Chapter III
Top of Form 1
"Ah! Come on Gwen! Why?" Ben asked his cousin who was sitting on her couch on the living room, watching TV.
"Because no! Isn't this enough?" She said changing the channel to Discovery Chanel.
"No! Please, Gwen! We will only come out to investigate a little! Kevin has found some clues about the Forever Knights. We can go there to give an investigation, like the old times!"
"What old times, Ben?"
"You know very well what I'm talking about! Since that day at Mr. Smoothy you have acted in a very strange way!"
"I've already apologized for throwing juice on you!"
"That's not what I'm talking about! After that you did your best to do not see Kevin. And just hung out with 'us' when Kevin is not with us!"
Gwen widened her eyes still staring at the TV.
"You think I did not realize it?"
There was silence for several minutes. And Gwen interrupted the silence by saying:
"Okay... I will." She stood up, picked up the cell-phone and badge and put them in her pocket. Gwen pushed Ben out of the house and locked the door putting her keys in her pocket "Let's go!" Gwen pushed him into the car where Kevin was waiting for them.
Ben entered in the car and sat on the back seat and stood there giving no space for Gwen to sit.
"Excuse me?" She said nervously.
"My bad... But you can sit in the front seat." Ben pointed to the seat next to Kevin.
Gwen looked at him a little scared and angry at the same time. 'Ben, I'll kill you!' She in entered the car and sat on the sit next to Kevin. He looked at her. Gwen did the same. Did he cut his hair?
Kevin saw that Gwen was well. After a while without seeing her, he got a little worried about her. But he saw wrong. What he didn't see was that she was weak. That's why she did not want to investigate the knights, because she is weak. Her body was still recovering from the bruises. And her energy was returning, but too slowly to fight. Inside, she twisted trail that Kevin is just a bored and nowhere to go.
Kevin turned his car on and directed it to where he hoped to have a Knight to beat.
"Man... It's very dark in here." Ben said to himself as he entered in one of the passages of the abandoned building. The building was a bit far from town and was looking totally abandoned. They had to sprain their bodies between the holes only to find an immense darkness "Gwen ... Can you turn on a light here?"
'Shit!' She did not want to waste her energy with that. She tried to focus and create a bit of shiny mana to her hands. A small beam of pink light traveled through her arms to her hands and she created a kind of mini-lamp that moved ahead in front of Ben, revealing a huge hall. The light was a little weak.
"Can it be more… You know, shiny?" Ben asked in a critical way.
"Want to be caught by the Knights?" Gwen said as an excuse to save her energy.
Ben got quiet and began to follow the beam of pink light without criticizing anymore. Gwen followed him in total silence, behind her, Kevin also watched them in silence.
"Beware ... There's something there in front of us" Ben said whispering "Ouch!" He did not follow what he said; he stumbled on what looked like a chair. The noise was thunderous.
"Ben!" Gwen said angry with her cousin.
It was too late. Bright lights lit up and the whole hall was illuminated, revealing a crowd of knights in their traditional armor. "Uh-Oh ..." Ben said rising up.
"Yeah..." Kevin said "Uh-Oh..."
The beam of light that Gwen had created was gone; she was frightened by the big number of riders. The room looked like the local of the castle where the throne of the King and Queen were in the feudal times. It was a large and long hallway with a red carpet in the center and several piers at the corners. Ben, Gwen and Kevin joined together and observed the multitude of riders.
One of the knights started to go over the gang with a sword. He raised his sword to attack Kevin, but Kevin grabbed the knight's wrist before he could hurt him. Kevin took advantage of the situation and absorbed the metal of the armor of the knight. When he did it he kicked the man in armor that flew off and crashed into another Knight.
The other Knights advanced upon them all at once. Ben regulated his watch and turned into Big Chill. The alien flew to reach the roof and froze the Knights with his breath who came toward him. Kevin beat the Knights as he always did. While Gwen was trying hard do not to use her mana and just tried to dodge from the attacks of the knights. One of them tried to surprise her from behind, he grabbed the girl around her body with his arms. Gwen tried to escape by pushing him, but it didn't work. The knight held her with strength trying to hold her. Gwen tried not to scream. The pain she felt began to get worse; he was hurting her right in her bruises. He shook her stronger realizing that she was feeling pain. Another knight came closer to the two and tried to hit Gwen with one of his swords. Gwen tried to use her strength to get rid of the Knights and kicked him on the head. He fell back unconscious.
