Bonnie could hear the hushed voices just outside her bathroom door.

"How long has she been in there?"

"An hour or so, should I go in?"

"I tried, there's a magic barrier. I can't get through, so much for vampire strength."

"Let me try."

"Okay first of all, you're not a hybrid anymore, you probably can't get through either. Secondly, she's in the bathroom, which means she's probably in the tub, which means naked."

"….so you don't want me to try?"

Bonnie closed her eyes and sunk down in the water, allowing it to flow over her head. How had everything gotten so fucked up?

2 Hours ago…

"It's about damn time, witchy." Damon slammed up against the barrier that kept him from leaving the tomb. Bonnie rolled her eyes as she stood on the other side with her arms crossed. "Really? I'm here doing you a favor and you're coming at me with attitude? May I remind you that it's your own fault for interfering?"

Damon slumped against the side of the cave, "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I've been in here for a month straight and I'm going out of my damn mind." He straightened up and faced her head on, "My attitude has been for shit. I just…want out of here."

Bonnie felt slightly mollified by his apology and held out the vial that was her whole reason for being down there in the first place. "Courtesy of the Gemini Coven."

Damon looked like he wanted to drop to his knees and cry, "I could actually hug you right now." Bonnie smiled faintly as she recalled the same sentence being uttered by the vampire under very different circumstances. Damon downed the vial and Bonnie dropped the barrier, allowing him to take his first steps outside the cave he had been restricted to in over a month.

"Come on, let's get you home. I'm sure there's a bottle of bourbon that you probably have saved for an occasion just like this." Bonne insisted on driving him back home, she knew that Stefan had been staying there and she wanted to ensure that the virus was well and truly out of his system.

They had just gotten settled in the car when Damon cleared his throat, "I know I should have said this a hundred times before, but thank you, Bonnie. I know you've done a lot for me, all of us really, and it is appreciated." Bonnie looked over in surprise, Damon was completely serious.

"Why did you even show up?" Bonnie asked. "I had it covered, Damon."

Bonnie saw a muscle in his jaw tick, "They had it coming! You know what they were doing in there, Bonnie. They held me and Enzo hostage and experimented on us for decades. What, was I supposed to just let that go?"

"You were supposed to back off and let me take care of it! I know you wanted to get your hits in, but going after the family members that had absolutely nothing to do with it was low, even for you." Bonnie chided. She placed the keys in the ignition, but was stopped from turning it on by Damon's hand. "You still haven't told me how you knew about it."

"There's a lot I haven't told you." She shook off his hand and started the car.

"But I am right, though? Something about you is different."

Bonnie sat for a moment, "Sometimes I forget, with all your other less than favorable traits right there on the surface, that you are really observant."

Damon frowned, "I think there was a compliment in there somewhere."

Bonnie put the car in drive, "I'll explain when we get back to the boarding house, I really don't feel like saying this twice, and I know you all will have questions."

They had barely parked before Damon threw open the car door and was flashing to his front door. Bonnie threw up a barrier just before he reached the door, "What did I tell you? I want to make sure that you don't attack your brother first." She brushed by him and they both entered the study bickering as usual.

"What? No welcome home bourbon? I'm hurt." Damon snarked, but Bonnie could tell he was genuinely hoping to see either his girlfriend or his brother. Since neither were in attendance, and Bonnie felt confident that the Gemini upheld their end of the bargain in regards to the cure, she decided to leave.

"Well, this has been fun, well, not really. Damon, stay out of places you don't belong. I don't know how many favors I have left with the Gemini, I'd hate to waste them on you." Bonnie tried to beat a hasty exit, but Damon sped in front of her.

"No way, Judgey. You've got some splaining to do, remember?" Damon pulled her over to the bar area, "Here, have a little warm up before you start." Bonnie shrugged off his hand and headed into the kitchen. "I wonder where Elena is." Bonnie wondered out loud.

"Wherever she is, she better get back here fast, I've got a month to make up for." Damon had followed her into the kitchen to grab some ice.

"Oh, ew." Bonnie scrunched up her face.

