A/n: Ok, so it's been a LONG time. I know. This is the real chapter 23. Sorry about that mistaken update. I couldn't take the chapter out, really, so I updated CH23 instead. Sorry it took me so long to get it out. There are a million and one things that happened to me and it's been really, really hard to get this chapter out. I love this story and my laptop got sent to get fixed. In the process, all my chapters were erased from the hard disk, so I loved this story to a point where I began CH23 all over again. It's not the same as the one in my laptop. I came up with new ideas, completely different from the CH23 on the other hard disk. So hopefully you'll like this. You will find this a little bit rushed, I think. If you do, just remember I have the sequel on mind still and I need to finish this one before I start the sequel, obviously. I hope everyone's been doing great (yes, even the people that hate me for not updating any time sooner). Merry Xmas!
Warning(s): adult content, profanity, abusive violence. Please mature readers only
Disclaimer: Don't Own Them…
Fame
Bulma kept turning on the sofa bed feeling somewhat uncomfortable and… alone? She opened her eyes immediately widening them as she realized Vegeta's side of the bed was empty. She sat up grabbing the clock on the side of the bed
"Six o'clock" she whispered looking around the spacious living room slowly and alert. She furrowed her brows suspicious. Where could he be? The sun was not even out yet!
"Vegeta" she called out but he was nowhere near. She slid her hand through his side of the bed. It was still warm. Wherever he had run off to he had surely just headed out. Suddenly she felt a bump while moving her hand around. As if this particular morning wasn't weird enough she lifted the bed sheets just to find an aqua blue small football plush. A sticky-note was attached to the back of it. The note read: the dock. It was Vegeta's messy handwriting. She smiled to herself. The guy never seized to amaze her…
Between brushing her hair and her teeth, washing her face, dressing appropriately and making sure she smelled good Bulma made it to the dock about half an hour after waking up. Vegeta looked bored swinging his legs at the edge of the old wooden pier. Bulma walked up to his seating form the blue aqua plush on hand and a big bright smile on her face. As she became nearer he never looked behind him. He did, however, receive her with a
"Took you long enough" as he stared into the horizon. Bulma scoffed rolling her eyes
"What's this?" she asked taking a seat aside him with the aqua plush on hand
"You didn't expect to get nothing now did you?" he asked looking at her with his usual frown. Bulma smiled
"When did you have time to get it?" she asked smiling wider. He shrugged his shoulders. She rolled her eyes
"I know you don't like showing these type of feelings but I wish you knew how happy they can make other people feel when you do" she started. He rolled his eyes having listened to this conversation one too many times
"… and I know that you don't like-" she was cut off by Vegeta's lips landing on her own. He cupped her face in his hand then kissed her for a long, long time. After the kiss was done Bulma opened her eyes and smiled at him
"You have a charming way to shut me the hell up" she said. The wind blew fiercely making Bulma's skin grow goose bumps. Vegeta dropped his head to the side
"Come here" he offered. Bulma stood then sat in between his legs. She rested her head against his strong wide chest feeling his warmth overcome the coolness in her. He embraced his arms around her figure. She sighed
"Now I feel bad. I didn't get you anything" she said. Vegeta kissed her head taking in the essence of her hair
"Don't care" he responded resting his lips on the back of her head. She tsked
"You don't but…I do. I had this whole thing in my head with white daisies and red roses and the beach during sunset and all this food I was going to cook and-"
"So you couldn't do it. Doesn't make you a bad woman" he interrupted kissing her neck with his warm and smooth lips "you still taste good" he complimented. Bulma tilted her head to the side to give him better access to her skin
"You are so unpredictable. I love you" she looked up and kissed his chin. Vegeta looked down at her and kissed her lips. She held his face close to hers as the kiss kept going the wind blowing fiercely still. It didn't matter. He had her to make him warm and she had him to keep herself warm
"Any particular reason why we came here?" she asked as the smooth kiss came to a slow end. Vegeta took her face in his hands and held it straight. He then leaned to her ear
"You're going to miss it" he whispered. The sun finally revealed its first ray. The sky turned pink then orange before finally turning yellow to announce the sun's rise. The whole scene was indescribable. Beautiful wasn't word enough to describe it. She caressed Vegeta's arms around her as his grip became tighter around her waist. The rays began to warm up their skins. It was a cool yet hot sensation. The smell of wind blew through. The fruity scent in the air from all the fruit trees around the area encircled their gentle figures. Vegeta leaned to her ear then whispered
