Chapter Fifty-Three: What The Future Holds

Feelings are hard. He knew that from a very young age, when he was conflicted about his feelings for his father. Kai used to love his dad without condition. But his father had it out for Kai from the start. Whenever Kai did something to make his dad proud, he would get a nasty or judgmental comment on how he could have done better. Back then he didn't understand why his father couldn't just love him the way he was. His mom was always happy when he gave her something that he drew in kindergarten. She always put it on the fridge so that everyone could see it.

Kai only made the mistake of giving his dad something self-made once. It was a handprint-turkey that he did in his first grade. Every kid in his class had to make it and most of the boys didn't want to do it. But Kai knew that his father's birthday was right before Thanksgiving and Kai had every intention to make the perfect turkey to give to him. Big mistake. Joshua Parker had tossed the turkey away like it meant nothing. He said that Kai could have used more bright colors and smoothed out the edges more. Joshua had no idea that Kai had intended for the turkey to look as realistic as possible because he knew that his dad was a rationalist with no tolerance for the arts. The edges weren't smooth because Kai had never seen a smooth turkey before.

That evening, Kai claimed he wasn't hungry and went to hide in his room until his mother had found him and brought him some food. He cried in her arms that day until he fell asleep. It was so hard to understand why his dad was so hard on him. All he had wanted to get from him was a little smile. Not even a thank you. Just a smile, so that he knew he had brought his father a bit of happiness that day. Despite all this Kai still loved him. It took him a while longer to understand that it was useless to try and get some kind of affection from his cold as ice father. So, the love he felt for him slowly but truly devolved into hatred. He grew ignorant of his father's feelings and wishes and was always way better off with him not being around. He didn't miss him, not really. He had never had a real father, so he didn't have anything to miss.

The only thing he really learned from that experience was that feelings, they weren't really worth it. That was why he sometimes felt like he was having a stroke, a heart attack or both at the same time, when he was with Bonnie.

More often than not, he didn't really get why Bonnie did things. Like, hugging everyone, even though they weren't friends. Kai could barely stand being close to a handful of people, not to mention strangers from school. Or when she snuggled close to him while they were watching TV. It's not that he minded the snuggling at all, he was just always wondering how she felt the need to be close to him at a random time like that. Okay, Kai kind of always wanted to be close to her, but when his mind was elsewhere like while watching a movie, he wondered how Bonnie had the compacity to split her attention between him and the story.

Granted, he had gotten better with that part. Or more experienced. Who really knew, who really cared.? Kai certainly didn't. But his raging heartbeat, the way he wanted her to be satisfied with everything he was doing, wanted to see her smile and happy, that was the confusing part. It almost felt like back in the day, when he tried to make his dad happy, but with the difference that Bonnie actually was. Of course, he didn't give her a handprint-turkey, but when he cooked for her or when he told her she did a great job or just simply talking to her, she seemed content- happy even.

And how her happiness meant everything to him. Everything concerning Bonnie Bennett had become his top priority. It seemed like he cared more about her than he did for himself, which was saying a lot given how he had been treating people, especially girls, that tried to be close to him before.

Kai was pretty sure he knew what he felt for her. He knew the name for that feeling that he felt. There was just something in his mind preventing him to actually accept it. Bonnie had told him on numerous occasions how she felt about him and it had been hard to hear. It was even harder to say it back. All he ever got from love was disappointment and pain. He didn't want what he and Bonnie had to turn into something like that. He knew, he would have to work on his issues at some point. Bonnie might be a patient girl, but she wasn't going to give him a pass on his emotions forever. That wasn't what she deserved either. That was why Kai tried to find new and creative ways to tell her what she meant to him.

It was hard for him to share this with her, but he knew that she was worth it. She was worth so much more than this. One day, Kai had promised himself, he would be the man Bonnie deserved but until then, he had to make up for his emotional incapacity in a more physical way. They were teenagers after all.

So, whenever he got the chance, Kai tried to make Bonnie feel extraordinary. They were an exceptional match in the sexual department and Kai had learned how to read Bonnie's signs or how to make her weak. He couldn't keep his hands off her but lucky for him, she seemed like she didn't mind at all.

A few weeks after their little winter vacation, Kai and Bonnie went into a sex marathon, of sorts. They were finally in a good place again and made good use of it. Kai even succeeded in making Bonnie ditch school, because he was eating the living shit out of her in the morning. God, he loved the little whimpering sounds she made when she tried to tune down the volume of her orgasm. It never really worked, but Kai loved to hear her try.

They spent every day with each other, until the point where Faye came up to him to have a serious talk. She told him she was happy for the two but that she really missed her friend and that she claimed at least one day of the weak to be hers.

Kai had agreed with her and that was when Bonnie and Kai had finally found a healthy rhythm for their sexual encounters. It seemed like they had finally found themselves.

Kai still stayed over at the Bennett's house a couple times a week, or Bonnie would sleep over at his place. But that didn't necessarily mean that they were going to have sex. Most of the times they just cuddled and fell asleep in each other's arms. Bonnie had also done wonders to Kai's sleeping patters. He wasn't close to having a normal sleep cycle but at least he got 4 to 5 hours of sleep every night he was with Bonnie. Sometimes even more. All in all, Kai was doing great. They were doing great.

