"Kai wait."

"Bon you're so clingy – what a turn on," Kai threw over his shoulder continuing down the hallway as she caught up with him.

"Just hold on a second there's something I have to tell you."

With his curiosity peaked, Kai stopped mid-stride and tilted his head towards her, "yes?"

"I found out the reason that Damon killed you was because your dad wanted him to, but he knew that you wouldn't actually die since you made it out of the prison world. I think he's up to something."

"I'd place a bet on that," he nodded, letting that tidbit of information seep into the part of his mind where his theories swirl around.

"And then you come back healthy and full of magic and he still hasn't shown his face? He has something planned, he could be enacting it right now for all we know so I don't think going off and hunting down your family would be the smartest choice."

"I'll only be gone an hour, what kind of trouble could I get into in that amount of time?"

"You only need five minutes, maybe less."

"You're not entirely wrong," Kai chuckled and turned as she went around him to block his path.

"I'm serious Kai; what if it's a trap that you're walking into and end up getting ambushed?"

"They'd have to be pretty quick to catch me, especially with my heaping of magic coming at them."

"Just tell me where you're going."

"Maybe later."

"If you go and get yourself killed there won't be a later," Bonnie argued as his cheeky grin widened, "and stop smiling at me like that."

"Like what?"

"All satisfied with yourself."

"Not with me," Kai cooed as a flash of Bonnie on his lap admitting to worrying about him sprang to mind causing him to take a step closer, "you still manage to keep me on my toes."

"Yeah likewise," she snorted, "like now, with Sheriff Forbes; I really wasn't sure if you would."

"I wasn't either," he shrugged truthfully.

"Then why did you?"

"Well first; you would owe me one, second; now Caroline owes me one too and third; something had to be done to stop all that blubbering so it seemed like a pretty fair trade."

"You had to make Care do it too?"

"Uh, yeah, she's the one who needed a Special Ops magic siphoner; this wasn't a favor as much as a business transaction where both parties get something out of it."

"You've been back three days and already one of my friends got the back end of your bad mood and will now have to try and fall in love with her boyfriend all over again The Vow style."

"That should be eventful."

"While the other is now indebted to you and will feel obligated to return the favor."

"Good to know; and technically I've been back four days."

"Don't do anything stupid Kai, and stop getting inside everyone's heads."

"It's not my fault I'm just naturally gifted at reading people, and I still have a couple more to check off the list; what about the other brother all brooding and mysterious that I saw that one time for those few short minutes? Damon I had down to the letter within those first four months so he doesn't need any extra attention. Ooh but what about little Gilbert? I've already picked up on a couple things but I don't want to ruin the big reveal for later."

"Leave Jeremy out of this," Bonnie said sternly seeming to trigger the opposite effect in him.

"Afraid of all the juicy secrets I'll uncover?"

"I can promise that you wouldn't enjoy any of them," she agreed with a nod.

"I'll be sure to let you know, anyway I got to run I'll see you in a couple hours," Kai said as a goodbye and made it halfway around Bonnie before her hand wrapped around his arm.

"Don't kill anyone today," she demanded staring into his eyes and tightening her grip when he didn't respond, "if I find out you did then this will be our last conversation."

Kai tilted his head slightly, hit with a jolt of irritation he hadn't anticipated in response to her ultimatum. Swallowing the string of sentences that were threatening to spill out he stepped into her noticing she didn't move away this time, feeling a grimace start to show before wiping it away with a bite of his lower lip.

"You think you can control me?" he asked so low he felt like he was breathing it out against her face.

Searching his eyes Bonnie wavered showing a brief window of uncertainty before raising her chin in confidence, "no, but I think I have some type of control over you."

