OMG!! I was totally gonna have this chapter up on Friday, but when I tried to upload it so I could finish typing the last page, it said the file was damaged and I tried to repair it and that didn't work. So I had to totally retype the whole thing! Ugh, I swear computers are out to get me!! Well anyways, thanks to my reviewers!! I greatly appreciate you!! And I want to say a few words about the next chapter. First of all, I want to let you know that this IS a Gwen/Kevin pairing. It's just gonna get complicated. Don't hate me when you read this next chapter. And there will be romantic, fluffy parts but those will come later, when the time comes. So please read on!!
Gwen yawned as she walked out of the school gym after her early morning Karate practice. She was surprised to see Kevin leaning on his car in the parking lot waiting for her. She approached him leisurely and smiled at him brightly. Kevin had to stifle a blush at the sight of her. She noticed there was a happy disposition in the air around him. Although it was unbecoming of Kevin, Gwen found it refreshing from his usual antagonist attitude.
"Hey, what brings you here?" she asked when she was in front of him.
"You." He said with a smile, "I heard you had practice this morning so I thought maybe you'd want a ride."
Gwen's bright eyes looked up at him in gratitude. Kevin stepped aside to open the door for her. Then he walked to the driver's seat and started the ignition.
"So, to your house?" he asked
"Yeah."
"Okay."
And with that, he peeled out of the parking lot.
"It's really nice of you to come pick me up Kevin."
He glanced at her before answering,
"Don't mention it."
They spent the rest of the car ride in a comfortable silence, with nothing but the radio filling it. When they reached Gwen's house Kevin switched the music off and turned to her.
"So, umm Gwen…I was thinking…"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe we could go see a movie or something."
"The three of us?" Gwen asked, referring to them and Ben.
"No, I mean the two of us."
Gwen's eyes widened in shock.
"Are you asking me out on a date?"
Kevin smiled awkwardly before answering,
"Yeah, I guess I am."
For a split second Kevin saw happiness dance through her emerald eyes, but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone and replaced by despondency. Then regret.
"Look Kevin, I like you, you know I do. But every time I tried to tell you that, you shut me out."
"Yeah, I know Gwen and I'm sorry. But if you'll give me the chance to make it up to you, I swear it'll be--"
"Kevin…" she said cutting him off, "It's not that I don't want to give you that chance, it's just that…well you never made a move…"
"Yeah?"
She paused and took a deep breath with deliberate tentativeness before continuing,
"It's just that it's too late."
He was silent for a few seconds.
"What do you mean it's too late?"
"I mean, I'm already seeing someone."
"WHAT?! Since when?!"
Kevin couldn't believe this was happening to him. His breath caught in his throat and his stomach felt like it was doing flips behind his muscled belly. Was the car interior spinning suddenly??
"Since a few weeks ago. Look, we met at the store and we just hit it off. It all just happened so…unexpectedly." She explained.
Kevin turned away from her and faced the steering wheel, looking irked.
"So what's this guy's name?" he asked trying not to sound as mad as he felt.
"His name is Daniel." She whispered
"And when exactly were you planning on telling me about this guy?" he asked, turning back to her.
"I was planning on bringing him around soon, really soon, so you and Ben could meet him. He doesn't go to our school…"
"So Ben doesn't know about this either?" he asked, not believing the secret she was keeping from the two of them.
"No, he knows. He just hasn't met him yet."
Kevin frowned, realizing the secrecy was only meant for him. He sat there blinking, not knowing what to do. He hadn't planned on things going like this. An extremely awkward silence enveloped them both and it was driving Gwen crazy. She tried to break it.
"He's coming tomorrow actually. He wants to meet you guys. I've told him so much about you and Ben he said he feels like he already knows you." She gave a little laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Kevin gave her a sharp look.
"Oh, so you told this Daniel guy about me but you didn't bother to mention a thing about him?!" he halfway yelled.
"Well Kevin…I just didn't know how to tell you."
"So you were just gonna have him show up here?! Was it supposed to be some kind of surprise?!"
"I-I don't know Kevin. I knew you were going to react like this so I…"
"So you what? Avoided telling me, hoping I would be okay with it once I met him?"
He didn't wait for her to answer before he continued,
"Don't you realize that the last thing I ever wanted was to see you go be with someone else?" He asked, almost whispering the last part.
