2

Misunderstanding

"Will you go out with me?"

The words seemed to hang in the air as Videl stayed silent, her eyes not leaving his. Gohan was looking at her with a hopeful, gentle smile stretching his lips as he waited for her answer.

Videl bit her lip and looked down. She wanted to say yes. God, how she wished she could say yes… But how would her dad react? Would he actually demand to fight Gohan? Yes, she could always date Gohan behind his back, but… how long would their secret last?

What if they didn't last?

"Videl…?"

She closed her eyes. She was such a coward. How could she be so fearless and fight dangerous criminals without a second thought, and yet be so scared of ending up with a broken heart?

She heard Gohan sigh, and looked back at him – only he was avoiding her eye now. His hand let go of hers then, his other arm released her waist, and he stepped back. Videl shivered as his warmth left her.

"I'm sorry," he said, still avoiding looking at her. "I thought…" He sighed again, running his hand through his spiky hair. "I guess I misunderstood."

Her heart dropped. She lowered her head and clenched her fists, mentally berating herself. Great. Just great. Because of her own cowardice, now Gohan thought that she didn't like him back.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," he continued quietly. He sighed again. "I better get going… See you tomorrow."

When Videl looked up, Gohan was already walking away, his hands in his pockets, his shoulder slumped. Reaching out towards him, the girl opened her mouth to say something, anything, to hold him back, but no sound came out. She felt a dry lump form in her throat as Gohan got further and further away, thinking that she rejected him, that she didn't share his feelings. That he misunderstood her actions.

You idiot, it's now that you're misunderstanding my actions, she thought helplessly, watching until Gohan was out of sight; her arm fell to her side as the tall boy disappeared in the crowd.

She felt terrible. The boy she had a crush on just confessed to her and asked her out, and because of her foolish hesitation he concluded that she didn't like him back. She knew it must have been difficult for Gohan to confess, with how shy he was; but what made her feel worse was the fact that she was the one who brought it up in the first place. She didn't even know what had possessed her to ask him if he liked her – it was just so damn obvious, she couldn't help it. Although, she honestly hadn't thought that Gohan would answer her truthfully… and she had felt so happy when he did.

And then he'd asked her out, catching her completely off guard but also bringing out all of her fears and hesitations. Which made him believe that she was rejecting him.

Gah! Why didn't she say yes?

ooOoo

Things only got worse from there. Every time Videl tried to talk to Gohan, he got really tense and left in a rush, obviously avoiding her. She couldn't blame him, she knew it was her fault that Gohan believed, albeit wrongly, that she didn't share his feelings. But how on earth was she supposed to explain herself if she couldn't even freaking talk to him?!

Gohan also stopped having lunch with her, Erasa and Sharpner, and he even changed his seat in class to the front, pretexting – and visibly lying – that his eyesight was getting bad. He pretty much stopped hanging out with them, much to the confusion of the two blondes. In two months, they had become good friends with him and come to enjoy his company – yes, even Sharpner, despite what he might say – and now it was like it all never happened. Like they weren't friends anymore.

And it was frustrating the hell out of Videl.

Not only was Gohan avoiding her, but he was also letting this misunderstanding affect their friends. For someone so smart, the boy could sure act childishly. If she could just talk to him for one minute… But the idiot wasn't even giving her that minute!

She wasn't about to give up without a fight though; Videl Satan wasn't known for her unfailing determination for no reason, after all. She just had to find a way that would make Gohan listen to her, whether he liked it or not.

After about a week of trying, and failing to get Gohan to hear her out, the solution suddenly hit her during lunch. After all, she'd had two months to understand just how much the guy loved food. She was pretty sure that he wouldn't interrupt his favorite time of the day for anything, not even if she tried talking to him – well, she hoped so. It was her best bet anyway.

With that idea in mind, Videl excused herself from her friends and left the cafeteria to go looking for Gohan, determined to clear up the misunderstanding.

