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Why did the rain always come when he was sad?
Being quite imaginative in his youth, Ron Stoppable had created his own theories regarding the origin of rain. One involved angels showering, while another led him to believe that God was sweating. But the one that he had come to accept before he learned the scientific truth, the one that he still believed on some level, was that the clouds were crying. Just like he was.
They weren’t crocodile tears either; these came from deep within him, forced to the surface by the burgeoning emotions that threatened to implode his very being with the crushing forces they exercised on his heart.
It wasn’t his fault. It was in his nature to take things for granted and use them for his own selfish ends. He couldn’t help it.
Okay, that was a lie. He could have helped it. But he didn’t, and that was the problem.
Now, walking down the sidewalk in the pouring rain, headed toward one big cliché, Ron Stoppable reflected on his mistake. A mistake that he should have seen coming. A mistake that he could and should have avoided. A mistake that only an idiot such as himself could have made.
That’s all he was. An idiot. A buffoon. A laughingstock. He didn’t deserve her. Every moment he had with her was a privilege that he had abused to the point of no return.
Well no more.
He was about to prove to her that he was no buffoon. He’d been living in her shadow for too long! Time for him to shine.
His resolve lasted all the way until he arrived at his destination. Then his essential Ronness kicked in and told him that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
‘No! Can’t back down now!’ he told himself internally, transferring his pain into rage that he was about to vent. He obviously couldn’t hurt her, but he had to find some sort of outlet for this pain or it would just continue to eat at him like it always had. Sometimes violence could be a great solution. Such as now.
The door to the lair came down with a crash, causing the two occupants to stare at him in surprise.
Ron stood where the doorway used to be, fuming with rage. His fists were held upright, just below his face, elbows bent and pointed towards the ground. Across from him, a very surprised Drakken and Shego gazed at him like deer in headlights.
Well, Shego did anyway for a moment before turning back to her magazine. As far as she was concerned the boy was no real threat. Drakken could break down that door. With his bare hands. His tiny bare hands. Speaking of the mad doctor….
“What the… what are YOU doing here? And what’s your name again?”
The boy lost his threatening demeanor and instead adopted one of annoyance. “Ron! Ron Stoppable! How can you not remember?!”
“Because it’s not important anyway,” Drakken dismissed with a wave of his tiny hand. “I suppose this means Kim Possible is nearby.”
Ron raised a finger to his chin and his eyes drifted towards the ceiling. “Well, actually….”
“So… what, Stoppable?” Shego interjected. “Here to tell us how she’s not your girlfriend again?”
That statement caused all of his fury to return, mostly because of its irony. And its truth.
“DON’T SAY THAT!” he roared, dashing forward and leaping at her in a moment of blind rage, from which he was quickly shaken when Shego reacted by extending her previously crossed right leg, not even looking up from her magazine until the boy was impaled on her foot.
“You’re not one to lose your temper,” she observed. “And you’re definitely not one to rush into dangerous situations. Why the sudden death wish?”
“I’m tired of being the sidekick!” Stoppable answered truthfully. “I’m sick of not being useful in a fight. Well that changes now!”
“So you come to start a fight with someone Princess can’t even defeat without putting a lot of effort into it?” Shego remarked. “That’s not very smart. Not that you ever were.”
Ron growled furiously and backed away from Shego’s leg, which she casually returned to its previous position over her left knee. “That’s exactly what I’m tired of!” he yelled. “People treating me like I’m some sort of idiot!”
“Well you are a buffoon,” Drakken quipped as he stood with arms akimbo.
He was about to rush Drakken instead (which he honestly should have done in the first place) when Shego intervened: “Aren’t you the one who’s always sayin’ words hurt, Doc?”
The blue doctor’s eyes shot wide open—well, wider open—in confusion at his sidekick’s sudden betrayal. Sure, she always did like to mock his plans, but this time was different. There was no sarcastic tone. She wasn’t even smirking. She was dead serious.
“What do you mean, Shego?”
