Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Peaches & Creme ❯ I Have Something To Tell You ( Chapter 5 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Sakura02 
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.18.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 229 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.18.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 229 | Status: Completed
Peaches & Creme
º º º
"Heh, I think there's something wrong with your fiancee."
Trunks looked over at Marron, also wondering why Goten had put so much of a stress on the word "fiancee". But he indeed noticed something was wrong with Marron. She seemed to be watching Goten very intently, but truth be told, she was actually staring past him, lost in thought.
"Hello? Marron, are you in there?" Frowning, Trunks waved his arm in front of her face.
She blinked, obviously startled. "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry.... Did you say something?"
"Yes," Trunks said, sounding upset. "What's wrong?"
Marron snuck a quick glance over at Goten. To her dismay, she saw him holding out half a piece of bacon from his mouth, and allowing Paris to grab the other half with her mouth (like the spagetthi scene in Lady and the Tramp).
"Uh, nothing," she said a little too quickly.
She then saw Trunks looking over in the direction of Goten and Paris. He had stopped feeding her, and now had a look of confusion and unconvincing alarm.
"Um, are you two having some sort of premarital fight, or something? 'Cause if you are, we can leave," Goten said, jerking his thumb towards the door.
"No, we're fine," Trunks said, scowling some.
Marron now seemed a little embarrassed. Like her, Goten knew that Trunks was aware that he and Paris were having their own relationship problems, but he also seemed to only show this side when Trunks was actually watching him.
She truly hadn't meant to make Trunks mad at her for not telling him what was bothering her.
"So, G-Goten," she began, her mouth quivering. "What made you decide to bring Paris here for your anniversary?"
Goten's breath caught; he was taken aback by Marron's question. After a pause that seemed like an eternity, he said, "I just wanted to go somewhere different."
"How on Earth did you get the money to come here, though?" Trunks asked, starting in the conversation.
Goten put his arm around Paris, as she snuggled closer to him. "I was working at Starbucks. I've been working there for over a year, but I never told you because I was a little embarrassed. I mean, c'mon, a coffee shop?"
"Wait, you work at Starbucks?" Marron asked, perplexed. "Were you there on Thursday?"
Goten put his finger to his chin, thinking. "Hmm, Thursday.... Oh, no! That's right, I had Michael take my shift that day."
"Oh, because Marron seemed to think that the cashier looked like you. You should have seen her; she was just goggling at him."
Goten paused, and then turned to Marron, a gleam in his eyes. "That was Michael. Everyone says we could be twins, but I just don't see it."
Suddenly, and very much without warning, Marron had dropped her silverware and was saying loudly, "What are you talking about, Goten? He looked just like you! If it weren't for that fact that you're more--" Marron gasped, and quickly covered her mouth.
"More what?" Paris asked.
"More...taller. Goten's taller than him," Marron said, smiling weakly.
º º º
After breakfast, Marron felt exhausted. She had nearly given herself away by saying that Goten was more SOMETHING compared to his co-worker Michael, and Trunks still seemed a little disappointed in her for not confiding in him.
Goten had suggested that they go swimming at the beach, and Marron had had no alternative thing to say, that she accepted without thinking. She now regretted it with all her heart.
She knew, that as men, Trunks and Goten, would want to take off their shirts in the heat, but when they met on the shoreline, she felt thwarted to find him not in the slightest bit of interest to want to remove his shirt.
"Aren't you hot in that?" Trunks asked, looking at Goten.
"Nah, I'm fine," he answered, and when Trunks turned, he winked at Marron. "Come here," he mouthed to her.
"Yes?" Marron said, sitting down in the sand.
Goten leaned over, lowering his head so that he was level with her. He was so close to her, that Marron could feel his warm breath against her cheek, and if it was at all possible, she felt him moving closer still.
"I love you," he whispered into her ear.
Without even meaning to, Marron let out a scream and lept up from the ground. She was blushing terribly, and when Trunks made his way over to find out why she had screamed, Goten answered for her.
"I was telling her a joke. Apparently, she didn't find it that funny."
"Since when do you tell funny jokes, Goten?" Trunks asked, smiling. "If they're anything like your dad's used to be...."
Goten stopped, a look of discomfort on his face. But it was gone when he said, "What are you talking about? I have the best sense of humor in the world! Now, listen to this: what do you call a cow without a cowboy?"
