Coal Dark Ice

Chapter 2- Romantic Interests

Notes: Thanks for the few reviews I got on the first chapter. I'm glad that there are some non-cannon couple people on the planet besides myself... Well, hope you enjoy this, because I really don't know where it's going. I never do with my stories, they kind of write themselves... More 17/Videl, and why Videl and Gohan aren't together in this one..

~*~*~*~

Seventeen merely smiled at her, very pleased with her answer. He thought it was incredibly intriguing, he'd never expected the daughter of Hercule Satan to be so seemingly shy. The thought crossed his mind that she was probably a demoness in the bedroom, but he didn't want to think about things like that at the moment. He may have been a cyborg, but he was still a man. A man could only take so much..

"For the record, Videl, I think you're much more than cute. One might even go so far as to say that you're an extremely beautiful young woman."

Videl returned the smile, the color burning high in her cheeks from the compliment. Seventeen seemed like a hell of a lot more than cute to her at the moment, as well. He looked downright sexy in his leather attire, a pair of skintight black leather pants and a long leather trench coat covering his form-fitting black muscle shirt made his skin seem all the more pale. Seventeen almost looked like a vampire, sitting there as still as a statue, his skin so light and eyes aflame with a hunger that made her pulse race just to think about it.

Seventeen didn't say anything more about her beauty, but instead asked about her family. "Well... dad's the same as he always was. He says he wants the best for me, and all he does is try to control what I do to keep from sullying his good name."

The raven haired android nodded his understanding, taking a slow sip of the chocolate shake from the cardboard container. "Any other romantic interests you have, as of late?" he asked, hinting at Gohan, Goku's son.

Videl was silent a moment before she shook her head. "Gohan and I... we're done. Forever."

Seventeen leaned forward and put his hand over hers, lightly stroking the back of her hand with his soft and warm fingertips soothingly. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Videl. I understand..."

She shook her head. "I want to tell you, but I don't want to put my dirty laundry out in public..." she glanced in the direction of some people sitting a few tables over.

Seventeen glared in their direction but said nothing of it, knowing that they probably had video and audio streams of the entire conversation thus far. "It seems as if your fans and the media can't get enough of you, Videl."

She nodded. "Do you have somewhere we can go where the paparazzi won't follow us?"

Seventeen gracefully got to his feet, collecting their trash on the plastic tray and taking it to the garbage can, dumping it in and setting the tray back on top of it. He looked back at her and motioned for her to join him, holding his hand out to her.

Videl smirked slightly and went to the android, taking his slender and seemingly delicate hand in hers as they began to leave the fast food joint. They looked at each other as they paused by the doors, a scheme forming in both of their minds. At the same time, they turned back to the disguised reporters and stuck their tongues out at them, turning back to the doors and leaving, both of them laughing loudly.

~*~*~*~

They were back at Seventeen's house, a duplex in which he had bought both floors. In essence, it was like he had two houses in one, considering the population of the city. They sat in the upstairs livingroom with all of the shades drawn, not wanting some wacko with a telephoto lens to be able to take pictures of them in their sanctuary.

"You did lock all the doors and windows, right?" Videl asked, worry clear in her voice.

Seventeen nodded, lightly brushing a lock of her hair back from her face. She'd been letting it grow, but she kept it layered. It was still above her shoulders, but it was long enough to constantly fall into her face. She vowed never to do that horrid low pigtails thing with her again.

"There's nothing to worry about, Videl. We're safe here, I promise."

Videl sighed, leaning against him and resting her head on his shoulder. Seventeen put his arm around her shoulders, but made no move to do anything else, not wanting to break Videl's trust.

"Seventeen, I want to tell you about why Gohan and I aren't together anymore..." she said slowly, almost as if the mere mention of his name pained her.

He nodded, lightly running his fingers through her hair. "Whatever you want to tell me, Videl, I'll listen. And anything you tell me won't leave this room unless you say it can."

Videl smiled and said softly, "Thank you..." She looked lost for a moment as the memories flooded through her brain, all of those images that she wanted to forget forever.

"We broke up a few months ago. I dumped him for very valid reasons... He was..." she sighed, trying to think of how to word it. "Well, it might sound weird, but... Gohan liked kink. A lot... And, I understood his odd little tastes, to an extent. It was never anything big. We traded off being dominant, a little bit of biting and the like...

"I was fine with it. I thought it was cool because it was different. He was never abusive outside of the bedroom, and even what happened there wasn't abusive. It was never anything besides an occasional bruising or a few little cuts... And I will admit, I did like it in the beginning. I won't lie about that."

Seventeen nodded but said nothing, letting her go on whenever she was ready to. She looked up at him with a sigh. "You think I'm a freak, don't you?"

The raven haired android blinked in surprise at her assumption. He couldn't help but laugh. "Videl, Videl, Videl.. I don't think you're a freak." he said softly, lightly pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'm paying attention so I'll know not to make the same mistakes he did. But, I'm curious... If you liked it, then what did he do that you didn't like?"

She shuddered at the memory. "When Gohan brought Trunks over to join in on the fun..."

The android was silent a moment. "But... he's a few years younger than you are. Kami, the kid's probably somewhere around sixteen..."

"Exactly the problem, Seventeen. I felt like a pedofile, even though he was the one doing everything. He has his father's vicious streak in him, I'll give him that much..."

Videl's sudden confidant soothingly stroked her hair. "Go on, Videl. Tell me what happened. No one's going to find out..."

She nodded, her sea grey eyes filling with tears. "The two of them had me tied down, and they..." she paused, her sharp intake of breath shaky. "...they raped me, Seventeen. There wasn't anything fun or enjoyable about it. And... there was nothing I could do to stop it..."

Seventeen said nothing, simply holding her close to his chest as she cried. He let the tears run their course, Videl's crying reduced to soft sniffles. "What they did was wrong. Videl...I swear to Kami that I'll never hurt you like that."

She looked up at him, tears still in her stormy grey eyes. "Seventeen..." she said his name softly, fervently, like a prayer. Videl leaned up slightly, softly pressing her lips to his.



A/N- Whatcha think, all? Bet some of you were offended by the Trunks and Gohan thing, but oh well. It worked, so that's what happened. Anyone have suggestions as to what should happen next?