Here it is at long last! Thank you all for your wonderful wonderful
reviews! I feel so special. . . I'm dreadfully sorry that it has taken me
so long to update! I have excuses that really aren't too incredibly
pathetic. At first I was working on another (unrelated) short story for
school (which I'll post if someone wants me to), then I had exams, and then
we upgraded our computer. After the upgrade we 'lost' all of our files for
a couple weeks and I only just got the half of this chapter that I had
written back today.
Whenever I use *~*~ it signals the POV changes from Gohan to Videl. . . Just wanted to make that clear. . .
This chapter is sort of the turning point in Living Alone. Here is where the G/V starts. Gohan begins to come out of his shell. . . .
Enjoy.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Gohan smiled. Things were looking up. 75 sub sandwiches were sitting in front of him, waiting to be eaten. For once, Gohan was glad that Goten was not present. More food for him. It was a Sunday afternoon and Goten was visiting at the Lookout and would not be home till later so Gohan had taken the advantage and ordered the subs the day before.
Gohan rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and cleared a space on the table in front of him. He was eating at the shop where he had ordered the subs, not really caring who saw him. It was not like he knew anyone anyway. He had hardly left the forest for eight years. Gohan took ten of the subs out of their wrappers and lay then out before him. Smiling broadly, Gohan began to eat; saiya-jinn style.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So where do you want to eat?" Videl questioned Erasa as they got into Videl's car. Erasa was visiting from her job in North City to stay with Videl for the weekend. It was good to see Erasa again.
"Some place cheap, I'm a little short on cash . . . Are there any sandwich shops around here? A sub would be great!"
"Yeah, there's one around the corner. Let's go!"
"Hey Videl," Erasa asked as they entered the restaurant, "do you think I should go for a roast beef sandwich or the vegetarian . . . Videl?"
Videl had not heard a word. Somehow, it had never occurred to her that she might see the older brother of one of her students outside of a school related event. Son Gohan was contentedly opening the wrapper of a sandwich, alone at a table near the checkout. Abruptly, Videl was brought back to reality as Erasa waved her hands in front of the brunette's face.
"Hello! Earth to Videl!"
"Oh! Um, sorry Erasa, I just kinda phased out for a minute there. Um, let's order."
"Right." Erasa remarked sarcastically as she followed Videl to the line.
Videl could not help but shoot sideways glances at Gohan as she ordered her sub. For some reason, he seemed, out of place here. He was wearing the same outfit he had worn to the Open House and was slowly savoring a foot long sandwich. Videl considered what to do. Erasa would want to eat in here, and if they did, Gohan would see her eventually and think it rude of her not to have greeted him before. Oh well, she would just have to do the polite thing and say 'hi'.
So, Videl took a deep breath and spoke, "Hi Gohan, do you remember me? From the Open House?" Gohan looked up when she spoke and Erasa looked on, with a glint in her eye.
Gohan smiled broadly and as Videl met his black eyes, her heart stopped. It seemed like their eyes were locked for hours and hours, but Videl knew that it had only been an unnoticeable instant. Blinking rapidly, Videl shifted her gaze to his forehead as he returned her greeting, "It's a pleasure to see you again."
"Um, this is my friend Erasa, Erasa, this is Gohan, he's my student's older brother." Videl continued, stammering very slightly and looked at Erasa.
Erasa winked swiftly at Videl and offered Gohan her hand, "Nice to meet you, would you mind if we sat down?"
Videl blushed crimson. She had forgotten how impulsive Erasa could be.
"Not at all." Gohan answered after only a moment's pause, and released Erasa's hand.
"You've got a strong grip," Erasa commented as she slide into the booth. Videl slide in behind Erasa, still blushing.
Now it was Gohan's turn to blush, "Uh, yeah . . . Sorry, sometimes I don't know my own strength."
"So Gohan, I've never seen you around. Do you live in Satan City? Where did you go to high school?" Erasa easily slid into conversation mode as she winked impishly at Videl."
"No, actually I live in woods a ways north of here. As for high school, I was self taught online."
"Oh really? That's fascinating. I've heard of those online schools before but I'm not really good with computers so I'm doing my schooling the old fashioned way. Do you live in a small town in the woods or what?"
"My brother and I live alone in a cabin." (A/N: wow- I actually found a way to fit the title into the story)
"Really? What do you do all the. . . " Erasa was cut off by the ringing of a cell phone. Erasa reached into her purse and pulled out a small pink phone and checked to see who was calling. "Oh it's my sister Inka! She's due to have her baby soon. this might be important. Excuse me."
