Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Falling Away With You ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just my Husband, laptop, my 3 dogs and a very overactive imagination… Dragon Ball Z and any songs mentioned in this fic DO NOT belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own twisted amusement.

Falling Away With You

Chapter 7

About a month had passed since Bulma’s lunch date with Derek and the two had become nearly inseparable. They went for lunch together and Bulma stayed later at work than need be just so they could hang out.

Things were going really well, they got along perfectly and Derek treated Bulma like the princess she knew she was. However since they started seeing each other, she was adamant about not having Derek over and was not keen on having him meet Trunks just yet. As it was, she felt that they were moving at a fairly quick pace instead of slowly like she had intended. Physically they hadn’t done anything yet, but emotionally she was beginning to become quite fond of him.

Thankfully, Derek didn’t seem to mind and never made her uncomfortable with his displays of affection or make her feel pressure to move things quickly in that direction, which she really appreciated. While it had been years since she had been physically intimate with anyone and wanted a decent hook up, she found herself almost dreading it because she hadn’t done it in so long.  Plus in Bulma’s mind, if she slept with him, it meant permanently forever closing the door on a possible romantic reconciliation with Vegeta.

She knew that he most definitely wouldn’t want her after she went there with another guy.
Bulma shrugged those thoughts away. She and Derek weren’t there yet anyway. Today she was getting ready to spend the day with Trunks, as was the usual routine on Sundays. A part of her was really hoping Vegeta would come out with them.

She hadn’t had the opportunity to tell him about Derek; he seemed to be avoiding her as of late again. At first she had been concerned that he had reverted back into that depressive state he had been in but obviously he hadn’t; he was still training with Trunks every single day, according to her mother. He just seemed to make himself scarce when she was around, which bothered her somewhat.

Bulma wasn’t sure what the reason for it was. She had first avoided him after he had shot her down for wanting to possibly deepen their relationship because she had been hurt and embarrassed. She had stupidly thought that because he was making such an effort with Trunks and because they hung out almost every night that he was possibly interested in something more but she had obviously misread him terribly.

It hurt. Even though she was moving on, it still hurt her but her goal was to not let him see that. However that didn’t mean she didn’t miss him coming out with her and Trunks or hanging out with her in the evenings or that she didn’t feel the need to tell him about Derek before things between them got really serious. She figured she was over thinking it. Why would Vegeta even care what she did? Apparently he didn’t even care if she lived or died, she reminded herself bitterly.

Whenever she began to get upset about Vegeta, that was what she reminded herself of. This was the guy that walked, no practically ran away, even going so far as leaving the planet to get away from her as far as possible once he had learned of her pregnancy. When he’d returned, he’d fought in the war with the androids as promised, but she’d nearly been killed and he hadn’t blinked an eye or lifted a finger or even shown an ounce of concern or regret after the fact. It didn’t matter to her that she should not have been there to begin with; she and Trunks had been in danger and if it weren’t for someone else, they would have been killed.

That was what she focused on whenever she began to feel disappointed with the state of her personal life and that the one man in the world that she wanted more than anything didn’t want her. She chuckled to herself at the irony of that. Here she had a line-up of guys who would kill to have her go out with them and she wouldn’t give any of them the time of day. Even Derek had persisted for almost a year before she finally relented and decided to go out with him. She was glad she’d given him a chance; he was a nice guy and they got along great but she just still felt like it wasn’t quite right.

Bulma continued seeing him however because she wanted to give him an honest chance. No, he certainly wasn’t Vegeta, but that seemed to be his only flaw and she thought that if she gave it some time, maybe she would eventually be able to fully move on and be happy with him. In her mind, if she couldn’t be happy and make it work with Derek, then she was doomed to be single forever.

Single and pining away over some guy who wasn’t interested in her for the rest of her life. Pathetic, she sighed.

At least she assumed she wouldn’t have to worry about Vegeta moving on and finding some hot young supermodel to spend his life with and flaunt in front of her like Yamcha had. Vegeta very rarely left the compound and when he did, she knew he went to areas that were isolated and devoid of civilization.

She sighed at the thought. Even if he did make the effort to find someone, who else would put up with him? No one, she told herself. Alright, he was drop dead gorgeous and she knew without a doubt that he would have no trouble finding a girl to hook up with but beyond that, she just couldn’t see it.

He was moody and temperamental. He had the emotional capacity and sensitivity of a stump; most girls wouldn't put up with that for long, nor would they understand or appreciate his need for personal space and brooding without assuming that they were the cause or accept that they could not fix it or help him. She understood it to an extent and had no problem giving him a wide berth when he was in one of his moods because she herself was very independent and didn’t like being smothered by her significant other. She could also simply hang out with him in companionable silence without having to be involved in a serious conversation at all times.

She also couldn’t see Vegeta being too keen on taking long trips to the mall for shopping for shoes and makeup and the other typical things regular couples did. Any time she had taken Vegeta to the mall, it had been for him and it was a get in and get out as quickly as possible situation before he lost his patience and blew up the mall.

Vegeta's appetite alone would put most households in the red and on the brink of bankruptcy within a week or two. So she couldn’t picture some girl wanting him to move in with her unless she had a disposable income; even taking him out for dinner was nearly half a month’s salary right there. Who would pay the outrageous bill? He didn’t have a job, nor could she see him actually wanting to go out and find one either. That would be beneath him, she snorted to herself. Besides, former homicidal maniac soldier of a deranged galactic overlord lizard and displaced prince of an extinct warrior race wouldn’t exactly look good on a resume.

So not only was he unable to provide financially or emotionally for someone, which would also wear thin after a while being that most girls expected a guy to dote and splurge on them, he really couldn’t function in a normal society or domestic situation. He really had nothing going for him besides his looks.

