Chapter 6: New Year's Eve Kiss
I Don't Own Ben 10 or Any of the Respective Characters, The Rights Belong to Man of Action Studios and Cartoon Network
Author's Note:
* Hello everyone and welcome to Chapter 6 of CWN Version II!
* So, you guys may remember a chapter with this title from the original story (I kept the original chapter title as reference, even though the context is a bit different this time around). This is generally the same chapter, but it's been greatly expanded upon, I would say.
* One last thing, I'd ask if everyone would stick around for the closing Author's Notes, as I realized I made an error on a past chapter and I need to address it here.
* Anyway, with that said, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!
Ben
Sunday, December 31st, 2017
The Tennyson House
I laid on my bed in my room, staring up at the ceiling with a glum look on my face.
My nine to five is filled with misery, I thought. My girlfriend is such a bitch to me.
Ex-girlfriend. I sighed as I rolled over onto my side. Julie dumped me. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and unlocked the screen, going back to my text messages. I couldn't stop staring at her message. Every time I shut my eyes, it was all I could see. I gritted my teeth in anger.
"Agh!" I let out a scream of frustration as I tossed my phone into my closet.
I continued laying there on my side, facing the wall opposite of my bedroom door. After a few seconds, I heard footsteps. I eventually heard Mom's voice.
"Are you okay, honey?"
"No." I groaned in a glum tone.
"Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?"
"No." I repeated.
I heard her walk closer to me, where she sat down on the edge of my bed. I felt her hand on my shoulder about a second later.
"Ben, how exactly did Julie break up with you?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"But if you tell me, I might be able to help you—"
"I. Don't. –"
"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, I am your mother and I am willing to help you. But I can't help if you don't tell me what you need."
"Mom, I appreciate that you'd like to help me. But all I want right now is to be left alone."
I heard nothing but silence from her for a few seconds, before I finally heard her sigh.
"Okay, son. If that's what you really want, then I'll leave you alone."
"Thank you."
I felt her retract her hand from my shoulder and get up from my head. Once she had left my room, I rolled over onto my stomach and pressed my face into my pillow. And I screamed until I felt like I was going to pass out.
Later That Night
Gwen and her parents arrived for our New Year's get-together at around six this evening. Mom and Aunt Natalie decided on not having a theme, whatever that means. The dinner was the same as last time, left over ham and generally the same side dishes, which I didn't have a problem with. After dinner, we would watch T.V. and play party games.
Ken wasn't able to make it this time. Apparently he had a thing with his friends tonight. So, it was just me, Gwen and our parents. That was fine with me. I wasn't in much of a mood to see anyone tonight, anyway, so not seeing one person wasn't a problem to me. We had been playing Monopoly for the past two hours, though we had taken a couple of breaks here and there.
However, about an hour and a half into the game, I had ended up going bankrupt. Gwen was the one who fired the last two fatal shots at me. I landed on a property of hers that had three houses on it. And after that, I landed on another one of her properties that had a hotel on it. That's what made me go bankrupt. I tried mortgaging off everything I had to pay off my debts, but it was just too much. Either way, I was out of the game.
That didn't really bug me too much, though. I didn't really want to play, anyway. I was too busy thinking about Julie to be concerned about anything else. I had been sitting here for the last thirty minutes, watching the same monotonous after monotonous turn play out and it was really starting to get boring. I finally worked up the courage to get up and leave the room. As I got up, Mom turned and looked at me.
"Ben, where are you going?" she asked.
"I think I want to be done with this." I replied in my usual glum tone. "I'm going to go downstairs and be with my thoughts for a while."
I left the room and as I went, I overheard Mom speak to Dad.
"Carl, it's New Year's Eve! Go talk to our son and tell him to get back in here!"
"Sandra, leave him be. He's a grown boy and he's just going through a bit of a rough patch. He needs to decide what's good for him, even if it is being by himself."
Thanks, Dad. I kinda needed that.
