Hey, guys!

What a glorious day for an update, don't you think? Since, of course… it's my birthday! :D And you're the ones getting a present! How lucky are you? xD

So, just a small response to a guest reviewer… My Videl was never an assassin. You're thinking of Tortured Soul, one of the Team Dragon Star's stories I work on. xD But yeah, the three of them lunged at her at the same time and caught her off-guard, so she fell and hit the coffee table.

Just a heads up: the first scene has some flashbacks embedded into the present action, okay? They are in italics and separated with oOoOoOo.

Many thanks to kalebxdd for his help with this chapter. :D

Enjoy!

Maybe she should move to the couch. If she was just gonna sit here, rubbing the thin scar at her hairline, surely she'd be more comfortable there than at the kitchen table. Studying… yeah, right. How could she concentrate with that thing always there, burning through her skin?

The itching pain on her forehead was nothing compared to the stab in the gut, though. Both were still hurting, even after a month and a half later. It seemed like just yesterday...

Erasa was the first thing she remembered, back in the hospital. Her voice first, and then her blonde hair when heavy eyelids finally managed to peel themselves apart for just a moment. Videl could only assume her best friend was speaking, since her mind was too jumbled and all over the place to make out actual words, but she eventually did.

oOoOoOo

"… aggravates me so much. I know he means well, but…" A sigh. "It makes me so sad. He knows me since forever. He knows I'm the closest thing you have to a sister but he doesn't care. Why couldn't he just trust me? I'd never do anything to hurt you, I never would've vouched for Gohan if he…"

Gohan? … She dreamt of him. An angel with hair of gold. They flew together through the darkness, out of the cold and out of the fear. He felt so real, so warm... She wished she could've seen his wings...

"... loves you, but we love you too. We all do. And I don't care what he says, we're your family just as much as he is." The light was too bright to see much more than blurs and spots of color, but she could hear the other girl sniff, and chuckle softly right after. "Can you believe Sharp actually stood up to him? Mr. 'Everything-for-The-Saviour'… I wish you could've seen him. He said 'blood makes us related, loyalty is what makes us family'." A loud sigh. She kept quiet for a moment after that and Videl could feel her, softly rubbing at her hand with her thumb. "I love him so much, Vi. I can't even… If it wasn't for you…" Another sniff. "Please wake up. I hate to see you like this. You're so strong. This is not you."

She was crying... How bad could she actually be to make her ever optimistic friend break down like this? Videl forced her eyes to open and stay that way; she struggled to move and to speak - anything - but only managed some sort of grunt. Luckily, it did the trick, making E gasp and stand up closer. "Vi?"

oOoOoOo

"Vi?"

Her name snapped her out of her musings. Erasa was standing right to her side. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?" she asked. Her hand touched Videl's arm and stroke it gently, the scrunch between her eyebrows only adding to the feeling of concern and endearment. And the softness in her voice...

oOoOoOo

"Thank the heavens. How're you feeling?" Erasa asked, her words so soft, so tender.

"I… I'm…" Videl's voice broke from the raspiness. She tried to clear it but her throat was prickling all over.

"Hang on," Erasa said. Videl felt the blonde's grip when she offered to help, and sat slightly up, very slowly, guiding the other's hand afterwards when it neared a glass of water to her chapped lips.

So much pressure on her head, throbbing loudly and unmercifully, but nothing she couldn't manage. "I'm… okay," Videl finally said.

Erasa grinned through a couple of rogue tears, hinting restraint for a hug she decided not to give - probably due to all the tubes coming from the back of her left hand, and the bandages on her forearms. Had she been in an accident?

It wasn't clear. Maybe… but it didn't feel like it, somehow.

oOoOoOo

"You're not okay, Vi," Erasa said. "You're crying. Again."

Videl just stared at her, analysing her words. She brought a hand up from the gritty page of her law book and brushed her fingertips against her cheek, lubricating the motion when they touched fluid. True… again.

Ever since that day, when she woke up, in that hospital. Ever since that day when she opened that door - the one just a few steps away - and let… that bastard into her home. Things had changed.

Ever since she realized that Gohan wasn't coming...

oOoOoOo

"Gohan," she said more than asked. Erasa spoke of him earlier. What had she been saying? And Sharp…

The silence grew heavy for some reason. Videl struggled to focus on her friend's face. Her frown said much but she'd rather have words right now. It'd hurt her brain a little less.

"Your dad… he didn't let him in here," the blonde responded.

Daddy? "W-Why?" She tried to sit up straighter. "What happened?" Her head hurt so bad now. She touched it; it was wrapped in bandages too.

"You were attacked," Erasa answered without hesitating, only the deepening of her scowl showing how the information was affecting her on the inside. She knew Videl well enough to know how she couldn't bear having to beat around the bush. "Back at our place. They took you somewhere, but Gohan managed to find you, thank God…" Her chin trembled the slightest. She gulped it in. "He went… somewhere for a bit and when he returned, your father refused to let him in."

Refused? Why? Daddy didn't know Gohan, but surely Erasa and Sharp would've told him how important he was to her. Her chest felt heavy from her swollen heart. She needed him here. With her. His scent to take away the pain, his arms to keep her safe. He'd guide her through the shadows. Like that angel did.

"Sweetpea! You're okay!" Hercule boomed from the door.

oOoOoOo

Videl shook her head to clear the thoughts about to resurface. She wasn't ready to deal with them yet. "I'm okay," she repeated to her best friend. Truth be told... she wasn't entirely sure.

