A/N: There you go, another nice long-ish chapter. :) By the way, Craig = Chris Evans lookalike. You're welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or anything affiliated with it.

-MalRev

The Ties That Bind

6

When I was clean and had my hair wrapped up in a towel I left the bathroom, hoping Goku had either decided to leave or gone to sleep already. Walking around the apartment half naked was a normal thing for me but it probably wasn't a good idea with him practically living with me. As I came closer to my room I could hear Goku chatting with someone, probably on my cell phone, which meant he could be spilling our little secret to my family members. I gingerly nudged the door open with my foot and peered inside, praying he wasn't naked or doing anything unsavory.

The mess of black hair was facing away from me, glued to the small television at the foot of my bed. I could see the outline of his face as he laughed at something the other person said before finally noticing me and hanging up. He smiled like nothing had happened half an hour ago and sat up as I picked out some pajamas from my dresser. Now he was wasting my precious cell phone minutes talking to god knows who about god knows what. Living with Goku was certainly not gonna be easy.

He twiddled his fingers nervously, desperate for me to ask who had been talking to. The curiosity was killing me but I wanted to make him sweat a bit. I hummed to myself as I picked through the drawer in search of a conservative outfit for bed. Some raggedy t-shirt and equally raggedy sweatpants would keep him at bay. There was no way I'd get involved in some insane relationship with a guy who was married, especially when he was twice my age without looking it. That was just unnatural. No, Goku was insane if he thought for one second I would give in—

"That was your friend," Goku burst out. "She said she and Ed are going out and she wants you to come. And she's bringing another man along for you. I don't want to ruin your time but I should probably go so we aren't too far apart." He wouldn't look me in the eye.

I shrugged and wondered who the hell Erin had found for me at this time of night. "Whatever, just don't come near me, don't get too drunk and don't do anything stupid. Does she want me to pick them up?"

"Uh… I think so?"

"You two seemed to be having an awfully interesting conversation. I'm surprised you didn't pick up anything important during it."

My comment might have been a bit too harsh. Goku furrowed his brow in confusion until he recognized my jab and he lowered his gaze back to the floor, soon turning to the television. I shook out my hair and dried it as best I could then picked out something simple. We weren't really going clubbing or anything, just to a place on the outskirts of town called Vapor. I didn't have to work in the morning so I was definitely in the mood to drink way too much alcohol.

Soon I was ready and we left the apartment, followed by a very annoyed Peter. I made sure it was locked and walked downstairs with Goku close behind, hands stuffed in his pockets. He still looked mopey as we drove to Erin's and only peeked up when I parked outside her apartment. We both got out of the car and I saw three people walking toward us. The first two were easy enough to pick out in the dark. Ed was a stocky guy with blonde hair and I'd known him for a few years now. He didn't talk much. But the tall man in the back couldn't have been who I thought it was.

Unfortunately, it was.

Craig hadn't changed very much. He was still tall with sandy brown hair and blue eyes I could've gazed into for the rest of my life. He was athletic like me and had a kind of square jaw that made him look serious, but I knew him better than that. The few months we had dated were some of the best of my life and it really broke my heart when he decided to call it quits. Craig smiled at me when the group stopped before us and I felt Goku suddenly standing very close to my side like a guard dog.

"Craig moved back a week or so ago," Erin said, grinning. "He's been dying to talk to you but you've changed your number a few times so it was tough. So I figured what better way to get reacquainted than getting completely wasted in a seedy club? Am I a great matchmaker or what?!"

It was hard to breathe. I managed to nod and was receptive enough when Craig moved forward to hug me tightly. He smelled like Axe and his sweater was warm. He pulled away and held my shoulders to look me over appreciatively. Goku shifted closer once again, clearly trying to catch my attention but I was otherwise occupied. There was no need for me to waste my time with a married man when a completely unattached one was interested in me. I had gone from having one option, Vic, to having a few. It felt kind of nice.

"You look beautiful as usual," Craig said. He straightened up and offered a hand to Goku. "Erin tells me you're Naomi's brother. It's very nice to meet you. I hope we can all get along and be friends."

