Chapter 27: On Ice
Ben's House
Bellwood, California
8:02 am, January 1st, 2000
Before the Omnitrix landed in his life, there was nothing that could get Ben up before he felt like it. Not alarms, not his mom, and not even really Grandpa. After, sleeping light was just another thing that became a part of his life ever since the alien device on his wrist fell from the sky and did what it did. He was used to it, but he never really liked it. Not that it was all bad. It saved his butt from more than a few pranks that first summer, not to mention all the times that the bad guys tried to do something stupid, but that didn't make it any easier.
Until now.
Now the world came back with the warm slowness that he still remembered and only ever got close to in math class anymore, but his desk wasn't anywhere near as comfortable as the bed he was stretched out on. A warmth that came with a heaviness on his chest that didn't feel the least bit wrong even though he'd never felt it before until it went away with a noise that sounded like it belonged in a cartoon. That was when the first bit of sleep fled from him. That and the warmth. Not much, not with the covers still pulled up over him, just enough that he rolled over looking for it. He found a pillow instead, one that he buried his face in as he inhaled the soft smell of strawberries.
Strawberries.
His eyes flew open faster than they even had when the world was exploding because he knew. The mess of empty bowls and cups and controllers that he saw on the nightstand when he did only proved it. It wasn't all another dream. It couldn't be. His Dweeb really did sleep there. There wasn't anyone else who would leave his room smelling like a fruit - "Cherry," he whispered, the words strangled in his throat.
Her lips tasted like cherry. He'd kissed his dweeb!
The thought rang right through him and he felt a scream build up in him. The same one he'd felt years ago the last time he'd woken up like this and realized that the tingling on his lips was as real as the alien device around his wrist. The one that made him a hero.
And this was better. He'd cheered so loud that he scared his Dweeb right out of bed back then. Now he didn't have the words. Not now and not last night. Not when he could still taste her lip balm.
And this was worse. He'd kissed her. He'd kissed her. She was a Dweeb and a know-it-all and his cousin and his best friend and he'd kissed her!
Was he smiling? He felt like he was smiling. He felt like a million bucks and like he was going to throw up all at the same time. It was the best feeling ever, and this was just the start. He didn't think he'd imagined her chasing him back down after he tried to pull back, either. And he definitely hadn't imagined that little noise she made when he'd reached for the back of her head to hold her there. If she hadn't liked it, she would have yelled at him. Twisted his arm in one of the holds he hadn't learned yet. Shoved him away and ran off. Maybe even tossed magic at him, but she hadn't.
She hadn't stayed either. Ben knew that the second he looked at the empty space at the edge of the bed where he'd pushed her out of her nerves and so he could tease her after she said they could share the bed and it never mattered until right then, not even though she was a cootie queen. Not until right then. Then it was the whole world pounding in his ears because he kissed her and they were…
And then he shoved her and she yanked at the covers and it didn't matter at all. He kissed his Dweeb and it didn't change anything. She was still his Dweeb.
And she should have been right there. She should have -
"Been such a nerd," Ben said and laughed out loud as the relief hit her. Of course, she didn't sleep in. Big deal. She usually woke up before he did, it was one of the things that used to drive him nuts because she couldn't just relax. Not even on vacation.
Not even after he…
She knew. After all these months she knew. She knew, and she hadn't run away screaming. Hadn't blurted out to their dads what he'd done. No, she'd hidden it away, a secret just between them. No wonder she didn't say a word. All of the best stuff in their lives were secrets, after all. And running. So much running.
And chasing.
"Ready or not, Dweeb, here I come!" Ben laughed and tossed off the covers because that was always the best part. He jumped out of bed and grabbed a shirt and his favorite khakis out of the dresser that his mom had insisted on him putting all of his clothes in before the party. He liked just getting them off the floor, which was so much easier and faster as long as he didn't let it get too bad. The only thing that slowed him down at all was the shoe box that brushed against his heel as he got up. The one that was heavy with all his cool stuff and he almost wondered about before he kicked it back under the bed.
He didn't want his Dweeb to get too much of a head start.
Ben had slept in and he didn't regret it for an instant. But now that he was up? He didn't want to waste a second more than he had to, not being around Gwen. Not when she knew now. Not when she felt the same way.
Maybe he could even talk her into staying instead of going with her dad for whatever trip the man was planning today. He'd only caught a word of it before she'd grabbed his hand and dragged him upstairs yesterday, but it wasn't like they were going anywhere fun. Not like the kind that they'd had last night just hanging out.
When they kissed.
The idea stopped him dead and made his face burn because he kissed his dweeb! He should be sick! He should be committed! He should have…
He kissed her!
Ben rushed out of his room at that thought with a grin that made his face hurt. A quick look told him that she wasn't in the bathroom. Not with the door cracked open and the light off. The words he heard drifting up from downstairs gave him his first clue. Words and the smell of something good.
None of the voices were hers, but it didn't matter. He hit the stairs with his usual stomping and tried to curb the smile that he absolutely did not want his parents asking about. By the time he hit the bottom step, he imagined he was back to looking sleepy and disinterested as he took in the hall and what he could see of the living room at the end of it and the mess of the party that was all around down here, too.
