decisions and revelations

When Hope wakes up the next day she is glad that Sosuke moved in his sleep and she can slip out unnoticed while he finally can get some shut eye.

"Did you just sneak out of your own room?" Landon asks, standing in the same hallway as her, his and Rafael's room only being 5 doors away.

"Sosuke needs to get some sleep." Hope says.

"Wait no, not in the sense that he didn't get sleep last night... but ugh. He hasn't had a good nights sleep in a week." She stammers embarrassed.

"So, where are you off to?" Landon asks, falling in step with her as they head down the stairs to the foyer.

"The pier. I have some things to think about." She replies.

"Want some company?" Landon offers.

"I thought you hated me." She says confused.

"Look. I overreacted as I realized that when MG's dad all but tried to do an exorcism on him." Landon tells her.

"But don't worry. I'm not interested in you that way anymore. I think I just need some time now to relax and find out about myself before I even try to date someone." He tells her.

"So. What do you say. Friends?" He asks, offering a handshake and she pulls him into a hug instead.

"I'm sorry I lied to you." She apologizes during the hug.

"Let's just not mention it anymore." He says.

"OK. But I think I need some time alone right now. I still can't forgive myself for what I did to Sosuke." Hope tells him.

"Alright. And can I give you some advice? Just trust him and let him take the lead." Landon says before heading to the kitchen while she leaves the building and strolls down to the pier, looking down into the water lost in thought.

Later that day Sosuke is stepping out of the guidance counselors office and sees Hope waiting for him.

"Hi." He greets her with a smile, having wondered why and where she disappeared to when he woke up.

"Sorry. But I need to cut this short, Hope. Dr. Saltzman asked me to have a session with you, because of yesterday's events." Emma says, interrupting her and Sosuke.

"Go ahead. Meet you at the pier at 4?" He asks her and she nods eagerly before following the guidance counselor.

Sosuke then goes looking for Kaleb to thank him for the other night and finds him in front of the cage where MG is locked up to get the human or as it turns out phoenix blood out of his system.

"How are you two doing?" Sosuke asks the vampires.

"Better than you probably. I mean you were Hope's chew toy and not in a fun way." Kaleb says jokingly.

"Dog jokes? Seriously?" Sosuke asks, shaking his head.

"What? It seemed fitting." Kaleb replies.

"Anyways I came by to thank you for last night. You really helped me out." Sosuke thanks Kaleb who nods and pulls him into a shoulder bump.

"Anytime bruh. I Have to say though, you are crazy for protecting MG like that." Kaleb says.

"If I hadn't suggested Hope shifts in the first place it probably wouldn't have happened anyways." Sosuke says.

"Any progress figuring out what you are?" MG asks, sitting on the bed in the cell.

"Not really." Sosuke replies.

"I thought about it and have 2 possibilities. A thunderbird. It's a native american creature in mythology. And a Raiju or the Raijin." MG suggests.

"What are those?" Sosuke asks curiously.

"Raijin is a japanese god of thunder and Raijus are supposed to be his animals. There are legends about countless Raiju's appearing in the form of different animals. Wolves, Tigers, Squirrels." MG explains.

"Any way to find out if I am one of those?" Sosuske asks.

"Sorry. I was planning to read up on them during the break but..." MG tells him.

"Well if you do find out more, let me know. At least now I have guesses." He says gratefully before leaving the cells and heads up to check on Rafael.

After knocking on the door Landon opens it, surprised to see Sosuke there.

"Hey. I was going to check how your brother is doing. Is he here?" Sosuke asks.

"No. He went to work out with the other wolves to get his mind off things." Landon replies, letting Sosuke step inside.

"I see." Sosuke says, nodding his head.

"She's totally into you. You know." Landon suddenly says out of nowhere.

"Hope. I mean, yes we had this connection that was amazing... but the second she found out you were interested in her she started pulling the break." Landon tells him, sitting down on his bed and offers Sosuke a chair which he accepts.

"And you are fine with that?" Sosuke asks.

"I was bounced around in foster care my whole life. If I don't go all in from the start I basically never have a chance at anything. So I went all in with her and it didn't work out." Landon tells Sosuke.

"I'm totally different. I couldn't feel much at all until my rebirth. But at some point even with orders not to feel much of anything I knew how I felt about her." Sosuke admits.

