Fight With Me

Chapter 44

Hope's POV

Progress felt quieter than pain.

That was the first thing Hope noticed.

No alarms in her body when Josie shifted on the couch. No sharp spike when someone else entered the room. Just a dull awareness, like a low hum instead of a scream.

They had moved operations to the great room. Windows open. Sunlight everywhere. Freya insisted on it, muttering something about stagnant magic feeding bad loops.

Josie sat cross-legged on the floor surrounded by chalk circles and softly glowing runes. Hope stayed just outside the markings, close enough that Josie could reach her without straining.

They were trying something new.

"Okay," Freya said. "We're going to widen the tolerance instead of testing separation."

Kol raised a brow. "So instead of pulling them apart, we teach the bond to chill."

"More or less," Freya replied.

Keelin knelt beside Josie, calm and steady. "You're going to feel a tug. Maybe nausea. Maybe nothing. The goal is noticing it without reacting."

Hope clenched her fists to keep from stepping forward.

Josie closed her eyes. "I can feel her."

Hope swallowed. "I'm right here."

"That helps," Josie said softly. "But it's different. It's like... I know where you are even without looking."

Freya nodded, scribbling notes. "Spatial awareness. That's new."

"Is that bad?" Hope asked.

"Not necessarily," Freya said. "It means the bond is communicating instead of panicking."

That sounded like progress. Hope clung to it.

Josie took a breath. Her shoulders tensed, then slowly relaxed.

"I feel sick," she admitted. "But it's manageable. Like carsick. Not like before."

Hope exhaled shakily.

Keelin smiled a little. "That's huge."

⸻

Josie's POV

Josie didn't feel like she was falling apart today.

That alone felt miraculous.

The bond was still there, buzzing under her skin, tugging gently when Hope shifted her weight or looked away too long. But it wasn't screaming. It wasn't hijacking her thoughts.

She focused on the floor beneath her hands. The cool stone. The chalk lines. Keelin's voice grounding her.

"You're doing really well," Keelin said quietly.

Josie opened her eyes. Hope was watching her like she always did lately, like she was both fragile and lethal.

"I don't feel like I'm disappearing," Josie said. "I still feel like me."

Hope's expression cracked with relief.

Freya looked up sharply. "That's important. Loss of self is usually the danger point."

Rebekah leaned over the back of the couch. "See? Progress. I told you we weren't doomed."

Kol smirked. "Give it an hour."

Rebekah swatted him.

Josie smiled despite herself. It felt good, hearing normal bickering again. Like the world hadn't narrowed down to just pain and fear.

"Can we try something?" Josie asked.

Hope tensed. "What kind of something."

Josie reached out, fingers brushing Hope's wrist. "You take one step back."

Silence.

Hope's heart kicked hard, but she nodded. Slowly, carefully, she stepped back.

The bond tugged. Josie felt it immediately. A pull low in her chest. A flicker of dizziness.

But it didn't knock her flat.

"I'm okay," Josie said quickly. "Still okay."

Hope stayed frozen, eyes locked on her.

Freya's voice was gentle but urgent. "Hold it. Don't push further."

Josie breathed through the discomfort. It faded faster than she expected.

"I did it," she whispered.

Hope crossed the distance in two strides and dropped down in front of her, hands cupping her face. "You did."

Josie laughed, a little hysterical. "I didn't throw up or cry."

"Low bar," Kol said. "But I'm proud."

Josie rested her forehead against Hope's. "So am I."

⸻

Freya's POV

Freya hadn't felt this cautiously hopeful in days.

The bond was still volatile. Still unknown. But it was responding to structure, to calm, to trust.

That mattered.

"They're learning regulation," Freya said to Keelin under her breath. "Not suppression. That's better."

Keelin nodded. "And they're choosing it. That's the key."

Across the room, Hope and Josie sat tangled together, quieter now. Less frantic. Still close, but not desperate.

Rebekah watched them with a fond, wary smile. "They're terrifying," she said softly. "But they love each other. That counts."

Marcel crossed his arms. "What's the next step."

Freya exhaled. "More outside help. Controlled environments. Teaching the bond that the world isn't ending every time they're not touching."

"And if it disagrees?" Kol asked.

Freya didn't flinch. "Then we adapt again."

She looked back at the girls.

For the first time since this began, they looked tired in a normal way. Not hollow. Not broken.

Hope laughed at something Josie whispered.

And for now, it was enough.