"Well, this isn't... so bad." Tara smiled faintly as she took in the detention room. Her gaze particularly lingered over the three regular attendees to this room, Vinnie, Big Mike and Junior. The three of them just smiled, especially when they saw Kim trailing along behind.

Vinnie nodded quickly when he saw Bonnie and Ron walk in together. "Stops, my man, heard the news. How'd you ever swing it?"

Bonnie was blushing slightly, but Ron didn't notice. "I didn't. I just asked her out once, and it was all her the rest of the way."

Bonnie giggled, and kissed Ron lightly on the cheek. Kim rolled her eyes, but Tara's expression visibly darkened. When Bonnie saw that, she pulled away from Ron somewhat, though she still held his hand tightly.

They had barely taken their seats when Mr. Barkin came storming into the room, his gaze locking on each and every one of them in turn. "All right people, you all know why you are here. And we will have QUIET suffering here people, none of this girly stuff like the last time you were here Possible."

Tara leaned over to Kim, her voice a whisper. "Girly stuff?"

Kim just grinned in response. "Yeah, the boys all wanted manicures."

Tara just giggled, clasping her hands together. "Oh that is so cute. Have you ever given Ron a manicure?"

"I was ten at the time, and she wouldn't let me leave until she did." Ron's protest was quite loud, and a little on the defensive side.

Bonnie, trying hard to hide a devious grin, chuckled softly. "Really? Well, I'm sure you'd let me do the same, wouldn't you? Just to try out different colours to see how they'd look."

Ron's eyes went wide as he looked to his girlfriend, then his best friend, and finally to Tara. All of them were smiling at him, and he knew that he'd have no support. He slid down in his seat, trying to look small. "Man, I need some guy friends in a serious way here. What do you think Rufus? Rufus? Hey, has anyone seen Rufus?"

Rufus made his way carefully across the counter, stopping to pause and check his surroundings carefully. That blob could not have been a one-time occurrence, there had to be more of those things, and Rufus intended to stop them. The only question in his mind was if the cafeteria lady was in on this fiendish scheme. If she was, he planned to stop her. And with his humans in detention, this gave him the perfect opportunity to do so.

Kim just shrugged, after Ron had looked around for a while. "I'm sure he's fine Ron, he probably just went for a snack or something."

Ron sighed, sitting up just a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The slight ticking of the clock was the only sound anyone heard, as they sat there. Big Mike looked around the room, noticing the tension between the four of them and sighed. "All right youse guys, what's the problem?" All eyes turned to the big guy in the middle of the room, who slowly rose to his feet to stand over all of them. Even Mr. Barkin raised an eyebrow at his actions.

Big Mike just looked between the four of them, eying each of them in turn before smiling. "You two." Tara actually eeped when Mike pointed to her, though Bonnie controlled herself. "You two go to those back desks and work things out. You two, stay up front here. I want to see all youse guys work this out here and now."

Kim was a bit hesitant. "Big Mike, I don't think..."

"Youse two is gonna talk, and talk now. Youse gots a lot of misplaced anger thats gots to be worked through, all four of you. This much misplaced anger, it ain't healthy."

Ron's jaw dropped at that, and Kim appeared stunned as well. "Wow Big Mike, that was... umm... wow."

Big Mike just grinned wide. "Yeah, my girl Justi says I'm real sensitive. Now youse two work out your differences, and I'm gonna go help them other cheerleaders."

Big Mike moved quickly to join Bonnie and Tara, leaving Ron and Kim to just share a look. "You don't think..."

Kim shook her head quickly. "No, no way he's talking about... Justine?"

"No way," Ron looked over his shoulder as Big Mike sat on the floor between the two girls, still sitting taller than they were on their chairs. "I mean... maybe... man, that's even weirder than Bonnie and me."

Kim grinned at that. "Let's not push it there."

"HEY!"

"What is he going to do to us?"

Bonnie just shook her head as Tara was practically shivering. "Come on Tara, he's not that scary. He's big and dumb, and Mr. Barkin is sitting right there. Besides, weren't you hanging out with him for a while at the Mad Dog Ball?"

Tara kept her eyes locked on Big Mike. "I guess so, but he wasn't as... scary then."

"All right then." Tara jumped when he spoke, despite the fact that she had watched him walk over. "Now what seems to be the problem with youse two? I heard all abouts how Stoppable and Bonnie are an item now, so tell me how that hurts youse guys friendship and all." Big Mike sank to the floor, so that they weren't looking up at him nearly as much as they normally would.

