We'll Go Down In History

Chapter 45

Hope's pov

The sun is too bright. My head is pounding. I can't breathe properly. I feel weak. The only thing keeping my vision in focus is the alluring scent of blood that's coming from the glass on my bedside table.

"Hey," a hoarse voice speaks from beside me.

I turn my head to the side and see that Lizzie is staring back at me. Her eyes are red and blotchy, as if she's been crying for a while. But there's a soft smile on her face.

"Hey," I reply.

There's a strange ringing in my ears, and-

"Whoa, Hope," Lizzie says, catching me when I almost topple off the bed.

The bed?

"Where are we?" I mumble.

My eyes widen when I figure out the answer by myself.

"The Salvatore School," I say. "But- But this is my room. How..."

"After you died, Josie got me out of the Mikaelson Compound. Using Freya's coffin, we restored the timeline. Or rather, Josie did," Lizzie shrugs. "I just spent most of our time in 2011 having one panic attack after another. It took me half an hour to register what Josie was telling me- That you're the Tribrid, and that you'd be coming back to life soon."

"You thought I was really dead?" I ask.

Lizzie nods. "It was stupid, but I just got too freaked out in the moment, and..." She hesitates.

"How much do you remember?" she asks. "Of what I said?"

"That depends," I say thoughtfully. "If you had been aware of the fact that I wasn't really gone, would you still have said... All those things?"

"I... Yes," Lizzie replies slowly but surely. "Because I meant it. All of it."

I can't help but smile at her words.

"But what about you?" Lizzie asks me. "You never got to say what you were about to say, because you... Well, you died."

I think her question over in my head, then realize- I don't need to.

The answer is obvious.

In one swift motion, I take her by the back of her neck, and pull her towards me. I let my lips meet hers, and for ten heavenly seconds, the two of us just enjoy that moment.

When I finally pull away, I'm thinking about all the things Lizzie and I have been through together. About how we went from being two girls who absolutely hated each other, to... This. Two people who care for each other, and are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the other safe.

"I turned your humanity switch on," I suddenly realize.

"I'm pretty sure you should be more focused on the part about how you literally died to save me, but yeah," Lizzie nods with a small laugh. "The thought of losing you... It was more than enough to bring my emotions back."

"Lizzie," I say, when I see that small tears have been brought into her eyes.

"It's just," she shakes her head, and wipes away her tears with the back of her hand. "I never thought anyone could do something like that for me. I didn't think anyone could ever think I was worth dying for."

I think of all the troubles we've faced together, as a team. That time with the mummy monster, when she and I finally set aside our differences and defeated the creature together.

I think of the joy I felt when I heard Lizzie calling out my name, after Malivore had erased me from existence. Right when I had lost everyone, she had been the one to remember me.