p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Wait!" Goten called out to the half-Saiyan in front of him. As he spoke, he released his wrist from the other boy's grip and instead grasped his hand. He could feel it trembling./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Where are we going?! I mean, I understand wanting to escape the situation bu-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"He suddenly felt something wet flick his face. Wiping his cheek with his free hand, he looked around and above them for the source of the droplet. It appeared to be a perfectly clear night, however. Not a cloud in the sky. He felt a few more drops hit him before he glanced in Trunks' direction. In a moment, realization struck, and he felt his heart drop into his stomach./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""T-trunks?" He said in a quiet voice that was barely above a whisper./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Trunks remained silent, focusing his gaze straight ahead. Goten had no idea where he was planning on going./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Trunks, a-are you okay?" He tried again, this time squeezing the hand that connected him and his friend./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"There was still no verbal response from the other boy, but Goten did feel the lavender-haired Saiyan give his own hand a quick squeeze in answer. Goten furrowed his brow and bit his lip in worry. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he instead ran his thumb gently against his friend's hand, hoping that he'd find at least some comfort in the gesture. They continued to fly in silence, and soon, Goten felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He could hear Trunks' phone going off as well. They both ignored them, however, remaining hand-in-hand until Goten started to see the view of Mt. Paozu approaching. Trunks was heading towards the very top./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Goten was suddenly hit with a vivid memory./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emIt was of a time from their childhood. They were still quite young, himself probably being no older than 9 or 10, and they had run off towards the top of the mountain to play or train (back then, those two things were often one in the same). They would come here all the time. There were no adults to tell them what they could or couldn't do, no weird strangers who would look at them judgmentally, or with fear on their faces. Here, they could just be themselves, and everything that happened there on Mt. Paozu was just between them./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emIt was here that, one late-summer day, Trunks had brought Goten to show him something. He wouldn't say what it was at first, despite Goten's persistance questioning during entire trip there. Trunks insisted that he couldn't say anything until they were sure that no adults were watching. This made Goten a little nervous. He never like breaking rules, especially if his mother found out about it. Still, he couldn't help but also feel terribly excited. Trunks always knew how to have fun./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emGoten found his face heating up as he recalled the image of a young Trunks opening his backpack and pulling out a stack of magazines. "I found these at Muten Roshi's place.." he began to say. "They were shoved way in the back of a closet, so I figured he'd probably forgotten about them, anyway..." Goten remembered how his eyes went wide as Trunks set the stack down on the grass and opened up the magazine that was sitting on top.../em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"They were about to land now, and the black-haired boy was pulled out of his thoughts by the need to touch down safely. He stumbled slightly as the two of them reached the ground, hands still gripping each other tight./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"They stood there, silently, not moving from where they landed. Trunks still wasn't looking at him, but he was still shaking, and now under the bright moonlight of the nearly-full moon, Goten could see a trail of tears shining on the other boy's cheek./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Trunks..." he said softly, not taking his eyes off of his friend. "Please tell me what's wrong..."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"He saw Trunks swallow hard between shaky breaths. Finally, he spoke. His voice was uneven and croaky./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Dad's mad.." he said./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Goten waited for him to continue, but he didn't seem to know what to say./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Well..." he said. "Yeah, I mean...he gets mad a lot, doesn't he? That's kind of his thing. He's the angry one."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Yeah, but..." Trunks seemed as if he was still struggling to find words. "I've always been worried that..." he broke off. Whatever he wanted to say, it was clear that he was reluctant to say it./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Worried that what?" Goten pressed. "He'd be angry with you for 'choosing a mate unworthy of your royal Saiyan lineage' or something? Cause if you ask me, I seriously doubt there's anyone in the entire universe that he wouldn't complain about. Don't take it personally, man." he ended with a little chuckle, hoping it would ease some of the tension./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It didn't work, though. If anything, Trunks' shoulders appeared to rise even higher as his whole body tightened. Goten saw that he was clenching his jaw exceptionally hard./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"After a moment, Trunks spoke again. "No, I know that..." he said, voice still fragile./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Then what's the problem? What are you so worried about?" Goten asked. When Trunks didn't respond after a moment, Goten sighed. He released his grip on the other boy's hand