Enough

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.