Penelope pushes the door of the roof with force. It goes crashing against the wall, but she doesn't care. This is her place and no one comes here anyway. She's holding a bottle of booze tightly as she walks outside.

It took her hours to actually gather the courage to come out of her room, but now she feels like getting wasted in her favorite place. She takes the first swing from her bottle when suddenly her eyes catch sight of someone. Someone dares invade her safe space?!

Penelope quickly puts the cap back on the bottle and does a speed walk to the intruder. Her steps falter when she recognizes who it is though.

Hope Mikaelson.

Crying alone on the roof.

Penelope stops, but it's too late, Hope's heightened senses already caught her. Actually, the tribrid should have noticed her before, but maybe her state kept her from doing so.

The way Hope is sitting at the edge of the roof, legs dangling in the air, makes Penelope uncomfortable. Logically, she knows the auburn haired girl couldn't die, but still.

Hope's eyes doesn't meet Penelope's, but she looks in her direction. "I wasn't expecting anyone to come here."

Penelope swallows with difficulty, trying to say something back. "Yeah… I wasn't expecting anyone to be here either actually. This is kind of my place." After a little of bit of hesitation she adds something else. "I usually come here when I need to be alone."

"Oh…" Hope quickly wipes her tears away and lifts her legs bringing them back onto the roof before standing up. "I'll leave you to it then."

"Wait, no." Penelope rushes out. "We can share, you don't have to leave."

Hope's eyes are on Penelope and only Penelope now. It looks as though she's looking for something, and it takes the raven haired girl a lot of strength to actually stay quiet.

"I guess we can do that if you're willing to share that bottle with me." Hope says and there's a hint of a smile on her lips.

Instead of replying, Penelope walks closer to Hope and hands her the bottle of booze. The auburn haired girl takes the bottle and takes a sip before grimacing.

"What is this? It's disgusting!"

Penelope smirks. "Rum." She walks near the edge of the roof. "Maybe we could sit back down."

"Not there. You don't have super healing and I don't wanna deal with your death today."

The black haired girl rolls her eyes. "Fine, let's sit near the chimney then."

Penelope leads the way, followed closely by the Mikaelson girl. They sit down, avoiding to look at each other. It's slowly becoming awkward, but then Hope takes a swing from the bottle and hands it back to Penelope. So the ravenette takes the bottle and takes a large sip too.

Penelope chuckles as she looks down at the bottle. "What a day, right?

She doesn't get the reaction she expected. Hope sends her a hard glare, and seems to put her walls even higher than before.

"That's not funny. MG almost died!"

"I-I know. Sorry, I'm just trying to cope too, you know?" Hope clenches her jaw and looks away. When Hope nods, Penelope sighs in relief. "I-I wish I could have done something earlier but-"

"Don't." Hope says.

She brings her knees to her chest and holds them with her arms. Hope looks so small and vulnerable in that moment that Penelope has a hard time believing this is the same girl she's used to see being a total badass.

"I didn't ask for any of this to happen, you know?" Hope quietly says. "I-I just... " She shakes her head. "Forget it."

"You can talk, it's fine." Penelope tries to comfort her.

Hope hesitates, and her next words catch Penelope off guard. "What about you? What sorrow are you trying to drown?"

Penelope chuckles nervously, and takes another sip from the bottle. "Family drama, nothing important."

"It was important enough for you to come here to get wasted."

"Fine." She sighs. "My parents don't care much about me, they never did. That's why I'm here, shipping me off to boarding school was an awesome way to get rid of me." She chuckles. "My father wanted a boy, so did my mother. They're getting a new baby now, my mom's already pregnant and I just heard about it. So, yeah, family drama."

The pity in Hope's eyes make Penelope feel uncomfortable, so she quickly changes the subject.

"Anyway, they're not the main reason why I'm here though... you are, actually..." Hope's eyes widen a little, and up goes the defenses again. "I heard everything that man said to you. I'm so sorry you had to hear that."

Hope doesn't fully believe her, it's clear to see. Penelope waits for their eyes to meet to keep talking, she wants Hope to know she means every word.

"I love the reputation I managed to build here, I feel a lot less vulnerable when people think I'm a heartless bitch. The thing is, I'm not as heartless as I make it seem. I care. It's just easier not to." Penelope hands the bottle to Hope, but the girl shakes her head. Penelope puts it back on the ground. "Again, I'm really sorry for not doing anything. I wish that I had."

Hope clenches her jaw. "Why?"

"Because… Somehow I could kind of feel how much those words were hurting you… I was just so stunned by it, that it felt like I was frozen in place."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know… It felt like your pain was emanating off of you and somehow affecting me…Like I-I could actually feel it... I can't quite explain."

"Oh…" Hope forces herself to smile a little, not fully understanding what the girl meant. "It's fine. You couldn't have done anything to help anyway." Hope's little smile falters. "You saw what happened to MG when he tried."

"That wasn't your fault!"

