I do not own Dragonball Z.
After reading through the post, it was apparent that chapters 3&4 needed to be posted together. Enjoy. Don't forget to review. Thanks. :)
This chapter fueled by Passenger by the Deftones.
Chapter IV: Drive.
It was well into the night by the time Bra reached the Son's house. Grabbing the burden from the seat beside her, Bra reluctantly got out of the car and made her way to the door. Gohan answered after the first knock and let her in with a smile.
"Bra, it's good to see you again," he greeted as she walked into the house.
Bra responded politely in kind. She'd always liked Pan's father. For being quite possibly the most powerful being in the universe, he was surprisingly normal. He held a normal job at the university as a professor and wore suits and glasses to work. When he came home, he relaxed by reading a book or playing chess with his wife.
He didn't wear spandex jumpsuits and spend all day training at five hundred times the earth's gravity. He didn't disappear three or four times a year to the far reaches of space. Pan's parents didn't show their affection by screaming and throwing things at each other. They were just normal.
Pan would say that they were boring and overbearing, but she didn't really understand what it was like to have your mother called a mad scientist and your father a psychotic maniac. For Bra, coming to the Son home was a breath of fresh air. A glimpse of what her life may have been like if her father had not been raised on death and bloodshed.
Videl came from the kitchen when Gohan called. "Bra, thank you for coming all the way out here to deliver this to me, I know it's a long drive." She said taking the box from Bra.
"It was no problem," Bra replied with a smile.
"Still," Videl went on. "My father's fundraiser is coming up soon and I was starting to worry that we wouldn't have everything ready. You know Capsule Corporation is a huge contributor; I don't know what we'd do without them."
Bra blinked in surprise. Was it that time of year already? Mr. Satan's charity event kicked off the start of the fundraiser season. It was an almost grueling expedition through the upper echelons of society. The richest of the rich would congregate at various fundraisers trying to outdo each other in donations to a variety of charities. It was also the perfect time for corporate heads to get together and assess their competition and form alliances. The events were usually filled with so much backstabbing and ass kissing that the real reason behind them was lost. It didn't matter in the end, as the charities still benefitted from it. Of course, with the Briefs being among some of the wealthiest, they were right in the middle of it all, but luckily Bra was hardly ever required to attend. It just wasn't her scene.
"Pan is upstairs," Videl said, setting her box on a table. "She's getting ready for her date with Lee." She winked and Bra raised an eyebrow.
Bra excused herself with a polite smile and made her way upstairs to Pan's room. The bedroom door swung open before she had a chance to knock and Pan stuck her head out into the hall. "Bra, I thought that was you," she said, letting her into the room.
Son Pan's room was what Bra would consider a typical teenage girl's bedroom to be. It was tidy enough, with piles of clothes in the corner of the room and stacks of books and pictures on every surface. The walls were filled with pictures of friends and movie posters to the point that one could only guess at what color the they actually were. The room was small, with only enough room for a double bed, a desk and a comfy old reading chair and table. In Bra's opinion, the space's only saving grace was the small en suite bathroom.
"Videl said you're getting ready for a date," Bra stated with a raised eyebrow, moving an old comic out of the chair to sit.
Pan flushed prettily and nodded. "Lee is picking me up and we're going over to the next town for this annual festival they have. He's coming to meet my parents." She locked eyes with Bra, giving her words weight.
"It's that serious?" Bra asked, both brows going up now.
She knew Pan had dated this boy for a while now and knew she wasn't seeing anybody else. However, the younger girl had a bit of a reputation for dating around. For as long as she'd been in school, there was hardly a weekend when she didn't have a date. Unfortunately, none ever went much further than the first date.
As fickle as Pan appeared to be, Bra understood that she was only looking for something. Most the boys she dated were scared off by Pan's strength, both in personality and body. And Pan refused to pull her punches; to be anything less than who she truly was. It was a quality she found both frustrating and admirable in her best friend: her ability to put herself out there like that.
It wasn't something Bra had a lot of experience with.
"Yes. No! I don't know…" Pan answered, turning to gaze into the mirror on her bathroom door. "I mean, it's not like he hasn't met them before. He teaches at Grandpa's dojo, but this is…" she trailed off, biting her lip, looking for the right word.
"Sounds serious to me," Bra supplied, standing and walking over to rummage through Pan's closet. "If he's willing to drive all the way out here and deal with Gohan giving him the third degree, then he must be serious."
