Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ You Will Be Mine ❯ And I will get close to you ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8

And I will get close to you

"Gohan? Is Pan home?"

Pan heard her best friend's voice drift upwards through her wooden bedroom floor and jumped to her feet. Bra was here, damn it, the first of the many people who would seek her out to demand an explanation. Goten had already called three times after the disastrous night of clubbing but she had successfully avoided said calls. He had been too busy in the restaurant to come and drop by, for which she had been shamefully glad. She knew he had this weekend off though and knowing him, there would be no way of avoiding him then.

She felt like a scared animal and acted like one too. Guiltily she glanced at the window. Could she run away before Bra reached her bedroom door?

Angrily she shook her head. "What am I doing?!" she muttered to herself. "I don't hesitate to jump into a fight with someone many times stronger than me, but I run away from one of my best friends because she wants to talk. Why am I such a chicken when it comes to this?!"

The door slammed open and Bra stood in the doorway, glaring. The air around her was practically crackling with energy. Pan had never seen her powered up like this outside a spar or a fight. Suddenly she was not so sure that talking was the only thing her best friend wanted to do..

"Pan," Bra said, so cold and collected that Pan knew the other girl was seriously pissed off. Shit.

Before she could utter even a greeting, Bra had slammed the door close behind her and walked up to her, shoving her against the wall. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" she demanded, her ki still high enough to come across as threatening. Pan shifted nervously. Although the two girls were about the same height, Bra had inherited Vegeta's ability to hold herself as if she could look down on anyone. Normally the girl did not practice this ability on her, but then again, normally Pan did not piss her off this much.

Bra didn't give her a chance to respond. "I'm not going to let you mess around with my brother like that," she said angrily, planting her hands against the wall on both sides of Pan's head. "You're playing him like a total bitch. You get him worked up, cause a situation and leave him with the mess and you're acting like a fucking coward, running away whenever someone confronts you about it. I've left you alone because I didn't think you meant for things to go so far, but yesterday... You've been treating him like shit and I'm not going to allow it any longer!"

Seething, Pan pushed Bra away from her and unconsciously powered up as well. "Mind your own fucking business, Bra!"

"Trunks is my business," Bra said, her eyes flaring.

"But this isn't," Pan said, furiously. "I'm playing him?! God, Bra, you have no clue what's been happening -"

"Because you won't tell me," Bra cut in.

"It's none of your business," Pan shouted and continued, her voice dropped but still furiously agitated: "I played him, he played me, we played a game and I lost."

"You lost?" Bra repeated, incredulously. "He hardly seems like he won anything, you know."

Pan turned her back to Bra and brought a hand to her forehead, sighing deeply. "I don't care. If he doesn't like it, he should've -" She cut herself off and clenched her fists angrily. It was none of Bra's business what he should have done.

"That's the whole problem, isn't it?" Bra replied venomously, "You don't care. You just don't give a shit about what you're doing to other people."

Pan twirled around, staring at the blue-haired girl. "I can't believe you'd even think that," she said, furiously. "You're only seeing his side of the story."

"And why do you think that is?" the other girl demanded. "You both have been keeping things secret for me since god knows when. You've avoided or flat out refused talking to me about it and while Trunks, as my brother, isn't indebted to tell me all about his private life, you are. Damnit, Pan, you are my friend and you're supposed to talk to me. Trunks has been an ass lately, and it's your fault."

"Considering the fact that I've been on the receiving end of his being an asshole the whole month, I don't think you're the one to complain or give me a hard time about it. I've got enough trouble with it as it is," Pan replied, calmer.

"The problem is, you're giving the rest of us trouble with it. More trouble than you're allowed to get away with without an explanation.." Bra's voice dropped and she gave her friend a shaky half-smile. "God, Pan, what were you thinking?"

Pan sighed. "I told you, it's none -"

"Of my business, yeah, I know," Bra finished for her. "Don't you think you owe me at least an explanation?"

"No, I don't," Pan said, firmly. "Why are you giving me hell about it? Can't you just go bug Trunks?!"

Bra snorted. "Mom's been doing that for the both of us. He's damn lucky that Papa is off to train. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have heard the end of it."

