In Her Eyes The Violets lie

Chapter 27

Hope's head rested on Josie's shoulder. Josie had her arms wrapped around Hope. Josie didn't want this moment to ever end. She buried her face in Hope's hair, trying to memorize the saffron smell.
"Stay." It came out softly. She knew it's irrational. She was the one who had asked for time but she couldn't stop herself. "For a few more minutes."
Hope hugged her tighter, as if she wanted to merge their bodies together. "We don't have time," Hope whispered, pulling back from Josie.
"We never do." Josie said.

"We are still gonna talk, right?” Josie couldn't hide the glimmer of fear in her voice. Hope Michaelson has wrecked her yet again.
Even now all she can care about is that Hope didn't remove her hands from Josie's waist, as if she didn't want to let go.
"Yes!" Hope responded,“You bet we will."
"Okay." Josie clears her throat, taking a step back. "I'll go start the car." With that she headed downstairs.
Hope came down with her luggage five minutes later. They drove in silence. Josie helped Hope get her luggage on the bus.
"I'll go now….let me know when you get home,  Okay?"Josie said, taking Hope's hands in hers.
"Okay."
"Goodbye." Josie said, turning to leave.
"Goodbye, Jo."
Josie got out of the bus and started making her way towards her car.
"Hey, Josie!" She turned back to see Hope's head sticking out of the bus window. "We are okay, right?"
"Yes. We are okay." Josie laughed. They were okay.

~~~

নিস্তব্ধ or Nisthabdha is a Bangla word, it's also the first word that came to mind when Josie woke up this morning. The word means silent. For some reason nisthabdha feels like the right word to use even though it just means silent, the word feels more heavy and appropriate for the atmosphere. Her blanket feels like a pile of dirt, trying to bury her in this bed and yet somehow she's still cold. Everything feels too much, too cold, too empty, too silent, it used to be quiet before but… not silent, there were always birds chirping and kids yelling somewhere in the distance, it was never this silent before. It's as if Hope Michaelson came and took everything with her, Josie's peace, the years she had trained herself to be alone and not feel lonely. Josie should be enjoying this silence, it's all she ever wants but the empty space in her bed.... in her heart was unignorable. Josie learned early on that there will always be an empty space in life and you just have to live with it, and she had accepted that and moved on before but now it seems awfully hard. She should call Hope, ask how she was. It has been two days since she left. Hope had texted her the day she left to say that she had reached. Josie was hoping that she would call. But then again, Josie was the one who had asked for time. Her overthinking was interrupted by her phone ringing.
It was Lizzie. Shit! “Hi,Jo.” Lizzie smiled brightly. Josie tried to fix her face and force out a smile but Lizzie wasn't buying it, “What happened? Tell me. Did mom say something? What did she say to you?”
“Liz, calm down. Mother didn't say anything.” Anything she doesn't usually say. “It’s….about Hope.” Lizzie looked confused, “Hope Mikaelson?” Josie sighed, she hadn't told Lizzie about Hope at all. This is going to be horrible, but Lizzie already looked interested and she won't be able to get away with a vague answer. “It’s a long story but basically she stayed with me for the past week….we patched things up.” Josie didn't meet her sister's eyes but she couldn't feel the anger. “A week! She's been with you for a week, and you didn't tell me? Why did you let her stay with you, after everything?”
“She didn't have anywhere else to stay. What did you want me to do? Leave her stranded? You know I can't do that.” Josie explained, Lizzie sighed. “She left again, that's the problem, isn't it?” Josie grimaced, Lizzie was going to kill her. “No, there's more. We went to the lake house together….”
“Of course you did.” Lizzie scowled. “We kinda hooked up.” Josie let out quickly. Lizzie's face was in a mix of shock and anger. “What! What were you thinking? Sorry. Obviously, you weren't thinking at all.” Lizzie looked all serious
Josie tried to defend herself, “It’s not that bad. Apparently, she likes me too. She got jealous of Penelope and me and came to confront me. And I kinda lost my composure.” Lizzie laughed, “Of course she likes you. Everyone likes you, Jo. But did you just say Penelope was there?”
“Yeah, she's dating Kevin.”
“Are you sure you didn't accidentally visit hell on the weekends?” Josie huffed, “Just forget I ever said anything. It was a mistake, telling you.” Lizzie's expression softened, “okay, sorry. Tell me what happened next. You guys like dating now?” Lizzie cringed while saying the last line, making Josie roll her eyes. “No. That's the problem. I couldn't do it. I just can't risk losing her again, you know?”
“Why would you lose her if you start dating her? She's gonna be closer. Even though I don't like the sound of that.” Josie sighed, “What if we break up? We had to work hard to mend our friendship. I don't think there'll be anything left if we break up. But I think I fucked it up anyways, cause it's been two days and she hasn't even called. What do I do, Liz?” Josie didn't realize when she had started crying. “Hey, it's gonna be okay. If she hasn't reached out, you take the first step. Call her. I'm sure she's just busy.” Lizzie tried to console her, “And if she doesn't pick up, just give me her address." Lizze gave her a mischievous grin, propping her phone against something and making breakfast. It was 9am, classic Lizzie.“I’ll take care of her.” Josie laughed for the first time after three days. “She’s not as bad as you make her out to be. Give her a chance.”
“We’ll see about that. Now you go, call her!” Lizzie yelled from the other end of her kitchen.

