Chapter 2: Christmas Eve

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters

Author's Note:

* Hello and welcome to chapter two of this one shot!

* This chapter takes place seven years after that "fight" that Ben and Gwen had when they were ten. This is where the plot for the story really begins. The plot being that after not seeing each other for so long, Ben and Gwen begin to see each other in a new light. And then that leads to the hurt/discomfort side of things, once their hormones become involved with their feelings. Now, I know that is probably confusing and doesn't make a lot of sense.

* I just hope that the story is easy to follow, as all of my other stories are. Anyway, enough rambling on. I hope you guys enjoy the second installment!

Ben

Seven Years Later

My shovel stabbed into the snow, as I continued shoveling the driveway. I pulled my shovel out and tossed the snow pile aside. My father was also helping me shovel the driveway.

"So, uh, you excited about seeing Gwen tonight?" he asked me.

"Not really." I said, in a glum tone.

"Why not?" he asked.

"It's been three years since our last fight, Dad. She probably isn't looking forward to seeing me either." I said.

"How can you know that?" my dad asked.

"Dad, Gwen and I have had several fights in the past. And I'm sure she's sick of history repeating itself." I said. "No wonder she wouldn't want to see me."

My dad stopped shoveling the snow. I turned to look at him, sensing a lecture coming on.

"What?" I asked.

"You need to stop assuming things." he said, as he gave me a stern look.

"Why? Why would she want to see me?" I asked.

"Just because you get into a fight with a family member doesn't mean that you and said family member won't ever talk to or see each other again." he said.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." I said, as I continued shoveling the driveway.

"Hey." my father said a couple seconds later, in a stern tone.

I looked back at him, seeing a stern look on his face.

"You don't get to talk to me like that." he said, before his look lightened up a little. "Come on, let's get this driveway shoveled and head inside for some hot cocoa. It's cold out here."

"Really fucking cold." I said, under my breath.

"What was that, that just came out of your mouth just now?" my dad asked in a very stern tone.

I sighed before speaking.

"It's really freaking cold." I corrected myself.

"That's what I thought you said." my father said, as he narrowed his eyes.

We continued shoveling the snow for another five or ten minutes.

Hours Later

I was in the living room, watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, when the doorbell rang.

"Can somebody get the door?" my mom called from the kitchen. "Carl! Get the door please!"

"Make Ben do it!" my dad exclaimed back to my mom, as he sat next to me.

"Ben, get the door!" my mom called.

"Make dad do it!" I called back.

"Carl, get the door!" my mom called.

"Make Ben do it!" my dad yelled, as he kicked my leg.

"Ben, get the door!" my mom exclaimed.

I let out a sigh of defeat, as I got up from the couch. I went to the door and opened it, to see my Uncle Frank, Aunt Natalie and cousin Ken standing on the stoop. Before I said hello, I noticed it was snowing again.

Great. As if we need more snow.

"Hiya, Ben!" Uncle Frank said.

"Hey, Uncle Frank." I said. "Merry Christmas."

"Right back at you, cuz." Ken said, as he stepped forward past me, letting himself in.

"So, uh, where's Gwen at?" I asked a few seconds later.

"She's getting the presents from the car." Uncle Frank said, as he walked with his wife into the house. "Be a sport and help her?"

"What other choice do I have?" I asked, knowing that he didn't hear me.

I walked down the newly shoveled driveway, to where Aunt Natalie and Uncle Frank had parked their car. I walked up to their car, to see someone bent over, getting their arms into the backseat.

"Hey, uh, you need some-" I was speaking, but cut myself off when the person stood up straight to look at me.

I was looking at a beautiful red head.

"Hey, Ben!" Gwen exclaimed.

"-Help?" the last part of my sentence came out in a squeak, rather than the bold tone I meant to use.

I couldn't stop looking at her, she was so beautiful! She had amazing, shoulder-length, fiery red hair. Even with her winter jacket on, I could tell she had a slender body. And her chest was -, wait, let's not go there. That would be a mistake.

