𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔟𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔰, hosie

into the unknown, 11

The rest of spring break went by in a blur for Hope. When she wasn't holed up in her room with Josie, they were with the boys playing games, or bonding with Lizzie over the illegal spells and fight training. Hope and Josie continued to test the limits of their bond, with Hope as a wolf and as a human. With each shift, they could feel the bond grow, but they had yet to be able to hear each other telepathically while Hope was in human form.

When Hope wasn't with one of the twins, she was spending time with her Aunt Rebekah. Sure, she spent plenty of time with her when she was home for the holidays, but it never felt like enough time. Maybe because she had always worried whenever she was around her family. Fearful that they too would succumb to the same fate as her parents. That fear had been lessening over the last few weeks. What with her friendship with Penelope and Lizzie and her relationship with Josie, it was becoming easier for her to accept those she cared for weren't going to up and leave her. It was still there, at the back of her mind, but she was learning to push it away and enjoy spending time with those she cared for.

Freya and Keeling arrived on the last day of spring break. The school was filled with parents returning with their children, taking the time to meet with Caroline and Alaric. Which meant Rebekah had the day off from planning their attack on Triad. Her and Josie spent the day catching up with her aunts and playing with her cousin.

Lizzie joined them for a while but headed back to her room long before it was time for dinner. Despite being back on her meds, she was still flying higher than she should. She was doing her best to keep herself in check, but it was clear that she was still struggling.

Penelope returned to school just before curfew, so Hope decided to leave her very crowded room and spend the night with her, even though it meant dealing with Penelope's bitchy roommate. Yes, she put Penelope's bitchiness to shame. She spent the entire night not saying a word to them but glaring at them from across the room. After a while they pulled Penelope's bed down on the floor and built a fort round it, allowing them to cast a silencing spell around them so they could talk freely.

They laid together, passing Hope's tablet back and forth as they played a game of scrabble on it, talking as they went. Hope told Pen all about the mission they were planning, and the spell that they were performing to close Malivore for good. She naturally wanted in and was happy when Hope promised she could be.

Penelope then changed the subject to Hope's sex life, point blank asking her if they'd done it yet. Hope fumbled a little, then confided in what had happened a few mornings before. Penelope was sympathetic, and even told her about what happened the first time she had done anything more than simple kissing. She accidentally released a blast of energy, that exploded through her house. Her mom came to see what had happened, and found her half dressed on top of her girlfriend.

"That's why she sent me here," Penelope admitted. "Not because of the sex part, mom was pretty cool about that. She just wanted me to have better control over my powers. Some of the girls in my mom's coven went here, so she enrolled me a few month later. It sucked leaving Wendy, but I've learned so much here. And I got to be with Josie for a while, which was nice while it lasted. Now I have you to chill with. Mom actually got a job in Belgium. There's a witch only school not far, so I could see her more. We were supposed to leave over spring break, but I told her I wanted to stay." Penelope handed the tablet to Hope and looked at her pointedly.

Hope took the tablet but laid it on her chest. "You stayed because of me?"

"At first, I was I was waiting to see if Josie would give me a reason to stay, but she gave me a million reasons to go. Then you sat down with MG and I out of the blue one day, and things spiraled from there. Don't get me wrong, MG's cool and all, but you're the only one here who's treated me like family. You trusted us to tell your wolf problems too, which shocked the hell out of me. You've always been an incredibly private person."