Note: Extra long chapter as an apology for all the waiting lately and also for the celebration of the twentieth chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter Twenty: One Day

Looking outside Bonnie saw the early spring sun brighten up the school yard. Any other day she would wear the brightest of smiles witnessing the start of the warm season. Any other day she would enjoy this day, her favorite kind of day of the year, but right now the feeling in her gut was overwhelming that happiness.

She was sitting in Mr. Bright's office once more. After she had her official evaluation meeting with Ms. Gibbens about Kai's behavior during the history assignment, Mr. Bright came up to her to ask, or demand, another meeting with her to talk about her extracurricular activity of spying on her friend.

So now she was sitting in his office, waiting for him so show up. Mrs. Percyville had ushered her inside and told her it would only be another few minutes and that Mr. Bright would hurry so that she wouldn't miss her first class but it had already been 10 minutes. 10 minutes that gave Bonnie time to think about this whole deal between her and her headmaster. It had not been the first that doubts about this whole agenda crossed her mind but in last couple of weeks it had only grown stronger and stronger.

Of course she had changed the deal so she only had to tell what she thought was important and she could just shut up about everything and fool her headmaster into believing she was still on board. But that wasn't Bonnie's style and it would neither help Mr. Bright nor her relationship with Kai. She needed to clarify her doubts and get out of this stupid deal.

"I am so sorry, Bonnie. Board members are sometimes so stressful." Bonnie twitched a little by Mr. Bright's sudden arrival. He had opened the door in one swing and crossed the distance to the desk in no time, placing himself behind it.

Bonnie only smiled an half convincing smile but stayed quiet. She wanted to let him do all the talking.

"How are you doing, Bonnie?" was his first question.

Bonnie hesitated. She was thinking about telling him right away that she wasn't going to do these little sit-ins any longer but thought that it might come across as unfriendly, so she stuck to a version of the truth. "The sun is coming back, so I already feel better."

Mr. Bright smiled over her mention of the good weather and took a quick peek out his window.
"You are right about that." He stated with a smile and when he looked back at her his eyes had the usual serious glance in them and Bonnie knew they were going straight to business.

"So, I got the update from Ms. Gibbens about your report on the teamwork with Kai." He paused briefly. "I am very content with it. I can see that I have chosen just the right person to do this. Good job Bonnie."

Bonnie nodded, still not willing to say anything.

"Is there anything you want to add to said evaluation? Something you weren't comfortable sharing with Ms. Gibbens?" Bright asked and watched her expression closely.

"No, I said all that I wanted to." Bonnie answered shortly. She was getting more nervous by the second. She needed to address her concern.

"Good." Bright nodded and opened up a folder Bonnie didn't realize was lying on his desk before. He put in a copy of what Bonnie assumed was the protocol of Bonnie's report session with Ms. Gibbens and put it in the folder, giving Bonnie the opportunity to peek at the title put on it. It was Kai's student record.

"And is there any other news you want to share with me this time? Anything significant?" Bright looked back at Bonnie and she had to swallow. This was her cue.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something." Bonnie paused and Mr. Bright looked at her with anticipation and a hint of fear, imagining 100 different things Kai might have done. "I… We have talked about the fact that I don't feel as comfortable doing this as I thought I would be and I… I think that I can't keep reporting back to you about Kai."

There, it was out in the open. Bonnie looked into her principle's face and watched his reaction closely. His face had changed from anticipation to unreadable neutrality. After a long moment of only looking at each other Mr. Bright finally spoke again.

"I have already heard that the two of you had become quite close, spending quite some time together, and I would be lying if I didn't expect this to happen." He sighted. "But I was hoping that you would sustain a little bit longer." Bonnie saw disappointment crossing his face briefly.

"You told me that if I wanted out I would get out." Bonnie reminded him.

"Yes, yes. I did say that and I will not force you to continue this arrangement. I just want to make you see what we already achieved in such a short time. Kai's teachers have been reporting an increase of his attendances and he only rarely got send to my office the past few weeks and if I didn't have you I would only assume that it was some kind of phase of his or that he was plotting something but now I know about your good influence and I can see that you are having an important influence on him."

"I understand that but I don't think that I am going to lose that influence over him. On the contrary. We are friends and I think I have a connection to him that not a lot of people have. I can get him to open up and you are still going to profit from that, but… I just can't keep spying on him. That's not what friends do. That's not what I want this friendship to be like."

