Chapter One

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"Dude, I can't believe you got sick!" Goten snapped in frustration.

"Shut it Goten!" I growled, "It was your stupid idea to go jet skiing in the middle of winter!"

Goten and I stood in the middle of my bedroom arguing like a bunch of teenage girls. It was a cold day, which didn't help my being sick. Wrapped up in a thermal and fifty pairs of socks and perhaps three shirts, I shivered relentlessly trying to get control of my body. I failed.

"Uh-yeah! Only because I thought you'd be strong enough to withstand the cold. If I knew you were such a pansy, I wouldn't have suggested it." Goten glared at me, folding his arms across his chest.

It was true; I caught the cold over the weekend when Goten and I went jet skiing off the coast. Of course, us being Saiyans we thought the waves by the coast weren't big enough for us. So we turned it up a notch and decided to go to the Niagara Falls for a little thrill. Mother would of course have my head for even suggesting the trip so Goten and I had snuck off. Nobody really suspected anything other than Goten and I looking for some waves nearby. Being a Saiyan made the trip easy and to be honest, it was embarrassing that I still had to ask permission from my mom.

The trip ended up being a disaster. The only reason I can come up with was karma and it being a bitch as always. Oh and Goten, he's a bitch too.

Goten, hadn't checked the weather so we ended up going during the coldest weekend. Lucky us. To make matters worse, Goten insisted that we'd be fine and that a couple of chills weren't going to damage us.

I was the idiot to believe him. His wasn't even shivering, but I remembered my teeth chattering while riding some of the currents. Goten thought it'd be funny to mock me. I couldn't take his jabbing. It was puncturing holes in my shivering ego so I challenged him to a race. It was from one end of the river to the other, no powers and definitely no flying.

I don't know how it happened, but I found myself – somewhere in the midst of an adrenaline rush – catapulting down the river. If you didn't know or are unable to figure it out, that was not part of the challenge. But Goten always did have his own set of rules to match his brain wave and in this case, he happened to be the perpetrator who cut in front of me resulting in my said crash.

Let's just say that in the end, my teeth weren't the only things chattering. I thought my testicles were vibrating.

"Do you have any idea what my mother will do if she finds out about our trip! She'll tear my face in two!" I nearly shouted. Why didn't he understand the severity of the situation? Was it that hard to grasp? I mean, instead of bitching, he could help me think of some excuse to tell my dearest psycho mother.

Goten laughed, "That'd be great! I'm sure the fan girls will appreciate it."

I glared at him in the fiercest way I possibly could because he had to feel my need to rip his head. He knew that that was a rough subject for me. I'd help anyone in this world except for those psychotic no-name girls stalking me at every turn. This fish was not available. Besides, I just had a huge fight with Pan and me being sick was not going to go well. Me getting torn to shreds by mom wasn't going to help either. I hadn't even apologized for whatever I did that upset her and by the looks of things, I doubt I'd be able to anytime soon.

If life were a person, I'd kill it.

No, I take that back; I'd strangle the bastard than shove its face down a concrete wall before I kill it. Yeah, now that would bring pleasure.

"Dude, if you keep pep talking yourself, I'm just going to hold a conversation with the wall behind you. It might respond faster," Goten smirked as my eyes narrowed on his stupid face. I thought best friends were supposed to be someone you wanted around all the time. Right now, I wanted to pretend Goten was the bastard life and throw him out the window.

Dammit, I thought while trying to picture my previous thought. He wouldn't even have a scratch on him even if I did throw him out! Son of a -!

"You act like you've never done that before. You're infamous for talking to inanimate objects, so why hide it from me?" I snapped, hoping I hit a nerve.

Goten's eyes shot open with a mighty scowl on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

I rolled my eyes and laid down on my king sized bed with my hands behind my head. Every now and then I'd feel a shiver shoot through my spine but I was slowly warming up. Goten sat himself down on my computer chair on the left side of me, rolling around on my hardwood floor. It was obvious he didn't care about the subject anymore but I still continued.

"You talk to your food before eating them," I reminded him sarcastically.

I couldn't resist. Goten toppled over the chair and glared at me from his uncomfortable position on the floor. I laughed and closed my eyes. Few seconds later, I sneezed and sneezed and sneezed and sneezed.

Shit!

"Who's laughing now snot face?" Goten clutched his sides as he guffawed in my room.

"I need a doctor," I groaned.

"Call your family doctor," Goten suggested.

"Yeah right!" I jeered. "He'll tell my mom about our trip and if he does that, it means no more Trunks Briefs without an R.I.P. sign before it."

