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zutaralesbian · 8 years ago

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The Way I Love (d) You

Here’s part 1 of 2 of the AU Bontherine fic i’ve been working on. I decided to split it into two parts because I was tired of it sitting in my drafts.

Note: Since it’s an All Human AU, Katherine might be a little OOC.

Read it here or on A03

"So you're all set up now?" Caroline asked.

Bonnie held the phone up to her ear as she stood in her new dorm room, eyeing her handiwork with a pleased smile. Everything was ready. The photos of family and friends that she had brought from home were all taped onto the walls of her side of the room, done so in a neat, rectangular pattern. Her bed was made up with her favorite bed-sheets and blankets, and her desk was set up. She was fully ready for her first year at university.

"I am," Bonnie replied with another smile, even though Caroline couldn't see it from the other end of the line. She turned to face the window, which had a decent view of the entire front side of the campus. "You should see the room, Care. It has a great view. You would love it."

Her tone at the end was only a little accusatory. Since they were in middle school, it had been a plan of Bonnie and Caroline's to one day go to college together and, hopefully, even share a dorm together. But at nearly the last minute, Caroline had changed her mind and decided to go to a trade school instead, leaving Bonnie to follow their original plan on her own. It also left her at the mercy of not knowing who her roommate would turn out to be.

She heard Caroline let out a small, maybe slightly nervous laugh. "Maybe i'll come down there and visit over the weekends. That's allowed, isn't it?"

"I think so. But I doubt you would be able to stay overnight."

"We'll make it work. I could always drive down there to pick you up and take you home with me. It's a two hour long drive but i'm willing to do that for you. You should feel special."

Bonnie felt a small flash of irritation at that phrasing, even though she knew that Caroline was only joking. As unfair and irrational as it may be, she didn't feel special. She felt abandoned. But she wasn't ever going to say that out loud.

"Let's pray that you don't end up with Katherine as your roommate. Now that would be a nightmare," Caroline said after moment, probably when she realized that Bonnie wasn't going to say anything. It sounded like an obvious attempt to fill in the awkward silence that had suddenly passed over them.

"Why do you say that?" Bonnie asked, freezing at the mention of her ex girlfriend. Caroline hadn't brought her up in months, and it seemed weird that it was happening now of all times. Katherine didn't even want to go to college. She had told Bonnie so multiple times in the past, despite her attempts to change her mind.

"Um...because she's your ex? And it didn't sound like you two exactly ended on good terms."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, laughing a bit. "We didn't. But Katherine wouldn't ever come here. College was never her thing. I thought she made that pretty clear."

"Oh god, I assumed you already knew."

"Knew what?"

There was another pause, and Caroline's voice seemed almost...hesitant when she did start speaking again as if she didn't want to be the one to break the news of what she was about to say.

"Katherine is going to college, Bonnie. And last I heard, she decided on Whitmore too. You might run into her there."

It was as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water on top of her. Bonnie wasn't really intimidated at the idea of of seeing Katherine again per se, but they really hadn't ended on the cleanest of terms. Their breakup had been messy, and if Bonnie was being completely honest with herself, there were a ton of things that still needed closure between them. But avoiding all of it had been easier. And now it looked like all of her efforts to dodge that awkward and maybe even painful confrontation was about to be completely dashed. Why had Katherine suddenly decided to go to college anyway?

She forced her tone to remain level. "Really? Well, good for her."

Caroline didn't sound convinced, and Bonnie could practically visualize the way her best friend's eyebrows were probably arched, the way they always did when she was questioning something. "You're not nervous?"

"No, and why would I be? It's a big campus. I might never even see her. And even if I do...all of that is in the past. I'm sure she's moved on by now. We both have." Bonnie glanced up at the clock that hung on the wall on the far left side of where she was standing, feeling a small jolt of relief when she saw that it was nearly lunch time at the cafeteria. She had an actual excuse to end the phone call. "Anyway Care, I should probably get going. It's about time for me to eat."

She heard Caroline let out a disappointed huff. "And right when the conversation was really starting to get interesting. But okay. Call me sometime tomorrow! I'll want to know how your first day went."

"I will. Bye Care."

They said their final goodbyes before Bonnie hung up the phone, placing it back in her purse, trying not to let the news that had just been dropped on her effect her more than it should. People had to deal with awkward encounters with their exes all of the time. Sure, she hadn't expected to have to deal with seeing Katherine on campus but, it was like she told Caroline, it was a big campus. There was a good chance that she and Katherine would never even catch a glimpse of each other. At least not for a little while.

The only problem was that there was a small part of Bonnie that wasn't sure if she would be disappointed by that outcome or not.

The day went by slowly, even though she was pleased with the look of the campus, the people, the professors, and the lunch options. Bonnie figured that it had been a mixture of her classes, which were mainly dull general ed credits with it being her first trimester, and the anticipation of finding out who her roommate would be. It had been hours since she had last been in the room. She figured that the roommate would have had to have moved her stuff in by now, unless she was going to be an entire day late.

After exiting her final class for the day, Bonnie fast-walked in the direction of the dorm room, a bit anxious and nervous to get the reveal with over already. Whoever this person turned out to be could possibly effect a good portion of her experience here. She hoped they wouldn't turn out to be the overly moody and unfriendly sort. It'd be nice to be able to be friends with them, especially considering the fact that she wasn't able to go by her original plan of rooming with Caroline.

After reaching the room and seeing that whoever was inside had the light on, Bonnie gave the door a few soft knocks. When she received no answer, she flung the door open with raised eyebrows, closing it behind her once inside.

