I Won't Give Up - Hosie

Jade

Hope hangs up the phone and can't clear her head of all the worries about Josie. She decides to head down to the hotel bar to calm her nerves with a drink. Or two, or three.

After a few too many drinks, a pretty blonde across the bar catches her eye. Hope doesn't plan on acting on it, she plans on finishing her drink and having a quiet night in her hotel room.

But of course, things don't go according to plan.

"Hey, beautiful," the blonde approaches. "What's your name?"

"Andrea," Hope answers.

"Well, Andrea, you're pretty cute. Why don't I buy us another round, then we can head up to my room?" she suggests.

Hope lets out a small laugh. "Okay."

Hope wakes up the next morning with a pounding headache.

"What the fuck happened last night?" she asks herself as she rubs her temples.

"You and I had a pretty good time," the girl next to her responds with a yawn.

Hope begins to pull on her shirt and pants.

"Gotta head back so soon to the wife, Hope Mikaelson?"

Hope quickly turns to face the blonde.

"How do you know my name?" 

"Looking for this?" the blonde holds up Hope's wallet with her license in it, effectively answering Hope's question.

"I'm Jade by the way," she tosses the wallet to Hope.

"Thanks for last night, Jade, but I've got a flight to catch," she darts out of the room.

Hope flies back to Mystic Falls and unpacks her bag into her apartment. She's supposed to go over to Josie's later to help with some baby furniture, but she's not really feeling it right now.

H: Feeling a little more tired from my trip than I thought I'd be. Can I get a raincheck on baby furniture duty today?

Josie responds by liking the message, which is good enough for Hope, who plops herself down on her bed and quickly falls asleep.

The next afternoon, Hope shows up at Josie's and is quieter than usual.

She says a short hello but then heads straight into the baby's room to start on the furniture. Josie follows and stands in the doorway, watching as Hope silently pulls all of the parts out of the box and begins flipping through an instruction manual.

"How was your trip?" Josie asks.

"Fine," Hope doesn't look up from what she's doing.

Josie nods her head and stands there for a second before speaking again.

"Are you mad at me for having Penelope over the other night? Cause if you are, I have a right to hang out with whoever I want. You don't own me."

"No, I'm not mad at you for anything," Hope shakes her head.

"Okay, so then what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. Fuck!" Hope yells after her grip on a tool slips and she cuts her hand.

Josie walks into the kitchen and grabs a paper towel. She walks back and hands it to Hope who presses it to her hand and says thanks, but her eyes never meet Josie's.

"So what, you're not even going to look at me?" Josie is getting annoyed with Hope's closed-off attitude.

"Can you please just leave me alone and let me finish this?" Hope snaps.

"Okay, alright," Josie exits the room in a huff.

Hope comes out of the nursery a few hours later. Josie is quietly humming to herself while folding laundry on the couch.

Hope walks over and takes a seat beside her.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier," Hope apologizes. "I've just been stressed thinking about the baby and work and being away from you both. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

"You could always make dinner," Josie suggests with a small smile. "Your son and I are starving."

"You got it," Hope gives her hand a squeeze and then makes her way into the kitchen.

Josie continues doing the laundry when Hope's phone buzzes on the coffee table in front of her.

The name Jade comes up on the screen.

"Hope, you're getting a phone call," Josie shouts across the apartment.

"Don't worry about it, probably just someone from work."

Josie ignores the call and lets it go to voicemail, but then this Jade person calls again. And again. And again.

"Who's Jade?" Josie questions as she walks into the kitchen to confront Hope.

"I think it's the name of a girl I met at a bar the other day."

"Why the hell has she been calling you?" she asks angrily.

"I might have left my jacket in her room," Hope says honestly. "The hotel gave her my number, and now that she knows I'm 'Hope Mikaelson' she won't stop calling me."

"You slept with her? This is so much worse than I thought."

"Why? You had Penelope over. Like you said before, you have a right to hang out with whoever you want. I do too. I don't see what the big deal is."

"The big deal is Penelope and I are just friends, and we aren't having sex! And even if we were, it's not like Penelope could get pregnant!"

"Neither can Jade because we used protection."

"Like you and I did?" Josie crosses her arms. "If you met someone and fell in love with them, then, as much as it might hurt me, I guess I'd have to learn to live with it. But having a drunken one-night stand with a stranger at a hotel while we're expecting a baby is just irresponsible!"

"Josie, please calm down," Hope sighs. "Stress isn't good for the baby."

"No, I will not calm down! Were you planning on ditching me if she got pregnant too?"

"No, of course not."

"Don't say it like that, like it's so obvious," Josie is furious with her. "You know what, go home, Hope."

"What?" Hope blinks in confusion.

"If you're not going to live your life like our baby is your top priority, then it's best if you leave."

Hope can't believe what she's hearing. She's put her life on hold for the past few weeks to prepare for her baby.

Now it's all crumbling down.

"You want me to leave? Fine, I'll leave," Hope storms out the door with tears in her eyes.