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Benjamin Kirby Tennyson had only been dumped by a girl twice in his life.
The first was, vaguely, by Kai Green. A girl from New Mexico he had met while on a summer vacation with his grandfather, cousin, and friend. It was when he had been infected by the Loboan that had become his fourteenth alien.
Whatever had come from that crush quickly left when she admitted to wanting to train and tame him.
Julie Yamamoto had only just recently become the second. It was a wonder how she always managed to stand his shenanigans, what with the constant threat of aliens, interrupted study sessions, and brief periods of time when they weren't able to talk or see each other at all.
Julie, who had been Ben's girlfriend for the past three (coming up on four) years. Julie, who had been with him through their senior year of high school as well as the very awkward transition that was their freshman and sophomore years of college.
Julie, who had visited him in his (parents') home after a particularly hard battle dealing with the new alien villain of the week and started the conversation with "are you really in love with me, or are you using me to try and get over her?"
"Her," who didn't need to be named.
"Her," who Ben immediately thought of when presented with the question.
"I'm not sure who you mean," Ben answered as he slid the pair of headphones around his neck, increasing the volume to better hear the audio of the game.
Playing dumb was never hard when you actually were, but he wasn't in this situation. He was entirely knowledgeable this time around and he wasn't sure how to go about it.
Julie crossed her arms at Ben's lack of focus and dismissiveness. "Please," she scoffed with a suck of her tongue. "You don't think I'm an idiot, do you?"
Ben finally paused his game at her words, swiveling his chair to look up at her. "I'm not catchin' your drift here, babe." He propped his elbow on the arm of it and rested his chin on the top of his fist. "You know I'd never call you—"
"[name]."
"She's just a friend," Ben deflected, memories of when he accidentally spilled the other girl's name from his lips flooding his mind. "We've known each other since we were kids. If anything, she's like a sister to me."
Julie had left not long after that. She knew as well as he did that they would be wasting their time if they went on any longer.
Ben didn't want to think about whatever nonsense his mind would have decided to come up with, so he went to sleep, played his games, and did his best not to zone out during and between classes.
"Personally, if I were in your situation, I'd confess to the other girl," Kevin said while beneath his car, holding his hand out expectantly for the hex key. "Or would it be the first girl?"
Ben had finally gotten the mind to visit him at his friend's shop after a week, hoping he'd have some advice, so long as it was good.
Kicking his creeper in his agitation, Ben was already in regret of asking his friend for his opinion. "C'mon, man. I'm pouring my heart out here and the only thing you can crack out is a joke?"
Pushing himself from under the car, Kevin stared up at the brunet with an unreadable look in his eye. It made Ben want to turn XLR8 and run back home.
(.. Not home.. His parents started asking questions about where Julie was. Maybe the Rustbucket? Even if Grandpa Max wasn't there, he still trusted he'd feel better.)
Kevin, despite never being one to be patient or kind, gave Ben the softest, most sympathetic eyes one could give when they had gone through a life such as Kevin's.
"I'm bein' honest," he sighs, reaching for the hex key himself. "You got yourself in a shitty situation because you don't wanna admit your feelings. If you can't realize that, no one but yourself can help you— but that's just me, personally. Just because I'm dating your cousin doesn't mean I know all that stuff about romance."
"You don't think I know that? You're kinda the only one I know who knows all the inside stuff."
"Gwen?"
Ben's expression pinches, his hands wringing themselves in the pocket of the hoodie he wore. It hung off his body loosely, and he only recently got it back from her (it was one of her favorites). Her scent still clung to it and Ben would be a fool to not admit that he occasionally moved just the right way so it could waft into his nose.
"Why would I go to her? They're," he lifts a hand and crosses his index and middle finger, "best friends." Ben lowers his hands and allows his brows to furrow. "Telling Gwen would just be telling her too."
Amusement itches its way onto Kevin's face. He wipes the still-slick grease off of his hands with the handkerchief he kept tied to his belt loop. "And you don't want her to know this early into your situationship."
