Sweat beaded across Bonnie's forehead and trickled down, pooling uncomfortably at her back. She dragged her hand across her flushed cheeks and let out an exasperated sigh. The weather had changed from a snowy, cold mess to upwards of a hundred degrees almost overnight. They'd also jumped four years and were teetering on the precipice of the new millennium. Time was of the essence.
It was an unspoken agreement between Bonnie and Kai that they needed to get on the road immediately. Three thousand miles separated them from Mystic Falls and they needed to get there as soon as possible. Kai offered to fly them back to Virginia but Bonnie was too nervous; knocking her out with painkillers wasn't an option this time because of her pregnancy. There was no other option, they'd just have to drive…which meant forty-three hours stuck in a car with Kai.
The trip wouldn't have been so bad if Kai's beloved "baby" wasn't a piece of junk. That stupid green car didn't have air conditioning, it had stalled pulling out of the driveway, and it smelled like pork rinds. The combination left Bonnie hot, irritable, and annoyed. In order to avoid a massive argument, she'd been pretty much silent for the last seven hundred miles and tried to sleep through it.
Kai eased the car into a gas station and pulled up in front of a pump. While filling up the tank, he and Bonnie took a much needed break. Jogging ahead of her, he opened the door. Kai might have been a psychopath but he was also a gentleman.
The cashier did not look up from his magazine as the pair entered the store. Bonnie wasn't even sure if the cashier could see them or not. Ever since time began to move forward, others began to appear in the world. They were specters at first, shadowy images projected through the chasm of time and space but as Bonnie and Kai got closer to the present, the more solid they became. It made her wonder if there was some kind of gap between the present and where the other side had been before it collapsed
A delightful gush of air conditioning blasted Bonnie as they walked in and she let out a sigh. At least momentarily, there was relief from the sweltering heat. Feeling the urge to freshen up like a clarion call, Bonnie headed straight for the bathroom. Kai followed her part of the way but she glared at him and he pretended to be interested in a display of wiper fluid. Bonnie locked the door behind her and leaned against the sink a moment before she turned it on full blast. The ice cold water was a blessed relief to her heated skin. Bonnie splashed it on her face and wetted paper towels, pressing the coolness to her neck and wiping away the sticky residue of sweat at her back. As her body cooled down, a slight shiver ripped through her. Bonnie paused as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Instinctively her hand lingered over the sacred space where her child grew…the physical changes were still imperceptible but the emotional ones had really begun to take their toll.
Truthfully, Bonnie had never given much thought to having children. Between protecting her friends, dealing with wayward vampires, expression magic consuming her soul, an untimely death, becoming the anchor to the crumbling other side, and then being stuck in 1994—she'd had quite a lot on her plate recently. Fighting for her life became the norm and everything else fell by the wayside. Bonnie comforted herself with the notion that soon she would be home with her friends—the people she cared about most in this world. And there was always Kai…
Speaking of Kai, Bonnie rolled her eyes when she heard the handle rattling. Inching toward the door, she silently undid the lock and wrenched it open. Kai pitched forward, landing directly on his ass with a colorful curse. Bonnie couldn't stop the smile that slid over her features as she watched him scramble back to his feet. "That's what you get for stalking me."
"I was not stalking," Kai snarked and rubbed his bruised bottom. "You've been in here for a while and I wanted to make sure you were alright." Bonnie was the only person on earth that Kai cared about more than himself. After five minutes in the bathroom, he started worrying that something happened to her. She'd looked peaked in the car. What if she was sick? Kai was determined to get her anything and everything she needed. Unfortunately, he was terrible at showing it. "Enough with the dawdling. If we want to be back in Mystic Falls by 2014, we need to get moving. Grab yourself something to eat and drink because I don't plan on stopping again until we hit the Cheyenne border."
"Fine," Bonnie replied brusquely and brushed past Kai without argument. She grabbed a basket, weaving her way through the displays as she grabbed some trail mix, dried fruit, bottled water, and several bars of chocolate. At the end of the aisle there was a small battery powered fan and she tossed that in the basket for good measure. It might not help with the heat but it certainly couldn't hurt.
Bonnie found herself in the personal care aisle next. There were a handful of over the counter painkillers, digestive aids and antacids; the oddest inclusion was a bottle of prenatal vitamins tucked next to a row of condoms. Picking up the bottle, she looked it over before placing it into her basket. It hadn't occurred to her yet to start a vitamin supplement but since there was one right in front of her face, she couldn't argue. Maybe it was a sign.
Making one last grab for a jar of peanut butter and some crackers, Bonnie headed over to where Kai was standing. She frowned when she caught sight of his arms filled with bottles of Surge, pixie sticks, and beef jerky. He glowered at Bonnie when she smacked his hands away from his other favorite snack but she did not back down. "No! No more pork rinds! It's bad enough that it's a thousand degrees in that scrapheap but I can't take the smell of pork rinds for a single minute longer!" Bonnie fumed.
