Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.

Chapter Two: Crush

Videl stayed away from Gohan the week after the Halloween Dance. Every time she glanced at him, she remembered how he had defended her at the dance. Every time she thought about that incident, her cheeks turned rosy and butterflies that had never been there before started fluttering madly. All these symptoms – the avoidance, the blushing, the funny feeling in her stomach – pointed to the conclusion that she was suffering from what Erasa termed a "crush."

That was impossible, of course. Satan Videl did not "crush" on boys. Or rather, she did, but "crushing" included fists and kicks and violent physical contact, not hugging and kissing and mushy stuff like that. Satan Videl was tough and strong. A crush of the Erasa kind would send that image tumbling down. She didn't need the aggravation that a boy would inevitably bring into her life. People would start seeing her more as a girl and not as a crime fighter, especially her father. Her father would make a huge deal out of all of it, insisting on fighting the boy who dared to come near his daughter with intentions of courtship. At this rate, she wouldn't get married until she was in her mid-fifties if she was lucky, not that she wanted to get married in the first place. No way.

Until these strange symptoms went away, however, she would just have to avoid Gohan. She had managed this successfully for the past week and now she only had a few minutes left before she was free for the weekend. The bell signaling the end of the period rang and she leapt out of her seat. She was almost in the clear.

Famous last words.

"Videl?" The voice was soft, almost a whisper, but it made her cringe the slightest bit anyway. So close! She turned around to face him, commanding those damn butterflies in her stomach to stop flitting about.

"Yes, Gohan?" she replied coolly, hoping her face wasn't flooding with color. He flinched back slightly and her conscience twinged a bit.

"A-are you all right?" he asked. "You've been going off on your own all week… I just wanted to know if you're okay." He stuttered to a halt in the face of her incredulous stare.

Of course he wouldn't understand what was going on, Videl suddenly realized. Why would he? He was ignorant of even the most obvious social skills where teenagers were concerned. She watched him shuffle his feet awkwardly and fumble with his fingers embarrassedly and felt the heat rush into her face as she realized that he really was worried about her well-being.

"I'm fine, Gohan," she blurted out, spinning around and practically running out the door. "I'll see you on Monday!" she called over her shoulder, hoping that he hadn't seen the treacherous blood in her cheeks. She uncapsulated her jet copter and hopped into it, leaving so fast that she didn't notice Gohan's shoulders slump dejectedly as he began to walk away from the school.

***

Bulma watched Gohan play with Trunks and Goten, blue eyes narrowed. She'd known Gohan since he was four years old. She'd been in outer space with him, helped him with the android problems, and helped him get through his father's death when Chi-Chi was a head case herself. He'd said nothing was wrong, but she knew him better than that. A simple "I'm fine, Bulma" wasn't going to cut it.

"Trunks, Goten!" she yelled out the door. "There's cookies and milk out on the counter in the kitchen if you want them!" Two blurs, one lavender and blue and the other black and orange, raced past her and into the maze that was Capsule Corporation. Gohan followed them at a much more sedate pace but found himself barred at the door. He looked down the foot or so to Bulma's face.

"What's wrong, Bulma?" he asked confusedly.

"Are you ready to tell me what's wrong now?" she asked, ignoring his question. He shifted uncomfortably, eyes looking at everything except her. She gave an irritated huff and he sighed, shoulders slumping. She grinned in triumph and let him through.

They walked aimlessly through the large house, Gohan explaining what had happened at the Halloween Dance and Videl's subsequent avoidance strategy. "I just don't know what's wrong with her," he finished glumly as they neared the kitchen. "We were fine the rest of the dance, but when she came in Monday, it was like I didn't exist." The blue-haired woman couldn't help it and let out a short chuckle. The teenager scowled at her. "I'm glad that you enjoy all my troubles," he said sourly, trying his best to fight the smile tugging at his lips.

"Gohan, can't you tell that she likes you?" Bulma demanded. She lost her restraint upon seeing Gohan's gob-smacked expression and started laughing hysterically as they reached the kitchen door.

