Here's the second chapter of The Price You'll Pay! I know I said it was only going to be a one shot, but so many people wanted me to make it actually Ben/Gwen that I couldn't resist and had to give our favorite characters a happy ending!

I hope you guys enjoy it!

oOoOo

Gwen was afraid to blink. She was sure that, if she did, the boy in front of her would disappear. But Ben just continued to grin widely, as if he'd received the greatest gift in the world at the doctor's office.

"Well," He asked, "aren't you going to let me in?"

Gwen nodded mutely, still halfway convinced that this unchanged Ben was a figment of her imagination. She stepped aside and pulled out her phone as Ben walked into her living room. She flipped open her phone and read the text message Ben had just sent her.

I didn't get that stupid hypnosis therapy. : )

Gwen looked up from her phone to Ben, who was still grinning from ear to ear. "Why?" She finally managed to ask.

"Because," He caught her gaze and held it, "I realized that it wasn't worth what I was giving up."

There was five seconds of silence as Gwen processed the underlying meaning of what he'd just told her. Then, before either of them could blink, Gwen had taken the five or so steps towards her cousin and had her arms wrapped around his neck in an embrace that he gladly returned.

"You, Benjamin Tennyson, are the most amazing guy ever!"

Ben laughed lightly, holding his cousin closer. "You make it pretty easy, being so amazing yourself."

The stayed that way for a few more minutes before a coughing broke them apart. Both teens, blushing wildly, broke apart slowly and turned to face the intruder.

"Grandpa!"

Max chuckled and smiled at his two grandchildren. "Now why is that I'm the one who finds you in all these sweet situations."

Both teens blazed even redder at his reminder of the incident a few years ago when Gwen had attempted (rather successfully) to teach Ben to dance. "Well there was the one time when my mom found us asleep on the couch." Ben said, smiling and almost sounding proud of himself for proving their grandfather wrong at something.

Gwen flushed again (just when her cheeks were returning to their normal color!), but she couldn't stop herself from laughing. "That was the last time we were allowed to have sleepovers."

Ben made a face at her but then turned back to their grandfather. "What are you doing here, Grandpa?"

Max sat down on the couch and his look turned serious. "Your parents told me about the hypnosis treatment they wanted you to undergo. I wanted to see if you would go through with it and how well it would work. And I knew that, no matter what, Gwen's house would be the first place you came." He smiled knowingly at his two grandchildren, but they didn't seem to catch it.

He patted the couch next to him. "Sit, Ben, tell me what happened."

Before Ben could take a step forward there was a strange beeping and Max stood up quickly. "Actually, that's going to have to wait. There's been a plumbing emergency. We'll talk later."

And then, moving faster than a man of his age should be able to, Max was out the door and gone. Ben and Gwen blinked and watched as the trail of dust settled behind their grandfather. "How on Earth did I miss the RV?"

Gwen shrugged. "Same way I didn't realize he was in the house at all, I guess." She turned to face her cousin. "But you can still tell me everything that happened." She began walking towards the kitchen. "Let's grab a snack and head up to my room."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "You want a snack?"

Gwen turned and gave him a pointed look. "Don't you?"

Ben gave her a pointed look. "Do you even have to ask?"

Gwen laughed, continuing on into the kitchen. "Then keep your mouth shut and follow me."

Ben did as he was told and they made there way into the kitchen. After grabbing a bag of chips and some soda they retreated to Gwen's room, the one place in the house where they would have some privacy. Gwen settled herself on her bed and Ben made for her desk before deciding that he wanted to be closer to his cousin. He sat down onto the bed next to her.

"Okay, spill. What happened? Why didn't you get it?"

Ben crossed his legs and leaned against her headboard. "I was going to go through with it, partly because I didn't think it would work and partly because my mom and dad really wanted me to try it. So I walked into his office, he tried to get me to talk to him about what had happened that summer to give me nightmares, I refused, and then he performed the hypnosis. . .sort of."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Sort of?"

Ben shrugged. "Well, he started it, but I got flooded with all these memories, mostly of me and you, and I realized that if I gave up my worst memories, I was also giving up my best ones."

