December 23

The Not-Rustbucket

Parked in front of Ben's house

7:23 AM

The trunks of the thin trees covered in white bark with black flecks flashed by like a picket fence, leaves and small branches brushed aside by the small almost transparent pink shield with shimmering edges six inches in front of her head as she flew through them riding a larger pink platform shaped like a snowboard. Suddenly a thick gob of puke green, disgustingly stinky glop spattered the tree canopy above and just in front of her head - the shield swept that away just as easily as it did the brilliant yellow leaves.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, Doofus! I told you you'd never get me when I flew through the trees like this!" Gwen shouted over her right shoulder at Stinkfly, flying next to her about five feet away, just outside the dense leaf cover of the aspens. Before he could answer the Omnitrix disk between his eye stalks started the timeout beeps that went with the blinking red hourglass symbol.

"Oh man! Just when we were about to clear the trees, too!" the five foot something dragonfly-like bug complained in a raspy voice as Ben dove for the ground to keep from crashing before he reverted to his smaller teenage body. Gwen laughed as she flew ahead and touched down as well, at the edge of the clearing Ben had been planning to use for his ambush. As much as she wanted to win this chase, swooping out of the sky when he was stuck on the ground wouldn't be fair. Besides, she had another trick up her sleeve.

She pulled a gray stone the size of four stacked quarters from her pocket as she stopped in front of a clump of trees at the edge of the clearing. She rubbed her finger and thumb along the black lines of the rune etched into it, barely whispering the words to enhance it so the effects would work in a larger space than her bedroom. Then she ducked behind a tree that wasn't quite wide enough to hide her, quiet as she could be.

"I know you're here, Dweeb. I heard you land." Ben called behind her. She barely heard his sneakers crunching the old twigs and leaves littering the ground, leftover from the previous fall. He was getting much better at moving quietly, a skill he said he learned from his time spent as Wildmutt stalking prey.

She didn't move a muscle as he cautiously walked by her only four feet to her left, moving as carefully as he could to try and sneak up on her. He almost got away with it, but she held her breath so she wouldn't make any sound that might give her away.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are, Cootie Queen!" he sing-songed when he got in front of her. "Where the heck did she go? I saw her on the ground right back there…" he mumbled to himself.

Gwen stifled a giggle as she put the stone back in her pocket, tensed up for a second as if she were compressing springs in her body, then lunged forward when Ben got five feet into the low grass of the meadow in front of her. He stopped and tried to turn when he heard her footsteps.

"What…" was all he got out in a surprised voice before she was on him at a dead run. She launched herself at his back, hitting him with a flying glomp as she wrapped her arms around his, trapping them at his sides. They fell and rolled in the soft grass, with Gwen maneuvering him so they ended up on his back with her astride his waist, her knees pinning his arms at his sides and her hands at the ready.

"I GOTCHA!" she cried in triumph.

"Hey, wait…" Ben started to say, before the fingers of both her hands were on his sides, dancing up and down from his waist to his armpits and back in a well-practiced tickle attack, making him erupt in laughs and giggles like he always did.

"No! … Stoppit! … Dweeb, staaahp!" he gasped between laughing fits, bucking his hips as hard as he could but unable to shake her off. He managed to roll onto his right side, holding his arms and hands against his exposed side to try and fend her off. It didn't work.

Gwen laughed along with him as she kept up her exquisite attack before finally easing up. She may still have an inch and a half on him, but he was growing more muscle in the time since they hit puberty, and he had her by close to eight pounds. He'd turn that strength advantage to his benefit as soon as he decided to uncurl and grab her wrists.

Which he did as he rolled onto his back underneath her again, his amazing emerald eyes still full of silent laughter and a huge smile on his red face. "No fair, Dweeb!" he murmured before letting out one more giggle as she got one last tickle in on the soft spots on his flanks.

"No fair…"

Gwen heard a soft voice murmuring in the bunk above hers as she opened her eyes and blinked groggily a few times, adjusting to the morning sunlight filtering through the RV's tattered shades. For a brief moment she was annoyed to be woken from the dream - it was the best one she could remember in a long time - before realizing it wasn't another nightmare. That brought a small grin to her lips, that got bigger when she recognized the murmur was Ben in the bunk above hers. And he wasn't crying out from a bad dream for a change, either.

He stopped talking in his sleep, and Gwen lay still on her back, listening to the gentle rasp of him breathing slowly. Just like the way she went to sleep the night before.

The way she hoped they would when she nervously brought up the idea of sleeping in the not-Rustbucket to Ben after Grandpa came back from the old camper and whatever Plumber thing happened. She had expected the boy to not want to - why give up his comfortable bed to sleep on the thin bunk mattress? - but her wonderful boyfriend agreed with her as if he knew how bad her sleep had been a few nights before, and helped her make her case to Grandpa. He tried to laugh off whatever took the Plumber commander away from his guitar performance, but she saw the apprehension in his eyes when the big man came back.

It didn't help that the dork blurted out such a scandalous reason for wanting to sleep in the beat up old RV when Grandpa asked why. She stifled a snort at that memory - good thing Grandpa knew better than to take the words her Doofus used at their normal meaning!

And the color his face turned! She knew hers had been burning since she was part of the 'we' Ben meant in his outrageously phrased explanation that they wanted to 'sleep together', but when he realized what he said he turned the most amazing shade of burgundy! She wondered how far down his neck the color went - there wasn't such a thing as a whole body blush, was there?

Thankfully Grandpa didn't react the way most people would at those words, especially coming from a teenager well into his biological changes to become an adult - Gwen cringed at the thought of Uncle Carl hearing them, let alone her mother - but the old man still guessed what their reason was for wanting to sleep in their bunks. It wasn't any different than after Ben's nightmare on the first night of the Thanksgiving weekend campout. Her boyfriend instinctively knew she'd had a similar bad night just a few days ago and covered for her with his answer to Grandpa's question, but she knew the observant man and her Dweeb could tell she was fibbing.

She felt a bit sheepish about that, but didn't regret the result. Along with the happy dream, she had the best night's rest since the night they did sleep in his bunk together that weekend. Last night wasn't quite as good - she almost slipped in with Ben twice before she fell asleep despite Grandpa's caution, the feeling of being next to him was almost worth the disappointment she knew they'd see if they got caught again - but she didn't want to inadvertently wake him up from what looked like a good night for him, too. In the end, wearing his black striped T-shirt at least reminded her of what his arms felt like around her middle, even if she kept it hidden under a sweatshirt. That and hearing his quiet breathing put her out for the night.

