***This was written to placate the little voice in me that rails every time I read about 'poor' Ron when Kim either makes the 'let's be friends' speech, breaks up with him, or simply doesn't feel she is (still) in love with him. Usually, it means Ron leaves Middleton and becomes a bad-ass of epic proportions, and/or Kim suffers horribly for the epic crime of … not loving him. No one is owed the love of another. There are only two things in life that are certain …***
Robin Lewis took a deep, cleansing breath before knocking at the door.
This wasn't going to be easy, not even remotely so. He would have to tiptoe through an emotional minefield, something he personally felt Monique was far better suited to than he was.
Robin was an "action boy," as Monique mock-teased him about every now and then. Give Robin a challenge, an obstacle to overcome, and he would excel. Years of martial arts training had made him perfect for the missions with Team Possible, and he enjoyed pitting his skills against scores of faceless henchmen, robots, spinning tops of doom, sharks, and even the occasional fight with Miss Shego.
But talking to someone? Trying to get them to listen to his words? Robin had never been good at it, although he was getting better. Usually, he wasn't aware he'd said or done something particularly stupid or insensitive until someone either yelled at him or attacked him over it. Lately, though, he was beginning to realize his mistakes just after he'd made them. It would have been nice to realize those things before he actually said or did them, but it was still an improvement.
All things considered, he still had the easier job. Monique was talking to Kim. In Robin's mind, though, there wasn't much to say to her. Kim hadn't actually done anything wrong. She'd tried to be honest with her friend, admitting to Ron that while she did love him, she felt it was the love of a sister for her brother.
Robin also knew he couldn't console Kim. A crying girl was something he simply couldn't handle. He and Monique both knew that, which left him little choice in the matter. No, if he couldn't talk to Kim, then he had to talk to Ron about what had happened. He still would have preferred tearing his own arms off, but Monique had promised a punishment so dire, so horrible, that it would supposedly put Kim's patented Puppy-Dog-Pout to shame.
Considering how devastating the Puppy-Dog-Pout was, Robin wasn't prepared to test his strength against Monique's threat. Robots and henchmen and Miss Shego were easy to deal with, but the Puppy-Dog-Pout was deadly. If Monique truly did have something even more potent … Robin suppressed a shudder at the thought.
He finally knocked at the door, and was greeted by Ron's father.
"Hello, Robin," he said in that easygoing voice of his, smiling warmly.
"Hiya, Mr. Stoppable, how's it goin'?" Robin asked. He liked Ron's parents well enough, but he didn't see them nearly as frequently as his own or even as much as he saw Kim's parents
"I'm doing well. I assume you're here to speak to Ronald?"
Robin nodded wordlessly. If only Ron's parents had already taken care of this, had spoken to Ron, then Robin would have been able to avoid it. However, as much as he did like Ron's parents, he knew they tended to be … what was the term his mother had used? Hands-off? Whatever it was, it meant they didn't take a very active role in things. He wondered if they even knew what had happened.
Mr. Stoppable stepped aside and let Robin enter the house, and the martial artist made his way up the stairs quickly, shouting a greeting to Mrs. Stoppable as he caught a glimpse of her in the living room.
"Hi Mrs. Stoppable! Bye Mrs. Stoppable!" he called out.
The middle-aged blonde looked up from reading the paper and gave the boy a quick wave as he passed by in a blur.
As he made his way towards Ron's room, Robin wondered for the millionth time why every problem couldn't be settled like martial arts. Two people hit each other until one of them lost, and the situation was resolved. Come to think of it, that was how he dealt with most of his problems; hit it until it fell down.
Maybe that was why Monique had sent him here. His own life wasn't all that great and maybe his philosophy on it needed fine-tuning.
He rapped at the door to Ron's bedroom carefully.
"Ron? You in there?" he asked, already feeling stupid. Of course Ron was in there, hadn't his father already implied that when he said that Robin was here to talk to him?
He heard the sounds of someone moving around, and then the door opened.
