Disclaimer: Glen A. Larson and Universal own the Knight Rider characters in this story. Bonnie's family and her family background as well as Scott were created by me.

Chapter 8

While KITT was retrieving information on Scott, Michael had enough time to think about the past few hours. Bonnie was right, dinner hadn't been as awkward as she had worried before. He had actually enjoyed sitting at a dinner table with a family. He had known beforehand that him showing up with Bonnie might be a surprise and not be a walk in the park. Over the years, Bonnie had mentioned a few times how bossy and stubborn her mother was. This remark always made Michael chuckle since Bonnie used to behave similarly, especially when KITT was concerned.

He wondered why he cared so much about Bonnie's feelings and why it was important to him that Bonnie's mother liked him. He was only a guest for a few days, and he might not see her again after that weekend. He doubted that Emily would decide to finally visit Bonnie in California and even then, he could easily avoid her. Unless he and Bonnie became closer - which was exactly the reason why it mattered to Michael what Emily thought of him.

He wasn't surprised that Emily preferred the well-educated Scott to him. But was Scott being alone on Thanksgiving the only reason she had invited him to dinner? Lauren didn't seem like him, and he could tell that Bonnie had not been delighted to see him either.

During dinner, Michael gained the impression that Scott was interested in Bonnie, and that Emily already considered Scott as Bonnie's future husband. Michael's intuition told him that Bonnie only thought of Scott as a friend and he hoped he was right. Again, Michael wondered why he was suddenly so interested in Bonnie. He had been attracted to her when he first met her, but she had never given him a chance. Finally, he had given up. But was he really over her? He had never stopped feeling attracted to her and the more time he spent with her, the more he realized that he was falling for her and that he had real feelings for her. He wished he could tell her how he felt about her. But this was Bonnie. He had to be careful and wait until he was certain. He didn't want to ruin their friendship and risk driving her away if she didn't feel the same.

"Michael?" KITT interrupted Michael's thoughts. "I have the information on Scott Saunders that you requested. May I ask why you are so interested in this man?"

"Let's say I don't trust him, KITT. I have this weird feeling about him. I can't explain why." Michael told KITT hoping he had indeed found something on Scott. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain that this weird feeling he had was called jealousy. "So, what did you find out?"

"Well, Scott Saunders, Dr. Scott Saunders, comes from a very prestigious family in Boston. His father was a successful lawyer, his mother a physician. Scott is an only child. He was a straight-A student, went to the best schools, then was accepted at MIT and at Stanford and later received a doctorate in computer sciences. He has worked for a few renowned companies all over the world and recently accepted a highly paid job at a software company here in Boston. He is not married. No children. He has never been arrested. No speeding tickets and no parking tickets either. Scott Saunders is an intelligent, ambitious, and apparently very handsome young man, Michael." KITT informed Michael.

"That's it? No dirty little secret? No skeleton in his closet?" Michael was disappointed but he wasn't surprised that KITT wouldn't find anything incriminating on Scott. There was nothing wrong about him, apart from his obvious interest in Bonnie.

"No, Michael. I'm afraid your feeling was wrong."

"KITT, how does Bonnie fit in? I was told that Scott is a close friend of the Barstows." Michael hoped KITT wouldn't ask any questions about his interest in Bonnie's relationship to Scott. Since Scott apparently was not a criminal, KITT wouldn't believe him that Michael worried Bonnie might be in danger.

"You are right, Michael. Scott's mother is Emily Barstow's best friend. Bonnie and Scott went to the same school. Both were accepted at MIT. However, after freshman year, Scott transferred to Stanford." KITT told Michael.

"Do you know why?" Michael asked curiously.

"Michael, this is personal. The information you are requesting are from Bonnie's personal FLAG file." KITT hesitated trying to figure out whether he should allow Michael to access the data. "I think you should talk to Bonnie before I give you any more information."

"KITT, tell me. I promise Bonnie won't mind. I just want to make sure that she won't get hurt." Michael protested. He wasn't keen on accessing Bonnie's personal file either. "You can blame me if Bonnie ever finds out."

"Well, fine. But for the record, I was against it. I doubt the information will be helpful. Again, there is nothing incriminating about Scott. "Kitt explained. "This is now from Bonnie's personal FLAG file. Scott and Bonnie took the same classes in high school. They also went to the prom together." Michael remembered that Bonnie mentioned that she didn't have much fun that night. "They went out on a few dates shortly after they had begun studying at MIT, but they broke up after a few months. Apparently, Bonnie didn't want to be distracted from her studies. Scott transferred to Stanford shortly afterwards." KITT continued.

