June, Year 3 (Part 2)

"Morning, sleepy head," Ben's mother greeted him.

"Morning." Still half asleep, Ben half-heartedly returned the greeting as he trudged into the kitchen for breakfast.

"Last day today, huh? You excited?" his father asked him, already seated at the table.

"Totally," Ben said with a mouthful of cereal. As he ate, he started to wake up more completely, becoming more aware of what day it was. He smiled to himself as he basked in the knowledge that another school year was finally coming to an end. If he were being honest, this was probably one of the best school years he'd ever had, but having been dumped just a month ago, his opinion of it had taken a steep dive and he was ready for it to be over. Additionally, the end of the school year meant the start of something great.

Summer.

As he had that thought, the image of Gwen's smiling face popped into his mind. He lowered his spoon into his bowl and stopped eating for a moment. The picture in his head was immediately recognizable. It was from back when Gwen had said goodbye to him at the very end of last summer.

Why would I think of that again now?

"Something wrong, Ben?" his mother asked him, seeing the confused look on his face.

Ben shook his head. "Nope." He started eating again, but he kept thinking about Gwen.

That had been happening a lot lately. Sometimes he'd be watching TV or doing homework or walking around town, and a memory of Gwen would randomly enter his mind. Images of her, things they'd done together, things she'd said to him. Or sometimes he'd see something cool or funny and wonder to himself what Gwen would think of it.

Ben didn't mind those thoughts. The problem was he used to only have those thoughts about Julie, and he wasn't sure what to think of that. On the one hand, he was glad he wasn't obsessing over Julie as much anymore. He still thought about her quite often as well, and he was still awkward around her at school, but he considered himself at least partially over her. That was a good thing. But on the other hand, he thought it was weird to have any thoughts about his cousin that were even remotely similar to thoughts he'd had about his girlfriend.

Those two things should definitely stay separate.

Thoughts of Gwen continued to occupy Ben's thoughts on his way to school, but as soon as he got there, thoughts of Julie took over once again. Since they'd broken up, they'd barely been on speaking terms. Now that the school year was ending, today would be his last chance to make up with her, otherwise he'd have to wait until next year.

They didn't hate each other, and they hadn't even had a fight exactly, but Ben wasn't sure what he wanted his relationship with her to be now. As far as he could tell, his only real choices were to become friends with her again or to ignore her. A big part of him still wished he could be dating her, and maybe someday he could do so again, but she'd made herself pretty clear on that matter.

In his first few classes of the day, Ben put off deciding whether or not to try making up with Julie. He told himself he would decide at lunch, and until then, he would continue to ignore her in class. But instead, all he did was daydream about his next summer trip. Just him, Gwen, and Grandpa for three months. They might even see Lucy, Joel, and Camille at some point as well, although that wasn't exactly going to be a rare event anymore since they were moving to Bellwood at the end of the summer. And on top of all of that, he would have nearly total freedom to use the Omnitrix. Ben smiled at that thought and started flipping through his aliens. There were so many to choose from now, he couldn't decide which one he wanted to be first. He'd probably get tons of new ones before the summer was over as well.

Ben was so busy thinking about the summer trip, he ended up completely unprepared when lunch time came. He still hadn't made a decision on whether or not to clear the air with Julie. So, like usual, he didn't sit with her and tried to avoid her completely.

For the rest of the day, Ben was on the verge of talking to her in between each of his classes, but he always backed down at the last second. That was until the very end of the day.

Now or never.

"Hey, Julie!" Ben called out as he approached her in the hallway. She was at her locker with her two best friends, just preparing to leave. He was hoping to talk to her alone, but he didn't have much choice now.

Luckily, Julie's friends seemed to simultaneously figure out it would be best to give Ben and Julie a moment alone. They both whispered something to Julie and quickly walked away, smiling and giving a quick wave goodbye to the both of them.

"Hey, Ben," Julie replied, giving him a gentle, cautious smile.

Of course, Ben didn't know what to expect either. He hadn't prepared anything to say.

If Gwen were here, she'd chew me out for never thinking things through.

"Listen, uh," Ben began, thinking on his feet. "I just thought I'd say…I hope you have a good summer."

Julie seemed relieved, and smiled brightly at him. "Thanks, Ben," she said. "I hope you enjoy yours, too. Are you going on another trip with your cousin and your grandfather?"