He and Gwen shared a smile. "Besides, I wouldn't want you to have nightmares and have no one to talk about them with."

"You know I don't get nightmares." Gwen told him, shoving him playfully. "That shouldn't have stopped you."

Ben shrugged, his face serious. "I didn't want to take that chance. I remember how hard it was to deal with the nightmares before I was able to talk to you about them and I don't ever want you to have to go through that. Even for one night."

Gwen turned to her cousin, a soft smile sliding across her face. "Thank you. For everything."

Ben nodded. "Of course. . .anything for you."

Something shifted in between them then. The silence in the house seemed more pronounced then ever and Gwen wasn't quite sure what to do. Her head seemed to be getting closer to Ben's and even though she knew she was supposed to pull away, all she wanted to do was close the distance. Ben's eyes slid shut and Gwen followed the suit. Their lips met seconds later in a tentative, gentle kiss.

They pulled apart a few seconds later and the silence screamed in their ears.

"That was wrong. . .wasn't it?" Ben whispered a few seconds later.

Gwen nodded. "Yeah. . .I think so."

There was silence for a few more moments as the cousins looked at on another, trying to figure out what to say next.

"It. . .It didn't feel wrong." Ben said finally, not quite brave enough to look Gwen in the eyes as he did so.

"No," Gwen shook her head lightly. "It didn't."

There was silence again and Gwen knew that it was her turn to break it. "What does this mean?"

Ben thought about it for a minute before answering her. "It means that I'll always be here for you. No matter what." He seemed to be, in that instant, a lot wiser than his fourteen years.

Gwen smiled, her eyes filling up with tears. Ben noticed and immediately looked panicked. "Gwen, what's wrong?!"

"Nothing." She swiped at her eyes. "Nothing's wrong. I just. . .they won't stop."

Ben wiped a few tears off her cheeks and pressed his forehead to hers. "It's okay. Cry as much as you need to."

Gwen nodded and launched herself into his arms, crying into his shoulder. Ben sat there and rubbed comforting circles on her back. It was rare when Gwen cried, he could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen it personally, and he was perfectly content to sit there and let her cry if that's what she needed to do. They sat that way until Ben's parents came over to bring him.

And for the first time in nearly four years, Ben didn't have a nightmare.

oOoOo

Ben glared as Gwen and Kevin laughed over a joke that he wasn't privy to. Ever since Kevin had joined the team he and his cousin had been getting closer.

Ben did not approve.

Of course, he knew he had no real claim on his cousin either. After that night almost two years ago, Ben and Gwen had decided that, no matter what they might have felt, they were going to try and move on. Neither he nor Gwen had wanted to even try and pretend that it hadn't happened, that was a plan that was always doomed to failure, but they didn't want to face it either. And Gwen was more than allowed to pursue other relationships with people who weren't her cousins.

That didn't mean that Ben had to like it.

Finally, however, he just couldn't take it anymore. He rose from the log by the fire and headed towards where they'd placed their sleeping bags (traveling around all the time, and being broke teenagers, left them virtually no other sleeping options) calling to them over his shoulder. "I'm going to sleep. Night."

"Night Tennyson." Kevin replied, not bothering to look away from Gwen.

"Good night." Gwen watched her cousin slink over to the sleeping bags, worry in her eyes (he always slunk when was moody), but decided not to push it. Instead, she turned back to Kevin, smiling slightly.

oOo

"AH!" Ben watched in fright as two giant robots came flying at him. He took two fearful steps back and noticed his surroundings. He was on the barren planet that they had found the creator of the Omnitrix on. He almost smiled in relief. Any second now, Gwen's magic would smash the two robots together and carry him to safety. And then he would be able to rush to his cousin and throw his arms around her and everything would be all right.

But the two giant robots continued spinning towards him at dangerous speeds. Closer and closer they came until Ben had to jump out of the way to narrowly avoid being cut in half.

"Where's Gwen?" He shouted to Tetrax, trying to be heard over the roar of the firing lasers.

Tetrax threw the robot he was struggling with into another and turned to Ben. "Ben. . ." The alien looked distressed. "She was taken by the Florauna. . .remember?" He was speaking gently, as if he was afraid the information might break the young boy.

