Rainwater
Chapter 23: Dirty Dancing
Rating: R for sexual situations and suggestions, adult topics and language.
WitchyPrincess
Dirty Dancing
We live as we dream–alone. Alone in a world full of people. What a shame, really. Surrounded by smiling faces, each and every one of them nameless, without personality. And nothing ever really changes that.
The only way to survive is to fight. To try hard not to become one of those faces. Drowning in your own sea of despair and anonymity, you have to struggle to sustain yourself above sea level. Without a lifeline, because really no one can save you if you can't swim on your own, you have to find a way to survive in an ocean of confusion and loneliness. An entire world of confusion.
I don't think I was ready to swim when I jumped off the diving board, you see, right into the deep end. And that's where I went wrong. I spent all of my energy screaming for a lifeguard to come and save me when I should have been trying to swim back to shore myself.
And, until recently, I had been drowning. But it wasn't salt water that was doing me in. It was my own pain–harmless, innocent, rainwater–choking me until I couldn't remember how to breathe. It was teaching myself how to spit it up that saved me.
Nothing, no one, else.
–Bra Briefs
#######
"Bra," she heard a voice call her back to the world of the present, a hand touching her shoulder gently. She hadn't even been aware that someone was in her room. "Why are you crying and laughing at the same time?"
Bra twisted her head, looking at the woman with a nearly mad glint to her eyes, lips curving upwards slightly. She hadn't been aware that she was laughing either. She must be truly losing it, she thought comically to herself.
"Because, mother, I'm a person. I'm a person that sees, that feels, that lives and breathes. And there's nothing you can say that will make me feel sorry about that. And, you know what? Even if there were something you could say, I wouldn't listen to it because I've spent too much of my life overhearing and not enough of it believing and acting on those beliefs. I don't owe you anything. And do you know what I've just realized?"
She stood there for a half a second, gazing at her mother as if she expected the woman to answer, the smile still pressing lightly onto her lips. Bulma was too stunned by her daughter's attitude to move, much less respond, and only stood there gaping while she waited for Bra to answer the question she'd just posed.
"I've just realized that you don't owe me anything either. I've spent the last seven years of my life waiting for you to apologize to me for mistakes you didn't even know you were making. I've been holed-up inside myself, thinking about how the world had done me wrong, when, really, I had no one to blame but me."
Looking away, eyes going unfocused, as if lost in a world of her own, the girl continued her speech without heed, "I shouldn't expect you to be perfect. And the crazy thing about it is, I shouldn't expect me to be perfect either. No one should want that from anybody else because it's the imperfections that make us who we are." The last part was said as if it were a revelation, her entire face lighting up as she finally got the words off her chest. Drawing in a breath, she turned her shining eyes back in her mother's direction and threw her arms around the woman's neck.
"I'm so sorry I didn't see that a few years ago. I could have saved us all a lot of heartbreak," she apologized in her own 'Briefs' way, burying her head in her mother's neck, losing herself in the embrace that Bulma returned full force.
#######
Goten looked at Trunks skeptically, raising an eyebrow to ask 'are you serious' without actually uttering the words. His eyes told it all. When Trunks smiled but didn't respond, Goten took it upon himself to voice his thoughts out loud.
"I...Are..Is, I mean..." At least, he triedto voice his thoughts. Finally, "Why on earth would you want to go to a club when my niece has just told you she was pregnant with your accidental baby?" His voice was more than slightly incredulous and harsher than he'd intended for it to be.
He couldn't help it, however. It had been one thing to find out that Trunks and Pan were actually having some sort of relationship, but it was another completely when he was told that there might still be remnants of that relationship lingering about forever more.
When 'Trunks and Pan' could be left to the past as nothing more than a mistake that shouldn't have occurred, he could forgive them both, but when it was still an issue Goten simply didn't know what to do about that. He needed to know, one way or another, if Pan were pregnant because he didn't know how to even deal with possibility, much less the reality of it.
Trunks burst into a small round of laughter as he shook his head, looking from Goten to Ubuu with a mirthful sparkle to his eyes.
"If I'm about to be a father, Pan has said nothing of the matter," he finally admitted, after taking a moment to catch his breath. "No, I just thought that getting out would be good for us. You know. It'll give us some time to catch up on all the things we've missed, and we can always drown our sorrows in alcohol and club women if that turns out to be a bust." He added lightly, his eyes still glowing that mysterious shade of sky-blue.
"What are you so happy about?" Ubuu asked him suspiciously, not giving Goten the chance to respond one way or another. "I'm not trusting the glint in your eyes."