"Bonnie dated this snob?" Michael realized that he had sounded more appalled than he had intended.

"Only briefly, Michael. She has never mentioned his name to me, therefore I doubt it was serious. I suspect her mother encouraged her to go out with Scott and she used her studies as an excuse to end it. Didn't you say Bonnie wasn't excited to see him?" KITT was surprised about the tone in Michael's voice. "Michael, may I ask why you are so upset about this information?"

"I'm just curious, KITT." Michael lied. He knew KITT wouldn't believe him.

"It didn't sound like curiosity. It sounds more like you are jealous." KITT wasn't familiar with human feelings but Michael being jealous would explain why Michael opted to spend Thanksgiving with Bonnie's family, and had even put on a jacket and tie. He had come to the conclusion that Michael was trying to impress Bonnie and that he was worried he had to compete with Scott.

"Me jealous? No, KITT. I'm not jealous. I'm just looking out for a friend, that's all." Was Bonnie really only a friend? Michael wasn't so sure anymore. "Speaking of Bonnie, I should better go back inside before her mother locks me out." He wouldn't be surprised if that happened. "Although I think I'd prefer sleeping in the driver's seat again. Lauren's room is a bit too pink." Michael laughed. He slipped out of the seat and closed the door. "Good night, buddy."

"Good night, Michael. You know where to find me if the pink room bothers you." KITT started the engine and pulled into the garage Bonnie had showed him earlier.

XXX

Michael slowly walked back into the house. He hoped that Scott had left by now, but he knew it wasn't very likely. Scott enjoyed his visit with Bonnie's family, and he didn't even think about going back to his apartment.

"There you are. Luke and I were wondering if you would ever come back inside." Lauren opened the door for Michael. He noticed that she was already wearing her coat.

"Well, I was tempted to stay with KITT. Are you already leaving?" Michael asked.

"Lilly is tired. Luke has to work tomorrow, and I want to get up early and go shopping. I love the sales after thanksgiving." Lauren smiled. "But we'll see you tomorrow for lunch. Bonnie is going to show you around in Boston in the morning. You better go back inside now and save her from Scott. She is already bored to death and he won't stop talking." She helped Lilly in her jacket. "Good night, Michael."

"Night, Uncle Mike." Lilly gave him a hug. "Oh, I forgot to say bye to KITT. Can you tell him that I said good night?"

"Why don't you tell him yourself?" Michael showed her his comlink. "Hey pal, Lilly wants to talk to you."

"Cool." Lilly smiled. "Good night, KITT."

"Good night, Lilly. Sleep tight." KITT replied. "Good night, Lauren, good night, Luke,"

"Bye, KITT. See you tomorrow, Michael." Luke opened the door for Lilly and Lauren.

"Bye guys." Michael closed the door and headed towards the living room. "Ok, now back into the lion's den."

XXX

Michael could tell that Bonnie was relieved when she saw him walk into the living room. Lauren had been right. Bonnie looked bored whereas Emily seemed to enjoy listening to Scott's monologue. Jack was reading a newspaper and didn't pay attention to Scott.

"Is KITT ok?" Bonnie immediately asked when Michael sat down next to her. Too bad she couldn't use KITT as an excuse to leave the living room. They had already done that after dinner.

"Yes, he's fine. He is parked in the garage now." Michael told her. Scott looked confused since he didn't know what Bonnie and Michael were talking about. Bonnie had never told him much about her work and about KITT.

"Scott, have you told Bonnie about that golf tournament you participated last month?" Emily asked. "Do you play golf, Michael?"

"No, I don't. I prefer sailing, rock-climbing, and football." Michael answered wondering if Scott would give him a lecture on golf now.

"You should try golf. It's so relaxing. Rock-climbing is a dangerous sport. You could get killed." Scott said and Emily nodded.

"Michael is careful. And rock-climbing isn't that dangerous if you know how to do it right." Bonnie defended Michael which surprised him. She'd always given him a discerning look when he went rock-climbing "I never liked golf. It's just as boring as cricket."

"Don't let Devon hear that." Jack looked up from his newspaper at the mention of Devon's favorite sport.

Bonnie and Michael laughed. "I think Devon knows by now that he can't get us into cricket."

"He tried to get me and Wilton to play with him, but we always refused. He couldn't understand that no one liked cricket. That's when he started to play for himself in his office." Jack remembered.

"He's still doing that." Michael told Jack. "I hope he gets a chance to play with his relatives while he's in England."

