Kim and Ron continue their lives after finally getting together at the junior prom, they have to face the trouble that lies on the road they have ahead of them. This story has been on my mind for some time, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did (and do) writing.
Disclaimer: Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.
Special thanks to Kwebs for beta reading.
The road ahead
Chapter 1: Not the end
I know we've been friends forever…
Kim and Ron slowly danced as the music played; the Diablo sitch forgotten, Eric a long gone memory, Bonnie's snide remarks not even registered. The world consisted of only them, dancing, looking into each other's eyes, kissing…
"Alright, that's enough," Mr. Barkin's voice burst the bubble surrounding the teens, "You saved the world, but let's not push it, shall we?"
Kim and Ron looked up and noticed the music had stopped and most of the other students had left; they hadn't even noticed.
For a moment Kim was sure she saw a hint of a smile on the large vice principal's face, but Mr. Barkin quickly recomposed himself and looked sternly at them.
"Prom's over, and unless you're part of the cleanup crew, you better head home before your parents start worrying."
"Actually, I am…" Kim started, but Barkin interrupted her, "Cleanup doesn't start until 7:30 AM sharp. And you're excused," he added in a softer voice, "The two of you did more than your fair share this evening… get some rest and heal up."
"Was Mr. Barkin being… kind?" Ron wondered out loud as he and Kim walked out of the gym building, still holding hands.
"Yeah, weird huh?" Kim smiled as she grabbed Ron's other hand as well, "So… wanna head home?"
"Yeah, I think so…" Ron fidgeted, a bit uncomfortable, "I'm not so good with this, I don't really have much experience having… well, a girlfriend… can you help me here a bit?"
"Sure," Kim chuckled, "first, my boyfriend brings me home," she made sure to put emphasis on 'boyfriend' while she smiled warmly at Ron, "And then I call Monique and tell her everything… but I think she went home with Brick, so I'll probably call you and tell you everything," she added grinning.
"Phew, at least something stays the same," despite Ron's attempt of humor Kim noticed the painful twitch when she mentioned calling him.
Kim's eyes grew wide "Oh gosh! Every time I called you after one of my dates must have been…"
Ron put his finger on Kim's lips, "It's okay, we were just friends then. I didn't feel for you that way back then… at least, I didn't recognise those feelings… So, your home it is?"
"Yeah," Kim gladly accepted the change of subject, "You think you scooter is up for one more ride?"
The teens looked at the poor vehicle; it had given everything during the chase and even more during the ride to the Bueno Nacho headquarters. Kim thought it was a miracle the thing was still holding together.
"One more ride should be possible," Ron hesitantly said as he started the vehicle, it gave a few coughs but then started faithfully.
After a short ride, the teens arrived at Kim's home. Clearly her parents had been doing some cleaning up; most of the debris on the driveway was moved to the sides and the holes in the roof were covered with plastic sheets.
"It will be some time before this is all fixed," Kim said; not only her home, but a lot of the neighbourhood had sustained quite some damage from the Diablo attack. In fact, the whole world had suffered badly, even though the attack had been brief.
"Yeah," Ron nodded, "I'm just glad it's over now."
"Kimmie, Ronald," Kim's parents, after hearing the distinguishable sound of Ron's scooter, stepped outside, "How did the prom go? Did you get back in time? How did your classmates react?"
"One question at the time," Kim laughed, "Yes, we did get to the prom in time, and we had a great time," she grabbed Ron's hand, "And I think everybody approved."
"Minus one Bonnie, that is," Ron grinned goofily.
Kim frowned, "Well, Bonnie had it coming; it was her manipulation that almost made me lose you… I…" she interrupted herself with a wide yawn, "But I'm pretty tired right now, can we continue in the morning?"
"Sure honey," Mrs. Dr. Possible said, "You see Ron off and then get some rest, we'll head off to bed as well." She walked back into the house, dragging her husband with her.
Ron watched them leave, "I gather your dad still has some protectiveness issues?"
"That's what he's a dad for," Kim smiled, then she tenderly kissed Ron, "I'll see you tomorrow… boyfriend."
"Yeah…" Ron smiled dreamily and almost drove into the bushes as he left.
