RE-EDITED VERSION
Gwen and Kevin were silent as they drove through the town, the earlier argument still raw.
Kevin glanced at Gwen as he drove. She drove him absolutely crazy sometimes. He knew that it bothered her that he had never called them boyfriend and girlfriend. He too wasn't crazy about the PDA either, which ranged from making out in public, to the simple act of holding hands. He had his moments though. As long as those moments weren't… Displayed to the world.
He cared about Gwen. More than he was willing to admit. And he knew he had a jealous streak. He hated it when he saw another guy even glancing at her. She was his. Everyone knew it.
'Except for the new guy apparently', he thought bitterly.
Deep down, he kind of, sort of, actually wanted everything to be official. But in all honesty, Kevin was terrified that he couldn't do it, be a good boyfriend. He already screwed up enough as it was.
Kevin pulled in to an old hair salon and parked off to the side. Gwen opened the door and got out, not saying another word to him. He sighed and tried to shake out his thoughts. It was time to focus.
Ben walked over to his cousin and best friend, waving excitedly. Kevin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, leaning against the sleek black and green car he had made for one of Ben's birthdays.
"Hey guys!" Ben jogged up to the pair and grinned at the both of them. If he picked up on the tension, he didn't mention it.
"Would you at least try to be less embarrassing Tennyson?" Kevin snapped, frustrated with his thoughts.
"Time of month already, Kevin?" Ben raised an eyebrow, smirking at the enraged look on Kevin's face.
"You know what Ben-" Kevin growled, but was cut off by the red head next to him.
"Shut up! The both of you." Gwen pushed Kevin away from Ben, glaring at the both of them. "We're here for a reason. Ben, what is it that you wanted us to check out?" She asked, her tone switching to business.
Ben glanced at Kevin, a little smirk still playing on his lips before turning to Gwen. "I was in the lab earlier, you know, just minding my own business, when the screen starts lighting up like crazy. There were three alerts on the outskirts of town, and there were two here downtown." Ben's eyes had lit up with excitement. "Afterwards, everything just vanished. Zlich. Nada. Zero. Nothing." Ben finished off, looking between the two other teens in front of him.
Kevin was still standing in the same position while Gwen was frowning, looking pensive.
"Well?" Ben asked hopefully. "What do you think it was? Gwen?" He turned to his cousin.
"Well… It got picked up by the radar, but what really bothers me is the fact that it vanished. What if whatever these things are, have a way to go unnoticed throughout the city, it would be really hard to know where to start looking." Gwen glanced up at her cousin, frowning.
"Yeah, well, I suppose it's a good thing I saved the address before the alerts vanished. I only got the two here in downtown. It's why I asked you guys to meet me here." Ben pulled out a small wadded up piece of paper out of his pocket. He handed it to Gwen, smiling proudly.
Gwen opened the paper, quickly reading the address. "God Ben, it's a good thing that I've known you for so long, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to read this terrible hand writing." She threw him a look. Ben shrugged.
"Whatever cuz. It just shows my free spirited side." He grinned cheekily.
"That's stupid." Kevin looked at Ben with a bored look on his face.
"Whatever. Where are the keys? I walked here and we need to get going if we want to catch what I saw." Ben glanced at Gwen, then Kevin's hands for the keys. He reached for Kevin's hands as Kevin jerked his arm away.
"There is no way in hell I'm letting you drive my car Tennyson." Kevin glared at Ben, the memory of Ben destroying his previous car flashing through his mind.
"It's not your car remember? You made it for my birthday." Ben mimicked Kevin's stance.
"That was before you completely destroyed-" Kevin growled, but was cut off by Gwen.
"Will you two hurry up? I'm going to go wait in the car like a civilized person." She threw the both of them an exasperated look before walking off. Kevin's eyes were glued to Gwen's backside, a look crossing his face that Ben couldn't decipher.
"Rock, paper, scissors shall decide." Ben said once Kevin had turned back to him. Kevin scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"Really Ben? We're not little kids anymore. Well, one of us anyway, right little Benji?" He smirked as Ben glared at him.
