Damn Dress A Love Story Ch 02

The car ride on the way back to Commander Branson's house was quiet. Sienna wouldn't look at Brandon. She kept her face pressed up against the glass staring out of the window. Brandon kept glancing at her. She hadn't moved.

He wanted to say something to her, but he wasn't quite sure what he could say. He also couldn't help but stare at her legs. That damn dress was dangerously close to riding up her thigh and giving him a show.

He tried to keep his focus on the road, but chanced another glance at the riding hem of her dress. Big mistake. When he glanced up at her face, she was staring at him. And not just staring at him, but she looked like she was trying to channel all the hate she could into her eyes and sling it at him. Her face was tear stained and her puffy lips were turned down in a frown.

He tried to smile at her to lighten things up, but he couldn't manage one. Finally he blew a sigh.

"I can take care of that for you," Sienna offered lowering her eyes to his semi hard erection.

When his eyes followed her path and it clicked in his brain at the same time, semi was replaced by full blown hard on.

"What?!" he choked out.

"I've seen guys get boners before because of me. Just wanted to know if you wanted me to help you out."

Brandon flexed his jaw again, and he couldn't help but think of some little bastard pointing his intruding cock at Sienna. And then the thought of her 'helping' them out made his blood boil.

But Brandon had to chuckle to himself. Commander Branson had wanted him to visit the shrink on base so he could get rid of his past demons and look to the future. Said it was the only way he could reign in his quick violent temper and force it into positive energy or some shit like that.

It didn't work because Brandon didn't consider himself one of these flaky guys who liked to talk about his emotions. For him, they were locked away in a deep chest buried at the back of his mind and that's where they would remain.

But the shrink did teach him some techniques to control his anger. Normally, he just liked to drop people. One quick hit to the bridge of the nose and they would fall to the floor and grab their face. The blood usually scared them and anyone else who would have tried to jump in on their behalf. But now, he'd count backwards from ten and breathe. Worked sometimes. Other times, blood was necessary.

But what caused Brandon to chuckle was the fact that Sienna seemed to piss him off more than anyone else he had ever met. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

But he decided to call her on her bluff. Someone really needed to teach this young woman a lesson and obviously her still bruised ass didn't do the trick.

He pulled his Jeep over to the side of the road.

Sienna kept staring at him wondering what the hell he was doing. He removed his seatbelt and turned to her and rested his hand over her headrest.

"So...you ready to help me out?" he said through a smirk.

Sienna gulped praying he didn't hear it. She tried to maintain her straight face, but inside she was panicking. She wasn't sure if she was ready. Not like this anyway.

Brandon slowly licked his lips and ran his eyes down her body, resting on several parts that made her shiver.

"Get in the back seat," he whispered.

Sienna was frozen. Nervously she smiled and tried to search his eyes to see if he was serious. He looked serious.

"I, uh...well, I didn't mean it like that," she stuttered.

"How did you mean it?" he asked twirling his fingers around a strand of her hair.

"I just meant, um...I mean that--"

He cut her off, "I know exactly what you meant." He put the car back in gear and sped off.

"I'm not one of your little high school boyfriend playthings. Don't fucking come at me like that again if you can't back that shit up," he continued in his Bostonian drawl.

He glanced back over at her and she was staring out of the window again. He hadn't meant to get testy with her but she needed to learn.

After a few minutes of silence Brandon decided to speak.

"Okay, since you're not going to say anything, I have something I need to say. I'm sorry about what happened back there in my house. I got carried away. And if I hurt you, I'm even more sorry."

"Do you want me?" she asked and turned back around for his answer.

Of all the things he was expecting her to say, THAT wasn't it. And he didn't know how to respond. If he said, yes...then it would encourage her. But if he said no, after tonights little display, he'd seem like a liar. He chose to be brutally honest.

"Of course I want you Sienna. What man wouldn't? But that's all it can ever be. Just want. I can't have you," he answered quietly while looking straight ahead.

"Why not?" Sienna asked, more inquisitive than mad.

