Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or Ben 10 Alien Force
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys really made my day!
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It was Friday night and Gwen, wearing a loose t-shirt and her oldest, most faded pair of jeans, was in her room packing an overnight bag. Her parents weren't going to be home for the weekend, and the plan was that she would spend two nights at Julie's.
She opened a drawer and grabbed a pair of blue pajamas. She still felt bad about crashing Kevin's car a few days ago. She hadn't spoken to him ever since he dropped her off at her house that night and drove away. He'd already refused her offer to pay for repairs, but maybe if she repaid him some other way? Like some new car seat covers or something.
Gwen shook her head as she headed into her bathroom for her toothbrush. No… car seat covers weren't a good idea. Kevin's taste was completely different from hers. She might get him something he totally hated.
Gwen went around her room collecting everything else she needed and carefully folded everything into a pink sports bag. She was heading out the door when she caught sight of herself in her full-length mirror. Oops, almost forgot to change into something more presentable. She put her bag down on her bed and opened her closet.
As she rifled through her hangers, her thoughts strayed back to Kevin. Maybe she should call him, or pay him a visit, see if he was alright. His house was on the way to Julie's. Sort of. She put back the pair of shorts she was considering and picked up her cell phone instead.
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Julie was lounging on her sofa when the phone rang. Checking the caller id, she pressed the Talk button. "Hey Gwen! You coming over or not?" she chirped into the receiver.
"Listen Julie, I… need to go somewhere before I come over." Gwen said.
Julie frowned. "Why, where are you?"
"I'm… uh… actually on my way to Kevin's. You know I crashed his car the other night, right? Well, I feel really bad about it and I thought… maybe I could take him to dinner or something, let him know how sorry I am. But I'm still coming over for the sleepover!" Gwen reassured her. "I'm just going to be a little late, that's all."
Julie grinned. She knew that Gwen had been crushing on Kevin for the longest time, and that she hadn't really done anything about it yet. Unfortunately, Kevin wasn't doing anything either, leaving the two of them in a 'romantic stalemate', as Julie liked to call it. "So you're blowing me off for a date with Kevin?" she asked innocently.
"It's not a date! I mean… not if he doesn't want it to be…"
"He still hasn't asked you out, has he? The jerk." Julie said with conviction. If she had her way she would've bugged Kevin to ask Gwen out ages ago, an approach that Ben, quite wisely in retrospect, had fully dissuaded her from doing.
"I don't know, Julie. I mean, he knows I like him, and I'm pretty sure he likes me too. So why doesn't he do anything?" Gwen asked glumly.
"So is that why you're taking him to dinner? You want to make the first move?"
"Well, I figure I can find out once and for all why he won't ask me out, or if he likes me or not if I spend a few hours alone with him. I mean, it's kind of hard to tell with Ben always around. Plus, if I tell him that the reason I'm taking him out is to apologize for crashing his car, I won't look like such an idiot if he ends up not liking me."
Julie raised her eyebrow. "You gave this a lot of thought, didn't you?"
"Not really. It just came to me. I guess when you're in love…" At Gwen's words Julie sat up from her couch so fast she probably gave herself whiplash. There was a sudden intake of breath and a pause on the other end. "I… I mean when you really like someone…"
"Gwendolyn Tennyson, did you just say that you're in love with Kevin Levin?!" Julie screeched into the phone.
Gwen stammered. "I… no… what I meant was… oh, alright! I think… I think I'm in love with him." She finally conceded.
"I knew it!" Julie yelled triumphantly. "Are you going to tell him tonight?"
"What? No! I mean… I don't know…"
"Well you better hurry up and ask him now, before he makes other plans. You can decide on the way." Julie advised her.
"Oh, um… ok. Wish me luck."
"Luck."
Julie hung up. Now what? The pizza she ordered for her and Gwen was already on the way. She picked up the phone again.
"Hey, Ben. You busy tonight?"
