Snippets of Forever:

So Not... Feeling the Pressure.

-x-

"Make sense now?"

As he tilted his head to one side and examined all the crosses and squiggly lines on the notepad before him, Ron's brow settled into a frown.

"Yes..." he began, hesitating, "Yeah, I... wait, wait, no - which badly drawn circle is me again?"

"Ron," Kim droned with a teasing roll of her eyes, "You do know that my total knowledge of football is actually slim to none, right?"

"But you've been around the team since you started cheering in freshman year," Ron countered, "You've gotta' understand more of Barkin's mumbo-jumbo than I do?"

Rufus suddenly popped up on Ron's shoulder, squeaking in agreement, "Mumbo-jumbo!"

"That mumbo-jumbo is a game plan, Ron, not a cheer routine," Kim laughed, tearing off the sheet of paper and waving it in front of his face, "Me; cheerleader. You; football player."

With a sweet smirk plastered across her lips, Kim waited for Ron to jab back at her with just as much sarcasm as she had. But when her boyfriend's expression only slouched with a forlorn sounding sigh, Kim sensed her own features soften.

The silver metal seat of the bleachers where they sat was cool against her legs as Kim slid closer to Ron. She could swear she almost heard his breath catch in his throat.

"Hey, but seriously," she started gently, "You are completely owning this whole running back thing. You've scored touchdowns, you've set school records, and your teammates respect you, Ron. I know any one of them would be so more than willing to help you out with the whole psychology side of your game."

Ron shot a smile down towards his feet when he felt Kim place her hand on his padded knee. She always knew exactly what to say.

"People, off your lazy keisters! I want one more lap of the field and then everyone hit the showers!"

As both their heads snapped up at the booming sound of Mr. Barkin's voice, Rufus did the same, darting off to collect the last of the Middleton team's dirty towels. As for his humans, Ron only stifled a mute groan while Kim chuckled under her breath.

It was Thursday afternoon, and the last period of the school day for Middleton High. It also happened to be one of Kim and Ron's favourite days of the week, and not just because it foreshadowed the upcoming weekend. Eighth period on Thursday meant cheer training for the young hero, and football practice for her sidekick. And seeing as each session ran in tandem, it also meant that they got to keep a close eye on one another at the same time.

Ron may have still been very new to the whole team sport thing, and he was head-and-shoulders the smallest on his squad, but even if he didn't realise it, he clearly stood out to Kim. There was something so refreshing - and all too alluring - about seeing her boyfriend focus his 'mad running away skills' with more purposeful intent for a change. But when it came to Ron observing Kim while she cheered, well... those facts only spoke for themselves.

As Kim stood up from the bleachers and began her descent back down to the field, Ron couldn't help but smile. The Mad Dog purple really did always suit her. Her uniform hugged her curves perfectly and swayed with her hips with each step she took. When she spun around to grin at him, the twirl of her pleated skirt sent butterflies soaring through Ron's stomach.

"Guess I'd better do the same."

As the return of her voice snapped him out of his daydream, Ron raised an eyebrow at Kim, "You're gonna run a lap of the field with me?"

"Ron - "

"Because, look, I already trip myself up enough without you showing me up, too - "

"No, Ron, hit the showers," Kim cut him off with another laugh, "Meet you at the car?"

"You know it," Ron spoke, nodding his head as he joined Kim back on flat ground, "And, tonight's plans?"

"Gotta' get a start on that history paper, remember?"

"Ugh, seriously, come on," Ron groaned, "I was thinking something more along the lines of a post-training chow-down?"

Kim narrowed her green eyes, "And by that you mean, Bueno Nacho?"

"You know we've both earned it," Ron sing-songed temptingly, taking a step closer to Kim and reaching for her hand.

The goosebumps that exploded across her fingertips were instant.

Kim's face flushed the faintest shade of pink at Ron's touch as she gazed up at him. Plucking down on her bottom lip between her teeth, she hummed in faux hesitation, leaning up towards him.

"I suppose I could be persuaded..."

"Stoppable!" Barkin thundered, slicing right through the near-romantic moment, "Unless you'd prefer to run the lap on all fours, I suggest you get a move on!"

Ron shuddered, "Oh no," he muttered, "Not the crab walk..."

With one final giggle, Kim brought her boyfriend back down to Earth as she placed a short, sweet peck on his cheek, "You heard the man," she taunted him, about-facing on her way back to the locker room, "I'll cya' in a sec!"

