From Kevin, With Love

Author: Sekiseishi

c. Man of Action

A/N: This takes place after the events in "It Begins." If you haven't read that story first please do so as it will make things less confusing for you. Beta'd by Hi-chan! I love you, Hi-chaaaaaan!!!

Btw: Most of this story was done in cellular and microbiology, so if it has mistakes or some random things that don't look like they belong, please tell me and I'll correct them asap.

Prologue

Red, vibrant and beautiful, painted slowly across the sky, leading into a white and yellow half-sphere on the horizon. Colors of all kinds crept along grey sentinel buildings, quiet and dark in the face of the coming night. The asphalt of the empty parking lot was dotted with spots of age and clumps of grass, the abandoned warehouse in the middle of it seeming like the set-up for some cheesy horror flick and the surrounding office buildings only adding to the scene. It was a typical place for them to stop, a typical place for them to investigate the disappearance of several people and fight off a few DNAliens. It wasn't, however, a typical case. They hadn't stopped because of strange activity, or because there was a blip on Kevin's Plumber's badge. There was, quite literally, nothing around. Empty road and forest stretched for what could have been miles, no civilization or sign of any recent human activity showed anywhere around them. Only a few scattered pieces of sun-bleached garbage fluttered around in the tiny breeze, foil still crinkling after months of disuse. The reason they had stopped in such a desolate place was because Kevin wanted to talk. Kevin didn't just want to talk, he wanted to talk to Ben. Gwen was off on vacation with her parents, leaving the two young men to themselves, and of all things they could have been doing talking in front of an abandoned warehouse in the middle of a forest on a road that, quite literally, ended up nowhere about ten miles to the north wasn't one he would have ever imagined. Especially since Kevin went and confessed something that normal Kevin would never confess.

He eyed the other warily, sure it was either a really bad clone, a DNAlien in disguise, or a very, very, very sick Kevin. The taller of the pair looked back, unfazed and completely stern. It almost looked like he was trying to burn a hole in Ben's forehead.

"Psh," a noise that sounded like a balloon letting out air made its way through his lips, followed closely with what could have been a laugh. The sound itself was funny, choked, strained, and annoying.

"C-C'mon, Kevin. You can't be serious," Ben offered a lopsided grin at his colleague, hoping the other would smile back and reassure his suspicions that this whole thing was in horribly morbid jest. "You're the stereotypical tall-dark-and-handsome. The 'bad boy' that every girl desires in every fantasy they've ever had."

"Mr. Stereotypical" let the younger man talk, knowing that he, himself, would get his chance to speak when he affirmed either fear or excitement from the other.

"You work out. You fix cars. You ogle chicks every time you see one that's remotely cute. You pant after Gwen and follow her around like a puppy," arms went up and swung around to emphasize his points and Kevin shifted on his feet, putting his weight on one and folding his arms across his chest. This was probably going to take a while. "Your friends are all evil and horrible, except for me and Gwen. You turn female heads everywhere you go and act on your gut instinct rather than your head more often than not. You have a stack of porn magazines stashed under the back seat that you obviously don't want Gwen to know about. You have a spare tire iron just for bashing in skulls and a pair of bloody pants in your trunk!"

He raised an eyebrow at that. Why the brat was digging around in the trunk of his beloved car was beyond him, but he didn't interrupt, instead lowering the raised brow when Ben paused-

".... You love your car more than anything. You sure as hell haven't shown any interest in other guys unless they have some illegal contraband that you really want," -and sighed a little when the other switched right back into his little tirade. "You drink your coffee black. You beat people up on a regular basis. You don't like sweets, you don't like cute things, you abhor the colors pink and yellow with a burning passion. Anything with breasts is interesting to you. You like football-"

"Baseball," he couldn't help but interject. Football was .... idiotic. Mindless violence.

"Really? I thought you enjoyed the mindless violence."

He shrugged, arms still folded and waited for the brunet to continue.

"But ... besides all that, you love Gwen! You can't tell me that you've been leading her on all this time Mr. "I'll follow you anywhere"," small hands fisted and found purchase on the gentle curve of his hips and Kevin's eyes watched the action, staring openly. The boy really had something going. A small figure, hips that slightly resembled those of a female. Supple skin, big eyes, soft hair. Hell. He even smelled pretty. Kevin was sure that if he put the other in a skirt and sleeveless turtleneck he could even pass for a breast-less chick. A little make-up: dark eyes trailed upwards to look at the pink lips, pouty and kissable, and imagined them in about thirty different shades of lipstick. Meh. They didn't need to be covered by some animal-tested fish scales. Besides, the last thing he wanted was smeared paint on his face and neck and chest and stomach and ... forget the lipstick. Fuck it. Forget the girls clothes, too. He'd make a hot chick, but Kevin wasn't into that. Maybe one day he'd try it, but if he'd wanted to chase a skirt he'd have gone after Gwen's.