Kim woke up the next day to beams of sunlight shining in her face and groggily tried to turn over and get some more sleep.
"Oww," she groaned as her body protested; the mission soreness had finally kicked in, during Ron's late night call she had felt relatively fine. Of course, she'd also been half asleep then.
"Sleep in it is," Kim said to herself as she sank back into her cushion, but she had barely closed her eyes when a gentle knock on the door caught her attention.
"Who is it?"
"It's me," Kim's mother said through the door, "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Kim struggled to get up but gave up as her back muscles screamed in protest; courtesy of Shego's plasma bolts slamming her to the ground.
"How do you feel," Mrs. Dr. Possible asked as she came in carrying a tray with sandwiches and a glass of orange juice, "I thought you might be hungry, so brought in some breakfast."
"I'll give it an eight on the mission soreness scale," Kim said, "What time is it?"
"Almost eleven," her mother told, "you were out like a light when I checked up on you around nine."
"Thanks," Kim smiled as she worked herself in a sitting position and grabbed a sandwich and began eating; only now she noticed she was really hungry, not surprising considering she hadn't had anything to eat since before Eric had picked her up, not counting the few snacks she had at the prom.
Her mother sat down on the end of the bed, "So… you and Ron?"
"Yes mom," Kim rolled her eyes but smiled genuinely, "Your hopes came through, we're together."
"Well… I wouldn't say I didn't have any hopes…"
"But you had," Kim finished, grinning.
"I had," Anne Possible admitted with a wide smile, "I'm so happy for the two of you."
"So am I," Kim smiled, "but it will be weird though… don't you think? We've been best friends for so long, will hanging around now be dating? All the rules change…"
Mrs. Dr. Possible rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you will figure it out, is Ron coming over today?"
"Yeah, I think so," Kim said, "I'll call him, but first I need a hot bath."
"You'll have to use the downstairs bathroom," her mother told, "the plumbing for the upstairs bathroom is broken and we had to close it off."
"I have to use the Tweebs' bathroom?" Kim groaned, "That's just unfair."
Ron woke up feeling a lot better than Kim had; sure he too had some bruises, especially his throat hurt where Shego had cloth-hanged him, but for the rest he felt fine.
Looking at himself in the mirror after washing his face Ron smiled at his image, "Dating KP, who'd have thought?"
Suddenly, his doubtful and slightly paranoid nature popped up again, "Oh man, I'm dating Kim, how can I ever live up to her standards, how will we deal at school… and on missions… I should call her… no, bad idea, she may be sleeping…"
Ron started pacing around while he tried to pull his clothes on, rudely waking Rufus who had been sleeping in the pile of clothes.
"Hey," Rufus chattered angrily and started looking for a new sleeping spot.
Ron hadn't noticed his pet's inconvenience, "Maybe I should come over to her house… yeah, that's a good idea… should I bring something? Maybe flowers? What flowers? Does KP even like flowers? GHAAAH, why is this so hard?"
Rufus popped his head out from under the blankets where he had found a new shelter; his human was making too much noise for him too sleep. And over such a trivial thing, those two belonged together; they were mates as far as the molerat considered.
The naked molerat sighed and jumped off the bed, why did humans make it so hard on themselves? Rufus even had to push them together yesterday, but clearly that wasn't enough yet.
After climbing up Ron's clothes, Rufus grabbed some of his human's hair and pulled hard, gaining Ron's attention.
"OW! Rufus!"
"Hush…" Rufus pulled Ron's mouth closed and held the boy's lips together, "Relax."
Ron stopped pacing around and looked at his buddy questioningly.
Glad his human had finally calmed down, Rufus jumped on the nightstand and pointed at the phone, "Call, come over, be normal."
"Are you sure?" Ron asked, Rufus nodded and pointed at the phone again.
Kim had just finished the bath and was drying off when the phone rang.
"It's Ron," Tim, who had picked up the phone, told, "Want me to tell him to call back later? Or should I tell him to come over?"
"I'll get it," Kim quickly donned at bathrobe and ran downstairs to grab the phone from her brother, "Hey Ron… sure, come on over… yeah, in like, thirty minutes… sure we can, just nothing strenuous… okay, see you."
