Chapter 03
Trunks sat in silent horror as Gohan concluded his tale. The raven-haired boy’s body shook as a quiet sob escaped him. Trunks wanted to say something, anything, to comfort his friend, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, he hugged him tighter and rested his cheek on Gohan’s head.
“I can hardly stand to look at Goten anymore… He looks so much…like him…” Gohan said, swallowing hard.
“Gohan…I’m so sorry…I wish I could do something to make it better…”
The younger boy closed his eyes and exhaled a shuddering breath. He turned in his angel’s arms and gazed into his cornflower eyes, reaching up to stroke Trunks’ cheek with the back of his hand. Cupping his face in his hands, he pulled Trunks into a gentle kiss. Feeling his uncertainty, Gohan’s fingers softly pressed against the back of his crush’s head, urging him, begging him, wanting him, needing him.
Yes, Gohan needed him. He needed him to take away the pain that he had suffered at his father’s hand. Pulling away from the younger boy, Trunks stared into Gohan’s blacker-than-black eyes, noticing the pleading look there.
“Gohan…” he swallowed.
“I-I…I’m sorry, Trunks… I didn’t mean…”
Mirai Trunks placed a finger to the stuttering boy’s lips, silencing him. Then his hand moved to caress Gohan’s cheek, tinted a silver glow in the moonlight, his thumb running across the smooth flesh. Trunks’ lips parted in a silent gasp when a lonely tear dropped onto his fingers.
“Gohan…why…? Don’t cry, Gohan,” he said quietly, wiping away the short trail of saline.
The dark-haired demi Saiya-jin sniffed and looked at his hands, wondering why Trunks hadn’t pushed him away in disgust by now. He was his father’s whore, a toy for his father to come home and fuck whenever he had drunken himself into that kind of mood. Why was Trunks still holding him as though he were actually someone worth touching? Why hadn’t he thrown him out yet?
Gohan tensed when Trunks pulled him into a tight embrace, still careful not to put too much pressure on Gohan’s injuries, and rested his chin on his head. He lightly stroked the younger boy’s back, relaxing him. A few quiet moments later, he pulled away from Gohan and gazed into his eyes.
“Gohan, I want you to stay here for a while. I won’t let you to go back to what you’ve had to suffer through. I’m sure mom won’t mind. We have plenty of space. Goten can stay too, you know, until Goku gets himself under control.”
The darker teen swallowed, pushing back the threatening tears. “Please…don’t tell…anyone else…”
Trunks hesitated, indecision flickering across his sapphire colored irises. He opened his mouth to speak, to refuse Gohan’s plea, but closed it when he saw how desperately his friend wanted secrecy. Finally, he nodded, “Of course, Gohan. I won’t tell.”
“Thank you…Trunks…I don’t know how to…repay…”
The older man’s heart ached at Gohan’s broken voice, and he suddenly found himself furious at Goku for doing this to him. His rage baffled him for a moment, the anger being stronger than he had ever felt for anyone, even for the androids. Quickly deciding that he didn’t want to deal with them at the moment, he pushed his emotions to the back of his mind, focusing on the pained young man in front of him.
Gently, Trunks let go of Gohan and crossed to the other side of his room, missing the hurt frown that tilted the other’s lips downward. He opened one of his dresser drawers and pulled out a pair of loose gi pants, tossing them on the bed next to Gohan.
“You can wear those tonight until we can get your clothes, okay?”
Gohan nodded weakly and took the fabric into his hands. He looked up at Trunks, who was walking towards him, and said, “Um…Trunks?”
“Yeah?”
“Could I…sleep with you tonight?” Gohan asked shyly, a light blush coloring his cheeks.
Trunks couldn’t hide his surprise, and his lavender eyebrows arched in shock. He fumbled with his answer for a moment, finally giving up on his voice and nodding at him rather detachedly, his mind racing with wild thoughts. With an imperceptible shake of his head, he rose from the bed again to close the balcony door that he had left open after bringing in the battered Gohan.
While his back was to him, Gohan struggled to pull on the gi pants without his cuts and bruises hurting too badly. The azure-eyed man turned around to see Gohan clothed in the blue pants and fumbling nervously with the towel, not sure what to do with it. A sad smile found its way to Trunks’ lips as he watched with morbid fascination at how one person could have turned the once confident young man into a defeated small child.
“Gohan,” he said, taking the towel from the other demi, “try to get some sleep, okay? I’ll talk to Goku in the morning if you want me to.”
“No!!” Gohan replied with a force that surprised them both. “Please don’t. What if he…what if he comes after me? What will I do if he…?”
Fresh tears coursed down the teen’s cheeks, and Trunks found himself clenching and unclenching his fists in suppressed rage, rage directed once again at Goku. He had never seen the part Saiya-jin so afraid before. How dare Goku make his friend feel this way? Forcing himself to calm down, he placed a comforting hand on Gohan’s shoulder.
“Sleep now. We’ll talk about it more in the morning,” Trunks said soothingly. “But I promise you, I won’t let your father cause you any harm ever again.”
Gohan nodded and sniffed, wiping at his eyes, again embarrassed by his tears. Trunks helped him to lie down on the soft bed, joining him once he was comfortable. He draped one arm over Gohan’s side, tugging him closer, reaching up with the other arm to stroke his hair. Gohan sighed softly, a faint smile gracing his features as he snuggled closer to his long-time obsession.
Trunks glanced down at him, his own smile tilting the corners of his mouth. He leaned his head down and pressed his lips to Gohan’s forehead in a gentle kiss. Continuing to stroke the soft, ebony locks, he watched as Gohan drifted into a peaceful slumber.
The lavender-haired prince, though, found sleep a little harder to come by, as he searched his mind for a solid enough lie to cover for Gohan’s cuts and bruises. Frowning as none seemed sound enough to convince his genius mother, he forced himself to close his eyes and sleep just as the sun peeked over the horizon.
“Hmmm…I wonder what dad would say if he found me like this, cuddled up to ‘baka Kakarotto’s demon spawn’…” Trunks murmured to himself before a dreamless sleep overtook him.
