Bonnie’s eyelids drooped as she tried to focus on the TV. She really did want to pay attention to the fashion show she was watching, even if she couldn’t afford any of the items, but it seemed whatever energy zapping magic Kim’s couch had was effecting her again. She forced her eyelids back up a few times, but it seemed like they got even heavier with every attempt.
What is it about this couch?
That thought would have been her last conscious one for awhile had it not be the for the sudden blaring of the doorbell jarring her from her half asleep/half awaken state.
“AAHHHH!” she screamed as she jumped up a bit and nearly fell off the couch.
Once she was sure she wasn’t going to hit the floor, she sat up and stretched with a long yawn. Again the chime of the doorbell interrupted her peaceful moment and she pulled herself off the couch with an irritated growl. It continued to ring a few more times as she stalked way over to the front door.
“Alright already,” she muttered.
There was only one person she knew who would be this annoying with the doorbell at this time of the day.
“Hi Ron,” she said flatly after she opened the door to reveal the blonde boy.
“Hey Bonnie,” he replied in a friendly tone as he stepped inside. “Kim here?”
“Nope. She and Shego took Shin to the store,” the brunette explained as she closed the door then started back to the living room.
“You didn’t go with them?” he asked, following her.
“No cause they want to Smarty-Mart and being that it’s my day off I don’t even want to think about that place.”
“Yeah, but don’t you get an employee discount?”
“Not enough to make me go in there if I don’t have to,” she grumbled as she sat back down on the couch.
Ron merely shrugged as he sat down beside her. It was an action that would have been unthinkable in high school and would have been weird up to even a few weeks ago when she first moved in. That had largely to do with Ron’s ability to over react to change, but it was also due to Bonnie’s lingering adherence to “the food chain” from high school. Once she got over the fact that no one was really going to care that she was talking to a “froob”, in her own words, she was able to put aside her past judgements about him and see him for the nice guy that he was. He was still incredibly goofy, but more in comical way than “bang your head against the wall” way. At the very least he was getting along better with her than he was Shego.
“So if you’re not going to the store what do you have planned for the day?” he asked.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” she replied with a happy sigh. “I’m going to sit here and catch up on my all my shows now that I have extended cable again and just…relax.”
“Aaahhh, vegging then. One of my favorite pastimes,” he said as he crossed his arms behind his head and leaned down on the couch a bit.
They sat in silence for a few minutes as they watched the show currently on the TV. Unfortunately, Ron was never really into high end fashion that much and quickly lost interest. He desperately wanted to change the channel, but years of being best friends with a girl taught him that you never change the channel when something they really want to watch was on and judging by how intensely Bonnie was focusing on it, she really wanted to watch this show. Which meant he’d have to suffer through it for the next hour or so. At least he could talk during the commercials.
“So how you holding up?” he asked as soon as he saw her attention waver.
“Better than I was a few weeks ago,” Bonnie said with a slight sigh. “At least now I don’t have to worry about the roof over my head falling on top of me.”
“Yeah that last place sounded really bad.”
“Oh it was. So glad I don’t have to deal with it anymore.”
“You just gotta deal with living with Shego,” Ron remarked.
“Actually it’s not that bad. I mean…sure she wasn’t too thrilled with the idea at first, but honestly I wouldn’t have been either. And there was that…incident.”
“You mean where she caught you and Kim sleeping on the couch?”
Bonnie whipped her head around to stared at him in embarrassed surprise.
“She told you about that?!” she cried out.
Ron winced at the volume. “Well…yeah. But she needed someone to talk to. She said she and Shego worked it out but still needed some reassurance.”
“I still can’t believe she told you,” Bonnie said absently. Her face then scrunched up as she glared daggers at him. “You better not tell anyone!”
“Oh come on Bon-Bon, would I do a thing like that?”
She continued to stare.
“OK maybe I would. But it wouldn’t be on purpose. And I swear I won’t tell another living soul.”
“You promise?”
“Cross my heart,” he reassured as he crossed his finger over his heart.
“And your little rat thing?”
“What Rufus?”
“‘Ello!” Rufus greeted as he poked his head out of Ron’s pocket.
“Oh he won’t tell anyone. Will you Rufus?”
“Nope!” the mole rat agreed, making the “zipped lips” motion.
“Good,” Bonnie sighed in relief. “Anyway, once we got that little mistake cleared up Shego and I actually started getting along really well. Turns out we have a lot in common.”
“Well you did both use to make Kim’s life miserable,” Ron pointed out.
“Yeah there was that,” she agreed, sounding a bit remorseful. “But aside from that we have the similar tastes in music and fashion, even if she is waaay to into the green and black.”
“Does she even own anything that’s not one of those colors?”
“Not that I’ve seen. Course it’s not like I want to go routing around through her clothes anyway. I’m not really interested in seeing what kind of ‘special things’ she might wear for Kim.”
Ron shuddered at the thought. “Didn’t need to even think about that.”
Bonnie gave him a questioning look. “You know you surprise me Ron, most guys would love to hear about things like that.”
“Maybe but then again most guys don’t have to deal with it being their ex-girlfriend with woman who use to routinely try to kill her.”
“You’ve got a point there. It is kinda weird but…well…let’s also kinda sweet. I mean if you see them together you can tell they really care for each other.”
“Yeah,” Ron sighed. “Which is why I’m slowly becoming OK with it, but I think there are always gonna be…issues for me.”
The brunette nodded slowly as she looked towards the TV again. Her show was back on and as much as she just wanted to watch it, the conversation made her realize there was something she really needed to say to Ron before she could enjoy herself again.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“Nah, it’s OK, just things I gotta work through,” Ron said with a wave of his head.
“Not about that. I mean I am sorry about that, but mostly I’m sorry that I was always putting you two down.”
