A/N: This is something I created out of boredom. I couldn't sleep and had not enough motivation to study. So I ended up writing something instead. I had no idea where I was going with it. So it's just a random one-shot. And AU, of course. Apologies, in advance for any following mistakes!

Pairing: Bonnie/Kol (Kennett))

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They are the creative property of L.J. Smith and The CW.

Unfinished Business

"If only she could be so oblivious again, to feel such love without knowing it, mistaking it for laughter. "

― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

Kol blinked at the sight in front of him.

The exotic beauty was drowning the shots as if her life depended on it. Every piece of her was calling to him and she wasn't even trying anything.
In fact, she hadn't even noticed him yet.

Kol made a gesture to order another shot before turning on his stool to face her. That woman was breath-taking.

She was glowing in the simple top uncovering her shoulders and the short denim that was emphasizing her bronze, well-trained legs.
She seemed to be of the easy-going type with her short-cut brown hair and the relaxed way she was sitting there all alone.

But she waved off any guy who tried to approach her, her eyes never leaving her drink.

Kol took in her face and the emerald eyes that seemed to change colour every now and then. No, it couldn't be!

He almost choked on his drink. He knew her. He would never forget those eyes.

She was that maverick type Jeremy Gilbert had been obsessed with in High School.
The girl that was hanging out with the "Freaks", the bunch of stoners that enjoyed pestering, loud music. Bonnie, wasn't it?

The whole school had been knowing her name. One of the reasons: The annoying Gilbert kid had written songs for her.

Little Gilbert had demonstrated them in all the school parties she was attending. Well, it had been fun watching him fight to
get the chords right.

And at one of those late-night parties at the beach, Kol had grabbed Jeremy's guitar and shattered it.
He had shattered it into pieces to free him of his misery. They had never been friends but he could still remembered that moment.
And also what had happened at the end of that night.

Harbour High School, California, somewhere in the past

"Heyy, why would you do that, you bastard?" Jeremy gave Kol a troubled look, jumping back on his feet.

"I'm doing you a favour, mate," Kol threw the last pieces of the instrument into the bonfire.
"Actually to all of us. The sounds you make, no offence but it's pure violation."

The crowd around them laughed approvingly. Jeremy clenched his jaw at that.

"One day you will be thanking me for that," Kol glanced over to the bunch of stoners talking with Bonnie.
"You don't have a chance with Courtney Love over there. She's into trash."

"Oh, yeah?" Jeremy spat out bitterly.
"That would make you the perfect type then. Since you are the biggest dickhead, here."

The crowd giggled at his attempt to offence Kol. A playfully impressed exclamation sound filled the air.

"Ooooh!"

"You're lucky that I don't fight kids," Kol snorted furrowing his eyebrows smugly.

He caught the flying fist of the Gilbert pushing him away easily. Jeremy stumbled, taking a quick glance at Bonnie before leaving the place.

The crowd broke into laughter and "Boooh" sounds.

The girls were smiling brightly at Kol as he walked past them. As if they were fighting to gain his attention.
Some chicks were playing with their hair, others with the hem of their cleavage.

Kol saluted the cheering crowd with his hand while grinning like a wolf. Inwardly, he was calling them all idiots.
He was the captain of the team. They would applaud anything he would do.

Later that night, Kol was sitting on a spot far away from the few stoners that were left.
It was almost morning now. His one arm rested around his knees and the other was holding a beer bottle.

The sound of the waves splashing against the sand was comforting.

But soon the silence was broken.

It was that Bonnie lass, sitting next to him in the sand.

"What's the Sunshine of the basketball team still doing here?" she asked grabbing his bottle and taking a sip.
"Aren't you breaking mommy's rules or something?"

Kol furrowed his eyebrows. She was confusing him with her swinging ways.
At school she seemed to be more of a shy lass. But then again, she was probably stoned.

"Do you even have a home?" he lifted his eye-brows taking his bottle back.
"Or have you been kicked out yet?"

She ignored his snarky comment. Instead, she was busy taking out a little bag out of her back pocket.
It was filled with a green content. And Kol didn't have to guess hard what it was.

"You're the smart-ass jock here. Go ahead and judge. I don't care." She shrugged while giving him a bright smile.
"I have parents so I'm immune to it." Then her eyes were on the little bag again.

"Can I ask you something?" Kol burst out.

Bonnie nodded, her eyes still studying the material in the bag.

"You're the math prodigy of our school," he gave her a side-glance. "Why are you doing this?"

Bonnie gave him a surprised look in exchange. "Doing what?"

"Come on, Bonnie," he shook his head, chuckling.
"You're the Mayor's daughter who's hanging out with a bunch of stoners to look cool."

"I don't try to look cool," she glared at him. She was barely holding back her anger.

"You're scared they would call you nerd, aren't you?" he grinned amused taking another sip from his beer.
"All you have to do is sticking to more cleavage and le voilà. Problem solved."

Was he serious, throwing sexist comments at her? Bonnie was raising the roof now.
She even put the little bag in her hands back in her pocket. Ready to fight.

