Author's Note: I want to thank my betas, Neo the Saiyan Angel and kgs-wy. You rock!
Chapter 12: Touchdown
≈O≈
"I love you."
The words hung in the still air. Every second her profession went unanswered Bonnie grew more anxious. Had everyone around her been wrong about Kim after all? Did she not really feel that way about her?
Just as she was starting to lose hope, Kim jumped up and threw herself into the brunette, taking her into a tight embrace.
"That's all I've been waiting to hear," Kim said, her voice full of joy and relief.
"Yeah, well, like I said: it's not easy for me," Bonnie said, her arms still at her sides.
"Do you want to talk about it? Or about what happened with your dad?"
"It can wait," Bonnie said, finally putting her arms around Kim. She let out a content sigh as she lay her head on the other girl's shoulder. "It can wait."
≈O≈
Mrs. Possible checked her watch.
"It's getting late. I'm going to go and check on the girls," she said to her husband, who just went 'Mhmm' from behind his book. She put down her own book on the coffee table and got off the couch. As she made her way to and up the stairs, she wondered what that Rockwaller girl was doing there at this hour. Especially since she had been the subject of many a furious Kim rant.
She climbed the final ladder to Kim's room and saw Kim and Bonnie hugging each other. Unexpected, to say the least.
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked.
The girls separated quickly, both clasping their hands behind their backs. Noticing the mirrored move, Bonnie brought her hands in front her and crossed her arms.
"I-," Kim stammered, looking like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
"No, it's just some relationship issues," Bonnie said, telling the absolute truth.
"Boy trouble, got it," Mrs. Possible said. She turned to Bonnie: "In any case, don't you think you should be heading home?"
"I am pretty tired," Bonnie agreed.
"Mom, can she stay over? It's already this late, and Bonnie's about to fall over," Kim asked.
Mrs. Possible considered the request. It wasn't a big deal, but there was a weird vibe in the room she couldn't quite put her finger on. Without more to go on, she didn't want to jump to conclusions, and she trusted her daughter not to do anything ill-advised.
"I don't want to be a bother," Bonnie said.
"Don't be silly. Just call your mom and ask if it's okay."
Kim beamed. "Thanks, Mom!"
Mrs. Possible smiled and headed out the room. "In the meantime I'm going to get the air mattress."
"There's plenty of room in my bed," Kim said hopefully.
Mrs. Possible gave her daughter a stern look. "And she'll have more on the mattress."
Kim got the hint and did not press the issue.
She turned to Bonnie. "I've got some pyjamas you can borrow."
"Any that don't have hearts on them?"
≈O≈
Their arms stretched over the chasm. The gap between Kim's bed and the air mattress was wide enough to separate the girls, but narrow enough that they could hold hands without doing an impression of Elastigirl.
"Some day, huh?" Kim said.
"You can say that again," Bonnie replied sleepily, the day's emotional ride taking its toll.
"We really need to get some sleep. The big game is tomorrow."
"Yeah."
Reluctantly they let go of each other and settled in their beds.
"Goodnight, Sweetie," Kim said.
"Night, Kim."
≈O≈
The curtains only allowed a few of the sun's warming rays to enter the room from the cracks between, keeping the room shrouded in darkness. Suddenly, bright light flooded the room as the curtains were pulled aside.
Kim squinted at the ocular assault.
"It's time to wake up," she heard a voice say.
She vaguely acknowledged being held by someone. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light as gazed down at the tan arms wrapped around her. The previous night slowly came to her.
Bonnie. She had stayed over – but why was she in her bed?
Kim began turning over when she noticed someone else in the room.
Her mother was standing in front of the window.
"Bonnie, wake up!" Kim urged, only to have the grip on her tighten. "Bonnie!"
"But I'm so comfortable," Bonnie groaned. She opened her eyes to greet the sunlight, only to see Mrs. Possible looking at her.
"Good morning, girls," the Possible matriarch said.
Bonnie quickly let go of Kim. "Mrs. Possible, it's not what it looks like."
"We'll talk about that later. For now just make yourselves presentable and come downstairs. Breakfast is ready," Mrs. Possible said in an even voice and left.
