The kiss wasn't a deep one. Physically, it didn't involve much else but their lips, and it lasted not longer than a few seconds. However, for both, the action seemed to have lasted an eternity when John broke off the contact.
Slowly, he raised his head and opened his eyes to look at the girl. When he did it, John observed Hope doing the same, with a touch of warmth deep in her eyes.
For an instant, the two remained silent, taking their time to process the past moment.
The first to act was Hope, with her raising her right hand. Gently, she cupped John's cheek with it.
"You are blushing…"
John snorted. "Look who is talking." Tucking a thread of her hair behind the ear, the boy took a long look at Hope. "You look like a tomato."
Very softly, Hope giggled. "I don't think this is what should be told right after a moment like this."
"Really?" John lowered his head again, closing the distance between them. "Should I tell you how much I enjoyed it?" Gently, he kissed her cheek. "Or praise how beautiful you look this close? Just for you to know, both of them are true." He placed his lips on hers again for a very brief moment.
Savoring the kiss with her hands laced behind his neck, Hope pushed him up with her lips before breaking it. "You sure have a sweet mouth."
"I will take you mean that for both ways."
Playfully and without any strength, Hope hit his shoulder. "You are an idiot."
"You have no idea." John didn't disagree. He brought his hands lower and held Hope by her hips before helping her sit up. However, different from before, she sat on his lap instead of the armrest of the chair. "Maybe one day you will realize how much of an idiot I am."
"Careful, I might take your words the wrong way." Hope gently caressed the back of his head, letting her fingers coursing through his hair.
"If you do, I guess I already showed you what my answer may possibly be." John kissed her cheek.
The soft touch of his lips against her face brought out a sweet laugh from Hope. "I will think about that."
John snorted in amusement, leaning back a little. It was at that moment, when his sight expanded, that the young man noticed where his hands rested. One over her thighs and another around her waist, both signaling a level of intimacy that both of them just stepped upon a minute ago.
The active recognition of this fact led John to snort again, one longer and more profound than the last, with a distant look taking over his eyes for a moment.
This small shift in the boy's behavior didn't go unnoticed by Hope. With her curiosity picked, she leaned forward to get his attention."What are you thinking? Don't tell me you are getting cold feet now."
"Pft." John stifled his laughter. "No, no… nothing of that." He shook his head, denying the possibility even though he knew Hope just said that to get him out of his mind. "Just surprised. Having a small contemplatory moment of the past few days of my life."
"Do you want to share it with me?" Hope asked. "I just left a therapeutic session, I think I might be able to help."
"I don't think that's how it works." John chuckled.
"And how do you know that?"
"I don't know, I'm just guessing here. I've never been in a therapeutic session before."
"I did, just a few minutes ago." Hope said. "So, come on. You can open up to me."
Breathing, John held the air inside for a moment longer before he let it escape through his nostrils. "Around a week ago, I had the discovery of my life. The biggest truth I've ever heard of, which will probably remain so like that for who knows how many years I'll live. For about five minutes or so, I experienced an existential crisis, but my mother's words helped me through it and I put it behind. Then, I decided to wander, and in my all-powerful luck, I ended up finding this magical school, where vampires, werewolves and witches all live together."
"It surely seems like a lot to absorb." Hope commented.
"Not so much." John said, looking blankly into the space. "What is affecting me is probably just a strange nostalgia that I feel of how things changed fast, but not that I am bothered by it." When moving his head to look at Hope, a smile was printed on his face. "I think it's impossible for me to be bothered by how things are now."
Hope sweetly smiled, with her hand resting over the boy's hair. "You are so sweet." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Go on, continue your words."
"Well, there isn't much left. The other significant change in these past few days is that I've come to realize that I like this beautiful girl." Gently, the boy's fingers ran down Hope's cheeks, resting under her chin. "You might know her. She is shorty, has long hair and apparently is an all-powerful witch."
"I'm not shorty." Hope said, sticking to that part.
John tilted his head to the side. "Really? You look like one to me."