Kim hung up the phone, then stopped for a moment, "See you? That was lame." But there was nothing she could do about it now, so she rushed back upstairs to put some nice clothes on to make sure Ron would know what their newfound relation meant to her.
Tim watched confused as his big sister ran up the stairs; this wasn't like her at all. Not to mention Ron barely ever called to come over, he just showed up at the door.
"What's going on?" Jim, Tim's twin brother, asked.
"I dunno," Tim shrugged, if it wasn't something they could use to tweak Kim it wasn't really interesting. And if it were interesting, they would probably find out soon anyway.
"See you?" Ron looked crestfallen at the phone in his hand, "What does that mean? Have I said something wrong? Did I call to soon?"
Rufus popped his head up from Ron's blankets; his human's self-doubt, especially his loud self-doubt was giving the naked molerat a headache. Rufus was still quite sleep-deprived since yesterday and frankly he didn't need this kind of whining over such small matters. True, Ron had his fears and pet peeves and Rufus usually didn't have much trouble with them, but one would think that after being together for so long Ron could have a little more faith in his relation with Kim, at least that was Rufus' opinion.
Growling, the molerat dug deeper into the pile of blankets. Moments later he heard Ron leave the room and walk downstairs, Rufus sighed happily; finally some rest.
The walk to the Possible residence seemed extraordinary long to Ron, and it didn't help solve his doubts at all.
When he finally arrived he found Mr. Dr. Possible talking to some contractors outside, "Kimmie's in her room, she'll be out in a minute."
Ron already heard noise coming from the stairs, indication someone was running down. A few seconds later Kim arrived at the hole in the wall – there was no way to call it a front door anymore – and gave Ron a quick kiss on the cheek, "Hey Ron, all ready for a walk?"
Ron blinked; Kim looked really good, brand-new capris and matching blouse, new shoes, all Club Banana. Kim must have been on a shopping spree with Monique.
"S-sure, let's go," Ron said, still recovering from his shock but with the pleasant feeling of his doubts falling away from him.
Kim hooked her arm through Ron's and together they walked off, heading to the park.
Jim and Tim had seen the whole thing from the kitchen, "Did she just…"
"Were they…?"
"This is going to be so good."
"Hoocha." They high-fived.
The twins had not seen their father standing by the garage, if they had seen his –if a little reluctant – approving smile, they would have changed their plans drastically.
"Hmmm," Kim smiled, "it's nice outside."
"Yeah," Ron agreed hastily, "it sure is a beautiful day, no clouds, nice weather."
Kim stopped and looked at Ron, "You are acting weird."
"What do you mean?" Ron squeaked nervously, "I'm not acting weird, it is nice outside, you said it yourself."
"I know you more than long enough to know something is bothering you," Kim said, "Does it have to do with us being together?"
"NO! Yes… maybe…" Ron looked down, "It's just very confusing, and-and I'm scared I will screw up and it will all go down in flames."
"Ron," Kim pulled Ron's face up and looked him in the eye, "Why would such a thing happen? We've known each other since pre-K."
"I know, and when I screw up, we might lose that as well."
"Ron stop," Kim firmly said, "stop claiming that you would screw up; I'm the one with the track record of dates gone wrong and shallowness, you're the one who was always there for me. Besides, I wasn't planning on letting this go down, were you?"
"No, I…" Anything else Ron wanted to say was silenced by Kim's lips pressing against his.
"Aww, that's so cute," Kim and Ron broke off their kiss and turned to see Tara and Josh looking at them, both were carrying a small amount of cleaning utensils.
"I told you we'd find them in the park," Tara said to Josh, "we've taken a little detour from getting more cleaning stuff for clearing out the gym."
"The supply closet was wrecked last night by a Diablo toy someone had left there," Josh explained after Kim and Ron's curious looks, "So we needed to get new supplies."
"How is the cleaning going," Kim asked, "Do you need more help?"
"Most of it has already been cleared this morning," Tara said, "All that's left to do now is cleaning and scrubbing the floors."
"We'll come with you anyway," Kim offered, feeling a little guilty for sleeping in while she was on the cleaning committee, even though Mr. Barkin had cleared her from duty, "Right Ron?"
