Welcome Home (Hosie)

6

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Josie hesitates for a moment, slowly making her way through the edge of the woods, spotting the clearing in the trees where Jed's truck is parked. Where she knew Hope would be.

She spots the Tribrid leaning against the tailgate, a bottle of bourbon in her hand. She's not even buzzed yet. Unfortunately, her Tribrid healing makes it an incredibly difficult task.

Josie's heart races slightly. and she takes a deep breath, finally stepping through the trees.

Hope could sense her before she saw her, but she finally chances a glance in the brunette's direction briefly.

Josie wonders if Hope will tell her to leave her be, tell her she's finally reached her quota on the arguing and tension between them since their unexpected secret rendezvous. But Hope doesn't, she only takes another sip from the bottle of liquor in her hands.

Neither of them say anything as Josie slowly approaches. The silence between them is thick.

Hope's expression is unreadable as Josie hops up on the tailgate, sitting on the edge beside where Hope leans her back against it.

The brunette lets out a small sigh, looking down at her hands and gathering her thoughts before speaking.

"It was a date–at least Finch wanted it to be," Josie finally admits, her voice barely above a whisper. "But I sort of ended it before it could get to that point."

"Why?" Hope asks after a moment, her tone neutral.

Josie looks to her side at the Tribrid, searching for the right words. "I don't know." After a moment's pause, she looks back at her hands in her lap and asks, "Why didn't you feed from Maya?"

Hope pauses, considering the question. "I don't know," she says at first, but then she realizes she does know the answer. "Because you don't want me to. Because I don't want to."

Josie turns to face the auburnette again, watching as Hope takes another swig from the bottle before she averts her gaze again, chewing nervously on her bottom lip.

Finally, she breaks the silence between them again. "I shouldn't have said all of those things," she says, her voice showing her regret.

Hope is a little dismissive, though, shaking her head, "Well, with that talisman around your neck, I guess you say whatever it is you're feeling, right?"

Josie shakes her head this time. "No. I don't feel that way," she says honestly, "I was just jealous and pissed off at myself for not telling you how I felt sooner–not doing anything about it sooner."

Hope nods. And after a second, she chuckles, the tension easing slightly, "I guess in a way you did, when you told me about your crush years ago."

Josie joins in after a second, chuckling lightly at that. She pauses for a moment before shrugging, "I guess it never really went away."

For the first time, their eyes lock, and the moment is yet again charged with an intensity that Josie should be familiar with by now, but it still affects her all the same.

She is the first to look away, her voice softening again. "We were only supposed to be on a break," she admits, referring to her relationship with Finch. She slept with Hope in Belgium while they were on a 'break.'

Hope's gaze remains on Josie after hearing that. She's not sure if she wants to ask her next question, but she doesn't want to assume she's right. She hopes that she isn't. "You feel guilty about what happened between us?"

Josie shakes her head, her eyebrows slightly furrowing at how absurd that assumption is.

She lets out a small sigh. And for the first time, she admits, "No, I feel guilty because I didn't think about her the whole time you were visiting me...I feel guilty because I liked it–having you, my best friend, under me, over me, touching me, kissing me..." Josie finally turns to meet Hope's gaze again, "I feel guilty because I want to do it all again."

Her confession hangs in the air between them.

As Hope finally turns her body to fully face Josie and steps closer, the brunette's breath gets caught in her lungs. Her eyes glance down from deep blue orbs to perfectly kissable lips, just as Hope's eyes take in full pouty lips before meeting slightly darkened brown ones.

And like a magnet, Hope draws closer and closes the distance between them, with Josie wrapping her arms around Hope's neck, pulling her in and spreading her legs just enough for Hope to wedge herself between them. With both of them only in their swimsuits, Josie shivers at the skin to skin contact with the Tribrid.

Their lips meet in a slow and tender kiss. They fit perfectly together, just like Josie remembered.

Hope lightly bites Josie's bottom lip between her teeth, and Josie lets out a whimper that quickly turns into a muffled chuckle, remembering what she had whispered to Hope in Belgium, 'I knew you were a biter.'

Josie's lips part, letting Hope's tongue dive into her mouth. She moans softly as Hope's tongue teases the inside of her mouth before finally brushing against her own tongue, igniting a fire inside the both of them.

Hope's hands roam up Josie's thighs before finally resting on her hips and giving them a squeeze while the kiss becomes more heated by the second, both of them getting lost in the feeling that they'd missed since their one and only hook up.

But the feeling is interrupted by the sound of footsteps followed by a gasp, causing the two to break apart in an instant. "What the fuck?!"

Lizzie stands at the clearing in the trees, after recovering and waking up from Hope snapping her neck before. She was coming to find Hope to return the favor. But what she found instead makes her eyes widen in disbelief. "This is not what I meant when I told you to remind Josie she has options, Hope!"

Josie quickly hops off the tailgate, her cheeks flushed from the kiss and from being caught. "It's not what you think," she stammered out quickly.

Lizzie's eyes narrow at her as she steps closer, "That you two have been secretly hooking up behind my back?!"

Josie pauses, glancing at Hope briefly as she realizes she doesn't have an argument to make. "Okay..then it's exactly what you think," she mutters quietly, but Lizzie hears her due to vampire hearing. She adds more audibly, "But I swear it was only one time."

Now Hope mutters under her breath, "Depends on how you count."

Josie elbows her harshly after hearing that comment, while Lizzie shoots the Tribrid a glare.

Clearly pissed, Lizzie makes her way closer to the truck, swiping a bottle, "I need a drink." Then she grabs Josie by the arm, "You're coming with me," and she drags her away from Hope, giving Josie no chance to fight her or argue.

Hope lets out an exasperated sigh, running her hands through her hair, "Fuck."

~~~~~