Snippets of Forever:

So Not... Forget & Regret.

-x-

It was sometime later. The teen heroes were finally on their way back home, nestled together in an emotionally exhausted quiet. And Kim was holding onto Ron's hand - so tightly.

The entire situation seemed wildly familiar, and yet was the complete inverse of what had happened between them after their mission to Japan the week before. Instead of Ron keeping a desperate hold of his girlfriend, it was Kim who seemed reluctant to let go of him.

Ron shot a side-eye at her, feeling his expression fall into a frown.

That night's previous snowfall had mostly eased off by now, making their drive home from the train lines to Middleton a much simpler one. Kim was driving, her memory fully restored and her feet operating without conscious thought. But her hands were scattered - one was firmly on the wheel, and the other was latched securely around Ron's.

When they turned into the Possibles' driveway, Ron cleared his throat, stopping to properly gaze at Kim.

"You're, uh, holding on kinda' tight there, Kimila," he spoke with a soft chuckle, "Everything okay?"

Kim blinked, squeezing Ron's grip in hers one last time before she pulled up the handbrake of her car and switched it off.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Totally okay. Just relieved that all of my most important memories are finally back."

She let her words linger in the chill of the car for a moment before she nodded past the windshield towards the front door, gesturing for him to follow her. The last few flakes of snow for the evening were still floating down ever so gently from the sky, and the two teens made a quick dash across the front yard as they huddled beneath the yellow glow of the porch light.

A tiny 'brrr' rattled out from between Rufus' front teeth as he burrowed down deeper into Ron's pocket. Ron smirked at his little buddy, but then looked back to Kim, resisting a regretful shudder at the words she had just spoken to him.

"Heh, yeah, I hate to admit it, but you had me a little worried there for a sec."

There was an obvious playfulness to his voice, but still, Kim felt her stomach ache with a twinge of guilt as she stared at her boyfriend. The thought of him being left in such a distinct sense of relationship-limbo made her heart break, even though Kim knew deep, deep down that none of it was really her fault. She was just thankful that her brain finally received the hard reset that it needed - and the visual of Ron's green and yellow spotted boxers that ultimately made her click had only been a hilariously welcomed bonus.

Although, it did make Kim wonder - why hadn't Ron tried anything more suave to bring her back to him sooner?

The redhead bit down on her bottom lip, hesitating for one more second before she spoke.

"Why didn't you try to kiss me?"

Ron narrowed his brown eyes at her, taking a beat of silence.

"To help trigger your memories?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I mean... not gonna' lie, the idea did cross my mind. But you were so sure we weren't actually dating. I couldn't just kiss you," he argued, like it was obvious, "Imagine if I had kissed you but it didn't work - you would have been so super mad at me, that would have completely tanked."

Kim's lips wobbled into a watery smile as her heart splintered a little more with each one of Ron's words, "Okay, I know you're not purposely trying to make me feel bad, but still, Ron - "

"KP," he cut her off with another chuckle, "It's cool. We're cool. And you're, like, totally more than worth waiting for."

His last comment made her chest skip a beat for a sharp second, but before she had the chance to dissect exactly what it all meant, Ron took a step closer to her with a shy grin.

"Speaking of which… well, these last two and a half days are the first ones in six whole months where we weren't really able to kiss, or anything, so - "

He didn't even need to finish his sentence before Kim read his mind and leaned up on her toes, kissing him with an adoring smile. Their exchange was soft and chaste and slow, and Ron towed Kim into an affectionate hug once their lips parted.

"See you in the morning?" she asked quietly from where her head rested on his shoulder.

"You know it. I'll have to catch up with you at school, though, no morning ride for me."

"Oh, yeah, another Actuary of the Year conference?"

Ron nodded his head when the two released their hug and stepped back, "In San Francisco. The 'rents and Han just need a ride to the airport."

"So, you'll make it to school just in time for Barkin's math quiz in first period?"

Ron instantly grimaced, "Ya' know, the things you're choosing to remember are starting to get real suspicious, KP."

Kim laughed with a teasing smirk as Ron rolled his eyes. Taking his hand back in hers for a split second, the redhead pecked at her boyfriend's lips once more, falling back in her place as she gazed up at him.

A renewed quiet was settling between them, and it made Ron frown again as he awkwardly cleared his throat. It seemed like Kim was almost waiting for something, but he didn't have the faintest idea what.

