And as soon as they walked around the corner, the whispers started. Landon and Hope were not surprised though. And the people who weren't whispering to their friends decided to walk up to the couple.

"Hey Landon, Hope, nice to see you two together."

"Kaleb," Landon smiled in a warm greeting, but made sure to keep his feet moving as he felt Hope's fingers begin to tense in his grip. She clearly didn't want to be bothered with conversation. He didn't blame her. They both had one destination in mind and if anyone decided to deter them from such a destination, neither of them would be happy to say the least.

He simply clapped his friend on the shoulder, calling behind him as he continued to guide his girlfriend down the rest of the crowded hall and up to his room, "We'll talk later, yeah."

"Sure." Kaleb smirked. "You two have fun."

Landon rolled his eyes and kept walking down the hall, shaking hands, smiling and sharing as few words as possible with fellow friends and acquaintances alike. He didn't care about what anyone thought right now. All he cared about was Hope and what she needed from him. And what she needed didn't involve any of his friends, nor anyone else.

Landon and Hope turned around the last corner that led to the staircase, only to run straight into Dr. Saltzman. Their feet were practically inches from his and it didn't help that Hope's face was still flushed.

Alaric took in the couple with a thoughtful look, "Landon," He nodded curtly, "nice for you to make your grand return." His eyes then narrowed down at their hands interlaced together.

With a pardoning look, Dr. Saltzman peered straight into Hope's blue eyes and simply said with a voice that held no emotion, "I wasn't here."

Hope's eyes flickered down to the floor as her body nestled closer into Landon's side for comfort. His thumb stroked her palm softly as he stared down their former headmaster with perseverance.

Giving the couple one last look, Alaric let out a sigh and shook his head with disappointment, before walking the other direction. He wasn't stupid though, far from it. He obviously knew what they had planned. It was clear in their facial expressions. It was clear in Hope's flushed and startled face. It was clear when he had walked in on them making out six months ago. He still remembered it and it caused his gagging reflex to enact. It was even clear in Landon's protective stare as Dr. Saltzman watched the boy's dark-green eyes basically fight with the headmaster's to move.

And maybe Alaric should have stopped them.

Maybe he wasn't exactly the best headmaster if he was about to let two seventeen-year-old teens (under his supervision, no less) strut up his damn stairs to legitimately go have sex, but he also knew damn well that Hope wasn't your average seventeen-year-old. She was going to do what she wanted, whether it was right now, or late tonight when everyone else was asleep.

Dr. Saltzman was frustrated.

Hope just did what she wanted. She always did. He couldn't stop her before. He couldn't stop her from jumping into Malivore and he sure as hell couldn't stop her from possibly making this huge mistake, no matter how badly his heart urged him to.

Was Hope even ready for sex? Her emotions were completely out of control right now. She had barely gotten back to earth after sacrificing herself. She even had to watch that boy forget about her. And did Hope even know about Landon's attempts to have sex with Josie a few weeks ago? Dorian had told him about Landon searching for a condom and it made Alaric want to punch the Phoenix boy in the throat then and after seeing him with Hope just now. He understood that Landon had forgotten Hope, but it didn't stop his protective nature from kicking in. In Alaric's opinion, that Phoenix boy seriously needed to learn to keep his dick in his pants.

Hope was certainly not one of his daughters. He knew that. Because had he punched Landon, not only would he be assaulting a teenager, but Hope would have quite literally pummeled his ass into the ground. Because she was Hope Mikaelson and she carried the power to do it. The girl couldn't be his daughter because Alaric knew deep down that it just didn't fit their type of relationship, but he still cared deeply for her. And just thinking about what Hope was heading upstairs to do with that boy caused Dr. Saltzman's eyes to pinch shut as he struggled to breathe. He could only hope that Hope knew the right decision for herself, and if she believed that she was making the right decision, he knew that he literally didn't possess the power to stand in her way.

He slammed his office door shut with irritation.

Dorian stared at him like he grew two heads.

"Hope and Landon." Alaric huffed.

"Oh, damn.. Should we evacuate the building or?"

Alaric could only scoff in disgust as he grabbed a bottle of bourbon out from underneath his desk.

He'd need it soon enough.

"You know, we know that Hope and Landon have been dating for quite a while." Dorian shrugged, "They literally escaped death, not once, but twice. And while I obviously don't outright agree with their decisions, their reason behind feeling this need to take this opportunity to express their love is probably centered around the fact that madness continues to ensue around them and-"

"Dorian, did I ask you for your damn thoughts?"

He immediately shut his mouth. "Imma evacuate now."

After the door closed, Alaric closed his eyes and tipped back in his chair. He knew Dorian had a point. He even knew Hope and Landon had a point, but it didn't make the situation better.

Was it truly a better decision to rush into something simply because of the fear that it might not happen later…? That opportunity would simply pass you by. He remembered seeing Hope's devastated face after she saw Landon's mangled body lying on the forest floor, his jugular completely torn out. He had witnessed that teenage girl leaning over that boy's cold body while struggling to breathe. He remembered hearing the silent, gut-wrenching sobs that had racked her body, the way her shoulders trembled as Dr. Saltzman had watched her pull him close. But most importantly, he remembered Hope screaming up at Rafael to give Landon "that last bit of respect" even after his death.

Dr. Saltzman knew very well how hard it had to have been for Hope to hold herself back from lighting Milton on fire herself. He had told Kaleb that he knew Hope would offer up her blood, but the truth was that he didn't in that brief moment. A necessity for revenge had been deeply embedded into the Tribrid because of her family history, so it had indeed surprised him greatly when she fell to her knees and healed the boy. Was it her love and respect for Landon that aided Hope in that mature decision?

Did she love him?

Teenage love was finicky, he knew, but could it be possible that Hope truly and deeply loved that boy?

He didn't have an answer.

But Landon came back from the dead.

He was a Phoenix. And not likely to die anytime soon.

So, why was Hope rushing this?

Dr. Saltzman didn't have an answer for that either.