2: The Takedown

Enzo drops his bag by the kitchen table and heads straight to the living area of his apartment. Without hesitation, he falls back, sprawled across the couch.

"Bad day?" asks Matt, his roommate, looking up from the video game he's playing on the TV.

"Not bad," says Enzo, turning on his side to watch Matt blow up some enemy soldier. "Just got a lot of work to do on my thesis project."

"So glad I didn't go to college." Matt grimaces and quickly presses down on a button several times, but his character dies anyway. "Damn it."

"Shouldn't you be at work?"

Matt glances at him sideways. "Had the night shift yesterday. I'll go in early tomorrow."

Enzo sighs again and swings himself off the couch. Heading to the kitchen for a drink and a snack, he barely hears Matt over his restarted game. "By the way, Maggie came by a while ago."

Enzo freezes midway through pouring himself a glass of juice. "What?"

"Maggie came by - "

"No, I heard you," he says, ignoring his cup and staring at the back of Matt's head. His heart is pounding. "What'd she want?"

Matt frowns at the screen, but seems clueless to the unease in Enzo's stomach. "She said something about wanting to talk? I dunno why she didn't just text you."

Enzo stays frowning. He barely hears the shouts from the TV, too occupied in his thoughts. Maggie came by. But then there's the other voice - the one from two days ago - it's time to let go.

His knuckles grip the counter and he's almost surprised the cup in his hand hasn't shattered.

"Oh I invited Bonnie over for dinner."

Enzo pauses mid-sip. "Her?" He throws back his head and drowns the entire glass. After pouring himself another round, he situates himself on the couch again. "I forgot you two were friends."

Matt glances at him sideways. "Yeah, go way back. Why do you two hate each other again?"

Enzo rolls his eyes. "I don't hate her."

"Okay, fine. Why does she hate you?"

Enzo takes another long drink. Pausing his game, Matt turns to him with a raised eyebrow. Enzo sighs. "I may or may not have locked her in a closet one time," he says, doing his best not to smirk. He fails.

Matt chuckles. "Of course you did." He glances at his phone. "Well she'll be here soon - we're going to the gym first, if you want to join us."

The original plan, of course, was to finish an outline before making dinner, maybe even get a book in - but a run couldn't hurt. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

As he's changing into gym shorts and a t-shirt, Enzo hears a knock at the apartment door. Pulling a hoodie over his head, he can barely make out two voices.

Bonnie looks surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here." Enzo stuffs his hands into his pockets.

She rolls her eyes and looks at Matt. "Is he coming with us?"

"To the gym, yeah," says Matt, gathering his keys and wallet. "Don't worry he's doing his own thing."

Bonnie looks him up and down and Enzo tries not to stiffen in response. Something about her scanning him makes him uncomfortable. And slightly turned on. "He wouldn't be an awful punching bag." Her mouth turns upwards. "Isn't the point of self defense to teach me how to beat up assholes like him?"

"I'm standing right here," says Enzo, but Bonnie just keeps smiling and Matt leaves, shaking his head. Bonnie follows and Enzo just takes comfort in the fact that, since he pulls up the rear after locking the apartment door, he has a nice view of Bonnie from here - leggings and a tank top suit her.

Bonnie calls shotgun before he even reaches the parking lot and Enzo begrudgingly stretches out in the backseat. And when they reach the gym a few minutes later, she completely ignores him all the way past the treadmills.

"I'll come find you," says Enzo, pointedly addressing Matt, since Bonnie appears perfectly content pretending he doesn't exist.

Matt grins. "Yeah, man, she can use you as her final exam."

Enzo shakes his head as they disappear.

Thirty minutes and about four miles later, Enzo goes looking for them.

When he finds them, Matt models how to elbow someone from behind and Bonnie is mimicking him. Enzo leans against the doorway of the otherwise empty room. Moving behind her, Matt holds a hand up across his face. Bonnie frowns in concentration - biting her lip, eyebrows furrowed, eyes narrowed - and quickly pushes her elbow up, hitting Matt's hand.

"Nice," says Matt. "But try to get lower first to really hit the target."

Bonnie bends her knees slightly and tries again - this time, her elbow hits Matt's hand at more of an angle - if the hand wasn't blocking his face, he'd have a broken nose.