Ron couldn't help but steal one last second to watch her as she left. Her red locks bounced with each skip in her step as she finally caught up with Tara and a couple of the other girls. Ron's heart was pitter-pattering with such speed in his chest that it nearly tore right through his skin when an abrupt slap on the back made him jump.

"You'd better pick up the pace, and your jaw off the floor while you're at it, Stoppable."

With a sheepish smile, Ron scratched the back of his neck and finally started in a slow jog alongside his teammate who had dragged him so harshly back to reality.

Henry Nguyen was the Mad Dogs' wide receiver, and one of the guys that Ron had gelled with best since joining the team. He was probably the next smallest on the squad, and had only been playing since the year prior, so was fairly new himself. That wasn't to say that Ron hadn't clicked with the rest of his team by now - but Henry's friendly demeanour and smiling face wasn't any less of a relief to the running back.

Reverting back to the nudging comment from his fellow senior, Ron shrugged his shoulders, "C'mon now, H-Man," he spat back with the same teasing tone, "Can the Ronster really be blamed for admiring such a beautiful lady?"

"Definitely not," Henry answered a little too quickly, earning a raised eyebrow from his friend. The dark haired boy backtracked with a laugh, "In a non-creepy and totally platonic way!"

Ron simply rolled his eyes as the two rounded the bottom corner of the football field. He was almost on the verge of huffing and puffing from exhaustion already, until Henry's voice returned to distract him.

"How long have you two been dating for now, anyway?"

Ron grinned inwardly, "Coming on three and a half months, my man."

"So, like... what does that mean?"

With a confused frown, Ron almost stumbled over his own footing, "What do you mean?"

"Like, have you two ever..." Henry paused, mulling over his next words, "Ya' know... sex?"

The sound of the single syllable collapsed like a heavy weight on Ron's shoulders as he turned white as a sheet, "What?" he squeaked in surprise, "What, ew, no, n-not yet..."

"Ew?"

"Wait, no - no, no, obviously I don't mean 'ew'... obviously," Ron's head was suddenly a scrambled mess as he was clearly struggling at the start of his sentence.

With a small knot of guilt quickly forming in his stomach, Henry cringed, pulling Ron up by the arm and slowing the both of them in their place, "Dude, no pressure, or anything - sorry, it was just a question."

"N-no, it's okay," Ron recommenced, still a little uncertain, "It's just that... like, it's just still a little weird, ya' know? Kim and me have been friends literally forever, and I mean, we haven't even spoken about any of that yet, even though I... kinda'..."

In a rare occurrence of self-awareness, Ron abruptly found himself cutting off his own panicked ramblings.

...He kind of, what?

"Well, look, it's totally not even a big deal," Henry spoke, derailing Ron's train of thought, "You don't want to mess things up with her by rushing anything, right?"

The blonde boy silently nodded his head, but in reality, he wasn't sure if he had completely heard what his friend had said. His thoughts were suddenly somewhere else. Thousands of miles away, in fact, under a wave of silky sheets and locked away in a cabin amongst the snow covered mountain tops.

Ron and Kim hadn't even spoken about what happened in Austria. Well, not properly, anyway.

He didn't have the first idea how she felt about it all. All that Ron did know, was that he had wished himself back there just about every single night since.

"Nguyen! Stoppable! Did I say you could stop mid-lap for a chit-chat and a tea party?!"

Both boys suddenly swung their necks around at the sound of Mr. Barkin's voice roaring at them from across the field.

And then, they completely froze.

Ron and Henry both knew that look in Barkin's eye.

"Oh, no..."

"Not the - "

With one almighty huff, Mr. Barkin blew into his whistle like a steam train and thundered out loud,

"Get down! All fours! Now!"

Kim stifled the smallest yawn as she hit 'save' on her typed essay and leaned back in her chair. Taking a quick glance at the time in the corner of her computer monitor, the teenager smirked proudly. An afternoon snackage date with her BFBF and three quarters of a history essay completed, all by nine-thirty. Not bad, she told herself.

Shrugging out of the loose sweater hanging over her shoulders, Kim stood up from her chair to make a start for her closet. She could almost feel the comforting embrace of her favourite pair of pyjamas, when a sudden sound drew her back to her desk. Her cellphone buzzed and vibrated against the wooden desktop with the incoming call. And when she picked it up to flip it open, Kim instantly smiled at the caller I.D.

"Hey, Ron-"

"Kim!" Ron near enough shrieked into the receiver, "Barkin! Revised game plan! Game tomorrow night! No time to study! Water rising, water rising!"

"Ron!" Kim immediately countered, "Calm down, take a breath! Barkin sent through an updated game plan for tomorrow?"

"Yes!"

