What her heart desires

Chapter 1

Hope and Josie have spent the better part of their lives not getting along. They've bickered, they've called each other names. They haven't been the best of friends.

But things started to change that day in the park when they had to go around clearing garbage from the Town Centre. To Josie, it felt as though they were bonding for the first time. She'd hoped that the other girl thought so too.

She knew Hope felt the same when it came to her seventeenth birthday. When she saw an envelope hidden under her pillow. She knew Hope felt the new bond when she opened that envelope and saw the note. She knew, Josie knew, when she saw the beautiful necklace that was gifted to her. She knew, after Hope had gone through all that struggle just for her. And she couldn't help feeling special when she realized Hope hadn't gotten Lizzie anything.

But it wasn't just a necklace. It had a deeper, more personal meaning, and she found that out when it saved her life.

Josie truly knew Hope was a friend when she sang at the school talent show. She was nervous, terrified even. The people performing on her were relying on her singing to keep their dance on track. The crowd was filled with every other student in the school. Everybody was looking at her, but she focused. She sang her heart out, and when the performance was over, all she saw was Hope clapping and cheering for her. It had been an eventful day, but seeing Hope supportive of her, it made it better.

Josie was worried the friendship would be ruined before it even had a chance to fully develop the day that they fought the mummy. Lizzie for some unknown reason decided to bring up the fire in Hope's dorm from years ago, believing it was some sort of self-sabotage. Of course Josie knew the truth, and when she admitted to what really happened, she thought that would be it. She was sure Hope would yell at her, would hate her, especially after she had admitted earlier in the day that the fire had taken the art that she'd created with her father. Except that was not her reaction at all. Hope smiled at Josie and continued living as if nothing had happened. That was her forgiveness, which Josie didn't fully feel she deserved, but it was something she had. Hope's forgiveness. She thinks that might be where it started. Josie thinks that is what lit the first spark in her, she just wasn't aware of it at the time.

It all came together for Josie, like pieces of a puzzle, on the day of the Miss Mystic Falls dance. Lizzie had picked Hope to fill in for her after a situation came up. Josie was angry about it at first. She'd wanted to do it. She had wanted to be the one gifted Lizzie's plan so that she could follow in her mother's footsteps, instead of being some pawn Lizzie could use to help Hope win. When it came to the big performance, when she saw Hope in her mother's dress, she should've been jealous. Josie should've been even angrier that Lizzie had given it to Hope and not her, but that is not what she had felt at all. No. All Josie could do was admire how Hope looked. She could only watch as Hope danced with somebody else, as she swayed around looking perfect. Josie could only admire how the color and the shape of the dress highlighted all of Hope's natural beauty.

That's when it happened. That was her oh crap moment. As Josie was dancing with Penelope, that's when it clicked that it wasn't Penelope she actually wanted to be dancing with. It was Hope. She realized then that she liked Hope, in aa way that was more than a friend should. She knew that her realization would change everything for her. She knew that it would make things harder and infinitely more complicated, but she couldn't help it. Hope ignited something in her.

So yes, Josie knew she liked Hope, but she only realized the extent of her feelings during the Triad attack on the school. When she was locked up with her sister and Hope, when she was dying, she and Lizzie were telling Hope that she had to go save Landon and that they would be fine. Except, Josie was dying. And when she looked into Hope's eyes, all she wanted to do was beg her to stay. Because selfishly, she needed Hope by her side. If she was going to die, she wanted Hope there to hold her hand. Yet she stayed quiet because her selflessness would never let that happen. Not when somebody else had needed Hope's help far more than she did.