"Hey, buddy," Ron said dully, stepping back to let Robin enter. He looked terrible, like an automaton going through the motions of living, without any of the emotions. "Hey Rufus, guess who's here?" he added in the same weary tone to the creature on his shoulder.
The naked mole rat gave Ron a quick, worried look before holding one little paw out in a fist towards the martial artist. It was a gesture that, when he had returned from China years earlier, he didn't understand.
Robin knew what Rufus wanted now, though, and put his own fist up near Rufus'. The small pink hairless rodent bumped his fist against Robin's and shouted "Booyah!" happily. When Ron's expression didn't change, the little rodent chattered in an annoyed tone and quickly made his way down Ron's shirt and cargo pants like a climber rappelling down a mountain, disappearing into one of the pants-pockets.
Ron sighed as he sat down on his bed, making room for Robin to sit next to him. "Yeah, Rufus isn't too happy with the Ron-man right now," he said. "So, you picked the short straw?"
Robin sat in the proffered space, his brow furrowed in confusion for a moment, and then he nodded as he understood the analogy. He looked at the brown-eyed blond and frowned.
"You're my friend, Ron. It ain't like I don't want to talk with you or nothin'," Robin said quickly. "Me'n the others are worried is all."
"I'm fine," Ron said unconvincingly.
"I get that I'm stupid, Ron," Robin said, only half-jokingly, "but I ain't that stupid. You ain't fine, you wouldn't really talk with Felix at school, an' it looks like even Rufus can't cheer you up." Robin nodded towards the pants pocket Rufus had taken refuge in.
"Cheer me up?" Ron asked incredulously. "I just got my heart ripped out and stomped on, and you think I need cheering up?" As Ron spoke, he fixed Robin with an angry glare and the blond stood up suddenly.
Robin resisted the urge to stand and return the angry look. He had to remind himself that this wasn't a martial arts match. Ron wasn't challenging him, and most importantly, it wouldn't help at all to react in kind.
"Okay," Robin said finally, not looking away from Ron's stare, but not returning the sentiment of the expression. Responding with anger would be a bad move, even he knew that. "You're hurt, we all get that, but you gotta get past it. You at least gotta let it out and move on, you know?"
Ron laughed, and it was a short, harsh bark of amusement. "Words of wisdom from the guy with the nonexistent dating experience," he grumbled, now at least sounding more petty than angry.
The martial artist shrugged and let the insult roll off him like water off a duck. "So I ain't been on dates, you think that means I don't know anythin' about bein' in love?" he asked. "You think I don't see how some of the Cheer Squad looks at me sometimes? You think I ain't thought about maybe respondin' to one of 'em, or maybe to someone else? You think I ain't ever been in love, just 'cause I ain't never acted on it?"
"I was always there for her!" Ron snapped angrily, and Robin got the impression he wasn't so much being yelled at as he was seeing Ron just shout out his anger. "I saved her even when she was stupid enough to go on that date with Mankey! I never threw being locked in a closet over him in her face, either! You and I both got snubbed and pretty much ceased to exist to her when Eric showed up! I even let it go when she cut me off at the tree house just to talk to that … that thing!" Ron was shaking a little from the raw emotion. "I needed her to listen, and she ran off! Then we kissed at the prom, and now she tells me we were better off as friends?"
Robin put a hand gently on Ron's shoulder and pushed, trying to get the boy to sit back down. Ron let himself be guided back towards sitting on the bed.
"Ron, it ain't about tallyin' the bad things," he said as Ron sat back down.
"It isn't fair," Ron said softly, almost in a whisper, looking at the floor.
"Life ain't fair," Robin said simply and with a shrug.
Ron's head whipped up, he glowered at Robin, and for just a moment, the martial artist thought he saw real hate in that look. But, in an instant, it was gone, like smoke on the wind, and Ron looked back into his lap.
"Oh, yeah, your life has been a real burden," Ron said sarcastically. "Some of us didn't get to enjoy a several-year vacation in China. We ended up staying here and having to live real lives."