The green villainess rose from her art-deco chair and set her magazine on the cushion. “I mean,” she began in a very stern tone, “that you shouldn’t be calling him names when he looks like he just cried worse than Julia Roberts at the Oscars. Try and have some compassion here.”
Again Drakken was stunned, mostly by the irony of that last sentence considering its source. “Compassion? For my enemy?! What nonsense is this?”
Shego crossed her arms and shook her head. “He didn’t come here to stop some stupid plan of yours. He came here while you were fiddling with that God-forsaken oven you insist on keeping.”
“Why must all my evil appliances be so vindictive?” Drakken whined. “I just want to make some evil brownies!”
“That force you to spend all day in the bathroom because your ‘evil recipe’ involves diuretics,” Shego remarked dryly. “Seriously, evil means you inflict pain on other people.”
“Oh, hush, Shego!” the mad scientist snapped. “Why are you on his side all of a sudden?”
“Because it’s obvious that he’s really hurting right now,” she replied honestly. “I don’t kick my enemies when they’re down.”
“Wow, that was a nice pun,” Stoppable commented randomly.
“Why thank you,” the pale thief replied sweetly.
Drakken gaped in disbelief. “What tomfoolery is this? My sidekick and my enemy’s sidekick getting along? What’s the world come to?”
“Zip it, Drew,” Shego said tersely. “Ron needs our help right now.”
Stoppable was floored. “Did you just call me Ron?”
“That’s your name, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but you usually call me ‘Stoppable’ or ‘the buffoon.’ This is the first time you’ve actually called me Ron.”
A smile formed on Shego’s lips. “C’mon,” she said as she grabbed him by the arm. “You and I are going for a ride. Dr. D’s not gonna be any help.”
“Wait, what?” Ron balked. “First the name thing, now you’re giving me a ride home? What has the world come to?”
“Who said I was giving you a ride home?” Shego replied, causing the boy to gulp. “I want to show you something that I think you really need to see.”
“Well, okay, but I have to be back by eleven….”
Drakken stared for several minutes after Shego and Kim Possible’s sidekick exited his lair. He couldn’t understand it. Why would Shego, the most heartless woman he had ever met, offer sympathy, to the buffoon, of all people? Where was this compassion when he was feeling down? Not sure if he really wanted to know the answer that question, he turned his attention back to the oven that continued to defy him.
“So, you think you’re all that, huh?” he sneered, imagining the visage of Kim Possible in place of the HenchCo logo. “Well you’re NOT!”
The oven ominously said nothing.
Ron sighed and dropped his head. “Kim dumped me.”
Shego nodded solemnly. “Figured as much. You’re not really the type who gets that angry, so I reckoned it had to be something big. How’d it happen?”
“Why do you care?”
She sighed, and her face softened. “Look,” she said, “even though you’re my quote-unquote ‘enemies,’ I have to admit I was pretty darn happy that you two finally quit dancin’ around each other and got together. I guess you could say you guys have grown on me over the years.”
“Yeah, but you’re closer to Kim. You barely even know me.”
“I remember your name.”
“True.”
“So really, what happened?”
Ron sighed. “I don’t really think I should be talking to you about this.”
“Well who else is there?” Shego inquired as she took a left turn at the intersection.
“Well, normally I’d talk to Rufus, but this is way over his head,” he replied. “I don’t really think he’d be able to help me that much. Those things I usually talk to Kim about.”
“But she’s the reason you feel this way,” the pale driver finished for him.
“Exactly.”
Several moments of silence passed before Shego decided to speak up again. “So what happened?”
“You’re not gonna let that go, are you?”
She smirked. “Nope.”
“It was my fault,” Ron uttered darkly. “I screwed up. I’m not meant for her.”
Shego nodded “You’ve certainly done a good job of proving that since you two started dating.”
“That’s encouragement,” he sneered.
“I’m serious,” the green woman continued as she rounded a bend. “You’ve been taking her for granted since the day you two met.”
“Not true,” Ron insisted. “Everything I’ve ever done has been for her.”
“Has it?” Shego challenged. “Because I somehow doubt that breaking into her house and stealing her supersuit to rig a football game just to boost your image was entirely for her.”
