Disclaimer: don't own..whatever

I have returned with a new chapter!!!!!!! Kind of sad it took me this long, but here it is.

Recap: in the last chapter, Bra and Goten almost got caught by Trunks and they decided to end their friends-with-benefits relationship.

Thanks to anyone who reviewed =]

'#' – means change of scene

Enjoy!

`~!#$%^&*()-_=+

Chapter Ten – Conflict at the Slash

"I can't believe you, Bra. How could you completely miss a meeting like that?"

"I told you, okay, I forgot to charge my phone and the battery ran out so I had no idea the meeting was today."

"Don't you have like a planner or something?"

"Uh, no. My planner is my phone."

Trunks glared at her.

"Could you maybe chill out, big brother. We got the deal, didn't we?"

"You mean I got the deal."

"Okay. Whatever. Stop yelling at me."

"No!" Trunks sighed, feeling it was useless. "I don't know how you expect to stay working in this company if you're going to be so irresponsible and forget important dates."

"I'm sorry, Trunks." Bra considered telling her brother about her ambitions and the real thoughts lurking in her mind. She had not admitted them to herself up to a few days ago and had thought very carefully about her future. In the moment, Bra decided to just tell Trunks and accomplish her goals. "The truth is I hate this job."

Trunks looked up at her, puzzled. He had thought Bra liked working in the family's business. Dende knows he does. He takes a lot of pride in his work.

"You do?"

"Yes. I never told anyone because I guess I just wanted to meet everyone's expectations, you know. I mean, you took up the company and Mom assumed the same for me. She never really asked me if it was something I wanted to do."

"I didn't know you felt this way."

"Yeah. And I think we all know this job isn't for me. I should do something I'm good at and stray away from what people expect of me."

"And what is it that you want to do?"

"Well, I've been looking up some agencies and I talked with an agent—" Bra stopped herself, feeling a little embarrassed. "Trunks, I've never told anyone this, not even G—um, Pan. So you can't tell anyone. Not yet."

"I won't, sis."

Bra had always had this certain ambition, but she never thought it was possible because she was working in Capsule Corp and trying to please her parents. She took the easy road, without and sacrifices or struggles. What kind of decision is that? What kind of life is that? To not make mistakes and learn from them is a waste. To not have personal loss, stories to tell of tragedy as well as redemption is just…sad in itself. She has lived an almost perfect life with ease, but it was far from infallible. She wanted to experience the world and life instead of just being another blink in existence. She wanted to something for herself, something she desired to do.

"Well," Bra said, "I want to be a model."

Goten was flipping and twisting dough around in the pizzeria. He added sauce, spreading it thoroughly across the now flat dough and sprinkled cheese everywhere. He then plopped it into the oven to let it bake into a fresh pizza pie.

"Goten."

He turned around and saw his boss Vinny calling him.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure Vin."

They stepped into the back where Vinny's small desk sat in a corner. Goten settled himself in the chair in front of Vinny's desk while Vinny shuffled through some papers before finally sitting down in his own chair.

Goten waited. Vinny stared at his intertwined fingers. He sighed and rubbed his stubble.

"Something wrong, Vin?"

"No. Well, yes." He sighed. "Goten, it kills me to have to do this. You've been working here for a couple of years now and you're one of the greatest workers I've had. But as you know, the economy is bad and with that new Georgie's Pizzeria down the block business has been slow." His blue eyes met Goten's black ones. "I'm gonna have to let you go."

Goten slouched. "Really?"

"I'm sorry Goten. I wanted to give you a warning, but I didn't because I thought I wouldn't have to. But I can't afford to keep you any longer. And you know, James and Carlo; they're nephews. My sister'll kill me if I fired them." He rubbed his stubble once more, as if it symbolized his apology. "Like I said, I'm real sorry to throw this on ya." He paused for a moment. "Saturday is your last day."

Vinny stood and left the room, leaving a suddenly jobless Goten sitting in a chair, confused.

Goten stared at spot where Vinny had been just a second ago. Shit, he thought, I'm out.

