Present (7 Years Later)

7 years later after leaving his father.

Kyle spun his locker combination and pulled out his textbooks, and then there were arms around his middle from behind and a chin digging into his shoulder blade.

"Guess who."

"Hm. I don't know, I spy Kim Possible. Could be anyone. However I know she doesn't wear anything right here." He reached back without looking and poked her square in the navel.

"Ayee!" Allison released him like he'd shocked her, and when he turned around she was pouting at him, green eyes narrowed, hands on her hips. She had her cheer top on, the cropped practice one, bare from the ribs down to the low waistband of her shorts, and her medium chest sat high and proud and entirely unbothered.

"Hey, you can't do that to me again, that's like 5 times this week!!" she said.

"You ambushed me. Ambushes have consequences, and that consequences are probably because you have lower guard, on your tummy."

"I'm not that big you know. I'm pretty slim to myself, and that was self-defense and you know it." She smirked.

He looked at her outfit. Not staring, exactly. Being aware of it, the way she's wearing that navel showoff every day at college, even she's aware of weather. How can she wasn't bother by the cold in here? There's like 3 dozens of air-conditioners, more than they have in airport and it's freezing!!

"Aren't you cold? Also you're gonna attract every guy in the building dressed like that."

"I'm not cold at all. I always hot, and always be." She said fanning herself with a grin.

"It's called comfort, fits for the good fashion. It feels like ninety degrees out for me, so this is my comfort."

"By wearing clothes half naked?"

"Not naked!! I still have skirt and pants on me." She stands proudly.

"That doesn't help. You know guys are into those type of bodies you know right? Not to mention being sweaty."

"This doesn't get sweaty which I can breathes. I can move freely as much as I want than wearing those uncomfortable long clothes every day. Also I don't mind being seen by them, I just ignore them." She lifted her arms to demonstrate, and her midriff stretched taut.

"You can't ignore them forever. They will come to you soon and also, that part of yours has one additional benefit, which is that it makes you extremely easy to tickle." Kyle added with a grin.

"Oh? You say that like it's my weakness point. What are you going to do?"

"This."

He wiggled his fingers at her ribs without moving a step closer, just the gesture, and she shrieked and backpedaled into the lockers, laughing, swatting the air. "Stahp—" she got out between giggles, twisting sideways as he darted in and got her ribs anyway. "Kyle! No, no, no—ah! I'm gonna—hahaha—I'm gonna pee because of you!" She spun away, hands clamped over her sides, laughing so hard her ponytail came loose.

"Not the ribs! Anything but the ribs!" He took one step toward her and she yelped and scrambled backward, still cackling, holding up a palm like a crossing guard. "Okay! Okay, truce, truce! I surrender! Stop smiling like that, you're evil, you're actually evil—"

Kyle smiles as he let her go as she's gasping her breath holding her sensitive ribs. Then she turned around came back and pushed his shoulder with both palms, a playful push that moved him.

"You're the worst," she said, glowing.

"Hey you're the one who started it first."

"I can't deny that."

They laughed before fell into step, hands finding each other in grasps closer. She smelled like vanilla and sunscreen, the kind he likes. The smell probably strong because she wears less clothes on top.

"Hey no staring at my midriff!! No dirty thoughts today." She playfully wiggling her fingers which only made you laugh.

"Can't help it. My pretty girlfriend just being out here in public showing off her sexy midriff to everyone."

"Oh so you do find me sexy! What are you going to do to me now? Do you want something ~"

"No." He said calmly before getting another push at his shoulder.

Around them the hallway roared with end-of-semester noise, people shouting about exams and summer plans, and Allison swung their joined hands like a kid on a playground.

"So," she said. "After this week, the last semester, we have two months of no school, actually college. What are we doing with two months, Kyle Marsh? Because I have ideas and some of them are illegal."

"You're going to do belly dance somewhere?" He poke her ribs.

"Ayee!! No you dummy and stop that!!"

"Hahaha sorry. Hmm....a vacation, maybe. I don't know where yet."

"A vacation!" She said it like a prize on a game. "Where? Beach? Mountains? Oh, God, please say beach."

"Are you going to show me your bikinis?"

"If you asked me nicely ~"

"Maybe. Just us, probably. A trip for two."

"That's the correct answer. That's exactly what I wanted hear you to say." She bumped his arm with her shoulder. "Although, okay, hear me out. It can't be just two of us right? What about your family? Let's bring your mom. She's great. I love your mom."

"Yeah I think of that before but I don't think she would come. She would rather stay at the house or wondering in the town and city." Kyle said holding his head back.

"But she's great, she brings us to a mountain ski that time and she really nailed it on her skills!! Except for you when you stuck on a tree." She giggled.

"Yeah yeah that's a funny memory. She still wouldn't come. She'd never take the time off. Even if I paid for it she'd find a reason."

"Because she's stubborn."

"Because she's stubborn. She keeps telling me to spend my own life, that's her phrase. 'Spend your own life, Kyle, I already had mine.' Like she's ninety."

"How about your dad?"

The word sat in the air a second longer than it should have. Allison don't know knew. She didn't know everything, because Kyle had never told her everything, but she knew the shape of it.

"Not coming," he said.

"Oh." She squeezed his hand. "You don't have to talk about him."

"He's still alive if you want to know."

"Oh great."

"He's been cheating with other women."

"That's not great."

"I know. I just—" He exhaled through his nose. "The thing he did, Al. It wasn't just cheating. It was worse than people think. It was a whole person he was. Both at once. The guy at home and the guy at work, and neither of them was real."

"And your mom's okay now?"

"My mom's better than okay. My mom's the toughest person alive. But it broke something about trust for her, you know? She dated a guy for like six weeks years ago and ended it before it went anywhere. She said she couldn't do the part where you find out. Because you always find out. That's what she said." He shook his head. "It messed both of us up in different ways. I just don't want to open that door anymore."

Allison was quiet for a few steps. Then: "For what it's worth, you're not him."

"That's what my mom says."

"Your mom's a smart lady. It's decided, we're adopting her for Christmas."

"She'll bring her own food and rearrange my kitchen, but fine."

They reached the lecture hall and joined the river of students going in, hands still linked, and if anyone had been watching them, and several people were, they'd have seen the kind of couple that looks like it works. Easy. Matching. Neither of them knew that in eleven days, none of it would be easy, and nothing about who was who would match again.