Stillness

Hope stays in that position for a short amount of time. The moment stretches on and feels like years but really, it gets uncomfortable about a minute later and Josie starts to squirm. So, Hope gets up once Josie's hands press to her shoulders and push gently.

It's awkward, because there's those few seconds where Hope is walking around with a penguin that has an erect cock strapped to it (no other way to describe it, really) and Josie is simply watching her silently from the bed, even though it takes an embarrassingly long amount of time for Hope to get everything off - she needs more practice, it's not her fault.

Once she's done, Josie holds out her hands and beckons Hope closer, so Hope crawls on top of her again, as if Josie has some sort of tie to her. Josie will pull and Hope will come. Hope will push and Josie will move. There's an invisible tether there, somewhere between the both of them, and it's something none of them want to address.

Hope doesn't say anything as she slides into her proper slot again, crossing her legs over Josie's and tangling their arms together. They get locked in a horizontal hug soon enough. It's nice, until Hope remembers the words that were said earlier and also realizes that they'll have to talk about it all - and then suddenly a little burst of fear bubbles in her and pops, then settles, in her stomach. It ruins the moment.

Well, not really. What truly ruins the moment is the sound of a car coming up the driveway, the low rumble of it unfamiliar and odd in Hope's ears. She tries to focus her hearing, but all she can get is the noises coming from the engine. It's unexpected, because no one is supposed to be joining them and if Hope's ears are right (which they most definitely are), MG and Lizzie are still splashing around in the water.

Eventually the moving car becomes audible to both of them and Josie shifts a bit under her, so Hope sits up.

"Who's that?" Josie asks and Hope lets the fear dissolve. She stands up to go check the window, thankful from the distraction of everything that's going on right now.

And then all of a sudden, as Hope looks out through the glass, she's not very thankful for the distraction at all. She sees the car door swing open and notes that the vehicle does seem kind of familiar - Hope thinks she's seen it parked around the school or driving out the gates near different holiday breaks. Then, Penelope Park steps out from the driver's side and Hope shoots away from the window as if she'd been shot from a gun, clearly startled.

Josie sits up, letting the sheets fall off her body. Hope glances at her and for a second thinks about how beautiful she looks, before she remembers the entire situation and that her time staring absentmindedly at Josie is limited.

"Uh." Hope stammers, looking back at Penelope to make sure it's her. "You should get dressed."

"Okay." Josie says, though she looks confused. She swings her legs off the side of the bed and gets up regardless.

Hope starts to get dressed, too. She keeps glancing out the window every couple of seconds, watching Penelope lean against the car and then eventually start a (probably less than friendly) conversation with Lizzie. She knows it's dumb, but she lingers by the window and tries to block the glass with her body in some sort of weird, protective movement.

Part of her thinks that maybe Penelope stumbled upon the lake house accidentally and that she'll ask for directions to somewhere else before leaving, quickly enough that they won't have to interact with her. That's a ridiculous thought, because no one ever simply stumbles up the long road to the lake house, and no one drives all the way out here on accident.

Also, it's Penelope. Everything she does is backed up by some purpose or intent. Hope doubts the world would coincidentally throw this their way.

"Who is it?" Josie asks again, after she's tried three times to see around Hope's careful window blocking.

Hope would feel insecure about Penelope showing up if it weren't for the fact that Josie goes out of her way to pull one of Hope's hoodies over her head and onto her body. It's short on Josie, but it makes a statement.

"Would you believe me if I said it was Penelope Park?" Hope asks. Josie snorts (in a way that is way too adorable for their situation) as if she doesn't believe it at all, but then she walks over to the window to check and her smile slowly slides off her face.

"You good?" Hope questions dumbly, lingering nearby.

Josie nods mindlessly, still looking out the window. "Mhm."

Which is teenage girl speak for 'no, I'm not okay at all but I don't feel like saying it so please pull me far away from the window and simultaneously the rest of the world'. As a fellow teenage girl, Hope picks up on all of that and gently grabs Josie's arm before pulling her out into the hall.

