AN: So Fun Fact: It is incredibly hard to write while you're crying. I don't know if the ending is just that sad or if it's because I am an emotional person. Either way, you've been warned.
Chapter 4: Josie's Home
Hope managed to sleep through the night without wolfing out, so Alaric granted her furlough from her ongoing wolf jail sentence, but only for the day. She was to return to her cell before curfew and was warned not to fall asleep.
She headed back to her room to take a quick shower before the start of classes, then made her way to the dining hall to get a bite to eat. MG was still there, talking with Landon, who was decked out in Salvatore School regulated clothing. "So, you get to stay now?" she asked as she sat.
"Yeah. Dr. Saltzman said if was for my own protection," he answered. He smiled at her widely, clearly happy to see her.
She smiled back, though she was merely being nice. Something had changed between them. The feelings she had just before he left were gone. Yes, she still felt the need to protect him, but she also felt the way towards Rafael, MG, and Penelope. It was the feeling of her heart floating when she looked at him or thought about him, that was no longer there.
Her heart suddenly felt very heavy as she realized she was going to have to talk to him about their relationship and what happened next. She never had to let someone down like this before. The only crush she ever had was with Roman, and that had turned out disastrous. She preferred to not think about him as much as possible.
She chatted with them for a little while, mostly about what Landon missed while he was away. The bell rang, causing them to scurry of to class before they were late. She had two tests to take before lunch and another after. She wasn't worried about doing poorly. She had an excellent memory, allowing her to retain almost every piece of information she learned.
Her friends on the other hand looked exhausted by the time lunch rolled around. Each had their heads in their notebooks going over as much information as they could. Standardized test week was always the most stressful week of the year. Most students didn't even bother to stress over end of the year exams, because those only reflected their knowledge, not the entire school's performance. If the school, as a collective, did poorly on the standardized tests, then they risked having the school over run by government people or the school could be shut down. No one wanted that to happen.
After classes ended for the day, Hope headed for Alaric's office to see if he wanted to spar. It was abundantly clear that he was too busy to spar the second she walked in. He was sitting at his desk, with a mound of books in front of him, while her aunts were sitting on his couch, with an even larger mound of books scattered around them, on the coffee table, under it, on the floor next to them, there was even a few books resting dangerously on the top of the couch.
"How did your exams go," Alaric asked the second he say her.
She looked away from her aunts to him and rolled her eyes. It was as if he forgot she was top of her class. "I aced them."
"Good. Good," he said.
"How is it going?" Hope asked, as she looked around the room curious.
Freya tossed the book she was reading onto the floor next to her. "About as well as to be expected. Marcel is looking into the possibility of multiple pit locations, while we are looking for any reference to Malivore in these books. So far, we have found one brief reference to a place that could be Malivore, but nothing else."
"Vincent has the New Orleans witches on it too," Keelin added.
"We've also reached out to as many of the packs as we can for anything that will help explain what is happening to you," Freya continued. "Hopefully, someone will have the answers we're searching for."
"Great," Hope said, though her tone wasn't very hopeful.
"How are you doing?" Freya asked, recognizing her niece's tone.
"I'm fine," she answered. Freya gave her a stern look, which made her uncomfortable. She hated how her aunt could read right through her sometimes. "I'm just restless. I need to change, but I can't. Which is making the feeling more intense. I was just coming to see if you wanted to spar Dr. Saltzman. I can see you're busy though, so I'll just go see if MG or Raf will spar with me instead."
"Are you sure?" Alaric asked.
"Yeah," she insisted, then turned and left before they had a chance to change her mind. She quickly went back to her room to change, then headed to the gym. She looked for MG and Rafael on her way, but neither could be found.
She found Rafael in the gym, punching away at the punching bag. She convinced him to fight with her, even though he seemed hesitant. She could tell he was going easy at first. Clearly, he was afraid of hurting her, even voicing the concern a few times. It took her a few minutes to get him to realize it takes a lot to hurt her.
In the end he started to fight with meaning, and despite doing well, she had him pinned to the floor in no time. She felt a little better afterwards, allowing her to sit and chat with him for a while. She hadn't really talked with him since before his dead girlfriend walked through the school's front doors. She asked how he was doing, and he asked what was going on with her. They discussed Landon for a while. She wanted to know how he was doing. Making sure he was settling in okay, and if everyone was being nice to him?
