A/N—This chapter may be pretty hard to buy into reality-wise, but then again so is the whole idea of the Kim Possible cartoon. Thanks for all the reviews!

I just got braces today so my teeth feel really tingly, which means that it's hard for me to write because I can't concentrate.

Please review.

Slight change of plans: I'm actually going to update a little more of TDiC before I go back and edit the first few chaps.

Another change: There's only a slight addition to this chapter, and it is now complete. I fixed the spacing and added a few lines.

Chapter 17

By the time Kim woke up, all the guests had been long gone, respectfully leaving without waking her up. She felt a neatly wrapped gift in her hand and realized that Josh must have dropped it off before he left. Silently unwrapping the gift, she found a purple velvet box with an extremely beautiful pendant in it. How sweet she thought to herself. I'll have to give him his gift and thank him later. As she went to get some delectable Christmas food in the dark hours of the morning, her thoughts drifted back to Ron. Well, Bonnie will be over at his house today, so I'll go over tomorrow to make things right. Satisfied, she ate some Christmas cookies and turned on the TV.

---

As the morning sunlight poured in through the window onto two sleeping figures in each other's arms, one of them opened her eyes and blushed. Bonnie Rockwaller found herself still in a tight embrace with Ronald Stoppable and, seeing that he was still asleep, she closed her eyes and just savored their closeness together. Wow, this feels really nice. He looks so boyish and innocent when sleeping. She smiled again, thinking back on the wonderful day she had just spent with him. As she drifted off in to her thoughts, she felt him slightly stirring, signifying that he was finally waking up.

Ron yawned loudly, realizing that he was still embracing Bonnie tightly.

"It's about time you woke up Ron. We have to get going to your house soon."

"W, w, what?"

"Don't you remember? I'm supposed to meet your parents today."

"Oh, oh yea," Ron said groggily, starting to come to his senses. "Sorry, Bon, I'm just really slow in the mornings." Slightly giggling, she got up and excused herself to shower and get dressed.

"By the way Ron, there's a shower in the guest room." Fully awake now, Ron set off to take his morning hot shower, which always felt heavenly in the cold winter months. Arriving at the top of the stairs, he looked around and realized he didn't know where the guest room was. Not wanting to disturb the peace, he crept around and tried to figure out which room was the guest room. Seeing a door not fully closed, he walked in and saw an almost nude Bonnie in nothing but a bra and a thong. As he turned crimson at his mistake, he forcefully jerked himself around, trying not to look back.

"Ron, w, what are you doing?" asked Bonnie, blushing furiously.

"Oh, um, um." Stop being an idiot and just tell her you're lost. "I, I don't know where the guest room is," he said sheepishly, trying furious to control the bulge in his pants and praying that Bonnie wouldn't notice.

"Oh duh, I never told you where that was did I? Third door on the left, and I'm really sorry," she said, continuing to blush. Why do I blush so much when I'm around Ron? I've never had trouble keeping my cool with other guys before…

Quickly jumping out of the room out of embarrassment, Ron found the guest room perfectly and went in. Turning on the faucet and taking off his clothes, he stepped in to the blissful warmth of the hot shower on a cold winter morning. He struggled to take his mind off of the sight he had just witnessed.

'Wow, she's really fine.'

'Shut up.'

'I mean, those tanned legs and that—'

'Shut up! Have to think of something else; get your mind off of her.'

'Nothing can get our mind off of that bod; I mean—'

' She's my friend, and I'm not going to have this friendship end up like mine and KP's because I couldn't control my hormones.'

The other voice in Ron's head shut up abruptly. His thoughts shifted to Kim, and he felt that same empty feeling assault him. Why did you have to change Kim? Why couldn't it have stayed the same? You and me, me and you? You've been my best friend since pre-K, when we fought off those mean bullies, and we were with each other when you got that new comp. It was just us when you started those missions, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Back then, you were different; you weren't superficial and you didn't care about popularity. We were a team, but all good things must come to an end I guess. I guess our team started to crack years ago, but I was too in denial to admit it. Sighing to himself, Ron completed the shower and stepped out, drying himself completely before putting on the same clothes he dressed in the day before. He really hadn't expected to stay all night, but he knew, or at least hoped, that his parents would understand.

