Kol and Bonnie both work at the mall as Elves for Santa's Grotto, Kol utilizes every second to annoy the hell out of her.

A/N: Yes I know this is Christmas fic and we're nearly at the end of May shhh just go with me on this…

There was definitely someone up there working against her Bonnie Bennett decided. Seriously, what were the odds of getting a job in the middle of the mall - working as an elf no less - and end up working with him?

Stefan had hooked her with the gig; Turned out he made a pretty convincing Santa Claus under a fat suit and a fake beard. He'd spoken to his boss and given her a recommendation and before she knew it, she was playing nice to impatient parents and their snotty nosed bundles of joys, taking pictures with them and constantly being asked if her elf ears were real and why she was so tall; If she was supposed to be an elf - She was only 5"1 but apparently that was practically giant in elf sizes.

One kid had even had the audacity to point out that he didn't think that there were any black elves in the North Pole.

So the job wasn't exactly a picnic as it was. But the pay was good and it could be kind of fun when the children weren't complete gremlins. She had been doing just fine.

Then he came along.

It was a Wednesday. She strolled into the center of Mystic Mall in her jogging pants Because, yeah, she'd rather die wearing those than coming to work in her uniform. JCole was on full blast in her ears, while she munched on a soft pretzel admiring the decorations that had been put up for the festive season. Enjoying what started off as a pretty good morning.

That's when Stefan had shuffled over to her with a worried expression on his handsome face. He was decked out in his full Santa suit minus the beard.

"Morning Santa," She beamed good-naturedly."You ready to make some dreams come true?"

"Uh. Yeah, Bonnie, there's just, uh... something you gotta know before we start work today."

She blinked worriedly.

"Is something wrong?"

Stefan shuffled awkwardly from left to right. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know how to put it.

"Spit it out, Stefan! Ugh. Please don't tell me Dave decided to keep us open later today?"

"Oh, um, no. It's nothing like that,"

She gave him an expectant look to what he sighed and continued.

"Well, what's happening is, you're going to be working with a new elf in the workshop from now on."

"What? Why? What happened to Greg?"

"He's sick."

"Sick?"

"Well, it would be more accurate to say he slipped off his skateboard and fractured his leg in five places."

"Oh my Gosh. Is he gonna be okay?!"

"According to Dave, he's gonna be fine. It's his new replacement that's the problem."

"What about him?"

"He's..."

"He what? He doesn't spend all his time talking about Limp Bizkit and imitating anything from the 80's? Because if so, then he's an upgrade from Greg."

"You wouldn't say that, if you knew who it is."

"Why? Who is it, Stefan?"

"There she is," A horribly familiar voice resounded behind her. In that moment, she was incensed enough to nearly drop her soft pretzel.

"NO," She said incredulously looking at Stefan.

Stefan only shut his eyes and nodded solemnly.

She turned her head to see Kol freaking Mikaelson standing behind her and grinning his ass off.

"Aren't you happy to see me, love?"

"No, this is ridiculous. You have to talk to Dave or someone! Either way, I am NOT working with him! Over my dead and buried, body. No, absolutely not."

"Er, hello I'm standing right here. I can actually hear you. Thank you very much."

Bonnie turned around fixing Kol with a hard glare. One that would disintegrate him if looks could kill.

"What. Are you even doing here," She gritted her teeth. "Why the hell are you working in the mall!? No, you know what? Don't."

She held her hand up before Kol could utter his reply.

"I don't want to hear it. I know why you got this job. The same reason you do everything. To make my entire existence a living, breathing hell!" She exclaimed flinging her arms up in the air to emphasize her point and flouncing past Stefan to go into the changing rooms.

"Way to play it cool," Stefan deadpanned.

"It's my natural charm Stefan. I can't just turn it on and off."

"Yeah, well, find a way to tone it down. Because if you don't, Bonnie's gonna end up ripping your head off in front of all the poor little kids. And then all three of us will get fired."

Kol smirked and gave him a mock-salute.

"Aye aye, captain."

But there was an obvious wicked gleam in his eyes.

"It's gonna be a long couple of weeks," Stefan thought.

"You're doing that wrong," Bonnie grumbled. She glared at Kol from the corner of her eye as he proceeded to incorrectly wrap yet another one of the children's presents.

"Ah, so she speaks. I see you've broken your vow of silence then darling,"

"I'm only talking to you because I can't sit here and watch you screw that up for the seventeenth thousand time in a row."

"I personally think you just wanted an excuse to chat," he said waggling his thick eyebrows at her.

After scowling at him for a second she reached out and snatched the gift from him.

"Give me that," she growled. She reached for the scissors to try and cut the ribbon and undo some of the damage Kol had done.

After a second or two, she felt Kol's eyes burning against the side of her neck.

"What?" She seethed glancing up at him.

