“Here you are!” The waitress set a fresh drink in front of Hope.

“Thank you.” Hope flashed her a quick smile, diving for the straw as she tried to keep up with Rafael’s story. It was about something that happened on set last week. Hope was sure she had heard it from Landon already.

Landon was jumping in every few moments to add some detail Rafael had forgotten. She was happy the brothers were back together again. They’d drifted apart after graduation, but now that Rafael was working as a sethand on Landon’s show, they were closer than ever. Hope was happy, she really was, but it felt like the little bit of her husband she had left was being pulled away and she couldn’t do anything about it. 

The Saltzman twins were laughing along with every sentence of the brothers’ story. Lizzie’s drinks barely left her lips, but Josie’s only glass sat nearly untouched. They both giggled with the same loud shrieks, Lizzie barely able to swallow her liquor in time before the next round. 

MG laughed along politely, but was busy staring at Lizzie with his chin in his hand. He had drank too much to be subtle about his crush anymore - not that it had been a secret to anyone since middle school. Hope hadn’t drank enough to be watching him helplessly fawn over her for the thirteenth year in a row. 

“Hope actually helped me with that one.”

Hope’s eyes shot up to her husband at the mention of her name. He smiled at her, grabbing her hand under the table. 

“I was stuck for so long,” Landon continued. “But Hope just let me talk through that scene with her, probably - god, I don’t know - twenty times?”

“At least,” Hope said, leaning in with a giggle, nose almost bumping his. 

“What? Closer to thirty? Forty?” Landon asked, scrunching his nose up and leaning closer.

“Try a hundred.”

“A hundred?” Landon kissed her softly, just long enough for her to get a taste of lemon, before he pulled back and grinned crookedly at her.

“Ugh.” Lizzie leaned back in her seat, stabbing her straw through the ice left in her glass. “Get a room, you two.”

Hope smiled at Lizzie and rolled her eyes, taking another big sip of her drink. It wasn’t like she hated hanging out with her friends. She just … wished it could be over. She wanted to be home, in her own bed and in her pajamas, delightfully buzzed and warm and laying in Landon’s arms. 

“Speaking of getting a room,” Lizzie said loudly, sitting up straight and looking between her sister and the rest of the table. “You guys remember Penelope Park?”

Four heads around the table nodded slowly, and one hung low. Josie watched her hands twist together in her lap. It wasn’t like she told Lizzie it was a secret - and it wasn’t - but she hadn’t expected Lizzie to make an announcement about it at dinner. 

“Guess who’s hooking up with her now?” Lizzie smiled. 

MG’s eyebrows rose. “Good for you, Jo.”

“I didn’t even know she was into girls, but congratulations,” Rafael said. 

“She’s not out to her parents yet, so … keep it lowkey. Please,” Josie said, looking around the table at everyone pointedly. 

“Our lips are sealed,” Hope promised, eyes turning to Landon.

Lizzie nodded in agreement. “It doesn’t leave this table. But we’re so excited for you, Jo.”

“Another drink?” The waitress had appeared to take Hope’s empty glass.

“Please.” 

“Hey.” Landon nudged Hope’s arm. “Are you gonna check that?”

“What?”

Landon pointed to Hope’s phone that had buzzed five times in the last ten seconds. It buzzed a sixth.

“Oh.” Hope picked it up. Six new texts from an unknown number, a message for each line.

Roses are red, violets are blue

Hope Mikaelson, there’s no one like you

Tulips are yellow, lilies are pink

I’m so much closer than you think

Daisies are white, mourning widows are black

That’s what you’ll be if you don’t love me back

“What the fuck?” Hope dropped the phone on the table.

“What is it?” Landon leaned over. Hope spun the phone around so he and everyone else at the table could see. 

“Who sent you that?” Rafael furrowed his eyebrows.

Hope shrugged. “I don’t know! It’s an unknown number.” 

“That’s actually really creepy,” Josie said. She scowled down at the screen in disgust. 

“I don’t like that they know your name.” Lizzie screwed up her face. “Do you think it’s a joke?”

“The only people who would prank me like that are sitting at this table.” Hope looked around the circle accusingly. 

“It wasn’t any of us, Hope,” MG said. 

Landon reached over and laced his fingers through Hope’s. “Here.” He grabbed her phone and blocked the number. “There you go. Problem solved.” He kissed her temple, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her to him. 

“Thank you.” Hope set her head on his shoulder. 

A new glass clinked against the tabletop. Hope looked up to thank the waitress and found her with a bouquet full of flowers in her hand. 

“You’re Hope Mikaelson, right?” she asked. “These came for you.”

Hope stared at the flowers for a beat, her stomach twisting. She slowly pulled out the note.

Roses are red, violets are blue

Hope Mikaelson, there’s no one like you

Tulips are yellow, lilies are pink

I’m so much closer than you think

Daisies are white, mourning widows are black

That’s what you’ll be if you don’t love me back

She dropped the slip like it could physically hurt her, looking at the arrangement. Red roses, blue violets, yellow tulips, pink lilies, white daisies, and …

“Someone look up what mourning widows look like,” Hope gasped. For a minute, no one at the table moved. They just stared at her with wide eyes and slack jaws. “Someone look it up!” 

Josie turned the phone towards Hope. She felt like she was going to pass out as she stared between the identical flowers. 

“I want to go home.”

“Yeah.” Landon grabbed his keys. He turned to Rafael. “Cover our tab? I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”

“Don’t even worry about it.” Rafael waved a hand through the air, eyes never leaving Hope. Her hands trembled as she grabbed her things. She couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Every table she passed, she stared at their faces, wondering if they were the one who sent the sick note and the sick flowers. 

She wasn’t even to Landon’s car before her phone was buzzing in her hand again. She didn’t want to open the messages, but she could see two new ones waiting.

Did you like the present? 

More to come, XOXO

Hope’s face was whiter than paper under the streetlight. Landon couldn’t tell if she was shivering from the cold or from fear.

“Here. You give me that.” Landon gently pried the phone from her fingers. He shut it off and dropped it in his back pocket. “Let’s just get you home.”