There's Still Fireworks: Part 4

Just Call Me Angel, of the Morning

The sun was starting to climb fairly high in the bright, clear spring sky. Ron was so preoccupied with his thoughts and his plans that he hadn't noticed how nice the weather was outside. He was so intent, he even forgot to change out of his pajamas at first. It took Rufus tugging on his pants leg to make him realize greeting Kim for any reason by that point in sleepwear might be taken any one of several incorrect ways.

It was odd enough realizing that such things were actually important now.

Eventually he tired of pacing the living room, sitting down on the edge of the couch, thinking to himself. Things were not as clear to him by that point, though that might have had more to do with his lack of sleep the night before than the quandary that he faced.

Thoughts of how their meeting would proceed were interspersed with images of Kim that he had never considered so intently before. Suddenly her long, flippy red hair seemed so soft, so enticing. As frightened as he was about the prospect of their relationship taking a nose dive, he still wanted to run his fingers through it, to bury his face in it and breath the scent of whatever unidentifiable floral shampoo she used.

He thought about her wearing that same outfit she wore almost constantly when they were sophomores. There were certain details that seemed to demand his attention much more than they ever had before. Like the gap that almost always formed at the top of her pants. There were times he caught himself looking, just to see if he could get a peek at what she had on under them. More often than not, it was just an illusion that anyone could actually see anything. The gap came because of her muscular hips and her tiny waist. That didn't mean he never got a glimpse of a lacy elastic band from time to time. Then there was the fact she liked wearing the crop tops. As though he'd never realized it before, Kim's belly button was…sexy.

There was also the fact he was aware Kim only rarely wore a certain other article of clothes. He never quite understood that particular quirk in her personality. In his particular brand of logic, it would make more sense for a young woman as modestly built as she was to want to wear one, especially one of the newer ones that made the most of what she had to offer.

On top of all that, he found himself wondering what she looked like naked. That last thing made him a little ashamed, especially since he was so attuned to thinking of her as just a friend, but being a teenaged male, he just couldn't help himself. Along with that mild shame came a little bit of beating himself up for blowing the chance he had with her…that way.

No, that was sick and wrong. As much as he would like that, it wouldn't have been Kim. Even then, as he sat there, waiting to see what would become of the day, he knew that just being her boyfriend, at least until she got there, would only allow him to kiss her. That's all. They were still Kim and Ron, best friends since their earliest childhood. The only thing that had really changed was that they could add kissing and hand-holding to what really had been dates of a sort over the last couple years.

He almost wanted to cry thinking that he was going to end a chance to do even that.

"Think I should have talked to Dad about this?" He asked Rufus, who was sitting attentively on the coffee table, aware of just how troubled his human was.

All the naked mole rat could muster was a confused shrug. He was just as far into uncharted territory as Ron was.

"I guess you're right, buddy. He'd probably just go right back into the talk and you know how that turned out the last time." Both of them shuddered at the thought. It seemed his father was just as clueless as he was about women, making him wonder how the older man had ever gotten together with his mother in the first place. That line of thinking took him to another place he didn't want to go, so he went back to thinking about Kim.

Kim…his girlfriend. Kim, who just might want more than just kissing, as inexplicably as she wanted to start a deeper relationship with him. He tried to think of how she might react to what he had to tell her, but only managed to picture her once again in those loose capris and that short, short tank top. He imagined his arm wrapping around her waist, reaching up and touching the part of her back where a strap should have been.

The memory of them kissing was still very strong in his mind, a memory he wanted to hold onto much more than he wanted to end things. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to hold her small hand, twining his fingers with hers.

All in all, Ron Stoppable was a very confused young man that morning.

Sitting there in the living room, another horrible thought occurred to him. It was something Kim had said the night before. What if she was the one who came to her senses in the light of day.

That tableau played out in his mind. She would show up, give him a little kiss on his cheek, sit down beside him and say those horrible words. "Ron, we have to talk." Kim was a smart girl, perhaps one of the smartest he knew, and the further she got from that moment as the effects of the Moodulator wore off, the more she would come to realize just what a bad decision she had made. How could she call an ugly, dumb, lazy slob like him her boyfriend? It just didn't make sense for the two of them to be together.

