A/N: Right. Here we go, another chapter for you all. I was inspired to finish this off quickly thanks to ETNRL4L and the series finale that I got to watch (It was in Spanish though so I couldn't really understand what they were saying). Lets just say, there is a scene which will make every single Benlie fan out there jump for joy!

I noticed there was only one of you who got the answer correct to the contest I put on last chapter, but the answers you did provide were quite intriguing.

Hope you all enjoy

Disclaimer: Umm…nope I don't own anything.

Idiot.

That's what he was. A stupid, moronic, irresponsible, bumbling idiot. Why he was ever allowed to socialise with people was beyond him, especially after the crap he had just managed to drop himself in.

Letting out an aggravated cry, his fist connected with the wall, splitting the fragile skin over his knuckles and making warm, crimson blood drip down his fingers. Growling to himself, the frustrated brunette resumed his panicked pacing, his blood-free hand continually raking through his brown mop in anger and nervousness.

"Way to go there Tennyson. Show her you care by screaming and practically breaking up with her!" He mentally scolded himself, gritting his teeth and squeezing his green eyes closed as the argument that transpired mere hours ago flashed through his mind like a terrifying nightmare.

He collapsed onto the edge of his bed, the old, wooden frame creaking under the sudden weight change. His body slumped forwards as he placed his thumping head in his hands and desperately tried to think of something, anything to help him out of the hole he had dug himself into.

Jewellery wouldn't work, Julie wasn't one to be bought by fancy pieces of gold or silver, which was applicable to both flowers and chocolate too and any other gift he would try and spring on her in an attempt to make up for his fairly regular blunders. He needed something that had a deep meaning, that would make her see he really was sorry and never meant a word of what he said.

Maybe he could take her out for a meal? Or a picnic in a place that held a lot of memories for them? He shook his head, thick caramel bangs swishing around his pale face. No, that wouldn't work. She wasn't even answering his calls; the chances of actually getting her to come out and see him again were definitely against him.

He sighed and got up off the bed, his head hug low as he headed to the en-suite bathroom situated just off to the left of his small room. Upon entering the dimly lit room, he made his way over to his sink and splashed some cold water on his face, the chilling temperature of the liquid causing goose-bumps to ripple over his flesh.

His lithe fingers gripped the edge of the china white porcelain bowl, knuckles turning to pale ivory under the pressure. Lifting his head, he stared at his reflection in the mirror that hung in front of him. His usually bright green eyes were dull and bloodshot from crying, dark purple bags hung underneath indicating his lack of sleep. His face was pale and gaunt, his cheek bones prominent from his dwindling appetite. To him, he looked like a shell of his former-self. He was no longer that bright eyed teenager who looked at everything with enthusiasm. But a man haunted by the decisions he had made and terrified of the road ahead of him.

He wasn't ready for any of this family stuff; he was still only that teenager who was trying to battle aliens while trying to keep up with school and what little social life he had. How was he supposed to take care of a family when he couldn't even take care of himself? He was struggling just to make through each day without having a mental breakdown. Taking care of an infant was much more taxing both physically and mentally and he was afraid that someway along the road he was going to screw up.

He was barely able to keep his relationship with Julie together. With the stress of looking after a child, he had to wonder how much longer they would be able to hold onto the fragile foundations of their relationship. He knew one day she was going to leave him for something better, it had been inevitable from the start. But he had hoped that maybe if he kept on trying to keep them afloat it might postpone her thoughts and they could be together for just that little bit longer.

But now, he had blown it. He had pushed her so much that she was now out of his reach, no matter how far he stretched to try and get her back. There was no coming back from this. He'd broken her heart one to many times, and now she was putting up those unbreakable walls to protect herself.

He squeezed his eyes shut and hung his head as he felt his heart shatter inside his chest. They once had such a clear path ahead of them, the prospect of a bright and happy future together. But now? Now they were trying to hold onto something that was slipping away faster than they could grab it.

