Disclaimer: I do NOT own Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z. The rightful owner is Akira Toriyama! I do not get any money from this fan fiction. I ONLY write for fun and to improve my creativity.

Chapter One

Maybe,

There's something you're afraid to say,

Or someone you're afraid to love,

Or somewhere you're afraid to go.

It's going to hurt…

Because it matters.

John Green

…

"You've been awfully quiet tonight, Bulma." Yamcha had said when they left the restaurant.

After the second day of the tournament, the z fighters went to celebrate at a small restaurant not too far away from the hotel they were staying. They had come to celebrate Goku's qualification to the finals. He was fighting against the contestant Junior. Although, the idea was to celebrate his victory, he wasn't there with them.

"I was thinking about Goku and his fight with that guy Junior." She said pensively. "That guy makes me nervous."

"Why?" Yamcha asked.

"I don't know, I guess I'm just worried. That guy is strong and… creepy." She admitted with a shudder.

"Yeah, the guy is pretty strong." Yamcha agreed.

"There is no need to worry about Goku, Bulma. He'll be fine!" Chirped Krillin.

"Hey, talking about Goku, where is he?" She asked. "I thought he was going to join us for dinner."

"He is with his girlfriend." Muttered Oolong. "Lucky fella, his girlfriend is one gorgeous babe."

Bulma knew it was ridiculous to be upset, but she couldn't help feeling this way. Ever since Goku asked her to marry him that day, she hadn't stopped following him around, or demanding him to spend time with her. Bulma supposed it was understandable, but tonight was Goku's night, and they had wanted to celebrate his achievement. They had invited the girl to come celebrate with them, but for some reason or another, Goku had told them he would catch up with them after because he had to do something. She should have known that that something had a lot to do with his new girlfriend.

The girl was lovely to the eye, but there was something about her that Bulma simply didn't like. What was it? She didn't know, but she had a feeling it had to do with how demanding and clingy she was with Goku. What wrong was it to come join her boyfriend's friends to dinner and celebrate Goku's qualification to the finals together?

What if…

It was ridiculous, Bulma knew this much, but she couldn't help wondering if she was right about it. What if Chichi didn't like his friends? It was a possibility. It's not that the z-fighters were awful, no, not at all, but they were just… a little strange. But that's why Bulma loved them, and she was sure that's why Goku loved them too.

"I missed him tonight…" She admitted. The rest of the guys admitted that they too had missed him.

She was upset. For the last two hours she was being ignored by her boyfriend who was completely engaged in a video game.

Krillin and Yamcha had been playing the same video game since they arrived from the restaurant, and Bulma was getting tired of it. Nothing she tried made her boyfriend look at her, and she wondered why she even bothered to continue this relationship if Yamcha didn't seem as invested as she was. Pu'ar was the only one with enough common sense to at least pay attention to her from time to time, but he too was ignoring her.

"I'm going to my room" She whined expectantly, maybe now they boys would pay her attention.

"Goodnight babe" Yamcha said with eyes glued to the tv.

"Goodnight Bulma!" Said Krillin and Pu'ar.

Bulma couldn't believe her eyes. Where they really going to pay her no mind? Angry beyond belief, she wanted to smack some sense into them, but as she was going to strike, she found herself unable to. They were both laughing. She really wanted to be mad at them, but then they started arguing like two petulant children. The scene was truly endearing, and she found herself smiling at their antics.

I guess I'll forgive them.

"Goodnight guys, see you tomorrow." She said glancing one last time at the trio before closing the door to their room.

I wonder if Goku is back.

She had been thinking about Goku ever since they had arrived from the restaurant. Hell, if she dared to be honest with herself, she had been thinking about Goku since she had seen him the day of the tournament's registration after so many years.

She had been expecting a short guy, like Krillin, but to her surprise Goku looked completely different from what she had thought he'd look like. He had looked… handsome and tall. The complete opposite of how he used to be as a child. He was more… grown, less ignorant, of course that was until he had asked her what had happened to her lips when it was obvious she was wearing lipstick.

