Chapter 2

He still had one more day left until Goten would have to go back home to Mt. Paoz. He hadn't had a chance to broach the subject, since total chaos had reigned for the rest of that afternoon and evening at CC. They hadn't had a moment to themselves between Vegeta's critique of their morning spar, getting dragged shopping with Bulma to carry her bags, and the left wing of the R&D department exploding during dinner. The rumble shook the entire complex, knocking some of the plaster from the ceiling down and onto the dinner table. The three of them instantly flew off, beating Bulma to the wreckage, pulling the few injured people free before she was able to get there with her "running". Not all the staff were able to walk away under their own power, but there were thankfully no fatalities since the dinner shift staffing was minimal. By the time they were done though, Trunks could feel that fatigue was starting to set in around himself and Goten. Vegeta looked fine even though he had sparred with them as Gotenks, off and on, for four hours that morning, though his Dad would probably look fine right up until the point that he keeled over and died from exhaustion. They all headed back to wash the remains of the debris from themselves and then hit the hay – it was past midnight by then.

Trunks had just crawled into bed from his shower, and was thinking about how to get Goten alone to talk tomorrow, when he heard his door open. Goten shut it gently behind him, then padding over quietly to Trunks' bed, and climbed in beside him without saying anything. Trunks' heart was going to pound right through his chest. He just lay there, letting Goten snuggle up to his back, not daring to move in case he might do something wrong again.

"You didn't do anything wrong" Goten whispered to his neck. "You were actually being a pretty good friend, trying to be patient and tell me kindly like you did... I needed to know. I had to know what was going on, not just with the bond, but with how you felt too. It would have been worse, the longer you waited, I've seen what happens when people just let things build up for too long – they fester and explode and it's never good, always bad." Goten was softly crying against his back now... Through their bond, Trunks could tell that the tears weren't all for him though; Goten's mind was churning with the baggage from his parents failing relationship along with the fear of losing Trunks. The upheaval in the one thing that had always been steady for him, his friendship and link with Trunks, was just too much. Holding back was impossible anymore and the fear had begun to fall one hot tear at a time. Trunks turned around and embraced him, pulling him to his chest and holding tight.

"I'll never stop being part of your life Goten," he whispered back after a few minutes, "even if it's just as friends... If being together with me, like that, is too much for you... if that's not what you want, it doesn't mean you lose me. In fact it just means that things stay exactly the same as they've always been, they won't change, I swear to Kami, Goten. It's ok to say no, to not be ok with being my mate, I'll still be your best friend and never bring it up again, I promise."

Goten had stopped crying and was snuggling into his arms, then he ventured,

"I don't think I want to be just friends with you anymore Trunks. I liked the kiss. I liked you thinking of me like that while I was sleeping..." he paused slightly,

"I liked all of that, but I'm not sure I'm ready to go quite, that far just yet..." he whispered to Trunks' chest, referring mentally to the image he had seen in Trunks head. Trunks raised his arm from around Goten's waist and pulled his chin up so he could see his face.

"I never meant to imply that I thought we would be doing that right now, I was just afraid you were going to get involved 'romantically' without knowing exactly where this road leads" said Trunks softly. Goten rewarded him with a wide grin that filled his eyes completely.

"And seriously though," Trunks said, "what kind of crazy slut do you think I am anyway? We haven't even gone on our first date yet and you think I'm going to put out just like that?" Trunks laughed jokingly; snapping his fingers. Goten snorted, and then began laughing himself. He scooted farther up, so that they were even and he didn't have to strain his neck looking at Trunks face.

"Trunks, sometimes I think you look out for me better than my own parents do..."

"We look out for each other, Goten."

"Trunks?"

"What?"

"Will you go out with me?" said Goten, teasing his friend/boyfriend back now. Trunks eyes sparkled, almost dangerously, but Goten knew that look, knew that he had gotten the reaction he wanted with his question.

"Yes, Goten, I'll go out with you – but only if you understand that from now on, you're mine... ok? However long it takes us in working his out, you are never to misunderstand that, you got it?" Trunks stared at him forcefully as he said it, and it melted right through Goten, making him blush.

"Yes Trunks, I'm yours, I understand."

They had their first date the very next day, and since Goten had technically been the one to do the asking, he insisted on picking the place and paying. Trunks figured they would probably be seeing a movie, since they weren't as expensive on Sundays anyway, and they had air conditioning. Neither of them could drive yet, so he ended up flying behind Goten that afternoon, letting him lead the way. They weren't heading to the middle of the city, where their favorite theater was though, and finally his curiosity got the better of him and asked,

"So, where exactly are we heading?"

"Oh, it's not too much farther now!" said Goten. Trunks sighed. Fine, let him have his little surprise... he was obviously enjoying the suspense... And Trunks was enjoying checking out his ass as they flew too, so it wasn't that bad. A few minutes later, he was actually pleasantly surprised to be landing in front of the water park.

