Ron had gotten a good assortment of fresh ingredients from the market he typically shopped at because he had thought up a particularly good dinner to make for Betty. Something that he hoped would be romantic enough to show that he was also interested in pursuing a relationship with her. With his bag of groceries in hand he waited for her to pick him up after work.
"Sorry my place is a mess," Betty blushed as when she opened the door to her apartment it was mostly full of used take out containers, her couch still had the pillows and blankets that she at many times used to sleep on because she just couldn't draw up the energy to make it to her own bed some nights. It made her look like a slob and did make a good impression when showing it off to a guy that she was kind of interested in.
Ron chuckled as he walked with Betty through her place, it was spacious enough but he could tell that she was so overworked that the kitchen was the cleanest place in the apartment. "It's alright Betty," Ron said, hoping that he could bring up her mood. "You told me that you spend all your time working, so I expected something like this. It doesn't make you look bad."
"Really?" Betty questioned why Ron wasn't revolted by how much her home looked a mess.
"Yeah," he said as he put the bags on the counter. "I'll get this started then I'll help you get it cleaned up a bit, how about that?"
Betty looked at the amount of garbage she had laying around, garbage that she always told herself she'd get around to throwing out the next chance she got. "I couldn't make you help me clean my apartment." Declining his offer as she was not wanting to take advantage of his hospitality.
"It's not a problem Betty," Ron smiled at her while he began chopping up some vegetables to serve as the aromatics for the pot.
"If you're sure," she said as she pulled out some trash bags and started tossing empty chinese food containers into them.
Soon the apartment was filled with the incredible smells of herbs, spices and vegetables simmering in a pot while Ron and Betty gathered up all the trash in the apartment and put it in black trash bags. It didn't take long for them to get the apartment to look less like a dorm where college students lived and more something a hard working woman would be happy to come back to.
"Oh god Ron," Betty moaned after she got a taste of the first bite from the duck breast that Ron had served her. "It's so good."
"I'm glad you like it, I normally cook chicken but duck is just more… romantic you know," Run shrugged while keeping an eye on Betty to see her reaction to his comment.
She did have a faint blush. "Yeah it's definitely not takeout." Betty wiped her lips using that moment to compose herself. While she would like to call this a date, it didn't feel like how a date was supposed to, where they chat and flirt, while both of them tip toe around how far they can go with each person. Instead this made her feel like they were already in a committed relationship, where Ron helped her cook and clean and every moment didn't need to be punctuated with commentary.
"So does your car have any cool upgrades on it?" Ron asked after a brief moment of silence.
Betty took a sip of her wine, something she was wondering how Ron got his hands on since he wasn't even close to twenty-one yet. "It actually does," she answered. "Standard defensive measures and such."
"Well yeah but have you tricked it out?" Ron chuckled at how simple Betty's answer was. "Like anything custom under the hood, new speakers, that sort of thing?"
"No not really," Betty laughed. "I can disarm a nuclear bomb, but trying to work on my car leaves me scratching my head. Why do you ask?"
"Was considering upgrading from a moped," Ron shrugged, before clearing his throat with a drink of water. "Not the most… anything kind of vehicle and I was wondering if you had any suggestions of things I should put in."
"Thinking of getting a motorcycle then?" Betty gave a playful grin while picturing Ron on a bigger two wheeled vehicle.
Ron shook his head. "Nah, I mean motorcycles are cool, but you can't upgrade them the same way you can a car. Not enough space to put anything. I was probably going to get a car that was a bit more classic, something like a 67' Impala."
Betty smirked as she loved the look of older muscle cars. "That will definitely turn some heads."
"Yeah and with Wade, the Tweebs and myself working on it we'll make that thing fly, probably literally," Ron said as he'd been in talks with Motor Ed about purchasing a car from him. It would seem weird that he was buying anything from a super villain, but it was the used car market and he trusted Motor Ed to have kept the vehicle in pristine condition.
