Notes: Just note that we've got a bit more sexual content (nothing explicit, mainly just Enzo's fantasies being suggestive). Also, the formatting on FFN is no where near as neat and clear as on AO3, as a heads up.
6: The Double Date
Sunday 3/19 5:57pm
Hey, this is Enzo. Got your number from Matt.
Hey, what's up?
Nothing really just wanted to thank
you again for this morning.
You're welcome.
Do you know what we're doing
Wednesday?
Matt says dinner maybe a movie?
He'll know by Tuesday after he talks to Sarah.
Couldn't you just ask Sarah?
I'm not talking to her.
Stop laughing.
I'm not laughing.
Yes you are.
Yes I am. Are you gonna go all protective older brother
on Matt? Do I need to keep you two apart?
I'll behave.
When have you ever?
I've got work to do I'll talk to you later Bennett
You - 0, Me - 1
If we're keeping score, it's more like
Me - 1000000, You - 1
Don't you have work to do?
Tuesday 3/21 10:17pm
Grill at 7 tomorrow. No movie.
Aw I kinda wanted to throw popcorn at
your head for two hours.
Hilarious.
I try.
You don't happen to know anything about
filing taxes do you?
I've been filing my own since I was 18.
So… yes?
Yes.
Mind helping me out? Caroline's just asking her mom
to do hers.
Yeah ask me on Wednesday we can set a date.
Like a time.
To get together.
Right.
Well see you tomorrow.
See you.
Wednesday 3/22 9:43pm
Hey Matt said that we should meet him and Sarah there tonight.
Oh okay.
I might be a bit late since I won't have my car.
I'll pick you up.
Is that okay?
It's on my way anyway it's really not a big deal.
Sorry was in class. Yeah that's totally fine. 6:30?
Sounds good.
Enzo hates that he's nervous.
He's been on dates before; he has picked up women at their apartment. He's done this before.
But standing in front of Bonnie's apartment, he's still very nervous.
Letting out a deep breath, he mentally swears, and then knocks.
The door swings open and Enzo forgets he's nervous. He forgets to breathe too.
"Hi," she says, smiling. Maybe it's a nervous smile. He doesn't really know. Enzo does know that she's wearing a black sleeveless dress with her wavy hair brushing just past her shoulders. In heels, her legs look endless and for a minute, Enzo imagines how the skin of her thighs would feel under his hands.
Gulping, he hopes his voice doesn't crack when he smiles back. "Hi. You look beautiful." His sincerity must be evident because Bonnie bites her lip, and maybe she blushes.
"You look good too." He's wearing a button-down and dark jeans, but he's not going to argue a compliment. She steps outside, jacket on her arm and purse in her hands, and locks the door behind her. "Shall we?"
"Of course." Enzo leads them back to his car, trying to resist the urge to rest his hand on her lower back. Every inch of him wants to reach out and touch her - and the urge doesn't dissipate when they finally get into the car and he begins driving.
The silence suffocates him; his throat is already dry and out of the corner of his eye, her skin glow from the last rays of the setting sun. Gripping the steering wheel, he sits up straighter. "So how's your week been so far?"
He can't believe he's stooped to small-talk.
Bonnie leans against the window. "Okay, I guess. Just after midterms so we've been getting those back in classes." She shakes her head and hair falls in front of her face. Enzo forces himself to concentrate on driving. "You okay? You seem - weird."
Enzo laughs. This is good; she needs to keep insulting him. "Thanks. Just what every guy wants to hear after they pick up a pretty girl."
Bonnie rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean." Her fingers tap against her thigh and the stiffness in his spine returns. "So I realized this morning I don't even know what you're doing your PhD in."
"Economics." He turns onto the next street, doing his best to ignore how her dress slides up her thigh. "I have to defend my thesis next month."
"Oh wow," she says, maybe almost breathless, and Enzo has to sit up even straighter in the hopes the stirrings down below don't become physically evident. Because all he can imagine when she speaks is her saying those words, in that tone, when she sees him naked.
He's losing his mind.
"That's impressive," she continues and Enzo grits his teeth. "So we'll be graduating at the same time then."
"That's the plan."
The silence returns and this time Enzo welcomes it. He doesn't know what's going on with him - he's always found Bonnie attractive, since that very first night. But this is different - he can't seem to control himself now. Maybe it was because she was so quick to pretend to be with him, to keep Maggie away from him - maybe it's because her green eyes glitter in the sunlight and when he's inches away from her, licking her lips, every nerve in his body wants to lick every inch of her. Maybe that's why he wants nothing more than to pull over right then and there and seduce the hell out of her.
