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“So uh, you and Gwendolyn. ” Ben asked, careful to not meet Kevin’s eyes.
“Yeah.” Kevin looked at him.
“Sorry about that.”
“We weren’t dating in the first place.” Kevin responded monotonously. Ben whipped his head around, shock painted on his tanned face.
“You.. weren’t?” He choked, voice cracking.
“No shit, Sherlock. I like dudes, and she doesn’t like anyone.” Kevin rolled his eyes.
“You just gaslit me for months?!” Ben yelled, nostrils flared. He didn’t seem too thrilled about this information.
“You had Julie, I figured you wouldn’t mind if I pretended to date your cousin.” Kev pointed out, watching emotions swim in Ben’s peridot colored eyes. The sun caught them perfectly.
“Well, I don’t anymore.”
“And I don’t have a fake relationship with Gwendolyn. Guess we’re both single.”
Ben’s heart raced. He wondered if what Kevin would say next was what he thought it was. The two stared at eachother for a few moments, eyes darting around the other’s face.
Kevin took a deep breath, ready to say it.
“I love you, Ben.” He whispered, the words so soft and vulnerable they barely sounded like they came out of Kevin Ethan Levin’s mouth. “I love you so much, and I pretended to not.” He watched as the expression across Ben’s face switched, it now appeared to be remorse.
“Oh, dude. Me?” Ben murmured. Kevin nodded.
“I remembered what you said, that one day we watched football together. That you didn’t know how anyone could love you. I wanted nothing more than to either beat the shit out of you, or to make out with you. I didn’t think you’d like either.” Ben was surprised at how his affliction to himself affected Kevin. He knew it affected Gwen, but Kevin of all people?
“I love you too, Kevin.” Ben said, feeling his throat burn. “Those years I were away from you were the worst. And when you left for college with Gwendolyn-“ He stopped, observing the way his friend looked at him.
“Blonko told me he found you in your room surrounded by pills.” Kevin finished for Ben, who looked down sheepishly.
“I waited years to get you back, I couldn’t stop thinking of you. And you ran straight to my cousin. I tried to convince myself it was ok, that I could love someone else. But it never worked.” He could practically feel his face flushing, about to break down in tears. He didn’t expect to be gushing all his feelings to his ‘best friend’ today. “And less than a year after I got you back, you left again. And I didn’t even have Gwen that time.”
“And I’m sorry!” Kevin yelled. Ben flinched away from him. “We can fix this, we can make up for that lost time.” Ben dived into his arms, wrapping his own pair around Kevin’s torso. It was at that moment that Ben let all hell break loose, sobbing and choking. Maybe 6 years of repressed emotion was hard to keep down when it found an opening.
“I-I missed.. you.” Ben managed, each word followed by a sniffle or cough.
“I missed you too,” Kevin’s voice cracked.
“Are we real?” Ben asked after calming down. He’d pulled away, arms still on Kevin, however. “Like, are we boyfriends?” Kevin thought for a second.
“If you want..” He responded. Ben grinned, and it had to be the most genuine one Kevin had seen. He could see little Ben shining through the scarred face of his boyfriend.
It took way too long for everyone else to realize Ben and Kevin were.. well.. Ben and Kevin. According to Gwendolyn, they’d always acted like how they were now. Aside from kissing, of course.
It’d been almost a week, and Kevin had left the room to get something, leaving Rook, Ben, and Gwendolyn. Rook cleared his throat.
“Are you and Kevin dating?” Gwen raised one of her eyebrows. Ben coughed, choking on his smoothie.
“Uhh.. yeah? You didn’t know?” He replied, figuring it was obvious. Rook narrowed his eyes.
“You and Kevin were not obvious about being romantically tied whatsoever.”
“We weren’t?” Ben questioned.
“No, doofus.” Gwendolyn rolled her eyes. “If we knew, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Almost immediately after she finished her sentence, Kevin walked back in. He flopped down on the couch next to Ben, leaning on him. Cue awesomeness ending here.