"Fine," Kai pouted. He tossed the rest of his things into Bonnie's basket before taking it from her. Bonnie was reluctant to let go and Kai's frown deepened, "You shouldn't be carrying anything heavy, Bon Bon. Let me get it." She didn't look happy but she also didn't stop him; it was the only way Kai knew he'd won the argument. He gently wrapped an arm around her waist as they headed straight out the front door without paying.
Bonnie glanced back at the cashier but he still hadn't moved from his post. In fact, it didn't seem as if he'd seen them at all. Whatever balancing act nature was doing at this moment, it was strange at times. Sometimes she wasn't even sure the people they happened across were really conscious or if they were in some kind of limbo. Bonnie slid into the passenger seat while Kai made sure the car was done fueling. She dug through Kai's junk food until she found the small bottle of vitamins. Pouring a pill into her hand, she swallowed it down with a hearty swig of water before placing the bottle into her purse. Bonnie turned to face Kai when the door swung open.
Kai's expression was dark as he forcefully jammed the car into drive and peeled out of the gas station. Bonnie kept glancing over at him as they drove in thick, tense silence. The heat was starting to build in the car again even with all the windows open. She opened up a packet of trail mix and grabbed a handful before offering it to him, "Want some?" Kai remained staring straight ahead with that muscle in his jaw ticking dangerously. Bonnie let out an exasperated sigh, "Is this about the stupid pork rinds?" She snapped. "You're not going to be twenty-two forever…anymore. And I will not apologize! The smell of pork is enough to make anyone puke, pregnant or not!"
Shoulders tensed, Kai gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. "I'm surprised you even care. It's not as if this pregnancy means anything to you." He watched her all the time these days, unwilling to let her out of his sight in case something were to happen. The moment she slipped into the car, he saw her open up a bottle of something and swallow it down. Paranoid as he was, the only logical conclusion he could draw was that Bonnie was trying to poison the child. He'd seen his mother do it once after the twins were born; it wasn't pleasant but it was absolutely effective. The consequences of the pills left his mother barren after that. Kai was truly devastated Bonnie would choose the same fate…
"What the hell are you talking about?" Bonnie shifted in her seat, turning to face him fully. "I'm not sure exactly what you're accusing me of, Kai!"
"I saw you!" Kai's anger exploded outward. The car swerved as his vision blurred with the massive force of his rage. Even in the throes of his tantrum, he reached for Bonnie to keep her from pitching forward. Fisting his fingers in the fabric of her tank top, he rested his hand over her abdomen protectively. "I saw you take a pill when you thought I wasn't looking!" He drew in a ragged breath, "I should have known…"
Bonnie was terrified that Kai was going to crash the car. She closed her eyes tightly to fortify herself before she reached for Kai. One hand covered his tense fist while the other dug through her purse. "I wasn't taking pills, Kai. I found these at the gas station and I thought they'd be important." Bonnie set them on top of the dashboard for him to see, "They're prenatal vitamins!" Kai had the good sense to look properly apologetic but Bonnie's anger was still on the rise. "You could have killed us!"
Relief washed over Kai like a wave and brought with it a guilt the likes of which he had never experienced before. Kai was well aware that he was in the wrong. He pulled his hand away and dragged it through his dark, sweat-soaked hair. Maybe she wasn't trying to hurt his child but he was still wary. "I know you don't want this, Bonnie."
What Kai refused to admit to himself over the past few weeks was that he didn't want Bonnie around solely because she was the only other living soul on earth. Against all odds, he actually had begun to care for her. That flicker of compassion for another human being snowballed into feelings he could hardly fathom. Kai had never been loved by anyone before; he wasn't sure what it felt like. All he knew was that he yearned to be with Bonnie forever, he wanted to raise this child with her, and he would protect them with his life without hesitation. If that wasn't love, he wasn't sure what was.
"You're right," Bonnie felt Kai wince and it gave her pause. This man beside her was unpredictable. One moment he was callous, cold, and manipulative; the next, he was so sweet and thoughtful that Bonnie's head reeled with it. "This isn't the life I'd have chosen for myself. You can't tell me this is what you wanted either, Kai! Abused by your father? Driven to murder your siblings? Banished to a prison where you have to relive the same day over and over for twenty years?" Kai didn't say a word but the look on his face told her everything she needed to know.
Bonnie reached out, her hand resting on Kai's as it clutched the gearshift. "Sometimes what we want and what we need are two very different things. We're going home, Kai." A smile ghosted over her lips. "Having a kid at this point in my life is daunting but I take it seriously. And I could never hurt it."
"I'm sorry." Kai was getting better at apologizing…especially when he felt real, true remorse. So far in his life, Bonnie was the only one who had evoked that in him. The gentle weight of her hand against his brought a smile to his face as he glanced over at her. "I don't…trust people."
