Chapter Twenty-Three: An Ordinary Morning

Bonnie woke before the alarm clock in her phone got off. For a second she was disorientated. Slowly she turned her head around to take in her surroundings. It was a dark room, the sun was only just rising and the curtains shielded the room from the few sunbeams that were trying to light the world. That fact made it even harder for her to understand where exactly she was. When she had turned her head to the left completely, she spotted another figure lying next to her.

Jeremy? Her tired brain quickly came up with that solution but she instantly knew it wasn't him. Jeremy was in Mystic Falls and her… she was.

In Kai's room. The sleep that had been clouding her thoughts was blown away the instant she recognized the sleeping person next to her. She carefully shifted her body to lie on her side. Kai was lying on his back, his head tilted in her direction but his eyes were still closed and his evenly breathing soothed her confused mind. He looked so young in his sleep. The constant intensity in his expression wiped away from the rested state he was currently in. All his worries stored away in his mind making room for a more relaxing dream.

Bonnie felt the need to drive her fingers through his hair but resisted. She didn't want to disturb him in his rest, god knew he needed it. Not moving from her spot she spent a while just watching him in the dim light, lost in his features.

Gratitude flooded through her. He had been such a good friend to her yesterday and when he'd wake up she was going to make sure he knew that she was grateful. And she didn't even have to wait that long because like on cue her phone rang the stupid melody that always made her jump up in bed. Bonnie rushed to the end of the bed where she had put her stuff, including her phone, yesterday and silenced the stupid thing. She hadn't set the alarm clock to the right time, yesterday. It was still ringing at the time she would have to get up if she was at home and taking the bus to school. But Kai's home was closer to the school and that would have given her an extra few minutes to spend to doze.

She only hoped that Kai didn't wake up from her alarm and slowly turned around to see if he did. Sighing from relief she reset her alarm, slipped back under the blanket and nuzzled into the pillow lying on her side watching Kai. But his breathing had become uneven and the next second he stirred and groaned turning around to his side, his body now facing hers, eyes still closed.

"I don't think I woke up from an alarm clock in years." His voice was muffled and scratchy form sleep and it sounded so sweet to Bonnie's ear that she had to suppress a smile.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you so early." Bonnie apologized.

"Early?" He sounded confused and then in a smooth movement her roll to his other side and checked his phone, only to let himself fall back into the cushions and groan loudly. With eyes closed again, his left arm rested over his eyes.

"Ergh, Bonnie you're torturing me!"

Even though he couldn't see it she looked shamefully at him. She nuzzled deeper into the pillow to hid herself away, seeking shelter from the soft fabric if Kai decided on his kind of revenge for her.
"I'm really sorry, I was too tired yesterday to reset my alarm. Believe me."

"You are so going to regret this."

Bonnie's eyes widened in mock-fear. She crawled closer to him, churning on his right arm. "Please, show mercy. I didn't do it on purpose." She then sat up and towered over him, still churning his arm and pleading over exaggeratedly, the kind of way she knew he wouldn't be able to endure too long. "Please, please, please."

"Oh, shut up." Kai snickered and pushed Bonnie away from him and she landed back in her old spot, chuckling herself.

Kai stretched on the spot and then turned back to face her. Then for the first time this morning Bonnie saw him open his eyes. If the day was more advanced, she was sure the light would reflect back from his bright eyes but now they held no color at all.

"How are you feeling?" He asked before she could direct the question to him. So she answered first.

"I'm feeling okay. How are you?"

"Awake. That's something."

A thought crossed her mind. "You said you haven't woken up from an alarm in year, how do you normally wake up?"

"I either wake up and stay up or not. It's simple like that." Through the dark she could see him giving her a smirk. That was nothing close to an answer.

"So, you just sleep until you wake up? How do you manage to get anything done then?" She thought of her own sleeping habits and the fact that if she didn't set an alarm she would probably be sleeping in until noon. But Kai did manage to get to school often enough for her to think he actually didn't do that.

"I usually don't have the best sleep. I have trouble falling asleep and when I finally manage to get some it doesn't last very long. I can always count on my inner clock to wake be up after a few hours. Even though I kind of only woke up once this night."

