Work Text:
“I-I loved you when I couldn’t remember you.”
Hope flinched—maybe a little bit too obviously.
Despite the fact that she was usually adept at hiding her emotions, sometimes Landon just said things that took her off guard. He said things that were so blunt that they stunned her into silence, and she couldn't always tell if it was in a good way.
But, usually, she'd just shrug it off.
Not this time. This time, she was confused.
I loved you when I couldn’t remember you. What did that even mean?
Hadn’t he been about to sleep with Josie, days before?
“Hope?” Landon called out to her.
Hope blinked, swallowing thickly and snapping out of her reverie. Landon was staring at her expectantly.
Hope just stared back at him, feeling a little bit panicked.
Landon cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting on his feet. “Um,” he started, looking a lot more uncertain of himself now. “This is the part where you say that you love me, too.”
Hope stared at him for a long pause. Her lips parted—her eyes widened in shock.
Oh.
Oh, no.
She felt paralyzed, now—frozen in place, with no clue what to say.
“Hope?” Landon tried again, his gaze faltering.
She tensed even more, if that was even possible.
Did she love him?
Sure, in a way.
But it wasn't that simple.
Things were changing way too quickly, and Hope felt like she had whiplash. It was way too much to process.
Landon had just skipped town. Not days before, Hope had resigned herself to the fact that she might never see him again.
He was back now, only because Hope sent Lizzie on a mission to retrieve him—but even still, Hope hadn't prepared herself for this. In all of her predictions for when he came back, Landon was still dating Josie.
He was supposed to be still dating Josie. But he’d clearly just broken up with Josie, not moments before, most likely with an even shorter speech.
He’d just broken Josie’s heart, like it was nothing.
And now he was here, smiling. He wanted Hope to promise him hers.
Again.
Hope didn’t know if she was willing to do that.
And she certainly wasn’t about to figure it out right there, with Landon staring at her expectantly and telling her what she was supposed to say like he’d written the script beforehand.
So, for once, Hope ran away from Landon, and not the other way around.
She didn’t even turn back when he called out to her. She just ran. She ran straight into the woods. She ran through the woods like she couldn’t get far enough away, or like she was afraid he’d try to follow.
She didn’t really know where she was going. She didn’t even think she had a destination, until she practically stumbled across the dock.
She stopped running, then, jogging out onto the dock and staring at the lake. She took a few heaving breaths.
Her tribrid stamina settled her breathing quickly, but it did nothing to quell the burning in the back of her throat. That’s how she realized that she was crying.
She wasn't sobbing by any means, but she could feel a few tears falling from her eyes against her will. She sighed and approached the edge of the dock, sitting down and dangling her legs over the water.
It was cold. It was still snowing a little bit, even.
The weather hadn’t recovered from the Krampus yet, apparently. Hope ran hot, since she was a wolf, but the temperature was made obvious by the way her tears seemed to be at risk of freezing solid on her cheeks. It was snowing a little bit, even, little flecks of white fluttering through the air and landing in the water.
Hope tried to get herself to stop crying.
It was difficult, because her mind wouldn’t stop running in panicky circles. Part of her was telling her to go find Landon and take him back—to act like nothing had ever happened. Wasn’t that what she had wanted?
But another part of her was telling her that Landon was a coward. That he was unreliable.
Lizzie had to murder Landon and shove him into a trunk to get him to come back to school. He wouldn’t be back at all otherwise.
Lizzie had proven herself to be more reliable than him, traveling cross-country on command just because Hope asked her to.
Lizzie, Hope could count on. Landon, she could not.
If someone had told Hope only a year ago that she would ever think such a thing, she would’ve laughed in their face.
But a lot had happened since Malivore. Lizzie was Hope’s rock, now, as absurd as that seemed. She’d remembered Hope before anyone else. She practically came to Hope’s rescue—she was the only one who saw Hope for who she was.
She didn't abandon Hope when she remembered her.
She didn't run away.
“Why are you sad?”
Hope jumped. She nearly fell into the lake because she was so startled.
She spun around, just to find Lizzie staring at her from the other side of the dock, her arms crossed over her chest.
Speak of the devil.
“You really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” Hope said with a displeased frown.
Lizzie raised an eyebrow, stepping closer. “Aren’t you supposed to have super hearing or something?” she snarked.
Hope’s frown deepened. “I was thinking,” she replied defensively.