Trunks quirked an eyebrow defensively. "I'm not happy about anything in particular. More like what's to come, than what's passed, that's kept me in good spirits."
"And, pray tell," Goten jumped in, becoming more guarded because of Ubuu's suspicions. "What's to come?"
"Happiness, my friends," he answered evasively, the stupid grin still covering his face. "I hear her approaching and I'm waiting anxiously by the door."
"Yeah, whatever. Just don't hold your breath Trunks." Goten informed him cynically, not really knowing what to make of his friend's complete change of mood.
After Trunks' talk with Pan, the boy had come back practically glowing. If Goten hadn't known better, he'd have thought they had gone off somewhere to make-out, judging by Trunks' face when he returned. His step had become lighter, his smile no longer forced. It was as if Goten could literally see that weight had been lifted off Trunks' shoulders. If one conversation with the girl put him in such a good mood, and if Pan were half as happy as Trunks was at this moment, Goten wouldn't object at all to them spending much more time together. No matter what had happened in the past.
Bygones, after all, were already gone.
"So what time are we going to this club?" Ubuu followed, always being the one to point out the practical in the situation.
"Eight o'clock," Trunks supplied before stealthily easing his way towards the door. The other two boys engaged in general conversation about the rest of their day's plans, not hearing the open and close that signified Trunks' exit. He was out of the room and into another part of the house before either of them even noticed he was missing.
He simply wasn't prepared to answer more questions than he had to.
#######
A wistful smile appeared on Goten's face as he pulled out his clothes in preparation for the night ahead. Physically, he was taking down a blue-collared shirt and black slacks, but mentally he was with Bra. He was always with Bra these days.
His mind never seemed to leave the subject of her. She was his dreams, his conscious thoughts, his unconscious thoughts... It just never seemed to end these days. At first he'd thought that he could fight it–if not fight for her, he'd thought he could fight her. Then, once he'd realized that he couldn't, he had thought that he could just ignore it.
Now he knew that she wasn't going to be ignored either. And today, for the first time, he'd realized that it might possibly be too late. Before he had assumed that, even if he didn't go crawling back to her with a heartfelt apology about how many times he had done her wrong, she would turn back to him and cling the way she used to. He had thought that she wouldn't be able to keep up with this hard-to-get charade much longer.
It wasn't really until today that he realized it wasn't a charade.
When she walked into her kitchen today, lightly glazed with sweat from training, eyes hard and disciplined, he realized that the Bra he'd known was gone. This new one that had replaced her was not going to stand by and allow him to walk all over her. This new one knew how to fight and did it often. He could tell, just by the glint in her eyes, that if he wanted to make this work he was going to have to be a little tougher.
But, then again, he had really known all this before. He had been telling himself many things as excuses to why he hadn't tried to reconcile things with her. Excuses that ranged from he wanted to give her time and he didn't want to rush her into anything, to he thought she was too angry to forgive him right now and she wasn't ready. Or, he wanted to make sure that he was doing the absolute best thing by both of them and not taking advantage of her; he wanted to make sure that he was in love with her. The list went on for ages but the truth was, when it came right down to it, they were nothing but just that: excuses.
The truth of the matter was that Goten was scared. He was afraid that he would tell Bra how he felt, present his heart to her, and then he would be vulnerable. She could do any number of things to him while he was vulnerable. She could toss him aside the same way he'd done her. Or worse, she could refuse to hear what he had to say at all. Ironically, once again the same thing he did to her.
He would deserve it, he knew, if she did either of those. He just didn't think he would be able to handle it if that were the case. And that was why, the honest reason why, he had been avoiding her for all this time. For, as much as he loved the thought of someone being strong for him, he hadn't the strength to reciprocate the sentiments.
That was downright disgusting, he knew. He didn't deserve her but he was going to ask her to forgive him anyway. The very next time he saw her, he promised himself, he would ask.
#######
Pan stepped nervously into the club with Bra at her side, suspiciously happy that Marron had volunteered to drop them off at the door and find a parking space before meeting up with them. Her eyes darted from one side of the dark room to the other, ignoring the flashing lights and loud music that pounded in her ears. She was only concerned with one thing: where Trunks and the boys where.
That and, of course, Bra's reaction when she saw that Goten was here. Then Pan, realizing that she was beginning to look a little suspicious herself, forced herself to stop looking for the boys and turn her eyes in Bra's direction.
"So, this place is..." Pan started, trailing off when a crowd of people started to let out a series of whoops as the guitar player from the band leapt off the stage and onto the waiting hands. Crowd surfing, Pan thought idly, a lazing smile falling onto her face.