“I wanted her to see me step up,” Stoppable defended. “I wanted to show her I could be just as good as her.”
“By cheating?” the pale woman retorted. “Face it: you weren’t just doing it to prove yourself to her, you were doing it so that the school would stop treating you like a loser.”
“They haven’t,” Ron muttered grimly.
They came to a stop at a red light. Shego turned to her passenger. “When are you going to learn that you’re just as talented as her, just in different ways?”
“Yeah, mystical monkey power’s a real talent,” the blonde grumbled. “Maybe kicking someone’s ass is the way to prove to her that I love her.” He looked at her dangerously as he said that.
“Don’t even think about it,” Shego warned, waggling a finger at him. “I have an ejector seat and I’m not afraid to use it.”
“Not like I could anyway; it comes and goes.”
The light turned green, and Shego gently pressed the pedal to keep from hydroplaning. Ron took the opportunity to voice a random thought: “How’d you hear about that whole supersuit thing anyway?”
Shego smiled. “Once a month all the villains get together to play poker. I always end up being the dealer because I’m the only one who doesn’t care enough about the stupid thing to cheat.”
“I always figured you for more of the slots type anyway. You’re always taking chances.”
“So are you.”
Ron scoffed. “No I’m not.”
“Look whose car you’re in.”
“Good point.”
Silence fell over the car. Ron took this time to focus on his current situation. Here he was, riding with someone that he and Kim—well, just Kim, actually—had fought on the numerous occasions where she had tried to kill them, and he was chatting with her like a close friend. He realized that’s basically what she was; her conflict with Kim and him wasn’t really personal, and she could actually be a pretty fun person when she wasn’t trying to kill them. She actually knew them better than most people did, and besides Monkey Fist, she was the only one who ever remembered his name on a consistent basis.
“So tell me how it happened,” Shego said.
Ron sighed. “Well, I had this big date night planned out….”
“Don’t be dissin’ Bueno Nacho, KP,” Ron said defensively, to which Kim merely raised an eyebrow.
“At least you left Rufus at home this time.”
Ron snorted arrogantly. “Yeah, and I gotta say, he’s not happy about it, KP. I had to buy three whole wheels of cheese to get him to stay at home. And not the cheap stuff, either! It was quality Gouda!”
“If only you’d spend that much money on me,” the redhead commented sardonically, with just a touch of wistfulness. She sighed and shook her head. “Let’s just go in.”
They reached the checkout counter and made their orders. Having used up all his spare cash to pay for Rufus’ cheese, Ron was forced to use the one item that Kim hated most in the world.
“The coupon book,” she said flatly. “I should have known.”
“Hey, these are awesome, KP!” Stoppable replied flippantly. “They come in handy in a pinch!”
“Yeah, but not on a date,” Kim snapped. “As if you weren’t enough of a cheapskate for bringing us to a fast food restaurant where we eat every day.”
The bitter tone of the statement didn’t seem to faze Ron. “Don’t mess with a good thing, KP.”
Kim visibly shook with rage as she clenched her hands into white-knuckled fists. “Quit calling me that,” she growled.
Clueless as ever, Ron asked, “Calling you what?”
“KP,” the redhead replied mockingly. “KP this, KP that, KP, KP, KP! Abbreviations are for texting!”
“But I thought you liked KP,” Ron said innocently. “It’s my name for you.”
“My name is Kim,” she snarled. “You’ve been using that little pet name for me since we were four. It’s getting a little old!”
Ron was baffled by the fact that his girlfriend was viciously attacking him over something so trivial. He didn’t yet realize that the nickname was not her concern; it was the way he used it. Rather than try to get to the heart of the matter, he chose to get defensive.
“Okay, Kimberly,” he sneered, “would you like to pay for your Triple Grande chimurrito yourself? Because I’m a little strapped for cash right now!”
“Because you spent it all on your naked mole rat! That wasn’t even what I wanted!”
“Well it’s the only coupon I had! You really think I wanted one of those either?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, you’re right,” he admitted. “But you should stop complainin’ and accept the fact that I’m tryin’ my hardest here!”
