Author's Note: So I should be finishing up What's Left Inside but that one is actually kind of tricky to write so I decided to take a break and write something easy and fun instead. And there's not enough Hope/Lizzie content. So I decided to write this. Enjoy.

Waiting Game

"You, are a terrible dancer." Lizzie said, a smile across her face as she taunted Hope.

"Sorry for not being up to date on my eighties dances," Hope replied, suppressing a laugh at the idea. Her knowledge of dances stopped somewhere in the forties, due to having learned primarily from Rebekah and Marcel. "But hey if you want to try swing dancing later, let me know."

"You know how to swing dance?" Lizzie asked incredulously, not believing what she was hearing. Hope being able to dance as well as she had for the pageant had already been a surprise to her.

"It's actually pretty popular among the Crescent Wolf Pack. You know, jazz music, superhuman strength, a dance that involves throwing people into the air, all kind of goes together." Hope said, laughing at Lizzie's expression. She could tell that the blonde didn't really believe her, but it was true. Sure she had never actually danced with anyone outside her family but she knew how to do it.

"I might actually take you up on that then," Lizzie said, a mischievous smile on her face. "But first I need another drink."

Moving away from Hope, Lizzie went to the drink table, pausing as she weighed between the almost certainly spiked punch and just getting them a few waters. She would typically go for the punch but she couldn't remember ever seeing Hope drink before. As she was deciding she heard the DJ call out that there were only two songs left for the night, getting her to shrug and just take two cups of the punch.

"Lizzie!" She heard from behind her, rolling her eyes before turning to see an all to gleeful MG. "I didn't know you were here."

"It's a dance, at the school, where I live... of course I'd be here." Lizzie replied, barely refraining from rolling her eyes once more. Her and Hope had mostly stayed to the outside of the dance floor, being content to just enjoy themselves. She was pretty sure that Hope had actually growled when one of the boys had tried to slide in between them earlier but couldn't actually prove it. Not that she could blame her, the last thing she wanted tonight was more boy drama.

"That's... a good point I guess." MG said slowly, not sure why Lizzie seemed annoyed. Then again she had been pretty pissed by him showing her that Sebastian wasn't real. Except turned out he was, and that Kaleb planned to torch him later. Maybe coming over to her hadn't been the best idea? Especially as she'd apparently been hitting the punch hard judging by the two drinks she was holding. But hey, shooters shoot, right? "Anyways I was wondering if you wanted to dance?"

Lizzie tightened the grip she had on the drinks, her mouth parting slightly at that. Before she could cut into him a hand was placed on her arm, getting her to look over and see that Hope was there. Smiling Hope gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. "I was wondering what was taking so long with those drinks."

"You're that girl from Mystic Falls..." MG said, confusion evident on his face. Why was some chick from the human school at their dance? That was against every rule he knew of.

"Oh relax, Hope's here with me." Lizzie said, handing Hope her drink. Lifting her own cup to drink from she hid her smile as she saw Hope's eyes widen at the taste, the girl having not been expecting the alcohol. Finishing her drink she leaned over and took Hope's hand, pulling her back to the dance floor. "come on, you heard the DJ, only two songs left."

Still confused by what had just happened MG moved to follow after them, only to stop dead as Hope turned and glared at him, her eyes flashing gold for a moment. It was just for an instance but he could feel the hair on the back of his neck raise at that. At least it explained why she was allowed to be here and why Dr. Saltzman hadn't wanted him to try and compel her, she was supernatural as well. A powerful one, going by the feeling he'd gotten, who was apparently very close with Lizzie. Despite him having never heard of her before tonight. All of which just added to the confusion he felt.

"What's so funny?" Hope asked, not missing the grin that was spread across Lizzie's face.

"Oh, nothing. Just amused at you growling at MG to get him to leave." Lizzie said, her grin widening even more as she saw Hope blush.

"I didn't growl..." Hope demurred, at least she pretty sure she hadn't. It was just that Lizzie had looked upset with him and they'd been having a good time up until then and she hadn't wanted it to end. "You didn't look like you wanted to dance with him anyways."

"Definitely not. I much prefer dancing with you." Lizzie said, giving Hope a wink that the girl laughed at. Hearing the final song of the night start, a slow one of course, she placed her hands just above Hope's hips, trying to take the lead. Almost immediately she stepped on her foot, getting her to pout at Hope, "I'm a foot taller than you, just let me lead."

"Sorry, just not used to dancing with-"

"Anyone competent?"Lizzie cut in, getting Hope to give a slight laugh. She had seen the travesty that was Landon trying to dance before, and it had been bad enough that it was a miracle it hadn't ruined her chance at winning the pageant.

