How dare you march into my heart (Henelope)

by ThatFlemis22

How Hope deals with falling in love with no other than Penelope Park. Would she let herself be happy? Well... Penelope doesn't really care. ***Written together with "Avengerskye" Inspired by Alessia Cara's song 'I'm Yours'

8. Intro: Serendipity

Five days.

It's been five days since Hope had a good night of sleep. It seems her body got used to sleeping next to Penelope rather quickly, and now that she's alone again, Hope is left with nightmares and restless nights.

Her feelings for Penelope Park only seem to grow stronger everyday. The tribrid feels like it's too intense, too quick, too scary. She won't allow herself to accept those growing feelings… she can't accept them. It would mean letting herself fall in love, and that is way too risky. Falling means that she could get hurt, and she's been hurt one too many times in her life. If she can avoid pain, she will try her best to.

That's exactly why she spends the whole week trying to avoid Penelope. She spends lots of time with the twins, preferably in their room. It's also partly because now that her relationship with her sisters has been restored, Hope is excited to spend time with them.

— Two birds, one stone... right?

The thing is… Penelope doesn't want to be avoided.

The witch never misses one of their training sessions. Her punches always followed by a flirty comment that makes Hope's cheeks turn red. But as soon as the session is over, the tribrid disappears with just a quick goodbye.

She sits down next to the tribrid in every class they share, much to Hope's dismay . She passes notes to Hope during class, and at first Hope tries to ignore them. She even glares at Penelope when her desk is covered with tiny pieces of paper, but the witch insists that she at least opens one of them. When Hope does, her heart melts.

And it doesn't stop there. Lots of other little notes keep magically appearing in her notebook while she tries to take notes. At one point she just gives up and plays along. The content smile on Penelope's face is well worth it.

— I should be avoiding her. Why can't I avoid her?!

The week goes on like that — Hope doing her best to avoid Penelope, and Penelope doing her best to not be avoided.

When Hope says that she'll spend time with her sisters , Penelope appears at the twin's door, claiming she wants to spend time with Josie too. They end up all hanging out together, and Hope's attempt gets blown out of the picture when she ends up being cuddled by both girls as they watch a movie.

She's way too aware of how Penelope gently lets her fingers run up and down her forearm during the whole film, leaving goosebumps in its path. Hope does her best to not move, partly because this is a situation she's trying to avoid… and partly — mostly — because she really doesn't want Penelope to stop.

The raven haired witch even joins when she's spending time with Lizzie. Although, what is more surprising, is that the blonde doesn't even complain. Hope knows they like to pretend not to like each other, but this is ridiculous. They actually look like best friends.

What is definitely not surprising, is when Hope finds herself laughing along with Penelope and thoroughly enjoying her presence, as she always does nowadays. And then she catches herself and closes off again — going back to short, evasive answers. Just for the same cycle to repeat itself over and over again.

As for Penelope, she does her best to pretend that the fact Hope is subtly trying to push her away isn't hurting her. She even tries to act like she doesn't even notice it, but she does. It hurts her even more than she thought it would. But she's not about to give up now. It's too late for that now. She couldn't give up even if she wanted to.

So, when she notices Hope is not coming to the dining room anymore, Penelope shows up to her door with a tray full of food she knows the tribrid loves. When Hope opens the door, Penelope quickly walks in. She sees Hope is about to protest, but Penelope quickly offers the food with a hopeful smile. The Mikaelson girl ends up giving her a small smile in return — how could she not —, in a silent way to accept the witch's presence in her room.

As Friday night finally comes, so does the movie marathon she promised to have with Penelope. Hope would've been lying if she said she wasn't an anxious mess about this whole thing. And to be fair, she has pondered — several times — if she should've just canceled, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She's a Mikaelson after all, and a Mikaelson always keeps their promises. That, however, doesn't mean that she's less nervous about it.

Nervousness gets the best out of Hope. She takes out her phone — deciding to text her friend and ask if they could reschedule to another weekend. One where she wasn't feeling like an emotional mess about an impending crush that she couldn't let herself accept, would be nice.

But of course, before she even has the time to come up with some excuse — as if on cue —, there's a knock on her door.

— Too late. — Hope moves to open the door, putting the phone back in her pocket. — I can do this... I can do this.

As soon as her eyes land on Penelope standing at the other side, all of her plans of ghosting the girl go flying right out of the window. The raven-haired girl has such a genuine look of excitement in her eyes and such a beautiful smile adorning her lips that Hope can't possibly stop herself when she quickly returns the smile and steps to the side.

— You know what? Screw this! Might as well enjoy my night, because I clearly can not avoid her. — Hope then makes her way back to her bed to join Penelope who's already lying comfortably on it while setting the first movie up on the TV.

And... that's how they find themselves here:

Penelope is silently watching as Hope's eyes are fixed on the screen — Currently playing Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban —, amazed by everything that's happening in it.

The raven-haired girl still can't believe this is the first time that Hope is watching Harry Potter. The girl is literally a witch... and a werewolf… and a vampire…

— Oh my god... How the hell did she have never watched or read Harry Potter before?!

They're halfway through the third movie — Professor Lupin has just started to turn into a werewolf. Penelope's focus isn't in the movie though. Her eyes are glued to Hope's amazed face, anxiously waiting to see her reaction to this particular scene. And the amused little smile that slowly makes its way to the Mikaelson girl's lips doesn't disappoint.

"Damn… I'm so glad I don't look like that when I shift." Hope says with a playful little chuckle "To be fair though, that's a pretty creative way of portraying werewolves."

"Right?" Penelope giggles — happy that Hope is enjoying the movie enough to make jokes about it. "I kinda thought you'd find it weird, to be honest. It being so far from reality and all."

"No, I don't think it's weird. Just... different." Hope reaches for the remote and stops the movie before facing Penelope. "I mean, we don't really lose ourselves as soon as we see the moon. It usually takes longer to shift, and it's so painful. At least at first. We don't look that ugly too."

Penelope hums and bites her lower lip, pleased with what her friend just said. But then she's left wondering something… The question burns in the back of her head but she's hesitant to actually ask it.

— I'm even hesitating now? Me? Damn… This girl really got me good. — But then her curiosity wins.

"How do you look like?" She asks shyly, but Hope only gives her a cute little frown, so she, quickly and rather awkwardly, adds; "In wolf form, I mean. How do you look in wolf form?"

The sudden shyness in Penelope's voice surely surprises Hope. For a second, she wonders where the always confident and collected girl she knows is. The tribrid then sits opposite to the other girl — one of her legs is folded under her while she's hugging the other near her chest, with her chin resting on top of her knee. She then looks down at her lap and takes a deep breath, not really sure of what to do or say next. Only for the words to leave her mouth anyway.

"I-I could show you, if you want." — Wait, what?!

— Wait, what? — Penelope's eyes widen, and for a moment she wonders if she dreamt Hope's words. Sure, she asked what Hope's wolf looks like, but for some reason she wasn't exactly expecting an answer — let alone this one. She slowly realizes that she's been silent for a while and Hope is looking expectantly at her, waiting for an answer.

"Really?" Penelope checks, trying her best not to sound as surprised as she feels.

Hope avoids the other girl's eyes upon hearing the surprise and expectation in her voice, so she only nods, not trusting her voice in that moment.

"I- I'd love that." Penelope softly says.

"Okay."

Hope notices that Penelope follows her every move as she moves out of bed. She stands awkwardly in the middle of her room, fiddling with the rings in her fingers as she thinks about how she's going to do this.

— Why the bloody hell did I even suggest this in the first pla- Wait! — The corner of her lips slowly quirks up when she realizes how attentively Penelope is looking at her. Hope's suddenly hit with a surge of confidence and her small smirk quickly turns mischievous — Payback time, Park.

Hope takes a few steps closer to the bed. She grabs the hem of her shirt and slowly pulls it up — marveling in the way Penelope's eyes suddenly widen, if only for a second —, once it's off of her body, she places it on the mattress. The same goes for her pants.

The tribrid then looks at the raven haired girl's face — there's a really faint pink tint starting to appear on her cheeks but other than that she doesn't look to be much affected by Hope's teasing. However, the tribrid can see a little more black in the witch's hazel-green eyes.

— You don't fool me, miss Park. But sure. If that's how you wanna play, then so be it, let's play.

Penelope can do nothing but stare at the amazing body displayed before her while trying hard to keep a straight face. When their eyes meet, Penelope wasn't expecting the tribrid to be looking at her like this — her gorgeous blue eyes are almost shining in defiance. In fact, there's a clear challenge in her stare. And the wicked smile on her face is taunting the witch, daring her to show some sort of reaction.

The raven-haired girl's not about to be outplayed though. Her plans, however, are instantly foiled when Hope slides a strap of her bra down her shoulder.

Hope grins in satisfaction and Penelope gives her a look of disbelief before arching an eyebrow in a silent challenge as if saying — Really? That's all you got? I've seen you like this before, remember? — That only makes Hope more excited to prove her wrong.

She winks sexily before turning her back to Penelope. Looking over her shoulder, she reaches behind herself and unclasps the hook of her bra. She slowly slides the other strap down and lets the piece fall off of her body and into her hands. Then she walks to her dresser — letting the witch have a good view of her naked back while she grabs herself a new pair of underwear and a hoodie.

When the Mikaelson girl starts walking back towards the bed, Penelope suddenly feels hot. She watches, transfixed, as the girl gathers all of her clothes into a single pile on the mattress before straightening herself up and facing her. — Hope has only one arm covering her breasts and Penelope feels her mouth going dry as her eyes widen and her jaw drops.

Hope only stands there for a few moments — delighted by the lustful look on Penelope's face as she checks her out. Now she understands why the witch was having so much fun the week before when they were trying clothes together. She feels a weird sense of accomplishment by having Penelope's eyes glued to her like this. It makes her feel good .

"My eyes are up here, Park." She teases with a giggle after giving more than enough time for the other girl to check her out.

Her satisfaction then increases tenfold when Penelope flushes furiously before her eyes snap up to meet hers. The absolute lustful look on her face is priceless — there's only a little bit of green left in her pupils and she appears to be having trouble breathing. Hope's sure that no one has ever seen Penelope Park this stunned before.

Penelope's eyes however, don't stay on Hope's for long at all — In fact she doesn't even try — and soon enough they're roaming all over soft looking skin on display for her again.

Hope shakes her head in amusement and bursts out laughing as she takes her clothes to the bathroom, again, very aware of Penelope's eyes following her every move but feeling totally comfortable with it.

Penelope on the other hand, is amazingly blown away but for a whole different reason. Even though her mouth is drier than the Sahara desert, that she can't seem to fill her lungs with enough air and that her heart is beating so loudly and fast that she's positive that Hope can clearly hear it from anywhere in the room, she still doesn't take her eyes away from her.

Can't take her eyes away.

She simply can't.

Hope's beauty is absolutely breathtaking. Penelope dares to say that she's possibly the prettiest creature to ever grace the face of this earth. It's not just the fact that she's near naked. — even though it certainly helps — No.

It's literally everything about Hope Mikaelson. — It's the way her gorgeous auburn hair flows like lava over and down her shoulders. It's the way her piercing blue eyes shine with mischief, or the way she smiles when she's up to no good. It's the way she's totally unaware of the way she makes Penelope feel, or how she makes her heart go crazy. It's how she sees Penelope as who she really is and how the witch feels comfortable with it.

Are this and countless other details that make Penelope Park be a complete goner for Hope Mikaelson.

Only when Hope is back in front of the bed, facing her, that Penelope manages to focus back on her face — the smug smile on the tribrid's face takes her breath away one more time.

"Don't play games if you're not ready to lose." Hope emphasizes her remark with a sexy wink.

— She's trying to kill me. — Penelope swallows with difficulty, and takes a deep breath but it still takes her a few seconds to be able to form coherent words again.

"Nice played, Mikaelson." She finally concedes — truly impressed by this act of boldness —, to which she receives another cocky smile that maybe, just maybe, she wants to kiss out of her lips, but since that doesn't look like to be an option at the moment, she just shrugs, her usual smirk back in place.

"But as I said to you before; I don't mind losing if I get a view like this…" She quickly runs her gaze up and down the girl's body one more time. "And, I know that's pretty given by now but… Damn Hope! You're hot !"

"You can't not flirt, can you?" Hope says with a playful eye roll

"Nope." Penelope says playfully. "Now… not that I'm complaining but, may I know why you basically just gave me a strip-tease?"

"Well, It wouldn't be a good idea to rip these clothes that I just bought to pieces would It?" Hope says with a soft laugh. "Plus, you deserved it after what you did to me last week. Now we're even."

"Fair enough." Penelope says, joining the chuckles. Once their laughter dies down though, the witch notices Hope taking a few deep breaths and then she suddenly turns shy all over again.

"You should turn around and cover your ears now though... This part ain't pretty." Says the Mikaelson girl while taking a couple steps back.

Penelope nods and promptly does as told. And then it comes the sounds… The witch can literally hear Hope's bones breaking, even with her ears covered and something twists in her stomach. For a second she almost regrets agreeing to this — she doesn't like to know that the tribrid is in pain, even if it's only for a short moment.

Luckily the noises stop quickly, and shortly after Penelope feels a wet nose poking at her arm. She turns around and standing before her is a majestic wolf. A lot bigger than she thought. The fur is almost as white as snow if not for a few silver streaks. It's eyes are big, they're mostly yellow but it looks more like orange due to the red ring around the edges.

"Oh my god Hope… You're so beautiful…!" Penelope stares at the wolf in absolute awe. "Can I touch you?" She asks while hesitantly raising her hand.

