Author Notes: Yeah, I'm just...not gonna say anything.
Pairing: Goku x Chi-Chi
Words: 4,331
AU Setting: High School
~!~Just Another High School Romance~!~
~!~Part 8: You Took Care of Me~!~
A headache. Pounding against the inside of her skull. Crashing around like a storm toying with a ship at sea.
At the thought, her stomach turned, the queasy sensation assaulting her senses. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly salivating far too much. And then she snapped her eyes open and tipped her head over the side of the bed to throw up all the contents in a flash. At this point, she couldn't even care if she hit the floor – or not.
What she least expected was to have an actual trash can at her bedside. Even more unexpected was the hand at her back, rubbing soothing circles near her shoulders, and then reaching out with another hand to hold her hair back. Disheveled, tangled mess of a tipping bun of hair – with those loose strands now being held back so they didn't get near her mouth.
When she finished emptying her stomach, she took the offered towel to wipe her mouth, and she coughed as she slumped back on the bed. Her sweet helper moved the trash can and sat down on the bed next to her, hand back to rubbing her neck and shoulders.
Chi-Chi hummed appreciatively and then turned her head to see who was sitting next to her. She smiled when she saw him and then frowned at the look in his eyes.
"Goku..."
"Hm?"
His shirt was off, so he was wearing just his pants, but they were wrinkled beyond belief and a little stained in places. His high school uniform pants, probably his only pair, now somewhat ruined. She glanced away from his clothes, looking up into his eyes, noting also how his wild black hair almost seemed to droop as if carrying some heavy burden.
But back to his eyes.
Goku's eyes were usually so bright and happy, positive no matter the situation. Never clouded. Never worn. Or distraught.
He was upset. Really really upset. So upset, he was exhausted.
And she knew why.
The memories of last night flooded back to her. Well, not so much a flood as a slow trickle. The party. The conversation with Krillin that probably started it all. A small admission about how she was beside herself waiting on Goku to confess more, to do more. A kiss on the cheek was nice and cute, but she'd spent so long with him she was bursting with the need for more, and yet anytime she tried to broach the subject Goku always laughed or appeared confused. Because he was too innocent to understand her advances.
A kiss.
That's all she told Krillin she wanted. A way to lower her nerves so she could ask or snatch away Goku's first kiss. First real kiss. On the lips. Peck or not. She wanted it and she had a feeling he was holding back for her sake, especially after the way he was looking at her all night.
It wasn't Krillin's fault or intention for Korin and Yajirobe to show up then. But they had. And the opportunity presented itself to lower her inhibitions. So she took it.
...she took it too far.
She could remember Goku's panic, his fear, his hidden desire even as he constantly pushed her away. Time after time he shoved her back as gently as he could, and time after time she jumped on him like a selfish, needy animal.
Oh, she was so embarrassed! And those were just the fuzzy memories!
Feeling her face heat, Chi-Chi took a breath. "Goku, what happened last night?"
"Uh," Goku winced back, "Well..."
His eyes wandered away from hers, and she followed the gaze to realize she was actually wearing her pajamas. The same ones she'd been in when he stayed the night the first time. Since when had she been dressed? She was pretty sure she blacked out after doing...stuff...so… She'd expected to glance down and find herself naked after the incident and -
Lifting her eyes back to his, she twitched her lips in a smile. Only to drop them at the way his head was hanging. At how he was rubbing the back of his neck. He looked so upset. It didn't fit him at all.
"Chi-Chi, I -" Goku groaned, as if the words themselves were difficult. "We kinda -"
She knew what had happened. Her memories were fuzzy but not that fuzzy. It was hard to piece together everything of last night, but she had the important memories at least. Except, he didn't know that. He didn't know what she could remember.
His response, his honesty, would be the most important moment in their relationship thus far.
"We kinda had sex."
Eyes widening, she felt her jaw drop when his words finally came out. "W-what?"
No, we didn't. That's not right. We didn't go that far. Unless…
Her stomach sank and she instinctively pulled away from him, rubbing her arms and fighting the urge to throw up again.
Unless you did something else after I was actually out of it.
"Chi-Chi, I -" his voice cracked. "I'm sorry."
