Where You Hang Your Hat Chapter 3: Part III, a kim possible fanfic

Where You Hang Your Hat: Part III

"KP, maybe we're going about this the wrong way." Ron pulled their car into a space at the third apartment complex they visited that day. Normally, Kim would be the one to drive, even though they had come to the understanding that since it was the only vehicle between them, it really belonged to both of them. Still, the car had been a gift from her parents and from Wade for High School graduation and she preferred driving herself. Ron tended to make her just slightly nervous. Plus, she was using the fold-down computer console trying to research what spaces were available, with limited results.

"I'm kinda casting around in the dark here, Ron. I called the housing office on campus earlier and they said we qualified for a Senior Dorm this fall, but they wouldn't allow us to live together in one unless we were legally married."

He leaned on the steering wheel while she wrapped up the lists she was currently looking at. So far they had seen two apartments. The first was only a couple blocks from the campus, but they had both nearly bolted when they saw it. It did meet one some of their expectations, the first that it was within walking distance of Middleton College and they were willing to lease the place for just one year, but the inside left much to be desired. There was actually less floor space in the entire place than Kim's bedroom. It consisted of one small bedroom and a combination kitchen/living room. The walls were a color that was supposed to be 'egg shell' but looked more like stained white. The last straw came when Kim opened the thin, shabby drapes in the bedroom. It looked out on the unit's dumpster.

They politely thanked the manager for showing it to them, explained it was quite literally the first place they had looked and said they would get back with him if they were interested. Neither of them had to say to the other that there wasn't the least bit of interest involved.

The next place was significantly nicer, but it was much closer to their homes than it was to the school. It was mainly one very large room, with a small space for a bed on an open balcony type arrangement. The openness appealed to both of them, though it seemed it would be hard to have guests and still maintain their privacy. There was also the problem of Kim wanting to have her own room. She knew they wouldn't be fooling anyone, but she wanted to at least maintain the illusion that they were technically roommates at that point.

There were other stumbling blocks they hadn't figured on as well. Even though they were legally adults, both places wanted their tenants to be at least twenty-one years old, or at least the person signing the lease. Granted, that was only seven and eight weeks away for them, but there was another deal-breaker. The nicer apartment was only available with a minimum three year lease. Ron had been meeting with an architect working on some townhouses in a new suburb of Middleton and was by then committed to that project. Their 'starter' home would be ready just about the time they were planning to get married. True, he would have more than enough money to keep paying for a long-term lease, but that just seemed wasteful.

The worst thing they were running across was the price of housing. His trust fund allowance had risen exponentially over the last couple years, but both places they had seen would take a major chunk out of it, leaving them very little for groceries, utilities and that one major bugaboo of college students, books. It was looking more and more like he would have to ask his father for an increase just to cover their living expenses. Either that or one or both of them would have to get actual jobs. Considering the fact they still went on the occasional mission and they also wanted to keep themselves free to concentrate on their studies, they really didn't think that would work. Kim was planning on taking an extremely heavy class-load in her final year and Ron still had to struggle to keep his grades up.

"It's looking more and more like we may have to bite the bullet and go back to living apart." Ron said sadly, still leaning on the wheel.

Kim put her hand on his thigh and looked at his eyes. "No, honey. One way or another we're going to make this work. I know we didn't plan it this way, but let's face facts. We've been together constantly since February and neither one of us wants to go back to the way things were. Like I said earlier this morning, that would almost feel like we were breaking up."

"But we're not, KP. I love you and I'll love you if we had to spend every single night apart until we get married."

She put her head on his shoulder and looked like she was about to start crying again. It just wasn't like her to be so emotional, but facing the prospect of one of the biggest changes in her life was hitting her far harder than either of them expected. Before they had gotten dressed and started their admittedly half-hearted search they did make love briefly, but the tears were already starting. Kim called her mother and talked for a good half hour while Ron was in the shower and he could tell she was still upset when he came back up to 'their' room.

He thought actually going out to look would help. Instead it just led to both of them feeling frustrated and alone. It was like getting to a resort town and finding out there were no rooms available and having to sleep in their car. That almost happened to them one time during their now-annual road trip the previous summer. Fortunately Wade was able to find someone who owed them a favor and put them up for the night that time.