"But-but-but Gluto. . .he's species can regenerate itself! He saved her!"

Tetrax looked even more distressed at the mention of his deceased alien friend. "Ben, Gluto's species can't regenerate itself. Both he and Gwen are gone."

Ben backed away, sure that the alien was lying to him. "No! That's not true. Gluto regenerated himself and saved her! And then she saved me. . ."

Tetrax shook his head, no doubt thinking that grief gotten the better of Ben. "Ben. . .she's gone. They both are. And we need to concentrate on the battle that's going on now." He dodged another robot and Ben did the same seconds later.

"But-"

Before he could finish his thought the ground beneath them began to rumble. Both robots and aliens stopped, more concerned with keeping their balance and finding the source of the rumbling than with their opponents.

"What the-"

Again he was cut off, this time as Florauna sprouted from the ground by the hundreds. The Florauna closest to Ben was holding something in his hands and for a second Ben wondered what is was.

He didn't have to wait long to find out.

The Florauna all began to laugh, an evil laugh that sent shivers down everyone's spine, good and bad a like. The one closest to Ben dropped his parcel and Ben watched as it fell to the ground.

He felt his heart break as the lifeless body of his cousin hit the ground before him with a sickening thud.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

oOo

"NO!" Ben shot up in his sleeping bag and did his best to catch his breath.

From over by the fire both Kevin and Gwen stopped mid conversation and turned to face him. Kevin took one look at his disheveled appearance and shook his head.

"Nightmares Ben, really? Aren't you a little too old to be having nightmares?"

"Kevin!" Gwen reprimanded their. . . (friend? Enemy? Frenemy? Ben still wasn't quite sure which), standing up and making her way over to her cousin. "Don't talk about things like that when you don't know anything about them." She knelt down next to Ben, putting a hand to his cheek, and when she spoke her tone was much softer than it had been. "Was it the same one you used to have?"

Ben nodded, still not sure if he trusted himself to speak. The next thing he knew Gwen's arms were wrapped around his neck and she was pulling him close to her. "It's okay. I'm right here."

Ben did nothing but shake silently. He hadn't had a nightmare in so long that he was particularly rattled by this one. Kevin looked (understandably) confused. "What's going on?"

Gwen shook her head, "Don't worry about it." She turned back to Ben and began (to the shock of both boys) to make herself comfortable next to him.

"Uh. . ." Ben looked at his cousin who had dragged her sleeping bag over to his and had unzipped hers, dragged him out of his, and had unzipped his and spread it over hers. Before he had time to finish the sentence she had shoved him back down and had settled herself down next to him.

Ben gave up on trying to fight his cousin; he almost never won anyways, and just lay back down, pulling her sleeping bag over him. Gwen smiled in satisfaction and lay down next to him, curling up beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. Kevin raised an eyebrow at the interesting sleeping arrangements but choose (wisely in Ben's opinion) not to comment on it. Instead he just doused the fire and climbed into his own sleeping bag a little ways away.

After Kevin had settled down and silence had descended upon the campsite once more, Ben turned over so that he could see his cousin. "What was that all about?"

Gwen smiled and Ben realized with a jolt that all her features were highlighted in the moonlight and that she looked ten times more beautiful than before (and he hadn't thought that was possible). "You haven't had a nightmare in a while. I didn't want you to be alone. Even for one night."

Ben smiled, hearing the echo of his own words in her speech. "Thank you. I'm sorry I ruined your night with Kevin."

Gwen shook her head and Ben was momentarily distracted by her hair as it brushed against him. "Don't be sorry, you will always come before Kevin. Especially for something like this."

Ben blushed as the words did something funny to his heart. "You're the greatest."

Gwen grinned and bumped his shoulder with her fist gently. "I know. What would you do without me?"

Ben laughed softly and lay back down, pulling Gwen with him and finally speaking the words he hadn't allowed her to hear all those years ago. "I sure am glad I don't have to find out."

There was only the softest sound of recognition from Gwen; she was already half asleep. Ben smiled lightly and leaned his head over to brush his lips against her forehead. "Good night Gwen."