"You could say we're closer than any siblings ever dreamed."

The two men shook hands and I grimaced at Goku's comment. He seemed nice and rather innocent but he was capable of some really underhanded insinuations. Still, us being siblings was easier to explain than us being permanently bound together from a freak accident involving another dimension. The whole thing with Goku being married would just make everything even worse. I didn't know what I'd do if Craig ever came to my apartment and saw Goku and I sleeping together…

"Goku's apartment was flooded so he's staying with Nome until he can find a new place," Erin said. "They're so cute, sharing the same bed and everything. It's adorable."

"A brother's love knows no bounds," Goku added.

"I always thought you only had Sophie and Oliver," Craig said, neatly ignoring Goku's comment. "Is he adopted? You two don't really look alike."

"He struggled with drug addiction," Erin chimed in.

"Yeah… drug addiction." I wasn't very happy about having to make up such an intricate lie but Craig would run for the hills if he knew what was really going on. And Erin had rehearsed it so well that I didn't want to break her heart letting the cat out of the bag.

Craig nodded empathetically and put his arm around my shoulders, turning me back towards my car. "You can tell me all about it over dinner tomorrow night if you'd like. I need to break in my new stove so I'd be happy to have some nice company over for the evening. What do you think?"

Something stung at my insides and I almost lost my footing, but Craig caught me in time. My eyes flashed to Goku and I saw him hiding his face, hands clenched into fists at his sides. Was he mad? He had no right to be angry. I deserved the same happiness he had with his own wife. I wasn't going to be pushed into some weird love triangle.

"I could come over a bit early and help you cook," I offered. "I'm kind of bad but we could make an entire mess and spend the whole night cleaning it up."

"Sounds like a plan to me." He opened the driver's door for me and leaned on it, looking thoughtful. "How have your nightmares gotten? Been able to sleep or are you still up all night? I talked to a few doctors when I moved down to NYC and they might be able to help you."

"It's been resolved," Goku said before ducking into the car.

Craig looked at me curiously and I shook my head, quickly taking my seat at the steering wheel. Goku was already in the passenger seat so the other three had to sit in the back which left them very much crammed together. The drive to Vapor wasn't wholly unpleasant, though. It was nice catching up with Craig and Erin helped stimulate our conversation. He was a very pleasant man who I could have potentially seen myself falling in love with after a while. Goku stared out the window.

Vapor was ten times louder on the outside than the inside. I parked in the back and we all made our way to the club, with Goku hanging back a bit. As we neared the doors I felt a tug in my gut and turned to see he had disappeared, hopefully not too far away. He was acting strange but I didn't have time to ask why. Craig looped his arm in mine and led me inside, soon branching us away from Erin and Ed. I stuck close to him as we made our way through the packed club to the bar. The tugging slackened and I noticed Goku sitting not too far away at a table, stirring a drink with a tiny straw. His eyes were locked on Craig.

"How's work been?" Craig asked, leaning close so I could hear him. "Erin told me you two are still working at the office with Vic."

"It's okay, just not terribly exciting. But I guess that's my favorite part about it. What about you? I thought you found a better job down in NYC? Why come all the way back up North where it's constantly cold and smells like seawater?"

"City life isn't what I thought it would be. Luckily there's always a need for lawyers in small towns. It doesn't pay very well but there are other things I missed about Kennebunk."

When I glanced at Craig from the corner of my eye I noticed he was staring at me pointedly. The bartender placed a mojito in front of me and gave Craig a beer so I quickly started sipping my drink, suddenly feeling extremely nervous. Did he really come back for me? We had gotten along really well but I didn't think he cared that much. Our relationship had been intense and short lived, which was really my favorite style of dating.

The mojitos started adding up and soon I was tipsy enough to dance. I led Craig to the crowded dance floor and saw Erin and Ed not too far away, dancing and laughing. If they were drunk too that meant Craig had to be the designated driver. I felt his hands on me and his hot breath on the back of my neck, stopped worrying and started dancing as best I could. It was difficult when my appendages didn't want to do what my brain said. Thankfully Craig found it amusing and laughed when I stumbled or couldn't keep up with his movements.

