Chapter 4: Good Things Come… After a while.

Hope woke up to a knock on her door. "Hope wake up! We are going to be late!" Alaric sounded annoyed. Hope groaned as she picked up her phone. The time read 06:43. She placed it back on the nightstand then rolled onto her back and just lay there for a few minutes. Alaric knocked again but with more force this time.

"For god sake." Hope muttered. "I'm awake!" Hope responded. She threw the quilt over her head and squeezed her eyes shut; though it didn't last long before she groaned again then sat up. She could hear Alaric shuffling outside her door, she wished that he would just leave, but she knew he wouldn't until she opened the door. Hope forced herself off the bed and made her way to the door. She yanked it open with force just as Alaric was about to knock on it again, this time instead of hitting the door Alaric's hand hit Hope in the face. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?" Hope rubbed her head and just glared at him.

"Oh my god, I am so, so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you in the face. The door was closed… and then it wasn't. I… I didn't see you standing there. Are you okay?" Alaric sounded panicked. He didn't know what to do, he stood there for a few seconds before he pulled Hope into a hug. Hope froze at the unexpected contact. Alaric soon released her. "I'll go downstairs and let you get ready. Do you want a bacon sandwich? I'll make you two bacon sandwiches and a cup of coffee..." Alaric voice trailed off, he quickly spun around on his feet then headed downstairs.

Hope was still stood in the doorway when she heard Alaric reach the bottom step. She was in a slight daze from what had just happened. She shook her head then turned back into her room, kicking the door closed behind her. Hope reached into the dresser and pulled out her Timberwolves uniform. She just stared at it. She didn't really want to wear it, and she wasn't looking forward to seeing everyone today. She sighed and threw the clothes on the bed. She pulled out a fresh set of underwear then walked back over to the bed.

Once Hope had got finished getting dressed, she went to the bathroom, had a wash then brushed her teeth. She headed downstairs to join Alaric. As he had promised he had made her 2 bacon sandwiches and a cup of coffee. Hope was grateful. She headed over to the kitchen and sat down at the table. She scarfed down her breakfast in record time. Clearly, she was hungry.

"I just wanted to apologise to you again Hope. I really didn't mean to hit you in the head. I just… I wasn't expecting you to open to door so fast. Or get up so quickly… The Twins used to take ages to get up. So, banging on the door is a force of habit." Alaric spoke softly. He looked sad and filled with regret.

"It's fine. It didn't hurt that much anyways. I do have a thick skull after all. The benefits of being part werewolf I guess, plus I heal fast too." Hope laughed it off, rubbing her head slightly at the reminder of it. "what time is the game?" she asked in-between sipped of her coffee.

"Kick off is at 2:30pm" He replied.

Hope choked on her drink. "why the hell did you wake me up at quarter to 7 then?!" she was slightly annoyed.

"I need you to help me sort some things out at the school before the rest of the kids turn up. They have been told to arrive at 12pm for a team meeting beforehand and we need to head off at 1:30pm." Alaric shrugged and Hope just groaned and rolled her eyes in the process.

Xxxxxxxx

It was 9:30am when they arrived at Mystic Falls High School. Alaric unlocked the front door and walked straight to his office; Hope shuffled behind him. Alaric walked over to his desk and picked up some papers he had left there yesterday. Hope hovered in the doorway. Alaric was mumbling to himself, so Hope didn't pay much attention, she just stood there, staring into the hallway. If anyone saw them, it would look a bit strange. Hope pushed the thought out of her head, her thoughts ran away from her and she didn't hear Alaric talking to her until he was stood right behind her. It startled her.

"Oh shit. Sorry I didn't hear what you said." Hope's face became flustered.

Alaric laughed. "I said, I need you to help me load everything into the coach. We need to fill the bottles up and pack some of our equipment away. We also need to sort the sports hall out for next week."

Hope shuffled out the doorway and started heading to the sports hall. "Why couldn't you have done this all yesterday? I'm not a member of staff here, I'm a student."

"Well you have super strength and some of the equipment is heavy. Plus, I can't trust the staff here to get it done anyway." Alaric shrugged.