Rafael assured her he was doing fine but warned her that if she didn't want to be with him to just tell him. Apparently, Landon had spent the entire day thinking she was avoiding him. Which wasn't far off from the truth. Every time she'd see him during the day when he was alone, she turned the other way. She knew she had to have a conversation with him, just wasn't ready yet. She still had a few things to figure out. Like what she was feeling.
Hope left Rafael to go shower, then went to find MG and Penelope. She found in the library, reading through the collection of wolf books Dorian had gathered for them. They each found a few passages here and there that could be linked, but most of it had noting to do with the breed of werewolf she was. They came from legends about human looking beasts, or wolves that could change a will, or werewolves that were created by a bite, not born. They dismissed everything they found as myth, instead of factual.
When it came time to pack it in for the night, Hope returned to her cell alone. She laid on her cot, unable to sleep. Her racing mind wouldn't shut up long enough for her to drift off to dream land. Around two, she finally gave up, and grabbed her tablet. She knew it was early in London but hoped that maybe her friend was already awake. She sent her a message and waited impatiently for a response. After a minute, her tablet bagan ringing.
A few second after hitting the answer button, Josie's sleepy face came onto her screen. "Did I wake you?" she asked worried.
"No," Josie replied quietly. "I was already awake."
"You look sleepy," remarked Hope.
"I didn't get much sleep," Josie explained. "It's late there. Why are you still awake?"
"Can't sleep."
"Are you still in wolf jail?"
"Yeah," Hope groaned. "Only for nights though. They're letting me out to go to classes now."
"That's good," Josie chirped.
Hope smiled at her enthusiasm. At least one of them was happy about it. "How are you doing?"
Josie sighed, "I'm okay. We convinced that girl to come. Lizzie's happy about it. She likes her. They talked all through dinner and have even been messaging each other since. I think Lizzie may have found a true friend. She doesn't really have anyone besides me to hang out with. It's hard for her sometimes because she says things without thinking first."
"I guess I never really noticed," Hope remarked. "She's always around people."
"People have gotten used to how she is," Josie commented. "My friends are nice to her, and include her in everything, but she doesn't have someone who's she's really close with, besides me of course. Unless you count MG, but Lizzie's completely oblivious to the fact he likes her."
Hope bit her lip as she contemplated how to ask Josie something. "I'm not trying to be mean, but why do you let her treat you like she does?"
"She…" Josie began. "I... It's just…" She sighed. "Not many people know this, and she will probably kill me for telling you, but Lizzie has bipolar disorder. When she's manic, it's hard for her to see thing clearly. She has a very one-track mind. She truly is an amazing person, it is just hard for people to see past her outer shell."
Hope wasn't sure how to respond. She never thought there was a reason Lizzie acted the way she acted. She just thought she was being a bitch.
"It's okay," Josie said. "I know what people think about Lizzie, and a lot of it is true. It's just some of it she can't control. Well, she is trying, it's just she doesn't always see what she is doing, and I don't like to upset her, because then she gets really depressed."
"So, you stay quiet," Hope said. "Like when you both liked Rafael, but you didn't tell her."
"I didn't want to upset her. It's easier sometime to just let her have what she wants. We do talk, about a lot of things, and I do point out things that she does when I know she's able to handle it. I'm there to help her when she falls."
"You really are an amazing sister," Hope mused.
"So is Lizzie," Josie said. "She makes me wear the talisman you gave me every day. She says, she likes it when I'm not so quiet."
Hope chuckled, "I like it too."
Josie smiled. "I'm coming home tomorrow."
That made Hope very happy. "Are you happy?"
"Yeah. It's been great seeing mom, but I miss home," Josie said.
"Well I miss you," Hope admitted shyly. "I can't wait to see you."
Josie smiled softly at her. "It's strange to think you were still poking just a few weeks ago.
"Hey, you were poking too," Hope argued.
"Only when you poked first," Josie countered.
"Oh yeah? Like the morning we brought Raf to the school. I was nice until your sister poked first," Hope countered.
