Josie Saltzman whispered.

Chapter Text

Flashback 

15 year old Hope Mikaelson had just come back from an exhausting recruitment mission that went haywire.

Her and Dr. Saltzman had driven all the way to New York to recruit a newly turned vampire who had torn his way through the city.

When the pair found him, they immediately realized that he was a ripper and Hope knew that it would never be safe for him to attend the Salvatore School. Eventually after fighting with him for hours, they were forced to dessicate him after he nearly tore Alaric’s head off.

Their mission was a bust and they drove back to Mystic Falls after dumping his body into the ocean. Alaric knew that the wasted day would upset his 14 year old twin daughters who haven’t seen much of either of their parents recently. 

Hope laid in bed restlessly, replaying the day in her mind. She feared the one day that she would turn into a vampire, seeing how the ripper had murdered hundreds of people without any remorse.

After tossing and turning for what felt like forever, she decided to grab a warm glass of milk in the kitchen to help her sleep. Before leaving her room, the tribrid glanced at the clock, which read 3:15 am. She sighed, knowing that she would have to be up in a few hours to get ready for class. 

The tribrid walked into the kitchen rubbing the little sleep she had out of her eyes, unaware of the brunette girl sitting at the kitchen island. Josie Saltzman sat with her cheek leaned on her hand, lost in thought until she heard footsteps. 

“Hope?” Josie asked with confusion in her voice. She didn’t expect anyone else to be in the kitchen at 3 a.m., much less Hope Mikaelson. 

The tribrid stopped in her tracks and looked at her, feeling an equal amount of confusion. 

“ Josie? Hi, uh, sorry” she stuttered, “I just came down to get some milk”.

Hope awkwardly made her way to the cabinet and grabbed a jug. She opened the fridge and took the milk, poured it into her cup and put it in the microwave, all while avoiding Josie’s gaze. 

Hope and the Saltzman twins weren’t quite friends, but weren’t enemies either. They had tension between them because Lizzie assumed that Hope was stealing their father from them, single handedly deciding that the twins hated Hope. They avoided the tribrid at all costs, regardless of Alaric’s attempts to get the three girls to become friends.

Although Josie would never admit it to Lizzie, she didn’t mind Hope. The brunette twin thought that Hope was reserved and mysterious, but always polite and constantly showed kindness towards the twins, even though Lizzie had made it clear that she had no interest in being friends. This made her feel sorry for the tribrid, but nevertheless, Josie kept her distance and they did nothing more than exchange a few sentences here and there. This was the first one on one encounter that the siphoner had with the tribrid and she knew that this would be one of her only opportunities to speak to Hope without Lizzie’s interference. 

“Couldn’t sleep either?” Josie asked to break the silence. She wrapped her fingers around her own glass of milk she had in front of her, swooshing the little liquid that was left in the glass around.

Hope looked at her with her eyebrows slightly raised, shocked that Josie was even speaking to her.

“ Yeah, weird day” the tribrid replied. She glanced at Josie’s cup, noticing that she also had the same idea.

“Milk helps you sleep too?” she asked the siphoner with a small smile. 

Josie laughed lightly and replied “Yeah. Since I was a little kid,” she looked down at her glass again.

“I couldn’t sleep because I was so worried about my dad. I heard that you guys were chasing a ripper? He almost got hurt didn’t he?” the siphoner asked, her face dropping. Her father had come home barely able to move his neck, and it made Josie fear for his well being on these missions.

“Yeah” Hope sighed, “but we ended up dessacating him. He was way too dangerous to bring here and too dangerous to leave alone, so we did what we had to do”

Josie nodded, the sad expression not leaving her face.

“I just get so worried sometimes” she said quietly, “he’s human after all and one of these days I’m afraid that he’ll get seriously hurt. There’s only so much a crossbow can do you know?” she sighs.

“I completely understand,” Hope says sympathetically, “but if it makes you feel any better, I do try to protect him as much as possible and make sure he doesn’t do anything too dangerous. I know he has you and Lizzie back at home and he can’t afford to do anything stupid. Family means everything and I’d hate for you guys to lose that”

Josie looks up at Hope and smiles softly.

She realizes how kind Hope is and is surprised at how easy it seems to open up to her or how easily their conversation flows. The siphoner suddenly feels bad for the way her and Lizzie have treated Hope for the past few years. 

“I know we don’t really… talk at all. And I know Lizzie has been really mean to you. But uh, I think you’re pretty cool. It’s just that around my sister-” Josie begins to confess. 

“You can’t talk to me. I understand. I know how Lizzie is sometimes, but I don’t blame her.”

“ Yeah,” Josie smiles again. “Oh and uh, you forgot to grab your milk from the microwave by the way. It must be cold now” she reminds Hope, chuckling slightly. 

“ Oh, oh my god” Hope’s eyes go wide.

Josie laughs at her reaction. Hope awkwardly sets the microwave for another minute, her cheeks flushed as Josie watches her. 

Hope grabs her milk after it finishes heating up and stands awkwardly, taking a few sips. 

“You can sit down, you know.” Josie says lightheartedly. 

Hope smiles with embarrassment and sits down next to the younger girl. “Sorry, it’s just so weird. We’ve known each other for a decade now and this is like the first time we’ve really talked. I just don’t know how to act around you”  

“Well, it doesn’t have to be that way” Josie says with a smile, slightly scooting closer to Hope.

The light laughter of the two girls fill the halls of the quiet school, and they naturally begin to learn more about each other as the conversation progresses. They spend the next few hours talking about everything and anything, until the sun eventually comes up. They both are pleasantly surprised at how fast they clicked.

Hope yawns and looks at the time. 6:00 am. Her and Josie have been talking for 3 hours, but it feels like it’s been 10 minutes. 

“Shit, Josie. Breakfast is in an hour. I’m so sorry I kept you so late”

“

No, you didn’t,” Josie replies, “would you maybe, um, want to eat breakfast with me? I can tell Lizzie that I have to study and we can go to the dock and eat?” she asks, not quite able to look Hope in the eyes. 

Hope is taken aback by Josie’s offer, but quickly accepts. “Yeah, that sounds good. But I’m sorry that you have to sneak around just to have breakfast with a friend” the tribrid replies. 

“It’s not a problem at all” the younger girl replies and smiles. She yawns and stands up. “I’ll see you in a bit then, Hope” she says and walks back to her room. 

Hope smiles back and watches the young witch leave. The tribrid is ecstatic that she finally has a friend, especially one that’s willing to eat with her during meal times. Everyone has always been intimidated by her and avoids her, but not Josie. She was so willing to open up and see her for who she really is.

Hope got up and excitedly made her way back to her room to get ready for the day, ignoring the exhaustion in her body. 

… 

After that night, Josie and Hope quickly grew to be close friends. For the first few months, they snuck around to hang out because of Josie’s fear of her sister’s reaction, but eventually, it was hard to continue to make excuses for her absence.

Lizzie began to enjoy Hope’s presence as well eventually, and the three were able to hang out civilly.

However, Josie and Hope hung out together one on one most of the time. They would have movie nights, pillow fights, gushed about their crushes and learned to memorize every detail about each other. It was like every stereotypical best friend relationship in cheesy high school movies. The two were inseparable and spent almost every day together.

Eventually, Hope even decided to show Josie her wolf form. 

“Josie, come on!” Hope said while laughing, “turn around!!!”

The brunette witch chuckled and turned her back to the auburn haired girl. Hope took her clothes off and folded them neatly on the stairs. Within 5 minutes, she had shifted into a beautiful white wolf. She barked at Josie, who turned around with a big smile on her face. 

“Wow, Hope!” she said beaming. She sat on the stairs of the mill and Hope walked closer to her.

She ran her fingers through the soft white fur and started in awe. “You’re so beautiful…” she said softly.

Hope slowly licked her face in response, which made Josie groan and laugh. Showing their wolf form to someone was one of the most intimate things a werewolf could do, and Hope was happy that she got to do it with Josie.

This was the night that everything changed, at least for Josie. 

After they headed back to the school, the two friends had said goodbye for the night. Josie was on her way back to the room when she noticed a sock hanging on her doorknob. This could only mean one thing.

Lizzie had a boy over, and this indicated that Josie couldn’t come inside. She groaned, and instinctively went to her best friend’s room, knowing that she would always be able to crash there. 

After 2 knocks, Hope opens the door.

“Josie? What’s up?” the tribrid asked with a smile. 

“Lizzie sexiled me. Can I spend the night here?” the brunette asked with her cheeks flushed. 

“Of course” Hope chuckled. Josie smiled at her best friend and went to her usual side of the bed.

