As the long veil of the night stretched across the sky and the moon bathed the world with its light, one car approached the gates of the Salvatore School, its metallic shell faintly reflecting the cold moonlight.
When getting closer to the school's entrance, the car slowed down and instead of stopping with its front facing the gates, it parked parallel to it, ready to pull away at any moment.
The passenger door opened, and Hope stepped out of the car wearing a long gray wool coat that reached her knees, fastened everywhere except at her chest, where a cashmere sweater peeked through.
After closing the door she just left through, Hope walked around the front part of the car. Whilst doing that, the window to the driver rolled down, revealing the upper figure of Freya looking at Hope.
"Well, for a small town, the restaurant was quite good." Freya muttered. "But what counts is spending my time with you, so it was even better."
Standing before the driver's door, Hope smiled warmly in response to her aunt's words. "Are you sure it is a good idea to drive at this hour back to New Orleans? You could spend the night in one of our guest rooms."
"I am sure your headmaster would love that." Freya said with a hint of irony, knowing pretty well her presence in the school and the town as well wasn't the most welcomed one. "You need not worry, I will be fine. Nothing like some country music on the radio to keep me awake."
"If Aunt Rebekah heard that, she would start doubting you are sisters."
"Possibly." Freya nodded, chuckling in the process. "And you, will you be fine without me? Anything you need my help with?"
Hope shook her head. "Nothing you haven't talked to me about already."
Freya smiled wryly, the movement of her lips lasting a fraction of a second. "You know that every word that I said earlier is because I love you more than you can imagine, right? That they were words of an aunt worried about the emotions of her dear niece." Freya reached out a hand through the open space of the window, taking Hope's hand to show her affection.
"I know." Hope gave a reassuring answer. "I wouldn't dare think any other way."
Satisfied by her words, Freya's lips stretched into a gentle smile. "Damned may I be if anything happens to you because I didn't play my role of an overworried aunt and forgot to say a word or two. But, I would feel even worse if I deprived you of any kind of experience beneficial to you because of what I said. So, in this case, you will have to be like an adult and think and decide by yourself most of the time. My words were more to assist you."
Hope whined. "It sounds too complicated." She gave off a small self-deprecating laugh. "Couldn't it be easier?"
Freya shook her head while laughing as well. "I fear not. But even if I can't make the decisions for you, I will be here for you no matter how you decide to follow up with this boy." Giving a last caress on the hand of her niece, Freya took her hand back into her car. "And be prepared for Rebekah's teasing. I'm sure she will love it to hear that her niece is finally developing her love life."
The prospect of Freya's words sent a wave of bad omens towards Hope. "Oh, great." She sarcastically said, already knowing what to expect if she knew her other aunt well. "Is there anything I can do that can delay it?"
"Nothing that will bring me more merriment than this. So, good luck." On her seat, Freya adjusted herself for better comfort during the trip she would take through the night. "I will be sharing my location with you and will send you a text when I get home, so try not to worry too much before going to sleep."
Hope nodded. "Okay." She said, the words from her aunt certainly brought some comfort to her.
Looking at her niece, Freya remained silent for a moment before the warmth of familiar love consumed her eyes and shaped her lips into a smile. "I love you, Hope. Don't ever forget that."
"I love you too, Aunt Freya." The same kind of affection that had appeared on the lips of the older witch showed up in Hope's smile, with her eyes trying to convey her emotions as well by the faint glow of light coming from them.
As she silently acknowledged her niece's words, Freya pressed a button in the car and then her window rolled up.
However, before the painted window could fully stand between the two Mikaelson witches, Freya's lips parted again and one last set of words was heard by Hope.
"Take care, gorgeous."
Vroom!
With the sound of the motor heating up, the car started to move ahead, making use of the large road leading to the school gates to slowly turn around.
When the car's red backlights faced the gates, with them showering Hope in a dim crimson light, it started to gain speed and put some distance between it and the school. In no time, it reached the road afar and started to disappear in the horizon.