Bulma knew that was mean and not entirely true. Vegeta had many good qualities that she admired however she felt that she was the only person who could appreciate those qualities and accept him as he was. What normal girl would be able to understand that he wasn’t from this world or could deal with the amount of personal baggage he carried or accept his amazing strength and abilities? Not many that she knew of besides Chi-Chi, herself and apparently some girl that Gohan was seeing. He would frighten most girls and he would be seen as a freak most likely.

No, only she understood him.

She shook her head, telling herself that it didn’t matter anyway. Vegeta was free to do as he liked where finding a potential love interest was concerned, no matter how unlikely, just like she was.

Bulma finished getting dressed and decided to find Trunks. He and Vegeta should have been finished their morning training by now and she had promised to take Trunks to the amusement park today. It was the last day before it packed up and moved on and she knew he had wanted to go.

She made her way downstairs to the kitchen where they were both eating lunch.

“Hey, Trunks, hey Vegeta,” she greeted casually. “You guys taking a break from training?”

“Ya,” Trunks said between mouthfuls. “Dad taught me to do this!” he proudly announced, making a small ki ball in his hand.

“Boy, what did I tell you about doing that in the house?” Vegeta reminded him sternly.

“Oh ya, sorry,” he grimaced and promptly made it go away.

“I see,” Bulma commented, raising an eyebrow at Vegeta, unsure if she approved or not. However she had given him permission to train Trunks and manipulating ki was a very important part of what the Z warriors did so she supposed she couldn’t be too upset over it. “Listen to your father, Trunks. If you destroy the house because of it, you’ll be in big trouble, mister.”

“Ya, dad told me already,” he sighed. “I can’t use ki in the house and I can’t show the other kids at the park. I can only use it if I’m with dad or Goten and we can’t use it unless dad or Goten’s older brother Gohan are watching.”

“He’s absolutely right,” she said, giving him a serious look. “So I was thinking that we might go to the fair this afternoon. Do you still want to go, Trunks?”

“Ya!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“Alright, we will go after lunch,” she said, grabbing a sandwich off the table. “Are you coming too, Vegeta?” she asked.

“Hmmn,” he grunted uncommitted.

“Awe come on, dad!” Trunks whined. “You haven’t come out with us in forever! I like when you come too.”

Vegeta sighed. Truthfully, he wasn’t interested. The woman had made a point of avoiding him over the last few months and so he was helping her with that.

“It’ll be fun,” she said to him, honestly she hoped he would come. Sure she was still disappointed that they weren’t a couple, but she truthfully did miss his company and she liked it when he came out with her and Trunks on Sundays almost as much as Trunks did. She also wanted to talk to him about the fact that she was kind of sort of seeing Derek if the opportunity presented himself. She didn’t feel right having Derek over to the house or letting Trunks meet him until Vegeta was aware of what the situation was.

He glanced at her briefly before nodding in acceptance. “Fine,”

“Yaay!” Trunks cheered, getting up from his chair and jumping up and down. “I’m going to get ready!”

“Make sure you bring a hat!” Bulma called out to him as he bolted out of the kitchen. Vegeta grunted and left the kitchen quickly as well before she had the chance to say anything to him.

Within a few minutes they were ready to go and sitting in Bulma’s air car, on their way to the fair.

“I still don’t know why we can’t fly,” Trunks complained in the back seat.

“Because not everyone can fly and you are not to attract unwanted attention to yourself,” Vegeta growled. “And because your mother cannot fly,”

“Ya but we could get there so much faster!” he objected. “Why can’t you just carry her? She can’t weigh that much.”

“Excuse me!” she snapped at him, glaring at him through the rear view mirror.

Vegeta snorted but only looked out the window, wisely choosing to not touch that topic with a ten foot pole.

“You watch your mouth, young man or I’ll be turning this car around and you won’t be going at all!”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Why can’t you fly, mom?”

Bulma shot Vegeta a side glance, unsure of how to respond.

“Your mother never applied herself to learn,” Vegeta answered for her.

“Well, you should learn, mom,” Trunks sighed. “It’s fun.”

She frowned at Vegeta, not wanting to argue with him in front of Trunks. She supposed that maybe he was right. After all, Yamcha and Krillin could fly and they were just humans.

It didn’t take long for them to make it to the fair. They exited the car and Bulma capsulized it and off they went.

They wandered around for a little while, taking in all the sights and attractions before Bulma gave Trunks some cash to buy ride tickets and watched him as he skipped to line up for his first ride of the day.

“Thanks for coming,” Bulma said to Vegeta.

“Hmmn,” he grunted. Truthfully, he was already ready to leave. There were far too many people around and bumping into him. The noises coming from the rides and games were almost deafening to him and the different mixed scents from the variety of food and concession stands was so overwhelming that he had moments where he felt nauseous depending how close they were and which way the wind was blowing. Altogether, it was sensory overload to him and for the first time since he had come to this planet, he found himself envying the humans and their not so sharp senses by comparison to his. This could have been a very effective method of torture that Frieza could have resorted to.

“I haven’t seen you around much lately,” Bulma said to him, trying to think of a way to start a conversation with him. “I know things got a bit awkward between us a while back but I still-”

“You may go about your business and I will go about mine,” he cut her off. Truthfully, he already knew that she was seeing some fool from her work. He had gone back to her work the day she had come home to change and he had flown her back.

He had gone back because he had been regretting his decision weeks prior to not allow anything further than a mutual platonic relationship develop between them. On a whim, he had foolishly decided to pick her up later on from work and take her someplace secluded that he had discovered to make his intentions known; or at least make an attempt at giving what she wanted from him a chance. He had discovered that he missed her company since the night she had come on to him and he had shot her down.

