PG for... stuff... that's not bad (enough) to be PG13.
Disclaimer: You think I own DBZ? Hah. You funny person.
Ok, a few quick notes, one: this is a Trunks and Goten paring fanfic. If you don't like this kind of fanfic, I advise you stop reading now. I don't really get why I have to put this warning here but other people did, so I guess I will, too. Two: I really like math, so don't get me wrong. (FYI: This'll make sense later in the story.) And three: I was writing an epilog, but it became too much like a story, so it's now sort of a sequel. Preview will be the next chapter! Welp, guess that's it! ENJOY! And PLEEEEEASE REVIEW! I hope I didn't write during every class and almost fail science for nothing!
Do You Love Him?
He stood at a corner with no name waiting for his blue-eyed wonder to come and whisk him away to a land where time does not affect us mere mortals.
As if.
He was just waiting for Trunks to meet up with him at their normal meeting place so they could walk to school together. Big whoop. Except this time, Trunks was late. Actually, Trunks was just later than him, for the first time in the history of the universe. In any case, he had to wait in one place without moving for over five minutes, which inevitably made his mind wander, one of the more disliked of the traits that he inherited from his father.
"Goten!"
Hey! That sounded like Trunks! But he looked left, right, across the street, behind himself, and could find a trace of the purple haired boy. He'd be real p'd if Trunks had learned telepathy and no one had told him!
"Look up!"
He looked up and saw Trunks floating high above watching with an amused smile. Trunks drifted down and landed softly next to him.
"Sorry, Goten, but my grandfather sent a burst of electricity through the house by accident and killed my alarm clock."
Goten snickered. "Whatever you say."
Trunks glared at him, then followed Goten's gaze to his legs, and cursed. In his haste, he had thrown on a pair of capris instead of pants and was wearing the only pair of clean socks in the house: knee-highs. If you have any fashion sense in the least, you should know how this would look. (A/N: I made this up before I realized what DBGT Trunks wears. DBGT has a tendency to work against me.)
Trunks dropped his bag to the ground and leaned against a building as he wrestled with getting a show off. Goten grinned the infamous Son family smile as he watched Trunks took off his shoes and socks and put back on his shoes without the socks.
"Better," Goten said.
Trunks looked up at him with laughing eyes. "Shut up!"
Goten renewed his grin then said, "Since we're later than usual, I'll race you!" He powered up and flew into the air in the direction of their high school.
Trunks shouted, "NO FAIR!" He heard Goten's loud, carefree laugh, even though Goten was almost gone from sight. But that's all he wanted, to hear Goten laugh. He smiled and powered up, then blasted off after Goten, oblivious to all of the amazed people around him.
Math. Goten. Hated. Math.
The only way that he ever managed to pass was to get Trunks to help him. It also gave him a chance to be around Trunks more, but that's beside the point. No. It was the whole point. Or maybe it was so his mom wouldn't kill him...
"GOTEN!"
Goten fell back in his chair with a loud crash, and the room broke out laughing.
He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Once again, the daydreaming-after-staying-in-one-place-for-more-than-five-minutes trait from his father had struck yet again. He put his chair back upright and sat in it, then looked up at the teacher as he said, "Yes, Mrs. Chaise?"
The teacher glared at him, then said, "I'll be seeing you after school mister." She made her way back to the front of the classroom and continued her lecture on something to do with numbers.
Five minutes passed and he was daydreaming, again, wondering if Trunks ever thought of him as more than a friend.
"WHAT?! AGAIN?!"
Trunks was standing next to Goten who was digging through his locker and had just told him about the detention.
Goten glanced up at Trunks and said, "Not so loud!" He looked back into his locker and shouted, "AHA!" as he pulled out a blue binder, which he stuffed into his bag. "Now, for my calculator," he said.
Trunks slapped his forehead, then said, without moving his hand, "So let me guess. You want me to wait for you so your mom will think that you were hanging out with me and not yell at you for getting detention?"
Goten pulled out his calculator. "Bingo!"
Trunks wasn't sure that Goten was saying bingo to him or was just happy about finding his calculator.
Goten looked at his watch and said, "Whoops! I'm late!" He jumped up, closed his locker, and shut the lock. He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. Putting his hand on Trunks' shoulder, he said, "Thanks," then lingered before abruptly turning and jogging off.
As Trunks watched him go, he put his hand on his shoulder where Goten had touched him. It was still warm. He wondered if Goten had felt that, too.
