After arriving back in Mystic Falls, Hope knew it was time to transfer. The urn may be gone, but who knows what would happen next. She couldn't be responsible for Nik getting hurt because she lived with him. Because they lived with him. Now that they knew what Landon was, or at least a pretty good theory, they could transfer over and move into the Salvatore Boarding School. Getting their belongings transferred to their new rooms didn't take long. Landon was assigned to room with Rafael, whom they had briefly met when they were touring the school. Midterm exams were over, and the Saltzmans had returned from their trip to Europe, where they had spent time with their mother Caroline Forbes after everything that had happened with their biological mother on their birthday.
After hearing that Hope and Landon had transferred over to the school, Lizzie went over to Hope's room and knocked on the door. "Come in," Hope said as she unzipped her suitcase and began pulling some clothes out of it.
Lizzie walked inside. "Hope" she greeted, glad to see her friend again. "I'm glad you decided to transfer schools. I can give you a better tour than I did last time if you want"
"I'm good, but thanks," Hope said, looking over at Lizzie before starting to hang up her clothes. "Maybe on my first day of actually having classes."
"I'll hold you to that," Lizzie said, sitting on Hope's new bed. "Nice big room you have here all to yourself. You could set up a mini living room theater or art studio in here"
"Yeah, your dad said there wasn't anyone else available for me to share a room with. Not that I mind"
"Or it is because you're the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson?"
Hope's body tensed a bit at her verbally acknowledging that. "Alright, while I don't care who knows, my aunts will throw a fit if you go acknowledging I'm his daughter when I'm trying not to have that be known. Its Hope Marshall"
"Please, it's gonna be a day MAYBE two till half the people at the school find out. Secrets don't stay secret very long here. Believe me" Lizzie said.
"Well, isn't that a good sales pitch for your school" Hope teased playfully as she picked up her bag of art supplies and brought it to her closet to unpack and organize it all neatly. Her canvases were set gently on her floor under her rack of clothing.
"I don't need to give a sales pitch. You already enrolled" the siphoner teased back. "I can tell you all about the highs and lows of this school. Besides, what I said is true. It only took a day for everyone to find out about my first episode" she said, her playful expression fading at the memory of all of the whispers that had begun about her. Whispers that had only increased after she disappeared for a week.
Hope frowned a little at that. "People suck," she said and sighed as she finished putting the paints on a section of her shelf.
"Yes, they do" Lizzie agreed and laid back on Hope's bed, staring at the ceiling in thought. Finally, she turned to face Hope. "So what happened while Josie and I were gone? Any new monsters?"
"Oh, yeah. You missed a lot. The necromancer, the one that temporarily brought Jo back, played tricks on me while I was in his head, sent the monster-attracting dagger to Malivore, and disappeared. Then Landon and I went to try to find his mother and get some answers, and we did, activating the second monster-attracting artifact in the process. A couple of monsters came. We killed them. The urn got taken by someone, probably Triad since whoever took it was human" Hope explained as she continued to organize her stuff a bit.
"Alright, that's a messy summary. I get that it's the basics, but explain it more to me later" Lizzie said.
The tribrid nodded. "Oh, and Landon is a phoenix. He died and came back to life, rising from the ashes of his body."
"Well, clearly you've all been very busy. And I kind of wish I was there to see it, but I'm also grateful for the relaxing vacation that was much needed."
"Well, it's good you enjoyed it since we are one artifact away from a supernatural apocalypse"
Lizzie frowned at that. "Well, you know how to ruin a mood. What do you mean apocalypse?" She asked, sitting up.
Hope set down her now empty bag before taking a seat on her bed, where she began to explain to Lizzie the details of what she had missed while she was visiting her mom.
Meanwhile, Josie was in her bedroom, unpacking her bags as she tried to figure out what to say to Finch. They had just gotten together when Josie left to go to another country, and the siphoner wasn't even sure they were properly together. The idea of starting anything with anyone was terrifying after how her last relationship turned out, but she liked spending time with Finch. and every time she thought about how it felt to kiss her, her heart raced a bit. The werewolf excited her in a way that no one had since Penelope, and the siphoner couldn't help but think that maybe it was different, that things would go well for them. But what if it didn't? What if things went wrong and Josie was left in a pile of shattered pieces, having to put herself back together to be alright enough to take care of Lizzie?
Caught up in her thoughts and conflicted feelings, she didn't notice the knocks on the door or someone opening the bedroom door to come inside as she put her clothes away.
