Chapter Four: Reality?
"Whoa. Heavy." Was all Kevin could think to say after Gwen had finished. He had managed to stay quiet the whole time and listen, but her attention to detail made it clear that she had been replaying the scene again and again to herself. She said she hadn't been sleeping well? No wonder.
Several times he wanted to interrupt and let her know the obvious: That it hadn't happened. That it was just a dream. But he bit his tongue, letting her tell him everything.
She stared at him, and of course he knew his words hadn't been sufficient. "I mean... it's obvious that that wasn't real. I'm fine. Ben's fine. Everything's... fine." He added dumbly, trying to find the words to comfort her.
She sighed, drawing her knees up. His bed was set against the wall, and she had moved back to lean against it, her shoes kicked off on the floor. "I know. I know everything's fine. But what if... what if it was real? Like a premonition...?"
"That's impossible. There's no such thing. Besides, if you were seeing the future than how could it be so similar to what was already happening? Pretty sure we won't be fighting the same creature, in exactly the same way, in exactly the same spot again."
She nodded jerkily. "Uh, huh."
"Maybe it was just some side effect of your powers? Like, maybe you were using too much Mana and you just had a delirious dream?"
"No. It wasn't a dream." She buried her face in her knees. "It was too real. I could feel everything. I was aware of everything. I remember things in such detail-" her breathing hitched, like she was holding back a sob. She cleared her throat, looking up.
"So that's why you threw up your shields in front of us?" Kevin suddenly realized. Everything was making much more sense now. "You were just scared?"
"I was scared." She agreed. "I was scared of losing you two. I..." She looked at him, meeting his eyes with her own. They were swimming in liquid, but the tears weren't actually falling. They were like dams, ready to break at any moment, kept at bay by the sheer willpower of the girl in front of him. "I was scared of seeing you die again."
Kevin wasn't too good with emotions. He never knew how to handle sad people, and he usually just stood around feeling awkward when someone poured themselves out to him like this. But somehow... right at that moment he knew what she needed him to do. He reached forward, pulling her to him in a tight embrace.
That did it. She started to cry in earnest this time, and he almost wondered if he had made the wrong call, there. "Hey, like I said, I'm fine. You don't have to worry. We'll find out what made you have that weird... vision-dream thing, and we'll make sure it never happens again, so just..."
"I knew I would cry." She said, actually sounding angry through her tears as she hugged him back, gripping handfulls of his shirt and continuing to sob against his chest. "I knew I wasn't strong enough to hide it- that's why I didn't want Ben here. I don't want to worry Ben- I don't want him to think it's some kind of premonition. He has enough on his plate. We all do. Please don't tell him. Don't tell anyone..."
"I... er, that you're crying? I won't, but I mean we have to find out why you had that vision so I have to tell him..."
"Just tell him I saw us losing the fight, ok? No... no details."
Kevin wondered, then, why she hadn't just told him that. Why was he entitled to the details? He felt a small jolt at realizing that this must mean she trusted him a lot; that she relied on him. Sure, if he were in her shoes he would have kept his own feelings bottled up, but hadn't he heard somewhere that girls like to talk about stuff that's upsetting them? Maybe she just had to let someone know, and he had been that someone.
Besides, if she hadn't told him everything he wouldn't really understand why she was so upset.
The idea of her being so beat-up... that description was much scarier than the part about him dying. He was alive and well, and had never been anywhere near close to being defeated during that battle. However, he remembered how she hadn't been reacting to the fight, how that tail had almost collided with her in real life... She really could have ended up like that, broken and bloody. It was far too close to the truth for Kevin.
He tightened his arms around her. "Come on, now. What's our track record? How much butt have we kicked, and exactly how many times have we gotten killed?"