"Yes, hello... Yeah, I know, I... yes... Uh-huh... Ok, well... I'll be... yes... I love you, too. Alright now, bye!" Goten turned off his cellphone on someone who was obviously still talking, then looked at Trunks and said, "Mom."
Trunks put his mouth into a circle shape and silently went, "Ooh..." in understanding.
They finally came to a huge field, where they threw down their bags and began stretching their muscles. Everyday after school, Trunks and Goten practiced simple hand to hand combat in a field near their school. No flying, no chi blasts, no Super Sayin-Jins; they didn't want to scare anybody!
Goten took a fighting stance and said, "Lets go!"
Trunks took a similar fighting stance, then lunged at Goten.
Goten managed to dodge the first punch, then realized just in time the knee coming for his stomach, which he dodged by jumping to the side.
Block, dodge, dodge, block, dodge.
Goten realized (block) that (dodge) he wasn't (dodge) getting (dodge) one hit (block) in (dodge).
After dodging the last punch aimed at his head, Goten jumped up from the ground and slammed his head into Trunks' chest. Trunks staggered, trying to keep himself from falling. Goten took this opportunity to jump again at Trunks and wrestle him to the ground. Trunks fell easily to the ground because he was so unbalanced, and Goten sat on his chest and pressed his arms into the ground.
"I win!" Goten said with a smile.
Trunks struggled, but Goten had him at a major disadvantage. "Yep," Trunks said.
They then noticed someone walking on the bath by the field and looked over to see who it was. It was a young woman, who once noticed that they were looking at her, quickly adverted her eyes and hurried along her way.
Trunks and Goten watched her go, then realized how they must look. They looked at each other and broke down laughing. Whether they thought it was funny that she could think such a thing or they were trying to convince themselves that what she was thinking wasn't true, neither knew.
Goten threw open the door to his home and half-shouted, "Hey! I'm home!"
Chi-Chi poked her head out of the kitchen and said, "My, my, look who's on time for dinner!"
Goten smiled at his mom and said, "Yeah, guess I am!" He took off his shoes and tossed his bag onto the couch and headed into the kitchen. His dad and brother were already at the table, waiting for his mom to put the food on their empty plates.
Goten took his seat next to his brother and across from his father. He looked over at his brother and said, while smiling sweetly, "Thanks for letting me borrow your calculator, Gohan!"
Gohan looked over at Goten and said, "I figured that's what happened to it."
Goku grinned, trying to be peacemaker. "Common, now! It's dinner time, we shouldn't be upset when we're eating!" And, for what seemed like emphasis, Chi-Chi began serving the food.
Once they started eating, all grievances were forgotten.
Goten congratulated himself silently on timing it perfectly.
Near the end of their dinner, they heard a knock at the door. Chi- Chi, the only person that had eaten their fill, answered it. She soon came back and said, "Goten! It's for you!"
Goten stood up and grabbed another rice ball, which he ate on the way to the door. He almost choked on it when he saw Trunks. What was he doing here so late?
Trunks handed Goten a few papers and said, "I thought you'd want your homework. I'm sure your mom would want proof that you did it."
Goten smiled his thanks, but knew that this wasn't what Trunks had come for.
Trunks sighed and looked at his feet as he whispered, "Goten, we need to talk."
Goten whispered just as quietly, "I know, but now isn't the time."
Trunks nodded and flew off.
Goten stood there for a second or two before closing the door and walking back inside. But before he could get far, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up into the concerned face of his brother.
"You guys have a fight or something?" Gohan asked.
Goten realized that his emotions were written all over his face, another not so like trait from his father. He looked at the ground and said, "Not exactly...."
Gohan squeezed his little brother's shoulder and said, "Mom made some ice cream, so why don't you join us? Whatever the problem is, you guys are such good friends, I'm sure you'll sort it out."
Goten wanted to say that them being such good friends was the problem in the first place, but instead said with a weak smile, "Thanks."
"Ok," Gohan said as he ruffled the younger boy's hair. "Now cheer up! We don't want to worry Mom or Dad."
Goten put on what he hoped looked like a sincere smile and got a pat on the back and an "Atta boy!" as he followed Gohan into the kitchen.
Goten grabbed a shirt which he put on while running through the door. He ran a few steps then jumped into the air before he began to fly away.
"GOTEN!"
He stopped with a jerk and looked over his shoulder, shouting, "WHAT, MOM?"
Chi-Chi continued, "TRUNKS IS SICK AND BULMA SAID THAT HE WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU SHOULDN'T WAIT FOR HIM!"
Of course.
"ALRIGHT, MOM! THANKS!" And with that, he flew straight to school without Trunks.
