a/n: this is oooooold. like a year or so old, if not more, but i've been frustratingly stuck in a creative rut. my plan is to go back through all old, unfinished writing and edit and salvage before writing something new (i.e.: updates to cyclical). so enjoy!

She sighed deeply into the warm steam of her mug, enjoying the way the sweet, heady scent of the coffee blew back into her nostrils. The warmth radiated into her cold palms, chilled from a long morning jog, and filled the tips of her fingers with blood until they were a purple-crimson color. It hurt at first, an unpleasant burn, but she held on regardless until finally her digits were a normal temperature once more. Her body had already thawed out, snuggled deep into a comfy upholstered lounge chair, her legs plopped up on a matching, pillowed ottoman. The cushions were soft and she had sunk down into them easily enough after the barista at the cafe counter had completed her modest order of a tall black coffee and a blueberry crumble muffin.

Her muscles ached and she groaned inwardly as she cracked her knee shifting leg positions. It had been awhile since she had gone on a run. There just hadn't been time, what with exams and extraterrestrial beings and boyfriends. It evened out in the sense that running after her cousin and Kevin was a workout in and of itself. She'd actually gained more muscle through her adventures than she had when she actually had a gym membership. It was a bonus that the fights were free.

But today was too good of an opportunity to pass up. After a leisurely Friday night spent watching movies with Kevin (and Ben, unfortunately), it was unanimously agreed upon that they would all take the next morning off and catch up in the afternoon. Kevin had a couple of cars that needed seeing to that he had been ignoring thanks to their Plumber duties. Ben just wanted to watch cartoons for once. And Gwen, after a check on the weather, had decided to jog.

She smiled remembering the way the boys had reacted to her statement. Flabbergasted was putting it lightly. They both thought she was daft for not staying in and taking a break and they didn't believe her when she tried to convince them that it was actually relaxing for her. Especially since her runs led her to one of the best places for her to unwind: the small cafe near the mall that she was currently seated inside.

It was a complete fluke that Gwen had found it in the first place. When she had first walked in years ago, her mother in tow, the two of them hungry and tired from a hard day of last minute Christmas shipping, they both had sat and stared at the display around the fireplace in awe. The brick and the wall was littered with old polaroid photographs taken by past and present patrons. It had begun as a place for customers to proclaim their loyalty, but most of the photographs were of couples, accompanied with little messages and declarations of love. Some of them even had multiples of the same couple, celebrating marriages, anniversaries, births, and other milestones. Her mother, to her knowledge, had never come back. But Gwen had made plenty of trips and not always alone.

"Would you like some more coffee?" The barista, a tired looking older woman with a short grey bob and shining blue eyes, peered around the high back of the lounge chair, a coffee pot held in one hand. Gwen started a bit and looked down into her half-empty mug.

"Sure. Thanks."

"Not a problem." The barista filled up her mug, then straightened, her eyes catching the photographs. Gwen sat and stared with her. Then, the barista turned and looked at her, looked back at the wall, and smiled. "You're on this wall a couple of times, aren't you?" Gwen winced a bit, taking a larger than necessary sip of her coffee to hide it. She had been hoping the woman wouldn't notice. Of course, all of the photographs featuring herself had to be at eye level or lower.

"Yeah. When I was younger." She admitted quietly.

"Younger? You don't look much older than you do in this one." The older woman walked up and placed her finger on a picture of Gwen and a handsome sandy-haired boy in a letterman's jacket. They were sitting at one of the tables, leaning over towards each other, wide grins plastered across both of their faces. There wasn't much difference between that Gwen and this one, except that the Gwen in the picture hadn't started to fight aliens yet. Or save the world. Or date the most frustratingly amazing boy in the world. She smiled nostalgically at the other occupant in the picture, but knew what the Gwen with him didn't.

"No, but I feel older." She said simply. The barista sat down on a matching lounge chair.

"I take it he didn't last."

"No. None of them did."

"All five, huh?" The woman set the coffee pot down on the ottoman, leaning forward onto her thin knees. Gwen watched as she twined her long, ropy fingers around each other, seeing how the veins moved and spasmed beneath her aging skin. She blushed at the sarcastic tone in the woman's voice but leveled a confident gaze in her direction.

"Sometimes you have to read a lot of books before you find the right one."

"That's an academic way of looking at things." The woman said good-naturedly. Gwen hadn't realized her body had stiffened until it relaxed. She shook her head a bit and took a smaller sip of her coffee. The warm liquid settled her stomach a bit as her eyes traveled over each and every polaroid featuring herself. All of the boys pictured with her, ranging from the blonde star athlete to a bespectacled thin boy in a sweater vest, seemed like they made her happy. At the time, she supposed they did. Maybe it was due to their youth that the relationships never made it past the six month mark. Maybe it was due to the fact that somewhere, in the back of her head, she knew that they weren't the perfect fit.