Bright nodded and then finally managed a smile. "You are right Bonnie. I'll set you free of that task."

"Really?" Suddenly Bonnie felt way better.

"Yes, I told you I won't force you into this the first time we talked about it and I am keeping my word. I just always thought that you would back out from this because of different reasons."

"What kind of reasons?" Bonnie wanted to know.

"Well, because you wouldn't handle being around him any longer. Matters of annoyance, not matters of the heart." Mr. Bright said honestly and Bonnie had to fight hart to keep up her poker face. She didn't know if he was implying what she thought he was implying but she wasn't going to give him any other indication that his thoughts were true.

"Thank you anyways." Bright got up from his chair and reached out to shake Bonnie's hand. She took the offered hand and was glad that she was released. When Bonnie reached the door Bright once again spoke to her.

"One last advise, don't get sucked into him too much. I know you don't agree with me but I still think that Malachai Parker is unpredictable and manipulative. I would hate to see you get hurt. Keep safe, Bonnie."

"No need to worry, Mr. Bright. I know what I am doing." Bonnie answered and surprisingly she actually meant what she said. Bonnie stepped out of the office and closed the door behind her. Sighing deep and feeling the relief take over. She walked around the corner to Mrs. Percyville's desk to get to her class when she abruptly stopped.

With eyes shortly widened she thought about going back around the corner to hide from the person she didn't expect to see, Kai. He was leaning onto Mrs. Percyville's desk, talking to her with the everybody's-darling smile of his and Mrs. Percyville laughed. He hadn't seen her yet so she could turn around and hide, she wasn't too keen on explaining why she was in Bright's office. But it would make no difference, there was no way to go. Kai would probably see her the moment he would go to Mr. Bright's office, because Bonnie assumed he was here for that.

"Ah, look she is already done." Mrs. Percyville pointed into Bonnie's direction and Kai's head turned to find her, a bright smile appearing on his face.

"Ah, look what the cat dragged in." He joked and Bonnie closed the distance to him until she stopped in front of him. She smiled because she was genially glad to see him and greeted him by hugging him. After that she hit him for the comment he had made. Kai only laughed about that.

"I'll go tell him you're here, sweetheart." Mrs. Percyville stated and smiled at them both.

"Thank you, Mrs. Percyville." Kai called after her and then returned his attention to Bonnie. "So, missy. What did you do to get into so much trouble you had to see the principle? I thought that punishment was reserved for the worst of the worst." He tilted his head a little, leaning onto the desk and his body was now facing her completely.

"I did nothing. Contra your belief there are different reasons for seeing the principle but as punishment. I had an appointment with him to discuss some extra… assignment I signed up for but stepped back from." Bonnie was glad she came up with a vague answer like that. It wasn't a lie but it wasn't the complete truth either. To her relief Kai didn't defer deeper into it. He only looked at her with raised eyebrows and a smug smile on his face.

He looked way better than when she last saw him. He didn't look so tiered and seemed to be back to his usual cocky self. Which made her wonder what had made him so upset the other day because apparently he wasn't one to let himself drown in sorrow easily.

She wanted to ask but this wasn't the right place for it because Mrs. Percyville was already coming back and this conversation was really nothing for her ears to hear.

"Alright, he will see you in a bit. You can sit down if you'd like." Mrs. Percyville told Kai while sitting back down.

"So what did you do for getting called to the principle before the school day had even begun?" Bonnie teased Kai, who was still leaning onto the desk.

"Believe it or not but I am here willingly." Kai stated and Bonnie's eyebrows rose to the top of her forehead.

Kai continued to explain because of the startled reaction from Bonnie. "Yes, I know it is kind of unbelievable but I have some questions about my new schedule."

Bonnie had to hide the realization in her face. Of course, she had completely forgotten about the changes Mr. Bright had made to Kai's schedule to give the two of them more classes together. She hadn't thought about it anymore and actually thought that it might not happen now that she had withdrawn from the arrangement. But apparently the changes were irreversible. The fact that it had made her feel annoyed in the past that she would see Kai more often in class, now made her feel exited.

"You were affected by the changes to the schedule?" Bonnie asked innocently.

"Yeah, like crazy. I never had that before. I mean I heard that sometimes students can get a few new classes and courses and that there is always much drama about it, but I never had a part in that." Kai said, clearly sensing that something was conspicuous.

