Chapter 24

Josie felt like she was being enveloped by the sun in liquid form, the warmth spreading all over her and right through her entire body. Her extremities tingled as they started moving, stroking, as if swimming in a lake of balminess. A certain scent filled her nostrils and caused her to feel enraptured by its earthen sweetness. Her face sunk deeper into silken auburn as her hands travelled across smooth skin as if exploring, dragging her fingertips across the surface of this heat surrounding her so soothingly.

Hope, herself still drunk with sleep and struggling to distinguish between her dreams and reality, sighed deeply as the warmth of the late morning sun stroked her face. Then she smiled softly as the sun stroked up her side and down her stomach, down further…

Whoa wait – that's not the sun. Hope suddenly blinked, eyes straining to open against the light hitting them.

After the long and painful night she and Josie had shared, they had both managed to sleep like the dead for a few hours. However, when they fell asleep Hope was still in her wolf form, and now waking up; she most definitely was not. The two were cuddled together on the couch, curled up under their fluffy blanket with a still snoozing Josie spooned up against Hope's back.

And a still snoozing Josie's hands were roaming dangerously.

"Jo…" Hope croaked out hoarsely as she felt Josie's hand slide over her hip and down her thigh. She swallowed hard as her eyes blazed as heatedly as her aroused skin. Consciously, she knew this had to stop, but deep inside her chest her wolf was going mad.

"Josie." Hope tried again, her own hand reaching down to rest on top of Josie's in order to still it as it reached for her lower ribs, just in case it went somewhere it really shouldn't.

"Mhmmm…" Josie moaned sleepily and it took her about 5 seconds of slowly blinking herself into a conscious state before she realized what was happening. She froze inside, but her skin flushed red-hot all over her body. Her eyes were lit up in tremendous luminosity as she withdrew her hand from Hope's body.

"Oh my god you're naked shit I'm sorry I didn't…" She rambled faster than the speed of light while Hope gripped the blanket and rolled off of the couch, taking it with her to cover herself up with.

"Hey hey hey, it's okay, don't even worry about it…" Hope interrupted Josie's strangled words, though she herself was a sharp scarlet color with a body that was undeniably on fire. She grinned bashfully as she tried to avert her blazing gaze away from Josie's. "Yeah I'm just gonna… go…" She motioned to where she had left her clothes around the corner and quickly slinked off to get dressed.

By the time she got back a few minutes later, the small break away had done nothing to soothe Hope's wolf. What had made it even worse was that the animal was agitated from not getting to spend a full moon running freely, seeing as how Hope stayed by Josie's side.

Josie cleared her throat awkwardly as Hope approached where she still sat on the couch in the sun, her own arousal not quite having faded just yet, as could be evidenced by her still brightly glowing eyes. "I… uhh…" She cleared her throat again and took a deep, calming breath as Hope sat down next to her, but did not dare to look her in the eye. "I wanted to thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you last night. I'm sorry that I ran away from school. I don't know what it was, but…"

"You couldn't bare to be confined. You wanted to be out here, open and free. I know the feeling. I don't blame you." Hope responded gently as she reached for Josie's hand, letting her know that everything was okay. "I'm so sorry for what you went through. I don't understand what happened… I don't know why you weren't able to shift."

Josie allowed her fingers to lace through Hope's and squeezed her hand, starting to feel more at ease. "It's so hard to explain. It was like something was blocking the energy flow between myself and the wolf, if that makes any sort of sense?"

"I get it. Even though you were reaching for each other, there was some invisible barrier stopping it. I've felt it. It was before my first actual shift, when the wolf wanted out but it wasn't time yet." Hope turned her body to face Josie, her expression soft and sincere as she could read the worry on Josie's face, almost sensing what fear was going to come next.

"Hope, do I…" And for a second it looked like Josie might start crying, but she was quick to swallow down the lump in her throat. "Do I need to activate it first? Do I need to…" She couldn't even say it.

"Josie, hey, shh…" Hope reached out to the other girl and pulled her into a comforting embrace, trying to soothe her concerns. Josie was so pure that Hope knew, for Josie, the thought of killing an innocent would be unbearable. "What happened with you last night does not happen with wolves that have not activated their gene." She leaned back in order to look Josie in the eyes, her one hand coming up to cup the girl's cheek. "I don't think that's the case… There's something else at play here. I promise we'll figure it out before the next full moon, okay?" And then she leaned forward, placing the softest, sweetest and most chaste kiss on Josie's lips. "I swear to you, Jo…"

Josie lingered close to Hope, leaning her forehead against the tribrid's gently. Everything just felt better when she was close to Hope. She thought about her previous contemplations again – whether the feelings she felt were conscious or only had to do with their primal desires. But this feeling, Josie thought – the feeling she was experiencing at that very moment – her heart was on fire. Sure, her wolf was restless and excited inside of her, she could feel that too. But the feeling she was experiencing for Hope in that very moment ran throughout every aspect of her being.

