"Have you decided what you're dressing up as for Halloween?" Kai asks nonchalantly as he glances at the shelves.

Bonnie looks up from her phone, "Is that a thing we're doing?"

Kai shrugs, "I mean, if you don't want to, you don't have to." Bonnie takes a minute to study his profile before it clicks, "Oh my god! You want to do a couples costume, don't you?"

She watches as his ears redden, "Like I said, you don't have to if you don't want to, I just thought it would be easier if we matched."

Bonnie continued to watch her boyfriend squirm in embarrassment. "Oh, you are so adorable right now."

"I'm not adorable. I'm manly, get it right, woman." Kai grumbled.

"So adorable. That's you." Bonnie pointed in his direction. He rolled his eyes while he took over pushing the grocery cart. Bonnie glanced down at her phone to make sure they didn't need anything from this aisle.

"Whatever. I was thinking about the obvious."

"The obvious?"

"Yeah, a witch and a warlock." Kai said it like it made all the sense in the world, and in a way it did. But Bonnie was looking to put a bit of distance between her life now and the one she left behind. "Pass."

"Okay, how about the other obvious choice?" Kai wiggled his eyebrows up and down, "Bonnie and Clyde? Dangerous outlaws of the 20's. Or was it the 30's?"

Bonnie pauses when she hears the 20's. That decade dance would go down as one of the worst ones for her. Abby, who had just been turned by people she had considered friends (or at least allies), had recently left again. Alaric had been twisted by Esther into becoming some kind of original vampire hunter, and Bonnie had been brainwashed into giving him her blood in order to help him turn.

That decade had not been kind to Bonnie.

She's not sure what look she had on her face, but when she comes back to the present Kai is looking at her in concern. "I take it that's a no as well?"

"I'm sorry. I'm trying not to let what happened there affect what I do here, but sometimes a memory will hit and….." Bonnie trails off.

Kai pulls the grocery cart and Bonnie to the side so they're not blocking the aisle for anybody. "You don't ever need to apologize for that. Look, I'm sure there are things that you haven't told me, or you've just glossed over. I don't have to tell you that you've mostly likely got some pretty serious PTSD from all the shit you went through over there." Bonnie huffs out a laugh, but manages to nod in agreement.

"I'm just sorry I can't help you deal with it. I've got my family as well as a shrink that I can talk to whenever I need to for my issues, but you're kinda stuck with just me, Sheila, and Mason." Kai continues.

"And I'm extremely grateful for you guys, that's more than I had over there most days. I'll be fine, just give me a quiet evening of meditating and relaxing to re-center myself and I'll be good to go again." Bonnie reached out to link her hand with his.

Kai brought their joined hands up to press a kiss to the back of her hand, but halted when he saw what was on her arm. "You found it?"

Bonnie looked at the charm bracelet that belonged to her other self. "Hmm? No, this was in her jewelry box. Wait, you gave this to her?" That made so much more sense, Bonnie thought to herself.

Her other self had a pretty nice assortment of jewelry to choose from, although Bonnie was initially wary of wearing any piece, knowing that most would have come from Damon. She didn't want to open any new can of worms. When she came across the delicate charm bracelet though, Bonnie had instinctively known that it couldn't have been from Damon. It was too modest, too simple, and nothing like the other flashy pieces sitting untouched.

Most of the charms that were on it Bonnie didn't mind wearing because they could still apply to her. The one exception was the gavel charm that she assumed was because her other self had been a paralegal. She had taken that one off and was looking for something to replace it with, something that represented this Bonnie in this life.

She watched Kai's face as he stroked the bracelet and fought back a wave of jealousy. Logically she knew that she had nothing to worry about, but her early relationship with Jeremy flashed before her eyes. She does not want to come second to a ghost again.

"Do you want it back?" Bonnie offered.

Kai snapped out of his daze, "No. It just took me by surprise. You….she said it was lost." He rolled his eyes "I'm pretty sure she stopped wearing it because Damon didn't like that it came from me."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Bonnie had no clue what to say to that, and apparently neither did Kai. They both resumed grocery shopping in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Bonnie knew Kai had to be distracted because he willingly followed her into the freezer section. She was calculating if she could get away with slipping one of those frozen Sara Lee pound cakes in the cart without him noticing when she heard a high pitched shriek.

"OMG Bonnie! And Kai! It's so good to see BOTH of you!" Bonnie whipped around to see a girl around her age come at her with her arms open. Kai shot her a WTF look, Bonnie returned it with a shrug. The girl threw her arms around Bonnie, chattering on in a loud voice "I've been meaning to catch up with you since you came back from your trip." The girl emphasized the last two words.