"Let me see."

Kai pulled out a paper, a copy of his new schedule. All students have been send a schedule like this and it was true normally there weren't many changes, a room change here and there, and if you were really screwed you had two courses changed. With a look on Kai's new schedule Bonnie saw that mostly 50% of his classes were the same as hers and taking that she only shared one class with him up until today she knew there had been a howl lot of changes made to his schedule.

"Wow, that IS a lot of change." Bonnie commented.

"How would you know? You didn't know my schedule."

"Well, let me tell you how I know: Second Lesson with Ms. Gibbens, well that stayed the same, after that math with Collins, ergh that will be horrible because the dude just can't teach and look there is biology with Petrov, there you really have to pay attention because if you're distracted for just a second you might have missed the way his mouth has moved and that you can't miss because it is the only way to ensure you understood him correctly. Should I go on?" She had been leaning over the sheet of paper and pointed at the different classes she would now share with him.

Mrs. Percyville got up from behind her desk and went into the room next to them and that action made Bonnie look up to him, seeing him grinning down at her. "So we share all these classes now?"

"Seems like it." Bonnie smiles but Kai scoffs.
"What? You don't want to hang out with me in school? Is that too embarrassing for you? To hang out with a nerdy kid like me? Or are you just afraid that you won't be the smartest kid in the room anymore?" Bonnie teased him but was really interested in his answer as well.

"A: I couldn't care less about what people think of my friends so NO to that first accusation. And B: I am actually looking forward to that challenge. But I have to admit I did not see this coming." Kai looked at her like he was expecting her to understand his cryptic statement. When the realization didn't cross her face he elaborated further. "Don't you see the pattern? What they were trying to do? They put me into all of your classes on purpose because they think that you and me working together is going to make me bend down to their rules. They were happy about this whole experiment they pulled off with us so now they are trying to spread that over every aspect of my school day."

Bonnie kept up her pokerface. He was 100% right about the intention behind giving him a new schedule but Bonnie had to act like this was news to her. "Hm, sounds reasonable. Maybe they actually did that." She commented.

"Not maybe, for sure. It is kind of funny how they are still trying to form me into this flagship-student but I won't play along for that." Kai looked down at his schedule with a dark gleam.

"What does that mean?"

"That, and I am sorry if I have to disappoint you on this matter, I don't care if there is a Bonnie Bennett in my class or not, I'll still do whatever the hell I want. But I have to admit, they got creative. Thought after all these years they would give up at some point." He looked to her and his expression was gleeful again.

Bonnie stared into the distance with nothing to really focus on. This would be something to report back to Mr. Bright she thought to herself. That his plan would utterly fail. No matter if she quit or not, the plan of getting him in check through her was doomed from the start.

"Hello, earth to Bonnie!" Kai waved a hand in front of her face and he slowly came back into focus.
"Where have you drifted off to so suddenly? I'm sorry if what I said hurt you, I was just kidding."

"What? No, that didn't hurt me. It just made me realize that you are probably a lost cause." She grinned at him and he grinned back, shaking his head.

"Mr. Parker, to what do I owe this pleasure? I think this is the first time ever that you are willingly wanting to talk to me." Mr. Brights voice cut through Bonnie's thoughts and they both turned to their principle who was standing in the hallway, about to lead Kai into his office.

"There is a first time for everything, Mr. Bright." Kai said with his usual mocking tone and once again Bonnie wondered if he was really feeling better.

"Then come in, take a seat. I'll be right there with you." Bright walked by them and when he passed her he nodded in Bonnie's direction and smiled at her. She could only give him an unbelievable small smile back and then he had disappeared into the same room his secretary had gone to a few minutes ago.

Bonnie turned to Kai. He was pushing himself off the desk, ready to get into Bright's office.

"So, I guess we'll see each other in class then." Bonnie said.

"Well, we'll see." Kai shrugged.

"Kai, you can't skip class on the first day, that kind of shines a bad light on you." Bonnie mock-judged him.

"Oh, come on all the teachers in this god forsaken school know about me and the way I work things around here so no one would be surprised. Plus, it is kind of the best excuse to stay away when you can say that you didn't understand your new schedule and had to go talk to the headmaster about it first." He winked at her and she had to push back a laugh.