Hope tilts her head to the side and then closes the distance. She leans her snout on the witch's hand and closes her eyes. It feels strange at first, she's not used to people touching her while in wolf form, but as soon as Penelope's hand starts running through her fur, she realizes it feels good. It's soothing and oddly relaxing.

Penelope's surprise at how incredibly soft Hope's fur is. Her hand disappears into the fluffy coat, feeling how warm the skin underneath is. Soon her other hand joins the party, petting the wolf behind its ears.

Hope didn't expect that being petted would feel so good. In fact, she finds herself having to fight the urge to turn around and expose her belly. But even in wolf form she knows enough not to do that. Penelope would never let her live that down. Instead, she decides to play a little bit. She jumps on the witch, making her squeal in surprise before her back hits the mattress.

"Looks like someone wants to play." Penelope smiles amusingly. "Should I get a ball for you to go fetch?"

Hope growls down at the witch but it only makes her laugh.

"How intimidating…" She mocks. "I'd probably be shaking here if not for the fact that I can see your tail wagging."

The tribrid then drops her heavy head on top of Penelope's chest, laying her body over the girl. At this moment she's happy she's a wolf, cause if it weren't the case, for sure her face would be redder than a tomato.

Hope's heavy. Penelope almost feels suffocated under the mountain of fluffiness. She says nothing though, afraid that Hope would move — the moment feeling too intimate and precious to be interrupted.

"You're just a big puppy aren't you?" Penelope softly teases while her hands run over the soft fur. Hope shakes her head but does nothing to prove her wrong, instead she just closes her big eyes and lets the witch pet her. Also not wanting the moment to end.

After a good while of them, somewhat, cuddling, Hope feels like it's time to shift back. She playfully licks Penelope's face before hopping out of the bed and making her way to the bathroom.

Once she's back in human form she decides to take a quick shower — the wonderful feeling of the hot water hitting her skin after having shifted into her wolf form is always a good help and welcomed comfort. Sure, her vampire healing would heal her anyway in no time, but showers are good, not to mention relaxing. She just hopes that her friend doesn't mind waiting a few minutes.

When she walks back inside her room, her eyes go straight to her bed, but the raven-haired girl's not there anymore. However, the tribrid can still hear her voice coming from just outside her room — she's talking to someone who Hope quickly realizes it's Lizzie. The Mikaelson girl then makes herself comfortable in her bed and not even a minute later, Penelope walks back inside, holding something in her hand.

"Oh, you're back…" Penelope says softly when she sees Hope. " Voldemort stopped by to leave you this-" She shows the blood bag in her hand. "and to let you know that Caroline has restocked the blood supply."

"Thanks for getting it for me." Hope says with a soft smile. "Aunt Rebekah drank most of my stock so I was starting to run out."

"No problem." Penelope gives her a light chuckle while handling the blood bag to Hope, who doesn't drink it right away — Instead, she puts it in the nightstand besides her, deciding to drink it in a little while.

Hope sighs deeply and when her eyes fall on Penelope, the girl gives her a kind, almost timid, smile before crawling back on top of the bed and towards Hope. Definitely in the mood for more cuddles after her experience with wolf Hope, she quickly nestles into the Mikaelson girl's side — feeling beyond pleased when the auburn haired girl instantly starts playing with her raven hair, so she gently takes Hope's other hand and starts playing with the rings in her fingers.

— She's turning me into a cuddle monster just like her.

"How does it feel? Being a wolf." Penelope asks softly after a few minutes.

"Freeing."

"How so?"

"My mom used to say that there was nothing like being able to run free through the woods in wolf form, like nothing else in the world mattered but you and nature." Hope says rather sadly. "She was right. It is the best feeling in the world. Everything is simpler…"

Upon sensing the sadness in her voice, Penelope brings Hope closer and hugs her tighter. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to upset you. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

"You didn't. It's fine. I just… I miss her you know?"

"Yeah, I bet. For the little that Jojo has told me about her it's clear that she was an amazing person."

"She really was..."

After a short moment of silence, Hope decides that now would be a good time for that blood bag.

"Uh… Pen, do you mind if I…?" She asks shyly while showing the bag to the witch.

"Not at all, go ahead." It's true, she doesn't mind it at all. In fact, seeing the girl drinking blood only makes her more curious about Hope's tribrid nature.

"Okay, I have another question." Penelope asks while sitting cross legged in front of Hope.

Hope gives her a little smile, happy for the change of subject.

"Of course." She says after taking a first sip. "Shoot."

"How does your vampire side work?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you don't need as much blood as a normal vampire and you can live off normal food for quite a while without needing blood. You're stronger than even your aunt who's an original…"

"I'm still not getting it…"

"I'm curious about how you activated the vampire side. Because it looks kinda similar to that Twilight hybrid… Once he turned 18 his vampire side kicked in and he stopped aging and stuff... Was it like that with you?"

— What the bloody hell is she going on about?

"Uh… What's twilight? " Hope asks shyly, hoping to not get scolded again for not knowing something that she supposedly should. Funny enough, Penelope only gives her a fond little laugh.

"It's another series of books/movies" Penelope explains — adoring the cute frown on the auburnette's face. "It's about this girl who falls in love with a vampire and… you know what? I think you're better off not knowing about that one."

"Okay then." Hope says through fits of laughter. "But answering your question… No, it wasn't like that for me."

"Okay, cool, 'cause that'd be lame." Penelope giggles. "How was it then?"

Hope suddenly looks down as she starts remembering how everything went down six months ago.

"You don't have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable." Penelope quickly reassures after noticing that Hope's deep in thought and looking a bit distressed. But then their eyes meet again and the tribrid's face softens.

"Well, for starters, I died." She starts. A quick look of shock goes through the ravenette's features but before she can say anything, Hope continues. "I wasn't attacked or anything like that." She holds Penelope's gaze to make sure the girl doesn't get worried. "It was my choice actually."

"Okay… so you did it because you wanted to be a vampire?"

"Not exactly."

"Why then?"

Hope takes a deep breath. "I did it for Josie and Lizzie." She says, and this time, Penelope's the one frowning.

"You don't mean…"

"The merge." Hope quickly nods. "I did it to stop the merge."

Penelope finds herself at a loss of words. She definitely wasn't expecting that to be the reason why Hope's a vampire.

"What- what do you mean? How?"

Hope closes her eyes as memories starts flooding her mind, and so, she starts explaining;

A few weeks before he died, Klaus in one of his many travels around the world found a tribe of witches living in a secluded forest in Brazil that knew a lot about the Gemini curse. They shared all the information they knew and then told the hybrid where to look next. He then found what he was looking for — an old grimoire and some ancient scrolls that contained the information they needed to come up with a way to break the merge curse.

However, it was only after Hope's 18th birthday that Freya, Kol, Davina and Bonnie had finally managed to finish the spell to break the curse. Unfortunately it wouldn't be as easy as they were expecting.

The news came two weeks after Hope's birthday in a meeting they all had at the Salvatore School. It turned out that the spell not only required an enormous amount of power — which none of them had — but it also had a terrible catch. The merge ultimately required a life, so the person who casted it would unavoidably die.

It seemed too much of a coincidence for Hope to ignore. She wasn't supposed to be born. Her sisters weren't supposed to be born either. For the tribrid it was clear what that meant — she was the loophole. The only one that could do it. Not only because she wouldn't die but because she was the only one powerful enough.

Of course her family did not agree with her. At least not at first. Caroline was adamant against it, after all she had promised Klaus to keep taking care of his daughter as if she was one of her own, as she always had. The Mikaelsons didn't like the idea but they knew it was the only way.

Even the twins were against it. That's what made Hope be sure. She had closed herself off and hadn't had a proper talk with her sisters in about two years, and yet, they were still worried about her. Still wanting the best for her even if it meant that one of them would die.

After a long talk — especially with Caroline and the twins — they finally agreed it was the only way. However, they suggested waiting a few more years just in case… But Hope couldn't risk it. She couldn't risk losing anyone else that she loved.

What if something else happened? What if the spell didn't work? It would take too much time to come up with a new one, and her sisters wouldn't have that time, there were too many what ifs, so, no. Hope couldn't wait. After giving such a speech that would make even Naruto proud, no one dared to question her further.

On the very next day they performed the ritual.

Her family really wasn't kidding when they said it would take an enormous amount of power. Hope had to channel both Freya and Marcel to be able to perform it. When she was done, she could feel her body starting to shut down.

The proud yet concerned look on her family's faces was the last thing Hope saw before everything went black.

At the end of her story, Penelope had a few tears running down her face. She couldn't believe what she just heard.

"You- you gave your life for them?" Penelope asks in a choked voice.

"They're my family." Hope says. "I'd do it all over again, how many times necessary if it means keeping who I love safe." She takes a deep breath. "Besides, they did the same thing for me when the Hollow was killing me."

After saying this, Hope realizes that she'd do the same thing for Penelope in a heartbeat. This could only mean one thing, but she won't allow herself to say it. To feel it. To accept it.

"You truly are beautiful Hope Mikaelson…" More tears spill from Penelope's eyes. "Inside and out."

Hope doesn't know what to say to this. She never really thought of it this way. It didn't feel like a selfless decision, at the time. In her head, she only did what she did because she was scared and because she wanted her sisters safe.

"Did you have trouble adapting?" Penelope asks, saving Hope from having to come up with something to say.

"Not really. The first few days were rough due to the heightened emotions… that part is still a pain in the ass actually, but other than that, I adapted pretty fast."

"What about the blood?"

"Oh… I tried the bunny diet for a few days because Alaric didn't want me drinking human blood. But that didn't work, so my family taught me how to control the urges and stuff. I mean... they tried. Caroline was the one who actually taught me." She says with a playful smile while taking the last sip out of her blood bag.

"Let me guess, Dr Saltzman didn't want you drinking human blood because he thought you'd turn into your father?"

"Exactly."

"Ugh! I can't believe he'd still think of you like that after you just saved his daughters lives."

"Yeah, he can be pretty stupid sometimes…" Hope says with an eye roll but then she smirks. "Thankfully Caroline's the one who actually makes the final decisions around here."

"Amen to that!" Penelope chuckles while sitting back besides Hope. "I'm glad everything worked out for you in the end."

"Yeah… I'd say that the only downside of this whole thing was that now I'm forever stuck at eighteen."

"Hey..." Penelope lightly nudges Hope, a playful smirk already in place. "Look at the bright-side, at least now you're forever hot."

"Shut up!" Hope playfully nudges her back.

"What? I'm only stating the truth here."

"You just can't resist can you? Miss Penelope Park is always ready to flirt."

"What can I say? You know me so well..." Penelope winks.

Hope shakes her head in fake annoyance. She's about to say something back when she remembers something.

— Maybe now's a good time to ask.

"You know…I thought you already knew about all of that…" Hope stops, hesitant if she should bring it up or not. "Because, I'm pretty sure I wrote it all in my diary using that pen you gave everyone."

Suddenly Penelope feels like she had just been hit by a truck.

"Oh… Uh, about that… look, I'm really sorry-"

"I'm not mad." Hope cuts in.

"You- you're not?"

"No." Hope gives her a soft smile. "I mean, I was at first. But then you and Josie became such close friends, and then I heard you two talking about it in the library this one day. I didn't hear everything, but it was enough for me to know that Josie wasn't mad at you. So I assumed you had a good reason."

Penelope is so stunned that it's like the truck had just reversed and hit her again. She takes Hope's hand, hoping that the gesture would express her gratitude because she's not sure if her words would be enough.

"Look, I know it was wrong." She finally manages to speak. "I saw what you wrote about your parents on the first anniversary of their deaths, and that was the only time, I swear."

"Pen, it's okay. I'm really not mad."

"Still. It was wrong, and I'm sorry."

Hope squeezes her hand and lifts Penelope's chin with the other, making the witch face her.

"Why did you do it?" She asks carefully.

That's not really something Penelope likes to share with people, but she can make an exception for Hope. Besides, the tribird just shared a lot of personal things with her, so it's only fair that she tells the truth.

"When my parents decided to ship me here, I was reluctant." She starts. "But as I got here, I was just so determined to turn a new leaf... For the first few weeks I tried to make friends but then I started to notice that most people only hung out with me because I come from a rich and powerful family... If only they knew… but anyways. That's when I had the idea of the pens."

Hope is looking at her with genuine interest. Penelope can't see any hints of judgment in her blue eyes, so she takes a deep breath and keeps going.

"At first I convinced myself that I was doing that so I could have the upper hand on people. For leverage you know? And then I put on this mask. This untouchable , heartless bitch facade. And it worked." She smiles sadly. "People started to look up to me, respect me... But I still felt empty. No one ever bothered to try to get past this... Illusion, that I created." Her eyes then lit up a little bit. "No one but Josie. She was the first one to see me for who I was. The first one to like me as me. And then eventually, MG did too, and even Lizzie…"

She takes Hope's hand between hers, looking deep into her eyes. "And now... Now there's you too."

"But then I realized that the real reason why I gave everyone those pens was that so I could know what they were saying about me. I had to know if I was being enough for once. I used it as a guide to know who I should be…"

"I'm so sorry your parents made you doubt your worth. But If they can't see the amazing person that you are then it's their loss, Pen." She says softly but inside she's burning with rage. "And, I know that you probably don't even use those pens anymore, at least for that purpose, but I think it's still worth saying; You don't need that. You don't need to know what people think of you to know who you should be or how you should act."

Hope once again lifts Penelope's chin up to make sure she can see the truth in her gaze.

"You just need to be yourself. Because you're pretty great." She says with a gentle smile. "And if I, of all people, are saying this, it's because it's true. The ones who can't see that, are not worth your time."

— Just when I thought I couldn't possibly fall more in love…

"You truly are amazing, you know that?"