"I…think…I…lo-love…you" soft to the point where it was barely hearable. Bulma wanted to react a million different ways but being hard enough for him to just say it she decided to stay still looking at the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen in the arms of the man that she loved
"I love you too…"
-A Few Hours Later-
The sun had been out for a while now. 18 had made up her mind. Today was going to be the day she was going to tell Krillin about her and Raditz. The blonde took a peek out the window and stared at Krillin as he stood by himself on the porch staring into space. She breathed in. Her body was tense. She shrugged her shoulders and armed herself with courage heading out the door and towards the porch…
"Hey Krill" 18 greeted with her shinny blue eyes. Krillin, however, looked at her with a very serious and depressed expression
"Is there anything you want to talk to me about, 18?" he asked. 18 swallowed
"No…well, I-"
"I saw you kissing him yesterday" he confessed "I couldn't even talk to you. Everything we talked about. I thought I had finally made you realize how much I loved you and missed you. How much I had changed to make us happen again-"
"We've started this a million times, Krillin, and we've ended it a million times too. Maybe this is life's own way of telling us that this is just not meant to be. Not right now. Maybe we need to move on-"
"When you love somebody you don't just let them walk away. You fight for them. I have fought for you 18. I would've given you the world if you asked me to" he said loudly. 18 swallowed holding back the tears
"This isn't love anymore, Krillin, it's us. You love us. You are in love with the idea of us. And I can't seem to find a way to love us the way you do" she tried to explain softly. He frowned at her
"You have done so many things that have hurt me, 18, and I've withstand all of them. But this?" he became disappointed "my best friend?" he questioned as if it was absurd. 18's eyes became teary despite her best efforts not to cry
"I-" she was cut off by Goku entering the scene
"Is everything-?"
"What we had, to me, was sacred. It meant the world. This meant shit to you. You were waiting for the first chance to throw it away like it was nothing" he said cutting Goku's words short. 18 sniffled
"I am not trying to hurt you-"
"What the hell did you think it would do to me, 18?" Krillin yelled "messing around with my best friend? What? Did you think I'd be happy for you? Did you think I would just forget about everything eventually and move on?" he continued. 18 looked to the ground a single tear rolling down her cheek
"This isn't about that-"
"Then what the hell is it?" he screamed louder. His skin went from pale to red. He was boiling with fury. Goku went to Krillin's side. 18 cleared her tears with her fingers while sliding the strands of her blonde hair behind her ears
"Look man" Goku started "just calm down. What's going on-?"
"You lied to me, 18. Straight to my face, you fucking lied" Krillin's eyes became teary as well. He dried the tears off before they could even drop
"I need to get out of here" he sniffled angrily walking past 18 and towards his car. Goku followed close behind him. 18 shut her eyes looking to the floor while covering her mouth with one hand. Chichi came out with a cup of coffee on hand staring at the scene confused
"What happened?" she asked but 18 was way too sad to even get started. The blonde cleared the rest of her tears with the back of her hand then breathed in fixing her hair a little before intending to walk indoors. Chichi embraced her in a hug with one arm before she did so
"Are you ok?" she asked. 18 shook her head pushing Chichi's arm off her
"Just leave me alone. Please" she sniffed. Chichi raised her brows surprised at such reaction. 18 walked inside the house. Bulma came out through the same door that 18 had just walked through
"What's going on?" she asked. Chichi tsked
"I've been wondering too honey. Everyone's yelling and crying and-" Krillin's screeched tired as he pulled out of Aunt Mayes Goku standing aside to watch him go
"…and driving off" Chichi continued. Bulma breathed in
"Why is 18 crying?" she asked. Chichi shrugged her shoulders taking a sip of her hot coffee
"I have no idea" she shook her head. Goku made it to the porch. Chichi caressed his cheek as he leaned in to give her a short peck
"What happened?" she asked. Goku shrugged his shoulders
"I think he found out about 18 and Raditz" he said. Bulma arched her brows amazed
"Oh…18 and Raditz are going out?" she asked. Both Chichi and Goku nodded
"Uh huh" they said in unison. Bulma nod once
"I see"
"Honey I think we should to start packing our things and be out of here by noon" Chichi immediately suggested. Goku nodded
"I guess so"
"It is Krillin's aunt house after all. I don't think it'd be good if we stayed" Bulma said.