"What possessed you to want to come here?" Bra asked incredulously. "For some reason, I can't picture you as the parting, club-type of girl." Bra's eyes seem to be telling Pan the same thing, as the girl examined Pan's outfit one more time.
She was wearing a black mini-dress that stopped at mid thigh and hugged each part of her curves. A gold, slinky looking belt circled her waist, one end of the chain hanging down until it met up with the end of her dress. Bra had never seen Pan in anything like that before and she used this information as proof that Pan was not the type of girl to hang out in places like this.
"I bet you've never even owned a dress like that before." Bra stated dryly, her eyes scanning the place instead of making contact with Pan when she said it.
Something, it was very obvious, was bothering her. The thought made Pan frown as she eased her way farther into the club, grabbing Bra's arm and pulling her along. "Why don't we go find a table and then I'll go get Marron." Pan stated nervously, slightly cut because of Bra's rude comment.
"Or," Bra suggested just as dryly as before, her voice not losing it's edge. "You could tell me exactly why the hell Goten is here. At this club. With my brother and Ubuu."
Okay, so apparently Bra had found Trunks, Ubuu, and Goten while Pan was searching for them. That was why her tone was so harsh and that was why her eyes weren't meeting with Pan's. She had to be trying to keep her calm. Pan let go of Bra's arm, turning to her with the coolest expression she could manage. If she looked guilty it would all be over.
"What are you talking about Bra?" She asked, almost believing herself that she didn't know what the girl meant.
"Look over there." Bra stated, the heat still in her voice, her finger pointing at almost the exact same moment as Goten pointed in their direction. "What are they doing here?" She demanded, her jaw clenched. "And tell me you had nothing to do with this."
"Bra," Pan started, slightly lecturing in her tone. Just then, Marron walked up behind them and let her eyes drift to what Bra and Pan were both staring out. The blonde let out a startled gasp and clutched the first arm that her hands came in contact with. It just so happened to be Pan's.
"What are they doing here!" Marron yelled, making sure her voice rose above the music pounding in the background.
Both Bra and Marron turned to look at Pan, an urgent demand in their eyes. Pan scowled.
"I'm supposed to know?" Pan asked with disbelief, looking over their shoulders in just enough to time to see Ubuu's enraged face upon discovering that Marron was also here. "Like I would choose to hang out with Trunks in my spare time. Not to mention, pull you guys with me." She called back, her voice rising nearly as loud as Marron's had been. "WHY would I do that?"
"You had nothing to do with this?" Bra demanded again, her eyes sharp as she waited for Pan's response.
Pan swallowed, not really wanting to lie. As she opened her mouth, Marron sighed and interrupted.
"Let's get out of here." She suggested, looking at both girls hopefully. Her face had turned a shade whiter and it was clear that she was very nervous about having Ubuu come talk to her. Both girls could tell that she wasn't ready to have the discussion she needed to have with him.
"We can't do that." Pan stated desperately, her voice nearly dying at the end. Bra and Marron turned to her with a murderous glint to both their eyes.
"Why not?" They both nearly yelled at her, already deciding that they were heading for the door.
"Goten has already seen us," Pan explained, her voice coming out unsure and shaky. Then she pointed, "They're all on their way over."
All three girls looked crestfallen by the time the boys reached them.
"We should have made a run for it," Marron whispered in Bra's ear, grasping the girls arm as Ubuu approached her. Trunks was making his way to Bra and Goten was already at Pan's side.
"I didn't know you were going to be here," Ubuu started civilly, eyeing Marron slowly to gouge her reaction. She smiled pleasantly, obviously forced, and nodded her head.
"I didn't expect you either." She stated, moving closer to him so that they could both hear each other.
"I think, maybe we should talk?" He asked, his voice unsure. Marron nodded before pointing to the rest of the group. Pan and Goten as well as Bra and Trunks were heading towards a table. She and Ubuu followed them.
#######
Pan took a seat at the booth they had all situated themselves at once again. Things had been tense from the moment they sat down. Pan didn't know what it was that Trunks had said to Bra to get her to come to the table instead of leaving, even though they had been spotted, but it seemed to work and Pan was grateful. Even though, currently, Bra was dancing with a man she had just met and had been getting unreasonably drunk, Pan couldn't help but be hopeful.
