"Come on, we need to hurry." Jade yelled outside of the well-known family grave.

"We're here, let's go." Hope declared as she came out of the shattered building, carrying the unconscious siphon in her arms.

The two girls were about to begin their way back when the Necromancer ruined their plans once more, appearing in front of them from a cloud of dark smoke.

"You, dear witch, are becoming more and more predictable every time we meet." he remarked, as the tribrid laid her friend on the ground to be ready to fight if needed. "I don't even have to chase you no more, I take one and the entire school comes to the rescue."

"You got what you wanted, just let us go." Hope asked politely, considering the hate she had for that man.

"Did I? Because at the beginning of this day, I had planned on murdering two filthy creatures. But alright. Maybe I could make a little compromise for my favorite tribrid. I'm willing to let you keep only one of your beloved pets. I'll even allow you to make the choice." he claimed too pleased with himself and the position he'd just put the girl in. "So, young sorceress, who's it gonna be?"

"You're sick." Hope couldn't believe she had to do this again.

"I'll give you a moment. This is a big decision, after all. How about thirty seconds?" if there was something the Necromancer enjoyed more than power was emotionally torturing people.

"I- uh.. I can't. I won't." she declared determined.

"Very well, I will do it for you, then. This one is available." he said approaching towards the unconscious girl.

"No!" Hope jumped in front of Lizzie's lying body without giving a second thought to it.

"Huh. You decided, after all. See, that wasn't so hard." The Necromancer laughed uncontrollably, truly enjoying himself. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there is a certain bird that needs to be taken care of. You're free to go, Miss Mikaelson. This time."

And with that, he was gone.

Hope stared at the void his disappearance had created, completely lost, until tears started to stream down her cheeks. She couldn't react, think, move. She couldn't breathe.

"I'm so sorry" the vampire said honestly, bringing the girl back to reality.

"Let's just go." Hope returned detached, pulling herself together and wiping her tears before she got up and lifted Lizzie in her arms again.

* * *

The tribrid woke up in a cold sweat.

The event had taken place three days ago, yet the nightmares didn't seem to leave Hope's mind. Just when she was making progress, the guilt came back stronger than ever, consuming her, destroying everything she'd strived for. She hadn't left her room since the night she made sure the siphon was okay. She couldn't deal with the world. With her. Hope had to make a choice again, and she'd chosen everyone but Landon. Again. Only this time, it wasn't down to him or the entire school, or even a family. It was him or her. And that made it that much worse.

Of course, it wasn't Lizzie's fault, she didn't even know what had really happened, only what the tribrid herself had explained to her that very night. She shouldn't have to carry the burden of Landon's death, Hope decided, so, skipped the part where she doomed her boyfriend's life to save her. That was something only she deserved to be haunted by. Yet every time Lizzie had tried to contact her, she would avoid her. She knew it wasn't fair to her, she knew it, but the sight of the blonde was a constant reminder of her own failure and she couldn't take any more of this right now.

Hope got out of her bed to hit the bathroom but paused as she stood in front of the mirror. She looked disgusting. She hadn't taken a shower or eaten, or brushed her hair in three days and the black circles below her eyes completed the repulsive image of the girl in front of her.

"No!" she said out loud, lecturing her own reflection. "You're better than this. You must."

Once her short monologue was finished, she grabbed some clean clothes and a towel and headed to the showers.

* * *

Jade was outside the classroom, spending her break with the company of Jed, MG and Kaleb. Slowly but steady, she'd started making friends again and for the first time in so long, she felt like she belonged. Everything in her life was finally coming together, her education, her self-control. Everything except-

"Hey." Josie's voice punched through the ginger's ears, bringing her back to reality.

"Hey, Jo." MG greeted.

"Wass good?" Kaleb followed.

But Jade settled for a slight nod to welcome the brunette.

"Hi, guys." she returned, her eyes fixed on the girl. "Uhm.. can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked innocent, knowing damn well how pissed her girlfriend must've been and reasonably so.

