A/n: New chapter! Ok, I said at the end as well but just for the people that don't read the end, I've decided to edit all chapters so I added and took out some things. You're all probably familiar with the chapter mess-up. Don't worry about it. It's already fixed. Thank you to the people that told me about it :) this is a new chapter. I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own them...
Warning(s): AC, AL, SC
Fame II
Bulma woke up. She widened her eyes stunned. Very few were the times she had woken in the middle of the night. With the exception of Vegeta having a bad dream she never did wake up at all. She looked to the side. Two o'clock in the morning and Vegeta wasn't next to her. Now she was starting to worry. Where could he be? It wasn't as if he had a place to stay that wasn't his parent's or her room.
The blue haired woman threw the covers off her body. She walked to the window of her room that gave view to Vegeta's. His room looked untouched; the lights were off and there was no sight of him at all. His car wasn't parked on the driveway of his house. She sighed. It was definitely too early in the morning to call some of his friends or even her own. She looked at her cell phone charging on the night table aside her bed. There was only one person she could call…
Marlow's Sports Bar
"You alright?" the bartender spoke to Vegeta as Vegeta looked down at his drink feeling his eyes closing on him. He looked up lazily grabbing the glass filled with liquor and chugging the contents down his throat, smacking the glass against the table and pointing to it so to have another one
"I don't know, Vegeta" the bartender spoke "you don't look good" he added. Vegeta scoffed
"It's not what you think" he pulled a hundred dollar bill out his pocket "it's what I will pay you" he placed it aside the glass
"Now fill me up" he ordered. The man shook his head
"Your tab doesn't reach sixty" he said. Vegeta locked eyes with the man
"Then I'm not done drinking" he replied with arrogance. The man breathed out turning to look for more alcohol
"Idiot" he whispered to himself feeling his cell phone vibrating on him. He pulled it out of his pocket taking a close look at the caller ID. It was Bulma
"Not a good time" he spoke to himself screening the call
"Women" a guy beside him started "we give them all the freedom in the world and they only take a little bit then refuse to give us any freedom at all" he swallowed his drink. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the man. He was only tipsy compared to this guy but apparently having sort of the same problem understanding his other half. The man extended his hand to him
"I'm Tom" he introduced himself. Vegeta shook hands with him
"Vegeta" he said. The guy had dark straight hair and amazing bright blue eyes. He was dressed in a black business suit the first two buttons of his white blouse undone. He looked pretty normal except for that he had emptied out at least fifteen glasses of alcohol. The man had an awkward look on his face as he stared down at Vegeta
"Say, aren't you that kid that plays football for the Eagles?" he asked. Vegeta looked away. Busted
"Don't worry, I won't tell" Tom continued "gotta do something to keep the pressure off your shoulders, right?" he chuckled. Vegeta shrugged his shoulders
"Was that your woman?" he questioned referring to the call that the youngster had just screened
"It was" Vegeta replied remorseless. Tom smirked
"Mine calls ever hour" he began "always skeptical as if I'd be shitty enough to fuck someone else. Not that I ever have" he clarified "I love her way too much. I spoil her to no end. I kiss her until she's out of breath. I make love to her; it's so good how she feels inside, so splendid. I say 'I love you' every morning, every afternoon and every evening. I can't stop saying it. I just love her that much. She's a wonderful woman. Very kind and honest, has a great sense of humor. If I ever had to find another woman, I'd rather surrender. What I have with her is the best I've ever had. You can't find the best you've ever had more than once. There's just no such luck" he said. Vegeta raised a brow. Although he did sound like a wacko to him, the way he described how he felt for the one he loved was admirable
"We're having a baby next month" the guy continued "so you won't be seeing much of me on ESPN" he smiled. Vegeta furrowed his brows
"You're-"
"Tom McLean, yes" he nodded chugging another drink down his throat "I'm glad we got to meet before you went pro" he said. Vegeta frowned
"Why?"
