Lose You to Love Me

//11//

 Josie was surprised at how easy it was to be around Penelope and Hope, especially after the holiday was over. Thanksgiving, a day she had been dreading since her family split up, was actually enjoyable while she was around them. Afterward, she had spent more time with the both of them. Penelope had a habit of coming over to Josie's house unannounced, Hope usually standing a few paces behind her. Josie had never liked unexpected guests in the past- even Beck and Tori used to text before they came over- but she liked the casualness that came with Penelope and Hope's unexpected visits. They'd sit in Josie's bedroom together, talking and laughing and teasing each other as if they'd known each other their whole lives. It really felt like they did, at least to Josie. It was nice to be around people that cared about her, who treated her as if she was one of them. She was almost dreading the break to be over because they would no longer get days like this, where they could hang out in Josie's room without interruption. Days where Hope and Penelope were throwing bits of popcorn at each other while Josie giggled at them, peeking over her book at the two of them. Days where Penelope looked over at her with that little glint in her eyes, winking at Josie before throwing another handful of popcorn at a shrieking Hope. She'd be paying for their antics later when she had to pick up the kernels from out of the carpet, but she didn't focus on that. Instead, she reached into the bowl and joined in on Penelope's attack against Hope, laughing.

Later, once the mess had been cleaned up and Penelope and Hope had left, a knock sounded at Josie's bedroom door. The door creaked open, and Alaric's head popped into the room. "Hey, sweetheart. Is it okay if I come in?", he asked politely, and Josie just shrugged in response. Knowing that it was unlikely he would get more of an answer than that, Alaric stepped inside, looking around at the freshly cleaned room. "It's nice to see your floor popcorn free again.", Alaric joked, chuckling to himself. "It seemed like you and those girls had fun today." Josie nodded, unable to hide the growing smile on her face when she thought back on her day with Penelope and Hope. Josie's change in mood did not go unnoticed by Alaric, who sighed to himself in relief that both his daughters were now settling into their new life. "Why don't you invite Hope and Penelope over to the house for a sleepover this weekend?", he suggested with a smile. "Elizabeth will be out with friends, and I'll be at the office late. You'll have the whole house to yourselves." Josie looked up at her father with a doubtful expression, not believing what she was hearing. "You and mom always said that we can't have friends stay overnight unless one of you is home, remember?", she reminded him. Alaric shrugged. "You're not a child anymore, Josette. I trust that you can handle a night by yourself every once and a while.", he explained. "I'm just happy that you have found a piece of happiness here. Hope and Penelope seem like nice girls, and it would be a pleasure to host them overnight." Josie grinned, jumping up to hug her father tightly. Alaric chuckled, returning the embrace until Josie pulled away. "Thank you, Dad.", Josie exclaimed, feeling the excitement building up inside her. "I'll call them right now and ask them." Josie went to do just that, assuming that the conversation was over, but Alaric stopped her. "One more thing, Josie.", he said, opening the bedroom door and stepping outside. Josie watched with curiosity, then confusion and delight when she saw what her father was carrying into the room.

"You found my book?", she asked happily, taking the box from her father and ripping it open. "Mom told me that they were still at the old house. How...?" Alaric sighed a guilty sigh, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, I asked her to tell a little white lie about that one. I knew if you just buried yourself in here, reading all the time, you'd never give mystic falls a true chance. They've been with me since we moved in." Josie's face fell, her confusion turning to anger. "You hid my books from me? On purpose?" Josie looked from the box of books, then to her father. She was silent for a minute before speaking again. "As much as I want to be angry with you about this, I can't because, I mean, you did it for a good reason. So, as long as you never, ever do it again, I understand why you did it." Alaric, relieved, nodded at his daughter's request. "Never again. You have my word." Alaric cleared his throat, gesturing to the door. "I have a call to make, so I'll leave you to make those phone calls." He stepped over to the threshold, looking back at his daughter one more time before exiting. "Hold onto those girls, Josie. I can tell that they're going to be good for you." With that, he left, leaving behind a curious and happy Josie. While she dialed Penelope's number, she couldn't help but smile at her father's words.

Now that she had Penelope and Hope in her life, how could she ever dream of letting them go?
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"Okay, yeah, there's no way I'm ever getting to sleep after that movie.", Josie whispered, shuddering next to Penelope under the thin blue blanket on their lap. She glanced over at Hope, who had fallen asleep with her head resting against the bed frame. "I have no idea how hope can." Penelope stretched out, yawning against her hand. "Who knows? Hope can sleep through pretty much anything.", Penelope explained, resting her head against her arm. "She did go to see her mom today. That usually takes a lot out of her, too." Josie frowned; She had heard about Hope's mom in the past, and she knew how badly Hayley's condition was. She also knew how badly it affected Hope. "Was there any progress?", Josie asked, and Penelope solemnly shook her head no. "No brain activity. It's reaching the two-year mark. Hope's aunts said that if Hayley hadn't improved after two years, they were going to take her off support. Hope's been trying to get them to sustain her longer, but.." "but they haven't budged.", Josie finished for her, earning a soft sigh from Penelope. "Hope's family have accepted the fact that Hayley won't come back, but Hope...still has hope. No one really wants to take that from her. I can see how badly it hurts her. I fear the day that they let Hayley go. I don't know if Hope will be able to make it through that. I'm not sure if I can watch her go through that."

Penelope swallowed hard, shaking the thought from her head. "I'm glad you invited us over. I know Hope really needed it. I did, too." Penelope shifted next to her, and Josie could see the blush creeping over her cheeks. "Honestly, I've been looking forward to it all week, since you called. You have this way of making all the stressful shit in my life seem small." Josie smiled, interlacing her fingers with Penelope's. "I'm happy you're here.", she admitted in a voice barely above a whisper. "It's just hard to believe that we went from barely acknowledging each other to you lying next to me in my bed." Penelope chuckled softly, making sure not to wake Hope. "You didn't make it easy, that's for sure. I knew you'd come around eventually, though." Penelope's smile faltered, and Josie could see her visibly tense up. "Will we still be like this once school starts again? Or am I going to have to play the guessing game?" Josie prompted her to elaborate farther, and Penelope did so reluctantly. "These past few days have been...amazing, honestly. I've enjoyed them so much, and I'm just afraid that when the break ends...so will this. I don't want us to go back to being strangers again." "Neither do I.", Josie admitted, surprising herself as well as Penelope. "I can't say that I'm going to be the easiest person to be around, but...I mean, you're the best thing to happen to me in this tiny ass town. I don't want to lose that." Penelope grinned, smugness overtaking her features. "I'm the best thing to happen to you, huh?", she said proudly, causing Josie to hit her with the throw pillow laying against her leg. Penelope laughed loudly, covering her mouth with her hand when Hope stirred at the end of the bed. Both Josie and Penelope looked at each other, fighting laughter.

Once they no longer were in danger of waking Hope, the room fell silent. Josie was almost sure that Penelope was asleep when the older girl surprised her by speaking again. It was barely audible but just loud enough that Josie could make out her voice in the darkened room.

"You're the best thing to happen to me in this town, too, Jojo."