“No you’re not!” Kim yelled, thankful that, besides Ned, there was no one but her and Ron in the restaurant this late at night. “That’s the whole problem! You never try your hardest! You always skate by on as little as you can! It’s a little aggravating!”
“Only ‘cause you’re little miss perfect!” Ron retorted. “Seriously, do you need me to bring in one of those kids who are still in therapy because you coached their soccer team?”
“They just didn’t understand discipline!” the redhead said in futile defense. “And besides, what about the kid you yelled at that one time you decided to eat nothing but Bueno Nacho?”
Ron let out a snort of arrogance and raised his chin. “Yet another example of when you couldn’t just let people be themselves, pushing your salad agenda and all that. Healthy eating is a scam!”
“Healthy eating is what changed you back from a rampaging mutant,” Kim reminded him. “And if anything, that’s another example of when you wouldn’t listen to good advice. My good advice. I’m supposed to be your girlfriend. That means you occasionally listen to me instead of being as stubborn as that pack mule that kept bucking you that time we went to Drakken’s lair in the Grand Canyon.”
“When was that again?”
“The time we switched brains.”
“Oh yeah. Maybe you’d like to walk another mile in my shoes!”
“Maybe you’d like to take another peek down my skirt!”
“It was windy!”
Their bickering continued as Ned, the only employee left in the building, came out with their food. Having to fix it all by himself had taken a while, and he’d hoped that they would still be in a decent mood when he brought it to them. Instead he was greeted with the sight of two of his best—and only—friends at each other’s throats. It concerned him.
“Uh, guys?” he ventured, but Kim and Ron just ignored him and continued with their argument.
“You never listen to me!” Kim raged. “You’re too caught up with that stupid pet of yours to even notice me anymore!”
“Guys?”
“Rufus isn’t stupid!” Ron shot back. “He’s family!”
“Guys?”
“And I’M NOT! Did you ever buy me three wheels of Gouda?”
“I didn’t think you’d want it,” Ron answered, dense as ever.
“Guys? Hello!”
“That’s not the point!” Kim shrieked, tugging at her hair and starting to pace angrily. “The point is that you never even think about what I want! It’s you and Rufus, and no one else! Sometimes it’s just you!”
“Maybe I need to focus on myself for a change! Maybe I’m a little tired of everything being about you!”
“GUYS!”
That got their attention. Sheepishly, the couple turned to Ned, who wore a very concerned expression on his face. “Food’s ready,” he offered meekly.
“Take it back,” Kim growled. “Anything purchased by that coupon book can’t be good.”
“Stop dissin’ the coupon book!” Ron shouted. “There’s a lot of great deals in there!”
“I don’t want a ‘great deal!’ I want a boyfriend who understands that Bueno Nacho is so not the place for a date!”
“Where would you suggest? Chez Coteaux? I wonder why you like that place so much. Is it because the waiter looks like Erik?”
“I’m not going there anymore after you told me to pretend I was twelve. Yet another date ruined by that infernal coupon book.”
“Hey, I paid in cash after I got that job at Smarty Mart!”
“And you insisted on wearing your vest on the date.”
“I told you, KP: the vest never comes off!”
Kim scoffed and crossed her arms as her eyes focused on Ron’s torso. “I don’t see it on right now.”
“Dry cleaning.”
“It wasn’t on yesterday.”
“Day off.”
“You haven’t worn it off the clock in weeks.”
“So what?”
Kim grabbed her hair and let out a high-pitched scream of frustration. “THAT’S NOT MY POINT!” she roared. “My point is that YOU DON'T LISTEN TO ME!”
“Kind of hard when you’re yelling!”
“How does that make sense?”
“Uh….”
Kim chuckled bitterly. “Drakken’s right: you are a buffoon.”
In that moment, all of Ron’s anger disappeared and was replaced with pain. His expression softened and small traces of moisture started to form in his eyes. “What?”
“You heard me,” Kim replied. “You’ve always been thick as a post and twice as stiff. You’re an idiot who prides himself on being an idiot.”
