The Reset

Chapter Nine: A Collapsing Star

"That fucking jackass," snipped Lydia, slamming the door to the downstairs office roughly behind her just as Kai shooed Lonnie off to find her brothers and sister.

"Everything alright, baby?"

"No," she half growled, her face reminding him so much of Bonnie that he had to take a moment. She tapped her nail across the back of her phone, biting her lower lip in aggravation. "I'm going to snap his neck."

"Damon?"

"Stefan!"

Kai's eyes grew wide, his mouth forming an 'O' in surprise. Lydia adored Stefan. To hear her threaten bodily harm to him was so far off the spectrum of reality that he had to wonder just what the hell happened on the phone. Instead of asking about it, he decided to let her stew for a moment. He could see she was collecting her thoughts, her mind racing with various scenarios and consequences of said scenarios.

"I can't believe he doesn't know where Damon is!" Lydia turned her glare to Kai but he knew her anger wasn't directed at him so all he could do was smile. "I mean, how can he not know where his own damn brother is?!"

"It's Damon," he said with a shrug, then a laugh at her narrowing her eyes at him. "Are you really surprised?"

She huffed. "No, but dammit, Mom just talked to him last week." She brought her hand up to rest on her hip. "I'm going to snap his neck too."

He made his way over to the table where crystal decanters were, picking up the one with gin in it and poured a modest amount into a glass tumbler. He handed it to his daughter and she took it, setting her phone on the mantle of the fireplace. He then poured himself a not-so-modest amount of gin into a second tumbler, clinking the glass against Lydia's and took a well-deserved drink.

"Mom liked bourbon," Lydia said off-handed.

Kai snorted, rolling his eyes as he sipped from his glass. "Because of Damon. She became his drinking partner in 1994."

A soft hum came from her as she took another drink, setting the glass on the table by the decanters. "She said you hated bourbon."

"Because of Damon," he said with a laugh.

Lydia couldn't help but laugh with him, shaking her head. "God, you two always had it out for each other."

He drained his glass, already prepping a refill. "Up until the day your mom and I got married."

"He had Aunt Elena back then, didn't he?" Kai hummed in assent. "So why was he always riding up your ass?"

"I think your dear uncle loved your mother in his own way."

"You'd think he was in love with her or something."

"Yeah, you'd think, wouldn't you?" A frown was etched on his features, the glass pressed against his chin in thought.

Lydia laughed, bringing Kai out of his momentary reverie. "Oh stop that," she chided. "You and Mom only had eyes for each other. It was-"

"Gross. I know. Lonnie already expressed as much." They both shared a laugh, clinking their glasses together once more.

After a brief moment of companionable silence, Kai met his daughter's gaze. She had aged so beautifully, just like her mother. Her piercing blue eyes bore into him and he felt his breath hitch softly. She seemed to take note of this, seeing as how this wasn't the first time he'd often commented on how much she looked like Bonnie. Feeling her hand slipping into his, he blinked and looked down to see that she was gripping onto him in a form of comfort.