The girls looked at each other.
"Busted," Bonnie said with a guilty look on her face.
"With a capital 'B'," Kim groaned into her hands.
"I don't get it; why was your mom so cool about this?"
Kim pulled her head out her hands and looked at Bonnie, frowning. "Didn't you hear her? We're going to have a talk."
"And? My mom would have had a meltdown. Yours didn't even look upset."
"She's upset, I can tell. Why were you in my bed anyway?"
"After what we went through last night you seriously expected me not to climb in your bed?"
"I don't know, maybe. But I can't say waking up next to you wasn't nice," Kim said, sidling up to Bonnie.
Bonnie brought her hand to Kim's cheek and stroked it with her thumb. "Before the parental interruption, you mean?"
"Yeah, before that," Kim smiled.
Bonnie smiled back, lingering in a comfortable moment of silence. Reluctantly she stood up and stretched, glancing at the entrance to Kim's room.
Kim noticed her bemused expression. "What?"
"I just thought it was a bit odd she kept her distance like that. She just seemed like the person to shake you awake."
"She knows better," Kim sighed wearily. She scrubbed her face and missed the odd look Bonnie gave her at the comment. "Come on, we better get downstairs."
≈O≈
Kim stared down at her breakfast. The yolks of her two sunny side up eggs wiggled at her like tiny, yellow boobs. She looked up to meet her mother's scrutinizing look.
"Did you girls get a good night's sleep?" Mr. Possible asked.
Mrs. Possible looked at them. "Yeah, did you?"
"Yes, we slept well," Kim replied, giving her sincerest look to her mother.
"Mhmm," Mrs. Possible uttered. "Anyway, after you get out of school we need to have a little discussion. All of us."
Mr. Possible looked quizzically at his wife, moving the slice of toast he was about to bite into away from his mouth. "We do? What about?"
"Well-" Mrs. Possible began before the tasmanian devil that was Jim and Tim, Kim's younger twin brothers, stormed in the dining room. "I'll fill you in later."
"But there's a game tonight. We need to practice our cheer routines," Kim said.
"What do you need to practice for?" Jim said as he and his brother sat down at the table with big bowls of cereal.
"Yeah, all you do is wave pompoms and dance around," Tim said.
Bonnie bristled. "Have you even seen what we do? I'll have you know cheerleading is just as demanding as football, and a hell of a lot more dangerous. You miss practice and you might as well break your own neck," she lectured angrily, leaning over the table.
"O-okay," both boys stammered.
At first Bonnie thought they had gotten scared because she had yelled at them. Then she noticed they weren't looking at her face, they were looking at-
Bonnie made a sharp indignant sound, tightening the neck of her pyjama top. "You pervs!" she yelled and turned to Kim. "Those little monkeys were looking down my shirt."
"Oh, you two are so dead," Kim growled, giving her brothers the death stare.
"Boys," Mrs. Possible said sternly. "Apologize to Ms. Rockwaller right now."
"But-"
"Now."
"We're sorry, Bonnie," the brothers said.
"They're just curious. Boys will be boys," Mr. Possible said.
"Boys will be slapped if they try that again," Bonnie said.
"Girls, settle down. Boys, eat your breakfast and keep your eyes to yourself," Mrs. Possible said. She waited until everyone had calmed down. "Back to the matter at hand. I am aware you have obligations, but there's more than enough time between school and your practice for a friendly little chat."
Kim and Bonnie looked at each other. While the 'friendly chat' part was suspect, they really had no choice but to agree.
"Okay, Mom," Kim acquiesced.
Mrs. Possible turned to look at Bonnie.
The brunette turned to Kim, who looked at her with an apologetic face. She groaned in resignation. "Fine," she said turning back to face Mrs. Possible. "I'll be there," she said, grabbing a fork off the table and stabbing her eggs with it.
≈O≈
"Ow!"
Kim stood up and took the Kimmunicator out of her pocket. "Sat on it," she said and set the bulky device aside. "Now that I look at it, it is pretty big for a communicator. Wade must have stuffed that thing full of gadgets."