“But I thought I was your idiot,” Ron offered weakly.
Kim looked at him with absolute disgust. “No. You’re just an idiot.”
He couldn’t form a response. His jaw flapped up and down uselessly as he tried to form words, but none came. Finally, he managed, “But what about all we’ve been through? What about how this was destiny? Doesn’t any of that matter to you?”
“NO!” she screamed. “I don’t give a crap about destiny if you’re going to take me for granted and completely ignore me except for when it’s convenient! Don’t you even care about how I feel?”
“Of course I do,” Ron tried to assure her, reaching out his hand to touch her shoulder. But she just shrugged it off. “You’re all I’ve ever cared about.”
“Well you’ve got a funny way of showing it!”
Ron moved towards her again. “KP, I—”
“Don’t!” Kim shouted, pushing the boy away. “Don’t ‘KP’ me! I’m sick of you taking advantage of me!”
“Taking advantage of you?” Ron was appalled at the implications of that statement.
“Smooth-talking me, acting cute so I can’t stay mad at you, making me watch you play the claw machine at the mall for three hours…. Whatever you want to call it, it’s over! I’m through!”
Ron’s heart skipped a beat. “You can’t mean that.”
Kim just glared at him. “I do.”
“But—”
“If all you’re going to be is an insensitive jerk who uses the fact that his girlfriend will forgive him anyway to do whatever the hell he wants, then I don’t want to be with you,” Kim spat hatefully. “That’s not the boy I grew up with. That’s not the man I fell in love with!”
She turned away, her next words barely above a whisper: “That’s not the man I want to be with.”
Ron’s stomach churned. His head spun. The room grew fuzzy and Kim drifted further away. The shock was too much for him to handle. His mind refused to accept what just happened, going so far as to order his body to stop breathing. He started seeing spots. He attempted one final, desperate reach for Kim before he passed out.
Then his whole world went black.
“And you never thought that maybe you should go after her?” Shego remarked.
“Honestly, no.”
The green woman shook her head. “You don’t know anything about women, do you?”
“Not really.”
“It’s okay,” Shego offered with a smirk. “We can’t even figure ourselves out.”
There were a few minutes of silence before Ron spoke up: “So what do I do now?”
“Try and figure out the problem,” she replied coolly. “What did you do wrong?”
“That’s just it: I don’t know!”
“Think about it for a sec. What did she get mad at you over?”
“Well, she was kinda upset that I brought her to Bueno Nacho instead of a fancier restaurant, but I always thought of that as our place.”
“Whereas she wanted someplace new,” Shego remarked. “What else?”
“Then she got all uppity about the coupon book. What is it with her and that thing?!”
“It’s not the coupons themselves she has a problem with. It’s the fact that you use them on dates.”
“I still don’t see what’s so wrong about that.”
Shego ran her hand down her face. “Okay, I’m gonna make this real clear to you: Kim’s a girl. A very special girl. A girl who doesn’t like being told she’s not special enough to warrant spending actual cash on her. Cash that you spend on your naked mole rat instead.”
“Rufus is family!”
“Yeah, and Kim’s the girl who, for whatever reason, loves you,” Shego countered. “Plus you’ve known her longer. I think she should come first. She thinks so too.”
Ron paused for a moment and considered Shego’s words. “So you’re saying that by using the coupons on our dates, I’m disrespecting her by implying that she’s not worth spending actual money on.”
Shego smiled. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Maybe you’re not such a buffoon.”
“I’d appreciate it if people would acknowledge that more often.”
“You’re not stupid,” the pale woman admitted as she turned a corner. “You just take a while to catch on. Sometimes it helps to get an outsider’s perspective.”
“But I am an outsider,” Ron pointed out.
“So am I,” Shego replied with a smirk. “We’ve got a lot in common, you and I.”
“Yeah right.”
“I’m serious. Ever notice how we’re both lazy until we’re needed? It’s not that we can’t do amazing things—we just lack the motivation to do ‘em 24/7.”
“But Kim and Drakken are always doing something,” Ron observed. “They carry us along.”
