The Revenge Con

38. Start of Something Renewed

The plane touched down in New Orleans and Elena, Bonnie, Elijah and Kol stepped into their new lives. Elena and Elijah were back as a unit, stronger than ever. After his night with Bonnie, Kol remembered what it was like to want a relationship with someone. Bonnie on the other hand was faced with the scars of her past year. From hurting Kol to completely trusting the wrong people. She was forced to reflect on the fact that she had fallen in love with Kai and despite everything she found out about him, she missed the man she knew. 

When they arrived a car was waiting to take them home. It felt strange for Bonnie to think of New Orleans as home but for Elena, it felt right. She was happy to be wherever Elijah was. 

Reaching Kol's place was a whole new feeling. Bonnie felt a wave of memories almost as strong as the night they had shared. She felt sick. As soon as the car stopped, Bonnie dashed out, puking along the street. Elijah seemed to think it was just from the hangover but Kol could tell something else was off. He glanced at Elena and gestured with his head for her to check on her friend. Elena reluctantly let go of Elijah's hand. 

"We'll take the bags inside," Elijah told her, lightly kissing her forehead. 

"We should probably also warn our sister about our new houseguests." Kol pointed out. Elijah and Kol, with the help of their driver, brought the bags into the house while Elena went over to Bonnie. 

She rubbed Bonnie's back as the other woman leaned over, preparing to vomit again.

"Are you feeling okay?" She questioned. The urge to be sick faded and Bonnie straightened up. 

"I don't know what to do anymore. I relied so heavily on Kai and Damon and now I'm back at square one. I have nothing." 

"Come on Bon, that's not true. You have me. And we have the support of the Mikaelsons until we get back on our feet." Elena pointed out with a sympathetic smile. 

"I feel bad. After everything we put them through, it feels like I'm using them for their money." 

"What about last night with Kol?" Elena wondered.

"He's not my boyfriend just because we had a drunken hookup. He doesn't owe me anything." She groaned.

"He cares about you," Elena assured her. "You're not taking advantage of him. You're not using them for their money. You are letting your friends offer you help when you needed." 

"I know it's just-" Bonnie looked up at Kol's house. "Being back here..." Elena pulled Bonnie into a tight hug as tears started falling. "How did this happen?" 

"the simple answer is Katherine," Elena mumbled. "I'm so sorry, Bon." Elena felt herself tearing up as well and the two women stood outside holding each other while they cried. 

Rebekah was surprised by the suitcases that followed her brothers into the house. 

"You packed that much for a day trip?" She scoffed. "And I thought I was high maintenance." 

"Well, we never meant to give you an identity crisis." Kol shot back. 

"Miss Gilbert and Miss Bennett have accompanied us back to New Orleans. They will be staying indefinitely." Rebekah's gaze drifted between her brothers as her jaw dropped. 

"You're back with Elena and Bonnie?" She gasped, barely able to keep from jumping up and down with excitement. 

"Yes, Elena and I have rekindled our romance." Elijah blushed slightly and Rebekah grinned at her brother's happiness.

"Bonnie is just here as a friend. She will be staying in my room and I will be staying in Klaus's." He informed her, giving Elijah a look that meant their sister would not be hearing the events of the prior night. 

"Where are they? Surely you didn't lose them on the way to the door." Rebekah held back from making a joke about Kol's tendency to lose women. 

"They needed a moment. It has been an eventful few days." 

"Well, I'll have the chefs start preparing lunch. We can have a meal as a family." Rebekah squealed. 

"I leave for a day and you hire chefs?" Kol groaned. "Well, I'm happy to say you'll still be the most high-maintenance person living in the house."

"You've never seen Stefan do his hair." She shot back. 

Elena and Bonnie joined them shortly after. Kol locked eyes with Bonnie and she gave him a slight nod to let him know she was okay. 

Stefan popped into the room half asleep. He froze as he processed the large group of people he was not expecting to encounter. 

"Good morning, Mr. Salvatore." Elijah chuckled. Bonnie tensed at the last name and Elijah even felt Elena stiffen beside him. 

"I don't think I can do this." Bonnie blurted out. Nausea had started surfacing again. 

"I swear I had nothing to do with my brother's actions," Stefan assured her. 

"You're safe now Bon." Kol reached for her hand but she slapped it away. "No one will get to you here." He promised. 

"I got to you here." She reminded him. Bonnie wanted to be strong, more than anything. But she needed space. She turned around and walked out the door, leaving them all speechless. 

"I think there's someone I need to see." Kol sighed following her out the door. 

It took Cami 20 minutes to get to Rousseau's after Kol texted her. She spotted him at a table and walked over. He stood up when she reached the table and hugged her. 

"It's good to see you." He smiled as they both sat down.

He had gotten surprisingly close with Camille while she was dating his brother and as much as he was happy for Klaus's new family, he felt bad for Cami.

"How are you?" He asked. "What have you been up to?"

"I'm good. I've been working a lot more." She told him. "I finally made it out of here though." Camille had finished her degree and started working as a therapist in her advisor's practice. 

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about..." 

"I was wondering why you invited me here so urgently." She laughed lightly. "Is everything okay?"

"Bonnie is back in my life." He informed her. She nodded waiting for him to continue before weighing in. "We aren't together exactly, but she's living with us." 

"And you are having trouble dealing with the reemerging feelings?" Kol shook his head.

"Well yes, but that's not the problem." He sighed. "Something happened in Mystic Falls and I think it's affecting her more than I had realized. I think she could benefit from talking to someone." 

"Well it might be a conflict for me to take her on as a patient, I can talk to Vincent if that's something she would be interested in." 

"Thanks, Cami." He nodded.  "You know, you could do so much better than my brother." He added with a slight chuckle. 

Camille rolled her eyes. "You should get back to Bonnie. My guess is she could use a friend right now." Kol nodded, feeling almost guilty for dragging Cami all the way there for such a short conversation. "And you know, I could recommend someone for you too."

"I'll think about it." Kol left texting Bonnie to see where she had gone. He hated the idea that she had been wandering around New Orleans by herself. She texted him her location and he found her sitting on a bench just people-watching. 

"You okay?" He asked softly as he sat down. 

"No." She answered simply.

"Do you want to talk about it?" 

"No." 

"Do you want me to go?" 

"No." She leaned her head on his shoulder and they just sat together.