Robin felt another angry twinge, and suppressed it firmly. Ron was hurt, and he was lashing out. If Robin rose to the challenge, Ron's already frayed temper would flare, or possibly Robin would lose his own control, and that would just make it worse. They would feed off each other, and it would turn into a real fight. He was pretty sure that wasn't what Monique had expected of him.
"You get things," Robin replied. "All those years I was gone, I missed so much. I missed you an' Kim. I missed my folks, Kim's folks, yours. Sure, China sounds great, and I did lots of neat things," Robin paused for a moment and looked at the floor. "But I won't never fit in fully. I missed all that socializin' stuff. I missed growin' up around girls, around people in general. I missed seein' all of you grow up. I ain't got much of a clue on pop culture, half the time I can't really understand what someone's sayin' 'cause I don't get the reference. An' simple stuff you take for granted? I ain't got a clue. Remember how you an' Kim had to give me that long explanation about … you know … cheer briefs? How they wasn't underwear? How it was okay to look?"
Ron nodded, a brief smile crossing his face. He remembered. It had been only a few days after Robin had resurfaced. Everyone thought he had died years ago in China, but he hadn't. The boy had survived, making his way across China by himself, unable to speak the language and foraging for food. One day during their sophomore year, Robin just turned up again, hale and healthy. While his martial arts skills had grown in leaps and bounds, more conventional knowledge and education lagged terribly. When Robin had returned to school, enrolled in all Remedial classes, he had learned that Kim (and Bonnie and some of his other friends) were now cheerleaders. He hadn't known what cheerleading actually was, but both Kim and Ron had been his best friends before he left. Therefore, this cheerleading thing was something he should watch and support, because Kim and Ron were involved in it if for no other reason.
The practice had been torture for the martial artist. Anytime a girl's skirt flipped up, Robin tried to look away, beet-red and embarrassed. The problem of Bonnie Rockwaller intentionally wearing cheer briefs a size too small, and her twin beliefs (not entirely incorrect) that she had a perfect behind and that it should be shown off frequently hadn't helped matters any. Ron was also pretty sure Robin was getting turned on from the entire display, too. He hadn't really considered at the time what that meant. Robin was still in many ways the nine-year old that had left. He had little idea what he was feeling, why he was feeling it, or how natural those feelings were.
"Remember when you told me it was okay to look? That you had Kim tell you that when she tried out in junior varsity?" Robin asked. "I missed all that. I missed friendly kissin', like Kim an' Walter whatshisname. I missed the whole idea of no longer just sittin' in one class like we did in grade school and now movin' from one to another like we do now in high school." Robin kicked absently at a stray sock sitting on the floor. "You might think China was great, an' it was … but I'd give anythin' sometimes to fit in like you all do," he said wistfully.
Ron pasted on a weak smile as he looked at the martial artist. At least the anger seemed to have subsided.
"Never be normal, buddy," he said. "You have that whole martial artist stranger in a strange land thing going for you."
Robin thought, for just a second, that Ron was actually amused. He hoped he was reading his friend right, and he nodded and smiled back. Good, he'd gotten Ron to at least cheer up a little. Hopefully that made the next thing easier.
"Thanks, but I ain't here for me," Robin said. "It's just … well, maybe Kim ain't thinkin' straight, but even if she is … that don't mean she's rejectin' you as a person, you know?"
The frown returned. "I thought we really had something, but maybe Bonnie was right. Maybe a guy like me can't date a girl like Kim," Ron said.
"What if I told you Miss Justine, you know, Justine Flanner, was head over heels for you?" Robin asked.
"You mean dinosaur girl?" Ron replied, looking … well, Robin couldn't quite identify the look. Worried? Curious? Repulsed? He wished once again that Monique were here. She was so much better at these things than he was. One of Uncle Monty's platitudes came to him unbidden.
A true martial artist rises to any challenge, any adversity.
