Chapter 7: Home
"He what?" Gwen asked, not sure if she had heard her grandfather correctly.
Grandpa Max sighed, the sound causing static over the phone. She could imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose. "He had a panic attack during the night and… damaged himself again." The older man was probably debating on whether or not to share the extent of that damage. That he eventually chose not to made ice run down Gwen's spine. "He took care of it, mostly, and went to school despite his parents insisting he stay home and get..."
Get me. Gwen thought, fear turning into rage. Which HE should have done a week ago by the sound of it.
"You want me to go kiss his boo boos better." She asserted, not feeling charitable enough to refer to Ben's… hurts, with the proper gravitas. Anger was easier to handle than sorrow. She heard grandpa chuckle ruefully, though it sounded brittle to her ears.
"Well yes, but that's not why I called. You'd have done that without my call." Here his voice turned serious. "Gwen, I know you well enough to know that you're mad at him for not coming to you, and for doing what he did. But I want you to promise me that you'll save the rough-housing for when he's better, and to think before you act. Can you promise me that?"
Gwen was about to protest before she bit back her retort. Exhaling angrily, she replied. "Fine. I'll give him ten seconds to dissuade me. After that, I'm giving him a piece of my mind."Probably after hugging him though. And then turn that hug into a stranglehold. That should work.
Plan set, she canceled the call, told her teacher (and bewildered classmates) that she needed to see to an idiot relative, and marched out the door and out of the building, making for where the tracking system told her Ben was, only remembering her bike when she was halfway to him already. She didn't care; it was a lovely day and she'd still arrive at about the same time that Ben's school came out. She could retrieve her bike over the weekend.
Marching down the sidewalk, she fumed quietly, feeling her mana crackle all about her, invisible to the naked eye, but tangible enough to cause people to make way for the small red-headed thundercloud as she walked by. She was worried for Ben, scared for him, but also absolutely furious with him. The last time she'd found evidence of his self harm, almost three weeks ago, Gwen had redone Ben's bandages and made him promise to not do it again. To come to her if he needed help. To let her take care of him as he did for her.
And then he didn't. He lied to her. He didn't call out for help when he needed it. And Gwen could just hear his justifications already. 'I didn't want to bother you', 'Its just a scratch, don't worry, I got this'. It was maddening, and she hadn't even gotten to him yet.
By the time she came up to the gates of Ben's school, she was worked up enough to set the building on fire with her magic. She glared around the horde of children. School had only just ended here, and some were clearly waiting for their parents to pick them up, others just hanging around with their friends. Most didn't notice her, and those that did quickly averted their eyes in the face of her obvious wrath.
But where is that idiot- there!
Spotting her doofus leave the building, she almost quirked an eyebrow at the sight. Ben had one girl on each arm, talking to him. She supposed these were the famous Anna and Lizzie. Ben had told her on the phone that Cash had blabbed about their little stunt at the mall, and now the kids in his class wanted to hear all about his 'girlfriend', much to the boy's consternation. She was about to walk up to him and zap him with a lightning bolt when she stopped herself, recalling her promise to grandpa. She counted to ten, and as she did she forced herself to really look at him. She was glad she did.
What at first glance had appeared to be Ben being a lady's man took on an entirely different meaning when she saw how he swayed slightly on his feet. It was the girl's support that kept him from falling over. He was talking with them, animatedly, but she could see the fragility of his smiles and the way his eyes were just a bit too wide. He was forcing himself to keep going; she'd seen him do it plenty of times when the hero work didn't allow him to stop.
And his left hand and wrist were covered in bandages...
Deciding that her anger could wait, had to wait, she clamped down on her temper and shoved it to the back of her mind. She'd roast him when she was sure he had the presence of mind to listen. Doing so now would just waste her energy, even if it would make her feel better.
Making her way over to where Ben sat, trying to disentangle himself from the girls, she started to overhear the conversation they were having.
"Sooooo J.T. said you called her 'sweety'; have you got any other pet names for her?" One girl asked, big blue eyes sly. Ben was not impressed, he simply sighed long sufferingly before he started counting on his fingers.
"Well, let's see. I've got dweeb, freakazoid, witch-"
Okay, Gwen may have decided to go easy on him for now, but there were limits. darting forward she poked him in the ribs, hard, before raising that same finger to his face threateningly. "Raise one more finger and I will hurt you, Tennyson." She declared, coldly, glaring down at him. Her slight height advantage had seldom felt so good. She'd expected a hint of fear in response, or perhaps. Surprise would've worked. Instead, she got elation.