Seduce?
"You're gonna miss the turn." Bonnie's voice quickly derails his thoughts. Enzo blinks, trying to push back any thoughts of Bonnie and sex; instead, he makes a sharp right turn, and if a whiff of Bonnie's perfume is sent his way, that's completely a coincidence.
Bonnie shakes her head when he pulls into the parking lot. "I'm never letting you drive again."
"Let me guess," says Enzo, grinning. "You're a safe driver. Under the speed limit, two car-lengths away from the car in front of you..."
Rolling her eyes, Bonnie unfastens her seatbelt. Her lips curve into a smile. It's beautiful. "You should let me drive on the way back."
"No." He pulls out his keys from the ignition and shoves open his door. Moving to go to her side, he stops when Bonnie meets him at the front of his car. "No one drives my car but me."
Bonnie shrugs. "Worth a shot." A grin breaks onto her face and Enzo tries to think of dead puppies and Sarah sleeping with Matt. His hides his shudder as Bonnie raises an eyebrow at him. "They're inside. You sure you're okay?"
Enzo forces a smile. "Peachy." I just want to have to have sex with you.
Her hand rests on his elbow as she turns him around and pushes him towards the door. "It'll be fine. It's just your sister and roommate. We're all just hanging out."
Enzo snorts and Bonnie drops her hand.
"Enzo!" A blur attacks him, arms around his neck and he immediately pulls her into his chest, spinning her around. "Missed you, idiot."
Rolling his eyes, he kisses her forehead. "Love you too, Sarah." He steps back to look at her - still almost as tall as him, straight black hair and wide eyes. But it's her smile that catches his eye. She's happy. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."
Sarah shrugs, but her grin is too wide. "We wanted to wait." Until we knew how serious it was is unspoken, but Enzo catches it anyway. He raises an eyebrow. Sarah, however, immediately, waves to Bonnie. "You must be Bonnie."
Bonnie waves back, grinning, and for a moment, the familiar irritation returns - this time, however, it mixes with the desire still tugging at him - and now he's left with a medley of confusing thoughts and feelings. As the girls introduce themselves, he sits down opposite Matt, who's watching him.
"You okay, man? If you're upset about me and Sarah - "
Enzo shakes his head and lets out a breath. He forces himself to concentrate. "No, that's not it." He smiles. "She looks happy, mate. And that's on you."
Matt practically beams and it makes Enzo laugh. "I really like her, dude. Like a lot."
"I can tell."
Bonnie and Sarah slip into their seats, Bonnie beside him and Sarah diagonally. Leaning back into his seat, Matt rests his arm around Sarah's chair. "So I'm starving," says Matt and Sarah laughs.
"You're always starving."
The couple are too busy flirting to notice that Enzo keeps looking at Bonnie. She's studying the menu, biting her lip with concentration, the dim lighting not doing her justice.
Bonnie, however, notices. After the waiter gets their orders and turns to Matt and Sarah, Bonnie abandons the menu and turns to him. "Okay, spill. What is wrong with you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." He takes a long sip of his water.
She sighs. "You've been staring. And you've been nice - this is the third time in a row that we've - run into each other, and you've been nice." Her eyes narrow. "What are you up to?"
A part of him is impressed she even noticed. A bigger part is insulted. "Am I not allowed to be nice?"
"You're the self-proclaimed asshole, remember?"
Oh, he remembers. Very well. And that's the point. "Why do you care?" He leans just a bit closer, partially so he's not overheard, but partially because she smells really good. "I don't deserve a second chance, remember?"
So he's still mad at her, if he's truthful with himself. He's mad that she so easily writes him off, despite defending him while drunk and sticking up for him with an ex. She's nice to him, but - to her, he's still an asshole. And that annoys him, more than any strange lustful thoughts or this new desire to back her up against a wall and make her scream his name.
Enzo knows he's not perfect. But for Bonnie not give him a chance to prove her wrong - well, hell, he'll prove her wrong anyway.
Bonnie opens her mouth, maybe to defend herself, maybe to apologize, but before she can speak, Sarah interrupts. "So how come you can be annoyed that I didn't say anything about Matt, but you never told me you had a girlfriend?"
"Because I don't have a girlfriend." Enzo sits properly in his seat again and turns to Matt. "Were you told otherwise?"
Sarah raises an eyebrow. "No, but - "
"Did he tell you about the fortune teller?" says Matt quickly, placing a hand on Sarah's leg. Enzo groans, out loud, and he bets Bonnie rolls her eyes.
"Let's not discuss this. Sarah actually believes in that stuff," says Enzo, shaking his head.
