Bonnie knew it would be a tough game long before it started; she'd helped Coach drill the team relentlessly. She wants this W, and she'll put the entire team on her back if she has to. Luckily, when the buzzer sounds at halftime in their game against Truman High, the Mystic Falls team they almost lost to on their way to last year's state tournament, Bonnie knows her team is on top of their shit. They're tied at 28 points.

Bonnie has scored eight points so far, with two assists and a rebound. Not bad, but she can do better. Her heart pumps incredibly fast, but steady. She's in her element. It's like her feet grew up out of the court's polished wood, like the basketball is an extension of her arm. She feels better than she has in months, free to play to her heart out, totally focused and in the zone. Except for one thing.

She barely hears Coach's inspirational speech praising her performance. She's scanning the crowd, looking for Kai's encouraging face. They always come to each others' big games, as long as they're not on the road playing their own. The boys don't play tonight. Bonnie had told him repeatedly how nervous and excited she was for this game. He knew how much it meant to her. There's no sign of him. She shrugs it off. He's probably grabbing a hot dog or something.

"Bennett." She snaps to attention. "I love your hustle out there. I love that you're always looking to pass, but I want you to mix it up. When you take it down the middle, I want to see you pump fake and pull up for the shot more. They won't be expecting it. Keep them honest." Bonnie nods once. Message received. She will execute her ass off. Less passing, more shooting. She can do that. She will do that.

The buzzer sounds to begin the second half. Before she knows it, she's lost in the intensity of the game. Once again, everything becomes dribble, dribble, dribble, call the play, run the play, set a pic, pass it, score.

The score stays close, wobbling back and forth in each team's favor.

Bonnie hits a three pointer from down in the corner. She flings her arms wide as she jogs back to the other end of the court, she can't help it, she just has to throw up the "three" sign on both hands, which to non-ball players just looks like "ok". All that extra practice has been paying off!

She does a quick scan of the crowd, trying to find her man. She doesn't she him, but she does see her dad, on his feet, yelling and clapping. Probably saying "that's my baby," in the way that embarrasses Bonnie but secretly makes her feel like a million dollars.

Caroline is putting in every shot Bonnie creates for her, and Elena is playing her best D. Bonnie is hustling her ass off, and every single one of her nerves are on fire, every part of her in tune with the game. Every time she sneaks a look up into the stands, though, she doesn't see Kai. It troubles her, but she has to keep her head in the game.

The third time she looks up, Truman's star forward picks her pocket and takes it down for an easy layup. Coach Bonasera calls a time-out. Bonnie knows she's about to get reamed out, and she knows she deserves it.

"What the hell are you doing, Bennett, daydreaming about your pretty boyfriend? Looking up in the clouds? Get your head in the game!"

She hangs her head in shame and guilt. Instead of leading her team to victory, that's exactly what she was doing.

The next play she makes up for it. She drives straight down the middle. She draws in the same forward who just stole from her, who hacks her arm as she's going up for the shot. The ref calls the foul. The ball rolls around the edge of the rim before dropping neatly in. Bonnie puts her free throw in for a three point play! They're back in the lead. She's on fire! North is up one. Thirty seconds left.

It's time to play careful defense, but in her haste Bonnie turns right around and fouls their best free throw shooter.

"Stupid, stupid, you know better, Bonnie!" She hisses at herself. That's exactly what the other team wants, to get their best shooter on the line, and fouling Bonnie out isn't a bad plan either; she's now up to four of her allowed five fouls. She looks up again, hoping to see Kai's face to tell her it's alright, there's still time to make this right. She looks for him in his usual spot, and doesn't see him. What the fuck, she thinks.

She does, however, notice another familiar face. It's Damon. His elbows are on his knees, one hand balled into a fist and the fingers of the other hand wrapped around it. His hands are pressed to his mouth, covering it, as if he's feeling the pressure himself. He nods to her, those blue cat eyes of his telling her she's got this. She nods back. I got this.

After the Truman high player predictably makes both her free throws, they're down by one again. There's not enough time for a time out. Elena gets in the lane and grabs a beautiful rebound. Bonnie knows Elena's got possession before she's cleared everybody out, so she takes off running, as fast as she can, thundering down to the other ends of the court.