He blinked a few times as he processed the admission. “Oh. Well…you’re forgiven. That was a long time ago.”
“Still doesn’t excuse it. I was just…jealous of you two.”
“Really?”
“Well yeah!” she remarked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I mean you two where the fairytale couple that everyone loved. And me…well when Brick graduated he pretty much said ‘Goodbye’ and just left without a second thought.”
“I don’t think Brick ever had a second though,” Ron joked, trying to cheer her up.
A quick smile tugged at Bonnie’s lips as she chuckled a bit.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “But he was the star quarterback and I was a cheerleader so I had to go with the food chain.”
“I think you put too much stock in that whole ‘food chain’ thing. I mean, you like who you like, right? What does it matter what other people think?”
“This coming from the guy who’s still upset about his ex-girlfriend’s new relationship?”
“Never said I followed my own advice,” he stated before his eyes quickly looked downcast. “But you’re right I guess I’m not really one to talk. At least you found out your ex was kind of a jerk. Imagine breaking up with them because of some vague reason that you two just don’t click ‘that way’ then trying to be happy for them when they’re in a new, even weirder relationship, when all you really want to do is get back together.”
Bonnie stared at Ron in amazement. She was surprised that not only could he be this deep but also at the fact that he could still be happy for Kim even though he was still broken up about their failed relationship. It was certainly much more than she ever gave him credit for, which just made her feel worse about herself. She tentatively reached over and placed reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“Look Ron, I’m sure you’ll get over it soon enough and maybe even find someone else out there,” she tried to comfort him.
“Yeah I know, I know. I’m just having my usual bad luck with the ladies,” he muttered. He paused for a moment as he looked over at her. “Say Bonnie, what are you-”
“We’re back!” Kim’s voice rang out through the house.
Kim Possible: Moment Killer, Ron thought as he and Bonnie got up off the couch to help Kim and Shego with the groceries.
When they reached the door, they were met with the sight of Kim pulling Shin’s stroller through the threshold while Shego followed close behind carrying six plastic grocery bags.
“Is that it?” Ron asked, pointing to the bags.
“Oh you wish,” Shego remarked. “There’s still more out in the car so you two better chop to it.”
“Why is we’re suddenly drafted into to this?” Bonnie shot back.
“Because we’re gracious enough let you live here. Not to mention the fact that some of this stuff is yours and as for you,” Shego said, pointing to Ron, “you’re here all the time anyway so you might as well help out.”
“Hate to admit it, but she has a point,” Ron relented.
“Fine!” Bonnie sighed in frustration before walking out to the driveway.
Ron quickly followed her and with the additional help the fairly impressive amount of food was moved from the SUV into the Possible homestead in a matter of minutes. As Ron set the last bag down carefully on the only free spot of counter space left, he couldn’t help but let out an amazed whistle.
“So I take you guys go through a lot of food, huh?” he remarked.
“Well we do have four mouths to feed now,” Kim said as she began to put some of the groceries in an overhead cupboard.
“Not to mention a frequent fifth,” Shego said pointedly towards Ron.
“Hey, at least I cook when I come over here,” he defended himself.
“And some do eat more than others,” Kim quipped with a glance over her shoulder to Shego.
“Look I told you that already,” Shego countered as she placed Shin in her high chair. “I can’t help it that this,” she took a step back and ignited her plasma powers, “speeds up my metabolism and causes me to burn through food.”
“This from the woman who’s afraid she’ll never lose her baby weight.”
“That’s a completely different thing.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Not to break up this warm and fuzzy couples moment, but you did remember to get what I asked for, right?” Bonnie asked.
“Yeah, it’s all right here,” Shego said as she placed one of the blue plastic bags on the kitchen table.
“Wait, you don’t want to actually go to the store so you make them buy you stuff?” Ron questioned, pointing to Kim and Shego.
“Quite the little racket, isn’t it?” Shego retorted.
“Hey I gave you the money for that,” Bonnie shot back. “Speaking of which, do you have my change?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll give it to you after we get everything put away. Which would go a lot faster if two certain someones would help out.”
“Wow really dropping the not-so-subtle hints today Shego,” Ron mused as he walked over towards Kim and started to help her. “And this is the woman you want to help you raise your daughter?”
“I’m sure she’ll mellow out by then,” Kim shrugged. “Besides, at least I know she’ll be able to keep Shin in line.”
“No doubt about that.”
While the four humans continued to put away the groceries, a certain naked mole rat popped his head out of the pocket he usually called home when a familiar scent his hit nose. It continued to twitch as he looked around the kitchen for the source of the wonderful aroma. He let out a squeak of excitement when he figured out it was coming from a bag laying on the kitchen table. Climbing out a little further, he braced himself before making a powerful leap from Ron’s pocket to the table. He panicked a bit when it looked like he was going to fall just short of his goal, but thankfully he was able to grab a hold of the table’s edge at the last second. With a strained grunt, he pulled himself up to safety and let out a relieved sigh. He then refocused on his goal and made a beeline for the translucent plastic bag. He stuck the top half of his body into it and began to forage through the rest of the food items to get to that sweet, sweet cheese.
What Rufus was unaware of, however, was that while he was stalking cheese, someone was stalking him. Shin had seen his jump from Ron’s pocket and onto the table and was now staring at him intently. She had always been fascinated by the little creature but for some reason was forbidden to play with it. But now that both her mommies were distracted and she had the little pink animal in her sights she seemed determined to get a hold of it. She struggled against her table attached to her high chair as she flung her arms forward wildly. After a bit of rocking she was finally able swing herself forward enough to grab the small rodent’s tale, causing Rufus to let out a yelp of pain and surprise as he was pulling towards the infant. She cooed happily as she held him close and squeezed him just a little too tightly.