In fact, all of those thoughts were a mistake. What in the hell was I thinking? Thinking about my beautiful, red headed cousin. It's not natural to think about your cousin like that, right?

"Could you stop staring at me, Doofus?" Gwen asked, giving me a quizzical look. "You're beginning to creep me out."

I snapped out of whatever trance I was in, and looked at her normally.

"Sorry. It's just that you look a lot different than you did when I last saw you." I said.

Gwen smiled.

"Did you actually think that I wasn't going to forgive you?" she asked.

I didn't say anything, I stood stood there and sort of shrugged, with my hands in my pockets.

"You are such a Doofus!" Gwen exclaimed giddily, before throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a hug.

"Oh God, Gwen. I missed you so much!" I said, before returning her hug. "I thought you'd never want to see me again!"

"You silly Doofus! You have to stop thinking every fight we have will seal our future." she said.

We continued to hug for almost a minute more, when I felt something hit me in the back. I let out a yelp of surprise, as I pulled away from the hug. I turned around to see Ken, with a couple of snowballs in his hand.

"Okay slackers, that was a warning!" he exclaimed.

Gwen and I exchanged glances, before looking back at Ken.

"You're out here to help my sister with the presents, not to catch up!" he exclaimed. "You can do that inside!"

"You forgot something, Ken!" I called to him.

"Yeah? And what's that?" he asked.

"You forgot that I run track for my school!" I exclaimed, as I sprinted over to him.

Once I reached him, and he failed trying to get back into the house, I tackled him to the snow covered ground. Ken laughed uncontrollably as I tackled him to the ground. A few seconds later, as I tried to get back up, I was forced back down, when a sudden weight came down on my back.

I felt myself grow warm, as I began to blush, feeling Gwen's weight on top of me.

"Group hug!" she exclaimed, before stretching her arms around Ken and I.

Ken, too, stretched his arms around Gwen and I.

"Um, what the hell is going on here?" I asked.

No one answered, so I just stayed there until Gwen got up, which was a few minutes later.

"Now how about those damn presents?" Ken asked, once we were all standing once again.

"Real mature, Ken. You may be in college, but that doesn't mean you have a right to cuss up a storm!" I said.

"Yeah, yeah." Ken said, as he turned, making his way back into the house.

"Hey, where are you going?" I asked. "Get back here and help us!"

"Eh, it's not my job. Do it yourself." he asked, as he disappeared back into the house.

"What a lazy ass." I said, before turning back to Gwen. "Let's get to the presents."

I walked past Gwen and towards the car again. I got into the backseat, on the other side of the car and began to collect presents.

"So, you run track for your school?" Gwen asked, as she followed suit and helped me collect presents.

"Yeah." I said.

"You make it sound like I already knew." she said. "Can you cut me some slack? It's been years since we've seen each other."

"Sorry." I said, as I got out of the backseat with the presents in my hands. "I didn't expect you to want to talk to me after so long. I didn't expect you to be here today either."

I walked back to the house, carrying several presents, as Gwen followed. We put the first load of presents that they brought in the living room, under the Christmas tree, next to my family's presents. Then, we went back outside for the last few handfuls.

"So, what are you doing before dinner? And before we open presents with the family?" Gwen asked.

"I'm probably just going to go downstairs and watch A Christmas Story when it comes on in an hour and a half." I said. "Why?"

"Just asking." Gwen said, as she got her handful of presents.

I grabbed my last handful of presents and walked back to the house, Gwen right behind me. Once I had gotten the presents under the tree, I went to the kitchen to get a drink. My mom gave me a disappointed look as I came in.

"Ben, your shirt is all wet. Go change it!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, come on, Mom! It's just water!" I said.

"Go change!" she ordered.

"Jeez, fine, I'm going." I said. "Guess I can't win an argument with my mother."