Lizzie plopped down on the edge of the dock next to Hope, letting her own legs dangle over the side. “You were brooding,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Hope scowled. “I wasn’t brooding ,” she snapped.
“I know brooding when I see it, Mikaelson,” Lizzie retorted, pinning Hope with a knowing look. “What’s wrong? Did Pillsbury Mudboy ditch you again?”
Hope looked at Lizzie, her brow furrowed with confusion at the comment.
Lizzie avoided her gaze, staring intently at the lake instead.
Hope studied her profile for a long pause. “Why are you so mean to Landon?” she eventually asked, more curious than accusatory.
Lizzie just shrugged nonchalantly, still staring at the lake. “I’m mean to everybody,” she replied.
Hope frowned once again. “But you’re especially mean to Landon,” she observed, Lizzie’s evasive answer making her feel even more suspicious.
Lizzie scowled, as though just the thought of Landon was irritating to her. “Well, yeah,” she muttered. “Because he’s the most pathetic.”
Hope sighed. “Lizzie,” she said, her tone warning.
Lizzie raised an unimpressed eyebrow, turning to look at Hope. “What?” she deadpanned.
“You should be nicer,” Hope said. “He was bullied.”
Lizzie scoffed, her arms folding over her chest again. “I can see why,” she snarked, rolling her eyes to punctuate the statement.
Hope rolled her eyes herself, but she let the comment slide. She stared down at her lap, pouting without even realizing it. “Landon’s…,” she murmured under her breath, almost as if she was talking to herself. “Complicated.”
There was a long pause.
Hope looked up from her lap after a moment, unsettled by Lizzie’s uncharacteristic silence.
Lizzie was already staring at her. “There’s nothing complicated about it, Hope,” she stated, her voice stern and much more serious than usual. She gave Hope a pointed look. “He doesn’t treat you right.”
Hope blinked rapidly, confused and taken off guard. “I…,” she trailed off, feeling dumb. “What?”
Lizzie released a sigh, looking very frustrated that Hope wasn’t receiving whatever message Lizzie was trying to send. “Look,” she snapped impatiently. “I’m just saying. If I were him, I would appreciate the miracle that you were into me, and I wouldn’t be such a baby about everything. And I wouldn’t leave you so often.”
Hope froze, her breath hitching in her throat. Her brow furrowed, Lizzie’s answer having done nothing but amplify her confusion. “If you were him...?” she echoed, the uncertainty coming through thick in her voice.
Lizzie blinked and stared blankly, her reaction delayed for once. When she recovered, she pursed her lips, staring at Hope like she was stupid. “Well, yeah ,” she blurted out, waving a hand in front of her like it should be obvious. “I would obviously be a much better lover, in every possible way.”
Hope’s eyes widened almost comically, her mouth opening and closing for a few moments before she thought better of speaking and snapped it shut. She tensed and glance away, scolding herself as she felt a heavy blush rise to her cheeks against her will.
Lizzie watched the reaction closely. Her head cocked to the side, like she was curious about Hope's reaction.
Hope felt Lizzie's gaze on her. She squirmed even more under it, shifting uncomfortably.
"You're blushing," Lizzie observed matter-of-factly, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Hope tensed, trying to get a hold of herself. "I am not blushing," she snapped, even as her cheeks got even hotter.
Lizzie scoffed at the obvious lie. "Hope, your face is the color of your hair," she said bluntly.
"Lizzie, stop it," Hope hissed with a sharp glare.
Lizzie ignored the command, as usual. "Why are you blushing?" she asked. "Is it because you're imagining what I'd be like as a lover?"
Hope choked on a disgruntled noise of protest, her heart pounding in her chest at the accusation. "Wha—I...," she sputtered, resisting the urge to stand and run away. "Stop saying that word," she deflected, looking away. "No one says that word."
Lizzie raised an eyebrow. "What?" she prompted, bemused. "Lover?"
Hope said nothing, staring at Lizzie warily out of the corner of her eye, as if she were worried that the siphoner might attack at any moment.
There was an extended silence, then, as they both stared at each other.
Hope thought it felt dangerous.
Lizzie seemed to have no such concern, though. A slow smirk grew on her face, her eyes growing mischievous in a way that tempted Hope to run away again. "What would you have me say instead?" Lizzie practically purred.
Hope said nothing, her only response a nervous gulp. She felt very much like she'd just walked right into an ambush and was just waiting for the inevitable.
