Thanks for all your support and the review! ^^ So glad I made everyone happy with the update! Now on with the new chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Ben 10, not even James, who will rarely be mentioned for now on.
Kevin woke first the next morning and quickly got out of the bed, not wanting to give Ben or his parents the wrong idea. After last night, who knew how Ben would react? And after five years of no contact then finally showing up, who knew how his parents would react?
So he got off of the bed and sat backwards on the chair at Ben's desk, crossing his arms on top of it before placing his chin on his arms and watching Ben. It looked like the younger teen didn't move at all last night, still wrapped in the blanket Kevin gave him. For a moment, Kevin mused about the possibility that he should have grabbed Ben's clothing, but soon dismissed the thought. Wouldn't have mattered and he doubted Ben was stable enough at the moment to get dressed.
Kevin scowled as that event flashed through his mind. Sure, he and Ben were ten and eleven when they first made love, but he didn't rape Ben. Yet his so-called 'boyfriend' almost did! That bastard better hope Kevin didn't see him again, or he would definitely be paying the hospital an extended visit.
A low groan pulled Kevin from his murderous thoughts to Ben. The smaller teen was slowly waking up. "You okay?" Kevin asked. Ben groggily sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before noticing the blanket really was all he had on to cover himself. "Sorry, didn't grab your clothes."
"It's alright," Ben said, wrapping the blanket tighter around him before getting up and going to his dresser.
Kevin closed his eyes and turned his head away, something Ben was a little thankful for. "He hit you?" Kevin asked him.
Ben was silent for a second. "Yeah, I tried to fight him off," he answered.
The older teen clenched his fist and furrowed his eyebrows. That bastard! How dare he hurt Ben! "Couldn't reach your Omnitrix?" he continued.
"No, he made sure I couldn't." Ben finally pulled out a pair of underwear and jeans. He looked over his shoulder to Kevin to see the other still looking in the other direction before he dropped the blanket and slipped on his clothes. Once his jeans were zipped up and buttoned, he turned to Kevin and placed a hand on his shoulder. Kevin just opened his eyes and turned his head to Ben. "Thank you," he said. "I was in real trouble and… I just don't know how to thank you properly…"
"You don't have to," Kevin stated, getting off the chair and standing in front of Ben. "It wouldn't have been the first time I saved you. You didn't need to thank me then and you don't need to now."
He looked up at Kevin with wide eyes before dropping his head onto Kevin's chest, arms wrapping around the taller teen as Ben buried his face into Kevin's shirt. "I was…" he shakily spoke, shoulders shaking and Kevin could feel tears leaking onto his shirt. "I was just so scared! I didn't think he would ever do something like that! I just… I couldn't stop him!"
With a deep sigh, Kevin wrapped his arms around the smaller, shaking body against him and stayed like that, letting Ben cry everything out. Barely ten minutes passed before Ben calmed down enough to pull away and turn around. "I'm sorry," he said.
"It's alright," Kevin reassured him. "After what you went through, probably best. Even if I do hate to see you cry."
"Why?" Ben softly asked as he went through his dressed to find a shirt.
"I just… hate seeing you upset," Kevin answered with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
"No, why do you even care?" Ben rephrased, looking at Kevin over his shoulder. "We were together for a summer and a few weeks. Then you decide to go home and after a month, there's nothing. No calls. No emails. I lost count of how many messages I left you, which were never returned. Then you show back up, act like you love Gwen, and don't even act like anything happened between us! So why do you care now?"
"I acted like nothing happened?" Kevin scoffed, almost slapping his hand onto his own chest. "I could say the same thing about you! I thought you pretty much ignored what we had!"
"I couldn't!" Ben shouted. "I couldn't forget! You were my first everything! My first friend. My boyfriend. Kiss. Love. You were everything to me! Then you vanish off the map and don't come back until five years later and pretty much ignored everything we had!"
"I never stopped loving you, Ben!" Kevin exclaimed. Ben's eyes grew wide as he gasped. "I just thought you didn't want me anymore. And you're right, I did kind of vanish off the map. I couldn't keep contact, even though I wanted to. I wanted to tell you everything that was going on, but shit happened and I couldn't keep contact. And I did it for your safety!"
