5. Secrets

After a restless night, not able to fully sleep with all her excitement from her feelings being returned, Pan groggily awoke early for school. She yawned huge and sat on her dresser chair with her eyes half closed and her hair sticking out in odd places.

"Ugh, I'm a mess." She fumbled around for her hairbrush, when she noticed the yellow box from last night. Instantly she smiled and blushed. She carefully took out the necklace and held it to her heart as she closed her eyes, her heart speeding up as she remembered for the thousandth time the details of her first kiss. She hooked the clasp around her neck and set the charm into place, and looked at herself in the mirror with it on, giddy now.

Finally with enough energy to get up, she went to her closet and quickly got ready for school. But before she opened her door, she thought twice about it and decided to tuck the necklace into her shirt.

She came running down the stairs with a smile. "Good morning, Mom! Good morning, Dad!" she said as she hugged them both as they sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast, and Gohan reading the newspaper.

"Good morning, sweetie. My, aren't you in a good mood today?" Videl said happily.

Pan blushed as she started eating her cereal. "Yeah, well.. Things are going really well at school, you know.."

"That's my girl!" Gohan said proudly.

"Ehehe… Thanks, Dad," she said nervously, and looked at her watch. She then hurriedly downed her cereal and grabbed her backpack. "Well, I'm off now, bye!" she said as she flew out the door.

The day at school was agonizingly slow. Thanks to her naturally good intellect from her father and her mother's strict tutoring, school was already easy even after missing almost a year of it. She continuously tapped her pen, fidgeted with her hair, and shook her legs between doodling hearts and Trunks' name on her notes. She sighed and rested her chin on her palm, looking out the window, at the clock, and back out the window again. 3 o'clock could not have come fast enough, she was so eager to fly out the window this second to see Trunks.

But when the last bell finally rang, she was the first to run out the door and out of the school grounds. Not even looking to make sure no one saw her, she flew off into the direction of Capsule Corp. She felt as elated as she physically was in the sky as she flew faster than usual with a huge smile on her face. But upon seeing the building, her heart started pounding, and she hesitated at the window with a deep blush. Were things going to be different now? Would he try to tell her it was a mistake?

On the other side of the window, Trunks was just finishing up some reports when he noticed the time on the clock, and knew Pan would be here soon. He blushed furiously. Neither of them knew what to do. They were happy and nervous at the same time. Suddenly, Pan gathered all her courage and knocked at the window, scaring Trunks to death that he practically fell out of his chair. With a quick recovery, he was at the window opening it for her. "H-hey, Pan…" he said, with a blush.

"Hey… " Pan was also blushing, and still floated outside the window.

"Um.. Come in," Trunks said with a nervous smile.

She returned his nervous smile and slowly stepped into the room. Seeing him look so nervous was adorable to Pan, and finally seeing him again washed away all her nerves and fears. She threw her arms around his neck and whispered, "I missed you."

Warmth spread throughout Trunks at her words as he closed his eyes and hugged her tight. "…I missed you too, Pan."

Pan smiled as all the happiness she had felt yesterday came rushing back. When they pulled apart, still in each other's arms, they rested their foreheads together before slowly coming in for a soft but long kiss. When they broke the kiss, Pan just looked up into his eyes and smiled, and he gave a gentle smile in return. She eased out of his embraced and asked, "Would you like some tea?"

"Sure," Trunks said as she had already begun making it. While her back was away his expression turned serious.

She set the tea down on the small coffee table and they sat on the couch together as she poured their cups. They both took sips of their tea before Trunks finally said, "What are we gonna do, Pan?"

"What do you mean?" By his expression, she guessed he wasn't talking about today's agenda.

"I mean what are we gonna do about us?" Trunks saw the sadness that was forming on Pan's expression, so he cupped her face in his hands and slowly gave her a reassuring kiss. "You know I love you, Pan. But nobody can find out about us. I don't care if it ruins my career or gets me thrown in jail, but you've got your whole life ahead of you and I don't wanna ruin it before it even starts."