Pulling her legs up, she glared over at him. "What happened, Goku? Tell me exactly what happened."
"Exactly?" He groaned again. "Well, you – I mean, I touched you, uh, down there, and you touched me. It's not really sex, but I couldn't think of what else to call it. It's still just as bad, right? I mean, you weren't thinking straight because of what my friends gave you. So, that means I took advantage of you, right? Isn't that how this works?"
Silence stalked between them. In some corner on the desk, a light flickered on and off in the darkness. It illuminated Goku's face with each blink. His pained, upset face. Chi-Chi pulled her legs closer, sinking into herself. At least now she knew for sure those memories were real, even if he was still hiding some of the information from her.
He wasn't telling her the whole truth. He wasn't explaining how she pushed him into the act, under the influence or not. He wasn't blaming her at all or pointing to her as the one who initiated and insisted and shoved him against a door to get what she wanted.
No, Goku was prepared to take all the hate, all the blame for himself.
And it was making her cry.
"Chi-Chi," he said gently as soon as her first sob broke through her defenses. "...I'm sorry. I didn't want...I never meant to hurt you..."
"Goku," she sniffed, rubbing her eye, swallowing more tears. "Did you – did you really take advantage of me like that?"
He sucked in a sharp intake of air. "I – I guess? I'm not really sure, but I think I could have tried harder not to do anything at least. I honestly didn't want to do anything, Chi-Chi. That's not why I took you to the party or why I brought you home. I just – after you shoved me against the door I kinda couldn't fight you anymore. You're – you're the first girl, the only girl, I've ever thought about like this and it was – with you climbing on top of me, I couldn't breathe straight much less think and -"
She smiled and moved closer to him, poking his bare chest to stop his words. Finally, finally he gave his excuses. It was so endearing for him to take all the blame, but she'd made him vulnerable and he needed to know that she understood.
Chi-Chi was no delicate flower that needed strong hands protecting her from all the fall outs of life. One reason she had moved out of her hometown to go to high school here was because her father's hands refused to let her learn and make mistakes on her own. She wasn't weak and fragile. She was tough, strong, and she could handle the truth. She could take care of herself.
But she had finally found a guy who was honest enough to tell the truth no matter what and sweet enough to hide the minor details in order to take the fall. Sweet enough to want her to feel better, even as he no doubt ripped himself up inside. How could she push him away? Any other guy would have taken full advantage. Any other guy would have said you thew yourself at me and excused away any other behavior.
Goku didn't. He admitted his mistake and glossed over hers.
Oh, she couldn't help it. She reached up, put her hands to either of his cheeks, and met his eyes with a smile. At the last second, she hesitated. She wanted to kiss him – the feeling was a strong, burning desire – but with everything that had happened it was probably best to back off and keep it sweet and simple. After all, he was torn up enough without confusing him anymore. So, she dropped her hands and wrapped her arms around him instead, leaning in to give as tight a hug as she could manage, resting her face against his chest.
Goku grunted. "Ow."
She blinked, pulling back easily enough since his arms hadn't wrapped around her in return. "Ow?"
"Yeah," he muttered, reaching one arm around awkwardly to try to rub his back. "Kinda hurts right there."
"Oh! Oh, you hit the door knob around there, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I-" he stopped, eyes narrowing. "Wait. I didn't tell you that."
She blushed as she faced his gaze. "Oh...right...uhm...I actually do remember last night."
"You -" his eyes widened. "You remember?"
Chi-Chi nodded. "Yeah, I -"
"You remember and you're not mad?" His arms moved, holding her shoulders. "I thought you'd be mad. You're supposed to be mad. You're supposed to hate me for -"
"For what?"
She snapped, narrowing her own eyes. How dare he tell her what she was supposed to feel after all that? She had her own feelings and her own reasonings for why she felt such things; she didn't fall into any stereotypical setting. Especially when the situation wasn't so black-and-white to begin with.
Goku stammered. "Uh – well – f-for what I did."
Raising an eyebrow, she crossed her arms. "You mean, you want me to be mad at you for running away from me so much? For avoiding it as much as you could? For pushing me away?"
"H-huh? No, I -?"
