Foreword: I am pleased to announce that this fic is finally among the nineteen other above a hundred thousand words:) It has been so fun writing for you guys, and I haven't even got to the great part yet! Stay tuned and have fun reading! ;)
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Winning the Love of the Handsome Skater
Chapter Nineteen: Anniversaries and Holidays
The spiky-haired teenager stared at his girlfriend weirdly, noticing the strange glint in her eye as she too observed him. What was wrong with her? She looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck… His eye brows narrowed at her. Judging by the fact she didn't have a drink, she most probably arrived no more than ten or so minutes before him.
"What's up with you? Your face is drained of colour." He blinked bored at her. She grinned nervously and laughed oddly.
"Oh, I'm great, just great, I just, uh…" She wasn't a good liar and he knew it. He just couldn't wait to see what kind of nonsensical explanation he would get from her, but when she couldn't come up with anything she just tried to change the subject.
"I think we're missing something again. But then again, I think I seriously don't want to know…" Juuhachi muttered, slurping through a long straw the last of her non-alcoholic cocktail. Krillin looked weirdly at her but daren't comment as he noticed the glare Vegeta sent him. Goku laughed light-heartedly.
"It's such a great thing we are actually all together now. I thought you didn't want to waste your time with us, Vegeta?" Goku turned his ridiculously grinning face towards his life-long friend. Vegeta's twitching eye brow and pulsing vein on the side of his forehead made the youth reconsider his taken actions.
"Don't push your luck, Kakarot." He sent his best friend a malicious glare only he could manage but before he could say any more a waitress nearly hung herself on his shoulder, grinning brainlessly and dangerously near his face.
The rest of the day the gang spent as they usually did: laughing, teasing and just enjoying themselves. And with all the fun they were all having, Bulma just couldn't bring herself to tell her boyfriend about her intrusion on his privacy.
Well, maybe she'd just do it later… It was not that much of a big deal after all.
Was it…?
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
A few days later, Bulma watched from afar as the flame-haired teenager observed his students, a displeased expression on his sharp features, yet not a word left his mouth to voice his thoughts on their performance. His arms were crossed over his chest and his board was neatly placed under his foot, readied for him to spring into action at any time…
The lavender haired girl's heart was still heavy with guilt for lying to the person she least wanted to defy… And for the past few days, he had been avoiding her, and she was sure he did it on purpose. It was about time she spilled the beans so she finally got rid of the pesky voice in the back of her head that kept nagging her about the topic.
Deciding that this timing was as good as any other, she approached him with growing anxiety, not really sure how to say what she wanted – no, needed to. He gave no sign he was aware of her presence behind him, but knowing his natural mistrustfulness of everyone she was sure she couldn't stay incognito from him for no longer than, what, five seconds?
"Hey…" she began in a meek voice as she lined up with him, staring at the diligent skaters that moved with grace to envy yet every now and then one or another slid on the ground after falling off his board. Vegeta shook his unruly head as he observed the pitiful sight those goons made.
"If you continue showing such poor execution you can be sure your skating days will be over before you can even realize it!" he screamed at them, his cool composure shattering slightly. Bulma's delicate eye brows narrowed. He was deliberately ignoring her. Well then if he was like that, she had no other option but to just say it and get the heck out of there. He just made it very clear to her he didn't want her there and then…
"Look, Vegeta, I just need to talk to you about something…" she started and sighed immediately after, somewhat in irritation and somewhat in exhaustion. It was getting really tiring, putting up with all his mood swings that were worse than those of a pregnant woman, she could swear.
"Talk then." He had the emitting warmth of an ice cube…
"If I feel like talking to a wall I'd stay at home. Even my room has four of those." She rolled her eyes, already really fed up with his behavior. It was true that she felt uneasy, but she was stomping over her own pride when even deciding to apologize to anyone. She rarely did that, even though she wasn't nearly the obdurate bastard he was. Admitting her wrongs had never been a strong point of hers.
"Are you here to talk or to reeducate me in how to deal with my own life?" The dark haired boy glared at her from the side of his eye and had her sigh in pure irritation again.
"Fine then. I just wanted to say, that… Well…" She rolled her eyes about the area. Apologizing was a whole new world to her after all… "What I want to tell you is that—"
"What do you say I make it easier for you?" She lifted an eye brow at his statement. "I'm aware you lied to me." He informed her, his expression as bored as a second ago. Her eyes widened slightly as she creased both her brows.
