Chapter 2 Gwendolyn Calls

Ben groaned as he woke up the next morning, wincing, feeling sore as he shifted on the bed, smiling at Kevin's peaceful, sleeping face.

Then he jumped in surprise when his cell-phone rang, grabbing it from the bedside table and taking it into the adjoining bathroom, shutting the door quietly.

He set it down on the sink-counter, answering it by pressing the small green button on the left side of the phone. A small, hologram representation of Gwen appeared, hovering above the touch-screen of his cell-phone.

"Ben?" the image asked, peering at him in a digitally-reconstructed version of the concern that would be on his cousin's face.

"Were you still asleep?"

"Um… `Till like right before you called, yeah."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but you haven't slept this late in a long time. When are you going to come down to Omnitrix Base?"

"Well… I was going to take the day off, actually, but if you and grandpa really need me, then I guess that I could come down."

"You're taking another day off?" She asked in surprise. "It's certainly okay, but may I ask why?"

"Are you alone?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I think that I might take the next several days off."

"Really?" Gwen asked, shock obvious in her voice and projected onto the hologram.

"Yes. See, the thing of it is, Kevin's here. And… I, that is, we…"

"Oh my," she said, the hologram showing that her face had now turned red with embarrassment.

"Very well. I'll tell grandpa, but you might want to use some of your time off to think up a believable excuse as to why you were absent at the Base."

"I will. Goodbye, Gwen."

"Goodbye. Oh, Ben?"

"Yes?"

"I'm happy for you."

"Thanks."

The hologram nodded, fading away as he pressed the red button to terminate the call.

Then he brushed his teeth quickly before going back to the bedroom, seeing that Kevin was sitting up in the bed.

He looked surprised as Ben climbed back into the bed beside him, but he held out his arms, smiling when Ben melted against him with a soft, happy sigh, closing his brilliant-green eyes when Kevin's lips brushed his forehead gently.

"I thought that you would have left for the Base by now."

"I'm not going in today. Gwen and my Grandpa can handle it, and I'd rather be with you. Are you hungry?"

"I could eat."

Author's Note – A huge THANK YOU to all the people who reviewed my story. : ) Kawaii-Kuro, Sagerune Yagami, Queen Bella-Sair and Sapphireman5. I'm glad that you like it, and I decided to at least try to continue it since you all like it so much. But, I did say that I didn't know what to do from the first part, so if I mess up, on your heads be it. Lol. Just kidding. : ) Well, I hope you enjoy my effort at least, if not the fruits of it… : )