"That's because you are a giant. I'm of average height." Hope poked his chest. "Now, that raises a question." She suddenly said, raising her eyes at him. "Are you still growing? I mean, you are one younger than me."
"Nope." John shook his head. "My body doesn't change anymore in regards to the physical growth you are thinking about. You may think of my situation similar to that of a vampire. Their bodies remain the same forever because they are dead, with magic and blood sustaining their existence. On the contrary, I'm still alive but my body remains the same because it doesn't see the need to change. You get what I mean?"
Looking at Hope, John noticed she had a pondering expression. She was thinking over the words said by him.
After his question, Hope nodded to express her understanding. "I do. I'm just… surprised." She weakly snorted. "Despite what you already showed to me, I forget you are no witch, werewolf, vampire or anything we know."
"Yeah, there was that conversation…" John's words hung in the air for a while. "That must've been a very vague conversation for you, wasn't it?"
Hope snorted again, humorously this time. "You have no idea. Sometimes, I think about that talk we had. Trying to learn if you meant something else by it and I simply didn't understand."
"I meant every word. The problem was that you lack a big part of the content." John pursed his lips. "Don't think too much about it, okay? Such an irrelevant thing is not worth much of your time."
"Don't say that." Hope cupped his right cheek, giving it a weak squeak. "Don't say something like that about what you are."
John thought of saying he said those words only for her to not worry about it. However, before he put these thoughts out, he decided to reply something different.
"Okay." John nodded. "Where were we? Right, I was saying how much my life changed in just a few days. And… that's it. There isn't much else to say." With a smile on his lips, John weakly nudged Hope. "And you? Do you have something in mind you want to say?"
"Just… that I'm happy." Hope muttered, continuing to hold his face. "More than you can imagine."
Feeling the warmth of her hand, John leaned his head into it. "I hope so. I really do."
"Here, let me show you how much I am." Hope closed the distance between them and claimed the boy's lips, with him just happily accepting it.
[Scene Break]
As the sun climbed higher into the sky and consumed the world with its light, more students and other members of the Salvatore School woke up to welcome one more day into their lives.
Due to events of the previous night, many of the students approaching adulthood woke up closer to lunch than breakfast. Many of them walked with their hands over their heads, some of them grumpy over the fact it hurt and making promises to never again do what they did last night while others just accepted the effects.
They reached the dining hall wearing casual clothes, with dark bags under their eyes, hoping to find something to eat and simply get rid of the heaviness in their minds.
Pushing open the doors in a mix of laziness and violence, Lizzie Saltzman walked with slumped shoulders and narrowed-eyes into the cafeteria. Right behind her, Josie walked with a similar, if less emotional than her sister.
"Josie." Lizzie called out her sister.
"Hm?" The brunette responded with an enthusiasm of a door.
"Remind me to not ever drink again."
For a moment, Josie closed her eyes and elevated her mind. God, give me strength and patience. "I did, before you turned over a bottle of vodka."
"I'm suffering from a hangover and you want to see who is right?"
Please, more patience. Josie snorted sharply, obviously tired. However, most of her exhaustion was very different from how other students were as well.
Unlike the other students, Josie spent most of the night at the party making sure Lizzie was okay. Be it to not make her collapse over a campfire or get into a fight with another witch to not let her sleep in the main hall and falling down on the stairs when climbing up to their room.
And now, when she has been hearing Lizzie complaining about every little thing since she has woken up, Josie wants nothing else but to disappear to sleep for a few good hours and come back.
Walking a few steps ahead and passing her sister, Josie grabbed one plate for herself and one more. "Just grab a plate and let's eat, okay?" She said, trying to hand the other plate to Lizzie.
However, when looking back, Josie noticed that Lizzie was a few steps behind, like she stopped walking midway. And then, she had her face turned to a corner of the hall, her eyes falling over two individuals that Josie quickly spotted as well.
Sitting on a table right over the corner of the room, a table where anyone at the school could guess who would be sitting there without even looking, was Hope and John.
They both took the places they usually did. One sitting opposite to the other, laughing and changing words whilst enjoying their meals. A sight that was starting to become familiar for everyone, now had something different that made those perceptive take a few more looks at the two of them.