"I lost it Penelope... I freaked out and almost kill-"

"No! I'm not letting you do this. Don't you dare blame yourself for what happened. It wasn't your fault, Hope. " Penelope interrupts, voice serious and her eyes looking straight into Hope's.

Hope holds Penelope's eyes, and for once she feels a little better by sharing her thoughts with someone. This time, when Hope smiles it's way more genuine than it was earlier.

Penelope then looks Hope in the eyes

"Seriously… I know how hard it was for you to hear all of that." Penelope says with a soft voice, surprising even herself. "But please, don't let yourself believe what that man said. Or what that bitch Alyssa said."

Hope opens her mouth to speak but Penelope lifts a hand to stop her. "And don't even try to deny that. I know you were hurt."

Hope realizes she's not gonna win this, so instead she says "Well, since you already know everything about what happened today… Why don't you tell me more about that family drama then?"

Penelope sighs but think it's fair, and if it helps take Hope's mind out of today's events, even for a moment, then so be it.

"My family never really cared about me, they only care about their reputation. For years, I tried to fit in but my efforts never seemed to be enough for them. So when trying to control every aspect of my life didn't work, they sent me here so that I couldn't "ruin" their imagine anymore. I didn't want to come at first, I had friends back there, but of course they didn't care about that. Why would they? They never cared about anything I wanted before…"

Penelope pauses and takes a deep breath before she keeps talking.

"But I didn't think they would actually forget me to the point of not even bothering to tell me they were having another child…" It had been months since Penelope last heard anything from her parents. They never bothered to call her, so she had to just let it go.

"After everything that man said to you, I started to think about my parents, so I called them. My mom barely spoke to me, she just assumed that I had messed up again and told me they were busy with the baby stuff. She didn't even had the decency of telling me she was pregnant, she just threw the information at my face like it wasn't important at all."

Hope has no idea of what she should answer to that. So she doesn't, instead she reaches for Penelope's hand and gives it a comfort squeeze.

"Well, it seems we were both hurt today... I think we deserve a little break."

Penelope reaches for the bottle of booze that laid forgotten on the floor of the rooftop.

"Cheers to that!" She says with a smirk before taking a huge gulp of the alcohol in the bottle.

This time, Penelope winces a little as she swallows. But the fuzzy feeling that comes with alcohol always makes her feel better, so she deals with it. She forces a smile and hands the bottle to Hope, and this time the girl takes it. Her sip is much smaller, but it gets the same reaction as the first she took.

Penelope's eyes flicker away from Hope and she looks in the distance, Hope's eyes following hers.

"The sun is setting." Penelope says softly after a moment of comfortable silence.

"Yeah."

Penelope smirks. "Do you think people will believe me if I say I watched a sunset with Hope Mikaelson?"

Hope's laugh surprises Penelope, in the best way.

"No, I don't think they would."

Hope's smile doesn't fade away, instead it feels nice to smile and laugh so freely with someone. Somehow, it doesn't feel like she has to hide her happiness when she's with the brunette witch.

There's another thing that feels really nice too, Penelope's hand still in hers.

It feels like her eyes are glued to their joined hands, and soon Penelope's eyes follow Hope's. The tribrid feels caught, but when she looks up, her eyes catches Penelope's and it makes her feel just as nice as earlier. The ravenette is smiling, and Hope wonders if they're thinking the same thing.

Before she has time to dwell on that, and ask herself just why it feels nice to hold Penelope's hand, the girl starts another conversation, but not before tightening her hold on Hope's hand.

Hope listens to Penelope talking for like an hour, she gives simple answers or nods her head, but it seems enough for the raven haired girl. Then there's a silence, and Hope decides to take advantage of it.

"Thank you. For everything you said today, I really needed to hear that." She shyly confesses.

"No need to thank me. I would do it all over again if I'd have to, but I really wish I'll never have to. I never want to see you looking so sad like that again. It was honestly heartbreaking."

Their eyes lock and suddenly Hope feels like she can't breathe. Penelope was just being so sweet, and somehow it made Hope feel like she didn't deserve it. Hope gently takes her hand back and forces a smile.

"Who knew Penelope Park could actually be nice?" Hope says with a light chuckle.

Penelope smirks, knowing full well Hope is trying to shrug it off. To play it cool.

"Only when I think it's worth it." Penelope says looking straight into Hope's eyes.

Hope looks away from Penelope and back to the horizon. It was getting darker every minute. The Mikaelson girl hear her own stomach grumble, and that's when she remembers she had nothing to eat today.

"I should get to the kitchen while I still have time to get a meal." Hope quickly says before standing up.

"Sure! Want some company?" Penelope stands up too.

"Uh, no it's fine. I'll just grab something real quick and head to my room."

"Come on Mikaelson, just let me walk you to the kitchen. It's close to my room anyways…"

Hope gives Penelope a small smile. "Sure then."

They walk side by side to the door leading out of the roof. Before they go through it, Hope turns to face Penelope again.

"Hide that bottle, we don't need to get into trouble for that kind of thing."

"Sure, mom ."

