Author's Note: And finally, part 3 on my ...Eventually series, in which Hope and Lizzie finally start dating. It would've been done a month ago but someone got me playing Pokemon Legends: Arceus. You don't really need to read the previous stories to understand what's going on, but you should cause they're good, and Lizzie's really gay in them. Plus people reading and commenting on my stories makes me want to write more. Anyways this one will be more canon divergent than the two previous works, and will likely be ninety percent fluff. And since this is long enough already, read and enjoy.
This Is What It Feels Like
"Ah," Josie breathed out, face flushed as Finch pulled away, a pleased smirk on her face. Panting slightly Josie tried to catch her breath, only to lose it again as Finch leaned back down, running kisses down the side of neck. "Ah… We should… you should le... spell the door… shut."
Finch pulled away a little at that, smirking down at Josie again. They had barely started and she was already in such a state, "Oh? And what is going to happen then?" Finch said, taking a finger and running it down the front of Josie's shirt, the brunette's breath drawing in the lower it went.
Grabbing Finch's hand to stop it Josie's use the other to pull her girlfriend back down to her, meeting her halfway with her lips. Taking control she flipped the two of them over, grinning even as she kept their lips pressed together as she felt Finch's surprise. Siphoning just a little from Finch with one hand she took her eyes off the girl for just a moment to focus on the door, raising one hand to seal it with a spell so they wouldn't be interrupted. Unfortunately she was just a moment too late, the door bursting open before she could cast the spell, her twin storming into their room. "Dammit!" Josie cursed, collapsing on top of her girlfriend in exasperation.
"I need help, like serious level ten twin help. Because I am so screwed," Lizzie said, as she stormed in, slamming the door shut behind her and sealing it with a spell of her own. Actually taking a look around she noticed the position her twin was in, prompting her to roll her eyes, "Am I interrupting something?"
"Yes!" Both girls yelled at her, Josie glaring at her sister while Finch was red with embarrassment.
Lizzie paused for a moment, thinking it over before shrugging and sitting down on her bed. "Well you should've spelled the door then." Seriously Josie knew the rules, and it wasn't like it was the first time either of them had walked in on the other. At least they were still dressed. "Help me with what I want and you can go back to doing… well, her, I guess."
Josie groaned at that, blushing slightly while Finch pressed her face into her shoulder to hide her embarrassment, still not being used to the way Lizzie could be. Closing her eyes, Josie took a deep breath focusing on twin. The sooner she took care of whatever drama Lizzie had brought the sooner she could get back to… yeah, sooner Lizzie was gone the better. "Someone had better be dying," Josie finally said, glaring at her twin still.
Lizzie smiled at that, "Even worse. I have a date." Which was had far more potential for catastrophe than someone just being dead. This was Mystic Falls, people died all the time.
Josie just stared at her twin for moment, not believing what she had just heard. "Are you kidding me? That is why you burst in here? A date? Why is tha-"
"With Hope," Lizzie added nervously, suddenly remembering that she wasn't sure sure how Josie would react. She needed some help and Josie had been the only person she had thought of, she hadn't stopped to remember everything that involved. And it involved a lot.
That got Josie to stop her tirade, her mouth falling open as she just started at her twin. Lizzie, her twin, had a date, with Hope. "Hope… you have a date... with Hope," Josie said slowly, still trying to process that.
"Yep," Lizzie said, still a little shocked herself. After their 'date, but not really' at the bowling alley she had known there was a chance but as the weeks had passed she started to lose hope. Mostly in that she even had the courage to actually ask. And then earlier today Hope just changed all of that.
Sitting in the library Lizzie was trying to study for a change. It wasn't something she usually did, having always found school to be pretty simple but she had missed a lot of class time over the last year or so and was trying to make up for it. Unfortunately she kept getting distracted by Hope, the tribrid sitting across from her going through some grimoire she was pretty sure might be older than the entire town.
She had been trying to figure out how and when it would be okay to ask Hope out but hadn't had any luck. Sure Hope seemed to be in a better place, and was actually doing things besides brooding in her room and running around in wolf form but it was hard to tell. It felt like Hope had even been flirting with her recently but for all she knew she was just reading into things what she wished would be there. Before she took the plunge and asked Hope out she wanted a clear sign that Hope was actually ready.
