December, Year 2

Early December.

"Ben, honey?" Sandra asked, getting her son's attention.

"Yeah, Mom?" Ben looked up from his book.

"Are you studying?" Sandra seemed a little surprised. "Wow. I guess Gwen's been a good influence on you lately, huh?" She chuckled.

Ben sighed, suddenly very irritated. "What do you want, Mom?"

"Hey, be nice," Sandra lightly scolded him. "Anyway, your birthday's coming up. Have you thought about how you might wanna celebrate it this year?" Ben and Gwen were turning twelve in about a week.

Ben knew how he wanted to celebrate it, but he was already put off from discussing Gwen with his mother. He shrugged, trying to seem indifferent. "Can't we just do what we did last year?"

"Aww, you wanna celebrate with your little friend Gwen, huh?"

"Mom."

Ben's mother smiled teasingly and gave him a look like she wanted to say something more about that. "Sure, sweetie. I'll call your Grandpa and Uncle Frank to set it up. You almost done with your homework?"

"Yes, Mom." Ben rolled his eyes. His mother excused herself and left the room.

My birthday.

Ben pushed his book across his desk and stared at the wall.

Our birthday.

He thought back to last year. He and Gwen had fought the whole time, but that was also the day they played Sumo Slammers together for the first time outside of summer. It hadn't been all bad.

He also remembered how their grandfather had wanted them to give each other presents as well. He did that pretty much every year, and they'd never reacted very well to it before. They'd never enjoyed sharing a birthday before, after all. But this year, things between him and Gwen had been noticeably different. Maybe they could stand to share their birthday now.

And maybe I should get her a present.

Ben wracked his brain trying to think of something Gwen would like. He knew she liked books, karate, magic, shopping, and their summer trips. And video games, now that she could beat him at some of them. She liked just about anything she could beat him at, really.

Maybe I could get her a piñata shaped like me.

Ben figured getting her a book would be good, but she already had a pretty extensive collection, and he had no idea which books she'd want that she didn't already have. He considered asking her, but decided he'd rather it be a surprise. And he'd be way too embarrassed.

Ben looked around his room for any inspiration. Something sitting on his shelf caught his eye. He had an idea.


December 10th.

Gwen sat in the backseat on the drive over to Ben's house. She was pretty excited.

My first birthday with a friend.

Gwen had been something of a loner her whole life. Most of her hobbies were things that were done solo, like reading, and her commitment to her schoolwork (which Ben described as "being a nerd") had made it somewhat difficult to make friends at school. She had some friendly acquaintances, like Emily, but it wasn't until she started regularly hanging out with Ben that she really thought of anyone as a true friend. And even though she'd spent most of her birthdays with Ben, this one was different.

This time, we're friends.

However, Gwen tried not to show her excitement. Like Ben, she still wasn't quite ready to admit to her parents that she and Ben had become friends. She hadn't even said it out loud to Ben yet. If she weren't trying to hide it, she would have been bouncing in her seat like an excited Lucy. Instead, she lazily leaned on the door and looked out the window, trying not to grin too much.

When they arrived at Ben's house, she got out of the car and raced to Ben's front door. She realized too late just how eager she must have looked, but she hoped her parents would just write it off as her being excited to see her grandfather or something. Luckily, after she knocked on the door, it was Max who answered.

"Ah, Gwen! Welcome. And happy birthday!"

Gwen smiled warmly, happy to see him. "Thanks! It's great to see you, Grandpa." She gave him a hug before he led her and her parents inside. Ben's parents greeted them next.

"Heeey, there's the birthday girl!" Carl stepped up and ruffled Gwen's hair.

"You're nearly a teenager now. I can hardly believe it!" Sandra came over and hugged her.

Gwen chuckled. "Thanks, Uncle Carl, Aunt Sandra."

Then Ben came into the room.

"Happy birthday, young man." Frank gave Ben a firm pat on the shoulder. "And thank you for inviting us. I'm glad we could be here today."

"Uh, thanks," Ben said, taking a step back and rubbing his shoulder.

"Congratulations, Ben." Natalie handed him a small wrapped gift. "Please put this with your other gifts. You can open it later."

Ben accepted the gift with a nervous nod. Gwen chuckled to herself. Ben had always been a little afraid of her mother. He once said she reminded him of a vampire.

Ben glanced over at Gwen, so she shot him a smile. He gave her a look and opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself and walked away. Gwen scrunched up her face in confusion. He seemed nervous. It had been a long time since he acted like that around her.