"Hey, Jo" Finch greeted as she entered the room and walked over to her. "I'm glad you're back"
Josie turned around and smiled a bit at the sight of Finch, despite everything else going on in her mind. "Yeah, I missed you too," she said honestly.
Finch held out her arms for a hug, and Josie hugged her, letting herself enjoy the moment and trying to push away any of the worries that threatened to spoil the reunion. She closed her eyes, glad her newfound sort of girlfriend was here with her. The girl who pushed her to be bold even though it didn't go well last time. The werewolf that made Josie feel things she wasn't sure she could let herself feel again after being heartbroken by Penelope.
Finally, Finch pulled away and looked at Josie. "I wanted to contact you, but I wasn't sure how without bothering Dr Saltzman. And he has been grieving too. Besides, I didn't want to interrupt."
"Thanks. Yeah, I'll, uh, get you my mom's phone number in case Lizzie and I go visit her again. That way we can still talk" She smiled a bit at her. "I'm sorry for needing to bail the day after we kissed. It's just-"
"I know," Finch said. "I heard about what happened with your bio mom. And that combined with the being buried... It's a lot. I get why you wanted to go see your mom"
Josie smiled a bit more at that and looked down before looking back at Finch, the smile gone. "I'm currently unpacking, but maybe after that, we can grab a bite to eat?"
Finch grinned at that and nodded in agreement. "I'd like that"
Pleased by that answer, Josie continued unpacking until she was done, and then the two headed downstairs to get something to eat.
After talking to Lizzie, Hope headed over to Landon's room and headed inside since the door was partially open. Only when she saw two faces turn in her direction did she realize she had interrupted a conversation.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Hope said softly, looking at them. "I'll come back later."
"No, I was just about to head out," Rafael said as he walked towards the door and stopped near Hope. "You're Hope, right?"
"Yeah. And you're... Rafael" Hope recalled from the very brief time they had met him while the football game was going on before their tour.
Rafael grinned and nodded. "I'll give you two some privacy, but I'll talk to you later," he said before heading passed Hope and out of the room.
Hope watched Rafael go before heading over to Landon. "He seems nice," she said, taking a seat on Landon's bed and looking up at him.
"Yeah, he is" Landon agreed, moving his duffle bag off of his bed before taking a seat beside her. "I take it you've gotten all unpacked?"
Hope nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. I mean most of it. I organized my art supplies in my closet while Lizzie paid a visit. She and Josie just got back from seeing their mother. I had a lot to catch her up on."
"And how did she take me dying and coming back to life in a burst of flames?" Landon asked with a chuckle. It was easier for him to focus on the startling return to life and laugh about it than to think about his death and how it had felt taking what he thought was his last breath. If he was being honest, he wouldn't have thought too much about it in his last moment before. He had things he wanted to do and never exactly wanted to die, but his life wasn't exactly full of life. Not until Hope moved to town. It made his reasons to want to live to grow considerably, which meant it hurt knowing he would die before he got to do more things with her.
"Honestly, years ago, it was pretty normal for dead Mystic Falls citizens to come back to life. But coming back in a burst of flames and being a phoenix is new and surprising" Hope said, taking Landon's hand and looking at him. The memories of him being dead still haunted her, but being around him holding his hand, and having reassurance his return was real helped her be able to handle how it had affected her.
"And who all exactly died and came back to life?" Landon asked, looking at her curiously.
"I'm not sure. Freya talked to me a little about what she knew about the town, but she and Keelin were family members who never really came to Mystic Falls until they brought me. Unlike Rebekah, Kol, and - and my parents and Elijah. But I can't ask them" Her voice grew quieter at the mention of her parents.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Hope said, though the lights flickered a little, making her lie obvious.
"You don't need to talk about it, but I'm here if you change your mind," Landon told Hope as he looked at her.
She put her hand on his cheek and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his for a moment before pulling away. "Thank you," she said softly as she let go of him. "We don't start classes until tomorrow, so I thought maybe we could get used to this place together"
"I'd like that. What exactly do you have in mind?"
"I don't know. I mean, the kitchen obviously because we'll need to get food. I caught a glimpse of a beautiful dock we could get a closer look at. And we can see what all is in the library." Hope suggested.
"Those are all good ideas. And I'd like to see your room. It's only fair since you get to see mine" Landon pointed out with a chuckle.
"You are going to see it tonight. That is, if you want to stay over like you did back at my house" Hope said, looking at him.
"I'd like that a lot," Landon said softly as he looked at her.