"You know, there aren't many people who can pull off elf ears and striped stockings, Bonnie Bennett. I've never considered the whole elf thing to be a fantasy of mine, but you certainly make it work."

"You are disgusting, you know that?"

"I'm just honest, love."

"Well, don't be. Just, let's not speak for the remainder of this shift. No talking unless something's on fire or someone's dying."

Kol held his hands up. "As you wish."

There was a very brief pause.

"I just have one question."

"I thought you just told me to shut up?"

"Just answer me this, and we can totally go back to ignoring each other."

"Why the hell, do you need a job at the Mystic Mall? Aren't your family rolling in it?"

There was a silence and for a moment, Bonnie tensed thinking she may have hit a nerve. Was the Mikaelson family having financial difficulties?

In her defense, she hadn't seen any of his other siblings with jobs.

She imagined Elijah working at one of those fancy haberdasheries; or Rebekah as one of the snooty sales assistants in Bloomingdale's. Or even funnier: Klaus serving customers at Mcdonald's.

The mental image was priceless.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he said smiling coquettishly at her and moving to perch on a nearby stool.

"I would actually," Bonnie said turning to look at him, genuinely intrigued.

"Well if you must know Bon-Bon, I was teaching my youngest brother Henrik how to use a baseball bat in our back garden. Unfortunately, the poor lad doesn't quite have my skill and finesse when it comes to the sport and he managed to put a hole through one of our stained glass windows. When our irate father came downstairs to see who did it, I just let him believe it was me. Long story short, he's making me work to pay off the debt."

"Wait, so you're saying you took your brother's rap? Why?"

Well, she knew why it just seemed like such an out of character thing to do.

"He's only seven. So obviously, he's not old enough to get a job. Father would only take it out on his pocket money if I let him take the blame for it. Besides, it was my idea in the first place."

"Wow. That's so... nice of you, Kol,"

"Always the tone of surprise."

"Well I just didn't expect it from you that's all."

Kol stood up and approached her. When he was close he looked down at her and spoke in a low voice.

"Am I so bad, Bonnie Bennett?"

For a second, Bonnie's eyes met his. She bit her lip and felt a small sensation run up her spine. She tapped her chin for a moment pretending to think. Then she tiptoed so that her face was dangerously close to his and whispered.

"Yes."

Then she took off in the other direction with a mischievous smile on her face. She could hear Kol growl in protest.

Maybe working together wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Say Cheese," Bonnie said enthusiastically holding a polaroid camera to her face.

"CHEESE," Chorused the group of not one but 3 children, all huddled together on Kol's lap.

One of the boys had a firm grip on Kol's hat taking a large chunk of his hair in his fist.

Kol was grimacing trying to keep his face straight until the picture was taken.

Eventually, the children hopped off of his lap one by one and ran to receive their gifts from Bonnie.

"There you go guys, Merry Christmas," Bonnie sing-sang waving cheerfully as the last of the kids left the workshop.

Kol let out a sigh of relief, then pulled his hat off throwing it down on the ground angrily.

"Honestly, I could've strangled that little whelp."

"Hey now, Mr. Grinch, where did all your Christmas spirit go?"

"I'll show you Christmas spirit," he snarled.

She giggled following him into the back room.

"So any plans for the weekend?"

"Ah. You know, the usual, homework; then studying hard for the rest of the time."

Bonnie paused to give Kol her trademark 'enough of your bullshit' look.

"Homework. Really?"

"Alright, I confess you've got me. I'll probably attempt to beat my high score at Halo this weekend. In between marathons of South Park."

That was one of the things she hated most about Kol. He was one of the smartest people in their year group. She knew for a fact he didn't study. And if she was assuming before, he'd just confirmed she had been right with that theory.

She worked her ass off to stay at the top of her class and people like Kol were infuriating.

"And yourself? Sweet Bonnie, what are your plans?"

"Oh, you know, I'm gonna go home hang up my elf hat and start sifting through all those letters to Santa," she teased.

Kol smiled salaciously.

"You know, for someone so against the elf fantasy, you're certainly not doing anything to stop me from indulging in such thoughts."

"That was a joke, a perfectly PG13 joke. But every conversation with you has to turn R-rated, doesn't it?"

"Oh, I assure you, darling, if you gave me half the chance with you, all our conversations would be considerably X-rated," He quipped suggestively.

"You truly are something," she muttered.

He only grinned at her from across the room.

She walked toward where he was standing, which was right near the door to go out to the changing room. He accidentally - totally deliberately - stepped in her way. They bumped chest to chest facing each other. He had a good few feet on her being 6"0. She couldn't deny height difference was always something that turned her on.

A chill ran through her once again as their eyes eventually met.

"Careful love," he murmured. "Try watching where you're going next time."

She scoffed indignantly as he skirted past her like nothing happened. She straightened herself, suddenly feeling a little light headed and dizzy.

She had been right from the start. Working with Kol Mikaelson was absolute hell. But for a whole other reason, she hadn't expected.