"Tsk! Annoying girl!" The knight who held her said squeezing Gwen with all his might. This time Gwen could not stand the pain and growled. She elbowed him on the head. He slammed against the wall freeing Gwen up. She returned to fight again; this time she was forced to use the mana she had, but just a little of it. Her hands got illuminated with a pink glow; she walked up next to the Knights and shot with her rays of energy. That was the maximum she could do. She just did not know if it'd get to be so long.
Kevin absorbed the pile of cement and punched two Knights at once. He ran to another group that was near the throne and threw them against the wall of the hall, with a punch. At the same time as the Knights hit the wall, a huge hole appeared in it. Kevin smiled. For a long time he did not fight, things had become monotonous and that means that he got a little bored.
Some other Knights attacked from behind, catching him by surprise. They hit him with one of their laser weapons causing him to be thrown to the other side of the hall; he knocked onto a wooden door hidden in the corner, behind of one of the pilasters. The door got in a thousand pieces. And Kevin was unconscious inside of some room that the door was hiding before.
"Kevin!" Gwen cried, she drove to where Kevin had "entered" to help him. Meanwhile, the Knights were too numerous to Ben to fight. He pressed the Omnitrix which was in his breast and became Echo-Echo. The little alien made of silicone multiplied into thousands little aliens and they began to attack the riders who were around them... That would take some time to finish.
Gwen began calling the boy to see if Kevin was among the debris of wood and concrete that he had caused when he knocked onto the door. The place where Gwen had come to search for him was too dark. But she had only the light from the hall where she was fighting for several seconds ago.
Kevin did not respond to her calls, she by herself had to find him. Even with the pain she felt in her body, she forced her skinny arms to take the wreckage path. Later, under a big peace of wood, she found a hand, Kevin. Gwen wasted no more time and tried to take off the wood from the way. By removing it, Gwen could see that the boy's legs were under more debris. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to take him from there. 'Ugh! You should make a diet!' When she saw that his body had left the wreck, Gwen examined him with her eyes to see if he had any serious injury. Nothing: Just some scratches. She tried to wake him up slapping him on his cheek lightly and calling him by the name. His eyelids squeezed a little, and then opened revealing two brown eyes.
Kevin took a while to process what had happened. He saw Gwen's face and quickly got up.
"Are you okay?" Gwen asked, still sitting. Kevin looked around before answering:
"Yes" he walked to where there was the door to return to the hall and fight more, ignoring Gwen sitting on the floor. Before he reached the exit, the Knights came in front of Kevin and pointed a gun, only this time different from the one that had hit him.
"GWEN! Get away from there!" Kevin shouted at her in complete despair at seeing that Knight pointed the gun at her, and she... Neither saw the entry of the Knight; she was dipping into her own thoughts and was not aware of the damage until she herd Kevin's yell.
She turned her face to see what was going on, but was too late, because she only saw the brightness of the exiting laser from the weapon that the Knight held. What she saw then was just a shadow of someone walking in front of her. The shade got achieved. The shadow fell on the floor motionless.
Gwen's eyes widened when she saw that the shadow was Kevin. She ran to him. The Knight pointed the gun at her, this time he would not miss. Gwen use the rest of her mana to hit him, it was enough to leave him unconscious 'There went the rest of my energy.'
"Kevin? Kevin?"
He was awake.
"You should pay more attention..." He replied sitting on the floor; he looked at Gwen for a while without saying anything.
Gwen breathed deeper, she was getting weaker, but just wanted to see if Kevin was fine, luckily he had absorbed a layer of iron to avoid the injury, so there were no damages.
"Are you okay?"
"I guess."
"Well..." Gwen stood up, or at least tried, before stumbling and falling down again.
"It seems that you are not okay..." Kevin said, he trying to hide the panic.
"I'm fine..." She lied.
Kevin looked at her standing again, and noticed a small tear caused by a sword in the corner of her pink shirt, but that was not what scared him; it was what was under the shirt: A huge bruise.
