Secrecy (Hosie)

Part 62: Merciless

Note: Thank you for 14k! Decided to be a little less brutal with this chapter since you all have been so kind in comments and messages ;) Hope you enjoy!

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They say grief occurs in five stages.
First, there's denial, followed by anger.
Then comes bargaining and depression...

For most, the final stage of grief would be acceptance... The acceptance of loss, and a general understanding of how that loss is changing you and the way you carry yourself.
This stage doesn't necessarily directly correlate with happiness... But it tends to provide a sense of hope...

But for Hope...Grief seems like a life sentence without potential for pardon.
She can't accept the losses she's faced, especially when she believes she could've done more to prevent them from happening.
She won't forgive either. Her father was seen as a merciless man, and he always wanted her to be different...to prove to be merciful and forgiving.
But she won't be able to forgive this time.
Not until the monster who killed her best friend lies dead at her feet.

It's her grief that is truly merciless.
Just when she thinks she's free, she realizes she never stood a chance against it.

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Josie and Hope eventually make their way out of the ballroom together, after sharing a long dance, and Josie allowing Hope to cry on her shoulder.

And it helped, at least for now.

Their families are relieved when they reenter the great room.

Alaric stands to his feet, helping Caroline up as well, "We should probably get going. It's getting late and I have a feeling the students won't enforce curfew on their own."

He walks over to Hope, pulling her into a tight embrace.

Next comes Caroline, who leaves a motherly kiss to the top of her head as well, "You call if you need anything at all, okay?"

"I will, thank you Caroline."

When Caroline lets her go, Lizzie practically tackles the girl.

Hope lets out a small chuckle, "I'll be okay, Lizzie. Don't worry about me."

Lizzie pulls away and gives her a weary nod, "I love you."

"I love you too."

Lizzie pulls away, but still holds onto Hope's hand as Alaric addresses the girl again, "Hope, we've still got the rest of Raf's things at the school. If you'd like to come by the school sometime to go through it, just let me know. Your friends from Mystic Falls High can come too, we'll just have to make sure the students don't use their powers."

Hope nods, "Thank you. I'll talk to them and let you know."

Alaric nods, and Hope turns to Josie, seeing the worry in her eyes.

Caroline and Freya share a knowing look before Freya turns to Josie while cradling Nik in her arms, "Actually Josie, if you'd like to stay tonight, I'm sure Nik would love to spend the extra time with you before we all head back to New Orleans in the morning."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course sweetheart."

Josie turns to Hope, who also gives her a nod.
"Okay, I'd love to. Thank you Freya."

With that, Josie tells her family goodnight as they leave the manor.

Josie and Hope take Nik up to Hope's room as the Mikaelson family gets ready for bed, playing with him for a while until he looks exhausted, so Hope makes down the bed and the three lay together, with Hope telling him one of the bedtime stories her father told her when she was little.