That morning after he had dropped her off, he kept telling himself that maybe he should make the effort so he had decided to lower himself and pursue her. However she had been gone when he had shown up at the Capsule Corporation head office. The receptionist had mentioned that she had left with someone so he had flown around the city to look for her and found her with the fool who had been shamelessly hovering over her at the Capsule Corporation party. They were at a park, acting stupid because they were both clearly inebriated.

He hadn’t stayed long enough to observe them for very long but he knew the other male was interested in her.

Vegeta hadn’t been sure how to react. A part of him had been relieved. If she had found someone else to occupy her time then it was a blessing in disguise. He didn’t want anything more to happen between them anyway. They were raising Trunks mutually and that was good enough for him, or so he told himself.

On the other hand he did feel the sting of disappointment and jealousy and he didn’t fully understand why because this had been what he’d wanted, wasn’t it?

Bulma nodded awkwardly, unsure of what to say now.

Vegeta observed her quietly. She was clearly thrown by his abrupt tone and he could tell that she wanted to talk to him. Probably tell him about the other male she had found necessary to allow to monopolize so much of her time as of late. He wasn’t stupid. Not only had he figured it out that day he had seen them but he noticed that she had been coming home later than usual ever since that day.

She was barely around and only saw Trunks on Sundays now because she was constantly “working”. It annoyed him, but it was not his place to comment on it, just like he felt she had no right to comment on his comings and goings.

He was going to say something to her to let her know that already knew she was being courted by another male but then caught sight of said male that she had been seeing. He was with another woman and a child. Interesting, he thought almost gleefully. What was with the males on this planet not being able to remain faithful for five minutes? This was what she chose to waste her affections on, he thought to himself. Sure he knew that it had been him that had shut her down; he knew that he would not be able to give her what she so desperately wanted. He knew he could have taken her to his bed that evening and he wished now that he had but what was done was done. At least he knew he could be faithful to her if they did enter into a relationship as she liked to call it.

Not wanting to stick around for the inevitable blow up, he discreetly walked away from her. She had not noticed the other male yet or his exit; she was too consumed with her thoughts and keeping an eye on Trunks who was strapping himself into the ride.

Bulma sighed, trying to keep her composure. Why is he always so difficult when I need to have a serious conversation with him?

“Why so serious?” a voice from behind her taunted.

Bulma whirled around to see Derek chuckling behind her. “Hey,” she replied, feeling her stomach drop in dread instead of excitement at unexpectedly running into her boyfriend.

She looked around and saw no sign of Vegeta and was hit immediately with a combination of annoyance, relief and confusion over the realization of his sudden absence.

“You alright?” Derek asked in concern. “You look a little bit upset.”

“I’m fine,” she said, waving her hand in dismissal. “How’s it going with you? Is this Madison?”

“It is,” he grinned, picking up the little girl and placing her on his shoulders. “And this is my sister, Amy,”

“Nice to meet you,” Bulma smiled, offering her hand to the other girl.

“Wow, I’m sorry I’m just a little star struck,” she replied, shaking her head at herself. “I’ve heard so much about you!”

“Oh, I’ll bet,” Bulma chuckled.

“Oh no, I didn’t mean in the papers or magazines,” she waved her hands. “I meant from Derek! He talks about you nonstop,”

“Thanks, sis, you’re really doing a great job of embarrassing me.” Derek said playfully to her.

“It’s alright,” Bulma nodded. “I didn’t know you were coming today,”

“Well we weren’t going to but then figured why not?” Derek shrugged. “Maddie’s never been and it’s nice out.”

“Cool,” she commented, looking around for Vegeta but he was either hiding very well or was gone altogether. She was assuming it was the second possibility. She could tell he hadn’t been overly impressed with this scene. Probably too many people and too noisy for him. “Yea, Trunks is just on that ride. I’m waiting for him.”

“You didn’t go on with him?” Derek asked. “I thought you loved rides.”

“I do,” she nodded. “I’m just feeling a bit under the weather is all. Maybe I’ll go with him on one of the boring ones later.”

“Sorry you’re not feeling great,” he said in concern. That explained her odd behaviour.

“Oh, I’ll be fine,” she shrugged. “Ohh, looks like Trunks’ ride is done,”

They watched as he bolted off the seat and came running back to Bulma. “Did you see that, mom?”

“I did,” she nodded with enthusiasm, feeling a bit guilty that she had been so distracted she’d barely watched. “Did you like that one?”

“It was alright,” he shrugged. “Dad can fly faster. Hey, where is dad?”

“I'm not sure, sweetie,” she replied, looking around. “He may have left. It is really noisy and you know how he gets,”

“Oh, Trunks father is here?” Derek asked with interest.

“He was, yea,” Bulma sighed. “Trunks, this is Derek. We work together at the office. Derek, this is my son, Trunks.” she introduced them, wanting to change the subject of Vegeta and his possible whereabouts.

“Hey, Trunks!” Derek greeted. “How are you?”

“Fine,” he replied politely but he could tell he was sulking because his father was gone.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” Derek said to him. “Your mom talks about you all the time.”

“Great,” he replied. “Mom, can we go look for dad?”

“I don't know if he’s still here, sweetie. But we can definitely try and look for him as we go.” Bulma said to him, trying to sound as positive as possible even though she knew the odds were very high that Vegeta was already back home and brooding or doing whatever it was he felt was more important at the moment.

“Nah, let’s just go home,” Trunks sighed in disappointment.

“But we just got here and you were excited about coming. It’s all you talked about all week.” she reminded him.

“Ya but I wanted you and dad to come too,” Trunks objected.

Bulma sighed, unsure of what to say and was feeling very awkward now that Derek and his sister were there listening to her try and comfort her kid because his idiot father decided to suddenly leave without explanation. “I’m sure he only left because he wasn’t feeling well, sweetie.” That had better be the reason or I’m going to rip that sorry Saiyan a new one, she mentally ranted.

