3: You're welcome

It was the second time that night that he found himself outside on his own with no clue as to where he should go. He was hovering in mid-air after having flown for half an hour in a general direction while the whole conversation played over in his mind.

His mother had said he didn't have to come back if he left now. His father had said he could stay away for the rest of his life. The words cut him worse than a knife to his heart could ever hurt him. Such great, loving parents he had.

He lowered himself to the ground, but shot back up again when his feet hit water. The ocean? No, he was hovering above a lake. He could see lights in the distance. He dried his feet as well as he could by directing his ki there and hovered over to the nearest land where he sat himself down, looking out over the lake to think.

It was getting late. He was usually asleep by now, but he did not think he could sleep just yet. Too much was going on. What exactly had happened back home? The moment he'd sensed his father waiting for him he'd know he could not avoid trouble. But at the same time he'd told himself that he refused to be treated like a little kid any longer. He was nearly fourteen and he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He was responsible enough to choose his own bedtime and to go out on school nights if he wanted. He knew how much sleep he needed before school and he knew how much time he needed to study to keep his grades up.

The reason his grades were falling lately was because since his baby sister was born his parents' arguing had increased tenfold. His mother did not think his father gave the girl enough attention and his father said he'd have nothing to do with a weak baby that could not even carry her own weight. Or he'd argue that he was already doing a hell of a lot more for the girl than he'd ever done for Trunks –which made Trunks feel as if he was causing the argument- and that the woman should be glad he was sticking around at all.

In the meantime they did not realise that they were yelling at each other so loud and so often that Trunks could not concentrate on school anymore. They were always treating him like he was some imbecile, his mother as much as his father, though in her own stupid way.

The moment he'd sensed his father waiting for him in his room all high-and-mighty he decided he wouldn't let them treat him like that any longer. He knew he had to tell his parents sooner or later that he was better at taking care of himself than they were and he knew they would not like hearing it. He'd planned to do that.

Had he? He hadn't really come around to saying that. At least he didn't think either of his parents had gotten the message. And now he couldn't go back home because he wasn't welcome anymore.

He had to find a bed, though. He didn't have much money, never having been given any pocket money other than to buy lunch at school. He didn't think he could afford a hotel room. He didn't even know if minors were allowed to stay alone in a hotel room. His ID clearly stated his identity and any hotel that housed the heir to Capsule Corporations would notify his mother immediately anyways. So where could he go?

He ruled out his grandparents immediately. They would call his parents even if they promised they wouldn't. Goten's place would be no good either. He was sure Goku wouldn't phone his mother, but Chichi might. Goten would let him sneak in, but his parents would suspect that and his mother might call them to see if they knew where Trunks was. Goku would not lie to her.

He'd have to think this through. He should go somewhere low-profile that his parents didn't know well enough to consider calling, but someone who would let him in. He considered Krillin and Yamcha. Krillin might be a little too good to suit Trunks. He would let him in, but Krillin had a daughter and he might get all sentimental thinking about what he would want Bulma to do if his daughter ever ran off to her. Yamcha, on the other hand, was not really seeing anyone as far as Trunks knew. He definitely did not have kids, so he might not think like Krillin would.

He only saw the man a couple of times a year, but Yamcha always seemed to like more than just what he was expected to. Trunks knew of the past relationship between his mother and Yamcha. That might be a problem. But Yamcha also disliked his father and that might just be something Trunks could use to his advantage.

Yamcha did not live too far from here. If he ran he could keep his ki low so his father wouldn't track him down and he would make it well before midnight. That would just have to do, he decided.

It was indeed well before midnight when he stood before the door he was quite sure would open up to Yamcha's place. He adjusted his backpack on his shoulders and took a deep breath before he knocked.

"Uh, just a moment." It was indeed Yamcha and he sounded startled. Trunks stepped back and waited quietly, listening to the rummaging noises coming from inside and then the door opened. Yamcha looked startled when he saw who it was. "Trunks?"

Trunks looked down, suddenly feeling nervous. Was this really not a mistake? "Can I stay here tonight?" He asked quietly.

"Uh- well, I don't know." Yamcha sounded uneasy. "Do your parents know you're here?"

"They kicked me out." Trunks mustered a guilty look as he looked up. "I can't go home tonight. Can I please stay here? It'll just be one night, I promise."

"Well, I guess I could call your mom and see if it's okay?"

"No you can't!" Trunks said quickly. "I got into a terrible fight with my dad and if he finds me before he has time to cool down it'll be the end of me!"

He could feel the scales tipping his way as Yamcha hesitated at his words. Finally he stepped aside. "Let's talk about this inside, alright?"

Grateful, Trunks stepped inside Yamcha led him to the living room and Trunks sat down on the couch, placing his school bag on the floor next to his feet.

Yamcha put a glass of water in front of him and got a beer out for himself. "So, why don't you tell me what's going on first?" He sat down in a chair opposite of him.