Pan turned away, embarrassed and somewhat insulted. What was so bad for Trunks to be caught in the sack with her? Except for him being fourteen years older than her, that is, and the fact that they weren't even dating, and her being only a third-class saiyan...

"I want to know how you feel about him, Pan," Bra asked, her voice low.

Pan stared out of the window, unwilling to reply. How was she supposed to tell her friend what she did not know herself? How could she explain that she was not even sure if she wanted him any longer, when she had gone through so much trouble to get him in the first place? How could she ever tell her about the bet, the single most ridiculous thing she had ever done?

"Why won't you tell me?" Bra asked, quietly. "I hate that you won't. We never keep secrets from each other, Pan. Not even Marron knows as much about me as you do. Why won't you tell me?"

Pan still did not turn around, unable to face her friend. She knew how the girl would look at her and she knew she could not refuse that look - it was the patented Briefs puppy-dog look that both Bra and her brother frequently used on her, knowing that their friend was helpless against it.

"I don't know," she finally forced out. "I don't know, Bra, I don't know anything anymore. This stupid game got all out of hand and nobody should've known about it but everybody's got their suspicions now and I didn't even win." Her eyes stung and she chewed on the inside of her cheeks to keep her tears back. Really, what a stupid thing to cry over. She was Son Pan. She did not cry over guys, especially if they did not deserve anything but her anger.

"What was this game?" Bra asked.

Pan breathed out audibly. "Can't you guess?"

Bra kept quiet for a few seconds. "If you haven't lied to me about this, I'd say one of you challenged the other to seduce him. I'm not sure who challenged who, though." She paused again. "If you say you lost, I supposed he must've seduced you when you said he couldn't."

Pan snorted with humorless laughter. "No, sorry, you got the last part wrong."

"You seduced him?" her friend asked, sounding somewhat surprised. "Well, I guess that does make more sense, but I don't see how you lost? I mean, last night-"

"Well, you know, it wasn't as if we actually finished something... or even really started it," Pan muttered, blushing furiously. She was glad that the other girl couldn't see her face.

Bra coughed and giggled under her breath. "I didn't think I would ever want to know these things about my brother. Does this make me a sick and twisted pervert?"

The girl's comment had finally completely lifted the tension between the two and Pan laughed outright now. "I think it does." She turned around and looked her friend in the eyes. "I'm..." she broke off and looked down at her feet. She did not have to apologise for acting as she saw fit, did she? She sighed. "I screwed up big time, didn't I?"

Bra shrugged and smirked. "Depends on your definition of screwing up. If you consider pissing your friends off, hurting them, hurting Trunks, having an affaire and being caught by my mom when you tried to keep it a secret, screwing up, then yeah, you did."

"I haven't hurt him," Pan said quietly. "He doesn't care enough to be hurt."

Bra looked at her, her blue eyes dark. She reminded Pan so much of her brother that it hurt. "Don't be ridiculous, Pan.Whatever you two did, you're still friends. You're more than friends, you're as close as family..." she paused. "I'm making you two sound like perverts now, aren't I?"

Pan nodded gravely.

"Anyway," Bra continued, more seriously, "running off was really in bad taste. You really put Trunks in a lot of trouble, first with that kiss and then yesterday..."

Pan huffed. "He deserved it, every bit of it. He's been such an asshole to me."

"When you were so nice," her friend deadpanned.

Pan rolled her eyes, then sighed. "I know I shouldn't have run off..." She shook her head. "No, I was in my right to walk away that night in the Viking. You don't - he-"

Bra gave her a sympathetic look. "He hurt you, didn't he?"

Pan huffed, not replying to that. "Then last night, I just... freaked out. I left him to talk to Bulma, which must've been so... embarrassing..." she trailed off, slowly starting to smirk. "On second thought, no, he deserved that as well."

Bra shook her head. "Trunks isn't as big an insensitive jerk as he pretends to be, Pan. You of all people should know that."

Pan grimaced. "Whatever, Bra. I don't want to talk about it."

"No, that's your problem," replied Bra, but without venom. "So what are you going to do now?"