“Well you can hang out with me,” Derek offered Trunks cheerfully. “I don’t have anyone to go on rides with and I don’t like going on my own. Think you can come with me?”

“I guess,” Trunks huffed as he crossed his arms and looked away from them. He looked so much like Vegeta in that moment that Bulma could almost not believe it.

“Great! Which ride do you want to do next?” Derek asked him enthusiastically.

“I wanted to go on that one,” he pointed to one ride called The Zipper, where the occupants went into a small cage-type enclosure and that followed a track way high up but the sides were loose so the cage flipped around and around as the occupants were taken around the track. “I was going to ask dad to come on that one because it looks scary.”

“Oh, sweetie I don’t think you’re tall enough for that one,” she said, cringing at the ride. It was one of her favourites back in the day but she didn’t think they would let Trunks on. It was the one ride she’d had to wait years to be allowed to ride and she remembered it was the one all the cool kids went on. She was always excluded because she was too small. She remembered that by the time she had been big enough to meet the physical requirements to be allowed on, she’d gone on several wild adventures by that point and it paled by comparison to some of the stupid things she’d done. As far as rides went though, it was still one of her favourites.

“Well, let’s see if he is,” Derek said. “I’ve never gone on that one. I think you’re a lot braver than I am, bud.”

Trunks rolled his eyes. He hated when adults talked to him like he was a child. He supposed he was a child. He was only four years old, but he was far more mature for his age than he should be and even he knew that.

“Thank you,” Bulma said quietly to Derek as they made their way over to the Zipper.

“No problem!” he smiled. “Kind of a shame though, I'd love to have actually met him,”

“No, you don’t. Trust me,” Bulma replied quietly.

“I didn’t even see you with anyone,”

“Ya, well that’s Vegeta. He’s really good at blending into the wood work when he wants to avoid being seen,” she snorted bitterly.

Surprisingly enough, Trunks was allowed on the Zipper because of his weight. Bulma objected to how unfair that was she’d had to wait until her teens to go on this ride but here Trunks was allowed because of his build.

“He sure is a solid kid,” Derek commented. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid his age built like that.”

Bulma nodded. “It’s good genetics, he takes after his father,” she replied, not mentioning that it was also largely in part because they worked out and trained together almost all day, every day.

“You can go on too, ma’am,” the attendant told her.

“Oh no, I’m good, thanks.” she declined with a smile.

“The ride seats three,” he informed her. “Because your son isn’t quite tall enough, it would be better to have three people on and the groups of threes behind you probably won’t want to split up just to let one kid on.”

“Come on, mom!” Trunks whined. “Compared to the stuff you said you did before, this will be a piece of cake.”

“Alright,” she sighed. “I can’t believe you guys changed the ride so young kids can ride. Do you know this was the only ride I couldn’t go on for years because of the stupid specifications? Do you know how much that sucked?”

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, I’m just the ride operator. I don’t make the rules.”

“Of course,” she snorted and followed Trunks and Derek into the small cage where the three of them were squished like sardines. “Buckle up, Trunks,”

Once buckled up, the ride moved forward so the next group could be get on. Then it moved again to load the one after that and it was then the cage pitched forward, making it so they were staring at the ground from about fifteen feet in the air.

“Oh god,” Derek moaned, bracing the side of the cage.

“This is awesome!” Trunks exclaimed.

“You have your seat belt done up, Trunks?” Bulma asked. She was sitting in the middle, in between them. “If you don’t, you’ll get thrown all over in here.”

“I should undo it then!”

“No!” she said sternly. “You’ll get us kicked off if you do that, Trunks.”

From below, Derek’s sister, Amy walked as close to them as possible and looked up, pointing to them for her daughter to see. “You see Uncle Derek up there? He’s going to probably get really sick after this.”

“Am not!” he called back down to her.

“You guys are nuts!” she called back out to them. “You couldn’t pay me enough to get in that thing.”

“So we can make this thing move?” Trunks asked as it moved up again to load up another group, only this time the cage fell backwards so they were completely upside down now, not forward and facing the ground.

“Ya, or it will on its own just because of the gravity,” Bulma answered, looking over at Derek who was as quiet as can be. “You alright over there?”

“Yup,” he answered in a clipped tone.

Trunks ignored him and began experimentally rocking the cage, laughing as it began to move.

“Please don’t,” Derek said.

“Why not?” Trunks asked, not stopping. “Even if we fall, we’re stuck in here so it will be fine,”

“Trunks, stop,” Bulma hissed at him. Though she was trying not to laugh. He was definitely her kid.

Trunks huffed, but quit. What was the point if he couldn’t have fun?

Derek took a deep breath to calm himself down. He hadn’t realized he would be dangling upside down in mid-air for fifteen minutes before the ride actually started, nor did he realize that the occupants could rock and tip the cage if they wanted to; it hadn’t looked that bad from a distance and now waiting for it to actually start, the suspense was killing him. This alone should have been the ride.

After what felt like an eternity to him, the ride finally started.  Slow at first before slowly building momentum and Trunks, of course, just couldn’t refrain from rocking the cage. Without thinking, he took Bulma’s hand and held it tight with his other hand bracing the wall and his eyes closed, waiting for it to be over.

Trunks on the other hand was having a great time and kept pushing and pushing to make the cage flip over completely. “Hey mom, think we can make this thing do a 360?” he asked, looking at her and noticed Derek holding her hand.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, sweetie,” she shook her head. “I think you’ll make poor Derek sick.”

So what, he thought to himself and kept on trying to flip it. Why was he holding his mom’s hand? Dad never held mom’s hand. It bothered him. So he began obnoxiously rocking harder just to annoy Derek.

