Author's Note: Chapter 15, AWAY!

Chapter 15: Forgiveness?

"18 what the hell are we doing here?" Vegeta demanded as she stepped out of the car and headed to the side of the lagoon. There she sat, watching a couple of ducklings dive under and over the water. She ran her hand through her short blonde hair and Vegeta heard her sigh. "What the hell are we doing here?" he repeated. 18 half turned to look at him.

"Vegeta, do you remember anything about last night?" she asked. Vegeta's stomach dropped.

'Shit! They know what I did! They know about the drugs!' "N-not really," he stuttered.

"Right, that's because the P you took, brainwashed you!" she yelled. "And do you know what P makes you do!" Vegeta growled.

"Do you think I would take something if I didn't know what it does!" he yelled back. 18 stood and glared at him.

"Well guess what, Vegeta! That P made you sex-crazed! Do you know what you did?" she yelled. At that moment, Krillin, Chichi, Goku and Bulma appeared at their sides. It took Bulma a few minutes to realise she was standing next to Vegeta. When she did, she stepped away hurriedly, as though he had some horrible disease.

"What? What are you lot on about. If someone doesn't tell me what the hell is going on here I'm going to bloody flip!" he roared. Bulma looked up, tears in her eyes. She drew a shaky breath as the tears spilt over her eyelids. She didn't want to do this. She wanted to turn, run, and cry. Try and convince herself it didn't happen. But she couldn't. It was too late now.

"You tried to rape me Vegeta," she whispered in a barely audible voice. Her voice cracked as the tears began to stream down her face. She choked and suddenly felt the full force, fear and disgust of the last 24 hours and she collapsed, caught quickly by 18.

But no one caught Vegeta as he collapsed to the ground, sliding down a tree. Almost in slow motion, he hit the ground his eyes staring dead ahead, unblinking.

Bulma choked in the background as emotion overcame her. Her four friends comforted her, leaving Vegeta to solitude.

'Shit. How could I do that? I-I-I'm as bad as the man that raped my mother. Oh fuck this can't be happening. To her. How could I force myself upon her? She's so vulnerable and weak!' Vegeta groaned and slid his head between his knees, looking to the ground. His heart was in his throat and he felt tears threaten his eyes.

"Bulma are you sure? You don't have to," Krillin told her. Bulma nodded, wiping away the streaming tears.

"I have to talk to him. Please, guys. Just give us some privacy." 18 sighed and nodded, beckoning for the others to follow them. They took a walk to Centennial Park, and left Vegeta and Bulma at the lagoon. Alone.

Bulma approached him, staying a few feet away. "Vegeta?" He looked up.

"What did I do, Bulma? Please, tell me I didn't, didn't-"

"No Vegeta. You didn't. But you tried to. Y-y-you kept touching me a-and you wouldn't let me go." Bulma pulled off her sweatshirt as she began to cry again and exposed her arm to Vegeta. A black and blue handprint was present around her arm, and the dark bruising suggested extreme force.

Vegetaleapt up. He took her hand in his and ran his finger slowly down her arm. She shuddered at his touch.

"Did I do that to you?" he asked quietly. Bulma nodded and pulled her arm back, overcome by an unknown fear. Vegeta sensed this. He groaned. "I won't hurt you, I promise."

"I-I-I'm sorry Vegeta. I just can't trust you. Y-you scared me last night. And you kept telling me that no one could hear me, and that we were alone a-and……" she collapsed to the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees. Vegeta sighed.

"I can't believe I did that. I swear, I would never do anything like that in my right mind. I promise to give up drugs. I can't believe I did this to a woman." Bulma nodded, her words sticking in her throat. "Bulma?" he whispered with a tenderness neither of them knew he had. She looked up and Vegeta wiped the tear from under her eye with his thumb.

"I'm sorry."

Bulma looked him in the eye as he said it and saw for once, something other than anger in his eyes. She saw regret and sincerity. He really was sorry. Bulma stood.

"I know you'd never do anything like that Vegeta, you just scared me so much." He nodded and embraced her in a hug.

Bulma felt forgiveness wash through her at the warmth of Vegeta's embrace. She knew she could trust him. She knew he would never have done anything like that in his right state of mind. She relaxed and returned Vegeta's embrace.

"I understand I hurt you and I hope you can forgive me, but this doesn't change the condition of our relationship. You still owe me an apology of one sort or another. And I don't mean in the apologising sense."

"W-w-what do you mean?" she choked out, unsticking her throat.

"Think about it," he sighed. With that, he broke the hug, turned, and walked away, looking slightly dejected. Bulma watched as he climbed into his car and the black Jag pulled away.

Bulma sighed and looked at her phone.

'Do I? Don't I?' Bulma continued her mental debate on whether or not to ring Vegeta and talk, for a good few minutes. She was however bought back to the land of consciousness before she had made her decision, when the phone rang.

"Who'd be ringing me at this time on Sunday night?" she asked, glancing at her luminous alarm clock, which displayed 11.36. "Hello," she spoke into the receiver.