"Oh, you want me to be mad because I got what I wanted, is that it?" She huffed. "Boys, honestly. You're not the only ones who do stupid things because of desire."
"Chi-Chi," Goku whined. "I'm confused."
Tilting her lips into a smile, she pulled her legs up underneath her, sitting on her knees. Just so she could lean over and kiss him on the forehead. "I wasn't the only one who had those brownies last night. You were having troubles thinking straight, too, weren't you?"
"Ah – hm."
With a giggle, she sat back. "Why don't you go sleep now? You're more than confused – you're exhausted. Actually, we should both get a little more sleep, I think. We can talk more tomorrow. All right?"
"Uh, sure, Chi-Chi," he said, getting to his feet, rubbing his head, still looking dazed. "Whatever you want."
~!~
When she woke up later that day, releasing her hair from the bun and mess of bobby pins, Chi-Chi let out a relieved sigh. She felt a little hot from wearing the cotton pajamas underneath her blankets, but the pounding headache from before had dissipated. Hopefully, this meant the churning in her stomach was because she was hungry instead of sick. Whatever mess of drugs and alcohol she'd gotten into had not sat well with her. She was pretty sure she didn't want to ever repeat the experience. Especially considering what she had done while under the influence…
Running fingers through her tangled hair, Chi-Chi climbed out of her bed. Thoughts of the previous night still haunted her. While she could remember most everything in surprising clarity, she wasn't exactly proud of herself for losing control. For wanting to lose control.
It had been an awful, terrible idea that led to an awful, terrible situation.
A small part of her wanted to shift the blame. It would be so easy, too. After all, she was the one who had been under the influence, but – but – she'd put herself in that position in the first place. On purpose. She wouldn't feel right about blaming the others.
Especially not Goku. Not after seeing how torn up he'd been over the ordeal. While it was true that he probably could have continued to push her back, Chi-Chi knew she had pushed him pretty far, pretty fast, into completely new territory.
Such a sticky mess of a situation though. And the only way to solve it was to talk about it, apologize, and hope their relationship wasn't ruined because of it.
A flashing light caught her attention even in the dim lighting of her bedroom. Chi-Chi scratched at her arm under her pajama sleeve and walked over to her desk. Goku's phone was sitting there underneath the lamp. His rather new cell phone.
Feeling her curiosity get the best of her, Chi-Chi snatched his phone and flipped it open, gawking at the notification indicating he had over a hundred messages waiting for him. Unable to hold herself back from prying into his messages, Chi-Chi pressed a few buttons to see the long list just waiting to be read.
From his brother, Raditz:
Shit, bro, you weren't supposed to hang up on me.
Pick up the phone.
Damn it.
Look.
Don't listen to what I said.
Just. Argh.
Don't do anything.
Nothing at all. K?
You better get this.
Call me in the morning.
From Bulma,
Take good care of her, Goku.
Senzu experiences never lead to good things.
Don't let your crush on her make you do something dumb. Trust me. You'll regret it.
From Krillin,
Hey buddy.
Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
Goku.
Gokuuuuuuu.
Don't ignore me.
Look. For what it's worth I didn't set anything up.
Not any of that. She's been talking to me and Yamcha both lately. But well last night.
She wanted it. It was her idea. The kiss part at least.
Oh, here's a pic.
Call me later, buddy.
The picture was what she was most interested in. She could vaguely remember the flash and some complaint from Goku about his friends snapping a photo while they shared their first kiss. Their first kiss. Under such awful circumstances. She groaned. All she'd wanted was a little something to help loosen up her nerves. Not...not what she got. But she couldn't really blame anyone for giving her the opportunity to make such a fool of herself. She blushed as a memory of the pocky game hit her full force – as she opened up Goku's phone pictures to see the photo of them kissing.
Oh, great, she was all over him.
She didn't remember it being that intense. Well, no, she could remember the intensity of the kiss. The way he just accepted her, let her do whatever she wanted as she dove in and -
At least he looked peaceful and relaxed and happy in the picture. It was a pretty good photo, actually. Good enough to -
She smiled at an idea. Tapping a few buttons, she set his phone background as the very picture of their kiss. There. Now he could see it for sure when he opened his phone. If their relationship was ruined, at least she'd always have his first kiss. And he'd have hers.