She was slapping his hand away from the ice maker when the front door opened again and Bonnie heard Elena's excited voice. She shushed Damon and cloaked him, throwing up the barrier once more. She figured it would be better to surprise them that way. Bonnie would only admit it to herself, but Elena had started to get on her last nerve lately. Every conversation revolved around whether or not Bonnie or the Gemini had found a cure for the virus. So Bonnie was more than ready to reveal that Damon was free. Plus, she was sure that their reunion would get her out of telling them that she wasn't necessarily the same Bonnie as before.

"I can't believe they agreed!" Elena flew into the room, long hair flowing behind her. Bonnie was sure she heard Damon sigh, gross.

"We're still only halfway there." Stefan cautioned.

"Did you hear me? They agreed! Now all we have to do is get a little bit of Bonnie's blood to trade and they'll cure Damon."

Bonnie felt her blood turn to ice inside her veins. What the hell was Elena talking about?

"Excuse me?" Bonnie stepped out from behind the door to the kitchen. Elena's eyes widened in surprise, "Bonnie! I didn't know you were here."

"Obviously." You could have cut glass with the sharpness in Bonnie's voice. "Exactly who were you planning on giving my blood to?"

"Well, um. We found this coven that assured me that they could cure Damon." Elena meekly explained.

"How were they planning on doing that, Elena?" Bonnie stepped closer.

"Well, I don't really know-"

"Why did they need my blood, specifically?"

"I'm not sure-"

"Did you ask?"

"It was my idea, Bonnie." Stefan tried to step in.

"Shut up, Stefan." Bonnie didn't even look in his direction. "Did you even ask why they needed my blood?"

"I did, but they wouldn't tell me!" Elena looked around nervously as the curtains in the room began whipping back and forth as if in the middle of a storm.

"And you still thought it was a good idea to give it to them?" Bonnie asked disbelievingly. The windowpanes cracked as the lights flickered ominously overhead.

"Bonnie-" Stefan tried again.

"Fuck off, Stefan!" Bonnie waved a hand and he went flying into the wall. "Tell me, what would you have done when I told you no?" She stalked towards her childhood friend. "Would you have accepted it? Or tried to trick it out me?"

"I had to do something!" Elena snapped back, "Damon was suffering, and you didn't even seem to care."

"Damon brought that on himself, Elena! I told his hard headed ass to stay out of it, he didn't, and it bit him in the ass. I did care, but I wasn't going to go rushing into anything just to cure him. I wasn't going to risk my life just because he couldn't handle not being the one with the biggest balls around."

"Hey!" She barely heard Damon beside her.

"When Klaus wanted your blood to make Hybrids, we all banded together and said no. We fought him, for you! And you turn around and want to just give my blood up to anyone that asks? Do you know what my blood can do, Elena?" She speared Stefan with a glance, "How about you? Do you know what my blood can do?"

"Bonnie. I found the coven, and I convinced Elena to talk to them." Stefan tried again.

She rounded on the green eyed vampire who, to his credit, stood tall in the face of her wrath. She shot a hand out and brought him to his knees, "Tell me, Stefan" Her eyes glowed as she mentally chanted the spell, "If I had said no, what would you have done?"

"I would have used Elena as a distraction while I took your blood." He said mechanically. Bonnie released him from the spell. "Just like with Abby, huh?"

"Drop the barrier, Bonnie." Damon urged in her ear, but it was hard to hear him over the roaring in her head.

"You don't give a shit about me, do you? Just what I can do for you. I've died for you over and over again. I brought your brother back twice, and I ended up trapped in an empty world with a goddamm psychopath, for you!" Bonnie shouted. Both Stefan and Elena wore confused looks on their faces, but Bonnie was on a roll.

"Hell, I spent a whole summer dead and you didn't even notice because you were so focused on riding your new Salvatore dick to care, until you needed something." Everything was blurry due to the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

She sneered at Stefan, "You want your brother?" She turned to Elena, "You want to be with Damon so bad? I should throw you both in the tomb with him." They both blinked in surprise. Stefan took another step to stand closer to Elena.

"Bonnie-" Elena reached a hand out to Bonnie, but Stefan grabbed it and swung her behind him. "If you want to punish someone, punish me. It was my idea."

