A/N: I don't own DBZ or the characters, that honour belongs to Akira Toriyama. I use British English spelling. Please review!
Bulma drove home slowly, relieved that she'd brought her own car so she didn't need to worry about any awkward at the door attempts from Jason to kiss her. He'd been a perfect gentleman all night, and hadn't flinched when she turned her head at the last minute as he leaned in to kiss her goodbye. He simply kissed her cheek as if that was what he'd planned all along, and wished her a good night, opening her car door for her.
The house was dark when she pulled up, although she could see a sliver of light coming from the living room. Feeling remarkably lighter, Bulma almost skipped through the door and headed to the living room.
Vegeta was sitting on the couch, a large bowl of pasta on his lap and a glass of what looked like whiskey on his hand. He smiled lazily at her as she entered. "Have fun?" His tone was slightly sarcastic and he didn't exactly slur his words but he drawled them out and he seemed more relaxed than Bulma had ever seen him.
Bulma kicked off her heels and threw herself on the couch beside him. "It was thrilling," she said, matching his tone. She grabbed the bowl off his lap and started eating, smirking at his affronted expression. "This is delicious. If becoming a Super Saiyan doesn't work out you definitely have a potential career as a chef."
Vegeta clicked his tongue in annoyance, but didn't lash back at her like he normally would have. Instead he tossed back the last of his drink, then poured himself another. Before he could drink from his glass again, Bulma plucked it from his hand and drank it herself.
Vegeta let out a low chuckle. "That bad?"
"It was nice... he was nice. But boring." Bulma finished the pasta and put the bowl on the side table. She sank back into the couch with a sigh. "He would have been terrible in bed."
"I thought that's what a date was," Vegeta said.
"What... sex?"
Vegeta just shrugged.
"Oh..." Bulma frowned. She supposed she shouldn't have assumed Vegeta understood exactly what a date was. Different planets probably did different things. "No, a date isn't about having sex, although it can lead to that. A date is where a couple go out romantically. Like... they might have dinner and watch a movie."
Vegeta was quiet for a while, then he shuffled in his seat so he was facing her. "I don't understand."
"Which part?"
"We have dinner and watch movies all the time."
Bulma wrinkled her nose. "Yes, but... it's not the same."
"So, we do not have 'dates'?" Vegeta asked.
"No. We are just..." Bulma paused, unsure of how to explain it. On the surface, they were doing things a couple that dated would do. "We are just friends. It's not the same."
"Friends," Vegeta said flatly. "I don't have friends."
Bulma laughed. "You do now. But what we do, it's different because it's not romantic."
Vegeta scratched the bridge of his nose. "So, if I kissed you we'd be on a date instead of this... friend thing."
"Um..." Bulma grimaced slightly. "I guess?"
Vegeta gave a little shrug and settled back against the sofa.
"Saiyans didn't date?" Bulma asked.
"I was a little young to know exactly what Saiyans did romantically speaking," Vegeta said. "My parents' marriage was arranged I think. They never acted like they liked each other's company anyway."
"You've never dated?" Bulma asked, nervous that he was going to react as usual and just leave. To her surprise, he seemed to consider the question.
"I didn't really get time to do much outside all the travelling and fighting and blowing up planets." Vegeta gave her a sideways smile. "I was never in one place for long enough to get to know people."
Bulma clicked her fingers, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "You know, since you technically died, you're like a born-again virgin."
"A... a what?" Vegeta asked, turning bright red.
"A born-again virgin. You died, you came back to life, all your sins forgiven, so you-" Bulma poked his arm playfully, "-are a virgin."
Vegeta sputtered in response, making Bulma burst out into laughter. "Unless you'd never had sex before and you were always a virgin," Bulma teased.
"Of course." Vegeta rolled his eyes at her and threw his hands in the air. "I destroyed planets and brutally murdered billions of people, but never had sex."
Bulma grinned back at him. "You know, if you are technically a virgin-"
"Argh, would you stop going on about that?" Vegeta said, scowling at her.
"-you're also technically not a murderer either. You haven't killed one person since you came back to life."
Vegeta threw his head back and laughed. "Is that what you think?"
Bulma blinked in surprise, suddenly unsure. "If you'd hurt anyone on Earth Goku would have stopped you."
"I haven't been on Earth this whole time, have I?" Vegeta pointed out.
"Oh." Bulma blushed and stared at her hands in her lap. "Who have you killed then?" She looked up at Vegeta through her eyelashes.