Hope and Alaric just filled their time with general chit-chat as they got on with the tasks at hand. Alaric was happy that he was going to see the Twins today, he hadn't seen them for a few weeks. Not since Lizzie got back from her trip with Caroline.

It wasn't long before some of the students started to turn up. After about 20 minutes all the students had arrived and were all talking to each other. Maya and Ethan both made their way over to Hope and started talking to her. Maya hugged her, so did Ethan. Hope smiled at them both. At least she had a couple of 'friends' she thought to herself. Hope chatted with them both for a couple of minutes, asking them how their weekend had been so far. Ethan said that he spent hours trying to kill people on a video game, Maya retorted and said that he was useless and kept getting himself killed. Ethan punched Maya in the arm then she hit him back. Hope laughed.

"Okay everyone! Listen up." Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Alaric. "Don't be fooled by the Stallons today. They are ruthless in their own right. They might be a School for the rich but that doesn't mean they are stupid. With that being said, lets kick their asses! We got this! Go Timberwolves!" Alaric's speech wasn't the best, but it got the job done. Hope was the first one to show support and the rest soon followed. "Alright everyone, let's get on the bus and we'll head off!" Hope and Alaric made sure everyone got on the coach before they did, they were soon settled and were on their way.

Xxxxxxxxxx

It was 2pm when they arrived at the Salvatore Boarding School. Everyone was already on the pitch waiting for them. As Hope stepped off the coach Landon and Hope stared at each other. Josie noticed this walked over to Landon "Do you know what girl?" She asked.

"Not really, just erm … We shared a milkshake once" Landon replied.

On the other side of the field, Hope turned to Alaric and said as they walked onto the field. "Let's just get this over with as fast as possible."

"Works for me. I'm no more comfortable being here as you are." Alaric replied. Then he got pulled away by Dorian.

When Maya and Hope reached the pitch to start the game, Josie and Landon were stood in the middle. Hope called heads, but someone used magic to change the coin so it was double 'tails'. The new headteacher seems weird, Hope thought.

"Tails never fails" Said Landon.

"We'll take the ball" Josie smiled.

"So it begins… erm, shake hands." Vardermus replied before heading to the sideline.

Hope and London shook hands for an extended period. They stared at each other, before Landon moved away. "Having another milkshake moment?" Josie asked with a twinge of sadness in her voice. Hope pushed her lips out slightly. "Sorry." She said with a sad half-smile. They shook hands but Hope quickly pulled away and rolled her eyes as Josie walked away. Her heart filled with some sadness at seeing both Landon and Josie. All she wanted to do was hug them both, but she knew there was no point as they didn't know who she is, other than the "milkshake girl".

The game was pretty un-eventual for the nonmagical students playing, but the magic they were using was starting to annoy Hope. Alaric pulled Hope to one said and started telling her about the latest monster that attacked a Mystic Falls student. "We definitely have another monster walking around these woods. Dorians digging into the research, but he thinks it's a Shunka. And before you ask that what is, it's a carnivorous creature that feeds only on werewolves." Alaric explained.

"Good thing it's not a full moon." Hope replied.

"Yeah except Raf has been stuck in wolf form since you've been gone."

"Wait Raf? I didn't even know that he turned."

"Yeah, happened when we were fighting Triad. Hasn't been able to turn back since."

"Of course, he can't turn back. I'm the only one that can turn him back. I'm the one that gave him that Crescent Moon ring…. Okay, look I gotta go find him. Before the Shunka finds him first." Hope was annoyed with herself. She needed to find a way to get out of the game. She went back on the pitch.

The game carried on. Josie told Landon to 'bury little miss milkshake' then stared Hope down as she put her mouth guard in. "That's aggressive." Hope muttered, she was distracted so she didn't see the ball fly into her. It juttered passed her and she chased it. She picked it up and threw it just before Landon tackled her down. Hope used a twisted ankle as an excuse to leave to go and find Raf. Hope fake hobbled off the pitch towards Alaric. "looks like you… need a new quarterback." She smiled at him. "happy hunting." He replied as he handed her a bag.

