Chapter 3

"I was wondering, if you would consider being my girlfriend."

My eyes widened.

I looked up into the two deep, brown pools of Yamcha's eyes. A grin slid across my face as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "Of course!" I said.

I pulled away to look him in the eyes, which were intense as he leaned in. My cheeks were warm as his lips melted on to mine. This kiss was slow and tender, and made my heart stutter.

Suddenly, I felt something cut across my brain like steel. It felt like anger. I only had a few seconds to think about why I felt angry, before Yamcha was yanked away from me. I opened my eyes to see Yamcha get sent flying backwards with a punch. When I was finally able to pull my eyes from Yamcha's unconscious form, I looked towards the attacker.

Vegeta.

He was shaking with anger, and I must be seeing things, because for just a moment, his eyes seemed to flash a brilliant blue color.

"Didn't I tell you that you are mine?" he hissed, and the anger in his voice could cut through steel.

I surprised myself when I didn't give an angry, sarcastic comment in response. I couldn't even glare at him. My entire body was frozen.

"Don't say that," I heard a rough voice cough out. I looked towards Yamcha to see him struggling to stand. His face was covered in blood, and he had a black eye. Even so, his glare was fierce. "She isn't some piece of property that you can own, and besides, she is my girlfriend, so you shouldn't mess with her."

Vegeta's entire body shook with tremors of fury. "Shut up!" he yelled, launching himself at Yamcha.

Yamcha didn't have a chance. Vegeta's punches and kicks were too fast for him to follow, let alone dodge. Try as he might, he couldn't dodge the shorter teen's attacks. I watched in horror as bruises bloomed on his skin, and blood in some places, but I was still far too shocked to do anything.

As Vegeta pulled his fist back to finish him off, I screamed "No!", and ran in between them. Vegeta paused and looked at me, and I took the opportunity to tell him straight. "Who do you think you are!" I yelled.

He glared at me in response. If looks could kill, I would be dead.

"You do not own me!" I snapped. "Yamcha is my boyfriend, so you should just back off!" By the end of my sentence, I thought I saw a wounded look flash through his eyes, but it was quickly covered with a cold and angry look as he stood up straight and stared down at me.

"No, who do you think you are?" he shot back. "I told you, you are mine. How dare you betray me with this fool." He turned around and kicked Yamcha several feet away from me. "If I ever see this idiot touch you again, I swear I will kill him." By the time he finished speaking, he was already walking away. Guilt seemed to plunge through me with every step he took, but I made no move to go after him. Instead, I ran towards Yamcha, who was bleeding and covered in cuts, brusies, and scrapes.

"Yamcha, are you ok?" I asked. My voice sounded dead even to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said as he pushed himself off the ground.

"Let's take you to the nurse," I said as I helped him stand. I walked him to the nurse silently, and he made no effort to start a conversation and left me to my thoughts. I couldn't get Vegeta's hurt expression out of my mind. Why do I care if that jerk feels hurt? He has nothing to do with me. Still, the image of his expression haunted me, so much that I barely registered the existence of the frantic nurse as she took Yamcha from me and laid him on the hospital bed. I watched as she bandaged his wounds carefully, hardly listening to his complaints about the cuts stinging. I picked up my phone, and checked for messages. I only had one, it was from ChiChi.

'Hey where r u?' she texted.

'I'm the nurse's office. Yamcha got beat up.'

'What! By who?!'

'Vegeta'

'Why?'

'IDK'

'Well, can I hav the keys? I feel kinda tired, and IK how much u want Yamcha to take u home, lol.'

'Shut up :P Anyways, yeah u can go, the keys are in ur purse. I will ask Yamcha for a ride.'

'K, see ya, and I want full details when u get home.'

'Ugh fine, see u later.'

"So what happened here?" the nurse asked. Now that I think about it, I should have expected her question, but I was so out of it that I didn't think of how to answer.

"He fell." I lied. I don't know why I didn't want to tell her Vegeta beat him up, but I felt the strange need to protect him, even from the weak, mild-tempered nurse.

"Oh dear, it must have been quite a fall. You know, my husband, Tien, he had a nasty fall once, and he got a lot of injuries. Let me tell you..." she rambled on with her story, and I looked up at Yamcha for a moment to see him frowning at me intensely.

