Embarrassed by the one I love.

Let me see . . . the fish needs to go in now. I walked to the fridge and pulled out the fish, squash, white wine, red onions and the butter. It was time for the fish. I got out the aluminum foil, diced the squash and onion and set the black salmon on the aluminum foil, the fish, onions and butter on top. Then I folded the aluminum foil around the fish and, leaving a small corner open, poured the white wine in. Lastly I put the fish in the oven and sat down at the table to read.
Nate had been correct. His brother had shown up about half an hour ago. So he, Shaun and Pan went for a walk to bide time until dinner. I’d kicked them out of the kitchen. I waited until the fish had about twenty minutes left, then I put the rice on and, again, waited. Right as the delicious, warm smells filled the kitchen, the brothers and Pan came in.
Shaun inhaled deeply. “Dang, that smells good! Not only is she gorgeous, but she’s a good cook, from the smell of it!” He peeked into the kitchen. “Can we come in now?”
“A few minutes.” I was busy trying to open the juice bottle for Pan, but my hand wouldn’t fit around the cap—the cap was too big and my hand was too small.”Dammit,” I sighed.
Nate popped in. “Need some help?” he asked, pushing his sleeves to his elbows.
I looked up. “No, I’m good.” I struggled with the cap again, trying to stretch my hand out over the cap. It was failing miserably.
He chuckled. “You really do have tiny hands.” He walked over, took the bottle from me and popped it open in a matter of seconds. “Ah, there we go.” He poured the juice into a sippy-cup.
“They need to make those caps smaller.”
He chuckled again. “Yeah, I guess so.” He watched me walk past him and to the stove.
“Dinner’s done.”
Shaun led Pan into the kitchen and everyone settled down to eat. “This is awesome. Epic.”
Nate laughed. “You think this is good? She can cook a hell of a lot more dishes. A few months of this, Story, and I’ll get fat.”
I smiled, blushing. “Thanks, I think.”
He grinned. “Oh, definitely thanks.”
After dinner, I cleaned up the table and everyone was settling down for the night, in the living room, to watch T.V., when the doorbell rang. I sighed and went to answer it.
My ex, Martin, stood there, smiling. “Hey, Story.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard you took on a male boarder and wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Oh, now you want to check up on me?” I started to slam the door in his face, but he caught the door.
“Wait, please. Can you please just give me a few seconds?”
“Make it fast.”
“I’m sorry things turned out the way they did. I’m sorry I was such an asshole. I really am. The truth is that I love you. I miss you. I want you back, at least as a friend.”
“What kind of friend?”
“Well, that would be up to you. I’d be overjoyed at being a couple again, but if you want to just be friends with benefits-“
“Oh, yeah, that’s gonna happen. Fuck off, Martin.”
He grabbed me, pulled me out of the house and slammed me against the wall. “You will respect me, Story, if it’s the last thing you do. Stop mocking me.”
I glared up at him. “Did you not hear me clearly the first time? Here, let me repeat myself for your slow, inept brain. Fuck. Off.”
He slammed me against the wall again. “Stop mouthing off! Can’t you see, you belong to me?!”
I raised one brow. “Oh? You must be blind, Marty. I ‘belong’ to nobody.”
“I didn’t mean ‘to,’ I meant ‘with.’”
“Bull-fucking-shit.”
“Story, stop it! I don’t want to hurt you! Why can’t you be more submissive, dammit?! Stop being so damn uptight and relax, lay back and give in to me!”
I felt my eyes widen in disbelief. “Do you remember who the fuck you are talking to?”
“Story, I swear, I’ll kill you.”
“Go right the fuck ahead, but I’m not afraid to die.”
A slow, evil smile spread across his face. “Then maybe I’ll have to take a different route.” At my questioning glare, he said, “I heard the boarder has a small daughter. . . .”
I started to say something, but before my mouth even opened, Martin was on the ground with Nate straddling his waist and pulling back his fist in a blurred motion.
Shaun was suddenly there, trying to hold Nate’s fist back. “Nate, no! Stop! You know you can’t hit him!”
As it was, Martin was already bleeding, so I wondered vaguely if he’d already been hit, or if he’d hit his head on the sidewalk. I was dizzied at the blur of speed with which they seemed to move.
“Let go of my arm.”
“Nate, get up! Come on, he’s already hurt! He’s weak, if you hit him, you’ll kill him!”
“Goten, let go of my arm.”