Erasa sighed, pulling out a chair to sit beside her, and then taking her hand. "I know you aren't. You-"

Knock, knock.

Her heart exploded. She jumped in her seat. Someone was at the door. Who? Why? And why was it hard to breathe?

"Vi. It's okay. Calm down," Erasa stated with ware, punctuating her every word with steadiness. The blonde squeezed her hand with both of hers, and then grabbed Videl's chin to force her eyes away from the door. "It's not him."

Yeah... It's not him. It couldn't be him. And if it was he'd be leaving with either no teeth or no dick; or both, if he played his cards right.

E got up from her seat, but Videl grabbed her wrist before she could move away. "No. I'll get it."

The blonde smiled and nodded.

Videl got up and forced her steps to bring her to the door, thinking of nothing but the distinct shade of hazelnut from the floorboards beneath her bare feet. Her hand didn't show hesitation but trembled the slightest when she reached for the handle. She gripped it tightly - as hard as she could - and pushed it down, opening the thing all the way.

Everything rushed to her throat at the sight of his handsome face. Memories and feelings and all the tears that his absence had been gathering for over a month. They stared forever into each other's eyes - so dark, yet so warm and perfect... His smile was delicate but charged with intensity, just like the muted dip of his eyebrows and the clenching of his wide, masculine jaw.

"Hey," Gohan half-whispered. Her chest burned like fire at his voice, unprocessed by the digital filter of a cell phone call - the only way she'd known for sure he'd been alive during the summer holidays.

Videl swallowed dry and coerced a "Hey" back in the very same tone. There had been so much more she wanted to say to him. Things of happiness, and of love, but also of hurt, confusion, overwhelming sorrow. So many "whys" and "what ifs"... What if Daddy had let him in the room? What if she had begged harder for him to take an hour from his hiking and beach trips with the kids to come and visit? But mostly... why didn't he?

She could feel the tears brewing, boiling from the deep feelings that the lack of him had allowed to keep hidden so far. ... No. Maybe she had been changed by what happened. Maybe it had been Gohan's fault just as much as Rick's - although never as degrading and disgusting as what that monster had done. Maybe so, but she was still as stubborn, and neither would take that away from her. He wouldn't get to see how much it was hurting.

Harshly, she spun around and walked back in, leaving the door as it was in a silent invitation. She didn't look back, streamlining back to her chair and her law book. He entered behind her - she heard the footsteps - but that was all he managed to do before Erasa shrieked in that excruciating way that she did. "Gohan!" The blonde flew to him, arms spread out for a hug. "Oh my God, Honey! I'm so happy to see you!"

Gohan chuckled sheepishly. "E, you're choking me." He didn't mean it. So strong and athletic as he was, no way those scrawny sticks she called arms would manage such a feat.

Like the flick of a blonde bipolar switch, the young woman slapped him hard on his even harder chest, only accomplishing the sound it produced. "Why the hell didn't you come over during the holidays? You didn't even call, you didn't-"

"I called," Gohan interrupted. "I mean… Vi called me, but we talked on the phone."

"Three times in a month and a half. That's nothing, you nuthead! We hung out every day together! Don't you think that's a bit of a harsh change, huh?"

"I… I'm sorry," he said. Videl refused to look up from her book, lest she see that adorable way in which he scratched at the back of his neck when he got nervous. No. She wouldn't fall for it. Instead she kept reading the two words her finger had chosen on her law book. Prosecutorial misconduct. Prosecutorial misconduct. There was silence, then. Awkward and heavy.

Prosecutorial misconduct.

"Well," Erasa continued after a while. "I'm glad you're back. But don't you dare do something like this again. You hear me?"

Gohan snickered. "I'll try."

"You better!" She giggled. "I'm gonna take a shower and head off to bed. We'll catch up tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Sure. Good night."

Erasa walked by her and gripped tightly at her shoulder while passing. It said many things for such a simple gesture. Strength, support, and all sorts of other stuff. Hopefully it'd help, because she wasn't feeling all that strong, right now.

Prosecutorial misconduct.

Gohan moved closer, slowly, and pulled up a chair. "Hitting the books already, huh?" he asked as he sat down.

"Class starts in a couple of days," she responded.

"Yeah, mine too."

How dare he? Come over after so agonizingly long and just pretend everything had been kept pretty and perfect, just the way he'd left it. "Oh, so you're still attending. Cool."

"Wh… What do you mean?"

"I wasn't sure, since you suddenly lost all interest in what you left here."

She hated being like this. With him of all people, but it was maddening! If it wasn't for E and Sharp being around and forcing their presence in her life… maybe she wouldn't have been able to avoid that depression, after all. The doctors warned them how it was normal among victims of sexual abuse, but she wasn't one of those; a victim. … That wasn't true. If not only her sanity, she'd lost herself when Gohan didn't come back. All that was left was a month's worth of doubt and self-pity.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Vi."

She shrugged. "It's fine.

"It's not. You deserved better than this."

His tone was sickenly sweet, and she truly believed it. With all the stuff that would normally storm his mind and his spirit, what right did she have to put herself first in his life? She knew him - somewhat; he'd never go away like that just to hurt her. Never.

