Gwen informed Kevin that she was going to do a few errands downstairs, before leaving her room she told him that he can kick back and relax to pass the time. During her absence he was feeling bored from staring at the ceiling from his position on her bed, he sighed until he noticed the familiar pattern of her diary and decided reading it might cure his boredom. He briefly jolted from the bed to bring himself near the table to grasp it carefully in his hand, after retrieving it he placed himself on the bed and layed his head on
the pillow. Before opening it he noticed that he hasn't glanced at the writing in the beginning part of the book and thought it wouldn't hurt to check the pages out for himself, he was surprised to see it was a collection of moments Gwen saved from her initial first impression with those that had an impact upon her and her family during that vacation. His curiosity perked once he saw the section that was devoted to him seemed to traverse through more than one page and decided to check it out but imagine her voice
narrating the entries as he read them.
...
"So we've made it to New York and I'm pretty excited to see how this pans out, but sadly that wasn't the case when Ben got obsessed with that game again. After the argument he and Grandpa had he went to pout, then I had to follow him when he was going behind Grandpa's back where he could possibly get into trouble again. I wasn't as fond with most arcades because of the atmosphere but I had to ignore it for the sake of my cousin's safety, luckily it was easy to find where he was when a conversation between him and another male voice was heard. I turned the corner finding myself staring at this mysterious boy whom I've only seen for a few seconds, there was so much to him to learn about but not all of them seem like safe ideas for me. My focus was just to get Ben back before Grandpa comes into an empty RV and possibly risk another mix of stress-related emotions, but fate decided that I couldn't once Kevin as we now know his name seemed to descend further into the place with a expression of subtle bewilderment on his face."
...
Kevin paused slightly knowing all too well what happened next but continued on with a small thought in his mind 'I guess Gwen kind of had her hands full keeping a wary mindset on me, but it's only the beginning so I'll just continue on'
...
"I honestly didn't know what to make of it honestly so I went with making a remark of his possible troublesome nature, then I had the realization hit me on why he was scared once when a couple of teens pushed me and Ben aside to head in Kevin's direction. Ben went ahead while I stayed pretty close to see that boy was surrounded, Ben's wanting to assist only got him thrown back and I quickly rushed to his side to check if he was alright. I knew Grandpa would be more upset if Ben was injured because argument or not he still loves Ben and would do anything to not have him get hurt, but Ben was fine and transformed despite him not heeding my request to pursue and quickly knock out those bullies. I followed him out of the arcade and berated him for doing such even if he was doing it as a nice gesture, but obviously he wasn't listening and told me I wouldn't get it at all which in a way he's probably right."
"Then Kevin walked out clearly being the only one in a positive attitude at the moment, but even if a good thing was accomplished in a short amount of time I was fatigued by the events. He asked me and Ben to join along with him on a trip around the city but I brushed him off to get Ben to come back before he gets a longer punishment, but he refused so I departed to at least show Grandpa that I was coming back if Ben did not. I was greeted by Grandpa's stern and frustrated look when he noticed Ben's absence so I went ahead and told him so far on what had happened, he sighed suggesting I buckle up and possibly wait until he returns back to the Rustbucket. Hours went by and still no sign of Ben so we drove further into the city in search of him unaware of anything that currently was happening, then I heard copters in the distance and I think I slightly saw Stinkfly with Kevin in tow pass right by us but I could've been imagining it. Once the radio chimed of a giant bug buzzing through the city evading the police I saw Grandpa becoming visibly upset again, while I could understand his frustration and muse that Ben was at it again with his usual shtick I couldn't help but worry if he was alright since it could get pretty dangerous from here on out and wondered if I should've went along with Ben and Kevin so some of these events could've been prevented sooner."
