Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet Nothings ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

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

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Mad River

Sweet Nothings

Rated R

Chapter 3

The figure on the bed groaned in annoyance as the first tendrils of light encompassed the billowing curtains and shone right into her closed eyelids. Turning her back on the nuisance, she snuggled more comfortably into the feather pillows and pulled the covers over her head. She would do anything to escape the harsh reality that awaited her this morning.

It soon became uncomfortable to breathe under the covers so accepting her fate she pulled the covers back down and opened her eyes. She eyed the room warily and took a deep breath as she recalled the previous day's events and what had landed her in her current situation…

“The nerve of that woman!” Bulma seethed as she slammed shut the car door and hurried up the driveway, glancing back to make sure Trunks was following her.

“To say such things to me! Ha! How dare she! She's the one married and look how far it's gotten her!” She fumbled in her purse for her keys before realizing that they were in her hand all along, and then struggled to still her hands so she could fit the key into the key hole.

“Geez, mom! We're never going to get in if you keep doing that!” Trunks whined from behind her then let out an exasperated sigh and took the keys from his frustrated mother.

She could only stand back and watch as her son accomplished the menial task of opening the door for her.

She couldn't help how she was feeling at that moment. Looking like a fool in front of Trunks was just an added bonus. As soon as the door swung open she hurried inside, looking to find a hole she could crawl into until her embarrassment passed and she could get on with her life.

So she went to her private lab, where she locked herself in to pace around the room in aggravation.

She had never been so humiliated in her whole entire life! ChiChi had been so smug when delivering her little speech, so self-righteous… as if she truly had the right to say those awful things to her.

Bulma hadn't believed her ears when out of nowhere Goku's wife had started speaking about Bulma's relationship with the Saiyan prince and their lack of marital status. ChiChi had gone on and on about how they needed to give Trunks a good example and that by his parents living in sin he was being corrupted! Not only that but she had said that the others agreed with her! By others, of course, she meant the rest of the Z fighters!

The others! Oh my God!

She was mortified, angry, hurt and above all ashamed. Ashamed because even though she was angry at ChiChi, underneath it all she knew ChiChi was right. They were all right.

How could she have let it go on for so long? Had she no self respect? No dignity? She was a proud woman. She was smart, rich, beautiful, and still relatively young… why shouldn't she be proud? And yet…

And yet, she had let a man walk all over her for over five years.

Even worse, she had let that man into her house, her bed and ultimately her heart without ever asking for anything in return. Didn't she at least deserve something for all she had done?

She had been a good mate to him. She was always there when he needed her. Never denied him anything. She had opened her heart and soul to him. And what did she have to show for it?

She had years of confusion, hurt, and indecisiveness to show. She was no closer to figuring out Vegeta than she had been when she first invited him to stay at her house after the events on Namek-sei.

Well, she supposed that wasn't all true. The man was half way decent when he wanted to be and had showed her a side of him she doubted anyone had had the privilege to see. But that still didn't mean that she wouldn't want more from him. It was only natural. It was the way that things went. Relationships were supposed to go forwards not backwards.

But as it was, she and Vegeta were at a stalemate. They didn't move one way or the other, they just simply lived.

What made it even worse was that the little bastard actually seemed content with leaving things as they were.

“Well, I'm definitely not happy with this arrangement!” She huffed indignantly. “I know I deserve more and I will demand more, dammit! And I will get it if it kills him!” She finished her tirade with a sniff then stomped out of the lab in search for the insufferable prince.

Predictably, she found him in the kitchen.

His body was half way inside the refrigerator with his backside sticking up in the air, swaying as he grabbed everything he could carry then kicking the door closed and taking everything to the island in the middle of the kitchen.

Under other circumstances she would have been amused. But, as it was, the sight of him so nonchalantly preparing to eat a week's supply of groceries only incensed her ire even more.

“Taking a break?” She asked in a deceptively sweet tone since she knew that easing him into the conversation then catching him off guard was always the best way to go about getting straight answers from him.

He grunted in acknowledgement and to let her know that the question obviously didn't deserve an answer. It was incredibly silly but over the years, she had learned to distinguish what each sound the man made meant. He had a different sound for everything.

Is this truly how low I've sunk to? The thought brought her back to the matter at hand. How desperate did a woman have to be to actually have a relationship with someone that grunted like a caveman when someone tried to talk to him?

To hell with this! He's not a child! He doesn't need any easing into! She thought angrily.

“Vegeta, we need to talk.” She stated firmly then turned around and headed to the staircase. If she was going to talk to him about this, she didn't want an audience. She was all too aware of her son's inquisitiveness and her mother's prying nature. The last thing she needed was more people witnessing her breakdown.

She knew herself incredibly well, so it would come as no surprise that she would be doing a lot of yelling and cursing which was better left for the sanctity of their bedroom where at least she was sure to get some privacy.

