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 10

Bonnie and Michael spent the drive back reliving their tour around Boston earlier that day and Bonnie pointed out several other interesting places they passed by. She enjoyed showing Michael where she had spent her childhood, where she had learned to ride a bike and where she went to school. She was looking forward to spending the evening with him and her sister.

When they arrived at her parents' house, she noticed that Lauren's car was already parked in the driveway and she could hear her sister already from outside.

"Mom, I've told you so many times that I don't want you to buy so many toys for Lilly. She doesn't need another doll. I don't want her to be spoiled." Lauren yelled at Emily who had spent the morning buying not only clothes and accessories for herself but also clothes and toys for Lilly.

"Don't yell at me. I'm trying to do something nice for my granddaughter. She's probably the only grandchild I will ever have." Emily said quietly to Lauren as Bonnie and Michael walked in. She was used to Lauren's heated outbursts. "Your sister is way too busy with her work to think about settling down and having children. You are not getting any younger, Bonnie."

"Mom!" It was Bonnie's turn now to get upset. "It's my life. And it's none of your business." She glared at Emily. She often told her that it was her decision to focus on her work now, but Emily didn't want to accept it. Usually, she didn't care when her mother complained about her not being married. But she didn't want her to mention this in front of Michael.

"Besides, Bonnie already has a child…well, sort of. KITT." Lauren quickly took Bonnie's side.

"This is not funny, Lauren. A car is not a child. It's an object of utility. Bonnie's creation may talk, fine, but still it's not a human being." Emily gave Lauren an angry look. She wished she could take back what she had said. She saw the look on Bonnie's face, and she regretted having hurt her daughter.

"KITT is not an object of utility. He's a highly advanced A.I. And he's more human than a lot of people I've met lately." Michael defended KITT. He was angry now and he could tell that Bonnie was fuming.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Emily asked Michael. He was a guest at their house and she didn't like what he was implying.

"Nothing." Michael turned to Bonnie. He had to get out of the house before he lost his temper. "I'm going to check on KITT. I'll see you later."

Bonnie wanted to stop him, but he was already gone. She considered following him, but first she had to confront her mother about her behavior. KITT was more than just a computer, and Michael was her friend, maybe even more than a friend, and she'd defend them. "Mom, what's wrong with you? Why can't you be nice to Michael?" She asked as soon as Michael had left the room. "Any why can't you respect my work?"

Emily sighed. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with her daughter. "Bonnie, I told you I don't trust him. You yourself said that he was irresponsible, unreliable, and impulsive. You had to work many nights because he damaged this car". Emily remembered several phone calls in which Bonnie had complained about Michael or had mentioned the longs hours she had worked to repair KITT after assignments. This gave Emily enough reason to believe that Michael Knight was reckless and that working at FLAG prevented Bonnie from settling down. "From what you told me, I don't think he respects either you or your work. And now you suddenly want me to like him?"

"That was a long time ago. I hardly knew Michael then. He's changed, Mom. Now I know that I can trust him with my life." Bonnie tried to reason with her mother. She regretted having complained about Michael. She should have known that her mother would remember how upset Bonnie had been during her first months at FLAG whenever Michael didn't appreciate KITT and her work. "Please give him a chance. You'll see that he is a wonderful person once you know him better."

Emily saw the despair in Bonnie's eyes. She also saw how much Michael meant to her. She didn't want Bonnie to be upset, so she finally gave in. "Fine, I'll give him a chance. It apparently means a lot to you." Bonnie's face softened. "I have to admit, it was nice of him to drive you to Boston."

"Thank you, Mom." Bonnie hugged her mother. "You are right, it means a lot to me." She considered pushing her luck and asking Emily to apologize to Michael but decided against it. She didn't want to risk Emily changing her mind again and she didn't want her mother to start asking questions about her relationship to Michael. Not before Bonnie knew if Michael felt the same. "I'll leave you and Lauren alone now."

She had already reached the door when Emily called her name.

"Bonnie, please wait." Emily walked over to the table and picked up an envelope. "I have a surprise for you. Remember that your father and I always go to the Boston Symphony the day after Thanksgiving? Well, we already had our tickets when the Millers invited us to a dinner party and your father couldn't say no. You've always enjoyed the symphony so I was thinking that you should go instead."

"Sure, I'd love to go." Bonnie smiled. She had often gone to the symphony with her parents when she had still lived in Boston. She was already picturing Michael wearing his tie again when she remembered her plans for the evening. "But tonight? I was planning on spending some time with Lauren."