Pushing himself away from the sink, he exited the bathroom and once again headed over to his bed. Lifting his head slightly, his blood shot emerald rings caught the sight of the pictures that were taped to his wall. A rush of pure emotion pulsed through his veins as he looked over one picture in particular. Their prom photo. Plucking it off the wall, he brought it close, his eyes scrutinizing every inch of the image. The way her white and cerise dress clung to her perfect figure, the way her curled ebony locks fell around her bare creamy shoulders in that mesmerising way.

As the memory of that wonderful night dragged itself up from the back of his mind, he felt the crushing force of guilt land on his already shattered heart. He had gone and broken that 6 word promise that he had whispered to her as they danced under the pale moonlight.

I will always be yourhero.

He'd done a lot of things in their 3 year relationship. Missing dates, splitting himself in three just so he could go see the Sumo- Slammer live action movie, kissed movie stars and had almost left her for another girl who was technically part machine. But this, this was the worse thing he could have ever done. He had basically taken everything their relationship had stood for, and stamped it into the dirt.

He let his eyes widen and a single tear streak down his sunken cheeks "Oh god, what have I done?" he breathed, realisation crashing down on him with the strength of Way-Big. He bolted from his bed and resumed his panicked pacing, his shaking hands tugging at his locks so hard it was starting to give him a headache.

He had to fix this and quickly. This wasn't just one of those idiotic mistakes he'd made because his brain decided to take a vacation, leaving Ben to be a moron for a day. No this was what either broke them or made their relationship work. But how did he go about fixing it? No way would just simply apologize as saying he would never do it again work, it didn't REALLY prove anything. He had to make sure Julie always knew he meant those six words and he was an idiot for ever chucking that away.

He was startled out of his panicked pacing by the shrill ring of his doorbell. Stopping by his bedroom door, he placed his ear against the rough wood so he could listen in to who could possibly be coming to his house at this time of day. At first, he heard his mothers light footsteps make their way to the door, then the sound of her never fading jovial voice as she addressed their impromptu guest.

"Oh, hello Gwen. Are you here to see Ben?"

The brunettes face paled and his eyes widened in surprise and fear. The only reason his cousin would be here right now is because Julie had obviously told her about what happened and now she was going to give him some big and angry lecture about being the perfect boyfriend and father. And probably hit him for being such a doofus.

Crap.

Scrambling from his position by the door, he began to search round his room frantically for a place to hide or someway to escape. To his utter demise and horror both his windows were locked and all the places he could hide were too small for him to fit, plus he could hear his cousin getting closer.

Double crap.

"BENJAMIN KIRBY TENNYSON!"

The male Tennyson winced at the use of his full name and the pitch at which it was screamed, as he desperately tried to get his windows open so he could escape the oncoming wrath of his livid Anodite cousin.

Without warning, his bedroom slammed open, causing the ex-hero to let out a squeak of fear and surprise while spinning around to face his fuming redheaded cousin as she stood in the door way. Her burning pits of emerald narrowed dangerously in his direction, making him shrink in on himself slightly as he sheepishly greeted the fuming girl

"Err… Hey Gwen. Looking as lovely as ever I see. What brings you here?"

The ginger stormed forward, causing the brunette to back away hurriedly to avoid any blows she might try to throw at him in her angry state.

"What am I doing here!" she spat, not even trying to hide the venom in her voice "I went home today to find my best friend and the mother of YOUR child bawling her eyes out on the sofa because YOU had basically thrown away everything because once again YOU were only thinking about YOURSELF! Does that ring any bells Ben?"

Ben swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to explain the situation to the redhead in a way that didn't get his face re-arranged.

"Look Gwen, I didn't mean for it to come out like that! I swear! I was just so scared and she wouldn't listen to my reasoning. I never, ever wanted to push her away! I just didn't know what to do! I panicked!" He squeaked out, and visibly flinched when Gwen threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and let out and angered grunt.

"I just don't believe you Ben!" she cried out "You think you can solve everything by yourself! Well news flash hero! Your not the only one in this relationship! Maybe you should have asked Julie about the whole thing before throwing everything away!"

