Final installment. I hope you all enjoyed!

~Wednesday, November 15: Evening~

Julie cast one final nervous glance at Gwen in the backseat of Kevin's amazing car just before getting out, her hand still resting on the knob. She was nervous—more nervous that she had been when she first accepted a date with Ben. This time, there was so much more riding on their meeting. This could be the end of their relationship, completely and totally.

"It'll be fine," Gwen assured her with a smile. "Really, it will."

Kevin nodded, his mean roguish face transforming. "If he does anything else stupid, I'll punch him in the face for you."

"Kevin!" Gwen protested, punching him in the arm.

"What? I will!"

Julie laughed uneasily, looking up at Ben's house and biting her lower lip. All the lights were on and she could see Ben's silhouette hiding in the curtains of the living room, waiting to see what she would do. Would she get out and come to see him or would Kevin and his car pull away with her still inside? She wondered if he was as nervous as she was.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Gwen murmured.

Kevin's eyes flashed in the dark. "Ben's a moron. You could do better than him."

"Kevin," Gwen warned.

"What? He is and she could. You know that and I know that and she knows that. Ben had screwed up more than once."

"I know he has," Julie whispered. "But… this is hard for us. It's not exactly a normal relationship."

Gwen rubbed Julie's shoulder. "You do what you think is right."

"But Ben is a moron and nothing will change so you'd better know what you're getting in to."

"Kevin!" Gwen snapped and yanked his ear.

"What? Ouch!"

As she opened the door, Julie smiled, her confidence boosted. "I have to do this," she said more to herself than to her friends. Then, she hesitated outside, one foot on the ground, and turned back to Gwen. "If… if something goes wrong, can I call you? Will you come and get me?"

"Of course," Gwen said and squeezed Julie's hand.

"Thanks," Julie whispered and got out.

Then, Gwen snapped at Kevin the moment the door was closed. "Why did you say those things about Ben? That Julie could do better? We're trying to get them back together and that clearly wasn't helping our argument!"

"Relax, Gwen," Kevin said, his hands resting absently on the steering wheel. "I had a plan."

"Oh, really? You had a plan?" she asked, disbelieving.

"I did," he assured her. "If I said something nasty like that, I figured Julie would defend him."

"But she didn't."

He grinned. "I'm sure she did inside."

Gwen smiled. "Very clever, Kevin."

"I did the same thing with Ben earlier, you know, when he took a swing at me and you put me in a bubble." He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "He defended their relationship. He had to realize what a great girl Julie is and how lucky he is to have her."

"Like you and me?"

He grinned, debonair. "Sure."

Gwen rolled her eyes.

Outside the car and oblivious to the conversation going on inside it, Julie glanced at the door again, took a deep breath, and started up the walk to Ben's front door. She hesitated again, glancing back at Kevin and Gwen and getting a thumbs-up of encouragement, before dredging up the courage to knock on the door. She knew Ben was waiting just inside and there was no moment to delay and gather her thoughts before he had opened the door.

Julie turned back towards Kevin and Gwen, her heart in her throat like a stone and she almost cried out to them desperately, but Kevin took off. His tires squealed. Neither of them wanted to give her a chance to back out before she talked to Ben. Just like that, it was only her and him—alone—together.

She turned back to him, her eyes wide.

"Hi," he breathed nervously.

"Hello," she whispered.

"Come in?" he asked.

She did, but didn't know what to do then. She just stood there, staring at him, unable to speak and hardly able to breathe.

Ben could only stare at her, taking in the hunch of her shoulders and the worry lining her pretty face. The bruise was still there, dark and ugly, reminding him of his failure to protect her from Animo. But more than that, she looked… afraid… of him? Ben winced inside. He supposed he deserved that. He had shouted at her after she had nearly been killed and then thrown her up to Gwen rather than keeping her at his side. He hadn't even hugged her. He hadn't even spoken her name. He hadn't even said that he was glad she was okay or asked if she was alright.

He was a jerk and he had screwed up big time.

"Ben, I," she began, but was cut off but Ben crushing her to him in a desperate embrace. She gasped his name, her voice muffled against his chest.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair.

She could feel the ache in his chest as he spoke, the sorrow and pain and suffering.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, hugging her closer.

Tears welled in her eyes and she wrapped her arms around him in return, hugging him close. She pressed her face into him, breathing in the scent of his skin and just allowing his warmth to surround her. She hadn't been warm since Animo had taken her from Ben and then Ben had dumped her. Since then, she had just felt cold.