From the sound of it now, his dream was good like hers, too - he murmured again wordlessly in a happy way in between almost unhearable chuckles. A warm feeling flushed from her face to her stomach and made her want to see his face when he wasn't caught in an anguished night terror. She stood on her bunk and peered over his mattress, silently watching him. The sight was worth her effort to be quiet - she couldn't get enough of seeing the peacefully sleeping boy who seemed to always be active when he was awake, even when he was lounging against her reading a comic or listening to music. He was cuter now, snoring softly with just the trickle of drool leaking out the side of his mouth, than he had been the first time she thought it the morning after they fought Animo's bugs and rhino man at Fort Tesla. This time, though, that thought sent a shiver down her back, a far more pleasant reaction than the disgust she tried to convince herself she felt at the time. Her Doofus could still be as gross as she thought he was then, but she didn't care any more.

Not in this situation. And as long as he wasn't Stinkfly-nasty. Or didn't reek like he did after his championship soccer match. Although, even that thought set off a string of far more pleasurable ones…

She knew a large part of his easy rest was because he felt safe and loved when she was near, just as she did by his presence. Not that either of them could actually put those feelings into words. Not yet. The thoughts sure had a physical effect, though - her face still felt like a bonfire when she let them steep in her mind!

Without thinking about it Gwen hopped up on his bunk to sit at his side so she could get a full view of his cute face, then sat there and just took him in. A feeling of intense affection washed over her; it was hard to believe there was a time during their first summer when she'd look at him sleeping and not have this feeling. Not for the first time she appreciated how much better they were together now.

Without a warning he stopped making the happy sounds, lying still on his back. Gwen's first reaction was a twinge of fear that his bad dreams were coming back, before she saw the small, almost Mona-Lisa-like smirk on his lips. It was such a Ben look she couldn't stop a soft giggle, amused as much as relieved that he could make that face even when he was dead to the world. He was as adorably kissable as he was the day she woke him up with one when they met Michelle at the mall, so she leaned down to him to do it again.

She put one hand on the mattress above his shoulder and carefully pressed her lips against his, enjoying the feeling like always and watching his eyes. She worked her lips just a little as his emerald eyes popped open, his soft lips still motionless for the fraction of a second he took to figure out what was happening. Then he was kissing her back as his hands came out from under the covers to wrap around her shoulders and pull her down on him.

They kept it up for more than one heartbeat - Gwen wasn't sure how many or if it was his or hers that she felt - before she pulled back enough to see all of his face and the soft smile he had that matched hers.

"Hey!" he said quietly.

"Hey yourself!" Gwen finished their routine, laughing to herself at the memory of the time when her Doofus greeted her with 'Hey!' at the dojo, after the first time she woke him up this way. He was such an adorable, hot mess when she finished their affectionate routine, especially after Paul noticed how flustered they got and teased them mercilessly about it.

"Hey Feet, how are… Yo, Shorty, what's with the red chameleon impression?! Your face is the color of Senpai's belt! … And you, too, Gwen?! … Dude, what the hell have you two been doing that saying 'hey' does that to you?!" The tall blond grinned in a knowing way.

"N- nothing you need to know!" her Doofus stammered even as the blush crept over his face and lit up his ears.

His friend quirked an eyebrow and chuckled.

Gwen hid her face in her hands; Ben just ducked his head and grumbled "Shut up!"

"I could really get used to waking up like that all the time!" her boyfriend said, in the quiet way he'd started to do that was so inexplicably sexy. God, that smile…!

"This seems familiar…" she coo'd as she sat up straighter, looking down at him. "I wouldn't mind it either… as long as…" her voice trailed away as the memory of the last time got to the part where she tugged the sheet away and uncovered him. She wouldn't mind seeing that view again, even though she knew what he wore to bed last night. The thought of him in nothing but those dark blue and black boxers made her face burn.

The Doofus remembered, too, but it didn't seem to bother him. "Don't worry, Dweeb, I'm decent under here." His soft smile morphed into a sly grin.

Which only made her blush deepen to where she felt it from ear to ear and down her neck. "Bummer…" she barely whispered as her gaze drifted down from his face to where his chest was under the sheet, and then what was further down... Why was the thought of seeing him in just his underwear so exciting now, when it was just gross only a year ago?

Gwen felt a shiver run through her body as that memory finished. Ben mistook it for her reacting to the morning cold, though; that or he was also replaying that morning…

Or maybe he just wanted to snuggle. It didn't matter, because Ben pulled his blanket and sheet back, letting her slide across him and wiggle in between him and the wall. She burrowed her head into his neck for a warm moment before settling on using his chest for a pillow like she'd done in the past. Ben wrapped his arms around her as she put her hand over his heart and lazily traced abstract lines in the sweatshirt he wore to bed - Grandpa's gift for understatement was proven again last night when he described the cold air that seeped in the mobile home as 'a bit drafty' - in the intimate way that was now so comfortable to them both.

"I guess staying here last night worked, huh? I lo- like when you wake up happy like this!" her Doofus stuttered. "You slept good?"

It sounded like a question, but he knew the answer. So she replied in a way he didn't expect. Just because.

"Well."

"What?" he said, confused by her one word reply. She could almost see the little wrinkles between his eyebrows.

Gwen giggled once at the predictable joke. It was to her anyway. "Well, dummy! I slept well!" She sighed softly and laid her hand flat on his chest.

"Geez, you are such a nerd!" he murmured before kissing the top of her head, sending another noticeable shudder through her. He had to have felt it, too, but all he did was give her a quick squeeze.

"Says the spazz who blurts out such well thought out reasons for doing things. 'We want to sleep together'?" she mocked with a light laugh, turning her head to look at his face. "You're lucky Grandpa didn't lock you in the garage for the night!"

"Geez, you're never gonna let that go, will you?" he groaned even as he held her close.

"Nope!" she said through her grin. Then she moved her hand from his chest to his cheek. "I haven't slept that good since Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks for being such a spazz" she said quietly, pleased with the sparkle in his deep green eyes.

"You did too." She knew, she didn't have to ask the question.

Ben let out a contented sigh under her cheek. "Yeah… We were having another epic snowball fight… Big Chill could turn water into the perfect kind of snow… I wonder if he could actually do that?" he mused for a second.

"I won, of course" he had to crow; he was Ben after all.

Gwen lightly swatted his chest at that, before returning her hand to his smooth, soft cheek.

"And you were congratulating me with a new lip balm flavor when I woke up." He gave her that smile for a long second, and her stomach flipped over the way she liked.

"Not that I don't like the flavors you have, but you should check to see if it really comes in root beer."

"Sure, Doofus. Just for you!" she replied with just the right level of sarcasm, then gave his cheek a couple light taps.

They fell into a comfortable silence, listening to the nearby birds singing to greet the new day, and Gwen felt as much as heard her boyfriend's steady heartbeat and gentle breathing.

