Chapter 9

When Bulma came harassing him earlier he didn't know what to expect. Of course Vegeta knew that eventually she was going to question him about the whole Diane situation, but the outcome he was never sure about. It only made sense to assume either she would believe him and get over it, or don't believe him and kick him out on the street. At that point in time the street didn't seem to bad, at least he would be away from her bickering.

To his surprise she finally listened to his side, and she believed him and even set her stupid pride aside to apologize to him. He was pleased with how apologetic she was but after everything was squared away all he wanted to do was get back to his training. It was cool that she was being submissive and rational, but she seemed a little strange, kind of clingy. Almost a mili second later he recognized that familiar look. The loving and lust filed one she always had when he was still living with her. Vegeta decided he was going to act on the opportunity, it had been too long since he last got some, and Bulma as seriously the best partner he ever had. The psychological mastermind that we was, he decided to play the annoyed role, he acted very nonchalant and careless towards the conversation knowing very well that she would chase him down until he accepted her apology.

He knew that one of the many things she liked about him was slick attitude. He knew most of the time she hated it, but they both knew that she had her moments where she admired it. Vegeta tossed a few rude remarks to her, cursed her out a tad, and told her to beat it. He knew damn well she wasn't going to leave; she never did, not until she wanted to leave at least. The next thing he knew she nearly tackled him to the ground trying to get her lips to meet with his own.

The hours of sex he had shared with Bulma were the best things to happen to him in a while. Since she chucked him into the guest house he been miserable. She wasn't around as much for him to torment and argue with, he wasn't seeing his son all the time and whenever he wanted, it was like she was forgetting about him. Vegeta lay on his back staring at the ceiling as he thought about what Bulma meant to him. It scared him and infuriated him to know that she had so much of a hold on him, even though everything that happened between them was a mistake. From their first kiss, down to Trunks' birth, none of it was supposed to happen and Vegeta was hoping that this new mistake added to the already long list wouldn't make things worse.

"SHIT!" his thoughts were interrupted by that voice, that annoying voice. Does she ever shut up?

"Leave it to you to ruin peaceful moments with your annoying voice", he chimed, eyes never leaving the ceiling. Bulma ignored his comment and jumped up from the bed, scurrying around for her clothes. He turned his head to watch her and raised one of his eyebrows in confusion.

"In a hurry are we?" he spoke. Bulma continued to ignore him as she fumbled with her panties. Vegeta was becoming more and more agitated with her hasted movements and her refusal to acknowledge him. He squinted his eyes a little so know he was glaring at her with an evil look.

"You weren't in a hurry to for me to take my dick out of you" he laughed evilly. Bulma pulled her panties up and looked at Vegeta with a shocked look.

"Listen your Spolidness, don't get all ballsy because you got a little ass", she barked now fumbling with her bra. Vegeta chuckled at her comeback. He was about to reply to remark but he stopped abruptly. Bulma looked at him curiously; he looked instantly angered and fully alert. Surely her little comment couldn't have set him off that much. She rolled her eyes and slid her top on, and as she was reaching for her jeans she felt Vegeta take hold of her arm squeezing the life out of it.

"What the Hell Vegeta?" she screamed. "You are hurting me". Vegeta stared her deep in her eyes, he looked beyond pissed. He turned his head to the left and inhaled deeply, still eyeing her down through the corner of his eyes.

"The male I scented on you when you went out with that bitch" he started, "he's here." Bulma felt her heart drop. Vegeta pulled her closer to him; only an inch separated them now.

"Why?" he questioned, his voice was cold and threatening. Bulma was debating whether to lie or tell the truth. When she came to discuss Diane with Vegeta she was supposed to also inform him that Max would be coming by, instead she ended up sleeping with him. Bulma swallowed hard, terrified of what would happen next.

"He-, I- I- I-, he- the-"she stuttered, the fear was causing her to fumble over her words she didn't know what to say. Vegeta growled and squeezed even tighter.

"Spit it out! Tell me why he is here or Ill beat it out of you". Bulma felt faint, now Vegeta was threatening to physically hurt her. He threatened plenty of times but this time he seemed extremely serious, the grip he had on her arm was cutting the circulation; she felt her fingertips heat up and tingle.