It should have been the smell and the sizzle of cooking hashbrowns that snapped him out of it. That always did the trick before, but his stomach was tied up in too many knots for that. Or the sound of his aunt laughing at something his mother said, he couldn't even remember the last time he heard that, but it wasn't.
No, it was Uncle Frank saying "Pumpkin" that got his feet moving again. There were more words before and after. Words Ben didn't hear as he followed the sound of his uncle's dry chuckle into the kitchen and the mess there.
The mess of glasses in the sink and paper plates and trays that were just shoved down the counter towards the overflowing trash can so his dad had room to work around the stove. The mess of adults that were moving all around as his mom and hers set the table together, still chatting and smiling as Uncle Frank pretended he was reading the newspaper and then his mom set down the last plate, turned...
And the world went away because his Dweeb was sitting right there, already dressed and wearing her Cat's Meow shirt, the one that was almost like the one she wore all the time two years ago when he really realized just how much of a Dweeb she was.
And that being a Dweeb wasn't a bad thing.
"Hey there, sport!" His dad greeted him from the stove, waving a spatula and grinning at him. He was wearing his favorite apron over his sleeping shorts and T-Shirt and his words caught everyone's attention. All but one. "Finally decided to join the rest of us in the land of the living, huh?"
"We were wondering which one of you would wake up first. If you'd just been five minutes quicker..." Ben heard his mom say with a happy sigh as he watched her sit down at the table from the corner of his eye. Ben knew he should say something about that, or about the wild hair and happy smile on his aunt's face as she sat across from her at the breakfast table, both of which he always imagined were impossible, but he didn't. He couldn't take his eyes off his Dweeb as she sat there between her parents with a coffee cup held tight in her hands and her green eyes staring at the tabletop. A cup that went right up to her lips before he could say anything. Her lips... He kissed -
"So, Ben." Aunt Lili said to him with a smile as his mom kissed his forehead and then turned to go to his dad. "It seems the world didn't end last night after all."
"As if," Ben said back automatically. He rubbed a hand at his forehead and sat down at the table, still looking at Gwen and getting that funny feeling back in his stomach again. But it was a little bit different now than it had been last night.
She wasn't looking at him.
"Breakfast'll be up in a bit, Ben. Go ahead and grab yourself some OJ." His dad called over his shoulder, and Ben looked over in time to see his mom leaning against his back and going up on her toes so she could kiss his cheek and put her chin over his shoulder. He wondered how that felt, and then his face burned from it. He scowled and reached for the orange juice and an empty glass sitting at the table and poured himself out some.
"You two are certainly growing up." Uncle Frank said cheerfully. "Already dressed for the day, even. Unlike my slob of a brother over there." Ben blinked as Gwen hunched down a little more and kept her mug up by her face. Was she drinking coffee? Since when did Gwen drink coffee?
"Just because you like wearing a tie all the time doesn't mean I do." His dad snarked back at him, sending a wink at the table. "A man puts on a tie all the time, it chokes off the oxygen from his brain and he forgets how to have fun."
"I know how to have fun, Carl," Frank argued back without any heat. "And if I don't, I'm sure that my Pumpkin will show me how this afternoon when - "
Ben was almost jealous of his Uncle because those were the words that got his Dweeb moving again and look at something besides her mug or the table. Her head shot up and then he was because she gave her dad the glare that he got all the time! And Uncle Frank didn't even care! The man just smiled even as he mimed zipping his lips as he looked over to him, and her eyes followed.
Followed and went wide. Wide enough that Ben saw the white all around her irises as a flush filled her cheeks and he knew.
Knew and almost laughed because duh, of course she couldn't say anything right now. Not while their parents were here. He could have laughed and it was all he could do to fight his grin down to something normal as his Dweeb's flush raced for her neck before her eyes shot down to her mug again.
Not that anyone noticed, not while his dad was still ribbing hers. " - didn't have to leave right after breakfast you'd have a chance to prove it, Frank. Because I found dad's old horseshoe set and we have a grudge match to settle up on if you're - "
"No!" His mom broke in with just a hint of panic as she stood up again and his aunt nodded and looked so severe. "It's a new everything and we're not starting it with you two - "
"Boys versus girls?" His uncle suggested cheerfully, his eyes glittering under his glasses, and Lili tensed up for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Good. Bring it over to my house next week. We'll have time after the party, Shorty."
Some part of Ben followed all of that. It was the same part that followed the crowd as he saved the day, but everything else was focused on his Dweeb as she just sat there, nervous and fidgety and he never could help himself. "You okay, Dweeb?"
"I'm fine, Ben." She said, her voice a touch too high and didn't even glare at him. She'd never not stared him down for calling her that in front of their parents and that was how he knew he had her.
"So, did you two have fun last night?" Uncle Frank asked, finally folding up his newspaper to finish up later. Ben thought about giving him a quick answer, but he couldn't get the words out. Not when he knew he'd give it all away the second he opened his mouth.
"It was fine," Gwen said, her voice as tight as her grip on the mug as she sipped at whatever she was drinking again. Something lurched inside of Ben's head at that, because it didn't feel like she was lying to cover up what had happened. It felt more like she was trying to forget about it.