“Help!” he croaked out, but it went unheard by his human friends.
Shin continued to giggled excitedly as he held Rufus as close to her as she would the stuff bear in her crib, completely oblivious to the fact that, unlike her bear, the “stuffing” inside the mole rat where actually internal organs that face a great danger of being crushed on her surprisingly strong grasp. For his part, Rufus did all he could to escape but it just seem like the harder he tried the more her grip tighten. He tried to call out for help a few more times but it came out mostly a sickly wheezing sound. Thankfully, he was sparred an unpleasant demise when Ron finally noticed he wasn’t in the boy’s pocket anymore.
“Hey, Rufus, where’d you go buddy?” Ron asked, turning away from the counter. He let out a horrified gasp when he saw Shin squeezing the life out of his best, non-human friend. “Rufus!”
The outburst alerted the three women in the room and they turned around to see what was the matter. Upon seeing the sight Ron had, their reaction was much the same but at least two of them were concerned for someone else.
“Shin! No!” Shego admonished her daughter as she came up and tried to take the pet from her hands. The struggled was more difficult than she anticipated. “Come on Shin, be a good girl and let go. You don’t know where that thing has been.”
The struggled continued on a few a minute longer as Shego really didn’t want to do anything to harm her daughter physically or mentally, but she really wanted to get the possibly disease ridden vermin away from her. Shin, in turn, seemed dedicated to holding onto her new toy. In the middle of it all, Rufus was just hoping he’d make it through the ordeal in one piece. Soon enough, though, Shego’s superior strength won out and she was able to pry the little critter out of the infant’s hand. Shin reacted the way most children do when something they had is taken away from them; she began to cry loudly.
“No, no, it’s okay,” Shego tried to comfort her as she tossed Rufus aside.
Thankfully, Ron was quick enough on his feet to rush forward and catch the little guy before he could get hurt anymore.
“Rufus, buddy, you OK?” he asked, his voice full of concern.
“Fine,” Rufus squeaked out before he slumped back into Ron’s hands.
“Look what you did!” Shego’s accusatory voice rang out as she rocked Shin gently in an effort to calm her down again.
“What I did?!” Ron shouted back, holding the naked mole rat just as carefully. “Look what she did to poor Rufus!”
“Well that’s your fault for not keeping a better eye on that thing.”
“And it’s not your fault for keeping a better eye on your child and making sure she doesn’t hurt, poor defenseless animals?”
“She’s a baby! She doesn’t know any better!”
“That’s still no excuse.”
“What are you insane! I-”
“Alright enough!” Kim shouted, stepping between the two. “Shego, why don’t you take Shin into the other room and see if you can’t calm her down there?”
Shego continued to glare at Ron and looked like she was going to say something else, but a stern look from Kim made her rethink that decision. Instead she just nodded then walked out of the kitchen while talking sweetly to Shin to try and stop her from crying. Kim sighed and relaxed a bit. That is, until Ron spoke up again.
“Thanks KP,” he said.
Kim turned her head towards him and glared.
“Oh don’t thank me just yet,” she warned. “You were still saying some pretty nasty things about my daughter.”
Ron guffawed and stumbled back a bit. “Yeah, but I didn’t…I mean…Shego she…”
Kim let out a deep breath to calm herself. “Look, I know you didn’t mean any of those things and I’m sure somewhere deep down inside Shego does too. But you can’t deny that you were being a little harsh on a child who really didn’t know any better.”
“Yeah I know,” he sighed and hung his head. “I’m sorry.” He then raised his head when an idea came to him. “Hey how about I make it up to you by staying and cooking dinner?”
“You know it’s funny I was about to suggest the same thing,” Kim remarked with a smirk.
“I guess that settles it then. Just as long as you can keep Shego from killing me.”
“Don’t worry I’ll handle Shego. Then I’ll come back to help you out.”
He froze and gave her an uncertain look. “Uh…I don’t think that’s such a great idea.”
“What?” she asked defensively. “I’ve gotten better since the last time.”
“Need I remind you that ‘the last time’ almost resulted in us having to call the fire department?”
“It was one little fire! We got it under control easily enough.”
“Yeah and next time we won’t be as lucky. Look just go deal with Shego and Bonnie can help me prepare dinner,” he said then glanced over the brunette. “You don’t mind helping out, do you?”
“Uh, no course not,” she answered, somewhat taken aback by the request. “I just don’t know how much help I’m going to be. I’m far from the world’s greatest cook. Course I haven’t started any fires recently either.”
“A little one!” Kim stressed again, knowing that last remark was obviously pointed at her.
“Uh huh. Whatever you need to tell yourself to make it OK,” Bonnie retorted.
Kim growled as flashbacks of their high school rivalry began to pop into her mind. She pushed it down and decided to focus on what really mattered; making sure her daughter was alright. As she walked out of the kitchen she noticed Ron and Bonnie already starting to get dinner ready after Ron did one last check to make sure Rufus wasn’t seriously hurt. She stood quietly by the archway to watch them for a second and couldn’t help but notice how well they were getting along.
Well I suppose that’s something good to come out of this arrangement, she mused. They both needed something to make them feel better. Still, I wonder if their getting along a little toowell. She shook her head at that thought. Those two? No that wouldn’t happen. Course most people would have say that about me and Shego. So maybe… She looked at them again and saw that Bonnie was laughing rather loudly at one of Ron’s jokes. Then again…nah, it hasto be my imagination.
The next day found Bonnie back at work and lamenting over the fact that her days off never seemed to last very long. She sighed as she swept the pricing gun over the tag of another long sleeved shirt and idly wondered how long it was until her next day off. It always seemed like thinking of that or when her next pay check would be there were the only two things that really helped break up the monotony work. As odd as it sounded, being on the floor with the price gun was even worse then sitting at the register and waiting for someone to show up. The constant repetitive motion of marking on tag and then another and another and another and another just seemed to put her into some kind of hypnotic daze that caused her brain to practically shut down.