"It's not a situationship!"
"I'll tell you what," Kevin responds to Ben's defensiveness with practiced ease, used to it from their teenage years. "We take a break, head on down to Mr. Smoothy's, and we pick this back up after you get something in your stomach."
Ben's left eye twitches. "I'm not hungry."
"Not even for unlimited chili fries?" Kevin asks with a knowing smirk.
Another twitch. "Not even."
If it weren't for the sports channel playing on the radio and the purr of the engine, the car ride would have been entirely silent— or maybe it was the ringing in his ears blocking out the conversation the other occupants were having.
Kevin tapped his fingers against the leather covering of the wheel, [name] was turned in her seat with her feet out the window and her head on Kevin's shoulder, Gwen tapped away on her computer working on some essay, and Ben was leaning against the door as he curled in on himself.
The taps on his calf take the young adult out of his thoughts and makes him jolt in surprise. He shakes the resting hand off and lazily hums in acknowledgment.
"The saying is I thought we lost you, right?" [name] asks as she pulls her hand away. She leans away from Kevin's shoulder and instead supports the weight of her torso by shoving his arm off the center console and replacing it with hers. "What's wrong?"
Meeting Kevin's gaze in the rearview mirror, Ben shakes his head. "'s nothing. Just tired," he answers while rubbing his tired, dry eyes.
"Julie broke up with him," Kevin and Gwen answer in unison. While Gwen's breaking of the news was gentle, Kevin was more straight to the point like he wanted to get something specific out of it.
Ben already knew what it was. That didn't mean he wanted to admit it.
[name]'s lips purse as she takes the information in, moving back to lean on Kevin. "Oh," she exhales in an airy voice, eyes facing the open sunroof as she stares at the moon above. In an even quieter voice than before, she repeats the same noise.
Desperate to save (salvage) the conversation and return the topic to whatever it was before, Ben shakes his head and straightens himself out. "It's whatever. It happened over the weekend, but we're just being quiet about it," he says as nonchalantly as he can. "Anyways, where are we headed? Your hangout, right, Kev?"
"Pier." Kevin's response was short and choppy, fingers returning to their rhythmic rapping as he turned the volume up with his wheel. "Halloween's comin' up and I don't need to drag your sorry ass down here just so you can sulk around."
".. Like.. undoing Pavlov's dog?" Gwen asks, looking up from her screen for the first time since she entered the car.
Kevin stays silent for a few moments before responding with a quiet ".. yeah.. I totally remember who that is.."
All things considered, the pier (soon turned fair) was less crowded than what Ben had expected given there were only a couple weeks— give or take; Ben wasn't sure what date or time it was today— until the horror decorations, prizes, and attractions went up.
It took Kevin longer than what they all deemed acceptable to find a parking space, but he excitedly pulled out four tickets with premium wristbands.
"Alright, now that we're here; we've gotta set down a few rules."
Ben had somehow managed to tune him out when he began talking of groups of two, switching partners, and meeting up an hour or two after each excursion. He had an inkling of a feeling it was all a part of his master plan for two somethings (maybe it was a grand scheme altogether), but he wasn't too sure he wanted to figure out all the nitty gritty.
"Any questions?"
"Does it matter where we go?" [name] asks, fixing herself so she sat correctly in the passenger seat, hand already reaching for the door handle.
Ben could already tell her mind was on the rides she would drag Gwen on. She always was fascinated with things that humans found entertaining, it's been that way since they first went to a summer festival when they were teens.
He almost wished she'd drag Kevin (him) with her, but he knew he'd be the one dragging her around (down) instead.
Kevin shakes his head, shoving the band and ticket into her grip without crumpling it before she can exit the vehicle. "Doesn't matter," he answers, making her pause to hear him. "Just make sure Ben isn't depressed by the end of it."
