Disclaimer: don't own dbz, Don't own the characters, don't own nada.

AN: Sooooooo...this is my second piccoloxgohan fic. Um, I got 3 reviews on my last one, but im not complaining. That's like, 3 more than i had expected lmao. I mean...I hope you readers like it. I don't necessarily like how the ending came out though. Feels like it could've been better. Well, I hope you enjoy.

"I like you."

The first time Gohan ever told Piccolo he liked him, he was only six years old. Piccolo remembered it clearly.

It was dark out that night, the only source of light being the flames from the campfire Piccolo made. Gohan was happily eating some apples Piccolo brought him. He only had four to enjoy. In truth, it wasn't a lot, but he wasn't going to complain. It was rare for Piccolo to actually take the time to go out and bring him back food because, well, you know, the whole, 'learn how to take care of yourself' thing. Even though the young sayian was now capable of doing it himself, he appreciated when Piccolo brought him something. When he was down to his third apple, Gohan stopped and stared at his mentor.

Piccolo had his eyes closed, so Gohan assumed he was meditating. That wasn't unusual. He carefully watched Piccolo as he quietly moved closer so he could sit near him. Piccolo did not budge. When he and Piccolo were only a few inches apart, he smiled brightly, pleased at the much shorter distance. He grabbed his fourth apple and munched on it.

Piccolo opened his eyes and glanced down at the young boy. He heard Gohan moving, but he didn't verbally acknowledge it because he wanted to know what he was going to do. He was confused as to why the boy just moved closer to him. It also made him curious. He waited for the boy to say something, to do something, but once Gohan finished his apple, he yawned tiredly and curled into a ball to sleep. The namekian closed his eyes again.

Gohan tried to sleep, but he couldn't. There was something on his mind other than his father and the sayians coming. No, this was completely different. Gohan sat up and tugged on Piccolo's cape.

Piccolo sighed. He knew there was something up. "What, kid?" He sounded impatient and he looked down at the boy again. For some reason that Piccolo couldn't think of, the young sayian had a wide, broad grin, much like the one his father gives.

"Hey ummm…Mr. Piccolo? I have something to say."

"Then say it, brat."

"Well…ummm…" Gohan nervously twiddled his thumbs.

Piccolo didn't have time for this. "Either spit it out now kid or go back to sleep!" he snapped.

Gohan flinched, only a little, from the raised and harsh tone. He took a deep breath, realizing that it was now or never. "I like you, Mr. Piccolo!" he smiled brightly at him.

The namekian's eye twitched in annoyance. That was it? That's all the brat had to say? "Is that all?" He asked, not really in the mood for this. He didn't want to admit it slightly warmed his heart to hear the little kid say that.

"Yep! That's all I wanted to say! Goodnight!" he happily went back to sleep, content and feeling accomplished. Piccolo grumbled a 'goodnight' back to him. Gohan, hearing it, smiled before he drifted off to sleep.

The second time Gohan told Piccolo he liked him, Gohan was eleven years old.

Goku, Piccolo and Gohan were sparring together to prepare themselves for the fight with Cell. Gohan and Goku were too much for Piccolo; since the both of them had gone super sayian on him. So Piccolo got out of the way and let the sayians finish their sparring. When they were satisfied, they decided to take a break.

"Phew, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving!" Goku said and patted his stomach. "I could really go for some food right about now."

Gohan sat on the grassy ground and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, hey dad? Why don't you go fishing and I'll start up the fire to cook."

"Great idea. I'll be back soon!" Even though they had spent several hours sparring, Goku was full of energy. He enjoyed fishing. He always caught the biggest fish possible.

When Piccolo and Gohan were left alone, there was silence for a while. Since they had grown close together over the years, they were comfortable enough to enjoy spending time together even if no words were exchanged. Being close together also meant that the other could tell when something was wrong with their friend. Piccolo knew there was something on Gohan's mind, besides Cell. Gohan stared up at the sky in deep thought. Although he knew that Gohan would speak to him about it if he needed to, it didn't hurt to ask if there was something bothering him.

"Hey, kid," He saw Gohan's mouth twitch into a smile. The young sayian wasn't called kid as often as before. "What's on your mind? You seem distracted."

Gohan didn't reply right away. "Yeah. I'm just thinking about the fight with Cell."