His eyes continued up, meeting vibrant green ones and he smiled. Those eyes. So much emotion showed so easily in them. They were righteous, proud, gentle, and ... pissed off.

Broad shoulders shifted as he lowered his arms, stance straightening as he regarded the younger man carefully: "I "love Gwen" is what I think you just said," his voice was low, calm, and he watched in amusement as Ben leaned forward ever-so-slightly to hear what he was saying. "Now, tell me, Oh-mighty-leader, why are you telling me who I love? I don't recall ever swapping that type of information with you."

Ben sighed, one arm wrapping around his small chest while the other rested on top of it, and put a hand to his head. They stood there a moment in silence, Kevin watching a plethora of feelings move across the pretty face as Ben tried to figure out what to say.

A car passed them, a white sedan Kevin noted absently, not taking his eyes off of the other. Probably wondering what a couple of guys are doing in front of an abandoned warehouse at dusk.

He idly wondered if the driver would suspect the worst and call the cops. Not a pleasant scenario, but it would change the monotony of the situation.

"Look, Kevin," the hand moved from the other's forehead to rest against his other arm and Kevin noticed the smaller body shift from it's position. A somewhat defensive stance. The dark-haired young man didn't know whether to be offended or if he should appreciate the view. He couldn't help but imagine the other naked and in that position and turned his head a little to the side, as if trying to get a better view. "I'm not telling you who to or not to love. That's your choice. The only thing I'm worried about is Gwen finding out and being hurt. You've led her on for so long, it's no wonder she didn't already leave you for another guy."

"She already knows," he sounded bored, he knew. He also knew that the tone would have pissed off the other if his statement hadn't been so ... unexpected.

"Wha- What? You told her already," it seemed Ben was pissed anyway. "Oh, God! Poor Gwen! What were you thinking?! She's probably broken to pieces by now. How could you do such a thing? She really liked you and you go and tell her "No thanks, I'm in love with your cousin"?!"

He shrugged again, losing interest in the banter: "I didn't tell her anything. She knew. Women's intuition and all that."

"How the hell did she know," Ben's voice raised in volume, but not enough for Kevin to be alarmed. "You weren't exactly obvious about it! I had no idea! I swear Kevin, it's not like you to act this way. The beam must have affected your inhibitions. You're desperate for attention, so you turned to me because Gwen is on vacation. You want my cousin, not me. You hate me. You've been vying for her attention ever since you joined up with us and I've done nothing but watch you from the sidelines as you tried to get her to date you and then pull away whenever she showed interest. You were nervous, stupid, and utterly infatuated."

Kevin closed the distance between them in half a second, a single finger pressing against Ben's mouth, effectively shutting it. He locked his eyes with the other's, almost glaring, and silently dared the younger to open his mouth.

"Now," Kevin said quietly, "I'm going to remove my finger and you aren't going to say anything. You are going to let me say my peace, give you my reasons, and prove to you that none of this has anything to do with that weapon hitting me. Understood?"

Ben nodded slowly and Kevin removed the appendage from the young man's lips, feeling the slight warmth that was left behind as he took a single step back, giving Ben some room to shift around uneasily.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself in preparation for what he was about to admit.

"Eight years ago, I met a snot-nosed little brat who was on vacation with his grandpa and his cousin. He was strong, full of energy, which was what drew me to him in the first place, but then ... something happened. He was nice to me. It wasn't something I was used to. People hated me. Feared me. Threatened me with weapons of all kinds and told me to leave and never come back. They used me, too. Even then I had things no one else had. Tier four, Tier three, Level five. All illegal technology on Earth. Anything and everything was money to me. The garbage you tossed so carelessly away could be used to fix a broken piece of equipment or to forge something useful. Ben Tennyson, however, saw the world through his naive eyes and believed there was some good in everybody, even the aliens he beat up. He hung out with me, something I'd never really done before ... not with friends at any rate. He dragged me around, showing me all kinds of ridiculous things he found fascinating, laughed with me, played games with me, genuinely liked me," he paused, running a hand through his hair, ignoring the slight shake that moved through his body. "It terrified me, confused me, and for a little while I felt things I'd never felt before. I wanted to stay with him, to be friends and act like a normal kid. Run around the playground, shoving handfuls of sand down Gwen's shirt while he laughed. I didn't realize what I was feeling and freaked out, reasserting myself as evil and malicious as quickly as I was able."

He looked away from the xenomorph, gaze slipping to the left to observe a stray piece of trash.

"When I was in the Null Void ... I had a lot of time to think. I liked you, that much was certain. You had shown me the best time of my entire life, had treated me like a normal kid. For once in my life I felt wanted, and I craved that. It was years before I could put a word to what I was feeling, and it scared me worse than the confusion you planted in my mind. It wasn't an emotion that I was familiar with. It hurt so much, and felt so good," he met the other's gaze yet again, waiting until the smaller body stilled before continuing. "It was love. It still is, only, in our time together, it's been given the chance to grow and expand. Now that we're older it's manifesting itself as desire and lust and the fantasies ... ," Ben was becoming somewhat uncomfortable, suddenly finding his shoes extremely interesting, and Kevin stopped the sentence, letting it hang over the other's head like a weight. "In layman's terms: I love you, and believe what you want, but this started long before that stupid beam hit me."

