Doing It Wrong?
July 28, 2000
"Doofus, what…? You did this for me?!"
"We'll, yeah, Dweeb." Ben ducked his head at her enthusiastically pleased reaction. He hoped she'd appreciate what he did, and was pleasantly surprised himself that doing a 'boyfriend thing' for his Dweeb made him feel good as well as her. He wasn't sure how to deal with her gratitude, though; at first he thought she was just giving him a hard time like usual, but that quickly went away when he realized she wasn't faking it. Honestly, he'd put more energy into some of his previous pranks on her than he did on this. He wished he knew then that doing something forher would be so much better than doing something obnoxious to her. It wasn't the first time he wished he could kick his younger self's butt for being such a nitwit.
"I figured you'd like it, but come on! It's not that big a deal…" his voice trailed away with uncharacteristic bashfulness.
"I don't know how you pulled that off, but that's one of the sweetest things I've ever seen you do!" Gwen beamed at him. Not that big a deal! Her Doofus - her new boyfriend! - really outdid himself! The overconfident to the point of sometimes being obnoxious boy in front of her would never have done something so considerate for anyone a year ago, let alone the cousin he seemed to take particular delight in dishing out verbal torments and pranks on. Instead he did something so nice that had no benefit for him. And on top of that, instead of his normal boasting he was self-consciously deflecting her praise with a pink blush forming across his cheeks.
It was so cute!
Ben smiled at her the way she loved, and Gwen returned it as she put her hands to his head, tangling her fingers in his messy brown hair. If he were any more adorable or thoughtful - neither of which she ever dreamed could refer to this unruly boy - she would probably burst! Fortunately she had a way to deal with that that they both found as amazingly enjoyable as it was equally novel.
"C'mere, you" she murmured affectionately, closing her eyes when she could almost feel his lips on hers.
Ben let himself get reeled in, as much by the appreciative look in her half-lidded eyes as the pull on the back of his head. His eyes closed right after he saw her eyelids shut all the way, and he leaned in, a more than willing participant in his girlfriend's act. His lips touched hers, soft and warm and tasting of cherry. Every bit as good as the first time! Better, actually, since she wasn't going to freak out like she did then.
Then he felt his nose scrunched up and opened his eyes in surprise. They quickly took on the "You've got to be kidding…" half-open look of disbelief he saw in hers. His Dweeb's nose was pinched up against his, as she looked at him in that weird way she had that was unmistakably Gwen, girlfriend or not. They stared at each other for a long second with their lips together and their noses mashed into each other, and if she could talk in that position Ben reckoned she'd be telling him this situation was entirely his doing.
And then she did just that, as she pulled back a couple inches, just enough so she could use her lips for another purpose. Not as good as kissing, but as long as she wasn't mad at him he liked hearing her voice almost as much. Even if the overall humorous look in her mesmerizing emerald eyes had more than a trace of annoyance right now as she said out loud what those eyes already told him.
"Really, Doofus? You couldn't tilt your head even a centimeter to the left?! … This is your fault!" It could have been her normal biting sarcasm, except for the fond look that gave away her real feelings. And made his stomach do that weird flip-flop thing he was liking more and more.
It wasn't entirely his fault, though. "You've got a hold of my head, Dweeb. Why didn't you take care of it?" he smirked.
"Because I kind of expected you'd know how to do this without needing me to do it for you!" she replied. Gwen sighed in affectionate exasperation. "What am I gonna do with you?" she muttered.
Ben replied to her rhetorical question with what he thought was a useful answer. "Well, you always say practice makes perfect." He smiled again as he brought his hands up to hold her cheeks gently.
"Let's try that again…" he murmured, pulling her to him this time. She felt his hand press lightly on her right cheek, so she tilted her head in response as she deliberately positioned his face with her hands as well. She saw his eyes get that dopy, dreamy look she'd caught him with a lot in the last two days, right before he closed them and his lips made contact with hers again. Her nose brushed past his as she pressed her lips gently into his, breathing in the faint scent of her Doofus with a satisfied hum as her eyes closed and they got lost in each other. Gwen moved her thumbs absently over his earlobes as Ben moved his right hand to the back of her head and wove his fingers into her hair in the way that sent shivers down her back, his left softly caressing her cheek as she pressed it against his palm.
She wondered when her Doofus would figure out that she maneuvered him into this 'practice', suppressing a smile and working her lips gently against his instead. A smooshed up nose was a small price to pay, and his payoffs were getting better and better.
Ben deepened the kiss at his Dweeb's wordless invitation, opening his mouth ever so slightly and pressing his lips firmer against hers, and wondered when she'd recognize he knew she crunched his nose to begin with. With a mental shrug he decided it would be better to let her keep thinking he didn't know what she was playing at. This was one time when he didn't mind doing extra practice!
Her lips were so soft, and the feeling he got from kissing her was awesome…
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NOTES:
I got the idea for this from some art I saw and a comment to it that I took as a prompt. I can't draw to save my life, so this is as close to a sketch as I can manage. I couldn't figure out how to include it in my story so I figured I'd just post it as a one shot.