The more intimate words, a more casual and warm smile exchanged and even the more often touch of hands over the wooden surface were minute things that normally could go unnoticed. However, as soon as they were perceived, these actions seemed to be screaming at their faces by the simple fact of who was performing them.
"That's shocking, isn't it?"
From behind her, Josie heard a voice. One she was familiar with and held twisted feelings towards. But now, in her sour mood, the expression she held when turning around wasn't the best.
"What do you want, Penelope?" Josie asked, her eyes falling over a girl of brown skin and hair and striking hazel eyes.
The witch, when seeing the frowning taking over Josie's expression, smiled sweetly. "Me? Nothing." She said. "Just sharing my thoughts, that's it. Or is that prohibited now?"
"Don't play dumb. What do you want?" Josie repeated her previous question.
"Nothing, really. Just appreciating the sight." Penelope said, tilting her head to the side to observe the young man and woman sitting at the distance. "Never in my life would I have imagined none other than Hope Mikaelson to be able to smile like that."
"If you are that enchanted by it, you should've given it your shot." Josie commented.
"And risk having my family erased off the earth? No, sorry. I know she doesn't like my guts and her family scare the shit out of me."
"She isn't the only one."
"Aw~ Come on, JoJo. I know you are far from disliking me." Penelope stepped ahead, reaching her hand out. In no time, she had Josie's hair swirling around one of her fingers. "You proved that many times, didn't you?"
"And I regret it." Josie pushed Penelope's hand away.
Retreating one step, Penelope side-stepped and approached the pile of plates. "I heard they are dating." She said, taking one of the plates. At that moment, she averted her eyes from Josie and looked at the other sister who was a few steps away.
At that moment, Josie knew what Penelope's plan was. And when she had time to react, it was too late.
"What do you think, Lizz-"
"Shut up!" Lizzie angrily said, her voice bearing a shout. Stomping on the floor of the hall, she turned around and walked away, pushing students out of her way before her figure disappeared when going past the double doors.
Josie, observing all of this, felt an anger rise in her for she knew Penelope had been planning to target her sister from the beginning. But still, she still held down her emotions and pulled out her phone, knowing there was something she had to do first.
Dad, Scenario 2. Her text was small and simple, and quickly sent it to the only person right now that could appease Lizzie other than her.
Got it. Leave it to me. Alaric quickly replied.
When reading the text, Josie let out a sigh of tiredness. She put her phone back into her pocket whilst lifting her eyes at Penelope. "Are you happy?"
The witch's first reply was a broad smile. "More than you can imagine." Her tone clearly gave how much joy the situation brought to her. "Lizzie's suffering is my energy to exist."
Giving a step ahead, Josie faced Penelope up close. "What did she ever do to you for you to be this bitchy with her, um?"
"One day, you will probably know." Penelope whispered, giving the girl a wink before passing by her and proceeding to the end of the line.
Listening to these words, Josie turned around and followed Penelope with her eyes. She took deep breaths to restrain herself from doing something that she knew she wouldn't regret but would probably expel her out of the school despite her father being the headmaster.
Happy thoughts, happy thoughts… Josie muttered in her mind, waiting for the line to walk a little before joining its end. She didn't want to be near Penelope for now.
During the course of these events, it was impossible for anyone in the hall to not notice what happened. For a moment, almost everyone paid attention to what occurred before minding their own business.
Between those who paid some attention to it, John and Hope were obviously amongst them. Their enhanced senses simply didn't permit them to not pay attention to something like that happening even if they were toned down to a certain extent.
"Did you find that strange as well?" John asked.
Hope shook her head. "No. Not the first time Lizzie has behaved like that." She said, piercing her fork into the food. "Don't worry. By tomorrow, she will be all sunshine and happiness."
Listening to how nonchalantly Hope's words sounded, John titled his head. "I'm curious. Since when you and Lizzie have this frenemies-antagonistic relationship between you two?" Despite seeing Hope almost choking on her food, John continued his words after a humored snort. "I ask because I can see you two don't hate each other, even though I can almost see sparks every time one of you looks at the other."