Josie giggled, "Okay. You're right. We did poke a far bit as well."
Hope smiled. "How about we make a deal, no more poking."
"Deal," Josie agreed immediately. "I'm glad we're friends."
"So am I," Hope replied. "It's strange, actually. I've spent so much time alone. I've never really looked forward to seeing or talking to people outside my family. Now you're the first person I think about when I want to talk, and I look forward to seeing MG, Penelope, and Rafael every day. It's a big change. I still like being alone, I just don't fear being around everyone so much."
"You feared being around people?"
"It is exhausting being around people some days. I'm always worried that I'm going to accidentally hurt someone. Whether because I slip in gym and hurt someone weaker than me, or if I lose control because I get too angry."
"I don't think you would do that," Josie said.
"I might," Hope insisted. "My father is Niklaus Mikaelson, The Great Evil. I have the same darkness he had. I have the potential to be just as horrible."
"So do I," Josie interrupted. "My dad is always warning us about how black magic gets inside your heart…"
"And poisons your mind," Hope finished, and Josie looked through the screen questioningly. "I may not have been entirely honest with you the day he volunteered us for clean up duty."
"What do you mean?"
"I did do black magic. That is why I was being punished, but it wasn't the spell that we did together that made him so angry. I may have brought a death spell when we went to find Landon."
"You may have?" Josie asked with a smile.
"Alright… I did bring a death spell. I used it on the dragon we were fighting. When he found out, he was pissed."
"That's when he told you his black magic mantra?"
"Yeah. He lectured me, then made me bury the body. I think that was the first time I made him mad. I don't blame him though. He was right. I was angry at Landon and wanted him dead."
"And the day before that, I set Penelope on fire because I was so angry with her," Josie said. "We both have the ability to let the darkness consume us. I think it's the people around us that keep us grounded, or at the very least, pull us back when we're going to far. If Dad hadn't found the spell, do you think you would have used it on Landon?"
"I don't know," Hope answered honestly.
"I don't think you would have," Josie remarked with a soft smile. "I believe you have a good heart, Hope. I think you took the spell with you on impulse, but when the time came to use it, you would have seen reason."
"Why do you think that?" Hope hesitantly asked.
Josie smiled again. "Because every time I've need to talk this week, you've been there for me. You haven't downed me for putting Lizzie first. You have listened to what I've had to say, and you haven't pushed me to do anything I haven't wanted, even though I could tell you were ready to call my mom yourself."
"I am not that obvious," Hope argued playfully.
"Not all the time," Josie agreed. "You are a very private and often time mysterious person, but there are times when your thoughts are open for anyone who stops to notice them."
Josie looked away from the screen suddenly, and Hope could hear Caroline speaking in the distance. "I'm talking to Hope," Josie said.
"Oh…" she could hear Caroline say. "Let me say hi."
The screen become blurry for a moment, then Caroline was smiling through the screen at her. "Hello Hope," she said.
"Hello Mrs. Forbes-Salvatore," Hope said with an honest smile. She always liked it when Caroline was around. She was so nice and loving towards everyone.
"It's late there. Why are you still awake?" Caroline asked with concern oozing from her voice.
"I can't sleep," Hope answered.
"Is everything alright?"
"It's just been a long week," Hope said.
Caroline gave her a smile that could only be described as a 'mom smile'. It reminded her of her own mother. Haley had often given her a 'mom smile' when she was sad. It was like they were sending as much love as they could through a smile. "Well, I'll give you back to Josie. I hope you feel better."
"Thanks Mrs. Forbes-Salvatore."
"You're welcome," Caroline said, then the screen went blurry again.
Hope could hear Caroline talking softly to Josie, then Josie was back. "Are you sleepy?"
"A little," Hope replied.
"Would you like me to read to you? Lizzie love when I do that when she can't sleep," Josie offered with such enthusiasm that Hope couldn't have said no, even if she wanted too. Josie smiled widely when Hope said, "Yes," then the screen went blurry again as Josie began moving. After a few minutes, Josie was back, but she was sitting up in a well-lit area. The London morning sun shining brightly over her. Hope couldn't help but notice how beautiful Josie was in that moment.