"Alright, superman. Guess it'll be a surprise then." Bonnie prepared herself to leave and get to her class but not before getting on her toes and lightly kissing his cheek to say goodbye, like he did on Sunday in the restaurant. To her surprise he didn't make any dumb comment about the act and just silently accepted it. To not ruin anything by saying something she would regret later, she moved to the door and got to her class.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

To her surprise Kai had actually showed up to class that day. It was probably one of the first times since middle school where he attended all of his classes. But a week later his appearances had already lacked, nothing that Bonnie didn't suspect.

Bonnie had imagined all of Kai's old teachers to be partying in the teacher's lounge for getting rid of him for at least this school year while Kai had managed to piss off everyone of his new teachers within the first week. He just had a talent.

So, now she was sitting in the history class room, not really waiting for him to show up, because he hadn't shown his face in two days. She had texted him this morning to check if he was doing alright but he never answered her. That was suspicious.

So she felt a huge relief as he stood in the doorframe of the classroom that morning. She started to smile and wanted to point at the free table beside her when he called for her to come follow him outside the room.

Bonnie frowned at his demand, but stood up from her seat. All the other students were getting into the room and Bonnie left all her stuff at the table, somewhat nervous about what Kai could want from her.

She found him leaning against the lockers directly opposite the door and when he spotted her his face lit up. She took a few steps towards him and he pushed himself off the lockers and grabbed her hand before she could even say something.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked, concerned.

Kai was already dragging her into the direction of the stairs and he replied. "Come on, let's get out of here."

It took Bonnie a while to get out of his grip but she finally managed after a few feet. "Kai, wait. Where are to taking me?"

Kai stopped a few feet away from her as he realized Bonnie's hand was slipping out of his hold and turned around, face teasing. "That's a secret, you'll see."

Bonnie raised her eyebrows. "We have class! We can't just roam around the school like we want to."

"Who said anything about roaming around the school?" Kai's grin became wider and wider by the second.

Bonnie looked startled. "What? You… you want to leave here?"

Kai tilted his head and watched her like his plans were so obvious. He took a step towards her so she was within his reach but still left some space between the two of them. When he stayed silent Bonnie continued to voice her concern.

"We can't just leave. I mean, I can't. What do you even want to do? I mean, why do I need to come with you?"

He looked straight in her face, a serious expression in his eyes. "Because you promised me!"

Bonnie blinked a few times, not understanding what he was talking about and then it hit her. "Oh, no!" She turned her face to the side and remembered the promise he was talking about. When they had done the history assignment together she had granted him one day, one day where he could decide what to do the entire time. She had been naïve to think that he would choose a better day for this, or maybe even forget about it.

"Kai, can't we do this another day? This is really not the best time."

"Why? Are you busy taking notes about themes that don't interest you at all? Or is it about ditching class? Come on, Bon it is not like you never did that before."

He was right, she had ditched school before, with him. But that was just the last few hours and it wasn't a big deal, she could have even come up with the best excuse to her mother, but an entire school day? She looked from side to side, not wanting to look into Kai's wide grin. He knew he had power over her in that moment and she hated it. He stepped even closer to her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You promised."

She looked up as he stepped a few inches away from her, stretching out his hand for her to take it and accept his offer. Bonnie was conflicted. She didn't have any wish to go to school this morning, but ditching school wasn't something that came naturally to her. And then there was this tempting offer from Kai. A few more seconds of inner conflict and Bonnie had made a decision. She took his hand before she could change her mind again. "I have to get all my stuff first." She said and saw his sheepish grin getting darker.

"Go, I'll wait right here." He triumphantly said.

Bonnie turned around and went back into the room. She tried to not get too much attention from her classmates while packing her bag. When she got everything she rushed back into the hallway where still a lot of other students passed by trying to get to their class, quickly grabbed Kai's hand and they made their way down the stairs to the exit.

Bonnie started walking faster and faster, because somehow she though no one would see her leaving then. And she started praying that Ms. Gibbens wouldn't run into them and ushering them back to class. Kai next to her seemed to find this whole thing very amusing and his posture seemed way to calm, telling her that he had done this too often to feel any kind of excitement.

They reached the door and Bonnie let herself get guided to Kai's car. She got in the passenger seat and Kai started the engine.

"So, tell me: Where are we going?"

. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"We can't do that!" Bonnie voiced her concern, looking around for another living being to see what they were doing.

The last warm sunbeams were touching Kai's face and lightening his blue eyes as he turned around to her. "Why not?"

"Because this is breaking and entering, Kai. You said you wouldn't get me into trouble."

"You are only getting into trouble if we're getting caught and I don't plan for this to happen. Plus, it is not breaking and entering if the doors are wide open." Bonnie followed his gaze and realized that one door of their school was wide open and realized that Kai wanted to basically walk into the school after hours and climb all the way to the top, imagining not to be caught by anyone when there were clearly still people inside.

"Are you backing out?" Kai asked.

The whole day had been a blast. She had been nervous at the start, because he had refused to tell her where they were going. Their first stop was the mall. Kai explained that Bonnie couldn't leave the school without at least once ditching school to go to the mall. Bonnie relaxed more and more the further they had gotten into it and the two had bought some ice cream, trying on some ridiculous clothes in a second-hand shop and annoyed the fish in the big aquarium in the middle of the mall.

When they got out, the sun had begun to shine brightly. For the end of March it was really nice outside now. The first flowers were starting to bloom and the sunlight drew a lot of people out of their homes. Their next step was a pizza place where Bonnie ordered a huge pizza with salami, bacon and corn covered over and over in cheese. Kai had laughed at her saying she would never finish this but she did and that gave Bonnie the satisfaction to finally seeing Kai Parker speechless.

She had fallen into a food-coma after that and had only barley made it back to the car. The next stop surprised Bonnie entirely. Kai had driven them to a lake, somewhere outside of Portland. There were trees everywhere and they got out and walked for more than a mile until Kai finally pointed to a bench near the water. There were bushes and ferns everywhere, making it hard to spot the place. When Kai sad down on the bench Bonnie followed him, admiring the view. And then Kai surprised her by telling her that this was his favorite place in the world. He used to come here with his mom and Jo. Someday his mom and Jo stopped wanting to go but he kept coming and enjoying the silence.

Bonnie had sat down next to him and placed her head on his shoulder. It was such a beautiful place and there were a tone of emotions going threw her right now because of the trust he had shown to tell her something so personal. At that point the whole skipping school thing was only in the back of Bonnie's head.

Before the sun started to set the two of them made the long walk back to Kai's car and he told her that there was one other thing they needed to do today.

So now they were hiding on the corner of the school building, watching the entrance. For some weird reason Kai insisted on going back to the school and climb all the way to the top. Bonnie's gut finally awoke again to tell her that this might not be a good idea.

Kai was waiting for her to answer him with one eyebrow raised. He was clearly challenging her.

Bonnie sight. "Whatever, let's just do it." For some reason she didn't care about the repercussions of their actions, she kind of wanted to see what was so special about this place that Kai wanted to go there.

"Okay, that's how we're going to do it. We're going to sneak up to the doors, there is a little switch in them that keeps them from closing and we're going to press it on one of the doors so we are not stuck here for the rest of the night. Once we are in, we'll run to the left and take the first stair up to the first floor. Don't stop running before you reach the first floor, understood?"

Bonnie nodded. "But why?" she asked him.

"Because there is a board meeting being held in the conference room and we don't want to get busted by them, do we?" Kai explained.

Realizing that in this moment Kai's father was sitting inside this building made Bonnie shiver, but now she finally got where he had the information about the open doors from. Bonnie shook herself for a moment and then nodded in Kai's direction. "Let's do this."

Kai turned around and duck beneath the windows. Bonnie followed his example and took his hand so she had something to hold onto. He squeezed her hand lightly and that gave Bonnie the necessary bravery to really do this. On the count of three they started sneaking to the entrance of the school.

When they reached them, Bonnie looked around only to find no one seeing the two getting inside the school. Kai pressed on something inside one of the doors and then waved for her to follow him inside.

Once they made it in, Bonnie followed Kai's plan and started running. When she reached the stair she was already out of breath because of the agitation, but she pushed herself not to stop running until she finally reached the first floor. She ran just a few steps further into the corridor and stabilized herself on the nearest locker, catching her breath.

She looked around to find Kai doing the same, only that he had his hands pressed to his knees, looking down on the floor. When he looked up to her, he had a wide grin forming on it and it was contagious. Bonnie was full of adrenalin, the excitement giving her a kick she didn't expect to have from this. Her feelings were on a rollercoaster right now and all she knew was that she was feeling good. She could only barely hold back her laughter but Kai pressed his index finger to his lips telling her to stay silent.