My stomach wasn't on board with me writhing around. Combined with the heat I was worried I'd end up puking all over my date, so I excused myself and stumbled to the hall where the bathrooms were. I stood outside the women's room and closed my eyes, trying to relax and not vomit everywhere. It was a bit cooler than the dance floor so some of the heat from Craig's body evaporated. Suddenly, the tugging went slack and I opened my eyes to see Goku standing a few feet away from me.

Annoyed, I straightened up and fixed my shirt. "What do you want? Aren't you busy sitting in the corner being a sour puss?"

"You look like you're gonna be sick."

"No I don't. You don't have to a jerk for no reason. It's not my fault all this happened, so why don't you just go home to your wife and leave me alone?"

Goku took a sip of his drink, studying me intently with his grey eyes. He didn't seem affected by my insults but they weren't really that impressive. I wasn't drunk enough to be truly angry but just drunk enough to say stupid things. My expression dropped into a scowl and I tried pushing past him to make my way back to the dance floor, but Goku easily blocked my path. The hall was narrow. Too narrow.

"You're really lucky I can't get drunk," Goku said, "or I wouldn't be able to bring you home when you've had too much."

When he moved to scoop me up I jumped back like I'd been zapped by a livewire. Who did he think he was, my father? He had no right to tell me I'd had too much and bring me home. Erin and I didn't get out much so I liked having a good time when we did. Besides, there were other people who were way drunker than me. I smacked the drink out of Goku's hand so it shattered on the floor, spraying my sneakers with a few drops of alcohol. He raised an eyebrow.

"You're just jealous," I seethed. "You've been glaring at Craig all night and you have no right to. I don't even know why you would, considering you're married." I stuck a finger in his chest, hesitating a bit when I felt the solid muscle underneath. "You're… you're a jerk! Leave me alone and let me do what I want or you can kiss this all goodbye. Got that, pal?"

"I know how men are and I don't want you to be upset. I can feel it, you know. You don't know how to sense energy so you don't know what it's like feeling another person's sadness like it's your own."

"Mind your own business. This is a relationship of necessity and I don't need you parenting me. Craig came all the way from New York to be with me because he was lonely there. Why else would he come back? This is a pretty big city but it doesn't have THAT much to offer. Just because we have to sleep together doesn't mean I'm dropping everything for you."

"I'm just trying to protect you," Goku said. "Something doesn't feel right."

"I don't need protection. Leave me alone."

Goku suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me very close, all traces of concern gone. "You're a very nice woman, Nome—"

"For the love of god, it's NAOMI."

"—And I would hate to see you get hurt. Take it from someone who's spent his entire life fighting bad guys. I can pick them out in a crowd and the minute I saw him I knew something was wrong. He seems nice but wait until you're alone with him. He'll ask you out, yes, make you nice dinners, play the game how he was to until the right moment comes. You won't admit it but you knew something wasn't right when you two were dating before. I could feel your energy going all over the place."

Everything came flooding back to me at Goku's prompting. It hadn't been Craig who ended our relationship. It was me.

He had been a gentleman for the first month but things became hairy after that. He'd insisted on us living together and constantly called or texted me to check up on how I was doing. When I wanted to go out he had to come. Thankfully I had seen the warning signs and ended it before things could get worse but what if he had come back to finish what he started? Men like that didn't like losing so easily. I'd never told Erin or anyone else about how strangely Craig had acted. It didn't seem important.

Still, it had been so long ago that I couldn't remember the exact details. Maybe I had been overreacting to him and he was just very protective of me. I shook free of Goku and gave him a dirty look before proceeding back to the dance floor. There was a tug and I grimaced—he'd gone pretty far away. It wasn't enough to leave me out of breath but it would cause the intense longing I had mistaken for insomnia for all these years. I grabbed a drink off a waiter's tray and downed it.

It was gonna be a long night.