His face was impassive, and he let out a loud sigh before replying. "While I was travelling in space looking for your moronic friend, I stopped at every one of Frieza's bases and destroyed them. I killed everyone in charge and did whatever I had to in order to shut down the planetary sale trade so no one else could take it over." Vegeta paused, staring straight ahead. He crossed his arms before turning to look at her. "I killed a lot of people and I don't have a shred of remorse. If I had to do it again I would. And I'd enjoy doing it. You should be afraid of me. Half the universe is."
Bulma met his gaze and cocked her head, staring at him for a moment. He really didn't look like a psychotic murderer. He'd had something different in his eyes when she'd seen him on Namek, but something had changed since. She just couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.
"Well," Bulma said, shifting on the couch so she was facing him. "You haven't killed anyone innocent since you came back to life, and that has to count for something."
"I haven't killed anyone innocent," Vegeta conceded, uncrossing his arms. Then he leaned forward and bared his teeth at her. "Yet."
Bulma giggled and reached out to pat his cheek with her hand. "Yes, I'm so scared of you, Vegeta."
Vegeta started at the touch, but didn't pull back, his expression shifting from mock anger to confusion. Bulma realised her hand was still on his face and she started to pull away, but Vegeta reached out and very gently wrapped his hand around her wrist. Her skin burned at the contact. He was so warm, but it was something else as well - like an electrical charge between them. Bulma's breath hitched and her eyes widened. He felt magnetic, like all she wanted to do was fall on top of him. It had to be the alcohol, but the pressure in her chest and the fluttering in her stomach said otherwise.
Vegeta stayed frozen, half leaning towards her. Bulma felt herself being drawn towards him. She inched forwards as well, almost closing the gap between them until she could feel his breath on her face.
It was Vegeta that made the final move, shifting forward and pressing his mouth against hers. The pressure was light but so warm it made her lips tingle. His thumb moved, caressing her wrist, and he remained ever so gentle, and so unlike his usual brash approach to everything. Bulma leaned into him, opening her mouth slightly to deepen the kiss. Vegeta groaned and threaded his other hand through her hair, kissing her back fiercely, all gentleness forgotten. He let go of her hand and placed his on her waist, pulling her closer then running his fingers up her back and over her neck, making her let out a soft moan.
He slowly pushed her back so she was lying on the couch and he was on top of her. His lips moved from her mouth to her neck to her collar bone and his hands... one was kneading the back of her neck and the other was on her leg, on her bare skin and making its way upwards towards the hem of her dress.
Bulma let out a gasp as Vegeta scraped his teeth against her skin and she realised he was certainly not a virgin and oh Kami he was turning her insides and her brain to mush and all she wanted was him. She writhed under his weight, sliding her hands under his shirt and feeling the muscles of his back. Bulma whimpered as Vegeta moved his mouth lower and nibbled the skin at the top of her dress. One of his hands was now under her dress and on her thigh and he was moving his fingers upwards so slowly she wanted to scream.
When he re-threaded his fingers on his other hand through her hair and dragged them down her scalp, Bulma moved her head up towards him and kissed his neck, then bit down softly, making him growl.
"Vegeta," she whispered against his skin, arching her back to get closer still to hem.
He paused, stopping all movement. Even his breathing, which had been ragged, halted. He pushed off her suddenly and sat up, his black eyes wide and fathomless, his mouth partly open as if he was about to say something. Bulma stayed still, dishevelled and unsure.
"I..." Vegeta started breathing heavily, glancing around the room as if looking for an escape route. "This was a mistake." He stood up abruptly and started to walk away.
Bulma lunged forward and grabbed his arm. She could feel him trembling beneath her touch. "You can't... you can't kiss me like that and then just leave!"
"Get your filthy, human hands off me," Vegeta said through gritted teeth.
Bulma recoiled like she'd been slapped. "You arrogant, narcissistic, monster!" She picked up a pillow and threw it at him, and when it just bounced off him, she grabbed her empty glass and hurled it at his head. Vegeta deflected it with his hand, the glass shattering on impact with shards of glass falling to the carpet.
"Stay away from me," Vegeta said quietly, before striding out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Bulma picked up the pillow with shaking hands and hugged it to her. Warm tears slid down her cheeks but she barely noticed them. What in Kami's name had just happened?
A/N: Finally! I've been wanting to write this scene for a while. But of course Vegeta has to go and muck things up... but why did he? You'll have to keep reading to find out! Let me know what you thought of this chapter by reviewing if you can! The next chapter will be up soon.