"See something you like?" Hope asked playfully, a smile dancing around the corners of her mouth, getting Lizzie to only now realize she'd been staring.
"You," Lizzie replied automatically, before blushing as she realized that had been out loud. Before she could try to say anything else she heard Hope laugh, the tribrid smiling over at her.
"That's good to know," Hope said, smirking as Lizzie blushed. "You know, I did say I would say yes if you asked. But you do need to actually ask."
"Uh…" Lizzie said awkwardly, suddenly forgetting how to speak. She wanted a clear sign and she definitely got it, practically flashing and with neon rainbow lights. So why wasn't she saying anything? She already knew that Hope liked her, knew that she wanted to date her and that all she needed to do was ask.
"Do you want to go on a date? With me?" Lizzie finally got out, resisting the urge to groan at how lame that sounded. She was supposed to be confident, and instead she couldn't have sounded less sure of herself.
"Yes, and with you is definitely preferred," Hope answered coyly, smiling at how flustered Lizzie was. She had never really thought Lizzie would be the type to get so flustered but it was cute. And unlikely to last for too long so she should enjoy it while able.
"Oh, uh great. Umm, so tomorrow then?" Lizzie asked, part of her not too sure this was really happening.
"Sure. Just let me know when," Hope said, putting her stuff away while Lizzie just nodded her agreement. Given that Lizzie seemed to be a little stunned still it was probably better to give her a little space, plus she did have a class she needed to get too. "Well I need to get to class, I'll see you then."
"Right," Lizzie replied automatically, not really processing what Hope had said. She was still stuck on the fact that Hope had actually agreed to go on date with her. Wait… Hope had said for her to let her know when? So she was supposed to plan their date?…fuck.
"Did she break?" Finch asked quietly, looking at Lizzie curiously. The blonde was entirely lost in her thoughts, looking right past them as she focused on something else. Then again it wasn't like her girlfriend was doing much better, Josie's mouth still hanging open in shock.
"I didn't break," Lizzie said as she snapped out of it, throwing Finch a slight glare for good measure. "But if I can't figure out what to do for a date then I might."
"That's what you need? Help planning a date?" Finch asked, not believing it.
"Come on Lizzie, just do what you did wit…" Josie said before trailing off, suddenly realizing what her twin's issue was. "Have you ever been on an actual date?"
"Once. When I was twelve. Jacob Eisen. A crappy movie date that I will not be repeating," Lizzie said, summing up her entire history of dates. She was not counting that travesty with Ethan. If it ended with the other party's memory being erased then obviously it had never happened.
"I remember that… didn't Mom have to compel half the theater to-" Josie said slowly, remembering the date.
"Nope, not getting into it. I need help, not to relive past traumas," Lizzie said, cutting her sister off. So she might've accidentally siphoned Jacob when he kissed her and lost control of her magic. It happened. Her mom was able to pay for the damages and make sure no one remembered.
"How have you never gone on a date?" Finch asked, before remembering that the entire school had essentially been built for the twins. They had never had even as much of a normal life as she had, it made sense that there wasn't a ton of dating. "Huh, wouldn't have thought you were the less experienced one."
"I have plenty of experience, thank you. I just can't use it. Hope isn't someone I can just pin to the hood of my car and have my way with," Lizzie said, rolling her eyes at the Finch's insinuation. It was a very tempting thought though. "I'll leave that for at least the second date."
Finch just kind of tilted her head at that, a little shocked at Lizzie's candor while Josie turned bright red. "You okay, Jo?"
"Oh come on, after all the times I had to experience your sex dreams, you are not allowed to be weird about this," Lizzie said, more edge to her voice than she intended. There had never really been boundaries between them so if Josie was being weird it was because it was Hope. The last time that had happened it ended with her sister burning down Hope's room. Which would not end well if that were to happen again, given that there was a good chance she'd be in there too. And she was a lot less fireproof than Hope's previous partner.