She laughed, a strange noise among her shaking tears. She pulled back from him, wiping at her face messily with her sleeve. His room was a train wreck, clothing and papers strewn everywhere, but he stood up and managed to find a nearly-full box of tissues hiding under his bed. She took it gratefully, blowing her nose and cleaning up her face. "So stupid..." She muttered, fighting to make her lips turn upwards into a smile. It was shaky, and kept drawing downwards as a few last tears managed to sneak past. "Dammit." She pulled out a few more tissues, wiping the rogue tears away.
"Wow. Good-girl's swearing. This really is a rare occasion."
She laughed again, and it made something brighten inside him to hear the sound.
Her face clean (though somewhat red and puffy), she ran a shakey hand back over her head, her fingers traveling through her hair and straightening it out. She took a deep breath and smiled at him. He sat back down next to her, and she reached over to grip his hand. "Ok," she said, "I need to stop worrying about it so much. This is reality- that's not." She gripped his hand a bit tighter as if to affirm it, and Kevin looked down at her graceful long fingers wrapped around his own. Her hand looked so small... She moved her thumb, brushing it against his skin lightly.
He gulped.
Was it just him, or had the atmosphere changed? No, it was just him- it had to be.
Right?
Crap.
He was feeling awkward, now, unsure of himself. What should he do? Now that she had calmed down... and that talk about reality... the soft pressure of her warm hand in his...
He wanted to kiss her. Would that be weird? Or would it be kinda cool, like he could say something like "How's this for reality?"
Gah. That was stupid. He should just keep his thoughts- and lips- to himself.
"Kevin?"
Even her voice was soft and silky, and he felt as if it were washing over him. Was he imagining it, or was she leaning towards him, now?
Her free hand touched his chest, and she moved even closer. There was a gap between their bodies, but Kevin felt warm all over as her lips finally met his. He closed his eyes, leaning into the kiss, tasting her sweet bubblegum-flavored chapstick.
Somewhere, at the back of his mind, there was a little voice protesting that this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. The guy was supposed to kiss the girl in this scenerio, not the other way around.
He promptly told that little voice to shut up and mind it's own damn business.
He brought his hand up, placing it firmly behind her neck, keeping her close to him as he deepened the kiss. Her hair was smooth and cool against his hand, and he could feel her own fingers threading through his hair. Her other hand moved to his waist, encouraging him, moving him closer to her.
He was waiting for the spell to break, for her to push back and give him some hint that it was time to stop. Her kisses were so wonderful, her breath hot and her lips soft against his own... he didn't want to stop. He couldn't stop on his own, not if she didn't tell him to.
He just kinda hoped that that subtle hint didn't come in the form of an energy ball to his gut.
With that thought he broke the kiss, breathing hard as he looked down at Gwen. His heart was thumping wildly like a drum, a crazy beat pounding inside him. Her auburn hair was fanned out around her like a halo... when did they get in this position? He didn't remember lying down, half of his body covering hers...
"Er, sorry, I..." They had barely even kissed before- he was moving too fast here, he knew it. He was nervous about making her mad... but she didn't look mad. He took one look at her half-lidden eyes, her full lips and rapid breathing, and that was it. He let out a quick curse as he dove back to her lips, continuing the kiss. As if to reassure him, Gwen wrapped her arms around his middle, her hands pressing down on his back and moving gently down his side with small caressing circles.
Experimentally, he pushed his tongue forward, past her lush lips, tasting her. The action caused her to make a little noise, and Kevin decided it was a good noise. A very good noise. It caused his heart to skip a beat and his body to grow hot, and all at once the kiss became something frantic. He explored her mouth further, his tongue suddenly dancing with her own. She slid the pink muscle along his, so soft and tantalizing, and he could feel any semblance of control left starting to slip away.
Bzzt bzzt.
What the hell was that annoying noise?
Bzzt bzzt.
It was some kind of... vibration...?
Bzzt bzzt.
"Mmm..." Gwen murmured against his lips, her hands moving out from where they had been slowly creeping under his shirt, instead placing them on his shoulders. She pushed lightly, and even though he obeyed and moved away he kept up the kiss for as long as possible before their bodies were just too far apart. He reluctantly broke the kiss.
