I don't own a thing, Disney does. I apologize for not updating sooner, but I picked up a second job, as well as personal stuff, and that really cuts into the writing time. I haven't died, or fallen off the planet, but I just won't be typing at my usual break-neck pace. For that I apologize, and it drives me nuts as well, since I really want to get back to the main story as well. I am very eager to get to stories 4 and 6, I have great ideas for them (BWAHAHA)!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Twists and Turns of Love – Chapter 8

As Kim walked into the lunchroom, she saw Ron sitting at their usual table. She had been a bit worried whenever she saw him, like he wanted to talk to her. That was fine with her, she wanted to talk to him as well, but Ron didn't often get that kind of expression on his face, and it concerned her just a bit. As she got closer, she saw him picking at his food, staring at it almost absently. Not even bothering to grab something for herself, she sat down across from him. He looked almost startled when he looked up and saw her there.

"Ron, you OK?"

He sighed quietly. "Yeah, KP, I just… I need to talk to you about something."

Kim folded her hands in front of her. "It's not…"

"No, no, nothing bad, at least I don't think it's bad. It's just… ok… umm…"

"It's ok Ron, you can tell me anything!"

He smiled, looking up into her eyes. "OK, it's like this. I really like what we're doing. I mean, first off, I'm a guy, so I'm definitely digging the kissing and stuff, but… we aren't talking like we used to, and I think that… you kinda… you're kinda doing this because you think we need to make up for lost time. I mean, if I'm wrong, just tell me, but I want things to go back to like it was when we were friends!"

Kim's face instantly fell. "You just want to be friends?"

Ron's mouth went wide as he realized what he had just said. "Oh God no… well yes, I still want us to be friends, but I still want to go out with you and be your boyfriend. It's just… I want us to be able to hang out and talk and all that like we used to do when we were just friends. You know, just try to maybe take things a bit slower? I mean, just like your Mom told me this morning, just because we're dating now it doesn't mean we have to change everything that made us cool with each other!"

Kim smiled at that. "I'd like that!"

Ron let out the deep breath he didn't realize he had been holding, glad that he had been able to get that out of the way. "I'm so glad you're cool with that!"

"Yeah, I was going to talk to you too about that. And I think I was trying to rush things, like you said. I mean, I know you don't blame me for being blind, but I think I still felt a little guilty about that."

"Kim…"

"I know, I know, I shouldn't feel guilty. But when I think over all the signs that were there… I mean, I can't believe I was so blind about how I felt about you!"

Ron just smiled, taking her hand in his, giving it a quick squeeze. "I think we were both a little blind. I mean, until the whole moodulator issue, I hadn't even really thought about it either."

The two sat silently, sharing small smiles as the commotion of the cafeteria raged around them. Ron slowly ran his thumb over the top of her hand, giving her small goose bumps from the intimate contact they were sharing in such a public place. Their brief reverie was shattered by a very audible burp, and both of them looked down to see Rufus, lying back on Ron's now empty plate, a content smile on his face. Kim giggled.

Ron just shook his head at his little buddy, and looked up at Kim once more. "Anyways, there was something I wanted to suggest. If it doesn't work, we can always try something else, but I just thought this might solve some of the issues, and I did spend a bit of time working on it, so…

"Ron, it's alright, just tell me your idea!"

"Well, I was thinking, how about we designate Fridays and Saturdays as our "date nights", and the rest of the week as "friend nights", where we do everything we've always done. You know, like talk and hang out, just like we always do, without putting any kind of, you know, pressures on ourselves."

Kim blinked, and her smile blossomed. "Ron, that's a great idea! How did you come up with something like that?"

Ron looked away, looking a little sheepish. "Well… I kinda… I got it from an episode of Agony County. You know, when Danny and Charity got together and they had that whole blow-up, and they had to find some way to sort things out. Well, I know we didn't exactly blow up, but I thought the idea sounded good."

Kim just laughed. "Only you could associate real life with some TV show and somehow make the idea sound good. I do like the idea though!"

"And I'm not against the idea of a kiss here and there during friend time either. I just think we should save the main stuff for a proper date."

Kim just shook her head. "We'll see. I'm really liking this idea of just friends for the rest of the week though. We might just have to adhere to it strongly."