Hope closed the door, turned the lights off and made her way to her side as well and slipped under the sheets. Josie instinctively cuddled into Hope, sighing into her warmth. 

After a few moments of silence, Josie comments on the awkward situation.

“God, I hope she’s not doing it on my bed” she says with disgust.

Hope laughs loudly at her comment and Josie looks up from her side and begins to laugh along with her.

It’s in this moment where the young witch notices how adorable Hope’s laugh and smile are, and how good she smells.

"She smells good all the freaking time", the siphon thinks.

And then, it hits her like a bus.

This whole time, she had never thought that their relationship was anything other than platonic. But the moment she registered the position they were in, tangled together with her head nuzzled into Hope’s neck, she realized. 

She had a huge crush on Hope Mikaelson. 

Over the next few months, Josie’s feelings got much stronger and she tried so hard to force herself to get over Hope in order to prevent ruining their friendship.

She tried talking to other guys AND girls, even convincing herself that she had a crush on Alyssa Chang.

T he siphoner excitedly tried to tell Hope about her “crush” on the other witch, but it only made her feel worse. If she couldn’t even convince herself that she was over Hope, who else would believe her? Their friendship was shifting and she knew it, and Josie blamed it on herself. 

However, things took a turn for the worst when Hope’s parents died. 

The tribrid was devastated beyond belief.

S he cried for weeks and it broke Josie’s heart to see her best friend so heartbroken. She knew that Hope felt more alone than ever, and the younger girl wanted more than anything to tell Hope that she was loved unconditionally and that she would always be there, but she could never muster up the courage.

The tribrid became more and more distant as time went by. They would see each other a few times a week, which later turned into once a week, which eventually turned into not seeing each other at all. Josie’s heart broke for herself and for the girl she cared so deeply for, but understood that she needed space.

The pain of Hope pushing her away was nearly unbearable, but after months passed, Josie was forced to learn how to live life without her. 

But in reality, what Josie didn’t know was that Hope performed the soulmate spell and found out that the siphoner was her soulmate.

Even though Hope had performed the spell to find out if there was someone she was destined to be with forever or if she was destined to be alone, it scared the hell out of her knowing that it was Josie. As much as she cared about her, after weeks of debating with herself, she came to the conclusion that pushing Josie away was in her best interest.

Danger always followed Hope Mikaelson, and she couldn’t bear the loss of a very mortal Josie Saltzman.

Hope didn’t realize her feelings for her until right before her parents died, and she knew that Josie deserved better than to be with someone who was still very much grieving the loss of her parents. It just wasn’t the foundation for a healthy relationship. Plus, she didn’t even know if Josie felt the same way. 

Eventually, after a year or so, Josie moved on and set her sights on Penelope Park.

It hurt Hope to see her soulmate developing feelings for someone else, but she understood that it was her fault that the two had drifted apart, and in the end, she just wanted Josie to be happy.

Hope also understood the very possible reality of her soulmate bond being unrequited.

It happened all the time in the supernatural world and Hope never expected anything to come of their strange bond. All she could do was admire Josie from afar and hope that she was doing okay.

The only thing that was left of their friendship were the occasional accidental stares, one of them always catching the other looking.

She knew that she would always cherish the memories her and Josie had together, even if it never amounted to anything.

Hope loved her, and for the longest time, she didn’t even know it. Josie Saltzman would always have a piece of her heart, even if she would never get a piece back.

Chapter Text

Josie wakes up to the bright morning sun shining on her face, not fully aware of where she is. That is, until she feels the warm body of a sleeping Hope Mikaelson by her side.

She rubs the sleep out of her eyes to make sure that she isn’t imagining what she is seeing right now. The sight of Hope nearly makes her heart melt, and she can’t help but admire the way the morning sun shines through the blinds and onto Hope’s skin. It makes her look angelic. 

The siphoner quickly pinches herself, trying to stop herself from letting her thoughts wander too much.

She gently untangles herself from Hope, not knowing exactly how she feels about the fact that they had spent the night together for the first time in over a year.

As she stretches her legs, she feels a sharp pain coursing throughout her body. The pain brings back the memories of the night before. Of Penelope. 

She starts to freak out slightly, immediately thinking about Lizzie and the fact that she has to update her sister on what happened.

Even worse, she has to face Penelope. Josie knows that the next few days are gonna be extremely difficult because of the fact that her and Penelope need to discuss what happened and where they are going to go with their relationship after last night’s events.

She secretly wishes that she could crawl back into bed with Hope, but quickly takes the thought out of her head.

She finds some paper and scribbles a quick note to Hope, thanking her for taking care of her last night and that she hopes to talk to her again soon.

The younger girl leaves the note next to Hope on the bed, and softly cups her cheek, rubbing it with her thumb. Hope stirs slightly, and Josie takes that as her cue to leave.

She'd hate for Hope to see her walking out on her.

She quietly walks out and makes her way to the room that she shares with her twin. 

There, she is met with a very anxious Lizzie.

“Josette Saltzman. Where were you last night??” The blonde twin said, relieved that her sister finally came back, pulling her into a hug, “what happened? You didn’t answer any of my calls or texts”

“Lizzie I have to tell you something” the brunette twin says quietly in response, her voice shaking slightly. 

Josie sits Lizzie down and tells her sister everything that happened with Penelope and the spell, and how Hope saved her and let her stay the night in her room. The emotions on Lizzie’s face change from shock, to sadness, to anger and to relief. The brunette couldn’t help but get a little emotional as she walked her sister through the events of the previous night, and Lizzie held her twin’s hand in support. 

“I just don’t know what to do now. How do I face Penelope after what happened? And Hope…” 

“Well first things first. I am going to kill that bitch.” Lizzie says angrily.

Josie looked at her sister sadly. 

“Sorry Jo. But she could have really hurt you. Good thing Hope was there, otherwise God knows that would have happened” Lizzie says. She notices the look on Josie’s face when she mentions Hope, suddenly remembering how Josie used to feel about her. 

“How are you holding up? After speaking to Hope again after all this time…”

“I don’t know… I think I have to answer that after I get everything settled with Penelope. But it just felt so normal, like nothing changed. And then I remembered how much it hurt when she pushed me away and I just… I don’t want to feel like that ever again” Josie says, her voice full of emotion. She was starting to feel super overwhelmed.

The spell situation was already enough as is, but her interaction with Hope made everything so much more complicated. Lizzie looked at her with sad eyes, still holding her hand. 

“I’m probably overreacting though, it was probably nothing. Hope was just being kind, she’d do the same for anyone” Josie says with a sad smile. She felt guilty for being this conflicted about Hope. Even though Penelope hurt her, she was still in a relationship with her as of now and she felt like it wasn't right to be feeling this way about Hope, whatever it was that she was feeling. 

“I think we should go get something to eat to make you feel better. And then if you want, we can skip class for today” Lizzie suggests in an attempt to cheer up her sister. 

“No, it’s okay. If we skip everyone’s gonna know that something went wrong with the spell and gossip is gonna start spreading. Plus, I need to speak with Penelope,” Josie says. 

The twins get up and begin to get ready for the day. Once they are finished, they walk down to the dining room, arms linked together. 

…

After breakfast, the Saltzman twins make their way to their first class.

In the crowded hallway, Lizzie catches a glimpse of Penelope. The raven haired girl looks beat up and is sporting a black eye, courtesy of Hope. She quickly looks away and walks off into another classroom. 

“Satan spotted, 9 o’clock” Lizzie whispers to her twin. Josie quickly turns her head, but by then, Penelope is gone. 

“How does she look?” Josie asks. 

“I’ll just say… if Hope beat someone up that well for you, your feelings may not be unrequited after all,” Lizzie says with a smirk. 

“Lizzie!!! Shut up! There are no feelings!” Josie exclaims and slaps her sister on the arm, her eyes wide. 

They walk into Trigonometry together and as they walk in, Josie sees Hope sitting alone at her usual desk.

As the twins approach their desk that happens to be one table ahead across from Hope, Josie looks over and gives her a small smile. Hope opens her mouth as if she wants to say something, but spots Lizzie observing their eye contact and she settles for a simple smile back. 

Throughout the entire class, Josie feels eyes on her and she desperately wants to turn around to look back at them.

Then, she feels a tap on her shoulder. 

“Pssst. Jo, Lizzie. Here,” MG whispers and hands them a note.

Josie turns around and takes the note with a confused look, but not without sneaking a look at Hope.

MG winks at her and smiles. She takes the small piece of paper and opens it with her sister. 

“Party tonight. Old Mill, 9 pm”, the note reads. 

Lizzie smirks after reading the note and Josie shakes her head. 

“Lizzie, I don’t know about this…” the brunette twin says. 