Frowning, she groaned again. She really hoped everything wasn't ruined. Such a stupid, awful idea on her part. Leading to such a stupid, awful…
With a sigh, Chi-Chi shook her head, pushing away the negativity. All that was left to do now was to wait for him to wake up and have a conversation with them both well-rested. Oh, and with her no longer having that headache or sickness in her stomach. Speaking of which, she should get up and make some breakfast. A glance at the cell phone's time and she grimaced. Or dinner. Sleeping through the day. Great. Another thing that could have been avoided.
Oh well. All she could do now would be to stand up and move on and hope for the best. At least Goku was still in her apartment. Still willing to talk about the problems of last night. She was pretty sure most other guys would have left a long time ago.
There was a reason she liked him.
~!~
After brushing her hair out for the sake of comfort, Chi-Chi stepped out of her room, quietly closing the door behind her. She held onto Goku's phone, intending to hand it to him. She couldn't imagine why he'd still be asleep, not with the bright rays of sunlight filtering in from her curtains and blinds. Besides, there was no reason to have his phone in her bedroom. Not when his brother or possibly grandfather would eventually call to check on him since it was so late.
With a sigh, she walked into the small living room, expecting to see him sitting around waiting on her. Instead, she had to stop and smile softly. Goku was sprawled out asleep on the floor, still only dressed in his uniform pants. He had found a couple of blankets to stack on the floor as a makeshift pallet and one blanket that looked to have been intended to use as an actual cover if not for the fact that his legs were tangled up in it. However uncomfortable that had to be, he was definitely passed out now, far gone in dreamland.
Smiling, Chi-Chi kept her footsteps as light as possible as she moved over to him. Bending down next to him, she reached out to brush the bangs back from his face. He was so relaxed and open in his sleep. Not much different from how he was when awake, honestly. The little touch must have been just enough to interrupt his dreaming, though, because his eyebrows twitched in protest.
And then his eyes opened, staring up at her. "Chi-?"
"Hey," she whispered, interrupted. "We slept longer than I thought we would."
"Hmm..." he hummed, still in the process of waking up, until he shot up to a sitting position, eyes wide. "What time is it?"
She shrugged. "Late afternoon. Early evening."
His brow furrowed, giving him that lost and confused look. "Chi-Chi, why am I – I need to get home."
Frowning, Chi-Chi got to her feet. Without a word, she tossed his phone down to him, watching him flounder around in order to catch it. Once he held his phone in steady hands, he looked up to her, so she turned her gaze away and decided to walk to the kitchen. Besides, it was hard not to stare at his bare chest, even now.
He still needed to wake up. His exhaustion from the previous night wasn't such an obvious detail anymore. His eyes had seemed well rested once he snapped awake. All she had to do now was give him time to wake up completely and remember.
And then…
She sighed as she moved into her kitchen, going straight for the tea. Finding a box out and open on the counter just waiting for her. She pressed her lips together. Goku must have used the tea to keep himself awake last night as he waited on her. Well. At least he hadn't gotten into anything else. Tea was simple enough to excuse being left out. If he had tried cooking -
Her stomach growled at the thought of food and she laughed. Cooking didn't sound too appealing right now. A sandwich, though. That was simple. A peanut butter sandwich and a mug of hot tea. Yes. That sounded just about perfect.
Humming to herself, Chi-Chi filled the tea kettle with water and then set it on the stove to heat up. Tea was nice at anytime of the day but wonderful after just waking up. As it heated, she went to the pantry for peanut butter, also snatching the bread. And a knife. Maybe she should make one or two sandwiches for Goku, too. She wasn't sure if he would like the less traditional food, but she hadn't seen him turn down any kind of food yet. Besides, he was probably hungry, too.
"H-hey, Chi-Chi?"
Speaking of Goku...She turned around with a smile, only a little surprised to see him standing in the doorway. He wasn't really looking up at her this time, though. His eyes were focused on the phone he held in his hand. Ah, right. She'd changed his background, hadn't she?
"Yes, Goku?"
When his eyes lifted to her, she had to bite her cheek. He looked so...lost. "Did you mess with my phone?"