Kai couldn't control his eyebrows rising at the bold statement and had to take a moment of silence to contemplate if it was true. For the span of his entire life Kai could argue with absolute certainty that there was not a single person who had the power to influence or sway his thoughts and actions, and after a certain period of time he took great pride on that. Over the years he had seen so many people bend to what other people wanted and expected of them and witnessed the depression and self-loathing that seeped into their cores, vowing to never become one of the weaklings. Without any conscious intention Kai had second guessed his course of action and had up and changed his plan to get out of the prison world altogether once he got to know Bonnie better. Kai was fully aware she got under his skin but he couldn't fully grasp the meaning of how deeply it went.

"Hm," he hummed in wonder, looking over her face landing on her lips, "I guess if that's true then it goes both ways."

This time the look of unguardedness was wide open as Bonnie opened her mouth to argue only to shut it a moment later in stunned silence. Picking up on what seemed to be an internal battle rocking around he took it as his cue to leave and leaned in brushing his lips across her skin whispering a 'see you soon' before fleeting down the hallway.

Finding his way to the closest stairway he descended down the steps three at a time making his way down the flights and out of the building in lightning speed. Checking the loaded parking lot he weaved through the cars in search of one that was both unlocked and of semi-decent style and came across a sleek all black Jaguar with the top down. Fighting the urge to jump and click his heels in glee he hopped over the door and pulled out the wires from under the steering wheel, his skillset surpassing some of the most notorious criminals out there during his own hard times of being surrounded by automobiles and never being able to keep track of the keys.

Within fifteen seconds the engine was roaring and Kai was on the road to his next destination. The night to himself had given him just enough time and energy to enact a locator spell on his ambitious mini-me's and found them hiding out in yet another overpriced high-end mansion – seemingly the only type of homes that are around in this town. Kai wasn't sure of who exactly lived there but he hoped it was a valiant foe, preferably not a vampire. Taking a left down a long narrow driveway he passed a small white sign reading Lockwood Manor and laughed out loud at the boarding school sized-building he was pulling up to; complete with four long white pillars, at least a dozen windows aligning the front and a large fountain in the yard. Pulling up and around to the front VIP section Kai hopped out of the car and headed up the steps tapping on the door twice before a blonde answered the door.

"Yes?"

"Hi," Kai smiled, "is Lockwood here?"

"You know Tyler?"

"Sure do," he nodded calling back on a hazy memory of Bonnie possibly mentioning that name, "we were buddies in high school and I'm back in town I thought I'd stop by."

"Oh, well he's not here," she said with a finality in her tone and posture, and he couldn't help but curve the side of his mouth.

"Do you know when he's going to be back?"

"No."

"How about I wait here 'til he does," he smiled stepping forward when she blocked his path with her arm.

"I don't know when he's coming back, he just left to check on someone in the hospital so it will probably be awhile – why don't you go find him there."

"On Sheriff Forbes? I was just there she's looking pretty lively again."

"You did?" she questioned looking him over trying to work something out, "you couldn't have been, the only people that have seen her were Caroline, Bonnie and –"

Kai's smile widened the second realization overcame her and leaned back to slam the door but he managed to sneak through before she could.

"I just have one question: do you really not recognize me? I mean… nothing? I know you were young and the slower of the two but I thought I had made a pretty strong impression."

"Kai…"

"That's kind of a letdown, don't you think? Here I am thinking the three of us would reminisce over the old times and that rat-bastard of a coven leader we grew up with when you've been brainwashed on your entire beginning stage of life; you probably lost out on some pretty fundamental stuff. Dear old dad must have physically erased every shred of evidence of my existence to keep you both in the dark – wow, lot of good that did you."

"If you think you can just walk in here and try and scare me or kill me you have got another thing coming," Olivia said through gritted teeth looking like she meant what she was trying to intimidate him with.

"I like the attitude; short-tempered and volatile, I know a person or two that fits that description. I actually didn't come here today to kill you – I know, crazy right? I have you all to myself and it would be more than satisfying just to take you out of the equation now making my whole week smooth sailing but I have come here with a deal that I thought might interest you."

"A deal with you, I don't think so."

"Oh but it's a good one."

"I don't care."

"With the added bonus of not having to die."