Kai sounded surprised himself. This at least gave Bonnie an inside on why he was ditching school so often. She imagined herself in his position, not ever getting enough sleep. She wouldn't mind showing up to some of the classes herself if it meant a few more hours of rest.

Her eyes had finally adjusted to the dim light and the rising sun from outside helped too. Kai had closed his eyes again but she knew he wasn't going to fall asleep again. It was just his tired state demanding to get heard. Within the next few minutes he was probably back to 100% and the more vulnerable and defenseless version of him would be replaced by the self-confident, guarded version. Bonnie took her chance and snuggled into his torso, her forehead resting against his right shoulder. To her surprise he not only endured her friendly touch but wrapped his left arm around her waist.

Oh, how good this felt. She hadn't realized how much he had craved this, how much a reassuring hug would help her in her state. The warmth spreading through her now fought back the tears forming again in her eyes. This whole Jeremy matter had left her so lonely, not only over the course of the past few days but for month. She had fought so hard to keep a relationship alive that was giving her nothing but pain and emptiness. No matter if she still had feelings for Jeremy or not, this was the best decision she could have made. She chose herself.

"Hey… shhh… it's all good." Kai softly caressed the back of her head. She hadn't realized that her body was shaking and the tears were silently rolling down her cheeks. Bonnie straightened her head and was now eyelevel with Kai, who looked at her with concern. But he was slightly smiling a reassuring smile and that kind of did the trick.

Her tears stopped as quickly as they had emerged and she laughed about her own stupidity to even let them out. With the back of her hand she wiped the remaining strains away.

"Ergh, god. I am such a whiner lately." She tried a laugh but it wasn't convincing so she snuffled to cover it up.

"But that's totally okay given what you're going through. Just let it all out, it's better that way… just t try keeping all the snort in. I'm not very good with human body fluids." Kai joked and Bonnie looked into his eyes with a smile on her face. She studied them closely. The blue/grey color of his eyes now clearly visible from the light. Those eyes that were always so guarded, only letting some emotions peek through. Eyes that could hold so much ice and anger towards people but were always light and pleasant when they were stuck on her. Such beautiful eyes.

Bonnie's smile had slowly faded away and she was now completely lost in the blue of his eyes. Every now and then she had to remind herself to swallow and blink because she could do nothing else but look into those eyes that seemed to hold the world in them. Such mystery and danger but also so alluring. They did weird things to her stomach.

Her brain was shut down to basic function. There was no room for any other action right now. She couldn't even decipher the expression on his face, only that his eyes never left hers. Her body seemed to react on instinct and she felt her right hand slowly move closer to his face, not knowing what its business was up there but she could not fight it. When it was near his shoulder Bonnie was snatched out of her trance.

Her second alarm went off and Bonnie blinked the veil away that had been covering her brain. Kai seemed to do the same and suddenly she realized how close the two of them had been. Bonnie rose instantly to get to her phone and turn the alarm off. But she didn't dare lying back down again. The moment was definitely over but the air still kind of held the mood from a few seconds ago. Bonnie shook her head to get a clear mind again. What had that been?

As she clumsily climbed out of the bed she supported herself unwittingly against his stomach and he groaned again and held his stomach.

"Oooh, oh,oh. Sorry. Argh, I'm just so clumsy."

He laughed. "Good that you notice."

She was now kneeling on the floor next to him and checked if he was really okay. When she did she came to stand awkwardly, not finding her balance at once. "Ehm, I guess I should see if Jo is already up and borrow some of her clothe before taking a quick shower." Bonnie left the room after he lazily gave her a smile and went to Jo's room. She pushed an ear to the door to hear if anyone inside was already moving and she heard some rustle so she knocked.

The sound of footsteps flushed to her ears and the next second she looked into the confused looking face of one Josette Parker. But the confusion didn't last very long as she smiled at Bonnie not at all surprised to see her this early in the morning wearing her brother's clothes.

"Ah, you're up. I was wondering if I should text you and see if you're already awake." Jo stepped back into her room and Bonnie followed but now it was her time to look confused.

As Jo took in her expression she elaborated. "Kai filled me in late last night. Ran into him when I was getting ready for bed. He said he made you stay over and that you needed to borrow some clothes this morning."

