Married at Sixteen

Chapter 2

"Dad! Dad! Dad, wake up!" Lizzie shakes Alaric one last time before he finally sits up. "Ugh, what happened?" He holds his head. "I came in to tell you that the nurse checked Josie out, everything's clear and then i found you on the floor. What happened?" Alaric shakes his head and grabs his phone beside him. "Hope's aunt Freya texted me back." Lizzie nods. "Ok, so?" He shows her the conversation. Lizzie reads it over before her eyes nearly jump out of her skull. "Are you telling me that sister's now magically married to that mutt?" She asks. "You say that as if you don't like her." Alaric smirks. "That's besides the point. What do we do now? We have to tell them!" Lizzie heads for the door. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, we don't just drop this kind of information like that. We have to ease into it, somehow." Lizzie nods. "Agreed."

"We're what?!" They both shout. Alaric sighs. "I thought we agreed to ease into it?" Lizzie shrugs. "You were beating around the bush about it and i got impatient." He shakes his head. "It's alright, i already have Dorian looking into ancient marriage rituals and how to reverse them or divorce them, i don't know. But the point is, we're on it." Josie sighs. Hope looks at her. "Can we have a minute alone? Please?" Alaric nods and leaves. Lizzie glances at Josie before closing the door behind her. Hope stares at her with a smile and raises her eyebrows. "So?" "So?" Josie matches her expression. "Did you want to? Reverse it, i mean?" Hope asks. Josie sighs and sits on her bed. "I mean, do you?" She asks. Hope goes and sits next to her. "I asked you first." "I asked you, second." Josie smiles. "Are we really doing this?" Hope rolls her eyes. "Ok, let's be honest, we weren't really friends until recently. I'm not saying we move in together. But just one date." Hope suggests. Josie thinks about it. "And what happens when they find a way to undo this marriage?" Hope shrugs. "We'll deal with it then, who knows, maybe by then you'll be begging for a divorce." She jokes.

Josie laughs. "I doubt that. I mean, i've never seen you with anyone but i know that love and trust means everything to you." Hope smiles. "And you love hard. You give yourself completely to the other person-" "Co-dependency, yes. I've noticed." Josie cuts in. "Not that it's a bad thing, you just can't lose yourself in the process just to be with someone else." Hope points out. Josie nods. "That's true, good point. But i don't think i'm ready for a relationship right now. Let alone a marriage." Hope admits. "That's ok, me neither. And just because we're married, doesn't mean that we need to be together. I'm sorry about Penelope by the way, i heard she cheated on you. You of all people don't deserve that." Josie nods. "Thanks. I'm sorry about Roman, i heard about....everything." Hope sighs. "Yeah, me too." She mumbles. Josie hears her but doesn't comment.

The bell rings for lunch time and they both hesitate. "Did you want to-?" "Want to ha-?" They both pause and smile. "Shall we?" Hope offers. Josie nods. "Sure." They both walk out and head towards the grand hall. "Finally, there you are! Come on, Jo! Before they take all the filet mignon!" Lizzie pulls on her arm, away from Hope. "I'll see you later?" She shouts. Hope nods. "Yeah, later!" She sighs as she grabs her plate. She's grabbing a juice box when Alaric runs up to her. "Hope, i'm sorry but we have an emergency. New wolf's first full moon. We gotta go!" Hope nods and leaves her plate. She puts the juice box in her pocket and grabs a protein bar on the way out. "So what do we know about this wolf?" She asks as she buckles her seatbelt. "Well, his foster parents thought he was possessed so they called in a priest to do an exorcist but i think we both know how that's gonna end tonight if we don't get there in time." Alaric speeds off. Hope looks out the window and sighs. "Let's hope that we do." On the car ride there, Hope's mind often thinks back to Josie and what she was doing. If she even noticed that she's gone. If she's worried. If she's waiting for her. She looks at the marking on her wrist. Married. What were they gonna do?