I.

"AAACCCHO!" Ronald sneezed quite violently.

"Bless you."

"Thanks." The kowtow young man responded with a weak smile as he fiddled with the lock to his apartment.

The dim light cast by the overhead light of the apartment complex made Ronald's skin look quite pale and unhealthy in Bonnie's opinion.

"Are you feeling ok? You don't look so good, and that's the third time you've sneezed like that since we got in your car back at the diner."

"I'm just tired and hunger. Like you are, I bet." Ronald responded.

"Yeah, but at least I'm not soaked like you are, and you are looking rather pale."

"It was probably just because of the poor lighting here." Ronald said as he smiled towards Bonnie, "Thanks for worrying about me like you are. It's not something I would have ever expected from the "old" Bonnie. But I like this newer, friendlier Bonnie a lot more."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, but don't go reminding me about the 'old Bonnie' too much, or I might revert to form." Bonnie teased as she returned the smile even though she remained unconvinced by Ronald's attempt to reassure her about his health. Once they got inside the apartment, Bonnie was able to take a better look at her friend in the light, and she did not like what she saw. The dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced than before, and his face looked even paler than it had seemed earlier. But there was something else that was bothering her too, Ronald's speech. Since their reunion earlier that evening, Bonnie had noticed that Ronald seemed a bit slow on the uptake. He took a bit longer than normal to respond, and sometimes it sounded as though he was either mumbling or slurring his speech. At first, she thought that maybe Ronald had been drinking, but she didn't smell any alcohol on his breath. However, after seeing the bags under his eyes and his pale skin, Bonnie concluded that he was simply exhausted and needed a bit of food and sleep to make him right.

"Ronald, go grab a shower to warm up." Bonnie instructed Ronald as he began to make his way towards the small kitchen, a bit of her old bossiness coming out. In the past Bonnie's bossiness had served former cheerleader well in getting her what ever it was she wanted, but now she was more than willing to use it to help someone else, something she would have considered an unthinkable concept just a few short years ago.

Stopping in his tracks, Ronald stood there for a few seconds before turning to face Bonnie, "Yeah, that does sound like a good idea." Ronald finally responded, further reinforcing Bonnie's earlier observations.

"Of course it is, I thought of it after all." Bonnie teased, "By the time you're done, I'll have some dinner warmed up for us to eat."

"Thanks, Bonnie." Ronald smiled toward the brunette before disappearing into the bathroom.

Once Ronald was gone, Bonnie let out a sigh that nonverbally expressed her concern about Ronald. He looked not only quite tired and ran down but even a bit pale and unhealthy, and she was sure the time he spent in the cold rain looking for her had not helped any. Hopefully, a hot meal and a good night's sleep would be all the help he would need, but right now, she needed something to help her head ache. Popping a couple of aspirin, Bonnie began to dig around the small kitchette, looking for something to make for dinner.

Fifteen minutes later, Bonnie placed two plates of hot food on the table along with a small glass of brandy for each of them when she heard the sound of Ronald walking through the bedroom door wearing a bathrobe

"Hope you feel better because dinner is ready, and I'm not going to heat it up for you again if it gets cold, Hef." Bonnie announced.

"Geez, you're all heart." Ronald complained while completely missing Bonnie's joke as he plopped down into one of the chairs at the table, "But it does smell good, though."

"Thanks. Um Ronald, are you ok? You don't look so good."

Hearing no reply, Bonnie became even more concerned as Ronald wasn't the type to just ignore another person.

"Ronald?" Bonnie repeated.

"Sorry," Ronald said around a mouthful of food, "I'm just really tired, is all."

"Well, next time, swallow your food before answering. There is a lady here after all, and after dinner, why don't you go and lie down and I'll take care of the dishes."

"No, you made dinner, I'll clean up." Ronald countered.

"Ronald, I said I would clean up, and I will. I don't need you to help me with everything, I can take care of myself." Bonnie said a bit more forcibly than she had intended. Taking a deep breath, she was about to apologize when Ronald preempted her.

"They why were you living on the streets?"

Bonnie couldn't help but to feel hurt by the retort and a bit of anger that Ronald had stooped so low. But a part of her had to admit that it was sort of true. Swallowing both her pride and the apology that was on her tongue, Bonnie decided it might be better if the two of them finished their dinner in silence. After the type of day she had just had to be in a warm safe place to sleep with a full belly and a saved friendship, the former cheerleader felt as though she had won the lottery, and she wasn't about to risk messing that up.