"My current thoughts were interrupted by more dreadful news on the radio about spontaneous bursts of flame in the subway tunnels and let out a frustrated sigh as I pinched the bridge of my nose wondering what Ben got himself into now while getting Grandpa to find where he is before he gets himself killed, luckily in time we managed to find him and get him to safety but in the end get reprimanded for his poor behavior that led to these occurrences. Ben told the truth as quickly as he could before needing to find Kevin's whereabouts and transformed as he fled in the direction the radio mentioned his location, once traffic lightened up a little we made it to the location where both were currently in combat so we used the distraction to free the troublesome teenagers from earlier today and even if they deserved this I had to help Grandpa so that they'd never show up here again. It wasn't long until I saw Kevin being pushed into one of the pillars where the impact pulverized it to pieces, despite it seeming like he was going to agree it didn't last very long as he went to try tearing the omnitrix off to no avail as it sent him and Ben flying back which crumbled the bridge apart. A little part of me wanted to be like Ben when he tried to push himself forward when Kevin yelled and ran off in the distance, but it seemed that Grandpa didn't want to get involved so we went back to leave the city. Everything felt solemn after these turn of events especially between the trust of Grandpa and Ben, I felt for him but I was starting to think about Kevin and wondered if I should've told Grandpa to help him or at least have him known to some higher authorities to assist him since I was unsure if we'd ever cross paths again"
...
He paused again trying to digest so far the information that he was starting to see at least from what she may have experienced, but knew the end result anyways so he continued on further with the entries while furrowing his brows.
...
"As Ben was waiting in line for an update to that game he loves to play I got fed up with waiting a couple hours in the heat and felt relieved when Grandpa suggested going to a bookstore to cool down until Ben got what he wanted, after a brief relaxing detour me and Grandpa went to find Ben and walked into sudden pandemonium. From a clear point of view was Fourarms on a rampage which was weird since I know that Ben gets fussy and argumentative but never to the point of violence especially over something silly like Sumo Slammers, things got even weirder when a group of people with the initials S.A.C.T. showed up with a seemingly intimidating weapon which made me move my legs hastily to snap Ben out of this. I tried convincing him but the only result was an empty police car hovering over me so I braced myself, despite being a bit frozen in place I slightly saw that he was holding back somewhat since he could've thrown the vacant vehicle on me sooner but was willfully interrupted of the thought when that rail-gun like weapon shot him point blank in the chest then trailed my eyes as he angrily hopped away from the scene before running back to Grandpa's side. A little part of me wanted to believe it wasn't so but I had my doubts and went back to the RV to confront Ben upon the poor behavior exhibited today, I felt that he was being coy and avoiding the subject entirely but Grandpa suggested giving the benefit of the doubt in the case it wasn't him after showing the news of the earlier events displayed on the screen. He jolted from his seat after pausing the game to settle this slander pushed upon him but I was taking it with a grain of salt, I made some remarks that he wanted to be dismissed but before anything else could continue his eyes drifted to the alleyway spotting something and told us to pursue this shrouded figure."
"After running several miles into the U.S Mint of all places I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, this was the last straw for me so I went to chew him out for a good amount of seconds since I was growing tired of this tirade. The only problem was that now I heard Ben's voice behind me which bewildered me that I was mouthing off someone else entirely, I asked who this 'imposter' was and what felt chilling was that through his response my mind froze me in place again trying to recognize the voice because it felt so familiar to me. I only braced myself when the flamethrower was being directed at me shortly after as Ben blockaded the impact in his Diamondhead form and told me and grandpa to run for it, while we hid for a certain amount of time my mind still filtered for the person behind that voice and realized sometime after that I knew who it was though I never thought we'd cross paths again until now. As Kevin made his aerial exit and Ben dealt with the same unit from earlier delaying them until he went back to normal I tried to regain myself back to normal and luckily just in time to rush to Ben's side as he made up a quick lie to drive away the team leader named Lieutenant Steel and his men from us so we could go back to the Rustbucket, he proved my point on who he was and that he staged almost everything to send Ben's budding career as a hero plummeting which in a way was ironic but the incoming noises of frightened civilians rushed through all our ears to witness the most recent carnage he was pulling out of his sleeve. Ben's double effort backfired again so he went with what he had to halt the progress of the runaway trolley car and we followed suit in hopes to assist it from hitting the San Francisco Bay, the velocity to make sure the injuries were little to none for everyone involved was a bit nerve-racking but in the end things went with a success."
