"Go, Bonnie!"
Aaliyah's yell accompanies her pass and Bonnie takes off. She always feels strong when she runs and Bonnie can't get enough; she loves the control she feels in her body as her arms and legs pump so hard that she practically flies over the grass. She loves how she's able to control something so much smaller than her with so little effort all while feeling so light and free. The warm wind blows hard and it rakes through the wisps of hair that have escaped her bun. A few long strands have come loose and swept into her eyes but it does little to obstruct her vision and she pays them no notice. There are probably people on the sidelines cheering, clapping, and talking like there is every Sunday when her and her friends gather to play, but Bonnie doesn't notice, not really. She barely hears anything, sees anything, except for what's on the field.
From her left she spies a figure approaching quickly, coming up from behind and a flash of navy blue lets her know that it's Tyler. She wills her legs to move faster and keeping control of the ball easily she out strips him just to see Kol heading straight towards her, followed closely by Asher and Kaitlyn. Bonnie's eyes dart to the right; there's no room to veer out and no one to pass to so instead she focuses on the pattern that their legs make in front of her. She waits for Kol to make an attempt at stealing the ball and a split second before he does she kicks it between his feet, and it sails cleanly through the opening that Asher and Kaitlyn have created. Both Kol and Asher slide to stop it and she hears their shouts of frustration when they both miss. A laugh bursts from her lungs as hops over them both and she runs past Kaitlyn who's missed the move entirely to recapture control of the ball once more with the side of her foot.
The goal is twenty feet away, fifteen, now ten and no one has been able to get near her. The scrunched up smile that crosses her face as she pauses for a fraction of a second to angle her body and kick the ball hard cannot be helped; she's addicted to that thrill that ricochets through her right before she makes the game her bitch. She breathes in deeply as Matt's fingertips barely graze the black and white ball as it soars cleanly past him and slaps into the back of the net. "Yes!" she shouts and noise comes flooding back. "Fuck yeah!" She hops up and down and laughs, listening to her team mates cheer and clap along with the rest of the people who have wandered over to watch their soccer game.
Her center of gravity shifts suddenly and she shouts in surprise before laughing hard as she's lifted off of the ground by familiar arms wrapped around her waist holding her against a familiar chest. A sweaty face presses against hers, chapped lips leaving a smacking kiss to her equally sweaty temple where short baby hairs stick to her skin. "That's what I'm talking about Bennett!" Kai shouts, swinging her around a couple of times before placing her back down. "We need insurance on those feet, girl! Priceless."
"I'm not hurtin' these babies," she laughs, feeling a little dizzy but not minding. She jogs backwards and he jogs after her and they high five. She bumps into bodies and hands come up to ruffle her hair, and when she turns around she receives more bumps from Sebastian and Klaus.
"Never miss a game again," Klaus tells her after she pushes them off and they all slow to a walk. "We barely won last weekend."
"Why do you keep shitting on my two goals?" Kai asks, panting. He lifts the bottom of his shirt to wipe his forehead and face.
"No one is shitting on them," Klaus says.
"I got us by, I held us down."
"By the skin of your bloody teeth."
"'By the skin of your bloody teeth,'" Kai mimics in a snooty British accent, and shoves at Klaus' shoulder. Klaus shoves him back as Tyler ambles over.
"It's because I actually have weight on me," he starts, and Bonnie snorts.
"Yeah, okay. Whatever excuse you need to tell yourself."
"You weigh nothing-"
"You weigh enough to out charge me, easy. Those are supposed to be pistons. Get better, do better, be better." Bonnie says, laughing. "Not that I ever get tired of beating you; I never will."
"You talk a lot a shit," Tyler grins, going to flick her ponytail and she ducks out of the way, hiding behind Aaliyah.
"You say shit, we say truth," her and Aaliyah recite at the same time and Bonnie grins at Tyler over her team mate's shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbles.
Bonnie laughs as she slows down to a stop and whips her oversized baby blue t-shirt screaming Mystic Falls Varsity Volleyball across the front and Kiss My Ace on the back over her head and wipes her face with it. She scans the people milling about and when she spots bright blonde hair she throws the shirt around her neck and waves at everyone. "I'll catch up with you guys later," she says to them.
"We're going to the Grill," Kai calls to her as she jogs away and she waves her hand.
"I'm coming too," she shouts.
"Ooooh, my sexy sporty chick," Caroline says, grinning at Bonnie as she comes up to where she's sitting on the grass. She drops down beside her best friend and Caroline wrinkles her nose slightly. "You stink, but that's a super cute sports bra. Where'd you get it."