The happiness he felt for the most times, it was better that any drug he could imagine. It was just as addictive but at least he had his fix right within his reach and it wasn't even deadly. He still struggled to put a word to it, but he knew that Bonnie knew how happy she made him. After the cards he had been dealt lately, he really did need that.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The months flew by and he realized how cranky he had actually been, when the first sunbeams returned to the grey sky of Portland. It was right after Kai and Bonnie had returned from Mystic Falls where they had spent a few days over Easter and Kai had gotten to know her dad. He had been a little anxious to meet him. He had never had to go through the whole awkward meeting-the-parents-thing before. He had met Abby while he was still only friends with Bonnie, but meeting the father, who was probably very well aware of the fact that Kai was boning his only daughter, had been unsettling him. Bonnie made fun of him in all the weeks leading up to their trip. In the end, Rudy Hopkins had been a pleasant surprise. Kai knew Bonnie didn't see her father as much these days, but he also knew that she cared deeply for him. And it seemed like he returned the feeling. That alone was a reason the two males had gotten along. They both saw that the other was important to Bonnie.

Kai also met some of Bonnie's old friends. Like the Tyler dude, he really couldn't stand that one, or Matthew, the good-boy. He had nothing against him, but he really didn't need to spend his time with him too often. He was rather dull. But as always, he enjoyed Caroline's presence most.

They even kind of walked in on Jeremy Gilbert at one point. They had just left the Mystic Grill, the go-to-place in Mystic Falls (probably the only place to go to, too), and were heading in the direction of Bonnie's father's house when he walked down the same street. When he saw Bonnie and Kai- his hands wrapped around her shoulders and fingers loosely intertwined with the hand dangling from her right shoulder- Jeremy stopped in his tracks. He looked around weirdly and quickly pulled a tiny asian-looking girl into his side, making it obvious he wanted to show off. Weirdly enough, Bonnie didn't give them as much as a short glace and even greeted him when they passed. Jeremy looked like he was going to throw a punch again but didn't. Good for him.

But the most important part of their trip to Mystic Falls was meeting Sheila Bennett. Bonnie's grandmother was an amazing woman, a little wacko maybe, but really great. Him and Sheila got along just great.

At first, he was a little afraid of the elderly woman, but when she invited him to a game of poker, she found that they had quite the same humor. After that, they quickly fell into a dynamic Bonnie would later complain about as 'too close for my taste.'

Kai only laughed at her and told her that it was her idea to drag him out here and meet her family. Then Bonnie would bump her shoulder into his and smile weakly.

When Bonnie and Kai returned to Portland after having the best Easter-meal he had ever eaten, they were in such a good place. Everything seemed to be going right for once, until one morning after taking a shower to get ready for school Kai found an envelope placed on his desk. He stared at it for quite some time, frozen. There was no doubt who it was from, the red and grey logo clearly gave that away.

Kai didn't know why, but he suddenly felt nervous. In all his time in high school he had never once feared his academic future. Even now, he didn't hesitate because he was afraid he didn't get into MIT, he never wanted to go there anyway. No, he feared that he had gotten in. That news would most likely end up destroying the happy place that he had been in for a while now.

"You're not going to open it?"

Kai winced at his twins' voice coming from the door. He had been so deep in thoughts that he hadn't noticed her. When he turned around to face her, she was leaning against the open door to his room, a letter of her own dangling between her fingers.

"Looks like it. What about you?", Kai asked as he leaned his weight against his desk. Jo rolled her eyes and stepped inside, carefully closing the door behind her for privacy.

"Stop being ridiculous, Kai. It's just a letter. It won't define the rest of your life. You can still say no. Or maybe you didn't get in and everything will be fine."

Kai chuckled lightly. "Thanks for the tip, Dr. Phil. Don't be upset when I don't take advice from a hypocrite like you." He pointed to Jo's unopened letter. He could now see the blue letters forming the words 'Duke University'.

Kai lifted his gaze back to Jo when he heard her sigh. "To be honest, I am kind of scared. I know I applied to other schools, but honestly- I really wanna go to Duke."

Kai understood Jo in a certain way, Duke was a good school, but Jo was smart enough to go to any Ivy League school there was, and their father had made sure that she applied to all of them. So, what was it about Duke that made her wanna go so desperately?

"Why Duke? I mean, we never really talked about it before. I'm curious."

"Same reason you don't wanna go to MIT.", Jo said and went over to his bed to sit down.

A frown appeared on Kai's face. What did she mean by that? Jo must have interpreted his expression right because she elaborated.

"I want to be as far away from this place a humanly possible. I know that sounds crazy and selfish, but the last year had been shitty for me, for us. As much as I love this family, I need to get away from them, from dad. I know that it's like the smallest rebellion ever, but going to Duke, on the other side of the country feels like the most me decision I can imagine."

"So, you're doing it to piss of dad.", Kai joked and avoided the pillow Jo had aimed for his head.

"Shut up, douche.", she said but had trouble hiding her smile.

Kai went over to his bed and settled down next to his twin. If she got into Duke, this would mean they would get separated for the first time in their lives. Sure, they had spent time apart, but only for a few weeks on end. Never for- what could end up being the rest of their lives.