After he handed the cash to the man and the deed was signed over it would be his and he already had a few parts lined up to replace with, after modernizing the engine compartment it was then on to add in the bonus features.
"I shouldn't be talking about cars though, not when I have a beautiful woman to talk to," Ron wiggled his eyebrows as he earned a snort from his date.
"You are incorrigible," Betty waved her hand.
At that point the dinner had been going well and the two found themselves sitting on the couch together not long after finishing the food. "So," Ron said as he reached his arm around to rest it on Betty's shoulder, he decided it was the right move when she pressed in closer to him. "Do you want to maybe do this again sometime, make it a regular thing?"
"I'd like that Ron," Betty sighed as the tv mindlessly blared some show that neither were really paying attention to.
"Great, because I think I like this," Ron whispered.
"If you're trying to sweet talk your way into my bedroom then I should tell you," Betty responded, leaning up to the side of Ron's head. "It's working."
Ron's entire body tensed when he felt Betty's breath on his ear. "We-well, I'd love to do that, really I would, maybe we uh, take it a bit slower you know." Like any teenage boy he thought about sex, but after his talk with Ned he understood that he should go at the pace that made him comfortable. And sex on what amounted to the first date was not anywhere close to his comfort zone.
"Hmm," Betty looked at Ron curiously, a little surprised that the offer was being turned down.
"I mean it," Ron said quickly as he tried to defend his reasoning. "You're super ultra mega hot and I'm not going to lie I'm really attracted to you but… I don't think I'm ready for that right now." Staring down at his hands in shame as he felt less manly for turning down the chance to have sex.
"Wow, that's really mature of you Ron," Betty said while adjusting her position so she was on all fours staring at her date. "And I need to respect that," She said as she crawled off the couch and started to stretch. "It is getting late though so unless you change your mind about staying over…" pausing to see if Ron might change his mind about spending the night with her with the way she stuck out her hips, breasts and butt.
"No no, I…" Ron gulped while he had a hard time pulling his gaze away from her body as she let out a cute moan while she stretched. "I think if I stayed that we'd both wake up with much less clothes on." Hurrying to the door since he could only maintain his will for so long before it broke. "I'll walk if you don't mind, need to clear my head a bit, because you are… making it really hard to think about anything else right now."
"Darn," Betty smirked. "Can't blame me for trying," walking over to the door with a noticeable sway in her hips, until Ron actually left she'd keep trying to seduce him. Just before Ron stepped out of the apartment she reached out quickly and grabbed his shirt, pulling him into a deep, searing kiss that got just the reaction she wanted out of him. "I'll see you soon Lover Boy," she winked, shutting the door on a stunned Ron.
It took him a minute to collect himself before he waited until he'd gotten far enough away from the apartment before letting out a cheer about how awesome his date had gone. He was on cloud nine for the rest of the walk home and he went to sleep that night thinking of Betty.
Meanwhile Betty had been thinking of Ron from the moment he left, and she thought especially hard about him in the shower and as she tired herself out in bed.
Ron woke up the next day to a surprise text from Tara who told him that the school had finally made a decision, he wasn't sure how she got that information before he did but it was very welcome.
"We have decided," Mr. Barkin looked over the students and parents that were assembled in the main office for the meeting to resolve the incident between Ron and the other athletes. "Based on the numerous eye-witness accounts, the mountain of video evidence that is currently circulating the internet and all the petitions the student body has brought forward. That the school isn't going to expel anyone," he said sadly as he'd been firmly on the side of taking action and removing the students that were causing problems, even if that meant losing most of the athletes in the school. But the faculty board didn't want to be the ones to make a decision that was going to get them negative attention anyway.
The parents were furious that Ron wasn't being punished, to them it didn't matter that the videos showed their kids were in the wrong or that multiple people who saw the attack all swore that their son's started the fight. They wanted the person who hurt their children to be gone.