Videl was the one to sigh now, embarrassment over feelings she unfortunately couldn't avoid anchoring her eyes on her book, away from his. "It's not a big deal. It's just... I thought you would miss me as much as I missed you. It's just stupid girl stuff. Don't worry about it."

"I did miss you."

"I know," Videl responded. She did, but it still hurt...

Gohan grabbed her chair by a leg and slid it effortlessly so she would face him. "I did. Miss you." His eyes… Damn him for having those eyes, and damn her for forgetting her name every time he pierced them through her like that. They were so determined and set; how could she not believe the words?

Everything she'd felt for him since they'd last seen each other, everything she fought so hard to put to the side so it didn't hurt as much. Everything that would just turn tinder into a flaming inferno when it were to become clear he wouldn't be coming back. To college, to her. Just one look and a single unsteady heartbeat, and it resurfaced. All of it.

She could feel the tears again. "Then... why?"

There was no need to elaborate. He understood perfectly well what she was asking. Why did you leave me?

He looked down to his hands, hunching over, elbows on knees. "I needed... to clear you off my head. For a while. I needed some time." It felt rehearsed. It surely was.

Videl followed his gaze in silence, recognizing the gesture of comfort he'd do whenever he felt out of his element - right thumb scratching at the knuckle of his left middle finger. Did he even know he did that? Some sort of protective instinct made her cover his hands with hers, forcing him to stop the motion as if it would somehow stop the suffering, as well.

"I'm so sorry, Vi," he whispered.

"It's okay," she soothed instantly, but he shook his head, negating her words. It wasn't. Not for him, and if she was being truthful to herself, not for her either. At least not right now, so fresh of a wound.

"Look," she continued. "I get that things are all messy and confusing, but I'm tired of feeling like this. This past month..." Hell, but she would never say it to his face, sighing instead out of melancholy. "I really like you, Gohan. I know what I want, and right now... I want you." He pressed his eyelids shut. She'd say it was from out of relief but she wasn't sure, though it re-energized her, somehow. "I know that what we have is complicated, but I know you feel it too. Who knows if it will last or for how long, but I don't want to just let it be and do nothing about it. I want to get to know you better - really know you - and at least try to make it a little less complicated."

"I don't... think I can let you do that."

Her chest felt heavy as stone. "What? Why not?" Was he sending her mixed signals? Or was she the one who was all mixed up? One would think she'd ran out of tears but there they were, yet again.

"My life. My past. It's not just 'complicated', it's downright... overwhelming. I... I don't know what to do."

"Gohan..."

"I've been in this limbo for so long, Vi," he continued. "Ever since my dad died. I got so sad and desperate, and then angry, but eventually I just felt… nothing. It was awful but comfortable in a way, and I didn't want to leave it because if I did, I'd just feel it all over again." His words were of confession. It was clear why he needed time now, away from her. From them. How could this clarity have come from the shambles of their so-called relationship?

There was a twinkle on the corner of his eye. He wiped it dry. "You guys have been like therapy. You, and E, and Sharp. I've changed so much in such a short time. Like I've woken up. You guys didn't give up on me; you forced me to see how I've got people who actually care about me, even if you had to cram it into my thick skull." He smiled and she snickered. "But you? When I'm with you... You make me feel so..." He searched for a word and exhaled it out. "... alive."

Videl knew how he felt about her, maybe even before he did. There was no way she could have credited his past words of denial when his eyes, his body, and everything in him spoke against them. Now way could she have ignored the signs when they were so many and as clear as day, textbook examples of all those once-annoying romance clichés she couldn't stop reading about: the magnetism between them, the energy that charged the room if they were both in it. The temperature rise whenever they'd simply acknowledge each other's presence, and its arctic drop if they were to part.

It was all so intense for her, but she'd always worn her heart on her sleeve, ever since a little girl. Gohan had been broken for such a long time… she could only imagine how much deeper it would've affected him.

Their foreheads connected. His gaze was still tightly anchored to their hands, and he rubbed hers now, so hard. "I don't want to leave this limbo because... you may not be on the other side."

"Don't say that."

"It's the truth, Vi. And the mere thought of it... It paralyzes me." He lowered his voice. "I'm... scared."

Scared? How could he be scared? Her rock, her stronghold. She swallowed dry to control the urge to kiss him and make it better. "Of what?"

Gohan took so incredibly long to answer that one. No doubt he knew the answer fully well, but as with most things, saying it out loud had the devastating power of making abstract thoughts turn palpable and real. "Of losing you before I even had you." His whispering didn't manage to cloak his trembling voice.

All she wanted to do was hold him. Tell him wholehearted but empty promises that everything would be okay. She'd never leave. Just a thought of another month like this past one, away from him, wondering nothing but where he was and what he was doing. What he was wearing that day, what he ate for lunch, and for dinner, and if he remembered to watch the new season premiere of their favorite show - the one they'd been watching together, every Thursday night since they've met. She did remember, last week. Battled through half of it before rushing under the covers of her bed and crying her eyes out yet again. Like a girl…

She'd never leave. But how could he ever believe her?

This man in front of her… she knew him, but she didn't. His past, where he came from, everything was a blank. Even his family was on a need-to-know basis: names and ages, nothing personal about them. Nothing special. He disclosed information, never shared.