Observing all that, Hope took a quick and deep breath before spinning on her heels, her feet now pointing at the gates as she stepped forward.
Instead of calling for anyone through the school's intercom to ask to open the gates, Hope just casually continued her walk. Just when she stood a few steps from the gates, they just seemingly opened by themselves to permit her entrance into the school grounds, with them closing just as quickly after her entry.
…
It was especially cold tonight. Hope thought when stepping into the school building, the warm air provided by the school's heating system made her joints and muscles loosen as she took out her coat.
As she put the piece of fabric to rest over her arms, Hope peered into the hallway ahead with her senses. The silence hanging in the air and the few dim lights that barely illuminated the space ahead didn't surprise her, for she knew it would actually be strange if the school was as lively as it normally is during such a late hour.
With one step after another, Hope walked ahead. She passed by the many pictures of past graduating classes and found herself in the main hall, noticing that she still couldn't perceive anyone's presence around.
For that, she paid no attention and adjusted the direction of her feet, finding herself following the path to her room.
Should I sleep… or take a look at the homework from Mrs. Pierce? Hope asked herself as she climbed up the stairs, her free hand running over the railing. Her eyes were unfocused, staring down at her own steps to not trip over. Tsk, I want to sleep, but she asked for it to be ready tomorrow already. Actually, it is already today, isn't it? Retrieving her phone, Hope took a look at the time. Quite immediately, she frowned. We really lost ourselves in that conversation. She put her phone back into her pocket.
As Hope continued to debate internally in regards to whether she should rest already and procrastinate her homework or have it done already and lose one hour of sleep, she finally reached the last floor of the building and found herself on the corridor to her room.
Ah… I will leave that for later. Like hell I will sleep less because of some History homework. Hope decided. Also, she finally reached outside her room.
Standing before her door, with the key to her room in her hand, Hope cast a subtle glance to her right side, her eyes falling over the door of her new neighbor and…
What are we, exactly? Hope thought, the key still hanging in the air whilst she looked at the door to John's room.
Just as her thoughts reached the idea that was the young man, they acted like some sort of calling or summoning. With slightly widened eyes, Hope observed the knob of the door twisting and the door opening, revealing to her the tall figure of John in sweater pants and a black t-shirt.
"Hey, Princess." John greeted her in a low tone, leaning himself on the frame of his door as a smile tucked into his lips.
Receiving such words of greeting, Hope offered a small smile despite the sleepiness starting to overtake her mind. "Hey… I thought you would be sleeping by now." Imitating the boy, Hope's words were also whispered.
"I wish." John smiled wryly. "But even if I was able to sleep right now, I probably wouldn't rest until I knew you arrived back safely."
"Were you waiting for me?"
"You can say that." John replied. "So, how was your dinner with your aunt? I imagine it was good considering how long you spent outside."
"It was wonderful." Hope felt reminiscent of the moment despite it happening less than an hour ago. "The good thing about having an aunt that went through a lot is that she sure can talk when she wants."
"Pft, I can imagine that." John chuckled, raising a hand to cover his mouth. "And how about dinner? Was the food good?"
Hope nodded. "Ah, it was great. The beef prepared by them is…" Half-way through her words, Hope stopped talking and then looked down at her hands. Then, realization struck her. "Oh, shit. I forgot the milkshake in the car."
[Scene Break]
Slurp…
"Heavens, the milkshake prepared by that restaurant is amazing." Freya's voice was full of delight, appreciating the sweet taste of strawberry reaching her taste buds.
However, as the witch said so, another voice followed hers. "Okay, okay. Forget that and focus on what is important." A feminine, very sharp and clear voice–carrying a deeply engraved accent from the British isles–echoed through the car. "Tell me more about this boy that Hope is apparently head over heels for."
