Disney owns, I don't. I am weak and pitiful, and not worthy of being sued. After the drama and angst of this upcoming chapter, be sure to get some light-hearted fun by reading This Whole Sitch is Silly, by RonHeartbreaker.

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Valentine's Surprise – Chapter 10

Kim was shocked as Tara beat on the door furiously, her eyes wild. Her hands grasped at the door handle, trying to pull the glass doors open, but they did not yield. She could see the two inside quite clearly, both still sitting on the couch, their arms wrapped around each other, but neither seemed capable of movement. Tara resumed beating on the door while pulling the handle with her other hand, her blows almost hard enough to shatter the glass.

"LET ME IN!"

Kim winced at the loud shout that Tara issued, and it was obvious that both Bonnie and Ron heard her, as the pair jumped, finally separating. Bonnie rose reluctantly, and Tara stopped beating on the door as her gaze locked hard onto her friends. Bonnie approached the door slowly, not even looking at Kim. Carefully, almost as if expecting the door to bite her, Bonnie flipped the lock and stepped back quickly. That was all the invitation that Tara needed.

The door flew open, sliding on the track and reaching the end with a loud thunk, bouncing back into Tara as she stormed into the room. Kim strode in behind, but didn't interfere as the blond got right into Bonnie's face.

"YOU BITCH!"

Bonnie flinched as if she'd been slapped, though Tara made no move to physically strike her. The blond's hands were clenched at her sides, shaking with fury, but Tara didn't even think to raise them. Bonnie's eyes were damp as she tried hard to meet her friend's gaze. "Tara... I..."

Tara stepped forward, bringing her nose almost into contact with Bonnie's. Tears were streaming down her face even as her teeth clenched in anger. "JUST SHUT UP!" Tara breathed heavily, as if she was trying to suck all the air out of the room. "How could you?"

Bonnie flinched again, and Kim could see this was not the confidant queen B she had always known. Instead, it was if a young child had suddenly taken her place. "Tara, I'm sorry. I wanted so much to tell you, but I didn't..."

"I don't want to hear it." The venom in Tara's voice was shocking. Kim didn't think she had ever heard that much hate in such a simple statement. Tara stared Bonnie down for a moment more, until the brunette turned away, and Tara seemed to take that moment to collect herself. "For almost a year now Bonnie, I've told you how much I had a crush on Ron, and what have you told me each and every time. Oh, he's not good enough, he'll ruin your reputation, he's not worth it. For almost a year Bonnie! And I listened to you, because you were my friend. You'd set me up with other guys, more socially acceptable guys, but they'd never work out, and then I'd mention Ron again and you'd give me your crap."

"But..."

"I'm not through yet!" Even Kim stepped back at the tone in Tara's voice. "I trusted you Bonnie. We'd been friends forever, and I trusted you. I told you everything, and then you do this. I take it he's the guy who took you out on Valentine's Day?" Kim, shot a glance at Ron about that comment, but he just ducked his head down, sinking deeper into the couch. When Bonnie didn't respond, Tara continued. "You could have told me then. I knew it was a blind date, I could have understood that. But no, you kept that from me. And then you started dating him, all the time. And what was I doing all this time? I was helping YOU in your relationship, all the time you were keeping this from me. And what really gets me... what REALLY pisses me off... is how you kept telling me, the whole time you are DATING HIM, that he isn't good enough for me. You actually had the gall to tell me that to my face an hour before you went to go make out with him."

"But... but..."

Tara's hand shot out faster than anyone could see, but the resounding slap was heard quite clearly by all of them. Bonnie fell to the floor in complete shock, her hand coming up towards her face, even as she stared up at Tara with wide eyes. Ron rushed to her side, one hand moving to her shoulder, as he looked up as well. For her part, Tara just stood over her, like an executioner prepared to drop the axe. "After all the times I defended you at school, telling people you weren't that bad, that you really were a nice person, I just... I..." Tara's entire body trembled as she took a deep breath. Her eyes closed for a moment before snapping back open, her blue eyes harsh and unforgiving. "I never want to speak to you again. I never want to see you again. You are dead to me. Have you got that, YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!"

With that final statement, Tara turned on her heel, and stormed out through the door she had just come through.

Kim cast a glance down at Ron and Bonnie, who still lay on the floor. Bonnie's eyes, wide and unseeing, simply stared out after where Tara had gone. Ron meanwhile was holding her closer, pulling her towards him. Kim bit her bottom lip, and then headed out, chasing after Tara.

It took some effort to catch up to the blond, she was storming down the street, the tension evident from quite a distance. Several times she called out, but Tara didn't respond. They got almost two blocks before Kim managed to catch up to her, and when she did, she pulled Tara to a stop.