"There's no guarantee I'll be dying."

"So you'd rather it be Lucas," he suggested and understood the reasoning behind that choice.

"No! It's – I don't want to hear this! Get out of here."

"Olivia I am here and you are still breathing because I have an offer that extends your life, plus you even get to save your brother - all you have to do is step down from the merge ceremony."

"And let you potentially be our coven leader? You must be dreaming, you'll turn around and kill us all for what happened."

"Oh come on, you think I'm that set on revenge?" Kai asked innocently and chuckled when the sentence left his lips, "okay maybe I am but that doesn't happen to be the case for this. The only thing I want is to achieve what I was born to do; because I'm sorry to tell you little sister you were not the miracle twins that were truly meant to lead the coven but a desperate attempt to take the power away from me."

"Yeah since dad knew what you were capable of," she retorted back and he shook his head gently.

"You only know what you've been told, and you shouldn't even trust that since the same person you're getting your information from put a spell on you when you were just a kid to manipulate and warp your memories - which escalated to messing with your perception and intuition."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Says the girl who is unable to neither recognize nor recall her older brother; one of us is confused here and I really don't think it's me."

"I know you're the bad guy in this scenario and that is good enough for me."

"Somehow I don't believe you," Kai stated stepping forward as Olivia moved backwards towards a smaller side room, "I think deep down the only thing you care about is saving yourself, and ironically… your merge-buddy twin. If there was some way that the both of you survived this ticking time bomb, no matter what the circumstances were; you'd consider it."

"You don't know me."

"Oh but I do," Kai persuaded, "I knew you when you were no more than a babbling tiny person full of sugar. I remember you being the daredevil when Lucas would wuss out and had a habit of arguing your every point when he would just go with the flow. Just because you don't remember me doesn't mean there weren't real life events that you're missing out on. And now you could be missing out on life all together in three days if you decide to do what other people want."

"But it's my duty-"

"It's not," he cut her off smirking, "and it's not your responsibility either."

Hearing the door shut behind him Kai turned at the same time a blonde haired boy appeared in the doorway, giving them both a once over before raising his hand towards Kai's skull triggering a searing pain. Gritting his teeth and holding in his sounds of discomfort he clenched his fist causing Lucas' throat to close breaking his connection to the spell.

"Long time no see, little brother," Kai uttered coughing through the throbbing of his temples and looked him over, "but I guess that statement's pretty literal for you, having all of your memories wiped of me."

"You're lying," he coughed.

"On the contrary."

"Even if that is true it doesn't matter, you mean nothing to us."

"That goes both ways," Kai gritted and felt his posture tense, "but as fate would have it I'm the only way you'll both make it out of this."

"You're out of your mind," Lucas scoffed and stepped forward holding out his hand, "Liv let's go, we're leaving."

"Make sure you fill him in on everything we talked about Liv, I'm sure you'd prefer it over the alternative ending in one or both of your deaths. I can help you survive, or be the reason why you don't make it out alive; seems almost too obvious to me but you are the mutated twins so I'll give you a couple of days to mull it over."

Grabbing hold of Olivia's arm both her and Lucas scurried out the door without another word and sped off down the driveway like Kai was about to hop in his kick-ass Jaguar and smoke them in a drag race. If Kai had thought of it ten seconds prior then it could have been a different story, but alas he was left to race the Jaguar out all on his own. The digital clock on the dash let him know it was only a little after 2PM and he felt like he had built a small pyramid in the amount of time that he's already been awake for. He wasn't sure if it was the different alternate dimension or if they set the clocks back an hour in this decade but Kai was struggling to fall into the sleep rhythm in this world. Once he laid down and passed out he was fine for the most part but getting to that tired stage brought him back to when he was 9 and could run around outside for hours trying to burn off all that energy. It wasn't something he found too worrisome and chalked it up to adjusting and adapting to the new day and age.

