Author's note: Ok, so, this is the last chapter! Thanks to all reviewers, love you all! I'm probably gonna leave this divergence after this and go back to my other series, but i hope you liked this one! And on another note, if you want to read about Kim's worst conversation ever, check out my fick Worst Conversation Ever. But now, one with the show!
Dearest Ronald, as it is plain for everyone, including our dear friends and family to see, you and I should consider, to engage in a courtship, of course in a proper and responsible way.
No, too Jane Austen. The word 'dowry' might come up.
Hey Ron, I think we should go out some time. And not as friends but as partners in crime.
No, absolutely no rhyming. Plus, Ron gets scared around iambic pentameter.
Yo, Rondo! Why don't I just sit down in your lap, and we'll talk about the first thing that pops up?
No, NO!
Kim sighed as she was making her way to Ron's house. Ever since she had left her home, her mind had been racing, trying to find... some way of telling Ron how she felt. She hadn't gotten very far.
Should have stayed at home, she thought. Should have talked to mom and Monique some more. Should have gotten some advice on how to… how to do stuff like this. She stopped. How the hell did they even let her go on her way? They knew she was rubbish at this! Well, at least her mom knew, Monique hadn't seen how bad Kim had gotten when her crush on Josh Mankey was in full, embarrassing effect.
She began to walk again. She couldn't go back now. If she did, they'd just be angry and call her a coward or something. And she would be. As Kim reached Ron's house, she still didn't have a game plan. She stood outside the house, not yet ringing the bell. Come on, Possible, something! Anything!
Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when the door opened.
"Kim? Are you alright, hon?" Mrs. Stoppable stood in the door, looking at Kim with a confused look. She had noticed Kim standing on the steps, but since she hadn't rung the bell, she'd gotten up and opened it herself, curious.
"Ehh, well… Mrs. Stoppable, I was… I was just… Is Ron awake? I mean, he seemed pretty tired earlier, and I was just… You know, if he needs to sleep, I could… come back… later." Yeah, that's keeping cool. Good going, Kim. Mrs. Stoppable smiled.
"Well, he's asleep right now, but come in. He said he was just going to take a nap, we didn't expect you back so soon." Kim hesitated. She could leave and come back later. Surely everyone would understand? Coward.
"Ehh, ok, I'll just… go up and wake him", she said, and stepped in. Her heart beat as she walked up the stairs to Ron's room. She took a deep breath before she entered. As she stepped in, she saw Ron, sleeping on his bed. She smiled. No one could look this much at peace when sleeping. She leaned down and brushed away Ron's hair from his face.
Could he really be having feelings for me? Her mom and Monique had told her that he had. It felt… great to hear it, but Kim started to feel unsure. Could she really have missed that? Sure, she'd been a bit preoccupied the last few days, and Ron had acted a bit weird, but… She sighed. She wished she'd stayed and asked more about it. Because… while she wanted him to know… if he didn't have those feelings, and was just... jealing or scared of how her and Eric would affect her and Ron…
Do I have to tell him now, she thought. Is that really… I mean… We just had the fight yesterday, and he's got his injuries… Can't I wait? Just until tomorrow?
The voice that had called her a coward was silent. She took it as a good sign. She continued to look at Ron's sleeping form.
Ok, so… maybe not today. Tomorrow. Today homework, tomorrow kissy face. Hopefully. She walked over to Ron's desk and began to unload the books and papers they would need. She was done with most of it; she just had some of the history thing to do, and a couple of math problems. As she looked at Ron's homework, she noticed that, as expected, he hadn't started any of it yet. She frowned.
Just like Ron, she thought. Procrastinating 'til the last minute, if he could just once do things in good time, and he'd be… Ok, no knocking procrastination, Possible. Procrastination's our friend right now.
As she set things up on the desk, Rufus ran up.
"Hey, Rufus! You feeling ok?" Rufus nodded and smiled happily. "You had any nice cheese to eat?" Rufus licked his mouth at the mere mention of his favorite food.
"Uh-huh! Cheddar! And 'Zola!" Kim smiled. It took a special mind to give a nickname to gorgonzola, and Rufus had just the mind for it.
"Urrgh. Not 'Zola, please." Kim turned around, and saw Ron, as his eyes flickered open.
"Good morning sleepyhead! You ok? Ready for some homework?" her tone was a bit more chipper than she had hoped for.
"Ehh… Let me just wake up, and I'm all set", he said, as he sat up, slowly. Man, she was a sight for sore eyes, he thought. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do about his feelings, just that he hadn't yet decided what to do. Seemed like a good place to start.
Kim finished her remaining homework quickly, and sat down on Ron's bed. He still had a bit to go, but she was there if he needed her help, which he infrequently did.
