DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ben 10…if I did, it would have been a different story altogether…

___SUGAR AND SPICE___

"Shut up, dweeb!" cried Gwen, exasperated, "I'm just trying to look up something useful — and you just have to interfere!! Can't you just turn into some one alien or other and go packing off like you usually do?"

"Nah!" said Ben, nonchalantly, putting his feet up on the tables, "You're the biggest source of entertainment I have, Gwen!"

"Creep," fumed Gwen under her breath, and turned her attention back to her laptop. So what else could she look up now? Magic, charms, spells, Ben's aliens……Her mind froze. Now why had she suddenly thought of Ben and his aliens? As much as she could perceive, she hated Ben, didn't she? She looked up at Ben. Ben was staring at her fixedly.

"What are you doin'?" she asked curiously. Her cousin never even looked at her, leave alone stare. But hey! He was looking kinda…um…HOT?? Gwen couldn't believe her own thoughts! Why – Ben was her cousin! Gwen shook her head and brought her gaze down. But that awkward feeling of having someone stare at you crept inside her more…and more…and more…

"Stop it, will you?" she cried, standing up. But there was no one in front of her.

"Ben…" she called, turning around. The moment she turned around she could feel Ben's lips on her, drawing her into a passionate kiss.

Knowing better than to spoil the moment, she pulled Ben closer to her, drawing him into a fierier kiss than the one he'd begun. They kissed, and kissed, and kissed, like there was no tomorrow……

"NO!!!!!" Gwen sat up with a gasp on her bunk. Her breath came out in hoarse whispers. She was drenched from head to toe in sweat. She looked around herself, as if expecting some wild animal to pounce upon her.

Slowly, she faltered out of bed. She opened the door to the bathroom, and sat down with a thunk. She tried to clear her thoughts. What had that kiss been all about? Ben kissing her…or she kissing Ben…or both? Her mind was too clogged to remember. The only thing that registered was the kiss. Just the thought of anything like that happening in real life made her want to puke. Ugggghhhh!!! It was so …… GROSS!!

There was a bang on the bathroom door. "Gwen!" cried Ben, banging hard, "You're not the only one who needs to pee!"

Gwen was about to make a rude remark, but her words caught in her throat. She silently opened the door, and walked out, keeping her gaze down. Ben's jaw dropped. Why was Gwen behaving so strangely? Usually, she wouldn't have left even a minor opportunity to insult him!

"Gwen…" said Ben, stopping Gwen in her tracks, "What's up?" Gwen looked up at Ben. In an instant, images of the dream came rushing back to her, and she had to look down. Shoving Ben gently aside, she crept up into her bunk, pulled up the covers over her head, and sighed.

'It was just a dream, you idiot!' she said to herself; but even that did little to reassure her. It was as if she had done something terrible, and was feeling guilty for it. But she hadn't done anything!! It had just been a dream!!!!! Were you supposed to feel guilty even for something that you did in your dreams?

Tears welled up in her eyes. 'It was just a dream…just a dream…' she kept repeating to herself……JUST A DREAM……

It was about nine in the morning when Gwen woke up. Grandpa had gone somewhere, and Ben was still asleep. Gwen jumped down from her bunk and went into the bathroom. When she came out, Ben was already up. He gave her a toothy smile. Gwen started. From when was beginning to behave so nicely with her? She grinned back, trying to enthuse as much affection in the smile as she could.

"So," said Ben, climbing down from his bunk, and standing directly in front of her, "What was bugging you last night?"

Gwen shook her head. How could she possibly tell Ben about her dream? He was her cousin, goddammit! Not her boyfriend! A blush crept up to her cheeks.

"So is it something you can't tell a guy?" asked Ben, "Some girl thing?"

'No," blurted out Gwen. She didn't want Ben to think all sorts of things about her!

Ben placed a hand on her shoulder. Tremors of euphoria ran her down her spine. She felt herself blushing profusely. "You can tell me, Gwen," said Ben gravely, "I won't spill the beans –like you do!!"

"Shut up," retorted Gwen, and turned away. Ben sighed, shrugged and went off into the bathroom. Gwen couldn't imagine what was happening to her. Why, Ben was her cousin!! Was she – was she – like…

The sound of the bathroom door being slammed snapped her back into reality. Ben came up to where Gwen was sitting, and sat down directly in front of her.