Wait—did he just say Goten?
Shaun’s eyes flicked to mine, momentary panic in them, before he tried pulling harder. His whole body was straining backward, arms tight and hard with the effort it took to hold his brother back.
I decided to be nice and help. I walked over, placed my hand timidly, cautiously, on Nate’s shoulder. “Nate,” I murmured, “don’t hurt him. Please. He’s an asshole, an arrogant bastard. He doesn’t mean what he says. He’s too much of a pussy to act on the threats.”
Slowly, the tension eased out of Nate’s body, his arm went limp in Shaun’s hands—throwing him onto his ass on the sidewalk—and, slowly, he got up. For good measure, he kicked Martin in the side. “Get up and get the fuck out of here. I ever see you around Story or the house again, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”
Martin scrambled to all fours, scuttled away, got to his feet and ran, as fast as he could.
I collapsed against the side of the house. “God.”
Nate’s eyes flicked to me. “Are you okay, Story?”
I nodded, tiredly. “I’m fine.” A bit panicked by just how fast you and your brother moved, by how much muscle I felt on your shoulder, by being threatened by my ex, by being pinned against the side of the house—all of that added to my natural insecurities, natural wariness, made me sag against the house. “What about you? It was your daughter he threatened.”
“He won’t get past me and G-Shaun.” Suddenly his eyes went wide and he stared at me. “You know, I think you ought to lie down. You don’t look so well.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I think I’ll go relax. You should take a walk, relax.”
He nodded. “Yeah, maybe, but would it be safe to leave you here alone?”
“Yes, why not? You scared the—“ it was then I saw the round, yellowish puddle on the sidewalk. I gasped, started laughing.
Nate’s eyes widened and he looked to where I was and started to laugh, too.
Shaun, who I hadn’t noticed had left, came back carrying Pan and saw us laughing our heads off. Pan instantly started laughing at us and Shaun saw the puddle, so we were all laughing.
Finally, when the stress had been relieved and we were all laughed out, we stared, grinning at each other. “Oh, God, Nate, you really scared him!”
“I know—Jeeze, didn’t think it’d be that easy!” He chuckled. “I guess you’ll be safe. Shaun and I will take Pan for a walk, just to cool off. Good luck, Story, not that you’ll need it.” He left, Shaun trailing behind with Pan snugly in his arms.
The moment they were gone, the moment the sidewalk was cleansed, I ran into the house and flicked on my computer, typing in “Nate, Pan and Shaun.” I didn’t know their last names, and that bugged me now that I thought of it. On impulse, I went through my DBZ pictures I had stored on my computer, browsing through those until I came upon pictures of Goten, Ultimate Gohan and Pan. Then I froze.
No, no fucking way. That wasn’t possible. Nate, Shaun and Pan looked eerily similar to Gohan, Goten and Pan. Eerily similar. That . . . no, it couldn’t . . . they weren’t real . . . they were cartoon characters.
Weren’t they?
I returned to the internet, browsed for a long time, but nothing came up that bore the names of Nate, Shaun and Pan, not all at once, anyway. I closed that down and stared at the pictures.
My God, Goten had been in my house.
My God, Pan had been in my house.
My God, Gohan, the real, life Ultimate Gohan was living with me. Not staying, not visiting, but living.
And I had admitted my feelings to him, before I’d known it was him!
His words, every single one of them, came back to haunt me.
"Oh, come on. If Gohan were standing in front of you right now, don’t tell me you wouldn’t find him immensely attractive."
“He’s a lot like Goten." He smiled. "And I do mean, a lot like Goten."
"I’m pretty sure I’m first in the race."
"Maybe I’ll never be what you think I am. What you’ve made me out to be. But I can tell you that I’ll be here for and with you. I want to be annoyingly persistent. Tell me that you’ve no interest in me, and I’ll stop this conversation and never bring it up again. Between you and me, I think you have an interest in me."
It was as though he’d been trying to tell me who he was. Dear God, I’d sat beside him, telling him about himself, pretty much idolizing him in front of him, without knowing who he really was. God, he must think I’m a fool! He must’ve had a nice laugh about all this! Why the hell had I opened up to a complete stranger about somebody else?! Why the hell hadn’t I listened to my instincts and shut the fuck up? God, damn it!
“Story?” a voice said. Nate’s—er, Gohan’s voice.
I whirled, switching off the screen as I did. “Go-uh, Nate? You’re back so soon!”
