Chapter 8: Fishing adventures
WARNING: Super long chapter!!!
Grandpa Max is currently is going 65 on the highway since 70 is the speeding limit.
"Where were going?" Ben asks
"You'll see." Max answers with a smile on his face.
"Wonder why he's smiling." Ben thought
"Almost forgot, we will be heading back to Bellwood tomorrow afternoon." Max tells Ben and Gwen.
Ben goes pale like he had heard a ghost's voice in his ear.
"Why?" Ben demands
"Two reasons" Max says "One is for new clothes."
"Oh man." Ben groans
"Yes!" Gwen happily exclaims
"Second reason is that school is starting soon."
Ben groans in frustration.
"Just another year for me to pass." Gwen boasts
"It's not that, another miserable year with Cash and J.T." Ben says miserably
Gwen walks over from the table and smacks Ben in the head.
"What was that for?!" Ben asks while rubbing his head
"Simple." Gwen says "Stop being a chicken and stand up for yourself."
"You make it sound so simple."
"You make it sound hard."
"Your birthdays are coming up." Max tells "I think I got a present for you guys."
It was the first time that Ben or Gwen ever had been happy about their birthdays normally because before they fell in love that was the rivalry.
"I hope it's not of his food." Gwen whispers to Ben.
"I can agree to that." Ben whispers.
The group passes a billboard sign that says "Sunset Lake up ahead."
"What's Sunset Lake?" Gwen asks
"It's where we're going to catch some salmon." Max answers
"Why?" Ben asks
"You'll see." Max replies in a mysterious way.
Both Ben and Gwen exchange confused looks at each other but they stop after a few seconds.
By the time the group gets to the lake it was already 6:40 in the evening, Max is seen with the group taking out some fishing rods in good condition while Ben and Gwen were already waiting at the lake.
The conversation with the couple…
"The lake looks beautiful." Gwen marks
"I know." Ben says
"I just wish something romantic would happen."
"We'll wait for that."
Back with the group…
"Got the rods!" Max says as he walks up to the lake with Ben and Gwen.
"We'll have to rent a boat if we want to fish." Ben says
"There's a shack right across from where we parked." Gwen explains
The group walks up to this log shack that's surprising in good condition that looked like it's been there for years.
"This is where we are to get a boat?" Ben asks
"Read the sign, doofus." Gwen insults Ben for his lack of intelligence.
The group goes inside into the shack without their knowledge that it was a shop for boats
There were fishing rods, bait and a lot of other knickknacks in the store.
"Looks like no one is here." Gwen comments
"In the back." A sudden voice says
The group goes to the back of the shop and finds a man in his mid 30's, black long hair to this shoulders, medium skinned, and is currently unloading boxes at the moment.
"Who are you?" Max asks
"I'm Eddie." The man says "Nice to meet err…"
"Max." Max finishes "and these are my grandkids Ben and Gwen."
"Hello." Gwen says
"Hi." Ben greeted
"Nice to meet both of you." Eddie says
"We need a boat." Max says
"Got one in mint condition." Eddie adds "Cost you guys $5.00."
"Deal." Max commented
5 minutes later…
"Let's go!" Max exclaims as he pushes the boat to the tip of the water, Ben and Gwen get the rods and bait as Max completely pushes the boat onto the lake.
"So Grandpa, what fish are we trying to catch?" Gwen asks
"Some salmon come up here twice a year to migrate." Max answers
"Sounds good." Ben replies
Max leans closer to Ben to whisper something in Ben's ear; however Gwen doesn't hear them at all. (Talk about ignoring some things.)
"There's a really good sunset that Gwen has to check out." Max whispers
"I'm listening, at what time?" Ben whispers back
"8:30, take my watch to keep track." Max advises as he gives Ben his watch
"Thanks." Ben whispers back to Max as he leans back to his side of the boat and casts his reel.
Gwen and Max do the same with their reels, Max from the back and Gwen from the front.
"Are we supposed to wait?" Ben asks
"If you want to catch fish, be patient." Max quoted
10 minutes later…
Ben suddenly feels a tug on his reel on his fishing rod.
Grandpa Max looks at Ben's fishing rod and says to Ben "Got something?" Max asks
"I think so." Ben answers
Suddenly another tug from Ben's rod but it was stronger than the last one.
"You might want to reel it in quickly." Max suggests
"Ben, you got something?" Gwen asks
"I think so." Ben says while trying to reel in what's on the other side of the reel.
The reel that's Ben reeling is getting closer, however the fish that is underwater is fighting back.
"Tough fish you got there." Max says then a slight chuckle of laughter
"Ha-ha very funny grandpa." Ben replies in sarcasm "Focus even though I'm terrible at it."
Gwen decides to put her rod and turns around to cheer for Ben "You can do it."
"This fish really wants to win." Ben grins between his teeth.
"Reel it in before it gets away." Max suggests
"I will." Ben answers
After of what it looks like to be a tug of war match between Ben and the fish Ben however pulls it out of the water but the fish hits him in the face.
Grandpa Max and Gwen laugh pretty hard at what they just saw
Grandpa Max stops laughing completely.