"Unlike you, I'm not a fan of the yelling same-crowd-mentality," Bonnie spat out.
"All they do is laughing at anything you say. Or admiring your-"
she changed her voice, picking up a higher octave. "-oh-so well-build body."

"This school is full of your idiotic minions," she shook her had in anger making her hair fall into her face.
"I'd rather have a brain. So no thanks, I stick to the freaks."

Kol had another snarky comment on his lips but before he could open his mouth Jeremy appeared.

"I'm sorry, babe," he yelled to no one in particular. There was an obvious hint of drunkenness in his movements.

"Not you again," Bonnie sighed annoyed. "Please, just go away!"

"It's okay, Tyler made me part of the freaks," The Gilbert stumbled toward Bonnie.
"Look, I'm one of you now! I'm a cool guy!" He took her wrist prisoner. "Give us a chance!"

"God, you are even worse when you're high" Bonnie groaned annoyed shoving his hand away.

Kol laughed at the two while his fingers were playing arrogantly with his hair. It earned him one of Bonnie's death-glares.

"Oh, fuck," Jeremy just stood there for a moment turning his head to what was left from the bonfire.
"I had too much of Tyler's shit! I'm still hallucinating stuff."

Then his eyes widened again. "Woahh..Noo! NO, NO, NO..Fiiire! Fiiire!"
He was jumping up and down, shouting from the top of his lungs while pointing toward the apparent danger.

Kol rolled his eyes. God, that kid was tedious.

The next moment a strong fist landed in Jeremy's face knocking him to the ground with a bleeding nose.

"I feel much better now!" Kol let out a relieved breath, stretching his muscular arms.

"Why did you do that?" Bonnie glared at him. "He didn't do anything to you! You can't just punch people like that!"

"I can do much more useful things with my hands, I assure you," the basketballer winked at her.
He took a few steps before giving her a conceited smile. "I didn't earn my womanizer title overnight, darling."

"Ugh, I want to slap that smirk off your face," she burst out unable to control her fit.

"I'm free tonight if you're offering," He continued to walk away and paused for a moment.
"But then again with the drama about weed and whatnot it's too much for me. I don't do junkies. I stick to the classic cheerleading type."

When he turned his back she yelled at him. "Thanks for proving me right! You are just a brainless, conceited, world-class asshole!"

But he simply chuckled in return ignoring her insults. "Have fun with your kid toy Gilbert. And don't carry things too far, Math Whiz."

Kol smiled as she growled furiously at the nickname he had just given her.

Some local bar, present

Kol had never admitted it at that time. But hey, that lass had been gorgeous with her temper and whatnot.
And right now, she seemed pretty mature. She was far away from the insecure lass scared to come across as uptight or nerdy.

Kol stood up, taking the seat next to her. She didn't even take a look at him.

"I don't do one-night stands," she informed him with a cold voice and continued drinking.

"And what if I have other intentions?" he shot back smoothly.

Bonnie turned around to face him. "Like what?"

"I could start with saving a life," Kol grinned taking the glass off her hand. He placed it on the bar, his hand still holding it there.
As if he wanted to make sure she wouldn't try to get it back.

"I think that's enough, darling."

The young woman glared at him. Just the same way he remembered. Her emerald eyes were sparkling with a dangerous flame.

Some things just never change, do they? Kol thought.

"And who are you again?" she spat out venomously.
She obviously wasn't remembering him. It upset Kol a bit. He had been the star of his school, for god's sake!

"I'm Kol," he took her hand to place a kiss but she quickly whipped it away from his hold.
"Kol Mikaelson," he added not taking his intense gaze from her eyes.

"Listen, Kol," she whispered, leaning closer to him. "My life is none of your business."
She reached for the glass he was still holding prisoner in his hand. "The last thing I need is a saviour," she snorted.

The bitterness in her voice took Kol by surprise. "Let us start over," he smiled genuinely.
"It might help if you tell me what brought you here in the first place."

Kol grabbed her hand that had been reaching for the glass and rubbed it soothingly.
"Take your time," he added. "I have all the time in the world."

"I wouldn't count on that," she mumbled lost in his eyes. "Time will kill us after all. It's as deceitful as people can be."

Kol smirked. It was only logical that she was tipsy after the tremendous consumption. "Who deceived you, Bonnie?"

Her eyes widened. She took back her hand quickly. "How do you know my name?"

"Harbour High School senior year 2010?" he tilted his head in hopes it would trigger a memory.

"I was the lad that gave you the nickname Math Whiz," he lifted up his eye-brows in mischief.

"Oh my god," Bonnie breathed out. But her shock was replaced by a smile soon.

"You're the captain of the basketball-team! I barely knew you but I hated your guts!" She laughed.
"I couldn't get rid of that title you gave me! You ruined my reputation!"

Her foul mood was gone within seconds, replaced by a bright smile. Kol enjoyed the view.
The way she was giggling empathized the soft features on her face.

"I'd like to apologize for that, if it's not too late," he chuckled.

Unfortunately, her smile faded soon. As if the reason for her misery had crawled back into her mind.

