Landon Kirby arrived at school as rain poured from the sky, hitting his rain jacket. It was kind of a cruel match to his mood, he thought for the 10th time in the past two weeks. It had been more cloudy the past couple weeks than it had been in the past year. Though fortunately it didn't always rain with the clouds above.

The atmosphere had suddenly seemed dark and dreary as Landon's mood had become that. Sure he had himself appearing fine. But things were different. Life was different. It was as though he were in the dark his whole life before being exposed to light and warmth and then having the light and warmth taken away again.

Landon headed inside his class and took a seat, wondering if the weather was a way for nature to laugh at him for thinking there was anything he should be happy for. Though he knew it was ridiculous and that the weather just happened to be bad this time of year.

However, he couldnt stop the thoughts from resurfacing as he looked over at Hope Marshall as she entered the room and took a seat at her desk. His heart ached painfully at the mere sight of her, and he longed to go over and talk to her. He hadnt spoken to her in a few weeks. Since everything went wrong.

jEventually the movie night had ended, and their two week deal had run out. Hope looked over at Landon and reached to grab the popcorn bowl but found her lips centimeters from his. Landon looked at her for a moment before deciding to take risks again since she had already kissed him before, and his lips pressed against hers. She kissed him back almost instinctively. the popcorn bowl cluttering to the ground as she wrapped her arm around him.

After a moment or so, she found the strength to pull away, her eyes closed. She couldnt bare the sight of seeing his expression to her rejecting him. "I can't. I'm sorry"

Landon looked at her with confusion but moved away a bit, removing his hands from her. "What? Why?" he asked since she too had kissed him.

"I know how unfair this is to you. How cruel. I know that it isn't fair that I kissed you like that only to tell you this. But I can't be with you. I can't. And while I'm at it, we can't be friends. Not truly. Not while you know nothing about me or my family."

"Then tell me" Landon said, pain in his eyes as he stepped closer to her. "I care about you. And I want to learn more about you as well as your family. You're a mystery and if you need to keep your secrets, keep your secrets. But I want you here. With me. Enjoying yourself like you have been the past two weeks"

"It's not that simple, Landon" Hope said. "I can't tell you. It's better if you don't know. Anddon't want to live a life of secrets and lies, not to someone I care about. Which means I can't... open myself up to someone I can't tell about this. Which means I can't be as close as I have been to you. And certainly not closer"

Hope's gaze lowered as pain and heartache washed over her. She hated the look she saw in his eyes as she rejected him, but she knew it was for the best. He deserved to live in a world where he was not affected by the Mikaelsons. Landon stepped closer to her, his hand cupping her cheek subconsciously as a soft sigh escaped his lips

"I am not going to force what I want on you. But I do want you to know that either way I am going to care about you. That's not going to change even if you push me away. So just know I'm here if you need anything" Landon said softly and kissed the top of her head. His hand fell from her cheek, and he walked out of the house, grabbing his bag on the way out.

He didnt want to leave her. It went against everything he was feeling inside. But she had made her point of view clear, and all that was left to do was make sure she knew she still had him to go to and to respect her wishes to not be near him.

Hope watched him leave, and only once he was gone did she let tears escape her. She ran a hand through her auburn hair, wishing things could be different, more simple. But she wasnt a regular girl. She couldn't have this. And she wasnt going to get him involved.

Landon Kirby tore his gaze away from Hope Marshall and let out a soft sigh, wishing things had gone better between them. She was the best thing that had ever happened in his entire life and now she was gone, pretending it had never happened so she didnt have to be close to someone she couldn't be honest with. Landon wasn't sure what it was she had kept from him, only that whatever it was must have been something big for her to be so affected by not being able to tell him.

The teenage boy continued taking notes in class, struggling to focus on the subject he was being taught rather than the beautiful girl that he loved spending time with. Once class was over, he collected his belongings in his bag and watched as Hope quickly headed out of the classroom. A small sigh escaped his lips as he headed out of the room as well, getting bumped by Connor along the way and thus shoved at the wall. Anger swelled up inside Landon, but he forced it away before heading to his locker, trying not to think about Connor or Hope.

