A\N : yay! A long chapter !
Disclaimer : don't own dbz
Chapter six
"Vegeta?" Bulma called out as she grabbed her keys.
"What do you want?" a gruff voice replied.
"Oh, there you are. I'm going shopping with the girls. Please don't blow up the house while I'm gone."
"Stupid woman, I'm going out too"
"Ok, Bye!" Bulma replied, closing the front door behind her. She jumped in the car and drove off towards 18's house.
Vegeta paused at the window and watched as the "blue haired beauty" pulled out of the garage. She stuck her keys in the car and sped off. Vegeta frowned and walked off, heading for his room. He grabbed a towed, planning to head to the indoor pool outside of Bulma's house. After stuffing a cell phone, keys, and clothes into a bag, Vegeta pulled open the front door and stepped out.
He walked across the lawn towards a separate building about half a mile from capsule corp. Unaware of a male following him, Vegeta opened the door to the pool room. As he did so, a pair of fists reached out from behind and knocked him on the head. Vegeta dropped his bag and reached one arm behind his body, grabbing at whatever was there. Surprisingly, it turned out to be Yamcha, who'd come looking for Bulma but instead ran into Vegeta.
"What do you want?" Vegeta asked, annoyed.
"What are you doing here?" Yamcha demanded.
"I'm swimming. Go away", Vegeta rolled his eyes.
"This is Bulma's house. That's private property", Yamcha defended.
"Yeah, and I live here", Vegeta said with a tone of sarcasm. Yamcha narrowed his eyes angrily and pounced on Vegeta, attacking him blindly. Vegeta responded immediately by pulling the weaker male off his back. Yamcha, unwilling to give up, hurried in for another attack.
Vegeta grabbed him and brought his knee up to meet Yamcha's stomach. He doubled over as Vegeta forced his elbow down against Yamcha's head, knocking him out.
"Stupid", Vegeta muttered. He glanced at the pool, then at Yamcha, and decided he didn't feel like taking a swim anymore. Pulling a jacked out of the bag, Vegeta walked off the Capsule Corp grounds and headed for the nearby park.
Bulma giggled as 18 stepped daintily out of the dressing room, wearing a baby blue dress. "That's so cute!" Chichi exclaimed.
"Everything is cute on me", 18 smiled.
"Except those", Bulma joked, pointing to men's section. The blonde's smile disappeared as she stalked across the store and pulled several items of men's clothing off the shelves. She stuck her tongue out at her friends and walked back into the dressing room.
"You really think she's going to - ?"
"Come on, Chi. You know 18. Besides, it'll be fun to watch", Bulma said, pulling out her camera. Chichi joined in and slipped out her sleek camera phone. Both girls were ready, lenses pointed at the door as 18 stepped out. Bulma managed to snap a photo as her mouth fell open and Chichi's phone slipped from the raven haired girl's hands. The blonde girl, with her model figure, looked gorgeous even in the baggy jeans and oversized t-shirt. She wore a baseball cap on her head with a few strands of blonde hair hanging out.
"Wow… you", Bulma stuttered.
"Everything looks great on me. What did I say?" 18 shrugged. The three friends burst into laughter and continued their shopping spree.
Several hours and hundreds of dollars later, Bulma and 18 had fallen asleep in the backseat while Chichi drove home, yawning along the way. The car pulled up into the driveway of Capsule Corp and Chichi hopped out. She opened the back door and poked Bulma in the stomach. The blue haired girl let out a squeal, causing her blonde friend to stir.
"Aw c'mon. Let's go", Chichi whined. Bulma stumbled out of the car, hands full of shopping bags. 18 followed her, dressed in the guys clothes she'd just bought.
"Let's go visit the pool", Chichi suggested, peeking into a big green bag. The girls had each bought a new swimsuit and wanted to try them out. Bulma agreed and the three girls headed to the pool room.