"You all right?" Gwen asks while stopping to laugh
"It's not funny." Ben replies
"You're right." Gwen says in a low tone but picks up her tone in time for "It's hilarious!"
Gwen laughs again but a little harder than her first laugh.
Ben groans in frustration after Gwen's little teasing section.
The fish however, is flopping on the hook of the rod trying to get the worms of the hook and looks like it's slowing down in terms of life until it stops shortly after.
"Caught one." Ben says
Gwen's rod suddenly starts to move on it's own towards the water.
"Gwen, your rod." Ben warns
"My rod?" Gwen asks sheepishly
"Turn around."
Gwen turns around in time to see her rod at the end of the boat almost going in the lake.
Gwen panics and reaches it in time but yells in panic of almost falling in the water.
"Whoa!" Gwen panics in a frightened tone of voice
"Help me before I lose my balance!" Gwen yells to Ben
Ben gets off his seat quickly to grab Gwen by the waist to prevent her from falling from the boat.
"Ben thank goodness, now can you-"
Gwen was cut off by Ben pulling her back in the boat.
"Thanks." Gwen commented
"Anytime." Ben replies
Suddenly a fish that was tugging on Gwen's end of the rod jumps up out of the water.
"I caught one!" Gwen exclaims
"Good job." Ben congratulates
"What time is it Grandpa?" Gwen asks
Grandpa Max nods to Ben and Ben says "it's 6:55."
"Really?" Gwen asks
"Yep." Ben replies
Grandpa Max suddenly gets a tug from his line.
"Got a bite." Max commented
"You know what to do."
After 30 seconds Max reels in this medium-sized salmon.
"Nice." Ben commented
"Thanks." Max accepts
After everyone had caught their own fish Grandpa Max decided it's time to row the boat back to the campsite with their heads held high.
"Ben, may I speak to you privately?" Max asks
"Sure, Gwen hang on to my fish for a moment." Ben says as he's gives Gwen the fish that he caught.
"Okay." Gwen answers
Ben walks to Grandpa Max at the pine tree near the lake.
"Check your bandage." Max says
"Okay." Ben answers in a low voice
Ben starts to tear off the bandage, and it is reveals a completely healed left arm.
"My arm is healed." Ben softly exclaims
"I thought that it would be healed by now, so I decided to pick today to have you check it." Max tells
"Yeah, thanks." Ben offers
"Don't let Gwen know." Max says
"Why not?" Ben asks
"Just don't." Max says
"Gwen is going to be mad at the both of us." Ben thought, Ben leaves Grandpa Max trying to start a campfire.
Ben sees Gwen cutting the scales off the fish with a hunter's knife and Gwen says to Ben without looking at him "What did Grandpa tell you?"
"Nothing actually." Ben lied
"Something's up with you." Gwen says
"No, I'm not." Ben says "Nothing's wrong."
Ben runs over to the Rustbucket, goes behind it and activates his Omnitrix.
"Time to go XLR8." Ben says
A sudden flash of green light and standing in Ben's place is XLR8.
"Time to leave." XLR8 says "time to get Gwen a present." XLR8 thought and leaves toward the town.
Gwen hears the green light of the Omnitrix, goes to Grandpa Max and asks "Did Ben just leave?"
"Yeah, let's just say that he accelerated somewhere." Max answers
"He what?!" Gwen yells in shock
"He did." Max simply says, walks over to the campfire and checks on the fish "Another 10 minutes." He commented
"Do you know where he went?" Gwen asks in a high tone
"No, but he did mention something about you."
"He did?"
"Yep."
"I'll wait for him." Gwen comments in a bitter manner
Two blocks away from the Flower Shop near the hotel…
XLR8 is seen speeding down the road towards the flower shop across from the hotel they were staying in until… A sudden beeping sound that meant only one thing.
The Omnitrix was going out and Ben was going to taste the pavement when it timed out.
However, Ben finds an alleyway and a red light glows as Ben walks onto the sidewalk and eventually reaching the flower shop.
"May I help you?" the cashier asks
Ben turns to the cashier's desk where the cashier currently was standing at and Ben replies "Yeah, do you have roses here?"
"Sure." The cashier replies "In the back of aisle five."
"Ok." Ben replies as he looks at the cashier's name tag and Ben read "Hello, my name is Fred."
Ben goes to the back of aisle five as told and gets a bouquet of roses (about six) and some white lilies with the roses and returns to the cashier's desk.
"That'll be $7.50." Fred marks
"7.50?" Ben says in shock "Fine, I'll pay it."
Ben hands Fred the 7.50 that Ben had saved before the summer had actually started.
Ben walks out of the Flower Shop and goes back to the same alleyway where he had timed out earlier.
Ben chooses XLR8 and speeds off back toward the campsite, by the time XLR8 gets back he only sees Grandpa Max taking the cooked fish away from the campfire and on the wooden table.
XLR8 runs behind the RustBucket to time out before Max can even see him.
"Whew." Ben says in a calming tone.
Ben walks away from the RustBucket only to find Grandpa Max in a lounge chair.
