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Gwen was in a good mood.
Darkstar was in the Null Void, the team were now official Plumbers, and it seemed like whatever was going on between her and Kevin was finally blossoming into something more.
They had almost kissed last night.
Almost.
A pesky Highbreed had interrupted them, and with how the rest of the night unfolded, they had yet to talk about it.
Kevin had mentioned he was going to tell his mother he was now an official Plumber and, in Gwen's mind, celebrating that victory was the perfect excuse to visit him. If he brought up their near kiss in conversation, she'd welcome it, but she didn't want to confront him. That hadn't worked out so well the last time.
As expected, the garage door was wide open. She scanned the room as she walked in and spotted his legs peeking out from underneath his car. She called his name to get his attention, to no avail. Rolling her eyes, she knelt beside him and lightly shook his knee. He slid out from under his car with a yelp. In a state of panic, he quickly sat up and reached for something to absorb, but stopped when he saw her. It only now occurred to her that he'd been sleeping before she arrived. Whoops.
She put her hands up to assure him she meant no harm. "Hey, hey, you're okay. It's just me," she said softly. "You fell asleep under your car."
"Yeah", he replied, catching his breath. "It— It happens."
Caught off-guard by his nonchalance, her mouth hung open. "This is normal?" Nothing about the position he was in looked remotely comfortable. Given the time he'd spent as a runaway, however, she supposed she shouldn't be too surprised that he could sleep on almost anything.
"It is to me." Brushing off her concern with a shrug, he shifted the focus of their conversation. "Trouble?"
The corners of her lips curved into a smile. "No, nothing like that. I... I wanted to check up on you."
"Is that so?" Kevin was touched that she actively cared about what went on his life. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it, though. It felt so foreign.
Gwen moved to sit cross-legged in front of him. "How'd it go with your mom?"
He fondly thought back to the previous night. After a turbulent few years, his relationship with his mother was improving at long last. "Good. Really good, actually. She... She's proud of me for gettin' my life together."
"I'm glad it went well, 'cause, um..." She slid her arms out of the straps of her backpack and placed it between herself and Kevin. Unzipping it, she retrieved a small jar of chocolate chip cookies. "I made these for you. You know, to celebrate the good news."
Warily, he accepted the jar into his hands, eyeing it. One might think he had never seen cookies before with the look on his face. "You went through all that trouble for me?"
She waved her hand dismissively. "No trouble at all." She gestured at the jar, signaling him to open it, which he did. She watched intently as he pulled out a cookie nearly half as big as his palm and bit off a small chunk.
His eyes went wide as soon as the flavor hit his taste buds. "Oh."
Oh, no. Did he not like it? She could have sworn the few cookies she'd had earlier were fine. "Is that a good 'oh' or a bad 'oh'?"
"Let's just say you've got a future in baking if this crimefightin' thing doesn't work out," he said before finishing his cookie. The fact that it was made specifically for him automatically made it better than any cookie he could buy from the store.
She placed a hand over her heart and sighed in relief, grateful that her skills had paid off. "I'm glad you like it."
Just as he was about to eat another cookie, his eyes momentarily darted to the side, to a small red sack on the shelf. "That's two days in a row now you've given me gifts." His voice was laced with guilt.
"You don't have to give me anything. This thing between us— whatever it is— isn't transactional, you know. I like giving you gifts 'cause... well, I like you, duh." She accentuated her point by poking his chest.
He dropped the cookie into the jar, having lost his appetite out of the blue. "Right. I, um..." Still refusing to look her in the eye, he swallowed a lump in his throat, wanting so badly to tell her he liked her, too. Unfortunately, his lips wouldn't dare form the words. He didn't know what he was even afraid of. They both already knew he liked her. He'd only be stating the obvious. "Um, about last night..."
Her smile morphed into a toothy grin. In anticipation, she leaned forward slightly. "We could give it another go."
"I think the moment's passed."
Slumping her shoulders, she visibly deflated at his reply, and pulled back. "Oh."
He raised his voice, scrambling to explain himself. "N—Not that I don't wanna kiss you! I don't wanna do it for the sake of it, that's all!"
Her cheeks reddened, betraying her embarrassment at having misread his intentions. "Yeah, I— I get it."
Kevin's hand crossed the space between them, lightly resting on her shoulder. "Look, about last night, I just wanted to say thanks for comin' over to check on me. You didn't have to do that."
"Maybe, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I care about you." She lifted his hand off her shoulder. Locking eyes with him, she laced her fingers through his, exactly as she did last night. "And I don't know how much this is worth, but I'm proud of who you are."
Her phrasing intrigued him. She wasn't proud of who he was becoming, or who he could be at his best. She was proud of him as he was, right now. He was flattered, yet at the same time, he feared that her pride in him was misplaced. "What do you see in me that I don't?"
"I see someone who's trying his best to be better, even when it gets difficult. I'm sure part of you would feel more comfortable on the wrong side of the law, but you wake up every day and choose to stay on the right side. Yeah, you might mess up from time to time, but Ben and I are here to look out for you. You'd do the same for us." She rose to her knees and scooted closer to him. "For me."
"In a heartbeat," he echoed her earlier sentiment with a soft smile.
Silence filled the room as they exchanged a look, both having more to say but neither knowing how to articulate their thoughts. The sudden pitter-patter of rain outside the garage attracted their attention, forcing those words to remain unsaid.
"There wasn't a cloud in the sky on my way over," Gwen muttered under her breath.
Kevin reluctantly let go of her hand. "Want me to take ya home?"
Shaking her head, she turned back to him. "Nah, I just got here. I'd rather ride it out."
"We're gonna have to find a way to pass the time, then."
"I'd be fine sitting here in comfortable silence for a while. You're good company." With that, she sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the rain fall.
Unbeknownst to her, he'd planned to run some errands, but with how comfortable she was getting, he decided to forego them. He appreciated her presence far too much to cut their time short.
There would be time for errands tomorrow. For now, he was going to let the day take its course.