12.

Present

She stays another night, getting comfortable on the couch with a plush blanket from the linen closet upstairs. Lucille Bennett is a wealth of knowledge and adventure, and Bonnie wonders how different Sheila must be from her late baby sister. From what she understands, her own mother Abby had a boring, small town life growing up in Mystic Falls while Lucy's upbringing boasts travel and intrigue and all the wondrous things a young woman dreams of doing in life. Love and heartbreak, making friends with the wrong people and standing up to the shittier ones. The nomadic existence she's lived thus far is inspiring and Bonnie's a little envious.

Though, she doesn't feel that an unwarranted twinge of jealousy until her cousin slips away after they come home from lunch. Her Grams leaves to teach her afternoon class, and she spies Lucy in the backyard in deep conversation with Kai. The two stand close, heads bowed over some small object in the woman's hand, their mouths forming words Bonnie can't read. Their gazes alternate back and forth between the item and making meaningful eye contact. Her throat tightens and she can't understand why she even cares, choosing to chock it up to another secret to add to the pile.

Shaking her head, she heads to the kitchen. She can't be mad at something that's none of her business. The emotion while overwhelming is fleeting. When Lucy reenters the living room Bonnie's ready to launch into her past dealings with that vampire who everyone says looked just like Elena Gilbert while they oil and moisturize her hair and scalp.

For dinner, they order Chinese take-out to go with the rest of Sheila's sangria while Bonnie regales her time in Boston, Kai pulls Sheila into the kitchen. Noticing the two slinking away to have a hushed conversation, Bonnie trips over her tongue before resuming her tale of the time an espresso machine blew up and the only reason April Young isn't covered in third degree burns is due to Bonnie's instinctual magic.

"I didn't even have to think of the spell or say it. It just happened. It was like this, this bubble that shielded her and our coworkers from the spray."

"Damn, girl! You strong as hell," Lucy grins at her over the noodles hanging from her chopsticks. "That's a gift, trust me. Anyone can learn anything with the proper resources and enough practice, but you can never beat good instincts."

Bonnie perks up at the compliment. "Really?"

"Yeah! Look, I can be on guard twenty-four-seven, sleep with one eye open, and still get bested. But if you've got the trust and confidence in your magic where you don't even hesitate to save yourself and the people around you… You are going to make one unstoppable bitch, Bonnie Bennett."

"What'd I miss?" Kai wonders, rubbing his hands together like he missed some juicy anecdote. Wordlessly, Sheila passes behind him and heads up the stairs. "Anyone want to split my Moo Shu pork? I'm stuffed."

x

The youngest occupant sleeps curled on the loveseat, her form turned like she'd nodded off mid-sentence. He leans against the banister and stares at her the way he did the night before. The steady rise and fall of her chest, the way her nose twitches in response to whatever she's dreaming about, the unintelligible murmurs that fall from her lips. Kai could watch her for hours.

Sheila pads down the stairs and Kai's quick to reach for her modest travel bag. It's not heavy at all, this being a very last minute and hopefully short trip, but she trained a gentleman. Can't slack off now. "Put this in the kitchen, will you?"

She hands him a greeting card with a photograph of the setting sun's rays glinting off a lake outside of Whitmore. He peeks at her delicate scrawl on the inside of the otherwise blank card. Nodding, he puts her bag beside his at the front door and does as she asks, setting the card on the kitchen island where he knows it'll be found.

As he crosses the room, Bonnie stirs. Kai tenses. They aren't exactly sneaking out, so why does he feel a tad traitorous? Could disappearing like this rattle the shaky foundation he and Bonnie have constructed?

Sheila moves to the door, and he continues across the room and hefts up their bags. A mumble follows him and he can't help but turn at it. Bonnie blinks, her vision adjusting to the low light, and she mutters something like "grapefruit?" before settling back into the cushions and her blanket. With that, Kai and Sheila steal away into the night.

x

The honeyed scent of fat and meat hit her nose before the crackling pop of bacon nudges her awake. An ache in her spine is the final shove she needs to shake off sleep, so she rises and wipes at her oily cheeks and crusty eyes. Her tongue is dry and thick in her mouth and she wonders if it's from the wine or the sodium content of her shrimp lo mein. Either way, her stomach flips at the thought of a skillet of bacon and the guy cooking it.

