𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑, 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠

chapter fifteen. pin on his grenade

Hope decided it would be best to change her clothes or put on some clothes before heading to meet Alec. He was at the training area, alone as always.

"If this is a pep talk, Clary beat you to it while you went to ballet class?" He looked at what she was wearing. She picked up a staff and swiped at him but he blocked her blow.

"How'd that go, Sergeant Sarcasm?" She landed a hit on his arm and he raised his staff.

"It ended with her patting my arm and telling me to stay relentless." He tried to catch her on her leg but she blocked the hit.

"Sounds like her." Hope walked around the edges of the crash mat, he followed her lead, playing the offence to her defence.

"Did you talk about the Jace thing?" She whispered the last part, like a sinful secret that had to stay between them.

"Jace doesn't think there's a thing so there isn't a thing. He told me this morning, then hugged me and told me I was his rock." Alec waited for her to strike.

"Of course Jace doesn't think there isn't a thing. Jace is a himbo." Hope spun the staff in her hand, threw it from one hand to the other, Alec flinched.

"Is that why you like him?" He asked and Hope striked him, her staff hitting his arm with a loud smack sound, his skin turned red immediately.

"That's what we call reflecting." Hope smirked, she got the upper hand on him and even if this fight ended with him being victorious, she could hold it over his head for the rest of his life.

"Oh so you have a degree in the human psyche now?" Alec's staff made contact with the back of her head and it felt like something was ringing through her brain.

"No but I might as well have a degree in Alec Lightwood right now. I could teach a class on you with key note speakers Isabelle Lightwood and Clarissa Fairchild." Hope smiled and she maneuvered her way under her skin, it was her favourite place to be.

"You know nothing about you, I think I know more about you." Alec retorted, Hope scoffed. She knew she was an open book meant for the illiterate. "Enlighten me," she smiled.

"Hope Andrea Mikaelson, lets start off with the obvious." He waved his staff around like he was teaching a class.

"You're a Tribrid but only your witch side is activated. You're not a werewolf so I know you've never taken a life and you're not a vampire so you've never died either." Hope nodded, those were the basics.

"Congrats, you know as much about me as my eighth grade Spanish teacher. Gracias." Hope forgot they were fighting for a moment, for a while they were just walking in a circle.

"I'm not done, my next point is you're a little impatient. You most likely have some kind of mental illness but you refuse to see a professional for it because you think if someone's holding your hand it won't be that bad."

"No meds, no mercy, no psych ward just rawdogging this mental illness the way God intended." Hope wasn't religious but somehow those were the words she chose to say.

"And you also need to hold someone else's hand, the way you did with Izzy today and the way you do with Clary and Simon all the time." Alec spoke and Hope shrugged.

"Oh no, I'm a good friend." Sarcasm dripped from her lips like honey.

"But you're not, you just need to feel useful. You need to feel like someone needs you so you can feel better about your stupid fucking existence." Hope wanted him to stop, she wanted to scream at him but that would mean he had a point. She didn't say anything at all.

"Because all you'll ever be is a scared little girl who uses shitty jokes as her coping mechanism." Alec stepped closer and she just stared at him, she looked like he had slapped her, like the wound stung deeper than her flesh.

There was a pause and she knew he said all that he wanted to, he let out all the anger he pent up for someone else and because he was right about her, she let herself be the unfortunate soul that pulled the pin on his grenade.