Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You Taste--

They both sat in the car silently as Goten parked in the poorly lit parking lot in front of the pool hall. It was a place Bra had never been to. But that was no big surprise. She hadn't been to a lot of places.

"Boy, this place is packed," Bra pointed out. "I was hoping for a little more privacy than this."

Goten looked at all the cars. "Yeah. Jam packed. I hate crowds."

Bra nodded. Both she and Goten definitely shared that one thing in common. They both hated to be around a lot of people. Sometimes it made her wonder why Goten became a teacher. Oh, well. "Maybe we should have just stayed at your place."

"You read my mind. You wanna finish taking on the Covenant?" Goten asked, referring to the video game they were playing earlier.

Bra smiled. "As much as I'd like to, we'd better not. I like having the volume turned up really loud and it would probably wake Trunks."

Goten grinned. "That's true."

"Why don't we rent a movie?" Bra asked. "That's something we can do at home."

"Fine by me," Goten agreed. "Let's go."

They left the pool hall and Bra's mind began to wander. She'd known Goten all her life. And 16 years was a long time to know a person. She began to doubt that she should even have romantic feelings for this man. Pan had said that she and Goten were like siblings. Was it wrong for her to feel this way? SHOULD she see Goten as her older brother and nothing more? They sure went about things like they were brother and sister. No normal couple trained with each other. No couple played video games together. No real couple would act the way they did together. Right? There were definitely sparks when they touched or when they kissed. At least on her end, there were. But that didn't happen very often. Weren't couples supposed to be physical every now and then? What exactly was supposed to go on in a relationship as strange as theirs?

Bra snapped back into reality when her door was opened. She looked up at Goten, who was smiling down at her.

"Are you coming? Or do I have to pick out a movie by myself?" Goten asked playfully. He held his hand out to her.

Bra smiled and took his hand. She soon realized that she had never smiled this much in her life. Even when she was younger and used to hang around Goten all the time, she didn't smile this much. She felt truly happy. Maybe this WAS the way she was supposed to feel.

Goten helped Bra to her feet and continued to hold her hand as they entered the video store. "So, what are you in the mood to see?"

"I don't know," Bra answered. She looked at the section labeled 'Romance'. "Let's check over there."

Goten looked at her strangely. "Alright."

They went over to the section Bra had pointed out. The selection of movies was ridiculous. Bra had no idea where to start. Maybe she should just pick up one and check it out. She picked up a movie. Jason's Lyric. It must be about love and music. "How about this?"

"If that's what you want," Goten told her.

Good. The sooner they got out of this place, the better. There was no telling if someone they knew might show up.

--back at the apartment--

Goten quietly opened the front door. "I would pop some popcorn, but that's kinda loud." He grabbed a bag of potato chips. "But we DO have these," he sang happily.

Bra rolled her eyes and smirked. It was clear to her that she was dating a fruit basket.

Goten walked into his room, followed by Bra, who stopped in the doorway. Goten looked back at her. "I thought you'd gotten over that doorway thing." He took her by the hand and lead her over to his bed.

Oh, boy. She was going to be sitting on his bed. And most likely, he would be sitting there too. Her heart started beating really fast. Maybe she should have picked out a comedy instead. She sat on the edge of the bed.

He put the DVD into the player, then sat on the bed with his back against the wall. "Are you gonna sit way up there? It can't be very comfortable."

Bra took a deep breath and repositioned herself, leaning her back against the wall as well. These were dangerous conditions for her. It was pretty dark, they were sitting on a bed, AND the bedroom door was closed. Not only that, they were watching a romance movie along with it. She wasn't sure if Goten felt the pressure of the situation, but she sure did.

As the movie progressed, she concluded that she should have looked at the rating before renting it. There was nothing comfortable about watching a movie like this with someone you were attracted to. They had both been speechless throughout the movie. Bra tried her best to stare at the TV. Her face was growing warm, as was the rest of her body. Just thinking about replacing the people in the movie with her and Goten made her head spin. She wondered what was going through Goten's mind as he watched the steamy scenes before them.

Suddenly, there was a hand on her cheek and a pair of lips pressing against hers. It caught her by surprise, so much so that she gasped. She couldn't say that it had come out of nowhere because she was thinking about doing the same thing. Her mouth was quickly invaded as Goten kissed her hungrily. She kissed him back with equal enthusiasm. She wasn't sure if the movie continued to play. At this point she wasn't paying much attention to it anyway.

Bra wasn't sure how she'd ended up on her back, but there she lay with Goten straddling her. He gently kissed her ears, neck and collar bone as she grasped his hair. There was a strange feeling inside of her. It was as if something were trapped and trying to break free. Hands danced about her sides and spidered their way all over her body. It was enough to make her wrap her legs around his hips. She wasn't really sure what she was doing, but what she felt next made her gasp and release him.

