Practiced Smiles Chapter 2, a ben 10 fanfic

A/N: Hi everyone!

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed or commented my story. It makes me happy to know that people like my stories and enjoy reading them. It encourages me to continue writing. So thank you!

Secondly, as you all know, I will be flying to Italy on July 27. Which means that I will not be able to update until at least September or maybe even October. For that, I apologize for not being able to update. But it's not my fault that my mother 'forbids' me to bring my laptop along. Sorry!

But, I hope you will all enjoy this chapter that I typed at three in the morning, so there may be spelling errors but I still hope that you will all enjoy reading chapter one.

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not and never will own anything.

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1. Don't Forget Me

"We're here." The coachman said gruffly, opening the door and helping the Princess and her lady in waiting to hop out. After traveling for days nonstop to the Princess' Uncle and Aunt's castle, everyone was tired. Even the horses. They had fled from an attack, but the Princess had left everything that was special and precious to her behind. She left her parents, her brother, her friends, and Mr. Elegante. She missed everyone dearly. And even though it had only happened less than a week before, the Princess could only remember snippets of what had happened.

She remembered blood spilling everywhere. She remembered that everyone was screaming and Mr. Elegante had so bravely led her and Julie to safety, but was killed in the end. She remembered him calling out to her, telling her to never forget him, calling after her to be safe. Princess Gwen let out a sob while Julie patted her back as they were led to the throne room.

The moment they arrived, they were greeted with warm hugs from the King and Queen. Gwen scarcely remembered why they were here again.

"Oh sweetie." The Queen said quietly, "We heard what had happened and we're so sorry." Gwen looked up and realized that both the King and Queen's eyes were slightly red but very puffy.

"You can stay with us from now on, okay?" She continued. Gwen numbly nodded.

"I'll go get Benjamin. You guys haven't seen each other in a while." The Queen said while gliding swiftly out of the room.

"Would you like something to eat, or drink?" The King asked.

"No thank you Uncle." Gwen answered, whispering.

"Alright, tell me if you need anything." The King looked worriedly at his niece. He was quite upset about this himself. After all, his brother and his family, aside from Gwendolyn and her little friend had been killed. Murdered, along with everybody in their kingdom. It was a great lost, but he was still the king and had a job to do. He sighed and walked briskly out of the room. The moment he was gone, Gwen let a sob escape her. Julie continued patting her back, telling her reassuring things, both to her friend and to herself.

"It'll be alright." Julie murmured again and again. They heard footsteps coming closer and Gwen quickly wiped and remnants of tears off her face. A very sullen looking Ben walked slowly into the room. His skin looked translucent and his eyes were a darker shade of green. But he managed a meager smile when he saw his cousin and her friend standing in the middle of the throne room.

"Gwen." He said, walking towards them.

"Ben," she replied, "It's been a while." She hugged him lightly before backing up to get a good look of him. His hair looked neater than when he had been ten years old and he was slightly taller than both her and Julie.

"This is Julie. She's my best friend." The Princess nodded towards Julie whom was now blushing slightly.

"Umm…" Ben stuttered. "I'm Ben. Uhh… I… I'm Gwen's cousin. Wait, but you already know that. Umm… have you met my parents? They're the King and Queen… uhh… What am I saying?" He groaned, slapping his hand on his forehead. Julie seemed to find his stammering quite entertaining and stuck a hand out for him to shake.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you." Ben smiled before taking her hand and shaking it.

"Umm… maybe I could show you around, maybe you would like to see your rooms?" Ben asked. Julie nodded enthusitically.

"Alright." Gwen said before letting Ben lead them around the castle and the castle grounds. First he showed them the ballroom, the servant's dorms, the field where the knights practiced and finally the place where the horses were kept and where the coachman and the person who took care of the horses slept. As they passed the rooms, Gwen noticed a young man, perhaps a year or two older than herself sitting there, staring intensely at the wall. He had messy black hair and onyx coloured eyes. He seemed to notice her presence and broke out of his trance and looked her up and down. Gwen blushed as she felt his eyes take in every part of her body. She felt as if he could see right through her and she knew she probably looked horrible right now. She hadn't changed from the dress she wore at the Masquerade when everyone was being murdered and she was sure her face and eyes were puffy and her hair was a mess. But the young man continued to stare at her and she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. He noticed this and chuckled lightly.