Stepping out of the room fully dressed, he made his way downstairs and diverted his eyes from Bonnie's room just in case. However, Bonnie was already at the bottom of the steps waiting for him, with a slight blush on her cheeks as he came down.

"Listen Bonnie, I'm really sorry about what happened back there."

"Oh, it's not your fault Ron. I forgot to tell you where the guest room was. Besides, you were a true gentleman about it, looking away and not staring. I really admire that."

"Thanks," he said, glad that Bonnie wasn't mad. "Well, let's get going," he continued, opening the door for Bonnie and following. As he stepped out after her, he tripped on the deep snow and fell face first. Covered in snow as he stood back up, he saw Bonnie laughing cheerily at him. With a small laugh of his own, Ron picked up some snow and tossed it at Bonnie, and she retaliated with a snowball of her own. By the time they made it to Ron's car, both looked like snowmen.

"Well, we better brush off this snow before we get in so it doesn't melt on us…and my car seats."

"Yea, good point." When they brushed most of the snow on them off, they jumped into the car and sped off.

"So, how did that Bueno Nacho naco thing end up anyway?"

"Oh, I'm not really sure. They haven't called me for a while; I did lose a hundred million dollars after all."

"Ron, I'm really sorry about all of that stuff that happened in the past. I just want you to know that now I really like you, and I mean really like you for who you are. In fact, outside of family, you're my favorite person in the whole entire world." Ron blushed profusely, and this time Bonnie caught it. "Did you know you're really cute when you blush?" she asked, giggling. Ron turned an even darker shade of red, missing the subtle signs that Bonnie was dropping for him.

---

"Hey Josh, you want to hit the mall today? Sorry about last night; it was pretty…eventful."

"Sure thing. Oh, and I perfectly understand Kim. Did you get my gift?"

"Oh, Josh, it was lovely. I'm so sorry you didn't get your gift. I still have it here, and I'll give it to you today."

"Thanks. Hey, I'm going to go shower now. Do you want me to pick you up?"

"No, I'll just meet you there in an hour. I have some thinking I need to do."

"I understand. See you there in an hour?"

"It's a date."

Hanging up the phone, she got up and made her way towards the shower, undressing and then stepping into the blissful warmth. Sighing, her thoughts turned back to Ron.

'Ron and Bonnie? It just…doesn't make sense.'

'And why is that?'

'Bonnie's always hated Ron and me. She's got to be using him against me.'

'Things change. I was always friends with Ron wasn't I? That changed didn't it? Remember when she stuck up for him during school? Did that seem fake? She's never even come near me when I got her booted off the cheerleading squad. Face it, she genuinely likes Ron and isn't using him.'

'No…no, it can't be true.'

Resignedly, she realized that it was true. Well, I'm not going to let that bitch steal my best friend, not when I might still love him. I'm going to do things right this time, and no one is going to stop me. Do I love Ron though? I mean, if I didn't I wouldn't mourn losing him so much would I? What if it's just friendship after all? I can't betray him twice like this. Agh, why couldn't things just have stayed the same? Oh crap! I'm going to be late! Realizing that she had already been showering for half an hour, she quickly got out, dried off, and rubbed some lotion on herself before getting dressed. After taking a few rushed minutes to apply makeup, she sprinted outside, jumped into her car, and sped off towards the mall.

---

"So, how long have you known Ron?"

"Oh, probably for over a decade, though we haven't become friends until recently. He's by far the nicest and sweetest person I've ever met." Mrs. Stoppable smiled sweetly and thanked her.

"Well, um, if I'm not too bold to ask, are you two dating yet?"

"No, mom, we're just friends," Ron said, blushing again.

"So, are you two planning anything for the rest of winter break?"

"Well, we're going to the Middleton Ski Lodge tomorrow," said Bonnie happily.