"I've always wanted to meet you" he confessed "I wanted to see who you were before fame" Vegeta's expression became puzzled
"Fame is a big thing, kid" the man continued "this is nothing; college is but a taste of it, NFL" he shook his head "now that's the real deal"
"I don't give a shit about fame" Vegeta said irate. Tom chuckled
"Well it ain't about whether you care or not. Fame gives a shit about you. That's all there is to it" he said. Vegeta grunted wordless
"Listen" Tom started "before you go pro, there's one thing you need to understand" he breathed profoundly "fame will follow where you go. When you suck, when you're good, when you fuck up on and off the field, when you're big, when you're small, when you change, when you become, when you don't; it'll be there. It's a steady rock on the way. Don't ever live up to it. Live up to your own ambitions, live up to what you want. You will sink in it if you don't and you will realize in the end that you lived up to what they wanted" he suggested. Vegeta frowned hard
"I don't have to put up with them-"
"What do you mean you don't have to? Of course you do! That's the fun part!" he exclaimed "you find the most subtle ways to say 'fuck you' and 'go to hell.' You ridicule them, make fun of them, let them know they don't own you" he added. Vegeta looked away appearing uninterested
"You love your woman?" the man questioned now
"That's not your business" he growled
"Not a talker, eh? I get it" he shook his head "amazing how women can find a way to your heart and completely take over it. I'm more of a romantic type of guy, you see? Any time you see me you will find me speaking about the greatest love of my life, my wife. I'm about to have another great love, my baby. She's a girl. We're going to name her Violet. My wife is passionate about the flower itself" he explained "but I trust you can be the better man" he stood from his seat "go back to her or at least call back" he suggested reaching his hand to him
"It was nice meeting you. I think you have a lot of potential" he smiled kindly "so keep up the good work and I will see you in the pro's" he chuckled. Vegeta stared perplexed as the men shook hands
"Oh and just a bit of information-- l will be doing your first NFL interview. Trust me on that one" he winked his eye at him turning on his heel and waving a hand in the air as he exited the bar. Vegeta stared at the empty path now. Who the hell was this guy? Where did he come from? Ironic how the same day he questioned his feelings for Bulma a random guy appeared and described the beauty of having somebody to love.
He didn't believe in signs but had he believed in them this would have been a clear one. He took a seat again letting the words sink in. She's the best I've ever had. You can't find the best you've ever had more than once. There's just no such luck he thought about it; the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. But was Bulma the best HE had have? There was no sense on looking for somebody else if no one else could compare to her but could she possibly be?
He breathed profoundly thinking and rethinking about what was going on. She wanted a reason, he couldn't give her one? Why? Because the thought of the search being over was frightening as if it was time to steadily commit. Commitment. The word alone was frightening; it almost made his skin crawl. He couldn't bring himself to go back to her room, sleep on the same bed, breathe the same air; not now. The doubts in his head were maddening. He knew his guard would fail him and it would leave an open room for her to poke her nose in. He had a lot of thinking to do and she would just be a distraction that he couldn't afford. Women; they did always find a way into a man's heart and keep it making everything more complicated…
Saturday - The Day Begins…
"Hey" 18 entered Chichi's bedroom. Chichi stood from her desk quickly. She wasn't expecting any visits except for that of her boyfriend's
"18!" she exclaimed nervously "wha-what are you doing here?" she stammered. 18 furrowed her brows
"What am I doing here? I'm always here on Saturday, Chi" she pointed out. Chichi smiled nervous
"Right" she muttered playing with her fingers. 18 looked around the room examining every detail. The room was dimly lighted with candles on the desk, the wardrobe, the night table and anything that was a hard enough surface to rest a candle on. Red rose petals covered the floor and the smell was heavenly like fresh cherry blossoms. 18 furrowed her brows
"Ok what the hell is going on?" she faced Chichi. Chichi scoffed
"Nothing. I thought you'd call instead of just showing up" she replied. 18 frowned
"I did call. Your phone was busy" she said
"It was busy because I was probably on both lines" Chichi explained
"That's your own fault then" the blonde replied arrogantly "why are you dressed up anyway?" she changed the topic. Chichi's stood motionless as 18 eyed her whole figure. Her outfit consisted of a mint green colored tank top and a white short tennis skirt looking very fresh and comfy
"Me and Goku were going for a walk around the park" she lied. 18 sniggered
"It's eleven o'clock on a Saturday morning" she approached her "you're wearing heavy makeup, your chest sparkly, you straightened your hair, come on. Do you honestly think I'm that stupid? Without even going any further, I'd say you two are up to something" she stared suspicious. Chichi turned away attempting to hide the guilty expression on her face
"I was trying on my new make up" she started "and I was trying on clothes too. I bought a new flat iron yesterday and-"
"And you wanted to try all of them at the same time?" the blonde cut off "come on, Chichi" she rolled her eyes "what is going on?"