Jade nodded again and turned to the males of the group. "Later." she smiled as convincingly as she could and started walking towards her room, knowing Josie was following.

"So?" she said distanced, already standing across the room when the siphon closed the door.

"Uh.. how are you?" Josie decided to begin with a small talk but also was truly interested to hear the answer.

"Splendid." Jade returned cold.

"Look, I-"

"Did you want something else? Cause I have to get back." she cut her off.

"I.. " she forgot what she wanted to say. She had never seen her so mad. And she had every right to be. Josie was awful to her. Maybe it was time she accepted she had ruined the only good thing in her life in so long. "No. I'm sorry." her voice came out low, almost like a whisper. She turned around to open the door when-

"Glad your sister is okay." Jade spat out quickly in an effort to keep her from leaving, yet she remained stoic.

Josie's mouth formed a weak smile before she faced her again. She took a deep breath and started "I know I was awful, you had the best of intentions checking in on me and I treated you badly and you didn't deserve that." She was getting closer and closer to the vampire as she continued. "I know how much my sister affects me but that's no excuse for how I talked to you and I'm truly sorry. You are amazing. I mean, even when I was so horrible, you still helped save Lizzie." Josie's tears were struggling not to escape her eyes.

"Pff, that wasn't for you. I just really enjoy having her grumpy mood all over my face every day." Jade claimed in a successful attempt to lighten up the atmosphere and take a glimpse of Josie's irresistible wet chuckle. Oh, how she'd missed that smile.

"I'm sure you do." the brunette joked but immediately got serious again. "But if there's any chance you did it because even if I'm the biggest idiot alive, a part of you still cares about us.."

"You can't talk to me like that. Ever." Jade manifested.

"I know. I won't." Jo promised. "I'll go against my whole nature and for once I'll stop being that self-destructive, for once I will not push away the one person I need by my side, I'll change my entire worldview if needed but I can't lose you, because I'm in love with you, Jade, I-"

Her last words left both of them speechless. The ginger looked at her shocked, trying to decode Jo's thoughts at that moment.

"I'm in love with you." she repeated certain, answering Jade's unspoken question.

Their faces were so close they could feel the warmth of one another, when Lizzie barged in furious.

"Where the hell have you been, I'm looking for you all over the school." she spat out causing the girls to jump.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Jade was pissed, that was strike two.

"Yeah, I don't do that, and I'm actually talking to my sister, so.."

"Don't talk to her like that." Josie flared up. "I know you don't like each other but I also don't really care. Jade is my girlfriend and you better deal with it soon." she said frustrated, but the vampire's fingers entangling in hers calmed her down at once. "Now, how can I help you?"


"Okay, Josette, jeez. Dad needs you at his office." the blonde said apathetic.

Jo squeezed the ginger's hand and smiled at her, before leaving the room.

Jade folded her arms waiting for the other twin to clear off.

Lizzie looked askance at her and turned around heading for the exit but then she stopped. She took a deep breath while rolling her eyes and turned back to face her. "Look, I know what you did." she finally spat out. "Thanks. Whatever."

Jade stared at the girl as if an alien had just dropped from the sky. "You are.. welcome?"

"Oh, c'mon, are you really that surprised?" Lizzie protested.

"Not really used to.. whatever this is." she said pointing her finger towards the siphon and moving it in a circle.

"Well, it might be the concussion talking but I've decided I'm gonna be nice today, see what happens."

"Oh, was that you being nice earlier?"

"I'm only starting now, shut up." claimed the blonde.

"Whatever. I, for one, would still choose Jose over you every single time." Jade could still not comprehend how Hope could sacrifice her boyfriend for someone like Lizzie.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I didn't say.. I gotta go to class!" the vamp tried to fix her own mess.

"Not another step!" the blonde threatened. "What is going on? What was a choice?"

"You don't scare me."