Pan groaned. "You know my dad is going to act like a complete jerk when he gets here. He always does whenever a date picks me up. That's why I started meeting them in the city instead. This is going to be so painful," she bemoaned.
Bra laughed with delight at the thought of witnessing Gohan give Pan's boyfriend the third degree. Her father wasn't so much the type to give a potential suitor the third degree as he was to glare with murderous intent and watch them sweat. There were far too few who didn't just turn around and walk out the door.
"Don't laugh," Pan snipped. Crossing her arms over her chest, she grinned. "At least my father has never ripped the door off a car and hauled me out of it."
Bra winced and shot Pan a dirty look. That had happened last year. The date had been set up by one of those charity win a date with a celebrity events she had volunteered for under Capsule Corporation when her brother wasn't able to. She had been lucky enough to land a hot young guy, the son of some foreign dignitary. The date had been great, but Bra made the mistake of fooling around in the car afterwards in her driveway. Just as things were heating up, Vegeta ripped the door off the car and pulled her out.
She had been so furious she didn't remember seeing her date make a hasty retreat. The screaming fight they had lasted over an hour. Unfortunately the debacle took place on their front lawn and paparazzi caught the whole thing. Pictures from the incident turned up in every magazine, blog, and newspaper for months afterward. There wasn't enough damage control in the world to mitigate what happened that night. And while her father couldn't care less what the media thought of him or the family business, her mother was irate. For a while, Bra honestly feared she was going to murder them both.
Pan disappeared into the bathroom while Bra inspected her closet, tossing out different items of clothing she deemed "date worthy" and throwing them on Pan's bed. Pan's small closet was crammed with clothes to which there was no order. School uniforms were smashed in with dresses from dances and workout gi. Most of the colors were dark and muted, mostly earth tones with splashes of vibrant orange sprinkled throughout.
Emerging from the closet, Bra heard the water in the bathroom running as she started sorting through the pile on the bed. Pan didn't own outfits, she realized to her chagrin, however she did spot a dark blue button down shirt; boycut, with short sleeves and a little pocket in the front.
Bra held the shirt up to her chest and checked herself out in the mirror. She was entirely too busty for a shirt like this, but the dove gray chenille skirt she was wearing looked perfect with it. That made the decision for her and setting the shirt down, she began to shimmy out of her skirt.
The skirt was just dropping past her knees when Pan walked back into the room. "Oh my god, what are you doing?" Pan exclaimed turning beet red and looking away quickly.
Bra rolled her eyes at her friend. She wasn't naked for Dende's sake, she was wearing panties. This time. "I'm letting you borrow my skirt," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "It looks really cute with this shirt of yours."
At the mention of wearing a skirt, Pan whipped back around, embarrassment over Bra's nakedness forgotten. "What? I am NOT wearing a skirt!"
Pan's predictable outrage at wearing something girly almost had Bra rolling her eyes again. "There's nothing wrong with wearing a skirt. I thought we decided this date was serious?" The skirt looked short on Bra, but Pan was smaller, with less flare to her hips and would sit modestly above the knee. She tried handing the item over, but Pan balked.
"I don't care! I don't wear skirts and I'm not starting tonight. Put your clothes back on!" Pan replied heatedly crossing her arms over her chest.
"Fine, then what are you wearing?" Bra shot back, mirroring Pan's pose.
She unfolded and gestured to herself, "this is what I'm wearing and its fine."
Bra pursed her lips, trying to fight off a sneer of distaste as she took in the baggy cargo pants and plan t-shirt. After a moment she shrugged, "if that's what you want to wear…" and pulled her skirt back on. There was a tense silence and after she dressed the two regarded each other warily.
She could see Pan fingering the old t-shirt she had on and reconsidering her decision. She already knew the younger girl would second guess herself and she should've felt bad about that. For all her bluster and self-confidence, Bra knew where to find her weak spots.
Finally, with lips pursed and brows drawn, Pan asks, "Does it really look that bad?"
"You could do better," Bra responds with practiced ease.
"I'm not wearing your skirt," Pan stated angrily.
This time Bra did roll her eyes at her friend before going through the clothes she had piled on the bed until she came across a pair of jeans with the tags still on them. She tossed the outfit to Pan who regarded it with distrust before disappearing into the bathroom to change without another word. Bra looked around the room while she was gone, her curiosity killing time.