Julie's legs buckled out from beneath her and she started to slide to her knees. Ben went with her until they were both on the floor, still locked tightly round each other. She had crawled practically into his lap and he was holding her as tightly as if he wanted to absorb her into his body.

Her fingers dug into his shirt, clutching desperately. She didn't want this moment to end. It was too much like a dream and she would wake up back at home in her own empty bed, clutching only Ben's abandoned jacket. But she felt Ben tremble and shake in her arms and knew this couldn't be a dream.

"Ben," she whispered and pushed him back a little.

"Please," he begged her, tightening his arms.

"Let me go, Ben."

As if she had punched him, he did. His green eyes were full of pain and regret. "Julie, please," he whispered.

"Ben," she murmured. "Why did you do this to me? To us?"

He closed his eyes, a single tear leaking down his cheek.

Julie touched his face. "I know that you still have feelings for me. I know you lied about being in love with someone else. So why…? Why would you do this to us?"

He reached for her, but she denied him, even though she wanted nothing more than to dissolve into his arms.

"Please, I need you to tell me why," she whispered.

Ben swallowed and then whispered, "It was to protect you."

Her coffee-colored eyes widened.

He continued. "When Animo took you, I thought my heart was going to break. I was so afraid for you. I just… I could never lose you."

"But why do this…?" she breathed.

"As long as you're with me, you'll be in danger. You were almost killed today."

Julie bit her lip. "That was just a freak accident. I didn't think the Forever Knights would hurt me."

"It's worse than you could know, Julie. To them, Gwen, Kevin, and I are all aliens to be destroyed and you're a human who's with me—with an alien. They would kill you just to stop us from ever being together. You don't even know the danger you're in just because you're with me."

"But I can protect myself."

Ben shook his head. "It doesn't matter. My enemies will always be coming after you to try to get to me and they don't know how close they are to my…" he broke off.

"What?" she whispered.

He met her eyes, so deep and dark, red-rimmed and full of pain. "They don't know how close they are to breaking my heart, my soul, my everything," he whispered. "If something were to happen to you, Julie, I could never forgive myself."

Her heart pounded. "But," she breathed.

He reached out for her, almost desperately, but she still denied him. "Please," he whispered.

She shook her head. "How could you make a decision like that? By yourself? Without talking to me?"

He lowered his arms. "So long as you're alive… that's all that matters to me."

Suddenly and sharply, she slapped him across the face.

Stunned, he touched his heated face and just stared at her. Another tear rolled down his face, but he couldn't find his voice.

Julie's eyes welled with tears and she clutched her hand to her chest.

Finally, he whispered brokenly, "Why?"

"Ben Tennyson, you are so stupid."

He lowered his eyes. "I know. Kevin told me."

She hesitated and then confessed quietly, "I want to be with you. No matter what."

He looked stunned, his narrow shoulders jolting. He shook his head. "You could get hurt. You could be killed."

"Do you think I care?" she snapped at him, grabbing a fistful of his black shirt. Her voice rose and broke with tears just beneath the surface. "When we were apart like this, when I didn't think you cared about me, I might as well have been dead."

"I'm sorry…" he breathed.

Julie threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. For a moment, he didn't seem to know what to do, but then he melted into her. She felt his body trembling as if it was going to break apart at the seams. He was really hurting, hurting so badly, but he had done all this just to protect her, even if it meant destroying himself… all for her…

"I'm not a hero, Julie," he said suddenly.

Her heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

"I can't even protect you." His arms squeezed her desperately. "How could I ever protect the entire universe?"

She hugged him tighter, pressing her face into his chest, listening to the ragged beat of his heart.

"I just… I want this more than anything," Ben whispered into her hair. "But I know if you're with me, your life will be in danger."

Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I have to be with you," she whispered. "I… I love you, Ben."

He pushed her back, looking sharply into her face. "What?"

"I… I love you," she sobbed again, tears rolling down her cheeks.

For a moment, Ben couldn't breathe. Then, he tenderly cupped her face, met her eyes, and kissed her gently. She melted into him, threading her fingers through his thick hair and pulling him closer. His arms went around her, crushing her to his body. His mouth was desperate, drinking in every ounce of her, but Julie was even more passionate. She devoured his mouth, her hands roaming his chest beneath his shirt and feeling his racing heartbeat as they kissed.

Ben's hands found her stomach and gently dipped beneath the fabric of her sweater, touching her bare skin for the first time. She shivered in bliss, wishing he would touch more of her, but he seemed nervous to make that kind of move. She pressed him down into the floor, her body on top of his, every inch of them pressed together. She could feel just how much he wanted to be with her. Boldly, she cupped him through his jeans, but he pulled her hands away and threaded their fingers together.

