Chapter 14

Hope hesitated for a minute as she lifted her hand towards the door. It was late. It was past curfew already and most of the dorm rooms were cast in silence. But she couldn't let it go. She had to talk to Josie.

She had tried to occupy herself with homework after her chat with Lizzie, and when that didn't work she ended up taking the world's longest – and hottest – shower to try and relax. When that still didn't do anything for her, she knew there was nothing left but to wolf out.

Now she was back from her run, convinced that Josie had to be back by now from her venture with Jade, and Hope knew she would not be able to get a wink of sleep until she sorted through some things with the witch.

So, she knocked. Softly. Just in case.

In fact, she could swear that her heart was beating louder than her knuckles against the wood of the door.

She could hear some indistinct muttering coming from inside and feet shuffling across the floor, then the door cracked open to reveal Josie's creased brows and near-black eyes. She was clearly very tired.

"I'm so sorry, I woke you. We can talk tomorrow." Hope tried her best not to stutter like a nervous underclassman talking to a senior, but she was somewhat failing at it.

"No, it's fine. I was waiting for you." Josie spoke softly as she slipped through the door and gently closed it behind her. "Lizzie is sleeping though."

"Wait, what?" Hope paused, confused. "You were waiting for me?" For some reason the idea of Josie Saltzman 'waiting' for Hope in any shape or form made the tribrid's stomach do a little flip. She, quite honestly, loved the idea – even if she didn't quite fully realize it.

Josie inhaled sharply and lifted her hand to wipe down her face in frustration as she realized that Hope wouldn't remember anything that had just happened. It had become very easy very quickly for Josie to discern the difference between full-blown wolf Hope, and conscious wolf Hope. "Never mind…" She muttered and leaned tiredly against the wall with one shoulder. "What did you want to talk about so urgently?"

"I was worried. Raf told me that I had bit you… your hand…" Hope explained with concern lining her features. "I thought you said I hadn't hurt you! Jo, you should have told me!" Her voice got louder for a moment before she remembered where they were and swallowed down at the emotions building up in her throat.

Josie couldn't help but roll her eyes, though a small part of her tingled at the fact that Hope was so worried that it was such a big deal. Josie felt a little flattered. "You didn't hurt me, Hope." She smirked then, as if she knew a secret that no one else did – which was, in fact, the case. "I don't think you could hurt me even if you wanted to." There was definitely no chance of Hope physically hurting Josie and she knew it. Conscious Hope wouldn't even hurt Dark Josie when everyone knew fully well that she was capable of it. Wolf Hope was bonded to Josie, and even though conscious Hope had not quite caught up to that fact just yet, the wolf inside her was very aware of the universal truth that Josie was her entire world…her very existence.

"I… uhhh… Raf also said that… ummm…" The stuttering started again from the auburn-haired girl. Josie watched her intently, wondering for a second if Hope Mikaelson had always been this cute. "Raf said… you thought I was… marking… you…?"

Josie felt like her stomach contents pushed up into her esophagus and expanded, before dropping again into the pit of her abdomen. "Wha… well, I, uhh…" She swallowed hard in discomfort as she tried to figure out how to deal with the subject. She didn't feel ready to talk about the bond. It was something so powerful and intense and personal that she wouldn't be able to bear trying to explain it to her when Hope was clearly not ready for it yet. Josie knew that Hope had her own journey to take to discovery, so Josie would allow her to do so on her own terms and in her own time.

That and trying to explain something she still wasn't sure was real would be utterly mortifying.

"Is that even a thing?" Josie squeaked and blushed, deciding to play stupid in the end.

Hope stared at her for a few long seconds, then cracked a brilliant smile as if she had just caught on to some hilarious joke – the sight made Josie flush with appreciation. Hope didn't want to burst out laughing, but she chuckled softly either way. "Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe it's just some stupid werewolf trope."