Bonnie can't mask the disappointment on her face when it's Lucy she finds over the stove. The older woman doesn't take it personally, though. Pointing to the card on the island with that fork, she knowingly smirks. "Note's for you."

Pursing her lips, she shuffles over and opens the card. Her grandmother's script is elegant even if the contents are vague. Something came up and Kai is needed by his coven. I will call you once we touch down in Portland. Send Lucy my love and well wishes on her future travels. I love you.

Underneath her message is scribble she doesn't recognize but it can't be anyone else's but Kai's. Help yourself to the mooooooo shu pork

She can only roll her eyes at the stupid joke before she swallows against whatever emotional turmoil grips her and plasters on a smile. She tosses the note in the trash and turns back to her cousin. "Need help?"

Lucy has to make a pitstop in Savannah before she heads to the crescent city and needs to put seven hours behind her fast. She doesn't mention whether or not Kai was interested in whatever it is that she showed him, and Bonnie doesn't pry. They make grilled cheese sandwiches for her to take, and after they eat breakfast she promises to keep in touch. When she's finally packed up and gone, Bonnie tucks into her chair and tastelessly chews on her lunch.

This is the first time she's been completely alone since she's come home and she can't decide if she likes it. It's a nice day out, but with no car and money in savings that she refuses to touch there's nowhere for her to go and nothing to do. She had hoped since her and Sheila had their breakthrough at lunch yesterday that they could really reconnect.

Time inches by. When April texts around seven to say she's on her way to Whitmore, Bonnie is halfway out the door before the realization hits her that her Grams still hasn't called yet.

x

His fingers clench around the bag of clear fluid and he thinks to pop it like a water balloon. He'd get kicked out for sure, but they waited this long to call him… They wanted to keep him in the dark about this for as long as possible.

"He's breathing on his own now, which is good," the doctor nods at the resting man. Kai glances over his shoulder at the two women before going back to his musings of busting his father's saline drip. He's here as a formality. The nurse couldn't tell Sheila what's wrong without the consent of a family member present and Kai couldn't care less, not really. If he had his way, this flight west would've yielded a funeral not a well, all we can do right now is wait and see.

Their flights were on time with no hiccups, even the downtime between connections was a small wait, and there was a town car waiting for them at their gate. Traffic was light on their way to the hospital and when they arrived at the information desk, they were easily escorted to the private room. Luke shot to his feet when Sheila and Kai entered the tiny suite and he didn't know want to do with himself. Did he hug the family friend? Shake her hand? Motus his older brother out the sixth floor window and hope it only paralyzed the bastard?

He decided on a terse smile with no teeth and hustled out of the room to get the doctor, said it was better to hear it from her. A mousy intern, so a doctor but not a doctor, returned with Luke and put her hand out for Kai to shake. He kept his arms folded leaving Sheila to be the one with manners.

End stage renal failure, she said. Absentmindedly scratching her scalp, her curly auburn hair cropped short like a brillo pad, she rattled off treatment options. Dialysis or a kidney transplant. "Actually, it'd be best if he did the dialysis while he waits for the kidney. The donor list is long."

Her voice sits at a high register, which matches the whole pixie lady vibe she gives off, but it only grates on Kai's nerves. Hence his back being turned. He doesn't feel like schooling his expression right now. The woman doesn't notice, just rambles on and on. "Since his blood type is so rare, he'd have to wait for a donor who is—"

"O negative," Kai finishes then scoffs. "Of fucking course." He should laugh at god, he really wants to laugh in the face of whatever capricious being gave him this life.

"Something funny, Malachai?"

He turns to meet Sheila's reproachful gaze. "Oh, yeah! The fact that the man lying before us had eight kids and only one of them has his same blood type."

The intern holds her clipboard to her flat chest. "Um, who would that be? I have," she takes a quick peek at the chart then presses it back where it was. "Lucas, Olivia, and a Josette in his file, but none of them are a match."

He tilts his head and cocks his eyebrow at the woman. Hazel eyes grow wide like a porcelain doll and she nervously giggles having belatedly caught on. "Oh! Right! Okay, well, if you're interested in the transplant option, I have some informa…"

Kai tunes her out after that. He pulls his hand away from the IV drip and strides out the room in search of a snack and some fresh air.

x

The Skull Bar is like the Mystic Grill in that they both serve actual meals. But here, the crowd is younger, the drinks are cheaper, and the fries are much saltier. Bonnie drowns her crinkle fries in ketchup hoping to offset the salt as she smiles at April currently doing a jig at the jukebox tucked in the corner.