"I think we kind of have to say hello." Hope tells her reluctantly and Josie leans into her side, groaning quietly at the suggestion. Hope wraps her arm around Josie's waist and it's all very… girlfriend-like. "Come on, it'll be quick. Let's just see what she wants."

Josie grumbles something about wanting to return to bed, but she moves when Hope pulls her and isn't shy about clinging to every inch of Hope she can get. It's borderline possessive and a little needy, but Hope doesn't mind at all.

Once they reach the top of the stairs, they find MG standing at the bottom of them with his face scrunched up as if he's on a mission. He pauses when he sees them and Hope guesses that his mission was from Lizzie, telling him to go get them. They both smile at the tiny, panicked look on his face and he makes a wild gesture with his arm that basically points everywhere, but they get the message.

Josie doesn't bother to try and let go of Hope. They look like they are stuck together by glue as they walk down the stairs, but MG's facial expression doesn't change from anything other than slightly afraid.

"U-uhm." He says, very smoothly. "Penelope is, kind of, outside."

"We know." Hope says and Josie nods in agreement, though the motion is basically just Josie bumping her chin against the top of Hope's head.

MG bounces awkwardly on his feet and moves out of the way for the two girls to get by. "She wants to talk to Josie."

"We assumed." Hope replies, even though her and Josie didn't talk about it. Josie nods again (and Hope feels the soon-to-be familiar feeling of Josie's chin tapping her head) anyways, as if Hope read her mind.

It's a little odd. They had obviously been close before but this sudden feeling makes it seem as if they share a heart and mind. Hope thinks that maybe she made the wrong decision in biting Josie - not that it had really been a decision at all, more like an impulse, like swatting a bug coming near your eye. She doesn't even know if biting is a weird wolf thing or a weird kinky thing or both, but if it is a wolf thing she should probably look through Alaric's books to make sure she didn't just initiate some supernatural form of marriage.

Of course, that particular problem is shoved to the back of Hope's mind as they keep on walking to the front door. The last person Hope had wanted and expected to see was Penelope. She assumes that Josie is having similar feelings.

"I can't believe you're stalking us." Lizzie is saying to Penelope while Hope and Josie step out onto the porch. "This is a Satan free zone. Consider the lake house a church."

Penelope opens her mouth (and both of them are already in the middle of some growing argument - Penelope cool and composed with her arms crossed and Lizzie looking as if she's about to smack a bitch) but shuts it when she spots Hope and Josie. Her eyes slide over to the pair and she immediately ignores Lizzie, walking past the blonde to stand front and center in front of them.

Josie is still curled around Hope, her eyes like Bambi's and her hands fiddling with the edges of Hope's clothing. Penelope glances at where they're connected and sighs.

"Hey, JoJo." Penelope says gently. Hope feels a little invisible, standing there and not being greeted, but she doesn't comment on it.

"Hey, Penelope." Josie answers, because she's Josie and she's always polite. "What are you doing here?"

Penelope shrugs (which is totally unhelpful, but still - Hope doesn't comment on it). "Don't worry, I'm not staying. I'm just passing through. I wanted to talk to you."

It all seems like a bad idea. The worst part is how even though it seems Hope has gotten some type of VIP entrance into Josie's mind, she still can't tell if Josie will go walking off into the sunset with Penelope or not. It makes Hope want to punch something… or cry. Probably punch something, because she's a badass tribrid and all.

At least Hope definitely isn't alone on the annoyance. Behind the whole fiasco, Lizzie is watching, looking as if she is trying to perfect Caroline's signature disapproving glare.

"Can you tie your dog to a pole or something so we can take a walk?" Penelope's eyes flick over to Hope. "I'll bring her back a chew toy."

Hope's mouth springs open - because she's wanted to insult Penelope for a solid couple of months and Josie doesn't seem to be responding at the moment - but Josie starts to slowly untangle their arms, so Hope shuts it.

