Author's Note: Sorry I can't say that often enough. You must be mad at me now, but, gah, my professional life is really taxing right now. Please bear with me…and now onto the chapter…

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Fan-Fic-Addiction, LauraNeatO, Saiyachick, Candy the Duck, bebex2xsweet, Crazy-Fan-Fic-Addict, kiki, aquaprincess1, Penny: Angel of Darkest Dreams, HitomiSakuraRobin, R3mz1mlu, Snug, N.S. kenny, Allie, baka-onna2003, t pan, Sazuka Chan, Fayes Love, Megan Consoer

Deceive Me Not

Chapter 12: Slowly But Surely

"No, I don't want to eat that," Pan said and wrinkled her nose at the food that was in front of her.

"But Pan –"

"Trunks," she said, interrupting him, then glared, "I don't want to eat that, I said."

"It's only chicken soup, for your colds," he said patiently as he tried to feed her from his spoon.

But Pan only turned her face from him. "I'm not eating that. It smells awful!"

"No, it doesn't. It's just a normal chicken soup. Just a few spoons," he coaxed but Pan glared at him, and then –

She jumped from her seat, went to the sink and hurled what was left on her stomach, which, considering the few amount of food she eats nowadays was almost nothing.

Trunks sighed and stood up to check on her. "Sweetheart –" he began as she rubbed her back gently while she go through her daily morning sickness.

"Get. Away. From. Me." She managed between gulps as she swatted his hands.

But he didn't even budge an inch. For the past month, she had always had this ritual. Of course, the first time it happened, he had been terrified. He thought she'd caught some dangerous disease what with her throwing up. Needless to say, he had to drag her to the nearest doctor for a diagnosis which turned out to be normal for her condition.

And Pan, instead of being relieved for not having some complication in her pregnancy, humiliated for what the he made her do, was so furious with him that she didn't talk to him for the whole day.

"Please Trunks," Pan begged as she continued to slap his hands away, but with less force now, because her morning sickness had drained her energy already, "let me just die in peace."

At that statement, Trunks couldn't help but chuckle. "Pan, sweetheart, you're not going to die. It's just morning sickness."

But Pan, breathing deeply and as if taking a break from hurling, turned to glare at him, "How'd you know? For all I care, I could die because of morning sickness!" she would have glared at him longer had she not felt the bile on her throat.

Trunks scratched his head. During the past month they've been living together, he'd learned to accept the fact that he had fallen in love with a very temperamental woman. When he agreed with her, she got mad, when he disagreed, she still got mad. He even tried to keep quiet and pretend he didn't hear her, but she got furious, instead.

Granted, his mood wasn't perfect, but Pan's moods were already starting to get ridiculous! Now, he didn't know how to handle her – except to be himself and accept the fact that whatever he does would make Pan angry at him.

Trunks continued to rub her back, and in a soothing voice, he told her, "Nobody ever died of morning sickness, Pan."

Pan snorted as she began washing her face, her ritual almost over, and her stomach empty from all its previous contents. "There's always a first time," she snapped.

He was about to retort – if only to piss the getting worked-up woman, but she beat him into it. "Had I known you were a freak, I wouldn't have slept with you," she said as she wiped her face with a towel Trunks handed her.

"Hey!" Trunks protested, obviously hurt that she called him a freak, "I'm not a freak!"

"Yes, you are," Pan answered, "freakishly fertile! We slept together once and now I got this thing growing inside of me."

Thing? He wanted to say out loud"That thing is our baby," he said flatly as he crossed his arms in front of him and frowned, irritated. And who wouldn't? He knew her pregnancy is unexpected, but she doesn't have to act as though she didn't like the baby. It was their baby, for god's sake!

"Of course, it's a baby, you moron," she snapped back.

And Trunks can only gape at her. Of all the –

The woman was clearly insane. Truly and utterly demented!

He racked his brain for a comeback to that stupid statement of hers but he found nothing equally idiotic. So he shut his eyes so tight, it hurts, and turned his back on her. "I need to go to work."

Then walked away.

Of course, he didn't need to work, he was the richest man in the world – he owns Capsule Corporation, for crying out loud! He just needed something to bring his sanity back.

Just for the time-being.

"Teri –" Trunks began as he firmly got hold of her hands. "No!"

But the young model only pouted at him, "But, TV, I haven't seen you for months. I missed you so."

