March, Year 4 (Part 1)
"Hey, Ben."
"Hmm?" Turning his head to the side, Ben stopped walking and saw Julie coming towards him, hands casually in the pockets of her pink hoodie. "Hey, Julie," he greeted her.
"Off to lunch?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Cool, me too."
Side by side, the two of them walked to the cafeteria and got in line for lunch.
"I'm playing tennis with the girls after school today," Julie said. "Wanna come?"
"Nah, I got plans with the other girls."
Julie smirked. "Popular guy, aren'tcha?"
"Heh. Damn right," Ben said with mock smugness. "But I was actually talking about my cousins."
"Yeah, I figured."
After getting their food, they carried their trays to an open table and sat down across from each other. "So, how's tennis going?" Ben asked, wondering if Julie and her friends were playing for practice or just for fun.
"Not bad," she replied. "I got a few matches coming up. Nothing major, though."
Their casual conversation went on for a few minutes before one of Julie's friends showed up.
"Hey, Ally," Julie greeted her.
The other girl looked toward the door, then back at them with a somewhat serious look on her face. "Were you guys near the gym today?" she asked.
"No," Julie said.
"Me neither," Ben said. "Why?"
"There were a couple cop cars and an ambulance parked outside the gym earlier."
"What? What happened?" Ben asked.
"I don't know. I think they're gone now though."
"Oh…" Ben looked down and gripped his left wrist where the Omnitrix used to be. If he'd still had it, maybe he would've been more alert. He definitely would've wanted to help if something bad had happened at his own school.
Ally put her backpack down by the seat next to Julie. "I'm gonna go get lunch."
"Something wrong?" Julie asked.
"No," Ben said, quickly taking his hand off of his wrist. The skin discoloration was still there, but it was very slight. No one would notice it unless they saw it up close or knew where to look.
Julie glanced behind her back before continuing. "Does it hurt?"
Don't ask.
"Sometimes," he said, lifting his hand up. He opened and closed it several times. All his fingers moved now, but the grip strength of his left hand was much weaker than his right. "Not usually, though. I just can't hold onto things too tightly, that's all."
Ben didn't want pity. If he were an athlete, or even just a lefty, maybe this would've been a big deal. But the worst Ben had to deal with on a regular basis was having slight difficulty holding a controller evenly. It came up now and then with other things, and it pissed him off whenever it did, but he preferred not to think about it. All that really bothered him was the loss of the Omnitrix.
From the look Julie was giving him, Ben wondered if she suspected his injury meant more to him than he was letting on. She probably thought the event was more traumatizing than he was willing to admit, or maybe the watch held tremendous sentimental value to him for some reason. Luckily, she seemed to think asking any more than that would be prying too much.
"Alright." Julie nodded. "Well...let me know if you ever need help with anything." She said it casually, but the look on her face made it clear she meant more than just what she'd said.
"...Thanks."
Ben still felt bad about having to keep the secret of the Omnitrix from her, but he knew it was for the best. It wasn't like she would believe him now that he couldn't show it to her anyway. And even though he didn't want pity, it still felt good to know that she cared about him.
I wonder what it would be like if we were still dating.
After school, Lucy invited Ben to come hang out at her house. Gwen was at her karate class, so the two of them were watching TV to kill time before going to meet up with her afterwards.
"Damn, she's hot," Lucy commented, watching as one of the girls in the show did a backflip, landing in front of a vampire and stabbing it in the heart with a wooden stake.
"Yeah, she is," Ben agreed, also watching intently.
Lucy smiled and gave him a curious side glance. It wasn't often that she heard Ben admit whether or not he found someone attractive. Admittedly, that was probably because she teased him about it all the time, but she also noticed he never did it in front of Gwen. Without her there, that must've been enough to make him comfortable with it.
"What d'you like about her?" Lucy asked.
"You kidding? She's so badass." As he answered, the girl on screen did a spinning kick and simultaneously threw a stake at another vampire, hitting both of them at once.
"Heh, that's funny. I figured you'd have said it's 'cause she's got a nice ass."
Ben laughed. "Well, okay," he said noncommittally.
"Hmmm?" Lucy leaned in close to him, smirking deviously. "I didn't hear a 'No.'"
