Searching for Always and Forever

Chapter 22

Hope had a soundless sleep next to her sister, but when morning came, her reality hit her. She didn't want to go to breakfast and accidentally run into Freya. She asked Grace to take care of the little ones while she deals with some stuff. Grace knew something was up with Hope, but she didn't ask again. Hope was going to tell her, when she could figure out how. She missed the kids too, and hadn't seen them since the previous breakfast when they had a little fight. She knew she should go talk to them, but her head was still spinning and she just needed alone time to think. As Grace left for breakfast, Hope dressed in regular clothes. She wasn't going to attend classes that day, she didn't need her uniform. She walked outside to get some fresh air. She walked to the dock and sat down. She knew it would be empty, everyone was either still sleeping or having breakfast.

The morning was chilli but the sun was shining brightly. Surely it was going to be a beautiful warm day. She sat on the edge of the dock, taking in deep cleansing breaths from the crispy air.

"Is this seat taken?" Hope was startled by his voice. She turned to him suddenly, not expecting him to be there. He looked beautiful as always. Hope couldn't stop but smile at the sight of Landon. She patted the place next to her on the dock.

"Are you missing breakfast?" Hope asked.

"I grabbed these." He had a couple protein bars in his hand. "Want one?" He handed one to Hope.

"Thanks." She was actually thankful. She was hungry but didn't want to be in the school.

"Are you ditching school today?" Landon asked as she looked at Hope who didn't wear her uniform.

"That's the plan." She said as she opened the bar and bit into it.

"Can I ditch school with you?" Landon smiled at Hope.

"You could get in trouble." Hope chuckled, but Landon just shrugged.

"Do you have any plans?"

"Not really, I just wanna be as far away from this place today as possible." Hope replied with a tone of sadness.

"Do you like milkshakes?" Landon asked and Hope nodded uncertainty. "I know the best place for them in town. Can I buy you one?"

"Why not." Hope smiled, then Landon stood up, held his hand out to Hope who grabbed into it. He pulled Hope up and they walked to the bus stop, hand in hand.

They sat in Mystic Grill. Landon ordered a bunch of breakfast food and some milkshakes. He told Hope he used to work at the place and it turned out his former boss really liked him and whenever he visited the boss would give him a huge discount on the food.

"Peanut butter blast with whipped cream on the bottom?" Landon asked Hope after she placed her order.

"It's the best." Hope laughed, but her laugh didn't last long. There was this heavy feeling on her mind that didn't let her be happy and free.

"Are you okay?" Landon asked in a concerned voice as he noticed Hope's mood change.

"Yeah..." Hope nodded. "I don't know actually, I try not to think about it... about the fact that... you know... " Hope sighed loudly. "You know you were right."

"I'm sorry it must be very difficult to learn all these new stuff about your background."

"I don't even know who I am anymore or what I am. Am I still a werewolf?" Hope asked with fear in her eyes and Landon took her hand in his and rubbed it gently for comfort. Hope got used to this by now. She loved his big hands and the way he touched hers.

"Of course you are a wolf. And you know who you are, you don't change overnight. You are brilliant, gorgeous, fierce, a little stubborn and a tiny bit hotheaded." Landon chuckled and Hope just smiled. "But when I see you around your siblings, you are soft and kind and so protective of them. You have such a big heart, Hope. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been to take care of them all these years, you are truly amazing." Hope smiled and blushed. She liked the way Landon saw her but she didn't want it to be a big deal.

"Does everyone know about this at school now?" Hope asked and Landon shrugged. Grace was chatty like that so yeah... probably everyone knew. "It wasn't a big deal, someone had to do it... besides Grace was a big help."

"It is a big deal. You did much more for your siblings than some parents would ever do for their own children."

"Okay, stop it. That's not true... my parents would've done much better with the kids... any parent would have." Hope raised her voice. She didn't really want to talk about this anymore. Sure it was really hard sometimes with the kids, but she didn't want to be praised for something that she had to do. It's not like she had a choice. She wasn't going to abandon them... and that's when it hit her. That Landon was a foster kid... she should've been more careful with her words.

"Not any... my mother threw me away the day I was born. The fact that you loved them and gave them a family where they belonged was plenty enough. That's all I ever wanted growing up." He looked broken and Hope felt so stupid for saying that.

"I'm sorry Landon." Hope felt awful but Landon gave her a reassuring smile as they held hands.

"It's okay. I grew up anyway. And I met Raf. He was my protector in the worst homes."

"Well, you don't need much protection. You took down a werewolf with your bare hands... and powers." Hope chuckled.

"Yeah..." Landon smiled at her. "Although my powers only started to manifest after I died the first time." He shrugged and Hope looked shocked.

"You died?"

"Yeah... one of the vampires from school killed me... then I resurrected from my own ashes. That's when we realized I was a Phoenix."

"Wow... so you are immortal? Like vampires?"

"Yeah but I don't need to drink blood or anything like that." He laughed.

"Thank god! That sounds pretty gross." She laughed with him, then her mind slipped to her recent problems. She sighed loudly as she stopped laughing.

"It's not that gross." Landon said kindly, he probably knew where Hope's thoughts were... that one day she would be a vampire... immortal, drinking blood and such. "And look at the bright side. If you ever turn to a vampire, I'll always be around to have a milkshake with you. You can count on me tomorrow, a year from now or a hundred years from now... who knows."

"I will definitely take you up on that offer."

They chatted for a while. They tried not to talk about heavy subjects or Hope's new dilemma anymore. Hope really tried to have fun, as much as she could in the situation. She would have to deal with all the shit sooner or later, so for now she tried to avoid the subject and Landon didn't force her to talk about it. After they left Mystic Grill the weather got warmer so they decided to walk around town's square. They were walking hand in hand. Hope felt like she never wanted to let go of his hands, let go of him.

"Thank you, Landon." Hope looked at him and they stopped under a huge tree in the park. Landon looked confused. "For spending the day with me. It's just... so much easier with you around."

"I'll ditch school any day if it means I can spend my time with you." He said and cupped Hope's face with one hand, holding her hand with the other. He traced her jawline with his thumb and stopped right under her lips. They were looking into each other's eyes, then he dropped his eyes to her lips. Hope wanted it so bad, she needed his kiss, but she didn't want to make any move, she was afraid he'd think she did it for the same reasons as last time. Hope was staring at his lips now. It was so hard to not give in to the temptation. His lips looked gorgeous as ever. She felt his thumbs brush across her lower lip and Hope shuddered at the feeling. Then within a second he crushed his lips into hers. Hope let his hand go and held onto his neck with both hands as she kissed him back gently, letting their lips move and melt to their own accord. Landon held Hope by her waist, keeping the support she needed as Hope slid one hand up into his curly hair. It was a heavenly feeling as his soft and full lips were kissing hers. It wasn't about lust and want like it was that time in the Old Mill. It was about them and the beautiful and exciting feeling of the start of something new.