Must be because our parents are here.

Just like last year, those in attendance included only Ben, Gwen, Carl, Sandra, Frank, Natalie, and Max. But unlike last year, when Ben's parents led everyone into the dining room for dinner, Gwen immediately went to sit down next to Ben instead of trying to sit as far away from him as possible.

As everyone began to eat, the adults quickly began their own conversation. Ben and Gwen didn't mind though, and started to chat about school.

"I finished studying yesterday, so I should be good for the test," Ben said.

"You should still review everything again before the test, though," Gwen told him.

Ben groaned. "Why? I already know it."

"My way works, remember? You only did good on your last test because of me."

Ben chuckled. "Maybe. But half the test wasn't even stuff they told us to study for, so who knows how much studying helps for that class."

"I hate when teachers do that," Gwen said in agreement.

Both of them noticed the adults weren't talking as much at the moment. They looked around the table, and saw most of them were looking at them.

"What?" Ben asked a little forcefully, feeling self-conscious.

"Nothing," his father said. "We're just happy to see you two finally acting like friends."

"...Shut up," Ben said, scowling.

"Ben! There's no need for that," his grandfather scolded him.

Gwen hung her head. She was as embarrassed as he was to have it pointed out like that, but it was kind of insulting for Ben to act like it was such a bad thing.

Think before you speak for once, Doofus!

After dinner, Ben's mother asked if they wanted to have the cake or open their presents first. This was normally something Ben and Gwen fought about on their birthday.

"The cake looks delicious. Let's have that," Gwen said.

"Pfft, come on. The presents are what we're really here for," Ben argued.

Gwen looked at him pleadingly. "Please?" The cake really did look extremely appetizing to her.

Ben looked at her for a second. "Eh, fine."

Wow. I can't believe that worked.

A few of the adults snickered a little at that exchange.

"What's so funny?" Ben asked defensively.

"Ben, come on," Gwen said quietly, putting her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to tell him to relax.

Ben dismissively swiped Gwen's hand off of him, but said nothing. He still looked a little ticked off.

Sandra got up and brought the cake over to the table, placing it down in front of the two of them. She began lighting the candles while she and the other adults sang 'Happy Birthday.'

Ben buried his face in his hand, muttering for them to stop singing. Gwen also found it a little patronizing, but she laughed it off, enjoying Ben's reaction to it more than anything.

"Make a wish and blow out the candles, now," their grandfather told them.

Ben and Gwen looked at each other. There was a moment's hesitation, and then they nodded. Together, they blew out the candles, and everyone else clapped. Gwen turned to Ben again, but he was already reaching for a knife to cut the cake with.

There's no chance we wished for the same thing, is there?

Then came time for presents.

The Tennyson family moved into the living room where the parents and Max had piled their gifts. Ben and Gwen sat across from each other on the floor. Gwen examined Ben and tried to read the expression on his face. Earlier, while they were eating cake, he seemed pretty happy. But now he seemed deep in thought, and maybe a little nervous. He kept looking at everyone else, but he wouldn't look at her.

What's up with him?

The two of them started grabbing presents with their names on them and tearing into the wrapping paper. They ended up getting the usual assortment of stuff. Books, clothes, games, some things they'd asked for, and some things they hadn't. The last present Ben opened was a new Kangaroo Kommando game. Gwen didn't even know that show had a game series, but Ben seemed pretty excited about it.

"Awesome!" Ben held up the game excitedly. "Thanks, Mom!" Then he turned to Gwen. "Wanna go try it out?"

Ben's love of video games always seemed to snap him out of his weird moods. He couldn't seem to look at Gwen a second ago, and now suddenly he was fine again. Gwen had no idea what to make of that. Somewhat hesitantly, she agreed. "Okay," she said. Ben stood up, and so did she.

"Hold on a moment," Max said.

"Oh, right." Gwen turned to the adults with a smile on her face. "Thanks for all the birthday gifts, everyone!" she said politely.

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Ben said.

"You're welcome, kids. Just one more thing, though," Max continued. "Do either of you have presents for each other?"

Just like last year.

Gwen was expecting this, but she didn't say anything. In fact, she actually felt kind of guilty. Sure, she'd never given Ben a gift on their birthday before, but now she was thinking maybe she should have this time.

Ben had a strange look on his face. He seemed nervous again, and his mouth was hanging open a little like he was about to say something to her. Then he looked around the room. Their parents were staring at them with happy and expectant looks on their faces. Ben suddenly look annoyed and turned to Max. "No, of course not!" Ben said, becoming very defensive out of nowhere. "What kinda geek thing would I even get her? A math textbook?"