Lizzie suddenly let out an obviously fake gasp, pretending to have a revelation. "Oh, I know!" she said. "Why are you blushing, is it because you're imagining what it would be like to be my girlfriend?"
Hope visibly flinched, clearly not knowing how to navigate this uncharted territory. "Lizzie—"
"Or are you just imagining what it'd be like to hold my hand?" Lizzie asked, feigning innocence. She shifted closer, pulling Hope's hand into her lap and intertwining their fingers.
Hope tensed, uncertain of how to react. She was feeling extremely self-conscious and finding it difficult to breathe all of a sudden.
It only got worse when Lizzie leaned in even closer. Hope froze, swallowing thickly at their proximity, now able to see the flecks in Lizzie's eyes.
Lizzie smirked again, raising a challenging eyebrow at Hope's failure to reply. "Or maybe you're imagining what it would be like to kiss me?" she whispered.
Hope's breath audibly hitched in her throat when she felt the air behind Lizzie's words brush over her lips. Hope's gaze dropped down to stare at Lizzie's lips, her own lips parting as though she were in a trance. "Lizzie...," she murmured quietly, her voice tightly restrained. "What are you doing?”
Lizzie studied Hope's expression for a long time—long enough for the smirk to droop off of her lips, her own expression becoming more serious. “Testing you,” she replied, her voice soft and absentminded, like her mind was drifting off somewhere else.
After a moment, Hope flinched back almost violently, growing extremely tense over the course of a split second. Lizzie blinked, taken aback.
Hope stared at Lizzie, her face paling. She looked hurt for a moment, but then her expression hardened, her eyes suddenly very cold.
Hope abruptly launched to her feet, looking like she was prepared to sprint away.
Lizzie followed without hesitation, ready to chase after Hope if she had to. “Hope, wait! I didn't mean it like that—”
Hope instantly halted in her tracks, spinning around and pinning Lizzie with a harsh glare. “Is this a joke to you?!” she snapped furiously.
Lizzie fell silent, recoiling slightly from the pure, unadulterated rage that Hope was aiming at her now. She tensed slightly at the accusation, her jaw ticking. “No,” she answered simply.
Hope ignored Lizzie’s answer, apparently already knowing what she intended to say next. “Because this isn’t a joke to me,” she hissed, her voice low like that was some kind of confession—like she was trying to keep anyone from overhearing, even though they were alone.
Lizzie blinked, frowning as she attempted to read between the lines.
Hope was shaking, now. She looked pent up with energy, like she was about to explode at any moment. Lizzie couldn't tell if it was from anger or something else entirely.
Hope let out a shaky exhale. “Don’t mess with me , Lizzie,” she growled under her breath, a mixture between a plea and a command. “Not… just not like this, okay?”
Lizzie scowled, like she was offended that Hope even thought she might do such a thing. “I’m not messing with you, Hope,” she snapped, taking a sharp step closer.
Hope just scoffed at that, as though she thought it was clearly a lie.
Lizzie glared, her scowl intensifying. "I'm not!" she practically shouted. The force of her voice seemed to carry some kind of magical force—a few leaves around them lifted a few inches off of the ground.
Hope glared right back. Unbeknownst to her, a few leaves rose even higher when she responded. "Well, prove it, then!" she shouted, as if she didn't entirely know what she was asking for.
Lizzie intended to give it to her, anyway. She surged forward, crashing their lips together.
Some sort of sonic boom accompanied the collision—the force of it nearly knocked down the trees around them, half of their leaves plummeting to the forest floor.
They made out furiously for less than a minute before they were suddenly caught in the middle of a blizzard.
Lizzie jerked back when a gust of wind forced what felt like a snowball into her face. "What the fuck?" she hissed, glancing around at the suddenly extremely harsh weather. She turned on Hope with an accusatory glare. "Are you doing this?"
Hope looked slightly dazed. "Maybe?" she replied, sounding very unsure of it herself.
Lizzie scowled. "Well, stop it!" she commanded. "I'm cold! We're not all furnaces like you, Hope!"
Hope scowled back. "I'm not doing it on purpose!" she snapped, defensive now.
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she grumbled, already moving to leave. "Let's just get back to the school and do this where you can't ruin it with the weather."
Hope frowned, blocking her face with her hands as she turned to walk after Lizzie. "Are you ever going to be nice to me?" she practically whined.
Lizzie allowed herself to smile, mostly because she knew that Hope wouldn't be able to see it through the blizzard.