Josie smiled at the screen, and then looked down at the book in her lap. "I hope you don't mind Harry Potter. It's Lizzie's favorite."
"Harry Potter is perfect," Hope said.
Josie smiled at the book and began reading the first chapter. Hope listened to the words roll off Josie's tongue like a song. Smoothly and beautifully. By the end of the second chapter, Josie's soulful voice had lured her to sleep.
When Josie noticed this, she stopped reading, and watched Hope sleep for a few minutes, before ending their call. She then sent her a simple message. "Goodnight."
Hosie-Legacies-Hosie
The next day went by fast for Hope. She got up, went through her morning routine. Had breakfast with her aunts as they caught her up to speed on everything they had learned so far. After breakfast she took two more tests to take, which she was positive she aced.
After lunch she had a free period, which she spent messaging Josie, who was excited to be coming home. Hope was right there with her. All they had to do was wait a little over twenty-four hours, then they could talk in person.
She headed to the gym after classes ended to work off some of her anxiety. The full moon was a few days away and the need to turn was a real as ever. She knew she couldn't do that though. She would be risking too much if she did.
Once she had spent as much energy as she could, she headed to the library where her friends were already waiting. There was a small stack of books between them, the last of the books Dorian was sure would yield result. He joked that after this they were going to have to take to the internet.
Hope was sure that would only bring up fiction, seeing as werewolf folklore was everywhere in pop culture. Still, they read through each of the books, with no results. After giving up, they headed to Hope's dorm to watch a movie.
The next morning, Hope was summoned to Alaric's office. The urn had glowed during the night, signaling the arrival of the next monster. He had a bundle of crossbows lying on his desk, along with a sharpening file, so she grabbed them and started sharpening away at them while they talked.
Alaric had just finished saying something when both doors flew open to reveal the twins standing there, their luggage still with them. "Girl's. What are you doing here? You're not suppose to get home until tonight."
Caroline stepped up in between them. "I got us direct into Dulles."
"Caroline," he said in shock. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming home."
"Oh no? Maybe if you had checked your text messages, or your email, or your fax, you would have known," Caroline snarked. She rolled her luggage into the room.
"I'm sorry. Things have been hectic around here," Alaric apologized.
"Yeah," Hope agreed, then tried to back him up. "We've been in crisis mode around here."
"Oh, I am aware, Hope," Caroline said, then smiled widely at her. "After our little chat, I called Dr. Saltzman to make sure you were okay, and he told me all about what was going on. I've come to help."
"Oh…" Hope said awkwardly, then looked to Alaric, who returned her look with a sheepish one of his own. She turned back to Caroline and said, "That's great."
Josie left her luggage by the door and walked towards Hope. Before Hope knew what happened, Josie had her arms wrapped around Hope tightly. Hope quickly relaxed into the hug and wrapped her own arms around her.
"I'm glad you're home," Hope said quietly.
"So am I," Josie replied.
Alaric cleared his throat, "Um… why don't you girls go get unpacked, and settled in. Give your mom and I a chance to talk."
"Sure Daddy," Lizzie said, and turned without waiting for her sister.
"You too Hope," he said. "Stay vigilant though."
Hope nodded then practically pulled Josie out of the office. The last thing she wanted to deal with was parental drama, especially when that parental drama included her. She grabbed Josie's suitcase on their way out, not bothering to close the doors behind them, and didn't stop until they were safely on the second floor.
Josie chuckled when Hope let out a sigh of relief. "Not used to having parental figures discussing you?"
"I know my aunts and uncle talk to your dad all the time for updates and such, but I never know when they do. It's nicer that way," Hope replied. "So how was your trip?"
"Amazing," Josie answered happily. "The nights are still tough, but I was able to enjoy my days. Mom took us all over London and we even traveled into France."
"Sounds fun," Hope commented. They stopped in front of Josie's door.
"It was. It kept my mind occupied, and I got to see a lot of great things." Josie opened the door and gestured for Hope to enter. "How are things around here?"
Hope wheeled Josie's luggage to her bed, then sat down next to her. "We'll there was a sleep demon that my aunts took care of yesterday, and the urn glowed again, so there is something lurking around here."
