Secrecy (Hosie)

Part 36: Rapport

"I can't believe you're making me go to this stupid lock-in."

Rebekah rolls her eyes as she grabs her car keys before following Hope out the front door, "You need to get out of the house. Plus, this is for Mystic Falls High and the Salvatore Boarding House, all of your friends will be attending."

It's been a few days since Rafael and Josie came by for breakfast, and Hope has actually tried to be more responsive to everyone's messages and calls.

Josie has been waiting for Lizzie to fall asleep each night to call Hope. They try to talk like ordinary friends would, avoiding any topics that are remotely romantic or intimate. They talk about surface level things for a while, like the damn weather or their assignments for school, before inevitably falling into deeper conversations. Still, they have understood boundaries in place, and neither of them have violated them...not yet at least.

"Yes, all of my friends, locked in a building with me, a literal monster magnet. Seems perfectly safe to me." There's sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Emma and Cleo cast a barrier spell around the campus of Mystic Falls High. No monsters will be able to pass through. And if you behave, you won't even have to stay overnight. This is a wonderful extra credit opportunity."

"I don't need extra credit, Auntie Bex. I'm making straight A's."

Hope and Rebekah get into the car, with Rebekah in the driver's seat, "Congratulations, you're still going."

Hope sighs frustratedly, "And why exactly are you going?"

Rebekah smiles proudly as she begins to drive toward the high school, "I volunteered to chaperone. I never got to do this kind of stuff with you before, and now I sort of have an excuse to, so I'm using it."

Hope furrows her eyebrows at her aunt, "Are you sure this is a good idea? People might question—"

"Darling, Raf and Cleo are the only students who know my relation to you, and your Salvatore School friends just think I'm being a source of generous supervision for you."

"Great, so I'm a charity case in their eyes."

"Pretty much, but at least we get to spend some time together outside of the house without too many burning questions."

Hope sighs, she knows her aunt is really looking forward to this, being a chaperone for her niece for the first time, spending time together in front of many people, "Are you sure you don't just want to go to dinner or see a movie? Doing a bunch of student bonding exercises will probably take away from our attempt at quality time."

Rebekah shakes her head, "Darling, we've had plenty of dinners and movie nights together. They're wonderful, but this will be a whole new experience for us."

Hope takes a moment to scan her aunt's expression, her resolve somewhat chipping away, "This is really important to you, isn't it?"

Rebekah puts the car in park as they approach Hope's previous high school.
She nods and gives Hope a most sincere look, "Love, you're the most important person in my life, and we've spent the past 18 years in the shadows so that we could do things most families get to do publicly each and every day. For once, we have the opportunity to be a family out in the open...sort of."

Hope feels the same desire to be together in the open, she just worries that someone will get hurt because of her attendance, "Are you sure that barrier spell will hold up until we leave?"

"It will last until midnight. As long as we leave before then, no monsters will come on campus."
Bex watches as Hope hesitates for another moment. She lets out a small sigh, "Look, if you truly don't want to do this, we can go back home and have a girls' night. I just thought it would be nice for us to get out and spend time around all of your friends."