Washing down the last of her meal with a sip of Brandy, Bonnie wiped her mouth and stood up from her chair. She quickly grabbed both her dinner plate and Ronald's and took them to the kitchen sink to wash them. "See, that wasn't so bad letting me clean up now, was it?"

However, the sound of silence greeted her.

"Ronald?" Bonnie asked in concern. Seeing that his head was slumped down, she rushed to his side, "Ronald, what's wrong? Speak to me."

"Don't feel good. Want to lie down." Ronald mumbled seemingly half asleep.

"Here, let's get you to the bed then." Bonnie suggested as she helped him to stand up and walked the seeming sleep walking man to his bed. Gently laying him down, Bonnie placed a couple of pillows under his head and lifted his feet up, and gently tucked him in to keep warm. Glad to see that he was at least getting some sleep Bonnie sat down at the edge of the bed and watched over her friend for several minutes, much like she had done for a drunk and passed out Molly on a few occasions. Convinced that Ronald was now sound asleep, Bonnie returned to the kitchen to finish cleaning up from dinner.

II.

The next morning, Bonnie pulled herself off of the couch she had slept on and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Glancing at the clock on the wall Bonnie saw it was already eight in the morning, far later than she normally slept in, but after last night Bonnie decided that some extra sleep was something both she and Roland could use. She had stayed awake until almost midnight, periodically checking in on Ronald. Whenever you had a friend passed out cold, there was little you could do except to be there for them in case something went wrong. Sadly, Molly had to teach this truth of life lesson to Bonnie. Taking a moment to straighten up the couch that had been alternately serving as a bed for the apartment's two occupants for the past several days, Bonnie made her way towards Ronald's bedroom to check on him.

"Ronald, are you awake?" She asked after softly knocking on the door.

A mumbled reply and the sound of movement in the bed were all the responses she got.

"Come on, Ronald, it's well into the morning and time to get up." Bonnie pestered as she entered the room and turned on the light.

"Ugh, do I have to? I don't want to go to school today, mom." Ronald complained as he quite sluggishly and reluctantly sat up in bed.

"I'm not your mother, and yes, if you want to get paid for work."

"Yeah, pay is good." Ronald muttered as he pushed himself off of the bed and began to stagger towards the bathroom. However, Ronald never made it that far as he was soon slumped against the wall of the bedroom.

"Ronald, are you ok?" Bonnie asked worriedly as she rushed to his side.

"I don't feel so good." Ronald replied as he slowly slid to a sitting position on the floor.

Kneeling down next to Ronald, Bonnie began to examine her friend. His skin looked quite pale, and his eyes didn't seem to be able to focus entirely. But it was when Bonnie placed the back of her hand against his forehead that she became worried.

"Ronald, you're burning up. We need to get you back in bed so you can rest."

"Can't rest, got to go to the diner. Got to work."

"No." Bonnie said firmly, "You are not going to the diner. You're sick, and you need to get some rest." With out waiting for a further word of argument Bonnie placed one of Ronald's arms over her shoulders and helped, well Bonnie really did most of the work, him to stand up and guided him towards the bed. Helping her sick friend back into bed, Bonnie made sure that Ronald was tucked in nice and warmly.

"Now stay here, and I'll get you some juice to drink." The brunette ordered.

"I have to go to the diner." Ronald protested as she began to remove the sheets.

"Ronald, stay in bed and rest." Bonnie ordered again, "If I have to, I will sit on you."

"Bonnie, I have to get up." Ronald complained as he began to lift himself to a sitting position.

"I warned you." Bonnie said as she pushed Ronald back down, covered him with the bed sheets, and then proceeded to sit on his chest.

"Bonnie," Ronald said weakly, "I need to get up, I have to go to the bathroom."

III.

After helping Ronald to the bathroom so he could take care of his business, Bonnie sat down with the blond man and convinced him to let her borrow his car so she could take care of some business her self. Locating the keys to Ronald's car had been the easy part. Driving it in the rain had turned out to be a bit trickier. Not only had it been a few years since Bonnie had driven a car, but Ronald's car seemed to have picked up some of it's owner's personality and had several quirks of its own she had to learn and overcome. Fortunately, she had licked most of them by the time she arrived at her first stop for the day, the diner. Unlocking the front door and flicking on a switch, Bonnie made her way to the cash register and proceeded to pull out all of the money from it. As the brunette got ready to close the cash drawer, she hesitated for a moment as she looked at the money in her hand. Ninety dollars was more than she needed, but she had taken it anyway. But I was going to use that money to buy some food and medicine for Ronald, she told herself.

