Late Night Remedy
Chapter 2
Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed the last chapter, I hope you enjoy the conclusion of this story! I listened a lot to the song Still into You by Paramore while writing this chapter. I feel like this song describes Gwen's view of Kevin and their relationship. Also, since Kevin's mom doesn't have a name in the show, I've taken the liberty of giving her one and it's Josephine!
This chapter is dedicated to Jesever! Thank you for all your kind words, I hope you like this!
Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 and characters.
''I was wondering when you were finally going to wake up,'' Josephine Levin said to Kevin as he walked into the kitchen. She was warmly smiling at him from her chair at the small kitchen table.
Kevin honestly wasn't even sure what time it was. All he knew was that, for the first time in a long time, he had managed to peacefully sleep through the night after returning from his impromptu drive with Gwen.
''Are you hungry?'' she asked her son. ''I could warm up some leftovers from my lunch.''
''Yeah, thanks,'' Kevin replied as he sat down at the table in front of her. He glanced over to the small clock that was built into the microwave and noticed it was already way past noon. Meanwhile, his mom was quick to her feet when she heard his response, making her way to the fridge to grab the plate she had prepared for him in advance.
''Did you manage to sleep well after you came back?'' she inquired as she placed the plate in the nearby microwave. She already knew the answer to her own question, she had heard him snoring through the walls when she had woken up a couple of hours after their conversation in the hallway. She was hoping to give her son an opening to make good on his promise of explaining to her what had been bothering him lately.
''Yeah, I did,'' Kevin answered, sounding surprised by his own answer.
''That's good, I'm glad,'' she answered, giving her son another warm smile. The room grew quiet once she had finished her sentence. She might need to prompt him a little bit more after all. ''Was it your stomach bugging you again?'' Josephine asked, playing dumb.
''No,'' Kevin replied awkwardly. He was rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact like he did whenever he was nervous to tell her something. ''That's um... actually what I wanted to talk to you about,'' he finally managed to say as the microwave beeped, signaling that his lunch was ready.
''I'm all ears, honey,'' Josephine told him before carefully grabbing the hot plate of food out of the microwave and putting it on the placemat in front of her son. She then sat back down at the table in front of him.
''Right...'' he said, poking the food on his plate with his fork, trying to avoid eye contact. ''There's no easy way to say this.''
''You can tell me anything, you know that right?'' she told her son, reaching her hand across the table, offering it as a comforting gesture. At this movement, Kevin's eyes left his plate and looked at the hand in front of him. He had avoided physical contact and had been careful about revealing his secret since his mutation. He knew that the moment he touched her hand, she would know something was wrong. Maybe it was easier than telling her. He had been trying to find the right words for days now, to no success. Either way, he knew she would be disappointed that he wasn't normal.
He was a coward as he finally chose to close the gap between his and his mother's hand instead of saying it out loud. As soon as the cool metallic feeling of his hand touched his mom's skin, her expression quickly changed from concern to surprise. But she was fast to mask the shock. She didn't see her son as a monster like she knew he saw himself, but she was concerned as to how this had happened. He hadn't had trouble controlling his powers since he was a child.
Kevin thought his mother would release his hand in shock or disgust but instead she gripped it more tightly and rubbed gentle and calming circles in the palm of his hand. For some reason, this broke him more than the reaction he had been expecting. Why had he thought she would be disgusted?
''Kevin,'' his mom said, pulling him out of his thoughts. ''You know I don't think any differently of you. This doesn't define you, you're still my son and I love you.''
''I know you love me, Ma,'' Kevin whispered, trying to control his emotions. ''I just didn't want to disappoint you. I'm stuck like this, I can't change back.''
''How did it happen?'' she asked. She knew her son helped local hero, Ben Tennyson, and his cousin Gwen. She had learned about it several months ago after Kevin started frequently coming home at all hours of the night, covered in bruises. Worried he had taken up with a bad crowd, she had forced him to tell her what was going on. She had been so proud and happy to find out he was trying to do good and make a change in the world. After that initial discussion, he didn't often tell her about what he did with Ben, but she knew he used his alien heritage for good.
''I tried to help Ben unlock more powers from his Omnitrix to defeat an alien warlord and conqueror. I knew it was risky but I still did it. Something went wrong, the whole machine and my garage blew up and when I came to, I looked like this.''
To emphasize his point, he removed his ID mask, revealing his true self to his mother. She didn't flinch or show disgust. She looked proud of him.
''How could I be disappointed in you? You were helping a friend and trying to save the world. I'm just sad that you got hurt,'' Josephine answered honestly. ''Is this why you've been having trouble sleeping?''
