Katie- Thanks for reviewing, and I'm really glad that you like my story!
Kiersten- Thanks you very much! I really appreciate the review! Enjoy.
Beeswax- I'm glad everyone's cool with the way I write. I just think a story is mo much better when it has a sense of realism to it, especially when writing a story that tries to depict semi-real life, like this story. Thanks so much for reviewing. I hope you like this chapter!
KarineD- Thanks for the review! I love when people tell me they love my stories! Thank you thank you!
DBZ-fan-JESS- I figured everyone would like that moment at the end of the last chapter between them. Thanks for reviewing!
Lenk- Haha, yeah I thought that was just a funny little thing to do, naming the dogs that. I'm really happy you liked that chapter so much. I hope everyone likes this one as well!
SilverWing145- Wow! Thank you very much. I really, really hope you like the new chapter.
Onnimo- Thank you for reviewing! Here's that update for ya!
Shinu- Don't worry. I definitely don't plan on changing anything about the way I write. I'm glad you feel that same way. How boring would this story be if they were all over each other the second they met?! I can't stand reading stuff like that. I feel so bad when I start to read a fic, and I get to like chapter 2 or 3 (depending on the plot and whatnot of course) and they're all in love. It makes me hit the back button immediately. I just can't read that stuff. But anyhow! I'm babbling. Thank you very, very, very much for that kind review. I really hope you like this chapter. I think everyone will! ;-)
Shiami- Good to know that I'm not a complete bitch to everyone. Thanks so much!! Enjoy the new chapter!
Kataan- Haha. Yeah, Nappa's house. I enjoyed writing that part. I got to have some fun on the character's account sometime! It just seemed the perfect contrast. Thanks so much for reviewing and reading! I really appreciate it.
Seventh Sky- Thanks for reviewing!!! Enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 09: Fight! Fight! Fight!
(It's been about a month since the last chapter. It's Thanksgiving week.)
Bulma walked silently next to Vegeta as they exited their Monday morning Sociology class. Ever since that night in Nappa's kitchen, there had been this unsettling feeling between them, and even though nothing had really happened, Bulma had made a conscious decision to distance herself from Vegeta a bit. It helped that Yamcha was actually around more often, too. She wasn't sure what had happened, but she was grateful to have her boyfriend paying a bit more attention to her. He still went out at least once a week, but he was cutting down on the drinking, and he was going to his classes. As they came to the cafeteria, Bulma spotted Yamcha outside waiting for her. She smiled at him and waved her hand.
"Hey, Yamcha!" She turned to Vegeta and opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off quickly.
"You ask me the same thing everyday, and I always tell you no," he said. "My answer hasn't changed."
The blue haired girl sighed heavily. "Yamcha's really not a bad guy, Vegeta. I don't know why you won't give him a chance," she whispered hastily as the got closer to her boyfriend.
Vegeta just kept walking. "Whatever. See you in class tomorrow," he said, leaving her standing next to her boyfriend.
Bulma stared after him for a second. "What about work tonight?!"
"You're on your own with Nappa. I'm going out," was all he replied.
Yamcha took Bulma's hand, gaining her attention. She frowned up at him, making him sigh. "Everything okay, babe?"
"Yeah. I just don't understand what's wrong wit him lately." He'd been going out a lot. June had told her a couple weeks ago that he'd actually came into the café with a date. Bulma was happy that he was getting out and whatnot, but did he have to start acting so damn cold toward her? What had she done to him?
"Don't worry about him. Let's just get something to eat. I'm starving."
(Change scene)
The next day, Bulma sat in their usual booth waiting for Vegeta to sit down with his tray. He was still in line waiting for pizza. Work had been so boring without him to talk to. Nappa had left her to close up alone around six because he had been there since nine in the morning. Why couldn't Vegeta go out on nights when he didn't work at the shop?!
Finally, her friend sat down across from her. She pushed her tray aside and leaned her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her hands. "So?"
Vegeta cocked an eyebrow at her before taking a big bite of the hot pizza he'd had a craving for. Bulma sighed and rolled her eyes. He hardly talked to her at all anymore. It was getting on her nerves, and she just couldn't take it! She sat up straight and slapped her hands down on the table.
"Why don't you talk to me like you used to anymore?!" She demanded, startling the people at the other tables nearby.
Vegeta glanced around angrily, and the small audience surrounding them went back to eating their lunches quickly. He turned his glare toward the woman across the table from him. "Do we have to get into this here? I'm eating," he told her going back to the task at hand.