Forget that he…
But that couldn't be right, could it? Not when she barely even looked at him, and when she did he could see her cheeks flush and the lines in her brow get deeper when her eyes flew right back down at her mug. It was her thinking face and it got three lines. One more than even blowing up the universe. And she didn't say anything. Not to him. Not now, and not last night.
"Yeah." Ben echoed as he swallowed hard and looked to his mom and dad at the stove who fit together so easily as they started plating up hashbrowns for everyone as he sat down at the table. Not next to her. She didn't leave him any room today as she sat there between her parents. Not like she always did, and he tried not to think about that. "It was okay."
- o - o - o - o - o -
Outside the Bell Aurora Ice Rink
Bellwood, California
1:12 pm, January 8th, 2000
Nothing was okay.
The weird twisting in his stomach didn't go away after Gwen left with her parents, because she still wasn't talking to him. She hadn't called on Saturday or Sunday or texted him. Ben had let it go; her father had let slip that they had plans that weekend, and her school started up on Monday, so he knew she'd get lost in that. At least his school was civilized enough to give them Monday to recuperate. But then Tuesday rolled around and she still didn't send so much as a peep to him, no matter how many obnoxious or worried or blah messages he sent her.
Maybe if Karate wasn't still on break…And maybe if he wasn't dreading next Monday more than he did Grandpa's Casserole Surprise and Math put together because he didn't know what she'd do in the dojo when she didn't answer any of his texts after, either. And it scared him because she'd never acted like this before. Not even when they'd been fighting, Gwen had never ignored him. She'd prank him. She'd do things to get even. She'd drive him crazy. But she never ignored him. He could have run over to her house that night, pestered her to go heroing with him, but something held him back. Nothing had ever stopped him from bothering her before, but now? Now, every time he thought of running over so they could go heroing at night, he thought of how he'd hold her in his arms when he was XLR8 and she'd bury her face into his chest to hide from the wind. Or how she'd sit on his shoulder when he was Fourarms and he'd have one hand resting on her legs. He'd think of all the aliens he turned into and all of the little things his Dweeb did around them when they were heroing or going for a smoothie afterward, and his face just went red. And then he'd close his window and stare down at his phone, fighting with himself over whether he should send another message or not.
It was Wednesday before she'd finally written back anything to him. And she only bothered to write three words. I'm fine, Ben.
Well, maybe she was fine, but Ben wasn't, and he was getting tired of feeling like his stomach was fighting against him.
What had he done wrong?
He was staring down at his phone for the hundredth time while his mom talked and his dad pulled the minivan to a stop in the parking lot of Bellwood's only ice rink.
"I've never been ice skating before. I went roller skating once in College, but…" His mom said excitedly. "Lili had such a good idea!"
"Or Frank decided he just wanted to see us all fall on the ice a lot," his Dad joked. Ben ignored them both with a sigh as he tapped on the down button on his phone, cycling through all the messages he'd sent.
-thought that I'd seen the worst that school lunches could offer, but you should've seen the choices today. A burrito hard as a brick or a sloppy Joe that was nothing but soup?
-must have set a new record for snoozing in class. Mrs. Hodgkins just kept on talking and never noticed!
-...you're supposed to yell about that, Dweeb.
- finally burn out that bug brain of yours? Is that why you're not saying anything?
- Come on. I'm being bored to death over here! Play the game!
-You can even call me names. Just say something!
- Is it Hero Time? Say something or XLR8 is going to make the bad guys head spin!
- ...Gwen?
And then those three words...
"What about you, sport? You ready for this?" His dad asked him, and Ben jerked his head up and his eyes away from the last message and the three words that he got back. Three words that didn't say a thing. "Bad news, Sandy Bear. He's become a teenager a year early. It'll be years before he says anything to us again."
"Whuh?" He blinked a couple of times, realizing that his mom was nibbling at her lip when she should be laughing, and dad was...watching him. "Yeah. Sure. I oughta do okay. It's all about balance, right? And I've got plenty because of karate now!" He forced out a grin and some confidence in his words.
"It looks like your friend Jamie beat us here." Mom said too brightly, and Ben glanced out through the windshield to see Jamie stepping in a quick circle back and forth in front of the doors, blowing on his hands to stay warm with a brightly wrapped gift tucked under his armpit. Ben looked up at the gray skies and frowned as she added, "I wonder why he isn't waiting inside, it has to be so chilly right now."
"It can't be that crowded inside," Dad said, and Ben looked around the parking lot, which was only maybe a quarter of the way full, which made it so easy to find the car he knew would be there and the RV that wasn't, no matter how hard he looked. "Ah, well. Why don't you go ahead, Ben? Your mom and I will round up the presents and catch up to you."
Like he needed an excuse to get out of this awkwardness. Ben took one last look at his phone, scowled, and shoved it into his pocket before he flung the side door open and leaped out of the van. He yelled at Jamie to get his friend's attention as he got closer, and frowned to see the scared look on his face. "What's eating you, Jamie?"