Lost in thought Kai arrived in front of Sheila's house and noticed her car was back in the driveway leaving Bonnie inside. Pulling up in his futuristic mobile next to this beat up 70's ride he finally found something that the future seemed to have gotten right. Heading inside he went straight for the bedroom finding Bonnie curled up where he was a few hours ago. Moving restlessly it was apparent Bonnie wasn't sleeping soundly and his brain blast of genius coincided fluently with his tired state of being. Crawling up the bed behind her Kai kicked off his shoes and scooted in, snaking his arm around her stomach and tugging her closer until he felt her snug against him. Blowing out a breath he felt his body relax into the mattress and fade out.

-x—x—x-

A loud chiming in the distance drew in Bonnie's attention as the sound began to move closer, amplifying and reverberating through her skull until it was the only thing she could hear and gasped out coughing to vanquish the sound. Catching her breath Bonnie continued to hear the sound and looked on the bedside table to her phone, answering before it started up again.

"Did I wake you?" Caroline said brightly through the speaker, "you're going to be late!"

"What time is it?" Bonnie mumbled in her disoriented state.

"It's almost 6:30, and everyone's getting here around 7 so let's go – get a move on! I want to see you and yours truly at 7PM sharp."

"Yeah okay," Bonnie nodded before hearing the details of what she said, "wait –"

"See you soon, love you!"

Sighing at the screen she dropped the phone and leaned back – onto Kai's chest.

"When did you get here?" she screeched taken off-guard and scrambled to her feet.

"Couple hours ago, when did you get a phone?"

"I-" Bonnie hesitated knowing she couldn't exactly tell him the events of how she got it but still needed a tidbit of truth, "Jeremy gave it to me at the hospital, he still had my old phone in case I magically made my way back from the dead and needed technology – turns out he was right. But um, the thing is… I really meant to ask you this hours ago so I could come up with a way out of it."

"Ask me what?"

"Well Caroline heard your big announcement about meeting up later to eat and she said she wanted to throw a thank you dinner for saving her mom."

"Didn't technically save her."

"Temporarily got her off course from a rapid ending, and she's feeling grateful. Care's full of emotions and they're always on overdrive as I'm sure you've noticed and this is one of those times."

"Sounds great, who's going?"

"Everyone," Bonnie groaned, "since it's over her mom she got Damon and Elena to agree to be there, along with Stefan, and Jeremy will be there since she decided to have it at the one place I can't seem to get enough of."

"Damon's bedroom?" he answered with a wink and shielded his face laughing at the oncoming attack of a pillow, "but the whole house in general does hold some fond memories – I agree. What time is this shindig happening?"

"Seven."

"Well we better get going," he pushed himself slowly towards the edge of the bed.

"I don't want to go," Bonnie breathed and Kai looked up catching her line of view.

"Why not?"

"Because it is going to be a disaster," she puffed with a slam of her hands against her thighs, "You'll start something, or someone will start something with you, food will be thrown, magic will be let loose, and someone will end up in the hospital."

"Oh, is that how it usually goes when you and your friends have dinner?"

"No I think you'd bring something entirely different to the table."

"It'll be fine," he reassured sitting up.

"If we do this we go there, eat dinner, and leave – no staying for a game night or questionnaire."

"Ooh but I'm so good at the both of those!" Kai bounced on his butt, "what if I agree to be your partner?"

"No deal – we eat dinner and we are out; got it?"

"We'll see," he shrugged, "I mean only time will tell I can't predict the future. Should we leave now?"

"No I wanted to shower and change before we went, I figured I would have a little more time before we had to leave but I'll be quick." Looking him over she added, "You should probably change too – just your shirt will do."

"Why?" he asked looking down.

"Caroline likes to get fancy and formal and… just trust me it'll make more sense when we get there."

"O-kay," he drew out shaking his head grinning.

