January 16, 2010

Gwen's House; 10:15 pm

Her head was pounding.

A fifteen-foot tall rock creature appeared five miles outside of Bellwood attacking electricity pylons the night before. Ben and Gwen rushed over and defeated the monster before it could do any real hard, but she still managed to take a nasty hit from a boulder giving her a mild concussion. It hadn't been her first, and it most certainly wouldn't be her last.

Ben was fully in overprotective boyfriend mode by the time they returned to her home. Gwen insisted that she'd be fine, but he refused to leave her side that night. It was a miracle he managed to convince him to leave when the sun rose over the horizon.

Her parents, however, were none too thrilled to hear she was "too sick" to go to karate practice. Natalie was very adamant about seeing a doctor, but Gwen insisted that she just needed rest. Unfortunately, it wouldn't come easy. She had pulled an all-nighter, and even though she desperately wished to sleep, she knew how dangerous it'd be. She tried to pass the time reading or catching up on her school work, but she couldn't go more than a few minutes without her brain threatening to split in two.

It was dark when she woke up. She had fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion. She internally cursed herself for allowing herself to be in this situation, but she knew these things happened. Her headaches were back in full swing, and she couldn't eat without vomiting.

She ripped open her nightstand drawer, practically clawing for her spellbook. "There has to be a healing spell in here somewhere," Gwen mumbled to herself. She stopped at the first spell that sounded vaguely "heally" and began the incantation.

Excruciating pain surged throughout her head. She screamed into her pillow to suppress the sound, but Gwen was sure standing in the hall would have heard her. Feeling defeated, she flung her spellbook across the room and stared at the ceiling. She could feel tears forming as she feared how long she'd be in this state.

A knock on the window pulled her from her thoughts. She looked over and found her Doofus sitting on her roof. "What're you doing here?" she whispered as she opened the window for him.

"I couldn't just leave you all alone like this. I would have been here sooner, but I ended up sleeping all day, and I had to wait for my parents to go to bed." Ben placed his backpack onto her bed, pulling out a thermos, a can of ginger ale, and crackers. "Mom would always get these for me when I was sick. I hope it helps."

She was crying now, nearly on the verge of bawling. "How did I get so lucky?" Gwen thought to herself. She opened the thermos and inhaled the scent of tomato soup. It was most likely from a can, but she wasn't going to complain. She couldn't eat too much on account of the nausea, but it was enough for now.

Ben watched in silence, the worry ever-present on his face. He cleaned up the mess and sat down next to her. Gwen laid her head again him allowing Ben to caress her hair. It was a soothing feeling. It didn't help her headache, but it was enough to calm her nerves.

"Hey, Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you read to me? I want to read, but it hurts too much to focus on the words." Ben couldn't help but chuckle. His Dweeb was cute no matter how much of a geek she could be. He grabbed a book off her shelf. Something about a dragon tattoo. Ben read the book with Gwen only chiming in to correct him when he pronounced a word wrong. His reading approved, and Gwen's interruptions began to pop up less and less. He continued to read long after her eyes closed, and the only other sound was her light snoring.

He was maybe a third of the way done with the book when the sunlight peaked over the horizon. He set the book down and tucked his sleeping girlfriend in before planting a soft kiss atop her head. He let out a yawn as he finished packing his bag. Then, turning the dial on the Omnitrix, he turned into XLR8 and returned home, ready to do it all again that night.

February 14, 2010

Bellwood City Park; 2:15 pm

It was cloudy. Not too warm, not too cold. Nice enough to have a picnic or a jog along the trails. Unfortunately for Ben, he was stuck doing math homework.

"This is so stupid," Ben groaned. "When am I ever gonna need to multiply fractions?"

"Calm down, Doofus," Gwen sighed. After weeks of recovering from her concussion, she was happy to tutor her "academically challenged" boyfriend, but she hadn't expected him to struggle so much. She had been so proud of him when he passed his midterms with B's and C's. The material shouldn't have changed so much that he'd be on the verge of failing.

Unbeknownst to her, Ben's almost nightly visits were the cause. He'd stay long after Gwen fell asleep, continuing to read until the sun came up. Because of this, he'd be too tired to pay attention in class and end up falling asleep, making it increasingly difficult to complete the homework assignments. But, of course, he'd never tell her any of this.

"Let's take a break," Gwen suggested. Ben plopped down onto the grass tossing his textbook aside, much to his girlfriend's displeasure. Rather than giving him another lecture on taking care of the school's property, she sat down and watched the couples walking throughout the park. "I guess this is as good of a time as any." She pulled out a small Tupperware from her bag before handing it to him.

"What's this?" Ben asked, removing the lid. "Chocolate strawberries?"

"My mother's been dragging me along to her cooking classes since I recovered. Yesterday we made chocolate-dipped strawberries for Valentine's Day." Gwen recalled how all of the middle-aged mothers giggled around her.

"You too, huh? My mom's been dragging us out on 'family outings' every weekend. She even asks to watch my shows with her. It'd be cool if it wasn't so weird."

"Alien doppelgangers?" The two laughed at the idea, but it didn't take long for them to settle back into the awkward silence. "So, are you gonna try the strawberries?"

"Oh, right…" Ben hesitated for a moment before biting into the sweet treat. "It's good."

"Just good?"

"It's really sweet," Ben felt his mouth go dry, "it's just that I've never gotten anything for Valentine's Day before. I don't really know what I'm supposed to do."

"Really, not even obligatory chocolates?" Gwen's mother would force her to bring chocolates for all of her classmates every year. Strangely though, this was the first year she didn't. Gwen chalked it up to her being in junior high, but the doppelganger idea is starting to sound a little more compelling. She shook the thought away. "Well, the instructor did say that I should give these to someone special. Happy Valentine's Day, Doofus."

Gwen brought a strawberry to his lips, urging him to take a bite. To her surprise, Ben took the entire strawberry in his mouth, including her finger. This should be gross. Why isn't this gross! He licked the excess chocolate off her index finger as he pulled away. Ben picked up a strawberry for Gwen to eat. Oh, two can play this game. She pushed his hand aside and licked the melted chocolate smeared across his lips before popping the strawberry into her mouth. "Tasty." She teased

Ben watched as she bit into the chocolate treat. Whatever game they were playing, he wasn't going to lose. He placed a hand on her hip and another at the back of her head. By the time she could comprehend what was happening, she could feel Ben's tongue trying to steal the fruit. She let out an involuntary moan causing Ben to pull back, strawberry between his teeth. Gwen dragged him back down, crashing their mouths back together. The two continue to fight over the treat even though the chocolate has long since dissolved.

Gwen ended up with the mushy fruit still in her mouth when the two pulled apart. Both were panting, heavily unsure of how they got to this point. Gwen forced herself to swallow, too proud to spit it out. When she looked back, Ben had his textbook in his lap. "W-we should get back to studying!" His voice cracked a little as he spoke.

"Right, of course!" Gwen couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that their game had come to an end, but this wasn't the time nor the place. Maybe Lucky Girl should pay him a visit later.

AN: I hadn't planned to do the first part of this chapter but I got that spark of inspiration and the chapter still ended up on the shorter side. These are heating up and just fair warning I don't plan on writing any explicit scenes in detail in this fic though I may consider writing separate fics for side content if I'm feeling up to it.