The next night, Friday, Bra was posing in front of her mirror. She was practicing her poses for modeling, angling her face and changing her expression and the intensity in her eyes. She giggled at herself. She was wearing tight jeans and a cute dark blue blouse. Tonight she was going out with Trish to the Slash. Since ending things with Goten a day before, she wanted to be flirtier with some random guy. It was almost like she wanted to test herself. Subconsciously, of course. She wanted to know if she was truly over Goten's lovemaking. The idea of a one nightstand with a total stranger wasn't exactly on top of her to-do list, but what else would work?

After Bra had told Trunks of her plans for the future he hugged her. He told her he would support her dream. He said he wanted her to be happy and to follow any unexplored path she wanted. Telling Trunks was one of the most relieving things she's done. Now to avoid telling her parents, she was going clubbing for further release before the storm that would come.

So when Trish honked the horn, signaling she was outside, Bra quickly hopped in her car and gave out a wail of excitement.

After getting home on Thursday and getting fired, Goten collapsed on his bed.

"What am I gonna do?" he said sullenly into his pillow.

A millions thoughts and ideas and possibilities flashed through his head. He could get another dead-end job and continue to save up for his gym. Or he could take out all the money in his bank account and get a loan from the bank so he could open up a gym, but then he'd be in debt for years. And what if the gym didn't sell well? Or it burns down before he could get insurance on it? Aggravated, he growled.

There was one other possibility. He could always fight. He was never much of a fighter, but he was still a Saiyan. He could compete in tournaments and win a hell of cash. He could even join in on illegal street fights and earn money like that. His life was already showing signs of spiraling. Why not speed it up? All the Z fighters don't often compete in tournaments for one reason: It's dishonest. Everyone is so superbly strong that it'd be like cheating. However, Goten was desperate. He wasn't up for a lesson in morals. He needed the money. The hell with honesty. He was going to join tournaments. His family might not find it impressive, but he wasn't looking to impress anyone.

Friday night, with his mind made up, Goten went out with a few of his guy friends, whom he had met in clubs, and they went to the Slash. Goten needed to have fun and take his mind off his future for the night—and a certain blue-haired girl. Maybe he could find a worthy one nightstand for some sexual release.

#

Bra was dancing with a tanned guy who had introduced himself as Chad. He wore a fit shirt which showed off his muscles. Bra loved that. Unlike Brett, Chad was really nice and witty. He had gotten them drinks and they had a small conversation. When Bra wanted to dance with him, he asked her if she was sure. He was nervous in a cute way—and very respectful. He made sure it was okay with Bra before he started grinding with her. When he was finally comfortable with her, he began to make jokes about the lyrics in the repetitive techno song.

"Where exactly do you suppose they get these words from? It's like they pick them out from a hat and announce it along with a random beat."

Bra laughed. She liked him. Hot, nice, funny. What a catch, Bra thought. She might actually take him home. But there was one problem. There was no fire. No passion. Bra felt no chemistry or sparks between them. She wasn't getting turned on like she would if it was Goten dancing behind her. Maybe she was problem, she thought. Maybe it was because Goten was on her mind that she couldn't get turned on by Chad. Bra decided to change that.

She and Chad went upstairs to the hip-hop room, leaving the underground/first floor techno room behind. Hip-hop music was so much easier to dance to and much more fun. Bra pumped her hips to the beat of the music, determined to spark up things with Chad. She slid down his body and slid back up slowly. And instead of having her back to him, she decided to grind with him face to face. It proved to be much more effective.

#

Goten and his friends entered the club in the hip-hop room, scoping the place for a good girl to dance with. Goten felt energized. His head was bobbing with the beat as he began to grow impatient for a dance. He saw a couple of girls dancing hotly with some guys. He was looking for a group of girls in particular that he could just go up to and start dancing with. He saw another girl dancing very sexily with a blonde guy. He could only see her backside but, man, it was some back view. The movement of her body seemed familiar. And when one of the strobe lights flashed on her, he noticed she had blue hair.

He felt paralyzed, his eyes glued to the girl. He saw as the two turned to the side, their profiles uncovered. Bra.

Goten felt electrocuted. What is she doing here? His blood suddenly boiled in his veins. Watching that blonde scum touch her body, her hips, his hands dangerously close to grabbing her ass, was amplifying something terrible inside of him. He growled, gritting his teeth. He fisted his hands, fire burning deep in his eyes. Goten walked right up to the guy and shoved him off Bra roughly. Chad staggered.