"As nightfall graced upon us we met where Ben had hid when changing back to normal but it seemed it led that special alien containment team to us while examining the watch and interrogating him of those recent mishaps the aliens in sight caused, but just then a almost perfect timed distraction was in place by Kevin at the golden gate bridge causing havoc so as they rushed forth to do their job Ben worked up his resolve that it was his responsibility in a way for what had come and followed to that location posthaste. It didn't take long to make it to the location as they both were locked in combat once more along with the soldiers were at bay on when they should involve themselves but I interjected upon that at least one of them wasn't causing any problems, not long after they were told to hold off until his command was to be implemented so they muttered to themselves as they waited for the event to come. I couldn't hear easily what might have been said but I saw that it had increased in intensity on Kevin's end up until I saw that he had changed back to human again, I may have imagined it but inwardly I almost flinched a little when Ben sent a warning bluff towards his way and turned his back on him. What came next sent me into a mix of weird feelings of the situation when a mix of bone crunching coupled with the ear piercing bloodcurdling scream came soon after as he had been physically altered by this event, I may have looked unfazed but my heart had wrenched back tight along with cringing at the noise of utter pain and the sickening feeling of nausea rushing over my body. I barely knew Kevin enough to connect on an emotional level yet but even he didn't deserve any of what he just went through, I don't think I'd be able to endure any of what happened before my eyes and saw that he felt similar as he sped towards Ben in blind fury managing to deliver each blow and chucking him to the edge which frightened me a little on what he was about to do. In the end the soldiers were given the order and blasted him off the bridge to the depths below as Ben lept and helped Lieutenant Steel from falling to his doom to prove that they can be on good terms, as I was having conflicting emotions from the recent turn of events I spotted a lone padlock necklace that had ripped straps and immediately scooped it up while hiding it somewhere safe before Ben returned because I knew that even from a short encounter that this belonged to Kevin."
...
His eyes widened as he thought back to that event that solidified his feelings of contempt towards him but saw even more so how Gwen had felt about everything during then, he could understand how she felt because in truth he experienced it at double the speed of what any normal human being should've felt at that precise moment. He didn't notice while he tried to continue on that Gwen had made it back into the room after finishing up, she noticed he was reading her entries but decided to let him read them until it came to the finishing point.
...
"We were on the road again not long after the events that happened last night, while Ben and Grandpa seemed unfazed by what happened earlier I still had some things run through my mind in question. Whatever Ben must've said to him to cause so much damage to him that deeply must've been pretty brutal, before I could question Ben on what he had said to Kevin I heard the distinct sound of lepidopterran wings in the distance. I tried to get their attention if they heard the noise that was drawing closer but they seemed unsure of it, what got their attention was the repeated shoves from the side of the Rustbucket that tipped it and us to the side and Ben rushed out to deal with the culprit of this situation. I wanted to do something but me and Grandpa were in current troughs of pain to do anything, I could only hear slightly what was going on for a while especially with the nickname Kevin gave himself and the fighting seemed to go on for a while until suddenly complete silence. I finally fiddled myself out of that seat belt strapped onto me and assisted Grandpa to the sideways exit of the RV and came to witness that Ben and Kevin were gone, I called out for Ben but no response was received and worry started to show up for both parties absence as I stared into the sky above me. It seemed like hours had passed by since what I'd assume was that they might have been abducted or something similar and despite that he knocked our transportation aside I worried a little if Kevin was okay as well, I sighed when remembering last night since it was still having an effect on me even right now and I trailed my eyes to the hidden lock that I decided to keep on my person."
"I went over to Grandpa while we were waiting for either one or both to return somehow, then a little while later a pod landed from the sky to reveal Ben falling out of it where he went and wondered if I was fine. To be honest the pain subsided long ago but my concern was on why Kevin didn't return in which Ben made it sound like he had no interest to return with things back on the ship they were beamed up on, while I felt like doubting it it seemed truthful enough and settled with keeping some things to myself while Ben helped Grandpa get the Rustbucket back up on its wheels and fix it before we leave the area. For several days and different events that went by it seemed pretty normal at least by our standards so far during this summer vacation, we ended up revisiting New York again but more north to watch the Niagara Falls which was quite the sight to behold. We boarded a small touring cruise-like boat to get a closer look at the long stretching falls in front of our eyes, it seemed like a fair distraction from me thinking about him again but the fiddling noise of the omnitrix dial made me turn my attention to Ben as Grandpa slightly reprimanded that messing with the watch before has made some significant blunders for them and to take it easy while I thought nothing weird would whack us on the face with the assumption that he couldn't possibly crack the code. The thought didn't last long as a multitude of Ben's aliens flashed back and forth at a nonstop pace to assist the man he accidentally caused to fall when scaring him with Wildmutt, at first it was kind gestures but at the end it got ridiculous enough that I'd want his dweebish self more present."