"You are?" A pair of onyx orbs rolled at the repeating of the same thing he had just said. That's when she realized what he said. "Wait a second. I didn't lie!"
"No, you didn't." His eyes rolled again. This was going to get painful for his ocular muscles. "You just concealed the truth. How is that not the same as lying?" He glared at her. Biting on her tongue she decided that having an argument like that was more than useless, so she quit on it before she had an angry Vegeta to deal with.
"Then… you're angry with me?" Her question was made with the same weak voice she had approached him with.
"Did I say I was?"
"That's why you're avoiding me, isn't it?" What was this, twenty questions with Bulma Briefs or something dense of the sort?
"You're putting words in my mouth."
"Will you be straightforward for once?" Her sapphire coloured eyes sparkled with the rage that built inside her toward the teen by her.
What was wrong with him recently? Couldn't he at least try to be tolerable when he was around her? She had barely even caught a glimpse of him the last few days and when she finally got to have a 'decent' conversation with him, if you could even call it that, he was so cold toward her? Didn't he just say he wasn't avoiding her because of that… accident? She had no idea how to translate his words anymore!
"As far as I recall, I have always been quite frank. It comes naturally." He answered coolly, making her shake with the tension she tried to hold back.
"Oh, I see. Kind of like when you're an asshole… That comes naturally too, doesn't it?" she hissed through gritted teeth. Vegeta mocked thinking at her inquiry, looking at the dark cloudy sky.
"Yes, kind of like then." He smirked with his back to her now as he had taken a step toward his pupils, looking as they tried to nail the tricks they couldn't do.
Yet so far none of them proved to have any results. Just looking at them brought a dilemma: should he laugh or should he cry? Their posture was so idiotic, they looked like amateurs. Actually, most of them were… Few had stayed with him over the years of harsh training he pulled on them. Those few ones were actually quite thankful to him. They were considerably better than the others. Then on the other hand, most of his 'successors' couldn't do half as good as he could. Maybe the only ones that were an exception to that statement were the bisexual Zarbon and the imbecilic 'best friend' of his, Kakarot. He dropped a heavy sigh. Those idiots were never going to learn how to skate with the pace they were advancing with…
Bulma kept observing his profile, still having no answer to her quite simple inquiry.
"Then—" she began, but she had no time to finish her sentence as her counterpart yelled to his cronies,
"Alright losers! I guess I'll just have to show you how this is done so you finally get it through your thick skulls!" He pushed his board forward, stopping only to say a thing to Bulma. "Since this is your first offence I'm going to overlook it. Take care it's your last too. You don't want to be 'punished', do you?" He looked over his shoulder as he said it, winking at her before going over to his friends and showing them how to do the tricks they couldn't.
Bulma stared in empty space for a while, wondering what exactly had transpired over such a short period of time that had actually baffled her so. Then, she grinned widely. She wasn't sure why exactly she was doing it too… Maybe it was just because her boyfriend shifted back to the person she had fallen for, or because he was a few classes better than those other guys down there and it was obvious… She honestly didn't know why it was she was so happy, but she knew the emotion overwhelmed her. She stuck her tongue out at him even though he most likely couldn't see that.
Turning on her heel, she decided to let him 'entertain' himself. She'd bug him again later, when he got hungry after the training. He was usually famished from wasting 'so many of his precious nerves on those imbeciles that didn't even appreciate them'. She giggled, hoping that she'd have that same Vegeta making her company later…
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The rest of November had rolled by in no time and snow was already hugging in a comfortable lover's embrace the whole nature.
Vegeta's group's skating show had been the absolute best. Even though a few weeks before it the poor things looked anything but ready to skate before a whole group of squealing fan girls of theirs, on the day of the event they had shown a perfect performance. She just had to give a few more points to her boyfriend for the discipline he kept among his people.
The show had taken place on the rink famed as Vegeta Ouji's favourite one. It was vital that it didn't snow that day, because otherwise the rink would get slippery since it was under the open sky. The day back then had been really scary looking: heavy clouds were blocking the sun's rays; not even a shaft of light pierced through the thickness of the aerials. People had been afraid that it would start snowing any time but it happened right when Vegeta was done with the 'closing ceremony', standing high on the ramp. Bulma would never forget how majestic he had looked in her eyes back then: his head toward the skies as the tiny snowflakes flowed around him, landing on his face and instantly turning to crystalline droplets of water from the heat he emitted; his board in one hand and his other balled in a fist by him.
After such a great execution it was only to be expected for Vegeta to be crowded for a few weeks by ecstatic fan girls. The only thing Bulma minded about them was that they were annoying the Hell out of her, but she took quite some pleasure in seeing them being dissed by her boyfriend. Their pain was her pleasure after all. She had laughed when she first thought that.
Even though things in their relationship were going smoothly, Bulma didn't miss Vegeta's… well… general behavior. She had asked Goku about it, but the teen had just told her to keep her cool and to give him some room. And that was what she was doing, even though on rare occasions she couldn't help but notice that he was getting… thinner?
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Vegeta approached Goku as the whole gang was seated at lunch in school on the first day of their last week for the year.
"I can't believe that the year is almost done for." Juuhachigou said as she munched on the meat she made the mistake to buy from the canteen lady.
"Hey, guys; speaking of the end of the year, what will be our plans for Christmas and New Year's Eve?" ChiChi studied the faces of her friends after her inquiry. Most of them just lifted a thoughtful eye brow, trying to recall if they had such a thing for both mentioned nights.
"Well, I don't think my parents will let me go anywhere on the twenty-forth. After all, it's a family holiday…or whatever…" Bulma muttered, rolling her eyes at the ceiling. ChiChi nodded at her words.
"Yeah, my dad will most likely want to 'spend some quality time' together with me." ChiChi informed in a bored tone as she poked her own canteen plate with the plastic fork. It was an overstatement to call this junk food, actually…
"My brother doesn't really care about any of that. I'm sure he'll be out with some of those rotten bastards of his that he calls friends, getting drunk and hitting on strippers in some low pub or something." Juu interjected, not really interested with the topic.
"My grandfather doesn't either… He'll probably be trying to buy the first special edition of Playboy or something." Krillin laughed nervously. The only ones that were not participating in the celebration conversation were engrossed with one of their own, making the rest of the clique's faces turn to them, seeing Vegeta's smug expression as Goku laughed at something he had said.
As the girls got engaged in another pointless discussion, Vegeta sat down next to his girlfriend with Goku on his other side. Elbowing the taller teen in the ribs to gain his attention, Vegeta passed him a wad of fifty dollar bills. Goku grinned at him and put the money in a pocket of his jacket.
"I take it you had a nice catch last night?" It was more of a rhetorical question since quite a nice result was now in Goku's pocket, but he was sure that his friend would love to show off whom and in what he had beaten. Vegeta grinned malignantly.
"You bet it was," he boasted. "I finished thirty seconds faster than that Satan guy!" Vegeta laughed haughtily. "And, afterwards, I finished a whole liter of blood ahead of him." It was Goku's turn to laugh at that. Now the whole gang was concentrated at the pair that still refused to include them in their discussion.
"Usually, I'd say something about a statement of the sort. But right now I'm actually really glad you showed that show off some manners. He was seriously getting on my nerves, I swear…"
"Who are we talking about?" Juu interfered, looking from Goku to Vegeta and back again.
"Have you heard of this guy that calls himself Hercule, or something? The Satan guy? Although I think he's seriously mistaking if he thinks he's anywhere near being a Satan…" Goku rolled his eyes at the reminiscence of the pathetic type that was the person he was explaining to Juuhachi. The blonde shook her head 'no'.
"What about him anyway?"
"Well, he used to say he was better than us in everything. We usually left him out of the stuff because he never really showed much talent in anything; he didn't have the money to enter the tournaments anyway. So, yeah. Now Vegeta beat his ass up real well, didn't you?" Goku laughed, patting his friend's shoulder but finding the shorter boy was already preoccupied with a different conversation.
"Where were you the whole day? I was worried about you!" Bulma scorned him, making the boy roll his haunting onyx eyes.
"Sorry, mother. I decided to sleep in since I was tired from the previous night."
"Tired?" Goku repeated under his breath at the odd declaration Vegeta had just made.
"Oh, and just what were you doing last night, huh?" Bulma jumped in offence again.
"Since when do I have to report everything I do to you?" He lashed back at her, making her thin eye brow twitch.
"Since you're my boyfriend that doesn't care enough to call just for the sake of a conversation!"
"If what we're having now is what you call a conversation, I am most certainly happy I didn't call you then." Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest angrily, not really in the mood for an argument with her.
"You still haven't answered my stupid question!" she shrieked at him, feeling ready to jump him any minute now… He was walking on a very thin line there…
"One thing you're absolutely right about – the question is stupid. And if you want to know so badly, I was raising money. Some of us need to work so they can live, you know." He bared his gritted teeth at her after the statement he made. Everyone was silent afterward, not really sure if it was their place to interfere with the couple's arguments. Bulma, on the other hand, was blinking slowly, trying to digest the information she had received. She had never thought about it this way before. She had forgotten what Juuhachi said about the street racing and fighting that he was equally famed for in the street life, just as famous as he was as a skater.
"You were out working last night then?" She lifted an eye brow.
"Did I stutter?" He rolled his eyes again. She was being slow today again…
"Forget it! What are you guys' plans for Christmas and New Year?" ChiChi inquired of her boyfriend and Vegeta. The two boys shared a puzzled (and bored on Vegeta's behalf) look before the flame-haired male answered her,
"Stare at stupid TV shows all night long?"
"Why do we have to plan these things from now, ChiChi? There are still two weeks till Christmas!" The glare his raven-haired girlfriend sent him alarmed him that it was the wrong thing to say…
"Well if you have no plans, Goku, why don't you come at my place? Dad will be happy if you join us!" She stretched her hands over the table and placed a peck on her boyfriend's cheek. The boy chuckled stupidly, glancing at Vegeta for a split second, seeing the shorter boy just shrug his shoulders and relax back, not really caring where the goon went. It was his business anyway, was it not?
"Okay then, I'll be there!" The happy-go-lucky boy grinned widely. "Should I bring something when I come over?"
"Not really, we'll have everything already prepared, so don't worry yourself sweetie…" Juu and Krillin rolled their eyes at the couple. It was completely odd how ChiChi jumped down Goku's throat for the smallest of things he did wrong, making it seem as if she was fed up with his simple existence and in the next moment she'd become this dear girl all of a sudden… It was… scary…
"Then are we going to do something together on New Year's?" Krillin creased an eye brow as his question was stated. Bulma put a thoughtful finger on her chin.
"How about all you guys come over to my house for New Year? It will be so fun! My mom has been dying to organize a party of some sort since she missed my birthday." She giggled, making her boyfriend roll his eyes at the reminiscence of the bubbly woman. She was something truly unique and somewhat he wasn't feeling really anxious to see her again… She was… odd… She was so weird that it was intimidating at times.
"Sounds like a plan to me." ChiChi grinned. "And I reserve the spot as a cook!"
"Good. I wouldn't want to be poisoned by the woman's poor skills in the kitchen…" Vegeta sneered, making Bulma glare at him and slap his shoulder. "That didn't even come remotely close to hurting." He chuckled at the dark tint her eyes adorned with.
Before Bulma could argue back, the bell rang signaling the end of lunch break. Groaning, the clique separated in different directions, each heading for the next torture for the day. The only one who headed in an entirely different direction was the flame-haired male. He had some more important matters to attend to than idiotic school.
With a heavy sigh separating in agony from his lungs, he made his way toward a facility he had never and would never like, nor believe in. But she had believed and that was all that mattered today…
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Bulma wondered on her way back to her house if Vegeta had been insulted that she hadn't invited him over to Capsule Corporation after ChiChi had asked Goku… She liked to think he sincerely didn't care about such trivial matters as much as everyone else did, more or less anyway. She heard from Goku that Vegeta had decided to skip the rest of school too as he hadn't gone to any classes in the morning anyway. The spiky-haired friend of hers had also informed her that her boyfriend hadn't gone home, yet that he had decided to be 'closer to God' for today, as it was an anniversary to him.
The lavender haired girl was used to having Vegeta speak to her in riddles, but Goku following the shorter male's example could prove to be a real pain in the ass. What did he mean, 'closer to God'? What kind of anniversary was it? Couldn't he be straightforward with her either? What was so secret about the whole deal?
She tried to relax back and go inform her parents that they were going to have a surprise guest for Christmas Eve, so her mother would know to cook more food. And knowing Vegeta's appetite, the woman would have to cook for five more…
Bulma jumped slightly before entering the compound. She was going to make this Vegeta's best Christmas yet.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Vegeta stared with his head back from the bottom to the top of the tall building. He sighed lightly, entering the huge open wooden doors. There was no one inside at that time of day. He approached the candle stands, looking at the paintings on the walls on the inside of the monstrously huge temple. There were angels, Jesus, the Virgin Mary holding God's son in her embrace… Vegeta's impassive expression didn't change. He looked around for somewhere to buy a candle from.
His onyx eyes soon landed on a stand by the entrance, where various souvenirs were sold 'to help the church'. He barely held back a snort of disapproval, knowing how much of that money would go to for the 'cause'. He bought the thing and approached the candle holders again. Lighting the object in his hand from one of the burning candles, he watched with a steady hand how the frisky flame danced from the top of the wax candle. The light the candle created made small shadows chase each other on the teenager's muscular arms. His eyes didn't part once with the intense brightness of the flame as he reminisced the days he spent with the only woman that had ever sincerely loved him, and he could say for sure, more than she loved her own life…
Sighing and still carrying the uncaring expression on his face, he turned to the icon of the serene Jesus on the wall, the figure looking at him with its sightless eyes. Trying to recall the words he hadn't spoken in a year now, his mouth started moving breathlessly in the only prayer he had willed himself to learn. He still didn't believe in any of this Heaven and Hell shit; he would never believe those fools that preached of 'The Lord's' teachings.
But he knew that, if her soul was with God now and if he was truly able to talk to Him in this church, she would most certainly be brought to tears by the fact he had cared enough to waste the precious minutes in his life to please her by learning something he had always called useless… Something that would show her how much he cared…even back then…
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"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from Evil. Amen." He whispered his prayers, again and again, staring at the candle still in his hands as it burned out, just how a person's life burns out…
He heard echoing footsteps approach just as he finished his mutterings, stretching his hand out to place the lighted object on the lowest candle holder, where the flames burnt in order to honour the dead.
"It's quite a surprise to see that my hunch has been correct." A cool feminine voice informed him as the form of the girl stopped right behind him.
"I'm guessing Kakarot told you where to find me since you can't spend a second without me." He mocked, the reflections of the dozens of playful flames burning in his midnight onyx eyes.
"He veiled the information quite well, but you know that I'm such a smart girl." She draped a hand over his right shoulder, her other one hugging his waist, pulling him in a gentle, somewhat soothing embrace. "He said something about anniversary."
"Am I even supposed to say something to that?" He questioned her calmly. She shook her head and then placed it on his free left shoulder, her cheek against his neck.
"Not unless you want to." A still quietness filled the air which was carrying the aroma of burnt wax heavy in itself. Neither moved a muscle as they observed the holders, the dozens of various sizes candles slowly burning out; tears of melting wax rolled down their tall postures under the two pairs of eyes upon them.
"It's the anniversary of my mother's death." He shook Bulma off himself as gently as he could, not feeling really up for any pity from her. "That's all you need to know." With that, he made an exit, having his girlfriend send one lingering gaze at the icons on the walls before departing after him.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"I'd advice you to let go of my shirt before something really bad happens to you…"
Vegeta glared at the pile of boxes he was already carrying that towered over his own height somewhat, and Bulma claimed they weren't even halfway done. Now she was trying to drag him down somewhere and was telling him to hurry up before the thing she wanted got bought by someone. However, she seemed not to realize that his hands were busy and if she didn't want her precious things to fall, she better not pull on his shirt. Not to mention that the action was annoying the hell out of him.
"Oh, come on, Vegeta! I want one of those too!" ChiChi gasped. "They're fifty percent off too!" Both females ran into the store, squealing all the way there and commenting something on… whatever it was they wanted to buy so badly. Rolling his eyes, the flame haired teen wondered why he had let himself be dragged into this, not to mention that they were buying food and all the shit she'd need for her stupid party or whatever she was throwing… He didn't even care about Christian celebrations! He was not a Christian!
"Vegeta, come on!" Goku called to him, his own pile of boxes rivaling the height of a skyscraper. "The girls are currently trying on some Victoria's Secret stuff." The fool grinned idiotically, walking off with a shaky step towards the direction the two girls left in. Vegeta's frown quickly turned into an impassive one and then he grinned maliciously too. Maybe being a mule paid off with some lingerie modeling.
He would decide on that after he saw those petite forms of that girlfriend of his in some skimpy bikinis and tops… Maybe those mall shopping trips weren't as bad as he originally thought them to be…
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Christmas Eve… A day that spoke of friendliness, tranquility and togetherness… It was a day when distant relatives came to visit, when you send a card to a long lost friend or when you just feel the spirit of Christmas lingering in the lung-freezing wintry air.
Christmas had almost arrived and Vegeta's figure had considerably changed, and definitely not for the better too. He had lost quite some muscle tone and the bags under his eyes were getting ever more visible for the untrained eye. He looked like a used rag and acted even worse. He was in one of his foulest moods the world had ever seen him in. Everyone from the clique other than his girlfriend and best friend refused to say even a word to him.
And even though he was such an asshole the whole time now, Bulma still wanted to make that surprise party for him. She made her way in the late afternoon over to his house and met Goku on his way out, an almost painful grin etched on his features.
"What's up, Goku?" Bulma greeted the boy with a smile.
"I hurt in places I didn't even know existed…" The lavender haired female just stared at him, as he slowly turned about and made his way slowly toward his car. "See you later, B…" Shrugging her shoulders, Bulma decided to leave the worrying for the tall guy to ChiChi. Her interest lay in the person still inside the huge house in front of her.
Taking several steps at a time, she arrived on the second floor in no time, looking around to see any trace of her boyfriend.
"Vegeta?" She called in the open dark hallway. It was already well into December and it was getting dark early and it was over six thirty already. She couldn't see the light on in any of the rooms in her sight. "Vegeta?" she called again as she opened his room and found him with his headphones in his ears, his Discman next to him on the spacious comfy bed.
His eyes were concealed from the world as he seemed to be relaxing some. She doubted disturbing him for a moment but gathered her wits again, approaching him slowly.
The slow mesmerizing rhythm of the song slowly but surely lulled the boy to sleep. He was so tired recently… He slept too much, he had no appetite and all he wanted to do was screaming at everyone and hitting Kakarot as occasionally as possible. It was odd… He was aggressive, yes. But usually his viciousness was at bay when there was no need of offensive action. Raising his voice was not what his vocal cords were created for. How come such weird urges came so overwhelming from inside him? Was this what it meant to be perpetually frustrated?
"Imagine no possessions… I wonder if you can… No need for greed or hunger – a brotherhood of man… Imagine all the people sharing all the world… You may say I'm a dreamer… but I'm not the only one… I hope some day you will join us and the world will live as one…" That's the exact moment the headphones were pulled out of his ears and he stared at his intruder, whose face was alarmingly close to his for him not to notice who it was even though the inky darkness.
"What do you want?" He snapped as he got up and away from her warm breath tickling his face, supporting his weight against the mattress on his hands, pressing the stop button on his player. Bulma's bright smile beamed even through the darkness of the room.
"How about you come over to dinner? You look like you could seriously use some. Not to mention that the company will be better than that of an empty huge mansion, oh, dark one." She made it all sound so funny, but none of it was. An empty mansion… Empty mansion… So dull and intimidating…
"I'll skip this time." He sighed, snatching his headphones from her, planning to put them back in his ears.
"Oh, come on, Vegeta! You're just being stubborn! Come over, I promise, you won't feel sorry! Cross my heart and hope to die if I lie to you!" She grabbed his hands with her smaller ones, a pout gracing her innocent facial features.
"I want to be alone right now, woman… I told that to Kakarot and I'm telling it to you too. Just leave…" He turned his back to her, putting the end of their 'conversation'. Her grin didn't falter a bit.
"I was expecting you'd say that…" she said almost to herself as the boy ignored her. Making a hasty exit, she disappeared from sight, letting the boy have the peace he so much wanted. With a heavy sigh, he stared at the white ceiling above him. Maybe he had crossed a line a bit with his rudeness, but he just didn't feel like dealing with people right there and then. Bulma's bubbly mother was sure to make some delicious foods that were going to make his mouth water from the mere sight of the streaming dish… However, he didn't want to do anything. Silence was all he ever needed on Christmas and New Year…
Soon, however, he could swear he could hear something moving rapidly downstairs. He wrote it off to his imagination once, then twice. When he could no longer ignore the suspicious sounds, he got up in a swift movement, taking off for the door. He stood atop the steps a few seconds later, his mouth agape. She had to be kidding…
"Thanks guys, you have no idea how thankful I am you accepted this job on Christmas Eve…" Bulma smiled at the diligent Capsule Corporation employees as they brought the Christmas decorations in Vegeta's house and placing them on their respective places as previously instructed by the young heiress. The 'leader' of the group smiled charmingly at her, shaking his head.