This was one of those challenges, wasn't it? Robin had to overcome it, not just for his own sense of pride, but to help his friends. And Robin would do anything for his friends, especially for Kim or Ron. They were the first friends he'd ever had, and they were the ones who most helped him re-adapt to his new life as a high school student. For them, Robin would do anything. Even admit something he never wanted anyone to know.
"Yeah, Miss Justine," Robin repeated. "What if I said she'd been pinin' for you since, like, maybe since I got back from China? Or longer? Would'ya go out with her? I mean, since she's been interested for all this time? "
Ron cleared his throat, and the expression finally became identifiable. He was definitely uncomfortable with the idea.
"Aw, geez, Robin, are you serious?" Ron asked finally. "Justine's not as mean as Bonnie or anything, but she's kinda snotty about anyone who's not as smart as she is, and …"
"But she could be in love with you, Ron," Robin pressed. "Don't that mean nothin' to you? How d'you think she'll feel if she asks you out, and then you turn her down?"
Ron's face fell, and Robin could see that Ron did feel badly. The blond certainly understood the situation. He hoped that his next point would help, because if it didn't, this whole thing was going to backfire horribly.
"It ain't 'cause Miss Justine ain't as pretty as someone like Kim or Tara or Yori, is it?" Robin prompted gently.
Ron looked up, a little shocked. "No, God no, Robin!" he said quickly and emphatically. "I just … well, I don't feel the same way for her," he admitted. "I never even knew she felt that way about me."
Robin let out a heavy sigh and clapped Ron on the back. This was it, the moment of truth. Either his idea would work, or it would fail spectacularly.
"Would you stop bein' her friend or stop talkin' to her like we sometimes do, 'cause of it?" Robin asked, giving Ron what he hoped was a meaningful glance.
"What? No, of course I wouldn't do …" Ron said, trailing off, and looking back at Robin with a strange look again. This one, though, Robin could identify, as he'd worn that same look many times before.
It was the look of comprehension dawning. For Robin, it usually came several long seconds or even minutes after Bonnie Rockwaller had said something cruel, but either indirect enough or veiled enough that the martial artist hadn't realized he had been insulted until after the well-tanned cheerleader had moved on.
Robin smiled hopefully and nodded, gesturing for Ron to continue.
Ron just nodded. "I get it, buddy," he sighed.
The martial artist smiled at his friend. "So if you ain't goin' out with Justine even though she ain't a … you know, a hottie," Robin's face screwed up at the word. He'd always thought it sounded weird.
"It doesn't mean I hate her or anything," Ron finished. "I get it, Robin, really," he said.
"An' maybe it means Kim don't hate you or nothin'?" Robin asked.
Ron scowled a little, but this time the expression didn't seem to radiate anger or hurt. He shrugged and looked down at the floor.
Robin put his hand on Ron's shoulder and gripped it firmly.
"I really do get how you feel," the martial artist admitted, looking down at his own slipper-like shoes.
"I … I completely opened up to her, Robin," Ron said softly. "'Out there, in here' … those weren't just words …" he trailed off.
Robin coughed a little. He really, really hadn't wanted to admit this, but he could tell that his friend needed to hear it. Even if it ruined their friendship, even if it made Ron hate him, the boy needed to know that he understood. And if there was any fallout, it was really his own fault for keeping silent, for being more cowardly than even Dr. Drakken had ever been.
"That's what love is, lettin' someone in, totally, completely. Even if it means they can hurt you worse'n anythin' else in the world. If you love her," Robin started, "then you know that her bein' happy is the most important thing, right?"
Before Ron could even answer, Robin continued speaking.
"I mean, it shouldn't matter who she's with, as long as she's happy … an' at least she ain't lookin' down on you an' insultin' you all the time, right?."
Robin was looking straight ahead now, but Ron could tell that he wasn't looking at the far wall. No, Robin was lost in some reminiscence of his own, seeing things Ron could only imagine. Realization struck like a bolt of lightning. There was only one girl Robin would talk about like that. Only one girl who looked down on others all the time.