"After a scrapbook of events we made it to a sky ride and Ben as usual was embarrassing me in front of random strangers but I just drifted my thoughts back to him again wondering if something bad might've befallen him on the cruiser, then Ben flashed into Heatblast to test that spit flinging contest making me save face and not get lopped into his silly behavior. All of a sudden though something heavy landed on our roof and ripped the top clean off the surface to two familiar sights and wondered if I had thought too soon about him being alright, Vilgax grabbed a hold of Ben and shut down his rapid change slightly while Grandpa made a snide remark of Kevin working under the war monger himself. Ben traded blows but from our end it didn't look pretty since we were threatened with colliding with the rushing rapids below, I shrieked as I held onto the railing with Grandpa until Ben came back and got us to safety. Ben rushed off to ambush the two even though Grandpa warned him that his confidence is just what they want him to do, we went back to the RV when Grandpa mentioned to me that he has something up his sleeve to deal with the two effectively and even if it was tactical I was a bit worried on what it might be. When I saw the Null Void projector I felt a little uneasy thinking that while it was necessary for one of them and that it's true that Kevin's involvement was dangerous that what he did go through seemed prevalent, I wanted to explain that it didn't feel right but ended up mentioning why he had it on his person and not in a compartment in Mount Rushmore in which he replied that he had to be prepared for those type of moments. After several minutes of muttering to myself on everything sounds of loud booming footsteps invaded my eardrums with Kevin following suit with leaping from below and exclaimed to Grandpa that we weren't alone, while they were confident in having the upper hand Grandpa countered it with the beam that enveloped them both and accidentally Ben in the process when Vilgax dragged him in at the last second."
"It almost felt like the plan backfired so Grandpa wanted to take responsibility and manage to save Ben, I interjected that I had no knowledge of maintaining the prolonged opening of the two dimensions so I volunteered to get him out since it was the only way and that it was my turn to do something to assist without the use of charms or my agile nature. I suited up while Grandpa set me up with important equipment and a laser gun for protection just in case anything goes awry on the short time limit I had to no freedom, I exhaled and got my bearings in place as I flew through the seemingly empty environment that surrounded me but it wasn't empty for long when I was ambushed by numerous blue beasts and had to lure them away with a bomb then went on my way. If things were different I would be getting two people out of this desolate place but I'm unsure of Kevin's reactions to it which makes it a difficult feat as of now, then Grandpa yelled for me to get out of there as soon as possible and I had to hold up to the obligation of getting Ben free and luckily we ran into one another informing of the small time gap we had left. He rushed forward but got sidetracked by a huge beast that freaked us out but even though we survived that encounter another obstacle had arisen, I didn't see the quick glint of bewilderment in Stinkfly's eyes until I felt a sudden tight grip wrap around me and tear me out of Ben's grasp and into their own. When I noticed that Kevin had grabbed hold of me to prevent escape I went with Grandpa's advice of using the laser gun on him but maybe I should've aimed elsewhere since the mistake cost me having the gun exploding almost near my face, Ben had no other choice but to give up the omnitrix for me getting free but in the end I had been chucked away in focusing to ripping the watch off with that bulky device he was carrying."
...
Reading through these entries were pretty painful for the honesty in it, his past sufferings at the time made him have the results during then go into autopilot. At least now he understands that she tried to help and shared a bit of worry in secret, but it wasn't finished yet so he went and did his best to read it until the very end of the entry that concerned him.
...