"You might've mentioned before." Hope says with a soft giggle.

"Shut up!" Penelope chuckles, feeling like a weight have been lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you for saying this… and for not being mad at me."

"Of course." Hope gives her hand another gentle squeeze. "There's nothing to be mad about. I understand your reasons. Besides, with a father like mine I can't really say that, if I was in the same situation, I wouldn't have done the same."

"Jeez… we need therapy." Penelope says in an attempt to further lighten the mood and it works wonderfully because Hope starts laughing.

"That's not a bad idea. " Hope ponders, making a mental note to talk seriously about this with Penelope later, because they really could use a little professional help. "But since we can't do that right now, what do you say if we go back to the movies?"

"Sounds good to me."

As soon as `The Goblet of Fire' comes to an end, Penelope cuddles back into Hope's side, hugging her close. It feels so good and the tribrid is so warm... She knows it's time to say goodbye for tonight though, after all its way past curfew , but she still needs a few more minutes.

"I had a lot of fun tonight." She softly says, feeling the other girl's arms tightening around her.

"Me too." Hope says sincerely.

"Did you enjoy the movies?" Penelope asks even though she knows that the answer is yes — she just wants to hear Hope's voice for a little longer.

"Yeah I did, they're amazing." Hope says while playing with raven locks. "I'm really excited to watch the rest now…"

"I'm glad to hear that, cause if you didn't, you'd leave me no choice but to dump your ass." Penelope teases. "I can't be friends with someone who doesn't like Harry Potter…" Saying the word 'friends' leaves a bad taste in her tongue.

"Good thing I liked it then." Hope says, giving the raven-haired girl a playful nudge only to hug her even tighter afterwards.

"Yeah… Let's watch the rest tomorrow. My room this time?"

"Okay."

They fall silent for a few minutes and the way Hope's fingers are playing with her hair makes Penelope want to fall asleep right here, but she can't. She's got something planned for the Mikaelson girl and it will require her pretty much the whole day tomorrow to get it perfect.

"Thank you for sharing such an important part of your life with me, Hope." The raven haired girl says quietly, then she lifts up her head from the tribrid's chest to look her in the eyes. "It means a lot."

"Same." Hope says with a fond little smile.

"Thanks for showing me your wolf form too... Fluffy you is really cute."

— Did she just call me cute?

" What?!" Hope deadpans, baffled. "I'm not cute! How can you call me cute?"

"Because you are!" Penelope giggles.

"I'm not! I'm dangerous! Not cute."

"Of course you are…" Penelope shakes her head in amusement, loving the blush on Hope's face. "You're a powerful, vicious and dangerous predator… Wolfie."

"Thank you!" Hope says, smugly but then the last part finally registers in her brain and she rolls her eyes. "Wolfie? Really?" She tries to sound annoyed but the way the nickname fell from Penelope's lips , so lovingly , makes her feel butterflies in her stomach.

"What?" Penelope giggles again. "It's cute…" She tucks a strand of auburn hair behind Hope's ear. "Just like you."

This time, Hope can't help when her lips stretch into a shy smile and her cheeks blush. She even gives up on arguing. She tries to come up with a cute nickname for Penelope too but her train of thought is interrupted when soft lips comes in contact with her cheek — leaving a lingering kiss.

All too soon the touch is gone but Hope still feels the kiss on her skin.

Penelope gives her one last look before getting up from the bed and putting her shoes back on. She starts walking towards the door but stops midway.

"Meet me in my room tomorrow let's say... around 6 PM?"

"It's a date." Hope says, her hand mindlessly going to her cheek. — Wait! Date? Why did a say date?!

"Perfect." Penelope says with a huge smile before walking the rest of the way to the door. "Goodnight Wolfie."

"Goodnight…" Hope whispers and then Penelope is gone.

As Penelope walks back to her room, she can't hide the huge smile on her face. She really feels like her relationship with Hope is finally going to where she wants it to. It finally feels like they're on the right path. Like they're almost there. And that thought only makes Penelope more excited and nervous about her plans for tomorrow

Penelope's gone from her room, but not her mind. Hope can't stop replaying the day in her head. The more she records the more she realizes that she's ultimately screwed .

She's falling. Falling deep, fast and without a parashoot for Penelope Park. So many things are making it clear to her now. How comfortable they both are with each other, how easy it is to talk about delicate things, how understandable they are with each other, how vulnerable…

The Ravenette girl is the last person she thinks about as she goes to sleep, and the first person to manifest in her thoughts when she wakes up. Hope rolls in bed until she's facing the ceiling, and then she lets out a sigh. There's no turning back now, no denying the feeling in her chest.

Penelope Park is living rent free inside her mind.

Inside her heart.

The tribrid quickly gets out of bed. She needs to distract herself, because she can't keep thinking about the raven haired witch. Hope puts some of her painting clothes on and pulls her hair in a messy bun at the top of her head. She replaces the canvas she already started with a blank one. She tries not to think as she paints the first few lines on the white canvas. Letting her mind run free as she paints is gonna do her some good.

Except that it doesn't work because she ends up painting Penelope.

Hope freezes when she recognizes the soft face of the ravenette on her canvas. She quickly puts her brush down, and then gets out of her painting clothes. There is no way she's dealing with this right now. She can find another distraction.

When she's changed back into a pair of sweatpants and a way too big shirt, Hope settles comfortably back on her bed and grabs the TV remote. She mindlessly opens Netflix, only to realize Penelope's account is still logged in. Instead of just logging off, Hope hits the power button, shutting the TV off in a rush.

She takes a deep breath, and then another before grabbing one of her pillows and burying her face in it — intending to use it to muffle a scream, but instead she's assaulted by Penelope's scent.

— Oh come on now! Give me a break!

There's only one thing for her to do at this point. She needs to wolf out, and she needs to do it fast. It doesn't take Hope long to get to the woods and turn. The change is freeing, and when she starts running, it feels like heaven. But in the back of her mind, there's always a silly voice reminding her of Penelope.

Wolfie…

Hope can practically hear the witch's voice, and the fondness with which the words were spoken. Then she thinks about the way Penelope ran her fingers through her fur with such a gentle touch.

That's when it really clicks for Hope — there's no way to avoid thinking about Penelope now.

No avoiding her feelings now.

When Hope shifts back to her human form and makes her way back to school, she notices the position of the sun in the sky — It's already late. The tribrid quickly walks to her room, and when she's there she goes straight to her phone.

« 05:45 » Saturday, November 21.

She's supposed to be meeting up with Penelope in 15 minutes, but the thought of it makes her mind go into a spiral and her heart to practically jump out of her chest. So she hops into the shower — a last desperate attempt to take her mind away from the raven haired girl and just relax for a little while.

After standing under the hot water for a good while, she steps out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, and goes to her dresser. It's just after she's fully dressed that she realizes that the clothes she's wearing are the ones Penelope had chosen for her. Frustration settles in — not even while getting dressed Hope can get the raven-haired girl out of her mind.

She's about to go back to her dresser and pick something else to wear when her phone vibrates. With slow steps she walks to her bed and picks it up → From Penelope; 5 messages, 1 missed call. « 06:15 »

— I can't do this.

When she feels like she can't breathe, Hope knows she needs to escape this situation. She quickly grabs her phone and dials her aunt Freya's number. As she asks her aunt if she can stay with her and Keelin for a couple of days, Hope opens her laptop and quickly starts looking for a plane ticket. Freya tries to ask what's happening, but then she understands her niece is in panic mode.

As soon as the call is over, Hope finally clicks on the confirm button and buys the ticket. When it's done, she immediately starts packing. She stops midway through, like a thought makes her totally freeze. The tribrid decides to leave the halfway done backpack on her bed, and to go tell Caroline she'll be gone for a few days. As Hope closes the door of her bedroom behind her, she catches sight of the backpack and it gives her a hard time to tear her eyes away from it.

Her talk with Caroline is longer than she would have expected it to be. The woman is immediately worried when Hope tells her she's leaving for New Orleans. The tribrid tries to comfort her without telling her what's going on. She's almost sure she didn't do that much of a good job, because as she's leaving the room, Hope can feel Caroline's motherly gaze on her.

On her way back she checks her phone again, instantly regretting it. 22 Messages, 5 missed calls. « 06:40 »

Hope feels overwhelmed, Penelope is invading her every thought — every blink is Penelope, every thought is Penelope, every heart beat and body ache is Penelope. She can feel herself starting to lose control. Her mind is locked in an internal battle — the conscious part of her mind tells her to go home and protect herself while the unconscious screams for her to stay. So, it's really not a surprise when instead of ending up in her room, Hope finds herself in front of the twin's one, already knocking on their door.

Lizzie barely has time to register that Hope's who's standing outside before the girl's rushing into the room, brushing right past her. It only takes her one single look at her sister to know that something is wrong.

"Uh… Hello to you too, Hope." Says the blonde girl, carefully.

Josie sits up in her bed and quickly mirrors her twins' worried expression. Lizzie makes her way to sit beside her twin and they watch together as Hope paces frantically around the room — both girls getting more worried by the second.

"I'm falling in love with Penelope." Hope suddenly blurts out while spinning to face her sisters — she sees the girls exchanging a knowing look and that only gets her more apprehensive. However, their faces quickly soften and turn understanding, so Hope continues.

"I- I can't stop thinking about her… and I just want to run away." She says, running her hands through her hair. "I-I... why do I feel like running away?! I even bought plane tickets!" The room is starting to shake, Hope is losing control.

Lizzie jumps to her feet and quickly pulls her sister into her arms but the auburn haired girl is not calming down. Books are falling off the shelves, the lights are flickering, the floor is shaking…

"I'm losing my mind... I can't deal with this... Not- not after..." Hope cries, burying herself into the blonde siphoner.

Josie and Lizzie share a quick look and it's like the both of them have the exact same thought. — You mean... After you ex-boyfriend kidnapped you so that his Nazi mom could kill you, but ended up killing Hayley, who sacrificed herself to protect you? Yeah, that's pretty reasonable.

Lizzie pulls back and gently grabs Hope's hands.

"Hey, hey… Look at me." She pleads, starting to siphon the excess of magic away from her sister and casting a calming charm . "Breathe with me, okay? Come on… In… and out… That's it, again. In… and out. You're doing good, let's go again…"

Hope's eyes never leave Lizzie's, and soon enough the tremors stop and she starts to calm down. The blonde then gently leads them towards the bed — she sits down, hugging Hope from behind with Josie in front of them, holding the auburnette's hands.

Josie gives Lizzie a proud smile before focusing her attention on Hope.

"I know you're scared." She starts. "And I understand you. I really do. But Penelope's not like that. She's nothing like him… " She squeezes Hope's hands and gives her a soft smile while looking into her eyes. "She just wants you to be happy."

Deep down Hope knows she's right. It doesn't change anything though — she's still scared out of her mind.

"I-I think I need to go home... Calm my mind..." Hope says.

"You should talk to Penelope before you decide that." Josie tries reasoning with her, knowing full well how her best friend is madly in love with her sister. "At least hear her out. Please?"

"Josie's right." Lizzie says softly while tightening her hold around Hope. "At least hear what Satan has to say before you make a decision. And then, if you still feel like you need to leave, we'll support you, okay?"

"We'll even take you to the airport." Josie quickly agrees with her twin. "But, please talk to her first."

Hope looks down, the voice at the back of her mind is screaming for her to listen to them.

"Do it for us , please?" Josie pleads.

"We just want you to be happy , Hope." Lizzie adds in a tender voice.

"Okay." Whispers Hope.

---

Penelope checks her phone for the hundredth time. « 07:05 »

She sends yet another message but gets no reply. She's been waiting for more than an hour and by now she's more than a little worried. There's this unsettling feeling in her chest that tells her that something must be wrong with Hope — somehow she can feel that the tribrid is distressed.

Her surprise for Hope lays untouched, just waiting for the girl's arrival. The ravenette has spent the entire day setting it all up. All decorations are in place, the food is ready, the table is set, the movies are ready.

She unlocks her phone, deciding to text her best friend, hoping that she'd know what is wrong.

● Jojo, do you know where Hope's at? She's not answering me, I think something's wrong.

Not even ten seconds later there's a reply.

Yeah... you should move your plans to her room, she'll be there.

Go now.

● Will do.

She quickly slips her phone into the waistband of her leggings and starts packing the food into a little basket. Then she casts a few spells onto the decorations so that she could transport it all to Hope's room without messing anything up. As soon as everything is ready, she's out of her room.

She stops in her tracks when Caroline calls for her from the kitchen. Penelope quickly notices that the headmistress looks tired as she makes her way towards her. The vampire asks her if she knows if there's something wrong with Hope. She tells that the tribrid just informed her that she'll be going back home for a few days and that she was looking distressed.

— Oh no… I think I know what's wrong.

Penelope quickly reassures the vampire telling her that she's actually on her way to see Hope right now and that she'll make sure she's okay. Once Caroline gives her a nod, the witch runs to the tribrid's room, now more worried than ever.

When she gets there, her suspicions are proven true — something is definitely wrong. The girl is pacing back and forth and in her body language, the witch can clearly notice signs of distress. Penelope's quickly filled with worry.

" Wolfie , what's wrong?" She asks carefully.

Hope freezes, and looks at the ravenette, her eyes wider than usual. "I- uh… Nothing."

"Hope." Penelope says seriously. "What happened? Caroline just told me you're going home."

"I don't know, okay? I'm just... confused." Hope takes a deep breath to calm herself. "I think a little time at home will help me."

"Confused about what?" Penelope asks, even though she's pretty sure that she knows the answer..

"Can we just… not talk about it?"

Penelope reluctantly agrees, not wanting to distress the girl further. Her face softens and she smiles instead.