Bonnie pulled Kim back down, this time landing softly on the pile of gym mats in the corner of their usual makeout spot, the gymnasium's equipment store room.
"Come on, we need to make some good memories before your dad shoots me up in a rocket," Bonnie said.
"Don't worry, he's all bark no bite," Kim said reassuringly. "Well, mostly bark."
"How bad do you think it'll be?"
"I honestly have no idea. I've been in trouble before, but this is different."
Bonnie put her hand on Kim's thigh and leaned in closer. "So we better make the most of the time we have."
The girls wasted no time getting to the activity their surroundings had borne witness to many times before.
The Kimmunicator beeped. Kim groped blindly at the device, knocking it to the ground. The impact killed the call. Kim attempted to detach from Bonnie to retrieve the device.
"They'll call back," Bonnie said, pulling Kim back.
As the girls resumed their amorous activities, the Kimmunicator came to life. It sprouted four little clawed tentacles that lifted the device off the ground. A small satellite dish looking sensor emerged from the casing, scanning the surroundings. The sensor locked on the two girls on top of the pile of mats next to it. Using the tentacles, the Kimmunicator climbed up the stack. After reaching the top surface, the device positioned itself to face the tangled teens. The screen came on.
"Kim, what's-," Wade began before getting a good look what was happening. There was Bonnie, on top of Kim, one hand roaming under the front of Kim's shirt, who had her hands under the back of of the other girl's shirt working to unclasp her bra.
"Oh, my gosh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"WADE!" Kim screamed.
The girls sat up, hastily pulling down their shirts. Kim tried to cover her bra that was partially hanging out her shirt.
"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry," Wade babbled, covering his eyes.
"Is there anyone you know who isn't a total peeping tom?" Bonnie asked.
"Wade, hang up, now!" Kim demanded.
Wade obeyed immediately. The sensor dish and tentacles retracted instantly, and the lifeless Kimmunicator dropped on the surface of the mat.
"Oh, God," Kim buried her face in her hands. She turned to Bonnie. "Do you think he saw anything?"
"I hope not. Or his mom better knock on his door before going in."
Kim dropped on her back on the mats. "This day just keeps getting worse."
"So, that's one more person that knows. Don't you think it's time we told people?" Bonnie said. She placed a finger on Kim's exposed belly and started moving it upwards slowly, and with it the shirt caught in it. "I'm not saying these clandestine tongue-parties aren't without their appeal, but I don't want to keep hiding from people. And eventually we're going to get caught by someone who isn't going to keep the secret."
Kim stopped Bonnie's hand just as her shirt was about to move past her breasts. "I know," she said, taking the rogue hand into hers. "And you're right. Just let me wait for the right moment, and I promise we'll tell people."
"Are you sure? Because I don't want to pressure you into something you're not ready for."
"I think so," Kim smiled.
"Okay. Unless you want to announce it right now, you should probably put your bra back on before we leave."
As Kim sat up and began to put on the stray garment, Bonnie stood up straightening her clothes and hair.
"I better head out first," Bonnie said, giving herself a last once-over. "Wait a bit before you follow me."
"I know the drill," Kim said and focused her attention on her clothes.
The door slammed shut behind the exiting brunette, leaving Kim alone. There was no mirror to check herself on, but she felt confident her appearance had been upgraded from disheveled to semi-groomed.
As she counted the seconds to when she could walk out without raising suspicion, it occurred to Kim she had better talk to Wade about what he had seen. Sure he was a genius, but he was still just a ten year old boy. She sat down on the mats and keyed the Kimmunicator. It took a little bit longer than usual for Wade to answer. When screen finally came on, Wade was holding his hands over his eyes.
"Kim, is that you?"
"Yes, Wade."
"Is it safe to look?"
"Yes, Wade."
Cautiously Wade peered through his fingers and seeing Kim alone and clothed he finally relaxed and let his hands drop.
"Look, Kim, I didn't mean to spy on you, it's just that you didn't answer and I thought maybe something was wrong and then-," Wade spoke in one breath, leaving him panting.
"It's okay, I'm not mad. But we need to talk about what you saw."