"Well, the Commander for one. You know he's like a father to me. And this would betray his trust in the worst way. I couldn't stand to look at his face if I ever let him down. That would kill me." Even just thinking about Commander Branson not trusting him or being his confidant put an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Sienna sat quietly for a moment thinking about his answer. Then she turned back to stare out of her window. "But you don't mind killing me," she replied more to herself than him.

Brandon took another deep breath and decided to turn on the radio and drown out the sad silence they both were forced into.

When they reached her house, he barely had the car parked when she jumped out and slammed the door. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her father sitting on the steps. She was too tired and emotionally drained to deal with one of his moral speeches. She walked up the steps and right past him even though he had called her name.

Brandon stared at the Commander for a second before he got out of the Jeep. Jackson looked tired. He rubbed his hand over his face and five o'clock shadow. He gave a weak smile to him as Brandon strolled slowly up the steps to sit beside him.

"Hey Commander. Long night?"

"Yeah. Very. So where was she?" he asked already dreading the answer to that.

"Well, she uh, she walked to my house," Brandon answered sheepishly.

He knew what Jackson was thinking. It was no secret to either of them that his baby girl had a crush on Brandon, but now that she was a beautiful and sexy young woman, it was getting harder and harder for both of them to pretend it didn't matter.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine," Brandon lied.

Jackson just sat there for a moment staring out into the driveway. Brandon was about to leave when he heard him speak again.

"It's just that...I don't know what to do with her sometimes. I...hell," he whispered.

Brandon leaned back against the steps. He knew it was hard for Jackson to say anything touchy, so when he did, Brandon always listened. Actually, he listened to him all the time regardless. He had never really had much respect for anyone in his life until he met the Commander.

Jackson continued, "She has so much of her mother in her and it scares me. She looks like her, she has her free spirited fighter attitude. But I don't want her to be like Dara. But I see her going down the same path. Dara always wanted everything the world had to offer. I was never enough, but I was okay with that. Just being with her made me feel special, but after awhile, your love for someone can't carry an entire relationship."

Jackson had to stop for a moment. He had tried hard over the years to forget his past relationship.

"When she ran off with that guy, I wanted to kill her. For leaving me, for leaving our baby. That guy was no good for her and now she's all damaged goods. On drugs last I heard. How does that happen? She was such a sweet girl when I first met her all those years ago. Just like Sienna is now."

Brandon didn't know any of this. The Commander never talked about his wife. Brandon sat in silence and continued to listen.

"I'm so scared that I'm going to lose her one day. She's so naive and impulsive and she's constantly doing things that scare the hell out of me. Like she's daring the world or something. God, if anything ever happened to her, I'd die."

Brandon looked out into the front yard thinking of how he would feel if something happened to Sienna. The thought paralyzed him. He couldn't bring himself to think of any harm coming to her. Not his Sienna. His thoughts were interrupted by the Commander.

"I'm sorry Brandon, it's late. You should probably get back home. Thank you so much for watching over her. As always."

Brandon got up and smiled at Jackson.

"Not a problem sir. Just glad she's safe."

Brandon walked to his jeep and then thought about something else. "Oh, hey Commader!" He yelled back at him before Jackson entered the house.

"Yes?"

"Please find that dress and burn it," Brandon said with a smile on his face.

The Commander smiled back at him. "With pleasure."

*******************

Lori was in her bed asleep when Sienna came barreling through. She pulled the dress off and put on a thin shirt and got into bed. Lori turned to ask her a question right as they heard a knock on the door.

"We're sleeping, dad," Sienna yelled through the door.

"You just got in there. Let's not wake Lori up. Please come to my study, we need to talk."

Shit, she thought. This was easily racking up to be the worst night of her life. She just wanted to go to bed and dream that it never happened.

"Now young lady," he quietly whispered through the door.

She threw the covers off and grabbed her white shorts and snatched the door open. Her father was standing there staring at her. He turned and walked back to his study. She begrundginly followed.

When they reached the study, he sat down in his chair and leaned back. He calmed himself before he spoke to her. She stood with hands on hips staring at him. A smile reached the corner of her mouth when she noticed that Brandon did that same thing when he was pissed at her. He'd look up towards the ceiling as if begging the Gods to please tame his anger.