Bonnie looks down at her teal and navy Nike sports bra. "Online. The racer back is crazy comfortable," Bonnie says. "I don't stink for real do I?" She lifts an arm to sniff her arm pit and Caroline smacks at her elbow.
"Stop that," she says, nose wrinkling even more.
"What?" Bonnie exclaims. "I have to check; I spent like, fifteen bucks on this clinical strength stuff."
"You smell fine." Caroline tilts her head. "You smell passable," she amends. Bonnie rolls her eyes and Caroline grins, popping her gum at her playfully. "You were great out there, as usual."
"Thanks," Bonnie beams. "I'm glad I didn't get rusty."
"From missing one weekend?"
"It was torture," Bonnie insists. "My dad could have let me sneak away for two hours - it's not like Abby would have minded." She scowls a little, thinking about how her mother always makes it seem like her random visits (that Bonnie doesn't even want, by the way) are such a burden, what with her sad eyes, and sweeping shawls, and overall 'woe is me for not being able to cope with motherhood' schtick that got old years ago.
"Don't think about it," Caroline says, feeling Bonnie's ire. "She's gone, you just won your game, you're good. You won't be subjected to a cloud of depressed incense for at least seven more months." Bonnie nods, willing her annoyance away, and they both look out into the field where most of the guys are still milling around talking to each other. "Does it look like Klaus got taller to you?" Caroline asks and Bonnie studies him.
"No. Maybe? Honestly, I can't tell. I haven't really been paying attention."
"I bet."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I forgot you only notice things about you-know-who."
"That's not fair and you know it," Bonnie says easily and leans back on her hands. "I see Kai nearly every single day. I'd have to be the most unobservant person in the world to not notice when something is different."
"Mhm," Caroline hums, attention obviously already elsewhere as she continues to peruse their classmates. After a few long relaxing minutes she says, apropos to nothing, "I'm going to fuck Klaus this year."
Bonnie sputters, coughing as spit goes down the wrong pipe. "Jesus, Care"
"It's pronounced 'Jesus Christ. And what?" Caroline looks over at her smiling slyly. "It's going to be junior year. We're sixteen. It's normal."
"I know it is, but you can't just... say it like that."
"Why not?"
"I don't know," Bonnie says, voice a little squeaky. "You just can't. Or you shouldn't, anyway." Her face feels hot and it has nothing to do with the July sun shining down on them.
"I don't know how you do it," Caroline sighs. "Around all those guys, all the time, and you barely pay attention to them. The fact that you can stand to be around Kai 24/7 and you haven't climbed him like a tree is impressive." As if he can hear them talking about him, Kai looks over in their direction, mouth still moving as he talks to Matt. His eyes linger on both Caroline and Bonnie before Tyler says something that makes all three of them burst out into laughter and he looks away.
"It's not like that," Bonnie says shaking her head and pulling at blades of grass. "We aren't like that." And it's true. Sure they're best friends and their names follow one another ('Bonnie, Kai - are you guys going to be there?' 'Bonnie have you seen Kai?' 'Bonnie Bennett, Malachai Parker; to my office. Now.') And okay, Kai happens to be tall, cute, and funny, but that's just him. That's just her friend. Her best friend who just happens to be tall, cute, funny. It doesn't mean that because of all of these mitigating factors that they are obligated to screw each other like this was some cliché teen romance. He's also annoying, eats all of her food, and is the reason six times out of ten why they end up in someone's office.
Besides, it's not like he wants to screw her anyway.
"I know," Care says, adjusting her pink sunglasses, pulling Bonnie away from her thoughts. "But still. It's either him or one of these idiots, isn't it?"
"Kai is an idiot too," Bonnie reminds her, snorting inelegantly.
"True, but arguably the smartest idiot. And sexiest. After Klaus anyway."
"Kai is definitely cuter than Klaus," Bonnie says.
"You have to say that; that's your other best friend. I'm lucky enough to be impartial." Bonnie rolls her eyes. "My point is, we have to pick someone from this pool or wait until we get to college. In two whole years. I'm not trying to be a virgin in college."
"Well, I can wait," Bonnie says amused.
"Well, I can't," Caroline replies smiling placidly. "I'm going to have sex this year. Although we strive to be, we cannot all be saints like you Miss Never Been Kissed."
Bonnie shakes her head and pulls more grass out of the ground. "How are you so...?"
"What?" One perfectly arched, blonde eyebrow raises.
"I don't know, so casual about this? Like you're talking about changing your hair color. You actually sounded more concerned about going half a shade lighter than you are about this."