"Okay," Wade said timidly.
"First: what was it exactly that you saw?"
"I saw Bonnie, uh, she was on top of you, kissing you. And her hands were..."
"That's enough. Did you see anything, uh, exposed? Like my, uh..." Kim could not actually say the word, so she glanced down to indicate what she was talking about.
"No. Nothing like that."
"Good," Kim sighed in relief. "So, as you can probably tell, Bonnie and I are dating now. How do you feel about that?"
"I don't know. I thought girls were supposed date boys," Wade said, rubbing the back of his head.
Kim sighed. "So did I."
"I mean I've seen some stuff while doing research on the Internet, but-"
"Stop. I don't need to know what you look at on the Internet."
"It was research!" the young tech guru asserted desperately.
"Sure, whatever. Anyway, does knowing about me and Bonnie make you angry? Does it make you think less of me, of us?"
"No. I feel embarrassed, mostly, for what I saw. And a little confused."
"Well, if you want to talk about it you can, you know, call me, beep me. You know how to reach me."
"Okay."
"Also, this thing with me and Bonnie isn't exactly public knowledge yet, so if could keep it on the down low for now, I'd appreciate it. Please and thank you."
"Sure thing, Kim."
Kim was about to end the call, when something occurred to her. "By the way, what was it that you called about in the first place?"
"Nothing too important. Just some robotics tech going missing. And there was a break-in at the AI lab at MIST, but nothing seems to have been stolen."
"Oh, okay. Call me if you find out anything. Just wait for me to answer, okay?"
"Absolutely. Maybe I should add a panic button, you know in case you're actually in trouble?"
"That's not a bad idea, Wade."
Kim ended the call and let out deep sigh. Though she had dodged that bullet, there was still a six-shooter waiting at home.
She left the gym and traveled the walkway connecting the gym to the school building. Her free period was almost over so she headed to her lockers. On the way she saw Bonnie talking to a few of their fellow cheerleaders. She looked irritated.
As Kim walked closer she began to hear the conversation.
"...you're always the first to call us out on this. You should be setting an example," Marcella said. Marcella was the intense dark-haired girl.
"What are you talking about?" Bonnie replied. "I went to the dance with Brick, the quarterback."
Jessica, the blonde one, crossed her arms. "Well we heard you ditched Brick at the dance. We're all for juggling a couple different guys, but no one's seen you with anyone but Tara and Kim. And that mascot. Ugh, what does Tara see in him?"
"At least he's part of the team, sort of," Hope said. She was the feisty Asian one. "Plus he's tight with Possible."
"Speak of the devil," Marcella said when she noticed Kim. Rest of the group turned toward her.
"Hi, guys. What's the sitch?" Kim asked as she joined the group.
"We were just telling your dateless wonder twin here that you guys should be fulfilling the responsibilities of your position as the two top cheerleaders," Hope said.
"I didn't know dating was a responsibility," Kim asked, amused.
"Well, it should be," Jessica said. "You should be more concerned about your image, especially how it reflects on the team."
"Of sluts?" Bonnie shot.
"Of well-adjusted, All-American high school cheerleaders," Jessica replied, straining to keep a civil tone.
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I can't take anymore of this," she said and turned to Kim. "Tell them."
Kim hesitated. She had thought she was ready for this. But every effort she made to vocalize her relationship status failed before a single syllable left her lips. She panicked and did the only thing she could think of to get out of the situation.
"Beepbeepbebeep - what's that, Wade? Killigan on the loose? Golf balls going missing? I better head over there post-haste." She ran off waving the Kimmunicator. "Sorry, gotta go, world to save!"
"What a spaz," Hope said.
Bonnie sighed.
"Tell us what?" Marcella asked.
"Doesn't matter," Bonnie said dejectedly. Without saying another word she walked off.
"What about the team? Do you even care?" Hope yelled after her.
Bonnie's hands clenched into tight fists. Of course she cared. She loved cheerleading. She loved the position it put her in, and that she had earned it. But right now she cared more about Kim.
She found Kim at her locker, leaning on it with her head.