"I have a surprise for you."

When Hope looks at her excited face, all of her plans for ignoring Penelope go flying right out the window — exactly like the night before. She looks majestic. She's wearing the loose black sweater she bought the week before — in the same way she did in the fitting room. With one side slided down, letting her left shoulder bare. —, with a really stylish pair of black leggings.

Hope's eyes travel through Penelope's entire body, and maybe they stay a bit too long on her chest — the sweater the witch is wearing is loose, but it still hugs her torso in such a perfect way that Hope can, vaguely, see the pierced nipples poking through the fabric. Vivid memories of the fitting room incident comes flooding Hope's mind, making her heartbeat increase.

She's not about to embarrass herself again though, so she smoothly lifts her gaze back to the ravenette's face — her hair is still a bit damp, making it look so much darker, and her smile is blinding and apparently contagious, because Hope feels herself joining in Penelope's excitement.

— It really isn't fair that she's this bloody freaking beautiful!

"Yeah?"

"Uhum!" Penelope says happily and with a flick of her wrist, she makes a small table appear in the middle of the room. She goes over to it and starts setting the food in it. With another quick spell, she summons the decorations she prepared earlier. Floating candles — Just like in the movie — , rose petals, the whole deal.

Hope is left dumbstruck. Once she gets a closer look, her jaw almost hits the floor. On top of the table are all of her favorite foods. She knows she told Penelope about a few of her favorite foods, but she's sure she didn't tell her about all of them. Regardless, there it was. All of them.

"Pen… what-" She is having trouble with her words at how surprised she is. "How?"

Penelope smirks proudly at rending the Mikaelson girl speechless.

"Rebekah helped." She says. "I asked her to send me a list with all of your favorites. Also, a friend of mine so happens to be in New Orleans, so I asked her to send it over to me. Magic is really amazing, you know?"

Hope feels her heart swell with emotion, and suddenly she regrets avoiding Penelope all day. It's hard for Hope to remember her fears in the face of such genuine affection from the raven-haired girl. And she knows Penelope; She isn't the type to do this for just anyone.

"Wow… I- I don't even know what to say… I huh... Thank you!" She struggles to say, but then Penelope gives a smile that completely steals the air from inside Hope's lungs. Her previous concerns are quickly left forgotten.

They then sit down to eat. The dinner goes on smoothly — they laugh, they talk about lighter things, Penelope flirts, Hope blushes… Then, when it's over — against her better judgment —, Hope quickly finds herself cuddling into the ravenette's side as they resume their Harry Potter marathon.

Hope keeps getting distracted because every now and then, Penelope's scent is the only thing she can focus on. It feels different somehow. It feels familiar . It gives her a sense of calm and peace that not even running in wolf form can beat.

Throughout the film, both girls keep stealing quick glances at each other. Penelope wants to talk, but she knows better. Hopefully the movies would help Hope to relax enough so that they can talk. And so, she focuses her attention on the laptop and waits.

Once ' The Order of the Phoenix' is over, they take a little break. Silence washes over them, and it makes the witch's mind go into dangerous places. And just like that, Penelope can't take it anymore. — The unsettlement inside her chest is too big for her to ignore. The mere idea of Hope being away from her is too painful to bear.

Rebekah's words then starts echoing in her mind. — ' If she pushes you away, you push her back.'

That's when she makes up her mind. She needs to do something now . She pushes the laptop away and quickly straddles Hope's lap. — To say that the girl is surprised would be an understatement.

"What- What are you doing?" Hope mumbles, and suddenly, her heart skips a beat — or a few, actually — with Penelope standing this close to her. She can already feel the blood rushing to her face as her heartbeats increase.

Instead of dwelling on the way this close proximity makes her feel inside, Hope decides to focus her eyes on Penelope's face, and the auburn-haired girl is shocked by the vulnerability she sees written all over Penelope's features.

Penelope looks deep into the Tribrid's eyes, tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear, affectionately.

"Please don't leave..." She pleads. — Please don't leave me.

"What-" Hope begins to ask but then she understands. "Oh..."

"You mean so much to me, Hope..." Penelope runs her thumb over the tribrid's cheek. "Please stop pushing me away... my heart can't take it." She pleads, her voice breaking at the end.

Hope looks away. — Of course she noticed I was trying to avoid her.

"Pen…" Her voice is quiet. "You can't say that…"

"It's the truth."

"It can't be the truth."

Penelope feels a pang in her chest.

"Why not?" She pleads. "And don't tell me it's because people who care about you die."

"But they do…" Hope's voice keeps getting smaller "Everyone who gets close to me-"

"That's bulshit, Hope!" Penelope cuts in. "You're just scared of letting people in, so you push everyone away instead…" She pauses for a second, contemplating on her next words. "Look… We both have been hurt-"

"Pen…"

"No. Please, listen to me-" Penelope takes a deep breath. "I don't let people in either." She states matter of factly. "My family has treated me like shit my whole life, did everything in their power to get rid of me and ignored my existence. On the rare occasions we're actually in the same room, my mom doesn't even look at me, Hope. And my father has done nothing but tell me how much he's disappointed with me for just existing."

"It's not-"

"Don't you dare say it's not the same!" The hurt in Penelope's voice is clear. "I don't like to let people into my life because my family has always made me feel like I was never enough. Because of that, I'm terrified of letting anyone see how I really am because I don't want them to be disappointed in me..."

Hope looks down, not being able to see the pain in those hazel eyes. — You're enough for me. — She wants to say but can't bring herself to. Penelope's voice then gets impossibly softer, but the pain is still there.

"Your parents are physically gone, Wolfie. But at least you had their love. I've never even had that…"

Hope feels like she just got punched in the gut — the air gets knocked out of her lungs and she feels like she can't breathe.

"I'm sorry …" she whispers, meeting Penelope's eyes.

Penelope can hear the sorrow in those words, so she holds Hope's face carefully between her hands. "I care about you Hope. And it hurts when you push me away, and it hurts that you thought that running away was a better option then just talking to me."

"I'm so sorry Pen..." Hope feels the shame like a physical burn. "Please believe me. I swear It was never my intention to hurt you. " Her hands shake as it covers Penelope's. "You're too important to me..."

"Then why won't you let me in?" Penelope asks softly.

Hope's mouth opens a couple of times but she can't bring herself to answer, and she can no longer hold eye contact, so she looks down again.

Penelope gives her a small smile and starts brushing her thumbs over Hope's cheeks in an attempt to bring them both some sort of comfort. Her gaze then quickly shifts to the half packed backpack sitting in the corner.

"Don't go Wolfie." Penelope actually begs this time. " Please ."

It makes Hope feel ashamed . She knows how much it must take for Penelope to beg , to be this vulnerable with her. She feels guilty for being the reason for the pain in Penelope's eyes. She never ever wants to be the reason Penelope is hurting- she wants to protect her from that. She needs to make this right.

"I'm so sorry..." She whispers "If you don't want me to go-"

"I don't." Penelope cuts in. "I don't want you to go."

"Then I won't."

It's not enough to Penelope though.

"Promise me." She sounds desperate. "Promise me I won't wake up tomorrow and find out that you're gone."

That's why Hope wanted to just leave. She knew that if Penelope asked her to stay, she would.

"I promise."

"Good." Penelope sighs, her body slumping down, her gaze, slowly shifting to Hope's lips and she could've sworn Hope's were doing the same.

Her hands are still resting on the tribrid's neck, being covered by Hope's. — This just feels so right... — With that thought, Penelope, unconsciously, starts leaning in and Hope can't help but do the same.

The raven haired girl pulls her like a magnet. But then Hope realizes what she's doing and stops dead in her tracks. The reality of the moment comes crashing down upon her, making her panic.

— No! I can be her friend, but I can't fall in love. I can't. She'll get hurt. I can't get her hurt. I can't lose her.

Once Penelope also realizes what she's doing, it's already too late and she can't bring herself to stop. Instead she decides to be optimistic and just keep going.

"Pen… please." Hope pleads but Penelope just keeps getting closer.

"Please, what?" The witch asks while holding Hope's gaze. Then she leans in further. Her eyes closing, their lips almost brushing against each other.

Hope stays frozen. She can feel the other girls breathing against her mouth. She finds herself wanting to close the distance. The desire grips at her, racing through her blood, urging her to finally feel those lips against her own. But a voice in the back of her head keeps her from moving, her mind locked in a struggle between her fear and her desire.

Hope's heart is beating fast. Too fast. She feels it thumping violently against her rib cages, like it's trying to break through.

At the last second, Hope shuts her eyes closed and turns her head slightly to the side. Dodging Penelope's lips. She can barely stand rejecting the other girl, but she's too afraid to cross that line, to accept what she so desperately wants.

"Don't kiss me," Her voice sounds weak. " please. "

Penelope's eyes open, but she doesn't back away.

"Why?" She whispers. There's a slight hint of hurt in her voice, and it's enough to make Hope flinch.

"I- I can't…" Hope says in a cry laced voice. — It actually pains her to do so.

"But you want to," Penelope's voice is suddenly gentle — gentler than Hope has ever heard. "don't you?"

Despite that, Hope — regretfully — shakes her head no, denying the girl once more. But it's useless, because it's an empty gesture, and it holds absolutely no conviction.

Penelope gently places her left hand against Hope's chest, feeling the frantic thumping of her heart, and that's all the answer she needs.

Hope winces at the contact. — Penelope's touch only makes her heart beat even harder and faster. As if reacting to her touch, or even being attracted by it. — Her hands then drop to the witch's waist in a desperate attempt to find purchase in the contact.

"Yes you do." The witch whispers softly, her forehead leaning against Hope's. "You can lie to yourself all you want." Her hazel green eyes fixed into ocean blue ones. "But your heart cannot."

"Why are you doing this?" Hope asks in a broken whisper — her eyes starting to shine with tears.

"Doing what?" Penelope backs away just enough to meet her eyes properly.

"This." Hope's glance quickly roams across the room. "The movies, the dinner… being so sweet ."

Then her eyes drop to Penelope's hand on her chest and her own hand meets hers there.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Her voice is suddenly small. "Why are you trying so hard to make me fall for you?"

"Because I want you." Penelope says promptly. Her voice, loaded with an astonishing certain.

Hope shakes her head in disbelief. "You could be with anyone in this school… why me ?"

"I don't wanna be with anyone else, Hope." The witch says with a little sigh, but her voice remains gentle. "Why's that so hard to believe?"

"I'm broken, Penelope... Why would you want to be with me?!"

— ' I'm broken' The raven haired witch feels the defeated, small way Hope says these words, like a physical blow in her heart. It hurts .

"You're not broken, Hope." She pleads with her, but the pain in her heart makes her voice falter. "You never was and never will be… At least not to me."

"You- you don't know that. What if-"

"You and me are not that different, Hope. And I don't think I'm broken... I know what it's like to feel alone, what is like to feel that you don't deserve to be happy. I know." Penelope keeps on begging because she can't bear the sad look on Hope's face. "But no one should have to feel this way. You shouldn't have to feel this way."

She places her other hand back on Hope's neck, gently playing the baby hairs at the back of her neck while her thumb runs tenderly over her cheek. "And for the first time in my life, I don't feel that way. You make me feel like I can be happy. You make me happy without even realizing it."

Hope shakes her head in disbelief, Penelope's words catching her by surprise. But as soon as she opens her mouth to say something, the witch cuts her off.

"Don't do that. Please. Don't pretend like you don't care, because I know you do."

Tears pool in Hope's blue eyes. "I-I… I can't."

"Why not?"

"If- If I care, you'll get hurt, and I can't…" Hope half confesses — her voice breaking into a crying tone.

"Lies."

"Pen, please… I can't lose you too okay?" She weakly shakes her head, as if trying to shake away the mere idea of that ever happening. "I… I can't go through that again."

"What makes you think you'll lose me?"

"You saw what almost happened to MG…"

"For the hundredth time, that wasn't your fault, Hope. Now, please answer me."

"Pen… people I care about leave me. Or get hurt because of me. And… I can't bear the thought of losing you. Or see you getting hurt."

"You know that is not true, Hope." Penelope says gently but Hope is avoiding her gaze. The defeated look on the tribrid's face feels like claws digging into the witch's heart. She can't stand it to see her like this. She just wants to make it stop. Needs to make it stop. "Wolfie… please look at me."

The tribrid forces herself to meet Penelope's eyes, knowing the reason for avoiding eye contact will be clear. Hope's words say one thing, but she can't hide the emotions in her gaze. The fear, the desperation, and even the love . Her hands tremble, but she lets Penelope see it all, like she's cracking her heart open for the other girl to read.

"I won't leave you alone, okay?" The raven-haired girl pleads. "You won't lose me. I can promise you that." — Still silence. — "Listen to me. Nothing of what happened in the past was your fault. None of it."

"The last time I let myself care about someone…" Hope trails off, but Penelope understands perfectly what she's trying to say.

Roman.

"That wasn't your fault either and you know it." Penelope says firmly but yet, somehow, gently. "Besides. That won't happen again. All I want is for you to be happy."

"People still got hurt because of it…"

"It wasn't your fault!" Penelope pauses for a second and takes a deep, calming breath. "But even if it was… I'm still not leaving you alone." She looks deep into Hope's eyes. "And I don't care if I get hurt by doing so."

— 'I don't care if I get hurt…' Penelope's words take Hope by surprise, and not in a good way. More like getting a knife in her heart.

"Please don't say that-" Hope tries to plead.

"You can turn me into a vampire if it makes you feel safer, I don't care.

Don't care if I lose my powers.

Don't care about what my parents will say.

I don't care about any possible consequences.