The door opened and Lizzie entered with a scowl on her face. "Lovely," she snarked. "Now I have to deal with you on top of evading monsters."
"Be nice Lizzie," Josie warned.
"What? I am being nice. I didn't insult her, did I?"
"Remember what mom said?" Josie said, but didn't elaborate on what Caroline had told them.
Lizzie scoffed again, "How could I forget? She only said it a dozen times on the way home."
"It's nice to see you too, Lizzie," Hope said kindly, before either had a chance to say something again. "How was your trip."
Lizzie was startled by Hope's kind demeanor. "Well, if you really want to know, Europe was amazing. What wasn't amazing was my dad not showing to pick us up, because he's been so busy with your problems. Again."
"Lizzie," Josie said warningly. "It's not Hope's fault for any of this."
"Yes well," Lizzie started, but didn't have a clever comeback. "Don't expect me to be nice to you just because you're all buddy-buddy with my sister now."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Hope replied.
Lizzie growled, then left to go shower.
"I'm sorry about her," Josie apologized. "She's a little testy today because of the long trip, and Dad not showing up for us again."
"It's okay Josie. You don't have to apologize for her."
Josie smiled softly, "It's kind of my job."
Hope smiled back. "You really are a good sister. You know that, right?"
"Thanks Hope," Josie said.
They stayed there for a while, talking about what was going on with each of them. Lizzie returned to the room after her shower in a better mood. She even gave Josie a big hug when she entered the room, quietly apologizing to her. Then the three of them went down to the dining hall together to met up with their friends.
There was still one test Hope had to take, so after lunch she headed to class. After classes ended, she headed to the gym again to work of some of the pent-up energy she was feeling. The full moon was just days away, and she was feeling the call to change more intensely than ever. Her work out did little to ease the struggle within, so she contemplated heading to the cell to change.
On her way to her room, she bumped into Penelope, who looked upset. So instead of heading to the basement, she pulled Penelope to her room so they could talk privately. Penelope confided in her, that she had finally talk to Josie about the kiss they shared the night Josie almost died. A part of Hope was relieved when Penelope told her Josie never wanted to get back together and that the kiss had been a mistake, but there was a part of her that hurt for her friend. She had gotten to see a different side of Penelope since they started hanging out. A softer, caring side, who clearly loved Josie. Hope's heart ached for Penelope. She wanted her to be happy. To find someone who loves her as much as she loves them, but she also felt guilty for being happy that person wasn't Josie. Although, she had no clue why she was so happy about it. It wasn't like she had feelings for Josie, after all.
She stayed with Penelope as she cried, until it was time for her to return to her cell. She walked her friend to her room. Even taking the time to tuck the girl into her bed. To think a few weeks ago, she could barely stand Penelope. How things change so quickly.
Hosie-Legacies-Hosie
Freya was sitting next to her sleeping wife, reading through one of the grimoires Hope had in her room. She knew it was a long shot, but they had exhausted all other research avenues available to them in the school. She had to move onto something, leaving the grimoires the only option at that moment.
Hope was sleeping soundly in her bed, her tablet still in hand from her chat with Josie. Freya had to smile when, for the second night that week, Josie had read her niece to sleep. She wondered if there might be something going on between them but chose not to question it. If there was, she wanted Hope to come to her when she was ready, not the other way around.
She went back to read through the book in her lap, not bothering to look up again until she heard something clatter to the floor. When she looked up, the tablet Hope had been holding was on the floor, and he hand that had been gripping the tablet was no longer a hand, but rather a claw.
The sound of breaking bones began echoing off the walls, making the transformation sound worse than it actually was. Within seconds, Hope was fully transformed, and on her feet… Well paws. She sat in front of the door and let out a pitiful whine.
"Sorry kiddo," lamented Freya. "I can't let you out."
Hope let out a long howl, then hit her paw off the bars, waking Keelin with the process. Both Freya and Keelin watched as Hope continued to repeat the process over and over again, until she finally gave up and began pacing the cell.
After an hour of watching her pace back and forth, Hope suddenly threw herself at the door, which glowed yellow and bounced her back on her bed. She tried it again, and again at different stops along the barred wall. Each time with the same results.