She'd been right. The other girl had obviously moved herself in while Bonnie had been away, if the made-up bed across from hers was anything to go by. But the person herself was nowhere in sight.

Bonnie walked over and sat on the edge of her own bed. She figured that her roommate must have left to do laundry or get food, leaving the light on and the door unlocked behind her, open for anyone to just slip inside and help themselves to their stuff. Bonnie couldn't help but feel the faintest flash of irritation at that thought already.

She allowed her eyes to travel over to the bed across from her again, taking in the details of it. The bed was made fairly neatly, just as Bonnie's was, and the sheets looked like they had recently come right out of a store, obviously brand new. Whoever the person was must have bought the bedding specifically for college, and hadn't used it at any time before.

But there was something very specific that eventually caught her eye, something small that lingered on the foot of the bed. Something relevant enough to send Bonnie flying to her feet and quickly approach it. She picked the small object into her hands, eyeing it carefully as to not send herself into panic mode before knowing for sure.

There was no mistaking the familiar black nail filer. And, to cement the realization, the initials KP were still clearly engraved into it. The same initials that Bonnie remembered rolling her eyes at once upon a time, not understanding why anyone would need to have their initials engraved onto something as mundane as a nail filer.

Despite all of the evidence staring back at her, Bonnie shook her head in denial. "It can't be."

"What can't be?" An achingly familiar voice said after Bonnie heard the sound of the door opening and closing again. She placed the nail filer back down onto the bed in front of her and turned to face the person who had entered the room, her cheeks, to her annoyance, heating up slightly at the sight.

Standing in the room, clad in only a towel wrapped around her and her long, light brown hair hair still dripping wet from the shower, was Katherine Pierce.

Even though Katherine had been fully prepared for Bonnie to be in the room by the time she came back, the sight of her ex...the woman who had broken her heart, still managed to nearly knock the breath out of her. She was still so beautiful...so beautiful that it was unfair. She was wearing a fairly simple outfit, but the pleasant green color of her tank top was the exact correct shade to really bring out the emerald eyes that she remembered so well.

But those eyes were now looking at her with a look of what almost seemed like horror, not adoration.

Luckily; Katherine was a master at hiding emotions. And Bonnie's clear flush at the sight of her state of undress was enough to make her smirk, satisfied that she still seemed to have an effect on her too, despite everything.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue, Bon Bon?" She asked casually, moving further into the room. She didn't bother trying to see if Bonnie reacted to the old nickname, mainly because she didn't want to appear desperate and there wasn't a way of doing it without making it obvious that she was looking. As she approached her bed, she sensed Bonnie quickly moving further away from it, as if she was avoiding the plague.

As Katherine began to rummage through one of her assigned dresser drawers in search of clothes to change into, Bonnie finally spoke, her tone displaying crystal clear aggravation. "What are you doing here, Katherine?"

It had been the exact question that she had been expecting her to ask first. So predictable. Katherine finished selecting her outfit; a pair of night shorts and a thin tank top, before turning to face her ex. "Isn't it obvious? I'm here for you."

And that was the truth...mostly. She had initially come to Whitmore with the intention of escaping her family, the memory of it being the same college that Bonnie planned on attending only an added bonus. But when the dean of the school had presented her a list of all of the dorm rooms up for grabs in order to choose her roommate (a bonus that could only come with the benefit of being the mayor's daughter. It seemed that her father was good for something) and she had seen her ex's name on the list, she couldn't help but leap at the opportunity.

Now she and Bonnie were roommates. Katherine would have an entire year to grill the real reason they had broken up out of her. And well, she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't hoping for and planning a possible reunion.

But so far, it didn't seem like Bonnie shared the sentiment. She grimaced at the answer Katherine gave. "You don't mean that."

"I never say anything that I don't mean. You should know that by now."

Bonnie didn't say anything in response to that. Katherine masked her slightly crestfallen feeling with another smirk. "Anyway would you mind turning around or leaving the room while I get dressed? Or, you could always watch. I know that you appreciated the view in the past. I don't mind."

Bonnie's emerald green eyes narrowed in a way that Katherine was well accustomed to. It was an expression that she had found adorable in the past but now it only served to cause small tremors in her chest. "There's a bathroom that you can change in, you know."

"This is my dorm. I can change right here if I want to."

Bonnie pursed her lips in a way that Katherine recognized as her trying to decide if it was worth arguing further. Eventually, she sighed before wordlessly turning around, facing the door instead of Katherine.

Taking that as a sign, Katherine allowed the towel to slip off her frame before grabbing the new change of clothes to get dressed.

Unfortunately, she had been so preoccupied with trying to fluster Bonnie up, she hadn't taken into account how awkward the next few moments would end up being. And she hadn't even really gotten a satisfying reaction to make up for it.

Once she had nearly finished dressed, Bonnie suddenly spoke again, her back still facing her. "One of us can request a room change."

Katherine pretended that she hadn't heard her as she finished slipping on her shorts. "What?"

"One of us can request a room change," Bonnie repeated. She chanced a brief look over her shoulder and, after seeing that Katherine was now fully dressed, her tense shoulders visibly relaxed and she turned to face her head on again. "It's still early in the year, only the first official day of the semester. If one of us asks for a room change, we could probably get one."

She had seen something like this coming. Of course Bonnie would bring up the idea of getting their rooms switched. Katherine forced her expression to remain impassive, unreadable. "Who will be the one to switch?"