All I care about is you, Hope." Penelope says firmly, succeeding in stopping Hope's rambling and making her eyes widen even more, surprised by every word coming out of Penelope's mouth.

"Because you're worth it. I'll prove that to you, no matter how long it takes." Nothing but honesty in her voice, eyes never leaving Hope's.

"You.

Hope Andrea Mikaelson.

Are worth it." Not a single bit of doubt in her voice.

Penelope waits patiently for what it feels like a long time, but Hope is saying nothing, she looks like she's completely lost.

Sitting in her lap, Penelope can perfectly feel how the Mikaelson girl's body is tense. And by the fact that they are this close, the witch also has a perfect view of her face, so it's pretty obvious for her to see that Hope's emotions are all over the place.

After a few too many moments of absolute silence, Penelope starts to worry. It's suffocating. — Her heart races and hammers heavily inside of her chest while a slight dread starts coursing through her body.

— Shit shit shit! I said too much. Crap! I think I just scared her away. Damn It! I need to fix this. Fast. But how? Think Penelope. Think! — She's totally panicking right now, that's probably why nothing comes to her mind. — I shouldn't have confessed my feelings like that. Maybe Hope wasn't ready to hear it yet… Shit!

Despite being mentally kicking herself over and over, Penelope forces herself to stay put, but every second of silence makes her feel like she's gonna be sick.

After a few more seconds Hope's expression softens and her body relaxes, but she's still saying nothing, just looking at the raven-haired girl with an adorable face of disbelief.

Penelope then releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding, immediately feeling an immense relief at knowing she didn't oversteeped.

Maybe Hope just needs some time alone to digest everything she said. Penelope doesn't want to leave though. The mere idea of leaving the auburn haired girl alone in a moment like this pains her, but she feels like Hope needs to be alone with her thoughts right now.

"It's okay to care , Wolfie. I know it is scary, trust me I know. But it's okay ." Penelope pauses for a second to fill her lungs with air, trying to calm her racing heart, then she fixes her glance into ocean eyes — making sure that the Mikaelson girl can see the absolute truth in her gaze. — "I know that because I do care for you. So very much ..." She finishes with a sincere soft smile on her lips, laying a sweet kiss on Hope's cheek before she, begrudgingly , removes herself off of the tribrid's lap and turns to leave.

That was all it took for her to break through the very last wall that Hope had built around her heart.

And Hope knew it.

She felt it.

The exact instant that Penelope Park stole her heart.

It was almost like she could see it flying out of her chest and going straight to Penelope's careful hands. Powerless to stop it.

Hope doesn't know exactly how she feels about this, she's terrified at first, that's for sure, but there's also something else she can't quite understand what it is at the moment.

The only thing she knows for sure is that there's absolutely nothing she can do about it. Her heart belonged to the raven-haired girl now, maybe it always has, she just haven't realized it before.

Penelope also felt it.

However, in her rush to leave the room — believing to be the best option for both of them at that moment —, she misses the vulnerability and fear in Hope's eyes as they fill with tears.

Penelope regrets leaving as soon as she closes the door behind her though. After a few seconds of hesitation, she runs her hands through her raven hair, takes a deep breath and starts moving away.

Hope can't take it, her feelings are just too much for her. She feels overwhelmed by them, making her feel like she can't breathe. But she can't deny it anymore — She loves that cocky, overconfident but also sweet and caring girl more than anything. Despite that, she can't get rid of the lingering fear of having her heart crushed again. She wouldn't be able to survive it this time.

It's only when Hope hears the door closing that she comes out of her thoughts. It takes her a few too many seconds to register that Penelope has left the room, but as soon as she does, she finds herself opening her door again before she can even think about it.

"Penelope!" She cries, helplessly running to the girl.

Penelope is slowly walking away. She feels like there's an invisible force griping at her heart — crushing it more and more with each step away that she takes. Despite that, she keeps going. One step at a time. And It isn't until she hears her name being called, ever so quietly, that she stops and turns around to see Hope running towards her.

They only stare at each other for a few moments. Penelope can feel that something between them is different. It's the same thing she felt before leaving the tribrid's room. Now however, she's sure it wasn't just her imagination. It feels like a piece of her soul has finally fallen into place and for the first time in her life, she truly feels... Complete .

Suddenly it doesn't really matter that the tribrid is still silent. Penelope holds her gaze and patiently waits. And after a few more seconds of hesitation, the raven-haired girl can see the turmoil of emotions behind ocean blue eyes subsiding a little bit.

The Mikaelson girl opens her mouth and then closes again. Her hand is shaking as it mindlessly goes to her chest, over her heart — noticing that there's something different about the way it beats —, and she tries her best to focus, at least a tiny bit, on the hazel-green eyes in front of her before finally managing to get the words to leave her mouth.

"Please, give it back… " Hope begs quietly.

She knows it's to no avail, but she isn't really thinking straight at the moment, her heightened emotions taking the best of her.

Hope's eyes are still shining with tears, but the look in them changes — as if the storm of feelings that has been raging inside of them has just cleared —, and it hits Penelope like a lighting strike.

She can perfectly see the pain behind them, the fear of abandonment, the longing for love, it's all there… Crystal clear, no walls blocking it this time, no barriers, no deflections, nothing. Just pure vulnerability. And Penelope can feel her own heart breaking at the sight.

— How can someone so strong like you hide so much pain behind a smile? — A spike of anger shoots through her body.

— How could anyone ever hurt someone like Hope? — She swears to herself that if she ever finds the ones who wronged her, she will be their downfall.

But as for right now she makes a more important promise to herself;

To show this girl in front of her how worthy she is.

To show her how loved she deserves to be.

To do her best to make sure that no one ever hurts her again.

But most importantly; To never hurt her.

Hope might haven't realized it yet, but Penelope's heart already belonged to her, it has for a long time now.

"No." Penelope says softly but with absolute determination in her voice.

Desperation fills the redhead's features as she looks deep into Penelope's certain eyes.

"Please ." Hope tries again, her voice sounding so small that makes Penelope's heart flinch painfully inside her chest.

A single tear falls down, gliding down Hope's face while she tries so hard not to drop her gaze from the other girl's green eyes.

Penelope reaches her hand and carefully wipes the tear away, keeping her hand on Hope's face gently.

"Your heart is safe with me, Wolfie. I'll take good care of it." She says with the softest voice and loveliest glance she could. "I promise . Okay?"

Hope's pulled into a tight and warm hug before she can answer. Penelope's scent fills her nostrils, immediately calming her down.

Despite her fears, Hope finally surrenders herself fully to the other girl — Her fears aren't gone, not completely, but she knows there's nothing else she can do about them right now and she's tired of running, of pushing away the girl that she so desperately wants. —, and returns the hug, giving everything that she has.

"Please don't break my heart." She begs quietly against the other girl's neck.

Because, now that her heart no longer belonged to her, the only thing she still could do in order to protect it, is this;

Beg.

Beg Penelope Park to not break her heart.

Right now she doesn't worry if she looks weak. She couldn't care less about that.

"I don't think I can survive that." Hope confesses, her voice only above a whisper.

It's a strange feeling to have someone holding so much power over her like that. She isn't used to being this vulnerable and open with anyone, and normally the feeling would scare Hope like nothing else. But somehow, she knew she was safe with the raven haired girl.

"I won't." Penelope says.

She never sounded so sure of anything in her life.

She would never hurt this girl.

Never.

"You have my word. " She says while kissing the top of her head, hoping that the girl would catch the meaning behind those last words. Not a second later she feels Hope's arms tightening around her in what can only mean that she understood.

They stand in each other's arms for a long time, Hope holding onto Penelope like her life depends on it. She couldn't let go of her — afraid she might disappear if she does.

"Why don't we get you into bed?" Penelope asks quietly into her ear after a few minutes. "We can talk more about this in the morning."

"No!" Hope blurts out, pulling back to lock eyes with the other girl, surprising Penelope.

"Please don't leave me alone." She pleads quietly.

Penelope can only nod her head yes, her eyes already saying everything she wanted Hope to know. — I'm never leaving you alone.

They make their way back to Hope's room, hand in hand. Penelope lays in bed first and opens her arms for Hope who quickly makes herself comfortable cuddling as close as possible to the Ravenette while the girl mindlessly plays with her hair, making her relax further into her embrace.

"I'm sorry for breaking down like that… And for trying to run away. I-It's just... I'm… huh... I'm scared." Hope confesses quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"Shhhh, don't worry, Wolfie. It's okay, I get it." Penelope soothes her.

Hope's honestly surprised at how Penelope could make her feel so much — and so intensely —, to the point where she literally turns into a mess.

"I-I don't know what you've done to me…" She confesses, but as soon as the words leave her mouth, a passage from a book she read a long time ago comes to her mind;

— 'When we are in love, we are both completely in danger and completely saved.' Love letters to the dead.

"I understand, I really do." Penelope reassures her as tenderly as she can. "But please, don't run away from me. Give me a chance to make you happy and I promise you I will."

— You already do. — Hope wants to say.

"Let yourself be happy, please." She then feels Hope sighing against her skin before a soft " Okay " leaves her mouth.

"Okay." Penelope repeats. She feels a warm and pleasant feeling washing over her body while the biggest and happiest of smiles stretches her lips as the fact that Hope's finally letting her in — for real — sinks in.

"Go to sleep now, I'm right here." She says softly, leaving a lovingly kiss at the crown of Hope's head. "I'm not going anywhere."

After about an hour or so Hope accepts that she's not going to be able to sleep. Not just yet.

"Pen…" She calls quietly looking up at Penelope, hoping the girl is still awake.

"Can't sleep?" Penelope asks quietly.

Hope shakes her head, and sighs loudly.

"What's wrong?" Penelope asks, her voice full of concern.

"Just a lot on my mind, my thoughts are too loud..."

Penelope just hums in understanding and holds Hope tighter hoping it would bring her comfort.

Hope's hand rests peacefully over Penelope's chest, feeling every beat of her heart while a comfortable silence washes over them. The steady rhythm of Penelope's heart feels so familiar to her now, and it makes her feel warm inside.

A few minutes passes before Penelope decides to break the silence. — Okay… I think now's a good moment. I'll do it right this time.

"It's yours you know?" She says softly.

— Um … What? — Hope lifts her head a little bit to find Penelope's eyes, and gives her a confused frown.

Hope's frown is so cute that it makes the witch warm inside. — She really looks like a puppy when she's confused. — Penelope's own hand covers Hope's on her chest.

"My heart." She says softly as she looks the tribrid in the eyes. "It's yours. It has been for a long time now..." Hope's wide eyes are reflecting her surprise, and it makes Penelope smirk. "And even if I could take it back, I wouldn't. Because I love being yours ."

Penelope's smile softens, and then she brings her hand up to softly caress Hope's cheek. She loves the light pink that covers them in this moment.

"Do you really mean all of that?" Hope asks in a shy voice. It's difficult for her to believe that Penelope really feels this way about her.

Penelope holds eye contact with Hope so she can see the absolute honesty in her words. "I meant every word I've said to you tonight."

"Even letting me turn you?" The mere thought that Penelope would consider letting Hope turn her leaves Hope breathless. It's a staggering show of trust and commitment.

"Yes. If I'm a vampire I wouldn't die and eventually leave you alone. And you wouldn't have to worry about me getting hurt, so yes." Penelope ducks her head, almost bashful. "If it makes you feel safer, I'm okay with it."

"But you love being a witch… Why would you be willing to give that up?" She asks shyly and instantly, Penelope gives her a sweet, pleased smile in return — as if she was waiting for that question.

"I do love being a witch, but…" Penelope takes a deep breath and looks deep into Hope's eyes, trying to find the courage to say her next words.

"I love you more than that." She confesses.

"I can live without magic. But I can't live without you, Wolfie. Not anymore. And I don't want to."

Hope feels a lot of things at once. — A shiver runs down her spine. Her mind goes blank. Her heart does an Olympic jump before being filled with the best feeling Hope has ever felt in her life. Euphoria starts coursing through her veins. — And the tidal wave of feelings that hits her at Penelope's words renders her completely speechless.

"You don't have to say it back." Penelope tells her after a few moments of silence. "I just needed you to know."

"I love you, Hope."

"And I know I've said this already, but I know you're still afraid, so I'll say it again — your heart is safe with me, okay?"

Hope doesn't trust her words in that moment, so she only nods, the reality of Penelope's confession still sinking in.

"There's no place I'd rather be than right here, holding you in my arms. Feeling like there's not enough room in my heart for how much I care and adore you... Feeling safe, warm... complete." Penelope whispers her confession while her fingers softly play with auburn hair.

"There's no one else I'd rather share a piece of me. Of my soul..." All she can see is the blue of Hope's eyes. "Be sharing this moment with you, knowing that you own my heart. Owns my love. means everything to me." Both girls have tears in their eyes. "There's no one I'd trust more to take care of me but you, Hope Mikaelson."

Hope didn't know it was possible to feel the way she feels right now. Their eyes are locked together and the ravenette's kinda lost in the tribrid's ocean orbs. The Mikaelson girl hopes that her eyes are telling Penelope everything she's currently feeling, because her brain can't possibly form any words right now.

Penelope's fingers let go of auburn hair and her hand mindlessly make its way back to Hope's face. Her fingers are brushing the underside of the girl's jaw when Hope shivers at her touch. She then rests her hand on the side of her neck and repeats the action, obtaining the same result.

Hope feels her head spinning. Penelope's touch is so tender that her skin tingles under it and sends little shock waves down her spine, making goosebumps appear over her entire body. Her gaze drops to the ravenette's lips and her vision blurs.