"We never shared dreams!" Josie snapped back, before stopping as she thought about it, "I think…"
"And anyways that wasn't... I was just… how are you and Hope dating?" Josie asked in a rush finally, still not able to believe it. Sure she knew that Lizzie didn't care about a person's gender anymore than she herself did but this wasn't some random girl. It was Hope, the same Hope they had a ton of history with, good, bad, and apocalyptic, the same one that Lizzie…
"You have a crush on her," Josie said, things clicking into place like pieces in a puzzle. Lizzie seeking Hope out, her dislike of Landon, their weird banter, the anger she held when Hope had used them, the way Lizzie let herself be open in ways she had never really seen with anyone else.
"Obviously, that's why I'm going on date with her," Lizzie said, trying to get her twin to catch up.
"No, I mean before. You've had a crush on Hope for awhile," Josie said, trying to figure out just how long it had been. At least since that cursed witch retreat where Lizzie had tried to indoctrinate them into a cult. Well succeeded indoctrinating them, temporarily anyways. "And you accused me of breaking twin code!"
"I didn't break twin code," Lizzie protested, rolling her eyes. "I just… took a while to realize."
"And when exactly did you realize?" Josie asked, pressing her sister for information. There was no way she was going to let Lizzie weasel out of this. After everything she put her through over her crush on Finch she deserved some payback.
"Around when she was kicking your goth phase back to the nineties," Lizzie snapped back immediately, not even regretting it. Seriously where had Josie even found that much black clothing on such short demand?
"You've known for that long? That was months ago! How is that not breaking twin code?" Josie complained. Sure it wasn't like they had ever written down their twin code but they shouldn't need to. It was supposed to be understood.
"Sorry, I was a little distracted by you trying to murde-" Lizzie started before cutting herself off. Now wasn't the time to bring up past attempts at fratricide. "Besides I didn't even think I had a chance until recently, so what was the point?"
"What changed then?" Finch asked, before wincing as she realized the answer, "Oh… that."
Yeah, the discovery that Hope's longtime on and off boyfriend was dead. And had been for awhile. "It wasn't just that," Lizzie said, wanting to clear that away. She didn't want either of them thinking that she had swooped in the moment Landon had died. "Hope came to me, and we talked. And she made it pretty clear that she liked me for some reason."
"We even went on a date, sort of," Lizzie said, smiling as she averted her gaze down while remembering. She had made a mess of it obviously but even then Hope seemed to still want to give this a shot. "Of course I didn't believe it was a real date. Even if it was the most expensive date I'll ever go on."
Josie tilted her head in confusion, mouth opening and closing as she tried to follow. Fortunately Finch had already figured it out, "Wait. Are you two the ones that broke the bowling alley?"
"Really it was just Hope. And she paid for the damages so that I wasn't grounded forever. That would've made dating difficult." Difficult but not impossible. Hope was her Dad's favorite so he'd probably allow her to go on dates just because it was Hope. But there was no way she could handle the embarrassment that came with that. "So yeah, I need some date ideas that don't include one of Mystic Falls two entertainment venues." Because they had been banned for life. Well the owner's life at-least.
Josie stared at her twin for a moment, still trying to take this all in. It was different. This wasn't the Lizzie she'd seen before from when she had a crush. That one was all confident and smirking and bragging about what she was going to do. And there was none of that now, Lizzie was just smiling, softer than she usually saw, while stressing over what to do. She really did like Hope. "Ok," Josie said, letting out at an exaggerated sigh even as smile came to her face, "Let's see what we can figure out."
Closing the door after telling Finch goodnight Josie walked back over to her bed, sitting down on the edge and looking over at her twin who was doing her best to look very interested in her book. "So… Hope."
"Yep," Lizzie replied shortly, wanting to see where Josie wanted to take this.
"I just… it's still hard to wrap my head around," Josie admitted, thinking about it once more. Now that she knew, she could find more moments where Lizzie's feelings had shown through. "You really do like her?"
"I do. A lot. Way more than I know… thought, I should," Lizzie answered honestly, still not used to being able to say it aloud herself. She had been trying to ignore these feelings for so long so to finally not have to hide them… it was a little overwhelming. And a lot confusing. "...That's okay, right?"