"I just wanted to let you know. I'm no longer in the equation. I have told her as much as well." Landon tells him.

"I appreciate it, but I'm not sure Hope's heart has caught up to it." Sosuke says.

"Believe me, she has. What's holding her back most is guilt and fear." Landon tells him, Sosuke getting up and heading to the door.

"I have to say. I was worried we'd have to tiptoe around each other after everything. I'm glad that's not the case." Sosuke says, offering a handshake which Landon gladly returns.

After leaving Landon's room Sosuke heads back to his own room and packs his usual workout gear he uses when training with Hope.

"Maybe I need to get her out of her comfort zone, by being out of my own comfort zone." He says to himself.

Hearing Hope move around in her room, Sosuke puts on his swimming trunks and a shirt before knocking on her door.

"What's up I thought we'd meet at the pier?" She asks, looking at him surprised.

"You're coming swimming with me." He tells her.

"But I haven't been swimming in a while. I don't even know if I have anything that still fits." She says insecurely.

"Well, find out." He tells her and steps outside her room, leaning against the wall beside it until the door opens again and he peers inside, seeing her all but hide behind the door itself.

Sosuke steps into her room and she hurriedly closes the door.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asks, tossing a towel over his head when he starts to glow slightly at seeing her in a simple, black bikini.

"That's perfect actually for continuing that exercise you suggested before." Sosuke says.

"You just want an excuse to ogle at me." Hope says with a frown.

"No. I really think we should use my weakness as an advantage for training." He replies.

"Fine. But remember I'm the tribrid, don't mess with me." She says embarrassed and puts a pair of jeans and a gray shirt on, over the bikini before taking the towel off his head and holds out her hand with a nervous smile. Sosuke tugs on her hand and gives her a chaste kiss.

"Let's go." He says and they head to a never used spot on the other side of the lake.

"So... Any real plans on how you're gonna try to control your lightning?" Hope asks him, setting down her towel on top of his bag while he takes off his shirt and shoes.

Hope stares at the back of his shoulders for a while, gracing her fingers over where she must've bit him.

Without realizing it her witchpower activates and Sosuke gets sent flying a couple meters before landing in the lake.

"No. I... I'm sorry." She mumbles apologetically while Sosuke comes back out of the lake.

"I am OK Hope. You lost control." Sosuke tells her.

"You go too easy on me. I could have killed you yesterday. Do you even realize that?!" Hope yells emotionally.

"Fine. You want it the hard way?" Sosuke asks upset and she nods.

"Well alright then." He says and he collects the training gear he has in his backpack.

He tosses her some gloves before putting his on as well.

"You're out of control and need to learn to forgive yourself or you won't be any help at all in the future." He tells her while getting into a fighting stance, Hope putting her hair in a ponytail behind her.

"How am I supposed to forgive myself if all I do causes misery and pain?" She asks angrily, getting in her own stance.

"You're strong Hope, not all-mighty and certainly not all-knowing. That's why we're here. In this school." Sosuke tells her, blocking the two punches and three kicks she attacks him with.

"I am the tribrid. I have to be the best of the best. Otherwise..." She says, letting out her anger and continues to assault Sosuke who blocks everything she throws at him.

"Otherwise what? Can't even tell yourself the truth? In that case, let me help out." He says and starts attacking her instead, Hope blocking most of his hits but an elbow strike hits her on the side of her head and makes her land in the edge of the lake, her clothes drenched with water and dirt sticking to her as she gets out.

"You tell yourself, that if you're not strong enough, the best of the best, that you don't deserve your father's sacrifice." He tells her while attacking her again and knocks the wind out of her with a hook to her stomach.

"Go ahead. Tell me I'm wrong." Sosuke says challenging her.

"You're right." She yells out frustrated and a forcewave throws Sosuke off his feet.

"Then you are wrong again. From all I've heard. Hell even what the necromancer told us. He gave his life for you out of love. And I can't imagine that someone who would go so far to protect you would want you to suffer alone and doubt every move you make because you feel that you have to be the best on your own and that everything is your responsibility." Sosuke tells her, getting up and walking over to her while she falls to her knees.

