Ron stumbled up on the Possible's front porch, weighted down with all of Rufus's belongings. He rang the doorbell, knowing that the tweebs would be home because middle school let out an hour before high school.
Tim answered the door. "Hey Ron, what're you doing out of school so early?"
"I didn't go. I…uh…had something to do."
"What all that stuff for?" Jim asked, poking his head out from behind his brother.
"It's all of Rufus's things. I'm going away for awhile so Kim's going to watch him for me." Ron said.
"Cool! We'll take care of him!" The boys chimed eagerly at the prospect of having a pet, even if it was only temporary.
"Bring his stuff in…"
"…and we'll set it up in our room." Tim finished his brother's sentence. It always freaked Ron out when the twins did that; it was almost like they shared the same brain. Ron lugged in all of the toys and placed them in the living room.
"Come on, we were just about to watch "Smack Down!" Jim said excitedly.
"We wanted to watch it last night…"
"…but Mom wouldn't let us…"
…so we taped it!" Tim proudly held up the videotape before shoving it into the VCR.
"Sorry guys; sounds fun, but I have to go." Ron took Rufus out of his pocket and held him up to his face, planting a tender kiss on the mole rat's head. "Watch out for Kim for me, buddy." He said softly with misty eyes.
"Awww…hurry home." Rufus whined, unaware that Ron was never coming back for him. He wrapped his paws around the boy's face in a miniature hug.
"Now make sure you take him to Bueno Nacho at least twice a week. The Chimerito Grande with a side of Nachos is his favorite. And you have to sing 'Rock A Bye Rufus' when he goes to bed. Oh and…"
"Chill, Ron. We'll take good care of him 'til you get back." Jim promised
"I know…I just worry about the little guy." Ron's voice wavered emotionally. "Bye Rufus." He nuzzled his cheek affectionately against the tiny creature before handing him to Jim. He quickly turned to leave, afraid that he might cry in front of the boys.
"See ya, Ron!" They called as he walked down the front steps.
Ron turned and gave them half-hearted wave. "If you don't give Kim a hard time maybe she'll start letting you go on missions with her." Despite his depressed mood, the thought of Jim and Tim becoming his replacement brought a weak smile to his face.
*****
Ron stepped through his front door. The emptiness of the house seemed to be a reflection of his soul as he wandered aimlessly from room to room, thoughtfully taking in each detail for the last time.
He paused at the fireplace and inspected the pictures that dotted the mantle. A few were family portraits, but most of them showed only two individuals—he and Kim. He never found it odd that his parents had so many pictures with Kim in them displayed in their home. She was just as much a part of his family, as he was hers. If fate had been kinder to them, then wedding photos and beautiful red-haired grandchildren with big brown eyes may have one day replaced those childhood images of the two friends.
Ron picked up a particular picture, his favorite, which showed he and Kim graduating from elementary school. Kim had her arms around him, poised to kiss his cheek and he was trying to pull away with a disgusted look on his face. That was when all girls had 'cooties', even if they were your best friend. His face in the picture suddenly became blurred as a single drop of liquid fell upon it and rolled down the glass.
Sighing, Ron carefully placed the picture back in its spot on the mantle, then made his way the garage. He fumbled around in his dad's toolbox until he found the item that he was looking for. A slight curve formed briefly on his lips as his hand clutched around the plastic knife-like object. Grabbing a screwdriver, he opened up the box-cutter and removed the straight-edged razor blade from the center. The sliver of metal felt small and cold in his hand as carried it up to his room.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Ron rolled the razor over and over in his fingertips. The moment of truth was finally here and those all-to-familiar feelings of fear and dread started to creep into him. He quickly lost his nerve and flung the blade across the room in anger where it bounced off his mirror with a metallic ding. Flopping back on the unmade bed, he began to sob shamefully, thinking that he couldn't even do a good job at killing himself.