"Wouldn't that take multiple visits? One three to six-hour visit won't do the trick," Gwen argues finally closing her laptop and slipping it into her tote. She opens the middle seat and places the bag on top of it, sliding it back into the trunk. "Pavlov's dog took several days to weeks to accomplish."
"Are we just pretending I'm not here?"
Kevin holds a finger up to Ben's face before pressing it to his lips. "Hush. This is us trying to help you, not the other way around."
"And what if I said I didn't wanna be here?" Ben argues, words coming out improperly from the way Kevin kept his lips together.
"You said you wanted to go to Hallowood earlier this year."
"Halloween and Bellwood mixed together making that stupid name is a stupid idea."
"See?" Kevin says, lifting an eyebrow as he looks at [name] and Gwen. "He's in the cynical phase, we need to get him into the acceptance phase."
"So who gets to be his pseudo-unlicensed-therapist today?"
"What's wrong with you?"
"Whaddaya mean?"
"Your energy is ruining my meditation."
"Huh?"
"Ben," Gwen hisses, finally prying her eyes open to stare him down. "Your depressed energy is ruining my meditation."
Rolling his eyes, Ben pushes himself away from the desk and sends her an unenthused glare. "It's not like you have to be in here with me," he responds. "Besides, I thought Anodites focused on mana, not vibes."
"Your bad vibes are souring your mana which is ruining my meditation in the only place that's still quiet in this house while our parents and my brother make all that noise downstairs."
Ben holds his hands up at Gwen's snippiness, turning back to leaning over the piece of furniture and scrolling through his phone.
If she was so drained of mana she couldn't keep her temper in check, Ben wanted no part in making what little she had left deplete faster.
Letting out a heaving sigh as she presses a finger on the wrinkles of her nose, Gwen lowers herself onto his bed. "Look, I'm sorry."
Ben turns his head to rest his chin on his shoulder so he can better see her.
"I don't mean to snap at you like that, but I would've thought that you'd be.."
Ben lets out a sardonic chuckle as he puts his phone down. "Better?"
"Two weeks straight of the pier every other day wouldn't make anyone feel better," Gwen hums in amusement. She leans across the footboard and holds a hand out for him to grab. "I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to go again."
Ever the opportunist, the male shakes his head with as best a smirk he can muster. "Almost forgot about how me, you, [name], and grandpa left for that alligator festival but she—"
Ben stops himself from speaking and grabs Gwen's hand when her eyes widen.
"What?"
Instead of speaking, she motions for him to lean in closer as though several cameras around the room and house were listening to every little noise they made. He could feel the way she reached with her mana to feel for anyone nearby.
"You know I hate to bring it up so—"
"I don't like—" Ben lowers his voice when he realizes the relatives downstairs could've heard him. "I don't like [name]."
"Ben, I never said you did.."
The male flings his head back as he covers his face with his hands, his body feeling as though Heatblast lit him ablaze without mercy. He pulls his legs up into his unbalanced spinning chair and shifts his weight to turn away from her.
"Ben," Gwen starts with furrowed brows, "feel free not to answer.. but is that why you and Julie broke up..?"
When he fails to respond, she takes his silence as both a queue and answer.
"It was her who broke up with you, wasn't it?"
More silence.
Extending her mana to him and picking him up with it, Gwen leans back to recline on his bed. She places him shoulder-to-shoulder with herself and turns on the television with her mana as well.
"And she doesn't know?" Gwen asks while flipping through the channels, stopping when she found the broadcast they watched when in similar situations like today as kids.
Ben rolls over to reach his bedside dresser. "Why would she?" He asks rhetorically, throat suddenly filled with gravel and strain as he digs around for his snack stash.
Gwen lets out a quiet noise and takes a candy bar from Ben when he offers it. A cheat day from her diet, she tells herself despite having one not even a week ago.
Two secrets they'd keep for themselves, they silently agree.
"Do you know if you're gonna ask her out?"
".. .. Maybe.." Ben responds unsurely, leaning his cheek against her shoulder when he makes himself comfortable on the bed. "D'you think she'd accept it?"