"Are you in love with her?" Lizzie had asked.

And yes. Yes, she was.

"The past few days…" Josie started softly, but Hope was quick to cut her off.

"I've missed you." The tribrid whispered. It wasn't quite what Josie had expected, but the words fell on her ears like beautiful music.

"I wanted to give you space… with Landon being back, I know you needed it." Josie whispered in return and started pulling back from Hope.

"Time with him does not mean I need time away from you." Hope shook her head, frowning, hating the fact that Josie could believe that she'd want space away from her.

"I know things are different now." Josie sighed and ran an idle hand through her hair; she wasn't quite sure how to broach the topic and address the elephant in the room. "Hope, I… I spent the last few days searching for a way to break the bond, or end the betrothal, or whatever you want to name it…"

Hope paused every movement and simply stared at Josie, blinking at her in disbelief. Hearing Josie say those words and making her intentions known had a devastating effect on Hope's heart. It honestly just felt like someone was reaching into her chest and grabbing hold of it, squeezing the life right out.

"You… you don't want… this?" Hope stuttered as she motioned between the two of them.

"What I want is to give you what you want." Josie shook her head at Hope, trying to get her to understand. "You can't deal with… this," she made the same motion between them, "when you have Landon back in your life. I would know better than anyone what he means to you."

The further the conversation progressed, the further Hope could feel her heart cracking and chipping and falling away piece by piece. She understood where Josie was coming from – she couldn't pursue her connection with Josie if she was still attached to Landon. And she honestly wasn't sure how strong her attachment to Landon still was. Hope felt utterly lost and confused. But most of all, she felt the pain swarming her emotions.

"Jo… you're so worried about what I want…" Hope uttered gently as she reached for Josie's hand once more, holding it gingerly between both her own. "I want to know what you want…"

Josie sighed deeply. She didn't have the courage to be completely honest. Hope might know how she feels, she might even sense it through their bond, but Josie was not about to say it out loud if there was the chance that it would not be reciprocated.

"I want… I want to know where this could go. I honestly thought I should just give this up, but…" Josie stared deeply into Hope's eyes, her own glowing just a little bit brighter than before. "Hope, I can't let you go just yet…"

Hope smiled and sighed, clearly relieved. She had no real understandable explanation as to why hearing those words made her so unbelievably happy, but they did.

"I don't know…" Josie continued, "how much of what we feel is conscious and how much is unconscious… but I'd like to find out… if you're willing to give it a chance…"

Hope watched those beautiful pouty lips as the sweetest look of hopefulness settled on Josie's features and all she wanted to do was kiss her right then.

"And I don't expect you to stop seeing Landon. You're in a relationship and I respect any and all boundaries you set." Josie spoke further while averting her gaze, self-conscious and blushing as she opened up to Hope, basically laying her heart bare for Hope to do with as she pleased none the less.

"Jo…" Hope squeezed Josie's hand reassuringly, dipping her head to try and capture those copper orbs with her own golden gaze once more. She found them soon enough. "I don't have all the answers. In fact, right now I don't have any answers." She chuckled a bit, simply wanting to tear down the tension that seemed to stifle the air between them. "And I have been spending time with Landon the last few days, I won't lie. But if I'm not going to lie, Josie… then I also have to admit that even despite time spent with him, I haven't been able to get you off my mind…"

(…)

"Alright, it's settled. Your bus leaves in an hour. Your trip back will be Monday afternoon." Alaric let his gaze flicker between Hope and Josie as they sat next to each other on the couch in his office.

When the girls had finally returned to the school – just about when everyone was losing their minds out of concern – they had filled everybody in on what had occurred the previous night and how Josie was unable to transition. Alaric had soon made a call to Freya in New Orleans to share his concern.

He still trusted her and Keelin's knowledge (and intentions) above most to assist with their current predicament. The women had suggested that it would be better for Hope and Josie to spend the long weekend after the full moon with them so that they may observe them in person. That way they could assist further in finding answers regarding the unification and the shifting.

"Please… Don't get into any sort of trouble…" He arched his brow in warning.

(…)

A/N: Okay so, some fuzzy Hosie over here! It made me feel a lot better. The girls are about to spend a few days together away from Landon and Jade and all the other crap. Is this going to be a relaxing weekend? Is it going to be a rough weekend for finding answers? Is it going to be sad or happy or exciting or heartbreaking? What will these girls be getting up to?

Well I tell you what: how about you guys tell me? I mean, there are obvious things that need to happen, but if there are any short scenes or some sort of issue you'd honestly love to have looked at, comment and let me know! I'd love to see what you all think and maybe I could use some of your ideas and credit you for them!

HOSIE-ship anchors away!