"And do I need to give you the whole cheerleader versus footballer pep talk again?"

"Oh, come on, KP," Ron pleaded with her, "I know you're not totally down with all this, but I need all the brain power I can get over here. Ya' know, they wrote about the Da Vinci Code, but I'd say the Barkin Code is much harder to crack!"

With an affectionate roll of her green eyes, Kim sighed down the phone. She really could be powerless to him at times, "Five minutes, okay? I'll be right over."

"Thank yooouu. Thank you, thank you," Ron sang, "Dinner, after the game tomorrow night, on me, whatever you want."

"Mhm," Kim hummed in disbelief, slipping back into her sweater, "As long as what I want includes ground beef and nacho cheese, right?"

"Well, if we're talking about stimulating brain power - "

"Do not push it," Kim warned him with a laugh, stepping down from her loft, "I'm coming downstairs now."

"You're the best!"

A distinct warmth ran over Kim's chest as she hung up her phone. She always was a sucker for his sweet talk.

She could only imagine that her boyfriend's current level of stress meant that he hadn't touched his own history paper just yet - but Kim supposed she could wait until the game was out of the way before she began hassling him. One battle at a time.

With this thought in mind, Kim suddenly found herself almost waging an entirely different war when a harsh rush of air nearly swept her completely off the staircase. She gritted her teeth, frowning at the jet-packed twin terrors as Jim and Tim flew around her head on their way up to bed.

"Tweebs!" she barked, barely dodging their loops over the banister.

"Sorry, Kim!" Jim started, looking to his brother.

"We're just testing out - "

"Some left over rocket parts - "

"From your car!"

With one final laugh from Tim, the boys zoomed around the corner and up the hall towards their room. But still, Kim growled in frustration.

She may have only been saying goodnight to Ron on her front doorstep three short hours ago, but already Kim was prepared to stay up talking football with him all night if that's what it took to save herself from the tweebs.

"Is there a reason we've never considered brainwashing them into channeling their genius into something less destructive?"

Both Doctors Possible glanced up at their daughter from their place on the living room couch with sympathetic smiles. Her parents had just been settling in for a relaxing hour or so in front of the television when Kim descended the stairs.

"Be our guest," James answered her with a small laugh, "But that's one mission I'm not sure even you're up to, honey."

Kim grimaced with a roll of her eyes, but she knew her father was right. She may have saved the world fifty times over, but she wasn't a miracle worker.

"Headed out somewhere, Kimmie?"

The eager fluttering of her chest was so deafening that Kim didn't hear the distinctly suspicious tone in her mother's voice.

"Ron's having a total meltdown. Barkin sent through some last minute changes to their game plan for tomorrow night. He asked me to try and work through it with him."

When she bent down to slip on her shoes, James and Ann shot each other a concerned glance.

"Okay, well..." James began, trailing off for a moment, "Kimmie-Cub, you do know it's almost ten o'clock?"

With an innocent twinkle in her oblivious expression, Kim shrugged her shoulders, "Oh, no big, Dad. If it gets too late, I'll just crash there."

The nonchalant tone that accompanied the last two words from his daughter made all subtleties fall flat from James' face.

"Excuse me?" he spat with a laugh, "A sleepover? At your boyfriend's house? I don't think so, young lady."

Kim had almost made a start for the front door when James' sudden demands made her freeze on the spot. The teenager slowly spun around, flicking her vision between each of her parents as she raised an eyebrow. After a short second, Kim chuckled under her breath.

"Ha, okay, very funny..."

When James leaned forward in his leather recliner and folded his arms over his chest, Kim's stomach dropped in realisation.

"...You're serious?"

"Well, I don't know why you're so surprised," James countered, trying to keep his voice light, "You've never been allowed out with a boy past your curfew before - why did you think this would be any different?"

There was a beat of silence. And then Kim snorted.

"Because it's Ron?"

"Exactly, it's Ronald. The most..." James took a pause, clearing his throat, "The most serious boyfriend you've ever had."

Kim's head was in a spin. Was she really hearing what she thought she was?

"So, wait, let me get this straight," she recommenced, taking a step further into the living room, "Ever since I started high school, the rule has been home, or next door at Ron's by ten. But now that we're dating, you're telling me all of a sudden that rule's gone flying out the window?"

"Yep. I'd say you pretty much nailed it."

"Dad," Kim sniped, annoyed by her father's sarcasm, "You do know I only slept over there, like, four months ago?"

"Yes," James agreed, "When you were still just friends."

Her emerald eyes narrowed, "I slept in his bed."

