Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ My Friend ❯ Finally ( Chapter 15 )

Disclaimer:

AN: I'm back!!!!!!! Thanks to all you who wished my computer well. There's a lot of news in JB's life. The most obvious is my computer's better and the best is that there is now officailly a boyfriend!! May my willpower end soon! *covers mouth with hand* OMG! Did I just say that out loud? *blushes* Anyway the bad news is that I'm back in school which means less time for updating but I promise to keep up a regular updating schedule if not a speedy one. Anyway that's all for now. Enjoy!

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Rain had threatened since early morning and now at 7:38 the clouds showed no sign of letting up. Bulma snuggled deeper into the folds of her terry-cloth robe, turning from the window when she heard her mother's bathroom door creak open.

"So what do you think?" Emily asked as she did a little spin before her daughter. The dress was every woman's stereotypical little black number and fit the woman's still dynamite figure to a tee. A string of pearls around her neck and a pair of pumps added to the final touches to the elegant and stunning appeal. Bulma saw only one problem.

"It looks great Mom but-," she trailed off.

"But what?" Emily asked.

"The hair," Bulma said looking meaningfully at the pile on her head.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Well nothing normally but you always wear it like that. I think you should try something different tonight," Bulma said as she moved across the room to the vanity.

"Bulma I don't have time to do something different. I'm going to be late as it is," Emily complained as she moved towards her daughter.

"Come on Mom. It won't take long at all. Just sit down. Daddy expects you to be late anyway."

Sighing heavily Emily flopped down in the chair and faced the mirror. As the young girl made quick work of removing the pins from her head, she watched her closely in the glass.

"So dear are you going to tell me about this whole date thing with Vegeta?" she asked after a moment.

An undeniable smile touched the girl's features as she tossed some pins onto the table and picked up a brush. "Not much to tell really. I mean we're trying something a little different in our relationship."

"And what happened to Yamcha?"

Her smile dropped for a moment before she shook her head. "We broke up," was her simple answer.

"When?" Mrs. Briefs asked truly stunned. Bulma and Yamcha had dated for several years and Emily couldn't believe her child would keep quiet about something like this for too long.

"My birthday," she shrugged as she found a deep interest in her brush strokes.

"That was so long ago. Why didn't you say anything?"

"It was no big deal really. Anyway right after that all the stuff with you and dad happened so-" she shrugged again and step back to view her handy work. "All done!"

Emily looked over her long blond tresses gently framing her face and had to smile at the improvement.

"Thank you sweetheart," she said standing.

"No problem," Bulma smiled. She sat down on the bed watched her mother look through her closet for a coat.

"What time will you be home?" Emily asked when she finally had everything in order and was ready to leave.

"I don't know. I wouldn't suggest waiting up," Bulma answered.

Emily nodded and smiled before moving across the room to place a peck on the girl's cheek. "It looks like rain so be extra careful."

"I will Mom."

With one last nod Emily took a deep breath and left the room.

Bulma stayed where she was for several minutes before finally headed for her room to get ready for her own date. She really hoped that this dinner between her parents went well. There was nothing she wanted more than to see her parents back together but ever so slowly she was starting to realize that maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world if they didn't. People broke up everyday and it didn't necessarily mean anyone was at fault. She wasn't a little girl anymore. It was time she gave up on fairy tales that always ended happily ever after because that simply wasn't how things were. And that didn't just go for the situation with her parents either.

She had always been sure that one day she would find her prince charming who would sweep her off her feet and for a long time she had believe that Yamcha was said prince. Obviously that wasn't so and now that she was `with' Vegeta that dream was even more far-fetched. All the things that attracted her to him were exactly opposite of any princely qualities she might desire. He was arrogant, quick-tempered, and the most unromantic person she knew. She had to argue with him for hours just to get him to pick her up let alone sweep her off her feet. And yet something told her it was right.