I pushed myself up on my elbows and turned to my left to steadily grill my best friend with my eyes for even suggesting a ludicrous idea. Why couldn't the Lord have given him enough brain cells to help me in situations like these?

"Uh," Goten scratched his head. "Looks like you're royally screwed, bro."

I rolled my eyes. "Thank you, Captain Neanderthal."

I sniffed and sneezed again, the entire force of it stabbing my throat and chest with pain. My eyes drifted to the right where a picture frame of Pan and I hung on my wall. It was her college graduation. She looked extremely happy and messy in the picture, having rained during the ceremony, but she clung tightly to me and we both had a cheesy smile on our faces.

And that's when it clicked.

"Duh!" I hit my forehead and in the late realization. Stupid! Goten looked at me half amused half curious, raising one eyebrow.

"Who's girlfriend just graduated from medical school?" I grinned, reaching for my cell phone.

"Uh, yours?"

"Exactly!" I said, bringing the phone to my ear.

"Did you forget she told you not to call unless you were going to apologize?"

DAMMIT!

I frowned and hung up before it got to the second ring. What was it that I did again? I tapped my fingers on the receiver, thinking back to the fight.

"Pan, I don't want those guys to even think you're available," I huffed as she shuffled around in her room, trying to find her work out clothes. She turned over boxes and tackled through her clothes in the closet. She didn't respond, disappearing in the mass walk-in closet she had in her room.

She emerged a few minutes later and stared at me. I frowned and sat on her bed, resting my elbows on my thighs and twitting me thumbs about in frustration.

"Are you listening?" I asked after no response.

She picked up sweat pants that were lying under her feet and examined it with a scrunched up face. She looked cute but I wasn't about to tell her that when I wanted her to be serious about this problem.

"Yes, Trunks. I am listening to you. However, I don't understand why you're so worked up over a couple of guys. They know I'm dating you so what's the big deal?"

I sighed and straightened my posture. "Because!" I nearly shouted. "Men don't know shit about boundaries. If they see something they like, they'll go head first for it. And you happen to be the object they're diving for."

She narrowed her eyes at me. I wanted to wipe the sweat that suddenly exploded on my forehead but that would be a sign of weakness. Hold strong Trunks or else she'll whip cream your ass.

"Do you know what today is?" she asked.

I raised a brow at her in confusion. She took that as a no. Dropping whatever was in her hand she walked toward me menacingly. I wanted to scoot back but I dared not move. She might attack. Chicks were crazy and a Saiyan chick was straight psychotic.

Pan crouched to my level, slowly brought her hands up and caressed my neck. I stiffened at first but quickly relaxed under her massage. My eyes fluttered close as her hands worked magic on my neck and shoulder. Suddenly she stopped and before I could open my eyes, she gripped my collar and yanked me toward her. My eyes shot open in surprise to see her glowering at me.

"It's. My. Birth. Day." She seethed.

Oh boy. Not good. A major fail.

Thinking quickly, I grabbed her wrists gently and stood up, faking a grin.

"I didn't forget baby."

She gave me skeptical look.

"Seriously," I assured her. "I've got your present here with me now."

Thinking about the bottle in my pocket, I reached and grabbed it. She stepped back expectantly, her face lifting in excitement.

Sweet!

I pulled it out slowly. In that instant I felt a sharp sting on my right cheek, my head snapping to the left.

"YOU GOT ME PEPPER SPRAY FOR MY BIRTHDAY?" she roared.

I winced at the memory. I recall landing on my ass a couple minutes later. Good thing I grabbed that spray before she had a chance to try it out on me. I did need to apologize to her, in all truth. But I couldn't stand those guys staring at her! If she had just taken the damn thing and used it, we'd both be happy. I wouldn't complain and she wouldn't be present-less! It made perfect sense to me so why couldn't she see it?

Oh that's right. Females are on a different radio wave, thus anything I say is retarded in their comparison. Of course Pan never actually voices such opinions but I can read it in her eyes. The Lord couldn't possibly have given me the gift of understanding the female language but he was generous enough for me to read Pan's expressions. I suppose I should be thankful that I've at least got something to help me, but I think the language thing would have worked out better. I'm just saying, God.

"Well, I'll call and apologize and then ask for a favor," I amended.

Goten quirked an eyebrow. "This is Pan we're talking about. She's not about to forgive you and do you a favor all in the same day."

I blew a strand of hair that fell in front of my face and leaned back on to my comfy bed. He was right. Pan is completely pure hearted, but somehow I'm excluded from that privilege. I suppose it went away the moment we started dating. If I weren't so in love with her, I'd probably break it off with her just to get on her good side.