“Come on, Jo. It’ll be fun. Plus, Satan never passes up the opportunity to drink herself to the brink of alcohol poisoning, so it’ll be the best place to publically dump her. There’s lots of people too, so if she tries anything, she can’t hurt you. And then you can run off into the sunset with Hope” Lizzie says teasingly, trying to convince her sister to attend. 

Josie sighs and says “I’m not going to dump her at a party. But I do think I’ll be able to talk to her there. She obviously avoided us in the hallway for a reason” she groans, “Fine, I’ll go.” reluctantly agreeing to her sister’s offer, “And stop talking about Hope, she’s right behind us” she says sternly. 

Lizzie smiles and lightly claps, making her sister roll her eyes. 

When class is over and everyone begins to pack their things, Josie sees Hope and feels the need to say something to her, at least to thank her in person for saving her. 

“Lizzie, you go ahead to class, I’ll meet you there in a sec. I just have to ask Mr. Johnson something” she tells her twin. Lizzie nods her head in response and leaves the classroom, but not without smirking at Hope.

The blonde twin knows that her sister was making up an excuse to talk to the tribrid. 

Hope begins to walk out of the classroom and Josie walks quickly to catch up with her. The siphoner grabs her wrist and her fingers go numb. It feels electric.

The action makes the tribrid stop in her tracks. She turns around and sees Josie looking at her shyly, and Hope gives her an awkward smile in return. 

“Hey Hope. Good morning” Josie says, stunned at the way she suddenly grabbed Hope. She drops her hand and blushes slightly, hoping that the tribrid doesn’t notice. 

“Hey, Josie. Uh, thank you for leaving the note. It was really nice of you” the tribrid replies, trying to ignore the pounding in her chest. 

“No of course, I should be the one thanking you for saving me and letting me stay the night. So thank you” the brunette says shyly. 

Hope smiles in return. 

Suddenly, Josie’s mind can no longer control her mouth. 

“So um, there’s this party at the old mill tonight? I know you aren’t much of the party type but I was wondering if you wanted to come. We could catch up… you know for old times sake?” the siphoner spit out, shocked by her own courage, “but I mean, if you don’t want to, I totally understand. You saving me doesn’t automatically mean we’re friends again and you’re probably busy and..” she sees the look on Hope’s face, “I’m totally rambling” she says quickly, looking away.

Hope laughs and finds Josie’s awkwardness adorable. But just as she started to feel the butterflies in her stomach begin to form while watching Josie speak, Hope suddenly felt the weight of her secret again. She only felt it when Josie was around and she knew that after last night, she had to tell Josie the truth. It was no longer fair to keep it from her.

Hope’s mind started to churn and she came to the conclusion that if she went to the party, she would have the opportunity to tell Josie about the soulmate spell and blame it on the alcohol. An unwise decision, but the tribrid knew that the liquid courage was required to make such a confession. She would never be able to do it on her own. 

“Sure, I’d love to come. If that’s okay with you” Hope smiled. 

Upon hearing the tribrid’s words, Josie couldn’t help but blush even more. 

“Of course. Okay then, I’ll see you later?”, the witch says, looking her in the eyes. Hope nods in response and gives her a quick goodbye. The brunette's eyes follow the figure of the tribrid walking away. 

And then, realization hits Josie. Her eyes suddenly go wide with panic. 

“What the hell did I just do?” she whispers to herself. 

It dawned on her that she would have to juggle both Hope AND Penelope at the party.  

…

A few hours later, it was almost time for the party and the panic running through Josie never ceased.

The twins were in their room getting ready, and time seemed to go by too fast for Josie. Lizzie on the other hand was rummaging through her closet for something to wear, and as she pulled out an outfit to show Josie, she noticed her sister groaning to herself loudly as she tried to perfect her winged eyeliner. 

“Josie what’s wrong? You always nail your eyeliner.” the blonde twin observed,  “Spill." Josie looked at her and sighed.

“I really screwed up Lizzie. Penelope is definitely going to be at the party and I only agreed to go so that I could talk to her there. And then after class, I stupidly invited Hope to the party so that we could ‘catch up’. I completely forgot about Penelope and I just blindly invited Hope. I have no idea how I’m gonna be able to talk to the both of them.” Josie said, followed by a groan. 

“Oh……. shit.” Lizzie says in response. 

“Yeah. Shit.” Josie says with a panicked look in her eyes. She goes back to her eyeliner, groaning when she messes up again. 

“If Penelope sees me with Hope, she’s gonna be really mad and would probably start a fight, and if Hope sees me with Penelope, she’ll assume that I went back to her and she’ll never speak to me again.” 

“Why are you so concerned about what Hope thinks all of the sudden?” the blonde twin asks while holding up two outfits, comparing them. 

Josie drops her hand from her eye and sighs. 

“I don’t know, Lizzie. I have no idea why I care so much” the brunette twin says in defeat. 

Speaking to Hope, much less cuddling with her to sleep conflicted Josie more than she had ever expected.

A day ago, she would have confidently said that she was happy in her relationship with Penelope. She loved her, after all. Penelope was good to her in so many different ways and was a great girlfriend. 

However, being around Hope again brought back years of buried memories and emotions, and for some reason, she couldn’t get the tribrid out of her head.

She would be lying if she said that getting with Penelope wasn’t an attempt to get over Hope. After their very platonic friendship had ended, Josie was left in shambles, and she wanted to believe that Penelope was the first to make her feel those butterflies again.

The siphoner did get over Hope eventually and focused completely on Penelope, but after what happened with the spell, she didn’t know if she could stay in the relationship any longer. Was there any point of continuing the relationship if they weren’t soulmates?

It all depended on the way her conversation tonight with Penelope went. 

“You know what Lizzie?” 

The blonde twin looks up from her 10 outfits laid out on her bed. 

“I need to prioritize my relationship with Penelope over anything. The spell didn’t go right, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be together. We just need to talk things out. And Hope…” Josie gulped, “Hope Mikaelson ended our friendship years ago. If she can’t handle me speaking to my girlfriend, so be it. It’s not like we have a relationship to lose anyway.” she said, secretly feeling guilty about her words but at the same time, felt a slight surge of anger at Hope for pushing her away. 

Lizzie raised her eyebrows, slightly confused and shocked at her sister’s declaration. 

“Well...whatever the case may be Josette, you definitely need to wear this.” she replied, holding up an outfit. 

An hour later, the twins were ready. 

Josie was dressed in tight, black high waisted jeans with a matching black silk tank top that had a lace collar. She put on boots and red lipstick to complete the look. According to Lizzie, it was a great breakup outfit, and the brunette twin rolled her eyes at the comment. The blonde twin wore a short and tight floral dress with a leather jacket on top. 

Once Josie felt prepared for the mess of a night she knew she got herself into, the twins made their way to the Old Mill, the thumping music being heard the moment they stepped into the forest. She took a deep, shaky breath, and her sister squeezed her hand in support as they made their way inside. 

Chapter Text

The music was loud as the Saltzman twins approached the Old Mill, but when they actually went inside, barely anyone had arrived yet.

It was sort of an unspoken rule that everyone would arrive an hour after the party was supposed to start. Josie and Lizzie had arrived on time, which actually meant that they were actually there an hour early, but the brunette twin didn’t mind. She thought she could use the time to think. 

MG and Kaleb greeted them loudly as they walked in. Lizzie embraced the welcome with a big, mischievous smile and immediately grabbed a drink from MG.

Josie on the other hand opted for a soda; she needed a clear and sober mind for what was to come next. She didn’t know who she wanted to see first– Hope or Penelope. But no matter what the case was, she definitely needed to speak to Penelope and get to the bottom of things. 

"Cheer up, Jo. It's a party!" Kaleb yelled to Josie, followed by a loud cheer from MG.

The siphoner laughed slightly and shook her head. She made her way upstairs to the second floor of the mill– her favorite spot. It was where she had a full view of the stars and the sky, as well as all the students who were approaching the party. It was the most peaceful place she could think of, and at this moment, Josie definitely needed some peace in her life.  

After an hour or two, the party started to fill up.

As more students began to file in, Josie stood at her spot, eyes scanning the crowd. She didn't know if she was looking for Penelope or for Hope, but the idea of the two of them interacting at the party scared her.

When she couldn’t spot either of them, she sighed and swooshed her drink around. The brunette witch finally decided to text Penelope to ask where she was, and she reached into her pocket for her phone.

However, the sound of a painfully familiar voice stopped her actions. 

“Yeah, we’re not together anymore. Fuck that."

The voice gained some 'Mhmms' from their audience. 