"Girls." Jamie stammered out, glancing at the doors briefly. "S - so many girls." Ben snorted. "I'm serious! Do you think I'm walking into that mess alone? I took one look inside and bailed!"
"Please." Ben sighed. "They're just girls." It wasn't like there were bad guys inside. He shoved past Jamie and kept on walking so he didn't think about the one who mattered. Besides, Jamie was a worrier on a good day. There couldn't really be that many…
He made it three steps inside the skating rink's entrance and stared at close to forty girls their age clustered in little groups at the tables.
"I told you," Jamie mumbled, slipping in behind him. Ben exhaled and looked around the room again. He only recognized a few of them, kids from their karate class that had gotten the invite from them. The rest, though? They had to all be girls from Gwen's school, they were all wearing fancy clothes and they had that braggy kind of mood to them. He finally saw Uncle Frank and Aunt Lili up by the counter where they rented out ice skates and figured that was the safer option. He walked towards them, and Jamie followed.
"...do you mean, the entire rink's been rented for a private party?" Uncle Frank asked the guy behind the counter.
"Just that." The guy shrugged. "Don't worry, it's paid for and all yours. As long as your daughter's Gwendolyn Tennyson anyway."
"We didn't!" Aunt Lili exclaimed and shared a look with the man at her side. "I don't think Sandy or Carl would either. But…" She sucked in a breath and her eyes went wide.
"Elna." Uncle Frank ground out, and Aunt Lili's face flushed as her eyes narrowed as she turned and glared at the Walrus and the Shrew, who just stood there off to the side dressed like they were going to church as they watched it all with a smug grin like any of this was their idea as they whispered to each other. Ben glared at them both, which the man somehow felt and turned around. Ben waited for the scowl that he knew was coming and was ready. The smile still threw him off, the smile and the wave. One that Ben didn't return, but at least it got Uncle Frank's attention. "Well, if it isn't my favorite nephew. Happy birthday, Ben. And who's your friend?"
"This is Jamie, Uncle Frank," Ben said, relieved, as he motioned with a twist of his head. "He goes to my school."
"Um. Hi." Jamie said shyly, waving a little. "Thanks for having me?"
"Oh, don't mention it, sweetie." Aunt Lili smiled at him, and Jamie made a little choking noise that Ben didn't get. Or why Jamie's face went so red then. "Where are your parents, Ben?"
"Getting everything," Ben said, looking out over the crowd. "Where's Gwen?"
"Oh, she's buried somewhere in all of that." Frank chuckled, gesturing to the chattering mess of bodies and noise. "Think you can drag her out of that for me? We'd better get her skates rented or they're going to spend all afternoon just talking instead of enjoying the ice."
"Well, that's not happening." Ben scowled and started walking with Jamie trailing in his wake.
"Oh, Jamie? You can go ahead and put your present on that table, dear!" Aunt Lili shouted out after them, and his friend went even redder and hunched his head down onto his shoulders.
"Dude." Ben stared at him as they came up to the unfolded plastic picnic tables set up side by side, and marked with colorful 'Happy 12th Birthday!' signs and crate paper. "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing!" Jamie squeaked out, shaking his head wildly. He brushed past Ben and went to the gift tables, setting his down on the mostly empty one next to the six other presents there labeled with Ben's name on them. Ben looked from his mostly empty table to the pile of gifts in Gwen's stack. A literal pile. Not that it mattered to him as he put his wrapped Cat's Meow movie right at the top. They were probably a bunch of useless gifts anyways. Like any of those girls from her school understood her, or knew what she liked. Not like he did. He was her friend, not them! It made him mad for a moment until he wondered why he was so angry, and then it disappeared as quick as it had come.
Ben put it out of his mind and looked for Gwen again, trying to pick out her blazing red hair in the sea of blond, brown, and black that topped most other heads. And he finally found her after a couple of girls shuffled around a little. She was surrounded by girls that were smiling at her with smiles that didn't look real, and Gwen's smile...He knew that look. She was uncomfortable. She was unsettled. She hated being crowded like that, and Ben knew it!
Ben snorted and started forward, and Jamie caught his arm. "Dude, what are you doing?"
"Rescuing a Dweeb," Ben answered, and tugged his arm free. He made it another ten feet towards her before Gwen looked up and finally saw him. Her eyes shot wide open, and she was frozen, almost panicking as she stared back at him. His feet stopped moving forward, and the weird feeling in his stomach came back all over again. She was wearing a thin coat over tights that were a purple so dark that they almost looked black and he almost thought that she'd come as Lucky Girl if it wasn't for the glitter in the material that made it look like she was wearing stars. Material that couldn't be warm at all. How could she put up with it? He was wearing jeans and his coat and the goofy knit hat his mom had made for Christmas and he was still a little cold, and she always complained when they went out heroing in the winter, but she didn't seem to notice. And she wasn't the only one, it seemed like most of the girls were wearing flashy, skinny clothes that were terrible for keeping warm. And most of them had on tights like Gwen did, but he wasn't pulling at his coat for them.