Videl slipped out of the booth to let Erasa go and tried desperately to think of something to say. Erasa was the conversation maker, not her! How had this happened! Erasa walked a polite distance from the table to talk with her sister. Videl slide back into her seat and tentatively asked a question, "So what do you do all of the time up there, alone. I know you must spend a lot of time with Goten, but what else do you do?"
"Goten and I do some hunting, some camping. . . Also I read a lot. I order books online."
Ah! Now that was something Videl could talk about. "Really? What kind of books do you read?" Videl picked up her sandwich and took a bite as Gohan spoke. She noticed that the sub Gohan had been eating when Erasa and Videl sat down was gone, but there were two more in front of him. Was he really going to eat both of those?
"Really I read a bit of everything. I read a lot of historical nonfiction, some mysteries, court case novels, thrillers, a little sci-fi. . ."
"Wow. I read a lot too, what kind of historical stuff do you read?"
Videl could see by the light in Gohan's eyes and the attention that he was giving her that he was beginning to get interested in the conversation. Just as he was about to reply, however, Erasa came back, looking flustered.
"I have no run! Inka's baby is coming now, like two weeks before its due! I need to get over to West City. . . I'm sorry to cancel my trip Del. . . I'll come back for another weekend, okay? I'll call you tonight, okay? It was nice meeting you Gohan; sorry I haven't known you longer. Have a nice time chatting! Buh-bye."
With the quick explanation Erasa was off, shuffling through her purse looking for her capsule car as she ran out the door. Videl looked across at Gohan, who was looking confused.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Videl and her friend sat down at Gohan's table, he had been surprised. Gohan was in too good of a mood to be annoyed at the intrusion but was a little disappointed that he would have to eat his last three sandwiches at human speed. Well, it was probably for the best, he could savor them this way.
Gohan could tell by the pink tint of Videl's cheek that she was embarrassed by her friend's, Erasa's, forward behavior and was slightly amused. He answered the blonde's questions carefully but sufficiently and when Erasa and Videl slide out of the booth so that Erasa could answer her cell phone, Gohan quickly stuffed the sandwich he had been holding into his mouth. Videl seemed not to notice, but Gohan decided to eat his last two subs normally.
Gohan could see Videl relax when the demi saiya-jinn mentioned that he liked to read. This was evidently a subject that she felt comfortable with. That was good because it was something that Gohan felt comfortable with too. He supposed that his mother was the one that had started him reading. When she died he began ordering textbooks online. As Gohan studied history, he found that certain eras fascinated him. Gohan had ordered more books (using his limitless credit card- compliments of Dende) concentrating on things like Ancient Greece, Pre-communism Russia, and the Samurai. From these information wells he had moved on to biographies, and then historical fiction, and finally fiction itself.
Gohan was interrupted from his thoughts when Erasa came back and announced her departure. It took Gohan a moment to reorient himself and by the time he had figured out what Erasa had said in her speedy and high-pitched explanation she was gone. Gohan's thoughts immediately shifted to the untouched sandwich that Erasa had left behind. Since Erasa was obviously coming back maybe he could eat the sandwich.
"Um. . . I'm uh sorry that Erasa had to go Gohan. She and her older sister Inka are close. . . ." Silence. "So, um, what was it that you were saying about historical nonfiction?"
Gohan eagerly began to converse with Videl over the happenings and mysteries of the past. Videl was surprisingly well informed for a college student who was learning to teach children. The lives of Peter the Great, Caesar Augustus, and Ancient Greek gods were not things that elementary school teachers generally concerned themselves with.
As Videl explained why she thought Ivan the Terrible was cruel because of the circumstances surrounding his childhood rather than being born evil in accordance to a prophecy, Gohan sat back in amazement. This was wonderful. Gohan was tremendously happy. Here was something that he had missed for eight long years. Friendship. Fellowship. While Gohan loved Goten, the little boy did not have the knowledge to have conversations like these. While Gohan trusted Piccolo with his life, Piccolo was not human (or saiya- jinn for that matter), he could not identify with Gohan. While Dende was Gohan's age, he was a god! No aspects of his life were similar to Gohan's. Gohan had missed this comradeship. He had felt nothing like this since he had been a boy, hanging out with Krillin. Even that had been different; Krillin was the age of Gohan's father. Videl, on the other hand, was Gohan's age. She was human. She was Gohan's age. She had goals and dreams. She shared some of his interests. She was fun to talk too. She was a friend.
"Gohan? Gohan?"
