Ch 38

"I feel like it's been a while since I've seen you last," said Gohan as he sat outside, enjoying the view of the green hills with his younger brother.

"It does, and I'm sorry I haven't been over to see everyone. I've been really busy with culinary school."

"Yeah Bulma told me about that. I'm happy for you Goten. You didn't let your life end because music didn't work out for you."

"I did enjoy most of the experience, and I guess I'm glad I had it even though there was some bad that came with it."

"So, how are you holding up? After everything that happened—

"I've been putting it behind me, but it's difficult when he's my culinary partner in one of my classes."

"You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Gohan. "We heard from Bulma that he wasn't being charged but to harass you like this is unacceptable."

"I'm not, but I'm not going to let this get to me. He holds all the power if I just drop out now. Besides it's like I told Trunks, it doesn't matter, even if I drop out, he'll find a way to follow me."

"What about a restraining order, wouldn't he have no choice but to leave you alone?"

"There's no real proof that he is stalking me. It just looks like he's taking a culinary class, but I guess if I see any behavior to the contrary, then I could file a restraining order."

"So, how is Trunks taking all this?"

"He's not taking it that well. I can tell how hard this is for him, and I'm trying to prevent him from becoming too possessive of me."

"Don't you mean protective?"

"I'm a saiyan to you know. I'm not made out of glass. I can protect myself, and I know that night I couldn't fight, I couldn't protect myself. I think that rattled Trunks a little, and he's more cautious of who's around me. I'm in control now, and I know I'll never drink again just to please others."

"Well that's a good lesson to learn. Videl still feels bad about what happened, wishing she could have done something."

"She has nothing to feel bad about Gohan. I made a choice that night, and the consequences are mine not hers to deal with. She's always been really good to me Gohan. I never blamed her, ever."

"Thanks for saying so Goten," said Videl as she walked over to them.

"It's the truth," smiled Goten.

"So, are you staying for dinner?" asked Videl. "Your mom and grandpa are coming over."

Goten walked into the Briefs home late when he made his way passed the living room and the kitchen, making his way upstairs. The hallway was dark but calming to him as he walked to Trunks' room.

Opening the door, he walked in carefully closing the door behind him. The room was covered in darkness and as he looked towards the bed, he found Trunks was not there. He wasn't surprised because Trunks had some late nights at Capsule, but that thought was crushed when he heard the bathroom door open, letting in some light into the bedroom.

"Late night?" asked Trunks as he came into the room in nothing but a towel. He smiled as Goten stared at his state of undress. "Hey, my eyes are up here?" he teased.

Goten snapped out of whatever trance Trunks' body put him in and blushed. "I spent some time with Gohan, and I decided to stay for dinner."

"That's nice. It must have been good to be out there again."

"I do miss it sometimes," Goten smiled.

"Well if you ever feel like you want to be out there for a while, I can always make you you're own capsule house so you'll have your own place to stay. I know how much growing up in the mountain area meant to you."

"That's very sweet of you Trunks. Maybe I'll take you up on that offer someday," he smiled," but being in the same place as my mother for a long period of time isn't ideal to me right now."

"Dinner was that bad, huh?"

"The dinner was good, but she wasn't happy about my choice to go to culinary school, especially with Julian there. I told her I'll be fine, but she's not so convinced."

"Can you blame her? Someone hurt her child and got away with it. I know my mom wouldn't be so thrilled about the idea."

"What it comes down to is trust. Do you trust me that I can look out for myself? I'm a grown half-saiyan man. I'm not a child, and I will not be treated like one."

"I trust you more than anything chibi but it's him that I don't trust. Logically I know you can kick his ass if he tried anything but what happened to you didn't only effect you. It affected me to, and it's hard to get past. You were in a vulnerable state that night, and I couldn't be there to protect you from what happened."

"What happened was my fault Trunks. I decided to drink that night, I decided to open the door and found Julian on the other side. I let him stay to sleep off his drunken state. I let this happen to myself, and I'm sorry Trunks. I didn't mean to hurt you or me in the process."

Trunks' arms around him felt nice as he rubbed his back, whispering sweet nothings into his ear. He didn't realize he had been crying until Trunks brushed the tears away from his face and then held him close to his chest once again. It felt comforting to Goten as his arms found their way around his mate's naked but warm waist.

"We should get some sleep chibi," said Trunks as he lead him to the bed, lied down, and felt Goten curl up against his body. Trunks smiled, kissed his forehead. "Sleep tight and have good dreams about me," he smirked as Goten laughed.