Math. Goten. Loathed. Math.
So instead of paying even the smallest bit of attention in the first place, he let his mind wander.
Goten had a very good idea of why Trunks hadn't come to school today. It was because they still needed to have their 'talk.' Why did things need to be like this? What did he do to deserve this? More importantly, what did Trunks do? All they wanted was to be best friends forever...
"HEY!"
Goten grabbed his desk to keep from falling backwards, but instead brought the whole desk down with him. Once again, the room broke out laughing. Goten pushed his desk off his stomach as he rubbed the back of his head.
He put his chair and desk back into place and, as he was getting back into his chair, said, "Detention, right?" The he looked up to a face other than his math teacher. "Wah..." then he remembered her. "AHH! YOU'RE THAT LADY FROM THE FIELD!"
She squinted at him, then said, "Oh yeah! Weren't you that uh... guy with the purpled haired... person?"
Someone in the class shouted out, "You mean Trunks? Yeah, those two guys are always hangin' out."
Then the person sitting next to Goten said, "Makes you think that they're a couple or somethin'." He then grinned evilly at Goten as everyone either giggled or snickered.
Goten just shrugged, put his hands behind his head, and replied, "You're just jealous that he won't even give you the time of day." He smiled joyfully at the boy next to him as the class had a louder fit of giggles and snickers.
The substitute realized that this wasn't going anywhere good, so she intervened. "Boys, boys! Stop now our I'll have to see you both after school!"
Goten shrugged again and folded his hands on the top of his desk. The boy next to him just sat fuming. The substitute, just happy that they were quite went back to the front of the room and continued. She was looking forward to learning more about this boy.
Goten twirled around the face of his combination lock until he heard the finishing 'click' of the lock popping open. He pulled out a binder and a few papers then shut it again. He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, then realized that there was no Trunks to wait for him. Sighing, he made his way to the classroom.
Poking his head in, he saw the substitute correcting some papers. Looking at the board behind her, he saw 'Ms. Pomme' written out in huge, neat letters.
"Ms. Pomme?" he asked uncertainly.
The substitute looked up from her work and smiled radiantly. Goten smiled back and walked in, sitting on the chair in front of the teacher's desk.
Ms. Pomme put down the pen that she was using to correct the papers and looked like she was thinking of what to say. When she spoke, she chose her words carefully. "Goten... that is your name, right?"
Goten nodded, his big, innocent eyes drilling holes into Ms. Pomme's heart.
She sighed softly and tucked a strand of loose black hair behind her ear, then continued. "I'm sure you know that I don't care that you didn't pay attention."
Goten nodded.
"What I want to know is," she folded her hands on the desk as she leaned forward in her chair, "what did I see in that field?"
Goten clenched his hands that had once been neatly folded on his lap into tight fists. His eyes were still big, but no longer held the same innocent look to them. "I don't know," he replied, "what did you see?"
Ms. Pomme realized that Goten still managed to keep his voice calm and sweet, but she could feel the hidden daggers slipping out and stabbing her. "I saw you and the boy called Trunks in quite an... interesting situation."
Goten blinked a few times, more to get hold of his anger than to keep up his wall of innocence, then said, "We were sparing, practicing hand-to- hand combat. We do that everyday after school."
Ms. Pomme shook her head. "You know what I mean."
Goten shrugged his shoulders and said, his voice straining to keep calm, "I wrestled him to the ground and pinned him. I won. But what does this have to do with me not paying attention in class?"
Ms. Pomme shook her head again. "I already told you, I don't care that you weren't paying attention during class."
Goten stood up. "Then I'm off." He walked towards the door.
"Wait!"
He turned to see Ms. Pomme standing up behind her desk. "Tell me one thing," she asked, "do you love him?"
Goten's eyes flashed and lost every trace of innocence that they had once held. When he replied, his voice was cold and bitter. "What if I do?" He spun around and heard Ms. Pomme gasp as he walked out the classroom door.
He was halfway down the hall when he heard Ms. Pomme shout, "I just wanted to help you!"
Goten turned his head just long enough to see Ms. Pomme standing outside the classroom door in the hallway before he turned back around. "I never needed your help!" he shouted back.
He opened the door and heard Ms. Pomme screech, "YOU FAGGOT!" as the door swung shut behind him.
Goten flew straight home as fast as he could. He threw open the door and dropped his bag and flung his shoes off. Barely hearing his mom ask his what he was doing home, he ran into the room he shared with his brother and broke down crying on his bed.
