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Lizzie was staring at her.
It wasn't the first time Hope had noticed it either. It wasn't a creepy, staring across the room thing, exactly, it was more like ... like when they were together, all of Lizzie's attention was on Hope. Which wasn't bad, but it was new, and there wasn't enough blinking involved.
She cleared her throat. "It's your turn."
Lizzie frowned for a moment; then she said, "Oh! Right," and finally looked back down at her hand. "Uh ... I call."
Hope put down her own cards. "Full house."
"Two pair," Lizzie groaned, throwing down her hand. "You win. Again."
She allowed herself a small smirk as she swept up the chips. "Hey, you were the one who wanted to play. It's not my fault if I have a better poker face than you."
"Whatever. Deal again."
"We can do something else if you want," Hope offered.
"Like what? We've done everything there is to do around here."
She wasn't wrong. It was a quiet summer so far, with no monsters or gods or any kind of evildoer to speak of. After Lizzie and MG split up at the end of the school year, he'd taken off with Kaleb and Cleo to Atlanta. Jed was usually either working to save up for his and Ben's trip or hanging out with Ben; Finch was either spending time with the members of her pack that lived at the school year-round or hanging out with Jed and Ben. Wade was doing an internship with Professor Vardemus. It's not that they never spent time together as a Squad anymore, but more often than not these days, it was just her and Lizzie.
And she was having more fun than she was willing to admit. Aside from the staring thing.
"What if we went to the movies?"
Lizzie brightened up. "Really?"
"Sure. I think it's Jed's night off, we could round up the Squad, all go together."
"Oh." She seemed to consider it for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. I think a group hang could be fun."
Then she stared into Hope's eyes, like she was waiting for something.
Hope stood up to avoid whatever it was. "Uh, great, so I'll go ask everyone if they're interested. Meanwhile you better go get your wallet."
"Why?"
She pointed at the chips. "You owe me thirty bucks."
"Damn it!"
*
The staring thing was only the beginning.
As June's heat became July's suffocating humidity, her friend seemed to get stranger and stranger. Every time they saw each other, Lizzie would wave furiously and say "Hi," even if it was across the room and she had to shout. She started laughing more, which was actually nice, if a bit out of character, and the staring kept happening. It might have even got more intense.
Hope wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure how to bring it up. She didn't see Lizzie acting differently with anyone else, but then again, they barely saw anyone else. And Lizzie was in therapy again. What if it was something her therapist had asked her to do? Would it make Lizzie uncomfortable if she asked?
She could give it a couple more weeks for Lizzie to come to her or figure it out on her own.
*
One morning, the humidity wasn't so oppressive and there was a nice cool breeze rippling the water on the lake. And Hope decided that she was ready to do something she'd been avoiding.
"This is nice," Lizzie said, tipping her head back, the wind playing with her hair as they sat on the dock, their feet dangling over the surface of the lake. "Why don't we come out here more? We could use a change in scenery once in a while, especially since Jed and Hercules basically took over the Old Mill."
Hope squinted, looking across the shining water. "I love it out here. It's just ... it has a lot of memories, that's all."
Lizzie's head snapped up and her eyes went wide. "God, of course it does. Landon, and now your dad ... I didn't think ..."
"It's okay," she said with a wistful smile. "I spread Dad's ashes here because it's special to me, and because I wanted to share it with him. Which doesn't work if I never come back out here." She looked down at her reflection. "And I still miss Landon, but ... it doesn't hurt as much anymore."
"So ... you're getting over him?"
Hope tilted her head, thinking it over. "I don't know if I'll ever be over him, exactly," she said slowly. "I'm always going to love him. But I needed to let go. Forever is a long time, and I don't want to spend mine being miserable."
"Me neither," Lizzie said, her expression twisting up. "I'm sorry, Hope."
"Thanks." She took breath in that was unfortunately kind of wet and sniffly, and wiped a stray tear off her cheek.
"Ethan was part of the reason me and MG broke up," Lizzie said abruptly.
Hope frowned. "Wait, really?"
"I mean, there was obviously me not feeling the same as he did too, but I was going to give it more time, see if I could catch up to where he was. But that pact that he and Ethan made, neither of us could forget it. That no matter what happened that day with Ken, they were going to make sure I lived. Even if ..."
Hope's stomach churned.