Bonnie rummaged around the closet deciding on a deep red wine A-line princess V-neck lace-up flare dress; the thin material over her shoulders crossing over her chest to a dangerously low slit down the middle at the start of her stomach subtly covering her with lace crisscrossing. The dress seemed almost risqué in length and cleavage, checking overhead to grab the unopened pair of fishnets before darting out the door and showering for no more than five minutes. When she was dried off and dressed she styled her hair in the longer new curls she was favoring and walked back into the bedroom in search of makeup.

"Well hot damn," Kai catcalled with a loud whistle, "aren't I the luckiest man in town to be accompanying such a fine woman to dinner."

"You're so cheesy, and this is not a date so don't go twisting things around."

"Pretty sure they've all been dates," he pondered with his index to his chin, "but agree to disagree."

"Definitely disagreeing," Bonnie remarked grabbing her makeup bag and spending another five minutes on her eyes adding a nude but shimmering lipstick. Plumping her lips in the mirror she took a step back and turned to Kai towering over her.

"You look nice," Kai graveled leaning in so close she couldn't catch her breath and felt a surge of disequilibrium testing her balance stumbling back a step into the bureau, "you alright, Thumbelina?"

"I'm fine," Bonnie shook off, looking over his new outfit scrapping the blue jeans for light gray ones and a black button up rolled up to his elbows – the material looking similar to denim but much softer "and thank you, so do you."

"You should probably change though."

"What?" she turned checking her reflection, "why?"

"There's no way I'm keeping my hands off you looking like that," he stated shrugging casually, "I'm trying to help you, really."

"Okay that can't happen," Bonnie remarked pushing his chest away, "there will be no innuendos, or lingering stares, or touching of any kind whatsoever. We are going to a place filled with my friends who are overthinking and overanalyzing every little detail and I can't give them any more reasons."

"You should probably change then."

"Kai," she scoffed trying to walk out the door before he hip-thrusted her into the wall, eyes darkening with each passing second.

Trying to think logically Bonnie inhaled slowly and felt his hand gliding up the stockings under her dress growling quietly in the back of his throat. Fighting the urge to propel into him Bonnie held her ground as his other hands drifted across her bare chest pushing the small sleeve off her shoulder.

"Do you see how easy this is?"

"Stop it."

"Last chance to change your mind," Kai spurred licking his bottom lip with hooded eyes and clucking the tune of jeopardy.

"We're already going to be late."

"Ooh I'm afraid that was the incorrect answer," he said in a dramatic voice with an open smile, "consequences of that action will be later determined."

"I'm keeping a fifteen foot distance from you at all times," Bonnie smiled sweetly and took a breath of assertiveness leaning off the wall into him until she physically moved him back a step, "starting when we step out of the car."

"Good luck with that," he remarked laced with an egotistical certainty that had her glaring and shoulder-bumping him out of the way, going back to the closet and grabbing a half cut leather jacket.

Ignoring Kai's raised eyebrow and growing smirk Bonnie slipped on a pair of slim black heels before grabbing her purse and heading for the door. Stuck in an internal state of panic for the duration of the car ride she blocked Kai out and found herself staring up at the familiar home and couldn't find the motivation to get out of the car.

"So do you want to head in or just eat from in here?" Kai questioned looking her over.

"I'm still debating."

"Come on Bon, rip off the band-aid."

Chewing the side of her lip she made a list of all the ways this night could go wrong, all stemming from Kai's doings, to her friends, to even her own. Since the kiss happened with Jeremy earlier Bonnie has felt like she's been high-strung on energy spending the majority of the day making lists of pros, cons, parallels, and a scale from 1-10 on the level of insanity she's reached – which is pushing a high 7. If Bonnie could have guessed that her day would have escalated from kissing Jeremy, to Kai showing an act of selflessness or kindness… she wasn't sure which adjective surprised her more, and ending in a dinner with the both of them when she was tossing and turning; she would have stayed in bed the entire day.

"Hey!" Elena beamed from outside the window scaring her out of her daydream, feeling a jolt of fear causing her laughter to spill out. "I just got here too Care's probably not going to be happy with our tardiness."