Ben settled down, secure in the knowledge that his dreams would be pleasant for quite awhile. It was amazing what simple knowledge could do to set a person's mind at ease.

It made his heart swell to know that, even if Gwen fell in love (or in lust), he would always come first.

oOoOo

Ben rolled over in bed, unable to sleep. It had been a year to the day since they had defeated the DNAliens and the memories of the final battle still haunted him. Nightmares weren't a problem anymore (well. . .usually they weren't). Now he was haunted by the look in Kevin's eyes as Gwen had chosen to save Ben's life over his.

Kevin had become a good friend to him (and possibly a bit more to his cousin) during their travels and Ben knew the decision on whose life she should save had nearly killed her. They'd both taken an extremely bad beating from the head of the DNAliens, and the watched had timed out, leaving Ben as just a human. So when two separate DNAliens had charged at them, Gwen (who had just turned from killing her own DNAlien) had had a split second to make one of the toughest decisions possible.

Ben had braced himself for death only to see Kevin's eyes widen in fright and betrayal before he felt himself being lifted from the ground and placed down in safety a few feet away.

Both teens had immediately turned to Kevin, hoping against hope that there was time to save him. . .

Only to find Grandpa Max standing between Kevin and what was left of the DNAlien, holding a smoking gun.

Both teens had been so shocked at the return of their grandfather that it had been a few hours before either of them had been able to talk to Kevin. And when Gwen had tried to talk to him, he had exploded at her. He had accused her of a number of horrible things that Ben knew he probably didn't mean (Kevin didn't always think when he was upset). Kevin had finished his rant by hoping they were happy in their sick little lives together and that he never wanted to see either of them again, before storming into his car and driving away.

Neither he nor Gwen had heard from him since.

Ben had never figured out why Gwen had made the choice she had made. She never wanted to talk about that day unless it was about their Grandfather's miraculous return (he'd apparently been sucked into the Null Void when the mechanism had blown up and had only lost his arm in the process). Ben was curious to know how she had seen the events of the night, but didn't want to push her.

She would talk to him when, and if, she was ready.

A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts and he got out bed wondering who would be calling on him at three in the morning. Glad that his roommate had opted to go home for the weekend (he hated to be disturbed in the middle of the night), Ben opened his door and was surprised to see Gwen standing on the other side, wrapped in a blue blanket.

"Gwen?" He blinked just to make sure that the girl was really there. Not that it was unusual to see his cousin, they did go to the same university after all, it's just that curfew for members of the opposite sex was one a.m. on weekends and Gwen wasn't one for breaking the rules. "What's wrong?"

Gwen pulled her blanket tighter around her. "I. . .couldn't sleep." She confessed. "Could we talk?"

Ben nodded and stepped aside so that she could hurry into the room before his resident advisor could catch them. He closed the door softly and turned back to find Gwen already sitting on her bed, legs pulled up to her chest. He made his way to his bed and sat down beside her. "You've been thinking about the battle last year, haven't you?"

Gwen nodded and Ben could clearly see the pain in her eyes. "Yeah." She whispered. "It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, choosing between you and Kevin like that." She shook her head. "And knowing that I made the right decision doesn't make it any easier to handle."

"Especially with how Kevin flipped out. But you and I both know he was just angry and he'll find us when he's ready to talk."

Gwen looked up at him. "It's been a year Ben."

Ben smiled gently. "It's Kevin we're talking about, remember? He probably cooled off a week after it happened and has spent the rest of the time antagonizing over how he's going to swallow his pride and apologize."

Gwen smiled slightly at that. "Yeah, you're right."

There was silence for a minute while Ben worked up the nerve to ask his cousin the question that had been weighing on his mind for exactly one year. "Why. . .why did you choose to save me? Instead of Kevin, I mean."

Gwen was silent for a moment and Ben's hopes for her talking to him about that night were dashed again. Until finally. . .

"I chose the one that I knew I couldn't live without." Ben's eyes widened in surprise, but Gwen seemed interested in the sheets on his bed, and refused to meet his gaze. "I had five seconds to figure out who to save and so I asked my heart which one I needed to save. And it chose you."

