Warning for Mature (M) content.
Following chapter is told from Kai's perspective.

The last few weeks leading up to Christmas had to have been the nicest days I'd had in my life. I spent most of my time at the Salvatore mansion with Bonnie and Damon. They made it their mission to catch me up to speed with all the best Christmas movies that came out during my imprisonment. I'd taken a bitter liking towards Grinch and requested to see that film several times over.

Things didn't progress much between me and Bonnie since our make-out in the library. I was craving to kiss her more after that encounter, but for some reason it felt natural just being around her. It was pleasant. It wasn't awkward or intense in any way and I enjoyed where our relationship was at. Well, I couldn't really call it a relationship, because we hadn't spoken about anything yet. We hadn't yet decided what we were. But there was definitely something different in the way that we acted around each other. Something different in the way she touched me. For starters, she touched me considerably more often than before. There were times when she would subtly place her hand on my forearm while she was talking to me. When she was sitting next to me, she'd have a habit of resting her hand on my leg. If I made her laugh, she would always reach out and grab my shoulder or arm.

These interactions made me feel safe. I suppose I could finally say with certainty that Bonnie Bennett liked my company. Even thinking about that sent chills through my body. I was beyond myself. I didn't, however, return her touches yet. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, not really. Of course, I would occasionally touch her cheek or hold her hand, but beyond that... I was scared. I didn't really know how to do it. Or if and when it was appropriate. And I didn't want to risk anything with her. Not when she was so happy to be next to me.

A few days before Christmas, Damon, Bonnie and I were sat in the living room at the boarding house watching The Polar Express when Elena waltzed in, annoyingly perky as always.

"Pack your bags, kids! Caroline and I booked a skiing lodge up north for Christmas, we leave tomorrow!" she exclaimed. Both Damon and Bonnie turned to look back at her un-enthusiastically so I joined them.

"Oh, Kai. Didn't see you there. How are you doing?" she continued.

"I'm all the better for seeing you," I grinned back at her and she flashed a forced smile.

"Uhh, Elena, we kind of have something planned out here, I told you," Damon said.

"Yeah, we can't really go up to some ski lodge," Bonnie agreed.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Well..." Damon started. He huffed his cheeks and didn't seem to know what to say.

"We just..." Bonnie continued his thoughts. "We've planned a small party here, with the three of us. You guys are welcome to join, though."

"What? No. You guys can have your celebration up at the lodge. Kai is..." she paused, forcing another smile, "..welcome to come along."

"We can't actually," Bonnie said.

"Why not? A ski trip sounds fun to me," I said. I was failing to see why Bonnie and Damon were so heavily against the idea. Perhaps they had a bad skiing past I wasn't aware of. Or maybe just a bad vacation experience with Elena. That wouldn't be so surprising.

"Thank you, Kai!" Elena grinned towards me. "Why are you two so against this?"

Damon let out a big sigh. He looked at Bonnie and she stared back. Like they were trying to come up with what to say.

"Listen, Elena. How about... you guys head up tomorrow and the three of us will join you after Christmas Eve? There's just something we have to be here for before we can go anywhere. Let's say we're uhh... waiting on a package delivery." he looked back at Bonnie and she nodded in agreement with his suggestion. Elena quirked her eyebrow up and looked towards me. I shrugged. I seriously had no idea what was going on.

Christmas Eve had come around quicker than I could have imagined and for some reason I felt really excited about it. I hadn't had a Christmas celebration in forever and all the ones I could remember weren't exactly pleasant memories. But spending it with just Damon and Bonnie around a cozy fire and big Christmas tree sounded like a dream come true. Of course, we had agreed to head up to some mountain lodge the day after to spend it with Elena's group of friends which wasn't exactly up my alley, but I thought I could get through it as long as Bonnie and Damon were there with me. Stefan, Matt and Jeremy were apparently up at the lodge too. So that was going to be interesting, if nothing else.

I packed up my gift for Bonnie and headed to the Salvatore mansion in the late afternoon. When I arrived Damon had let me inside and the first thing I did was walk over to the Christmas tree to drop off my present. When I looked down, there were only a few presents tucked underneath the tree. I saw a small package with a card that read "Damon" and I knew that must have been the ascendant that Bonnie and I were gifting to him. There was another tiny present next to it for Bonnie, presumably from Damon. And the last one was a ball shaped one that had my name on it. I was almost surprised to see it. I didn't even think of the fact that I might receive something as well. My curiosity instantly peeked up and I wondered what it could have been.