"I know that's why I'm happy you're just getting here too," Bonnie smiled shaking off her nerves and opening the door.

Complimenting her strapless blue floral dress and matching blue cardigan Elena linked her arm through Bonnie's and more or less dragged her to the front door swinging it open and yelling a cheerful 'we're here!' causing Caroline to appear out of thin air.

"Well it's about time," Caroline huffed in a flowing yellow dress, "five more minutes and the table would have been set without the guest of honor to enjoy it."

Bonnie felt her eyebrows rise at the remark and turned to a tickled pink Kai, smiling wide and weaving around Bonnie.

"Thanks Caroline, I'm eager to see how the night goes. And I'm starving."

Eyes twinkling Caroline turned and headed for the kitchen with Kai on her heels, Bonnie's feet planted in the ground when Elena tried following.

"You okay?"

"Not entirely."

"Nervous?"

"Oh yeah."

"Me too," Elena nodded, "want to slip out the door?"

"Absolutely," Bonnie let out honestly, "how long do you think Care will be mad at us for?"

"At least a week."

"And this is a celebration of her mom feeling better…"

"Make that a month," Elena corrected making them both snort and snicker tightening their locked arms and trying to breathe through her nerves as they made their way through the house finding the rest of the group in the library.

"Hey Bonnie," Jeremy said embracing her in a tight hug before she realized he was in front of her, "you look incredible."

"Thanks Jer," Bonnie let out through a weak voice and patted his back, her face starting to heat feeling Kai watching her.

"Even better than earlier, if that's possible," he smiled leaning back to gaze into her eyes and leaned in slightly jerking Bonnie back and letting out an uncomfortable noise and shrugged a shoulder looking at her outfit.

"I figured this was more suited for one of Caroline's lavish dinners, what are we having?"

"I have no idea," he laughed, "She's been ordering things-"

"Hey!"

"Cooking things… all afternoon, so probably a little bit of everything."

"I didn't order everything," Caroline corrected, "just the essentials that I didn't want to screw up. But all of the side dishes is all me!"

Bonnie looked around Jeremy's silhouette smiling in her direction before Kai caught her attention, staring void of emotion with his head slightly tilted and raised his eyebrows in provocation. Biting the inside of her cheek her eyes darted around the rest of the room and made her way through greeting Damon and Stefan and talking with them for the remainder until Caroline came in with a grand gesture that the food was ready. Pushing through everyone Bonnie was the first to arrive at the table and was almost positive she had beat the system… until she noticed the place cards.

"Seriously, Caroline?"

"What, they were just lying around."

Bonnie ran around the rectangle table, three on each side with one at the head of the table being Stefan; clockwise going Caroline, Jeremy, Elena, and on the opposite side Damon, Bonnie, and Kai.

"Why," she mumbled slinking into her chair and slouching all the way down as the rest of the party guests made their way in each having a comment about the seating arrangement.

"Why am I across from Elena and not beside her?"

"I should be next to Bonnie."

"So thank you all for coming," Caroline said standing in front of her chair silencing the complaints, "today is a celebration of a temporary victory; my mom is not going to meet a vamped-up super death because of me and that would not have been possible without Kai, so – thank you – and I thought a nice family dinner together would be just what all of us needed."

"Especially since half of us don't know how to act around each other anymore," Damon remarked staring at Elena before leaning forward past Bonnie, "and the person that caused that happens to be at the dinner table too."

"Small world," Kai nodded looking from him to Bonnie, fighting the smile she can tell was itching to curve, "an even smaller world is that I'm already back in this house; must be a creature of habit."