Come on, Elena, you can do this. Elena sees her and launches the ball as hard as she can with one hand. It's deadly accurate, and like a quarterback passing to her receiver, the basketball hits Bonnie's hands mid-stride. She only has to take two steps before she's in the air, shooting from the free throw line. The buzzer sounds and in the same moment the shot is nothing but net.

Bonnie's so shocked that she sits down right on her ass. 54-53, Mystic Falls North wins! Before she knows it the entire team tackles her, Caroline and Elena wrapping her in a huge hug, rolling around and screaming on the hardwood they all love so much. They haven't won a championship, this is just a regular season game, but if they can triumph over Truman High now they can beat them again on their way to state, along with anyone else who tries to stand in their way!

Bonnie racked up twenty points, five rebounds, and six assists. Her stats have never looked so awesome! This game is quite possibly one of the best of her life.

She looks around for Kai. She sees her dad and smiles up at him, for a second forgetting how cool she is and then remembering she's not little girl to be hanging off her daddy's arm; luckily her dad just rolls his eyes good-naturedly and she sees him mutter "teenagers". She blows him a kiss.

Outside in the hall she catches up to her dad. After checking to make sure no friends are around, she jumps up and down like a five-year-old.

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! Did you see me? Did you see how good I was today?!"

"Baby, you blew my mind today. You made me so proud. Did you hear me yelling? I was trying on purpose to embarrass you. I just couldn't hold it in."

"Thanks! I guess it's okay you embarrassed me, Dad. You're the best! But only today, okay?"

"Okay. Next time I'll zip my lips." He mimes zipping his lips together and throwing away the key. They both laugh.

"Where did Kai go?" Bonnie cranes her head to look for him. Her dad pauses for a moment. Enough to let her know that something's wrong.

"I don't know, sweetheart."

"Wasn't he with you?"

Rudy's voice is strangled when he answers.

"He wasn't sitting with me. I haven't seen him."

"You mean he didn't-"

He didn't come. He missed one of the best games of my career. Where could he be? How could he forget? Bonnie wasn't sure whether to punch the wall or burst into tears. Her father saw her lip tremble and rushed to comfort her.

"I'm sure it was something very important. I'm sure he wouldn't forget how important this game was to you." Rudy sounded like he didn't believe his own words. Bonnie didn't either. Kai wasn't there for me tonight. I needed him.

Rudy's quick to wrap a comforting arm around her. His timing is perfect, because she thinks she's falling apart. "Hey Sweetheart, how about we go grab some pepperoni and pineapple pizza to celebrate, just you and me for old times' sake?"

She shook her head solemnly. For some reason, she felt like she should go get to work but maybe she just wanted to punish herself. "I think I'm gonna head down to the park. Do some shooting."

"You're not even going out with the team? Even if you don't want to be seen with your old dad, you need to celebrate, sweetheart, you played the game of your life." It sounds nice, but what she wants more than anything is to burn off some of the frustration of Kai missing in action. She's trying to stay positive, but her night is ruined. Just as Bonnie gets ready to open her mouth, she hears a voice behind her.

"How's it going, Mr. B?"

A familiar, annoying, lovable face shuffled over, one hand in his pocket, the other extended to Bonnie's father.

"Ay, it's the study buddy. Damon, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Good to see you, Son."

Bonnie's gloom automatically melts away when she see him. At least Damon was there for me tonight, she thinks. The thought warms her.

"You played a great game, Bonnie." He sounds so sincere. His smile is nice. No teasing or joking, just honest and open. It feels good to see this side of him again.

"Don't pretend to be nice to me just because my dad is here," she jokes, but there's a softness to her teasing all the same.

"Are you kidding? I'm always nice."

"Since you're always so nice, you can do me a favor," Rudy interjects. "Bonnie refuses to go out and celebrate. Do me a huge favor and drag her out for pizza." He slaps a twenty into Damon's palm.

Bonnie is both shocked and amused. Her dad is actively encouraging her to go hang out with Damon!

"Mr. B, I would be happy to. There's no way I'm gonna let this girl skip celebrating."