Josie chuckled with Hope, albeit somewhat more uncomfortably. Josie knew that Hope had not marked her because she's a werewolf. It was certainly deeper than that. It was a unifying soul-experience that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they were supernaturals.

"Did you ever hear the tale of the Greek gods and the original humans?" Hope smiled softly, not wanting to leave Josie's side just yet. She leaned her shoulder against the wall in a position that mirrored Josie's and allowed her sparkling eyes to settle on the dark swirls before her. Even in her pajamas and with her hair tied back out of her face, Hope thought that Josie was just so incredibly beautiful. Hope blushed lightly as she openly admired the witch before her, while telling her story.

"So, at the beginning humans looked very different than they do now. They had four arms and four legs on one joint body, and one head also, but with two faces. Every human was a duality." Hope made sure to keep her voice soft and low as to not attract any attention from people that were not quite asleep yet behind the walls of the hallway they were standing in. "But Zeus and the other gods, realizing how powerful humans were becoming, started to fear them." She paused and moved imperceptibly closer to Josie as she cast her eyes downward for a few seconds, then continued. "Out of fear, but not wanting to kill off their worshippers, the gods decided to separate each human into two bodies."

Hope leaned a little closer still, especially when she could hear Josie's breath hitch in her throat. She looked up at the taller girl and was met with nothing but sincerity and understanding. Josie knew exactly what Hope was getting at, and it caused both their hearts to burn with a sense of both longing and fulfilment.

"We are not individual souls searching for our mates." Hope whispered, her hand tentatively traveling to Josie's, allowing just her index finger to curl around the other's girl's finger, hooking onto her, unable to further ignore the persistent nagging in her chest to get closer to the other girl.

"No…" Josie interjected at the same slow pace of talking that Hope had adopted – not interrupting Hope's story, but rather finishing it for her. "We are only half of one soul, always searching for harmonious completion."

"They call it Twin Flames." Hope whispered, her lips now a mere two inches away from Josie's. The pair had been drifting closer and closer by the second as they conversed, unknowingly, as if the whole universe was working to push them together – which it actually was. "And so, physically we will always feel the burning desire to build unity through oneness…with our twin flame…" At these words it was as if though both girls had slipped into a trance-like state. Hope further slipped her fingers between Josie's and started pulling her closer.

"And spiritually, we will always feel a longing to merge with one another once more…" Josie tilted her head and brushed the tip of her nose along Hope's cheek. The electricity between them literally crackled and showered them with invisible sparks.

They were Lightning and Earth, the one shooting towards the other with indescribable power and intention. When Josie opened her eyes to glance at Hope an inch away from her, the witch's eyes were lightning yellow. When Hope's gaze met the witch's, her own eyes had a deep burning copper shining in them. Hope was the sturdiness and the strength of the earth that would absorb Josie's violent storms and defuse their devastation. It was exactly what she had done with Dark Josie already before. It was Hope who broke through to Josie in the rink first, and Hope again who championed Josie's success against herself inside her subconscious.

Hope was Josie's rock.

Just then the door of the twins' room swung open. Josie should have known better than Lizzie being able to resist eavesdropping, even though she was supposed to be sleeping. Josie was plucked from her pensive state and didn't even get a moment to do more than wave helplessly at Hope as she was yanked into the room. The door shut almost completely, leaving just enough of a gap for Lizzie to glower at the tribrid in the hallway. "Not tonight, Wolfie!"

The door slammed in Hope's face, snapping the tribrid out of whatever strange pool of infatuation she had been swimming in with the dark-haired twin. She couldn't explain their connection. She couldn't explain the unfathomable desire that drew her physically towards the siphon. She couldn't explain the inexplicable yearning she felt for her whole being to amalgamate together with Josie's. She couldn't even start to understand the rapid beat of her heart, or the sweat on her palms, or the instability in her knees.

And she definitely had no idea why she had trouble not thinking about ripping Jade limb from limb.