For the next hour she took special care of choosing her outfit for the night. She was determined to wow her somewhat reluctant date so that he would be just as sure as she was that this was the right direction for them. When she was satisfied she took a long hot shower. Juu's party was supposed to start at nine thirty and at the rate she was moving she'd probably be ready at around ten. Vegeta had told her he would be there at ten fifteen so it looked like she was running right on schedule. After thirty minutes she stepped out of the shower with a frown, her mind no longer on Vegeta. It was on Zarbon.

She had been so close to finally feeling Vegeta's lips and that sorry bastard had interrupted. Honestly, how many times did she have to tell the guy to take a hike? She'd been so pissed off last night that she had ranted about it all the way home never once noticing that Vegeta seemed to find her tirade amusing. It wasn't until she found herself alone in her room ready for bed that she realized she'd missed a prime opportunity to try for another kiss in the car. She'd started to rave all over again, this time at herself.

Now she mentally shrugged as she wrapped a towel around herself. She was going to kiss him tonight even if it killed him. Sitting at her vanity she began lightly applying some make-up deciding to go with the less is more theory for the night. Smiling at her reflection she quickly dressed and headed downstairs to wait.

At 10:15 she was flipping through a magazine when a horn sounded outside. As the blaring persisted she continued to read the article on some embarrassing moments submitted by other readers.

"I'd never admit that happened to me," she murmured as a loud banging sounded at her front door. "Come in," she called cheerily as she closed the article and stood.

Vegeta stormed into the house his eyes narrowed. "You heard me," he accused.

Bulma rested her hands on her hips. "I don't what you're talking about Vegeta but I don't think it'd kill you to pick a girl up from her door every once in a while." She barely contained a smile as she realized that his eyes were no longer on her face but instead focused on her body. She'd known that the long orange hip hugger skirt and the matching bare-mid top with an almost indecently low V-neckline would knock his socks off. "See something you like?" she asked as she walked towards him.

His eyes snapped back to her face when she stopped inches in front of him. "No," he answered.

Bulma's smile widened and she was tempted to call him out as the lair he was but instead she said simply, "Oh, well, good then," and brushed pass him and out the door.

Vegeta paused a moment and ran a hand through his hair before turning to follow her out the door. He stopped just behind her on the porch and shook his head. The rain came down in sheet after sheet and he half expected her to start freaking out about getting wet or something. Imagine his surprise when she glanced back at him and smiled. She took off her orange strappy heels and handed them to him before running out into the water.

He watched in half amusement half surprise as she played in the rain. She spun in circles as she turned her face to the falling droplets.

"Vegeta, come play with me!" she called as she did a cartwheel pass the porch.

Vegeta watched her closely for a few minutes, the left side of his mouth turning up slightly as she danced in the downpour. He knew she had been through a lot over the last few weeks and yet she still was unhindered and spirited enough to find some joy in a storm. It was something that he would never be able to do. And it was exactly this that made her so desirable to him at that moment.

Walking out into the rain he stopped in front of her just as she paused in her spinning to catch her breath. Her chest heaved up and down from her exertion and she smiled prettily as he brushed away a stray piece of hair that was matted to her face. He leaned hesitantly in before his lips gently brushed hers. For a moment she didn't return the kiss being shock that it was finally happening. It didn't take her long, however, to get over that and she leaned closer pressing her lips more firmly to his.

His arms wrapped around her waist at the same moment that hers snaked around his neck. The kiss was light until he ran his tongue across the seam of her soft lips and she happily open them for him. His gently massaged hers as she pressed herself closer to him, never wanting the moment to end. The water falling around them faded away as each lost themselves in the other's mouth. It was the blaring of a horn from a car slouching by that finally broke the two apart. Hazy blue eyes opened up to him with a silent question in them. His smirk gave the desired answer.

"We should go," he murmured so close their foreheads almost touched.

"Yeah, we are pretty late," she answered a smile playing on her lips.

He handed her back her shoes as she took his hand and let him lead her over to the car. Each hurried to secure themselves in the vehicle as if they had just notice the beautiful storm around them.