"Nothing is going on. I already told you" she faced her friend now. 18 raised a brow
"Are you sure? You look... different..." she noticed. Chichi became anxious. 18 browsed the room some more spotting a cup full of condoms to the side of Chichi's bed
"Why is there a huge cup of condoms beside your bed?" she inquired. Goku appeared out Chichi's bedroom door. Chichi grabbed 18's arm turning her to face him
"And Goku's here!" she sounded cheerful "are you ready to go walk around the park honey?" she widened her eyes at him hoping that he would get the idea. Goku smiled insecure
"I…guess so" he replied doubtful. Chichi breathed out. They almost blew their cover. 18 pulled from Chichi's grip
"What the hell, Chichi? You knew I was coming over. Saturday is our day of the weekend" she protested. Chichi smiled hypocritically
"Oh well I guess it'll have to be next Saturday. Goku and I haven't done anything romantic in like forever so we decided to do this whole thing. I can't possibly turn it down" she explained. 18 scoffed angrily as Chichi pushed her out the door
"Next time just let me know you'll be coming by-"
"You already knew-"
"Ok it was good seeing you. Call me. We'll hang out" she closed the door on her face. 18 stared angrily at the closed door before her. She was going to argue the whole issue again but decided to leave it. Chichi was acting extremely weird anyway. What was the point?
Bulma's House
"Hey it's me. I just want to make sure everything is ok. Call me when you get this" Bulma hung up breathing out with a gloomy expression. It was full morning now and still no sign of Vegeta. Maybe he had stayed at one of his friend's house. Impossible her mind quickly refuted. One of their friends would've called her OR at least made him call. She sighed. They hadn't said the nicest of things before turning away from each other let alone dealt with what his parents had recently revealed. Her thoughts were racing. He could be anywhere right now; he could be in trouble. What if he had lost his cell phone somewhere? What if he had an accident? Please let that not be the reason why he hasn't called she spoke to herself. Anger had washed over her at this point replaced by an enormous fear that something might've gone wrong
"It couldn't have" she whispered out loud. Her phone went off enticing a short scream from her as the noise startled her. She answered it quickly
"Hello?"
"Hey B, it's me" the blonde's heavy voice came from the other end of the line
"Oh. Hey" disappointment resounded on her tone
"Is everything ok?" 18 cross-examined
"Yeah. I just haven't seen Vegeta in a while" Bulma spoke sadly
"I'm coming over" 18 replied
"Alright" the blue haired woman agreed "the door's open…"
Somewhere Out There – Late Afternoon
Vegeta: "(childish laughter) come on! Come on!"
Vegeta's Mom: "Hang on, Vegeta. You have to wear sunscreen!"
Vegeta: "Go far, mom! Go far!"
Vegeta's Dad: "Watch out, son! There are people behind you"
Vegeta: "Dad! Tell her to go far!"
Vegeta's Dad: "Honey, go far will ya?"
Vegeta's Mom: "He has to wear sunscreen. You know he burns easily"
Vegeta's Dad: "Come here, Vegeta! Sunscreen first, boy!"
Vegeta: "Mom, you had to go far"
Vegeta's Mom: "I know. I will. Let's put this on first"
Vegeta: "Dad, you go short on this one"
Vegeta's Dad: "What's the touchdown?"
Vegeta: "The third wave"
Vegeta's Mom: "The third wave? Mom's not going to be a wide receiver then"
Vegeta: "Aw come on, mom"
Vegeta's Dad: "I'll be the wide receiver. I'll go far"
Vegeta: "Yes! You have to catch it, dad"
Vegeta's Dad: "Hey, I'm not that bad..."
Memories rushed through Vegeta's head as he sat in complete loneliness at a typical, very predictable spot. The whole ordeal with his parents was over, for good, no more kicking and screaming, no more fights. It was undeniable that his parents, for once, had done the right thing. Their fights were getting bad enough; one of them was going to come out seriously hurt had they not stopped. Yet he felt a sharp pain in the deepest of his heart. Despite how much they hated yet loved each other and despite how much he hated them for how much they hated yet loved each other, the idea of them still living together kept an image of family alive for him. Now the image was shattered.
His father hadn't been the greatest in the world. When it came to discipline he was strict as he was rigid; not one of his son's wrong actions would go by unpunished. Vegeta had shown early signs of rebellion against his father's authority. His father didn't want to discipline him, or so he insisted. His reason for discipline was that if he didn't keep Vegeta on track, he might derail. He wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen. His mother tried hard to make him understand that his father only did what he did because he loved him. That would always be questionable in his head. His father had his moments; sometimes he felt like chatting it out while other times he felt like beating the shit out of him. His intentions were always unclear. His motives were always unclear. No matter how many things he would teach or preach about, when it was Vegeta's turn to do it, it was never good enough.
Playing football became one of those things. He could get all the awards in the state, the nation, but it was never enough. If it wasn't that he needed to be bigger then he needed to be stronger. If he didn't need to be stronger then he needed to be faster. If it wasn't faster then it was smarter. And the list went on. Obviously, it became exhausting. Vegeta chose to get punished more often than not as long as it meant he got to do what he wanted, not what his father intended for him to do. He achieved either way; that was the end goal. Taking matters into his own hands hadn't proved to be futile for him to this day. Why not keep doing the same?