"Um, everything good?"

Kim hesitated, her bottom lip dropping open just slightly. But then, the redhead simply shook off whatever thought seemed to be consuming her, leaving one final kiss on Ron's cheek.

"Duh, of course. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Good night."

"'Night."

As he took a reluctant step away from her front door, Kim watched on with butterflies tickling her tummy while Ron hurried through the light-falling snow back to his own house. She reached behind herself to twist on the doorknob, still keeping one eye on her boyfriend until he disappeared.

Resisting a shiver of her own, Kim slipped through the door to escape the chill night air, shutting and locking it behind her. There was a content feeling coursing through her and warming her soul from the inside out. Kim finally felt like her whole self again - perhaps even more so than she had before the entire crazy MRM sitch in the first place.

With a small smile plastered to her face, Kim turned to the light switch by the front door. She flicked off both the indoor hallway and outdoor porch lights, but when another beam of white was still glowing from the kitchen behind her, Kim raised a curious eyebrow. She strolled across the living room, peering her head around the corner.

The smirk on her mouth only grew at who she found, "Hey, Dad."

"Kimmie-Cub," James spoke, his expression instantly brightening at the sight of his daughter. The doctor was standing by the fridge, eating the last few spoonfuls of what looked to be a delicious bowl of chocolate ice cream. Even when the weather was icy outside, James could never resist the temptation of a late evening, chocolatey treat.

"Another successful mission, I take it?"

Proudly nodding her head in response, Kim took another few steps into the kitchen, "I don't think we have to worry about Shego or Drakken taking advantage of my amnesia anymore. You could say I've finally defeated that evil villain, too."

"Oh," James exclaimed, mulling over his next words, "Well... I suppose that explains your extended goodbye with Ronald this evening."

As her father subtly gestured towards the front door, Kim looked back to him with a small nod of confirmation.

"So, you have all of your memories back?"

"Yep. Every single one of them," she answered. Kim faltered for a second, narrowing her green eyes at her dad and taking a daring breath in, "Not that I had much help from anyone on some of the more important ones."

James' expression seemed to pale at this blunt comment from his daughter. He dropped his spoon back into the bowl, stuttering over the start of his sentence, "Uh, well, honey - "

"Dad, it's fine," Kim cut back in, saving him any further torture.

If she was being honest, of course Kim was more than a little tweaked that no one in her life - apart from Bonnie of all people - chose to remind her of her relationship with Ron. Aside from the fact that they were dating, he was still her best friend. Surely that had to mean he was due even the tiniest snippet in the flashback reel that was her life.

But at the end of the day, Kim knew her parents hadn't been acting with any form of malice. They had been extremely worried about her, understandably so, and only wanted to make sure that they restored all the childhood memories that truly made their little girl who she was.

Besides, the happiness Kim felt now completely overshadowed any ill-will she might have otherwise held against her family.

"It's okay. I get it," she explained carefully, taking a spoon out of the top kitchen drawer for herself, "It was important I remembered things for myself, my brain is a sensitive and fragile organ, blah, blah, blah..."

James watched on with an eyebrow raised as Kim cheekily dipped her spoon into the bowl he was holding and snatched a small scoop of ice cream for herself. The taste danced sweetly on her tongue, but it didn't even come close to matching the flavour of her boyfriend's kiss that she had been so endlessly relieved to indulge in again.

A comforting coat of goosebumps shot up Kim's arms as she blew out a wistful sigh from under her breath. She glanced away from her dad and sort of off in the distance, not even realising it when she brought an enamoured softness to her voice.

"And, anyway... getting to realise how I felt about him for myself all over again was kind of the best feeling in the entire world."

James was silent as he processed the words from his daughter and examined the loving twinkle in her eye. He was frozen in his place, only coming back to life when Kim took a step away from him to place her spoon in the sink and pour herself a glass of water.

As he swallowed the small lump in the back of his throat, James took a second to try and understand the emotion that had swiftly taken over him. Was it guilt for trying to be a wedge in his daughter's relationship? Or maybe even a despondent sort of reluctance to admit how deep that relationship had truly become?

He wasn't exactly sure - James supposed he was just grateful for all of his daughter's happiness. More than anything else, it made him smile.

"Good night, Dad," Kim spoke then. James blinked out of his trance, returning Kim's hug when she wrapped an arm around his waist from the side. He kissed the very top of her head.

