A/N: Hey, it's me again! Here's a New Year's fic for you Bevin lovers out there. I know you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Happy New Year!!!
Disclaimer: I am not part of Man of Action, therefore I do not own Ben 10!
"Ben! Are you coming with us or not?!" cried Ben's mother from downstairs.
"I'll meet you at the square later Mom!" Ben cried from his room. "I've got a couple of things to do first!"
"Okay, but you better get there before midnight or you'll miss everything," replied his mom.
"I'll be there, don't worry!" was Ben's reply.
Ben waited as he heard the front door open and close. He then carefully peeked out of his window and watched as his parents got in the car and drove away towards the town square where the New Year's party was being held and where everyone in town will watch the fireworks display. But Ben wasn't very interested in that at the moment as he returned to his computer monitor. He was more interested in reading what he just found on the internet.
"Do not be with the one you love on New Year's Eve," Ben read, peering at the glowing screen. "It will only bring bad luck and you will eventually break up with him or her in the following year."
Ben bit his lower lip in nervousness. Even though that was a complete load of disgusting brown stuff, he couldn't help but feel worried for him and Kevin. Even though it was just a stupid online rumor, an urban legend, he couldn't stop himself from feeling nervous. He was afraid for him and Kevin.
He and Kevin Levin weren't exactly dating. Well, maybe they were with all the hanging out they do. But they weren't really hanging out like friends if they go on secret picnics and watch movies while holding each other and then have a make out session in the car or in some secluded spot. Okay, fine, they're an item but no one knows about it yet. What would people say if the MVP of the soccer team and the coolest teen in town turned out to be gay? But how can Ben be gay when he isn't exactly sexually attracted to guys? Oh sure, he was attracted to Kevin, but the thought of being with other guys grossed Ben out. He doesn't have a problem kissing Kevin and letting the older teen feel him up, but when it comes to doing that with another guy, it made Ben shiver with disgust. Maybe he was a bi. Maybe Kevin was too. Ben wasn't sure.
Ben jumped when he heard the telephone ring from downstairs. He ran out of his room and down to the hallway where the phone was and he snatched it up on the third ring.
"Hello?" he said.
"Ben, where are you?" said the voice of his cousin, Gwen Tennyson.
"I'm still at home," answered Ben. "I just had a couple of things to work out."
"Well, you better work them out fast because it'll be midnight in ten minutes."
"Really? I must've lost track of time. Alright, I'll be right there soon. Oh, and Gwen?"
"What is it?"
"Is Kevin there?"
"I don't think so. I haven't seen him yet. And I don't think he'll come, He isn't the type of person who'll go through this kind of celebration."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason. I'll see you in a couple minutes."
Ben quickly hung up and heaved a sigh of relief. He was almost caught. Gwen must be staring at her cellphone right now, looking all confused.
Maybe Gwen's right, Ben thought. Maybe Kevin won't be there because he'll think it's a stupid holiday anyway.
Making up his mind, Ben went on making sure the house was secure before stepping outside and twisting around the Omnitrix to turn into Jetray. It was faster then walking.
I really hope he's not there.
Why am I even here?
Kevin scowled to himself as he sipped his soda, looking around the crowd of people that stood in the square, waiting for the new year to roll in. The town clock said that it was about ten minutes to midnight and Kevin hasn't seen Ben or even Gwen the whole three hours he's been there.
Oh yeah, I'm here because of Ben. Because I wanted to spend New Year's with him.
Being alone for most of his life, Kevin never really liked celebrating the holidays. But he was still extremely jealous of those who did, being happy and having fun with their families. Kevin never even had a remote family. All he had was himself. Then Ben came along and Kevin has never been happier.
But he still hasn't seen the younger teen yet. Kevin was getting impatient and restless.
"Kevin!" said a voice and the brunet looked up to see Gwen walking towards him.
"Hey Gwen," said Kevin as the redhead came up to him. "You seen Ben?"
"He'll be here soon," said Gwen, taking a seat next to Kevin. "You know, he was asking for you when I called him."
Kevin felt his heart skip a beat. "Really?" he said, trying not to sound nervous. "Why?"
"I don't know," said Gwen with a sigh, sitting back on her chair. "He sounded kinda nervous. Did something happen to you guys?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean did you guys fight again? Did you do something to make him angry?"
"None that I can recall."
The two stopped talking as the crowd started to gather around the square for midnight was ticking nearer. Gwen got up from her chair and looked down at Kevin, who sipped his soda indifferently.