My mom smiled in satisfaction. I walked out of the kitchen and down the hall towards my room. I entered my room, removing my long sleeved cotton shirt. I threw it across the room, barely making it into the hamper. I opened my closet and looked for another long sleeved shirt.

"Hey, Ben-" I heard Gwen's voice from my doorway.

I looked over to my doorway, to see Gwen standing there, with a blush on her face.

"Jesus!" I exclaimed, as I somersaulted over to my door and kicking it closed.

"Really, Ben?" Gwen asked from the other side of the door. "You're just shirtless, it's no big deal."

"Yeah, it's no big deal to you!" I exclaimed. "But if you were on this side of the door, shirtless, it'd be a big deal for you!"

"Ben, I'm a girl. Of course it'd be a big deal for me. I have, er, assets that you don't." Gwen said. "It's nothing to you."

That is crap. I didn't want to tell her that I actually wanted her to see me shirtless, to impress her. You're probably thinking that's weird, but ever since I've seen her again, I've seen her as just beautiful. I thought I was growing a crush on her, but it was just hormones. Wasn't it?

"I'm not having this conversation through a door." I said, as I rooted around in my closet.

"Really? You are such a Doofus." Gwen said from the other side of the door.

I found a brown long sleeved shirt in my closet and reached for it. I put it on and opened the door. I walked past Gwen without saying anything and headed back towards the kitchen.

"Hey, Mom. I'm heading downstairs to watch T.V. in the game room." I said, as I walked past her.

"Okay, honey. Dinner is in twenty minutes." she said.

I felt irritated, it was like she was trying to embarrass me on purpose.

"Thanks." I said, as I headed down the stairs to the downstairs area.

I flipped on the light down the stairs and headed for the laundry room that was also down here. I wasn't completely lying, but the reason I came down here wasn't just to watch T.V. I knew that Gwen would eventually be down here and I wanted to trick her into kissing me.

I needed to know if this was actual love that I felt for her, or if it was just hormones. I was digging through the box of X-Mas decorations for mistletoe. I was going to hang it on the wooden support beam above the couch.

Once I had done that, I sat down on the couch and waited. It didn't take too long, maybe fifteen minutes or so. I heard her coming down the stairs, but I kept paying attention to the T.V.

"Hey Ben, your mom told me to tell you that dinner is ready." she said.

I ignored her.

"Ben?" Gwen asked, as she walked up to the couch.

I looked at her, to see she was standing right where I wanted her to stand. Underneath the mistletoe.

"Ben, it's time for dinner." she replied.

"Thanks." I said, as I continued looking at her. "You do realize where you're standing, don't you?"

She saw the look on my face and eventually looked up. She saw the mistletoe above her and her face went red. She looked back at me.

"Ben?" she asked as I stood up.

I moved towards her and she stepped backwards.

"Ben, don't." she said, as I gently put my hand on her cheek.

I ignored her as I gently placed my lips on hers, moving my hand so it gently grasped the back of her neck. She didn't return the kiss until a few seconds into it and she didn't return the kiss for that long either.

After maybe ten seconds, she pulled away from the kiss as fast as she could. She stared at me with a look of disgust, I'm pretty sure it was.

"What the hell?" she whispered, as she turned and darted for the stairs.

I stood there alone for a minute or two. I began to rub the back of my neck.

"That was the reaction that I pretty much expected from her." I said. "Well, this is going to be a weird evening."

I heaved a sigh, before walking to the stairs.

Author's Note:

* Okay, so that's the chapter for today! I was running short on time when I finished up this chapter and it came out a week or two later than I promised, I realize that.

* So, what did you guys think? I hope you enjoyed the second chapter. Chapter three will be out in a week, week in a half tops? That chapter will have more awkward behavior between Ben and Gwen. That is a promise.

* So, please favorite and follow the story if you are enjoying it so far! If you want to submit your opinion you can either post a review or PM me, either method is acceptable. I'm going to go though, so have a great day and bye!