There was something more than just that, and Piccolo wanted to know what. "Don't worry about it, Gohan. It'll work itself out. Your father and you have been training hard and so has everyone else." He gave Gohan a confident and comforting smile. "We've gotten out of tough situations before and we're going to do it again."

"Right, but that's only because dad was there to help us. Even he said he's not strong enough to take on Cell." He paused. "What if we don't survive this fight?"

Piccolo was surprised Gohan would even say that, it wasn't like him. "Don't say that kid. Stay confident in yourself and you'll discover how powerful you really are. You and your father are our greatest hope."

The sayian huffed away some golden locks that were in his face. That wasn't as comforting as Piccolo might of thought it was. It just made Gohan feel more pressure. "Yeah, but dad's so…nonchalant about the whole thing. It kind of has me worried."

"He probably has a few tricks up his sleeves."

"I guess so."

They were once again quiet. Gohan looked to Piccolo. Piccolo was calmly waiting for Goku's return. It's not like he was going to eat, though, he never did. Gohan smiled at him when Piccolo caught his gaze. A tint of a red blush crept onto Gohan's face and he quickly looked away so Piccolo wouldn't notice it.

"Hey, Piccolo?"

"Yeah, Gohan?"

"There's something I want to tell you before the fight. Just in case something happens."

Piccolo raised a brow but nodded at him. He didn't want to think of losing Gohan. If something happened to the boy and he couldn't protect him, he'd never forgive himself. "What is it?" He didn't want Gohan to be thinking that way, but he wanted to know what the kid had to say.

Gohan gave him a classic Son smile, one that gave Piccolo a certain flash back. "I like you, Mr. Piccolo!"

The namekian chuckled in amusement. "Same to you, kid."

Gohan's grin couldn't have gotten any wider. With that, he happily stood up and went to gather some wood to start the fire. Piccolo waited patiently for the return of his friend, and his Gohan. Piccolo blushed at the thought of calling Gohan his, and immediately shook it away. Goku returned with a fish that was four times his size. After they cooked it, Gohan took a seat right by Piccolo and enjoyed his meal. Piccolo enjoyed his closeness.

The third time Gohan told Piccolo he liked him, he was 17.

It was late in the afternoon, but still bright out. Gohan had finished his high school class, ran away from the girls chasing him, avoided Videl, and managed to get far enough for him to safely fly home without anyone noticing him. He quickly found Piccolo and they sat together by the waterfall, catching up. Because of Gohan's school work, Gohan couldn't see Piccolo as frequently as before, but he still made effort

"So I tried to tell her in the nicest way that I wasn't interested," Gohan continued his story to Piccolo about his day. "And she just didn't want to listen. So I told her the only rational thing that would make sense to her."

"And what's that?"

"I told her I'm gay."

Piccolo chuckled. "How did she take it?"

Gohan sighed and slapped his head to his text book. "Even worse than I had anticipated. She squealed and said she knew the perfect guy to hook me up with. I'm telling you, Piccolo, High school is just…" He made a face. "weird. At least I finished my last class twenty five minutes early, so it wasn't terrible. It's a really boring class. I don't know how that professor got hired."

"I'm glad I never had to go through something like that."

"Yeah." Gohan chuckled and put his books away. He decided he'd do his homework later. It's not like it would take him long to finish it anyway. "Now the whole school thinks I'm gay."

"I thought you had a thing for that Videl girl?" Piccolo kept his voice even, but Gohan heard something in his voice that he couldn't decipher.

Gohan shook his head. "She's a good friend, but that's all I can see her as." He smiled. "She's my crime-fighting partner!"

Piccolo rolled his eyes. "I still can't believe you wear that ridiculous outfit." He was relieved to hear Gohan say he and Videl were just friends.

"Hey, it's not ridiculous!" Gohan pouted. He really liked that outfit! It was his pride and joy. He looked fabulous in it. "I look awesome in it and you know it." He grinned.

"If that's what you call 'awesome' then you need to get out of that High school."

"You're just jealous. If you want, I can ask Bulma to fix you up a costume so you could fight crime with me! You'll be my green pet alien."

Piccolo bristled. "Your what?"

Gohan laughed and moved slightly away from the angry namekian. "I'm just kidding, it's a joke, I swear!" he managed to say between chuckles.

"Tch."

"Hey, Piccolo?"

"Yeah kid?"

Gohan grinned at him and said in a sing song tone, "I have some to tell you."