As if on cue, the chime arranged above the door rung and the barista grabbed the coffee pot and made her way back to the counter, mumbling a good morning to her second patron of the day. Gwen went back to her coffee, halfheartedly blowing away the steam, her mind obviously elsewhere. She ignored the slight movement to her right, assuming the person had decided to claim one of the remaining lounge chairs for themselves. Her gaze remained fixed on the wall until the person cleared their throat. She turned to see what they wanted, only to give out a bit of a gasp when she realized that the other person to join her in the cafe was Kevin.

"How did you know where I was?" She blurted out. Kevin, dressed in his normal attire and a beat up leather jacket, leaned back into the chair and propped up his boots on the ottoman. Wordlessly, he pulled his Plumber's badge from the inside pocket of his jacket and showed her the radar which mapped her location. She instinctively felt for the badge she had brought along in her coat pocket. "I thought you had cars to fix."

"Got them done early. Figured I'd see how your run went." He raised an eyebrow as he took in her coffee mug and the crumbled remains of the muffin on the stand beside her. She smiled sheepishly and took a swig. In her distracted state, she dribbled a little, a drop or two sliding down her chin. Kevin reached forward to grab a napkin and handed it to her with an exaggerated flourish.

"It went great. Isn't that obvious?" He laughed slightly at her joke, then turned his eyes to the wall. She felt her stomach drop a little as he scanned over the polaroids.

"So I guess you don't come to this place for the coffee." He teased. "Who knew you were so mushy?" Gwen pouted slightly, opening her mouth to respond in kind, when suddenly his eyes narrowed. Slowly, he stood and walked over to the wall, coming face to face with a picture of Gwen and another boy. She swallowed her coffee and watched as he went to each photograph until finally he had hit the fifth and final, then turned to her with an inquiring gaze.

They had never talked about what happened to them over the years since they had seen each other as kids. Gwen knew it was a sore subject for Kevin. He still hadn't explained to her his escape from the Null Void and she could only assume it wasn't a pretty affair. Nor was what followed, the actions he had to take which led him to a life as an illegal tech broker. Maybe because she never asked or pushed him to talk about what he didn't want, he, in turn, never asked about her adventures in normalcy. So while it was perfectly acceptable to have a discussion about past loves with a new flame, they had never gotten around to it, and thusly, Gwen wasn't sure how he would handle the fact that he hadn't been the only boy to catch her attention.

"I used to come here a lot." She said weakly. Kevin chuckled a bit, his eyes on the ground between them. He jammed his hands in his pockets, a suddenly guarded gesture, and angled the front of his body slightly away from her.

"Yeah. I guess I got that. Are those...your ex-boyfriends?" He asked. She nodded.

"Yeah."

"Is that why you came here? To reminisce?" There was a hurtful tone to his voice, an edge that she had heard before. Kevin was his own worst critic and undoubtedly, finding her lounging lazily in front of her little black book was probably enough to make him wonder if she was remembering the good old days a little too fondly. She sighed and set her coffee down, standing up and walking to the first photo of her with the blonde. Kevin, standing in the way, moved silently to sit on the ottoman.

"Sort of. Maybe. Not intentionally."

"Oh." He watched her as she plucked the photo of her with the blonde from its place.

"This is Andy. I dated him for a couple of months when I was a freshman. He was nice. A junior. A football player. Kind of unfortunate actually. I broke up with him after he got mad at me for missing a game for the debate team." She admitted bluntly. Kevin swiveled on the ottoman to watch her. He frowned when she handed it to him. He took a brief look and then let it flop onto the stand behind them.

"Sounds like a winner."

"Not exactly. Then, there was Peter." Gwen moved to the second. She was standing by the counter, dressed in a semi-formal gown, and there was a plain looking boy, with ears slightly too large for his narrow head, in a blazer and collared shirt next to her. They were both smiling, a bit more subdued than the last picture, but obviously holding hands. "Peter was in the physics club with me. We were the youngest members. He took me to my first school dance, but we never really went beyond that." Again, she removed the polaroid and gave it to Kevin. He obviously didn't view Peter as a threat because he laughed and held it up for her to inspect once more.

"This guy's even better. You went from jock to nerd in a span of a couple of months!" Gwen frowned at his remarks, but continued nevertheless.

"Don't be mean. Peter was a gentleman. He was just too shy. Bradley was next. He joined my karate class early in the summer. We hung out afterwards for a month or so. He was my first kiss." At this, Kevin bridled a bit in his jacket. He tossed the picture behind his shoulder without even looking at it.

"Why are you telling me this stuff?" He asked. It was obvious that he was annoyed. His whole demeanor screamed it. From the counter, the old barista pretended not to watch the debacle, but every once in awhile, she saw her eyeing them carefully. Gwen didn't blame her for being curious. She was probably wondering the same thing. Well, they may not have known it, but she did have a point to get across. Ignoring Kevin's question, she went to the fourth picture.

"Todd worked at my father's office as a filing clerk. We got along really well and went out on a few dates, but he balked when my dad found out. He needed the job to save up for college. Or was it a car? Either way, the money was more important." There was a bit of bitterness in her tone. Kevin picked up on it immediately.