"It's confession time, cousin!" he said, a bit sarcastically., "Either you tell me directly, or I'll have to worm it outta you some way or the other."

"Huh!" said Gwen, desperately trying to hide her nervousness, "Worm it out of me? Keep dreaming, Ben!"

Ben set his face in a grim line, "I'm waiting, Gwen. The problem is that you can't trust me, isn't it?"

Gwen shook her head.

"Then," said Ben, "If you trust me, why don't you speak up? Or would you rather tell it to Grandpa? I don't care if you tell him instead of me. I just—want you to return back to your normal self…that's all. So, me or Grandpa?"

"You," said Gwen without a moment's hesitation.

"Then it's time you spoke up," said Ben, looking into Gwen's eyes meaningfully.

Gwen couldn't stand it any longer. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes. "It was — it was a – a dream!" she blurted out under duress.

Ben narrowed his eyes. A dream? He got up, and went and sat beside Gwen. It was support she needed right now, and he'd give her just that. Ben took hold of Gwen's hands, and said softly, "And what was that dream all about?"

Gwen faced Ben. For some moments, the two stared deeply at each other. Then without a single word she threw her arms around Ben, sobbing uncontrollably.

For a second, Ben was flabbergasted. Gwen was hugging HIM? As Gwen's body pressed against his, he could feel a delightful warmth inching into each and every depth of his body. 'God, she's hot,' he thought, ' I really wish we hadn't been cousins!' Unlike Gwen, Ben felt no shame for thinking of his cousin like this. You could fall in love with anybody on earth…so what was wrong if the 'anybody' was your cousin?

After a while, Gwen broke the embrace, and reclined back. She inhaled deeply, trying to sort out her thoughts. There was no doubt left in it. She had fallen in love with her cousin……

"What about that dream, Gwen?" prompted Ben soothingly. He did not want to upset Gwen any more than she already was.

"It's wrong, Ben," said Gwen, feeling it was no use hiding her emotions, "We're cousins…"

"I asked you about that dream, Gwen," said Ben, "What happened? Why did it upset you? Has it anything to do with what you just said?"

Gwen silently nodded. How could she tell him that – that…

Seeing her hesitation, Ben decided to take a bold step. "I know it's wrong," he said sighing, "We're cousins. But there isn't any rule saying that cousins can't be lovers, is there?" As Gwen looked up, Ben knew he had hit on the right point.

"Ben…" said Gwen, her whole body sweating, "I…I…tried to avoid it for a long time… I knew something was happening to me, but I just couldn't understand what. A thousand emotions seemed to be intertwined – preventing me from hitting on the right one. But yesterday's dream solved it all. Ben…I think I'm in love with you…"

Ben looked back at Gwen with a strange expression on his face ---- and for a second, Gwen felt as if he was going to slap her.

But what happened instead was totally unexpected. Ben leaned forward, and pressed his lips against hers…with such passion, such romance, that Gwen could never have imagined existed. In an instant, a great load fell away from Gwen's heart. She could almost feel it almost rolling away. Without hesitation, Gwen closed her eyes, and pressed herself against him, losing herself in his gentle caress, his tender kiss…

Finally, after a long time, they broke the kiss, when the need to take a breath became indispensable. Flushed and exhilarated from the experience, both of them lay back, exhausted.

'That was…" began Ben, searching for a word to voice his emotions.

"Marvelous…" finished Gwen for him, grinning happily, "I never knew you too felt about me this way!"

"Actually…" said Ben, "Till yesterday, I didn't. and when I did, I was completely out of control!"

Gwen shifted closer to Ben, as Ben put an arm around her. "So," he said mischievously, "You didn't tell me what your dream had been about!"

"Ben Tennyson," said Gwen, grinning, "Would you believe me if I said that we just lived my dream?"

"What?" said Ben, pretending to be startled, "This kiss was your dream? Nothing more?"

"What?" asked Gwen, delightfully surprised, "Why, would you really like something more?"

"Wouldn't you?" countered Ben, pulling Gwen closer to him.

Gwen faced Ben, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. "You bet I would!!!!!!"

THE END

A/N: Okay, this was my second fic. Hope you liked it. I tried to put in as much BenXGwen fluff in it as I could. Just press that button and leave a REVIEW!!!!!