Chapter Text
Hope knew there was a reason she avoided parties like the plague.
It first started the afternoon after Miss Mystic Falls, when Lizzie burst into Hope’s room. Hope herself was working on a canvas, letting out all the pent up emotions gathered over the last week. When the younger blonde strutted in, it took the redhead by surprise, and paint got everywhere. After she inspected the damage done to her clothing, Hope turned to glare at Lizzie.
“What do you want, Lizzie?” She asked, moving around to clean herself up.
The blonde had already flung herself down onto Hope’s bed as she watched the older girl rub blue off her arm. “Alright, listen,” Lizzie began. “I know you’re going to hate it, but I’m throwing a party for my, sorry, your win at Miss Mystic Falls.”
Hope already knew where this was going. “Sure.”
“It’s in your honor, you need to be the-” Lizzie stopped. “I’m sorry, did the great, anti-social Hope Mikaelson say yes to a Lizzie Saltzman party?”
Hope huffed as she finally got the last splotch of green off wrist. She turned to look at the blonde lounging on her bed. “First of all, did you just refer to yourself in third person?”
“Maybe.”
“Secondly, I am not anti-social!” she exclaimed. “I’m just anti-being-around-tons-of-sweaty-hormonal-teenagers.”
“Whatever, my job here is done.” Lizzie pulled herself off the bed and started for the door. “Tomorrow night, eight o’ clock, don’t be late,” she called, slamming the door behind her.
Hope just rolled her eyes and went back to her art.
And now, here she was, at the Old Mill on a Saturday night, just like she promised, talking to her ex-boyfriend who had gotten her mother killed.
For what Hope told Landon, the fact that her mother was dead and her ex was the cause never left her mind when she saw Roman, always there, lingering, an intruding thought. Actually, that was why she was here. Hope obviously hadn’t told Lizzie, but she was hoping to get two things done tonight. First, thank Roman for what he did two days ago, stepping in and dancing with her when Landon bailed. Secondly, Hope was hoping word had spread to her boyfriend about the party, and that he was in attendance. So far, she hadn’t seen him, but then again, she had only seen Lizzie, when she first stepped into the Old Mill.
She spots Roman. He was near the alcoholic drinks Lizzie had set out for the partiers earlier.
“Roman!” Hope calles out. “Hey,” she says when she catches up to him, “you know that that doesn’t do anything to vampires, right?”
Roman smiles and says, “I know, I just like the taste.”
“Can we talk?” she asks. He just nods and starts walking
The pair headed to a private corner of the Mill, eliciting a few glances along the way. Neither Hope nor Roman were frequent partygoers, Hope being anti-social (maybe Lizzie was right, just this once) and Roman being off-campus all the time.
“Listen,” Hope begins when they stop walking, “I just wanted to thank you for what you did the other day.”
Roman quirks an eyebrow. “What exactly did I do?”
He killed your mom, the pesky voice in her head said. Hope pushes the thought away and forces a laugh. “You’re really going to make me say it?”
He grins. “Yup.”
She groans, her smile becoming a little more real. “Fine. Thank you, Roman, for dancing with me at Miss Mystic Falls. You didn’t have to, but I’m grateful you saved me from eternal embarrassment from two schools. Not to mention what would happen with Lizzie if I showed up without an escort.” Hope shivers. “Don’t even wanna talk about that horrendous thought.”
Roman laughs and says, “The one thing I’m scared of in this world is one Elizabeth Jenna Saltzman. I could never let you face that.”
Hope laughs a little. “Wanna catch up?” she asks, gesturing at a nearby couch.
“Sure,” Roman says, plopping down on it.
“Damn, Roman, leave a little room for me,” she grins, tossing his arm off the back of the couch. “Stop manspreading everywhere, it’s gross.”
“Gross, really, that’s the best you could come up with?”
