Ring… Ring… Ring… Gwen wakes up as her cell phone rings.
"Hello?" She asks groggily.
"Gwen, I will be over in an hour."
"Ben, is that you?"
"Who else would it be calling you a 6:00 in the morning asking if you are ready?" He responds.
"Ben, I will be ready in an hour, see you at 7:00." She responds.
Ben opens his curtains and sees that it is snowing outside. "Darn it" he thinks to himself. He goes outside and around to the side of his house to get some cinder blocks and put them in the bed of his 2001 Dodge Ram 1500. He doesn't want the rear end of his truck to slide around on the ice. A little while later he puts his things in his truck and tells his parents goodbye and he will call them. Then, he leaves to go and pick up Gwen. By the time he gets there, his truck has warmed up and he turns the heat on because he knows Gwen hates the cold.
He puts his truck in park and goes up to her house and knocks on the door. Gwen's dad answers the door…
"Come in, Ben." Mr. Tennyson says.
"Thank you." Ben responds.
Ben waits eagerly for Gwen to come down from her room. After a few minutes he hears her come out of her room and he walks up the stairs as he sees Gwen struggling to carry all of her things down at once.
"Here, let me take those." He tells her.
"Ben!" she is so happy to see him because she hasn't seen him in a week or two. She drops her things and runs to give Ben a big hug.
As she jumps into his arms, he is a little startled and almost falls down the stairs.
"I'm happy to see you too!" Ben tells her. They stand there for a minute still embracing each other.
"You ready to get a start on Christmas break?'
"You bet." She tells him. She is so excited because they are going to their family's cabin up in the mountains and are going to meet their family there. Their family is leaving later in the week.
Gwen tells her parents goodbye and Ben carries her things out to his truck like a gentleman.
"Oh, I almost forgot my skis!" Gwen exclaims as she runs back into the house to get them.
Ben puts her suitcases on the back seat of his truck. He has an extended cab. Gwen runs out to the truck with her skis and ski poles. Ben puts them in the bed with his snowboard and puts the cover down to keep the snow off of everything. They get in the truck and pull away from her house. Now it is 7:45 and they are a little behind schedule.
"I still have to stop and get some gas." Ben tells Gwen.
"OK, while we are getting gas, can we get something to eat because I am absolutely starving?" She asks him.
"Sure, what do you want?" He asks.
"I'm in the mood for McDonald's, how about you?" she asks.
"Are you sure?" He asks.
He pauses.
"We could at least go somewhere a little bit nicer like Denny's or Bob Evans." He says.
"Nah, McDonald'sis fine, I like simple places like that and it is quicker to go through the drive thru." Gwen says.
"OK." He responds.
They go and get their food and eat it on the road to make up for lost time. They continue down the highway and a little while later Gwen tells Ben…
"I don't feel so good, Ben."
Ben looks at her and sees that she is pale and looks for a place to pull off. He finds an exit and pulls into a parking lot.
"Gwen, are you alright?" he asks because she is paler and she is also shaking.
"No I…." She quickly opens the door and throws up.
Ben picks up a roll of paper towels and hands Gwen a couple.
"Thanks." She says
He reaches over and puts his hand on her forehead and she feels cold. Ben turns the heat up, but has to remove his jacket because it is really hot now. He looks over at Gwen who has fallen asleep and is still shaking. Ben gets out of the truck and pulls some things out from the back seat. He finds a blanket and goes over to the passenger door and opens it, careful not to step in her puke. He wraps Gwen in the blanket and also gets her a pillow. Her shaking subsides a little and Ben is relieved. Ben gets back on the highway and continues to their destination. He is worried about Gwen because she never gets sick and he hopes it is just a reaction to what she ate.
An hour passes and Gwen wakes up. She feels a little better and sits up a little. She then realizes that she is wrapped in a blanket and looks over at Ben.
"Thanks." She tells Ben, who looks over at her and says…
"Thanks for what?"
"Thanks for making sure I was OK and for being thoughtful for once." She grins at him.
"So, you don't think I'm thoughtful huh?" he asks her smiling because he knows she is only joking. She was getting back to her old self.
Ben looks at her and sees that she looks better and the color has returned to her face.
"I told you we should have gone somewhere a little nicer to eat." He says to her.
