Disclaimer: I do not own Disney or anything, I borrowed from other media.

CHP 7: Late night thoughts

*Tara's pov*

As much as Tara wanted to stay and comfort Ron, as well as possibly get him to open up about what he is going through emotionally, she knew that she needed to get home soon. Ron, being the gentleman, also suggested that he get her home so together they get on Ron's bike and travel to Tara's house. Tara already enjoyed the first time she rode on Ron's motorcycle with her arms wrap around his waist, due to how slow the bike ride can be at times, so now she waits for the moments.

Once arriving at the house, Ron does his best not to reveal his disappointment of being away from Tara for the time being. Of course, after what transpired between them back at Ron's place Tara picks up on his hidden feelings and reminds him that they will meet up tomorrow right before giving him a passionate kiss on the lips.

Allowing a huge smile to form on his face after returning the kiss, Ron lets go of Tara and heads on home while Tara enters inside. "Mom I'm home, and Ron said hi!"

Ms. Knight pokes her head out from the kitchen with a confused expression on her face, "Ron? You mean my future son in law Ron?"

Tara's face quickly turns bright red, "Mom!?"

Ms. Knight couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's reaction. "Just messing with you dear, how did it go with Ron?"

Tara takes a deep breath from realizing her mom was joking. Not that she didn't want to be with Ron for a long time, but the thought of marriage so soon scared her a bit. "I can't even begin to describe how great today was. When had a great time together at the mall playing in the arcade room, he even with shopping with me and was a good sport about it." She explains with her signature, bubbly smile.

"Sounds you enjoyed yourself meaning there will be more dates in the future?" Seeing her daughter happy like this, especially with the young man that she has heard much of and met earlier today warms Ms. Knight heart.

"I hope so, it's like I don't want to rush things, but at the same time, I feel like I have wasted so much time not making my move on him that I don't want to wait anymore. Mainly what I found out about Ron today that surprise me." Tara admits thinking back to what Ron had told her.

"Everything alright?" Ms. Knight asks feeling curious about what Tara has discovered about Ron.

Tara gathers her thoughts before giving a brief answer for she feels Ron wouldn't want people knowing about his struggle. "I won't get too in-depth out of respect for Ron, but he deals with certain depression and hasn't told anyone about it."

Hearing this surprise, Ms. Knight a lot. "Really, not even his best friend Kim Possible?" She questions knowing about the special friendship between the two.

Tara nods and answers, "Not even her, which surprises me the most considering they practically knew each other for so long. I wouldn't expect him to share that with me."

Ms. Knight takes a moment to process the little information before having a real talk with Tara. "Honestly I have no idea what would cause Ron to want to open up to you about that, but I will say that because he has open up to you like this, you need to decide what role you will play in his life going forward. If you feel like you cannot handle what he deals with, then you need to let him know now before you further any relationship that you have for it might backfire if you wait until later to tell him. Depression is not an easy emotion to deal with, and in this case, it will take someone strong to help one heal from it."

Taking in everything her mom just told her, Tara softly responds by saying, "I understand mom."

"I know you do, just think about it some and once you figure things out go from there." Ms. Knight knew it was a lot for her daughter to take in, but she needed her to be sure that she can handle this side of the new relationship before both young teens move forward together.

Tara and her mom proceed into giving each other a tight hug with Tara telling her, "Thank you for the pep talk."

Ms. Knight kisses Tara's forehead, "Anytime, I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too," Tara said back. She then heads up to her room with much on her mind that she needs to figure out.

Once in her room, Tara takes the time to understand where she will stand when it comes to Ron. Tara hasn't dated a lot of guys, mostly cause the popular guy at school only wanted one thing from her. Therefore, she wasn't used to dealing with what Ron is dealing with, and the fact that Kim doesn't know makes it even harder to help figure out how to help him. Part of her feels nervous and afraid because now that she finally has Ron in her life she didn't want to screw things up by being the girl who took the first move only to pull back after getting his hopes proving that she is still the shy girl living in Bonnie's shadows.

That's when her thoughts went back to the day she stood up to Bonnie and finally claims Ron how she was confident and proud of herself for giving Bonnie a piece of her mind and could go after the guy she has wanted for a long time. Thinking about it, Tara realizes her most confident side of her is the version she needs to bring out if she wants to stay tough enough to take on the new challenges in her life as far as school and a unique relationship. She won't deny it will be easier said than done, but he is now motivated and comes down to her conclusion to the question her mom asked her.

