Authors Note: This is actually an old story of mine. It was the first story I ever posted on this site, but later took down. For those who are reading it for the first time, I hope you enjoy it. For those who might be reading it a second time, welcome back.

Hashashin was my second serious attempt at writing a Kim Possible story. I wrote it about three years ago. It's not my favorite story in the world for several reasons. But I know that a lot of people did like it back in the day. And in the end I'm here to entertain the readers, I'm here to give the people something they'll enjoy. And I realize that I've been neglecting my Kim/Ron fans in the past three stories I've published. Hopefully they'll like this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible.

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Ah so this was it. This is what it felt like.

Senior year.

After three long and arduous years, the day was finally here. They were seniors. It was exciting and depressing all at the same time. One on hand, three years of work had paid off. More than that considering all the school they had attended before high school. It was like an artist who was one stroke away from completing a brilliant painting, or a composer one note away from finishing a masterpiece of music. They were almost there; they could see the light at the end of the tunnel. High school was almost over!

On the other, they were but one year away from the real world. Most would go off to college to further their education, while others would go directly into the work force.

Ron Stoppable would most likely be in the latter.

He had done many great things in his life. He had saved or helped save the world on dozens of occasions. He had been a master chef, a multi millionaire, he had written the winning song on American Star Maker. It's a shame none of that counted now when it mattered the most. Here he was, only months from graduation, with not a whole lot to show for his years of toiling away at Middleton High School. But at least he had accomplished one thing worth while. And it was the most important thing of all.

Her.

Following the Bueno Nacho sitch on the night of junior year prom, he had finally told Kim his true feelings about her. Feelings that he had only discovered just a few days earlier, but ones he had possessed for such a long time in hindsight. They were now officially a couple. They had been so ever since that day. That was nearly three months ago. And they were still going strong to this day.

It didn't matter to him much that only a few hours earlier they had failed to capture Professor Dementor. It didn't matter that he had nearly been killed by the laser, with only his incredible running abilities to save him while Kim fought Dementor. Sure, it would have been nice to have captured him. But in the end it wasn't enough to bring Ron down from his high on life. Nothing seemed to be these days. He had found his bliss, his inner peace. He had found her.

And there they were now in the halls of the high school, ready to take on a whole new year, a whole new challenge. But at the same time, it was business as usual, so not the drama. Just another day of school for these teenagers. As if they hadn't faced worse and come out alive. But this knowledge was not enough to contain Ron's frenzy.

"Can you believe it Kim?" he asked excitedly as they strode down the hall. "We're seniors! You, me! Seniors! This is awesome. No, this is totally beyond awesome. Kim, what's a word better than awesome?"

Kim could only smile and shake her head lightly at her boyfriends' antics. "Um, magnificent?"

"No no no, we need something better than that."

"Impressive?" she asked.

"Ah no! That still doesn't capture the pure awesomeness of this moment Kim."

Rufus stuck his head out of Ron's pocket to agree with his owner.

Little did Ron know, Kim was far from being out of possible answers.

"Astonishing? Grandiose? Majestic?"

"Yes!" he shouted, scaring a nearby freshman. "This is totally majestic Kim. By the way, major props on the vocab. No wonder you got nothing but A's. Well except for-"

Kim stopped in her tracks and pointed a finger at him. "Ron, we do not talk about any home ec incidents, remember?"

"Oh right," he said, slapping his palm to his forehead. "Boyfriend rule #11. We do not talk about the flaws of our girlfriends, under penalty of being yelled at, and then suddenly being ignored, then being yelled at again, then ignored again, and so on. What kind of weird torture is that anyway?"

"The girl kind," she smiled.

"Well whatever kind it is, I don't like it," he pouted. "I still remember that one Saturday when I said that skirt we saw at the mall would look way too tight on you."

"Well what girl wouldn't think that you were calling her fat?"

Ron couldn't help but laugh a bit. "I don't know. The sane kind?"

Kim gave him a dark glare before turning her back on him. He had broken rule #3, insulting your girlfriend. Even if it was unintentional.

"What the?" he suddenly asked. "No Kim! I didn't mean it like that! I was just… and you were… oh come on this isn't fair! I'm sorry Kim I wasn't-"

He was silenced when there was a sudden blur of red hair, as Kim turned around quicker than anyone could have imagined, and planted a kiss on her totally freaked out boyfriends lips. It only lasted a few seconds however, as neither of them were willing to risk being punished for Mr. Barkin's 'no public affection' policy. As the pair broke their kiss, Ron was still dumbstruck, staring into the eyes of his amused girlfriend.

