"Are you sure about this?" Brenna asked for the millionth time as she and Kol walked the streets of Los Angeles.
"Darling if you don't want to do this…"
"No, I absolutely do. I'm just nervous," she said as she grabbed onto his hand.
"This is the neighbourhood my witch said she would be," Kol said as he pointed down a street.
"Pity the witch can't pinpoint it to a specific house," Brenna grumbled.
"Well witchcraft is not an exact science my dear," he smirked.
"Human methods it is then," Brenna clapped. "Cooo weeeee!" Brenna yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth.
"What in the hell are you doing?" Kol's eyes widened.
Brenna shrugged. "It used to work. Cooo weeee!" she repeated. "Do you hear anyone moving in their houses?"
"Many, many people darling," he rubbed his forehead in embarrassment.
"Coo weeee!"
"Alright, that's enough," he pulled her hands down.
Before she could make another noise, the door to the house on their right opened up and a strawberry blonde head popped out.
"Eeeeeeee!" Brenna squealed loudly as she pulled away from Kol and charged towards the woman.
"BREA!" she screamed.
"JENNA!" Brea sobbed as she threw herself at her aunt.
"Oh my god sweetie," Jenna cried. "You're here, I can't believe you're here."
"I found you!"
"I heard your call," Jenna smiled as she pulled away and grabbed onto Brenna's cheeks.
"I knew it would work," Brenna laughed as she pulled her aunt back in for another hug.
"Jenna?" a male voice called from inside.
"No way!" Brenna gasped as she pulled away from her aunt and ran into the house to see a man standing in the entryway. "You've got a toy boy!"
"We're the same age," Jenna grumbled in protest.
"Who are you?" the man asked confusedly.
"Who are you!" Brenna gasped as she jumped in the air excitedly. "Oh Jenna, he's cute," Brenna approved as Jenna walked inside and threw her arm over her niece's shoulder.
"This is Simon," she smiled. "He's a lawyer."
"Jackpot," Brenna approved as she high-fived her aunt.
"Jenna?" Simon repeated.
"This is my niece from Mystic Falls. Brea."
"Ah the hyperactive one," he smiled.
"No, that's Jeremy," Brenna shook her head.
"Yes, the hyper one," Jenna smirked and Brenna frowned at her. "I taught her everything I know," Jenna smirked as she placed a slobbery kiss on Brenna's cheek.
"Ew," Brenna protested as she wiped her cheek.
"Tell me everything I missed. Everything!" Jenna pleaded.
"Honestly Jenna, you don't even want to know," Brenna sighed.
"Oh come on," Jenna protested. "Give me the goss!"
"How long have you got?" Brenna sighed.
"Fair enough. Everyone's still alive?"
Brenna looked down at her hands and she counted with her fingers all the inhabitants of Mystic Falls. "Yes. Yeah? Sorta. Mostly. I'm going to go with yes. Unless you count Uncle John?"
"Uncle John died?" Jenna's eyes widened, she'd always hated the guy, but she didn't want him dead.
"Yeah... he um, had an accident on his way to save Elena," Brenna tried to explain, but couldn't say too much because of Simon, so instead she used her facial expressions to try and communicate with Jenna. "And Bill Forbes."
"Bill Forbes was back in town?" Jenna gasped.
"Yeah, he came back and made Caroline's life hell. He didn't agree with her lifestyle choices. Oh and sorry, but Andie Star."
"Oh no! Not Andie," Jenna sighed. They used to be friends.
Brenna's eyes flickered over to Simon, she couldn't give away too much with him here. "There was a drama with Stefan, he and Elena broke up and he went on a bit of an… emotional tear."
"Stefan and Elena broke up? No!" Jenna gasped.
"He left town for the summer with a guy named Klaus. Eventually came back and made everyone's lives a living hell."
"Oh shit," Jenna's eyes widened.
"But most importantly… Elena made out with Damon!"
"Oh," Jenna scowled angrily. "She didn't! I'm so disappointed in her!"
"Oh, she did! And she did it twice! Jeremy and I caught them up against a wall making out last week."
"Ew," Jenna shook her head.
"Right? Honestly, Jer and I will have nightmares about that for years. I mean Jenna, we've seen a lot of stuff. But that was the most traumatising."
"Fair enough, the thought of it is enough to make me want to barf."
"Other stuff has happened as well, but like honestly Aunt Jenna, not even worth getting into," she subtly jerked her head towards Simon.
"Right," Jenna nodded.
"OH MY GOD!" Brenna yelled. "I forgot the most important thing!"
"What?" Jenna asked alarmed. "I thought Elena and Damon were the most important?"