Bulma glared back and turned to her backpack. She started shoving her books back in and zipping it up furiously. "So sorry to disturb you, Vegeta. I forgot how important food was to you," she hissed, standing up from the table and storming off toward the exit.
"Damnit," he grumbled, dropping his pizza and grabbing his bag quickly so he could catch up with her. He dodged through the crowd, following her blue head. He didn't understand her at all. He was just followed her lead!
He didn't actually catch up to her until she was jogging up the steps to her dorm. She'd ignored him every time he'd called out to her to stop. Vegeta came up right behind her and reached forward, grasping a hold of her wrist.
"Fuck! Will you just stop, woman?"
Bulma turned toward him and tried yanking her wrist away from him. "Let me go, Vegeta!"
"Stop acting like damn kid, and I'll think about it," he shouted back.
"I don't want to talk to you anymore. I don't even want to hang out with you, and I quit!" She yelled back. "I quit! I'm not working at the damn record shop anymore either, and I'm not going to be in your brother's wedding with you."
Vegeta shook his head slowly. "Stop being a bitch. It doesn't suit you," he told her calmly.
Bulma growled and reached up to slap him, but he caught her other wrist easily enough and gave her a deadly glare. "Don't ever try that again," he warned her. "I've never raise my hand to you, and never would," he growled furiously.
"Just let me go. I don't want to be around you anymore," she begged.
"That's not the impression I get," he argued, still holding onto both her wrists. "Or are you forgetting what just brought this whole thing on, Bulma? Do I need to remind you?" He inquired angrily, looking her straight in the eye. "You got mad because I didn't talk to you," he said, not waiting for a response.
"You don't talk to me anymore, so why bother staying friends?" She asked him dejectedly.
"Nope," he said quickly. "We're not playing this game. You're the one that started acting distant. You stopped telling me everything for some odd reason," he spoke quietly but his tone was still angry. He didn't want all the details of this fight to be so public. "So don't get mad at me because I went along did the same thing."
Bulma looked away, tears falling down her cheek. "I had to," she whispered.
"Why? Did your boyfriend say something to you? Did he get mad about how much time we were spending together?"
She shook her head, still refusing to look at him. "No, it's not Yamcha."
Vegeta sighed heavily. "Then what is it?"
"I just can't," she sobbed.
"Because you're starting to feel something more for me," he told her knowingly.
Her eyes snapped to his after that, and she narrowed her eyes. "You arrogant fucking bastard. You're not that special, Vegeta. Get over yourself."
With that said, she finally broke free from him and ran into her building. Vegeta clenched his fists at his side and suppressed the urge to scream in frustration. "Whatever," he muttered and stomped across the grass toward the library.
(Change scene)
June was emptying the garbage into the closet at the end of the hall when she saw Bulma walk off the elevator. The two roommates just stared at each other for a minute, before Bulma burst into tears. June dropped her garbage can on the floor and ran to her friend, giving her a gentle hug.
"Hunny, what's wrong?" She cooed.
Bulma buried her head into the crook of her neck and cried. "I g-got in a f-fight with Vegeta," she stuttered. "It was bad, Eighteen. I don't think he'll ever talk to me again. I was so mean to him." She let out a loud growl, changing moods faster than a pregnant woman. "And I'm not even sure I want to talk to him after the things he said to me! He had the nerve to call me a bitch!"
June's eyes widened. "He called you a bitch?" That didn't seem like something he'd call Bulma unless he was joking around with her.
"He told me to stop being a bitch because it didn't suit me," she went on angrily. She went to their door and pushed it open. "Can you believe him?!"
"Well what did you say or do before that for him to say that?" Her friend inquired cautiously.
Bulma whirled around and gasped. "You're going to take his side on this?" She laughed and shook her head. "This is just perfect. It's just like fucking high school all over again. I have no friends at all." Suddenly, she grabbed her purse off the desk and fished around inside it. "I should have known better than to come to California in the first place! Its no different."
"What are you doing, B?"
"None of your damn business," Bulma snapped.
"You know what, Bulma?" June started calmly, with just the slightest hint of anger in her voice. "I have a feeling he was right because you're sure acting like a bitch right now."
Bulma pulled the plane ticket Vegeta had bought her out of her purse and held it up for June to see. "That's fine by me because I'm out of here." She wasn't supposed to leave until tomorrow night, but she couldn't stand to be around here anymore. She pulled her luggage bag out from under her bed and began to shove random items into it.