"He wasn't that bad." Hope said, letting Lizzie guide them around the dance floor. They weren't really doing anything more that swaying back and forth but she had to admit that it was nice. It kind of amazed her just how easy it was to fall back into normal with Lizzie. Well not normal exactly, but maybe into something that she hoped would be normal.

"He's a hobbit, and not even one of the good ones." Lizzie retorted, rolling her eyes. Landon was definitely Frodo. Whiny, monster bait Frodo that had to be carried to be of any use. God she was so glad she had her memories back, having to think that Landon had beaten Malivore had been a form of torture. "Do you have any idea how mortifying it was to think Landon was the one to stop Malivore? Getting run through with the sword would have been worth it to fix that error."

Hope could only laugh at that, because it was ridiculous. And it was very Lizzie. She had missed that. "Is it sad that I missed this?"

"Slow dancing with a girl while your ex tango's with her sister?" Lizzie said with a smirk, getting Hope to lightly punch her on the arm for that.

"No, you being... well you. I missed it." Hope said, ignoring Lizzie's barbs for now.

"You're such a masochist." Lizzie said, shaking her head slightly at that. She could hear the song they had been dancing to starting to wind down, and see people gathering their stuff as they got ready to leave. "Hey, so there's going to be an after party out at the old mill after this, if you want to go?"

"Um, I don't know..." Hope said, having never been one for parties even before. She wasn't exactly the most social of people.

"Oh come on. I can't go back to my room so I pretty much have to go. Don't make me go alone. I can't be the girl that shows up to the party solo." Lizzie pleaded, giving Hope her knockoff version of Josie's puppy-dog eyes. It was never as effective as her sister's was but it seemed to be working as she saw Hope start to give in.

"Okay, fine. But only for a little bit. I intend on getting up early tomorrow to guard the portal again." Hope said, smiling as she saw Lizzie's eyes light up at her agreement. Dr. Saltzman had said that he would watch over the portal tonight, telling her to go and enjoy herself after she had texted him to let him know about the latest monster.

"Perfect, I always wanted to find out if your freakish healing ability could be used for drinking games." Lizzie said, a smirk on her face as Hope's eyes went wide.

"Tell me your joking." Hope said, staring at Lizzie in shock. She hadn't really drank since her Aunts' wedding and hadn't been planning on starting tonight, earlier drink Lizzie had given her aside. Following after the blonde as she moved to leave the dance floor she asked once more, "Lizzie you're joking, right?"

So despite Lizzie claiming that she couldn't go to the party alone it had actually ended up being Hope that had shown up alone. Lizzie had been pulled away by a group of witches who's names Hope couldn't care enough to remember, leaving her to show up on her own. Fortunately Raf had seen her as she showed up which led to the current the situation, Hope laughing her ass off as a bunch of drunk werewolves tried to race up the outer wall to the top of old mill.

"Oh sure, laugh it up." Rafael said, smiling brightly as Hope continued to laugh at him. Sure he had fallen a good twenty-feet and possibly cracked his tailbone but it was worth it. "I'd like to see you try."

"Oh, is that a dare?" Hope said, smirking at Raf as she reached over and took another shot. Technically they were for the losers of the race but they were there and free and she was happy for anything that took her mind off Josie and Landon. It had been much easier to ignore when Lizzie was with her but once the blonde had ghosted her thoughts had taken a turn.

"Why not? Want to make it a race?" Rafael said, smirking at the prospect.

"Only if you want to lose." Hope taunted, pulling herself to her feet. The world was spinning slightly but not too bad, she was pretty sure it was supposed to do that anyways. Didn't gravity require spinning to work?

"Okay maybe this isn't a good idea," Raf said, looking at Hope with some amusement as she stumbled over to the start line they'd been using. "How many shots have you had?"

"No idea, didn't know I needed to keep count. I'll remember that for next time." Hope said happily, before shaking her head to clear it some. She was more buzzed than drunk, which was a feat in itself as she was fairly sure she had drank enough to fill a bottle. But it looked like Lizzie had been right and her healing factor did work for alcohol too. "Now get over here so you can lose."

"Okay, okay. Want to make this interesting and make a bet?" Rafael said, before his brain could catch up with his mouth. That hadn't been what he wanted to say. "Wait, I didn't mea-"

"I don't think you have anything I want." Hope replied, having paused to actually think about it for a moment. Shrugging she turned to face the wall, missing the look of hurt that flashed across Rafael's face.