Ben shook his head. "Lucy, come on, now."
"What? There's nothing wrong with admitting it."
"I know, it's just...that's not the sorta thing I'm used to talkin' about."
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "You really need more guy friends."
"Why would I need guy friends when I got you?"
Lucy was taken aback for a moment.
That was...oddly sweet somehow.
They resumed watching the show for a while, and it eventually came to a scene where three of the main girls were on screen at once. "Alright, so be honest: Which one's the hottest?" Lucy asked, deciding she might have an opportunity to assess Ben's taste in girls.
"Hmm...probably the witch," he said, pointing to the redhead standing on the far right of the screen.
Lucy stared at him for a second.
Figures he'd go for the nerdy redheaded one. It's like he doesn't even know he has a type!
A wicked smile crept across her face as she got an idea. "You sure about that?" she asked.
"Huh?"
Lucy turned in her seat and slid across the couch, lifting herself onto Ben's lap, facing him as she straddled him.
"Hey, what're you-"
"You sure you wouldn't prefer the hot blonde? The one who's not as much of a prude?" she said teasingly, draping her arms over Ben's shoulders and leaning in closer.
Ben chuckled. "Well, I can't say I wouldn't enjoy that option too," he said with a wry smile.
Lucy raised an eyebrow. It seemed she'd caught him in the mood to flirt back a little this time. "Mmm, I'm glad to hear it," she said breathily. Sliding her hands down his body, she grabbed his hands and began to pull this arms toward her, intending to place his hands on her waist. However, in doing so, she caused Ben to glance at his watch.
"Oh, wait. We gotta go meet Gwen," he said, pulling his hands free of hers.
Aw, come on...
Lucy forced a giggle. "Okay," she said, sliding off of Ben's lap. "Guess we'll come back to this later." Grabbing the remote, she turned off the TV as she stood up. She tried not to feel too rejected as the two of them grabbed their shoes and headed out the door.
"So, what do you wanna do once we get Gwen?" Lucy asked as they walked. "Hang out, dinner and a movie, maybe a romantic walk on the beach?" She shot Ben a smirk, but he didn't seem to have heard her. He looked like he was spacing out.
Hmm. I wonder what's on his mind.
"Yo, Ben," Lucy said, jabbing him in the side with her hand. "What's goin' on up there?" she asked, reaching up to tap him on the head.
Ben flinched, then turned his attention to her. "...Lucy, can I have some girl advice?"
Lucy smiled excitedly. "Sure! Ask me anything."
He hesitated. "Do you, um...Do you think Julie would ever date me again?"
Lucy's heart sank, but she figured that had been more likely than what she'd been thinking.
"I mean, I know you don't know her, but I think I've told you about her and how she broke up with me," Ben went on.
"Yeah, I know about Julie," Lucy confirmed.
"Right. So, we're kinda back to being friends now, like we were before we started dating. So, I thought, maybe I could ask her out again sometime."
Lucy found herself in a bind. She didn't want Ben to date Julie, or anybody who wasn't Gwen. Or herself. But she also didn't want to do anything to sabotage his love life. She knew she could just say she'd prefer to stay out of it, but that didn't feel right either. She wanted to help him if she could.
There's gotta be a right way to do this.
"Well, is anything different now than it was before?" Lucy asked.
"What do you mean?"
"There was a reason you two didn't work out, wasn't there?"
Ben looked at the ground as he walked. He seemed a little ashamed. "She didn't like that I put Gwen before her..."
Lucy took a moment to consider how to continue. "If you dated her again, would that be any different?" Lucy braced herself. She was afraid he'd say 'Yes.'
"...No," Ben said. "I guess not."
Lucy smiled.
At least he realizes how important Gwen is to him.
Putting his hand to his head, Ben sighed. "Gah, why can't I just make them both happy?" he complained.
Typical hero. Always trying to save everyone.
After taking a moment to bask in her admiration for him, Lucy continued. "It's okay," she told him. "One of these days, you'll find someone you can date while making Gwen happy at the same time."
"I hope so," Ben said wistfully.
Me too.
Lucy just smiled knowingly to herself, afraid she would say something too telling if she made another comment.