But she did know a wide variety of things he'd never told her, many of which he most likely never would, since he probably wasn't even aware of them. Like the scratching of his knuckle when he felt anxious, or the nibble at his lower lip when he was in deep-thinking mode. The faintest twirl of his thick, dark hair around her finger did magic for his relaxation, but he wouldn't know how she faked doing it absentmindedly on the nights before he had a big test, just so he'd sleep a little better. And, of course, every now and then just for the feel of it. So soft and amazing...

She did know him, and she knew exactly what he needed, right now: to rationalize the problem, to bring logic to his mind's puzzle. If she could manage to keep the tears from rolling, she could at least help with that. "Let's-" Her voice trembled too. She took a deep breath and gripped tighter at his hands. "Let's think this through, okay?"

Slowly, he looked back up, and although it felt like a small win she instantly wished that he hadn't. His eyes weren't supposed to be all red and shiny like that - ever. It was her turn to look down, since she couldn't bear to see them. Not again. Another deep breath, her voice low and deep. "You... have something that you can't tell me, right? Like a secret?" It was the only thing that made sense to her.

Videl ventured a peek up just to study his reaction, and it told her she was on the right track - a dry swallow and a microscopical single nod.

She continued, verbalizing her thought process to herself, as well as to him. "It's something that… would probably change things for us."

A deeper frown. Another nod.

"Okay," she said over the acid burst at her chest. "On a scale of one to ten, ten being the most important, life-changing secret… what would it be?"

Gohan snickered unexpectedly, but after the initial surprise it felt somewhat disheartened to her. "Hum…" he began. "Given the scale…" His lips knew the answer, mouthing it without a sound, but his voice was refusing to let it go. "... t-ten, but… it's more like a hundred. Or a thousand."

A hundred? A thousand? Talk about overly-dramatizing. ... Don't judge, Videl thought to herself. It was a big deal for him, whatever that secret was. A thousand might just be accurate and overwhelming in his mind. She took a deep breath, letting it out slow and gently. "I will now ask you some questions about your secret that would make it a deal-breaker for me. You'll only respond 'yes' or 'no', okay?"

Gohan tensed even harder, shifting in his seat, but nodded anyway. "Deal-breaker" was a little too harsh, in retrospect, but there was nothing to be afraid of. As a good lawyer-to-be, she knew every answer to her questions before she ever asked them. And even if he responded differently than expected, she was lying to herself to assume it would be, in fact, "breaking" anything between them. She was just that mad about him.

Videl cleared her throat and controlled a smile from anticipation. "Are you gay?"

"What?" Gohan shrieked, his eyes alive and extended, cheeks fiery-red. "No!"

Of course not. Not with the way he looked at her. And touched her. And kissed her. She couldn't avoid a giggle at his hopelessness though, before crisping up and continuing. "Are you in a committed romantic relationship with anyone, right now?"

"No," he responded, still a hint of indignation from the prior antic.

"Are you married?"

"No."

"Are you a serial killer with a thing for blue-eyed girls?" she asked through a high-spirited grin.

Gohan chuckled. "No."

Videl paused, letting the playfulness faint in favour of shy endearment. This was the only question she truly needed answered. "At this moment… do you like me as more than just a friend?"

He paused too, over her girly jitters, but not from hesitation or to leave her hanging with doubt. That magnetism again, the electricity. His eyes and the delicate lines of his expression. Somehow, they all told her how his lingering was due to the way it would go against the rules she had imposed at the beginning. "Yes" or "no" only. He responded with a deep and reverberating "Yes" but it shriveled the feeling behind it with its simplicity. No one word could accurately answer that question, as no one word could ever name what they had.

A small smile flourished over the heat-spill inside her chest. She knew it, but the confirmation was still heavenly. She held on to it while staring into his doubt-free eyes, as they rendered her next statement just as doubtless. "Then I have a solution."

She could almost hear his heart skip a beat or two over the incredulousness of his expression, beseeching for it to somehow be true, for them to be possible in any small way. Videl felt nothing but peace now, but surely his gut must've been exploding with anticipation. Hopefully, this would put him at ease. "Don't tell me," she said, solely.

Gohan didn't respond. Or move, or blink. Was he even breathing? It all hung in the air for the longest moment, along with the silence. Until he broke it with a tortured sigh and a weighted shake of the head. It was disbelief, broken hope. "That's not a solution, Vi," he whispered to their hands.

"Just hear me out," Videl injected before that dark cloud over his head grew any bigger. "You can't tell me what it is, but at the same time you can't not tell me because it'd feel like some sort of betrayal on your part if you didn't. You think it wouldn't be fair to me if I immersed myself in a relationship that wasn't based on truth and transparency." He gradually looked up at her words. His light frown and gaping lips spelt "surreal accuracy", so she'd surely nailed that one on the head. There was no other possible explanation, for as much as he tried to conceal himself from her, his actions were explicit and straightforward in her eyes - an open book. Pity all the pages were blank... "You don't want me to get hurt," she continued with a softer, more loving tone. "Or at least, not any more than I have to."

"If only I had been stronger… you wouldn't have suffered at all," Gohan told himself.

It wasn't supposed to be so brute of a movement, but the energy just jolted through her, making her grab his chin and force it back up. "Now you look here, mister! That kind of despondence was really cute and adorable once, but it's getting pretty old, pretty fast. You are strong! You are the strongest person I know, so shut up and listen!"

Why on Earth did she find it so appealing when he cowered in obedience? That dry swallow, those widened, fully focused gems in his eyes... She could just pinch those blushing little cheeks, too.