At her last comment, the fear the brunette held was instantly replaced by boiling anger. She was pointing an accusing finger at him when she had done the exact same thing with Kevin when he became a mixture of materials! How could she judge him when she didn't even know the whole story!

"Wait a second Gwen. I only did all this so I could actually be there for my son! I never did it because I was trying being selfish and dumping all the responsibility I held! I gave up being a hero so that we could actually be a NORMAL family! I did it for THEM! So don't you start trying to pin all the blame on me because I wasn't being selfish! I was trying to do what was best!" He shouted back at her, his own deep green eyes boring into hers.

"And how did that work out for you Ben?" she snapped back. Defeat immediately replaced the anger that had spread over his pale features and he slumped forward. He diverted his gaze, not wanting his cousin to see the tears that began to form in his vision.

"You don't have to tell me I screwed up Gwen. I already know. I was an idiot and after everything I don't deserve someone as good as Julie"

"No, no you don't. So how are you going to fix it?"

He stayed silent for a moment as he quickly tried to conjure up a way to make it up to his ebony haired beauty. But, unfortunately for the Tennyson boy, he had never been one to grasp logical thinking. This, at the present moment, would ultimately be his down fall.

"Bake her a cake?"

Gwen had seen and heard her share of stupid things in the short 11 years she had got to really know her cousin. But, what he had just come out with was, by far, the most ridiculous and idiotic thing the boy had ever said. It was so ridiculously idiotic that the Anodite was left staring wide eyed at the brunette stupefied, unable to form words that could possibly try and begin explaining to the mindless moron how that would never work.

But soon her speechlessness was replaced with and overwhelming sense of irritancy towards her cousin. She swore the boy must have been dropped when he was younger. It couldn't be possible for someone to be born this stupid.

Within the next few seconds Ben would realise that when his cousin turned silent, it was a sure sign thing were going to turn very violent.

"Benjamin. Kirby. Tennyson. You. Idiotic. Moron." She growled out between each hit she delivered with the rolled up magazine she wielded, while her cousin cowered in a corner of his bed, covering his face with his arms and crying out for someone to help him as the redhead violently beat him with one of his comics

"You are going to get off your lazy butt, go home, apologize to Julie and beg her to take your sorry butt back. Otherwise, so help me I will do things to you that are 1000 times worse than this! Do you understand!"

"Okay! Okay! Just please stop hitting me!" The ex-hero whimpered out pathetically.

In the kitchen, Sandra happily hummed to the classical music that played softly in her ears as she washed up the dishes from breakfast, totally oblivious to the pleading cries of her son as he was mercilessly beaten by her angry and hormonal pregnant teenage niece.

After a few more whacks with the magazine, Gwen had calmed down enough to be able to function without feeling the need to hit her cousin round the head for being an oblivious jerk. Now she was standing by his bed, glaring daggers through his un-naturally thick and egotistical skull as he moved around the room.

Eyeing the redhead carefully in case she snapped again and he had to make a quick dash for the exit so he didn't get beaten a second time, Ben grabbed his jacket. He was just about to walk out the door, but was cut short when he heard the ginger loudly clear her throat. Cringing slightly, he turned round slowly to face her, a sheepish look on his pale face. The redhead stood with one hand resting on her hip in that "Don't mess with me" kind of way, her other hand outstretched as if waiting for something to be handed over. Her blazing green eyes narrowed at him as she once again loudly cleared her throat.

Ben's slightly frightened and questioning eyes snapped from her hand to her face, wondering what she wanted from him. "What?"

"Keys" was her simple yet harsh response as she ushered him forward with her hand "Give them"

The brunette sent the girl an incredulous look and scoffed at her insinuation "You are not driving my-" he stopped short when he saw the murderous glare his cousin was sending him that just dared him to finish his sentence.