"I'm with someone now," he said, trying to be patient. He didn't want to throw her out of his office but he was close to his breaking point. Of all the women he'd dated, Teri must be one of the most aggressive when it comes to making him commit.

She would call him during office hours, not knowing where she got his number, and even stalked him once to know where his office was located. And since then, she dropped by as often as she can. She would demand a date and throw tantrums if he did not do as she wanted.

Just like today, she had just showed up here, after months of leaving him alone, and was trying to seduce him mindlessly as though he only think about sex all the time.

"So? When did that stopped you?" the woman retorted and he was immediately disgusted with her. How could someone so readily accept that there was someone else in your lover's eyes? He certainly cannot understand.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll leave right now and never come back," he said coldly, pointing to the direction of the door.

She shrugged and left nonchalantly.

As soon as the door was closed, he sat down and sighed. Truthfully, he had never really enjoyed going through a breakup, even if he knew the woman didn't really love him.

Hell, they knew he wasn't serious with them to begin with. And the reason why he never entered into a serious relationship with anyone, well, maybe with the exception of Pan, was because he hates clingy women. When they started to cling, he dropped them like a hot potato.

Of course, Pan never clung to him, which was quite ironic because he wanted her to. He wanted her to call him and insist on talking to him, even if he was on a very important meeting, if only to tell him she missed him all morning. He wanted her to just walk in on his office, without appointment, of course, and demanded that he take her out for lunch. He wanted her to smile at him as though he was the greatest man alive.

He couldn't foresee that happening anytime soon.

And after spending five minutes thinking about the consequences of what he'll do, he lifted the handset and dialed.

"Hello?" Pan answered in an almost angry tone – maybe because he had just interrupted her nap, if her sleepy, thick voice was any indication.

He smiled, how he loved her voice. "Hi, Pan. It's me."

"The doctor said you're doing fine –"

"I know –"

"But you have to rest and not tire yourself –"

"I know th-"

"And you have to eat lots of healthy food –"

"Trunks!" Pan interrupted that he suddenly stopped talking. "I heard all that. I was there, too, remember? I know what I need to do."

"Well, you can't blame me for being worried, you know," he said stiffly, completely hurt that she didn't even appreciate all his efforts to take care of her.

During breakfast, which as usual, was ruined because of her morning sickness, she announced that she would go to the doctor for her regular check-up. Trunks had offered to go with her, of course, but she declined.

And so, after much coaxing, bargaining, and eventually blackmailing, she agreed to let him come with her.

"Oh, come on, don't be so sentimental," Pan said and grabbed his hand and started dragging him to the parking lot.

He smiled so brightly that she began to think he completely lost it. Reason as to why he was suddenly happy clearly eluded her.

And still he continued to smile comically as he let himself be dragged – her hand holding his. The reason is simple. Ever since they started living together, she had avoided the intimacy of touch with him.

Their first few days were the worst. She wouldn't even come within five feet from him and refused to stay in the same room with him as much as possible. And then she eventually lowered her walls and had begun talking to him casually again, had begun eating meals with him, and even allowed skin contact when necessary – like when he was rubbing her back when she throw up every morning.

But today, she initiated the contact by grabbing his hand and dragging him.

Maybe there was hope for them, after all.

"Would you wipe that smile off your face? It's starting to make me nervous," she said after a few minutes passed by and Trunks was still wearing that silly smile and still lost in thoughts.

"You're holding my hand," he said simply as though it made perfect sense.

It didn't – because Pan only frowned at him. "So?"

"You're holding my hand," he said and his smile widened even more, as if to convey his meaning.

"Oh," she said and immediately dropped his hand, then blushed prettily.

"So," Trunks said in a teasing voice as he put an arm around her shoulders, ignoring the way her body stiffened as her face turned an even brighter shade of red. "You wanna watch a movie with me?"

She looked at him with an emotion he couldn't quite decipher. "Aren't you supposed to go back to work?" she asked.

"Yeah," he drawled out lazily, and carelessly removed his hands around her and started walking faster, leaving her behind, "Yeah, I'm supposed to. Well, if you'd rather be sitting home alone –"

He suddenly stopped talking when she suddenly grabbed his arms and started dragging him along, "You're going to buy me a large popcorn for the movie, okay?"

He nodded at her and smiled widely, letting her drag him. Life is so good to him.

"Trunks."