"Well, have a great trip. I hope you feel better once you're around your family," June told her sincerely before grabbing her cellphone and walking out the door.
(Change scene)
"She has some major issues to work out, that's all I'm saying," June said, handing Vegeta a Chinese take out container and a fork. She'd stopped by the Chinese place on her way to the record store after she had called Vegeta when she left her room.
"I don't even want to talk about it," he responded slowly. He wanted to just forget about it. He had a lot on his mind.
"Well I do!" She picked up her chicken fried rice and dug into it angrily with her fork. "All I did was ask her what she said to you, and she went into this whole 'everyone's on Vegeta's side' thing."
Vegeta sat down on the stool behind the counter and stared at his egg roll like it was the most interesting thing in the universe at the moment. "Maybe she'll cool off after visiting her family," he told her before taking a bite of his food. He was so hungry since he got robbed of his lunch. "You'll make up with her when she comes back."
June glanced up from her rice and gave him a worried look. "What about you?" They had to talk again. They were like best friends!
"We just can't be friends. I don't think it's for us."
(Change scene)
"Shit!" Bulma hung up her cellphone and shoved it into her pocket. Yamcha was out partying with his friends, and she couldn't get a hold of him. How was she going to get to the airport? It'd cost a fortune to rent a cab to take her, and none of the transit buses went as far as LA. She had to be there by eleven thirty, or she'd miss her flight, and she'd have to wait until tomorrow to catch her previously scheduled flight.
She plopped down on her bed and stared at her hands. They were shaking really bad from all the stress she was putting on herself. "I've got to get out of here," she whispered.
The door to her room opened, and June walked into the room. She didn't even look at Bulma. She walked over to her desk and sat down to work on one of her term papers. Bulma frowned at her back and stood up. She picked up her suitcases and walked out of the room.
(Change scene)
It was so dead, that Vegeta closed the shop at eight, an hour earlier than their usual closing time. He didn't get it. Normally, Tuesday nights were pretty hoppin'! He pushed the security code into the pad by the back door and quickly walked out, locking it behind him. He was glad June had came over and spent the evening with him, and especially glad that she had brought food with her.
Vegeta turned toward his car, but stopped dead in his tracks. Bulma was sitting on the ground next to the driver's side door with two large suitcases lying on the ground beside her. She glanced up at him sadly as he finally came over to her.
"What the hell are you doing?" He demanded. He didn't understand what she was doing here.
"I know I said some terrible things," she told him.
"I don't want to here it."
She closed her eyes and lowered her head. "I know."
He stopped next to her and reached down to help her to her feet. She smiled weakly at him and brushed off her jeans. "What did you come here for?"
"I need a ride to the airport," she confessed. "I'll pay you back for the gas and the ticket when I get back. I'll get the money out of my savings account while I'm home."
Vegeta moved past her and unlocked his car. He slid into the driver's seat and started the car. Bulma watched him, tears threatening to fall from her eyes at any moment. He slammed his door shut, effectively blocking her view of him due to his black tinted windows. He gripped the stirring wheel and glared out the front window. Did he really want to put up with this right now?
A few seconds later, the driver's side window rolled down and the trunk popped open. "Well, what the hell are you waiting for?"
Bulma quickly picked up her bags and went around to the back. She tossed them into the trunk and shut it carefully.
(Change scene)
They drove in complete silence. Well, Vegeta did. Bulma kept sobbing every now and then, and she thought he didn't notice her holding it back because he had his favorite Caliban CD blaring through the speakers. She was an emotional wreck, and he knew he probably had at least a little to do with it. She kept her head turned facing out her window so he couldn't see her face.
'This ought to get a response,' he thought, as he drove past the exit.
Right on queue, Bulma sat up straight and turned to him. "Vegeta, you missed the exit," she told him anxiously.
"Really?" He gave her a disbelieving look.
She nodded quickly. "Yeah!" She looked out the back window. "Just great. I can't be late. It'll take forever to get turned back around," she grumbled.
"Calm down. I did it on purpose."
"What?! Why?"
He downshifted and took the next exit. "Because I've gotta pee," he teased.
"You could've peed at the airport, Vegeta!"
He sighed. She was definitely not in the being teased mood. She was completely overlooking the fact that he was joking around. "I told you to calm down," he reminded her. "We're going to my parents."
Bulma groaned. There was no way to get out of this. He was the one behind the wheel, not her! She just wanted to go home to Pennsylvania and be around people that cared for and loved her. Why was he taking her to his parents' house? Vegeta didn't speak another word until they parked in front of the house. He got out of the car and walked up to the house. It was late, and no one had been expecting him, so he had to use his key to unlock the door. Bulma followed him in and stood in the foyer with her hands on her hips and an angry expression on her face.
