Sort Of Screwed Notes:

"Oh. Okay." MG closes his book and looks around suddenly, in this jerky, frantic way that Hope definitely wasn't expecting. He looks like a fish out of water and when he turns back to face her, his mouth is gaping like he is one too. "I've never had anyone come out to me. I didn't even think you were gay or bi or whatever - I, uh. I should probably let you talk. Go ahead."

He leans in, giving her this expectant look that makes Hope's brain scramble. She doesn't understand how he jumped to the conclusion that she was gay. They aren't a couple or anything, they are just friends helping each other out. In the very straight way. It's a very heterosexual arrangement. MG isn't making any sense.

Hope shakes her head. "I'm not gay."

"Okay. Bi, then." MG supplies, then scrunches his eyebrows together. "Or pan. Or Josie-sexual. Or just not labeling yourself, it's all chill."

"No, I'm not- I'm straight."

MG looks more confused than her now. He stares straight ahead at her, his face doing all sorts of odd things as he thinks over this new information. All Hope can do is let him work it out. It isn't that hard to understand in her mind. Sure, Hope and Josie are having sex, but it isn't gay. Okay, maybe it's a bit gay on Josie's side but it's not like Josie has any romantic feelings directed at her.

"We're just… helping each other out." Hope elaborates and then frowns. When she says it aloud, it's much harder to explain. "Like, yeah, we do stuff and we fool around a lot but it's- there's no romance."

"Well, do you want romance?"

He leans back for the first time in a couple minutes, finally regaining some sense of personal space. MG studies her and Hope squirms under his careful gaze. It's one of those burning stares that makes Hope know when someone is looking at her instead of through her, or at something behind her. She gets all of MG's attention for those few seconds, and it's bizarre to have someone usually focused on a million things only watch her.

"No. Yes. Maybe. I don't know." Hope answers eventually, raising her shoulders in a tiny shrug.

Honestly, Hope hasn't expected to feel this confused. She hadn't even expected to tell MG anything when she saw him in the library. It had snuck up on her as quickly as a jump scare would.

The admission kind of shocks her. What would dating Josie even be like? They would probably go on dates. Long, stupid dates where they see movies outside of their rooms just to cuddle and steal kisses in comfort of the dark. She could take Josie to dances and lace her fingers behind the nape of Josie's neck, tilt her head slightly up to hold eye contact and whisper jokes between the beats of whatever cheesy love song plays.

Oh, and love songs. Every lyric could remind Hope of Josie. Every word could be a reminder of their relationship and everything Hope sees could be flipped and molded to bring a memory of Josie. The world would be warm and sweet like honey and- odd.

It would be odd, because it's Josie. And Hope doesn't have a crush on Josie.

"Well." MG says, breaking her out of her worrying thoughts. "Maybe you should try and figure it out."

"How?" She asks.

MG looks clueless. "I don't know. Try doing something blatantly romantic with her and see how you like it."

"Okay." Hope nods slowly. "Okay, that could work."

Hope lays awake that night in an empty bed, her eyes glued to the ceiling and her mind racing. She didn't invite Josie over after her talk with MG, partially because she felt as if there was something coming up that she needed to prepare for, but mostly because Josie scares her.

Though her mind repeats the words 'I do not have a crush on Josie Saltzman' like it's her new mantra, some other part of her brain attacks her with images of Josie that kind of defy her (for lack of a better word) mantra. Hope accidentally pictures Josie's tired smile directed at her over a bowl of cereal, then stumbles into a memory of Josie clinging to her back and giggling as Hope carries her, and finally she sees Josie curled up on a couch with a book.

It's funny that that's the image that gets her, that last one where Hope can clearly picture Josie reading. It's because it's not just Josie reading, it's Josie clutching Game of Thrones in her hands with her lips parted in excitement from the words, eyes moving rapidly across the pages. The only thing Hope can label this memory as is endearing.

Kind of cute, actually.

Not the book or the couch or even the Hello Kitty pillows Hope remembers seeing on them, but Josie.

Josie is cute.