The rest of the day had been pretty much ruined. All group activities planned by Aunt Mayes were cancelled despite the fact that she repetitively mentioned she didn't mind them staying. Everyone decided they were better off leaving the place regardless. Surely nothing positive would come out of it. It was a big thing what their friends were going through. They needed to make sure they could keep up with all of them…
The Three Days Before the School Term Ends
PSAT's, Love and Misery
-School-
"Did you bring the other book?" Bulma asked as she and Vegeta stood in front of his locker while he took and put books back. Vegeta breathed out turning to face her
"You're driving me insane" he said frowning. Bulma let out a tired breath
"Vegeta we need to make sure that we have all the books. I can not afford to get a B in any of my finals otherwise I-"
"What? You'll get lower A's?" he joked smirking. Bulma narrowed her eyes at him
"You're such a jerk. I know you don't give a shit about classes and that's fine with me. I happen to care, a lot. We have finals these next two days, three tests a day. Do you even realize how stressful this is? Not to mention the biggest standardized test to define our future is on Thursday and I can not afford-"
"Woman it's a standardized test. Nobody does well on that shit" he cut her off. Bulma frowned
"I will!" she raised her voice "I've been studying for about a year. There is no way that I'm failing it" she said arrogantly. Vegeta scoffed putting the last book in his bag
"Ever heard of over-preparing?" he asked with sarcasm. Bulma raised a brow
"As opposed to not preparing at all? Thank you but no thanks" she replied conceitedly. Vegeta shook his head rolling his eyes. Bulma had been talking about PSAT's nonstop. The closer the date to the test was the more psycho she went over it rambling on about it everywhere she went. He was getting tired of it. She had a great way to make it up though. They're called lips. It was all it took to bring Vegeta back to a good or at least 'pleasant' mood around her in days like these.
As soon as he closed the door to his locker Bulma embraced her arms around his neck leaning in to kiss him. He embraced her by the waist resting his back against the door of the locker now
"Chichi invited us to a Christmas party this Thursday" she said kissing him. Vegeta complied with her request
"I think we should go" she said. Vegeta nodded, kissing her again, the couple taking a moment to make out. Yep, it worked like a charm. She had him on the palm of her hand…
-O-
"Ok" 18 breathed in profoundly seated on the passenger's seat of Raditz's car. The couple was parked in front of the school building giving it serious thought to whether they should start the day or just go home. It was review day at Madison High; the day before the so dreaded 'finals'. Coming to school was optional since all professors did those days was answer questions about the class during their class period. Review day, however, was not what was keeping them. It was what they were about to face. Only two days had gone by since the whole thing between the three of them had blown up. Raditz tried calling Krillin a few times but up 'till today there had been no answer. 18 left a couple of messages and still…nothing. All they had were these three days to know something, anything, about Krillin's well being. All their other friends hadn't spoken to them at all. They were way too busy with finals and the PSAT's coming up; they didn't have time to pay attention to all the drama going on…
18 turned to Raditz with an insecure smile
"Here we go" she shrugged her shoulders sliding a strand of her hair behind her ear while picking up the books from the floor of the car. Raditz held her arm before she opened the door
"Don't think about it, babe" he said "just don't think about it" he repeated. She smiled leaning in to kiss him shortly
"I won't. Let's go. Us, together, make a whole one" she winked at him. He sighed opening the door to get out as well. They stood together in front of the car staring at the building from outside
"It'll be fine" Raditz assured. 18 nodded looking at him
"Yeah" she breathed out tense "Yeah. It'll be just fine" she tangled their hands together walking a step in front of him
"Let's go" she indicated. Raditz nodded
"Yeah" he agreed both of them walking aside each other. This was surely going to be a hell of a day…
-O-
"Abstract. Synonyms?" Chichi asked holding a flash card in her hand as her and Goku walked down the hallway of the school. Goku snapped
"Conceptual, nonfigurative!" he said loudly. Chichi smiled nodding
"Good. Antonyms?" she asked again. Goku scratched the side of his forehead thoughtful
"Concrete, material…" he said unsure. Chichi stopped walking and hugged him tight
"So good, honey!" she kissed his cheek. Goku's cheeks turned pink
"Now you" she said both resuming their walk. Goku pulled a flashcard from his bunch of flashcards
"Capricious. Synonyms?" he questioned. Chichi thought for a while
"Impulsive, unpredictable" she said. Goku nodded
"Antonyms?" he asked again. Chichi snapped her fingers trying to think with her eyes shut
"Uh, predictable, unsurprising, obvious" she said. Goku nodded agreeing with her
"Yes. My turn!" he said excited. Chichi pulled another one of her cards
"Devious. Antonyms?" she requested. Goku looked up thinking
"Simple, straightforward"
"Good. Synonyms?"
