Keep your distance – by Shade-Duelist

disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, nor anything from the anime series. Just an innocent fangirl trying to write out her fantasies here. But the storyline's mine, so please respect that.

Prologue

A beautiful early summer morning.

Pan Son slowly opened her eyes to greet the new day carefully, and she met with the bright rays of the sun. A smile slowly crept up her face as she realised it was already way past her usual wake-up call – and that it was her graduation day. She was going to be holding her high school diploma in her hands at the end of the evening. An even bigger smile arose when she thought who would be standing next to her, holding her hand: her long-time best friend and recent boyfriend, Trunks.

With a happy sigh, she slipped out of the bed to put on some clothes and then went downstairs for some breakfast. Her mother was still in the kitchen, washing the dishes.

"Hello, Pan, honey. Had a good night's sleep?", Videl chirruped, causing Pan to wince in mock pain.

"Wow, summer time everywhere!", Pan remarked – though with a broad smile. "Is there anything left to eat? I can imagine Dad having cleaned out the fridge by now...", she added with a quick glance at the clock.

"There's still some fruit in the basket over there, dear, and I saved you some bread and peanut butter." Pan nodded quickly and took said items from the cupboard: she adored peanut butter, more so than any other food item.

"So, mum, when are uncle Goten and nana Chichi coming?", she asked as soon as she had cleaned her plate, an expecting look on her face.

"Goten's coming around noon, he's supposed to eat here. Chichi-san will probably be here around four, since we have to leave by five. What time'll Trunks be here?"

"He said he'd meet me at the school.", Pan replied as she headed to the front door. "I'm gonna fly over to Capsule Corp. quickly, promised Bra I'd look decent at the reception. See you at lunch!" After going outside, she powered up slightly and took off to the house of her best friend and classmate.

The Briefs and the Sons had been long-time friends because of some vague battles in the past that Pan often heard her father and uncle talk about. Trunks, who was 22 and going to start his final year at college, was born at the time of those fights; Bra, at the tender age of 18 like Pan, had been born a good few years after. The two of them would always roll their eyes at each other whenever one of the adults brought up the nuisance of having inexperienced girls in the family. Even so, they somehow had taken the comments to heart and had followed martial arts classes whereas other girls their age followed dance classes or art classes. Pan had mastered five arts and Bra four (Pan had followed judo before she insisted on taking the same classes as Bra), and that was just before Bra's dad started to train them, learning them about ki and how to control it: they were no girls to mess with.

Pan chuckled as she floated in front of Bra's window: her friend was writing in her diary obviously. She knocked against the window to warn Bra she was there.

"Hey, c'mon in, Pan!" The window slid open and Pan landed on the plush yellow carpet inside her best friend's room.

"Hey Bra! Excited?"

"Aren't we all? Dad went on and on about how he had to go to some stupid formal thing for me...", Bra said as she sat back down on the bed, patting the spot next to her in the process.

"What, isn't he supposed to be proud or something?", Pan asked as she duly sat down.

"Well, you know my dad, it's a display of affection in his eyes...", Bra commented with a giggle. Both girls laughed at that: Vegeta was a cynical and merciless man, but somewhere underneath all the show, there was a heart. "Enough about my dad, though... How are you and Trunks? He's still not home now – Goten should be returning by now, shouldn't he?" It was easy to recognise the anxiety in her friend's voice. But then again, Pan knew very well that her best friend was in love with her uncle.

"He's coming over to my place 'round noon, wanna come too?"

"Nah, he probably doesn't need a lovesick girl around...", Bra said, turning morose. Pan chuckled, it was just like Bra to be pessimistic.

"Then you'll see him at the graduation. Why don't I ask him if he's got a girlfriend yet?"

"Would you?", Bra asked, a bit too enthusiastically.

"Sure, but you'll pay if I get to hear some raunchy story about him and some girl he met in some bar – like last time..." Pan shivered at the memory and continued with a smirk: "That's just too gross."

"Got it: you get details, I pay. Now, for the clothes!"

That evening, Pan went out with high expectations. Bra had borrowed her a green dress that she had said would compliment her slim figure magnificently, and she had been allowed to put on some of her mother's jewellery just for the occasion.

However, her feeling of joy was dashed when she arrived at the school and saw Trunks wasn't there as he had promised.

"Don't worry, honey, he'll turn up...", Chichi said, seeing the heart of her only granddaughter sink, with a gentle pat on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's okay.", Pan said with a smile, regaining her high spirits. She walked over to Bra immediately, to get her mind off her absent boyfriend.