"Don't call her that." Josie says first, giving Hope's shoulder one last squeeze before pulling away completely. "And… yeah, I guess we can walk. Only for a little."

Somewhere behind them, MG's jaw hits the floor and in front of them, Lizzie is gasping dramatically - but Hope is very still. She tries to convince herself that it's just a walk (and it is) but it feels like a lot more than that.

Her and Josie never got the chance to talk about their feelings. Actually, that's wrong. They had a thousand chances and never did anything with them. If Penelope were to swoop in with her charm, humor, intelligence, and admittedly good looks, and steal Josie away - then, well. Hope would have no one to blame but herself, because Josie gave her so many chances to confess how she feels and Hope did nothing.

So now, there are a thousand opportunities for Hope to get fucked over. And she just has to live with that.

Hope silently watches Josie and Penelope walk down the porch. She crosses her arms tightly over her stomach in search of some form of comfort. Her nails dig into the soft skin on her forearm, enough to leave a mark - maybe enough to bleed - but it doesn't matter since she'll heal anyways. Hope winces once she's sure that she's drawn blood and Josie suddenly pauses where she's standing.

Josie spins around and starts to walk back up to Hope without a word, taking these purposeful strides that make Hope freeze in place. In what feels like the blink of an eye, Josie is dipping down and kissing her very sweetly before pulling away to press her lips to Hope's forehead.

"Don't worry." Josie mumbles into Hope's skin and then reaches down to very, very gently tug Hope's crossed arms apart.

Josie turns away again before Hope can get a word out and then the whole 'watching Josie Saltzman leave' thing happens again, except it stings a little less this time.

Hope ends up spending the next couple hours splayed out on the bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to sort out her feelings - something she has done for months now. She's a mix of worried and comforted, which is odd because those two things contradict each other. She can't stop thinking about Penelope and Josie walking away together (standing too close for comfort), but she also can't stop thinking about how that nail pressing into her skin made Josie dart back to the lake house for a kiss.

They are connected on a deeper level now and Hope is sure of it. She taps her foot in the air where it's resting on the edge of the bed and as her foot hits nothing, she imagines Josie tapping out the same beat with her respective foot somewhere. Based on that logic and what happened earlier, Hope digs her nails into her arm experimentally, gentler than the first time.

She's not trying to hurt herself, she just… she wishes she had a guide on this whole weird, wolfy connection thing.

Oh wait - she actually does, because Hope has Alaric's number saved into the favorites list on her phone and she's pretty sure that he's just hanging around the school doing nothing.

Hope takes out her phone and calls him, not surprised when he picks up fairly quickly. "Hey, Dr. Saltzman."

"Hi, Hope." He replies. "What's up?"

Okay, so maybe Hope should have thought of what she was going to say beforehand. It would sound weird to start off the call with 'hey, what would happen if I bit someone', but well...

"Hey, what would happen if I bit someone?" Hope asks and then immediately cringes, glaring up at the ceiling and blaming it for her own awkwardness.

There's a very long (warranted) pause before he responds. "Uh. I assume they'd die. What are you girls up to? You're not attacking anyone, are you?"

"No, I'm not attacking anyone. We're fine." Hope replies quickly, hopefully silencing the concerned dad part of Alaric's brain. "What if I bit someone and they aren't dead or hurt in any way, but they're acting kind of… different?"

"I don't- uh." Alaric pauses and there is some rustling in the background. Hope hears the sound of approaching footsteps outside. "Is this urgent or can I call you back after I do some research?"

Hope nods even though he can't see her. "You can call me back."

"Okay. Bye, Hope."

"Bye, Dr. Saltzman."

Almost as soon as the call ends, the door opens and swings shut quietly downstairs, but of course Hope hears it. She sits up on the bed and focuses enough that she notices there are only one pair of feet heading up the stairs and, guessing by the familiar tap of them, the feet belong to Josie.