"No, this is way more important. Jeremy went to go stay in Denver for a few weeks and they let him get a puppy! So already they're cooler relatives than you."
"Heyyyy," Jenna complained.
"I mean come on Jenna, I love you to bits, but you never let us get a puppy. He wanted to bring it back with him but Elena said no. Spoilsport. She said since she's the most mature her vote counts more than Jer and I's does. Which is ridiculous, because I think if you have to declare yourself the most mature, then you're automatically not right?"
"Agreed."
Brenna heard a small cough from the doorway. "Oh, can you invite him in?" Brenna asked Jenna.
"Invite him in?" Jenna scowled, understanding the implication. "Seriously Brea?"
Brea smiled proudly as she looked over at him. "Aunt Jenna, this is Kol."
Jenna gasped loudly and spun around. "Kol!"
"Lovely to meet you, Miss Sommers," Kol smiled from the doorway.
"Oh sweetie, he's really cute," Jenna smiled as she shook her niece. "This is way more important than Jeremy getting a dog for a couple of weeks," she shoved her niece's shoulder.
"I stand by it," Brenna winked at Kol.
"Come in, come in," Jenna waved him in. "He's just as handsome as Elijah!"
"Don't give him a big head," Brenna discouraged. "Elijah is an elite specimen."
"Agreed," Jenna nodded at her niece before turning to Kol. "I'm Jenna," Jenna raced forward, holding her hand out. "Favourite aunt, best friend, and the person who will skin you alive if you hurt my little protege over here."
"Jenna," Brenna shook her head.
"I've heard a lot about you," Kol diplomatically responded as he shook her hand.
"Hmm," Jenna sized him up. "I've heard a lot about you as well."
"Hopefully all good?" Kol asked.
"Mostly."
"Mostly?" Kol leaned over to ask Brenna.
"I stand by that. She knows you're a notorious cheat at baseball," Brenna smirked at him.
"I do not cheat!" Kol protested.
"Agree to disagree. It's actually thanks to Kol that we tracked you down," Brenna pulled her aunt away from her husband.
"You didn't know where Jenna lived?" Simon spoke up in confusion.
"Uhhh…" both Brenna and Jenna mumbled, not knowing how to answer.
"Alright," Simon nodded uncomfortably. "Well I'm off to work," he quickly kissed Jenna. "I hope to see you two later," he nodded to Brenna and Kol.
"Bye babe," Jenna farewelled.
"Yeah, bye Simon! Jenna will miss you," Brenna smiled whilst her aunt elbowed her.
"Would you like some tea?" Jenna offered.
"Bring it on!" Brenna clapped as she skipped after her aunt to the kitchen. When she turned around to see Kol hadn't followed, she stuck her head around the corner. "Come on. Don't be awkward," she smiled lightly, waving him forward. "Jenna is the coolest person on the planet, there's nothing to be afraid of."
"You are a little weird you know that right?"
"Shut up, you know you love me anyway," she rolled her eyes. "Oh my god Jenna!" she gasped as she turned back to her aunt. "I'm mad."
"What about?" Jenna laughed as she turned on the kettle.
"Many things," Brenna answered honestly. "But when we were staying at the Damon/Elena makeout motel, Jer and I wanted to watch Bambi but there was no DVD player and then we had to leave quickly. Turns out the stupid idiot child left the DVD at the motel! So now I'm making him call them to get it sent to the house if they find it."
"Jeremy lost Bambi and you left him alive?" Jenna queried. She was well aware of how insane the pair got over their favourite childhood movie.
"Caroline pulled me off of him," Brenna shrugged. When they'd gotten back and he'd told her how badly he'd messed up, Brenna all but flew across the table at him, only to have him scream out for Caroline who'd been upstairs hanging with Elena. The coward.
"I would say that's a predictable reaction," Jenna agreed.
"Elena said I was being dramatic," Brenna scoffed. "The nerve."
"How's Elena doing?" Jenna asked. "I've been so worried about all of you. I wasn't sure if Elena was still even alive."
"In all honestly Jenna, Elena and I are in a bit of a rough spot at the moment, so I'm not super keen on talking about her. She's fine, she's alive thanks to Uncle John. He sacrificed himself so she could stay human, Bonnie helped, because you know, magic. But now Elena's flirting with two brothers, and the curse of the doppelgänger continues."
"Alrighty then," Jenna said as she handed Kol and Brenna a mug of tea each. "So tell me about this guy?" she smiled as she leant forward.
"He's Kol, he's old."
"We're the same age," Kol rolled his eyes.
"Yeah but I get a new body every couple decades, so it's different. I'm young and spritely. You're old and decrepit."
"This conversation took a weird turn," Jenna muttered.