Bulma didn’t bother asking Trunks to stop, but knew exactly what he was trying to do. She knew he’d seen Derek holding her hand and knew he was acting out. She figured the best way to deal with it was to ignore it instead of feeding into it.

Finally the ride came to an end and poor Derek had to endure sitting upside-down again until it was time for them to be let out. Trunks, of course felt it necessary to keep trying to flip the whole thing, which he managed to do twice now that they were still.

“Can we go again, mom?” he asked enthusiastically. “I figured out how to make this thing flip. You gotta rock it and then push like this,” he said, making it flip again. “And it always will.”

“Maybe in a little while, Trunks,” she said, feeling bad for him. If it were just the two of them she wouldn't have cared about him flipping them around like that. “Can you please stop now? Derek isn’t feeling well.”

“Fine,” he huffed, sitting back and crossing his arms. It hadn’t escaped his notice that Derek was still holding his mom’s hand even though they were still and not moving anymore. What was there to be afraid of now?

Eventually it was their turn to be let off and Derek bolted out of the cage as quickly as possible, running to go find a garbage barrel to throw up in.

“I told him he’d get sick,” his sister laughed. “I don’t know why he always does that,”

“Does what?” Bulma asked, grimacing as she saw him throwing up in a garbage bin not thirty feet away.

“Goes on some stupid, ridiculous ride to impress some girl. He knows he gets motion sickness.” she told Bulma.

“I thought he liked the rides,” she replied in confusion.

“Oh he does,” she clarified. “He just can’t do rides where he gets turned and left upside down. Anything else he’s fine with.”

“Ohh,” Bulma shook her head. “Hence why this is one of the ones he hasn’t been on.”

“Exactly,” she nodded. “I think he felt bad that Trunks was upset his dad left. That’s why he went on; because otherwise he knows better.”

“Awe, he didn’t have to do that,” she sighed, feeling even worse now.

“It’s all good,” Amy laughed, waving a hand in dismissal. “Trust me, he really likes you so to him it will have been worth it.”

Bulma felt her cheeks redden a little at his sister's openness.

“Mom, can we get some food now? I’m hungry,” Trunks asked.

“Sure, just wait a few minutes,” she answered, not wanting to just ditch Derek.

Once he was done being sick, they all went to grab something. Trunks got three giant hot dogs, a cotton candy, two elephant ears and a huge box of mini donuts. Bulma settled on snacking on a couple of Trunks’ mini donuts and Derek didn’t feel well enough to have anything other than water.

They all hung out for a little while after that before parting ways. Derek still wasn’t feeling well and Trunks wanted to go on more rides.

Bulma of course obliged him and they went on every single ride that Trunks wanted, even doing the Zipper again. This time, the attendant didn’t care that there was only the two of them and didn’t try to let someone else on with them.

This time, not only did Bulma let him rock and tip and flip it to his little heart’s content, she joined in on the shenanigans and they had a riot.

After that, it was pretty late and Bulma still had to get ready for work for the week.

Trunks insisted on getting a box of mini donuts for Vegeta before leaving so they did that and headed home.

It was somewhat of an awkward ride for them both but neither of them said much. Bulma didn’t know how to tell Trunks about how he might be seeing more of Derek and Trunks wanted to know why his father hadn’t stuck around.

In his mind Derek had been alright, but he’d wanted Vegeta to be there to go on rides with and maybe hold his mom’s hand and eat snacks. Why had his dad left? If it had been his dad with them instead of Derek, it would have been perfect. He just didn’t understand why it wasn’t like that.

“I had fun, mom,” he said as they got out of the car.

“Good, sweetie! I’m glad,” she said with a smile. “Don’t forget those mini donuts for your dad. They don’t taste very good the next day.”

“Okay! I’m going to go find him!” he announced, box of donuts in hand and bouncing into the house.

Bulma smiled to herself. All in all the day hadn’t turned out bad. Sure she was disappointed in Vegeta just up and disappearing without any explanation but she also wasn’t sure what she should have expected either. Vegeta hated crowds and noises. However it was almost laughable to think that Vegeta would be keen on jumping into a possible life threatening battle or facing a dangerous enemy head on, no questions asked yet he couldn’t endure the atmosphere of an amusement park for even an hour for the sake of his son.

She shook her head as she thought about that and chucked her keys on the table by her purse.

Once again she was reminded that he simply wasn’t a good choice. There were signs and red flags at almost every turn warning her to stay away from him. Things weren’t terrible, but Vegeta simply couldn’t be consistent or maintain a positive equilibrium for any length of time. Every time something positive happened between them, it was like he felt this need to screw it up. Then again, that’s what he’s good at, blowing things up, she thought in dismay and once again she felt she was making the right choice by giving Derek a chance.

“Mom? Where’s dad?” Trunks shouted down the hallway as she was on her way upstairs to her room.

“I don’t know,” she replied, inwardly cursing the man. “Maybe he went out tonight, you know he sometimes likes to be alone.”

“Ya but he was alone all day,” Trunks pointed out dejectedly. “Should I go look for him?”

“No, it’s bed time, sweetie,” she replied, shaking her head and ushering him towards his own room.

“I can fly around and look for him,” he persisted. “I’m not as fast as dad, but I’m still pretty fast and he taught me how to look for energy signals. I can find him!”

“No, Trunks, just leave him be,” she said again. “I’m sure he will be back in the morning just in time for you to train again. Besides, did he teach you how to hide your energy signal?”

“No, not yet,”

“Well, he’s probably hiding his energy so no one can find him, not even you,” she told him.

“Why wouldn’t he want me to find him?” Trunks asked and she immediately regretted her choice of words.

“Not just you, sweetie,” she said quickly, trying to remedy things. “He wouldn’t want Gohan or Krillin or anyone out looking for him, that’s why. It’s not that he is trying to keep you away.”