Goten scuffed his feet on the sidewalk as he walked down the street towards the Capsule Corp. building. It was right after dinnertime at his house, so he knew that everyone at the Capsule Corp. would be done with their earlier dinner. As the large building came into sight, Goten stopped scuffing his feet and instead tried to think of what he would say to Trunks. What could he say? I love you? That would solve nothing, only make matters worse.
He came to the long walkway in front of the Capsule Corp. house. Taking a deep breath, he began the walk to the front door. He lightly pushed the doorbell and waited until someone answered.
The door swung open and there stood Bulma. She smiled and said, "Well, hello there, Goten! What brings you here this fine morning?"
Goten held in front of him a small stack of papers that he had been carrying under his arm, all but forgotten, and said, "Homework."
Bulma's smile increased. "Ah. I should've guessed. Well, Trunks is up in his room." She stepped back allowing Goten room to step inside. She closed the door then said, "Have fun!" And with that, she walked off to where ever she had been before the doorbell rang.
Goten murmured, "Yeah, sure will," as he made his way up the stairs to Trunks' room. He stood in front of the closed, plain grey door for a moment before knocking.
A second or two passed, then a sigh and the creaking of someone getting up off a bed. The door opened and there stood Trunks in shorts and a loose tank top, his hair messed, and dark circles under his eyes. When he saw Goten, he quickly looked down and said, "Hey."
Goten also looked down and drew an imaginary semi-circle on the rug with his foot. "Hey," he replied. "I don't get my homework. Could you help?"
Homework? Yeah, right.
Trunks nodded, "Sure."
He walked into his room and Goten followed, half closing the door behind them. They sat down near each other on the rug, their backs against the bed. The once orderly room now had books and CDs strewn across the floor, clothes on the unmade bed. Trunks didn't look perfect himself. His usually brushed hair was tangled and frizzy. He was still wearing what he had probably worn to bed the night before. His eyes were red and tired from lack of sleep.
Trunks pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his tired head on them, and sighed. "Goten..." he began, then fell silent.
Goten nodded. "I know," he whispered.
Trunks shook his head. "But this just isn't right!"
Goten didn't say anything.
Trunks buried his head into his knees and said with a muffled voice, "I don't know what to do!" He cried softly.
Goten wasn't used to hearing Trunks cry, and it shook him up a bit. Goten bowed his head and said softly, "Follow what your heart tells you to do."
"You have my heart," Trunks replied in a barely audible voice, "Tell me what it says I should do."
Goten's eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting that response. All he knew was what his father had always said: Follow your heart, then you'll always be going the right way. But Goten had never wondered what you would do if someone else had it.
"Please, tell me."
Goten looked over at Trunks and met eyes that seemed to have aged years in the past moments. He wanted to look down again, but something about the pain in Trunks' eyes made it impossible. And in that moment, Goten understood everything. If he went through with this, his family would just smile and give him a pat on the back. But if Trunks went through with it... he was the grandson of one of the greatest geniuses of all time and the son of the heirs of the Capsule Corporation and the thrown of the Planet Vegeta.
Goten realized that he had nothing to loose, while Trunks had everything.
He reached out and cupped the side of Trunks' face and said, "I... I..." then whispered, "I had no idea." He looked back down and dropped his hand. "I was only thinking about myself, I didn't even thin about what you must be going through."
Trunks shook his head, then noticed that Goten was looking down and said, "No, you have I all wrong." Goten looked up at him, a few tear streaks down his face. Trunks had to look away, he couldn't stand to see Goten cry. He held his knees tighter to his chest. "I would lose everything for you, but my parents won't loose everything for us."
Even though Goten fought with not crying, an occasional tear slipped out and ran down his cheek. "This shouldn't be wrong," Goten stated.
Trunks nodded and said, "I know. But please, can we just keep this a secret?" His voice cracked as he said, in an almost begging voice, "Please. For my parents."
Goten knew that one day, they would be able to tell the world, but now wasn't the time. His tears were flowing freely, and as he wiped them away, he realized that Trunks was waiting for an answer. He stood up and said, "I won't tell."
Trunks looked up at him, a small smile on face, and said, "Thanks."
Goten walked over and slowly bent down until he was face-to-face with Trunks. He kissed Trunks quickly, then stood up and ran to the opened window. He flew out and in the direction of his home.
Goten remembered when Ms. Pomme had asked him, "Do you love him?"
He smiled and said, "Yes."
THE END!!! (The preview in the next chapter is no longer up. I realized that I have a title and the whole story is already up, so you can read that instead!)