After the nurse left, Yamcha looked over at me seriously. "I know we just started dating, but I need to tell you something." His voice was intense, and his usual embarrassed countenance was gone. "Bulma, I love you. I have loved you since the day I first met you. I don't want to lose you…but I saw the way you looked at him. Even after he hit me, you looked like you wanted to protect him. Do you still want to go out with me, or not?" He looked a bit sad when he finished.

"Of course I do!" I said, a little too quickly. "Did you think I would break up with you, because of Vegeta? Come on Yamcha, you know me better than that!"

He grinned. "You're right," he said rubbing his neck. We laughed. "So, where should we go for our first date?" he asked.

"Hmmm, surprise me." I said, smirking.

"That's not fair!" he whined, then he grinned. "Fine, I will make sure I take you on the best date ever."

I laughed, and the nurse suddenly came back.

"You have a sprained ankle," she explained, "and you have a nasty cut on your cheek, but I don't think it will scar. You kids can go back now, and Yamcha, make sure you put ice on that ankle."

We left, and walked out to the football field where we were greeted by Yamcha's football fans. "Dang man, what happened to you?" a boy with brown hair asked.

"I fell." Yamcha laughed, and everyone but me laughed with him. I felt someone staring at me, and I looked up to see two coal, black eyes.

Vegeta, again. He was watching at me. His glare held no heat until he looked past me, upon which a look of hatred crossed his face. I turned around to see Yamcha glaring back at him. Then he wrapped his arms around and kissed me lightly. When his lips met mine, I heard a ferocious growl.

I pushed him away and looked back at Vegeta. His eyes were glowing blue, and he was shaking with fury again. I was about to stand up and go to him, when Yamcha grabbed my hand. I looked at him, then looked back to where Vegeta was. To my surprise, he was gone.

I sighed, and then my breathing hitched. I was so angry! How dare he! How dare Yamcha kiss me! He didn't even ask me! Yamcha is such an idiot! I had never wanted to hit someone as much as I did at this moment. My hand twitched, and I put it in my pocket.

The rest of the party was spent trying to keep myself from hitting Yamcha. Why was I so angry about him kissing me in front of Vegeta?

"You ready to go?" Yamcha asked, then I nodded. He led me out to his black Prius. Ugh. I hate this kind of car.

The drive home was silent. He tried to start a conversation a few times, but I was so angry that I didn't want to talk to him. When we got home, I unbuckled my seat belt and moved to get out the car. Before I could, he grabbed my arm, and I looked back at him.

"Listen Bulma, I know you're angry, and I'm sorry…I couldn't help it. When I saw that jerk looking at you, I wanted some way to prove that you are my girlfriend. You are a very important person to me. Can you please forgive me?"

"Ugh! Fine, you're forgiven, but our first date better be perfect or you're dead." I said, teasing at the last part, and smirking as he gulped.

When I got inside, ChiChi ran up to meet me, already in her purple pajamas. "What happened?! Tell me everything!" She demanded. I could tell she wouldn't let me go until I told her everything.

"Fine," I sighed. "Go make some popcorn; this may take a while." While she did that, I ran upstairs and changed into a pair of dark blue pajama bottoms and a white tank top with a blue shooting star in the center. I had just finished putting the tank top on when ChiChi walked into the room carrying a bowl of popcorn.

"Ok, spill. What happened after the game today?" she said, staring at me impatiently.

"Fine, but you're not allowed to tell anyone, ok?" I said. She nodded.

"Wait, so why did Vegeta attack Yamcha?" she asked after I finished explaining what happened.

"I don't know!" I yelled, exasperated. "I have no idea why Vegeta attacked him! Yamcha didn't do anything to-"

"That's it!" ChiChi cut me off.

"What's it?" I asked.

"Vegeta is in love with you," she declared.

I stared at her like she had grown a second head. "What in the world are you talking about!" I cried.

"Well, think about it. He teases you whenever he can, and from what you've told me, he didn't attack Yamcha until he kissed you." she said.

"So?"

"So, he's jealous." she said confidently.

"You've finally gone insane," I said rolling my eyes. "Vegeta isn't in love with me, and even if he was, he wouldn't be so childish as to beat up the boy who asked me out."