Her father finally looked back down at her. "Sienna...what's going on?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"That's not a good enough answer honey," he said while lightly tapping his fingers on his desk.

She could tell he was nervous. He was always nervous when they had their little talks. She knew this was hard for him. These were things that mothers did. Not fathers. Their talk about sex had been a funny one. He called her into his study when she was 13.

"Now, you know about boys and all that stuff, right?" he had asked her.

"Yes," she lied to avoid being utterly embarrassed at the thought of her father discussing sex with her.

"Okay," he answered quickly and went right back to work.

That was the extent of their 'sex talk'. Obviously, she had a lot to learn. So for those little details, she would learn from her girlfriends who had potty mouths and were the more 'experienced' girls in her school. She knew deep down that she was a good girl, who would play at being bad because it was fun. She liked to tease boys. Or men. Most of the boys at her high school would flirt with her but that was about it.

They knew who her father was. They were scared of him. They didn't realize her father was just a big old soft teddy bear and would never hurt anyone. Actually, if she were being truthful with herself...it was the lion they needed to watch out for. Brandon was the dangerous one.

On occasion the Commander couldn't pick her up from school, so Brandon would come in his place. Her heart would flutter when she'd see him pull up in his black Jeep and park in front of the school.

All her girlfriends wanted him. They would go over to the Jeep and flirt with him as she slipped into the passenger side. He would talk to them in his thick Boston accent that seemed to melt them even more. He wasn't like the soft friendly guys out here in California. He was darker and harder. Maybe it was an east coast thing. But whatever it was, it made her friends melt.

Lori was her best friend and had known her longer than any other friend. She supported her crush on Brandon, but would frequently remind her that it wouldn't work. She felt that the Commander would never allow it. Sienna knew that her father loved Brandon like a son, but that would cause a unforgivable rift.

"Is it me?" her dad asked bringing her back from the past. "Am I not a good father?"

"It's not you dad," she answered honestly while digging her toe into the carpet.

"You seem to be restless and irritated all the time. I know I don't say much and have never been the overly affectionate type, but I do notice things. Especially when they are with my only child."

She really didn't want to do this now. She was tired, emotionally hurt and her ass was still raw.

"It's only us baby girl. I am all you have and you are all I have. I need you to talk to me. Let me know what's going on in that pretty head of yours. Please."

She didn't answer him. She didn't know what to say. SHE didn't even know why she acted a certain way sometimes. Maybe it was hormonal. One of her friends had gotten on birth control for hormonal reasons, which only turned her into an even bigger bitch, so Sienna opted against that.

When she didn't respond to him, Jackson sighed. But he knew what this could be about but he just wasn't ready to go there yet. But knew he had to.

"This is about Brandon, isn't it?" he asked quietly.

Sienna couldn't bear to face her father. If her skin was white, she would have turned bright red. She wasn't ready to talk to her father about that either. It was a given that she had a crush on him, but she and her father never tested those waters of talking about it. He would just shake his head or roll his eyes whenever he caught her staring at him, or vying for his attention. But now it looked like she had to face it. And so did he.

"Honey, Brandon is a grown man. He's 28," he sighed and leaned back again. "I know you have a crush on him, but he's like your older brother, you know."

Sienna snorted. "You don't know anything," she replied.

"Then tell me."

She stood staring at her father. She was not going to let him reduce her feelings for Brandon down to some stupid teenage crush. She knew it was more than that. And even if Brandon wasn't ready to admit it, she knew it was more than that for him too.

"I'm tired. Can I go to bed now?" she asked.

Jackson sighed again. "Sure. Sleep tight."

With that, she turned on her heels and stomped out of the room.

When she walked out of the room, Jackson started to feel strange. He felt a sharp pain in his hand that rolled up his arm into his chest. He grabbed his heart and tried to stand up but slumped over the desk knocking everything off in a loud bang against the floor.

Sienna heard the crashing noise and went running back to her fathers study. When she opened the door, she saw him leaning over his messy desk.