“Then why isn’t he here and why did he leave today?”

“I don’t know, Trunks,” she sighed. Vegeta was going to get it when he did come back. “You’ll have to ask him when he comes back.”

“How come when we all go out dad doesn’t hold your hand?” he asked suddenly. That Derek had been holding her hand not only on the ride but a few times after was really picking at him.

Oh god, she groaned inwardly. “Your father isn’t comfortable with showing affection in public,” she stumbled.

He didn’t really understand, but he nodded. “I’ll tell dad when I see him that I think he should hold your hand.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” she sighed, not discouraging him from it because it was Vegeta’s turn to sit through an uncomfortable conversation with their son. Besides, it was all his fault they weren’t a normal family unit. “Now get ready for bed, mum needs to get ready too. I have to be up early for work in the morning.”

“Okay,” he said with a yawn. “Dad cares about us, doesn’t he?”

“Of course he does!” she exclaimed and the fact that he felt the need to ask such a thing nearly broke her heart. “Your father cares very much; he just sometimes has a hard time showing it because when he was your age, no one told him that they cared about him so no one showed him how, that’s all.”

“Oh,” was all he said. “Not even his mom?”

Bulma shrugged and shook her head, trying to come up with an explanation for something that she knew absolutely nothing about. Vegeta had not once spoken about his mother and almost never his father. The only thing she knew about his father was that he trained with him and he was taken from him at a very young age and then Frieza had killed him when he had tried to take his son back. That there, in her opinion, was overwhelming evidence of a man that loved his son.

“You know what?” she finally said, not wanting to make things up or tell Trunks some disturbing story so close to bed time that she didn’t even feel was her story to be telling in the first place.

“What?”

“I actually don’t know anything about your grandmother on your father’s side. You will have to ask him one day. But if he was anything like you at your age, I know she loved him very much.”

Trunks shrugged and went to get his pyjamas. “I will ask him tomorrow,” he said. “Good night, mom,”

“Good night, sweetie,” she told him, giving him a hug. “Make sure that you brush your teeth. You ate a lot of junk food today,”

“I will,” he said.

Bulma left his room and sighed heavily. Where the hell was Vegeta, she wondered in annoyance as she marched into his room without knocking. She walked through his bathroom and looked out on his balcony but he wasn’t there.

Giving up, she headed back to her own bedroom and began running herself a bath. She checked her own balcony to see if he was lurking there as he sometimes did, but he wasn’t there either.

She went to her bonus room to grab a book and a glass of wine before going back into her bathroom for her bath and some much needed relaxation.

About an hour or so later, Bulma was finished her bath and changed into a loose, thigh length satin night dress. The air conditioner on their side of the compound had crapped out and it would be another three days before the repair guys would be over.

So she brought out her favourite body lotion, chose a nail polish, poured herself another glass of wine and went to her den to watch some TV for a little while before turning in for bed.

As she made herself comfortable and began applying lotion to her legs, she didn’t hear or notice Vegeta land on her balcony. Because it was so warm, she’d left the sliding door wide open in hopes of catching the cool breeze.

Vegeta cautiously crept into her den, crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame of the entrance as he watched her for a few minutes as she slowly rubbed lotion up and down all over her long legs. He felt himself begin to grow hard as he watched her, recalling what it had felt like to have those long, prefect legs wrapped around his waist. Perhaps coming here now was a bad idea, he told himself but he coughed lightly, announcing his presence so his inappropriate thoughts wouldn’t continue to plague him; that was not why he was here.

“Jesus Vegeta!” she snapped at him. “Maybe try knocking next time? Where the hell have you been and what do you want anyway?”

Vegeta stood there a moment, looking at her, not completely sure what he wanted. Eventually, he just came into the room and sat down on the couch next to her; not close to her, but not on the complete opposite side either.

“Thanks for just ditching and bailing this afternoon,” she said sarcastically, resuming rubbing her legs down; completely oblivious to the way he was looking at her and the way it was affecting him. She wasn’t intentionally trying to tease or entice him and that fact alone seemed to make her even more appealing to him in that moment. “Trunks was really upset, you know.”

Vegeta shrugged. He didn’t have anything to say.

“So, what do you want?” she asked again, in annoyance this time, placing the lotion down on the table and reaching for Kleenex and nail polish remover to begin painting her toes. She was really working hard at holding her tongue and not ripping a strip off of him over his disappearing act this afternoon.

You, he almost said but then caught himself. “I want to take Trunks on a trip.”

“Okay, where?” she asked.

“Nowhere you have ever been,” he replied somewhat sourly.

“Okay, but I still would like to know where you are planning on taking him if you get to take him anywhere.”

“Space.”

“Absolute ly not,” she snorted. “Are you out of your mind, Vegeta?”

“No,” he said. “I want to educate my son. I want him to learn about his heritage and to not grow up with the close minded attitude that humans seem to have; this diluted sense that you are the sole beings in this entire universe. You wish him to be educated on all things, here I am offering to educate him.”

“Well you can do all that here,” she said, brushing him off. “I don’t have a problem with you teaching him about your cultural heritage and where he comes from, I encourage it actually because he is starting to ask questions that I can't answer. You can teach him about other planets and races and whatever you want, I’m all for that; but you are not taking him out into space.”

“He is going to want to see these things. I want him to see and experience them for himself,” Vegeta explained.

Bulma thought for a moment before replying. “Maybe when he’s a little older. For right now he’s too little for something like that. What’s he going to do if something happens on some random planet?”

“Do you not trust me to look after the boy?” he asked, not attempting to hide his offense at the notion that she apparently thought otherwise.

