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 15

It was already late morning when Emily Barstow walked into the living room, holding a cup of coffee in her hand. She had just finished breakfast and decided to join her husband who was reading. She sat down next to him and took a sip from her coffee. "Jack, have you seen Bonnie? Is she still asleep?"

Her husband looked up from the newspaper he was reading and shook his head. "I haven't seen her yet. Maybe they decided to sleep in."

"They?" Emily repeated the pronoun he had used. Was Jack referring to Bonnie and Scott or Bonnie and Michael Knight?

"Well, yes, they. Bonnie and Michael. They are heading back to Los Angeles today, and who knows how long it'll take them to get back. They need to be well rested for such a long drive." Jack turned back to his newspaper.

"Are we sure that she's actually spent the night here? Maybe she finally realized that Scott is right for her and she spent the night at his place?" Emily took another sip from her coffee. Their dinner party hadn't lasted as long as the concert at the symphony. She had already been asleep by the time Bonnie had returned. She was hopeful that her well-planned date was successful.

Jack sighed and closed his newspaper. Why wouldn't Emily realize that Bonnie and Scott were only friends? "You are never going to give up, are you? Emily, Bonnie is not interested in Scott and she won't change her mind."

Emily knew that Jack was right, but she wasn't ready yet to stop dreaming about Scott as son-in-law.

"And to answer your question, she's here." Jack continued. Emily wouldn't like what he was going to say next. "She may have left with Scott, but she came back with Michael."

"She came back with Michael? But…. she went out with Scott." Emily stuttered confusedly. How was this possible?

"Maybe they met after the symphony. Bonnie mentioned that she wanted to spend some time with Lauren afterwards." Jack explained remembering his talk with Bonnie before she left for the symphony. "I saw them arriving at the house in Michael's car before I went to bed." He looked at Emily, hoping she'd listen to him. "Bonnie likes Michael, Emily. And he's good for her. Don't ruin this for her."

"Jack Barstow, you can't be serious. Michael Knight is not good for Bonnie. She may like him, but he could hurt her." Emily said with an angry tone in her voice. She was aware of Michael's track record with women and she didn't want Bonnie to have her heart broken.

"Michael has never hurt Bonnie. In fact, he's saved her life more than once. He was there for her when she needed a friend." Jack explained to his wife. Sometimes, he wondered why she was so stubborn. Her mind was set on the concept of Michael playing with Bonnie's feelings. He would have believed her if this had happened a few years ago. It was different now. Michael had changed and Bonnie now knew him well. "This is Bonnie's life, not yours. We have no right to tell her who she should like. Wilton Knight thought very highly of Michael, and you always trusted Wilton."

"Fine. But don't blame me if Bonnie gets her heart broken." Emily stood up and headed towards to door. She had to admit that Jack was right, but she was too stubborn to let him know. Emily couldn't deny that Bonnie's eyes sparkled when she looked at Michael. She was also aware that he would do anything for Bonnie. Making sure she was able to spend the last few days with her family was proof of that.

She sighed. She would give Michael a chance and trust Jack that being with Michael made Bonnie happy. But first she had to find out what happened between Bonnie and Scott the night before and see if there was really no chance for them to be together. Emily closed the door to the living room and headed to the study to make a phone call.

"Scott? It's Emily. What happened last night? " She immediately asked once Scott answered the phone. "Why did Bonnie come home with Michael Knight?"

Scott yawned. He had slept in and Emily's call woke him up. "Well, Emily, he showed up at the symphony. He was with Lauren. And when the concert was over, Lauren decided that it would be easier if she rode with me and Bonnie rode with Knight. I had no chance to object. You know how bossy Lauren can be. She also told me that Bonnie is not interested in me." Scott explained quickly. On the way home, Lauren had told him to leave Bonnie alone.

"Oh, don't believe Lauren. She's never liked you." Emily replied. She wasn't surprised that Lauren was involved.

"But she's right, Emily. It didn't work when we were in college and it wouldn't work now." Scott sighed. This was hard to admit for him as he loved Bonnie. "It took me a long time to realize, but I now know that Bonnie will never love me. We can't force her, Emily. I wish it were different, but I think Bonnie is in love with Michael Knight. And he cares about her too. You saw the look on her face when he's around."

Emily thought about what Scott said. She didn't want to admit it, but she knew he was right.

"I will always love her, but I want her to be happy. Unfortunately. I'm not the person who will make her happy." Scott said with a sad tone in his voice.

"She could be happy with you." Emily said quickly, hoping this would help Scott and convince him not to give up. He was like a son for her and she wanted him to be a part of their family.

"No, she wouldn't. We are too alike, Emily. I don't think that's a problem, but she does. This was the reason she broke up with me before." He explained. "She's never had deeper feelings for me. She considers me as a friend, nothing more. And she only went out with me in college because everyone expected us to become more than friends. I lost her as friend when it didn't work." He had been sleepless as well the night before after he had returned home. The evening and his talk with Lauren had opened his eyes and had made him realize that Bonnie would never be happy with him. He should have known that he wouldn't be able to convince Bonnie to give him another chance. He was lucky that his constant efforts had been successful in the past and had made her accept his invitation to go out with on a date in college.