"Huh?" Gohan roused himself from his thoughts and tossed Videl the Son Grin. "Sorry. I kinda zoned out."
"Yeah, well I need to be going, we've been here for a while." Videl looked down at her watch and gasped, "Oh my gosh its three o'clock! We've been talking for nearly two hours! I'm so sorry to have kept you! You aren't late picking Goten up or anything are you?"
Gohan chuckled, "No, he's fine. I was just going to fl. . . take a walk after lunch anyway. I'm not due to pick Goten up yet."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Good, good," Videl murmured as she threw away her trash. She hoped that she was not blushing. They had been talking for two hours! She hoped she had not bored him. Oh she must have! Videl was sure that she had been rambling.
Videl took her purse out of the booth and looked up to see Gohan smiling at her.
"I'll walk you to your car."
"Thanks." Videl smiled, genuinely impressed. Few guys did things like that anymore, what was chivalry coming to?
"I really enjoyed our talk today Videl. Say are you doing anything this weekend Videl? I'd love to finish our conversation over coffee." Gohan flashed Videl a hopeful grin as he held the door to the restaurant open for her.
Videl felt her heart contract, but she quickly squashed the wild notions running around her head. He just wanted to talk. This was not a guy-girl thing . . . just a person-person thing. At least she had not bored him. Videl smiled gaily back at Gohan. "That would be great. Would Saturday morning, around eight be okay?"
"Yeah, that's excellent. I don't know any coffee shops around here, is there one in particular that you like?"
"How about Cups on Parkway Drive? Do you need directions?"
"Naw, I'll just get them online. I'll see you then Videl."
Gohan was standing on the sidewalk between the restaurant and the parking lot. Videl had her car door open and was about to get in when she stopped.
"Hey Gohan, how are you getting home? Do you have a car or something?"
Gohan paused for a moment before explaining, "Uh, well I'm gonna walk around town for a little while before heading back. . . I've got means for transportation."
"Alright. Bye."
"Bye."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Alright so this chapter was a friendship chapter . . . no heated moments or anything silly like that. But I will tell you one thing; this story will have NO lemons, limes, or any silly things like that. The rating will remain the same.
I'm sorry if the spacing on this chapter is bad, I've been having trouble spacing these things. If anyone has any tips they'd like to give me please feel free!
Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter. Now that its summer time I have loads more time on my hands since I have no life. The chapters should be coming in faster. More G/V and Bulma and company soon!
Please please please be a sweetheart and review!
-pd
Whenever I use *~*~ it signals the POV changes from Gohan to Videl. . . Just wanted to make that clear. . .
This chapter is sort of the turning point in Living Alone. Here is where the G/V starts. Gohan begins to come out of his shell. . . .
Enjoy.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Gohan smiled. Things were looking up. 75 sub sandwiches were sitting in front of him, waiting to be eaten. For once, Gohan was glad that Goten was not present. More food for him. It was a Sunday afternoon and Goten was visiting at the Lookout and would not be home till later so Gohan had taken the advantage and ordered the subs the day before.
Gohan rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and cleared a space on the table in front of him. He was eating at the shop where he had ordered the subs, not really caring who saw him. It was not like he knew anyone anyway. He had hardly left the forest for eight years. Gohan took ten of the subs out of their wrappers and lay then out before him. Smiling broadly, Gohan began to eat; saiya-jinn style.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So where do you want to eat?" Videl questioned Erasa as they got into Videl's car. Erasa was visiting from her job in North City to stay with Videl for the weekend. It was good to see Erasa again.
"Some place cheap, I'm a little short on cash . . . Are there any sandwich shops around here? A sub would be great!"
"Yeah, there's one around the corner. Let's go!"
"Hey Videl," Erasa asked as they entered the restaurant, "do you think I should go for a roast beef sandwich or the vegetarian . . . Videl?"
Videl had not heard a word. Somehow, it had never occurred to her that she might see the older brother of one of her students outside of a school related event. Son Gohan was contentedly opening the wrapper of a sandwich, alone at a table near the checkout. Abruptly, Videl was brought back to reality as Erasa waved her hands in front of the brunette's face.
"Hello! Earth to Videl!"
"Oh! Um, sorry Erasa, I just kinda phased out for a minute there. Um, let's order."
"Right." Erasa remarked sarcastically as she followed Videl to the line.