"That's what I like to hear. Just have her home by midnight."

"I'm eighteen years old, Dad. I'm an adult."

"Twelve-fifteen, then." He waves as he heads to his car, leaving the two of them standing there.

"I can't believe my dad is encouraging this!"

"Your dad knows a stand-up guy when he sees one." Bonnie rolls her eyes. "It's a nice night. Wanna walk?"

"Okay." She waves to Rudy. "See ya, Dad!"

"Have fun, you two. But not too much fun!"

"Dad!" Bonnie hisses. He's embarrassing her. Damon just laughs.

"I wish I had a dad like yours. He's cool." There's a lot more to that statement, but Bonnie decides not to press unless Damon wants to talk about it.

They stroll along, enjoying the cool night air. Bonnie feels the tension, those strong stirrings of a major crush that refuses to stay in the background.

She asks her most burning question, if only to break up the charged energy surrounding them.

"What were you doing at a women's game?"

"I was betting against you. You cost me a lot of money with that win, Bennett." He bumps her shoulder with his and smiles.

"That's my goal in life, to send you to the poorhouse."

"I knew how big a game it was," he admits softly. "Wouldn't have missed it."

Bonnie feels so full of an unnamed emotion she gets a bit chocked up. "That sounds a lot like something a friend would do."

"I know. I'm warming up to the idea of letting you into my inner circle."

To Bonnie's great surprise, Damon's arm comes out and settles gently around her shoulder. She finds herself tucking into his body, enjoying his warmth, his scent, his muscular build. They stroll like that for only a few paces, but those steps are infused with strong feelings. Good feelings, confusing feelings, all left undiscussed. When Damon takes his arm away, Bonnie wants to stay curled next to him, letting him shelter her from the cold. She wishes they could stay there, in that moment, until the sun peeked up over the horizon.

"The good news is, now I can critique your game. There are some glaring inconsistencies, Bennett." She punches him in the arm.

"Ow! It's not my fault you've got work to do."

They each order two slices of their favorite pizza and a Damon gets a chocolate banana malt. Bonnie's pizza is pepperoni and pineapple, which she usually only eats in this restaurant with her dad, sort of like a tradition.

"Don't tell my dad, he'd kill me if he knew I was eating our special pizza with someone else."

"Don't worry, I'll never tell anyone I spend time with a person who likes pineapple on their pizza."

"Shut up." Just for that, she stole a spoonful of his malt.

"Hey! Hands off, Bennett."

"Nope!" She takes another spoonful and giggles when Damon doesn't even try to stop her, just watches with amusement, like he thinks it's cute.

I shouldn't be having this much fun, she thinks. Then, fuck Kai. I'm gonna enjoy myself to the fullest.

"Tell your dad thanks, but this is on me. In the name of your big win and all." He gives her back the twenty and pulls out one of his own. If Bonnie wasn't feeling all warm and fuzzy before, she definitely is now.

"This kinda feels like a date." Bonnie jokes this as she sips his malt, which she has now pulled all the way over to her side of the table and put her own straw in.

"Does it now?" He says in his teasing voice, looking at her in the seductive way he does.

"Stop looking at me like that." She can feel her face heating up.

"Looking at you like what, like this?" He turns up the intensity and leans in closer to her, his eyes captivating hers. Then he sits back in his seat, shifting back to the mysterious jokester as if nothing had ever happened. "It can't be a date, though."

"For obvious reasons." Bonnie agrees. If she feels disappointed, she'll never tell another living soul.

"Unfortunate." There's a small smirk on Damon's face. Bonnie blinks at him, and he changes the subject so quickly she doesn't have time to register what he just said.

"Graduation's coming up. Only one semester left. What are you planning to do with this little life of yours?"

"I have it all planned out. Graduate with honors, use my basketball skills to get a scholarship, graduate with honors, get a job, get married." She doesn't mention Kai's name. It just seems weird to, sitting here face-to-face with Damon.

"And?"

"What do you mean, 'and?'"

Damon laughs softly. "There's more to life than basketball and Kai Parker, Bennett."

That makes Bonnie feel dumb, but she pretends it doesn't. "Obviously, Salvatore. You think that's all I have going on? Look at my extracurriculars."

