Title: I Could Hang Off Of Your Shoulder Like A Fool
Summary: AU. In which Ken thinks it's a great idea to set his father up with his best friend Devlin's father.
Pairing(s): Kevin/Ben
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): slash and dirty thoughts
Disclaimer: In my world, "Ken 10" is totally canon. But unfortunately, Man of Action doesn't think it should be.

Author's Note: Erm, I adore kidfics. Shamelessly. There, I have an excuse for writing this monstrosity instead of going to sleep like a normal person.

The story's complete but it's been split into two parts.

---

"Hey, Dad," Ken suddenly says in the middle of breakfast. He looks way too innocent for a ten year old.

Ben braces himself. "Yeah?" he asks cautiously.

"Guys are allowed to marry other guys here, right?"

Ben blinks. It was actually the main reason he'd moved from California to Maine after the divorce, to get away from all that Prop 8 crap. "Why do you ask, kiddo?"

Ken shrugs a little too casually but Ben lets it slide, now genuinely interested in where this conversation is going. When a four year old Ken had asked him why he and Kai weren't married anymore, Ben had tried to gently explain that while Daddy and Mommy still loved each other, they weren't in love with each other anymore (though Ben made sure his son knew that didn't stop them from loving him any less), and it turns out--surprise!--that Daddy likes guys. Ken had only nodded understandingly as if this new found knowledge concerning his father's sexuality wasn't surprising at all before going back to playing his video game and that had been that.

"I was just wondering... why haven't you gotten married again?" Ken asks.

Ben snorts and ruffles Ken's hair affectionately. "For one thing, I haven't found anyone yet. And for another, well, you know how well me getting married worked out last time."

They share a laugh and Ben thinks that's the end of it.

He should've known that it wasn't going to be that simple.

---

When Ben goes to pick Ken up from school later on that day, Devlin, Ken's new best friend, is waiting with him.

Devlin's kinda quiet for a kid his age, but overall he's a nice boy and he and Ken get along great despite being in different grades. "Hey, guys, what's up?" Ben asks, stepping out of the RV, christened the 'Rust Bucket', Grandpa Max left him after he died.

Ken and Devlin smile innocently up at him and not for the first time does Ben wonder if his son's secretly set him up on PUNK'D! or something. He looks over his shoulder to check for cameras but sees a green and black striped Camaro pull up alongside the Rust Bucket instead. He turns back to the boys, ignoring the muscle car. "Okay, what's going on?" he crosses his arms and puts on his best I'm An Authoritative Adult So You Better Listen To Me look, but then he remembers it stopped having any effect on Ken when he was eight. Damn.

"Oh, nothing much." Ken's smile grows wider. "Hey, Dad, have you met Devlin's dad yet?"

Ben quirks an eyebrow. "No, I haven't." Devlin's usually the last student to get picked up at school. Both Ben and Ken have offered Devlin a ride home multiple times, but he always declines them.

A gruff, decidedly male voice over Ben's shoulder calls out, "Hey, Dev, sorry I'm late." The sound sends pleasant shivers down Ben's spine which he desperately tries to ignore but fails miserably. Unfortunately, Ken notices and his impish smile nearly reaches his ears.

Devlin's whole face brightens up. "Dad!" He breaks out into a run, gliding past Ben, and the next thing Ben hears is a grunt followed by, "You're getting heavy, Dev."

"Sorry, Dad." But Ben can tell Devlin isn't apologetic at all. "Hey, have you met Ken's dad yet?" he suddenly asks.

"Uh, no, I don't think so."

Ken tugs at Ben's arm and whispers, "Come on!" So Ben turns around.

And he freezes.

Because, holy shit, he always suspected that Devlin's parents were hot (Devlin isn't the most sought after boy in the sixth grade for nothing) but he never expected this. 'This' being a tall, dark, and incredibly hot stranger whose freakishly good looks are currently doing things to Ben's libido. He's pretty much a carbon copy of Devlin (or maybe it's the other way around, but Ben never paid much attention to the logistics of biology so he doesn't think too deeply about that); long, waist-length black hair that's practically screaming for Ben to run his hands through and pale, creamy skin. The only difference between father and son is the colour of said father's eyes. Unlike Devlin's, which are a deep ocean blue, his are a rich hazel brown.