He took a deeper breath and held it for a few seconds, as if he were thinking before carefully asking "When was the last time you had a nightmare?"

Gwen cringed before she admitted "The night before we went to the trampolines."

"Dweeb! Why didn't you call me?!" His aggrieved tone made her look him in the eyes.

"I didn't want to bother you after you just had a bad night of your own." she said sheepishly. It was a weak dodge and she knew it, having called him out when he chose to suffer instead of asking her for help, just like he was doing to her. They always said they would do what they could for each other, but both of them often found the actual asking was far more difficult than the offering.

The look of peeved concern he gave her was too much - since their reconnection that day at the lake, the boyfriend she was cuddling with had never failed to give his attention when she needed it. She shifted her gaze to a spot across the small bunk area. Before the annoyed boy could chastise her some more she hurried on.

"Besides, I have a way that's almost as good as having you there with me…" she blurted out before she even knew she was saying it instead of thinking it.

Was she really going to tell him about swiping the T-shirt he wore when they went camping?! Would he scoff at how weird that was, or would he understand how much she liked the scent and the feel of him against her, however indirect?

She glanced back at his face and saw the expectant look in his eyes and decided he should know regardless of whether or not he thought it was weird. "I, um… I put on the lucky shirt you wore after Thanksgiving. I can pretend it's you hugging me." she explained. She couldn't hide the chagrin she felt and hoped she hadn't made a mistake…

Ben blinked his eyes before the concerned look turned into a happy smirk that let her know just how much he accepted what she said. More even than the way he held her tighter, and a wave of relief and affection swept through her body.

"No kidding?! I wondered what happened to that. I was sure I stuffed it into my duffel bag. … Wait, can pretend?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Not could?"

Crud! She made a tiny slip… When did this normally oblivious boy start listening so closely to what she said?! He was getting as good as Grandpa was at catching her verbal goof-ups.

"Um, yeah" she stammered. "I wore it last night, too… It kept me from doing this last night." she explained, pointedly glancing over them huddled together under the covers of his bunk.

"Dammit!" Ben swore under his breath. "I get it." he sighed. "I wish you had, though, 'cause this is the best feeling ever!" He gave her another squeeze for emphasis.

"I just wish we didn't have to hide us." he said wistfully.

Gwen nodded her head against his shoulder, then settled back into the pleasant silence as she rubbed her palm back and forth across his chest, and Ben did the same with his hand across her shoulder blades. If they hadn't just woken up she could easily drop off to sleep like this…

Except for the drifting scent of bacon cooking that started to fill the bunk area, followed by Grandpa calling out to them.

"Hey, kids, come on out. Breakfast is almost ready."

Her Doofus took another deep breath and slowly let it out. "Come on, you lazy sack. I can't get up until you do." Ben said with more than a hint of mirth.

She lightly thumped her palm over his heart in protest. "Brat! Since when do you accuse meof being lazy?!"

She pushed up with a sigh of her own and hopped to the floor behind him. Instead of heading straight to the dining booth he turned and gathered her into his arms for a very pleasant good morning kiss. The sounds of pans sliding across the stove made them stop way too soon…

"God I miss being able to do that when I wake up!" her normally romantic-as-a-rock cousin murmured into her ear as he held her close.

"Yeah…" she breathed quietly back and gave him a full body squeeze before reluctantly pushing against his chest with both hands. "Come on, Doofus. Sounds like Grandpa finished cooking, and I'm as hungry as you are!"

Gwen couldn't wipe the smile off her face - not that she wanted to - and took his hand to lead him into the galley.

- B -

Fifty minutes later they'd finished breakfast - Gwen was right, Grandpa's pancakes and bacon were the best! - and cleaned up the kitchen, and the aftermath of the water fight only took a couple minutes to dry up. Then they headed back into the house to change and get ready for their trip to the mall for last minute shopping.

Ben poked his head out his bedroom doorway, glancing at his parents' half open door out of habit before looking down the hall towards the guest room. Gwen had just stepped out of it, heading towards him as she slipped something into one of the front pockets of her jeans. The motion caught his eye, which lingered on the pocket and the way those jeans hugged her hip just underneath. And the way her hips moved as she walked…

She very conspicuously cleared her throat as she approached, making Ben jerk his head up, half expecting her expression to at least show disapproval at catching him being so obvious. Instead, she looked happy, and patted his cheek twice as she brushed past him into his room without saying a word.

Ben closed his bedroom door as Gwen sat on his bed, leaving the three inch gap their parents demanded. As if that made much difference in how they acted! At least until they heard the third step from the top of the stairs complain at being stepped on.

She pulled the whatever out of her pocket and held it in her closed fist as he sat next to her on the pillows against the headboard.

"What's that?" Ben asked, nodding to the polished piece of granite she revealed by opening her fist.

"A new charm. I've been working on making them do physical things besides playing music and glowing and that other stuff." Gwen said with a satisfied grin. "Check this out!"

She held the stone in her open palm and rubbed her finger along one of the black lines carved down the middle, and mumbled a few of the strange words his brain bugs couldn't make sense of. When she took the finger away the charm levitated two inches above her palm and started spinning slowly in the air.

"Way cool!" Ben said enthusiastically. "Even if it doesn't do anything useful!" he added with a little snark and 'that annoying grin' she admitted once she had come to like.

"So that makes, what, four kinds of charms you can make?" he added, letting his genuine admiration show in his voice. Even if all they are was decoration they were awesome! He just wished he had seen her do the weird words to make them and the way she transferred mana from her hands into it.

"Yeah, something like that." she replied vaguely, looking away from him as she canceled the charm and put it on his nightstand.

"What? You can do more?" he asked, curious now if she had more tricks up her sleeve.

Somehow that made her squirm for a second before she got herself back together. Her eyes didn't lie, though, she acted like she was hiding something.

"No! No, I mean, I made more. Or tried to, actually. Each one takes some practice, so the ones that didn't work don't really count." She got a wry smile, as if she remembered something that was funny now, but not at the time.

"Too bad you didn't see the first try at the nightlight. It was actually supposed to make full daylight, and it worked when I finished the last part of the incantation!" Her eyes got her excited look now with what looked like a good memory.

"For a few seconds. Then it just exploded! The stone was about as big around as a quarter, but there was nothing left except some crumbs! Right before Mom came into my room!"

Ben scoffed again. "You almost got caught?! And you like remembering that?!"

"Yes! Even though she almost saw, it was the first time I got it right! … if only for what turned out to be an experiment. The next time I tried, it worked for real, though! Then I figured out how to make it less bright, and just last week how to change the color."

"And if you give it to me now I can make the dimmer better, and have it switch between the regular white light and red!" she said, obviously proud of what she could do.