"The dog can have her for all I care, she’s not my problem anymore” the voice slurred. 

Josie turned her head in disbelief. Did she really just hear Penelope say those words? 

Her eyes darted quickly around the room, trying to locate the owner of those harsh words. After some time, she finally spotted her. 

Penelope was obviously drunk out of her mind already, sitting around a fire with a few of her witch friends with bottles of hard liquor surrounding them. Lizzie was right, the girl never failed to drink herself to the brink of alcohol poisoning. 

The siphoner angrily approached the group, making everyone look up as a result of her loud footsteps. 

“Penelope, what the fuck??? What are you doing???” Josie said angrily. 

“Oh hey Jojo” the witch smirked, “nice of you to join us. Where’s your girlfriend?” she asked cooly, taking a swig of the liquor in her hands. 

“Sitting in front of me, acting like an immature drunk,” she said, glaring at the witch, “but we need to talk. Now, Pen.” Josie demanded.

She hated the way Penelope acted when she drank, she always has. 

“No need to talk, we’re already done. We were done since we found out the dog freak was your soulmate” Penelope said nonchalantly.

Her friends made an ‘oooo’ sound, loving the drama that was unfolding before their eyes. 

“What are you talking about.” Josie replied sternly, her eyebrows furrowed and oblivious to what was going on. The way Penelope was acting was infuriating her and she felt like she was on fire, but in the worst way possible. 

“She doesn’t know…” Alyssa Chang says, realizing based on the look on Josie’s face. Her voice was full of amusement, and she smirked at her friends sitting around her.

Josie shot her an threatening look, which made the witch raise her hands in surrender. 

“Good luck Jo, this is gonna be a shit show” Alyssa says slyly, “come on guys. We need refills.” she tells the rest of the group. They all get up, leaving Penelope and Josie alone. 

“I don’t know what?” Josie demands an answer with an intense look in her eyes. Tears are forming in her eyes and she feels like she’s about to fall apart. 

“Your letters, Josette ” Penelope spit, rolling her eyes and taking another swig.

The alcohol dripped down her chin and she messily wiped it with her sleeve, “Your soulmate’s initials when we did the spell. Did you not see them?” she asked, voice laced with poison.

“No…” the siphoner whispered in response, “but if they weren’t yours, you didn’t have to hurt me. We could have talked about it. You threw me against the wall, Penelope. I was knocked out for crying out loud and you didn’t even try to talk to me after. The first time I’m seeing you after the spell is right now, while you’re drunk out of your mind and treating me like shit. I’m over it, to be quite honest” Josie says a little firmer, wiping the tears dripping down her cheeks.

She sees a hint of sadness in Penelope’s eyes, but her words convey something entirely different. 

“There was nothing for me to say,” Penelope shrugs, her voice cold, but unable to look Josie in the eyes, “The one who you were destined to be with alllllll along swooped in and saved the day, as always.” Another swig. 

Josie froze and she felt her entire body go numb. Her ex-girlfriend’s words hit her like a bus, and it felt like the entire world had stopped. 

“W-what?” was all the brunette girl could muster out in a whisper.

She clenched her arms, wrapping them around herself. Her whole body started to lose feeling as she tried to comprehend what Penelope had just revealed. 

“Yup. Our friendly neighborhood tribrid, Hope Andrea Mikaelson!” the drunk witch says sarcastically, nearly shouting.

She notices that her bottle is empty and she drops it, letting it shatter on the ground.

Josie flinches at the sound but her eyes are still wide, tears streaming down them. 

“Well, technically, only H.M. appeared, but I guess the big fancy know-all witches on the other side tend to forget about the middle names,” Penelope continues. 

“W-why didn’t you t-tell m-me?” Josie says between tears.

The poor girl is shaking between cries.

Hope, the girl that she was desperately in love with, the girl that she spent so much time getting over was her soulmate. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it and the emotions were starting to overwhelm her. Her body began to grow even more numb, and the siphoner collapsed on the ground. 

“It just is what it is, right Jojo?” Penelope said quietly. 

Not a second later, a fist makes contact with Penelope’s head, knocking her out cold. Again. 

Suddenly, arms wrapped around Josie’s body, and she began to sob even harder. 

“Shhh, Josie it’s okay. Everything’s okay,” a soothing voice whispered to her, trying to comfort her. 

“Hope?” Josie quietly asked, instantly recognizing the tribrid’s voice. She lifts her head that was buried in her hands as she sat on the floor sobbing. Her own voice nearly came out in a whimper. Her face was red and drenched with tears. 

The tribrid nodded and smiled. 

“Come on, everyone’s looking, let’s get out of here,” Hope helps Josie stand and keeps her arm around her to stabilize the younger girl, who’s still sniffling.

As they leave the building, Lizzie spots them and immediately understands what’s going on.

“Fucking Penelope,” she spits, already on her way to find the raven haired girl. She grabs Kaleb, and together the pair go to find Penelope.

The drunk girl would soon realize the power of a Gemini witch. 

… 

Hope and Josie walk far enough in the woods to be out of sight of the party, but close enough to hear the music and voices of the students.

They find a spot at the bottom of a tree and sit down, and Hope lets Josie fall apart on her. 

The brunette witch leans her head on Hope’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably while the tribrid holds her. Hope rubs her back and remains silent, letting her soulmate get all her emotions out. 

“I’m sorry, I got tears all over your shirt” Josie says after a little while, still sniffing. 

Hope smiles at her words. “This? Oh it’s nothing” she chuckles. 

Josie looks down, embarrassed. 

“It’s okay, Josie. You know I’m always here for you”, Hope says softly but sincerely. 

“Not for a while,” Josie replies, her eyes still down.

Hope can’t help but feel guilty for being absent for the past year.

The weight of her secret nagged at her again, and she realized that it was time.

The tribrid took a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry. For not being here. For pushing you away, for everything. There’s an endless list of the things I’m sorry for,” she started. 

Josie looks up and into her eyes. It’s dark outside, but she swears she can still see the blue in them. 

“I know it was wrong to push you away. It was a time that I needed you the most, and I still pushed you away,” Hope continues, her voice starting to shake.

Josie notices, and takes her hand softly in response. 

“I don’t know when it started, Josie, but I just… I started to feel so much for you. In ways that friends normally wouldn’t and,” the tribrid took a deep breath, “and then my parents died” she said as a tear rolled down her cheek. 

Josie quickly pulled her into a tight embrace, ignoring how fast her heart was beating and how much she longed to hear those words from Hope. 

“Hope… it’s not your fault that you pushed me away. It was a super traumatic time and you didn’t know how to react when they died. You don’t need to apologize for that” Josie said sweetly, rubbing circles on Hope’s hand, her own nearly trembling.

“No, Josie that’s not it”, Hope continued. Josie gave her a confused look.

“After they died I…” she breathed shakily, “God, I’m so sorry I kept this from you for so long, Josie. I didn’t know what to do I-”

“Hope, what happened?” Josie pressed softly, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. She wrapped her hand around Hope's a little tighter. 

“I… I did the soulmate spell. On my own. I felt more lonely than ever and I just wanted to know if I would be doomed to be alone forever and-”

Josie froze and her eyes went wide. She looked into Hope’s eyes, not knowing what was going to come out of her mouth next. 

“I did the spell and,” one last breath, “Your initials showed up, Josie,” she whispered. 

Hope searched the younger girls eyes for a reaction, tears running down her cheeks. 

"Say something, Jo, please?" the tribrid softly pleaded. 

But before she knew it, two soft hands grabbed her face and pulled her into the most magnetic kiss she had ever felt. Hope lost herself in Josie’s soft lips, and it felt like heaven and earth had finally aligned. 

The tribrid softly wrapped her arms around Josie’s waist, pulling her dangerously closer. In return, Josie’s hands moved from Hope’s face to around her neck, finally diminishing all the space in between them. They kissed and kissed, unable to ignore the desire and astronomical pull between them. 

When the need for air was too apparent to ignore, the two pulled away softly. 

“I think I need to tell you something too," Josie breathed, the world still spinning around her. 

Chapter Text

“What is it?” Hope whispered softly, the world still spinning around her. 

She was left dazed long after Josie’s lips had left her own. Kissing Josie felt like all the broken pieces inside of Hope had finally been put together and for the first time in her life, she felt complete. Whole. 

She gently slid her hands from Josie’s waist up to her cheek, rubbing the skin in circles with her thumb.

The action was enough to make the siphoner shiver. She never wanted Hope to stop touching her. The tribrid had touched her many times before, but not in the way that Josie wanted; her touches were friendly, reassuring and always respectful. 