Josie's brow furrowed at that, had she really been so awful that Lizzie would think it wouldn't be? "Of course it is," Josie said immediately, before getting up and moving to climb into bed beside her twin. "You're my sister, I'll be happy with whoever you date."
"Come on Jo, we both know that's not true," Lizzie scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "You nearly incinerated Hope because you were scared of exactly this."
"I was twelve. And it was a stupid mistake," Josie defended, while knowing Lizzie had a point. Saying she was happy for Lizzie was one thing, actually doing it was another. Even leaving Hope aside it wasn't like they hadn't had strained relationships because of romantic interests before. "You always went after anyone I was interested in. Like it was competition to make them fall for you instead. And they always did."
"I didn't know," Lizzie said, moving so that was looking at her sister directly. And she really hadn't. She had been a pretty self-absorbed brat, so whenever Josie would start showing anyone new attention she'd try to steal it away without even considering why Josie was interested in the first place. And it wasn't like Josie ever said anything to make her interest clear.
"I know. I do, and I was the one who never said anything back then," Josie said, owning up to her own culpability. Lizzie would find some way to get whoever she had liked to turn their attention to her, and inevitably they'd end up dating. For a short time anyways. It wasn't like any of them had ever lasted long. "And I'm happy for you, really. And for Hope. If you two can make it work then that's great."
"That's the question, isn't it?" Lizzie said quietly, Josie's brow furrowing as she realized her sister was worried about something. "What if we can't? What if I screw this all up?
"Lizzie…"
"I mean, my longest relationship was with a vampire who was even more insane than I am. And he couldn't even get my name right," Lizzie continued, working herself up. "I suck at dating. I always just did pathetic hookups with whoever was most emotionally unavailab-"
"Lizzie!" Josie said sharply, reaching out and taking hold of her twin by the shoulder, forcing her to stop. She hated when she did this, the ways she would spiral and beat herself up. "It's okay, it'll be okay."
Pulling Lizzie over to her she wrapped her arms around her sister, holding her as she calmed herself back down. Running her hand across her back Josie just waited, letting Lizzie decide if she wanted to talk. "That wasn't a promising sign, was it?" Lizzie said softly after a few minutes, having calmed herself down enough to talk.
"How about we take it as a sign that you really want this to go well?" Josie tried instead, attempting to put a positive spin on it. The scoff Lizzie gave made it clear she didn't really feel the same but she wasn't outright disagreeing so that was enough. "And I don't think you need me to tell you that Hope is different. She knows you, understands you, and well, I don't think you felt the same way about those other guys as you do about her."
Lizzie didn't say anything, instead thinking about her past failed relationships. She always went all in, no matter how bad an idea it was. She had been planning an entire choreographed entrance to her birthday party with Raf before even asking him if they were actually together, had thrown herself into a relationship with Sebastian two different times without knowing anything about him. It was what she always did, but this felt different.
She had never been this worried about messing things up, that she would be the reason it fell apart. In a way it felt softer than those past feelings, more pure(despite the very impure thoughts she'd been having about Hope lately). These feelings weren't spur of the moment, fueled by hormones and bad impulses, but had been building for a long time. And like Josie had said, Hope knew her, knew exactly what her damage was and still wanted to date her. "I'm just… I'm scared of messing things up. I really like her."
"That's okay," Josie replied, surprising Lizzie. "It's okay to be worried. I know I was asking Finch out. Just don't let it stop you from trying."
"I'm not," Lizzie said, having never intended that. There wasn't anything she'd let stop her going on this date, not even herself. She was worried about screwing it up, but panicking over the possibility wasn't going to help. She knew that. Not that it was doing much to keep the panic from happening.
"Good, because I'd hate to have all those date ideas go to waste," Josie teased, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Hearing her twin laugh a little it seemed like it was working. "Now, why don't you tell me about how you realized you liked Hope in the first place? And maybe then I'll forgive you for violating twin code so badly."
Taking her seat at the patio table, Hope leaned back in her chair, watching as Lizzie made her way over to her, balancing their order on a tray. "You know I could have helped with that," Hope said, smiling at Lizzie trying to keep everything from spilling.