“Of course not, Mr. Manspread-Over-A-Communal-Couch. Now that I’m thinking about it,” Hope frowns suddenly, “I’m pretty sure at least five couples have had sex on this couch.”
“Nope. Banish that thought. This couch is pure, not sex-stained, nobody’s even kissed on this couch.”
Smirking, Hope just points to two boys making out on a different couch across the room.
“Ugh,” Roman groans, dropping his forehead down on Hope’s shoulder.
It was then when Hope spotted a head of dark, curly hair stalking towards them, a frown firmly plastered over Landon’s face.
“Oh no,” she muttered. “Roman, get up,” she said, shoving the boy’s head away from her.
“Why, what’s happening?” He looked around, slightly disoriented by the loud noises and heartbeats of teenagers.
“Hi.” Landon stopped in front of them, planting his feet, firmly on the wooden floor.
“That’s happening.” Hope answered Roman’s question, looking up at the drunk mess she called her boyfriend.
“What’re you doing here, Hopey, you’re never at parties,” he slurred, taking another swift swig of the drink clasped in his hand.
“I came,” Hope reached up to take the cup away, “to talk to you and Ro-”
Landon pulled away from Hope. “Roman, huh? You came to talk to him? You never come when I ask you to, and he got your mother killed, Hope! I see where I stand now.” He was in fact, not standing, leaning against the wall as if he was going to fall any second.
Both Hope and Roman stood up, reaching for the drunk Phoenix, looking to steady him. Landon, however, pulled away from them, instead, stumbling backwards into a table.
“Fuck,” he hissed, dropping his cup. Roman and Hope stood side by side, watching Landon make an embarrassment out of himself in front of their entire school. By now, the little trio had gained most people’s attention, and Hope spotted Lizzie coming their way. She had to get this under control, now.
“Hey, hey, Landon, come on, let’s go back to school, we can talk there,” Hope said, once again reaching for the boy. And once again, Landon pulled away.
“No,” he yelled, “no, you don’t get to take me back to school. You know why? You knew we found my mother, you knew who she was and you knew how I always wondered what she was like. We, I, met her, made memories with her, and then I forgot about them. And you, you didn’t even tell me about her!” If anyone hadn’t been paying attention before, they certainly were now. Even Lizzie stopped in her tracks, watching in shock as the meager bird yelled at the tribrid.
“And what’s worse is that even fucking Saltzman knew about it! Who else did you tell, huh, Hope?” Landon swung around wildly. “Did you tell her?” he screamed, pointing at Lizzie. He chuckled darkly as a “realization” came over him. “I bet you told Roman, didn’t you? You told your new little boyfriend, completely forgetting about the one you already have, the one WHO DIDN’T GET YOUR MOTHER KILLED!”
Where tears had been pooling up in Hope’s eyes before, they now flooded over, streaming down her face. Watching the invincible Hope Mikaelson cry was too much for Lizzie. She marched down to the sentient jar of artisanal mayonnaise, got right up in his face, and started scolding.
“Do you think this is funny, Bird Boy? Do you think making fun of your girlfriend’s dead mother in front of our entire school is fun? What would happen if I started talking about your forgotten mother, who never even wanted you?” Lizzie ranted. It was too much for a drunk mess of emotions to handle, apparently. Landon’s hand started going up, up, up, and towards Lizzie’s fearful face. In a flash, Roman was there, gripping Landon’s warm hand in his colder one.
“You don’t want to do that,” he warned Landon.
Lizzie shook herself out of her stupor. “Were you about to hit me, Bird Boy? Were you about to slap me, Paprika? Aw, wait, that's too much flavor for you. I’ll show you flavor!” The blonde lunged at Landon, hands forming a circle, aiming for his neck.
There were suddenly arms around her waist. MG. “Lizzie, it’s not worth it, look at Hope,” he whispered into her ear. Lizzie twisted around in MG’s arms to look at her friend. The redhead was shaking at the scene in front of her; Roman’s hand was still around Landon’s wrist, gripping it tightly, Lizzie was flushed and angry, and Landon. God, Landon. The boy was drunk beyond belief and saying things he would surely regret if he was sober.