"I was technically here first."

"Well, i'm not the one with a problem here. I already told you the reason I was here, and I meant it. If you have issues with it, then they are yours to deal with." She mentally applauded herself for managing to keep up her neutral front through that. Although she was the master of emotional stealth, Bonnie Bennett had always been one of the harder people for her to fool. She supposed that was one of the many reasons she had been drawn to her in the first place.

If Bonnie sensed anything off about her guarded demure, she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she flushed again. But this time, Katherine couldn't tell if it was out of bashfulness or anger. "Come on Katherine. This bothers you just as much as it does me. Admit it."

A challenge. Now that was something that could be used as fuel.

Katherine finished drying off her hair before gazing at the other woman, brown eyes locking fiercely with emerald green ones. "If you're so sensitive that you can't handle sharing a mere room with an ex, then hey, go ahead and ask for a switch. But I am perfectly content where I am."

The fire in Bonnie's eyes in response was enough to tell Katherine that she had gotten what she wanted.

No one would be switching rooms.

Despite the tremors she felt whenever they were in too close of proximity, whether that was from the accidental brushes as they walked by each other across the small room or when Katherine very purposefully stood a bit too close, over the last few days, Bonnie was finding that her ex girlfriend wasn't too terrible of a person to live with after all.

Katherine wasn't a slob. She picked up after herself and kept her side of the room, and the bathroom, relatively neat. It brought back memories of the two of them sitting in Bonnie's room. The moments when Katherine, almost looking to be on complete autopilot, tidied up the unbalanced pillow on Bonnie's bed or picked up the stray socks that had been left on the floor. Little things to make the room a bit cleaner. That is, when they weren't completely wrapped up in each other.

She also wasn't loud, and didn't complain when Bonnie left the light on late in order to study.

There wasn't anything visible that could prove that Katherine Pierce made a bad roommate. The only problems lied within Bonnie's own mind and...the things that Katherine was managing to make her feel just by being near her again.

After the breakup, Bonnie had coped with it by reminding herself of only the reasons why she had ended the relationship, and why it needed to stay that way. Katherine never listened to her. She didn't ever take the time to get to know Bonnie's friends and family, both of which she knew were very important to her. And, it a lot of ways, Katherine was selfish. She didn't live up to the image of the person Bonnie had always imagined herself ending up with.

But...now, she was being steamrolled with the other things she remembered about Katherine. The things that had made her fall for her in the first place. Her confidence. Her determination. Her wit.

And the way she looked at Bonnie as if she was the key to the complete salvation of humanity , which didn't seem to have at all changed or faded during the months they spent apart.

Feeling her throat tighten, Bonnie stopped walking as she reached her destination, a corner of the cafeteria that was fairly secluded from private view. She took out her cellphone and dialed Caroline's number. This was something that she should be able to do in her own dorm, but this was a conversation that she didn't want to risk Katherine overhearing. Over the last couple of days, she had neglected to tell Caroline who her roommate was, a bit nervous about the possible reaction she would get. But she couldn't hold it in any longer...not with the range of emotions in her mind. She needed someone to remind her why getting involved with Katherine again would be the worst mistake she could ever make, and Caroline would probably be the perfect person for the job.

Caroline answered after only two rings.

"Finally! I was wondering when you were going to call me. How is..."

"Katherine is my roommate."

A small stretch of silence, but still too long to be completely in character for Caroline, passed before anyone said anything else. Just when Bonnie was about to ask if she was still there, Caroline spoke, her tone filled with disbelief. "No way."

Bonnie bit her lip. "Yes way."

"You're serious?"

"I wish I wasn't."

Another few seconds before Bonnie heard what sounded like forced laughter coming from the other end of the line. "I was only joking when I brought up the idea of you getting her as a roommate. I didn't...I didn't think it would actually happen. It's right out of a cheesy romcom."

Bonnie could imagine the thoughts that were probably coursing through Caroline's mind right now, considering she had helped Bonnie come to the decision to break things off with Katherine in the first place. She was probably worried that this would be the perfect opportunity for Katherine to pounce, and that Bonnie would eventually give in despite her reservations.

The worst part about it was that Bonnie couldn't even be annoyed by it, because she was worried about that too.

She let out a sigh and leaned against the concrete wall she was standing by. "I don't know what to do Care."

"Did you ask to switch rooms?"

"I did. But it was already too late for me to switch." That was a lie. Bonnie was fairly confident that she could have gotten a room switch easily the day she had found out about Katherine being her roommate. But Katherine had challenged her and Bonnie was never one to allow herself to look weak, especially not to her ex girlfriend. Asking for a room switch would have only shown Katherine that she still had an effect on her, and Bonnie hadn't wanted to give her that satisfaction. But...she also didn't want to admit out loud that it was her pride that had prevented her from getting out of this mess.

"Well...does it seem like she's still into you?" Caroline's tone implied that she already knew the answer. But honestly, Bonnie wasn't exactly sure how to respond. Katherine had always sort of been a bit of a mystery in more than one way. You could never be sure what her intentions were or what she was going to do. It was one of the things that had managed to both frustrate and excite Bonnie in the past.

"Maybe? I don't know. She told me that I was the reason she came here."

She heard Caroline's breath hitch. "And you don't know whether she's still into you? That's pretty much her way of outright admitting it Bonnie!"

"Well, you know what she's like! It could have meant a lot of different things," Bonnie defended.

"Really? Like what?"