"There's another McDonald's at the next exit, you must be hungry? He asks.
The thought of eating McDonald's after it made her sick earlier makes her start to gag and she says…
"I'm not really hungry and plus I don't want to get sick again."
"Do you want to stop and get some drinks at least? He asks.
"Sure, I'm kind of thirsty." She says.
Ben pulls his truck into a gas station and goes to get out when…
"Wait up." Gwen says.
"Gwen, I've got it, I'll be back in a flash."
"I need to stretch and breathe some fresh air, neither of which I have done for the past 3 or 4 hours." Gwen says.
Ben rushes to the passenger door and opens it for Gwen who gets out and stretches her arms and legs out.
"Ahhh, the fresh air feels so good." She says.
They walk over to the convenience store and Ben opens the door for his cousin…
"Ladies first." He tells her as he stretches his arm out.
"Thanks Ben." She can't help but smile. She likes it when he is nice to her for a change.
They walk over to the big fridge at the back of the store and get their sodas. On the way back to the truck, Ben slips on some ice and in an attempt not to fall, he instead falls flat on his face. Gwen can't help but laugh as she looks at him sprawled out in the parking lot. But there is a problem, he can't get up, the ice is very, very slippery. Gwen extends her hand and Ben pulls her down and she falls on top of him. Ben can't help but chuckle. "
I didn't think it was funny when you started laughing at me when I fell, so I wanted to show you how it fells." He says. She just looks at him and sticks her tongue out.
Ben manages to get to his feet and helps Gwen up as well. Ben escorts her over to the truck so that she won't fall on the ice like he did. Ben gets in and starts the truck up. He puts it into gear and they are off once again.
It is starting to get late and Gwen looks very tired. Tired to the point where she keeps nodding off. Ben looks over at her and asks…
"Gwen, do you want me to find a motel for the night?'
"Sure, that sounds nice." She responds.
"I see one just up the street." He tells her, but she doesn't respond. He parks his truck and goes in to pay for the motel.
When he comes back out, she is still asleep. He parks his truck in front of the only room left in the motel. He gets out and shakes her to get her to wake up, but she is out cold. "She really must've really been tired." He thought to himself. He can't leave her in the truck. He picks her up and carries her into the motel room. He sets her down gently on the bed as not to wake her and pulls the cover over her because she is shivering again. "She looks so cute when sleeps." he thinks as he looks at her. He then did something he normally wouldn't have done. He leans over her and kisses her on top of the head. He realizes how soft her hair is and how good it smells.
After feeling someone touch her head, she wakes up just as Ben goes out the door to unpack their things from his truck. Gwen still doesn't feel too good so she decides that taking a shower would make her feel better. She gets up and goes to the bathroom. She undresses and turns the water on to get it warm. The water feels so good she thinks as she gets. About 10 minutes later, when she is finished, she gets out only realizing that she forgot to get a towel. She doesn't want to wait until Ben gets back to have him get her a towel because she is starting to get the chills. She cracks the bathroom door open to peak and see if Ben is in the room yet. She sees no sign of him so she quickly goes over to the table and is about to pick up a towel when she hears the door open.
Gwen's back is to the door, so he won't see much. Ben looks up and sees that Gwen is naked and out of respect he closes his eyes. He felt his face get really hot as he was blushing.
"Gwen, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were getting dressed." He says as he quickly turns away, goes outside and shuts the door behind him. A few minutes later, Gwen opens the door to the room and tells Ben to come back in. As he walks back into the room he tells Gwen…
"Gwen, I am really sorry for walking in on you like that."
"It's not your fault, I should have told you that I was going to take a shower and I should have brought my towel in with me." She says.
"Ben, you should change, you are sopping wet." She says.
"It's snowing really bad out there Gwen." He says.
"Do you think we will be able to get out of here in the morning? She asks.
"You bet, I have four-wheel drive, remember?" he says.
"You know I know nothing about cars or trucks, I guess I was thinking about Kevin's little car." She says.
"It's getting late; I better get to bed because we have a lot of driving to do tomorrow." He says.
Before Ben hits the sack, he takes a shower and when he is done he realizes something, there is only one bed in the room!
****I think I will leave it here for now R&R thanks****
I will continue soon, but thought this would be a good place to leave it for now.