Caroline shrugs. "It's just sex. It seems fun; Stefan and Elena have been going at it since the end of ninth grade and they look happy as hell all the time. Besides, with how flakey everyone is nowadays I'm not exactly holding out for Mr. Right, right now. Mr. Right Now sounds way better, know what I mean? And also," she picks up the ends of her shiny golden hair, "it was my hair; I'm so lucky I decided to stay natural. Going up half a shade would have made me a Summer." Bonnie blinks at her. "I'm totally a Spring," Caroline explains, patiently. "I would have looked crazy."
Bonnie shakes her head, giggling. "Hey!" They both look over and see most of the people who were playing on both teams heading towards the parking lot. "C'mon!" Kai shouts, gesturing to Bonnie.
"All of that being said, I guess it's safe to assume you're coming to the Grill with us?" Bonnie asks, still smiling as she stands up and slips her shirt back on. She smooths some of her hair back up into it's messy ponytail and is only moderately successful.
"Of course," Caroline says, rising smoothly from her spot on the grass. They link arms and make their way on over to their friends and Bonnie puts conversations about sex and everything associated with it to the side until...
It's Days Later...
...and she's sitting in front of Mystic Fall's namesake, trying to enjoy the mist emitting from the waterfall and she can't stop thinking about Caroline's 'Miss Never Been Kissed' comment. She knows her best friend was only teasing her; she would never make Bonnie feel bad for what she chooses to do, or more accurately not do, with her body, but the words still linger because it's true - Bonnie is sixteen and has yet to kiss anyone.
She feels like she's behind sometimes... or most of the time, really. Especially when Caroline, Nora, and Becks all talk about the guys they think are cute, and what they do to them at the end of their dates, and what they want to do to others they haven't gotten around to yet. Bonnie doesn't really concern herself with it all. Or she tries not to. It's only when she lies in bed late at night and she feels that certain restlessness that she lets herself think about things like that. Or when she drifts off and finds herself daydreaming a bit too long about large hands, with long, ringed fingers. And there are those times when she feels restless in the dark and can't help but think about those ringed fingers and she gives in and slips her hand between her legs. That's the only time she really thinks about guys. But besides then she mainly thinks about her grades, soccer, conspiracy theories she sees online, and what her and Caroline or her and Kai are going to do that day.
"You're quiet," Kai says and she looks down into his face where his head rests in her lap. She'd forgotten he was there; he's been quiet too, scrolling through his feed, not chattering away for once. His phone rests face down on his chest now, though and he looks up at her. "What's up?"
'Nothing,' is what she means to say, but instead she blurts out, "When you kissed Bri Lancaster, what was it like?" It comes out in a rush and she frowns to herself. Where did that come from? she ponders as she looks away from him.
She feels him shrug. "Uh, it was ok."
"Just ok?" She looks back down at him.
"Yeah," he says. "Just ok. And sticky." Bonnie makes a confused face. "Lip gloss. She had on a lot."
"Oh."
"Mhm. Why?"
"No reason."
Kai makes a dubious expression. "You're just asking how it was to kiss Bri for no reason?"
"Yup."
"Bullshit." She rolls her eyes. "Do you want to kiss Bri?"
"What? No."
"That'd be hot."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"C'mon," he needles. "Tell me. Why are you asking?"
"No reason."
"Bonnieee."
"No."
"Bon, c'mon."
"You are so annoying."
"This would be over if you just told me-"
"I just-" her lips thin and she blows air out sharply through her nostrils. "I was just wondering. It's not like I'm running around kissing anyone."
"Oooooh," he draws out, tone pitched in that way he knows annoys her to no end. "Are you trying to get tips for your first kiss, Bonniekins?"
"Get off of me," she jiggles her leg and his head bounces but he just laughs and settles in.
"No," he says smiling smugly. "You want kissing advice from the guru?"
"Guru!" she exclaims. "You kiss two girls and you're a guru all of a sudden?"
"Two more than you," he says. "Unless," his eyes brighten mischievously, "this is your roundabout way of wanting to learn directly from the master." He wriggles his eyebrows.
"Shut up!" she exclaims.
"If you want me to be your first kiss all you have to do is ask, Bonster-"
"No! she says loudly, face burning and he laughs while she glares down at him. He doesn't laugh meanly or cruelly but giddily like a kid who's just figured out a juicy secret.
"What?" he sounds mock offended. "I'm not good enough to be your first kiss?"
"No," she huffs. "You're not."
"Ouch," he grabs his chest dramatically. "My heart, Bon. That stung, that hurt."
"Shut. Up," she grumbles this time.
"I don't know how I will go on," he continues.
"Ugh, why do I talk to you about anything?" She pulls up some grass and sprinkles it onto his face. He spits when a blade or two lands in his mouth, but it doesn't stop him.