"Or was your dad's opinion more important?"

"It didn't help. Daddy wasn't pleased when he found out. I'm sure that makes you happy." She added, observing his one sided smirk. Kevin shrugged, exuding his famed roguish charm, and readjusted his position on the ottoman. His long legs unfurled towards her as he stretched backwards.

"I would never want to get on your dad's bad side."

"Smart."

"So what about boyfriend number five?" He pressed, motioning to the last picture left on the wall. Gwen sighed and took that one down carefully.

"Boyfriend number five came along the beginning of my sophomore year. A couple of months before we met again, actually. His name was Daniel and I really liked him." They remained in silence for a couple of moments after her personal revelation. Kevin was staring into the small flame behind her. He chewed on the inside of his cheek distractedly as he processed her words. Gwen stared down at the photograph. Daniel was a normal looking boy, tall with short, cropped hair. His eyes were a light brown color, made brighter by the flash of the camera. They were perched on the railing outside the cafe, embracing each other tightly, and locked forever in a showy kiss. She bit her lip and handed it to Kevin without another glance. He didn't take it.

"Did he dump you too?" He asked callously. Gwen threw the photo at his feet and turned towards the fire. Her jogging pants were beginning to feel too warm against her legs in combination with the heat from the flames. She stared downwards at the crackling logs, clenching her fists and trying to regain her composure.

"No. I broke up with him."

"Why? It looks like you two were having a good time." He snapped, his bark much worse than his bite.

"I found out he was cheating in his classes."

"So you dumped him for that? That's a little severe." Kevin's voice became a bit more gentle, but he still scowled every time his eyes found the photo at his feet. Gwen laughed humorlessly.

"He was using me to cheat. I didn't know until they pulled me into the office, threatening to expel us both." Without another word, she turned and grabbed the photos Kevin had discarded behind him. Crouching, she grasped the last one. She held them up for Kevin to see. "Five guys in a year and a half. Some people might think I'm a bit of a harlot."

"People don't call girls that anymore. They call them-"

"I know, I know. Anyways, that's not my point."

"So what's your point?" Kevin stood up to face her. "I thought I'd come find you and we could hang out and have a good morning to ourselves for a change. Instead, I get here and you're mooning over all your old boyfriends."

"I wasn't mooning over them. These people don't mean anything to me anymore, but they were part of my life for a period of time. " She caught his eye to make sure he was watching. When Gwen was sure she had his attention, she flicked her wrist and sent the photographs into the fire. Kevin wasn't impressed but he calmed slightly as she reached forward to squeeze his arm. Behind them, the pictures melted and snapped in the heat, disappearing in a blink of an eye."How long have we been together?"

"Is this a trick question?" She gave a barking laugh at his response.

"No. It's not."

"A year and a couple of months." Kevin said without hesitation.

"And how long was I with one of those guys? Just one?" He didn't answer but she could see his eyes soften. It was easy to tell when she had gotten him to see things her way, or had at least to begun to.

"How come you never brought me here?" He asked softly. "Wasn't I worthy of a polaroid?" He yanked his chin in the direction of where the photos had been. Gwen smiled gently and pulled him closer. Her hands found their way into his larger ones.

"Well, we never really had the opportunity. And we've never talked about what happened to us after you got sent to the Null Void. Besides, I had the hardest time getting you to ask me on a date." Gwen laughed a bit and her laughter brought out a bit of a chuckle from Kevin, though he flushed at the comment. "This place used to be special to me because of all the people I'd brought here. In a way it still is. It's not the place that makes things special. Its the person." She reached up and placed a peck on his forehead.

"I guess that explains why you don't mind the garage." Kevin intoned. There was a twinkle in his eye as he leaned forward and captured her in a light kiss. Gwen smiled as his lips moved against hers, enjoying the moment more than she enjoyed her forgotten mug of coffee, when there was a clanking of glasses from the counter. They broke apart just as the barista came up from beneath the register, an old polaroid camera in her hands.

"Would you kids like me to take your picture?" She asked. Gwen looked to Kevin questioningly. She would let him make the choice whether or not they would start a new line of photographs. Kevin simply stared at the barista for a moment and then shook his head.

"No thanks. I don't think we need it. Do you?" He asked Gwen. She was a bit surprised at his decision, but then she smiled widely and nodded enthusiastically.

"No. I don't think we do."

"Good. Want me to drive you home?" He stood up and dangled his car keys in front of her face.

"Not the garage?"

"We can go there after. You'll want to change. Besides, the more time we have in the car, the more time I have to tell you all about my ex-girlfriends." Gwen raised an eyebrow as she returned the mug to the woman behind the counter. She smiled and thanked her, giving her a bit of a knowing wink.

"He sounds like the right book." She offered. Gwen involuntarily cracked a wide smile.

"Yeah. The pages are folded in spots, and there are a couple of grammatical errors, but he's a limited edition."

"Are you coming or what? My list of conquests is longer than yours, I'll need more than ten minutes."