"Look at you geeking out… " Ben said the way he did when they played the game. Before he could think of an insult or challenge, a different thought took over. "Wait! Did you give me your first charm?!"

"No" she said as she ducked her head. "I wish I did, but that was before… " she said in an almost dejected way. Her mood didn't last, though, as her face brightened up and she sounded excited again. "But you got my second! They're almost identical, except yours is a little bigger. And I need to update it."

That was before we were us, he completed her thought. He knew what she meant - after the first summer they were little more than friends. Maybe not even that much. It was amazing to think of all that happened since then, what they did. What they had become.

Ben wouldn't go back to being like that for anything now.

Gwen gave him that special look, as if she might have had the same thought, then smiled at him.

"So if you give me yours, I can make them the same again!"

Ben returned his attention to his girlfriend - even if remembering the past could dredge up pain, it got them to where they were now.

And now was pretty damn good!

"Red, huh? I figured you'd do pink, so it matches your aura." Ben teased, knowing how much she really didn't like that color. It never failed to provoke the reaction he was aiming for.

That was them, too.

"No, red is better." she explained in her exasperatedly patient way like she was tutoring him. "It lets you see without messing up your night vision when the light is gone. That's why the Navy uses it on ships when it's nighttime."

"And my aura is not pink! It's violet!" she finished with a glare.

Ben snorted. "Sure, whatever you say Dweeb! … Pink, purple, whatever. It's still awesome!"

And like that her glare was gone, replaced by her warm smile.

"You're impossible!" she murmured as she rolled her eyes, then let out a happy if a little put-out sigh. "Just tell me where the charm is?"

"Right next to you. It's in the inside pocket of my backpack."

Gwen bent over and stretched her arm so she could grab the bag and drag it up into her lap as she sat back up. She opened the main zipper all the way and rummaged around for a second before she took in a sharp breath.

"Ben!" she called out, suddenly in a very different mood as she looked up and caught his eyes. Almost like she got angry. What made her change so suddenly?

"Why is the Omn- that thing in your backpack?! You aren't seriously thinking of putting it back on?!" Gwen let the horror she felt at that idea show in her voice. The terrible thing he had to do because of it…

She shuddered along with him at the thought of all the nightmares and panic attacks he had - and still did - because of it.

Ben looked away from the piercing look she nailed him with. "I don't want to, Dweeb. I'm still not ready to be fighting for real again. I mean, I'm OK with sparring if I go back to the dojo, and I think I'll be ready for a competition after a few months. But once I put the Watch back on… We know fights with bad guys are part of the deal…"

"Then why?!"

He jerked his face to look straight into her eyes, a smoldering green fire in them that made his heart melt. "Because I may have to! You heard what Grandpa told us! What if aliens or the Knights or whoever comes for us? Or the Keystone and… " he gulped past a sudden lump in his throat.

"Or you?" he said softly. "I know you have magic and karate, but I can't … fight … or anything without…" He looked down at his feet then, miserable at his perceived weakness without Azmuth's invention.

"Doofus! That's not true!" Gwen hissed fiercely. "And if they do come, I'll be with you! I promise!"

"What if you can't? If we're at school or something? Even if you are, I won't be able to help you! Unless…" Ben looked at her, feeling broken and lost.

"Ben, NO! DON'T!" She threw herself at him and held him close with her chin over his shoulder. "You don't have to put that damn thing on again! Not for me!" she whispered in his ear.

"Of course I'd put it on for you! I gave it up for you, Dweeb. I almost let it explode the universe because I was messed up when I couldn't get you back!" he whispered back. He pulled his head back from hers without letting go and looked her in the eye again, feeling his welling up. "I can't not put it back on if that's what will keep you safe! You're worth all that and more!"

"Even if I don't want you to risk something so dangerous?" Gwen said. "I don't want to lose you again, either, dummy! You're all the hero I need! I don't want you to be a superhero!" she hugged him tight again with a shudder as he tightened his arms around her.

"I want something just like this!" she murmured in his ear before she pulled back to kiss him, then gently nuzzled his cheek with hers.

Ben pressed his cheek back against hers, feeling a wet track running down it. After a moment he said something he knew she never expected to hear. He never expected to say it…

"If there was a way to make sure you'd be safe if I got rid of the Watch, I'd do it, you know."

"Really?!" Gwen asked in surprise.

He nodded his head once. Ben loved that thing almost from the moment it attached itself to him and he used it to save the campground from the first of Vilgax's drones. For the longest time it was his identity and gave him a purpose, and if it weren't for all the traumas they suffered through in Phoenix he'd still be wearing it. The idea that he'd give it up, never become one of the aliens he loved ever again - for her! - was so astonishing he could see it took her breath away!

"Absolutely" he replied confidently. "I'd give it up in a heartbeat! I've done it before, and that was when you were just my cousin."

"Doofus!" Gwen breathed out as she pushed back to look him in the eyes, hers glistening and overwhelmed with emotion. She leaned into him and put a hand on his cheek, kissing him tenderly. A few seconds later Ben pulled them back on his pillow. After a long moment Gwen slipped off his front onto the mattress and leaned against him, her left side on his right, and kissed his cheek again before resting her head on his chest. She wiggled tight against him as his right arm circled her waist, his hand resting just shy of her hip. Her right arm lay across his stomach, with her hand over his heart. She tried to do her trace lines in his shirt thing, but her hand trembled; he reached up and took it with his free hand and let both fall against his side.

Could anything feel as good as this?!

"I want this too, Dweeb." he murmured into her ear, then pulled her even closer so he could feel her heartbeat against his ribs as she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

They held each other like that, enjoying the physical and emotional closeness they both used to recoil from when their parents did it. The gentle motion and sounds of them breathing together were the only things that broke the otherwise comforting quiet.

Until Grandpa called up, anyway. "Hey you two, come on down. We need to get going if we're going to get Michelle on time."

Gwen picked her head up and called out "All right, Grandpa, we'll be down in a sec."

Ben sighed contentedly. "I wish we could stay, I was just about to fall asleep again."

Gwen burrowed closer against him, resting her head head on his chest the way both liked so much. "Yeah, me too. … But you know we can't. Even with Grandpa, we just can't risk it. … Besides, Jorge and Michelle are counting on us."

She giggled. "Kinda funny that now we're helping Michelle get together with him without her parents knowing about it!"

"Huh! Yeah!." Ben chuckled. "I know we need to get going. … But I can dream, can't I?"

His girlfriend smirked. "About me?"

" 'course I do. I don't just have nightmares, you know. Sometimes the dreams with you in them are the best part of my day. When I can't actually be with you."

Gwen pushed herself up off his chest to look at him with a big smile. "That's one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me Doofus!"