Bonnie Rockwaller. Robin was thinking of Bonnie. That was what he had meant by being happy no matter who the one you loved was with. If Bonnie was happy, even if it was with someone else, then Robin was apparently content to say nothing.
Several emotions played across Ron's face in an instant. Shock. Anger. Sympathy. Shame.
Shock: he'd had no idea Robin cared for Bonnie, none at all.
Anger: how dare Robin say such a thing? Especially now, as if it somehow was even remotely the same as his issues with Kim!
Sympathy: as much as Ron didn't want to think about the red, raw wound his heart was, he imagined that Robin had probably been feeling the same way since whenever he first thought he was in love with the self-proclaimed 'Queen' Bonnie. All those 'Remedial Boy' comments, all the cut-downs, and it hadn't soured the martial artist on the hot but haughty cheerleader. At least Kim had the fig-leaf of the newness of her relationship with Eric to justify her selfish actions. Her behavior with the synthodrone and towards them didn't suddenly invalidate the years of friendship they had. Bonnie was just … being Bonnie, pretty much a witch as always.
Shame: Robin had done something he hadn't. He'd simply suffered in silence, not taking his lot out on anyone else. They had even commiserated over their dislike of Eric, and Robin hadn't said a word about Bonnie going to the Prom with Brick, her on-again off-again steady.
Robin smiled a soft, sad smile without even looking at Ron.
"Yeah, I had a huge crush on Bonnie. Still do, I guess. If you wanna take a shot at me, I won't stop you," the martial artist said, still looking straight ahead. "I prob'ly deserve it for not treatin' you or Kim with the respect you deserved. Instead I just didn't say nothin' at all. I know how much you guys hate her, and how much she hates you. I guess sayin' how I feel's like betrayin' you somehow."
Ron's fists clenched tightly, the skin turning white around the knuckles where it was stretched tight. The anger was back in full-force. For a moment, he really did want to hit Robin, and just keep hitting him until he couldn't lift his arms any more. How dare he? How long had Robin felt this way, and why hadn't he ever spoken up? Implying it was their fault that he hadn't? And now he was here saying that things would be okay, that Kim and he could still be friends, when Robin wouldn't even speak up himself? Was he here to help or here looking for sympathy?
A dark, petty part of him whispered that all of this was an act. It said that Robin was here to slide in and take Kim from him, that he wasn't interested in Bonnie Rockwaller at all.
Ron pointedly ignored that dark voice, and noted that Robin had made no move to shield himself, no sign that he even saw the fists clench.
"What if I did?" Ron asked through gritted teeth. He felt a squirming in his pocket as Rufus leapt out and took cover in the folds of the blankets on the bed.
The martial artist shrugged. "I guess I'd get hit. Maybe you'd break somethin' and we'd have to make up a story for everyone, like I fell down the stairs or jumped into the panda cage again."
Despite the seriousness of their talk, Ron chuckled. The reference to the pandas wasn't new. While in China, Robin had come across a panda apparently minding its own business, eating bamboo stalks. Robin being Robin, and having little impulse control and even less critical reasoning, had concluded two things.
One: Bamboo was edible. If the panda could eat it, surely Robin could.
Two: The panda had a ready-made piece in its paws.
So, Robin made what was to him the logical choice. He wrested the bamboo from the rather annoyed panda after a brief tug of war, and tried to eat it.
His next discovery was that while bamboo shoots were edible, the hard stalks were not. So, while the jagged-edged bamboo stalk had become a prized possession (human tooth-marks on one end, panda tooth-marks on the other), he had sworn that the panda looked angry and wanted revenge, making eye contact with him in the way heroes and villains in the movies did.
He had simply stammered and looked embarrassed when Kim asked the obvious question. Why hadn't he just taken another bamboo stalk, since they were in a forest filled with them?
Since returning to Middleton and learning that his surrogate uncle, Montgomery Fiske, held sway over a pack of monkey ninja, Robin had become convinced that panda ninja must exist, too.
