I Hate the Way...

Part 24: "I'm Drowning in Your Eyes"

"And we have a song, you guys!"

Josie, MG and the band celebrate. Josie finished her lyrics, and they've been working on producing the song.

She's excited and so proud of their work, but suddenly, all she wants to do is tell Hope all about it.

So, she dismisses herself, heading back home—or to Hope's place. She hurries through the door and through the living room, passing by the couch where her sister lays, "Can't talk, gotta call Hope...", going directly to her room.

Lizzie only shakes her head with a grin once Josie has already darted out of the room, "Bitch, you're in love."

Josie hollers back, "I heard that!"

"You were supposed to!" She mumbles under her breath, "Can't say I blame you, either," simply flipping through her magazine.

Josie hears her, rolling her eyes with a scoff as she pulls out her laptop and sends Hope a message, fingers crossed that her wife is able to talk.

She smiles widely when she receives a response, 'Give me 5 minutes, love.'

She hears Lizzie again, "Are you guys having phone sex yet?!"

"That's not why I'm calling her, pervert!"

Lizzie only chuckles to herself, finally leaving the brunette alone.

Josie's smile only grows when she finally receives a call from the Tribrid, "Hi—"

She pauses and her smile slowly fades.
She hears sirens in the background.
Hope has some dirt all over her, though it looks like she tried to clean up a bit before calling Josie.

She looks distressed.

But she clearly tries to hide it from Josie, "Hey, babe,"

Suddenly, Josie forgets all about her reason for calling, more concerned with Hope, "Are you okay?"

Hope pauses for a moment, shifting her gaze elsewhere, "Yeah..." She sighs softly, "Yeah, we just had a rough day training..."

Josie can see that Hope is struggling to fight her emotions.

Hope looks down at the keyboard in front of her, her jaw locked before finally continuing, "We almost lost Maya today, in a flight simulation.."

"Oh my god..Is-Is she gonna be okay?"

Hope nods, "Yeah, she's getting checked out right now, but she's gonna be okay."

Josie's let's out a relieved breath.
And Hope clears her throat, suddenly wanting to change the subject, "Um, Raf's here..."
She adjusts the camera so Josie can see behind her, and Raf turns around in his seat to view Hope's screen. Josie can sense tension between the two, or maybe just tension in general. Raf looks nearly as devastated as Hope.

"Hey Jo." He gives a small wave.

Josie smiles, though wearily, "Hi."

Kaleb chimes in, trying to get into contact with Cleo, "Everyone's just—trying to call their family..."

Josie's heart aches for them, "God, how do we not hear about all these things here?"

She feels so disconnected from the harsh reality all of a sudden. Here she is, in Hope's house, living stress free, while all of them are on the other side of the world, risking their lives.

Raf goes on, "Hey, uh—I'm sure we could all use that serenade. Today was...pretty rough."

Jed weakly smirks, in agreement, "Right, guys? Little serenade from Hope's wife..."

Josie blushes lightly at being addressed as the Tribrid's wife, though she hopes it isn't noticeable.

Hope shrugs, "You did promise."

"Okay-Okay. I know, I know I promised. And it's—We finally finished it today. I think it's ready...?"

Hope grins, pulling her lip between her teeth at Josie's sudden shyness, and the brunette continues to ramble,

"I've never really played my own songs for anyone else before...So, go easy on me." Hope nods as the girl shifts her laptop to her keyboard, "This goes out to all of you American heroes..."

And with that...she begins to play.

"We are drowning in our eyes
Don't know what we'll find
Not sure should we fly or fight this
We are terrified
Pretending that we don't care
But tension cuts, cuts the air
We're more than scared
I'm drowning in your eyes
I am terrified
Letting my fears show
Until I can face them
Letting my tears go
Until I can taste them
Hell, what do I know?
Where you and I'll go
But dammit I hope you
Come back home..."

Josie finally glances to the screen again, locking eyes with the Tribrid, the inspiration behind her song—every line, every word.

The unspoken moment they share is cut off by Raf, "Wow."

The other Marines in the room begin to applaud her, while Hope just looks to her, proud eyes and smile.
The first genuine smile Hope's worn during their call.

The Tribrid glances around, bragging on Josie's behalf, "Hey, that's my wife," before clapping herself.

Josie only chuckles at her, shaking her head.

As the clapping dies down, Hope adds more seriously, "Thank you." Josie nods as Hope continues, "Seriously—I think we needed that."

Josie takes her lip between her teeth with a nod, "Be safe out there, guys."

Raf and Kaleb both respond, "We will."

Josie locks eyes with the Tribrid again, who nods.
And Josie doesn't want to end the call, but she knows other soldiers are probably wanting to call their loved ones as well.

She meant the lyrics in her song. She's terrified. Even moreso now that one of them has already gotten hurt.

She quickly clears her throat and wipes her cheek when she feels a single drop escape her lip, nodding as if silently telling herself it'll be okay.

"I love you."
She's realized more recently that it's become easier to say those three words. It's been easy to pretend to be Hope's wife. It's become easy, pretending to care...

Because she doesn't have to pretend now. She cares so deeply for Hope.

"I love you too, Jo."

And it's become so easy to believe those three words when she hears them back. At least for a moment.
She knows Hope cares about her too. That much is evident.

"Call me when you can?"

Hope nods, "I will. I'll talk to you soon, baby."

She hates that she gets chills any time Hope calls her that.

And she hates even more that she has to end the call, "Bye, Hope."