Was that before or after you pocketed the extra? Another part of her said.

Bonnie had to admit that she was lying to herself. Pocketing the difference is something she would have done to survive when she was on her own, but now she wasn't on her own.

Putting back half of the money, Bonnie closed the cash drawer and locked the register. Turning to leave, Bonnie stopped for a moment before heading to the back of the diner to find some card board. With Marker in hand, Bonnie wrote a quick message and placed the sign in the front window so people walking by could read it.

Hopping back into Ronald's car, Bonnie headed to, and she shuddered at the thought of it, Smartymart, for her second stop of the day.

IV.

Walking out of the store and towards Ronald's car, Bonnie was happy with how far she had managed to stretch the forty dollars she had borrowed from the diner. Opening the trunk of the car to put the shopping bag full of medicine and food for Ronald, Bonnie stopped for a second as she fished out the pack of cigarettes she had just purchased. As she tapped the pack in preparation to open it she felt as if someone had walked up behind her, turning around Bonnie saw that not only had someone walked up behind her but that she knew who that person was.

"Pay back's a bitch ain't it?" Tommy said as he slammed his fist in to Bonnie's stomach as hard as he could.

Feeling the air rush out of her lungs Bonnie fell to the ground, unable to either voice a protest or defend herself.

"Think about that next time you little whore." Tommy said as he picked up the pack of cigarettes that Bonnie had dropped and walked off.

After what seemed like a long minute Bonnie was finally able catch her breath to stand again. Weakly making her way to the driver's seat of the car the former cheerleader sat there for a moment as she collected her self. After several moments of reflecting on the events from the past few days, Bonnie decided that, although unplanned for, there was one more stop that she needed to make today. A stop she had been needing to make for a while but always found an excuse to put off.

V.

Bonnie's mind began to wonder as she drove down the streets of Lowerton. It wasn't that she was lost but rather that she was looking for a specific house, a house that had sat on the edge between Lowerton and Middleton. It was a place that she had not been to in over a year, but that she used to think of as home. Bonnie had never intended to stay more than a night or two there but some how that had turned in to two nights, then a week, then several months. As she continued to drive through the various subdivisions, many of which looked as though they had seen better days, Bonnie's mind began to wonder back to her stay at her friend Molly's place.

"What did you mean this was your way of getting revenge?" Bonnie asked Molly as the two women walked out of Sal's office.

"Like I said, he probably offered to buy you dinner to help celebrate his signing you as his client."

Bonnie nodded her head.

"Same old line every time. He used that one on me when I was in your shoes once." Molly paused before continuing. "And it worked too." She sighed.

"So you got dinner out of it. It couldn't be that bad could it."

"The meal no, nor the drinks for that matter. But the roofie he slipped in was."

"Roofie? As in the date rape drug?"

"Yeah, he raped me."
Bonnie didn't know which disturbed her more, that she nearly agreed to have dinner with someone who drugs women to rape them, or Molly's nonchalant attitude about her own rape.

"Come on Molly wake it. It's not my fault you stayed up late drinking last night." Bonnie complained.

"Don't want to go, to hung over."

"Again not my fault." Bonnie retorted.

"Then you go to work. It's not like I need to after my photo shot yesterday."

"And what happens when that money runs out?"

"Go away Bonnie, your not my mother."

"Lucky for me, who would want a drunk for a daughter."

"Hmmph, and if I had ungrateful hypocritical bitch like you as a mother I wouldn't have minded when she threw me out."

Bonnie was wet and she was pissed. Molly had bailed on her again and now she had to spend some of her hard earned money on a taxi to take her home after her shift at the club she worked at. As it was three in the morning the number of taxis in this part of town were pretty scarce, so she had to wait for one, again. Bonnie sighed in frustration at it all as she lit up a cigarette, but longed for the relaxation of a joint. Usually it wasn't too bad when ever she and Molly worked the same shift at the club, at least they could split the cab fair for their ride home.

Bonnie had always hated strip clubs as she considered them to be degrading to women, and yet here she was working at on. It had been the easiest and fastest way for her to get a decent paying job, decent, but not good. Some how Sal, the sleazy manager that Bonnie had walked away from, had managed to get revenge on both Molly and Bonnie by getting them black listed from most of the decent modeling agencies. This didn't bother Molly as much as it bothered Bonnie. Molly had been doing adult photo shots for years now and wasn't overly hurt by her need to work at a strip club, although the crowd she was now hanging out with was having a bad influence on the girl. But for Bonnie, with most of the reputable photo agencies considering her persona non grata, that left her either working with the more unsavory ones or doing the more unsavory adult photo shots.