That's all it takes for the raven-haired girl to gain the courage to slowly start leaning in. And this time, when Hope doesn't pull away, Penelope has the confidence to ask what she's been desperately craving for the past few weeks.

"Can I kiss you?" She whispers against Hope's lips once she's close enough.

It's only when the Mikaelson girl gives her a firm nod that their eyes close and she closes the little gap between them, connecting their lips for the first time. — At first, it's just the press of their lips together. Penelope pauses, just to make sure Hope is okay with what's happening. The tribrid pushes a little against the witch's lips, and that's all the confirmation Penelope needs.

The raven haired witch slowly starts to move her lips against Hope's, and it almost kills her to do so. She wants to go all in, but for Hope's sake she knows she has to restrain herself. So she keeps a steady pace, their lips moving together, getting to know each other.

It's better than either of them could have imagined. The feeling of the tribrid's lips against her is intoxicating, and the witch loves every second, every movement, every little detail about this moment. All too soon, Hope pulls back to catch her breath.

Penelope smirks when she sees how dazed Hope looks. When their eyes lock, Hope quickly looks down shyly, a beautiful pink coloring her cheeks.

"Pink looks so good on you." Penelope softly teases and Hope's blush only gets worse. She hides her face in Penelope's neck to keep the witch from teasing her again and then mumbles something against her skin.

"I didn't quite catch that Wolfie, what did you say?"

Hope pulls back and looks Penelope in the eyes, an adorable pout on her face.

"I said; stop teasing me, or I'm not kissing you again." She tries to say this with confidence but fails miserably, instead it comes out in a really shy voice.

Penelope chuckles lightly and nods.

"Okay, I'm sorry. It's just that you look so cute right now…" She says softly. "Can I kiss you again if I promise to behave?"

"Yes." Hope playfully rolls her eyes and sighs deeply. "Yes, you can."

"Good…" Penelope whispers before leaving a quick peck on Hope's lips. "I'll be on my best behavior then."

"You better." Hope says with a peck of her own before she tucks her head under Penelope's chin and settles back into a comfortable cuddling position. Her hand resting over the witch's heart. — My heart... My home.

After staying this way for a long time, just soaking in the peaceful feeling of being in each others arms, Penelope's steady heartbeats and calming smell are luring Hope into what she feels like it will be the best sleep of her life. However, she can't surrender herself to it just yet.

There's still something she needs to do.

"Pen…" She whispers quietly

"Yes, Wolfie?" Penelope whispers back, her voice laced with sleep, but still awake enough to register what Hope's about to say.

"I… I love you too."

«- -»

"Some nerve you have
To break up my lonely
And tell me you want me
How dare you march into my heart
Oh how rude of you
To ruin my miserable
And tell me I'm beautiful
'Cause I wasn't looking for love no
Nobody asked to get me attached to you
In fact you tricked me
And I wasn't trying to fall in love but girl you pushed me
So all that I'm asking
Is that you handle me with caution
'Cause I don't give myself often
But I guess I'll try today
'Cause I've had my heart
Broken before
And I promised I would never let me hurt anymore
But I tore down my walls
And opened my doors
And made room for one
So baby I'm yours"

«- -»

When Hope's eyes flutter open that next morning, she takes a deep breath, and as Penelope's scent invades her nostrils a smile appears on her face. Memories of the previous night are flooding her mind and she can barely contain the swarm of happy feelings fluttering inside her chest. It almost feels too much. She wasn't used to that, but as she starts to take in her surroundings, the more she thinks that she could definitely get used to it.

Waking up in Penelope's arms, feeling warm and safe and loved... She's sure she just had the best night of sleep of her life, because as she takes another deep breath — totally not because she wants to be assaulted by the ravenette's scent again —, she notices that her body, mind and soul feels utterly at peace.

As carefully as she can, Hope lifts her head off of the witch's chest and scoots her body a bit upwards so that she's face to face with Penelope. The ravanette only sighs in her sleep before her arms instinctively tighten around the tribrid's waist. That puts a fond smile on Hope's lips as she studies Penelope's features.

Their legs are intertwined and they're so close together due to the witch's hold around Hope's waist. In fact, they're so close that the tribrid can feel Penelope's body pressing against her own each time one of them breathes, and she can't deny it feels extremely pleasant. Her eyes roam every inch of the witch's face, taking in all the little details. She just looks so peaceful. Hope wonders if the girl is feeling as peaceful as she does.

It takes at least half an hour for Penelope to start to stir awake — time in which Hope hasn't been able to take her eyes away from the sleeping girl's face —. When green eyes flutter open, Penelope is instantly greeted by pools of blue. A soft smile already forming on her lips.

"Hey you." Hope whispers quietly while, affectionately, she tucks a few strands of raven hair behind the girl's ear. Penelope's lips stretched into a full blown smile at the effective gesture.

"Good morning beautiful." Penelope whispers back. Her arm tightens its hold, pulling Hope even closer to her.

"Good morning." Hope says with a soft smile.

"How long have you been awake?" Penelope asks — her voice is a bit rough due to her just waking up, but there's a hint of concern there too.

"About forty minutes."

Penelope only nods her head, already feeling relieved, before speaking again.

"Were you watching me sleep?"

"Yes." Hope answers right away. Normally she'd feel embarrassed for being called out like that, but not today. Not when she finally realized how much she loves Penelope. "You looked so peaceful… I couldn't help it." She confesses softly, but then decides to add something else. "You're just too beautiful."

Hope doesn't know where that confidence came from, but she's glad, even more so now that Penelope's cheeks are gaining a slight shade of pink. That's another thing she thinks she could get used to. The ravenette girl recovers quickly though.

Penelope places her hand on Hope's face, her thumb gently caressing her cheek. Her green eyes shining with unspoken adoration for the girl in front of her.

"Right back at ya." She says before leaving a lingering kiss on Hope's forehead.

— Yeah. I could definitely get used to this. — Hope thinks.

As Penelope stretches the sleep away, she realizes she has never felt so good in her entire life as she does right now.

"What time is it?" She asks.

It's just now that Hope summours her phone to check on the time that she realizes how late it actually is.

" Oh wow! It's almost noon." She answers Penelope. Hope can't even remember the last time she slept till this late.

— This definitely was the best night of sleep of my life.

"Really?" Penelope asks, equally surprised. "We should probably get up then."

"Do we have to?" Hope asks with a pout, and as if on cue, her stomach growls loudly, betraying her words.

Penelope can't help chuckle at the perfect timing. She leaves a sweet kiss on Hope's cheek before leaving their embrace and getting up. Hope follows suit.

"There's a spare toothbrush in the third drawer." Hope quickly tells Penelope while pointing to the bathroom. She doesn't want the girl to leave her side even for a second today, and judging by the relieved smile on the witch's face, she feels the same.

"You can go ahead, I'll be right behind you. I just need to send a quick text." Hope says.

"Okay." Penelope says as she starts walking towards the bathroom.

Hope quickly picks up her phone. She opens her messaging app and taps on the group chat she has with her sisters.

Thank you. — It's all the message says. She'll tell them everything later, but she's pretty sure they'll get it.

Then Hope makes her way to her bathroom and knocks on the door. After being told to come in, the tribrid starts her morning routine besides her friend.

— 'Friend'... This word feels so wrong now. — Hope's stomach growls again — Ugh fine! Breakfast first. Or is it lunch? Whatever.

After they're both finished they head back inside the room and Hope's stomach growls yet again making Penelope chuckle fondly.

"Should we head to the cafeteria?" She asks softly, but immediately regrets it. — That place must be pretty crowded with students by now.

"I don't feel like being around too many people today." Hope says bashfully.

"Yeah, me neither." Penelope quickly agrees, then another idea pops in her head. "Shall we go to the kitchen then? I could cook us something... Just you and me." She asks with a hopeful smile.

Hope's face instantly lights up.

"That sounds perfect." She says with an excited smile. "Hold on. You cook?"

"I'm a woman of many talents, Wolfie." She says, winking, and with a smirk firmly on her lips.

A few weeks ago Hope would've found that statement highly annoying, but not now. Now she only finds it endearing.

Before Hope can think of a flirty comeback to say, her stomach growls extra loudly as if saying; ' Can you two hurry up? I need food here!'

Penelope chuckles once again before taking Hope's hand.

"Let's go?"

The tribrid nods and happily lets Penelope lead her out of her room and towards the kitchen.

---

Hope is sitting on the counter watching as Penelope moves around the kitchen, cleaning up everything she used to make their breakfast. — Actually, she watches as the ravenette uses her magic to clean everything. — All the dishes are washing themselves and then flying up to their respective place.

Hope's honestly surprised. Apparently Penelope wasn't kidding when she said she had many talents. The food was delicious. The tribrid's also surprised at how incredibly thoughtful and sweet the ravanette was acting. — Even more than lately. — During their breakfast for instance:

Penelope had just finished eating and she was feeling pretty satisfied. But with one single look at Hope she figured the tribrid still wasn't yet. She asked for confirmation and Hope shyly confessed to still be starving because she had barely had anything to eat the day before. That was all Penelope needed to start cooking again.

As she was finishing her second meal, every now and then, Penelope kept asking her if she wanted more food, wanting to make sure the tribrid was satisfied. — Which Hope found it really adorable — It was just after Hope had reassured the ravenette girl for the sixth time that she was full, that Penelope started to clean things up. Obviously Hope offered to do it, since the witch had already prepared everything, but Penelope insisted on doing it all herself. — Now Hope understands why.

"Where did you learn all of that?" Hope asks.

"My parents were never around so I had to learn how to take care of myself pretty early." Penelope's surprised at how easily the words leave her mouth. It didn't hurt saying them. Didn't hurt to remember, because she knows Hope cares about her. She knows the tribrid wants to know more about her life. That's why she keeps on speaking.

"Wallace — a wizard who also works at my house as a cooker and back in the day, as one of my babysitters, taught me a lot." She says looking over her shoulder to see Hope with a soft smile on her face, listening attentively to her.

Penelope shrugs then, turning her attention back into tiding everything up. "Actually, that's one of the few good things about my parents never paying attention to me. At least I learned how to cook, amongst other things."

Hope's really curious to learn about this 'other things', but she decides to leave it for another time.

"The food was indeed really good, Miss independent ." She says instead. And with a loving smile that Penelope can't see, she adds; "Thank you."

"Anytime Wolfie."

As they settle into a comfortable silence, Hope's phone that has been playing a random 80's playlist in the background changes to a new song.

I Want to Know What Love Is - Foreigner

Hope has heard this song before, she's sure of it. She just never really paid attention to what the lyrics were actually saying. She does now, and it's like the song is talking to her.

Penelope finishes cleaning up and starts making her way back to where Hope's sitting on the counter. The chorus hits in the exact moment Hazel green eyes meet ocean blue ones.

«- -»

"In my life there's been heartache and pain
I don't know if I can face it again
Can't stop now, I've traveled so far
To change this lonely life

I want to know what love is
I want you to show me
I want to feel what love is
I know you can show me"

«- -»

It really does look like the song is talking directly to Hope. She feels it deep within her soul. The emotions inside her chest can no longer be contained. She knows what she's gotta do. She knows what she wants.

She takes a really deep breath and once again, all she can smell is Penelope. However, now, her scent feels different. Feels better, special. Hope can swear that the ravenette smells like home . — If that's even possible — Also, it's alluring. Now that Hope realizes this, she really can't help when her gaze quickly shifts to Penelope's neck. She can hear and see the blood pumping inside of her veins. She wonders how it must taste...

— No! Stop that! — She scolds herself. After shaking those thoughts out of her head, she forces her eyes back up to meet Penelope's. She hopes the girl hasn't noticed what just happened. It doesn't look like she did. Hope then takes another deep breath and instantly knows it was a mistake. This time however, she manages to control herself.

The tribrid then gently tugs on Penelope's sweater. The witch takes the hint without missing a beat and gladly walks closer until she's standing between Hope's legs. There's barely any space separating them now and Penelope is waiting for her to say something.

She's nervous. Very nervous. It takes a moment for Hope to muster the courage to say her next words, but Penelope waits patiently. There's something in the way she looks at the Mikaelson girl. A special glint in her eyes that screams love. That's what makes Hope be even surer of her own feelings and what drives her to finally speak up her mind.

Hope brings her right hand up and gently places it on Penelope's neck, her thumb lovingly caressing the girl's cheek. Her heart skips a beat — or two — when the ravenette closes her eyes and leans into her touch.

"Will you… be my girlfriend ?" She shyly asks — her cheeks turning pink.

Penelope opens her eyes and, for a split second, she looks surprised, but quickly it disappears, leaving place to an expression of pure happiness that doesn't take long to turn slightly mischievous as the corner of her mouth quirks up into her usual smirk that Hope learned to love.

"Jeez… Finally! I thought you'd never ask." She teases, but she can't possibly hide the tone of absolute joy in her voice. — Or the fact that she's literally shaking with happiness, for that matter.

Hope glares playfully at her and diggs a finger into Penelope's ribs, making the girl jump. A move she instantly regrets when the witch looks at her with a predatory look in her eyes.

"No you didn't…" Penelope shakes her head, pretending to look disappointed but the wicked smile on her face betrays her.

Hope's eyes widen when she realizes what the ravenette's about to do.

"Pen… No please!" She pleads in a squeal and tries to escape but it's too late. Penelope's fingers are already mercilessly attacking her ribs, making Hope squirm in fits of laughter.

Suddenly Hope forgets she's stronger and could easily overpower the other girl. Instead, she tries to fight back. She manages to get a few squirms and giggles out of Penelope, but the fact that the tribrid is sitting on the counter, gives the witch the upper hand.

Hope doesn't want to give up, but it seems like it's her only option. There are a few tears sliding down her face and, despite currently being attacked with tickles, Hope can't remember the last time she felt this happy.