"Maybe she's here to...I don't know, get some sort of revenge on me? For breaking up with her? I wouldn't put it past her." Logically, Bonnie knew she was being a little unfair. Katherine could hold grudges and be vengeful, but their relationship had reached a maturity level by the end of it that told Bonnie that she was unlikely to stoop low enough to partake in petty revenge over a breakup. It was just much easier to resist thinking about Katherine too much by concluding that it was revenge she was after, not reconciliation.

Caroline seemed to be considering what she said for a few moments. "Okay, maybe. But I personally wouldn't put that much effort in seeing my ex again, for whatever reason."

"You're not Katherine." Bonnie closed her eyes before continuing. "Just...remind me of all the reasons we broke up, would you? I need to have it completely ingrained into my mind if i'm going to survive the semester."

And that was all the invitation that Caroline needed to go into complete shut down Katherine mode. Instantly, Bonnie was pulled back into all of the memories that she was desperately clinging to. The memories of all of the fighting, the disagreements, and Katherine's complete lack of regard for all of Bonnie's friends (and anyone outside of herself and Bonnie, really).

It really had all been for the best.

By the time the conversation was over and she and Caroline and hung up with each other, Bonnie felt emotionally drained. And, unfortunately, no more confident about her ability to not give into Katherine than she had been before.

It was going to be a long semester.

After having managed to avoid the dorm room for most of the day, Bonnie finally had to surrender when the sun set and the library closed for the night. She tried to comfort herself with the possibility that Katherine wasn't even in the dorm yet and she could pretend to be asleep before the other woman arrived. It was a Friday night, so it was possible that she was out somewhere. Katherine had always loved parities and the area they were in offered a lot of them.

What she didn't expect to see was her ex girlfriend sitting at her desk, the lamp beside her on, and her face clearly glued to a textbook.

"Are you studying?" Bonnie couldn't help but ask, her surprise overclouding her desire to remain unnoticed.

At the sound of another voice in the room, Katherine jumped slightly and abruptly turned to face her. If this kind of thing had happened back when they were together, Bonnie would have teased her endlessly over it. But...things weren't like that anymore. Simple. A scowl crossed her face at the question. "No, i'm painting a fence."

Bonnie rolled her eyes at the clear sarcasm, walking further into the room to take a seat on her bed. "I'm just surprised. You never cared about studying back in high school. I used to have to force you."

She thought she saw Katherine wince a bit at the casual reminder of their past relationship, but the dim lighting made her unsure. "Well, things change."

What changed? Bonnie wanted to ask, but didn't, fairly positive that she would only get a snarky reply in return. What had made Katherine want to go to college....and actually put effort into it? It was such a stark difference of character from the Katherine she remembered dating.

To her surprise, it seemed that Katherine was in the mood to genuinely share. Katherine looked up from the textbook she had been hunched over and peered at Bonnie, clearing her throat before speaking. "I had a fight with my father over it before I left. I needed to go so I could get out of the house. And prove him wrong."

"Oh." Despite everything, Bonnie felt her chest swell with sympathy. Katherine's relationship with her father had always been a dysfunctional one. There had been many nights where Katherine had arrived at Bonnie's house late at night because of a fight that she had with her father. Afterwards, they would lay in Bonnie's bed, with Katherine's head on Bonnie's chest as they talked about what happened...

Bonnie's throat ran dry and she became desperate to change the subject. "Can I ask you something?"

Katherine narrowed her eyes in surprise. "Sure."

"What major are you planning on pursuing?" It had been her attempt at changing the subject to a lighter one that held less significant meaning, but Bonnie was genuinely curious too. She had never imagined that Katherine would ever willingly go to college, and now that she had been proven wrong on that front, she was interested in knowing what exactly Katherine had planned for the future.

At the question, Katherine stiffened slightly, as if caught off guard. She gritted her teeth in what looked like a frustrated manner, as if she didn't like the feeling of admitting her answer. "I don't know. Right now i'm only taking general ed classes."

It didn't really surprise Bonnie that Katherine wasn't sure about what path she was going to go down. She'd always had a habit of jumping into things immediately, and then questioning herself later. She wanted to take a moment to really try to ponder what career or degree she could see Katherine perusing when Katherine took the silence as an opportunity to keep speaking.

"What about you? Premed, i'm assuming?"

Bonnie smiled, a bit happy that Katherine had remembered. Going into the medical field and becoming a nurse or even a doctor had always been the ending she wanted to achieve for herself. She liked helping people, and it had always been something she believed she'd be good at. "Yep. But i'm taking a lot of general ed credits right now too. I probably won't be able to get too much into the medical stuff until next year."

Her smile seemed to have spur Katherine on, because Bonnie could see her suddenly sitting up straighter at the desk, her usual confidence oozing off of her. "I always knew you'd end up being a hero of some sort. It goes with your complex. But fortunately for me, I think you'd look sexy in a doctor's outfit."

And...there it was.

Bonnie felt herself flushing, hoping that it wouldn't be too obvious in the currently dim lighting of the room. She also tried to make sure her voice properly conveyed annoyance. "The uniform isn't exactly on top of my priorities list."

"I didn't say it was. Just that it probably would be on top of mine."

Bonnie couldn't help but laugh at that. "Well, that's just more evidence of our differences. And maybe part of the reason we didn't work out."

She'd meant the words as a lighthearted joke. And, honestly, it felt kind of nice to talk to Katherine like this, a bit like the way they used to be with each other. She was still firm on the stance that they couldn't ever go back to the relationship they had before but that didn't mean she didn't miss parts of it.