Hope swallows, her mouth feeling dry and her throat burning as she wets it. Something close to affection curls in her stomach as she thinks over every little thing Josie does, and Hope's heart does a confused (but very excited) little jump when Hope thinks of kissing her.

Crap. Hope is sort of screwed, isn't she?

-

Hope avoids Josie for the next day or two. She knows that it's rude to do so, but she almost can't help it. Anytime she sees Josie heading her way or walking down the halls, Hope's anxiety spikes and she runs away with her metaphorical tail (okay, so sometimes Hope does actually have a tail) between her legs. She knows that running will only get her so far, especially since she's been invited to go to the lake house in a couple days. Even without the planned trip coming up, Josie is always in Hope's orbit somehow.

Once the weekend comes, Hope realizes that she has nothing to do. Her plans all usually involve Josie, but now she's lacking in the friends department. They are leaving for the lake house tomorrow and Hope still needs to pack, but instead she is sprawling out on her mattress with some quiet music playing in the background just to kill the silence.

Her phone vibrates on the nightstand next to her bed, giving a single dull buzz and lighting up before falling dark again. Hope tries to ignore the sudden pressure in her chest at the small noise. She always feels a bit weird when someone texts because these days Hope normally wishes that the person texting her is Josie. Now, Hope recognizes this weird feeling as excitement and anticipation.

She leans up and to the side, gripping her phone and tapping the screen once to check if it's Josie that texted her. It is.

Josie wants to know if Hope has the time to come with her to rent the truck for the trip.

Hope contemplates shutting off her phone and acting as if she never read the message. She isn't sure if she can deal with stumbling upon more new feelings when she hangs out with Josie. She also apparently can't control herself or avoid Josie any longer, because there's about a second of contemplating before she's texting Josie back and telling her to come over.

A couple minutes pass and Hope assumes that Josie is walking across the school to reach her. Hope glances over at her almost empty suitcase she laid out yesterday, the only item in it being her sketchbook and a couple of pencils. She gets up to shut it, figuring Josie will probably nag her about getting done with her packing. While she's up, there's a knock on the door and Hope goes to open it.

Josie stands on the other side of the doorway in a yellow pair of shorts and a simple white tank top. The outfit clearly didn't take much effort, but Hope laps it up anyways. The top is tight and makes Josie's breasts look admittedly amazing, Hope can't take her eyes off the ample swell of them. It's not just Josie's body, but the shy smile Josie offers before they greet each other. She hadn't known how much she missed seeing Josie until now.

She ends up pulling Josie into the room the second she sees her, struck with arousal that had secretly been building for days. It's a mad rush of lips and tongue, greedy hands grabbing for each other and tugging off articles of clothing. Her room is a mess in seconds, the sheets becoming rumpled from their bodies and the floors getting covered in poorly thrown clothes.

"I missed you." Hope admits as she tugs off Josie's shorts, leaving her in only her underwear.

"God- fuck." Josie's voice comes out breathy, obviously a bit surprised by the sudden contact. She scoots up the mattress towards the pillows while Hope follows, pressing her mouth to Josie's bare stomach. "You too. I missed you a lot."

Josie looks absolutely delectable in her cute set of underwear. Her panties are a gentle pink, the same color as the blush adorning Josie's cheeks. Her bra matches but it's clearly a bit too small since it pushes up Josie's breasts like they're some sort of offering for Hope. She leans in and kisses the swell of them, putting giving Josie an orgasm at the very top of her list.

"We have to get the truck before dark." Josie protests weakly. She brings her hands up to Hope's face with the clear intent to push her away, but instead ends up simply cupping Hope's cheeks in her palms.

"I'll be quick, I promise." Hope kisses her on the lips this time.

"Okay." Josie nods and wraps her legs around Hope's hips, pulling her in closer. "Fuck me, then. Please."

They get right to it as if they had never stopped. Josie slides her hands up and across Hope's stomach, scratching gently. Hope is soft and braless under her shirt, giving Josie full access to her body. Josie takes advantage of it while she can - pinches and rolls Hope's rosy nipples between her fingers until they firm up into stiff buds. She's obviously more than a little in love with them.