She looked over the wall of pictures, her eyes inadvertently stopping on any picture with Goten in it. It was like her eyes could not help but be drawn to his face and every picture of him with the slightest smirk sent a chill down her spine. As she looked over the pictures, she was really searching for that one out of place photo. She figured if Trunks had one in his room, surely Pan did too. It was no big secret that she used to have a crush on him. Years ago, when she had first started dating, Pan had told her that she was only biding her time, waiting for Trunks. She had confided that she didn't feel anyone would ever understand her the way Trunks did. Bra wasn't sure if those sentiments still held true, but considering her reawakened feelings Goten, she wouldn't set it aside so quickly.
After looking for a couple of minutes, Bra realized that there were no pictures of Trunks. Zero. Not even one of them together. This made Bra pause. Perhaps the absence of his image said something about her feelings for him? She didn't have time to ponder that line of thought any further when Pan emerged from the bathroom fully dressed in the outfit she picked out. Bra grinned triumphantly at getting her friend to wear something other than a workout gi. "You look great!"
"Bra, these jeans are tight," Pan frowned and pulled at the demin around her thigh. "I can't even move in these. What if something happens? I won't be able to fight!"
Bra shook her head, "Well, you wouldn't have that problem if you were wearing a skirt." She said with a smirk.
Pan grumbled "whatever" under her breath as she sat down at the vanity. Bra took her place behind her and began running a brush through her raven locks. It was the one area they didn't argue about, Bra always did Pan's hair and makeup when they were together. Tonight she brushed her hair until it shined and fell straight and sleek down to the middle of her back. Bra had always been a bit envious of Pan's hair. It took the blue haired girl far more effort to achieve the same results. The thick, chunky bangs Pan wore for years were finally growing out and with liberal use of hair spray and a flatiron, Bra managed to get them to swoop across her forehead perfectly.
As she worked, she listened to Pan's almost rambling stream of conscience. She told her how she met Lee, who was a student teacher at her grandfather's dojo. He hadn't been there for very long when he climbed onto the roof of the school at Mr. Satan's request to fix the dish reception. Pan, who had just been walking through the courtyard on her way to visit her grandfather heard his shout as he slipped and fell. She said she didn't think about, just flew up and snatched him out of the air. Bra watched as a light blush spread across the other girl's cheek when she spoke about the flowers he brought her afterwards. Even though Bra considered herself somewhat of a romantic, she found Pan's story just a little too sweet and doe-eyed for the young tomboy sitting in front of her. It was just a bit sickening.
"I think I'm going to tell him," Pan blurted when Bra sat down in front of her to put on her makeup.
Bra paused, letting that sink in. "Are you sure?" She asked, opening a jar of moisturizer and scooping a bit on her fingers.
"He's already seen me fly," Pan replied as Bra began smoothing the lotion onto her face. "I mean, that's how we met. He was fixing something on Grandpa's roof and fell off."
"I know, but…" Bra trailed off, trying to find the right words to explain why she didn't like the idea without upsetting Pan. The thought made her uncomfortable, that someone outside of their tight-knit group would know of their alien origin. It was impossible for Pan to only share her past without exposing her own. It wasn't as if the rest of the world didn't already know that both families were freakishly strong. She didn't want to think about what kind of ridiculous uproar would result if people found out it was her father that had tried to destroy their planet so many years ago.
"You haven't even known him that long," is what she settled on saying. Even still she felt the other girl stiffen. "I mean, has he asked?"
Pan's shoulders slumped with a sigh. "No," she responded, "but he's got to be wondering. I think he waiting for me to tell him something. I don't know."
Bra felt a bit of her own tension ease with Pan's answer. "Don't get ahead of yourself…" She trailed off at the faint sound of knocking at the front door. Pan sat up straight again, the vague, glassy look in her eye that she got when read ki.
"He's here," she jumped from the chair and made for the door before Bra grabbed her.
"Don't go running down there just yet, it'll look bad!" Bra admonished, pushing her friend back to the chair. "I'm not done yet anyway."
Pan scowled, "I don't see how keeping him waiting looks better than meeting him at the door." However she settled back into the chair.
Bra ignored her and took her time finishing her work. There wasn't much to be done. Pan didn't wear makeup and it was one argument the girl knew she wouldn't win no matter what underhanded tactics she tried. Not that Pan needed makeup in the first place. Her skin was already clear and soft, tanned from hours working in the sun. The only things Bra really did was add a coat of mascara to the other girl's long, thick lashes - because no one should ever go without mascara - and powder to keep the shine away.