The sight of a teary Hope grounded Lizzie. She pulled away from MG. “Listen, Bird Boy, you need to leave. You need to get out of here and don’t bother any of us. Now, you have two options, either leave peacefully and no one gets hurt, or Roman here,” she smiled a sweet but sinister smile at the blonde boy, “will drag you out,” she finished, turning back to Landon, her face hardening. “That’s going to end in a lot more casualties, Bird Boy. Your choice,” she shrugged.
Hope watches as Lizzie’s words processed through Landon’s mind, making sense of them. Roman finally let go of Landon as he turned to Hope once more, but before he could even open his mouth, Hope said, “Leave, Landon.” The words were quiet, but they cut through the deadly silence of the room.
At Hope’s demand, Landon huffed and stormed out of the room and into the woods. As soon as the Phoenix was out of eyeshot, Hope crumbled. Lizzie’s arms were around her in a flash as she sobbed on the wooden floor. “Get them all out of here,” she heard Lizzie hiss to MG, who started ushering the teenagers out. “Roman, you too,” Lizzie said the boy, who hesitated as he watched his sobbing ex. Roman knew that him being there would only make matters worse, so he turned and filed out with everyone else.
Hope clutched one of Lizzie’s arms like a lifeline, Lizzie’s free hand going up to stroke her hair. The younger girl began muttering sweet nothings into her ear, just wanting her friend to calm down. Nothing she did helped, so Lizzie finally whispered, “What do you need, Hope?”
Hope gasped for breath. “My mom. I need my mom,” she said before dissolving into tears once again.
Lizzie’s heart clenched for the redhead. “I know, Hope, I know,” she murmured, stroking her back.
Josie was having a shitty day. No, she was having a shitty week. A shitty year, even. Everything with Miss Mystic Falls and Hope and Lizzie, then Penelope leaving, no, Josie was certainly not doing well. She was holed up in her ex’s room, avoiding her sister like the plague, having only left once, yesterday, in the middle of the night, down to the kitchen to make a snack for herself. She hadn’t eaten anything since. Instead, she was combing through every single thing Penelope had left behind in her room, carefully placing it back so it would be right where Penelope had left it when she came back. She was coming back, of course she was coming back, she would never leave Josie alone.
Somehow, Josie had managed to convince herself Penelope was on a trip to Belgium with her family, and she would be back in two weeks. Maybe it was the hunger that deluded the siphoner into thinking that. A small voice that sounded surprisingly like her mom said, you silly girl, you need to eat. You’re going crazy. You’re right, Josie thought, Penelope is gone and she’s not coming back. She’s not coming back. Those four words echoed through her mind like a ping-pong ball.
Josie started sobbing. On her knees, in the middle of her ex-girlfriend’s room, she just started sobbing.
Once she finally stopped sniffling, she layed on her side on the cold ground for a while, having no energy to move. Somehow she managed to fall asleep there, and when she awoke with a gasp, the moon was at its peak in the dark sky and the ground was a lot colder than it was a few hours ago.
Groaning, Josie pulled herself up onto the bed, smelling the scent of Penelope. Penelope, who smells exactly like this, but four thousand miles away.
“Nope, no, no, no, you cannot keep doing this to yourself anymore. Penelope is gone and she’s not coming back, idiot, no matter how hard you try. And you need to get up and take care of yourself so you don’t turn into a mess again,” Josie muttered to herself. “Great, and now you sound like a psychopath, talking to yourself. God, stop talking and just get some food.”
She glanced at the mirror Penelope had hung behind her door two years ago and took a good look at her disheveled appearance. Josie grimaced and tossed a hoodie over her head and went down to the kitchen.