When they were both breathing slower Kai bobbed up and Bonnie pushed herself off the lockers. With a nod of his head Kai indicated the direction they had to take now and lead the way to the second floor. From there he led Bonnie to a door in the most far away corner of the school. Bonnie had never been there and watched Kai open a door, revealing a ladder.

"After you!" he motioned for Bonnie to climb up the ladder and she did. When she reached the end she had to push away a metal hatch and then she took the last steps onto the roof of her school.

She stood up and turned around to wait for Kai to join her on the roof. When he reached the top he closed the hatch again and then turned her around. "Welcome to the best place in this hell hole."

Bonnie took in a sharp breath. The view was astonishing; she had no idea that you could have such an amazing view form up the roof. She took a few steps closer to the edge and looked around. She could see so far, it seemed like the entirety of Portland dragged out in front of them. In the far she could see the skyscrapers lining up and right in front of her she saw the parking lot of the school. Everything was touched in the warm orange tone of the setting sun and was framed by trees and parks.

Kai stepped close behind her, lifted his arm and pointed to a place to Bonnie's right. "Right over there, between the green water tower and the white house, that's where you live."

Bonnie followed his outstretched arm to the place he was pointing at. She couldn't make out anything familiar form so far away but she believed that his must be the general direction to her home.

Suddenly the warmth of Kai's body in her back was gone. Bonnie turned around and watched him walk to the left. Her eyes followed his path and spotted something lying on the floor a few feet away. Her eyes widened as she realized that there was a whole chill out zone build up on the roof. She started running after Kai.

"Holy shit, I didn't know this was up here."

Bonnie saw a few camping chairs leaned onto a chimney, there were tables made out of pallets and a self-made carport for support from the rain and wind. Here and there Bonnie could spot a few plants in flower pots but they still looked a little sick due to the winter they had spent outside and a lot of candles, lanterns and lamps were placed around the place and on the tables. It looked more than cozy.

"That's because it isn't supposed to be up here." Kai explained. "Everyone thinks that the door to the roof is locked but in junior year we stole the keys from the genitor and opened it. No one ever checks if it is still closed because no one would think that anyone would get up here. But we did and started building this."

"You did all of that on your own?" Bonnie was impressed.

"Yeah, every now and then someone would get their hands on something useful and we would get it up here. We have spent so many summer nights up here."

"Wow, this is amazing." Bonnie walked closer to the tabled to inspect her surroundings closely when her gaze fell on something huge covering the ground. "Is this…. the soft floor mat from the gym that got missing a few years ago?" She turned around only to see Kai's smug grin on his face, she didn't need an answer to that question.

"Wow, I take it this was not the first time you broke into the school after hours."

"Nope! And let me tell you getting this thing up here was not easy." Kai walked up to the mat and let himself fall on it. He was now lying on his back watching the darkening sky. Bonnie went to place herself next to him. She lay down on her belly, stretching out on the matt that was still warm from lying all day in the sun.

"How many people know about this?" Bonnie turned her head to face Kai.

"Not many. Walter, Brian and I did most of the work and we sometimes took a few people with us when we spend time here, but only a selective few who we could trust to keep their mouths shut. If they knew what we are doing up here we would get in so much trouble." He laughed.

On Bonnie's face a smile was building up. He trusted her so much that he would not only show her one sanctuary but two. Kai sat back up and Bonnie did the same, watching the sunset from where they were sitting. A comfortable silence spread between the two and after a while Bonnie placed her head onto Kai's shoulder.

"Thank you."She whispered after a while.

"For what?"

"For this day. I know I had my doubts about it but I had a blast today and I want to thank you for making that possible."

"Even though you had to break some rules today?"

"Yes, despite that I had a lot of fun. And that showed me that I should start seeing everything a little bit more… smoothly."

Kai laughed at her statement and it sounded genuine. Not for the first time Bonnie realized how much she loved that sound. She had learned another thing today and she felt like she needed to tell him but she wasn't sure if he was ready to hear it.

"Kai?"

"Hmm."

"Do you have any idea how much you have grown on me in the last couple weeks?"