Marron knew talking about Goku had always been a touchy subject for Goten, but she said nothing, and continued on her way over to Paris, who was tanning herself.
"Paris?" Marron said, leaning over her friend.
Paris removed her sunglasses, looking up at Marron. "Yes?"
"Umm...could I talk to you about Goten?"
Sitting up, Paris turned to where her boyfriend was sitting with Trunks. She studied him a while, before saying, "What, did he get sick again? I told him eating all that food and coming straight out to the beach wasn't a good thing...."
"Well, no, he's fine. But I was going to ask: you two are having some sort of problem, right? Would you mind, if I asked what was going on?"
Marron felt guilty about asking these questions; actually, she felt more nosy than guilty. It was almost as if she was trying to understand their relationship better.
"Not at all," Paris said, shaking her head. "Goten told me about your anniversary with Trunks. But for some reason, he started acting moody whenever I brought up the subject of ours. Then..." Paris's voice faltered some. "Then, he told me he didn't love me anymore."
"So, is that why your hotel room had two beds?"
"Yours only has one," Paris said, nodding. "That's good."
Paris had a smile on her face, but Marron could tell it was forced. She felt bad for the girl. How could Goten just blurt out that he didn't love his girlfriend of two years? And to do it on their anniversary was unforgiveable.
"Paris...." Marron reached over and hugged the girl, whose body was now shaking. Not only did Marron feel bad for asking Paris to explain this to her, but also because she knew that she was the girl Goten had feelings for.
"I want h-him to be h-happy," Paris stammered. "But is it selfish for me to want to be happy with him?"
"Of course not," Marron said quietly, stroking the other girl's hair. She could feel droplets of water falling onto her shoulder, and she blinked as she tried to hold back her own tears.
º º º
Marron had trouble sleeping that night. She tried everything her parents had taught her: close your eyes and just lay there, think about the day's events; she even tried counting dragonballs.
Her mind was on the day's past events, but none of them left her any comfort. She kept telling herself she loved Trunks, but a small part of her brain was telling her otherwise. She clenched her fist and realized she had forgotten to take off her ring. The tears were really coming now; in fact, she was sobbing.
In an attempt to not rouse Trunks again, she got out of bed and headed towards the balcony. When she was outside, she looked over the ledge to see if there was any sign of Goten. There wasn't.
"Psst!"
The waves are really beautiful, Marron thought.
"Psssst!"
The weather feels nice too... "But that cricket is starting to bug me."
"Who're you calling a cricket?"
Marron looked up from the waves on the sandy beach, and was once again, standing face-to-face with Goten. In total horror, she tried to let out a scream, but Goten was too quick; he had already slapped his hand over her mouth to muffle her.
"Come with me, I have something I need to tell you," Goten said, and without removing his hand from her face, he picked her up in his arms, and drifted down to the sands below.
"Goten, take me back now! Who do you think are you, justing taking me away from Trunks like that?"
"Shh! Do you want the whole island to hear you? I told you there's something I need to tell you."
Marron crossed her arms and tapped her foot imapatiently. She was glad about one thing: she wasn't the kind of girl to wear frilly nightgowns to bed, so at least Goten could look at her face when he talked and not somewhere that might be distracting.
"Let's hear it then...."
Goten stayed quiet, almost as if he were thinking of what to say. He scratched his head and then his temple. "Okay," he said finally. "Let's sit down."
He's staling! Marron thought irritably.
"I love you...."
"Goten, I--"
"Don't interrupt me, please.
Goten grabbed Marron's hand and led her over to a stone ledge a few yards from the shoreline. Even after they sat, he continued to hold her hand as if he was thinking of never letting go. Only after Marron pulled her hand away, did he have no choice but to give it back.
"Look, Marr," Goten began. "I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time. Okay, it wasn't too long ago...." After saying this, he stood up, and put a hand up to his face, rubbing his temple. "Ugh, I can't tell you this now. Is there anything you wanted to do earlier?"
Marron looked up curiously at her fiancee's best friend, who was also one of her closest friends. She was trying to read his facial expression, but it was really hard whenever it changed every few minutes. She also wanted to answer his question, but his strange behavior had her a little worried.
"I...yes," she choked. She waited for him to say something, but when he remained silent to added, "I wanted to take a boat out onto the ocean."