"I'm sure they're stellar, brainiac. What I mean is, are you thinking about what you want to major in, what career you want? Do you want to study abroad? Learn another language? Stand up for a cause? Do you wanna change the world?

The questions stunned her. To be honest, she hadn't even thought about it. All she wanted was to play ball, and graduate with a degree in something, and then get married to Kai and start a family. She plans to be a careerwoman, but she has no idea what that career might be. Leave the country? Learn another language? Fight for a cause?

Damon has her stumped and he can tell.

"There's a whole big world out there, Bonnie. I know Mystic Falls is glamorous and all, but don't get so caught up that you miss out."

"Oh yeah? Well since you're the expert why don't you educate me, Mr. know it all."

"Speaking of education, that's something I care a lot about."

"Really?" He has her rapt attention now.

"I think that's something all kids should have, but all kids don't. Access to education and teachers who care. I wanna do something about it. Be a teacher who really cares."

"You? A schoolteacher? Of small, impressionable little minds?"

"Don't look so surprised, Bennett." He looks shy about it, like he's afraid to admit it.

It turns out Damon wants to teach history. "We all think it's so boring, but it's only because they're not teaching it right. I wanna make it fun to learn about." He even wants to leave for a year, teach somewhere else, like China or Argentina. The thought blows Bonnie's mind. She can barely imagine leaving Virginia, let alone the entire country.

"I'll be making pennies, but I'll be happy. He shrugs one shoulder as he studies the ground.

"I don't know, Salvatore, I can envision you picking on small children when you're supposed to be teaching them. I can even see you spreading the misery around the globe."

She really can see that for him, and it humanizes him even more in her eyes. It's also kind of sexy. Kai doesn't ever talk about doing any good in the world. Once again, she will carry this secret thought to her grave. She listens to Damon talk about new and exciting things outside of Mystic Falls. She drinks his malt and he squawks about it but looks secretly happy she stole it.

He looks at his phone.

"Oh shit."

"What?"

"11:40. Gotta get you home."

"Are you serious?"

"You won't have me pissing your old man off. He likes me and I want to keep it that way."

They stroll back to their cars.

"You did good today, Bon. I'm proud of you." Maybe that shouldn't make Bonnie feel as good as it does, but it means the world to her. It means even more when Damon steps forward and gently, almost cautiously, puts his arms around her. The night has been full of surprises, and this is the biggest one. Bonnie puts her arms around Damon's shoulders and squeezes him back. It's their first real hug, and it's full of affection, friendship, and warmth. It's also, secretly, tinged with desire. She holds on longer than she should. They finally let go, and he's gone.

The entire night, all she can think about is Damon. He turns her on in a way she can't understand. Not just her body but her mind, too. He's so different from Kai. She cann't quite put her finger on it. Kai is superficial, Damon has depth. That's the answer. She could never talk about something like the importance of education and being a good teacher with Kai. Honestly, she has never wanted to until now. It's all very new for her and it's intriguing. Maybe she should learn more about this stuff. Beyond that, she knows, is a deeper connection that has no explanation, a chemistry that no scientist can explain.

She wishes it had been her boyfriend taking her out to celebrate, but Kai hadn't been there for her and Damon had. Kai's changed, she thinks. She gets the feeling Damon would never change. When he's there for someone, it lasts forever.

Right now, Bonnie doesn't want to think about her problems with her boyfriend. Instead, she thinks about her stellar basketball game and her deep, handsome, muscle-bound friend and project partner. She can't help grinning and sighing. After all, he made her feel so important.

The next day is totally different. It's time to confront Kai and the more she thinks about how he disrespected and abandoned her, the angrier she gets. She can't find him and he's not answering her texts. He must know how much trouble he's in. It was a special night for her, and while she was supposed to feel on top of the world, she'd been heartbroken with the knowledge that her boyfriend, her future husband, wasn't there to support her when she really needed him. It's time to get down to the facts. Whatever his story is, it had better be damn good.

He's avoiding her but he won't miss practice, that much she knows. She has no idea what she plans to say to him, but she imagines it's going to be like somebody dropped napalm on the gym. She's more than just pissed, she's enraged.