"What do you mean?" Ben whispered.
Kevin sighed heavily, dropping back onto the chair he occupied a while ago. Ben sat on the bed near him, last nights incident already out of his thoughts since he was finally getting answers.
"Remember I told you my dad was a Plumber?" he asked. Ben nodded. "Well he had a few enemies. Mom's boyfriend, the one who didn't want me around the house five years ago, already dumped her, so he wasn't around. With Dad gone, it was just Mom and me. One of his old enemies found us, though. Tried to get information out of us and was using whatever he could to get that information. I didn't want him to find out about you and hurt you to get information I don't have, so I cut off contact."
"For five years?" Ben said.
"I got caught up in some stuff afterwards," Kevin explained. "After the guy finally realized we knew nothing, he left us alone. Mom kind of broke down and I stayed with a couple of relatives. Then I got started in this alien tech trading business. In that kind of business, you can make a lot of friends or a lot of enemies. A lot of people I traded with I got bad feelings from, so I played the tough guy card. I cut contact with everyone I knew so that if any of these guys wanted to hurt me, it would be only me and not someone I cared about."
Ben was silent for a few seconds. "So it was for my protection?" he asked.
"I never stopped thinking about you, Ben," Kevin started. "Every night I went to sleep, I always dreamt of you. When I came back here and saw you, I was just so goddamn happy, but I couldn't show it. Then I thought that you moved on. I mean, you're a beautiful guy and…I'm nothing…"
He watched Kevin mentally struggle for a bit before getting off the bed and walking over to Kevin. Kevin looked up at him before Ben bent down and gently brushed Kevin's forehead with his lips. "You're not nothing, Kevin. I want us to have what we had before," he said. "But after everything… I need time…"
"I understand," Kevin told him. "Take as much time as you need."
The two fell into an awkward yet comfortable silence. Ben took a moment to slip his shirt on, as well as his jacket. He twirled the ring on his finger a couple of times before looking at Kevin. "Do me a favor," he said.
"Sure," Kevin replied.
"Don't tell anyone what happened last night."
Kevin stared at him for a moment. "Gwen's gonna notice that bruise on your face," he pointed out. "What do you plan on telling her? Or your parents?"
"A fight with DNAliens," Ben answered. "Not that hard to believe."
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"Ben!" Gwen exclaimed when she saw him and the large bruise that covered his right cheek. "What happened? Where'd you get that bruise?"
"Just got in a fight with some DNAliens last night, that's all," Ben quickly lied, something Kevin was amazed with. Normally, Ben was a terrible liar, but that was actually quite convincing. Even his eyebrow didn't twitch.
"That's all?" Gwen seemed to be seething. "How come you didn't call for Kevin and me when there was an attack?"
"They don't exactly give him time to call," Kevin played along. "Relax, Gwen. I got to him before he failed even more. At least you kept the tracker on you."
"Only because you won't shut up about it," Ben pointed out.
Kevin just shrugged. Gwen sighed heavily. "Just be more careful next time," Gwen softly told her younger cousin, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Come on. We need a bit of a break." Gwen seemed pretty happy with whatever idea was running through her head.
"No shopping!" both boys exclaimed.
Gwen seemed a little miffed. "I thought you liked shopping, Ben," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Only when you're not in a psycho-shopper mode," Ben quickly retaliated with a smirk. "I learned my lesson the last time I was shopping with you like that. I think I got a better idea of where we can go and relax. We just need to pack a lunch and have some fun."
About an hour later, a blanket was placed on top of a large rock that was almost surrounded by water, a picnic basket set on it and Gwen sitting on the edge of the large boulder. Ben turned into Brainstorm and he and Kevin had a small competition. Kevin absorbed the stone he stood on while Brainstorm seemed to taunt him before Kevin did a cannonball into the water.