Bonnie laughed, "Oh, Stefan, ever the gallant hero. She broke your heart and here you are, still willing to stand in front of a bullet for her. Surely you're not hoping she'll see you're the better brother and choose to go back to you?" Bonnie knew it was a low blow, but she wanted them to hurt like she was hurting. "How pathetic." She curled her lip in disgust.

"Bonnie, please." Damon begged. She turned to look at him, then at the other occupants in the room. "Sure, Damon." Bonnie uncloaked him and watched Elena and Stefan's mouths drop open.

"I came here tonight to tell you that the Gemini found a cure, and that Damon was free." Bonnie said simply. No one in the room moved towards one another. "What are you waiting for? Here's who you were willing to stab me in the back for, standing right here. Go to him." No one moved, and for some reason, that enraged Bonnie like nothing else.

She gripped Damon's arm and with the use of magic threw him at the two still standing with their mouth agape. "HERE! TAKE HIM!" Her chest heaved as she fought to control her magic, "Enjoy the very last thing I'm ever going to do for any of you." They all stared up at her. "I'm done. Don't call me for shit. You've all made your choices, now it's time for me to make mine. Goodbye." She slammed the door with so much magic that all the windows on the lower level exploded.

"Who are you calling?"

"Elena, I'm gonna see if-ow!"

"I guess it's safe to say she doesn't want us calling Elena."

"Wait, can you call Liv?"

"Why?"

"Because none of us have Kai's number! If anyone can break through the barrier it's him."

"You all are bloody infuriating."

"…how in the actual hell did you get in here?"

"Care, not now."

"Then when? Cause none of this is normal. Bonnie has locked herself in her bathroom, Elena is somehow connected, which mean the Salvatores are involved too. Somehow Rebekah of all people has access to Bonnie's home, and no one is saying anything! Things have been weird for months, and I just want to help."

Bonnie heard the sincerity in the blonde's voice and felt a little hope inside, at least someone cared. She got out of the tub and dried herself off, donning an old pair of pajama's before opening the door. She nearly burst into tears at seeing her friends sitting around her bathroom door.

"We need to move into the living room."

Bonnie sat with her legs folded underneath her as she finished her story. She studied her hands nervously as she waited for someone to say something.

"Jesus Christ, Bonnie." Tyler breathed. "I don't even know what to say."

She yelped as she was smothered by blond curls, "If you think this changes anything, you are dead wrong!" Caroline loosened her grip as her eyes widened, "Oh I didn't mean dead, as in dead dead…."

Bonnie laughed, "Never change, Care." She hugged the baby vampire back.

"Bonnie." The group as a whole looked up to see both Salvatores and Elena at the door. Judging from their faces, they had heard the whole thing as well.

"I knew something about you was different!" Elena crowed as she turned to Stefan. "I told you!"

"You insufferable twit." Rebekah started, but sat back down when Bonnie held out a hand.

"You're right, I'm not the Bonnie that was here before. That Bonnie wouldn't have known how and where to get the cure. That Bonnie wouldn't have been able to disable Klaus as efficiently as I did. That Bonnie would have definitely died doing some other dumb shit for you. I'm not that Bonnie, not anymore. You can either accept it, or move the fuck out the way. Because that little button that you all like to push? That 'we need to help Elena' button? It's gone." Bonnie told the trio that stood in the door.

"So what, if it comes down to it you're just gonna let me die?" Elena asked, tears pooling in her eyes, but for the first time, Bonnie felt nothing. No tug to make it better, no instinctive rush to protect. Nothing.

She smiled, "Great thing about the cure, it renders your doppelgänger blood moot. It can't be used for anything. Klaus is gone, so unless you piss off someone, nobody is gonna be checking for you." Bonnie shrugged. "I gave you want you wanted, to be normal."

Elena looked to the other inhabitants of the home and found herself on the outside for once. She ducked her head and left, Stefan trailing behind her.

"Bonnie..." Damon struggled for something to say. "God, I had no idea that Alaric would go after you."

"I know." She said softly. "I know you were thinking of Elena, and that's the problem You, Stefan, and if I'm being honest, all of us put her first."

"Not me!" Rebekah yelled out.