"Right... on three then?" Raf asked, pushing past it and getting ready to race. Getting a nod in response he lowered himself into a stance, intending to take actually take this race seriously. He was taller, faster, and stronger than Hope, there was no way she could win. "Okay, one... two... three!"

The instant they took off Raf realized that his initial calculation of Hope's abilities might be off. To start with she was far faster than he had thought was possible, reaching the wall in half the time he did. Even as he pushed himself to close the distance he saw her grab hold of as small knot on the wall, using it to practically throw herself up the wall. She was far lighter than he was, and apparently stronger as well, and was using both to practically fly up the outer wall instead of climb. By the time he had made it ten feet up she was already at the top, turning back to smile down at him.

"Told you, you'd lose." Hope said, smirking down at Rafael. She had been as strong and fast as an average werewolf even before triggering her curse. Now there was no way to expect any of them to keep up with her, even one like Raf.

"Damn, maybe you should be the alpha." Raf said as she pulled himself up to the roof. He was partly serious about it, god knows he had been a shit alpha even before getting stuck in wolf form. He was already leaning towards stepping down and letting Jed take over again but if Hope wanted to do it he'd probably let her.

"Not happening," Hope said, shaking her head in protest. That was an awful idea for a whole variety of reasons. Starting with the fact that no one had any actual memory of her. If they did she was probably the last person they'd accept as alpha.

Raf actually seemed disappointed at that, and she was debating asking him about it, when the wind shifted an a familiar scent hit her. Turning away from Raf she walked a short ways across the roof, spotting a familiar blonde laying on the opposite side. "Raf, you think you could take the pack somewhere else? I have something I need to do."

Raf tilted his head in confusion before moving and spotting Lizzie. He hadn't known that Hope and Lizzie knew each other, but if she wanted a moment alone with her he was willing to grant it. Given that he could smell the alcohol on Lizzie from here she probably needed someone to talk to. "Right. Umm, I guess I'll head out then. It was good to see you again."

"Thanks Raf," Hope said, sparing him a smile before moving to Lizzie. Even from a distance she could see the girl was a bit of a mess, with tears staining her makeup, and a nearly empty bottle of something that smelled of cinnamon at her side.

"You ghosted me you jerk." Hope said as she sat herself of the roof beside Lizzie. Tilting her head she looked down at the party below suddenly confused at what she had said. That hadn't been what she wanted to say.

"Whoops. I did, didn't I?" Lizzie said, her words slightly slurred as she lay on the rooftop. There hadn't been enough air down below so she had come up here. And she'd only nearly fallen off the ladder once in the process. "I got ghosted too though. Or hallucinated? Not sure what works best."

"What are you talking about? You said you wanted me to come with you so you didn't have to go alone." Hope replied wondering what Lizzie meant. She had better not had some date she was planning on meeting after talking her into going with her.

"No, not like that." Lizzie said shaking her head slightly. Pushing herself up she tried to sit up straight, pulling her knees into her chest as tried to clear her thoughts. Between the alcohol and the general mess that was her brain it wasn't easy. "I saw Sebastian again. You know, the boyfriend I hallucinated? God I'm such a mess."

"Hey no, no you're not." Hope said, piecing together what Lizzie meant. She had eventually told her about her hallucination while stuck in the labyrinth and she hadn't really known what to say then either. Part of her wondered if it was really that simple. What Lizzie had described was so detailed it was hard to imagine it was just a hallucination, she couldn't help but wonder if someone had cursed her or there was something else going on.

"Yes I am. Poor broken Lizzie, crying alone on the roof cause no one real wants to be with her." Lizzie said, raising the bottle to drain what was left only to have Hope snatch it out of her hands. "Hey!"

"I'm here with you, aren't I?" Hope said, moving the bottle to her opposite hand to keep Lizzie from taking it back. She had clearly had enough for the night.

"Oh please, you're only here because I'm literally the only person that knows who you are." Lizzie retorted, wincing as she saw the hurt look on Hope's face. That wasn't fair to Hope, she knew that, but she was pissed and drunk, and didn't exactly have a reputation for making the best choices in the first place.

"Is that really what you think?" Hope asked, feeling herself sober up in a hurry as she talked with Lizzie. The alcohol wouldn't stay in her system that long to begin with but apparently if she wanted to she could speed the process up. And right now she wanted a clear head. "Lizzie I told you already, I missed you. You, and Landon, and Raf, and Josie. I finally had real friends, and maybe if I hadn't been such an idiot for last ten years we could have been friends a lot sooner."