That was when she saw him, with his coat half off and looking like a Doofus. Only Gwen didn't grin. No, she wrapped her arms around her middle and shivered as she stared and he couldn't understand why. At least someone else was looking out for her. That girl Ben had met before Christmas, Michelle, came sweeping in and grabbed at Gwen's arm, pulling her out of the crowd while glaring the rest of them down even as they started to follow his Dweeb's gaze and giggling instead of doing anything. Gwen looked at him for a few seconds more as Michelle kept pulling on her arm, but that was it.
Ben didn't know why that hurt so much, or why he suddenly couldn't breathe when she just turned her back on him. He heard his dad whistle right after, and he looked over his shoulder to see Aunt Lili speaking up and smiling at them all with Uncle Frank and his parents behind her.
"Hey, everyone! We've got some healthy snacks here if you'd care to grab a nibble, or there's the snack stand otherwise. If you aren't hungry, go ahead and head up to the counter to grab your ice skates. Thank you all for coming, and have some fun!" Aunt Lili said, and excitable cheers and even more chattering started up again. They all started for the snack table, and Ben couldn't bring himself to follow them.
"Hey Ben, come on! Snacks!" Jamie urged, and Ben shook his head.
"You go on ahead, Jamie." He looked around for an empty table far off to the side and started for it. "Grab me something that isn't in a salad. I'll get us a table."
"You got it!" Jamie took off, and Ben went over, sitting down at the empty booth with its bright orange paint and fighting off the weird and sick feeling in his stomach. He reached for his phone and the only person who might understand and who should have been here. He saw his hand tremble as he flipped the thing open and then his hand froze like everything else as he blinked and stared at the message and the number that was waiting for him. One that wasn't there a minute ago because the thing never even rang.
"Hey Sport. It's your Grandpa Max," the man said with a sigh that Ben could barely hear over a low rumble in the background, "I wanted to wish you and your cousin a happy birthday. I wish I could be there myself, but what with your aunt's ankle…"
Ben repeated the message a second time, and afterward, he held his phone in his hands and stared down at it. How had Grandpa left him a voicemail without his phone ringing? And what he said…
The sick and angry turning in his stomach came back, and he gripped it tighter. Grandpa's excuse didn't feel right, but he wouldn't lie to him. Right? He was Grandpa. He'd never…
Ben heard his Dad laugh then. The noise made him jump and look up just in time to see his uncle's lips spread in that quiet little smile that was all he'd ever seen the man make as their parents stood there together handing out food. Smile and laugh, but it didn't touch their eyes, not even as his mom gave his dad a hug and his aunt took his uncle by the hand and glowered at the cake. A look that only lasted a moment and disappeared by the time the knife in his dad's hand touched the big rectangular thing that was covered in blue and green frosting flowers and balloons. Then, just like that, the moment was over and the four were all smiles as they started filling little foam plates for the kids who were already lining up.
Kids who stood aside as Army Girl pulled Gwen up to the front and she took a piece with the biggest and fakest smile yet as everyone cheered and she looked like she just wanted to hide. It was a smile that faded even as she pushed the smallest forkful of cake ever up to the mouth and looked all around.
And Ben knew just who she was looking for even before she ducked her head.
He wanted to grab her, warn her, ask her before she found her phone, but she didn't look back at him and he didn't even know if she had it after she sent those three stupid, useless words even though she always promised…
Just like Grandpa had, and that thought made him feel sick. Ben didn't have a lot of people in his life he could trust in completely. The few he did have seemed a lot shakier now and he just wanted things to go back to normal.
He just didn't have any idea how, but that was never his job.
- o - o - o - o - o -
And that wasn't the only thing he couldn't figure out.
They were at a party and all of the girls seemed like they were a lot less interested in having fun than they were showing off and trying to prove how they were better than everyone else. They'd skipped the cake and gone after the carrot sticks and the celery and those awful whole wheat crackers with the little pieces of cheese on them. Didn't they know they were supposed to use ranch dip for those vegetables? But no, they either stood around holding their little plates taking tiny little bites that seemed more for show than anything else and every so often he'd hear one of them say something about how it was 'so mature' to have snacks that weren't full of salt and sugar.
Honestly, if it hadn't been for Jamie and Paul and the two other guys from their karate class who'd shown up, Ben would've been climbing the walls. The guys all took the hint and used his table as their staging grounds, and there wasn't a carrot stick to be seen as they munched away on cake and potato chips and drank soda from the counter. Ben and Jamie had gotten soft pretzels with nacho cheese dip, and Paul'd even bought a hot dog and tore off a piece for them all, so at least there were some people with sense even if all the food tasted like mush and filled his stomach like a brick. Ben looked around for their parents, but after they'd gotten done serving up the cake and told everyone to have fun, they'd gone off to a small room off of the snack bar with tinted glass and high stools and a television playing some basketball game.
Gone and dragged the Dweeb's grandmother and grandfather with them from where they'd been standing and whispering to themselves - and no he wasn't using those crazy made-up words that she did for them. Some part of him wanted to follow just so he could see them yell at someone else. A small part that got outvoted because his Dweeb was right there.
And still not looking at him.
