Hosie One Shots

The Lodge

The storm had been screaming for hours, a white wall swallowing the mountains whole and pressing its cold hands against every crack in the old lodge. By the time the wind finally eased enough for anyone to hear their own thoughts, the cabin felt smaller, packed tight with too many people, too many boots by the door, too many half-frozen coats drying near the fire.

Josie sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the hearth with a blanket over her shoulders and a mug of something warm in both hands. She looked tired in that soft, bruised way she got when she had been holding herself together for everyone else. Hope noticed it the second she came back from checking the front windows.

"You're staring," Josie said without looking up.

"I'm evaluating," Hope said, crouching beside her. "You look terrible."

Josie huffed a laugh. "That's romantic."

"It is if I'm honest."

Josie finally lifted her eyes, and the tiredness there made Hope's chest tighten. "Any worse out there?"

"The door's still there. That's the good news."

Josie blinked once, then smiled despite herself. Hope brushed a thumb over the rim of her mug, then reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Josie's ear. It was such a small touch, but Josie's shoulders dropped immediately, like her body had been waiting for permission to stop bracing.

Across the room, Lizzie looked up from where she was sprawled half over Penelope's lap. "If you two are going to be disgustingly in love in front of the rest of us, can you at least do it near the fire? I am not freezing to death for this."

Penelope snorted and carded her fingers through Lizzie's hair. "You're dramatic."

"I'm cold."

"You're always dramatic when you're cold," MG said from the armchair nearest the window. He had a blanket over his knees and was trying very hard to look like he wasn't smiling at the whole scene. "It's one of your many charming traits."

Lizzie pointed at him without lifting her head from Penelope's shoulder. "And you're annoying when you're alive, but we all have to make sacrifices."

Kaleb, sitting on the edge of the dining table with a deck of cards in hand, laughed into his sleeve. Ethan was beside him, claiming he wasn't playing, while very obviously watching every card Kaleb laid down.

Jed, who had been pacing for the last ten minutes like a caged animal, finally dropped onto the floor near the fire and leaned back against the sofa. Ben immediately slid down beside him, shoulder to shoulder, and without a word Jed looped an arm around him. It was the sort of quiet touch that looked accidental until you noticed they had been finding reasons to touch all night.

"We have enough food for one more meal if we ration," Ethan said.

"And enough tension in this room to survive another apocalypse," Kaleb added.

"Don't joke," Lizzie muttered. "I'm already upset."

Hope glanced at Josie again. "You good?"

Josie tipped her head toward the window, where the storm had slowed to a pale, relentless hiss. "I'm okay. Just tired."

"Then sleep."

"I can't."

"You can if you stop trying to solve everyone else's problems for ten seconds."

Josie gave her a look. "That is not a fair accusation."

"It's an accurate one."

MG leaned forward. "She's right, Jo. You've been doing that all day. You don't need to carry the whole mountain on your back."