"I am pretty sure Hope would not quite like your words, Bekah." Another voice chimed in, a masculine and deep one. Just like his sister's, his accent wasn't American, but British since it was there they learned English.
"Shut up, Kol." Rebekah replied. "Now is not a good time to stop me from finding any kind of enjoyment. I spent the night getting rid of those brutish strays that thought they were some big shit. If you deny me making fun of our niece, I will pay a visit to San Francisco to make fun of you."
"Yes, Madam." And with that, Kol shut up.
Taking the opportunity, Freya decided to speak again. "So, as I was saying…"
[Scene Break]
"Tsk, sorry about it." Hope quickly said, rubbing her forehead in an apologetic manner. "I said I would bring something to you but I still ended up forgetting it…"
"Hey, no problem about it." John tried to calm her down. "It's just a milkshake, no need to worry about it."
Despite the boy's words, Hope still sighed. "But I promised…" She said, her tone a little bit disheartened.
Seeing how Hope was reacting over such a small fact, John couldn't resist smiling warmly at her. "You can just get me another one another day, it's not like that will be the last milkshake of the world." He approached her, stopping one step from her. He rubbed the top of her head, messing her hair. "If you feel sorry about it, you know, I can think of something else for you to do to me."
"Like what?" Hope innocently asked.
Listening to these words, John smiled. "You see, I recently tasted something that I came to enjoy very much. It has a sweet taste, the texture is tender yet soft, and-"
Before John could continue his words, he was interrupted by something. The same thing he just described, with him just forgetting to add how it could bring him to complete silence.
"Hm~" Hope stood on the tip of her toes and slid her hands around the boy's neck, with them stopping to rest right behind his head as they locked around him.
Meanwhile, John's hands didn't stay idle either.
They started high, resting over the girl's back before they started to slowly move down. His fingers traced the lines of her curves, moving to hold onto her waist.
However, before they could properly rest, the hands dancing over Hope's figure moved down again. They released her waist and tried to reach out even lower.
Despite some thoughts of reluctance, thinking he could be possibly rushing things, John still let himself be a little too bold at this moment and allowed his fingers to sink onto the softness that he longer for. His hands cupped one of the most private parts of Hope, and despite the cloth that stood before the surface of his hands and the warm flesh he wished to hold, he could still tell that what he had in his hands was a piece of the heavens themselves in the mortal world.
When Hope processed the young man's touch over her butt, the movement of her lips halted for a moment–a very short one. At that short moment, she broke the kiss and started to retreat a little.
Noticing the movement, John quickly had a somber thought forming in his mind Shit, did I rush things too much? He thought, trying not to show anything on the surface as he caught a glimpse of Hope's expression amidst the darkness. And to his surprise, it wasn't the expression he expected.
"Quite naughty, aren't you?" Hope teasingly smirked, a little bit of her sleepiness going away while she still kept her arms laced around John's neck. "Couldn't you hold yourself?"
"No, I couldn't." John whispered, his hands having still not moved off. "You have no idea… how tempting you are, Hope."
"Well, I certainly can feel that." Hope replied, not showing any sign of dissatisfaction to where she was being touched. "Be grateful, I would probably rip anyone else's head off if they dared touch me there."
"Oh, I am grateful." John nodded, closing the distance between them. "So much so that I wish to repay you for this…" Following his words, John captured Hope's lips again, giving them a quick bite before deepening the kiss and pressing his fingers against her backside even more, enjoying the pleasure of touching her.
Hope, also taking pleasure in the act of intimacy, enjoyed the kiss for a moment before breaking it again. "Right now, I don't want anything else than spending a long time with you."
"I sense a but coming."
She thinned her lips. "But we have classes tomorrow morning and it's past 1:00 AM." Hope said, moving her arms down to hold the young man by his torso. "You may not need sleep, but I really want my bed right now."
"Okay…" John agreed, loosening his hold over Hope. "If that's how you want."
"Thank you." Hope muttered. "I will try to compensate you tomorrow."