"I got it," Lizzie replied, setting everything down on the table without anything falling over. She was the one taking Hope out and she was going to be the one to treat her. Even if it meant nearly breaking her neck trying to balance a tray with enough food for three people. "And did you have to order the shake now? You know it's going to melt."
Hope just smiled at that, reaching over and taking it off the tray, a glow of magic flashing over it for just a second before she sat it aside. "You sure about that?" What was the point of being able to cast actual magic if you couldn't use it for dumb things like making sure your shake didn't melt?
Lizzie rolled her eyes at Hope, even as she smiled. Of course. Taking a seat herself, she reached out to take her dinner off the tray, a BLT and side of fries. The rest of the order was all for Hope, because she could eat whatever she wanted and still look amazing. Unfair tribrid biology.
She had thought about doing some big, grand first date, but there just weren't any good options. Josie, Finch and herself had managed to come up with several ideas(art museum, aquarium, farmer's market, a dance, etc.) but nothing that she could realistically pull off on such short notice. And without leaving Mystic Falls in most cases. So a simple dinner between the two of them at the Mystic Grill it was, despite how much she had wanted to do something more. And well, at least it seemed like Hope was enjoying herself, currently being halfway through a burger the size of her head.
"What? Did I spill something on me?" Hope asked, wondering why Lizzie was looking at her so intently.
"No. You're just cute," Lizzie said, smirking as Hope blushed at the compliment. "And I was thinking about how unfair it is that you can eat whatever you want."
Hope just rolled her eyes, having heard it before. "Worried about me being an expensive date?" She teased, before remembering the last time they'd eaten here. "Wait, you did actually bring money this time, right?"
Lizzie's eyes went wide, her hands reaching for her purse before she stopped and looked over at Hope sarcastically, holding up her wallet. "Yes I remembered to bring money this time. I forgot one time." So they might've had to steal a meal because she'd wasted her money once before. It happened.
"The only time," Hope added, smiling at Lizzie while taking a sip of her shake. "At least this time if someone comes by and asks if we're on a date then you can say yes."
"Pretty sure I said we were last time too," Lizzie reminded her, "Although this time it'll actually be true." Which made it a much cooler thing to be able to say.
"Yes, it is," Hope replied smiling brightly. Lizzie was actually blushing just a little, which was far too cute. She had suspected that Lizzie might have a crush on her for some time but being able to see clear evidence of it was another thing entirely. "Actually, I hadn't thought about it until now but did you have a crush on me even back then?"
"Maybe," Lizzie said, looking away from Hope guiltily. Risking a look back over to her she saw Hope just smirking at her, clearly not believing it was just a maybe. "Ok fine, yes. I had a crush on you even then. Not that I realized it at the time."
In retrospect it was so obvious. She had literally made up an excuse to seek Hope out and spend the entire day with her. A day in which they hadn't even had anything to do besides get/steal lunch and hang out at her dad's very mid-life crisis apartment. She was actually kind of impressed at how long she had been able to ignore that she liked Hope, even with the distractions there had been along the way.
"So when did you finally realize?" Hope asked, curious of the answer. It had become more apparent to her around the time they'd reopened the school, there just being little things Lizzie did that made her wonder. But it wasn't until later that she was sure.
"After you saved me from Josiemort. One of the witches said something, and that made me confront how I felt," Lizzie answered, not minding letting Hope know. Sure it was a little weird since Hope had a boyfriend for most of that time but she had asked. "And before you ask, I didn't say anything because I didn't think I actually had a chance."
Hope nodded at that, having assumed as much. "That's probably for the best. I can't say how I would've reacted." She had either been unavailable or in a very bad place for a lot of the last year so she couldn't honestly say that she would've welcomed Lizzie confessing to her.
"When did you realize that you liked me?" Lizzie asked, figuring that was fair since Hope had asked first. "I mean, assuming you do. Like me. Like that." Wait, what? What was she doing? Of course Hope liked her, she had been the one that had told her she wanted to go on a date. And why was she still talking? "-if you do."
"Lizzie, of course I like you," Hope said, holding back a laugh. Reaching across the table she took hold of Lizzie's hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "And I have for awhile."
"Oh, since when?" Lizzie asked, kicking herself for how eager she sounded.
