Chapter 1: Truth
Gohan handed Videl the shopping bag. "There you go…"
"Thanks…" Videl said, wondering why he wasn't moving yet.
"You're welcome…," He said, sweetly.
Videl smiled weakly. "Yep…"
Gohan leaned in to kiss her. However, Videl turned her head quick enough for him to just plant yet another kiss on her cheek. He sighed.
"Thank you for bringing me here…" She said, walking past him.
Gohan didn't respond.
"Gohan…?" Videl said, cutely, walking back toward him.
"Videl, I don't get you…"
"What?" She said, confused; yet knowing what he meant at the same time.
"Every single time I try to have a real, meaningful kiss with you, you pull away, start talking, or punch me…" His voice dropped lower. "It's like… Like you don't love me… and that hurts me…" He said, whispering.
"Oh, Gohan… No, not at all…" Videl said, trying to sound sure.
"Then why do you do it?" He said, his voice heavy with hurt.
"I don't know… really, I don't…" She said, sadly.
"Well, I think you need to figure it out…" He said, a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Gohan…" She grabbed his wrist as he tried to speed ahead of her. "There's so much about me that you don't know… I just need some time…" He grabbed her hands, causing her to tremble.
"Think about it… do you love me or not?" He moved his face closer to hers, causing her to give in and start to cry. She sank down onto her knees and Gohan followed her down, still holding onto her hands. "Videl?" He looked at the crowd starting to form around them. "Sorry…" He said to them, picking her up and walking outside with Videl, now hysterical. He walked down the street a little and then took off toward her home.
He finally got there, took Videl's key out of her pocket, and opened the door. The house was empty so he walked with her into the living room and sat next to her. "Videl? I'm sorry… Can we… Talk?" He said wiping away some of her tears with his thumb. "It's okay… we're alone, now… tell me what's wrong… please?"
Videl crossed her arms. "There's just so much… I don't know where to begin…"
"Well, start where you're comfortable…" He said, stretching her legs over his so she could lie down.
Videl exhaled. "Umm… I was fourteen… like, after the Cell Games, I think… Well, I was cute, like girly kind of cute… ya know?"
Gohan nodded. "I think you're still cute…"
Videl giggled. "Well, I had a really good friend… her name was Tommie." She went right back to being serious. Gohan nodded again. "Well, she had this brilliant idea to go to a club… even though we were underage, we could get in, I was 'the daughter of Hercule' ya know? And everybody thought that he had saved them… pathetic…." He nodded again. "Well, we got in…"
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"God, Tommie, this place is horrible…" Videl looked from the dingy floors to the pulsating lights. She turned around to see her friend wasn't there. "Tommie…?" The music switched to an even faster-paced song, causing people to start rushing by her to get to the dance floor. She pulled away from the drunken crowd and smoothed out her red skirt. "Tommie…?" She yelled, once again.
"My name's Tommy…" A voice answered from behind her.
Videl whipped around. "Sorry, the Tommy I'm looking for is a girl…" She said, weakly.
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"To tell you the truth…," Videl said, "I really don't think his name really was Tommy…" She sighed, wiping away another tear from her eye. "He was, like, tall, dark, and handsome… in the bad-boy sort of way… I think he was… nineteen, I guess… but things got worse, he bought me a drink, I drank it, and then he said that, maybe, my friend had gone outside… And he seemed real sincere about helping me… so I went…"
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"Do you… Want to go look?" He said, strongly.
Videl blinked. "Oh, yeah, if you really think we're going to find her…"
"Okay, c'mon… we'll come right back here if we don't find her, okay?" 'Tommy' said, beginning to lead her out of the club. The sky was darkened with stars stretched out across it. Videl let out a sigh. It was going to be a long night. "Okay…" He said, leading her down an alley. "We'll look in here first, kay?" Videl nodded, feeling the side affects of the beer she drank.
He led her down for what seemed like eternity, and then finally turned around to face her. He grabbed her wrists and brought his face close to hers. She could smell the alcohol raging from his desperate mouth. He kissed her lips violently, but she couldn't move. He was holding her too tightly…
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"He had done almost the same thing you had done in holding me… But you were gentler, ya know? It just reminded me too much of him, whoever the hell he is… I was weak then…"
"I'm sorry…" Gohan said, eyes wide in surprise.
"Oh, it's not over yet…" She said placing her head on Gohan's shoulder. "It gets so much worse…"
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"Stop it, you're hurting me…" Videl tried to twist her wrists free of him, but she couldn't move.
"Shut up!" He slapped her with his right hand, freeing her left for just a minute… but it didn't matter.
Blood started running from a cut on her face left from one of his rings. Videl whimpered in pain. He leaned forward again and kissed her again, biting her bottom lip in desperation. A tear ran from her cheek as she felt her skin break. He pushed her to the ground harshly, stunning her for long enough for him to undo his pants. He crouched down with her, her eyes wide in fear. He pulled off her red mini skirt and then her underwear. She screamed as he pushed on with his actions.
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Videl broke down in sobs, hiding her face in Gohan's shirt. Gohan turned and embraced her into a hug. "It's okay…" He whispered.
"It's not…," She said, sadly. "There's more…" She sighed again.
"He finally finished and left I stayed in the alley and waited. For what? I don't really know… I guess for it all to end… But then I saw Tommie… she had just passed the man, who had told her that I had been looking for her… she didn't know… until she saw me…"
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"Oh my God, Videl… what happened?" She looked from Videl's face to her mangled skirt that he had replaced quickly. "Videl…?" She started crying, just as Tommie did. This was too much. "Videl we need to go to the hospital!" Tommie tried to lift Videl but failed. "I need to go call my mom, she'll know what to do… Wait here!" Tommie said, panicking, as she ran away from Videl.
"Wait…" Videl whispered after her. "Wait, Tommie, wait…"
For what seemed like forever, Videl waited. Finally, she heard a siren, then footsteps. "Videl… I called the hospital… I'll see you later… my mom will bring me up… okay?" Videl let out a sigh, followed by more tears.
"Hello, my name is Mark, I work at the hospital, and we're going to take you there now, okay…?" He quickly looked over Videl, then realized her arm was in a peculiar position. "Can you move your fingers?" He said. Videl wiggled her fingers and then the ambulance workers quickly forced it closer to her body. Videl screamed in pain. "Okay, ma'am… your friend tells me your name is Videl is she right?"
"Yes…" Videl said between sobs.
"Okay… I'm going to ask, just tell me briefly what happened…" He said, caring for her face.
"He… raped me…." She said, realizing how horrible this really was.
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"God…" Gohan said. "So what happened…?"
"I broke my arm… and I had a black eye for a week… and, get this, he didn't use a condom… About three months after the initial event, I was back in the hospital. I didn't feel right, I was always nauseated and I had missed my period. The doctors came back and confirmed my belief… I was pregnant… and I didn't want it… so, I had an abortion shortly after… that's why I can never get close to you, Gohan… I love you, but I find it so hard…"
Gohan kissed Videl's forehead. "I love you too… and I can wait…"