Katherine's smile immediately disappeared, replaced with an expression of slight alarm and maybe some...hurt? "Is that why you ended things between us? Because we were too different?"

This conversation was because teetering into an area that Bonnie wasn't ready to discuss. She let out a sigh. "No. You know why we broke up."

Katherine gritted her teeth in a frustrated fashion. "No actually, I don't. We were fine one day and then the next, you were breaking up with me."

"I told you the reasons why..."

"Yeah yeah. I didn't particularly care about every single person you cared about. I wasn't nice enough. But that was never an issue between us until that day. You always knew that I prioritized you. Loved you. Why was that suddenly not enough for you?"

To Bonnie's horror, she could feel a small amount of tears burning at the back of her eyes at Katherine's splurge of words. But she held them back. She would not cry in front of Katherine right now. She refused.

The truth was, there had been something she had really enjoyed about being in love with Katherine, and being loved by her in return. When Katherine loved someone, they became her entire world. Nothing else mattered to Katherine aside from herself and the person she loved. And well, Bonnie had always had a bad habit of giving a lot more in her relationships than she received. Katherine was the first and really, the only person she had ever dated that never made her feel that way...like she cared more than her significant other did. Katherine had dotted on her and put her above everything and everyone else and damn it, Bonnie wasn't going to deny the fact that all of that had felt nice.

But...that wasn't the type of person she could spend her life with. The person she spent her life with had to share at least some of the same morals and ideals as her. And they had to care about the other people she loved as well. Her and Katherine's relationship had, in a way, been a selfish and self-indulgent one on her part.

"Was it because of Caroline?"

Bonnie's head snapped back up to gaze at Katherine again at the sudden question. "What?"

Katherine's brown eyes turned steely. "Was Caroline the reason we broke up? Did she somehow convince you to do it? I know that she never liked me."

Bonnie wasn't sure how to answer that. In a way, it was partly true. The breakup had happened after she had voiced her concerns over the issues in her and Katherine's relationship. And while Caroline had certainly helped Bonnie come to the conclusion that their relationship needed to end, she had only helped speed up what was going to inevitably happen eventually anyway.

Katherine obviously took her hesitation as a way of saying yes. "I knew it. I thought you were beyond doing everything people tell you to do now, Bonnie. You need to stand up..."

"Screw you," Bonnie snapped. The topic of Bonnie needing to 'stand up for herself' had always been a sore one in their relationship. Katherine had never known the difference between that and simply not being selfish. The anger now coursing through her was relieving. Anger was a much easier emotion to deal with than what she was feeling a few seconds ago. "Caroline didn't make me do anything. I wanted to break up with you. For my own reasons."

"Really? Because it doesn't sound like it."

Bonnie shook her head. "I'm not having this conversation with you. We're done." Not bothering to undress, she threw herself into bed and buried her head into her pillow, ignoring Katherine's attempts at continuing the prodding.

But eventually, she stopped. And they spent the rest of the night in silence.

After that night, neither of them made any attempt to start up another conversation with each other. They went back to very rare, casual greetings and the occasional times they glanced at each other when they were both in the room. Bonnie could tell that Katherine was itching to attack her with questions again though. Meanwhile, Bonnie was doing everything she could to remind herself of why engaging with her again wouldn't be a good idea.

But she could feel herself steadily slipping. She needed a distraction of some sort.

It turns out, that distraction was quick to come in the form of Klaus Mikaelson.

On a Monday morning, when Bonnie was just getting ready to exit her English class, she was stopped by him.

"Bonnie Bennett?" She turned to face the person who addressed her, eventually taking in the sight of Klaus Mikaelson, standing firm and confident as he regarded her, a flirtatious smile on his face.

Bonnie had only seen Klaus a few times before, during the rare times she went to a party or get together held by Katherine's family. The Mikaelsons' were a fairly wealthy family, with their parents being big in the oil industry. And with Katherine's father being the mayor of Mystic Falls, the two families were pretty closely knit.

She also knew Klaus as the brother of Katherine's ex...the person she had been dating before she met Bonnie. Elijah Mikaelson.

She plastered on a friendly smile. "Hey. Do you need something?"

Klaus' smile never wavered. "I only wanted to ask for the pleasure of your company. It may seem sudden but, would you do me the honor of allowing me to take you to dinner tonight?"

Now that surprised Bonnie. She was used to being asked out, but not this suddenly. During the year she and Klaus had somewhat known each other, she was fairly sure that they had never spoken more than five words to each other. Up until now, she hadn't even noticed that they shared a class together.

As if reading her mind, Klaus continued. "I don't mean to offend. But...i've had my eye on you for quite a while now, but it never seemed the right time to do anything about it.

Bonnie briefly wondered if 'not the right time' meant that she had been with Katherine. Despite her not answering right away, Klaus didn't seem to be losing any of his confidence. "Your answer?"

Bonnie took a few moments to take him in again. Klaus was handsome and charming. He was a perfect way to distract her from her current roommate. But a part of her couldn't help but feel like this might be some sort of betrayal, agreeing to go on a date with the brother of Katherine's ex.

But then she remembered the fight she and Katherine had a few nights ago, and nothing but determination swept through her. She smiled again and nodded. "Yes, that would be nice. What time?"

Katherine was trying to build up the courage to confront Bonnie about the conversation they had started last week.