The touch makes Hope rock forward into Josie, drawing a quiet gasp from the girl under her. If Josie wants Hope to fuck her, then Hope can do just that - feelings be damned. She's gotten good at this, at the physical stuff. She knows to grind down onto Josie and to kiss her on the lips before trailing her mouth down to Josie's neck, where the old hickies are no longer visible.

Remembering her promise to be better with her hickey placement, Hope goes down lower. She bites at Josie's collarbone and revels in how Josie's moans get increasingly louder as Hope adds more pressure. Hope sneaks her hand under Josie's back and starts to pull at the clasp of her bra until it falls off. Then, she rids Josie of it completely and throws the fabric to the floor, glad that she can get at Josie's breasts without any barrier this time.

"I've felt empty without you." Josie admits, obviously feeling more than a little talkative today.

"Oh, yeah?" She asks, prompting Josie to tell her more.

Hope latches onto Josie's nipple and begins sucking, occasionally scraping her teeth over it gently. While Josie only has her panties on, Hope is still wearing her shirt and sweatpants, but she doesn't care. She wants to give Josie everything she wants right now, Hope can cum later.

"Yeah. I kept thinking about you the last couple days. About your mouth a-and your fingers." Her voice comes out shaky. At Josie's words, Hope slides her hands down until her palms are on Josie's ass and she can give it a tight squeeze. "I want you in me. I-I'm ready, I promise."

Usually Josie needs more foreplay before Hope starts fingering her - Hope hasn't even gotten around to putting her mouth on Josie's other breast yet - but they haven't done anything in awhile, so Josie's desperation is understandable. Hope sits up a bit so she can slide lower, but first she allows Josie to push up her shirt so Hope's top half is exposed.

Then, Josie links their hands together and gently brings Hope's palms back down onto her stomach, leading Hope towards Josie's pretty panties.

"Okay, Jo. Okay." Hope agrees, looking up to lock eyes with Josie for a second. The slight eye contact makes Hope's chest thud once, but that thud is hard and throws her world off its axis. She finds herself not wanting to fuck Josie, but instead wanting to show Josie how much she cares about her - to leave tender kisses everywhere and essentially make love to her.

"Turn around." She says suddenly, scooting away to give Josie room.

Josie gives her a confused look.

"Hands and knees, Jo."

Josie blinks cluelessly once more but follows the order and flips around. She props herself up on her knees and rests her palms flat down against the mattress.

It's a nice position. The big plus here is that there is no chance of any intimate eye contact. Another plus Hope notices immediately is that she can see all of Josie this way, see the amazing curve of her ass and the outline of her slit through the wet fabric of her underwear.

She reaches out and grips Josie's waistband, slowly pulling the soaked underwear down her tan thighs until all of her is exposed. Josie helps kick off her panties once Hope gets them down past her knees, but after that Josie stays perfectly still. Hope enjoys the view, her breath getting caught in her throat when she sees how wet Josie is. Josie's thighs are even shiny from the wetness, it's spread everywhere in a sexy mess.

Hope casually runs her fingers over Josie's slit, feeling the tips immediately get coated and soaked. She can feel Josie trying to draw her in, obviously wanting Hope to enter her already. Hope complies, slipping one of her fingers deep into Josie and thrusting slowly.

"Hope." Josie groans, clenching around the single digit. "More, please."

The desperate tone of Josie's voice gets to Hope and she plunges another two fingers inside, speeding up her rhythm. Josie whimpers at the sudden attention and drops down to her elbows, spreading her legs a little bit so Hope can get deeper in her. Hope would be lying if she said she isn't amazed by how Josie just takes it, letting Hope's fingers stretch her with little resistance.

Eventually Josie starts to rock back onto Hope's hand, trying to speed up the pace. Hope let's her. She more than let's her, she stops her hand completely and watches Josie fuck herself - using Hope's fingers like they are toys.

Curious, Hope adds a fourth finger and watches Josie take that one too. It's incredibly hot.

"Play with your clit." Hope says, shocked by how her words sound a lot like an order.