Ben looked down, his heart was racing at her speech, but he had something to confess to her about that day. "I was. . .I was ready to die that day. When I saw the DNAliens coming after us, I knew that one of us wasn't going to walk away from that fight. And I thought that you would pick Kevin."

Gwen's head snapped up. "What? How could you think that?"

Ben shrugged. "It's not that I thought you wanted me to die. Gwen, you're my best friend and, if you hadn't chosen me, I would have died with the knowledge that it was the toughest decision you'd ever had to make and that you would miss me until you died. And you and Kevin were. . . well, whatever you were becoming."

Gwen shook her head. "Kevin is a great guy, and I really liked him, but I didn't like him that way as much as I thought I did. It makes me feel so horrible to say, but in some ways I think maybe I was trying to use Kevin to get over. . ." Her voiced dropped to a whisper and Ben almost missed the end of her sentence. "You."

Gwen looked up to meet his gaze and saw his eyes widen in shock. "I know that it's not right, and that after that night we agreed to let it go because it's wrong. . . but I can't seem to do that." Her shoulder's slumped and she looked, for the first time in her life, utterly defeated. "I'm sorry."

Ben shook his head even though she couldn't see him and couldn't stop the smile that was sliding across his face. "Don't be sorry." He grabbed her chin and gently forced her to meet his gaze. "I don't want you to apologize for that."

Red streaked across her face and, to Ben, she had never looked more adorable. "W-why?"

"Because," He moved his face until it was dangerously close to hers. "I don't want to have to apologize for this."

And he closed the distance between them with a kiss.

They broke apart, both breathing heavily but smiling more sincerely than they had in a long time. Ben wasn't sure about Gwen, but this was the happiest he had been since before they'd begun fighting the DNAliens. And even though he was sure that pursuing this relationship was going to be far from the easiest thing he and his cousin had ever done, he wasn't even the slightest bit worried. For now he just wanted to relax and enjoy the bliss that had accompanied that kiss. Only one thing could make it better. . .

His phone rang, the ringtone blaring in the silence. Both teens jumped and Ben scrambled for his phone, wondering who on Earth would be calling him this late. He flipped his phone open and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Tennyson." The voice on the other line said jokingly. "Glad to see your still up at all hours of the night."

"K-kevin?" Gwen's head shot up, her eyes wide and Ben grinned at her, knowing that things were going to be fine. "Hey!"

"I know it's late, but I thought maybe we could talk. Why don't you bring Gwen out in front of your dorm, that's where I'm parked. You can use the Omnitrix if it'll make you feel better."

Ben laughed, glad to see that all of Kevin's anger from that day truly did seem to have disappeared completely. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think it's necessary. We'll be down in a minute though."

He shut the phone and turned to Gwen. "Are you ready to make this the greatest one year anniversary of the destruction of an evil alien race ever?"

Gwen didn't even bat an eyelash at the sentence. Instead she just nodded enthusiastically. "Yes!" She cried as quietly as possible, tackling Ben in a hug that knocked him over. "Everything is going to be okay again. We can go back to being the three amigos again!"

Ben raised an eyebrow, getting off his bed and shrugging into his coat. "Who called us the three amigos?"

Gwen grinned bashfully. "I did. . .sometimes." Then she grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze. "Let's go get our friend back."

They made their way outside to find Kevin leaning against his car. He looked so much like he had when they'd last seen him that Ben was filled with the sensation of walking towards the car to go on another alien hunt. Shaking his head, he walked up to Kevin and stuck out his hand. "Welcome back. We missed you."

Kevin looked at his hand. "That's it? We're not going to talk about it or something?"

"Talk about what?" Ben smiled sweetly. "You went on vacation. . ." He trailed off and Kevin grinned.

"Works for me Tennyson." He grabbed Ben's hand and shook it. "It's nice to be back." He turned to Gwen, his expression growing nervous; he obviously recalled their last encounter. "Hey."

Gwen smiled. "Hi." She pulled him into a hug. "I'm glad your safe and that your back." Then she stepped back and made a point to grab Ben's hand in a less then cousinly manner.