She didn't know what made her say it; she wasn't even sure she wanted to be out on the water. Goten stood there, in the moonlight, unmoving, his expression unreadable, but then he held out his hand and said, "All right. What do you say we go see if there's still a boat to rent at this hour?"
Marron accepted, grabbing his hand. She hadn't realized it before, but as he led her to another spot on the beach, she noticed that she was trembling. Was it the late Hawaiian breeze, or the fact that she knew she shouldn't be doing this? Or was it something else?
They reached a blanket of sand that Marron realized was only tens of yards away from the Royal Hawaiian. The thought of Trunks seeing them together, with Goten's hand in hers, made her sick.
Oddly enough, there was still one boat left for them to rent out this late at night. The captain said he was more than willing to take "two young lovebirds on a late-night cruise"; but when Marron tried to correct his mistake, Goten only accepted the man's offer.
As the man untied the knots that would set his ship asail, Marron noticed the uneasy look on Goten's face. She wasn't sure if it was the pale light from the moon, but she thought he looked really uncomfortable. Then, it hit her like a sack of potatoes....
"Oh, Goten, I forgot!" Marron cried, instinctively grabbing his shoulder. "Come on, let's get off."
"Too late," Goten said, hoarsely, for the captain had already finished with all his knots and was already making his way back over to begin steering the boat.
"Aye, laddy," the captain said, taking notice of Goten. "Yeh get sick, got ye?"
Goten nodded.
"Well, ye as better be unmovin'; and lie down, I don't want yeh gettin' sick all over me deck."
Goten did as he was told, but he tried still to concentrate on what he had planned to tell Marron. Unfortunately, he had also read back at his hotel that trying to mutli-task while being seasick was only going to back him feel worse. Unabiding by the captain's instructions, Goten sat back up, looking Marron directly in the eye.
He heaved one last sigh and began, "I haven't just been working at Starbucks."
Marron blinked. She has been concentrating on the moonlit water, and had almost forgot why she was there. "Huh?"
"Last year, Trunks told me he was going to propose to you here in Hawaii. He told me how much it would cost to get the two of you here, so I...," Goten paused, swallowing hard as if to keep whatever was rising in his throat to stay down. "I worked four jobs and saved up enough money for me and Paris."
"Y-You what?" Marron was so taken aback by Goten's comment, that she was really unable to say anything else.
"I had been dating Paris only a year when I told her I didn't love her anymore. I hated breaking her heart, but I couldn't keep living that lie. I knew then that I--"
Goten put a hand to his cheek, a look of surprise on his face. Marron had just slapped him, tears flowing from her eyes.
"You're a jerk," she said, shakily. "A selfish jerk. How could you even think about saying something like that to your girlfriend? I can understand you not being as attracted to her, but to tell someone you don't love them? And what even gave you the nerve to tell her that?"
"Because I love you," Goten said, his face almost sad-looking.
Marron slapped him again, but this time it hurt twice as much. Goten watched as more tears leaked from her eyes.
"Would you quit doing that?" he said, a little annoyed. He wasn't quite sure if he meant for her to stop slapping him or to stop crying. Truth be told, he wanted both to cease.
"No!" Marron cried. "Not until you quit making up these lies about being in love with me! You shouldn't play with a girl's feeling's Goten. It's Paris you love, not me."
"But I'm not lying: I love you, Marron." Goten stretched his arms forward, and pulled Marron in for a hug, although she did not return the favor.
"This isn't right," she breathed into his ear.
"I know," Goten whispered back, pushing her away. "...I kept seeing Paris, but I don't even know why. We haven't been the same around each other since then, except, she's been very clingy recently."
"But this morning at breakfast...?" Marron said, looking up.
"It was an act; I wanted to make you jealous."
"Then, how come when Trunks looked over at you two, you were acting the total opposite?"
"All this I'm telling you, he already knows about it...except for the part where I told you I loved you. That remains a secret between the two of us, all right?"
Marron nodded. "Look Goten, you can't keep doing this. If you're going to break up with Paris, do it. It's not fair for you to still be with her if there's no connection."
"That's just it, Marr: I can't break up with her. She hasn't really got anyone else. Sure, she's got her parents, but only a boyfriend can love her the way I did."
"And what makes you think she can't find herself a new boyfriend?" Marron said defensively.