Anyway, where was she? Ah, yes. "We'll take things slow. We'll spend more time together, just the two of us, and work on our relationship one step at the time. If we come across anything regarding your secret, you simply won't tell me, and one day, somewhere along the line, if you feel like you can trust me with it, then..." She shrugged a shoulder. "I'll listen."

"Oh, sure," he retorted in a snarky tone. "And when you do find out, and it's simply too much for you take, you'll hate me forever for making you waste your time on me."

She didn't take any time, and responded in the exact same manner. "Well, if after all this time, that's the kind of person you think I am, then we definitely need this 'get to know each other better' thing." It didn't comfort him one bit, but she had a feeling it wouldn't. She sighed, lowering the intensity of her words but not their meaning. "You said I made you feel alive. Do you know why that is?"

Gohan snorted and mumbled to the side. "Because out of all the people in the world I had to find the damn angel in disguise."

"Awww, Gohan…" she cooed through a smile and overly-dramatized endearment, with only a little hint of devilishness. "Did you just compare me to an angel?" The embarrassment was simply too cute. Videl always had the feeling he'd be the romantic type, and maybe she had been right all along.

"N-no..." he tried to deny, but it was fruitless.

Videl smiled and let it go. For now, of course; how delightful will it be to explore this new facet much, much further... "It's because I live my life to the fullest," she said. "I'm the kind of person who goes skinny dipping in the moonlight, and dances around in the rain, and actually stops to smell the roses because I know just too well how easily it can all be taken away from you."

A minute, Ms. Satan. Another minute and it would've been too late.

Videl let his gorgeous face wash over everything else in her mind, putting behind those words and all about that day over a month ago. What that freak had done to her, and the fear over the possibility of feeling forever dirty on the inside. Instinctively, she cupped his warm cheek and smiled when he closed his eyes for a moment and leaned against it. "I'm the kind of person who chooses the possibility of a broken heart over letting something as beautiful and as genuine as this slip through her fingers."

Her words were sinking in, soaking him in the form of that peacefulness that was making him glow increasingly brighter. "I once told you - on the beach, remember? - that you can regret the results, but you can never regret your actions if they came from your heart." She let her forearm rest on his shoulder, teasing a lock of his wonderful dark hair around her finger, just behind his right ear. "My heart is telling me this, Gohan. I won't ignore it."

He just stared. It seemed like forever but she wouldn't break the connection, lest it translate as a lack of determination on her part. No matter what, she'd make him see what she saw every time she looked at him, and feel what she felt. This, what they had together, was not "regular" in any way. This was the stuff of fairytales and all that other garbage she'd deem lame and girly, once upon a time. The fact that he came back felt like a second breath, another chance; no way she'd let him go ever again. This was too important.

They were worth the secrets, and they would overcome them, whatever they were.

Gohan finally reacted in the form of a delicate smile that she was quick to mimic tenfold. "You're so fucking stubborn," he whispered, and she laughed wholeheartedly at was becoming his favorite sentence, she reckoned, leaning over and up to switch seats over to his cozy lap. Her arms were instantly around his neck, and his hand on her back, enticing it into arching on its own with every electric shock from his traveling fingers.

A soft peck on his forehead, and then on the cheek. "How much do you love it?" That smile was a grin now… and then on the lips.

Should she? … Nah, she shouldn't. … Maybe just a peek, a tiny, itty-bitty one. She could use a glass of warm milk… Yeah! That's it!

Erasa sprung into flight and out of bed, in a straight path to the hot-pink minky robe lying on the desk chair. In one well-rehearsed move, she flung it around herself and tied it closed before tiptoeing at top speed through the door and towards the living room area, stopping just before it.

Were they kissing? Eeeek, they had to be! O-M-G, so romantic… After all that Videl had been through, after all the crying and all the suffering she stubbornly tried to hide inside her darkened room, or to muffle with the low static sound of a hot shower. Finally! She was better now, but those first weeks after coming home from the hospital were excruciating. Videl was so adamant on not being a victim that she kept repeating it to herself, and to everyone that would come and ask how she was doing. Unfortunately, she was just human…

The blonde always knew Gohan would be coming back - if only because of college, the nerd - but Videl wasn't as hopeful. Although, in retrospect, maybe it was too much to expect butterflies and sunshine from her best friend after what'd happened. All and all, she wished they would just get it done and over already. Only a blind man couldn't see how those two were made for each other, and even a blind man would be able to feel the love in the air, for sure!

Oooooo, she just hoped they were kissing…

"Don't mind me," Erasa said louder than normally, stepping over to the common area and taking a direct right turn to the fridge. Videl was sitting on his lap! Yesh! "Just need a glass of milk and I'll be out of your hair."

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Gohan's usual rush to pretend he wasn't sticking that tongue into a girl's throat. His girl. The cute blush, the hovering hands… and, of course, not a single ounce of eye contact with anything but the floor. How predictable and sweet! If only Videl wasn't all smiles and twinkling eyes... maybe then she'd actually believe they were just innocently sitting there, on top of each other, hands to themselves.

"What happened to 'a shower and off to bed'? Videl leisurely asked, amused more than angry.

Erasa bit down a giggle, as she poured herself some milk and heated it up in the microwave, leaning against the counter while she waited. "You have a perfectly good room and bed to fool around in. This is my kitchen too, ya know?"

