Hey, everyone! I know judging from one of my previous stories that I'm also fond of Gwevin. I like both Gwevin and Bwen for different reasons.
I only like Gwevin if Kevin genuinely changes, but judging by what I've seen in the series, he doesn't all that much, though every little improvement is nice. But if we're wanting to be realistic, no one can really change another person if the person doesn't really want to change. This is why I like Bwen. He doesn't need as much "improvement" so to speak as much as Kevin. Ben's nice, and funny, more sensitive, and, if I had to choose which one to raise a family with, I'd pick Ben (I mean, did you SEE Kevin when they introduced Jimmy Jones? Kevin made him cry while Ben offered him a tissue.). He'd just be the better guy and influence for my kids. Now mind you, I'm not TOATALLY against Gwevin, mind you; I'm just saying. So, for the sake of the story, Ben and Gwen are not related, rather, he was originally adopted by Carl and Sandra Tennyson, and of course following the story of Ken 10, Kevin's evil and in the Null Void and Devlyn's being raised by the Tennysons. Ken and Devlyn are about 16-17 years old, and Devlyn's wrestling with her feelings for her foster brother. As a side note, Ken looks like a red haired version of Ben, being that he's not married to Kai in this story. Enjoy!
It didn't come as fireworks, it didn't come with a bang, but rather, it was a slow burn that had been gradually building up over the course of 6 years.
Devlyn hadn't meant to fall in love with Ken and didn't even remember when she did; it just happened.
It had been around the beginning of high school she had started to figure out that she had begun to feel something for him, but wasn't sure what. He had just been so sweet, patient and supportive over the years of her living with him that it shouldn't have surprised her that she had begun to fall for him, but it hadn't quite hit her yet that she had.
With her history as a street kid and abused daughter, trust didn't come easy to her, especially with men, even after she moved in with the Tennysons. In fact, she was on her guard for the first three weeks wondering what was going to happen. It hadn't been the first time someone had offered her shelter, and had only wanted something out of her. She was just waiting for Ben to place some blueprints of some bank or high level security system for her to hack in front of her, but it never happened. Instead, he had seemed to want to bond with her, something that was rare but suspicious. Kevin never tried to reach out to her unless he wanted something from her. But it wasn't just Ben wanting to bond wit her, Gwen and Ken wanted to spend time with her as well. Devlyn liked Gwen immediately. She reminded her so much of her own mother that it was scary. She had done a double take when she had first seen her. It was that uncanny. The only real difference was the height and the eye color. Devlyn's mother was taller than the average woman and had bright blue eyes instead of green. Still, their personalities, some of their mannerisms, and even smile was so. Much. Like. Her mother. Another difference was that Gwen was always smiling and laughing, while her mother has always been sad and withdrawn. To the day she died, Devlyn always craved seeing her mother smile but rarely saw it, thanks to her father.
A month after she arrived, Devlyn couldn't take it anymore. She leaned on the counter where Gwen was making dinner one evening and decided to ask her some questions.
"Did you have a sister, Gwen?"
Gwen looked perplexed and tilted her head in Devlyn's direction and continued stirring the chili on the stove.
"No; why do you ask?"
"Just wondering." Devlyn shrugged trying not to choke up. Talking about her mother never failed to sadden her. It was the final crime that had gotten her father sent to the Null Void the first time in her lifetime, "My mother…you look just like her."
Gwen snapped her head in Devlyn's direction.
"Really?"
Devlyn nodded.
"With the exception of the height and eyes." her blue eyes misted over with tears.
Gwen knelt down to her level.
"Devlyn, this is the first time you mentioned your mother. Would you like to tell me about her?"
Devlyn swallowed as tears slid down her cheeks. The truth hurt so much…but it had to be told sometime. Might as well get it all out in the open now.
She nodded.
Gwen had looked at the pot of chili and turned down the burner.
"Dinner should keep for a while," she covered the pot, "Let's go in the living room."
Ben and Ken had been out for the day so they had the whole house to themselves. They sat on the burgundy couch set and Gwen put an arm around her shoulder. Devlyn sniffed and tried not to break down and cry. She pulled out a faded picture from her gray hoodie pocket and handed it to Gwen.
"Here she is," Devlyn looked down, "it was on one of those rare days when mom was actually happy. I took it at the park."
Gwen looked at the picture and drew in her breath as her face whitened. Devlyn couldn't blame her. The resemblance would be enough to question if they were twins separated at birth.
"She's…very beautiful." Gwen cleared her throat and handed the picture back to Devlyn who stuck it back in her pocket.
"Was very beautiful." she corrected.
Gwen's face went from pale to empathetic.
"What happened to her?" she rubbed her back as she began to lose control of her emotions, "Devlyn."
Devlyn broke down and cried and Gwen pulled her into her arms.
"Shhh."
Devlyn hugged her tight and continued to cry for a full three minutes before she calmed down and was only breathing shakily.
"He killed her." she finally whimpered. She felt Gwen stiffen.
"You father?" her tone climbed a bit like she was getting angry though she knew not at her.
Devlyn nodded.