Ben remembered he'd told her about their summer trips, although he'd left out all the best parts. He was sort of regretting it now that she'd mentioned his cousin, though. Given her reasons for breaking up with him, that was the last thing he wanted to talk about with her.

"Yeah, yeah we are," Ben said.

"Cool," Julie said, closing her locker. "Well, have fun, and see you next year!" She waved, then turned to leave.

"Bye," Ben said. He stood there and watched her walk away. He wasn't sure whether or not to count that as a success. He'd talked to her, but…barely. They hadn't really talked anything out or decided where they stood with each other now. All they'd done was wish each other a good summer. He'd been hoping for a little more than that.

Maybe next year.

Ben's concerns about Julie didn't last long after he left school. After all, his summer vacation had just started, and that meant it was time for the annual summer trip.

"Hey, Mom! Hey, Dad!" Ben called out as he barged through his front door and ran to his room.

"Hi, Ben," his mother answered as he ran past her.

In his room, Ben tossed his backpack against the wall and went to pull his suitcase out of the closet. Hurriedly, he began stuffing his clothes, games, and other belongings into it.

From behind him, Ben heard his door open, but he didn't stop packing to see who it was. "Hey there, Ben," he heard his father's voice say.

"Hey, Dad," Ben said, stuffing an unfolded pile of shirts into his bag.

"Your Grandpa's on his way. You almost done packing?" his father asked.

"Working on it," Ben replied.

His father chuckled. "You know, you didn't have to wait until the last second to pack."

"Yeah, well, I like to think of it as adding some tension to the situation."

"Well, aren't you quite the action hero?" his father quipped. "You excited to see your Grandpa again?" he asked.

"I actually saw him a few days ago."

"You did?"

"Yep. Me and Gwen went to see him a few days ago," Ben explained.

"Oh. You kids really run around all over town, huh?" Carl shook his head and smiled to himself. "Well, I'm sure you're excited to spend the whole summer with him again, at least."

"You know it!" Ben said, shoving the last of his things into his luggage.

"And I'm sure you're looking forward to spending it with your cousin as well."

"Oh, come on, Dad!" Ben complained, feeling like he was being teased again.

"They're here!" Sandra called from the other room.

"Coming!" Ben shouted, trying to grab all of his bags at once. Carl shook his head as he stepped forward to help him with some of them.

"Thanks," Ben said, rushing out of the room ahead of his father, carrying what he could.

As he ran through his house and out the front door, he could feel the Omnitrix on his wrist. After wearing it for so many years, he almost never registered the feeling of it on his arm anymore. But today, it felt like it was brand new, and he couldn't wait to get on the road so he could go hero whenever he wanted once again.

Outside, Ben saw the Rust Bucket parked in front of his house. Sandra, Max, and Gwen were talking on the front lawn. When Gwen saw him, she turned and smiled, waving at him. "Ben!" she shouted.

"Catch, Dweeb!" Ben shouted back, tossing one of his bags to her as he ran by.

"Wha—Hey!" Gwen's reflexes didn't kick in fast enough, and the bag Ben had thrown at her ended up hitting her in the face and dropping to the ground. "Ben! You get back here, right now!" she yelled after him.

Inside the Rust Bucket, Ben went straight to the bedroom and tossed his bag inside. He turned around, intending to run back into the house to grab whatever was left of his stuff, but he found Gwen blocking his way.

"Catch, Doofus!" she said, smirking as she tossed his bag at his face.

"Oomph!" Ben grunted as it hit him, falling backwards and hitting the ground hard. Gwen stood over him and laughed.

"You ready for the trip?" Gwen asked. Her smile was friendlier than Ben was expecting. It seemed like she had completely gotten over her annoyance as soon as she'd gotten back at him. Now she was just happy to see him again.

"Yeah, of course I am!" Ben responded, picking up the bag Gwen had thrown at him and tossing it into the bedroom with the others. "I got a few more things to grab first. My dad's bringing a few of them out, but there's probably still more back in my room." He walked past Gwen, heading back outside.

"I'll help," Gwen said, following him.

A few minutes later, the Rust Bucket was fully loaded.

"Have fun on your trip, sweetie," Ben's mother said, kneeling down to give him a hug.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," his father added.

"Thanks, Mom, Dad. See you when I get back!" Ben replied.

"Don't worry, son. I'll keep an eye on him," Max reassured Carl.

"Bye Uncle Carl, Aunt Sandra!" Gwen quickly waved goodbye before following Ben into the Rust Bucket.

After everyone finished saying their goodbyes, Ben, Gwen, and Max were on the road again.

