Note: This story takes place sometime after the Ultimate Alien episode It's Not Easy Being Gwen. Credit for the idea goes to Royal Detective.
This was supposed to be a long-ish one-shot originally, but since there will be short (but frequent) time-jumps after each scene, I decided to turn it into a multi-chapter story! I'm excited to see where this goes. Full transparency: I haven't meticulously planned the whole thing out, but I'm expecting it to last about six chapters.
I apologize if I got some things wrong about the GED. I had to do some research online to get the details as accurate as possible, but some things may have slipped through the cracks.
Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, Gwen lagged behind her fellow students as they headed towards the main doors of the school. Kevin was supposed to pick her up today, and knowing his tendency to be tardy, he likely hadn't even left his house yet, so she had no reason to rush. How unfortunate, too, since she had something important to talk to him about. As she approached the doors, a swarm of students poured out of the building and scattered in different directions.
To her disbelief, Kevin's car was already there, catching the attention of several students- freshmen, she assumed. This wasn't Kevin's first time picking her up, so she had no idea why everyone else was acting as if it was. She was aware that they were both semi-famous thanks to their association with Ben. Nevertheless, she'd hoped people would have gotten used to it by now. Paying them no mind, she made a beeline for the car, tossed her backpack into the backseat and sat in the front passenger seat, turning to face Kevin. "You're on time for once."
"C'mon, is it really that surprising?" Donning a smirk, she folded her arms across her chest and waited to hear his defense, though he had none. "Okay, fine, point taken," he conceded. "Would me bein' on time be a good enough reason to kiss me?"
"As if I need a reason to kiss you." Without looking out the window, she knew that the other students were not-so-subtly staring into the car. If they were going to stare, she decided she might as well remind them that she and Kevin were, in fact, very happily taken. Scooting closer to the gear shift, her hands guided his face to hers, and she gave him a deliberately drawn-out kiss on the lips. Upon pulling away, she briefly glanced at the window to see students talking among themselves, some even sporting jealous looks. Mission accomplished, she thought as she buckled her seatbelt. "Okay, let's get out of here. We've given them enough of a show."
Still riding the high from the kiss, Kevin obeyed, wearing a goofy grin. The taste of her lip gloss lingered on his lips. He noticed, though, that it was a different flavor than the usual cherry or strawberry. "Hey, didja get new lip gloss?"
She responded with an enthusiastic nod. "Mm-hmm! Apple. Trying something new. You like it?"
"Love it."
Gwen made a mental note to stock up on apple lip gloss the next time she went shopping, perhaps throw in a few new flavors purely for kicks. Before she could make a wishlist of which flavors to buy, Kevin interrupted her train of thought with a question. "How was school?"
"Eh." She tilted her hand in a 'so-so' motion. Contrary to what she assumed was popular belief, she didn't always enjoy school. Yes, some days could be exciting, but other days could be terrible. Some days, like today, fell into neither category. It certainly didn't help that her best friend Emily didn't come to school, since she was stuck at home with a cold. "How's your day been so far?"
Kevin's smile disappeared as he remembered all the things he had to get done. "Hectic. 'Fraid I can't hang out today. Gotta catch up on maintenance repairs for the Rust Bucket. No tellin' when we'll need to go to space for a mission."
"Darn," she muttered. "I wanted us to pick out some books from the bookstore-"
"You mean you wanted to pick out some books from the bookstore while I stood around holdin' stuff for you." He considered it a compliment that she always wanted him to hold things whenever they went shopping. He liked being useful. "Normally, I wouldn't mind, but like I said, I've got things to do today."
Gwen put a hand on her hip, slightly annoyed at his interruption. "You didn't let me finish. It's for your GED."
"Oh, we're actually doin' that, huh?" With everything going on in his life lately, it had slipped his mind that Gwen offered to help him get a GED. He should have known better than to be surprised that she was intent on following through. When she made a promise, she stuck to it. It was one of the countless things he admired about her.
His reply was barely audible, yet loud enough for Gwen to pick up on the complete absence of confidence from his voice. "Do you wanna back out?"
His voice returned to its normal volume. "No." He may have felt uncertain about his academic abilities, but he wanted that GED.
"Are you nervous?" Kevin brought the car to a stop in front of a red light, allowing him to take his attention off the road to look at Gwen, his onyx eyes pleading for any sort of reassurance. Delicately, she placed her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Breathe. I've got you."
He took a deep breath and mentally counted to three, then exhaled, giving Gwen a grateful smile. "Thanks."
She moved her hand down to lace her fingers through his. "Tell you what, I'll go get the books on my own, and we'll meet up tomorrow night to get the ball rolling."