"Really?" Mr. Stoppable said, entering the conversation. "My wife and I go there all the time; it's a really fun and rom—"

"Yep, it's a very fun place," interrupted Mrs. Stoppable. "Have you thought about college yet dear?" asked Ron's mom, quickly changing the subject.

"Well, I think I'll just go to Middleton University; I don't think I'm ready to live so far away from home."

"Oh really? That's where Ron wants to go too."

"Yeah, I know, that's another reason I'm going."

---

"Oh, thanks Kim. I've been wanting to get a new watch to replace my old one for a long time," said Josh, receiving Kim's Christmas present.

"Yea, I saw your old one get scratched pretty badly against the lockers."

"Definitely not one of my proudest moments," said Josh, giving her a smooth laugh. The couple was walking to the food court when they heard a gunshot ring out in the direction of the jewelry story.

"Hand it all over, NOW!" The frightened lady started to fill up the bag with precious items when Kim jumped into action.

"Kim!" yelled Josh, trying to get her to return but to no avail. With no other choice he headed off after her. Luckily for Kim, she still had the gadgets she always had on her for emergency purposes. Before the criminals knew what had hit them, two of the three were already knocked out before Kim felt the cold, clammy metal of a gun pushing up against her temple. For the first time in her life, death was truly an inch away.

"Damn!" said her assailant as the gun was knocked out of his hand. Stunned, she saw Josh beating the stuffing out of the now defenseless thief. Wow, he's fast she thought to herself, before going to restrain him.

"Josh, that's enough! He's no threat anymore," she said as she pried Josh off the beaten man.

"No one threatens my girl," he said darkly, before turning away from the man and leaving him to the cops.

"Wow Josh, those were some moves you pulled there."

"Well, I guess athletics and painting gives me a good balance of strength, speed, and hand-eye coordination."

"Um, I'm not sure how to say this…but do you want to…I dunno, be partners temporarily for Team Possible until Ron comes back?"

"Really? Be a real superhero?" Josh asked, losing his cool for once. "Y-y-y, YES, I mean, sure, that sounds fine." Kim giggled.

"Thanks, I just need someone to watch my back until Ron forgives me."

"What do you see in him anyway? I mean, anyone would have ditched that loser, even if—" Kim slapped Josh hard across the face.

"Don't EVER talk about Ron like that," she said in a fierce tone. Rubbing his face, Josh gave her an apologetic look, realizing that he had crossed the line.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't know he still meant that much to you. It's just that, you've been really stressed about him lately, and I hate to see you like this."

"Yea, you're right. I have been really stressed about him lately," she said, sighing to herself.

"Excuse me," said a well-dressed man, cutting the conversation short. "I'm from the Middleton News Crew. Are you two the heroes who just saved that jewelry store a few minutes ago?"

"That's us," said Josh, appearing interested.

"Well, can we do a live interview with you two right now? It's the day after Christmas, and stories of heroics are always welcome."

---

After a pleasant breakfast, Ron and Bonnie went to the living room and turned on the TV.

"Maybe there are still some Christmas movies on," said Bonnie hopefully.

"Hello, I'm Dan Sullivan reporting from Middleton news. Two teen heroes have just saved the local mall's jewelry store from an armed robbery." The camera zoomed to Kim, who was clearly struggling to smile, and an ecstatic Josh Mankey.

"So, can you tell us who you two are and the story of your heroics?"

"Sure thing Dan. This beautiful young lady here is Kim Possible, and I'm her boyfriend and partner." Kim's smile quickly darkened.

'Oh no, what if Ron sees this?'

'Don't worry. He can't be watching TV at this hour, especially with Bonnie over.' Still not completely relieved, she just tried her best to act natural.

"Yea, we make quite a team don't we? We'll—"

Ron shut off the TV in disgust. So you've found a replacement for our missions too?

"Ron, you okay?" asked Bonnie, seeing Ron turn red with anger.

"Fine," he said evenly. "If she doesn't want me on missions, then I don't want to go. It's time I moved on anyway."

A/N—I'll just end the chapter here. Please review, and you can expect an update soon. I'll edit the first few chapters after I go to school, since it'll be easier that way. Thanks for your patience.