Eventually it was lunch time, and Landon headed to the cafeteria to get food and find somewhere to sit alone. Like he had been the past couple of weeks since Hope had told him she couldnt talk to him or be around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the unmistakably familiar auburn haired girl heading outside. Before he could stop himself, he followed after her. But once he pushed the doors of the school open, she was nowhere to be seen. He looked around with a small frown, his heart aching painfully.

He couldnt explain the strong pull he felt towards her, a pull that made it nearly impossible to respect her wishes because all he wanted was to go over there and join her. But she wanted to not be near him. And even when he followed her, she vanished into thin air. He wasnt sure if he was going crazy and imagining her or if she really had been heading outside. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, and he doubted it would be the last.

Landon sighed and sat down alone before starting to eat as he wrote in his notebook, thoughts continuing to flood his mind. But instead of letting them consume him, he did his best to finish up his homework since he had a shift at the Grill. A shift in which he never seemed to see Hope anymore. It was like she was the only person in town that didn't go to the Mystic Grill.

After school, Hope headed home. She had cloaked herself once her last class was over in efforts to avoid Landon Kirby. She had been doing it every day at the end of the day. She knew he still wanted to talk to her even though he had done well so far at respecting her wishes. But she couldn't take any chances that she would give in when he started speaking. Especially considering how low and smart sounding and kind of soothing his voice was. It made her want to just listen to him and tell him everything.

She walked inside her house and headed upstairs, straight to her art studio, hoping she would have better inspiration today than she had been the past couple of weeks. She walked over to her stack of blank canvases and picked one up before setting it down on her easel. Thoughts were flooding through her mind, but as she walked over to her paints cabinet and she looked at the colors, she found herself lacking inspiration. She wasnt sure what to paint. The all powerful tribrid let out a sigh as she picked out the basics and put bits of paint on her palette. She walked over to her easel and picked out something she could paint despite her lack of true inspiration, and she began painting, letting her instincts take over instead of her thoughts.

Eventually she lowered her brush and frowned softly at the sight of the Mikaelson house that looked... soulless. Empty. Like her heart was missing from the painting. Like the house had been abandoned for years. The brush slipped from her grasp, but she managed to catch it magically before the paint covered tip hit the floor.

She cleaned her brush, not liking how the painting turned out but it was better than the empty canvases she had been facing since he left this house. But it still felt empty, and there was not anything she could do about it. Except bring him back to the house. Because she knew the empty feeling was no longer having the joy of the tour guide coming over to visit. The same emptiness she had been ignoring for weeks. The reason she had been avoiding everyone, even her aunt's.

With a frustrated huff, Hope headed out of her art studio and went downstairs, tempted to go outside and shift in the woods behind her house. She clearly couldn't clear her head from the situation but things were easier in her wolf form. Thoughts were clearer, less overwhelming. But she had done it before and still found herself in her painting situation. The situation in which she lacked inspiration, and the inspiration she did was lacking her heart and soul or filled with despair. She didnt understand how this boy could have such an impact on her but her mind longed to resurface the memories of helping him study and watching the movies she never would have watched otherwise.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she reached the kitchen, pulling out a drink from the fridge. The tribrid took a seat at the island counter and closed her eyes, trying to force away her thoughts and feelings about the entire situation. She was so distracted in her thoughts that she didn't realize someone entered the room until a familiar voice spoke up.

"Lost in thought?"

She knew who the voice belonged to but turned her head in the direction anyway. "You could say that" she replied to her Aunt Freya before looking ahead again.

The stool beside her moved, and suddenly her aunt was sitting beside her. "You know, I heard sometimes talking about things could help ease your mind"

"I'm starting to wonder if that's possible in this case" Hope said, taking a sip of her drink, wishing it was of the alcohol variety at this particular moment, even though the tribrid was hardly a drinker.