"You'll come over to our house afterwards." Lauren quickly suggested. An evening alone with Michael would be exactly what her sister needed.

"Wonderful. I would hate to let the tickets go unused." Emily hesitated before she continued. She had a feeling that Bonnie wouldn't like what she was going to tell her now. "Scott will pick you up at 7 p.m. He hasn't been to the symphony in a long time and is looking forward to going there with you." She turned to Lauren and showed her a sweater she had bought for Lilly.

"What…? Scott? But I was thinking that I'd go with Michael…" Bonnie was disappointed. There was no way she'd spend the evening with Scott. She wondered if her mother had already forgotten what they just talked about.

Emily noticed that look on Bonnie's face. It was obvious to her that her daughter loved Michael Knight. She regretted having already offered Scott the ticket the day before. It was too late now. She couldn't call him and uninvite him. Of course, Scott was excited at the thought of seeing Bonnie again. He was hoping that this evening would give him an opportunity to show Bonnie that he still cared about her. "I'm sure Michael won't mind. From what you had told me, I assumed that he wouldn't like the symphony that much anyway. Scott, on the other hand, will enjoy it." Emily explained. She avoided facing Bonnie. "It is only one evening, Bonnie. It means a lot to Scott."

"Well, yes….but…..never mind." Bonnie knew it was pointless to argue with her mother. Her mother was right, Michael wouldn't enjoy the symphony, but she knew that he would have come with her. But now she was stuck with Scott who would talk non-stop about himself the whole time. And while Scott would ruin the evening at the symphony for her, Michael was having fun with Lauren and Luke. "Just my luck." Bonnie mumbled as she left the living room and walked back into her room.

XXX

"Michael, I think you should go back inside. Bonnie's mother might think you are rude." KITT told Michael. Michael had been with him for about 30 minutes now. They had played a few computer games, and KITT had let Michael win most of the time.

"She already thinks I'm not good enough. I don't care if she thinks I'm rude." Michael started a new game. This had been a bad idea. He should have never accepted Bonnie's offer to stay at her parents' house.

"Bonnie will care, Michael. She wants her mother to like her. She's trying really hard to convince Emily to be nice, Michael." KITT said. He didn't know much about human feelings, but he was a good observer. He saw the way Michael looked at Bonnie and he realized that Bonnie's smile grew brighter whenever she saw Michael.

"Even Bonnie won't change Emily Barstow's mind. She's stubborn. I finally know where Bonnie got her stubbornness from. Besides, I'm not Scott. She'll never like me." Michael angrily threw the joystick on the passenger seat. KITT hadn't let him win this time.

"But Bonnie likes you, Michael. She doesn't like Scott." KITT replied. He wondered why both Bonnie and Michael were afraid to admit that they were falling in love with each other. "Go back inside, Michael. Be as charming and friendly as you always are when you meet a woman on an assignment. I'm sure Emily won't be able to resist the famous Michael Knight charm."

Michael couldn't help but laugh. "I hope you are right. But don't forget how long Bonnie resisted my charm. I think she still does." He climbed out of the driver's seat and closed the door. "Wish me luck, buddy."

XXX

Michael heard Lauren and Emily have a heated discussion in the kitchen, so he decided to work his charm on Emily later. Since Bonnie wasn't in the living room, Michael went upstairs to look for her. He found her standing in front of her closet, holding a dress in one hand, and searching for something else in her closet with her other hand. He watched her from the door for a moment thinking how beautiful she was before she looked up and saw him standing there. Their eyes met and he felt his heart beat faster. He wished he had the heart to walk over to her, to kiss her and to tell her that he loved her and that he wanted to be with her. If she had been any other woman, he'd simply try his luck. But not with Bonnie. He had to be certain she'd return his feelings.

"Hi." Bonnie barely whispered as he walked into her room. "Is KITT okay?" Of course, KITT was okay. She knew that. She also knew that Michael had used KITT as an excuse to leave the house. She couldn't blame him. She would have done the same. "Michael, I'm sorry about my mother. She doesn't realize that KITT is more than a computer in a car."

"It's okay, Bonnie. Really." Michael reassured her. He didn't want her to worry about him. He sat down on her bed, hoping she'd sit down with him once she was finished rummaging through her clothes.

"I talked to my mother after you left. I told her how rude she's treating you. She promised to be nice. She even admitted that she's happy that you drove me to Boston." Bonnie pulled out a black dress and put it on the bed.