Bonnie looked over at Mike questioningly. "Umm... I'm not sure..." Bonnie trailed off quickly as Mike looked directly at her, frowning. His look was so impassive, Bonnie backed up a bit. "That is to say... I just... umm..."

Mike turned slightly, looking over at Tara. "Tara, could you tell me what the matter here is between youse two?"

Tara flushed slightly, refusing to look up. "Well, Bonnie and me, we've been best friends for years, but around junior high, she started to get all into popularity and everything, which is fine and all, I like being a cheerleader and everything, but she was always ragging on me about who to date and who not to date and I..."

"I didn't always tell you who to date, I..."

Mike brought a beefy hand up in a stop motion, and Bonnie went quiet quickly. "You'll gets your turn. Go's ahead Tara."

Tara nodded slowly, swallowing a bit. "Anyways, Bonnie knew how much I liked Ron, especially after the way he saved us at Camp Wannaweep, twice now. I mean, he got mutated the second time to help us. And Bonnie... now she's... I mean, it just makes me so mad, cause one minute she tells me he's not good enough and now she's dating him and..."

Mike held up a hand again, only this time for Tara. The blond went quiet quickly. "All right Bonnie, tell me what happened, from your point of view."

"How do you think it's going over there?" Ron couldn't help but look over at his girlfriend and her best friend, as Mike sat between them. They were talking too low to hear, and for some reason, Mr. Barkin didn't seem to mind them d0oing it, which was surprising.

Kim gave the her two squad mates a glance before turning back to Ron. "Ron, we really should talk."

Ron winced, and turned back to face Kim. "I know KP. I just... I can't tell you how sorry I am."

Kim smiled, reaching out to take his hand in hers. "I know Ron, I know, but that's not what we need to talk about." Ron gave Kim a quizzical look, and Kim just smiled in response. "Ron, I had figured out the whole Bonnie sitch the day before me and Tara caught you."

Ron's eyes went wide with shock. "Wha... how..."

"Tara and I got to talking," Kim smiled, cutting Ron off quickly, "just about a few things, and what she was saying tied in with what I had already suspected. Like Bonnie getting sick right after, the brunette that Shego saw in the lair when you stole the Ray-X back from Drakken... which we are still going to talk about, since I'm guessing Wade knew about your little secret before I did." Ron slumping a little lower in his seat was all the answer she needed, and she made sure to remember to call Wade about that piece of information. "But I put the pieces together, and I got mad. Mad that you would keep something like this from me, mad that you would lie to me, and yes, mad that Bonnie seemed to be taking over your life when I was sure she was up to no good."

"But KP..."

Kim lay a hand on his shoulder, sighing. "I know, but what was I supposed to think at the time. You weren't telling me anything, and you always did. I figured it had to be Bonnie that was doing it." Kim looked down for a moment, before lifting her eyes back up. "But what I'm most mad about is that I didn't trust you. I knew you'd come to me when you were ready, and I should have known you wouldn't do anything to jeopardize our friendship. And when I saw just how much you and Bonnie cared about each other..." Kim cast a glance over at Bonnie, who looked to be crying a bit now, "when I realized that, I couldn't stay mad. And when I thought about all the times you had a right to be mad at me, like when I went out with Josh and I was disappearing... you were mad, but you were still there for me. And I'm going to be there for you, no matter what. Even if you want to go out with Bonnie... though that is definitely going to take some getting used to, that's for sure."

Ron smiled along with Kim at that. "Still... I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner. So... we're good?"

"We're good. Now come here you." Kim wrapped her arms around her best friend, hugging him tight.

Bonnie sighed a bit, glancing over at Tara. "I didn't mean to hurt her. I mean, it was Ron who asked me out, and he was all secret about it, but at the time, I just wanted to forget it all happened. I mean, I was embarrassed, I didn't even want to tell Tara." Bonnie sighed, deeper this time, hanging her head. "But I couldn't get my mind off it. I mean, he was romantic and charming, and that kiss at the end of the night... I never knew a kiss could actually feel electric, you know? So... I basically forced him on anouther date... and then anouther... and by the time we realized we were actually in a relationship... I mean, I didn't want to hurt Tara, but how could I just come out and say it now, that I was going out with the guy she was crushing so hard on, and Ron got kidnapped and I figured out how I felt..."