"Gwen... What... What is this?" He pointed to the tear and bruise underneath it. Gwen saw he was about the huge hematoma she had.
"Nothing…!" She said, covering the wound with one hand "It's nothing..."
"Doesn't look like nothing!"
"What do you mean? We always look like this after a mission ... You know that... One of the Knights hit me. That's it."
Kevin could not argue against it, it was true; they always got a little bruised after a mission. But why he felt that what she was saying was not true?
"I do not believe you..." He said. As always, act before even thinking twice.
"What?" Gwen said, turning her attention to him, thinking he knew everything that happened during all these days, she was a little scared, but wanted to hear what he had to say before making hasty decisions.
"That's what I said... I think you're lying... I do not think that's how you got all those wounds."
"Those wounds…?" Gwen asked a little scared because he has spoken the word "wound" in the plural, and in fact he had seen only one.
"Yes... Those wounds… I saw that you hid it in your neck under the collar of your shirt." He pointed to her neck right where the girl got injured. She put her hand on hematoma. Damn! She had forgotten that there was one right there! "Could you explain this?"
Gwen did not respond for a while, but then she got nervous at him:
"You know what? I do not have to explain nothing to you... I told you what happened. If you do not want to believe: that's your problem..." She turned to leave, but before she could, a cold big hand held her left skinny wrist making her to stop. She turned to face Kevin. Jeez ... "Would you mind, please?" She asked.
Kevin did not answer; he just looked at her arm and put the other cold hand upon her wrist. Gwen tried to pull her arm, but he was very strong and she was too weak. Kevin realized something: There was something else on Gwen's arm, just beneath the sleeve of her shirt. 'Oh no man…!' The girl thought without saying anything. His face was calm; his hand ran up the sleeve of her shirt and pushed it up to reveal a large hematoma. His face got terrified. First he thought it could have been because of the Knights, but he raised more the sleeve and noticed there were small scratches that were already healing, which means that they were not from now, and even if they were from now, these scratches were more like… Nail marks. Kevin looked at Gwen's hands; her fingernails were too short to be cut by her... That made him gets even more frightened. He looked up at her.
"And this…?" He asked, pointing to the fingernail marks on Gwen's arms "Don't tell me that now the Knights are going to the manicure just to scratch your arms during the battle!" Gwen did not know what to say. "Gwen, answer me!" He was getting nervous. His expression now was anger and despair. Gwen was frightened, and was very afraid of Kevin. He saw what he was doing and tried to calm down. Gwen turned her face and closed her eyes trying to hold back the tears. "Please..." Kevin continued to talk this time, quietly. Gwen sighed. He would not leave her until she answers.
"Okay..." She said. Gwen would tell someone anyway... But she didn't think she was going to tell Kevin.
"Well... I... I was in school, and after a few days... You 'dumped' me..." Kevin said nothing, just stared her listening to the girl "I saw that Tyler... The captain of the football team was beating one of the boys from school. Since no one tried to help him, I did not think twice and walked in front of him. Tyler went away after I talk to him and I took Peter to the infirmary."
"Peter…?"
"Yes... The boy they were beating... Anyway I took him to the infirmary and he was fine. I told to the director what happened with Tyler and his friends were suspended and took detection. What I found an absurd, since they should have been expelled. Well... Everyone found out it was me who said to the principal, and when I left home, Mary and her gang spread me-"
"Wait! Mary?"
"Yes... Mary the girl you dated… For a while" Kevin looked to the nothing like he was remembering Mary, then turned his attention to Gwen that continued "Returning ... She stopped me with some of her friends and started following me after I talked to them one thing that they did not like much. And then..." She paused for a moment doubting whether or not to speak "And then they surrounded me and... Well... I think you already know what happened..."
Kevin was speechless. Then regained speech and said:
"Why you didn't protect yourself…? Whatever! Or used your mana or fought karate! Huh…?"
"I... Was without power ... I had no strength to use my energy... Or defend myself with my karate... I was so weak that I had even skipped from one of my karate classes that day..."
"What?"
Damn! She couldn't say that!
"Nothing..."
"Why were you weak?"