"Sorry," Brenna apologised. "But look, yay, it's Kol. Back in the land of the living," she waved her hands around.
"How did that come about?"
"Short version or long?"
"Short. Please just the short," Jenna begged. Brenna's short stories could be dramatic enough, the long one could go on for days.
"Well, as you know. Little Kol over here," she squeezed his cheeks as he rolled his eyes. "Was having a forced nap because Klaus daggered him, the asshole. Turns out, evil Stefan is dangerous and conniving. Creepy Klaus kept all of his snoozing siblings in coffins and carted them around with him like a macabre weirdo. So evil Stefan stole the coffins of all the sleeping Original siblings from Klaus, which really created a huge amount of trouble for us in town, as I alluded to earlier. Our former sweet, little, innocent Stefan is now a bit of an asshole. Damon found out the location of the coffins and decided to play along with Stefan's stupid game, again, another asshole. Then Klaus found out where they were because he's a psychotic asshole who threatened the lives of just about everyone in the town, except me because I'm awesome. Damon's pea-sized brain thought 'Ah, this is a good idea,' and decided to pull the dagger out Elijah before the Klaus collection service rolled on in."
"He's so hot," Jenna interrupted as she slumped her head dreamily into her hand. Kol raised his eyebrows and smirked.
"So Elijah was walking around town in a freshly pressed suit, his usual dapper style."
"Oh my god stop!" Jenna sighed. "I miss his suits."
"Klaus thought oh yay my older brother loves me again and we can be a happy family of two! Wrong! Klaus, Elijah, Stefan and Damon had this dinner party thing and Elijah pulled the dagger out of all the Original siblings and then yay, Kol was walking around Mystic Falls again. And so was Rebekah and Finn. The other two siblings. Rebekah and Elena and Caroline have been having this weird power trip bitch-fight for the whole school year so far, and if we're being honest, Rebekah is winning."
"Caroline would hate that," Jenna gasped.
"Oh, she's made her thoughts and feelings abundantly clear. I don't know who I'm rooting for to win. I can see benefits for me for all of them. I think I leaning towards Caroline though, that girl will do anything for me if I compliment her hair."
"I'd go for Caroline," Jenna agreed.
"Kol and Jer were friends for a bit. Denver buddies"
"A bit?"
"Yeah… that's over now. Turns out Kol was a fake friend to my lil bestie. Asshole," she turned and glared at her husband. "But it's ok. Jer and I got revenge on him, and I think Jer was quite satisfied. Kol was unconscious and Jer and I were carrying him out of sight and we accidentally knocked him around a bit. Dropped him on the locker room floors, which is very gross."
"And stole my gum," Kol muttered.
"Yeah, and we stole his gum," Brenna nodded. "We were like the two amigos."
"Three," Jenna corrected.
"Yeah, but we left Matt at home so it was two amigos. Matt's really got his panties in a twist lately. I've been living with him for a bit and apparently, I'm exceptionally annoying to live with. I don't get it."
"I do," Jenna snorted.
"Rude! But anyway, I ripped a hair out of Jeremy's head so Kol's witches could use it to track your location. Him being a blood relative and all."
"He let you rip out a hair?" Jenna queried.
"Yeah… I told him he owed me a hair debt and he strangely didn't question it," Brenna shrugged. "But enough about our shenanigans! Tell me about you! What's been going on in the life of my favourite aunt!"
"Well, Klaus compelled me to leave and not contact any of you. He bought me this house, put the deed in my name, and made sure I had a job lined up. I met Simon two weeks later, and it just felt right. I mean I was in agony being away from you guys, and I knew you'd think I was all dead. But I saw him and some of it just lifted, I never felt this way before. Not even with…"
"With Ric?" Brenna asked.
"You mean the serial killer?" Kol frowned.
"Mmmm!" Brenna tried to silence him, her eyes going wide.
"What?" Jenna asked in alarm. "What do you mean serial killer? There's a serial killer? Wait… Ric's a serial killer?"
"Ric isn't a serial killer," Brenna argued. "His alter ego is."
Jenna just blinked a few times in confusion. "Explain please."
"Well, the running theory is every time Ric dies with his special reincarnating ring, he loses a part of himself and this vampire-hating alter ego takes over. Elena found evidence of it happening to Samantha Gilbert. It turns them into vampire-hating psychopaths. And vampire sympathiser haters as well. Because Bad Ric totally attacked me, yet another asshole."
"Ok," her aunt raised her hand. "I'm invoking a language warning now. But continue."
"Bad Ric attacked me, I was saved so all is dandy. But Bad Ric totally killed two people and attempted to murder me and his new girlfriend. She didn't dump him though, so I guess that says something about that Saltzman charm."