Ben briefly wonders if he has some sort of kink for brown eyes because they look almost identical to Kai's. His brain stops working, though, when Devlin's dad meets his gaze and smiles, making Ben's heart do somersaults.

Damn, he's definitely been out of the dating scene for too long.

"Kevin. Kevin Levin." says Devlin's dad, effortlessly shifting Devlin onto his left arm and holding out his right hand to shake.

And then Ben remembers how to speak. Sort of. "Uh, hi. I'm Ben. Ben Tennyson." He takes the hand offered to him and shakes it. If Kevin notices his eagerness, he ignores it. "Er, nice to meet you, Kevin." He pointedly ignores Ken's snickers. God, when did he become such a teenager?

He doesn't notice he's still holding onto Kevin's hand until the other man clears his throat. "Oh, right!" He quickly lets go and backpedals to his son's side. He makes a note to deny any and all future claims of using his own child as a meat shield. "Um, sorry about that." He tries to laugh it off and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

Kevin shrugs. "Nah, don't worry about it." His gaze shifts to Ken and his eyes soften. Ben's heart does a twist mid-somersault. "And you must be Ken Tennyson. I've heard a lot about you."

"That's 'cause I am pretty cool, huh?" Ken grins.

Devlin groans. "No, that's because you're an idiot who has too much spare time so you stick to me like glue, chasing away any normal friends I could have so I've got nothing else to talk about except you."

Kevin sends Ben an amused look and Ben returns it with a grin.

"You're the one who's always following me around!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Come on, Kenny," Ben interrupts, bending down to place a hand on Ken's shoulder. "We've gotta meet up with Gwen, remember?"

Ken blinks. "Aunt Gwendolyn? She's visiting today?"

"Yup."

Ken pumps a fist in the air. "Awesome!" He turns to Devlin and winks. "See ya tomorrow, Devlin!"

"Bye!"

Ben takes a deep breath before meeting Kevin's eyes again. Good, he isn't freezing up again. "Well, uh, it was nice meeting you, Kevin."

Kevin smiles again and crap, his heart may have just stopped beating altogether. "Same here."

Ben waits until the Levins have gotten into their car, the green Camaro from before, and driven off before shuffling Ken into the Rust Bucket.

"So," Ken begins, "How'd you like Mr. Levin?" Ben doesn't have to look to know his son's got what must be the biggest shit-eating smirk on his face right now.

"He seems okay." he admits. He definitely doesn't have to tell his son that by "okay" he means "illegally hot".

"He's single, you know." Ken practically sings, yawning nonchalantly. "Did you know that he's a mechanic? He's got his own garage and he fixes classic cars and stuff and it's really cool. He's even teaching Devlin how to drive!"

"He's what?"

"Well, not like, on the road, but in parking lots. Devlin's still not tall enough to reach the gas pedal so he just sits on his dad's lap while he steers the wheel. Man, why can't we do that?"

But Ben had stopped paying attention after "wheel" because that has to be the most adorably heart-warming mental image ever and he wonders how anyone can resist a man who's willing to spend time doing adorably heart-warming things like that with his son. Then he wonders how it'll feel if he was the one on Kevin's lap and--no, no, bad Ben. No thinking X-rated thoughts while your son's present. "That's nice." he says absentmindedly.

Ken pokes his arm. "Did I mention he's single?"

"Yes, yes you did." Ben keeps his eyes fixed on the road, determined not to dwell too deeply on this new information but it's no use because his brain's started chanting "single" over and over again like it's some kind of national anthem.

Ken leans back in his seat and smirks. "Just checking."

He clearly gets this from his mother, Ben decides.

