Author's Notes: Standard disclaimer applies.

Chapter 11

'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!' Trunks thought as he slammed his head into the bathroom-tiled wall. 'Why, in Kami's name, did I do that?!' he screamed at himself and continued to whack his forehead against the unforgiving blue squares.

A timid knock sounded at the door.

"Trunks?" a feminine voice asked slowly. "Are you okay in there?"

That had to be the stupidest question he had ever heard. 'Hmmm, let me think. I go a little crazy when I'm around a certain female Saiyajin, nearly had sex with her in her brother's room, and now have a headache the size of Namek. Am I okay? AM I OKAY?! How dare she ask me that!'

"Yeah, I'm fine."

There was a slight pause. "Are you sure?"

'Nooo. I'm just whacking my head against the bathroom wall because I *love* headaches. Life is just dandy.'

"Of course I'm sure."

"Oh." There was a long pause. "You've been in there for nearly an hour. Do you think you're going to come out any time soon?"

Trunks rolled his eyes. He didn't remember his mother ever being this annoying before. What was her problem anyway? There are, like, a million other bathrooms in their house. "I will in a minute."
Again, there was another pause. "You don't need any prunes or anything, do you? You know, to help things come out faster?"

Trunks' eyes widened. This conversation was getting a little too weird. "No, I'm fine!" He could almost hear her shrug.

"Okay, but if you need anything just yell."

He grunted. 'Riiight. Like she would be able to hear me from the other side of the house.'

He looked at himself in the mirror and found that there was a small red mark in the center of his forehead to reward all of his efforts. His hair was tousled and his eyes were puffy with dark circles underneath them. All in all, he looked like shit. With a grown, Trunks turned away from his haggard reflection and splashed some cold water on his face.

It had been nearly a week since he had last seen her, felt her, tasted her. . . As one could imagine, the affect it has had has been less than desirable. 'Gohan would be disappointed; his priced pupil is losing all semblance of self-control around a female of all things!' Trunks chuckled and stared off into space.

"But she's the most gorgeous female that has ever walked on Chikyuu." He was pretty sure there was a huge goofy grin on his face. He glanced at the mirror. Yep. 'There it is.' He was such a fool. He was here to help the past defeat the Androids, not fall for some slip of a girl that appeared out of nowhere.

Why was he even here? The Androids were dead, Cell destroyed. So why was he still in the past? Sure there was a new enemy, but Trunks didn't doubt that everyone here could handle it. 'So why am I here?' He knew he had to leave soon, but the thought of never seeing his family again really irked him.

Sparkling silver blue eyes, pouting lips, and a vanilla scent swept through his senses all at once. The thought of never seeing Usagi again was what was really going to be his downfall. With a jerk, he twisted the water off and dried his face. He had to see her. He *needed* to see her. His jaw set with determination as he exited the bathroom. Nobody was going to stand in his way.

"Oh Trunks, guess who's here?" his mother called from the kitchen.

He glanced over and was about to leave when he heard a silvery laugh. 'She's here!' In a flash, he appeared in the kitchen doorway. Chichi was stirring something in a huge pot at the stove, occasionally tasting it and adding new ingredients. Bulma was drying dishes while Usagi washed them. They were giggling at something or other. Trunks swept his smothering gaze up and down her figure appreciatively. He had forgotten how good she looked.

Usagi was giggling as Bulma continued to fill her in on some gossip when she felt someone behind her. Before she could turn, strong hands slid down her arms and into the soapy water. She closed her eyes as a muscular body pressed her against the counter and a warm breath tickled her neck. A single strand of lavender hair fell into her line of vision, revealing the man's identity. But she already knew who it was.

Bulma stopped her chatting and watched her son come up behind her dish washing partner. He leaned down to whisper something in the girl's ear. Bulma beamed. 'They make such a cute couple!'