She didn't have long to wait as the all-mighty Saiyan Prince stormed into the room, a thunderous expression on his face making it painfully clear to her that he was most definitely not amused.

“What is it now woman?” He growled under his breath, taking his customary place against the wall with crossed arms and glare to match.

It was so like Vegeta to think that everything that didn't have to do with his precious training was beneath him. The more she thought about it, the less she could believe she had put up with his bullshit for so fucking long.

The man was an overbearing, domineering asshole and she had been incredibly naïve to have ever thought that a little affection and hot sex on the side would have ever made a difference in changing his sourly disposition.

“I really don't have all day” the muttered comment snapped her back to the present causing her to straighten up to her full height and focus all of her attention on the nonchalant male in the room.

“I'm going to ask you something and I want you to answer me truthfully” she started, willing her blood to stop boiling for a second so she could actually get something out of this conversation.

He grunted for her to continue, unwittingly adding another drop to the proverbial glass.

“Where do you see us?” She asked, gritting her teeth as she did so. She was having a real hard time having to look at his ugly mug glaring at her as if she were an insect he couldn't wait to crush, and forming any coherent thoughts.

“You'll have to be more specific” he finally answered, smirking snidely at her.

“What I mean is, how do you see us in the future?” She looked at him expectantly, hoping against all hope that he would give her the answer she was looking for but knowing, deep down, that she would be sorely disappointed.

“I see…” he paused, seemingly contemplating his answer. “I suppose I see us the same as we are now… although there is always room for improvement, I am fairly pleased with the situation we find ourselves in. However, I could list for you the things I think you should work on to make our arrangement a lot more tolerable for the both of us.”

She was literally seeing red by the end of his little speech. The same as now…room for improvement…arrangement…If she didn't know better, she was inclined to think that maybe he was doing this to purposely rile her up. Either way, this had definitely not been the time for it.

“I can't believe the things that just came out of your mouth… you… you arrogant, son of a bitch!” She screamed, clenching her fists at her sides and glaring daggers in his direction.

“Of all the hurtful things you've said to me since I've known you that had to be the most insensitive, uncaring, selfish…” She trailed off unable to finish that sentence. Nothing she could come up with was good enough to describe his words.

She started to pace in front of him, a nervous habit she had picked up from her father and which she did whenever she was suffering from an unhealthy amount of stress.

“Is that all we are to you? An arrangement? A convenience which you can pick up whenever the mood strikes you?” She was rambling now, she was aware of it but she really couldn't help it. She felt like she had finally lost whatever modicum of control over her raging emotions and only the furious pacing was keeping her from doing some serious damage to something.

“Now I see why she said the things she did… she was right… what was I thinking?... going so far as to defend you… I can't believe I actually snapped at her for only stating the truth… living in sin, indeed… a real wedding, yeah right…Why couldn't I have fallen for someone normal?... I always wanted a white wedding… I should have known better than to expect that from you…” her speech had become so distorted that even she was having a hard time understanding what she was saying.

Her mind felt like it had turned to mush and the whole room seemed to have fallen into a revolving whirlwind where nothing made sense anymore. Had she finally gone mad? Had he finally achieved the impossible and robbed her of whatever sense of self she had left?

“What will it take to stop your screeching? You are making my head hurt.” The voice came directly from her left and it was only then that she realized that at some point during her manic rambling he had come to stand next to her and was intently taking her in.

She was out of breath and his smug expression was only making it worse. She felt her face grow hot as her eyes narrowed into furious slits, the fog lifting miraculously from her frazzled mind and focusing all of the pent of rage on the cause of it all.

She clenched her teeth determinedly, preparing for a full out attack on the jerk when all of her thoughts immediately came to a halt when he unexpectedly wound his arms around her waist and pulled her trembling frame into his. He quickly moved one of his hands to the back of her head while the other one pushed against the small of her back bringing her body into full contact with his. He gave her a chaste kiss on the lips then whispered huskily into her ear making her shiver for an entirely different reason.

“Sheathe your claws, hellcat, I was only stating a fact…”

What had followed that last statement had, in the end, only made things worse. It had only served to reinforce his earlier comment about their relationship being some kind of twisted arrangement, where he could take what he would from her and damn the consequences.

All in all, it had made her feel cheap and dirty. No one could make her feel as low as Vegeta could and, giving the circumstances, he really shouldn't have made any sexual advances on her.

Nevertheless, deep down, she had hoped that last night had been a very bad dream. That she would wake up this morning and find herself wrapped around her lover's arms and gaze up at his beautifully scowling face as he traced lazy circles on her bare back.

Fat chance Bulma, you've really done it now! She thought sadly as she remembered her harsh words and her irrevocable ultimatum. What had gotten into her anyway? He was right when he said she had never mentioned their unmarried state, but in truth she had always been too afraid to say anything, in fear that he would get so mad he would leave her.