Xxxxxxxx

Hope managed to find Raf and turn him back into his human form. She killed the Shunka then headed back to the school. By the time she got back, both schools were fighting each other… again. This time Alaric started it when he punched Vardermus. Hope managed to pull Alaric off from him and pushed him towards the bus, the rest of the MFHS students followed them. It was around 7pm when they arrived back at MFHS. Alaric made sure the rest of the students left the school safely before he drove Hope back to the house.

He and Hope walked into the house in silence. He went up to his room and got changed then headed for the door. "I'm going to the bar, don't wait up for me" he threw the comment over his shoulder as he walked out the door. Hope got changed then headed to the Hospital to check on Ethan. As she approached the hospital Maya came out. Maya told her that she doesn't think Ethan will ever be able to play again and that he will lose his scholarships. Hope felt sorry for her, so she comforted her for a while before she headed back to the house.

Xxxxxxx

Later that night, around 10pm, Hope was back at the house, alone. Alaric was still at the bar; Hope could only assume. She decided that she was going to have a shower, after wolfing out and running around on the football pitch she had worked up quite a sweat and was slightly muddy.

She headed up to her room and got her shower stuff ready, then trotted to the shower. As she was walking there, she scrolled through her phone and put some music on, she settled on P!nk. Hope placed her phone on the window ledge, then stepped into the shower, turning it on.

Hope was in the shower for a good 30 minutes or so before she decided to get out. She had been so distracted in there that she hasn't heard the front door open or that fact that someone was calling out for Alaric. She jumped out of the tub, picked up her phone turned her music off then put a towel around her as she headed for the door.

She opened the door, walked out into the corridor and bumped into someone. She looked up and saw that is was Josie. She was taken aback, and her towel dropped to the floor. "Oh shit…. Oh shit!" Hope said and her face flustered red. She quickly bent down and picked it up, wrapping it around herself, tighter this time. Josie's eyes followed what had just happened. She sucked her bottom lip in and tightened her thighs together but released them both when Hope stood back up. "Uh. What are you doing here?" Hope grumbled.

"What am I doing here?! What are YOU doing here? This is my mom's house. And my dad lives here. I have every right to be here. I came to see if my dad was alright after the game… Wait. Where is my dad? You're sleeping with him, are you?" Josie demanded. Her eyes shot wide and turned red in anger… or disgust. Hope couldn't tell which.

"OH GOD NO! I'm not sleeping with Alaric. What is wrong with you?" Hope shook her head then started to head to the bedroom, but Josie stopped her. Putting her hand up against the wall, blocking her. Hope huffed. "Are you going to let me pass? Or should I just drop my towel again?" Hope deadpanned. Josie swallowed hard but then dropped her hand and let Hope pass. Hope opened the door to the Twin's room and walked in, Josie not far behind. Josie shut the door behind them.

Hope groaned and spun around. "What now?" She stared straight into Josie's eyes.

"You never answered my question. What are you doing here? And why are you in my room?" Josie questioned, staring back at Hope.

Hope side-stepped passed Josie towards the chest of drawers. She pulled the top drawer open and pulled out a red thong and put it on under her towel. Josie's eyes followed her movements. Hope tried not to let her know that she knew. Hope tried to pull the second drawer open, but Josie immediately forced it shut. Hope tried again but Josie did the same thing. Hope smirked to herself internally. She knew that this was the drawer that housed Josie's dirty little secret; that little purple vibrator, but she couldn't let her know that, so she breathed out with force, partly to distract herself from her thoughts. "Are you going to let me open the drawer? I'm still in a towel and I need some clothes."

"No. Not until you answer my question." Josie responded; her voice quivered slightly.

Hope relented. "I had been living in a motel for 2 months before Alaric found out, he told me I could stay here. I know him from school. I didn't want anyone to know that I was here, he didn't either, so we never told anyone. I've only been staying here 3 days. And no. We are not sleeping together. He's been like a father to me and that would just be too weird… even by my standards… Satisfied now?" Hope pulled at the drawer again, Josie forced it shut… again. "What now?" Hope eyes trained on the brunette.

Josie just stared at her blankly. She didn't know what to say. She didn't even know her name. Would it be rude if she just asked her? She can't really go around calling her Milkshake Girl, can she? She needed to do something to stop her from going in that drawer. Josie was so lost in her thoughts that she couldn't stop herself when the Milkshake Girl pushed her up against the door using one hand, her other still gripped her towel. "Fuck me… You're strong." Josie blurted. Her eyes went wide when she realised, she just told a complete stranger to fuck her, a flash of deep red appeared across her face.

