A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the positive reception that my last story, "Put a Bid on It", got. It was a real pleasure to write and I'm happy to see that quite a few people enjoyed. Now, please don't get it twisted. This seemingly self-high five does have a purpose. See, one of those reviews left me with a comment that wondered why I hadn't written a Ronniecoln fic in a while. Thus, here we are with a quick little drabble that came to mind as I wondered what I could do to satiate both that reviewer's needs and hopefully, everyone else's in turn.
Enjoy!
"Come on, Lame-O. Pull your weight," Ronnie Anne huffed.
"I'm…" Lincoln grunted as another dull spark of pain shot through his knee once he took another slow step forward, "…trying, Ronnie Anne."
Just a few more minutes of walking, pain and all, and Lincoln would be home free. Thankfully, when Lincoln and Ronnie Anne chose to spend their Sunday afternoon skateboarding, they hadn't decided to go to the skate park and opted to just stick around in their neighborhood. Otherwise, Lincoln was certain that they'd be in a bit of trouble right now.
Lincoln groaned as with another tentative step forward, he could feel his scrapped, slightly swollen knee screaming in protest. That would be the last time that he tried to show off in front of Ronnie Anne with some fancy tricks he saw while flipping through channels. Thankfully, after his major wipeout was said and done, instead of chewing him out for being stupid (at least not in front of a crowd), Ronnie Anne took it open herself to help him walk as they both headed for his house.
Thus, with both of their skateboards under one arm, the other wrapped around Lincoln's waist, and one of Lincoln's arms around her shoulders, Ronnie Anne walked side-by-side with Lincoln as they slowly but surely trundled along.
Again, Lincoln was grateful that they hadn't gone to the skate park since in just a few more minutes, he'd be home and his family could treat his injury. He couldn't imagine the discomfort both he and Ronnie Anne would have to endure if they had been forced to walk on foot for at least half an hour.
After about another minute of limping and groaning, Lincoln surveyed his immediate surroundings and realized that, instead of Ronnie Anne leading him further down the street to his house, she was assisting him towards the walkway of the Santiago residence.
Lincoln's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. That hadn't been part of the plan.
"My house is a few more blocks over," Lincoln told her as they slowly approached the front door of Ronnie Anne's house.
"I know," Ronnie Anne replied.
"Then why are we-"
"It doesn't make sense for me to take you over there when I could just patch you up here and save time."
Lincoln considered the logic and found that, even though he was more used to his family tending to these type of matters, in order to spare himself from enduring more pain, this was the best course of action.
And besides that, the idea of Ronnie Anne, as abrasive and caustic as she could be, taking on the role as his caretaker…it intrigued him. This wasn't an opportunity that he could see himself being on the receiving end anytime soon.
He had to see how this would play out.
"Fair enough," Lincoln said as they finally made it to the front door.
Setting the skateboards down, Ronnie Anne used her free hand to pull out her house keys from her shorts pocket, unlock the door, open it, and continue assisting her boyfriend as they walked inside in tandem.
Finally, they made it to the living room couch and with only the slightest bit of difficulty, Ronnie Anne managed to finally set Lincoln down on the couch, his head resting on the armrest.
Once Ronnie Anne took their skateboards inside and set them by the couch, she turned to him and said, "Wait right here. I'll be right back."
Lincoln snorted at her words as Ronnie Anne headed upstairs, obviously to retrieve some medical supplies.
Wait right here? Even if he wanted to go somewhere else, it wasn't like he was going to go anywhere with his knee all banged up. Still, though she tried to come off as neutral to his plight, he could tell that she was concerned for his well-being. After all, would she being doing all of this for him right now if she wasn't a least a little distressed?
It didn't take long for Ronnie Anne to return to his side, holding what Lincoln could tell was a roll of gauze, a long pair of tweezers, a plastic bag full of cotton balls, an unopened package containing an unused sterile pad, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
Lincoln's eyes widened at the last item. He knew that while hydrogen peroxide was effective at killing bacteria from cuts and scrapes, it also hurt like the dickens. Hopefully, once she applied it to his wound, he wouldn't do anything uncool enough to make Ronnie Anne snicker at his reaction. He'd never be able to live it down.