Turning the envelope in his hands, Kai gulped down a lump that was forming in his throat. He turned his head to look at his twin. Due to the magical connection that only twins share, they both exchanged their letters without saying a word. It would be easier if the other found out whether or not they got in.

Nodding once, both started tearing the envelopes open, fishing for the paper within.

Kai's eyes roamed over the words written on his sister's letter and slowly but surely he started smiling.

With that smile on his face he turned to look at Jo who was already waiting in anticipation.

"So?", she asked with a shaky voice.

"Congrats sissy, you're going to Duke."

A squeak escaped Jo and she snatched the letter out of Kai's hands to read it herself. When she was sure that he wasn't messing with her, she jumped up and down on the bed and let herself fall into his arms. Kai pressed Jo to himself and felt happiness for his sister's dream coming true.

After a few moments, Jo pulled back. Her eyes were still dancing with joy but her general expression had sobered. That was when Kai knew. He turned away from his sister in order to shield his emotional turmoil.

"I'm sorry, Kai." Jo said and leaned her head against his shoulder. For a moment she rested it there but when he didn't make a move to recognize his sister's affections, Jo understood and pulled away. She let his opened letter slide onto his lap and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze as she got up from the bed.

"Don't worry, Kai. We will convince dad not to send you to MIT. I'll help you in any way I can."

And then she left him. Kai was sure that his sister wanted to comfort him more, but she also knew him too well. She knew there was no point in talking to him right now.

After a few moments of solitude, Kai finally had the gut to look at the pieces of paper in his lap. He grabbed the letter and started reading.

Dear Mr. Parker,

on behalf of MIT- Massachusetts Institute of Technology I am pleased to congratulate you on your acceptance into our program for the fall 2012 semester. We were very impressed by your academic history and believe that you will prove that our confidence in you is not unfounded…

Kai stopped reading. He scrambled the paper in his hands and groaned while letting himself fall on his back.

Why did this have to be? Why couldn't he just get something that he wanted for once? Or at least keep the thing he already had; the thing that made him happy? What was he going to tell Bonnie?

Another groan escaped him. He wasn't going to keep this a secret for long. Not only from Bonnie but also- from his dad. If Jo was going to tell him about her acceptance, he was surely going to ask about his. And because he was so hell-bend on sending Kai to MIT he won't quit asking, maybe even going so far and contacting his friend over at MIT, who would tell him that the acceptance letters had all been send and that Kai had received one weeks ago. Ooooh, this was such a dilemma.

When he realized that he wasn't going to get this resolved right this second, he knew it made no sense to keep moping. He wasn't the type to mope anyway. He got up from his bed, hid the envelope in one of his desk drawers and left.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The sun was shining brightly today. The wind was still a little chilly, but it was only spring. But everyone was gathered outside for lunch break, so was Bonnie along with Faye and Perry.

Faye was currently discussing the quality of the cafeteria food with Perry, but Bonnie didn't listen. She was preoccupied with her own food. Her mom had cooked Lasagna yesterday and Bonnie had made sure to hide a piece of it, so she could take it with her to school today.

She appreciatively dug into her food when suddenly the sun was blocked by something. Or rather someone.

When Bonnie looked up, she saw Kai sitting in front of her. He had plopped down with one leg on each side of the bench Bonnie was currently occupying. He was smiling at her, even though she couldn't make out every detail of his face due to the fact that she had to basically look right into the run to see him.

"Hi there.", Bonnie said gleefully. She hadn't seen Kai all day, even though they had class together. She figured that he had just cut the first few classes, but she still wanted to know for sure. "Where have you been all day?"

Instead of answering her, Kai leaned in and gave her a small peck on the lips. That was when he realized she was eating something. Bonnie had been too distracted by his appearance that she had forgotten about her food for a second. And Kai was the kind of person that liked to take advantage of a second of carelessness.

Before she could do anything, he had stolen the piece of lasagna that was still left on her fork and swallowed it. Bonnie looked at him in fake shock.

"Kai! How dare you!"

She turned away from him a little in order to protect her food.

Kai chucked. "Oh, come on Bonster. I didn't eat anything today and this, you just know how much I love your mom's lasagna."

Kai crept closer to her and Bonnie tried to avoid his greedy stomach by sliding further away. When he still came closer, Bonnie had reached out her arm in order to keep him away.

"Na aaah, I brought this so that I can eat it. You go get your own food, mister. And by the way, how do you know I didn't make this?"

Kai stilled at her question. He only looked at her with a 'are you serious?' expression. Then he grinned.

"Really, Bon? I think I can taste the difference between your and your mom's food. Thinking of it, why is it that all the women in your family can cook and you're…ouch."

Kai couldn't finish his sentence because Bonnie was hitting him several times on the arm now. That had the advantage that Kai backed off a little. Bonnie wasn't really mad at him, but she didn't like it when he made fun of her. She knew herself that her cooking wasn't exactly good, but that was what Kai was for, right?

So, she pouted, really pouted and turned away from him. She heard Faye's chuckle from the other side of the table. Apparently, her and Perry had enjoyed the show Bonnie and Kai had been giving.

"Bonnie, please, I didn't mean it like that. You know how I always say stupid things. Please, look at me." Kai was now reaching out for Bonnie's face and turned it around to look at him again. "Forgive me?"

