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"It's not polite to stare." An amused, familiar voice spoke beside her, making the tribrid laugh through her nose softly.
"Hey, Marcel." Hope greeted as the vampire approached her, his eyes looking at her knowingly before shifting to the place her own were a few seconds prior.
On the other corner of the party Hope saw her, the girl who never left her mind at any time that she was awake. The girl who made her heart clench in the most painful way possible.
Lizzie Saltzman was beautiful, her dark blue dress highlighting all the details Hope loved so much about her. Talking to MG, her on-and-off again boyfriend, the younger blonde laughed at something the vampire said, and Hope smiled easily at the melodic sound, before internally frowning remembering who it was that had caused the sound in the first place.
"She looks happy." Hope commented, her eyes never leaving her figure, her voice giving away every trace of melancholy within her.
"She does." Marcel agreed, nodding lightly as he watched his sister with caution, "I know how she'd look happier, though." He added, making the tribrid let out a dry but sad chuckle. "I strongly disagree."
"I thought you liked her." Her adoptive brother questioned with curiosity, and Hope turned to face him for the first time during the conversation.
"I do! Hell, I love her." Hope confessed, her gaze returning to the woman who attracts her like the most powerful magnet on earth. Noticing Marcel's confused gaze, Hope adds, "I'm not what she wants."
"I heard you're exactly what she wants." Retorted the elder vampire, and Hope smiled a sad smile as she took a sip of her almost forgotten bourbon. "She wants a life I'm not so sure I can offer her."
"What if you can? You have the same chance as that idiot over there." Marcel stated almost defiantly, drawing her gaze to him once more. "He's a vampire too remember."
Hope shrugged. "Then I guess I'll just have to hate myself for the rest of my immortal life."
"Or you could try and find out if you can or not." Marcel suggested in an almost singsong voice, but Hope just shook her head in denial. "I'm not hurting her to find out. She deserves so much better than this."
"But what's best for you?" The elder vampire fired off another question and Hope almost wanted to tease him for his interrogation. But the truth was, she did need to talk about it.
Her history with Lizzie was pretty complicated. More complicated than that, however, was the way her anxious mind and her fucked up heart worked. She didn't deserve it. Hope couldn't hurt her any more than she already had. Though she at times doubted if that was even possible considering she literally murdered her and everything.
"It doesn't matter." Hope answered finally, her eyes returning to Lizzie and immediately burning at the sight of her having fun with MG. At least there was someone capable of making her happy like she deserved. "All I care is what's best for her."
"For someone who's considered nature's miracle, your mind seems to be the most complicated thing about you." Marcel gave his final verdict, and the Mikaelson girl let out a soft chuckle, nodding in agreement. "I know."
Noticing the tears she was trying more than anything to not let build up, Marcel decided it best to drop the subject.
"Merry Christmas, little one." He said, giving her arm a gentle squeeze as he flashed her a reassuring smile, and Hope returned it as best she could. "Merry Christmas."
As Marcel strolled away, Hope returned her gaze to the person to whom it belonged and held her breath when she noticed her looking back.
Hope rose her glass in a simple greeting, not trusting her feet to carry her there, much less her words if they were spoken directly to her.
Lizzie, for her part, seemed equally as hesitant to come to her. So the blonde settled for her usual little wave followed by a small smile, the kind that made Hope's dead heart beat faster and the whole room go into slow motion.
But she soon returned her beautiful sky-blue eyes to the vampire next to her, and the moment was broken. So brief, so real, so painful.
Hope looked away as well not long after, and as she sought refuge in yet another glass of the burning liquid, the almighty tribrid tried her very best to convince herself that things were better off this way.