Work Text:
On February 14th shortly after school let out, Gwen walked into Kevin's garage, only her legs visible underneath a mountain of chocolates, balloons, cards, flowers, and plushies she received from her friends and other people at school. Kevin, as usual, was underneath his car, working away, unaware of her presence, and Ben was lazily reclining on the mattress in the corner of the garage, flipping through one of Kevin's trashy romance novels, the type with muscular men with long hair on the cover. He didn't seem impressed, but he was immersed enough in the book all the same, to the extent that he didn't notice Gwen until she dumped her haul of Valentines directly onto him.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, laughing as he all but swam underneath the wrappers, abandoning the book in favor of attempting to tunnel his way to freedom.
"What happened?" Kevin asked, quickly sliding out from underneath his car and jumping to his feet. He noticed Gwen, then, and the writhing mass of Valentines, and smirked. "Somebody was popular this year," he said easily, looking at her.
"I was totally bombarded. I don't know what to do with all of this stuff, so I'm giving it to you two," she explained, matching his smirk. She stretched her arms happily, glad to no longer be burdened under her gifts.
"I didn't know we were supposed to exchange stuff for today," Ben said, finally squirming his way out of the Valentines and onto the floor next to the mattress. A few of them followed him onto the ground. "I think I have a few cough drops in my pocket if you want them."
"I have a piece of gum," Kevin supplied, grinning.
"You two are too sweet, really," Gwen said, rolling her eyes, "but I actually have karate practice today; I only stopped by to drop this stuff off first. I need to get going now or I'll be late." She started to leave.
"Wait, you really don't want any of this stuff?" Ben asked her in surprise, unwrapping and popping a heart-shaped lollipop into his mouth. She paused. "There's so much of it! Uh, not that I'm complaining."
"That's not even all of it. The stuff I actually wanted to keep is already at my house. That's the reject pile," she explained, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Perfect for two schmucks like us, huh?" Kevin asked good-naturedly.
"You said it, not me," she replied with a grin. "Anyway, I seriously have to go now. Happy Valentine's Day." Ben and Kevin both echoed it back to her as she left.
After a moment, Kevin walked over to the pile, hands in his pockets. He nudged a fluffy brown bear plush holding a lacy heart in its arms with his boot.
"Man, how'd she even carry all this stuff here?" Ben asked next to him, one hand on his hip as he looked down at it all. He stood farther away from Kevin than he usually did, as though there were a wall between them. "She wasn't even using any magic." His voice had a hollow tone to it as he spoke around the lollipop.
"She is pretty strong, though," Kevin replied, bending down to pick up the bear. He patted down its fur, brushing off some dirt, and then gave it a squeeze. The squeaker inside its chest squeaked.
"Yeah," Ben replied, pausing to take the lollipop out of his mouth so he could wave it around dramatically, "but she could've called us to come pick her up or something. Maybe she was just showing off to the whole neighborh- HEY!" While he was talking, Kevin had caught the lollipop in his mouth and now he grinned at Ben triumphantly.
"You snooze, you lose, Tennyson," Kevin said happily, biting down on the lollipop. It broke apart and he swallowed it before spitting the stick out onto the ground. Ben blushed brightly.
"I wasn't even snoozing, I was pausing," he replied, rolling his eyes. "You could've just gotten your own." He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed as though the argument was beneath him.
"Yeah, but it tastes better when it's yours, " Kevin said smugly, bending down to root through the pile. He set the bear down carefully on the corner of the bed, out of the way, before he started searching.
"That doesn't even make sense," Ben replied, bending down to search as well. His hand brushed Kevin's for second and he quickly moved it away.
"Doesn't it?" Kevin replied, looking at him sidelong. He shoved some of the pile towards the middle of the bed and, when satisfied, crawled onto the bed. He sat with his back against the wall and opened a box of conversation hearts, dumping them into his hand. He popped the first one he saw into his mouth, a green one that said True Love. He offered one to Ben. Ben shoved the other side of the pile towards Kevin and then sat on the far side of the mattress before taking the offering. He threw a purple one that said Soul Mate into his mouth.
"It doesn't. That conversation heart didn't taste any less chalky than it does every year, even though it's yours," Ben confirmed, waving him off. Kevin snickered.
"That's because I gave it to you. 's different," Kevin insisted, eating the rest of the handful. "You have to take it for it to be good."
"Too bad for me you have bad taste," Ben joked. "I don't want anything from you." He inspected a delicately wrapped chocolate ball which could have been a huge chocolate truffle or else a small hot chocolate bomb, before tossing it back onto the pile and grabbing something else.
"What about a kiss?" Kevin asked lightly.
"WHAT? Why would I want a kiss from you, come on, be real," Ben replied quickly, starting to sweat. He kept his eyes trained on the wall next to him, refusing to look at Kevin. If his face had been red before, he hated to think of how it looked at just this second.
"It's just chocolate," Kevin replied, a smug smile in his voice.
"Chocolate?" Ben asked, surprised, as he finally glanced over at Kevin. Wordlessly, Kevin held out his hand to Ben. On his palm sat a single Hershey's kiss.
"Yup, but I guess you don't want it," Kevin replied lightly, starting to put the candy back.
"Wait- wait, I do!" Ben replied quickly, turning to look at Kevin.
"You do what?" Kevin asked, raising one eyebrow.
"I want it," Ben replied stubbornly, glaring at Kevin.
"Want what?"
"C'mon, dude."
"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't make me say it. This is lame."
"You love it. Say it."
"Ugh... I want your kiss," Ben finally sighed, embarrassed. Wordlessly, Kevin dropped the candy into Ben's hand and then, while Ben was unwrapping it, he leaned over. Suddenly, he kissed Ben's cheek. Ben gasped, surprised, and looked over at Kevin, whose face was only a breath away from his own.
"Can I kiss you?" Kevin asked, his dark, dark eyes searching Ben's green ones.
"You have more candy?" Ben asked, finding it hard to look away from him.
"No."
"Oh." Ben swallowed thickly. "Then... yeah. Okay."
It was a small kiss, hardly more than a peck, but Ben felt himself smile even as he felt Kevin smile into the kiss.
When they broke apart, Kevin chuckled to himself.
"What's so funny?" Ben asked, finally putting the now semi-melted chocolate into his mouth.
"The way you keep making us play all these games like we haven't been dating for months now," Kevin replied, moving back onto his side of the mattress. Ben shoved him.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm straight. I am straight," Ben replied haughtily, randomly grabbing another box of candy.
"Yeah, and I'm the president," Kevin replied sarcastically. He went to toss a chocolate truffle in his mouth, but Ben grabbed it. "HEY!"
"You're right," Ben said, smirking at Kevin as he chewed. "It does taste better when you take it from somebody."