"Come on. Spill. What's on your mind?" When Hope didnt say anything, Freya spoke up again. "Is this about Landon?"

Hope's gaze lowered as she looked down at her glass, a sigh escaping her lips. "I dont want him to get wrapped up in the supernatural world, with me, especially with how many enemies my father has that could use him to get to me"

"If you keep that line of thought, you'll end up alone"

"Maybe that's for the best. I mean I love our family but I dont want anyone else to get hurt because of us. I thought that if I pushed Landon away, things would eventually get easier"

"But they arent?"

The tribrid shook her head as memories surfaced of the amount of times she had looked Landon's way. Of the amount of times he looked at her. The way she constantly hid herself when he had an opportunity to approach her.

"No. They arent" she confirmed. "He's still hurting from me pushing him away, and it has been weeks. I thought it would hurt less as time went on, but he still has the same look in his eyes that he did when I told him to leave"

"Has it ever occurred to you that he cares about you as much as you care about him?"

"He doesn't know me. Not really. I'm just some rich girl he hung out with for two weeks. He shouldn't care this much. I hadn't planned on hurting him as much as I did when I told him to leave."

"Maybe you should talk to him. Be honest with him. Take the chance, even if it's dangerous"

"I can't let someone else die because of me" Hope said, tears forming in her eyes. She blinked them back forcefully as memories resurfaced.

Freya sighed softly. "This is about more than just him. It's about your parents"

"They died because of me. If I had never put mom under the sleeping spell, she never would have been as vulnerable as she was to be taken. And she was supposed to be safe. But then I trusted the wrong person. And then dad and Elijah died to save me. And all- all - of it is my fault. It's not the Hollow's fault. It's not Elijah's fault my mom died. It's not Roman's, not really. It all boils down to me. And I can't let Landon get added to the list. I can't."

Freya reached over and took her niece's hand firmly in her own. "Hey, hey. They didn't die because of you. They died for you. So that you could live your life"

"I'm supposed to be worth it."

"You are, Hope. You are. You know what your parents would tell you if they were here?"

Hope looked at Freya curiously, tears in her eyes but not escaping her.

"They would want you to talk to him. Even Niklaus, who was... very protective. If he saw how much pain you were in not talking to this boy that had made your smile light up the room, he would want you to fix this and let yourself be happy."

Hope wiped her tears away as they finally fell. "I'm scared to lose someone else" Her voice came out as a whisper, not used to letting herself be vulnerable.

Freya let go of her hand and stood up before pulling Hope into a hug. "I know. But if you ever want a chance of being happy, you need to take that risk"

Hope swallowed hard and nodded, taking in the comfort the hug provided her as she closed her eyes. Eventually, the tribrid pulled away from the hug. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna head to the Grill. Get some homework done"

"Okay" Freya said, kissing the top of her head before pulling away. "Let me know if you need anything"

Hope nodded and grabbed her bag before heading out of the house, going towards the Mystic Grill. She hesitated when she arrived, having half a mind to cloak herself again. But instead she headed inside and took a seat at a table alone. She pulled out her notebook and started writing, not really paying attention to her surroundings.

Suddenly, there was a milkshake put in front of her. She didnt have to look up to know who it was. Her gaze slowly drifted upwards, landing on her tour guide. "Peanut butter blast, whipped cream on the bottom. Just how you like it" Landon said, a small smile on his face.

"Thanks, Landon" she said softly, unable to help the faint smile that formed on her lips.

"I noticed its been a while since you were last here"

Hope nodded. "I've been at home, spending time with Nick and my aunts" she said, keeping her voice steady as she looked at him. That and she had been avoiding him as much as she could.

"How are they?"