Bonnie realized that she did know the girl. She was the person at the counter who made the supportive comment when Bonnie went to pick up her food in the café. Bonnie regarded her curiously while she gestured to the other aisles with her head. "Okay, I gotta go, but good seeing you two." She hurried off, leaving Bonnie and Kai staring at her in confusion.

"Okay, that just happened, right? I didn't hallucinate that?" Kai asked in bewilderment. "What was that?"

Bonnie expression cleared as she quickly grabbed the cart, "It was a heads-up, we need to hurry up and leave this aisle."

"What, why?" No sooner than he asked the question did they see Damon round the corner.

"Dammit." Bonnie said under her breath, hoping he would be civil and they could all be adults, but one look at Damon's face and Bonnie knew she could kiss that hope goodbye. He looked like he hadn't slept in ages and was spoiling for a fight. Bonnie sent up a quick prayer that nobody would be around recording this interaction.

"How domestic. Remember when we used to go grocery shopping together?" Bonnie knew this Damon was referring to this current world, but her mind shifted to the months she was trapped in 1994. Bickering over what to choose, and who would push the cart, it was one of Bonnie's least painful memories of Damon.

"Not particularly." She said curtly.. Even as she hears Kai snicker from her left side, she knows it was a poor choice of words. Damon silently regards her and Bonnie sighs because she knows he's looking to get a rise out of either her or Kai. "Damon, whatever you're about to say, please don't. Just turn around, we'll do the same, and we can all have a good afternoon."

Of course Damon ignores her words, "Bon Bon, I'm just trying to help out. You're in a new relationship and it can be tricky discovering what your new significant other likes. For instance," He leans over to inspect their basket, "I really hope those Poppy seed bagels are for you, Parker, Bonnie here prefers Cinnamon Raisin." He steps back with a smug look on his face.

Kai chuckles, and Bonnie hears shades of that Kai in his laugh. The Kai that he is careful to keep subdued, but leaks out every now and then. "Maybe you should focus on your own shopping, Damon. If you're looking for the diapers and formula, you're in the wrong aisle."

Damon sneers, "Doesn't change the fact that I'm right. You would think all that time you spent begging for scraps, you would have learned what she likes at least." She shouldn't be, but she's surprised that Damon is so hell bent on taunting Kai.

"What the hell, Damon? That was out of line, and you know it." She places herself in between the two.

"He's a big boy Bonnie, let him speak for himself." She was right, Damon is itching for a fight, and she knows Kai would only be too happy to oblige him.

"You're not worth the effort, Salvatore. Move on." Kai's voice at her back is low and she has to fight the urge to shiver. She raises her arm to point at Damon, "Just go, please." He looks like he wants to argue, but thankfully after a few seconds he turns to leave.

Until he spots the bracelet on her arm.

"I see you're back to wearing that thing." He lets out a laugh, "Can't afford anything better, huh? You should show him some of the stuff I gave you, Bon. Let him get an idea of what real jewelry looks like."

Bonnie is about to retort, but Kai beats her to it, "Oh yeah, let me see. There's the diamond earrings you gave her for graduation, even though she's not a big fan of diamonds. The pearl necklace that you insisted she wear to your snooty pretentious dinners with your clients. The emerald necklace and ring that you bought as an apology for not being there when she needed you the most." Bonnie thinks this is in reference to when her other self had a miscarriage. But what did Kai mean by Damon not being there? She made a mental note to ask about that later.

As Kai continues to list the various pieces of jewelry that she had come across in her perusal of her other self's jewelry box, she finds herself a little gobsmacked. How closely did he watch her other self to know, (in intricate detail, no less!) what she had hidden away? She feels the jealousy creep back up and not for the first time wonder if he's with her because he wants her, or if he's feeling the remnants of his crush on the other girl who never gave him a chance.

"I gave her that bracelet as a gift, no strings attached." Kai is on a roll now. "Every single thing you gave her was either in apology for all the times you fucked up, or because of guilt."

"And you hated that, didn't you?" Damon steps closer, "You hated the fact that while you were pining away, I was the one she chose, fuck ups and all. I had to leave in order for you to ever be in the running. Let's face it, if I hadn't left you'd still be number 2."

Bonnie winces, knowing that is was most likely true. If Damon hadn't run off with Elena, her other self probably would never had found herself on that road that night, heartsick and looking for some kind of validation. No car accident at the right time meant no body for her to switch with, and no new Bonnie for Kai to have his shot with.