"Because I'm the all knowing, all seeing Malachai-ow," she hits him on the stomach and glowers out at the waterfall, cheeks still hot. It's quiet for a long moment and then- "I wouldn't mind."
"Mind what?" Bonnie asks.
"Being your first kiss. That'd be cool," he says pensively.
"Thanks," Bonnie says sardonically.
"What?"
"That's what a girl wants to hear. 'I wouldn't mind.'"
"You literally just shrank away at the idea of me anywhere near your face, period, so I think in comparison-"
"Alright-"
"I was being pretty sweet," Kai continues. "I know I threw the word 'cool' in there."
Bonnie shakes her head. "Just forget I mentioned it," she says, looking back at the shimmering rainbow in the falls. He finally sits up and she can feel Kai staring her.
"No."
She turns to look at him and his expression is unreadable. "What do you mean 'no?'"
"No, I won't forget about it." He moves closer to her so that their legs are touching. "Unless you actually really want to forget about it. But I know you Bennett; it's still percolating."
"You just don't want to miss an opportunity to make out with someone."
"Ooh, this would constitute as making out? And here I always painted you as a chaste woman; one single peck if a guy is lucky."
"You've imagined what kind of kisser I'd be?"
Now it's Kai's turn to turn pink, and he stutters a little. "No- I- that's not what I meant. I mean, I thought about it now, because you brought it up but I haven't-"
"Mhm," Bonnie hums, raising an eyebrow and feels a little spiral of giddiness zip through her stomach. He's lying; they've been best friends since they were seven and - yup, right there. Kai scratches the bridge of his nose with his thumb nail, his telltale sign of deception. "I think you're the one who wants to kiss me," she teases, and delights when his face gets a tinge darker. "Have you been dreaming about me Parker?" she flutters her eyelashes dramatically and leans into his shoulder. "Should I be exhausted because I've been running through your dreams all night?"
She cackles when he groans in mild disgust and feeling satisfied at shifting the discomfiture onto him she leans back on her elbows. "You're a pain, you know that?" he says looking down at her, unimpressed.
"I know," she says happily.
Two hours later Kai sighs and stretches. "Let's go," he says rising to his feet. "I'm hungry.'
"When are you not?"
"Just for that I'm not sharing my onion rings."
"Yes, you are," she retorts, grabbing on to his outstretched hand and letting him help her up.
They begin make their way through the field and back onto the little trial leading to civilization. "Why do you care anyway?" Kai asks her. "You never really care about stuff like that."
"Like what?"
"Making out, hooking up. What changed?"
"Caroline mentioned some stuff," is all she says and Kai doesn't inquire any further. He knows Caroline well enough to get the gist.
"Why don't you care about that stuff?" he asks instead.
She shrugs. "I don't know. I just figured I'd have to wait until college," she says truthfully.
"Got some weird kind of chastity thing going on you haven't told me about?"
"No, dummy." She shrugs again, feeling a little uncomfortable. "I'm not really anyone's type around here if you haven't noticed." She never voices this, never brings up the fact that she's different from ninety-nine percent of their friends. Bonnie just figured it was one of those things that went unsaid.
"What do you mean?"
"C'mon, Kai." She kicks at a rock sending it skittering and sticks her hands in the back pocket of her shorts. "You know what I mean."
"I promise, I really, really don't."
"I'm not..." she doesn't want to say it outright, it makes her feel too vulnerable and Bonnie searches for the right words. "I'm just saying, I don't look like the girls that everyone likes, alright. There's a very obvious difference."
And he must get it this time because he doesn't say anything and all she can hear are the birds chirping in the distance and the crunching of rocks beneath their shoes. "I never understood those guys," he finally says casually after a few minutes. "You're prettier than the Bobbsey twins, Vicky Donovan and Rebekah combined."
"Whatever," she says rolling her eyes. The Gilbert twins, Vicky, and Becks were the most sought after girls in their grade.
"I'm serious," Kai says and his next words sound a little funny, forced easiness with a side of nerves. "You're actually the prettiest girl I've seen in real life."
Bonnie doesn't know what to say to that, but she wonders if it's possible for one's face to melt off of one's bones. Is that how spontaneous combustion happens? When you're walking to get food and all of a sudden your best friend tells you that you're the prettiest thing he's ever seen in real life and therefore you blush so hard you burst into flames?
The silence goes on for a little too long and it's starting to feel awkward so she says, "Thanks," in a small voice.