“Not really, no,” she answered rather flippantly. “I know how you are. You’ll look out for him and watch over him so long as it suits yourself. If he pisses you off, you’d think nothing of taking off and leaving him behind somewhere while you go brood or cool off or whatever it is you like to do when things don’t go your way, and should something happen or he encounter something bad, you’d have no problem letting him fend for himself depending on whether or not you’re still in one of your vindictive moods.”

Vegeta sat there with his mouth agape at her explanation and wasn’t sure how to even respond to the horrible allegations she had just thrown at him.

“Look, I’m not trying to be a bitch-”

“Well you could fool me!” he snarled.

“I’m serious, Vegeta!” she said, putting her nail polish down to look at him. “If you want to put the effort in and have some sort of father and son bonding thing, go for it! Please take him. Go anywhere you want for a few days or a week even; he needs that. He was asking me things about you tonight that only you can answer. I don’t have a problem with you taking him just so long that it’s on this planet.”

He still glared at her. “There is nothing of interest here,” he said.

“Maybe not to you there isn’t,” she argued. “But he’s four! He hasn’t been anywhere so to him everything will be interesting to him. And if you ditch him one day during one of your temper tantrums or because you lose interest, at least I know he can fly and hopefully find his way home.”

Vegeta shook his head at her. “I would never randomly leave him somewhere.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t? What the hell was that today at the park, you just fucked off without a word. No warning or reason that I can decipher,” she lay into him. “Oh and what about the time you didn’t give a shit about my ship being blown up because you were pissed off at me?”

“You do not want to go there,” he replied darkly, in a nasty tone that would have make the hair on the back of most people’s neck stand on end.

“Why not?” she shot back. “We never really discussed it, nor have you ever apologized!”

“I am not obliged to apologize for someone else’s actions that nearly caused your demise. Nor am I obligated to apologize for your own stupidity and lack of self-preservation. If you had not been there, it would not have happened.”

“That’s beside the point!” she shouted at him. “It doesn't matter that you think that I shouldn’t have been there! Alright, you’re right! I should have stayed home. Is that what you want to hear? But I didn’t! I came out, it happened and you didn’t even react!”

“What does your stupidity have to do with me not being allowed to take my son and show him the galaxy?” he asked.

“Because you can be very selfish, Vegeta,” she replied with a sigh. “Something doesn’t go your way, you just take off. By the way, if you have any desire to cultivate a meaningful relationship with your son, you’re going to have to cut that shit out. He’s not a baby anymore and he will notice when you aren’t around and wonder why.”

Vegeta didn’t say anything for a moment. He knew she was right. He would have to think twice about up and leaving. He should have left when he had originally intended to leave; when the boy still had no memory of him. “You are one to talk,” he finally replied snidely. “You are never home and only see the boy once a week at best because you are out fucking around with that fool from your workplace.”

Bulma shot him a look. How did he know about that? Nobody knew! With the exception of a few people at work, no one knew. Not even her parents. “That’s none of your business,” she said.

“True, it is not,” he agreed. “However do not criticize me when it is you who is barely around.”

Bulma groaned out loud at him because she knew he was right; he was around more than she was and he had more to do with Trunks than she currently did. “Look, I don’t know how you know that but I wanted to wait until I knew whether or not this thing with Derek was going anywhere or not before bringing him here and introducing him to Trunks,” she explained. “I also wanted to be the one to tell you before I brought him over here to hang out, so for now we hang out at work. I shouldn’t have to feel the need to give you an explanation over my absence since it is me who provides. I thought I was being respectful of you by not jumping the gun and bringing him here and flaunting it in front of you before informing you that I was seeing someone.”

She looked at him a moment, gauging his reaction. Was it terrible that a part of her wanted him to tell her to stop seeing Derek? That he’d had a change of heart and wanted her. Sure she really liked Derek, but if Vegeta asked her to stop seeing Derek, she would. In a heartbeat.

Did that make her a terrible person?

Vegeta chuckled darkly at her and it annoyed him that it bothered him that she had confirmed what he’d already known. “You may do as you wish, why would I give a fuck?”

She took a deep breath for a moment, trying to keep herself from losing it on him and to swallow back her disappointment. “I know I can do whatever I want, but I was trying to be considerate of you and how you may feel if I moved on.”

“What do I care?”

“You’ll be able to handle it?” she taunted. “Me kissing someone else and sleeping with someone else?”

“Why do you think I would care?” he snarled again. In truth he wished he didn’t care but the longer they discussed it, he was realizing that maybe he did care. Which was ludicrous because he was only here for the boy. Not for his mother. “We fucked for a few days and it resulted in the boy. That is all we are to each other.”

Bulma looked at him, truly hurt again. Remember this, she told herself. Remember it and burn it and imprint it forever into your skull. “Alright,” she replied, swallowing down the burning sensation in her throat with a healthy sip of wine.

Vegeta fought the urge to go to her and take his statements back but he didn’t. It was better this way. Less complicated.

“I just thought I’d be respectful of you,” she said quietly. “If you...”

“What?” he spat.

“Let me try,” she said, realizing she was dangerously close to making a fool of herself again in front of him. How was it that she could harden her heart and make the effort of moving on without him, but the second they were together and alone, that resolve crumbled and her hopes of him changing his mind and telling her that he did want her and wanted to be a family with her and Trunks were brought back up full force? It wasn’t fair! “Actually, never mind. You’re right, I can do whatever I want, I can go wherever I want and I can date whoever I want because I don’t owe you a single thing!”

“Glad you finally got that figured out,” he said snidely.

“You know what?” she asked, still upset with him and not wanting him to leave without a few thoughts on his mind.

“Hmmmn?”

“You’re working so hard on telling yourself that us being a thing is such a bad idea, you aren’t even willing to stop and think about why. You’re going to wake up one day and realize that you screwed up the best thing that could have happened to you!”