He heard her call softly, but that couldn't be possible. Pan wouldn't do that.

"Trunks," the voice repeated as he felt a gentle shake.

He stirred and opened his eyes, still quite sleepy to know what was happening – and then he was fully awake.

Pan was sitting on the edge of his bed, wearing only a flimsy and semi-transparent negligee. "What?" he asked as he tried hard not to let his eyes roam her body. He failed.

Instead of answering, Pan turned on the lamp beside his bed and the light only made her look more radiant; and her negligee – more transparent. And his thoughts were taking a very dangerous turn.

He cleared his throat and looked at her forehead, instead, "Is something wrong?"

"I want a chocobutternut ice cream," she announced.

At that, he immediately sat up. She wanted – "What?"

"A chocobutternut ice cream," she repeated and smiled at him, "It's the newest flavor in town. And I want that."

"Pan," he began as he mentally banged his head on the wall. "You do realize that it's three o' clock in the morning? Don't you think it's a little unreasonable for you to want an ice cream at this time?"

"No."

"No?"

"No, it's not unreasonable. I want the ice cream now," she said so sweetly and looked at him with that hopeful look in her eyes, he knew he lost.

This was the second time she was attacked with this kind of craving. The first time it happened, he was in the middle of a very important meeting and she wanted some fruit which was clearly out of season.

Needless to say, and because he was naïve to this kind of craving during pregnancy, he firmly told her 'no'. And the next thing he knew, she wasn't talking to him and kept her room locked for days that Trunks had to go out to hunt for that fruit she wanted.

In the end, all his efforts were futile because Pan suddenly decided she didn't want the fruit anymore and, instead, asked for a box of cookies. He made the trip to the bakeshop so fast, he could have made it to the Guinness Book of Records. He didn't her to change her mind again.

"Hey," she nudged him and he sighed, stood up, grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt and dressed quickly. Neither of them noticed the new intimacy of him dressing in front of her because it felt so natural for them.

"You owe me one," he said as he brushed his hair.

"Oh thank you," she said excitedly and kissed him quickly. "I'll wait for you here," she said and pushed him out of the room.

Trunks was still stunned with that sudden kiss he received when the image of her in his bed, wearing only that negligee entered his mind. Suddenly, a cold shower was starting to sound appealing to him.

He shook his head and almost laughed at his fate. He didn't know how much longer he could remain living celibately when Pan was living with him.

"Pan," he called just as he entered and remove his coat. He expected her to see her run towards the kitchen so he placed the ice cream carton inside the freezer.

He yawned and started to head to his room. "Pan, your ice cream is here. I'm sleeping, alright? Enjoy eating," he announced as he entered his room, and then, he saw her, and his heart was suddenly filled with warmth.

Because right there, in the middle of his bed, was Pan, sleeping soundly in her fetus position. She must have been cold because she was now wearing one of his shirts that looked too big for her.

He didn't wake her up, he's not that cruel. Instead, he undressed down to his boxers, dropped a kiss on her cheek, something he'd done when she's asleep ever since she moved in with him, and climbed to bed.

He hadn't found a particularly comfortable position when Pan rolled to him and wrapped her arms around him. The surprise of her action made him stiffen then eventually relaxed when he realized that she continued sleeping.

He sighed and, surrendering to the inevitable, put his arms around her and closed his eyes. However, he dared not go to sleep because instances like this, when she was lying in his arms and peacefully sleeping, was rare.

He knew it was too soon to be this intimate with her, and yet he noticed that slowly, Pan was letting him in her life again. Though he knew she would not admit it to anyone, he noticed that she was beginning to depend on him. She was beginning to share her burdens and happiness with him. She was beginning to share herself to him. And he would do anything not to break the trend.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she suddenly shifted.

"Trunks," she whispered and snuggled closer to him as she continued to sleep.

And Trunks smiled weakly in the dark. In sleep, you needed me, he thought as his hold on her tightened.

Author's Note: Okay, apparently, many of you disliked the bitchy Pan, and I sort of disliked it, too. So I made a slight change in my plot and brought back the Pan we've all come to adore. I hope the chapter is to your liking.

Again, I apologize for the long delay but my work was taking too much time from me, so sorry. I won't stop this fic if I can help it, though, so that's all the promise I can make. I can't promise when the next chapter will be, but I hope it will be out before the end of March, so sorry. But I still need to update my other fic, Stolen Hearts.

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