Disclaimer: You think I own DBZ? Hah. You funny person.
Ok, a few quick notes, one: this is a Trunks and Goten paring fanfic. If you don't like this kind of fanfic, I advise you stop reading now. I don't really get why I have to put this warning here but other people did, so I guess I will, too. Two: I really like math, so don't get me wrong. (FYI: This'll make sense later in the story.) And three: I was writing an epilog, but it became too much like a story, so it's now sort of a sequel. Preview will be the next chapter! Welp, guess that's it! ENJOY! And PLEEEEEASE REVIEW! I hope I didn't write during every class and almost fail science for nothing!
Do You Love Him?
He stood at a corner with no name waiting for his blue-eyed wonder to come and whisk him away to a land where time does not affect us mere mortals.
As if.
He was just waiting for Trunks to meet up with him at their normal meeting place so they could walk to school together. Big whoop. Except this time, Trunks was late. Actually, Trunks was just later than him, for the first time in the history of the universe. In any case, he had to wait in one place without moving for over five minutes, which inevitably made his mind wander, one of the more disliked of the traits that he inherited from his father.
"Goten!"
Hey! That sounded like Trunks! But he looked left, right, across the street, behind himself, and could find a trace of the purple haired boy. He'd be real p'd if Trunks had learned telepathy and no one had told him!
"Look up!"
He looked up and saw Trunks floating high above watching with an amused smile. Trunks drifted down and landed softly next to him.
"Sorry, Goten, but my grandfather sent a burst of electricity through the house by accident and killed my alarm clock."
Goten snickered. "Whatever you say."
Trunks glared at him, then followed Goten's gaze to his legs, and cursed. In his haste, he had thrown on a pair of capris instead of pants and was wearing the only pair of clean socks in the house: knee-highs. If you have any fashion sense in the least, you should know how this would look. (A/N: I made this up before I realized what DBGT Trunks wears. DBGT has a tendency to work against me.)
Trunks dropped his bag to the ground and leaned against a building as he wrestled with getting a show off. Goten grinned the infamous Son family smile as he watched Trunks took off his shoes and socks and put back on his shoes without the socks.
"Better," Goten said.
Trunks looked up at him with laughing eyes. "Shut up!"
Goten renewed his grin then said, "Since we're later than usual, I'll race you!" He powered up and flew into the air in the direction of their high school.
Trunks shouted, "NO FAIR!" He heard Goten's loud, carefree laugh, even though Goten was almost gone from sight. But that's all he wanted, to hear Goten laugh. He smiled and powered up, then blasted off after Goten, oblivious to all of the amazed people around him.
Math. Goten. Hated. Math.
The only way that he ever managed to pass was to get Trunks to help him. It also gave him a chance to be around Trunks more, but that's beside the point. No. It was the whole point. Or maybe it was so his mom wouldn't kill him...
"GOTEN!"
Goten fell back in his chair with a loud crash, and the room broke out laughing.
He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Once again, the daydreaming-after-staying-in-one-place-for-more-than-five-minutes trait from his father had struck yet again. He put his chair back upright and sat in it, then looked up at the teacher as he said, "Yes, Mrs. Chaise?"
The teacher glared at him, then said, "I'll be seeing you after school mister." She made her way back to the front of the classroom and continued her lecture on something to do with numbers.
Five minutes passed and he was daydreaming, again, wondering if Trunks ever thought of him as more than a friend.
"WHAT?! AGAIN?!"
Trunks was standing next to Goten who was digging through his locker and had just told him about the detention.
Goten glanced up at Trunks and said, "Not so loud!" He looked back into his locker and shouted, "AHA!" as he pulled out a blue binder, which he stuffed into his bag. "Now, for my calculator," he said.
Trunks slapped his forehead, then said, without moving his hand, "So let me guess. You want me to wait for you so your mom will think that you were hanging out with me and not yell at you for getting detention?"
Goten pulled out his calculator. "Bingo!"
Trunks wasn't sure that Goten was saying bingo to him or was just happy about finding his calculator.
Goten looked at his watch and said, "Whoops! I'm late!" He jumped up, closed his locker, and shut the lock. He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. Putting his hand on Trunks' shoulder, he said, "Thanks," then lingered before abruptly turning and jogging off.
As Trunks watched him go, he put his hand on his shoulder where Goten had touched him. It was still warm. He wondered if Goten had felt that, too.
"Yes, hello... Yeah, I know, I... yes... Uh-huh... Ok, well... I'll be... yes... I love you, too. Alright now, bye!" Goten turned off his cellphone on someone who was obviously still talking, then looked at Trunks and said, "Mom."