Hope let go of Lizzie's hand, sitting back up straight and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's a little more complicated." Looking down she missed the flash of panic that crossed Lizzie's face, the blonde immediately assuming the worse.
"Oh. Of course," Lizzie said, a hollow tone to her voice even as she tried to push it back down. Hope had already said she'd liked her, she shouldn't be worried just because she didn't have some clear time frame.
Sensing that something was wrong Hope looked up at Lizzie, searching for something before sighing, "I'm sorry, that came out wrong." Taking a moment she tried to think about how best to say what she wanted to, "It's just, hard for me to put into words, you know?"
"Yeah, sure, I get it," Lizzie said, forcing some color in to her voice. It was fine, Hope liked her. Wanted to be here with her. It was fine.
Hope sighed at that, being able to tell that it clearly wasn't fine but not knowing how to make it better. She just didn't know how to say what she wanted to. She knew she liked Lizzie, but sorting out when that had started was complicated even to her. It had kind of just fallen into place over time. "Are you sure…"
"Yeah, it's fine," Lizzie said quickly, forcing herself to move past it. "Anyways, did you hear that we're finally trying to hire some new teachers? Apparently since being murdered is like fifty percent less likely it's easier to recruit again."
Hope shook her head at that, smiling slightly even as she worried that she had messed up. Lizzie wasn't the type to let something go, and she knew that it had to hurt that she hadn't been able to give her a clear answer. It would if she was in her place. "We have teachers?" She joked, smiling as Lizzie laughed. Maybe she was just reading too much into it and everything would be ok.
She had not been reading to much into it. As their date had gone on Lizzie had become more and more distracted, their conversations getting more awkward. Which wasn't like them at all. Even when they were at each others' throats they didn't do awkward. Deciding to finally do something about it she stopped on the way back to Lizzie's car, "Lizzie, stop. Can we talk about this?"
"Nothing to talk about," Lizzie said, not slowing her pace at all. She just wanted to get out of here.
"Lizzie…" Hope said, reaching out and grabbing hold of Lizzie's hand, getting her to stop. "Please just talk to me."
Spinning around Lizzie looked down at Hope, the tribrid realizing for the first time that her eyes were wet. "Talk about what? How you don't even know if you have feelings for me?"
"Lizzie-" Hope said, shocked that she would say that. Surely she didn't actually believe that?
"Oh, wait you do. You just don't when they started, or what they are, or if they're real, or if I'm worth it-" Lizzie continued, now lashing out with things she knew weren't true.
"Lizzie!" Hope said sharply, trying to interject. How had she had messed this up so badly? She needed to get Lizzie to stop so she could try and fix it.
"-did you even want to do this? Clearly you don't like me like I-"
"Corpis impedimentu," Hope cast suddenly, literally freezing Lizzie in place to get her to stop. For a moment they just stared at each other, Hope not able to believe what she had just done and Lizzie not able to move. Quickly canceling the spell Hope rushed out an apology, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I just wanted you to stop so I could have a chance to explain and it was either that or kissing you and-"
"I can't believe you used magic to-" Lizzie started, more shocked than actually angry before she heard the end of what Hope was saying. "Wait, did you just say you wanted to kiss me?" And like that the anger she had felt faded away, replaced by something far stronger. Hope. And yes, she knew how sappy that was.
"Of course I do. But I wasn't going to without your consent," Hope answered quickly, trying to explain her admittedly flawed reaction. Very flawed reaction. Understandable grounds for Lizzie to just drive off and leave her reaction.
"So spelling me in place was the better option?" Lizzie asked slowly, an amused smirk on her face as she tried to parse that logic. Sure she should probably be mad, actually she definitely should, but she couldn't be.
"I-… okay clearly I wasn't thinking straight," Hope admitted, having panicked a bit when Lizzie had started to spiral. She had just wanted a chance to make things better.
"Clearly, if you wanted to kiss me," Lizzie said cheerily, that thought doing a lot to improve her mood. She was totally going to get back at Hope for spelling her later but right now she was still stuck on the idea of kissing.
Hope smiled at that, rolling her eyes at the joke, "Shut up." She couldn't deny how relieved she was though, she had thought she'd messed things up before they even got started. Moving a little past Lizzie she sat against the side of her Camaro. "So, can we talk now?"