Shego smiled. “You know, I’m really gonna have to rethink my image of you after this. You’re awfully perceptive.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
Ron beamed. Hearing a compliment like that, from Shego of all people, felt good.
“Now tell me how you’re going to fix this.”
“I still don’t know the problem.”
“Sure you do. Just think.” She reached down and turned on the radio, flipping through the XM channels until she found the track she wanted. “Maybe this’ll help.”
He works hard to give her all he thinks she wants
But it tears her apart, ‘cause nothing’s for her heart
He pulls in late to wake her up
With a kiss goodnight
If he could only read her mind
She’d say
“How’s this supposed to help?” he wondered aloud.
“Just listen.”
He did as he was told, somehow hoping to find relief in the song that admittedly had a nice rhythm to it. The singer was particularly talented. Even though Shego said it would help, Ron failed to grasp just how exactly the song was supposed to make him think any more clearly. As he listened to the words, however, he started to realize what she was trying to get at.
Buy me a rose
Call me from work
Open a door for me, what would it hurt?
Show me you love me by the look in your eyes
These are the little things
I need them most in my life
“Little things!” he shouted in epiphany. “Kim wants the little things!”
Shego smiled. “See, you’re getting it.”
“But why should the little things matter?” he asked. “What difference does it make as long as we’re together and happy?”
“From what you told me, it doesn’t seem like she was happy,” Shego countered.
He sighed. “No, she wasn’t. I was too big an idiot to realize that.”
“Yeah, but you were her idiot,” the green woman mocked.
“Shut up.”
Now the days have grown to years of feeling all alone
As she sits and wonders if all she’s doin’ wrong
‘Cause lately she’d try anything
Just to turn his head
Would it make a difference if she said
If she said
Shego laughed “Seriously though,” she continued, “girls care a lot about the little things, because when there are too many they start to snowball and become big things.”
“Tell me about it,” Ron muttered. “I just wish she would’ve told me that.”
“She tried; you were just too shocked by the fact that you were actually in a romantic relationship with Kim freakin’ Possible to focus on maintaining that relationship. Bein’ a boyfriend ain’t like bein’ a friend. You have to think of what she wants, not just what you want.”
“And how would you know anything about relationships?”
“I’ve been in enough failed ones to know that focusing too much on the big stuff and not enough on the little stuff can cause the little stuff to become big stuff.”
“What?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t, actually.”
“Nevermind, we’re here.”
Buy me a rose
Call me from work
Open a door for me, what would it hurt?
Show me you love me by the look in your eyes
These are the little things
I need them most in my life
“Where?”
“See for yourself.” She stopped the car and turned on her high beams, revealing a tree.
“This is… this is the preschool where KP and I first met,” Ron said in an awed voice. “How’d you know about this place?”
“Part of my job is reconnaissance. I spy on you two every so often.”
“If your job wasn’t to kill us, I’d think you were a stalker.”
“Killers stalk.”
“Good point.”
And the more that he lives
The less that he tries
To show her the love that he holds inside
And the more that she gives
The more that he sees
This is the story of you and me
“Try and focus here,” Shego scolded.
Ron sighed and did as he was told. As he continued to stare at the tree where he had met the love of his life, he couldn’t help but remember the day his life changed forever.
“My name is Kim, what’s yours?”
“I’m Ron.”
“Will you be my friend?”
“Uh-huh, as long as you don’t give me cooties.”
“I don’t have cooties!” She stomped her feet to emphasize her point..
“Ok, want to play ball?”
“Sure.”
A tear slid slowly down his cheek as he remembered. Kim was the best damn thing that ever happened to him. And he’d let her go because he was too selfish to remember that.
The hell he had.
So I bought you a rose
On the way home from work
To open a door to a heart that I hurt
And I hope you notice
This look in my eyes
‘Cause I’m gonna make things right for the rest of your life
He narrowed his eyes in determination. “I know what I have to do.”
Shego smiled. “There’s the Stoppable I was looking for.” With that, she put the car in reverse and exited the parking lot swiftly, skidding a good ten feet before her tires regained traction on the wet pavement, then drove off into the night.