Trunks put his mouth into a circle shape and silently went, "Ooh..." in understanding.
They finally came to a huge field, where they threw down their bags and began stretching their muscles. Everyday after school, Trunks and Goten practiced simple hand to hand combat in a field near their school. No flying, no chi blasts, no Super Sayin-Jins; they didn't want to scare anybody!
Goten took a fighting stance and said, "Lets go!"
Trunks took a similar fighting stance, then lunged at Goten.
Goten managed to dodge the first punch, then realized just in time the knee coming for his stomach, which he dodged by jumping to the side.
Block, dodge, dodge, block, dodge.
Goten realized (block) that (dodge) he wasn't (dodge) getting (dodge) one hit (block) in (dodge).
After dodging the last punch aimed at his head, Goten jumped up from the ground and slammed his head into Trunks' chest. Trunks staggered, trying to keep himself from falling. Goten took this opportunity to jump again at Trunks and wrestle him to the ground. Trunks fell easily to the ground because he was so unbalanced, and Goten sat on his chest and pressed his arms into the ground.
"I win!" Goten said with a smile.
Trunks struggled, but Goten had him at a major disadvantage. "Yep," Trunks said.
They then noticed someone walking on the bath by the field and looked over to see who it was. It was a young woman, who once noticed that they were looking at her, quickly adverted her eyes and hurried along her way.
Trunks and Goten watched her go, then realized how they must look. They looked at each other and broke down laughing. Whether they thought it was funny that she could think such a thing or they were trying to convince themselves that what she was thinking wasn't true, neither knew.
Goten threw open the door to his home and half-shouted, "Hey! I'm home!"
Chi-Chi poked her head out of the kitchen and said, "My, my, look who's on time for dinner!"
Goten smiled at his mom and said, "Yeah, guess I am!" He took off his shoes and tossed his bag onto the couch and headed into the kitchen. His dad and brother were already at the table, waiting for his mom to put the food on their empty plates.
Goten took his seat next to his brother and across from his father. He looked over at his brother and said, while smiling sweetly, "Thanks for letting me borrow your calculator, Gohan!"
Gohan looked over at Goten and said, "I figured that's what happened to it."
Goku grinned, trying to be peacemaker. "Common, now! It's dinner time, we shouldn't be upset when we're eating!" And, for what seemed like emphasis, Chi-Chi began serving the food.
Once they started eating, all grievances were forgotten.
Goten congratulated himself silently on timing it perfectly.
Near the end of their dinner, they heard a knock at the door. Chi- Chi, the only person that had eaten their fill, answered it. She soon came back and said, "Goten! It's for you!"
Goten stood up and grabbed another rice ball, which he ate on the way to the door. He almost choked on it when he saw Trunks. What was he doing here so late?
Trunks handed Goten a few papers and said, "I thought you'd want your homework. I'm sure your mom would want proof that you did it."
Goten smiled his thanks, but knew that this wasn't what Trunks had come for.
Trunks sighed and looked at his feet as he whispered, "Goten, we need to talk."
Goten whispered just as quietly, "I know, but now isn't the time."
Trunks nodded and flew off.
Goten stood there for a second or two before closing the door and walking back inside. But before he could get far, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up into the concerned face of his brother.
"You guys have a fight or something?" Gohan asked.
Goten realized that his emotions were written all over his face, another not so like trait from his father. He looked at the ground and said, "Not exactly...."
Gohan squeezed his little brother's shoulder and said, "Mom made some ice cream, so why don't you join us? Whatever the problem is, you guys are such good friends, I'm sure you'll sort it out."
Goten wanted to say that them being such good friends was the problem in the first place, but instead said with a weak smile, "Thanks."
"Ok," Gohan said as he ruffled the younger boy's hair. "Now cheer up! We don't want to worry Mom or Dad."
Goten put on what he hoped looked like a sincere smile and got a pat on the back and an "Atta boy!" as he followed Gohan into the kitchen.
Goten grabbed a shirt which he put on while running through the door. He ran a few steps then jumped into the air before he began to fly away.
"GOTEN!"
He stopped with a jerk and looked over his shoulder, shouting, "WHAT, MOM?"
Chi-Chi continued, "TRUNKS IS SICK AND BULMA SAID THAT HE WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU SHOULDN'T WAIT FOR HIM!"
Of course.
"ALRIGHT, MOM! THANKS!" And with that, he flew straight to school without Trunks.