"She told me when we first starting dating. We were both twenty and I had been her first boyfriend...ever. Who finds their first boyfriend at that age?"
Marron blushed. "Not too many people, I suppose."
"Exactly."
They sat in silence for nearly half an hour. They hadn't even noticed that the boat had already begun heading back to shore. It was only when they felt a jolt as the boat made contact with the sand, did they bother to say anything.
"We're back," Marron said cheerfully, stepping off the ship.
"Thank Kami for that," Goten said, as he followed her down. "I think I'm going to be sick."
Marron shut her eyes and covered her ears, for at that exact moment, Goten had doubled over, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the wet sand.
"Tha's it, son," the captain urged him. "I'm just glad it wasn't on me deck."
º º º
The next day, Goten had woken up well past noon, and that was only because Paris had told that she was leaving to go shop and had asked if he wanted anything to eat. The answer she had gotten had not been a pleasant one. Goten had made a gross-sounding burp and had dashed off to the bathroom to throw up.
By the time he had finished, he noticed Paris had called in the hotel medic. She asked him how he felt and he replied with tired, cold, and nauseous. The woman then diagnosed him with being seasick.
"That isn't possible," Paris said, frowning. "We haven't been on a boat in days."
"I'm only diagnosing him based on his symptoms, ma'am. Now Mr. Son, it's advised that you stay here and out of the sun. And if you think don't think you'll get sick, eat something light, and make sure it's not greasy or spicy."
Goten nodded, and watched as the nurse bid them a good day, leaving him and Paris alone.
"...I have a confession," Goten said quietly. "Marron and I rented a boat and took it out to sea last night. I told her about us. She thinks I should just call it off between us."
"I think you should too!" Paris said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Don't you start crying; she did enough of that last night. I hate it when women cry.... Besides, you've had a year to call it off, but you decided against it in case I changed my mind about you."
It was not a good time for the couple, and it would have ended worse if not for the phone, which had begun to ring. Goten found it annoying, but he also didn't wish to have the same conversation with Paris that he had had with Marron hours before. So, he picked up the phone on the bedside table.
"H'lo?"
"Goten? It's Trunks."
Goten noted right away that his friend sounded frantic.
"What's wrong?" Goten asked, regaining some of his vigor.
"I can't find Marron."
º º º
º º º
"Heh, I think there's something wrong with your fiancee."
Trunks looked over at Marron, also wondering why Goten had put so much of a stress on the word "fiancee". But he indeed noticed something was wrong with Marron. She seemed to be watching Goten very intently, but truth be told, she was actually staring past him, lost in thought.
"Hello? Marron, are you in there?" Frowning, Trunks waved his arm in front of her face.
She blinked, obviously startled. "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry.... Did you say something?"
"Yes," Trunks said, sounding upset. "What's wrong?"
Marron snuck a quick glance over at Goten. To her dismay, she saw him holding out half a piece of bacon from his mouth, and allowing Paris to grab the other half with her mouth (like the spagetthi scene in Lady and the Tramp).
"Uh, nothing," she said a little too quickly.
She then saw Trunks looking over in the direction of Goten and Paris. He had stopped feeding her, and now had a look of confusion and unconvincing alarm.
"Um, are you two having some sort of premarital fight, or something? 'Cause if you are, we can leave," Goten said, jerking his thumb towards the door.
"No, we're fine," Trunks said, scowling some.
Marron now seemed a little embarrassed. Like her, Goten knew that Trunks was aware that he and Paris were having their own relationship problems, but he also seemed to only show this side when Trunks was actually watching him.
She truly hadn't meant to make Trunks mad at her for not telling him what was bothering her.
"So, G-Goten," she began, her mouth quivering. "What made you decide to bring Paris here for your anniversary?"
Goten's breath caught; he was taken aback by Marron's question. After a pause that seemed like an eternity, he said, "I just wanted to go somewhere different."
"How on Earth did you get the money to come here, though?" Trunks asked, starting in the conversation.
Goten put his arm around Paris, as she snuggled closer to him. "I was working at Starbucks. I've been working there for over a year, but I never told you because I was a little embarrassed. I mean, c'mon, a coffee shop?"
"Wait, you work at Starbucks?" Marron asked, perplexed. "Were you there on Thursday?"
Goten put his finger to his chin, thinking. "Hmm, Thursday.... Oh, no! That's right, I had Michael take my shift that day."