Pan gave her a look. "I said I didn't want to talk about it. I don't even want to think about it."

"No doubt Goten'll come and ask you about it. Marron, now, she'll wait till you talk to her, which will probably be never so I'll just tell her-"

Pan looked at her best friend in horror. "Stop it, you're freaking me out. You're not gonna tell Marron anything! I swear, Bra, if you do I'll never tell you anything ever again."

"'s not as if you tell me anything anyway," Bra said, but Pan could hear in the tone of her voice that she was only being recalcitrant. "So if you don't have any plans..."

Pan had a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach. She did have a plan, a ridiculous plan that Trunks forced upon her. In the insane rush of emotions since the night before she had completely forgotten about it , but now...

Oh, he did not deserve anything but her anger.

"Don't tell Marron anything, Bra. Swear it," she demanded, suddenly very anxious.

Bra looked at her in surprise. "What? Yeah, I swear it, I won't tell her a thing. What is it?"

Pan shook her head and smiled shakily. "I just realised just how bad it would be if everybody would find out about last night. I want to forget it ever happened, so... Please, just - don't tell anyone, okay?"

The blue-haired girl nodded solemnly. "I won't."

"And now you should go," Pan added nervously. "I have to go... talk to... someone..."

Bra's face lit up and Pan knew the girl thought she would be heading to her brother. She was wrong, but Pan was not going to tell her that. She did not want to lie to her best friend, but technically this was not lying; she was merely letting her friend come to the wrong conclusions. Bra had gotten her to spill too much already. She was not going to go through the humiliating experience of admitting that she had been tricked into setting Trunks up with Marron, the one girl who she had always considered a rival when it came to him.

"Good luck, Pan," Bra said sincerely and Pan forced down the urge to glomp the girl and sob into her shoulder. She was Son Pan. She did not cry over guys.

Bra opened the window and jumped out, calling a goodbye over her shoulder. Pan stared after her.

She hated Trunks Vegeta Briefs from the very core of her being.

*^*^*^*^*

Pan looked into the glass of the front door and touched the bruises that Trunks had left on her upper arms.

Had she said she loved him? Heh, sure she did. People uttered worse lies in the passion of the moment. How often did a man tell a woman he loved her during sex, to forget about her in the morning? She did not love Trunks, ofcourse she didn't. Not like that.

She could not love him if she despised him. She could not love him if with everything he did, he ended up hurting her. She could not love him if he could not read between the lines, if after a lifelong friendship he still could not understand what she really meant, if he could not see what had been right in front of him for so many years.

Sighing she rang the doorbell and waited for her friend to let her in.

"Pan, hi! What are you doing here?" The pretty blonde quickly dragged her inside and hugged her enthusiastically.

"Don't pretend you're not happy to see me, woman," Pan scolded, laughing, and eased her way out of her friend's embrace.

"I noticed you standing outside for five minutes, Pan, don't you pretend you aren't here for a reason," Marron replied and stuck out her tongue. "Come on, I'll get you something to drink."

"No, thanks, I'll be going soon," Pan answered, awkwardly shrugging her shoulders, but Marron had already retreated to the kitchen.

She glanced around Marron's apartment. As usual it was immaculately clean and tidy. She knew that if the blonde got stuck on a story, she would clean almost maniacally until she got over the temporary writer's block.

Marron worked behind the scenes in a film studio and in her spare time she was a freelance writer for several magazines on diverging subjects. Not only was she smart and creative, but she was also really pretty and very feminine without being affected. Much the opposite of her, Pan, who was a notorious tomboy who could not even pick her major. It was not without reason that Pan had always considered the blonde a rival.

"Why?" Marron came walking back from the kitchen, a glass of coke in each hand. She shoved one in Pan's face, who sighed and took it from her.

"I'm only here as a favor for Trunks," she elaborated.

Marron raised her eyebrows, her facial expression urging Pan on.

"You see, he..." She bit on the insides of her cheeks. "He kind of thought it would be nice to take you out on a date sometime, and because he's..," a fucking asshole, "..a wuss, he thought I should be the one to ask you."

Marron stared at her.

"So... you know, you could. Go on a date with him, I mean. I'll make him promise to be nice," Pan continued, nervously.