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Gwen put her phone down. Did she really love Kevin? She was very attracted to him, definitely… but love? It was hard to tell. Sometimes, she just got so frustrated with Kevin, like when he wouldn't ask her out or when he teased her. Other times, she never wanted to be apart from him, like when he saved her from DNAliens, or when he looked into her eyes… and smiled, as though he could see right into her, and liked what he saw.
Gwen sighed. She'd never really been in love before, so she had no basis for comparison. What she did know was that she'd never felt this strongly about anyone before. She thought of Julie and Ben. How did Julie know that she was in love with Ben? Julie… Suddenly Gwen felt a little guilty about bailing on her. Knowing Julie though, she'd probably be calling Ben to keep her company, and Ben would definitely go see her, especially when there was food involved. Feeling better, Gwen turned back to her closet.
Gwen looked through her clothes and decided on a mint green tank top that showed off her arms, well-toned from karate and fighting off aliens. She smiled. It wouldn't hurt to show a bit of skin, and green brought out the color of her eyes. She then reached for a pair of jeans, but in the last moment, started rummaging for something behind her closet. She finally pulled out a denim miniskirt, still with the tags attached to it. Julie had coerced her into buying it in one of their shopping trips and she had never felt any inclination to wear it– until now that is.
Gwen put her clothes on and surveyed herself in the mirror, running a comb through her hair as she did so. Not bad, definitely a little sexier. Then, grabbing her phone where she left it, she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed out the door.
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She reached Kevin's house in record time, and as expected, the light was on behind the closed garage door. There was also a clanging sound coming from inside. Frowning, Gwen peered into the small garage window to investigate.
Kevin had his back turned from the garage door, and he was pounding on a sheet of metal that Gwen recognized to be his car's hood. He had absorbed the metal with his arm and was reshaping the hood back to its original state. But Gwen didn't pay attention to this, because Kevin wasn't wearing a shirt.
Gwen's pulse quickened as she took in the sight of Kevin's muscles straining from exertion. He paused and wiped his brow with his normal arm, causing his back muscles to contract and Gwen's throat to go dry. As he continued with his task, Gwen gaped at him from outside, fully aware of how warm she was feeling and, she guiltily admitted to herself, how much she wanted to jump him at the moment.
Completely forgetting why she was there for a moment, Gwen stepped back to try to get a better view of Kevin, and accidentally hit the garbage can behind her, which toppled over with a crash, spilling its contents on the sidewalk.
At the sound of the crash, Kevin's pounding stopped. A few moments later, the garage door opened, bathing Gwen with light from the garage, frantically trying to right the garbage can and pick up its contents.
"Gwen?" Kevin said incredulously, looking from her to the garbage at her feet and back to her. "What are you doing here?"
Gwen looked at him and dropped the garbage can lid she was holding. The front view of Kevin without a shirt was even better. Of course she'd seen Kevin without a shirt on, like when they went swimming, but she still never got used to the sight. Gwen felt slightly faint as she took in his chest and his abs. Her eyes traveled lower, towards the faint line of dark hair that started below his navel, and went down to his…
Gwen gulped and forced her eyes to move back to Kevin's face. "I… uh… that is… I came here… to… uh take you to dinner." She blustered, her face flushing crimson.
"Take me to dinner? Like a date?" Kevin asked, raising his eyebrow at her.
"No!" Gwen said hotly, "I mean it doesn't have to be a date, only if you want it to… uh… I felt bad about crashing your car and well, thought I'd treat you to dinner as an apology. You haven't eaten yet, right?"
Kevin shook his head. "Why were you skulking around in my garbage cans?"
"I tripped, okay? Geez!" Gwen retorted, flustered. "It wasn't like I was spying on you or anything!" She paused, suddenly realizing she had given away too much.
"Ohhh…" Kevin said teasingly, winking at her. "Okay. Sure, take me out to dinner. Only let me take a quick shower and put on a shirt first. I wouldn't want you to 'trip' over any more trash cans again." Grinning, he beckoned at her to come inside.
Gwen glared at him as he sauntered back into his garage and through the door connecting it to the rest of the house. She used her manna to pick up the garbage so she wouldn't have to touch it and stalked into the house after Kevin.