She gave him another kiss on the cheek. She sighed again, a little more forcefully this time as if she were resigned to her fate, before rolling over him to get off his bed.

"Oof!" He groaned as her knee slammed into his thigh. "Watch it, Dweeb! I'm not a jungle gym!"

The amazing girl turned towards him with a playful grin and held out her hand. "You are to me, Doofus! … Come on!"

He took the hand she offered and let her pull him up, and held it all the way down the stairs.

Bellwood Mall Food Court

3:06 PM

"They're over here, 'Chelle."

That voice easily carried over the background holiday tunes playing from the mall's speaker system and the constant murmurs and bustling of the mob of shoppers moving in and around the large open dining space. Only four minutes ago he and Jorge were part of that chaotic mob, drifting from store to store towards the central food court where they would catch up to the girls. Both boys had quickly gotten their last minute gifts at a few specific stores, unlike the seemingly aimless wandering and squealing that Gwen and Michelle called shopping - Jorge only had to stop at the art and frame shop, and luckily one of the things Ben needed to buy was at another place only two storefronts away. After that it was just window shopping and browsing around the video games and sporting goods stores, with a bit more time perusing the well-stocked comics and manga section of the bookstore.

Someplace his parents still made jokes about knowing the end of the world was coming if they ever saw him go in there. He rolled his eyes to himself at that thought - he'd been in there plenty of times with his Nerd once he saw the comics section, and nothing had happened …except for the make out session they had between two six foot high racks of books at the far back end of the store, in front of the astronomy books his girlfriend had been geeking out over. She showed him a star chart printed over a photograph of the night sky in the Southwest that reminded her of their conversation about exploring the stars, and pointed out a red blob that she swore was the one they gazed at that night, and one thing led to another… And that was just one time out of many!

Bookstores! Who knew?!

He smiled to himself as he deliberately shifted his train of thought to listen more closely to the Christmas love song Gwen liked playing over the sound system; a trick Grandpa taught them when their thoughts were getting too close to reliving their multiple traumas. They both were relieved that they had a good memory of Phoenix, and it was starting to be the dominant one instead of the rest of that tragedy. Learning how to prevent the panic attacks that the worst parts of that memory provoked were part of that change.

Ben looked over the shoulder of the boy sitting across from him towards the voice and got that warm feeling in his chest again as his Dweeb walked towards the table he and Jorge had snagged half a dozen steps before a clique of high school girls could. The looks of irritation on their faces had been priceless!

He smiled reflexively, like he always did when he saw her, and she made his heart jump him with her dazzling return. Jorge quirked an eyebrow at him and chuckled.

"Got something to say, dude?" Ben asked, not bothering to change his expression.

The black haired boy snorted. "I don't need to say it, do I? I've never seen you react to anyone else like that!" He grinned. "Guess your teammates just don't rate."

"Got that right! Sorry, not sorry - she's so much more awesome!"

"Not to mention hot as -"

"Hot?" Gwen interrupted innocently, appearing at the side of the table. "I'm sure you aren't talking about the weather. Could it be a certain brunette with a killer braid?" she added as Army Girl followed close behind her.

Jorge coughed and started turning red. "Geez ese, give a guy some warning!" as Ben laughed at his friend's uncharacteristic flusteredness.

Gwen slid into the bench seat next to her boyfriend without checking with the dark haired girl next to her, and missed the quick, panicked look Michelle shot at her back. Ben didn't, though, and wondered why - it wasn't like they didn't sit this close on the other times the three of them hung out, and Army Girl never showed any signs she was upset by the arrangement. She gave them crap about being too close sometimes, especially if they ended up cuddling and kissing, but it was never really a problem.

Except for the last time the three of them went shopping. Then she got pissy about something at the worst time, when he was desperately trying to deal with the inconvenientway his body reacted to his Dweeb, and her messed up reaction to it, and…

God, what a cluster that was… Not that he would complain at how they ended up dealing with it, though. That had been amazingly intense, and he could put up with the discomfort…

Michelle slid into the bench next to Jorge after a slight hesitation and left a two foot space between him and her. The Latino boy gave her a funny sideways look as Gwen started talking.

"So, how did you guys do? Done with Christmas shopping?" she asked innocently enough before locking eyes with Ben. "Or did you wait too long and now all the good stuff is gone?"

Oh, so this is how it's gonna go? Playing the game in front of Jorge, now? His Dweeb smirked in that I-just-got-you-good-didn't-I way of hers, and Ben took up the challenge.

"There's plenty of good stuff here, Dweeb. It's just whether or not I'd want to spend my money on it for some people!" he threw back at her. He patted the shopping bag next to him that held a couple things he got for his parents, retaliating with his equally self-satisfied look at her.

"I don't see you with anything… Maybe you're the one who waited too long!" he teased. "Your Mom will be so disappointed when you give her some lame kitchen trinket!"

Jorge opened his mouth to say something but Gwen jumped in first. "Nice try, dipwad!" Her smirk got even more obnoxious as she leaned towards him, pretty much as oblivious now to their audience on the other side of the table as Ben was, caught up in the game.

"But I was done with my Christmas shopping since before Thanksgiving!" she stuck her tongue out at him for a second. "And Mom is gonna love the book trilogy I got her!"

"Books!" Ben snorted. "What a surprise! From a nerd to a -"

"Don't forget who you're talking about, Doofus!" she interrupted. "Just because you can't handle anything more complex than a Sumo Slammer comic doesn't mean everyone else can't read more mature stuff!"

She sat back in the booth with an impossibly smug look and her arms folded across her chest, confident that she just won. It was one of her most adorable ways to end a verbal joust, ever since it had turned into an invitation for a 'consolation' kiss. The background Christmas music made the situation irresistible…

Ben started leaning in to collect his prize as his Dweeb's smugness morphed into anticipation, before the rest of the food court came crashing back into their private world.

"Are they always like this?!" Jorge asked the olive skinned girl next to him, smirking like the devil.

Michelle snorted. "Oh. My. God! You have no idea! You saw how they were at the soccer game! They were on their best behavior at the trampoline park, but I'm sure they were all over each other in the parking lot before they caught up to us!" she said with a long-suffering attitude.

His Dweeb's BFF was suddenly over being shy.

Instead, she somehow transferred it to Gwen, who was now turning one of her deeper shades of red. As was Ben, judging from how hot his face felt. He tried to will his suddenly racing heart to calm down, and his quick look into Gwen's eyes told him she was similarly close to panicking. This was nothing like the anxiety attacks they'd gotten each other through, but it was a close thing anyway.

Gwen spoke up first in a carefully controlled voice. "L- like what?" She tried to sound indifferent, but her eyes didn't match her voice.

"She serious?" Jorge asked the girl next to him in a mock-contemptuous tone, deliberately not looking across the table.