It was during one of these painfully long moments that Bonnie found herself staring at the pricing gun while an odd idea formed in her head. She knew it was completely idiotic and immature and if anyone caught her she’d probably die of embarrassment, but she found she just couldn’t help herself. She looked from left to right to make sure the coast was clear then turned the gun so the tagging end would face her then slowly began to bring it up to her forehead.
“Hey BonBon!” a familiarly cheery voice greeted.
“GAAAHHH!” Bonnie screamed, nearly threw the gun out of her hands.
She juggled it a few times to regain her grip and when she finally caught it safely she let out a relived sigh before quickly spinning to glare at the person who had frightened her. Not surprisingly she saw Ron standing there with his usual goofy grin on his face.
“Stop doing that!” she screamed.
“Doing what?” Ron asked, completely oblivious to what was going on.
“Scaring me! You did it yesterday with the stupid doorbell and you did it just now when you snuck up behind me!”
“Oh, well…sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s alright,” Bonnie accepted with another sigh. “You just surprised me is all.” She quickly tagged another shirt then turned back to Ron again. “So what are you doing here anyway?”
In response he held up a pack of T-shirts in his left hand.
“Just doing some clothes shopping. Ten for five bucks, it’s a great deal. It’s like getting half of them for free!” he enthused.
Bonnie just rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I forgot you actually shop here for clothes.”
“Oh and I forgot you and just about every other girl I know loves to pay triple the price for the exact same items!”
“They’re not the same!”
“You can say that all you want, but that little banana in the corner does not justify those prices,” he remarked as he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head away and upwards.
“Yeah!” Rufus agreed with his perch on Ron’s shoulder as he mimicked the action.
Bonnie was about to speak her mind again when she was interrupted by a customer.
“Excuse me, miss,” the woman called out an annoying grating voice. “Where are you size seven dresses?”
The brunette looked the much older and much heavier woman up and down. Obviously this was not a woman who made good fashion choices. The first, and most dramatic, hint of that decision were the bright hot pink spandex pants she was wearing that revealed just a bit too much. Adding to the horror was the blazing yellow polka dotted shirt that was tied in a knot around her waist more out of necessity than style. Topping off the freak show as the woman’s nearly foot tall beehive hairdo and green, thick rimmed glasses. Bonnie shuddered at her appearance.
“Well ma’am,” she started, forcing herself to sound friendly instead of snarky, “the size seven dresses are over there.” She pointed to a rack of clothes on her left. “However, I think you should consider the size eighteen dresses over there,” she pointed to a rack on her right.
The woman gapped speechlessly at her for a few seconds, presumably flustered with embarrassment but it was hard to tell through all her heavy rouge.
“Why what exactly are you saying?!” she blurted out angrily.
Don’t say it. Don’t say it, Bonnie repeated mentally even as she own face started to grow a bit red as she tried to keep her cool.
“I think what she’s trying to say is that you either need to buy some bigger dresses or lose some weight. Frankly I don’t think either of those options would hurt you,” Ron stated matter-of-factly.
Both Bonnie and the woman stared at him in surprise. Bonnie because even though Ron made the remark in his usual easy going manner, it really seemed like he was covering for the remark she wanted to make. The small wink he tossed her way only seemed to strengthen that idea.
As for the woman, well she was mad simply because she felt she was being made a fool of.
“Listen here you rude young man!” she started to scold him.
“Is there a problem over here Bonnie?” a new, yet familiar voice spoke up and made the brunette cringe a bit.
All three participants of the argument turned to see a portly man in glasses and crew cut style hair cut walking up to him. His orange vest and matching tie noted that not only was he a Smarty-Mart employee but a manager as well. One that Bonnie had the misfortune to deal with quite a bit do to her little…“indiscretions.” She steeled herself and tried not to look guilty even though she really hadn’t done anything wrong, it was just being around him made her nervous. Especially when he already thought she had done something wrong.
“No Mr. Stockwell, there’s not a problem here at all,” she said shakily.
“There is so! This girl insulted me!” the woman shouted as she jabbed a finger violently towards Bonnie.
“Is this true?” Mr. Stockwell asked, glaring at her.
“Actually no,” Ron again came to her rescue. “You see what happened was, this lovely young salesgirl her was trying to offer this woman an sensible option in her clothing choice when for no reason whatsoever she lashed out at her.”
Mr. Stockwell eyed Bonnie a second before turning his attention towards Ron.
“You look familiar,” he remarked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
“Well I should, I come here almost every other day and I’m a subscriber to the Smarty-Mart Price Cutters magazine.”
“Still not sure…”
“Ron. Ron Stoppable.”
“Oh of course!” Mr. Stockwell exclaimed as he snapped his fingers. “Now I remember you. Yes, you certainly are one of our preferred customers. Heck, the way you help promote the store to other customers I always hoped you’d come work for us.”
Ron laughed nervously. “Well…that’s-that’s very generous sir but you know I’ve got college and all. And helping save the world. Kinda busy for a job.”
“Of course, of course. But if you ever want one, it’ll be waiting for you,” he remarked as he patted the blonde’s shoulder.
“Excuse me, are you going to help me with my problem or not?” the irritating woman growled.
Mr. Stockwell turned his glare towards her. “Ma’am if one of our preferred customers here say there’s no problem then there’s no problem.”
“But he was rude to me as well!” she protested as he pointed to Ron.
“Perhaps ma’am you’re just taking things too personally.”