John snorted. "You don't need to do that."
"What?"
"This, saying you will compensate me." John replied. "You don't need to do that just because you denied me something."
Hope tilted her head to the side. "But if that's what I want?"
"Then there is nothing I can do." John shrugged. "But, I think I need to let you know that you don't need to do this for me. I don't want you to worry and offer me some kind of compensation just because you denied me something, I don't want you to do that because you think I will be bothered by you denying me something." John tried to explain himself. "I mean, that's not how a couple should act, right?"
Through John's words, Hope had already thought of nodding to show she understood him. However, by the end of his phrase, the girl's mind went blank for a moment.
Blinking twice, Hope looked more intently at John. "You say we are a couple…"
"Well, I can't think of any other word that would better define us." John replied. "What, don't you see us that way?"
Hope offered a brief nod. "I do, I do…" She softly said, a little bit too quickly. "It's just… it has a different ring to it when said out loud by you." Subtly, Hope didn't reveal the full reason for remarking his words.
"Hmph." John humorously huffed. "If you like it, I will say it more times in the future." He said, walking back to his door. "Well, I will leave you to yourself now. Try to have good dreams, okay?"
"Okay." Hope nodded once again. "And you, well…"
"I will try to learn one thing or two through the night." John said, a dry laugh escaping his lips at his own situation.
Entering his room, John leaned himself against his door. "Good night, Hope." He said, closing the door.
Silently observing John's figure disappearing behind the door of wood, an idea surged in Hope's mind, like a spark suddenly igniting.
"Hey…" She called out to him.
Having closed the door already half-way through, John stopped his movements and opened it a little to allow more sight between them. "Yeah?"
"Are you still bothered by the fact you can't fall asleep?" Hope asked.
A little restrained, John nodded. "Yeah, a little. I'm getting used to being awake for days, but I would still prefer to sleep once in a while."
"I see…" Hope muttered, her eyes wandering around a little. "I'm asking because that night, when we watched the movie, you were able to fall asleep with me. Can you tell me why?"
John shook his head. "Sincerely, I have no idea." He replied. "I guess I just felt comfortable enough in your presence, so much so that I somehow fell asleep as well." He tried to explain his thoughts on the matter, but John himself wasn't sure of them.
However, for Hope, his words were apparently enough for her to give more thought to her idea and go for it.
Blowing some air between the small space between her lips, Hope's eyes cleared as she came into a decision. "Would you like to sleep… with me?" She asked, her voice wavering despite her own resolution. "You know, to see if you can have a good night of sleep." She added, trying to be more explanatory about her words despite knowing John would understand her.
Yet, when listening to these words and understanding them fully, John still remained frozen in confusion. His hand gripping over the knob of the door tightened and his eyes blinked a few consecutive times.
I think I misheard but I'm afraid to ask. John thought, his lower lip falling as his mouth opened. "Just sleeping?" He asked slowly.
"Uhum." Hope nodded. "I mean, if you don't mind…"
"I'm going to fetch my pillows and blanket." John quickly said, stepping away from the door and going towards his bed. There, he quickly grabbed everything he mentioned and his newly acquired phone as well before walking back to the door.
Stepping out of his room, John didn't even bother to close the door through his key. He just stood before Hope with a pillow under his arm, his blanket around his shoulders and his phone in the pocket.
"I'm ready." He stated, serious.
When witnessing this, despite the drowsiness starting to consume her, Hope still smiled warmly. "We are going to sleep and nothing else." She said, inserting her key into the keyhole of her door. "Don't even think about doing anything that could potentially keep me awake."
"Yes, Madam." John readily agreed.
Then, after his words, Hope finally opened the door to her room. She walked into it without a care in the world, after all it was her room. John, whatsoever, followed Hope inside with measured steps as he entered her room for the first time and inspected it.
A couple steps into the new space and having take a quick look around, John quickly formulated his first impression of the place. Very tidy and organized.