She finds him easily, sitting against a wall, arms resting on his bent knees. When she approaches, she crosses her arms and looks down at him, appreciating the fact that for once she's towering over him.

"Malachai." Her tone is icy and hard. When Kai turns to see her he rolls his eyes. That only adds fuel to her fire, but she can tell he's going to tread with caution. This wouldn't be the first time she's embarrassed him in front of a crowd of people, and wouldn't be the last.

"Are you going to listen to what I have to say?"

She picks at a cerulean-manicured nail, shorter than she would have liked because it's basketball season. She pops her Juicy Fruit.

"I'm waiting."

"Something came up."

"Something. Came. Up." She echoes, punctuating every word as she tries to get them to make sense. She can't believe it. She's never been so mad before in her life. If he doesn't come up with something better, she's going to morph into a dragon and start breathing fucking fire. As soon as she gets ready to do just that, she realizes that he's staring at something, hard. She follows his gaze and sees the problem. There are new faces in the bleachers watching practice. A big group of about ten young men. Really tall young men. Bonnie peers at them, trying to place them. Then she realizes; they're not such new faces.

They're Mystic Falls West.

Bonnie gasps. Fuck, Kai's about to shit bricks.

"I can't believe they had the balls to come in here," Kai's looking amused, which is not a good thing when he's angry. The rival teams never just waltz onto each others' territory unless they're about to play, so seeing them here is blasphemous. There could be a knock-down, drag-out.

Bonnie watches as Kai slowly stands, extending himself to his full height. He cracks his neck and gives his shoulders a shake, like he's ready to start swinging.

Shit.

The one sitting down in the front of the group, his feet propped up on the bleacher in front of him, elbows on his knees and fingers tented like every super villain who's ever walked the earth, is clearly the leader.

He's not very tall; saying he's six feet is being generous, but he has a strong presence. He is gorgeous. His fair skin, hair the color of beach sand, and blue eyes make him look like something out of a medieval romance novel. However, it's the look in those eyes, the cold, calculating mercilessness, so strong for someone maybe eighteen years old, that makes Bonnie think Game of Thrones might be more appropriate.

Kai puts his fingers in his mouth and whistles. "Hey boys. Looks like we got some guests in our house." Now they're all gathering. Some of the girls come too; Bonnie looks up and Liv and Elena are standing with her.

"Kai, what are you gonna do?" Bonnie asks in a low voice that says she can see he's ready to throw down.

Kai doesn't take his eyes off the enemy for a second. "I'm gonna get out in front of this thing."

The Mystic Falls North men and women's player move forward as a unit, like a lion pack ready to defend their stretch of the Serengeti plains.

Kai addresses the medieval cover model directly. "You're new around here, so maybe you don't know you're trespassing. Your boys know. Why didn't they tell you?"

"I know perfectly well what I'm doing," he replies, his voice smooth, confident and threatening. He has a British accent, which Bonnie has never heard outside of an episode of Elementary. "I'm sizing up my competition and there doesn't seem to be very much."

Kai chuckles and takes a step forward.

"Something must be wrong with your eyes. I can fix that for you."

"My eyesight is quite keen," he replies. "As a matter of fact, I can quite easily see the lovely young woman standing next to you. And who might this be?" He looks Bonnie slowly up and down. His voice is low and sickly sweet, face lit up like he's having an old friend for dinner, Hannibal Lecter style. He ogles Bonnie, and she does not like him or his accent or his smirk one bit.

She's a second away from slapping that look off his face, but Kai knows her too well and he puts his arm around her shoulders, stopping her in her tracks.

"Don't worry babe, I got this. He's not worth your manicure."

Klaus laughs out loud. "You send your women to do your dirty work for you?" He asks, and his accent is so sickening Bonnie wants to throw up on him.

"My woman can handle my lightweights."

Damn right, Bonnie thinks.

The two team captains seem to be enjoying the banter, enjoying how the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife. It seems like both are waiting for the other to pull the trigger, to start a full-on brawl in the middle of the school. It seems like both would welcome it.

Kai smiles, and it's the one that comes before he snaps. Bonnie's afraid. It seems like an unstoppable force is about to hit an unmovable object. There could be war.