"Gwen! Perfect timing!" Untangling himself from the girls' grips, Ben darted around Gwen to hide behind her back. "Save me from these crazy people! Dweeb attack mode, activate!" He punctuated the command by booping her on the head softly. She ignored the way he all but sagged against her back, only acknowledging it by steadying her stance so she could support the added weight.
Suppressing both the urge to laugh and to park Ben's head up his own butt, Gwen shot the girls her best icy glare and was pleased to see the brunette duck for cover behind the blonde girl, mimicking Ben. "Fear me." She deadpanned.
The brunette squeaked and the blonde pinched her nose at the sound, blue eyes rolling skyward. A kindred spirit, Gwen thought. How nice. Ben patted her on the back. "That'll do." He asserted happily, even if his voice barely carried with how weak it was, before coming to stand beside her, shoulder brushing with her bared one, eyeing her oddly. Or eyeing the dress oddly. He never seemed to be able to stop giving her weird looks when she wore one.
"So, what's the nerd queen doing in a dump like this?" He asked her, the smallest hint of trepidation in his voice.
She looked him dead in the eye before letting her gaze slip meaningfully to the hand he was trying to shield from her view. He shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. "Feels more like a zoo than a dump; so many weird critters." She asserted, dragging her gaze up to his eyes again. "And they seem to be intent upon harming themselves. Is that boy about to eat a pigeon?"
"What are you-? Oh for-" Ben spun on his heels, finding his energy briefly it seemed. "JAMIE! Just because someone dares you to, doesn't mean you have to do it, you dolt! Put that down! You have no idea where it's been!" The crowd around Jamie groaned in disappointment while the small boy looked at Ben sheepishly before releasing the scared pigeon. Gwen allowed herself to finally laugh in spite of how she felt.
"A month ago you would've been in that crowd, goading him on." She felt compelled to point out. Ben shrugged.
"You find live worms in your meal one too many times, you start to appreciate normal food more." Ben confessed with a shudder. Gwen could sympathize. Before she could say anything else though, she felt someone grab her arm. Turning around, Gwen found that the brunette had snuck up on her and was giving her a grin that reminded her of a shark that had just found its prey. From the corner of her eye she saw that the blonde had done the same with Ben.
"You two lovebirds," the girl holding Gwen started ominously.
"Are coming with us." The blonde finished.
"This is all your fault." Ben complained to her where they trailed behind the other two girls from Ben's school, straggling through the mall.
"My fault?!" Gwen hissed.
Ben stopped walking and turned to her fully with a glare. There wasn't really any heat in it, he still didn't have the energy for that it seemed. "If you'd called before you visited, I could've ditched them sooner."
She mirrored him. Her glare was way more heated. "If you had put a stop to their delusion sooner, it wouldn't have mattered." She countered.
Faltering, Ben looked mildly uncomfortable. "Yeah, I kinda tried to, but..."
"But what?!"
Ben cleared his throat and glanced pointedly down. Following his gaze she saw her hand clasped clasped with his. Huh. She didn't remember grabbing it. She pulled back as if burned, blushing. "Okay, so we may have gotten a little touchy, but for a pretty good reason-"
"Keep up lovebirds!" Anna encouraged from a few yards ahead, Lizzie giggling beside her.
"We're not lovebirds!" They cried in unison, Ben's face now matching hers in shade.
Anna and Lizzie just smirked coyly and turned back to some store display, leaving them blessedly unobserved for a second. Gwen sighed, before eyeing Ben, attempting to sound casual. "So, why shouldn't I just blow the lid off of this and watch you squirm?"
Ben's eyes flashed to her before glancing away, face reddening again. "They wouldn't believe you anyway." He muttered. At her inquisitive eyebrow, he shrugged. "Just be yourself. You'll get what I mean."
An hour later, Gwen was seriously tempted to contact the Bellwood meteorology department and ask if they had the equipment to measure the bowel temperatures of hell, because Ben turned out to have the right of it this once.
Having decided to forgo anger as her primary emotion for the trip, she'd settled on the next biggest one: worry about his wellbeing. This was old hat at this point, as she'd been doing nothing but that for weeks now; and he for her. It was easy to meander through the mall after the two girls from Ben's school, who were, admittedly, pretty good company, what with Anna being a witty bundle of haughtiness and Lizzie being an absolute goofball.
It was equally easy to fall back into a familiar habits, dragging him over to see stuff (minding the hand after she accidentally grabbed it the first time she wanted to gush about a cool shirt), brushing shoulders when she felt him tense beside her, grab his hand when she saw his eyes widen in fear or outright glomping him when she could hear his heart-rate spike. All of those touches were familiar, and they all got the expected commentary from their two companions.
