The Popstar

Chapter 7

Everything went on as usual between them and before they knew it, four months had flown by. Bulma was always up early because either she couldn't sleep or she had to be ready for some rehearsal or video shoot; they came back to her place when she was done and either worked out or ordered food in and relaxed on the couch watching TV together, which usually ended in Bulma falling asleep on the couch and Vegeta placing a blanket over her before turning in for the night himself.

It had become apparent rather quickly to Vegeta that Bulma did not sleep much and so if she fell asleep on the couch, he did not want to wake her.

She still couldn't sleep. It had been over five months since her abduction.

Nearly every night she was still plagued with nightmares and so she'd find herself just getting up and cleaning her home or working out in the gym in the middle of the night.

Sometimes Vegeta would get up and accompany her in her gym. He never admitted it, but Bulma suspected he was there for the same reason she was: nightmares. She still had not told him about the night she'd witnessed him having a bad dream. He was so confident and sure of himself and took himself so seriously, she knew he would likely not appreciate her knowing about that.

After a very long and gruelling three day video shoot with a well-known rap artist in which Bulma was a featured guest star in his song and video, and a seven hour flight later, they finally made it back to her place. It had been a solid five months that Vegeta had been staying with her and everything was going well. There had been no sign of her crazed fan, though Bulma was still very leery of going out on her own and the fact that she had not heard from him had been making her more anxious than not and so she was thankful that despite that, Vegeta didn't seem to mind staying with her. In fact recently, she had finally admitted to herself that she was more than just crushing on him. Badly. And that it had nothing to do with the fact that he was drop dead gorgeous. However none of her usual antics seemed to work on him. He was either immune or oblivious to her obvious flirting. Dressing scantily clad around the home usually earned her a dirty look from him, but nothing more.

She'd even let go her kickboxing trainer in favour of asking Vegeta to train with her in what he called real combat in hopes that the physical interaction might encourage him to instigate something, but so far Vegeta was nothing but professional and cordial with her. To the point where she was becoming frustrated with him.

"I'm taking a bath and going to bed," she announced with a yawn as the elevator stopped on her floor. "So please make your sweep quick."

Vegeta grunted in agreement. He himself was tired as well.

They entered the apartment and immediately Justice's hackles went up and they both knew right then that something was not right. Bulma's stomach dropped in anxiety and dread that something was wrong.

"Wait here," Vegeta told her, closing and locking the door and indicating for her to stay in the entryway. He dropped Justice's leash, pulled out his gun and followed the dog into Bulma's living space.

The Shepherd's nose was to the ground, sniffing everything.

Bulma jumped as she heard a slam of a door from her side of the apartment suite and while she wanted to go and see what the problem was, her feet were rooted to the ground and she couldn't move.

"What did I tell you about leaving the damned patio door open?" She heard Vegeta from inside her place.

"To keep it closed and locked at all times," she answered. "But I have been keeping it closed and locked!"

"Then why was it wide open?" He asked in annoyance, coming to stand at the entry way of her apartment to look at her accusingly.

"I don't know," she shook her head, wracking her brain trying to remember when the last time was that she had opened it. "But I know it was closed when we left. It had to be! I haven't been out on the veranda at all in several days before we even left. There's no reason for it to be open!"

Vegeta shook his head, obviously annoyed with her and not believing her.

"I'm serious!" She insisted. "I didn't even open it, never mind leave it open!"

"So you say,"

"Vegeta, I am terrified! Why would I do that and why would I lie about it?" She cried, beginning to get emotional.

"I am not accusing you of lying," he sighed, unsure of what he was accusing her of. For the most part, she had been really good about following his instructions with regards to safety precautions. "If anything, I am accusing you of being careless."

"But I wasn't!" She insisted.

"Fine," he sighed. The last thing he wanted was for her to start crying, which by this point she seemed on the verge of tears. "Justice!"

The Shepherd did not return right away and he sighed, before going to look for him. He found him in Bulma's bedroom, laying on the floor like he normally did when he had found something.

Vegeta frowned as he looked around the room. Everything appeared normal; so far as he could tell. "Bulma," he called out. "Come in here,"

In a moment, Bulma cautiously peeked around the door. "What is it?" She asked hesitantly.

"Is there anything out of place in here?" He asked, looking around. He checked the windows; they were locked.

"I don't think so," she said, looking around her bedroom. "It looks like it always does. Why?"