"Because he would offer it to you while he took the couch," came James' retort, "Are you going to stand here and tell me that would still be your sleeping arrangement now?"

This line of questioning from her dad was quickly starting to make Kim squirm. She liked to think she had a fairly open relationship with James - with Ann, as well, but this particular conversation was one that she had been thrust into with absolutely no warning. It was a discussion that she hadn't even actually had with boyfriend yet. Not really. And at this thought, Kim's cheeks flushed an embarrassed shade of red.

"This is so unfair," she suddenly snapped.

Ann's eyes widened in surprise, "Kimmie - "

"Are you saying you don't trust me?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all," James shot back, trying to defend himself.

"But you don't, right, like, at all?"

"Kim," he warned her sharply. The doctor appeared exasperated as his shoulders remained tightly pushed back, "This conversation is over."

"Until when?"

"Until you're thirty."

"Dad!"

"Or until you get married, whichever happens first."

Kim's fist scrunched up in a frustrated ball by her side as she resisted another snide remark she could taste on the end of her tongue. In one last desperate attempt to plead her case, the teenager looked to her mother.

"Mom?"

With clear empathy in her blue eyes, the Possible matriarch gave her daughter a soft smile. But Ann didn't hesitate.

"Listen to your father, sweetheart."

The disappointment in the pit of her stomach was heavy as Kim fell to silence. She swallowed a harsh lump in the back of her throat. She knew that she wasn't acting like her normal, reliable, mature self. The back and forth she had just shared with her father was not the sort of outburst her parents expected from her, ever.

But if James and Ann wanted to treat Kim like a child, then where was the point in giving them anything less?

As she scraped around in a circle and made a heated start for the stairs, Kim sensed one last challenging comment prick at the corner of her brain.

"Fine," she called back over her shoulder, "But where do you think we've been sleeping on overnight missions?"

"Kimberly!"

Her dad's booming voice was only an echo up the staircase, and her phone was already cradled beside her ear by the time the redhead made it back to the privacy of her room. Her agitation was bubbling up to the surface more and more, until finally, Kim sighed in relief when the ringing over the phone came to a stop.

"Hey? Everything good?"

"Not even remotely," Kim snarled between her teeth, "Boy, do I have an update for you."

Ron's confusion was audible as he stuttered over a sentence before Kim only cut him off.

"Turns out now that we're dating, I'm not allowed to be at your place after ten. Ever again," she emphasized, "You've fallen under the curfew umbrella."

"Oh," Ron responded, trailing off for a second as the realisation hit him, "Ohh, that so tanks."

"More than tanks, it's so totally flawed."

"Well, like, I'm sure your 'rents have their reasons, I guess..."

"Ah, correction. 'Rent. Singular. My dad is the one completely freaking out over the whole thing."

Kim scuffed the bottom of her foot along the rug on her bedroom floor, "It's like he doesn't trust us."

"You really think that's it?"

"Uh, yeah," Kim immediately shot back, "Or maybe it's just me - maybe I'm the untrustworthy one for once in my life."

"Well, look, I can pretty much guarantee that I am way too terrified of him to be untrustworthy," Ron joked, letting his filter slip, "It's not like I was even gonna' do anything, anyway..."

There was a sudden lapse in their conversation as Kim's bottom lip dropped open.

The comment was obviously just the result of Ron's wandering mind. He didn't mean it. Kim was sure he didn't. But the defeated thud of her heart behind her ribs was louder than the volume of any logic that desperately tried to sound off in Kim's brain. And the silence she had fallen into was all too clear to Ron.

"Oh- oh, wait, KP - "

"Well, okay, good to know," she interjected bluntly.

"Crap, Kim, no, that's not what I - "

"I'm sure my dad will be thrilled to hear that my boyfriend has zero physical interest in me."

"Kim - !"

"Look, I've gotta' go, Ron, I just..." with a final huffing sigh, Kim muttered under her breath and snapped her phone shut, "I'll see you tomorrow."

And then, finally, there was quiet. All except for the thoughts that still whirled through Kim's brain, of course. Thoughts that she didn't have the first clue how to deal with.

With a small shake of her head, Kim raked her hand back between her long, red locks and turned towards her bed. She stopped herself then, freezing when she spotted her reflection in her mirror across the room.

Kim hesitated. As she slid her jacket back down her shoulders, she turned to the side, examining her slim figure up and down. When her outer layer fell to the floor, the teenage girl chewed down on her bottom lip, shivering a little when she pulled her cropped tee over her head next. Her stomach was toned and smooth. Her neckline was perfectly slender. Her chest... was not as pronounced as some of the other cheerleaders on her squad, but was well proportioned with her tiny waist.

