Day three now without a death threat from my dearest buddy Malivore. Which, granted, concerns me a little. A number of things could be happening; we could be getting spied on, he could be planning to send something bigger and badder than a tooth-eating troll. Or maybe the former already happened and he knows what we're planning and he's sent something to find what we need first. I might be letting my anxiety run free with these thoughts...

But I will take peace where I can get it these days.

Now, remember yesterday I had a chat with dear ol' Davina Claire and she was all like 'yeah so basically let's put you in danger.

Today's the next day. The day she plans to do that. What "that" is, I have no idea. Which doesn't calm my nerves at all.

Thankfully it's only lunchtime, and I have about four more classes to go until my impending death.

Yes, I'm overreacting. I do that.

Sitting at a small table with Jack and a few of her good friends, I was actually having a decent time. This one kid had some wild stories about his childhood that honestly, I was a teeny bit jealous of. I mean this dude's been to Paris, Tokyo, Peru, and like, thirty other cities in other countries. All by the age of fourteen. Unfortunately, all those trips and good stories came to an end when he died. But at least his parents remained loving and supportive, and the only reason they sent him here was so he could learn how to control the hunger he has.

Apparently, his appetite can be... excessive.

"You're lucky your parents are still around," said Kami, another witch. "You have a home to go back to after graduation."

"What happened to yours?" he asked.

"Dead. Mom had cancer, dad died trying to get her back. I guess something went wrong." Kami shrugged one shoulder then took a bite of her salad. "What's your story, Jack?"

"Long story short, my grandma was a witch. My mom never believed her because she had dementia, plus, the gene skipped her. When I came into my powers, she and her new wife were so freaked they packed their stuff and left. Never came back, ever."

"Holy shit... How could they just leave like that?"

"I stopped caring after a while. But at the very least, my mom left the house in my name. And she still pays the bills for it."

"But she still left you," Remy scoffed. "Nothing can ever excuse that."

"True. But again, I don't care anymore." Jack bumped my shoulder to get my attention. "Remy died, Kami's orphaned via death, I was abandoned... now it's your turn. What's your poison?"

I shook my head, chuckling to myself. "I don't know, it's still hard to talk about."

"Come on. It gets better when you actually try to talk about it."

"I wish everyone would stop saying that."

"We say it cause it's true," Jack confessed. "Just give the basics, nothing too detailed."

It was clear as day that neither of them would let me go without saying something. I swear it's like people here are purposefully targeting me and my tragic origins. Nobody can tell me they're not.

"Fine," I sighed. "Uh... my village was attacked and nearly half, if not exactly half, of it's people were slaughtered. Including my dad who's neck was snapped, and my mom who's heart was ripped out. I couldn't do anything but hide and watch... Oh, and that was also the first night I killed, so that's something..." At some point, all their jaws had dropped. Kami even had a piece of lettuce hanging from her mouth. I pursed my lips awkwardly while drumming my fingers on the table. "Too tragic?"

"...I... I think you win here," Remy choked out. "And-and how old were you?"

"Five."

"F..." Jack scratched at her head like a confused monkey trying to process information. "Five years old and all that happened?"

"Sweetie, that's not even all of it."

Kami collected herself by removing the stray lettuce. She also pushed her unfinished salad to the side, leaning onto the table. "So, you don't have anywhere to go after this?"

"No, I do. I was part of the Crescent clan, so, I was kinda close the the Mikaelsons through Hayley Marshall. They looked after me over the years. Them and Marcel Gerard."

"Ohhh, that's why they were here that one time?"

"Looking for me, yes."

"I was afraid to ask before," Jack said. "I didn't want to pry."

"Speaking of Mikaelsons," Remy pointed behind me. I didn't need to look because something told me she was already coming over. Besides Remy literally watching her.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I don't want to be in this oncoming awkward situation.

She stood to the side of me well enough to see her through my peripheral vision. I expected her to track me down at some point but judging by the way she was standing, Hope was nervous. That, I didn't expect.

"Can we talk? Please?"

When I actually looked up at her, I saw that her usually uplifted-slash-giddy expression wasn't there. Replacing it was sadness and guilt, and seeing her like that nearly broke me.

