Half-Crazy
More Music and Less Talk
Rated for language/situations
WitchyPrincess

"Stop touching my CD player Pan or I'm going to make you walk the rest of the way."

"Trunks, I'm not afraid of you. You can't make me do anything I don't want to do." She mashed the skip button again, bypassing his favorite song on the CD. He clenched his jaw but kept his mouth shut. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to share?"

"I was an only child for thirteen years. What do you think?" He pushed her hand away from the controls and went back to track four.

"Hey, keep your damn eyes on the road."

"I'm serious, Pan, I'm going to pull this car over, walk around to your side and pull you out of it. You're getting on my nerves."

"I can't get on your nerves Trunks, I'm your most favorite person in the world. And this is an SUV, not a car."

"When I stop at the gas station, you're switching seats with Goten."

"You don't mean it." And she skipped the song again.

Trunks sighed, forcing himself not to pull over on the highway, and kept his eyes straight forward. He wanted to reach his hand out and whop her across the back of the head so badly he didn't think he'd be able to control himself.

"Pan, don't you think you need to ease up on him?" Goten chimed in, leaning up so that his head rested in the middle space between the two front seats.

"Why should I? I hate that song and he knows I hate that song. Just because it's his favorite doesn't mean the rest of us have to listen to it five times in one week."

"The rest of us haven't heard it five times this week. Only you because you live with him." Paris teased, raising a mocking eyebrow.

"Oh why don't you shut-up?" Pan pouted. "I'm so sick of all of you people. So what if I spend most of my free time in his house, have a key, a room, and my own closet full of clothes. That doesn't qualify as living somewhere...Okay, now I sound ridiculous to even me..."

"You'd make a horrible lawyer." Trunks chimed in, going back to his song. "Touch this stereo system and I really will make you switch seats with Goten when I stop. I'm serious."

"You're never serious."

"I'm serious."

Pan rolled her eyes but she didn't make a reach for the stereo. Paris started snickering.

"What's so funny?" Pan snapped, knowing what Paris was laughing at. "I think this song is growing on me. That's the only reason why I didn't change it."

"Sure." Paris nodded. "You're not whipped at all." Pan turned in her seat so that Paris could plainly see her scowl.

"That's not funny."

"I'm serious. You two act more like a married couple than me and Goten. It's scary."

"The girl's got a point, Trunks." Goten joined in, smiling.

"Shut-up." Trunks said without taking his eyes off the road. His fingers were tapping the beat to the song playing and he was trying not to pay any attention to either of them.

"Why the hell are you so grumpy today?" Pan snapped, though the laughter was still in her eyes. "You've been moping since you picked me up this morning. Is there something you need to tell the rest of us?"

"I'm stopping for gas now." He told them as he turned onto the exit. "And when I get back in the car I want you in the backseat with Paris. Is that understood?"

"You're not my father smarty-pants." She stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms, glaring at him as he pulled up to a pump. "If you want me to move you're going to have to pick me up and carry me away. I had to fight for shotgun and I'm not giving it up."

"Being around you is like having a four year old." Trunks complained, giving her a sour look.

She smirked. "You love me."

"You annoy me."

"Yes. But you love me anyway. Now tell me what's wrong."

"What makes you think anything's wrong? Isn't it possible that I just don't want to have to fight with you every five minutes for the rest of the drive to the park?"

"No."

He hefted a sigh and got out of the car, slamming the door afterwards. Pan scoffed and slammed her body into the back of the chair, crossing her arms and poking out her lower lip. "I can throw a temper tantrum too." She pouted, though she knew Trunks couldn't hear her.

"Were we like that during our 'sexual tension' phase?" Paris whispered to Goten, loud enough for Pan to hear it. She was smiling broadly when Pan turned around in her seat to give the girl another glare.

"I don't think so. But then, Trunks and Pan have the worst tempers of anybody I know, so..."

"It kind of makes me want to lock them in a closet somewhere until they work it out of their systems. How did we get stuck with them on this trip?"

"We drew straws, remember? Bra and Landon got to ride with Marron and Ubuu. That's life sweetheart." He pecked his wife on the lips before grinning innocently at Pan. "Yes?"

"Are you two done talking about me like I'm not sitting in the car? And what do you mean, you picked straws? Tell me you're kidding, right. No one wanted to ride with me and Trunks?"

Paris and Goten shared a look but didn't respond.

"Okay. Fine. We hate all of you too. And this is not what you call 'sexual tension,' this is what you call a jerk C.E.O. and his best friend getting on each other's nerves. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Of course." Both Goten and Paris agreed as Trunks got back into the SUV, grumbling.