"Hey, Pan... uh, isn't Trunks with you?", Bra said. 'Well, there goes that plan...', Pan thought as she suddenly found her cheer fading again.

"No, he was supposed to meet me here... don't know where he is either..." She then saw Bra's parents approach and turned to them. "Hello Bulma, and Vegeta-sensei."

"Hello Pan!" Bulma smiled as she admired the girl in front of her. "You look splendid in that dress, and that necklace is just so beautiful, it goes with your eyes so well." Vegeta merely nodded, as if to acknowledge her, and remained silent. No one spoke of Trunks, and when Goten came to tell her the ceremony would start in half an hour, he even seemed to look a bit sad to Pan. 'Hmm, might be seeing things there...', she thought as she followed Bra inside.

The ceremony had lasted forever but by seven all the hats were flung into the air and cheers resounded over the school's athletics field. The reception was announced and people flocked back in to get to the drinks while the class changed in the locker rooms.

"Pan, I haven't seen him coming in during the ceremony...", Bra said, her tone betraying worry. "What could he be up to?"

"I don't know either... I've sent him three text messages already, and he didn't answer even one of them. Maybe I should fly over to your house and look for him there?"

"Go ahead, Pan, I'll tell your parents where you are..." Bra said as she hung her robe from the clothes hanger. "He's probably forgotten all about it and went straight to bed."

"Maybe...", Pan said, and then she took off, leaving Bra to go to her parents and Pan's.

'Luckily I've grown up around Capsule corp., so I know where Bulma keeps the key to this place...', Pan thought as she landed at the front door. She took the key from the mailbox and opened the door. On the table were an empty bottle of wine and one glass. 'Odd, I didn't know Trunks drank wine...' She proceeded to the floor on which Trunks' room was situated and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she opened the door...

Trunks was lying on his bed naked, his hands and mouth all over some equally naked blonde, who had one hand wrapped around his head and one around his waist. Pan could only watch in shock as her boyfriend moaned out the girl's name... 'How can he, he's mine, it should be me lying in that bed, it should be my name he...'

She suddenly stumbled back into the hallway, and then, with a shriek of anger and deep hurt, ran down the stairs, throwing herself blindly out of the front door and powering up immediately, leaving a lighting trail in the sky...

"Oh shit!", Goten cursed as he felt Pan's ki spike. After what Bra had told him, and after what he had seen and heard that day, he instantly knew what was wrong. "I'm going to your house, Gohan. She's... I gotta explain..."

"Go ahead...", Gohan said as he and Videl blinked in confusion. "Call us when you're there and tell us what's going on, will you?"

"I can tell you that right now, she's just had her heart broken by that baka I call a friend.", Goten said grimly before running outside and taking off.

He found Pan sitting on her bed, crying vehemently. As she heard her door open, she looked at her uncle in confusion, while he could only look at his niece with deep remorse.

"Uncle Goten...", she sobbed. He walked over to her and took her in his arms, where she cried for what seemed like hours. "He..."

"I know what he did, and I'm so sorry...", her uncle said as he straightened himself. Looking directly in her eyes, he saw no anger towards him – only hurt and confusion.

"You knew? ...How?"

"Trunks was really happy with you at first, he couldn't stop speaking about you the first weeks! But then, after about a month or so, he seemed to grow more and more silent. He started going out at weird – regular – hours. Then, today, he brought her to our dorm. I found them kissing on our sofa. I got angry, asked him how he thought he could do that to you. He said... terrible things about you, Pan-chan..." At that point, Goten didn't even dare look at her anymore.

"Tell me.", Pan spoke, the soft command not going unnoticed.

"He told me you were frigid, and that you'd repelled him every time he wanted to get you into bed. He was joking to Marron – that girl – that you were just a naive and dreamy little girl that was being prudish for no reason... Oh Pan, I'm so sorry for not telling you!" By that point, Pan looked about ready to kill. "Just... don't kill him... He may be a dirtbag, but he's still not that low to deserve this. I'm just glad that he never got you to sleep with him..." He hugged his niece again, and then sat up. "He's coming here..."

"Stay. I can use your support, uncle 'Ten...", Pan whispered as she dried her tears. Goten nodded softly.