"Good. They're doing well"

"Good" Landon said, both genuine and awkward. "I should probably go but don't worry about paying for that. It's on me"

"Thank you"

Landon nodded a little before heading towards another table, Hope watching him go. The tribrid tore her gaze away and sipped the familiar peanut butter blast that had whipped cream on the bottom. She set her glass down and continued working on homework, though she wasn't getting very far. Not with her thoughts creeping over her, slowly consuming her. Maybe coming here was a mistake. It made it that much harder to say no. It was hard to refuse that small kind smile and those green gray eyes. But she forced the thoughts away and continued to write, enjoying her milkshake.

Time flew by, and soon enough it was time for Landon to be closing up the Mystic Grill. He looked over at the teenage girl he had feelings for, seeing her bent over her notebook, writing. Things had gotten weird and distant between them since she said she didnt want to even talk to him. Despite this fact, she was still here, so he walked over to her table.

"Hey," Landon greeted her softly.

Hope looked up from her notebook and smiled slightly before it faded. "Hey, Landon" she greeted.

"It's time to close. And everyone else has left" He informed her.

Hope looked around a bit, clearly surprised, and the waiter held back a chuckle. She had been so caught up in her thoughts and what she was working on that she hadn't noticed the restaurant suddenly getting a lot quieter as people finally cleared out. "Oh" was the sound that escaped the tribrid's lips, and she grabbed her bag, quickly moving to pack things away

"You don't need to speed rush out of here" Landon pointed out. "Though I am surprised you are still here. Considering"

Hope's gaze lowered, and she slowed her speed but continued packing. "Like I said last time we had a conversation that lasted more than a few seconds, it's better that we aren't friends. Those two weeks..." She stopped herself. She couldn't call them a mistake because no matter how it ended up, she did not regret spending that time with him. "Those two weeks we spent hanging out, they can't happen again"

"And why was that again? Because doing it means letting your guard down, and you can't possibly do that? Because you can't spend time with someone you don't feel like you can trust?" Landon questioned, stepping closer to her, It wouldn't take much to kiss her right now with how close they were.

"When I let my guard down, people disappoint me" The words were out of Hope's mouth before she could stop them.

Landon hesitated, looking at her. "Growing up in the foster system... ...every time I got sent someplace new, I'd hope that this would be the right place. You know, like, uh, 'click your heels three times,' 'no place like home' kind of stuff. Just somewhere I actually belonged. But it never was. You know, and you can only hold out hope for so long and-and be hurt by so many people before its starts to seems impossible to trust someone new." He sighed softly. "and I know it's more than that. I know you want to make sure I don't die like other people you loved. But I am here for you"

She looked at him for a long moment, thoughts going through her mind. Finally she looked away and grabbed her bag. "You're better off as far away from me as you can get"

Hope turned and left the Mystic Grill, heading over to a bench. She sat down and let out a sigh, thoughts going through her mind. She felt guilty pushing him away, especially after what he said about not finding a place he belonged. But she recalled when she was once betrayed by someone she trusted. And she also remembered what seemed to happen to people that cared about her. It was a miracle Freya and Keelin were still alive. Getting involved with a Mikaelson was basically signing your own death sentence.

A few minutes later, she caught scent of a vampire and stood up, looking around. She knew it could be someone from the Salvatore School, but they generally stayed on campus as far as Hope was aware. And with enemies that she had inherited. it was better to be cautious about it. Not that she couldn't easily stop them, but the tribrid didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of her. She walked around a bit before stilling at the scent of blood. She followed the scent and saw a vampire feeding off of someone in the alley beside the Mystic Grill.

She caused the vampire to experience an aneurysm briefly before leaping from the top of the stairs to the bottom. She magically moved the vampire away from the person, who she now realized was Landon Kirby. Landon put a hand to his neck, looking at her in wonder. Hope moved quickly and snapped the vampire's neck, putting a very temporary cloaking spell on him. She then walked over to Landon, noticing his eyes wide.

"Come with me" Hope said and offered him her hand.

Landon was clearly wary about the entire thing but looked at her and slowly took her hand. Hope cloaked them both and headed to her house before heading inside and removing the cloaking spell. She thought about everything, trying to figure out the best way to approach the situation and what she could tell Landon had seen.