"Oh, because Marron seemed to think that the cashier looked like you. You should have seen her; she was just goggling at him."
Goten paused, and then turned to Marron, a gleam in his eyes. "That was Michael. Everyone says we could be twins, but I just don't see it."
Suddenly, and very much without warning, Marron had dropped her silverware and was saying loudly, "What are you talking about, Goten? He looked just like you! If it weren't for that fact that you're more--" Marron gasped, and quickly covered her mouth.
"More what?" Paris asked.
"More...taller. Goten's taller than him," Marron said, smiling weakly.
º º º
After breakfast, Marron felt exhausted. She had nearly given herself away by saying that Goten was more SOMETHING compared to his co-worker Michael, and Trunks still seemed a little disappointed in her for not confiding in him.
Goten had suggested that they go swimming at the beach, and Marron had had no alternative thing to say, that she accepted without thinking. She now regretted it with all her heart.
She knew, that as men, Trunks and Goten, would want to take off their shirts in the heat, but when they met on the shoreline, she felt thwarted to find him not in the slightest bit of interest to want to remove his shirt.
"Aren't you hot in that?" Trunks asked, looking at Goten.
"Nah, I'm fine," he answered, and when Trunks turned, he winked at Marron. "Come here," he mouthed to her.
"Yes?" Marron said, sitting down in the sand.
Goten leaned over, lowering his head so that he was level with her. He was so close to her, that Marron could feel his warm breath against her cheek, and if it was at all possible, she felt him moving closer still.
"I love you," he whispered into her ear.
Without even meaning to, Marron let out a scream and lept up from the ground. She was blushing terribly, and when Trunks made his way over to find out why she had screamed, Goten answered for her.
"I was telling her a joke. Apparently, she didn't find it that funny."
"Since when do you tell funny jokes, Goten?" Trunks asked, smiling. "If they're anything like your dad's used to be...."
Goten stopped, a look of discomfort on his face. But it was gone when he said, "What are you talking about? I have the best sense of humor in the world! Now, listen to this: what do you call a cow without a cowboy?"
Marron knew talking about Goku had always been a touchy subject for Goten, but she said nothing, and continued on her way over to Paris, who was tanning herself.
"Paris?" Marron said, leaning over her friend.
Paris removed her sunglasses, looking up at Marron. "Yes?"
"Umm...could I talk to you about Goten?"
Sitting up, Paris turned to where her boyfriend was sitting with Trunks. She studied him a while, before saying, "What, did he get sick again? I told him eating all that food and coming straight out to the beach wasn't a good thing...."
"Well, no, he's fine. But I was going to ask: you two are having some sort of problem, right? Would you mind, if I asked what was going on?"
Marron felt guilty about asking these questions; actually, she felt more nosy than guilty. It was almost as if she was trying to understand their relationship better.
"Not at all," Paris said, shaking her head. "Goten told me about your anniversary with Trunks. But for some reason, he started acting moody whenever I brought up the subject of ours. Then..." Paris's voice faltered some. "Then, he told me he didn't love me anymore."
"So, is that why your hotel room had two beds?"
"Yours only has one," Paris said, nodding. "That's good."
Paris had a smile on her face, but Marron could tell it was forced. She felt bad for the girl. How could Goten just blurt out that he didn't love his girlfriend of two years? And to do it on their anniversary was unforgiveable.
"Paris...." Marron reached over and hugged the girl, whose body was now shaking. Not only did Marron feel bad for asking Paris to explain this to her, but also because she knew that she was the girl Goten had feelings for.
"I want h-him to be h-happy," Paris stammered. "But is it selfish for me to want to be happy with him?"
"Of course not," Marron said quietly, stroking the other girl's hair. She could feel droplets of water falling onto her shoulder, and she blinked as she tried to hold back her own tears.
º º º
Marron had trouble sleeping that night. She tried everything her parents had taught her: close your eyes and just lay there, think about the day's events; she even tried counting dragonballs.
Her mind was on the day's past events, but none of them left her any comfort. She kept telling herself she loved Trunks, but a small part of her brain was telling her otherwise. She clenched her fist and realized she had forgotten to take off her ring. The tears were really coming now; in fact, she was sobbing.
In an attempt to not rouse Trunks again, she got out of bed and headed towards the balcony. When she was outside, she looked over the ledge to see if there was any sign of Goten. There wasn't.
