Hope makes a call to 911 and heads over to the address that Olivia has given her. On the drive over, Hope can see Olivia through the rearview mirror looking out the window, seemingly deep in thought.
The window is slightly rolled down, and Olivia's long brown hair is getting pushed back with the slight breeze. Her bottom lip is jutting out, it seems she's inherited her mom's adorable pout.
Hope can also see her eyes, deep blue and almost tearful with sadness. The blue eyes widen as the car pulls up to the address, and they see squad cars and an ambulance with flashing lights.
The police are already there, leading a very angry looking man away in handcuffs. The ambulance is parked off to the side treating someone.
"Mom?" Olivia runs past the police tape straight for the ambulance.
An officer shouts that she can't be there, but Hope explains that it's her mother. When asked what business Hope has being there, she responds that she's a family friend.
When Olivia rounds the corner, she's able to see her mom sitting on a stretcher.
"Olivia," Josie says with relief. "You're safe."
"Mom, you're hurt," the girl cries at the sight of blood on her mom's face.
"It's just some scratches and bruises, baby. But you're safe, and that's all that matters to me," she hugs her daughter tightly. "Where did you go?"
"She came to my house," Hope steps out from the shadows, having wanted to give the mother and daughter some space.
"Hope Mikaelson," Josie says shocked.
"The one and only," Hope responds with a smug look.
"Liv," Josie turns to her daughter. "How did you find her house?"
"I saw it in one of your scrapbooks. I knew how to get there because we pass it all the time on our walks. And Hope seemed nice in the pictures, so I went there."
Josie looks at her daughter in confusion until she remembers the page with a picture of this beautiful, spacious house on the other side of town that she and Hope eyed all the time.
"You bought our dream home?"
"I put in an offer the week before you left me," Hope nods. "And I got it. It could've been ours."
The hurt and sadness over what could've been is evident in her voice.
"When I heard you were her mother I couldn't believe I was hearing your name again after all this time," Hope continues. "I'm glad you're safe."
It takes everything inside Hope to not throw her arms around the brunette in an attempt to protect her from all other harm.
"What are we going to do now?" Liv asks her mom.
"Well, the officer said they need time to collect evidence in the apartment, so I guess I'll get a hotel room for us."
"No, you're not," Hope shakes her head.
"Excuse me?"
"You and Olivia aren't going to live in a hotel while I live in a perfectly good house by myself."
Before Josie can protest, Hope turns around and starts heading to the car. And Olivia is dragging her hand to follow behind her.
The short car ride back is quiet. When they enter the house, Josie tells Olivia that it's late and she needs to go to bed.
Hope finds some superhero pajamas that her younger cousins had left behind to give to her and shows her to a bedroom. Josie tucks her in and kisses her goodnight, assuring her that things will get better soon.
And then it's just the two of them.
"Can I borrow some sweatpants?" Josie asks.
"Of course," Hope goes to retrieve them.
"And where should I sleep?" Josie asks once Hope returns with the article of clothing.
"Right this way," Hope shows her to one of the many other bedrooms. "Is this satisfactory?"
"Yes," Josie answers but continues silently looking around the room.
"Are you seriously not going to say anything else to me?" Hope crosses her arms.
"I don't know, Hope," Josie shrugs. "What's there to say?"
"Maybe you can explain to me why you left? If you were unhappy, then you should've told me. I would've listened to you, I would've been a better partner if you just told me how."
"I wasn't unhappy," Josie shuts down the idea. "And it wasn't your fault. It's a decision that I made that I thought was best for us, and there's nothing you could've done."
She can tell that Hope's been blaming herself for a long time.
"I stepped aside for you," Josie says cryptically.
Hope ponders the meaning of her words for a moment, and then a thought hits her.
"You know, Olivia looks to be about 7 years old," she leads.
"Hope, don't."
"Which is funny considering you ghosted me almost 8 years ago. She's got your hair and lips, but she also has a hint of the devil in her eyes, which, if I'm not mistaken, is all me."
"I'm not going to lie to you..." Josie wears a guilty face.
"Damn it, Josie," Hope runs her fingers through her hair in frustration. "How could you keep this from me for all these years?"
"We were young, and you were just starting out your career. I didn't want to give you another distraction."
"Distraction? You were the love of my life, and to raise a family with you... All I've ever wanted was a family."
"I thought I was doing what was best," Josie shrugs guiltily.
Hope sighs, not wanting to be mad at the mother of her daughter for trying to do her best.
"I want to be a part of her life, I've missed so much already."
"Are you going to sue for custody?" fear flashes in Josie's eyes.
"No, no," Hope quickly assures.
She would never dream of taking Olivia away from Josie.
"But I'd like to be around more in her life, to help raise her. And I think the best way to do that is moving in."
"I don't know, Hope. Her stuff is tied up back at my apartment for who knows how long the police need. I still need to get a new place, and then she'll have to split up her stuff between our places... It's going to be a lot of time and effort."
"No, I mean the both of you should move in, once you have access to all your stuff at your old apartment."
"You want us to move in with you," Josie says slowly, still trying to process. "So we can co-parent our daughter under one roof?"
"Mhm," Hope nods with a smile. "What could possibly go wrong?"