A couple seconds later the door opens and Josie steps in, looking soft and rumpled and tired and- wow, Josie is so cute (and Hope is incredibly biased).

"Hey." Hope says and her voice comes out gentler than she thought it would. "How were things?"

"Good." Josie replies simply. She walks towards the bed and grabs Hope's arm once she reaches her, then turns it over to look at the freshly healed skin.

It's so weird… yet, not weird. Hope can't explain it, but she knows Josie is checking her arm to make sure everything healed properly - which is a dumb thing to be sure of, because Josie hadn't even been present for the second occurrence of Hope's anxious tick.

Josie climbs up on the mattress and puts her knees on either side of Hope's body, then casually plants herself down in Hope's lap like it's the most natural thing in the world. Maybe it is. Hope's hands move to rest on Josie's waist and Josie drapes her arms around Hope's neck and it's all very affectionate, but it comes so simply that it is almost a shock to Hope.

"I told Penelope I like someone else." Josie admits quietly and leans forward to kiss the middle of Hope's forehead. "She wants us all to be friends."

"Really?" Hope asks. That's definitely a shock.

Josie's kisses trail lower, down to Hope's lips for one deep kiss that pauses their conversation. It kind of seems like Josie doesn't care about talking and just wants to makeout, which Hope is totally fine with.

"Yeah, I… I like you. A lot." Josie says, though Hope had been more surprised about the friendship thing. She glances down a little uncertainly and it makes Hope melt more than she would like to admit. "Is that okay?"

Hope kisses her again. "Of course it's okay."

Okay, so, maybe Hope still has things to work through and maybe it will take some time before they tell anyone (besides MG, Penelope, and Lizzie, who Hope suspects already knows) but that's okay, because they have this. Hope gets to hold Josie in her arms and Josie gets to let that bright smile of hers take over her face as Hope drops tiny kisses along her cheek.

They have this, and it's (semi) perfect.

Hope leans down just a bit and starts to kiss Josie's neck in a new, gentle manner. There is no rush to it, just them alternating between kissing each other's lips or necks for awhile until Josie starts to push up Hope's shirt. Hope tries to do the same but Josie catches her hands and holds them in the air for a second.

"I know this is hot and our life is like a weird, supernatural lesbian porn but… I think I'm going to pass out if I cum again today." Josie explains sheepishly, making Hope grin and laugh hard enough to shake both of them.

"I'm just that good, aren't I?" Hope asks cockily, smug smirk already in place.

Josie flicks her on the arm. "Shut up."

The laughter dies down and Josie's playful smile slowly slips off her face, being replaced by a borderline shy expression.

"Let me touch you." Josie whispers, her voice so soft that it feels as if she's asking for the first time. Hope nods shakily and wiggles her way up the bed until her back presses against the pillows, carrying Josie the whole way.

Once they are properly situated, Josie starts to sneak her hands up Hope's shirt again. She lifts the fabric up and off before returning her hands to Hope's body, pressing chilled palms to warm skin and leaning in to connect their lips again. Hope doesn't have a bra on (something that's becoming more and more of a constant these days), so she gives Josie free access to everything. In turn, Josie touches her everywhere with an eagerness that only comes from youth and love.

Fuck. Are they in love? Hope is pretty sure they are in love. She's so sure of her own feelings that it feels as if her emotions have set themselves deep in her bones, but it's not as if she can read Josie's mind. Or maybe she can. Maybe if she concentrates hard enough then she can figure out everything Josie is thinking through this emotional tether thing.

"I meant what I said earlier." Josie says out of nowhere. Her fingers are already playing with Hope's nipples - dragging quiet, sharp gasps out of Hope's mouth - but her eyes are locked with Hope's.

"I love you." Josie admits for the second time. "And I love… your boobs. I know that kind of kills the moment but also, god- Hope, they're perfect."