Ron face fell, and his lips began moving without a sound coming forth. "I… I didn't… I mean…"

Kim laughed again, moving her other hand to take his in both of hers. "I'm kidding Ron, I'm just teasing you. You know, like we always do?"

Ron just laughed a little uncertainly, using his free hand to point a finger at her. "Ahah… Good one KP. You got me!"

Kim stood, releasing his hand, a bright smile on her face. "Now, I'm going to go get us some lunch, since Rufus ate all yours while we were talking. I'll be right back!"

Ron watched her walk to the line, a slight sashay in her hips. Ron just sighed. How on Earth did I get to be so lucky?

Ron hardly noticed when Felix rolled up beside him. "Hey Ron-man, you get a chance to talk to Kim?"

Ron had a bit of a dreamy look on his face. "Oh yeah, everything's great."

Felix just smiled. "So she went for the idea?"

"Yeah, she did."

"So you two will be doing the mattress mambo in front of the whole school this afternoon?"

"Yeah, we'll… WHAT?"

Felix just started laughing, and was really glad he was always sitting. The look on Ron's face was beyond priceless, and would have had him on the floor. "I'm sorry man, but you were so out of it, I just thought I'd snap you out of it before Kim got back."

"Haha, very funny. Everyone seems to be a comedian the last few days!"

"So, we still good for Tuesday night, zombie bashing fun time?"

Ron's face fell. "Oh geez, I completely forgot. I am so sorry man! I'll have to check with KP, but I…"

"Check with me on what?"

Ron quickly turned to see Kim sit back down, sliding a tray over to him. "Well, last week, me and Felix made plans to get together, do a little video gameage tomorrow, and I just wanted to see if…"

Kim quickly waved a hand in the air. "Sounds good. Have fun!"

Ron just looked stunned. "You… you're not mad or anything?"

Kim just smiled. "Of course not. We can't spend every minute together. Besides, Monique has been bugging me to hang out with her, so she could get all the intel. You know her."

Ron just smiled, looking into her eyes. "You are the greatest!"

Kim pointed her fork at him, a mock serious tone in her voice. "And don't you forget it Ron Stoppable!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron was feeling great! The talk had went well, and they knew where they stood. During lunch, they had been able to be themselves, just talking and laughing without all the dating awkwardness that had been bugging him since the dance. If they could still hang as friends, it would make the whole dating thing a lot easier, make things more comfortable, and hopefully, more meaningful. His good mood almost disappeared when he got to the changeroom.

Gym, that most dreaded of classes. But that wasn't the biggest issue. When Ron opened the door, about twenty pairs of eyes all turned to look at him, almost boring into him. Little grins lit their faces, and Ron very much wished he could be anywhere else right now.

Brick was the first one to move. Already changed, as was most of the football team behind him, he walked up to Ron. "Man, you and Kim are the talk of the school. We gotta know, how'd your weekend go?"

Ron could see the grins widen on the guys behind Brick, and felt a little uncomfortable. "It went good. We went out, dinner, walk, stomped a bad guy. No big!"

"Oh come on Stoppable, you know what I mean. When we were coming in, you and Possible were going at it pretty heavy. You can't tell me nothing happened?"

Ron crossed his arms over his chest, trying to find some way out of this situation. "I really don't think…"

Brick placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Oh come on. Even if you didn't go all the way, please tell me you got a little second base action. Possible may not be stacked, but she definitely has really perky…"

Brick's hand was knocked off Ron's shoulder so fast that the big man didn't even see it happen. Ron had a real look of anger in his face now, all discomfort forgotten. Hands clenched at his sides, he just looked up, and Brick backed up a step.

Ron's reply was through clenched teeth, anger evident in each word. "I am telling you just this once. I don't want to hear you talking about KP like that. Do you understand?"

Brick raised his hands, backing up another step. "Hey, no problem, just joking around. We're all behind you on this man, I was just giving you a hard time!"

Ron expression softened, not used to hearing something like that come from one of the jocks. Usually, it was all teasing or a few punches. Hell, if he had normally tried standing up like that, it was an invitation for a beating. Watching Brick back up, the other guys nodding in agreement, Ron was just stunned. "Well, I'm sorry I snapped man. I just…"

Brick just shook his head. "No big, as you say. Come on guys!"