"What was that about?" Bonnie asked in her demanding tone.
"I'm sorry," Kim said sadly. "I don't know what happened, I just panicked."
"Panicked? Telling people about us made you panic?"
Kim took her head off the locker and straightened herself. "Bonnie-"
"I don't wanna hear it." Bonnie walked off in a huff.
Kim wanted to run after her but the bell rang. She pulled out the books she needed from her locker and slouched to class. Behind her, Ron and Tara emerged from the janitor's closet, hastily straightening out their rumpled clothes.
≈O≈
Bonnie was anxious. She was sitting with her arms crossed, her foot tapping steadily. Across the table sat the elder Possibles. After her tiff with Kim, she had intended to blow off this little pow-wow, but then had received a very persuasive call from Mrs. Possible. And now here she was, awaiting judgment for having been caught cuddling with the daughter of her judges. Not that she thought she had done anything wrong in the first place, which made her extremely defensive.
Mrs. Possible began. "Girls, do you know why we're here?"
"Kinda. I mean, I'm not sure," Kim said demurely.
While Bonnie was still disappointed in her, Kim's submissive demeanor pushed Bonnie's button. "I don't know what the big deal is! So we're dating, it's the 21st century for Christ's sake!"
"Are you quite done?" Mrs. Possible asked, unimpressed with the young girl's outburst.
"Yeah," Bonnie replied sourly as she slumped in her seat.
"We are not upset that you two are dating, that is not what this is about."
"What is it about then?" Kim asked.
"Well, consider this: would we be okay with it if you'd snuck a boy in your room who slept in your bed?"
"No," Kim admitted.
"I didn't sneak in," Bonnie declared defiantly.
"We sure didn't know you two were romantically involved, and-"
Kim snickered. There were a lot of words she would have used to describe their relationship – like complicated, thrilling, frustrating, sweaty – but romantic was not one of them. She quickly stopped snickering seeing the glare from her mother.
"And, that makes it sneaking. Which brings me to our second issue: We feel disappointed and left out because you couldn't talk to us about this."
Kim looked at her dad. He hadn't said anything the whole time. "Dad? Don't you have anything to say?"
"I'm good. Your mother is hitting all the points."
Kim sank in her seat. "I'm sorry about last night. I guess we didn't really think about it. But I swear nothing happened!"
"Oh, hon, we know," Mrs. Possible said.
"But how?"
Mrs. Possible glanced awkwardly at her husband. "Let's just say there was a lack of a certain, uh, olfactory indicator."
Kim turned to her father looking confused. Not getting an answer she looked at Bonnie.
"She's saying it didn't smell like sex," the brunette explained curtly.
"Sex smells?" Kim asked, baffled.
"We're getting off track," Mr. Possible said, looking uncomfortable. "We believe you, let's leave it at that."
"So you understand why you can't have any more sleepovers, at least for now?" Mrs. Possible asked.
"I guess."
"Good. Now, let's talk about you two. And please know that this is not an interrogation, you are welcome to plead the fifth at any time. But James and I really feel we should discuss this."
Bonnie groaned. "Why do you people always have to talk and talk about everything?" she said in frustration. She was about ready to leave, when Kim took her hand and gave her a pleading look.
"Bonnie. Please."
The brunette gave in and sat back. "Fine. But only because you asked."
"Good. So how long have you been a couple?" Mrs. Possible asked.
"A few months," Kim replied.
"Have you told anyone?"
"No. A few people know, but only by accident."
"And it'll prolly stay that way," Bonnie muttered.
"What was that?" Mrs. Possible asked sharply.
"Nothing."
"You obviously have something to say," Mrs. Possible said as calmly and reassuringly as she could. "This is why we're here: to talk about anything that's troubling you."
"I don't want to keep this, us, a secret," Bonnie said, gesturing at her and Kim. "But she's so twitchy about it, and won't tell me why."
"Bonnie, I-"
"Kimmie-cub, it sounds like you need to open up," Mr. Possible said.
Kim sank in her seat staring at her hands. She took a deep breath. "Okay."