"Sweet dreams, Kimmie-Cub."

The doctor watched her leave as she steered out of the kitchen and floated up the stairs towards her bedroom.

It was funny - James had spent so much of the last two days trying to reintroduce some of the things that he had loved most about his Kimmie when she was a little girl. He might have also pushed a little too hard for some things that Kim herself didn't exactly love so much (rockets were certainly not go for Captain Constellation), but all it really proved in the end was that Kim had truly reached the point in her life where she was the only one who could determine all her own loves, and wants, and needs, and happiness.

And maybe it wasn't all as scary as James had once feared.


Ron had an extra skip in his step the next morning as he approached the doors of Middleton High.

The early-winter sun was shining through the moody Colorado cloud cover, Rufus was chirping away happily in the pocket of his brown cargo pants, and Ron had made it back from driving his family to the airport with plenty of time to spare before the bell for first period.

As he followed his sense of smell down to the beautifully petite bouquet of flowers he was holding in his hand, Ron smiled proudly to himself.

After some of his more recent romantic gestures had fallen by the wayside on account of his girlfriend's lack of memory, Ron was determined to make up for lost time now that he truly had Kim back.

And quite frankly, the sidekick would sooner let hell freeze over before he ever lost her again.

"Yo! Ron! Wait up, man."

As he turned around at the sound of his name, Ron's smile lit up at the sight of Felix rolling along behind him. His fellow senior reached the front steps to the school, triggering the hover function of his wheelchair as he glided upwards to land next to Ron.

"Felix, my dude! How are you this fine, bon-diggity Friday morning?"

"Not as great as you, by the sounds of it," Felix laughed, spotting the bunch of flowers by Ron's side, "Whoa. Asking for permission, or begging for forgiveness?"

"Neither, my friend. Just a simple token of my affections, you know how we boyfriends do it," he spoke, holding the door open as the two of them entered the main building of the school, "I thought it was also cause for celebration, ya' know, now that Kim has all her memories back."

"Oh, man, what a relief," Felix exclaimed, "I'll bet that was some reunion between you two?"

The sly tone in Felix's voice was not lost on Ron, but the sidekick's head was still far too high in the clouds to perhaps respond in the way his long-time friend may have been expecting.

"Yeah, actually," Ron spoke, his heart starting to speed up, "She told me she loves me."

"For real?" Felix asked, watching as Ron nodded his head with a smile, "That must have felt amazing."

His tiny grin was soon accompanied by a dimming blush. Amazing was only the tip of the iceberg.

Felix prodded further as he went on, "Even more amazing than it felt to say it back?"

And in the matter of just half a second, Ron felt his dream world fade in a puff of smoke.

"...Say it back?" he echoed, quiet and uncertain at first. But as the weight of realisation tumbled down on top of him, Ron instantly spiralled into a panic.

"Say it back?!"

"Uh, Ron - "

"Oh, my God, I am an idiot!"

Ron skidded to a sharp halt in his place and slapped his palm to his forehead as Felix spun around to gaze up at him.

"Um, sort of, yeah. I mean, the typical response when someone says that to you is pretty obvious..."

"What the heck am I gonna' do?!"

"Calm down, Ron - "

"Calm down?! How can I calm down? The literal most beautiful girl in the entire universe just told me she loves me, and I forgot to say it back!"

"Well, I'm actually more into dark hair and dark eyes myself, but - "

"Oh, man, that was probably what she was waiting for when we said good night yesterday, too! She must hate me, I - "

"Okay, dude, enough!" Felix finally interjected, spinning his wheels out at a right-angle to cut in front of Ron, "No-one can go from love to hate that quickly. It's just not possible. Besides, this is Kim we're talking about! I feel like she's pretty well-versed in managing your, um... quirks by now? Right?"

Ron's head was still practically dizzy at the number of thoughts consuming him, but as he resisted the urge to start pacing back and forth across the school corridor, he froze in front of Felix and drew in a deep breath. A sharp sort of twinge pinched at his heart when he frowned in disappointment with himself.

"The most stupid part of all of this is that I do love her. Like, a lot. And I have no idea why I didn't tell her."

"So, tell her. Make it a big deal, sweep her off her feet!" Felix encouraged, "Just don't beat yourself up about it so much, bud."

