Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z.

Authors Note: This is not a new story. This is the rewrite for Never Meant to Hurt You. Never Meant to was originally posted to FFN sometime in 2001 or 2002, back when they still allowed NC-17 stories. When those were banned, I pulled the story from the site. A few years later, I reposted an edited version of the story. Sometime after that, I reread the story and alternated between laughing out loud and hanging my head in shame because of how bad it actually was, so I pulled it again.

Some major changes have been made from the original, but it is still recognizable as the same story. The original, unedited story is still floating somewhere out there on the net. I hope that my writing has improved somewhat over the last eight years and that you enjoy this new version.

If you've read the original story, please let me know what you think of the new version. If this is your first time reading it, I hope you enjoy my story.

The song Wicked Garden by Stone Temple Pilots is fueling this muse.

Warning: This story is rated M for Mature Audiences only. The first few chapters are quite smutty.

Chapter I: Home Alone.

Tuesday night found Bra curled up on the couch in the living room of her family home watching old horror films. This evening she had the house to herself, the rest of her family having gone to a picnic at Kame House earlier that day. She had opted to stay home, feeling tired and a little antisocial. The last couple of weeks had been very hectic for her and she'd just finished her finals the day before. Earning her degree by nineteen was no small task, even for a genius such as herself.

All she wanted some peace and quiet and little time to unwind. She had been somewhat disappointed that her father did not stay home with her. He was the one person who she could spend time like this with and Bra had dug out a bunch of old kung fu movies for them to watch and make fun of together. Perhaps he sensed her desire to be left alone or maybe he thought he could get a good spar out of Gohan, he had decided to go.

As soon as her family left, she dug out her oldest, most comfortable pair of sweats and an old tank, pulled her hair back into a sloppy ponytail, popped the biggest bowl of popcorn and curled up with her softest quilt for an uninterrupted night of scary movies. She let her mind go completely blank. No theories or equations or philosophy this and that, just yelling at the TV for the stupid girl not to run up the stairs or go investigate that strange noise coming from the basement.

That had been the plan, but about halfway through the second movie, she heard the front door open. She was irritated that they had come home so soon. Kame House parties usually ran all night and the sun was only just beginning to set. There was only one person coming in the house. Perhaps someone had forgotten something, but it was not her father having changed his mind or her mother forgetting her camera, it was Son Goten.

"Hey, B-Chan!" Goten said pleasantly as he came into the living room. "Where is everyone?"

"They're at Kame House for the picnic, where you're supposed to be." Bra answered; annoyed that he was disturbing her evening.

"I am?" Goten blinked in surprised. "Oh, that's right. Crap, my mom is going to kill me for not showing up."

"You should probably get going then." Bra rolled her eyes. Goten had the memory of a gnat. He'd forget his head if it weren't securely attached.

"Why aren't you there?" He asked, not catching the hint to leave.

"I just wanted some time to myself," Bra replied. "The last few weeks have been really busy for me. So I took the chance to have the house to myself ..." she trailed off, not sure if he was even listening.

Goten nodded, but he seemed more interested in the TV. "What are you watching?" He asked coming to sit next to her on the couch. "I don't think I've seen this."

"Some movie that's supposed to be scary," she watched as Goten made himself comfortable. "Make yourself at home," she muttered as he took a handful of popcorn. So much for her night alone. Though irritated as she was, she couldn't help but feel her body flush at his close proximity. He sat close enough that she could feel the heat of him on her skin. The last vestige of a childhood crush that'd somehow managed to carry into adulthood, unfurled inside of her. She didn't know what it was about the big, goofy Saiyan, but anytime he was near, her heart beat a little faster.

As the movie ended, Bra was glad that Goten had crashed her little party. It was much more fun to mock a bad movie with someone else around. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard or had such a good time doing nothing.

She turned the light on and grabbed another movie for them to watch. As she returned to her seat, she noticed Goten watching her with a thoughtful look on his face. "I don't think I've ever seen you wear your hair back before."