But the way Josie fantasized about Hope touching her was not in any way respectful. She wanted the older girl to be impolite and rough, taking what she wanted and showing Josie that she was hers ...

“Your initials appeared when Penelope and I did the spell” Josie confessed softly, “I didn’t see it when it happened but she… she just told me when I tried to confront her at the party”. The siphoner played with the fabric on Hope’s shirt, “I literally just found out” she said with a slight chuckle.

Hope’s eyes widened with shock. 

“So that means we–”

“You’re my soulmate, too” the brunette replied, not able to contain her smile. It was the first genuine smile she had in awhile, and the reason behind it was worth every moment of sadness and conflict she felt before.

Hope immediately pulled her into a hug and the two girls held each other like they never planned to let go. 

Josie sighs into Hope’s neck, breathing her scent in. It was a mix of pine, shampoo and just simply Hope . 

The witch left a small kiss there, sending chills down the tribrid’s spine. She secretly wishes she could leave more. 

Hope’s breath hitches, and she prays that the brunette didn’t notice. It was way too early in their relationship, whatever their relationship was, to start feeling urges , she thought. Speaking of relationships… 

“Wait so you and Penelope…” Hope asks nervously, slightly pulling away but just enough to see Josie’s entire face. 

“We’re not together anymore” the siphoner replies to Hope’s question, already knowing what she was going to ask. 

“Oh…” Hope replied, feeling a twinge of happiness. 

“Are you um… are you okay?” she asked, trying to cover up her selfish happiness.

Josie furrowed her eyebrows. Lately the brunette had felt nothing but conflict and frustration. Everything was happening so quickly; speaking to Hope again for the first time in a year, the soulmate spell, breaking up with Penelope, finding out that Hope was her soulmate… her emotions were a jumbled mess, but all that Josie knew was that being with Hope and kissing her… it all felt so right . 

“I’m okay now, yeah” she reassured the tribrid, tucking away a piece of her auburn hair behind her ear. 

Hope watched her with a concerned look. Josie had broken up with Penelope about 20 minutes ago, but now she was kissing her and being dangerously affectionate. She couldn’t help but feel doubt crossing through her mind. 

What if she doesn’t even like me? The tribrid thought. Well, she just kissed me. But what if I’m just a rebound? What if she feels like I’m trapping her because we’re soulmates? But her body language… But she just got out of a relationship.

So many destructive and contradicting thoughts were running through the tribrid’s head that she stayed silent for a while, until Josie’s voice snapped her back into reality. 

“I guess… something had always been off with Penelope and I. I think I always knew what it was... but I never wanted to admit it. It just made me feel horrible and guilty but I just didn’t want to feel the pain anymore” the brunette’s arms rest on Hope’s shoulders while her fingers play with the hairs on the tribrid’s neck. 

“What was it?” Hope asked softly, her arms around Josie’s waist. 

“Well… when Penelope and I got together, I don’t think I was fully ready to commit to a relationship. That was a mistake I made. I went into that relationship with someone else in my heart and I just wanted to move o–” 

“JOSIE!! There you are!!” a familiar voice interrupted, making the girls jump away from each other quickly. 

Lizzie Saltzman came running towards them, her hair disheveled and messy.  

“Thank god you’re okay… and what are you doing with her ?” Lizzie said as she eyed the two girls. 

“I was just uh… we were just talking” Hope quickly explained, stepping away from Josie.

The brunette looked at the tribrid with sad eyes. Hope had just confessed her love to her and she didn’t even get the chance to reciprocate it. Josie was worried that Hope didn’t know how she felt, regardless of them being soulmates. She had just kissed her like a horny teenage boy, but never got to tell Hope how long she had dreamt of them being together. 

“Well, I just kicked Penelope Park’s drunk ass for you and I’m exhausted, I think it’s time we ditched this lame ass party,” the blonde twin said, linking her arm with her sister. 

“Yeah, you both must be tired” Hope replied, noticing the look on Josie’s face, her insides matching the sadness that was in her soulmate’s. 

“I’ll talk to you soon Josie” the tribrid said softly with a small smile. So much had happened that night; the amount of adrenaline and euphoria and even lust , Hope knew she needed to shift to relax her mind after Josie left. 

“Bye Hope” Josie said in a near whisper, heart aching because she longed to spend more time with her newfound soulmate. She felt the tug of her sister’s arm, and the two began to walk away. 

The tribrid kept her eyes on the twins until they were no longer in sight. It was then that she walked a different direction, away from the party. 

Once she was far enough to not hurt anyone, she took her clothes off and shifted within 2 minutes, letting all the tension in her body loose. She ran and ran, allowing the wind to flow through her fur. 

… 

After running for hours, Hope began walking back to her room. The party had finished long ago, but there were still some drunk students wandering the woods. Idiots , she thought. 

But no matter how much noise they made or how many bottles they smashed against the trees, all the tribrid could think about was Josie. 

She thought about the way the brunette’s lips hungrily took hers, the undeniable magnetism between them, the way Josie was nearly straddling her…

When she arrived at her door, she could hear breathing and a heartbeat. Based on the scent that was still lingering in the air, Hope knew who it was. 

“Josie?” the tribrid opened the door, still shocked to find the brunette sitting on her bed although she knew exactly who was waiting for her on the other side. 

After so long, it was still shocking to see Josie, especially when she was so close to her. 

“Hope!” the siphoner jumped up from the bed, a little startled,  “how’d you know it was me?”

“Your scent” Hope replied with a small smile, walking in the room and sitting on her bed, patting the space next to her. The brunette sat down next to her shyly. 

Hope picks up on Josie’s nervousness and scoots closer, closing the space between them. 

“Are you okay?” the older girl asked. 

It was nearly 3 a.m and judging by the look on Josie’s face, Hope knew she was exhausted. 

“I don’t think our conversation was finished when I left”, the brunette said lowly, raising her eyes to Hope’s. 

The siphoner slowly reached for her soulmate’s hand, and the tribrid let her take it with no hesitation. 

Hope looked back into her soulmate’s soft brown eyes, not knowing what the younger girl was gonna say next.  

The soulful brown orbs stared at her back with adornment, pupils huge.  

They were so close, to the point where the two were basically sharing oxygen. 

“You told me that before we… drifted… you felt something for me?” Josie started. 

Hope nodded softly, feeling the thickness in the air within the little space they had between them 

“There’s something that I’ve wanted to tell you for so long Hope, but I never knew how to. Even before this whole soulmate thing. Things got so complicated and we stopped talking… and then I ran to Penelope like a lost puppy,” Josie whispered, taking Hope’s other hand. 

“I don’t remember when I started feeling it, but god, when I did, I had no idea how to act around you anymore. It was completely platonic until it wasn’t, and I pined after you like a hormonal 13 year old boy. I just caught myself one day watching you laugh and I just...”, her breath suddenly hitched.

The siphoner paused when she noticed Hope leaning in slowly, never taking her eyes off of her. 

The tribrid pressed her forehead on hers, giving Josie’s hand a soft squeeze to prompt her to continue. 

“I completely fell for you and I had no idea what to do. We fell apart and for months and months I tried to get over you. It's why I got with Penelope” she looks down guiltily. She knows it was wrong for her to use Penelope in that way.

"But now it just all makes sense. Why I felt off with Pen and I's relationship, even when I finally loved her. It's because all along it was you," she inhales, "it's so wrong and I feel horrible for doing that to Penelope, but I just can't fight the fact that with you... everything feels so right" she finishes with an exhale. 

Hope takes Josie’s face with both hands and slowly leans in, touching their noses together. 

“You loved me too?” the tribrid asks, her voice barely audible. 

Josie’s heart is pounding and she knows that Hope can hear it. The magnetic pull between the two is once again present, and the brunette can’t do anything but nod softly, looking into Hope’s eyes, prompting her to just close the damn space . 

Hope licks her lips, and the sight makes Josie’s body go numb. 

Her hands automatically reach for Hope’s shirt, pulling her close and lips meet lips. 

Josie lets out a relieved moan, tangling her fingers into Hope’s hair. 

The kiss is slow, but passionate. There’s no urgency or hesitation, just pure love and want. 

Hope knows that the two should probably talk more about everything , considering the events that occured that night, but she can’t find it in herself to stop the kiss. This is a moment that both girls have been longing for forever , and who was she to put a stop to it? 

The two kiss and kiss, rarely taking breaks for air and never getting enough of each other. 

Soon, Hope finds herself on top of the brunette, addicted to the little moans of satisfaction coming from her soulmate. 

She kisses along Josie’s jaw and down to her neck, driving the siphoner insane. 

“H-hope?” Josie breathes, panting and full of desire. 