"Justice says otherwise," Vegeta answered, still looking around the room, but not wanting to look through or touch any of her things. It wasn't his room and he didn't feel right doing it.

"I don't know," she said, looking around and at Justice. He was laying next to her bed, facing her night stand. "It looks fine to me," she shrugged. "Can he be a bit more specific?"

Vegeta pointed to the night stand. Justice stood and sniffed it enthusiastically and lay down again, then looked at Vegeta, obviously anticipating a reward for a job well done.

"Is there a bomb in here?" she asked, remembering the time they had gone out and she'd watched Justice indicate on items that could be used as explosive materials.

"Not likely," Vegeta answered. "He also scents out human scent and there was obviously someone here that does not belong here or they left something here."

"I don't get it," Bulma shook her head and opened the drawer. There was nothing missing from the look of it and nothing in there that shouldn't be. On the surface was an empty wine glass and a notepad and pen she kept bedside in case she came up with any ideas for song lyrics. In preparation of her next album, she really wanted to be able to contribute towards this one; especially if it was to be her last, which she had been giving a lot of thought about. "There's nothing out of place,"

"Well, if you find anything wrong, let me know," he said. "Justice is never wrong. Something or someone that is not supposed to be here either is here, or was here."

"I sure hope not," she shuddered, getting down to the floor to look under the bed, where there was nothing. "Are you sure maybe there isn't some scent that was blown in while the patio door was open?"

"No," he shook his head. "That is not specific enough and he is fixated on something in here."

"Well I'm tired and I want a bath. No one is here, can I just relax now and if I find anything suspicious, I'll let you know."

Vegeta nodded. "I will be in the gym if you need me," he said turning to head out of her room with Justice. "I will have him do a sweep of the rest of your place as well."

"Okay, thanks," she nodded and stood there as he closed her bedroom door behind him. It took her a moment to swallow the lump in her throat and compose herself before she moved on to her bathroom to start running a bath for herself. She wasn't sure what to think and she had not wanted to have a meltdown in front of him. Had someone actually been in her place? She was one hundred and ten percent positive she had not opened her balcony door recently, let alone leave it open.

As she left the water to run, she exited her room and made her way to the main living area to grab a glass of wine to enjoy with her bath; she needed something to settle her nerves if she was going to be able to even attempt to sleep tonight. Vegeta was still out with Justice, who was sniffing the door heavily and with great interest.

"Find anything else suspicious?" She asked, watching them work.

"No," he grunted. "Though I am convinced that someone was in here while we were away. I think someone came in through your patio door and left via the door."

"Right and since all you need is a code to lock and unlock, if they left through the door, all they'd have to do is push the lock button on their way out," she nodded. "I swear I didn't leave the patio door open."

"Your mother would not have come up here?" He asked. Even on the patio, it did not appear to have been forced entry. It had been left open and nothing was broken.

"I don't think so," she shook her head.

"Would she have sent cleaning staff?" He asked, trying to think of every possibility.

"No," she shook her head again. "Plus look, while it's not exactly messy around here, clearly no one's been here cleaning. The floors need to be washed and there's some crumbs on the counter and our glasses from watching TV the night before we left are still on the table. It wasn't cleaning staff."

Vegeta smirked at her. "Good observation," he nodded, surprised that he hadn't noticed that obvious fact himself. "Well, I will buy a board for you to place in the track of your patio door so that even if it is unlocked but closed, no one will be able to slide it open."

"It was locked, Vegeta!" She said in annoyance. "I'm far too paranoid to leave anything unlocked these days."

"Mistakes and oversights happen," he said. "However we must be more careful."

She shook her head at him, more hurt than annoyed that he obviously did not believe her about the patio door, however there was no other explanation. "Whatever, I'm having a bath and going to bed. Enjoy the rest of your evening,"

"Good night," he grunted.

Bulma closed her bedroom doors and went back to her bathroom where her bath was still running. She turned the light on and gasped as she noticed a folded piece of paper taped to a bottle of wine on the vanity. She immediately shut the running water off and unstuck the piece of paper from the bottle, stationary from her bedroom on her night stand, and with shaking hands unfolded it.

"I am sorry our time together was interrupted and cut short. We will be together again soon. You'll see."