An encouraging squeak from Rufus made Ron shoot a grateful smile down to his little pal as he nodded his head. He knew Felix was right, and he knew how understanding Kim was, but somehow, it didn't all exactly make him feel one hundred per cent better.

After two and half days of wondering whether he was ever going to get his perfect dream girl back, Ron was now left wondering whether or not he was even coming close to being the perfect boyfriend.

He just knew he needed to fix it.


"So. Was lover boy quick to remind you why you spend so much time locking lips with him?"

As she rolled her eyes at the teasing tone in her friend's voice, Kim closed the door to her locker and turned to smirk at Monique.

"Something like that," Kim responded, "I mean, not that it wouldn't have been nice for literally anyone else to remind me a little sooner."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, and I apologised! Don't pretend like you weren't happy with how everything turned out."

Kim stubbornly scrunched up her nose at the comment from her best girl friend. She didn't want to admit that she was right, but Monique already knew far better than that. The dark haired girl leaned up against Kim's locker, folding her arms over her chest.

"So, come on. Was there a late night pit stop before you made it home after the mish?"

Kim laughed under her breath, "No, nothing like that."

"No secret midnight visit?"

"No, none of those, either."

"Well, come on, girl - you gotta' give me something?"

When the sly smirk on her lips slowly morphed into something a little more innocent, Kim felt her heart beating lightly in her chest. A pink colour grazed her cheeks as she turned to face Monique more fully and spoke with a joyful whisper.

"I told him I love him."

Monique's eyes widened in surprised delight, "Um, okay, not the kind of hot and spicy grand reveal I was expecting, but, wow, that's huge," she exclaimed happily.

"Well, yeah, I thought so," Kim began, hesitating. She knew how fiercely protective of her Monique could be, and then teen hero wasn't certain how her friend might react with what she was going to say next, "Only... he didn't say it back."

There was a short silence in their conversation. And then, Monique snorted with a laugh.

"Okay, and you're surprised?"

Kim's jaw dropped open with a frown, "You mean you're not?"

"Oh, come on, Kim. You and Ron have been attached at the hip since you were four years old, and we both know that boy still gets nervous around you at the best of times," she argued, "You've got nothing to worry about."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. Trust me, Ron is totally H.O.H. for you."

"H.O.H.?"

"Head over heels," Monique clarified, her eyes narrowing into something slightly more devious, "Seriously, Kim, this is the guy you almost had accidental, heat of the moment sex with just last week."

The light shading in Kim's cheeks exploded into a deep crimson as she pushed her hair back behind her ear, "People don't have to be in love to have sex," she shot back.

"Yeah, maybe other people don't. But you and Ron?"

Kim's bottom lip fell forward in the smallest, defiant pout as she rolled her eyes again. While part of her was immediately starting to half-heartedly question just how much of her personal life she chose to share with her other best friend, her mind couldn't help but wander back to the moment in the back of the cargo carrier she had come so close to sharing with her boyfriend. The feeling was something that even the strongest case of amnesia couldn't ever permanently take away from her.

"Besides," Monique cut back in, snapping Kim from her heated daydream, "The way you're feeling now honestly can't be breaking news to you, and it shouldn't be for him, either."

Kim shrugged her shoulders, but slowly nodded in agreement, "Well, of course. I mean, he's my best friend, I've always loved him, the same way I love you. Only now..."

"You're in love with him?"

Kim's chest skipped a beat.

"Completely."

The expression twinkling behind her emerald eyes made Monique's own heart smile. If there was one thing she loved, it was seeing Kim so giddily happy. And the young fashionista just knew all of her happiness was totally justified - she'd bet her employee discount at Club Banana on it.

"Even Ron's not enough of a buffoon to screw that up," she joked, taking Kim by the arm as they both about-faced, "I'm telling you, Kim, there is literally zero chance he doesn't - "

Before her final guarantee could even be spoken into existence, both Monique and Kim skidded to a stop at the sight of the very boy in question approaching them from a few lockers down. He had his typical wide, hopeful, goofy smile plastered across his face, and much to Kim's delight, he was holding what looked to be a very pretty bouquet of flowers.

Ron cleared his throat when he reached her, "Hey, KP."

Kim had fallen into a slightly stunned silence, but as Monique swapped her glance between the young couple, she nudged Kim forward with her elbow, whispering in her ear.

"H. O. H."

