Hope worked away, desperately trying to find a solution to their festive problem. She was so done with Christmas carols, with dancing and laughing like everything was fine. If only they could see themselves. Then they'd know how ridiculous they looked.

Hope considered taking pictures, especially of Dr. Saltzman, to tease them about later. Perfect blackmail material. But her mood was spoiled whenever any of them came near her. So instead she buried herself in books, trying to figure out who was causing this.

"Hey, Hope!"

A familiar voice snapped her out of her work-trance, much to her annoyance. Hope looked up to see Josie standing in the doorway. And she was still dressed up in festive clothes.

Hope groaned. "Josie, I am really not in the mood for this."

She hated being snappy with her, especially since they'd only just gotten back on mildly good terms. Again, mildly. Tension still lingered between them in their conflict over Landon. And Hope hated it.

Josie was… important to her. More than she could ever say. She hated lying to her.

So when Josie had been the one to bring back everyone's memories, all she could do was stare helplessly. She knew everything yet she knew nothing at all. All the pain sharpened until Hope couldn't take it and she just watched.

"Oh, don't be such a Scrooge!" Josie beamed and stepped into the room. "Christmas is about forgiving, remember?"

Hope rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like you said earlier."

She'd sent Lizzie out after Landon earlier. Regardless of how she may or may not feel, he was still her friend and she worried about him. He was putting himself in danger. It was such a Landon thing to do, and he even pulled Rafael into it. Hope was getting tired.

Why couldn't she just be normal? Be a normal teenager who worried over boys and girls rather than the imminent death of her friends. She'd seen how Ethan and Maya lived without constantly looking over their shoulders. Who didn't think about dying. Who were normal.

But she was far from normal. And this was her life.

"I don't think you understood earlier," Josie said as she crossed the room to sit in front of her. "Forgiving, right? Well, I was mad at you."

Hope nodded and placed her books aside. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

Josie placed a finger on her lips and smiled. "Oh, Hope, wonderful sweet Hope, let me finish?"

Hope flushed. This Josie was strange but also unbelievably attractive. She now understood the whole dressing-up-sexy-for-Christmas idea. She wore it so well. And it was insanely distracting.

She nodded, unable to say anything.

"I was mad at you because you really let me forget about you? I knew my life was missing something…" Fingers slid across the sheets to tangle with Hope's. "You. I missed you. And yes, I was jealous… but not for the reason you think."

Hope knew it was whatever spell talking, that Josie would have never dared admit this if she wasn't under its influence. But she couldn't help but stare at those soft eyes.

"Josie, I… it was selfish of me," Hope said. "I was upset and I didn't think about how others might feel."

"Oh but you did! It's very Hope Mikaelson of you to be so selfless!" Josie scooted forward. "You thought we were happier without you. So you hurt yourself instead of us."

Hope nodded.

Thanks for the reminder.

"But… you realise why I was jealous, right, Hope?"

"Because of Landon?"

For a second, the joy in Josie's eyes flickered darkly before reappearing again. She laughed. "No, silly! Not him. You."

"Me?"

All too suddenly, Hope was aware of how close Josie was. How pretty her eyes were. How the low lights bathed her in a warm glow. How soft her lips looked.

"Yes, you. It was always you. You thought it was Landon. You were wrong." Josie dropped her shoulders in a sigh. "But you never looked at me like that."

"Wait, are you saying-?"

Josie took her other hand and clasped them together. "I'm in love with you, Hope Mikaelson! And it upset me that you almost let me have sex with Landon. Because I was happier with him?" She shook her head. "I was always happier when you were here."

Hope's mouth opened but every word died in her throat.

"Don't look like that," Josie murmured. "I know you don't love me like that. But it's Christmas. And in the Christmas spirit, I'm being honest about what I want."

Josie, who always put others first, took the step to ask for something she wanted. Maybe Penelope Park had a point. Josie spent too much time worrying about other people. So when she finally asked for herself, she apologised as if she'd done something wrong. And it wasn't wrong.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"This might be the best Christmas ever," Hope breathed.

She knew her mind was getting foggy, that she too was slipping under its influence; joy was running through her veins. But Hope didn't care. Because she was happy. And that was something she wanted to hold on to.

"Hope? Say something?"

Hope squeezed her hands.

"I love you too, Josie," Hope beamed. "I've never admitted it—mainly because Lizzie might kill me. But… I love you."

Something soft filled Josie's eyes and her smile grew wider, if it was even possible.

"Can I kiss you?"

Hope had the irresistible urge to giggle.

"Yes, please."

Josie leaned forward shyly but couldn't close the gap, hesitating, and it took Hope to finally bring them together. Her lips were soft and tasted faintly of sugar. Like frosting. Very Christmas-y.

Hope leaned away and then did giggle, leaning her forehead against Josie's. Everything was warm and fuzzy. She smiled. She hadn't felt this way in a long time.

"Oh, I love Christmas," Josie exclaimed.

Hope didn't. She hated the holidays. But maybe this time... and this time only, it was okay.

Lizzie shoved open the doors to the Salvadore School. A jolt of annoyance ran through her when she saw the festive decorations and heard the gentle hum of Christmas classics in the background. Nothing had changed since she left. They were still fucking jolly.

"Hope?" she yelled.

What had she been doing in the time since she'd been gone? Wasn't it her job to fight off whatever monsters were coming? She clearly had made zero progress.

"Oh, Lizzie!"

Lizzie turned to see Hope standing by the table, arm wrapped in Josie's. And her smile was as bright as the lights adorning her jumper. Her Christmas jumper.

Lizzie gritted her teeth. "Hope. Are you kidding me? It got you? You are literally so un-jolly, what the hell?"

Hope laughed and leaned closer to Josie. "I don't know what you're talking about. Have some cocoa, relax! It's Christmas!"

Josie giggled, nuzzling at her cheek affectionately. "You're so cute."

"Oh no, you're so cute."

"What?" Hope spun around and pulled her closer so they stared at each other face to face. "No, you are definitely the cutest."

"You two…?" Lizzie started putting two and two together and groaned. "Oh, come on. I went and got hobbit boy for nothing?"

She was glad Landon was still unconscious in the car. She had a feeling he would react quite poorly to this new development. She wasn't even sure what she thought of it. When Hope confessed to once having a crush on Josie, she'd never dreamed that it would still be around. And Josie? Her own sister didn't even tell her?

Then again, Josie hadn't remembered Hope existed until recently so… maybe Lizzie could let that slide.

"Santa gave me the most wonderful present," Josie sang. "Courage."

"And it's so cute on you!"

Lizzie thought she might get sick.

"So the monster isn't dead. Great. That's superb!"

She'd left Sebastian in the car to watch over Landon until he returned fully to the land of the living. And it was too late to go get him.

As she spoke, the lights flickered. Neither Hope or Josie seemed to care. "Merry Christmas!"

Lizzie rolled her eyes as the dark smoke swirled out of the fireplace. "Fine. Guess I'll just do everything myself!"

Lizzie grabbed a nearby candy cane and snapped it in two, raising the jagged end towards the creature. It growled with a leering smile, a sck in its grasp. Merry fucking Christmas, indeed.