Bonnie formed a soundless 'Ah' with her mouth and came to stay next to Jo in front of her huge closet. Jo was already dressed and ready for the day. That made Bonnie wonder how early this girl was getting up. It only took her a few minutes to find something fitting. Jo's clothes were very girly and sweet or formal but Bonnie managed to find some plain while t-shirt and a cardigan to go with it. She would wear the jeans she had worn yesterday and with that her outfit for the day was saved.

After she went into the bathroom and showered she came to the conclusion that this weird moment she had just shared with Kai was due to both of their brains not being at full capacity. They had both just woken up and it always took her a few minutes to fully be awake. Yeah, that was it.

She got ready in no time and when she crossed Kai's room the door was wide open but he was nowhere to be found. From downstairs she heard people talking and recognized his voice under them. Making her way to the kitchen where the sounds seemed to originate from she found Jo and Kai. Jo was rushing around the kitchen, seemingly searching for something and Kai only leaned onto the counters being pushed aside every now and then because Jo needed to look inside one of them.

"Wouldn't kill you if you would help me." Jo angrily said to him.

"Nope, told you in advance that the wondertwins are your field to work." was his response.

"Don't matter, I got it." She triumphantly hold two baby bottles in front of his face and turned to a machine that seemed to be for heating milk. Kai rolled his eyes when he spotted Bonnie and she was suppressing a laugh. Apparently his cute half-asleep state of mind had changed into grumpiness.

"Want something to eat Bon? I was about to make some waffles." Kai asked as she came to stand next to them.

On cue her stomach grumbled and Kai laughed not needing to hear her answer. Bonnie insisted on helping him even though he said there was no need to but she didn't want to just stand around and watch him do it. She had warned him that she wasn't the best cook but he reassured her that there wasn't too much she could screw up.

Over the course of the next few minutes Kai and Bonnie made a tone of waffles. Whenever there was one ready one Parker sibling showed up and asked if he or she could have one. In between making them Bonnie managed to snatch one for her and Kai. Even Briana, who was as cheerful as ever and as excited as ever to see Bonnie, shyly tapped Kai's shoulder while Bonnie held her up and shyly asked him if she could have the next waffle in a shape of the cookie monster.

Kai gave her an annoyed look but went to a cupboard over at the other side of the kitchen and grabbed another waffle iron that would imprint a cookie monster shape onto the waffle. Briana rewarded him with the brightest smile.

"See, told you all you had to do is ask." Bonnie hugged Briana tight before she let her down so she could sit at the table.

Because he didn't care, Kai made a few more of the cookie monster waffles and placed them on a plate. The last of the Parker siblings to come into the kitchen was Melinda. She didn't greet any of them and went straight for the waffles.

"Ergh, didn't you make normal waffles? I don't wanna eat these cookie monster things." Melina bitched in an arrogant voice.

"I did but now there are only these left. Take one or leave it, I don't care." Kai answered as he got the last of the waffles out of the iron. Melinda rolled her eyes but Kai didn't see it. She took a waffle and made her way to the table to join Bellamy, Briana and Jo.

"And where the hell is the syrup?" Melinda stopped halfway to the table and turned back around to Kai.

"Where it's always at. Get it yourself if you want some, I am not your little servant." Kai said without turning. Bonnie could feel he grew more annoyed with his sister by the second.

"Well mom always prepares everything in advance. Just saying?" Melinda grumbled making a detour to the cupboard where the syrup was in.

"Mel?" Kai turned around to face her. "You're doing it again."

"I'm doing what?" Melinda spit out arrogantly.

"You're being a bitch."

Melinda shortly glared at him and then paraded to the table. Bonnie watched her as she sat down. Out of all the Parker kids Melinda might be her least favorite one.

"That one is a sunshine!" Bonnie whispered to Kai, making sure Melinda didn't hear her.

"You have no idea." Kai shook his head.

"Is this your normal morning routine? Everyone gathering and walking around like crazy?"

"Maybe for them, I usually stay out of this family-crowd thing. It's just too much in the morning."

"Alright, everyone under 4'11'' follow me!" Evelyn's head peeked into the kitchen and Bellamy, Melinda and Briana hopped off their seats and went after their mother. Getting their stuff and getting into their shoes and coats, the younger Parkers rushed out the front door.