Hope laughed as she dropped her hand from Josie's chest and used it to finally open the drawer. She pulled out a vest top and a pair of shorts before shutting the drawer again. Josie followed her every move and breathed out a sigh of relief. "Can you turn around please? I need to get dressed." Hope asked, but Josie just stood there, frozen, staring at her. Hope winked at her then threw her hands up in the air and turned herself around, dropping the towel and vest top to the floor.

She knew full well that Josie was staring at her, watching her, so she decided to make it a show. She knew all about Josette Saltzman. And about the fact that she had a crush on Hope. And she knew that Josie knew nothing about her, other than the fact she shared a milkshake with Landon. It felt kind of … thrilling to her, and the fact that she doesn't even know Hope's name makes this all the more fun. A small part of Hope did feel bad about it, but she just didn't care right now. She felt the need to … torture… someone after the day she just had. And well, Josie was the closest person to her.

So she took her time bending over to pull her shorts on, slowly dragging them up her legs, her fingers caressing them as she goes and pulled them up over her big, round, smooth ass then ran her hands across it and back down her thighs before bending back down to pick up her vest top. She gracefully pulled it over her head and placed her arms through the sleeve holes before slowly pulling it down over her ample breasts. She turned back around to Josie and finished pulling the top down her stomach then rested her hands on her hips.

When Hope looked at Josie, she saw that Josie eyes were black with lust, she had pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, biting it and that she had dug her nails into the palm of her hand, causing them to bleed slightly. Hope smiled; her eyes glistened slightly at the sight on the brunette. She kicked the towel up with her foot, caught it, folded it and placed it on the chair whilst never taking her eyes off Josie.

Hope moved towards the door; brushing passed the brunette as she pulled the handle down. Josie took a deep inhale. Hope gave her a cheeky wink as she pulled the door open, causing Josie to fall forward. She managed to catch her balance on Lizzie's dresser. "Fuck… who the fuck are you?" Josie exhaled as she turned to look at the redhead, but she had gone from the room. Josie banged her head against the door frame and let out a sigh of release.

Hope heard what Josie had said, she didn't respond. She just laughed as she headed downstairs. It was around 11:30pm when she made her way over to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of whiskey, she poured one for Josie too. Then sat down on the sofa and switched the TV on. Hope heard the toilet flush followed by footsteps rushing down the stairs. She didn't turn her attention away from the TV but said "There's a glass of whiskey in the kitchen if you want it." Josie didn't respond but she headed to the kitchen to pick up the glass then brought it into the front room and sat on the sofa opposite Hope.

"Does my dad know that you're drinking his whiskey? Are you even old enough to drink it?" Josie questioned.

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean yes and no?"

"Yes, he knows I'm drinking his whiskey and no, I am not old enough to drink it."

"Why are you drinking it if you aren't old enough? And why is he letting you?"

"You are asking a lot of questions." Hope flicked through the TV channels to find something relatively interesting. She settled on a film. It seemed to be a musical of some sort. She placed the remote back on the coffee table.

"Well you're not giving me any straight or real answers. So, I'm going to keep asking them until you give me a few."

Hope laughed. "Okay, I'll give you twenty questions. But you can't ask me what my name is. You've just asked your first two, and I'll keep track. I have every right not to answer a question if I don't want to, but if I don't answer one, then you get to ask another one. Sound fair?" Hope swung her legs off the sofa and sat to face her. "Oh, before we start… I think I'm going to need more whiskey." Hope stood up and retrieved the bottle from the kitchen counter and placed it on the coffee table, sitting back on the sofa to face Josie.

"Right so those two questions you've just asked go hand-in-hand. I'm drinking Whiskey because I've had a pretty stressful day and I wanted a drink, I like whiskey. And your dad tried to argue with me about drinking it, but he knew there was no point because of who my family are. Eighteen questions left."

"Who are your family?"

"A group of Witches, Werewolves and Vampires. Seventeen left"

"Where are you from?"

"New Orleans. Sixteen."