"I still have the feeling that you had a bad day.." Kol spoke softly. He was afraid to come across as harassing.
Luckily, it didn't bother her. A weak smile flashed over her face. But it didn't reach her eyes.

"Do you remember Jeremy?" she asked carefully.

"Jeremy Gilbert?" Kol chuckled. "How could I forget the lad that turned you into a popular muse!"

Bonnie smiled sadly.
"After Harbour, I went to college. And Jeremy was there, too," she bit her lip nervously.
"He had followed me there. And we got together and well, it lasted for almost 4 years."

She inhaled deeply. "We broke up last month."

Kol narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Is that the reason for this?"
He gestured toward the empty shots. "You can't be grieving for over a month!"

She smiled guiltily. "I just can't believe what happened. He was my first long relationship."She watched her nails, thoughtfully.

"And I still blame myself although I don't know what I did wrong. But maybe there's something I oversaw." She made a brief pause.

"Something that made him look for comfort in another girl." Bonnie stopped abruptly. A brief flicker danced in her eyes.
She had revealed more than she intended to.

That left Kol speechless. Wow. He had never seen someone as loyal and caring before.
And the thought that the little Gilbert had exploited her kindness made his blood boil.

He tried to stay calm, taking in a deep breath.

"There's no excuse for what he did, Bonnie. Stop blaming yourself!" His hand rushed forward to catch a tear on her cheek.

Someone just might have stabbed him a few times. He wouldn't have noticed. Watching her cry was pure torture.

Then her eyes landed on his. Bonnie noticed that their faces were inches away now. And she melted away at his soft gaze. Damn.

Back in Harbour, she had kept her distance from Kol because he had been such a douche. But she had always found him dashingly handsome.
Sinfully handsome.

It had always frustrated her to see his angel-like face look down to others like vermin. It just hurt her to see him in that bravado mask.

"I have to make a confession," she mumbled trying to ignore how close his face was.

"Hmm?" Kol answered. He was way too busy drowning in her green eyes to listen.

"You were the reason why I never attended any school event or games," she burst out.

"What?" Kol almost yelled.

"You were the teacher's pet and the popular jock," she admitted guiltily.
"There was a big chance you'd be part in all of them. So I looked for a new crowd to fit in."

"You've been avoiding me? Why?" he whispered. His intense hazelnut-eyes were still focused on her.

"I had a crush on you," she laughed bitterly. "But I saw how arrogant and unreachable you were. So I chose to hide."

The dark eyes glistened and Kol's features were captured by the merest sadness. He had been an idiot not to notice it.

"It's my turn, then," Kol's glance slid down for a moment.

"I wouldn't admit it to myself at that time but I got jealous whenever Jeremy would sing a song for you," his voice was low.
"Or whenever he approached you."

Bonnie's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You made pretty clear how much you hated me," he stroked away a strand of hair from her face.
"So it pissed me of to think you would rather be with him than me."

Bonnie put some distance between them, pretending to take a comfortable position on her stool.
His words were making her nervous. She didn't want to start thinking she would have a chance with him.

"I couldn't get you out of my head, though," Kol grinned thoughtfully.
"You were haunting me in my dreams. Sometimes I called my girlfriends Bonnie, completely oblivious of it."

He laughed again and this time Bonnie didn't feel like joining him. She couldn't believe the words that came out of his perfect shaped lips.

"Not that they were solid relationships but well, it did some damage," he added quickly.

That made Bonnie laugh. It took her by surprise how good he was at that. Making her laugh.

She furrowed her eyebrows playfully as she muttered. "That's totally comprehensible."

The young woman had no idea when he had pushed himself forward. But he was too close again. She licked her lips, unconsciously.

"Yes, it is," he whispered, his eyes down on her pink lips. It didn't help that she was licking them.
Her lips were shining seductively like the forbidden fruit of a divine garden. Calling for him to be savoured.

Kol grabbed her face, wasting no time to taste them. His thumb was stroking her cheek, unconsciously while his mouth nibbled at her soft lips.

But he was pushed away soon. A burning slap landed on his cheek. He gave her an astonished look while holding his burning face in disbelief.

"No one can touch me," her voice was firm. She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Unless I want him to."

And then he was pulled by his collar until their lips met. But this time, she was eager to open her mouth to taste his tongue.

Slapping him and then pulling in for a kiss? Okay, she still had some part of freak in her. But Kol liked it. She was all fire. And he was more than ready to get burnt.

Bonnie didn't even mind when Kol pulled her in his lap as he continued to consume her. Or when his hands roamed over her figure, taking in every single landscape.

Kol smiled into the kiss. The feeling of her curves under his touch was too provoking.

When Bonnie pulled away to breath, the former jock smiled at her wickedly. "You're not that bad for a Math Whiz."

"Don't call me that," she blushed and bit her lip. And Kol couldn't help but think that even the red colour on her cheeks suited her.

"You're still the pretentious douche, though," she muttered through her smile.

"Wouldn't you want to find out?" he wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

And oh, he would show her who he really was.

The jock and the basket-case. They would be epic together.