Trunks intertwined his fingers with hers successfully forcing her to drop the soupy plate she had been cleaning. "I missed you," he whispered against her ear, reveling in the shivers he evoked from her. He looked at her closed eyes and back to her neck. 'Kami, she smells good.' As if in a trance, he bent down and brushed his lips against her exposed neck and trailed heated kisses up to her earlobe. 'She tastes better than I remember.'

Usagi could feel a soothing vibration echoing deep within his chest, like a purr. It lulled her into submission, not that she would have struggled against this sweet torture anyway. "Hmm. . ." she hummed in pleasure.

Trunks' eyes sparked with a hunger he hadn't felt since that night. He brought his soapy arms from the water to grip the sides of her waist. He whipped her around, much to her surprise and to the surprise of their audience, and kissed her with a savage lust that sang in his blood.

It took him a week to forget what heaven was like and only a second to remember.

He felt her arms wrap around his neck in an attempt to prolong the ecstasy. It seemed that he wasn't the only one that had missed this. His hands cupped her face, and he pushed her further against the counter. She wasn't escaping this time.

A whimper irrupted from her throat and her hands pushed him back, almost frantically. She broke the kiss a minute later and pushed him back further. Trunks blinked in confusion.

"What's wrong?" he questioned while trying to gain his breath. She grabbed his hand and moved his fingers to outline an indention in the skin of her back.

"What's that?"

"The counter."

He blinked. 'Oh. I must've pressed her a little too hard.'

She hauled herself up on the offending kitchen top and pouted - 'rather cutely' he thought - when she found that he was still a few inches taller than her. Her long legs wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer.

He grinned. He was right. She was enjoying this as much as he was.

They were about to resume the kissing war when Chichi burst into speech. "Uh-uh! I don't think so. You two are not about to go at it in the kitchen; it might ruin the food."

Trunks wrapped his arms around Usagi's waist and lifted her off of the counter. Her legs, which were still wrapped around his waist, and arms, that were now around his neck, tightened in an attempt to keep from falling.

Trunks was about to walk them to his room when Gohan burst into the kitchen dragging his sword behind him. The boy stopped and stared at the two teens, silently shocked. 'I knew there was something going on between them!'

"Hey Mirai, can you teach me how to fence now?"

Trunks cringed. "Can you wait an hour or so?" he said while glancing at Usagi.

Gohan looked stricken. "Oh. Yeah, sure." With his head bowed, he turned to walk out the door. The sword scraped lightly against the tile of the kitchen.

Usagi quickly slid down Trunks, much to his pleasure, and detangled her limbs, to his dismay. "Wait, Gohan. Trunks can teach you right now."

"Really?!" the boy exclaimed.

Trunks' eyes widened and a whining sound came from his dropped mouth. "B- But Usagi, didn't we have plans?" he hinted at while glancing in the direction of his room.

Usagi crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter. "Go," she stated firmly.

Trunks bowed his head and sighed in defeat. "Fine. Come on Gohan, let's go to the front yard." More quietly he muttered, "The sacrifices I make."

Usagi giggled once he was out of the room.

"What are you laughing at?" Bulma questioned as Usagi picked a dish from the soapy water.

"Oh. It's just that I owe Gohan one."

Chichi looked up from her stew. "You mean you planned to have Gohan come in when he did?!"

Usagi grinned, "Of course. I had to get Trunks back for last week, and by that look on his face, I'd say it worked." The two women were shocked. They didn't expect this type of retaliation, or any type of retaliation, in their matchmaking attempts.

Bulma grinned and asked innocently, "What happened last week?" As if she didn't already know.

Usagi coughed violently and dropped the plate back into the soapy water. 'At this rate,' she thought, 'that plate will never get clean.'

"Nothing really important."

Bulma and Chichi shared a knowing grin.

Usagi sighed gratefully when the chatter turned from the 'happenings' last week to the get-together the Son and Briefs families had planned for this afternoon. It seemed that spending the night last week wasn't enough.

