Where do we go from here?
This isn't where we intended to be

“Yamcha, we need to talk.”

Yamcha looked up at me from where he was sitting on the couch with a confused look on his face.  “About what?”

“About us,” I replied softly, nervously pushing my curly hair back behind my ears.   I wasn’t comfortable with what I was going to say and was trying to retain what little courage I had somehow mustered.

“What about us?”

I sighed in frustration. “About us.  About our relationship.  Where do you see us heading?  I mean, we’ve been together for years and you’ve never talked about marriage or a family or anything like that.  Where do you see us ending up?”

He blinked once and then thought quietly for a while before replying. “I don’t know,” he said sheepishly.  “I never really thought about it.  I guess I see us together.”

Brilliant answer, Yamcha, I thought sarcastically.  But I somehow succeeded in keeping that tone out of my voice when I replied.  “Together?  What do you mean by together?  As Husband and wife?  As lovers?” He blushed slightly, but I ignored his reaction and continued. “As boyfriend and girlfriend?  What?”

I had been thinking about this for a long time.  I loved Yamcha, I really did.  But I wasn’t getting any younger, and I wanted a family.  I wanted what my parents have, a partnership.  I’d noticed recently that Yamcha had been treating me more like his mother than like his mate.  I didn’t want that.  I wanted him to respect me, sure.  But I also wanted him to stand up to me and take care of me.  Not that I needed taking care of, but if I ever did, I wanted someone who could.

“I don’t know, Bulma.  I love you and I want to be with you, but I’m not ready for marriage.”

“When are you going to be ready?  I’m sorry, Yamcha.  I didn’t want to force you into a decision.  But I have to know.  I want kids, Yamcha.  I’d like to have you be the father.  But I can’t wait forever.  I won’t live that long.” I smiled a little at the last.  I was trying not to scare him but I wanted him to know how I felt.

“I don’t know.”

I threw my hands up and flopped into a chair.  This was going nowhere.   I looked over at him, my frustration evident.  He was still the desert bandit who was afraid of women from all those years ago.  He had worked out most of that fear, but it still reared its ugly head from time to time.

“I don’t know, Bulma,” he said again dejectedly.

“What am I going to do?  I love you.  Kami knows I love you.  But I can’t wait.  I can’t wait until I am old and grey for you to make up your mind,” I paused tears gathering in my eyes.  “I want a family.  I want a husband.  I want a partner.   And the one man I love isn’t able to commit to me.”

“Bulma, I . . .”

I looked over at him sorrowfully.  His eyes were full of tears.  “I know what you are going to say.  ‘I can change, give me time.’ Right?”  He nodded. “I’ve given you time.  We could have been married years ago.  Look at Goku.  He’s younger than both of us and he’s married and has a kid,” I smiled sadly and continued softly.  “You’re just not ready to grow up.  And I have.  You and I are no longer on the same page emotionally.  Hell, we’re not even in the same chapter anymore.  But I want you to be.”

“I want to be too,” Yamcha said quietly.

“No you don’t.  Not really.  If you did, you would be there by now.  I don’t have the right to force you to change if you don’t want to.  You would resent me for it.”

He nodded sadly, agreeing with me.  Dammit, I didn’t want him to agree with me.

I sighed; it was time for me to drop the other shoe.  “I think we need to separate.  We’re just no good as boyfriend and girlfriend anymore and you are one of my best friends.  I don’t want to lose you.  I care for you too much.”

“I know,” his voice cracked. “I know you care for me.  I care for you too. But you’re right.  We are growing apart.”  He sighed, “I just wish that there were some other way.”

“Me too. Friends?” I asked, standing up with my arms outstretched.

“Friends,” he agreed, rising from the chair and enfolding me in his arms.
 

AN:  I started this story back in August of 2001 and worked on it sporadically for most of that month.  I last worked on this story on September 2, 2001.  I never got back to it.  Until now.  It's another of my infamous songfics.  I seem to have a prediliction for them.  This one, like Legacy, I feel will work better as a chaptered fic.  As a warning, this is one of those overdone Bulma and Vegeta get-togethers.  I think EVERY Bulma and Vegeta writer has at one point written a fic set in the "Infamous Three Years"  This one is mine.  I am going to try to keep this in character.  Which means that Yamcha is not going to be a cheating bastard nor is Vegeta going to be all Lovey Dovey.  I have a general idea of about how long this story is going to be.  But a lot of it is going to depend on what my schedule is.

It is unbeta'd and I am always on the lookout for good brutal beta-readers who have a good grasp of grammar and style.

If all goes well.  I should have the next part up in a day or so.