Math. Goten. Loathed. Math.
So instead of paying even the smallest bit of attention in the first place, he let his mind wander.
Goten had a very good idea of why Trunks hadn't come to school today. It was because they still needed to have their 'talk.' Why did things need to be like this? What did he do to deserve this? More importantly, what did Trunks do? All they wanted was to be best friends forever...
"HEY!"
Goten grabbed his desk to keep from falling backwards, but instead brought the whole desk down with him. Once again, the room broke out laughing. Goten pushed his desk off his stomach as he rubbed the back of his head.
He put his chair and desk back into place and, as he was getting back into his chair, said, "Detention, right?" The he looked up to a face other than his math teacher. "Wah..." then he remembered her. "AHH! YOU'RE THAT LADY FROM THE FIELD!"
She squinted at him, then said, "Oh yeah! Weren't you that uh... guy with the purpled haired... person?"
Someone in the class shouted out, "You mean Trunks? Yeah, those two guys are always hangin' out."
Then the person sitting next to Goten said, "Makes you think that they're a couple or somethin'." He then grinned evilly at Goten as everyone either giggled or snickered.
Goten just shrugged, put his hands behind his head, and replied, "You're just jealous that he won't even give you the time of day." He smiled joyfully at the boy next to him as the class had a louder fit of giggles and snickers.
The substitute realized that this wasn't going anywhere good, so she intervened. "Boys, boys! Stop now our I'll have to see you both after school!"
Goten shrugged again and folded his hands on the top of his desk. The boy next to him just sat fuming. The substitute, just happy that they were quite went back to the front of the room and continued. She was looking forward to learning more about this boy.
Goten twirled around the face of his combination lock until he heard the finishing 'click' of the lock popping open. He pulled out a binder and a few papers then shut it again. He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, then realized that there was no Trunks to wait for him. Sighing, he made his way to the classroom.
Poking his head in, he saw the substitute correcting some papers. Looking at the board behind her, he saw 'Ms. Pomme' written out in huge, neat letters.
"Ms. Pomme?" he asked uncertainly.
The substitute looked up from her work and smiled radiantly. Goten smiled back and walked in, sitting on the chair in front of the teacher's desk.
Ms. Pomme put down the pen that she was using to correct the papers and looked like she was thinking of what to say. When she spoke, she chose her words carefully. "Goten... that is your name, right?"
Goten nodded, his big, innocent eyes drilling holes into Ms. Pomme's heart.
She sighed softly and tucked a strand of loose black hair behind her ear, then continued. "I'm sure you know that I don't care that you didn't pay attention."
Goten nodded.
"What I want to know is," she folded her hands on the desk as she leaned forward in her chair, "what did I see in that field?"
Goten clenched his hands that had once been neatly folded on his lap into tight fists. His eyes were still big, but no longer held the same innocent look to them. "I don't know," he replied, "what did you see?"
Ms. Pomme realized that Goten still managed to keep his voice calm and sweet, but she could feel the hidden daggers slipping out and stabbing her. "I saw you and the boy called Trunks in quite an... interesting situation."
Goten blinked a few times, more to get hold of his anger than to keep up his wall of innocence, then said, "We were sparing, practicing hand-to- hand combat. We do that everyday after school."
Ms. Pomme shook her head. "You know what I mean."
Goten shrugged his shoulders and said, his voice straining to keep calm, "I wrestled him to the ground and pinned him. I won. But what does this have to do with me not paying attention in class?"
Ms. Pomme shook her head again. "I already told you, I don't care that you weren't paying attention during class."
Goten stood up. "Then I'm off." He walked towards the door.
"Wait!"
He turned to see Ms. Pomme standing up behind her desk. "Tell me one thing," she asked, "do you love him?"
Goten's eyes flashed and lost every trace of innocence that they had once held. When he replied, his voice was cold and bitter. "What if I do?" He spun around and heard Ms. Pomme gasp as he walked out the classroom door.
He was halfway down the hall when he heard Ms. Pomme shout, "I just wanted to help you!"
Goten turned his head just long enough to see Ms. Pomme standing outside the classroom door in the hallway before he turned back around. "I never needed your help!" he shouted back.
He opened the door and heard Ms. Pomme screech, "YOU FAGGOT!" as the door swung shut behind him.
Goten flew straight home as fast as he could. He threw open the door and dropped his bag and flung his shoes off. Barely hearing his mom ask his what he was doing home, he ran into the room he shared with his brother and broke down crying on his bed.