Vegeta sighed and leaned his head back, looking up at the sky. He felt confused, but mostly alone. Why did Yamcha show up? More importantly, why was he so bothered by Yamcha's appearance? After all, he had no relationship with Bulma. They were simply… the simply shared a house. Did he even like Bulma? No. Then why did he care so much? Vegeta sighed and stood up. He headed back for Capsule Corp, deep in thought as he walked.
"Vegeta!" Vegeta's head snapped up at the sound of his name. He spotted Goku poking his head out of a truck with Krillen at the wheel. Vegeta accepted a ride to Capsule Corp, but wondered why the guys were heading over.
"Bulma was freaking out. I've never heard her panic so much", Krillen said. Vegeta froze in his seat as he quickly thought about what could have happened to Bulma. The truck pulled into the Capsule Corp driveway and all three guys hurried out. Vegeta pulled out his keys and quickly unlocked the door. No one was around and the house was deadly silent.
"Chichi! Bulma!" Goku called out.
"18!" Krillen hurried up the stairs. Vegeta remained at the door, afraid to search. He didn't care so much about his own safety, but was worried about Bulma. What could have happened? Bulma was freaking out… that didn't seem like something happened to the girl herself. Maybe it was one of her friends… or… Yamcha! Vegeta suddenly remembered what had happened earlier and rushed out the door.
"Hey! Where's he going?" Goku wondered, running out the door. They reached the pool room and Vegeta shoved open the door. Bulma, who had been sitting numbly against the wall, shrieked and jumped up. Chichi frowned at this and 18 sighed. Goku hurried in after Vegeta into the room, his mouth dropping open. Vegeta seemed unbothered and leaned against the wall.
"This freaked you out?" He asked casually, glancing at Bulma. The girl nodded, but said nothing.
"What happened?" Goku wondered out loud.
"We came in here and just found him", Chichi replied.
"So Bulma freaked and called you", 18 said, adjusting her cap slightly.
"Who could have… done this?" Bulma finally asked.
"That idiot jumped on me, and he wouldn't leave, so I knocked him out", Vegeta said simply.
"You- Vegeta? You did this?" 18 asked in disbelief.
"Is it so hard to believe? Look at you. You're wearing clothes I could wear", Vegeta glared at the girl who made no reply. The group fell in silence.
"Well, I – we can't just leave him here", Bulma said with uncertainty in her voice.
"You knocked him out pretty good", Chichi commented, looking cautiously at Vegeta, who now had a smirk plastered over his face.
"What if he's really hurt?" Bulma said, looking worried. Vegeta frowned. The girl was unhappy? Did she think it was his fault? Vegeta rolled his eyes and sighed.
"He'll wake up. Just get some water", he said, motioning towards the pool. Goku pulled out a bucket from the nearby shelf and filled it with water. Vegeta yanked the bucket over and slashed the cool water over Yamcha's face. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the lights.
"Yamcha?" Bulma said, cautiously peeking at him.
"H-hey", Yamcha muttered weakly.
"What happened?" Chichi asked.
"Uh- He attacked me", Yamcha replied, pointing a finger at Vegeta.
"What are you talking about? You jumped me!" Vegeta shot back.
"What? Are you blind? Or did I hit you too hard?" Yamcha pulled himself up and advanced towards Vegeta.
"Stop! Please stop!" Bulma cried out frantically, stepping in between the two guys. She reached both arms out in front of her, pushing Yamcha away. Vegeta grabbed her around the waist, attempting to pull her out of the way. He had an issue to settle and the girl was simply interfering. Vegeta managed to yank Bulma back, but this allowed Yamcha to hit him in the face. Bulma screamed and Vegeta let go of her to block a punch. A third punch by Yamcha missed Vegeta completely and instead, landed on Bulma. She stumbled backwards onto Vegeta and Yamcha took this chance to slam Vegeta's head against the nearest wall. Blood trickled from under his head and slid down his neck. In an instant, Goku had Yamcha pinned against the opposite wall while Chichi and 18 rushed over to Bulma. Vegeta sighed and pushed the two girls out of the way. He picked up Bulma's limp form and carried her towards the house. 18 hurried after them while Chichi remained beside Goku.
