Chapter 3

Beached Blush

Author's Notes: I have many excuses for the late update, but who wants to hear that? On to the story.

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"What on earth am I going to do? I hope she didn't mind that I kissed back..."

It was Sunday morning, two days after the "incident" as Gohan personally called it. He was laying in his bed, contemplating what had happened. It was not like he hadn't already, but now he could think on it a little more objectively now that some time had passed.

Little did he know that his mother happened to be passing by quietly. Chichi heard those words uttered by her son, so she pressed her ear next to the door. She didn't intent to eavesdrop, but the bold mother was not one to turn down a golden opportunity.

Luckily (or unluckily) for Gohan, the telephone started to ring. Chichi slipped away as quietly and quickly as she could, and picked the phone up.

"Hello?" The mother answered.

"Hello Chichi, it's me, Videl."

Chichi could barely contain the smile that now spread nearly across her entire face.

"What do you need Videl?"

"Can you please tell Gohan something for me?"

"Gohan is right here, hold on."

"Wait, no, I-"

Not wanting to let the two remain anymore distanced than necessary, ChiChi pretended to think Videl just wanted to directly talk to Gohan. "Gohan! Your lovely girlfriend wants to speak with you!" His mother could hear him coughing and hacking, undoubtedly from surprise or shock.

Rushing down the stairs, Gohan picked up the phone. Chichi kindly walked away to give him some privacy, but not before winking. The brave warrior who defeated Cell tentatively nodded towards his mother, if only to pacify her.

"Videl?"

The young female was now even more nervous than before. She was not quite ready to say this to him directly. "Gohan, sorry to interrupt, but I..." She paused, and took a deep breath. "I, well I, j-just wanted to apologize about what happened." The tomboy finished quickly.

The gentle hearted hybrid felt bad for Videl. He didn't want her to think he did not like her, he just was a little intimidated by her, that's all. "No apology needed Videl. You never did anything wrong."

She was silent on the other end, not quite sure what to say. Gohan decided to fill the silence and make things right. "You seem a little down, want to brighten up your day at the beach? I heard there is a few volleyball games at the Orange Star beach. I'd like it if you would come with me."

If anyone has observed the tough tomboy, they would have seen her visibly smile. Videl then tried to answer as best she could, holding onto her dignity.

"I'm fine, but that does sound fun. What time is good for you?"

"How about in two hours? I'll meet you at the ice cream parlor, but I have to make sure I study a little bit."

Amused, Videl faked a sigh. "Well alright, but you should let up on the studying once in a while. You're missing out."

Gohan chuckled. "I'll try, see you later Videl."

"Ok, thanks Gohan."

She then hung up, leaving him to wonder why she thanked him.

Time passed, and as promised, Gohan met Videl at the ice cream parlor two hours later. Gohan came wearing a blue bathing suit and a green t-shirt, with sandals. He also had a backpack with a towel and other things. Videl was dressed in a purple one piece bathing suit. Naturally, even if she wanted to wear one, her father would undoubtedly prohibit a two piece.

And also naturally, Videl knew that Gohan would be hungry, so she had hotdogs and some timely bought ice cream ready for him. The now hungry male realized his 'friend' had took the time to arrive early so she could treat him to some food.

"Hey Videl." He greeting.

She grinned. "Hey, follow me. We need to pick a table before this ice cream melts. I can't eat all this alone you know." Videl winked after saying the last part.

Gohan followed her, and sat down across each other. The tables were just at the entrance of the beach, were several hotdog stands and other assortments were laid out.

"Gee Videl, you didn't have to do this." He commented.

She waved dismissively. "Oh please, it's not like I just bought you mansion. It's just some hotdogs and ice cream."

The half saiyan smiled sheepishly. "Well I appreciate it. It's thoughtful."

Videl blushed a tiny bit at that comment. "Just eat your food."

Chuckling inwardly at her reaction, Gohan gladly obeyed, and started to quickly bite into an ice cream cone, instead of licking it.

"Hey!" Videl cried out.

The man without a clue blinked.

"What?" He asked.

"That was mine. Dummy."

"Ops. I..."

Before he could finish, Videl smirked. "Suit yourself, but I licked that you know."

Now it was Gohan's turn to blush. He stopped in mid-bite and froze. This caused Videl to smirk even more, and fold her arms together.

"Serves you right."

Gohan quietly finished his portion, including the "tainted" ice cream. Videl finished her own food a little after Gohan.

"Alright Gohan, you said there was going to be a few volleyball games available."

"Yeah, what about it? Want to play?" He inquired.

