Feelings - A Hosie Story

Chapter 4 - "It's kind of adorable"

Three days later, Josie is back in Hope's room. It's starting to feel like she never even left. But anyway, that's not the point. They are painting, or well they were until things took a turn and now Josie is crossing her arms, with a firm stare directed at her friend. She does her best to keep her glare serious.

"That's not fair, Hope," Josie says. Hope doesn't seem to be all that bothered, opting to shrug her shoulders in a response. She decides she may as well have sun fun with this, so she straightens her back (her poor attempt at feeling taller) and speaks.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" She masks her inner laughter with a steady tone. Josie scoffs back, secretly loving Hope's attitude.

"You're asking for a fight," Josie mumbles. They never break eye contact. Hope takes a step closer, and Josie gulps. Hope takes another step, further closing the already small distance between them. Hope takes another step and Josie gulps even harder, backing into the desk behind her and her hands fall to her sides.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Hope repeats. The two keep the intense silence going for several more seconds. That is until Josie starts laughing. "Why are you laughing?" Hope asks.

"I'm sorry, it's just for some reason, I never noticed until now...how short you actually are. It's kind of adorable." Josie brings a hand up to Hope's head, patting it gently, further emphasizing the major height difference. Hope looks at Josie as if she said the most horrible and hurtful insult possible. The tribrid swats Josie's hand away, looking up at her.

"I'm not adorable. I'm a Mikaelson...we're intimidating!" Hope says defensively, attempting to sound intimidating, which doesn't work on Josie. She literally towers over Hope and she's at least a whole head taller. Josie covers her mouth with her hand, but her laughter is still visible in the way her whole body shakes. She manages to calm down to speak.

"Yes you are a Mikaelson, but you're still adorable. And you are definitely not intimidating." Hope's not sure of how to react - if she should laugh or be actually offended. It seems her body has a different reaction in my mind though. Her cheeks grow warmer, and she does her best to hide the growing redness. Josie calling her adorable makes her smile and warms her heart, something she hasn't felt in a long time (but welcomes with open arms). Hope chooses to respond with what had started their little debate, by flicking some more of her paint at Josie. Sure enough, her token Mikaelson smirk covers her face. Josie mirrors Hope's actions by dipping her brush in blue paint and smearing it all over the shorter girl's cheeks and nose.

"How dare you?" Hope states, adding a dramatic gasp at the end. She dunks her brush in the orange paint and smudges it all over Josie's face. The color that had been a bright orange on the palette turns to a darker orange, almost brown color after mixing with the shades that had previously been on the brush. Josie does her dramatic gasp, even going as far as to bring a hand to her head as if she's about to pass out. Hope drops her brush onto the palette, feeling successful. They have another brief staring contest, before collapsing onto Hope's bed in fits of laughter.

"In all seriousness, Jo, I think you've really improved since your first painting...and it's only been a couple of days." Hope turns her body to face Josie. She means each word that she says and wants to give Josie some encouragement.

"I had an excellent teacher."

"Correction. You had the best teacher." Hope brags, in a joking manner. Josie slaps her arm, using very little force and Hope pretends to be hurt. When Josie's hand falls onto the bed, it brushes against Hope's, sending shivers down both of the girls' spines. Did she do it on accident? Possibly. Or maybe it hit exactly where she had aimed. She decides to take advantage of their close proximity and instead rests her head on Hope's chest. She can feel each breath, rising and falling to let the air pass. She soon feels a hand mixed up in her hair, softly brushing through the strands.

"We should do this again another night. I had a lot of fun." Josie says to the blue-eyed girl.

"Definitely. Although as much as I enjoy teaching you to paint...next time we hang out I think we should do something that doesn't have the potential of turning as messy as this." Hope comments, pointing at her shirt to further her point.

"It wouldn't have turned messy if you hadn't flicked me with the paint in the first place!" Josie argues.

"It was an accident!" She defends herself.

"Sure it was," Josie says, propping herself up on her arms to be able to look at Hope, right in time to see the girl shake her head.

They both know it was a genuine accident, but they equally enjoy making a joke of it. "You wanna hang out tomorrow night? Lizzie is going to some dumb party to try and impress her crush which will leave me in the room, alone. I'd much rather spend my time with you." If Hope wants to smile the biggest smile at the last part, she hides it. She doesn't want Josie making a joke out of that too, which would surely end in Hope blushing, even just a little. It's getting harder and harder to conceal these things in front of Josie. Not that they mean anything, it's just the way Hope is around Josie.

"Sounds good. We could watch a movie, eat some popcorn, and have some candy." The girl drags out the final word. She is a huge lover of candy. Sour, chewy, you name it, and she'll probably list her favorite brands of that kind of candy.

"I like the sound of that. D'you mind if we watch it here? You never how Lizzie will return from a party. Could either be super drunk and super needy or with some guy and I have to awkwardly leave the room to go somewhere else."

"Ugh...Do you have to?" Josie looks away, not sure if Hope is serious or not. "Kidding...That's fine by me." Hope answers.

They stay on the bed talking and find that time always goes by quicker when they are together. They could spend countless hours with one another and never get bored. There is just always something to talk about or something to do. They get on so well. The two find that the other understands them in a way nobody else does. Josie's not sure about Hope, but she feels like she could tell the girl anything and Hope would listen. And she appreciates that more than words could even describe.

Josie checks the clock on her phone and her eyes widen when she sees how long she's been with Hope. Last she knew it had only been 7:30.

"I think I'm gonna head off now. I really need a shower. Don't want to stay orange forever." Josie gets up. She doesn't want to leave, and if Lizzie hadn't been out, she may have stayed and cuddled up next to Hope for the night. On the plus side, she can look forward to the movie night.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, love." Hope doesn't register the nickname at first, but it feels right. She always heard her family using it for people they care about and, well, she certainly cares for Josie.

"Love?" Josie cocks her head. She likes that the tribrid always has a nickname for her, and they aren't mean insults like Hope exchanges with Lizzie.

"Just something my family, mainly my dad, would call people they cared about. Guess I picked it up too." There's a drop of grief hiding below the surface of her words. Any time she mentions her parents it happens. Josie moves back over to Hope and hugs her, to comfort her but also to say goodbye. Hope hadn't been expecting it but she doesn't complain and gladly accepts the warm embrace. She likes how it feels to be held, especially by Josie. She likes being close enough that she can hear the pulsing of Josie's heart.

The Mikaelson grins as she watches Josie leave, also excited for their upcoming evening. Hope catches her eyes moving lower on Josie's body as she walks out, but stops them before they can move any lower down.