"Nice," says Enzo, finally announcing his presence and he takes a little pride in Bonnie slightly swaying, as if she's caught off balance. She quickly hides it with a signature glare, but Enzo smirks anyway.

"It's you," she says. He smiles wider in response and she sighs. "Can I at least practice punching someone in the face? He's right there!" Matt just gives her a look.

"Why are you leaning self-defense anyway?" asks Enzo, moving closer to them as Matt goes to his water bottle.

Bonnie crosses her arms across her chest - and Enzo does his level best to keep his eyes on her face. "Do I really need a reason to want to protect myself?" Her look is hard, but the way her shoulders tighten and her lips purse, Enzo's sure she's not saying the whole truth. He notices that Matt pointedly looks away.

Enzo shrugs. "Fair enough." He tilts his head to the side. "You guys done for today?"

"One more thing." Matt clears off their mat, and waves Enzo forward. "You over here." Enzo rolls his eyes but moves, standing right in the center of the mat.

Bonnie raises her eyebrows. "You mean, I get to beat him up? Without an excuse?" Her eyes widen in glee but Enzo rolls his eyes at her sarcastic tone. Matt gently moves her in front of Enzo. "What are we practicing?"

"That's the point - you just do what we learned. Escape." Matt steps back so Bonnie can't see him anymore. He gestures for Enzo to grab her wrist, then if that fails, her waist. Enzo nods. "Okay, whenever you're ready Enzo."

Enzo steps closer to Bonnie. He ignores that her breathing is loud and her clothes are tight. She glances back at him, eyes scanning him once again, before turning back around. Rolling her shoulders, she relaxes into a prepared stance.

Waiting just a second, Enzo grabs her wrist and spins her around to face him. There's a whole second where her hand is in his and her face is inches away - but then she twists her arm, his thumb pulled back, and he winces pain as he lets go. Without thinking, he grabs her waist to pull her closer - and she's pushing against his chest - her hands are so small - and then suddenly he's falling -

But even as he subconsciously uses a hand to break his fall, his legs kick out, twisting with hers - and then they're both falling -

Enzo learns that his body has a mind of its own. Because when he can finally breathe again after hitting the mat, he realizes his hands are on Bonnie's waist, their legs are intertwined, and her lips are inches away from his neck. Honestly, Enzo isn't sure how he can even breathe - she's on his chest, suffocating him, but at the same time, his heart races and he's almost positive Bonnie can feel it.

Except, she blinks several times, uses her hands and his chest to push herself back up - now he really can't breathe - and rolls her eyes. "Nice try, Lorenzo," she says, shaking out her hands. "Tripping me with your legs. Smoothe."

Enzo barely has time to process the last thirty seconds. He stands up, rubbing his shoulder. "What are you talking about?"

Bonnie ignores him. "Did he tell you about that stupid fortune teller we saw a couple days ago?" Matt shakes his head, trying and failing to pretend he wasn't just laughing. "Yeah, well, Car and Elena made us - and apparently we're destined to be lovers."

This time, Matt doesn't bother pretending. "You two?" he laughs, finger bouncing between the two, on opposite sides of the mat. "I can see it," he says, trying to be serious. "You were falling for each other."

Enzo groans, shaking his head. "C'mon, mate. I'm too good for her." He grins when Bonnie glares at him.

"Says the guy who just tripped me because he was about to be taken down - by a girl."

"I didn't trip you."

"Yes you did!"

"It was an accident!"

Bonnie looks like she's about to retort, and Enzo's grateful that Matt steps between them, shaking his head and smiling. Enzo feels dizzy - his thoughts are cloudy and blurry, but his stomach is still on fire - his heartbeats feel loud and uneven and all he wants is for Bonnie to be on top of him again.

Shit.

Enzo pretends he didn't just think that.

"I think it's time to go," says Matt, wisely. "Enzo, you joining us for dinner?"

He wants to say yes. He wants to, because joining for dinner means cooking for more than one, annoying Bonnie, and spending time on something other than his thesis. But somehow, Enzo doesn't trust himself this time. But he wants to. "Maybe," he says, finally, as they exit the gym and head back to the cars.

Enzo leans his head against the window as Matt drives away. Maybe he has a concussion - maybe that's why his head hurts, his heart feels unsteady, and he really doesn't want to order take-out for dinner.