She wondered if he had returned from spending time with his girlfriend. Would he be in his room? She hoped he did.

She had been thinking about going over to wish him good luck in tomorrow's fight, just in case she didn't get a chance to see him before his fight with Junior. Besides, Goku was her friend, and she worried about him. So she decided she would go see him before she went to her room to sleep for the night. She only hoped he was awake.

Knocking on the door two times, she waited.

"Coming!" She heard him say. A few moments later the door opened revealing a familiar face.

"Hello!" She chirped.

"Hey Bulma" He smiled.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I wanted to come see you before the fight tomorrow."

"Oh, okay"

"Yeah…" For reasons unknown to her, she felt a bit silly standing there in front of Goku. "Well good luck tomorrow, I'm sure you'll do great!" She said trying to sound cheerful, but in reality, she felt slightly embarrassed.

What am I doing here?

Just as she was about to say her goodbyes, she noticed him staring at her intently. She looked at him a puzzled.

"Is something wrong, Goku?"

"You've changed…" He said looking at her as if studying her face. She felt her cheeks flush a little.

"Oh… Um, how so?" She asked nervously.

"You look old…"

It only took her a moment to register what he had implied. Is he calling me old!? Of course, he is!

"Eh… Bulma?" Goku said nervously "Why are you turning red?"

"Why… WHY!?"

She was red alright, red and pissed off at Goku. She couldn't believe how dense and impossibly rude he could still be. And to think she had thought he was less ignorant. Clearly, she was wrong.

"Goku! How rude can you be!?" She had wanted to strike him, but opted for calming herself for the sake of those sleeping in the other rooms. "Are you calling me old!?"

"Eh? W-what?" Realization dawn on him. He had done something to piss her off and he didn't know what. "I only meant it as a compliment…"

"How is that even a compliment!?" She said interrupting him. With every passing second, it was becoming harder to control herself. She could feel her body trembling from anger.

"Yeah well, what I meant is that you look… pretty."

And just like that, all the anger she was feeling seconds before dissipated. Did I hear him well?

"Pretty?" She looked dumbfounded.

Neither one of them said anything for a moment. How was she supposed to react to that? She had never heard Goku compliment her before. In fact, she doubted he was capable of such thing. It was impossible to know exactly what he was thinking. Goku wasn't like the typical guy. He didn't flirt with girls or showed any attraction toward them, so it was hard to know how he felt or how he perceived girls just in general.

She didn't know if it was the shock of hearing Goku compliment her, but she felt… elated? She could feel her heart fluttering wildly in her ribcage, and for a moment she felt slightly lightheaded.

"I…" She began saying "I think I better go. Goodnight, Goku." She said as she stepped away.

"Goodnight, Bulma" She heard him say.

She glanced at him one last time, and noticed how he was still looking at her. He waved her goodbye, and she hurried away from his sight.

She locked herself in the room and sat on the bed; pressing a hand on her chest, she felt her heart still beating fast. She bit her lip and closed her eyes.

Bulma didn't know what to think of what just happened. Yes, she hadn't expected Goku to ever compliment her, but she was even more taken aback by the reaction those words had elicited in her. She had only felt this way once, and that was a long time ago.

Thinking back to her younger days, she remembered feeling the same exact thing when she had gone on her very first day with Yamcha. Only Yamcha had made her feel that way.

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Thank you so much for your reviews and follows. I'm super happy that you like it.

This is the second update this month, so I'll be back in a month with the next update. Next update will include chapters 2 and 3.

Answer to Reviews:

Aquapen: Thank you so much! I feel like there is a lot I need to improve, but I'm not giving up! And hopefully, I can finish this story this time.

LightAngel: You are so very welcome! Thank you for reading it! I hope so too, I've been dying to see new material as well.

See you guys in a month!