"What's wrong?" he asked, trying not to sound as annoyed as he felt.
"Nothing! Just... um... my phone."
That's what that annoying buzzing was. It was her phone, set to vibrate, sitting on the dresser by his bed. He groaned, but quickly sat up, giving her space to scooch forward and grab at the annoying little interruption-machine. He carefully positioned himself so he could hide the evidence of his arousal as well, covertly grabbing a pillow and holding it. Or at least he hoped it was covert.
"Hello?" She said, sounding rushed. Her face was a very cute shade of pink, and her tone clearly betrayed the fact that she was every bit as annoyed as Kevin.
That made the situation marginally better, and he had to grin.
"Uh... with Ben. I'm tutoring him in Spanish... oh, you called his house already huh? No, I didn't hear my phone ring earlier. I- did I say I was helping Ben study? That's what I was doing earlier, you see... um, now? I'm, um, just getting some dinner with Kevin..." A loud, indistinguishable voice came over the phone just then, and even though Kevin couldn't hear the words he could certainly recognize the angry parental tone. Gwen's awkward stumbling was uncharacteristic, and Kevin had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. She shot him a warning glare, running a hand through her frazzled hair. "No, mom. No. Mom: stop. Please? Seriously." She placed a hand on her forehead. "Dear god, mom, this is not the time. No! I'm not talking back, just... can we talk about it when I get home? Yes, five minutes. Understood. Bye." She hung up the phone with an angry button-push, her face even redder than before.
"And what did your mommy have to say?"
"Shut up Kevin. And trust me- you don't want to know."
Kevin snickered, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed so his feet were planted firmly on the floor. "Your folks figured out you were with me and totally freaked, huh?"
Gwen covered her face with her slim hand, as if to hide. "I'm with you all the time- it's like my mom has psychic powers or something. Why does she choose now to freak out, when... er..."
"When there's actually something for her to freak out about?" Kevin said, his face set in a huge grin. It was just too entertaining to see Gwen looking so flustered. Of course, he would rather they were making out again, but seeing her all red was a close second.
"There's nothing for her to... we were just... ugh." Gwen stood, continuing to hide her face with a hand. "Ok, now I do need you to give me a ride home. If I'm not there in five minutes my mother might lock me in my room until I'm twenty."
"Five minutes?" Kevin said, his tone still light and joking, "What mischief, exactly, does she think we can get into if it takes you ten minutes to get home?"
"I am so not going to ask." Gwen muttered. She shot him a look, her hand reaching out to point directly at his face. "And you need to cut the jokes. This isn't funny! I'm going to be in so much trouble... I'm way past my not-saving-the-world-night curfew."
"Relax! Newsflash: she's not actually psychic. And it's not like we were doing anything wrong..."
Gwen raised her eyebrows at that, but didn't comment further.
"Just tell her we were out patrolling. We do that, you know. Patrol."
Gwen sighed. "I can be out all night fighting aliens, but if my mom thinks I'm with a boy I'm not related to I'm suddenly under a strict curfew." She laughed lightly, giving Kevin a smile. "Though I can honestly say I'm quickly forgetting about my earlier troubles."
Earlier troubles...? Oh, right. The whole vision-thing. Kevin had completely forgotten, and honestly didn't need the reminder. The last ten minutes or so had wiped his mind clean of all that, too…
"Alright, let's get you home. But don't expect me to walk you to the door..."
"So, despite your jokes, you're admitting my mother can be scary."
"Hell yeah- I'm not getting mixed up in that."
Gwen rolled her eyes as they headed out to the car. "My hero."
A/N: I began this fic many years ago. One line in this chapter, after rereading it, made me laugh out loud. I had no way of knowing about future Charmcaster episodes… well, I don't want to give any spoilers to those who haven't watched all of the series. I just found it funny that I had Kevin mention a "not-dying" track record. XD