She really should have done it much sooner. Normally she would have done it sooner. But even to this day, there was still something about Bonnie Bennett that made her cautious and weak at the knees. And it was something that she could never shake off, no matter how hard she tried.

She figured that Bonnie would be back in the room by now. The other woman had been avoiding Katherine as much as possible lately, but she usually didn't stay away too long after the sun had set.

After pressing her key into the lock, Katherine pushed into the room, freezing at the sight before her.

Bonnie was standing on her side of the room in front of her mirror, looking into it as she carefully dusted her cheeks with blush. It was the first time in a while that Katherine had seen her really decked out in makeup like this since the breakup.

But she couldn't even fully enjoy it because all she could do was think about the possible reason Bonnie was putting on makeup....like she was getting ready to go on a date.

"What are you getting all gussied up for?" She asked, feigning casualty as she stepped into the room and sat down on her bed.

Bonnie didn't look away from the mirror as she answered. "I have a date tonight."

And there it was. The confirmation of what she had dreaded to be true the moment she saw Bonnie standing in front of the mirror. She knew that Bonnie wasn't stupid. She was obviously fully aware of how this was effecting her. But Katherine still tried to force her voice to remain flat.

"With who?"

Before Bonnie even had a chance to answer, there was a knock at the door. Bonnie finished up her makeup with a light smile before grabbing her purse and turning towards the door. "Right on time. Um, I guess i'll see you later tonight."

Katherine wordlessly watched as Bonnie swung open the door to greet her date, her chest clenching when she saw who it was.

Klaus fucking Mikaelson was standing outside the door, dressed nicely for the occasion and holding out a hand for Bonnie. "Ready to go love?"

She thought she saw Bonnie cringe slightly at the wording but it was probably only something someone who knew her really well would notice. She was still mostly all pleasant and polite smiles as she nodded, accepting Klaus's hand. "Yes. Let's go."

Without another glance Katherine's way, she followed the Mikaelson brother out of the room, shutting the door behind her and leaving Katherine alone with her thoughts.

Katherine felt like she was drowning.

It was the feeling of horror she felt when she realized that Bonnie was going on a date but now a million times worse now that she knew her date was Klaus Mikaelson. Images and memories were now flashing through her mind. The memories of the way Klaus had always looked at Bonnie during the few times he met with her face-to-face at one of her father's parties (it had honestly been the main reason Katherine eventually suggested they stop attending them, much to her father's displeasure). The memories of the words Klaus said to her, telling her she wasn't good enough for either his brother or Bonnie, and that he was planning on snatching her up as soon as their relationship eventually ended.

At the time, Katherine had managed to laugh it off, despite the fact that deep down, she couldn't help but agree with him. All of that had mostly been Elijah and her father's doing. The two of them had ingrained that feeling of inadequacy into her during the time she had dated the elder Mikaelson brother. (Although, she still felt like her father never forgave her for ending things with Elijah). Her relationship with Bonnie had managed to bring her back to her real self, the secure one that wasn't afraid of anything.

But now it felt like all of her nightmares were coming to life.

So...she had left. Fled the room and took her car to drive out to whatever place she could find that served alcohol. It was a Friday night and right now, she didn't want to have to think about anything.

She eventually settled on a small restaurant only a few blocks away from the college that had a bar at the back, throwing herself through the doors without even bothering to look at the name of the place.

"Give me a martini," she said to the bartender, a woman with slightly graying hair that looked to be in her late fifties.

It would be her first drink of many. She had the money and the time.

Bonnie was bored. That was the only word she could think of to accurately describe the night she was having.

Watching Katherine's reaction to her leaving with Klaus hadn't been nearly as satisfying as she had thought it would be. But that was partly because Bonnie hadn't been able to really bring herself to actually look at the other woman while she was leaving the room. To her annoyance, she still couldn't shake off the feeling that agreeing to go on a date with Klaus had been a betrayal of some kind.

It didn't help that Klaus was turning out to not be nearly as interesting as she always imagined he would be.

He had taken her out to a lavish restaurant, one that Bonnie could not afford on her own with her current budget as a college student. He was charming, Bonnie would give him that. But there was something so stiff and...unnatural about him, and she sensed this vibe from him that told her he believed himself to be doing her a favor by taking her out.

A distraction hadn't been worth this.

Hopefully managing to keep her relief towards the 'date' being over hidden, Bonnie smiled as Klaus escorted her towards her dorm, the two of them eventually pausing directly outside of the door.

"Thank you for a most pleasant evening," Klaus said, a seductive glint in his blue eyes as Bonnie leaned against the wall of the hallway, facing him.

"You too," she whispered, keeping her voice low in order to not wake anyone who might be sleeping. She sort of hoped that Katherine was in bed and out by now. "I had a good time."

The intensity of their closeness was beginning to grow a bit much but Bonnie didn't make any move to turn away from him. Klaus may not be as interesting as she had hoped but he was still good-looking. And well, she'd be lying if she wasn't a bit curious about what it might be like to kiss him, after seeing him from afar so much in the past. (And maybe it would help her forget about another pair of lips.)

So when Klaus began to lean down towards her, she leaned up in response, closing her eyes and....

"Back already?"

The familiar voice, slurred and probably at least a little dazed startled her enough to open her eyes and jump away from Klaus, the two of them turning to look in the direction that the voice had come from.

Katherine was standing a few feet away from them, her long brown hair messy, her eyes slightly dazed. It didn't take Bonnie long at all to come to the conclusion that she was drunk. Instantly, a feeling of alarm shot through her. "Have you been driving like that?!"