Even though she had to work at a strip club Bonnie Rockwaller, former cheerleader and top of the food chain, was not about to lower her self down to being a stripper. Instead she found herself working as a waitress in the club. At first the club owner didn't want to hire Bonnie since she refused to be a dancer, but Bonnie's argument that she would work for half of what he paid the other girls finally won him over.

Parking across the street from Molly's house, Bonnie wondered just how to go about this little reunion. Their last argument had ended both their living arrangement and their friendship. Everyday that went by that she was unable to apologize to Molly tore a little more at Bonnie's heart. However, as Bonnie began to cross the street she noticed a sign in the front yard of the house. Walking closer Bonnie saw it was a for sale sign with the word foreclosure written across it in big letters. Before she could fully digest this fact the door of the house opened and out walked a young but professionally dressed woman.

"Hello. We're holding an open house if you would like to take a look around."

"The home isn't for sell by the owner?" Bonnie asked?

"No it's a bank repo. Apparently the owner stopped paying their mortgage several months back and the bank has been unable to get in contact with her." The real estate agent informed, "But don't worry about the place being trashed, even though it's a foreclosure the house is in good shape, especially for this neighborhood."

"Does any body know what happened to the owner or her stuff?" Bonnie asked.

"No, but from what I saw of the previous owner's belongings she must not have had very good hygiene or personal standards. They found lots of empty liquor containers and drugs when they cleaned this place out, infact they had to take all of the furniture to the dump it was so dirty. But like I said it's been cleaned up really nicely and is looking for a new owner who actually cares about the place."

"The old owner used to care too." Bonnie mumbled.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you. If you like we can go inside and I can show the place.

"I said thank you but I'm not interested in looking at the place." With out a further word Bonnie pivoted and quickly made her way to Ronald's car. Away from one thing that represented her past, and towards something that represented her future.

VI.

Josh looked at the bag of food in the passenger seat of his car and hoped that it would suffice. His instructions had been simple enough, his wife wanted him to pick up something tasty for dinner. When ever that was her wish Josh would do one of two things, take her to a nice restaurant in Upperton, or get something for them from Ronald's diner. Unfortunately the diner was closed today and it was too late to get in to a nicer restaurant, so he had to improvise about dinner. He hoped that he had improvised enough.

"Hi honey I'm home." Josh announced as he walked through the door of the Mackey's apartment.

"Hi babe." Josh's wife called back, "Is that Bueno Nacho I smell?"

"Umm, yeah."

"Josh, I told you I wanted something tasty." She said sternly as she crossed her arms.

"I know dear, but it wasn't my fault, the diner was closed." Josh protested. He knew how his wife could be a stubborn at times and hoped that she would listen to reason. "There was this sign on the door saying the diner was closed due to illness."

"Closed due to illness? Ronald must really be sick if he closed the diner for the day."

"That's why I couldn't get you something tasty."

"You still could have done better than Bueno Nacho." Mrs. Mackey said as she walked in to the kitchen. "But if Ronald really is so sick that he had to close down the diner then he must not be feeling well at all. I doubt anyone else has been by to even bother checking up on him."

"So what do you intend to do then?"

"After dinner I'll make a nice large bowl of chicken and mushroom soup and take it over for him. I'm sure he would appreciate the company."

VII.

Bonnie sat on the couch in the living room of Ronald's apartment watching TV. After completing all of her errands for the day she had finally been able to keep Ronald awake long enough for him to eat some soup and to take some medicine. Even after sleeping most of the day Ronald appeared better, but still a bit groggy, which suited Bonnie just fine since he wasn't able to notice that Bonnie moved in such a way as to protect her abdomen which was still a bit sore from her encounter with Tommy earlier in the day. The sound of someone knocking on the door caused her to jump slightly as a visitor was the last thing she was expecting for the night.

At first she considered just ignoring in the person in hopes that they would go away. But a second round of knocking, followed by a familiar voice asking if Ronald was there, drew Bonnie out of her seat and towards the door.

"Ronald open up it's me…" The person on the outside of the door was saying.

Bonnie opened the door and was surprised at who she saw standing there, "Tara?!"