Note: this is not much for Landon lovers, sorry!

The green of the trees blended with the dark shades of gravel as Hope peered through the window. The feeling in the air wasn't tense—she didn't know what to call it—but it could be drawn through with her fingernails.

She spared a glance at Raf in the driver's seat, his eyes focused on the road. While it was rational for him to be doing so, the tribrid couldn't help but think that he wanted to look anywhere but at her.

Hope gasped as her back hit the wall in Marcel's old room. She didn't know when they'd gotten there, but the moment she felt his fingertips lightly grazing her skin as her shirt was partly lifted, Hope didn't care.

Her hands moved on their own, gripping the neckline of his shirt and ripping the material in half.

Raf leaned back with an eyebrow quirked. "In a rush?"

Hope laughed breathlessly, shaking her head. "Saw it on a show once. Throes of passion or something like that."

He grinned lopsidedly, pressing himself closer to her person. Hope took advantage of it and felt on his bare upper half.

"Guess I better return the favor," Raf said, his voice giving her a chill down her spine.

Hope tugged lightly at her shirt collar and returned her gaze towards her window as she thought about what happened the night before. She'd been impulsive kissing Raf, but she didn't regret it. Waking up in the werewolf's arms was a feeling that was comforting...welcoming. Not that anything else happened beyond their kisses and holds.

But it was a feeling she craved more.

Hope wanted to know what Raf was thinking. Even when he'd hugged her closer in his sleep—an action that made her yelp by the way—Hope couldn't figure out what he was thinking. The last instance she was aware of when it came to Raf and his 'impulses', Raf had ultimately regretted it but wanted to pretend everything was fine so he didn't hurt Lizzie.

Hope couldn't be another Lizzie situation.

The only thing stopping Hope from waking and confronting Rafael was Dr. Saltzman calling them to inform them that things were clear enough to return. Aka, their summer break in New Orleans was over, and they needed to return to the school as soon as possible.

So Hope found herself waking and informing Rafael that they had to get ready to leave. His response was to hide his head under the pillow with a groan and reply, "I need a few more weeks first." She couldn't have agreed more.

He'd been quiet moving around to prepare to leave, running his hand over his head with a thoughtful expression on his face. Whether that was a good or bad sign was undetermined, and it drove Hope crazy.

Tapping on the side of the door, Hope looked at Raf again; it was now or never, a bridge she was not looking forward to facing.

"Raf," Hope started. "We'll be back to school soon."

He sighed and drummed at the steering wheel; it was clear he knew what she was referring to.

"Yeah," Raf said finally. "I know."

Hope tilted her head a little. "So…"

While she had gotten under the 'I don't care what anyone thinks' mentality, she couldn't deny that Landon had hurt her and this would hurt him in return. He was an ass for how he reacted to things, but it didn't mean they were completely heartless. No doubt the Alpha of the school pack would be dubbed as a girl stealer despite their best efforts.

"I…" Raf shook his head lightly. "I'm not sorry for what we did, but this isn't how I pictured things going. I mean, Landon he's…"

Hope rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, I got it."

He spared her a quick glance before focusing on the road. "What do you want to do?"

She wasn't sure how she wanted to answer the question now that they weren't going to be alone in a few hours.

They walked side by side through the front doors of the school, only to stop a few steps past the entrance.

Hope and Raf looked at each other at the same time, laughing softly at the action. She tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"So, I'll see you later?" she said.

Of course, she still hadn't answered the question he gave her, but Raf still gave her a smile and nodded.

"I'll see you later," he replied.

When she went in for a hug, she stopped herself. One second longer in the embrace, and she just might forget where she was and set off the catastrophe worse than Malivore. So much for hanging the consequences.

Raf noticed, but instead of letting it be awkward, he squeezed her shoulder comfortingly and pulled her closer to his side for a split second. No sooner than that, he pulled away and headed down the corridor towards the rooms.

Hope stood there a moment longer to take a deep breath and appear unaffected to those around her. She had a lot to think about without people asking questions.

Apparently, she didn't try hard enough. It'd been a few days since she and Raf had returned from their summer vacation, and the school hadn't officially started yet so Hope decided while she couldn't give the werewolf an answer to his question, she could get ahead of the schoolwork coming their way.

He didn't say anything, but Hope knew that sooner or later Raf might break. They were pretending that they hadn't kissed and cuddled in front of people that were their friends, and it was so easy to make the wrong move when she was so comfortable with him. It wasn't like the awkwardness she felt with Landon, yet she knew guilt was eating at Raf not saying anything.

And despite their attempts, Hope came to realize that their attempts were too perfect. She was heading for the library when she almost walked in on a conversation about her.

"I hope that Hope's okay after taking that trip," a light voice said. "She's been more quiet than reclusive since she's been back."

Hope paused when she heard the voice in the library clearer, and she moved closer to the wall so she could have a view. She wouldn't have cared if she hadn't have heard her name. The tribrid saw Kaleb sitting on top of one of the desks next to Josie while Landon was across from her with Lizzie awfully close at his side.

'Fitting right in now that he was keeping his distance from me,' Hope thought, a smidge of bitter laced in her feelings.

"Maybe Raf knows," Josie suggested.

Kaleb placed a hand on his knee and chuckled. "Oh yeah, I'm sure he does."

Landon snapped his head in Kaleb's direction. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Think about it, man," Kaleb said. "You've got two people who spend more than enough time together only for one of them to come back quieter, not meaner. What do you think?"

