Before Gohan returned to college that August, he asked Trunks to do him a favor. "I want you to really try to make some friends." The teen looked confused, so Gohan smiled and clarified. "Your mom told me that the only time you're out of the house is for school and practice. You need to have a social life, outside of me."

Trunks didn't ride with Goku to take Gohan back to campus this time. He really thought about what the older man had said. 'Am I annoying him?' Trunks wondered. 'He must be sick of me, being stuck with me all summer. I should've known.'

That August, Trunks started his last year of middle school. He was thirteen now, but was still a bit short for his age. Pan was nearly as tall as him, and most of his teammates towered over him. It was actually because of his height that his basketball coach asked Trunks to resign from the team. It was crushing, but Trunks accepted it. He still had baseball, soccer, and wrestling, after all. Even so, Trunks was a bit embarrassed. He tried to remember how tall Gohan had been at his age.

To Trunks' surprise, Vegeta wasn't angry when he got kicked off the basketball team. At least, not with him. He was actually pretty encouraging. "In a year or two, you'll be six feet tall, and you'll have your revenge on that coach. He'll regret the day he let you go. You're a talented kid." Afterwards, Vegeta and Trunks shot a few hoops outside in the driveway. It was the first time in weeks that the two of them had done anything together, just them. It meant a lot to the teen.

Trunks didn't ever text Gohan first after their conversation a few weeks before. He would always wait for Gohan to text him, and then would stall for a few minutes, trying to make it seem like he wasn't too excited. Gohan told him not to let his size get him down, that he'd hit a growth spurt soon enough.

Since he didn't have an extra practice to go to, Trunks and Pan were able to spend more time together. He liked being around Pan, but sometimes she tried to flirt, and it would just make Trunks uncomfortable. If they went to the movies, Pan wanted to lay her head on his shoulder, or would try to sneak her hand into his. It wasn't all bad, though. Since Pan was so comfortable around him, she and Trunks could talk about anything, and could do almost everything together. At restaurants, they stole food off of each other's plates, or sometimes ordered for each other.

People started asking Trunks if he and Pan were a couple. He never said they were, but he didn't deny the accusations, either. He'd seen Pan's face the last time he told someone they weren't dating. Being the oversensitive, teenager she was, Pan always took it as she wasn't good enough for Trunks. He tried to explain that he only saw her as a friend, but she just thought he was making up excuses.

That Halloween, Gohan didn't come home from college. He instead told his parents that he'd be home for a week at Thanksgiving. Everyone was excited, because Gohan usually only got two days with his family, and part of that included traveling. Trunks was a little disappointed that Gohan wouldn't be home for Halloween. They usually bought discount candy and pigged out while they watched old horror movies. This year, he did that with Pan instead, who was of course thrilled.

Bulma, and Pan's mother, agreed to let her stay the night, as long as she slept on the couch. She and Trunks watched several black and white movies, like Night of the Living Dead and Psycho. Pan passed out around one in the morning, so Trunks covered her up and went to bed. It was no surprise, though, when Trunks woke up to find Pan trying to sneak into bed with him. The green numbers on his alarm clock read 3:43 am. He sighed. "Pan, what are you doing?"

She froze, then finished climbing into the bed, getting under the dark blue comforter. "I've never gotten to spend the night with you before. I just wanted to sleep in your bed tonight."

Trunks thought about it, then groaned. "Fine, but you have to be out of here before Mom or Dad wake up, got it?" Pan nodded, snuggling up to Trunks' side. He smiled a little, wrapping an arm around her shoulders so that she could use his chest as a pillow.

The second time Trunks was woken up was when he felt Pan sliding a hand under his shirt. He shot up, looking down at her. "What are you doing?" he asked quickly. There was fear and shock in his voice.

Even in the dark, he could see how embarrassed Pan was. "I just..." was all she managed to say. She didn't have to finish her thought; Trunks understood. He knew that Pan liked him, she'd told him as much. Maybe she'd seen him allowing her into his bed as an invitation for something more.

Sighing through his nose, Trunks sat up, turning to face her. "Pan, you're one of my best friends. You know that I care about you, and that I need you in my life. But, I don't like you like that. I want you as a friend. Okay?"

She was quiet, but Trunks saw her nod. With a little smile, he assured her that he wasn't mad, and laid back down, pulling her to his side again. In the morning, he woke her, and she quickly went to the living room, where she was supposed to be sleeping. Suddenly, Trunks remembered when he was little, and Gohan was a teenager. Bulma made Trunks start sleeping on the couch, just like she was having Pan sleep on the couch now. He wondered if snuggling with Gohan was as inappropriate in her eyes as it was with Pan. Was that a thing?

In the days before Thanksgiving, Trunks was anxious. He was constantly looking at the clock, wanting these days to wind down quickly, so that Gohan would come home. Trunks didn't know what he would say when he saw Gohan, or how he would act. He still thought that Gohan wanted space, even though the older man texted him pretty often. Trunks remembered that he was supposed to be making friends and getting out of the house. Would Gohan be angry to learn that nothing had really changed with Trunks?

Thanksgiving day, Goku went to pick up Gohan, and Trunks was a nervous wreck. He had been trying to decide whether or not he should make up some fake friends, so Gohan wouldn't be disappointed in him. He called Pan about it, and she told him not to worry. "Just tell him about how we hang out. I mean, you have been getting out of the house, and you're not texting him all the time anymore. I'm sure that'll be enough," she said through the phone.

Trunks nodded, though she couldn't see. "You're probably right. I'm just worried. Gohan's never been mad at me before."