As the members of the football team passed him, they each shared encouraging words and patted him on the back, though a couple times, the comments was almost bordering on bad territory again. He was still a bit stunned that they hadn't even tried beating him up a bit. Monique must have been right about him moving up the food chain a bit. Didn't make it feel any less weird though, especially since there was really no outside force that had done it this time. He had just been himself. Every other time, it had been a massive jump, like the haircut, or the money. How do you react when it was just yourself that made the jump?

Ron quickly realized it was getting close to class time, and rushed for his locker to get changed. He was a little surprised when he rounded the corner and saw Josh Mankey sitting there getting changed as well. It wasn't that he had anything against the guy, he just… rubbed him the wrong way at times. And I'm still not so sure, Mankey is awfully close to Monkey to be entirely comfortable!

Josh just smiled as he saw Ron approaching. "Hey Ron, I was hoping to catch you."

"What's up Mon… ahh… Josh"

"I just wanted to say how happy I am that you two finally got together. Though, to be honest, I figured it would have happened sooner."

Ron just sat down and started changing. "Yeah, well… we were both a little on the blind side when it came to how we felt. Though, after the modulator thing…"

Josh just smiled. "Yeah, I caught part of that. From what Tara told me, it really freaked Bonnie out. Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that you that I'm glad you two are getting your shot. I could just tell, when I was going out with Kim, that she wasn't always there. That's why we broke up, though I don't think Kim realized that her feelings for you were the real reason. Oh, and one more thing. Don't listen to what anyone says, especially the Neanderthals. You and Kim do whatever you want to do! It's not some race or anything like that. You guys will have plenty of time for that other stuff. Don't rush it, or you could ruin what you two have, and that would just suck."

Ron just nodded his head, a little stunned. He and Josh had never really gotten along, and to hear him talking like this to him… it was a bit of a surprise. Ron shook himself out of his minor daze. "Thanks man!"

Josh just smiled. "No problem. Now, we better get out there before Barkin has a fit!"

Ron just smiled as he headed for the change room doors. This is really going to be different, isn't it? Might take a little getting used to. Though, so far, I think I really like it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes – I hope people will be a little patient, since I'm going to updating Life Changes first. I figure two weeks is long enough to let people stew about Shego's fate, with a gun pointed at her head, especially since I'm not leaving this at a major climax point. Don't worry, I have some time on Sunday, so that will be the latest before I manage to update this again.

I'd like to thank the following for their reviews;

mattb3671 – Ouch, I can just imagine. That would have a very high acidic level, burn like hell. As for the smuff, it won't be nearly as strong here as it will be in Recovery, but I'd like to think that you've been my inspiration in that area. Now if I only have the guts to push the boundaries the way you have!

Campy – I think so, which is pretty cool coming from the master of smuff!

MrDrP – Yeah, I liked the breakfast scene as well, and hoped I got James' feelings to come across well.

GargoyleSama and Matri – Thanks for the info, that works perfectly for me. If Kim's is not established, I'm just going to make her a Leo!

Kpultimatefan – I don't think they went too far, though I did hit my brothers when they used that line when I brought my girlfriend home for dinner one time!

the Desert Fox – Well, first off, I am a huge fan of the Ron/Bon goodness, but it just wouldn't work in this storyline. But I do have an itch for something like that… Also, 10 minutes is not believable? I don't think I've had a serious relationship where I haven't blown that mark right out of the water!

Worker72 – Oh, I never forgot, even mentioned it in Bonnie's Curse, but do you honestly think that Ron was going to tell Kim's Dad, who is still adjusting, that he has seen his daughter naked? That's just asking for a beat down!

Momike and Pandora77 – Thanks for the kind words! It's always nice to hear from someone new!

Hamlets-pirate – Well, it's technically only their first day back, and they haven't had a chance for any PDA, but you never know.

demon-sword – Glad you're enjoying, and it's good to see you back. Haven't heard from you in awhile!

I'd also like to thank campy, Matri, mattb3671, kpultimatefan, MrDrP, chao-hellsing, Revenant666 for reviewing Moving On, a story of the (pretty much) lamest characters in the entire KP universe. I was most shocked to hear that some even appreciated the characters a bit, and felt sympathy for them, and that was something I just never thought I would be able to do. Probably still be my least read story, but at least it worked.