I didn't say anything, but I gathered my bag and got up to follow her. I assumed the most private place for us to talk was in our room where there were no prying eyes and ears.

I tossed my bag- and my body, to be honest- onto my bed. Hope sat on hers, nervously picking at her skirt.

"Whatever you're gonna say, it has to not be that you're sorry," I sighed, getting that out of the way immediately.

"I somehow knew you'd say that. I mean, you can probably already tell that I am, right?" I nodded slowly, slightly wincing at the fact that it's definitely all over her face.

"Clear as day," I mumbled.

"Let me put it this way then...you're the first and only person I can really talk to. Openly, about anything and you don't judge me for who or what I am. If there's anyone that understands, I mean... it's you. I've never met anyone I can talk to and relate with regarding my dad, my mom... hell, Uncle Elijah, even, and it didn't take much time at all for me to realize that I care for you a lot and I never, ever want to go a day- or even five minutes- with you being upset with me."

"Do you know why I was actually upset? I mean, really, I don't care about what you do in your spare time, but... do you really know what you're apologizing but not apologizing for?"

Hope slightly cocked her head to the side. "Well, for one, you hate Landon for some reason..."

"Th- Fair, but not entirely." Hope sat for a good minute to really think about it. Not that it was all that difficult, though, it wasn't an Einstein-specific question.

"I bailed on you."

"If you look at my history, I got a thing against people leaving. And not notifying me of schedule changes just plain piss me off. And again, I get the private time thing, but... not knowing what's going on and feeling abandoned only to find you in our room-"

"I know, I know-"

"And I dropped my marshmallows, and didn't get to drink my hot cocoa cause I lost my appetite!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Ew, don't say that," I groaned.

"But-"

"Don't, okay? I forgive you."

"J... wait, just like that?"

"Don't mistake my forgiveness for me not being mad anymore because I am still salty. But, I can't hold a grudge forever...at least not against you. Particular vampire murderers, though..."

"I get it," Hope chuckled with a smile. "Thank you. And I promise I will never ever bail like I did. From now on if I ever have to cancel not any reason, I will talk to you personally."

"That's all I ask." Hope got up to tackle me into a hug. Having no time to brace for it, it definitely worked, causing us both to fall back on the mattress. "A little warning next time," I whined.

"Just shut up and hug me back, jeez. Do you ever just be quiet?"

"Oh, absolutely. I don't talk when I don't want to or when I'm not around people I give a damn about-"

"But just shut up, you know, you're ruining the moment."

"If you're asking me to shut up, you're asking me to stop caring about you."

Hope groaned loudly as she pushed herself off the bed. She massaged her temples slowly, inhaling deeply. "I forget how annoying you can be."

"But you love me, just admit it. I'm your new annoying best friend."

I smirked as Hope glanced back. "Maybe."

"If it's quiet bonding time you want, I know the perfect thing to do."

"What's that?"

"Why, running, of course. When's the last time you did that?" It wasn't necessary for Hope to say anything, really. It was all over her face. "My god, you're deprived. But no worries! I was too, but dear ole Mellie Bear will help the princess of the crescents."

"M...ellie... Bear?"

I paused in my tracks, about to grab my designated running bag. "It was a thing my dad called me..."

"Yeah, but... Mellie Bear? That's-"

I rushed to become face to face with the girl. I practically sent daggers into her very soul, pointing a stern finger at Hope's chest. "It doesn't matter if you're my princess or if my sole purpose is to protect you... If you say anything to anyone about that name, I will end you myself."

"Right, right," Hope snickered, snatching the bag out of my hand. She turned around and started to walk out the door.

"Hope, I'm serious!"

"Yeah, sure. See you after class!"

"Hope Andrea Mikaelson, get your royal ass back in this fucking room and promise me you won't say anything!"

nearly 2k reads? y'all are freaking insane, I hope you know that. BUT who am I to complain about how much love this thing's getting?

I don't think I can thank you all enough for reading but I'm gonna continue to do so. with that being said, thank you a million times over... I hope your days have been wonderful and I also hope the days to come are wonderful. if not, know I'm rooting for you.

you are now my homies.

homies unite.

okay bye bye beautiful peoples~