By the time Bra finished, Pan's knee was jumping with impatience. "Done." Bra said with a soft sigh, watching as Pan bolted from the room. Honestly, if she didn't enjoy putting on makeup so much, she would be offended at how little appreciation the other girl showed for her efforts. As it was, Pan was already downstairs greeting her date and Bra's curiosity got the better of her.
She crept down the stairs quietly, so as not to draw attention to herself. Sitting on the bottom step, she watched with growing enjoyment as Pan tried desperately to make a quick break from her parent's questions. Gohan looked much more intimidating outside of his suit and glasses with his arms crossed over his chest. He stood quietly behind Videl, eyeing the boy up and down while his wife made uncomfortable small talk. And though her voice was pleasant, her blue eyes held mischief as if she was thoroughly enjoying watching them squirm.
As for the boy in question, Lee was standing at attention and Bra could easily see the years of martial arts training in his posture. He was tall, with shaggy, sandy brown hair that fell into his eyes. The corners of his green eyes crinkled when he smiled. It was large and easygoing, as if he smiled a lot and enjoyed doing so. When he laughed a dimple showed on his cheek.
Bra could definitely see his appeal.
She couldn't hear what was being said on the other side of the room, but Pan's cheeks were pink and she was fidgeting as if she wanted to get away. Pan shot Bra a desperate look, but she was disinclined to get involved. After a few more minutes of conversation, Videl finally let them leave with a warning not to be out too late. Without a backwards glance, Pan grabbed Lee's hand and bolted from the house.
As Bra rose from her spot on the stairs, she could hear the sound of gravel crunching under tires as the couple made their escape. Videl turned to her with a roll of her blue eyes. "Why don't you stay for dinner, Bra?"
"I should really be getting home," she responded, hedging her way closer to the door. She didn't really want to sit and have awkward conversation with Pan's parents.
"Let me at least send you with something," Videl said as she made her way to the kitchen.
As Bra turned to follow Videl into the kitchen she caught the small wave goodbye from Gohan as he disappeared into his study. She had no doubt that he would be up all night in there waiting for Pan to get home, even though there were only a handful of people on the planet who could actually hurt her and her boyfriend wasn't one of them.
In the kitchen, she and Videl made small talk about the upcoming Capsule Corporation shareholders event and the various charities Videl sat on for her father's business. Just as the older woman was snapping closed the last container, the front door slammed open with a loud bang.
"Who's car is that?" A familiar voice called out.
Bra and Videl emerged from the kitchen to find Goten in the living room.
"Goten," Videl said pleasantly. "What are you doing here? Were you visiting with your mom today?"
Goten grinned at his sister-in-law and nodded. "Was just on my way back to the city when I saw the car out front." At this his attention turned to Bra for the first time. "Is that yours?"
Bra grinned and nodded, trying not to show how flustered she suddenly was. "It's a present from mom."
From the way her face was heating up she knew she must have an obvious blush. It couldn't be helped, she could not stop thinking about the way he had kissed her, bent over the marble countertop in her kitchen. He seemed wholly unaffected by her presence as he chatted with Videl and Bra had to wonder if he even remembered. He had been out drinking that night after all.
She hadn't actually seen more than a glimpse of him since that and wasn't quite sure how to act now. As much as she wanted to play it cool, she couldn't help the way her eyes greedily looked him over. She always found the man before her attractive, he was probably the first person she had ever thought about that way. And even though she liked him dressed as he was the other night - with his clothes fitting in just a way to draw the eye - she also appreciated the way his old orange gi fit loosely against his frame.
"...thought maybe Trunks was here," he was saying and Bra realized that she had zoned out and hoped no one had noticed she was checking him out. "I'm meeting him back at my place in a few, so I guess I'll be going."
"Well, if you're on the way to West City then you should go with Bra and keep her company," Videl said, shoving the container of food into the girl's hands. Bra fumbled with the package as she tried to think of a good reason to object. "I know you'd probably get home faster flying on your own, but she did me a huge favor coming all the way out here so late."
"It's really not a big deal -" she started when Goten cut her off.
"Sure," he said with an easy shrug of his shoulders, his dark eyes sliding her way. She felt a chill run through her at the way the corner of his mouth quirked up.
Despite the vibe she got from him leaving Pan's house, Goten was more or less how she always remembered him. Affable and charming; nothing like the man she had encountered in her kitchen. They managed to keep up a steady flow of conversation, with only a few awkward pauses and neither said anything about that late night so many weeks ago. It only gave more credence to the idea that he didn't remember.