Kai is silent, and while Bonnie knows that he's thinking the same thing she is, Damon takes his silence as acknowledgment of the truth. "Yeah I thought so, best of luck to you. It's hard to forget your first," Here he takes a long look at Bonnie, "everything."

Bonnie was so done with this conversation, "Look, I've tried to be civil with you, but you don't seem to be getting the hint, so let me be clear: Take your pathetic ass on somewhere, Damon. You made your bed, now go lie in it with the woman that you chose to be with." Bonnie knew she was louder than she needed to be, but she's hoping to finally get the words to stick in his brain. She turned to leave, but was halted by Damon reaching for her arm.

Kai moved so fast, she barely registered he had swapped places with her until she was standing behind him. "You have a real problem with keeping your hands to yourself, Salvatore. Better look into that before it gets you into trouble." Damon sneers, "She used to love my hands on her. Didn't you Bon Bon?" She recognizes the words are the same ones he uttered when he broke into her apartment all those months ago.

"Shit."

Once Damon had uttered those words, Bonnie had closed her eyes in resignation, so she didn't actually see the first punch being thrown. In the end, it took three people, plus the store security, to separate the two. Sheriff Forbes was called and although the store owner declines to press charges as long as they paid for the items that were broken, spilled, or damaged, she took them into the back and read them both the riot act.

Sometime during the hectic aftermath, Elena had shown up. Bonnie had fully expected the other girl to erupt in hysterics, but to her (and everyone else's') surprise, all she did was nod in Bonnie's direction. They both sat and waited until the Sheriff was done with their significant others.

Damon came out first, and Bonnie knows he is going to have one hell of a time trying to explain why he's sporting dual black eyes, and what looks like a broken nose, to his clients. 'To his wife as well' a voice whispers in Bonnie's head. She saw Elena's jaw drop in shock at her husband's appearance.

Kai sauntered out next, aside from a bit of blood that came from a split lip, and him looking a bit disheveled, there was no indication that he was even in a fight. There was a slight smile playing on his lips and Bonnie knew he had thoroughly enjoyed himself. They had swung by the E.R just to make sure he hadn't damaged his hand, and after getting a clean bill of health and stopping by her place to pick up a change of clothes, they set off for Kai's apartment.

When they finally arrived back at Kai's place, they were greeted by a host of people. Mason and Tyler were slapping Kai on the back and congratulating him for giving Damon what he deserved. Luke rolled his eyes at their overt displays of macho-ness, but Bonnie saw him give his brother a thumbs up in approval. Katherine was lamenting the fact that she wasn't there to capture it on video for future viewings.

Under the guise of putting her overnight bag away, she escaped into the bedroom for a minute or two of quiet time. She could still hear the boys discussing the fight and wanting a blow by blow reenactment. However, it wasn't until Tyler asked how it felt to finally throw down with Damon that Bonnie realized what was bothering her about what happened.

She wasn't sure if Kai was defending her, or the other Bonnie. He had never hidden or made any excuses about his feeling for her other self, but as she recalled how he was able to name each piece of jewelry, and the meaning behind each, she wondered if his tussle with Damon was more about Damon being with the girl he wanted for so long.

Bonnie reclined on the bed and threw her hand over her eyes, she knew it was petty, because the other girl was gone, and unlike her former world, she knew she wasn't coming back, but the familiar feelings of being second best were rising again.

"Bonnie?" The door creaked open and Liv poked her head in followed by Katherine. "You okay?" Bonnie sat up quickly and pasted a smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm good. Just taking a minute to myself. Do you need something?" She tried to divert the conversation, but knew Liv would see right through that.

Liv regarded her silently "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Her denial was swift.

"Yeah okay, that's why you're hiding out in here and not out there riding your boyfriend like a stallion." Kat snorted.

"Brother! He's my brother!" Liv exclaimed. Kat shrugged in apology. "It's true though, normally after a fight the blood is pumping and you're still being flooded with adrenaline, and all you want to do-"

"Okay, we get it!" Bonnie interrupts before she could really get going.

"So back to the original question, what's wrong?" Liv asked again.

Bonnie had been in this world for a few months shy of a year, and sometimes she was still taken aback by the concern her friends showed in regards to her feelings. She was sure a big chunk of that was probably due to guilt over their pulling away and distancing themselves from her other self, but it was still genuine and it warmed Bonnie's heart.