"This has been fun, but it's time for you to leave."

"I don't think I'm quite ready to go yet." Bonnie can tell Kai is ready to start swinging, until the gym door bursts open and in comes none other than Damon Salvatore.

Damon holds his arms out wide as if to embrace the intruder. "Klaus Mikaelson, my new friend. We've yet to make each others' acquaintances."

"Ah yes, the traitor. I've heard stories about you."

Damon steps in between the two teams, making it clear he's with North now and no longer with West. "Stories, eh? You boys talking about me behind my back?" Damon eyes his former team as if he's ready to mow them all down as well. They don't have much to say.

"It's time for you to go, Klaus." Kai says, his creepy "I'm ready for violence" smile on his face.

Jovially, Damon adds, "I'm gonna have to agree with the cap here. It's been fun being neighborly, but all the Mr. Rogers shit is over with now."

"Scurry back to your holes, West," Bonnie throws in, unable to keep her cool.

"Oh, captain. Quite the protection detail you have here. Like a pack of well-trained dogs."

At that everyone starts forward. No one would get away with calling any one of their crew a dog, especially not calling Bonnie a dog, and despite their differences the two most important men in her life would defend her.

The second before all heck can break loose, a whistle shrieks behind them, snapping them out of it. It's the men's coach, Coach Peterson. He's not a man to mess with. It takes him only moments to break into the mix and make everybody back down. It's a good thing he was there, because Bonnie isn't sure what would have happened.

"Out," he tells Mystic Falls West in his deep baritone voice, "And don't let me see you all back here causing trouble again or there will be suspensions. If you want to keep playing basketball here in the city of Mystic Falls, you had better straighten up your act. Out. Now."

A real adult and the threat of no basketball gets Mystic Falls West moving.

It's that exact moment that Caroline decides to show up, late to the party.

"What did I miss?" She freezes when she realizes how tense the situation is. Klaus stops in his tracks, so fast that his shoes squeak on the hardwood. He stares openly at Caroline with a gaze that's a mix of seduction, romance, and a predator stalking his prey. Caroline gives him her classic sideeye and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Can I help you?" She asks, with as much attitude as she can muster.

"Indeed you can," Klaus says, as if he didn't hear the venom dripping from her voice. He stalks forward until he's in her space. Caroline doesn't back down an inch. Instead, she stands up straighter and silently challenges him. It seems to excite Klaus even more, and there's a tension between them that isn't only hate.

"Love, I hope you're not with this…peanut gallery. You're far too exquisite a creature."

"Drop dead, Pepe Le Pew. I'm not buying anything you're selling."

Klaus throws back his head and laughs. "I'm not French, love, I'm British."

"You're an asshole."

"I won't argue with that evaluation."

"I won't entertain this conversation."

"And it has certainly been entertaining." Caroline looks disgusted, but Klaus looks like he's having the time of his life.

"You lot can burn," he says, turning to point an accusatory finger at everyone else, "But it has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I hope we have the chance to argue again in the near future."

"Don't hold your breath. On second thought, do hold you breath."

Klaus smiles that smile at her again. "Until we meet again, love." He brushes past her on his way out, gently grazes her shoulder. Bonnie thinks she sees Caroline shiver, but she could be imagining things. Caroline stands there stunned and confused until Mystic Falls West stalks out like the creeps they are. It's then that Bonnie remembers what was going on before they showed up.

"We'll finish this discussion later." Kai says, turning to start laps for practice.

"Gotdamn right we will." Bonnie snaps. She watches him jog off. Damon catches her eye and he looks at her like, finish what? Bonnie looks away fast, embarrassed for him to see such a rift in her relationship. She turns back to her girls.

"Gross, he likes you!" Elena exclaims to Caroline.

"Don't curse at me like that."

"Why do you alway pick up the weird ones, Care? The ones who are out for world domination and all that jazz?"

"They pick me, unfortunately."

"He is infuriatingly hot," Bonnie stage whispers.

"Says the woman who already has about fifteen boyfriends," Care whispers back.

"I do not have fifteen boyfriends." I barely have one, she thinks to herself, surprised at how it feels to admit it.