She's had enough of this attack though. Helplessly she raises her arms, which quickly is proven to be the wrong move because it gives Penelope more space. — Needless to say that it gets Hope squirming even more.

"Okay okay… You win!" Hope pants out in the middle of her giggles. "I- I give up… I surrender... please stop!"

Penelope listens and stops immediately.

Hope sighs deeply in relief and takes a few deep breaths. The girl's scent invades her again and it helps her calm down but also draws her attention back to the blood pulsing inside of Penelope's veins. Her eyes drop to throbbing of the witch's neck for just a split second before she forces herself to look up, her gaze landing on the other girl's face.

Penelope winks. She's looking smugly at her and the cocky smirk on her lips is silently taunting Hope.

Any smart of teasing comeback the Mikaelson girl could've come up with are quickly left forgotten when Penelope leans her forehead against Hope's while they finish regaining their breaths.

Hope's the first to look up, and as soon as Penelope meets her eyes they both start giggling softly at what just happened. The raven-haired witch quickly pulls back to get her hair out of her face and gently does the same with Hope's.

After tucking the strands of auburn hair behind the girl's ears, she keeps her hands resting on each side of Hope's neck and leans her forehead against the other girl's again before looking deep into ocean eyes.

"I'd absolutely love to be your girlfriend, Wolfie."

— Girlfriend… now it sounds right. — Hope thinks.

"Yeah?" Hope whispers. Her eyes drop to Penelope's lips and then come back up to her eyes — her pupils are blown up, the green in them is almost gone and Hope knows that her's shouldn't be much different.

Their lips are almost touching now. Hope can feel her heart racing in anticipation and she can hear — almost feel — Penelope's too.

"Yeah." Penelope whispers back after what feels like minutes but in reality it wasn't more than maybe three seconds.

When their lips touch for the second time it feels like fireworks are going off. Hope, who was having a hard time with the intensity of her feelings, is now letting them flow freely and she can feel that the witch is doing the same thing.

The kiss is slow and gentle, yet, absolutely euphoric. Penelope softly bites on the tribrid's bottom lip, making the softest of whimpers to leave the girl's mouth. The ravanette uses this to sofly push her tongue past the other girl's lips, asking for entrance, which Hope gladly concedes. They take their sweet time exploring each other's mouths, not wanting to rush such a special moment.

The feeling of Penelope's soft lips against her own gets Hope feeling dizzy and overwhelmed in the best way possible. The tribrid just can't get enough, everything about the witch in this moment feels intoxicating and addictive.

She can't believe that she was so afraid of letting this happen. Now, as she struggles to catch her breath so that she can connect their lips again, Hope knows she's made the right decision. Sure, she knows that she gave Penelope the power to completely break her, but if the way she's currently feeling is anything to go by, she knows that'll never happen. Penelope said it herself, and Hope trusts her with her entire heart — after all, the raven-haired girl owns said heart now.

— So this is what love feels like huh?

They're so lost in each other that none of them notice when someone else arrives in the kitchen. It is just when the person makes their presence known by knocking a bit loudly on the door that the two girls break apart — slightly startled and out of breath.

Hope quickly turns her body around, ready to scold whoever disturbed their little moment, but her eyes land on Josie. She's standing at the door frame with the softest of smiles on her face. And just like that, Hope's annoyance is gone.

"Don't mind me. I'm just here to pick up a blood bag for Jade." Josie says softly as she makes her way to the fridge.

With her girlfriend's lunch in hand, she turns her attention back to the two girls that are now walking towards her, holding hands. Because of that, she can't refrain herself from saying more.

"I'm guessing the both of you talked last night..." Josie doesn't even try to hide the happiness in her voice. "And by the looks of things it went pretty well huh?" She says with a quick glance at Hope and Penelope's intertwined hands.

Hope follows the siphoner's eyes and a soft smile make its way to her lips. She nods her head but before she can say anything, Penelope beats her to it.

"Rebekah was right you know? Mikaelson women are indeed stubborn." She says to her best friend in a teasing manner. "But everything worked out perfectly in the end." She smiles. "I just had to- you know… confess my undying love for this one here" She brings their joined hands to her lips and kisses Hope's. "But yeah… I'd say it all went pretty well."

"Idiot." Hope rolls her eyes and playfully slaps Penelope's arm before letting go of her hand to go give Josie a hug.

For a second, Hope wonders if Josie's now a heretic, because she feels like she's being crushed by the force of the siphoner's arms around her.

"I'm so happy for you!" Josie tells her. "And I'm so proud that you're finally giving yourself a chance of happiness. You deserve it Hopey."

"Thank you!" Hope says quietly.

She feels so incredibly grateful for both her sisters ... — And now that she comes to think of it, she should be thankful for Penelope too. Her Girlfriend was the one who indirectly made her fix things up with the twins. This realization only makes her love for the ravenette grow even more.

"For everything." She continues, pulling back from the hug but still holding Josie close. "I probably would've ran away if it weren't for you and Liz so… thank you."

Both of their eyes well with tears. Josie just pulls Hope into another hug.

"I want to know everything later okay?" Josie says with a huge smile.

"Of course." Hope promises.

Josie then goes to her best friend. She pulls Penelope into the same bone crushing hug with a happy squeal. "I'm so happy for you Penny!"

"Thanks Jojo." The witch says with a smile. "I really couldn't be happier."

"I can imagine." Josie says softly before stepping away from the hug.

"I'm sure you can." Penelope teases with a raised eyebrow.

Josie rolls her eyes, not surprised at all. Of course her best friend would tease her about Jade.

— Wait a minute. That reminds me of something.

"Now that that's out of the way…" She starts. "Look — you're my best friend, I love you and all… But if you hurt her, I'll burn you to death." She states quietly in a weirdly sweet and gentle voice, but the fire in her eyes tells a whole different story.

"Yes ma'am" Penelope says with an amused eye roll, but she can't help but smirk proudly at her friend. — If she feels intimidated by the siphoner, she doesn't let it show — "Thanks for the tip yesterday by the way, Jojo."

Hope's trying her best not to laugh — even though she's pretty proud and impressed by her sister giving her girlfriend the shovel talk —, but after hearing this last part, she gets curious.

"What are you talking about?" She asks.

"Oh, I texted Jojo yesterday asking if she knew where you were," Penelope explains "and she just said to move my plans to your room."

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah."

Hope turns back to Josie. "Thank you again then."

"No problem." The siphoner says with a giggle. "Oh, on that note." She says to Hope. "Do you want me to tell mom you're not leaving? She was a bit worried yesterday."

Josie's thoughtfulness never ceases to amaze Hope.

"I'd really appreciate that." She says shyly, feeling a bit bad about having worried Caroline once again. Josie's quick to catch on to that and gives her a reassuring smile, silently telling her not to worry about it.

— Shit! I should probably call aunt Freya to explain everything too… Actually, no. I think that can wait till tomorrow.

"I won't tell her why you decided to stay, because I believe you'd like to tell her that yourself." Josie says thoughtfully, but then she adds teasingly; "Although… I'm pretty sure she'll know the reason right away." She says glancing quickly at Penelope.

Hope can feel her cheeks heating up at the same time a pout form on her lips. It all makes sense now; all the teasing comments and looks… Everyone already knew she was in love with Penelope.

Everyone but her.

— Ugh! I'm so stupid!

She can hear Penelope chuckling softly but she decides to ignore it. Instead she pulls Josie into one last hug, burying her face on the taller girl's neck.

"Thanks again." She shyly says.

"My pleasure." Josie says with a soft giggle.

"I gotta get back to my picnic now." Josie says after they pull away. "Jade might start eating the bunnies if I don't get back with this soon." She says playfully, glancing at the blood bag in her hand.

"Oh no… We can't have that." Hope says with an amused smile. "You go back to your girlfriend , we'll catch up later."

"No, we cannot." Josie giggles once again before turning to Penelope. "Bye Penny." She says while walking backwards towards the door.

"Bye Jojo."

"Bye Jo." Hope says "Love you."

"Love you too, Hopey."

With one last look over her shoulder at the new couple, Josie walks away, leaving the two girls alone in the kitchen again.

"Can you believe that?" Penelope turns to Hope with an amused smile.

"That she just gave you the shovel talk?" Hope asks with a small laugh as she walks back to the counter she was on, Penelope following close behind her.

"Yeah." The witch starts "I was sure that my first shovel talk would've come from Lizzie."

"Well, you should definitely be expecting that in the very near future."

"What about you? No one's gonna give you the talk? "

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure aunt Rebekah will. She loves you." Hope says with a playful eye roll. However she knows where her girlfriend's coming from. She doesn't have anyone close enough to stand up for her, so… If Rebekah can be that someone for her, then so be it.

"She's the best."

"Yeah, she is."

"I low-key would be terrified of Jojo if it wasn't for the fact that I have nothing to worry about." Penelope takes Hope's hand. "Because as I promised; I don't ever plan on breaking your heart, Wolfie."

"Good… Because I don't ever plan on breaking yours either." Hope gives Penelope's hand a gentle squeeze and she can't avoid smiling like a fool.

"Great." Penelope smiles back with what looks like lust in her eyes. "So… Now that we've, rather unnecessarily, settled that-"

"Where were we?" Hope finishes up for her.

The Mikaelson girl lets out a small squeal in surprise when, suddenly, Penelope's hands are on her waist, hoisting her back up onto the counter.

"I believe we were like this." The witch says in an ' innocent' tone of voice as she settles between Hope's legs..

"Ummm… I think you were a bit closer. " Hope says, then she slides her hips a bit forwards on the counter. She hooks her legs around Penelope's waist and brings her girlfriend so incredibly closer that there's almost no gap between them.

"Like this?" Penelope asks — nearly whispers —, her voice is so low that it sends shivers down Hope's spine.

"Shut up." Hope whispers, her eyes already closing. She swears she can feel the smirk on Penelope's face.

"Make me."

Hope kisses her.

---

They are watching the last Harry Potter movie, and Hope's on an emotional roller-coaster. So much has already happened and there's still an hour left. She's really enjoying it though. But to be fair, she's having a hard time focusing because of Penelope's fingers running up and down her back, then her arm, getting loose into her auburn hair and so on and so forth... It's been like this since they started watching 'Half blood prince' — she's not complaining though.

Hope is cuddled in Penelope's side, her head on the witch's chest — this way she can hear her heartbeat, and the movie at the same time —, and her legs are across the witch's lap. It's calming, and so comforting. There's a soft blanket thrown over them, not for heat, just for comfort. There's no light in the room, except the one from the laptop gently floating in front of them.

— "Lily... After all this time?"

— "Always." Said Snape.

That part hits Hope with force, taking her by surprise. That scene, but mostly that single word, feels so powerful and emotionally charged and yet, so familiar... For a second she wonders why she's so affected by it, but the answer quickly comes to her — It reminds her of her family's motto. The famous Always and Forever — the promise they made to always love each other.

The way the word ' Always ' was said though, so full of pain, resentment and love , get's Hope really emotional — so much so that she can't possibly avoid shedding a few tears. When she looks up at Penelope to catch a glimpse of her reaction, she's a little surprised to see the same tears sliding down the ravenette's cheeks.

After a couple of seconds, Penelope looks down and their eyes meet. The witch blushes a little at being caught. She quickly wipes the tears away while letting out a shy little chuckle.

"I'm not crying." She attempts to defend herself. "You're crying."

"Don't worry." Hope can't help but chuckle softly. "Your secret's safe with me."

"What secret?" The short haired girl huffs.

"That you're a softie." Hope teases.

Penelope rolls her eyes, but then she lifts her hand to gently push a strand of Hope's hair out of her face. When blue eyes meet hazel-green sparks fly.

"I'm only soft for you , Mikaelson." She says honestly before a smirk appears on her lips. "Besides… It takes one to know one, right?"

Hope chuckles and shakes her head. "Well... And for Josie, but who can blame you for that?"

"Ain't that the truth."

They share a little laugh, both accepting the fact that Josie could probably get the most evil person on earth to be soft around her. Then, Penelope lays a kiss on top of Hope's head, prompting the tribrid to hug her a little tighter.

"Such a cuddle monster…"

"Not my fault you so cuddly." Hope whines. "Now, shut up."

Penelope's not about to argue, she can see that Hope's immersed in the movie so she shuts up and focuses back on the screen.

"Damn, that was good!" Hope says when the film's over.

"I told you!"

Hope hums softly before she leaves a few light kisses on Penelope's neck, making her shiver. The tribrid smiles against her skin and takes a deep breath, Penelope's scent assaulting her senses in full force — like it does every time they're this close. But now she doesn't have the movie to distract herself from it anymore. So she lifts her head to look at Penelope.

"I guess I should thank you then."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah" Hope whispers and leans up for a quick kiss.

The touch of their lips feels amazing. Hope gets lost into kissing Penelope. Lost in the alluring scent of the witch. Then, her ears focus on the sound of the blood pumping inside the girl's veins. Her face suddenly changes and she quickly breaks the kiss, quickly covering her face with her hands.

"I'm sorry." She rushes her apology. "That doesn't usually happen…"

Penelope felt the veins appearing, so she immediately knows what's up with her girlfriend .

"Please don't hide from me." She says softly while moving Hope's hands away from her face. She then gently places her hands on the tribrid's waist — guiding her to straddle her lap. Her face is almost normal again. "It's okay, let me see it." She requests gently.

The tribrid hesitates a little, but despite her insecurity, Hope let's her face change fully. Her trust for Penelope overcoming all her doubts.

