Hosie~ One Shots

What I've Been Looking For

Hope sat in the back of the music room, her body angled slightly toward Landon, but her eyes kept drifting to the front of the class where Lizzie and MG were singing their duet. Their voices blended beautifully, the soft melody of "What I've Been Looking For" filling the room. MG's voice was steady and rich, while Lizzie's was playful yet strikingly emotional, a rare vulnerability seeping through.

"It's hard to believe
That I couldn't see
You were always there beside me..."

Hope found herself humming along, a bittersweet smile curling at the edges of her lips. Her gaze wandered naturally to the audience, landing on Josie, who sat a few rows ahead. Josie was leaning into Finch, their hands intertwined, but her eyes were locked on Lizzie and MG, watching them sing with a soft, wistful expression.

Hope's chest tightened as she looked at Josie. For a moment, time seemed to slow, the music fading into the background as memories began to surface—memories of her and Josie. Their first meeting flashed in her mind, the awkward tension that gradually melted into friendship. Then, the countless times they had protected each other, watched each other's backs, always finding comfort in one another's presence, even when words weren't spoken.

"This feeling's like no other
I want you to know..."

MG's voice echoed, and Hope blinked, pulling her mind back to the present. But she couldn't stop the flood of memories that followed, rising unbidden as she watched Josie laugh softly at something Finch whispered in her ear.

Suddenly, she heard her own voice, a fragment of a memory from years ago:
"I had a crush on Josie for a week when we were 14."

The memory was sharp, like a snapshot of a simpler time. She had said it so casually, not realizing the weight of her words until later.

Then, Josie's voice responded in the echo of her mind:
"I had a crush on you... of course I did. Who wouldn't...?"

Hope's breath hitched. She remembered that conversation vividly now, how Josie's words had lingered, so open, so honest. There was a warmth in Josie's tone, the kind that made you feel wanted, needed, even if you didn't quite understand it yet.

"I want you to stay..." Josie's voice had been almost pleading in the memory, a soft vulnerability that tugged at Hope's heart even now. "You should try kissing her, maybe."

The memory faded as Lizzie and MG's voices swelled for the final chorus.

"I've never had someone
That knows me like you do..."

Hope's eyes softened as she continued to look at Josie, wondering if Josie ever thought about that moment, about what they could have been if things had been different. If they had been braver. A pang of longing settled in her chest—one she hadn't fully recognized until now.

Beside her, Landon shifted, breaking her trance. She turned back to him with a small smile, but her thoughts still lingered on Josie, on the memories that now seemed clearer than ever.

As the final notes of the song echoed through the room, Hope glanced once more at Josie. The past felt so close, yet so far, but maybe, just maybe, it wasn't too late to explore what could have been.

But what Hope didn't know was that while she was taking a glance at Landon, Josie's eyes found Hope. From the lower staircase, she looked up at the familiar curve of Hope's profile, unaware that Hope had been thinking about her only moments ago.

The soft melody of the song became a distant hum in Josie's ears as her own memories rushed to the surface—the same ones that had been quietly lingering for years. Her mind replayed the first time she had met Hope, the intensity in her eyes, how it made her heart race even back then.

She glanced at Finch sitting beside her, their hands still loosely held together, but her thoughts were far away, drifting toward Hope. There had always been something about Hope—something magnetic, something unfinished.

Josie's breath hitched as she thought of the countless "almost" moments between them, the times she had wanted to say something more, to lean in, to let Hope know how she truly felt but never quite found the courage.

Now, sitting there with Finch, the feelings felt so complicated. But that didn't change the fact that looking up at Hope in that moment, Josie felt the same tug on her heart that she had always felt. The song that Lizzie and MG were singing seemed to reflect something deeply hidden between them.

"So lonely before
I finally found
What I've been looking for..."

Josie swallowed hard, her fingers tightening slightly around Finch's hand, but her gaze remained on Hope. She wondered if Hope remembered that night too—the one where Josie had almost kissed her, where she had almost told her the truth. She wondered if Hope ever thought about what might have been.

Their eyes didn't meet in that moment, but for Josie, it felt as though they were connected across the room, tethered by memories and feelings left unsaid.