He'd lasted all of fifteen minutes before Ben needed to do something, and he almost reached for the Omnitrix before remembering where he was. So he'd gone up to the counter and grabbed some ice skates that would fit him, and then headed to the benches next to the ice to change out of his shoes, stomping over the thick rubber pads on the floor that wasn't anything like the mats they used at karate practice. That had started the migration, and he'd gotten maybe five minutes alone on the ice before all the girls decided to swarm out as well. Then the red and blue lines and curves painted onto the ice for hockey games and practices were quickly scrambled up.
What burned him the most, though? Some were like him, stumbling around and still learning to keep their feet under them. But most of the girls were doing better, some were even skating backwards. And some of them were even pretending like they were at the Olympics, doing those wild little spins and jumps and wheeling one-leg-in-the-air turns like they'd been on the ice for years. The kinds of moves that made his mom coo when she watched the Winter Olympics, even if the speakers weren't playing that orchestra music that got used in competitions. Not that the pop music that they were blasting out was any better.
Not that the girls seemed to notice or care for all the times that they laughed and watched each other even as they raced by his Dweeb.
Who at least seemed to be having a little bit of fun. She wasn't doing any of the moves he knew she had in her, but Ben could almost see the times Gwen was able to put everyone else out of her mind and just relax with Michelle shakily skating off of her elbow. Her smile seemed more honest anyway as she caught the other girl every time she started to fall. Then she'd have someone else come by and her face would slip back behind the mask. And no matter what, Gwen wouldn't look at him. The times she got close to meeting his eyes, she'd twist her head a little like something or someone else had caught her attention.
The twisting, knotted feeling in his stomach had kept on burning and the junk food hadn't settled it at all. The entire week, she'd been avoiding him. The entire. WEEK. He wanted to scream at her, wanted to know why. Wanted to know if he'd screwed it all up because he'd ki -
Ben hadn't known he'd come to a stop until Jamie pulled up beside him, sending a spray of ice shavings off of the shiny, silvery blade on the bottom of his skate. "Hey, you okay, Ben?" Jamie asked, his worry lost in his excitement. "You better be, because I found an ancient Sumo machine in the corner! It isn't even Turbo and - "
"I'm fine." Ben cut him off with a lie even as his heart thundered away in his chest. Why couldn't she just talk to him?! He looked down at the sprinkles of melting ice on his jeans and snapped his eyes back up to Gwen, laughing a little at something Michelle had said. It wasn't her best laugh. It wasn't real.
But it was too much. Ben felt his face set into the one that usually only came when things were blowing up and he was the only one who could do anything about it. A look that got him one from the boy next to him even before he slapped his friend on the back and said, "I'll be back. Go ahead and keep skating."
He went around to the open door on the ice built into the wall around the rink and stomped off, his skates' blades digging hard into the thick black rubber mats as he went to the bench and the cubbies and loosened the laces just enough that he could yank them off his feet with some sharp tugs. He threw them into the cubby and didn't even bother reaching for his regular shoes, and stomped off towards the snack counter.
The guy behind it was a high schooler, and he nodded as Ben came back up. "Want another pretzel there, birthday boy?"
"Nah. Not this time." Ben said. "You have snow cones?"
"Snow cones? Yeah." The high schooler nodded, adjusting the little paper hat they made them wear. "Two bucks. What flavor do you want? I've got cherry and - "
"Not cherry!" Ben said too loud, his face flushing even as he dug out his wallet and pulled out a pair of singles. "No flavor. Just plain ice." The high schooler raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm serious."
"Your money, kid." The server shrugged, taking his bills and getting to work. He handed over a paper cone full of shaved ice half a minute later, packed full. "Enjoy it."
Oh, he was going to. Ben nodded and turned back, walking for the changing bench and cubbies again. He looked between the ice skates and his shoes, and with two seconds to think about it, put his sneakers back on. He'd need a head start.
The funny thing was, Gwen should have seen it coming. The next time she came around the rink, Ben was waiting at the wall for her. He only had one shot, but he'd only ever needed one. He was the king of snowballs. Or, in this case, snow-cone iceballs. He just wished he could have mixed a stink bomb into it.
The slush flew from his gloved hand and smashed right in the back of her neck and in her hair, beneath her hat and above her thin, glittery shirt where she hated anything cold touching. He saw her jump when it hit, he may have even heard her yelp as she spun around with wide eyes that looked right past him as all the other kids around her gasped.
Ben knew he was the only one who saw the pink light start to build up around her hands before she waved it away and he watched it all with a scowl on his face as she brought up a gloved hand to the back of her neck to rub at it. When Gwen stared at the mitten full of shaved ice, there was two second's worth of disconnect. Then Michelle had hissed and looked behind her and saw Ben, and Army Girl's eyes had flashed as she mouthed his name.
Then, at last, Gwen's head shot up and stared him down with green eyes full of fire and the promise of pain. At last, he saw an honest look on her face, and he smiled. Probably shouldn't have, because that only made her face turn a beet red and her lips twisted up…
Her lips...
He was watching them too carefully, and it made him jump when she spoke. Well, screamed. "BENJAMIN KIRBY TENNYSON!" She howled and started skating back towards him.