"I couldn't say." Her response, though genuine in the way she speaks, made Ben feel doubtful of her answer.
[name] holds her hand out for Ben to kiss the wrist when she notices the gnawing of his lips. Her smile drops when, instead of doing what was a habit, he pushes them down.
Not the first time he's denied her solution for his nervous habit before, but it hurt nonetheless.
"So," she begins with a whistle, the Mr. Smoothy's straw imprinting a circle on the skin of her bottom lip. "I heard it was my turn? What did Gwen and Kevin do?"
Ben swallows the handful of chili fries that were already in his mouth. He was older now, and more respectful of others (her). He didn't want to look like a slob.
Looking around at the empty desert surrounding them, the male reclines in the car's seat and kicks his legs onto the dashboard just clear of the steering wheel and radio. "You mean to tell me you dragged me out of my parents' Christmas party, had me drive five hours out of town, stop in the middle of nowhere, and you don't know what you want your session to be about?"
The back of [name]'s head hits the headrest of the passenger seat, her hand using her cup to cover the lower half of her face. "Then I guess you'd hate to know that I wasted an entire month trying to figure out what to do with you." Her laugh was quiet, but it felt as though it reverberated throughout the car.
Ben felt his jaw unclench before the muscles force it to tense once again. He fights to keep it from doing so, wanting to look as natural as he can in front of her, but he can't help it.
"Why are you so tense?"
"What?"
[name] taps the side of his jaw.
She noticed. Of course she noticed. Ben's sure he looked stupid. What was she thinking now?
"You don't know?" He redirects his train of thought to the conversation at hand. The quiet as a cricket song playing on the radio found itself turned up a few decibels when he finds his heart starting to race with anxiety.
[name] holds her wrist out once more, watching carefully as Ben wipes his hands on his hoodie before using both to take it into his grasp. "I might have an idea." His fingers felt cool against her skin, possibly cooler than herself, but she says nothing. "I don't wanna say anything in case I'm wrong."
The tone of her voice scared Ben. It was softer than what she spoke to him with on any other occasion.
Did she know? She could read him like an open book, of course she did— but for how long?
Licking his lips to cleanse them of grease and broken skin, he moves her wrist towards them with a ghost of a touch. "I don't think I wanna say," he murmurs into her skin. His words were muffled, but he knew she could hear him.
Just like how she could hear the erratic pattern of his breathing. The rushing of his blood. The chattering of his teeth. The bouncing of his leg.
[name] places the bottom of her cup on Ben's knee, encouraging him to stop shaking the car. "You don't have to say," she murmurs in response.
Ben tries his best to focus on the lyrics the musician was singing, he does, honestly— but [name] started humming along with it at a volume she doesn't think he can hear and he just can't.
Everything sounded so loud in his ears. He doesn't think he could list the specifics if he needed to, and yet he just knew that he could hear every little thing that happened beneath the moon they sat under.
"Do you want a refill?"
"What?" Ben jumps at the sound of her voice.
"You're stress eating. Do you want to get a refill?"
"I'm not. Besides, who's gonna pay?"
At the touching of her wallet within her (his) hoodie pocket, [name] rolls her eyes. "You're a broke college student and I use the Plumbers' credit cards on a weekly basis; what do you think?"
At her quip, Ben takes his feet off the dashboard and onto the brake. "Why can't you drive again?" He asks, body working itself through the motions of preparing himself to drive, instinctively leaving the seatbelt off.
"Because legally, on Earth, I can't," [name] hums with a smug look. "Plus, the more you focus on not taking us off the road or into a ditch, the more you'll find yourself in the moment."
"What's the supposed to mean?"
"You'll see."
"Well, now you're acting like Professor Paradox."
He fights back a series of snickers that come from the look she sends him. His left-hand plants itself on top of the steering wheel as his right maneuvers her wrist back to her lips, whispering an apology against her cool skin. His foot removes itself from the brake and presses against the gas, guiding the car to the broken asphalt.