Kai turned his head in her direction and frowned, not understanding where she was going with this, but he said nothing and so Bonnie took all her courage and continued. "I mean, I kind of hated you in the beginning. No, not hate, that is too strong but I had a negative feeling about you." Bonnie made a pause that seemed like she was done with her little speech.

"Thank you… I guess." Kai got out, obviously confused.

"No, you don't get it." Bonnie flipped around to let her body face Kai completely. "I didn't know you and now I do. Now, I enjoy being with you. I take all your teases and side-punches. Hell, I even enjoy having a discussion with you. You freak me out most of the day but at the end of the day I just want to give you a bear hug and laugh about it. I never build such a close relationship with anyone before, not even Caroline. And you know why that is?"

Kai looked at her with something that Bonnie would describe as doubt and a little fear. He didn't say anything, just looked her in the eyes, waiting for her to continue.

"Because you, Kai Parker, against all my better judgment, are my best friend."

The fear disappeared out of Kai's eyes and was replaced with various different emotions that all crossed through them in a blink of a second before they finally stuck with one: glee. His expression was topped off with a smile so genuine and a little playful. Bonnie herself was smiling from ear to ear. She was abruptly pulled into his arms but it wasn't an emotional hug but more of a power struggle. He was trying to wrestle her down onto the matt and she was fighting back with everything she had. They were both laughing and after a while Kai reduced his attacks and let his arm rest around her shoulder.

"You know you're crazy, right Bennett?" he said a little out of breath.

"Sure, I have to be if I am friends with you!" She poked him in the rips and he laughed a little. She knew that he had accepted their label of being best friends. She wouldn't get a verbal agreement form him, she had known that before she even started her little speech but she could read his agreement in his actions. She was relieved and happy. This was way easier than she had thought.

In the distance she could hear a phone ringing. At first she thought it was hers but when Kai wiggled his way out of their weird hug, she realized it was his. He got it out of his pocket, looking down on the screen. With a short glance Bonnie could see Jo's name flash on it and she heard him moan. He declined the call and through the phone to his site, letting himself fall back onto his back in the process. His hands were covering his eyes.

The mood had suddenly changed from playful and light to something more serious, heavier.

"What did Jo do so you would not take her call?" Bonnie asked to break though the silence.

He lifted his hands down to his sides and watched her from where he lay. "Nothing, I just know exactly what she would say. She wants me to come home but I don't want to." His face had the same expression as that day when they had brunch with Elena, Caroline and Jo. And there she thought the thing that had made him so worried had solved itself. Bonnie finally saw the chance to ask about what was wrong.

"Kai, what is going on with you recently?" she asked in a soft tone.

Lifting his body up on his elbows he intensely watched her. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, quit pretending. I know there is something wrong. You have been acting strange all since the day of our little brunch. After that I thought you were better but now I just remembered that you are excellent at covering up what you really feel and think. But right now you are clearly bothered by something. I can see."

Kai breathed in sharply and looked away from Bonnie's interrogating stare. I jaw was clenching. Oh boy, this wasn't going the way that Bonnie had hoped. She tried to make him open up to her. "I mean, I don't want to push you. If you don't want to talk about it it's fine. I just want you to know that you can talk to me. I am here for you. I am worried about you and I want to help you." She reached for his arm but he sat up quickly, getting out of her reach.

"You can't help. There is nothing you can do." He looked into the distance, not facing her.

"How do you know? Sometimes having a second opinion is helpful. I can give you another perspective on things." She said softly but firm.

"You don't get it, Bonnie!" Kai sounded angrier now and looked at her.

"No, I don't because you wouldn't tell me what's going on." Bonnie now shot back with more force. For a second their gazes were stuck on each other. The intensity and unease in Kai's eyes deeply unsettled her but he quickly looked away, dropping his head into his hands. Bonnie felt desperation building up inside her. She just wanted to be there for him.

"It's alright. I won't push you. You can tell me when you're ready. I just wanted you to know that whenever you need to talk I am here. That's what friends are for. In good times and in bad."

Silence stretched out between them. Bonnie watched Kai for a few more moments but then she turned away, feeling too desperate to help him ease his pain. She watched the very last sunbeams disappear from the sky, giving away to the darkness to cover the town, blowing a fresh breeze up the roof. Bonnie shivered but not only from the cold wind. When the silence got nearly unbearable Bonnie was about to say something to take his mind off of things when he finally said something. She hadn't expected him to say anything anymore and when he did nothing would have prepared her for the hard fact he was about to present to her.