All arguments and evidence to the contrary was ignored. After all, ninja were infamous for their art of not being seen. No one ever seeing a panda ninja was, to Robin, proof that they existed. They simply didn't want to be seen … yet.
Robin had hopped into the panda enclosure at the zoo while the class was there for a field trip, wanting to test the panda's martial arts skills. As he'd said later, where else would a panda ninja hide but in plain sight, should it choose to do so? He wasn't in any real danger of being mauled given his own abilities, but it was enough to get him kicked out of the zoo.
Ron chuckled a little at the memory.
"I'm not gonna hit you, buddy," Ron said.
Robin looked at his friend and smiled weakly.
"You sure? I mean it. If it'll make you feel better …"
Ron shook his head. "I'm good, really. Well, not exactly 'Hills are Alive' good, but I'll get by."
Robin cocked his head to the side, looking like a dog responding to its master's voice.
"I'm not ready to break into song, Robin," Ron replied with some exasperation.
"Oh," Robin replied simply. "See what I mean? I bet Kim or Monique or Bonnie would 'a understood that."
"Maybe, but none of us can break things down to basics as easily as you do, buddy," Ron said.
Robin shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe you guys just make it harder'n it has to be, you know? 'Sides, there ain't no sayin' Kim's made up her mind. Monique's talkin' to her, too."
"She said she loved me like a brother," Ron said sadly.
"So it ain't got nothin' to do with you maybe not bein' popular, or handsome, like you thought," Robin said. "Maybe she's scared. Maybe she don't know what she wants. No matter what, she didn't say she didn't want you around, right?"
"I … I guess, but …"
"It's better'n her goin' along with it and not bein' sure, ain't it?" Robin asked. "Would you be happier if you two dated an' got married and ten years from now she told you all this? What if you had kids by then? How fair would that be t'them?"
"Robin, that's not fair …" Ron said.
"You feel a thing, or you don't," Robin said simply. "Maybe she just don't know she feels it yet, or maybe she don't feel it at all and she knows."
"And it's just that easy for you?" Ron asked angrily.
Robin shrugged again. "I dunno, it don't seem all that hard t'me."
"So," Ron started again, "why didn't you ever speak up?"
"About Bonnie?" Another shrug. Ron was beginning to think that was all Robin was capable of doing, lately.
Ron waited, and Robin continued.
"'Cause I wonder sometimes if Bonnie'n Shego and the others ain't right. I ain't smart, I don't fit in. Don't Bonnie, don't pretty much any girl, deserve better'n that? Sure, you ain't doin' so great in school either, but that's 'cause you don't wanna, not 'cause you was in Remedial like me. Like I said, me takin' sides means no matter what I do, someone'll be mad at me. Even if Bonnie could maybe see her way clear to datin' me, what about you and Kim? Better to not say nothin', right? 'Least this way, everythin' stays pretty normal, and Bonnie bein' mad at me's normal."
Robin took a deep breath and let it out before continuing. "'Sides, lovin' someone don't guarantee nothin'."
"Tell me something I don't know," Ron said.
"Ron, you got lotsa experience with girls. You was chasin' Amelia for awhile. Then you dated Zita. Look, if it don't work, that's a shame, yeah, but high school ain't the end of the world, right? There's Bonnie, Marcella, Monique, Liz, Hope, the whole rest 'a the Cheer Squad, Miss Justine, never mind all the other girls we met. How 'bout Yori? She was kinda sweet on you for real, not like that made-up stuff I said with Miss Justine. Or Tara? She had a thing for you when you was all hero-like at that Wannawhatever place, didn't she?"
"So," Ron said with a hooded expression Robin couldn't read, "you think if Monique comes up empty and Kim just wants to stay friends, I should move on? Not wallow in rejection? Is that what you're saying?"
Robin nodded emphatically. Ron almost felt sorry for him. He had no idea what was coming.
"Better to have loved and lost, and all that stuff?" Ron pressed.
"Yeah, I guess," Robin said, looking at his best male friend. Ron could see that Robin still had no idea about what he'd agreed to, however unaware.