"Bulma, I think you are giving him too much credit he is more childish than you think," she said staring at me and shaking her head. "So when are you and Yamcha going out?"

Her question surprised me. "Uh oh. he didn't say when," I said, frowning.

"What? Then how will you know when your date is?" she asked.

Ding-Dong! We looked at the door, and I walked downstairs and answered it. It was Yamcha.

"Hey," he said sheepishly rubbing his neck. I smiled at his shyness.

"What's up?" I said smiling.

"I just wanted to ask when you want to have our date," he said, blushing.

"Let's have it tomorrow at noon." I said, smiling.

"Okay," he said. "Well, uh, bye."

"Bye," I said.

When I got back to my room, Chichi said, "I have to leave tomorrow morning at nine, so I will have time to help you get ready for your date."

"Ok you wanna watch a horror movie?" I asked.

"You know it!" she grinned.

"You get the blankets, and I will get the snacks." I said.

"Yes ma'am!" she mocked saluted.

"Shut up!" I said, rolling my eyes. I walked downstairs into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of M&Ms, gummy-worms, Skittles, and I popped some popcorn. Then I ran back up to my room, my arms full of junk food. 'Wow' I thought as I looked at the blankets on the floor arranged like a bed.

"From the look on your face, I can tell you approve, and that looks absolutely delicious." Chichi said, eyeing the junk food in my hands.

"Ok, let's choose a movie." I said skimming through the titles. "What about Sinister?"

"Nah, oh wait, do you have 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark?'" she asked.

"Um, yeah, do you wanna watch it?"

"Yeah, let's watch it," she said as she sat on the bed. After I put the movie in, I turned the light off and sat next to her. The rest of the night was spent making fun of the actors in the movie and eating junk food.

'I opened my eyes, I was in the clearing. I ran to the pool of water in the center. I really wanted to see him.

"I found you." I turned around to see him. He wore dark blue jeans and white high tops, with a white t-shirt and a red and orange Ouran High School-like jacket. I looked down at myself self-consciously, andI found myself in white shorts, with a blue tank top and white flip flops.

I was shocked when his arms suddenly wrapped around my waist, his chin resting on my shoulders. Even though alarms were going off in my head, I didn't push him away. It actually felt right to have him so close to me. The warmth of his embrace disappeared for a moment, disappointing me, but I felt better when he grabbed my hand. He pulled me to a small tree, and we sat in the shade. I leaned into his chest as he held me. We didn't speak, but it was a comfortable silence. Suddenly, he pulled away from me and looked in to my eyes. He leaned in, and I closed my eyes unconsciously moving closer to him-'

"Bulma, if you don't wake up, you're going to be late for your date!" I jumped up and touched my lips. If ChiChi hadn't woken me up, would I have kissed him? No, I wouldn't have. I mean, wouldn't that be like me cheating on Yamcha? Ugh that's stupid. It's just a dream. It wasn't real.

"Hey, I know you had a super kissy dream with Yamcha, so spill." she said.

"Well, you're half right." I sighed.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It wasn't Yamcha, and we didn't kiss." I said.

"Wait, if it wasn't Yamcha, then who?"

"Vegeta."

"What?!"

"You heard me.

"But, wait…if you didn't kiss, what did you do?" she asked, confused.

"Well, we were in the shade, and suddenly he leaned in to kiss me."

"And?"

"And that's it, you woke me up." I said glaring at her.

"Oops, sorry, but you were going to be late for your date." she said sheepishly, then she looked up at me and smirked. "I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"You so wanted to kiss him." she said smirking. I blushed.

"No way!" I glared, then I jumped up and said "Shut up! You pick my clothes out, while I take a bath."

I got the cherry-scented bubble bath out of the cabinet and poured it into the hot water-filled bathtub. After I undressed, I slipped into the bathtub and sighed as the water slid across my skin. Once again, I found myself thinking of the look Vegeta had given me before he stormed off yesterday. It wasn't a look I would associate with him. It looked like I had ripped his heart out. But when he glared at me, the look in his eyes made me think of a territorial dog. I giggled at the mental image of Vegeta with a dog ears and a little puppy tail. It's actually kind of cute.

'Too bad he hates me now.'