"Are you gonna come?" she asked.
"I can see things fine from here," said Kevin.
"Suit yourself," said Gwen with a shrug and she walked off into the crowd, wrapping her coat tighter around her body.
Kevin sighed, his breath coming out as steam from his mouth and he looked around, hoping to at least see a glimpse of bright green or a mop of brown hair. His attempt was fruitless however and he sighed again before standing up and joining the crowd.
I might as well join them, since I'm here already.
Jetray landed in a dark alleyway and peeked out of the corner at the crowd. There were too many people, so he couldn't point out if Kevin was among them or not, but he hoped he wasn't for that internet rumor was still etched into his mind.
Jetray became Ben once again and he stuck his hands in his jacket pockets (in his hurry, he forgot to put on his coat) as he left the alley and stepped into the crowd, looking for a familiar face. He walked around for a while, still searching, until he saw a long mane of bright orange hair a little way away from him. Smiling to himself, Ben snuck up behind Gwen and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"So, what I miss?" he asked and Gwen cried out in surprise at Ben's voice.
"Ben!" said Gwen and Ben laughed.
"Sorry, couldn't resist," said Ben, holding up his hands to show that he meant no harm.
"I'm sure you couldn't," said Gwen, crossing her arms and shaking her head at her cousin. "Anyway, you came just in time. Just a few more minutes and it's the new year."
"You have a resolution Gwen?" Ben asked.
"Not really," said Gwen, shaking her head. "But I'm going to work harder next year and develop my powers even more."
"We don't need to wait for next year to work harder," said Ben, smiling down at his cousin. "But you've got a point. I want to develop my skills more also."
"Skills in what?" asked Gwen with a smirk. "Drinking carrot and chocolate smoothies together in one go then burping afterwards?"
"Oh hardy har har," said Ben with a slight scowl and Gwen chuckled.
"Oh yeah, I saw Kevin," she said and Ben's eyes went wide. "He was looking for you too. You guys get into a fight or something because it looks like you guys really want to see each other. You wanna apologize to him or what?"
"Or what's more like," said Ben, starting to look around and hoping that he wouldn't see Kevin. "You make it sound like we're a couple."
"You know what I mean Ben," said Gwen, staring at her cousin as he searched the crowd. "I've also noticed that Kevin calls you Ben."
"Well, that's my name isn't it?"
"But Kevin always calls you Tennyson or Benji to get on your nerves, not actually Ben."
"Well, it's almost the new year, so maybe he was trying to be a bit more polite."
Gwen seriously doubted that and she wondered who Ben was looking for as he twisted his head left right and center. Fortunately, a second later, Ben found who he was looking for. Nearby was the sixteen-year-old Kevin Levin, staring up at the giant clock that counted down five minutes until midnight. Ben's heart began to speed up and it skipped a beat when Kevin turned his head and locked his eyes on Ben.
"Um, okay, thanks Gwen," said Ben, waving his hands around a bit comically. "I'm starving. I think I'll go find some food. Don't worry, I can see everything from wherever they sell the food."
Ben said all this very fast and he quickly ran away before Gwen could say anything. A moment later, Kevin ran past Gwen and the redhead stared after him, feeling very confused indeed.
"What is up with those two?" Gwen asked herself.
"Ben! Ben!" Kevin cried, running after the younger teen.
Ben closed his eyes and tried to shut out Kevin's voice as he ran, but even though he was the smaller one, the lighter one, the faster one, Kevin somehow managed to catch up to Ben, grabbing his arm and making him stop in his tracks.
"Ben, what's wrong?" Kevin asked in between breaths, his eyes showing worry.
Ben didn't answer, he just stood there with his back onto Kevin, catching his breath and wondering if he should use the Omnitrix to escape.
"Ben, answer me," Kevin said in a soft but commanding voice. "Did I do something wrong?"
". . . No," Ben said after a slight hesitation.
"Is the something the matter?'
"Not really."
"Then why are you avoiding me?"
Ben didn't answer that. His heart was banging against his chest, and it wasn't because he just ran through the crowd.
"You can answer me Ben, there's no one else around," Kevin said and Ben tore his eyes off of the ground and looked around.
The older teen was right. No one else was around. Ben had managed to lead Kevin into an empty street. Everyone in the whole town was in the square and no one was around to keep an eye on the two.
Taking a deep breath, Kevin pulled Ben towards him and wrapped his muscular arms around the alien hero.
"Ben, tell me what's wrong," he said in Ben's ear.