"I'm not people, Kai." Bonnie countered, squeezing his hand tighter. "We're going to get back to the present, we're going to get my magic back, and then we're going to kill your father. You'll have your power, your coven, and an opportunity to move on. That's everything you ever wanted. It's time to stop living in the past.
Bonnie wasn't wrong. Kai did want every one of those things…but he also wanted something else. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, Kai's gaze swept over her from head to toe. For a fleeting moment he was almost thankful that he'd been locked away for the last twenty years. If not for the series of events that transpired, he might never have met her. Kai wasn't sure he could've lived with that…
For the moment, he decided that a topic change to more mundane matters would be safer. "We've got at least another six hours until we get to Cheyenne," Kai explained. "You should get some rest."
"You don't need to do all the driving, Kai. I'm perfectly capable of keeping this scrapheap on the road." Bonnie took another sip of her water and picked at some trail mix. "We've got two thousand miles separating us from Mystic Falls and at any moment we could tear through the barrier into the present. It would be better if we didn't stop. I can take half the driving." She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "And you better think twice before playing the baby card again. I'm pregnant, not invalid. I barely feel pregnant, Kai. I can still perform basic functions like breathing, going to the bathroom by myself, carrying a basket, and driving a car!"
"Alright fine," Kai grumbled. He didn't like it but Bonnie was right. Once they got back to the present, there was the distinct possibility that the Gemini coven would descend on them the first chance they got. There was no doubt that they had their finger on the pulse of this thing, waiting for the first opportunity to strike. "But if you're going to be driving at night, you need to sleep." He would not take any chances with her or the baby.
Grinning triumphantly, Bonnie grabbed the personal fan she'd bought at the gas station and used the tiny suction cup on the bottom to stick it to the dash. "Deal. Wake me up when you start to get tired and we'll trade off." Kai nodded and she hunkered down in the seat. She truly thought it would be impossible to sleep in this terrible heat but Bonnie quickly fell into a sleep so deep it almost felt like she had been drugged.
When she woke again, they were crossing the border into St. Louis and the sun was starting to rise in the East. Wiping her gritty eyes, she peered over at Kai. There were several bottles of Surge littered around the back of the car and he'd gotten into her chocolate. Dark rings marred the tender skin beneath his eyes, staining them purple in the hazy morning light. Bonnie drew in a ragged breath, "Kai." Her voice was scratchy and dry. Taking a small sip of water, she coughed slightly to clear it. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You needed your rest," Kai blinked at her blearily. There was a rest stop ahead and he eased the car off the ramp. They argument they were going to have would have to wait until their basic needs were taken care of. Bonnie walked stiffly, several steps behind him as they headed to their respective sides of the rest stop. It was blessed relief to finally stretch his legs and try to work out the terrible kink in his neck.
Bonnie felt guilty. Kai had driven for twelve hours straight while she took a nap. Clearly, he was hurting because of it. Slipping behind him, she slid her hands up his shoulders. "Let me…" Bonnie murmured softly. Rubbing at a particularly tight knot wrenched a loud groan from Kai and he practically melted against her. With each stroke of her fingers, he seemed to unwind a bit more. When she moved to massage the muscles in his lower back, Kai turned and captured her lips in a searing kiss.
Kai's hands wandered over her hips, tugging at her tank top as his fingertips sought her smooth flesh. When Bonnie's hands caught his and held, he was disappointed…but he knew they couldn't waste time. Dropping one last kiss to her plump lips, he reluctantly let her go. "When all this is over, I'm going to spend an entire week making this up to you."
"You really think you can make all this up to me in a week?" Bonnie teased.
Nuzzling the sensitive contour of her neck playfully, Kai grinned. "You know how good I am with my mouth, Bon Bon." Triumph flared inside him when he felt her shiver. "If you're not fully satisfied, I will give you my car."
"You better satisfy me then. If I never see the inside of that stupid car again, it will be too soon." Bonnie was only half serious. Kai's palm rested on the small of her back as they headed back to the car; he went for the driver's side but Bonnie shook her head forcefully. "Not a chance, Kai. You're going to sleep, end of story!" Slipping her hand into his pocket, Bonnie fished out his keys. A hazy grin crossed his features as they headed back out onto the highway.
"Head out on I64 East. It'll take you all the way to Virginia." Kai yawned. "Just think, in twelve hours you'll be back in the town you grew up in. And not a minute too soon… the calendar in the rest stop said it's June 2009." The way time was accelerating, they would make it just in the knick of time.
Bonnie started the car, easing back onto the highway. They hadn't even been driving five minutes but when she glanced over at Kai, his expression was soft and innocent. Settling into the seat, she stared out over the horizon. Mystic Falls was ahead of them and so was the fight of their lives. There was no way Bonnie would take this moment for granted…it could very well be their last night on earth.
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