visit to Salvatore school

"You guys have to show up at school sometime you know. I get that it feels like you're not ready but I can't cover for you forever." Alaric tells Sosuke and Hope, who skipped school the entire rest of the first week and stayed at the house, Hope telling Sosuke everything he could have forgotten.

"I already graduated per se, so no one should care. And Hope is smart, she'll catch up on what she missed." Sosuke tells him while he's cooking for the three of them.

"I told you the deal when we decided to get this place together. I cut you some slack because you two for obvious reasons had a lot to talk about, but next week you're coming to school." Alaric says with finality.

"Fine. By the way we're gonna head up to Salvatore school after lunch, do you want us to deliver a message to someone?" Sosuke asks.

"Just tell my daughters I miss them if you run into them." Alaric replies defeated.

"Will do." Sosuke says nodding and starts putting the food onto the table.

"I'll get Hope." He tells the older man and reads upstairs, knocking on his door quietly before stepping inside.

"Uh sorry." He apologizes and turns around embarrassed, having interrupted Hope while she was changing into some clothes they bought for her yesterday.

"It's fine." Hope tells him warmly and finishes putting on her clothes, pulling a purple tank top over her head and puts on a pair of dark pants.

"I won't mind if you wanted to watch." She tells him seductively as she passes by him, running a finger over his hand, trying to get him to like her again.

"Food's ready." He chokes out as Hope comes to a halt in front of him.

"Have you made a decision yet?" she asks him hopefully.

"No, sorry but I still haven't processed it all." Sosuke answers truthfully.

"That's OK. I can wait. Just knowing you and Dr. Saltzman believe me is enough for now." Hope tells him understandingly before heading downstairs, Sosuke following her.

The three then have a quiet meal together before the teens head out to meet up with some friends from the Salvatore school.

"And you're sure you don't want to tell anyone the truth?" Sosuke asks, the two walking relaxed through the woods around the school, having no problem getting past the magical barrier around the school with Hope's powers.

"No. As far as they are concerned I am just a new girl in town." Hope tells Sosuke.

"But why?" He asks confused.

"I just want a fresh start and to be honest I'm afraid they won't believe me anyways." Hope informs him.

"OK. It's your call." Sosuke gives in and the two continue to casually stroll towards the school building.

"It's not like I don't like you." Sosuke finally breaks the silence and the awkward atmosphere which carried on ever since she asked him to go out with her again that morning.

"I just don't want to say yes and disappoint you. You may try to hide it, but it's clear to me that you're not yet over everything that happened. And I don't want to make everything worse." Sosuke tells her, grabbing onto her hand and stops her.

"I know that I'm not over it. But that doesn't have anything to do with my feelings for you. They have been the one thing I am most sure of since getting out of Malivore." Hope tells him honestly.

"I..." He stammers thoughtfully when they get interrupted by Josie and Landon strolling through the woods as well hand in hand.

"Sosuke. What are you doing here and who are you?" Landon greets them.

"I'm Hope. I'm new to town and Sosuke wanted to show me around his old school." Hope tells him, offering a handshake which he and Josie return.

"Your dad's fine. Annoyed at me, but fine. And he said to tell you that he misses you and your sister." Sosuke tells Josie upon seeing her look.

"Thank you." She says gratefully with a nod.

"So... You two are dating?" Hope asks Landon and Josie.

"Yes. It's still new. But we are." Josie answers, squeezing Landon's hand and looks at him caringly.

"Are you by any chance going out too? It's just I've never known Sosuke to be someone who voluntarily hangs out with other people." Josie asks.

"It's a work in progress." Hope tells them with a grin, hooking her arms around one of Sosuke's before the four continue to walk through the woods. At the mill they split up with Landon and Josie staying around while Sosuke and Hope continue walking around their former campus.

"You seem at peace here." Sosuke says, noticing her being the most relaxed and happy since meeting her.

"I just have a lot of memories here. Good and bad." She answers truthfully.

"We used to spar at this pier together with Dr. Saltzman almost every day for example." Hope adds, the two taking a break at the wooden pier.

"Who won?" Sosuke asks.

"Usually me." Hope replies with a teasing smile.

"Must be because I didn't have powers yet." Sosuke tells her with a small pout.

"Care to test that theory?" Hope asks.

"Why not." He accepts and the two step on opposite ends of the pier before starting to spar, seemingly getting lost in their own world.

"What's with the crowd?" Sosuke asks minutes later surprised, looking at a large part of the student population having come to watch.

"Word was you're getting your ass handed to you by some hot chick. No way anyone's gonna pass that up." Kaleb says and shoots Hope a flirting look.

"I'm not getting my ass handed to me." Sosuke says, more angry than he'd like to admit because he notices many of the students looking at Hope with amazement or desire.

"So who are you cutie?" Kaleb asks Hope.

"Hope. I've just gotten back into town after being gone for a while." Hope answers.

"Well nice to meet you. Sorry, don't let us stop you two. Whoop his ass." Kaleb tells them and they continue to spar, Sosuke getting more and more frustrated at the looks the other students are giving Hope.

"You are getting angry. Is something bothering you?" Hope asks, honestly unaware of the affectionate stares of her former schoolmates.

"Yes." He says and blocks her latest punch, grabbing onto the fist and pulling her over in one smooth motion.

With her crashing into his chest Sosuke leans down slightly and kisses her passionately, Hope freezing surprised before returning the kiss happily while slinging her arms around him and holding onto him tight.

"What? Sosuke got game? Damn." Kaleb shouts perplexed while many others look at the scene defeated.