"Aww how cute, holding hands. Now kiss!"
"If you squeeze him any tighter, his head's gonna pop off."
She ignored them. She knew why they needed the contact. So did Ben. They didn't need anyone else to understand.
What she had not anticipated was all the touches they shared when they weren't going out of their way to comfort each other, which Lizzie and Anna were just as eager to comment upon.
Nor had she been prepared for the sheer amount of them. For every deliberate move made to help Ben calm down, there were three unconscious ones that she didn't even notice until the girls pointed them out. Hands run through hair, a quick brush of her lips on his temple when he cracked a good joke, or the way they'd just step into each other's personal space and stay there. All of them felt familiar, all of them had been done at some point or other for the sake of staving of their shared fears.
These weren't for therapeutic reasons however, but done out of habit and, Gwen was forced to admit, because she wanted to. And clearly, so did Ben.
When she was checking out the display of a closed antique store, Ben snuck up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head against the back of hers, as he'd done so many times before, leaning on her. He was tired. He was scared. He was miserable. She could feel it in every small shake of his tiny frame and every shuddering breath that tickled her neck (and she was not going to acknowledge the shivers that send down her spine. Today was weird enough already).
She sighed, placing one hand delicately on his injured one while raising the other one to tangle in his hair, mindful to not accidentally brush the bandages with her satchel. Even though she had recovered greatly since her first full night of sleep a week ago, she still felt best when Ben was close to-
"Oh my god, will you two get a room?" Anna's voice cut through the moment, before Lizzie's exited babble filled the air.
"No, don't! Please proceed!" She gushed, ears red, eyes fixed on Ben and Gwen.
Anna sighed, dragging the brunette away. "You're such a pervert. Hey guys, we're gonna go to the burger shack. Find us when you're… done." With that they took off, and Ben and Gwen were left alone in a quiet corner of the mall, but not before giving them both a significant look. Gwen's mind flashed to when she'd seen them coming out of school, supporting Ben as he swayed, and decided that she liked having them around for when she couldn't keep an eye on her doofus.
Silence reigned for a moment before Gwen sighed and Ben could feel her sag ever so slightly against him. "When on Earth did you go from being gross to being… less gross?" Gwen grumbled as she spun around to face him, still close enough for him to see the see the individual hairs of her eyelashes. He grinned at her, sheepish.
"Around the same time you did, I guess, only we weren't on Earth when that changed."
Gwen was silent for a moment before muttering, cheeks faintly pink, "You're right. Its kinda pointless to say it was all a joke when we act like… this. Heck, dropping the family bomb on them wouldn't even cut it, it'd just make it worse."
Ben glanced around aimlessly, feeling his own cheeks heat. "That's kind of why I didn't tell them..."
Gwen grunted in admission, looking at his face with a considering expression. "Right. Not going to think about that; lets continue this conversation never. Instead..." She held out her hand to him, raising one brow in challenge. Knowing better than to try and weasel out of it, he held up his bandaged limb for her. He could feel chills race down his spine as he did though.
Silence hung in the air, punctuated only by the soft sound of bandages being removed and the distant noise of people milling about. As more and more of the damage was revealed, Ben grew more and more tense. Gwen, on the other hand, could've been carved from stone for all she revealed, and that worried him more than a lightning storm to the face would have.
Ben was more familiar with Gwen's anger than any person alive. Most days, he relished in teasing the immaturity out of her, seeing her face go red as her hair and come for him. What had grandpa once called it? Masochistic? Perhaps he was, but he knew that her fiery anger would only ever dish out as bad as he gave her. It had been their way of doing things for months. It was an anger he understood.
This was not that anger.
This was a focused, cold fury, and it took every bit of courage he could muster not to bolt. She undid the last of the bandages and examined the exposed flesh. It was an awful sight, purple and black, the last of the healing scabs reopened as well as grazes covering the back of his hand. He swallowed, lips fumbling to give her an explanation, only to come up empty. She didn't press him. Not yet at least.
"You're an idiot." She intoned, glaring sharply at him, green eyes alight with magic. Raising his hand to her lips, she whispered a spell in his skin. Faintly, blue light trailed along his hand and wrist and he could see her hair dance ever so slightly as her power surged.
"Sarcio." For a split second, so short that it was barely the ghost of an image, her entire form glowed blue and Ben felt heat spread throughout his hand and wrist, felt the bruising recede and the wounds close.
