Hi, everyone! It's Dragon Ruler 06 now! So far, so good with this story I adopted. Wish me much luck on it, my fingers are crossed as I am typing this note now. XD Anyway, this may not be the turn Luna-no-Hana-21 was going when she first started this story, but it is mine now and the only thing I can hope for it to make her proud.
Again, wish me much luck!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10, none of them.
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Still not believing that he was thinking of Kevin while he kissed James, Ben changed into his pajamas with a racing mind and curled up in bed, tucking his blanket under his chin and squeezing his eyes closed. Thirty minutes later, his mind still hadn't calmed down enough for him to sleep. He rolled over onto his back and covered his face with his pillow.
It was so complicated. Maybe he could talk to Gwen in the morning. She always offered him great advice when he went through complications in life. Like when Kevin forgot to call, text, or contact him in any way five years ago. Gwen was the one who talked him into moving on and comforted him when he broke down.
With that now in mind, Ben sighed heavily and put the pillow back under his head and finally drifted to sleep. Though his mind wasn't as calm as he thought it was.
Flashing of the past swept before his eyes as he dreamed. The first time he and Kevin made love in Kevin's former home. The ring. Coming home with him.
Morning came too soon and Ben didn't feel like he had any rest at all. He groaned as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head with a yawn before stretching his arms and getting up to get ready for the day. Once he was completely dressed, gently tugging on the sleeves of his green jacket, his eyes couldn't help but travel to the spot where he put the ring.
He loves Kevin, he knows he does. But Kevin moved on, most likely. He didn't get overly possessive or jealous when Gwen mentioned that Ben had a date yesterday. There was no contact between them for five years. What were the chances of Kevin actually still loving him after so long?
He didn't want to give himself false hope or make Kevin think he was waiting for something that would never happen, but he couldn't help it. He went over to the drawer where he stashed little things that he didn't want to lose in his closet. He actually took the ring off about four months ago, reluctantly. Gwen convinced him that he would never move on with it always on his finger as a reminder of everything. He still put it on every single night. It was strange otherwise.
The drawer slid open quietly and Ben's hand dove in, moving things left and right until he saw the small black box he put the ring into. He grabbed it and opened it, letting a soft smile grace his lips at the sight of the beautiful ring Kevin gave him five years ago. With a silent sigh, he removed the ring from the box and slipped it onto his finger, staring at it.
It felt like it belonged there. It always had. He sometimes slipped it on for a day or two after taking it off for the first time. Gwen got on his case every now and then when she finally noticed it, but Ben just told her he was used to it being there and it felt strange not to have it on. She backed off a little bit and let him slowly adjust to the ring's absence.
Maybe Kevin won't notice it.
He went to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast and left with a 'later!' to Carl and Sandra once he was done. Not really surprised, Gwen was right there at the sidewalk, looking like she was about to go up to his house and drag him out by the ear.
"How long have you been waiting?" he asked with a smile.
"Five minutes," she answered, her arms crossed.
"Sorry," Ben said, his shoulders shrugging slightly as they started walking to Kevin's. He was pretty much the only one with the technology that would tell them if anything was happening somewhere or if a Plumber was calling. "If it makes you feel any better, I tried to rush."
"Yeah, makes me feel so much better," Gwen sarcastically commented before smiling. "So spill! How was your date?"
"It was great!" the brunet answered happily, returning the smile. "James took me out to eat then we talked for a while, but it was still fun! Oh, get this, Kevin came over before James picked me up."
"Really?" Gwen asked in amazement. "Why?"
"Wanted to go get a drink or two before my date," Ben replied with another shrug.
"I really hope this doesn't make things awkward for you two," the red-head stated. "I mean, we're supposed to be a team now. And considering everything between you two…"
"I know," Ben sighed, tilting his head down. "Don't worry. It won't. I don't think anything we did in the past even matters to Kevin anymore. I was probably nothing more than a phase to him."
"Ben," Gwen sympathetically said, placing a hand on his arm. "Don't think like that."
"It's true," Ben argued.
"We don't know that," Gwen interjected. "I know you're still in love with Kevin. I see that look in your eyes. And I can see that ring on your finger."
Ben hid his hand in his pocket. "What ring?" he asked.
"The ring Kevin gave you five years ago," Gwen pointed out, grabbing him by his wrist and pulling his hand out of his pocket before lifting his hand up to point at the band on his finger.
"I just wanted to wear it today, okay!" Ben defensively exclaimed as he yanked his wrist from Gwen's grasp. He looked at it and sighed heavily. "Alright, confession time."
"What do you mean?" Gwen asked curiously.
"Well…James kissed me last night," Ben started.
Gwen squealed. "So soon? Wait, you better not be changing the subject on me!"
"I'm not, let me finish," he placated her. "Well, when he kissed me…I don't know. I just suddenly thought of Kevin. I've tried, Gwen… but I don't think I'm ever going to be over Kevin. He's my first everything."
His cousin sighed gently and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard, Ben. I may not understand, and I probably never will. But you need to move on. Kevin hasn't even acted like he wants what you two used to have."
"You know how he is," Ben commented with a tilt of his head. "He's been a proud guy ever since he was a kid. But you're right. He hasn't, has he… but what about when he came over before my date last night? That's gotta mean something!"
"It could mean anything, Ben," Gwen sighed again. "He could have just asked you out as a friend. Not as a boyfriend. Besides, he knows you have a boyfriend already. Hence you going on a date with another guy and not him."
"Yeah, yeah," Ben waved off as they neared the place Kevin currently resided.
"Yo!" Kevin called out when he saw them approached after coming out from under his car.