The two bantered for a moment before noticing Gwen seemed sullen. 'So much for relaxing,' Ben mentally sighed to himself as Gwen told a little story of her catching a small fish with Grandpa Max.
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"Gwen?" Ben called to his cousin once everything settled down after Grandma Verdona's visit.
"Yeah?" she answered back, looking to him.
Ben smiled softly at her. "I know you really want to learn more about your powers," he stated. "And losing that chance…I know it's probably really hard for you. But I just want to thank you…for not leaving us…"
Gwen smiled back at him before hugging her cousin tightly. "I got enough time to myself to learn these powers," she assured him. "But I won't leave me family. My powers are not more important than you, my parents, Grandpa Max, or even Kevin." Ben inhaled deeply and let the quiet wash over them for a moment. "Now, want to tell me how you really got that bruise?" Gwen suddenly asked.
Startled from the abrupt change, Ben jumped away. "I… I did tell you," he pointed out with a shrug.
"Ben, I've been able to read through your lies since we were kids," Gwen argued. "Now, what happened?"
The younger cousin chewed on his lower lip for a moment and turned his head away. "I'm…" He sighed heavily. "I don't want to remember, Gwen. I'll tell you when I get over it, but not right now."
"At least-" Gwen started before she was cut off.
"I gotta get home," he said then took off in a run down the street. "See ya tomorrow, Gwen!"
Gwen huffed at the evasion. She was worried about him. He would try to lie when he knew he would get into trouble, but whatever happened to him… she had to know! Something or someone spooked him. She turned her head to look at Kevin, who was about to get into his car and go home.
"Kevin!" she called.
"Yeah?" Kevin called back, looking to her with his car door already opened.
She briskly walked towards him and stopped on the other side of the car door. "I know Ben was lying about that bruise," she stated.
"Look, Ben doesn't want to talk about it and made me promise not to tell anyone until he wants," Kevin attempted to placate her. "We've all had a rough day, you especially. Go to bed and sleep. Ben may tell you tomorrow if nothing huge is going on."
"I'm worried about him," Gwen stated. Kevin, in the process of climbing into his car, froze with a sigh. "I just want to know why he kept flinching whenever we touched him, or why he kept looking over his shoulder all day. Please, Kevin."
Kevin shook his head. "Can't," he said firmly. "I promised. I break that promise, I may ruin whatever chance he is willing to give me."
Not waiting for her to say another word, he sat in his car, closed the door, and started the engine. Gwen held her arms as she stepped back from the vehicle before Kevin nearly peeled out of the driveway and down the street.
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Time passed. Gwen was never told, but she didn't drop it. The DNAliens were unusually quiet, but the trio relished in the peace. The bruise on Ben's face faded, as well as his insecurity to some touches. Thankfully, James didn't bother him. Kevin probably gave him a good scare and Kevin was always around.
Unlike when they first got together, the two took things simple and slow. Gwen barely noticed the occasional touch or glance to the other. She did notice how suddenly protective Kevin got over the smaller teen, especially when Cash and JT attempted to harass him at the smoothie place that became the trio's favorite place to hang out and relax. Ben could have gone alien and taught them a lesson, or Kevin could have absorb some concrete or metal and got both of them to back off, which he seemed ready to actually do. Thankfully, the situation didn't escalate further than a few words.
After getting free new smoothies (either because he actually put Cash and JT down or because the two trashed the smoothies he already bought), Ben sat next to Kevin and handed out the cold drink. "I'm proud of you, Ben," Gwen suddenly said. "You could have gone alien and beat them up, but you chose words over action."
Ben shrugged. "They aren't worth going alien over," he commented. He felt a hand rubbing his lower back gently and barely smiled.
"Aren't you worried that they'll take revenge over the damage to their pride?" Gwen asked with furrowed eyebrows.
Ben and Kevin looked at each other then at her. "What the worst they can do?" Ben mockingly scoffed. "I mean, it's not like they can chase me around and beat me black and blue."
"He's got a point there," Kevin commented. "Those two are just a pair of mutts with a bark worse than their bite."