She observed him, sitting in contemplation. Without even noticing, she took in how good he actually looked. Not as good as, say, Josh Mankey, but… somehow… he looked better than he had yesterday. Even with the injuries.
Her mom had been right. She had completely missed certain things about Ron. If only she could have seen some of them before Eric came along.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Ron's question pulled her out of her silent observation.
"Uhh… Nothing special. Keep working, you!"
"Naw, I think I need a break. These math problems are making my head spin. Well, it could be the pain killers, but I hope it's the math. Come on, now. What's on your mind?" Kim sighed. She really didn't want to talk about this right now. Well, she did, but… Gah!
"Oh, you know… How lousy I am with boys." Well, it was one way of putting the sitch in other words.
"Come on, KP, we talked about this. Drakken did everything he could to play you, you couldn't help it."
"I know, it's just… If I had been better with boys in general, maybe I could have… dated someone else", and by that I mean you, "instead of Eric."
"Ok, sure. Better how?" Kim frowned. She would have had to been better with Ron, not boys in general.
"I don't know… Maybe less of the kung fu hero image? That seems to scare them away." It was true; she had had this conversation with Monique earlier. Ron frowned, though. He knew that really wasn't it.
"I don't know, KP. I think it's something else." That caught Kim's attention.
"What do you mean?"
"Just…" He sighed. "Any guy who looks at you… If he has half a brain, he knows he's not gonna cut it. So he doesn't even try." Kim looked perplex as Ron continued. "That just leaves the guys who don't have half a brain. And those are the guys you don't fall for." Kim was unsure. Could this be why boys didn't ask her out? Really?
"Think about it, Kim. Who were the last two guys to make any kind of attempt before Eric showed up?"
"Well… I guess… Ben Whatley said something two weeks ago… But guys like him are the reason bathroom stall walls and magic markers were invented. So not gonna happen… The other one…" She had to think about that one. "Ron Reiger, I think." Ron's good eye widened. Reiger? Kim noticed his confusion. "At least, I think so… he said something… Can't remember what, but I think he was coming on to me." Ron smirked.
"See? Two guys without half a brain between them. One too used to thinking every girl will say yes, the other too used to girls saying no, but doesn't give a damn." He lost his smirk. He was getting a bit too close to the truth with this conversation. He thought about what Kim had said about her scaring guys off.
"Did you really think that you were scaring guys off with the kung fu thing?" Kim nodded. He sighed. "Kim… don't think that there's anything wrong with you just because guys won't ask you out. You're smart, caring, pretty…" He began to blush a bit while saying the last. Damnit, to close again. "It's us guys who's got the problem, not you." Alright, enough. Math as you've never mathed before, so you can get out of this.
Kim contemplated his words. It… it made some sense. But was it really better that guys weren't asking her out because they put her on some pedestal than her scaring them off? If this was why Ron was afraid to say something, which it had to be…. It wasn't better at all.
"Ron..." She said, softly. Ron looked up from his homework again. "Is… What you said just know… About me being smart and… pretty?" Now she blushed, thinking of how great it felt that Ron thought of her as pretty. "You think I'm all that?"
In his mind, voices were shouting at him. On the table, out of Kim's view, he saw Rufus gesturing at him to say something. He shrugged, but didn't speak.
"But I'm not! I'm… I'm not some… mythical… heroine! Sure, I save the world, and I've got smarts, but… I'm your basic average girl otherwise!" Ron raised his uninjured eyebrow, in lieu of talking. Kim continued when she saw him doubting her. "I mean… I'm not perfect! I've got issues!"
"Well, your good sides tend to block the bad ones out", Ron said. Ron looked back at his math. Don't get into this. When he looked down, he saw Rufus standing there holding up a post-it, with the words 'KIZ HUR!" scribbled on it. He grabbed the note, crumpled it up and threw it away. Rufus looked unhappy at his actions. Or rather, inaction.
Kim sighed, and lay down on Ron's bed. So… Guys don't wanna go out with me because they think I'm perfect? God, if I had known…
"I hate Bonnie", she suddenly said, after a couple of minutes. Ron looked back at her.
"Well… ok… Are you just random now? Can I be too?" He smiled as Kim nodded. "I hate meat cakes!" He yelled, causing Kim to laugh. They laughed together for a moment before Kim spoke again.
"It's just… One of her 'cheerleader rules'. You know, like 'cheerleaders don't get detention?" Ron nodded, remembering the flak Kim had gotten for getting stuck there that time. "Well,", Kim continued, "another rule was 'cheerleaders don't ask boys out. Boys ask cheerleaders out'." She sighed.
"If I'd known guys thought about me like that… I would've asked them out instead of waiting for them to ask me out. But then Bonnie and her stupid rules would have held me back, just the same." Ron smiled.
"Well, now you know better. And besides, it's like you said. You're lousy with boys, KP. Another thing to overcome."