Mike held up his hand again, glancing over at Tara. "Do you understand the way Bonnie was feeling?" When Tara nodded, he pushed on. "So Bonnie has said she wasn't even sure what she was feeling at the time, not until Stoppable's kidnapping." Mike raised an eyebrow at that, and both girls nodded. "How would you have felt if she had told you at that point, when she knew this wasn't a passing fling or temporary insanity?"

Both girls giggled a bit at the description. Tara still had a bit of a smile when she answered. "Well, I would have been angry, but I wouldn't have blown up like when I caught them on the couch in her den."

Mike raised anouther eyebrow, but let that one go. "Would you have really? But let's avoid that for now. Bonnie, it's obvious that, initially, you felt ashamed, and I don't think it was because of who you were seeing initially. You said that the date was romantic, that Stoppable was charming. I think you were more afraid of what you felt in that situation. You aren't used to being treated that way, are you? Even just talking about it now, you got a dreamy look in your eyes. If it had been anything other than that, you would have told Tara right away, considering how close you two are. She's the only one to treat you that way for the last few years, isn't she, like you matter without having to try." He looked to Bonnie, who had a couple tears in her eyes as she nodded softly.

He turned his attention to Tara now. "And Tara, it's obvious her actions hurt you. She betrayed you, and she knew it too." He noticed Bonnie flinch, but kept his gaze on Tara. "Yet despite all that, you still came here today to stand by her. Even with that pain, you knew that she needed your help. It's also quite obvious to everyone that she is sorry about how she handled things." He waited for Tara to nod, and smiled when she did. "It's also obvious that you want to put this behind you, and remain friends. Am I wrong?" Both girls shook their heads quickly. Mike just sighed, smiling. "All right then, I think you two know what to do."

Bonnie sniffed as she looked up at Tara. "Tara, I am so sorry."

Tara was equally sniffly. "I know, I know. Just... get over here. Tara jumped across the gap to wrap her arms around Bonnie, who returned the hug with equal fervor. For a few moments, they just cried on each others shoulders before pulling away, smiling.

Bonnie wiped her eyes quickly, pulling a mirror from her bag to check her face. She glanced over at Mike, and smirked. "Okay, we owe you a lot, but now you gotta tell us... what happened to your accent a moment ago?"

Big Mike actually blushed as Tara giggled, and the big man leaned in quickly. "Don't tell the guys, they'd make fun, but my girl Justine has been helping me with my speech lately. I guess it's pretty hard to take a counselor seriously when he talks like that."

Tara's eyes just went wide. "You have a girlfriend? Justine... you mean Justine Flanner? Oh, that is so cute. I never realized you would be her type though."

Mike just grinned. "She's just awfully shy. All those smarts of hers don't help much when it comes to working with people. When I saw some of the problems she was having, I offered to help her out, and it just went from there."

Tara leaned in, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "That's so sweet, she's a lucky girl."

Bonnie though was glancing between Mike and Mr. Barkin though, curious. "What are you doing in here then?"

Mike just shrugged. "I had some anger management issues my first year, that's how I got to know Vinnie and Junior. They're good guys, they just have some problems. I help out when I can. Sides, Justine usually sticks around late, and I like to wait for her."

Tara grinned, smiling brightly. "That's so sweet." Her gaze shot over to the others, and noticed that Kim was pulling out the nail polish. "Looks like they're done talking over there. What do you say we go over and help out these fine boys with a little nail work."

Bonnie couldn't stop laughing at the image of Big Mike with pink nail polish. Sounds like an idea."

The trio moved back to the front of the class just in time to hear Ron. "KP, there is no way you are going to make me wear that stuff, no way!"

Bonnie moved in behind her boyfriend, grinning brightly. "Are you sure Ronnie? You'd do it for me, wouldn't you?"

Ron looked up at the three smiling women surrounding him, all with nail polish bottles in their hands. With a heavy sigh, Ron plopped his hands down on the desk. "Just... be gentle with me, it's my first time."

Author's Notes – For more on Rufus, be sure to check out his adventures in this story over in The Epic Struggle!

I was going to do more, but this seemed a good spot to end for this chapter.

The school is abuzz about the new couple, and everyone involved has settled things. But does that make double dating any easier? Of course, when Josh asks Kim out, and then asks Ron and Bonnie to join them separately, it leads to just a bit of awkwardness.