While scrubbing the dishes, she looked out of the window to observe Gohan's training. At least, that's what she told herself. Her eyes kept lingering on the purple-haired hunk that she hadn't seen in a week. She looked him up and down, several times, and concluded that he was still the same Saiyajin that she had shared her living room floor with a mere scant days ago. Her cheeks burned when she remembered waking up to her father's staring.

* * * Flashback * * * *

The sorely-missed sound of sizzling bacon and plopping of flipped pancakes embraced Usagi's waking mind with open arms. She snuggled against something soft and strong 'My pillow?' she thought, but dismissed the idea. 'No pillow is this strong.' It wasn't really important at the moment. For the first time in a long time, she was content. It didn't matter if Chaos wiped out all of civilization tomorrow and crowned himself ruler of the universe. As long as she was lying in here, then nothing was wrong in the world; nothing could worry her.

Usagi inhaled deeply in an attempt to prolong the ecstasy, but stopped short. Yes, she smelled the bacon, pancakes, and the eggs, not to mention the brewing coffee and the biscuits - she loved her enhanced sense of smell - but there was another scent that dominated over the delicious breakfast. It was different. Something pleasant and very . . . She gulped. Masculine.

Usagi's eyes snapped open in horror. She waited impatiently for her vision to adjust to the sudden invasion of light and allow her to see. She was right about her not holding a pillow, the rigid stomach, muscled chest, and broad shoulders ruled out that possibility.

Her gaze traveled up to the lavender hair and the proud mouth. She deflated in relief when she saw that his eyes were closed. At least now, he wasn't going to have the satisfaction of knowing she was clinging to him as though he were some lover destined to depart at dawn.

Usagi slowly retracted her arms from around him. He didn't stir. 'It seems as though Selene is looking down on me.' She turned her head and nearly jumped out of her skin when she found a pair of beady black eyes looking down at her in curiosity. 'And the moon goddess is laughing her ass off.'

There sat her father, the most powerful being in the universe aside form her and Chaos. 'And hopefully,' she pleaded, 'the most gullible.'

"Good uh morning, Daddy."

Goku smiled brightly, "Hi!"

She slowly sat up, ignoring the slumbering Saiyajin's protests. If she was lucky, her father might not notice that she was a disheveled mess who had slept in the arms of the future version of his best friend's son on a pile of blankets in the middle of his living room for the whole night.

"Usagi, I was wondering, uh, why are you on the floor with Mirai?"

Okay, so maybe he was a *little* more observant than she was giving him credit for.

"Oh, uh, this? Well, I, uh, you see -"

"- There were no more bedrooms since my parents took Usagi's room, Gohan was already asleep in his room, and you and Chichi had your room. Chichi said we could sleep out here," Trunks reminded the man while making eye contact with him.

Usagi shot a grateful look over her shoulder at the now awake prince. He tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her back down beside him. She resisted for a moment before giving in and laying her head on his chest. He had just saved her a moment ago, so she owed him. She mentally snorted. 'Yeah, my savior.'

Goku eyed Trunks' arms that encircled his daughter's waist. He was a little wary after Trunks' 'little' display yesterday when Usagi transformed. "Then, why were you hugging her?"

Trunks tightened his grip and managed to shrug at the same time. "She had to scratch her back last night and couldn't quite reach the exact spot. So, I helped her out. I guess we fell asleep like that."

Usagi raked her fingernails down the side of his chest that was hidden from her father and shot Trunks a death glare.

Goku blinked a few times. "Oh. Well, okay. Thanks for clearing that up!" The man's stomach grumbled as another wave of breakfast smells washed into the living room. "I'm going to go see if the women want any help."

When he disappeared into the kitchen, Usagi whipped her head around and glared down at Trunks. "I can't believe you said that! That had to be the worst excuse I've ever heard!"

He rubbed his sore chest. "It worked, didn't it?"

"That's beside the point! I don't e . . ven kn . . ow. . ." she trailed off. Trunks had lifted his shirt to inspect the full extent of the damage her nails had inflicted. Usagi fought to swallow the lump in her throat. 'Does he have to do that in front of me?'