It kinda made her angry actually.
She couldn't decide if she was more angry at herself for reading too much into something so foolish or him for being a fool. It was frustrating to her, the way her body seemed strung in anticipation. With him so maddenly near, she could feel the phantom heat from his touches running up along her side before pooling low in belly. And the entire time he was simply sitting next to her calmly talking about his job with Mister Satan, some story about teaching him to fly, and she might as well have been sitting next to her brother. Even still, the edge of him mouth curled into a mischievous grin as if he had a secret that he didn't intend to share.
Finally, with his direction, they pulled in front of a tall building not far from her own home. It was rather posh, much nicer than any bachelor pad she would have envisioned for him. "I didn't realize you had a place here," she said looking him over appraisingly. It was the truth anyway, she had never given much thought to Goten having his own place here instead of closer to his family's home.
He gave a causal lift of his shoulders, turning from the window to face her with an unreadable expression on his handsome face. "About a year now," he said. "I was spending so much time here it only made sense. Mister Satan wants me to help him open a dojo here too so there was plenty of incentive."
Bra quirked an eyebrow at that interesting bit of information. He was being difficult to read, but he wasn't making any move to leave the car and she had to wonder if he was purposely trying to drive her mad. He relaxed against the black leather seat with one arm slung across the back. His dark eyes were watching her, seeming to assess her every move, and she bit her lip at the smoldering heat she felt wherever they trailed across her body. A few hours ago she would've been adamant that she didn't want to tangle with him again, but the moment he was near the energy in her blood pulsed across her body all the way to her fingertips and she couldn't help the desire to touch him.
The air was thick with tension as she pulled her legs to curl underneath her and lean across his body to look out the passenger window up at the tall red brick building they stopped in front of. "Which one is yours?" She asked, looking up at him from beneath her lashes.
His eyes dragged their way across the length of her back before resting once again on her face and he smirked, clearly amused. "Top floor, of course." She felt the roughness of his voice all the way down to her toes. The tension in the car had risen to almost intolerable levels at their closeness and she could practically feel the energy crackle between them.
She pulled back so that she was no longer leaning across his lap, but still leaning her body toward him. That undefinable something in his eyes was burning again and she gave him a smirk of her own, dragging her bottom lip between her teeth as she said, "Are you going to invite me up?"
Bra felt herself flush at the husky sound of her voice and the blatant meaning behind her words. There was a spark of something, like the air igniting between them and this time his brow rose at her words. She found herself caught in his eyes, unable to blink or look away from his glittering onyx stare. The space between them all but seemed to disappear and yet he still hadn't made any significant move.
Never one to wait around for something she wanted, she closed the distance, pressing her lips against his. What started out as a gentle caress of lips very quickly evolve to something much more heated, as she was beginning to learn it did with them. He drug his teeth across her bottom lip much in the same way she had and a shuddered gasp escaped her allowing his tongue to slip in and claim her mouth.
Bra thread her fingers through his dark hair, pulling him close and it was no more than the space of a few heartbeats before she felt his warm hand wrap around the back of her head to hold her in place. His other arm was still slung over the back of her seat and it was just too casual for what she wanted right then. Her flesh buzzed with the pent-up desire to be closer. She tried to shift closer to him, but the center console in the car blocked her way.
In a snap decision she broke the kiss to move across the car and into the passenger seat, smiling at the somewhat dazed look on his face as her thighs slowly slid down over his until she was pressed flush against him. She licked her lips as she watch his adam's apple bob as he swallowed thickly and then his hand tangled in her hair, fisted at the nape of her neck and he kissing her again. There was something different this time. A reckless frenzy that wasn't there before, as if he had lost some of the control he always held over her.
She relished it.
Bra's hands roamed across his chest, moving up to smooth across his broad shoulders, and down to caress his arms before sliding up into his hair; her manicured nails scraping against his scalp. He hissed, the fingers of his other hand flexing against her bare thigh before gripping her tightly and pressing his hips into hers.
A loud moan tore from her throat, uninhibited in her desire and the delicious friction he was creating between their bodies. That heat that had built in her reach a fevered pitch and she pushed her hips down, grinding against him in an attempt to alleviate some of the pressure. He let go of her hair, grabbing her hips to still her movements and she whimpered at the loss of contact.