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The inside of Kevin's house was a mess. Gwen wrinkled her nose as she shifted a pile of laundry aside to make room for her to sit on the couch, then dropped her bag on the floor next to her feet. What did she expect? She'd seen the back of Kevin's car; the state of his house really didn't surprise her. She heard the shower going on in the bathroom, and an image of Kevin naked floated unbidden into her thoughts.
Snap out of it, Tennyson! Gwen thought, giving herself a mental whack. Let's just go through dinner without you turning into a raging mass of hormones.
Looking around, Gwen decided to tidy up a bit while she waited. She got up from the couch and headed to the small kitchen beside the living room. Opening a few cupboards, she finally located a trash bag. Eyes glowing pink, she directed her manna to pick up an empty box of pizza, some Chinese take-out boxes, three soda cans, and a Twinkies wrapper. All of this soared into the trash bag, which glowed pink as it tied itself close with a knot. Gwen smiled. She was really getting better at manipulating her powers.
Soon, Gwen heard the sound of the shower being turned off. A few minutes later, Kevin stepped back into the living room, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans and toweling his hair dry. He blinked.
"You cleaned up?" He glanced at Gwen inquiringly. "Uh… thanks." He blushed slightly.
"It wasn't a problem." Gwen reassured him. "Ready to go?"
Kevin nodded, then paused, looking at Gwen. "You… look different. From the way you usually dress, I mean. I didn't notice out there in the dark."
Gwen twirled her hair through her finger nervously. "Do you like it? I don't look weird, do I?"
"No… you look fine." Kevin said, still staring at her. Then, seeming to come out of it, said "So, uh… where are you taking me?"
Gwen hid a small smile. Kevin noticed her clothes! It was one of the things she loved about him, how he always paid attention, even to the little things. Love, there it was again…
"I don't know, where do you want to go? Where do you usually eat?" Gwen asked.
Kevin dropped the towel he was holding on the floor. "I'll pick it up later." He said, noticing Gwen's expression. Then, looking awkward, as though he were embarrassed, said "I usually just order take-out. Sometimes I go to this bar a buddy of mine owns. They serve the best cheeseburgers. We could go there if you like."
"A bar?" Gwen frowned. "Won't we get in trouble for being underage?"
"Nah. Jack's cool. He always let me in, even lets me drink as much as I…" Kevin stopped talking, looking sheepish. "We don't have to drink. We don't even have to go. Just making a suggestion."
"It's fine. Let's go there." Gwen said decidedly. She was actually curious to see more of Kevin's world.
"Oh, ok. We'll have to take the bus, though. My car's in no shape to drive around." Kevin glanced at her. "Is that ok?"
"Of course! No problem." Gwen said quickly. After all, it was her fault Kevin's car was wrecked. "Let's go!"
Kevin shrugged and crossed the room to his front door. Turning back to wait for Gwen, he noticed her bag. "Hey, you running away or something?"
"No, I'm sleeping over at Julie's later. Much later." Gwen added, hoping Kevin got the hint that she had no intention of cutting their evening short. "Can I just leave this here?"
"Uh… yeah, sure." Kevin shrugged again. "Come on, I'm starving. You don't want to keep Julie waiting too long, too."
Gwen picked up her bag and dropped it on the sofa seat she vacated. With her back turned to Kevin, she rolled her eyes. Boys. Sometimes they were just so dense. Did she have to spell it out for him?
"We don't have to hurry. We've got the whole night." She smiled at him brightly.
"Oh… ok." Kevin blushed.
Gwen liked it when Kevin blushed. It made him less hard around the edges. Plus, she thought with a grin, it meant she was affecting him.
Walking towards Kevin, she let herself out the door, then waited for him to lock up. Then together, they set off for the bus stop.
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A/N: Ok, that's it for now. I probably won't be updating so quickly for awhile, as I'm going to start work tomorrow. Let me know what you guys think of this chapter anyways. As always, R&R!