“’Soon?’” His brow furrowed. “We’ve been gone for hours, Story. Are you okay?”
“Oh-I’m sorry. I was, uh, busy. I didn’t expect you back yet. Time flies, eh?”
“What were you doing?” He walked closer, concern in his eyes. “Story, you look pale. Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nodded, probably a little too quickly, backing away into the computer desk. “I’m fine, really.”
His eyes narrowed. “Is somebody bothering you?” He walked closer, reached past me and switched on the screen.
“No, wait, don’t!” I cried, grabbing his wrist.
But it was too late. The screen flashed to life, right on Gohan’s picture. His eyes widened.
I was trapped. Trapped between his body, the wall and the computer. I was so close to him, I could hear the “thump-thump” of his heart. Even as terrified as I was, the sound of his heart was calming—in fact, even as his proximity terrified me, it calmed me, made me want to relax.
He looked down at me, pale and speechless for just a second. “Story—I—“ A quick shove to his chest caught him off guard enough I was able to slip past him.
I ran, out of the house, off of the property, and kept running until I hit the woods. He must’ve been a bit shocked, because he hadn’t chased me. At least not yet. I wiggled into a small, underground cave, hiding, shivering from both fear and chill, pressing my back into the wall. I was wearing a pair of shorts, a tank top and no shoes. I really was freezing, but I could handle it. It wouldn’t even be hard, actually.
I froze when I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. “Why can’t we sense her, dammit?!” It was Goten.
“I don’t know.”
“You could’ve stopped her if you’d wanted.”
“Yeah, but I knew if I’d touched her, I would’ve really freaked her out, so I let her go. Then I flew Pan over to mom and dad’s so we could search for her.”
I dug my nails into my palms, clenching my fists together, until I felt warm, moist liquid running down my arms. The blood dripped onto the stony floor.
“Hm?”
“What is it, Gohan?”
“I heard something.” I heard him creeping closer to my cave. “Like water or blood or tears hitting a rock.”
I stiffened. He couldn’t have heard that. No way.
“Now that I heard that, I smell blood. Goten, don’t you smell that?”
Silence for a moment. “Yeah, I do.”
“Oh, God, what if she’s hurt? Dammit, I shouldn’t have let her get away!” I heard him coming closer. The next time I heard his voice, he was right next to the cave. “I think she’s in there.”
“If she’s not, then an animal is hurt.”
“Yeah.” Next I heard a windy sound and, before I knew it, the top of the cave had been blown away. Gohan smiled. “Story, you don’t have to hide.”
I scuttled further in to the cave.
“Come on, come out. I won’t hurt you. I wouldn’t hurt you for anything in the world.”
Not even now that I know everything? I know who you are? What are you willing to do to keep that secret?
“Story—“
“Come on, let’s go! You’re going to catch your death out here, Story. You’re not properly dressed to be out here.”
Half a smile on his face, Gohan knelt down slowly. “Story, come with me. I promise I won’t hurt you. Please?” He held his hand out.
Slowly, I reached out and took his hand, shivering even more when I felt his warmth. Before I blinked, he had me up in his arms, cuddled against his chest. I locked my arms around his neck, burying my face in the crook of his shoulder.
“Guess it’s time to get you home.”
When I got home, I took a long, calming bath, relaxing for a while, before I got out and went to my room. When I started to lie down, a knock came at my door. I sighed and got up to open it.
Gohan stood there, smiling. “I really hope that you haven’t changed your mind about me.”
Now that I knew who he was, I was really shy around him. “Changed how?”
He grinned. “I hope you still like me.”
I blushed. He hadn’t said anything about that before, why now?
“I just want you to know that everything I said when I was Nate, I meant. Am I still first in the runnings?”
“R-runnings?”
He nodded. “Yeah, do you still find me attractive?”
His blunt way of saying that deepened the blush and made me look away.
He sounded like he was grinning still when he said, “Now that I’m standing here in front of you, do you still say I have a body?”
That made the blush flare, deepening until I was certain my face would always be red, but it also made me look at him and realize he was shirtless. That made me blush so badly, I was literally dizzy.
He reached out, cupped my chin in the palm of his hand and pulled me around to look at him. His smile was gently condescending. “You know, I love the way you react to me now. I don’t know what it is about your shyness, about your blushing, but I really love it. I know it’s because you now know that it was to me that you spilled your guts to, that I am the one that you love, but I love it. It’s adorable to watch you blush.”