He was silent, scuffing the ground with his toe as his brain digested the information he just received. To be perfectly honest, he had no problem with Kevin, or gays. He didn't mind that a gay guy liked him and wanted to be 'more than friends'. What bothered him was that it was Kevin that liked him. Kevin. Of all people. What made it even worse was that Gwen knew, even through all the merciless flirting and teasing she did with the dark-haired young man, and hadn't even given him a hint. It wasn't like he thought Kevin was being obvious about his sexuality. Just the opposite, in fact. He had been so sure that Kevin liked girls that he'd ...

"Ben," Kevin's deep, quiet voice brought him out of his reverie and he looked up, a semi-intelligent "Huh" escaping his mouth. "You didn't answer me."

Had he asked something? Ben couldn't be too sure. He'd been thinking a little too loudly after Kevin's ... story ... came to a close. He thought hard for a moment, trying to figure out whether Kevin had really asked a question, or if he'd simply implied one. Knowing the ex-con as well as he did, which wasn't as well as he would have liked, led him to believe the latter had happened.

"Generally, you get an answer only when you ask a question," he meandered over to Kevin's car and leaned against it, watching the taller with a somewhat smug look on his face. "So, ask away."

Kevin looked like he swallowed something not-too-tasty and turned to face his companion: "You weren't listening to me, were you."

"Of course I was," Ben pushed away from the vehicle, huffing indignantly. "You just never asked an outright question."

"I asked with my eyes. If you paid attention, you would have seen it."

Ben was fairly certain that the beam had affected Kevin in some way. Even for the brutish older teen that was kind of a dumb statement.

"I don't speak eye," he dead panned, nonplused.

The familiar figure of his long-time friend neared, menacing vibes practically pulsing from the hulking figure. For the first time in a long time, Ben was afraid of Kevin, and he felt himself shrink as the taller youth towered over him. He stood there, hunched and peeking up through his eyelashes, throat too dry to even swallow, sure he was going to be pummeled to a twitching, bloody pulp. When Kevin moved, he flinched, instinct telling him to close his eyes against the barrage that was sure to come. When nothing happened, he hesitantly cracked on eye open, the other following suit as he realized that the older teen was no longer looming above him. He looked down, surprised to find the brunet on one knee and limply allowed his left hand to be pulled forward.

"I love you, Ben Tennyson," the older began, pausing. Ben saw the bobbing motion of Kevin's Adam's Apple and figured he must've been nervous about what he was about to ask. "And ... I want to know if you would ...," another pause, no doubt he was searching for words, the right thing to say, "if you would consider going out with me."

He pursed his lips, voice failing him for a moment: "Consider. ... Yes. I'll consider it," he said, clearer than he thought he was able, and felt something inside him flip around excitedly. He bit his tongue, trying to keep the huge goofy grin from spreading across his face as Kevin looked up at him with widened eyes.

"Damn," the other grumbled, standing. "Should've reworded that better."

A chuckle presented itself and he could no longer keep the smile from his features. He felt giddy, schoolgirlish and tingly. He shoved his hands deep in his pant's pockets to keep from twiddling them in front of him and planted his feet firmly on the ground, feeling like he would bounce or wiggle too much in he didn't.

An evil grin split Kevin's face eerily wide. His teeth gleamed in the fading light: "It looks to me like you've given me more than an "I'll think about it", babe."

The smaller chewed at his bottom lip a little and rocked his body up on the balls of his feet before letting it settle back on his heels: "Shouldn't we be going," he inquired innocently. He didn't want to give a straight answer just yet, still somewhat unsure of his feelings. Besides, he still had to talk to Gwen about the whole situation to figure out how she felt about it.

"Yeah, yeah," Kevin dug in his pocket and fished out his keys, jangling them in two fingers for a moment before enclosing them in his fist. "We can go back to my place and hang out. Unless you have other plans."

Ben shook his head, a little part of him hoping that once they got there they could have a make-out sessi- he derailed that train, killing everybody on board. Of course they couldn't just go and make-out! Ben hadn't given a definitive answer, and he would be damned if he jumped straight into something he 1: had no idea about, and 2: wasn't sure he was ready for. Wanting it obviously wasn't the problem, but he had no idea what he was getting himself into. What would his parents think? What about Gwen? Was Kevin serious? Ben had seen him 'go out' with plenty of girls and leave them broken-hearted and crying their eyes out within a matter of weeks. It would be best to continuously test the waters, see how much he could get away with and how long Kevin would keep after him. It was the worst thing he could imagine, but better than being torn apart because he moved too fast, and he realized he would have to do the one thing to Kevin that he hated most.

Ben Tennyson would have to lead Kevin on.