She expected the kitchen to be empty at what, 2 AM? She didn’t know what time it was. But instead of only her in the cold kitchen, Landon was standing near the stove in his pajamas, dumping something into a pot.
“Landon?” Josie questioned, voice hoarse from tears and disuse. “What’re you doing?” she queried, leaning against the door.
Landon jumped at the unexpected voice behind him. When he saw who it was, he relaxed. “Oh, hey Josie. Want some soup?” he asked, showing her the vegetables in the pot.
Josie shuffled closer to look at the contents in the pot better. “Sure,” she shrugged. He nodded and started moving around to cut more veggies. As he did that, Josie hopped up and sat on the counter. “Are you any good at cooking?” she asked.
“Good enough, I was the one who usually made dinner for Raf and I while we were with our foster parents.” Josie nodded and accepted the answer.
They stood in silence while a soup boiled, but once Landon handed a bowl and spoon to Josie and took one for himself, Josie said, “Y’know, you never told me why you were actually awake.” She took a bite of the soup. “Mmm, Landon, this soup is really good!”
The boy laughed awkwardly. “Thanks. And I was up because I was at a party a few hours ago.” He left it at that. “Why are you up, Jo?”
She shrugged and looked down at her meal. “I took a nap.”
“At 2:30 in the morning?” Landon raised an eyebrow.
Oh, so that’s what time it is. “I said what I said,” Josie answered defiantly.
“Fair enough.”
Josie suddenly paused. “Landon.” He hummed in acknowledgement, shifting around the liquid in his bowl. “Landon.”
He finally looked up. “What?”
“I know my sister, a party would still be going right now if something didn’t happen. So, what happened?”
Landon winced, dropping his spoon into his bowl and placing the bowl down on the counter. “I, uh, may have gotten insanely drunk and said some stuff.”
Josie glanced at him. “Like what?”
“I don’t remember exactly what I said.”
“Well, you obviously know why you said what you said, so… wanna talk about it?” she offered.
Landon contemplated for a moment, mulling it over. “Sure,” he accepted, “but not here. Can we go somewhere?”
“Yeah, sure, I’m not sleeping with Lizzie anymore, I took Penelope’s old room, let’s go.” Josie hopped off the counter, still holding her soup, and headed for the door as Landon dutifully trailed behind her.
“So,” Josie said, plopping down on the bed, “spill.” Landon looked around the room unsurely, wondering where he should sit. “And stop being so awkward, come sit here.” Josie threw a decorative throw pillow at his face. Landon hesitantly sat down next to the brunette and placed the soup on the floor next to him.
“Do you mind if we, uh, do something else first?” he asked. “I said a lot of not so good things that I don’t want to remember just yet.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever you need, but we will talk about this. Do you want to put in a movie?” Josie asked, already reaching for her laptop. At Landon’s nod of confirmation, she opened Disney+. “What do you want to watch?”
“Sta-”
“And don’t say Star Wars or I swear to God, Landon, I will hit you.” Josie cut off his predictable words.
“Oh, yeah, and what are you going to do about it, Tiny?” Landon challenged her.
Josie smirked. “This.” And with that, she grabbed another decorative throw pillow (Why did Penelope have so many in her room?) and leaped on top of the boy, wrestling him down onto the bed. Thankfully, both of their bowls were already off the bed, or else soup would’ve spilled everywhere.
Landon shrieked as Josie weight landed directly on top of him. She started pummelling him with the pillow, laughing as he thrashed under her. Somehow, through all the hits, Landon managed to grab a pillow (Penelope’s love for decorative throw pillows were suddenly coming in handy) to defend himself with. With surprising strength, he managed to flip them around so Josie was on the bed and he was on top of her. Knowing what was coming, Josie hid her smile behind the raised pillow. Landon, however, tossed his pillow to the floor and started moving his fingers against her sides.
“No, oh my god, Landon, stop!” Josie shrieked.
Landon grinned. “Never!”