and placed his hands on Trunks' shoulders to gently turn him around. Now face-to-face, Goten continued./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Listen, Trunks..." he said in a gentle voice that was quite unlike his usual tone. "Whatever it is that's bothering you, you can tell me..." He could see his friend's tear-stained face clearly now, and he felt his stomach clench again. This was not how he wanted to see his best friend and partner-in-crime. He couldn't ever remember seeing him look like this before. It was almost unbearable./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""No one's here but us." He continued. "You know me, man. You can tell me anything, and I would never think badly of you." He looked into Trunks' eyes, pleading./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Trunks considered Goten's words for a moment, appearing to scan the black-haired Saiyan's face with his shining eyes. Eventually, he took a deep breath and sighed, turning his gaze towards the ground./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""It doesn't feel like that big of a deal to me. I just knew it would be a big deal to him..." he said, his voice still weak. "And like..." he hesitated for a moment. "I know you're a pretty chill guy, but I just...we're so close and uh...we've done...but that was a long time ago...but I guess now it's not...ah..." Trunks was having trouble finding words still, but Goten waited patiently for him to get his thoughts together. He still couldn't figure out what he was trying to say./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I just mean...I do want to tell you, but I also don't want you to be weirded out, or feel like I'm crossing any boundaries..." he trailed off, still avoiding Goten's gaze./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What? Dude, we don't have boundaries." Goten laughed. Though he quickly regretted it, realizing that maybe they were probably past the point of making light humor. His last attempt only seemed to do the opposite of what he had intended, after all./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"But he was suprised when Trunks actually gave him a small smile. "Yeah, you're right about that. I guess that's exactly what put us in this situation in the first place, right?" he said, his voice a little stronger now. It took Goten a moment to realize what he was talking about, but he soon felt heat rise in his cheeks. They hadn't actually talked with each other about what they had done at the party until now./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Right, so..." Trunks took another deep breath as if he were screwing himself up for something. "I'm just worried about my dad knowing that...I'm into guys." he finished, the last of his words spoken so quietly that they were barely audible./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Goten had to take a moment to register the words his friend had just said, both because of the low volume in which they were spoken, and the fact that he had only ever heard them in his far-fetched fantasies./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Y-you're..." he started to say, before the other boy interjected./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I-I mean! I like girls, too! But, I just...you know. Dudes are...also an option..."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Suddenly Goten's heart was racing. All this time, he had assumed that the one person who he would give anything to be with was too straight to ever want him back. But now he was being told that he actually had a chance! If this wasn't such a wonderful bit of news, he would be feeling quite regretful and a little peeved at himself for having taken this long to figure it out. All that time wasted pining, when he could have been asking to kiss Trunks at every damn party!/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"After a moment of silence, Goten realized that Trunks was looking at him with a confused expression. It was then that he noticed that he was smiling from ear to ear./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Furiously trying to think of what to say, he could only do what he does best. A bit of incessant rambling./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Dude! That's it? I thought it was something serious!" he laughed, still grinning and squeezing Trunks' shoulder. Trunks made a bit of a hurt face, and Goten quickly spoke again./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""No, don't get get me wrong! I get that you're worried about what your dad will think! But I'm pretty sure that the rest of your family would be pretty cool with it. And dude, so am I." He grinned again, this time, his smile turning more gentle./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"At that last sentence, Trunks' eyes went wide for a moment, then, with a big sigh, he finally released his tensed shoulders and closed his eyes with a smile spreading on his face. He looked as if the weight of the world had just been lifted off of his shoulders. Goten felt himself relax at that same moment, so grateful that the other Saiyan was now calm. The tears had stopped flowing, and he noticed that his friend had also stopped shaking when he reached over and grabbed his hand saying, "Thanks, Goten..."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"With his other arm, Trunks wiped his tear-stained face with the sleeve of his jacket. "If I'm being honest, it's your opinion that I care about the most. Dad can rot, for all I care..." he chuckled, still holding onto Goten's hand. Goten had a feeling that that statement was only half true./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Do you really think your dad will care that much about you liking boys?" Goten asked, subconsciously gripping his friend's hand more firmly. "I've never heard him complain about queer people. And I've heard him complain about a lot of things. It's basically all that he does." Goten continued, his gaze remaining on the lavender haired boy's face. The moonlight was reflecting on the soft smooth skin of his cheekbones, clinging to the few wet patches that remained under his pink and puffy eyes. He couldn't help thinking it; he looked beautiful. His heart hurt a little at the thought. What if Trunks really did have a reason to be worried?