Piccolo studied Gohan's expression. He was smiling and had a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Smiling back, he decided he'd go for the bait. "What is it, Gohan?"

"You sure you want to know?"

"Spit it out."

Gohan chuckled and lay back against the ground. "I don't know, are you sure you can handle it?"

"Either say it or don't."

"You want to know?"

"Yes." Piccolo said with a sigh even though he was amused with him.

"Well….it's….ummm…" Piccolo saw Gohan blush. This time though, Gohan wasn't trying to hide it. He made eye contact with Piccolo, and didn't move away from his gaze. "I like you, Piccolo."

Piccolo didn't see why that was a problem. The way Gohan had said it though, brought a shiver down his spine. "We've gone over this, Gohan. You and I both know this so why did you say it again?" He wasn't angry, just curious. He wondered what was the purpose of stating that again when it was clear that they were friends.

"No, no, I mean I really like you. Like, like you, like you." Gohan smacked a hand to his face, embarrassed that his words weren't coming out the way he wanted them to. "You get what I'm saying?"

"No," Piccolo was honestly confused. What's the difference between liking someone and really liking someone? Wasn't it the same thing, he wondered.

Gohan groaned. He didn't think it was going to be this complicated. Then again, he suppose Piccolo never had to deal with something like this. "Okay. You know when you like someone, you have certain urges? No, wait, that's a horrible way to put it!" Gohan sighed. "I like you in the sense of…" Gohan's blushed a darker shade of red. Piccolo had no idea what on earth the kid was trying to say. "I want you to be my boyfriend."

This was the last thing he expected to hear from Gohan. A boyfriend? He's always been Gohan's mentor, so it was strange to think they could be anything else but friends. Well, not that strange to Piccolo since he's toyed with the idea of it before, but he wasn't going to mention that. He watched sweat go down Gohan's face. Gohan's hands were shaking, and his leg was twitching , no doubt that they were nervous gestures. His breathing had all but stopped. He was waiting for Piccolo's response. Piccolo smirked and chuckled, making Gohan's eyes widen in surprise.

"In that case, I really like you too. As in, like you, like you."

Gohan couldn't have been happier.

The fourth time Gohan told him he liked him, was actually quite recently.

Piccolo and Gohan were cuddled close together comfortably on their couch. Gohan had returned from a long day at work and it was now time to relax with his lover and not think of anything that would cause him stress. The world was in a time of peace, and they loved it. There was no need to be out training and defending the world from powerful evil who wanted to destroy their home planet.

Gohan nuzzled the back of Piccolo's neck and wrapped his arms around the namekian; enjoying the comfort of his warm body. It took Piccolo years to be convinced to move into their house, but he finally did it and was glad he did. Piccolo and Gohan had never been better. Piccolo would still go out and meditate while Gohan was at work, but would get home in time to greet Gohan when he arrived home. They would shower together, eat dinner, talk about their day (mostly Gohan talking about his day), then relax on their comfy couch.

"Hey, umm…Mr. Piccolo? I have something to say." Gohan whispered.

Piccolo could hear the amusement in Gohan's voice, which caused Piccolo to smile in turn. Playing along, he said, "Then say it, brat."

"Well…ummm…"

"Either spit it out now kid or go back to sleep."

Gohan chuckled. "Well…you sure you want to know?"

Piccolo playfully sighed and cuddled closer to Gohan. Their legs in twined together. Piccolo almost purred when he felt Gohan caressing his chest. "Yes."

"I love you, Mr. Piccolo."

Piccolo turned around in his embrace so he could face him. Gohan was smiling at him, a look of peaceful contentment on his face. "I don't recall you saying that to me the first time." Piccolo said playfully. He also wrapped his arms around the now older sayian.

"That's because I was, what, seven?"

"Six."

"Oh. Well, either way it's not like I was old enough to understand my feelings." He nuzzled the top of Piccolo's head. "You were really grouchy back then." he added teasingly.

"You're still just as bratty as you were then."

Gohan grinned. "You love it."

"I'll admit that I like it because I like you."

"You only like me?"

Piccolo rolled his eyes. Gohan was being sentimental and mushy. This was exactly what Piccolo was referring to as "bratty". "I love you too, kid."

"That's better."

They shared a kiss.

End.

Soooo ummmm...Review if you'd like ^^;