The Treehouse Pt. 02

The Treehouse -- Part II

"So, what did you get up to on leave Dave?"

I was sitting around a table in a bar not far from base. Around me were my buddies, also back from the end-of-tour leave. We were all having a beer and catching up. It was a mutual B.S. session with all the guys either laughing at stories from the tour or comparing tales of all the drama they got into at home. Most of these were the younger single guys, so a lot of the stories were about girls they had hooked up with while they were home.

"Not too much," I said. "I was just back in my hometown relaxing."

"Well, that sounds boring. No tail at all?" one of the guys asked.

I leaned back and laughed. "Oh, definitely a lot of tail!"

"Old girlfriend or something?" asked another. "Couldn't wait to see the returning warrior?"

"Something like that," I replied and sipped my beer.

Thinking back to my time with Danni brought a smile to my face. It had been a fantastic two weeks. Not that I wasn't still a bit conflicted. Was that I wanted? Danni was great and all, and we had a long, albeit a bit strange, history together. Being around her was easy and comfortable. And the sex was amazing. But the elephant in the room was always there. Could I have a girlfriend that wasn't really a girl?

Glancing around at my buddies, I wondered how they would react if they found out. Would I become the butt of every joke told, and most behind my back? When you serve with others in your unit, trust is everything. Intellectually I knew what I did in my spare time shouldn't matter, but these were guys whose opinions mattered a lot to me.

Thinking back to when Danni had driven me back to base a couple of days before, I couldn't help but smile. It had been just as relaxed and quiet as when she picked me up. Like we had been frozen in a little bubble of time while the rest of the world went about its usual comings and goings. At the front gate, I climbed out of her truck and grabbed my duffle. Danni also got out and walked around to my side. I pulled her into a hug and we shared a warm kiss, and then she was gone. No questions about if or when I would call her. No worries about when we might see each other again. Just a smile, a flash of red hair and she was on her way home. That's my Danni.

Her first letter showed up about a week later. Rather than a love letter, it was much the same as all her letters. What she had been doing with work. A funny story from the local supermarket. Some music she had just heard and liked. No mention of our time together at all. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed. Maybe part of me wanted her to explain all this to me, tell me what I should do. Or tell me it was just fun and I should go about my normal life. But there was none of that. Thinking about it more, I wasn't sure what I would have done if she suddenly turned all mushy and lovestruck. Man, it was all confusing!

The first weekend back, one of the married guys invited a bunch of people over for a backyard BBQ and party. Lots of the guys, some gorgeous girls and lots of beer. It was a great laugh and we all had a great time. I had noticed a particular brunette giving me some inviting looks and we had danced a couple of times. She was definitely flirting with me. As the evening wore on, I was coming out of the bathroom when I bumped into her in the hall. She just reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck and started slow dancing against me. I smiled and put my hands on her hips and reciprocated. Before long we were snogging and she pulled me into a bedroom further down the hall. Kissing passionately, she started pulling my kit off and shucking her jeans, t-shirt and panties in a flurry of clothes. Together we stumbled to the bed and fell onto it in a heap.

I think her name was Karen. It struck me as funny a moment later and she dove onto my cock and started giving me a sloppy but enthusiastic blowjob...and I had no real ideas who she was. If she noticed me chuckle, she gave no notice. Karen, lets just call her that, was about 5' 9" and very curvy with round hips and large breasts. She was pretty, and certainly shapely, and I couldn't help be struck by the complete physical difference from Danni. As I watched her head bobbing up and down noisily on my dick, I realized how much more I preferred Danni's slim, elfin figure and tiny breasts.

Before long, Karen got up and fishing around the side of the bed for her jeans pulled out a condom. She tore open the wrapper and rolled it on over my hard cock. Then, with a grin, she climbed on top and lined me up with her bald pussy. My cock slid in easily, as Karen was sopping wet. Putting her hands on my chest, she started bouncing up and down, riding me. Her eyes were closed tight and she was biting her lip.

I was enjoying myself, but every moment I was subconsciously comparing her to Danni. Her big tits bounced along with her movements, which I knew most of my buddies would have loved but it didn't do anything for me. More than anything though, her wet pussy was no where near as hot and tight as Danni's ass. I was also stunned to realize, I actually missed seeing her little cock bouncing up and down against my abdomen as she rode me. Karen actually had a very nice, shaved pussy but again, it didn't really move me.