/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Well, he's always going on about the bloodline." Trunks answered. "Lately, he's even started saying that I should be thinking about 'producing worthy offspring'." he said with a grimace. Goten looked back at him with wide eyes. Noticing his surprise, Trunks elaborated, "Not that he thinks I should be having any kids soon or anything! I think it's more like a warning. He may not be from Earth, but I'm sure he's familiar enough by now with college culture, if you know what I mean." he ended with a bit of an embarrassed laugh while he brought this tanned hand up to rub the back of his neck./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Ah, so he doesn't want you knocking up just any old floozy." Goten laughed. "It has to be a emworthy/em floozy."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Trunks snorted at that. "Yeah, well. You get my point. He wants grandchildren."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""But can't Bra do the job? You shouldn't be the only one responsible for carrying on the bloodline." Goten said with furrowed brows./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Bra isn't interested in fighting. She can't even go Super Saiyan. Maybe he doesn't think her offspring would be as strong..." He wondered aloud./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Or maybe you're just overthinking things." Goten responded. "You tend to do that a lot. Just like when you thought I didn't want to kiss you." He said the last comment with a chuckle, but then regretted letting the thought slip out of his mouth. He was still unsure if this was safe territory./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"But Trunks just laughed, and this time it was so big and hearty that he actually threw his head back, silky lavender strands capturing the shimmering light from the sky. This made Goten smile wider than anything. His heart suddenly felt as light as a feather at the sound./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You really enjoyed that, huh?" Trunks said, his free hand coming to rest on his stomach where it clearly ached from laughing. The other hand was still in Goten's grasp. "I could tell. You weren't exactly being subtle."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Maybe you could blame the alcohol for that." Goten answered, still smiling. Or maybe your stupidly beautiful face. And skin. And body...Goten almost physically shook his head to clear away the dangerous thoughts that were quickly forming. Instead, he was brought to attention by his friend's response./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Oh really? Are you sure you wouldn't enjoy another go? When you're standing here all sober?" The older boy smirked at him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Goten's brain froze. Did he just ask for some more kissing? Right here? Right now? Does Trunks want to kiss him?/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was apparent that Trunks noticed his friend's sudden dazed expression by the way he suddenly pulled his hand away and turned towards Goten with his hands up and a bit of panic on his face. "I-it was a joke! Obviously I'm kidding! L-like I said, I don't want it to be weird...o-or anything..." He look flustered and his cheeks were red, just like they were at the party./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emWas it really a joke?/em Goten thought. emIt sure didn't sound like it./em He had to know. He plastered a huge grin back on his face and responded./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Pfff! What, so you're gonna take your offer back? What a stinge!" Goten said teasingly, poking Trunks in the ribs. "Trying to pretend like you didn't enjoy it too...it sure didn't emsound/em like that." He winked. Boom./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Maybe he was pushing his luck, but now that he had come to the realization that he had always had a chance, he figured he would rather take a risk than waste any more time./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Trunks entire face was fuchsia now. It was adorable. Goten couldn't stop smiling./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""W-well I was surprised, that's all! Since when have you actually known what you're doing when it comes to kissing? I remember a few years back, just here on this mountain-" Trunks stopped suddenly. Goten assumed that the memory his friend was recalling was making his heart beat just as fast as his own heart was. That would explain how his cheeks were able to remain so vibrant./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was now or never. Clearly the more they talked, the more Trunks was becoming defensive. He had to make his move./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Yeah, I remember. Now what did we do? I think you were inspired by some action move you saw at the movie theater that day. Some scene where the hero finally saved his girlfriend." He looked Trunks directly in his eyes, and the other boy stopped trying to avoid his gaze. He continued, stepping a little closer, "Didn't it go a little something like this?