She nodded, sparing a glance for the tea kettle. No steam yet. Huh.
"Why?"
She sighed. "Goku..."
"I mean, I don't mind, really," he said. "I just...I didn't think you'd like that picture. So why?"
With a smile, she tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear and felt the heat from her cheek in the process. "I love the picture, actually."
"Hah?"
"Goku, I wanted the kiss. Not exactly like that, sure, but," she met his frown with a smile, feeling silly now that she was well rested enough to think straight. "I was having trouble asking you for one and, well, I told Krillin and then Korin showed up so..."
The realization hit him; she could see it crash through his no longer exhausted mind. "You knew what was in the brownies."
She nodded.
"And you ate them anyway."
Another nod.
"Oh man," he groaned, a hand going to his head. "You should've just told me."
I realize that now, she wanted to say, but the tea kettle whistle broke her from her intended words. She sprang on the kettle, holding it in one hand as she pulled out two mugs. Then it was just a simple matter of pouring the hot water, setting the tea bags, and turning back to Goku, who was still hanging in the doorway. Watching her, waiting for more of an explanation, looking almost...hurt?
Chi-Chi swallowed something in her throat, felt her heart pounding in her chest. This was where she lost him. This was where the mistakes of last night became too much. This was where -
"Chi-Chi," he said, breaking her thoughts. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" She gasped, expecting the worst. "For what?"
"For...well..." he frowned, scratching at his head. "I don't care about losing my first kiss to you or anything. Or...any of that other stuff, really, but...I'm pretty sure it's supposed to mean more. And because of how it happened, because I couldn't pull away last night, it didn't mean all that much at all."
She had to give him that. In fact, after he said those words, she felt the sinking pit in her stomach. The one saying she felt a little sick because of what had happened, even if she mostly blamed herself. That didn't erase what had actually taken place. That didn't erase the fact that they'd jumped way too far ahead in their relationship. And the whole issue of consent...she hadn't been in a condition to really okay it, and he never did want it either. He just gave in.
"Goku."
"Hm?"
"Why did you give in?"
"Oh, uh," he laughed a little, probably at himself as he put his phone in his pocket and blushed. "I guess because it was you and, uh, I like making you happy. I mean, if you want something, I want you to have it. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah," she whispered, turning away to give her shaking hands something to do. Something like making those peanut butter sandwiches. "Of course now you know -"
"Now I know not to give in again. Or, rather, I don't know, Chi-Chi, I should've kept a better eye on you at the party. But if you ate those things on purpose because you wanted some excuse to kiss me..." he drifted off, sighed. "I wish you had just told me."
She bit her lip and whispered. "I'm sorry."
His mistake. Her mistake. It didn't matter anymore. They both felt bad. They both apologized. And now she could hear him walking across the kitchen floor. Feel him standing behind her without touching. Knowing him, he was probably hesitating now. Before, he would grab her hand, pick her up, kiss her cheek, all without asking. Now he was hesitating. Oh, she had messed something up but at least -
At least he wasn't gone. Spinning around, Chi-Chi left the food and tea on the counter. Without looking up at him, she wrapped her arms around his middle, buried her face in his chest. He stumbled back a bit, but his hands eventually found her back, returning the hug. Squeezing her tight and then relaxing just enough.
His words whispered into the air above her. "I'm glad you're not mad."
"I'm glad you didn't leave."
"Hey, I'll never leave you," he muttered. "Not when you need me. I still really, really like you, Chi-Chi."
She smiled, feeling her eyes filling with tears. "And I still really like you, Goku, so -"
"So you'll still be my girlfriend?"
Silence echoed in her kitchen. A small spark of confused, shocked silence. And then...And then she laughed. Laughed until tears fell down her cheeks. Laughed as she held onto him and refused to let go. His timing would never make sense to her. Somehow he still managed to surprise her. She was pretty sure this wasn't supposed to be the time for such a question. By all the things she'd heard, they should be fighting, throwing angry words and blame around.
Instead...they'd talked it over, taken on blame for their own mistakes, apologized, and moved on.
Of course she said yes.
~!~
A/N: Funny how perspective and character knowledge can change a scene, huh?