The fight continued for a while, neither sides giving up until they were both out of breath and laughing. Landon moved off Josie and collapsed on the bed next to her. He twisted his head to look at her.
“That was fun.”
Josie giggled and moved a piece of hair off her head. “Yeah, it was.”
Pause.
They both fell into a fit of giggles for no inexplicable reason.
Once they had air in their lungs, Josie pulled the laptop that had been tossed aside earlier and played the first Star Wars movie, much to Landon’s chagrin.
“What happened to no Star Wars?” he teased goodnaturedly.
“Shut it,” she said, tossing a pillow at him.
“Are you really going to start that again, Jo?” he asked, already rearing up.
She giggled and pulled him back down. “No, you idiot, come watch this with me.” So Landon did.
About half an hour into the movie, Landon started talking, eyes still trained on the screen. “Do you remember a few weeks ago, when you guys voted me out?”
Josie grimaced. “Yeah, definitely not my best decision.”
Landon continued, as if he hadn’t heard Josie. “It turns out Hope had sent me to find my mother.”
Josie gasped and paused the movie. She turned to him, “That’s amazing! Did you find her?”
“Listen, Jo.” He smiled, amused by her antics. His frown deepened when he remembered what Hope did to him. “Hope sent me on a quest to find my mother, and that led me to Kansas. I met her.” When Landon turned to look at her, he could tell she was trying to suppress her questions. “You can ask questions after I tell you what happened.” Josie pouted but nodded slightly.
“Hope set up a tracking spell for me to find her, it took me to a coffee shop in Kansas. It took me a week to work up the courage to tell her more than just my coffee order. When I finally did tell her why I was there, she took me back to her house.” Landon’s expression soured as he remembered the dog his mother owned. “So she gave me a sandwich. There was this tiny demon dog she owned, right?” Josie’s face screwed up into one of confusion. “I fed the dog a bit of the sandwich. I thought it wasn’t going to do anything, I thought it would be fine. But it collapsed right after I fed it the sandwich. She drugged me. My own mother drugged me.”
Josie opened her mouth, expecting the story to be finished. Landon placed his hand on her thigh to stop her. “There’s more.” At Josie’s slight nod, he continued with his tale. “So, before I completely passed out, I managed to hit this bracelet Hope had made for me before I left. If I turned it on, she would know I was in trouble and come to find me. The thing is, Seylah, my mom, saw me hit it, so apparently she took it off my wrist.” Landon frowned, thinking back on it. “Y’know, I don’t actually know what happened to that bracelet.” He shook his head. “Sorry, off topic. Anyways, she took me to this motel in the middle of rural Kansas, and I guess Hope must have done a tracking spell on me, because her and your dad,” Josie glowered at the mention of her father, “showed up, looking for me. Well, actually, she blew the door in. Hope forced Seylah to tell her entire life story, pretty boring up until she fucking jumped into Malivore.”
Josie gasped. “What?”
“You heard me right,” Landon smirked. “She wasn’t pregnant when she jumped, though. But when she came out was an entirely different story. She was pregnant with me. And then she gave me up after I was born.”
“Landon…” Josie said softly, reaching for one of his hands.
He let her take his hand, but stared at it as he continued to talk. “No one remembered her, as say the rules of Malivore. She couldn’t get a job or provide for me. So she abandoned me. And then I found her again. And she jumped into Malivore again.”
Josie blinked, clearly taken aback by the news. “She what?” she asked incredulously.
Landon laughed bitterly. “She jumped. Again. And this time someone remembered her, but it wasn’t me. It’s never me.” Josie knew there was something much deeper in that statement than Landon let on, but she didn’t push him.
“Who was it?” she asked gently.