Seeing he had no chance in hell of winning this argument and didn't feel like testing his cousins morals on abusing family members; the male teen let out a defeated sigh and handed the waiting girl the keys. Giving the brunette a satisfied smirk in return, she waltzed over to the door in an overly cocky manner. Ignoring the holes that were being burned into the back of her skull by her cousin, she stopped by the door, her voice as venomous as it has been previously.

"Coming?"

The question was more like a statement to Ben, who continued to stand inside his bedroom, afraid of what could happen if he got in the car with Gwen when she was this angry. When she was angry, she tended to get a little reckless. Something she and Kevin had in common. Noting that her cousin probably wasn't going to move of his own free will, the redhead decided to take things into her own hands. Crossing the small expanse of room that separated them, she reached up and clamped the boy's ear in her slim fingers and began to tug him painfully out the room.

"Hey! Ow! Let go!" the brunette whined in pain as he desperately tried to keep up with the ginger as to elevate the pain that surged through his ear.

"No" Was the sharp and simple response given as the boy continued to be dragged down the hall way by his angry family member. Ben let out a huff of air and muttered under his breath that his cousin seriously needed to take a chill pill. In retaliation to the boys smart assed comment, the redhead twisted the appendage she currently held in a way that would cause the most discomfort, making the brunette beneath her to let out a small shriek of pain. Satisfied that she had got her non-verbal message across, she ceased her twisting, but picked up the pace she was walking.

Within seconds they reached the small livingroom that led directly onto the street. The sound of her Aunt's soft humming could be heard as she moved around the kitchen with ease. Ben, seeing his mother was in hearing distance, called out to her in a last ditch effort to get his cousin to let him go.

"MOM! Mom help! Gwen's abusing me!" He whined out, flailing his arms about in a desperate attempt of getting his mothers attention.

"Okay dear! I hope you two have fun, don't forget to take a jacket" was her distracted reply and she popped out a rubber-glove clad hand in goodbye. Eyes widening in dismay, the ex-hero slumped his shoulders in defeat and traipsed after his raging cousin.

So much for that plan…

Once out of the family bungalow, Gwen made her way over to were the DX Mark 10 was parked neatly in the driveway, still dragging her cousin along by his ear. Unlocking the vehicle, she let go of the boy and pointed to the passenger side.

"Get in"

Rubbing his sore ear and grumbling about how unfair the girl was being, he followed the order and got in. Placing herself in the driver's seat, Gwen started up the hand-built sports car, the engine roaring under the movement of her foot. Pulling out the driveway, she peeled down the road, her anger fuelling their speed.

The drive back to the apartment that the two couples shared was filled with an awkward and tense silence. Gwen, fearing she may snap at him again and cause an accident, concentrated on the road, her hands gripping the wheel so tightly her knuckles had turned a pure white. Meanwhile Ben just stared forlornly out the window, his hand pulsating with stinging pain. If he couldn't sort this mess out, that was it. Everything he stood for would be gone and he'd have nothing left. This wasn't about egos or who'd done what. This was about responsibilities, morals, about everything their small, fragile relationship stood on.

Shutting his eyes, he lent his head against the cool glass window, his mind drifting off into his thoughts.

He thought about what was classed as 'Love'. Some defined it as desire for someone or to feel affection for one and other. But for him, 'Love' wasn't just about the affection or desire, it was something deeper.

'Love' was about seeing each other as equals, knowing one and others faults, yet accepting them as who they were and working round the problems they faced.

'Love' was about going through thick and thin together, yet still being as strong or even stronger than ever before.

'Love' is fragile and we're not always its best caretakers. We just muddle through and do the best we can. And hope this fragile thing survives against all odds.

'Love' is never easy, but if you really want it, love is something that is worth fighting for.

'Love' is what Julie and himself held onto so tightly, it was the one thing stopping them both from falling into the dark oblivion. No matter what was thrown at them, whether it be and alien invasion or the prospect of having a child together. Love was what always what got them through.

But, would it be love that brought them back together, or tear them apart?

A/N: So there you go.

Hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to review otherwise Gwen will come after you :D

Sam