Splitting Our Odds Into Evens

L'amour De Ma Vie

THE NEXT DAY...

Today was the day. Their Mystic Falls trip had come to an end, and a few days ago, Bonnie would have loved it. Now, she dreaded it. She was leaving everything on bad terms. Last night, she'd told Matt that Vicki had disappeared into nothingness—gone for good. Abigail had lost her magic trying to save Bonnie. She still wasn't on good terms with her friends—not even Damon, who had apologized a thousand times.

Everything seemed to be falling apart, and the worst part was, she had no control over any of it.

Bonnie knelt by her bed, shoving clothes into her suitcase. "It doesn't make sense," she muttered. "The balance shouldn't be this off. The Other Side has always been unstable, sure, but this? This feels different. Grams said balance is everything, so if the spirits are freaking out, it means—"

"Bonnie."

She froze mid-sentence and looked up at Kol. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands clasped tightly between his knees. He wasn't looking at her. He wasn't looking at anything.

"What?" she snapped, the frustration in her tone sharper than she intended.

Kol sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "You've been spiraling for hours, love. Maybe take a breath?"

Bonnie narrowed her eyes. "A breath? Well, it's kinda hard to do that when we're running out of time—"

"I know," Kol interrupted. "I know. But driving yourself mad over it won't fix anything."

She scoffed, annoyed that he wasn't worrying as much as her and the fact that he'd been off. "You and Davina have both been acting weird since last night. What's going on?"

"I'm fine," he said, forcing a small smile. It felt like a lie even as he said it.

"Kol." Bonnie's tone softened as she sat back on her heels, her eyes searching his face. "If something's wrong, you can tell me. You know that, right?"

He wanted to tell her. The words hovered on the tip of his tongue: I'm dying. But how could he say that out loud? How could he look her in the eye and admit that the future they'd started building together had an expiration date? He couldn't. Not now. Maybe not ever.

Instead, he reached for her hand, brushing his thumb across her knuckles. "You've got enough on your plate without worrying about me. Focus on saving the world, darling. Leave the brooding to me."

Bonnie rolled her eyes but didn't pull her hand away. "The whole point of being a couple means we brood together. I can't be happy if you aren't."

"I'm happy. I promise," Kol replied, his smirk returning, though it didn't reach his eyes.

She studied him for a moment longer before sighing and returning to her suitcase. "If the Other Side collapses, my Grams...everyone there..." Her voice cracked, and she quickly cleared her throat. "I'm going to fix it. I have to fix it."

Kol's chest tightened. Her determination was one of the things he loved most about her, but right now, it only made him tense. How could he help her fight this battle when his own body was betraying him?

"We'll figure it out," he said.

Bonnie looked at him, half-believing him, half-not. But for the sake of peace, she let it go. "So, are you going to pack, or are you just going to sit there?"

Kol laughed. "I'd hate to mess up your perfectly organized system."

She snorted. "Yeah, because 'throw everything in and hope for the best' is so organized."