Eventually Karen came loudly in a series of drawn out grunts and flopped down on top of me, panting. I let her lay still for a moment and then rolled her off and positioned her on her stomach. I looked at that round ass for a moment, thinking how much more I would rather be pushing inside that rear hole. But I didn't want any drama and had no idea if she was into that. So, I just placed my cock at the entrance to her pussy and shoved in from behind. Again, it felt nice, but was no where near as intense as Danni's ass. I pumped away for a few minutes and Karen came loudly once more before I filled my condom up with semen.

Rolling off, Karen gave me a bright smile and a quick kiss and then got up. She pulled on her clothes quickly and, after a quick check that the hallway was clear, darted out; presumably headed to the bathroom to tidy up.

I lay there for a bit. On one hand, the sex had been nice. Not great, but nice. Karen had definitely been enthusiastic. But everything just reminded me of Danni...or how Danni was much better in bed.

"I'm fucked," I thought.

For the next few months, I was pretty busy with work. After a tour, the battalion largely reorganizes as troops get promoted, head off on courses or get posted out to another unit. We spent a few weeks in the field re-learning our normal battlefield tactics and integrating new guys who had just arrived from basic.

I was still getting letters from Danni and we had even started having the occasional phone call. Nothing dramatic or burning with passion. But I did get an "I miss you," out of her on one call. All smiles the next day, I felt pretty happy about those three little words.

I hooked up with Karen a couple of more times. It was all casual and she just seemed to want to use me for sex...fine with me. The girl knew what she wanted. But though she was fun to fuck, there were no feelings there. It turned out she was up for anal and we had started doing that more but it still lacked the intensity of being in Danni.

About three months after my leave, we all got a notice, disguised as an invitation, to attend the regimental birthday ball. They didn't do it every year, and it depended on the whim of the CO in charge at the time, but it was something that happened periodically. We all had to get fixed up in our finest dress uniforms, obey all the etiquette and eat from fine china served by young soldiers earning a bit of extra money. Often it was the military wives who pushed the senior officers for these balls. It gave them a chance to buy expensive gowns, have their hair done and generally enjoy one of the rare moments of glamour and pomp in a military wife's otherwise challenging existence. The single men were still expected to attend and often spent the evening after dinner dancing with the senior officers' wives while their husbands sat around in the lounge smoking cigars and drinking port. A few young guys had even slunk off with a frisky officer's wife for quickies in the nearby singles quarters, but doom on any who got caught.

I had thought about asking Karen to be my date but I wasn't sure if we had that kind of relationship...or if I wanted more from her. I immediately thought of Danni, but the ever-present fear of her status lurked not far from that thought. After pondering it for a while, I decided to just ask her. Unless she somehow ended up naked in front of someone else, there is no way anyone would ever peg her as anything other than a girl.

The next time we spoke on the phone, I brought it up.

"So," after explaining what the ball was all about, "would you like to go?" I asked.

There was a long pause at the other end of the line. I was secretly pleased that I might have finally shaken Danni's usual calm. But also worried that she might now say no.

"It will be just like prom..." I said, before realizing that might have been the wrong thing to say.

Danni and I had grown up together. We knew each other from the time we were nine or ten. Because we both lived relatively close to each other, and well out of town, we ending up being friends. Back then we were both wiry, skinny little kids. But as I hit puberty I shot up in height and filled out in a bit more muscle. Dan, as I knew him then, never did. Not that I really noticed. We rode out bikes, played online games and built our fort in the woods. We didn't hang out in school much as Dan and I always seemed to be in different classes. I was also into sports and he never was. But we still hung out all the time, usually at the tree fort.

But as we got to sixteen or seventeen, I started to notice Dan was letting his hair grow longer and some of mannerisms were definitely more girly. I suspected Dan was gay as well, as we never really talked much about girls. It didn't bother me really, we were buds and if that what made him happy then no problem. I will admit now that it took me a bit of time to be okay with it, but I got there eventually. It was especially hard as Dan started turning up at the fort with eyeshadow or painted fingernails.