"Sure," Ron smiled; if Kim was happy to help out cleaning, he was happy to help Kim.
When the four arrived at the gym building, there was indeed not much left to do; only the floor needed to be cleaned and the garbage bags had to be taken to the road where a dump truck would pick them up later.
As Kim went to help out with cleaning the floor, Ron and Josh picked up a couple of bags from the pile and brought them to the collection spot at the road. Tara walked around the building to help picking up the garbage lying on the ground all around the gym.
"I'll take the last bags here," Josh said after a couple of walks to and from the collection spot, "Will you check if there is something to collect on the other side?"
"Sure," Ron walked around the corner to the other side of the gym building.
"Isn't it cute that they are finally together?" Ron stopped as he heard Tara's voice from around the corner.
"Tssj," he heard Bonnie's voice, "Kim just got desperate and took the last resort."
Ron winced; Bonnie could even hurt him when she didn't directly intend to.
"But last night let out that you had been expecting it," Tara said questioningly, "In a very rude way by the way."
"Kim doesn't know what she wants," Bonnie told, "she's been dating all over the food chain, no wonder she gets a bottom feeder eventually."
"Why are you so harsh on Ron?" Tara asked, "He's a nice guy."
"Nice doesn't cut it," Bonnie said, "but believe me, Kim will come to her senses; this is just a summer fling."
The voices of the two cheerleaders faded out as they walked away, discussing the how's and what's of summer flings.
Ron stood frozen on the other side of the corner, "Bonnie is wrong, KP would never do this to me… what if this is a summer fling…"
His thoughts were interrupted by Josh tapping on his shoulder, "Ron? Were there any bags left here?"
"Huh?" Quickly Ron put up his fake goofy grin, "Bags… yeah, just checking… I'll bring them to the spot."
"Okay…" Josh walked off, a little confused.
"Josh! Wait," Josh turned around and looked questioningly at Ron, "This may sound a bit silly, but… when you and KP were dating…"
"Don't worry," Josh grinned, "I don't have any lingering feelings for her, and neither she for me… I guess what we had was just a fling."
As Josh walked away, he did not see Ron's shocked expression.
"What am I to do?" Ron wondered out loud as he placed the last garbage bags on top of the pile, "What if this turns out to be a summer fling? Can we get back to what we had? Will it be too awkweird?"
Suddenly two arms wrapped around him and soft, tender lips kissed him just below his ear.
"Finished up on the cleaning, want to continue strolling in the park?" Kim smiled as she turned Ron around, "What were you mumbling about?"
Upon seeing his girlfriend's lovely face, Ron's fears of a summer fling disappeared in the distance, "Nothing, why don't we go and get something to eat?"
"Sure," Kim shrugged, "I could eat something, food court?"
"Yeah," Ron would have preferred Bueno Nacho, but restoring the fast food chain to what it was before Drakken got hold of it would take some time, and Ron really didn't like the setting it had now.
"Kim!" Monique shouted enthusiastically when Kim and Ron walked into the mall, "Congrads with the BF."
"Hey Monique," Kim smiled, "thanks, joining us for a snack?"
"Okay, my shift doesn't start for another hours, so I got plenty of time," Monique looked Kim up and down, "So you kept the clothes?"
"Yeah…" Kim looked down guiltily.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked confused.
"He doesn't now yet?" Monique asked as she took a step back. "Well I'm not telling him,
"What is it?" this time there was more concern in Ron's voice.
"Okay, but promise me you won't freak out," Kim refused to look Ron in the eye, "I kinda bought these clothes two days ago…"
"Yeah… I noticed they were new," Ron frowned, "but what's the problem with you buying… new… clothes…" finally the meaning hit him, "You bought them for Eric…"
"I'm so sorry, I bought them to impress Eric… and then this morning I wanted to impress you, and I totally forgot, it just hit me when we were cleaning, but then I couldn't change, and…" Kim babbled frantically when she caught herself and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, it was stupid of me, I'll return them, or give them away if you want. Forgive?"
"Of course," Ron said as he tried to make sense of the rush of words, "But don't throw these clothes away… I kinda like them, they look good on you."
"Told you so," Monique smirked, but then caught herself, "Didn't mean it that way, don't mind me."