The thought was enough to wipe the smile off my face. I got out of the bathtub and dried myself off. 'That's right Bulma, you're the one who told him to buzz off, why are you acting like it's the end of the world?' But still, I couldn't get rid of the disappointment I felt, because I wouldn't be able to talk to him anymore. "Forget about it, Bulma. You have to get ready for your date with Yamcha," I told myself as I wrapped the towel around my body. I walked out of the bathroom and saw some clothes on my bed.

As expected, they were perfect. Not too dressy and not too casual, just right. It was a spaghetti strap dress that went down to my knees. The top half was black, and the bottom half was violet with blue flowers. I put the dress on and looked in my closet for a pair of black boots. After I was dressed, I did a once over in my vanity mirror. I looked good. The dress clung to my body in all the right places, and the boots made my legs look more slender and beautiful. Satisfied, I walked into the kitchen where Chi was eating the breakfast my mother had cooked.

"Hey," she said in between bites.

"Hi," I said as I sat down in front of her. Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I had a text. It was from Yamcha.

'Hey Bulma I can't come pick u up, do u mind coming to the restaurant?'

'Yeah sure, no prob. Which restaurant, and when?'

'Jamais Mettre Fin À L'amour, noon.'

So, we are going to a French restaurant. I thought back to all my French lessons, and if I am not mistaken, then Jamai Mettre Fin À L'amour means 'never ending love'. Aww! Yamcha is so romantic! I thought to myself, grinning widely.

'Where's that?'

'It's on Main Street, right across from Olive Garden.'

'Ok, see u there :)' I texted back.

'See u l8r.' I looked up at the clock and saw it was 10:45. I had about an hour before I had to leave.

"Hey Bulma, I gotta go, can you take me home?" Chichi asked as she stood up.

"Yeah sure, let's go." I said as I grabbed my keys.

Then we drove to Chi's house. "Bye, Chi." I said waving as I pulled out of her driveway. 'What should I do for the next 45 minutes?' I thought to myself. 'I know! I could go visit my old babysitters Sam and Isis!' I thought excitedly as I drove towards their house. Sam and Isis used to babysit Chi and I. They were super cool. They used to always take us to the park, and afterwards they always took us for ice cream. I remember one time when I was 13, my first boyfriend broke up with me, because he learned that I was the heiress of Capsule Corporation. I ran home crying. Suddenly Isis and Sam had shown up. I remember telling them that I wished that I wasn't me, and that I wished I was someone else. Isis grabbed my shoulders, I couldn't really tell, because of her dark sunglasses, but I think she was glaring at me.

"Don't ever say that again." she had hissed in my face. It had surprised me. I was so surprised that for one moment I was able to think properly. After I thought it through, I realized she was right. Why should I care what others thought of me? If they couldn't accept me, then I could care less, but they better respect me or else there's trouble ahead. If they hadn't been there, and she hadn't said that to me, then I probably would have turned out to be a girl who cried every time someone was rude to me. That me would be totally lame.

I pulled into the driveway. Then I walked into the backyard, so I could go in through the back door. They always left it open for me. "...Bulma..." I stopped, when I heard someone whisper my name. I looked around to see Sam and Isis talking to someone wearing a cloak. They were both dressed the same as usual. They wore all black, but there was one difference, they weren't wearing sunglasses. I looked into their eyes and felt my heart constrict in fear. Their malice filled eyes had an evil glint. Even the motherly Sam wore a cruel smirk, but worse than anything, they were a glinting silver that seemed to glow.

"So when can I dump that disgusting wench?" I felt my eyes widen in surprise. That's Yamcha's voice! I listened more intently to their conversation.

"When we say so. We have to make sure she falls so much in love with you so that when you dump her, not only will her heart break, but her spirit as well." Sam said laughing cruelly.

"That way, master will be able to make her his mate and she won't protest, because you broke her so much that she's just an empty shell of the girl she used to be. I mean that's all we need. I gotta say I've always hated that girl. Hey Isis, remember that time her boyfriend broke up with her? She was so stupid!" Sam laughed.

"Ugh, how could I forget. That brat had the nerve to tell us she wished she was someone else. If she was just some girl on the street, then our job of finding her would have been harder. But I gotta admit, seeing her cry was so fun." Isis said, her cruel smirk widening.