Gwen sighed. "That's true," she agreed, rubbing her forehead. "So when did you two become so close again?"
The two boys blushed, Ben more so. "After I dumped James," Ben answered, turning his head away.
He didn't say why nor elaborate. Ben just fell silent and consumed his smoothie. "Okay, I'm just gonna ask," his cousin sighed. "Why did you dump James?"
"Because he's an insensitive jerk who doesn't care for anything other than sex," Ben commented, glaring off the to side.
"He pulled the 'you'll do this if you love me' card, didn't he?" Gwen sighed heavily.
"Big time," the two boys replied before slurping at their smoothies.
Gwen stared at them long and hard. "James gave you that bruise that took a whole week to heal, didn't he?" she accused.
Ben stiffened. Keeping Kevin from killing James is one thing, but if Gwen found out. He shivered slightly. Chances were she would go Anodite and James would find himself six feet under… depending. With a deep inhale, Ben lowered his head slightly and gave the affirmative. Gwen would probably just give James a good scare of a death threat for a bruise on his face, so long as she doesn't know that James tried to rape him.
Gwen slammed her smoothie onto the table. "How dare he!" she exclaimed.
"Kevin taught him a good lesson in manners, so you don't need to overreact," Ben tried to reassure her. "He gave him a bloody face and three bruises in return."
"And a punch to the gut," Kevin added.
"See?" Ben sighed, jabbing his thumb towards Kevin.
Another sigh escaped his cousin, this one quite harsh. "He hasn't come near you since?" she asked.
"Not since he got a visit from Big Chill," Ben answered with a smirk. Kevin stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, as did Gwen, before the dark teen started to laugh. "Didn't even know it was me. He hasn't met Big Chill, only Brainstorm and Jetray."
"Wait, he knows about the Omnitrix," Gwen pointed out.
Kevin stopped laughing before Ben shook his head. "I- or Big Chill- managed to convince him that if he said a word about it to the public, he would find himself in a deep freeze that no amount of heat could free him from."
"You can do that?" Kevin asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ben shrugged a shoulder. "What I don't know, James definitely doesn't!" he answered with a grin.
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Kevin was sore all over from fighting Cash after he got the gauntlet. If he even suspected that the two would take revenge by trying to trash his car, he would never had put the stupid robot glove in his trunk.
A slight dip of the mattress alerted Kevin to someone else in the room with him, which wasn't a surprise. Ben knew that he was tough, but Kevin was sore and Ben would not let him go home by himself like that. He could have laughed at that, but he didn't.
Ben lied down on the bed next to him, pulling the cover back enough for him to slip under before covering them both. "You're parents might freak if they saw this," Kevin told him.
"They barely freak," he stated. "They didn't even freak out when we were younger and found out we had sex."
"That was awkward," the older teen chuckled.
"Yeah," Ben groaned, covering his eyes as he rolled over onto his back. The two laid there, side by side and silent. "Kev?" he softly called.
"Yeah?" Kevin responded.
"Do you remember what my parents told us five years ago?" Ben asked, turning his head towards the older teen.
"About your ability to get pregnant and it would start when you turn fifteen?" Kevin answered with a question.
"Yeah, that," Ben sighed. "Did you ever think about it after they told us?"
"What do you mean?" Kevin was getting an idea of where this was going, but didn't want to say anything before making a fool of himself.
Ben chewed on the inside of his cheek for a second. "Have you ever…thought about… being a dad?" he hesitantly asked. "About… being a father?"
Kevin was silent for a moment, turning his head to look at Ben. "Sometimes," he said. "Maybe not anytime soon. I mean, we're in our mid-teens, no need to rush." He looked back up to the ceiling. "One thing that I always thought about when it came to my own kids, though, was this: I only want kids if you're their mother. I don't want to have kids with anyone but you, Ben."
"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?" Ben asked with a smirk. "Or do you mean it?"
