Seven Days
By S-Chrome

Disclaimer: They're not owned by me. They're owned by Disney and not me. So stop calling me, maaan.

Monday: Now what are we going to do?

What had he done?

What on Earth had he done?

What in God's name had he done?

Ron Stoppable looked at his reflection in the mirror and nothing stared back at him.

Several hours ago he'd just make a terrible, terrible mistake. Of course, it didn't seem like a mistake when he fell asleep that late Sunday night. But, now, it was Monday, and the young man of about twenty-two years of age could only stare blankly at his reflection. Warm sunshine shined through the bathroom window on this morning, but Ron felt like he'd been stuck in a state of perpetual refrigeration. His blood ran cold, his expression seared with confusion as minutes gradually passed by. To the blond-haired man, there was a surreal feeling about what had gone on the entire week that was... with this entire situation being the most unreal and unsettling of them all.

He didn't feel like an adult, holing himself in the bathroom of his own apartment. What kind of a responsible adult did something like this? In fact, what kind of adult could allow himself to fall into temptation like this? Now, he had to bear this cross until he either went to the grave or scrambled enough gumption to face what he did and have it come to some kind of resolution.

Neither one seemed to be feasible at this moment, on this very minute where Ron Stoppable was still having trouble with looking at himself in the mirror in his bathroom that was locked on this pleasant, yet unpleasant Monday morning.

He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, a usual mechanism when he was shaken or uncertain. Never had he been more uncertain about anything else in his life. Sure, he feared things that were uncertain about graduation from high school, then graduation from college, monkeys... but all of those three subjects of fear were conquered somehow. This... this, was just something that hit him like a freight train; completely head-on without warning.

What he did? Well, it wasn't adultery of any kind... nor was it anything pertaining to stealing or robbing. Heck, he most assuredly didn't commit homicide.

But, why did he feel like he just killed something important to him?

Hell, the blood, the fingerprints and the guilt were on his hands. Then again, he wasn't the only guilty party in this... and that gave him a small portion of respite, but not nearly enough to quell his troubled state. The Virgo in him just couldn't let him place the blame on anywhere but his own shoulders. He was supposed to be responsible. Heck, he was responsible enough to graduate from college and hold down a decent job, yet not enough to get through this?

Speaking of job, it was almost a miracle that he had the day off from work this day.

The young man's gaze turned from the bathroom mirror to the door. His head ached... no doubt, the pain came from thinking much too hard, or the fact that one, burning question continued to drill it's way through his skull the entire time he was awake... which had to be at least one hour or so;

What now?

What am I going to do now?

What are we going to do now?

A pair of emerald green eyes fixed themselves upon their surroundings.

It didn't take her but an instant to figure out where she was. Still, the pain that rushed to her temples and the realization of just why she was in this place almost forced her to attempt to block out her memory. No, it was already too late. She knew exactly why she was here and what the ramifications were.

What happened the night before couldn't be rationalized, explained or marginalized.

The articles of clothing strewn about the room explained more of the night before far better than Kim Possible could on this sunshine-filled spring morning. Add to that, the fact that the warm bed sheets were the only thing that hid the redhead's shame explained the story in the most clear and concise detail possible. She took a deep breath to let everything sink in for the moment. There wasn't any way that she could accept what went on immediately.

It just didn't make any sense to her how this could've been the outcome of the night before. She wasn't intoxicated, poisoned, drugged or anything of the sort, nor was Ron. Still, here she was, short of clothing and short of reasoning.

The young woman placed a hand between her forehead and eyebrows. The sunlight was almost blinding to her at the moment. Then again, being blind toward sunlight paled in comparison to the blindness she felt toward more important matters.

She remembered everything that in the days that led up to this one in vivid detail. She had missed Ron dearly the last few months and very much homesick. Having just finished from graduating from Wexford University with the highest of honors, she decided to pay her best friend a visit. For the next four days, everything seemed to be going great… just the two of them catching up on old times, sharing old memories, and generally enjoying their company.

Then, for whatever reason, they got into an argument… and things just seemed to deteriorate from there. That is, until Sunday. Both seemed to say their peace and everything appeared to be fine between her and Ron.