"Tara, wait up." Kim pulled Tara around to face her, and could see the tears streaming down the girl's cheeks. "Tara, are..."

"How could she do that to me?" The fire was gone from Tara's eyes, leaving only sadness and pain. "She was my best friend, how... how could she do this to me?"

Kim pulled Tara close, wrapping her arms around her friend as Tara broke down sobbing. Tara clutched tightly to Kim, her head buried into Kim's shoulder, and just let all the grief and emotion flood out of her, not caring one whit who saw her at that moment.

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It had taken her almost an hour to get Tara calmed down enough to walk her home and get her into bed. The blond had been exhausted, her emotions all over the place that she was literally drained. Kim had called Tara's mother, who was at work at the time, and explained, somewhat, what had happened, and that Tara was lying down at home now. She had probably said too much about the situation, more than she would have liked anyways thanks to that truth ray, but at least she hadn't broken any trusts in doing so. When Tara's mother finally arrived, to find a tired Kim and a sleeping Tara, she had gotten Kim to eat something before Kim had been able to talk her way into leaving.

Now Kim was heading back to Bonnie's house, wondering just what she would find. When she had first found out Ron was hiding something, she had gotten mad, and a little disappointed. As the lies kept piling on, so did Kim's anger. When the pieces had started coming together, that anger had blossomed, but had started to become redirected at Bonnie, who she figured was masterminding the whole situation. While there was still anger directed towards Ron for keeping this from her, most of it was focused on Bonnie. And just today, when she had finally been ready for a complete confrontation, she had expected to spend quite a bit of time just yelling and venting.

But now... after seeing Tara... watching as Bonnie crumbled right in front of her... the way Ron moved to her, comforting her... Kim had no idea what to think anymore. She expected to find a Bonnie who was manipulating her best friend, the same Bonnie who would probably laugh in her face at their discovery, breaking Ron's heart in the process. That wasn't the Bonnie she had seen today.

Kim approached that glass door slowly now, as she made her way into the Rockwaller back yard. She paused as she got to the door, taking the time to look in through and see what was happening. Ron and Bonnie had moved to the couch in the time she had been gone, with Bonnie huddled up on Ron's lap, face buried into his chest. Her chest rose softly and evenly, as she appeared to be asleep in Ron's arms. Ron, for his part, appeared to be rocking her softly. She couldn't see his face, buried deep into Bonnie's hair, but she could almost imagine him softly humming, or even singing to her. Just seeing that almost caused to tears to start flowing again.

Rufus, napping on one of the couch arms, poked his head up as Kim stood watching the scene, and chittered softly. Ron lifted his head up, just as Kim slid open the door, and Kim could see the look of pain and fear on his face. Kim could see an almost terror in his eyes as he looked at her, and she could imagine that he was expecting something similar to what Bonnie got over an hour earlier. The fact that she hadn't said a single word before chasing after Tara, and the length of time she had been gone, probably hadn't helped with his imagination running wild. Kim hated the thought that he was feeling that way, that she might hate him and reject him, and all the anger she felt towards him keeping his secrets faded away. They weren't gone, but they were moved back until they could be brought out at a better time and discussed.

Kim smiled to reassure him, to set his mind at ease. Despite how weak it was, she could see the terror fading, replaced with a small bit of hope. Kim's smile at seeing that was far more natural.

Kim glanced about the room, looking for somewhere to sit. She didn't want to sit on the couch and possibly disturb Bonnie. She spied the dining room through the open door from the den, and she moved in to grab a chair. Moving softly, she carried the chair back into the den, placing it gently on the carpeted floor and sitting down carefully. Her gaze moved back to meet Ron's, who was still looking at her uncertainly. For a minute or two, there were no words, just looks exchanged between them, trying to express their thoughts without saying anything. But it was when Bonnie shifted and moaned softly in her sleep, and Ron moved quickly to hold her just a little bit tighter, breaking his eye contact with Kim to whisper softly in her ear, that Kim knew where she had to start.

"You love her, don't you?"

Ron raised his head to look at her, his eyes shining with moisture. "I do KP... I really do."

They were silent again for a little bit, as Ron continued to rock Bonnie softly in his arms. She could see how tenderly he held her. Kim didn't want to disturb them, but she had too many questions she had to ask. "So... Valentine's Day?"

Ron nodded, smiling slightly. "You were going out with Josh, and I didn't want to be by myself, so I cooked up a secret admirer thing."

Kim shook her head lightly, making sure to keep a smile on her face. "And Bonnie?"

Ron shrugged, looking thoughtful. "I knew she had broken up with Brick. And you know me, I don't usually follow school dating news. Besides, I thought she could use a little cheering up. But as the date went on... and then when she kissed me at the end of the night..."

