A/N: 'Kay! Guess who's been to the very back of her library again! That's right, moi. So courtesy of Kathleen Keating, I give you my latest creation of greatness. Lol. Jk jk, but I'm trying. You all seemed to like 'Life's Little Instruction Book' so I'm hoping this will be just as good. Enjoy! And Happy Holidays!

"Hey, Ben," Gwen said, barely looking back as her cousin clamored into the backseat. She brushed a few strands of hair from her face. "We'll head to Mr. Smoothie since we don't have any Plumber's stuff today. I think the aliens are dying down again."

"Big disappointment," Kevin snorted. "Just after I join and we have no more butt to kick. That's just great." His expression turned grim and solid again as he reverted back to his usual hard-core criminal face.

Ben sighed and threw his backpack down, hoping it wouldn't break anything that Kevin left lying around in his car. "Whatever. But I have good news!"

"You'll let me kick your butt instead?" the older teen offered from the driver's seat as he floored the pedal.

Selfish much? Ben thought. "No, actually. I need your help Gwen. It's for Kevin."

"I don't want anything. I don't need anything. You're going to forget you said anything about this. End of story." His gaze flitted to the rearview mirror where Ben was rummaging through his backpack. Naturally, that was a bad sign. And he didn't look like he was stopping any time soon.

"So I was in the back of the library again-" Ben started and Kevin cut him off with a groan.

"We do not need anymore instructions on life, Tennyson!"

Ben only rolled his eyes and let out a snicker. "I know."

The redhead looked back. "And what were you doing in the library this time?" she asked suspiciously.

"Julie and I hang out there sometimes when we're supposed to be studying. It's better than Mr. Smoothie and she thinks I'm actually learning something by being there. So far, my head is still pretty empty."

Kevin only chucked and kept the car moving at a faster pace than the other passengers would've liked. He didn't care. The car would go fast as long as he was driving. When they got their licenses, he would nag them on how slow they were going. A win-win situation.

"So what'd you get this time?" A tone of curiosity rose in Gwen's voice as it began to sparkle in her eyes.

Ben finally found the object of his search. "We need to give Kevin some hug therapy."

The car suddenly jerked to a violent stop sending all the passengers flying against their seatbelts and the driver's gaze spun to the back of the car. "I don't need any therapy. Especially not hug therapy. I'm fine." His expression turned furiously fierce and defensive. "I don't know why you two insist on worrying about me. I've lived my whole life alone and therapy won't change much."

"The fact that you lived alone is the reason you need it, Kev. You're like family now and it's our job to watch over you since no one else will," Gwen spoke up from her seat. She'd seen the light of Ben's intentions. But he hadn't thought of how Kevin would react to his new therapy sessions. "You're part of the team. We're going to worry about you no matter what."

His face softened as he retreated back to a normal sitting position. "I'm just not used to this," he breathed. "This whole 'family' concept."

"We'll explain it and start the hugging at Mr. Smoothie." Ben pointed forward. "Onward, Jeeves!"

Kevin raised a hand to slap Ben, but Gwen's angry glare got him to put it back down quickly. "Maybe this is why he thinks you need the therapy," Gwen suggested. Silently, the dark teen pressed his foot down on the pedal again and the car kept rolling again.

Gwen looked back. In Ben's lap was a tiny hot pink book. It had white letters across the top saying 'The Hug Therapy Book'. It had two lighter pink polar bear looking animals in the bottom corner. Like the other book Ben had brought, it was old and beat up. The corners were battered. "Where do you find these?"

"The library. Where I find everything else that no one cares about." He grinned.

She shook her head and put a hand on Kevin's, hoping it was a bit of consolation for his upcoming torture.

Little did she know, it was.

They pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later. "I'll get smoothies." Ben jumped out of the car and stood outside for a moment. "Soda for you, Kevin?"

"I don't drink smooth fruit. It's weird. It's like drinking bacon."

Ben took his friend's tone as angry and with a weak shrug, took off towards the small shack-like building. The giant sign with the walking smoothie labeled it as his destination.

Gwen turned her eyes to gaze at Kevin with an estranged look. "Why would you know what drinking bacon is like?"

"It's a very bad personal experience that really, really sucked." His eyes met hers for a painfully short moment. "Let's just leave it at that."

They both climbed out of the car. "Of course," Gwen laughed, leaning against the hood of the green racing striped Camaro. "Only you could drink bacon and find it as a bad thing."

Kevin shuddered. His mind bent back to find the distant memory he had pushed away. Never again could he drink anything blended that wasn't meant to be blended. Such as bacon.

Ben came back to find Gwen already flipping through 'The Hug Therapy Book'. Her forehead was creased in thoughtfulness. Only Gwen could find something in a book about hugging to think about. He stood next to her and handed Kevin his drink. "So you think it'll work for him?" the teen asked his cousin, reading over her shoulder.

