FIFTY MOMENTS IN TIME
By
Nikki Harrington
Fifty moments in the lives of Benny and Ray.
An established relationship story.
Written: September 2007. Word count: 1,219.
#01 Ring
As he pushed the ring carefully onto Benny's finger, Ray glanced at his mother; she was smiling happily; she looked more content than she'd looked on the day he'd done the same with Angie.
#02 Hero
Benny was everyone's hero; he was always saving people, sometimes from themselves; but most of all he was Ray's hero.
#03 Memory
Cuddled in Benny's arms, Ray believes his memory must be faulty; he could have sworn that he'd disliked the Mountie the first time they met.
#04 Box
Benny was the carpenter, not Ray; but it was Ray who spent months working on a new hope box for his mother, to replace the one that opportunistic thieves had stolen.
#05 Run
Ray is sure that he never used to run through the streets of Chicago as often as he has done since meeting Benny.
#06 Hurricane
The realization that he loved Benny hit him like a hurricane; but unlike so many such tempests, this one did not destroy; instead it rebuilt.
#07 Wings
Occasionally, when he sees his lover watching the birds that fly above the city, Ray imagines Benny with wings; he knows it is fanciful, but Benny makes him that way.
#08 Cold
No matter how cold and frozen his fingers, nose and toes got, Ray stood by his promise to help Benny rebuild his father's cabin.
#09 Red
Whenever Ray thinks of the color red, he thinks of his lover standing by Ray's side in his dress uniform on the day they exchanged their vows of love.
#10 Drink
It was only after meeting Benny, that Ray realized he could allow himself to drink without the fear of turning into his father.
#11 Midnight
Midnight was Ray's favorite time; at least it was when he had his Benny in his arms.
#12 Temptation
Victoria had been Benny's temptation; Ray had proven to be his salvation.
#13 View
The view from Benny's window wasn't the greatest in the world, but when Ray stood looking out, with Benny by his side, he never wanted to be anywhere else.
#14 Music
As clichιd as it was to admit to it, in Ray's mind Benny and he made wonderful music together.
#15 Silk
Benny's skin was like the finest silk and Ray loved to run his fingers over the ivory and caress it.
#16 Cover
On the day of their wedding, Ray's mother had given them her own mother's hand-embroidered, heavy linen cover for their bed.
#17 Promise
When Benny found him running the bowling alley, Ray gave him the promise that he'd never leave him again.
#18 Dream
Until Benny entered Ray's life, he believed his only chance of happy ever after' would be in a dream.
#19 Candle
The first time they made love, they did so in Benny's apartment, in his cramped bed; a single candle had lit up the room.
#20 - Talent
Ray wonders if the day will come when he discovers a talent that Benny does not have.
#21 Silence
Some evenings they would just sit in silence, holding hands and simply looking at one another.
#22 Journey
Ray sometimes felt that he had spent his entire life on a journey, which only ended the day he met Benny.
#23 Fire
Only Benny would insist on teaching Ray how to light a fire the traditional' way; Ray never did tell him that while Benny had moved away to collect some more wood, Ray had used a lighter to start the flames.
#24 Strength
On the day they laid Ray's mother to rest, Benny gathered Ray into his arms and held him; sharing his strength and allowing Ray to take as much as he needed.
#25 Mask
The day Ray let his mask fall, was the day Benny had walking into the holding cell.
#26 Ice
Her eyes and her fingers had been like ice; Ray's were like the perfect summer's day.
#27 Fall
He still remembered his fall onto the platform, and knew that no matter why Ray had done it, he would forgive him.
#28 Forgotten
The first time he saw Ray, Benny knew his lover-to-be had forgotten how to love; how live; how to be.
#29 Dance
The school dance had been the first time that Ms. Fraser had danced with Detective Vecchio; it was not, however, the last.
#30 Body
Ray's body was made for Benny to love; and he never grew tired of doing so.
#31 Sacred
Although Ray rarely attended Church and was a divorcee, Benny instinctively knew that his lover's religion was sacred to him.
#32 Farewells
When he turned up at the bowling alley, Benny had told Ray firmly that there would be no more farewells between them again.
#33 World
Benny knows exactly how large the world is, how many continents, countries, states and cities there are; but for him his world is much smaller - Ray Vecchio.
#34 Formal
Ray liked his Benny in formal clothes; or casual clothes; or better still, no clothes at all.
#35 Fever
Benny sometimes thought that falling in love with Ray was a fever; it was one from which he never wished to recover.
#36 Laugh
Sometimes Ray felt he'd lost the capacity to laugh; and then a certain Mountie had come into his life.
#37 Lies
The lies she had told him had come close to destroying him; but then Ray had been there to make sure he survived.
#38 Forever
Even forever would not be long enough for them to love one another.
#39 Overwhelmed
Sometimes the depth of Ray's love for him overwhelmed Benny, but he could not imagine life without it.
#40 Whisper
The first time he had told Ray he loved him; Benny had done so in a whisper while his lover slept.
#41 Wait
The wait to see if Benny would survive surgery had been interminable; but it had made Ray realize the true depth of his feelings for his lover.
#42 Talk
Benny would, could, and did talk to anyone; but there were some things he only ever said to Ray.
#43 Search
The search for happiness was over for both men, the moment Benny had walked into the holding cell; it just took them a little while to realize it.
#44 - Hope
Hope was all that Benny had left when he discovered his lover had left Chicago with Stella Kowalski; the hope that one day he would find him again and bring him home.
#45 - Eclipse
Benny had seen more than one eclipse, but the only one he remembers most fondly was the one he watched with Ray cuddled against him, complaining of the cold.
#46 Gravity
Benny tried to explain to Ray about gravity, but Ray just laughed and told Benny that kissing him was like floating on air.
#47 Highway
Ray knew he'd fallen in love, the first time he let Benny drive the Riv on the highway.
#48 Unknown
True happiness had been an unknown thing for him until the day he met Ray Vecchio.
#49 Lock
Ray realized the truth depth of Benny's love for him, the day his lover voluntarily put a lock on his front door.
#50 Breathe
Ray was certain that until Benny took him home again, he had forgotten how to breathe.
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