With that, I walked through the kitchen and down the kitchen hallway to the basement stairs. Once downstairs, I turned on the T.V. as I plopped down onto the couch and put my feet up on the coffee table. I flipped through the channels, hoping to find something to watch, but didn't find anything particularly good on. That's just cable for you nowadays. And probably in three or four decades, there'd be like two million channels and only a hundred of them would be worthwhile. I guess I did come down to just be alone, though. I didn't necessarily want to watch T.V.
Gwen
I continued sitting upstairs with my parents and Ben's parents, playing Monopoly. While he wasn't exactly the subject of my current thoughts, I was still worried about Ben. So, when I saw an opportunity about thirty minutes later, I took it. I stood up from the couch.
"I think I'm going to go check on Ben." I said.
"He just wants to be left alone, Gwen." my Aunt Sandra replied.
"I know, but I'm just worried about him. I'm going to go and see how he's doing."
"Okay, dear." My Mom replied, allowing me to leave.
So, I left the room and walked through the kitchen until I came to the basement stairs in the kitchen hallway. Ben had hardly said more than a handful of words to me while I had been here tonight. I knew what was wrong and he had me worried. I thought back to when we got here.
I was the first one at the door once we arrived to Ben's house, while I waited for Mom and Dad to get stuff out of the car for dinner. I knocked excitedly on the door, anticipating that Ben would answer the door again. However, to my surprise, his mom answered instead of him.
"Hello, Gwen." my Aunt Sandra greeted me.
"Hi, Aunt Sandra!" I cheerfully returned the greeting.
She moved aside so I could enter the house and I saw Ben standing nearby, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Hi, Ben!" I exclaimed in an enthusiastic tone.
He just looked at me and now that I looked closer, I saw his eyes. They were a mixture of sad, angry and bitter. It was clear that something had happened to him since we had last seen each other. He stopped leaning off the wall, but instead of coming closer like I thought he would, he turned and began to walk away.
"Hey." Was all he said in response.
That tone of voice. He sounds so glum! There's definitely something wrong. At that point, his mom came up to me.
"His girlfriend dumped him yesterday."
I turned to look at her with surprise.
"Girlfriend? I don't recall him telling me that he had a girlfriend."
Aunt Sandra nodded.
"He was pretty private about their relationship, which only lasted a few months. One of the only things that we got out of him was that she, Julie, is his school's top tennis player."
Tennis, huh? I didn't think that Ben would be into someone who played sports.
"So, he's taking it pretty hard, then?"
She nodded.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure he didn't even sleep last night. I would like to apologize in advance for his behavior."
He didn't sleep last night? That's not good for him!
I smiled at her.
"It's okay, Aunt Sandra. He may be in a mopey mood, but I know that he's not the same person he was back then."
"Yes, Ben has come a long way from who he used to be. Just give him time. He'll come around when he's ready."
I walked down the basement stairs and entered the basement, where I saw Ben sitting on the couch with the T.V. on, but otherwise staring off into space. I took a deep breath in preparation and then approached him.
Ben
I had actually began to drift away in my thoughts when I heard someone come down the stairs. After a few seconds, I heard them come closer.
"Hey, are you okay?" Gwen asked.
I turned to look at her.
"Not really." I replied. "Why do you ask?"
She walked over to where I was and sat down on the couch next to me.
"You seem really glum. Your Mom, she uh, told me about what happened between you and your girlfriend."
I looked away from her.
"Then you already know. I don't want to talk about it."
I heard her sigh.
"Ben, you've hardly said more than a few words to me since I've been here. Will you please give me at least something to go off of?"
"I already told you I don't want to talk about it!"
"Ben, please. I'm not trying to pry for information. I just want to try and help you feel better."
I let out a sigh.
"She dumped me. It wasn't pleasant and it really hurt me. I don't want to say anything else."
She was silent for a few seconds.
"I see. I'm sorry."
I gave her a slightly annoyed glare.
"Way to help me feel better, Gwen."
She gave me a sympathetic look.
