I Hate the Way...

Part 42: "You Like Her"

"Why are we staring out the window?" Lizzie says suddenly, making the brunette jump.

"I'm just—checking the weather," Josie excuses quickly.

"No, you're not. You're watching Hope," Lizzie says knowingly.

Josie sighs as she still watches Hope walking towards the dock, "I just want to make sure she gets in the water without hurting herself, okay? Is that a crime? What if the current's bad, or if there's a shark or something?"

"Yeah, because I'm sure the all-powerful Tribrid is afraid of a little shark bite," Lizzie rebuts sarcastically.

Josie turns to her sister, "You've seen how long it's taken her to recover from the plane crash, Lizzie. She might be the Tribrid, but she's not invincible. And even my blood hasn't helped all that much—"

Josie's eyes widen as she realizes what she said, along with Lizzie's.

"Blood? You gave her your blood?!" She asked shocked, though she doesn't scold the brunette like Josie would've expected. She actually seems excited.

Josie sighs, "She needed it, okay? And I thought it would help her more than it did...I think something else is going on—"

"Yeah, there is. You like her," Lizzie says teasingly, wriggling her eyebrows.

Josie scoffs, "I do not. I just—I care about her."

"Mhm...Because you like her," Lizzie says obviously.

"If by 'like,' you mean 'no longer completely dislike,' then yes, I don't dislike her anymore," Josie says, a bit defensively.

Lizzie rolls her eyes, "You're so stubborn. All I'm saying is, maybe this act you two are putting on isn't completely an act anymore? You said yourself that you have respect for each other and you two kissed last night...and the other night on the couch, obviously—" Josie turns to her with wide eyes, and Lizzie only chuckles with her hands up in defense.

Josie deflates, "She's been...great and respectful, and it doesn't hurt that she's hot too. I just—She's been a great..fake wife."

"Then just let her be a great wife, and you do the same. Enjoy it while you can, because once your access to your inheritance is finalized...this whole charade is pretty much over after that..." Josie nods slowly, "Do you think you two will stay friends after that?"

Friends?

Josie supposes that's kind of what they are right now.

Maybe?

She doesn't quite know how to label it since they're technically married.

Will they stay friends after this ends?

"I hope so...I mean, she's been so different from what dad always made her out to be—"

"Alaric's a dick." Lizzie says with a scoff.

Josie deflates, turning back towards the water, "I know, I just wish that I had realized sooner—Where'd she go?"

"Hmm?" Lizzie looks out the window, towards the dock.

"She was just right there," Josie says confused.

"She's probably just under the water—"

Josie shakes her head. Hope can't swim with her injuries still, she just likes the feeling of the water.

"No, something's wrong, Lizzie," Peaches lets out a bark when Josie quickly makes her way over to the back door, facing the beach, swinging it open, and making her way out to the porch, trying to see better, "I still don't see her, Lizzie," And that's when panic settles in.

She runs down the steps and down the path toward the beach, with Lizzie and Peaches following closely behind.

But by the time she gets near the dock, she sees Hope climbing up the ladder at the opposite end.

The auburnette furrows her eyebrows at the sight of her wife, Lizzie and the dog nearing.

She picks up her towel from the dock, patting dry just a bit as she tries to catch her breath quickly, "Jo?"

Josie sighs in relief as Hope makes her way over to them. She runs a hand through her hair, trying to calm herself down.

She knows that Hope requested privacy, but she got all panicked...

"Hey, what's wrong, Love?" Hope asked softly.

Lizzie explains for Josie, "She looked out the window, and she couldn't find you, so she got a little worried."

Hope nods, eyebrows still furrowed as she looks back to Josie. That's not a little worried. She was clearly freaking out.

"Hey, come here," She pulls Josie closer, wrapping her arms around her as Josie does the same, ignoring the fact that she's getting wet. Hope feels her shaking, and she shushes her as Josie tries to steady her own breathing now, "Breathe, baby. I'm okay," She kisses the top of Josie's head as the brunette nods, "I'm sorry I scared you."

Peaches whines too, probably because she can sense the emotion coming from both women, for different reasons.

"You okay?" Hope asks after a moment, though she doesn't let go of Josie, who sighs softly with a nod.

The brunette pulls away first, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get all..." Her words die out as she can't find the appropriate word for it.

Hope chuckles softly, "You don't have to apologize, Jo. You're my wife. You're allowed to get worried."

Josie wants to argue that she wasn't worried, but she knows that would be a lie. But she still tries to change the subject, avoiding Hope's endearing gaze, "Um, we leave for dinner at Freya's in an hour, so we should probably..."

Hope nods in understanding, "You sure you're okay?"

Josie nods, and tries to be overly convincing, "Mhm, yeah, I'm great. Never better."

Hope shakes her head, though she grins, before she plants a kiss to Josie's forehead. She'd kiss her lips, but she remembers Josie saying that they shouldn't make a habit of that. And she wants to respect Josie's request.

"Let's go get ready, Love."

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Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

I may try to double update...we'll see. I've been a little busy lately so it's been harder to double/triple/quadruple update like I was last week.