"Gwen?" Julie asked as she and Ben walked towards where she was standing. Ben noticed him and smiled.

"Oh, hey Kevin. I see you met my cousin." Ben gestured towards Gwen and muttered a barely audible 'hello.' At the very mention of Ben stating that Gwen was his cousin, she was sure that Kevin's face fell ever so slightly. He just huffed gruffly at her.

"And this is Julie. Gwen's best friend." Ben continued. Kevin made no sign or gesture. He simply continued staring at Gwen.

"This is Kevin, he's our coachman." Ben said smiling at Kevin. "He's also my only friend here. Well, for now anyways." Ben blushed as he looked at Julie.

"Little punk can't even get a friend aside from me. You're just sad." Julie gasped when she heard how Kevin had talked to the Prince. And she opened her mouth and was about to scold him when Ben simply laughed.

"Forget about it." Ben said to Julie smiling. "He's like that to everybody, sometimes he even back talks to my parents. They just didn't fire him because they know that he's my friend."

"Lucky me." Kevin said with a roll of his eyes.

"Umm… Ben, I'm slightly tired now, can you please show me where my room is?" Gwen whispered to Ben.

"Oh, sure. I'll see you later Kevin." Ben said, leading Gwen and Julie away.

"Wow. He sure is rude." Kevin heard Julie say as they walked down the hall.

Kevin lay on his lumpy bed, thinking. The moment he saw Gwen, he felt something click inside of him. And she may be a mess right now, but she was beautiful. He felt a sigh escape him. This is stupid. He's lying here, thinking about a princess for crying out loud! And he's just a coachman. He groaned, practically stuffing the pillow into his mouth.

That night, the whole royal family, including Julie, ate dinner together in the dining room, sitting around the huge long table, which was finely decorated with flowers and jewel encrusted dinner wear. The chandelier sparkled directly above them. Soon, servants came, carrying roasted pig, glazed with honey. There was also meat pie, jell-o, wine, several different pastries and a lot of other foods. But nobody ate as heartily as they usually would. For the death of a whole other kingdom, including several members of their family was a burden too big to carry.

That night, everything was silent. Everyone went to bed without a sound. Everything was dark and black, glooming over. Shadows danced along the walls, making ghostly figures. The wind howled, creating deadly sounds. Gwendolyn lay there, not knowing what to make of it. She couldn't sleep; she had lay awake for at least several hours. She didn't know what to do. And without thinking, she slipped out of bed in her nightgown. The moment her feet hit the ground, she continued walking. She didn't where she was being led; all she knew was there was a force, pulling her towards something. And the moment she saw all the horses sleeping soundly, she knew exactly where she was being led.

She heard a light snoring, and before she could stop herself, she opened the door, revealing a sleeping Kevin. The bed was a mess, the pillow had somehow managed to slip from under his head and had landed on the floor, and the blanket was all tangled up around his long legs. But still, somehow, even though Kevin was in such a bedraggled stage, he still managed to make Gwen blush. She felt a tingle so from her toes to the very tip of her fingers. She took another step closer to him, but the floorboards refused to co-operate and made a creaking sound. Kevin was apparently a light sleeper and he woke up with a start.

"Wha-?" He asked, nearly jumping out of his bed. Gwen went even redder at being caught.

Okay guys! That's it for chapter one. I know, I'm evil I put a cliffhanger. Well, if you want me to update another chapter before I leave for Italy, you better review. But then again, I may not be able to update. But I'll try to update before I leave. I hope you all liked this chapter. Slightly rushed, I know. But as you know, I typed this at three in the morning. No flaming please! Remember review!

Love you all!

~Pinky~