Kim groaned in frustration. She certainly wasn't self-indulgent, but she wasn't lacking in confidence, either. Kim knew she was pretty. Ron had told her a million times before how pretty she was. So then why was he seemingly showing a distinct lack of... desire towards her now? Kim didn't know. But it kind of sucked.

When she collapsed backwards onto her bed, Kim snatched up her pillow and held it over her face, letting out an agitated roar. Between her dad's unreasonable authority and her boyfriend's hurtful betrayal, she was suddenly far too exhausted to stay awake for a moment longer and give either of them another thought.

And not only because she was vehemently ignoring just how much she might have overreacted to both arguments that evening, too.

It was much later that same night when she first sensed herself being stirred from her deep slumber. Kim may have still been half asleep, but the rattling outside her window and the blundering sound of the latch clicking open was unmistakable.

She took another moment, forcing her eyes open into the darkness and centering herself as she evaluated the potential threat at hand. The jostling at her window had stopped by now, but that was only because the heavy-footed assailant had made it through her windowsill and was now crossing the carpet of her room.

Kim remained calm, not wanting to move a single muscle and alert the intruder. There was no way to tell how much danger she might have been in. But when she felt the figure approach her bedside, that's when Kim's mind suddenly flew into overdrive and she only wavered for a second longer.

In one swift movement, she teen hero ripped her blankets back and swung her body around ninety degrees. Her legs made sharp impact with the intruder's hips, startling them and knocking them to the ground.

With a quick flip, Kim was out of her bed and on her feet above the shadowed figure. With a vicious growl, she dropped a harsh knee into their back, right between their shoulder blades. There were muffled, defiant groans and yelps of pain coming from whoever this person was, but Kim was so focused on locking their arm around them and behind their back that she barely even took the time to recognise their voice.

"Not so fast," she warned.

"Kiiiiiiim!" the familiar whine echoed into her room, "Ow! Kim, it's me, it's just - ow - me!"

Kim's eyes widened, "Ron?"

One final squeak of discomfort from the boy beneath her confirmed everything she needed to know as Kim quickly stood back up. She looked down at her boyfriend, frowning at him as he flipped over and clutched at the fast-forming bruise on his back.

"What are you doing?" she hissed into the darkness, "Apart from signing your death certificate if my dad catches you up here."

With another groan, Ron came to his feet, shaking his head, "Yeah, I somehow doubt there's gonna' be much left of me for your dad to waste into space dust if you drive my face through the floor first!"

His whispered shouts quickly made Kim counter Ron's volume, "Well, excuse me if certain past experiences have led me to be cautious about my room being broken into in the middle of the night!"

"You weren't answering your phone!"

"Sleeping, Ron," Kim stressed, pointing over the digital clock by the side of her bed, "What was so urgent that it couldn't wait till morning?"

Following her gesture, Ron sighed when he spotted the red, glowing numbers staring back at him. One forty-seven in the morning.

"Look, I had to come see you, okay?" he admitted, rubbing the very clear bags under his eyes, "I kinda' couldn't sleep knowing that I hurt your feelings."

For the first second, the genuine sweetness from the blonde boy made Kim's heart flutter. But somehow, her stubborn irritation from earlier that evening wasn't going to let him get off that easily.

Ron's eyes followed his girlfriend as she circled back towards her bed. He swallowed a lump in his throat, "I'm sorry, Kim."

Kim sat down on the edge of her mattress, folding her arms over her chest, "For?"

With a dismayed scratch to the back of his neck, Ron shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno' - for making all this stupid game plan stuff your problem in the first place. For shoving my dumb foot in my dumb mouth - again. And just, like, for making you think for even a second that there's any existence out there where I..."

He paused, mulling over his words as his cheeks flushed red.

"Where I... don't... want... you."

Kim totally froze, her mouth agape as goosebumps ran up her arms. But still, her jawline remained stiff, "Go on?"

His vision had fallen away from hers for a moment, but as he took a deep breath, Ron glanced back up at Kim, "I guess I'm just, like... I dunno', scared?"

Finally, the teenager's expression softened, "Ron," she soothed him, patting the spot next to her on the bedspread, "What are you scared of?"

Ron's body flooded with relief as he shot Kim the tiniest smile before collapsing next to her where she sat. He sighed again, "I mean... okay, I thought it would be weird to, like, hold your hand. But it wasn't. Then I thought it would be weird going from a friendly hug to a real hug. But it wasn't. And I thought it would be weird to kiss you but it really, really wasn't."