"I… Uh…" Gohan mumbled, quickly getting him and Videl up and standing. "I sh-should get going, anyway."

Vi frowned for a second but let it go right after over a soft smile and understanding face expression. If Erasa had to guess, their conversation just now had to have been a rough and overpowering one, full of feelings. Maybe it was enough for one day - let alone one hour - so it was-

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Erasa jumped on her feet. Her hand flew to her chest to keep her heart from bursting out. But after the initial shock, only the loud gasp of her best friend's distress remained. Who in their right mind would be banging on a person's door like that? At this hour of the night?

In the very next second, she noticed Gohan, and how the unexpected sound meant nothing to him other than Videl's reaction. Of course… he wasn't around to see how all of this had affected her, how she struggled to remain her unscathed previous-self whenever there was a knock on that door. Only now was he seeing first hand what that bastard Rick had caused on that fateful night. He'd broke her…

Gohan grabbed Videl's shoulders, and then caringly cupped her cheeks so she would focus on him instead of anything else. "It's okay," he whispered over the faint pitchiness of her breaths. "Look at me. I'm right here. It's okay."

It did the job, and Videl did focus on his face, blinking and nodding into calmness. She was getting so much better, thank the heavens. And, of course, the blonde had to admit that having one of the guys there when some uninvited visitor was at the door at eleven o'clock in the evening was definitely reassuring. Sharp had been a trooper ever since things turned sour, refusing to sleep back at his dorm for even a single night. She made an effort to "thank him" a little more often than usual for that. Today would be the first night he couldn't make it… "I-I'll get it," she eventually managed to say.

Her steps were shaky at first but she got a hold of herself quickly enough, standing just behind the door now. "Who is it?"

"Open the damn door, Erasa. It's freezing out here!"

"D-Daddy?" Videl's quiet voice reached her from behind, and it made things click in her head. It was indeed Hercule's voice. Erasa looked back over her shoulder more out of confusion than to assess her friend's reaction. She almost didn't have the time to do any of those, though; Vi was stomping over. And she was mad.

The door was flung open. There was Hercule in that ridiculous black hoodie and sweatpants combination he'd use whenever he wanted to lay low in public - which was mostly never, hence its pristine seldomly-used condition. Because the two suited gorillas that stood behind him for "protection" wouldn't draw any attention, of course; none whatsoever. All creepy and weird… She shivered. And what's with the damn sunglasses? It was pitch black outside!

"Sweetpea," Hercule said, much softer than before. "I-"

"What the hell, Dad?" Vi interrupted. "You scared the shit out of me! Why haven't you called? Why did you come here? At this hour?"

"I needed to talk to ya," he responded. "I know you…" He lost track of his words, and his stare was enough to tell Erasa why. Gohan… "What is that boy doing here?"

"Dad…" Videl spoke in warning. Or more like in menace, for him not to even go there. "What are you doing here?"

Hercule just kept staring at Gohan, right over Videl's shoulder, but… Erasa had to admit… there was no boy there. He was staring right back, a deep frown set in stone but incredibly calm and serene. Even Sharp would shake a bit in his boots if The Saviour was trying to burn a hole through him. Well… maybe not anymore, after that night. The respect was lacking, now...

"I have to talk to ya, Videl," the man continued, shifting his gaze to her but returning it right back to Gohan. "Alone." He stepped in and then to the side, crossing his arms over his chest and rudely pointing outside with his head. "That means you, little man. Go on. This is not a proper hour to be visiting two young ladies, anyway."

Gohan took a second, but decided to take the order, most likely to keep the peace. Erasa wouldn't manage the same level of self-control, that's for sure. "Boy", "little man"… What did Gohan ever do to the guy to deserve that kind of degrading terms? Because no doubt in her mind, that was exactly what they were.

"Stop," Videl told their friend, addressing her dad afterwards. "Dad. Wait outside."

Hercule's frown dissipated, his arms uncrossed. "W-What?"

"Wait outside," she repeated, and stepped over to force his movement with a push. "For a minute."

"Wait! Sweetpea? What are ya-"

She closed the door, a deep breath for calmness afterwards. It didn't surprise Erasa in any way, her friend's reaction. Ever since she was a girl, Videl had always had her father wrapped around her tiny finger. It was the man's fault, anyway, bending over backwards to provide any and every pointless thing to his little princess when all she wanted was to be a tomboy. Erasa was the one to profit the most from their loving yet dysfunctional relationship, taking home all the pink and fluffy spoils of Hercule's fruitless attempts at an actual princess of a daughter. Gohan, on the other hand, was really concerned. "Vi," he said. "You don't have to do this. I'll just go. It's no problem. I don't mind."

Videl went into scolding mode - the blonde would recognize it anywhere - twisted eyebrows over electrified blue eyes, and hands on her hips. Most likely, that nagging index finger would be making an appearance shortly, too. "It is a problem! And I mind. It's one thing to disrespect you when I'm out cold in the damn hospital, but not on my house! Not in my presence!"

Gohan just blinked and gulped, but Vi was absolutely right. Her dad was a nice man, his heart was good and honest, but when it came to boys… good lord. It's like the man transformed into some old, last century dumbass that forgot about every form of respect other than the one he felt entitled to receive.