"Finally!" Ben cheered as soon as they drove past the Bellwood city limits. He held up the Omnitrix, spun the dial, and slammed his hand down, stopping it on a random alien.

"Eww! Out of all the aliens on that thing, you had to end up on that one?" Gwen complained, holding her nose after Ben transformed into Stinkfly.

Ben cackled as he fluttered his new wings, lifting into the air. In the cramped RV, he didn't have a lot of room to move around, so he ended up knocking several things over in the process.

"Hey!" Gwen stumbled back. "Grandpa! Ben's getting Stinkfly goop everywhere!"

"Ben, knock it off back there. You shouldn't be using the Omnitrix unless there's an emergency anyway," Max reminded him, glancing at the chaos in the rear-view mirror.

Stinkfly just continued to cackle and fly around in the back.

Gwen rolled her eyes. With a movement of her hands, she telekinetically shoved Stinkfly to the floor. He shrieked in surprise, crumpling up and twitching. Gwen stood over him and smirked. "Now we know for a fact that I'm right the next time I say I can crush you like a bug."

"Very funny," Stinkfly said in his squeaky voice. "That's the kind of pun that makes Grandpa laugh."

"Like, all the names you give your aliens are puns," Gwen responded.

"Yeah," Stinkfly said, getting back on his feet. "But my puns are better."

"Ugh, will you just change back into Ben already? Even your usual stink is better than this."

Stinkfly shrugged, then tapped the Omnitrix on his forehead. It beeped, blinking a few times. In a brief flash of light, Ben was standing before Gwen.

"I thought you couldn't control when you changed back into a human," Max said, having been watching in the rear-view mirror.

"Oh I've been practicing," Ben said, proudly. "Now, let's go find some alien butt to kick!"

Max laughed. "I don't think so, Ben. The first stop on our trip is a city that hasn't had any alien activity in decades."

"Ah, lame," Ben complained.

Gwen didn't seem nearly as disappointed as Ben did. "I think that'll be a good way to start this summer," she said. "We can spend some time together, just the three of us."

"Pfft, screw that," Ben said, walking over to the table and sitting down with his arms crossed. "I hate dumb touristy stuff."

"It'll be fun," Gwen said, sitting down right next to him. "Besides, it can't be worse than Sparksville, right?"

Ben shuddered. "Ugh, that place was the worst."

Gwen pulled out her laptop and put it on the table. "Wanna play something?" she asked, grabbing a controller and connecting it to the laptop.

Ben shrugged. "Sure," he said, grabbing the second controller.

The two of them played a co-op game until Max stopped for dinner. Afterwards, they went right back to playing their game until late into the night.

They didn't realize how late it was until Max parked the Rust Bucket. "Don't stay up too late, now," he said, getting up and walking towards the back. He chuckled when he laid eyes on Ben and Gwen. "And if Gwen falls asleep like that, be sure to carry her to bed," he said to Ben.

Gwen, still playing, was snuggled up next to Ben, resting her head on his shoulder. Her eyelids were half-closed, like she was falling asleep. When she registered what Max had said, she realized just how she was sitting. Her eyes shot open in panic and she shoved Ben to the side, sitting herself upright in the process.

"Ow, hey!" Ben complained as he was nearly knocked over.

"I'm fine!" Gwen said in response to Max. "I can get to my bed by myself."

Max chuckled again. "Alright. Good night, kids," he said, heading off to bed.

"Sorry," Gwen said, apologizing to Ben, looking embarrassed as she did.

Ben sat upright and glanced towards where Max had gone, then gave her an understanding nod. "Uh, did you want to go to bed now?" he asked, still holding his controller.

Gwen hesitated for a moment. "No," she said. "Let's keep playing for a little longer."

"Cool," Ben said, unpausing the game. After only a few minutes, he felt Gwen return to her previous position, laying her head on his shoulder again.

I mean...I guess I don't mind, really.

He decided not to say anything about it.

Not long after, he heard a clacking sound as something plastic dropped to the ground. Ben looked down and saw Gwen's controller on the floor. "What—?" Turning to his side, he saw Gwen had fallen asleep on him.

You're such a kid.

He laughed quietly to himself, then he remembered what Max had said. He knew he should probably just wake her up and let her walk to bed herself, but for some reason, he decided to listen to what his grandfather had told him. Carefully, he lifted Gwen's sleeping form in his arms and carried her to their bedroom, laying her down on her bed and covering her with the blanket.