Bonnie ignored her, "We all put her first, and I lived firsthand what that did. If we want to have any chance of all of us surviving, we need to all look out for each other. Even if that means someone not getting what they want right then and there."

"I get it. Just…..don't use this as an excuse to freeze her out. She feels really bad about going behind your back like that." Damon tried to plead his girlfriend's case.

Bonnie snorted, "But not bad enough to stay and even try and talk to me?" Bonnie gripped the door handle and slowly closed the door. "Go home, Damon."

"I am so jealous!" Caroline exclaimed as she sat on the bed watching Bonnie pack.

"You can come visit anytime, Care." Bonnie assured her.

"I know, but it's not gonna be the same. You're gonna be all the way over in California and I'll be stuck here.

Bonnie raises one shoulder, "I just figured it was time for a change of scenery."

"Right, and this had nothing to do with a certain former doppelgänger that is acting like an uber bitch?" Caroline raised a perfectly arched brow.

Bonnie said nothing. Her relationship with Elena had dwindled down to basically acquaintance status, she spoke more to Damon than she did to her once BFF. Bonnie had overheard her talking to Caroline when they believed Bonnie had been in the showers. Elena had said how hard it was for her to see Bonnie as her childhood friend, and that she was so different now.

Bonnie had wanted to go in and defend herself, but Caroline had beaten her to it. Calling Elena an idiot and laying it out for her in plain English that the only reason Elena was pissed was that she was no longer up on the pedestal that everyone put her on, and that she would have to deal with her problems herself now and not rely on Bonnie's magic.

When Bonnie had gone back into the room, Elena was gone. Caroline didn't look up from her studying as she addressed Bonnie, "I know you were there, I didn't say it because you could hear me, I said it because it was true." Bonnie had jumped on Caroline's bed, books and all to hug the baby vampire.

Because of the tension and the fact that Bonnie didn't really feel a need to stay in Mystic Falls anymore, she had decided to join Lucy in California to finish out her college years. Her grandmother's cottage would always belong to the Bennetts, so if Bonnie decided to come back, she always had a place to stay.

She had declined to live with Lucy, citing she knew her cousin was used to living alone and didn't want to cramp her style. She transferred to Cal State Channel Islands, majoring in Anthropology with a minor in Environmental Science. It was a smaller school, situated in between Lucy who lived in Santa Barbara, and the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles.

The small apartment that she rented was close to the campus, and was just enough space for Bonnie. Things were admittedly a little more expensive than she initially figured on, but between the money that she had in savings from her grandmother's life insurance, and the money that she was given by her father from the sale of their house, Bonnie knew she would be fine, as long as she didn't go crazy.

Being on the west coast also meant she was closer to Kai. He had generously offered her residence in one of the places that the Gemini owned, but she turned it down. The Gemini were already doing so much for her, she didn't want to take advantage of their generosity. She did allow him to introduce her to other coven members and allies that were near her for networking purposes.

Bonnie hadn't thought to tell her mother that she was transferring out to the west coast. So imagine her surprise when, after hanging out with her cousin all day, the doorbell rang and Lucy walked back in with Abby trailing after her.

"Is something wrong?" Bonnie looked from her mother to her cousin. She wasn't aware that Abby was in contact with Lucy, or vice versa.

Abby smiled faintly, "I'm not surprised you would think that, but no, nothing's wrong. Your father told me that you left Mystic Falls and moved out here." Bonnie frowned at that, since when did she and her father talk?

Abby read the confusion in Bonnie's face, "When he was selling the house, he contacted me to see if I wanted any of the things I left behind, and we got to talking." Abby was still standing, awkwardly fiddling with the strap on her purse. "I know I have no right to say this, but I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you for getting out of Mystic Falls."

"Why don't you have a seat, Abby?" Lucy interjected, "I was just about to make some tea, do you want a cup?" She smiled when Abby nodded and headed off into the kitchen.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Bonnie decided to break it, "So are you just vacationing…?" She let the question hang for a moment. A shadow crossed Abby's face before she looked down and said faintly, "Jaime is at UC San Diego, and I was visiting him for Spring Break."