"Oh Ron," she giggled. "You are so easy."

"Aww Kim that isn't fair," he whined. "You can't just go around scaring me like that. How come there aren't any girlfriend rules that you need to follow?"

"Silly Ronnie, because I'm a girl," she answered playfully as she continued walking to their first class of the day.

It took a couple of seconds for him to follow her. "Yeah, well… I still think it's totally unfair," he mumbled to himself.

As Kim continued walking down the hall chatting with Ron, she received a stiff elbow to her side from one of the many bypassing students. Her attention on Ron was broken as she looked to see who had hit her, only to see her raven-haired friend Monique grinning right back at her.

"Hey guys. What's up with you two today?"

"Oh nothing, business as usual," Kim smiled back.

"So where are you two headed?"

"P.E," Kim and Ron answered simultaneously.

"Jinx! You owe me a soda!" Kim said suddenly in the direction of Ron.

"That's where I was headed too. Well before I spotted you and decided to knock around the great Kim Possible that is."

"Remind me to thank you for that later."

Then Monique raised an eyebrow. "And might I just add, wow, you two are totally in sync. Normally it takes couples a bit more than three months before they start saying the same things like that. It's going to be so cute when you start finishing each others sentences!"

"More like tweebish."

"Oh come on Kim, it won't be that bad!" Ron said reassuringly.

"To be like Jim and Tim?" she asked. "How could that be anything but bad?"

"You could do worse than being super-intelligent twins," Monique chimed in.

"She's right Kim," Ron added. "Despite the fact that they may be annoying at times, they do have plenty of good qualities."

Kim sighed in defeat. "Okay, so you two are right on this rare occasion. Now can we get going now? I don't want to be late for the first class of the year."

The trio began walking once more to the gym, all the while talking and laughing about any topic that came up. At that moment they seemed unstoppable. Senior year was going to be good.

XXXXXXXXXX

"…And this is why it is essential that you have three black ink pens with you at all times while attending my classes," Mr. Barkin finished explaining to the class.

Somehow, someway, it had happened again. They were stuck with Mr. Barkin teaching them again for another year. The regular teacher for their world geography course had decided to go visit the many places she had once taught about, and had quit only days before the first day of school. This left Middleton High short on faculty, with only one quick solution. Mr. Barkin was like a utility player in baseball; he could teach nearly every class, at any time during the year. No one knew quite how he was so capable of doing it, especially on short notice. But he was nothing short of an effective teacher, even if his method did involve scaring his students into doing their work.

This is what Kim and Ron were enduring during their last class together, trying not to be bored by the monotone droning of Barkin. Kim hid it very well, making eye contact with the man, and looking generally interested in what he had to say. No one would ever suspect that she was thinking about a new kung fu strategy based on a cuddle buddy named Gorilligator. In fact if she were asked a question about the lecture, she would probably even be able to put together a plausible answer. It was just part of being her.

Ron however, was a completely different story. His head was propped up against his hand, with his arm resting on his desk. His eyes were fluttering open and closed as he tried desperately to stay awake. His mouth hung open, with a bit of drool beginning to form by his lower lip. The only thing on his mind was how much time was left in the class. He couldn't bear listening to this boring speech any longer. Every thirty seconds or so he would gaze up at the wall mounted clock, hoping against hope that the bell would ring. But this was a horrible strategy, looking at the clock too often could make time seem to move even slower.

Barkin seemed to notice the situation Ron was in.

"Mr. Stoppable," he called out to Ron. "Would you care to repeat the five rules of locating mountain ranges on maps while attending this class?"

Ron found himself suddenly wide awake and totally oblivious to what was going on. He looked over to his right to Kim for help, but she only managed a shrug. It wasn't as if she could repeat what Mr. Barkin had said right now. Ron was on his own to answer the ex-military mans question.

"Uh… look for the pictures of mountains on the map five times?"

Barkin's face clenched as he bent the ruler he was holding in his hand, nearly snapping it in two. "Stoppable! Detention! Today!"

Ron could only sigh as he hung his head a bit lower than usual. "Yeah yeah. I know the room."

"As you should Stoppable. It amazes me that after all the time we have spent together, you still somehow manage to find ways to get detention from me."