The idea that he was about to be dumped by her swept away his angst about dumping her. Why was that so horrible, he wondered? It would accomplish the same thing, and she would be a lot less upset than if he was doing the dumping.

Oh, that was pretty obvious. He would be the one getting dumped, and no matter how logical that was, it was still going to hurt.

Why did he even want to be in a relationship with anyone? He had no illusions about who and what he was. Even if it was some other girl who was nowhere near as pretty as Kim, they would always come to their senses and realize just how wrong it was to be together with him. He was the one who was going to get dumped, again and again, if he was so lucky as to even start a relationship with someone.

No! He couldn't let things get to that point. Even if it was a little (well, a lot) selfish, he was going to have to be the one doing the dumping. He just couldn't deal with that kind of hurt, on top of having to do that to Kim. If there was any way they were going to salvage their friendship from that point, he was the one who was going to have to do it.

Ron's heart just about jumped out of his chest as the front door swung open. He knew it was too soon for his parents to be back from temple, and there was only one other person in the world who would enter their home like that.

Steeling his courage, he looked up…

…and his jaw hit the floor for the second time in two days.

Kim was standing right inside the door, the sun behind her, creating a golden halo around her. The light caused her body to silhouette inside the dress she was wearing, revealing every curve of her lithe form.

The dress itself he had never seen before. Kim's closet had no doors, so he had a pretty good idea of what was hanging there, and there definitely had not been any pink white and yellow sun dresses hanging there. The style itself was timeless, the top made of an elastic material that clung to her. Two thin straps threatened to fall down over her shoulders, and the slightly billowy skirt ended just past her knees.

It was as if an angel was standing there in his doorway. An angel who was smiling as if she had discovered the secret to total happiness.

"Are you just going to sit there, or are you going to say hello to your girlfriend properly?" She asked sweetly.

Without consciously thinking about doing so, he crossed the room and engulfed her in a ferocious hug. The fantasy became reality as he buried his face in her considerable mane, inhaling deeply, not caring what kind of flower she smelled like, only that it was some kind of floral scent, one he'd only noticed in passing so many times before. He could feel her body against his, so warm and soft, despite the fact she was actually a great deal stronger than he was. It was a lot closer hug than she had ever given him in the past, where only their shoulders met.

He wasn't quite sure where the hug ended and the kiss began, but all the certainty about how their meeting that morning would progress was thrown out the window in that moment.

Finally, they broke the kiss, still holding each other close as Kim looked into his eyes. "Wow, it's like you've been waiting all night for that."

"Yeah, KP, I've been thinking about it…a lot. Kim, you're so…"

Her grin got even wider as she slipped out of his arms, twirling around so the skirt billowed slightly. All he could concentrate on was the shape of her legs revealed by the bright sunlight. "You like?"

"That dress is badical, KP. Where'd you get it? The only place open this time of the morning is…uh, well, Smarty Mart."

"It's one of the dresses Nana sent for me to wear. Mom picked it out for me."

"She's…wow, you're so beautiful, but I thought you weren't a 'sundresser.'"

She twirled around again, losing her balance slightly, forcing Ron to catch her about the waist. She snuggled her back against him, holding her hands over his arms.

"You know, I never realized how much I'd like this." She said, closing her eyes, letting him hold onto her that way.

"What, wearing one of Nana's dresses?"

"No, silly, having somebody hold onto me like this." She nuzzled him for a moment, until they both realized they were standing there with the door open, sharing a bit of a private moment.

Kim disengaged herself from his arms again, gently shutting the door, cutting off the golden sunlight, but leaving them alone in the foyer of his home. She took his hands and leaned closer to kiss him again, but stopped short, a look of concern in her eyes.

"What's wrong, Ronnie?" she asked, brushing his hair out of his face slightly.