She looked at him with unshed tears in her crystal orbs. Her eyes ran over all his attributes she knew so well. His long ebony hair and piercing eyes that were looking at her with more hurt in them than she had ever seen, his muscular physique, and the softness his skin seemed to retain. Gwen slowly reached forward and put her hand on his arm. His body visibly relaxed at her touch, but his face remained rigid.
"I don't know how to answer that Kevin" She whispered back
"You're so
confusing sometimes."
"What do you mean by that?" he
asked
"I mean, just when I finally convince myself that I got the wrong impression from you and made myself move on, you pull a complete 180 on me."
She gave him a sad
smile.
"I'm sorry." She murmured and retracted her hand.
She reached for the door handle with her other hand and opened the car door.
"Gwen wait…"
She stopped and turned back to him, with one foot out the door. Kevin couldn't get the words streaming through his mind to come out of his mouth. The whole situation was hopeless. He finally sighed and said,
"Never mind. Just go."
She hesitated for a second before turning and getting out of the car, struggling to keep her composure. She gently shut the door and watched as he drove away.
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Gwen awoke the next morning to the light drizzle of rain. She sighed as she looked out the window. It was as if the heavens themselves were reflecting out her mood. She forced herself to sit up in the bed and picked up the cordless phone on her bedside table. Slowly, she dialed and put the receiver to her ear, waiting for it to ring.
"Hello?"
"Ben?"
"Oh, hey Gwen!"
"So what did he say?"
"He said okay."
"Really?" Gwen replied more than a little perplexed
"Yeah, he did."
Gwen paused
"Well then I guess I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yeah I can't wait. See you!"
"Bye."
Gwen hung up the phone and put it back on the charger. She couldn't believe Kevin had agreed to come. He had to have something up his sleeve. Or maybe he was trying to pretend like yesterday never happened. Ben didn't know about it…
She was brought out of her thoughts by the swift knock on her door.
"Gwen, honey, are you awake?" said Gwen's mom
"Yeah, I'm up."
"Okay, well your father and I are heading out. Do you need anything?"
"No mom, I'm fine. Oh yeah, I'm going out later. I'll call if I'm getting home late."
"Okay dear. See you later."
"Bye mom."
Gwen listened to her mother's retreating footsteps before standing up and heading over to change out of her pajamas. Today was going to be an interesting day.
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Kevin paced back and forth in his garage. He kept glancing at the digital clock he put on the wall. He still didn't have to pick up the Tennysons for another twenty minutes. He walked up to his car and tapped on the hood in a fervent attempt to rid the anxiousness within him. Kevin couldn't believe he was doing this. But what other choice did he have? He was already in too deep; he cared about her so much. Kevin had to check this guy out, the one who took Gwen away from him. It was also a matter of Ben never finding out Gwen had rejected him. If he acted too strange, then Ben would know something happened between himself and Gwen. Then Ben's slew of questions would follow. His pride was already at an all time low; he didn't want to deal with that. He had never even considered this as a possibility. He had been totally confident that she would practically fling herself in his arms once he came to his senses.
Kevin sighed. One thing was for sure, he already hated this guy. He tapped his foot apprehensively for several more minutes until he couldn't stand it anymore. He hopped in his car and pulled out of the driveway. Kevin would just drive slowly to Ben's house.
Ben peeked out the window just as Kevin rolled up. He was early, but no matter. He grabbed his green jacket and put it on. The raining had stopped, but there was still a significant temperature change, bordering on chilly. When he reached the car he was greeted with a melancholy Kevin.
"Hey Kev, how's it going?"
Kevin merely grunted in response. Ben just shrugged and hopped in the passenger's seat. They pulled out and headed for Gwen's house.
Gwen was up in her room when she heard a car honk. "Kevin's here…" she thought and headed for the front door. She was relieved when she saw Ben already in the car. Now she didn't have to worry about being alone with him. Not that she didn't secretly wish she could be alone with him, but it was too late for that now. She climbed in the backseat and smiled.
"Hey guys." She said
"Hey Gwen!" Ben responded, bubbly as ever.
Kevin kind of waved his had in her direction and accelerated the car down the street.
"So where are we meetin' this guy anyways?" Kevin asked nonchalantly
"At the mini-mart gas station downtown." Gwen answered
Kevin raised his eyebrows at her through the rearview mirror.
