Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Tension ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, especially Dragonball Z. Well obviously, I own a computer, but please don't sue me cos that's all you'll get, and I'll miss it so.

AN: Sorry that its taken me so long to update, but I've had exams. Also, thanks for the reviews, constructive critisism is appreciated, as always. But please try to remember that if you don't tell me how to fix the problem I probably can't, so if you have anything constructive to say please leave me some way of contacting you. I promise that I'll be nice.

Chapter 9

Bulma awoke slowly. She grinned as the night before came flooding back to her. She stretched slowly and started and started as her elbow connected with something solid. Her eyes snapped open. Vegeta was still lying next to her! She hadn't expected that. She had assumed that he would have left as soon as she had fallen asleep. Wasn't that how guys normally did things? And for good reason too. She didn't know whether to bolt now or face him when he woke up. It was her room after all, but she'd rather put off all the uncomfortability that this situation would create until as late as possible.

Bulma rolled towards the edge of the bed, but as she moved Vegeta stirred. He snorted a little and rolled in her direction, his head coming to rest on her shoulder. Bulma scowled. He was making her getaway difficult. She very carefully tried to extract her shoulder, but if she was to use any force it would wake him. She would just have to wait for him to move again. She settled back and watched him. He was so cute when he was sleeping. She reached up with her free hand and stroked his hair. She sighed. If she wasn't able to leave she'd just have to go back to sleep. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off, her arm wrapped around his body.

Vegeta's eyes snapped open and he was immediately aware of his surroundings. He slowly extracted himself from Bulma and sat at the edge of the bed. What had he done last night? He felt like he'd taken advantage of Bulma. Sure, she could take care of herself. Better than most, in fact, but that didn't stop him from feeling protective of her. He turned and looked at her, and resisted the urge to lean over and kiss her. He stood up and retrieved the hospital gown from where it had fallen the night before. He looked at it in disgust but wrapped himself in it anyway. He moved back to the bed to get one last look at Bulma before he left. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. Vegeta smiled back, not his usual smirk, but a genuine smile. Then he turned and left.

Bulma stretched and got out of bed, grinning to herself. She didn't feel that what they had done was a mistake. She had to admit that she had no idea what would happen next. This concerned her slightly, but on the other hand, it was refreshing. Her relationship with Yamcha had been very predictable and this was something new and exciting, and it felt good.

*****

Bulma hadn't seen Vegeta for the last few days. She had been hard at work in the lab, as her father had started a new project that had hit a couple of kinks and he wanted all the problems sorted before he would let Bulma get any peace. Bulma wasn't keeping normal hours and had been eating all her meals in the lab. Though she was far to busy to see Vegeta she had kept tabs on him from a distance, he seemed to be training hard in the gravity chamber.

Her isolation was finally over. She had worked out all the problems and now she was entitled to a day of rest. She had just gotten out of a long, hot bath. She would have stayed in longer but she had started to shrivel a little. She headed downstairs to have a late breakfast.

Entering the kitchen she found her mother making a huge cooked breakfast and chattering away to Vegeta, who looked murderous. Bulma took a seat opposite him, and a heaped plate of food was placed in front of her and her mother turned some of her attention to Bulma. Bulma tuned her out and made the appropriate noises when necessary. For the main part she was trying to decide whether or not to make eye contact with Vegeta. Normally it would have been a no brainer, but she really didn't want to get blown up.

Eventually her mother left the room and Bulma watched Vegeta out of the corner of her eye, until his colour returned to normal. She attempted to break the ice.

"So... How goes the training?"

Vegeta just grunted.

Bulma tried again. "The weather's nice, huh?"

Vegeta looked at her slightly disdainfully, but Bulma took no notice, and grinned at him. She stood up, stuck her tongue out at him and left the room.

Vegeta felt slightly guilty as she left, but he really had no idea how to deal with her. He knew she understood, otherwise she wouldn't have grinned at him. But still, he should make it up to her. He didn't know how yet, but he would. Although he would probably never tell her that he cared about her, he would find a way to show her.

*****

Bulma had gone shopping, it was late night in the city and she had taken full advantage of it. It had been dark for hours and she had stopped for a late dinner on her way home. She was thinking about Vegeta as she opened the front door. She was wondering just what was going to happen next, if anything. The great thing about working constantly was that she was too busy to worry. She sighed and dropped her packages on the floor. The shopping spree had exhausted her. She looked up and noticed a dark shadow lingering in the living room doorway.

Curious, Bulma moved towards it. It was Vegeta, he was leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed and smirking. Bulma smiled and walked up to him. When she got close enough Vegeta grabbed her around the waist, picked her up and carried her into the living room. He kissed her on the head , sat them both down on the couch and handed her the remote. Bulma reached up and planted a lingering kiss on his lips. She then curled up against him and he wrapped his arms around her. They settled back to watch a movie, neither of them particularly bothered by what was on, but were just enjoying each others company.