I’m gonna hold you tonight (tonight)
And do all those little things for the rest of your life
“Sure you can. Just remember: you’re not worthy of her.”
“Oh, that helps.”
“Just trust me on this. The more pathetic you are, the more likely she’ll take you back.”
“Should I use the puppy dog pout?”
“Only if absolutely necessary. Remember: she invented that.”
“Actually it’s a Possible family trait.”
“Behavior isn’t genetic. It’s learned.”
“Whatever. All I know is that all the women in her family have used it.”
“We’re getting off track here. Focus.”
“Right. Not worthy. Got it.” He opened the door and stepped out. He decided to say one more thing to Shego before she left: “Thanks.”
Shego smiled. “Anytime.” With that, she hit the pedal and drove off, disappearing a few moments later.
Ron took a deep breath and walked up the driveway. Once at the door, he paused. What if she didn’t forgive him? What if he had gone a bridge too far? What if he’d lost her forever?
‘The hell with it,’ he thought, raising his finger and ringing the doorbell. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened. Kim stood before him.
“Hi,” he said weakly.
“Hi.”
There was a long pause before they both spoke at exactly the same time. “I’m sorry!”
“Jinx! You owe me a soda!” Kim declared triumphantly.
“Aw man! You always get me with that!”
Kim giggled before turning serious. Her arms were fully extended and her wrists crossed by her waist, and her head was bowed slightly. “Sorry if I harshed on you earlier.”
“It’s okay. I deserved it. I should have considered your feelings.”
“You should have,” she agreed, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking one hip.
Ron allowed his hands to hang limply by his side. “I’ve been a horrible boyfriend lately. I hope you can forgive me.”
“I'll forgive you when you stop acting like a child. You haven’t just been a bad boyfriend, you’ve been a bad friend.”
“But I thought I was your best friend.”
“It hasn’t seemed that way ever since we started dating.”
“I know,” Ron sighed. “I’ve been taking you for granted. I was too amazed by the fact that you and I actually were dating to really work on our relationship. I… I guess I’ve always just let you take the lead. I got used to it. So used to it that I didn’t realize you needed me to step up sometimes.”
“At least you realize it,” Kim conceded, relaxing her pose and leaning against the doorframe. “You wanna come in?”
Ron nodded and stepped through. “Where are your parents?”
“Out of town. Mom’s at a medical conference and dad was taking the tweebs to Kennedy Space Center this weekend. I offered to stay at home and hold down the fort. Let’s go in the kitchen,” she suggested.
He complied, following the love of his life just like he had always done. Once there, however, his jaw dropped and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “What in the name of Jiminy Cricket happened in here?!”
The kitchen was a disaster zone. Pots and pans were everywhere, day-old soup was still boiling on the stove, and the place reeked worse than a slaughterhouse. “You tried to cook, didn’t you?”
“Well…” Kim said sheepishly as she looked to the ceiling, “maybe.”
“I'm pretty sure you’ve violated every health code in existence,” Stoppable said in horror. “Hell, they may have to invent some new ones for this…. Are those RATS in the stew?!”
“I heard in my survival class that they were a good source of protein!” she offered weakly.
“They can carry the bubonic plague!”
“They can?”
“Weren’t you paying attention in history class?”
“Were you?”
“Well, no, but I remembered that!”
“So not the drama.”
“So very much the drama!” He cringed as he continued to survey the catastrophe that had befallen the Possible kitchen. “Let’s go into the living room. I'll help you clean this up later.”
“Good plan,” Kim agreed.
They sat down next to each other on the couch and prepared to have the most serious talk in all their years of knowing each other. Ron went first. “I promise I'll try and be a better boyfriend if you try and understand that I’m still getting used to this whole relationship thing.”
“Deal,” she replied. “I'll promise to stop being such a nag if you start doing your part.”
“Deal.”
They faced each other.
“I love you,” they said together.
Silence followed. Ron used this time to reflect on what he had done, and what he had promised he would do. He had always been a follower at heart. Occasionally taking the lead was foreign to him. But if Kim wanted him to step up, then by golly, he would step up, because he loved her too much to lose her again. She was the best damn thing that ever happened to him. She was his entire life. She was the girl who could do anything; he was the guy who would do anything for her.