"Alright, Ben. There's no need for that attitude," Max said, more sternly than before.

Ben grunted. "C'mon, let's go." He signaled for Gwen to follow him out of the room, wanting to head for the room where he had his game console set up.

Gwen gave an apologetic look to their parents and to Max, then quickly followed Ben. She was surprised and a little offended by his behavior. Ben's outburst had been a little much.

Where did that come from?

"What's your problem?" Gwen asked once they were in the privacy of Ben's game room.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked.

"I mean, what was that?" She gestured back to where they'd just come from. "You were already acting kind of strange, but that came out of nowhere. You could've just said 'No, I didn't get Gwen a present.' You didn't have to go and be a jerk to Grandpa about it!"

Ben looked a little remorseful for a moment, but then he matched Gwen's fierce expression. "Well, what do you care? Did you get me anything?" he asked.

"Well, no, but-" Gwen started to respond, but Ben cut her off.

"Exactly! See? We don't get each other presents. We're cousins, not friends."

Ben knelt down in front of his game console, pulling the plastic covering off of his new game case. Then he took the disk out and put it in, turning on the console and the TV. Grabbing some controllers, he stood back up. "Here, you want the-"

Ben stopped in his tracks when he saw Gwen. She was glaring at him with the most shocked, angry expression he'd seen on her in a very long time.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" he asked, immediately realizing that wasn't the best way to ask that.

Gwen could barely talk. A tear or two slid from the corners of her eyes. "You…You…You are the most unbelievable, inconsiderate, self-centered little…" She cut herself off before she got to the cursing.

"Hey! I'm not the one getting mad about something so stupid! We both got lots of presents. What difference does one more make?" Ben tried to defend himself.

"I don't care about the-" Gwen put her hands to her face and breathed deeply. Without another word to Ben, she turned and left the room.

Of-freaking-course! Only Ben could be that offhandedly inconsiderate. Just when everything was going great, he has to ruin our birthday by saying something like that!

When she walked back into the living room, Max was talking with their parents. The look on her face told them all something was wrong.

"Gwen, what's the matter?" Max asked, his concern immediately obvious.

"Ben's being a jerk again," she spat out. She turned to her parents. "Can we go now?" she asked.

Gwen's mother rolled her eyes, like she knew this would happen. Gwen's father looked more concerned. "Are you sure, honey?" he asked.

"Yes," Gwen said flatly.

The adults exchanged confused looks. Everything had seemed okay just a few minutes ago, so this came as a shock to them all.

"Well, okay. I guess it's getting late anyway," Frank said. Gwen and her parents gathered up her gifts and said goodbye to Max, Carl, and Sandra, and then they left.

"I think I should go talk to Ben," Max said to Ben's parents once the others had left.

Carl sighed. "No, it's alright, Dad. You know how they get. I'm sure they'll both be over it by tomorrow."


Later that night.

Ben sat on his bed. He held the present he was going to give to Gwen in his lap, staring at it.

I shoulda just given it to her.

He'd been scolding himself ever since Gwen left. He wasn't sure if Gwen could somehow tell he had a gift for her that he was refusing to give, but something had seriously upset her, and he had a feeling this had something to do with it.

Why couldn't I just give it to her?

He'd had every intention of giving Gwen a gift, right up until the actual day came around. He didn't know why, but he just froze up. Maybe it was too embarrassing or too awkward or he thought she wouldn't like it, but he'd panicked.

Ben put the gift down and lied back. "She hates me now," he said out loud. He wasn't even sure what he'd done, but he knew he'd done something. At the time, she sounded like she was going to say it wasn't actually about the gift, which would've made sense since she hadn't gotten him anything either. He knew he'd acted like a jerk, but he did that all the time when they got together with their family. At least he thought he did.

What did I do?

He looked at the clock. Tomorrow was Saturday. He and Gwen didn't have any plans, but they usually met up at the park on weekends to spend the day together.

Should I even go?

Ben considered it. He didn't want to go for nothing.

Of course I should. I gotta apologize.

He rolled his eyes.

Classic Gwen. I don't even know what I did and I still gotta say I'm sorry.


Saturday.

Ben sat on his usual park bench. It was around the time he usually met Gwen. He realized how weird it was that that was even a thing. They had never once officially decided that this was the designated meeting time and place, and yet it had become second nature to them both. Routine, even. And that might have been why it was so distressing when Gwen didn't show up.