Trunks knew exactly what he was doing.

Usagi clinched her hands into fists to keep from giving into the desire she had to touch him. Why did he have to look so good? He grabbed one of her wrists and placed her fist over the pink lines trailing down the left side of his chest.

"See? It still hurts," he pouted.

Her hand relaxed to lay flat against his heated skin. Her fingertips lightly traced down the length of the fading scratches. She didn't want to stop there. Her fingers moved to the right and started to trace over the defined ridges in his stomach. She could tell by his sudden intake of breath and by the tensing of his stomach that her move had caught him by surprise. She glanced at his face and found that his head was bent back and his eyes were clinched closed.

Her hand stopped its drawing, and she continued to stare at his handsome face. His lids cracked open to reveal ice blue eyes swimming with desire. When she saw the reaction of her simple touch, she snatched her hand away as if it had been burned. Trunks lunged forward and stilled the retreating appendage.

"You can't stop now that you've started." He brought her pale hand forward to touch his chest again. She tried to yank it free from his hold.

"Well, I'm ending this. Let go."

Trunks grinned. "Fine. If you won't touch me, then I'll just have to touch you."

Her eyes widened, and she scooted as far away as her body would permit, which wasn't that far considering Trunks was still in possession of her hand.

"Don't. Please?"

His grip tightened around her hand. He grabbed hold of her shirt and started to pull her closer to him. "I won you yesterday, if you'll remember. You are mine to do with as I please."

Usagi glared at him. "I could scream, and my Dad would run in here and beat you into a bloody nothing."

Trunks chuckled, "We've been over this once before. You enjoy it too much. Besides," he paused when their lips were a few inches from each other, "I'll just tell him I was helping you wipe something off of you're lips."

He leaned forward, but Usagi bent back. "Then he would ask you why you didn't use your hands."

Trunks grinned and glided both of his hands down the outline of her figure, "But I *am* using my hands." Usagi's eyes half closed with desire. Why did he have to look so good? They leaned forward and -

CLANK!

"Damn it, Goku! What did I tell you about NOT putting your hand in the blender?!"

"Owww. Chichi, it hurts," came a grown man's whine.

"Don't come crying to me you dumb ass. You deserve all of the pain you get. Just let the blood drip AWAY from the food. GOKU!"

* * * End Flashback * * * *

Usagi chuckled as she remembered how she and Trunks had jumped from each other just in time to watch her mother literally *throw* Goku out of the kitchen.

She blinked as her thoughts faded back into the present. The fuzzy images of the kitchen snapped into focus. She could suddenly feel the soapsuds clinging to her forearms and the warm water dancing through her fingers. Bulma and Chichi were chatting, and she was still looking out the kitchen window.

Trunks was instructing Gohan on a particular sword move. She saw him glance at her with a wicked expression before he *slowly* peeled off the tank top he was wearing. Her breath caught. Muscles rippling, sweat glistening, chest heaving. For the millionth time she thought, 'DAMN! Why the hell does he have to look so fucking good?! It's a sin!'

And what made it worse, is that he *knows* he is the hottest thing since toaster ovens. He *knows* that he could make any female melt with a simple glance in their general direction. 'But,' she thought with a grin, 'I'm a SAIYAJIN female.'

"We shall see who lasts longer."

Usagi dried her hands and strode from the kitchen, her eyes shining with purpose and her jaw set with determination. 'Two can play at this game, dear prince.'

The sunlight passed over her, highlighting the silver of her hair. She slowly made her way to the training duo. She knew that Trunks was following the sway of her hips, studying the stealth in her prowl, and gazing into the blue of her eyes. Oh yes, this would be fun.

"Let the games begin," she mumbled under her breath.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

AN: Sorry this was so short. Review all thoughts and feelings. Feel free to vent all frustrations and anger. Thanks for being so patient!

Katlin