The woman gapped incredulously as the seemingly uncaring manager then back and fourth between the salesgirl and the so-called “preferred” customer. Knowing that she had already lost the battle, she slammed a foot down and screamed before waddling off in frustration. The three of them watched her leave and when she was out of sight, Mr. Stockwell looked at Bonnie once again.
“Now Bonnie I do trust you will remember to refrain from lashing out at the customers, right?” he asked pointedly.
“Yes, of course Mr. Stockwell. You don’t have to worry about that,” she promised.
“Good, good. Now if our favorite customer here needs something, please make sure that he gets it, alright?”
“Right.”
“And son it was a pleasure to meet you,” he said as he shook Ron’s hand. “I’d tell you to come back soon but I’m sure you’d do that on your own, now wouldn’t you?”
“You know it sir,” Ron enthused.
Mr. Stockwell nodded happily before going about his business. Bonnie craned her neck around a column to make sure he was out of ear shot before she sighed in relief and looked at Ron gratefully.
“Thank you,” she breathed. “I can’t get in trouble again and it’s just so hard when you have to put up with people like that all day.”
“Yeah I can see it getting tiring,” Ron mused. “But it’s nothing to worry about. That’s what friend’s do for each other, right?”
Bonnie smiled a bit at the remark. “Yeah. Still, how about I treat you to lunch as a way of saying thanks? I can get an employee discount at the Pizza Shack in here if you don’t mind it.”
“Mind it?! I love it!”
“Cheese!” Rufus shouted excitedly.
She chuckled at their passion for slightly overcooked pizza.
“I’ll take that as a yes then. Alright, I’ve got a few minutes til my break so why don’t you wait for me there?”
“Already on our way!” he remarked as he turned and practically ran towards the other end of the store were the built in restaurant sat.
Bonnie shook her head in amusement as she watched him leave.
Well, at least lunch won’t be boring today, she thought as she went back to tagging the rack of shirts.
By the time lunch finally rolled around, Bonnie found herself exhausted and starving. She found it odd how the simple tasks like pricing items could really wear her out but the big stuff like unpacking boxes and putting items out really didn’t phase her that much. She shrugged it off as some weird mental thing and focused on getting lunch. As she neared the entrance to the built-in restaurant she spotted Ron standing eagerly just outside it with Rufus perched on his shoulder looking just as excited as his owner. A smile tugged at Bonnie’s lips, brought on by both the sight and the irony of it all. Back in high school if she had seen him with that goofy expression on his face she would have made some cutting remark and just walked right past him. Now here she was about to not only have lunch with him but pay for it as well.
Kinda funny how things work out, she thought. In a kind of sad and twisted way.
She pushed that thought aside and widened her smile as she waved to get Ron’s attention. He waved back before walking up to meet her half way.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t gonna show,” he joked.
“Nah, I just got a bit behind after having to deal with a few more customers,” she explained as they walked into the Pizza Shack.
“Wasn’t like the lady from before, was it?”
“No. Occasionally I do get some nice customers. Though they are few and far between.” She pushed aside all thoughts of customers and looked up at the menu above the counter. “So what do you guys want?”
“Cheese!” Rufus cheered as he raised a paw excitedly into the air.
“Should have seen that coming,” Bonnie quipped. “How about you Ron?”
“Well let’s see…” he muttered while he studied the menu.
He was silent for nearly a minute before he let out a loud, exaggerated gasp.
“Have my wildest dreams finally come true? Have they found the most badical food combo since the creation of the Naco? Is there really a taco pizza?!” he exclaimed in his usually over dramatic way.
“Uh…yes?” the clerk behind the countered answered, even if he did feel slightly afraid at the moment.
“So let me guess, taco pizza?” Bonnie deadpaned.
“Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!”
“Okay, okay, just tone it down,” she said as she looked around at the all the people who were now staring at the.
“Oh sorry,” he apologized sheepishly. “I just get a little excited at these kinda things.”
“Yeah no duh. Why don’t you just go find a booth and let me take care of the rest?”
“Alright.”
Bonnie shook her head a little in bemusement as she watched him walked over to one of the corner booths.
“Nice boyfriend,” the clerk remarked.
She spun around and looked at him incredulously
“He’s not my boyfriend!” she proclaimed adamantly.
“Uh huh. So you just put up with his antics because…?”
“Look I don’t need to explain myself to you,” she remarked, feeling an odd scene of deja vu. “Just take my order.”
“Whatever.”
After a rather tense wait for her order, Bonnie moved away from the counter as quickly as she could. Part of it was so no one would see her using her employee discount to buy something for a friend, which was against the rules although everyone did it, but it was mostly to get away from the annoying clerk who kept insisting the she and Ron were dating. Sure she was only friendly terms with him now, but dating? Hardly. She liked to believe that even with her spell of bad luck lately she could do better than Stoppable. OK, so maybe he wasn’t as big a froob as she thought he was in high school, he still wasn’t anywhere near her type.
Although “her type” did leave her in a horrible situation with no one at all to comfort her, so maybe it was time for a change. But still…
“What’s up?” Ron asked.
“Huh?” she muttered as she was pulled back to reality.
When she became fully aware of her surroundings she noticed that not only had she gotten them both drinks but was now sitting in the booth across from him. She felt a little freaked at having been that lost in her thoughts but didn’t want him to know that.
“Oh,” she commented when she realized what he had asked. “It’s nothing really. Just thinking about something.”
He looked at her skeptically for a second but then simply shrugged.
“If you say so,” he muttered as he reached over for his pizza.
“Here, I didn’t know what you wanted so I got you a regular soda,” she explained, handing the drink to him.
“That’s fine.”
She nodded and the two of them began to eat their lunch in relative silence. Aside from the usual background noise of idle chatter from the other patrons, the biggest noise they heard was Rufus chomping happily away at his slice of double cheese pizza. It was a comfortable silence though, the kind shared between good friends when nothing needs to be said. Of course, Ron being who he was, eventually broke the silence.