"In the last three days I've been held captive by the mother of all Zombies, almost died, returned to find out my father, sister and best friend risked their lives to save me and somehow succeeded without a single repercussion and now Hope's MIA and she doesn't return any of my texts and I don't know if I did something wrong or if she's just sick of having to save me and I'm pretty sure I'm on the verge of an episode and I don't think I can handle it right now so, please, tell me what happened?" Lizzie was somehow paralyzed and shaking at the same time.

"Why don't you sit?" Jade offered shutting the door.

* * *

The steaming bathtub would normally be suffocating, yet in this case it felt freeing in a way. Like Hope could wash down her sins. She'd let hot water running down her body for hours and she couldn't care less. This felt good. Nothing had felt good in a while.

Eventually, she returned to her bedroom and glanced at the mirror again. Much better. She took the towel off of her head, releasing her thickly, dampened hair. Whoa, was that her stomach protesting? She needed food. At least she'd found her appetite. That must have been an improvement, right? She couldn't go all the way to the kitchen, so she decided to check her phone instead, maybe that would help keep her mind off of things. Plus, she hadn't touched it in three days and she had no idea what was going on in the outside world. (7) Unread Messages. Whoa, she really didn't think anybody would even notice her absence. She opened them.

[Lizzie] Wanna skip class today? Feeling better already. :)


Oh, Lizzie. Hope felt a stab of guilt. For not responding, leaving her alone after what happened to her, not being able to face her. All of it.

[Dr. Saltzman] Good morning, Hope. I noticed you skipped class today. That's okay, you deserve some time off, considering that you have been through the past days. I will be here if you need someone to talk to. -Alaric

The fact that Ric was still signing his texts as if she couldn't see his name on her phone made Hope smile. That was two days ago. Seems like Dr. Saltzman had been very understanding, if only he wasn't the reason the Necromancer got his hands on the arrow in the first place. But he did it to save Lizzie and Hope was the first person that could understand that. She'd done the same, after all. She had no right to be mad at him. She opened another message.

[Lizzie] Looks like you skipped anyway. Dad says I have to stay in bed all day. And Josie has classes till afternoon. I'm sooooo freaking boooooooooooreeeeeeeeedd. Any chance you wanna come over so we can be bored together?

The second day of silence got the blonde a little worried and the more recent the text, the harder was for Hope to read.

[Lizzie] Uhm, I know technology is not your cup of tea. Or communication. Yet here I am, letting you know I'm alive and well. Wanna try it sometime?

[Lizzie] Another day of ignoring me and still here, coz that is the kind of friend I am.

[Josie] Don't know what happened but Lizzie's kinda freaking out. Text her back, please?

[Lizzie] For real, Hope. If you do not want to talk to me it's fine, I guess. Just tell me you're fucking okay.

Oh, God, what have I done? That last text was sent this morning and Hope was losing it. How could she be that ignorant? Lizzie just wanted a friend after everything they went through and she had completely shut her out. She had to find her and humbly apologize. Did she really think Lizzie wouldn't notice? The fact that she did filled the tribrid with a strange, overwhelming yet heart-warming feeling. The siphon had become a significant part of Hope's life and the realization that she cared just as much was comforting. It made her feel loved.

She was done avoiding her. Avoiding it.

The tribrid ran to the door ready to face Lizzie, but she didn't expect she would literally face her once she opened it. The blonde was standing expressionless on the other side of it, her eyes fixed on Hope's. What was she going to do? Yell at her? Cry? Punch her in the face? No one could tell. Especially not Hope.

"Look, I know you're probably extremely pissed at me right now." she decided to start her speech before Lizzie passed out, because from the look of it, she wouldn't last long. "But I swear, I didn't mean to-"

Lizzie wrapped her arms around Hope, pulling her into a hug so tight she could feel her intestines moving but she fucking adored it. No place in the world felt safer than Lizzie's arms. And that scent, how she'd missed that scent. Inconceivably mesmerizing.

"Oh, God, I thought you were gonna punch me or something." Hope relaxed in her friend's arms returning the gesture.