Vegeta fumbled around in the dark for the lights. "Where the hell is Renato? He should have heard us pull in," he mumbled, finally finding the lights.
"He's probably in bed considering it's almost eleven," Bulma argued.
"Not a chance. That man's always five steps ahead of everyone," he replied, walking into the living room. He turned on the lights in this room, too. Bulma preceded to follow him through the rest of the house. The last room he came to was his own. There was a note taped to the door. Vegeta peeled it off carelessly and unfolded it.
"What is it?"
He smirked. "I told you he's always five steps ahead of everyone." Passing the note to her, he turned back to go downstairs and get a drink and something to eat. He was suddenly hungry again!
'Vegeta, I had a feeling you'd be coming in for the weekend. It being Thanksgiving and all. Your parents went to Miami. The kitchen is stocked. If you need anything, call Edmund. Renato,' Bulma finished reading the note. "Damn, I guess Vegeta was right." She walked back down, trying not to get lost since Vegeta had left her alone. It suddenly hit her. Vegeta wasn't spending the holiday with his family?!
He looked up at her when she walked into the kitchen. "Here." He slid a bottle of water to her as she approached the opposite side of the island. "Take these, too." He placed two Advil in front of her.
"What for?"
"I know enough about you to know that your head must be killing you from trying to hold in your crying all the way here," Vegeta responded without hesitation. "Take them, now."
She picked them up and downed them both quickly. "Do you always have to be so damn bossy?"
"Yes. It's genetic. You should know. You've meant my father."
"Vegeta?" He didn't say anything. Instead, he continued to rummage through the fridge. "Were you going to stay at San Callisto by yourself all weekend?"
Finally, he looked up at her and dropped some lunchmeat on the counter between them. "No, I was going to go skiing with my best friend in the Rockies."
"Really?"
Vegeta looked at her a smirk tugging mercilessly at the corner of his mouth. Bulma growled and picked up the package of cheese, throwing it at him. She started to laugh. "You ass!"
He chuckled. "It's not my fault your so damn gullible at times, woman."
Reaching for the bread, she pulled out several slices. "Seriously, though," she started, while helping him make them some sandwiches. "What were you going to do?"
"June invited me to go with her to her parents, but I declined. I wanted some time alone," he admitted.
"You can't be alone on Thanksgiving. You're supposed to be with family and friends."
"Well, I avoid such gatherings. What do you think my parents are doing in Miami? They're not there for the sun. They can get that here. They went to my uncle's."
She shook her head. "And why don't you want to go there?"
"My cousin," he responded coldly.
Bulma frowned. "Sorry. I forgot about that." She reached for the mayo and went on. "Why do your parents still want you to get back with her after what she did to you?"
Vegeta remained quiet for a while. "They don't know. There are only a handful of people that do know."
"What? Why?!"
He sighed. "Because I like Alessa's father. He's a good man, and I didn't want to see him put out of business because his daughter's a whore, and that's exactly what my father would do. Hell, it's exactly what I'd do, too. It's the Ouji code. Don't fuck with a member of our family, or we'll take revenge in whatever form will hurt the worst."
"Sheesh," Bulma whispered. "Your dad would really do that? He doesn't seem like the type."
"It's those mafia ties," he joked.
"Stop teasing."
"What are you so concerned about me being alone for Thanksgiving anyway? It's not that big a deal."
"Yes it is!" She looked around. "Where's the phone?"
He pointed at the wall behind her. She reached into her purse and pulled out her ticket, quickly dialing the number on the back. Vegeta frowned. "What are you doing?"
"We're going to order you a ticket," she told him with her first real smile in the last couple weeks.
"Come again?"
"You're going home with me for Thanksgiving."
"I am?"
She looked up at him, her expression giving away the distinct impression that it was better for him to just go along with this than to actually argue with her.
"Yes, you are," she told him.
(End Chapter)
Ya'll thought I was going to send Bulma home without having her make up with Vegeta, didn't you?! Mu hahahaha. The evil Pandora is back. I thought about it, but it seemed too cruel after that horrible fight they had, huh?!?! That was bad. I was cringing as I wrote it.
Next time should be good. Vegeta gets his first real taste of small town life, and meets Bulma's family. What's Chichi going to have to say about this, especially since Yamcha's nowhere in sight?
PANDORA ;-)