The innocent smile Bonnie saw on Kai's face right now made her gulp down a lump in her throat. He looked like a young god right this second, with all the sunlight enveloping him. Sometimes Bonnie wondered how she had gotten this lucky.

Of course, she wasn't able to keep up the pretense of being angry at him any longer. So, she leaned in and briefly kissed him.

"Alright, but don't insult my cooking again or I will have to cook you one day!", she pointed her fork at him in mock-threat and crept closer to her boyfriend again.

"Thank god you made up. I couldn't handle Bonnie sobbing on my shoulder for the rest of the school year.", Faye cut into their little squabbling.

Bonnie smiled back at Faye, but she noticed that Kai's expression darkened for a second before he let his features turn back into his charming smile.

"Saved your ass then, huh?" Kai winked at Faye and they both laughed. Then Kai turned back to Bonnie. "I'm still hungry."

"No! I told you this is mine. And don't you dare look at me with those puppy dog eyes, I won't give you any." Bonnie looked away because she knew she was talking crap. She would totally cave if Kai looked at her with that sad smile of his.

"Darling, if you're like starving, please have my food. I will share anything with you." Perry said charmingly and pushed his plate over to Kai. Their flirtation had become a thing, but Bonnie didn't mind. She didn't blame Perry for having a crush on that one.

Kai smiled happily at Perry. "You know, I really appreciate that you are trying to poison me, Perry. But I'm gonna have to decline." Pushing Perry's plate back to him, Kai send him an air-kiss as an apology.

"Can't blame you, darling, can't blame you." Perry took back the plate with a disgusted look on his face and that was when Faye started talking again. Something about how no one really appreciated the school food but her and that she'd gladly take it from Perry. After that Bonnie tuned them out again, focusing her attention on Kai instead.

The split second Kai had looked troubled made Bonnie worry. No one would have noticed the slip, but she knew him too well for that. And now that she thought about it, Kai hadn't answered her question about where he was today either.

She reached out her hand and gently rubbed her thumb over his cheek. "You alright?"

"Not really, because I am starving." Kai insisted and Bonnie rolled her eyes. Not what she had meant, but she let it go for now. He clearly didn't want to talk right now, so she sighed and dug her fork into her food to bring it over to Kai's mouth.

He greedily, but happily, opened his mouth and let Bonnie feed him. He hummed with appreciation as he munched on the lasagna. Bonnie took that opportunity to get some of it into her own stomach before Kai would eat it all. A few bites later, she let him have the rest of it and Kai happily took it. After he was done, he handed the box back to Bonnie and kissed her as a thank you.

It was a longer kiss than she had expected for what he was thanking her for. Not that she was complaining, she loved kissing him, but she also knew what Kai thought about public display of affection and combined with her earlier observation, that made Bonnie wonder what was really going on with him.

When Kai finally pulled back, he smiled at her brightly. No trace of any sorrow on his face. But she knew better. Kai was an excellent actor, if he didn't want someone to see what was going on with him, they wouldn't. Bonnie made a mental note to get to the bottom of this later.

"Walk me to class?", Bonnie asked as she got off the bench? It was still over 10 minutes until the next class began, but somehow she wanted to spent some alone time with her boyfriend.

"Sure. See you later, guys." Kai waved at Perry and Faye and followed behind Bonnie.

On their way inside, Bonnie took Kai's hand into hers and was surprised that he let her do that for longer than 2 minutes. He usually pulled away after a short time.

When they reached Bonnie's locker, she pulled out the biology book she needed.

"Did you sleep bad last night?", she tried to start the conversation.

"Huh, why do you think that?", Kai asked with a frown.

"Because I didn't see you all morning. I figured that you slept in."

"No, I was- just – not really in the mood, you know? I went for a walk." Kai was busy fumbling with his fingers and avoided looking at her directly as he was leaning next to Bonnie's locker. Now, even the dumbest person would sense that something was up with Kai.

"Okay, what's going on?" Bonnie stemmed her hands on her hips to look more demanding. She actually wanted to look intimidating, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to accomplish that, so she went for the next best thing.

"What do you mean? Nothing's going on.", Kai tried his best to sound nonchalant, but Bonnie didn't believe him. When he tried to softly put a lose strand of her hair behind her ear, she slapped his hand away.

"Cut the crap, Kai. I'm not doing this with you again. Tell me what's going on right now. You owe me that."

Kai looked to the ground and sighed. He looked defeated and Bonnie felt the slight feeling or pride at her accomplishment of making Kai cave.

"It's just… Jo got her acceptance letter this morning. She's going to Duke. That's great because she is really happy about it, it's also… really far away."

Bonnie's heart broke a little at Kai's confession. She only now realized what college actually meant for the twins. She reached out to Kai and hugged him to her. He only hesitantly hugged her back.
"I understand that this is making you feel sad. I'm here for you." She pulled away from him slightly so that she could look at his face. His expression was a mixture of hurt and something like guilt. What would he feel guilty for?

"It's just. I have never been apart from her for longer than a few weeks. And now she is moving to the other side of the country and I… I don't know. I haven't anticipated this, I guess." Kai shrugged and looked to the ground once more.

Bonnie placed her right hand to his chin and lifted it so that he was looking at her. "I understand. But look at it this way, when we get into NYU, you'll be much closer to her again. Sure, it's still quite a drive, but we could go visit her on weekends or she could come to New York and hang out with us there. It's gonna be fine."