When they got to the building where Gwen took her karate classes, they waited for her in the parking lot.
"Oh, and, uh, by the way?" Ben said to Julie while they waited. "Don't tell Gwen about anything we talked about today."
"What, about the hot girls in that Vampire Slayer show?" Lucy asked, grinning playfully.
"Not that," Ben said. "Well, yeah, that too. But also the stuff about Julie."
"No prob, Bob." Lucy said, putting her thumb and forefinger together and making a gesture as if she were zipping her lips. "Anything you tell me stays between us. I mean it."
Anything.
Ben nodded.
"Ooh, look! There's Gwen!" Lucy pointed towards the entrance of the building. "Hi, Gwen! It's us! Over here!"
Gwen was carrying her backpack out the door. She looked over at them when she heard Lucy's voice, then held up her hands, signalling for Lucy to quit shouting.
"Hey, guys," Gwen greeted them when she got close.
"Hey!" Lucy said. "How was karate? Can I get your backpack for you?"
"Pretty good. And no," Gwen said, taking off her backpack. "Doofus can, though." She tossed her backpack at Ben like she was passing a basketball.
Ben caught it. "Yeah, nice try," he said, tossing it back at her.
Gwen smirked. "Worth a shot."
"So, Mr. Smoothy?" Ben suggested, as it was their usual after-karate hangout.
"Sounds good," Gwen agreed, putting her bag back on.
"Great!" Lucy agreed as well, skipping along to lead the way.
When they got to Mr. Smoothy, they ordered their drinks and took a seat at a table. Like she'd been doing a lot recently, Lucy waited and sat down last so she could let Gwen choose where to sit in relation to Ben. She chose to sit next to him, so Lucy took a seat on the other side of the table. Gwen gave her a grateful smile, which she silently acknowledged with a smile of her own.
While they waited for their drinks, they chatted and fiddled with their phones.
"By the way, Gwen. If you're already a black belt, what are you still taking classes for?" Ben asked. "Shouldn't you be teaching them?"
"There are different ranks of black belt," Gwen explained. "Plus, it's still pretty good exercise."
"Different ranks, huh?" Ben asked. "So, what, pretty soon you'll be a super black belt?"
Gwen chuckled. "No, no, I'll just get stripes on my black belt after taking more of the same kinds of tests. Although, I think next year they'll let me help teach classes for the younger kids."
Lucy gasped. "You mean like little tiny kids in little karate outfits jumping around trying to punch and kick stuff?"
"Uh, yeah, I think the youngest age group is like six to eight year olds," Gwen confirmed.
Lucy squealed in excitement. "That's so cute! You have to let me come see sometime."
An employee from the counter called their order number.
"I got it," Ben said, getting up from the table.
Gwen's eyes followed him as he walked away. She watched him almost dreamily now that he wasn't looking at her.
Lucy smiled and let her be for a moment, then she spoke quietly. "Hey," she said, getting Gwen's attention.
Gwen snapped out of her daze. She looked embarrassed. "Crud. I shouldn't stare."
"Don't worry about it, he didn't notice," Lucy assured her.
Gwen glanced nervously over her shoulder. "Can I talk to you later?" she asked quietly, turning back to Lucy.
"Sure, of course."
"Here you go, ladies," Ben said, placing the smoothies down on the table.
"Aw, such a gentleman!" Lucy said, giving Ben a wry smile.
"Pfft, screw that," Ben said, sitting back down next to Gwen.
"Yeah, you must be thinking of someone else," Gwen said.
Lucy giggled.
It's so cute when they agree like that.
Ben took a sip of his smoothie and looked surprised. "Whoa," he said before going back for a much bigger gulp.
Gwen looked at him curiously, putting her smoothie down. "How's yours?"
Ben took his straw out of his mouth. "This is really good."
"What flavor is it?"
"Blueberry mango."
"What? That sounds awful."
"No, it's actually really good."
"Let me try it, then," Gwen said, reaching for Ben's cup.
"Yeah, nope. Get your own," Ben said with a smug look on his face, sliding his cup along the table away from her.
"Oh, come on, Doofus. Just one sip," Gwen insisted.