"I..."
"You...?"
"I kind of… had not eaten hardly anything that day and the day before... And maybe I have... Taken some medicines that..."
"Medicines…? For what…?"
Gwen was speechless ... Sure, Kevin was not the best person to tell a secret ... Or you tell him, or he pulled it out from you.
"Medicines for what, Gwen…?" He asked nervously.
"To some depression and calming..."
"Depression…?"
"Uh-Huh..."
"Calming..."
Gwen thought he understood why she was using tranquilizers, she looked into his eyes and saw that he was confused then continued to speak:
"Since you ... Spoke those things for me, I was very sad... And almost got crazy with it... Then at night I went to the wardrobe and... I kind of took some tranquilizers and antidepressants from my mother..." She stared at the floor.
Kevin was thinking about what she spoke... All this time he saw Gwen, he thought she was okay.
It was not true, she was ill and as always because of him. 'Damn! Damn! Damn! I was a moron! Why have not I seen this before?'
Gwen started to cry.
"Sorry" she said, Kevin turned to face her again completely confused "Sorry... I think that I ... Exaggerated too much about these things. I... I was a little too deluded. And then ... I did all this drama, when you said you did not like me anymore."
"That's a lie."
"What?"
"I lied... Saying I did not like you anymore..."
"You lied? Why? I'm not getting i-"
"Because..." He looked at the floor "I thought I did not deserve you..."
"Wait… What? Why?"
"If you looked from my point of view... You would see how much I think... Well..." He was embarrassed ... Surely, for him to say it was not easy "Look ... You're a rich girl, get high notes... Study in a school full of preppies." 'And idiot Betties…' Gwen thought to herself "You are smart, fight karate, and have parents who are not divorced... And I skipped classes since I was seven years old, got badly in the exams, and when I was eleven I tried to kill your cousin, your grandfather and you. And I do not even believe that you and Ben have become my friends even after everything I did."
Gwen gasped.
"Funny" she said "I thought you broke up with me because I did not deserve you, and I thought you wanted to go back to Mary..." She was not smiling.
"Did you think that? And I thought you were fine after we have broken up. I was an idiot ... You should not apologize."
Gwen looked at the floor. After a while she hugged him in silence. Kevin has not done anything, just closed his eyes and felt the warm from Gwen's body. It comforted him a bit.
Gwen looked at him with a smile, this time she finally smiled for real after a long time.
Kevin smiled at her. The two felt a little easier with everything that happened.
"Would..." Gwen said "Would you mind if you let my wrist go? You are hurting me a bit."
Kevin noticed that all this time he held her wrist. Rather than release it he looked at her awhile and then did something unexpected. He pulled her arm lightly around the face and kissed her where was the wound. Gwen blushed. This was not something that Kevin did. He continued to kiss her arm according to her shoulder, her neck, her cheek and pulled his face away to look at it for a few seconds. Gwen was in a cold sweat, every kiss he gave, even with her clothes getting in the way, she felt a small electrical current running through her body. The two approached their faces a few more inches... And both would be caught in a kiss if not for someone appearing on the outside saying:
"Dude…! You two were gone and I had to take care of them all alone! Useful gang this huh?" Ben said appearing in the doorway wiping his shoulders with one hand "Man ... But you had to see the blow that I did and... What were you doing?"
Kevin and Gwen jumped to depart at the same time that Ben appeared. The two stared at him with expressions of anger and shame. Ben realized what the two were doing, and hated himself for what he did. He thought of using this "mission" just to join the two a little more and turn them into a team again. An annoying silence echoed through the hall, and it was Ben who broke it up:
"And then? Let's go? There's someone thirst here!"
Gwen and Kevin nodded and the three got in the car. In the beginning there was silence, but after a while Ben started talking nonsense things which were always answered by Kevin, while Gwen looked out the window at the passing trees and buildings. The bruise on her neck began to throb and she secretly put her hands over the wound to relieve the pain.
Arriving at Mr. Smoothy, Ben bought five cups of juice: A medium lemon juice for Gwen, a large orange juice for Kevin, and three lemon juice mixed with ginger for Ben, of course. They sat on the usual place and began to talk as they did in the "old days" Kevin picked up two straws and put them in the nose, and started doing tricks with the eyes becoming blind to Gwen and Ben. Gwen started to laugh, while Ben was dying of shame. That's the proof he was not the only stranger of the gang!
