Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Videl and Gohan's Little Problem ❯ Longing ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: Longing

He isn't going to do it again. I won't let him. Even if I have to fake something so stupid and drastic...he will NOT sit in front of the computer all day after he is done with work.

She nearly stomped her way into the backyard, planning to do a little therapeutic gardening. Another thing Gohan thought was so gallantly beautiful. The outdoors. She wanted it to burn. Anything just so he would have one less thing to think about and have to pay attention to more neglected things in his life. Like her.

Last night had been a normal reoccurrence. He had yawned and stretched in front of the computer at around midnight, finishing whatever he had been in the middle of and turning off his precious "baby". He had left the room quickly, presumably to get a quick snack and take care of any other business before he went to bed. It was around twelve thirty in the morning when he came back into their bedroom, leaving off the lights and pulling off his clothes until he was in his boxers. He slipped underneath the blankets and turned away from her, presenting her with his back. She had awakened from the disturbance of him moving around and the annoyingly familiar noise of the computer going away. She had waited for him to come back into the room to see if he would change his stupid routine, but of course, he didn't. Always laid down in only his boxers, god forbid she wear less, and turned away from her. She had wondered briefly if facing away from her was now his favorite thing to do, since she was so ugly he couldn't even force himself to look at her. She would be lucky if she got a five second glance at his handsome face before he turned back around.

She had wondered if she should try anything to perhaps even make him hold her, like he always used to do. He would hold her all night long, only letting her go when she had to get up or when they had "better" things to do.

She had stared hard at his bare back a few long minutes before she closed her eyes, thinking hard. She wanted a good plan, and she needed one before he fell asleep.

She could tell from the way that Gohan jumped and glanced over his shoulder he was surprised when he heard her sob. She had turned away from him, for she didn't think she would be able to keep a straight face if he just shrugged and ignored it as he did everything else.

She had gotten the shock of her life when he turned around, moving over to what was designated as only "her" side of the bed, and her side only. Dende forbid he came within an inch of it.

She had felt the warmth of his hand come near her shoulder, and she had nearly started bawling at how good it felt just to feel some of his warmth near her again. At her renewed sob he had hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder, bending closer to her.

"Uh...Videl? Are you alright?"

She had shook her head hard. She had wanted to be silent and try to intrigue him, but knowing him, he would probably lose interest. She started "crying" again, feeling his nervousness grow with each second. She knew that he didn't know what to do, and he was probably ready to puke from being so close to her in the first place. At that moment, she was almost tempted to turn around and slap him as hard as she could, but she just couldn't. She just couldn't do that.

Instead, she just turned around, seeing his startled look even through the dark. She forced tears out of her eyes, but it actually wasn't that hard since she was so close to them in the first place.

"Gohan...I just had a...bad dream. Please...will you hold me? Just for a minute?"

She had seen a frown form on his face through the dark. She had wanted to scream. They urge to slap him was growing by the moment. She was one second away from doing both when he actually brought his arms around her, bringing her against the intense heat of his body. She had almost gasped aloud at the feeling, but she had been unable to do anything but clutch at his bare chest and try to keep her raging emotions down.

Her renewed surge of hope was killed exactly a minute later. She wondered if he had been mentally counting off the sixty seconds until he could finally get away from her. He had released her, asking timidly if she was alright and receiving a pathetic nod before he rolled back over to his side and promptly fell asleep.

Kami how she had wanted to kill him right then. She had wanted to pick up her pillow and smother his face in it, watch him gasp for air and beg her to stop. All she would do is laugh and tell him that's how she always felt...she always felt like she was dying...because of him. She couldn't believe he had actually willingly touched her for the first time in more than two years, and then pushed her away as if she was nothing.

She had gotten up about ten minutes later, bringing her pillow with her and leaving the room. Gohan didn't even so much as move as she slammed the door as hard as she could, the loud crack making the whole house shake. She had woken up Pan, she had noticed from the way that her daughter had walked out in her cute little pajama's and asked what was wrong. Videl, who had made her way into the cozy living room, had just said nothing, she had had a bad dream and she wanted to be in a more lighted area. Pan had bought it, and had gone right back to bed.

Well, Videl thought, digging up a pretty little daisy by their backdoor. At least SOMEONE cares for me. That stupid bastard didn't even wake up....

So now she was destroying her backyard and thinking about how to "distract" him away from his second child. She needed help...she didn't know if it was help from other people as in advice, or as in mental help. Maybe she was slowly going insane. She had never had so many violent urges to hurt Gohan as she had in the past two years. If he only knew...but wait, how could he possibly not know?! With the things she had been desperately trying to do to get his attention, you would think anyone, even the stupidest, most blind person in the world would notice!!

She pulled out the daisy instead of digging it out and shredded it to pieces, tearing it apart with all the frustration she had inside her. She didn't even notice the person behind her, listening to her let out small angry yells now and then and watch tears pour down her face. Her shoulders slumped over in defeat as she sat there, her eyes closing and tears unwilling to leave her alone. She nearly curled up on the stairs that led up to the backdoor, but was stopped by a large hand encompassing her shoulder. She stiffened, but she knew who it was.

"Hi, Goku," she muttered, not bothering to wipe her face off. He helped her stand on her wobbly legs, and she looked down at the ground in shame as he inspected her. She knew that he was suspicious of at least something now, since she was crying. She didn't cry very much, in fact, she wondered if Goku had ever seen her cry before. Gohan had seen it only a couple rare times, last night included. That was probably why he had been so shocked.