"What's this about?" She asks in a whisper against his lips.

"I guess I'm scared to lose you if I wait too long." Sosuke tells her before kissing her again, his arms circling around her shoulders and lower back, squeezing her tightly against himself at which point the students start to disperse.

"Let's go home now." Hope replies and takes his hand, the two leaving the school and all but rushing past Alaric on their quest to reach Sosuke's bedroom.

Once inside the room Hope locks the door and pushes Sosuke onto his bed, climbing on after him immediately and starts making out with him heavily.

"What's wrong?" Sosuke asks concerned when he feels tears drop down on him and he opens his eyes, seeing her cry a little.

"Nothing. I'm just happy." She says smiling and wipes the tears out of her eyes before continuing to make out with him eagerly, their hands leaving a trail of desire all over the other's body.

"I would have thought you might be angry for kissing you out of the wrong reasons." Sosuke admits.

"I know you. You wouldn't do anything to hurt me intentionally." Hope replies, shaking her head, leaning up to look at him better.

"I may not feel as deeply as you yet, but I already feel more for you after these three days than I do for anyone else in my entire life. That's why when the others were looking at you like that... I got scared." Sosuke tells her embarrassed.

"They were looking at me?" She asks curiously.

"Yes. All of them were." He replies with a frown.

"Well they should have looked harder, then maybe they would have realized that my eyes were only on you." Hope tells him sweetly, running her hands down to his hands, squeezing them supportively.

"I hope I can do whatever I did right in the life I can't remember again to be worthy of you." He tells her.

"Funny, I'm thinking the exact same." Hope replies, leaning down until her lips are barely touching his while she wraps her hands around the back of his neck.

"So, are you going to say it, or are you still not sure?" Hope asks seductively, her eyes looking down at him playfully.

"I am as sure as I can be, given how much I am distracted by how sexy you are. My lovely girlfriend." He answers truthfully and pulls her flush against him. He kisses her, Hope intensifying their lip lock into a passionate french kiss.

"I know it's only a word... But hearing it out of your mouth just makes me feel less alone." Hope tells him with a relieved smile.

"I get it. Even in a school full of supernatural creatures I just always felt out of place and lonely." Sosuke tells her, caressing her cheek before the two get back to making out.

|lime|

They break their heavy lip locking after what feels like 10 minutes to them and Hope leans up, still straddling him as she pulls her top and bra off, tossing them aside while her eyes look so intense Sosuke fears she might light him on fire with them.

Sosuke sits up as well, tugging off his shirt and starts nibbling on her collar seductively with her scratching through his hair and scalp happily and making sure to push her impressive boobs against him, eliciting a desireful growl from him.

"Hope shouldn't we slow down?" Sosuke asks her, pushing her back a few centimeters.

"No way." She says sternly and gets off the bed, taking his hand and pulls him off the bed.

She leads them over into the bathroom and turns on the shower before stripping down naked, looking at him expectantly and he follows her lead, both teens drinking in the sight of their naked partner.

"Come." She tells him and steps into the shower while holding out her hand to him.

Sosuke follows her inside the small cabin, their bodies nestling against another comfortably while Hope grabs his shampoo and squeezes some onto their bodies.

She then starts to rub her hands over his body, looking at him, begging him to return the favor with her eyes.

Sosuke starts to soap her up as well in response, albeit his hands move uncertainly over her smooth skin.

"Hope, I really think we should slow down." Sosuke tells her soon after, breathing raggedly into her ear while his hands soap up her back and her hair.

"I'm OK with staying at this level of intimacy for the time being." She nods in acceptance despite feeling her core burn hot with lust for the muscular boy she loves.

"Thank you." He says relieved and kisses her softly.

"Everyone else would eagerly take advantage of the situation. But I guess that you won't is one of the reasons I love you so much. No matter what, you're always doing right by me." She says smiling, while still soaping up his body.

The two meet in a loving kiss, the water coming down on them only making them want to get closer together and prevent it from coming between their bodies.

"Hah." Hope yips when Sosuke suddenly grabs her by her waist and switches positions with her, pushing her up against a wall, bringing her out of the water stream while claiming her lips again.

"You are so incredibly sexy." He groans in her ear when he breaks the kiss, his hands darting over her flat belly and her thighs appreciatively while her boobs are mashed up against his chest.

"So are you." She replies and drags her fingers over his abs, stopping them mere milimeters away from his hard on before raking them softly over his sides and come together at his back. She rubs over his shoulder muscles happily and starts dragging her leg against his, making him shudder in pleasure while moaning softly.

"Hope. We should really stop here." Sosuke finally says again, backing away while panting erotically.

"If you say so." She remarks, drawing his eyes to her while she rubs over her own breasts, washing away the soap sticking to the mounds.

Sosuke steps out of the shower, feeling like he can barely hold himself back while he's drying himself off.

"Are you feeling alright, boyfriend?" Hope asks him sweetly after turning off the shower, her body glistening in front of him while she bites her lower lip sexily

"Are you gonna be this forward every day?" Sosuke groans, breathing labored while his knuckles are turning white from his grip on the sink in the bathroom.

"Maybe. Being stuck in Malivore has taught me not to take this time for granted." Hope replies honestly, drying herself off.

The two then step out of the bathroom and are starting to get dressed when Sosuke asks, "Do you think we need to get back to facing reality already?"

"I guess we could just... take the rest of the day off." She replies with a smirk while their eyes meet.

The two then finish putting on their underwear before meeting in a passionate kiss and climbing onto the bed, making out and enjoying each other's presence until they decide to get some sleep.