Chapter 15: Plagued Minds

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 and welcome to Chapter 15!

* This chapter will most likely be pretty much the same as the original version. There may be one or two small differences, but yeah, pretty much as it was. This chapter will also be a much shorter chapter in comparison to the last few chapters that I've put out.

* I don't have anything else that I need to say, so enjoy this chapter!

Ben

Wednesday, April 11th, 2018

The Tennyson House

I have had bad days before, you know? The infamous fight between Gwen and I about seven and a half years ago, the entire tail end of 2010, just to name a couple. But this day would be a contender for the worst day I've ever had, that's for sure. I had just had one of the weirdest, most uncomfortable nightmares of my life and the worst part was I had no one to talk to about it!

I mean, why would I try talking to anyone about it? Considering the nature of my nightmare, anyone I did tell about it would probably find it weird or maybe even ridicule me. After throwing up following the nightmare, I went back to my room in order to get dressed for the day. Now I planned to eat a good-sized breakfast seeing as I had just thrown up everything I'd eaten within the past six hours or so. Once I was in the kitchen and had started making my breakfast, Mom came in shortly thereafter.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "I heard you throwing up earlier."

I nodded.

"I'm okay. I was just having some anxiety issues."

Saying that made a concerned look come to her face.

"Anxiety issues? That's not like you, honey."

"I just had a bad dream that really freaked me out."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

I shook my head.

"I appreciate the offer, but there really is nothing to talk about."

"Oh. Okay, then."

Without missing a beat, she stepped forward and put the back of her hand on my forehead.

"You do feel slightly warm, but you're probably okay."

"Mom!" I said in an embarrassed tone. "I'm okay. But I need to go to school regardless. I can't afford to miss any days."

She gave me a weak smile.

"Oh, Ben, I'm so proud of you. It makes me so happy to know that you take your education so seriously."

"Glad you're proud of me."

After that, she left the kitchen and I got back to making my breakfast. Scrambled eggs and sausages. There was just no getting better than that. After eating my breakfast I returned to my room to get my things together for the day and at that moment, my phone began to ring. As I entered my room, I pulled my phone of my pocket and looked at the collar ID, to see that Gwen was calling.

Oh, boy. What could she want?

"Hello?" I spoke upon answering.

"Hey, Ben." She said from the other end. "Do you want to walk with me to school today?"

No, not today unfortunately. Not after that nightmare.

"On any other day, I'd say yes, but I had a really rough night last night. I didn't sleep much and I need to be by myself for a while."

"Oh, okay. Well, I don't want to try and intrude on you. See you at school, then?"

"Yeah. See you later."

We hung up after that and I slipped my phone back into my pocket. I grabbed my backpack after that, slung it over my shoulder and left the room, shutting off the light as I went. I walked back out into the living room, where Mom was still sitting on the couch.

"Were you talking to someone just now?" she asked.

"It was Gwen. She was calling to ask if I wanted to walk to school with her today."

"Well are you?"

I shook my head.

"No. I just really need to be by myself for a while."

"Ben are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded.

"It was just a bad dream. I'll get over it. Anyway, I'm heading out a little early today."

"Okay. Be careful, honey."

"I will."

From there I walked outside and began the walk to school.

Later That Day – Lunchtime

Madison High School

I sat at a lunch table all by myself, but without a lunch tray. I didn't have much of an appetite after thinking about the nightmare for half of the day, all I could get myself to eat was an apple. And to make things worse on me, Gwen sitting a few tables across from me and had been staring at me for most of the lunch period. It's not like I have anything against her, however, seeing her now only reminded me of the nightmare. And I wanted nothing more than to just forget about it. I prayed that she would just continue sitting there as she stared at me, but my prayers would go upon deaf ears. She got up from her table and began walking over to the table I sat at.

"What's eating you?" she asked.

I looked back at her with a confused expression.

"What?"

"You're only eating an apple and you're doing it pretty slowly. Is something wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

I sighed.

"I just had a rough night. I had a weird nightmare and nearly had an anxiety attack this morning."

"You've never been known to have anxiety issues. Are you okay?"

I nodded without a word.

"I also had a weird dream last night. Do you want to talk about it? Maybe compare notes?"

"I appreciate the gesture, but I can get through it on my own."

She did look a bit hurt after I said that, but she didn't say whether or not that had hurt her feelings.

"Well, okay. If you say so."

We both just stared at each other after that before she cleared her throat a few seconds later and broke the silence.

"So, we're still on for this weekend, right? The circus?"

I grinned.

"Yeah, totally."

"Okay. Then see you Friday unless I see you earlier?"

"You bet."

She smiled back at me and nodded before turning around and returning to her table. She didn't look at me anymore after that.

Later That Night

The Tennyson House

I got through the rest of the day after that, however, I hardly paid attention in any of my classes. I still didn't have much of an appetite come dinner time and in response, I didn't eat much of my dinner. After dinner, I briefly considered going out for a while to patrol the city. But I just wasn't in any sort of mood to do that. So, I went to bed early, feeling no better than I had upon waking up this morning.

Gwen

Frank and Natalie Tennyson's House

I was sitting in my bedroom feeling a bit frustrated and wishing that Ben had just talked to me earlier today. I was not in the best of spirits at the moment and was constantly thinking about how we could have just consoled one another.

Ben, why couldn't you have just talked to me about your nightmare today? Was it just really embarrassing or something?

I shook my head as I let out a sigh. There was no point in remaining on this topic. Ben and I were adults now and if he actually wanted help, then he would have asked for it.

Author's Note:

* And that's it for this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed!

* Did anything here stand out to anyone? I know that this chapter may not offer much in terms of small details, noteworthy moments and what have you, but if there's anything, then feel free to mention it in a review if you want.

* Anyway, that's all I got. Thanks for reading and see you guys in the next chapter!

Review Responses

adriandragonus (Chapter 14): It's going to be awkward when they meet each other next time, with this whole synchronized dream. I remember this part in the older story, but my memory is blurry about the details. I believe there was no explanation about them having similar dream, though I assume it was professor paradox trying to matchmake them XD

Thanks, Adrian. Um, I guess you could say that it was a little awkward when they met again in today's chapter. I can confirm that it is not Professor Paradox playing matchmaker here. Back when I made the original story, I liked the idea of them having the same nightmare. This time around, I thought it may be too much of a coincidence for them to have the same nightmare, but I still liked the idea, so I opted for two similar nightmares. Thanks for the review, as always.

jasongd (Chapter 14): And again two great chapters congrats I'll be waiting for next chapter Double COVIT I sympathize with you from the bottom of my heart, it must have been hard for you with all this and I'm with adriandragonus I also saluting you as I'm sure with many others who read this great story Good luck BWEN FOREVER

Thanks, Jason. I mean, it certainly wasn't great, but I got through it okay in the end. Thank you for your sympathy. Thanks for the review, as always.

Next Chapter: Ben and Gwen spend some time together and visit a traveling Circus and Carnival that is visiting Bellwood.