"He hurt you!" Jenna reached across and grabbed her niece's hand. "Are you ok?"
"Oh yeah. All healed up thanks to the crazy magic of vampire blood. God, I hate Mystic Falls."
"You need to get out of there," Jenna agreed. "It's not healthy. For either of you."
"That's the plan after graduation."
"Brea, that's months away," Jenna protested.
"I just want to finish school in one place for once."
"You already know it all," Kol grumbled bitterly. He was not on board with this plan.
"Well I want a certificate saying I know it," she argued back. This was not the first time this argument had come up this week.
"Ric has a girlfriend?" Jenna asked.
"You have a toy boy," Brenna retorted.
"He's not a toy boy! We're the same age!"
"Toy boy," Brenna muttered under her breath.
"1000 years together huh?" Jenna asked Kol. "I admire your patience."
He smiled at Jenna. "It's worth it."
"Correct answer," Jenna nodded in approval. "He passed test one."
"One?" Kol queried.
"There will be many," Jenna replied quickly, completely straight-faced and he shrunk into his chair slightly.
"She's joking," Brenna said, trying to ease the tension.
"No, I'm not."
"Well he got Jer's begrudging approval," Brenna pointed out.
"He did?" she asked in surprise. Jeremy as a child had always gotten jealous of the people Brenna spent time with. That may have faded slightly as they got older, but it never left completely.
"Jer and I try our best to stay out of the Mystic Falls civil war. Look at matters with an impartial view."
"Oh boy," Jenna sighed as she opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine.
"What'd I tell you!" Brenna gasped excitedly as she turned to Kol.
"I'm saying nothing," he held his hands up defensively.
"I said first half hour, the wine would be out. I was right."
"Oh my god!" Jenna snapped. "Will you stop making bets on when I start drinking? She's done this for years," Jenna told Kol. "So who are you friends with in Mystic Falls now?"
"Um… Kol. Jer. Matt."
"Tyler?"
"Oh he took off," Brenna told her aunt. "Klaus turned him into this vampire/werewolf hybrid thing and he took off. I don't think we were getting on super well before he left though. He started dating Care, I think he's drifted a bit."
"I'm sorry," Jenna said sincerely, Tyler and Brenna had always been best friends, but even Jenna had noticed a shift in her last year in Mystic Falls.
"Kol's sister Rebekah goes to school with us. We're good friends."
"I remember you saying," Jenna sipped her drink. She knew Brenna had a complicated past, but her baby niece hanging out with vampires all day didn't make her happy.
"Yeah, she threatened to kill Ric after he stabbed me, but don't worry, I'm very persuasive and she backed off."
"It seems everyone in this town either wants to protect you with their life or kill you," Jenna scoffed.
"I have that effect on people," Brenna joked.
"Mmm, I'm aware, I've been in both camps," Jenna winked. "Will you two stay? Or do you have to…"
"We can stay for the day," Brenna smiled.
Kol finally spoke up, he'd been awkwardly watching most of their exchanges. "I'm afraid I can't darling. I have a meeting."
"With who?" Brenna asked immediately.
"Some witches."
Brenna's jaw instantly stiffened. "About what?" she asked harshly.
"Darling," he reached out to brush her hair but she pulled away slightly.
"Whatever," she grumbled.
"I'll be back later to pick you up," he whispered. "Jenna, it was lovely meeting you. I'm afraid I have to be off. But I will return later," he grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles before leaving the house.
"Wow," Jenna breathed, stunned by the old act of chivalry. "What was that about?" Jenna asked her niece when she snapped out of her daze.
"He's meeting with witches about my curse."
"That makes you angry?"
"It's been a thousand years, Jenna. If there was anything out there to help me, he would have found it already. There's no helping. But he won't give up," Brenna bit her lip, trying not to cry.
"Oh sweetie," Jenna moved forward and pulled Brenna's head into her chest for a hug.
"I hate it, Jenna. I can't do it anymore. I can't watch people I love die all the time. Then I die and I just come back and start a new family and it hurts all over again. It's so miserable. And I'm really upset about the Bambi DVD."
"I know you are," Jenna laughed softly. "You want to change the subject?:
Brenna immediately gasped and slapped the table. "Jer cheated on Bonnie."
"No!" Jenna also hit the bench as she straightened up in shock. "He didn't!"
"He did," Brenna nodded frantically.
"Did you beat him up? You always said you would."
"I had to. He broke the code," Brenna shrugged.
"Who'd he cheat with?" Jenna leant forward, needing the gossip.
"A ghost."
"Oh boy," Jenna huffed as she filled her wine glass back up.