Okay,I wanted to add one last chapter before I leave in 6 hours, but in my rush to finish this chapter, I don't really thinkI managed to domy 'best work'. Oh well, next chapter will be WAAAAAAAAY more exciting, trust me ;-)
Disclaimer: I don't own Summerland or its characters
After that night where Braden witnessed Jay's brand new appreciation for the female form, it all went down hill. Jay was out every single night getting absolutely plastered and coming home with a different girl in the wee hours of the morning. The entire family was noticing this newfound promiscuity and no one dared to approach him on the matter. That is, except Ava. She had tried, and to make a long story short, failed miserably, and ended up embarrassing herself while making Jay more determined to have 'fun'. That is what he called his nights of bar hopping and anonymous sex; it was all just a way to have 'fun'.
Braden couldn't help noticing though that a lot of the time, the girls that Jay was bringing home had a striking resemblance to Erica, the very girl that Jay was trying to forget. He could slightly understand why Jay was behaving this way though, and that is how he knew thatthis behaviorcouldn't last much longer. Soon Jay would figure out that this was not the way to feel better, and then he would cease trying to get down the pants of every brunette in Playa Linda.
Meanwhile, to distract Braden from Jay's problems, Vegas and Sienna had been hanging around his house a lot lately. They would just watch television or bad lifetime movies or somethingweird like that,but it was still really enjoyable and even though Sienna complained about being the third wheel all the time, she was anything but. Braden liked it better when she was there because than at least Vegas would keep her hands to herself long enough to actually talk to him. He liked getting closer tohis girlfriendin an emotional aspect, instead of just getting closer in a physical way. He knew he sounded like a girl when he thought these things to himself, but so what, he couldn't help that he felt that way.
Braden also liked that Sienna was hanging around him more because he was still worried about her. Even though he believed what she said about her mom, and it being an accident, he was still suspicious. He found it odd that someone could 'accidentally' take ecstasy twice in the same week. Though, he reasoned to himself, she had said that she had cramps. So she was probably on her period and that's why it had happened twice in the same week.
It made sense and he had no reason not to believe her; so he just kept a silent watch on her for the next few weeks to make sure that he could trust her word. He also watched to check for any more mysterious injuries but he hadn't seen any in the three weeks since he had been inspecting. So he was breathing easier now, and starting to relax.
"I refuse to watch this crap!" exclaimed Braden as Vegas tried to convince him to watch a Lifetime movie about some kid obsessed with porn.
"Come on! You know you secretly want to see it." She smirked at him and took the remote out of his hands. She turned back to the channel the movie was on.
"No, I honestly don't." he pouted.
"Now, now, you two, can you stop arguing long enough to help me eat this ginormous pizza?" came Sienna's voice as she slid into the room with a pizza box in her hand. The smell of the food was most appetizing.
"Oh my god, I love you!" shouted Vegas gleefully as she hopped up from the couch towards Sienna, "I am starving!"
Braden smiled to himself as he watched them both excitedly open the pizza box and proceed to carelessly take huge slices out and start to eat them. He loved how they never felt self conscious while eating in front of him; it kind of changed his view that all rich girls had eating disorders. "Me too" he added happily while striding over and grabbing a piece.
"Do I smell pizza?" Nikki walked into the living room with her nose sniffing the air and with Cameron close behind her.
"Yeah you want some?" asked Sienna while wiping some sauce off her face. She grinned as she added, "I even got the pizza guy to give me some pineapple on the side in case you wanted some."
Vegas looked up at Nikki and gushed, "You like pineapple on your pizza, gross!"
Then Vegas and Nikki presumed to argue for twenty minutes about whether or not it was a travesty to be putting fruit on a pizza. Bradenshook his head with a grin on his faceas he looked at them jokingly going at each other, and he felt at ease. He liked that they could be just hanging out at his house not doing anything, and still have a great time; Vegas fit into his family like a glove, despite what had happened at dinner the other week.
As he continued to lazily gaze around the room, he noticed Sienna talking to Cameron. She was laughing at something he said and she was playfully shoving him. Cameron looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself, he probably felt damn lucky to be talking to someone as gorgeous as Sienna. Braden, for some strange reason, didn't like her talking to him. Or touching him, for that matter.