Kai nodded and tried to smile at her. He failed miserably. Bonnie tried to lift his spirits by giving him a soft kiss. It was intended to be just a short and soft show of affection because she knew how Kai felt about these things, but to her surprise, when she tried to pull away she felt him pull her closer to his body instead. He recaptured her lips with his, more intense then what she had done a second before. She let him intensify the kiss, raveling in the feelings it sent to her belly and all too soon, she was consumed by the kiss.

Kai had moved them so that Bonnie's back was pressed to the lockers next to hers. Her hands were buried in his hair as she let him invade her mouth with his tongue. Bonnie ignored the small voice in her head telling her that something else was going on with her boyfriend for the sake of this moment. She was also only vaguely aware of the show they were currently giving the other students. Kai wasn't only busy invading her mouth, his hands were also freely exploring her body, snagging around her waist, cupping her neck or roaming over her ass. Bonnie was so lost in Kai that she only realized the boy standing next to them when he tipped on her shoulder.

"Sorry to interrupt, I'm sure this is a very important exchange of body fluids but some of us actually want to go to our classes and need their stuff to do so.", the boy said.

Bonnie pushed away from Kai, who didn't seem to be willing to give into the boy's reasonable demand for them to move their make out-session elsewhere. She gave him a slight shove and Kai stumbled back, but only a step and rolling his eyes in the process. Bonnie glared at him to keep his mouth shut because she could practically feel him coming up with a mean retort for the boy. She wiggled around in the small space Kai had given her and closed the door to her locker. She apologized to the guy and pulled on Kai's arm to get him away from the locker.

Apparently, class was about to begin in a minute or so because the hallway was filled with students getting there stuff together. Bonnie was busy trying to navigate a way through the crowd to get to her class and Kai away from anyone else, but he seemed to have another idea.

He waited for a gab in the crowd to pull her to the side. It happened to be one of the notches for the windows right between two rows of lockers. Kai pressed Bonnie into the side of the lockers and recaptured her mouth with the same vigor he had just moments ago.

Again, Bonnie's hormones decided to take control of her actions and started melting into Kai's touch. Her thoughts went haywire and all she could think was Kai. She was so lost in this rare moment that she didn't even notice when their surroundings got a lot quieter when all the students went their way to their classrooms. She also only realized that Kai had picked her up and placed her on the windowsill when her legs, like automatically, wrapped themselves around Kai's waist.

She felt his hands pressed to her hips while he was kissing her like a starved man. Her hands were resting against his neck trying to keep him right where he was. So lost in each other, none of them could say how long they were making out like this. They only pulled apart when they heard someone talk to them directly.

"I assume there is a reason the two of you are not where you are supposed to be, Miss Bennett, Mr. Parker?"

Kai groaned and Bonnie's eyes widened as she recognized the voice of their headmaster Mr. Bright. Damn it, why did she let Kai take advantage of her like that. She pushed the reluctant teen away from her and jumped down the windowsill to stand next to Kai, who rolled his eyes before turning around and facing the headmaster with one of his most charming, but fake, smile.

"Mr. Bright, I feel like I am right where you wanted me to be, wouldn't you agree?" He pulled Bonnie into his side and kissed the side of her head. Bonnie fought to keep the embarrassment out of her expression.

The situation seemed to make Mr. Bright a little bit uncomfortable as well, since he let his gaze drop to the floor for a second and shifted his footing. Being reminded of his scheming with Bonnie to get him to fall in line last year was clearly something Mr. Bright didn't like to be reminded off. Even though Kai was partly right about his assumption that Mr. Bright had intended for Bonnie and Kai to become friends and for Bonnie's influence to make Kai a better student, which in retrospect worked, but only with a lot of hiccups on the way and a 'It get's worse before it gets better'- phase from Kai. Nothing the headmaster could be too proud of.

Realizing that Bright and Kai had probably never really sought this one out, Bonnie felt for her headmaster when he sighed.

"Just get your asses to class right now, before I have to take you with me to my office.", Bright said while looking at them with a knowing smile.

"Scary.", Kai retorted but his attention was pulled to Bonnie when she slapped him on the arm.

"Stop it, Kai. Let's just go. Sorry, Mr. Bright." Bonnie pulled on Kai's arm and got them going before Kai could talk himself into more trouble.

"Oh, come on Bonnie. Why do you have to play the fun-police?", Kai complained as he let Bonnie drag him thought the hallway.

"I'm just being reasonable here, that's all."

"No, you're being a mouse. Sometimes you have to revolt, Bonnie. Live a little.", Kai teased her as he finally started to walk in her pace and not let himself get dragged.

"Oh, I already live quite a good life, thank you. It's not worth jeopardizing that because you are in a mood." she teased right back. She had let go of Kai now and they were nearly out of earshot of Mr. Bright. Normally, Kai would start arguing with her about her stuckupness, but today he seemed to be in a more playful mood.

"I can show you what kind of mood I'm in." He said and looked at her with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes. Bonnie didn't know what his brain was cooking up, but when he reached out to grab her, Bonnie started running away from him, laughing in the process.