"Don't forget the arson. That played a role too." Lizzie said, smiling at throwing her sister under the bus. It wasn't like her and Hope hadn't been more than willing to go at each other before but her twin certainly hadn't helped.

"Speaking of arson, that gives me an idea." Hope said, a smile on her face. Holding up the bottle she'd confiscated from Lizzie she swirled it around, seeing how much was left. Grinning she reared back, throwing the bottle way above them. For a second Lizzie wondered what Hope was doing before she raised her hand, igniting the bottle with a snap of her fingers and quick incantation, "Incendia azul."

High above them the bottle burst in a blast of blue fire, lighting up the sky above them like a firework. It was pretty, very pretty, but it also meant that a cloud of blue flame was now falling down towards them. "Umm, Hope?" Lizzie asked, praying that Hope had a plan and hadn't been drinking as much as she had.

"Relax," Hope said, giggling slightly as she waved her hand in a circle. Above them the flames scattered, becoming individual embers that fell slowly around them before coming to a standstill in mid-air under the influence of her magic. Okay so maybe there was still more alcohol in her system than she had thought if this had seemed like a good idea. But it had worked out fine, and was very pretty. "They're still hot so don't touch them."

"Wow, fire is hot. Got it," Lizzie deadpanned, before bursting into giggles. It was just so absurd. She was sitting on the roof, drunk as hell, with a girl she had hated a year ago, surrounded by floating embers. "If this was a date I'm pretty sure this would be my cue to kiss you."

Hope jolted at that, turning to focus on Lizzie, her eyes darting down to the other girl's mouth for a moment. Turning her gaze she looked around and had to admit that she had a point, this was a pretty romantic setting she had accidentally created. Minus the several dozen drunk teenagers partying below them. "I think that's my cue to get you home, we've both clearly had too much to drink."

"Oh, wanting to take me back to your place already? How forward." Lizzie taunted, enjoying making Hope flustered. She should do that more often, it was fun.

"Shut up," Hope countered, smiling as she waved her hand and snuffed out the embers. Offering Lizzie a hand she pulled the girl to her feet, helping steady her as she wobbled for a moment. "Come on, let's get you back to your room."

"Need I remind you that what is happening in my room is the reason we're both out here drunk." Lizzie pointed out, getting Hope to wince. Yeah last thing she was doing was going back to her room. "I do not want to see any post-coital nest building."

"Lizzie!" Hope said, shaking her head at the girl.

"...That was supposed to be my inside voice." Lizzie admitted, before shrugging it off. Whatever, she had meant what she'd said. "I was supposed to be staying with my dad but I never actually told him thanks to getting thrown in that eighties hellscape."

"That's fine. I'm staying there already so we can just take your car and head there." Hope said, slowly guiding Lizzie over to where the ladder was to get off the roof. She was debating internally whether it'd be better to just levitate the girl down instead of letting her try to climb. It'd be faster, that was for sure.

"Why do we have to take my car? I don't want you driving it." Lizzie protested, as she tried to remember how ladders worked. It would definitely be Hope driving, she'd be the one that was actually sober by the time they made it back to school.

"Fine, we'll take one of mine if it's still there." Hope said, not particularly caring. She figured that the car was likely still there as Malivore removed memories, not actual physical possessions. She'd likely have to use magic to start it as who knew where the keys were but that would likely have happened with Lizzie's too. Honestly she just wanted to get back to her bed and sleep the night away, she still had to get up early to go guard a hell pit the next morning.

"This is it?" Lizzie said, looking around at the very sparsely furnished apartment her dad was staying at. It was a two-bedroom, two bath with a living room and a separate kitchen, which was fine as her Dad had been living alone. The second bedroom had only been for if her or Josie had wanted to stay over. But the living room was basically empty, just a single folding chair and small TV set on a stack of books near the far wall.

"It's not like either of us are ever here." Hope said, not seeing what the problem was. If she wasn't at school then she was dealing with a monster or watching over the Malivore pit. And if Dr. Saltzman wasn't at work then he was typically at a bar. Neither of them were using this place as little more than a place to store clothes and sleep.

"It's sad. I mean Dad's going through a mid-life crisis so this is pretty much what I expected but you should want better than this." Lizzie said, not even trying to hide how she felt. There were also some comments she could make on Hope and her Dad's weird pseudo-father/daughter relationship but she wasn't drunk enough to go blurting those out. Not anymore at least.

"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower. You know because someone knocked me out and hid me under a pile of leaves." Hope said, directing an empty glare at Lizzie.