The song, reminiscent of 80s rock, plays above the prattle of diners and drinkers. April returns to their booth and sucks down more of her beer. Giving up on the fries, Bonnie pushes the basket away and dives into their tray of hot wings. "Why did you want to come here?"

Touching youuuuuu, touching meeeee. Touching you, God you're touching me!

The brunette air-guitars along with the music before snatching a fry. The ketchup and salt don't bother her. "Dunno. Wanted to see how the other side lives, I guess."

"The other side?" Bonnie leans in, not sure she heard right.

"Yeah, Caroline and Elena and them. They went to school here, probably came to this bar. I just wanted to know how it measures up to Boston."

"Ape, please tell me you're not jealous. Of this?" Her green gaze swings around the room and admittedly, Bonnie is less than impressed. It's not bad, but it's small town rustic. Bonnie would bet money they host a remembrance night for a war they lost. She'd take Boston and its bitterly cold winters any moment of any day.

"I'm not jealous. I'm curious. Aren't you? Don't you wonder what life would've been like if you'd stuck around? Went to Whitmore and never left home?"

It's a train of thought she tries not to take, but it creeps up on her regardless. She used to think she, Elena, and Caroline were soulmates, that the spirits had perfectly matched her with her friends. She knows now she was naive for believing that. But, yeah, she'd imagined what it would've been like if the girls had been roommates and gone to parties together. Trying to talk (a human) Caroline out of joining a sorority and failing. All night study sessions and spring break to party destinations.

Fortunately for Bonnie, she had those exact experiences—just not with her childhood besties. Adding the supernatural component on top of all that, she didn't miss much.

"Yeah, I'm curious but I also don't care anymore." Bonnie takes a pull of her own beer. "They have their life and I have mine. We have our life, and nothing else matters, okay?"

The other woman nods, her bangs flapping. "You're right. You're absolutely right!" She trails off, and Bonnie knows it's coming. The but. "But… I keep thinking about what Jeremy said."

Oh. There it is. She makes a face, but the other woman doesn't see it because she's humming along to her song selection and dips her finger into the pool of red sauce. "What did Jeremy say?" Bonnie prompts, and a flush colors two otherwise pale cheeks.

"All the stuff that happened while we were gone. My dad never said anything to me about the vampire infestation and your Grams yanked you out of it. Maybe we could've helped."

"Why would it be on two teenage girls to save the world?"

Chastised, her mouth ticks to the side. "I'm a helper by nature, Bon."

"And I'm a servant of nature. But Boston was what was in the cards for us both. Don't kick a gift horse in the teeth."

April grimaces. "I don't think that's the saying."

"You sure?"

They dissolve into giggles. "We're getting another round." As April gestures to the curly blonde bartender, Bonnie's attention slides to her cell phone which has yet to ring or light up. When their drinks arrive, she flips her phone on its face for the rest of the evening.

It isn't until she's getting out of the shower that she finally hears her ringtone going off in her bedroom. "Bonnie! Some Portland number is calling you. You want me to ignore it?"

Fumbling to get her towel wrapped around her, she rushes into her room and snatches the phone. "Kai?"

"Hey."

"Hey…" she breathes. April gives her a look, but she ignores her. "You're alive."

"I am."

"Grams said she was going to call when you got to Portland. I started to think you both were burnt to a crisp in some cornfield."

"Yeah, sorry. Things got busy here."

His clipped tone makes her guard go up. "Is everything okay?"

There's a long beat where all she can do is listen to the sound of his breathing. "Yeah. No. Well, my father's sick. Kidney failure."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She grips her towel at her chest and sinks down at the foot of her bed. April's amused expression becomes concerned, her dark brows knitting under her fringe. She turns down the volume of the pop music playing from Bonnie's laptop.

"Psh," he snorts. "Don't be. The old man's been living on borrowed time for far too long."

"Is there anything that can be done?"

"Dialysis and possibly a transplant. The irony is I'm the kid my father disowned and yet I'm the only one with his same blood type." There's a cold humor in his voice.

"Are you going to do it?"

He sniffs. "Would you think less of me if I said I really don't want to?"