The argument is epic. Kai's siblings are essentially in hiding, not wanting to be in the middle of this particular shitstorm.

"Aren't you going to at least apologize?"

"Every time I turn around I'm apologizing. I'm getting tired of apologizing."

"I'm getting tired of you doing stupid shit, and this is pretty damn high on on the list. If you stopped doing stupid shit, there would be no need for the apologies, but since you're still messing up, it's the least you could do to make it up to me."

"You act like you don't do anything wrong. Like you're perfectly innocent in all this, making no mistakes."

Here we go, she thought. She started to come back at him, but as usual he turned it back on her.

"Prancing around with Damon Salvatore." How does he even know about that? She resists the urge to ask if he has his boys spying on her.

"Damon Salvatore was there for me, unlike you." She can't help but feel warm and cared for when she thinks about Damon, the exact opposite of what she's feeling here.

"Oh yeah? There for you in what way?"

"Don't you dare accuse me of being faithful to you."

He snorts. "Yeah, what the hell am I thinking? How could you be unfaithful? I'm not getting any, so why would anybody else be getting any?" He was stooping awfully low.

"You better watch how you fucking talk to me. Especially since I could accuse you of the same thing. I keep seeing you giggling with Katie Pierce. Maybe I should be the one making accusations." They were on truly dangerous ground now. Bonnie tries to hold back her temper, to keep from saying things she couldn't unsay, to keep from provoking Kai into saying things he couldn't unsay, more things he couldn't unsay. Still, there it was, aired out. Now they had to deal with it.

"Come on, Bonnie, you're worried about Katie Pierce?"

"I don't give two fucks about Katie Pierce, because she's beneath me. Why, should I be worried?"

"If I was getting sex from you, my girlfriend, who I'm in a relationship with, you wouldn't have to be so paranoid about where I was getting it from."

"It sounds like you're saying this is all on me."

He shrugs and says, "I mean…"

"This is absolutely insane. I'm not gonna put up with this bullshit from you. I made my decision a long time ago, and I am not ready for sex. You said you were good with it then, and you need to be good with it now. We might as well just stop arguing about it, because I'm not changing my mind."

"Okay, we won't argue about it any more."

"Good." She thinks she's won, until his next words.

"So what are we even doing here?"

"What do you mean?" She sits up in her seat, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. He can't be doing what she thinks he is.

"You and me. What are we doing?"

"I still don't understand what the fuck you're saying."

"Our relationship. Where is this going?"

"Are we questioning our relationship right now? Since when? Where is this even coming from? Since you've been messing up and I've been rightfully pissed about it and demanding apologies that I deserve, now you don't want to be with me?" Her voice is getting louder, and she can't control it, no matter how hard she tries.

"I didn't say that."

"It sounds like that's exactly what you said."

"Know what, you're right. I need some time to think." Bonnie's on her feet now.

"What does that mean, time to think?"

"I need some time Bonnie. We shouldn't talk for a couple days."

"Malachai James Parker, are you breaking up with me?!" She's shrieking, but there's nothing she can do about it. Her worst nightmare is coming true.

"Not breaking up, but I mean…I need break, Bonnie. I need to figure out what we're doing and what we both want."

Bonnie goes completely ballistic, but no amount of screaming, crying and throwing things changes the fact that they're officially on a break. She puts a hole in his drywall, than he does too, then she breaks his favorite trophy, and then he tells her to get the fuck out and she does, but not before destroying a few more things on her way out.

At home she sits stone-faced, staring at her wall. She's never felt such a storm inside of her, but at the same time she's never been so frozen in place.

She whispers to herself, "I'm not ready to give up on him. I'm not ready to give up on everything we've built, and everything we're going to have. We're supposed to grow old together. I can't let him go." Even after all he's put her through, she just can't let him go.

She waits. Waits for him to soothe her with a call or text, waits for an expensive gift to show up at her door, waits for him to tell her he's sorry and he was out of his mind to ever say he wanted a break from them being them, Kai and Bonnie, the perfect pair like it's always been. But there's nothing. Nothing at all.

After seventy-two agonizing hours, she caves. She makes a decision to save their relationship. She decides to give him what he really wants.