She found the oblivious teen sitting by himself at one of the picnic tables in the courtyard, devouring his enormous lunch like only he was able to. There were a bunch of kids around having lunch outside, but no one in hearing range. It was the perfect time to go to him: he still had plenty of food around him, and no one would disturb them. Videl walked up to him.

"Gohan, can we talk?"

He jumped when he heard her, then started coughing as he tried to swallow his food, hitting his chest several times to make it pass. The girl frowned in concern as she sat down beside him, asking him if he was alright. He kept coughing as he nodded, then finally swallowed, breathing out a sigh of relief. She grabbed a bottle of water from the table and handed it to him. Their fingers brushed ever so slightly as Gohan took the bottle, and without fail his cheeks reddened a little. Avoiding her gaze, he muttered a quiet "thanks" before gulping down the refreshing drink.

He set the bottle aside, glanced at her quickly then turned to his food, as if he was wondering if it was okay to continue eating now. Videl cracked a smile at the look on his face, watching his meal longingly, obviously restraining himself while she was there.

"Gohan, about the other day…" she trailed off as she saw him tense right away, his fists tightly closed in his lap. Trying not to let his reaction affect her, she kept going, "I wanted to say—"

"Please don't."

His voice was soft as he cut her off. Videl blinked, having not expected him to interrupt her. Then she frowned. Was he going to leave again before she had a chance to tell him what she meant to say? She couldn't let that happen, not again.

"Gohan, listen—"

"Don't," he cut her off again. "Please Videl, just don't. It hurts enough to think about it and see you every day… Please don't bring it up."

"But Gohan—"

"Videl, please. If you want to apologize, or whatever, you don't need to. It's not your fault anyway, it's mine. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so quickly, I shouldn't have put you in such an awkward position… I shouldn't have asked you out at all."

He whispered the last part, having not looked at her once while he spoke. Then, he stood up, still avoiding looking at her, said that he didn't feel like eating anymore, and walked away.

Videl was dumbfounded. But it was quickly replaced by a very strong frustration. She couldn't believe the guy! He wouldn't even let her finish one freaking sentence for god's sake! He said that he shouldn't have jumped to conclusions that day, but he just kept doing it now! Just how dumb could he be?!

"You idiot!" she yelled, suddenly standing up.

Her frustrated cry was followed by silence, as now everyone around was looking at her. But Videl was way too upset to care. She glared at Gohan, who was now looking back at her with a surprised and confused expression. It only made her angrier.

"Why won't you just let me talk goddammit! I've been trying and trying to clear up this misunderstanding, but you just keep getting in my way! You're such a pain! Gah!"

He blinked, obviously not getting why she was so worked up. She gritted her teeth as she struggled not to go strangle the handsome idiot for being so irritatingly clueless.

"… Misunderstanding?" he repeated slowly, clearly not getting it. The crowd around them kept quiet and looked on with interest, their heads following the boy and the girl across the courtyard as one spoke up.

"Just how dumb can you be!" Videl fumed, visibly unaffected by their audience. "You never even let me answer you, and just concluded that I said no! And I've been trying to clear it up all week and you wouldn't even let me! UGH!"

His eyes widened, his lips parting slightly. Some understanding finally reaching his face – mixed with uncertainty.

"Wha…Wha…?" he trailed off, looking utterly dumbstruck.

"You still don't get it?" she continued a bit more calmly. Though, still very much upset. To the onlookers' surprise, a deep blush formed on her cheeks as Videl kept glaring at the resident school nerd.

"I wanted to say yes!" she blurted out, her face beet-red. "In fact, I'd love to be your girlfriend!"

The silence never felt thicker as it did then; but when the information sank in, whispers broke out from everywhere around, and Videl suddenly became very much aware of her audience. Her blush got even brighter at the realization that all eyes were focused on her. Embarrassed beyond belief, she ran away from the courtyard, wanting nothing more than to find a hole and hide in there forever.

As her steps got further and further away, Gohan found himself going after her, tuning out the whispers that were getting louder and louder. He didn't even pause when the bell rang. He couldn't care less at the moment.