"Also," Videl continued with a much softer, somewhat dreamy tone, taking a step forward towards the guy. She was smiling in that same lazy way as before, so Erasa couldn't help it but put on a wary grin that blossomed in full when the girl went up to her tippy toes. "I reckon you'd prefer if he wasn't around when I kissed you goodbye."

Awwwwww... So romantic…! Their babies will be so darn cute! Gohan was terrified when Videl went all in, panicky eyes hopping from one girl to the other, wanting nothing more than for only one of them to be there with him. Poor little thing, all inexperienced and sweet… He got over it quickly enough, however, closing his eyes for just a few but delightfully long pecks, smiling shyly afterwards.

Videl smiled too, but didn't waste any time and reached for the thin side-table and the small glass bowl on it. Oh, she knew what her friend was gonna do - they'd talked about it even before the summer break, and agreed that it needed to be done. From the bowl, her best friend took the item, and then reached for the young man's open hand, placing it there. He analysed it for a bit, and then asked, "What is it?"

"What do you think, Dummy?" Videl joked. "It's a key."

"O...kay. To where?"

"To here. To our home." The words were so simple, but if the blonde knew Gohan as well as she thought she did, he was still struggling to get the gist of what was happening. His face told her how she was exactly right: soft lines for a hard confusion.

They stared in silence at each other for a bit, almost like Videl was justifying the gesture with only the energy of the words she didn't use. Their connection was something else… amazing to watch, and outstanding if you started imagining the odds. City princess and mountain dweller… Who in the world decided to put that particular match together? After a while, Videl spoke again.

"Only guests are supposed to knock," was her only explanation. The blonde agreed full-heartedly.

"I… don't know what to say," Gohan spoke, slowly.

"You don't have to say anything. Just promise you'll use it, okay?"

He smiled. "I promise."

They should've just kissed again - the romance addict in her begged for it - but Videl was too aware of the guy's discomfort for that to happen in front of the blonde again, so she just smiled really lovingly and caressed his cheek with her thumb. She went to the door afterwards and grabbed the doorknob. "See you tomorrow?"

Gohan smiled even wider and nodded in agreement.

"When I open the door, just make a run for it, okay?" she added in humour, and they all chuckled at it.

Gohan moved closer to the door, but before Videl could open it, he leaned in and kissed her! Right on the lips and without hesitating; not even a bit! Oh, my god, she was gonna die! No! She couldn't! She had to tease her best friend to no end for this before she could go meet her maker! Erasa gasped internally - Videl was actually blushing, too! Awww, so darn cute…

They parted - all smiles - Videl opened the door, and Gohan dashed out, not even making eye contact with "Unabomber and the Creepsters" that stood just outside. Hercule was flabbergasted.

"Wh… Wha...? Where's he going?" he asked.

"Come in," Videl said while ignoring him completely, stepping inside. "And leave your 'monkeys' outside, please."

Hercule did as he was told, pushing back the hood that concealed his curly afro and ditching the nonsensical shades. He looked back at the blonde. "Erasa, can ya be a dear and go on to your room? I need to have a word with my daughter."

"Whatever it is, you can say it to her too," Videl interjected.

Hercule sighed. "Sweetpea… I get it. I know that you're still mad at me, but that boy's trouble! I was right not to trust him! I know that now."

W-What? What did he mean?

"What's that supposed to mean?" Videl asked for both the girls. "You don't even know him."

"Nobody does, that's exactly it!" the man roared. "His college files have nothing. His billing address is listed there as the Capsule Corporation, so good luck getting through that frigid Bulma lady. I did find out his mother's name, which got me his brother's and sister's, and also his father's - a washed-out former WMA champion that's supposedly dead - and some pro baseball player he used to-"

"Stop, Dad. Just stop."

"He doesn't have a past, Videl. Nothing before college. Most of his father's known associates went off the grid long ago and there's no one else. The two people I got a hold of - the baseball guy and Bulma Briefs - were the only ones who might have been around in his past, and they refuse to let out a single word, even when I ordered my guys to throw my name around. They refused it to me. To me, The Saviour!"

No response.

"I have my top men on this, Sweetpea. They're still searching but… no one goes on their entire life without leaving some tracks behind unless they have something big to hide. He's like a damn ghost! He might be a criminal! They're the ones who make it their business to slide under the radar! He has to be one!"

Videl just stared through the silence that ensued. Erasa couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew the man would be doing one of his so-called investigations, but… Gohan… a ghost? It actually made sense that Gohan would have "something big to hide", since everything about him spelt exactly that. At least when it came to his past, as non-existent as it was. But… did that matter? Gohan was a sweetheart! Whatever he could've done in the past, this person that he was today was all that mattered. He was the brother she never had, the perfect gentleman, a genius, funny, sweet-

"E?"

Videl's voice brought her back to reality and their living room. "Y-Yes?"

"I'm sorry. Please leave."

Erasa didn't struggle with the words, but she did with the fierceness of that stare, anchored on her father. Hercule knew that look just as well as the blonde did, and it translated into a nervous swallow from the man. Videl had told her multiple times how her temper escaped her sometimes, how things started to boil uncontrollably and there was nothing she could do to keep it contained. But mostly, she confessed how she hated having such a weakness. This girl was her sister. They hadn't invented their own language, like many young girls did, but they learned to understand the delicate balance of the fine print stamped in plain, regular English.

I'm sorry. Please leave. ... I don't want you to be here if I lose my grip.

