Damage Control

Chapter Thirty-Two

Josie watched as Hope's memories played out around them, as one long traumatic movie. She wished more than anything that she could stop it, rewind time, and protect Hope from all the pain she had witnessed. Instead, all she could do was wrap her arms around her girlfriend as they continued their journey through her past.

She almost couldn't take it anymore when Lizzie and herself became a big focus. Young Hope was sad and in pain, missing her family, her father, being so far away from her mother, and constantly fighting with the twins. Hope's breath caught in the back of her throat at the sight of a boy, Josie remembered him, Henry. "This is the beginning of the worst year of my life." Hope commented with sorrow.

Josie didn't remember much about this time, they pretty much kept their distance at this age. Though she remembers the rumors of Hope giving Henry her blood to become a hybrid, he threw himself out of a window. Josie pulled a clump of Hope's hair behind her ear for her. "Because you got suspended?"

Hope nodded slowly. "Everything changed when I went home." The scene changed with her words.

Hope was sitting outside her father's office, bags at her feet. A tall boy with curly hair approached. Josie saw the way past Hope, sat up a little straighter, with a smile upon her lips. She engaged Roman in a short conversation, he seemed impressed Hope had gotten suspended. Josie couldn't help but feel a little jealous at how Hope looked at him. She gave her head a shake, she shouldn't be jealous of a memory.

Hope watched after Roman as Henry joined her at the office. Josie couldn't help but sympathize with Henry for wanting to be stronger. Josie caught the end of the conversation. "I wouldn't know, he can't bother to be a dad." Josie could hear the sadness behind the anger.

Hope leaned slightly more into Josie's embrace. "I blamed him for so much, I know why he chose to stay away but that didn't make it hurt any less." Josie rested her head atop of Hope's momentarily, rubbing Hope's arms with her hands in an attempt to comfort, not knowing what to say. She held onto her a bit tighter when past Hope started fighting with her mom over Henry. Hope seemed to try to curl inwards at the heart to heart with her mother over wanting to see her father. But then the worst did happen.

Hope was struggling to contain her emotions. She watched herself tell Henry attack and kidnap her own mother, thinking she was doing something good, only she knew where that led to. As the water of their fountain turned to blood, Hope tried to concentrate on Josie's arms around her rather than the emotions now throbbing against her skull. She watched as her past self talked to her father for the first time in too many years, telling him her mother was missing, the plan she set up was working and she couldn't be more devastated. "I am on my way." She could still hear him say that after all these years, those five words brought her more joy than she could show.

Then Roman showed up at her house. She couldn't believe how hard she crushed on him, how she could have trusted him, she knew she had forgiven him a long time ago but that didn't mean this didn't get her blood boiling. But god was he charming.

Seeing her father again after so many years was supposed to be emotional, in a loving way, not seeing him seconds away from tearing her mother's boyfriend's throat out. She pushed her father away with her powers before he could hurt Declan. "Serious Dad?" Though she couldn't help but look at him with longing in her eyes. She was desperate to keep him close, to be a family again. That came crashing down when he found out what she did to her mother.