Abruptly the image of Kim from the previous night popped into his mind. The look of pain and fear in her eyes as she sat before him on her bed was enough to put his apprehension to rest. Ron retrieved the razor from the floor and returned to his bed. "Ron Stoppable is not a coward!" He said aloud to the empty room. "For once in my life I'm going to do something right!"
The blade glinted in the light as Ron brought it close to his wrist. He dragged it slowly across the flesh and smiled at the thin trickle of blood that began to seep from the wound. He knew that it was only a surface cut and completely harmless, but he was only testing the water for starters. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as he'd expected.
With determination in his eyes, Ron swiped at his wrist again, much deeper this time. The small trickle of blood disappeared as a torrent of the red fluid began to wash down his arm. Satisfied that he had cut the vein, he went to work on the other wrist.
Once the job was done, Ron let the blade fall from his tingling hand where it landed on the carpet next the bed. He leaned back and rested his head on the pillow, crimson blood pooling on the white sheets under him. "I'm so sorry, Kim…I never meant to hurt you." He mumbled over and over as he waited for release.
*****
Out of breath, Kim flew up the steps on Ron's porch, nearly stumbling in her haste. She ripped open the front door and bounded up the stairway, taking two at a time. "RON?" She yelled into the seemingly empty house, but no reply greeted her in return. Finally stepping over the threshold of his bedroom, she nearly passed out at the scene before her.
Ron was sprawled on the bed with his arms limp at his sides. The floor and blankets were covered in the thick, scarlet blood that still seeped from his wounds. Kim noticed that his face was a deathly shade of white as she approached. "NO. RON NO!" She wailed, her world shattering at the sight of him. She gently placed her hand on his throat to feel for a sign of life, cringing at the coldness of his skin.
A terrified scream escaped her lips when her fingers failed to find the throbbing pulse in his neck. She was too late. Ron was gone.
"WHY RON?" Kim demanded as she cupped his blank face in her hands, although she already knew the answer. It was all her fault. She was the reason Ron took his life. She killed him.
If only she hadn't been so selfish when he had come to her, pleading for her friendship, then none of this would have happened. She'd pushed him away though, hatefully telling him to stay out of her life.
"Ron can drop dead for all I care." Kim's spiteful words from that morning rang in her mind. She'd meant it at the time, but she never imagined that it would happen. Right now, the harsh statement couldn't be further from the truth. The thought triggered a flood of hot tears that she'd thus far been too shocked to release. She rested her head on his lifeless chest and sobbed fiercely, praying that she'd wake up from this horrible nightmare.
Unaware of how much time had past, Kim lifted her head from Ron's chest when the tears simply wouldn't come anymore. She sat up and observed that her clothes were covered in his blood. Feeling ill from the sight, she rose from the bed unsure of what to do next. Then, a sparkle of light coming from the floor caught her attention. She picked up the tiny razor and inspected it carefully.
The past twenty-four hours suddenly began to fast forward through her mind. She sat on the bed shakily and became transfixed by the memory as every last detail from the time they went into the warehouse to the moment she'd entered Ron's room replayed in her head.
As the flashback drew to a close, she turned to look at Ron's pale, expressionless face once more. She released a piercing scream brought on by overwhelming anger and frustration and brought the blade to her wrist, savagely slicing thought the flesh again and again. With a wild look in her eyes, she watched fearlessly as the red liquid ran freely down her arms.
Kim climbed into the bed and rested her head on the pillow next to Ron's when feelings of light-headedness started to overpower her. She wrapped her arms around him in a loving embrace and watched detachedly as her blood began to blend with his on the sheets beneath them. "I'll always love you too, Ron." She whispered tenderly as her eyes grew heavy, then finally closed for the last time.
The End
AN: Even before I actually started writing this fic, I knew how I wanted it to end (yes I'm evil, I know). Then a few days ago another idea got into my head, partially in thanks to some of your reviews. I didn't want to chuck the original ending, but the new one kept eating away at me until I finally sat down and started writing it out. Soooo, this fic is going to have an alternate ending. They put them on DVDs, so why not have them in fics, right? Look for it in a day or two!