It's morbid, but Bonnie can't help the tiny smile. "Well, as far as daddy issues go, I can't blame you if you don't. I know if it were my mom and she needed my kidney… I'd probably give it to her but I'd make sure I gave her a piece of my mind with it."

A breathy chuckle coats the shell of her ear and she can almost imagine him standing beside her. There's a pang of longing in her gut for this guy she only just met and that worries her. Clearing her throat, she glances over at her friend watching her intently.

"It's your decision, Kai. Sounds like there's a lot to unpack there with your family, and I'm in no position to judge what you do or don't do."

"I was kind of banking on you telling me to do the right thing," he says with an airyness that she could mistake for sarcasm, but somehow she knows he's a little bit sincere.

"The right thing for who?"

He doesn't have a response to that and she doesn't expect him to, but she doesn't want to let him go yet. So she tells him that Lucy left and he tells her he's glad because he doesn't like sharing her and Sheila. A grin overtakes her face that not even April's scandalized look could beat back with a stick.

x

When the call ends, he lifts his hips to pocket his phone and clears his throat. "I know you're there. Olly olly oxen free already."

A body drops down on the bench beside him. Kai slides his eyes in his direction and he wonders if that scowl is permanently etched on his baby brother's stupid face or is it crafted special just for him?

"You're not doing the transplant."

"Are you asking or are you telling me?"

"Murderers don't save lives."

He folds his arms across his chest. "Vigilantes, freedom fighters, the military…"

"You killed four of our siblings in cold blood because you had a temper tantrum. Don't argue semantics with me."

"Fair enough."

Luke rotates towards him, but he doesn't turn in kind. "You know we're going to have to call a quorum, right?"

"Whatever for?"

"The Parker legacy. The future of the Gemini Coven. Ring any bells?"

"Not a one."

He sighs. "The timeline's all messed up. Dad was leader way longer than anyone else in our history, and since you took his seat late it's up to you to get us back on track."

Kai scratches his head. "Please tell me you're not putting the fate of our coven in my loins. Because to that I say—" He grabs his crotch and gives it a tug in a lewd manner. "Get off my dick."

"I like this even less than you do. I'm not even leader and I'm the one rounding up elders and taking care of your business while you do fuckall in Virginia."

Stretching his arms along the back of the bench, Kai gazes out across the parking lot as an ambulance leaves the rear bay. "Do I not make every meeting? Don't I resolve conflicts in a civil and timely manner? Haven't I eased tension between us and the covens in Louisiana for the first time in a century?

"You've prepared your whole life for this." He slaps Luke hard on the back. "Blame yourself for staying stuck in Dad's office. I firmly believe you can have a job and a life."

"Which is dwindling, Kai. I still don't get how you haven't aged back up to the old ass forty year old man you are, but you're not immortal. You're going to die and after all this time it'd be a damn shame if you took the rest of us with you."

He gets to his feet because he truly can't stand his brother. The feeling's mutual. "I'm calling the quorum, so you and Sheila might as well stick around for a bit."

x

"Your buff weirdo sounds a lot less weird." April shuts the laptop, pushes it off her lap, and sits up in a cross legged position. While Bonnie was in the shower, she changed into her pajamas—a pair of worn cotton shorts and a paint splattered t-shirt. "What's going on?"

Bonnie rolls her eyes at the descriptor that seems to have stuck. "I dunno. His dad's sick. Like, really sick."

"Oh, god. Are you close?"

"No, I've never met his family."

"Then, why do you look so sad?"

"I do not," she refutes, and April raises her eyebrows. "I don't."

"Bonnie, you look as if you're never going to see him again. Do you like him?"

Childishly, she fires back with, "Do you like Jeremy?"

"I've always had a crush on Jeremy. Your turn."

Her lips flap open before a coherent response comes to mind. She stands up and heads to her dresser for clothes. "We live together. It's weird. I can't think of him like that with my Grams under the same roof."

"Oh, well, if that's your only hang-up, then move out."

"I just got here!"

Exasperatedly, April falls back on the bed and huffs. "Okay, Miss Mental Gymnastics. Whatever you say."

Bonnie slides into a pair of panties then rustles around for a shirt. "I've known him for, like, a week."

"You and I have both hooked up with guys we've known for a few hours."

"This is different," she groans, her brows furrowing together. She hates the unsettling ease in which she can talk to Kai. They could already be friends without realizing it. And he's so damn handsome, even she can't look at him in long stretches without carnal thoughts cropping up. If they'd met in Boston, she would've immediately jumped his bones. Somehow, though, this is better?