"What's going on, Hope? Are you a witch or something?" Landon had thought saying it aloud might help him feel less crazy, but in reality all it had done was make him feel worse. This wasn't possible. He had to be going crazy, right? After all the abuse and moving around, he finally lost it.

"Or something" Hope said as she walked over to the kitchen. She picked up a hand towel and began cleaning his neck with her free hand that was not still holding his. She didn't know why she was still holding it, only that it seemed to be comforting him as well as her.

"What does that mean?"

When Hope looked away from his neck for a moment, she could practically see the questions in his eyes. The spark of curiosity mixed in with nervousness and a bit of trust. She sighed softly and examined his neck to make sure there wasn't any blood she had missed. "It means that what I am is complicated, and once I contact certain people you're not going to remember any of this, so there's really no point in explaining.

"Wait, what? Are you out of your mind? How could I forget any of this?" Landon questioned, moving away from her a bit but not letting go of her hand. He straightened up, clearly not pleased Hope wanted to use some equivalent of the Men In Blackneuralyzer on him. He didn't want that at all. No matter how weird this all seemed.

"You're not supposed to know about all of this"

"Wait... is this the big secret you felt you couldn't tell me and wouldn't spend time with me because you didn't want to be close to someone you couldn't tell about this?"

Hope's gaze lowered to their hands, and she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them. "It's part of it. You shouldn't be caught up in this world, Landon. It's dangerous"

"Apparently the danger still exists whether I'm aware of it or not. Or should you look at my neck again? I could have died today because I had no knowledge of any of this. And you just want to erase my memories of this? Go all Men In Black?"

"I have... no idea what you're talking about, but... if you know about this, you're more involved than regular civilians, which means you will find yourself in more danger more frequently."

Living is dangerous. Any day, anyone can die. By accident or murder. Supernatural causes or natural causes. Life is dangerous, but what's the point of living if you're not truly living a world of possibilities?"

"This isn't some wonderland. It's very dangerous, Landon. And you're human. And that's not a problem, but I don't want you getting killed. There are people that want me dead and if you know and are close to me, you'll die too. And I don't want that"

Without thinking about it, Landon placed his free hand on Hope's cheek. "Some things are worth risking your life over"

Hope looked at Landon, getting lost in his eyes for a moment. Finally, she tore her gaze away. "Come on" she said softly and led him up to their room with witchcraft.

Inside the room were shelves containing liquified herbs, grimoires, vials, maps, and various magical objects that have been created over the years that Freya wanted to keep. Hope loved spending time in this room and increasing her magical knowledge, especially with the spellbooks her uncle Kol had given her. Landon looked around in awe at everything in the room.

"It's okay. You're safe. Just don't touch anything" Hope told him as she walked over to the liquified herbs. She let go of his hand and began working on a healing gel.

"What are you doing?" There wasn't wariness in his voice but rather pure curiosity. He had trust issues just like she did. But around Hope... he felt something he had never felt in his life. Like he finally had somewhere he belonged. Even if he was very new to this entire supernatural world. Even if he had no idea what she had done or what she could do. She was simply... Hope. The best person he had ever met in his entire life.

"Making a healing gel to go over your wound." Hope said. She knew she could use her blood. But she also didn't want to just increase the possibility of him becoming supernatural. Though she also hated the thought of losing the only friend she had, even though they weren't really friends anymore and even though she wanted to be more than that.

"You can do that?" Landon questioned, looking at her

Hope nodded. "I can do a lot of things" she said before murmuring a spell. She got a dab of the healing gel and rubbed it gently over the puncture wounds, watching them start to heal up. Once they were healed, she put it all away and turned to face him, not realizing he had gotten closer. She stopped and looked at him, feeling air escape her

"That's incredible" Landon said softly, looking at Hope.

Before Hope could stop herself, she pressed her lips to his, and the rest of the world faded away.