---

Ben arrives at the school ten minutes before it lets out the next day and he nearly drives the Rust Bucket off the road when he sees that familiar green and black striped car in the school's parking lot. Sure enough, sitting on the hood is Kevin Levin. His hair's even whipping in the wind, which is totally unfair. No one should be allowed to look that hot. Ben is debating whether he should take a picture with his camera phone before he decides no, that's just too creepy--even for him. "I don't even know anything about him." Ben mutters to himself, turning off the ignition and getting out of the car.

His brain stops functioning when Kevin turns around and smiles at him. "Hey. Ben, right?" Kevin says.

Ben resists the urge to spazz over the fact that oh my God, he remembered my name and nods, walking over to his side. "Yup, and you're Kevin Levin. Nice name, by the way."

Kevin grins, "Not nearly as nice as Ben Tennyson. Your parents wouldn't happen to be called Jen and Sven, too, would they?"

"Curses! You've figured out my deepest, darkest secret. And now I'll have to kill you." Ben grins back.

Kevin laughs. "I promise I won't tell a soul." He shifts over on the hood and pats on the space beside him invitingly. Ben blushes but luckily Kevin didn't seem to have noticed as he takes the spot, leaning casually against the warm metal.

They lapse into a brief, awkward silence before Ben gathers the courage to ask, "So, uh, I haven't seen you pick Devlin up before... "

Kevin rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, my schedule's pretty hectic at the auto shop but I didn't think he ever had a problem with it. But yesterday, he suddenly asked me if I could change my schedule so I could start picking him up earlier. I don't mind, though." Kevin shrugs. "I'm happy as long as he's happy." he says. There's warmth in his voice as he says it, as if he can't think of anything else better in the world than his son. Ben's heart jumps to his throat.

"Yeah." he agrees. That had been how he felt after Ken was born.

"What about you, Tennyson?" Kevin asks, tilting his head a little to the right and it's all Ben can do not to pull him in for a kiss.

"I own a comic book store on Queen's Street." Ben says. "We don't get a lot of customers during the week so I open it after I drop Ken off and close it before picking him up. I keep it open longer on the weekends, though." Kevin is staring blankly at him and Ben's stomach plummets. He tried the whole dating thing for a while after Kai but whenever he mentions the store, his dates usually go, "Oh" in a tone that makes him want to punch their faces in and give him judging looks. He shouldn't have expected any different from Kevin. He tries to laugh it off with "Yeah, it's kinda lame, huh?"

"No. No. It's not. Actually, that's kinda awesome." says Kevin. Ben whips his head up and stares with unabashed surprise. "I love comic books. Owning a comic book shop was actually my dream job when I was a kid. Well, that and being aNASCAR driver."

It takes a while for Ben to find his voice. And then it takes him a while to form a sentence that doesn't include "will you marry me?" in it. "I dunno about that; being aNASCAR driver is pretty boring compared to the glamorous lifestyle of a comic book geek."

"But not nearly as awesome as Bruce Wayne's, though. You've seen the Batmobile, right?"

"Wayne? No way. Being Tony Stark is the way to go, man."

They sit there talking about superheroes and even Sumo Slammers at one point (Ben wonders if he'd died and gone to heaven without knowing it) until the school bell rings and kids begin trickling out the doors. Devlin and Ken are talking animatedly about something until Devlin catches sight of Kevin and jumps into his open arms just like the day before. The two boys say their goodbyes, promising to Skype later on in the evening before getting into their respective cars.

"Hey, uh," Ben blurts out just before Kevin can follow suit, fumbling in his pocket for the business cards Julie made for him last Christmas. "Here's my card. Er, for the store. If you're ever interested, just give me a call and I'll give you a discount." Kevin takes it with a smile, his fingers brushing against Ben's as he does so and Ben congratulates himself for not swooning over the touch.

"Thanks. See you tomorrow, Tennyson."

Ben gulps, trying to keep the smile on his face from growing too big. "Yeah, see you." Just like yesterday, he waits until Kevin's gotten into his car and watches them drive off into the street before finally getting into the Rust Bucket himself.

Ken teases Ben for the whole ride back home and only stops when Ben threatens to put the Jonas Brothers on.