Tara walks over to her mirror and takes a deep breath while looking at her reflection. "No matter what Ron, I'm going to stand by your side. You are not going to go through this alone because from this point on, no more being shy Tara but a much braver me."

She smiles with content after making her declaration. Switching to her sleep clothes, Tara gets inside her bed to go to sleep and dreams about her Mad Dog and being his cheerleader.

*Ron's pov*

Ron had a lot on his mind concerning his time with Tara. As he rubs, Rufus Ron goes over everything from the beginning of the day to his current thoughts.

"Today was mostly great Rufus, but I feel that I mess things up by telling Tara about my issue," Ron states to his naked mole-rat companion, who is giving him his undivided attention.

"Hink How it did it go?" Rufus inquiries in his language.

Ron begins to retell his date with Rufus. "Well, when I first arrived at her place, I met her mom, who was nice to me though I didn't meet her dad. Now that I think about it, I haven't asked Tara about her dad so that might be a conversation I could bring up if she still would like to be my girlfriend."

"True." Rufus agrees

"Anyways after meeting her mom, Tara and I, of course, went Bueno Nacho and got this she eats a Nacho! However, due to her commitment as a cheerleader, she can't eat it often to keep in shape." Right after he said the last part, Ron starts to think about Tara's hourglass body in her cheerleading outfit.

"Hey!?" Rufus raises his fist in the air and shakes it with anger to get Ron back focus on the topic.

Ron snaps out his trance and apologize so he can return to his story. "Sorry about that I zoned out just then. So anyways as we chatted, she told me she wanted to either be a nurse or a stunt double when she grows up. At first I was nervous that she would drop me when I told her I wasn't sure what career path to take, but instead, she encourages me, and now I am considering being a chief."

"Nice." Rufus quietly said.

"So here's the cool part after we ate went to the mall where I discover that Tara is a nerd, not just any nerd, but a video game nerd," Ron reveals with excitement.

"Hink outstanding." Rufus cheers as he begins to like Tara more.

"I know right it surprises me too, and once she gets in the zone, she is not bad with a controller. Then I let Tara decide what she would like to do next and she chose to go shopping." Ron mentions causing Rufus to stick his tongue in disgust about the idea of shopping.

Now I did pick to play in the arcade, so it was only fair that I allow the beautiful woman has her turn. Besides, she wasn't as bad as Kp, so I was all right with it." Ron expresses remembering how Kim shops when it comes to Club Banana and how he had to deal with her shopping nature.

"Once she finishes, we ran into Kim and Monique, and that's when I found out that Kim finally has a date with Mankey," Ron said in an annoyed tone.

"Yuck Mankey sounds like monkey." Rufus groans.

"Who you telling? It's not that I'm jealous of him, but I don't see what the big deal is about the guy. I hope he treats Kim right, though I not too excited about the whole double date featuring him." Ron and Rufus both shiver at the thought of hanging with the famous artist.

"So this is when things get complicated. When Tara was here earlier, I somewhat told her about the dark moments that I have at times, and I believe that scared her off. Granted some things during that talk happen I still think that I shouldn't have told her about it considering there is a reason why I haven't told Kim about it." Ron says to Rufus in a sad tone.

"Aw, Tara might understand." Rufus tries to encourage Ron about opening up to Tara, which makes Ron think more on the situation.

Tara did say she wanted him to feel safe with him after somewhat confessing to her and the central fact that she has risked her spot on the food chain by associating with him as well ending her friendship with Bonnie speaks volumes about Tara as a person. However what Ron is dealing with is more than just a deep depression, it was a constant battle in him between his light and dark side that slowly started ever since he came home from the exchange problem. That alone would be hard to explain to Tara and could scare her off or freak Kim out if they knew the truth.

Ron sighs in frustration. "Maybe buddy but neither of them would understand how serious this is and it doesn't help that some people at school push for the dark side to win. In Tara's case, she will already have to deal with the school's negative reaction about us which will probably get to her and cause her to want end things so think of her reaction about my dark secret?"

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to come up with a decision now, Ron goes under the cover and decides to get some rest for tomorrow. "If anything I know I can talk to you about this. I guess we better get a good night's rest and see what happens tomorrow. Goodnight Rufus." The two said their goodnights and fell asleep.

TBC

AU: So I know some people were wondering why Ron wouldn't talk to Kim about this individual problem so I hope the hint helps out for as the story progress we will see it play out in a significant way. I am also working on a plan for Tara as she is transiting from being shy to a more confident girl as well.