Feelings - A Hosie Story

Chapter 34 - "It's my choice"

At lunch, Hope and Josie sit alone. Josie tells Hope that she wants her parents to know she's taking Hope's blood as a precaution. She expects her mother to be okay with it, after all, she's a vampire herself, and truthfully, she believes Caroline will be relieved at the possibility of having a family member to be with her as they outlive the rest. Alaric, well...

Josie doesn't expect it to go down as well with her father. His attitude towards vampires has changed a lot over the years. He's not quite the hunter he used to be, and he loves his vampire students at this school, but if it were to be his own daughter, she believes it might be different. Kai became a heretic, he was family, and he wreaked havoc and killed Alaric's wife. Her dad may never fully recover from that, and so to hear that his own daughter may become the very same creature that killed his wife, will certainly be a bit of a shock.

"We should probably head over to my dad's office."

Hope checks the time.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"They need to know, just in case. I just hope my dad doesn't take long to come around to the possibility, is all." Josie sighs a long heavy sigh. The pair get up from their seats, leaving their empty plates behind. As they head towards Alaric's office, Josie goes over the hundreds of things he might say. None of them will be great, but she hopes more than anything that he's not too angry. Maybe, although he won't be okay with the idea, he'll see why she's doing it.

The door is directly in front of them. Josie raises her hand to knock, she pauses briefly, but finally, her knuckles bang against the wood.

"Come in!" Caroline shouts. Hope and Josie enter. Her dad is sitting on one side of the desk and her mother on the other.

"Hey, guys. I need to talk to you about this fight."

"Of course, sweetie, What is it?" Caroline's brows draw together and her voice is laced with concern.

"Well, it could happen at any moment, which is why we are all preparing...but so has he. It will also be incredibly dangerous, I mean we don't know what to expect, and some of us could lose our lives. I-I know that I could die. So..." She looks up, her eyes meeting her father's. She grabs Hope's hand, needing to ground herself.

"So what, Josie?" He pushes her to answer.

"So, I'm going to be taking Hope's blood every day, just in case."

Alaric's face drops.

"You what?" He says.

"Just think about it. If I die, I'll just come back." She tries to tell him, to show him why this would be a good idea.

"And you'll be a heretic! There is no way I'm letting that happen!"

"It's my choice Dad. Would you rather I die?"

"Of course not."

"Then let me do this. The last thing I want is for any of you to have to lose me and for me to not be with you guys anymore."

Alaric tries to speak again but Caroline cuts in before him. "I think what your father is trying to say is that if it happens, you won't be able to take it back. It's permanent. Is that what you really want?"

"It'll be hard at first, I know that, but I'll manage. Besides couldn't it be a loophole to the merge? If I'm a vampire then I can't be a part of it, and me and Lizzie will be safe." Josie says the thoughts flying behind her father's eyes.

"But you don't know what that will do to you, how it could change you!" He doesn't want to risk his daughter becoming a monster, like the ones that affected his life. Like Kai had killed Jo. And so many other vampires that have done such awful things to him and those he cared for.

"I don't, you're right. But what I do know is that Hope..." She grabs the girl's hand and continued, "Will be there in case I turn. She'll help me through it. I hope you will be there too."

"Of course we will, honey." While shocked, Caroline knows that when Josie sets her mind on something, she can't stop her. And it doesn't mean that she will definitely turn, it is only a precaution.

Alaric still isn't fully on board with the idea, though he appears to be getting more comfortable with it. Josie is sure of her decision, and he is beginning to understand he can't change her mind.

~~~~a few hours later~~~~

The second training session had been pretty hard. The Mikaelson's had shown the students how they can apply the skills they were learning in the morning to a real situation, by doing them against one another. It had been long and tiring, but all of them have come out of it feeling a little more confident, and a little more hopeful for the future.

Hope walks Josie back to her room. Hand in hand, they pass through the quiet halls, enjoying the perfect silence. Nobody to disturb them, nobody to give them weird looks. Although, at the same time, it does feel empty, like some life is missing from it. It serves as a reminder of what they face, and why they're doing the training in the first place. It's also a motive, a push to keep going and bring the school back to what it used to be, what it's supposed to be.

"Thanks for being there when I told my parents."

"You know I'm always here for you. Always."

"I know." Josie smiles and leans in to connect their lips. She feels Hope's arms wrap around her waist. It feels like the first time, soft and comforting. Warm and happy. The butterflies may never stop. Josie doesn't mind that. All they mean is that Hope is close, and if Hope is close then she knows everything will be okay.

When Hope pulls away, she stays close. Neither of them wants to move yet, so they stand there, outside the twins' bedroom, staring into each other's eyes.

"Goodnight, my love." Hope gives Josie a final kiss on her forehead, then lets their hands slide apart as she heads for her room.