Bra yelped. "What the hell?"

"What's your problem, asshole?" Chad said.

"Stay away from her."

Bra's eyes widened. "Goten? What the hell are you doing here?"

Chad looked at Bra and raised an eyebrow. "Old boyfriend?"

Simultaneously, Bra and Goten said:

"No!"

"Yes!"

They looked at each other. Bra was angry and puzzled. Why is he so jealous of Chad?

"Why are you dancing with this guy?" Goten asked her.

"I can dance with anyone I want. I'm not yours Goten. Nor will I ever be," Bra said disgusted.

She took Chad by the wrist and led him out of the club.

"That was pleasant," Chad said sarcastically when they were outside.

"Sorry. He's a jerk."

Chad nodded, contemplating. After a minute he spoke. "Do you wanna maybe go to my place? I mean, you know, get away from the club."

Chad was nervous again. She found it adorable. "Yeah, that'd be great."

Bra let Chad hold her hand and take her to his car.

But before they could make it there, Goten came raging out. When he saw them holding hands, he grabbed Chad's shoulders and pushed him to the ground.

"What the fuck?!" Chad yelled.

"Goten!" Bra helped Chad up.

"You're better than this Bra. You don't need him," Goten said.

"You know what," Chad said, dusting himself off, "I don't want any problems. It was nice dancing with you Bra, give me a call sometime." He got into his car, annoyed.

Bra watched Chad drive away and she mumbled, "I don't even have your number."

She turned to Goten, furious, "Look what you did. You scared him off, you idiot." She walked away from him.

Goten followed her. "I just saved you from a mistake."

She whirled back around, glaring at him. "Really, Goten? How could you possibly know? You weren't with Chad for the past hour getting to know what a nice guy he was."

"I didn't need to. I saw the way he looked at you."

This must be some Saiyan jealousy crap, Bra thought. She hated his ignorance and self-contradiction. "Yeah?! Was is any different from the way you've looked at me? I bet it wasn't."

"It's not the same."

"Oh, it's not?"

Bra grabbed his waist and pushed him up against a wall behind some bushes, ready to prove him wrong. She pressed her body against his. She kissed him roughly on the lips, grabbing his hands and moving them to her ass, making him squeeze her. He kissed her back, hungrily. She moved her mouth to assault his hot neck and stopped to look into his now lust-filled eyes.

"Are you not looking at me the same exact way?" she whispered.

Goten was too hot to answer. He knew she might be right.

Bra kept kissing his neck, roughly sucking in certain spots. Goten held back a moan. She moved his hands up to her breasts.

"You can't take it, can you?" she said, still kissing and nipping, "You can't stand the thought of another man touching me, holding me, having their way with me in bed, on the couch, on the bathroom floor." Her voice was lowly seductive.

Goten felt powerless. He wanted more but at the same time he didn't. It was irritating, not knowing what to do.

"You can't stand someone fucking my brains out night after night—"

Goten grabbed her shoulders and held her away from him. "Stop this, Bra."

"Why? You know it's true." She was sad about him, upset that he was this way. "I know we just ended our agreement, but I have the right to dance with whoever I want and sleep with whoever I want. I don't belong to you, Goten."

"I know," he growled. "But you can do better than him."

"And who's better than him? Huh?" Bra was aching for him to answer. "Who? You?" She laughed in his face. "I know it certainly isn't you."

Goten swallowed her insult. "I may no longer be your lover, but I'm still your friend, and I still want the best for you."

She stared into his eyes. Her voice was sincere and serious. "The best for me right now, Goten, is to not be close to you."

Her words were biting. Bra didn't miss the flash of sadness that crossed his black beautiful eyes. She looked away. "I have to go back. Trish probably already sent out a search party for me."

Goten nodded but more to himself. He stayed outside, standing there even after Bra went back inside. He finally flew up high and headed home to his apartment. With his mind in a deep state of rumination, he could have hit a plane and not even realized it.

`~!#$%^&*()-_=+

Author's Note – hope everyone liked it…hmm, where will their friendship/relationship go from here? Don't forget to review!

Updated!!!!

FMA story:

I'm the One Who was Wrong: Forever

Coming Soon:

Vegeta & Bulma fanfic called, The Story in Between