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Emily's soft laughter carried across the table to her smiling husband. As her chuckles faded she placed a hand lightly on her chest and nodded her head.

"Yes, I would have to say our Bulma is something special," she smiled as she picked up her wineglass.

"Just like her mother," John slipped in.

Emily arched a fine brow. "Is that flattery?"

"I'm shooting for brownie points. What did you think of that one?"

Emily chuckled blushing slightly. "It was very nice John."

"Good," he said leaning forward on the table. "Emily let's move beyond the niceties. I think we can make this work," his tone very serious.

Emily chewed on the inside of her lip. It was true that in the last hour and a half she had began to remember all the reasons that she had fallen in love with the nutty and sometimes eccentric John Briefs. Yet somehow she wasn't sure that all this new attentiveness to what was really important wasn't just a temporary change for the good doctor.

"John I just don't know-" she started.

"Emily I promise you that things will be different. We can fix this-"

"Dr. Briefs?"

John turned with a slight frown to the waiter. The man extended the phone he was carrying towards him. "It's the call you've been waiting for," he politely explained.

"Thank you," Dr. Briefs smiled as he took the cordless receiver.

"John?" Emily questioned with a frown.

Dr. Briefs smiled obviously proud of himself. "Well I didn't think it would be appropriate to bring my business phone to such a private dinner so I had to give out the restaurant's number."

Emily's eyes widened. Was he serious?! Was he even listening to himself?! "John you're not going to take that are you? We're talking about something very important."

"I know dear and this will only take a moment, I promise," he said reassuringly before placing the phone to his ear and commencing with his foreign partner in what she recalled him telling her once was English.

With that action she finally realized that John Briefs would never be the man she needed him to be. He just didn't have it in him to really want to change. Silently she gathered her bag and jacket and stood. It wasn't until he had completed his call, extremely satisfied with the business he had just done, that he realized his wife had long since gone.

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It was at 3:05 that Vegeta decided it was time to go. The party was still in full swing but he really was not in the mood to deal with people today. He knew he better leave before his growing irritation got one of the drunken idiots that kept bumming into him in trouble.

"Bored?"

Vegeta glanced at the blond now standing next to him and hesitantly took the drink she was offering. "You could say that," he shrugged as he eyed the glass.

"No alcohol," Juu answered his silent question. He nodded and sipped from the glass. "I have to say I agree with you," she commented as she looked over the raging fiesta.

"It's for you. How can you not enjoy it?" he asked as his eyes searched the room.

"I was at first. Now I just wish they would all go home and leave me the hell alone," she shrugged as she crossed her arms. Vegeta couldn't help a chuckle.

"Well unlike you I can leave. Have you seen Bulma?"

"The last time I seen her she was-"

"There you are!" Krillin called approaching the two. "Come dance with me babe."

"All right," she said as he took her hand. "Oh, the last time I saw Bulma she was dancing with Goku," she threw back as she was pulled into the crowd.

Vegeta frowned and sat down his glass before moving into the horde. It could take forever before he found her in this throng and if he knew anything about Bulma Briefs he knew she'd be in the center of it all. Fifteen minutes later he proved himself right as he finally spotted her and Kakarot in the middle of the dance floor. Neither seemed to notice him until in a silly moment Kakarot dipped her low in his direction. Bulma giggled uncontrollably for a few moments before opening her eyes and looking up at him.

"Let me guess. Time to go?" she asked breathlessly.

He tilted his head slightly to the side to look at the upside down woman and nodded. He didn't even wait for Kakarot to set her on her feet before he made a beeline through the pack of crazed drunken teens to the front door. He waited for an extremely impatient twenty minutes inside his car for her. When she finally emerged into the rainy night she held her chin high as she ran to her side of the car.

"Don't look at me like that. I had to tell Juu and Jay happy birthday and it took a few minutes to find them," she explained hotly as she slid into the car.

"You told them when we first came in," Vegeta countered from his seat.