"I can't believe you! Why'd you have to do that! You little - " Chichi's ranting was cut short by Goku, who held a finger to the girl's lips, then dragged Yamcha out of the room. Chichi muttered in protest, but followed Goku into the house. As they neared the front door, they were greeted by a worried Krillen, who had come down the stairs to find everyone missing.
"What happened? Why is- Why are they bleeding?" he asked. 18 quickly shushed him, then followed Vegeta up the stairs to Bulma's room. Chichi wordlessly followed, leaving Goku and Krillen to deal with Yamcha.
"C'mon you guys. You know me. I would never ever hurt Bulma", Yamcha pleaded.
"But you just did", Goku said.
"It was an accident", Yamcha protested. Goku seemed to find this excuse ok, but Krillen wasn't satisfied.
"So… was Alana an accident too?" Krillen asked.
"Who?" Yamcha looked at him blankly.
"Alana! You know… orange haired slut. Prom night?" Krillen glared at Yamcha, who had backed away.
"I... that…" Yamcha stuttered, but had nothing to say.
"Yeah, you really hurt her", Goku recalled.
"Aw, c'mon. That was before. I mean, we're all adults now, ya know", Yamcha gave a sheepish smile and fell silent.
"Bulma hasn't dated again", Goku said quietly.
"She… aw, did she miss me that much?" Yamcha asked sarcastically. He had a smug smile on his face that was quickly wiped out when an angry voice rang out from behind Goku.
"I can't believe you just said that! Do you think you've really changed? Bulma is on every man's most wanted list, but she turned them down! Because of you! You taught her to fear love, to hate the pain that comes with it. She's stayed away from it because you hurt her! Why can't you just leave her alone?" Chichi ranted, stepping closer to Yamcha with each angry word. Goku reached out and gently pulled the girl away from Yamcha. For such a small sized girl, she had a lot of power.
Yamcha looked away guiltily, then headed silently for the door. He stepped out into the cold night and turned around one last time. "Tell her I didn't mean to hit her", he said, then closed the door.
Upstairs in Bulma's room, Vegeta had laid the girl carefully on her bed. 18 concluded that Bulma was simply knocked out and would wake up in the morning. Unconvinced, Vegeta opted to stay in the room and watch Bulma. 18 had protested, but gave in to the stubborn male. She trudged down the stairs with a frown, but smiled weakly when greeted by Krillen.
"So, uh, how's Bulma?" Krillen asked.
"She'll be up tomorrow", 18 replied with a shrug.
"Well, uh, we should stay to… you know… make sure she's alright tomorrow", Chichi said. 18 understood that she didn't trust Vegeta to be alone with Bulma, and agreed.
"The rooms are this way", Chichi continued, walking up the stairs. They each settled into a guest room, ready to relax for the night.
The sky outside had become deathly dark, with a single ray of moonlight as the only source of illumination. Vegeta gripped the railing of the balcony outside Bulma's room and stared intently at the ground. He had been outside for a while now, and the cold wind pierced his flesh. Discovering that the physical pain numbed his mental pain, Vegeta had decided to stay outside. He was confused and angry, but now sure why he felt this way. He couldn't think of any real reason to be angry. SO, was he truly angry? Or maybe… jealous?
But, jealous of what? Jealous that Yamcha still played a role in Bulma's life after all these years. Jealous that she still care for him after he'd hurt her so badly. Vegeta rubbed his head and decided to go in. He stopped beside Bulma's bed and watched her for a moment. She looked peaceful, but every once in a while, the girl would turn her head and frown. Vegeta sighed and pulled a chair up next to the bed. He sat down and leaned heavily against it. After watching the sleeping girl for a while, Vegeta's eyelids slowly closed and he fell asleep.
A/N: thanks for the reviews! yay! Long chapter finally! Took me two days to type this up … and now I have to go get ready for this dinner gathering thing so... read and enjoy!... and review please!