She pulled away from their kiss and looked into his face. She knew he wanted this so why was he denying her again? Did he not want her? She whispered, "Ben?"

"No," he murmured, his cheeks glowing pink. "When… when we're ready, I want it to be special."

Her heart swelled. "Ben," she whispered.

He smiled, still blushing. "That's what you want, right?" He really was one of a kind, different from all the other boys.

She nodded, a single happy tear rolling down her cheek, and kissed him again, harder, deeper, longer, unwilling to ever let him go. Ben had the same idea, wrapping his arms around her again and pressing her as close as he possibly could without them sharing the same body. She delved into his mouth, her hands beneath his shirt, his arms around her body like a castle, her hair tickling his face, and his sweet manner overwhelming. Finally, the desperate kiss ended and they lay on the floor together, bodies intertwined, arms around each other, sharing breath.

"Can we go upstairs?" she whispered.

"Julie?"

"I just… I want to be with you and the floor is cold."

He smiled, gathered her up, and pulled her to her feet. He held her close, unwilling to let her go for even a second as they climbed the stairs. He didn't turn on the light in his bedroom, only toed off his sneakers as she unzipped her hoodie. Then, together, they lay in his bed, facing each other with his arms around her tightly and her hands pressed to his chest beneath his shirt.

"Ben," she whispered. "Do you love me?"

He hesitated, but answered finally, "Yes. More than anything."

"Please, don't do this to us again."

"I couldn't. I can't be apart from you," he whispered.

Julie smiled, her fingers stroking his chest. "Good. Even if you're not a hero."

He inhaled sharply. "You don't think I'm a hero?"

She shook her head.

Ben shuddered. "Then what…?"

"You're more than that," she whispered. "You're everything."

He kissed the top of her head, snuggled her close with his arms tightly around her small body, and pulled the covers up over both of them. Julie fell asleep quickly, exhausted from the last three days of emotional anguish, but Ben forced himself to stay awake. He would have to get them both out of his bed when his parents came home, but more than that, he was so happy just to have Julie with him like this, in his arms and in his life.

He had to have her with him and that as the truth of the matter. So it wasn't scripted and safe like an old comic book and his powers were on a timer, but maybe that was the kind of life they would have. Maybe they would be lucky just to be alive and to have each other because Will Harangue was still spreading his incestuous lies about Ben and Gwen, the Forever Knights were still on the loose, and there were still a lot of bad guys floating around in space. Reality was often messier and harder to believe than fiction, after all.

Ben smiled and held Julie closer.

Even in sleep, she whispered his name, her face pink and happy.

His broken heart pieced itself back together as he breathed in the scent of her body. Julie, his girl, his love, his everything. It had been pure Hell to be so apart from her, to be hurting her and himself for her protection. It was tough to be a hero most of the time.

On the desk, his mobile phone lit up with a text message from his cousin. Loathe to move but worried in case Gwen needed him or something, he reached out and grabbed it to see what she had said. The message was short and sweet—'You should just listen to your heart, Ben. Deep down, you're always right.'

~End, Complete~

And, drum roll, please—we are finished!

Phew, who believes that this was supposed to just be a one-shot? I kind of failed, right?

First, DROP me a REVIEW! Does everybody HATE Ben for being such a BLOCKHEAD? How about Will Harangue? Think I TORTURED BEN and JULIE way too much (but it's because they're so easy to be mean to, though I always make sure to give everybody a happy ending!)? Are PERMANENTLY DISGUSTED and can no longer even watch BEN 10 thanks to me? LOVED it? HATED it? Are SCARED FOR LIFE because of EPIC making out? (FLAMES will be used to roast marshmallows and weenies!) Think I need to do more editing before I post chapters? Post to slow? Chapters are too short? Too long? Yada, yada, yada…

Second, I own nothing except any original characters and plot ideas. (Even though I really don't think this was too original and there are no OCs in here.)

Third, check out my first ORIGINAL NOVEL! The Breaking of Poisonwood by Paradise Avenger. (Summary: People were dead. When Skye Davis bought me at a slave auction as a birthday present for his brother, I had no idea what my new life was going to be like, but I had never expected this. It all started when Venus de Luna was killed and I was to take her place, to become the new savior… Then, bad things happened and some people died. In the heart of the earth, we discovered the ancient being that Frank Davis had found and created and used to his advantage. The Poisonwood—)

Questions, comments, concerns?

REVIEW!