"Complex, difficult" he said. Chichi nodded
"Yes. See? It isn't that hard! Once you get one you can get the other one" she said. Goku furrowed his brows puzzled
"But what if I can't get the first one?" he asked. Chichi stopped to kiss his lips
"You'll get it honey. You're so smart" she kissed him again…
-O-
"Diligent, discernible, dogmatic. Synonyms and antonyms please. Diligent is worth six points, discernible is worth twice as much since you didn't get it last time and dogmatic is worth three points. Begin" Bulma and Vegeta sat on one of the tables in the cafeteria facing each other Bulma's legs resting on top of Vegeta's. The couple had found a different way of learning the words: competition. Who ever won the whole thing would do whatever the other one wanted. It was three words at the same time since both of them proved way too smart for just one at a time. Knowing a synonym but not an antonym was no points at all and not getting one of the words in a three word flashcard meant repeating the whole flashcard again
"Synonyms are: hard-working or meticulous, apparent or visible, and rigid or inflexible" he said. Bulma brushed his hair smiling
"Good. Antonyms?" she inquired kissing his cheek. Vegeta breathed in taking a moment to think since this had been where he failed last time. He leaned in to kiss her but she backed away
"Ah! Antonyms" she demanded. He frowned
"Lazy or idle-"
"One kiss" she kissed his lips
"Flexible or adaptable-"
"Another kiss you skipped discernible" she kissed him again. Vegeta thought for a second again
"Indiscernible, undetectable?" he asked doubtful. Bulma raised her brows with a doubtful expression staring at her flashcard silently. He held his breath
"You're just so smart. Sometimes I'm amazed" she kissed him again. He smirked
"My turn" he looked at her evilly scrambling through the flashcards trying to find the hardest one for her. She waited patiently
"Waiting…" she said in a singsong tone. Vegeta finally pulled out one
"Unctuous, vacuous, zenith. Synonyms and antonyms. Unctuous is worth six, vacuous is worth three and zenith is worth six. Begin" he said. Bulma cleared her throat
"Unctuous, synonyms are: sycophantic, oily. Antonyms are: brusque, frank. Vacuous, synonyms are: unintelligent, inane. Antonyms are: brilliant, intelligent, smart, Bulma"
"You wish" he scoffed. Bulma giggled kissing him once and going on to the last word
"Zenith, synonyms are: pinnacle, top, apex. Antonyms are: nadir, depths, pits" she said proud of herself. Vegeta kept silent
"I assume your silence means I'm correct once again" she said grabbing the card off his hand to look at the synonyms and antonyms written for each word herself. Confirming the fact she turned to him with a big smile
"This only means one thing Vegeta. I… WIN" she cheered excitedly. He stared at her with the most evil look. Bulma cleared her throat suddenly becoming serious
"Winner, synonyms are: Bulma, Bulma, Bulma" she boasted. Vegeta kept silent trying to avoid Bulma's annoying excitement
"There's always the consolation round, you know, for sore losers. Of course I don't do those. I'm a winner!" she mocked. Vegeta kept staring at her with a cold scowl
"What do you want?" he broke her joyful state with a dull tone. She sat still and thought for a while
"Well, due to the fact that I did win and that we did agree that the loser would do whatever the winner wanted I want…" she leaned to his ear and whispered. Vegeta snapped
"There is no way in hell I'm doing that!" he refused. Bulma crossed her arms on her chest her nose high up in the air
"Oh yes you will. I won. You have to do whatever I want. It's only fair-"
"Anything but that!" he exclaimed angrily. Bulma frowned
"If you had won, I would've done whatever you wanted" she stated as-a-matter-of-factly. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her
"You would" he scoffed
"It's not fair, Vegeta. Stop being such a sore loser-"
"Cause you're not" he said sarcastically. Bulma thought for a second
"Then…" she leaned in to his ear and whispered some more again. Vegeta looked at her sternly
"You just won't give it up, will you?" he asked. Bulma giggled softly kissing his jaw line and left cheek gently. She continued trailing kisses all the way to his lips where she kissed him twice before he stopped her
"I can't do it" he whispered. Bulma smiled naughtily
"Oh but you will. I'll give you a million and one ways to do it" she kissed him again cupping his face in her hands. Vegeta rested his hands on her thighs dormant. Again all it took her was lips and he would comply and agree with anything she said…
-O-
"I'm exhausted. Studying is harder than I thought" Goku sat on the empty seat beside Bulma bringing their make out session to a slow undesired end. The taller male reached to the ceiling with one of his arms to stretch his back and his abs while he scratched the back of his head with the other hand. Bulma unrest her legs from on top of Vegeta's and sat straight ready to pay attention to Goku. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Goku. Nobody, he meant nobody, interrupted their make out sessions. Nobody...