"It's Kevin. You never know." She shut it again and looked up. "Alright. Ready, Kev?"

"No. You guys can keep talking to me like I'm not here." He shook his head trying to get the ebony hair out of his obsidian eyes. "I don't care." He drummed his fingers on the car.

Gwen sighed deeply. She hadn't meant to hurt him. It just happened. He was sensitive sometimes. "You just have to be hugged. I'm not sure how hard that is for you. It's not like you'd have to fight a Highbreed single-handed. I'm sure you can survive a few hugs from me and Ben."

"I fought the entire Null Void single-handed!" Ben protested. He took the book from Gwen.

"Mhm." Kevin sipped on his soda. Definitely not a smoothie or bacon and he was grateful for it. "Let's just get this over with fast so I'm not emotionally scarred for the rest of my life over a few simple hugs."

Ben commented, "You're already emotionally scarred from almost everything else in the world."

"Point noted." Kevin took a deep breath. "So what does the book say?"

"Let's start with explaining what a hug is," Gwen said, opening the book in Ben's hands to the first page with actual words on it. "Okay, it says here that a hug is 'to clasp or hold closely, especially in one's arms; embrace or enfold, as in affection'. Or 'an affectionate embrace'."

Kevin made another mental note of that. Not like hugs are hard to describe. Put your arms around someone. Pretty basic stuff. "Someone hug me so I feel better." He stretched his arms out, expecting one of the Tennysons to come to him.

"It's not that easy." Ben took a drink of his smoothie. "We need to read you all the important stuff."

The dark teen put his arms down in disappointment. "Okay then. Keep reading." Impatience was already setting in.

"Gwen's gonna be doing all the hugging," Ben told him. His eyes flicked to his cousin temporarily and his eyes shone devilishly. "It'd be weird for me to hug you. And I don't think it's the right kind of therapy you need. That'd scar you worse than this whole session will."

Gwen's eyes widened and she delivered Ben a cruel glare that said 'I can't believe you're doing this to me especially when you know how awkward it is'. Ben just smiled again and took the book from her after he put his smoothie down.

A smirk crossed Kevin's features. Of course, that arrangement was fine by him. What could be better than having hug therapy with Gwen? Oh right. Getting a lot of hug therapy with Gwen.

" Here's some more hugging stuff. 'Various experiments have shown that touch can:

Make us feel better about ourselves and our surroundings;

Have a positive effect on children's language development and IQ;

Cause measurable physiological changes in the toucher and the touched." He looked up at his friend again. "Now do you understand why you need hug therapy?"

"Um… yeah." Kevin didn't understand half the words said, but he got the basic point that hugging was proven to be good. "So hugs now?"

"Not yet," Ben said, turning the page again. "There's more."

Gwen felt a panic rising in her chest. She was going to be the one that was supposed to heal Kevin through hugs. What if she hugged him wrong? What if she didn't heal him? What if it didn't work? She was eyeing Kevin's whole body. The redhead found herself wondering what hugging him would be like…

"So here are some more reasons to hug:

HUGGING

Feels good

Dispels loneliness

Overcomes fears

Opens doors to feelings

Builds self-esteem (…)

Fosters altruism (…)

Slows down aging; huggers stay younger longer

Helps curb appetite; we eat less when we are nourished by hugs-and when our arms are busy wrapped around others

Eases tension

Fights insomnia

Keeps arm and shoulder muscles in condition

Provides stretching exercise if you are short

Provides stooping exercise if you are tall

Offers a wholesome alternative to promiscuity

Offers a healthy, safe alternative to alcohol and other drug abuse (better hugs than drugs!)

Affirms physical being

Is democratic; anyone is eligible for a hug

Is ecologically sound, does not upset the environment

Is energy efficient, saves heat

Is portable

Requires no special equipment

Demands no special setting; anyplace from a doorstep to an executive conference room, from a church parlor to a football field, is a fine place for a hug!

Makes happy days happier

Makes impossible days possible

Imparts feelings of belonging

Fills up empty places in our lives

Keeps on working to dispense benefits even after the hug's release."

It took awhile for both Kevin and Gwen to soak it all in. "That is a lot of hugging…" Kevin murmured. "Do you guys understand how long this whole hug therapy thing could go on for? There's no real reason to waste the time on me. What if there's an invasion that we miss or something stupid like that or-"

"We're doing this because it's you, Kevin. Of all people, you're the one who needs most of these things." Gwen put a hand on his shoulder. "It's for the best."

Ben looked at the picture on the next page. "And besides, apparently, hugs prevent war." He laughed so hard he did a smoothie spit-take.

Kevin shrugged. "Wish we could've figured that out before the Highbreed invasion. We could've just hugged them all."

"I doubt they'd let us hug them," Gwen pointed out, stifling a giggle. If hugs did stop war, how in the world did Vilgax nearly take over Earth?

