Ben's face was grim, the bags under his eyes only aging him more than he already had. I stifled a laugh, knowing it would only ignite the rage he'd been suppressing for days if he heard it.

After bursting into my room to find the bars on the window missing Ben had made it his personal mission to prevent Kevin from returning. To his displeasure, he had yet to succeed. He stayed up every night, keeping watch, to ensure that he didn't sneak in like before. Even still there was a large vase on my bedside table that was beginning to amass quite the bouquet. I knew that to Ben it was just Kevin mocking his inability to catch him, but I was happy none the less. It was as if a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders, each visit and each flower left for me only lightening my heart that much more.

"Oh stop sulking Ben." Verdona sighed, rolling her eyes. "You're behaving like a spoiled child."

I smiled at her words, glad to finally have her on my side instead of Ben's. She had finally persuaded him to stop reinstalling the bars on my windows every time Kevin removed them on the condition that I stop trying to run away.

"So," I began, unsure of how to approach any topic relating to the baby with Ben within earshot. "I've been thinking about possible baby names."

I saw Ben's body tense out the corner of my eye, but decided to ignore it. Frankly it was becoming harder and harder to cope with his constant oppression of my every move, his watchful eyes following me every second of the day, and his blatant contempt for my unborn child.

I heard him mumble some profanities under his breath, along the lines of the child being unwanted in his opinion, and watched as he stormed off. I glanced after him, noticing the time on a nearby clock as I did so. As soon as he was out of view I stormed off to my room.

The breeze from the newly unbarred window felt comforting against my flushed skin and before long Ben was the furthest thing from my mind. I undressed for bed, unconsciously placing a hand over my slightly protruding stomach more than once as I did so. I smiled, a million thoughts running through my mind at once. What would we name it? would it be a boy? A girl?

"Gained a little weight, have we?" a dark voice growled from behind me.

All at once a thousand shivers ran up my spine as he reached his arms around me, resting his large hands lightly on my stomach. His breath tickled my neck and I felt as though my heart would leap from my chest with every beat. His warmth spread across my back, his all too familiar chest pressed tightly against me as he chuckled in my ear.

"Now Gwen," he teased. "You weren't expecting something were you?"

I smiled, his all too familiar mischievousness making me roll my eyes.

"You shouldn't be here." I mumbled under my breath, cringing with every word.

I felt his body shake against me as he chuckled again. "Worried about me?"

I paused, taking in his touch, his voice, his all too welcome warmth.

I spun around to face him, his arms remaining coiled around me as his hands came to rest on my lower back. His dark eyes were even more intense than I remembered and I could feel myself being drawn in. He leaned down, his warm breath tickling my face as he held our gaze, his eyes filling with the predatory glint of longing that I'd come to miss. Then all too quickly his lips were upon mine.

The kiss was rough and passionate. I could feel his frame supporting the entirety of my weight as my knees gave out, but still our lips did not part. The outside world seemed to disappear as the kiss stretched on, seeming to last for an eternity yet ending all too soon.

"Bastard!" I heard Ben yell, snapping me harshly back to reality.

My body froze in terror, Kevin's lips had already left mine. In the heat of the moment I had forgotten Ben's vendetta against Kevin and his role in my unborn child. My body turned ridged, my face smooth and hard as stone, as I stepped in front of Kevin, separating him from Ben's reach.

"Don't Ben." I firmly declared.

"Move Gwen." Ben said, crossing the gap between us in the blink of an eye.

His furious gaze never left Kevin as he stalked towards us, making my heartbeat accelerate at his impending attack.

I took a defensive stance when he was within arms reach, his eyes finally acknowledging me as barring his path. His eyes narrowed even more severely into a scowl and he raised his hand as if to strike out at me.

Before I had time to react to his swift movement I found myself against a wall with Kevin's body defensively crouched between me and Ben. Ben had also been restrained by Verdona, who in place of her usual cheerful smile now had her face scrunched in a rage.

"That's enough Ben!" Verdona barked, her voice echoing as her eyes glowed an eerie luminescent pink.

She looked to Kevin to me and back to Ben before deepening her glare. "Do you have any idea what you were about to do?"

Ben didn't answer, merely rolled his eyes and grunted under his breath.

My heart-rate finally began to normalize again as Verdona continued to lecture a frustrated Ben. Then all too suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my side and fell to my knees, wrapping my arms around my waist.

"Gwen?" Kevin frantically shouted. "What's wrong? What's happeneing?"

Then just as quickly as the pain had started, Verdona was at my side forcing Kevin to back away from the protective hold he had on me.

"What's wrong with her?!" Kevin angrily hollered as Verdona led me away and my vision began to fade in and out from the pain.

Then everything went black.