friends till the very end

Sweater Weather

Chapter 7 - Sweater Weather

"What did you get?" A thirteen year old Bonnie asked eagerly. She and Stefan were meeting up at a picnic bench behind the middle school to discuss halloween candy.

Stefan sighed seriously as he sat down across from her. "I don't know if there's much I can do for you, Bons."

"Come on, Stefan, there has to be something!" She exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table.

He sighed again and took out a brown paper bag from his backpack. He dumped the contents out. "This is all I got. And I want to keep most of it."

"Stefan, that's not fair! You promised." Bonnie whined.

"I'm sorry, Bonnie. But I didn't get that much this year because Damon took me trick or treating and he had to get back early so he could go to some party." Stefan said, remembering how angry he was with his brother for cutting his halloween short. He wanted to yell at Damon but he knew from experience that his voice would crack and he wasn't up for that. Puberty sucked.

"Stef, if you're going to get a Kit Kat, I need a Reese's in return. That's just the way law works."

Stefan furrowed his brows in confusion. "Reese's? I thought you would want my Laffy Taffy." He remarked.

"I can't." She said somberly, "Braces."

He frowned when he saw her sad face. He didn't like it when Bonnie was sad.

He sighed. "You can have my Reese's. I don't need a Kit Kat in return." He said with a melancholic smile.

She sniffed. "Really?"

"Yeah. Anything to turn that frown upside down." He shrugged.

"Stefan, you're the best!" She jumped up and attacked him with a big hug.

Any sadness he felt about losing his candy evaporated when they embraced. He was the luckiest guy in the seventh grade.

•••

Bonnie smiled as she walked towards the Grill. It was fall. Her favorite season. The crisp October air made her cheeks feel all prickly.

She was on her way to have lunch with Katherine at the Grill. It was nice to have a break, she had been working at her Grams' shop all day. Stefan dropped by and Grams accepted his help, strangely. Bonnie didn't know why but it was great to have help around.

Her cheeks became even pricklier, but not because of the cold weather. This time, it was from thinking about Stefan.

Stefan, her boyfriend .

Woop woop!

Around a week had passed since that very eventful Founder's party. After Stefan and Bonnie shared a kiss, she walked inside her house feeling like she was floating on clouds. Around ten minutes afterwards, she heard a knock on the door and opened it to find a nervous looking Stefan. He asked her to be his girlfriend and the rest is history.

That moment replayed in her mind on loop.

She and Stefan were happier than ever, but she noticed that when Elena found out, she stopped her efforts to try to refriend Bonnie. They hadn't spoken or even made eye contact since the founder's event.

Bonnie didn't like to dwell on that fact, it made her feel sick. The thought of losing Elena, her best friend of fifteen years over a boy was nauseating. But she wasn't going to make the first move. She wasn't in the wrong.