Then Sunday night came out of nowhere, and now on this morning, the entire picture was thrown in chaos... well, at least, to her understanding, the picture was thrown into chaos.

Now she was here…and she didn't know where Ron was. She had to find him and speak to him, before this sitch got out of hand... well, if it's not out of hand already.

Locating the nearest piece of clothing she could get her hands on, the redhead leapt out of the spacious bed looking for her blond companion. He couldn't have left. She scanned the kitchen, no sign of him. She tried the living room to find that he wasn't there either. Perhaps he had to leave for work. He did mention in the past few days that he had a job. Well, in the event that he wasn't there, she needed to clear her head, and she was going to begin that process by taking a long, hot shower.

Problem, though, the bathroom door was locked.

At that second, a sense of trepidation wracked the redhead. Ron was still here, and so was she.

"Ron, are you in there?" A feminine voice from the other end of the bathroom asked.

Shoot. He couldn't bring himself to curse, not even to himself, even in the enormity of his jam.

The young man sighed bitterly. He knew it wouldn't be long before she had arisen from her slumber. The pain that plagued each side of his head only seemed to throb harder and faster. He couldn't let her know how shaken he was of this entire... sitch. He let in a breath and exhaled quickly. He had to be strong. It would be the best for him... for both of them. Still, it didn't make the rapid heartbeat slow or the throbbing in his temples throb any less.

"Yeah, Kim... I'm here." he replied, his breath shortening with every syllable he spoke. "I'm kind of in the can," he quipped.

Silence. Silence is what got them in this jam in the first place.

Then, a chuckle on the other end… probably strained since it took so long for her to react to what he said.

"OK... but when you come out, I want to talk to you about..." She tried to continue on, but there really wasn't really any sense in her saying any more. Ron knew of what she was going to want to talk about before she spoke a single word. As if a rapid heartbeat, and pulsating temples were bad enough, his palms grew sweaty, and he could've sworn that his vision was going blurry on him. Even though he was only clad in a pair of sweat pants and a tank top, he was quite prepared to make a break for the streets if...

...no, wait a minute.

This wasn't him. This wasn't him at all. He was Ron Stoppable. OK, while that ascertainment didn't help much, it did let him know that there wasn't a problem that he couldn't face... no matter how tough.

'You can't stop a Stoppable,' He coined that catchphrase during the freshman year of college... one of the toughest times in his life. He didn't have a lot of the things to hang his hat on. He was in unfamiliar territory during that time, and Kim, his best friend and the closest thing to a support system next to his parents, was a little bit less than a half a world away, studying at a prestigious university overseas. Either way, the catchphrase taught him that no matter how tough times were, he could make it through.

Still, this was peculiar to say the least.

Uneasily, he turned the knob and opened the door. Kim was the first thing that he saw... clad in one of his robes. There she was, his best friend since early childhood and her hair was a mess, the expression on her face was about as blank as the one he saw in the mirror several minutes ago. She tried to look in his and he tried to do the same... both seemed to fail at this menial task miserably.

"So, uh--" He spoke up first, almost regretting that he decided to unlock the door.

"Yeah... I--" She muttered back, her eyes darting back and forth, averting his eyes.

"I..." Words usually came so easily when it was just him and his best friend, Kimberly-Anne... but now. He couldn't bring himself to say a word to her. That probably hurt him the most of all.

"I-I'm sorry," he quickly muttered before he nearly ran through the front door of his apartment.

"Wait... Ron, wait!" He heard her call behind him, but no way, there was no way he was going back there. There was way too much awkward going on there for any of his liking. The young man knew of consequences of the decision that are made by people throughout the course of life, but this one, made last night, may have very well been the costliest and the most damaging in his. Now, all that was left of his friendship with his best friend were broken sentences and awkward glances... and that was something he just couldn't accept.

Almost two decades of friendship, flushed away... and for what?

Ron shook his head regretfully. That was a question that had to be answered with time. And apparently, he was going to have a lot of time on his hands... by himself... on his own.

End of Chapter One.