Lizzie shook her head. "Anyway, I wanted to say, I never really thought about how it felt for you, knowing your dad ... y'know. To protect you. I thought I understood because I lost my birth mom, but I didn't. Knowing that someone sacrificed themselves for you is ..."
"Yeah."
They both sighed, staring out at the water.
Eventually, Hope knocked her shoulder against Lizzie and smiled. "Do you remember the labyrinth?"
"You mean that physical representation of some gross man's fragile ego with the aesthetics of a Cyndi Lauper video? It rings a bell."
"Well, I was all ready to martyr myself -"
"It was a day that ended in 'y.'"
"And you found another way."
"Because screw the patriarchy."
Hope was the one who looked Lizzie directly in the eye this time, to make sure she saw how serious she was about this. "I respected your decision to take the risk to siphon Ken. But I also kind of hated it. I've had enough people willing to throw their lives away for love and family and the greater good. I didn't want to lose you, too."
Lizzie softened, looking both flattered and sad at the same time. "As much as I hate to admit, you weren't completely wrong. There isn't always another choice."
"I know. But I also think that too many of us risk our lives before asking if there's better option. I just ... don't want you to stop trying to find another way."
"I promise I won't if you don't either."
Hope smiled and held out her pinky. "I promise."
With an amused smile, Lizzie shook Hope's pinky with hers. "At least I won't have to face a murderous god this time."
"Keep calling Ben 'Hercules' and that might change."
Lizzie laughed, turning to smile out at the water. Her hair was shining in the sun and her eyes seemed brighter, warmer, and from this side Hope could see her dimple. It was the mort unburdened she'd seen Lizzie look in weeks.
Coming out to the dock was a good idea after all.
*
With her confession about why she and MG had fallen apart off her chest, Hope figured Lizzie would be back to normal.
She was wrong.
The next morning, Lizzie didn't wave, but her "Hi, Hope!" was more enthusiastic than ever, and her smile was so big Hope worried it might be hurting her.
When they went to hang out in the library, Lizzie laughed intensely at every joke Hope made, and a few things she hadn't meant to be funny. And she kept doing something to Hope's arm.
"Why do you keep poking me?"
"It's not ... I'm tapping you."
"Okay, why are you tapping me?"
"... never mind."
*
It came to a head when Hope went to go get Lizzie for breakfast a week later. The door was open, so she walked right in. "You ready to go?"
There was a flurry of activity as Lizzie shoved something under her pillow then took a big step away from the bed, looking frazzled. "Yes, absolutely, I am so ready!"
Hope's eyebrows pinched together. "Are you okay?"
"I'm great!" Lizzie swallowed noticeably, her eyes darting around. "I did want to ask you something."
"Shoot."
"I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out."
She frowned. "Lizzie. All we do is hang out. Basically every day." Which was actually surprising when she thought about it; even as friends, she and Lizzie had done better with limited contact. But it had been nice spending most of her days with Lizzie this summer.
"I know," Lizzie said, standing oddly stiff. "But I thought maybe somewhere else. Get out of the school for a while, maybe have different food."
"Like what? The Grill?"
"Or how about that French bakery that opened up last month? I heard they do a great lunch."
"That sounds fun, actually," Hope said, more than a little relieved. With the odd buildup, she'd been expecting something much more awkward.
Except then Lizzie's shoulders dropped and she sighed like she'd been nervous, too; incredibly nervous, like Hope agreeing to go to a bakery meant something.
She crossed her arms and centered her stance, staring Lizzie down. "That's it. What's up with you?"
Lizzie stiffened up again. "What do you mean? I am totally, completely awesome. And totally, completely ready for breakfast, so let's go."
Hope held up a hand of warning before she more than two steps. "No breakfast until you talk to me."
"About what?" she asked in a very unconvincing attempt at innocence.
"Um, where do I start? The staring? The laughing? The poking?"
"Okay, it wasn't poking -"
"And now you're acting like hanging out is some big deal like I don't already spend all my time with you." Hope took a breath and tried to stop being so interrogative and let some of her worry seep into her tone. "Please, I just want to know what's happening with my friend."
"I don't know," Lizzie wailed, giving up the front all at once, dropping down to her bed and burying her face in her hands. "I've never done this before!"
"Done what, Lizzie, what is going on?"