"What?" Vegeta answered his ringing cell phone
"Raditz here. Where the hell are you, man? I've been calling all day-"
"I'm not going" he cut off
"What do you mean you're not--you have to come! Goku and Yamucha are already in it-"
"Well I'm not" he said plainly
"Come on. Don't turn pussy on me. It'll just be the four of us playing poker down at the basement-"
"I said count me out" his blood began to boil
"Veg-man, we can't play with just three. We need one more-"
"No-"
"I'll go pick you up. Come on. Get dressed-"
"What part of 'NO' do you not understand, idiot?"
"It's a guy Saturday. Why not?" he pushed
"That's not your business"
"It's not but we can talk about it while we play poker-"
"I'm hanging up now-"
"No wait!-"
"What?" he asked annoyed
"Come play?" he pleaded one last time. The other line cut off
"Damn it" he cursed "Vegeta turned us down, I can't find my stupid-ass brother and Yamucha is on his way. Great fucking Saturday" he shook his head dialing Goku's phone number next in an attempt to find him this time…
Bulma's House
"So what happened?" 18 and Bulma sat on Bulma's bed comfortably
"I don't know" Bulma breathed out tiredly "his parents told him they were divorcing yesterday-"
"They did?" the blonde interrupted shocked
"Yes-"
"How did he take it?" she further interrogated
"Not too good" Bulma sighed "he doesn't want to talk about it so I'm only telling you from what I see" she explained
"Typical" 18 scoffed "that's Vegeta for you" she rolled her eyes
"I tried to help him talk about it" Bulma continued "but he snapped at me so I told him to go figure his issues out on his own because I was tired of him turning his back on me and he said that he was tired of my shit and then he left and I was like fine" she got worked up just talking about it. 18 breathed profoundly
"Sounds like he's not doing well" she said. Bulma shrugged her shoulders
"I know" she looked down gloomily
"It's not your fault, Bulma. I know what you're thinking" 18 started "he's being a complete jackass. He knows it's not good to keep all that stuff inside. You were only trying to help" she pointed out
"He hasn't come home since then; hasn't called, hasn't been in his house. He screens my phone calls" Bulma said. 18 sighed
"Whatever it is that's gotten him confused and has kept him from coming back, I'm sure he'll figure it out. Vegeta has been so loyal to you. I'm sure his intentions were never to keep you on your toes like this" she said
"I'd conform knowing that he's ok. It's just so random that he hasn't called me, you know? It's kind of nerve wrecking" she said
"I'm sure he's fine. He knows how to take care of himself…"
Raditz's House
"Poker sucks with two people" Raditz complained. Yamucha scoffed
"No kidding. Where IS Goku, anyway?" he asked
"That's what I want to know" Raditz responded frowning "I've been calling the whole day" he complained. Yamucha shook his head
"Well we have two choices. We can go home to our women or stay and make the best out of it" he suggested. The men exchanged looks pensive
"Poker" they agreed in unison…
Bulma's House – Evening
Bulma turned in bed once again attempting to fade to sleep by changing to a different position. She opened her eyes annoyed. Going to bed early wasn't going to bring down her aggravation either. She was confused to say the least. All of his actions could only conclude on one thing: he didn't love her enough. How could she assume any less? He didn't even care to call when he'd been missing all day. Saying he did care was an overstatement.
Her phone rang making her jump. She quickly turned grabbing the handset right away
"Hello?"
"I'm not going there tonight"
"Vegeta where are you?"
"I have to go"
"What the hell is going on?"
"I'll call you tomorrow"
"No, Vegeta-"
"What?"
"Where are you?"
"I told you I'll call you tomorrow"
"That is not what I asked"
"It's none of your business"
"Yes it is my business. You can't just disappear and not tell me where you are. Are you o-?"
"I'm fine. I gotta go"
"Wait...Vegeta! Vegeta? Vegeta?" he hung up. She breathed out upset. Her eyes welled up with tears, not sad tears but tears of anger. Why did she give a shit? It was obvious he didn't. She let her body rest back against the bed. A whole day worried about him; it was just a waste of energy. He was starting to grow out of her, the first time he had ever accomplished that. She closed her eyes angered. Why wasn't it working out, she didn't know. Was it worth saving? Now that was the true question…
End of Ch. 8. It's been a while. I'm sorry I messed up the chapters. On that note, I meant to mention, I have edited all chapters before this one so all of them will have something new or different in them. Regardless of how long it takes for me to finish this story, I will finish it. About this chapter: not too happy, I know. It isn't sad either. Thank you everybody that have been supporting me and helping w/ my writing. Thanks for the reviews. Hope everyone's doing ok. Read me soon:)
Love
PL