Michelle played along, relishing that she had a partner in crime to share chaperone duties for her friend and her boyfriend after all the times she did it alone. That's the only way Ben could explain the awkward situation he and Gwen found themselves in - his supposedly secret-from-his-team girlfriend sat as close to him as she usually did without either of them noticing, and Ben had gotten so far into Gwen's space he felt the puff of breath she exhaled through her open mouth before Jorge's voice shattered their moment. They both flinched back into the bench seat as Gwen scootched away from him by several inches.

"You two might as well get your kiss out of the way or you'll be worthless for the rest of the day." Jorge said matter-of-factly as the girl at his side let out an evil snicker. She was enjoying this way too much!

"Wh- why would you think we were going to, um… do that?" Gwen asked, nervous as a cat in a room full of people in rocking chairs.

Michelle snorted. "Because that's what you guys do when you get like that, duh! We're not blind, Crazy Girl!"

"You did it often enough at the dance, too!" Jorge chimed in, unhelpfully. "Everyone was talking about it non-stop for days afterwards. Especially the seventh grade girls!" He snorted to himself. "As if they had a chance in hell!"

Jorge turned to face Michelle again. "Diez was a royal pain in the ass from Tuesday to Friday ever since the start of the school year. We didn't know why he moped around until we figured out how much he looked forward to Friday after practice."

"Yeah, Gwen was the same way. Who knew movies and studying could be so fascinant!" She pretended to swoon against Jorge's shoulder, the backside of her hand to her forehead.

Ben rolled his eyes at the obnoxious pair across the table, barely suppressing a wince at the quick taste of sour cherry.

"Come on, Dweeb, looks like the peanut gallery is acting up. We should give them what they want." Ben said as he slid hip-to-hip against her and leaned into her space again.

"Doofus! What are you… mmpfff" Gwen started to object until his lips met hers as her pupils blew wide in surprise. She looked panicked for a second and Ben was worried she'd push him away. Then the panic left her expressive green eyes as she made a decision, closed her eyes and melted into the kiss, bringing up a hand to the back of his head.

Ben tried to pull away after a few seconds, but his girlfriend decided they should put on a really good show and reeled him back, deepening the kiss with a sweep of her tongue over his lips. He certainly wasn't going to object, and brought his hand to her cheek and went along with her.

As they both pulled back after another few heartbeats, she looked deep in his eyes, hers full of amusement and affection. "You mean like that?" she murmured, loud enough to carry across the table. When they finally looked at their two friends on the other side, they both giggled at the way Army Girl and Jorge reacted.

His buddy was staring open-mouthed, brown eyes wide as if Ben had suddenly changed into Stinkfly. Michelle shared the expression before her mouth clicked shut, a disapproving scowl growing on her eyebrows and mouth despite the typical look of amused irritation in her dark eyes.

"Gwen!" she whisper shouted, "Mais t'es vraiment folle en fait, petite coquine! Faire ça en public?! Tout le monde vous regarde!"

Gwen laughed and replied in her worst sweet tone "Je voulais juste pas te décevoir, 'Chelle! Et personne ne nous regarde, donc je pense qu'on s'en est tiré!"

The disgusting cherry taste grew stronger as the girls taunted each other, but Ben grinned anyway. He didn't need to know the language to understand the teasing way they talked.

Jorge got it, too; maybe knowing Spanish helped with understanding the words, but there was no mistaking the difference in tone between the two.

"I'm not even going to try to top that! … Jesucristo, you two… " Jorge clucked, shaking his head back and forth with a lopsided grin.

Then he took a breath and let it out slowly, mumbling "All right, aquí va …" under his breath.

"Hey, Michelle, um, I…" Jorge stammered nervously in a way he never did in class. Even when he got busted trying to sneak in the back door of their homeroom thirty seconds after the morning bell. Ben sat back to observe and enjoy whatever tap dance his teammate was starting and considered whether he should fish out his phone to record it, then thought better of it. If he did that to Jorge, his buddy would do it to him, and neither his Dweeb or he needed that kind of attention.

Army Girl gave her seatmate a surprised look - she must have never seen him jittery like this before, either. The lanky boy turned away from her to get the backpack next to him and pulled a package that looked like a gift wrapped notebook from it before turning back towards her.

Ben felt his Dweeb lean forward a little as Michelle got a deer in the headlights look. Ben knew what it was - he'd been with Jorge when the Latino got the package just a little while ago, but the girl next to him had no clue and looked more than a little guardedly curious. He bit his lip to not accidentally give away Jorge's surprise; Michelle was going to love it!

Jorge started talking again with more of his usual self-confidence. "Since I don't know when I'll see you until maybe Gwen's gymnastics meet, I figured I'd better give this to you now."

He held out the rectangle and smiled. His maybe-wanna-be girlfriend - that's what their situation looked like to Ben, anyway - got an uncharacteristically timid smile as she reached out for it.

Ben put his hands on either side of his rear end and made as if he was going to stand up. He could just see this situation getting cringy once the dark haired girl and her BFF saw his classmate's art, and while that would be entertaining, he thought Army Girl and Jorge might want some private time for it. "Come on, Dweeb, I think we should give them some space…"

"What? Why?!" his Dweeb asked with a confused look. That by itself made Ben roll his eyes with a smirk, coming from the girl who always called him clueless about romantic stuff!

Jorge answered before either Michelle or Ben could. "No, you don't need to do that. It's personal, but not embarrassing or anything. You're gonna see it anyway." He paused, then mumbled under his breath "I hope…"

Michelle shot Ben a funny look, like she wanted to tell him off at the same time she was about to say 'Thank you' as he settled back into his seat against Gwen's side, allowing a knowing grin to form on his face. Then she refocused on the brightly wrapped gift she had in both hands now.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Gotta open it to find out!" Jorge grinned at her. "Go on!"

"Right!" Michelle grinned back, grabbed a hold of the Christmas wrapping and gave a pull before setting it on the table. Then she ripped the paper off to reveal a plain glossy black frame and tossed the colorful, holiday paper to the side.

She blinked at the picture in the frame in silence for a second before her eyes brightened up in happy surprise at the caricature of herself with a slight frown and a light pink blush, her hands worrying at the exaggerated braid over her left shoulder. The cartoon perfectly captured the embarrassed, happy and long-suffering toleration attitude she often showed when Ben got a little more frisky with his girlfriend than either intended. Her character was in her school uniform with her skirt swishing manga-like higher up her thigh than her parents would probably appreciate, set on a backdrop that looked like a soccer field just outside the penalty spot arc of a goal box.