"Oh, I'll catch you, don't you worry.", Kai yelled equally playful as he started running after her. When he nearly got her, Bonnie squealed and only barely escaped him by turning around the corner, laughing at him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Normally, Mr. Bright would go after the students that ran in the hallway because it was forbidden. But hearing the laughter of these two teenagers, that were clearly in love, made him smile for some reason. Somehow, the union of these particular students always made him smile. It had been a while since he was so invested in some of his students.

When Mr. Bright waited another second to move from where he had found the Parker boy and the Bennett girl, he decided that they were too far away for him to reach them now anyway and none of the other teachers would catch them running the hallways because classes had already started about 10 minutes ago.

Mr. Bright shook his head, smiling to himself. Sometimes he liked letting students get away with breaking some rules.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It was 8 a.m on a Saturday when Abby Bennett became Bonnie's worst nightmare. She threw herself onto her bed, where Bonnie was peacefully dreaming, and woke her up by shaking her.

"Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie you need to wake up.", her mother's voice reached her half-asleep brain. She only groaned. But then she wondered if everything was okay and turned around to look at her mom through her sleepy eyes.

"What is it mom?", she groaned.

Abby only held a white envelope in front of Bonnie's face, wiggling it. "This came in the mail just a few minutes ago. I wanted to wait until you woke up but I am too nervous to wait another 3 hours."

Bonnie couldn't make out what the envelope said, but apparently it was addressed to her. That, and the twaddle of her mother finally dug through her sleep induced brain. It was a letter from college. And according to her mother's reaction, probably from NYU.

Abruptly, Bonnie said up straight in bed, grabbing the envelope out of her mother's hand. She suddenly felt nervous and swallowed down a lump in her throat. She took a second to actually look at the letter in her hands. She could make out the emblem of NYU and was assured of her assumption. Suddenly, she felt nervous.

"Open it, come on. I can't wait.", Abby encouraged her with enthusiasm.

"Mom, what if I didn't get in?", Bonnie looked at her mother for comfort and saw how her features softened.

"Bon, the world won't stop turning because you didn't get into a certain college. I know it would be disappointing, but you have so many more open college applications, you don't need to worry. Besides, I have a good feeling about this one." Abby wiggled her eyebrows and smiled.

Bonnie tried to smile back at her mother and ripped the envelope open. Her heart hammered inside her ribcage. She hadn't anticipated how nervous she would be, meaning she hadn't anticipated how much she really wanted to go to NYU.

With a deep breath, Bonnie took the letter out of the envelope and started reading. It didn't last long before she read the important sentence.

Bonnie's eyes widened as she looked up and into her mother's eyes.

"What? What does it say?", Abby asked, equally as nervous.

Bonnie's eyes started to fill with tears and her mother's expression went from anticipation to sympathy.

"I got in." Bonnie finally got the words out before her mother could wrap her in her arms for a comforting hug.

"What?", her mother screamed and jumped up and down on Bonnie's bed. She flung herself at her daughter and wrapped her arms around her in joy. Bonnie started giggling as she tried to save the letter from the impact of her mother's body on hers.

Bonnie was overwhelmed with emotions as all the tension fell off her. She felt as free as she hadn't in months. Hugging her mother to her, she started laughing along.

Jeffrey joined them after a few minutes of squeaking and laughing and congratulated Bonnie.

Her mother finally let go of Bonnie and said she was going to prepare a nice breakfast. Before she left the room, she reminded Bonnie to call her father about the good news sooner rather than later. And of course her grandmother. She would be happy to have her granddaughter on her side of the country.

Bonnie glanced at the clock on her phone and wondered if it would be too early to call her family on the east coast but decided to just do it.

Both her father and her grandmother congratulated her enthusiastically and told her what they could do, now that they would only be hours apart. Bonnie smiled and listened, but her mind drifted off further and further and she tried to find a way to end the phone call with her dad. There was someone else she needed to call.

When her dad finally let her go, she took a quick shower and then jumped downstairs. Her mother had made pancakes with fresh blueberries and cream.

When Bonnie sat down, she quickly grabbed a pancake and decorated it with blueberries. She was rushing to finish the pancake and kept checking her phone. It was only 9 a.m. but she hoped that Kai was going to be up soon and read her message.

It was hard for her to sit still and Jeffrey and her mother picked up on that.

"Are you alright, honey? You seem nervous?" Abby reached across the table, trying to calm her daughter down.

"Sure, I'm fine- I just- I…" Right this instant she had gotten a reply from Kai. She had asked him if she could come over once he was fully awake and he had just told her she could come whenever she liked.

Bonnie stuffed the last of her pancake into her mouth. She was aware that her behavior was neither graceful nor polite, but she couldn't wait to tell Kai the news. "There is somewhere I need to be, can you excuse me?", Bonnie asked but not waited for her mother to give her an answer.

She was already running upstairs to get her bag and her car keys. When she ran back down, she put on her shoes and grabbed her jacket.

"See you later." She yelled into the living room. Right before she closes the front door, she heard her mom yell a "Say hello to Kai for us." back at her.

Bonnie was grinning from ear to ear, she was so eager to tell Kai but suddenly she stopped in her tracks. What if he hadn't gotten any news yet and they needed to still be worried about their future together.

No, Bonnie refused to get her mood kicked right now. She got into the car and started heading towards the Parker house. She was there in no time because she drove like an insane woman. But she told herself that it was okay, there wasn't a lot of traffic yet and she didn't risk anyone.

