Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much! I greatly appreciate your reviews, story favorites and follows; They're like mini Christmas presents to me. I'm also thankful for you silent readers as well. I'm home for summer break at the moment so I should be able to update more frequently. Enjoy Bonkai Family!

"Keep up, slow poke!" Kai called from uphill.

"Don't rush me. I'm not that far behind."

They had risen early to go for a morning jog. More specifically, Kai had suggested it and Bonnie thought it would be best to go with him in order to keep an eye on him. He was a few feet ahead of her and far too overconfident in his ability to outrun her. Although, she had to admit that he was faster than she had anticipated. She looked up at him, his back to her, as she gradually reached the top of the hill. She didn't know why she had underestimated him in the first place. He had the perfect swimmer's body: tall and lean yet slightly muscular. Which was currently clothed in a hoodie, jogging pants and sneakers. It shouldn't have come as a surprise to her that he would be a fast runner.

He stopped on top of the rocky hill and bounced from toe to toe. "Wanna keep going?"

"I'm just getting started."

He paused to stretch his arms and eyed her up and down. "You're pretty fast for a pipsqueak."

"You're not so bad yourself, string bean."

He looked off into the distance. "First one to the lake-"

Bonnie took off before he could finish his sentence. She didn't look back because she knew it would slow her down. She could hear his footsteps rapidly approaching. She could feel the rock under her feet slowly evolve into soft grass as she briskly got closer to the lake. She was almost there when the arm of Kai's sweatshirt came into her periphery.

"First!" They shouted simultaneously.

She rounded on him. "No you're not, I am."

"Yeah, cheating doesn't count." He came to a stop, resting his hands on his hips.

"I didn't cheat. I just...got a head start."

He wagged his index finger at her, accompanied by a cheeky grin. "I'm starting to like the way you think, Bon."

"What did I say about calling me that?"

"Damon called you that. You didn't seem to have a problem when he did it." Bonnie's expression changed to something dark and he smiled, knowing he had struck a nerve with her and stepped closer. "What was he to you anyway? Your boyfriend?"

Bonnie felt heat rising in her chest. Who the hell does he think he is?

"Well if you must know, Damon wasn't my boyfriend. He was one of my best friends who earned the right to address me by nickname. He's ten times the man you will ever be and you will not disrespect him in my presence."

Kai raised his hands to indicate his surrender, accompanied by his signature smirk. "Down girl, I meant no offence." He circled around her until her back was facing the lake. "It's just that you two seemed pretty close to be 'just friends'." He used air quotations. Bonnie stepped backwards until she felt water at the heel of her sneakers. "Your relationship was fascinating to me. You'd bicker relentlessly and yet, you'd always come back to each other. Like magnets. It never failed. It was like clockwork. But I guess that's just how you two show your love." He wore a mock expression of endearment.

"I'm not surprised that a relationship of any kind would intrigue you. You of all people couldn't have possibly ever experienced a real genuine connection with another human being."

"Oh, you'd be surprised. I'm just curious as to what your actual boyfriend would have thought with you being trapped here with another guy for so long. Well two now, considering myself." He stepped closer. "Did you even have a boyfriend before you got stuck here? Ever had a boyfriend at all?"

Her mind's eye flew to Jeremy but Kai of all people didn't need to know that. And just what the hell was he insinuating? That she wasn't attractive enough to appeal to men? Meanwhile, she distinctly remembered him blatantly hitting on her the first time they met. She had been attempting to locate the ascendant when Kai came in close, just as he did now and mentioned something about his siblings. She couldn't recall at the moment what his exact words were, but she knew he had openly flirted with her in front of Damon with no shame. How dare him? Who was this monster to dictate beauty standards? The freak. He'd probably never even been intimate with a girl in his life. He wouldn't know how to be.