He waited there for an hour. He didn't want to leave because he kept telling himself she'd be there any second now, and he didn't want to text her either. To him, that would be like admitting defeat. If he was desperate enough to contact her first, it would show he missed her.

Ben laid down on the bench.

She's really not coming.

He tried to think of how long it had been since they went a day without seeing each other. They spent every day together over the summer, and other than their first day back, they'd somehow managed to find at least an hour of time to spend together every day for the last three months, even if that meant just Skyping or texting.

Ben tried to stop thinking about it. For some reason, even though it had been great spending so much time with her, it felt...strange to think about it. Like he and Gwen were doing something weird by being so close.

But he couldn't help it. He knew he must have screwed up big time for Gwen to be mad enough to not want to hang out like they usually did. Heck, even when he gave her a black eye that one time she was still ready to hang out with him the very next day.

Ben put his hands over his face.

I really blew it this time.


Gwen sat in her room staring at the clock. She couldn't decide what to do. She was still mad at Ben. She'd been so happy when she realized they'd become friends, and she finally knew what it was like to have a true friend after all this time. But all of that was ruined when Ben declared that they were, in fact, not friends.

I knew this would happen. Things have been going too well for too long. It wasn't meant to last.

Part of her knew the best solution was to confront him about it. She knew she could easily go meet Ben at the park, tell him why she's so pissed off, and sort it out from there. But she couldn't bring herself to face him right now. She told herself it was because she was mad, and she wanted him to stew in his guilt for a while. She could make him wait at the park for her, wondering if she'll even show up while he thinks about what he's done.

But the truth was, she wasn't sure she could handle seeing him right now. She'd been biting back tears as she left his house yesterday. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this hurt by anything. If she tried to confront Ben now, she wasn't sure she'd be able to explain her situation to him without breaking down and crying. She definitely couldn't handle that. Crying in front of Ben would be the ultimate humiliation.

I'll just make him wait a little bit longer.

It was the third time she'd told herself that. But eventually, she decided it was too late. Ben would be long gone by the time she got there.

Whatever. Not like he even cares.


December 25th.

"Is Gwen gonna be there?" Ben asked.

"Uh, no," his father responded from the driver's seat. "Sorry, Ben. She's visiting her mom's side of the family this year."

"Oh." Ben stared out the window. He hadn't seen Gwen since their birthday party two weeks ago. He'd been hoping the Christmas party would conveniently force them to see each other so they could start hanging out again, but it looked like things wouldn't work themselves out that easily after all.

Since Joel was hosting their family's Christmas party this year, they were on their way to his house. Without Gwen, the only other person at the party who was Ben's age would be Lucy. Ben smiled.

Well, guess it might be alright.

Lucy always made things interesting, and her friendly nature would probably help cheer him up a bit. Ben hadn't had many opportunities to hang out with Lucy alone yet either, so maybe Gwen's absence won't turn out too bad for him.

Joel and his family didn't live in Bellwood, so it was a much longer drive to get to his house than Ben would've liked. But after a couple of hours, they pulled into Joel's neighborhood and parked in the street outside his house. Ben helped his parents carry some gifts to the front door and rang the doorbell. He was expecting Lucy to be the one to greet them in her usual exuberant fashion, but it was Camille who opened the door.

"Hello, everyone," she greeted them warmly.

"Hi!" Sandra gave Camille a brief hug as she stepped inside. "You look gorgeous. I love your dress." Camille was wearing a blue dress that Ben thought seemed too fancy for just a family gathering like this, especially considering his parents weren't dressed much less casually than they usually were. He was glad all they made him do was put on a slightly nicer shirt.

"Thank you! You all look nice as well," Camille said. "Here, let me give you a hand with those." She grabbed a few small boxes off the tops of the stacks Ben and Carl were carrying. "You can put those down over here," she said, leading them over to the Christmas tree in the living room.

Ben's parents walked away to go mingle with other members of their extended family who had gathered for the party. Camille placed her hands on Ben's shoulders. "You should go find my cousin, little hero," she said, speaking close to his ear so his parents wouldn't hear her nickname for him. "She's been dying to see you."

"Uh, sure. Okay," he said with a smile, a little flustered.

Camille chuckled good-naturedly, then walked away to rejoin the party. Ben kept looking at her for a moment. Seeing her in that dress reminded him of her and Joel's wedding when he first met them.