They continued to stare for several minutes until finally, slowly, Ron started to lean in. Kim leaned back, encouraged by his boldness. Their lips met in the most passionate kiss they’d shared since the night of the prom when it all began.
In that moment, Ron knew that he would never lose her again. He would fight for this relationship with everything he had, because this was just too special to give up. He offered a silent thanks to Shego, idly wondering what would happen the next time he and Kim ran into the pale woman. She had done him the greatest of favors, and he knew that he owed her his life for helping him to see that he was sabotaging himself. The thought was quickly abandoned in favor of Kim, the girl of his dreams. The woman he loved. The one he would be with forever and ever. As their passion grew more and more deep, he reflected on the last words of the song he’d heard earlier:
I’m gonna hold you tonight (tonight)
And do all those little things for the rest of your life
“Gnn, light, you stupid thing!” he cursed. His prayer was answered when a small bolt of green plasma flew by his head and ignited the pilot light. He barely jumped back in time to avoid being singed. Looking up, he saw Shego smirking at him.
“Figured you could use some help,” she said, extending her hand.
Reluctantly, Drakken accepted the offered limb and stood to his feet with Shego’s assistance. “Why’d you leave with that sidekick?” he demanded.
Shego just smiled. “I told you: I like to keep my friends close, and my enemies closer. This way he’ll be more conflicted next time we fight and he might not screw up your plan.”
“But I thought Kim Possible always foiled my plans.”
“Geez, Doc, no wonder you always lose. You don’t even know why you keep losing.”
“My plans are foolproof, Shego!” Drakken tried desperately to assert.
The green woman just shook her head, amused. “You’re underestimating how big of a fool Stoppable is, Dr. D.”
“Gnn, whatever.”
Shego smiled. “Don’t sell yourself short, Doc: some of your plans are pretty sinister. Hell, you had me going nuts over your Lil’ Diablo plan before you finally decided to let me in on it. No one could have foreseen those two having feelings for each other. You impressed me a lot with that plan.”
“You’re just saying that, aren’t you?”
“Actually, I’m not. Some of your ideas are right up there with the greatest criminal masterminds in history.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so.”
“Well… er… thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Doc.”
Now with a freshly inflated ego, Drakken strode over to his assortment of doomsday equipment and got to work on his latest scheme. Shego grinned; she finally got what Princess saw in Stoppable. Childishness really could be endearing. Of course, she preferred her men mature, but Drakken was just so cute when he was like this. Rather than file her nails or read a magazine like she usually did when she was bored, she resolved to simply watch her boss work. Sitting in her usual chair, she crossed her legs and rested her elbow on one of her knees, bringing her chin to rest atop her palm as she idly twitched her foot.
“So what plan have you cooked up this time, Doc?” Shego inquired with a degree of eagerness that surprised even herself. “I’m sure it’s killer.”
Drakken smiled like a toddler who had just mastered the potty and started to explain his latest brilliant scheme. “Well, I was thinking of making some modifications to my Tremorator so that it could be used to make enormous amounts of Cocoa-Moo at once and….” He stopped when he saw Shego roll her eyes and groan. “Stupid plan, right?”
“No, go on,” the villainess replied sweetly. “It’s fascinating.”
The mad scientist grinned even wider. “Well, I was thinking it would come in handy at the next henchmen appreciation banquet….”
As Drakken continued to elaborate, Shego’s thoughts returned to what she had told Stoppable earlier. The little things really do matter. They prepare us for the big things. She found herself hoping that Kim and Ron were able to patch things up. After all, if Team Possible were to split up, who would be there to stop her and Drakken from taking over the world?
No, they had to be fine. After all, Kim could do anything. And as much of a buffoon as he was, Ron was no idiot. Those two were made for each other. True love didn’t happen every day, but Shego was sure that was what Kim and Ron had.
And as long as she was alive, that’s how it was going to stay. She would make sure of it.
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