Free of family

6

The next day, Alexis had gone to see Jeremy, so Arkyn figured it was time to talk to Xavier, spend some time with him before he left for college.
"Your mom would be proud." He said, as they played basketball in the back yard.
"Thanks."
"Seriously, Xave. She'd be epically proud that you're making a good life for yourself. College it's not just about parties and girls like the movies would have you believe. It's the first step to a future."
"Have you ever even gone to college?"
"Not since your mom."
"What was she like in college?"
"She was in a sorority. It's how she met your dad. He was in the fraternity and the two societies were always at odds. When they got together, they put an end to the feud."
"What about you? What did you do?"
"I was kind of a loner. I only went to college to keep an eye on your mom and to see what the world was like. Update my knowledge. Things change, you know."
"I guess the world must be really different for an old guy like you." Xavier passed him the ball.
"Ouch!" Arkyn grinned.
"So what was your summer with Bonnie like? Should I get used to calling her mom?"
"Funny." Arkyn took a shot.
"I thought so." Xavier grinned. "So tell me. You guys seemed happy on the car ride. All gaze-y and coupley. And I thought dropping Lex and I off at Ruby's was all you were doing."
"It was." Arkyn shrugged. "But Bonnie's dad was gonna be gone all summer and there we were. Away from Mystic Falls. She wanted to just keep on driving so we did. Took her to New York, then California. Then we went to Brazil and Peru and then all over Europe and came back to the US last week. I took her to New Orleans."
"Sounds fun."
"It really was. It was incredible. She was incredible."
"I'm glad you're happy, Ark. You deserve it. And mom would be happy to see you like this."
"I know." Arkyn let out a laugh. "Pretty sure she'd smother Bonnie."
"Ark-" Xavier said, looking up. "Thanks."
"For what?"
"Always being by our side. Always being there. I know Lex and I can be handfuls, so thanks for never walking away." He said sincerely and Arkyn sped over taking the ball.
"You're going to college, Xave. You're not dying." He teased.
"I know."
"Xavier. It really was my pleasure being around." Arkyn threw the ball through the hoop.
"Well either way, thanks."
"Then thank you for accepting me, for being my family."
"Right back at you." Xavier grinned.
"Okay, this might be the only time you and I will be alone without Alexis before you go off to college." Arkyn said. "So, come on."
"Where to?"
"What did we always do, right before I left to go make sure Elijah wasn't on our trail? Every year since you turned fifteen, what's been our tradition?"
"Watching a game and drinking beer? Or as Lex called it- one of the many normalised examples of toxic masculinity?"
"Yeah. You up for it?"
"Of course."

"It was amazing." Bonnie grinned, sitting in the kitchen with Elena and Caroline. Alexis was upstairs with her boyfriend. "I mean he was adorable and doing everything to make it perfect. And he was. He wanted to make sure it was an unforgettable experience. I drew the line at climbing Everest seeing as I have absolutely no rock climbing experience, but it was fun."
"No." Caroline said. "You cannot tell us that you had sex with Ark and leave it at that. Details missy."
"What details?"
"All of them. I mean I thought you two weren't going to..."
"We weren't. I changed my mind. I love him, and I wanted to show him. And that's all I'm going to say."
"It was your first time, Bon. We are your friends. You're supposed to tell us about all the smut."
"Care, come on. Let it be."
"So I did this really cheesy thing." Bonnie reached into her bag and brought out two bundles of cards. "I bought a postcard and wrote to you guys from every place we went but I never sent them."
"We would've loved to hear all about it, Bon. Please don't ever feel like you have to hide your happiness." Elena said earnestly.
"She's right. We're your best friends. If you can't come to us, then who can you go to?"
"I know." Bonnie said and the girls came together and hugged. "Okay, so another amazing thing about Ark, was he didn't mind helping me pick things out for you girls from every country or state we were in."
"Careful. That sounds dangerously like you got us presents."
"Totally. Suitcase is in my car. We can unload later." Bonnie said and the girls grinned at their friend. Elena moved to get a pot to transfer her chilli into and Caroline helped.
"Okay, where was your favourite destination? Don't think. Just say."
"Paris." Bonnie said immediately.
"He took you to Paris? Aww!" Caroline cooed.
"What happened in Paris?"
"Okay, so that was the first night we slept together. Like in the same bed. At first, we were in rooms with two separate beds, but then we got to Paris and there was no other room available except for the honeymoon suite. And it was amazing. He was sweet about it and we had an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower and the next day we went to this cute little café and oh my god he sounds so hot when he speaks in French." Bonnie gushed.
"I'm so jealous!" Caroline clasped her hands over her heart. "Continue."
"Then we went to the sacré cœur. And it was so peaceful and beautiful and when we left we passed these street artists who were so talented."
"Woah."
"And Ark knew a lot so we didn't need a tour guide." She sighed happily, before narrowing her eyes at her friend. "Okay enough about me and Ark, since when do you cook, Elena?"
"We will come back to the subject." She warned and Caroline poured in the chilli. "And Damon helped a little."
"Damon's helping you cook now?" Bonnie raised a brow.
"Both of you stop judging. He's just trying to be a good... ow!" She cut herself off suddenly, flinching. Caroline stopped and put down her pot.
"Oh god! Did I splash you?" She asked and Elena shook her head.
"No, no, my necklace." Elena said pulling it up to look as her skin began to blister. "It burned me." She unclasped the necklace and took it off.
"Maybe it's a sign you shouldn't be wearing it then."
"Caroline..." Bonnie scolded.
"What, I'm just saying. If you're going to be 'cooking' without Stefan."
"Let me see it." Elena held out the necklace and Bonnie peered at the pendant. She tried to touch it but sparks flew out and Elena dropped it.
"What the hell?" Caroline asked.
"I don't know." Bonnie frowned. She reached down and picked up the necklace and it seemed fine. "That's weird." She handed the necklace back to Elena. "I don't have my grimoire on me. Take the necklace, and call me if it starts acting up again. I'm going to get Lex and see if she can help me figure it out."
"Wait- what about Ark? He knows this necklace."
"I'll ask him." She said and headed upstairs to get Alexis, knocking before entering so as not to walk in on anything.