Ben put his smoothie down and focused on reading further ahead. "Okay so there's only one rule to hug therapy and that is that you have to ask first to give or receive a hug." He grinned. How many times and one day would he force Kevin and Gwen to ask for hugs? As many times as he could.

"Great," Kevin growled. "I'm not liking this one freaking bit." He put his soda down on the hood of his car. "Almost worst than your last big idea. The whole let's go help Vilgax's planet because he said please wasn't any fun. And neither was the time that you decided to use the machine I created to help you and it backfired to turn me into a monster." His dark eyes hardened in a glare at Ben. Then they flicked back to his hand that was normal for the moment. Only because of a stupid mask…

Gwen opened her mouth to tell him for the millionth time that he wasn't a monster, but she fell silent, knowing he'd only argue more. "This one is better. It's just a book and some hugs."

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about."

Ben grinned again. "As long as you ask, this should work." This was going to be funny more than anything. The therapy thing was just an added bonus. Kevin needed it and it was cheaper than paying for an actual therapist for him. "There's more."

The dark teen moaned. "More?"

"Yeah. There's types of hugs."

"Types of hugs?" Like this couldn't get anymore lame… Kevin thought.

"You obviously weren't loved enough as a child," Ben retorted. He realized his mistake a second too late.

"As if you didn't already know that when you met me on the streets of New York after I was abandoned." Kevin let his eyes fall and simply sipped his soda like nothing out of the ordinary was going on. The truth was that it was the most he'd ever said about his tortured past since he'd joined the team. Not like he'd admit to that.

"Well there are bear hugs, group hugs, sandwich hugs, side-to-side hugs, back-to-front hugs, and heart centered hugs. Of course there's more, but these seem to be the best from what I've read." Ben looked up at Kevin who seemed totally lost on the whole subject. "I can show Gwen and she can just hug you." At that, the older teen gave a slight nod. It was easier than saying he didn't understand much from the start.

Gwen moved to read over Ben's shoulder. "So…"

"Just hug him and hope it works." He pointed to a picture of two bears hugging. "That's how you need to hug him and-"

"This is ridiculous," she sighed. "Ben, there is no way-"

"Don't argue with me!" her cousin snapped and she fell silent. Ben took a breath and said, "This one might have the most effect on him."

"Please tell me this is all just a joke," Gwen whined.

Kevin was still standing there, lost in his thoughts, which were basically next to nothing. "I don't think it's a joke, Gwen," he commented. "If it was, his left eye would be twitching and that's another thing I can't stand about the twerp."

She groaned and took only a step closer to Kevin. "Can I have a hug?"

"Hug away." Let's just get this over with.

The redhead threw her arms around Kevin and just let herself melt into his chest. He was so warm and strong. His arms folded around her and she could barely remember to breath. He was so overpowering. Gwen's eyes closed as she drank in the moment that would have to last her a lifetime. This would probably never happen again for the rest of eternity. Her heart beat a little faster and she could feel the blood pumping through his veins even though Kevin was made of rock now. He was so close to her she wanted to look up and find his lips so she could press hers again them.

He made sure to hold her tight and wish that she would never let go. His eyes fell on her red colored halo of hair as it glowed in the sunlight. She would leave eventually. For college and for a better life and he'd be left in the dust behind both of them, watching and praying that they'd come back for him. She didn't deserve him, but somehow she kept coming back and kept agreeing to stick around for another week. It wouldn't last and he had to keep every memory locked in his mind so he could replay it like a movie, over and over again. "Gwen, don't let go," he murmured, his voice barely audible.

"I won't. I promise." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard her loud and clear. Gwen's was the only voice he wanted to listen to. She sounded so sweet sometimes.

They pulled apart many minutes later to find Ben returning from another smoothie run. Neither had any idea he had ever left. "So feel any better, Kev?" the brunette asked with a sly smile.

"Much," he answered, putting one arm around Gwen and squeezing her gently.

"So the hug therapy is working?"

"Sort of," his cousin answered. She rested her head on Kevin's shoulder and knew that this was the beginning of a long line of hugs.

Eventually, Kevin would find a way to recover. Gwen would set down the path and he would follow her along, ready for anything. They could make it together. With more hugs.

"Need another?" Ben asked.

"Um… from you? No thanks." Kevin flicked his hand and leaned on his car again.

"Good. Hug therapy is over."

"What?"

"Yeah. I think one hug is enough. Your daily torture is over."

Kevin shook his head and his mouth turned upwards. "Benji, you are a little moron, you know that?"

"Julie says it enough when I get these books out of the library."

Gwen only laughed. Good to have everyone back to normal.

A/N: Only Kevin would need hug therapy and have a traumatizing incident due to drinking bacon. The bacon thing just came while I was writing. Spur-of-the-moment. Lol. And it's all direct quotes from the book so that's why it's written sort of weird in some places. And ik da ending kind of sucked, but it was hard to finish and stuff because I wasn't sure how it would work… R&R! Thanks!