When he felt his right pants leg being pulled up, Lincoln looked up and saw Ronnie Anne doing just that, ignoring his slightly befuddled reaction as she rolled up the fabric, clearly to expose the wound for treatment. Thankfully, Lincoln's jeans were loose, meaning that the fabric didn't have a chance to grate along his wound and elicit further pain.
Once his injured knee was exposed, Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief. The pain had promised a much more severe looking gash but instead of anything traumatic, it was a shallow, long laceration that etched from one side of his patella to the other. Lincoln surmised that if anything, it was the slight swelling that was giving him the most trouble.
The familiar and slightly nauseating smell of medicated disinfectant filled Lincoln's nose as Ronnie Anne opened the hydrogen peroxide. Without a hiccup, she dabbed a cotton ball into the solution and gripped it in the pair of tweezers. Once that was done, she kneeled at his side, looking to him sternly.
"This is gonna hurt, okay? Try not to squeal."
He nodded. He had already embarrassed himself with his poor attempt at showmanship. One humiliating experience was way more than enough.
"Alright, I'm gonna do it on 'three', okay?"
He closed his eyes and braced himself for the searing pain to take its course with what he hoped to would be a gentle administration of the soaked cotton ball.
"One…tw-"
Without warning, a fiery sting singed into his wounded flesh, making Lincoln jump up a bit and squeak as his eyes flew open. Amused laughter filled his ears and knowing what had just happened, shot Ronnie Anne a dirty look.
"You said on 'three'!" Lincoln snapped.
She rolled her eyes and smirked at his indignant reply after she stopped guffawing wildly.
"I know. I just thought it'd be funny if I tricked you."
Deciding to just drop it, Lincoln sighed irritably and looked on as Ronnie Anne got back to work. Thankfully, she was a lot gentler now as she took the sterile pad and laid it out across his cut. With just the right amount of pressure, she began wrapping around his knee with the gauze, doing so effectively enough to not only secure the sterile pad in place but prevent painful compression from the swelling.
It filled Lincoln with wonder as how Ronnie Anne, of all people, could do this so expertly.
"How're you so good at this?" Lincoln asked.
"Picked it up from Bobby," Ronnie Anne replied listlessly as she wrapped Lincoln's knee further. "Guess I learned a thing or two from him from all the times he bandaged me after I came back home from a fight."
Lincoln smiled wickedly at the remark. Time for a little payback from earlier.
"Were those the ones you lost?" Lincoln asked cheekily.
Without missing a beat, Ronnie Anne stopped her handiwork to lean over and lightly flick Lincoln on the forehead.
"Ow!" Lincoln cried as he rubbed at the sore spot. "Your wound treating's ace but your bedside manners are awful."
Without retaliation at the playful jab, Ronnie Anne returned to her work, all while Lincoln sat back and tried his best not to shiver whenever Ronnie Anne's fingers would lightly brush his upper thigh and quad.
Finally, after a minute, Ronnie Anne tied the gauze strip in a knot, signaling to an attentive Lincoln that she was finished.
"All done," she said as she got up and looked over his dressed knee with prudence, checking to see if she misjudged her treatment in any way.
"Thanks, Ronnie Anne," Lincoln said with a smile on his face.
Ronnie Anne certainly wasn't anything like his sisters when it came to wound treatment. Ronnie Anne was practical and efficient while his sisters often got carried away with their attentiveness, often to the point of annoyance.
Still, even though Lincoln liked this change of pace, there were some rituals that Lincoln yeaned for. Luna, for instance, would sing him a little ditty to lift his spirits. Luan would tell him awful jokes that would take his mind off the pain.
And then there was Lily. Sweet, adorable little Lily. After his treatment, she'd kiss the "boo-boo" to "make it all better". Even though Lincoln knew that she wasn't actually healing him, the tender gesture still made him feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Before he knew it, Lincoln's mind began racing with thoughts with images of Ronnie Anne, as unlikely it would be, were to take Lily's place and…and…
"You alright? I didn't…do anything wrong, did I?"