As the two of them fought, Lucy contentedly slurped her smoothie, eyes darting back and forth between them like she was watching a tennis match.
This is the best thing ever.
"Alright, fine. Here." Ben eventually gave in and placed his smoothie on the table between them.
Gwen took her straw out of her cup and put it in Ben's. She leaned in and began to sip from it. On the other side, Ben leaned in and did the same with his straw.
Lucy perked up at the scene before her. Thinking quickly, she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of them. "Aww," she said to herself, looking at how the picture came out.
Gwen glanced over at her and noticed what Lucy was doing. She leaned back and started to say something, but she started coughing.
"Geez, that bad?" Ben said, pulling his cup away from her. "Well, I like it."
"No, it's fine," Gwen said, taking her hand off of her mouth as her coughing stopped. "Just...went down the wrong pipe." She reached over and grabbed her straw out of Ben's cup, returning it to her own. Subtly, she gave Lucy an unamused look, letting her know she wasn't happy about that picture.
Lucy smiled apologetically, putting her phone away.
Later, after they'd all finished their drinks, the three of them walked back outside.
"So, what do we wanna do next?" Ben asked.
Gwen and Lucy glanced at each other. "Uh, I actually really need to work on a project tonight," Gwen said. "So I think I'll head home."
"And I'm helping her with it, so I'm going with her," Lucy joined in.
"Ah, darn. Okay. Well, want me to walk you guys home?" Ben offered.
"No, we're good," Gwen said, shaking her head along with Lucy. "Thanks, though."
"Alright. Well, night, Dweeb. Night, Lucy." Ben split off from them and set off towards his own house.
Gwen and Lucy walked together without saying much at first. Once they felt they were a safe enough distance from Ben, Lucy spoke up. "So, what did you wanna talk to me about?"
"...Well first of all, delete that freaking picture."
"Oh, come on!" Lucy moaned. She took out her phone and brought up the picture of Ben and Gwen sharing a smoothie. "I wasn't gonna show it to anyone. I just thought it was really cute."
Gwen leaned over so she could see the picture, then took a moment to study Lucy's reaction to it. "...You really don't think there's anything weird about it? Like, if I were with Ben? Like that?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"Not at all," Lucy assured her, shaking her head. "You can fall in love with anyone you want."
Gwen seemed a little embarrassed about being told she was in love, but she sighed relentingly. "Alright. You can keep the picture."
"Yay! Thanks, Gwen!" She cheered, fist pumping as she put her phone back into her pocket. "So what else did you wanna talk about?"
Gwen stared at the ground as she walked. "I want to try hanging out with Ben again. Like, just me and him."
Lucy nodded. Ever since Gwen had told her how she felt about Ben, she'd been spending a lot of time with him again. However, she would always ask Lucy to come along as well since she was still too uncomfortable to be alone with him.
"That's good," Lucy said, patting Gwen on the back reassuringly.
"But not like a date!" Gwen quickly clarified.
"I know, I know," Lucy said. "But still, it's good. I'm glad to hear you're starting to feel comfortable around him again."
Gwen nodded.
"...Does this mean you're, you know, over him?" Lucy asked.
Gwen shook her head. "No. Not at all. But I want things to go back to normal. Or at least as normal as I can get it." Lucy nodded understandingly, encouraging Gwen to go on. "I...I still don't know if I could...date him, but...I haven't really thought that much about it. I don't think he'd ever want to anyway."
Lucy wanted to say something. She knew Ben was thinking about dating again, and if he wasn't going to get back together with Julie, he'd find someone else eventually. If Gwen wanted to date him, she needed to figure that out sooner rather than later if she wanted a chance. The thought of Gwen having to watch Ben date another girl was something Lucy couldn't stand.
But I can't say anything.
This wasn't something that was safe to rush, and she'd already promised herself she would only try to support Gwen, not direct her.
"Okay. That's good. Don't stress too much about it. Just get together with Ben sometime and try to have fun like you always do," Lucy said.
Gwen nodded, still clearly very troubled and deep in thought. However, when she turned and gave Lucy a grateful smile, she got the feeling things might just work out after all.
I have a good feeling about this.