Kevin eyed this and grinned. "I was hoping you guys were going to make some progress while I was gone."

Ben smiled. "Thanks. . .I think? So. . .why did it take you a year to get back here?"

Kevin shrugged. "I was mad for a couple days, maybe a week, and then I got over it and realized that I was being stupid. Then I spent a long while trying to figure out I was going to apologize," Ben shot Gwen an 'I told you so' look, "and then I spent the last three months trying to find you. For world famous heroes, you guys are hard to track down."

And Gwen smiled and was so happy that she threw her arms around her two favorite people in the world and had to fight back tears.

"Whoa. . .is she crying?"

Ben laughed at Kevin's astonishment. "Yeah, she does that sometimes."

Laughing, Gwen pulled back, slapping both boys lightly on the shoulder. "Shut up." Unfortunately, she said it while she was swiping at her eyes so the boys only laughed harder.

"So. . ." She asked, once they'd finally managed to stop laughing. "What does this mean?"

"It means," Ben told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her close to him so he could plant a quick kiss on her lips, "that we see where it goes from here."

oOoOo

Gwen looked beautiful, but then, she always did. Except today she looked especially gorgeous, which was only to be expected. Her hair was down, and although she'd cut it, it still went down past her shoulders. She'd curled it lightly, leaving it to float around her face in an almost unearthly way. Her green eyes sparkled with a kind of radiance that only accompanied women on this day, and she seemed to float down the aisle, her form fitting white dress accenting just how much of a woman she had become.

Ben grinned as Gwen walked towards him. Everyone around them knew that this had to have been the happiest day of Gwen's life. She was practically glowing.

Ben looked at Kevin from the place of the best man and gave him a smile that didn't quite reach his jealous eyes.

oOo

Ben sat up in bed, breathing heavily. Beside him, there was some stirring and he looked over to see Gwen sitting up and running a hand through her hair.

"Ben?" She yawned, neither of them were used to waking up in the middle of the night. "Are you alright?"

Benn nodded. "Yeah. . .it was just a nightmare."

Gwen's eyes widened, she was fully awake now. "A nightmare? Was it. . .you know, the one you used to always have?"

Ben shook his head. "No. . .it was worse. I had a dream that. . .that. . ." He shuddered theatrically. "that you were marrying Kevin." The last part slipped out in a whisper.

Gwen blinked at the man beside her. . .before bursting into laughter. Ben glared. "Hey! It's not that funny!"

Gwen managed to stop laughing and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry. But you have nothing to worry about. You know that I love you and you know that's going to be forever."

Ben smiled, this was his girl. "So I'm never going to have to worry about you marrying Kevin."

Gwen shook her head, moving her hands to cup either side of his face. "Never."

"Good." Ben murmured before leaning down to capture her lips with his in a heated kiss.

All was peaceful until. . .

"You know, I can hear you. . ." Kevin's sleep filled voice floated to them through the wall.

Ben and Gwen broke apart and began laughing as silently as possible.

"Watch it, if you guys aren't nice to me I'll move out and then your cover will be blown." There was teasing in his voice, so neither Ben nor Gwen took him seriously.

"Yes sir!" They said together, Gwen trying her hardest not to break into laughter.

There was grumbling from Kevin's room, but Ben and Gwen both choose to ignore it. Instead, Gwen smiled up at her boyfriend of nearly six years. "So no more nightmares, right?"

Ben nodded, placing a quick kiss on her lips. "Rest assured, there will be no more nightmares for me."

Gwen's smile widened and Ben couldn't help but return it.

"Besides," He told her, bringing his forehead down to press against hers, "how can I possibly have nightmares when I have you with me."

oOoOo

Woohoo! It's finished. This took me forever and a day to finish because school started up and I kept getting distracted by a hundred different things that I had to do, but it's finally done.

And just in case anyone was a little confused about the ending, Kevin is living with Ben and Gwen and they're living under the guise that Kevin and Gwen are dating and Ben is rooming with them, because two cousins living together would be a little odd. . .

I hope they weren't too OoC, but there is quite a few jumps in time so I guess a little OoCness can be tolerated, but I hope that it's not too bad.

R&R and let me know!