Author's note: I've decided to continue this a bit. Sorry it's so short! I just needed to get something out but expect maybe one or two more chapters after this one. Longer than this one I promise.
Author's note 2: Not beta read. Any spelling or grammatical errors are mine alone. Post-'Say You Like Me,' if you've been reading my other Bonkai fics.
Bonnie didn't like being a hypocrite. She especially didn't like when someone pointed out a shortcoming, such as her lapse into hypocrisy, when she was well aware of it. Yet, this is how the argument with Kai had begun. Bonnie sat alone in a coffee shop between classes, still quietly fuming from the spat she had with the incumbent Portland-based Gemini Coven leader yesterday morning. She slammed the pen she had been holding onto the notebook sitting on the table in front of her. Bonnie leaned back in her chair and went to run her fingers through her hair when she remembered she had it up in a messy bun. Huffing, she said aloud to herself, "You know what? Screw Chem, it's just a review day anyway."
Packing up her textbooks and notes, Bonnie snagged her phone as she walked out of the coffee shop and texted Caroline one word, "Shopping?"
It was early Friday afternoon and Bonnie tried not to ruminate on the fight with Kai as she and Caroline perused various stores in the Mazza Gallerie. However, her mind kept jumping back to the early morning Skype call that prompted this little shopping adventure.
"Bonnie," Kai said his face softening, "I'm just trying to-"
"I appreciate it. Whatever you're trying to do. I really do," Bonnie cut him off.
"I sense sarcasm," Kai responded with a quirk of his lips.
Bonnie gave him a look and he sighed, "You said you wanted to talk about this stuff. Sharing is caring is what you say every time I don't want to dredge up my past." Bonnie pursed her lips and looked away from the laptop. "The importance of opening up, being vulnerable, right?" he continued. "I know it can't be easy talking or thinking about…" Kai trailed off.
"Don't," Bonnie said quietly. Kai continued talking, "About your dad, your Grams's, even your death." Bonnie closed her eyes. "I understand about losing people, about grief," Kai said. Bonnie looked up at the ceiling of her bedroom, laughing bitterly, "Causing our family members' death. I guess you would understand that."
Bonnie regretted what she said before she even looked back at the laptop and met Kai's eyes. She saw a flash of hurt go across his face before it settled back into a crooked smile. He leaned away from the screen and laughed lightly, "Well, yeah."
"Kai, I-"
"I should get going. Gotta rambunctious coven to run, ya know?"
"Kai, wait-"
Kai looked away from the screen out the nearby window then looked back. "Catch ya on the flipside, Bon," Kai winked before ending the Skype call.
Bonnie didn't know how long she had been staring at the green suede sleeveless dress she had taken off a rack when Caroline cleared her throat. Ignoring her friend, she turned the dress to examine the back. Caroline cleared her throat more audibly. Searching for the price tag on the garment, Bonnie sighed, "Yes, Caroline? What has had you clearing your throat for the last 20 minutes?"
"Well, I was just wondering about this impromptu shopping spree," Caroline said side-eyeing the witch. "I mean, I have a lot of questions."
"Of course you do," Bonnie murmured, draping the green dress over her arm and looking through the rack again. "Like the fact that you wanted to ditch classes to drive a couple hours to shop," Caroline said. Bonnie just hummed in response. "In which you're doing pretty…" Bonnie looked up from the rack to look at the blonde vampire, "Well pretty aggressively," Caroline finished.
Bonnie nibbled her lip then resumed looking through rack. Caroline sighed and crossed her arms, "Fine. I say get that dress. It'll go nice with the heels I picked for you."
Bonnie eyed Caroline, "You think?"
"Yeah, definitely."
"Great!" Bonnie beamed, turned, and walked towards the jewelry section. "I'm thinking maybe some new earrings," she tossed over her shoulder to a bewildered Caroline.
After a day of shopping, manis and pedis, dinner, and a few drinks, Bonnie unlocked the door and stepped into her dimly lit apartment. She kicked the door shut behind her and dropped the shopping bags onto the floor. Kicking off her boots, she pulled her purse over her head and dug out her phone. After her spat with Kai, she had sporadically turned her phone on and off to keep herself from checking to see if Kai had texted or called her.
Bonnie turned on the phone then walked across the darkened living room to turn on a tall lamp. Bonnie frowned down at her phone. Still no texts. No voicemail. Bonnie blindly fumbled around for the switch turning the lamp on when she found it. "Glad to see that thing is actually working," Bonnie heard from behind her as she was about to check her email. Bonnie nearly jumped out of her skin and stumbled a bit, before she looked to where the voice came from. The air around her couch wavered and Kai appeared, sitting with his elbows on his knees and his hands dangling between them. He tilted his head and gave her a crooked smile, "And just where have you been young lady?"