Not long after we had both turned 18 however, we were both closing in on high school graduation and the tradition of Prom. Basically, a big, formal dance to celebrate the graduating class. Younger grades were also invited, but the focus was mostly on the seniors. The whole thing is kind of an important right of passage as we transition into adults and head off into the world. I wasn't dating anyone then, but was reasonably popular so getting a date for prom wouldn't be too hard.

About a month before the dance though, Dan and I were hanging out in the tree fort. There were no more make-believe games, but we still hung out there away from our parents, listened to music and occasionally improving the slightly shambolic fort. It now had a big tarp as an awning, a hammock and some old stuffed chairs someone had been throwing away and left at the end of their drive. I was lying in the hammock reading a sports magazine and Dan was flopped across a big chair with a novel.

"Are you going to prom?" Dan suddenly asked.

"Sure," I responded, glancing over at Dan.

I could see a glum look on his face and it suddenly hit me, 'how was Dan going to go to prom?' It wasn't unknown to go alone, but that basically marked you out as a loser and no one ever told nice stories of their no-date prom. I sat there thinking about it but was coming up blank. No girl I knew would go to prom with Dan and I don't think he was up for going with a guy...if he could find one who was okay with being open about being gay. As far as I knew, Dan had never dated anyone.

Dan sat there for a quietly for a minute. Then he sat up and looked at me. In a calm voice he said, "I want to go...but I want to go as a girl."

I would have loved to have seen a picture of my face at that moment, but probably best I haven't.

"Really?" I asked, a bit incredulous.

Dan suddenly seemed a bit vulnerable sitting there. I can be a bit thick, I know, but I did soon realize he had just shared a very innermost secret with me. I didn't really know what to say.

After a long, awkward silence I asked, "Why?"

Dan looked at the rough, plywood floor for a few moments and then sighed. "I have always felt like a girl," he said, looking up at me. "On the inside."

"Okay...," was all I could manage in reply.

It did in a way make a bit of sense. Dan had always been slim and feminine in his mannerisms. His clothes ranged from baggy and non-descript at school, to tight and a bit girly when it was just us two at the fort or his house. I had once shown up at his place when he had some female cousins visiting. I had just bicycled over and to my surprise found the girls had dressed Dan up in a dress complete with wig and make up. I had teased him that he was better as a girl than a guy. We laughed it off, but now that memory came back.

"Do you think that's weird?" he asked

I thought about it for a minute before replying. "No...I guess not."

And then he came out and said it: "Would you be my date?"

Thinking back on it now, I have no idea what I first thought when he asked me that. Maybe I have blanked it out. But as I sat there staring at Dan, my best friend, and thinking about how hard this must be for him, telling me this and hoping, praying I didn't react badly...I think I felt mostly sympathy. I had stood up for Dan quite a few times over the years. Mostly bullies at school and always felt a bit protective of him. Now, those protective instincts kicked in. I know I must have been thinking about my reputation, all the girls I wouldn't be able to go with and what my parents would say...but that all must have passed quickly. At the end of the day, this was my best bud and there was no way I would let him miss prom.

"Sure," I blurted out. "It will be fun!"

Dan's eyes narrowed for a minute, as if he wasn't sure he liked my response...or thought I was teasing him. But I guess the smile on my face must have convinced him because he broke out into a wide grin.

I wasn't sure what we should do now, but Dan just leaned back in the chair and picked up his book again. But after a couple of minutes, he dropped it and said simply, "I want to change my name to Danni...with an 'i'."

"Okay...," I replied, nose back in my magazine. "Danni it is."

To make a long story short, over the next couple of weeks I didn't see too much of 'Danni.' We had talked a bit about prom and I asked if she was sure that she was going to be okay being seen at school dressed as a girl. All she would say was that she would take care of that. All my school friends were asking who I was taking and I told them the plan I had agreed with Danni; that I was bringing a girl from another school they didn't know.

When prom night eventually arrived, I borrowed my uncle's Mustang on the promise I would take really good care of it. Part of that was the agreement to book a hotel room for the night so I wouldn't be tempted to drive drunk coming home. That was also a less well advertised tradition of prom. The parents all pretended it was so their kids could be safe that night, but the other part was that was where many girls hooked up with their dates. I had told Danni about the arrangements and he just smiled. We had had lots of sleepovers and camp outs over the years and so there was nothing weird about that...or so I thought.