"Well, as I told you before, I met this professor from MIT at a conference and he told me that he and his colleagues were very impressed with the software I had developed for one of their projects." Scott interrupted Michael and Jack hoping to get Bonnie's attention again.

"Oh, that's wonderful, Scott." Emily smiled at him. "I'm sure Bonnie would be interested in learning more about your projects."

"I'm bored." Bonnie whispered to Michael who nodded. This was their chance to leave. Maybe he'd have a few moments alone with Bonnie.

"I'm tired, Mom. We didn't get much sleep last night. Good night, Dad." Bonnie hugged her father. "Good night, Scott. It was nice seeing you again."

"But I haven't told you about my latest project yet, Bonnie." Scott was disappointed that she was already leaving.

"Oh, that's fine, Scott. We'll catch up at some other time." Bonnie said quickly hoping he wouldn't ask her when that would happen. "Good night, Mom."

"Good Night, my dear." Emily noticed that Michael had gotten up as well. "You are also going to bed, Michael?"

"Yes, Mrs. Barstow, I'm pretty tired myself. As Bonnie said, we didn't get much sleep last night. Nice meeting you, Scott." Michael tried to smile. "Good night, Mr. Barstow."

"It's Jack, son." Jack smiled. "Good night."

XXX

"Thank you." Michael said to Bonnie as soon as they had left the living room. "I was worried we would have to listen to him all night."

"I was close to falling asleep before you came back. Scott loves to talk. He doesn't know when to stop and he doesn't seem to notice that most people aren't interested in his talks." Bonnie headed towards the stairs. "Luke invited us to his restaurant for lunch tomorrow."

"He's a nice guy." Michael followed her to their bedrooms.

"Yeah, he is. Lauren is very lucky. You know, I'm a bit jealous of her. She has a job which she loves, and she has a great family." Bonnie said sadly. Seeing Lauren with Luke had made her realize that she missed having someone who loved her in her life.

"You are lucky too. You love your job. And you have a family. You have us – KITT, Devon, RC, and me."

"I wasn't talking about that, Michael. Lauren has a husband and a daughter. I haven't had a date in a year, and I doubt I'll ever have kids. I know KITT is like my child but it would be nice to have a daughter or a son." Bonnie opened the door to her bedroom but didn't walk in. "I don't want to be alone for the rest of my life."

"I know that feeling. I thought I had a chance to finally get all that when Stevie and I married. But it didn't happen. But it will happen for you, Bonnie. You will find someone who loves you and who accepts that you love your job." Michael slid his arm around her shoulder. She just told him that she wasn't seeing anyone at the moment, just like he had assumed. "You are a wonderful woman, Bonnie. I'm sure your Mr. Right is somewhere waiting for you to find him." This could have been the right moment to tell her how he felt about her. But he ruined it by mentioning Stevie instead of telling her that he was falling in love with her.

"Thanks, Michael, you are really sweet." Bonnie hugged him. She wished she could tell him that he might be that person, but he was still mourning Stevie. "You've been so nice to me."

"I'd do anything you, sweetheart." Michael hugged her back, holding her longer than usual. He desperately tried to think of a way to let her see how important she was for him. "I meant what I said earlier. I don't know if I would have survived last year without you, KITT, and Devon."

"That's what family is for, right?" Bonnie walked into the room and Michael followed her. "Don't let my mother see that. She never allowed us to have boys in our rooms. Of course, Lauren didn't care."

"Your mother won't notice. She is probably still busy listing to Scott." Michael laughed.

"He's the son she always wanted." Bonnie explained. She didn't want to talk about Scott now. Being with Michael in her room made her nervous. She wanted him to be there but at the same time, she was cautious. She didn't want to feel awkward around him if she had misinterpreted his behavior toward her in the last days. "I was thinking that I could show you Boston tomorrow since you've never been here. We could go to the tea party ship, Quincy Market, the Boston Common, and maybe we have enough time to go to the science museum."

"Sounds good to me. But the science museum? I don't know, Bonnie." Michael was disappointed because of the direction their conversation had turned.

"It's fun, Michael, it's not only for science nerds. It might not be open anyway since it's the day after Thanksgiving." Bonnie put her bag on the chair next to the dresser. She was angry with herself because she had lost her courage again.

"All right. I better let you sleep now. You look tired. Good night, beautiful." Michael kissed her head. Should he dare and give her a real kiss? How would she react? He bent down and kissed her lips lightly before he turned and walked towards the door.

"Good night, Michael." Bonnie smiled at him still feeling his lips on hers. She watched him leave through the connecting door into Lauren's room. Maybe she'd tell him before their vacation was over. Maybe he was her Mr. Right.