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Hope Mikaelson doesn’t care about Josie Saltzman. Or at least that’s the lie she mutters under her breath when she’s in over her head.
She most definitely doesn’t care when she sees Josie hanging around a new girl, or when she has to witness their flirtatious banter on her way to class. And when Josie shoots a concerned look at her from the back of the classroom?
Hope just clenches her jaw and stares straight ahead as if her eyes could light the room on fire. Spoiler alert: her eyes can’t, but Josie’s pyromaniac tendencies most definitely could.
It feels like an eternity before class ends and Hope speed walks out of the classroom so fast that in a different world she might’ve been confused for an Olympic 100-meter-dash gold-medalist. She’s not quite sure where she’s headed but one thing’s for sure, the further away she gets from Josie, the better.
It’s not like she really hated the brunette, rather the opposite, everytime they were in the same room Hope felt this magnetic pull towards her.
But that doesn’t mean Hope cares about Josie.
And it definitely doesn’t mean she spends her days wondering just how soft Josie’s lips were or the way they would feel pressed upon her own. Hope definitely doesn’t know what flavour of perfume Josie wears nor does know the way she likes her coffee in the morning.
Maybe there was a new monster on campus, an invisible monster that cast a spell on her brain. Hope, in a blunder of panic, thought about approaching Dr. Saltzman with her theory, but her last bit of common sense kicked in at the last moment. She thought about how crazy she would sound.
"I think a supernatural force is making me infatuated with your daughter."
Yeah, no thanks, she would handle this on her own. She was, after all, a Mikaelson.
A Mikaelson who apparently feels weak in the knees when Josie leans in too close. And despite Hope’s newfound cold exterior, the siphoner has only been getting increasingly more touchy and affectionate.
And suddenly it’s hands-on thighs and soft caresses that even has Lizzie doing double-takes.
It’s embarrassing the way she melts when Josie starts tracing patterns along her palm. Her soft touches work their magic and Hope finds her icy exterior melting faster than the ice caps in Antarctica. It soothes her anxiety she reasons in her mind, they were after all, on a long stakeout mission.
And maybe she whines about being hungry so that Josie would apologetically run her hands up and down her forearm. Every touch was electric, a sensation only described fairytales and more.
They end up smooshed side-by-side in a small booth. Alaric had found the nearest diner at Lizzie’s insistence.
“Can’t fight a monster if Hope passes out halfway through dad,”
Hope’s never been more grateful for the blonde. That is until Josie’s hand ends up further and further up Hope’s thigh.
She sits in her seat tensely until Josie gently massages the spot with her thumb, it dissipates Hope’s anxieties once again despite spiking her blood pressure. They eat their meals in silence, each member of the party too worn out to make small talk. They have been tracking the same monster for two days without luck.
The food coma doesn’t help at all. Granted, she shouldn’t have shoveled so much food but everything smelled so good she couldn’t help herself.
“You could sleep you know, I’ll wake you up if anything happens,”
Josie’s gentle reminder snaps her out of her stupor. When did the brunette scootch so close to her?
Hope opens her mouth to protest but Josie leans in closer and caresses her face. Despite protests in her brain, she finds herself melting into her touch.
“Sleep Hope, you’re safe with me,”
It doesn’t take long for her to fall asleep. Maybe it’s the warmth of Josie’s shoulder or the softness of her promise, but if you ask Hope, she’d argue that she was simply exhausted. Her dreamless slumber doesn’t last long though.
She wakes up to Lizzie frantically slapping her.
“HOPE ANDREA MIKAELSON, the monster’s literally in front of us and I just got this manicure,”
The fight doesn’t take long, it just takes all of their energy. Soon enough, three exhausted teenagers and one useless man pile back into the car and drive back towards Salvatore.
On the car ride back she holds on tight to Josie’s hand. Hope can feel her resolve crumbling, every hesitation, every argument, all because of the amount of emotion that Josie was able to convey in the form of simple touches.
She lets herself hope, it’s dangerous, in her experience hope only brought misery. But maybe just maybe, Josie cared about her too?
Josie wouldn’t fall asleep on the chest of someone she didn’t care about right?
And in her 17 years of life, Hope’s never experienced someone who existed so peacefully in the morning. Josie clung onto her with such serenity, as if she never wanted to leave Hope’s warmth. They sleep through two classes, but she can’t find it in herself to care. Dr. Saltzman had pulled them out of class for 2 days, the least he could do was offer them time to rest.
When Hope eventually stirs again it’s to soft fingers delicately running through her hair. She hums with satisfaction and snuggles closer to the warmth next to her.
“Morning sleepyhead,”
Hope burrows into the nape of Josie’s neck, unwilling to start her day. Even with her advanced healing, she could feel the exhaustion in her bones.
“Can we just stay here forever?”
She feels Josie laugh under her, the kind of unadulterated laugh that brightens the whole room. Hope smiles as Josie presses a soft kiss to her forehead.
“Only if you let me stay with you, Miss. Mikaelson,”
Maybe Hope cared about Josie a little more than a friend should, is that so bad?
They make their way down around lunchtime to hoard some food in a box before hauling it back to Hope’s room. Josie leaves for a bit to check up on her sister only to find MG in her room. After dropping off Lizzie’s lunch she ends up eating lunch on the floor with the tribrid by her side.
It’s a peaceful day, one that she finds herself wishing would last forever. But reluctantly Josie returns to her room with a dangerous look.
Dangerous in the way that it gave Hope, well, hope. Almost as if Josie wanted Hope to ask her to stay. But she doesn’t, because asking her to stay would mean being honest with herself. Instead, she lets the siphoner walk away with a soft look on her face.
She doesn’t come to regret it.
Josie knocks on her door late into the night, arms wrapped around herself. She shoots Hope a look that makes her knees weak.
She finds out just how soft Josie’s lips are fiercely pressed against her own. She finds out what they feel like against each other, what it feels like to let go. Let go of the fear, the anxiety, the pressure of being powerful.
She finds out a lot that night, but it isn’t until later when she makes a realization. Josie’s love language was touch, it’s always been. From her favourite spot behind Hope’s neck to tracing the scars on her collarbone, Josie was always touching her in one form or the other.
She was like a token, an omen that this might just be the one epic love story her mom alluded to years ago. Well, she tries not to think about that, all she knew was that she was 17 and nothing that compared to the way Josie Saltzman made her feel loved and wanted.
Turns out Hope Mikaelson really, really, cares about Josie Saltzman.