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Before he knew it, he was pressing his lips to Trunks'. It was nothing like the night before. He wasn't drunk, for one, and he had total control of his body. So he let their mouths meet gently, as he grabbed both of his friend's hands in his own. Trunks instantly relaxed against him, and he felt him sigh through his nose. Goten took his time, savoring the soft contact, so happy that this was happening but, more than anything, grateful for the gentle smile that he felt on the other boys lips./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"They parted after a bit, both still smiling, eventually letting their eyes meet. Trunks didn't need to say anything. Goten could tell just by he look in his eyes that he was grateful. He wasn't so afraid anymore, and neither was Goten./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Where are we going?! I mean, I understand wanting to escape the situation bu-"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"He suddenly felt something wet flick his face. Wiping his cheek with his free hand, he looked around and above them for the source of the droplet. It appeared to be a perfectly clear night, however. Not a cloud in the sky. He felt a few more drops hit him before he glanced in Trunks' direction. In a moment, realization struck, and he felt his heart drop into his stomach./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""T-trunks?" He said in a quiet voice that was barely above a whisper./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Trunks remained silent, focusing his gaze straight ahead. Goten had no idea where he was planning on going./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Trunks, a-are you okay?" He tried again, this time squeezing the hand that connected him and his friend./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"There was still no verbal response from the other boy, but Goten did feel the lavender-haired Saiyan give his own hand a quick squeeze in answer. Goten furrowed his brow and bit his lip in worry. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he instead ran his thumb gently against his friend's hand, hoping that he'd find at least some comfort in the gesture. They continued to fly in silence, and soon, Goten felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He could hear Trunks' phone going off as well. They both ignored them, however, remaining hand-in-hand until Goten started to see the view of Mt. Paozu approaching. Trunks was heading towards the very top./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Goten was suddenly hit with a vivid memory./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emIt was of a time from their childhood. They were still quite young, himself probably being no older than 9 or 10, and they had run off towards the top of the mountain to play or train (back then, those two things were often one in the same). They would come here all the time. There were no adults to tell them what they could or couldn't do, no weird strangers who would look at them judgmentally, or with fear on their faces. Here, they could just be themselves, and everything that happened there on Mt. Paozu was just between them./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emIt was here that, one late-summer day, Trunks had brought Goten to show him something. He wouldn't say what it was at first, despite Goten's persistance questioning during entire trip there. Trunks insisted that he couldn't say anything until they were sure that no adults were watching. This made Goten a little nervous. He never like breaking rules, especially if his mother found out about it. Still, he couldn't help but also feel terribly excited. Trunks always knew how to have fun./em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emGoten found his face heating up as he recalled the image of a young Trunks opening his backpack and pulling out a stack of magazines. "I found these at Muten Roshi's place.." he began to say. "They were shoved way in the back of a closet, so I figured he'd probably forgotten about them, anyway..." Goten remembered how his eyes went wide as Trunks set the stack down on the grass and opened up the magazine that was sitting on top.../em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"They were about to land now, and the black-haired boy was pulled out of his thoughts by the need to touch down safely. He stumbled slightly as the two of them reached the ground, hands still gripping each other tight./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"They stood there, silently, not moving from where they landed. Trunks still wasn't looking at him, but he was still shaking, and now under the bright moonlight of the nearly-full moon, Goten could see a trail of tears shining on the other boy's cheek./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Trunks..." he said softly, not taking his eyes off of his friend. "Please tell me what's wrong..."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"He saw Trunks swallow hard between shaky breaths. Finally, he spoke. His voice was uneven and croaky./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Dad's mad.." he said./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Goten waited for him to continue, but he didn't seem to know what to say./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Well..." he said. "Yeah, I mean...he gets mad a lot, doesn't he? That's kind of his thing. He's the angry one."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Yeah, but..." Trunks seemed as if he was still struggling to find words. "I've always been worried that..." he broke off. Whatever he wanted to say, it was clear that he was reluctant to say it./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Worried that what?" Goten pressed. "He'd be angry with you for 'choosing a mate unworthy of your royal Saiyan lineage' or something? Cause if you ask me, I seriously doubt there's anyone in the entire universe that he wouldn't complain about. Don't take it personally, man." he ended with a little chuckle, hoping it would ease some of the tension./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It didn't work, though. If anything, Trunks' shoulders appeared to rise even higher as his whole body tightened. Goten saw that he was clenching his jaw exceptionally hard./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"After a moment, Trunks spoke again. "No, I know that..." he said, voice still fragile./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Then what's the problem? What are you so worried about?" Goten asked. When Trunks didn't respond after a moment, Goten sighed. He released his grip on the other boy's hand and placed his hands on Trunks' shoulders to gently turn him around. Now face-to-face, Goten