"Sure," Lizzie said, moving to face Hope, "Or we could just skip to the kissing?" Hope just tilted her head at that, giving her a look that made it clear that wasn't going to be happening. "Fine, talk it is."
"I'm sorry, about earlier. I should've made things clearer," Hope started with, knowing that she had messed up. She knew that Lizzie was tense about their date, and should've known what that sort of half-assed answer would do. "It's just, it really was hard for me to figure out how I felt. I mean, to start with you know that I never really had friends, right?"
"Yeah," Lizzie answered slowly, wondering where Hope was going with this. "You were kinda infamous for it."
"Right. And then suddenly I did. Several of them, and I was so glad that we were finally able to be friends that I didn't think anything about how strong my feelings were. I mean, I would've done anything for any of you," Hope said, that not being an understatement. She would move heaven and earth for those she cared for, and with as powerful as she was that wasn't an idle promise.
"I already cared for you so much that I didn't even notice that the way I felt about you was changing for a long time. That the way I cared about you was changing. And then by the time I did realize things had changed I wasn't sure what it meant. Honestly I don't think I wanted to know. It was easier that way." Her life was complicated on the best of days and developing feelings for her best friend only made that worse. It had been easier to just push them down and not acknowledge they existed. "But as you probably know, ignoring those kinds of feelings only works for so long. They kept growing and soon I was missing you being around to annoy me, or seeking you out to hang out with, or letting you bully me into sharing a bed with you. And it got harder to ignore the way I felt."
"Why did you then?" Lizzie asked, before remembering why. Landon, of course.
"You know why," Hope replied, Lizzie nodding that she did. "I think it was when we were fighting that I first realized just how much I missed you, because once we were friends again I was so happy that was accused of being slugged. And after I destroyed the golem you were the one I most wished was there in the aftermath, the only person I think that could've even been able to help. Then there was the retreat and everything that happened there, and well, I don't think I exactly hid how jealous I got of Space Ethan."
"Oh you mean when you wiped out an entire bar in our vision-quest to take him out? Nope, wasn't obvious at all," Lizzie teased, having of course noticed it at the time. Not that she had even dared hope that it actually meant that Hope had feelings for her.
"It was an appropriate response," Hope defended, daring Lizzie to counter her point. "It was then that I finally quit pretending like my feelings for you hadn't changed. That I didn't have a crush on you. Of course, as you know, there were a few things that got in the way after that."
More than a few actually. Landon turning out to be Malivore. Learning he had been dead for a long time. The confusion and anger at herself for having feelings for Lizzie develop while she had been supposed to be in love with Landon. Sending Malivore to a personally crafted hell. Struggling for weeks with if she should even be allowed to have such feelings. There was a lot that she wasn't going to tell Lizzie, not right now and maybe not ever. It had been why she had asked for time between the night they went bowling and going on an actual date, because she wanted to make sure she was in a place where she could accept the way she felt herself. And she finally was.
"So, you really do like me?" Lizzie asked, smiling softly as she moved closer to Hope. Reaching out she took hold of Hope's hands, stepping even closer to her while holding them in between them.
"Of course I do," Hope answered, interlocking her fingers with Lizzie's, enjoying the way she could hear Lizzie's heart speed up. "Would you like me to prove it?"
Lizzie smiled at that, knowing what Hope was really asking, "Hope Mikaelson, are you asking if you can kiss me?"
"Yes," Hope said, locking eyes with Lizzie while pulling her in even closer, the taller blonde taking the opportunity to lean down to her, setting her forehead against Hope's for a second, "I am."
"Then yes," Lizzie said breathily, leaning down just a little more as Hope moved to meet her, the shorter girl having to lean up to kiss her. The moment their lips met Lizzie had to fight back the urge to just melt into it, wanting nothing more than to push for more. And the way Hope was pulling her into her wasn't helping at all.
Before Lizzie could really get her bearings Hope broke the kiss, smiling up at Lizzie as she breathed out heavily, clearing having wanted more. "Did that help prove it?" Hope asked teasingly, knowing that it had.