"Leave your bad mood outside, would you?" Pan teased, more serious than joking. "I'm no longer in the mood."

"Aren't you supposed to be in the backseat?" He questioned as he switched the car back on. She turned the music up to drown out his voice.

"Someone save me." Paris called out as she stretched her body, heading for Marron's car with a desperate look on her face.

"It couldn't have been that bad." Marron laughed, an eyebrow quirked in curiosity.

"You have no idea how bad it was." Paris exclaimed. "I wanted to tell them to just pull over for a few minutes and, while Goten and I closed our eyes and covered our ears, they take care of that little problem of theirs. I swear. They either need to do each other or somebody else because it's becoming fatal."

Marron cracked up, sneaking a look at Trunks and Pan, who were still arguing with one another about something or other, standing next to his black SUV. Pan had her arms crossed and her feet spread apart, glaring up at Trunks, her long hair tied into a ponytail that hung almost to her hips. Trunks' hands were on his hips, his own legs spread apart, squinting down at Pan because the sun was directly in his face. They were talking at the same time.

"Sucks for you guys," Bra laughed, climbing out of Marron's red Honda. "But Landon and I won fair and square."

"So let me get this straight," Landon came around the car to stand next to his girlfriend. "Everyone thinks that Pan and Trunks have something going on but no one says anything about it in anything more than a joking fashion. Is that right?"

Both women nodded, smirks in place.

"And this is because...?"

"They don't listen to reason. Never have, never will. We'll just let them play it out by themselves. They'll come around eventually." Bra informed. "And, for the record, it's okay for us to tease them about it because they're used to us. But for you to do it, like at dinner last week, will only piss them off. So, please, don't."

Landon nodded. "Duly noted."

"Now let's go separate them before they bite each other's heads off." Marron suggested, heading over to Pan and Trunks.

"All I'm saying is that you could at least pretend to not be so damn,"

"Pan, can't you just accept the fact that you're annoying and stop trying to,"

"Hey!" Marron interrupted, making both of their sentences come to an abrupt halt. "Go to your separate corners and cool down. You can have round three later. When we're not around and it isn't in public, okay?"

"Fine." Pan agreed, uncrossing her arms. "But I'm not talking to him for the rest of the day."

"The rest of the day's an awful long time, Potato-Chip." Trunks teased, pinching one of her cheeks in an attempt to goad her into breaking her declaration before she even started upholding it.

Her entire face lit with red but she clenched down on her jaw instead of responding and turned abruptly on her heel, away from him. Chuckling, he followed after her to the entrance of the amusement park.

"Five dollars says that she'll be broken in twenty minutes or less." Ubuu insisted, waving a five.

"Fifteen dollars on an hour." Goten took him up on it. Marron and Bra rolled their eyes and followed after Pan, but Landon lingered behind a bit.

"Twenty dollars says it'll take thirty minutes." He slapped his money into Ubuu's palm as well. Paris laughed.

"I'm with the psychologist." She admitted, throwing in a ten dollar bill.

"I'm crushed." Goten pouted. "You're my wife and she's my niece. I think I know her better than he does."

"He's got a doctorate on reading people." Paris shrugged, following after the girls.

The boys laughed as they made their way to the gates.

Trunks was following behind Pan, had been since they entered the amusement park, and every now and then he bumped the heels of her sandals with his shoes. She was trying her best to ignore him but she couldn't quite get herself to. Sighing, she sped up and went around to one side of Bra.

"Tell stupid that if he doesn't get away from me I'm liable to lose control." Pan stated calmly, eyes flaring despite her tone. She was looking at Bra expectantly.

"You know, telling someone to talk to Trunks for you is just like talking to him." Bra informed, hoping that this would keep Pan from asking her to relay a message to her brother again, when he could hear her just fine.

"I'm not afraid of you, Pan." Trunks informed her, the both of them ignoring Bra entirely.

"Tell stupid that I'm not listening to him or talking to him."

"Pan," Bra nearly shouted, drawing in a deep breath to keep from absolutely killing the girl. "Why don't you tell him yourself?"

"And stop calling me stupid." Trunks continued. "It's annoying and it makes you sound so juvenile."

"The both of you sound juvenile right now. And I'm sick of listening to you bicker. It's only been seven minutes. How in the world did the two of you manage to give me a migraine in seven minutes when one of you isn't speaking to the other? This is ridiculous." Bra exclaimed, throwing her hands up in surrender.

"Now you'll think seriously about the closet idea, won't you Bra?" Paris intoned, slowing down so that she was nearer to the girl. Bra was sandwiched in between Trunks and Pan, the rest of the group was ahead of them.

"Screw the closet. I'm going to shove them on the Farris Wheel and pay the guy operating it to take a twenty minute break while the controls mysteriously malfunction."