"Oh." Bonnie said. She had long since accepted that her mother's relationship with Jaime would always be a sore spot for her. She often wondered what it was about him that got her mother to stay and raise him instead of the little girl she callously left behind. Sure, Abby had tried to explain why she left and stayed gone, but to Bonnie it all sounded like excuses. Especially since Abby knew what she would be leaving her daughter to deal with in Mystic Falls.

"How is he doing?" Bonnie asked, just to kill the heavy silence that permeated the air.

Abby smiled, "Oh, he's fine. He loves the west coast, says we should have moved out here a long time ago."

Bonnie snorted, "He means, before I found you and got you turned into a vampire, right?"

Abby's eyes widened and she shook her head fiercely, "No, I'm sure that's not what he meant. He really likes the ocean, that's all."

"Right." Bonnie sighed, "Look, you're off the hook." At her mother's puzzled face, she continued. "The fact that we're both in California right now doesn't mean that you should feel obligated to visit me when you visit him."

"I'm not…I don't" Abby started and stopped, trying to find the right words. "I don't feel obligated, Bonnie. I'm here to try and make amends, and have some kind of relationship with you."

"You couldn't try to have a relationship with me before now? Answer honestly, if I were still at Whitmore, would you have reached out to me?" Abby's silence spoke volumes. Bonnie nodded, "That's what I thought, I don't know why you're really here, but clearly it's not because-"

"I wanted to warn you about something." Abby blurted out.

"What?"

"What?"

Bonnie and Lucy replied at the same time. Lucy set her tray down and sat next to Bonnie, "Warn her about what?"

Abby addressed Bonnie, "I don't know who exactly, you've always been an interesting topic of choice for witches to gossip about, but this is different. My friend said that the witch in question wanted to use your blood to right a wrong. You haven't pissed off any witches lately, right?"

"No. I don't even really know any other witches outside of the Gemini Coven." Bonnie's mind was racing, what wrong could she have committed? Something clicked in Bonnie's mind, "Wait, you said they needed my blood, but not necessarily me?"

When Abby nodded, she sank back into the couch with a groan. She grabbed a throw pillow and held it to her mouth to muffle the scream that she let out. Why can't she get away from Mystic Falls and the insanity that occurred there?

"Okay, I take it that rings a bell?" Lucy asked warily.

"Unfortunately." Bonnie gave them a run down on what happened with the Augustine Society and how Damon ended up needing to be cured. When she got to the part about Elena and Stefan talking about giving her blood away in exchange for a cure, both Abby and Lucy swore out loud.

"No offense, cuz, but you've got some shitty ass friends." Lucy said.

"Why do you think I finally left?" Bonnie shot back.

"Okay, so do they know what coven it was?" Abby asked impatiently, only to huff out an indignant "of course" when Bonnie shook her head.

"So that girl was really willing to hand over your blood, just for Salvatore dick?" Lucy rolled her eyes, "She's never allowed in this house."

"We need to figure out who that was, and why they wanted your blood." Abby forged ahead.

"Why don't you ask your sugar daddy to do some digging?" Lucy elbowed Bonnie.

"First of all, ew. Secondly, please don't refer to him as my 'Sugar Daddy', it's demeaning to him and to me." Bonnie swatted her cousins' elbow away.

"Okay then what should I refer to him as? Friend, special friend, friend with benefits?" Lucy was sporting a shit eating grin.

"You can refer to him as Kai, as in his name." Bonnie rolled her eyes at her cousin.

"Kai…?" Abby interrupted. Bonnie had nearly forgot she was there. "You're talking about Kai Parker? The head of the Gemini Coven?"

"We're not dating, we're just…." Bonnie trailed off, not sure how to classify her thing with Kai, she decided to deal with it later. "Whatever we are, it's not important right now. I don't want him involved in this unless we have no choice, he's got enough to deal with being the head of a coven." Abby looked like she wanted to say something else, but wisely decided not to. Instead she promised to work her contacts to see if she could find out any more information.

Bonnie left Lucy's that afternoon feeling drained. She arrived at her apartment and immediately threw herself on her bed. She wanted to call back to Mystic Falls and light into her once BFF, but she wasn't in the mood for half-ass apologies or promises. She knew Elena had become short sighted when it came to the Salvatores, but in this case, she had thrown Bonnie into the path of a bus that nobody knew who was driving.