Ron broke out into a huge, genuine smile, and Robin looked relieved.
There was something in the back of the martial artist's mind, screaming for his attention, but he simply ignored it. What could possibly be wrong?
"Okay," Ron said, his expression becoming sly and almost wicked. It reminded Robin of Bonnie, of all people, once she'd set her sights on someone to ridicule or embarrass.
"Here's how it's going to work," the blond said, fixing Robin with an intense look that said he was going to listen. "I'll wait and see what Kim says. If Monique can convince her to give the relationship a chance, that's great. If not, I'll move on. In exchange, you will tell Bonnie how you feel …"
Robin's eyes went wide as the figurative trap went off. He shook his head fervently 'no' and held his hands up as if to ward Ron off as he protested vehemently.
"Aw, geez, Ron! I can't do that! You an' Kim'll hate me, an' …"
"And nothing," Ron said far too calmly and a little smugly. "A wise man I once knew spoke of being sure about things, and that it was better to discuss things openly than to let them fester …"
"Really? Who?" Robin asked, without a hint of irony.
Ron rolled his eyes and snorted. "You, Robin. A few minutes ago, remember?" he sighed.
"I don't think that's exactly what I said …" Robin hemmed.
"Look, Robin," Ron sighed. "I promise Kim and I won't hate you. Sure, I have a more … shall we say jaundiced … view of the Queen than you do, but if you're actually interested in Bon-Bon after all she's done, why not give it a shot? How bad can it get?"
"She might hate me, not talk to me ever again," Robin offered.
"Robin, she's not exactly your greatest booster right now," Ron said. "Heck, she might actually say yes, what with Brick finally graduating and all. Never mind the fact that she can stick it to the other cheerleaders if she goes out with you, lord it over the squad that you picked her instead of any of them. Maybe it'll be good for her. Maybe it'll be good for you, too. And yeah, maybe you'll crash and burn, or maybe …"
Robin leaned in closer as Ron trailed off.
"Yeah?" Robin prompted.
"Or maybe you and Bon-Bon and me and Kim will be the power couples next year as seniors," he laughed.
Ron reached over and slapped Robin on the back, prompting Rufus to come out from the relative safety of the blankets on the bed. The little mole rat noticed the change in his master and scampered back into one of the pants pockets.
"You know what? I do feel better," Ron admitted.
Robin nodded and looked a little worried.
"Great, an' all it took was you throwin' me to the wolves to do it," the martial artist grumbled half-heartedly. He wasn't really annoyed, but things had progressed well beyond what he had expected.
"Do I really gotta tell Bonnie?"
Ron shook his head. "Of course you don't, buddy. You can refuse, keep following her like a lovesick puppy …"
"I can? That's great!" Robin exclaimed happily.
"A-HEM!" Ron said, looking mock-annoyed. "Wasn't finished, there, Robin. Don't interrupt the Ron-Man when he's on a roll."
"Sorry," Robin said.
"That's better. Now, like I said, you can do all that, although I have no idea what self-respecting martial artist would be happy about running away," he said pointedly. "Or you can stand up and give her your version of 'out there, in here' and see what happens."
"Um, you know, runnin' away is one 'a my best techniques when I gotta think," Robin offered.
"Robin, focus!" Ron said sternly.
"Could I maybe fake my own death instead?" Robin asked.
"Sure," Ron said. "We'll just run it by Kim and Monique first. How does that sound?" he said, arching an eyebrow to make it clear that it wasn't acceptable.
Robin looked down at the floor like a chastened child.
"Okay. I'll tell her," he finally conceded. Uncle Monty's words came to him again.
A true martial artist rises to any challenge, any adversity.
He'd survived talking to Ron. Maybe he would survive telling the beautiful but cruel Bonnie how he felt.
He wasn't one himself, but maybe being around Kim and her family meant something had rubbed off on him, and the saying about anything being possible for a Possible could apply to him, too?
It was time to let Bonnie in, and hope she didn't destroy him.