My mouth opened to say, “Bite me,” but I couldn’t talk. I bit my lip, rolling it thoughtfully between my teeth. Why wasn’t he releasing me?
His smile gentled, his eyes dropped to my lips and he stroked my chin with his thumb, forcing me to release my lip. Slowly, gently, he lowered down to me, covering my lips with his own lightly. It was a small, brush of a kiss, over quickly, but worth a lot more than a make-out kiss. He pulled back, smiled at the look on my face and went back to his own room.
I stood there, hand over my lips, for at least an hour. Finally, I backed into my room, shut the door and climbed into bed. I was biting on my lip for awhile before I realize I was doing it. I also realized I could taste him. Eventually, I fell into a deep, dreamy sleep.
The dreams centered on Gohan and that very same kiss.

I awoke to arguing. It wasn’t loud, but it was loud enough to awaken me. I sat up, running my hands through my hair.
“Come on, go in there and wake her up! I’m hungry and neither of us can cook very good!” It was Goten.
“Neither of us can cook very ‘well,’ Goten. And I’m not waking her up. She had a very stressful evening last night. Let her sleep awhile longer.”
“Aw, come on! I am hungry and it’s four o’clock in the afternoon!”
“She has night school, Goten. She has to sleep until four.”
“Then let’s go out. I don’t want to sit here, starving to death, just to protect her! That guy isn’t coming back—and besides, starving bodyguards aren’t going to do much!”
I laughed, catching their attention. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“That resolved itself.” Gohan laughed. “All right, Story, but not on our accounts, really.”
I threw on a pair of jeans, a tee shirt, used the restroom facilities and opened my door. “Dinner will be served soon.”
Goten gagged. “It better be soon—I’m starving to death!”
“Then I’ll feed your ghost when dinner’s done. How’s that?” I smiled sweetly while I said it.
This made Gohan laugh. “She’s not a morni-er, afternoon person.”
“You noticed that, did you?”
“Coffee’s served.”
I looked up at this. “Coffee? Real coffee?”
“Real coffee. I know how to grind coffee beans. I used the French Vanilla because I know that’s your favorite and you get up around this time.”
I smiled. “Thank you!” I hugged him . . . and felt like a child hugging her father. I backed up. That image didn’t comfort me.
“You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“So, uh, how were your dreams?” He was grinning when he said this.
“Why?” I was pretty sure I knew why, though.
“Well . . . I was doing laundry earlier and I sent Goten to get your clothes from your room. He, uh, heard you say my name.” Now he blushed, but grinned.
I blushed. “Ah-well, isn’t that interesting?” I started to walk away. A man who does laundry?! Who’d have thought?!
“So what was the dream about?”
I closed my eyes. UGH!!!!!! “Nothing important,” I whispered, running off to start dinner. Dinner was cooked and over with quickly. Jeeze. I decided . . . “I’m going for a walk. Don’t wait up for me!”
Gohan looked over at me. “You’ll be okay, right?”
I smiled. “I’ll be great! I just need some air. I get claustrophobic a lot. So, anyway, uh, watch my dog, please. I’ll be back in a little while.” And I was off. I walked past the same cave—well, it was a cave—and stopped to smile at it. Then I noticed something strange and knelt closer. “What the hell is that?”
“Looking for something?” Gohan’s voice said behind me.
I let out that friggin’ girly squeak that all girls have—don’t you deny it!!!!--and stood up to whirl to face him. “G-Gohan?”
He smiled. “Yeah, that’s my name.”
That didn’t really seem like something he’d say. “What are you doing? I asked you to watch the animals.”
“Oh, did you? I guess I wasn’t listening too well. I wanted to just come out here to tell you something important.” His eyes flicked to the remnants of the cave and his smile widened to a grin. He stepped closer to me and, in a low, husky voice, asked, “So . . . what were you dreaming last night?”
He was close enough I could hear his heartbeat again. I took a step back. “N-nothing.” He gave me a creepy feeling.
He stepped closer. “Aw, won’t tell me?”
Heart in my throat, I took one more step back—but there was nowhere else to step and I found myself falling. I screamed. Funny. I hadn’t seen the end of a cliff before. I bounced on something soft and semi-warm and, when I looked down, it looked like a really fat human body. A dead body. It hadn’t been dead long.
“Damn, you had to hit fat guy, didn’t you?” When I looked up, he was standing at the edge of the hole. “No matter. It’s not like you can get up now anyway, can you?” Slowly, as if in a nightmare, the ground above me solidified again and I was caught in absolute blackness.