"Well, I'm sorry, Ben. I've never been in a relationship. I don't know what your experience could be like."
"It's fine, I guess. Thanks, anyway."
She didn't say anything in response. I leaned forward and rested my chin in my hands.
"I guess a big part of me being bummed out has to do with the fact that we talked about kissing at midnight."
"Wait, what?"
"I was hoping to kiss her at midnight. We had talked about it. Well, I talked about it."
"How would you have done that if you were going to be here with us?"
"I had hoped to invite her over, but that obviously didn't happen."
"I'm sorry." She replied again.
Well, it's the thought that counts.
After that, we both sat in silence for some time. Eventually I noticed that it was only two minutes until midnight. Gwen nudged me.
"Hey, we should go back upstairs. There's only two minutes until midnight."
I shook my head and waved her away.
"You go on ahead. I'm just going to stay down here."
"Um, okay. If you say so."
She got up from next to me and began to walk away. But then, I heard her turn around and walk back over to the couch. I turned to look at her as she sat back down, looking at me with a sympathetic smile.
"What are you doing?"
She just kept looking at me with that same smile.
"I'm not going to leave you alone down here."
I could have told her to go back upstairs, but I didn't. I could have asked her why she wasn't going to leave, but I didn't. There really wasn't any point in us carrying this conversation further. She was staying down here whether I liked it or not, so I didn't see a point in talking about it. So, we sat there in silence for the remaining minute and a half, until we heard everyone upstairs shouting "Happy New Year!". And then she did something that surprised me. As I sat there lost within my own head, from out of my peripheral, I saw her lean over. I then felt her kiss me on the cheek. I immediately recoiled with surprise and turned to look at her with confusion as I felt my face heat up.
"What was—?!" I began to speak but she cut me off, not allowing me to speak.
"I'm sorry she hurt you. If she's making you feel like this, then you deserve better."
I just stared at her in response, my face still feeling warm. I eventually turned away from her, for some reason feeling embarrassed to look at her now.
"Thanks." I finally found myself saying.
"You're welcome."
We continued to sit there in silence until she cleared her throat and spoke again.
"Will you be going to sleep anytime soon?"
"I'll be okay."
She didn't say anything after that. Eventually, I heard her get up from her spot and actually leave the room this time.
Gwen
I went back upstairs after my exchange with Ben. I thought back on how I had asked him if he would be going to sleep anytime soon.
Aunt Sandra had said earlier that he most likely didn't sleep last night. He looked tired and he needs sleep, but he won't sleep on his own volition.
I entered the upstairs bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. I searched through the bottles and containers of vitamins and medicine until I found what I was looking for. I grabbed the bottle and walked back to the kitchen. I left the bottle in there, before returning to the living room, where I found my parents talking with Aunt Sandra and Uncle Frank.
"Aunt Sandra?" I interrupted their conversation.
They looked up at me.
"Yes, Gwen, what is it?"
"Do you have any tea? I think some tea might help calm Ben down and I'd like to make him some."
"Yes, I do. The bags are in a yellow Lipton box inside the cabinet to the left of the fridge."
"Okay, thank you."
"You're welcome, dear."
I went back into the kitchen and put some water into the tea kettle to let it boil. While it boiled, I got a teabag out from the cupboard that Aunt Sandra told me about. Once the water was done boiling, I added it to a mug with the teabag. After waiting for the tea to be done, I threw away the bag and then just stared at the bottle of pills in front of me.
I feel really guilty for doing this, but Ben really needs to sleep.
I forced a sigh and just grabbed the bottle, then putting the required amount of sleeping pills (or pill) into the tea. I picked up the mug of tea and walked back downstairs with it. When I got back down there, Ben was in the same position that he had been in when I left him, staring blankly at the T.V. I stopped at his side and reached out to him with the mug of tea in my hand.
"Here." I said.
He turned to look at me and once he saw the mug of tea that I was handing him, he gave me a confused look.
"What are you doing?"