The chill was grounding when compared to his radiation-level heat. Goosebumps raised throughout his body but he felt as though it were best to ignore them.
"Would you rather I act like my brother?" [name] snickers, turning her body in the passenger seat so she can lay her head on Ben's shoulder. One of her toes presses the button to open the window down, feet finding a resting spot atop the side-view mirror.
Ben presses a button on the console that made it slide beneath the seats, the fabric stretching over it and creating a cushion. "That's.." Words fail him as he thinks of the universe where she was his worst enemy rather than his—
"That is absolutely horrifying to think of, but also, so grateful it isn't us."
[name] lets out a noise of more laughter as she pushes more of her back against his side, Ben's arm lifting to drape across her front. Her feet tuck themselves back inside the car when she moves and the uneven terrain begins to jostle the car. "Do you still think we'd still be friends? Like Ishiyama and Kenko from that one crossover?"
"It wasn't cannon and you know it," Ben scoffs, grip tightening on the wheel. "Honestly, you say everything wrong about Sumo Slammers because you hate me!"
[name] snorts at his teasing. "If I hated you at all, I wouldn't want to be in a car with a loser like you— no less, in the same city."
(Ben's heart pangs and his throat closes at the thought.)
"Hey," the male calls when her laughter tapers off. The tone of his voice catches her attention, able to tell her answer rode on a lot from the desperation in it.
"Hey?"
"How come we don't spend time like this anymore?"
"How do you mean?"
It takes him a moment to gather his scattered thoughts, moments she is always willing to give him.
His words are quiet when he speaks again, [name] having to lean her ear closer to his mouth to hear him.
"It's never just.. .. us.. y'know?" Ben returns to his habit of gnawing on his lips. "Someone's always with us. Like, last week—"
"Do you really wanna count the last few months as time that could've been alone time with us? I mean, you were getting pulled this way and that by so many people trying to help you get over your breakup. I didn't wanna interrupt that."
"Apparently I didn't like Julie as much as I thought I did."
There wasn't even a real change of subject and yet Ben felt as though he had given both her and himself whiplash.
Ben's foot eases on the gas when he's presented with silence rather than literally anything else. So many thoughts were circling in his mind and he didn't want to address any of them, aloud or not.
"Do.." her voice falls flat as she lets out an airy noise, "do you remember when Pierce and I had that on again, off again thing?"
Clearing his throat, Ben uses his knee to steer as he swipes at his eye. "Yeah," he says in a clearer voice, "still hate 'em."
Playfully rolling her eyes, [name] grabs the hand that was still draped over her front. Moist skin glides against dry skin as she begins fiddling with his fingers. "I felt the same way about him," she admits in a somber voice, shoulders relaxing the more she speaks. The difference in texture was strange, but not unwelcome.
"He was a great guy— he still is. We just have different.. wants." A sigh leaves her lips once the words work their way into the air. She leans forward to mess with the air conditioner when she feels her skin start to dry out. "It makes me wonder if you're the same way."
"As in you think I like someone else?"
"Maybe," she hums, turning down the volume of the music while she leans forward. "Maybe you're really focused on your schoolwork. Maybe you want to focus your everything on playing hero."
Swallowing to coat his throat, Ben shakes his head. "It's the first thing." He says, moving his arm from her shoulder to the side of her waist.
"The school—"
"I like someone else."
"Oh."
When Ben mimics the sound curiously, [name] shakes her head as though she was stupid. "It's nothing. I just didn't expect—"
"If I say that I'd rather you just give me advice on how to ask her out.."
"I could do that instead, yeah. What's she like?"
Rather than finish driving the last hour of the drive back to civilization, Ben directs the car back onto the ragged terrain and puts the car back in park. He stares ahead at the clear, night air rather than answer [name]'s questions. In response, she pries herself off of his arm and turns to look at his moonlit side profile.