As he let her go and stood back from her, Gwen rolled over and grabbed his arm.

"Whoa!" It surprised him, but Ben looked at her face. She was still sleeping. He carefully pulled himself free from her grip, then climbed up to his own bunk.

Goodnight, Dweeb.

Ben knew it was a dream because he wasn't in the Rust Bucket. Instead, he was back in Bellwood, and he recognized the setting immediately. He was at the movie theater, and he was watching the movie he had taken Julie to see on their first date. It didn't surprise him. He'd dreamed about Julie many times, and that hadn't stopped after their breakup, although it had been happening less frequent lately.

Even though he knew it was a dream, and even though thinking about his time with Julie normally made him depressed nowadays, he still felt the way he had that day. He was nervous, but also giddy with excitement. The girl he liked was sitting right next to him, and she was there on a date with him. He could hardly believe he was so lucky.

Something funny happened in the movie. Ben had no idea what it was. He was watching the screen, but he wasn't paying attention at all. He only knew something funny had happened because he heard laughter from beside him. But it wasn't Julie's laugh. It was a very distinct laugh that he'd heard hundreds of times before, and he recognized it immediately.

Ben turned his head. Sitting beside him wasn't Julie. It was Gwen.

Ben freaked out, but Dream Ben didn't react at all. He was still feeling that first date bliss, and somehow seeing his cousin there beside him wasn't ruining it. As Ben screamed in his head, trying to comprehend what was going on, Dream Ben just smiled.

Dream Gwen turned her head, and they made eye contact. She smiled at him, wearing the same warm smile Julie had given him, looking deep into his eyes at that moment.

Ben woke up in a panic, sitting up in his bed and breathing heavily.

What the fuck was that?

Reliving his first date with Gwen in place of Julie...Ben didn't like the implications of that. It was gross, and he felt dirty all over.

The uncomfortableness only increased when he heard Gwen make a noise from the bunk beneath him. Quietly, he leaned over the edge of his bed to look down at her. She was still asleep, but every few seconds her sleeping face would smile, and she would let out a very quiet sound of enjoyment.

Whatever she's dreaming about must be making her pretty happy.

"Ohhh," Ben whispered in realization, leaning away from the edge of the bed and lying down again.

Gwen's making noise in her sleep. I heard her while I was dreaming, so she popped up in my dream. That's all it was.

Ben breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there, he'd been worried something really weird was happening.

Let's hope Gwen doesn't intrude on my dreams anymore.

Closing his eyes, Ben went back to sleep.

Gwen woke up in her bed. She found that odd, since she didn't remember getting into bed the night before.

How did I get here?

She thought back to last night. The last thing she remembered was playing video games with Ben. "Oh no," she said out loud, sitting up.

Tell me I didn't…

"Ugh…" she moaned, falling back into her pillow. She pressed her hands against her face, embarrassed. She'd fallen asleep on Ben, and he'd had to carry her to bed.

What am I, five?

Scolding herself, Gwen rolled out of bed. As she walked out of the bedroom to go take a shower, she looked up at Ben in the top bunk. She cringed again, imagining what he must have thought about it last night.

In the Rust Bucket's bathroom, Gwen undressed, turned the shower on, and stepped inside.

It's not my fault. I was just so comfortable resting against Ben, and…

Gwen began to justify it to herself in her head, but she stopped. As she thought about lying against Ben, she started to feel...something. Confused, she stopped washing herself, breathing heavily and looking at her hands. Her body felt warm.

...Guess I should turn the hot water down.

Gwen adjusted the shower knobs and tried to think about something else.

After her shower, she got dressed and went into the other room to get some breakfast.

"Morning, Pumpkin," her grandfather greeted her.

"Morning, Grandpa," she replied cheerfully.

Max was eating a bowl of what looked like a mixture of oatmeal and mud. "Want some? It's still warm!" he offered.

Gwen gave him a very fake smile. "No, thanks. I think I'll just have some cereal." After getting her food, Gwen sat at the table to eat.

It wasn't long before Ben stumbled into the room, looking very tired. His clothes were a mess and he had awful bed hair. He yawned and stretched, then looked around the room with his eyelids only half-open.

"You alright there, Sport?" Max asked Ben.

"Uh, yeah," Ben said, opening his eyes more and standing up straight. He glanced at Gwen, then quickly looked back at Max. "Just, uh, had some trouble sleeping."