"Oh. Hey stranger," Bonnie stumbled into the room. She was wearing a Christmas onesie and seemed a little bit distracted. "Didn't know you were here already. Is that for me?" she pointed at the gift I was holding.

"It is so," I smiled and placed the gift under the tree.

"Well, now I'm excited," she said as she approached me. She stood close to me for a moment and smiled up at me, then grabbed my hand softly and dragged me out of the living room. "Come on, dinner's almost ready."

"Did Damon cook?" I asked.

"Yep."

"Oh God," I whined quietly.

"Hey!" I heard Damon shout from the kitchen, just before we entered. Then he looked at me sternly. "Vampire hearing, remember?"

I laughed at his hyper-offensiveness and we sat down to have dinner. It wasn't actually as bad as I expected it to be, so I gave all my praise to him. Bonnie seemed to be extremely happy that day. I found out that Christmas was her favorite day of the year and she was grateful she got to spend it at home. I couldn't blame her. I was happy that I had someone to spend Christmas with and that I wasn't going to be stuck in an empty world with no one to share good company with.

After dinner we had settled back into the living room around the fire and decided to watch the best Christmas film of all time according to Damon, Home Alone. I cast my vote up for Grinch at first, but we had all agreed eventually that Home Alone was the right option for tonight. Bonnie sat on the living chair in her reindeer patterned onesie, cuddled up in a big white fluffy blanket with a red Christmas hat on her head. She looked like the absolute epiphany of Christmas Spirit. Damon and I sat on the couch and shared the leftovers of our filling dinner.

Once the movie finished, we'd decided it was time for us to open the presents we'd gotten for each other. Damon went first. He grabbed the small package from underneath the tree and sat down on the coffee table as he began to unwrap it.

"It's something from the both of us," Bonnie said. Damon quirked an eyebrow as he unravelled the paper until he revealed a small wooden box. He opened it and took out the ascendant that Bonnie and I had managed to perfect just in time. Damon looked up at her, and then at me. He was shocked.

"Does it work?" he asked. Bonnie and I nodded.

"I thought you guys said you couldn't get anywhere with the research."

"That wasn't completely true..." I said. "We didn't want to get your hopes up, but we wanted to surprise you in case we could make it work."

"And we did," Bonnie added.

"So this is what you've been doing the past few months?" he asked. "I thought you were banging."

Bonnie laughed and I joined her awkwardly. I suppose it made sense. He knew we were meeting up all the time but Bonnie couldn't tell him why. It's only a reasonable conclusion. We weren't but... We certainly could have been.

"We can go as soon as you're ready," Bonnie smiled.

"Thank you..." Damon trailed off. He looked genuinely surprised and almost scared. I suppose he had let go of hope to see his mother again, so getting the chance back so easily must have thrown him off.

"Mine next!" Bonnie shouted and got up to grab her two gifts. She sat back into her chair and began to unwrap my present first. She managed to wiggle the small box out of the paper wrapping and when she opened it, her mouth dropped open.

"Oh my God... This is beautiful, Kai. Where'd you get this?" she took out the necklace I had gotten her and showed it to Damon. It was a small silver chain with a shiny purple crystal pendant.

"It's a family heirloom. I got it from aunt Mary when I was visiting Portland a few weeks ago, it's passed down to the coven leaders. It's enchanted too," I said.

"Really?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, the crystal has a protection spell on it. It's to warn you of any danger," I explained.

"Thank you so much," she smiled at me. I took a moment to look at her before nodding back towards her. She put the necklace back in the box and reached for the other present. Damon watched her intently and when she unwrapped it, she pulled out a small bronze key.

"What is this?" she asked.

"That.. is your own new home. Whenever you decide to move out."

"Are you kicking me out?!" she shouted out with a shocked smile on her face.

"I would never kick you out, Bon Bon, but I know you will get bored of me soon enough."

Bonnie laughed finally and she jumped out of her chair to give him a big hug. A few months ago I would have probably oozed out jealousy, but I couldn't feel a trace of it anymore. We were all good friends at this point and the two of them were likely the people I trusted most in this and any other world.

"Where is it?!" she questioned him excitedly.

"It's a few hours drive. Thought you'd want a place with some peace and quiet and I, of course, wanted to get your smelly ass far away from my own home."

"You are insane, Damon. How did you even get this?" she asked.