When she turned into the familiar Parker driveway, she didn't bother locking her car. It was old, there was nothing of value in it. And if someone was going to steal a car from the Parker driveway, there sure as hell were better ones to steel right there.

Bonnie jumped up the few stairs to the porch and ringed the bell.

It took a minute before Melinda opened her and to the young girls' surprise Bonnie enthusiastically hugged her to her.

"Don't know if Kai's already up. But I wouldn't mind if you just woke him up, he deserves to get annoyed by someone for once.", the always moody teenager said as Bonnie passed her to get to the stairs.

She didn't give Melinda another look before she ran up to Kai's room and pushed it open without knocking.

Inside, Kai was sitting at his desk, fumbling with something that looked like a pager of all things. He was dressed in his usual band t-shirt and black sweatpants and looked annoyed when Bonnie pushed the door open. He probably expected one of his siblings to get in. When he spotted Bonnie, his expression softened though. But still a hint of confusion was still on it.

"Wow, you actually took my message literally. Did you fly here?" he said as he put the little gadget down on his desk and turned around to face her.

Bonnie was trying to hide her grin as she closed the door behind her and made her way to him. She let herself drop into his lap and placed a hard kiss onto his lips.

Kai chucked against her lips. "Not that I'm complaining, but is there something going on?"

Bonnie pulled away from his face, so that she could have a proper look at Kai's face. He had such a handsome face. She always knew that, but right now was one of those moments when she appreciated it a lot. She had to fight to get her thoughts straight because she had something to say and she couldn't let his angelic features distract her.

"Yes, there is something going on. I have some knew that is important. For me and for you."

Bonnie bit her lower lip, suddenly super nervous. Kai looked at her in anticipation.

"And are you going to share this little info with me, or you want me to guess?", Kai asked playfully.

"I got into NYU." Bonnie blurted out. She watched Kai's face turn into a frown for just a blink of a second before he smiled brightly at her.

"That's amazing, Bon. Congratulations." He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Normally, she would be happy with his reaction, but she had noticed his expression turning sour for a second and that meant that there was something else going on inside him. She didn't doubt that he was happy for her, but she also had a feeling she knew what was wrong.

Bonnie escaped Kai's tight embrace and leaned back from him. "Alright, cut the crap. What are you really thinking?"

Now Kai didn't mask the frown on his face. "What do you mean? I am happy for you. This is what you wanted, right? I always told you, you had it in you, so? What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me that you haven't gotten an acceptance letter from NYU yet and that you are scared that our plans of spending the next years in New York together could still be in jeopardy."

Kai sighed and looked away from her. "I didn't want to rain on your parade. This is about you not me."

Bonnie pulled his chin up so that he was facing her again. "You're not raining on my parade. And this is not only about me and you know it." She caressed is cheek and sighed herself. "So, you haven't heard back from any of the schools?"

Kai shook his head.

"That's so weird. I mean, you are way better in school then me, for some unknown reason. You should have already heard back from someone."

"It doesn't matter, Bonnie. It's still early. And maybe they send out acceptance letters alphabetically, then I will hear back in a few days or so. Don't worry too much. We can still figure this out, right?"

Bonnie nodded. He was right. There was no need to be worried. Half of their plan was already in motion and why wouldn't Kai come with her to New York, it didn't make any sense.

"Hey.", Kai said in a soft voice, he lightly pulled a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. "This is a cause of celebration. I really am happy for you. You totally deserve this."

There was a smile forming on Bonnie's face again. He was right. She did deserve this. "Thank you. And thank you for believing in me."

"Always." He gently pulled her down to him and gave her the softest of kisses before once more hugging her to him. This time, Bonnie let him.

After a while Bonnie pulled back and looked at his desk for the small gadget he had in his hands when she entered. She quickly found it and grabbed it.

"What the hell is this?" She let it wander form her right to her left hand and turned it around to have a better look at it.

"Ah, ah, ah. Careful." Kai tried to pull the thing out of Bonnie's hands but she held it over his head.

"Is this a pager? Why the hell do you have something like this."

"Bon, give it back. It's fragile. I found this in some of mom's old stuff. It was still in the original wrapping, so it was brand new. But I can't make it work, somethings broken, and I want to get it running again." He tried to reach the pager, but Bonnie kept escaping him. She was in an advantage because she still had Kai trapped underneath her.

"Then why don't you want me to have it?"

Kai finally snatched the thing from her hands as she pulled it down to press it against her chest.

"Because I don't want you to bust it." Kai put the pager back on his desk where Bonnie had found it in the first place.

"But it's already broken." she pouted.

"Come on, Bon. I'll show you how it works once I fix it up, okay?"

"If it works again.", Bonnie mumbled to herself, but Kai had heard her and started a tickle-attack to her sides as punishment.

"Don't talk trash about my pager." he warned her.

Bonnie squirmed and struggled against Kai's torturous hands and finally managed to wiggle out of his grasp. "All right, I surrender. I will leave you and your pager alone, then."

Kai smiled at her triumphantly as if this had been a real fight he had just won. Bonnie could only roll her eyes.

"Since I wasn't expecting you so early. You will have to excuse me for a moment. I need to take a shower." Kai got off his chair, dumping Bonnie into it instead. He went over to his wardrobe and picked another shirt to wear. "I mean, unless you want to join me?"