Ben yawned, stretching his arms as he leaned back on the couch. It was the weekend, and he'd spent all day lazing around the house. He had homework to do, but he didn't want to do it. However, he realized he'd have to do it on Sunday if he didn't do it today, and he was already running out of ways to procrastinate. So, after watching one more episode of a show he didn't even really like, he finally gave in and headed upstairs.
Just as he was sitting down to do some work, his phone vibrated.
Phew.
Relieved to have another distraction, he took his phone out of his pocket. It was Gwen.
"Hey, Dweeb," he answered.
"Um, hey, Ben," came Gwen's voice. "Uh, do you wanna maybe go bowling tonight?"
Ben thought she sounded strange. Usually her requests to hang out were more like demands. She seemed much less sure of herself than she usually did. "Bowling?" Ben asked.
"Yeah. There's a new bowling alley that opened up near the arcade a couple weeks ago. Lucy told me about it," Gwen explained. "So, um, do you wanna go?" she asked again.
"Uh, sure. Alright," Ben agreed. "Did Lucy wanna come too?"
"I already asked her and she said she was busy."
"Okay. Well, when did you wanna go?" Ben asked. "If you wanna go soon, I can get a ride from my mom."
"Yeah, I was gonna get a ride too. You wanna meet there in, like, half an hour? And they have food and stuff too if you haven't had dinner yet."
"Okay, cool. I'll see you in a bit then."
"Great!" Gwen's voice wavered a bit, and she coughed to clear her throat. "See you then." She hung up.
Ben held his phone away from him and stared at it questioningly.
Okay. Gwen's acting a little weird.
He thought about it for another minute. It occurred to him that this was another situation that would probably look like a date to anyone who didn't know them. A teenage boy and a teenage girl going out for a fun couple's activity?
It does seem like the kind of thing I used to do with Julie…
Ben immediately regretted that thought. Without meaning to, he suddenly pictured himself and Gwen on all sorts of dates he'd been on with Julie. Dinners, movies, the boardwalk, the arcade, the park, places all over town. And worse still, he realized he'd taken Gwen to all of those places too.
It's like we're…
Ben rubbed his face with his hands exasperatedly, wishing he didn't have such embarrassing thoughts about Gwen. He knew people must make that mistake about them all the time. He didn't exactly dislike being mistaken for her boyfriend, especially since, according to Lucy, she was pretty popular with guys. Probably because she was smart, and strong, and pretty, and…
She's your cousin, man.
Ben sighed. Gwen had a lot of good qualities, many of which he could admire. But given their relationship, some of those qualities were kind of...off-limits. And they could be tough to ignore sometimes, especially with people like Lucy reminding him of them.
Just forget about it.
Ben did his best to shrug it off. After grabbing his wallet and his phone, he went downstairs to ask his mother if she would give him a ride to the bowling alley.
About half an hour later, Ben arrived with an extra bit of allowance from his mother. He found Gwen outside the building's entrance, pacing back and forth. He'd seen her like this several times before, usually when she had a big test the next day. It looked liked she was going over mountains of information inside her head to make sure she'd get everything right. She was so absorbed in whatever she was thinking about that she didn't even notice Ben when he walked right up to her.
"Uh, Gwen?" he asked, reaching out to tap her on the shoulder.
"Ah!" Gwen jumped back in surprise. "Oh, it's you," she said, standing up straight and composing herself. "Sorry, I was thinking about something."
Ben raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"
Gwen reached out with one arm, holding her hand in front of Ben's face.
"What are you- Ow."
Gwen lightly smacked his forehead with her fingertips before pulling her hand away. "None of your business," she said nonchalantly.
Ben held his hands out incredulously.
Seriously?
"Come on, Doofus. Let's go inside already," Gwen said, turning to walk towards the entrance.
There were a lot of other people inside the bowling alley, mostly families and groups of friends. However, Ben and Gwen didn't recognize anyone, even the other teenagers who looked closest to them in age. Despite how many people were there, a couple of lanes were still open, and Ben and Gwen were able to rent one for a while. After paying the fee, they took the shoes they were given and went to sit down at the booth in front of their lane.
