Secrecy (Hosie)

Part 66: Recursive

Josie opens her bedroom door, finding Lizzie sitting on her bed.

Lizzie doesn't notice her sister's presence until she shuts the door.
Hs glances briefly at her before returning her gaze to her phone, "You're still flaunting Hope's clothes, I see. So, I assume your little sleepover went well?"

"Mhm," her tone is more giddy and cheerful than Lizzie anticipated.

She eyes the brunette more intently and curiously as she practically waltzes over to their dresser to get herself some clothes.

When Josie feels her sister's burning gaze, she sighs and turns to face her, finally shedding a little more detail, "I told Hope that I want to be with her. Officially, I mean."

"Really? How'd that go?"

A lovestruck smile overtakes Josie's lips, "Great...Really great, actually."

Lizzie smiles to her, "I'm really happy for you Jo."

"Thanks Lizzie," Josie goes into the bathroom to get dressed.

When she comes out, Lizzie still eyes her curiously, since Josie is still waltzing around like she's in cloud 9.

"Okay, did Hope propose or something?"

"No, she didn't propose Lizzie."

At this point, Josie is very obviously trying to get Lizzie to notice the set of keys in her hand, but her sister isn't as observant as Josie thought.

When Lizzie goes back to looking at her phone, Josie mentally facepalms before heading over to the other side of her sister's bed, jingling the keys the entire time.

Lizzie still doesn't seem to notice, so Josie let's out a dramatic sigh, still fumbling with the keys, literally right next to Lizzie.

But Lizzie still doesn't pay any attention to her.

God, how much more obvious does she have to be?

Another loud sigh, and Lizzie shoots her the side eye,  "Do you need, like, an oxygen mask or something?"
The keys finally catch her eye, and she sits straight up in the bed, taking them from her sister's hands, "Josie, what the fuck?!"

Her smile grows impossibly wider, even more lovestruck, "Hope gave me a set of keys..."

"To her houses?!"

"No to her safe deposit box," Josie rolls her eyes sarcastically, "Yes, to her houses."

"So she asked you to move in?"

"Yes! Well—okay, not exactly..." Lizzie raises an eyebrow at her, "But she did say I could come and go as I please, which is basically the same thing, right? I mean, obviously I'll still stay here on school nights..."

"So how did Mom and Dad react to this?"

Josie's jaw slacks briefly, "Here's the thing—"

"You haven't told them yet, have you?"

Josie sighs in defeat, "There's no way they'd let me stay with Hope, unsupervised. And I really don't want another sex talk from mom."

"Can't blame you there. I'll help you get around mom and dad, but eventually you'll have to tell them. I'm sure they'll be fine. Hope has basically already finished all of her classes to graduate, she's just sticking around for you. And you're way ahead in your classes, so they know you're going to be 'growing your wings' or whatever. And if you want to do that with Hope, then I'm sure they'll be happy for you. I know I am."

Josie smiles gratefully to her sister, "Thanks Lizzie."

"But I get to visit you both for ice cream and twin cuddles, deal?"