Lizzie bit down on her lip, her eyes darting back down to Hope's lips once more. "I don't think I'm sure yet," Lizzie said, a smirk on her lips as Hope rolled her eyes playfully. "Maybe another would convince me?"
"Oh, really?" Hope asked, laughing at Lizzie's antics. Still laughing slightly she pulled the blonde in for another kiss, this time parting her mouth some and letting her tongue dart across Lizzie's lips, teasing the blonde by not pushing further. Breaking apart after a few more seconds Hope smirked up at Lizzie, the blonde clearly more flushed this time, "Convinced yet?"
"Yeah, pretty convinced," Lizzie answered, wincing at how her voice had jumped up in pitch. Hope had barely done anything and she was already turning her into a Josie-level disaster. She swore she used to have game. That actually got her to think of something else, getting her to pull back from Hope and look around her.
"What are you looking for?" Hope asked, seeing Lizzie looking around them. They were parked off the main street through the square, just a short walk from the Mystic Grill. It wasn't exactly secluded but it had already gotten dark enough the streetlights were on and she hadn't heard anyone approaching so they weren't in danger of someone walking up on them. Besides the people of Mystic Falls weren't all idiots, they knew to stay inside after dark.
"Just making sure nothing exploded," Lizzie said with a bright smile, glad to have that up on her twin. Sure having literal sparks fly when you kissed a girl was cool, but she'd take the chance to brag to her sister about having better control over herself.
Hope laughed at that, having heard the story from Josie. And now she couldn't help but feel a little competitive herself. "I wouldn't be so sure," Hope said, before pulling Lizzie in for another kiss, this one much deeper than the ones before. Parting her mouth she let her tongue dart out once more, this time Lizzie's moving to meet hers, the kiss growing much deeper and passionate with each second.
Lizzie didn't notice when she accidentally siphoned magic from Hope, and failed to see the warning signs of the streetlights flashing. But even she couldn't miss the loud pops and sounds of shattering glass as every streetlight within half a block exploded. Looking up she stared across the square, taking in the damage and completely missing Hope's satisfied smirk, before letting out a loud curse, "Dammit!"
"So, would the two of you care to explain to me why nearly three dozen vintage light fixtures suddenly exploded last night on the town square?" Alaric asked as he sat on the edge of his desk, an amused smile on his face as he regarded his all to satisfied daughter and a guiltily looking Hope. He didn't know what they had done, just that they had come back to the school after the damage had been done. And that Lizzie had been in as good a mood as he'd seen in long time since.
"Well, you see…" Hope started, before trailing off not sure how to proceed. Beside her Lizzie was absolutely no help the blonde just smirking at her.
"It was Hope's fault," Lizzie said, throwing her girlfriend under the bus. Sure, was that what she should be doing on the first day of their new relationship? Probably not. It was fun though.
"Lizzie…" Hope whined in exasperation, not believing that her girlfriend was so quick to throw the blame onto her. Sure, it was technically her fault but still. Lizzie had been the one that actually exploded them.
"Well Hope, would you like to explain?" Alaric asked, turning his attention to tribrid. Just what had his daughter goaded her into doing that had her so amused?
"Not really," Hope admitted, not wanting to explain to Dr. Saltzman that the reason a few thousand dollars of lights had met their end was because she had her tongue down his daughter's throat.
"Lizzie, care to elaborate then?" Alaric asked instead, wondering just what the two had done to cause so much property damage. And why Hope wouldn't just tell him, it wasn't like her to try to hide something like this.
Hope saw the smirk on Lizzie's face widen and had just a second to realize what was about to happen, trying in vain to think of a way to stop it. "Hope is really good with her tongue," Lizzie answered, delighting in the shock on her father's face and the embarrassment on Hope's.
"Lizzie!"
Author's Note: First date, done. And with only mild property damage. So yeah, like I said, this will be pretty canon divergent now. I may still pull ideas or scenarios from season 4(like a carnival date is definitely happening) but not a ton of the overall plot. This is mostly going to be fluff, with a little angst cause both these girls got issues they need to work through if they want this to work. And then maybe, eventually, they'll have sex. Until then, leave me a review letting me know what you think, I always enjoy hearing from all of you.