"Um… Hello?" Gwen asked worriedly, while bending down slightly, trying to get a peek at the auto repair guy, who was for some reason, still hidden beneath the shadows of the broken down car. "Are you still alive under there?" She smiled to herself, half joking, as she began poking her head under the small space between the shiny red vehicle, and the cool garage flooring.
Kevin shook his head a bit, trying to bring himself back to reality, realizing then, that the girl had poked her head down at him. "Uh…" He choked, half swallowing the thick saliva that had recently filled up in his throat. For some strange reason, Kevin had a hard time pushing as to one simple word out towards her.
Gwen let out a short, snorty giggle. "Well, I guess you still are." She pauses for a moment and continues. "So, like I said before, my car had broken down not too far from here, and I was wondering if you could help me."
On that note, Kevin slowly rolls his way out from underneath the large, clunky project that hovered over him during most of the morning, making his "early riser" customer move slightly out of his way. Bringing himself up to the sitting position, he slides one of his calloused hands through his black midnight locks, roughing them up just enough to push back the hair from his eyes. "Um, yeah." He coughs, clearing his throat, while getting himself up off the cement floor. "Just.. Let me wipe the grease off my hands, okay?"
"Sure." The woman sweetly replies, keeping that beautiful smile of hers, upon her rose bitten lips.
Kevin smiles back at her as he headed over to the workbench, grabbing the blackened, stained white rag, rubbing his hands, getting most of the smudge of oil, and grease off. "So, how far did you say your car was?" He asked, setting the towel back down, while grabbing some extra tools, and a bottle of car fluid.
"Take a left, and it's just about a mile from here. " Gwen answered back, rolling her eyes at him, slightly annoyed. She had already told him several times that morning as to how far her car had been from the garage. "God, wasn't he listening to a word I was saying to him?" She thought to herself heatedly, letting out a soft incoherent sigh.
"Right." Kevin replies, noticing the young woman's sudden fall in attitude. "Sorry, I forgot that you mentioned that part already." He sheepishly laughs, while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Okay then. Let's go see what's wrong with your piece of a crap ca-" Noticing immediately on Gwen's heated like glare towards him, he recovers himself quickly. "I mean, to see what's wrong with your reliable car." He corrected, leading the girl out from the auto shop's door way. Gwen though, simply huffs a little under her breath while following in toe, causing the dark haired man to smile at her again, but, she began to find that she really didn't mind his quirky grin at all. It was quite different, and…. Kind of cute actually.
CAR. CAR. CAR. CAR.
As they began to walk down the road toward the girl's vehicle, Kevin couldn't help but watch her a bit as they traveled along the warm black asphault. Her hair was such a beautiful bright shade of red, and not to mention, incredibly long. He liked long hair on a girl himself. To him, it was such a shame when most of them would cut off their gorgeous, voluptuous hair… It was such a waste in his opinion. He figured that every guy in the world loved running their fingers through a girl's hair from time to time. "Okay.. Starting to sound kind of creepy there Kev." He said to himself, rolling his eyes at how the whole thing sounded inside his head. Trying to put such a thought out of his mind, it was at that moment when Kevin realized just how the sun of the early morning light, caused her hair to change ever so slightly with even the smallest amounts of movement she made. He was amazed with the fact that every single strand of her hair, seemed to have its' own shade of crimson.
Gwen, though, felt him staring at her. So, she quickly turned to him, and smiled, catching Kevin off guard. "Like what you see?" She asked, getting right to the point, making the man next to her, blush a deep bright red.
"Wha-.. Um… Ah.. What?" Kevin mumbled, tripping over his own words, and his feet, while at the same time hating himself for not being careful enough with his "mooning" over the girl.
"Wow…" The red head lets out a short, heavy giggle. "Not good at hiding you're silent flirtatious intentions are you?" She points a finger of amusement at him, while folding her arms over her chest, as she brought a sly, knowing smile upon her face. Both persons had stopped walking at this point.
"What? Puh-leeze." Kevin snorted back, trying desperately to hide his embarrassing mistake. "Don't flatter yourself. I was merely making a silent observation." He simply shrugs, dismissing her accusations against him.
"Oh really?" Gwen replies, raising a curious brow, while taking a few steps forward again, with Kevin following automatically with the motions. "Enlighten me then, on your profound observations, Mr. Professional of the human persona."
"Okay." Kevin simply shrugs once more, while bringing that sinister like grin of his upon his previous stony like features, causing Gwen to smile back at him in the return. "Let's start with your clothes shall we?" He chuckled, eying the red head at first, waiting for her to make a comment on the subject he decided to start with, but, when there wasn't a retort against it, he continued. "The length of your skirt suggests that you're afraid to show even the slightest bit of skin. Judging by how stuffy your shirt looks at the same time, confirms my first observation... Two? Your hair tells me-"
"My hair?" Gwen deadpans, interrupting the man, while bringing a delicate hand on to the top of her head. "Okay, I can see why you think maybe my clothes are a bit stuffy and all, but that doesn't mean-"
"Ssh!" Kevin breaths out, interrupting her right back. "I'm not done."
