"You don't have to teach me how to drive. I'm sure Ben can help me."
"And where do you think he learned from? Get in." Gwen sighed as she walked around to the driver's side of Kevin's car. She hesitated as her hand reached for the latch and she looked across the rooftop at his serious face. He raised his eyebrows and gestured for her to keep going.
She would've been lying if she had she had planned this. It had been an early release day at school and the first and only place Gwen had thought of going was to Kevin's garage. It was a nice day, sunny and warm, so she walked the ten minutes or so to the other side of town where it was located. Sure enough, she could hear him cussing and throwing around some of his tools as she got closer. The minute he saw her peek her redhead around the corner, his demeanor shifted. He had smiled, though he had tried to hide it, and she took it to mean that she was allowed to come inside. They fell into their normal routine (he worked on whatever car happened to be there and she sat and talked to him from his workbench) when she mentioned that she had made the appointment for her driver's test and she was nervous. Kevin, after rolling himself out from underneath an old sedan, had offered to let her drive his car. She had refused at first, but the more she resisted, the more he pushed for her to do it.
"Alright." She took a deep breath and opened the door. The whole action felt wrong. She was so used to just simply getting into the passenger seat with no questions asked that it almost felt like she was being forced to get behind the wheel. As she adjusted his seat forward so she could reach the pedals, she began to regret even asking him to help her prepare for her driver's test. He was so touchy about his Camaro (considering the amount of money he had sunk into it, she didn't blame him) and she wasn't sure she was ready to face the consequences should her inexperienced handling of the machine cause it to come to harm.
"First things first, don't be nervous." He said, turning on his side so he was somewhat facing her. He grabbed both of her hands in his and placed them on the worn steering wheel, making them close around the smooth padded material. "Until your comfortable, you drive with both hands. Got it?" She nodded eagerly. His hands lingered for a moment or two, as if he was making sure that she was telling the truth.
"Got it." She confirmed. He gave a lopsided smile at her response.
"Now, start the car." With those four little words, her anxiety began to build again. The keys jingled harshly as she brushed against them, grabbing the one already placed in the ignition and turned. The engine roared to life and she was so surprised she forgot to release the key. Kevin hurriedly reached forward and removed her fingers. "You don't have to keep starting it once its started. It'll hurt your car."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Remember, don't be nervous. Adjust the mirrors so you can see everything." She nodded and swallowed, running her hands down her nylons to try and remove the sticky, clammy feeling before reaching up to wiggle the rearview mirror around. After a couple of tries, she got it right and then moved on to the side mirrors. "Good, now, do you know which pedal is the gas and the brake?"
"Yes." To show him, she lightly tapped the gas and then the brake. Kevin nodded satisfactorily.
"Okay, here's the next question: Where's the clutch?"
"The clutch?" Gwen colored as he waited for her answer. What was a clutch? They hadn't mentioned anything about a clutch in her driver's education course. She peered between her knees at her feet, noticing a smaller pedal to the left of the break. "There?"
"Good. I'm impressed. You have to let the clutch in and out when you're shifting gears in a manual. Most cars are automatic, which means the engine shifts between gears for you, but I prefer to do it myself. You've got to have pretty good coordination." He finished. Gwen eyed him suspiciously, waiting for him to start bragging about his driving abilities, but his face was sober and his eyes were watching her carefully. She swallowed and nodded, realizing that, for once, he wasn't going to tease her if she didn't get something right away.
"Well, I like to think of myself as pretty coordinated. How do I make it go?" At this, Kevin gave an easy laugh and leaned backward into the passenger seat. He squirmed slightly, trying to get comfortable. She didn't think he'd ever sat in that seat before. It was more fitted to her body than his.