Evelyn came back into the kitchen once more. "Thanks a lot to you three for handling everything this morning." She kissed Jo, who was still sitting at the table, on the head and rushed to Bonnie and Kai to give them a peck on the cheek, smiling before she went out the side entrance and headed to her car.

"Hey Jo, can I get a lift to school?" Joey cried from the lobby, not bothering to come inside.

"Actually I am catching a ride with Kai today, but you can come long." Jo yelled back.

"Oh, are you?" Kai asked his twin, not seeming like he knew about Jo's plans.

"My car needs to get fixed it don't want to risk not being able to start the engine." And when she saw Kai's expression she added. "Come on, we all have the same destination."

Kai shrugged. "Alright, but I swear to god if your boots are muddy again I'll kick you out mid-drive!" He screamed for Joey to hear him. That accusation lured Joey back into the kitchen.

"That was one time and I couldn't even do anything about it, it was a field trip. What should I have done? Keep my shoes hidden in the forest?" Joey argued.

"Well, that's a thought." Kai suggested.

"Come on, don't be so fussy. It's just a car. If it gets dirty you can always clean it." Bonnie teased him on purpose.

Kai turned around to glare at her, his index finger pointed at her as he started talking. "You don't get to say anything. You're the reason why I am already up and have to deal with this whole mess of family in the first place. So shut up. You owe me!"

The way he said it, kind of serious but not, made Jo and Bonnie crack up. They spend a few minutes laughing and Kai only rolled his eyes at them. Joey had a triumphant smile on his face, raveling in the feeling of winning an argument with Kai, even if it was only because of the help of another person but so be it.

Kai shook his head at the lot of them. "Let's just go."

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The following nights and mornings the whole scenario repeated itself. Bonnie and Kai had decided that Bonnie would stay with the Parkers for as long as her mom was out of town. She only went home after school to grab some stuff and call her mom to tell her she was going to spend the next few days with Kai. To her surprise her mother didn't have anything against it. On the contrary she seemed relieved to know her daughter wasn't going to be alone in her current state.

Bonnie took her moms car, which she had left for her, and went back to the Parkers, spending her evening and nights with Kai and Jo. In the mornings they caught a ride together to school. Repeating everything on the next day and the day after that. During this whole time she didn't get a single peek at Joshua Parker. Bonnie learned that he was out of town for some kind of business trip but didn't get any details because Kai just didn't care enough to know them.

Once during math class, they had to do partner work and Connor had instantly wanted to partner up with her. She had nothing against it but she had hoped she could do the work with Kai because she knew he would have it ready in no time and then they could just chill. But now she was going to do them with Connor and that was okay, they had been partners in math class before. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Liza partnering up with Kai on the other end of the room, normally she would work with Perry but he was still out sick.

Connor had followed Bonnie's gaze and after a second turned back to her.

"So, you and the Parker kids, you're really close now?" he asked.

Bonnie was surprised he would mention something like this. "Yeah, they really grew on me. Who would have guessed?"

Connor nodded, not looking directly at Bonnie. Something was going on in his head Bonnie could see and if she had been generally in a better place she might have sorted it out but right now she trying to concentrate on the task at hand and stop looking over to Kai and Liza.

"What did Kai say about this whole breakup mess?" Connor stuck to his previous topic.

"Ehm, he was really supportive." Bonnie felt weird talking to Connor about this. She tried to refocus his attention to the task.

"Oh." Connor seemed surprised and for a second something flickered in his eyes. Was it disappointment? Or even…anger? "Ah, I see. Thought that maybe you wouldn't want to tell him at all."

Bonnie's expression turned questioning. "Why wouldn't I?"

Connor hesitated to answer her for a moment and then he chose his following words carefully. "I didn't know you were close like that. I mean you don't even know him that long. And I think that maybe… no one would blame you if you decided to keep that information to yourself."

What was going on with the boys in her life lately? Fist Jeremy being all strange and now Connor talking about weird things. "But we are that close. And I told you guys so why not tell him. I don't see a reason why I shouldn't."

"Because he is not honest to you." Connor's voice suddenly turned angry and Bonnie's eyes widened.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound mad. I just… forget what I just said. You are right there is no reason."

