A Secret To Be Kept (Hosie)

Chapter 3: Please Stay

AN: Day 3 of updating woohoo! Enjoy! Stick around at the end for another short AN.

- B

Flashback

After Josie's encounter with Hope in the hallway, the two started running into each other more.

There were days where Josie would time her walks down the hall to when Hope snuck out of her room to use the bathroom and others where Josie just sat in front of Hope's closed doors when she was having a rough day.

It was now a month after Landon's death and Hope finally started attending classes again. These past few weeks Dr. Saltzman had been understanding and allowed Hope to do her school work in her room if she was up for it.

Emma, being the closest to a school psychologist suggested that Hope start taking some classes with the rest of her schoolmates so she didn't go into complete isolation.

Hope being Hope kept up a good fight until her Aunt Freya came and gave her a visit.

After some family comfort, Freya was able to convince Hope to compromise and take half her classes outside her bedroom.

Today was Hope's day back and she was up and getting ready for the day.

Hope heard a knock on her door and ignored it.

She then heard the door slightly creak open as a blonde girl walked into the room.

"Hey Hope, I know I should be keeping boundaries and all but today's your first day back so I wanted to give you a welcome back present." Lizzie handed Hope a small box.

Hope was slightly annoyed by the company but was thankful for the gesture.

Hope then took the box from Lizzie's hand and opened it.

Inside was a small pin with the Mikaelson Crest and the school logo engraved.

"Here, let me put it on for you." Lizzie walked closer to Hope and offered her hand.

Hope didn't say anything but just handed the pin to Lizzie.

Lizzie straightened out Hope's blazer and gently turned her body to face the mirror.

"There, now you're ready for your first day." Lizzie tried to stay enthusiastic.

"Thank you, Lizzie." Hope finally spoke.

"You're welcome! Well, I have to go give a tour with Josie but we'll see you in class later!" Lizzie said with excitement as she left the room.

"See you later." Hope quietly said after her.

The day went slow for Hope. She felt like all the clocks were broken and the day would never end. The worst part was lunch. Part of the compromise was that she had to have lunch with the rest of the school as well.

She walked into the dining hall only to be greeted by pitied looks and "are you okay?" and "how are you Hope?" questions.

Hope desperately scanned the room to find a familiar face but neither Josie or Rafael were to be found.

She ended up sitting by herself in the corner quickly finishing her food before rushing out to her next class.

After what felt like forever the bell rang signaling the end of her final class.

Before anyone could stop and ask questions Hope rushed out of the classroom and into her room.

When Hope made it into her room she closed the door behind her and started breathing heavily. She felt like she was holding her breath all day and was finally trying to grasp for air. She leaned against her door and her body slid down to the ground. She just sat there with tears streaming down her face.

Before Hope knew it, Josie was already at her door with her dinner as usual.

When Josie knocked on her door Hope quickly wiped off her tears and stood up to open the door.

"Hi, Josie."

Hope tried to put on a fake smile but Josie saw right through it.

This was the first time Josie had seen Hope all day. She meant to sit next to her in class and during lunch but an unexpected encounter occurred with Penelope that left her occupied.

"I brought you some dinner." Josie lifted the tray that was in her hands.

Josie wanted to say something about Hope's poorly wiped tears but she didn't know what to say.

"Thanks," Hope took the tray from Josie.

"How was your first day back?" There was nothing better Josie could come up with other than that.

"As good as it could have been I guess." Hope shrugged trying to play it cool.

"I'm sorry I didn't check in sooner. Something came up with "she who shall not name" and I ended up missing class and lunch." Josie said apologetically.

For some reason, the mention of Josie's ex bothered Hope but with everything going on she just brushed it off.

"It's okay. It's not your job to take care of me." Hope just blankly said.

"Well, I should leave you to eat then." Josie turned around to leave.

"Do you want to stay eat dinner with me?" Hope hesitantly offered.

Josie turned back around to face Hope.

"I actually already ate but I can stay here while you eat if you want."

"I'd like that." Hope's lips formed a small smile.

The girls spent the next hour just sitting and talking. The conversations were more surface level topics because it was clear Hope didn't want to talk about anything serious.

"I should be getting back now. It's almost curfew." Josie said looking down at her watch.

Hope's face dropped.

"Goodnight Hope." Josie gave Hope a smile before she started towards the door.

Just as she opened the door she heard Hope's voice.

"Please stay."

It was like Josie was waiting for her to ask.

She gently closed the door and walked back over to Hope's bed.

Josie sat on the bed as she watched Hope get ready for the night. Soon enough Hope was tucked in under her covers and Josie was lying beside her holding her.

Josie ran her soft fingers along Hope's arm as she fell asleep. This was the first time in weeks Hope was able to fall asleep without crying.

Josie laid there awake just listening to the slow breaths of the girl in her arms. Before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep as well.

AN: When I said slow burn I meant it haha. I know some of you are probably hating me for it but I promise the next couple of chapters will kinda maybe sorta make up for it so just stick around long enough to read those!

- B