''Yeah,'' Kevin replied, suddenly feeling embarrassed. His mom's reaction made him feel like he'd been overreacting. He probably should have told her sooner.
''Oh, honey,'' she said, feeling sad that she hadn't been able to help her son sooner. ''What can I do to help?''
''Nothing,'' Kevin told her, feeling defeated. If he knew the cure, he would have changed back by now.
''Are you sure?'' she insisted. ''What happens next time you're woken up by nightmares and can't fall back asleep? I'm sure whoever you went to see last night won't always be there to help you,'' she said, finally revealing all her cards.
''How did you know about that?'' Kevin asked, genuinely surprised before remembering she was a mom and that they had a super power for figuring everything that involved their children.
''Well, I haven't seen you smile like that in quite a while, especially after waking up from a nightmare,'' she said, giving him a smile. ''Is it someone I know?''
''Gwen,'' Kevin said shyly, unable to hide his smile at the simple mention of her name. ''Ben's cousin,'' Kevin quickly followed up in case his mom didn't remember who she was. He had in the past mentioned Gwen the couple of times he had talked with his mother about his hero work with Ben. He had never told his mom that he was dating Gwen. But for what reason, he didn't know. He was starting to feel like he'd messed up as a son. Didn't people normally tell their parents when they started dating someone? Gwen's parents had known about him from the very beginning. But then again, his life and relationship with his parents had never been like Gwen's.
''And she makes you happy?'' Josephine asked her son, but she was pretty sure she knew what his answer was going to be.
''Incredibly happy,'' Kevin answered, his smile growing ever bigger. ''But you're not mad I didn't tell you about her sooner?'' His smile faltered as he said those words.
''Of course not,'' she reassured Kevin. ''You're not obliged to tell me everything that happens in your life, but I do like knowing stuff, especially the stuff that makes you happy.''
''Okay, well anything you want to know about Gwen, I'll happily tell you,'' Kevin replied, half-jokingly, half-honestly. He could spend all day talking about how amazing Gwen was.
''That's great. So when can I meet her?''
''Uh,'' Kevin stuttered.
''Are you going to see her after school? I'm assuming that's where she is right now?'' she continued asking her son. She wasn't mad at Kevin for not telling her about Gwen, after all, she had also kept her first boyfriend a secret from her parents. But she could still have a bit of fun with Kevin, that's the only reason she suggested meeting Gwen today. ''Harvey's not here, it would be the perfect time to meet her. Why don't you invite her over for supper?''
''Isn't that too formal?'' Kevin countered, obviously trying to make things less official. If he had it his way, Josephine was sure he'd introduce her to Gwen and then immediately find an excuse to leave with her before she could embarrass him.
''You're right, it does seem formal for such a short notice,'' she replied. She heard Kevin sigh in relief, thinking he was in the clear. But she wasn't done having her fun. ''Invite her over for coffee, she's probably going to need some after you kept her up all night, she probably didn't sleep in like you did.''
''You're not going to let this go, are you?'' Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at his mom. He had caught on to what she was doing.
''Where do you think you get your stubbornness from, honey?''
''Okay fine,'' Kevin finally relented. ''I'll ask her when I go pick her up, but if she has other plans or wants to catch up on sleep, we're going to reschedule, okay?''
''Of course!'' Josephine replied. ''But I'm sure she'll say yes,'' she concluded, playfully winking at her son.
''Please don't embarrass me while she's here,'' Kevin groaned, as if sensing what his mom had in store as revenge for not confiding in her sooner.
''I would never dream of it,'' she answered innocently. ''I'll bake us some cookies.''
As Kevin pulled up to the sidewalk of Gwen's fancy prep school, he took a deep breath. He shouldn't be so nervous, things would be fine. His mom wouldn't actually say anything to embarrass him. Or at least he hoped it wouldn't be too embarrassing. He was grateful his mom was already so accepting of Gwen despite just finding out about her. Sometimes, he wished Gwen's parents could feel the same way about him, especially after knowing him for so long.
Lost in his thoughts, Kevin didn't notice Gwen walk up to his car and open the door. Her actions brought him back to reality. He then watched her wave goodbye to her friend Emily before sitting down and closing the door behind her.
''Hey Kevin,'' she said as she removed her backpack and placed it on the floor by her feet. ''Did you manage to fall asleep when you got home?''
''Yup, and I slept like a baby,'' Kevin replied, doing a shoulder check before getting back on the road. ''You?''
''Yes and I even decided to skip my run this morning and sleep in for an extra 45 minutes,'' she explained.
''What a rebel,'' Kevin playfully teased.