She paused for a moment. "I'm worried it'll make it more difficult for me to help people. I mean... I've been all around the world, people know me. What if- what if I'm unable to save someone because they don't want my help, because of... well, because I'm... gay."
"That's your reason?" Bonnie exclaimed. "Screw those people! If they don't want to be helped, then too bad."
Mrs. Possible raised her hand in calming motion. "Settle down, Bonnie."
"You can't honestly let her-"
"Bonnie. I agree with you."
"What?" both Kim and Bonnie said.
"Kim, you can't help anyone who doesn't want to be helped."
"There is still such a thing as free will," Mr. Possible joined in. "Whatever their reasons, they have a choice. If they choose not to be helped, then there's nothing you can do about it. At least you tried."
"But-"
"Honey," Mrs. Possible reached out across the table and took Kim's hand, "I know you want to save the world, but you simply cannot save everyone. No one can."
"I can still try," Kim said with an awkward smile. "But I get your point. And I guess I kinda agree. It's just gonna take me a little while to come to terms with it."
"What about coming to terms with us?" Bonnie asked bitterly.
Kim looked at Bonnie with a loving smile. "I'm fine with us, have been for a while. All I was waiting for you to say what you did last night."
"Yeah, well," Bonnie said, lowering her eyes, looking a bit uncomfortable.
Kim reached out and gently lifted Bonnie's chin with her finger, bringing them eye to eye. "And in case I didn't make it clear: I love you, too."
Without giving Bonnie a chance to reply, Kim pressed her lips on hers.
Mrs. Possible went 'aww' and leaned on her husband's shoulder. Mr. Possible cleared his throat.
"Oh, shush," Mrs. Possible said.
≈O≈
"Go, Mad Dogs, go, go, Mad Dogs!" sounded yet another enthusiastic cheer to encourage the team to glorious victory over the Go City Comets.
The Middleton cheer team sat on the bench to take a break after their routine. Ron came out in his Mad Dog costume, doing his shtick.
"The Mad Dog foams at the mouth!" he went, spraying banana cream all over, even on the cheerleaders, who were not amused. After finishing his 'official' routine, still in dog character, he proceeded towards Tara, sniffing her and licking cream off her arm. The blonde giggled at Ron's antics, while the rest of the team looked disgusted.
"If that mutt humps her leg I'm having him neutered," Bonnie said in a tone a bit too serious for Kim's comfort.
"Where's a rolled up newspaper when you need one?" Kim asked wryly.
As Bonnie turned to Kim, her frown turned upside down. There was a glob of cream on Kim's cheek. Smiling salaciously, the brunette licked it off.
"Eww," Kim giggled.
The fact that the redhead didn't immediately recoil from her advances was a promising sign. Maybe she had meant what she had said earlier. Throughout the rest of the game her impression was strengthened, as the two of them kept acting flirty without being too overt about it. But there wasn't a single time Kim looked uncomfortable with Bonnie's advances.
Then came the big one.
The crowd erupted in massive cheers as the Mad Dogs scored a last second touchdown against the Comets, winning them the game. The cheer squad celebrated with appropriate enthusiasm, jumping around, waving their pom-poms, and shouting cheers. In the heat of the moment, Bonnie decided to test Kim's resolve. She took her head in her hands and kissed her. At first Kim looked a little dumbfounded, but soon broke into a sultry smile. She grabbed Bonnie and dipped her while planting on her a steamy kiss.
Apart from some of the cheerleaders, no one seemed to notice. But that was not what was important. To Bonnie, all that mattered was that Kim did not fret over the display. They were in public, and they did not care.
Still in his costume, sans the head, Ron arrived with Tara in arm, pumping his fist in the air. "Go, KP!"
Kim pulled Bonnie back up. Bonnie shook her head in a daze while Kim smiled victoriously.
"You guys are so cute together," Tara enthused.
"So what do you guys wanna do?" Ron asked.
"We could go see a movie," Tara said.
"Yeah, a movie sounds good," Bonnie said, already relishing the thought of settling in the back of a dark movie theater with Kim.
Kim looked at Bonnie, her eyes darting around nervously. "I actually had something else in mind..."
To be continued...
