Secrecy (Hosie)

Part 60: Family

After the Mikaelson's, Josie and Lizzie arrive at the Mikaelson Manor, they all separate to get changed into some more comfortable clothes that are less...funereally.

Alaric and Caroline pull into the driveway just before Hope and Josie make their way up the staircase to change as well, so Lizzie leaves the two girls to go get her own clothes from her parents.

Hope guides Josie up the stairs and into her bedroom.

Josie studies Hope carefully as she walks toward her dresser to grab Josie some of her clothes, since Hope hasn't said a word since they all left the cemetery.

Josie knows Hope is overwhelmed, so she doesn't want to push her to talk about Raf right now.

She hesitates for a moment before finally settling on a different topic to distract Hope, "You know, I haven't been back here since you told me you're a Mikaelson."

Hope grabs a t-shirt and some shorts from the drawer for Josie before turning around to face her, "That was an...eventful night."

Josie nods, offering a small smile as Hope hands over the clothes, "Thank you."

Josie can tell that Hope is contemplating something for a moment, with the way her eyebrows furrow subtly, so she waits for her to voice whatever it is.

"I know that you and I haven't really had a chance to talk about...us, since that night, and we sort of completely disregarded the boundaries we set when we said we'd take time apart so you could think about everything."

Josie raises an eyebrow at her, "Technically, distancing ourselves from one another was your idea, not mine."

Hope laughs lightly, "Yeah, I guess you're right...That was a pretty dumb idea, huh?"

Josie smiles as she reaches up to caress Hope's cheek, "Well, it might have been a little bit impractical."

Hope's voice falls to a whisper as Josie steps closer to her, "Really? How's that?"

The flirtatious tone of Hope's voice is reassuring to Josie, it lets her know that she's actually managed to distract Hope from everything going on outside of this room, relieved her from the burden of her grief for just a moment.

"It's impossible for me to stay away from you, Hope."

"I guess that means we should probably talk about us then?"

Josie leans in until their lips are only a few inches apart, "Yeah, we definitely should...later."

Hope smiles and nods in agreement before closing the small gap between them, finally capturing Josie's lips in her own.
It's almost like a cure for the pain she's felt recently, an escape from the void she's been trapped in. Finally something that feels good and right.
And it's Josie. It's always Josie.

She melts into the kiss, feeling Josie tangle her fingers in her auburn curls as Hope wraps her arms around Josie's waist, deepening their kiss without a second thought.

Their lips mold together, each tugging and pulling lightly at each other, neither able to get enough of the taste and feeling of the other.

"Love, we've got the food almost ready, are you—"

Rebekah stops in her tracks at the doorframe, and contrary to her own desires, Hope forces herself of pull away from their kiss abruptly, stepping a bit away from Josie in the process.

When Rebekah crosses her arms maternally in the doorway, shooting a stern look at her niece, Josie clears her throat, unnecessarily putting another step between herself and Hope, "Um, I was just..about to go into one of the guest rooms to change clothes."

"Great idea." Her tone is less polite than usual, definitely more stern and intimidating.
Rebekah moves to the side as Josie makes her way out of the room after glancing toward Hope one last time, who crosses her own arms as she looks to her aunt.

Once Josie is out of sight and down the hall, Hope finally addresses her aunt, "You didn't have to be rude to her."

"Oh please, if she were anyone else, I would've ripped her head off. You're just lucky I like her."

Hope knows that's true. If Rebekah would've walked in on her with anyone else, they'd be dead in seconds.

Rebekah sighs in the doorway, "I'll leave you to get changed. I'll expect you downstairs shortly."

With that, Rebekah goes back downstairs, and Hope gets dressed into more comfortable clothes before heading downstairs as well.

When she walks into the kitchen, though, she's greeted by the sight of Josie in her clothes, helping Freya with the food at the stove, holding baby Nik on one hip at the same time.

They're laughing at something Kol said before Hope entered, surrounded by both of their families.
And Hope can't help but stare in awe at Josie with an endearing smile.

Despite the fact that they're all here because of the funeral earlier, this is absolute bliss.

As she looks around the room, she sees one big family, the people she loves most.

But, she's sees something else too.

She sees people that her growing enemies can target.

She sees people that make her vulnerable.

Each one of them is yet another person that she could lose.

And that terrifies her.

Josie catches sight of Hope staring, seeing a glimpse of that fear buried deep in her ocean blue eyes.

Hope walks over to her, leaning down to leave a kiss on Nik's head before doing the same to Josie's cheek as their families continue to cut up and have a good time around them.

"You okay?"

Another reminder that Josie can see right through her, knows her better than anyone in the world.

But despite her tumultuous emotions and unraveling fear, she nods.
Because she is okay, at least for this moment.
As odd as it may be, on the day of her best friend's funeral, she's actually happy.
Because she still has family, because she still has friends, and because she still has Josie.

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Note: I hope everyone is still enjoying. Thank you to everyone who continues to read/like/comment, you're the reason I keep this story going. A story meant to last 20 chapters is already now to 60, and I'm nowhere near out of ideas, so thank you for all of the inspiration and encouragement!