When Ben went off to search for Lucy, it didn't take him long to find her. He could hear her laughter from two rooms away. Following her voice, he found her standing in front of a half-circle of their relatives who had gathered around to listen to her tell a funny story. Ben stood in the room's entryway and listened too. Trying to talk to her now would also get him the attention of all those other distant relatives, which is something he usually tried to avoid at family gatherings. Lucy didn't seem to mind it though. She was positively glowing as she ate up their attention.

Ben noticed Lucy was also dressed kind of nice, wearing a dress very similar to Camille's.

Is she trying to imitate her?

Lucy seemed to somewhat look up to her older cousin, so it wouldn't be surprising. And she was a shapeshifter, after all.

As Ben looked at Lucy, the image of Gwen trying on that dress at the mall that one time popped into his mind. He frowned and shook his head.

Why am I thinking of her now?

Lucy finished telling her story, and the whole room erupted with laughter. Ben was still kind of spaced out, so he missed what she said, but he laughed lightly anyway. His laughter must have still been noticeable though, because Lucy immediately turned toward him. She gasped in excitement when she saw him.

"Ben!"

Here it comes.

Ben shifted his feet to strengthen his stance just in time for Lucy's tackle-hug.

"Woohoo! You're here! You're here!"

"Yep, I'm here. The one and only."

"It's so good to see you! It's been too long!"

"But it's only been a month this time."

"Which is too long, you dummy!"

Ben laughed. "Yeah, would be cool if you lived in Bellwood. Then we wouldn't have to drive this far to see you. And we don't have many girls as cool as you in my town."

Lucy gave him a knowing smile. "Well, you've got at least one."

"...Yeah."

Probably shouldn't mention she's mad at me right now.

"It's a shame she couldn't make it. But hey," Lucy wrapped both arms around Ben's arm. "Gives us some time to be alone, huh?" she said quietly, looking him in the eye and giving him a teasing smile.

Ben started to panic a little. "Um, yeah, real shame. Hey, uh, you got any food? I'm starving."

Lucy gasped like she just remembered something. "Ooh! Yeah, come on, come on!" Lucy unceremoniously abandoned flirt-mode and dragged Ben by the hand into the dining room. A huge buffet table was laid out. "Okay, so we've got, like, food food here and then there's dessert food in the kitchen. There's a bunch of different drinks in there too, but we're only allowed to have the soda. Oh! I made these. Try one!" Lucy shoved a plate into Ben's hands and put a homemade bread roll on it. "And there's plenty of ham left over there. Apparently it's from the same animal as bacon, even though it tastes nothing like it."

Ben chuckled. It was easy to forget Lucy was an alien sometimes, so he always found it amusing when ordinary things seemed fascinating to her.

"So you're a chef now, huh?" Ben asked as he began loading up his plate.

Lucy giggled. "Camille and Joel were teaching me a bit. Baking that bread was so fun. The dough felt like a lenopan!" Lucy grabbed a plate and starting assembling another helping for herself. It sounded like she'd already eaten before he arrived, but Ben guessed she could eat more food than a normal human. "You gotten to use the watch much recently?" she asked as she and Ben went into the other room to sit down and eat.

Ben glanced around to make sure no one was listening to them. Talking about the Omnitrix was always a little risky. "Nah, I wish," he said, shaking his head. "I mean, I still use it for little things here and there. XLR8 is useful when I need to get across town real quick. And I use Ditto to get my chores done easier. But since summer break ended, I haven't been able to use it for its real purpose."

"Fostering peace among worlds?"

"Beating up bad guys."

Lucy laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's more your style."

"Yep!" Ben said proudly. "What would you use it for?"

"Hmmmm…" Lucy thought about it while she chewed her food. "Travel the universe and make out with every kind of alien!"

Ben nearly choked on his food. "Ha, wow…"

"But then again," Lucy said, rubbing her chin like she was deep in thought. "I can already look like them all. So I guess the only thing stopping me from doing that right now is I don't have a spaceship. Where can I get one around here?"

"...Uh, NASA?"

"Or I could just borrow Camille's. She said she'd teach me how to fly it someday anyway."

"Camille has a spaceship?" Ben asked in a surprised whisper, trying to keep his voice down.

"Well duh, how'd you think we got here?"

Ben looked around the room again. "We probably shouldn't talk about this here," he said, spotting several of his relatives milling around. "Most of them don't know about that stuff yet."

"Okay, okay," Lucy said. Then she smiled at him. "Wanna come up to my room, then?"

