"Always and forever", a vow the mikaelson's viewed as sacred. hope knew the value of the words, and to see them wrote in a text by roman only made her inside churn.

roman: always and forever. funny isn't it?

hope: how so?

roman: well... i hate to be that guy but...
your parents aren't exactly alive to say it

roman: maybe always wasn't as long as
forever?

hope closed her phone, fighting the urge to toss it across the room and into the nearest object. her hotel room was neat, and the cleaners were kind so she didn't want to give them extra work.

and so, she sighed and decided to read the text ella sent her about a half hour ago.

ella <3
party tn, u coming?

hope x
sure

this could serve as the perfect distraction, after all it was a teenage party. in her life, hope hadn't attended many at the salvatore school due to the fact of being excluded or wanting to be excluded.

but now she was faced with the perfect opportunity, and she was going to take it.

ella <3
it's at leah's, come round mine so
we can get ready together

hope x
omw

ella <3
c u soon x
read

One of the things april despised about being one of the most cared about teens in hollyoaks were the expectations; for example, the fact she had to attend each function or she'd 'lose status' or would be cast aside by her friends. she thought it was stupid and fake, but it was the ways things were.

to be cool, you had to go to every function.

well... you could skimp out on the boring family dinners or the highschool teachers annual end-of-year parties. but anything concerned with teenagers, you best believe she was there front and centre.

it had been that way since she befriended juliet and sid earlier in her life, and now was expected of her.

april was just that girl. even if people despised her, she'd always have some sort of following. it was sad, and very blair waldorf of her, but the brunette didn't care.

and so, she got ready for the party.

she was wearing a small, tight-fitting white mini dress that had a corset top and open back. she paired it with chunky-heeled white boots and lots of silver jewellery she had laying around.

"so, you ready to go?" charlie asked, pissed off that his sister was going too. not that he minded, but recently he and april had grown less close due to ella.

"yeah," she replied, walking out of her room.

charlie noticed april check her phone as she bounced down the stairs. he couldn't help but wonder what was up with her, but shrugged it off and decided to follow her down instead of questioning her. after all, it would be taking the mickey if he decided to interrogate her after not speaking with her for a while.

april looked at her phone again and sighed, she hadn't heard word from lizzie which made her wonder why she was taking so long to reply.

she shrugged it off and turned around, "don't rush me, charlie if you are going to walk down the stairs like a little princess,"

charlie scoffed, it felt like old times and he almost forgot all that had happened. almost.

Leah's step-dad's house was now ridden with drunk teens that were dancing along to the music. hope and ella stood off to the sidelines, ella waiting for charlie and hope being unsure on what to do.

"so, uh, charlie, you like him?" hope asked awkwardly, trying to get rid of the awkwardness in the room. if she wanted to, she could have compelled everyone to do something fun, but that wasn't realistic.

"yeah," ella nodded, "he's like... the love of my life,"

hope was going to answer, when she heard a voice that made goosebumps arise on her skin, "just like we were, right hope?"

she screwed her eyes shut and sighed, turning around to find him. roman. he was grinning down at her menacingly, as though he thought he were threatening her with his actions. she wasn't scared of him, in fact she was more annoyed.

"sure," she rolled her eyes, "i always love idiots who contribute towards the downfall of my family,"

roman chuckled, until it hit him what she said. due to her death glare and the start of a headache - her magic causing it - he left the two girls alone.

which was the perfect timing, as at that moment april walked in. all eyes were on her, she was sure leah cut the music so she could have an iconic moment. april would make sure to thank her later.

as she walked in, whispers of gossip flooded the room along with the stares and points. she didn't care, this was usual so she owned it as per. except instead of being perceived as a slag, it was now the fact she was also a liar on top of that. even if that wasn't the truth.

instead of gravitating towards ella like usual, or going towards those who believed her for support, april found herself being dragged by leah to the other end of the room. lucas and dillon were chatting, it was hard to hear them due to the music but honestly april didn't care.

besides, being a fuck-girl meant she was fluent in lip-reading...

"i wish you two would stop flirting," april said to lucas and dillon, earning a vary of responses - leah rolling her eyes, dillon blushing and lucas looking at the floor as though to regain his composure. it was safe to say april was the only one with eyes. "alright, it was a joke,"

the tension lifted, and the party atmosphere seemed to come back slightly.

"so, i was thinking that we hang out," leah said to april, to which lucas looked at her confused.

"why are you - my big sister - trying to steal my mate?"

"not steal, lucas," leah bickered, "befriend,"

lucas rolled his eyes, whatever quip he was going to say cut off by a hand being placed on aprils waist.

"it's time you and i had a chat, allie," norman said coldly, moving her away without her permission, "my real name is roman," he told her quietly as they walked.

eventually, they got to a secluded corner and he pinned her to the wall. no one noticed. it was as though leah, lucas and dillon couldn't check to see if she were okay.

"see, april, you don't want me," roman said, his grip on her throat taking the air from her lungs, "and i find that not only offensive, but untrue. everyone wants me,"

"rot... in. hell," april wheezed out, the pressure changing as she spoke. she felt as though she were going to pass out.

"tell me, it's me you want," roman... or norman, spoke compellingly, but yet it was as though april couldn't fall into his spell.

"no,"

"then who?"

this time, whatever spell he was holding over her seemed to work, and she uttered the word, "hope,"