"Do you think we screwed up not asking Mom and Dad about all of this? Really, we didn't give them much choice in the matter." Kim's mood was punctuated by a rumble of thunder. The first large drops started spattering against the windshield, hinting at the downpour to come. It had bee gray all day, but it turned darker as the afternoon wore on.

Ron kissed the top of her head as the rain steadily got worse. Normally weather like that was very romantic to him, but there was simply too much on his mind to think that way at the moment.

"I don't know, Kim. After your Dad sat down and had his man-to-man with me, I thought everything was hakuna. I was kinda freaked out about it a little myself, but then he got so cool with us. You don't think it's the money thing, cause if that's it, I'm sure I could pitch in for room and board and stuff."

"Maybe, but, unless it was Dad trying to make a point about something, that just doesn't make sense. Between the two of them, well, let's just say if I wasn't on a full academic scholarship they still wouldn't have any trouble sending me through MC. It's just weird."

"Weird? How's that?"

"Well, for about the first month…let's just say things were a little out of hand there for a while. Plus, we're not the quietest people, you know. Just, I don't know. Last night and this morning, that was the first time in just over a week. It's….why now? Why when we already had a self-imposed deadline?" She looked up at the three story building they were parked near. They didn't expect much, considering it was only the third place they had been to. "You sure we want to be doing this?"

"I don't want to end up being forced to take that rat's nest we looked at first, and I bet the closer we get to school starting back up, the harder it's going to be to find a place."

"True. Hey, what about Paul?"

One of the drawbacks to being such a tight-knit couple and being commuter students was that the two of them didn't fit into the school social scene all that well. They both made a few friends, but so far only Ron had made one as close as they had during high school. That fact was hammered home to Kim when she found out Monique wasn't coming home that summer, preferring to stay in Durham, North Carolina in her new apartment. Felix wasn't coming back either, since he was staying with Monique until he had to go back up to MIT in the fall.

Paul Resnick was the son of the man who owned a popular Kosher delicatessen near Middleton College. At first Kim was concerned how he would react to her, being from a family of very conservative, traditional Jews, but he always treated her as good a friend as he did Ron. He had the attitude that he would follow his faith as his heart said, but didn't try to force that on others. He took Ron being a Reform Jew and Kim being Christian right in stride.

His father was another issue. To him, the couple were nothing more than good customers, and in the Deli he treated them that way. It was different the few times they had been in his home. That was one of the rare occasions Ron would actually wear his yarmulke outside of Saturday services. There was never a cross word, but Kim always felt distinctly uncomfortable there.

Then, during their Junior year, Paul had moved out of his family's home into a fairly large apartment. He cut off his traditional forelocks and adopted a more mainstream conservative appearance, though he still wore his nicely embroidered skullcap all the time. He did have a roommate for a time, but he graduated, leaving the younger man to fend for himself with the rent. Knowing that would happen, he offered to let Ron move in to help with the financial burden.

"That may have been good before we started, you know, living together. I know he's down with us, but you know what his father's like. It'd probably be worse than what we're going through with your Dad right now, even though Paul technically lives out on his own."

"I guess you're right. Okay, it doesn't look like the rain's going to let up any, so it's now or never."

By the time they got to the manager's office, they were wishing they had put off seeing the apartment until the weather cleared. The rain was still coming down in heavy droplets and they were soaked to the bone just five steps from the car.

The building itself was older, but it was in very good condition. Instead of having a front door, the main access to the apartment was through a central hallway. The carpet was reasonably new and the lighting was good and they could smell paint that had probably been put up just in the last month.

The space was still a little on the small side, but all of the views were of the surrounding mountains. The downstairs consisted of a great room, a real dining room and a kitchen that, while small, had relatively new appliances. Upstairs were two bedrooms joined by a single bathroom. The only fly in the ointment there was the lack of a proper shower stall, though the large, deep claw-foot tub had an antique looking brass shower curtain. They exchanged glances. Both of them were 'shower' people, preferring baths for relaxing rather than bathing.

The rooms were semi-furnished, pretty much lacking only beds. Since there were two rooms, they would each be able to set up their own spaces. Closet space wasn't the best, but it was comparable to what they were used to. The manager left them alone in the kitchen to talk it out, probably thinking about going to find a mop since the young couple was still fairly damp.

