Welcome Home (Hosie)

8

I've decide to give you all a short double update! You might want to read it first before you thank me...

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"What were you doing the night Hope transitioned to the full Tribrid?"

Josie freezes when she hears the question for a moment, her lips parting as if she is going to say something, but nothing ever comes.

MG, thinking it's a simple question, shrugs. "Everyone knows we all had dinner together that night."

Lizzie shakes her head, her eyes fixed on Josie. "No, after that."

Josie's heart skips a beat, literally she can feel it, and the weight of Lizzie's gaze does nothing to ease it. She swallows thickly, nearly becoming short of breath as she finally replies, "Finch and I talked outside for a while."

"Argued, about Hope," Lizzie corrects.

''We weren't arguing about Hope," Finch tries to argue.

"Yes you were," Lizzie says with finality in her tone, knowing it's the truth. Then she turns her gaze back to her sister, "Go on."

Sensing the tension now, MG jumps in to explain, "She summoned Dark Josie to help us get Cleo and Landon back." Then his words get quieter, "..which didn't completely work out how everyone hoped it would...sorry Hope," he glances in the Tribrid's direction, who lets out a sigh.

Hope, now getting annoyed with Lizzie's interrogation and the way she's narrowing her gaze at Josie, steps in finally, "What are you getting at, Lizzie?"

Finch looks over to the Tribrid, unable to stay quiet any longer as a smug look crests her expression, answers for Josie. "She was with me all night."

Hope's eyes dart to Finch briefly, really wanting to throw a punch at her when she sees the look on her face, but her eyes go back to Josie instead. She didn't really believe it until she saw the brunette's guilty expression.

The group falls silent, the weight of that revelation hanging heavy in the air.

Hope furrows her eyebrows, shaking her head. "You–" she scoffs unhumourous, rubbing her temples briefly because of the absurdity of the question she has to ask her best friend, "You slept with Finch the night I turned?" Though it's a question, it comes out as more of a statement, since she thinks she already knows the answer, given Lizzie insistence in bringing it up and from Finch's smug reply.

Josie's eyes are full of guilt when they meet Hope's.

Finch annoyingly cuts in, impossibly more smug after seeing Hope's reaction, "That's what I said–"

Hope cuts her eyes sharply, her eyes flashing golden, "Finch, I swear to god if you say another word, I'll tear out your liver."

"Hope–" Josie begins, her voice breaking.

Hope cuts her off, eyes still glowing in pain and anger both. "While my body was being taken from the school–"

"I sincerely apologize for that, by the way," Kaleb interrupts.

But Hope continues anyway, "and I woke up in transition, had to fight Malivore, and kill Landon, you..." She trails off, shaking her head in disbelief. "You slept with Finch."

Josie's eyes are full of unshed tears now. Her voice is barely above a whisper, her eyes pleading, "Hope, I'm so sorry."

But Hope is already standing to her feet, afraid if she stays any longer she'll reveal yet another affair and she might actually kill Finch.

Josie stands too, catching Hope's hand before she's able to walk too far away, "Hope, please–"

Hope pauses, turning back to look at their joined hands and then at Josie, and she nearly relents to her pleas when she sees how distraught Josie looks, just how Hope feels.

But she averts her gaze, shaking her head and removing her hand from Josie's grasp, "I'm gonna go wolf out for a bit. I need some space right now."

Josie feels her heart shatter when Hope won't even look at her, and the Tribrid turns and walks away without another word.

She watches Hope's retreating figure, a few tears slipping down her cheeks, until she feels someone wrap an arm around her and she hears Cleo assure her gently, "It will be okay, Josie. She just needs a moment to herself. Hope would never stay upset with you."

Josie clenches her eyes shut and hugs her elbows, and she whispers, "No, I really messed up this time, Cleo."

"Hope cares so deeply for you, Josie. She is just hurt right now, but she will not be hurt forever," Cleo says surely. "Come on. Let us go get some more drinks, yeah?"

Josie sniffles, wiping a stray tear with a pout, but she nods her head anyway, hoping that Cleo is right.

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