Gift of Hope

Chapter 4 of my crossover story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks.
Holywoodunderfed: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, it certainly would. Oh BTW, prepare to have your skin crawl when you see just who is in this chapter, at the start.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange, Until Dawn or their characters.

Chapter 4

Sam smiled to herself as the bell rang at the end of the day. She was in photography class and was just packing up.

"Okay everyone, remember your homework assignment." The teacher, famous photographer Mark Jefferson was saying. "I'll be expecting those photos on my desk by Monday."

Looking around the class Sam couldn't help but smile lightly. Many students, including Ashley and Max it seemed, held Jefferson in some sort of reverence, Sam could understand of course, as she knew the man's towering reputation well. Leaving the class with Kate, Max and Ashley, it did not take them long to find Chris, Josh, Hannah and Beth waiting for them.

"Hey guys." Sam greeted them.

They all grinned and returned her greeting, greeting the others too. It was there that Kate and Max parted ways with them, they had to find Warren and a couple of their other friends to make plans for the weekend.

Hearing this Ashley smiled softly. "It's cool, so do we."

This was true, they had been at Blackwell a month now and suddenly, while those that found themselves 'eligible' had flat out turned the offer down, nevertheless they, and by extension their 'ineligible' friends, had found themselves invited to the Vortex Club party that was being held that weekend.

They soon found Mike and Jess and later Emily and Matt, despite the obvious tension between the two girls, the group all agreed to focus on the upcoming party and their plans for it.

"So, where do we start?" Beth queried.

Jess piped up immediately. "We're gonna need new clothes, there's some good places in town that might have some."

"We agree, for once." Emily muttered.

Jess chose not to react to the statement however and they continued their discussion. The girls, mostly Jess, Emily and Beth, practically strong-arming the guys into making an effort too. Only one person's mind however wasn't fully focused on the upcoming dance or their plans for it. That person was Ashley, who was currently dealing with certain strange feelings within her.

'What is the matter with me...I've, I've been feeling this way, for a long time but...never like this?' She found herself wondering.

It was true, it was only after coming to Blackwell, spending so much time together, that Ashley had begun to notice these strange feelings had grown to where they were now.

Yet one thing was always consistent regarding them. 'It's always around Sam, it's, God it's even harder when she's closer.'

Biting her lip she glanced sideways at the blonde who was talking casually with the others.

She subconsciously found herself, brushing back her hair, shifting from foot to foot and, when Sam turned towards her, smiling, felt a strange fluttering in her stomach and even more self-conscious than ever.

'What is the matter with me, do I, do I really feel...no that's ridiculous, how could I…?' Ashley wondered to herself. 'I'm being an idiot now, even if I did, I couldn't say anything, I wouldn't want to, ruin our friendship.'

She knew Sam didn't have a problem with a person's sexuality and such, but she knew, given their friendship that if she was feeling that about Sam, and told her, she'd more than likely end up losing Sam. It would be too awkward between them.

Shaking her head and trying to focus again, Ashley chastised herself. 'I'm getting all worked up about a hypothetical situation, c'mon Ash, stop doing this. You'll make sense of it and then you can deal with it, no harm done, right?'

"Ash."

She was jolted out of her thoughts by none other than Sam.

Praying the heat she felt in her face wasn't a blush she replied. "Y-yeah?"

"C'mon, we gotta go." Sam told her. "We're gonna go see if we can find some good clothes for the party."

Ashley nodded and, still feeling awkward, followed the rest of the group out of Blackwell.

Returning to her dorm after the day spent first in school then shopping with the others, Hannah Washington felt drained.

'Urgh, never let Jess, or Emily...or worse, both, loose in a clothing shop.' She reflected. 'Especially when they are still at each other's throats.'

Shaking her head she continued making her way to her room; trying to put her mind on other things. It had been hard, especially over the first few days. But she felt calmer about the whole situation regarding Mike now. Yet while that gave her a chance to confront her feelings, it did little to prepare her for what she found there. Searching her feelings and beginning to take more care to notice the people around, she'd found herself strangely attracted not just to guys, but to girls too.

Hannah bit her lip. 'That was when I started noticing her, but...how can I even, urgh...this is messed up...'

It was at that moment, said person happened to walk past her, Hannah paused, suddenly breathless as she watched the girl making her way to her own dorm.

'There she is.' Hannah took note; trying hard to control herself. 'Brooke Scott.'

She was fighting now to not fall into that cliché of checking the girl out while she was unaware. She wanted to be better than that. Besides, she had no idea if she truly had feelings for the girl, or if it was another false hope.

That night, in her dorm, lying on her bed, Hannah sighed and struggled to sleep, too lost in her thoughts to manage it.

"Hannah?" A familiar voice said as there was a knock on her door.

Sitting up, startled, she replied. "Beth?"

The door opened and her twin sister entered, closing the door behind her before approaching.

"Hannah, what's wrong?" Beth asked suddenly. "And don't say nothing, I've seen you, the past few days...You've been acting strange. Plus, I'm your twin sister, you know what they saw about twins...so don't try and hide anything."

Hannah sighed; she never could hide anything from Beth; still it gave her hope so, she made up her mind. As Beth sat down next to her on the bed, Hannah prepared to tell her everything.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.