They entered the war zone that was usually known as the kitchen where Trunks and Goten were fighting over the last cookie, having already demolished the entire six dozen sets that Mrs. Briefs had made just an hour previous. Seizing the opportunity, Gohan reached over and plucked the cookie out of the seven- and eight-year-old's hands before popping it into his mouth, showing his enjoyment of the small treat a little too much for the youngsters' liking. They pounced on him, trying their hardest to beat him up.

"All right, you three," Bulma finally said, "if you're going to keep doing that, then go outside." She tilted her head to the side slightly as Gohan stood up easily, holding each child by a leg. "Why don't you go to the park? It's a nice day. And Gohan, think about what I said, all right?" Gohan looked confused again, but nodded anyway and left the room, putting Goten and Trunks up on either shoulder. The blue-haired woman watched them go before laughing again at Gohan's predicament. One thing was for sure: It was definitely going to be interesting to see what was going to happen!

***

Videl walked morosely through the park in West City, trying to rid her head of thoughts of Gohan. She'd come here because she was sure that she wouldn't meet him here of all places, but anything she saw reminded her of him. When she looked at the clouds she remembered how they picked shapes out of the clouds one day during lunch. When she looked at the pavement beneath her feet she heard him saying how he hated the city because nothing was natural there. She saw the grass and saw how the messy blades looked so much like Gohan's hair, all wild and sticking straight up. Since when had she turned into one of those locker room girls that she despised so much? The ones who only talked about how dreamy so-and-so looked today or how hot such-and-such was. Why was she acting like this?

Before she could answer her question (not that she had a clue as to the answer other than the crush theory), she was bowled over by something. What it was, she had no clue until she heard a very familiar voice call out, "Trunks! Goten! Watch where you're going!" A tall shadow blocked out the sun and a large hand extended towards her. "Sorry about that…" Gohan began, but trailed off when he got a good look at just who it was sitting on the sidewalk. "Videl?" he asked faintly. "Wow… I've never seen you with your hair down…"

For her part, Videl just blinked up at him, cursing whatever it was that had put her and Gohan in the same park on the other side of the planet. Finally she grabbed his hand, not wanting to be rude (even though she'd never worried about it before). Before he could tighten his grip, however, she hissed and drew the hand back, cradling it to her chest. Now that her shock at seeing Gohan here of all places had faded, she could feel the pain pulsing through her wrist. She'd probably just sprained her wrist, and the wrist of her writing hand at that.

"Videl?" Gohan crouched down next to her, his face worried. His fingers were surprisingly gentle as he took her hand gently and examined it. The girl willed the butterflies away and succeeded, if only barely. She watched in fascination as the other teenager checked her wrist as professionally as any doctor could.

"Where'd you learn how to do this?" she asked, forgetting about her avoidance policy for the moment. He glanced at her as he carefully helped her to her feet and walked her over to a bench.

"Just a second," he replied, turning to the right. "Trunks, Goten! Come here!" He offered her an apologetic smile as he took her hand again. "My brother and his friend are extremely excitable, I'm afraid," he said. "One of them ran into you." At her raised eyebrow, his own eyebrow quirked before a look of realization came over his face. "My father was a fighter," he said. "I learned first-aid from my mother after he came home badly injured and she wasn't there to patch him up." Videl smiled slightly, though it came out as more of a grimace. Gohan looked around impatiently.

Suddenly two boys appeared in front of them out of nowhere. One had purple hair and blue eyes and was wearing a blue gi. His face wore an arrogant look for one so young. The other had black eyes and black hair sticking out in every direction and wore a bright orange gi. His wide smile was so contagious that Videl's grimace morphed into a true smile. That one was definitely Gohan's brother; they had the same smile.

"Trunks, go get some ice. I'm sure that it was you that knocked her over in the first place," Gohan said sternly. Videl watched through lowered lashes in fascination as when the purple-haired boy looked mutinous, Gohan merely gave him a look and the boy deflated and left, muttering.