"An old vacation lodge," he grinned, cocking his eyebrows.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she shouted out and I laughed at her excitement. She truly was a little kid at Christmas. It was refreshing to see her that way. I prayed it would never change.

Finally, it was my turn. Bonnie tossed me the small ball shaped packet and I caught it with both hands. I unwrapped it with ease to see a small green tennis ball. Huh. Not what I was expecting. I looked up at the two of them and they both grinned towards me.

"I will be right back," Bonnie said as she hopped out of the room with an excited smile on her face.

"What?" I looked up at Damon, searching for some kind of explanation as to why I was given a tennis ball. I never even played tennis.

"You'll see," he said.

"See what?"

"She's getting the other part of our gift," he replied.

"What is it? A racket?"

"Patience, boy." He placed his hand on my shoulder and made me stand up. I heard Bonnie's footsteps approaching the living room once again and I turned around in time to see her walking back in. It wasn't only her anymore though. She was holding a German shepherd pup. It was probably about 3 months old, and she barely held onto it as she walked into the room.

"Say hiiiii," she said in a high pitched singing voice as she cheerfully spun around with the dog in her arms. I was confused at first but it didn't take long to hit me. They'd gotten me a dog. An actual dog. That must have been why we couldn't leave for the trip early. I turned back towards Damon and he was looking at me with a big smirk across his face.

"You're joking," I said. He shook his head and pulled me in for a hug.

"All yours, man," he said and I looked over his shoulder towards Bonnie. She was holding the pup and smiling right at me. In that moment, I felt my eyes beginning to water. I couldn't believe this. I was beyond happy. Not because of the dog, or because of Christmas or presents or anything like that. But because of the fact that I'd had two people in my life who cared enough to do this for me.

I finally pulled away from Damon's hug and he ruffled up my hair as I began to walk towards Bonnie. She had crouched down on the carpet and set the pup down next to her, petting it. I approached them and got down on my knees then reached out and pet the dog myself. Its fur was soft and warm to the touch. Bonnie kept her eyes on me and when I met them, I instantly pulled her into a half hug, almost squishing the dog in between us. She laughed and hugged me back.

"Are you okay?" she smiled and reached up to my cheek where she wiped away a tear that I must have let slip.

"Yeah," I breathed out, still in mild shock. "Thank you." I looked back up at her as I spoke. She smiled and lifted up the pup, placing it on my lap. I held it and let my hands run through its coat as it relaxed it my arms.

We spent the rest of the evening playing with the dog and Bonnie said I would have to come up with a name for her. The only suggestion I'd had was "Bonnie" but she said that even though she was honoured I should probably pick something else, for convenience sake. Eventually the mood died down a little and Damon fell asleep on the couch, with the dog in his arms.

When she began to clean up the kitchen, I told Bonnie I needed some air and went outside to sit on the stone fence of the Salvatore's front porch. I leaned my back against the stone pillar and let my legs rest on each side of the half-wall as I looked out towards the night sky. It wasn't snowing in Mystic Falls yet, but it was quite cold. I took a moment to reflect on the evening and how grateful I was to be there, with these people that I cared so much about. I finally felt like I belonged somewhere. Like I had a family.

A few minutes later, Bonnie came out onto the porch, with her big fluffy blanket draped around her shoulders and her little Christmas hat still tucked onto her head.

"Thought you might be cold," she said as she came over. She hopped onto the stone half-wall right next to me and flipped one of her legs over, copying my sitting position. She'd turned her back towards me and then leaned against me. I smiled to myself and brought my arms up around the giant blanket that her body was still wrapped in.

"Did you have fun tonight?" I asked her.

"Absolutely. Did you?"

"Yes. I can't believe you guys got me a dog," I laughed and she joined me.

"Do you like her?"

"I love her," I replied.

"Good. I thought you could use a companion," she said.

"Thank you. Seriously."

"Of course."

"I mean, for everything," I continued.

"Hm?"

"For... giving me another chance," I said. She placed one of her palms on my forearm and traced it lightly, as if she was saying "you're welcome". I stayed quiet for a while, just looking out to the starry sky and enjoying her presence.

"Did you come up with a name for her while you were sitting and brooding out here?"

"First of all, I don't brood," I said. "And second of all, yes - I did. I'm gonna name her Chewbacca. Chewie for short."

"Of course you are. Geek," she replied and I could almost feel her eyes rolling back into her head even though I couldn't see her face.