Somehow she managed to fall asleep, only to wake up to pounding on her door. "Wake the hell up, Bennett!" Bonnie rolled over and looked at the clock, dismayed to find it was already 8 in the morning. She'd forgotten that she was supposed to hang out with Liv today.

"God, you look like shit." Liv remarked when Bonnie opened the door to let her in.

"Thanks, Liv." Bonnie replied sarcastically.

"Well, it's the truth." Liv said defensively. "Are you still up for today? We can reschedule if you want."

"Nah, let me shower and change and we can go." Bonnie left her in the living room and took a quick shower. Soon they were on their way down to Huntington Beach, there were a few plants and supplies that Bonnie wanted to have on hand just in case. Liv had a few contacts independent of the Gemini Coven and needed to re-stock her own stash, so she had offered to take Bonnie with her. It would have been the perfect day, if Bonnie didn't feel as if she had a black cloud hanging over her head.

"You gonna tell me what the whole doom and gloom mood is about?" Liv asked. They had stopped at In N Out for a quick lunch, and were eating in Liv's jeep.

Bonnie shook her head, "I am so dumb. I kept thinking that because I basically saved everyone that everything would be good this go round. But instead, I've just created new problems. Mystic Falls is fine, but now I've got someone after me, and I don't even know why."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Liv frowned, "Does this have anything to do with why you transferred out here?"

Bonnie nodded and filled Liv in on what transpired between her and Elena. "That bitch." Liv mumbled around her mouth full of food. Bonnie nodded, "Yeah, and there's more." She told Liv about what Abby had revealed to her last night. "So, I've got someone gunning for me because they want my blood for god knows what, and I'm just…tired. I'm so tired of having to look over my damn shoulder, moving out here was supposed to be a fresh start."

"I could ask my brother-" Liv started.

"No!" Bonnie cut her off, "Don't ask Kai anything. I'll handle this on my own with Lucy and Abby. I'd like to keep the Gemini as far away from my dumpster fire of a life as I can." She could feel Liv studying the side of her face, "What?"

"I was talking about Luke." Liv said slowly. "He's still at Whitmore, and he can basically read the energies left behind by witches. I was going to suggest he figure out where the meeting took place and see if he can get a read."

"Oh." Bonnie went back to her food.

"You know you were obvious as hell, right?"

"Yeah, let's not talk about it now….or ever."

"Agreed."

In spite of the slow start, the day had actually ended up being fun. Bonnie loved living on the west coast, Los Angeles always had something happening. She dropped Liv off after making plans for them to hang out at the beach the next day. While going through her newly purchased loot she realized she hadn't spoken to Kai in a few days. Bonnie sprawled on her sofa as shot him a quick message.

"I had fun hanging with your sister today."

He was quick with his reply. "You could have had more fun with me." The invitation to spend her spring break up in Portland had been thrown on the table by Kai, but Bonnie wanted to spend time with her cousin.

"Seriously? You're still pouting?"

"I'm a grown ass man, I don't pout."

"Okay, then." Bonnie smiled to herself as she imagined him with an exaggerated pout on his face. "What are you doing right now?"

"Picturing you naked."

"I really hope you're alone right now."

"If by alone you mean in a coven meeting, then yeah, I'm alone."

"KAI! You better be joking." Bonnie was grateful she had decided to text him as opposed to calling.

"I'm joking. It's more like an informal meeting with a few others."

"That does not make me feel better, Parker."

"I bet I know how I can make you feel better, Bennett." Bonnie bit her lip as she pictured the look he must have on his face right now.

"Can you two please not do that while others are in attendance? It's gross." Bonnie's mouth dropped open and she felt her cheeks heat up as Joey's text came through.

"You're the one that's reading over my shoulder, Joseph."

"Because you're grinning like an idiot. You're supposed to be coming up with a strategy for our shape shifter problem."

Bonnie shook her head, the two were probably sitting right next to each other texting. "It sounds like you're busy, I'll talk to you later."

"Call me later. I'll read you a bedtime story."

"Goodbye Kai."

Bonnie finished putting away her supplies and went to draw herself a bath. She had some new bedtime outfits that she wanted to show Kai when she skyped him later.