And why was he standing so close? She could smell the woodsy scent radiating off his body just as she did the night she used the cloaking spell. Bonnie instinctively retreated backwards and placed her hands on his upper arm, shoving him backwards as she moved forward. She heard him yelp and the splash of water behind her. She turned to face him. She saw him slowly get to his feet in the shallow water. He harbored an amused expression. He cocked his head to the side and Bonnie heard an audible cracking noise. He flung his hands to dry them.

"If I did, it's no business of yours." She said proudly before turning on her heel and jogging back towards the house.

When they arrived back at the house, Bonnie went towards the kitchen and saw Kai hurry into the bathroom downstairs. She leaned over the faucet to pour herself a glass of water. She gulped down half of the glass and leaned against the counter. When Kai emerged, he had on a different set of clothes and carried the wet garments in hand. He made his way to the laundry room behind the stairwell, threw them in a basket and shut the door. He was now headed towards the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked folding her arms.

"Out."

"Oh no, you're not leaving me to do the laundry, it's your turn. I did it last time."

"I'll get to it when I get back. I know it'll be hard but, try not to miss me." He winked while making a clicking noise with his teeth and he was gone.

She had no idea what he was up to and quite frankly, it made her apprehensive. The whole point of the roommate agreement was that she would be able to keep a close eye on him at all times. Well, truthfully, as much as she possibly could given that her other goal was to avoid him the same amount. How many times a day did he just decide to up and leave? To meander around the world, doing God knows what? More importantly, why? She wondered how many times he had done so without her knowledge. She thought back to the first few nights he had stayed with her. Had he left when it appeared to be so quiet downstairs? The thought alone made her jittery. Or maybe she was overreacting and he simply needed a break from her as she did from him. Whatever the reason, she had to admit that she was thankful for this intermission, even if it was a minor one. She wasn't in the mood to do much talking after what had just transpired. She hated that he could get her worked up so easily.

She took another gulp of water and noticed that her head was throbbing. She plopped down on the sofa, outstretched her legs and turned on the TV. She was comfortable for a couple of hours, watching nothing in particular and simply enjoying the quiet solitude. Then the realization hit her that Kai could return any minute. She sighed, turned off the TV.

A good book and a warm cup of tea sounded delightful at the moment. She made herself a cup and headed upstairs.

More hours of silence passed until it was almost nightfall. Bonnie sat outside at the small white table for two on the balcony reading and could see the sun setting behind the mountain. There was still no sign of Kai. She shifted in her seat. She didn't like the effect his prolonged absence was having on her. She didn't like that she had noticed his absence at all. What could he possibly be doing that would take so long? More importantly, why did she care?

With Kai having been there with her so long, she had forgotten the overwhelming sense of loneliness that came along with being trapped here. There were times she recalled going to the mall alone and picking up items she knew Elena, Caroline and herself would die over. But neither of them were there to indulge in that experience with her. She missed her two best friends dearly. She knew they must of missed her just as much. She took her sleeve and wiped away a tear that was rapidly forming in the corner of her eye.

Even though the thought had crossed her mind, she wouldn't dare say it out loud. She knew it was normal for people to become attached to one another but there was no way in hell she'd ever come to terms with the possibility that she might actually miss Malachai Parker. She turned her focus back to her book.

Although, there could be worse things, her mind interjected. He could have found another source of magic and left you here to die all alone. Her stomach sank at the thought and she slammed the book down on the table to mute her malicious thoughts. She shot straight up out of the chair and began to pace on the balcony. This was the part about being left alone that she hated the most. Many obstacles could be outrun but there was no escaping the mind and its bitter truths.

Just then, the sound of the front door opening broke the deafening silence. She stiffened at the realization of what was happening. She had to put forth effort into not displaying how excited she truly felt. She was ashamed at her reaction. Nonetheless, she bolted downstairs and slowed down the closer she got to the bottom.

She saw Kai juggling multiple board games in his hand.

"We got Shoots and Ladders, Checkers, but you seem like more of a Chess person."

"Where have you been?" She blurted out before she could stop herself.

"You're clinginess is showing." He sang playfully.

Bonnie huffed and shook her head. "There's just no winning with you, is there?"

