Surreptitious

Chapter 14: Interruption Part II

Hope hesitated for a minute as she lifted her hand towards the door. It was late. It was past curfew already and most of the dorm rooms were cast in silence. But she couldn’t let it go. She had to talk to Josie.

She had tried to occupy herself with homework after her chat with Lizzie, and when that didn’t work she ended up taking the world’s longest – and hottest – shower to try and relax. When that still didn’t do anything for her, she knew there was nothing left but to wolf out.

Now she was back from her run, convinced that Josie had to be back by now from her venture with Jade, and Hope knew she would not be able to get a wink of sleep until she sorted through some things with the witch.

So, she knocked. Softly. Just in case.

In fact, she could swear that her heart was beating louder than her knuckles against the wood of the door.

She could hear some indistinct muttering coming from inside and feet shuffling across the floor, then the door cracked open to reveal Josie’s creased brows and near-black eyes. She was clearly very tired.

“I’m so sorry, I woke you. We can talk tomorrow.” Hope tried her best not to stutter like a nervous underclassman talking to a senior, but she was somewhat failing at it.

“No, it’s fine. I was waiting for you.” Josie spoke softly as she slipped through the door and gently closed it behind her. “Lizzie is sleeping though.”

“Wait, what?” Hope paused, confused. “You were waiting for me?” For some reason the idea of Josie Saltzman ‘waiting’ for Hope in any shape or form made the tribrid’s stomach do a little flip. She, quite honestly, loved the idea – even if she didn’t quite fully realize it.

Josie inhaled sharply and lifted her hand to wipe down her face in frustration as she realized that Hope wouldn’t remember anything that had just happened. It had become very easy very quickly for Josie to discern the difference between full-blown wolf Hope, and conscious wolf Hope. “Never mind…” She muttered and leaned tiredly against the wall with one shoulder. “What did you want to talk about so urgently?”

“I was worried. Raf told me that I had bit you… your hand…” Hope explained with concern lining her features. “I thought you said I hadn’t hurt you! Jo, you should have told me!” Her voice got louder for a moment before she remembered where they were and swallowed down at the emotions building up in her throat.

Josie couldn’t help but roll her eyes, though a small part of her tingled at the fact that Hope was so worried that it was such a big deal. Josie felt a little flattered. “You didn’t hurt me, Hope.” She smirked then, as if she knew a secret that no one else did – which was, in fact, the case. “I don’t think you could hurt me even if you wanted to.” There was definitely no chance of Hope physically hurting Josie and she knew it. Conscious Hope wouldn’t even hurt Dark Josie when everyone knew fully well that she was capable of it. Wolf Hope was bonded to Josie, and even though conscious Hope had not quite caught up to that fact just yet, the wolf inside her was very aware of the universal truth that Josie was her entire world…her very existence.

“I… uhhh… Raf also said that… ummm…” The stuttering started again from the auburn-haired girl. Josie watched her intently, wondering for a second if Hope Mikaelson had always been this cute. “Raf said… you thought I was… marking… you…?”

Josie felt like her stomach contents pushed up into her esophagus and expanded, before dropping again into the pit of her abdomen. “Wha… well, I, uhh…” She swallowed hard in discomfort as she tried to figure out how to deal with the subject. She didn’t feel ready to talk about the bond. It was something so powerful and intense and personal that she wouldn’t be able to bear trying to explain it to her when Hope was clearly not ready for it yet. Josie knew that Hope had her own journey to take to discovery, so Josie would allow her to do so on her own terms and in her own time.