It was all the chemistry between them. She could be stubborn when she wanted to be. But it was only for so long she could go on denying how she felt.

And what she wanted.

It was impossible to get any work done when Kol was always giving her these looks and dubbing her with these pet names. And accidently bumping and brushing into her all the time; deliberately, taking breaks when she did and insisting on walking her to her car in the evenings.

Luckily, she managed to get him to stop with the innuendos: She warned him if he mentioned his 'Little Helper' one more time she'd personally see to it that it was removed.

But there was always a hint of a suggestion every time he spoke. And there was always just this raw energy in the atmosphere when they were in each other's proximity.

Even Stefan seemed to notice it. He was trying his best to avoid playing the third wheel around them feeling uncomfortable from all the tension.

As for Bonnie, she was doing a perfectly good job at controlling herself. Or so she thought. Well, up until her resolve finally snapped.

It was the last week before Christmas. Soon the Santa's Grotto exhibit would close for another year and she and Kol would no longer be colleagues.

She scolded herself for feeling so disappointed about that.

She shouldn't really.

She'd been praying for this experience to be over for weeks. And now that it was, she wasn't in the least bit as happy as she thought she'd be.

They were packing up the toys and props on the last day. Dave was letting them go early that day as well as giving them a bonus because the Grotto did so well that year.

As they packed up, Kol was making some snarky jokes after another. Bonnie was trying her damnedest not to stare at Kol's ass when he bent down to pick up the oversized candy canes off the floor.

"..So he clearly wasn't as good at it as he thought... Are you listening love?"

"Hmm?" Bonnie replied with a breathy voice.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his face suddenly stricken with concern.

"Mmm. Yeah I'm fine. Just tired that's all." She emphasised her point with the fakest yawn known to man.

He nodded.

"You and me both, darling."

In that moment, just by chance, he happened to look up and Bonnie watched as his face began to turn pale.

"Oh, blimey..."

"What?"

"Oh, bloody hell. I'm screwed."

"What, Kol?"

"That's my ex over there, Davina Claire, walking with her friends. If she sees me here I'm dead."

"I'm sure it's not that bad-"

"She'll try to take a picture of me. She'll humiliate me. Trust me, she's been looking for a way to get back at me ever since we broke up."

"Quick, hide me," he said urgently.

"Uh, Kol, I hate to break this to you but it's uh... too late."

Across the mall the small brunette had stopped, head tilted in confusion trying to figure out if she was seeing what she thought she was seeing.

"Kol!?"

Kol froze on the spot not daring to turn around and face her. Although he could hear the unmistakable sounds of footsteps coming toward them.

Seeing the look of panic Kol shot her, Bonnie acted on instinct and did what she had been dying to do for weeks on end now.

And damn did it feel good.

As their lips met, Kol was momentarily confused so it took him a second to respond. Eventually, he secured his arm around her petite frame and fully reciprocated. She moaned feeling his tongue brushing against hers and relished the way he gently sucked on her lower lip.

For those few seconds, what felt like hours, her mind was in a haze. She would've found it difficult to keep her balance had Kol not been holding her.

At some point during the kiss, she heard a haughty scoffing noise and the sound of someone leaving whom she assumed to be Davina.

They finally parted and she stumbled back slightly. Her pupils were blown and her skin felt as if it was burning up with some kind of fever.

"I uh..." She stuttered "I think it worked."

Then she practically ran past him into the changing rooms praying she hadn't just made a complete fool out of herself. If she had, thank God, it was the weekend and she could avoid Kol for the rest of Christmas break.

She was just plotting how she was going to convince her dad to let her transfer schools halfway through the year, when she felt a pair of hands on her waist.

She squeaked in shock at first turning frightenedly around to see that it was Kol standing behind her.

"Kol you scared me. What are you doing in here? This is the girls, mmmph-"

Kol quickly closed the gap between them devouring her lips. He pushed her into a nearby wall, pressing his body against hers.

She panted as he started lavishing hot open mouthed kisses onto the caramel colored skin of her neck.

"Kol- we can't- someone will catch us-"

"I've been waiting too long for this Bonnie Bennett," he said pulling off her cardigan.

As his lips found a particularly sensitive spot on her neck she couldn't bring herself to argue any further.

Stefan came out of the men's change rooms glad to be out of that ridiculous suit and even itchier beard. It had been worth it though, now he could manage to take Elena out more often.

He was just about to call her when he heard noises coming from the opposite changing rooms.

Gasping and panting noises.

Weird.

"Bonnie? You okay?"

When there was no answer he knocked the second time.

"Hey, Bonnie, you okay in there?"

There was a pause. Then a voice that was definitely not Bonnie's, said:

"She's fine, mate. Thanks for asking."

Stefan cringed realizing what was going on.

"Well," he thought. "These two are definitely going to be on Santa's naughty list this year."