Pan looked into his eyes intensely. "Then we just don't tell anyone."

Trunks sighed. "Are you sure about this?"

Then Pan smiled lightly and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sure about us," she said as she moved in closer to meet her lips to his in a slow kiss that steadily grew in passion. She moved so she was on top of him and tangled her fingers through his hair as he held her waist with one hand while caressing her back with the other.

Suddenly, there was a frantic knocking at the door, causing the two to stumble apart, and a voice said, "Excuse me, Mr. Brief? Sorry to interrupt your work, but it's urgent!"

"Quick, hide!" Trunks whispered, as Pan frantically ducked behind the couch.

Trunks fixed his hair and tie before opening the door just a bit, letting his face cover the room. "Yes?" he answered.

Trunks and the executive chatted for just a minute as the man handed him some official documents, and then he excused himself before Trunks closed and locked the door.

"Sorry about that, Pan," he said as he placed the papers on his desk and leaned nervously.

Pan came out of hiding, gathered her resolve and walked to him. She patted his back and said, "Don't worry about it. We'll be okay." She smiled. "Get working on your papers, I have homework to do too," she said as she walked back to the couch and set her books onto the coffee table.

Trunks finally smiled as he watched her begin working, and he walked over to her and brought her chin up with his fingers. "I love you," he breathed as he gave her a small but sweet kiss, and then let her go to return to his desk. She blushed and smiled as she returned to her homework.

Days turned into weeks, and then months. Aside from entering his office now with a hug and kiss, and the occasional steamy kisses thrown here and there, their relationship continued on as normal. They agreed not to go public with their relationship until Pan had turned 18 and graduated high school. Until then they were lovers in secret, even to their closest family and friends. But it was not always so easy to keep their secret.

One night as the Z gang gathered at Capsule Corp for Bulma's birthday, everyone was in the Brief's indoor yard sharing food, drinks and laughs. Pan and Trunks sat across from one another, each talking to various friends and family, but every so often couldn't help but glance longingly at the other. Of course, Bra was on the lookout for these two and any signs of them being together. She just was dying to know for sure!

Currently, Pan was sitting next to her mother, who had just noticed the heart necklace she was wearing, which was showing thanks to her unusually low necked red dress. "What a pretty necklace, Pan. And it has your name, too? Who gave you this?" Videl asked curiously.

Bra jumped in. "Yes, Pan, who could have given it to you?" she smirked.

Trunks was blushing and looking away as Pan tried to cover it up. "Oh, I uh, I bought it myself! Personalized jewelry is the fashion these days, ehehe…"

Suddenly, Bulma, a little tipsy, spoke up. "Heeey! We're almost out of drinks!"

Pan shot up. "I-I'll get some more!" Her eyes darted to Trunks for a millisecond, but Bra was still watching her like a hawk.

Trunks got up as well. "I'll help you."

"Yes, be a good boy and get mommy some more wine, will you?" Bulma said, as the Z gang laughed.

After the two disappeared inside the house, Bra got up and went to follow them, but Bulma grabbed her arm. "Hey, where do you think you're going little missy?" She hiccupped.

"Calm down, Mom, I'm just going to the bathroom. And cool it with the drinks, would you?" she shrugged, annoyed.

"Hey! That's no way to talk to your mother, young lady!" Bulma screamed, but quickly went back to drinking.

Inside the house, Bra followed Pan and Trunks like a ninja, ducking behind walls when she thought they might be peeking back to see if someone was following them. It wasn't surprising to her when they didn't go straight to the kitchen. Trunks led her by the hand to a dark hallway, and as soon as he thought they were out of sight enough he pinned her against the wall and kissed her furiously. He whispered huskily into her ear, "You look way too good in that dress, Pan," as he gnawed her neck.

Pan grabbed him by his hair and dug her nails down his back as she whispered, "I wore it for you- I thought you might like it." She gasped at his neck bites.