When they finished their juices, Kevin, Gwen and Ben got up and went to the car to return home. Ben was the first one to be left at home. Gwen was surprised a little, since her house was closer than Ben. She and Kevin were in total silence for a while. Gwen looked to where Kevin was driving ... This was definitely not the way back to her home... A few minutes later, Gwen did not stand the curiosity and said:
"Kevin... You know that this path is not for my house, don't you?"
"I know..." He replied, and then was silent.
Gwen looked at him for a moment, he realized that he could not say anything more for her, she got a little scared, but said nothing.
A few minutes later Kevin parked the car in front of a huge building.
Gwen looked out of the window to see what it was. Her eyes widened. A hospital…!
"Kevin ... May I ask why you bring me to a hospital?"
Kevin looked at her for a moment; the expression on the boy's face was unreadable. He left and went to the other side of the car to open the door to Gwen. She did not move; she was with her arms folded and with a look that demanded an explanation. Kevin sighed:
"I think the question is kinda obvious, huh?" Gwen said nothing, Kevin sighed again, a bit irritated by the Gwen's stubbornness and continued "I'm taking you to the doctor to examine the wounds... Let's see if it's nothing serious..."
"It's not serious... I could take care of myself with what I had at home ... And I'm feeling pretty good about it, Kevin." She said like a child.
"Gwen... Please..." He said nervous "I'm serious! And if this is more serious than you think? Huh? I just want to make sure it is not! Please!"
Gwen looked at him amazed. Kevin... Asking please? The only time he asked her please, was when they were in the Highbreeds' Ship and Gwen was about to forget him and go away forever. She saw that his tone of voice had not changed; the only difference was that that day Kevin's face showed desperation, now it was unreadable, as if Kevin was trying to hold on.
"Come on, Gwen! It's gonna be very fast!" He said, stretching out his hand to her. Gwen stared at his hand for a moment, sighed deeply and said, putting her little hand on his:
"Okay... But it has to be very fast, if it does not I'll leave at the same time!
"Oooook…!" Kevin said now his face was a mixture of joy, relief and anxiety. After Gwen left the car, Kevin locked it and activated the alarm. The two walked to the building and Kevin hoped that this was not so full. That did not happen... All chairs were full of hopes, each person holding a paper with the number of password, patiently awaiting their queries. Kevin looked at his hand, Gwen was nervous.
"'It's gonna be fast', right?"
"Anh... Calm, Gwen! Maybe it's not the right floor! There! Let's ask for the clerk..." He pulled Gwen up to the desk. Behind the counter, a woman was shuffling through the papers without noting the presence of the two. Kevin cleared his throat and told her "Excuse... We want to know where they can examine wounds and stuff ..." Kevin tried to explain as best as possible, but as Gwen always said his vocabulary was not the most wonderful thing of the planet.
"Right..." The attendant said, seeming that she already knows how to deal with such people; she looked at the wound that was on Gwen's arm. "Fifth floor... Talk to the attendant there and take a password for the trilogy."
Kevin and Gwen nodded and went to the elevator to ascend to the fifth floor. While waiting for the elevator, Kevin said:
"Gwen... What is Trilogy?"
"It is a test that the doctor does to see if the wounds are very serious and all. If they are severe they send you to a room to see what they can do... Got it?" Gwen replied with a smile.
Kevin blushed... He could always count on Gwen for these things.
"Yes. Thanks."
On the fifth floor, the two went to the counter to follow the guidelines of the attendant, they asked for an examination of the trilogy and both were sent directly to a room for the doctor to serve them. They sat in chairs that were in the room until the doctor arrives.
"Good night" the doctor said to the two with a smile.
He was tall, had brown hair and wore a usual doctor clothing, mainly white with a stethoscope around his neck. He seemed to be the kind of doctor who got on well with any type of patient, well... At least until Kevin showed up, since he realized that Gwen blushed when she saw the doctor and he understood what went on in her mind. For a moment he regretted having brought Gwen to the hospital.