"By the time I managed to get the jetpack up and running Ben was in lack of his omnitrix and Kevin had bolted with the device while attracting the wrath of his supposed 'partner', Ben remarked that his revenge won't be sated which earned a rebuttal on what he'd do if he escaped. In the distraction I bounced off him with the sphere making a break for the exit but it was short lived, all we had now were some last ditch efforts to divide the attention of these two where by a stroke of luck I cleverly tricked Vilgax out with something similar to the sphere containing the watch. Kevin on the other hand needed a more convincing distraction in which Ben took hold of that to quench his pride, I pleaded to him not to do this but knew that without him being the bullseye then Kevin would focus on me and possibly give chase so I heeded Ben and went through the portal to Grandpa who immediately embraced me. Not long after Ben came out and while looking melancholy he had apologized for being overconfident so while feeling generous I rewarded him back the watch but not without a small remark for the road, the apology seemed halfhearted when he wanted to get me back but playfully joked when it backfired on him as usual sharing along with grandpa's laughter at his empty threat. Time passed by since that event and I started to feel regretful for leaving Kevin in that prison of a dimension, I felt uneasy at times when thinking about it wishing I had done more to assist him but I never had brought it up knowing that Ben would backlash on the subject probably saying he isn't worth the effort to worry about."
"Once I made it home I put some time in with my eventual magic studies to find a way to go about on helping him if I ever did cross paths with him, even if it was said before I would put the effort to help him if need be. I assured to myself that if anything could happen then making Kevin's life turn for the better can be possible, I wish I could apologize for having a hand in some of the situations he went through involving us but maybe what I was planning out would make up for it and then some."
...
He reached the end of her section on him and for one thing he wasn't bored anymore, but he started having various emotions plant themselves deep within him. When lifting the diary away from his face the sight of Gwen nearly made him jump out of his skin, seeing that she wasn't upset at reading her entries he calmed himself down and sat up on the bed.
"How long have you been in here while I was reading?" He asked in an inquisitive tone looking up at her as she strolled over to his side.
"For a little while I guess, I see that you've read through my experiences that centered on you." She lifted her finger under her chin speaking softly while sitting beside him.
"Gwen, was everything you said when worrying about me then truthful? I'm not angry or anything I'm just honestly curious" He stared her in the eyes waiting for her response as he propped up his leg and drummed his fingers on it.
"I wouldn't have written those exact words if I wasn't feeling honest about it, I've always felt horrible that you went through those burdens and I feel kind of responsible for not doing enough for you at the time" She smiled gently as she placed her hand on his but a frown creeped up on her face while her eyes trailed to the floor and sighed.
He saw her expression become solemn and tried to find the right words to cheer her up with then realization hit him so he went along with it "What you have been doing so far plus the way you are treating me now makes up for not being able to do anything then, despite how everything went at the time I appreciate the great lengths you went through when giving me another chance"
After listening to his uplifting words she gazed back at him and perked up a small grin "You're right I shouldn't be focusing on that and be happy for what I've done so far to helping you out, thank you for letting me realize that Kevin"
He felt satisfied for what he told her when he heard that cute giggle she liked to do grace his eardrums and felt her give his hand a gentle squeeze, it was interesting to learn more about Gwen and her initial relationship with him at first so he can grasp the understanding of possibly spending his life with her one day if he so chooses. He wouldn't mind it since she's done more that what anyone has done for him in this lifespan so far, he leaned towards her and nuzzled her cheek while placing a soft kiss there for thanking him "You're welcome, after all it was your words exactly that encouraged me to focus on the future ahead for us. Don't worry about the circumstances that had occurred, let's just be thankful for where we are now and be reminded that things will get better for the both of us from here on out"
A blush with a light pinkish shade had spread itself across her face from the sweet gesture, while feeling content she reciprocated it when kissing him back and moved herself closer to him "Yeah I should follow my own advice and appreciate what's been given to us, the future is ahead of us so we should look forward to what happens next"
"As long as it's with you I have no gripes on the outcome, you've given me many things but most of all you helped me learn to have trust in another human being" He knew that what he mentioned was the truth and he'd never go back on what he said for her sake because after all in his heart there was nobody else that complimented himself more as an individual than Gwen, when he was glancing at her they exchanged pleasant smiles and stared off into the distance feeling hopeful for both their futures that will soon come upon them.