"Sure, but… all those years… thinking something was wrong with me…" Ron looked sad as he heard her. Don't start talking about all the guys you could have dated, please. I don't think I can take that.
"All those years of listening to the girls talking about their dates… I could've had that if I'd just… opened my eyes and dared to ask."
"Hey, hey, KP, it's ok… It'll get better… you'll find the one." Or maybe, you've already have, he thought.
Or maybe I already have, she thought as she smiled. "The ONE? Really, Ron… If you heard those girls… I wouldn't have kept up with just one the one. I think Emma's up to twenty ones in three years." She chuckled.
"Really strange how they all find… I don't know how many guys they think they can have a future with and I've just found one-" Oh… Oh god. Did... Did I really say that? I did! Oh my… Calm down, Kim, you can get out of this.
Ron, on his end, sat frozen… There… there was someone? Someone besides Eric? Who was she talking about? Of course. He turned away.
"Uhh… really, Kim? I… I didn't know you… thought about Josh that way…" His speech petered out.
Kim sat up. What? Josh? "No, not Josh", she heard herself say. "You." Oh god. She… She was supposed to wait!
Ron sat frozen. What… What had she just said? What was she saying? As he tried to talk, Rufus ran back up on the table, holding the restored note. This time, he had underlined the message thrice.
"You… You mean that time you were moodulated, right?"
Kim was trying to get a hold of herself. With Ron's question she had a chance to back down. But… it was too late for that, wasn't it? She felt… relieved somehow.
"No." Ron's head slowly turned toward her. He met her gaze, and for a minute they could only stare at each other. Suddenly, Kim stood up, walked over to the desk and leaned down until there were only inches of air between their faces.
"I mean now, Ron", she said softly. She gently placed her hands on both sides of his face, making especially sure she wasn't to rough on his injured side. With that, she closed the gap between them, uniting herself with Ron in an absolutely fantastic kiss. It sent shivers down their spines, made their hairs stand on end and their toes curl.
Neither of them could later say how long the kiss lasted, only that it seemed to last… not long enough.
Ron tried to speak, but he couldn't get the words out. He simply breathed as he watched her blush. She knew he was in too big of a shock to speak, so she decided to speak instead.
"Ron… I know I've been acting strange around you today. I didn't even realize it myself until two hours ago that it was because I…. Because I'm feeling something totally new. And I… I hope that you do too." Ron's head was swimming in confusion, but somehow, he managed to nod.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Was it because of the pedestal thing?" Ron struggled to regain his ability to speak. His eyes darted to the table, where he saw Rufus holding up a new post it. TELLL HUR! Rufus' smile was as big as if he was in cheese heaven.
"I… Yes. And because… Because I was afraid that… that it'd damage our friendship if I said anything." Kim's eyes were watering as he spoke.
"Yeah, because we've failed so miserably at holding that together the last 12 years." She smiled as she felt the tears escaping her eyes down her cheeks. Ron's good eye was tearing up as well. He chuckled.
"Yeah, but, I mean… I'd rather have you as a friend than risk everything on a long shot. Sorry. And… I noticed that you were acting... weird, but I thought that it was because you were feeling guilty about yesterday." Kim bit her lip.
"Yeah, I thought so too. Briefly. And maybe I played the video game because of that. But Ron? This is not because I'm feeling guilty." She leaned in again, and the kissed once more.
After a good fifteen minutes, Ron leaned out of their 15th, 26th or 31st kiss, depending on how you counted.
"As much as I want to continue this… I'm feeling a bit light-headed. Well, more so." Kim smiled.
"You wanna go to bed", she asked, and, realizing what she had said, began to blush. "I… I mean sleep, do you want to sleep?" Ron chuckled.
"Yeah, I think… I probably should. I don't want to, but…"
"Ok. You just lie down." She got up from her chair, and led Ron to his bed. They lay down next to each other, as they'd done at the hospital.
"You just get some rest. I'll be here when you wake up", she said and kissed him gently on his cheek. They lay in silence for a few moments.
"Ron?" Ron turned his head towards her. "I… I don't wanna scare you or anything… But… But I think… I think I might… possibly… love you." Ron smiled.
"I think I might possibly love you too, Kim." She kissed him again, and leaned her head against his shoulder. As she felt him fall asleep. She smiled giddily, wondering what they would do when he woke up.
And on the table, unseen, Rufus finished writing his last post-it. He fished out the kimmunicator from Kim's backpack, muted the volume and turned it on. Wade was confused at first, but eventually got the message. Rufus clicked off the kimmunicator; while Wade began calling everyone he could think of who'd want to know.
And on the table lay a message Kim and Ron would later see and laugh at, and would eventually place in an album with other memorabilia from their lives and missions.
'KIM LUVS RON. RON LUVS KIM. I WON POOL. U OWES MI STILTON.'