When I arrived at Danni's house, all dressed up in my jacket, tie and gelled hair, I parked and walked up to the front door. Ringing the bell, his mother soon answered. Mrs. Stewart was a petite lady who had aged well. She was always very cool and relaxed. I liked her a lot.

"My, what a handsome young man," she said as she saw me there on the porch.

"Hi Mrs. Stewart!"

She smiled at me, a bit sadly and seemed to almost have a tear in her eye. "Thank you for doing this David," she said quietly. Then turning over her shoulder, she called out: "Danni, you date is here!"

Looking past her, I saw Danni emerge from her bedroom down the hallway. Only, for a moment, I wasn't sure it was Danni. Coming slowly towards me was a beautiful, slim brunette with long, black hair. Gone were the freckles, hidden by perfectly applied make up. Her white, form-fitting dress showed some gentle curves and even a small bosom beneath. As she approached, I could see that even her green eyes were now a deep brown.

"Isn't she beautiful!" Mrs. Stewart gushed, tears now definitely flowing.

"Oh my God!" was all I could manage at first. Then a hesitant, "Danni?"

She was gorgeous! And I mean drop-dead gorgeous. I couldn't believe the job she had done, obviously with help from her Mom in transforming into a girl.

"Do you like?" she said. I noticed her voice seemed almost an octave higher than normal. She glanced down at herself and then spun once slowly in place.

"Umm...heh, heh...yep," I stammered. "You look, uh, great!

We posed for the usual pictures as her mother had her camera ready to go by the door. Then were soon on our way to the Prom.

The dance went really well. Everyone thought Danni was beautiful and none ever seemed to suspect it was Dan underneath the disguise. I was quite protective of her and kept most people from getting to close. I got some unhappy looks when I made sure no other guys got to dance with her. I was even laughing and smiling when we slow dance together. It was a bit weird, but I was playing along...just like all the make-believe games we had played when we were younger.

Danni literally glowed all evening. She even managed a trip to the girl's bathroom with no difficulties. Some of the girls doing their make up had asked her some questions, but she kept her responses to a minimum.

We left before the end, as the prom was winding down. For those with stricter parents, who had to have their dates home by midnight, they had started to leave and we figured we had pushed our luck far enough. Smiling, but still elegant, Danni walked beside me to the car. The hotel was only a short distance away and we drove straight over. I already had the room keys, so we went straight up. Once inside, we both started laughing as all the tension from the evening burst out of us.

As we calmed down, Danni reached over and took my hand and said, "Thank you," in her simple, calm way.

I smiled awkwardly and nodded. Danni turned and walked over to a small chair in the corner of the room. Reaching down, she quickly pulled off her high heels and began rubbing her feet. I smiled again, understanding a little of the price girls pay for fashion. Thinking the same, I pulled off my jacket, followed quickly by the tie. Unbuttoning my shirt, I flopped down on the bed and pulled off my own dress shoes which were hugely uncomfortable. After a moment I remembered my special surprise.

"Hold on!" I said, springing up and going over to the closet. I had stashed a bottle of white wine there earlier and a couple of glasses. "Might as well do this right!"

I open the bottle and poured us each a glass. Handing her one, I raised mine and announced, "A toast! To the prettiest girl at the Prom!" and bowed to Danni in salute.

She just smiled and motioned a toast to me back before taking a small sip.

We chatted for a while, laughing about the evening. We talked of people she knew who would have been hugely embarrassed if they knew who they were getting all hot and bothered over. Eventually, I let out a massive yawn and Danni just smiled. We decided it was time to head to bed and Danni suggested I use the bathroom first. I went in, brushed my teeth with stuff from my overnight bag and took a leak. As I came out, Danni passed me with her overnight bag and a slight smile on her face. I settled down into the big, queen-sized bed and figured it would take her a while to get out of all the make up and stuff. I flipped on the TV and was surfing the channels for a while before shutting it off and just lying back. I had been hoping to celebrate that special tradition and have a whole night with a girl after prom, but there would be more nights for that. And it wasn't like I was a virgin by any means. It meant more for me to do this for Danni than just getting laid.