"There's a possibility of you winning if you play one of these games with me." His smile was a bit too friendly coming from him.

She came off the steps and stood in front of him, arms folded. "Ok. I'll play a game with you, if you tell me where you've been."

"Are we really keeping tabs on each other now?"

"Kai!"

"Fine! I was at the bar."

"For six hours?"

"So I stopped at a few stores along the way." He nodded to the multiple bags in front of the fireplace. "I needed some new clothes."

Now that he mentioned it, he did smell faintly of beer. Bonnie felt heat rising in her cheeks. His explanation was logical enough. He just needed some time away and she had let her emotions get the best of her. She looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh." Was all she said.

"Aww, you really did miss me."

"Let's just pick a game, okay."

She snatched one of the boxes out of his hand without really looking to see what it was.

"Ooo, I love Scrabble."

He cleared the coffee table while she set up the board. They sat on either side.

"Ladies first." He gestured towards her and covered up the Free Space.

Bonnie thought she'd start off with something simple. She smiled to herself and placed her letters horizontally.

M-O-R-O-N

Kai chucked at her word of choice.

He then proceeded to spell out P-R-U-D-E vertically.

"That's eight points for me." He proclaimed.

Bonnie kept a tally on the notepad and spelled out V-I-L-E

"And fourteen for me." She said proudly.

Kai wrote I-N-T-E-N-S-E under vile.

Bonnie spelled N-U-I-S-A-N-C-E next to intense

Kai's next word sent a jolt down her spine: P-R-E-T-T-Y

Her eyes darted up to see that ever reliable smirk of his. "Hey, you started it."

She broke eye contact and hastily wrote down the score. Her next word was: D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E

Kai laughed out loud at that. "It was worth a shot."

Many insults later, forty-five minutes had passed and they had played two rounds. "Not bad Bennett, but the king with the gift of gab takes the cake." He held up two fingers. "Twice."

Bonnie rolled her eyes but didn't feel disappointed with herself. She had given it her best shot. "Oh well." She began to put the game board away when she saw Kai grab another board.

"Feel up for some Chess?"

"Some other time." She got up and stacked the games neatly on the dining table.

"Sore loser." She heard him call and gave him the evil eye over her shoulder.

"I am not."

She came back over to the couch and her stomach began to rumble. She clutched it, feeling embarrassed.

"Hungry?"

"Obviously."

"Whatcha in the mood for?" He got up from the floor and headed towards the kitchen.

"Anything good."

"How does Baked Ziti sound?"

"Fancy."

She would never admit this to him, she didn't want to further inflate his ego but his cooking was delectable and this night was no exception. He had brought her plate over to her on the couch and they ate while watching TV. The sweet tea he made only aided in the deliciousness. She wondered briefly why she had never tried Baked Ziti before.

"Glad you like it." She could hear the smile on his lips as he spoke.

She didn't respond but only continued to stuff her face. Once she finished eating she could fully focus on what she was watching.

Kai had finally found a film for them to watch and stopped flipping through the channels. A little less than an hour had passed and Bonnie noticed that she had to squint to see the TV. Her vision was becoming blurry. She sat up straighter and attempted to focus. She knew that she hadn't slept in a while but she shouldn't be this tired. Not only was she becoming increasingly sleepy, she felt cold. The chill started in the palms of her hands and slowly crept throughout the rest of her body. She crossed her legs on the sofa and brought her arms around her torso, wrapping herself in like a cocoon. Minutes later, the dizziness worsened.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just, feeling a little woozy." She tried to grab onto the arm of the sofa to sit upright but she noticed her grip was slack.

"That might be due to the amount of painkillers I gave you."

Bonnie could barely gasp at his words. Her heart rate increased dramatically; it thudded so loudly that she was sure he would be able to hear it if he listened hard enough. She let out a slow intake of breath as she clutched her head with both hands and glared at him.

"Sleep tight, Bon."

His cold expression was the last thing she saw before her head rolled backwards on the cushion of the couch and completely blacked out.