When it was done, his hand was healed again. Sore, but not damaged. He was about to ask her when she'd learned that, or to rebuke her for using her magic in a place where they could've been caught, when Gwen's knees started to buckle. Ben moved forward quickly, just in time to catch her.
"Gwen? Are you alright?" He didn't let the panic creep into his voice, but he was feeling it. He'd been feeling that around her too often lately; he much preferred Gwen being an indomitable force to her being this… fragile.
Even if she only used that indomitable force to yell at him. He'd take that over this; right up until she punched him in the stomach. Or attempted to at least; calling it a love tap would be generous.
"No fair." She muttered, stifling a yawn. "It's my turn to steady you. Quit stealing my turn." She backed out of his grasp a little so she could glare into his face. Ben couldn't hold back a soft chuckle, and leaned forward to bump foreheads with her, gently. She grumbled and swatted at him, ineffectually, before taking a deep breath and straightening her back. When she opened her eyes this time, they were more alert.
"Don't think you're off the hook." The redhead warned, eyes blazing with emerald fire. "First, we're gonna go to the Burger Shack, then I'm taking you to your bed so you can get a good night's sleep and tomorrow I am going to scream at you." She listed off, poking him in the chest. He grimaced, sullenly glaring down at the ground. Or he did until he felt her hand on his chin, raising it with surprising gentleness.
"After that, I'm taking you home." She grinned at him, but Ben could only stare back in confusion.
What did she mean? She was already taking him home to sleep- oh.
Her face faltered a little, but she persevered with a slightly bashful expression. "When grandpa dropped you off after our trip, you said you weren't 'home,'" She recounted. "I figured you meant that the Rustbucket was home- so I thought we could go see grandpa- because we haven't seen him in ages and-"
He facepalmed, cutting off her ramble, but grinned all the same, a soft chuckle escaping him.
"What?" Gwen asked testily, stepping back and crossing her arms, glaring at him with sleepy eyes.
He shook his head at her, bemused. "You are the dumbest, smart person that I've ever met." Then he smiled, shyly, looking at her meaningfully. "The Rustbucket isn't home either."
Gwen's expression was confused for a few seconds, mouth opening to retort, before she froze and color returned to her face with a vengeance. Ben looked away, smiling but feeling slightly awkward, holding out his hand to her. Time to end this before one of them fainted from all the blushing. Ben had a feeling it would be him, and she'd never let him live it down.
"Shall we go visit the fancy restaurant m'lady?" He intoned in his best faux British accent before shifting to normal, eyes snapping back to her. "Bet ya that I can get the burger down the hatch faster than you."
"You're on." Gwen intoned, her expression shifting from shy to a competitive smirk in seconds. Taking his hand, they started in the direction of the distant Shack. In the stillness, Ben looked down at their clasped hands, and he could feel faint disquiet take hold as he took in the Omnitrix. Swallowing, he grit his teeth, jerked his gaze away and shoved it to the back of his mind. He was a hero and he was stronger than this; he had to be.
Beside him, his cousin spoke up, hesitantly, but he latched onto each word anyway.
"What you said about being home." She started, voice quiet. He turned to her to find her gaze fixed on their hands as well, and he only now realized how tightly he was holding on to her smaller hand. She did not back down from it, but instead tightened her own grip, reassuring, anchoring. Her gaze trailed up to meet his, filled with fierce affection. "It's the same for me." She confessed, softly, but with no hint of hesitation left.
He stared at her for a long moment, before leaning in. Gwen, probably anticipating their customary headbutt, angled her head slightly down and leaned in as well. Instead, Ben angled his head so he could press his lips to her cheek, where he lingered for several long seconds. Longer than he normally would. Definitely longer than he should, but he didn't care. Not now.
Pulling back, he could see Gwen had turned a brilliant shade of red, her blush reaching all the way to her collar, and was clearly fighting to hold back a grin. Her mouth moved silently, trying to go for a witty remark but failing. He smirked, heart lifting in a way that had nothing to do with fear.
"Just felt like giving my 'girlfriend' some love." He quipped. She shook her head and rolled her eyes, but her grin became ever more obvious.
"I'm still yelling at you later. No amount of love is going to get you out of that."
Is that a challenge, dweeb? Ben shrugged. "I've got a few hours left to convince you not to." He waggled his eyebrows in mock flirtiness.
Gwen's turned to him in full, a competitive smirk gracing her features and her vibrant green eyes flashing with mischief. Ben could admit, if only to himself, that she looked absolutely beautiful in that moment.
"Just try it." Challenge accepted, doofus.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone