Winning the Love of the Handsome Skater

Chapter Seventeen: Party, Party! Second Part

(Beta Chapter Title: Rumors)

With a sense of circulating adrenaline in her body, the lavender haired girl swallowed dryly and made her way towards the bed. Vegeta sat up to give her some place to sit on the bed next to him. He wore a strange smirk, a very confident one. She wondered what made him so sure she would like what he took her… But then again, she actually appreciated even the fact that he had put up with her wish through the whole day. He had not been spacing out at all, and even if he was, the places of her body he had been so intently and openly stared at for minutes on end – she giggled at the thought – assured her that he was thinking about other things instead of his traumatizing past.

Slowly, almost mesmerizing, she took small graceful steps towards the bed, and sat herself on the edge, looking expectantly at him. She made a quick search in her mind and found something that completely fascinated her. Even though she was rich and could have anything she could ever want, when her friends had been giving her their presents, she had been very anxious to see what was inside. Even back then when she had been dating Yamcha, every time he made her a present she just couldn't wait to open it, even though she realized that if it was something really useful she already had it, or if it was useless, she would never look at it again because of anything else but sentimentality. Bulma Briefs could do little to help her materialistic nature, being raised in such a rich family, yet never really needing from others as it would either be useless or duplicated by something she already had…

And yet, that same very moment, she sensed that she didn't really care what he got her. Make no mistake, she was flattered by the fact he remembered and even cared enough to make her a present for her most special day. But she didn't really want anything else. She wanted just to have him remember the dates that were important to her, she wanted to know he could be considerate… and she loved the fact he had fulfilled her wish. What else could she possibly want? He was all she needed… Her match, her counterpart… Her Only One…

As he watched her approach slowly as if gliding through the air and then sitting down, as if invisible wings on her back made her lighter than air, he felt a sudden surge of pride wash over him. Before the beginning of this day, when observing her perfection, he would scowl and get reminded how he tainted her innocence, her purity just by being in such a close range to her… Yet today, it was her day. He would do things, for once forgetting most of his pride that got in his way, he would 'degrade' himself to doing things her way. Just to please her… Just to see her smile for him… Just to hear her utter her thanks, or just say his name wistfully… Her voice made him feel drunk, even though he had drunk so many beers that night he had not been even slightly tipsy, but he knew that once she opened her mouth, he would be a goner.

He had no idea what had softened him so much… His mind drew back a little to the past, thinking of the times he had always been this way. Ten-year-old Vegeta… Yes… That had been the time… When he was a scared little twit… Afraid of the world and its cruelty, wondering what he had done to deserve all the things that had happened to him back then… He could find no reason… His young mind was already half-corrupt, but there had still been a small part of him that knew the light… That knew kindness and affection… He had been so small and stupid… Now all he was doing was putting a mask after every day break, praying to himself that he would have to face any more pain any longer. He was becoming so weak… It made him shatter, with each passing day of rotting loneliness in his heart, with every single time he woke up in the middle of the night, finding himself curled into a ball, feeling his pillow soaked with a salty liquid that he preferred to think was just sweat…

He slapped himself mentally. He was breaking his promise currently. He had to head to different thoughts. It wasn't really that hard as he observed his gorgeous girlfriend smile at him strangely, expectantly, and somehow self-consciously. He propped himself back onto her bed post and looked her straight in the eye. Maybe… Just maybe all this suffering had been for this moment… For the moment he would meet her and realize what she was… His match, his counter part… His mate

"Well?" She couldn't wait anymore. She wanted this done with. She wanted to tell him so many things she had contained while the others were around them. She knew how much he despised being affectionate in public and she respected that. God only knew how the couples making out in public, for an instance, annoyed the Hell out of her.

He chuckled at her impatience. He couldn't blame her, really… He wanted to get to sleep so badly as well… Somehow the whole day had been so exhausting… and he had no idea why he was so drained. Must've been all the struggle of keeping his mind at bay… He had never attempted to do so before.

"You're being pushy, little one." He declared with an award-winning smirk that would have her knees wobble if she had not been seated on her bed. She thanked God she took the hint to sit.

"Oh, come on! Stop prolonging this! I want to see what you could've possibly got me. I don't really need anything…" She trailed off as she looked at him reach into that same pocket again, picking out a navy velvet box. Blue was her favourite colour. "And I don't really need any jewels, you know… I can't wear them at school and—

"Shut it, woman." He growled at her tirade. "Just open it." He tossed it to her and she easily caught it. Shrugging her shoulders lightly, she did as told and her eyes scanned the contents of the box. Her eyes lit up a bit and danced over the silver object inside.

She had no idea how he knew, but she had wanted a bracelet for so long after her last one broke apart. Bulma wasn't really known for being careful about things, and she truly had no idea how to keep her stuff, but this one was going to be special. She would keep it close, and it would have a special place in her heart. The bracelet consisted in a small lamella that had a slightly different colour from the chain. There was something engraved on it that she couldn't quite see prima vista. In each side where the lamella joined the chain there was a little blue stone – sapphires. They complemented the silver perfectly and didn't stick out too much. They were just perfect. The stitch of the chain was slightly curvy, feminine, yet strangely filled with some teen spirit. She smiled at it and inspected what was written on it. She flicked it slightly to the night stand where her lamp was on, its faint light by far not sufficient enough to see clearly through the dark room. Mate.

Her cobalt eyes looked up to glare at him. He had become more animalistic than he had been before and he was actually making her show everyone that fact? The look she was giving him made him realize that she did not really grasp the full concept of the word.

"You're mine, little one… Now and forever. My Mind mate, my counterpart, my bed-mate. You'd be lying, just as much as I would, if you say that you cannot sense the chemistry between us." He kissed her cheek as she was yet again staring at her gift. She smiled broadly at it. It was a slightly sad smile, as he had not said what she wanted the most – being his mate in mind, body and soul… But how could he possibly say it now? He didn't completely trust her yet. Hell, he didn't trust anyone fully… If she wanted him to submit so easily to her the first day he tried to become normal again, or as closest to normal as she could tolerate, as she wanted him for who he was, she was just expecting a miracle. No, she couldn't want that now. She just savoured the fact that there was an undeniable 'chemistry between them'.

"It's so beautiful… Thank you!" She spoke slowly, in that same tone that he knew would make him dizzy if he listened too much of right then.

"The lamella is made of platinum, rest is silver. And, trust me when I say this, finding something to satisfy your spoilt self was a real pain in the ass. I hope I never have to do that again!" Vegeta informed her with a smirk, resting his back against the bed post again. He was so tired… If his head rested against the pillow, he would surely instantly fall asleep… Note to self, do not lie down… She gaped at him. Platinum! Dear goodness gracious! She was never given such an expensive present before!

"Oh my, Vegeta!" She exclaimed as she threw herself on his neck and had them both fall onto the soft covers of her bed. "This is the most wonderful gift I have ever had for a birthday, Christmas, or whatever other celebration!" She exclaimed. She pulled herself up from him and noticed that he did not follow her lead. Instead, he just lay below her, admiring every curve of her body, as if seeing her for the first time of his life. "Oh, and, I wanted to say thank you for the way you behaved tonight. You have no idea how much this means to me." Her voice was so low and could compete with a whisper, so softly spoken. "I love y—", but she realized that saying it now of all times might ruin their moment and what they had now… So, instead, she prayed to God they had taken long enough for midnight to pass. "—yesterday so much! You gave me all I wanted!" She covered her uncertainty and nervousness behind a forced smile.

"Why 'yesterday'?" He creased an eye brow at her. She checked her bed stand watch, finding with well-hidden relief that it was, indeed as it read, 0:37.

"It's well past midnight, silly. It's already a new day!" She smiled and leant on his chest, looking somewhere in the space of her dark room, not really focused on anything but her wandering thoughts. Vegeta was a little suspicious of her words, but did not question her however. Suddenly as she had stopped talking, she began again, "My dad's right… You do are something very special…" Her present was clutched even tighter to her chest at the exact same moment.

"Special?" The words sounded so alien to him… As if it wasn't his own mouth that they were exiting… "What do you mean?"

"He never really approved of Yamcha, you know…" Vegeta grimaced at the reminder of his girlfriend's late boyfriend. "But with you… Well… He just says that there is something about you, even though you're rude, self-conceited and full of yourself," about the last one Vegeta protested with a growl; "he says that you're the most mature person for your age he has seen."

"Well then, maybe your old man is smarter than I gave him credit for."

"Hey, now that was really—

"Shh…" He shushed her, putting two fingers to her lips as she stared up at him from his chest. "Don't talk… Don't say anything…" He said as he slowly traced the lines of her facial features, leaving a heated trail behind himself.

"You're tired…" Bulma said self-consciously, for the first time that night realizing that she had only a huge shirt and her panties to cover her body after she had come out of the bathroom. Vegeta smirked at her as he pulled her face closer to his.

"Hell would freeze over before I'm too tired for you…"

And that was about the last word he said before he gave into the temptation that had been on his mind constantly during the entire day. He had wanted her so badly, yet knew he could only look and touch later. It was about time 'later' come. He would wait no longer. He wanted to be with her, for once, for real. Tonight was the night he would put up the struggle… Tonight was the only night he would put up with her every whim.

He placed his lips over her soft ones, instantly receiving just as feverish respond. He smirked against her. It turned him on just by thinking how willingly she wanted him back, right there, right then.

As his body moved in a mesmerizing rhythm against hers, the chain on his neck, present from the vixen beneath him, moved back and forth, back and forth, slamming into his collar bone, making soft clanking noises as it did so.

She got off of him, resting herself against his chest, relaxed, exhausted. He smirked at her and kissed her forehead. "If I can't walk properly tomorrow it will all be your fault!" He laughed at that.

"You'll be able to move, little one." His hand went to her middle section instinctively. He concentrated hard and she could've sworn, if she hadn't been too tired to write it off to that, that suddenly his hand had glowed in a navy light and she felt all warm inside again. She sighed in content and snuggled closer to him. "You'll be just good as new." He deduced, putting his hands behind his head, resting back, finally giving into the darkness for what he guessed would be the strongest assault of nightmares since the birth of the world since he had fought so hard against them today only to find himself surprised, just dreaming of holding the girl by his side closely.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

He woke up later, about two hours or so, only to find that his dream had not been just that, a dream. His hand was snaked around her fragile body, pulling her into his naked frame. He gently slid from under the covers and put on his boxers and pants that had been discarded on the floor. He put out a pack of cigarettes from it and his lighter, making his way towards the balcony of his sleeping angel.

As the glass door slid open, he was greeted by a slight breeze that eased his still burning senses. That woman made a fire in him burn with a fervor to envy. He had noticed the velvet box of the present he had given her on her night stand. She obviously paid extra attention for it. He smirked lightly as he cupped his hands while lighting the cigarette. Her face had lit up so much when she had seen it at first. Seemed like he hit the bull's eye with his shot in the dark. When he first saw it in the shop, the sapphires on it immediately reminded him of her. Not having the chance to forget her birthday even for a second in his week before it, having extra problems with figuring out what to get her, he had bought it immediately.

Buying women jewelry is rumored to always work like a charm. Today Vegeta had learnt the true meaning of that famous phrase. And he had to admit – it truly worked like a charm.

Yet when other women would've loved the bracelet for its cost, he knew that Bulma appreciated it for his thoughtfulness. He hadn't missed the 'I love y—' part of her words at the beginning of their night alone, but he had not indicated with anything that he took it in mind so much. After all, he did not wish to push her around too much on her birthday. Teasing was one thing, but he knew that the feelings deeps as love, devotion and affection were ones he should never pick on with someone who he actually cared for.

A smirk crossed his features as he exhaled a puff of smoke. So now he cared? But then again, when hadn't he cared for her? When he first met the gang that Kakarott had spoken of so passionately over the years, the one that had truly captivated his attention had been her. True, there had been some attraction on his side towards Juuhachigou, but she was just a secondary character to him, a diversion from his true feelings…

He snorted. True feelings? And just what were his true feelings towards the woman that had this day come of age? Even though he could not deny that he cared for her, wished to protect her from any harm, that he would do seemingly anything to assure her welfare… There was still something back there, in the back of his mind, in his heart, those restraints from the last time he had been hurt in the process of such passionate care. Affection was now his weakness, as he could not face it without remembrance of his time spent with Hailie. That year and a half of his life had been the happiest of his life until…

He put his cigarette out and looked at the person next to him whom the hand on his shoulder belonged, which had just landed there mere few seconds before joining him.

"Why are you up? Aren't you tired?" He asked nonchalantly. Bulma shook her head slowly.

"Well, actually, no. We all really had some fun… but I thought it was still too soon to end the night…"

"It's three in the morning." Vegeta reminded her as if she had no knowledge of reading a clock. Her fine eye brows narrowed over a pair of cyan clear eyes and the girl sent her boyfriend a heated glare that completely contrasted with the chilly air of the late autumn night.

"Yes, I am aware of that." She huffed. "I'm just not tired and since we're up maybe we should do something together? You seem like you've been here in a while?" It was truly more of a question than a statement as she touched his cool arm. He shrugged his shoulders.

"No more than five minutes up before you."

"Ah well… What shall we do then?" She grinned widely, even though sleep was still obvious in her tired eyes. "I'm completely out of ideas of what to do and the fact there is some heavy aftermath of sleep upon me isn't helping any… So…" She looked expectantly at him as he lit another cigarette. Observing his movements for a minute without saying anything more and doing nothing other than breathing evenly, Vegeta's onyx eyes fixed on her again.

"What?"

"I'm out of ideas." She reminded him.

"Yes, so?" Bulma pouted at him.

"Do I always have to be so direct with you to get an answer?"

"If you want a direct answer, you have to question straight to the point." He exhaled a small cloud of greyish smoke from his nose. "So you want me to tell you where we should go?" Bulma's eye brows rose in question. "What, you thought we'd stay here for the night too? If you want to party so badly, there are plenty of places to go and do so." He explained evenly, looking off somewhere in the night.

"So, where do we go?"

Vegeta shot her a slightly baffled look. He had particularly just told her what to do and let her choose which club she liked most and she still didn't catch on? Or maybe she wasn't really that well introduced to street and night life? The second was far more probable. The question still stood, however. Where should they go?

"I heard there's a new club I haven't yet been to downtown. Maybe we should go and see if the rumors are true." He smirked.

"Rumors? What rumors?" Bulma blinked confused. She had been introduced to the rumor and gossip mill at a very young age, being born in a rich family. Yet the rumors in school and the rumors the press created about her and her family were completely different when compared to the other.

"The rumors that it's a really wild place, of course." Vegeta smirked at her way again. She sweatdropped. That coming from him sounded truly chilling, to say the least… "But it would be such a waste if only we attend to it. It may be your day, but your gang of buffoons has come today to respect that special day of yours. Maybe we should go fetch them too?" He all but suggested.

"That's a nice idea! Let's go wake them!"

x.x.x.x.x Five and a half minutes later… x.x.x.x.x

"GAH!" The raven-haired girl jumped up from her sleep on the comfy bed, looking down at her garments. "What's the big idea? What do you want to do, kill me?" She screeched, but it didn't matter since the others were already wide awake and just as drenched as she was. Her clothes were clinging desperately to her body as if she was a life boat to a drowning man. Bulma grinned mischievously at her friend with a cat-like gleam in her eyes.

"That's what you deserve for what you did to me earlier, you creeps! Bulma Briefs' revenge, haha!" She looked rather triumphant and was, yet again, supposed to be intimidating, but, as we said, again she failed to appear so to her friends who could only sweatdrop at her moment of insanity, as they would most probably call it if asked. However, Bulma's little moment of triumph lasted no more than a few seconds as ChiChi's short temper got the better of her as well.

The rest of the gang watched in slight awe how the two girls wrestled each other in an odd cat-fight, hair, limbs and curses tangled in a mess. Each female pulled the other down in order to gain the upper hand. Even though throughout their childhoods ChiChi had always been the better at fighting, this time Bulma didn't give in as easily.

"Shouldn't we… err… I don't know, stop them… or something?" Krillin asked while putting on an old shirt of Dr. Briefs' which Bulma had provided for him even before she poured the water all over them. Vegeta shrugged at the suggestion.

"Let them go. They look like they could use some tension release." He informed the bald smaller boy. Goku patted Krillin's back in a friendly manner, trying to assure him the two would never get too deep with the fighting.

"What the hell are you doing, ChiChi! What's come over you! Will you just drop it, we're wasting time!" Bulma screeched as she tried to block ChiChi's wrists from escaping her grasp, but the other girl shoved her off and continued wrestling Bulma's feet which were eager to protect their possessor.

"I'll tell you what I'm doing, missy! You've needed a good spanking for some time now!"

"Chi! That sounded so sick!"

"So what do I care, huh? Was it my fault you accused me and the whole gang that we didn't, what was it, 'pay you enough attention' when we were getting all this shit done! What does that speak about your trust in others? It says you're conceited as ever, not to mention blind!" At that exact moment the raven haired girl pulled hard on Bulma's lavender tresses, making her cease all movement.

Breathing hard, the other girl got off her friend and stared at the empty space between them.

"Chi, look, it was just a joke—"

"It's not the water, B!" ChiChi snapped back. "You doubted me. Me, of all people! We grew up together… Who did you go to when you felt all lonely and confused? Who did you call to make you laugh when you thought the world would crumble? Whose lap did you cower into when thunder would strike in the sky and scare your ten year old self? Who cooked for you occasionally when your parents were away? And then what does that same person get when there's a bit of a shake in the relationship? Mistrust? Doubt? I thought for all those years you learnt at least one thing about me, Bulma Briefs…"

By that time, Bulma was done staring idiotically into the nothingness. Her eye brows furrowed mostly with anger at herself for ever distrusting her best friend.

"Look what, ChiChi. You know how stressed I get when my birthdays come up. It's just a part of me! And on top of that, instead of being that same person you were talking about just a minute ago and let the others do some more work while you go and fool me around and feed me nonsense so I don't get suspicious, sorry guys," she interjected when she saw the hurt expressions the others gave her, "knowing you, you probably took the command and started ordering them around, wanting to do most of the job! Am I not correct?" ChiChi grinned nervously at that. "See? So I did learn a thing or two about you for so many years. But through all those aforementioned years, you didn't pick up one thing."

"What's that?" The other girl blinked innocently.

"To stop with the melodramas over every single little thing!" Bulma shrieked at her and got to her feet, dusting her clothes from imaginary dust. "Now will you please get changed so we can go already?"

"Go where?" Juu cut in while Goku helped ChiChi up.

"Clubbing, of course!" Bulma winked at her friend.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Tell me again, why are we going to a club at 3 in the morning?" ChiChi groaned even though she loved the fact she finally got herself an occasion to sneak in Bulma's walk-in wardrobe and pick whichever outfit she wanted. The heiress sighed in exasperation. All her friends had chorused the same phrase over and over again for the past ten minutes. She was getting sick of answering the same damn thing over and over again and planned on writing it on a sign and putting it up whenever they asked again.

"Because, ChiChi, we started quite late with the party and I'm still not tired enough to go to sleep, so, we're going to see this new club, have fun a few hours and then we go our separate ways towards our beds. Anything else?" Her voice became more annoyed with each syllable that passed her lips.

"Yeah, I have a test tomorrow…" Krillin moaned in despair. Juu glared at him. He was always such a wuss…

"I'll skip my Science and enter in your class and take that test for you, okay?" Bulma groaned as her friends' whims were getting really exasperating. Had she thought about what time of the day it was, she would've realized it was only natural, since all teens had got really little bit of rest for the whole night and it seemed they weren't going to get any tonight either.

"You'd do that for me? Really?" Krillin's eyes gleamed. Bulma rolled her sapphire orbs.

"Sure, whatever to make you shut up."

"I swear you and that rotten bastard behind the wheel spend far too much time together. He's rubbing hard off on you." ChiChi remarked, trying to get a bit more comfortable in Goku's lap. "And I still can't believe we fitted in here."

"Well then you should be thankful that "that rotten bastard's" car is quite spacious and convertible. Otherwise you'd have to have that drunken boyfriend of yours drive you to the club." Vegeta remarked without taking his eyes off the road for a moment's worth. ChiChi's eye brows narrowed.

"You drank just as much, you—"

"That should tell you how much of a wimp he actually is. Can't take a few beers, ha!" Vegeta mocked, knowing full well that even sober Goku would never be able to retaliate to his insults, yet having an extremely great time seeing his poor best friend nearly out cold on the back seat, with his harpy jumping around in his lap with her bad short temper.

"What did you just say!" ChiChi was close enough to gripping at Vegeta's shoulder and shaking him violently but Bulma blocked her hand's path with a menacing glare of her own.

"Will you settle down already? And it's the second time you refer to my precious as a rotten bastard!" Vegeta laughed audibly at the 'precious' remark on his address. People who were not used to couple of hours sleep a night were so amusing… "If you do that again, I'd be very tempted to give you a piece of my mind!" Bulma shook a pale skinned fist ChiChi's way. As we have already said countless times, something as fragile-looking and with such a childish face still could never seem intimidating even to an ant. However, the shaken fist did earn ChiChi's attention in a different way.

"Say, what's that?" The raven haired girl snatched Bulma's wrist and pulled it towards herself, making the heiress groan in disapproval as her shoulder joint endured a large amount of pressure from the angle her arm had been twisted. Forced by her body's needs, Bulma had to move around in her seat so ChiChi wouldn't break her arm in excitement.

"What's what?" The lavender haired girl asked a bit out of breath. ChiChi could be a real bitch without even knowing what she was doing…

"This!" ChiChi pulled Bulma's jacket's long sleeve up to expose the silver bracelet. Juu gasped and nearly threw poor Krillin off her lap as she also latched onto Bulma's wrist. You see, the main idea was for the boys to have the girls in the backseats in their lap, but seeing as Juu's partner was quite… err… handicapped when he had been growing, it was a wiser idea for Krillin to be in Juu's lap. "Take a look at this, Juu! Looks like real sapphires!" ChiChi exclaimed as she fingered the bracelet with such tenderness that, had Goku been sober, would feel a slight pinch of envy.

"No way, I've seen those only on pictures!" The other female exclaimed, her eyes beaming.

"I envy Bulma for the fortune she has…" ChiChi's voice trailed off.

"Err… I didn't buy that one myself, guys…" Bulma cleared, her cheeks reddening slightly. The girls both let go of her wrist and she returned to her place in the passenger's seat, her face forward on the road as well. She heard ChiChi mutter something to which Juu nodded vigorously as well.

"I wish Goku would buy such stuff for me too…"

Bulma felt her lips tilting upwards gently in a slight smile. Her eyes, alien even to herself, darted to the rear mirror and she could've sworn that – even for a part of the second – she had seen a smile dance on Vegeta's lips as well…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"The Setting Sun?" Krillin felt his eye brow twitch.

"That's the cheesiest name for a club I've ever heard…" Juu remarked darkly. Goku just grinned.

"It's still open, isn't it?" Vegeta snapped, trying to make his way through the crowd.

"Yeah, and there's a huge line that probably goes back to my house…" ChiChi noted.

"Just shut up… I'll go to the front. Stay here until I call you." And with that he disappeared in thin air. Or more like in thick crowd…

ChiChi's arms seemed like they crossed by themselves.

"So now we're just supposed to stay here and wait for him? What makes him so sure he knows the bouncer? Dumb aloof bastard…" The raven haired girl threw her long let-loose tresses over her shoulder. Her boyfriend still just grinned.

"Erm, well, he does have a lot of serious connections around the city after all…" Bulma stated not quite assured her self.

"Yeah, so I heard too." Juu remarked. ChiChi blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's not only a skater. Not by a long shot… Skating doesn't bring any profits when there are no competitions and when snow falls… I've heard rumors he does street racing too."

"So that was what the flashy sports car was for…" Krillin muttered. His blonde friend just nodded.

"He attends street fights also… I've heard he takes some part time jobs as well… All in all, I just wonder how he learnt all that shit about school he knows! If I had that kind of graphic, I'd go nuts!"

"It's only rumors anyway!" ChiChi defended, not wanting to think that Vegeta was a busier and more responsible of a person than her dear Goku. Yet could she only open her eyes wide, she'd see that, even despite the fact Vegeta was stubborn, arrogant and bad tempered, but even though those facts he was all in all a very serious person when it came to vital things – about his life, about the people he cared for… But ChiChi couldn't really know that one, for Vegeta would never care about her.

Bulma listened half-heartedly to the conversation of her friends, a little too engulfed in the whispering around her. Her expression was getting more morbid by the second…

"Did you see that?"

"Wasn't that this Vegeta Ouji guy?"

"Haven't seen him in an eternity!"

"Did you hear he has a girlfriend now?"

"Yeah, right! More like another fling if you ask me!"

"I wonder how many times he already screwed her."

"A relationship with Ouji that's not physical? Hell would freeze over before that…"

Bulma felt her hands shaking in attempt to calm her self down. But the only thing she achieved was to let those venom seeping words get to her brain and seed a small doubt there, which ate on her mind with each passing second. Was she another fling? After all, "a relationship with Ouji that wasn't physical" was impossible.

"Hey!" Goku suddenly came to life. "Look! It's Rain! Hey, Rain, wait!" And with that, his ecstatic self disappeared in the crowd as well, his ears deaf to his girlfriend's calls for him to return.

"Geez, no one listens to me tonight! He wouldn't come to himself even when I sit in his lap, but he's all jumpy when he sees this Rain person – what kind of name is 'Rain' anyway! – and just takes off without saying a word? The nerve!"

"Hey losers!" They heard Vegeta's voice holler from the front. "Get your asses here! We're going in!"

The last Bulma could remember before her ears began throbbing with pain from the blaring speakers was that someone grabbed her by her elbow and pulled her inside.

x.x.x.x.x.x

"Where's Kakarotto?" Vegeta asked the bald boy that barely reached his chest before they entered the blaring club.

"Err, if I'm not mistaking, he yelled something about raining and took off after you." Vegeta's composure obviously tensed.

"He went after Rain, did he?"

"Er, yeah, that's the one." Krillin grinned nervously. Having an angry Vegeta so near your self is quite a dangerous thing. Yet, to his utter bliss, the taller teen just snorted and retorted,

"If he went after Rain, then we don't need to wait for him. He'll get in on his own…"

x.x.x.x.x.x

Raining? It wasn't raining, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. He could clearly see all the stars in the heavens. And then it hit him. His jaw line tightened, he clenched his fists. So, stupid Kakarotto went to see that fucking bastard Rain, eh? Fine by him. If it was Rain he preferred, Rain he was going to get…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Did you hear, did you hear?"

"Did you see him? Just as dreamy as ever!"

"I'd jump him the second I saw him, I swear!"

"I heard that bitch he's dating right now has some really sucky temper. I wouldn't do that if I was you…"

"Oh? I heard that he was dating this rich wench, Bulma Briefs or what-was-her-face…"

"Are you sure she's a female?" A sinister voice snickered.

"Not sure. But his boyfriend Goku Son is here too! I hear they shared a ride." Another sinister voice snickered.

"What's with the crude jokes, you guys?"

"Didn't you know of Ouji's past?"

"Know what?"

"He hadn't been in touch with a girl before he turned thirteen!"

"Yeah, and then I heard that he had some sort of phobia from girls, ohh!"

"I know from a certain source that his first time sucked major ass."

"The gal he screwed was a whore, that's what I heard."

"Didn't he rape her?"

"No way. He didn't have the guts to punch someone, not to mention to get properly turned on!" Another crude laugh.

"So what? He was just thirteen! You said it yourself!"

"That didn't mean his hormones didn't already work properly."

"He was surrounded by guys!"

"I've heard some even fought over him! Hahaha!"

"He had a favourite though!"

"Some guy… It was a weird name… Pain? Nah… Um, Shane? No, no, wait, it was Rain! Yeah, that's the one!"

"Rain? He's quite popular himself!"

"So you're saying Vegeta's homo!"

"No way. More like bi!"

"Yeah. After that last steady girlfriend of his stabbed his back when she slept with someone else he became a real Don Juan! Man, he stole my girlfriend, damn him!"

"Mine was all over him too, even though he just fucked her brains out and left her!"

"Heard he just wanted to get back at that Hailie gal or whatever."

"How idiotic…"

"What are you doing?" Bulma looked up with her eyes that were open very wide, her brain devouring every single word that passed by her ears from her surrounding, yet all talking ceased once the object of the badmouthing came in earshot. Vegeta stood towering above her, a drink in his hand. She was sitting all alone on the table that she and her closest friends had resided over the last half an hour, yet all of them had two by two went to the dance floor and basically have already given in to the wave of the music.

Vegeta had no idea what angered him more. The fact that his girlfriend was sitting alone on a stupid table in the club that she had wanted to come to and have fun, or that he didn't miss the way the different colours of the projectors in the club reflected in her eyes in many broken fragments instead of one whole reflection… Almost… As if it was torn by water… And water was his keyword.

"I…" She began, but didn't find the voice to say anything. He surely heard what was being said about him. He was probably already upset with her for listening to those stupid rumors. None of them were even true! People were just jealous and in their little haste to judge others that had it better than them they made weird and twisted stories about those people so that they could ruin their good image. But then again, she was angry with herself for even listening! She didn't want to hear this! She preferred to hear the truth from him, and whenever he wanted to tell it to her.

"Listening to the rumor mill?" He sat heavily on the seat across from her and took a huge swing from his drink.

"Didn't you drink enough for the night already?" She snapped.

"What, are you afraid of what I might do if I get drunk?" She froze. Vegeta just shook his spiky-haired head. "Come on, woman. You're going to tell me those buffoons around here made you doubt me? That's hilarious. You know I'd never lay a finger on you in intention to hurt you…"

"Um… Yes… That I do…"

"Hey, Vegeta!" The two heard a familiar voice yell through the crowd, making his way towards the couple. A tired Goku appeared before their baffled eyes moments later, holding a hand to his chest, trying to relax his laboured breathing. "Vegeta, you're never going to guess who I saw! Rain's here, Vegeta! Let's go say hi!" The boy tried to pull his friend up, but was shoved off not even a second afterwards.

"I will do no such thing, you idiot! Go say hi yourself!" He spat back, straightening his sleeveless black shirt.

"And now, for our special guest for tonight and our favourite Skater Boy, Destiny's Child with "Lose My Breath"!" The DJ said through the microphone. A wicked grin spread on Vegeta's face when he heard the announcement.

"Well, woman, I think that's our call."

"Call?" Bulma repeated stupidly, glimpses of her old character shining like a beam in the night after the shock of hearing a name that she had heard just a second ago from the so-called 'rumor mill', as Vegeta referred to all those idiots with no personal lives whatsoever.

"Yeah, it's my favourite song! I say we go and show those losers who's Vegeta Ouji and how much of a 'bad temper' his girlfriend has." He pulled her up not leaving a place for refusal.

"Errr, we are?" She started to feel major stupid. That didn't sound like her self at all! This rumor thing was seriously messing with her head! And just look at what she had in her hands! Um… Or more like what had her in his arms… Anyway… The best skater, most intelligent boy after her and the most handsome being she had ever laid eyes on, the most multitalented person she had ever met and she was getting upset over rumors! How stupid was she anyway!

"Come on, the other losers are already rocking up the stage over there. Our turn to enter the picture."

Bulma was still a bit uncertain about the whole thing, but once Vegeta began swinging her around with such ease and grace to be envied for, all her worries washed away completely. After all, wasn't it her who pleaded him to forget his problems, whatever they were, for this one night? True, she thought the night had ended before the club thing, but the fact it prolonged didn't mean that she had the right to break her side of the deal…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The gang stood on the same table a couple of hours later.

"Man, I'm drained…" Krillin sighed, resting his head back against the cushion chair.

"Yeah, me too… I feel like a thousand bucks…" Juu let out barely audible above the blaring music.

"Excuse me? What do the thousand bucks have to do with this?" ChiChi wondered aloud.

"Nothing, I guess. I'd just like to have that much so that someone could carry me home…" ChiChi rolled her eyes at the retort she had received.

"Right…" The raven haired girl muttered sarcastically.

"Let's get you idiots to your beds. It's no use staying any longer if you find breathing a hard task." Vegeta said, collecting Bulma in his embrace.

"What's with B?" Goku said, glancing over the shorter boy's shoulder at the spaced out heiress, or so he thought.

"She already passed out, you fool." Vegeta hissed. "Get going. I don't have a whole day to wait for you!" And with that he took off, opening the front gate with a swift kick. ChiChi watched after him with irritation. She had had enough of his temper for one night, definitely.

"In translation from Vegeta-ish, that means, "Please, hurry, I'm tired as well"." Goku explained casually, with the casual grin too. Juu sweatdropped at him.

"You know him quite well, don't you?"

"Definitely!" The happy-go-lucky boy beamed. No more than a few seconds passed and he yawned widely. "I say we go before he really takes off without waiting for us." The others just nodded reluctantly, already dreaming of their beds at home, comfy, inviting…

"Wait a second… He won't make us walk home from Capsule Corporation, will he?" ChiChi asked rhetorically, dread obvious in her voice.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Does that answer your question?" Goku asked her a few minutes later when they dropped his girlfriend at the Mau household. The girl just avoided looking at the car and more specifically to the driver.

"Um… So… Errr…" The fiery girl stuttered, her voice hoarse.

"I suggest you just go to bed, wench." Vegeta said, his head colliding with the back of his seat. "And don't try pulling any stunts like getting up for school today, it's useless. Just go get some sleep. You sure look like you need some." He grinned wickedly at the rear view mirror. ChiChi didn't fluster in anger. She couldn't find the strength in her drained body to perform such an action. She just snorted at his words.

"Thanks. You look like shit yourself, Your Highness." Vegeta chuckled at that, but didn't lift his head from the head rest of his seat. ChiChi sighed. She saw it now, Goku was right. Even though the bastard wished to act tough, she could clearly see it now too; his reserve power was running really low. "Whatever, shrimp. See you Wednesday at school."

"Yeah, whatever."

With that he sped off down the streets. ChiChi let out another heavy sigh. It was odd to her how she, of all people, the one that was supposed to understand others the most, needed her boyfriend to explain Vegeta's actions so she really saw through his intentions… Usually she was the understanding one, yet when blinded by her rage towards the certain teen, she lost her humanity somewhere along the lines… That wasn't good… Not good at all… But she would let the matter rest for now. If Bulma understood the bastard he didn't need her to do so too…

With that thought in mind, she dragged her feet toward her salvation. God only knew her back agonized right that instant…

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Vegeta laid the sleeping girl lightly on her satin sheets, as if she was a breakable object and climbed off from the opposite side of the bed, steadying himself slowly on his extended hands. He watched her sleep for a long minute. The gentle heaving of her chest mesmerized him in his drugged-like state he already found himself in. His eyes were heavy with sleep. He was completely drained, but he had made it… He had made her day special… He hadn't thought at all about his past, his mistakes, and his ghosts for the whole day. He hadn't even shown any obvious turmoil at the mentioning of that bastard's name in his face whatsoever either. Truth told he was proud with his own stamina. Yet he knew that in the end, he had just done it on autopilot… And out of stubbornness… But that didn't matter, as long as he didn't break his promise, did it?

He had dropped all her friends at their respective houses, he hadn't woken her up in the process of carrying her to her room, he had been careful to drive as safely as possible without taking any sharp turns as not to bump her head in the window and wake her up… He sighed painfully. The whole day had drained him, both physically and mentally.

Now all he had to do was park the car in his garage, drag his feet up the stairs and surrender to the sweetness of his soft bed that awaited to give a release to his aching spine that was outworked from the day's events, already giving in to sweet surrender itself. He stood there, however, unable to tear his eyes from his princess, his fairy from the magic tale…

'Truce over, woman…' His mind gave an agonizing sigh after that thought and the fact that his body collapsed next to her on the bed didn't even register in his mind before he shut off from the world.

Whether he passed out from exhaustion from all the dancing, bed activities before that or from the strain of keeping his mind of things that have haunted him for as long as he could remember would be beyond all of us… And that those things attacked him the instant his eyes closed too… A pitiful fact, indeed…

"Mmm… Vegeta-a-a-a…" A raspy voice moaned from next to him and the girl turned around in a vigorous dream, searching for her loved one's warmth and, even though still deep asleep, finding with relief what she was looking for right next to her.

And not much later, those evil thoughts and memories were chased away by a watchful Cerberus… But was it really that hideous of a beast? Well, to those aforementioned monsters, it might've been… But we all know that Vegeta's little guardian angel was always next to him in time of need…

The question was, would he find out before it was too late?

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

A/N: This is the cut version of the chapter. To receive the lemon-included one, state you wish to have it in your review and leave an email address to mail it to. Thank you for your attention.