"Didn't think you'd understand the reference, you uncultured swine."

She laughed loudly at my remark and elbowed me in my ribs and I couldn't help but to howl with laughter afterwards.

"I like Chewie," she said.

She sat with me for a few more minutes in silence and then she hopped off the fence, heading back inside. Before she closed the front door she turned back to look at me for a moment.

"I'm gonna take a shower and head to sleep. You're welcome to stay in my room tonight."

About 20 minutes later, I walked through the living room and smiled when I saw Damon and Chewie cuddled up contently on the couch, then I continued on my way up the stairs and towards Bonnie's room. The door was open and I noticed her standing inside, wrapped in nothing but a long white towel that reached just above her knees. She was standing in front of a dresser, staring at the mirror above it as she held the purple necklace up around her neck. I leaned on the doorframe and watched her for a moment, then I carefully knocked on the open door. She looked at me and grinned.

"Hi," she said.

"Need help with that?" I asked as I took a few steps into the room. She nodded and I stood right behind her, taking the two ends of the necklace from her hands. I secured it behind her neck, where I felt my palms brush against her bare skin for a split second. I slowly let my hands rest down next to my sides, still uncertain about touching her and gave out a quiet sigh.

"What's wrong?" she was quick to notice my uneasiness.

"Uhh... I just," I paused. "I guess I'm still getting used to being allowed to touch someone. Without them freaking out," I let out a brief scoff as I looked down, thinking about what I'd said. I hated that I was so awkward around her. That I never knew what to do with my hands.

Suddenly, her hand reached down to my own and she played with my fingers slowly, then she rested the back of her hand in my palm, like she was encouraging me to keep touching her. So I slowly moved my hand up to her wrist, where I squeezed it lightly. She met my eyes in the mirror, and I felt her back leaning into my chest softly. I averted my eyes towards my hand and followed it as I brought it up further along her forearm, elbow and then her bicep, until I reached her shoulder. I allowed my thumb to trace gentle patterns along her skin there, as my eyes met hers again.

"It looks beautiful on you," I said quietly, looking down at the necklace that shone on her chest.

"Thanks," she whispered. Her eyes closed for a moment while she focused on my palm that slowly felt its way around the back of her neck. I brought my other hand up to hold onto her arm. I traced it up and down, slowly, as she allowed me to feel every inch of her exposed skin. She tilted her head a bit to the side and let out a quiet sigh. Her eyes were still closed and I noticed she was biting her lip. I gulped as I felt my throat getting dry, just by watching her enjoying my touch.

My eyes dipped down to where she had exposed her neck. I hesitated for a moment, but then I leaned down and placed a soft kiss into the nook of her neck where her jaw met her ear. She let out a quiet moan in return and I took this as a sign that she liked it and that she maybe even wanted me to continue. So I did. I kissed her neck again, slowly, following her jawline. I moved my mouth a bit lower and trailed a few more kisses down her skin as I listened intently for her quiet moans. I brought my arm around her waist, feeling the fabric of the damp towel she was wearing and I pulled her body further into me. My mouth now moved along her shoulder and I felt her palms settling on top of my forearm where I held her.

My lips travelled back to the nook of her neck and when I reached her jaw again she turned around to face me and kissed me on the mouth, taking me slightly by surprise. Her hands reached up to each side of my face and I had to lean down towards her as she pulled me closer. My brain filled up with ecstasy from her lips finally meeting mine after my craving it for weeks. I brought both of my hands around her waist, gripping lightly at her sides. The thought that this thin fabric of the towel wrapped around her was the only thing keeping me from seeing her bare body made me go crazy. I felt like ripping it off of her while I tugged on it slightly, but I stopped myself. I still had enough clear thought in me not to be willing to risk any mistakes with this woman.

Bonnie's kisses slowed down and she finally pulled away. Her eyes met mine and they looked so different. Different than any way I had seen them before. A bit darker. A bit hazier. She reached her arm out to grab the door beside us and she swung it shut gently. My breathing got heavier and I knew right then that I had to have her. The way that she was acting made it clear that she wanted the same thing.

So as she stood back before me, I crashed my lips down on hers and stepped closer. I accidentally slammed her body into the dresser behind her a little bit too hard when I came at her, so I pulled away and looked down at her in worry.

"Sorry," I breathed out.