"Look at your stick. Right now, you're in park. You see this pattern?" He pointed at a series of lines and numbers arranged in what looked like a strange H on the console above the stick shift. Gwen peered over, following his finger as he traced it from P to 1. "What you're going to do is press down on the clutch, move your stick up to one, and then slowly let the clutch out. The car will start moving forward." Gwen looked up at the entrance of the garage. Suddenly, the short distance seemed so long. The garage door shrunk away from her and she had to blink a bit before the dimensions of the space shifted back to normal. She remembered Kevin's warning not to be nervous and readied herself to drive his car.
With her left foot, she pressed down on the clutch. Her ankle shook slightly as she held the pedal down as hard as she could. With her right hand, she reached down and wiggled it around until she found purchase on the shifter. For a moment she paused and then Kevin's large, warm hand closed over the top of hers. She glanced over at him. He was intently staring down at the shifter, but there was a small, encouraging smile playing at his lips. For being so adamantly against anyone touching the car besides him, he seemed as if he was truly enjoying her lesson.
"Release the clutch. Slowly." Her foot eased up off the pedal and then the Camaro lurched forward. Gwen let out the ghost of a shriek and the hand on the shifter flew back to the steering wheel. Kevin had put an arm out to brace himself on the dashboard. After catching the breath she had temporarily stolen, he laughed a bit.
"Good. A little slower next time, but good."
"How do I stop it?" She quickly asked as they neared the edge of his driveway. Kevin shook his head.
"You're only in first gear. Just brake, throw your signal, and turn right. The roads out that way are a bit more deserted than farther in town."
"Good idea." She agreed. The engine growled as she eased on the brake, flipping the directional up towards the ceiling. Inside the console, she could see the flickering of a little green arrow blinking in tune with the clicking sound emanating from somewhere in front of her. She checked both ways more than once, choosing to ignore Kevin's amused expression. He was keeping relatively silent. The last thing she wanted was to ruin his charitable mood.
"When you get out on the road, press the clutch in like you did before and we'll shift into second." Gwen nodded and eased off the brake. The car moved effortlessly down and out into the road. Once she had straightened, she pressed in the clutch, and moved her hand to the shifter. Again, Kevin's reassuring touch helped guide her. "Release and give her a little gas." Once again, she let off the clutch a little too fast and they both were thrown forward a bit. Not allowing this tiny misstep to bother her, she pressed down on the gas perhaps a little too enthusiastically. The car shot forward and she yelped as she pulled the wheel a little too hard in one direction. "I said a little gas!" Kevin yelled as he slammed against the side of the passenger door.
"I did!" Gwen insisted. The wheel wobbled under her grip and she could see Kevin twitching to reach over and grab it. He didn't. His hands clamped down on the door and the edge of the seat.
"Don't push the brake. Let her glide for a bit. Then, again, just a little." Gwen took a deep breath and steadied her hands on the wheel. Her foot hovered over the gas pedal until she was back at a comfortable speed and then she just barely pressed down. This time, the car began to do what she wanted it to do. She gave a small laugh, feeling accomplished. Kevin grinned at her widely. "You don't have to push on the pedal hard to get her to go. She's got a V8 after all." Gwen raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"A V8? Like the tomato juice?" Kevin groaned and rolled his eyes.
"No, Gwen, not like the tomato juice. A V8 is a type of engine. Most sports cars have V8s because they let you go faster."
"Naturally." She mumbled, feeling stupid. They had reached the outer limits of Bellwood. Out here, the buildings and houses drained away slowly until the corn and wheat fields took over. The lane narrowed as the reached the welcome sign for the town. She wondered if he would suggest they turn back, but he just pointed up through the windshield at the endless horizon.
"You can probably bump it up into third now. The speed limit's gone up."
"Help me?" Gwen asked quietly. Kevin didn't look at her, but he nodded.
"Naturally." She smiled as she repeated the previous motions, already finding the movements coming easier. The pattern changed as she went into third and as she pushed the car faster ahead, the vibration through her fingers moved into her heart and shot a thrill through her veins. Her mouth went a bit dry as she pressed the pedal down, watching the speedometer's needle slowly push to the right. No wonder Kevin liked to drive. The rest of the world fell away and all that mattered was the friction between the tires and the road.
