A/N: The drabble round number doesn't match the chapter because I'd missed some rounds.
Drabble 20: Forget – In between the lines
Kakarrot cornered Vegeta one day after class, pulling him into an empty study room.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Kakarrot ignored the peeved growl and crossed his arms, standing resolutely in front of the closed door, obviously barring the way out. He had planned to ask Vegeta at a more appropriate time; when they were alone after lessons for example, but suddenly the need to ask became overwhelming and he just *cracked*.
However, now that he had Vegeta alone and focused on him, he ironically found himself tongue-tied. They were teenage males, and tough, cool teenage males don't *talk* about their feelings like this.
"Kakarrot, I give you ten seconds to explain yourself." The smaller teenager cracked his knuckles. "We're already late for the next lesson."
"Um…" Kakarrot stammered as the prince's scowl got blacker. "Do you remember what happened… the other night?"
"What?"
"The…" He fidgeted from foot to foot. Vegeta was really making this hard for him. He had envisioned a neat scene, where Vegeta lights up –"Ah!" – and kisses him back and then they proceed to have wild sex.
"…kiss?"
"What kiss?" Vegeta's expression became perfectly blank.
Kakarrot blinked in surprise. "Don't you remember? The night of the concert?"
"I think you must have been mistaken," Vegeta replied frostily. "There was. No. Kiss."
Kakarrot stared at Vegeta in disbelief. Vegeta had a closed, stony expression on his face. He wasn't angry or even perplexed, and Kakarrot *knew* that Vegeta knew what he was talking about. But, why was he feigning ignorance?
"Kakarrot, you're my best friend," Vegeta said suddenly, his tone earnest. "I really, really appreciate your friendship all these years, and you will always be my best friend."
Suddenly, Kakarrot had a bad feeling; the kind that sits heavily in your gut like too much grease from last night's dinner.
"And because you're my best friend, I also want you to be the first to know that I'm seeing someone." Vegeta gave a small smile.
'It was odd,' Kakarrot thought. 'He is smiling but his eyes are sad.'
"I'm seeing Radditz. It's just been a couple of days, and we don't want anyone else to know just yet." Vegeta said the last sentence in a rush, as if he was trying to reassure the other boy that he had not been *deliberately* hiding such an important fact from his best friend.
"Uhh…" Kakarrot thought wildly.
What *could* he say??
'No, I don't want you with him; I want you with *me*!' That was what he wanted to say. He also wanted to demonstrate his extensive collection of choice expletives.
"That's …great…"
"Thanks, Kakarrot. I was wondering how to tell you." Vegeta's smile became relieved. "Now that's settled, I think we should get back to class."
"Right. We should." Kakarrot followed Vegeta out like a zombie.
Suddenly, he knew what Vegeta was *really* trying to tell him. Forget about the kiss. Forget about him that way.
Vegeta would only see him as a friend, nothing more.
(500 words)