"Ugh, why do they always make you wear these weird shoes?" Ben complained, struggling to tie the strangely-colored bowling shoes he'd borrowed.
"I know, right?" Gwen agreed, also trying to put hers on. It had been a while since the two of them had gone bowling, but the shoes were something they'd both always found annoying.
Afterwards, they entered their names into the console that would be keeping score, and they were ready to begin.
"So, you ready to get destroyed?" Ben asked, picking up a bowling ball.
"You always say that, but I'm still waiting for it to happen," Gwen said. They smiled at each other, that old competitive look returning to their eyes.
Ben stepped up to the line and made an attempt to roll the bowling ball the way he'd been taught when he was younger. It made it almost to the pins before it fell into the left gutter.
"Ah, dammit," he complained, going to pick up another one from the ball return.
"Nice gutterball," Gwen commented.
"Shut it, Dweeb." Ben stepped up again and rolled the second ball. This time, it made it all the way to the end and knocked over a single pin.
"Am I getting destroyed yet?" Gwen asked.
"Alright, let's see you do it," Ben said, sitting down at the booth.
"My pleasure," Gwen said, standing up and walking over to grab a bowling ball. She fumbled with it as she picked it up, as if she'd underestimated how heavy it would be.
"Heavier than it looks, huh?" Ben smirked.
Gwen ignored him. She stood behind the line and gave it a try. Her first ball did the exact same thing Ben's did, rolling almost to the end before falling off into the gutter on the left.
"Not so easy, is it?" Ben enjoyed seeing her fail after she'd taunted him about his own failure at the exact same thing.
"Just you watch," Gwen said. "I'll be getting strike after strike by the end of this." Taking her second ball, she tried again. This time, she knocked down three pins. "And, boom! Gwen takes an early lead!" she cheered, pumping her fist. She walked back over to Ben and stood in front of him, arms crossed and smiling smugly. "Your turn."
Ben stared at her for a second, then started laughing. "Man, we suck at this."
Gwen joined in, laughing as well. "Yeah, we do."
They continued taking turns for a while. They got better the more they played, to the point where they could bowl spares now and then. Ben even got a strike at one point, which made him feel rather superior.
At one point, Ben was feeling a bit cocky when his next turn came up. As he was bragging to Gwen, he picked up a bowling ball and tried to hold it up with just his left hand. All of a sudden, he stopped talking mid-sentence as his arm began to shake under the weight of the ball. He panicked, trying to reach for it with his right hand, but he dropped it. The heavy ball hit the ground with a loud bang, but luckily he managed to jump back so it wouldn't land on his foot.
"Shit," Ben muttered, looking around. He was embarrassed, and he hoped not many people had seen that. Then his eyes fell on Gwen. He was expecting her to be smirking and preparing to trash talk him for his poor display, but she wasn't. She was staring at him, switching her gaze between his arm and his face, concerned rather than amused.
My left arm.
Ben realized what she must've been thinking. "Heh, oops," he said, trying to laugh it off.
"Ben…" Gwen said quietly.
"Relax. Won't happen again," he attempted to assure her, picking the ball back up. He went back to bowling and filled his next frame like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, trying his best not to make Gwen worry.
I'm fine.
Gwen didn't say anything about the incident afterwards, but she became noticeably more reserved. They continued to be competitive for the remainder of the night, but Gwen's playful insults stopped almost completely.
Once their game was finished, Gwen called her father and asked if he could give her a ride home. Frank accepted, offering Ben a ride as well, so the two of them went outside to wait on a bench near the bowling alley.
"Well, guess we can put another win for me up on the scoreboard," Ben said, leaning back and stretching.
"BS," Gwen said. "I scored way more consistently than you. Half your shots were gutter balls."
"And the other half were amazing." Ben smiled smugly, waiting for Gwen's clever response. When she didn't say anything, he looked to his left and found her staring at his arm.
Goddammit.
"It's fine," he said, covering his left arm with his right hand.
Gwen placed her hands on his arm and looked him in the eyes. "Ben. Let me see it."
"I told you, it's-"
"Ben."
Gwen ordering him around was nothing new. He'd been through it enough times to know when she wasn't about to back down on something. But there was something different about the way she held his gaze this time. She wasn't glaring, she didn't look angry, all of the resolve was still there, but something else was there too. He just couldn't tell what it was.