"Where did Chichi go?" Bulma asked starting a conversation with Goku. Goku looked to the ceiling thoughtful
"Let me think… she did say… ah! She went to a study session" he said. Bulma nodded
"Oh, I see" she said. The threesome happened to glance around the cafeteria at the same time spotting the same exact thing over everything that was going on in the lunch area
"Blondie and Raditz?" Vegeta questioned. Bulma shook her head at Vegeta
"What?" he asked with his 'did you expect me to know' expression. Bulma raised a brow
"Where have you been these past three days?" she asked
"We left Aunt Mayes for that shit man" stated Goku. Vegeta nodded once
"About time" he said yawning while dropping his head to rest against the table. Bulma stared at him suspicious
"What was that?" she asked. He frowned
"What?"
"About time? About time what?" she asked again. Goku stared at Vegeta now
"Yeah about time what?" he asked. Vegeta looked up at Goku
"Kakarot. Out of it" he ordered bringing his glance back to Bulma
"About time we got the hell out of that place" he said. Bulma shook her head
"Nice Vegeta" she stood from the table embracing some books in her arms
"I have to catch the math review. I'll see you after" she turned to leave but Vegeta pulled her back by the arm
"You forgot something" he said with a stern tone. Bulma sighed pissed leaning over to kiss him. She started the kiss slow with the taste of citrus orange the flavor of her lip gloss. As soon as it had started it ended for she decided to cut it short his punishment for being such an ass
"I'm gonna be late" she stood straight embracing her books once again and departing her way. Vegeta stared at her like a hunter watching his prey. What power she exerted over him? He couldn't say. It certainly bothered him more than anything. Craving for her bothered him in more than one level…
Vegeta looked at Goku as he rested his head against the table almost about to go to sleep. He decided to join the tall male in the passive activity. There wasn't much to do around here anyway…
"What are you doing for Christmas break?" Goku asked. Vegeta shrugged his shoulders. Goku sighed
"We're having the usual party at Chichi's if you want to come. It's two blocks down your street" he said. Vegeta closed his eyes
"Yeh… sure…I'll go" he grumbled both him and Goku falling asleep instantly…
End of Ch.23. Whoo! Been out of this for a while. Excuse my late updating or lack thereof. Please let me know what you thought about this chapter. Also, let me know anything, anything at all. If the characters sound OOC, if the story is too rushed, if it's trailing off to something entirely different from what you thought, if it doesn't sound like part of the story at all, let me know all these small details b/c it will make the story a lot better for you since I will work on it as soon as I know. Guys, I know I disappointed a bunch of you saying I was going to update and didn't but you can not even begin to imagine the shitload amount of stuff I have had to deal with this past year. Don't get me wrong. I still love this story more than anything in the world. If you work with me I'm willing to work with you too, fix the story and reach a middle point where we can all be satisfied with it. I'm getting a head on top of things so here we go. I'm on this story again. I can't remember if I agreed on lemon for this one or not but I've changed the story a little from what I used to have in my other hard disk (don't want to talk about it…) so there'll be a lemon on this one unless unanimous opposition. By the way, thank god for USB DRIVES! From now on, I think I'll be able to update again pretty continuously! Well guys, read me later. I hope you're having a great xmas! Ja ne
Love
PL