“Did you memorize that from one of these idiotic programs you like to immerse yourself in?” Vegeta laughed at her, enraging her further. “Tell me what it is that you think you want from me?”

“I don’t want anything from you,” she said. “I want to be with someone. I want to be with a guy I can have fun with, someone whose company I enjoy. I want to be with a guy who wants to be with me and who wants to hold my hand when we go out. I want to be with a guy who can be an emotional support to me when I need it and help me raise Trunks. Being that you are his biological father, I had thought that you would be a good candidate but seeing as you cannot give me that, I don’t want or need anything from you.”

Vegeta snorted but said nothing. It was surprising to him how much her words actually stung… Alright, hurt.

“I'm serious,” she said. “When you decide what you want is me, I’m going to have moved on and be happy with someone else and you will be alone.”

Vegeta shrugged, still finding her speech amusing and trying to hide that she had hurt him. He was not going to grovel and make a fool of himself for her. If she wanted him, she had to come get him. “I have news for you, I want to be left alone.”

Bulma sighed. “Right,”

“I will be taking the boy away on a trip, however.” he said, changing the subject.

“Like hell you are!” she snapped at him. “Go, be alone like you want. Just do us both a favour and leave us both alone. All you do is ruin everything!”

“And what will you tell the boy when he notices my absence?”

“I'll tell him his father is a selfish son of a bitch who cares about no one else but himself.”

In a second, before the words were out of her mouth, he was on her. She was leaned back into the couch, his arms were on either side of her, caging her and the weight of the glare he was sending to her was heavy and frightening, yet he was absolutely not touching her. “You will do no such thing,” he growled in a low tone that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and she was struck with equal parts fear and arousal. It was confusing to her as she knew that he was angry, not trying to entice her. It was confusing to her, as she knew that he was angry and that she should have been very afraid of him.

What the hell is wrong with me, she asked herself. All she could think about was how he would feel between her legs and on top of her; how his lips would feel on her mouth and jaw and neck. How his hands would feel touching her or even pinning her own hands over her head as he ravaged her body. Oh god, it has clearly been way too long since I got laid, she told herself.

As he looked down at her though, she thought she saw something other than anger in his eyes. She knew he was having the exact same thoughts that she was right then. Go for it! Come on! She chanted mentally, pleading with him. She wasn’t going to be the instigator here, she was done putting herself and her feelings out there, on the line for him. If he wanted her, he needed to come get her.

His mind went blank. The threatening, angry tirade he had in mind was forgotten and he cursed himself for his weakness where she was concerned. She was laying there, stubbornly looking up at him. Her chest heaving; her night dress was low cut, exposing her well-endowed cleavage flatteringly. It also barely covered her thighs and he knew that she wasn’t wearing panties. One glance further downward was all he needed to do to confirm his suspicions and he scoffed at what a useless and impractical garment she was wearing. Useless, impractical but alluring.

Subconsciously she brought one of her knees up, lightly brushing his side in encouragement. She could tell he was contemplating on whether to proceed or not and she definitely wanted him to. If they did this, she would end it with Derek tomorrow.

“I'll stop seeing him,” she said without thinking. “It can be just you and me and Trunks. We can make this work if you let me in and we both try.”

“You said you do not need me,” he reminded her, leaning closer into her but still not touching her, regaining his wits and reminding himself that this was not a good idea.

“No, I don’t,” she shrugged. “But I want you.”

There it was. That was what he’d wanted to hear from her. Yet it wasn’t enough. He wanted her to throw herself at him, to beg for him.

She stared back at him, waiting for him to make a move and he didn’t. She wasn’t sure if she should touch him or let him work this out on his own. She suspected that he had bailed on her the way he had last time because she had made him feel rushed. She had told him prematurely that she loved him and being that Vegeta wasn’t the type to openly profess feelings other than rage, she could somewhat understand his reasons.

Deciding on leaving him to figure it out on his own, she sat up as best as she could, which brought her closer to him. Their lips were less than an inch away and she could feel his breath on the side of her face.

If you’re going to kiss me, now is the time, she felt like telling him. This reminded her of the stupid little games they used to play with each other in the weeks before they finally hooked up.

While it was disappointing on some level that he was hesitating, she also found it thrilling because of the intensity of it.

“You can take Trunks anywhere you want on a trip here, on this planet,” she said, deciding that he was taking too long to make a decision.

He opened his mouth to object but she placed her fingers on his mouth before he could say anything.

“As a trial,” she said. “See how it is. Take him for a few days. If he drives you crazy, then you’re only a few hours away and you can bring him back. He may not be ready for a week or month long trip. He’s never been away from home. Start out with an overnight trip, then a weekend or two and work up to a week. You can tell him that he’s going to go with you on some epic month-long trip into outer space and I know he will jump up and down and be all about it but that’s because he’s four. He has no concept of time and not being able to just come home and trust me, you will not want to be weeks away from home with a home sick child who just wants to come home and see his mom.

“It won’t be personal or anything to do with you. At this age, that’s asking a lot of him. When he is a little older and accustomed to being away from home for more than a few days, then you can take him,” she explained. “How is that for a compromise?”

Vegeta nodded, but didn’t say anything. Actually it made a whole lot of sense and he saw that it wasn’t that she was purposely denying him to be a bitch. She was only concerned about Trunks.

Instead of kissing her like she half expected, he moved away from her. “We will leave for our first trip in a few days,” he said.

“Alright,” she sighed in disappointment. “Just let my mom know so she can get you some things you might need and give me a heads up about when you are going and you can go,”

“Hmmmn,” he nodded and left her room. He needed to get out of there before he did something stupid and bedded her.

Vegeta blasted off into the sky to find himself someplace to think and consider what he really wanted, leaving Bulma behind confused and very hot and bothered.

-0-0-0-