The tribrid looks up, her eyes golden. She sees her soulmate panting with pure desire in her eyes, and she knows that they have gone far enough for the night. 

Hope smiles, panting as well, and leaves a quick kiss on Josie’s cheek. 

“Do you maybe wanna stay the night?” she asks, and the brunette’s eyes widen with shock. 

The older girl chuckles at her response. 

“Like sleep silly. I’m exhausted”, she sighs, rolling over off of Josie. 

The brunette chuckles and cuddles into Hope, their bodies fitting together perfectly. 

“Always”, Josie replies, snuggling into her soulmate, never wanting to leave Hope’s side. 

Chapter Text

For the second night in a row, Josie wakes up in Hope's bed. 

She can't help but notice the coincidence and the realization makes her smile, filling her heart with warmth. As she opens her eyes, she sees sprawled out auburn hair and the peaceful face of a sleeping Hope. All the siphoner feels is pure happiness and adoration towards the tribrid and she decides that waking up next to Hope is one of her favorite things in the world.

It had only been a few days since her and Hope had reunited and things have been moving very fast. Josie loved that the two had an undeniable bond and a very strong physical connection, but she knew that they needed to discuss their relationship and how they were going to take the next step instead of just making out all the time. The brunette would be lying if she said she wasn't super turned on last night from their little make out session. 

Josie sits up and holds herself up on her elbow. Obsessed with the way Hope is cuddled into her, she leans in and softly kisses her cheek.

The action causes the tribrid to stir, and this prompts Josie to continue leaving kisses from her cheek, down her jaw and to her neck. She's suddenly aware of how little self control she has around Hope, considering that she had just told herself that the two girls needed to figure out their relationship without doing anything drastic physically yet, but the skin of older girl begins to look undeniable... 

"Hope" Josie whispers in between kisses. 

"Wake uuupppp", the brunette girl teases as she continues to go lower. 

Hope hums in response, and Josie grins against her skin and chuckles. "Morning," the brunette smiles innocently. 

The tribrid opens her eyes and smirks, taking in Josie's position and pretends to go back to sleep. 

"Morning. I'm going back to sleep, you can continue." Hope teases. Josie lets out a dramatic gasp, softly hitting Hope and rolling her eyes.

"I have to go check on Lizzie, I just wanted to wake you up so I didn't have to leave you again like I did the other night" the brunette says, tracing Hope's jawline with her finger. 

The brunette knows that her twin is hungover as hell and in desperate need of food and water. At least, that was what her twin pain was telling her. As much as she wanted to stay with Hope, she knew her sister wouldn't get out of bed herself.

Hope whined in response and pulled her soulmate even closer than they already were. 

"Okay" she pouted. 

"Also," Josie says as she slowly starts to get up, "as long as I've waited to kiss you and as much as I love doing it, I think we need to talk about... everything"

"What do you mean?" Hope scrunched her eyebrows in concern, twirling a piece of Josie's hair around her finger. 

"Like where we're going to go from here, our relationship... everything that comes with being soulmates. We definitely had a strong start, but I do think there's things we need to discuss" Josie replies. She still hasn't gotten used to the word "soulmate", and she can't believe that Hope is hers. The two weren't in a official relationship yet, but the younger girl was definitely open the idea of being with the tribrid forever. 

"Yeah, you're right. We can talk later today if you're free? Or you can come back here tonight", Hope says with a wink. 

"I'll come find you" the brunette says with a giggle. She leaves one last kiss on the tribrid's cheek and gets off of the bed. 

"Later, Jo" she says in reply, her wolf whining at the sight of Josie leaving the room. The brunette turns around and flashes one last smile at Hope before closing the door. 

... 

Josie comes back to her room to a passed out Lizzie sprawled out on her bed. Her twin pain never failed to let her know when her sister was feeling hurt or uncomfortable. Right now, the headache she was feeling was horrible and she knew she needed to get some food and water into her sister. 

"Lizzie, wake up. Let's go get some food" the brunette twin says as she shakes her sister awake. The blonde twin tended to party a lot harder and could hold a hell of a lot more liquor than her sister, but because of their twin bond, both of them felt the effects of Lizzie's reckless drinking the next day. 

"Uggghhhh" Lizzie groaned in response, shoving her pillow on top of her head. Josie continues to shake her sister.

"Come on Lizzie my head is killing me and I'm starving" Josie whines. 

"Okay okay I'm up" the blonde twin opens her eyes and glances at the clock. 

"1 p.m?? Jo, did you just get in??" Lizzie asks, immediately sitting up.

After parties, Josie usually made sure both girls were up at a reasonable time so their father wouldn't suspect that they were at the parties. She would drag Lizzie out of bed and into the cafeteria, curing her hangover through lots of toast, bananas and water. The fact that the brunette twin had just woken her up and it was past noon was extremely unlike her.

But then, she remembered that last night, Josie had been with someone... 

"Oh my god... don't tell me you slept with Hope last night" the blonde twin teasingly demands with slight disgust in her voice, "Is that where you went after the party??"

Josie's eyes widen and she immediately stands up, walking quickly to her drawer to change her clothes. 

"No uh," she stutters, "I was with MG, we were playing smash bros all night and I lost track of time and fell asleep there" she says as her back is turned to her sister, knowing she would immediately catch her in her lie if she saw her face. The brunette digs through her drawer for a shirt with flustered hands, and Lizzie raises her eyebrows at her sister's suspicious behavior. 

"Well whatever it is, we need to avoid running into Dad until dinner. We both look like hell and if he finds out we were drunk the day before a game against Mystic Falls, he'll kill us both", Lizzie says nonchalantly as she gets out of bed and walks to the bathroom. 

"Wait what???"

Josie completely forgot about their football game against Mystic Falls tomorrow, and the fact that Lizzie was QB1. After the events that unfolded for last few days, football was the last thing in her mind. The brunette twin threw her head back and groaned, then finally decided to throw on a big hoodie with a pair of leggings. She felt like crap and she decided that she might as well dress like it too. 

... 

After both twins get ready, they make their way to the dining hall, which is mostly cleared out because lunch was almost over. There is barely anything left, but the girls know that there is no being picky with food during a hangover. 

They go and grab whatever food is left over and begin walking to their usual seats. On their way there, Josie's eyes fill with panic when they spot MG sitting with Kaleb and Jed. She suddenly remembers the lie she told Lizzie to hide the fact that she spent the night with Hope and quickly runs over to the table, leaving Lizzie a few steps behind.

"MG cover for me" she quickly pleads and sits down, throwing her legs over the bench.

"What??" he questions, looking back and forth between Josie and her sister. 

"Just! Cover for me" she whisper yells. 

Lizzie catches up a second later, raising an eyebrow. Josie innocently smiles wide with teeth, making her look more suspicious than she already does. 

"So... how was smash bros last night?" the blonde twin asks, picking up her fork and digging into her pasta. 

"Uh...um.." He looks to Josie with wide eyes and she looks at him back with stern ones, mouthing something he can't comprehend. 

"uh... it was fun! She kicked my ass" he said, his voice shaking slightly. He looked at Josie and flashed a smile, giving her a thumbs up when her sister wasn't looking. The brunette rolls her eyes in response. 

"Hmm" Lizzie says in response, her eyes looking back and forth between Josie and MG. 

The group hears footsteps entering the dining hall, but only Josie bothers to turn around to see who it is. The sight of the person sparks butterflies in her stomach and a smile immediately spreads on her face. 

Hope smiles in return, and when she starts to walk over, Josie's eyes immediately go wide, motioning Hope to go away. The tribrid scrunches her eyebrows and looks at her confused, and walks over to the juice machine instead, grabbing a glass of orange juice and leaving the dining room immediately.

The siphoner feels bad as soon as Hope leaves, but if Lizzie saw her and Hope together, she knew her sister would quickly put the pieces together. She quickly whips her phone out and scrolls through her contacts, hoping that the tribrid's number didn't change within the last year. 

Josie: So sorry, Lizzie is suspicious about us and I told her I was with MG last night. I'll try to come find you later, promise <3 

Hope: No worries, see you later :) It's nice to see your name pop up on my phone again 

Josie blushes at the message that appears on her screen and bites her lower lip. 

"Hey Lizzie, uh, are you doing anything later today?" the brunette twin asks, trying to see if she has an excuse to go see Hope while her sister is busy. 

"As a matter of fact, yes. I'm getting all the girls on the team together so we can figure out what we can do with our hair for the game tomorrow. If we're gonna lose, we at least have to look cute" 

Josie sighs.