Gwen's eyes widened on his sudden boldness, but, kept quiet all the same, and decided to let the man continue, totally against the gut feeling she was having on the whole subject of her being picked apart, especially by someone she barely knew no less.
"Your hair is perfect. Not a strand or stray of it, out of place. Which also tells me that you're a perfectionist, and hate it when certain things don't go your way." He pauses, pointing a finger in the air, proving a point. "And I also get the feeling that you dislike certain things being out of place most of the time… It's like you can't stand a little mess here and there." He finishes, smiling even wider at the girl, finding her expression quite amusing at the moment.
Gwen had stopped walking all together, her mouth hanging wide open. She didn't say anything to stress the fact that he might have been totally and utterly wrong with everything that he had just said. Which was making the man smile smugly even more at her, leaving a moment of more silence for him to continue.
"You also hate being wrong too." Kevin finishes, still finding the girl quite amusing, and… Kind of adorable actually.
At that last blow, Gwen had finally found her voice, though, slightly hoarse, she spoke on. "That's, just…" She huffs, glaring at him in a heated anger. "Just, ridiculous!" She said, now flaring her arms in the air in exasperation. "You may think you know me. But your seriously way off."
"Am I?" Kevin laughs under his breath, as they finally got closer to her car that was almost in plain sight just past the stop sign. "Then tell me princess, what did I get wrong?"
Gwen mumbles something incoherent under her breath at first, waving the most stupidest discussion in her life time so far, off, with a swift flick of her wrist. "Forget it. Were here."
"Just provin' the fact that I'm totally right then." Kevin remarks, still letting a small chuckle escape his forever smirking lips.
"No." Gwen sighs, leaning up against her car, while staring angrily at the ground below her tall stiletto heels. "It's just that, well, I have more important things to do today, than hang around with you all afternoon, that's all."
Ouch…
That one stung Kevin, deeply. Here he thought they were actually getting along, making nice conversation, and then she went and pulled out several insults all in one demeaning sentence. Kevin glared at her, but she didn't notice. Gwen was too involved in her own frustrations with the ex-con to even realize that he was upset.
"Fine." Kevin growled out, making his way to the hood of the car. If she wanted to keep everything strictly business, and all professional like? He had no problems with that. "Besides." He thought to himself. "She liked getting her way anyways. Why let it change now?" Kevin lifted the hood of her car, the noise having abruptly brought the girl out of her own self pity like trans, forcing the red head to look at the man straight in the face. Seeing his stony like scowl, she then recognized that she had maybe been slightly unfair to him. Walking up slowly, she lets her jaw drop open, in the ready to give him a sincere apology.
Kevin though, beat her to the open window of getting any word out edge wise. "Your engine is over heated." He said, roughly slamming the hood down, causing Gwen to jump at the sound. "When was the last time your car had an oil change, or for that matter, oil put in it at all?"
"Um.." She began, staring back, blankly at her car. "I.. I don't really kn-"
"Doesn't matter." Kevin heavily sighs, disrupting the red head's train of thought. "I'll have Bob, my boss take a look at it later." He finally turns to her while keeping a stern look about his face. "I'm sure that he'd be more than happy to help you."
With that, Kevin started to walk away from the girl, his head keeping low to the ground in disappointment. He was really starting to like her. She seemed smart,
full of whit, and much, much more. Kevin didn't tell her the "other" observations he had collected just by walking that short mile with her. Why would he? To get more embarrassed than he already was? No way.. Never, in a million years would he let that part of his guard down. It was probably better this way anyways. The girl seemed to be way out of his league to begin with.
"Gwen." The woman suddenly said, bringing Kevin out of his deep train of thought.
"Excuse me?" He asked, turning himself around to look at the girl standing behind him.
As Kevin turned, Gwen quickly placed one hand behind her back, while her free hand began to play coyly with one stray strand of her crimson red mane. "My name." She smiled. "My name is Gwen."
"Oh." Was Kevin's short reply.
"Look." Gwen's face quickly fell sympathetically at the man standing a few feet away from of her. "I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. You were trying to talk to me, be helpful an all, and I was being rightfully unfair towards you. Rude, really." She takes in a deep heavy breath of the warm air around her. "So, I just wanted to say that, I'm really sorry if I hurt your feelings or anything-."
"Kevin." The raven haired man said, disrupting the woman's little rant. Showing for the first time in a while, a true genuine smile towards the girl. "Come on." He laughs gesturing the girl to follow him. "I'll give you a ride home."
Gwen didn't know why, but, for some strange reason, she found herself trusting him…
"Okay." She grinned, following just a little bit closer behind him, back to the garage.
LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.
"This is it." Gwen said, pointing her small finger towards the motel 6 she had told Kevin to drive her to.