Gwen rolled her eyes at his comment but smiled nonetheless. ''What are we going to do now, do you know if Ben needs us for something?''
''Nope, haven't heard from Tennyson since yesterday,'' Kevin answered, keeping his eyes on the road. ''But listen, I need to ask you something.''
''Is everything okay?'' Gwen replied, suddenly feeling anxious. For some reason, Kevin seemed a tad tense, but she didn't know why.
''I'm fine, but I talked to my mom this morning,'' Kevin explained. ''I told her about my mutation.''
''How did she take it?'' Gwen asked. Since the accident, Gwen had been reassuring Kevin that his mom wouldn't judge him for it. But when he insisted on keeping it secret, she had dropped the subject and respected his wishes. Had she been wrong and his mom had instead reacted badly to the news?
''Really great actually, you were right, as always,'' Kevin replied a bit bashfully.
''And yet you never listen,'' Gwen bantered back. ''But seriously, I'm really happy it went well. It must be such a relief.'' Gwen reached out to grab Kevin's right hand, hopefully conveying her sincerity. Kevin accepted her hand and gave it a small squeeze.
''Thanks. Oh and I kinda also told her about us dating and now she wants to meet you, preferably right now over a cup of coffee at our house,'' Kevin quickly told her. He didn't want to lose his courage so he blurted it out in an awkward manner.
''Really?'' Gwen replied, she sounded excited.
''Yeah, you okay with that?'' Kevin questioned.
''Of course! I'd love to finally meet your mom,'' Gwen told him honestly. ''Based on the way you've talked about her in the past, she sounds amazing.''
''You sure you don't want to postpone until a later date, you look tired and you probably need to catch—''
''Don't even finish that sentence Kevin,'' Gwen replied, knowing he was trying to find an excuse to avoid this. ''Just drive to your house, I don't want to keep your mom waiting.''
Kevin laughed and did as he was told. He hoped his mom was ready to meet someone who was just as stubborn as they were, maybe even more.
Josephine Levin heard the familiar sound of her son's car pulling into the driveway. She had just finished making a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies and had placed them on the small coffee table near the couch in the living room. Not wanting to seem like she was just sitting around waiting for them to arrive, she returned to the kitchen to start her coffee machine and grab two mugs. Kevin didn't like coffee so she wasn't going to prepare one for him. He could get something from the fridge if he was thirsty.
''I'm back,'' Kevin said as he entered the house.
As she heard her son and his girlfriend enter the home, she decided to exit the kitchen and greet them at the door. Leaving the kitchen, she got her first look at Gwen and she could immediately tell why Kevin was so smitten with her, she was incredibly beautiful.
''Hello, I'm Josephine, Kevin's mom,'' she greeted as she approached the two teenagers. Gwen smiled brightly in response.
''Hi, it's so nice to finally meet you, I'm Gwen,'' the redhead said as she reached out her hand to shake Josephine's hand.
Instead, Josephine reached out with both arms and gently pulled Gwen into a hug. Gwen returned the hug.
''It's nice to finally meet you too, even if Kevin only officially mentioned you today,'' she said as she pulled out of the hug. Gwen giggled at this as her son awkwardly scratched the back of his head. ''Why don't we go sit in the living room?''
''Sounds good,'' Gwen replied, following Kevin's mom to the couch.
''Would you like some coffee? I heard you didn't get much sleep last night,'' Josephine asked.
''That would be lovely, but it's okay, I'm not that tired,'' Gwen answered as she took a seat on one end of the couch.
''Liar,'' Kevin muttered under his breath as he awkwardly hovered beside the couch. But both Gwen and Josephine ignored his comment.
''I'll go grab you a cup, help yourself to the cookies on the table,'' Josephine said as she left the room. ''And Kevin, you're allowed to sit down beside Gwen you know,'' she joked.
Gwen giggled again at her boyfriend's behavior, it was rare that she ever saw him so flustered. In her opinion, he didn't have anything to be worried about, but humans were weird sometimes. When Kevin finally sat down on the couch, Gwen gave him a questioning look as he had chosen to sit as far away as he physically could.
''What?'' Kevin responded to Gwen's look.
''Did he sit at the opposite end of the couch?'' Josephine inquired from inside the kitchen, clearly she was listening to what they were doing.
''Yes,'' Gwen replied, unable to hold in her laughter.
''You don't need to leave room for Jesus,'' Kevin's mom jokingly said as she entered the room with two cups of coffee in her hands.
''I'm just trying to be proper!'' Kevin defended himself but nonetheless moved closer to Gwen.