Bonnie's breath caught in her throat feeling Kai's fingers tapping on her knee, grabbing hold of his wrist nervous if she smacked him away it would make a sound. Squeezing gently Bonnie felt a jolt go through her leg kicking out at the sensation, needing to readjust completely and shove his hand away clearing her throat. Feeling a sudden flush of heat Bonnie tried moving the collar away and stretching her neck before losing the jacket and instantly felt the cool air breaking out in goosebumps across her arms. Checking Kai's expression she watched his playful eyes scan her shamelessly and glanced at Jeremy before doing a double take and his look sobering. Following his eye-line she landed on Jeremy staring at her in a way he used to when they were all over each other in the beginning. Giving Bonnie an alluring smile his broken sentences of 'I miss you' and 'I love you' rang back in her ears causing her to shift and direct her sights on Caroline – who seemed to be watching everything.

"Are we going to eat?"

"Whenever you're ready," she laughed, "everyone dig in!"

Bonnie scanned the packed table filled with big dishes of chicken wings, chicken tenders, rice, noodles, mashed potatoes, a variety of steamed vegetables, a few different options of kebabs with steak or chicken and peppers, biscuits, and a massive rack of ribs in the center.

"What, no dessert?"

"Behind you," she pointed and Bonnie laughed out loud at the variety of sweets from cakes to cookies and a heaping of small pastries displayed across the side table.

"Awesome," Kai beamed practically bouncing in his seat looking back and forth, "I'm really excited for this."

Smirking at Kai's genuine delight Bonnie dove into whatever was closest and watched everyone else do the same, the chatter and clanking of the silverware off the plates intermingling as side conversations started flowing. They had made it through almost the entire meal without a hitch and Bonnie was just starting to count her blessings when Kai leaned over whispering under her ear and sending a chill down her spine.

"Your boyfriend's staring at us."

"No he's not," Bonnie whispered back continuing to eat.

"I bet he's wondering how we passed the time for so long."

"Stop it."

"And why we're still together."

Bonnie snapped her neck to face him completely and could feel her skin heating as she was certain flames were reflecting in her pupils, Kai's mischievous expression looking over hers and pulled one of the pieces of steak off the kebab with his teeth. Glancing around the rest of the table she noticed Damon trying relentlessly to start a conversation with Elena, Jeremy blatantly watching her, and Caroline pretending to chat with Stefan while she really dissected every moment of this dinner – which Bonnie had a hidden inkling she thought was really the reason behind it.

"So how do I go about getting one of these high-tech phones? Bon was going to come along on the conquest getting reacquainted with the world but it seems a Gilbert was way ahead of us."

The fork stopped halfway to her lips; eyes darting to Kai who was grilling Jeremy waiting for him to answer, unable to do anything but count down the internal clock to her undoing.

"Looks like it," Jeremy remarked enticing Kai farther.

"So how was the reunion? I know I saw the initial one here with you on top of some girl but how did it go without those pesky extra variables flying around – did you write out what you were going to say this time?"

"Hilarious, but I don't see how I would have had the time with Bonnie waking me up before the birds had the chance," he replied and Bonnie could feel her entire body deflating into the chair, not knowing who to look at resulting in her watching everyone.

"Yeah she does that," Kai said off the shoulder staring through her before turning back to Jeremy, "so what's up with keeping the phone; were you just compulsively listening to her voice on a loop or was there a less neurotic explanation?"

"When you're in love with someone and they disappear you hold onto whatever pieces of them you can; I wouldn't expect someone who's never experienced love or anything real to understand."

"Well I guess I'm lucky then since apparently it either turns you into a lovesick creep, having a blind dependency, or pining away," Kai retorted chuckling pointing from Jeremy, to Elena, and Damon, "that does not sound too appealing if you ask me."

"It is when you're with the right person."

"And that's Bonnie?"

"Absolutely."

"How are you so sure though," he pondered, "I mean it's been quite some time since the two of you were hot and steamy, there's a chance that fire isn't there anymore."

"It is."

"Mm," Kai shrugged nonchalantly purposefully goading Jeremy to stir and rouse something within him and it seemed to be working, Bonnie looking around the rest of the table as everyone's attention was drawn into the discussion.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?"

"No."

"I bet you'd love to correct me," Kai urged grinning when Jeremy clenched his teeth, "set me straight, fill in the missing pieces –"

"Kai."