Ben looked at her skeptically.

She's up to something, isn't she?

But then again, he would much rather talk about aliens and the Omnitrix than sit around and wait for obscure relatives to come and make small talk with him. Maybe having some privacy wasn't a bad idea.

He shrugged. "Sure, alright."

Lucy giggled and took Ben by the hand. She led him through her house and up the stairs. When Ben set foot in Lucy's room, it was simultaneously the girliest and the nerdiest place he'd ever seen. There was pink everywhere. Stuffed animals of varying sizes and shapes were strewn about the bed and the floor. There were clothes left out all over the place too, which Ben thought a shapeshifter wouldn't need. Her desk was covered with glittery art supplies. Superhero and anime posters covered the walls. One bookshelf was filled with books, while another was simply a display of figurines and toys.

"...Wow," Ben said in astonishment.

"Heeheehee, pretty neat, huh?" Lucy closed the door behind her as she followed Ben into her room.

"It's almost as messy as my room. That's impressive." Ben walked over to the wall to check out the posters. "Oh, this one's sweet!"

"Oh Ben~" Lucy said in a sing-song voice. "Look where I am~"

"Huh?" Ben turned around. Lucy was still standing in front of the door, smiling expectantly with her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "What?" Ben asked.

Lucy pointed upwards. There were green leaves of some kind with little red berries on them hanging above her doorway. Ben recognized it as a common Christmas ornament, but he still looked confused. "I'm standing under the mistletoe."

Ben furrowed his brow. "Oh, is that what mistletoe is?"

"I know, right? It doesn't look anything like a missile or a toe. But!" Lucy snapped her fingers like she just remembered what she was doing. "You know what you're supposed to do when someone stands under the mistletoe, riiiight?"

It took Ben a moment, but he got what she was saying. "Wait, you mean…?"

She wants me to kiss her?!

Lucy just nodded, smiling suggestively and beginning to advance on him.

Ben took a step back. "Lucy, come on. We're...you know...related. Sort of."

"So?" Lucy got closer and closer. "We've already danced together, haven't we?"

"That was at a wedding," Ben argued, backed up against the wall now.

"I know! Wasn't it romantic?" Lucy took Ben's hands and placed them on her waist. She slipped her hands onto his shoulders, and before he knew what was happening, they were slow dancing again. "Just think of it as a Christmas present…" She locked eyes with him, her face inches from his. All he had to do was close the gap…

But he didn't. They swayed back and forth for a few moments, but once it became clear that Ben wasn't budging, Lucy broke out in uncontrollable giggling.

"What? What's so funny?" Ben asked.

Lucy let go of Ben and lept back. "Aww, you're good! I knew I wouldn't getcha so easily."

Ben breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back against the wall again. "Were you just...messing with me?"

Lucy laughed. "Who knows?" She hopped back in front of him, leaning in close. "So? Why didn't you do it? You got a girlfriend already?"

"What? No..."

"But you got someone on your mind already, right?"

"No. What are you even talking about?" Ben didn't particularly care for any of the girls at his school, not that he really talked to them. And he didn't expect to see Kai again any time soon.

"Heehee, yeah you do!" Lucy stepped back and twirled into the center of the room, finally giving Ben some personal space. "But that's okay, you don't have to say it."

Ben didn't really know what was going on. Lucy could be even more confusing than Gwen sometimes. He stayed where he was, confused and trying to decide what to do.

Lucy's playful expression faltered. She looked concerned now. "Sorry, was that not cool?" she asked, her voice more serious than Ben was used to. "I didn't mean to make things weird."

"No, no, it's fine," Ben said. He cleared his throat and stopped leaning on the wall. "It's just, you got me, you know?" He nervously laughed it off. "But hey, the next prank's gonna be on you. I'll get you back, just you wait!" he declared.

Lucy seemed relieved by that answer. "Good!" she said brightly, her playful energy returning to her. "Bring it on!"

After the awkwardness of the situation wore off, Lucy gave Ben a tour of her room. Almost everything she owned seemed to have a little story behind it, including why she wanted it and how she got it. They talked a bit more about the Omnitrix and other alien things they had to keep secret from most of the family.

Once they got caught up on all that, Lucy led Ben back downstairs for some dessert. Ben ended up having to talk with a bunch of other family members downstairs as well, but he spent pretty much the whole night with Lucy. It was a lot of fun, and they both got to open some Christmas presents too. But every now and then, he felt like something was missing.

I wish Gwen was here...