Penelope gently touches the veins in her girlfriend' s face — her fingertips tracing over them with attention, trying to memorize the intricate maze. She follows the purple glow that flows inside of Hope's veins with a childish wonder, trying to see where it will end up. She does it with such tenderness and awe, that puts Hope completely at ease.

"You're so beautiful babe !" Penelope whispers, totally amazed. At this close, she can perfectly see the many cute little freckles that adorn her girlfriend's beautiful face.

Hope blushes, and a shy smile stretches her lips. She softly covers one of Penelope's hands with her own.

— 'Babe...' — The word sounds so good coming out of Penelope's lips. It sounds so... Right. But not only that.

The way her girlfriend touches her — knowing how powerful she is, yet treating her as gentle as she possibly could, makes Hope fall even more in love with her.

"I like that." Hope quietly says.

"What?"

"You calling me babe."

"Oh, do you now? Babe ." Penelope teases with a raised eyebrow.

Hope kisses her instead of replying. Her face starts changing again, but this time she lets it happen. As the kiss deepens, she gently bite Penelope's lips, dragging a breathless little moan out of the witch.

Penelope starts noticing how Hope keeps getting a little distracted as they're kissing. She opens her eyes a little, and notices the way the tribrid's gaze keeps slipping to her neck between kisses. When air makes itself necessary, the witch breaks the kiss, and pulls back.

Penelope looks Hope straight in the eyes as she moves her hair out of the way and bares her neck.

"You can bite me if you want."

"What?" Hope frowns, and then shakes her head. "Pen, no."

"You think I haven't noticed you looking at my neck all day? I know you want to." Penelope says gently, but Hope still looks unsure. — Unsure, but not uninterested . "It's okay babe, I promise. I trust you. I know you won't hurt me."

Hope hesitates, but Penelope's right... She really wants to.

"You're sure?"

All it takes is a little nod from her girlfriend before Hope leans in — her fangs extends, piercing the kiss of the ravenette's neck. As soon as the blood hits her tongue, she notices that Penelope's blood tastes different. It tastes better. It makes her feel things she didn't know she could feel. Judging by the soft little moan that comes out of the witch's lips, Hope can safely assume she feels the same.

Penelope loves it.

Hope's mouth on her neck, the sudden dizziness that comes with the loss of blood, the rush of adrenaline that courses through her body, even the slight pain… It all feels wonderful — mostly because she knows how intimate blood sharing is.

There's something else too. Somehow it feels like something deep inside of their very souls has finally fallen into place.

When the ravenette gives a light tap on her arm, Hope pulls back. For a second she thinks she drank too much, but then Penelope smiles at her so lovingly that her worry fades away. However, she still bites down on her own wrist and offers it to her girlfriend.

Penelope knows better than to refuse. She knows that Hope wants her safe and sound. So, she promptly drinks her blood, feeling the wound start healing right away. She also notices that same feeling of moments ago — that one deep within her soul —, but a bit stronger this time.

Then, Hope rests their foreheads against each other and their eyes lock — both showing nothing but love. After a few moments, she gives a little peck on the witch's lips before quickly checking her phone.

"It's still 7pm…" Hope says softly. "What do you want to do now?"

Penelope is light headed due to the blood loss and it feels like she's floating.

"You know what? I feel like going for a swim."

"We shall do that then. But first, come here…" Using her supernatural strength, Hope moves them so that now Penelope's lying on top of her — the ravenette's in between Hope's legs, with her head resting on her breasts.

Penelope quickly hugs Hope closer with a pleased sigh leaving her lips and then she lets herself melt over her girlfriend's body. — Best pillow ever.

"You should recover in a little while." Hope whispers while starting to gently play with Penelope's raven hair. "Thank you, by the way."

All she gets as an answer is a soft humming.

---

After a while, Penelope starts to feel a lot better so the girls decide to finally go to the pool. Hope changes before they leave her room, and they make a quick stop to Penelope's room for her to change too.

They walk to the pool hand in hand, talking about all sorts of subjects. Hope finds herself really enjoying these simple moments she gets to share with the witch now that they are dating.

It's only when they get to the pool that the nerves start to catch up with Hope. Penelope doesn't waste a second and quickly dives into the water. She swims around for a couple of seconds, thinking Hope would soon get in. Minutes pass, and the most Hope gets into the water is the bottom of her legs as she sits on the pool's edge.

Penelope can't lie — her girlfriend does look amazing in that one-piece swimsuit, sitting by the pool's side, softly swaying her feet in the water, but she'd much rather have her in the pool, where she could actually get her girl in her arms and kiss her.

"Babe …" Penelope whines. "Not that I'm not enjoying the view, because, I am, but... Aren't you getting in?" She asks while swimming towards Hope.

Hope gives her an amused little smile. "Trying to get me wet, Park?"

— Oh no… — As soon as the words leave her mouth, Hope knows it was a mistake. And sure enough, her girlfriend's lips quickly stretch into a sly smirk.

"Oh, please! I don't need a pool for that." Teases the raven haired girl with such a flirty tone that it makes Hope's cheeks heat up furiously.

Despite the blush covering her face, Hope playfully rolls her eyes, but she can't really be mad. Of course Penelope wouldn't lose the chance to tease her.

"I asked for that one, didn't I?" She says with a timid little smile.

Penelope chuckles softly "Totally."

The witch winks as she stands up — now positioned between Hope's legs. She softly places her hands on Hope's thigh, letting them touch the soft skin.

"Seriously though... Why are you still sitting here?"

"This pool is too deep." Hope is a little embarrassed as she replies. "I- I can't reach the bottom..."

Penelope smiles, amused at how cute Hope looks right now, but then realization hits her.

"Wait, what? You can swim, right?"

Hope shyly shakes her head no.

"Are you saying that the almighty tribrid is beaten by a pool?" Pen teases, before softly adding something else. "Your family didn't teach you how to swim?"

Hope shrugs. "They were busy trying to keep me alive Penelope, teaching me to swim was far from being important."

"Fair enough." Pen says understandably. Then, she steps closer to Hope and opens her arms. "Come here, babe."

Hope looks a bit hesitant as she softly bites her lip. "You'll catch me?"

"Always ."

Hope gives her girlfriend a loving smile, remembering the scene from the movie. The fondness she feels for Penelope is written all over her face in that moment, but most importantly in her eyes. The way Penelope could go from being a teasing bitch to the softest and loveliest person Hope has ever seen in a matter of seconds, still amazes the tribrid everytime.

Hope slides into the hot water, and right into Penelope's arms. The witch holds her firmly against her own body — catching her, just like she promised.

"Okay, now wrap your legs around me. I got you."

The Mikaelson girl does as she's told. She wraps her legs around Penelope's waist as her arms go around the witch's neck. The short haired girl starts moving them around slowly, careful to not startle the girl in her arms.

"How can you swim and still carry me?"

"You know… I find it really adorable how sometimes you forget you're a witch." Penelope giggles softly before meeting Hope's eyes with a loving smile on her lips. "How do you think we're floating right now, dummy?"

"Oh…" Hope feels her cheeks heating up again as she looks down to see that in fact, Penelope's legs aren't moving. However, she soon realizes that not being able to swim — or not being able to use magic, apparently —, is the reason why she's in her girlfriend's arms right now, and that's most definitely worth being embarrassed for.

"Well, this is way better than swimming." She shyly confesses.

"You're right on that one." Penelope says, and it's true — having Hope wrapped around her like a cute little koala bear, feels way better than just swimming besides her. "You know how it can be even better?"

"How?" Hope asks with a little frown. — I can hardly imagine this moment getting better.

Penelope closes her eyes, with a quick spell she learned a long time ago she makes the pool kind of turn into a giant jacuzzi — invisible water jets start massaging their bodies, making them both sigh in delight as the hot steam fills the night around the soft lit pool.

— Okay… I was wrong. — "You're full of cool tricks, huh?" Hope says.

"As if you're not." Penelope says with a shrug. "I'm sure your aunt taught you all the cool stuff."

"Touché." Hope smiles. "My aunt Freya is really amazing, but it was actually Uncle Kol that taught me most of the cool little magic tricks."

"Your uncle?"

"Yeah, he was the only one of my family that actually did magic before he was turned into a vampire. But just because he could no longer do magic didn't mean he lost interest. He traveled the whole world, learning about all sorts of spells and whatnot."

"Damn, I wonder how much you can learn in a thousand years…" Penelope says quietly but in total awe.

"A lot." Hope giggles. "Just like aunt Rebekah, he'll love you. You two are so much alike… God have mercy on me when that happens…"

"Hey!" Penelope laughs. "Now I'm curious."

"I'll introduce you soon… Aunt Freya however, I can't wait for you to meet her, she's amazing."

Penelope smiles softly and nods.

"Alright, since we're talking about my family..." Hope starts. "I might've lied before. They did try to teach me how to swim, but I never managed to. Liz and Jo did too, but we always ended up just having water fights instead."

"I think I'll have to be the one to teach you then."

"I'd like that."

"Good." Penelope gives her girlfriend a quick peck on the lips. "Who'd win the water fights anyway?"

"Me… Liz and Jo were always trying to ambush me, diving in and swimming around me, so they always got tired first."

"I bet I can beat you."

"Hum… Judging by how I beat your cute ass everyday at training, I highly doubt that."

"I can't believe you just rubbed that in my face like this…"

Hope giggles. "Am I lying?"

"Yes you are! I'm a pretty good fighter, I don't let you beat me that easily."

"Of course you are…" Hope sarcastically says.

"I'm gonna drop you." Penelope playfully threatens.

"No!" Hope squeals, tightening her hold around Penelope. "I'm sorry! I'm just kidding. You're an amazing fighter!"

"Huh, that's better." Penelope moves one hand up to Hope's face, softly brushing the girl's cheek with the back of her fingers — marveling in the way that, under the soft blue-ish light, Hope looks even more adorable when she blushes. Angelic even. "You're lucky you're cute."

Hope covers Penelope's hand with her own, her eyes closing for a second, just enjoying the softness of the touch. When her eyes open, her gaze lands on the delicate silver bracelet that glows almost mystically under the moonlight while dangling from her girlfriend's wrist.

Her fingers start playing with the beautiful piece of jewelry before blue eyes meet green ones.

"Uh… Pen?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I… If I put a protection charm on your bracelet?" Hope can see a quick look of surprise passing through Penelope's features, so she swiftly adds; "I know you don't need one, but-"

"You'd feel better knowing that I'm safe?" Penelope finishes for her, a loving smile on her lips.

Hope shyly nods her head in confirmation.

"Of course I don't mind, babe. How could I?" Penelope says softly after leaving a little kiss on the Mikaelson girl's forehead. "You can do it when we get back to your room, how does that sound?"

The blinding smile and little head nod that Penelope gets from the auburnette is all the answer she needs.

Hope can't quite fathom how it's possible to feel this much love for Penelope at this moment. Can't completely wrap her head around the fact that, once again, her girlfriend went from being sassy and teasy to loving and understanding in just a matter of seconds.

But most of all, how is it possible for her to feel so much yet being able to express so little… that's when she has an idea. If she can't express her feelings into words, maybe a song would suffice — maybe not to the typical love song people are used to, but it's one that pretty much perfectly describes them.

"Can you move us to the edge please?" Hope asks sweetly but with a hint of nervousness in her voice. "There's a song I want you to hear."

"Sure, babe ."

Hope takes her phone and quickly opens Spotify. I'm Yours - Alessia Cara

«- -»

"I'm mad at you
For being so cute
And changing my mood
And altering my rude
What's wrong with you
You make me sick for being so perfect
What did I do
What can I do, oh
And I wasn't trying
To melt this heart of iron
But the way you hold me makes the old me pass away
And I would be lying
If I said I wasn't scared to fall again
But if you promise me you'll catch me
Then it's okay"

«- -»

At the end of the song, Penelope has a few tears sliding down her face.

Hope moves the wet hair out of her girlfriend's face and looks deep into her hazel green eyes.

"I'm yours ." She confesses to her girlfriend.

"Shit!" Penelope sobs, not even bothering to wipe the tears away, because they're happy ones and she wants, needs , Hope to see them. Needs her to know how much her love means to her. Penelope needs Hope to know that she has never felt so happy in her entire life as she does right now.

"And I'm yours ." She finally manages to say In between cries. "All yours… heart and soul."

"Oh my..." Hope smiles softly at her girlfriend in respite of the tears spilling out of her own eyes. "Crying twice in the same day? What happened to you?" She teases softly — so softly it could barely count as teasing.

"You happened…" Penelope chokes out. "God... I'm a mess…"

"My mess."

Penelope softly shakes her head and blinks a few times to clear her vision before focusing her gaze on ocean blue eyes.

"I love you, Hope Mikaelson." She whispers. " So much!"

Hope kisses her again, passionately. The hot water bubbles sparkling around them helps to turn the moment even more memorable. The steam that comes out of the water creates a sort of barrier, shielding and blocking them from the rest of the world. For as in this moment, nothing else matters.

Their lips slide against each other, tongues meeting in the middle with breathless little moans leaving both girls' mouths. It doesn't matter that the kiss is salty due to their tears, this is probably the best kiss they had so far, because every move, every lick, suck, bite, feels like a promise.

Despite never wanting this moment to end, air starts making itself extremely necessary, so they finally break their lips apart.

Hope leans her forehead against Penelope's, and as they catch their breaths, their eyes meet — their pupils are so blown up that there's barely any color left in them. The famous phrase ' The eyes are the window to the soul' never made more sense to both of them as it does now.

"I love you too, Penelope" Hope whispers.

It doesn't seem enough for Hope though. A simple ' I love you ' doesn't do justice to what she feels about Penelope. So, hoping that her girlfriend, in fact, can see into her soul, she adds;

"Always and Forever. "