Matt grins. "I know." He turns to his girlfriend and Enzo finishes off his glass of water. "They saw a psychic-fortune-teller person who said they're destined to be together."
Sarah's eyes twinkle. "Well duh, I could have told you that."
"Sarah…" says Enzo, his voice almost a warning, but then his sister bursts out laughing.
"You should have seen your faces!" Sarah holds onto Matt's arm and Enzo sighs, glancing over at Bonnie. She avoids his eyes, giving him only a furtive glance, but she looks embarrassed. Sarah must have caught it too because she smiles softly. "Bonnie, hey, I'm just - "
Bonnie waves her off. "No, no! I get it, really. I'm just getting a bit sick of the joke, that's all."
Of course, Enzo is completely over the jokes too, but there's something in Bonnie's tone he doesn't like. The anger that had been fading suddenly roars back to life. "Right, Bonnie's way too good for me." He doesn't mean to grit his teeth and he doesn't mean for it to sound so sarcastic, but Bonnie turns to him, frowning deeply. "We hate each other."
Matt chuckles and Sarah smiles, but Enzo feels Bonnie's glare piercing him even when their food finally arrives. As he eats, Enzo keeps conversing and Bonnie contributes here and there, but it's painfully obvious to him that she caught his anger and decided to just return it.
Perhaps Enzo is overreacting, but maybe this is just their default setting. This is where they're supposed to be. A guy who needlessly annoys a girl, and a girl who has no faith in him.
And people thought they were supposed to be lovers. He almost laughs out loud at the thought.
The car ride back to her place is as awkward as he anticipated.
Bonnie doesn't say anything to him once she's buckled in - other than a quick "mind if I turn on the radio?" and his grunt of approval can barely be called a response - but Enzo doesn't really care.
He's mad.
He knows he shouldn't be. This is perfect - no more desire to see Bonnie naked, no more need to juggle lust and the knowledge that this woman think he's a horrible human being. Now he remembers that Bonnie thinks he's an asshole with no redeeming qualities.
Somehow, that's an excellent boner-killer.
When the finally pull up in front of her apartment, he almost stays where he is. Bonnie opens her door and turns to shut it, but Enzo sighs, parks, and follows her out.
"What are you doing?" she asks, hugging her jacket closer to her chest. It's gotten cold now that the sun has set completely. A flash of memory - Bonnie wearing his jacket, in front of this same apartment, looking like a goddess - but Enzo frowns instead.
"Walking you in."
"It's like five feet." She shakes her head. "Just go home, Enzo."
The annoyance flickers with the anger in his chest and he stuffs his hands into his pockets. "I'm just trying to be nice, okay?" He shakes his head, trying to clear the red from his thoughts, but somehow that only makes everything deeper. His chest hurts. "But you know what, screw it. Fine. Go home. I guess I'll see you the next time we're forced to be in each other's company. I'll be sure to be the biggest asshole when I do, since that's all you think of me anyway."
He doesn't want to look at her anymore, not right now, but he freezes when he feels the weight of her hand resting on his arm. "Enzo - " Her voice is soft.
Enzo shivers. Because of the cold night. The weather. Not her hand.
"Bonnie - " he turns, slowly, and his throat dries. Everything about her appears so soft , so touchable - he wants to caress her face, hold her hand, hold her - but she's tinged in scarlet, and even her closeness can't make him forget her voice still in his head.
"You're still mad," she says. It's a fact, not a question, but he nods anyway. She sighs. "I thought I had apologized, but I guess I never did." For a moment, Enzo believes she's going to say I'm sorry , with her hands on his arms and a soft smile on her lips. Instead, however, she takes a step back. "Can we go somewhere? A bar or something? I think we need to talk."
Enzo frowns. "Talk about what?"
"A lot of things." Bonnie crosses her arms over her chest again. "You being so mad. My taxes." Sighing, she leans against his car, avoiding his eyes. "That night."
A flicker in his stomach. "What night?"
Now, finally, Bonnie looks at him, her eyes hard and determined. The flicker turns into a wildfire.
"The night we met."
Notes: I'm not one for dramatic cliffhangers... but I felt the ridiculousness of Enzo's thought-process this chapter warranted it. So yes, the infamous "closet incident" will be addressed next chapter. I've left the rating as T for now, because I think Enzo's fantasies are as risque as we're gonna get here, but if people have opinions about bumping up to M, let me know.
In other news, I have been posting drabbles that I've written on Tumblr over on my AO3 account. I'm also working on two other one-shots right now, but they are both on the longer side so they've been taking me a bit. You'll likely see at least one of those before another chapter of this fic.