"Show me what an ass I'm being," he continued, "I swear it'll feel so good after."

Bonnie's pleading eyes looked over to Caroline who had her chin resting on her knuckles fully invested looking back and forth between the boys and catching her eyes on one of the turns, a laugh-turned-cough spilling out and covering her mouth with a napkin. Trying to catch Jeremy's attention he couldn't seem to pull out of his tunnel vision and reached over grabbing Kai's wrist in a last ditch effort. Turning his head a fraction Kai looked down at her hand and trailed up to her face, witnessing his formerly playful eyes cloud over before looking away.

"Unless you're just full of it; I mean hey I get it young love and high school sweethearts and all of that… I guess. And it's natural to miss someone more when they're gone so it's okay; I see where you're getting confused."

"I'm not confused," Jeremy argued as his posture shifted and Kai used the hand she wasn't gripping to pick at his food. "I know what I feel, and what Bonnie feels for me."

"Mhm," Kai murmured through his mouthful of mashed potatoes and Bonnie's heartrate spiked into overdrive sensing Jeremy was close to throwing their kiss in Kai's face. "And your point of reference is from… nine months ago?"

Thinking quickly Bonnie let go of Kai's arm and pushed her feet farther underneath the table until the tips of her toes were on top of Jeremy's. Darting over to her his smile widened and she gave him a half smile in response, blocking out her other thoughts and focusing on silencing him.

"No, t-"Jeremy choked out a pained sound that Bonnie had to turn away from landing on Kai's ticked-off expression.

Looking from her to Jeremy he wrapped his hand around Bonnie's wrist and squeezed, a sharp stab of having her magic siphoned breaking her spell on Jeremy as his fit of coughing drowned out her yelp.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Today, you freak! What the hell was that!"

"I thought I heard you correctly."

"Yes, Bonnie and I have something you'll never have with another person and this morning reinforced and cemented that bond."

Caroline's surprised expression towards Kai drew in Bonnie's attention, her wide eyes drifting slowly over to Bonnie and her mouth forming a small 'o'. Glancing at Jeremy's satisfied grin in his direction Bonnie felt her heart beating through her chest and felt a wave of uneasiness not wanting to look in Kai's direction. Of all the ways to word it she was pretty sure Jeremy intentionally picked the one way that could be misconstrued and set Kai off.

"Somehow I don't think it had quite as much passion as you're trying to portray, but why don't we ask the one who was there," he turned and felt his eyes her profile, "on a scale of 1-10 –"

"Ten being how badly I want to talk about something else I'd say I'm at a fifteen," Bonnie looked around the table with erratic eyes hoping someone would throw her a bone when of all people – Stefan spoke up.

"Care didn't you have something else planned too?"

"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed radiating with exhilaration, "okay so I might have found the coolest game for us to play."

Groans and grumbles were scattered across the table displaying their own views on the matter.

"I don't-"

"Oh come on you haven't even heard it yet, it's called Murder Mystery and it's like the real-live version of Clue. Actually it's exactly like Clue because I love that game so I copied all of characters, weapons, and rooms. Everyone's identification and special piece of information about the murder is inside an envelope including one with a skull & crossbones who will play the victim. We'll all draw the envelopes one at a time… or all at the same time – and then the investigation is on!"

"Yes, let's play," Kai said cheerfully slapping the table for added effect causing Caroline to practically skip out of her chair into the next room before anyone could stop her.

"Kai, why," Bonnie groaned looking at the empty doorway and back at him, "we eat dinner and leave, remember?"

"Things have gotten pretty interesting since we came back here, and I think it's just getting started," he whispered out the last couple words and Bonnie felt a twist of apprehension in her gut knowing Kai was spot on that the hits had only just started coming.

"Okay who's first?" Caroline yelled sliding into the room and shaking around a giant fishbowl full of manila envelopes, Bonnie exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she was holding as Kai reached inside pulling out the first identity.