"Hey, whoa!" Ron protested. "Most of those times are so not my fault. I know you're out to get me, and it's been that way since the funny look incident! You said it yourself when we got stuck together."

"That's TWO days of detention now Stoppable!" he yelled. "Would you care to make it three?"

"Is that a real question, or rhetorical one Mr. B?"

"THREE DAYS!"

"Aww man!"

At the moment Kim felt so sorry for Ron. It was true, Barkin had been out to get Ron most of their time in high school. And Ron was aware of this as well. In fact, he's the one who had come up with the theory. So he should know not to get on Barkin's bad side, even if what he says doesn't seem so bad. There was no telling how he would respond to some of the statements and questions Ron said. Today was just another example of this. In a way, much of the detention Ron got he brought upon himself.

And with that the bell rang, and they would be off to their final classes of the day. Ron had health class, while Kim had Shakespearean literature. It would be one of the few times during the day the two would be separated.

"See you after school," Kim said softly, as the two drifted apart from each other after a simple embrace that no one could get in trouble from.

"How about Bueno Nacho after my detention?"

"Absolutely. Meet me at my place okay?"

"Sounds good KP."

The two walked their separate ways, neither seemingly affected by the events that had taken place in the classroom. They had each other. A little bit of detention would not, could not, destroy the happiness they had by being a couple.

XXXXXXXXXX

The parking lot always looked the same. Though different colored cars were in different spaces from day to day, nothing ever seemed different about it. It was a shame that Kim didn't own one of them.

After school she began her normal trek home, only this time without Ron. What a shame it was that he had detention for the next three days. It would make the walks home boring. It wasn't as if they were very long walks, but without Ron they seemed that way. They had been walking to and from school together for years. This was different though. Just as the parking lot always seemed the same, this was just somehow different from all the other times. Then it hit her and it was so obvious. She wasn't walking home without her friend. She was walking home without her boyfriend.

She was however familiar with walking without him. A student like Ron had more than his fair share of "sick" days. Kim knew that the majority of those weren't actually true. Over the years Ron had become a master of convincing his parents he was sick… sick of school was more like it.

As she strode throughout the parking lot, she discovered a car that looked very familiar in the jumble of colors and styles. It was one she had seen many times before. It could only belong to one person.

Josh Mankey.

Upon seeing her, Josh waved his arm, gesturing her to come over. Kim was more than delighted to see her friend and ex-boyfriend. They had broken things off on good terms almost immediately after their first and only date. It was mutual; both just weren't convinced that things felt right concerning the relationship. And Kim couldn't be happier about it. If she were still with Josh then she never would have gotten together with Ron.

"What's up Kim?" Josh said as she reached his car.

"Nothing much, Josh. Just walking home, the usual stuff. So how have you been?"

Josh's face filled with pride. "Oh things are great for me. You know how I got in that art school at Upperton?" Kim nodded. "I just found out today that they're going to have one of my favorite artists working there as a special guest instructor. Can you believe it?"

"That's wonderful!" she smiled. "I always knew that things would work out well for you Josh. You have so much talent, and it's great to see that it won't be going to waste."

"Yeah, so I was thinking we should go out and celebrate! You know, like old times."

"Old times?" Kim asked. "What old times?"

"Remember the thing with the restaurant and the movie and the other movie and stuff?"

"You mean our date?"

"Yeah that's the word!" he exclaimed. "Like that date. It will be fun, just you and me."

Kim's smile turned to a frown. "Sorry Josh I would love to celebrate with you, just not like that. I'm going out with Ron now."

"Ron?" Josh asked, just a bit puzzled. "Ron… oh you mean that Ron Reager guy? Wow I never pictured you would go for a guy like him. Not exactly what I would call a catch, but then again what do I know."

"Oh, no I meant Ron Stoppable," she corrected him. "You know, my best friend since pre-k?"

It was Josh's turn to frown now. "Wait, you're actually going out with Stoppable? May I ask why?"

"What do you mean why? He's a great guy who cares about me and is always there when I need him. And I'm always there when he needs me. And while the latter may occur just a bit more, we're not keeping score."

"Still though Kim, don't you think you could do a little better than Stoppable? Say a guy like me?" Josh asked.

"We already tried that. If you'll remember, it didn't work out too well."

Josh was visibly frustrated. "Well yeah, if you take into account the fact that you were afraid of getting embarrassed and disappearing on me."

"And guess who it was that saved me?" Kim asked. "It was Ron."