Hope wouldn't admit it to his face anytime soon, but Kaleb was definitely smart. She went back to focusing on the conversation to see where it would go.

Lizzie scoffed. "As if. No one in their right mind would do anything with Hope Mikaelson," she said. The other three stared at her with blank looks, and Lizzie rolled her eyes and smiled sweetly. "You weren't in your right mind, Landie. Now you've seen the light and been reborn. Literally."

The tribrid narrowed her eyes at the twin. She could spell her mouth shut easily.

"Better not," Landon said gruffly, his face twisting. "She's off-limits."

Kaleb rubbed his hands together. "Is she now? Even though you're obviously appreciating someone else's company." His eyes shifted towards Lizzie. "And said company is just mad your boy doesn't wanna sleep with her again."

Josie covered her mouth to avoid laughing out loud as Lizzie bristled. Neither Lizzie nor Landon responded for a second before Landon shook his head quickly.

"It doesn't matter what I'm doing now. She made the mistake and I broke up with her. Everyone knows that means she's untouchable."

The vampire looked at Landon incredulously. "First of all, you're crazy to think Madam Badass isn't going to do what she wants and with who she wants while you're being an asshole. Second of all, please don't tell me you learned that from the Mystic Falls Idiots," he said before looking down with a hand up. "So, you're saying Hope is off-limits to anyone as long as you're around," he clarified, his hand making a gesture in front of him once he looked back at the others. "That means that she can go on another trip to get her groove back."

"No," Landon said dramatically, his pale skin darkening in shades of red. "I'm saying that Hope is off-limits to anyone like Raf and Roman."

There was a laugh of disbelief from Josie. "Seems a bit unfair don't you think?"

The phoenix shook his head. "No, I don't think that. Roman is an idiot that got her mom killed, and Raf knows better because we're family. You don't go with your family's exes."

Hope felt another pang of anger surge through her when he mentioned her mother like that. While she wanted to snap at him, she was pleased to see Josie do it.

Josie raised a brow and lowered her chin skeptically. "Even if your family is the one that broke up with the ex because they were trying to protect you?"

"Lied, not protect. Whose side are you on?" Landon demanded.

"I'm not on anyone's side," Josie argued. "I just...don't see where it's fair to think that way."

Lizzie's hand drifted down Landon's shoulder, a confident tilt of her head. "He's a phoenix. He can think whatever he wants to cause he'll come back if you tried to kill him for it."

Landon glanced up at Lizzie, not moving the blonde's hand. "That's not comforting at all, Lizzie."

She simply shrugged as Kaleb and Josie looked at one another with frowns.

Hope was sure there was going to be more said, but she didn't care. She'd heard enough of what Lizzie and Landon thought, and she was pissed.

It didn't take her long to find Raf in his room, and she marched until she was a good distance away from the werewolf.

He watched her quizzically, but it was obvious he knew she was not happy and meant business. "What happened?" he asked.

Hope folded her arms, kicking the door closed behind her with her boot. She bit back her first response; it wouldn't do them good if two irritated wolves were on the loose. "What are we doing?"

Raf's brows furrowed. "What do you mean, Hope?"

"This!" she exclaimed, gesturing between them. "What are we doing? We can't keep this up, Raf."

"Hope, you know what I want," he replied, taking a step towards her. "You know what I shouldn't want. You're the one that didn't answer the question when we first got back. So I ask you now and again, what do you want?"

She opened her mouth but closed it; he was right, and he wasn't afraid to tell her that. One of the reasons she wanted this. If she could admit that to herself, then she could tell him. He'd made things better when

"I want…" Hope started, slapping her hands at her sides. "I want more than this, Raf! I can't pretend that I don't feel something more with you after everything." She began to pace in front of him. "We kissed. Full, heated lip-locking session. I never thought I'd ever let a guy hold me at night yet with you—"

Rafael had stepped closer and gripped Hope's arms gingerly. "And you're sure about this." He didn't want things to backfire with their friendship they'd developed. "What about—"

She snatched her arms away exasperatedly; she had gained her nerve and intended on using it, even if she didn't know what he was going to actually say. "I don't care anymore! To hell with anyone who can't grow up." Her mind instantly going to a certain dark-haired boy with phoenix feathers shoved up his butt. She ran a hand through her hair to calm herself down just thinking about what she'd heard him say. "I just have to know that you think it's worth it."

He was fighting with himself, she knew, but she meant what she said; she didn't care anymore. Not after what she'd heard. Rafael had no clue, and she couldn't say anything until she knew where they stood; she had to disprove those thoughts.

The werewolf reached for Hope's arms again, and she let him take her arms and draw her closer to his person. He was mouthing words to himself that Hope couldn't figure out before leaning down to kiss Hope suddenly.

It only lasted a second, but it felt like it had been longer to Hope. When he pulled away, Raf stared at her intently.

"I really don't like the circumstances," he said, "but it was worth it." His thumb rubbed against her arm. "You are worth it." Raf smiled softly. "I'm glad to know you, Hope Mikaelson."

Hope released a breath and laugh she didn't realize she was holding before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing Rafael again.

More was all Hope wanted from this, that feeling solidified by the knowledge she possessed from Landon and the others. This would get out eventually, and Hope would like to think she'd be ready for it with Raf by her side to tell anyone who had something to say exactly where they could shove it.

Eventually turned out to be sooner than she thought; the door hadn't been closed all the way, and certain things had been caught by wandering ears.

A/N: I'll try adding more soon, but I won't make any promises. Whenever the writing mojo bug comes my way!

Word Count: 2,316