I continued standing there, looking at him, still offering him the mug of tea.
"If you haven't slept, then I doubt you've eaten or drank anything."
He turned away from me.
"I'll be okay."
I let out a sigh of annoyance.
"Ben, all I want is for you to drink this. Just do this and I'll be out of your hair."
He still said nothing.
"Please? Do it for me, Ben."
He continued sitting there in silence. Finally, he turned back to me and put his hand out.
"Give it here."
"Thank you." I replied as I handed him the mug of tea.
He took it and drank all of it. It went exactly the way I wanted it to. A few minutes later, Ben had passed out on the couch. I still felt really bad about having to do this, but I tried my best to shake those feelings away again.
Now I have to get him upstairs to his room.
I walked around to the other side of the couch and picked Ben up, realizing that he was heavier than I thought he was. I put his arm around my shoulder so that it would be easier to carry him. I got him up the stairs, through the kitchen and down the hallway to his room. Once in his room, I turned on the light and pulled back the covers on his bed while I balanced him on myself with one arm.
Once the covers had been pulled back, I laid him down in his bed and pulled the covers back up. I then turned to leave the room to tell Aunt Sandra that Ben was asleep in his bed, but to my surprise, she was already behind me when I turned around. Okay, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. I did have to carry him past the living room, after all.
"Sleeping pills?" she asked before I could say anything.
I looked back at her with surprise.
"How did you—"
"Dear, I'm more aware than you think. I know that just the tea didn't put him to sleep. I'm aware that you gave him something to make him sleep."
I sighed upon being found out.
"Don't worry, I'm not angry with you. I had a good feeling that Ben wouldn't have gone to sleep on his own terms, so I'll thank you for doing that, as rash as it may have been."
I nodded.
"No problem. I just hope he feels better."
"Me, too. You should probably let him sleep now. You and your parents will probably be leaving soon, anyway."
"Okay."
Aunt Sandra then left the room and before I did, I turned back to look at Ben asleep in his bed. I then looked at his desk, where I saw a container of pens and pencils, along with a few books, papers and a pad of sticky notes. I walked over to his desk and proceeded to pick up a pen, followed by the pad of sticky notes. I began writing down a message on the note:
Ben,
Sorry I had to deceive you like that, but you needed sleep. I understand if you want to be angry with me, but I at least ask that you try to understand from my point of view. I don't want to see you being miserable and sleep deprived. I want you to know that I'm here for you if you need me. Please call me if you need anything, even if it is just to talk.
- Gwen
I removed the sticky note from the top of the pad and walked over to his bed, where I stuck the note to his nightstand. I then stepped back and took a look around his room and realized just how neat he kept everything.
Interesting that he keeps his things tidy and organized. Ben used to be so messy when we were kids. He's come a long way from being a brash and hotheaded boy. I wonder what changed him?
I took one more look at his sleeping form and then approached him for the last time. I leaned down and gave him one last peck on the cheek.
"Sweet dreams, Ben." I whispered my goodbye to him.
Author's Note:
* And that's it for this chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed.
* So, was there anything about this chapter that stood out? Do you have an opinion on Ben being semi-hostile to his mom when she just wants to help? I get the feeling that I'll get flack for this, but the sleeping pills. I needed to lengthen this chapter a bit, so I came up with the idea of Gwen putting sleeping pills in Ben's tea and it felt appropriate enough. It might be a bit unrealistic, but it won't be the last unrealistic thing that I write in this story, so try not to get too put off by it, if you are, that is.
* Gwen wonders what could have changed Ben and if you think back to the OS, Ben was a bit of an impulsive jerk. He rarely cared about anyone else but himself and he didn't always make the greatest decisions. So, here's my question: What do you guys think changed Ben? I am very curious to what you guys think about this, so if anyone has any theories, then don't be shy!
* Now, for that error that I wanted to discuss. In Chapter 2, Gwen inquires with Ben about how he isn't acting anything like the way he did when they were kids and we get this interaction between them (everything but the important stuff is cut off to save space):
"2012 was a hard year for me, Gwen."