"You know I love you in red," Trunks said before hungrily returning his lips to hers and their tongues danced together.

Hiding behind the next corner, Bra was wide eyed and blushing as she heard everything. She didn't know her brother had it in him, but she just knew they were secretly dating! "A-HA!" She yelled as she jumped into the hallway, pointing straight at them.

"Bra!" Trunks and Pan shrieked in unison, still holding each other. They let go of each other as she stomped forward.

"I KNEW something was going on between you two, I just knew it!"

"Oh no, please Bra, don't tell anyone!" Pan begged her.

Bra folded her arms and frowned. "I wasn't planning on it."

Trunks and Pan both sighed hard. "Thanks, sis," Trunks breathed.

"Humph." Bra stepped closer. "All I ask is that next time you don't keep secrets from me. Trunks, I'm your sister and Pan, I thought we were friends."

"Bra.. It's not like that, you know that… It's just so complicated, and I don't want either of us getting in trouble.. I mean, it's wrong, isn't it?"

Bra softened up and came closer to put her hand on Pan's shoulder. After a pause, she answered, "Society might think it's wrong… But I don't. Anything you're going through, you can trust me, alright? I won't tell anyone, I just want to be included."

Pan smiled and hugged her. "Thanks, Bra."

As the three headed toward the kitchen, Bra bonked her brother on the head. "Geez, Trunks, at least show some restraint! She's a lady, after all."

"Hey!" Trunks exclaimed.

"It's ok, Bra! Trunks does treat me like a lady.. I mean, we haven't done anything bad…"

Bra smiled. "Good. I expect to hear full details over the phone tonight." She winked.

"Oh, come on!" Trunks sighed. It was going to be a long night.

The months seemed to fly by, and when Pan's 18th birthday was fast approaching, they were both hoping for something special. When the day arrived, it was a Friday, and she flew over after school as usual. But today the window blinds were covered, and she feared she might have gotten the wrong window, but knocked anyways, softer than normal. But Trunks was there to greet her like always, except the room was dark behind him.

"What's going on?"

"You'll see, come in," Trunks said while guiding her into the darkness. When he closed the window and blinds, they were in the pure black for a moment. He reached over and flipped a switch, and suddenly the room was filled with the soft glow of electric candles, revealing a small table with a red blanket draped over it, on the table was a birthday cake and covered silver platters, and all around were bouquets of roses and scattered rose petals.

Pan gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh! Is all this for me?"

Trunks wrapped his arm around her waist and looked lovingly down at her. "No one else."

Pan was so giddy now, she laughed and flung her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you so much!" She pulled his hand over to the cake so they could light it.

Once it was lit, Trunks started singing Happy Birthday, which she soon joined in to sing to herself. She was so happy with the biggest smile while she sang, and Trunks loved every second of it. She sang the last line like an opera singer that had Trunks laughing as she blew out the candles. When Pan was about to dig into the cake, Trunks interrupted.

"Don't you want to eat dinner before dessert?" he said as he lifted the silver lids of the platters, revealing delicious gourmet foods his personal chefs had prepared.

Pan's mouth watered. "Ok!" They both laughed again.

They talked and laughed while they ate, talking mostly about Pan's upcoming graduation and how Pan would soon be able to tell her family that they were together. After they finished eating, Trunks couldn't help but notice how beautiful Pan's face was in the candle light. He cupped her cheek in his hand and stared lovingly into her eyes. "You are so beautiful, Pan."

Pan smiled softly and closed her eyes as they slowly closed the distance between them and their lips met for a soft kiss, which gradually became more heated, and soon moans and ragged breaths were coming from both of them. They were full of food, but now their hunger for something else was not yet met... They had both waited until Pan was 18 to be proper, and now that the day was finally here they could not wait any longer.

A/N: The next chapter is a lemon! Please skip to chapter 7 if you are not comfortable with it!