'They're talking about me!' The revelation made my eyes widen. That whole time I thought those two cared about me they were only laughing at my pain. Those words that I thought were meant to encourage me, was just Isis getting mad that I was making her job harder, and what about Yamcha? I thought he loved me. His expression from earlier was so sincere. Was that all a lie? I can't believe this. How is this possible? I started backing away. 'No this must be some kind of dream. More like a nightmare.' I thought to myself. Suddenly, a twig crunched under my foot, and I turned around to run, only to come to face to face with Isis and Sam.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here." Sam sneered. "A dumb brat who can't mind her own business. Hello Bulma." She said smirking evilly. I was shocked, when pain ripped through my scalp. Yamcha had grabbed my hair. Then he swung me into the side of the house. As soon as my head hit the side of the house, I blacked out.

I opened my eyes, but my vision was blurry. I tried to rub my eyes, but I couldn't move my hands. Suddenly, the previous events crashed on me. My head snapped up. That was a mistake. A sharp pain ripped through my head, and I gasped sharply. This was also a mistake, as the pain spread to my chest. I wasn't sure how I could be so sure, but I knew 3 of my ribs were broken and the side of my body was covered in bruises. I looked up, when I heard someone laugh. It was Yamcha.

"Wh-why?" I croaked, staring up at him. My throat felt so dry, like I hadn't had anything to drink in days, and the room was freezing. He only smirked at me cruelly.

"Are you thirsty?" he asked, the smirk still in place. I didn't answer, just glared at him. "Not thirsty? Fine." he said smirking as he grabbed a cup of water filled with ice. My eyes widened in want. I was so thirsty.

"G-g -give m-me." I said, giving into my desire.

"Say please." evil danced in the darkened depths of his eyes. How could I have ever thought that I liked this guy?

"P-please" I begged feeling utterly defeated.

He smirked. "Gladly." He laughed as he threw the ice water in my face. I licked my lips desperately. I was suddenly able to see my surroundings much better. I was tied to a chair in a dark room, with only one door, and no windows. The room was making me feel claustrophobic. I felt as if I would throw up. I looked up at Yamcha as he got a chair and sat in front of me. Suddenly he leaned towards me, and his lips brushed against mine. I bit him.

"Ow! You stupid fool!" he roared. He slapped me so hard that I knew there would be a bruise later.

'Well, that's if I'm still alive later.' I thought to myself bitterly.

Yamcha looked at me, his eyes traveling over my body. The way he looked at me, as if I wore nothing but a loin cloth, made me want to scream and cover my body.

"You know what? I have a way you can make up for that," He said, a demonic glow in his eyes. His eyes! They were no longer a dark brown, but an empty black color. His skin was as white as a sheet. Suddenly, he smiled widely, exposing fangs. "So you've finally noticed my makeover. I'm no longer that stupid human who loved you. You wanna know something funny?" I looked up at him expectantly. "I never loved you, I was fooled by the lust I felt for you. You wanna know something else? I still feel that lust, but now I know what it really is. And you wanna know the funniest thing of it all?" By the look on his face, I didn't want know. "I'm gonna satisfy that lust," he said. My eyes widened as he laughed.

"No" I gasped. "Don't. Please." Hope filled my heart as I saw him hesitate, but those hopes were crushed as he smiled down at me cruelly.

"Don't worry, this won't take long. I asked those two previously, and they said it was okay as long as I don't bite you. He doesn't care if you're damaged goods. All he cares about is the power he can get from mating and establishing a blood bond with you. They said it would help break your spirit even more, so it's okay," he said, smiling.

"Who's 'he'?" I asked desperately trying to postpone what was about to happen.

He stopped suddenly. He seemed to think about it for a moment. Then he shook head. "Doesn't matter, you will meet him soon enough." he said as he unbuttoned the black button up shirt he wore. "Pardon me for being so rude." he said, smiling in evil delight. "We should always put the guest first, right?"

His lips slammed into mine, and he used his tongue to force my lips apart. I had to hold down the bile that rose up in my throat as his tongue ran across every part of my mouth. My disgust evaporated into fear as he ripped my dress enough that it barely covered my chest.

That's when I gathered the strength to rip my mouth from his and scream "HELP ME!"

He slapped me. "Shut up! No one can hear you, and no one's going to save you!" he said harshly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." I heard a familiar voice say.

"Vegeta!" I cried.

"Hush, woman."