Kim Possible and all related characters and indicia are owned by the Disney Corporation. This work of fan fiction is written for pleasure, not profit.
Kim Possible looked back over her shoulder. "C'mon, Ron! Pick up the pace!"
Ron Stoppable glared at his red headed friend. "Why am I following you again?" he demanded as snowflakes swirled around him.
Kim held a finger to her lips and frowned as if deep in thought. "Ummm," she vocalized. "Because this hike was your idea to begin with?" she asked.
"Rub it in, why don't you?" Ron tried to sound angry, but couldn't keep up the pretense. It was four days before Christmas and he and Kim were snowshoeing through newly fallen powder in the mountains west of Salt Lake City, Utah. Ron couldn't help smiling as Kim turned away from him and resumed slogging up the trail. Kim Possible, she of the red hair and green eyes, was not just his friend, she was his best friend. That, he reflected, was a little odd. Not that he minded, of course. It was just unusual for a twenty-two year old college senior to be so close, emotionally speaking, to a woman (other than his mother, shudder) that he had never slept with. A soft chuckle passed Ron's lips as he considered that. To say that Kim was beautiful was on a par with saying that atoms were really small. And it wasn't mere physical beauty, either, though Kim possessed that in abundance. She was a beautiful person, a kind, gentle, loving girl who thought the world of him, a feeling he returned. And yet they had never had sex, had never even dated. Not really, anyway. Oh, there had been the time when Kim was under the influence of that microchip, Dr, Bortel's Moodulator. And the time she had gone with him to his cousin's wedding. And a handful of other incidences, like their senior prom in high school. But mostly, they just hung out together, enjoying each other's company. Like now. It had been Kim's idea to spend Christmas, or rather, 'Winter Break' as the University referred to the season, skiing. At her behest Ron had made reservations at one of Utah's less well known ski resorts, not just for the two of them, but for their families as well. Kim's parents and brothers, as well as Ron's folks, would be joining them in two days. In the meantime, besides skiing and soaking in the resort's outdoor heated pool and hot tub, Ron had proposed a day-hike into the mountains, an idea suggested by a brochure in the hotel restaurant.
Ron watched Kim's backside as it swayed to and fro in the way only a girl's hips could manage, and smiled. Kim could, and did, trigger certain urges in him from time to time, but for the most part he didn't think of her in sexual terms. It was the emotional intimacy that he shared with her that was the most precious to him, an intimacy he shared with no-one else. Kim knew him as well as he knew himself. He had no secrets from her, had no desire to keep any. When traveling on missions, or just relaxing in the dormitory apartment they shared at school, they would spend hours in each others arms, snuggling. Sometimes, but only rarely, they would kiss. That was the extent of their physical relationship. It was a strange, perplexing phenomena that their respective boyfriends and girlfriends found at turns odd, unsettling, or intolerable.
And Ron wouldn't trade it for the wide world.
Kim looked up the trail, comparing physical reality to the map she had memorized. A quarter mile ahead the trail would branch, one half of the fork doubling back to the resort, the other leading deeper into the mountains. She glanced up at the sky. The day was overcast, and the clouds were spitting snow, but the weather forecast was basically good. The mountain air was cold and still. Ancient conifers stood silently under a mantle of snow. In the distance Kim could make out the boxy shape of a cabin, one of several she and Ron had passed. In the summer the resort rented them out to people who wanted to 'rough it'. Now they were locked shut. Kim eyed the cabin as she drew nearer. Standing as it did in a small clearing in the woods, it was a picture of romantic isolation. Kim's thought's turned to George Kantanos, her current boyfriend. She wouldn't have minded if George had come along. She missed his arms, as well as his...
Kim smiled to herself. George was a better than average lover, always taking pains to see that she achieved fulfillment before satisfying his own needs. Still, he was a bit lacking in the personality department. Worse yet, he was dropping hints that he thought Kim might be 'The One'. Kim's smile vanished, and she sighed. She was probably going to have to give George his walking papers soon, before he did something foolish. Kim liked George, and the last thing she wanted to do was break his heart by saying 'no' after he got down on one knee.
'If only George was more like Ron,' she mused, a thought that triggered another grin. Kim glanced over her shoulder. Ron, who had been shy, clumsy, and awkward most of his life, had lately blossomed into a handsome, confident young man. If he were anyone else, Kim was sure she'd be scheming at getting into bed with him. That thought made Kim bite her lip to keep from laughing. The very notion of sex with Ron, of having him inside her, was so strange that Kim couldn't even picture it. Her mind simply refused to conjure up the image. Which was just as well, she supposed. As much as she loved Ron (and she did love him, more than anyone else) it was a strange, non-sexual kind of love. She didn't like to think of it as 'Platonic' because, at least to her mind, Platonic love didn't allow for kissing and cuddling, which she and Ron did (the cuddling often, the kissing less so). Nor was it the sort of love she had for her parents, or her brothers. It was...unique.
'Like Ron,' Kim thought, unable to suppress a giggle. She sent him a fond glance. He smiled at her, and she return it. 'Ron Stoppable, the only boy I've ever slept with but never had sex with.' That was a nice memory. It had just happened, one night while they were watching TV and snuggling. Ron had announced that he was tired, and had stretched out on the couch in the living room of their dorm apartment, pulling Kim down on top of him. She'd thought about pushing away, of getting up, but she hadn't. Ron had closed his eyes, and while his arms had clasped her, it wasn't like he was feeling her up or anything. Almost at once his breathing had assumed the slow rhythm of a person asleep, and Kim had relaxed. It had been...nice. So nice that she had laid her head on his chest and closed her own eyes. The next thing she knew, it was morning. She had awakened to find him looking at her. Her whispered "Good morning" had been rewarded with a gentle hug, followed by an equally gentle kiss, followed by one of those awkward moments when their respective genders, with all the implications there-unto-pertaining, were foremost in their minds. The incident hadn't been repeated, a fact that Kim regretted in way, because it had been so nice, but it was a memory she would always cherish.
"Hey, Kim!" Ron's voice snapped Kim out of her reverie. "Is it just me, or does it look like there's a storm coming in?"
Kim looked to the west. Sure enough, the sky was darkening, and the snow was starting to come down more heavily.
"I think you're right, Ron," Kim agreed. The wind was picking up, too. "Maybe we should turn back."
"Good idea, K.P."