Videl could not help but shoot sideways glances at Gohan as she ordered her sub. For some reason, he seemed, out of place here. He was wearing the same outfit he had worn to the Open House and was slowly savoring a foot long sandwich. Videl considered what to do. Erasa would want to eat in here, and if they did, Gohan would see her eventually and think it rude of her not to have greeted him before. Oh well, she would just have to do the polite thing and say 'hi'.
So, Videl took a deep breath and spoke, "Hi Gohan, do you remember me? From the Open House?" Gohan looked up when she spoke and Erasa looked on, with a glint in her eye.
Gohan smiled broadly and as Videl met his black eyes, her heart stopped. It seemed like their eyes were locked for hours and hours, but Videl knew that it had only been an unnoticeable instant. Blinking rapidly, Videl shifted her gaze to his forehead as he returned her greeting, "It's a pleasure to see you again."
"Um, this is my friend Erasa, Erasa, this is Gohan, he's my student's older brother." Videl continued, stammering very slightly and looked at Erasa.
Erasa winked swiftly at Videl and offered Gohan her hand, "Nice to meet you, would you mind if we sat down?"
Videl blushed crimson. She had forgotten how impulsive Erasa could be.
"Not at all." Gohan answered after only a moment's pause, and released Erasa's hand.
"You've got a strong grip," Erasa commented as she slide into the booth. Videl slide in behind Erasa, still blushing.
Now it was Gohan's turn to blush, "Uh, yeah . . . Sorry, sometimes I don't know my own strength."
"So Gohan, I've never seen you around. Do you live in Satan City? Where did you go to high school?" Erasa easily slid into conversation mode as she winked impishly at Videl."
"No, actually I live in woods a ways north of here. As for high school, I was self taught online."
"Oh really? That's fascinating. I've heard of those online schools before but I'm not really good with computers so I'm doing my schooling the old fashioned way. Do you live in a small town in the woods or what?"
"My brother and I live alone in a cabin." (A/N: wow- I actually found a way to fit the title into the story)
"Really? What do you do all the. . . " Erasa was cut off by the ringing of a cell phone. Erasa reached into her purse and pulled out a small pink phone and checked to see who was calling. "Oh it's my sister Inka! She's due to have her baby soon. this might be important. Excuse me."
Videl slipped out of the booth to let Erasa go and tried desperately to think of something to say. Erasa was the conversation maker, not her! How had this happened! Erasa walked a polite distance from the table to talk with her sister. Videl slide back into her seat and tentatively asked a question, "So what do you do all of the time up there, alone. I know you must spend a lot of time with Goten, but what else do you do?"
"Goten and I do some hunting, some camping. . . Also I read a lot. I order books online."
Ah! Now that was something Videl could talk about. "Really? What kind of books do you read?" Videl picked up her sandwich and took a bite as Gohan spoke. She noticed that the sub Gohan had been eating when Erasa and Videl sat down was gone, but there were two more in front of him. Was he really going to eat both of those?
"Really I read a bit of everything. I read a lot of historical nonfiction, some mysteries, court case novels, thrillers, a little sci-fi. . ."
"Wow. I read a lot too, what kind of historical stuff do you read?"
Videl could see by the light in Gohan's eyes and the attention that he was giving her that he was beginning to get interested in the conversation. Just as he was about to reply, however, Erasa came back, looking flustered.
"I have no run! Inka's baby is coming now, like two weeks before its due! I need to get over to West City. . . I'm sorry to cancel my trip Del. . . I'll come back for another weekend, okay? I'll call you tonight, okay? It was nice meeting you Gohan; sorry I haven't known you longer. Have a nice time chatting! Buh-bye."
With the quick explanation Erasa was off, shuffling through her purse looking for her capsule car as she ran out the door. Videl looked across at Gohan, who was looking confused.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Videl and her friend sat down at Gohan's table, he had been surprised. Gohan was in too good of a mood to be annoyed at the intrusion but was a little disappointed that he would have to eat his last three sandwiches at human speed. Well, it was probably for the best, he could savor them this way.
Gohan could tell by the pink tint of Videl's cheek that she was embarrassed by her friend's, Erasa's, forward behavior and was slightly amused. He answered the blonde's questions carefully but sufficiently and when Erasa and Videl slide out of the booth so that Erasa could answer her cell phone, Gohan quickly stuffed the sandwich he had been holding into his mouth. Videl seemed not to notice, but Gohan decided to eat his last two subs normally.