Kevin looked out the window, slightly disgusted. "You sure you don't have family or someone to stay with?" He sighed, leaning back slightly in the driver's seat. I mean, this place looks like a total shi-"
Gwen glares at him before he could continue. "It's fine." She scolds heavily under her breath. "And if you must know, I'm meeting family tomorrow, and I want it to be a surprise." Gwen grabbed her purse from the floor, then clicked open the passenger side door. "Thanks for the ride, Kevin." She stated shortly before stepping out, while letting a small grin grace upon her delicate feminine features. "I appreciate it, and for all your help today."
"Hey." Kevin shrugs, not wanting their day together to end so quickly, but he knew that what they had was strictly just business. Nothing more, nothing less. "No problem. Anytime."
Kevin didn't drive off right away, he watched her, wanting to make sure that she had gotten into her room safely. He didn't know why, but, for some strange reason, Kevin found himself needing her presence….
Weird…. He had only just spent one day with her…
LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.
The day started out like any other, with Kevin working intently under another poorly beaten down car, for yet, another clueless and unworthy customer. He hated how some people treated their rides. It was ridiculous, and not to mention, utterly embarrassing. Cars were meant to be treated like family. They took you places far and wide to where ever you wanted to go, without argument or a heated fight. It was only a fair trade, to treat the machine with the same respect.
Walking over to the control panel of the auto shop, Kevin pushes the button to the door that would open the shop up for the day. As the door slowly made its' decent up to the ceiling, a certain familiar green jacket wearing hero peered through it as the sun began to lighten the deep and darkened shadows of every corner in the garage, causing Kevin to let out a low grumpy like growl.
"What now." Kevin howled out, rolling his eyes at his best friend. "Please tell me you're here just to annoy me." He leans back against the work bench coolly. "At this point, I'd take that over an alien invasion any day."
Ben laughs at his friends sorrow ridden face, smoothie in hand, as he takes a big slurp of it, sitting down in the seat located next to the work bench before replying, "And I'd say, "Boy, is it your lucky day, Kev." As he continued to smile at the Osmosian.
"On second thought." Kevin said, as he headed towards the other side of the garage, looking for a particular tool to do the job that was set for him for that day by none other than Bob. "I'd rather die with the unknown."
"That's the spirit!" Ben chuckles out, while making another annoying slurping like sound from his nasty flavored concoction of frozen ice, and muck that sat snuggly against his right hand, looking as though he were being over protective of the said grossness.
"Okay.. I'll bite." Kevin sighs, while bending down, still searching for a particular tool. "Why are you here? Don't you have like, puppies to go save or somethin'? I mean, you do have a life outside plumber business, right?"
"Yeah!" Ben cried out, furrowing his brow in irritation at the ex-con. The hero was actually starting to question their so called friendship at this point. What kind of friend of anybody's really, insults their buddy constantly for five years? "You, know? If you're just going to be mean, Kevin-"
"Ben? You in here?"
Kevin's ears perked up on the sound of that familiar voice. He knew that voice. Where had he heard that-
"In here!" Ben calls out, signaling the person paging him to come into the garage.
"Nice." The voice scolded towards the smoothie slurping brunette. "You couldn't wait a few seconds till I had my flats tied, and let me walk over here with yo-" The red head stops her rant almost immediately when she noticed Kevin standing all wide eyed in the corner of the garage. "Oh." She gasps in surprise, then smiles at him. "Hi."
"Um… Hey." Kevin simply answers back, his heart for some reason, beginning to race with her being there, but he was too shocked to see her standing at the door way to even notice the sudden change of pace throbbing inside his chest.
Ben looked between the two for a moment before he spoke. Clueless to the fact that, by their expressions alone, it was obvious they had already met each other prior to that day.
"Kevin?" Ben smiled widely, as he stood up to stand next to the red headed beauty. "Meet my cousin, Gwen." He grinned, putting a friendly hand upon her shoulder, giving her a tender cousin like squeeze slash hug. "Gwen, meet my best friend, Kevin.
Kevin just stood there and said nothing. Ben wasn't sure if the man heard him correctly, or for that matter, if the osmosian was even on the same planet at the moment.
Taking in a deep breath, Ben walks a little closer to his comrade. "Kevin? Is everything alright?" He asked out of concern.
Kevin took in a deep solid breath of the gas and oil like air that hung heavily in the garage, before he slowly drawled out in a whisper and replied, "Craaap."
Ben just stood there, raising a brow in complete confusion.
Okay! Another chapter complete! This will be the last update, until I can revise and review my next chapter(s). It needs some heavy work done to it. :D So, I hope this one will feed your love of Gwevin for a while! :D As always, I want to thank each and every one of you, who has read, and foremost, reviewed! You guys are simply wonderful. Thank you ever so much!
And as always, review this too, please. I just adore them immensely! :D Thanks a ton guys! You ROCK!
Laughs to the people,
The Spoon. :D