Michael tried to picture Bonnie in in. He had never seen her wear it be he knew she'd look fantastic in it. "Really? Maybe KITT was right…. Maybe I should apologize to her because I was rude earlier. But I couldn't let her insult KITT."

"I know. And I'm glad you disagreed and defended KITT. I wish she'd show more interest in my work than in my marital status." Bonnie turned away quickly. She felt uncomfortable that Michael had heard Emily criticize Bonnie's love life. "I tend to ignore her when she complains that I'm still not married."

"Does it bother you?" Michael decided to use this opportunity to get her to talk about her feelings. Maybe this was his chance.

"That she keeps telling me I should get married? Or that I'm not married yet?" She asked him without looking at him.

"Both." He said quietly. He'd known her for so many years now, but they had never talked about their plans for the future, whether they were hoping to get married or have a family.

She looked at him for at least a minute thinking about what he had asked. "It's my life and my decision to focus on my work."

Her work. Again, she used her work as an excuse not to let herself fall in love. Was she so afraid of loving someone or being loved?

From her reaction he knew that not having a partner and a love life did bother her. He could tell that she didn't feel comfortable having this kind of conversation with him as she quickly focused her attention on her closet again and chose another dress she seemed to like. This time it was an emerald dress.

"What are you doing?" Michael asked her to interrupt the awkward silence. "Don't you think this dress is a bit too stylish for tonight? We are going out for a beer, not to a fundraiser."

Bonnie sighed. She already dreaded the evening. "Unfortunately, I can't come with you. My mother surprised me with tickets for the Boston Symphony." Bonnie showed him the two dresses. "Which one do you like better?

"The black one. It'll look great on you." Michael pictured her again in the black dress. "Maybe it's a good idea to spend some time with your mother."

"Well, I guess it would be. But I'm not going with her. My parents are going to a dinner party. Mom gave me her tickets. I'm supposed to go with Scott." Michael looked at her startled and Bonnie could tell that he didn't like what he just heard. "I wanted to take you, but I know that you wouldn't like the symphony. Besides, Mom already asked Scott yesterday."

He wasn't surprised that Emily had arranged this. She wanted to Bonnie to spend time with Scott and not with him.

"Don't worry about it, Bonnie. It's fine. You are right, I would be bored." Michael lied quickly. It wasn't fine. He would have loved to go with her, and he would have been proud to sit next to her and watch her enjoy the music. He hated the thought that Scott would spend the evening with Bonnie. "On a second thought, I think you should wear the emerald dress."

"Are you sure? I thought you liked the black one better." Bonnie asked Michael with a puzzled look on her face. She wondered if he was really fine with her going out with Scott. She had seen the look on his face when she mentioned Scott's name. Was he jealous of Scott? Did he think they were going out on a date? But then, it wasn't really a date.

"I changed my mind." Michael headed to the door. "I'll be downstairs with your sister and tell her that I'm coming alone."

XXX

Lauren was brewing coffee when Michael walked into the kitchen. "Hey Michael, do you want some coffee?

"No, thanks." Michael sat down. Coffee wouldn't help him now. "So, it's going to be only you, me, and Luke tonight."

"Yeah, Bonnie's going to the symphony. She's going to miss out on all the fun." Lauren laughed. She noticed that Michael appeared to be upset. "However, Bonnie likes the symphony."

"But is she really going to enjoy it with Scott talking about himself all the time?" Michael sighed.

"You are jealous. I knew it. You like Bonnie. Luke and I were already making bets whether you are more than just friends." Lauren smiled. She had always liked Michael and had secretly hoped he and Bonnie would become closer.

"I'm not jealous. And we are just friends." Michael said quickly. He knew Lauren was right. He was jealous of Scott. "I don't like Scott, and I got the feeling yesterday that Bonnie isn't too comfortable around him."

"You are right, she isn't. Scott is in love with her and hopes she will marry him one day." Lauren explained. "But she isn't interested in him. She never was. That's why she wasn't happy when he showed up yesterday. "She took a sip from her coffee. "Scott can be annoying and boring. But he's not a bad person. He'd do anything for Bonnie. Just like you would." Lauren said. She could tell that Michael didn't want to believe that Scott was a nice guy and that he wasn't happy Bonnie wouldn't be able to join them. "I also have a feeling that my sister would rather spend the evening with you. She'll never admit it, Michael, but it's obvious. She only has eyes for you." She watched him as he thought about what she had just said. She had to help them, otherwise they'd never realize that they were meant for each other. "You know what? I have a plan. I think I know what we could do to save Bonnie from Scott."