An American Tribrid in London

Chapter 9: Stefan Salvatore

A/N: Everyone who recognised the obvious hint on the last chapter, yay, you get 🎂🍰 from me virtually.

Hope and SK both chuckled.

"You go first" Both of them said that too at the same time.

"SK, you go first, I insist"

Hope's word is SK's command. So, he followed.

"So Hope, sorry for being nosy, why were you teary eyed at the theater? Sorry again, I was just worried"

It surprised Hope that he noticed it. She was discrete enough in wiping off her tears.

"Um, well, they were tears of joy if you were too worried. I saw my uncle after a very long time."

"Oh sorry. I was worried if you were upset because he used your nickname"

'Damn You Josie!' Hope cursed internally for making her actual name into a nickname.

"Well, this is embarrassing. My uncle was the one who came up with the nickname. I am an insufferable fan of Superman. No, not the Zack Snyder Superman. The one from the old movies," Hope lied elaborately.

"Right. Right. Thank You Hope, Now it all makes sense" It obviously did not make an ounce of sense. The whole reasoning behind the nickname seems topsy-turvy, but he figured maybe Hope was not too comfortable sharing the actual reason. Or else maybe he was reading too much into the situation.

Hope was relieved that he seemed to have believed her lie.

"So, SK..." Hope felt awkward.

"Yes, Hope"

"Hey!"

"What, Hope!"

"My name is Andrea"

"Ok Andrea. But I don't know. You look like a Hope," SK teased.

Hope smirked and internally thought, 'my name is Hope alright'

"Also, SK, did you feel anything different in the theatre today?" Hope asked.

SK obviously felt something alright. His heart beat very fast all of a sudden. He was feeling very, very nervous, which resulted in his palms sweating and he had to rub his hands.

"Uh.." SK was at a loss for words as they struggled to come out of his mouth and his brain froze.

Hope could hear his heart beating faster and smell his sweat as both of them stared off at each other intensely. There was a tension in the room which could be cut with a sword. This was a different kind of tension for which Hope knew the answer, but SK didn't.

Hope chuckled and kept her right hand on his left shoulder, which resulted in his heart beating even faster.

"I feel like I might just faint like Ram from 96," SK remarked.

"The who from the what now?" Hope asked.

"It's a Tamil Romance movie where this hero will faint if the heroine touches his chest because he's so in love." Hope smirked, which caused SK to realise something.

"Oh, Lord Shiva, what have I done?" SK covered facepalmed, using both his hands in embarrassment.

Gilbert Residence

"Damon, who is it? Damon!" Elena screamed at the top of her lungs as she came to find out what happened and found their surprising guest.

"What? How is this possible? How are you here? I have so many questions! But first come here" Damon went on to hug Stefan tightly.