We'll Be Fine

Chapter Eighteen: The Only Exception

Hope's POV:

It had been about 6 days now and I had managed to show Lizzie all the place I went when I was gone for those months. You could see that she understood why Malia meant so much to me and why I had to kill Clarke. I feel that we fell even more in love. She knows me now in ways that Josie and the others never could. She always felt like a part of me but now I think she became the better half of me. She never once let me go too far down the rabbit hole and she kept me sane when I knew I was losing my grip on reality. Looking at her right now as she's sleeping on my chest, hair a mess and snoring. I couldn't have asked for anything better. She is the best for me and no one will ever take me away from her, not even death which brings me to today. 

The week I had planned went off without a hitch. I spent as much time as I could making this fun and exciting and memorable for Lizzie as she did for me. Today was the inevitable that I had been trying to avoid. Lizzie and Caroline were heading back to the school together where they will meet Jo. Jo and Caroline will keep her away from the dining hall as much as they could because that's where I agreed to meet with Alaric. Lizzie doesn't know that tho. Caroline and Josie don't agree with me but they understand that this will not end until he does what he has to do. Freya and Bekah are going with me. We'll head out half an hour after they are gone so I know that there is no way Lizzie will ever be able to stop this. I feel horrible and I wish I could tell her but this is the only way. There is no getting through to him. 

Lizzie had woken up and taken a shower before meeting with her mom in the room she was staying in down the hall. I let her have my father's room seeing as she has been talking about him nonstop recently and it made her happy so no harm, no foul. I made sure everyone sat down at the table together for breakfast that I cooked. I wanted this to all mean something. We all ate and talked and joked around. It was like the good old days when my dad was still here and Elijah and Kol and Marcel. Speaking of Marcel, he just walked in. He heard about what was going to happen by Bekah and decided he wanted to be there too. The four of us kind of bet on who would win in a race in their wolf form, me or Marcel so that's how we were going to get to the school. 

Breakfast came to pass and everyone said their byes for now. I hugged Lizzie and I almost didn't let her go but I knew I had to. Caroline and her raced off and the rest of us waited. The time came and we all headed off. Marcel got a head start but I was able to pass him on the last stretch before the school. He transformed as we broke through the tree line. We waited a minute for the girls to catch up and once we were all together, you could feel the tension and dread coming off of us. I gave them all one last hug before we headed towards the school. I knew as soon as I stepped foot inside, he would know so I made it quick. I used my vamp speed to get to the dining hall undetected. My family following shortly behind me. We stood there in wait. 

A few minutes passed and I could hear him coming. I sealed my emotions off as he came into view. He had the stake in his hand and the fire in his eyes. I could feel the protectiveness coming off of my aunts and uncle but I put my hand behind me to tell them that I got this. They already knew there was no way to stop me. He stepped closer to me but left enough fighting space. "I'm not going to fight you Alaric." I said causing him to look a little surprised. "I'm not going to stop you either. If you think that I should pay for the sins of my father and saving Lizzie's life then do it but I won't fight back." I told me honestly. "You are not the hero in this Hope! Drop the martyr act! You are just like your father! You will ruin all the good that is left in my daughters! You have to be stopped and I am the only one who will do it! No one else sees what you really are but I do and I will not let you hurt anyone again!" He yelled as he stepped closer and closer to me. I didn't flinch. I didn't move. I accept what he needed to do. "Do it then Alaric. Kill me." I said walking into the stake he put against my chest. "Kill me Alaric! Do it! If I'm such a monster then stop me! You say I'm this big bad evil that has to be stopped before I ruin your daughter's lives so do it! Kill me!" I yelled in his face and I could feel the stake pierce my skin a bit. This was it. This is the end.