"When did you get here?"

"Ooo, good one. Officially? It was about 10 years ago. Unofficially? 2 months ago. Fifteen."

"What did you mean by that?"

"I decline to answer. Fifteen." Hope took a big gulp of her Whiskey and poured herself another one. She offered the same to Josie. Josie held her glass out and let Hope pour it.

"Erm okay. Are you a supernatural?"

"Yes. Fourteen."

"What type of supernatural are you?"

Hope raised her eyebrow. "I'm surprised Landon hasn't told you. I'm a witch and a werewolf. Thirteen."

Josie looked confused. "Why does Landon know what you are? How does he know?"

"I transformed into a wolf today to help find Raf, and then I transformed Raj back into his human form. Landon followed me; he wouldn't leave me alone. Eleven."

"How can you transform into a wolf when it's not even a full moon?"

"My family is part of the Crescent pack. Ten" Hope nursed her drink.

"How can you be a Witch as well?"

"My grandmother was an original witch or the original witch, I don't really know I tried not to pay too much attention to that one. Nine." She downed her drink and poured another one.

"Wow that's… a lot. Erm. Why don't you come to the Salvatore Boarding School if you're supernatural?"

"Because it's safer for everyone there if I stay away from that school. Eight." Hope downed her drink again.

"What do you mean safer?" Josie finished her drink and poured her and Hope another.

"I decline to answer. Eight."

"How does my dad know who you are?"

"He doesn't. Not really. He only knows what I've told him, but he knows my mom and dad. Seven."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes. You're Josette Saltzman. Twin to Elizabeth Saltzman. Daughter to Alaric Saltzman and Josette Laughlin. And Caroline Forbes. You are 16. And you're part of the Gemini coven. You are passionate and extremely co-dependent. You love people so intensely that it gets you hurt and you're pansexual. Six." Hope winked at her. They down downed their drinks at the same time. This time Josie poured them another one, not sure how to process all that.

"How do you know all that about me?"

"I've known you for the past ten years. Five."

"How come I don't know who you are?"

"That's a difficult one." Hope huffed out. She took a few seconds to process the question before she decided to give an honest answer. "At one point, you did, everyone did. Four." Hope's eyes filled with sadness at that memory. She finished her drink and poured another one.

"Why don't I remember you?" Josie's heart twinged with sorrow. She guzzled her drink, poured another and topped Hope's up as well.

Hope closed her eyes and took her time to gather her thoughts. It was about a minute before she opened them again. "Because of Malivore. Three."

"What do you mean because of Malivore?" Josie looked completely stunned.

"You all knew who I was three months ago, but then I decided it was in everyone's best interest if I were to dive headfirst into the pit. I killed Landon in the process of doing it. Two."

"What do you mean it was in everyone's best interest?" Josie was struggling to keep her thoughts straight. She didn't really know what to say.

"Because of who I am and because of my bloodline, I am the only one that can close it. Last one, make it good" Hope shrugged and winked. A slight smile appeared across Josie's face.

"Erm okay, last one. Man, that went quick. Let's see. How are you back then, if you were meant to be the one to close it?"

"I think it's because I haven't activated my Vampire side." Hope finished her drink and poured herself another glass. She took her time to nurse this one.

"Wait, what? Your vampire side? You're a vampire as well as a witch and a werewolf? How is that even possible? I think you have just confused me more than when we first started this." Josie jumped up from the sofa and started pacing around the room. Her mind was racing.

"Ooo, sorry, too bad. You've had your twenty questions." Hope laughed as her eyes followed Josie around the room. After about 5 minutes of Josie's pacing Hope finally spoke again. "Oh god woman sit down. You're going to burn a hole in the floor." Josie didn't hear her; she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts, she was pacing frantically, tears rolling from her eyes.

Eventually Hope stood up and walked over to her, stopping the brunette dead in her tracks. She placed her hands on Josie's shoulders. "Hey Josie, calm down. Look at me. Josie… Josie look at me. It's okay. Focus on your breathing okay? Just breathe." Hope's hand moved down to Josie's chest, resting just above her heart. "Here, focus here okay? You can do this."