"Psst!"
The waves are really beautiful, Marron thought.
"Psssst!"
The weather feels nice too... "But that cricket is starting to bug me."
"Who're you calling a cricket?"
Marron looked up from the waves on the sandy beach, and was once again, standing face-to-face with Goten. In total horror, she tried to let out a scream, but Goten was too quick; he had already slapped his hand over her mouth to muffle her.
"Come with me, I have something I need to tell you," Goten said, and without removing his hand from her face, he picked her up in his arms, and drifted down to the sands below.
"Goten, take me back now! Who do you think are you, justing taking me away from Trunks like that?"
"Shh! Do you want the whole island to hear you? I told you there's something I need to tell you."
Marron crossed her arms and tapped her foot imapatiently. She was glad about one thing: she wasn't the kind of girl to wear frilly nightgowns to bed, so at least Goten could look at her face when he talked and not somewhere that might be distracting.
"Let's hear it then...."
Goten stayed quiet, almost as if he were thinking of what to say. He scratched his head and then his temple. "Okay," he said finally. "Let's sit down."
He's staling! Marron thought irritably.
"I love you...."
"Goten, I--"
"Don't interrupt me, please.
Goten grabbed Marron's hand and led her over to a stone ledge a few yards from the shoreline. Even after they sat, he continued to hold her hand as if he was thinking of never letting go. Only after Marron pulled her hand away, did he have no choice but to give it back.
"Look, Marr," Goten began. "I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time. Okay, it wasn't too long ago...." After saying this, he stood up, and put a hand up to his face, rubbing his temple. "Ugh, I can't tell you this now. Is there anything you wanted to do earlier?"
Marron looked up curiously at her fiancee's best friend, who was also one of her closest friends. She was trying to read his facial expression, but it was really hard whenever it changed every few minutes. She also wanted to answer his question, but his strange behavior had her a little worried.
"I...yes," she choked. She waited for him to say something, but when he remained silent to added, "I wanted to take a boat out onto the ocean."
She didn't know what made her say it; she wasn't even sure she wanted to be out on the water. Goten stood there, in the moonlight, unmoving, his expression unreadable, but then he held out his hand and said, "All right. What do you say we go see if there's still a boat to rent at this hour?"
Marron accepted, grabbing his hand. She hadn't realized it before, but as he led her to another spot on the beach, she noticed that she was trembling. Was it the late Hawaiian breeze, or the fact that she knew she shouldn't be doing this? Or was it something else?
They reached a blanket of sand that Marron realized was only tens of yards away from the Royal Hawaiian. The thought of Trunks seeing them together, with Goten's hand in hers, made her sick.
Oddly enough, there was still one boat left for them to rent out this late at night. The captain said he was more than willing to take "two young lovebirds on a late-night cruise"; but when Marron tried to correct his mistake, Goten only accepted the man's offer.
As the man untied the knots that would set his ship asail, Marron noticed the uneasy look on Goten's face. She wasn't sure if it was the pale light from the moon, but she thought he looked really uncomfortable. Then, it hit her like a sack of potatoes....
"Oh, Goten, I forgot!" Marron cried, instinctively grabbing his shoulder. "Come on, let's get off."
"Too late," Goten said, hoarsely, for the captain had already finished with all his knots and was already making his way back over to begin steering the boat.
"Aye, laddy," the captain said, taking notice of Goten. "Yeh get sick, got ye?"
Goten nodded.
"Well, ye as better be unmovin'; and lie down, I don't want yeh gettin' sick all over me deck."
Goten did as he was told, but he tried still to concentrate on what he had planned to tell Marron. Unfortunately, he had also read back at his hotel that trying to mutli-task while being seasick was only going to back him feel worse. Unabiding by the captain's instructions, Goten sat back up, looking Marron directly in the eye.
He heaved one last sigh and began, "I haven't just been working at Starbucks."
Marron blinked. She has been concentrating on the moonlit water, and had almost forgot why she was there. "Huh?"
"Last year, Trunks told me he was going to propose to you here in Hawaii. He told me how much it would cost to get the two of you here, so I...," Goten paused, swallowing hard as if to keep whatever was rising in his throat to stay down. "I worked four jobs and saved up enough money for me and Paris."