"So you are really giving up? I thought you were a fighter, Scott. I'm disappointed in you." Emily hung up. She wasn't happy that her plan had failed and that she had to give up her dream of Scott becoming her future son-in-law. But she knew that Bonnie couldn't be forced into a relationship. Emily wanted her to be with someone who loved her and with someone whom Bonnie loved. Her daughter was smart, stubborn and cautious. She wouldn't let others make decisions for her. Bonnie seemed to have lost her heart to Michael Knight. Jack and even Scott thought Michael was good for Bonnie and Emily had to admit that they were right. She decided that she would give him a chance. Bonnie said he had changed, and she hoped it was true and he wouldn't hurt Bonnie's feelings.

XXX

Michael gently played with a strand of Bonnie's long brown hair while she was still asleep. He had been awake for a while but decided not to wake her. He loved watching her sleep which he did whenever he found her slumped over her desk or over her computer. He had never had the chance to wake up that close to her before, but he liked the thought of having this experience more often.

He had fallen asleep next to Bonnie the night before. When he woke up in the morning, he considered going back to his room before she woke up. He was worried that she might be upset if she found him here. But maybe she wouldn't mind. After all, she had asked him to stay until she fell asleep. It wasn't his fault that by the time she was sleeping, he had fallen asleep as well.

Bonnie slowly opened her eyes and saw Michael watching her. "Morning." She whispered noticing that they were sharing a bed. "You didn't sleep here, did you?"

Michael grinned happily. "Well, yes, I did. Remember that you asked me to stay until you fell asleep?"

She nodded. Knowing that she wasn't alone had helped her to finally be able to sleep. Listening to Michael's heartbeat had calmed her and she hadn't been afraid of the thunderstorm anymore.

"Well, I guess I was really tired and I fell asleep here the same time you did. I haven't slept as well as I did last night in a long time." He smiled at her. It was true. He felt rested even though it had been well after midnight that he'd closed his eyes. "It's nice to wake up next to such a beautiful woman." He paused, thinking about whether he should add that he'd like to wake up like this more often.

"Michael, please, I'm not beautiful, especially not now." Bonnie's heart was beating faster but she didn't want to admit that she was flattered. She hoped her hair wouldn't look too messy and that her eyes weren't still swollen from crying.

"Trust me, sweetheart, you are beautiful." Michael smiled at her. Why wasn't she more self-confident when it came to her looks? "When I first met you, after I had become Michael Knight, I thought that there was no way you could be a cyber technician. You didn't fit into this image of a computer expert that I had in my mind." His hand reached for her hand and he gently caressed it. "And I also thought that you were one of the prettiest women I had ever met. But you only had eyes for KITT. That really hurt my ego."

Bonnie laughed while she enjoyed the touch of his hand on hers. She remembered that day. She had seen Michael before, but they hadn't been officially introduced until he had come back with KITT. She had been worried sick about KITT, and of course she was angry with Michael. She could have cared less for his attempts to get to know her. "You want to know what I thought?" She asked, not waiting for his answer. "I could have killed you. I was so worried about KITT and couldn't believe how such a handsome man could be so irresponsible and immature."

"You thought I was handsome?" Michael's grin grew bigger. She had paid attention to him, even though she had pretended that he didn't exist

"Oh, shut up, Michael." Bonnie playfully put a finger on his lips, then noticed how late it was. "We better get up and get ready for breakfast before my parents start wondering why we are late."

"Oh, I can think of some good explanations." He was now smiling from ear to ear as he pictures the look on Emily's face if he'd mention that they had shared a bed. He noticed that Bonnie hastily tried to wrap the blanket around her nightshirt, and he felt her hand slip away from his. He reached for her hand again and reclaimed it. Last night, the thunderstorm stopped him from showing her how he felt about her. He wasn't going to let his happen again this morning.

"Bonnie, wait." He said as she was about to let go of his hand again to get up. He moved closer to her. Their eyes met and he saw the expecting look in her eyes. He gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear with his other hand before his lips finally found hers. Bonnie closed her eyes and kissed him back. She felt goosebumps on her skin from the sensation of the kiss. She had wanted him to kiss her that passionately for so long, had longed to feel his lips touch hers. She wanted this kiss to last forever and she was disappointed when Michael pulled back and she no longer felt the touch his lips on her mouth.

"Wh…what did I do to deserve this?" She mumbled while she looked at him, hoping he would kiss her again. His head was still close to hers, and their hands were still laced. She regretted having asked him this instead of just telling him that she didn't want the kiss to end.

"Um…well, I wanted to give you a goodnight kiss last night…. and then we were interrupted." Michael avoided looking into her eyes. He still felt the butterflies in his stomach from their kiss and he wanted more. Bonnie hadn't objected and Michael believed that this was a good sign. Still, he decided not to go any further at the moment. This was Bonnie and not some other girl. He had to take it slowly, one step at a time. That's why he had broken away from the kiss. He knew they wouldn't be able to stop if they continued. "I think you are right. We better get ready and have some breakfast. Your parents are probably already waiting for us. I don't think my mother would appreciate finding me in your bed."

"Um…yeah." Bonnie watched him move away from her. The touch of his lips and of her hands still lingered on her skin. She wanted to stop him and tell him how much she had enjoyed the kiss and that she wanted him to kiss her again, but she didn't. Doubts emerged in her mind. What if this had really only been a goodnight kiss?

"Michael…" She finally managed to say his name, but he had already disappeared in Lauren's room. She put her doubts away. There was no way she could have misinterpreted the kiss. This had been a real kiss and it meant that Michael had feelings for her too.