"Okay, my parents met and got married the same day in a Vegas chapel. They were together for fifteen years before she died." April tosses her the henley bundled at the foot of the bed. Bonnie catches it, pauses, and then pulls it on over her head. The towel drops and she kicks it towards the door.

"We can't all be so lucky," is her sardonic response to the romantic anecdote. Abby and Rudy were high school sweethearts but that didn't stop her from abandoning him or her daughter.

Bonnie heads for the door, and April scrambles after her asking, "Are you scared he doesn't like you?"

"Oh, I know he does," she throws over her shoulder as they make their way downstairs. "No questions asked."

"How about this? My dad is looking to rent out the ranch house."

"Ha! With what money? I don't have a job or even a car. I'm waiting to hear back from Rudy."

"I can still talk to him for you. I mean, the ranch is already paid for, so maybe he'll just have you cover the utilities."

She appreciates the thought but equally bristles at the idea. If she moves out again, she's moving away for good. "Thank you, but no thanks. I'm just in my feelings. I'll get over it."

x

When he returns to the room, Luke is gone and so is the intern. Sheila has pulled a chair beside the hospital bed and holds one of Joshua's hands in both of hers. Kai visibly grimaces, but she only grips tighter. "I called Bonnie so she'd know we didn't crash in the middle of Iowa."

"Thank you."

"I don't know how quick you thought this trip was going to be, but Luke is calling the elders. Something about the future of the coven or whatever."

"That's probably best. Attend the meeting while you're here."

"You didn't have to come."

She meets his curious gaze and nods. "I wanted to." Her gaze drifts back to the ailing man. "What do you know about your father's twin brother?"

"Uncle Jake?" He shrugs and walks over to the window. The private suite has a nice view of the river running through the city. "Other than the fact that he was the weaker twin, not much."

"Jacob was not weak. Much like Jo, he had other things he wanted to focus on outside of coven matters."

Kai throws a wry smirk her way. "Sheils, were you getting groovy with my uncle?"

"As a matter of fact, we were engaged."

"Old family friend, my ass. You were almost family."

"We were young. In hindsight, I wonder how things would've turned out if I hadn't pushed him so hard."

"Pushed?" He leans against the wall by the window and crosses his arms. Sheila's talked a lot about her role with the Gemini, but she's always been mum on her past and her family. Kai's been able to eke little nuggets out of her, but this feels weighty.

"There was a period of time... After he explained to me how the merge worked, I called things off. Returned the ring, notified our family and friends. He'd spent so much time with me that he wasn't practicing. Not consistently at least. It made no sense to me to marry a man who could very possibly die. Even worse, his body would die but his soul would live on in a man who couldn't be more different than my Jacob.

"That kicked his ass into gear, but I'm afraid it was too late. He spent all his free time practicing to the point where his magic grew erratic and perhaps his mind started to go. When it was finally time for the merge ceremony, he couldn't control his powers. And all Joshua knows is power and control."

Her dark eyes trail down Joshua's face and some emotion chokes her up for a long minute. Kai frowns but he allows her the moment.

"Your father wrote me a letter afterwards. Even sent this with it." She loosens her grip to grasp the long silver chain she always wears around her neck to reveal a ring. It's modest, nothing like what engagement rings look like now, but it's delicate. Feminine. She exhales like she's released decades worth of tension. "That helped. Like, closing a book."

"So, what? You stuck around because your long lost love is somewhere in all that..." He gesticulates at the sleeping man. "Mess?"

"No, Malachai, that's not why. I'll remind you that I'm an educator and one of the few Bennett witches willing to share my knowledge. Within reason. Your elders have valued my expertise over the years. Besides," she sighs. "Jacob isn't in there. Maybe a shadow of his soul or remnants, but he's been gone for a very long time."

He steps forward until he's at the foot of the hospital bed looking down on his father. "This have anything to do with why you decided to pull me out of the prison world and take me in?"

"Perhaps. I think a part of me believed Jacob would've never treated his son, his children the way Joshua did with you and the others. I wouldn't have let him. Another part of me felt guilty. I pushed Jacob away, something in Abigail convinced her being away from home was better. I did it again with Bonnie thinking I was fixing my mistake, but I allowed her to distance and isolate herself. I figured I would get it right with someone."

