A familiar green and black car pulled up to Gwen's house. It was Christmas Eve and their parents were allowing the group to spend the night together. "Hey, guys." Gwen said, answering the door.
"Hi, Gwen."
"You're late."
"Well, we had one extra person to pick up." Kevin told her.
"What?" Gwen asked.
"Hey, guys." A voice said. Everyone turned as Julie walked in. "Ben invited me."
"I thought so." Gwen said.
"Sorry I didn't call ahead and tell you." Ben said.
"Hey, don't sweat it." Gwen said. "Julie already called and told me." Ben turned to look at her.
"Well, she is my best friend. I had to tell her." Julie said.
"You're always full of surprises." Ben said.
"And you're not?"
"Hey, come on, guys." Gwen said. "It's great that you're all here."
"It's nice that you're parents allowed us to invite our friends to celebrate with us." Ben said.
"Well, in a way, they're like our family." Gwen said. "We always fight against enemies together, this is one of the few times we actually get a break."
Minutes later, the group was sitting in the living room. The silence was getting on their nerves. Finally, Ben broke the silence. "Hey, Gwen, remember when we visited that winter-themed park five years ago?"
"That was one I'll never forget." Gwen said. "It was really interesting."
"You never told me about this one." Kevin said.
"Yeah, why don't you fill us in on what happened?" Julie asked.
"Well, it wasn't long before we ran into a little trouble." Gwen told them. The cousins explained what happened.
When they were through, Kevin started laughing. "Wait, so the guy thought that your grandfather was Santa?"
"Hey, this was five years ago, back while you were a total…" Ben started.
"Guys, please." Gwen said. "Let's not get into that."
"It's okay, I deserve it." Kevin told her. Gwen looked at him, he wasn't facing the group anymore.
Julie couldn't help but start giggling. "I can't believe you guys turned into elves."
"Luckily we managed to break the spell on the town." Ben said.
"Yeah, that was a really close call." Gwen said. "At least it helped us bring the family together."
"I'll be right back." Kevin said, stepping out of the room.
"I know, it was by far our weirdest adventure that summer." Ben said.
"What other adventures did you guys have?" Julie asked.
"We'll save the rest of them for another time." Ben said. "There's so many, it's hard to keep them all straight."
"I'm gonna go check on Kevin." Gwen said, getting up. She found him in the hallway. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, no, I…" Kevin couldn't find the words. He finally said, "He's right, Gwen. Even you know it."
"No, he's not." Gwen said. "Anyway, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."
"It's okay, besides, everything's always been kind of messed up." Kevin said. "My family, I didn't think they'd ever accept me after what happened. I've always just been on my own."
"That's not true." Gwen said. "Remember, you joined our team and things are cool with them now, aren't they? Besides, you're part of our family."
"Thanks, Gwen." Kevin said.
"Anytime." Gwen told him, taking his hand. Kevin glanced at the ceiling briefly.
"Why is there a leaf on the ceiling?" Gwen looked up and saw what he meant. They were standing under a piece of mistletoe.
"It's a decoration." Gwen said. She pulled herself closer until her lips met his.
When they got back to the living room a few minutes later, Ben and Julie were laughing about something. "Seriously, you were afraid of that?" Julie asked, laughing.
"Yeah, looking back, it's kind of embarrassing." Ben said.
"So, what'd we miss?" Kevin asked.
"Not much." Ben said. "So, how's Ship doing?"
"He's fine." Julie said. "Hopefully he's staying out of trouble. My parents would flip if they knew I was keeping him."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ben said. "When they found out about this, it was a total disaster." He pointed to the Omnitrix.
"Yeah, I was stuck going solo because he managed to get himself and Gwen grounded." Kevin pointed out.
"Well, it is Ben you know." Gwen pointed out. "He can mess up even a patrol mission."
"Hey!" Ben protested. Julie started laughing again.
"Oh, come on Ben." She said. "That's one of your best qualities." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"What are my other ones?" Ben asked.
"Well, you're cute, funny, sensitive…" Julie began.
"Maybe you can go through the list on your next date." Kevin said.
"Yeah, maybe I'll make a list for you." Gwen told him. Everyone got a good laugh out of that one.
"Well, it would give us something to do while we're off duty." Ben pointed out.
"I know, and we can always add some other things we like or dislike about them." Gwen said.
"I could never think of one bad thing about you." Kevin told her.
"I can think of at least twenty." Ben said.
"Okay, guys!" Gwen got their attention.
"Seriously, do I need to call Ship here?" Julie asked.
"Sorry, man." Ben said.
"Hey, it's fine."
The group spent the rest of the night talking and writing up lists about each other.
Merry Christmas, everyone!