continued./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Listen, Trunks..." he said in a gentle voice that was quite unlike his usual tone. "Whatever it is that's bothering you, you can tell me..." He could see his friend's tear-stained face clearly now, and he felt his stomach clench again. This was not how he wanted to see his best friend and partner-in-crime. He couldn't ever remember seeing him look like this before. It was almost unbearable./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""No one's here but us." He continued. "You know me, man. You can tell me anything, and I would never think badly of you." He looked into Trunks' eyes, pleading./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Trunks considered Goten's words for a moment, appearing to scan the black-haired Saiyan's face with his shining eyes. Eventually, he took a deep breath and sighed, turning his gaze towards the ground./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""It doesn't feel like that big of a deal to me. I just knew it would be a big deal to him..." he said, his voice still weak. "And like..." he hesitated for a moment. "I know you're a pretty chill guy, but I just...we're so close and uh...we've done...but that was a long time ago...but I guess now it's not...ah..." Trunks was having trouble finding words still, but Goten waited patiently for him to get his thoughts together. He still couldn't figure out what he was trying to say./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I just mean...I do want to tell you, but I also don't want you to be weirded out, or feel like I'm crossing any boundaries..." he trailed off, still avoiding Goten's gaze./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What? Dude, we don't have boundaries." Goten laughed. Though he quickly regretted it, realizing that maybe they were probably past the point of making light humor. His last attempt only seemed to do the opposite of what he had intended, after all./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"But he was suprised when Trunks actually gave him a small smile. "Yeah, you're right about that. I guess that's exactly what put us in this situation in the first place, right?" he said, his voice a little stronger now. It took Goten a moment to realize what he was talking about, but he soon felt heat rise in his cheeks. They hadn't actually talked with each other about what they had done at the party until now./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Right, so..." Trunks took another deep breath as if he were screwing himself up for something. "I'm just worried about my dad knowing that...I'm into guys." he finished, the last of his words spoken so quietly that they were barely audible./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Goten had to take a moment to register the words his friend had just said, both because of the low volume in which they were spoken, and the fact that he had only ever heard them in his far-fetched fantasies./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Y-you're..." he started to say, before the other boy interjected./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I-I mean! I like girls, too! But, I just...you know. Dudes are...also an option..."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Suddenly Goten's heart was racing. All this time, he had assumed that the one person who he would give anything to be with was too straight to ever want him back. But now he was being told that he actually had a chance! If this wasn't such a wonderful bit of news, he would be feeling quite regretful and a little peeved at himself for having taken this long to figure it out. All that time wasted pining, when he could have been asking to kiss Trunks at every damn party!/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"After a moment of silence, Goten realized that Trunks was looking at him with a confused expression. It was then that he noticed that he was smiling from ear to ear./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Furiously trying to think of what to say, he could only do what he does best. A bit of incessant rambling./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Dude! That's it? I thought it was something serious!" he laughed, still grinning and squeezing Trunks' shoulder. Trunks made a bit of a hurt face, and Goten quickly spoke again./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""No, don't get get me wrong! I get that you're worried about what your dad will think! But I'm pretty sure that the rest of your family would be pretty cool with it. And dude, so am I." He grinned again, this time, his smile turning more gentle./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"At that last sentence, Trunks' eyes went wide for a moment, then, with a big sigh, he finally released his tensed shoulders and closed his eyes with a smile spreading on his face. He looked as if the weight of the world had just been lifted off of his shoulders. Goten felt himself relax at that same moment, so grateful that the other Saiyan was now calm. The tears had stopped flowing, and he noticed that his friend had also stopped shaking when he reached over and grabbed his hand saying, "Thanks, Goten..."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"With his other arm, Trunks wiped his tear-stained face with the sleeve of his jacket. "If I'm being honest, it's your opinion that I care about the most. Dad can rot, for all I care..." he chuckled, still holding onto Goten's hand. Goten had a feeling that that statement was only half true./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Do you really think your dad will care that much about you liking boys?" Goten asked, subconsciously gripping his friend's hand more firmly. "I've never heard him complain about queer people. And I've heard him complain about a lot of things. It's basically all that he does." Goten continued, his gaze remaining on the lavender haired boy's face. The moonlight was reflecting on the soft smooth skin of his cheekbones, clinging to the few wet patches that remained under his pink and puffy eyes. He couldn't help thinking it; he looked beautiful. His heart hurt a little at the thought. What if Trunks really did have a reason to be worried?