Sighing, Ben moved his right hand away, relenting to her demands. Gwen pulled his left arm over and held it in front of her, examining it. Without a word, she undid the strap of his watch and took it off of him, putting it down on the bench. Then she placed her fingertips on his wrist and slowly slid them across the slightly discolored area.
"It looks a lot better," she said softly.
"It is a lot better," Ben insisted.
Gwen sat there silently for a moment, still staring at his arm. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"It wasn't your fault," Ben said. "None of it was."
Gwen turned to look him in the eyes again. "Do you miss it?"
Ben knew she meant the Omnitrix, or being a hero, or both.
Of course I do.
He was about to say so, but a wave of nostalgia hit him all of a sudden. He thought back to the day he found it. How amazed he was. How much fun he had changing into all those different aliens. All the good he managed to do. How important it made him feel. Before he knew it, his eyes were watering. An intense wave of emotion he didn't even know he'd been holding back threatened to overtake him.
"Yes," Ben said, choking back a sob. "I miss it."
He felt Gwen take his hand in hers, holding it tightly. With her other arm, she reached over and put a hand on his back, rubbing it gently.
Ben covered his eyes with his free hand, unable to stop himself from quietly sobbing. This was too sudden. It had all caught him completely off guard. He didn't like crying in front of anyone, especially Gwen.
"Sorry, sorry…" he said, trying to calm himself down.
"It's okay," Gwen said gently. "It's okay..."
When he finally stopped weeping, Ben hunched over on the bench. His face had redness around his eyes, and he stared at the ground solemnly.
Gwen took her hand off of his back, but continued to hold his hand. "I'm sorry," she apologized yet again.
"...I never blamed you," Ben told her. "For the Omnitrix. It wasn't your fault. It was all Vilgax." He took a deep breath, and unconsciously gripped Gwen's hand tightly. "I miss the Omnitrix. I miss having a fully-functioning left hand. But if I had to choose again...I'd still give them both up for you every time."
"Ben…"
He turned his head. The look in Gwen's eyes told him she had a lot to say to him. He wondered if what he'd said had been a little too much, or maybe he'd screwed up and made her feel even more guilty. However, he didn't get a chance to hear whatever it was she had to say, because he recognized her father's car driving up to them from behind her.
Shit.
Ben quickly pulled his hand away from hers, semi-consciously realizing he didn't want anyone to walk in on this scene.
"What-?" Gwen turned around. She seemed to have the same idea, because she stood up quickly and nervously began fixing her clothes. She didn't say anything else, but she and Ben looked at each other again, having one last silent conversation before the car pulled up beside them. Ben could tell she still wanted to tell him something, but instead, she sighed to herself and opened the car door.
"Hi, Dad," Gwen greeted her father.
"Hey, Uncle Frank," Ben said, sliding into the backseat with her after she moved over.
"Hi, kids," Frank greeted them both. They started driving back to Ben's house, and Gwen's father began asking them about their night.
While they were talking, Ben heard Gwen's phone vibrate. He watched her pull it out of her pocket and read a text. She smiled slightly.
"Who's that?" Ben asked curiously.
Gwen flinched. "Just Lucy," she said, typing out her response.
"Oh yeah? What's she want?"
Gwen smiled, but she looked strangely bashful. "Nothing."
Ben knit his brow.
What are they up to…?
Author's note:
Hello everyone, I'm happy to say I've finished my first pass of all the material I have for March, Year 4. I actually ended up splitting it into four chapters instead of three as I'd initially planned. The fourth chapter is very short, but I felt the last scene of Part 3 was a much better act break, and I didn't feel like taking extra time to extend Part 4 just to match the length of the other chapters. I should be posting the other parts every day or two until I have all four up. Sorry for the long break in updates, I shouldn't have to do that again until we get to the very last few chapters, although that will actually be rather soon now.
For those of you who missed my comment responses, you can find them here: gojaimas dot tumblr dot com/post/173869953941/more-comments
And I've also answered some more recent ones here: gojaimas dot tumblr dot com/post/174054337421/chapter-38-comments