"Hey...why are you crying, Videl? Did something happen? I could hear you all the way inside venting your frustration out on that poor innocent flower."

Her face hardened. "No, nothing is wrong. And I'm happy that flower is dead. One less thing for Gohan to pay attention to."

Goku's face lit up with surprise. He had had the feeling that it had something to do with his son, but he hadn't thought it was this bad. Videl wouldn't ever willingly hurt her flower garden.

"Hey...he couldn't have done something that bad, could he? Gohan's a good boy," he said, smiling faintly. When she almost started growling he blinked, wondering if she was going to hit something, namely him.

"Gohan is such a good boy, Gohan is so perfect, Gohan this, Gohan that. Damn it, I'm so sick of it!! I hate him!! Look what he's doing to me!! I hope he-!!"

"Videl! What are you talking about?" Goku asked, interrupting her. She glared at him, throwing down her gardening gloves and shovel. She turned around, walking up the stairs so she could go inside.

"Like you would care," she sneered, throwing open the door and stepping inside. Goku flinched when it slammed, and then he frowned. Videl is totally flipping out...something must really be wrong. She loves Gohan too much to be acting with so much hatred towards him....

Videl was just stepping up to her kitchen sink when Goku opened her back door and invited himself in. Pan was at school and Gohan was at work, so she didn't have to worry about father-son remarks and Pan jumping all over him. She just went to the sink and washed her hands, quickly drying them off with a soft cotton towel as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"Videl...you know you can talk to me. Something has to be wrong if you're this upset," Goku stated, watching as she plopped herself in a chair beside him and laid her head down in her arms. She looked tired. She looked defeated.

He placed his hand on her shoulder again, giving it a comforting squeeze. He felt surprise wash through him when he suddenly felt her shoulders shaking, like she was crying, but when she lifted her head up, she was trying to breathe she was laughing so hard.

"You know what's funny, Goku?" she asked abruptly, trying not to laugh anymore. "You touch me more than your son does!!"

He blinked a few times before he finally understood. "Videl? What are you talking about? Of course I don't touch you more than Gohan does. That would be-"

She shook her head, her eyes watering again. "No...no, you don't understand, Goku. You won't ever understand...."

Goku stared at her with confusion, watching as she wiped her face off with her hands. She just sat there for awhile, looking off into space. He didn't really know what to say...this was just confusing the hell out of him.

"Videl...I don't...you mean, you're telling me that Gohan never...touches you? Doesn't even hug you, doesn't ever kiss you? But he used to-"

"Exactly," she said suddenly, looking him straight in the eye. "You know that for the first time in over two years, he actually willingly held me for a minute last night? And that was only because I secretly forced him to."

"Forced...him to?"

She shrugged. "I guess I made him feel bad when I started to pretend I was crying last night, and I lied and told him I had had a bad dream. I asked him to hold me for a minute, and once that minute was up, he let me go and fell right asleep."

"You mean...that you and Gohan...never have...never make love? But you two used to be all over each other all the time. We couldn't keep you two apart."

Videl blushed, she couldn't help it. She was talking to her father-in-law of all people about her sex life. But who else could she talk to? Her DAD?

"I know, Goku," she said sadly, playing with a glass salt shaker on the kitchen table. "But he doesn't...care anymore. He doesn't even look at me anymore. I doubt that he even loves me anymore."

Goku almost burst out laughing. "Man, Videl, something must not be right here. Yesterday Gohan came over actually bragging about you to Chichi and me. He had a big smile on his face and everything."

Videl felt a spurt of hope. "Really?" she asked quickly, feeling a smile appear on her lips. Goku was amazed at the way her face totally lit up and how beautiful she looked at that moment. "What did he talk about?"

"Well...he said that you cook better than Chichi."

Videl felt the hope die like it had never been there. She stood, shoving back her chair and letting it topple over onto the floor.

"I give up!!" she nearly screamed, wanting to grab something and hurl it across the kitchen. "Why is he doing this to me?! I'm not that fucking ugly, am I?!! I don't want to believe that for a moment, since I still have guys coming onto me, even though they know I'm married!! This is bullshit, Goku!! Gohan doesn't even look at me, he doesn't even talk to me anymore!! We used to talk for hours about nothing!! Nothing, do you hear me?! We would talk about nothing," she sobbed, falling to her knees on the kitchen floor. Goku stood and walked over to her, picking her up off the floor. He hugged her tightly against his chest, letting her sob her despair onto his gi.

And that's exactly how Gohan found them not five minutes later. Goku thought he was actually going to kill something, namely him, until Videl lifted her head and his son saw her face. His briefcase dropped to the floor with a loud thump, his face instantly filling with worry and concern. Goku stepped away from her as Gohan hurried across the kitchen, stopping in front of her, but not touching her. Goku frowned.

"Videl? What's wrong? What happened?" Gohan asked, watching her quickly wipe off her face and give him a pathetic watery smile. "Nothing, Gohan. I've just been really stressed lately, no big deal."

Goku wanted to slap his son when all he said was, "Oh. Well, ok, I guess I better go and get started."

Once Gohan picked his briefcase back up and left the room, Videl turned to her father-in-law. The look on her face told him all he needed to know.

"Videl, we're going to get you some help, and we're getting you some help right now."

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