"Hey, Kevin!" the cousins greeted back.
"What's going on?" Kevin asked as he popped the hood open and leaned over the engine. Ben couldn't help but stare as he watched the muscles ripple under Kevin's skin while the older teen worked.
"Nothing much," Gwen answered with a wave of her hand. "Hear anything lately?"
"No," Kevin said as he pulled back from the engine and put the hood back down. "Could always drive around until we do hear something, though," he suggested, wiping his hands on a slightly dirty rag he has probably been using the past few times he's worked on the car.
"Only if you clean up," Gwen commented, noticing all the smudges Kevin was currently covered in. "It's only ten in the morning. How long have you been working on that thing?"
"Hey, this 'thing' is my pride and joy," Kevin shot back. "You have any idea how long and how much I had to save up to get it? How bad it was when I did? How much I had to spend to get it like this? No, you don't."
"Kevin's a car fanatic, Gwen," Ben pointed out. "Leave him alone. Girls don't mess with a guy's car like a guy doesn't mess with a girl's shoes."
"What he said," the older teen agreed.
Gwen sighed heavily. "You may mentally be a girl, Ben, but you're still as annoying as any guy I ever met," she told him.
"Hey! I'm not mentally a girl!"
"Tennyson, you giggle like a girl," Kevin pointed out. "Not to mention you were wearing a dress last night."
Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, shut up!" Ben snapped. "What is this, Pick on Ben Day?"
"Yes," the other two answered.
"I hate you both," the younger boy pouted.
"Would a smoothie make you feel better?" Kevin asked with a smirk, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Ben hummed gently, tapping his chin for a few seconds. "Maybe," he answered, grinning widely.
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"So what did you do on your date?" Gwen asked as Ben sipped at his smoothie. Kevin acted like he was ignoring the conversation, but was listening with undivided attention.
"Nothing much," Ben answered with a shrug. "He took me to this fancy restaurant and we just talked about anything and everything."
"What did you two talk about?" Gwen pressed on.
"Well at first, he was going on and on about football, then he asked me about soccer and then everything just kind of went into random subjects from there," he said, waving his hand off slightly. "We still had fun. He has a good sense of humor."
"You know you gotta introduce him to the family, right?" Gwen commented with a smile. "Get the approval of Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandra."
Kevin flinched, but disguised it as him popping his neck. He remembered meeting them. He was terrified of what they would do if he ever showed his face. No doubt the lack of contact five years ago was hard on Ben and they would probably blame him the most.
"As well as myself and Grandpa Max," Gwen continued.
"If we find him," Ben said lowly, his eyes moving to the side a little bit.
Gwen patted his hand. "We will," she assured him. "But James still needs everyone's approval. He would probably even need Kevin's."
"What?" Ben and Kevin both exclaimed.
"Considering," she offered. "I mean, you two are exes."
"Then why would James need my approval?" Kevin asked with a scoff.
Gwen sighed gently. "Never mind, ignore that last part," she said, waving it off. "Unless you think they're something wrong with James."
"Yeah, he's way too nice," Kevin sneered. "No guy is that nice unless they want something. Seriously, the guy brought Ben flowers. Fucking flowers!"
"So he was being romantic," Ben shrugged off. "Why is that such a big deal?"
"Look, Tennyson," Kevin sighed harshly. "If there's one thing I learned from living on the streets all those years ago, it's that there is such a thing as 'too nice'. No one is that nice unless they have an ulterior motive. They act all nice and sweet until they know you don't have your guard up, then they use you for whatever. Manipulate you and make it seem otherwise. I got a bad feeling from that guy. You should watch yourself around him."
"You know what?" Ben scoffed. "I think you're just jealous."
Kevin stared at him incredulously. Well that would be one reason he didn't like James, but it doesn't mean what he said wasn't true. "Jealous?" he repeated.
"Yeah, jealous," Ben confirmed.
"I'm not jealous!" the older teen argued.
"You're acting like it," the other pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm not jealous, alright? I'm just warning you to keep your guard up," Kevin scoffed, turning his head away before taking a drink from the smoothie by his arm.
Ben smirked at him sarcastically, giving him the 'yeah, right' look. Kevin was jealous. Something inside of the younger teen grew giddy at that little piece of knowledge. Maybe Kevin still had some sort of feelings for him. Not all hope of them getting back together was lost. Yet Kevin is a proud person. He won't admit anything first, unless he finally grew impatient and irritated and just suddenly yelled everything at the top of his lungs.
"Hey, Kevin," Gwen suddenly broke off the argument when Ben was about to say something else. "Why is your Plumber's badge flashing?"
Both boys looked down at the badge that Kevin placed on the table in case it picked up a signal or anything. Kevin reached down to pick ip up and a holographic map appeared above the badge with one flashing dot on it. "It's picked up the signal of another Plumber's badge," he answered.
"So should we?" Ben asked, already getting to his feet.
"Yeah," Gwen answered. "We should."
"Then let's get going," Kevin added, tossing his empty smoothie cup into the trash can about fifteen feet away.
"Nice toss," Ben complimented, heading towards the car once he dropped his empty cup into the trash.
Kevin grinned playfully. "Yeah, I got some skills."
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Hi everyone! It's Dragon again! Well this is my first chapter written by me for this story and I hope it is good enough. Luna (can I call you Luna?), if you have read this chapter, I hope you are pleased with it. I have tried the best I can.
Now I would like reviews and for everyone to tell me how I am doing with this story so far. I would greatly appreciate it. Flamers will be deleted. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Reviews saying how well I am doing will be loved! XD Review! And I will try to make future chapters longer.