''That's nice, now be yourself instead,'' Josephine playfully told her son. ''Let me know if you want some sugar, milk or cream, I wasn't sure how you liked your coffee,'' she continued as she handed one of the mugs to her son's girlfriend.
''Thank you, but I actually prefer my coffee black,'' Gwen replied, taking the cup of coffee and carefully placing it on the nearby table while it cooled down.
''Perfect,'' the older woman answered as she sat in the armchair across from the couch. ''Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself Gwen?''
Kevin politely listened as the two women talked about stuff he already knew. What school Gwen went to, what classes she was taking, what she wanted to do once she graduated, questions about her family and so on. Once the formalities were over, they easily switched topics as they found lots of things to talk about. They didn't mean to exclude Kevin from their conversation, they had simply gotten carried away talking about all the things they had in common. It turns out they had the same tastes in novels and had both read the most recent book published by some author Kevin vaguely recalled Gwen mentioning. Kevin didn't mind not participating, he was simply enjoying watching the two women he loved the most in the world have fun and bond. As he vaguely paid attention to their discussion, he felt his stress about this meeting fade away, it once again felt silly to have been worried about such a thing.
''What other hobbies do you enjoy?'' Kevin heard Gwen ask his mother.
''I love to knit, although I haven't started a new project in a while,'' Josephine replied.
''Knitting seems like such a beautiful hobby, it must be fun being able to create your own clothes and stuff like that. I've always wanted to learn how to knit but I don't have the time or the materials,'' Gwen explained.
''Why don't I teach you!'' Josephine proposed happily. ''And you can borrow some of my needles and spare wool while you learn to get the hang of it.''
''Really? That would be amazing, thank you so much!'' Gwen said, a huge grin appearing on her face.
''It would be my pleasure, sweetie,'' she replied. ''Whenever you have some time off from school and you feel like it, you're welcome to come over so I can teach you. Maybe just check with Kevin beforehand to make sure I'm home and not out doing some errands or something.''
''I will,'' Gwen promised. She turned her head to look at Kevin to make sure he was okay with their plan. She was surprised to see him leaning back into the couch with the biggest, goofiest smile she had ever seen gracing his face. Gwen could tell he wasn't really paying attention since he didn't notice that the both of them had stopped talking and were now looking at him. Gwen wished she could photograph this moment and cherish it forever, she rarely saw him so happy and carefree.
''Kevin?'' the redhead finally asked, deciding to gently grab his hand to get his attention.
''What?'' Kevin answered, looking over at Gwen, although he still seemed to be in a bit of a daze. It took him a couple of seconds to clue in to the fact that both women were staring at him and giving him playfully confused looks.
''What's got you so happy?'' Gwen asked him, trying hard to not laugh at his cute behavior.
''Nothing! Why don't I go do the dishes while you two continue talking?'' Kevin quickly deflected as he stood up from the couch.
''There aren't many dishes to wash, honey,'' Josephine replied. ''I put most of the things in the dishwasher.''
''That's fine I'll just clean whatever's left. And I can take your empty mugs,'' Kevin rambled, grabbing their cups off the coffee table and quickly escaping to the kitchen.
As soon as he was out of the room, both women looked at each other and softly giggled.
''I've never seen him act like that,'' Gwen admitted, still smiling.
''Neither have I,'' the older woman confessed. ''I think it's because of you. I think you're honestly the best thing that's ever happened to him. You should have seen him when he came home last night. If I hadn't heard him having his nightmares before he left, I wouldn't have been able to guess by how happy and relaxed he was when he came home.''
''He's the best thing that's ever happened to me too,'' Gwen replied honestly, blushing a bit.
''Then I'm so glad you two found each other,'' Josephine told Gwen.
As the two women resumed their conversation about knitting, Kevin stood in the kitchen cleaning what little dishes were left in the sink. He was still smiling and seemed incapable of stopping. He had heard what his mom and girlfriend had just said, and he was also very happy to have Gwen in his life. He was happy and lucky to have them both.
I'm honestly not sure if I like what I wrote, but I wanted to post it anyways. Obviously, in the show, there's not much information about Kevin's mom or detailed descriptions about her relationship with her son. Kevin, to me, definitely feels like a mama's boy, and seeing as he's done some things in the past that he's not proud of, he has a habit of hiding everything from her to spare her the pain of being disappointed, sad or angry. So to me, that's why he didn't tell her about Gwen at first. But once he realizes that not sharing that part of his life was silly, he tries to make things better and mentions Gwen all the time. And that's why, in the episode Vendetta, Gwen mentions having met Kevin's mom before. But I do apologize if all of this makes Kevin or his mom seem OOC. Anyways, reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome! Thank you for reading, take care!