Goten scuffed his feet on the sidewalk as he walked down the street towards the Capsule Corp. building. It was right after dinnertime at his house, so he knew that everyone at the Capsule Corp. would be done with their earlier dinner. As the large building came into sight, Goten stopped scuffing his feet and instead tried to think of what he would say to Trunks. What could he say? I love you? That would solve nothing, only make matters worse.
He came to the long walkway in front of the Capsule Corp. house. Taking a deep breath, he began the walk to the front door. He lightly pushed the doorbell and waited until someone answered.
The door swung open and there stood Bulma. She smiled and said, "Well, hello there, Goten! What brings you here this fine morning?"
Goten held in front of him a small stack of papers that he had been carrying under his arm, all but forgotten, and said, "Homework."
Bulma's smile increased. "Ah. I should've guessed. Well, Trunks is up in his room." She stepped back allowing Goten room to step inside. She closed the door then said, "Have fun!" And with that, she walked off to where ever she had been before the doorbell rang.
Goten murmured, "Yeah, sure will," as he made his way up the stairs to Trunks' room. He stood in front of the closed, plain grey door for a moment before knocking.
A second or two passed, then a sigh and the creaking of someone getting up off a bed. The door opened and there stood Trunks in shorts and a loose tank top, his hair messed, and dark circles under his eyes. When he saw Goten, he quickly looked down and said, "Hey."
Goten also looked down and drew an imaginary semi-circle on the rug with his foot. "Hey," he replied. "I don't get my homework. Could you help?"
Homework? Yeah, right.
Trunks nodded, "Sure."
He walked into his room and Goten followed, half closing the door behind them. They sat down near each other on the rug, their backs against the bed. The once orderly room now had books and CDs strewn across the floor, clothes on the unmade bed. Trunks didn't look perfect himself. His usually brushed hair was tangled and frizzy. He was still wearing what he had probably worn to bed the night before. His eyes were red and tired from lack of sleep.
Trunks pulled his knees up to his chest, resting his tired head on them, and sighed. "Goten..." he began, then fell silent.
Goten nodded. "I know," he whispered.
Trunks shook his head. "But this just isn't right!"
Goten didn't say anything.
Trunks buried his head into his knees and said with a muffled voice, "I don't know what to do!" He cried softly.
Goten wasn't used to hearing Trunks cry, and it shook him up a bit. Goten bowed his head and said softly, "Follow what your heart tells you to do."
"You have my heart," Trunks replied in a barely audible voice, "Tell me what it says I should do."
Goten's eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting that response. All he knew was what his father had always said: Follow your heart, then you'll always be going the right way. But Goten had never wondered what you would do if someone else had it.
"Please, tell me."
Goten looked over at Trunks and met eyes that seemed to have aged years in the past moments. He wanted to look down again, but something about the pain in Trunks' eyes made it impossible. And in that moment, Goten understood everything. If he went through with this, his family would just smile and give him a pat on the back. But if Trunks went through with it... he was the grandson of one of the greatest geniuses of all time and the son of the heirs of the Capsule Corporation and the thrown of the Planet Vegeta.
Goten realized that he had nothing to loose, while Trunks had everything.
He reached out and cupped the side of Trunks' face and said, "I... I..." then whispered, "I had no idea." He looked back down and dropped his hand. "I was only thinking about myself, I didn't even thin about what you must be going through."
Trunks shook his head, then noticed that Goten was looking down and said, "No, you have I all wrong." Goten looked up at him, a few tear streaks down his face. Trunks had to look away, he couldn't stand to see Goten cry. He held his knees tighter to his chest. "I would lose everything for you, but my parents won't loose everything for us."
Even though Goten fought with not crying, an occasional tear slipped out and ran down his cheek. "This shouldn't be wrong," Goten stated.
Trunks nodded and said, "I know. But please, can we just keep this a secret?" His voice cracked as he said, in an almost begging voice, "Please. For my parents."
Goten knew that one day, they would be able to tell the world, but now wasn't the time. His tears were flowing freely, and as he wiped them away, he realized that Trunks was waiting for an answer. He stood up and said, "I won't tell."
Trunks looked up at him, a small smile on face, and said, "Thanks."
Goten walked over and slowly bent down until he was face-to-face with Trunks. He kissed Trunks quickly, then stood up and ran to the opened window. He flew out and in the direction of his home.
Goten remembered when Ms. Pomme had asked him, "Do you love him?"
He smiled and said, "Yes."
THE END!!! (The preview in the next chapter is no longer up. I realized that I have a title and the whole story is already up, so you can read that instead!)