I'm Home

Four

The car pulled up to the hotel, and Hope was asleep in Lana's arms. Bex made sure to snap a few pictures and send them to Jen. Lana didn't want to wake Hope up because she knew Hope was having trouble sleeping, so she had to choose between waking her up, or carrying her, and Hope was too peaceful to wake. She was skinny and short, so she was way lighter than she should've been. It hurt Jen to watch Lana carry Hope like she was a feather. No thirteen year old should go through the things Hope did. The guys met them in the lobby, and Lana gave them a death glare as Hope began to wake up. She looked up at Lana, who slowly set her down.

"Next time wake me up in the car." She mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Jen wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close. "I slept?" Hope asked. Jen nodded, smiling gently.

"Yeah, babe, you did." Hope's heart melted a bit with all the pet names Jen gave her. Jen's favorite was obviously sweetheart, she'd been using it since they'd first met. "No panels till tomorrow, so today, you meet my weird friends." Colin placed a hand over his chest, pretending to be offended.

"And Colin, your best and favorite friend ever." Colon added. Jen laughed, and Hope smiled against her shoulder.

"Let's get up to the rooms and dump our stuff, then we'll hang out in Lana's room. It's kind of tradition." Jen explained. Hope nodded and took her bag from Lana, then turning to Jen, who had her room key. "Your room connects to mine, and we don't spend a lot of time in our rooms. Lana does, but we won't." Jen said, handing Hope the key card. They got on the elevator together, almost everyone, but there wasn't room or Jared, so Josh waited with him. The whole cast was on the same floor. Lana was next to Hope's, which connected to Jen's. Bex's room connected to Lana's, and Colin's room was next to Jen's, connected to Emilie's. Jared and Josh had connecting rooms in between Colin and Eddie.

"Woah."Hope breathed, falling onto the bed. Jen opened the door between them, laughing at what she saw. Hope was in heaven. Jen flopped on the bed next to her, smiling. The room was bigger than Hope had ever seen. She felt like a princess.

"Like it?" Jen asked. Hope nodded, sitting up. "You and I have something in comon. We make impulsive decisions." Jen said.

"I don't regret it." Hope smiled, looking into Jen's eyes. Eye contact scared her a little bit, but she didn't back down. She knew that she would never regret it.

"I don't either." Jen replied, taking Hope's hand. "Ok, just a quick warning, if Bex gets alcohol, run like hell." Jen joked. Hope laughed, and someone knocked on the wall.

"I heard that!" Bex yelled. Jen and Hope burst into giggles.

"That's what she gets for eavesdropping." Jen yelled. She knew Bex and Lana were listening. "Let's go, they ruined it." Jen joked, helping Hope up. They made sure at least one of them had a room key, and they walked out into the hall. Bex and Lana were on the bed, Emilie, Josh, and Colin were by the small table, and Jared was alone in a corner. No one bothered to talk to him. They weren't trying to be rude, he just hid away and made it easy to forget him. Hope sat beside Lana and leaned on her. The older woman wrapped an arm around Hope and continued talking to Bex. Soon, Hope started thinking about an old home. It was the best one she'd ever had. She used to cuddle up to one of the foster mothers every time she was tired and the ther foster mother used to read her stories. They were the best. Hope loved them. But they forgot about her, even though they promised not to. They promised to find her. Jen finished greeting the boys and Emilie, then moved on to Jared as a single tear ran down Hope's cheek. Lana and Bex were too busy talking to notice, so she suffered in silence. She hid her tears until it was time to go. It'll be better in the morning. That's what she always told herself.