"Good" She didn't want to explain and tell him how much better it felt having him right there beside her at night. How much it soothed her after her nightmares of losing him. Of being right there next to his body and thinking that he would wake up. Just the sound of his beating heart as she went to sleep helped relax her. But even though she didn't say any of this aloud to him, she knew that he understood.
Landon saw through to her and whatever he didn't, she found herself telling him even though he didn't push her. But in this case, she didn't have to say it out loud. They both knew exactly why she needed to sleep beside him now more than ever. She needed the reassurance he was alive, that it wasn't all a dream she had gotten him back. It was real. He was really here.
Landon's face softened a bit more at the sight of her expression, and he wrapped an arm around her, holding her close to him. Hope snuggled into his embrace and closed her eyes, listening to his steady heartbeat. The phoenix kissed the top of her head and just continued to hold her.
While Finch and Josie were eating in the mess hall, the werewolf asked her girlfriend, "So how was the trip with your mom? I mean, I know it was mostly to get away after what happened on your birthday, but did you-"
"-have a good time?" Josie finished for her. "Yeah, I guess you could say I did. It was nice seeing her. I haven't really gotten to do that much since she started living in Europe to get more people to join the schools"
"Can't she get other people to do that? I mean, I know parents aren't always ideal. I had to get myself emancipated. But from what I can tell, your mom is a good mom. So why is she living in another country while you're both here? That kind of takes split custody to another level."
"She's doing good work. I miss her... A lot. And I know Lizzie misses her a lot too. But we understand. It's better than not seeing her at all" Josie pointed out. "She's our mom. And she makes sure to come for all of the holidays. And we spend the summers with her."
Finch nodded a bit, not pushing the subject even though it still didn't really make sense that Caroline Forbes was willingly away from her daughters most of the year. It felt like it had to be more than just recruitment. Unless, of course, she wasn't as good a mother as it sounded like. "How long has she been in Europe? Doing recruitments."
"Two years" Josie said. "She started heading out on trips soon before Klaus Mikaelson died. And then the trips just got longer. Part of me thinks it has to do with him. I mean I know he had a thing for her. And she kept his dress. But the other part of me knows she has been working on stuff for the schools. Progress has been made."
"Maybe it's a bit of both. A mix of grief and work" Finch said as she took a bite of her food. "I don't know her so I can't make a well educated guess or anything, but that makes sense. People pull away when they're grieving. And she already lost Stefan Salvatore, right?"
"Yeah, she did" Josie confirmed. "When Lizzie and I were little."
"Exactly. Losing another person she cares about can't have been easy" Finch said, remembering distinctly when she had activated her werewolf gene by unknowingly causing the death of her family member. Her gaze lowered, and she fell silent, grief hitting her hard again. She took a deep breath and pushed that memory back down the best she could. She had kept it so buried until she got to the school. Until she found out why she was a werewolf. Then it all had come crashing back and crushing her. She had gained controlled of that grief because she had to. But in times like this, she supposed it was reasonable that it would resurface.
Her appetite lost, Finch pushed her plate a little away, glad she had gotten most of her food eaten before she got reminded of the time she had basically killed her grandfather while he was on his deathbed.
"Are you okay?" Josie asked, looking at Finch in concern.
"I'm fine" Finch said, collecting herself. "I'm done eating though. So once you're done, maybe we could go for a walk."
"That sounds like a good idea to me" Josie said and finished eating.
Once they put away their dishes, the two headed out of the school and towards the woods. They made some small talk, talking about the things they did while Josie was out of town. Josie told Finch about the sights she had seen and the food she had eaten, and Finch told Josie about how she had started getting along with the pack, even Jed, who she had started to understand despite having a rocky beginning with him.
Finally, Josie asked Finch a question that had been bothering her since she had left the country. "So, my mom asked me if I was dating anyone, and I mentioned you, but I - I also told her I wasn't sure what to call you" she admitted as she stopped and looked at Finch.
The werewolf stopped in her tracks as well and turned to face the siphoner. "Well, I was thinking... girlfriend?" She watched her, waiting for a reaction on her face.
Josie lit up at that and smiled brightly. "Really?"
Finch smiled back at her and nodded. "Yeah" she confirmed.
Josie beamed at that and kissed her, drawing her closer to her to. Both girls smiled into the kiss, neither of them particularly wanting to let go as they held onto each other. Finally, Josie pulled away and rested her head against Finch's, the smile continuing to stretch across both of their faces. Finch pulled away eventually, and the two continued walking and talking, happy about the new status in their relationship.