Surreptitious

Chapter 21: Revelations

“Josie, what’s wrong?” Jade gently took hold of Josie’s am when she tried to slip out of the bathroom and past the vampire, but soon found herself being tugged back inside again.

“Nothing, really. I don’t…” Josie sighed and tried to hide her nervousness as she quickly glanced towards the one closed stall door, realizing that Hope would not be able to leave until Jade does. “I don’t really want to talk about it, if that’s cool?” She muttered and wiped at her face and her eyes, trying both to make it seem convincing that she was crying, and to also bring herself and her burning body back to reality.

“Jo, listen. I know this past week we haven’t actually spent time together, but…” Jade spoke with care in her voice, while Hope bristled behind the closed door. She hated it when anyone besides her or Lizzie called Josie ‘Jo’. “I’ve been thinking about you… A lot…” Jade softened her eyes at Josie and let her hand slide down from her arm to the witch’s hand, folding it within her own.

“Y…You have?” Josie frowned. She thought she had definitely scared Jade off after her outburst the last time they spoke.

“I owe you an apology, Josie. I was talking about you to Wendy, and you had every right to be irked about it. But I swear, I wasn’t being insensitive and I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I was basically just admitting how crazy I was… and still am… about you. I really hope that maybe… even with some time… that you could forgive me.” Jade was pulling out all the stops to show that she was as sincere as she truly felt. After all, her intentions towards Josie were never anything less than sincere.

Inside the stall, Hope’s eyes were glowing, and Josie could feel the tension radiating from her direction. She knew she had to diffuse the situation immediately. “Jade, it’s okay, I’m sorry for snapping at you. I’ve just been on edge lately. I promise we can talk about this again soon, maybe when I’ve just… figured some stuff out. About myself, I mean. Not you.”

“I won’t put pressure on you, I promise.” Jade smiled softly at Josie and squeezed her hand. “But I’d love to make it up to you as soon as you’ll let me, okay?”

Josie smiled and nodded her head, starting to pull away from the vampire. She knew the situation wasn’t far from escalating. Inside the stall, Hope was already bracing herself against the door and fighting to keep her wolf in check.

“And uh…” Jade smirked as her fingertips still grasped at Josie’s hand as she started pulling away and moving towards the door. “Maybe this time we can finish an evening without your guard dog?”

Essentially, Jade was joking. However, to Hope, it was a very, very bad joke.

Josie’s eyes widened at Jade’s comment and she set her jaw the moment she could feel Hope losing her control. A second later Hope burst out of the stall, eyes ablaze as she walked up to Jade, her entire demeanor threatening and aggressive. Jade was not expecting the tribrid to make an appearance, and especially did not expect her to have heard the comment she had made in jest. She backed up as Hope stepped toward her, but steeled herself for a confrontation none the less.

“Hope, don’t.” Josie warned sternly. She desperately tried to keep her eyes from glowing, but she knew she was failing miserably at it. The copper shone through soon enough as she stared Hope down.

“She called me a dog!” Hope snapped; her frustration now clearly directed at Josie.

“So did I the other day.” Josie spoke calmly, yet authoritatively. Hope hated it.

“And I’m supposed to just take it? Like a good dog?” Hope flashed those hurting golden orbs at Josie, her attention now drawn away from Jade.