"Still though Kim, look at the guy. He's a C student at best. He's not going to college, he's lazy, he talks to rodents… face it Kim, this guy's a loser."

"Do not call him a loser."

Josh put his hands in the air defensively. "Whoa Kim sorry. I'm just saying that there are better guys out there than him. Guys who will be able to provide for their families in the future, guys with talent and ambition. Guys like me."

Kim opened her mouth as to speak again, but was cut off by Josh.

"Look I don't need a decision now. But I'm going to come back in a couple days and see if you feel the same way. If you do I won't bother you and Stoppable anymore. But Kim, I think you should just give us another chance. Think about it, it makes sense."

With that Josh drove off, leaving Kim in stunned silence. She could hardly believe what had just happened. How dare he come back to her school out of the blue and ask her out. They hadn't spoken to each other from the past two or three months. And even once she did tell him that she was dating Ron, Josh went and insulted him like that. Looking around, Kim was relieved to see that she was alone. No one else had seen what had just occurred, meaning she wouldn't have to explain this ugly mess to anyone.

At least that's what a certain brunette wanted her to think.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bueno Nacho was supposed to be a safe haven. A place where Kim and Ron could go and be at peace with each other and the world. They had good food, and the most comfortable unpadded booths of any fast food place in Middleton. So why didn't it seem that way today? What was wrong? Of course she knew, she just didn't want to admit it.

"So anyway Kim," Ron continued. Seeing how I was the only kid who managed to get detention on the first day back, it was just me and Barkin. And he was not happy about it. The entire time he was sitting there looking all angry and stuff, like this is somehow my fault."

"Well Ron you have to admit, the first day of detention kind of was your fault," Kim countered.

"Explain with two facts to support your argument."

"Okay, weird. One, you weren't paying attention at all during class today."

"Can you blame me?" he asked. "That had to be one of the most boring classes in the history of classes."

"Either way Ron, you really need to not doze off like that, especially with Barkin. The other fact, you could have at least tried to answer his question. Not say 'look for mountains five times'."

"Kim Kim Kim… paying attention in school is so not what the Ron-man does. I mean this is senior year! This is the time to relax, to slack, to just not care!"

"And this would be different from your previous three years of high school how?" she smiled between bites of her salad.

"I'm just saying this is our last chance to just not do anything before we get out there into the real world. By the way, what's with the lack of nacos on your part?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just felt like I needed a change today."

Change…

"I don't know Kim, you shouldn't change when you know you have a sure thing. A thing like the naco. You can always rely on it to be both delicious and nutritious. Just look at all the stuff in there: beef, lettuce, tomatoes, onions…"

As Ron continued listing the ingredients of his creation, the word change stuck in her head. Her thoughts immediately turned to Josh and what he had said. Was he right about Ron? Just a few moments ago Ron had shown his attitude towards school and his future. Kim knew he was lazy, but she thought he would be okay. That's what teenagers are anyway, they're lazy. So was Ron right where he was supposed to be, or should Kim be more concerned?

And if Josh was right about that, was it possible he was right about other things as well? They hadn't really had a chance to connect thanks in part to Dr. Drakken and the fact that if she got too embarrassed she would disappear. Her whole night was ruined by that. She was more occupied with fighting evil than spending time with her date. What if Josh was not only good, but better than Ron? No. She would not even go there. How could anyone possibly be better than Ron?

"…And that is why you should always stand by your naco," Ron finished.

"Wow, that was just, wow," Kim stammered, not really knowing what to say. Partly because she didn't quite know how to respond to a speech about the excellence of nacos, and also due to the fact that she had her mind focused on other things.

"So anyway," Ron continued as he took another bite of his naco. "Enough about me. How were things without me after school. I hope the walk home wasn't too boring."

"Oh… no don't worry. Things were great. Everything's great. You're great." She said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. She didn't exactly like the idea of kissing chewed up naco.

"I'm great?" he said after swallowing. "It's been a while since anyone has told me that. What's the special occasion Kim?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted you to know it. You're great, and can do great things."

Ron looked confused. "Okay so when did this meal turn into a pep talk? I appreciate the encouragement and all, but where is all this coming from?"

"No where. I just thought you should know how much you mean to me."

Was she trying to convince him of that, or herself?

"Well thanks Kim. I think you're great too. But you don't need me to tell you that. I mean, you're the one winning medals and all for saving important people and stuff.