A coy kind of smirk curled up in the corner of his lips at this last comment. But then, Ron's confident demeanour faltered, "Only now I'm sort of worried that... like, as soon as we try to do anything more - "

"It'll be totally weird?"

Ron turned his head to slowly look at Kim as she finished his thought for him. His mouth upturned into a wobbling frown, "You think so, too?"

Kim rolled her eyes, "Ron - "

"Aw, man, this stinks!" he hastily concluded, jumping back to his feet, "This is what I get for not taking health class in ninth grade..."

"Ron, relax, I'm so not agreeing with you," Kim laughed, standing up to join him. When he tilted his head to one side, the red head paused again. And then, Kim took a step forward, reaching for Ron's hand, "You really don't think I'm kinda' scared, too?"

Ron's chocolate coloured eyes grew wide, "You are?"

"Well... duh," Kim chuckled again, shrugging her shoulders, "This is all super new - to both of us - and, like, we obviously don't want anything to go wrong. Not just on a dating level, but within our friendship, too."

She gave his hand a quick squeeze as she spotted the horror flash across his face, "Not that it would," she promised with a soft laugh, "I'm just saying that I understand how you feel. And that it's okay."

"And, so... Austria was - "

"Spankin'," she assured him with a dreamlike tone in her voice, "Austria was perfect."

"And not, like, too much? Or, too little, even, I just - "

"Ron," she interrupted again, catching him before he could spiral any further, "Everything was amazing, exactly how it was. I'm not looking for anything to change - not this quickly. I just want us to take our time."

Her voice was like velvet as Ron finally allowed Kim's explanation to comfort him. Her smile glowed into the darkness. He was wearing his regular blue, striped pyjamas, and Kim's features only continued to beam when she slipped her hand away from his and fiddled with the hem of his button-down shirt.

"This is good, okay? As long as we keep going slow and keep knowing when to press pause, this is only going to be good."

"So, you're not, like, in any rush to, um... to have - "

"Have sex?" she finished for him, giggling as his face turned beet red, "No, I'm not. But you know we are allowed to talk about it, right?"

"I know, I know," he assured her, trying to shake his embarrassment. Her opposite hand was still lingering against his as his palms dripped a thin layer of sweat. He tugged his grip away, but before Kim could protest, Ron looked back up at her with a grin.

His heart fluttered.

"Whenever I get caught in any stupidly, awk-weird head space, I just remind myself that, ya' know... that it's you. I get to experience all of this with you. So, it can't actually be all that scary."

They were both still whispering so softly that Kim wasn't even sure she heard him at first. But it wasn't long until her chest swelled and her stomach twisted into an adoring knot.

"So... what happens now?"

Just as she had subtly danced her fingers along the edge of his shirt to reach his very bottom button, Kim brought herself to a halt. It was so like Ron to be completely oblivious to just how irresistibly sweet he could be, but in this case, he actually had a point. The redhead rolled her eyes, annoyed with herself.

"What happens now is that I grovel to my parents first thing in the morning and apologise," she confessed. She took a step back then, pacing her room and still shaking her head at herself, "They were right to put their foot down, and I threw a tantrum like a little kid. Seriously, it was like I re-entered total childhood bratdom."

"Well, hey, don't go getting on your parents bad side on accounts of me," Ron teased with a laugh, "Earning the brat title for my sake is so not worth it."

His bashful sway to one side was so endearing that Kim was sure the fast pumping of her heart would erupt.

She had definitely been on a roller coaster of emotions that evening. And while the one still simmering on the surface may have been a slight guilt for how tweaked she had been at her boyfriend - deep down, all that Kim could focus on was the intense and sudden desire Ron was making her feel for him.

After all, she had ended up getting everything she wanted that night. She and Ron were alone, in her room, after curfew. And Kim intended on showing Ron exactly how bad she wanted him, too.

When she stepped back towards him and linked her hands behind his neck, Ron's breath caught in his throat.

"Do not go selling yourself short."

Her kiss was bold and heated when she leaned up on her toes and crashed her lips into his. Ron was instantly taken aback - both mentally and physically, as the force of Kim's embrace almost knocked him off his feet. But he quickly found his wits about him.

Kim's skin sizzled when Ron's hands found their place around her waist, before shifting down to clutch at her hips. They lapped at each other over and over again, swapping saliva and exchanging a hundred sweet kisses. Kim's hunger was increasing all too quickly as she rocked forward, pressing herself that little bit closer to him. Ron only responded in kind, holding her tightly as he deepened their kiss.