A hand went to her hair, remembering the messy knot she'd thrown it in earlier. Feeling a little embarrassed for not having her hair done, she started to pull it down when his hand caught hers. "Don't take it down," he said, one corner of his mouth curling up. "I like it like that." His hand gently swept the bangs off her face and she shivered at his touch. "I can see your eyes." The last was murmured so softly that Bra almost missed it.

The heat of his gaze brought blood to her cheeks as something not quite companionable flashed in his black eyes. Her stomach flip-flopped and for a moment, she felt lost as he held her in his onyx depths. "Thanks, Goten," she finally managed breathlessly after an intense moment, breaking away to turn off the light. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a smirk.

It took a good chunk of the movie for her heart to stop pounding.

"So B-Chan," Goten started conversationally, "what would you do if you were being chased around by the undead?" She turned to look at him, noticing, probably belatedly, that he was casually toying with the ends of her hair, rolling the silky blue strands absently between his fingers.

She pulled the hair from his hand with a small frown; mentally cringing that he would give her split ends. "Well, I wouldn't go running around screaming like an idiot, that's for sure," Bra turned her frown at the woman on TV who was doing just that. "Zombies are stupid, I'd just destroy them."

"You don't know how to fight," Goten teased.

"Yes I do!" Bra said feeling offended. "I can kick your ass." She turned and stuck a finger in his broad chest, noticing off-handedly, how hard it was.

Goten gave a mocking laugh, brushing away the offending digit. "Maybe if I were asleep."

Annoyed with his teasing, she scooped up a handful of popcorn and threw it in his grinning face. "You're asking for it." Goten growled playfully.

"I'm not afraid of you, Third Class." Bra retorted haughtily, looking down her nose at him with a superior smirk.

The next thing she knew, popcorn was flying everywhere. Goten grabbed the bowl in an attempt to dump it on her, but Bra was quick, grabbing his arms and trying to turn it back on him. They struggled for a minute before he overpowered her. Realizing she had lost, Bra tried to get out of the way as the bowl fell down on her, hoping to keep the salty, buttery mess out of her hair and brought Goten down with her. They landed on the couch in a laughing, tangled heap of arms, legs and popcorn, him on top of her.

Still laughing, Goten propped himself up on one elbow and picked a piece of popcorn out of her hair. "I win," he said softly with a smug grin.

Bra giggled as she looked up at him. Black eyes locked with baby blue and her chest suddenly felt as if there were a humming bird trapped inside desperately trying to get out. He was so close; she knew he could feel it. Something changed in those endless depths. The good-natured humor vanished, replaced with something darker and smoldering. Something twisted inside of her as she watched the grin slowly melt from his face, leaving something much more intense in its place. His head dipped lower and he took a deep, ragged breath, inhaling her in. Feeling a sudden boldness, Bra closed the distant between them and kissed him. She could taste the salt on his lips from the popcorn. There was no hesitation as he returned the kiss.

He pressed his body closer, kissing her harder, igniting a fire in the pit of her belly and spreading heat throughout her body. Her hands snaked their way around his back, feeling the hard muscles of his shoulders before finally tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck. One of his hands held a fistful of blue hair while the other slowly made its way down her side. He was causing flames of desire to lick at her body and a small sound of pleasure escaped her.

An instant later, he was gone.

Breathing heavily, Bra sat up on her elbows to look for him. Goten was standing out of arms reach, his chest rising with each rasping breath he took, staring at her in what could only be described as wide eyed horror. Bra looked back at him, confused and wanting. Goten narrowed his eyes as he swore, taking another step away from her and before she could say anything, he was gone.

Hearing the front door slam shut in his hasty retreat, Bra laid back down, he blue hair spilling around her. Her body still thrumming with desire, her heart pounding madly, she raised one hand to her swollen lips and smiled.

Son Goten was a very good kisser.