"Yeah, well," Bulma shrugged as she searched through her purse for tissue to dry her arms.

As he pulled out of the yard he couldn't believe he was willingly signing himself up for this type of shit. The first fifteen minutes of the drive were silent and Vegeta distinctively feel her eyes on him. Finally he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.

"What?" he wanted to know.

Bulma smiled and shrugged. "Nothing."

Vegeta groaned. Now she was going to start acting all `girlie' on him all over one little kiss. This could get really annoying really fast.

"Guess what?" she said in a cheerful tone then continued before he could speak, "A week from Friday is Senior Skip Day which also happens to be Goku's birthday so what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean what are we going to do?" he asked watching the road.

"Well, Goku's the youngest which kinda of signals the end of the year. The groups got to do something!"

"Calm down woman. I only meant that why are you asking me? Why don't you just plan it and tell everybody else what to do like usual?"

"Oh," Bulma said as if the thought had never dawned on her. "I guess you're right. I'll call ChiChi tomorrow and plan something." Vegeta only shook his head as he pulled into Capsule Corps.

The rain had slowed to a gentle drizzle and Bulma quickly grabbed her things before giving him a sly smile. "So you'll call me tomorrow right?"

"Not likely," he answered seriously.

Bulma rolled her eyes before she leaned towards him. "I guess I'll just have to call you then," she whispered before she let her lips settle on his.

As her soft mouth moved over his he gave into the urge to run his fingers into her still slightly damp strands and pull her mouth more firmly against his. Their tongues played curiously before she slowly pulled away, smiling almost shyly.

"Call you tomorrow," she confirmed before she opened the door and hopped out. He watched her run up the front porch and enter her house before pulling away.

The drive home had his mind jumping. He still thought the idea of him dating Bulma Briefs was ridiculous. It wasn't going to prove anything, of that he was sure. And yet- something drew him to her like nothing he had ever experienced before. Normally he only saw girls that didn't go to his school and were only looking for the same thing he was. But he had a feeling that Bulma was going to be much more than that.

He pulled into his driveway twenty minutes later deciding to just leave things be for the moment. The rain had completely stopped by the time he stepped out of his car. As he walked up the sidewalk he noticed that there was still a light on in his living room.

Then he saw them.

Two silhouettes, one small with long flowing hair, the other much larger with a towering flame. The taller figure grabbed the other and shook her roughly by the shoulders. She fought against him but it only made him angrier.

Vegeta wasted no time sprinting into the house. It was just as he stepped in the door that his father struck his mother across the face knocking her to the floor with a scream of agony. Vegeta didn't even pause in his step as he approached his father, grabbing the drunk roughly by the shirt and slammed his fist into his jaw sending the other man into a wall.

"Never again will you lay your hands on her!" Vegeta screamed at the startled man who was nursing his quickly swelling lip as he slumped against the wall.

When he finally raised his eyes to his son a murderous glint entered them. "You little bastard! How dare you strike your father?! Have you no resp-"

"Oh don't start spouting that bullshit to me! I so sick of all your crap about respect and honor. If you want me to learn such concepts way don't you try displaying them," Vegeta sneered in utter disgust.

The words hung in the air between them for several tense moments before a small hand touched Vegeta's shoulder. He turned to see his mother's bloody, tear-stained face pleading with him.

"Go upstairs dear," she said softly. When his eyes narrowed with barely concealed anger she quickly clarified. "I'll get some ice for your hand and be up in a few moments. Go on."

His eyes darted from the man lying before him and back to his mother before he nodded slowly. With one last look of disdain he turned from the man known as father and moved to the stairs.

Argana didn't spare her husband a glance as she step over him heading for the kitchen. Vegeta Sr. paid the woman no mind for his eyes were glued to the staircase where his son had retreated.

"Finally," he breathed as he once again touched the back of his hand to his heavily bleeding lip.

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Okay I need your help. In my absence I've missed a lot of updates so if you know of anything I read and review that has been updated in the last week and a half please let me know. Thanks for reading.