"Don't look at the mess." Hope hung her coat over a chair of hers, immediately going around her room after that.
"I don't think there is a mess to look at." John replied, standing in the middle of the room for a moment. "Hey, is that your new painting?" He pointed at what was obviously a canvas. However, it was turned the other way, so John couldn't get a sight of what Hope had painted on it.
But through his enhanced senses, John still could notice that on the side border, some of the paint had fallen and stained that part of the canvas in dark blue paint.
Juat when he had noticed, Hope rushed to the canvas and threw a white blanket over it to hide it. "Don't peek at it." Hope spun on her heels and faced the boy. "You are not allowed to look at it yet."
"You won't even see me look at it until then." John replied to comfort her, offering her a small smile before going back to look around the room. It didn't last long as his eyes quickly found one of the main characters of tonight. "Is it my impression or does your bed look a little bit more comfortable compared to mine?" His eyes studied the frame made of wood quietly and the incredible softness anyone could spot just from looking at the mattress.
Curling her lips in response, Hope shook her head. "Stop joking. I'm going to take a bath, okay? I don't need to tell you to not peek at me, right?"
"I will try my best." John nonchalantly said, throwing himself on the bed as he let the comfort of it consume him. "Am', tis gud." His voice was muffled by the pillow he dove his face in.
"Hmph." Giving a little huff, Hope spun on her heels and walked to the bathroom with a set of clothes on her hands and a towel over her right shoulder.
When the door to the bathroom was slammed shut, it didn't take long for the sound of droplets of water hitting the floor to follow after.
Still having his face glued to the pillow, John could hear the sounds coming from beyond that door. And by hearing them, someone could spot his back going higher in result of him taking a deep breath to calm down his thoughts. This is too tempting.
As the sound of the shower was starting to blend with the natural silence of the night and his mind was urges were calming down, everything went back as a voice interrupted it.
"Ah~ This is gooood…" Hope's melodic voice reached out to John's ears, so much so it wouldn't need the boy to have enhanced hearing to hear it.
The melodic voice of Hope reached out to the boy's ears, making him slowly lift his face off the pillow.
Lifting his face off the pillow, John had a knowing look on his expression. Okay, that was on purpose. He thought, slowly sitting up on the bed. Now I am wondering if this idea will work to make me fall asleep or keep me awake at night. A sigh escaped between John's lips.
As he patiently and at the same time expectantly waited for the moment that the sound of the water would cease and only the silence of the night would remain, John didn't notice this excruciating wait was only a few minutes–not much more than five.
Strangely, when the moment finally came and John could only hear the soft steps of Hope walking out of what he presumed to be the bathroom stall, his senses immediately ceased as the anticipation wrecked his mind.
The silence that followed seemed to stretch in John's perception, taking forever until the sound of the door to the bathroom opening echoed. This made John look at the side, and there he saw her walking out of the bathroom with steam coming off her skin and droplets of water still dripping from her slightly wet hair. Hope had a very loose blouse on her and a small shorts that permitted many men and women to dream of the sight available.
And if that wasn't enticing enough, John noticed Hope swaying her hips a little more than normally when walking towards him. Yep, she is doing it on purpose.
"So, how will we do it?" Hope asked, mostly ignorant of the boy's thoughts as she dried her hair.
"I'm fine with however you want it to be." John responded. "Just set the limits and we will see if I can have a peaceful night of sleep."
"Hehe." Hope giggled, dropping the towel on a chair. "It's funny."
"What is?"
Hope approached the bed and sat by his side. "Seeing you so flustered like that."
"Ha-ha…" John sarcastically laughed, rolling his eyes. Then, throwing his back on the bed, he looked at Hope from the corner of his eyes. "Come on, let's sleep. Just as you said, I might not need sleep but I don't want to see you blaming yourself or me for having not slept enough." Having said that, John adjusted himself on tbe bed and lightly patted the area next to him. "Come, lay down with me."
