Disclaimer - I do not own DragonBall Z, so please do not sue me.

A/N: where did the reviewers go? Ahh, oh well. If you are enjoying my story or not, then please tell me! And onto the next chapter!

Chapter 8: Stop, Pause, Rewind

Dear Beer,
I notice how you warp with other people's minds and make them do wreckless things. I watch in awe as you bring even the best of people down, like the people I care about.

It had only been a few hours since he opened the front door to allow me in. I tightened my grip around the blankets on the bed and shivered. I still did not comprehend the summer's weather patterns.

I took a glance at a digital clock, it read 11:11. 'Time to make a wish.' I thought. I always thought of silly wishes for eleven-eleven. I knew they would never come true.

I closed my eyes with a sigh. Sleep would not come easy that night. Sounds from the cars passing by forced me to lay alert in bed. It was useless to convince myself that there was nothing outside.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

My body shot straight up and I glanced over at the window. The shades were pulled so I rushed to push them open. When I did, there was nothing there. "You just conjured it in your mind." I whispered aloud. I turned around to go back to my bed.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

This time I faced the window just in time to see a dark figure. I shuddered at the sight of the shillouette. Then I saw the most piercing blue eyes. I was convinced that he had risen from the dead and was going to kill me.

The figure reached out tward the window and its finger began to write out on it. Watching, I made out the word, "help," just before the figure fell.

I ran out of the room, not caring if the eyes made me think of the man who had a stroke, he needed help, and I was willing.

I approached the figure catiously. The closer I was the smaller the person looked. Taking a good look, I saw lavender like hair soaked from the summer's rain. Shock appeared on my features and I gasped for air.

"Wake up." I begged and pulled his face from the mud. I looked at him with morose before I smelled alcohol on his lips. Disgusted, I shook his body in an attempt to wake up. "Please wake up. I can help you."

He groaned below me for an answer. I tried to pick him up, but his weight was too much for me to carry. He opened his eyes and the usual beautiful blue was replaced by bloodshot drunken eyes. I looked at him for that moment, and I felt a knot rise in my gut.

"Thank you." I heard him whisper. "You're beautiful you know."

My face turned bright red from the compliment, but it cooled off once I realized it came froma drunk. I helped him to his feet and escorted him to my grandpa's front door.

Exhaustion overwhelmed my body as I pushed through the door. I managed to make it to the room grandfather set up for me before collapsing with him in my arms.

"I'll be right back." I whispered.

I knocked on my grandpa's bedroom door and he opened it immediately.

"What happened to him?" he asked, already knowing my situation.

"It's my friend from the countryside, I don't know how he got here, all I know is that he is drunk. Do you think he may have alcohol poisoning?"

"It's likely."

He followed me to the room where my drunken friend laid, coughing on the bed. I silently watched as my grandpa examined him. I bit my lip - worried and frustrated.

"Well...is he alright?" I inquired.

"Just let him rest, he only consumed enough alcohol to ease pain it seems." grandpa replied. "You should make yourself comfortable on the couch."

I nodded and opened his hall closet. There were blankets and pillows that I pulled out and I arranged them on the couch. Within minutes I was fast asleep.

-

"Hey honey, wake up." my grandpa whispered. I felt him nudging me with his hands. I groaned in response to let him know taht I was awake. "There's some breakfast ready on the table."

I groggily pushed myself off the couch and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I forced myself to make my way to the kitchen even though I wasn't particularly hungry.

"Good morning." I mumbled to the figure sitting at the kitchen bar. Blue eyes met with my brown eyes and I could tell he was hung over. I sighed angrily before sitting down next to him.

"I hate mornings." he stated before laying his head down on the table.

"Breakfast is served." my grandpa said with a smile. He put two plates on the bar, both of them with equal proportions of pancakes.

"I can't eat. I'm sorry my stomach is still sick."

"That's not my fault." my grandpa said. "My grand-daughter is going to eat, so I don't see why you can't."

I watched as the two had a staring match. My grandpa looked as though he was winning. In the end, my hung-over friend pulled his plate closer to him and ate in silence.

"So, how did you end up here exactly?" I asked as I idly played with my food.

"Long story." the blue eyed teen responded.

"I have enough time in the world." I said with the same smile my grandpa wore moments ago.

He sighed and sat his fork down on the plate. I looked at him intently in some attempt to make it seem as though he had all of my attention.

"My father." He said, turning himself completely away from me. "I was just trying to help him, but since he is so convinced that I am worthless, I was just hindering his process. Instead of saying, 'Son, I don't need any help.' he thinks that taking his empty whiskey bottle and bashing my skull with it is so much more sufficient."

I gasped, it was all I could do in response. I could not understand his father's logic and it broke me inside that he did not have anyone in his family to turn to.

"Don't." she said simply. I watched him shake his head and push himself off the barstool. "I don't want your sympathy."

I felt a knot form in my throat. Surely he wasn't denying me a chance to tell him something. I closed my eyes and found myself following after him. He was leaving the house, and I could not comprehend as to why.

"Please," I whispered, taking a hold of his hand just as he opened the front door. "don't leave, you don't have to go back to a place where you are unwanted. You are welcomed here at my grandpa's home any time."

"I couldn't..." he trailed off as his blue eyes faded grey.

"Yes you could, I insist."

My hung-over friend looked up at me with a smile before letting my hand go. He pulled the front door closed tight.

"Only if you let me finish my story," he stated. "With no interruptions."

"Of course." I said.

"First, let's sit down, like I said, this may take a while." he said. We walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

"After my father broke the whiskey bottle, he told me that I would be better off a drunkard than his son." he whispered. "He brought me a bottle of some kind of alcohol and shoved it in my hand, he said to find a new place to live on my journey to drinking.

"So, I took the bottle and left. I did exactly what he wanted me to do. I ran for a while, I really did not know where I was going, the rain and the darkness messed with my vision.

"Then I stopped somewhere with the bottle and I took a good drink of it. It was quite possibly one of the worst tastes that has ever been in my mouth, but I did not stop. I kept drinking it. I thought about all the lies my father told me, all the times he broke me down and beat me up.

"I finished that bottle very quickly. By the time I did, I felt like I was on top of the world, my mind was in that field that you took me to that one day. It was simply euphoric, there are no other words I can use to describe it.

"Then, I looked up. I saw you running, you looked like you were in a hurry, like someone was following close on your heels, but I did not see such a character. So, out of curiosity, I thought to follow you, because all I could think about was how you were always so happy, and how I want to be as happy as you are."

"You...followed me?" I asked curiously. He only nodded in response. "Wow." I had no other words to say to him.

"So, will your grandfather let me stay here?" He asked fearfully.

"I do not see why not!" I exclaimed. "I'm sure he would understand your situation if you told him."

"Really?" he asked in disbelief. "Thank you so much. I'm going to go talk with him right now."

I smiled as he pushed himself off the couch quickly. He needed a place to go, just as I did. I felt the hairs on my neck stand up as the thought of him happy came to my mind.

"He said yes!" I heard him say as he came into the room. "Tell your grandfather he's the best man in the world, because I have already told him about twenty times."

I laughed at what he said and I watched as his grey eyes filled with their natural blue. I felt myself entranced by his joy as I smiled coyly.

"This is going to be great." I said more to myself than him. He agreed with me with an excited nod.

I could not help but be happy.

---

And the plot has formed once again!