"Text Alyssa, April, Nia and Heather would you? And Hope too," Lizzie says and her twin's eyes lighten up at the mention of her not so official girlfriend, 

"I'm making her cover for Penelope" the blonde continues, "I kicked that bitch off the team so she's gonna be our water girl tomorrow. You're welcome, sister" she smirks

Josie's eyes go big and she nods. She takes out her phone once again, but only to text Hope. 

Josie: Lizzie says you're covering Penelope for the football game tomorrow? 

Hope: Wait what?? There's a football game tomorrow?

Josie was relieved that she wasn't the only one who forgot. 

Josie: Yup, Lizzie wants all the girls on the team to get together tonight for hairstyles or whatever. I don't think there's any escaping her tonight so I think our talk is gonna have to wait 

Hope: Well... maybe we can sneak off after? ;)

Josie: You might have a point ;) 

Hope: I'll see you later tonight then, don't miss me too much 

Her cheeks flush at Hope's response once again, this time attracting the attention of everyone at the table. 

"Who's making you so giddy, Jo?" Kaleb says teasingly, nudging her shoulder with his. 

"No one" the brunette says looking down, embarrassed. She feels like a 12 year old school girl hiding her crush from her friends. 

After the group of friends finish eating, they part their separate ways. Lizzie wraps her arm with her sister's, intent on making sure that her sister doesn't suspiciously run off again.

However, the blonde twin's eyes catch something on her sister's neck, making her gasp dramatically and pull back. 

"Josette Saltzman is that a HICKEY???" 

Chapter Text

Every year, the Salvatore School was doomed to win the football game against Mystic Falls High School, especially without the ability to use their magic. That, however, does not stop Lizzie Saltzman from being extra.

From their hangover breakfast until sundown, Lizzie spends her time preparing the twins' room for all the girls on the team to come over. The entire floor is filled with snacks, drinks, and enough hair products to equip an entire Victoria's Secret runway show. 

According to her, the blonde twin intended for this little get together to be a team bonding/hairstyling thing for all the girls on the team, but Josie knew her sister too well. The same way she knew why Lizzie had recruited Hope to be the team's water girl, and the same way that she knew why her sister had invited the tribrid over that night. 

Josie knew that this was just a ploy so that her sister could see what was going on between her and Hope; the blonde twin has been suspicious since she almost caught them making out the other night at the mill. 

That is why she plans for their escape from Lizzie's party that night, so that they could spend some quality time together away from prying eyes.

While Lizzie was busy arranging the party, Josie secretly put together a little picnic basket for her and Hope. It was filled with all of Hope's favorite foods, along with a blanket and some candles. She was dying to spend some more time with the tribrid, since the two had only recently reunited after nearly 2 years of not speaking. 

With that thought, Josie prays that Lizzie wouldn't be able to smell the gumbo inside the basket, slowly sliding it under her bed so her sister wouldn't find it. She had the perfect night planned with her not-so-official girlfriend, and she did not want Lizzie to ruin it for her. 

However, that plan immediately goes to shit the moment Hope enters the room. 

When the tribrid walks in, her eyes instantly find Josie and the brunette feels her world around her stop as she looks back into Hope's eyes. Something out of a movie, really.

Lizzie spots their interaction and does what she does best–– cockblock. 

"Hope! So glad you're here!" she squeals and grabs her arm, "you're gonna be Alyssa's braiding partner tonight!" 

As she speaks, Lizzie looks at her sister who glares at her back with annoyance radiating from her entire being. She saunters over to Josie with a menacing smirk on her face, and the brunette wants to wipe it clean off of her face with her fist.

"Lizzie!?" she seethes. "I thought I was gonna be Hope's partner"

"Sorry sis, you're stuck with me" she teases. Josie can only groan and shoot Hope an apologetic look, and the older girl looks back with a pout. 

Throughout the rest of the night, Lizzie does all she can to get a rise out of her sister when she gets between her and Hope. There is even one instance where all the girls sit in a circle and Josie quickly runs over to sit beside Hope. She makes it and the two give each other relieved smiles, however the moment is ruined when Lizzie jumps between the two girls, her bottom landing on Hope's hand. This elicits a "Lizzie what the fuck!!" from the brunette, and all the tribrid can do is roll her eyes in frustration. 

The gumbo sits under Josie's bed, cold and forgotten. 

By the end of the evening, the blonde twin has worn the entire girls football team out and they slowly shuffle out one by one. 

"Okay ladies! I don't want to see a single eyebag on your faces tomorrow morning. Get your beauty sleep and meet at the dining hall at 8 am sharp!!" she demands with slouched backs turned to her. 

Hope is the last to leave, and while Lizzie isn't looking, she turns to Josie and opens her arms, motioning for the younger girl to hug her. 

"I'm so sorry for tonight," the brunette runs to her and throws her arms around Hope. "I prepared a whole picnic for us but Lizzie decided to be a b-" 

"It's alright, Jo" Hope chuckles, "I'm just happy I got to see you," she wraps her wrapping her own arms around Josie. She feels like home, and the tribrid can't help but let out a satisfied sigh at their embrace.

"Just make sure you drink a lot of water during the game tomorrow" she smirks against the skin on Josie's shoulder. 

The siphon giggles and Hope's eardrums vibrate with happiness. If heaven had a sound, it would be Josie Saltzman's laugh, she thinks. 

...

The Salvatore School football team huddles up in a circle, and Hope can't help but admire the way Josie's eyebrows scrunch together when she is concentrated. The tribrid stands under a tent a few feet away wielding a wagon of water for the team, even though she knows most of them wouldn't need it. Especially the vampires. 

Nonetheless, the hot Virginia sun beats down on everyone on the field, and the humans of the Mystic Falls team look especially pathetic as they groan and complain about the heat. 

The team's huddle ends with a clap and Josie adorably jogs to her place on the field, shooting a wink at Hope, who had been staring at the girl for quite some time already. However, the brunettes eyes drift to the bleachers and Hope sees the exact moment her smile drops into a frown. 

The auburn haired girl whips around to see what her soulmate had been looking at, and what she sees makes her blood begins to boil with rage, nearly warming up the cold water she was holding. 

Penelope Park. The stupid girl was smirking at Josie, her Josie, and Hope fights the urge to hurl the entire wagon at her stupid face. Penelope obviously hadn't learned her lesson from the last time she was this close to her.

Hope scoffs and turns back to the game that has apparently already started, but her lack on knowledge about the sport keeps her from knowing for sure. Penelope's presence nags at her in the background, but she chooses to ignore it before she does something stupid. If not for her, for Josie. 

She manages to stay calm through the first half of the game, handing water to the occasional team member who comes up, just to keep up appearances of course. She was hoping for Josie to come, but the girl is lost in the game, working closely with her sister on losing. 

Hope watches painfully as the teens crash into each other and call it sport, and play after play, Josie still does not come to the water tent. This slightly disappoints Hope–– her eyes have been glued on the brunette throughout the entire game and the girl hadn't looked back at her once.

Penelope being there makes everything so much worse, and the tribrid feels irritation and even jealousy burn within the pit of her stomach. Why was Josie giving an already lost game her full effort? Why wouldn't she look at her? Is it to impress Penelope?

Hope sighs, blowing a lone strand of hair off of her face. She decides to blame her irritation and sudden insecurity on the heat. 

Near the end of the second quarter, someone in the crowed screams, "Go Josie!!! You're doing great babe!" and Hope's vision goes red and her body grows numb. Penelope's annoying voice violates her ears like an out of tune violin, and the urge to incendia the witch nearly overwhelms her. How dare she. She quickly flips around and sees the short haired witch smirking slyly and clapping for her ex girlfriend, obviously to get a rise out of the brunette and Hope. 

Hope doesn't notice how her hands are so tightly wrapped in fists that her entire knuckle turns white, prepared to throw a curse at Penelope.

Thankfully before she can do that and expose the Salvatore School by using magic in front of humans, she smells a whiff of roses and a soft hand wraps around her clutched fists, unclenching them in an instant. 

Hope snaps awake from her anger and calmness overwhelms her, like her body recognized Josie's touch. She turns around and finds the brunette in front of her, sweating and panting softly. Her hair is a bit messy, and her face was slightly tanned from the sun, but it makes her look even more beautiful. The tribrid forgets ever feeling anger or insecurity. Josie is here, and she decides from the way that the younger girl was looking at her that she had nothing to be worried about. 

"Jo? Hi," she says softly, "thirsty?" she picks up a water bottle and hands it to Josie. 

Josie nods and smiles, and Hope can't tell if the pink on her cheeks is because of the scorching hot heat or if the younger girl is blushing. She hopes for the latter. 

The brunette's hands linger against Hope's own for ages as she takes the bottle from her hands, and Josie shyly smiles down at the ground at the contact. A drop of sweat drips down Hope's back, Josie being here had made the air around her ten times hotter. 