Bulma began breathing heavily, nearly to the point of hyperventilating as she stared at the note. Now it made sense as to why Justice had been so interested in her night stand. He had been here! He had likely been sitting on her bed. He had used the pen that was also on her night table and that was probably what Justice had been trying to indicate. Someone had been in her home, had touched her things and had left her a note with a bottle of wine.

That was not okay!

"Vegeta!" She cried, exiting her bathroom, abandoning her bath and rushing to show him her discovery.

Instead of finding him in the gym like she had expected, he was in his room, wearing black sweats and a tight black tank top. He looked like he was going to watch a movie in his den rather than going for a workout.

"Vegeta!" She called, getting his attention. "Look what I found in my bathroom!" She said, walking in and thrusting the sheet of paper at him.

"This was in your bathroom?" He asked in confusion after reading it.

"Yea," she nodded. "Along with a bottle of wine. I didn't notice it until I turned the lights on. What Justice was reacting to was probably the fact that he was using my stationary on my night table!"

"Told you he was never wrong," Vegeta said, though he was still frowning at the note.

"So what do we do?" She asked. "Do we take it and the bottle to the police?"

Vegeta frowned deeper at the letter. Something about all of this didn't sit right with him. There was no forced entry into her home, but a balcony door had been open and now someone had left her something. A part of him thought that it would be a good idea to have it checked for finger prints, but the other part of him had his own suspicions that this was someone she knew and knew well who was playing her; either they thought they were being funny, or they were deliberately trying to frighten her. Neither of which amused him. His prime suspect was still her idiot manager slash ex-boyfriend.

While Yamcha hadn't specifically done anything to arouse suspicion other than hover over Bulma a bit too much and put extreme pressure that she keep working at a hectic pace that he personally disagreed with, he hadn't actually done anything to confirm or abolish Vegeta's suspicions that he was the person involved with anything to do with her stalking and abduction. However if this was about to start up again, he would be keeping a close watch on absolutely everyone she had regular contact with.

"No," he finally said after giving it some thought. "We will not mention it or even acknowledge it,"

"What! Why?"

"Because I have a suspicion that whoever is doing this is someone that knows you, or rather, someone you know is putting someone else up to this," he replied. "If you mention this to the police, it will be leaked to the media and then you will be thrown into the spotlight over this all over again, which I am assuming you do not want, correct?"

"No," she shook her head in agreement. "I just want all of this to go away."

"Right. So far the police have been unhelpful in figuring out who sent you the other letters and who succeeded in abducting you so therefore I have no confidence in them. To do nothing and act as though this never happened may make this person antsy and they may escalate their efforts if you are not discussing it with your friends and family and it does not end up on the news. This may make them get sloppy and we may be able to figure out who it is."

"Great, so prepare to be harassed?" she asked with a frown. "That doesn't sound like a very good plan."

"If I feel you are in danger and the nature of these letters becomes disturbing, I will be contacting the police," he clarified. "However, while alarming, this is fairly benign. It may even be a practical joke in very poor taste from someone you know and is not the work of whomever abducted you. I think the prudent thing is to lay low, keep it quiet and see if it escalates or not.

"As well, you will be investing in some surveillance cameras for your home, however other than perhaps your parents, no one is to know of it," he went on. "Only you and I are to know about them preferably. That way, should this happen again, we will know who we are dealing with, can take a photo to the police and put an end to this for once and for all."

"Alright," she agreed. "You can set all that up. I don't want you to go through my parents, they will just get upset and don't have to know, not to mention I don't trust my mother to keep this quiet from anyone. The press will know about it within the hour whether someone who works around the compound over hears and tips someone off or she calls one of her friends to vent about it."

"Understood," he nodded.

Bulma took a shaky breath and then a long sip of her wine.

"It will be alright," he said to her, reaching out and touching her shoulder reassuringly. "I will make sure nothing happens."

Her stomach fluttered in excitement at his touch and she gave him a small smile. "I know you will, thank you," she said.

He lingered a moment, looking at her before stepping away and awkwardly looking to the ground. What on earth was he doing? That had been highly unprofessional! He internally chastised himself. The woman was growing on him and he was finding it harder and harder to ignore. "Good night," he said, turning from her and heading back into his bedroom. "Try to get some sleep."

