A Simple Spark
Show: Young and the Restless
Central character(s): Ben "Stitch" Rayburn, Victoria Newman
Summary: Ben holds her hand the whole cab ride home in a comfortable kind of silence. / Or, Stitch and Victoria in their own kind of beautiful disaster. StitchVictoria.
Notes: The fact that Stitch and Victoria had sex and the conversation held afterwards, was the inspiration behind this piece. It is ridiculous how much I love this couple. This could be a standalone piece to "Strange Bedfellows" or a sequel of sorts. Either way, it works. Enjoy.
Notes 2: I'm almost waiting for my diehard Billy & Victoria people to either unfollow me on Twitter, stone me because I haven't written any Billy and Victoria in a while, or do both. Whatevs. I write for me first and foremost, and appreciate the people that stop by to read my stuff and actually like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters and don't expect a penny from this thing I wrote for entertainment.
Musical Inspiration: "Feel Like Falling" - Digital Daggers
They say when people make plans, God laughs.
Right now, God is probably falling out of his chair, or not, since he's not big on the whole infidelity thing. Victoria isn't that religious of a person anyway.
Whatever this is, Victoria just cheats on Billy with Ben. She yanks on her underwear and pants, is a pro at hooking her bra back on, and pulls on her blouse and jacket. This is not revenge. This is not about that. It's not about love either. Victoria's head is still fuzzy from the tequila and no, she is still in no shape to drive. She should be filled with shame and regret, and yet, she feels nothing but a strange sense of calm. Ben says her name and she doesn't want to have this post-coital conversation. All Victoria knows is it doesn't like a mistake and no, she isn't sorry. She may wake up and feel sorry tomorrow morning when she battles a hangover. Victoria may feel shame in a week when she looks at her wedding pictures and feels bad for enjoying in the way Ben touches and holds her. Perhaps, she will look into Billy's eyes and while realizing how much she does love him, will rip his heart out worse than he does her.
Currently, though, as she finds herself barely stroking Ben's cheek with the back of her fingers, Victoria has no regret or feeling of anything being a mistake. Victoria smiles faintly, as she feels the ghost of Ben's lips against her fingers.
She wants to sleep things off when in reality, Victoria will be back to staring at the ceiling of an empty house and wondering what's next. The cab is about to be here, and Ben opens the door handle, but she grabs his arm and stops him, "Close it," Victoria instructs, gently. "Please."
Ben meets her gaze and her heart pounds against her ribcage so hard. Victoria is wondering if there has always been this weird tension beneath their light heartedness. There is so much Victoria wants to say to him. There is so much that needs to be put on the table, but Victoria's head is a mess, her heart is even worse and she cannot give that driver anything to listen to. In the day time, the back seat of her car is filled with a babbling Johnny, or Reed telling her a joke or some interesting factoid that will make her chuckle at how bright he is. Now, her back seat is semi-lit and she kisses Ben deeply again. In that kiss is everything Victoria wishes she could say, everything she should say and everything she will probably say to him later. Victoria can taste the residual taste of tequila on his tongue as it is gentle against hers and she wants to lose herself in his warmth.
Ben pulls away first, untangling his fingers from her hair, but still, holding her face gently between his hands, as their eyes meet.
"I get it, Vickie. I – I understand."
She smiles, placing a hand on his – the one that lingers on Victoria's face before he slowly pulls it away, "Thank you, Ben."
Somewhere in between thinking Ben has really nice blue eyes and an awesome mouth, Victoria is brought out of her reverie by bright headlights streaming into her back seat.
The cab is here. Victoria has to leave her car behind because she is too drunk to drive. She is sharing that cab with Ben. They are just two adults that commiserate by sheer circumstance – not two friends who shut the world out and get lost in each other by choice.
::
The taxi drive to her house is quiet. The world doesn't explode. The world is still spinning - not because she is still slightly tipsy. There's the Earth's axis in play.
Victoria just becomes legally separated – because that's what this is: a separation – and sleeps with another man and the world doesn't know blow sky high. Maybe it does and she is still too buzzed to notice.
Again, in another backseat, Victoria's slender hand finds Ben's bigger one and there's a spark. It is like a jolt of a small current. Ben's hand against hers is like something foreign yet familiar, like free falling and having a sense of exhilaration that overwhelms and thrills her a little bit, even though it's not Billy's hand in hers.
"Ben?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he replies, and meets her eyes only for a split second, "I just wanna make sure you're okay."
"That's nice of you," a friendly pause passes between them. "I appreciate it."
Fingers intertwine. There are secret smiles, and with every bit of road that draws them closer to their destination means reality sets in but it's too late to think of everything.
Ben holds her hand the whole cab ride home in a comfortable kind of silence.
::
Fin.
A/N: …and I'm done. This was short and quick. I didn't have any time to write something full out, but I was inspired by today's scenes and had to write before bed. It's 3AM where I am, so I'm quite tired. I will just post now, and shut up.
PS. If you like more Stitch & Victoria, please read my other piece "Strange Bedfellows".
As always, feedback is always appreciated. Thank you.
-Erika