"My…arm, oww", was all she could muster up through the pain. She felt tears begin to fall from her eyes. Vegeta loosened his grip on her casing Bulma to sigh in relief as she felt her blood rush back to her hand.

"Woman", he warned. Bulma tried to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"He's here to visit me", she whispered. For some reason she braced herself for a hit. When it never came she brought her eyes to Vegeta's, he was smiling coldly at her.

"Visit you huh?"

"He wanted to hang out is all", she defended. Vegeta slammed her back against the wall and raised one of her legs wrapping it around his waist. Bulma screamed as the pain surged through her back.

"Visit you and hang out and do what?" his voice was frightening, he never been this angry with her. Bulma felt his free hand slid between her legs.

"Hang out and do this?" he said dryly. Bulma looked at him in surprise. "You have ambitions to be just like your friend…a slut." He growled. Bulma felt a fire starting in her chest; she wouldn't stand for being compared to someone like Diane.

"I'm entitled to have men over to MY house. I am not bound to you, and you aren't bound to Me." she spat. "I'm no slut, I have no intentions on sleeping with him, and my intentions are to get to know him." Bulma began pushing her legs against Vegeta so she could pry herself from his grip. He rolled his eyes at her feeble attempt and dropped her to the ground.

"And what do you think are his?" Vegeta shot back at her. Bulma quickly hopped to her feet and nudged Vegeta as hard as she could.

"You're just jealous because you know he's a better man for me and your son than you ever could be!" she screamed.

"How do you know I want to be anything for you and that brat!" he yelled back. Bulma pushed her way past him and headed towards the house. Vegeta watched her disappear into the night and he stood there replaying her words over and over in his mind.

"You're just jealous because you know he's a better man for me and your son than you ever could be!" He felt a sensation that he hadn't felt since he was a child being forcefully taken from the side of his dead father.

Bulma stomped into the house and ran upstairs past her mother who yelled up to her something about her having a guest in the living room. She ran in her bathroom so she could take a quick shower. Who did Vegeta think he was anyway? He could care less about her or Trunks as it is, what was it to him if she was hanging out with another man? Not like he wanted to hang out with her. Bulma forcefully scrubbed at her skin and tried to wash the remembrance of the night's recent events. She hoped out the shower and ran cold water over her face. She threw on her bra and panties and put on a baby blue sundress.

Bulma sped downstairs to greet Max, she felt terrible for having him wait so long, but she couldn't hang out with him right after having sex with Vegeta, un-showered. Bulma made it to the living room where she saw Max sitting on the sofa looking extremely handsome. He was wearing a white button down with dark blue jeans and a black blazer. He caught a glimpse of her and smiled.

"Hey what took you so long beautiful?" he smiled. Bulma felt her cheek heat up at the compliment.

"I'm so sorry Max, I was arguing with my…never mind", she said meekly. She noticed Max looking at her worriedly.

"You look puffy, like you have been crying". "And your arm, you have a hell of a bruise!" he shouted pointing to her arm. He hopped up from the couch and ran over to her.

"Are you alright?" he questioned lifting her chin with his finger so their eyes could meet. Bulma felt her heart melt a little. She hadn't had a man ask her if he was alright since she was dating Yamcha.

"Tell me what happened?" he demanded.

"Nothing", she responded quickly. Max looked at her with a disapproved look.

"Bulma please?" She realized he wasn't going to stop until she told him something, so she decided to go with the truth. She was too tired to try and cook up a fake story.

"I was arguing with my son's father". She confessed.

"He was here?" SHIT! She never told him that Vegeta still lived in the property. Bulma held her head down in embarrassment.

"He lives here", she started, "He lives in the guest house out back". Bulma noticed the confused look on his face.

"It's a long story", she added.

"Did he do this to you?" Max prodded. Bulma felt her stomach tighten.

"No, its fine", she replied trying to divert the topic. If they stayed on it, this would not end pretty.

"Is he still here?"

"No!" she screamed. If he went starting trouble with Vegeta he would be a dead man. Bulma felt the knot untie in her gut as Max's face softened.

"What kind of guy roughs up his kids mother?" Max spoke to himself.

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine it's over with' She smiled reassuringly.

"So how was your day?"