The last syllable from Monique dragged out with a faux tone of seduction when it left her. Kim subtly shuffled away from her, holding down an awkward giggle. Ron was oblivious to the whole exchange (naturally), and as she finally gave in to leaving her two friends alone, Monique was quick to turn on her heels and skip back up the corridor.

Kim's chest was sort of starting to race. She hadn't seen her boyfriend since the night before, and despite the feelings of timid confusion twisting and twirling in her stomach, her features were bright when she glanced up at him.

"Hey. How was the drive to the airport?" she asked, trailing off as she pointed to the small bouquet, "Um, what's all this?"

"Oh, yeah, nothing too crazy. Hana and my parents will be back on Sunday night," he spoke, answering her first question before moving to the next, "And, uh, I just wanted to have another try at this whole flower thing seeing as you took the last bunch I gave you and kinda' turned it into a salad."

Kim laughed at herself, running her hand down her face as she cringed at the memory. But even amongst all her embarrassment, the gesture from Ron was not lost on her. She almost didn't know what to say.

"Plus it's, like, your belated half-a-versary present. From me," Ron rambled on, "I mean, I know it's not as big a bunch as the other day, but I wanted them to fit in your locker so you didn't have to carry them around all day, and - "

Before she even realised that the impulse had overtaken her, Kim was suddenly cutting Ron off mid-sentence as she tilted her head up towards his and pressed their lips together in a sweet kiss. Ron's eyes widened for the first instance, but soon enough, he was moving his kiss against hers with the most tender sense of affection.

He revelled in the sensation for only two or three short seconds, expecting his girlfriend to pull away. They were in the middle of the school corridor, after all, and any teacher could walk right past them at any moment. But as Kim took her hand to the back of Ron's neck and held him even closer for even longer, it was clear that any thought of getting in trouble was the furthest thing from the teen hero's mind.

Ron breathed out against Kim's mouth, smiling into her and taking in the familiar taste of her bottom lip for a daring moment before the two finally parted. The blonde boy swallowed, shooting his glance down at his girlfriend with a slightly bewildered frown.

"Um..."

"My life would seriously suck without you in it, Ron Stoppable."

Holy crap. He loved her so much.

"Kim..."

Both teens suddenly jumped when the sound of the bell for first period went bouncing off the walls around them. Dozens of reluctant students began to file into their respective classrooms, but Kim and Ron remained completely still, staring at each other in a bashful silence.

Rufus glanced up at the two of them from Ron's pocket, tugging on his human's shirt and squeaking out loud to snap them back to reality. Kim was almost startled again, looking down at their tiny, pink pal before her eyes fell back on Ron.

"Barkin."

"Ugh, him and his dumb math quiz," Ron instantly remembered.

"Mhm. As much as I would rather stay here and do this with you literally forever, we should probably get to class."

Ron nodded without saying anything more. He wasn't sure if the moment between them had quite past - as far as he was concerned, any moment was the right one to tell Kim how much she meant to him. But why not try to make it all a little more romantic than that if he could?

A second unexpected murmur from Rufus caught Ron off guard when he realised that Kim was sauntering away from her locker without her flowers in tow.

"Uh, KP?"

The redhead smiled when her boyfriend held the delicate bouquet out to her. Taking a step back towards him, Kim gently took the flowers out of Ron's grasp and opened the door to her locker. She placed them on the top shelf before reaching affectionately for Ron's hand. Kim squeezed tightly, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.

"Don't think this means you can sweet talk your way into copying off my test paper."

"Aw, man, is this because I missed the memo on the whole half-a-versary thing in the first place? Because I was hoping you wouldn't remember that."

Kim laughed at him then, swaying gently into his side as they approached their boring, old classroom at the start of another regular, old Friday.

It was all sort of bizarre - after the last week or two they had endured together, Kim and Ron were both certain that a little boring, regular normalcy in their lives would have been more than welcomed. But as they walked up the corridor together, hand in hand and closer than ever, something told them both that the weekend ahead was going to be anything but normal...


Well, my friends, we've now reached the part of our story where I right all the wrongs made by the writers at Disney for never giving Kim and Ron their real, perfect 'I love you' moment. Stay excited, and stay tuned... ;)

Also, just because one of you lovelies requested so on my last chapter, just confirming this snippet is set immediately after S4 E17 'Clean Slate'.

I seriously can't wait to be back soon with the next instalment! Until then, any reviews and faves are super, duper appreciated :)

Till next time,

Reneyyyyyy x