For the first time since he started college, Trunks wasn't there when Gohan got home. He was actually surprised, and asked his mom about it. "He mentioned something about helping his mother make dinner," Chi-Chi told him as she mashed some potatoes.

That night, they all had Thanksgiving dinner at Bulma and Vegeta's house. Goku's parents and brother were dead, so they only brought along Chi-Chi's father. Bulma's mother and father came, as well as Vegeta's younger brother, Tarble. Conversation was lively and constant during dinner, and everyone was interested in how school was going for Gohan. He blushed at the attention, but was happy to tell them all about the new friends he had and how much he enjoyed his classes. He'd decided on studying physics, much to Chi-Chi's delight. She had always thought he would grow up to be a scientist or doctor.

Though Gohan sat next to Trunks at the dinner table, they hardly spoke. Trunks was afraid to even look in his direction, poking at the food on his plate. They didn't really start talking until the women were in the kitchen washing dishes. "Wanna grab dessert?" Gohan asked.

Trunks jumped a little to be addressed by the older man, but smiled and nodded. Gohan got a piece of pumpkin pie with plenty of whipped cream, and Trunks settled on a piece of caramel turtle pie. "How can you eat that mush?" Trunks asked, pointing his chocolate-covered fork at the orange dessert on Gohan's plate.

Laughing a little, Gohan warned him, "Be careful. Your mom made this pie." He leaned to look in the kitchen, and saw that the women were happily talking and drinking wine. "So," he started, before putting a bite of pumpkin and whipped cream in his mouth, "how've things been? I guess you've had more free time since you're not doing basketball this year."

Trunks nodded. "Yeah, just wrestling right now. We'll start practice for baseball and soccer after Christmas." He was quiet for a moment before continuing. "I've been hanging out with Pan a lot, but I haven't really made any new friends. The guys I played basketball with don't talk to me much anymore." Inside, Trunks was praying Gohan wouldn't be mad.

"Well, that sucks for them," was all the older man said. Trunks breathed a sigh of relief. "So next year, you'll be in high school, right?"

With a nervous smile, Trunks laughed. "Yeah, I'm kinda nervous." When Gohan looked at him curiously, he elaborated. "I remember when you started high school. You were always studying and stressed about your grades. I guess I'm just scared to see how much harder it's going to be."

Gohan chuckled. "It's not that bad. I just needed great test scores so I could get academic scholarships. As long as you keep a B average, you'll probably get a scholarship for baseball or something."

Trunks wondered for a minute if Gohan didn't think he was capable of having all A's, but he waved that thought away. Gohan had never made him feel like he was stupid. He treated Trunks like an equal, not a little kid. "So, you're studying physics, right?" Gohan nodded. "Are you going to be a scientist?"

With another nod, Gohan said, "I might start out as a professor, writing papers about my theories, y'know? Then when I get recognized, I guess I'll get recruited to do experiments and stuff."

"Would you ever go to space?"

Gohan was taken off guard by the question, but grinned. "You know I've always wanted to go to space." Of course Trunks remembered. Gohan had been obsessed with Star Wars when they were little. "I'd like to see what it's like to live in the space station, or go to Mars. Who knows what we'll be capable of in ten years?"

After everyone had finished their dessert, they all sat in the living room talking. Gohan and Trunks went back to his room to escape the loud talking and laughing of their families. Turning in circles, Gohan looked at everything in Trunks' room. "You have a lot of posters, huh?" Trunks mostly had posters from old movies he and Gohan had grown up watching. He had so many that he'd had to start putting them on the ceiling.

"Yeah, Mom wasn't thrilled when I started putting them up there," Trunks responded, pointing at a Planet of the Apes poster above his desk. "What was I supposed to do? I ran out of room, and I couldn't get rid of any of them."

Gohan gave him a warm smile. "Well, I like it. We're not allowed to use tacks or tape on the walls in my dorm, so I don't have any posters. I guess you have enough for the both of us." He laughed, and Trunks felt it vibrate in his chest.

As he sat on his bed, Trunks asked, "So are girls allowed in your dorm?" Gohan's college didn't have co-ed dorms, so Trunks had always wondered if girls could go in the boys' rooms.

Shaking his head, Gohan replied, "Nah. They can come hang out in the lobby, but they're not allowed upstairs. We can't go in their rooms either. Well- sometimes we can. There are special days when we're allowed in each other's rooms, but we have to leave the door open, and our feet have to be touching the floor the whole time."

Trunks laughed, though he felt relieved. He had wondered if Gohan had girls in his room, if he'd had sex. Surely, he couldn't, if they weren't allowed to bring girls in their rooms, right? "Do you have a girlfriend?" Trunks hadn't really meant to ask it, but he tried not to look nervous now that he had.

Gohan sat next to him. "No. I mean, I've been on a couple dates, I guess. At least I think they were dates." He chuckled, and Trunks smiled. Okay, that was okay. Gohan was allowed to go on a few dates. "Hey," he said, pulling Trunks out of his thoughts, "why don't we go throw the ole pigskin around?"

Trunks laughed. "You sound like my dad."

"I was trying to speak jock."

They played catch in the yard for a bit. The air was crisp and cold, so much that Trunks could see Gohan's breath. Sometimes, it made him stop paying attention, and he wouldn't catch the ball, or it'd smack him in the chest and he'd barely manage to grasp it. He wasn't sure if it was obvious or not that he'd been staring, but Gohan never said anything about it, so Trunks tried to relax.

A/N: Thanks to those of you that reviewed the first chapter (I think it was just one person, but I can't remember). I hope you're enjoying it so far. Expect some fluff, next chapter. :D