The message was loud and clear. However she was gonna play this, whatever she was gonna say or ask her father, the girl needed all the strength she could get to keep control. The blonde's presence would just be another thing to worry about. Wordlessly, she paced to her room, pausing the slightest bit next to her friend and hooking her finger on one of Videl's, just for a second. Roger that, Vi. Roger that.

She sighed and left.

The day had been long and hard. From the always difficult post-holiday goodbyes back at home, to the intensity of Videl's "solution" and the entirety of their conversation, not to mention the nervous wreck he'd been all day because of just that. He had acted out the scene so many times during the break that eventually lost count. Different outcomes repeated to infinity, then some new ones, and then a few others that were just so ludicrous he felt embarrassed for ever having come up with them.

Not in a million years would he have envisioned this, though…

Gohan let out a deep breath with the turn of his key, mindlessly opening up the door to his room. A hot shower and his trusty pillow, and tomorrow he'd revise what Vi had proposed to its most farfetched extents. He smiled, thinking of her; how he missed just seeing her smile… And those kisses-

"You're back."

The young saiyan stopped on his tracks, slightly startled. "Sharp…" He was towering over his bed while packing a duffle bag, facing the wall. The words felt distant, the gravity dense and hefty. "How… How's everything?"

The blond snorted, continuing on his task without so much as a look over his shoulder. "Nice and dandy, G. Just nice and dandy."

Sarcasm was one thing - Sharp used it loosely and on a daily basis - but the energy was rerouted this time, fueling something else other than the lively, high-spirited vigor that would normally charge his whole speech. And his body language. The hunched over, tense-shouldered man right there sported only a faint resemblance to his best friend.

They'd known each other for but a second, in the overall view of things, but not that many people in the world knew the blond as well as he did. There was something the guy needed to say. "Spit it out," Gohan stated, ditching his own bag and backpack on top of his bare mattress.

Sharpner turned around. His face was full of emotions but none of them were the good kind. "You should've come, G. Earlier. During the break."

Gohan clenched his jaw. He knew the guy was right - he should've come. He wanted to. He did, one of those harsher days, but stopped in the air by the edge of the city, just hovering there, unable to continue nor to turn back around. All he did was grab a hold of Videl's energy just so he could feel her presence within him, but it turned out to be like smelling your favourite food when you were all but starving. It became a little harder to breathe after that…

His friend turned back to his packing, shaking his head. "You left her. She needed you and you just left her."

Gohan rubbed his eyes with his fingers, the tiredness finally getting to him. "I know I screwed up, Sharp. You don't need to remind me."

Sharpner spun aggressively on his heels. "Well maybe I do, G. Because you keep cramming into that thick head of yours that she doesn't mean the fucking world to you!" he almost yelled, pointing an accusing finger that also didn't fit Gohan's image of him, but that he felt was deserving. "What you guys have may not be easy, but it's as real as you and me standing right here in this damn room."

There was nothing he could say. He agreed with every single word.

"She remembers everything, G. Everything. What that shitty bastard did to her." Gohan closed his eyes shut at the thought. It was always a possibility, but he hoped for some sort of amnesia or memory loss. "It all came back to her just as soon as she woke up. Every sordid fucking detail, and she had to describe every single one of them to the police, over and over again when she left the hospital. You said you would come. You needed to have been here, G! Where were you?"

He had hurt her yet again, with this stupid need to be away, since it served no other purpose than to do just that. No peace had came from it, no better path to follow. The pain in his heart burnt as real as any ki blast he'd ever taken; surely it would scar just like the rest…

There was nothing he could say, apart from that one thing. The sole truth. He looked his friend in the eyes. His own were burning. "I screwed up, Sharp," he half-whispered.

Sharpner stared in silence for a moment before sighing and running a hand through his hair. "Did you go there already?"

"Yes."

"Did she forgive you?"

A small smile came out with the relief. "Yes."

Sharp smiled back. "Then I forgive you too."

Gohan snickered. "Thank you." It meant a lot to him that the blond had, in fact, stuck around. If he felt like crap now, how would he feel if the girls had been left alone to deal with this? The urge came from out of nowhere, and he did nothing to fight it, stealing Sharpner of a hug that the other was quick to go with, embracing him fully and as hard as ever.

"You're still a dickhead," the blond said after a while. They laughed it out while parting.

Sharpner returned to his bag and pulled the zipper closed. "I have to go. I haven't been home all summer, and I promised my mom I'd spend the weekend before class resumes."

Gohan just nodded. Sharp had done more than his part this past month and a half. He could only imagine the stress - very different from his own, but much more legitimate, too. And his poor mom… she had to be missing him terribly.

"Did they give you the key?" his friend asked.

"Hum… yeah."

"Use it. If I find out you didn't go there this weekend, I'll kick your butt."

He'd never doubt it, and chuckled accordingly. Sharp took his luggage and headed for the door, opening it all the way. "I will," Gohan assured, while removing his cellphone from his jacket's pocket and placing it on the bedside table. "There's…" A sigh. "There's still a lot to be said."

The guy smiled. "I guess things get a lot more complicated when you have complicated stuff to discuss, huh?" he asked dismissively, playing with the doorknob.

"Yeah…"

"Like the fact that you are able to fly, and such. Well, I gotta go. See ya."

… you are able to fly. … able to fly. … the fact that you are able to fly.

His heart collapsed to his feet.

Don't hate me. xD Please review!