"It's always a pleasure working for you, ma'am." He curtsied slightly, waiting for his men to finish the last of the things, making their way out with a respectful bow to their future employer. Bulma waved at them and Vegeta heard the shrill voice of her mother coming from his kitchen.
"Honey, did you decorate the rooms?"
"Yeah, mom! I just finished!"
They continued their nonsensical chatter, checking if everything was 'alright'. Weren't they missing something? He wasn't alright with what they were doing to his place! Storming down the stairs, he approached the woman to question her audacity in doing however she liked in his house.
"I know you're pissed, but you're so going to love this!"
"How dare you do as you wish around here without even asking for my permission!" He jumped down her throat immediately, his eyes glaring daggers her way, a lost flame shining in them.
"Well, at least now that you're angry with me I can finally see some passion. I was seriously getting dejected by your behaviour, Vege-kun." She smiled brightly at him, pecking his nose. "Besides, you would have reacted the same way like when I asked you over! I couldn't have that, you know! I spent so much time planning this day." She skipped around, fixing this and that here and there. Her first words had taken him quite aback, but he followed her, still huffing in anger as she did as if she was home.
"How far does your audacity let you go, woman?" He inquired of her. Instead of answering him with a shitty mood matching his, she turned on her heel and hugged him tightly.
"Don't worry, sweetie. This Christmas you'll absolutely love!"
"Who's up for some dinner?" came the voice of Mrs. Briefs from the kitchen again.
Crossing his arms Vegeta refused to believe that she could do something he could actually enjoy more than being his own company in his unlit room, listening to the music that he liked best.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Yet at the end of the Evening, Vegeta couldn't deny that it was indeed the greatest Christmas he ever had. Dr. Briefs looked like a boring old man when you first looked at him, but the man had a few things up his sleeve. Besides, the younger male had learned so many entertaining new things around him. Not to mention that the old man didn't look even close to the gossiper he actually was. They had all laughed so hard at some of the things that went on in the business world, making all those big shots seem like absolute imbeciles.
Mrs. Briefs, on the other hand, appeared to be air-headed, not nearly as smart and quite simple-minded, with the same happy-go-lucky attitude Goku possessed in his best days. And it was all true. But it was exactly that spirit of hers that made the atmosphere light and enjoyable. The woman always interjected with such nonsensical comments in the most inappropriate times for them that the dark haired boy couldn't contain his laughter on the third time it happened in front of him.
As for his girlfriend, well… She was just being herself – the girl that he could barely keep his mind off of.
All in all, for one night even, he had the one thing he had wished for on a day like this and never really got – a loving carefree family that wasn't uneasy in his company; a family that wasn't disturbed by the fact he was filthy famous, because those people were even richer and more famous. It was truly a night to remember…
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Several hours later Vegeta stood in the hallway, looking at the old man Briefs in a blissful doze on the spacious comfy couch. Bulma's mother was probably somewhere in the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes and the leftovers from the huge dinner they had. He couldn't help a smile that crept on his features as he turned around only to come face to face with his grinning girlfriend.
"Well, did I disappoint you?" She beamed.
"Do you ever…" He smirked at her and then he noticed the scrawny plant above their heads. "What the hell is that? You got weed in my house?" Bulma gave him a lopsided sardonic smile.
"That's not a weed, you dork. It's mistletoe." She informed him in a smartass tone.
"Whatever; it looks like a weed to me and that's all that matters." He smirked haughtily at her.
"Don't you believe in mistletoe?"
"What's there to believe?" He lifted an inquiring eye brow. And Bulma had to admit, all of those celebrations have lost their religious meaning over the years. But other facts still prevailed. It was a respected date by most and people respected the togetherness that came with a family celebration like Christmas evening. She smiled at her dubious boyfriend.
"But you believe in this, no?"
Before he could inquire what exactly she meant with 'this', he was pulled down by his neck in a gentle kiss by his lover. He smirked against her mouth.
His best Christmas ever…
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Author's Notes: Too tired… Haven't slept properly in months… Walked over a few kilometers… Need… rest…
Need… reviews…too… More than ever… Major writer's block… Love every single reviewer who's still with me… You guys have this fic still going on… Please don't stop… If you stop, I can't continue on my own… O,o I'm so drained of energy, muse and everything… Argh…!
Please, please… Be a good reader and review if you read this chapter… Certainly you'd want to at least pick on some random mistake… Come on… Press it, press the button…!
(faints)