Lincoln snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to find Ronnie Anne looking down at him concernedly.
Immediately, he shook his head to put her at ease. She had exceeded his expectations and as a result, he was feeling better already.
"What? Oh no, no, no. I was just…was just…"
Before his confession could slip out, those tantalizing images returned and Lincoln couldn't stop his face from reddening, both from the intimacy of those conjured scenarios and from the embarrassment that he was sure to embrace if he told Ronnie Anne the truth behind his discomfort.
His reaction only made Ronnie Anne scowl slightly and rest her fists on her hips.
"Lincoln, what're you thinking about and why is it making you blush?"
Lincoln swallowed nervously. There was no getting out of this one. Ronnie Anne could sniff out a lie from him from a mile away and without a means of immediate escape, he couldn't get away from her to prevent the confrontation that she wanted.
It was no use. He just hoped that she'd have mercy on him once he was done with his declaration.
"It's just that…um…"
Ronnie Anne narrowed her eyes, silently telling him that she was losing her patience and that he had better hurry up. Fortunately, Lincoln was good at reading between the lines, especially since illiteracy could mean more bruises.
"You did a really good job, Ronnie Anne, but it's just…w-whenever my sisters do this for me, right after they dress my wound…"
'Here goes nothing,' Lincoln thought as he flashed Ronnie Anne a shaky, timid smile.
"L-Lily…Lily always kisses it."
He shut his eyes, wanting to spare himself from seeing his imminent doom submerging him under ruthless subjugation. When retribution didn't instantly come, Lincoln slowly but surely began to open his eyes. He was taken aback to the sight that greeted him; Ronnie Anne was tugging nervously at the drawstrings of her hoodie as she looked up at the ceiling. Her cheeks were tinged with a scorching blush that rivaled the one that Lincoln felt burning his face.
The uncharacteristic reaction was enough to quell Lincoln's fear but he still kept a vigilant eye out for any signs of trouble.
"So…you want me to...d-do that to you?" she questioned timorously.
Lincoln's eyes widened. He hadn't even entertained the idea of asking Ronnie Anne to actually kiss his knee. He was content with simply imagining what it'd be like if she did. But…if he wasn't imagining things, she had read his confession as an open invitation to indulge in his fantasies.
Like the opportunity for Ronnie Anne to tend his injury, Lincoln wasn't about to let this chance slip by him.
"If you want to, that is," Lincoln replied nervously. "I'm not forcing you."
With that, Ronnie Anne nodded and returned to where she once was, kneeling by Lincoln's side and looking at his knee. Lincoln waited with bated breath as his trembling girlfriend lowered closer and closer to her target.
Even with everything that was currently taking place, Lincoln couldn't believe that this was actually happening to him.
Finally, her puckered lips planted a soft, tender kiss on his bandaged knee and Lincoln let out a dazed sigh involuntarily as a slight tingle shot up his knee and curled pleasantly into his belly.
Ronnie Anne's face reddened at his reaction and she quickly looked up at him expectantly. Lincoln looked on in confusion until the last few seconds caught up with him and his face flushed as well. Something about his expressed contentment…whatever is was, it made them both uneasy. Despite that, all the preteens could do was stare at each other, as if they were silently hoping for the other to say something to diffuse the tension.
Suddenly, without warning, a tiny, flattered smile spread across Ronnie Anne's face and thanks to his perception, Lincoln could also detect a hint of mischief beneath her grin.
"Lincoln?"
"Yeah, Ronnie Anne?"
She scooted closer, not once taking her eyes off him, until she was up close, her face a few inches away from his. She took one of his hands in her own and squeezed it gently.
"Did you hurt yourself anywhere else?"
All at once, realization dawned on Lincoln as a goofy grin broke out.
"Now that you mention it…" he said, doing his best to mask his giddiness, "I, uh, think my elbow needs some attention, too."
A/N: Is it just me or is Ronniecoln the cutest thing since baby booties?
By the way, that's booties as in shoes, not booties as in…eh, I'm sure you can fill in the blank for yourself.