"If you need me, I'll be here by your side until it's over." The silence that fell in the room then was deafening: Trunks could feel his heart sinking as he entered. 'She's not crying – or not anymore – that's no good sign. Goten's here too, not a good sign either... He wouldn't tell her, would he?' He knocked on her door for good measure, then entered – and immediately took an involuntary step back.

Pan's ki flared out around her, creating a cold wind in her room. Goten stood next to her, looking at Trunks with a cold glare.

"Pan, baby, I...", Trunks started, and then, seeing she didn't speak: "I came to apologise. That girl came over for some pointless thing and she seduced me, really... and it will never happen again... Please, forgive me...", he said, with a silly smile and pleading eyes.

"How dare you?!" Pan's voice nearly knocked him back, and he looked up to her incredulously, almost angrily. "How DARE you come here and apologise! You weren't seduced, you were seeing her for weeks! She didn't come over, you invited her there! You probably thought 'Capsule corp. is empty anyway, why don't I bring HER over to screw her since I can't get in my girlfriend's panty!', you asshole! And forgive you – even not if the world will crumble here and now! You probably thought you could still have me and screw that blonde at the same time! Get out of here, you disgust me. We're done. Forever." Trunks could only stare at her incredulously as she turned her back on him. His confusion slowly turned into anger as he realised she had turned him down.

"You little bitch...", he hissed, upon hearing which Goten's ki spiked dangerously – Trunks didn't pay it any heed. "Yes, I was seeing that girl longer than today. But if you hadn't been so frigid I never would've needed to go to her! If only you'd slept with me, you wouldn't have lost me to someone who would!" He spat every word out, contemptuously glaring at her, which only served to heighten her – and Goten's – rage. "Besides, maybe even if you'd slept with me..."

"So you're saying you didn't want me, just some whore who you could sleep with and who wouldn't fuss over you screwing everything with a skirt?", Pan said, her eyes large and on Trunks. Trunks 'hmph'ed and nodded, but suddenly found himself beaten to the ground. Pan stood over him, her hand glowing with her ki – 'since when does Pan have bright red hair?', Trunks thought as he rubbed his hand over his jaw, which was far more painful than he had expected, 'Maybe I have a concussion – ouch!'. "You pathetic excuse for a man!", Pan howled, "You thought I'd be easy to please! You thought I was just some kid – give me some candy and I'll be meek as a lamb! Well, you were wrong. Get out of here now before I kill you – or Goten or dad does." Looking to the door, he saw everyone standing there – everyone, including his parents and Bra. They all looked at him in indignant rage.

"Y-you...", he started, but was roughly jerked from the ground by his father.

"Boy! Come with me! I don't know how I will punish you for insulting Pan so, but I will think of a very painful way, I'm sure, together with Kakkarott's two brats! I'll teach you what's coming to you if you treat a woman that way!" Bra merely ran over to Pan, who had powered down and slumped on the side of the bed.

"Pan? Pan-chan, I'm so sorry... He's filth, absolute filth, and I don't want to speak to him anymore..." Pan smiled weakly.

"Be hard on him, Bra, as hard as a rock..." And then she was unconscious...

The next day mirrored Pan's mood: dark and gloomy.

Pan went downstairs the next morning for her breakfast and found her parents sitting in the kitchen, waiting for her. Her mother immediately came to her and hugged her.

"Oh, Pan... I feel so sorry for you, and it seemed to work out so very well..." Pan smiled weakly in her mother's embrace as she looked up into her face.

"He's just a low-life bastard – eh, sorry dad – but he is a low-life guy to treat me that way. I never want to see him again..." Pan gulped: what she was about to ask her parents was going to be hard, not to mention expensive, but she just had to ask. It was the only way that she could safely avoid Trunks. Gathering courage, she took a deep breath and continued: "...and I have just the way to make sure that I never have to see him again." Her parents were baffled.

"What do you mean, Pan dear?", Videl asked, her voice tinged with anxiety and anticipation of the worst.

"Mom, Dad, I know where I want to go to college..."

A/N: Greetings. Just a short note here to enlighten you on this story. First off, this story is slightly AU (alternate universe) since I know as well as all of you faithful DBZ fans out there that the ages are not as they are in the series. But I've tried to make it fit a bit. Goten and Trunks were born during the final battles of the Z gang, Pan and Bra after. The ages are: Trunks and Goten - 22; Pan and Bra - 18. If anyone is out of character, don't hate me. The story practically wrote itself.

Updates will be every week on Thursdays or Fridays (or at least, I'll try to update every week). Reviews will make me a happier person, so go ahead.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this story!