When the time to meet Hope came it was Christmas Eve and freezing outside. The brunette didn't know why the girl couldn't pick a warmer spot.
As she walked across the field she saw Hope sitting on one of the rusty benches with her hands stuffed in the pockets of her coat. Josie walked closer to the girl and Hope looked up at her giving her a small smile.
"Hey," the brunette said.
"Hey," the shorter girl said before patting the bench next to her indicating she wanted Josie to sit next to her.
Josie sat next to her and they just stared at each other.
"This is awkward," the brunette said and they both chuckled.
"Yeah sorry I'm not really good at this kinda thing.." Hope said cleaning her throat "I- uh got you a Christmas gift" Josie saw the girl reach into her pocket and pull out a small red box.
"Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't get you anything..." the brunette said feeling bad.
"It's okay, I picked it up at a thrift shop with my mom the other day," she said before handing It to the girl. Josie gave her a small smile and took the red box from Hope's hands, their fingers brushing in the process.
When the taller girl opened the box she gasped at what she saw. It was a talisman, she and Hope had seen this exact one at a store weeks ago and thought it was beautiful. Hope must have remembered.
"I love it... thank you so much Hope" she turned and hugged the girl without even thinking. She felt the girl freeze in her arms.
"Oh god, I'm sorry I..." she went to pull back only to feel Hope wrap her arms around her, hugging her back.
"It's fine, and you're welcome..." she said before pulling back and smiling at the girl.
Josie put the gift into her pocket before turning to the girl "we should talk now... we've put this off long enough."
"Yeah, no you're right... so how should we start."
"Well I want to start by knowing how you feel about me... this is all just so confusing..."
She watched as Hope bit her bottom lip and moved in her seat "I've been asking myself that a lot since the locker room... and the truth is... uh- I think I like you... and you don't have to return my feelings or anything!" She quickly said, "I just wanted to tell you."
Josie sat there for a moment staring at her "Hope... you have a boyfriend."
"I know! And I feel so awful about what I'm doing to him but I can't help how I'm feeling! It's like I got with him because I couldn't have you which I feel bad for even saying."
"Who says you can't have me?"
"What?" Hope looked at her.
"Who says you can't have me..."
Hope suddenly grinned "does this mean..."
"Yes," the brunette "I've also been trying to navigate how I feel... and I've come to realize that I do like you... I've liked you for a while which is probably why I made you my enemy at the start of high school but I do...."
She saw the auburnette lean in but Josie quickly stopped her "I don't think we should do any of that until you break up with Landon... as much as I don't like him cheating on him is wrong."
"You're right" Hope nodded before standing up "I'll break up with him after Christmas."
Josie checked her text messages after receiving a notification "I've got to go, my mom texted, apparently Lizzie is about to burn down our apartment with her attempt at baking cookies" the brunette stood up.
"Yeah I should probably get home too, my Aunts and Uncles should be arriving soon and my mom wants to get family pictures."
"Bye Hope" Josie smiled and turned away.
As she took a few steps she came to a stop when Hope called after her.
"Wait" Hope shouted and Josie turned around, seeing the girl jog up to her.
The shorter girl placed a kiss on her cheek and smiled "bye Josie... and merry Christmas" she said almost shyly before running off.
Josie had the biggest smile on her face as she walked home.
"I'm home" Hope shouted as she dusted the snow off her coat and hung it up.
"My dearest niece!" Rebekah said as she stepped out of the living room and wrapped her arms around the teenager. Hope smiled and hugged the blonde back.
"Hey, Aunt bex" she grinned and pulled back.
"What about me?" Kol said walking out with Freya who was holding her son Aiden. Hope immediately went over and hugged the three of them.
"Hopey!" Aiden said holding his arms out and kicking his legs.
Hope took the toddler out of Freya's hands and held him "you look so big, have you grown since I last saw you."
"Mommy and momma said I grewed 1 inch," he said holding up two fingers.
"Wow, that's so much!" She smiled at the three-year-old.
"Okay everyone let's get a picture of everyone!" Hayley called out from the living room as she set up her camera. The family all went into the living room, Rebekah, Freya, and Hope sat on the couch while Keelin, Kol, and Elijah stood behind them.
"Okay we have 10 seconds," Hayley said quickly running away from the camera that had a timer and standing behind her daughter.
"Everyone say merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas" Everyone said giving their best smiles.
"Okay, now it's time for everyone to get in their Christmas pajamas grandma Esther got," Hayley said.
"Still doing that idiotic tradition I see?" Everyone heard and turned to see Klaus looking at the family with a smirk on his face. Hope rolled her eyes at her father before setting down her little cousin.
"No need to be a grinch Niklaus it is Christmas after all" Rebekah rolled her eyes.
"You're right dear sister, let's start the festivities.'
When Josie walked into her family's apartment she started coughing. Her nostrils were immediately filled with smoke, wow her mother wasn't kidding when she said Lizzie was trying to kill them all with her baking.
"Lizzie please throw that away or do something with it," she said swatting the smoke away.
"There you are, the actual baker in the family" Josies Uncle Kai said coming out of the bathroom.
"You all are so ungrateful! I try to do nice one thing for you all and this is the thanks I get?"
"You're right Lizzie, thank you," their mother said and Lizzie smiled "but please throw that away and spray some air freshener."
Josie chuckled and took out the cookie ingredients "don't worry super Josie will save the day."