"Daddy?!" she screamed as she ran to him.

"I'm fine baby, I just need to go to the hospital," he whispered.

*******************

Brandon paced back and forth at the hospital. LT Nick Dennison was there also. Or just LT as he was known by his men. Nick had told the other men that the Commander was fine but just needed rest. So one by one they eventually left. All except Brandon of course. And he had no intentions of leaving until he could see Jackson.

Sienna sat on the hospital bench looking at Brandon. He was trying to remain calm, but she knew her phone call to him earlier that evening had scared the shit out of him. He had on his poker face, but his constant walking back and forth gave him away.

When Sienna called him, he was halfway back to his place when he almost flipped his jeep trying to turn back around. The doctors had told him that the Commander had suffered a mild heart attack. That is was nothing to worry about, but they needed to run some tests.

He glanced over at Sienna. He knew he was looking at her with evil eyes, but he couldn't help himself. Part of him was blaming her for why Jackson was laying in this cold hospital anyway. He knew when he had left, Jackson was worried and stressed about his daughter. And no doubt probably tried to talk to her, but obviously it didn't go well.

Sienna looked away from him. She didn't know what he was thinking, but again, he looked pissed at her. Well hell, she thought. That makes about 3 or 4 times that he's managed to be mad at her in the same day. Think that's a new record.

Finally the doctor came back out and broke Brandon's gaze.

"We just got some of the tests back and he'll be just fine. As we mentioned before, it was a mild heart attack due most likely to stress. We have to wait a little while longer for his blood test, but we are pretty confident that he can be released tomorrow morning."

Brandon blew a sigh of relief and Sienna slumped a little in her seat for the first time since she'd been there.

"At this time, anyone who's a part of his family, can go back," the doctor continued.

Sienna got up and walked towards her fathers hospital room. Brandon began walking back with Sienna when a male nurse stopped him.

"Sir, it's only family right now," he stated with his hand lightly resting against Brandon's chest.

"Step the fuck back and get your hand off me," Brandon growled at him.

The male nurse jumped slightly and quickly removed his hand. Nick shook his head and walked over between Brandon and the potential target of his aggression.

"Thank you, we understand. He's just a really important man to us, but we will wait until visiting hours," Nick told the poor young nurse.

Brandon huffed and turned his back. It took everything in him not to bulldoze right by and go in anyway. And he would probably punch that motherfucker in his stomach for stopping him to begin with. He considered himself apart of Jackson's family. But Nick outranked him, so he resisted.

*******************

Sienna stared at Brandon's back from his kitchen.

When they had left the hospital, she told him she didn't want to be alone. So begrudgingly he took her back to his place. He had gotten out of the car without saying a word.

He walked to his cabinet and pulled out some vodka. He poured himself a shot. Downed it immediately and then took another. He leaned up against the counter dangling the glass over the sink. Sienna jumped when he let the glass drop.

He walked past her, took off his white shirt which he had worn almost two days in a row and headed to his bedroom. He changed into another shirt. Jesus it was hot in his house. His air conditioning had been broken for weeks but with summer now approaching, he needed to get it fixed.

When he came back into his living room, she was standing in the kitchen washing his dishes. He wanted to tell her to stop, but he was tired as hell and didn't feel like doing them himself. He went to sit on the couch.

Sienna turned around and dried his shot glass. His back was tense and his head was resting in his hands. She knew he didn't want to talk.

She walked over to him and stood in front.

"BT?"

He didn't answer her.

Sienna got to her knees. He seemed to look right past her. She tried to remove his hands but they were like steel bands.

"He'll be okay BT. The doctor said so," she offered.

Brandon continued to think about everything. He thought about losing his "father" and how lost he would be. Completely alone. He felt stressed and...horny? He kept flexing his jaw. His teeth even felt tight.

He glanced down at Sienna. She was wearing a white tank top and tight short trendy black vest and an even shorter jean skirt. She must have thought she was going on a fashion shoot when the ambulance arrived. That pissed him off too. A lot for some reason. What the fuck was wrong with him?