Ben got a bowl of cereal as well and walked over to the table. Gwen scooted over, expecting him to sit with her like he usually did when they ate together, but instead he sat down next to their grandfather. Gwen winced.

Dammit, I knew it. He got weirded out by me falling asleep on him last night.

Gwen tried to give Ben an apologetic look. The two of them were usually pretty good about communicating silently, especially in front of their grandfather, so she hoped he would get the message. But he wasn't even looking at her. He stared at his cereal and occasionally looked up, but he always avoided eye contact with her.

Gwen looked down at her cereal in defeat. She'd been hoping Ben would've completely forgotten about her falling asleep on him, but it seemed like he was as embarrassed about it as she was, and that was even more humiliating.

Luckily, Max didn't seem to notice anything was out of the ordinary. "When you finish eating, get ready. We've got a big day ahead of us," he said, getting up from the table and clearing his dishes.

"Okay, Grandpa."

"Okay."

It's certainly going to be a long day...

Four Arms rounded the corner where Gwen and Max had been watching from. "Everything squared away?" Max asked.

"Yep," Four Arms replied. "Delivered gift wrapped." He had just finished dropping off some tied up bank robbers in front of the local police station, having carried all three of them across town himself.

"Good. Let's get going before anyone starts asking questions," Max said.

Four Arms chuckled to himself. "Man, three in one day. I could've carried a fourth, even!" He reached up to his shoulder and fiddled with the Omnitrix, turning himself back into Ben.

"Yeah. That was real heroic of you," Gwen said as they walked back towards where they'd parked the Rust Bucket.

Ben scoffed. "What's with the sarcasm? Those guys had it coming."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Oh, I get it," Ben said. "You're upset that you barely got to do anything this time."

"Stop it, you two," Max said. "You're both heroes. No need to find over who did what."

"Ugh," Gwen groaned. "You and that damn watch…" she said under her breath.

"Gwen! Language!"

"Sorry, Grandpa."

"Whaddya got against the watch? Jealous?" Ben asked with a smug smile.

Gwen glared at him. "You're such a little—"

"That's enough," Max spoke up, sternly.

Ben and Gwen faced away from each other angrily as they walked. They didn't say another word until they were back at the Rust Bucket.

"We're all a little upset that our time in this city got cut short," Max reminded them as he got back in the driver's seat. "Let's just get back on the road for a little while, and then we'll stop for the night. I'm sure the next place we visit will be just as nice."

Gwen took a seat at the table and pulled out her laptop. Ben sat down across from her, but she didn't acknowledge him. She chose to stay focused on her computer screen.

"What are you so pissed off about?" Ben asked after sitting there quietly for a minute.

Gwen glanced at him, then looked back at her screen as she spoke. "We were having a perfectly nice time in that city. You didn't have to interrupt that."

Ben scrunched up his face in confusion. "Excuse me? You think I made those losers rob that bank?"

"No," Gwen said. "But you didn't have to go hero."

"I had to save those people!" Ben insisted.

"Those guys were no real threat to anyone. Their guns weren't even real. The security guards could've handled them just fine," Gwen insisted.

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" Ben asked. "And besides, with me helping, there was less of a chance of anyone getting hurt. Since when are you so opposed to a little hero-ing?"

Gwen stopped typing on her laptop, letting out a sigh. Looking to Ben, her face saddening a little. "I don't know...I just...Sometimes, I just wanna have a nice, normal vacation. Relax. Have fun. Spend time with you and Grandpa." Gwen timidly averted her gaze back to her screen.

Ben said nothing, and made no move to leave his spot.

"What, are you just gonna sit around doing nothing the whole ride?" Gwen asked eventually.

"Whatever, Dweeb," Ben said. He pulled out his own portable game system and began to play with it, although he looked a little angry as he did.

I shouldn't have said that...

"Sorry…" Gwen apologized weakly.

"Whatever," Ben repeated offhandedly.

Gwen sighed.

Good job, Gwen.

Author's note:

Hey everyone, next week's chapter will be a little delayed. I'm gonna be at Anime Boston all weekend, so I won't have time to work on my story.

To my reader who just discovered they could post a review as a guest: Thank you so much! I'm always happy to hear people are appreciating my story in that way. It makes me glad I decided to post it rather than just keeping it as writing practice like I had originally intended. I felt the same way about the Ben 10 series. The chemistry between Ben and Gwen was absolutely what drew me to it. And there's no shame in admitting how adorable Gwen is!