The doctor went up and the two shook hands, then he said his name, but Kevin did not pay attention, he was more concerned with Gwen.
"Good..." The doctor said, seeming to finally get to the point where Kevin wanted "What happened to the two?"
"Actually... Only to her..." Kevin pointed to Gwen "We... Unwittingly became involved in a fight."
"Right... So I'll ask you to sit there in that seat." The doctor said to Gwen.
She went to the bank that he pointed and sat there, knowing the next step that the doctor would say.
"Good... Where did you get the damages?"
"Neck and belly..."
"I understand... So I'll have to ask you to take your shirt off."
Kevin did not like what he heard but he was quiet.
Gwen knew that this was nothing more, but was embarrassed by having to do this with Kevin looking. She glared him with her eyes to show that he had to turn his face to the other side. When he did, she took the shirt and the doctor examined the bruises on her belly.
"Tell me something..." He started talking "This 'people' who you fought… Who were them?"
Gwen was speechless for a moment, but then said:
"Err... They have large nails..."
"Sure" he thought it would be better not to continue asking because it appeared that she would not even respond.
Kevin was still staring at the floor while listening to Gwen and the doctor talk. The doctor asked her the parts where she felt pain and Gwen responded calmly... In the end Kevin's idea to take her to the doctor was not so bad, she herself felt more relieved to see that the doctor showed no signs of concern. The only thing that bothered her was that she was shirtless wearing only a bra with pink laces all around of it very close to Kevin. He had seen her in a bikini, of course, but this was different: They were not on the beach and she was not wearing a bikini but underwear.
When the consultation was over, the doctor moved away and went to a nearby cabinet with glass doors, inside there were several remedies for first aid. Then he turned to Gwen and started passing a kind of ointment on her arms and belly, saying:
"Good... I think it's just that... From what I heard of you, you took good care of their wounds by yourself, so I do not have much to do here." He returned to his desk wiping his hand the remains of ointment and told Gwen to put her shirt back, she did what he said and sat next to Kevin, who turned his face to look at her. The doctor continued to say while writing a paper that looked like a recipe:
"The best thing to do is stay at home until you get better, eat and sleep well, it helps a lot. Continue past the ointment that you are using as well" When he finished writing the paper off his pad he handed it to Gwen who kept it in her pocket. The three rose and went to the door. The doctor shook Kevin's hand and said goodbye to Gwen. When the two were out of the room, Kevin hesitated for a moment to place his hand on Gwen's shoulder, when he did it he began to gently caress her shoulder while saying:
"See? Fast…!"
Gwen's cheeks turned red without saying anything, she was embarrassed by the action of Kevin and also a little embarrassed to see that he was right in what he said. She decided to put her pride aside, and put her head on Kevin's shoulder while returning to the ground floor and wrapped her left arm around the boy's back. It was so nice to be next to him... She did not feel comforted a long ago time. Kevin was jumping of joy inside, too.
When the two returned to the car they fell off of the hug and sat on the banks of the car. Kevin turned on his "ride", while Gwen turned on her phone that was all that time off. She looked at the time.
"Damn!"
"What?" Kevin asked startled by the Gwen's cry. He turned his face for a few moments to see her better and just to see that her face was now terrified watching the screen of her phone.
"It's midnight!" She replied terrified "My parents will kill me! It has a dozen unanswered calls here!"
Kevin did not like the answer he was planning to take her to the movies. But it seemed that his plan was out of question. He accelerated the car, scaring Gwen a little. She also did not like to see that she would have to be separated from Kevin so quickly.
The two arrived at Gwen's home fast. For a while they forgot that there were two very worried parents in the house where they stopped in front of... So they got quiet just looking forward intently, hoping to talk to break the silence. Who broke it was Gwen, speaking the first thing that came in mind:
"Want to come in?"
Kevin turned his face a little alarmed at the proposal of the girl.
"What?"
'Oops!' She should not have spoken that! She remembered that the last time her father and her mother saw Kevin; they tried to teach him the rules of "Good Manners with Frank and Lily" for an hour before letting him go. This situation became even funny; of course Gwen did not say this to Kevin, since he was a bit upset after that episode. Not to go back in her words she continued:
"Do not want to come in?"