Ben was silent for a moment, his arms hanging limp at his sides, before he took a rattled breath, as if he was trying not to cry.
"I don't know,"' said the younger teen, blinking back his tears.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Kevin asked, still hugging Ben.
"I don't know. . . if we can be together forever," said Ben and Kevin's heart skipped a beat. "I don't know what'll happen to us now that it's the new year. I don't know what'll happen to us in all the oncoming years. I don't what I'm going to say when I tell everyone about us. I don't know if I can take all the anxiety I'm feeling right now, all because we're keeping our relationship a secret."
Kevin listened to Ben, realizing that he too felt the same way.
"I'm. . . I'm scared Kevin," Ben said, his shoulder shaking as he held back more tears. "I'm scared that no one would accept us. I'm scared that my family won't accept us. I'm just. . . I don't know."
Ben couldn't hold back the tears anymore and he felt them slide down his cheeks in the cold winter's air. Kevin let go of Ben and held his shoulders, looking straight into the younger's shocking green eyes with his own dark ones.
"Listen to me good Ben," said the older teen. "I'm not sure either. I'm not sure about what other people will think of our relationship. Heck, I may even be scared at the thought that they won't accept us and may discriminate us. But that doesn't give us a reason to stop being together. If we want this to last, then we have to face all those discriminators like we do aliens and just keep on going. We will face problems, but we will overcome them. That's what a relationship is about, what life's about. If we just quit, then we'll regret it the rest of our lives. Do you understand me?"
Ben hesitated before nodding and wiping his eyes.
"So stop crying Ben," Kevin said, wiping the streaks of tears from Ben's cheeks. "If we can kick alien butt, then we can kick away those problems just as well."
Kevin smiled down at Ben, who returned it with a weak smile of his own.
"Actually, to be honest Kevin, that's not the reason why I was running from you," said Ben, looking at the ground again.
"Then tell me why," said Kevin.
"I. . . saw this site on the internet earlier," Ben said, his face flushing with embarrassment a bit. "It said that, if you spent new year's with your lover, then your relationship won't last and you'd break up in that year."
Kevin stared at Ben, whose face was red from embarrassment and from the cold, and he started to laugh.
"You were running from me because of some stupid rumor?" Kevin said. "Come on Ben, you shouldn't believe those kinds of things, especially when they come from the internet."
"I know that," Ben said with a pout. "But I couldn't help but feel scared okay?"
"Come one Ben," said Kevin, lifting Ben's head and making them lock eyes. "How can you be so selfish?"
"What do you mean?" Ben asked.
"This is my first New Year's with someone to celebrate it with," Kevin said with a small smile. "Don't you think I wanted to spend it with you?"
Ben felt guilt at Kevin's words and he was about to apologize when they heard a chorus of voices.
"Ten!"
"Heh, looks like the countdown's starting," said Kevin with a smirk.
"Nine!"
"Yeah," said Ben, looking at the direction of the town square.
"Eight!"
"Should we go back?" Kevin asked.
"Seven!"
"Do you want to go back?' Ben asked.
"Six!"
"We can see the fireworks fine from here," said Kevin.
"Five!"
"True," said Ben.
"Four!"
"New year's almost here," Kevin said.
"Three!"
"Yeah it is," Ben said, taking a hold of Kevin's hand and squeezing it.
"Two!"
Kevin smirked as he pulled Ben into his arms, bringing their faces close together.
"One! Happy New Year!"
The fireworks went off, lighting the night sky in brilliant multi-colored explosions just as the two teen's lips met. Both teens felt like fireworks were being set off in their hearts also and they saw colors swirling behind their eyelids as their kiss deepened, opening their mouths to slide their tongues over each other's appendage. Ben couldn't believe that he wanted to be away from Kevin on this wonderful night. He mentally beat himself up for that.
The two broke away from each other a moment later, both smiling, both feeling like they were on top of the world.
"Happy New Year Ben," Kevin said, smiling a genuine smile.
"Happy New Year Kevin," Ben said, returning the smile with his own.
And the fireworks kept on going.
A/N: XD Awwwwww!!!! Isn't that so cute?! Kawai!!! Anyway, that little online rumor thing? I saw it on an anime called Boys Be. The main guy (forgot his name) had a friend tell him that you shouldn't be with the one you love once it becomes the new year because it's bad luck. But the girl, the one the guy likes, heard from a friend that you should be with the one you love because it's good luck! Wow, talk about irony. Well that little bit was my inspiration for this fic, so thank you Boys Be and thank you reader for reading^^!