Josie only took a few moments to regain her focus. Her eyes met Hope's. She could see that the shorter girl looked a bit panicked. "How… How did you do that? No one's other than Lizzie has brought me down before."

"I know you Josette. I've seen you like this before. You and Lizzie are similar in that respect. Obviously, Lizzie's are full on explosions. Yours are more subtle. When you get focused on something you can't solve, you spin." Hope pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, you'll be okay." They stood like this for a few minutes, until Josie's breathing and her heartbeat returned to normal, it was only then that Hope pulled away. "Are you okay?" Hope asked.

"Yeah I'm fine now. Thank you. I need a drink." Josie gave out a wet laugh. "Oh god, I don't even know who you are, and I've just had a meltdown in front of you." Josie crossed the room and sat down on the sofa, picked up her whiskey and downed it, then poured herself another one. She topped Hope's glass up as well. Hope sat down on the sofa and nursed her drink. She handed the remote to Josie, indicating for her to put something on. The brunette settled on another film, a romcom this time. Josie didn't pay much attention to it and Hope was too busy watching her to make sure she was okay.

Time escaped them, they sat in relative silence occasionally asking the other if they wanted another drink or Josie making a comment on the film. Hope felt at peace. She was content. Just as the film was about to finish Alaric stumbled through the door, clearly drunk. "Fuck, Hope you're still awake? It's… erm… 3 in the morning, go to bed already." Hope looked over to Josie, Alaric hasn't spotted her yet.

"Alaric, you're drunk, I think it's you that needs to go to bed." Hope responded.

"Oh shit, what are you doing here? I'm not drunk… (hiccup)… I promise. Josie… I'm sorry." Alaric looked like a drunken deer caught in headlights. Hope jumped up from the sofa, motioned to Josie to stay where she is and ran over to Alaric. "Let's get you up to bed mister… It's not every day you get to tell your teacher to go to bed." Hope laughed and practically side-carried him up the stairs. Hope lay Alaric on the bed and covered him up. "Tell… Tell Josie I'm sorry, would you? Please?" Hope waved him off. "You can tell her yourself when you sober up. Goodnight Alaric." Hope walked out the room and joined Josie back downstairs.

"I'm so sorry Josie. You didn't need to see that. He wanted to apologise to you as well, I told him to wait until he's sobered up to do that. I know it's not the first time you've seen him like that and it probably won't be the last. But you shouldn't have to deal with it." Hope walked over to Josie and gave her a hug. "We should probably go to bed soon as well. It has been a long night." Josie's eyes went wide at Hope's statement. Hope slapped her, playfully. "Get those thoughts out of your head missy."

"What do you mean? I have no thoughts in my head." Josie laughed. She finished her drink and headed upstairs to the bedroom. Hope locked the front door, switched off the lights and followed her. Josie was in the bedroom getting changed when Hope arrived. She had left the door open and was almost naked, wearing only her bra and thong, when Hope walked in. "Woah, give a girl a warning, would you?" Hope laughed, covering her eyes with her hands as she walked in the room and kicked the door closed behind her, standing near the door.

Hope peaked through her fingers and secretly watched Josie getting changed. Her breathing became heavier as she watched. Josie knew she was watching, so she decided to give Hope the same treatment that she had given her earlier, except this time, she was facing Hope as she did it. She took her time getting dressed into her nightwear. Josie removed her bra with one hand, and it flung open, she shuffled it off her arms and it fell on the floor. Josie ran her hands across her breasts, pinching her nipples slightly before she picked up her vest top and pulled it over her head.

Hope gave in and eventually dropped her hands from her eyes and just simply watched Josie, she loved to watch. "Knew you wouldn't last long." Josie laughed. Josie picked up her shorts from the bed and gracefully pulled them up. She winked at Hope. "Where do you normally sleep?" Josie asked.

Hope cleared her throat. "Erm.. I've actually been sleeping in your bed. But you can have it back."

"Well I was going to say we could share it, but if you'd rather sleep alone then you're more than welcome to have Lizzie's bed. At least for tonight." Josie laughed.

Hope watched Josie get into bed then switched the light off and jumped into Lizzie's bed. "Goodnight Josie."

"Goodnight… Hope. That's a beautiful name, by the way. Hope. It definitely suits you."