Uncontrollable

Gunner's head shoots up and he jumps, feeling someone's hand on his back. Realizing it's Bree though, he relaxes. Her nickname for him brings a wry grin to his face and he straightens up.

Seeing the food and shake, his eyebrows rise slightly. A strange feeling creeps up on him, that for the moment, he shoves aside.

Making sure Marge has moved on, he stands up, aiming for his room, still quiet. Trudging down the tiled hall, he makes it to his room. Since Bree was there, no one else should drag him back out to "socialize."

Inside, he sits down on the edge of the bed, his head hanging a little as he puts his hands in his lap. He looked like a little kid who'd been sent to the corner. It was a different kind of defeat than before... almost an exhaustion. It wasn't a hate for himself, but a quieter depression.

Looking back up to Bree and seeing the food again, tears spring into his eyes. Feeling stupid, he's on his feet again, this time to stare out the window with his back to Bree. After that morning, it didn't take much for the emotions to rise again. She was being so kind to him... they barely knew each other, but she was there... for him... watching out for him and just being there doing the little things that meant so much.

Sniffing, he swipes his eyes with the back of his hand, and manages a short laugh at himself as his face gains heat. "I'm sorry..."

Biting his lip, he turns around as another tear rolls down his cheek. "I was fine all day." Another laugh comes, trying to cover up the embarrassment. "Now that you're here, I'm a mess again."

He wipes his eyes once more, his walls tumbling before Bree as his lower lip quivers. But as try as he might, her kindness had unlocked the floodgates once again and he just couldn't help it. He was at the point of breaking, and emotionally very unstable.

Try as he might, he just couldn't control his emotions right now. Sinking down on the bed again, he hides his face in his hands. "I really did want the sub," he mumbles.


"Good. Come on." Mick gestures with his head to the back of the barn where the back door was open. Leading the way, he waits until they're outside until speaking. "I wanted to apologize for my rash accusations earlier today."

He walks slowly to a nearby fence to lean on, looking out into one of the pastures. "I don't really approve of how flirty my daughter can get and this morning she was hiding something from me. I drew the wrong conclusion."

He looks at Dan, accepting the responsibility of his actions like a man should. "I also wanted to tell you that as long as you walk a straight line, I have no intention of getting rid of you. You do too good of work around here. You're honest and you're a hard worker - I like seeing that in our ranch hands. So when I asked you to tell the truth earlier, even if it hadn't been what I wanted to hear, at least it would have been the truth, and I wouldn't have fired you for it."

Mick shrugs a little then looks back out to the pasture. "I know I'm rough on you, and I know that you're smart enough to see that sometimes I don't trust you... maybe that's true. But don't quit what you're doing."

He nods decisively. He meant it. He had yet to figure out why he had odd feelings about Dan... maybe it really was that he saw himself somewhere and wanted to make sure that the same bad decisions weren't made.

"As far as Jade is concerned..." His tone shifts slightly. This was a different matter altogether. "She's unsettled right now and doesn't know what she wants. So my advice, as her father, is to not start anything with her." He didn't have a voice of warning really, but there was a hint of it there, telling the he wouldn't be too pleased if anything more than friendship happened between Jade and Dan.