A/N: I'm totally annoyed that it took five minutes for the letters of the "A/N:" part to load. Yeah. Stupid computer. It's so slow now that I haven't used it since forever.

Disclaimer: hi. This is Skylark. I love Kevin Levin. I don't own Ben 10. I love Ben though. But I love Kevin more. So I am not Man Of Action. And I don't know if he would love Kevin and Ben like I do. Okay, I'm babbling and drabbling now.


It annoys me when Kevin cuts it that close. He takes risks, which is one thing I liked about him. But he doesn't know when to stop.

When I saw Ben with his arm around Kevin's neck, I knew he was getting in a danger zone. He was probably instigating it and Ben was just getting a little overreactive. And I had a lot of things to worry about already. But I really didn't want to have to worry about Kevin too. I was worried about him and Ben. And lately I'd been torn in two. I was scared for Ben and I was scared for Kevin. Ben because he could do something he would regret. Kevin because he could push Ben over the edge so that Ben did something he'd regret. And maybe Kevin would end up with more than he'd bargained for.

I was worried for them both. And I cared about them both. It was hard to determine who I cared about more sometimes. Like Ben was a puppy that I couldn't keep, but I had to love anyways just because he was there. And Kevin... It was harder to explain how I loved him. It was much, much harder.

I blinked back to reality and saw that relief on Kevin's face. I saw him run his fingers through his ebony locks and that he took in a deep breath. He knew he'd cut it close. He knew he'd risked a little more than he'd bargained for. Kevin looked at me and gave me his signature smile that always made my heart beat a little faster.

Stupid Kevin and his stupidly cute smile. It's annoying how I loved him because he was stupidly cute and loved me right back. Even when he didn't have to.

And now he was risking his life to keep me. To keep me around. And he was doing it stupidly. The same way he smiled.

Kevin...

Ben pulled his arms from around me. "Let me drive you home, Julie," he said, standing only inches away from me.

"Your car's at the park still," noted Kevin, his voice somewhat choked up. "I can drive you two."

"Drive me to the park," said Ben, voice fierce and stern, not backing down on what he'd just said. "I can drive Julie home." He put his arm around my waist again and it tightened. I leaned into him. I had to sell it. I had to keep Ben on my side. Maybe today I could pull it off. For Kevin. For Kevin's sake. For his safety.

Kevin pulled himself from the couch and made his way to the car, his confident stride restored after a quick recovery. He got into the driver's seat. Ben held the door for me and I got into the backseat. Then he got into the passenger seat.

Okay, I was definitely worried and scared. Mostly because being able to use their alien powers at any time to kill each other was always an option. And neither of them was afraid to do it.

And I sat in the backseat, curled up into the cold leather as Ben held his jacket out to me. I nodded and gave him a quick smile before wrapping it around myself. Maybe Kevin had the air conditioning pumped for that exact reason. But I could see his reflection in the rearview mirror. His expression was stoic and obsidian eyes void of all emotion.

It was strange how he could go from fearing for his life because of his best friend to totally calm and collected and Kevin.

The moonlight washed across the tennis courts as we drove past. I knew I loved tennis, but now I hated practicing late. Because I wouldn't know who was coming to get me. Ben or Kevin.

And that seemed to be my problem lately. Ben or Kevin? Kevin or Ben? I was torn by loyalty to Ben but this strong connection with Kevin. And I hated going behind Ben's back, but the way Kevin and I just connected and the way he kissed me and the way he seemed to only relax when I was with him. When I was sittin in the passenger seat beside him. When it was just the two of us, sitting out in the rain for endless hours while the clouds rolled by overhead. We could only enjoy each other on dark and dreary days. The rest of the time, Ben and Gwen would be out and hanging with me and Kevin. And it'd be hard to keep it secret.

But I could be myself with both of them. It wasn't hard. All those lessons like "Be true to who you are" and "Don't be afraid to be yourself" had actually stuck with me. And I was always myself. Always. So I could feel happy with either of them.

I stared out the back window at the trees that were flying by still as we headed for Ben's car. He wanted to drive me home. And I was wondering if he wanted to drive me home so we could talk or so that he could get away from Kevin. Or maybe both.

Ben disappeared from the passenger seat. And left the door open for me while he searched his pockets for any sign of his keys.

Kevin's eyes searched my face. "You gonna be okay?" His voice was sincere about it, concern clear and evident without me even responding.

I forced a smile and one short nod as the jingling of Ben's keys interrupted us. "Come on, Jules." He reached into the car again and grabbed my hand and I was pulled from the backseat. His hand was tight around mine. "I'll drive you home."

The only thing I could muster was a quick "Thanks". Then I leaned into him and let my hand close around his, our fingers tangling together. And we headed off towards the black and green vehicle, leaving Kevin behind us to speed off. And where he went, I would never know.

From the moment Ben pulled up to my house, I knew something was wrong with him. He turned to me and looked me dead in the eyes. "Julie, what did I do wrong?"

There was no way I could've heard him right. "What?"

"What did I do wrong that made you fall for Kevin? I can't be perfect and I know that, but what did I do that made you tune me out. I'm still here. I may not always be around, but I'm around enough to know that you aren't looking at me the same way anymore." His voice was solemn and serious. Ben's eyes zeroed in on me. "Julie, can I even try to fix this?"

I knew that my heart was breaking on the inside. No, it wasn't Ben's fault. We had just fallen apart with his ego being the size of Nebraska and our relationship being as big as Rhode Island. It was hardly a piece on the face of the earth. "Ben, you can't expect me to keep this up when you're hardly putting any effort into it."

"That doesn't mean you can fall in love with my best friend and break my cousin's heart in the meantime." He wasn't exactly scolding me for it, but at least he had pieced together what was going on. "Jules, I care about you more than you think and you don't know how much I've wanted to be there when I couldn't, but forgive me for being a fool and for being irresponsible and for being an annoying jerk sometimes. I know we're not perfect, but we have another chance."

My head rested against the back of the seat. "You tried. Being a hero is your job and you can't take it back. Being human is my job and I can't take it back either. We're either going to have to put some extra effort into making this work or I'm done here."

This was what I really wanted. To be able to talk it out with Ben. He could listen to me in the serious times and in the worst cases and he was just trying. I gave him credit for trying. And that was what I needed. Some effort put into our relationship. And I liked this effort that he was putting in now. He was working his butt off to make this right and to get us back in one piece as one person, as one couple. And maybe this was all that we needed all along. Maybe it wasn't Kevin I was really after. Maybe it was just companionship. Maybe I just wanted someone to hold me and to listen to me. Until I got this right. And now Ben and I were setting it right…

"Julie, I'll compromise. I'll do whatever it takes. Anything to keep you around." He gave me that sad look like he was about to lose the only thing he ever cared about. Ben's eyes stared at me, almost seeming to look right through my heart and soul. "Anything for you."

I had made the biggest mistake of my life. I'd jumped to conclusions and assumed that Ben just didn't want to talk it out and make it work. But he did. He wanted to make it work as much as I did. But instead of giving him chances, I'd given him problems to deal with that nearly ended Kevin's life.

And Kevin…

What would I do if Ben and I actually did get it to work out?


A/N; I know that I can't end it the way I'd like to, but I just wanted to shove the idea of Kevlie out there. So review please! Thanks to all the support out there and all the other Kevlie writers for giving it a shot!

~Skylark