"Like I said," Trunks answered. "I got into a fight with my dad. It was stupid really, but now he's so angry he said I should just stay away."

"Right." Yamcha sipped his beer. Trunks knew the man had a very good grasp of what his father was like in the negative sense. "And you think that if you give him time to cool down he won't be so horrible to face?"

"Yeah." Trunks answered. "Like I said, just give him time to sleep on it for a night. Please?"

"Well... you can stay here I guess..." Yamcha said slowly, thinking it over. "But I kinda do wanna at least send some message to your mom to let her know you're okay."

"No!" Trunks stood up so quickly

"She's gotta be pretty worried about you, Trunks. I know her."

Damn it, this was not going like he wanted it to go! Yamcha was still too loyal to his mother after all. "If you do that, I'll know and I'll get out of here."

"And where will you go then?" Yamcha asked, surprised by this declaration

Trunks shrugged. "Don't know. But I wouldn't tell if you were letting them know. If my mom finds out, so will my dad." Surely he wouldn't want Trunks to be out there on his own, Dende knew where, right?

"Right." Yamcha had to think it over some more. "Alright." He finally decided. "You can spend the night here. But I am calling your mom in the morning, so she doesn't worry about you more than she has to, got it?"

That sounded reasonable. Tomorrow was far away and there would be school first anyway. She wouldn't make a commotion at his school. "That's fine." He answered, sitting down again and feeling quite relieved. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Silence fell while man and teenager sipped their drinks quietly. Trunks had a place to spend the night now and he wouldn't have to worry about facing either of his parents until tomorrow after school. That should give them enough time to calm down. In the meantime he could sleep quietly for a change. He wouldn't have to worry about waking up in the middle of the night because his parents got into another fight again and he wouldn't be greeted by irritable people in the morning either, complaining that breakfast wasn't ready yet or that someone didn't help out enough with the baby.

For one night, at least, Trunks could go to sleep without worrying about any of that. What a relief.

Out of the blue, and to break the awkward silence, Trunks suddenly said "I'm becoming a man."

Yamcha blinked and needed a few seconds before he replied "Uhh- I suppose so."

Trunks stared at his drink intently when he asked "Yamcha, what does it mean to become a man?"

A nervous chuckle escaped the older man. "Eh- heh, shouldn't that be something you should discuss with your dad?"

"I tried." Trunks sighed. "I asked him why it's sometimes wet in my bed when I wake up and he just said 'congratulations, you're becoming a man.'" He said the quoted part in a voice that was nothing like his father's. "Like that was any help."

"Ah ehm, well-" Yamcha sounded nervous. "I guess it means that –ehm- your body, it's- it's changing. L-like growing up."

"But I've been growing since I was a baby." Trunks answered, not really understanding why he would now all of a sudden become a man.

"Ah well, ehm, it kinda means... You see... When they say your body is -you know- growing up, they kinda mean that eh... heh. You know." He sounded really nervous now. Was it that bad when your body was 'growing up'? "You should ask your mother then."

"No way." Trunks frowned at him. "I'm not talking to her about that stuff, that's gross!"

"Well, I guess then... Lemme think about it for a little, okay? I never had kids so I kinda never prepared to have 'the talk' with someone."

Trunks said nothing. 'The talk?' He'd heard that Billy mention it. His parents had wanted to do 'the talk' with him and he'd said he already knew everything and they'd left him alone. At the time, Trunks had been wondering what 'the talk' was about. He'd figured out from the context that it was something sex-related, but he doubted it was if this was 'the talk'. He wasn't asking Yamcha how to have sex. Right?

"Okay, I think I got something now." Yamcha took a deep breath and Trunks looked at him expectantly. "When your body is growing up, it means it's getting ready to do... grown-up stuff. Like a woman starts developing breasts and getting her period and a man –well, a man's body grows up and it starts practicing. For -you know- 'the deed'. And it does so at night too."

The deed? "Oh, you mean like I'm getting a boner?" He'd heard about that.

By now Yamcha had turned quite a dark shade of red. "Ah -heh, well... yeah. And the part that –you know- comes after."

Trunks frowned at that. So becoming a man meant his body was practicing to have sex. "Okay." Sounded acceptable. It was annoying though. "Can I do something to stop it? The part after?"

"Well, not really." He swallowed. "Hey, you want another drink?"

Trunks shook his head. "I'm good, thanks." He answered. "And thanks for explaining." It made a whole lot more sense now. He wished his father had just explained it to him, though. If it was so simple as that his body was training, then why couldn't the man have said anything? "I think I'll be heading to bed now."

"The guest room's ready." Yamcha answered, relieved that the weird conversation was over now.

Trunks got up and grabbed his bag. "You're not gonna call my parents when I'm asleep?" He asked, just to be sure.

"I swear." Yamcha said, bringing a hand to his chest. "I'll give all of you some time to calm down."

"Alright." Yawning, Trunks started for the guest bedroom.

-princess