The rest of the meal went on as normal. Well, almost normal. There was a feeling that Kim could just not shake. Sometimes when Ron spoke it would be there annoying her. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kim had been a mess the past couple of days. She could trace it all back to one incident, one encounter. It was with her ex Josh. His words had gotten to her. Her mind was full of doubt. Was it doubt? Or was it fear. She didn't quite know how to distinguish the two.

Here were the facts.

She was going out with her best friend turned boyfriend. They had a wonderful time when they were together. He was a wonderful person, but a flawed person as well. What was he going to do with his life? He had never really put much thought into it. What if because of his laziness he got held back? How embarrassing would that be to have her boyfriend not graduate with her? And perhaps most importantly, what if something happened that ruined what they had; what they have had since they were little kids? Could she really do better?

Kim mused over these questions as she began walking home again. She knew that Josh would be here again as he said back on Monday. He was the boy who she had had a crush on for so long before Ron. What would she say to him? She didn't even know the answer to that question herself. She almost didn't want to talk to Josh today just so she could have more time to think over these questions some more. She silently cursed when she heard his voice.

"Kim!"

She looked up to see Josh waving at her, this time standing outside of his car. The thought came to her mind that she could always ignore him and walk away. She could just say she didn't notice him. That would work right? Nope, he knew she knew. There was only one thing left to do. Taking a deep breath, Kim began walking on a path toward him.

"Hey Kim, what's up?" he asked.

"Nothing much," she said, her eyes looking at her shoes. "Just you know, going home."

"That's cool. So have you given any thought to what we talked about the other day?"

"Oh that. A little," she lied. "Look Josh, you're really great and all but…"

Josh took the opportunity to gently lift her chin up so that he could look into her eyes.

"Kim, you know we would be great together. It's no secret that you liked me through most of high school. I really think we should give a relationship another chance. We're both older and more mature now. What do you say?"

"I don't know…"

Kim was cut off when Josh placed a gentle kiss on her lips. It didn't last very long, and left Kim with a look of doubt on her face. Doubt was soon replaced by desire as she returned the gesture. The second kiss lasted much longer and contained much more passion.

In that moment Kim knew what she wanted. Old emotions had been reawakened. She wanted Josh. It just felt so right to her. Right in a way that Ron never made her feel before.

XXXXXXXXXX

Wednesdays could be seen as one of the worst days of the week, after Monday that is. Two days removed from the weekend and two days away from the next, Wednesday just sits in the middle. At least that's how Ron Stoppable looked at it. It didn't help matters that today he had detention. It was his last day of it, maybe no one would notice if he skipped. It was a big school after all, who would notice if little old Ron was missing from the room after school? Of course not! This way he could surprise Kim and hang out with her even more.

As he strode through the halls he heard a familiar voice, one he didn't particularly enjoy hearing.

"Hey loser!"

Ron turned around to see the mocking form of Bonnie Rockwaller.

"Wow, I can't believe that actually worked! You're like trained to respond to that name or something."

"Does this conversation have a point Bonnie?" he asked.

Bonnie scoffed. "Um, hello? Everything I do has a point Stoppable. In fact I don't even know why I'm bothering to do you this favor."

"Favor?" he asked as he leaned against the lockers ready to hear the latest of Bonnie's rambling. "Why would you possibly want to do me a favor?"

A sinister smile formed on her face. "Well let's just say it will be mutually beneficial. Do you know where Kim was on Monday?"

"Yeah. With me. Like I said, does this have a point?"

"Before that loser. She was outside flirting with Josh Mankey." Now she decided it was time to lie a bit. "You know she's been doing this for weeks now, right?"

"Yeah. Right Bonnie. Like I'm supposed to believe you."

"In fact Stoppable, she's out there with him again right now. It wouldn't surprise me if they started making out right here by the school. We all know that you could never replace a guy like Josh."

"Sorry Bon Bon," he smiled. "Not falling for it."

"Hey believe me if you want. I just think it would be best for you to go defend your woman, even if you totally don't deserve her."

Ron's tone turned to one close to anger. "Don't talk about Kim like she's property. And besides, you of all people should know that we're going out. Mankey is out of the picture."

"Whatever," she huffed. "Anyway I have better things to do than stand here and talk to someone like you."

Ron could only look on as Bonnie walked past him to wherever her destination was. But it didn't matter to Ron much. He was on his way out and would hopefully catch up with Kim before she got home. As he pushed the doors open to the student parking lot, what he saw, and heard, shocked him.