Videl abruptly stood up and pointed a finger at him, looking serious. "You're going to play against me."

"W-wha? I thought we could work together."

"That's fine, after we prove who's better."

Gohan groaned. "Alright, let's go find our teams."

"Whoever said we were playing with other people? It's just you and me."

Gohan didn't bother to protest. "Ok, then let's find a net and ball."

Gohan managed to find a net, but the problem was, it was being used. Oh man, this is a problem. I'm going to have to just ask. He thought.

"Hey guys, can I use this for a little bit?" He asked politely, just as planned.

Videl stood behind, watching carefully.

A man chuckled. "If you can jump over it, then su-WHAT?!?"

Gohan, during the middle of the man's sentence, flipped over the net effortlessly.

"He's not human..."

Sometimes I wonder that myself. Videl thought to herself jokingly as she approached the scene.

Gohan picked up the ball and tried to give it to Videl so she could serve first.

"You're not going to throw this match are you? You better not." Videl warned with a frown.

"N-no, of course not." The poor half saiyan answered.

The tomboy smirked. "Good."

"No use trying to fool her anymore. She knows me too well for that." He pondered.

They got into position, and Videl cleared her throat. "Ok, pay attention Gohan, I'm serving."

She hit the ball hard and quick so it went just to the end of the back border. Gohan dove back with great speed, and punched the ball upwards. Needless to say, he used excessive force, and the volleyball exploded and vaporized.

A crowd had then gathered, especially seeing as how the ball vaporized. A knowledgeable child adjusted his classes. "I think that's Videl Satan's point, seeing as the ball is technically on Gohan's side."

A teenage surfer jeered. "No way dude. Did you see that thing explode? It was epic man."

Gohan laughed nervously. "Uh, who did that belong to?" There I go, using my power again. He scolded himself.

Videl shook her head, and decided they best go look for whoever owned the volleyball.

After unsurprisingly being unable to find the owner of the now deceased volleyball, Gohan and Videl gave up the search. They laid down Gohan's beach towels on the sand a decent distance away from the water. Videl had not thought to bring her own towel, so Gohan let her use his teddy bear one (much to her embarrassment and protest).

"I can't believe I'm lying on this thing." Videl complained after a while. She then frowned. If it was anyone else, I swear.

"Well how about we go for a sw-uhhh, Videl, you're skin is starting to turn red."

Videl looked at herself, then at Gohan.

"How come you're not tanning or burning?" She asked, forgetting her forming sunburns.

"Runs in the family." He answered shortly. Extreme temperatures are needed to affect a saiyan, but Videl doesn't need to know any of this yet. He pondered briefly.

Raising an eyebrow, Videl shrugged and started to fold up the towel.

"Well we better go somewhere else, before I do get burned."

It was late spring, but still quite hot for the season. Seeing the obvious sense in not letting Videl get sunburned, Gohan nodded and packed his things. Videl changed her clothes in the bathroom, and as she was changing Gohan thought of something. He waited until she got out.

"Hey Videl, I got an idea."

"Spill it." She demanded, curious to hear him out.

"Do you want to spend the next weekend at my house? We can get in a lot of time in for flying lessons that way, not to mention there's my mother's delicious cooking too."

Gohan almost licked his lips at the thought of that, but quickly composed himself.

"Sure. My dad is never home on the weekends anyway, so no bother there."

Gohan smiled, but then his face turned red as Videl locked her arm with his.

"Come on bucko, you're walking me home."

He nodded nervously. "Eh, which way is it again?"

Videl groaned loudly.

Gohan put on a goofy grin. "I'm only joking, of course I know where you live. It's quite hard to miss." Although it is not hard to miss you. He thought to himself

Videl rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me." She then started to stretch her neck out.

Unexpectedly, Gohan leaned down and gently kissed Videl's cheek while she was finishing stretching her neck. Her already lightly burned face turned a deeper shape of red.

Both were quiet until they arrived at the Satan Residence.

"Come on in for a second." She instructed Gohan.

He complied, and shut the door being him.

"What is it?" He asked, not sure what this was all about.

Videl gently grabbed both of Gohan's hands. He froze for a moment, and she let go of his hands, and hugged him. Without much hesitation, he hugged her back. Both of them were lost in the moment, eyes closed, enjoying their closeness. They could feel the heat in their chests, the butterflies in their stomachs, and the warm feeling in their hearts.

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Author's End Notes: I made this chapter while I had the flu, but I tried to make it well. I think I didn't include enough description and depth, so I'm going to make sure to do that for the next chapter.