Seven hours.

Kevin had seven hours until he'd have to wake up and get ready to go to the GED testing center to take his first test.

That was if he could go to sleep, of course, which he couldn't. Granted, it was only 11 PM. It was too early for him to sleep, but Gwen had advised him to be fully rested for tomorrow. Given how he'd spent the last half hour staring at the ceiling, he had half a mind to pull an all-nighter to study one last time and power through the tiredness tomorrow, but he knew he'd hate himself in the morning, or worse, risk being too exhausted for his brain to function properly. He'd signed up to take two tests tomorrow and the remaining two the day after, so he was less than two days away from putting all this behind him. He wanted to get it all over with.

It was hard to believe that he was nearing the end of his months-long journey. It seemed like yesterday that Gwen offered to help him study. He'd learned a lot in a relatively short time, thanks to her. If he somehow failed, at least all the knowledge he'd gained would count for something, right?

No, he wouldn't fail, he assured himself. He couldn't. He'd come too far.

He was still getting used to admitting it, but he was proud of himself. Less than two years ago, he was a criminal with no support system, illegally trading alien technology to make ends meet. Now, he had a girlfriend who was more wonderful than he could ever put into words, a best friend who was like a little brother to him, and his relationship with his mother had never been better. To top it all off, he was even following his father's footsteps in being a Plumber. Getting a GED was just another item on the list of things he had to do to make up for his less-than-stellar past.

He owed it to himself.

As Kevin had expected, he didn't get to sleep too well, so he bought himself a cup of coffee before picking Gwen up from her house. The drive to the testing center thereafter was mostly filled with silence, as Gwen's attempts to make small talk were met with short responses from Kevin. He was too on edge to think of anything besides the impending test. Not wanting to push him, Gwen took the hint and kept quiet.

They arrived at the testing center with half an hour to spare. After putting the car into a parking space and killing the engine, Kevin unbuckled his seatbelt and threw his head back in his seat, eyes closed, hands on his lap.

Gwen unbuckled her seatbelt and extended her hand across the divider between the front seats to lay it on Kevin's knee. "You're almost there." Her touch coaxed him into opening his eyes, and he fixed his gaze straight ahead, buried in his thoughts. He knew that, reasonably speaking, he had a decent chance of doing well, but unfortunately, his brain wasn't running on reason.

"Kev, look at me." When he didn't comply, she shook his knee to catch his attention. He finally faced her, and when he did, she studied him. His puckered forehead, far-off stare and downturned lips were a dead giveaway that, though his body was inches from hers, his mind remained elsewhere, wrapped up in what-ifs. "Breathe. Just like we practiced."

Fortunately, despite all the thoughts racing in his mind, Kevin managed to zero in on Gwen's words. He shut his eyes and inhaled deeply. He began counting to ten in his head, joined by Gwen counting with him aloud. Once they reached ten, he exhaled. His face relaxed as he opened his eyes, meeting hers at long last. "Thanks."

In response, Gwen smiled and took Kevin's hands in hers, unbothered that they were clammy. "I know there's nothing I can say that'll magically make you feel better. Left my spellbook at home." To her relief, her joke elicited a soft chuckle from him, lifting his spirits slightly. "But I'm gonna try anyway," she continued. "I'm gonna ask you some questions, okay? They might seem kinda stupid, but just humor me."

"Okay," he replied, unsure about where she was going with this.

"Did you learn everything you needed to know for each subject?"

"Yeah."

"Did you study?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Did you do practice tests?"

"Yup."

She gave his hands a gentle squeeze. "See what I'm getting at?"

"I did everything I coulda done to prepare for this thing. I know I did, Gwen." Kevin exhaled loudly in frustration. "I know it makes no sense to be nervous, but I still am."

Gwen averted her gaze while she thought of a different way to reassure him, and her face lit up when it came to her. "Okay, remember that big presentation I had to do for school a couple months ago?"

"You thought you were gonna blow it," he recalled.

"Yeah, I couldn't stop freaking out," she admitted with a laugh. "But you said something to me to help me calm down, remember?"

He recited his advice word-for-word. "'The worst-case scenario's usually not the likely one'."

"You should listen to yourself."

Kevin had no rebuttal. Although it annoyed the small part of him that wanted to wallow in self-doubt (a part he wished he could throw away), he couldn't argue with himself, could he? Especially not when he was right.

"No matter what the voice in your head tells you, I believe in you." Leaning toward him, she placed a hand over the left side of his chest, fingers spread. "Now, I can't physically be in there with you, but I'll be there in spirit."

On any other day, he would have made a comment about how corny that was, but today, he needed the consolation. He was fairly certain he would have gone into full panic mode by now if Gwen wasn't with him. "I'm... I'm glad you're here with me."

Her hand traveled upwards to his cheek, stroking it lightly. "Wouldn't miss this for the world. I've always got your back."

With a faint smile, he guided her hand away from his cheek to give it a quick kiss. "And I've got yours." Dropping her hand, he cupped her face as he kissed her slowly and lovingly, partially for good luck and partially because he missed feeling her lips on his.

Kevin pulled away after a few seconds. His smile intensified when he heard Gwen giggle softly as she came down from the high of their kiss. Just when he thought she couldn't get any cuter...

"Hey, tomorrow, when this is over, let's go out for dinner," he suggested.

"Hm?" She forced herself out of her daze, focusing on what Kevin had said. "Oh, there's a new Italian place near school I've had my eye on. We could go there!"

"Maybe I'll even dress up."

"I wouldn't be opposed." She scanned him from top to bottom, imagining him in different kinds of fancy clothing. "Uh, not that your usual style isn't great, of course. It'd be nice to see you in a button-up shirt or something, that's all."

If nothing else, it was nice to be reminded that he was attractive. "No promises. I said 'maybe'," he snickered. "Anyway, we can talk about tomorrow... well, tomorrow. Bigger fish to fry."

"You're right." Craning her neck, Gwen peeked at the backseat and grabbed Kevin's backpack from the floor with a mana lasso. "Ready?" she asked, giving him his backpack.

Reality set in again, and just like that, the playful atmosphere of the past couple minutes dissolved. Kevin steeled himself, refusing to let his nervousness to get the best of him again. "As ready as I'll ever be." Before getting out of the car, Gwen flashed him an empathetic look; a brief but meaningful gesture to reiterate her support for him all without saying anything.

Now that he had a moment alone, he checked his reflection in the rearview mirror, making sure he looked presentable before getting out himself. Gwen stood by his side, waiting patiently as he locked the car and strapped his backpack to his back. Then, he turned to her and peered into her mesmerizing green eyes. "I can do this."

Gwen grinned, proud of him for taking her prior advice about saying affirmations out loud. "That's right. You've got this in the bag."

With a grin of his own, Kevin reached for her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, leading her to the entrance of the testing center.

One chapter to go!

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