Freya kept trying to calm Hope from her side of the room, with little avail. She even tried to dose her with the sleeping dust, but after several failed attempts to do so through the bars, it became clear the only way to dose her was to open the door, which would give Hope the opportunity to escape. She couldn't let that happen.
After what felt like an eternity, Hope stopped her attempts to escape. She sat down and stared at the wall opposite her bed. Freya watch her as she just stared at it, then, in one quick bound she through herself at the wall, hitting it with a sickening thud. Unlike the barred wall, she wasn't thrown backwards onto her bed. Instead, she fell to the floor, and remain motionless for a few moments.
Hope was back up on her feet, and before Freya had a chance to figure out what Hope was thinking, a small fire ball formed in front of her, which quickly grew in size until it was as big as an exercise ball.
Freya's eyes widened as she realized, not only how powerful her niece was, but what she was about to do. "Hope Andrea Mikaelson, don't you dare do it."
Hope looked at Freya, and she swore she saw a glint in the wolf's eyes, before she turned back away. The giant fire ball was suddenly thrusted through the air hitting the wall Hope had been watching, leaving behind a giant hole in its wake. Several giant holes in fact. It tore its way through the hallway wall and three other cells, before dissipating.
Hope was gone before Freya could fully comprehend what her niece had just done. She turned to Keelin, who was sitting on the bed with her mouth hanging open.
"Holy shit," Keelin said.
"Yeah," Freya agreed. She turned toward the door and ran after her niece, yelling for Keelin to get Alaric. She ran straight for the front door, but the heavy door was still shut and locked. She headed for every other door leading to the outside. All of them were still closed and locked.
Alaric was already standing at the base of the stairs, a robe on but not pants. He looked more than worried. Keelin wasn't with him though. "Where's Keelin?"
"I sent her to wake Caroline," he replied.
"Good thinking," Freya said. "She's still in the school. We just have to find her before she does something she regrets."
Caroline came flying down the steps with Keelin in her arms. "Whoa," Keelin said as Caroline let go of her. "Vamp speed is weird while human. I prefer wolf speed as a wolf. Much funnier. More legs to keep you from falling."
Caroline chuckled, then looked to Freya. "So… Hope's gone on an adventure?"
"Yes, but this time she's stayed in the school," Freya explained.
"Well then let's get going," Caroline said, then went back up the stairs.
Hosie-Legacies-Hosie
Penelope was having the strangest dream. She was dreaming that a dog was sitting next to her, licking her face. She tried to bat it away, but the licking continued.
Somewhere between dream world and reality, she heard her roommate quietly calling her. She woke with a start and froze mid gasp. There was a wolf standing over her, licking away tears. She must have been crying in her sleep.
"Hope?" She asked hopeful. She knew Hope was the only wolf at the school who had the power to change at will and seeing as they had spent the week researching why Hope was wolfing out in her sleep, it was an obvious deduction. The only thing she couldn't figure out was why Hope was standing over her, licking away her tears. "Hope? What are you doing?"
Hope stopped licking Penelope's face, and let out a long whined.
Penelope could see her roommate staring at the wolf in terror, which under any other circumstance she would have found hilarious, but seeing as wolves were known to be unpredictable, uncontrollable beasts, she was sympathetic.
Hope sat down on Penelope and let out a loud howl, then went back to licking her face.
"Hope," Penelope said again. "You can stop now."
Hope listened and jumped off the bed. She turned to face the roommate, giving her a terrifying growl, before turning towards the door. She turned back to face Penelope, who could have sworn Hope was asking her to follow.
She got up and followed behind the wolf. Hope lead her down the hall, stopping in front of Josie and Lizzie's room. She wasn't surprised when the headmasters and Hope's aunts rounded the corner. Only to stop, when they saw her and Hope.
The door magically opened, and Hope trotted into the room, and sat next to Josie's bed. Penelope didn't enter the room, but she did peek into it, as did all the adults.
"What is she doing?" Caroline asked alarmed.
"I don't know," Freya said.
"She won't hurt her," Alaric assured them.
Hope nudged Josie's arm and let out a long whine. Josie was twitching in her sleep and mumbling.