“Oh. I never did say I was sorry, huh?” he asked.
Bonnie blinked as she felt she missed something important. “For what?”
“Well…” he started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “See when I first saw you working here I kinda…thought it was funny.”
Her eyes widened in shock just a second before they narrowed for her to glare a hole right through him.
“I know, I know, that was wrong!” he said quickly. “But…well with what happened in high school and all I just couldn’t help but think it was funny this is where you ended up. Course then I learned about what actually happened and it wasn’t funny anymore and I felt like a real jerk. So I’m saying I’m sorry.”
She continued to glare at him a few seconds longer before she gave up with a small sigh and leaned back against the smooth, plastic booth chair.
“No it’s not all you’re fault,” she said softly. “It’s like I told Kim, I was a real bitch in high school so you two had the right to laugh at my misfortune. I mean I would have done it if our roles were reversed.”
“Well that’s pleasant to know,” Ron grumbled.
“Yeah it doesn’t make me feel good about myself right now. And as long as we’re apologizing for things, I’m sorry for all the nasty things I said about in high school. I was just stupid back then.”
“Eh, forget about it,” he advised with a dismissive wave. “It’s in the past, right? Can’t worry about the past. Cause…you know…history is a…doomed subject. Or something.”
She chuckled. “Yeah something like that.” She then looked serious again. “But…you’re really willing to forgive all that stuff?”
“Yeah, sure. I had a feeling you weren’t really a bad person underneath it all, just like you said caught up into the whole ‘food chain’ thing. I mean without all that stuff we’ve been getting along pretty great, haven’t we?”
“Well…yeah, actually.”
“See? So it’s cool.”
Bonnie just stared at him in amazement. After everything thing she did to him, all the snide remarks, the constant berating of the Mad Dog and even gloating when he and Kim broke up, and he didn’t so much as carry a grudge. It was just unbelievable.
So not only is he a bit of a goofball but he’s inhumanly forgiving too, she thought in amazement. And in the right like he’s actually kinda cute.
“Wait. What?” she asked herself aloud.
“What?” Ron asked back, looking up from his last bit of pizza.
“What?” she replied still confused.
“What about what?”
Bonnie shook her head to clear it. “It’s nothing. I was just…thinking about something.”
“O…kay,” Ron replied, looking at her suspiciously. “Well anyway, I hate to eat and run like this but I do gotta get home and start working on a paper. Even if it is community college there’s still a lot of homework. When will the torture end?!”
“Hey it could be worse, you could have my life right now,” she joked.
“Yeah I guess you’re right. Wait, that didn’t come out right. Uh…I think I should just go before I say something else wrong or stupid. Or both. So see ya later.”
“Yeah, see ya.”
She watched as he picked up his tray and dumped the paper plate and used napkins from his and Rufus’ meal into a nearby garbage can. She found herself still watching him as he exited the small restaurant and disappeared from sight around the corner. She then leaned forward on the table and rest her head in her hands, trying to figure out exactly what she was thinking and feeling. It was very confusing and a little nauseating for her old self, but she really did think she was starting to…like Ron. In the “more than friends” kinda way.
But why him? she asked herself. Out of everyone I could have fallen for it was him?Maybe my life really has hit rock bottom? Is it really that bad though? He is a nice guy, just a bit…weird. Maybe I can train him out of that though.
Her inner musing was cut short when she happened to glance over to the counter and noticed the clerk from before was giving her a very smug look. She scowled at him and took great delight in watching him jump back a bit in fear. It was nice to know at least one thing was still the same for her.
“Come on Ron, hurry up!” Kim called from the front door.
“I’m coming, coming!” his he replied as he came hopping into the room while trying to put on his left shoe. “Man I really wish Wade would sometime give us a little bit of an advanced warning before he calls us with a mission.”
“It’s not like there’s a time table for this stuff,” she retorted. “Just be glad there was an extra set of your mission clothes here.”
“Yeah I’ve been wondering where this set when to.”
“Yeah, that we’re gonna talk about later. Right now we need to go,” she instructed as she opened the door and waved for him to go first.
She then looked over to the girl who was sitting on the couch and focusing on the TV.
“Bonnie can you tell Shego we had to go on a mission and not to worry cause I should be back in time for dinner? And if I’m not I’ll make sure to call.”
“Out on mission, if late you’ll call,” the brunette replied with a distracted voice.
Kim looked at her unconvincingly for a second but unfortunately didn’t have time to really argue. Once Ron was clear of the door she followed suit and closed it behind them. Once they were gone Bonnie let out a sigh and fell down over onto the couch. What Kim hadn’t known was that while it looked like she was focusing on the show on the TV, she was really looking at the reflection the screen was casting. Namely that of Ron’s backside as he came jumping into the room and especially when he walked out the door.
It had been a few days since their impromptu lunch, and Bonnie was still reeling from the little revelation she had. The worst part was she really wasn’t sure if she should be fighting it or embracing it. On the one hand, Ron was a really nice guy and probably would be the best guy she ever went out with. On the other hand she just couldn’t seem to get past her old feelings of him and the thought of what people might think if they saw them out together. The really frustrating part was that she knew that it was completely stupid, but she just couldn’t get over it. She needed someone to talk to about it and the only person she felt comfortable talking to about that was Shego.
Unfortunately, Kim had been mission-less for awhile and spent most, if not all, of her free time with the older woman. While she knew she’d have to tell Kim eventually, Bonnie just wasn’t ready to talk about it in front of her. But now that she finally had the time she needed, she could not only take the redhead’s message to her partner but also have the one-on-one chat she needed so desperately.