"Bulma? Hi, it's Yamcha."

"Oh. Hi Yamcha."

"Listen, Bulma. I-I've been thinking, and do you want to try us again?"

"I-I-I don't think so Yamcha. Like I said, I don't think we're good together. We're better to stay just friends. I'm sorry."

"Oh. Fine then," he said nervously, "I er guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Alright. Bye Yamcha."

"Bye Bulma." The phone clicked as Yamcha hung up. Bulma pressed the hang up button with her finger, and then dialled Vegeta's personal number.

"What do you want?" came the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Vegeta?"

"Bulma."

There was an awkward silence. "Well? What do you want?" he asked.

"I-I-I just wanted to say some things. I was wrong for misleading you, for betraying you and disrespecting you the way I did. I understand my mistake. I forgave you, can you forgive me? Will you give us another shot as friends?"

Another silence. Bulma could hear Linkin Park, Somewhere I Belong pumping from Vegeta's stereo in the background.

"Yes and yes." And he hung up. Bulma put down the phone and relaxed. At least she tried to. Talking to Vegeta still felt uneasy, even now, three weeks after Marcus's party.

They'd had a few confrontations at school, and when they'd gone out with their friends. Bulma had spent most of the three weeks brooding over Vegeta's words to her at the lagoon.

And finally, just yesterday. She had come up with their meanings. Vegeta didn't want an apology. He wanted a confession. And that was exactly what she had given him.

Well, that was it. They were officially friends. Though Bulma wasn't sure how it would work out.

She reached over into her bedside drawers, and pulled out their Primary School picture.

There.

Her and Vegeta.

She'd had a serious wake up call in these last few weeks.

But it had all turned out fine.

Vegeta had given up drugs, though he still smoked occasionally. He and Bulma were now friends again. Chichi, Goku, 18 and Krillin seemed to have partially forgotten Vegeta's display at Marcus's party. Marcus and Vegeta had had a huge scrap, and their friendship had ended.

All because of what Vegeta had done at the party. Bulma smiled slightly, and stuck the photo back in the drawer, turning off her light and sliding down into her bed, to sleep.

"Morning people!" Bulma grinned as she bounced up to her five friends. Four of them looked at her queerly.

"Why the happy mood?" 18 asked. Bulma had been extremely depressed these last few weeks, so if she was this happy something had obviously happened.

"No reason," she grinned, looking sideways at Vegeta. He smirked and shook his head. This went unnoticed by all except 18. She raised an eyebrow at Vegeta, who grinned and shook his head again, turning away from 18. 18 laughed.

"So you two finally got it sorted out. I'm so happy, things won't be so difficult now," she laughed, announcing their status to the whole of the group. Goku grinned stupidly, Krillin laughed and clapped Bulma on the back, and Chichi gave her friend a hug.

"I told you you would work it out," she scolded Bulma. Bulma blushed and turned away, mumbling something to Vegeta. He laughed coldly and the two of them walked into school.

18 continued grinning like a little kid who just got invited to Charlie's Chocolate Factory.

"I'm giving them two months," she told them.

"I bet half a month!" Chichi laughed.

"Nah, it'll be about a month," Krillin assured them.

"Till what?" Goku asked dumbly, scratching his head. 18 grinned.

"Until they're dating."

"We've got English extension first," Bulma told him, glancing at her timetable. Vegeta grunted in agreement.

They walked in silence for a while. A fair few people looked twice at the unlikely pair. Everyone knew Vegeta and Bulma's story by now. Not all of it, but most of it. And now the two were walking side by side. This aroused a few suspicions among their fellow students.

Out of nowhere, Kylie appeared, throwing herself at Vegeta. He snorted in disgust and threw her off him. She pouted, sticking out her lip, and clung to him.

Bulma stepped forward, and shoved Kylie away with both hands.

"Don't touch what you can't afford," she laughed at Kylie. The girl on the ground stared at Bulma, open mouthed. Bulma laughed and both her and Vegeta walked off to English, grinning like Cheshire Cats.

"Nice, woman. Very nice," he laughed as Kylie disappeared behind them. Bulma grinned.

Vegeta opened the door for himself, but Bulma pushed past, knocking him sideways. He shook his head. "What has gotten into you woman?" he asked.

"What? Are you telling me you don't like it?"

"I didn't say that did I?" he smirked, pushing her lightly.

"Mr. Ouji, Miss. Briefs! Pay attention," the teacher snapped. Bulma and Vegeta looked up, only just noticing the teacher's entrance. Vegeta looked at Bulma, expecting her to apologise. But she did nothing, only raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Alright class. Today we are going to learn about assonance." Vegeta and Bulma groaned.

By the end of class, neither of the pair had succeeding in doing anything other than socialising. The teacher had given up trying to make them pay attention. At one point she had called them 'starry-eyed lovebirds' but they'd ignored the claim.