His answer was Kevin reaching out and grabbing the back of his head before pulling him down for a crushing kiss. Ben gasped, his lips parting. Kevin took the opening, sliding his tongue into Ben's mouth and wrestle with Ben's tongue. After a couple of seconds, Ben started to return the kiss, burying his hands into Kevin dark hair as he climbed over the older teen to straddle his stomach. One of Kevin's hands stayed buried in his hair while the other trailed down Ben's back and started to rub at his lower back, threatening close to his butt.
Air soon became a necessary evil to the two as they broke apart, a trail of saliva connecting their lips as they panted slightly. Ben leaned down and peck Kevin on the lips a couple of times before rolling off of him and curling into his side.
"Good answer?" Kevin joked lightly.
"Very good answer," Ben replied with a smirk, rubbing his face into Kevin's shoulder as the other nuzzled his head. "Kevin?"
"Yeah?"
"…I don't want to have kids unless you're their father," he admitted. "Never have."
Kevin smirked slightly. "Maybe we'll have a couple in a few years, when we're not saving the world from being destroyed."
Ben chuckled lightly.
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Big Chill sighed heavily, a mist seeping from his mouth. Swampfire shook his own head slowly then continued staring at the Necrofriggian of the Omnitrix. "I know what you're thinking," Big Chill rasped, turning his head to stare at the only Alien that chose to occupy the section of darkness within Ben's mind with him. "I'm being paranoid."
"I don't blame you," Swampfire replied. "I am, too. Heck, we all are. But Ben will recover from it and Kevin will help him along the way."
"I do not trust that Osmosian," Big Chill spat, jerking his head forward. "You cannot tell me you do not worry over him as well."
"I'll admit I do, but you do need to calm down."
"I am calm, unlike many of those here," Big Chill argued, fully turning around and walking towards Swampfire. "I am just frustrated."
"How is that calm?" Swampfire cheekily asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Oh, shut up," the Necrofriggian hissed. "I'm frustrated because we have no way of actually helping him. His mind is filled with nightmares now, we can barely reach through to him."
"Then we have to trust on those around him," Swampfire commented, placing a warm hand on Big Chill's freezing cold shoulder. "Even if we can't fully trust the Osmosian, and I know that no one can really trust one, we just have to let them help him. Like you said, we can barely reach out to Ben now, so we just have to trust them to help him. He is healing, but he still need a bit more time. And like it or not, believe it or not, Kevin is the one helping him the most."
A low growl escaped Big Chill's throat. "He will only hurt Ben in the end," he retorted, then brushed Swampfire's hand off his shoulder and walked past him, disappearing into the darkness that surrounded the pair.
Swampfire sighed heavily. He knew that Big Chill worried over Ben the most, even if he would never admit it.
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Even though the younger boy was frowning and glaring at him, Kevin grinned cockily. "What did I do wrong this time?" he asked as he climbed out of his car.
"Don't think I don't know about your street racing!" Ben exclaimed.
Kevin grin fell into a surprised frown. "Ben, calm down," he attempted to placate. "First of all, it's not street racing. It's just a bit of competition to see who's got the better vehicle."
"In other words, racing," Ben commented. "Kevin, what if you get in an accident? You could end up in the hospital or worse, in the morgue!"
"I don't know whether to be touched that you care that much about me and my safety, or insulted that you think I can get hurt or die so easily," Kevin commented, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against his car. "Ben, I do know what I'm doing. You don't need to worry so much."
Ben just narrowed his eyes at him then turned around and walked off. "By the way, we need to look into something," he called over his shoulder. "This isn't over!"
Kevin sighed and shook his head slowly then followed Ben into the house. "Yeah, I think I know what about," he replied. "Something going on out in the middle of nowhere, near an old military base, right?"
"Yep," Ben replied, popping the 'p' then froze and looked at Kevin over his shoulder. "How do you know that?"
"I hear things and I know where we need to go," he stated. "Let's go get Gwen and see what's going on."
I know it took me forever to update, but at least I did. I hope people like this update and I hope to have the next one up soon, though no promises. Like I said before, I don't know where Luna wanted the story to be in the series, so I'm just going episode by episode until I feel like I can branch off… expect a lot going on for 'Save the Last Dance'. XD review, please!