Bulma and Max hung out for hours on her couch talking about whatever came to mind. She leaned that he was a 25 year old and he was a graphic designer. Bulma was curious as to how a graphic designer owned a brand spanking new Maserati, and he explained that his parents were wealthy lawyers. Max's daughters name was Teal and she was 1 going on 2 just like Trunks. Their birthdays were 2 months and 3 days apart.

They talked about everything from the weather, to politics, to clothes, and colors. Bulma was definitely enjoying talking to Max, he was awesome company, but her mind kept traveling back to Vegeta over and over again. She was defiantly pissed off at his over the top reaction to Max coming by, but as time went on it kind of flattered her. Max was rambling on about how much he hated milk when Bulma started to think about how she told Vegeta Max was a better man than he was. He was better at talking, he was definitely better at being sweet, and he great looking. On the flip side Vegeta was a better listener, made up for not being sweet with his own ways of showing affection, and he was drop dead hot!

Even though he was a jerk most of the time who was she to say Max was better for her and Trunks? Sometimes she wondered if Vegeta really cared about his son but at the end of the day she knew the truth without a doubt. The guilt was washing over her again. Just as Max was finishing his speech Trunks came running into the living room.

"Mommy!" he ran into her arms and hugged her lovingly. His speech was getting better every day.

"Hi Trunks! I want you to meet my friend." She said. She took his hands and brought him over to Max.

"Max, this is my son, Trunks."

"Hi there Trunks, I'm Max", he smiled. "Wow Bulma, you have a good looking kid, that purple hair is sweet!" Bulma and Max laughed.

"Say hi Trunks." Trunks looked at Max with a scowl on his face. God, he looks just like Vegeta. Trunks folded his arms and glared at Max.

"No, no Mats, only daddy", he said. Bulma bit her lip in embarrassment.

"Trunks, that's not nice", she scolded. "And its MAX honey not MATS". Max was dying of laughter.

"No, its okay Bulma, little boys are always really protective of their mothers. He's just used to his dad I understand", he smiled. He reached out to pat Trunks on the head and almost as a reflex Trunks smacked his hand away, full force.

"Whoa!" Max hollered, "That kid is strong", he whined cradling his hand.

"Trunks! Say you're sorry to Max!" Bulma scolded. "I'm sorry Max I don't know what's gotten into him". Mrs. Briefs came into the living room looking a little irritated. Bulma assumed it was because she ignored her earlier.

"Don't worry ill get him ready for bed, he was just spending time with his daddy, that's why he's so hype". Mrs. Briefs reached her hand out for Trunks to take and she flashed a smile towards Max and a irritate look towards Bulma. Bulma looked at her mother confused but thanked her none the less.

"Wow, he's really strong", Max repeated still rubbing the back of his hand.

"I know, sorry again. He gets it from his dad's side."

"What's his dad's background if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, er, he's foreign", she replied.

"From where?"

"Oh he's from uh Ve- uh Venice".

"Italy?"Max looked confused. "Wow that's cool I guess, how'd he end up here in Japan?"

"Oh he's an orphan and the family that adopted him were from here." Bulma looked at her watch, "Oh look at the time it's getting late" she said quickly. Max looked at her and smiled."Yeah, you're right. I should start heading home." He got up from the couch and Bulma walked him to the front door.

"I had a good time tonight, your pretty cool girl, I knew you were" he held Bulma's hands in his.

"Yeah I had fun". "Well Ill hopefully see you around sometime maybe, hopefully?" he joked.

"I'll call you". Max turned to leave and as if the wind blew him he flew around facing Bulma again. The next thing she knew was his lips were pressed against hers locking her into a kiss. Bulma went along with it and she actually enjoyed it a bit. She broke the kiss and they stood for another moment smiling at each other.

"Good night beautiful" Max ran his fingers across her face one last time before he turned to really leave. Bulma watched him get into his car and speed away. Bulma stood at her front door a moment and thought about what just happened. Her mind fell back on Vegeta, and how she was just kissing him hours earlier. She put her head in her hands and sighed. What's going on with me?

"So", her mother's voice broke her attention away. Bulma turned to look at her mother.

"Mom, you startled me." Bulma remembered her mother's funny attitude from earlier, "what was wrong earlier?"