"Hey, Grandpa." Ben greets
Grandpa Max looks up and looks at Ben, "You're back already? I've should have expected that."
"Yeah about that, where's-"
"Gwen?" Max cuts Ben off "In the RV waiting for you."
"Thanks." Ben says and begins to walk into the RV.
When Ben opens the door he notices two things: the RV is in pitch black, and the second thing he notices is no sign of Gwen at all in the RV.
Ben takes full advantage to this as an opportunity to hide Gwen's present of flowers until she showed herself.
"Perfect." Ben says hiding the flowers in mint condition; Ben checks Grandpa's watch and says "8:00, not much time."
"You jerk!" a girlish voice yells to Ben.
Ben jumps up in panic of the voice and turns around to see an angry Gwen with her emerald green eyes showing anger and worry, her fists clutched together.
"Hey, Gwen." Ben says in a nervous tone in his voice.
"Why did you leave?!" Gwen replies in an angry tone in her voice.
Ben realizes that he has a choice between these two choices: Be honest or lie his way out.
(Guess which one he chose)
"I went for a walk." Ben lied
"Liar!" Gwen yells as she walks up to Ben and punches him in the chest.
Ben stumbles back from the punch right to the wall of the bedroom of where they first slept, "Gwen calm down, I'm not lying." Ben pleaded he had never seen this side of Gwen before.
"You are Ben, you're lying!" She remarks as she starts pounding Ben's chest with her fists.
"Gwen, calm down!" Ben shouted out, he hadn't realized that he had almost snapped at Gwen.
Gwen had stopped punching immediately, her emerald green eyes looked like on the verge of tears.
"Why not? I was so worried about you!" Gwen replies
"I know, but I'm here now." Ben assures
"I'll believe you, when you show me." Gwen marks
"You'll see, at 8:30." Ben says in a mysterious tone in his voice, he laughs for some reason just like Seymour (ffx)
Ben grabs the roses from his hiding spot, gives Gwen a peck on the cheek and leaves the RV.
Gwen goes after him but stops when she sees Ben hand Grandpa Max something and then Ben runs off.
"What's with Ben?" Gwen asks
"I think that he has something planned for you." Max answers "Sounds like you two had a fight."
"Were you eavesdropping?! " Gwen yells
"Didn't need to." Max replies "You two were so loud that I couldn't help to listen."
"Didn't need to do that."
"I know." Max says flatly
"I feel bad for what happened." Gwen says in an upset tone of voice
"Go make it up to him."
"How?"
"Meet him at the top of the hill, you only have five minutes."
Gwen hearing this, she moves hastily to catch up to Ben.
By the time she catches up, she sees Ben staring at the sunset at the horizon.
"Ben." Gwen says
Ben just turns around and sees Gwen with her emerald green eyes filled with compassion instead of anger.
"Come, watch the sunset with me." Ben offered
Gwen walks to Ben's left side and now they were standing side by side.
"It's beautiful." Gwen commented
"Not as beautiful as you." Ben remarks
The sunset colors however, are keeping Ben from seeing Gwen's cheeks turn to a rosy red color.
Gwen's color turns back to their normal color.
"I have something for you." Ben says
"What is it?" Gwen asks
A few seconds of silence between the couple until Gwen repeats what she just said
"What is it?" Gwen repeats
Ben currently has his hands behind his back holding the bouquet of flowers for Gwen.
"You're hiding something." Gwen teased
"No, I'm not!" Ben says in a defensive tone
"Can't fool me, Ben."
"You're right, here." Ben hands Gwen the flowers that he had brought for her
Gwen stands there in shock and amazement "Oh, Ben." Gwen says sweetly as she starts to hold back tears.
"You don't have to thank me." Ben obliged
"Yes, I do." Gwen says
"No you-"Ben was cut off by Gwen passionately pressing her lips against his.
Ben breaks off the kiss wondering what had just happened.
"Did you just-"Ben had attempted to say but Gwen cuts him off.
"This is my present to you." Gwen says and then she reunites the kiss
The couple just continues the make-out session for about a half an hour until they stop to catch their breath.
"That was-"Ben started
"Fun and yet passionate." Gwen finished
Suddenly a person that was trying to get their attention of clearing his throat is heard.
Both Ben and Gwen turn to see who it was, it was their own Grandpa.
"Hey, you two." Max says to the couple
"Hey." Both Ben and Gwen says
"Come on, let's go." Max tells
"Now?" They both ask
"Yes."
"Ok."
The group decides to get into the RV and leave the campsite.
Max continues to drive the RV until they reach a pit stop fast food diner.
"We'll rest here tonight." Max tells the grandkids "It's 9:50."
"Ok, see ya tomorrow Gwen." Ben said as he climbs toward his top of the bunk bed.
"Sure, see ya." Gwen says as he hits the hay to sleep
Once the couple is sleep, Max says softly so they can't hear him "Maybe I'm getting too old for this."
End of chapter 8
A/N: Sorry if I too long, my original plan was to have this up by spring break.
(Didn't happen.)
I think I wrote myself into a few binds and somehow I got out of it.
I'll be working on chapter 9, I think that'll be the shortest
Anyways, Read and Review!