"No, please enlighten me. I'd like to know what you mean by him not being honest." Bonnie's gaze became interrogating.

Hesitantly Connor elaborated. "I don't think that he is a true friend to you Bonnie, that's all. One day, when he is bored with you, he will stop paying attention and throw you away and then you are going to suffer and I just don't want to see that. I don't trust him and maybe you were better off not trusting him either."

Bonnie's mouth was pressed into a thin line. "Why in the word does everyone think they know more about my relationship with Kai then I do? I am no fool; I would never let him in if I thought he wasn't being truthful." She said calmly but with a lot of stress on the meaning of her words. She didn't want to but she was starting to be mad at Connor for his accusations. She knew he was only worried but that didn't give him the right to interfere with her friendships.

Luckily Connor picked up on her mood swing and backed off, keeping his focus to the exercises in of front them.

This conversation had been weird. She had no idea Connor had such reservations about Kai, and why he bothered at all about her friendship with him was beyond Bonnie's reach. She shook her head and waved the thought away.

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The next day they took Bonnie's car to school. Jo had needed to take Kai's because she had some kind of appointment after school and Kai surprisingly gave her the keys to his car without a second thought.

Bonnie was now waiting for Kai in the parking lot of the school. He had suggested to go get something to eat after school to properly celebrate the end of their sleepover arrangement. Bonnie's mom was going to be back tonight and she was both excited for that and a little sad because that would mean she wouldn't get to see Kai as often as in the last days. She was still very proud of herself for managing to get Kai to school for most of his classes this week. She had a good impact on him.

The passenger door got opened and Kai slipped in. "Ready to rumble?" he asked with a smile.

"Sure! Buckle up!" Bonnie started the engine and drove into the center of the town. On their way there they had decided to try this new Indian restaurant. Even though Bonnie didn't like spicy food Kai had persuaded her by telling her she would surely find something not as spicy.

Now that her ordered meal had arrived she knew that there was no way of getting it all down. She could practically smell the curry in the air but she still managed to get half of her meal down. It wasn't even bad but after a while she just felt her mouth burning and no water could calm it down. Kai only laughed at her.

"You are in a good mood today." Bonnie noticed.

"Well, it is a nice day. I am just really happy to have my bed all to myself tonight. No one spreading their legs over 2 thirds of the mattress."

"Oooh no, I don't do that!" Bonnie defended herself.

"Yeah, you do!"

"No, I don't!"

"Do you have some kind of superpower that allows you to watch yourself while sleeping? Because if you don't than there is no way for you to tell." Kai said and Bonnie opened her mouth to respond to that but she couldn't think of the right argument.

"Ha, see!" Kai pointed out, knowing he had won the argument and a smug smile played around his lips. Bonnie only glared at him.

Before she could think of anything to say about any of his sleeping habits Kai's phone that was lying on the edge of the table rang. Kai looked down at the screen but frowned as he didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" He picked up the call.

After a short silence he answered. "Yeah, that's me." Bonnie couldn't hear the person on the other end because it was too loud in the restaurant and because she didn't want to seem like she was listening in she tried another piece of her food.

But then she noticed Kai suddenly looking up, all the good mood wiped off his face in an instant. Her eyes found his and she realized that he was sitting on his chair completely stiff. His eyes widened. A bad feeling went through Bonnie's stomach. This was no good news. Her worried eyes searched Kai's face for any hint.

"How? What…?" He couldn't form a real sentence and the person on the other end interrupted him before he could try a third attempt at his question.

"Yeah, I'll be there. Thanks." Kai's voice had lost any tone and his face was wiped of all emotion except one: fear.

"What's going on?" Bonnie instantly asked as he hung up. She grew more worried by the second. Was it something about his mom?

"It's Jo… she's in the hospital."

Author's note: This chapter turned out to be a little different than I anticipated it. I just got carried away in the beginning and then I didn't know how to make it shorter so you have to wait for the big Jo reveal for the next chapter, sorry. Hope you sill liked this one. Was kinda fun to write. Added a little Connor jealousy here, not quite sure yet how much this is going to play into the overall plot but I thought it was fitting in pretty good. So, see you next time, hopefully.