Goten seemed to be more down than usual and he kept glancing in whatever area Bra was occupying for the moment. Whatever guys paid Bra attention lost interest quickly because they all noticed that Goten seemed to have an unnaturally enraged expression on his face anytime any of them got too close to the girl. So Pan knew it would only be a matter of time before this new guy lost interest as well and scooped out easier prey. And then, she knew, Goten and Bra would talk. She had already made her uncle promise to watch out for Bra and not to let her get too drunk tonight but if Goten didn't stop her before she took another drink, Pan was going to have to kick his ass herself.
The girl had had too much already.
In fact, the only people who weren't drinking tonight happened to be her and Marron. Pan thought back, uncomfortably, to the look in Trunks' eyes when he insisted that she have a little something to drink.
"You look nervous," he had said, leaning towards her so that she could hear his words over the music. "Are you sure you don't want to order anything?"
She had shaken her head, telling him that she didn't want anything alcoholic to drink. Her coke, she'd said, was fine without the rum.
"It might loosen you up a bit," he insisted. "I know this whole ordeal is uncomfortable for you."
Then, of course, she had preceded to try and convince him that she wasn't uncomfortable at all. She didn't want him thinking that they couldn't get along without being nervous around each other. Although she honestly was nervous, it was only because he still managed to give her butterflies every time he looked at her. Then again, that might only be because of his strange behavior tonight.
He had asked her at least three times after that if she was sure she didn't want anything to drink. She had sipped her coke and shook her head each time, her hands lowering to her mid-section after she had told him no thank-you.
Goten had only had a glass or two and Trunks was still drinking the same margarita that he ordered when they first sat down. Of course Marron hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, like Pan, but Ubuu and Bra, on the other hand, had drunk at least four glasses each.
It had appeared as if Marron and Ubuu were going to talk when they had first sat down, but now Pan was certain that Marron had lost her nerve. She hoped the girl regained it soon because the longer she waited to tell Ubuu the truth, the worse things would get. And for the first time, Pan didn't want Marron's life to get any worse than it was. She wanted things to work out for all of them, especially Marron because she related the best with her.
That was probably why she hadn't liked Marron at first. Pan had read about that once, though she forgot what the particular condition was called. It was when you hated the people most like you because of the things about yourself that you didn't like; when someone besides yourself did something that you were likely to do, presenting some trait within yourself that you didn't like, you took an instant disliking to the person because of it. That was why most people hated those that were most like them. That was probably why Marron had hated her as well.
Marron was just as impulsive as Pan was and they were both just as starved for affection. They had both made mistakes when it came to who they should sleep with and they had been practically living the same lives these last few months. And now there was, of course, the obvious. The Marron and Ubuu situation was almost an exact mirror of what Pan and Trunks had gone through. Were still going through.
The pit of her stomach hurt, as she considered her mirror analogy, when she thought about Marron being pregnant. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, looking over at Marron and then down to the girl's stomach. Suddenly, she didn't want to think about the similarities anymore. Her game had lost its luster.
Trunks' knee brushed against hers under the table as he noticed the look she was giving Marron. He lifted a curious eyebrow, obviously wondering why she was giving Marron what she was sure was a nasty glare. She forced herself to smile even through the lump that was building in her throat, not allowing her mind to think that line of thoughts anymore.
Marron sighed, pretending like she hadn't noticed the attention she'd just received from both Trunks and Pan, before throwing her hands up and getting up from the table.
"You know what," she told them, a slight edge to her voice as the band stopped to take their ten minute break. Her voice lowered to its normal volume. "I think I'm going to go...over there...to the bar and order something to eat."
"You don't have to do that," Pan started, shaking her head with a guilty expression on her face. She knew Marron was leaving because of the uncomfortable moment she and Trunks had just had. "You're not bothering us."
Marron looked skeptically from Pan to Trunks' face. While Pan was giving Marron a look that encouraged her to sit back down, Trunks was sending a message that clearly said he thought Marron was on the right track by walking away. So she smiled kindly at Pan and shook her head before turning and heading for the bar.
Pan's face dropped when Marron turned her back to them and started walking. "She didn't have to leave," she told Trunks sharply, turning to look at him. He smirked, quirked an eyebrow, and shrugged.
"I didn't make her leave." He volunteered, being frustratingly innocent about things.
"Yeah, right." She countered, leaning back in the booth and sighing. "What did you want?"
"Nothing." He answered quickly, looking from her face to his half-empty drink and then back up. "I didn't want anything."
"Then why did you want her to leave?"
"Who says I wanted her to leave?" Pan glared at him, narrowing her eyes until he wiped the superior smile off his face.
"Pan," he tried again, looking far more humble this time. "Was there something you wanted to tell me?"