He flares his nose. Of all people, Sheila's never treated him like something to be fixed, but that's exactly what it sounds like. "You know I'm not your son, right?"

"I'm very aware of that fact. Nor have I convinced myself you're the stand-in child Jacob and I never had."

He squints, biting back the desire to be pissed at the one person in his life who's given a damn. "Does Bonnie know any of this?"

She shakes her head. "No. All she knows is her grandfather Pete was in the navy and we lost him during the war." For effect, she waves her left hand which still wears her wedding ring.

"No wonder the girl hates secrets." By her expression, Sheila doesn't take the deduction in stride, to which he cooly shrugs. "Just saying. You had a whole other life your own granddaughter doesn't know about. She still has no idea that I slaughtered half my family. She thinks Abby's dead. And you wanna talk about information overload."

"You manage your coven, but you do not tell me how to relate to my own kin."

His hands go up in surrender. "I'm not trying to fight with you. I'm just telling you what I've learned. That's how communication works, right? She talks, I listen."

Sheila backs down, untangling herself from Joshua by placing his hand to rest on his abdomen. "Forgive me for not wanting my granddaughter to make my mistakes."

"The narcissist in me senses a veiled criticism, but I'll overlook it. You mean well. While I think we should let the chips fall where they may, I can't fault you for your good intentions. At least you have 'em."

"Is that why you haven't told her about your past yourself?" She levels him with a gaze.

Avoiding the question, his eyes swing to the door. Luke hasn't come back, but Kai's not in the mood to play the dutiful son. "Has he woken up since we've been here?"

"No."

"Let's go. Dear old dad will be here tomorrow."

Past

The merge brought together four siblings who haven't been in the same room in nineteen years—and the father none of them really like.

On one queen bed, Jo keeps fidgeting as if she can't get comfortable in her own skin and Liv watches her with an inscrutable gaze from the "living room" area of the hotel room. Beside her, Luke alternates between glaring at their father, seated at the desk, and Kai laying spread eagle on the other bed. He scratches his ear canal with his pinky finger and clicks his throat obnoxiously.

"Quit it!" Jo finally snaps and he does. "God, where is Sheila? I need to know what the hell she did to me."

"Other than save your life?" He receives three scowls for that.

"I don't feel right. She messed something up."

"No, she didn't."

"You're only taking her side because she gave you exactly what you wanted. Magic, leadership…" Jo scoffs. "You kill four kids and still get rewarded."

"I guess seventeen years of solitary confinement was just a vacation, huh."

"Shut up, both of you!" Liv's command silences the room. She pushes herself off the couch and crosses the room to the mini-bar. There are puny bottles of vodka and gin and whiskey. She screws the cap off a vodka. "You guys are seriously the worst. You should've merged to begin with and none of us would be here right now listening to you both bicker."

"Simmer down, Olivia," their father brooks while she downs the alcohol and coughs through the burn.

"No," she stomps her foot like the brat she should be able to be because she's the baby but her family deprived her of even that right. "I, for one, am grateful. Coven before family is what got us into this mess in the first place. You breed twins to have them go through some magical gladiator showdown and don't think about how that affects their ability to have relationships."

She tosses the empty bottle aside and downs the amber liquid next, exhaling roughly. What's left of her family watches her as if she's sprouted an extra head and they don't know how to tell her it has spinach in its teeth.

"Ever heard of secure attachments? Yeah, I have none. Luke knows me better than I know myself, and even a few weeks ago I looked at him thinking what's the point if we're just meant to kill each other?"

"Liv!"

"Oh, shove it! You know I'm right. Whatever it is that Sheila did, tell her thank you for me. I get to have a life now, finish getting my degree, meet a guy and maybe even stick around long enough to fall in love. And you two…"

A thoroughly amused Kai sits up to mirror Jo's position, both at the foot of the beds. Liv tosses them mini-bottles—gin. Because they're old. "L'chaim! You get to live with yourselves."

"I've got class in the morning," she mutters, gathering her leather jacket in her arms. "I'll see you for solstices and holidays, but beyond that? Later days!"

She slams the door on the way out. After a tense moment of quiet, Kai clears his throat. "Vodka and whiskey? That's not going to sit well on her stomach."

Author's Note: i've been working on a handful of other bk AUs, but i just cannot shake this one. and i'm perfectly fine with that. some stories you write and other write themselves. this one is definitely the latter.