Everybody Loves Vegeta

Chapter 4

Goku couldn't fall asleep. In the deepest recesses of his mind he couldn't feel anger toward Vegeta anymore. Not quite. All of his friends knew Goku lacked the human trait that would make him unforgiving. If Goku could even give Frieza a second chance at life, he certainly could find it in himself to forgive the person who held sway over his heart.

He cried a lot when Vegeta left. Part of him wanted Vegeta to apologize, but refuse to leave. That it was so easy for him to just walk out the door hurt Goku in a strange way he couldn't parse.

The absent warmth at Goku's side drove him out of bed. Drowning his sorrow in another tub of ice cream sounded better than staring at the wall until dawn. He dragged himself into the kitchen and flicked the light switch on.

"Hey Dad," a small voice said from the kitchen table. Goten was already halfway through the carton of ice cream. His eyes were downcast.

Goku pulled up a chair and sat next to his son. Before he could open his mouth, Goten passed him a spoon from the kitchen drawer. Goku smiled and scratched the back of his head. "I guess you're having a rough night too."

"Are you mad at me?" Goten blurted out. Vanilla dripped from the edges of his mouth.

Has he just been eating using his face? Goku searched for Goten's own spoon, but saw his son's hands were empty. "I'm not mad at all!" Goku blushed. "I guess you should've picked somewhere more private to do that, though."

Goten looked like he'd been hit. "But you and Vegeta were gone for a long time so we watched a movie and then—"

"It's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me."

"Thanks," Goten breathed out a heavy sigh. "I'm scared Trunks isn't going to have as easy of a talk with Vegeta later on."

Goku wrinkled his nose. "I won't let Vegeta say a bad word toward him if I can help it." Goten smiled easily at that. Goku looked down into the ice cream carton and hoped Goten wouldn't run away at his next question. "So, uh, are you two...?"

"A couple? Naw. At least, um, I don't think so? It's kind of confusing for me, you know?" Keeping his composure was difficult with the rising blush in his face. He rubbed the back of his head, and Goku became disturbingly aware of how similar they must look to other people. "I always thought I liked girls. When did you know you liked guys, Dad?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You know, since you're with Vegeta you must like men."

"Huh...I've never thought much about it."

Goten fell out of his chair. "DAD!"

Goku looked up at the kitchen ceiling with a dumb smile on his face. "Gosh, is that bad?" He rolled the thought around in his head a bit. During Bulma's house party a few months ago he remembered freaking out when speaking to the rest of the guys about being gay. It was scary at the time, but once Vegeta reciprocated his love he rarely thought about what being "gay" meant. So far for him, it just meant being with Vegeta, and that meant just doing what felt natural.

Vegeta was the only other person he knew who really challenged him physically and mentally. It made sense they would end up together in some way. The rest of Goku's friends had turned soft over the years after marriage and having children. Some of them simply enjoyed living peacefully in solitude. It must have been a human thing. Vegeta was the only other one with full Saiyan blood coursing through his veins that stopped him from resting. His passion ignited something inside of Goku he'd never felt for Chi-chi.

But did he also love Vegeta because Vegeta was a man? Goku never experienced lust for his other male friends. Focus on gender and sexuality hadn't captured Goku's imagination like everyone else around him. As a child he couldn't even tell the difference between men and women. So was Vegeta simply an exception?