Free of family

27

When Arkyn got home, he found Alexis, Xavier and Bonnie chatting in the kitchen.
"Hey." Bonnie frowned as she saw his dark expression.
"You two." He said to the siblings. "Get Xavier's bags and head out."
"What? Why?" Alexis protested.
"Now. Leave the big stuff you can't fit into the car and go."
"What happened?"
"Just do as I say." He said and Xavier noticed something was wrong.
"Come on Lex. Help me get my bags." He ushered her away, but hung back. "What happened?"
"I'll tell you guys later, I just need you guys out of town. Please."
"Sure." Xavier nodded, walking away after his sister.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Bonnie stepped towards him, grabbing his hand.
"Mikael, Klaus. I just- I need them safe. I need Xavier and Lex safe." She reaches up, putting her other hand on his face, facing him towards her.
"They'll be okay."
"Let's stay in." He proposed. "No homecoming- we don't do too well at dances, anyway. Just you and me away from Klaus and Mikael drama."
"I'd like that." She told him.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She assured.
"Good." He tried to smile.
"Hey, come on. Take a seat." She led him to the living room. She softly nudged him to a couch before walking over to pour him a drink. She walked back and passed it over to him.
"Thanks." He took the cup as she sat next to him.
"It's going to be okay." She comforted. "With any luck Klaus and Mikael will kill each other and you won't have to deal with either of them again."
"I told Rebekah to go away."
"What?"
"I told her to leave me alone, that I wanted nothing to do with her."
"Why?"
"Mikael and Klaus are both the worst people I've ever known. Tied for first place- I don't know how to measure the ways they've both hurt me. For each point I make about Klaus, I can make a similar about Mikael. It's ironic, really. Klaus isn't Mikael's son, but he is so much like him. And she doesn't care. She doesn't care that Mikael will do anything to kill Klaus. Or that he'll destroy the town if he doesn't get his way. Or that every time he's come close to killing Klaus, he ends up killing someone the rest of us care about instead. Klaus doesn't get hurt. Klaus survives and we're hurt instead. And I refuse to let that happen in this town too. With Xave and Lex. You. I have too much to lose, and I won't let that happen. I can't let that happen."
"But you love her. She's your sister."
"Rebekah is temperamental. She's quick to react, she never thinks things through, and as long as she wants to kill Klaus, she's a danger."
"She's still your sister."
"I've gone three centuries without her. I can survive." He said, trying to sound indifferent. The siblings came down, using magic to levitate most of Xavier's luggage. He stood up to go to them. "You all set?"
"Uh, sorta. All the things you insisted on, that I don't have space for is still here."
"Okay, I'm gonna head out in the morning, but if you get tired when you're at least two hours away, stop at a hotel, get some rest. Send me updates, every once in a while and-"
"We'll be fine. I'll let Lex loose on anyone who bothers us." He joked. Arkyn managed a smile and put an arm around Xavier.
"Thanks." He said.
"Just be careful yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Not to butt in on this... touching moment... but, we're gonna see each other in the morning. So we don't have the ten and a half car ride like we thought. No one needs to be that close for so long. In fact, I'm thinking about driving separately from Xavier myself."
"One you don't have a car. Two, you don't have a license."
"Three, you're not even old enough to have that license."
"I will be in a matter of months. I'm pretty much already sixteen."
"Oh, sure. Except that you're not actually sixteen." Arkyn teased, ruffling her hair as she tried to dodge him. "Go on you two. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See ya." Xavier said, waving at Bonnie and they left.
"They'll be okay." She assured as he walked back over to her. "They'll be fine."
"I hope so." He sighed.
"Come on." She said. "No pouting."
"I'm not pouting." He said, indignantly.
"Oh, yeah you are."
"I do not pout."
"Tell that to your face." She teased.
"Wiseass."
"And now you're calling me names. What's next? Stomping your feet and having a tantrum."
"Ouch." He put his hand to his chest, as though she'd shot him. She laughed, and slapped his arm playfully.
"Okay, so no homecoming. What are we going to do about the dress Lex picked out for me?"
"Well, you could always put it on and we can have our own little party."
"That's cheesy."
"Or we could curl up watching movies. I've still yet to educate you on more than rom-coms."
"I like the sound of both."
"So let's do both." He proposed. "We'll dress up, and party and have fun, and conclude the evening with a selection of movies, till we fall asleep."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay." She repeated.
"Great."
"Go on, then, let's get ready." She said, heading to the stairs.
"Let's." He smiled and followed her up.