"I like to sleep where you are now." Hope pointed out.
"Um, so that's why this part is more sunken." Wriggling himself to the side, John moved out of the space pointed by Hope. "There, it's free now."
"Thanks." Hope laid down on the bed, a tad close to John. She covered herself with a blanket and fidgeted a little under it as she tried to find the position that brought the most comfort to her.
When she thought to have achieved that, Hope turned herself to the right and her eyes met John's. He was looking back at her, observing every small action of hers. Now, both of them were under a blanket and over the same bed, looking at each other.
For a moment, both teenagers remained silent as they tried to study the other amidst the darkness.
"They glow." Hope blurted out, blinking. "Your eyes, I mean."
"Would you mind tagging along?" John asked. "I know werewolves can make their eyes glow as well. So, would you mind?"
To respond to his question, Hope focused on her own eyes and deep in her soul. In a place somewhere into her, she reached out to something she rarely permitted herself to touch.
Her own reach was weak, like a reconnaissance she didn't wish to go much further for fearing what she could accidently meet and let out.
And when she just reached out this minimal of her will into this specific part of her soul, Hope could feel the changes immediately. She felt the weak itch taking over her eyes and how the world before her slightly changed as it became more clear and brightful.
John, however, didn't notice or feel any of this. Instead, he just saw the changes. He saw how the white of Hope's eyes was consumed by a darkness similar to that of the night and her blue iris were replaced by two golden rings similar to his.
When in the presence of such primal eyes that sent shivers of fascination down his spine, John had his right hand moving by itself at first. But then, when he had his fingers rest by the side of Hope's left eyes and caressed her temple to her cheek, this was all him intentionally.
"They are so beautiful." He whispered, fascinated by her eyes. "Looking at them… I feel like I'm looking at a part of you I haven't seen yet."
"Because you didn't." Hope leaned herself into his hand as she fully embraced the warmth of his caress. "To this point, you've only seen the witch that I am. You barely took a glimpse at the wolf inside me, a part of my soul that at the same time is an extra is an essential part of what I am."
"Sounds complicated."
Hope chuckled. "Look who is talking." She said, blinking a few times.
Between the blinks, John could see the gold and black disappearing from Hope's eyes as they returned to normal. Now, she had two sparkling blue eyes that reminded him of the moon.
"I think we've had enough talk already." Hope said, resisting a coming yawn from forcing her mouth to open. "It should be nearing 2:00 AM. We should sleep before I start to consider not going to classes because I didn't sleep enough."
"Okay." John whispered.
Hope turned around to face the wall whilst her back faced John. "Then, good night." She said over her shoulder.
"… Good night." John said, looking at the back of Hope's head and nape. From her, the weak scent of soap rose to his nostrils, calming his senses a little.
For a good long moment, that was all John did. He silently stared at Hope as the seconds passed and the darkness lurked around them, almost urging him to sleep as well.
Well, if that's why I am here, I better try to sleep as well. John thought, closing his eyes and trying to find the same comfort he felt at that time. And in search of that sensation, he led his right arm around Hope's waist, his hand falling over her flat belly.
When feeling a hand crawl up around her, Hope didn't open her eyes. Instead, she welcomed the touch. "John."
"Hm?"
"If you are going to hug me, get closer." Hope said, moving closer to him to feel his embrace.
Replying to her words with actions, John approached Hope more and his arm now fully surrounded her figure.
"Thank you." John suddenly said.
Despite not fully knowing for what John was thanking her, Hope just nodded while she kept her eyes tight shut. "You are welcome." She said, dozing off into the land of dreams.
Noticing the sleepiness in Hope's tone, John didn't dare say anything else and simply closed his eyes and tried to search the same world that Hope was drifting to.
An effort that didn't take long, for soon the only sound echoing through the room were the steady breathing of two people sleeping comfortably in each other's presence.
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A/N
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