Noticing the serious shine to his eyes, Pan's own began to reflect guilt, and she felt her heartbeat pick up at his question. He couldn't know. Could he? She swallowed hard, trying her best to wipe the caught expression off her face, before shaking her head. "No–nothing." She stammered, still shaking her head.
They stared at each other for a few seconds, him concentrating, her sweating, before he let it go. "Fine, if you want to be that way." He told her after a few seconds, sounding severely disappointed.
Pan had turned her head to watch the band begin to set up again. "Do you want to dance?" She blurted before he asked any more questions. Still looking disappointed, he nodded his head.
Both of them walked onto the dance floor with their faces fitted into unhappy expressions. They were standing close to each other but still so far away, and the mere thought of how close they should actually be made both of them a little sadder. Pan wished, more than anything, that life could just be fair.
Pan had expected the band to play a fast, rock ballot that would give her freedom to move farther away from Trunks and still be considered dancing with him. Instead, the lead singer placed the guitar over his shoulder, took a seat on his bar stool, and pulled the microphone down to him as he started the slowest song the band had played all night.
Trunks looked down at her before placing his hands on her hips, his expression asking her if this was all right. She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling her shoulders tense even as she placed her head on his shoulder. The second they started to sway to the rhythm of the song he pulled her body closer to his so that they fitted each other perfectly.
His hands moved down slightly from the top of her hips as her body spooned his, and she moved her head until if fit the crook of his neck. She was close enough that she was sure he heard her sigh over the music when his arms tightened around her waist. Whatever the lyrics to the song were faded until they no longer existed, until nothing else existed, when Trunks lowered his head and placed a soft kiss on Pan's neck.
Her eyes closed immediately, a gentle gasp falling automatically from her lips. She wanted to, had actually meant to, push him away but her body refused to respond negatively. Her arms, she realized, had wrapped tighter around his neck. He pushed her body back slightly, until she lifted her head and looked up at him. He was waiting for her eyes to meet with his.
"I love you," he told her truthfully, his eyes somber. "But I won't ever ask you for anything you're not willing to give me. If you don't want to tell me what's going on, Pan, then simply ask me not to ask you again."
She felt the guilt well up inside her again. Not because of what she could say, but because of what she couldn't. What she knew, eventually, she would have to admit if they were ever going to have any sort of honest friendship. It had been eating her up inside since it happened. She simply couldn't hold it in, and yet, she couldn't seem to get it out.
Shaking her head, she closed her eyes again and rested her head back on his shoulder as they continued to dance. "It's not that I don't want to tell you," she whispered to him when he had enveloped her body with his again. "It's that I can't."
She felt him nod and knew that the subject wasn't dropped, only put on hold. After all, she hadn't asked him not to ask her. She ran her hands up his neck and into his hair, allowing herself to give into the illusion that she knew was dangerous. It was like looking a gift horse in the mouth, she knew, but she couldn't stop herself. And then, though she knew she shouldn't have, she allowed herself to enjoy the feel of his hands as they eased up her hips before tickling her sides and caressing their way up her body. Her head dropped back and his lips locked with hers.
#######
Bra smiled over at Trunks and Pan, knowing that their actions were not a result of impulsiveness or drunken stupidity. There was a hope, Bra thought with slight glee, of them actually working things out. Her own problems on the other hand...
She looked down at the glass she was holding and shook her head, placing it back on the table that she was standing next to. She shouldn't be getting drunk. Not because of this. Not because of him.
She was okay now, after all. She had taken the biggest step of her life this afternoon. She had forgiven herself; she had learned to cry. Now was the time to wipe her tears and move on with her life, not drown herself in alcohol and bitterness.
And she knew that. It was just that Goten kept looking at her with this...this expression that she didn't understand or care to understand. This sort-of regretful, guilty expression that made her want to reach out and cuddle him. And the only thing that had taken her mind off of comforting him was drinking, so she had gotten herself a little tipsy.
Now she realized that this was a mistake. He was on his way over towards her and now her defenses were down. She wouldn't be able to be her usually cold, snappy self. She wouldn't be able to walk away from him because she was a little too out of it to want to. Instead, she smiled slightly and shifted her weight from one hip to the other, feeling her yellow skirt sway to the other side of her body. She straightened the single strap of her white shirt before looking away from his brown eyes nervously.
"Would you mind giving me your drink?" He asked her immediately, his eyes no longer sad or sorrowful but filled instead with a slight bit of amusement.
"Only if you tell me what's so funny." She conditioned, picking up her drink from the table she had sat it on and looking down at it contemplatively.
