Splitting Our Odds Into Evens

The Volunteer State

THE NEXT DAY...

Bonnie and Kol walked into the house. Kol threw his body onto the couch. Bonnie, on the other hand, needed to quench her thirst. She walked to the kitchen, pouring herself a tall glass of apple juice. She walked back to the living room just seconds later.

"How was it?" Hayley asked. They had just dropped off Bonnie's dad at the airport.

"It was okay, I guess," Bonnie shrugged.

Kol raised both of his eyebrows at that. Okay? More like the exact opposite, he thought.

Hayley saw his facial expression and narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing that it was way more than she says it was?"

"It was a rollercoaster full of emotions. First, she cried and hugged him, then begged to stay longer," Kol said, counting the events with his hands as he spoke. "That happened for a good hour."

Bonnie dropped her apple juice on the table and raised her palms defensively. "Okay, I'll admit...I was an emotional wreck, but could you really blame me? I rarely see my dad nowadays. When I do, we barely spend any time together."

"You know what to do, Bonnie. The question is, are you ready to?" Hayley asked. Bonnie tilted her head, confused. "You'd have to make time one week and go to Mystic Falls."

Bonnie blinked back. "Woah." She wasn't sure when she'd see her dad next, but she hoped it was soon. Situations like this made her appreciate the development of technology even more because there was no way in hell she'd just go to Virginia out of the blue. Hell no!

"I may not be a fan of that backwater town, but Hayley's right," Kol said as the witch shook her head in disagreement.

"Mystic Falls is probably the last place I want to be right now." Bonnie gesticulated.

Yeah, okay, Kol thought sarcastically. "You haven't gone to visit since you left and if I do my math well, that was five years ago."

"And you haven't visited Norway since you left and if I do my math well was more than a thousand years ago," Bonnie argued.

"The difference is, there's nothing left for my siblings and me in Norway. You, on the other hand, have friends and an emotionally stable father in Mystic Falls. None of which my family has in our hometown." Kol shrugged when he saw the annoyed look on her face. "What? It's true."

Hayley sighed. "Look. I get that Mystic Falls has a lot of bad memories for you, but you have to confront your past sooner than you think."

Bonnie couldn't even argue with them at this point. Deep down, she knew they were right. Whether she liked to accept it or not, Mystic Falls was her home. It's where she was born and raised. Despite the bad, there was good, and it's not like she never experienced any of the good.

Bonnie slapped a palm to her forehead. "You guys are right."

"And hey, there's no rush," Hayley assured her. "But it has to be before the year is out."

"Yeah," Kol agreed. "I'll even come with you. A visit to Mystic Falls is well-needed for the both of us."

"Are we done talking now?" Bonnie asked. "Cause I'd like to drink my apple juice now."

"Have at it," Kol said. "We're not stopping you."

Bonnie raised the glass to her lips, but before she could even feel the cup against the tip of her tongue, an aching pain dwelled in her head. She dropped the cup. It shattered clear. She threw her hands to her head, grasping the sides of her temples, hoping to alleviate the pain, it didn't subside.