Goten grinned up at her and though he was breathing heavily he seemed to have regained some of his control. The air between them was impossibly hot as they shared the same breath, their lips close but no longer touching. His eyes were bottomless, sharp and calculating. He clutched her hips, shifting her up a little higher before his hand dropped back down to caress her thighs. Bra's eyes drifted closed and never before had she been so insanely happy at Pan's shunning of her fashion sense as she was at that moment as his hands made their way up under her skirt.
She held perfectly still as he blazed a trail of heat across the backs of her bare thighs and she may have stopped breathing altogether when his fingers brushed against the edge of her panties. Bra bit her lip hard when his fingers slip under the garment to stroke the sensitive flesh hidden there. The breath she had held stuttered out on a gasp as he moved his wide, rough fingers over her tender flesh. When she could finally force her eyes open she found him looking up at her. His eyes were burning, dark, lust filled pools of want as he watched the emotions play over her face.
Her nails dug into his shoulders harshly when he slipped his finger up her wet slit then back down and he kissed her roughly when he finally, slowly pressed into her. Their mouths caught her breathless whimper and his deep groan between them. She'd never gone this far with another person and her body was so tense from just a few strokes of his fingers that she almost came apart right then. She wanted to be angry when she felt the smile against his lips, but instead she kissed him roughly.
He pulled away again only to kiss his way down her neck and her whole body shuddered under his attention. "Bra…" he growled before biting at the pulse point on her neck. The hand that wasn't pressed between her legs wrapped around the ends of her long, blue hair and pulled, tilting her head back, baring more of her pale neck and chest to him.
She was so close to coming undone around him that it only made sense for a thudding pressure in her head to make itself known right then. That empty space in her brain that was reserved for her family's ki signature was suddenly filled with Trunks' familiar pressure. They both froze and turned to look out the front window at the ivory aircar slowly descending in front of them.
Goten swore and Bra turned back to him with wide eyes. It said something about how distracted he had become with her for her brother to get so close without Goten sensing him sooner. Reluctantly, she rolled off his lap, legs still trembling from her missed release, and back into the driver's seat with an unsatisfied huff.
"Shit, shit, shit…" Goten was muttering to himself looking down at his wet hand. He looked over at her from beneath the dark fringe that had fallen into his eyes. He raised an eyebrow and quirked his lips into a smirk. "Your brother is going to break my fucking hand," he said with a wink before he sucked his fingers into his mouth.
Bra felt her cheeks burn bright at the sight of him licking away her essence. She didn't know how to think anymore, her body still buzzing. It was the sound of a car door slamming shut and the seriously concerned look crossing Goten's face that made the gears in her brain start to work again. She didn't like the idea of being caught. Like this. With him. It was far too reminiscent of the fight she had with her father.
Really, she needed to stop fooling around in cars.
Reaching into the backseat, she grabbed her purse, digging around until she found the bottle of perfume she kept in there. Bra wasn't a fool. Saiyan's had an incredible sense of smell and fooling around the way the were, it would be the first thing Trunks would pick up. It was sad that she knew this from the experience of walking past Trunks' room after he had a girl over.
Dousing herself liberally, she turned to Goten who had started coughing. "What are you doing," he asked between hacks.
"Getting ready to go out tonight," she responded, reaching over and cupping his clench jaw in her palm. At her touch, his eyes focused in on her with lightning intensity. She wanted to kiss him again, but didn't think the risk of getting caught would be worth it, so with a wink she opened the door and stepped out.
Trunks was standing at the hood of the car looking for all the world like he didn't know what to be more puzzled over: The obvious new model of Capsule Car he'd never seen before or his best friend and his sister's ki signatures within it.
Bra shut the door with a bump from her hip, making sure to smooth down her skirt. She leaned against the car with a smug smile. "You like?"
Her brother looked between her and Goten as if trying to decide what questions he wanted to ask first. The look on Goten's face almost screamed guilty of something, like a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar and it was here that Trunks focused. "What are you doing at Goten's so late?"
The question was for her, but he was watching his friend for the answer. Bra rolled her eyes, irritated at the spineless way Goten seemed to fold under her brother's glare. What did he have to feel guilty about being with her? He looked ready to confess to just about anything.
"Mom made me run out to Pan's house to drop off some paperwork or something. Goten rode with me back." Bra answered her brother's question. "And he told me I could go out with you guys tonight." She crossed her arms over her chest and gave her brother a mocking grin as if to say Ha!