He was watching them talk and laugh together happily and she grazed his arm and rested her fingertips lightly on his shoulder. Braden felt the cold hands of jealousy take hold of him and he wanted to go over there to slap her hands away from Cameron. He somehow managed to hold himself back, however, and made himself tear his eyes away from them to look back at his supposedly beloved Vegas. This thing he had for Sienna needed to stop. She didn't like him in that way, but he had known that from the moment he met her. Despite this, Braden suddenly had a sinking feeling in his stomach. What if Sienna did, in some bizarre twist,have feelings for him, what would he do? Would he drop the whirlwind romance that he had with Vegas for something with Sienna? He was aghast at himself when he realized that he would, and he'd do it without batting an eyelash. Braden wanted her that much, and he felt so guilty that he was with Vegas, stringing her along, when the only reason he was with her was because he couldn't land her best friend! He was a terrible person, he concluded to himself. What the fuck was the matter with him?
He wouldn't say anything to Sienna about his feelings though, not tonight, at least. Braden would have to work out what this meant in the morning, for now he had to act normal. But it was hard when all that was on his mind were things that weren't supposed to be there. He needed to figure this out and quickly, because how long can he go with all these conflicting feelings burning inside him? How long until the desire became too much?
……………………..
In the next couple days at work, both Sienna and Jay noticed Braden's odd behavior and nervousness. He was constantly stuttering and bumping into things; they had come to think of him as somewhat of a klutz. Neither of them though could understand this overnight transformation from the cool collected Braden, to the jumpy and nervous one that had suddenly replaced the old him.
It was beginning to interfere with his duties at the shop and Jay, not being in the best state of mind, wasn't really inclined to deal with Braden's slacking off much longer. After a particularly slow and embarrassing night, Jay asked Braden to stay for an extra couple of minutes so they could talk. Sienna sauntered away without him, but looked curiously back at the two men before disappearing from site.
"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong, mate?" Jay wasn't going to waste any time with small talk. Braden was distracted, that was the only explanation for his peculiar behavior. He was going to find out what was making Braden this way and then he was going to fix it.
"It's nothing really. Just I can't….I…I don't know, nevermind." Braden really didn't want to say out loud all the things he was feeling and what was wrong with him to make him act this way. He was practically dropping everything that he managed to pick up he was so preoccupied with his thoughts.
Jay replied pointedly, "Obviously it's not nothing if you can't even walk five feet without bumping into something."
Braden sighed and reluctantly admitted, "I have been kind of unfocused with things lately."
"Yeah, there's a real shocker. What are these 'things' that occupy your mind so much?" Jay was awfully good at prying for information. Braden frowned as he realized this and tried to think whether or not he should tell Jay anything.
Finally he reasoned that maybe this talk could help both of them out, seeing as both their problems had similarities, "Well, you got to promise that you won't laugh, or tell a soul."
"You have an Aussi's honor!"
He was tentative to start, but did so as Jay nodded encouragingly towards him."I've been thinking about Sienna" Braden paused to look at Jay's reaction and was a little annoyed that Jay wasn't in the slightest bit surprised, "and how if she were to show the slightest bit of interest, I would leave Vegas in the drop of a hat which really disturbs me because Vegas is an awesome girl." He waited in momentary silence to see if Jay had anything to say, but the quietness continued. Braden pressed on, "I just hate that I keep going out with Vegas, when I'm still pining over Sienna. Vegas is like a second choice, which is such a horrible thing to say, but the sad thing is that it couldn't be more true!" Braden didn't know what else to say about the matter because that was basically it, everything that was bothering him, in a nutshell.
"Well, then it's not really fair to keep going out with Vegas than is it?" Jay's comment was obvious, and Braden knew it. The thing was he had been ignoring this fact since his feelings about Sienna had arisen.
"I care about Vegas, though. I don't want to lose her!"
"You can't care about her that much if you like Sienna more. Braden, you shouldn't stay with Vegas just because you know you can't have her friend. It's stupid, and it is obvisouly not making you very happy."
"I just feel guilty about feeling this wayfor Sienna, and my lack of feeling for Vegas, you know?"
"You should! Vegas doesn't deserve you playing games with her."
"I am not playing games wit—"
"Yes you are, and it's time to stop."
Braden had neverlet outa longer sigh in his life. This was it; he had to break up with Vegas. Why though, he asked himself. What purpose would it serve if he didn't even get Sienna in the end? Then he would just be alone again and even more worse off than before. Ugh…it was too confusing. Maybe he should hold off on doing something until he was absolutely sure it was the right thing. He didn't want to ruin anything because of rash decisions he made based on Jay's advice (which wasn't very credible considering what Jay was doing with his time nowadays).
Yes, he would hold off on all decisions…..certainly he would know when the time was right. Braden was confident that he wouldn't let things go too far. His confidence, unfortunately, was unjustified.