"She's having a nightmare," Caroline commented and tried to go into the room. Penelope stopped her though, and quietly told her to just watch.
Hope nudged her arm again, while whining. When Josie didn't respond she leaped onto the bed and laid down next to her. She let out another long whine, then gently licked her cheek.
Josie woke at that. She groggily looked at Hope, then smiled widely at her. She reached up and rubbed her ears. "How'd you know?" she asked quietly, though loudly enough so everyone at the door could still hear.
Hope whimpered lightly then laid her head on Josie's chest. She let out a huff of air and whimpered again.
"I'm better now that you're here," Josie said.
"What the fu…?" Caroline started, then remembered there was children around.
"No… Mrs. Forbes-Salvatore," Penelope glumly said. "Fuck just about covers it."
"Penelope," Alaric scolded lightly, but noticed how sad she looked. "Do you know something that we don't?"
"Yeah… I do," she sighed.
All four adults turned to look at Penelope expectantly. She didn't get a chance to answer their silent question, because Josie noticed they were standing there.
"What's gong on?" She asked just above a whisper.
Alaric went to take a step into the room, but Hope began growling at him, which woke Lizzie up.
She sat up disoriented, her blonde locks standing up in odd angles. She saw her dad standing in the doorway looking scared, with Penelope and the other adults peeking in behind him. "What's going on?" She asked, then looked to Josie. She practically threw herself of her bed when she saw Hope laying on her sister. "Not again." She peeked over the bed, and yelled, "Hope. Go away."
Hope growled at her, then draped her right front leg over Josie's stomach, practically hugging her. Josie smiled, and took her left hand and cupped the paw. "She's okay," she cooed. "Aren't ya, Hope?"
Hope lifted her head and howled, which made Josie smile.
"She's okay here. She won't hurt me, or Lizzie. Will ya, Hope?"
Again, Hope lifted her head up and let out an even louder howl.
"See," Josie said.
Lizzie stood up and got back into bed, only to roll off again with a shriek, when Hope suddenly stood up.
Hope trotted back to the door, pushing her way past Alaric to get to Penelope. She gently took her hand in her mouth and pulled her into the room. When Penelope was half way in, she let go and sat in front of her. She let out a sad whine, then briefly turned back to Josie before turning back. She whined again and laid down on the floor.
Penelope kneeled in front of her. Tears welled in her eyes. She knew what Hope was saying. She was apologizing for her feelings for Josie and making sure she was okay with it. She rubbed Hope's ears, and quietly said, "It's okay, Hope. I understand." Tears rolled down her cheeks. Hope stood and licked them away with a whine. Quieter she spoke, so only Hope (and anyone with supernatural hearing) could hear her, "It's okay. I won't stand in your way. I just want her to be happy. Can you promise me you'll do that?"
Hope barked softly, then whimpered.
"I'll be okay," she cried, tears rolled down her cheeks. She closed her eyes, allowing Hope to clean her face. "I promise. I'll be okay, and so will we. I like having you as a friend, and I don't want that to change."
Hope put her head on Penelope's shoulder, essentially hugging her. Penelope wrapped her arms around the wolf, squeezing her tight. "Take care of her."
She kneeled there and watched as Hope went back to Josie, laying her head on her chest and wrapping her from leg around her. She let out a long howl.
"Penelope?" Josie said. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
Penelope gave Josie a teary smile. "I'll be okay, JoJo. I'll explain everything in the morning. I promise."
Josie opened her mouth to say something, but Penelope stopped her before she could get the words out. "You should go back to sleep. I don't think you'll have another nightmare now that your protector is with you. I promise I'll explain in the morning."
She stood up and turned to the adults. She grabbed the door and closed it behind her. "She's fine now. Leave her go for tonight. I'll explain everything in the morning."
She left before any of the adult could question her. Back to her bed she went, where she cried herself back to sleep. The book, that held all the answers they had been searching for clutched in her hands, along with a picture of Josie.
AN: I very much am enjoying writing Henelope friendship, and I was crying as I wrote this last scene. I think I like them as much as I like writing Hosie. Sorry for those who aren't Penelope fans. I think she has a lot of potential outside of her relationship with Josie, and I am looking forward to seeing her more in the show.