She picked herself up off the couch and headed for the basement where she knew Shego was training. Even as she stood in front of the closed door, the steady pounding rhythm of workout music hit her ears. She braced herself for the loud music then pulled open the door and made her way down the stairs. Once she cleared the section of overhanging wall, the full sight of the basement/gym came into view. For something that was just suppose to be a home gym, it really was decked out quite well with the latest in exercise equipment from treadmills and stationary bikes to a few weight lifting machines and barbells.
Of course the section that got the most use was the “sparring section” which consisted of several padded mats along the floors and part of the wall in addition to a few punching bags, one of which was currently in use. Shego stood before it decked in what Bonnie quickly discovered was her usual workout attire. It consisted of a neon green sports bra and black bike shorts with a green stripe running down the sides of her legs. Her hands and feet where all wrapped up in fighter’s tape and being that it was Shego, her right hand and foot were wrapped up in black tape while her left side was wrapped in green tape. Her hair was held back in a loose pony tail by a surprisingly pink bow that looked both odd and yet somehow fitting. Bonnie stood there for a moment and watched her as she punched to the rhythm of the music. The song certainly did have a catchy beat to it, but the lyrics were a little off putting.
I like your booty but I’m not gay
I like your booty but I’m not gay
I like your booty but I’m not gay
(Boot gay!)
I like your booty but I’m not gay
(Gay, gay booty!)
I like your booty but I’m not gay
Bonnie tilted her head in confusion at the song and more importantly who was listening to it. She wasn’t quite sure if Shego was listening to it cause she liked the beat or for the irony or both. What was especially off putting were the samples of what sounded like a man grunting in pain spliced throughout the song.
“Shego!” she called out over the pounding music.
The woman in question stopped her motions and turned her head towards the brunette. She raised an index finger in the classic “Wait a second” motion then reached over to a small table nearby and picked up a remote to turn down the in wall stereo.
“What’s up?” she asked as she set the remote down and picked up a towel to wipe the sweat from her face.
“That’s kinda what I want to know,” Bonnie remarked, nodding towards the stereo.
“You mean the song?”
“Yeah.”
“Eh, it’s harmless fun. It’s a good beat to work out too and I like it. It’s a good song.
Gay sex!
The two looked at each other after the song’s whispered announcement.
“I still stand by my statement,” Shego said with a shrug.
“Yeah you probably would like it,” Bonnie joked.
“Well…Kimmie can do some amazing things in the bedroom when prodded. And I do like her booty.”
“OK that’s much more than I ever wanted to know about you two. It’s bad enough I have to hear Kim when you two are…alone.”
“Yeah she can be a screamer,” Shego said with a wistful look on her face. She snapped out of it and refocused on Bonnie. “But I seriously doubt that’s why you’re here.”
“Well I do have a message from Kim to deliver. She said she’s gone on a mission and well try to make it back for dinner tonight but no promises.”
“As always. I swear I can’t wait til I’m back in fighting shape. It’ll be nice to get out there and mix it up again.”
“Well you look like you’re in pretty good shape to me,” the brown hair girl complimented as she stared at Shego’s exposed stomach.
She smirked in response. “Making a pass at me, are you?”
Bonnie looked horrified. “What?! No!”
“Your loss,” the older woman shrugged again. “Course doesn’t matter to me cause I’m happy with Kimmie anyway.”
As the brunette tried to recover from the rather unexpected joke, Shego grabbed a bottle of water from sitting next to the remote and took a long swig to rehydrate her body. She then gave her forehead a few more passes with the towel before draping it over her shoulders. She noticed Bonnie still looking a little confused and wondered if her joke had hit a nerve.
“You okay?” she asked, sounding genuinely concerned. “You know I was just goofing around, right?”
“Yeah I know,” the girl replied. “It just made me remember the other thing I wanted to come down here to talk to you about.”
“Which is…?”
“Well…I think I may be ready for dating again.”
“Hey that’s great! No offense, but it would be nice for you to get out of the house for some other than your job. You gotta go out and have some fun. So you got anyone in mind?”
“Actually yeah and that’s the part that’s freaking me out.”
“Someone I know?”
“You could say that.”
“Well then who is it?” Shego asked, taking another sip of water.
“That’s the thing…it’s Ron.”
The pale woman’s eyes widened just a second before did a Hollywood worthy spit take, sending water flying half away across the room. She coughed a bit from some backwash and when she finally recovered she just started at the brunette blankly.
“Ron?! Ron Stoppable?!”
“Yeah,” Bonnie remarked as she rubbed her left arm self consciously.
“But…why?!”
“That’s what I want to know!” she screamed as she threw her hands in the air and started to pace the room. “I mean it’s nothing against Ron, but me and him together?! That just seems sooo many levels of wrong! Sick and wrong even!”
“See, now you’re starting to sound like him.”
“Not helping!”
“Well what do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know!” Bonnie cried out as she fell down onto a bean bag chair.
Shego sigh at the idea of having to assume a mentor roll again but knew that the kid really need help. She screwed the cap back onto her water then walked over and carefully sat down in the matching green bean bag chair next to the red one Bonnie was in. She idly swished the bottle in her hands as she studied the brunette.
“So…when did this start?” she asked.
“A few days ago. Well…maybe longer, I don’t know,” Bonnie confessed. “But it really hit hard a few days ago.”
“Well what happened?”
“He stood up for me from both this bitchy customer and one of my managers. No one’s ever really done that for me before.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling.”
“You do?”
“Course. When I was carrying Shin, Kim stood up for me all the time. Fighting off all the other villains who’re trying to hurt me and her, reassuring me that everything would be alright, checking in on me all the time. When you’re use to being independent it’s weird having help you along just cause they want to.”
“That’s exactly how I felt!” Bonnie exclaimed. “I mean we had been getting along better but I didn’t think it was to the point where he’d stand up for me like that. It was just…weird. Extremely nice, but weird.”