"So I will give you a werewolves choice. Let me help you carry that weight on your shoulders because I love you, or I will make you bleed and prove to you I can handle it before you will let me help you carry that weight." Sosuke tells her with finality in his voice while looking down at her and offering her a hand.

Hope looks up while crying and accepts the hand, Sosuke pulling her into a firm hug with her clinging to him and crying into his shoulder.

"Will you let me help now?" He asks in a calm tone, caressing the back of her neck.

"Yes." She answers and gives him a shaky smile while he wipes the tears out of her eyes with his other hand.

"You are so damn stubborn." He says, the two of them looking into each other's eyes.

"I'm guessing I rubbed off on you then." She replies with a grin.

"You definitely did." He agrees and kisses her passionately.

"I'm so sorry I lost control." She says breathlessly between his hungry kisses.

"Just be glad I'm such a considerate boyfriend or I could have hurt you the other day." He mumbles back.

"boyfriend? What happened to letting me take my time to sort out my feelings?" She asks teasingly.

"I don't want to wait anymore, so I decided. Do you have a problem with that?" Sosuke asks, his eyes searching hers intensely.

"I. do. not." She replies, pausing after each word with a long kiss.

"Good." He says with a big smile and kisses her fiercely, a bolt of lightning shooting off him and lighting the top of a tree they were standing under on fire.

Hope wordlessly extinguishes the flames with a flick of the wrist and pushes him down while smiling sexily.

She takes off her shirt and jeans as well as her shoes, feeling his stare follow her every movement.

"I thought we came here to swim." She then tells him and backs up to the water, jumping in and beckons him to follow her with her finger.

Sosuke is almost left breathless at the sight of this but is quick to jump in after her and wraps an arm around her, pressing her against himself as they float in the water exchanging heavy eye contact with her eyes glowing yellowish.

"You are too damn beautiful." Sosuke curses and dives underwater, where she can see a light shine brightly and the ground get disturbed.

"Shall we get to training then?" She asks with a smirk and drags a finger down his front to his bellybutton and slides her hand around his firm stomach before dragging it up his back slowly.

Sosuke starts glowing but closes his eyes and tries to contain the energy, lasting maybe 10 more seconds of her teasing with her peppering light kisses over his cheek before he dives down and shoots another lightning bolt while Hope is greatly enjoying herself or rather the effect she has on him.

The two continue to repeat this for maybe 20 minutes in the water and another half hour outside the water. Sosuke returning her teasing as well at some point with her accidentally also loosing control once and causing a tree to collapse.

Hope is lying on top of Sosuke, kissing him passionately, with him no longer glowing until he actually releases the energy, and lets her hands explore his muscles happily.

"So it was you two causing the disturbance as I assumed." Alaric says awkwardly, Hope immediately rolls off Sosuke and wraps herself in her blanket while staring at their teacher.

"For what it's worth it was intentional." Sosuke says.

"Why?" Alaric questions annoyed while both teens put on their clothes.

"I can't exactly avoid Hope now that I'm her boyfriend and I think it's best if I don't cause an explosion everytime we kiss right? Plus I need to figure out how to get a feeling for these powers." Sosuke tells the older man.

"Ahem yes. Good idea." Alaric says awkwardly.

"So what's the progress on your powers?" Alaric asks him as the three walk back to the school building.

"Let's see." Sosuke says stopping in place and raises a hand at the lake, 3 smaller lightning bolts hitting the lake with a splash.

"Nice." Alaric says impressed.

"Yeah, except I tried to shoot one big one." Sosuke tells them.

"We'll get you there." Hope says, smiling at him while taking his hand.

Alaric is slightly smiling to himself, glad to see Hope happy.

"With your help, I don't doubt it." Sosuke replies, raising their connected hands and gives hers a kiss.

"Quit being so lovey-dovey in front of me. It's making me sick." Alaric tells them half jokingly and the teens let go of each other's hand.

"Any news on the third seal?" Sosuke asks the headmaster.

"Luckily not." Alaric replies.

"But you doubt it will stay that way?" Sosuke guesses.

"With the past weeks we had? I would be surprised if it didn't show up any day now." Alaric tells them.

"And just so we're clear. No slacking off on normal training and only trying to figure out Sosuke's ability behind closed doors, you understand?" He warns the teens who nod in reply with a small blush.