"Yes." she pulled away and wrapped her arms around her rail thin legs, "I don't think he meant to; he was just angry; he was always angry. At me, at Mom…he just…lost it one day and hit her so hard that she fell backwards and her head hit a nearby table, and…that was it. She was dead. All I did was watch. I didn't once try to help her."
Gwen looked at her shocked.
"Devlyn. Surely you don't blame yourself for you mother's death, do you?"
Devlyn shrugged.
"I was always so afraid of him. I was hiding under the table she fell against it."
"How old were you?"
"Eight."
"Devlyn, you can't blame yourself for you father's actions."
"I know, but I could've done something…"
"What?"
"I don't know, but something."
"You probably would've ended up dead as well if you tried, and I'm sure your mother wouldn't have wanted you to. Besides, I like knowing you."
"You do?"
"Yes, we all do. When you're not in the room, you're all that Ken can talk about."
"Really?"
"He considers you his best friend."
A moment of silence passed between them.
"What does…Ben think of me?"
Gwen smiled softly and leaned toward her.
"He thinks you have as good heart and he's glad you came to live with us."
Devlyn looked up in surprise.
"See? Everyone loves you. You're a very lovable girl."
"That's not what my dad said."
"Well, your dad is wrong. I wish he could see that he is." a strange look came into her eyes and she looked away.
"Are you ok, Gwen?"
Gwen smiled sadly and looked at her, and, again, Devlyn saw the ghost of her mother.
"I'm just thinking."
After that, Devlyn began to trust everyone more as well as open up to them, especially Gwen. It might just have been the striking similarities between Gwen and her mother, but Devlyn felt a special connection with her. Gwen in turn, treated her like the daughter she never had. In time, Devlyn learned to trust Ben like she did Gwen and was rewarded with the father she had always wanted but never had. Unlike with Kevin, there was no need to perform for Ben; he just loved an accepted her for who she was. She never saw Ken as a brother per se, but more of a best friend. They told each other everything, never feeling the need to keep anything from each other. They were indivisible at school, at home and everywhere else. People eventually got that they were a package deal. If someone wanted to be friends with one, they had to get the other's approval. And, by high school, if someone wanted to date one of them, they had to undergo an inspection from the other.
It was around this time that Devlyn began to realize her feelings for Ken. At first, she thought that she was just being possessive, selfish and jealous for not wanting him to be with a girl. And, in some sense, she was. Just not for the reasons she thought she was. As time passed, after Ken broke up with his girlfriend, the realization that she loved him dawned on her, and it was a revelation that changed her life.
She was shocked for a whole week, but when it began to wear off, she experienced border-lined panic.
He was Ken, her foster brother! She wasn't supposed to be feeling this way for him! Not to mention she was the daughter of one of his father's worst villains!
She remembered staring into her bedroom mirror on one of the days she had been wrestling with this and told herself to calm down. Maybe she would get over him. It could be just a little crush. After all, why wouldn't she be having feelings for him? All the previous "men in her life" so to speak had been such a turn off that she couldn't see what women saw in them at all. That is until she met Ken and Ben. They were unlike any of the other males she had ever met. Sure, Ken had been a little arrogant and obnoxious when they first met, but, after her father, Ken's lack of maturity had been a walk in the park. Besides, Ken had other attributes that outweighed his faults, such as kindness and empathy that was rare in boys. These attributes only grew with time as his arrogance seemed to fade into the background. By high school, he seemed to have leveled out to an unusually mature 14 year old boy. This high level of maturity, had no doubt been inherited from Gwen. Some girls noticed this, but a lot more were drawn to the school "bad boys", something that Devlyn wanted no part of. She knew it had an allure and an element of danger that intrigued the average person, but for her, it never failed to be a big red flag for her. She had watched her mother pay penance for loving such a man as that the first eight years of her life, and it wasn't worth it.
So it was no wonder that she found herself drawn to someone like Ken, but it would never work. Putting her history and living situation aside, personality and appearance wise, she knew she couldn't attract him.
She was never the type of girl who could handle walking in a mall shopping for new clothes when a tee shirt and a pair of ripped blue jeans at home would suit her just fine for the coming year, and let's not get started on the "m" word: makeup.
A lot of her friends obsessed over eyeliner, mascara, foundation, lipstick, the whole nine yards. Devlyn didn't feel the need to purchase or use it. Part of it was lack of interest and she just felt it was a waste of time before school to apply all these things, and the other part felt that all the makeup in the world couldn't make her a beauty queen. Even if it did, it wouldn't really look like her, and was just an illusion to fool poor boys.
Devlyn was a skinny rail, which most girls would kill for, except for the fact that she had little-to-no chest going for her. Her one beauty were her bright blue eyes, and they looked odd with her raven black hair which made her look even more odd with her porcelain skin.
It scared and disturbed Devlyn that every time she looked in the mirror that she saw her father staring back at her. Not to the point where she looked masculine, but enough where some of her father's old partners would stop her in the street and ask her if she was related to him.
Bottom line: Ken deserved a blonde model who was feminine in her personality and didn't have a father who had been on the Intergalactic 10 Most Wanted List at one point.
She would always have Ken, though not in the way she now wanted. He deserved much better.
And she could accept that.