“But it showed you what a good person he is,” Shego surmised.
Bonnie nodded.
“And it felt nice to have someone actually care about you enough to do it without you asking or forcing them too.”
She nodded again.
“And it made you view them in a different light that you never even considered before.”
Another nod.
“Well then,” Shego smirked, turning her head towards the other girl. “Congradulations, you’ve fallen for Stoppable.”
“Great,” Bonnie muttered, slumping in the chair more.
“I can’t believe I’m asking this, but is that really that bad?”
“That’s the thing, I really just don’t know. The part of me that just…needs someone right now says ‘No’ but the part of me that still sees him as the goofy guy who follows Kim around says ‘Yes’.”
“Wasn’t that part of you that thought of him as Kim’s goofy sidekick the part that was also the tremendous bitch in high school?”
“Yes.”
“Well look where that’s gotten you. I think it’s time to stop listening her.”
“Maybe,” Bonnie sighed. “It just…doesn’t seem that easy.”
Shego let out a sigh of her own when the particularly unpleasant thought of what she hadto do crossed her mind.
“Well add one more to the list of things I never thought I’d do in my life, stand up for Stoppable,” she muttered before turning her full attention to Bonnie. “Look, out of Ron’s many, many, many flaws, the one thing the does have going for him is that he’s a really sweet guy at heart. I mean when Kim and I hooked up he could have totally gone the classic jealous, psycho ex-boyfriend around and stalked us until something drastic happened. Or he could have just completely stopped talking to Kim all together. But he didn’t do either of those. He stood by Kim and accepted that being with me made him happy, even if it killed him. Hell, he even called a truce with me so we wouldn’t upset her. Do you know how many guys in the world would do that? I could count them on one hand and still have some fingers left over.”
“Well you’re right about that,” Bonnie remarked bitterly. “Even I’m thinking it’s time for me to change my usual type. But to do it so drastically?”
“Yeah that is a huge turn over, but so what? You really want to live your life caring what other people think about you? If you think going out with Ron’s going to make you feel better than I say go for it. Yeah it’ll be weird, but at the very least you can both say you tried and moved on from their crappy places in life.”
Bonnie sat there for a moment and reflected on Shego’s words. She had a very good point. Even if it didn’t work out, it at least showed she was willing to get back into the dating game. And it would be nice to get back out on a real date and enjoy herself for once instead of dreading the next day of work.
“You’re right,” she said aloud as she stood up. “Why should I give a damn what people think. If I want to date a goofball like Ron then I’m going to date a goofball like Ron.”
“Hey, you could do a lot worse.”
“I can and have. It would be nice to go out with a descent guy for once.”
“Hell yeah!” Shego cheered then grow serious. “There’s just one problem.”
“How to keep Ron from freaking out when I ask him out?”
“Nope, how to keep Kim from doing that when you tell her you want to go out with Ron.”
The girl’s shoulder slumped as her triumphant attitude was quickly deflated.
“Do I have to?” she whined like a little kid asked to take a bath.
“Yes you do,” Shego insisted. “Look, like it or not those two still mean a lot to each other and Kim’s already gone through a lot of crap with him and their relationship. She’s going to find out sooner or later and personally I’d rather have you explain it to her than have Ron just blurt it out.”
“I guess so, but why do you care so much?”
“Because I’m the one that’s going to have to deal with her one way or another and I’d rather have her as calm as can be so I don’t have to deal with her being all…moopy. Cause when she’s moopy I get pissed and when I get pissed, I might just run amok in alphabetical order. You get what I’m saying, Bonnie?” she emphasized the first letter in the girl’s name.
Said girl swallowed nervously.
“Alright, alright, I’ll tell Kim sometime after she gets back from her mission,” she agreed.
“Good. Now in the meantime I’m gonna go get a shower so you can do whatever you want,” Shego remarked as she stood up as well. “Equipment’s wiped down if you want to use it.”
“Nah I think I’ll just go upstairs and think over what I’m gonna tell Kim.”
“Suit yourself.”
Bonnie nodded and started up the stairs only to have Shego call out to her half way through.
“Oh and Bonnie.”
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
The two flashed each other a friendly smile before heading their own ways. As she made her way back upstairs, one thought kept going through Bonnie’s mind.
Why’s love gotta be so tough?
To Be Cotinued…
Author’s Notes: And once again I find myself having to move some things around to not make on HUUUUUUGE chapter. So a lot of the things that were going to be in this chapter will make their way into the next one. Including Bonnie telling Kim about her new feelings towards Ron and what I’m sure some of you, I know at least one, has been waiting for: the official date between Ron and Bonnie. Oh it’ll be fun. You just wait and see. Muwahahahahahaha!
Oh and the song Shego is listening to during her work out is a real song called, “I Like Your Booty(But I’m Not Gay)”. It’s the song the Insane-O-Flex plays as it rampages through the city in “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters”. It is a great, great movie and everyone needs to do see it. Now. Go on. Do it. Why don’t you want to see it? “Oh cause your local reviewer didn’t like it. Guess what? He’s 97! Yeah I was there at that screenin’. I couldn’t hear the movie over the beeping of his ‘Please keep me alive’ machine! Here’s an idea, go see ‘Grindhouse’. Sit there for five hours. See if your ass merges with the seat through the process of osmosis! Or better yet go see ‘Slow Burn’ with Ray Liotta and L.L. Cool J. Guess what? They play cops! Then, why don’t you go behind the theater, get a gun and blow you friggin’ head off! You’re not good enough to see my bad ass space movie!”
And scene. Sorry, just love that rant from Carl so much that when I get into it I just can’t stop. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and that I’ll see you guys around for the next one.