Our eyes did not sway from each other, but remained fixed. I never realized before how deep those pools of reflection were, how piercingly brown and intense they are. In a way they were severe but more soft that sharp. I was wondering what he was feeling at the moment, what was going through his head. In a way, I already knew. My gaze shifts from the locked position to the slightest movement below my periphrial vision. To Ron's lips. What I see makes me feel like I want to cry.
"I love you," he mouthed, no sound coming from his mouth.
Tears come to my eyes, but do not overflow. I smile and was speechless to reply to his strong words, his serious tone. The only reply my brain could come up with was I moved closer, resting my head upon his shoulder once more. I inhale a peaceful breath. With it comes other scents. I smelled Ron's cologne, which was sweet and slightly mixed with nachos. I close my eyes. We were so close that I could feel his heart beating swiftly against me, and my pulse was running at the same rate. We swayed in tempo to the music, not noticing anything else. It was just Ron and me, no one else existed.
Finally the last song played. Ron pulled away and held both of my hands. "Prom's over KP."
I smiled. I never wanted this perfect night to end, but so suddenly it did. People were starting to file out of the gym, some with others, some alone and reflecting. With joy, I saw Monique leave arm and arm with Brick. This night did not turn out so bad for her either. Again, this night was perfect. The right person for me had been here all along, and instinct told me that that would never change. Ron took my hand in his and confidently led me from the dance. I observed others walking to their rides. Many smiled at us and one person even gave the thumbs up. I chuckled and lean on Ron, who released my hand and put an arm around my shoulders. It seemed that throughout the night we could not have more than a one word discussion between each other. But what Ron had said before right after we kissed struck me most of all. He loved me.
Was I in love with him though? Immediately I knew that wondering was wrong. I did! Those little things for josh Mankey and Erik were crushes, but this was something more, much more that all of that. I was in love with Ron Stoppable. I need to tell him, but right now my mouth did not want to form words to tell him that.
We both got on the familiar scooter, which now seemed to transport us all over the place. In what seemed like seconds we were back home. I go up to my front porch and lean against the door frame, holding both of Ron's hands. Once more I noticed his serious gaze, one so unusual for his goofy manner.
"You know I did not say 'olive juice' out there on the dance floor, Kim," he said softly, cracking one of his wide grins.
I knew what he was talking about. If someone mouthed "olive juice" then it looked like they were really saying "I love you." I knew there was a meaning behind what he said. He was telling me once again with all his soul that he cared for me and loved me.
I giggled in response and stepped closer as he did too. I heard something move around inside close to the window, but at the moment I did not care. He leaned towards me and kissed my forehead, and I moved to where our lips met yet again. For a minute I thought I heard a giggle from inside but that was swept away. Ron was a pretty good kisser.
As we broke apart, I whispered those three words in his ear.
His ears reddened and a blush creeped up his neck, but he still goofily smiled. "I do to, Kim…"
Then he glanced away. "Well, I guess this is goodbye," he stated, a small frown coming to his features."
"Yeah," I replied, sighing slowly. "But it was great, thank you."
Ron smiled and I opened the door, which was unlocked. He did not walk away as the door shut. I saw from the window as he stared at the house and then walked away. I exhaled dreamily, floating towards the stairs. Jim and Time ran in front of me, hysterically laughing. Mom and Dad came to the foyer. Dad had an unreadable expression on his face but Mom was beaming.
"So, how'd it go?" she asked, "How was Erik?"
The Tweebs laughed. "Tsk, yeah right…Erik."
"What?" asked Dad abruptly.
"Yeah, the prom was great," I replied, a smile drifting to me once again. Yeah, I guess I could tell them. "Erik was fake, he was a robot. We defeated him and now I'm going out with Ron." I started up the stairs, a blush coming to my cheeks.
"Woah, Kimmie, slow it up," said Dad, grasping my arm. "Who?"
"Ron," I stated.
Mom squealed and embraced me, laughing. "This is wonderful. I didn't like Erik hat much anyway."
Yeah, it was gross," piped up Tim.
"They kissed on the front porch," said Jim, making a face. I saw Dad's smile become slightly less broad, but he still looked pleased.
"I'm glad your prom was great and you finally found someone," said Mom, "the right one."
I nodded in reply and started back up the stairs. I ran into my room and shut the door. Slowly I slid down the wooden panel, grinning from ear to ear. My heart would not stop fluttering and my stomach felt like a bucket of ice cascaded into it. Every time I thought about Ron made my spine tingle. I walked to the closet and changed into my pajamas, collapsing on the bed and laid there, staring at the ceiling. And laid there…and laid there some more. No matter what I could do, I could not go to sleep. Excitement was still coarsing through me. What should I do? My first instinct was to call Ron, but it was almost midnight. He could be asleep by now. I lay back down, but then rise on an elbow, reaching for the phone beside my bed. It was like it knew I wanted to use it. I picked it up after the first ring.
"Hello?" I say into the mouthpiece in a slightly irritated voice, wondering whom could be calling and delaying my phone call to Ron.
"KP?" came a familiar tone. "Oh, I must have woke you up. Sorry, I'll hang up," he said quickly.
"No no!" I said loudly, hoping I caught him before he would put the phone down. I struck up a casual tone. "Sooo… couldn't sleep huh?"
"Yeah," he responded, laughing.
I turned over on my back, stretching out across the bed, feet hanging off and my line of vision now upside down. "I couldn't either," I said. Wow, I was talking about completely nothing. I needed to bring up a subject to talk about, and try not to sound stupid while doing it. But nothing came to mind. I scrambled through my brain, struggling to scrap up something.
"You enjoy tonight?" I said lightly. Ugh! Stupid comment, very stupid. I was becoming a master at stating the obvious and repeating what I had said before.
"Mmm-hmm," mumbled Ron, sounding somewhat distracted.
I rolled back over to my stomach, the blood rushing to my head making me dizzy. "What is it?" I asked, somewhat concerned.
"Kim, what do you think?"
"About what?"
There was a delay. "Us…"
"What do you mean?"
"What I said before. The food chain. We're going out right?"
I chuckled reassuringly. "Of course. Like I said before, I don't care about the food chain. Don't worry about it."
He did not reply at first. In fact, we did not say anything for a long time. Finally I heard him take a deep breath.
"WannagosomewherelikethemoviesorarestaurantbesidesBuenoNacho?"
All I caught was "Wanna-like-restaurant-Nacho?"
"Slow down Ron," I said. "You want to go out somewhere tomorrow?" I hoped that was what he was asking.
"Yeah," he said, sounding relieved. "A movie then the Nautilus?"
I grinned. He knew I liked the seafood restaurant Nautilus. "Sure."
There was another pause. "Well… I gotta go. See ya' at seven tomorrow?"
"Yep."
"Um… I love you KP."
My body feels like electricity ran through it. "Yeah, love you too."
"Bye."
I suddenly hear muffled giggles from two others as he hangs up. I knew who it was. The twins were listening in the whole time. I thought Ron was breathing a lot more than usual. I wanted to storm out of my room and get the Tweebs right now, but Ron's call had made me sleepy and so I turned off my light, surrendering to sleep.
Authors note: Oooohh… romantic. I know it kinda sounds repetitive of other ones but it's building. I'll have to third chapter soon! Please oh please Review!