Title: Stolen Glances

Rating: PG-13 (mild references of gore)

Disclaimer: Even though I wish it was all mine, it isn't.

Fandom & Pairing/Characters: The Hills Have Eyes - Doug/Brenda

Summary: 4 times Doug stole a glance at Brenda and 1 time he should have but didn't.

Notes: I don't know what it is that's so attractive about Doug and Brenda being together but they're loads of fun to write and I loved their dynamic in the movie so this just had to be done. This was originally written for someone on LiveJournal.

---

One - The first time they met.

"And this," Lynn said as she dragged Doug into yet another room of the house, "is my younger sister Brenda. Brenda, this is Doug."

Brenda was thirteen, and Doug knew this because Lynn had told him, but nothing about her betrayed her age. If he'd never known a thing about her he would even go so far as to say she was the same age as her sister. Long golden waves of hair fell past her shoulders and she smiled sweetly at him, putting down the frosted pink lip gloss she had been coating her lips with.

"It's nice to finally put a face to the name. Lynnie has been so excited about her gorgeous boyfriend Doug coming over, it's the only thing we've heard about." Brenda ignored her sister's casual 'I'm going to kill you' hand motions and flipped her hair. "It gets pretty nauseating after awhile, I can tell you."

Doug was about to respond when the front door opened and closed and Lynn's hold on his hand tightened. "Daddy's home!" She chirped, giving Brenda a final glare before starting to drag Doug to his next destination; meeting Big Bob.

He was halfway out the door when he glanced back to get another look at her. His seventeen year old mind was telling him that it was all kinds of wrong to think your girlfriend's thirteen year old sister is hot, but his hormones let him down. She was gorgeous, and even when his mind was supposed to be preoccupied with what to say to Big Bob that wouldn't make him sound like an idiot, all he could think about was her.

Two - Sunbathing in the desert.

When your car's broken down and you're stuck in the middle of some godforsaken desert, only Brenda could see the brighter side and sunbathe while everyone else tried to figure out what to do next.

Doug stood on a rock hill and looked down at her, his brain torn between rolling his eyes at her Barbie type actions or checking out the body that was being revealed. Brenda was his sister-in-law and this was a wrong move, but when a girl wanted to wear a bright, almost neon, blue bikini top then she obviously didn't mind the attention.

He brought his water bottle up to his lips and took a deep drink, his eyes still watching her as she noticed him and stared back. For a moment he panicked but all she did was smirk and look away, eyes hidden beneath dark sunglasses.

Sometimes when he looked at her like this he'd feel nothing but guilt the entire time. Lynn was his wife, the mother of his child, and he loved her more than any other thing on the entire planet. But Brenda was eighteen, beautiful and forbidden, a combination that was deadly and intriguing. He just prayed one day it wouldn't get him into trouble.

Three - A glance he'd regret not stealing.

Doug could barely breathe as he hightailed it into the trailer, his eyes still burning from staring at the explosion of fire that was most likely engulfing his father-in-law at this very second in time. He could hear Brenda shuffling around in the bedroom area and didn't spare her a second thought as he frantically looked around for the fire extinguisher.

"Brenda. Watch the baby!"

Brenda's sobs were muffled by the mutant's disfigured hand and she listened helplessly from where she was pinned under the intruder as Doug stood so close and rooted around the cupboards. She willed whatever he was looking for to be missing, to be misplaced and right near her where he could see what was happening to her. What was going to happen to her.

She tried to struggle but an iron grip held her and she cried pitifully as Doug found what he was looking for and she heard him disappear out the door. In all the time she'd known him, Doug was the one she relied on for male attention. It was nothing more than an attraction on his part but he would still look at her in a way that made her know if he wasn't with Lynn he'd want her instead.

But he'd failed to look at her, to save her, and now she could do nothing but pray.

Four - Too little, too late.

Bobby rushed into the mobile home but Doug lingered behind, eyes fixed helplessly on Brenda's tiny body. Sobs ran through her in waves as she clutched at her robe and his stomach dropped at how much blood lined her legs.

What did they do to you?

He needed to help her, to look after her, but his brain immediately went into panic mode and he wanted to throw up at the thought of something like that happening to Lynn... to Catherine. He looked at her one last time, eyes full of regret, and ran to aid his wife and daughter.

Five - Healing.

"Lynn?"

Her body lays motionless, head tilted at an angle which doesn't show him the blood and brain that coats her hair. He kneels down and his hands shake and tremble as he reaches out to touch her.

For a moment there's complete silence and then she arches up, her eyes flying open and her jaw clicking as she gasps for breath. He tries to calm her, to calm himself, and babbles endlessly about how she's going to be okay. She'll survive.

Her head tilts back and their eyes lock.

"Why didn't you save me?" She rasps. "You could've saved me!"

Doug wakes with a start, heart racing and body aching as the bright white of the hospital pulls him back into reality. He can't remember how long it's been since they made it out of the desert. There are so many drugs being pushed through his system, sometimes he's amazed that he remembers his own name.

He looks over to his right and smiles softly at the sight before him; Brenda, curled up in one of the many uncomfortable chairs that lay dotted around the hospital, fast asleep. She's been through so much, they all have, but he feels better when he sees the peaceful expression that appears on her face on nights when she doesn't dream. It reassures him that one day she's going to be okay. They're going to be okay.

Closing his eyes, he hopes he won't dream this time. And if he does he hopes won't be of trailers and blood and people who can never be replaced. He wants dream of surviving, of watching his daughter grow up happy and unharmed, and most of all he wants to dream of love.

END