"Well, now you can't, since you just told us your plan." Trunks remarked smartly.

"And I don't know what everyone's problem is anyway. It's not like I asked Trunks to come in a bad mood. I haven't done anything to him all day." Pan defended herself.

"All day?" Trunks asked incredulously. "You've been goading me since I picked you up this morning. Pan, be serious here."

"I am being serious, Trunks! You-" The smirk on Trunks' face stopped the words before they had a chance to complete the sentence. "Damn."

Ubuu snickered and patted his back pocket, signaling that he was keeping the money because he had won the bet. Landon, Paris, and Goten groaned simultaneously.

"I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day, after this, I mean it." She stated adamantly. "You've been insulting me for thirty minutes. I don't know what's wrong with you."

"I have not been insulting you. You've been annoying me on purpose. Don't deny it."

"Why don't we all split up." Marron suggested, looking at Bra apologetically.

"That's a great idea." Bra agreed, grinning. "We'll meet back in two hours. Okay?"

"Fine." Pan agreed. "I'm getting on the Minder-Binder. Don't say anything else to me, Trunks." And she turned to head to the roller-coaster line, Trunks following behind her.

"Don't be so sensitive." He insisted, stopping in the line behind her and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "You know you're my favorite person in the whole wide world."

She leaned her head back on his shoulder as he said the words and, for the first time, he felt his stomach jump while she was in his arms and he knew it wasn't nerves before the roller-coaster ride.

"Well then stop being so mean. I'm always nice to you."

"Yes ma'am." He told her unsteadily as the line moved.

Shaking the feeling off, he let her go, and they moved forward in the line. That had been nerves, he convinced himself, and nothing but nerves.

He believed it and thought nothing else of it for the rest of the day.

The ride back was smoother than the ride there, for which both Paris and Goten were thankful. They had been dealing with Trunks and Pan's drama for at least a year now, but it had never been this bad before. Usually they argued or flirted until everyone felt a little nauseated and then they left each other alone. Today they had given every body a stomach ache and the group had to separate to get away from them.

Something seriously had to be done about the two of them but no one was sure exactly what was to be done. They were both so stubborn they refused to realize that they practically were in a relationship and didn't even know it. Pan spent more of her time with Trunks than anybody else, they knew each other's little quirks, and they practically lived in the same house.

Paris hadn't been kidding or exaggerating when she said they acted more like a married couple than she and Goten. They seriously did. To make matters worse, Paris couldn't remember the last time either of them had been with anybody else for more than one or two dates. It was getting a little more than ridiculous.

"You coming over for a couple of games tonight, Goten?" Trunks asked, having finally convinced Pan to sit in the back with Paris.

"Nah," Goten shook his head negatively. "I think I'm just going home. I've got an early day tomorrow at the office." Goten was an insurance claim representative.

"You're getting old, man." Trunks joked, shaking his own head. "It's all right though, I'll just kick Pan's butt again."

"Again?" Pan questioned indignantly. "I don't ever remember you kicking it the first time."

"Don't play dumb Pan, it's not attractive." Trunks looked at her through the rear-view mirror.

"Whatever idiot. I'm only coming over if you help me organize my lesson plan for next week."

"No way." Trunks shook his head. "Absolutely not. You have the most boring job in the world."

"Oh, yeah right, Mr. President of Capsule Corporations. Like your job is more exciting."

"More exciting than History? Uh...Yes." She could practically taste his eyebrows lifting in amusement, she knew him so well.

"I think not. But, anyway, I guess that means you'll have to beat yourself in whatever game you had in mind."

"So...let me see if I understand this correctly..." Trunks pieced together. "You're not coming to my house tonight?..."

"Nope."

"Pan,"

"Trunks,"

"The both of you," Paris' eyes had widened during the verbal-play and her head was spinning again. "Give it a rest. Gees."

"This is how most of our conversations go, Paris. You should know that by now." Pan told her earnestly.

"I do know. It's just extra annoying today, so please stop it. You both know that you're going to his house tonight. And Trunks is going to help you with your planning."

"No I'm not." Trunks defended.

"And neither am I. I really do have to get this done."

"Then it's settled." Trunks informed Pan. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Maybe not."

"No?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Just maybe not."

"Why maybe?"

"Just maybe not. I can't just say maybe not? I have to have a reason?"

"Pan,"

"Trunks,"

"The both of you," Paris intervened again. Goten groaned.

"Okay guys, do me a favor," Goten pleaded. They listened attentively. "Less talk. A lot less."

The ride home was silent after that but Trunks was still brooding over Pan's 'maybe not'. What did that mean?

To be continued...