In response, her friend reached under her pillow and pulled out what looked like some crumpled papers and handed them to Hope.
She opened them up and read out the title. "Eleven Flirting Tips to Help You Connect With a Crush in No Time."
Lizzie moaned pathetically.
Hope started reading, and everything finally started to piece together in her head. Eye contact ... body language, tapping their arm ... smile and say 'hi' ...
"You like me," she breathed.
"Can something come here and kill me now? Where are monsters when you need them?"
"Wow." Hope leaned against Josie's old bed, her head spinning.
"It was stupid, right?" Lizzie asked morosely, picking at her comforter. "It's okay, I knew it was a long shot."
"I don't understand," Hope said, which was very true. Her brain wasn't functioning too well at the moment. "You like me. And you took advice from," she glanced at the list again, "Seventeen Magazine about it?"
"Look, I don't have a lot of experience with this, okay? And I just wanted some tips, but Mom won't let up on the no internet on school grounds rule, so I had to go to the public library, and I didn't want anyone to see what I was doing and that was the best I could find in a hurry."
"Why didn't you just tell me?"
The corners of Lizzie's mouth turned down unhappily. "My romantic history is a series of car crashes. It doesn't matter if I made the first move or not, if I rushed in or took my time, there was just pain and mess and all of them ended up dead." She paused, then amended, "Okay, so Rafael isn't technically dead, and MG came back. But you get what I mean." She looked up from under her lashes, turning faintly pink. "And I will deny it if you tell anyone, but it means more with you. You're basically my best friend. I couldn't risk ruining that. Especially when I didn't know how you felt."
Hope tried to process this information. "So this was you trying to be subtle?"
Lizzie groaned and fell backwards onto her bed. "I told you, I don't know! Can you go and leave me to my humiliation already?"
Dazed, Hope put down the papers and looked over at Lizzie. Frustrating Lizzie. Frenemy Lizzie. Lizzie who had hated her, but never really hated her, who had tried to kill her, but who Hope had killed instead. Who had apparently killed her hamster. Who had been sired to her and who been the first step to her humanity coming back.
Lizzie Saltzman, her best friend.
And maybe ...
Hope took the two steps needed to get to the other bed. She waited until Lizzie opened her eyes and then, hesitantly, delicately, Hope leaned over. Lizzie rose up on her elbows and met her halfway.
They kissed once, then a second time, so lightly Hope barely felt it.
And yet, somehow, she felt it. Something she hadn't felt since she lost Landon. She felt it more, somehow, than the first time she'd kissed him, and maybe that was being a vampire with her heightened emotions. Or maybe that was just ... Lizzie.
"Woah," she said quietly, and stumbled back to the other bed and sat down.
"Huh," Lizzie agreed, looking as stunned as Hope.
"That was ..."
"It was."
"Mmm-hmm." Hope nodded a couple times, then tried to say something more coherent. "I think we should take this slow. I'm still working through some things."
"My only real relationship lasted a month. I'm definitely fine with slow."
"Good."
"Great."
Hope couldn't help but look at Lizzie again. Her open mouth and her hair a little bit mussed, from lying on the bed and not from Hope's fingers, unfortunately, but it was appealing all the same.
Then Lizzie raised her eyebrow and smirked. "You're staring."
"I am." Hope stood up again and took those two steps again and kissed Lizzie again. And kissed her and kissed her, burying her hand in Lizzie's hair, pressing as close as she could.
And then she swung her leg up and she was in Lizzie's lap.
Slow could wait another five minutes.
*
"Pack your bags."
Lizzie frowned quizzically at Hope as she slid into her usual seat for lunch. "Why?"
"We're going to New Orleans."
"Meeting the family? That doesn't feel slow," her girlfriend pointed out.
"First of all, you've already met half of them from when they visited the school. Second, we need to take a real break from here before the next semester. Everyone else is either gone or working, and we need to get out, too."
"I guess it could be fun," Lizzie allowed, grinning and taking Hope's hand in hers.
"I knew you'd like it. And they can't wait to see you, especially after I told them all about your flirting tips."
Lizzie's entire face dropped. "Hope Andrea Mikaelson, tell me you did not!"
Hope just laughed and kissed the back of her girlfriend's hand. She hadn't told anyone, of course, but relationship or not, she still loved teasing Lizzie.
This summer was turning out better than she could have imagined.