It had taken Kim a week and a half to completely sever all ties with Shego. First, she stopped agreeing to meet up outside of work. Then, she stopped accepting any of her calls. It was like ripping off a band-aid; painful, but it had to be done. Or the wound would fester. Right now she was just… loosening the adhesive, so to speak.

By the following Thursday, before she slipped into slumber, Kim heard rapid rapping on her window. Geez, doesn't she know when to quit? Kim kept her eyes closed and her breathing even, as if hoping Shego might just… go away. Just go away and leave her alone. Doing this was painful enough as it was without having to actually meet her. But Shego, being Shego, kept up the tapping. Kim squeezed her eyes shut for a minute or two, each individual knock causing increasingly violent shudders. Like ripping off a band-aid, she repeated in her head. Like ripping off a band-aid, like ripping off a band-aid, like ripping off a…

Ah... Blessed silence. Kim heaved a sigh of relief. She must've lef—

"I know you're awake, Kimmie. Care to tell me why you've been ignoring me?" Well, damn, how'd she manage to get inside her room?

Kim opened her eyes to look at her girlfriend (ex-girlfriend, she corrected herself) and furrowed her brow. She sat up in her bed with a forced languidness and leant against the headboard, putting on the look of disdain she had seen often enough on Shego's own face. Shego's disdain. Shego's languidness. "I…" Kim took a deep breath, steeling herself. "I can't see you anymore, Shego." Shego tilted her head in bewilderment. She grew defensive. "Why the hell not? What's wrong, pumpkin?" Concern softened her voice, her actions. She stepped closer to the bed, moving as if she were going to slip under the covers herself. Kim knew what Shego would do next, knew who she would cuddle into submission. Knew who would yield, and forget the plan, and…

She panicked.

"You don't fit into my Life Plan," she let out in a rush, a little louder than she meant to. A spasm of hurt rippled through Shego's face. "Your… Life Plan?" Kim avoided Shego's searching gaze. She tried to disregard how rapid and shallow Shego's breathing had become, how she had stiffened and frozen in the act of slithering into her bed. She tried to disregard how she had taken a step back, how she was still backing away, like an animal caught in the headlights.

She tried to disregard how… how guilty she was. How wrong this felt.

Like ripping off a band-aid, like ripping off a band-aid, like ripping off a band-aid…

Shego cleared her throat softly. "Life Plan?" she repeated. "I don't… I don't fit into your—"

"You heard me," Kim stated grimly, finally meeting Shego's eyes. She just had to tug that corner a little bit more… "You're a girl, Shego. And I… I have needs. Needs that you can't fill. I want children. I want a life I can show my parents. I want a man."

Shego clenched her fists tightly, angrily. Finally, the hurt was morphing into rage. Good.

"Well then," she paused, her voice too choked up to continue. She swallowed— hard— and began again. "Well then, I hope you're happy with your buffoon." With that parting riposte, Shego turned and strode purposefully, heatedly, towards her balcony. Just a little… bit… more…

Shego hopped off the ledge. The band-aid was gone. Now the scab could heal.

So why did the wound feel that much worse without it?

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just... had to do this. Call it ripping off a band-aid of my own.