She flopped back on the bed, "It's not that I don't appreciate Kai decking Damon, cause if he hadn't done it, I was two seconds from snapping his neck."

"But, you don't know if he did it for the right reasons?" Kat guessed. Bonnie turned to see the other girl leaning against the wall with a knowing look on her face. Bonnie nods, "It sounds stupid, and I should be thankful that my boyfriend won't hesitate to throw hands in my defense….but, was it really in my defense, or because his ego had been bruised for so long and it's only recently that he could do something about it?" Bonnie said in a rush.

"Yes." Liv nodded.

"Yes to the former or the latter?" Bonnie needed a little clarification.

"If I had to guess, it would be a bit of both." Liv sat next to Bonnie on the bed. "You probably don't want to hear this, but you weren't really around to see how you being with that asshole affected him. I'm not saying that you owed him anything." Liv rushed to say upon seeing Bonnie raise an eyebrow. "You know that's not what I'm saying, but Damon hurt you so much and none of us were allowed to ever voice our opinion of him without you flying off the handle."

"So we held it all in, Kai more than anyone else. That's why he started distancing himself from us. " Kat took up where Liv left off, coming to sit on her other side. "He knew that if he ever so much as brushed against Damon too hard, the asshole would have blown it out of proportion and forced you to choose between the two."

Bonnie sat up, "I just hate the fact that I'm the cause of this. I'm not-"

"If you even think about saying that you're not worth it, I will smother you with this pillow." Liv threatened.

Bonnie laughed, "I was gonna say, I'm not even sure why Damon is doing this. He was the one that cheated, then ran off and eloped with Elena. They just had a baby for Christ sake! Why is he so focused on what I'm doing, and who I'm doing it with?"

"He's one of those, 'I don't want you, but I don't want anyone else to have you' guys. You were supposed to fade away into the background until he decided he wanted to play with you again." Kat was studying her nails.

"Yeah, well play time for him is over where I'm concerned."

"Have I mentioned just how much I am loving this new Bonnie?" Kat beamed in her direction. "Now that the serious stuff is out of the way, we have to talk about the real dilemma here. How exactly are you going to thank Kai for his gallant actions?" She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

Bonnie and Liv exchanged a look before grabbing a pillow each and pelting the brunette.

"My hair!" Katherine shrieked before grabbing another pillow and going on the offense. "You bitches are going down!"

"That's what he said!" Liv yelled before getting in a good hit on Bonnie.

"Same team, Blondie!"

"Sorry, Bon. Every man…..woman for themselves." Liv was unapologetic.

"Okay, I see how it is. Game on." Bonnie swung her pillow, not caring what direction it went.

"I can't believe you had a pillow fight, and didn't let us at least watch!" Kai complained once everyone had left.

"You realize your sister was in there with us, right?" Bonnie arched a brow.

Kai shuddered in revulsion, "Okay, subject change please." She laughed before running a hand down his arm to lift his hand. "Is it sore? Do you need more ice?"

"Nah, I'm good. C'mere." He lifted his arm to allow her to settle against him. They both sat there and just enjoyed each other's company for a bit.

"Wanna tell me what had you hiding in the bedroom?" He finally asked. Bonnie shook her head, even after all this time, she was still surprised when he was able to hone in on her feelings.

"It's dumb." Bonnie presses closer to Kai, "Residual feelings and all that."

"What feelings?" Kai started playing with a lock of her hair.

"Envy. Jealousy. All that fun stuff." Kai paused, "Okay, I'm gonna need more information."

Bonnie took a deep breath, "I don't even know how to say this without sounding crazy. The way you listed every piece of jewelry she had, I know you said you used to watch her, but Kai you nailed pretty much every piece! I don't think I've ever had anyone pay that much attention to me." She focused on a spot on the wall, "It's gonna sound like I'm being petty as shit, but I was jealous, and worried that since you couldn't have who you wanted, you just settled for me."

Kai started to object, but she wasn't done yet. "Yes, I know it's dumb, and I know I sound like I'm whining." She meets his eyes, "I've been in this situation before, and I don't want to be constantly wondering if I'm just a consolation prize. It felt like your issue with Damon was less about defending me right then and there, and more like you finally getting a chance to pay him back for all the heartache he's caused you over the years because he was with the girl you wanted."

He was silent for a while, and Bonnie was worried that she'd pushed him too far when he started talking.

"You talk to yourself when you're gardening."

Bonnie pulled back to look at him in surprise, "What? No I don't."