"Thanks, I will," she said, her heart sinking as she watched him get all awkward and retreat back to his bedroom. What was it going to take to get him to relax around her? She was sure he was crushing on her the same way she was on him, but it was as though he would not allow himself that. "Good night,"

Bulma took her wine and went back to her room and into the bathroom to enjoy her bath. She hopped into the warm water as she turned the water back on to finish filling the tub. Once the bath was full, she shut the water off and leaned back and took a sip of her wine. Today had been long and stressful. Her back, feet and legs were sore, she was exhausted and she was now anxious again. She knew sleep would not come easily to her.

Try as she may, she could not settle in and relax. This person had been in here and in her bedroom. How creepy was that? She felt uneasy and uncomfortable now in her own place.

After several more minutes, she downed the rest of her wine and decided to get out of the bath. It wasn't relaxing her.

She got out of the tub, put on her pyjamas and fell into bed, hoping she would fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Her mind raced and she conjured up all sorts of terrible scenarios despite reminding herself repeatedly that she was being completely irrational. After about an hour or so of tossing and turning, she got out of bed and brought her pillow with her.

She hoped Vegeta was still up and watching movies in his room. Maybe he'd let her crash on the couch there just this one time. She felt like a complete idiot, but she was truly frightened all over again like she had been when she'd first come back home from her ordeal.

Bulma knocked softly on his door, which was always open a few inches.

"Are you watching movies?" She asked.

"Trying to find something," he answered and so she walked into his room. He was channel surfing.

"Can I stay here?" She asked, unsure.

Vegeta hesitated, but nodded. "Sure, if you do not complain about whatever I choose to watch."

She chuckled at him and made herself comfortable on the other side of the couch. "Watch whatever you want, I'll probably just fall asleep anyway,"

He did not say anything, but went into the menu and began scrolling through the movies on demand section. It took him a few minutes, but he finally found an action movie that appealed to him.

Just as she predicted, Bulma had fallen asleep fairly quickly in Vegeta's den, despite the noisy movie. When it was over, he debated waking her up but decided to let her sleep and instead draped the blanket that was in the living room over her before going to bed himself.

Several hours later, Bulma was awoken by the sound of voices and it took her a moment to realize where she was. She had fallen asleep on the couch in Vegeta's den. She sat up as she heard him mumbling something incoherent from where he slept in his bed, not far from where she was.

Her heart sunk as she noted that he was in distress and obviously having a nightmare. She hadn't witnessed it since that one time when he'd first come to stay with her. She debated on what she should do?

Did she just leave him alone and go back to her own room? She really didn't want to go and try to sleep on her own. However would Vegeta be angry if she woke him up? As she sat there and deliberated, the louder he seemed to get and she felt bad that he wasn't having a peaceful sleep.

Deciding on risking embarrassing him, she got up and carefully crawled in bed next to him. She still couldn't quite understand what he was saying, but he was twitching and he was sweating. Gently, she placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him carefully, saying his name quietly.

In a flash she found herself on her back and his hand firmly around her throat. In shock by the reaction, Bulma froze beneath him in fear.

It took Vegeta a second for his mind to adjust to his surroundings and he remembered where he was. Immediately he let Bulma go and moved away from her in shame. "What are you doing?" He hissed, bringing his knees up and burying his head in his hands. He remembered now that she had fallen asleep on the couch in the den and it only occurred to him now that his heart rate was slowing down back to normal that he had likely woken her up with one of his nightmares.

"You were having a… a bad dream," Bulma stuttered somewhat, trying to compose herself. "It sounded really bad, so I decided to wake you up. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,"

"I am sorry," he whispered in shame.

"It's okay," she said. "I wasn't sure if I should wake you or not. I guess I should have left you alone."

"It is okay," he sighed. "I know you meant well. Thank you."

Unsure what she should do, Bulma shifted over beside him and comfortingly put a hand on his back. "You're here for me, why can't I do the same?" she said, even though she felt it sounded stupid.

Vegeta sat there quiet for a while with his head still buried in his hands, barely noticing that Bulma was there until he felt the comforter beside him moving.

"What are you doing?" He asked in confusion.

"Going back to sleep," she said, reaching for his arm and trying to pull him down with her. "I'm too lazy to go all the way back to my room and I think we both need the company."

"This is not a good idea," he said, but relented and let her pull him in beside her.

"You're probably right, but at the moment I'm too tired to care," she yawned and rested her head on his shoulder.

Vegeta sighed heavily, but did not object. While he was beyond mortified by not only his reaction but her witnessing him having a horrific nightmare and the fact that he was sharing his bed with his employer, he had to admit, having someone there beside him felt good.