"My mom is sick."

Bonnie's head shot to the side and she looked at him with wide eyes. "What? What do you mean sick?" she asked worried.

"She got diagnosed with kidney failure few years back. She got onto the list for transplantation and got dialysis. But then she got pregnant again with the twins when they had found a kidney for her. She refused the operation after she learned and would rather have the babies than get well. There was a high chance that the medication she had to get would hurt the babies." Kai paused, swallowing hard. He hadn't moved, looking in the distance and not at Bonnie while he told the story. "After their birth, mom was feeling pretty well, the dialysis still helped. The doctors were surprised to see her so healthy and we all had hope that she would make it until they had found another kidney. And then the night before we had the brunch, I had to get her to the hospital. She had woken Jo and me up in the middle of the night, because dad wasn't home. I knew it the minute she woke me that something was wrong. At the hospital they confirmed what we already knew, the dialysis wasn't enough anymore. She would need to have a transplant fast."

The words lay heavy on Bonnie. She was shocked to the core. No one she ever knew had a bad disease like that. She didn't know what she could possible say to make this better. Kai had been right, she couldn't do anything. She could only be there for him now.

"Kai, I am so sorry." Bonnie moved closer to him but wasn't touching him. She wasn't sure if he'd want her to right now.

"See, now that you know there is nothing you can do to make this any better." He said sadly and the expression on his face when he looked at her tore Bonnie's heart out. She raised her arms and placed them around his neck, pressing him close to her. At first he didn't react to it but after a while he hugged her back.

Bonnie had no idea how long they sat like this and it didn't matter. She wouldn't let him go until he let her go. She felt his breathing getting calmer the longer she hold him and then he drew away from her. She reluctantly released him, feeling useless already. When she hugged him she at least felt like she gave him the impression that she was there with him.

"Is that the reason you hate the twins?" Bonnie hesitantly asked him after a while.

He faced her again, expression completely blank. "Yes, their lone existence makes me mad. They shouldn't have been born; mom should have done operation and let them go. But no, of course she would sacrifice her health for the wellbeing of her unborn children. Every time I look at them I see my mom being in the hospital. Their lone existence makes me sick. Because they are alive all of us have to suffer, because they are alive my mom is going to die." He was yelling this now. He was not only sad and terrified because of this but also angry.

"You don't know that. You don't know that she is going to die, there are probably a thousand other treatments the doctors can give her and then they are going to find a kidney for her." Bonnie tried to relax him.

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to get a transplant organ? Refusing one makes you start righ at the bottom of the list again and that is a long list! Jo and I aren't a match either so we can't give her one. "He was calmer now, desperate again, letting his head fall back into his hands. Bonnie's hand carefully stroke though his hair, her other hand rested on his right arm and she leaned her cheek onto his shoulders.

"I know there is nothing I can say to make this any better but… if you ever need anything, no matter what, just name it. I'll do whatever I can to help you get through this. I'm here for you." Bonnie whispered.

They sat like this for a while longer. Then Kai looked up and turned to Bonnie who raised her head off his shoulder. "Thank you." Kai said.

"For what?" Bonnie drove her hand though his hair again.

"Listening." Kai's eyes lids were getting heavier. He looked really tired, Bonnie could tell even with the few light there was.

"Don't mention it." She smiled softly at him.

"No, you were right. I had to talk to someone about it. And there is actually something you can do for me."

"Name it!"

"Can you just behave the exact same way as before? Being with you was actually one of the few things that got my mind off of things and I wouldn't want to lose that. I would hate it if we couldn't be normal anymore."

Bonnie smiled. "Of course."

Kai smiled back at her and squeezed her hand that was still on his arm lightly. Then he got up from the matt and offered her his hand. "Come on, it's getting cold. Time to get the hell out of this place."

Author's note: Ooooh, I am feeling so bad for putting Kai in a position like that and I hope you are not mad at me for doing that. I kinda needed him to show his vulnerable side and this whole situation is going to have a huge impact on Bonnie's and Kai relationship later on in the story. Just a little tease. So, again this chapter is super long, I just thought I'd get this out in one piece to celebrate the twentieth chapter. Thanks you all so much for sticking around so far. I love all of you and am very thankful for all the nice words. Until next time!