"I know what you're thinking Kevin, but that's where we met so I figured it would be the easiest place to get together at."
"Uh huh." Was his response
He silently grumbled to himself. What a lousy place to pick up girls! And that had always been Kevin's favorite gas station. It had cheap gas, good service, and was always easy to steal from without getting caught. But he officially hated the place and found himself wishing there would be some kind of alien invasion that would leave it in ruins.
"So what time's Daniel meeting us there?" Ben asked
Ben noticed Kevin tighten his grip on the steering wheel at the mention of Daniel's name.
"Should be there at one." Gwen answered
Ben took a quick glance at the clock and noted it was 12:58.
"Oh wow, then he should be there any minute."
Gwen nodded and turned her gaze out the window. Ten minutes later they arrived. Kevin parked in the front and they all got out of the car. They all noted that there was no one who looked young enough to be Daniel, so he must be late.
"I'm gonna go get a drink." Ben stated and walked inside, leaving his two companions alone and uncomfortable.
"I can't believe you met this dream guy of yours at the freakin' mini-mart." Kevin exclaimed once Ben was out of sight.
Gwen narrowed her eyes.
"What? We met you at an arcade, it's not like that's any better." came Gwen's matter-of-factly-said comeback.
"I just wish he wasn't this late." She said more to herself than to Kevin
"Well that's what you get for picking up random guys at gas stations."
She shot him an icy look, folded her arms over her chest, and turned her back on him.
"Dang it Kevin, I know you're mad at me, but it's not my fault you didn't ask me out sooner!" she paused and faced him again to continue, "You can't say I didn't warn you because I did."
"Well yeah but--"
"And even after I did you still didn't ask me! Kevin, I waited seven months for you to change your mind."
"That didn't necessarily mean--"
"So after all that, what did you expect me to think, huh?!"
Hearing this shut Kevin up. She was right. The first time she brought this up had been the night they met Morningstar. Gwen had admitted she liked him and wanted to go out, and when he was stubborn she proceeded to tell him that the longer he waited, the farther away she would slip from his grasp, in a manner of speaking. Kevin knew that had been a while back. In fact, he kept track of the elapsed time. But knowing she did so too made it that much worse. And somehow, it had never occurred to Kevin to take her words seriously. Now, he sorely wished he had.
"Gwen?"
They were snapped out of their moment to the sound of a male's voice. They both turned, and Kevin saw Gwen's forlorn face light up.
"Daniel!" she exclaimed and rushed over to greet him.
The boy gave her a quick hug, though not quick enough in Kevin's opinion, and pulled a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.
"Sorry I'm late, but I had to find just the right ones."
Gwen let out a little giggle and received them. They were the most unusual color for a flower, blue and iridescent. They must have put food coloring in the water.
Kevin studied the scene from a few feet back. He narrowed his eyes at the boyfriend and made mental notes. He was the same height as Kevin. He had a skinnier build than Kevin that was complimented by a tanned, muscled chest and arms. He had dark, chocolate brown hair and light brown eyes. Kevin hated to be blunt, but the guy was good looking. A natural heartthrob. And another classic act. I mean, come on! There's no way he was half an hour late because of some stupid flowers.
He watched as Gwen and Daniel interacted and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He wished Ben would hurry up and come back. He tried hard not to stare at them too much, but they were positioned right in front of him. Gwen's back was to him, while Daniel faced him. And Kevin noticed Daniel seemed to be scooting closer to him. This, incidentally, meant he was really scooting closer to Gwen. Kevin felt his face grow hot as the offending boy took Gwen into his arms and leaned in. Kevin shot towards them instinctively. Sensing the movement, Daniel stopped and looked at Kevin, his lips but mere inches from Gwen's. Upon reaching them, Kevin pulled Gwen behind him and regarded Daniel with a sneer.
"Hi, I'm Kevin Levin." He said while roughly sticking his hand out for Daniel to shake it.
Daniel's expression grew confused as he took Kevin's hand to shake. He noticed Kevin squeezed his hand with unnecessary force, but he didn't show any sign of being fazed.
"I'm Daniel Reeseton."
Daniel glanced at Gwen who was standing behind Kevin. She looked livid and was glaring at the back of Kevin's head.