"We won't," Kim smiled, "thanks Ron, for being okay with this."
Deciding to drop the subject, the teens headed towards the food court.
"So, did you and Brick hook up last night?" Kim asked Monique.
"No," the dark haired girl shrugged, "We hung out for a while, danced a bit, and then he went outside with most of the other jocks and I haven't seen him since, I'm pretty sure some of them brought beer or liquor."
"So, he's a no-go?" Kim smirked.
"Yeah," Monique grinned, "now I've got to start hunting al over again."
After lunch Monique went to Club Banana to start her shift and Kim and Ron left the mall and started walking home.
They had just left the mall when Ron noticed Kim was walking a little slower than usual, "Something wrong with your leg KP?"
"Just a bit sore," Kim rubbed her leg, "I think it went a bit more stiff after sitting down during lunch."
"Are you sure it's okay?" Ron urged, knowing Kim's habit of taking her injuries too lightly.
"Yes, I'm fine Ron," Kim told, and to prove it she increased her walking speed enough so that now Ron was the one who had to catch up.
That action actually told Ron enough; Kim was hurt, but not enough to be worried about, and she didn't want her mother to exam her. So Ron went along and pretended he believed her. He would, however, keep an eye out for any worsening.
When the two arrived back at the Possible residence, Jim and Tim were waiting for them; standing in the doorway, smirking.
Kim frowned, "What do you tweebs want?"
"We know," was all Tim said.
"Know what?" Kim asked.
"About the two of you kissing," Jim smirked.
"I wonder what dad would say if he finds out," Tim added.
"Actu…" Ron started, but Kim interrupted him.
"You wouldn't!"
"Of course we would…"
"…You know we would."
"Fine," Kim sighed in defeat, "What do you want?"
"Television privileges…"
"…Rides to JP Barrymoore…"
"…And the last entry in your diary…"
"…We want to know what you wrote about your new boyfriend."
"Hey! I'm standing right here," Ron complained, "did you...?"
"No comment," Kim muttered, "TV and rides is fine, you won't get my diary."
Jim and Tim though for a moment, "Deal."
As the twins walked back into the house, Ron looked questioningly at Kim, "What was that about?"
Kim grinned deviously as she pulled the Kimmunicator out of her pocket, "Jim and Tim will learn not to mess with me, tonight it's payback time."
"Ouch," Ron shuddered and made a mental note to never ever try to blackmail or double-cross his girlfriend.
Jim and Tim were watching TV when Mr. Dr. Possible came home from work; the twins shot a quick smirk at Kim before they continued watching TV.
"Daddy?" Kim asked in her most innocent, sweet voice; one that immediately made Jim and Tim look up in worry, "What's your policy on blackmail?"
Jim and Tim were now really worrying, what was their sister up to?
"I'm strictly against it," Mr. Dr. Possible said, "in my house it ranks double to lying, in grounding time that is, why do you ask?"
"Just curious," Kim smiled, then she walked over to Ron, "I see you tomorrow sweetie," and she kissed her boyfriend full on his mouth.
Ron didn't know whether he was more likely to run out through the door or melt in a puddle on the spot, and after the kiss he was only able to mumble incoherently; a huge goofy smile on his lips.
Mr. Dr. Possible noisily cleared his throat, "Must you do that in the living room?"
"Sorry dad," Kim said, but her grin spoke otherwise, "I'll let Ron out."
Jim and Tim knew their game was bust, and they sorely had to cut their losses, "Kim, we totally forgot it was our turn to set the table…"
"…Shall we clean up afterwards to make it up?"
Kim smirked, "It's a start."
Their father watched confused, "What is going on here?"
"I don't know," Kim shrugged, "maybe the tweebs are turning out good at last."
"Remind me to never cross you," Ron said as he was about to leave, "You're scary when you're vengeful."
"Grow up with the tweebs and you learn," Kim smirked, "besides, they'll figure their way out in a matter of days."
"So… see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Kim kissed Ron again, this time a lot gentler.
Just before dinner, Jim and Tim walked up to Kim, "You tricked us."
"Yes, so?" Kim smirked, "You wanted to blackmail me, and I've got it all recorded." To emphasize her point Kim held out the Kimmunicator.