"You're blushing." He informed her with a smirk that she just barely caught when she looked up to his face with a startled expression.
"I'm not blushing." She countered, shaking her head seriously.
"I promise you, you are." He reached out, taking the glass easily from her clutching hand. Apparently, her hand coordination was off because it looked as though she hadn't even tried to stop him, though she knew she had.
"Why would I be blushing?" She challenged, still not believing him.
"I don't know," he started, a devilish glint in his eyes. "Something to do with me, I'm sure. So why don't you tell me all about it. I bet I'd love to have all the details. Especially," here he smiled roguishly at her. "Especially if it's dirty."
"You're disgusting." She informed him, glaring the best she could.
"Maybe," he shrugged, still smiling a bit. "But your blush has deepened."
Embarrassed, she turned her face away from him and automatically covered it with her hands.
"Don't," he protested, pouting slightly as he finished off her drink. He sat the glass back down and then placed his fingers lightly under her chin, turning her face back to his. "I think it's adorable."
Her face was redder than he had ever seen it at this point, and she could now feel the burn that indicated the color of her skin was akin to cherries. He was grinning again and she took the opportunity to punch his shoulder lightly.
"You hold your alcohol well." He informed her, removing his fingers from her chin so that he could rub his shoulder. "That hurt."
"Apparently not well enough. I'm still talking to you and I'm as red as watermelons."
"Those are green." He deliberately tried to confuse her. "I believe you mean tomatoes."
It worked, she actually thought about it for a second before she could respond. "They're not green on the inside." She told him indignantly. "And stop teasing me, it's not nice to toy with a drunk girl's feelings."
"Do you still love me Bra?" He blurted, his smile dropping almost immediately.
She frowned. "What the hell kind of question is that?" She spat, almost turning around. "I'm not that drunk, Goten. And I never told you I loved you."
"You were going to, Bra, until I stopped you."
"Well, I'm not going to now."
"I've got to know, Bra," he nearly pleaded with her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Why?" She questioned, pushing his hand away.
"Because, if you don't, I've got a whole lot of work ahead of me and I'd like the heads up."
"What are you talking about?" She felt her head start to throb. "What are you saying to me?"
"I'm saying I love you. I love you and I want you to forgive me." He told her without a moment's hesitation, not even the slightest bit ashamed of what he'd just admitted.
She studied him for a second before shrugging, her eyes unreadable. "Maybe it's too late." She offered, attempting to turn around again. His hand stopped her from moving, again.
"Don't say maybe, Bra. Say yes or not, but not maybe. I'm not letting you get away this time. I want you to forgive me and I won't take no for an answer." He had moved closer to her during the speech, making sure that she caught every single one of his words. She shook her head at him, trying to back away, he wouldn't let her.
"Do you still love me?" He asked instead of releasing her. She didn't answer, she lowered her head and lost her lunch on his shoes instead. He groaned and quirked an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a yes." He bent over and placed one arm under her knees, the other over her shoulders, and picked her up. "Nothing says 'I love you' like that Bra."
"Let's get you out of here. Shall we?" She moaned and closed her eyes, placing her head on his shoulder.
#######
The girl narrowed her eyes as she watched Goten's playful conversation with the blue-haired woman. Well, girl really. They both seemed to be flirting, and it was obvious that the girl was drunk by her slightly swerving stance. That and the fact that Paris had watched her down three drinks in the last half-hour.
Paris had been about to approach Goten when he walked up to the girl, and it made her teeth clench to watch them together. For as long as she had been here, Goten had been watching Bra, and Paris had been watching him watch her. Obviously, the brown-haired girl thought with sorrow, this ship had sailed. Goten was lost to her.
He was in love with that stupid little girl and there was nothing Paris could do about it. Though, honestly, she couldn't blame everything on Bra. She had lost Goten a long time ago. Maybe she had never even really had him. Though she knew for sure that there had been a time when he was in love with her, she was certain that it had been a long time ago. They hadn't been really happy in years.
They had had their good days and they had had their bad, but they were never really happy. She hated admitting it, even to herself. If she couldn't be happy with Goten, who had been so complacent and kind with her, then she couldn't be happy with anyone. And they had spent so much time on trying to be together. She didn't think she'd ever find anyone like him again.
She knew she would never love anyone like she loved him again.
The mere thought made her want to do something dangerous. Stupid. Then she spotted Marron over at the bar, Marron's blue eyes trained on the figure of her best friend, and remembered the girl's snappy behavior earlier. Her eyes narrowed. No one talked to her, treated her, that way and got away with it. No one.