"Ohshit," Ben whispered to himself as he flushed and stumbled back, nearly tripping on the mats and the first bench behind him. He had a head start on her and she was wearing skates and had to get past a wall of girls who were closing in around her, shouting her name and asking her if she was all right.
Somehow, none of that mattered. By the time he got clear of the benches, she was up on the mats and tearing her skates off. By the time he got into the main lobby of the rink, she was on the edge of the rubber mat, running flat out in her socks. By the time he got to the front doors of the building, she was five feet behind him. He got outside and spun around and clenched up, not sure if she'd throw a kick or a punch or try and slap him.
But she didn't do any of that. Instead, as her breath frosted in the air between them and the sweat on her skin beaded up in the cold, she clenched her hands into fists and stopped herself short. "What is WRONG with you?!" She demanded, and her being angry made him angry too.
"What's wrong with you?" He yelled back at her. "You don't call me, you don't text me back, you don't…" As the initial rush of anger disappeared and some of the red in her face faded, she looked away from him. It set him off all over again. "You can't even look at me!" Ben shouted because it hurt too much not to.
She looked a little guilty at that, but she still didn't say anything. The last bit of anger in Ben disappeared, and all he had left was the confusion and the hurt he'd been fighting against since Sunday morning. Since he woke up and she wasn't there. "Is it because of..." He started to ask her, and if his voice was a little shaky, he didn't care.
"Ben. Please, no. I don't…" Gwen cut him off, just as nervous, and just as shaky as she twisted her head left and right. "I don't want to talk about it."
It felt like he went colder than the air that stung at his face. She didn't even want to talk about it? God, had he screwed up? Didn't she…?
No. Of course, she didn't. Why would she? For a Doofus like him? "What do you want?" He asked her instead, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.
"I don't…" Gwen started, freezing on the words that wouldn't come out of her lips as they moved uselessly. The doors opened, and Michelle came out.
"You okay, Crazy Girl? Do I need to kick his ass for you?" Michelle growled out, glaring daggers at Ben. A growl that only lasted until the rest of the girls shoved at the doors, too. That was what snapped Gwen out of it and she spun around.
"No! I'm FINE! Just...can I have a little privacy? Please?" She begged her, and Michelle looked between Gwen and Ben with a weird, judgy look for all of two seconds before she nodded.
"Yeah, okay. I'll keep the harpies off your back for a while." Army Girl glared at Ben for another two seconds for good measure, then spun around and cut off the other preppy girls coming out before they could clear the doors. "Okay, show's over, folks! Back inside!" She barked out, sounding like she was trying to be a drill sergeant. "Or you'll get what Flint and Sean got!" That froze the crowd and shoves finished off what words couldn't until Ben and Gwen were all alone again.
Gwen turned, all the fire burned out of her. Without that blazing anger in her green eyes, Ben could finally see how tired she looked.
Just as tired as he felt.
"What do you want, Ben?" She pleaded with him.
What did he want? Really? He could think of a dozen things he wanted to say to her, but so many of them died before they got to his mouth. He was afraid of what she would say. If she didn't even want to talk about New Year's...about how he'd kissed her…
And how he'd been missing her for a week, and how it hurt. He couldn't go on missing her like that, not forever. And he'd take what he could get. So he lied.
"I want my Dweeb back." He blurted out, and he turned away because he couldn't look at her. Not as he added, "I can't believe you got this mad just because I beat you at your own game."
The words hurt even more because he should have known that's all it was all the times when she kissed his cheek. It was just another way to drive him crazy and win a fight. He was such a doofus for thinking that it meant anything else, and he couldn't even be mad at her about it. It wasn't her fault he was stupid.
He felt the Watch brush his shoulder as he rubbed the back of his neck and he was so tempted to just go. Go be anyone else. Someone who could take him far away, or something with a brain and enough sense to listen to the little gray guy as he talked nonsense about hormones and chemical reactions….
An urge that got all the stronger as his Dweeb croaked out, "Game?"
Ben remembered all the times her lips on his cheek and the one time… "Duh," he said and he tried to make that sound like an insult as she stared at him, wide-eyed and gobsmacked. "What did you think it was?"
And she went so quiet at that. Quiet enough that he could have screamed as she hugged herself, stared down at her black socks, and shivered as the breeze hit them. The watch was right there, but he shrugged off his coat instead and held it out. A coat she stared at until he said, "Here." She made to argue, but he shook his head. "I'm already wearing two shirts. Grandpa will kill me if…"
That was as far as he got before he remembered and she sucked in a breath. She looked pale when she looked up. Pale, but she took his coat and slipped it on even as she asked, "He called you, too? Ben, I'm so - "
"Whatever," Ben said with a miserable shrug. "He's busy." He was always busy now, and Ben couldn't blame him. Besides... "And it's your fault for putting our parties together. I would have been fine just having the guys over." And Grandpa would have come to hers. He knew that. No matter what. "You should go back in. They're all waiting for you and I…" He didn't show her the watch. He didn't have to. Somewhere out there was someone who needed a hero, and that was way more important than any stupid party and she didn't need him here anyway. He'd ruined it enough already.