"Nii-chan? Can I go with him?" The black-haired boy ("Goten," if she remembered correctly) pouted, looking up at his brother with big puppy-dog eyes. Gohan sighed.

"Go on," he relented. "But hurry back." Goten nodded excitedly before rushing off after his friend.

"Are you sure that you should do that?" Videl asked. "They're not very old." For some reason, Gohan laughed.

"Don't worry," he assured her. "They'll be fine."

An awkward silence settled over the two. Gohan desperately wanted to ask the girl if she really did like him like Bulma said she did, but knew better than to ask. Videl became aware that he was still holding her hand, but didn't say anything because that mushy part of her that had been growing steadily since last week was squealing in delight. They continued to sit in silence, neither aware of the photographer hiding in the bushes and snapping pictures galore of the World Champion's daughter holding hands with a boy in a park on the other side of the world. This was front-page news, especially after Mr. Satan had publically declared that any boy who wanted to date Videl had to defeat him in a fight first. This kid was scrawny and probably wouldn't last two seconds in the ring, let alone beat Mr. Satan.

Trunks and Goten finally returned with a bag of ice. They were both wearing overly-innocent expressions. They were also both smothering giggles as much as young children were able to. Gohan's eyes narrowed as he gently placed the bag on Videl's wrist. What were they up to?

"What did you two do?" he asked sternly. The boys turned wide eyes on their idol.

"We didn't do anything!" Goten exclaimed.

"Nothing!" Trunks echoed. "Can we go over to the swing set, Gohan?"

Gohan's eyes narrowed further. All his senses were screaming that the two mischievous boys were up to something. The question was, what? He glanced at Videl, who shrugged. He looked back at Trunks and Goten, who were waiting expectantly. "All right," he agreed, "but no funny business."

The two boys cheered and raced over to the swings in the near distance. Gohan and Videl followed more slowly, Videl keeping the bag of ice on her wrist and Gohan hovering over her protectively, though he didn't realize that he was doing it. They both sat on the only bench not covered in baby bags and backpacks. Hassled parents glanced up and then away.

Children of all ages played on the playground. Trunks and Goten were indeed at the swings, though Gohan knew that it wouldn't stay that way for long. The two boys got bored very easily. He was still concerned about what they, or perhaps more accurately Trunks, had up their sleeves, but not so much as before. They knew to behave themselves in public. He was more concerned about Videl, who hadn't said a word since her question about the boys' safety.

"Are you all right Videl?" he asked. Apparently he'd asked that question too often, seeing annoyance cross her face.

"I'm fine," she said. It was true; the ice was numbing the pain admirably. Her wrist could be twisted instead of sprained, which was a good thing. Twists healed much faster than sprains, after all.

Hair fell into her eyes and she flicked it away irritably. With nary a second thought Gohan tucked the strand behind her ear. She froze and he did as well, hand still tangled in her hair. The little part of her that had just quit squealing about him holding her hand was now swooning at the thought of what could possibly happen now. Their faces drew closer and closer together, eyes shutting of their own accord as the butterflies in her stomach flew into a frenzy. She could feel his breath crossing her lips… Their lips brushed together tentatively.

"Ew!" Goten cried. "Daddy, that's gross! Mommy has cooties!"

Gohan and Videl sprang apart, both blushing madly, though whether it was because of the kiss or Goten's words neither could quite tell. The other parents were looking at them like they wanted to laugh but couldn't because they wanted to be polite. Goten bounced over to them, one small hand grabbing Videl's uninjured one and the other grabbing Gohan's. "Can we go home now Mommy?" he questioned innocently.

Trunks sauntered over to them. "Can I ride on your shoulders, Dad?" he asked, a smirk crossing his face and making him look eerily like his true father.

"You two are so dead!" Gohan hissed as he lifted Trunks onto his shoulders. Both he and Videl were still red-faced and looking anywhere but each other. Goten laughed merrily and Trunks merely smirked again. The eyes of most of the parents followed the small "family" until they were out of sight.

No one noticed the photographer quivering with excitement at the juicy scoop that he'd just found.

Read and review!

~tp