#######
Marron had been looking for Ubuu for at least twenty minutes now. She was ready to get out of this place and she couldn't leave alone. Goten and Bra had already left and they had taken Trunks' car, apparently, so Marron had to drive the rest of them home.
Not to mention, she needed to talk to Ubuu anyway and she wasn't going to tell him that she was in love with him and pregnant with his child in a club. With people getting smashed and throwing themselves off stages in the background. That wasn't very tactful at all.
But she had lost sight of Ubuu a while ago and now she didn't know where the hell he was. She truly wasn't in the mood for this cat and mouse game, she was getting a little nauseous and she didn't want to have a 'morning sickness' episode here.
Then she saw him. Obviously drunk, arms wrapped tightly around the waist of a pretty brunette. A pretty brunette who was currently grinding into him as if they were having sex, in public, with their clothes on. Her jaw clenched, teeth grating against each other, as her hands formed fists. She felt her eyes water but she marched over to his direction anyway, seeing nothing but her anger.
She slammed her hand onto his shoulder and wrenched him around, her entire face mutating into an enraged expression when she realized that the girl was none other than Paris.
"What the hell is she doing here?" She yelled, glaring at the both of them. "With you attached to her ass?"
"Dancing, Marron, what does it look like?" Ubuu asked, maintaining his calm. He smirked at her, making it very apparent that her annoyance made him happy. "Why? You finally noticed I'm here?"
"I need to talk to you." She told him dryly, ignoring the gloating smile on Paris' face.
"He's busy, sweetheart." Paris interrupted, pulling Ubuu to face her again.
Marron glared and yanked him back around, turning her icy eyes on Paris and making it clear that she would murder the girl if she said another word. Paris quieted immediately, her smile turning downwards.
"I need to talk to you." She reiterated.
"Funny," Ubuu told her, crossing his arms. "I remember saying that same thing to you at least two hours ago. And what did you do then?" He questioned, an irritating calmness to his voice.
"I wasn't ready to talk then, Ubuu." Marron told him insistently, slightly begging. Then, "Please, let's just-"
"Marron, sweetheart, now I don't want to talk. Respect that and walk away."
She shook her head, feeling the tears spring new again, but not letting them drop. "No. I'm ready to go and I'm your only ride home."
"Wait a few minutes." He told her dryly.
"I don't have a few minutes. I feel sick now."
"Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn't have had so much to drink." He quipped.
"I didn't have anything to drink. And you'd know that if you had stuck around a little while." She threw back at him, her voice turning deadly cold.
"Then what's the matter, Marron? You couldn't find anyone eager enough to fuck you?" He threw back. And, though she knew it was the alcohol talking and not him, she pulled her hand back and threw it at his face. She knocked his head back with the slap, this time unable to hold the tears back.
"I'm leaving right now." She told him, stepping back a little because she couldn't believe that she had just slapped him. "With or without you."
"Then go ahead. I'll catch a ride with Paris." He informed without hesitation, taking Paris in his arms again.
She shook her head in disbelief, not knowing what to say. Her mouth opened but nothing came out until the third try. "Please, Ubuu, don't do this." She begged him.
"Get out of my face, Marron." He commanded, looking sternly away from her pleading eyes. He was angry because she had slapped him, clearly.
"If you love me, at all, you won't do this. Please," she tried again, grabbing his arm. The tears were spilling down her face in torrents by this point. "I need to talk to you. I need to tell you-"
"I don't care Marron." He told her harshly, pushing her hands away. "Get out of my face. I'm through with this. All of it."
Her stomach dropped, her heart falling to her knees. He couldn't do this. He simply couldn't. Not right now. He had the worst timing in the world.
How dare he give up on her when she needed him the most?
"But I–"
"I don't care." And he walked away. With Paris clinging to his arm.
#######
Trunks was still standing outside, dazed about what happened. He had kissed Pan. He had pulled away from the kiss first, looking more confused and shocked than she did, even though he had initiated it. She had not been upset, he realized only now. She had simply been a little confused.
But she should have been upset. He was upset. He hadn't meant to do that to her and she knew it. Maybe that was why she hadn't been upset.
They had stared at each other for a few seconds before moving farther away from each other. He had opened his mouth to try to explain but she had shushed him, either not caring or already knowing why he did it. Then Goten had come and told Trunks that he was taking Bra home and they all needed to ride with Marron. So Trunks had sent Pan to tell Marron and had taken the opportunity, himself, to escape to the outside.