"Goten, wait," Bra said breathlessly. "This is going way too fast."

"I know. I know. I'm sorry," Goten sighed. He relinquished his hold on her and moved to the other side of the bed. He just looked at her.

Bra straightened her clothes and hugged her knees to her chest. She couldn't bring herself to look at him anymore. All this time, she'd been waiting for this moment and now she was backing out...again. She thought that she was ready for a more physical relationship, but something about all of this scared her. Maybe she really WAS just a kid.

"I should be the one to apologize," Bra told him. "You probably think I'm just a big tease." She chuckled sadly. She finally looked back at him.

To her surprise, he was smiling at her. "You're not ready for that next step. And that's okay." He turned off the DVD. "I have a confession to make, though."

Bra lay her head on her knees and stared at him. "What's that?"

"It's really, really, REALLY hard to refrain from...being close to you," Goten responded in the goofiest of fashions.

Bra's heart felt like it might leap straight out of her chest. He was making it hard for HER to keep her hands off of him. Her hormones were already spinning out of control. Had she not used her brain, they could very well have gone all the way. And she most likely wouldn't have regretted it. She raised an eyebrow. "So, you're not mad at me?"

Goten looked confused. "Mad at you? Why would I be mad?"

"Well, I mean.... I don't know," Bra said.

Goten stood and turned on the light. "I'm not gonna try to make you do something you don't want to do, Bra."

Bra laughed a little. "Something I don't WANT to do? Yeah, right." She blushed. "Believe me, it's something I WANT to do." She stood and walked over to him. "It's just something I can't do right now...for some strange reason."

Goten put his hand on her face and smiled that smile of his. That wonderful reassuring Son smile. "I have way too much respect for you to force you into a situation you're not ready for. I thought we talked about this."

Bra smiled and put her arms around him. "We did. Thank you, Goten." She lay her head on his chest and listened to his heart pound rapidly.

"So.... Are you ready now?" Goten asked.

Bra looked up at him, wide-eyed.

"I'm kidding!" he said with a goofy laugh. "Come on. I'll fly home with you."

Was he kidding really? She'd never find out.

--at home--

Bra and Goten levitated outside Bra's bedroom window.

"Well, this is your stop," Goten said.

"So it is," Bra sighed. "I had fun tonight."

Goten nodded. "So did I."

How was she supposed to feel when this was quite possibly the last time they would be alone together? Depression set in. These days it seemed that she lived for these quiet moments alone with Goten. And now they were being taken away, all because she hated history. It seemed an unfair punishment. It made her wish she would have taken advantage of their time alone in his bedroom. Well, that was the past. She had to run with what she had now.

Without warning, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. She'd have to use this moment to remember his taste. There was no telling when they would have an opportunity like this again.

Goten put his arms around her tightly and returned a kiss that would have seen infinity if they had the time. But he stopped kissing her much too soon for her liking and smiled at her. "I love you," he whispered.

Bra was sure that her heart had stopped. What in the world had possessed him to say something like that? She wanted to respond, but her mouth had sealed shut. Usually this was referred to as a state of shock. She wished she could find her voice so that she could tell him that she loved him too. Boy, this was a bad time to lose the ability to speak.

Goten just looked at her for a long time. Even in the dark, she could see the look in his eyes. He was hurt. She had hesitated and it hurt him. He released her and looked away.

"Goten, I...," Bra began. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she say that she loved him? She did. She knew she loved him. She'd admitted it to herself many times. But for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say it. This should have been easy. "I...."

Goten smiled sadly. "I'll see you at school Monday, okay?" He flew away, leaving Bra hovering outside her bedroom window.

She couldn't believe it. There was absolutely no reason for not to tell him that she loved him. Was she out of her mind? She'd told her mother that she was in love with him. Her MOTHER. She never talked to her mother about anything, but she'd told her that she loved Goten. Yet she couldn't tell Goten that she loved him. Why?

Bra continued to levitate there until she heard someone say, "All the fighting you did to be with him. What a waste."

Bra gasped. She already knew the voice. It was her father. She looked up in the tree outside her bedroom window and saw him sitting on a branch. "Papa? Wha--What are you doing here?" She knew she was in some real trouble now. Especially if her mother told him that she was grounded.

--End All That You Taste--

--Welcome to another episode of Eclipse. Thanks for reading. Please review. Let me know what you like or what you don't like. I don't write very good fluff or romancy type stuff. I don't know what normal people consider to be romantic. I'm not a normal person. If you have some suggestions or tips on how I can improve in this area, please let me know. We're all here to learn, right?

--I think that maybe someone is becoming a little frustrated. What do YOU think?

--There's nothing but trouble on Bra's plate these days. What's Vegeta gonna do? Find out in the next episode of Versus 3: Eclipse.