Before Katherine even had a chance to respond to the question, Klaus let out a short, but cruel sounding laugh. "Of course she was. The great Katherine Pierce was never one for self preservation. If she was, she would have never left my brother."

Bonnie froze. Katherine and Elijah's past relationship was never one that she liked to think about. He had been the person Katherine dated before she met Bonnie and Bonnie had always hated him. He'd had a condescending air about him and looked at Katherine like she was scum at the bottom of his shoe, despite the fact that she was his ex girlfriend. And the stories Katherine had told her about him, about how he made her feel like shit about herself on a daily basis didn't help matters. He was a pretentious asshole.

Katherine looked alarmed, as if she either hadn't expected Klaus to speak or forgot that he was there entirely. She scowled, which came out a bit disoriented due to her drunkenness and made her way towards the door, trying to shove past them. "I'm going to bed."

But Klaus didn't budge, and even went as far as to firmly stand in Katherine's way, refusing to let her pass. "You're an embarrassment to your father, you know. It wouldn't be a surprise if he ends up disinheriting you. Elijah was your one last chance of redemption and you foolishly threw it away."

"Klaus," Bonnie said, feeling her anger and an old and familiar feeling of protectiveness flaring up.

He paid no mind to her. "You were lucky to even catch the eye of a member of my family. But I suppose it was for the best. You would have dragged him down with you in the end."

And that's when Katherine seemed to crumble. Her attempts to get to the room became more desperate in a way that made Bonnie's heart crack into two. "Let me in."

Bonnie had enough. She turned towards Klaus, her posture sharp and a glare on her face. "I think it's time for you to leave."

Klaus' eyes widened. "But..."

"Leave now. Or i'll call someone over to make you."

That thankfully made Klaus take a few steps away from them, finally giving Katherine access to enter the dorm. She threw open the door and stumbled inside on obviously wobbly legs. Bonnie's eyes remained trained on her for a few seconds before her gaze went back to Klaus.

He still seemed hesitant to leave. "Shall I call you later?"

"I don't think so. In fact, I want you to stay away from me from now on. Away from both of us."

That was what finally did him in. The blonde man shot one glare in her direction before turning on his heel and walking down the hallway. Bonnie watched him form completely disappear before following Katherine into the dorm, shutting and locking the door behind her.

There was only one lamp on in the room, so while there was light, it was dim. All of the currents were closed and Bonnie assumed that meant Katherine had closed them before going out to...wherever she had gone. Had she gone out as soon as Bonnie had left the dorm with Klaus? She wasn't sure how that possibility made her feel completely, but there was a small twinge of guilt in her chest.

Katherine was lying on top of her bed, scarily silent for someone who was obviously drunk. Bonnie wished she could see her face but she was lying on her side, her backside turned towards her.

After a moment's hesitation, Bonnie spoke, somewhat hurriedly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought him here. But I didn't think he would even see you, let alone do any of...that."

She'd always known that Katherine and Klaus didn't like each other. Klaus had always blamed Katherine for the breakup between her and Elijah and held onto the stance that Katherine should have felt lucky to have been dating his brother. In all honestly, Bonnie now didn't know what she had been thinking, agreeing to go on that date. She had never really liked Klaus either. She'd just been so...desperate to give herself some sort of distraction from the conflicted thoughts and emotions she had been feeling over the last few days, ever since she had found Katherine coming out of their dorm room shower.

And now, this situation wasn't making that conflicted feeling any better.

Bonnie sat down on the edge of Katherine's bed when the other woman made no response, her hands itching to reach out to touch her. "Are you okay?"

"I used to believe that, you know," Katherine said, sitting up and turning to face Bonnie head on. Her voice was still slightly slurred, but not enough to make her words unclear. "Everything Klaus just said about me? I used to believe all of that."

Bonnie couldn't bring herself to focus on the 'used to' part right now. Without thinking, she placed a gentle hand on Katherine's arm, managing to mostly ignore the tingles that ran through her at the simple contact. "You shouldn't believe it, because it's not true. Elijah was the one who didn't deserve you. He was nothing but an entitled and belittling asshole, Katherine. And as for your father...well, if he see's you as a disappointment, then he doesn't know anything."

If Katherine was sober right now, she might have scoffed at Bonnie and told her that she should start following her own advice. She knew that her own self esteem didn't exactly have the best track record either.

But a drunk Katherine had always been surprisingly open about her emotions, and easily softened by comfort. And Bonnie found that she couldn't bring herself to move away when Katherine leaned into her, her head resting on her shoulder. "I know that now."

Before Bonnie even had a chance to say anything in response to that, Katherine continued. "It's because of you, you know. You were the one who made me believe that I could really...be something. The kind of person that my parents could be proud of."

That caught Bonnie off guard. "Katherine..."

"I never wanted to go to college," Katherine said, the weight of her head growing on Bonnie's shoulder as she slumped further over, "I just...didn't think it could ever be something I could do. But then you showed up and changed everything. Made me believe that I could."

Flashes of memories ran through Bonnie's mind then, of the many nights she had stayed up late into the night to help Katherine study for her exams, insisting that her girlfriend could get into college and flourish in it if she only applied herself. She had eventually managed to give Katherine a bit of a more positive outlook on school but as far as Bonnie knew, she had never managed to make Katherine change her stance on not going to college. Until now anyway.

"I...I told you that I came here because of you," Katherine said roughly when Bonnie didn't say anything because frankly, she was currently speechless. "And that was true....in more than one way. You made me believe I could do this...this college thing, Bonnie."