Hope laughs and snorts in a way that is probably totally unsexy, but it doesn't seem to matter to Josie, who crawls down until she can latch her mouth onto one of Hope's breasts. It makes Hope's hips rock upwards unintentionally, but once she settles and curls a hand in Josie's hair (starting to do those gentle tugs she knows Josie likes) it feels a lot like Josie is less trying to get in her pants and more like she's trying to worship her.

Obviously, Hope lets her. She tries to stay still while Josie kisses her chest long enough that Hope can feel her underwear starting to stick, warm and uncomfortably wet, against her slit. Eventually Josie lets out a somewhat satisfied hum and crawls back up onto Hope's lap, making herself comfortable there once again.

Hope probably likes having Josie in her lap a lot more than she should. She is usually on top but there is something about feeling the full weight of Josie pressed against her that Hope likes, too. It's as if she is being covered in the physical warmth of Josie and also everything that she is - the little hitch in her breath when she glances down at Hope's breasts, her pretty, wide brown eyes, and the blush that is working its way up Josie's neck right in front of Hope's eyes.

"I love you, too, by the way." Hope says, since she hadn't replied a couple minutes ago due to Josie using her mouth to try and make her cum in her pants.

Josie grins and kisses the corner of Hope's mouth. Her hand slides down Hope's body and slips under Hope's pants and into her underwear. She finds Hope's clit with ease and presses two of her fingertips there, rolling the slippery nub between her fingers immediately. Hope's eyes shut and she moans, letting her head fall back against the headboard. Josie takes full advantage of it and starts nipping at her neck.

"You're so pretty." Josie tells her, mouth pressed right up near Hope's ear. "And wet. I didn't know I get you this turned on."

"You do." Hope admits shamelessly, grinding forward to get more friction. Her orgasm is building oddly quick - maybe it's because she has had sex twice already today and she's sensitive.

It is kind of embarrassing how Hope starts rocking against Josie's fingers, chasing the amazing, building feeling between her legs. She doesn't even need fingers inside of her. Hope is sure that she can cum from this, just from the hard press of fingertips and Josie's lips sucking on her neck. Josie seems to get that and works up a rhythm only on Hope's clit.

She's close to cumming when she hears a little, faint hum come from Josie that vibrates against her skin. Hope didn't catch what Josie was trying to say at all, but she is not really in the state to ask her to speak up, so she stays silent (or more, she moans but says no words) until she feels teeth on her neck.

And then Josie is biting her - and of course, Hope is trembling everywhere and cumming while wondering if biting kinks are a thing.

Josie works her through the aftershocks with a tiny smile on her face, watching in poorly hidden awe as Hope comes apart. She dips her hand down once Hope starts to stop shaking and presses her fingers into Hope's entrance, scooping up as much of the liquid there as she can get. Josie pulls her fingers out of Hope's ruined panties and licks them clean like a delighted (oddly sexy) puppy.

Hope just blinks at her. "Did you just bite me?"

"It seemed fair." Josie shrugs, still busy with her fingers. "At least mine didn't even leave a mark."

"A mark?" Hope asks dumbly, a little too caught up in her post-orgasm state. Josie nods and pulls down the collar of her shirt to show the mark.

Hesitantly, Hope reaches up and presses her fingers to it. It doesn't look as if it hurts. It looks like a human bite mark, but it's this seemingly permanent red color along Josie's skin. When Hope touches it, the little marks pop up like scabs rather than sink into the skin the way a normal bite would.

"Does it hurt?" Hope questions, suddenly feeling very bad about it. "Maybe I can heal it-"

Josie speaks up a little too quickly. "No. I- uh. It's fine, you can leave it. It doesn't hurt."

"Okay." Hope agrees slowly. Josie beams at her and then starts moving again, going lower until her head is situated on Hope's chest.

Within seconds, Josie is curled up on top of Hope and carefully pulling bed sheets over both of their bodies. Hope smiles at the ceiling and delicately wraps her arm around Josie's body.