"We can tell dad that you're trying to blackmail us," Jim tried.
"I'm the one with evidence," Kim grinned.
"Fine, what do you want?"
"Giving up that easy?" Kim immediately knew she would have to be on guard for tricks, "Alright, I want first rights to the bathroom in the morning until mine is fixed. And you can forget free rides to J.P. Barrymoore."
"That's all?" Tim asked suspiciously.
"That's all," Kim promised; her victory was actually worth more to her than the prize she got and she knew there wasn't much use taking too much out of the deal as it would only hold for a few days anyway.
"So when's the repairs on the house going to start?" Kim asked during dinner.
"The contractors said they would start tomorrow," her father told, "so maybe it's better for you to take up the guest room until they've finished."
"I guess," Kim muttered, she liked her attic room; away from the tweebs, "Do I need to clear out my room?"
"No, just take out what you need, the workers will be mainly working on the bathroom and plumbing anyway."
Later that evening, when Kim had brought her bed gear and some clothes to the guest room, she noticed her leg began to feel stiff again.
"Hmm, maybe Ron was right, better take a bit easy the next few days," Kim said to herself; she knew that if her mother found out she would be in for a lecture and, worse, a check-up. And even though Kim rationally knew she should keep good care of her body, she really hated being examined.
The next morning Ron arrived early at the Possible house; they were still at breakfast. As it was quite common for Ron to join for breakfast, Jim and Tim scooted up a bit to allow Ron a place at the table.
"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P," Ron said joyfully as he sat down next to Kim, "Good morning KP."
"Morning Ron," Kim smiled.
"How's your leg?" The moment he asked, Ron realised his mistake; Kim's eyes grew wide as she looked at her mother.
Mrs. Dr. Possible was suddenly at full attention, "What about your leg Kimmie?"
"Nothing," Kim squeaked, "my leg is all fine, no problem."
"Hmm," Kim's mother watched her daughter suspiciously, "Then you won't mind me checking up on it after breakfast, would you?"
"No mom," Kim muttered.
"See, I told you it was fine," Kim said as her mother examined her leg, "Ron is just overly concerned."
"Uhuh," Mrs. Dr. Possible nodded sarcastically, "Now let me check your other leg."
"Fine," Kim turned around a bit, "It really doesn't hurt, my leg is only a bit stiff."
"And does this hurt?" Kim yelped and jumped up as her mother sharply pressed two fingers in Kim's upper right leg muscle, just above the knee, "Just as I thought, you seriously sprained your Sartorius muscle."
"My what?" Kim gaped at her mother.
"Your Sartorius muscle; a long, thin muscle that runs from your thigh to you knee," Kim's mother explained as she ran her hand over the indicated muscle, "And you wanted to just run around like that?"
"Uhm, it doesn't really hurt," Kim defended herself, "I figured it would heal on its own… I was going to tell you if the stiffness lasted."
"Sure you were," Mrs. Dr. Possible knew her daughter well enough to not believe a word of it, "I'm taking you to the hospital."
"Mo-om, can't you just wrap it in or something," Kim whined, then yelped in pain again as her mother pressed the injured muscle again, "Ow! Stop doing that!"
"You're going to the hospital, and that's final," Mrs. Dr. Possible firmly told, "Tell Ron he can either visit you or pick you up in a couple of hours."
"I may have to stay over?" Kim groaned, but got up anyway; with medical issues there was no arguing with her mother.
Ron looked up as Kim and her mother walked out of the guest room; the 'This is your fault' look Kim shot in his direction didn't bode well.
"Is it bad?" Ron asked meekly.
"Mom is making me go to the hospital," Kim grumbled, "I guess our morning is ruined."
"Want me to come with?" Ron wasn't sure if he dared to be close to Kim for the next few hours, but he felt he had to do something to make it up.
"Nah, you'd just have to wait in the waiting room," Kim told, "but you can pick me up afterwards."
"Okay," Ron said, he already had an idea on how to make it up; while Kim was being examined he would buy her a box full of her favourite chocolates, those had worked in the past and there was no reason why they wouldn't work now that they were dating.
A/N: I hope you liked the first chapter, more should come up soon.