"It worked out fine," Lizzie replied, dismissing Hope's comment with a shrug. Following Hope into one of the rooms she sighed as she saw how bare it was. A mattress thrown on the floor and a pile of school books and supplies in one corner. At least Hope's clothes were in an actual closet instead of just piled on the floor as she half-expected. "This is sadder."

"I can still hear you," Hope said as she grabbed some clothes from the closet and headed into the bathroom attached to the room.

"You were supposed too." Lizzie retorted, raising her voice as Hope shut the bathroom door behind her. Her first impulse was to just throw herself into the bed, but she didn't really want to sleep in the clothes she had been killed in a dozen plus times. Stepping out of the room she went to the room her dad was using, rummaging through his closet to find an old t-shirt that looked comfortable enough to sleep in.

Returning to the bedroom she pulled off her all to authentic eighties attire and pulled the shirt on instead. It reached about halfway down her thighs which was long enough to work as sleepwear for one night. Running her fingers through her hair she set down on the edge of the mattress, pulling it free of the clips that held it in place. She'd need a shower herself to wash out all of the hairspray in it but she was far too tired for that. Climbing under the covers she laid down, sighing in relief at how nice it felt. At least Hope hadn't skimped on getting a quality mattress.

Lizzie was almost asleep, despite her best efforts to stay awake, when Hope finally exited the bathroom wearing a simple pair of shorts and t-shirt. "Bout time," Lizzie mumbled, barely awake as she pulled back one side of the covers for Hope to get it.

"It's fine. I'll just sleep on the couch." Hope said, wanting to let Lizzie have the bed to herself.

"There isn't a coach." Lizzie pointed out, forcing herself to sit up in bed as she glared at Hope. Of course Hope would be stupid about this, she couldn't just get let her sleep like a normal person. "Hope, quit being stupid about whatever it is and get into bed already. And don't even try to do something dumb like sleep on the floor."

"Wow, didn't realize you wanted to sleep with me so badly." Hope said, taking the rare opportunity to tease Lizzie. She wasn't exactly comfortable sleeping with someone else but it was hard to tell her no.

"I don't like sleeping alone." Lizzie replied honestly, too tired to even pick up the innuendo in what Hope had said. She never really slept alone, her and Josie had always shared a room and many nights a bed and when she was traveling with her Mom they tended to room together. She didn't like being alone.

"Fine, but only because I'm too tired to argue." Hope said, caving rather easily. If nothing else she had to admit the bed looked far more inviting than the floor did.

"Good girl," Lizzie replied, falling face down on to her pillow as Hope turned the lights off. Feeling the bed shift as Hope slid in she turned slightly so she was facing Hope, unable to hide her smile at how quick Hope caved. For someone who liked to pretend that she was this tough loner she sure did give in to her and Josie easily. Feeling Hope's knee brush up against her thigh as the tribrid moved to get comfortable she sighed, already suspecting what Hope's reaction would be.

"Lizzie... tell me your wearing shorts." Hope asked, having frozen at the contact with Lizzie's bare skin.

"Where was I going to find shorts that'd fit me?" Sure she could've raided Hope's closest but that would have been rude. And they weren't anywhere close to the same size. "Just go to sleep and panic about it in the morning. I still wont be wearing pants then."

"Not helping Lizzie." Hope hissed back, debating whether it was better to just try the floor instead. There was carpet, it wouldn't be that bad.

"Hope, shut up and go to sleep." Lizzie said, her voice practically a whine. She didn't want to deal with whatever panic Hope was having right now. They could deal with it in the morning when she inevitably woke wrapped around her. Because Hope practically radiated heat and there was no chance that she wouldn't be drawn to that while she slept. Not that she was going to tell Hope any of that, it'd be more amusing to let her find out firsthand.

Giving in Hope sank into the bed and tried to relax, it was just for a few hours anyways. She still needed to get up early and go relieve Dr. Saltzman from portal duty after all. She could slip out before Lizzie ever woke in the morning. She didn't even know why it bothered her that much, aside from just not being used to sleeping next to anyone. It was Lizzie though, and after everything they'd gone through today she hadn't had the heart to tell her no. So she'd deal with it for a night and just hope that Lizzie stayed on her side of the bed.

Author's Note: The idea was that this would be a few short looks at Lizzie's growing feelings for Hope over the course of season 2 through some missing scenes. Then I started writing and ended up with about 5k and only through one of the episodes I wanted to look at. So yeah this will end up being multiple chapters, mostly adding extra scenes like this. And eventually Lizzie might realize that she has a crush on Hope. Eventually. Anyways live, favorite, leave reviews. Seriously I love getting reviews, so feel free to comment or ask about anything, I'll almost certainly reply.