Gohan could see Videl relax when the demi saiya-jinn mentioned that he liked to read. This was evidently a subject that she felt comfortable with. That was good because it was something that Gohan felt comfortable with too. He supposed that his mother was the one that had started him reading. When she died he began ordering textbooks online. As Gohan studied history, he found that certain eras fascinated him. Gohan had ordered more books (using his limitless credit card- compliments of Dende) concentrating on things like Ancient Greece, Pre-communism Russia, and the Samurai. From these information wells he had moved on to biographies, and then historical fiction, and finally fiction itself.
Gohan was interrupted from his thoughts when Erasa came back and announced her departure. It took Gohan a moment to reorient himself and by the time he had figured out what Erasa had said in her speedy and high-pitched explanation she was gone. Gohan's thoughts immediately shifted to the untouched sandwich that Erasa had left behind. Since Erasa was obviously coming back maybe he could eat the sandwich.
"Um. . . I'm uh sorry that Erasa had to go Gohan. She and her older sister Inka are close. . . ." Silence. "So, um, what was it that you were saying about historical nonfiction?"
Gohan eagerly began to converse with Videl over the happenings and mysteries of the past. Videl was surprisingly well informed for a college student who was learning to teach children. The lives of Peter the Great, Caesar Augustus, and Ancient Greek gods were not things that elementary school teachers generally concerned themselves with.
As Videl explained why she thought Ivan the Terrible was cruel because of the circumstances surrounding his childhood rather than being born evil in accordance to a prophecy, Gohan sat back in amazement. This was wonderful. Gohan was tremendously happy. Here was something that he had missed for eight long years. Friendship. Fellowship. While Gohan loved Goten, the little boy did not have the knowledge to have conversations like these. While Gohan trusted Piccolo with his life, Piccolo was not human (or saiya- jinn for that matter), he could not identify with Gohan. While Dende was Gohan's age, he was a god! No aspects of his life were similar to Gohan's. Gohan had missed this comradeship. He had felt nothing like this since he had been a boy, hanging out with Krillin. Even that had been different; Krillin was the age of Gohan's father. Videl, on the other hand, was Gohan's age. She was human. She was Gohan's age. She had goals and dreams. She shared some of his interests. She was fun to talk too. She was a friend.
"Gohan? Gohan?"
"Huh?" Gohan roused himself from his thoughts and tossed Videl the Son Grin. "Sorry. I kinda zoned out."
"Yeah, well I need to be going, we've been here for a while." Videl looked down at her watch and gasped, "Oh my gosh its three o'clock! We've been talking for nearly two hours! I'm so sorry to have kept you! You aren't late picking Goten up or anything are you?"
Gohan chuckled, "No, he's fine. I was just going to fl. . . take a walk after lunch anyway. I'm not due to pick Goten up yet."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Good, good," Videl murmured as she threw away her trash. She hoped that she was not blushing. They had been talking for two hours! She hoped she had not bored him. Oh she must have! Videl was sure that she had been rambling.
Videl took her purse out of the booth and looked up to see Gohan smiling at her.
"I'll walk you to your car."
"Thanks." Videl smiled, genuinely impressed. Few guys did things like that anymore, what was chivalry coming to?
"I really enjoyed our talk today Videl. Say are you doing anything this weekend Videl? I'd love to finish our conversation over coffee." Gohan flashed Videl a hopeful grin as he held the door to the restaurant open for her.
Videl felt her heart contract, but she quickly squashed the wild notions running around her head. He just wanted to talk. This was not a guy-girl thing . . . just a person-person thing. At least she had not bored him. Videl smiled gaily back at Gohan. "That would be great. Would Saturday morning, around eight be okay?"
"Yeah, that's excellent. I don't know any coffee shops around here, is there one in particular that you like?"
"How about Cups on Parkway Drive? Do you need directions?"
"Naw, I'll just get them online. I'll see you then Videl."
Gohan was standing on the sidewalk between the restaurant and the parking lot. Videl had her car door open and was about to get in when she stopped.
"Hey Gohan, how are you getting home? Do you have a car or something?"
Gohan paused for a moment before explaining, "Uh, well I'm gonna walk around town for a little while before heading back. . . I've got means for transportation."
"Alright. Bye."
"Bye."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Alright so this chapter was a friendship chapter . . . no heated moments or anything silly like that. But I will tell you one thing; this story will have NO lemons, limes, or any silly things like that. The rating will remain the same.
I'm sorry if the spacing on this chapter is bad, I've been having trouble spacing these things. If anyone has any tips they'd like to give me please feel free!
Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter. Now that its summer time I have loads more time on my hands since I have no life. The chapters should be coming in faster. More G/V and Bulma and company soon!
Please please please be a sweetheart and review!
-pd