/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Well, he's always going on about the bloodline." Trunks answered. "Lately, he's even started saying that I should be thinking about 'producing worthy offspring'." he said with a grimace. Goten looked back at him with wide eyes. Noticing his surprise, Trunks elaborated, "Not that he thinks I should be having any kids soon or anything! I think it's more like a warning. He may not be from Earth, but I'm sure he's familiar enough by now with college culture, if you know what I mean." he ended with a bit of an embarrassed laugh while he brought this tanned hand up to rub the back of his neck./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Ah, so he doesn't want you knocking up just any old floozy." Goten laughed. "It has to be a emworthy/em floozy."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Trunks snorted at that. "Yeah, well. You get my point. He wants grandchildren."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""But can't Bra do the job? You shouldn't be the only one responsible for carrying on the bloodline." Goten said with furrowed brows./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Bra isn't interested in fighting. She can't even go Super Saiyan. Maybe he doesn't think her offspring would be as strong..." He wondered aloud./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Or maybe you're just overthinking things." Goten responded. "You tend to do that a lot. Just like when you thought I didn't want to kiss you." He said the last comment with a chuckle, but then regretted letting the thought slip out of his mouth. He was still unsure if this was safe territory./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"But Trunks just laughed, and this time it was so big and hearty that he actually threw his head back, silky lavender strands capturing the shimmering light from the sky. This made Goten smile wider than anything. His heart suddenly felt as light as a feather at the sound./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You really enjoyed that, huh?" Trunks said, his free hand coming to rest on his stomach where it clearly ached from laughing. The other hand was still in Goten's grasp. "I could tell. You weren't exactly being subtle."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Maybe you could blame the alcohol for that." Goten answered, still smiling. Or maybe your stupidly beautiful face. And skin. And body...Goten almost physically shook his head to clear away the dangerous thoughts that were quickly forming. Instead, he was brought to attention by his friend's response./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Oh really? Are you sure you wouldn't enjoy another go? When you're standing here all sober?" The older boy smirked at him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Goten's brain froze. Did he just ask for some more kissing? Right here? Right now? Does Trunks want to kiss him?/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was apparent that Trunks noticed his friend's sudden dazed expression by the way he suddenly pulled his hand away and turned towards Goten with his hands up and a bit of panic on his face. "I-it was a joke! Obviously I'm kidding! L-like I said, I don't want it to be weird...o-or anything..." He look flustered and his cheeks were red, just like they were at the party./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emWas it really a joke?/em Goten thought. emIt sure didn't sound like it./em He had to know. He plastered a huge grin back on his face and responded./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Pfff! What, so you're gonna take your offer back? What a stinge!" Goten said teasingly, poking Trunks in the ribs. "Trying to pretend like you didn't enjoy it too...it sure didn't emsound/em like that." He winked. Boom./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Maybe he was pushing his luck, but now that he had come to the realization that he had always had a chance, he figured he would rather take a risk than waste any more time./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Trunks entire face was fuchsia now. It was adorable. Goten couldn't stop smiling./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""W-well I was surprised, that's all! Since when have you actually known what you're doing when it comes to kissing? I remember a few years back, just here on this mountain-" Trunks stopped suddenly. Goten assumed that the memory his friend was recalling was making his heart beat just as fast as his own heart was. That would explain how his cheeks were able to remain so vibrant./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was now or never. Clearly the more they talked, the more Trunks was becoming defensive. He had to make his move./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Yeah, I remember. Now what did we do? I think you were inspired by some action move you saw at the movie theater that day. Some scene where the hero finally saved his girlfriend." He looked Trunks directly in his eyes, and the other boy stopped trying to avoid his gaze. He continued, stepping a little closer, "Didn't it go a little something like this?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Before he knew it, he was pressing his lips to Trunks'. It was nothing like the night before. He wasn't drunk, for one, and he had total control of his body. So he let their mouths meet gently, as he grabbed both of his friend's hands in his own. Trunks instantly relaxed against him, and he felt him sigh through his nose. Goten took his time, savoring the soft contact, so happy that this was happening but, more than anything, grateful for the gentle smile that he felt on the other boys lips./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"They parted after a bit, both still smiling, eventually letting their eyes meet. Trunks didn't need to say anything. Goten could tell just by he look in his eyes that he was grateful. He wasn't so afraid anymore, and neither was Goten./p