But it was the look on her face that made the piece - looking down at a suggestion of two other figures at her feet, one a set of legs wearing soccer cleats and messed up muddy socks and familiar green uniform shorts, the other a skirt with the same pattern as hers covering most of the shorts and some bare legs underneath the skirt straddling either side of the shorts. The facial expression perfectly captured the bemused and worried feeling Michelle had the day Ben's Dweeb jumped his bones after he made the dramatic game winning goal.

"Oh my God! I can't believe you drew a picture of that!" she cried, before starting to laugh as well.

Gwen gasped at the sight as Ben laughed at both the girls' reactions, as well as Jorge's very pleased grin. The finished art looked even better than the rough sketch Jorge was doodling the last time they were here.

"It seemed to fit" the black haired boy said. "Hope you like it?"

"It's amazing!" Michelle beamed at him. "Thank you!" She hesitated a second, then quickly leaned in to him and planted a quick kiss on his cheek and sat back, blushing furiously. Gwen squealed once as her friend tried, and totally failed, to blast her with a scowl. She and Jorge ended up glowing and smiling like dorks at each other, then Michelle turned to her shopping bag.

"I have something for you, too." she said as she pulled a three inch square, flat box out and handed it to him.

Jorge took it and pulled one end of the red and green ribbon tied around it in a bow. He took off the lid as Ben leaned across the table to peer into the open box, only to get a light swat to the back of his head for his trouble.

"Hey!" he complained, turning to glare at Gwen.

"It's his present, Doofus! Let him look at it first!"

Ben scowled for a second, rubbing his head as he sat back. Jorge pulled out a circle of black braided leather cords with a small, flat brushed steel disk woven in the middle. He looked closely at it before he broke out in a grin.

"A soccer ball!" he said with a pleased expression as he looked up at the girl sharing the seat.

"You like it?" she asked nervously. "Lots of the guys at school have bracelets like that."

"It's great!" the Latino boy replied. "¡Gracias!"

He fumbled to put it on his right wrist before Michelle mumbled "Here, let me…" and took the ends and fastened them in place. She held his hand steady for a moment as if she were inspecting the fit, then let go with a small smile.

"It looks good on you!"

"Yeah it does!" Jorge exclaimed. "Thanks again!"

Michelle looked as happy as Ben had ever seen her, and his Dweeb was glowing and dancing on her butt in the seat! And Jorge had the same shit eating grin he got when he scored the third goal of his hat trick in the middle of the season! The two dorked out again for another long moment before Jorge seemed to remember he and Gwen were there, too.

"So, um, I have something else." Jorge said as he rummaged in his backpack again, pulling out a sheet of textured 6x9 paper that had one ragged edge from being carefully torn out of a sketch book.

"It's not much, but I thought you guys might like it. Sorry that I only have the original page, maybe you can make a copy or something…"

He put the paper on the table between Ben and the Dweeb, spinning it as he did so the drawing on it was right side up for them, showing …

A mostly black and white, not crude but not finished cartoon of a girl and a boy facing each other holding hands above a trampoline. The boy had an oversized, bulky black bracelet on his left wrist, and looked comically off-balance, dangling in the air. The girl was laughing at the boy's sheepish grin, as if she just saved him from tumbling out of control just seconds before.

There were only a few splashes of washed-out color - the boy had brown hair that was clearly meant to be messy; the girl had orange-red hair with a diamond blue hair clip above the right side of her face. But it was the almost identical shade of deep green and the same shapes of both their eyes that was the focus of the sketch - that, and the way the eyes on the girl and the boy sparkled with happiness and affection as they looked deep into each other.

Gwen took a sharp breath and covered her mouth with one hand as Ben also caught his breath at the sheet of light tan paper that his buddy put on the table in front of them. Where the present he gave Michelle looked like a professional caricature artist had drawn it, this was more of an initial sketch, with rough heavy pencil lines and not a lot of detail. Except for their faces - there was more than enough there to tell it was the two of them in the shape of their eyes and noses, their jawlines and hints of cheekbones. Just like how Jorge described he would in this food court not even a week ago.

Mierda! ¡Ese, eso es genial! ¡No tenías que hacerlo…!" Ben murmured without realizing his brain bugs had taken over his voice until Gwen elbowed him in the ribs. Harder than necessary, really, but he'd milk it for some extra fix-the-boo-boo attention from his Dweeb later. The feel of her hand moving up and down on his side under his shirt, whether or not she used the spell, would be worth it!

"No es gran cosa, vato. Es solo un boceto." his friend replied without skipping a beat. Ben rubbed his bruised ribs and suppressed the cringe from the taste of guacamole the bugs always left when they were working with this language.

Then Jorge put it together.

"Wait, wait… Did you just talk in Spanish?! Dude, have you been holding out on me all this time?!"

"No, no…" Ben stammered. "It's, um… I've been trying to use what we learned in Spanish class instead of bad Spanglish, you know? … Anyway, thanks a lot! This is really cool!"

Jorge gave him a doubtful frown. "Hmpf! Didn't sound like typical gringo Spanglish to me… That came out way too easy for someone taking a first year class." He shrugged it off, though, to Ben's relief.

"Anyway, sorry about drawing your eyes and the rest of your faces identically. I kinda forgot to change 'em up, and by the time I realized it I was pretty much done. Trying to erase it and redrawing it would just make a mess."

Gwen's eyes got a panicked look as all the color drained from her face.

"Wh- why would you want to do that?" she stammered with a weak tone.

"Eh, your boyfriend spazzed out when I pointed out the family resemblance. I didn't mean to highlight that." Jorge said in an off hand way, as if the only thing he pointed out was that they were both wearing blue jeans in the picture.

"Jorge!" Michelle gasped as she shifted from looking at the paper to the boy with a growing glare.

"What?" he said, oblivious to the combined mortification from the other three people at the table. He glanced at all three, starting with Michelle and then the boy and girl across from him and finally connected the dots, eyes opening wide.

"Oh shit!"

"We talked about this, dummy! How could you forget that?!" Michelle hissed angrily.

Hijo de puta! I'm sorry! It just slipped out…" Jorge replied, horrified at his mistake.

"Ben, he knows?! How?!" Gwen blurted out, distraught at the revelation only three people were supposed to know. She acted just like Ben did when his buddy put it together, and he knew the confusion and fear and anxiety his girlfriend was feeling. One of their worst fears seemed to be happening and his cousin was imagining how bad it could get! She slumped down against him and hung her head.

She had no way of knowing it made no difference to Jorge, like he did - how his friend explained that he wasn't outraged out at how sick they were, and how that led to Ben deciding to trust what he heard and saw from his classmate, and not let the fear overwhelm him. Ben struggled to find the words that would ease the same fears she felt.

"Hey! Hey, don't freak out Dweeb!" he said gently. "Last time we were here, when you and Michelle went off after we had lunch, Jorge showed me a sketch of that picture…" He cocked his head at the frame still on the table.