An order that Josie takes gladly, reaching under herself and getting to work on the hard nub. She cries out at the added stimulation, sounding suddenly a lot closer than she was before. Hope watches in awe and rests her free hand on the curve of Josie's ass, digs the brunt of her already short nails into the swell of it. Josie whimpers and shudders and cums unexpectedly, her own hand moving rapidly against her clit.

Josie's body slumps until the side of her face presses into the pillows and her ass rises a bit as a result, her bottom half getting pushed higher into the air. Hope pulls her hand back and her fingers out, then slides her palms down until they rest against the soft insides of Josie's sides. She pushes Josie's legs a little farther open and sinks downward, pressing her open mouth to Josie's slit.

"Oh my god." Josie whines, high-pitched and needy. "Just like that- fuck."

The sound goes straight between Hope's legs and soon Hope's own hand goes there too, getting herself off as she eats Josie out.

It doesn't take long the second time around either. Hope eagerly laps at Josie's entrance and borderline attacks her clit - turning it into a hard, tortured nub - while she does the same to her own, getting herself off with quick, desperate circles of her middle finger. She cums in her panties, a bit embarrassed that she didn't even get her pants off. Still, it's hard to be embarrassed when Josie is in front of her - whimpering little, whiny sounds and Hope's name over and over.

Hope finally pulls away once they both come down from their own respective highs, pressing her forehead Josie's thigh and breathing heavily. She gets herself together quicker than Josie and places a gentle kiss to the soft skin once more before crawling off the bed. Hope resumes her designated job of collecting all of Josie's clothes and her own.

She dresses herself and then stacks Josie's clothing on the edge of the bed once she's done, doing it all before Josie's breath calms down.

"Did you cum too?" Josie asks, finally flipping over from her boneless position on the mattress.

"Yeah." Hope replies and walks closer when Josie beckons her back onto the bed. The mattress creaks under the weight of both of them, but Hope ignores it and watches Josie grab both of her hands at the wrists, starting to clean off all of Hope's fingers.

It seems they both have designated jobs now.

When they finally stepped outside of school to go get the truck, Hope hadn't really been expecting anything. Somehow she still finds a way to be surprised when Josie leads her to a motorcycle parked right outside the school's gates. The vehicle is bright pink, so light and girly that it almost hurts Hope's eyes. She has no idea where Josie would have gotten a motorcycle from, because Alaric surely wouldn't have let his daughter have one, and Josie surely wouldn't have gotten a bike that color.

"How did you even…" Hope trails off, drags her hand along the seat and to the single helmet hanging off the handle.

"It's Lizzie's." Josie explains with a simple shrug and then swings her leg over the motorcycle, mounting it with a certain ease that suggests she has done this before.

That answers none of her questions. Yeah, seeing Josie on a motorcycle sparks some kind of hidden desire in her, but it also confuses the hell out of Hope. It must show on her face, because Josie laughs gently and speaks again.

"Lizzie may or may not have used magic to get it. She has a bit of a motorcycle obsession." Josie elaborates. "I'm sure MG would tell you all about it. Or maybe Lizzie would, but don't mention that I actually showed you it. Or let you on it."

For some reason it hadn't clicked in her mind that she would be riding on the motorcycle too, but of course she would. There is only one and they are both going to get the truck. Accepting her fate, Hope reaches for the helmet and tries to strap it on but Josie grabs it before she can.

Josie shrugs at Hope's raised eyebrow. "Sorry. I would offer it to you, but you have tribrid healing and I do not, so…"

That makes sense, but Hope would feel a lot better if she also had a helmet of her own. She steps closer and then very carefully puts one of her legs around the motorcycle. It feels awkward and stiff against her thighs, so she has to shift a couple times until it feels comfortable under her. Josie doesn't say anything but doesn't start it up either and eventually Hope gets it, leaning forward to wrap her arms tightly around Josie's stomach for support.

Once they get situated, Josie starts it up and Hope jumps slightly at the sudden rumble coming from the vehicle. On instinct, Hope's arms tighten around Josie and she presses her mouth to the gentle crook of Josie's neck. Hope loves the shiver it draws from her, even leaves a quick kiss on the skin just to feel it again.