"Gwen's told me so much about you." He said, trying to sound civil despite the situation.
Kevin raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah? Wish I could say the same."
Daniel could tell that Kevin's comment was mostly directed at Gwen. Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but another voice interrupted her.
"Hey, is this Daniel?" Ben asked
Three pairs of eyes turned toward him. The unfamiliar pair lit up.
"Wow, you must be Ben!" the boy, who Ben assumed to be Daniel, said as he rushed forward to greet him.
"I'm Daniel Reeseton, Gwen's boyfriend." He said as he enthusiastically shook Ben's hand.
"Gwen talks about you all the time. It's like, she always has a story of some kind to tell me about you. She kept telling me how bad she wanted us to meet." He said with a kind smile
"Yeah, she's been telling me the same thing." Ben replied smiling back
They both launched into a conversation about Gwen but seemingly forgot about her in the process. Her and her dark haired companion. Neither of them looked at Ben, Daniel, or each other for that matter. They stood side by side, two feet apart, and each found something "interesting" to look at. Gwen stared at Kevin's green hotrod on her right, while Kevin found some rock beside his shoe to concentrate on. They both shifted uncomfortably and discovered just how hard it was to ignore someone so blatantly standing next to you. But they both refused to speak, neither wanting to discuss what just transpired. Despite it all, Gwen was flattered that Kevin cared that much. Then again, she was pretty mad Kevin had interrupted them.
"Hey Gwen!" Daniels voice rang out suddenly.
"Yes?"
"Let's all go eat."
Gwen nodded her head.
"Where should we go?" Ben asked
"We should get burgers." Daniel decided, and then turned to Kevin.
"You know of a good place? I'll follow you in my car."
Kevin made no real response so Daniel turned to Gwen.
"Want me to give you a ride?"
At hearing this, Gwen smiled and took a step forward. Kevin's hand rose to the side and stopped her at her chest, creating a blockade in her path. She halted and looked at him questioningly but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at Daniel.
"You know, fifteen isn't quite old enough to have a driver's license." Kevin said harshly
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I know."
"So what the hell do you think you're doing?"
At this, Gwen faced him fully for the first time since they got there.
"Lay off Kevin, he's seventeen."
When he heard this, Kevin blanched. This guy was older than him?! Kevin was only sixteen. He couldn't believe it!
While Kevin was in momentary shock Gwen pushed his hand aside, walked over to Daniel, and took his hand.
"Why don't you follow us." She said to Ben and Kevin and pulled Daniel away.
Kevin grumbled and got into his car with Ben following close after. Ben glanced at his former nemesis. Kevin looked like he wanted to punch something. Or someone…
Ben turned to him.
"You know, you don't have to go eat with us…"
Kevin lurched at him and grabbed the front of his shirt.
"You tryin' to get rid of me Tennyson?" he growled.
"No, I'm trying to do you a favor. You obviously can't handle Gwen having a boyfriend"
Kevin briefly tightened his grip but soon let go and turned away like he was ashamed.
"It doesn't matter. I'm checking this guy out. I don't like him…" he said darkly and turned to start the car.
"Yeah, of course you don't." Ben mumbled under his breath as they pulled out after Daniel's car.
OMG!! I'm glad I finished!! Well next chapter I'll reveal more about this stupid boyfriend of Gwen's. Ugh, it's really hard to write her with another person. But I think Kevin takes her for granted, like big time so I think he needs to suffer for a little bit. But not too bad. Well maybe kinda bad, but he's a tough man. LOL!! Well tell me what you think. If you totally hate me now, I'll understand. If you're gonna flame me though, I'll be sad. ( But please keep reading, the drama only gets better!! Until next time…
P.S: make sure you get in your reviews!! Please tell me if you hate/like/love this story, notify me of something you find funny, or if you happen to find a typo, point it out so I can fix it. I take great pride in my writing, and I don't want it muddled by misspellings and such.
P.P.S: Someone commented that I had an interesting take on Kevin, pertaining to him throwing parties and stuff and I just wanted to say thanks for liking the idea. But it wasn't my own. In the episode Paradox, Kevin makes a comment when they find the old experiment room in the base. The room looked like a tornado passed through it, and Kevin said the room looked like his place after that party he threw last weekend. To that effect. I don't know if anyone else noticed it, I almost missed it myself. But I just ran with it. )