"Yeah," he says just as quietly. She feels like she should add more, but she doesn't know what to say. Should she tell him she thinks he's the cutest guy she's seen in real life too? It would be a lie, but only because he's the second - the first was that lifeguard at the beach last summer. But now that she thinks about it, he didn't have Kai's deep dimples and she didn't hear him laugh but she's sure he doesn't have Kai's laugh either. So maybe Kai is the cutest guy that she's seen, but saying that now would just seem phony wouldn't it?
Maybe not.
"You're-"
"I-"
They both stop talking and walking and turn to face each other in the middle of the empty path. Kai rubs the back of his neck while Bonnie chooses to rub her arm. "You first," they both say and laugh nervously.
"Really, you go," Bonnie insists.
Kai clears his throat. "I was just going to say; earlier," he begins, "when I, uh, said I wouldn't mind..." he trails off and yup, this is how one goes up into flames for no outwardly discernable reason one could write on the resulting fire report.
"Yeah?" she replies, voice a little too high.
"Well, I..." he clears his throat again and a look passes over his face too quickly for her to catch and identify. He steps a little closer. "I meant it. I really wouldn't mind."
"Oh." Even though it only takes three full seconds for it to click she feels dumb when it sinks in and she says "Oh," again. She licks her lips, bites the bottom one, realizes she's biting it, and stops. "Okay," she says quietly.
"Okay?" he repeats, and it carries weight. Bonnie's palms start to sweat and she can hear her heartbeat pulsing in her ears.
She nods and whispers, "Okay." And he's close now, so close she has to look up at him. They've been this close before but not like this, not with him standing less than an inch from her. Not standing chest to chest, his warm, liquid blue gaze meeting her own before drifting down to settle on her lips. And he's never cradled the back of her head like this with his thumb stroking her cheek.
Kai leans down, his face moving closer, and Bonnie lets her eyes slide shut.
He kisses her so softly.
She didn't know what she expected, but the sheer softness of his lips makes her breath hitch. Or maybe it's the gentle way he moves them against hers that makes it hard for her to catch her breath. Kai kisses her carefully, like this counts, like this matters,and a funny type of ache she's never felt before begins to throb in the middle of her chest, right alongside her racing heart. He places his other hand on her waist, his cool rings warming quickly on the sliver of skin that's exposed on her hip, and it's then she realizes that her own hands are just hanging by her sides and she doesn't know what to do with them. She raises them to flutter uselessly between their bodies before she decides to rest them on his chest.
Despite the flurry of nerves that swirl around inside of her there's also a deep sense of satisfaction underneath it all, being this close to Kai, this way, and it's doubled when he kisses just her top lip in a lingering, affectionate gesture. His tongue follows, just the tip, peeking out to run along the seam, testing, and fire shoots up her spine. Her mouth falls open as she inhales sharply at the sensation and Kai takes this as an invitation to slide his tongue inside. He remains careful, keeps the pace slow, and Bonnie hesitantly touches the tip of hers to his. It feels different, odd but not bad; he retreats slightly, tilts his head, and then slides back in at a different angle and - oh. Oh that feels...He does it again, slides his tongue in slick and soft against the side of her own and she mirrors his movements and it somehow gets even better. His fresh taste bursts on her taste buds and vaguely she registers that she'll randomly crave his flavor in the days to come.
A small, tiny sound, almost akin to a whimper is pulled from the back of her throat and Bonnie would feel embarrassed if she didn't hear him inhale sharply at the noise before pressing closer. Bonnie feels herself sway into him, allows herself to rest fully against his body and she sighs. She knew kissing would feel good but this? she thinks as her hands slide up to grip his shoulders and his arm encircles her waist, this she could literally do for hours. Hours and hours and hours...
Far too soon, he begins to pull away but before he can get too far she feels herself flow onto her tiptoes to follow him, capturing his lips again. His resulting smile is sweet against her mouth and she can't help but smile too as she sinks back onto her heels, happy when he comes with her. They kiss for a minute longer and when they both pull away, Bonnie blinks her eyes open feeling as if she's waking up from a dream.
They stare at each other and Bonnie wonders if she looks like him right now; cheeks pink, lips swollen, eyes shining.
"That was..." he says, thumb caressing the line of her jaw.
"Yeah..." she breathes before looking away, suddenly nervous again. She clears her throat and steps back a little, immediately missing his warmth when his arm slips from around her waist. They look at each other, both of their mouths quirked to the side, barely holding back grins, and when Kai squints his eye and rubs at his hair she lets out a little huff of laughter that he echoes. The nerves drain away, and they turn to start walking the trail again, a little slower than before.
They don't speak as they walk, and the soon to be setting sun shines brightly between the trees. The chattering birds twitter like mad, and when Bonnie and Kai's shoulders rub together with nearly every step neither of them move away.