"I told you to quit calling me that! And some of us know what the term 'fun' means Kev. And in this case, you're just scared you're going to lose." Ben grinned as Kevin narrowed his eyes.
"I am not scared of you beating me Tennyson. But fine." Kevin rolled his eyes and sighed. "Just don't be too heartbroken when I get to drive my baby." Kevin held out his hand, glancing at the brunette in front of him. Ben grinned.
"We'll see Kev, we'll see."
"Don't be such a sore loser Kevin." Ben said cheerfully as they made their way to the car.
"Shut up Tennyson." Kevin growled at Ben. Ben just laughed gleefully. Kevin opened the door to the back seat and slid it, muttering under his breath.
"Get going Ben. We don't have all day." Kevin snapped.
"Hey. You wanted best two out of three. Not my fault you suck at rock, paper, scissors." Ben answered happily.
"Shut up and drive." Kevin frowned, looking up at the mirror. He locked eyes with Gwen for a moment, his heart sinking as she looked away.
"Hey Gwen, who was that new guy at the register this morning? What happened to Ed?" Ben asked, remembering seeing a new face in the shop. Kevin tensed, then rolled his eyes.
"His name is Jim or something. I don't like him." Kevin called out from the back suddenly.
"It's Tim, Kevin." Gwen corrected tersely. "And you don't even know him." Gwen frowned, glaring at him through the mirror.
"Whatever." Kevin muttered darkly, avoiding Gwen's penetrating stare.
"We're here guys." Ben pulled over into an empty parking lot. It was deserted, with a fence surrounding the left and the right, the only opening at the back where Ben had driven in. It was behind a large warehouse that was high up, with only a few windows here and there.
Ben looked around, frowning. He wondered if perhaps there was a glitch in the computer, because the parking lot was rather small, not at all seeming as if there were danger lurking behind the dumpster to the left.
"I guess we can do a quick sweep of the area, but I don't see anything." Ben turned around, his dark brown eyes filled with confusion as he tried to think about why the computer would lead him to here.
"This won't take long." Kevin said as they all split up into different sections, all wondering what they were looking for.
It was no less than ten minutes that the trio met up at the car, each finding nothing.
"Well. That was ten minutes of my life that I'm never getting back." Kevin crossed his arms and sighed.
"Sorry Ben. But I got nothing." Gwen shrugged, but shot her cousin a small smile.
"Sorry for dragging you guys out here-" Ben began to apologize.
"A lot of good that does us now." Kevin muttered. Gwen shot a glare at him. Kevin shuffled on his feet, avoiding the red head's gaze. Ben ignored him.
"But I know there was something here. I can feel it." He said confidently, looking at them.
"Look, if something comes up again, we'll definitely check it out. But there's not much we can do now." She smiled at him, trying to be reassuring.
"Great talk gang." Kevin intervened sarcastically. "But I'm hungry now. Let's eat!" He suggested. Ben lighted up at the thought of food.
"Honestly, you two are always hungry." Gwen rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile tugging at her lips. "We should check out if there's anything new at the lab though."
"Yeah. Sounds like a good idea." Ben nodded. A loud moaning sound came from Ben's stomach. "Well… After we stop for food." He grinned sheepishly as Gwen and Kevin chuckled at him. "And since I'm driving..."
"Oh hell no. Hand over the keys." Kevin shook his head firmly and held out his hand. Ben grinned and stepped away from him.
"I don't think so..."
A pair of cold grey eyes located in the warehouse in front of the parking lot looked down at the trio, observing them with a mild disgust.
"They found nothing, am I correct?" The cold voice matching the eyes spoke aloud.
"Yes sir. The new technology erases any trail or alert we may have sent off by accident." Another voice explained with a slight tremor. It was also male, quiet and urgent.
"I would hope so. For your sake." The voice paused, another shiver of fear washing over the other man. "Anything on the girl?" He asked with an afterthought.
"She's on her way sir."
"Good. And we have people following her every move, am I correct?"
"Yes sir. She's running out of gas and she has to stop soon to refill."
"Perfect."
"Sir? About these people…"
"They are amateurs. Nothing to worry about. And if they are… well. You know what to do."
Love? Hate? Review?