Subconsciously, she knew that the notion was more in her mind than anything else. She knew he loved her; he had been showing her just that for the past five years but it was like some part of her still refused to believe that the untamable Saiyan from so long ago had truly chosen to settle down. And with her no less.

She felt so silly now that she had time to think about it. She had been beyond unreasonable with him and it pained her to think what he thought of her now. She had lashed out on him out of pain and anger, something she was always careful not to do around him.

Sure she yelled at him, but that was for fun. She knew he got a morbid kick out of her screeching ways; she would even go so far as to say it turned him on. However, real issues she took time to sit with him and discuss. It was not wise to overwhelm him with her human emotions for she was very aware of how different they had been raised.

Anything regarding them as a couple, anything that would affect the future outcome of their relationship, she had to explain in detail and assure him that it was not impossible to achieve.

He was always so skeptical when it came to their relationship. The self-assured Saiyan she knew and loved would disappear completely and in his place would be a very insecure man who instead of speaking about his problems would shut down and glare at her in annoyance when inside he was fighting the urge to take flight and never look back.

She loved him so much, and she couldn't understand why he still refused to show he felt the same way when others were around. When they were alone he was a totally different man. He would pull her to him and crush her to his body, caressing her skin with his lips as he whispered sweet nothings in his dead language. They shared the sweetest moments when they were alone.

This is so depressing. She thought letting out a defeated sigh and crawling out of bed and making her way to the room's adjoining bathroom. Just because she was feeling like hell didn't mean that the rest of the world would stop revolving to accommodate her.

She had to get up and cook some breakfast for her baby boy and his grumbling father, not to mention fix herself up to go to work. She was a very busy woman, the president of her own company in fact; meetings with aging conservatives and phone calls with moody marketers could not be pushed back so she could sulk about her crumbling love life.

Taking a quick hot shower to settle her weary nerves did a lot to calm her down. Putting on her underwear and wrapping her body in a fluffy blue robe, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen.

In her defense, Bulma hadn't been in a very reasonable mood the day before. Lately, she had been thinking about their relationship and having ChiChi point out the same things she had been debating over had only made things more difficult. Bulma had never been good in dealing with embarrassment and now not only did she have an unpredictable Saiyan to contend with but probably and indignant friend as well.

Bulma knew ChiChi had meant well, even if her choice of words had been rather crude. She would most likely go by her house that very day and see if there was anything she could do to salvage the situation before it got any worse.

Bulma knew she had a temper and, yesterday, it hadn't fail to rear its ugly head and wreak havoc on her quaint little life. As a result, she had some major damage control to do.

She vaguely wondered where Vegeta was and whether or not she should bother to make enough breakfast to feed him as well. Regardless of her self pitying thoughts, she was still relatively angry at him. Perhaps making him suffer for a little bit wouldn't be too uncalled for.

Of course, knowing him, he would probably make some snide remark about thanking the gods for not having to eat with her and not having to look at her ugly face first thing in the morning. He was always full of any such comments.

Now that she thought about it, she really wasn't going to make enough for him. With that in mind, she opened the storage closet and programmed one of the kitchen bots to make breakfast for Trunks and her.

Why should she always be the one to apologize? She hadn't done anything wrong this time, he had. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually accomplish something with that ultimatum I gave him.

She felt a brief twinge of guilt at how manipulative her actions might look to him, but she had really been left with no choice. Everything had been said and done so she might as well try and move forward even if it was fighting against the prince's infamous stubbornness.

This one was going to be an all or nothing kind of battle, and she was determined to win it!

To hell with that self-serving bastard. She thought smugly and went to wake her son up for school, any thoughts of making up with the resident royalty slipping to the back of her mind.

The day had truly flown by, as Bulma found herself zipping through the dirt road that would take her to the Son's home on Mount Paozu. The wind whipped wonderfully against her face, giving her a sense of freedom she hadn't felt since her days of hunting for dragon balls. The sun was setting behind her giving the scenery an ethereal glow that made her rethink her choice of staying at Capsule Corporation instead of moving to a place such as this.

Seeing this wonderful view helped her understand Goku's decision to live out here. It really was the perfect place for someone such as him; a place just as wild and carefree as her dearest friend had been. That thought made her heart feel heavy, as if two led weights had been tied to it as it struggled to pump the life-giving blood into her system. It was still hard to believe that she wouldn't see him again.

It also made her feel terribly bad for ChiChi. She couldn't imagine what it must be like having to raise two children, let alone demi-Saiyans, all by her self and with as little money as ChiChi had to her name. Every day was a struggle for her friend and that only made Bulma feel worse for having snapped at her when she had obviously, in her own way, only been trying to help.