"I think I'm liking this whole driving thing." She said with a smirk. Kevin, looking somewhat bored in the passenger seat, reached an arm over behind the back of her seat. He was smiling, but as she glanced at him, she noticed that his eyes were focused intently on the glove box. "Is something wrong?"
"What? Oh, no, you're doing fine."
"I didn't mean me." She said, giving him a pointed look.
"Just watch the road, princess." She frowned and turned her eyes back to the pavement stretching out in front of them. When he had first called her that, it had made her so angry. He meant it to. But now, as their relationship had progressed, it had kind of evolved into a term of endearment. He knew that it still got her a bit heated, though, and as such, didn't use it very often. The exceptions were when he was feeling frisky or feeling distracted.
"Do you want me to turn around?"
"No, keep going. Best way to practice driving is driving." She thought she detected the smallest hint of dejection in his tone. She felt somewhat unnerved at the transformation.
"Do you not want me to drive?" She asked seriously. He didn't respond right away and she suddenly felt like pulling over and trading places. Maybe she had overstepped her bounds by agreeing to let him teach her how to drive with his car.
"No. It's not that." He finally responded. Sensing the opening he was giving her, she remained silent, waiting for him to continue. "Just thinking about what'll it be like when I don't have to drive you and Ben around all the time." Gwen's eyes widened a bit at his statement, but softened when she realized what he was trying to say. Grabbing the shifter by herself, she brought the car back down into first and pulled off onto a dead end country alley.
"What are you doing?" Kevin asked, broken out of his semi-reverie. Gwen put the car into park and shut it off. There were one or two farmhouses down this road, but she had parked well between any of them, the wide open space expanding out on either side of the vehicle. Kevin looked around confusedly before she took her hand in his and kissed the side of his face. He went still beneath her touch.
"Kevin, just because I'm getting my license doesn't mean I don't want you to drive me around anymore." He was quiet for a minute, his face flushing slightly as he processed the information.
"Who said anything about that?" She smiled, but held in the little laugh that bubbled in her throat. He was trying not to look at her, trying to remain casual and unaffected.
"You don't have to pick me up from school anymore if you don't want to." She offered. It would be a bit disappointing to not walk across the courtyard and drink in the sight of him waiting for her against the hood of the Camaro, but if there was a compromise to be found out of it, she'd agree.
"I want to." He said it so quickly that she almost missed it. She blinked at him a few times and thought about asking him to repeat himself. Kevin looked up at her through his black bangs. She'd never tire of the smolder in his eyes. "I want to." He said again.
"Okay." Without warning, Kevin leaned over the stick shift and kissed her. Her heart did a flip in her chest. They'd been officially dating for almost a year now and the back seat of the car she was driving had seen more than one loving make out session. Still, every time he pressed his lips to hers, it was like they were kissing for the first time. They continued like that until they had run out of breath, pulling away, about to dive in for more, when there was a distinct, loud beep from Kevin's back pocket.
"Your cousin better have a pretty damn good reason for paging me." He said as he dug the Plumber's badge out form beneath him. Gwen was in complete agreement. She sat back in the driver's seat and held onto the wheel to try and stop the world from spinning.
"What does he want?"
"He just says he wants us to meet him at the usual hang out." Gwen sighed and rubbed her eyes. She sensed Kevin's eyes upon her.
"You want to drive back?" Kevin shook his head. He gave her one last kiss on her forehead and leaned back into his seat, folding his powerful arms up behind his head.
"Nah. I think I'm liking this whole passenger thing. For now."
Of course, that all changed when Gwen had accelerated a bit too fast into a guardrail and dented his front bumper.
A/N: To answer any questions, this is based before Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: Computer Games. (Thanks to Tawnyfur for letting me know I got the episode mixed up..:D ) I come from a long line of gear heads so I just couldn't resist. It's probably not the best work as I kind of churned it out in one day, but I'm working on another, so we'll just wait and see.