Bulma and Vegeta met up with the others at interval, and it didn't go unnoticed by anyone even Goku, that Bulma and Vegeta were obsessed with each other.

It was as simple as that. Obsession.

"How'd class go?" Krillin grinned. Vegeta growled and glared at Krillin, who just laughed. "You know, if someone had told me a week ago, yesterday even! That you two would become this close, I would have sent them to a shrink." It was Bulma's turn to glare.

"I'm going to get me some food," she stated, and stalked away. Chichi looked seriously at Vegeta, once Bulma was out of earshot.

"Don't you hurt her Vegeta. Don't you dare hurt her. Or I'll murder you extremely slowly and painfully."

"Kakarot, tell your wench to control herself," he muttered.

"Wo-" Vegeta was cut short as someone overrode his call.

"Bulma!" Bulma spun around, looking for the source of the voice. And finding it.

"Yamcha? What do you want?" she asked, turning back to her locker.

"Er, I was wondering. Umm, do you think I could share your locker again, only there's none left this far into the term." Bulma sighed.

"Yamcha, you were the one that packed up your stuff! That's not my problem." Vegeta stepped forward. Yamcha seemed to visibly shrink at the sight of Vegeta. No one knew why, but Yamcha had an incessant fear of Vegeta. Some, that knew the full story of Bulma and Vegeta, suspected Vegeta had beaten the shit out of Yamcha when he'd asked Bulma out, but no one knew for sure.

Yamcha continued pleading for a while. Bulma finally gave in, growling, and pulled her stuff out of her locker. Yamcha grinned in thanks, and moved his stuff in.

Bulma made her way over to Vegeta, who'd gone back to opening his locker.

"Vegeta? Erm, can I borrow your locker for a while? Yamcha took mine back." Vegeta growled and glared, but nodded stiffly. Bulma grinned and threw her stuff in. Vegeta growled, as his locker was filled with makeup, and changes of clothes and girly stuff. He screwed up his nose as Bulma sprayed herself with impulse. She laughed. "You can't tell me you don't like it!" she complained. He made a choking noise, and pulled out his Lynx, spraying Bulma. She shrieked and he smirked.

"Now you smell a whole lot better."

"We've got History next," Bulma groaned, ignoring Vegeta's comment.

"Ar. Listen, I'm going to go and find some friends. Catch you in history."

"Alright, see you later." With that, Vegeta turned and strode off, and Bulma couldn't help but notice the tiny bit of guilt that seemed to weigh him down.

"Yo, Kurt," Vegeta called down the hall. The tall blonde guy looked up and grinned.

"Hey Vegeta? What up?" Vegeta shrugged and leaned against the wall next to Kurt. "Yo Vegeta! Rick's throwing this mean party next weekend! Not just any party man, a pot party! He's got everything! Speed, marijuana, ecstasy, cannibus, magic mushroom, P, you name it he's getting it." Vegeta frowned.

"Kurt, I gave up that stuff."

"Yeah I know, don't really know why-"

"And I'm not going to tell you," Vegeta finished.

"I wasn't asking you to, but come on Vegeta! It'll be awesome. We can all get totally wasted!' Vegeta frowned again.

"Kurt, I can't."

"Oh come on Vegeta! You don't even have to pay for the stuff!" Vegeta sighed.

"Whatever. When is it?" Kurt grinned and clapped Vegeta on the shoulder.

"That's my man Vegeta! 8.30, Rick's place, Saturday night. So I trust I'll see you there?" Vegeta smirked back at him.

"Damn right," he sniggered. With that, Kurt turned his back and walked away.

"Know why it's free?" Kurt called back. Vegeta shrugged. " 'Cause Rick's Smoky." Vegeta's jaw dropped.

"You're shitting me?"

"Nah. 'Geta my man, we're gunna have the time of our lives." And with that he turned around the corner.

"Hell yeah. This should be good," Vegeta muttered to himself. He pivoted and headed to his History class, on the other side of the school.

Bulma watched Vegeta's retreating back and groaned.

'Vegeta? How could you? I thought you'd changed.' Sucking down a trembling breath, she turned and strode after him. After all that had happened because of his drugs. 'Well if he's going to be like that, he can stick this friendship up his ass. I won't confront him, I'll just make sure I'm not there. His life, his shit.'

Next Chapter: Smoky? Vegeta how could you! Well he's really good at keeping promises.

Author's Note: OK, did you guys think that the change was too quick? Maybe I should not make them friends so quickly….. I dunno, tell me what you think. Also, I got some pretty negative response last chapter. Apparently I, quote, 'Make Vegeta seem like an asshole, portray him as a worse character than he is, and 'my writing is dull and boring.' But that one about me making Vegeta an asshole, was sent to me by someone called Leatha, who reviewed chapter 1, said she wasn't going to finish it 'cause it was shit, but I mean geez! Read the whole story before you judge! But do you guys think my writing is getting dull or boring? I dunno…… it's just I've never had such negative response to a chapter. Oh well. Please review, and tell me what you think.

Kaibun