Their intensity eased for a moment then. They both emitted the tiniest sighs of ecstasy as their lips parted and came back together, opening further to one another. The taste was as perfect as it had ever been, but the familiarity of it all was never a bore, to either of them. Kim leaned in further still, latching her fingers around the collar of Ron's shirt and tugging him in to meet her.

That's when his testosterone reappeared at full force.

Kim shivered when she felt Ron's kiss begin to massage the inside of her mouth as one hand followed the outside of her mauve coloured P.J. pants and finally - bravely - slipped over the curve of her backside. In a split second, she considered dragging him along the carpet and pulling him down on the bed on top of her. But the blonde boy had other ideas.

In a sudden burst of adrenaline, Kim found herself squeaking in surprise as Ron's opposite hand followed the lead and gently grabbed onto her behind, lifting her from the ground. She immediately coiled her legs around his waist, giggling away when he twirled them around on the spot and placed her down on top of her desk by the window. There was a rather loud clatter as the computer mouse and her books and some stationery went tumbling to the floor, but as the two instantly fastened their lips back together, Kim and Ron were well beyond the point of caring.

His hands clawing through her long, red locks felt amazing as Kim dared to keep her legs pinned closely to Ron's hips. Their tongues danced together for the most incredible moment, until suddenly, Kim sensed Ron beginning to slow all over again. He seemed to hesitate - for only the shortest second - and then, his kiss took a nervous stroll away from Kim's mouth and down towards the corner of her jaw.

Her abdomen ached. With all the wordless consent she needed, Kim arched her neck back and bit down on her bottom lip when she felt Ron pepper her soft, porcelain skin with a thousand warm kisses. She held him closer, tilting her head back down as she searched for his lips again and ran her manicured fingernails under his shirt and up his back.

They hadn't been this close since that magical night in Lord Wagner's cabin. And it only seemed that they were picking up right where they left off as the teenage girl sensed her boyfriend's grip settle in the small of her back. Kim blew out a deep sigh from her own lungs and into Ron's. She could feel how much it made his knees wobble. But it wasn't just his footing that was becoming shaken. As he cupped her cheeks with one, long, devoted kiss, Ron felt the shivers running down each of his fingertips when he dropped his hands back down to clutch at the hem of Kim's shirt.

Both of their hearts were absolutely racing by now. In a matter of only three or four minutes, they had totally smoked any of their previous makeout sessions and were suddenly on the cusp of something much more serious. In one last moment of desired certainty, Kim could almost hear the gears turning in Ron's mind when he questioned himself again. With a gentle hand, Ron shimmied his way back up Kim's torso, stopping with careful intent at the straps of her bra that protruded from under her tank top.

The redhead radiated a smiley blush into her boyfriend's kiss as she coaxed his hold on her back downwards. She loved the feeling of being so protected by him, but despite the fact that Ron was clearly checking whether or not she was naked under her tiny, purple top before taking the next step - Kim was so beyond done with all their uncertain questions and nervous hesitation. She was ready to tiptoe that bit further along the path of intimacy. And she that knew Ron was, too.

"Mhm."

The small murmur from the back of her throat that reverberated against his lips was all the added confidence the teenage boy needed as he delicately lifted the material over his girlfriend's head and threw it to the floor. She immediately slung her arms around his neck and pressed her newly exposed skin against his chest. His breath was weighted by now, and Ron panted, almost in desperation, as he stole a second to take a purposeful glance at her.

His face completely lit up. The darkened colour of his brown eyes told the full story as they scanned her body up and down, totally fixated on the perfect sight of her bare torso and the plain, black bra that clung to her chest. Kim could almost hear him telling her how beautiful she was, even though he might have still been too nervous to actually speak. He dived back into her, placing a soft kiss at the top of her neck just under her ear and tracing his fingers along the wiring of her bra at the same time.

A high-pitched, little mewl echoed from between Kim's teeth. There was a distinct feeling bubbling in her stomach - a feeling which she knew was pleasure. And when Ron's lips trailed down her throat and landed in the dip of her collarbone, Kim swore she was going to explode.

Without even stopping herself to think, Kim whispered Ron's name silently under her breath and reached around her own back for the clip of her bra, shrugging out of one of the straps.

That's when the sound of the toilet flushing from downstairs and the bathroom door clicking open made both teenagers jump out of their skin.

Kim and Ron quickly sprung apart, wide-eyed and with their breath held in. They waited in total silence, spying on the staircase that led up to Kim's room with the most intense apprehension. She almost considered scrambling for her shirt, but didn't want to risk making any sudden noise.