Drinking a bit of water to alleviate her throat, Hope breathed deeply to verify if everything was right. "I think it was… around three years ago. If I remember it right, it was right after my room got burned."
"I didn't know about that."
"Not a good memory to share." Hope pursed her lips, a tinge of sadness surfacing in her eyes. "Lost a few important things in it."
"Sorry to hear that." John said.
Hope happily accepted the words with a smile. "Back to your question, it was around that time. One day, she just started to antagonize me." She said, "What you just saw was probably her dissatisfaction with her noticing we were together."
"Well, not that I didn't notice her advances." John muttered. "But surely I didn't expect that reaction."
"Yeah, you would've to be blind to not notice it." Hope commented. "Now, let's send our prayers to Dr. Saltzman since he is probably the one right now going to talk to her."
John chuckled. "Stop it." He told her. "Come on, let's change the topic. How about… how much I am extremely averse to attending classes tomorrow."
"You hate classes that much?"
"Hate is too much of a strong word." John muttered. "As I said before, I just didn't expect one of the first things I would do when gaining immortality would be going back to complete high school." The boy cut a piece of the steak on his plate. "At least we have a few classes together. So that certainly helps."
"Pay attention to classes, okay?" Hope asked him. "I bet you will at least enjoy the ones about magic."
"I hope so." John brought his fork to his mouth. As he did so, he looked past Hope's figure and noticed someone approaching. Gulping down his food, John forced out a smile. "Hey, Josie."
"Can I sit here again today?" She asked, looking between the two teenagers sitting by the table.
John nodded, and Hope patted the empty space by her side. "Come, sit with me."
Offering a smile of gratitude, Josie walked over to Hope's side and sat alongside the tribrid on the wooden bench.
When she felt her butt glue to the bench and heard the dull sound of her tray falling on the table, Josie went forward and took the opportunity to restart the conversation. "What were you talking about?" She quickly asked.
Before replying, John gave her a quick look. "About the classes tomorrow."
"Ah, that." Josie wasn't mostly enthusiastic when saying these words. "What classes will you have tomorrow?"
"Fundaments of Magic, Trigonometry, Ethics and Biology." John replied.
"May God have mercy on your soul." Josie put her hands together on his way before picking up her fork.
John laughed lightly at her reaction. "Thanks."
"Are you needing anything?" Hope asked.
"Well, I have the books, pens, notebooks… Dr. Saltzman made sure to arrange everything for me. Which just further increases my debt to the school." John snorted weakly, just the right amount to show that he wasn't much bothered by this matter. "And I can use the computers in the lab to search if I need to."
"Sometimes I forget you don't have a phone." Hope commented, trying to balance the neck of the fork on the tip of her finger. "Want to borrow one of my old ones? I don't have them right now. But I can ask someone to get them from New Orleans."
"I was about to comment on how troublesome it must be to get a simple phone transported from a city around a thousand kilometers from here. But considering you are a princess of a thousand-year-old family, then it must have an easy way."
"Shut up." Hope threw at him a grain of rice.
John caught the food in the air with his mouth before smirking at Hope's action. "Despite my words, thank you. It will be helpful."
Hope smiled sweetly at his words. "No problem. And now that you mentioned it, I got curious about one thing." She raised her cup and stopped it right before her lips. "Have you thought of a way to pay this school debt you have?" Then, she drank the content in the cup.
"It must be a heavy one considering you are staying in a solo room." Josie chimed in the conversation with a comment of her own. "I once saw how much they cost each month. From that day forward, I never felt guilty asking dad for anything during Christmas."
"Then you can rest assured, for what I am going to pay your father will cover Christmas and your birthday, for you and Lizzie." John had his lips thinned when saying this. "As for how I will acquire the money, I have a few plans." A smile grew on the boy's face.
"For example?"
"Right now, I am divided between two of them." John put his cutlery down and looked at Hope and Josie. "I was thinking of either pulling up a ton of gold from deep sea or legally robbing a casino in Las Vegas."
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A/N
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