He jumped slightly, his plans coming back to him in a rush. Only, in that moment, his resolve was utterly and completely destroyed. The sight of her like that, dressing that way for him and him alone made such thoughts unwanted and seemingly impossible. Then it occurred to him that he hadn't slept a wink.

"I kinda couldn't sleep, so I sat up watching TV." He lied. The television itself hadn't been turned on, save maybe his father watching the early news shows before they left for the services.

"Baby, you need to take better care of yourself." The smile returned as her eyes narrowed slightly. "Does that mean we're all alone here this morning?"

"Uh, yeah, but I don't…"

She cut him off by wrapping her arms around his shoulders again and pulling him in for another kiss, one that lasted longer than the first, ending with her lightly tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth.

"Oh yes, I can definitely get used to that. Have you told them yet?"

"Told them? Oh, you mean about us?"

"No, I mean that Bonnie and Brick are going to elope. Of course I mean about us. Don't tell me you haven't told them."

Ron's head tilted to the side. "I really haven't had much of a chance."

"Well, surely they figured something when we went to the fair last night."

He found he suddenly couldn't look her directly in the eyes. "I dunno, KP. When I went out I kinda just said I was going to the fair with you. I didn't mention it being a date, so they probably think it's just like anything else we do together. I just spent the night thinking about stuff."

Kim arched an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were watching TV. So, what kind of…stuff were you thinking about, cause kissing is as far as I'm willing to go right now."

"No, no, no, not that, I…well, yeah, I did think about that a little. I can't help it, I'm a guy."

"What other stuff were you thinking about? If it's what we're going to do for dates, I'm so not worried about that. I know between the two of us I'm the only one with any kind of income, such as it is, so if I end up paying for our dates, it's no big."

"Well…" He caught himself before his hand could reach the back of his neck. A random thought popped into his mind wondering why exactly he did that all the time, but that was quickly shoved aside.

She took his chin, forcing him to meet her eyes. That was all it took.

"KP, we've got to talk."

Her expression didn't change, but he could see the concern in her eyes. Nothing good ever came from that phrase.

Ron took her hand and led her to the couch, sitting down beside her, with about a foot separating the two of them.

"Kim, you said last night that maybe by morning you'd come to your senses. I can't help but think that's going to happen, sooner or later anyway."

"What are you saying? That I don't know what I want to do?"

"Well, maybe. We don't have any way of knowing if that thing did something permanent to you, and eventually you're going to see me for what I really am."

"Ron, I can do that already. I don't know where all this may be going, but I do know this; If I want a boyfriend, I want it to be somebody I love."

"You…you love me?"

"Of course I do, silly. I don't know if it's the we're-going-to-be-together-the-rest-of-our-lives-and-have-kids kinda love yet, but I do love you."

"Oh, you mean the 'we're just friends' kind of love."

"Yes, but there's something more." She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. It wasn't the same kind of passionate kiss she had just given him at the door, but what it lacked in energy, it made up for in tenderness. "See, I liked that. I liked it so much I want to do it more. Am I 'in love' with you? I don't know yet, but the way I figure it is if I love you as my best friend and I like doing that with you, why fight it. Maybe that's what true love is and we just don't see it yet."

"But I'm not exactly what I'd consider boyfriend material for you, KP. You deserve the best."

She reached out and put a hand on his cheek. The touch was so warm, almost making him swoon right there on the living room couch. "Ronnie, there's a whole lot more to being 'boyfriend material' than just being a pretty face. That's one of the reasons I lost interest in Josh. To be perfectly honest with you, he's kinda…boring. I finally realized, really, just about the time Bonnie pointed out he was palling around with Tara that all I ever really saw in him was his looks. Sure, he's sweet and nice and a gentleman, but deep down inside I never saw anything else in him. Last night it hit me that what I wanted was somebody who I felt something for, and when you boil it right down, you're the one."

"I am?"

"Yes, and Ron, don't sell yourself short."

"Hey, don't bring up the fact you're taller than me!" He protested.

"So not. Stand up…no, face the other way, and take off your shoes."

"Uh, are you sure, my socks are kinda gross."

