He stared, horrified by his own body. He had lost control of his powers, that mental block he had on the Omnitrix's energy had broken. He was a monster once again. The knocker on his door sounded. He started. That's right, Gwen was coming over today. Damn it. He stood up, already too used to his new hulking frame for his taste, and hid in his bathroom like a little kid who didn't want to get in trouble. He heard the front door swing open.

"Kevin?" she called to him, he bit his tongue to keep from replying.

There was silence. Then her footsteps, "Why are you hiding in there?"

Shit, he forgot she could do that. Search for a specific being's manna.

"Go away," he begged, "find someone else." He could literally feel his heart snapping into quarters, it was a wonder he was still breathing as his lungs seemed to shrivel in his chest.

"What's going on?" she asked as she tried to open the door, he held it shut, "Leave! We're over! Find someone else!"

"What the heck is going on?!" she said, sounding close to tears. It took all his self control not to throw open the door and gather her into his arms, to soothe her distress. He steeled himself against that instinct. He had been a jackass to her before, he could do it again.

Besides, it wasn't as if she would be able to stand the sight of him once she found out. She would be repulsed, nobody could love what he had become.

The doorknob was wrenched from his inhuman hand and he cringed, closing all four eyes. Any minute now she would scream. Scream in pure terror and hatred. She would leave him; perhaps she could put him out of his misery first. After tasting what it was to be human, truly human, he couldn't live as this misbegotten walking horror.

"Oh Kevin," her voice was soft, comforting and above all still loving.

He suddenly felt a small body pushing to be held in his Wild Mutt arms and two arms hugging him tightly. Opening his eyes he found that it was Gwen he now held.

"It's okay," she told him, craning her neck to look him in the eyes, "It's going to be okay."

"How can you say that?!" he bit out harshly, the paws grasping her shoulders as gently as possible, "I'm a monster again! I can't go outside at all now, least of all because I can't fit through the door. I can't hold a job…"

"Kevin shut up," she commanded and he did, "Listen to me, you're not alone this time and maybe we'll find a way to fix this. You just have to trust me. Okay? I'm not going to leave you for something as shallow as this." Her eyes were lighted by outrage and compassion. They glared angrily at him, daring him to refute her words. He was smart enough not to. He stared at her though as if truly seeing her for the first time.

He smiled; surprised he could even manage to, and picked her up with his upper arms. She didn't fight his, if you could call it that, embrace and instead leaned her head onto his shoulder and encircled his neck with her arms.

Life may get a little weird for them at times, but it was good to know that they'd always have each other.