"It's okay," she chuckled briefly and pulled me back down to meet her lips once again. I took a few moments to try to calm myself down and I rested my palms on the dresser behind her, just in case I lost focus for too long. I was scared I would accidentally siphon her. She must have noticed that I wanted to slow down because her kisses became longer and gentler.

Her small hands travelled up my chest and without breaking our kiss she began to take a few steps forward, pushing me backwards as she did. I stumbled a bit when I felt her bed behind me and I sat down on it, looking up at Bonnie who was now standing in front of me. She looked so small and delicate, standing there almost completely naked. If it just wasn't for that damned towel. I caught sight of the necklace I'd given her shining on her chest and it only made me more turned on than I already was. I wanted that towel gone. I wanted to see her bare and wearing only that necklace. My necklace.

Bonnie stood there for a moment, looking down at me. I realized then that I probably looked like an idiot, sitting there on her bed and staring at her, my mouth was probably gaping open and I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead. I thought she might have changed her mind. I was about to ask her about it but then she brought her knee up on the bed, next to my right thigh. She propped herself up on it, supporting herself on my shoulders and pulled her other knee up to my left side, straddling me as she sat down on my lap. I watched her the whole time and tried to control my heart beating its way out of my chest.

When she sat down on me, my hands reached up for her thighs almost immediately and I traced my palm against them lightly. I waited to feel her lips against mine again and when I did I felt my palms squeezing harder into her skin. I traced one of my hands further up her thigh and she allowed it to wander underneath her towel, up to her hip. I touched her skin there and almost went crazy at the fact that she was wearing no panties. I wanted her so fucking badly. My fingers dug into the flesh on her hip and she moaned loudly into my mouth.

My mind slipped and my hearing went hazy for a split second at the sound of her, and then I felt her magic coursing into my palm. She gasped for air and I pulled my hand away as soon as I realized what I'd done.

"Shit," I mumbled out quietly as my eyes met hers. I was afraid I'd ruined everything. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie, I didn't mean to-"

She interrupted my apology by crashing her lips down on mine again. I was confused for a moment but she kept kissing me, with more passion than before. I closed my eyes and kissed her back then rested both my hands at her waist, tugging at her towel. It started to come loose around her chest and I let my hand shoot up towards her neck where I held onto her as I deepened our kiss. She pulled away and moved her lips towards my cheek.

"Do it again," she whispered into my ear.

"What?" I asked.

"Siphon me."

I opened my eyes and hesitated for a second, but the intrigue took over me and I began to drain her magic with my hand around her neck. She groaned quietly and buried her face into my shoulder. Her fists tugged hard on the sleeves of my shirt and I smirked at the feeling of her sweet magic filling me up. I knew I was rock hard underneath her by now. I probably held onto the siphon just a bit longer than I should have. When I let go, I leaned forward to kiss the skin where my hand had previously caused her pain. She breathed heavily into my ear, presumably still recovering from it.

"You okay?" I questioned her softly. She moved away from my neck and looked right at me. She didn't say anything. Instead she reached down to the hem of my shirt and pulled it upwards. I helped her take it off of me and then I gently pulled her towel down to her waist. I gulped at the sight of her bare chest and ran my palm lightly across the skin of her stomach, trailing my fingers over the scar on her rib cage that I'd given her months before. I almost felt a sick sense of satisfaction upon seeing it. Like it was a gift I'd given her and she decided to keep it on her body forever.

I placed my hands on her back and let my lips leave kisses on her skin, from her neck to her chest and down to one of her breasts. She arched her back to allow me easier access and held onto my head while my lips found her nipple. I sucked it into my mouth gently and listened to her moans. Bonnie pulled on my hair and I held her tighter.

I moved my mouth off of her, gripped on her waist and flipped her down onto the bed so that I was now on top. Her towel had fallen off and she was finally completely naked and lying underneath me. I lost what was left of my cool at the sight of her and immediately reached down to unbuckle my belt. She was a bit surprised by the sudden change in pace, but she didn't complain. I pulled her legs open to each side of me and it took every ounce of my being to stop myself in that moment and look to her for permission before doing anything else.

"Please," she breathed out shakily. Her eyes were dark and filled with what I now recognized as lust. I took this as my green light. The repeated sounds of her sweet moans filled the room quickly afterwards.

A/N: Phew... That was.. a hard one to write. I kept losing focus but.. I think it's my favorite chapter so far :D Please tell me what you thought in a review! Those really keep me goin'.