"Ben…"
And he waved her off even as he brought his left wrist up. "I'll be fine. It's Bellwood. I can handle it. Just tell Mom and Dad that - "
"BEN!" Gwen said, her voice suddenly sharp as she grabbed his right hand and spun him around. He saw her eyes again for a flash, saw them burning before she pulled him close and let go of his hand so she could give him a hug. "It's not your fault he's being a lying jerk!"
The words made him suck in a breath, one that tasted like strawberries, but that wasn't what made his heart hammer. It just kept him from shoving her away as he snapped out, "It's Grandpa, you can't - !"
"Why not?" Gwen snapped right back and sounded like herself for the first time all day as she shook in his arms. "He isn't here! He hasn't been since…" Her words cut off with a sudden sucked-in breath. One that made him feel sick and reach out to hug her without even thinking about it. One he knew would make things so much worse.
But she didn't shove him away. She didn't run or scream. If anything she seemed to hug him tighter until she repeated, "He isn't, and…" Her breath caught at that and she buried her face in his shoulder and he didn't know what to do, so he just stood there until her head shot up again like she'd forgotten as she bounced away. The hug ended then, ended with her eyes finding her socks again as her hand slipping down his arm until it brushed his hand. Brushed it and caught it and squeezed. "And I'm not letting him ruin our birthday!"
And she sounded so fierce as she said it. Fierce enough that he knew she'd chase him down if he even thought about the watch, which just made him want to try it. He settled for a smirk instead. Not a real one, but it was close as he started for the door as he tried to make his hand shove hers away and was glad that it didn't because this was good. This was… was… "Then we better get back in there. I still gotta show you up on the - "
The words were right there. They were the ones that he always said to her. They stuck in his throat, but he got them out. She was the one who didn't move and when he looked back, all the her was gone as the color left her face as she looked at him. No, past him at the door that he could just see Army Girl on the other side of with her back against the glass as she held the mob off. "What?"
Gwen shook her head at that. Her next words were almost lost, but he had so much practice listening to her whisper while they were heroing that it was as clear as a bell. "I don't… I didn't even invite most of them!"
Ben just blinked and she deflated more as she pulled his coat tighter around her. "I… Mom took over the plans months ago and everyone just heard and they all wanted to come and I couldn't…"
There were so many ways he could have teased her about that. So many words that would turn her red again and make her chase him and it would be like all the birthdays that they had when they were little, but none of them would have told him anything important. "Then who…"
He choked on the words again, but it didn't matter. Not as she scuffed her sock covered foot on the cement and shrugged. "Michelle - duh - and…" And she didn't say a word after that. She just shoved a hand through her hair and somehow sank even deeper into his coat even though it barely brushed her waist and wrists.
"Oh," Ben said. It wasn't even a word. Just a sound that he made as his heart did something in his chest. "I was just going to invite Jamie over for some Sumo." The words came with a shrug because he barely even thought about it. The other guys might have come or might not. He never thought about anything. She always said that and he knew it was true when he heard his mouth add on, "But it's not like we can't do that anyway. Maybe Friday after Karate?"
"What?"
That was the second time he made her say that and the second time he made her shoot her head up and he would have gloated so hard a year ago. Now he just felt sick as he rubbed the back of his head because fighting aliens and monsters was so much easier. "We could make it our real party? You could bring Army Girl over and everything because Mom and Dad got me the new Sumo and - " And it was still her turn to pick out a movie. Not that he told her that.
She didn't give him a chance. "Got you…? We haven't even opened - Ben!"
Ben laughed at the glare that got. The glare and the hand on the hip as she tapped her toes because his Dweeb was right there again and…
And he missed her. He stared at her and the lips that were just a little glossy from balm and he wanted to kiss her again. Kiss her and hold her hand and… But he missed her more. He could live without that stuff. He could! He knew he could even if he didn't know why his heart lurched at the thought even as he gave her arm a little yank just so she'd stumble closer. "You're just mad that you didn't think of it."
That got an outraged gasp out of her. The one that he always lo - like - put up with and he looked away as he felt the heat burn his cheeks at the thought. Look away and let her hand slip free because…
"Okay," Gwen breathed and nodded and looked almost as surprised as he felt before she smiled again and brushed at her hair. "It's a date."
Her face went so red at the words, but she didn't take them back. Not then and not as she marched by and yanked open the door. Ben just stared as Army Girl spun around, her eyes wide and searching and then all the rest came rushing up to her in a roar of words and giggles as they grabbed at her and his coat around her and pulled her back inside. Some of them even turned and stared at him, even if he only really saw the wide green eyes that mattered as she spun back towards him. The ones who he should be helping, but he just stood there until she disappeared inside because there wasn't any way…
Was there?
- o - o - o - o - o -
Author's Note:
I just wanted to thank everyone for their patience. This was a tough chapter to write and ended up completely different from the original draft, but I didn't want to post it until it was right. I'll try to stick the schedule from now on, but if I'm a little late I'm probably off fiddling again.
I also wanted to thank Erico, who took my mess of ideas and made it into a story. I'm not sure if the chapter would have gotten done without him, but I know it wouldn't have been even half as good.
From Erico:
It's Ride or Die Time. All aboard the Bwen Train. Toot Toot.