Is this romantic? Maybe. Hope has definitely seen a movie or two where a girl wraps her arms around a boy on a motorcycle and eventually falls in love with him later in the film.

The thought makes her feel a little uneasy, a little excited. This is what MG told her to do, after all.

"Hold on tight." Josie says, making Hope feel as if they have really stepped into some cheesy romance movie.

They fly forward, the air around them becoming filled by the growl of the motorcycle under them. It doesn't take long for Hope to adjust to riding it. The feeling is similar to running around as a wolf, with the wind tossing her hair around and the breeze brushing her arms in soft scrapes. She actually kind of enjoys the drive, and not just because she gets to hold onto Josie.

And yeah, maybe Hope wanting to hold onto Josie is a bit gay on her part. A bit romantic. A bit against the rules - but whatever. No one has to know, and maybe Hope can work on being okay with herself in this way. Dealing with herself and her secrets in private, accepting herself before she tells the world.

The drive is surprisingly long, but it doesn't feel that way. Hope only knows that they have been driving for awhile because they start to get into the main part of town, which is pretty far away from the school. Before they get there, Hope gets the chance to turn her head and look briefly at an interesting store in passing.

The store is lit up by neon purple lights and is covered in suggestive images on the windows, silhouettes of naked women and outlines of certain sexual figures plastered against the glass. Above the entrance is a big, flickering sign with three Xs. It looks to be a small place but it draws a lot of attention to itself. Usually Hope wouldn't look at stores like that for long, but this time her eyes catch on the distracting building.

There's probably all sorts of things in there. Things that Hope has never seen, things she hasn't ever thought of. She could get herself something nice one day or- maybe she could get Josie a toy. Maybe they could get something together and later, when they catch some privacy, Hope could watch Josie stretch herself on whatever toy they get.

It's definitely something to think about.

"We're here." Josie announces, pulling into the driveway of a building no bigger than a rather large shed.

It looks like a garage and nothing else, but a busted sign hanging on the front of it names it as an auto shop. Josie climbs off first, Hope following, and they make their way in through the open door where a truck is waiting for them. Hope glances around, not exactly knowing where to go but just following Josie.

They have to keep close proximity since all that's left for them to walk in is a tight space between the truck and the wall. Josie seems to know where to go though. She leads Hope over to the very back of the shop, where a man is looking through some papers on his slim desk. Josie clears his throat and the man looks up with a wide grin, walking around the desk to pull Josie into his arms.

"It's good to see you." He says. The man looks around forty, with barely there wrinkles and a slowly balding head.

"It's good to see you too." Josie agrees as she's set back down on the ground and let out of the tight hug.

He pulls at the baseball cap on his head. "Does Lizzie need more parts?"

"No, I think she's fine. We're just here to rent the truck." Josie explains, then turns to see Hope standing a couple inches behind her. She grabs Hope's arm and gently leads her forward. "Hope, this is Burt. Burt, this is Hope."

Hope and Burt shake hands for a normal amount of time, but Hope feels as if they do it for longer than they should. Burt keeps giving her this look, like he knows more about her than her name, and Josie bounces on her toes with this increasingly nervous look on her face.

It's kind of awkward (though Hope isn't exactly sure why) until Burt goes behind his desk again and returns with keys jangling off his fingers. He holds them out to Josie, who takes them like an excited child.

"Thanks, Burt."

"No problem." He tilts his head and looks outside, near the driveway. "Do you want help loading Lizzie's motorcycle into the back?"

"No thanks, we've got it." Josie says, really meaning that she's going to get Hope to do it.

They go back out to the driveway and, as expected, Josie tells Hope to move the motorcycle. It doesn't even weigh that much, at least not to Hope, but she still pouts about it until Josie presses a chaste kiss to her cheek. Hope hopes (no pun intended) that Burt didn't see any of that, the kiss or the supernatural lifting. It would probably be weird to watch a petite, rather skinny girl lift a motorcycle by herself and toss it into the back of a truck like she's Superman.