"What!" Trunks furrowed his brow at Goten who raised his hands in surrender.
"I didn't think it'd be that be a deal," he said and Bra was glad he was able to catch on quickly. She was honestly concerned there for a minute, but Trunks seemed to buy it. She didn't think he'd ever honestly consider that they were fooling around.
"I already told her no when she asked me earlier," Trunks said shooting Bra a dirty look and she bristled at being spoken about as if she were a child.
"You know, you're not the boss of everyone," she snapped with a glare. "If Goten wants to take me with him, he can, you know."
"First of all," Trunks began, leveling his cold blue gaze on her, "I doubt he actually wants to take you anywhere. Your perfume smells like ass. I can smell you all the way over here. And secondly, your little crush on Goten isn't cute anymore. Stop trying to use him to get around me."
Bra blanched at that statement and she saw what little color Goten had regained drain from his face. He raised up off the ground with his hand back up in surrender mode. "I'm just gonna go… and uh," he coughed awkwardly, "get ready…" and then he was gone.
She was furious now, even though the entire point of the statement was to distract Trunks and it had worked. She couldn't stand the way he talked about her like she was still a little girl playing dress up. And she was particularly put off by Goten's reaction to the whole thing. Was she something to be so embarrassed about?
"You're a prick," she settled as a comeback. "I'm not a little kid, when are you going to get that? You probably pick up girls younger than me."
Trunks shook his head. "You're still my kid sister, Bra. And guys picking you is exactly what I don't want to deal with tonight."
Bra huffed at his response. She wasn't concerned about picking up random dudes, she already had her eye on one.
"So, this mom's pet project I take it," he said to change the subject, making his way around the car as he checked it out.
"Yeah, you knew about that?"
Trunks nodded with a snort. "She thinks she can hide stuff like this from me, but I'm the fucking CEO, of course I know what's going on in my company." He grimaced as he came around her side of the car. "Well, I knew she was up to something anyway."
Bra nodded, letting her anger from Trunks' earlier statements go in favor of gloating over her new car. "Graduation present. Only one like until production starts up next year." She said smugly.
"You should let me take it out."
This time it was Bra's turn to snort in disdain. "Not likely. I'm not letting you skank up my new car."
He opened his mouth to retort, but she was saved his comeback by the ringing of his phone. After a quick glance at the screen, he walked off to the front of his car to answer it without a word to her and Bra was left alone to think about the turn of the evening. No more than a few minutes passed before she heard the soft thud of Goten's touchdown at the front of her car.
Looking up from her contemplation, she gave him a small smile, somehow managing to feel shy after everything. She risked a glance at her brother, whose back was turned toward them engrossed in his phone conversation, before she made her way over to Goten.
She bit her lip as she looked up at him wanting nothing more than to feel the heat of his body once again. She was feeling flush just thinking about it. "Do you think you'll be coming back to the house tonight?"
Goten grinned, looking a little nervous about the question. "Not sure what the plan is for tonight, actually." He shrugged, looking at Trunks from the corner of his eye. "So, uh, things got a little heated tonight. Sorry about that…"
"I didn't mind," Bra practically purred. Lifting up on to her toes, she had the insane impulse to run her hands through his hair. Her earlier irritation forgotten with the idea of picking up where they left off.
"Yeah, well, it's, uh, probably not the best idea I've ever had. I mean, I don't want you to get the wrong impression or anything." Goten said, his hand slipping behind him to rub the back of his head.
"What the hell is that suppose to mean," Bra snapped, her eyebrow raised in renewed irritation.
He took a step back from her, looking more nervous than before. "I just mean that… whole thing … probably isn't a good idea for either of us. And tonight was a close call with your brother -"
"What does my brother have to do with anything?" Something cold was coiling in the pit of her stomach at his words. However, he was saved from having to answer by her brother signing off of his phone.
"Let's go!" Trunks called back to them as he opened the door to his car and climbed in. Goten gave her an apologetic look before turning and getting into the car. Although she wasn't sure what he was apologizing for: not being able to finish their conversation or for the way they started their evening. Either way, Bra was not happy.
She leaned back against the hood of her car, scowling for all that she's worth as she watched them take off, blasting toward the downtown club district. She waited until they were out of sight before getting in her own car and even then she sat for another ten minutes adding the additional layer to her already long evening.
By the time she made her way home, it was late and the house was dark, her parents having already gone to bed.
She waited up for him.
But he never showed.