"Y-You what?" Marron was so taken aback by Goten's comment, that she was really unable to say anything else.
"I had been dating Paris only a year when I told her I didn't love her anymore. I hated breaking her heart, but I couldn't keep living that lie. I knew then that I--"
Goten put a hand to his cheek, a look of surprise on his face. Marron had just slapped him, tears flowing from her eyes.
"You're a jerk," she said, shakily. "A selfish jerk. How could you even think about saying something like that to your girlfriend? I can understand you not being as attracted to her, but to tell someone you don't love them? And what even gave you the nerve to tell her that?"
"Because I love you," Goten said, his face almost sad-looking.
Marron slapped him again, but this time it hurt twice as much. Goten watched as more tears leaked from her eyes.
"Would you quit doing that?" he said, a little annoyed. He wasn't quite sure if he meant for her to stop slapping him or to stop crying. Truth be told, he wanted both to cease.
"No!" Marron cried. "Not until you quit making up these lies about being in love with me! You shouldn't play with a girl's feeling's Goten. It's Paris you love, not me."
"But I'm not lying: I love you, Marron." Goten stretched his arms forward, and pulled Marron in for a hug, although she did not return the favor.
"This isn't right," she breathed into his ear.
"I know," Goten whispered back, pushing her away. "...I kept seeing Paris, but I don't even know why. We haven't been the same around each other since then, except, she's been very clingy recently."
"But this morning at breakfast...?" Marron said, looking up.
"It was an act; I wanted to make you jealous."
"Then, how come when Trunks looked over at you two, you were acting the total opposite?"
"All this I'm telling you, he already knows about it...except for the part where I told you I loved you. That remains a secret between the two of us, all right?"
Marron nodded. "Look Goten, you can't keep doing this. If you're going to break up with Paris, do it. It's not fair for you to still be with her if there's no connection."
"That's just it, Marr: I can't break up with her. She hasn't really got anyone else. Sure, she's got her parents, but only a boyfriend can love her the way I did."
"And what makes you think she can't find herself a new boyfriend?" Marron said defensively.
"She told me when we first starting dating. We were both twenty and I had been her first boyfriend...ever. Who finds their first boyfriend at that age?"
Marron blushed. "Not too many people, I suppose."
"Exactly."
They sat in silence for nearly half an hour. They hadn't even noticed that the boat had already begun heading back to shore. It was only when they felt a jolt as the boat made contact with the sand, did they bother to say anything.
"We're back," Marron said cheerfully, stepping off the ship.
"Thank Kami for that," Goten said, as he followed her down. "I think I'm going to be sick."
Marron shut her eyes and covered her ears, for at that exact moment, Goten had doubled over, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the wet sand.
"Tha's it, son," the captain urged him. "I'm just glad it wasn't on me deck."
º º º
The next day, Goten had woken up well past noon, and that was only because Paris had told that she was leaving to go shop and had asked if he wanted anything to eat. The answer she had gotten had not been a pleasant one. Goten had made a gross-sounding burp and had dashed off to the bathroom to throw up.
By the time he had finished, he noticed Paris had called in the hotel medic. She asked him how he felt and he replied with tired, cold, and nauseous. The woman then diagnosed him with being seasick.
"That isn't possible," Paris said, frowning. "We haven't been on a boat in days."
"I'm only diagnosing him based on his symptoms, ma'am. Now Mr. Son, it's advised that you stay here and out of the sun. And if you think don't think you'll get sick, eat something light, and make sure it's not greasy or spicy."
Goten nodded, and watched as the nurse bid them a good day, leaving him and Paris alone.
"...I have a confession," Goten said quietly. "Marron and I rented a boat and took it out to sea last night. I told her about us. She thinks I should just call it off between us."
"I think you should too!" Paris said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Don't you start crying; she did enough of that last night. I hate it when women cry.... Besides, you've had a year to call it off, but you decided against it in case I changed my mind about you."
It was not a good time for the couple, and it would have ended worse if not for the phone, which had begun to ring. Goten found it annoying, but he also didn't wish to have the same conversation with Paris that he had had with Marron hours before. So, he picked up the phone on the bedside table.
"H'lo?"
"Goten? It's Trunks."
Goten noted right away that his friend sounded frantic.
"What's wrong?" Goten asked, regaining some of his vigor.
"I can't find Marron."
º º º