Ron on the other hand would like to say he was surprised at the ruling, but after years of the teachers turning a blind eye to the bullying, lies and everything else done in the school, he figured that the only reason they made their decision was so they couldn't be called out on everything they didn't stop before. Basically taking the stance that if they were useless they were also blameless.
"So I guess that's that then," Ron stood up out of the chair he was sitting in with a sigh. "I'll see you all in class later," giving his teachers a wave as he walked out of the room and found that all the cheerleaders were waiting outside the office to hear the verdict.
"I'm not expelled," Ron gave a weak grin as the girls cheered for him and encircled him in a hug. "But they aren't either, the upper faculty is just going to ignore it."
"But that's stupid," Crystal said aghast that nothing was actually going to be done.
All Ron could do was shrug knowing that if he tried to take it higher up in the chain then they would just as likely dig in their heels to avoid being the ones to cause the scandal.
Hope let out an angry screech of frustration. "That's so unfair, they try to kill you and the worst they get is you kicking their asses."
Bonnie stomped her foot on the ground. "Could they be any dumber, we have literal video evidence and they just ignore it."
"It's what they've always done Bon-Bon," Ron chuckled at how she was so angry at how the system that she previously exploited was now going in a way she didn't like.
"I can't believe we used to be happy that the teachers bent the rules for us," Jessica said in disgust.
"Now they're just ignoring problems all together, what's going to stop the next student they or someone else goes after?" Marcella said worried as she had to block her ex because he was sending her nasty messages the last few days. He didn't seem like he wanted to let things go so easily.
"Guess I'll just have to be there to stop them," Ron answered the question with a calm shrug, figuring that if the teachers couldn't be expected to protect the students then it came to the students to protect themselves.
"That's so noble Ron." Hope giggled while drawing circles on Ron's chest with her fingertip. "We had a question we wanted to ask you?" Biting her lip as the other cheerleaders closed in on Ron.
"Uh… sure," Ron nervously replied, feeling a little trapped in the group of teenage girls.
"We were wondering if you'd maybe like to… go out some time," Hope whispered into Ron's ear causing him to shudder.
"W-We?" He questioned as it sounded like Hope was asking him on a date, with all of the cheerleaders.
Tara nodded quickly. "Yup, us, all of us Ron. We like you, maybe see if you like us as well."
Now Ron was feeling a little unsure, he was still recovering from the fact that Betty liked him in a romantic sense, now to have multiple cute and sexy girls practically throwing themselves at him was a bit more than he had expected this morning. Thankfully he was saved from having to confront these thoughts and feelings right away when he heard the voice of his best friend calling to him. "Ron," Kim said as she hurried over to him.
"KP!" Ron smiled excitedly to see her back from the wedding. He pulled his redheaded best friend into a tight hug. "So glad to see you, how was everything?"
Kim pulled her hair back behind her ear and then realized that Ron wasn't actually alone. "Oh uh, the wedding was nice Ron, everything went off without a hitch" answering his question but now she had some of her own. "But enough about that. What happened while I was gone?"
Ron gave a noncommittal shrug. "Nothing much, just some normal school stuff." He tried to walk off to get to his locker when Kim stepped in front of him.
Kim didn't want to just let the conversation end there. "That was not normal school stuff. Ron, they tried to come at you with baseball bats, that was… way out of line."
"KP come on, we battle Draken's goons all the time and they have stuff that hurts way more than baseball bats," Ron gave his friend a sly grin, hoping to downplay the incident with the jocks earlier. "We got to get ready for class though, the bell is going to ring soon," pointing at a clock on the wall to show that they had only a few minutes left before they were tardy.
"Fine but, we're going to continue talking about this," Kim stated because there was a lot to unpack in this situation. Her parents had told her that if this was such a regular occurrence that nobody did anything to stop it, then Ron might have just accepted what was happening as normal.
Before they could head off to class, Kim's communicator pinged. "What's the sitch Wade?"