"So Trunks wants to go on a date with me, but for some reason mister womaniser is afraid to ask me himself?" The blonde frowned.

"He's probably afraid his title of womaniser will work against him," Pan said sheepishly. This was not working out as planned. Marron was supposed to jump at the chance of dating world's most eligible bachelor and accept without question. She was not supposed to be all suspicious.

Her friend was staring into the distance, now. "Well, I can't say the thought never appealed to me, I mean, Trunks is gorgeous. And if that whole mess with Hento and the engagement hadn't happened, we probably would have dated." She suddenly turned her piercing blue gaze on Pan. "I don't think I'll go," she said slowly.

Pan, naturally, freaked. God, there was no way she could come back without a date. The sheer embarrassment of not only losing the bet but also failing to get Trunks his desired prize was too much to bear. She could not do this, she was simply too proud to do this. "Come on, Marron, one date so Trunks' ego doesn't get shattered," she pushed her friend frantically.

The blonde was looking at her intently. "Sorry, Pan. I'm not going to be your leverage. I don't know what kind of feud you and Trunks have going on, but I don't want to be involved."

"If you're referring to that kiss, that was nothing," Pan stammered. "It was a stupid game, a joke that got out of hand. It meant nothing."

Marron snorted, amused. "Really, you're not kidding anyone. I'm not blind, Pan. Don't expect the women around you to miss the looks you're giving him when you think no one notices. After that kiss even Goten must have a clue, and he's as dense as a brick."

Pan felt her face flush and she glared at her friend. "I'm not kidding," she said, frustrated. "It meant nothing."

Marron nodded. "And I bet you feel lousy about that, don't you?"

Pan raised her eyes to heaven and groaned. "Why is everybody out to get me?"

Marron grinned but, thankfully for Pan, refrained from the "Everybody is not out to get you" comment.

She sighed deeply. "Just one date, Marron, please. I can't go back without a date."

Her friend shook her head. "No. Whatever it is you and Trunks have going on, I'm not going to be involved. Besides, I'm not the kind of person who goes off with her friend's love interest."

Pan spluttered. "He's not my-"

Marron ignored her, smiling to herself. "I was wrong, there's someone you are kidding."

Pan shook her head in self-defence and stood up, emptying the glass of coke. "Well, this isn't proving to be fruitful so I'll just head back to Trunks and admit my total and absolute failure." The bitterness of her tone surprised herself and she mentally kicked herself in the shins for admitting something like that to somebody else, even if that somebody else was a good friend of hers.

Marron did not seem to take her comment seriously though and grinned at her. "It won't be that bad, Pan. Even mister womanizer is used to being rejected every now and then."

Pan snorted.

"Good luck with Trunks, then," the blonde grinned at her.

Pan rolled her eyes and grimaced. "Thanks, I'll need that." She looked at her friend intently. "Are you sure about your answer?"

Marron nodded firmly. "Yup. No way he'll be taking me out like this."

Pan sighed in defeat. "Fine, then. I'll see you later."

"Laters," Marron called after her, still smiling to herself.

~*^*#$#*^*~

AN: *cackles* Why yes, that was a reference to the fun, fun movie Pirates of the Caribbean. *licks Jack Sparrow* That's my pirate, ladies. Hands off.

I got one review for chapter 7 that completely caught me off guard. I had never thought that a reviewer would be able to nail this situation so completely. *grins at YingFa-lilWolf-Lover* You knew what this story was about before I realised it myself. Go you.

Heh, it amuses me that I have five pages of notes on this story that you'll probably never read. From the how and why of bonding to several plottwists to one-line ideas to why Trunks picked the full moon as the deadline (not because of some unconcious bonding instinct *waggles finger*, it's much more mundane than that) to little facts as their ages, majors and jobs.

Perhaps I should put some of it in the author's notes to explain little things... I don't know if it's necessary, though. Are there things that seem weird to you, details that you think need an explanation? Do tell me and I'll find some way to tell you all.

It also amuses me that there's a few guys reading this who actually enjoy it. *grins*

Once again betaed by the lovely Noseless Wonder.