Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.

Well, here's a new story (again) for the new year. It's another AU (big surprise XD) where Vegeta is in a foster home and goes to the Briefs family. However, something happens with Bulma that makes them send him away and they meet again in the future. I know, bad summary, but it'll make a ton more sense when I actually write the chapter. Also, OOC warning, but did I really have to say that XD

It was a day that kids like him both hoped for and dreaded, a day where he'd be both free and trapped. After spending years with an abusive drunk father and a drug addict mother, Vegeta Ouji was being sent to a foster home. He would finally be able to get away from his parents, but being thirteen, he had to follow the orders of those taking care of him. He would be schlepped around everywhere and even if he did like a family, there were no guarantees that they would keep him.

"Hey, Vegeta!" he heard his best friend and neighbor call before he was taken away.

"Hey, Kakarot," Vegeta greeted, refusing to meet his friend's worried expression.

"So, where are you going to go?" he asked.

"I don't know," Vegeta answered honestly.

"Hello, are you Vegeta's friend?" the social worker asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, my name is Goku. He calls me Kakarot."

"Okay, Goku," the social worker said giving him a notepad. "You can write down your address and phone number. And then I'll give you the address to the foster home and you can come for a visit."

Goku nodded and started writing down all of his information, although he knew Vegeta already had it stored in his laptop. It seemed like they were going to let him take most of his belongings, except some of his gaming consoles, which Vegeta had given to him a few days prior. He knew they were coming to take him away.

The social worker wrote down the information to the foster home and gave it to Goku and then turned to Vegeta. "Alright, let's get you home before it gets late."

Vegeta rolled his eyes without the woman seeing before nodding.

A few weeks went by and Vegeta hadn't really adjusted to life in the foster home. He went to visit Goku most of the time. Goku's family loved seeing him and they wished that they could take him in, but with two children and their father being away on business all the time, they didn't stand a chance.

At this moment, Vegeta was lying down on his bed, staring up at another bed. In his room, there were two bunk beds so that four children could fit in there. He was alone right now. All the other children were playing outside or watching TV. Vegeta wanted no part of it.

His social worker appeared in his doorway and knocked. He turned his head to see her and then looked back up at the bed.

"Vegeta, there's a family here that wants to meet you," she told him. A wealthy family had been looking into taking him for the last month, but she hadn't told him. She wanted to wait until all of the background checks were run so that she didn't get his hopes up for nothing.

Vegeta sat up. He hadn't expected anyone to come to meet him so soon.

"Well, come on," his social worker teased. "You don't want to keep them waiting."

Vegeta nodded and went to the kitchen with the social worker.

"Oh, you must be Vegeta," a blonde woman stated frantically. "It's so nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too?" Vegeta said unsure.

The lavender-haired man chuckled. "Please excuse my wife," he said. "She gets a little excited about, well, everything."

Vegeta felt a little more at ease around the two. They asked him questions about what school he went to, if he played any sports, what his interests were, and other information about himself.

"Well, would you like to come see our home, today, Vegeta?" the blonde asked.

"Dear, I think we should tell him who we are first," the man suggested.

"Oh, you're right, dear. Well, I'm Bunny Briefs, and my husband is Trunks Briefs. We have a daughter named Bulma."

Vegeta was surprised, not only at the fact that this was one of the wealthiest families in the world that was interested in him, but that they also had a daughter he had never heard of.

"So, my boy," Dr. Briefs started, "would you like to come with us for the day?"

Vegeta nodded. He'd be an idiot to turn a family away, especially one with such nice people.

Vegeta was amazed by the size of their home. In all honesty, with the amount of rooms he counted from one wing, all the children at the foster home could fit here with their own room and still have a ton left over.

After they showed him around, Bulma had been getting home from a friend's house.

"Hi mom, hi dad, I'm home," she greeted when she entered the kitchen. She was surprised to find that they weren't alone. "Who are you?"

"Bulma, this is Vegeta. You know how we told you we were considering taking someone in, right?" Bulma nodded, still not really sure what they meant. "Well, he's going to be staying with us for a while, if he wants to."

Bulma turned to Vegeta and smiled. She held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Bulma."

Vegeta took her outstretched hand and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "Vegeta."

"I hope you decide to stay. It'll be really fun to have someone else my age here."

Vegeta was slightly amused and felt a lot better about everything. This girl made him feel like this was definitely a welcoming environment. "I think I will."

A/N: So, kind of a sucky starting chapter, but hey, I tried. I'm uncharacteristically exhausted XD Let me know if you see any mistakes (as always), because I'm telling you now, there's probably a few. Let me know what you think. :D