In the end, it's Bonnie's suggestion to order Chinese food that breaks him.

"You're seriously going to order in?" Enzo stands in the doorway of his room, fingers tapping against the wall.

Bonnie raises an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong with that?" She grins. "Are you a food snob? Are you a foodie ?" Her eyes glitter.

"No," says Enzo, heading straight for the kitchen. "I just prefer home cooked meals." He grabs the menu in Matt's hands - ignoring his hey! - and sticks in back in the drawer. "If you two want, I can make us a meal."

"You have groceries for that?" Matt looks at the fridge, unconvinced.

Enzo grins. "I always have groceries for three servings of my Grandmother's pasta dish."

"That's a joke, right?" asks Matt, as Bonnie looks at him, confused. "Because I thought - "

"Home-ec, after I moved here. Best thing I ever learned in the states." Enzo ducks under the counter - of course, the real purpose is to find the pot he's searching for, but if he can escape Bonnie's searching glance….

Bonnie and Matt end up cutting vegetables and Enzo finds a perfectly unexpired pack of frozen chicken to salvage. Despite Bonnie looking at him with more curiosity as the night passes, Enzo finds himself enjoying cooking, for once. He thinks it may be the company.

Matt, unsurprisingly, inhales his meal almost immediately. "I think that was the greatest dinner I've ever had in my life."

"Don't tell Elena's mom that," says Bonnie, rolling a piece of mushroom around with her fork.

Matt stretches and sighs. "I'm gonna shower real fast. Don't leave without saying goodbye?" Bonnie nods and Matt smiles before leaving to his room.

Enzo takes a sip of the wine he had poured himself. Bonnie continues to push food around on her plate, every once and while taking a bite. He frowns. "I didn't poison it, I promise."

Bonnie, looks at him, startled, before glancing back at her plate. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean - " She twists the spaghetti around her fork and takes an unlady-like bite. "Ish 'elish."

Trying not to laugh, Enzo shakes his head. "What's up with you?" Bonnie pauses, chewing, not looking at him. "I mean - nevermind, don't bother." He doesn't know why he cares. She's - Bonnie, a friend of a friend of a friend, that other girl who runs around in his circle - except, he doesn't really have a circle, more like a point of contact. And that point isn't Bonnie. She's just there . He shouldn't be caring about why she is distracted at dinner or how her chest feels pressed against his.

"I didn't realize you cooked," she says, suddenly, and Enzo blinks. "It really is delicious."

"Thank you," he says. His head hurts.

She smiles, for a moment, but then it fades. "I'm still mad at you though."

"For the closet thing?" Enzo sighs, rolling his eyes. "I told you - Damon - "

"I've already talked to Damon about it. I'm talking to you." The distraction has changed into a laser focus - all on him, hard and directed - and Enzo feels like he's on fire.

He swallows. But there's something gnawing in his stomach - he could apologize, like she wants. But he shouldn't. He doesn't. "You deserved it," he says, taking another long drink of his wine. Bonnie drops her fork, the metal clattering against the ceramic bowl, and Enzo smirks. He feels better, almost. "Like I said the other night - you're a doormat."

For a second, Enzo thinks she's going to lunge over the table and attack him. And for a second, Enzo is actually terrified - she did it once, today, already. But then the door to Matt's room slams open and his clean roommate frowns.

"You two okay?"

Bonnie glares at him, fingers still gripping the table. Enzo keeps his face completely blank - he knows it annoys her and right now that's all he wants to do. "Peachy," he says, never breaking her eye contact. He wants her to boil over, to attack him, to touch him and burn him and maybe, he'll be lucky enough -

"I'm going to go home." Bonnie pushes back her chair roughly, the screech against the tiles making Enzo wince. She gives Matt a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you on Thursday."

Matt nods, watching silently as Bonnie grabs her things and leaves without saying another word. When the door finally closes, Enzo realizes he's still holding his wine glass with a tight grip. He relaxes and Matt frowns as he takes Bonnie's dish to the sink.

"What did you do?" asks Matt. "She was pissed."

Enzo sighs, turning back to his now-cold meal. "Doesn't matter." He wants to say he doesn't care, that he all he did was tell her truth. You deserved it. She didn't. But Enzo doesn't care.

He stuffs his mouth with cold pasta and chews, heavily, glad his head doesn't hurt anymore.