Kevin was silent a moment. He was about to ask her if she was crazy, if she wanted him to suicide himself, or if she wanted him to lose his ears, but he thought twice and said quietly:
"No thanks."
Gwen said no more. She took off the seat belt and was going to open the door when she saw that Kevin was faster than her. He came around the front of the car and opened the door from Gwen. He extended his hand to her like the last time. She smiled and held his hand. Gwen left the car, closing the door behind her. They went to the door of the house, still holding hands. The two stopped in front of the door for a moment without saying anything.
"Well... Thanks, Kevin. For taking me to the hospital and all" Gwen said.
"Ah" Kevin got embarrassed "That... You're welcome."
Silence again.
"You know Gwen…" Kevin said putting his free hand behind his neck, now totally embarrassed "We could do it again... I mean. Do not go to the hospital, but ... You know: Go out to the movies and that stuff."
"Kevin... Are you asking me out?"
He stopped for a while. The hand that was holding Gwen squeezed hers for a few seconds, showing that he was nervous.
"I... I think so." He looked around.
Gwen's heart started beating faster... How long did she expect him to call her out? This was the second thing she wanted to hear from Kevin... The first she wasn't sure of it… yet. Gwen started to be in a cold sweat when she saw that Kevin's face approached to hers.
"I… I... Sure." It was the last thing she could say. Their faces approached a little bit more. Her eyes began to close.
"Gwen! Is this you?" A voice from inside the house disrupted the two. It was Lily "Frank! I think there is someone at the door." This time the voice seemed to be talking with someone from inside the house. The two heard the sound of footsteps inside of the house which were getting louder. Kevin and Gwen broke up a little discouraged because they were interrupted by the second time when they were about to give a kiss. The door open, revealing a father of brown hair and glasses. His face was concerned, but slowly began to change from the relief of concern for a hint of disappointment to see who was next to Gwen.
His arms crossed staring at her daughter, now wanting an explanation for the delay.
Gwen smiled broken.
"H-Hi Daddy... I can explain... It's that..."
"Gwen…?" Gwen's mother appeared at the door surprised to see her daughter.
"Mom…!" Gwen tried to defuse the tensions between the four hugging her mother, dropping the hand of Kevin. When the two came loose from the embrace, she and Frank stared at her daughter wanting an explanation for the delay.
"You know how worried I was? You did not answer any of my calls!"
"I'm fine mom." Gwen secretly placed her arm on the tear of her shirt.
Lily looked at Kevin for a while. He would try to greet her, but was disrupted:
"Thanks for bringing my daughter up at home." She said, surprising Gwen and Kevin.
"W-welcome…" Kevin tried to answer without stuttering. Man... This is harder than facing the DNAliens along with the Forever Knights.
Frank put his hand on Gwen's shoulder and pulled her inside.
Gwen and Kevin stared for a while:
"Well… See ya!"
"See ya…" Despite being a little nervous about the situation he was still happy.
Gwen waved as he walked home and Frank was ready to close the door. Before doing so, also thanked Kevin giving him a weak smile and closed the door.
'Phew' at least this time he did not stay for good manners classes. He went to the car, opened the door and took a last look at the home of Gwen. The front door opened again, Kevin stood for a moment to see better who opened the door: Gwen. She was running toward him that was still standing there like a statue, a little surprised. When she got near him, she put her hands on his chest, and got on tip toe to reach the boy's face and gave him a kiss fast. She spoke quickly:
"In front of Bellwood's Cine. The next Saturday, 3 pm."
Then she ran back home before her parents saw that she had gone for a while. She closed the door slowly, staring at Kevin for a few seconds before closing it altogether.
"Wow" He did not know what to answer, still stood facing the door where Gwen was gone. His mouth was open and eyes wide. When he regained consciousness, staggered a bit before entering the car and shut the door. He touched his lips where Gwen kissed him. During the time their lips touched he could feel an electrical current running through his lips. The current was similar to when they touched their hands. But in the same time it was totally different... It was… stronger.
Kevin smiled.
"In front of Bellwood's Cine. The next Saturday, 3 p.m. I can not forget it…"