"Oh, I was. I certainly was about to punch you." Lizzie remarked getting back to her previous spot. "But then I.. reconsidered."

"I'm so sorry I ghosted you."

"What? I'm not mad about that. I mean, of course I am, don't you ever do that again." she dictated heading towards the center of the room. "But mostly I'm mad that you hid the truth from me."

"What truth?" Hope shrugged nervous as she followed.

"Come one, Hope. I know what you had to do to take me home."

"Oh.." she looked down. "I just didn't want you to believe it was your fault." she finally admitted.

"That's ridiculous! Why would I ever think it's my fault? It so clearly isn't!" Lizzie spat out surprising the tribrid.

"Oh, okay. Glad you see it that way."

"And it's not yours either. There's only one person to blame for all of this and you know who it is."

"It is, though. I made the choice."

"No, you didn't! Do you really believe he would let you save the one person he strived to kill from the very start? Even if you had chosen differently, there wasn't a good ending for him. The Necromancer just wanted to torture you, making you think Landon stood a chance to begin with. And he briefly succeeded, because once again you decided to go through this alone and drown in your own guilt." Lizzie lectured the girl. "And that's what I'm mostly mad about. That you can't seem to comprehend the fact there are people in your life that care about you, who are genuinely trying to help you even if they had previously tried to erase you from existence once or twice."

"What?"

"The point is, you can't keep doing this. Shut down and ignore the rest of the world. And believe me, I would have made your life a living hell for what you pulled on me these past days if I didn't know for a fact that it almost ate you alive."

"You're right. I feel guilty." Hope finally accepted her own emotions.

"No, shit. That's what I've been saying, weren't you paying attention?"

"But not because I think my actions killed Landon. I know he was long gone. I feel guilty that I've chosen you over and over again, with Kai, in front of the Necromancer, in my mind, in my heart and I don't regret it for a single second. I'm ashamed that when I'm supposed to be sad, I see you and I talk to you and I touch you and it feels so damn good. I stayed away from everyone because I needed to stay away from you. Because I needed some time to grieve and I'm sorry but I can't when you're around."

"I.." Lizzie lost her voice.

Hope knew she shouldn't have opened her damn mouth but her emotions were all over the place now, so..

"I think.." the blonde tried to speak "No, I know." she corrected. "I can make your life pretty miserable."

Hope smiled. "Not possible."

"No, seriously, whenever I see you being even a little happier than your usual, I am going to make sure you feel the pain you deserve to be feeling." Lizzie reassured the shorter girl, truly terrified of an alternative where their ways would be separated.

"I'm so desperately in love with you." Hope confessed, two heart-eyes looking into a pair of astonished.

"Well-" the blonde pulled herself together, even if she was melting inside, to take a serious expression. "I am so not in love with you." she tried to convince Hope but the look on their faces were too direct to fake.

They needed each other. Three days apart and you could cut the tension with a knife. Their bodies were so close to touching but never actually did, making the anticipation that much more intense. Every other second Hope would look down at the girl's lips, gulp dryly and return right back where she started. And if her heart could stop beating that fast for a freaking second, she would surely have been able to hear Lizzie's, pounding just as loud inside her chest.

"So not in love." Lizzie whispered seconds before her lips crashed into Hope's mouth, giving them both what they wanted, slightly opening it up before she slid her tongue across the girl's bottom lip. At the same time, her palms gently grabbed the shorter girl's face, resting her fingers under each ear while her thumbs explored her jawline. The tribrid drew a deep, staggered breath in response to the wave of heat she felt flushing through her and rested her hands on the blonde's waist, pulling it against her abdomen. The contact made Lizzie's inside flutter, granting Hope's tender tongue full permission to dip past the siphon's lips as she left a soft moan, music to the shorter girl's ears.

They parted for a brief moment just to check in on one another but as soon as they confirmed that this was actually happening and both of them were all in, they shared a look full of longing and passionately became one yet again.