She scoots away and presses her back against the passenger door and shoulder-belt hooks, reaching into the backseat to grab an extra sweater he kept in the back to cushion herself. Her arms open as though on autopilot when he slouches in his seat, offering her stomach for him to lay on.
He takes her up on the offer, arms lazily looping around her waist when he found himself comfortable. The racing of his heart and the shallowness of his breathing was something he was sure she could hear aside from the purring of the engine.
"She pretty. Beautiful even."
"Of course she is. She's the girl you like."
Ben looks up at her, whether it was of indifference or admiration, neither can tell. He does his best to keep eye contact despite the heating of his cheeks. "She always talks about I'm better than her, but I always wanna argue it," he adds, voice lowering into a murmur.
"So not Kai," [name] hums with a sly smile.
"Ew no. Of course not," Ben says with a scrunch of his nose. "She hates her."
"She does?" She bites her lips, eyes fluttering closed as she considers what best to say.
He continues to gaze up at her, breath evening now that he wasn't under her examining eyes. When her hands circle his neck and play with the hair at the nape of his neck, he can feel his unwillingly body relax beneath her touch.
"She always stops me from doing that," he murmurs, staring intently at her lips.
[name]'s eyes squint open as she fixes her view back on his face. "Doing what?"
He runs one of his hands from her back up to her bottom lip. "She says that it causes sores."
Ben isn't sure when he began supporting his weight with his forearms, trapping [name] against the door rather than beneath his weight. His eyes were level with her mouth when compared to how they were at her chest when he first laid down on her stomach.
"Yeah?" [name] hums.
"Mhm."
[name] moves her hands to cup his jawline, mouth curling into a smile at his puppy-like expression. "She sounds like a good one for you," she whispers in an almost inaudible voice, "she seems to care about you a lot."
"I'd hope so. I hope she likes me the same way I like her too."
Though it's not his first, Ben feels as though it was the only one he's ever had. It's much too short for his liking when [name] pulls herself away and rests her forehead against his.
"D'you think that's a clear enough sign that she does?"
"Maybe," Ben hums with a lovesick, dopey smile on his face. "Maybe I want her to be a little more clear about it."
Those coming-of-age, teen chick-flic don't do the beginning-of-relationship kisses enough justice, Ben comes to realize when [name] guides his lips back to hers. No fireworks or explosions were going on in his heart or mind but he could feel his body begin to heat up despite the frigid, winter air. His body felt as though it were growing fur with the way his skin was beginning to feel prickly.
He supposes that the only thing they got right was how time slowed to a crawl. Oxygen felt nonexistent the longer their lips pressed and meld against each other.
"You're panting like a dog," [name] mutters after pulling away just far enough so she can speak clearly but their lips still brush against each other.
Even with the concern working its into her voice, it doesn't keep an amused noise from leaving her. The thumbs that cupped his cheeks rubbed just below his eyes to work out the smile lines on his face.
Ben's eyes shut as she massages his cheeks, the smile never leaving his mouth. "Sorry," he practically purrs as he slumps the full weight of his body atop her. He shifts to rest it more against the back of the seat rather than her legs and stomach, kissing the fabric that covered her shoulder as he did.
"Are you that happy to get a kiss—"
"— Two kisses—"
"— Two kisses from me?" She jokes, brushing the hair that covers his forehead away to plant a kiss on it.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Unless you won the lottery all across the galaxy, I don't—"
"Didn't I do that in the future?" Ben snorts, grip tightening comfortably around her waist. "Or, wait.. Was that the hundred of times I helped save the universe? Was it the time I got the girl in the end?"
Shoving him off and into the driver's seat, she rolls her eyes and rolls the window closed. "Yeah, alright Professor Paradox." She huffs after clearing her throat, the rasp of spending so long muttering and murmuring taking its toll on her. "Get a move on. I don't wanna spend all night in the middle of nowhere."
"Yeah, yeah," Ben laughs, fixing himself in the seat. "You got it, princess."