"Do you think your going about this the right way?" she replied. Bulma looked at her mother, eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

"You heard me…do you think you're going about this thing the right way?" she replied sternly.

"What are you talking about?" Bulma shot back, getting agitated with hr mother's attitude.

"I saw you sucking face with Vegeta earlier." Bulma felt her face get red. "And I saw him carrying you into the guest house, and I know you didn't come back in here for hours. I may not be a scientist like you and your dad but I can put two and two together." Bulma looked at the ground as her mother continued "and now you're making out with this guy"; she said gesturing towards the door.

"Okay, I know that." She said sarcastically.

"I said I wasn't going to get involved with your relationship, but I will butt in when I see my daughter is lost." Bulma laughed at the statement.

"You're kidding me right now mom?"

"No, actually I'm not. You are obviously confused. You like Mr. Maserati over there but you love Vegeta." Bulma felt her stomach tie up in knots, her eyes opening a little wider at the accusation.

"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Briefs sighed "Honey, you think you don't, but you most definitely do, it's obvious. Really should have never left him".

"What? Never left him, he's a shitty father, and you couldn't even call him a boyfriend!" Mrs. Briefs calmly walked over to Bulma and put her hands on her shoulders.

"I'm not saying he's a saint, but I do think that's one of the things you liked most about him. He has his faults, we all know that, including Vegeta." Mrs. Briefs reassured,

"Yeah right", Bulma stated. Mrs. Briefs stomped her foot in aggravation.

"Listen to me! I understand you felt like he was being selfish, and cold, but don't you think you were being selfish too? YOU were the one telling me how terrible of a life Vegeta had, and how he was abused from a little boy all the way through his young adulthood. How could you have expected him to be perfect?" Bulma looked at her mother with tear filled eyes; everything she was saying was true.

"You were selfish by trying to mold him into something he's not, to please yourself, and he was selfish by not attempt to meet you halfway" Mrs. Briefs hollered.

"But mom, he doesn't even care about Trunks", she sobbed.

"Bulma, if Vegeta didn't love Trunks he would have left when he found out you were pregnant."

"He doesn't leave because he said it was his responsibility to stay!" Mrs. Brief s rolled her eyes, at how foolish Bulma sounded.

"Honey, if you believe that is the only reason he stays your stupid." Mrs. Briefs said. Bulma looked at her mother with sad eyes; it was hard to believe Vegeta cared.

"He doesn't care about me", she whispered.

"If he didn't care about you, then why didn't he sleep with Diane?" Bulma was about to reply but her mother cut her off.

"If he didn't care about you then why did he come to ME to talk about YOU?" Bulma felt like she was going to faint. Vegeta went to her mother to talk about her?

"What do you mean?" she questioned, the tears instantly drying.

"I won't go into complete detail, but he told me that you said something about that other cutie being a better man to you and Trunks, and he asked me my opinion on it, and then we talked about it." Mrs. Briefs giggled as she saw her daughters jaw hit the floor.

"You hurt his feelings baby, And from what Vegeta told me, Trunks is one of the most important people in his life."

"People?" Bulma murmured.

"Yeah, you were the other person." Mrs. Briefs noticed her confused look. "You provided him with Trunks silly, you gave Vegeta a family, and he's very grateful." Bulma's mind was racing all over the place, the information her mother was providing her with was overwhelming.

"Hun, Vegeta wasn't perfect and he knows that, but I know you still love him, you slept with him after you swore bloody murder you never wanted to talk to him again", she laughed.

"But, Max", Bulma moaned.

"Isn't for you" Mrs. Briefs finished. "He's way cute, super sweet, but Hun after a few days you'll get bored of him quick". Bulma knew what her mother was saying was right. Max is a great guy, but he wasn't bad. He was just some cute rich kid, they would have an awesome friendship but a relationship wouldn't work he wasn't on her level.

"I say you guys try to work it out".

"And what did he say when you said that?"

"He called me an idiot and said he never wanted to be your mate", she laughed. "But I don't believe him, just like I don't believe you don't love him deep down" she added. Bulma smiled at her mom, and hugged her tightly.

"What was he doing with Trunks", she asked.

"Oh he was teaching him how to do a push up it was so cute!"