This thought made the weights lift from her heart as she ran through her mind how she would go about apologizing to ChiChi while also making it clear to her that her relationship with Vegeta was really nobody else's business. She might have been feeling bad about yelling at the woman, but she still didn't want her prying into her personal affairs especially when those affairs dealt with the volatile prince.

A sad smile made its way to her lips when the house came into view. There were so many memories surrounding that house and she vaguely wondered how ChiChi made it through the day without braking down into an emotional mess.

She came to stop on the dirt road, just short of reaching the outer edges of the property. ChiChi was an accomplished gardener, many of the fruits and vegetables ChiChi used in her cooking came from that very soil, so Bulma always made sure to park a ways away so that she wouldn't unwittingly run over anything crucial or difficult to grow.

She slowly made her way up the road, breathing in the magnificent fresh air you could only enjoy this far into the forest. She was really starting to consider thinking about moving out of Capsule Corp.

She climbed up the steps of the porch and came to a halt in front of the door. She had been so immersed in her own thoughts that she hadn't notice how eerily quiet everything was. Even though this place could be characterized as the middle of nowhere, the sound of living things was always a background noise one always had to grow accustomed to. Not only that, but you could always count on Goten or Gohan to be about training and whatnot.

How very odd indeed. She thought wearily. Not wanting to stay outside and find out what had scared the animals into silence she knocked on the door and waited for ChiChi to answer.

Bulma bit her lip nervously at the silence that greeted her ears. She knocked again more forcefully, hoping that perhaps ChiChi had been so engrossed in something that she hadn't heard the first time.

When no answer came again she started getting worried. It was about six o'clock in the afternoon. If ChiChi had gone into town to shop, she would have been back by now. Gohan should have been back from school as well.

Her hand went immediately to her purse, where she always made sure to have a capsule kit handy in case of emergency. She opened the case and selected the one she had been looking for and threw it, bending down to pick up the hand gun from the floor once it appeared.

Some might think her paranoid, but if they had seen and lived the things she had they wouldn't have been surprised. She was getting a feeling of wrongness from this whole situation which she just couldn't shake off.

Instincts were something even humans in their advanced evolution hadn't outgrown and hers were going haywire at the moment, telling her to get moving and do something before something bad happened to her friend.

Besides, if she was wrong all she would do was give ChiChi a good scare and have a good laugh at Bulma's hysterical antics.

She palmed the door knob and it surprisingly slid in her grip, telling her that she had been right all along in assuming that ChiChi had to be home. The woman never went ten feet away from the house without locking the front door first.

She bit her bottom lip again and strengthened her grip on the gun. She stepped into the house slowly, glancing everywhere and taking stock of any damages she might come across and any intruders to look out for.

She held back an inappropriate chuckle at how corny her own actions looked to her. She was gliding against the walls, glancing over her shoulder every few seconds with her gun held at the ready for anything to fly at her, like in those old cop movies her mother was so fond of.

Vegeta would be proud. The thought came unbidden to her mind as she thought of the stealth she was showing. He usually accused her of having as much grace as an elephant in a china shop, and he wasn't all wrong. She supposed that knowing that this could be crucial to her friend's survival was the only thing keeping her from giving herself away to any uninvited guests.

She had searched the whole bottom floor, except for the kitchen. She had wanted to make sure that no one else was around to ambush her from behind before turning to the most predictable place of where ChiChi could be.

She entered the room swiftly, taking everything in quickly and noticing the boiling pots on the oven and still uncut vegetables on the countertop. She frowned at this, a gnawing feeling growing in the pit of her stomach at this very uncharacteristic fact.

Just then she thought she heard something. It was muffled and nearly undistinguishable, but it was undoubtedly coming from the backyard. She turned her attention to the halfway opened door and walked slowly to it, looking outside through the opening.

What she saw made her blood run cold.

Her eyes widened in disbelief and her body started shaking uncontrollably at the sight. The force of the shock made her stumble backwards, and she fell into an ungraceful heap on the floor; the back of the hand holding the gun came to up to muffle the cry that fought to tear free from her chest, the other one pressed into her stomach as she fought the inexplicable physical pain she felt.

She heard a noise again and she instinctively responded to her `fight-or-flight' reflex by quickly coming to her feet and racing through the house and out the front door.

Bulma came to rest on a nearby tree, where she supported her weight as she regurgitated what she had had for lunch into the floor until she had nothing more to give.

Pulling her weak body up was no easy task and she made her way back to the car as quickly as she could, angrily wiping at the traitorous tears gliding down her pale cheeks.

It. Can't. Be… It just…Can't. Be. Was all that ran through her head as she finally managed to get her key into the ignition and rev the car into gear. Then she slammed down on the gas and tore out of the place like a vat out of hell, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake and with the feeling that nothing would ever be the same again.

For she had indeed found ChiChi.

And her friend hadn't been alone.

Vegeta was there with her.

End Chapter 3

Mad River