Ron's eyes took on a far away look, and Kim chuckled softly to herself. She too remembered her first kiss with Josh, and how she had felt afterwards. She sighed, taking a deep breath. "Why didn't you just tell me Ron?"

"That was my fault."

Kim almost started when she heard Bonnie speak. Ron just held her tighter, whispering to her.

Bonnie would have none of that though, not with Kim in the room. While she didn't pull out of Ron's grip, she did sit up more, bringing her head more level with Ron's, turning slightly to face Kim. Kim could see the bright red and puffy eyes, and the streaks where her makeup had run. The front of her hair was also damp, and hanging limply over her face, where it had been pressed into Ron. Quite frankly, Bonnie looked a complete mess.

But now that she was awake, and knew she had company with anyone but Ron, Kim could see a bit of the old Bonnie showing through, a tenseness of the jaw, a look in the eye, a flaring of the nostrils. The look however did not quite reach her eyes, which still held a bit of a haunted look to them that was impossible to hide.

Bonnie slid one of her arms around Ron's back to get more comfortable, and met Kim's gaze squarely. "I was the one who didn't want to advertise what we were doing."

Ron shook his head quickly. "It wasn't just you. I set things up from the start that way..."

"You did that for me. It's my fault we're at this point, why Tara..." Bonnie swallowed quickly, fighting back a sob, before continuing, "it was all for me. We didn't want to say anything because I was ashamed to be seen with him, to be going out with him, to..."

Ron leaned his head forward, silencing her quietly. Bonnie paused, her eyes closed, as their foreheads pressed together, and even Kim couldn't miss their silent communication. He was forgiving her, without ever saying a word.

Bonnie pulled away slowly, turning back to meet Kim's eyes. "We just thought it would be better not to have the word get around until we knew what was going on between us."

Ron picked up the conversation quickly. "After the second date, things picked up quickly, and we were making out all the time and..."

Bonnie clamped two fingers on Ron's lips, turning the rest of what he was going to say into incomprehensible, and Kim couldn't help chuckling softly as the effects of the truth ray started showing through. Bonnie smiled slightly, the first Kim had seen since they had all gotten there. "I love that truth ray, Ron's been telling me how beautiful I am all day, but sometimes..."

The three shared a small laugh, and then Bonnie turned back to address the issues at hand. "Anyways, after the fight we had, and Ron getting kidnapped, we knew how we felt about each other. Of course, figuring out a way to tell you and Tara..." Bonnie paused again, wincing slightly, "we were going to have you both over at Ron's tomorrow, maybe bring Monique as well, since it would be Saturday, and we had the whole day to deal with everything. Then, we could walk into school Monday..."

Kim gasped slightly, her eyes wide. "You were..."

Bonnie nodded quickly, and Ron just smiled. "Yes Kim, we were. Believe me, just the thought of doing that... it scares me. Everyone staring..."

Ron gave her a squeeze, and Bonnie settled down, taking a breath. "Yeah, we were planning to go public. I... I owe it to Ron more than anything, but... I just... I just..."

Kim nodded quickly, smiling. "I understand."

Ron met Kim's gaze, and Kim could see the relief there. "KP... I can't believe how well you're taking this."

"Oh, I'm not taking this all that well." Kim winced at that harsh sounding outburst, and saw both their faces fall. "I'm still mad about you lying to me, and I'm hurt that you couldn't tell me what was going on in your life. But I am adjusting, and I care too much about you Ron to let our friendship slip away over this." Kim felt relieved somewhat that, in her own mind, this was the truth, cause she still wasn't sure consciously sure how she was dealing with everything. "You are a huge part of my life Ron, and you always will be. You've always been there for me, and I will be here for you as well. I don't know yet how I feel about you yet Bonnie." Kim's hands shot to her mouth, before slowly lowering them. "I'm sorry, but that is how I feel."

Surprisingly, it was Bonnie who seemed to take that news best. "Honestly Kim, that's better than I was expecting."

The trio sat like that for a few moments more, just absorbing everything that had happened so far. It was Ron who broke the silence, when his stomach rumbled loudly, and they realized it was well past lunch time now, and he had yet to eat. "How about I make us all something to eat, and we can keep talking about everything. Does that sound like a plan?"

Bonnie nodded quickly, jumping up from Ron's lap. "Sounds like a great idea. It will give me a chance to clean up, I must look awful."

Ron leaned in for a kiss, pulling away quickly. "You still look beautiful to me."

Bonnie smiled brightly, sighing softly. "Can you get me one of those truth ray things, I want to keep zapping him with it?"

Kim laughed, following Bonnie out of the den. "I'll see what I can do."

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Author's Notes – Kim took that better than anyone would of thought, didn't she. Now, they just have to clear things up with Tara. Stay tuned!