"Wow, we haven't been here in forever" he said.

"I know," Goten said with a huge grin on his face, "and if you enjoyed the view so much flying over here, you should be having a great time once we change." He winked and Trunks felt his heart skip a beat or two at the thought of being around Goten all day in his swim shorts, and actually getting to admire him the whole time... This was going to be an awesome first date.

"Hey, Goten, just one question," Trunks said as they walked out of the changing rooms, "why not the beach? We could have looked fabulous together all day there for free, and isn't it supposed to be more romantic?" Goten looked at him for a second with his head cocked to the side, "But the beach doesn't have water slides... and besides," he said with a glint in his eyes, "it's more crowded here, and all the people watching will help keep you from completely savaging me." Trunks grabbed his hand quickly, but then pulled him in slow, leaning over and whispering in his ear, "Fat chance."

A few hours later, they had ridden every slide in the park, and were lounging in one of the shallower pools that had mushroom looking spray fountains interspersed throughout it, when Goten popped his head up from his raft.

"Hey Trunks, do you remember the last time we went here?"

"The last time? Yeah, we were like, what, 10?, and you guys left early 'cause your mom saw a couple making out in the pool and got pissed when security wouldn't stop them. We'd only been there for like a hour, so it sucked spending the rest of the day with just my mom and the baby... This, by the way," Trunks said, leaning over to take Goten's hand, "is infinitely better than that if you were wondering."

"No, I was just thinking that this time, that's us." he said smirking, as he pulled Trunks over to him. He leaned over and kissed him, gently at first, then getting more into it as Trunks shifted his position to hold onto Goten's raft, making sure they didn't topple over.

"Excuse me." a gruff voice said from behind them a few moments later.

Goten grinned as Trunks pulled back from him and turned to whomever had so rudely interrupted them. It wasn't some over-bearing parent though, it was the on-duty life guard.

"You can't do that here, this is a family establishment" he said with a glare. Both Trunks and Goten looked at him for a second and then Goten looked around at the rest of the pool.

"Why not? Has the pool policy changed? There's another couple making out right over there, are they getting in trouble too?..." Trunks wished Goten hadn't said that, not just because it sounded like he was ratting out the other couple, but because he was afraid he already knew the answer.

"No, because they aren't fucking fags" said the life guard with a growl.

Goten went very still, sitting on his raft, just staring the life guard down and not breaking his gaze. When the water began to ripple outward from him as his power raised in anger, Trunks figured he better step in before this got out of control.

"Come on Goten, dealing with small-minded little pricks always makes me hungry for sausage, lets blow this joint and go get some dinner" he said with a wink. Goten fell off of his raft. The life guard started sputtering and turning red in the face. Trunks decided to finish with a flourish, so he grabbed Goten from under the water (who was coughing and laughing at the same time), threw him over his shoulder, and walked out of the park. They changed in relative silence, except for the fits of laughter that would escape them every few minutes.

They needed to be back by dusk so Goten's mom could pick him up at CC, so they didn't really have time for dinner, but Trunks thought that if they hurried they would have time to raid the fridge before she got there.

"Race ya!" He said, himself and Goten taking to the sky from an ally down the street. Trunks, being still a little stronger and faster, beat him easily – but waited for him in the front yard after checking to make sure Chichi wasn't there yet.

"Aw man, and here I thought you might go easy and let me win for once now that you're trying to get in my pants" said Goten as he landed a minute later.

"Hah! Keep dreaming..." said Trunks with a slight blush on his face. Goten grinned from ear to ear at the reaction he had gotten.

"I had a good time today, even at the end there – the look on that guys' face was priceless!" said Goten.

"Good" said Trunks, "from now on though, I'm paying." Goten started to protest, but Trunks interrupted him,

"Look, just think of it as one of the ways that I watch out for you, ok? Your mom's obsessed with any money that goes through your house, she would notice the change in your "spending habits" where mine would never question or care about it. I know better than anyone what it's like for you at home, you don't need the extra drama from her. Besides," he paused, smirking, "since we aren't officially 'mated' yet, it's a good way for me to show my dominance over you" Trunks finished with a wink. Now it was Goten's turn to blush. He looked so beautiful standing there like that, still smelling of sunscreen and with his hair blown all crazy from the wind, that Trunks couldn't help pulling him into the house and kissing him up against the back of the door. They were interrupted again though, but this time it was Goten's stomach doing the growling, followed closely by Trunks'. They were scarfing down a second tray of pizza pockets and fighting over the last of the corn dogs when Chichi arrived to pick up Goten. She started scolding them about being "ravenous animals" and then said it was time to go. Goten grabbed one last pizza pocket from the tray when she turned to leave, and blew Trunks a silent kiss, whirling around to catch up to his mom who was already halfway down the hall.