Eventually though, the sound of a second door opening and closing made the young couple release a sigh of relief. The footsteps had barely made any noise at all - it must have been one of the twins, Kim thought to herself.

But still - both teenagers knew that had been one close call.

The teen hero took a moment to examine herself up and down, her cheeks suddenly flushing the same colour as her hair. A flustering pang of surprise crossed her when she truly realised what she was, or rather, what she wasn't wearing. And the feeling was only amplified when she gulped, remembering how close she had just come to willingly losing the black undergarment, too.

It was Ron's hand on her knee that abruptly snapped her out of the trance she had fallen into. And when he looked down at her with an adoring smile and all the affection in the world, that's when Kim knew to instantly stop second guessing herself.

Locking her vision onto his, she quickly adjusted herself and licked her bottom lip to speak, "Should we - um..."

"Press pause?"

When he completed her thought without any hint or tone of disappointment, Kim felt her heart soar. With an appreciative smile of her own, she leaned forward to press a quick, soft peck against his lips.

"Just for now. Not forever."

The happiness dancing in his eyes was magical. His vision still couldn't help but drop every now and then to examine the toned skin of Kim's bare stomach and the womanly perk of her chest. But the way her thumb joined his as he drew circles around her belly button told Ron that this new level of comfort they had reached with each other was one that was totally okay.

With only the slimmest reluctance, the teenage boy bent down to retrieve his girlfriend's top. Her goosebumps instantly dissipated when he passed it to her and she pulled the purple material back over her head. But when her face popped through the neck-hole and she flicked her red locks out of the way, Ron immediately noticed the change in Kim's expression.

She was frowning to herself and chewing down on the corner of her bottom lip when she cleared her throat, "Look, just about how mad I was earlier... Ron, I - "

Ron rolled his eyes as he cut Kim off with one last kiss. After the moment they had just shared together, the sidekick was not prepared to have it dampened by any unnecessary apologies.

His passion lingered for only the shortest second before he finally pulled back and smiled down at the thankful understanding in Kim's gorgeous, green orbs.

He offered her his hand, helping her down from her place on the desk, "I should probably get out of here, ya' know, before we really do get caught."

Kim was unwilling, but she knew her boyfriend was right, "Okay. But for the record, I wouldn't actually let my dad send you hurtling into space, you know."

"Yeah, but you getting grounded is just as worse," the blonde boy argued sweetly. Kim scrunched her nose up at him, following his steps back to the window.

When he reached the glass screen through which he had clumsily entered, Ron came to a halt, scuffing one socked foot against the other. The redhead smiled up at him, tracing her fingers around the outline of his own.

"Breakfast tomorrow? Here? Like, before school?"

Ron chuckled in eager response, "Are you kidding? I'll be at your kitchen table six pancakes deep before you even make it downstairs."

Typical, Kim thought to herself. No matter what other aspects of their relationship may have still been up for discussion, their regular breakfast dates over Mrs. Dr. P's pancakes was never an argument to be had.

When they realised that neither of them had spoken for a couple of seconds, Kim's eyes found Ron's in the darkness. The teen hero sensed her restraint crumble as she stretched upwards to wrap her sidekick in a tight hug. Ron was quick to return the gesture, holding her back just as securely.

The moment felt desperately heavenly. Ron didn't want to let her go. And then, he cleared his throat.

"I, uh - "

A further silence made Kim frown again when she felt Ron freeze. But then, he simply shook his head in the crook of her shoulder. With a second murmur from under his breath, Ron held his girlfriend for a moment longer before gently letting go.

"I'll cya' tomorrow," he whispered.

His voice made her shiver, "Good night."

Kim wasn't sure why she hadn't expected a less than graceful exit from him. But somehow, the teenage girl watched on with giddy surprise and a cheeky smile as Ron scaled down the side of her house before slipping and landing with a thud on the grass beneath him.

His mumbling, little 'ow' made her shake her own head with another laugh as her dreamy, green orbs followed the figure of her boyfriend scurrying across the yard and safely back to his own house.

She wished he could have stayed. She would've loved nothing more than to fall asleep with late night cuddles and awake to morning kisses, just like they had in Austria.

But as she took her hand to her chest and blew out a wistful sigh, she was truly starting to realise much more than all of that when it came to Ron.

It hit her like a tidal wave. Kim was falling for her best friend.

Okay. I know I have literally zero excuse for being away for so long seeing as we've all been stuck at home. But I hope this 7k words of juicy sweetness more than makes up for my absence ;)

Hopefully be back soon! I hope everyone is safe and well! Look after each other, guys.

Till next time,

Reneyyyyyy x