The look on her face also changed now and I felt as though I saw a longing look in her eyes.
"2012 was a hard year for all of us, Ben."
That year, 2012, is actually incorrect. I don't know how, but I got my math wrong when I was initially writing this chapter back in February. In 2012, they would have been thirteen, instead of eleven, which is the age that I needed them to be. So, the actual year that I needed was 2010, two years off. You guys don't have any context to that age or year at this point, but the relevance of these two will come much later in the story, so just be patient. I've gone back and corrected this error, but if you see any other uses of the incorrect year, I would hope that you guys would let me know.
* Is there anything I haven't mentioned that any of you would want to talk about? Please, let me know your thoughts about anything that strikes your fancy in a review if you want or a PM would be okay, too. Anyway, that's all I got. That's going to do it for me, so have a fantastic day and bye.
Review Responses
adriandragonus (Chapter 5): i read your feedback,and what i mean "spoils" is that the comics expect they will sell well just because they have their adaptation in cinema/TV,while we all know that some people only have interest in the adaptation,and not the comic itself. about the issue on Spider-Man,do you mean the "Paul Rabin" debacle? my point was, if the comics themselves cannot hold candles to the adaptations,then don't blame the fans for not buying the comics.
I believe comics of aquaman and captain marvel have been cancelled multiple times,despite their movies being quite successfull. on sublimino part...I'm a fool to believe... so Julie break up with Ben via message? if it was true,that was the suckiest way to have a break up! i know that,and i haven't ever been in a relationship before!
Thanks, Adrian. No worries man, I misunderstood what you meant by "spoil". Yes, I was talking about Paul Rabin. Ugh. Look, I'm here to talk about Ben 10 more than anything else and maybe I'm breaking my own rule, but if anyone wants to hear my opinion on Spider-Man (or any other comic book stuff, I guess), then just PM me about it. Let's try and keep these review responses as Ben 10-centric as we can.
No comment on Aqua Man and Captain Marvel. I'm not quite sure what you meant by Sublimino. Yes, as you saw in this chapter, Julie broke up with Ben via text. And I agree with you, it probably is the worst way to end a relationship. I've never been in a relationship before either and I most likely never will be in one, as I don't see any reason to do so. Thanks for the review, as always.
jasongd (Chapter 5): And another great chapter congrats I'll be waiting for next chapter I'm not entirely sure but I think Julia dumped him or someone kidnapped her BWEN FOREVER
Thanks, Jason. Yes, Julie dumped him, she was not kidnapped. Thanks for the review, as always.
Slayer 606 (Chapter 5): Good, good so far. One thing though Ben's relationships were always sidelined or turned to s*** throughout the series, especially Alien Force. It would be nice to explore a little why Ben and Julie failed rather then just have as a simple side motivation for Ben and Gwen. Also could we end up seeing more of the family developing and interacting further than the last one? Any who I may not post a review every chapter, I like doing them to critique or give ideas. So it won't be surprising if all I have to say is good job, see ya next chapter. But keep up the work.
Thanks, Slayer. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. It's been a while since I've seen Alien Force, but I'll probably be rewatching it sometime in the future. Um, we'll kind of see why Ben and Julie failed in this universe, though as simple side motivation for Ben and Gwen? I will say that this will not motivate Ben to get with Gwen instead, if that's what you mean. There'll be a lot of development between now and that fabled moment.
I will see what I can do in regards to seeing Ben's family have more involvement and interact more than they did in the original story. Hey, if you don't want to review every chapter, then that's completely fine. You don't have to review if you don't want to, even though I do appreciate all reviews. Thanks for the review, as always.
Car45 (Chapter 5): Great work as always. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Thanks, Car. I'm glad you were looking forward to this chapter. Thanks for the review, as always.
Next Chapter: Ben wakes up with a cold at the start of February and hears about a rowdy tenant at an abandoned apartment building who refuses to leave.