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the party was suffocating, and the cold night air was a relief to trunks' anxiety. he huffs, and his breath clouds in front of him.
his entire extended family along with the z-fighters and other various friends made over the years had come to celebrate a recent battle at the mansion, much to the young man's dismay.
his thick sweater shielded him from the chill, as he sat right outside his bedroom window. he didn't want to be here, he never did. he was home from college for the month, between semesters. time off for some human holiday his parents stopped celebrating when he was a kid, as vegeta never saw the point.
but... new years eve was always different. each year, his mother threw a large party that accumulated almost everyone trunks knew.
it was stressful, especially when the only reason he wanted to come back home was to see goten.
trunks rests his chin on a bent knee. when trunks started college, bulma had pressured him to go to this expensive ass university to save face for the briefs family.
despite a very understanding goten, guilt still ate away at trunks as he knew his best friend could not afford more than community college. despite offering himself to pay for goten's schooling, goten blushes and waves him off.
"i wouldn't wanna go to a school like that, anyway; don' think i'm made for it." he had said.
trunks deflated at the thought of it. he was only through his first semester, but it was already overwhelming to be somewhere separated from goten, his other half. the one he grew up with, did everything with-- just wasn't there.
as if his thoughts were seeping out into a telepathic stream, he hears the window open. trunks jerks around, meeting goten's coal eyes, dim moonlight reflected in those dark pools. his mullet brushed his perfectly soft jawline, messy bangs framing his face. staring, staring, trunks was staring.
"hey, dude." goten says, and gives him a soft smile.
and gods, trunks just melts right there.
"hey," he croaks out, and it's really pathetic. he clears his throat. "hey." he says more firmly, and he returns the smile, albeit weak. and of course, no matter how much time they spent away from each other, goten recognizes it immediately.
"what's wrong?" he asks, stepping out onto the roof and sliding the window shut behind him. he sits next to him, all close and about a centimeter away from brushing trunks' shoulder. he grabs his hand, just like when they were kids.
the older boy had to repress a full body shudder at the simple contact, eyes stinging because he just missed it so much. he fully turns to goten, throwing himself against the other.
he loops his arms around his waist, and goten doesn't hesitate for a moment, muscle-memory as he wraps his arms around trunks' neck.
"i missed you." trunks murmurs simply into his inky hair.
"i missed ya too," the younger one replies. "i--"
"it's really weird doing my testosterone injection without you." he blurts, and it's so random, but he hopes goten understands what he's attempting to convey.
"trunks," he says softly, and the warmth of his body is pulling away. his pretty features are frowning, and he wants to cup his face, but goten beats him to it. "i'm so sorry. i wish i could've been there for ya. ya know you can facetime me, right?"
"..i didn't even think of that." trunks mumbles, dejected. "i dunno, 'ten, i just missed you." the nickname slipped out sweetly, and he realized just how much he missed saying his best friend's name.
"i missed ya too," he repeats. "i love ya, dude--" but before goten can say anything else, there's quite a bit of noise coming from inside. trunks looks up at the sky.
"what time is it?" trunks asks, turning back to goten, who is fishing his phone from his pocket.
the younger looks down at his phone, and trunks ignores the jolt in his chest at being reminded of his wallpaper. them, back in sophomore and junior year, when they went to a video game convention.
as if trunks' own wasn't them at a concert last year.
okay, he really couldn't ignore that. the feeling was now swelling into a deep warmth in his belly.
"11:55." goten says, and looks back up, meeting trunks' soft blue irises. they held something heavy in them, something the younger wasn't really able to identify. "hey, what's with that look, trunks?"
"n-nothing--" trunks sputters, panicked that his emotions were written all over his face.
"whoa, what? did ya just stutter?" goten snorts, and trunks immediately shoves his shoulder.
"shut up," he hisses, and suddenly he has a burst of confidence. he grabs goten's shoulders, twisting his upper half to face him. "i want to kiss you, 'ten." fuck, he has no idea why he just said that.
no turning back on it, now, he thought.
"wait, what?"
"you heard me, dude." trunks says, a boldness in his eyes and a fear in his heart.
"i mean, not that i'm complaining, but-- why now?--"
"huh???" now it was trunks' turn to be shocked, but he gathers his resolve and presses on. "well, it's new years eve, duh?? we're about to go into a new year, and well, you..."
"i..?" he prompts.
"you mean the most to me. i want to go into the new year with the promise to you that i'll always be by your side." trunks admits gently.
"and ya need a kiss to show me that?" goten teases, lightly, and trunks huffs. silently, the banter relieves him. he's missed this so much it ached.
"shut up, you either want it or you don't."
"hey, hey, i didn' say anything about not wanting it!!" goten counters, attempting to reason with trunks.
10, 9, 8, they can hear voices chanting from inside.
trunks' eyes flicker up, and he mutters one last time. "you sure?"
7.
"yeah." goten's own flicker with excitement and... an emotion trunks can't say he's ever seen before.
6.
"alright."
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
trunks leans into goten, eyes fluttering closed as their lips seal in a soft kiss. it's a sweet, short thing, but it's perfect. goten's lips are slightly chapped, and his hands come up to grasp trunks' forearms. he tilts his head to the side slightly, sighing through his nose.
if trunks were to open his eyes, he imagines goten's brows furrowed in focus. like how he's seen him kiss others before, always imagining it would be with him one day. and gods, finally.
he breaks away to catch a breath, ready to dive back in, before goten's hand is on his binder-clad and sweatered chest.
"i love you." the younger whispers, then, hand still on trunks' chest, plunges into another kiss.
there is cheering, distant, and trunks agrees-- that's what the inside of his head sounds like, too.
i love you, 'ten.