~~~
Hope woke up and thought of Josie, she is probably making breakfast right now. Hope wondered if Josie slept well or if she too had tossed and turned all night, unable to fall asleep. Hope wondered if Josie missed Hope as much as Hope misses her right now.
Hope was thinking too much about it, Josie is probably enjoying all the quietness and not thinking about Hope at all. Hope sighed, it's time to get to work. She had a painting to finish in two weeks. She pulled up the photo MJ had sent her and a photo of Josie.
By the time she finished the background outline it was well past noon. Her mom had come to check on her and give her lunch but didn't interrupt further when she realized Hope was working. She hadn't spoken to her mom much after her return, so she made a mental note to have dinner with her tonight. Her hand was starting to cramp and she was just getting started. Maybe choosing huge fucking canvas was not a good idea. But the end result will be worth it, hopefully. She decided to take a break and plopped down on the bed when her phone rang. Hope's heart started beating at a 100mph when she saw it was Josie.
“Hi..” Hope answered, “How are you?”
“Good, I'm good. Are you okay?” Even though Josie couldn't see her, she shrugged. “Yeah. Why'd you ask?”
“No, it's just that I didn't hear from you after Sunday. So, I was wondering if you were okay. It's silly. You're probably very busy. I won't keep you long. Bye.” Hope was busy but that's not the only reason she hadn't reached out. She'd always make time for Josie. She was just scared that Josie didn't miss her as much as she missed Josie. “Wait, don't hang up.” Hope replied quickly, “I’m not busy. Tell me, what have you been up to?”
“Nothing much, just preparing for finals. What about you? Did you finish your project?” Hope laughed, “No, I barely started it. But it's going well so far. It'll probably take six to seven days because I chose a 70x100cm canvas.” Josie chuckled, “You are really your biggest enemy, Hope. But I'm sure it'll turn out absolutely stunning.” little did she know Hope was painting her. Hope's stomach clenched, she hadn't thought about how Josie would react to Hope painting her for the project. She contemplated telling her but decided that would be too much. Josie didn't want a relationship or anything serious and painting her for Hope's first exhibition was too serious. And Josie wouldn't be seeing it anyway, so no point in telling her. They talked until it was time for both of them to get back to their lives. An invisible burden had been lifted off of Hope's heart. It's almost as if she had her friend back, things were a bit awkward still but they were working through it. Maybe this is enough, having Josie as her best friend again. It had to be.

~~~

A/N

Y'all's favorite character made an appearance. And don't worry, they'll be together soon....Thanks for reading 💗