He heard the back door to the club open and didn't even bother to turn around as the person stepped into the night air. He knew who it was, of course. He could smell her, always, before he saw her. "You should go back inside, Pan." He told her, twisting his head so that he could see her.
She was standing beside him, resting her back against the brick of the wall, looking more gorgeous in the moon lighting than she had under the strobe.
"You're not the boss of me, Trunks." She shook him off, not paying attention to his suggestion.
"I'm sorry." He told her after a tense few moments of silence.
"Don't be. I'm not."
"You're not?" He asked, turning to face her, eyebrows up.
"Why should I be? I mean, we had to get it out of our systems right?" She crossed her arms. "I mean, it was just a kiss."
"It wasn't just a kiss, Pan," he told her, shaking his head. "At least, not to me. And if that's what you felt, then I'm sorry. I wish it wasn't. It was so much more than that to me. And it's not out of my system either. I still want you. Now more than ever, in fact."
"I guess," she told him after a moment. "That's my fault. I mean, I'm the one who put on this stupid dress."
He rolled his eyes. "It's not the dress, babe." He told her gently. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a great dress. But, honestly, it doesn't matter what you wear, I'm always thinking of ways to get you out of it."
"Just pull down the zipper, Trunks." She teased, turning so that he could see the black zipper that kept the dress on her body. He groaned, and turned away from her, resting against the wall again. "Or, you know, you could kiss me just the way you did earlier again. I'm sure that would work."
"That's not funny, Pan."
"Sorry, I couldn't resist."
"You see," he started in distress. "This is what I mean."
"What?" She asked curiously.
"This. How are we supposed to be friends if I'm always thinking about sleeping with you? Or holding you? Or, just, loving you?"
She didn't answer him.
"That's what I thought." He told her dryly, turning once again to look at her face. She sighed.
"Trunks, I think about those things too. But, I just know they can't be so I don't let it go any farther than that. Until, of course, you kiss me. And then I can't stop it myself."
He rolled his eyes again, this time holding back the groan. "Dende, Pan you shouldn't have told me that. Now I'm going to have to kiss you all the time. I can't do what you do, Pan. I can't know that it just can't be. Especially not now. When I know you feel the same way.
"All I know is that I love you. And I only ever want to love you." He pulled her into his arms, feeling slightly overwhelmed with emotion, and showered a couple of kisses along her face. She closed her eyes, welcoming his touch. "And," he whispered, kissing under her ear and making her sigh. "I'm going to love you. Always."
Then he pulled away and looked seriously into her eyes. "But I don't think it's a good idea for us to keep seeing each other like this. Like I told you before, we can't be friends. I'm in love with you. That's why I have to know, Pan. I have to ask. So that I'll know, one way or the other, what it's going to be."
"What are you talking about Trunks?" She asked hesitantly, backing away from his arms.
"Pan, I need you to be honest with me. Promise you'll be honest." He commanded, waiting until she nodded her head.
"Of course. I promise." She told him, worry filling her eyes.
"Then tell me, Pan. Are you pregnant?"
She gulped and pulled completely away from him, closing her eyes quickly and shaking her head, as if in shock.
And he knew, instantly, that she wasn't shaking her head 'no' in answer. She was shaking it 'no' in disbelief. Then he saw the tears slide past her cheeks and he pulled her into his arms.
To be continued...
sidenote: I'm sorry about the lateness of this chapter. I just got sick last week when I was supposed to write this chapter. Then, of course, I got a case of writer's block with this chapter and it had to under-go a re-write. So, that was pleasant. Then, yesterday, my internet wants to go out for no apparent reason. So, I'm really sorry, once again.
Also, I just had a couple more things to say: 1) I have to say, last chapter, I expected to get a lot of confused reviews about whether or not Pan was pregnant. I thought I'd get them for both chapter twenty-one and twenty-two, I certainly did put in a lot of...-cough- Anyway. Um. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go read the end of chapter twenty-one (the one I labeled twenty-one) and then tell me what you think.
2) Do you think Pan is pregnant now? Yes? No? Are you sure? (Here's a hint: if your answer to the last question was 'yes' you're wrong. You can't be sure because I haven't given you enough clues, one way or the other, to say yes or no. haha!)
3) If you don't know what's really going on right now, and thought this chapter was whacky/confusing, that's okay. Stick with me for a couple more and maybe it will become less confusing. And, I apologize in advance for those of you who were confused.
4) While I'm at it, thank you guys so much for your enthusiastic and encouraging replies. I love them so much and I really wouldn't be able to get through this story if it weren't for your reviews. You guys really do keep me going sometimes. So, thank-you in advance for making my week next week.