"And homeboy here asked how I'd draw him." Jorge continued. "I told him I'd exaggerate that watch he used to wear, and probably his eyes. Then I noticed how his face and yours are so alike - the shape of your cheekbones, your jawline and chin, that kind of thing. Especially your eyes, they're pretty much the same, even though the colors are just a shade different."

He stopped and took a breath, watching Gwen intently. Ben reached out and took her hand in his to give her some reassurance as his friend went on.

"I said I could draw either of you the same way and only change your hair, and that's when I figured it out. Don't blame Ben! He didn't say anything; he freaked just like you are, but he never gave me any clues!" Gwen picked up her chin as he talked, her normally happy eyes watery and clouded over, and gripped his hand tighter.

"Neither did Michelle!" he hurried to add. "And really, it doesn't make a difference to me! Who you are besides what I see right now, I mean. You two are obviously good together! What I think doesn't matter, right?!"

Gwen sniffled once and looked plaintively at her BFF. "'Chelle?" she almost whispered.

"He made some offhand comment that you two looked kinda alike. I tried to get him to stop thinking about it! I swear I did!" Army Girl looked almost as panicky as Gwen did.

"I don't… " Jorge said, exhaled emphatically and hesitated a second before taking another breath. "I don't think there's anything wrong with cousins dating. … Hell, I've got married cousins in Baja that were cousins before they got married!" Jorge smiled in an encouraging way.

"And you should know, when he had the chance to deny it, Ben stuck up for you instead! Didn't back down for a second once I guessed."

"He- he did?" Gwen said weakly, twisting to look at him directly.

Ben slipped his free arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "Of course I did. You're my Dweeb! Nothing's gonna change that!" he said quietly. "No matter who knows!"

The frightened look in her bleary eyes faded as the happy twinkle he loved to see came back. "Doofus!" she said in the same tone of voice, straightening up in the bench seat.

"It's OK, Gwen!" Michelle said emphatically as the boy next to her nodded his head. "You can trust both of us!"

Gwen leaned her forehead against his. "How do you keep on doing this for me?" she said in little more than a whisper.

He shrugged. "Same way you do for me, I guess. I know what you're feeling - I did too. But I know our friends " he cocked his head towards the other side of the table, " tell us the truth, right? I believe them."

Gwen gave him a small smile. "Yes, they do." She turned to look across the table. "And so do I."

"Soooo… are we OK?" Jorge ducked his head, breaking the momentary silence. He gave Gwen a sheepish look that was both apologetic and apprehensive. If Ben had any lingering doubts about what Jorge thought about them, his friend just erased them.

Gwen nodded and gave him a smile. "Yeah, we're good, Jorge. … Sorry for freaking out like that."

"Besides Doofus having my eyes…" Ben snorted softly and mumbled "Who has whose eyes?!" under her voice.

She paused and just gave him a sideways look, quirking her left eyebrow playfully for a second the way he was so used to seeing. He gave her shoulders a quick squeeze but left his arm around her, and almost cheered when he felt her relax and play the game again after all that. Gwen put her free hand on top of their joined ones in her lap as she returned her attention to Jorge.

"I never thought we looked that much the same…" she continued, "but it makes sense that a portrait artist would see the details. … Anyway, it's a great picture of us! Thanks!"

"Hey, no problem! Don't worry about it!" he smiled back. The relief on his and his maybe-date's faces matched Gwen's. Ben finally felt the tension in his shoulders and back loosen up as the situation drifted back to being normal.

As normal as four almost-teens on a covert double date could be, anyway. Not that anyone else in the cheery holiday scene paid any attention.

"And you're welcome! It's just something that popped out on the opposite page in my sketch book when I was doing Michelle's. And don't worry, I won't put two and two together again." He grinned at Ben and Gwen.

Michelle looked fondly at the redhead across from her, and even flicked that look at Ben for a second before she broke the continuing geekfest that fell between them all.

"Come on you guys!" she said as her hand closest to Jorge reappeared from where it had been hiding behind the table shortly after the boy started explaining how he cracked Gwen and his relationship puzzle. She stood up and gathered the leftover wrapping and looked at the big clock on the wall nearest them. "We have forty minutes before we have to leave and I want to check out a few more stores."

She reached down and took Jorge's hand, the one she held after putting the bracelet on, and pulled him out of the bench seat. "You're coming with me!" she told him. "You guys can come too, if you want."

This time his girlfriend was the one with a happy smile, and like always it lit up Ben's world and filled him with the warm feeling he couldn't get enough of.

- G -

Sure enough, both Gwen and Ben's phones buzzed 38 minutes later with a text saying their shopping time was ending. All four went back to the food court exit to the parking lot.

Michelle stepped close to Jorge and gave him a close hug, one of the good ones that made her little brothers call her an octopus according to Gwen, with her head cheek to cheek over his shoulder. The object of her affection hesitated for a second before his arms circled her waist and hugged her back. It lasted a bit longer than the few times she hugged him, but Gwen grinned at them anyway as Ben slipped a hand in her rear pocket.

And for a change doing that with so many people around didn't bother her for a second.

The not-quite-a-couple stepped apart as their arms fell to their sides. "Thanks, Jorge!" Michelle smiled at him. "See you later! And Merry Christmas!"

Jorge beamed back at her. "Yeah! See you later!" He looked over at Ben and Gwen and held a hand up to wave goodbye. "You guys too! ¡Feliz Navidad!"

"Merry Christmas!" Gwen returned.

"You've got a ride coming, right?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, someone's coming in a few minutes. We always use the entrance in the department store opposite the food court, though."

"OK. See you when school starts, I guess. ¡Feliz Navidad!"

"Oh… and Prospero año y felicidad!" Ben called as his teammate turned back into the mall. "And I only know that from that stupid José Feliciano song!"

Jorge laughed and flipped the bird at him as he walked away.

"Yeah, yeah! Sure Diez!" he called over his shoulder.

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NOTES

Shoutout to DOLAN_STAP!, Kitten and Kira for help with the French and Spanish dialogs in this chapter. Merci beaucoup and ¡Muchas gracias!

Songs for this chapter:

All the standard Christmas and holiday tunes, of course

Sleigh Ride, Boston Pops

Underneath the Tree, Kelly Clarkson

All I Want for Christmas, Mariah Carey

Jingle Bell Rock, Hall and Oates

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, multiple

Little Saint Nick, Beach Boys

The First Noel, multiple

Feliz Navidad, José Feliciano

Is This Love, Whitesnake

Why Can't This Be Love, Van Halen

I Can't Fight This Feeling, REO Speedwagon

Something Like This, Coldplay

We Belong Together, Pat Benatar
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