Hope gives the witch a little glare that's quickly replaced by a playful smile. Penelope makes the bottle disappear with a simple spell, and then they walk through the door.

"So! What are you having for dinner? Raw steak for your werewolf side or a cup of blood for your vampire side?"

Hope rolls her eyes, more in a playful manner than in an annoyed one.

"Neither. I was thinking about having a granola bar or something."

Penelope frowns, a little confused. "No blood at all?"

Hope shakes her head. "No blood."

The tribrid sees that Penelope is all kinds of confused.

"I don't need as much blood as a normal vampire. School's out of human blood at the moment anyways, Dr Saltzman still hasn't had the chance to get me more yet. And I only drink it when I have to."

"Wait? Human blood? What's wrong with the animal blood everyone drinks?"

"Since I'm a tribrid, animal blood isn't strong enough for me. Dr. Saltzman agreed to let me drink human blood, as long as Caroline was there at the beginning to help me control the urges, and I can't drink it with other vamps around, not everyone can deal with human blood, luckily I didn't have much trouble. And again, I don't need it that much, so..."

"Interesting." Penelope nods. "Don't you crave it though?"

"It happens sometimes, yeah." Hope gives Penelope some kind of nervous glance. "I try to push it down. I don't want my vampire side to be the one that controls me."

Their conversation lead them straight into the kitchen, and Hope quickly starts to look around for something to eat.

"Do you prefer one side of yourself?"

Hope stops looking through the fridge and let her eyes land on Penelope.

"How about we stop talking about me for a second?" The auburn haired girl grabs a can of soda and closes the fridge. "What's your favorite thing about this place?"

Penelope is taken aback by Hope changing the subject so smoothly. What takes her by surprise too, is the fact that Hope actually looks like she wants to know the answer to her question.

"I, uh, don't really know. Maybe the freedom, or the space between my family and me."

Hope nods and quickly gets some bread, peanut butter and jelly from the cupboard.

"Nothing more to say?" Hope asks again.

Penelope groans. "Okay. I love it here because it feels like home, and no place ever felt like home before."

Hope smiles but her eyes stay on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she's making.

"That sounds a lot more honest." Hope looks up when she's done and smirks when she sees the witch eyeing her sandwich. "Do you want one?"

Penelope shrugs. "How could I say no to that?"

Hope hands the sandwich to the other girl.

"Here. Take this one."

Penelope reaches for the sandwich, and maybe she grazes Hope's fingers on purpose. The tribrid quickly takes her hand back and looks back down at the sandwich ingredients. Without another word, Hope starts to work on her own sandwich.

Penelope smirks. "What about you? Why do you like it here?"

"It's safe. Since I was a baby, people have tried to kill me. When I came here, I finally felt safe."

Hope finishes her sandwich and turns around to put her knife in the sink.

"This place is my home too." Hope turns and gives a smile to Penelope. "We have that in common."

Hope takes the first bite in her sandwich and takes a quick look at the clock.

"It's getting close to curfew. We should head back to our rooms."

Penelope nods and turns around to walk out of the kitchen, Hope quickly following her. With every step, Hope wonders just how close Penelope's room is to the kitchen. She feels like she should say something and not just let the conversation die, but her words just seem to fail her.

And suddenly Penelope stops in front of a dorm room.

"So this is my room." Penelope says with a smile. "The sandwich is great by the way, thanks."

"You're welcome." Hope says. "So I guess we should say goodnight then."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight Hope." Penelope says, leaning back on her door and smiling softly.

But Hope realizes that she doesn't want to leave, she just wants their conversation to continue, she wants to know more about the mystery that is Penelope Park. But it's late, and they already said goodnight, so the only thing that's left to do is leave. Hope gives the witch a small smile, and turns around, walking back to her room

Penelope almost expects Hope to look back, and is kinda disappointed when the tribrid doesn't. The only thing that comforts her is the look she recognized in Hope's eyes.

It's a look that reflects a certain feeling that she's sure she felt before, a look that would be easy to miss if you weren't paying attention, but she saw it.

It was like she knew exactly what was going through Hope's mind. Because she's been in her place before. I wanna care about you, but i'm terrified of doing so.

And she also knew from experience that her first instinct when that happened was to push the person away. To shut herself out of fear of getting hurt.

But what surprised her even more was to realize that she wasn't feeling that towards Hope.

What she feels for certain, is that Hope is stealing her heart without even trying to.

And amazingly, she is utterly fine with it.

She's also certain that after that last look, Hope will try and shut her off, build her walls up high to protect her heart.

But Penelope won't let that happen.

She can't let that happen.

It actually pains her to even think of letting this happen.

Hope's been through enough already, it's time for her to happy. And Penelope is gonna do everything in her power to show her how.

After everything that just happened, Penelope is more sure than ever.

She won't leave Hope alone, no matter how much she tries to push her away.

I think it's official… I'm whipped…

Penelope sighs deeply before closing the door behind her and leaning against it, looking at the ceiling.

I won't let you push me away Hope.