"Just take them off." She kicked off her own white sneakers, and stood ram-rod straight against his back. Reaching up, she mashed down the poof of her hair, holding her hand up against the back of his head.

Turning back around, he held her hands a little more than an inch apart. "See, you're actually taller than me now. I'm willing to bet by the prom I'm going to have to wear high heels just to stand eye-to-eye with you."

"The…the prom?"

"Of course the prom. Boyfriends take their girlfriends to the prom, you know."

"I, I guess I wasn't thinking that far ahead. It's still more than two months off."

"What, you thinking we won't even make it two months? Let me see, what would make me want to end this before we even get to the prom? You're not seeing somebody on the side that I don't know about, are you? You weren't crushing on somebody when you went to Japan, were you?"

He wasn't expecting that. Images of a girl he really barely knew filled his mind for a moment, making him hesitate. "No, I was only there a week, not like I had time to find a secret girlfriend."

Kim smiled broadly, then stopped herself. "Sorry, Ron, I was thinking how strange it would be for you to have a secret girlfriend, at least secret from me, but that's wrong. If Tara could be interested in you, and I'm going steady with you, there's bound to be others who feel the same way."

"Uh, yeah, sure." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. What on earth was he thinking anyway? He knew Yori for part of a week, he'd known Kim for most of their lives. It wasn't like he wasn't allowed to look, especially since he never even thought his current situation likely or even possible.

"So, we're good?" She asked.

Ron took her hand. "Spankin!" He proclaimed, borrowing her catchphrase.

"Just don't let Dad hear you say that, he might get the wrong idea." She said, closing her eyes and leaning in for another kiss.

Ron was smiling softly to himself as the bell rang, signaling the end of the final period of the day. He was utterly and totally lost in his thoughts, daydreaming of his new girlfriend waiting for him at their lockers, absently stuffing his books into his backpack.

He was so into the idea of sneaking a little PDA with her before they got off campus he didn't realize a huge shadow had crossed his desk.

"Stoppable, the bell doesn't dismiss this class, I dismiss this class!" Steve Barkin bellowed, blocking his student from even getting up from his seat.

For half a moment, he considered coming back with the fact the rest of the students had already beat a hasty retreat out the door, but his mind flashed back to all the badical kisses he was going to share with Kim.

"Sure, Mr. B, whatever you say."

That seemed to confuse the large ex-military man. He had been watching Ron throughout the class, taking note that he seemed to be in a whole other world than English Lit. Quickly, though, he got his wits back about himself.

"I saw you daydreaming in class. You know you're on thin ice with the school, Stoppable, and even thinner ice with me. I've been watching you since the first day you walked into this school."

"Hey, if this is about the funny look I gave you, I had my reasons!" Ron protested. He knew all too well it wasn't a look directed at the large substitute teacher, but him trying to recover from Kim reacting to something he did on the way to school that day.

"I don't care about your reasons, all I care about is that you know the material. You know what that means!"

"Extra homework?" Ron said meekly.

"Affirmative. I expect it on my desk by 7 o'clock tomorrow morning."

Ron almost opened his mouth to protest that they wouldn't even unlock the doors until seven thirty, but once again thought the better of it. "Yes sir, Mr. B. I'll have it on your desk first thing in the morning."

Barkin paused again, half expecting some other comeback from the boy. He had another assignment ready to go for the young man, but suddenly found himself without a real reason to give it to him. Cooperation and agreement wasn't what he was expecting from the habitual slacker.

He was still somewhat dumbfounded when Ron stuffed the assignment into his bag and headed out into the hall. He squinted his eyes at the young man as he rounded the corner, heading toward the Junior lockers.

Was that a hickey on Stoppable's neck?

He shook his head, trying to reconcile the image of him with Possible. The two of them were inseparable, but never seemed to want to get romantic, until that surprise visit at his home Friday afternoon.

"Cheese and crackers!" He swore, grabbing the remaining assignments he had prepared. He reached the couple just as Kim put her communications device away.

"Come on, at least we can get out of here before…" Ron jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

Barkin grinned, holding the pages out. "Extra homework!"

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