The truck is a rusty red and looks kind of old, but it runs fine. It has two seats up front but a lot of room in the back, so two people will probably have to sit with the luggage when they're heading up to the lake house. For now, Hope and Josie climb into the front seats. Josie offers to drive so Hope lets her and takes full advantage of getting to play what she wants on the radio.

They take the same route back to the school and, try as she might, Hope can't get her mind off of the sex store they passed a little earlier. She wants to go in, but also has no idea how to ask Josie about it.

"Hey, do you want to go buy some sex toys?" Hope really needs to stop blurting out things, because asking makes Josie swerve slightly off the road before she gains control of the truck again.

"You want to do what?" She questions.

"Do you want to buy sex toys?" Hope explains slowly. "With me. I saw a shop on the way over here and we have spare cash and… I don't know, it could be interesting. We could always just look."

Josie thinks it over for a second before nodding and she drives a bit slower along the empty road, making sure they don't accidentally pass it. Hope doesn't say anything but she's sure they won't miss it, the location of the store is kind of burned in her mind already. She tries to be subtle about pointing it out on the side of the road but Josie still raises an eyebrow at Hope's poorly hidden enthusiasm and Hope flushes.

By the time they get out of the car and walk in, Hope's cheeks are painted a faint pink. The first thing she wonders is how old you have to be to buy a sex toy, but she figures it doesn't matter because with a little magic she can make her ID say any age she wants. It's one of the many perks of being a witch.

Once they are in, Hope relaxes a bit. It's just like any other store, really. There's a cashier behind a desk with a register and the employee looks as bored with his job as any normal person would be. He smiles politely at them and asks if they want a bag, then hands them one once Josie accepts. If it weren't for the wall of dildos stretching out in front of them, Hope would guess they were at Target or something.

She ends up letting Josie lead again, because she isn't sure what she wants at all. Hope's eyes wander around everything as they walk through a random aisle - she sees dildos and vibrators varying in sizes, some things she can't put a name to, a couple different butt plugs, and restraints. There's also a costume aisle, she's pretty sure, but they don't go there.

Some of the things interest her but when they do all she can think about is using them on Josie, and Hope doesn't know how to ask if Josie wants to use any of these things. Eventually Hope simply puts all her focus on Josie, watching her run her hands hesitantly over a couple of items but not really committing to anything.

They build up a pattern of walking up and down the same aisle, slowing around a certain spot in the middle. Hope picks up on it pretty quickly and they soon fall to a stop in front of something that excites Hope immensely. Josie is staring up at the display of a dildo - it's relatively long and not very thick, more sleek and black as if it were some type of spy device - with her lip drawn between her teeth. Under that display is a box with a picture of a harness on it, the same dildo strapped into the front of it.

Hope glances between the strap-on and Josie, feeling her insides clench at what is flowing through her mind.

She comes up behind Josie once she's sure they're both looking at the same thing. Hope hugs Josie from behind as gently as she can, trying not to startle her. Despite her efforts, Josie still inhales a sharp breath when Hope presses her palms flat against Josie's stomach. The shirt Josie is wearing rides up slightly at the action and Hope can't help but slip her hands under the fabric, feeling how soft the skin is there.

Her fingertips press hard into the spot right under Josie's belly button, and Hope is delighted in the little gasp Josie gives. Hope kisses the nape of Josie's neck, because that's all she can reach at the moment, and Josie tilts her head to give Hope more access - almost on instinct, as if all it takes is Hope touching her properly for Josie to bloom like a flower.

Hope presses a single, innocent kiss to a spot on Josie's neck that she knows is sensitive. "You want me to fuck you with it?"

Josie whines.

Actually whines, quite loudly in the quiet of the shop. It breaks the silence so suddenly that it startles even Hope and she feels Josie's skin burn under her hands with embarrassment.

"Is that a yes?" Hope asks, chuckling quietly so her warm breath fans out across Josie's neck. She steps back once Josie nods (too hard, too fast, very eager) and makes sure to stay a safe distance away.

How embarrassing would it be to get thrown out of a sex shop?