“Hope. It was Hope.” Not giving Josie a moment to process the bomb that had been dropped on her, he rambled right on. “And then I came back here with her and Dr. Saltzman to be with Raf, and she didn’t tell me about meeting my own mother. Instead, I had to find out from Penelope fucking Park.” Josie winced at the mention of her ex’s name. When Landon noticed, he began apologizing profusely. “Shit, sorry, Jo.”
She waved him off, though the thought of Penelope still stung. “It’s fine, continue.”
So he did. “She told me, and when I went to confront her, she didn’t even say anything. So I left.” He shrugged. He imperceptibly wiped away a tear he hadn’t noticed fell. Next to Landon, Josie looked stunned, absorbing the dump of information she had received.
Landon grimaced. “This is why I don’t confide in people.”
Snapped out of her trance, Josie rushed to respond. “Sorry, I, uh, was just processing.” Landon nodded, still looking defeated.
Josie quieted down once again, deciding what to say. “I’ve never been the best of friends with Hope, but spending nearly ten years with her teaches me some things about her. Hope does everything she does for a reason,” she says delicately. “You know about her parents’ and uncle’s deaths, right?” At Landon’s nod, she continues. “She lost them all within a few weeks of each other, and it nearly broke her. She became more closed off than ever. I think she wants to protect you from the same pain she went through two years ago. And-”
Landon cuts her off. “It’s different, Josie. I don’t know if I would’ve felt that pain, I didn’t know Seylah. She didn’t give me a chance to find out,” he explains. “Anyways, drop it. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But-”
“Drop it.” He fixes her with a Look she’s seen too many times on Lizzie’s face.
“Fine,” she says reluctantly.
It’s quiet for a few moments before Landon speaks up again. “You know, from what I’ve heard, Penelope seemed like a bitch.”
Josie smiles softly. “She was, but only to other people. To me, she was kind and sweet.” She frowns. “And then she broke up with me and that changed too.”
“Do you know why she did it?” Landon asks curiously.
“Yeah, but I am far too tired to talk about her reasoning.”
Landon grins. “Fair enough. If you don’t want to talk about why, will you tell me what she was like during your relationship?”
“She came to Salvatore when we were fourteen.” Josie’s voice sounds distant, as if she was reminiscing through memories far away from the bed where they sat. “Lizzie and I gave her the tour, like we usually do to new students. The entire time, she made snarky comments towards Lizzie and complimenting me, which is where their entire rivalry started. I managed to keep them calm that day, but it definitely didn’t last. Penelope had History of Magic with me, the only class I don’t have with Lizzie. I was the only one who didn’t have a partner, so I got paired with her. Lucky for us, the teacher assigned a long-term project that day. We spent a lot of time together on it, and it made me fall for her, hard. She flirted with me the entire time until she finally had the guts to ask me on a date. She made me feel different than anyone else I had ever crushed on or dated. So I said yes.
“I expected her to take me to the Mystic Grill or something, but she surprised me and took me on a picnic. It was magical. She looks like such a mean, controlling person, but she was just so soft with me. She would leave little notes for me to find and give me flowers every week. Dating her made me feel the best I’ve ever felt.” Josie’s smile was bittersweet as she explained her relationship. It felt as though she wasn’t even talking to Landon anymore, just getting out what had been bothering her since before Penelope left, since they broke up.
“She sounds amazing, Jo,” Landon says, breaking through her haze.
Josie wipes her tears away. “She was.”
Landon laughs. “God, we’re a bunch of saps, aren’t we?”
Josie sniffles. “We really are.”
“Wanna watch the movie?” Landon offers an escape route out, waiting for Josie to take it.
As fun as their talk had been, it was also exhausting, and Josie felt so, so tired.
“Yeah.”
She opened up her laptop again, unpausing the movie. Somewhere in the middle movie, Landon fell asleep on her shoulder, curly hair soft against her neck. When Josie noticed fifteen minutes later, she paused the film, shutting the laptop and setting it on the ground. With some careful maneuvering, she shifts them so both of them are laying under the covers, as she, too, succumbs to sleep.