"If I fake an injury, will you take me to the nurse?" Josie blurts completely out of nowhere, and Hope nearly chokes on the air she is breathing. Did Josie just imply that she wanted to sneak away from the game? Together? 

"Like... leave the game?" Hope asks, and the brunette nods, the corner of her lips slightly lifted. 

"Uh... yeah, sure yeah" Hope clears her throat, "but why? I thought you were enjoying the game" 

"I'm kind of over it, I just want to get out of here. Preferably with you?" she asks with her eyebrows raised, as if she doesn't know if Hope would be willing. But Josie doesn't even have to ask. 

"What are you gonna do?"

"Just watch" the brunette says with a wink and jogs back to the field, ready for the next play. Hope keeps a close eye on her, ready to jump in and carry her off into the sunset... or nurse's office. Whatever.  

The whistle blows and the lemon shaped ball is thrown into the air, causing the Stallions to chase a Mystic Falls team member for it. In the chaos of it all, Josie runs near the crowd of tangled teenagers and dramatically falls over to the ground, clutching her ankle in pain. She lets out a very believable scream, and when the whistle is blown again, Hope takes this as her cue to retrieve Josie. 

"Hey there, stop!" a voice yells, probably the medic, but she doesn't care. 

The tribrid sprints over as humanly as she can and kneels next to Josie. From the corner of her eye, she can see Josie smirking slyly and the tribrid does her best to not laugh.

"Her ankle is twisted!!!" Hope screams before the medic arrives. Alaric arrives after Hope, quickly running over to his "injured" daughter.  

"Josie? Are you alright?" 

"I have to take her to the nurse." Hope says quicker than she intended to. 

"We have a medic, Hope. There's no need" Alaric argues. Josie lets out another dramatic groan. "Dad, just let her take me. It hurts so much" she winces, loudly sucking in air through her teeth. 

"She's hurt Dr. Saltzman, I can carry her" Hope says the last part through her teeth and motions to Josie with her eyes, silently reminding the man that she is the all powerful tribrid and has enough strength to carry 100 Josies. 

The man huffs and looks at her, like he momentarily forgot who and what Hope was. "Fine. I'll meet you two there after the game." 

Alaric calls the medic off and with that, Hope scoops Josie off the field bridal style, trying her damned best to not smile like an idiot. The entire school can see them, hell, the entire town can, and her wolf is more than happy that in this moment, Josie is hers. She imagines how twisted Penelope's face must be right now. 

Once they are out of sight of anyone attending the game, Hope lets Josie onto the ground. The brunette blushes at Hope's strength–– the older girl was carrying her like she weighed nothing at all. They walk through the woods back towards the school, the shade from the trees sending a cool breeze through the forest. It was peaceful and quiet and exactly what both girls needed after days of chaos. 

"Thanks for sneaking off with me," Josie says, brushing her shoulder against Hope's. It was an innocent gesture, but whenever Hope was this close to Josie, she felt like she was going to explode with nervousness, yet felt like she was at home at the same time. 

"I was dying to leave anyway," the tribrid grinned, "you practically saved me. I hate muggle sports"

The brunette giggled at Hope's reply, and the auburn haired girl feels her heart warm up at the sweet sound. She hadn't heard it for a while, and the sound practically made honey drip out of her ears.

They walk slowly through the forest, taking in the fresh air and calming breeze around them. Every minute or so, their hands and fingers brush together, filling both their cheeks with deep red. Hope decides to be bold and make a move for once, and she gulps as her left arm goes numb with nerves because of what she is about to do. 

When their hands brush again, Hope's fingers make sure to latch onto Josie's and she softly intertwines their fingers. Her feet seem to forget how to walk, because she stops moving all together. It seems like Josie doesn't expect the motion at all either, because she stops dead in her tracks as well. 

The brunette turns around to face Hope, who is looking back at her with a look that no one else has given her before. Josie's fingers tighten around Hope's, the air around them growing thicker. 

"I saw the way you looked at Penelope at the game," Josie says softly while stepping closer to Hope. The tribrid looks down, immediately feeling ashamed that she was caught during what was almost a violent outburst. She pouts slightly, and Josie seems to notice the Hope's expression and her own lips curve into a frown. 

"Hey, she was just trying to get to me. And you," the brunette laces their other free hands together, and it makes the innocent moment so much more intimate. "You don't ever need to worry about her, okay?"

Hope looks up at her and bites the inside of her cheek. Josie looked at her with so much adoration, more than Hope thinks she deserves. 

"I know we're soulmates and all," Hope starts and her words make Josie's smile drop slightly, "but I don't want to force you to be in a relationship with me. You aren't tied to me in any way, you're still free to do as you please, you know". The tribrid hates the way her words come out and immediately regrets it. The last thing she wants is for Josie to feel like she doesn't want her, but she just wants the younger girl to want to be with her, regardless of the whole soulmate thing. 

"Why do you say that?" Josie tilts her head, squeezing Hope's hands. 

"I mean... we haven't really discussed what we are yet,"

"Uh huh..." the brunette begins to look worried and pulls Hope's hands, moving her body closer to hers. 

"And I noticed myself getting irritated at the game. Jealous even, because Penelope was cheering you on. She even called you babe," Hope says the last word like it's poison in her mouth, "I just realized that you're not even... I don't know... mine? And I was still getting jealous and that's not fair to you" 

"I care about you so much. I love being around you, laughing with you, kissing you. I love who I am around you. But I care about your happiness and freedom more, and I don't want to make any decisions for you, or for you to feel like your future is decided" Hope continues, her voice low and soft. 

Josie drops their hands and for a second, Hope's heart drops to hell, but it quickly comes back up when Josie comes closer and cups both sides of her face. She leans in and ever so softly captures Hope's lips with her own. It takes the tribrid a second to gather herself and kiss her back, but when she does, their lips slide against each other fervently. Josie's lips pull away achingly slowly a few seconds later, as if teasing Hope's, urging them to chase her. The feeling of her lips linger long after they are gone, and it makes the trees surrounding them spin. 

"What was that for?" the tribrid says breathlessly as Josie's thumbs brush her cheeks. 

"To show you that it's you I want." the younger girl whispers and smiles. Their noses are nearly touching, and even though Josie had just been through a sweaty football match, her rose filled scent never leaves her. It intoxicates the air around them and Hope's entire being buzzes with pure adoration for the siphoner. 

"Really?"

Josie rolls her eyes and chuckles. She playfully swats Hope's shoulder, "of course silly. Haven't you noticed that I've been all over you the second you saved me?"  

"I guess I'm oblivious" the tribrid tries to hide her blush as she looks down at their feet. 

Josie's hands drop back down and she intertwines her fingers with Hope's once again. This prompts the older girl to look up at her and she smiles shyly, taken aback by how bewitching Josie's brown eyes are. She finds herself getting lost in them, but that's nothing new. That tended to happen whenever the younger girl was around.

"I don't think you know how seriously I take this soulmate thing, Hope" Josie softly says, staring back into the blue orbs that are locked with her brown ones. She stares deeply in them, as if she is searching for the soul within them that her own is intertwined for eternity with, "I think I've always had a feeling it was you, but I was too afraid to admit it, or afraid that you didn't feel the same way. But now that I know for sure," a hand goes back up to Hope's cheek, deepening their eye contact, "I want this. More than anything. You're it for me, and I'm ready, as long as you are" 

Her breath tickles Hope's lips, and her words nearly make her melt into a puddle on the floor. Josie wants her, and she just wants to be worthy of Josie. Josie deserves the world, and Hope wants more than anything to be that for her. She doesn't want to be like the people who have hurt her in the past.

"You know I would do anything for you, right Jo?" she whispers, softly caressing Josie's hand with her thumb and the girl nods. She leans in so that their foreheads touch. "I don't know if I'll be good at this, I don't want to push you away again" 

"So don't."

Before Hope's mind can wander to places of insecurity, places where she would not be enough for the girl she adored so much, she allows herself to surrender to the fear and captures Josie's lips with her own. Her lips are delicate, yet passionate, but they tremble against plump ones, afraid that they are not worthy. The younger girl sucks in a breath through her teeth as their lips brush, as if taking her final breath of the air that is full of Hope Mikaelson. In a way, it is her final breath. It is the final breath before two souls dedicate themselves to each other forever, and with that last breath, Josie connects their lips once more. They tenderly take the lead, promising the older girl everything without saying anything. This kiss is different from any other that they have ever had. This time, it is clear that in the way their lips move and in the way that they hold each other that this kiss meant certainty and devotion, and that it was them against the world.