"I already showered.", Bonnie said with raised eyebrows.

"That's not really an obstacle." Kai came over and leaned his hands on the armrest of his desk chair, caging her in.

"Nope, Mr. Parker. This hair is a bitch to get under control, so I will not let you ruin it."

"I promise I will be careful." Kai said in a hushed voice, kissing her cheek. Bonnie chuckled a little but pushed him away from her.

"Go! Now!", Bonnie demanded and Kai sighed in defeat, turning around and heading for the door.
"Oh, and hurry. Unless you want me to destroy your pager.", Bonnie yelled after him and only heard him warn her about touching that thing.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. Sometimes he could be so childish. But her interest was now peaked and she turned around looking at the old school tech on Kai's desk. She wondered what he wanted to do with it once he got it running again, if he got it running that was. It's not like this was still a used technical device in this time.

Bonnie took the small gadget in her hands and looked at it. There was a small display and just a few buttons to push. It escaped Bonnie what one should actually do with this. She turned it around and fumbled with the back where the batteries were supposed to go. It was when she heard an unsettling sound. It sounded like plastic breaking apart.

Bonnie quickly inspected the device and found the source of the sound. Well shit. She had broken off part of the batterie piece and the thing wouldn't close anymore.

Bonnie felt like someone was joking with her because that was exactly what Kai had tried to prevent. Stupid Bonnie. With rising panic Bonnie thought about a way to fix this thing, but it was pointless. She knew from experiences that some things were just broken. So, now she tried to find a way to explain this to Kai, or, maybe he didn't even have to know it was her. She would just hide the thing somewhere and he wouldn't find out today, she just needed a plan to get him out of the house for today. Maybe a trip to the zoo, they haven't been in so long.

Right when she made the decision to hide the pager, Bonnie looked around for the perfect hiding spot. But then she heard the shower getting turned off in the bathroom and she panicked, grabbing the pager and opening one of Kai's desk drawers to hide it in there.

When she opened the drawer she stilled before placing the pager inside. There was an envelope neatly placed inside the drawer and usually, Bonnie wouldn't be snooping through Kai's stuff but something on the envelope had caught her attention.

In the top right corner of the envelope Bonnie could clearly see the logo of MIT. Kai had gotten mail from MIT? But he had said that he hadn't heard back from any of the schools yet. A bad feeling started to form in Bonnie's stomach and her brain was trying to cook up some explanation for this.

It was probably an old letter. Filled with brochures and info for people who wanted to apply. Yes, that must be it. But the feeling in Bonnie's gut told her to look closer and when she did, she saw that the letter had been send only 1 week ago. There was no need for Kai to get any brochures from MIT at this point.

That could only mean… that he had lied to her.

Bonnie let herself fall back into the chair, all the air had left her lungs and she felt like she was suffocating. Forgotten was the stupid pager, that was now lying on the floor.

Kai had lied to her.

Bonnie was this close to ripping the letter open and see what was inside but that would only make this situation worse.

There was only one thing to do.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kai had heard Bonnie tell him that he should hurry, but instead he had taken his time under the shower. He needed to get a clear head. Bonnie had gotten into NYU and he was so proud of her. She deserved this so much.

But in the end, it only made his predicament worse. He hadn't even told her about his acceptance to MIT, how was he going to do that now?

If Bonnie already got her acceptance letter, Kai seriously started doubting if he would get one. And that would mean that they couldn't spent their college years together. And that means…

He would lose her.

Kai's throat suddenly closed and he had trouble breathing. He climbed out of the shower and tried to stabilize himself on the sink. He was on the verge of a panic attack, at least that was what it felt like.

Kai clutched his chest and tried to breath normally. To his surprise it worked and when his breathing returned to normal, he let himself slide to the floor, trying to cool himself.

What the hell did this girl do to him that he couldn't bear thinking about being apart from her?

Kai let himself breath a few more times before getting up and getting dressed. He didn't bother drying his hair, it was warm outside, it would be dry in a short time. He just wanted to see Bonnie and forget about the future for a second.

When he entered his room, the first thing he noticed was that Bonnie was no longer sitting at his desk. He found her sitting on the edge of his bed, her head turned down, she was holding something in her hand, but Kai didn't pay any attention to it. He went straight for his dresser to get out some socks that he had forgotten to take with him to the bathroom.

When he turned his back to her, he used the time to deeply breath in once more, calming himself down before speaking.

"So, how do you want to celebrate this amazing news?", Kai said in his usual chipper tone. He roamed through his socks to find the second one that fitted the one he already had in his hand.

"How about you start by telling me the truth?"

Bonnie's voice was void of any emotions and that send a chill down Kai's spine. He turned around to face her and suddenly he saw what she was holding. His heart dropped to the floor. Bonnie had somehow found his MIT letter.

"What the hell is this, Kai?"

Author's note: Happy May 10th everyone. And shame on me. I am such an awful person, I literally needed over a year to get this chapter done. It also became much longer than I anticipated. I would love to tell you that I will try and update more frequently, but I don't want to lie to you. So, know that this story is always in progression somehow. Just be patient. I hope you are all good and save in this crazy times. All my love to this amazing bonkamily.