She still didn't know what to say. But if the increasing weight on her shoulder was anything to go by, it seemed like Katherine was falling asleep anyway. Gently, Bonnie moved away and helped Katherine lay back onto the bed, making sure her head was resting comfortably on the pillow and that a blanket was tucked around her. "Go to sleep. We'll talk more in the morning."

Katherine was lost to the world the moment her head was on the pillow, and it was only moments after that Bonnie heard her breathing level out a soft, sleeping beat.

Bonnie smiled softly at the sight for a few moments before retreating to her own bed, tucking herself in and closing her eyes, trying hard to not allow her thoughts to linger too strongly on what she had just been told.

She wouldn't be getting much sleep if she didn't.

The first thing Katherine felt when the sound of the bathroom sink woke her up was her pounding headache.

The second thing was the hazy memory of everything that had happened the night before.

Despite her wooziness, Katherine sat up straight in bed, moving as quickly as a bullet. Bonnie had gone on a date with Klaus Mikaelson of all people. Katherine had gone out to a random bar. And then she came back to the dorm, found the two of them already there, and then...

"Oh. Hey," Bonnie's voice suddenly said, and Katherine turned to see that the other woman was exiting the bathroom. Bonnie walked over to stand in front of her, biting her bottom lip lightly in a way that Katherine knew meant she was nervous. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I was brushing my teeth."

Katherine shrugged nonchalantly. "It was the sound of the sink. There's nothing you could have done about that." She paused, briefly considering the question she had in mind. Did she even want to know the answer?

In the end, her need to know outweighed the possible embarrassment she could possibly gain from hearing the answer. "Did you put me to bed last night?"

Bonnie seemed even more hesitant towards having this conversation as she was, and that made her feel a bit more confident. She glanced towards the floor, as if in thought, before returning her eyes to Katherine's. "Yeah, I did. Do you remember what happened? What you said?"

Katherine took a moment to think. Her memories were a bit hazy but....her eyes widened when it all suddenly started coming back to her. Finding Bonnie with Klaus after returning to the dorm. Klaus insulting her. Bonnie finding her lying on the bed. Her confession....

She was almost tempted to lie and say that she didn't remember anything. If the wooziness she currently felt was any indication, she had obviously drank enough last night and it would probably be a believable lie. But...she found that she didn't want to lie to Bonnie. She was one of the few people who Katherine never lied to and she wasn't about to start now. "I remember. And...it was true." Somewhat sheepishly, she moved one of her hands to move some of her hair out of the corner of her eye. "What's it to you?"

Bonnie sighed. "I just...didn't know that I had that much of an impact on you, Katherine."

Katherine ignored the emotions that spread through her chest, making sure her voice wouldn't be choked up when she replied. "Well, you learn something new every day. But we can pretend that I never said anything, if you'd like. That would suit me just fine."

There was a little bit of defensiveness on her part there. She'd never been too scared about showing her vulnerabilities to Bonnie in the past but that had been when Bonnie was her girlfriend, not her ex. This version of Bonnie was closed off from her in a way that the Bonnie from a few months ago never was. And if she was closed off, then Katherine would obviously prefer to be closed off in return.

"Actually, I don't want that." Bonnie bit her bottom lip nervously once more before she put on the brave face that Katherine had learned to adore during the course of their relationship. "I wanted to know if....if you'd like to try to be friends."

When Katherine's eyebrows rose questionably, Bonnie hurriedly continued. "We can still learn to get along. The fact that we're no longer dating doesn't have to effect that. And I could start helping you study again. I know that i'm good at keeping you focused."

If Katherine's heart wasn't currently racing, she might have made a not-so-innocent joke about that 'focused' comment. She narrowed her eyes, unsure of how to take this. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," Bonnie answered immediately. "You might not be my girlfriend anymore, but that doesn't meant that I no longer care about you. Just...drop the flirting, alright? And in exchange, I promise to help you pass every single exam that comes your way this year."

Katherine couldn't help but wonder if all if of this was in response to what she had said to Bonnie last night...well scratch that, she knew that this was in response to it. She couldn't figure out whether she was more annoyed at the possibility that Bonnie saw this offer as charity work of some sort or pleased that they were finally having a pleasant conversation again.

But in the end, she leaned more towards the latter. She would never really want to be just friends but she would take it. For now. Until Bonnie was ready to try again. She missed Bonnie. And not just for the physical intimacy. She missed their conversations. The way Bonnie would roll her eyes whenever Katherine said something smug. How easy it was for her to be riled up. She missed her laugh and her smile.

But most of all, she missed the version of Bonnie that was unguarded around her. And she wanted that back, even if it could only be in the friend way right now.

She had already made up her mind to accept the offer but she couldn't help letting some snark shine through. "You and me as friends? Nothing more? I'm not sure how well that will work."

Bonnie didn't take the bait. "We can try, if you're willing. I am."

Katherine knew that this was Bonnie's way of putting the ball in her court, so to speak. It made her very reminiscent of moments from the recent past. Bonnie had learned over the course of the time they've known each other that Katherine is much more willing to agree with things if the question or demand is somehow framed as a choice. She despised it when people gave her ultimatums.

Keeping her emotions reigned in, she nodded. "Sure. Why not?"

Hoping to have part 2 up soonish :)

#Bontherine #Batherine #Bonnie x Katherine #Bonnie Bennett #Katherine Pierce #My post #TVD #Mine

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