What the hell? “Gohan, get your skinny ass back here and let me the fuck out right now before I skin you!” I screamed, loud as I could. Nothing happened. I couldn’t see anything. I fished around in my pocket, hoping there’d be something there.
There was. A folded piece of paper, a cell phone and a small flashlight. The paper said, “In case you get into trouble. ~Gohan~” Ooookaaay. So he was REALLY fast. How the hell had he gotten that into my pocket without me feeling it?! I flicked on the flashlight and, despite its puny appearance, it flashed to life brightly. I was in a small, underground cavern. I flicked the cell phone out, dialed my house.
“Yo?” Goten’s voice answered.
“Hey, Goten, I’m in a bit of a jam here . . . I need some help.” I told him what happened.
“Well, good news, it couldn’t have been Gohan because he’s been with me the entire time. Another bit of good news, we’ll be out there in a few seconds. We’ll find you. Don’t you worry, ‘kay, Story?”
A hand came around my mouth, holding tightly. It was a wet, slightly slimy hand. The kind of hand I’d expect from Jason Voorhees. Something wet and scaly wrapped around my waist, pinning my arms as the other hand took the cell phone away. “Hello? This is Mochai,” a slightly high, slithery voice said. “Don’t bother coming for your friend. You won’t find her.” He hung up. “Well, apparently my apprentice didn’t think that one out too well. Ah, you’re the one who brought me back to life.” He turned me to look at him. He had no nose, just holes where his nostrils were, no ears, antennae and slit, narrow, red eyes.
“What do you mean, ‘brought you back to life?’”
“Your blood made it all possible. You see, when you were huddled in the cave that used to be here, your blood soaked into the stone and down to me. I fed off of your blood and was able to finally bring myself back to life. You must be something very special to be able to bring me back. I’ve been dead for millions of years, waiting for someone to resurrect me.” A forked tongue snaked out, flicking across my cheek as he held me steady with his hand on my chin. “Yes, yes! You will do well. I think not I will kill you. I will keep you alive!”
“If you’ve been dead so long, how come you don’t talk like someone that old?”
“Ah, sharp mind! Simple. My servant gives me updates and talks to me in newer and newer ways. I’ve seen things you would never believe.” He licked me again. “Yes. You are perfect. I will sacrifice you to bring my power all the way back.”
“I thought you weren’t going to kill me?”
“Kill? No. Sacrifice, oh, that I will do. Killing and sacrificing are two different things.”
“They both end up with me dead, either way.”
He smirked. “Ah, yes, they do! Sharp girl, very sharp. When I came into existence, girls weren’t as sharp as you. Are all women this sharp now, or is that a trademark thing?”
“I like to think of it as a trademark thing.”
“Very good.” He studied me. “You’re . . . different. I seem to be having difficulties keeping my hands off you. What are you? You cannot be human.”
“As far as I know, I’m human.”
“I don’t think you are. Something about you is different than any other human I’ve met, but quite similar to the Demons I know.”
“What are you?”
He smirked. “Why, I am a Snake Demon.” He let me go and backed up. He had a fin on top of his head, two giant, filmy green wings and a huge snake’s tail. No feet, no legs, but he had muscular arms and big hands. “I am a very rare breed of Snake Demon.”
I looked him over and couldn’t stop my legs from becoming slightly shaky. Dear God, what had I gotten myself in to? I was living with Son Gohan and being kidnapped by a giant man-snake! I must be dreaming.
Ah. That put my mind at ease. Must be dreaming. “There. That’s it. I am dreaming. That’s all.”
Mochai stared at me. “You are not dreaming, girl. You are awake, alive. You brought me to life. Do you not understand that?”
A giant explosion made me jump. I looked up. The ceiling was shaking and there was a tiny hole there. “Ah.” A way out.
Mochai, guessing my intentions, lunged for me.
I danced away, aimed a roundhouse kick at his head, struck and, while he was forced backward—my legs had always been extremely strong, especially for my short stature—I started climbing the wall. “In here! Look through the hole!”
Gohan’s face instantly materialized and a soft, relieved smile filled his face. “Story, are you—Story, behind you!”
I looked back. Mochai was in the air, ready to grab me. I had no choice. I wasn’t being sacrificed. No matter what happened. I let go of the wall and fell, this time not in the way of the fat guy.
“Story, no!”