He smiled softly at her, "Yes, you do. You talk to the plants and the soil. Like you're having an actual conversation and expect them to answer." He resumed playing with her hair as he spoke, "You're totally obsessed with that damn Kardashian show, even though you try and hide it. You'd rather drink green tea as opposed to black. You hate to have your food mix on your plate, I'm not sure what that's about, but whatever you weirdo." He broke off laughing when Bonnie poked him in his side.

"You value your relationships so much more, I think it's because you know what it's like to lose them. You can't see it, but the small things you do, like bringing Luke lunch when he can't break away, or remembering that Rebekah likes the same tea that you do, so you pick up some for her when you buy some, it's noticed and appreciated.

I totally understand why you'd question what I feel for you, this is unconventional as hell, and unfortunately like you said, you've been in this situation before and it didn't really turn out well for you. But Bonnie" He cupped her face in his hands, "I want you to hear me when I say that I know you, I love you and I'll prove it as much and as often as I need to until you believe me."

Bonnie could feel her heart expanding, "You are such a stalker." She joked, trying to stave off the tears that wanted to come. She knew she would still have her doubts every now and then, that was only natural, but hopefully those would fade over time.

He kissed her forehead and gathered her close to him again, "If I'm being totally truthful, a part of me was happy that Damon finally stepped out of line. Yes, I've been wanting to rearrange his face for some time, not even gonna lie about that, and yeah it was partly because I was jealous of his relationship with her. But it was mostly because he just won't quit. You've been telling him to leave you alone, and he's just blown by whatever boundaries you set."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I've been toying with the idea of telling him about me." Bonnie confessed. Kai pulled back in surprise, "Are you serious?"

"As long as he thinks he's talking to her, he won't stop. He needs to understand that I have no romantic feelings for him whatsoever, that I never have, and never will. I was willing to at least be friends with him, but I know he'd take that the wrong way." She shifted in Kai's arms. "It sucks because he eventually became one of my best friends, and a part of me misses hanging out with him."

"I'm not gonna comment on that, but whatever you decide, I'll back you up." She felt better knowing Kai would stand beside her no matter what her decision. She hadn't fully made up her mind on telling him, and she desperately hoped he took what happened at the grocery store as a hint to stay away.

"I want to tell my dad too. Partly because we've been getting closer, and every time he mentions something that happens in the past, I feel like a fraud, but I also want to ask about Abby." She revealed.

His hand stilled in her hair, "You gonna try and find her?" Bonnie shrugged, "I just wanna know what happened to her, that's all. I know it's probably not gonna pan out, but I would like to at least know."

"I don't want to see you hurt if you can't find her, or worse, you do find her and she rejects you."

Bonnie chuckled bitterly, "It's nothing that I haven't gone through before."

"I know, and I'm trying to shield you from that pain." He tightened his hold on her. Bonnie felt overwhelmed by his concern for her. She tilted her head and kissed the side of his mouth, careful to avoid his split lip. "Thank you." Their comfortable silence resumed, and Bonnie was nodding off when Kai nudged her.

"So what was the verdict on those Halloween costumes?"

Bonnie stood in front of her dresser that held the jewelry box containing all the gifts that Damon had given her other self. Part of her wanted to pawn everything and use the money to buy Kai that expensive set of kitchen knives she knows he's been drooling over, but that would just be petty. As satisfying as that would have been, she didn't want to stoke the fires any more than she had to.

In the end, she did the decent thing and gave it all back to Damon. He fought it of course, but Bonnie wasn't budging. It wasn't hers to have, and there was no way she'd wear any of it knowing the history of the pieces. She decided against letting him in on her origins, he had enough on his plate to deal with.

He'd actually apologized for his crass words and for goading Kai into a fight. Explaining that Tatia had been keeping them up and neither he nor Elena was getting any sleep. He promised to abide by her wishes to leave her and Kai alone from now on and just focus on his little family. For the first time since she'd been reacquainted with Damon, she saw a glimmer of her old friend.

She also gave the charm bracelet back to Kai.

He took it back with a small nod, as if he'd expected nothing less from her. She explained that if they were going to try and make an honest go of a relationship that they had to leave certain things in the past. Bonnie did a complete sweep through the apartment to see if there was anything else of her other self's old life that she wanted to get rid of or donate.

Afterwards, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest. She was sure she'd come across small things here and there, but for the most part, the life she was living now was unequivocally Bonnie Sheila Bennett.

A/N: This is the first part of something I was working on for Halloween. The second part will be posted separately since I'm also using it as my contribution for Boo-Kai 2k18 Week.