"What do you think, Kimbo?"

She sort of half-smiled. "I could live with it. I'm not really happy about the bathroom, but like you said, it's only a year."

Ron eyed the range with a more professional eye than Kim did. "Not exactly a gourmet kitchen either, but I can make do."

"It's a safe kitchen." She giggled slightly.

"Eh, how dat?"

"There's not enough room in here for both of us to cook, so I'll have to stay out of your way."

Ron gripped her hand. "Don't get too down on yourself. You handle yourself pretty well in here any more."

She gave his hand a good squeeze. "Only when you, or Mom, or Nana are looking over my shoulder the whole time. Well, I know it's only the third place, but the rent is livable, we're not that far from the campus and they'll take a one-year lease."

"Part of my says jump at it, KP, but another is saying, you know, too good, somehow."

"Yeah. When's the other shoe going to drop. Is there something we're missing? The manager already said it's okay that we're just twenty if we have good references."

"That's just it. It feels like we're forgetting something. Maybe we should just take the guy's card and make a list. There's got to be something better out there somewhere."

"Yeah." She looked around again. "But this is the only unit they have available. I'm willing to bet by tomorrow it'll be spoken for. Besides, I bet we could both fit comfortably in that tub." She smiled and leaned her hip up against his. "Sure beats that little tub in my bathroom, or the shower in yours for some nice, hot soaking." She purred the last.

The manager chose that moment to reappear, giving Kim the impression he might have been eavesdropping. "Well, what do you kids think?"

She was still holding Ron's hand, and over the last few years they had formed a sort of language all their own with a series of squeezes and touches. They both had come to the conclusion they had better jump at the chance. It was one of the least expensive places they had on their list and it fit most of their criteria. They could live with the slight deficiencies since it was a temporary arrangement anyhow.

"We'll t…" Kim got out of her mouth before the manager pointed at Ron's shoulder.

"What is that, that freaky thing?" He asked, his face a mask of disgust.

He glanced to the side, realizing that Rufus had climbed up there.

"Oh, that's Rufus. He's a naked mole rat."

The man just turned up his nose. "I'm afraid we don't allow pets." He said disdainfully.

Kim and Ron exchanged a look, realizing that was what they were forgetting. With one more mutual squeeze of their hands, they stood up straight and started for the door.

"Thanks for your time, but Rufus is family and I'm afraid this place just isn't family enough for him." Kim said as they headed back out into the hallway.

James looked at his watch again. Anne had called some ten minutes earlier to tell him she was just getting into her post-op procedures and would be home in about an hour. Her coming home close to midnight he was used to, after all, she was a doctor. Yet, without there being a mission, Kim and Ron were almost always home on weeknights except Friday. He even gave Wade a call. The young man was actually still at the Space Center, working on one of his projects, but he hadn't spoken to the couple all day.

Dinner was out of the question. He had hoped they would come home soon when he got home earlier that evening so he could take them to that nicer Italian restaurant chain. He thought about calling them, but didn't want to chance getting into a conversation with them about what he said over the phone. He wanted to take it back right to their faces, to give them his blessing to live there until the wedding. It was his own selfishness that was behind it, nothing more. It wasn't 'better for them' to find their own place. They really did have just that one last summer before their real adult lives set in and he really didn't want to take that away. The two of them had given the world so much, they deserved it.

Then the evening wore into night and the night into the realm of 'past bedtime.' Finally, with Anne due home in the next half hour, he picked up the phone and dialed the cell number that would reach Kim's wrist Kimmunicator. The little screen Wade had included on the phone flickered to life, though the picture remained dark.

"Daddy?" A sleepy voice answered.

"Kimmie-cub? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. We were asleep. Is everything alright?"

"It's fine, Kimmie. I was just worried when you didn't come home."

There was a few moments of silence following that. Finally Kim spoke again. "We're at Ron's house. I'll talk to you later, okay, I'm really tired."

"Okay, Kimmie-cub, love…" the line went dead.

James sat down hard in his easy chair. They hadn't come home because they had gone to spend the night in Ron's room. Of course, there was always the possibility they had been called to baby-sit Catherine Jean, but even he wasn't capable of that level of denial.

He put the phone back in its cradle, lost in thought.