It's Christmas day.

Most people in the city of New York are taking off of work on this day. Even if they can't really afford to do so, they stay home with their families and friends. They go to holiday parties, drink eggnog, open presents, and generally spend time with the people who they love most. It's a wonderful, relaxing time of year for most.

Not for Benny, though. Not this year.

Of course, his father in law has to go and send him down to his best friend's loft and turn the damn power off. On Christmas Eve for crying out loud. Sometimes he wonders what the hell possessed him to go through this marriage, or what possessed him to take this job with Alison's father. Ever since he started he's had to put his morals and his conscience into a hole in the ground and bury it, or else he would have slit his wrists by now.

He spoke to Mark and Roger last night after cutting the power on them. Of course they blamed it on him, why wouldn't they? Of course he has no compassion for them whatsoever. Of course the years that they spent living in the same loft apartment, going through so much together meant nothing to him. Is this really what they thought of him, simply because he got married to someone who didn't live in Alphabet City, who could help him go through with his dream?

He scowls a little bit as he thinks about the previous night. How he went upstairs and tried to be reasonable with them. He tried to make them a deal. A deal that he busted his ass to get for them. His father in law wanted their asses out that night. Hell, if it weren't for Benny stepping in, they would have been evicted from their loft on Thanksgiving.

That would have been Benny's fault too.

Did they take this generous offer? Of course not. They ganged up on him, made fun of him, and spat in his face. Alright, he admits that he could have been nicer too...but it's hard trying to be nice when you're going into a room of people who you know hate you and who you know wont listen to you not matter what you say.

He cares about his friends. He cares about them so much, it pains him like hell to have to do this to them. But...he's covered for their asses for so long and he's run out of rope. His father in law wont listen to reason anymore. He hasn't exactly been patient, but they haven't really been compliant.

He lets out a small groan of frustration as he walks up to the front door of the apartment. This time he doesn't bother trying to call them, he got the master key. He opens up the door and climbs all the way up to the top, getting to the damn loft. He knocks on the door, waiting for a few seconds before opening the door and walking in.

No ones there. Not even Roger. They got Roger out of the house? Benny can't help but smile softly at that thought. He had been worried like hell for Roger. He couldn't really ask him, because he would get a big fuck off from the lot of them if he did, but he was worried.

He lets out a small sigh, shaking his head. He never thought it would be so hard without his friends. He hadn't really intended for things to go like this, but still. He thought he would be able to deal, but he was going nuts. Having the people you love and admire despise you, and not realize what you do for them...it cuts so deep.

He looks around the loft, devoid of life. It's a lot different without anyone in it, taking in all of the memories, good and bad. Considering the fact that they barely had hot water, heat, food, or real furniture...there were a lot of good times.

That was where he and Collins first met, right in the kitchen. He was making some crazy food, he can't remember the name, all he knows is that he couldn't pronounce it for the life of him. He chuckles at the memory of it, Collins standing there with a cigarette in his mouth and an apron, singing under his breath. He cracks a real smile for the first time in recent memory.

Benny walks over and leans against the wall, glancing over at the window that leads to the fire escape. There...there's where he first saw Maureen. She was sitting out on the fire escape, sun glasses on, just staring off. He can remember his mouth falling open when he saw her for the first time, not able to remember seeing someone that beautiful before.

"Maureen..." He says softly, his voice slightly hoarse, staring off into space, trying to recapture that moment perfectly in his mind.

"Yes?" A voice says from the door.

Benny jumps slightly as he hears the voice, not expecting anyone to come by. He tries to compose himself a little bit in front of her. "Hi...what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." Maureen says, her voice full of annoyance, as if she were ready to pounce at any minute. Benny takes note of this and becomes on his guard.

"Well...I was dropping by to see if I could try once more time to talk some sense into the boys." Benny says, choosing his words carefully.

"Oh really..." Maureen says, walking a little bit closer, hands slipping into her pockets, a stern look on her face. "Trying to talk them into talking me down? It wont happen. Just because you sold out your friends, doesn't mean that they will." She says with a vindictive grin.

Benny lets out an exasperated sigh. "You know...I don't have time or energy to deal with this. I can't argue with you right now Maureen..." He says softly, shaking his head. She has no idea how much this experience is paining him.

"I wouldn't wanna argue with me either Benny." Maureen says, the grin turning into a smirk.

"Yeah yeah..." Benny mutters softly, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking towards the door. "You're always right Maureen, even when you don't know what the hell you're talking about." He grumbles.

"Excuse me?" Maureen asks, her voice rising a little bit. "I know plenty Benny." She says, her hands on her hips.

"You don't know a damn thing." Benny fires back, beginning to get very frustrated. He doesn't want to lose his cool, right now. He just wants to get out of the loft and go home before he or Maureen does something stupid.

"I know you sold us out." Maureen says angrily. "I know that you cut off the power here on Christmas Eve. What kind of friend does that?"

"You think I wanted to do that? Huh?" Benny asks, stopping in his tracks and turning around. "You think I want to have to do this shit?"

"You sure seem to enjoy it."

"Fuck you Maureen." He says, scowling at her. "You have no idea what I have done for them, no clue whatsoever. Why do you think they stayed in this loft for an entire year without their lazy asses paying one penny of rent? Me. Why do you think the power wasn't turned off earlier? Me. Why do you think that my father in law didn't evict their asses and throw them out into the streets? Because I practically got down on my knees and begged him to see some reason. I told him all of the shit that Roger was going through with April, and Mark unable to find a job. I tried."

"But after a while just me trying doesn't work. Because after a while 'Roger doesn't feel like leaving the house' isn't a valid excuse anymore. After a while 'Mark hasn't gone big yet and he isn't willing to pick up so much as a temp job' doesn't cover it!" He says, his teeth clenched, breathing heavily. All of this had been building up inside of him and now that he has an outlet for his frustrations it's hard for him to stop.

Maureen just stands there, looking at him in awe. She had no idea about all of this, he never told any of them what he had gone through.

"And do you know what I sacrificed to get them this deal?" Benny asks softly. "All they had to do was talk you out of doing this protest you're doing, and they could live for free, for how ever long they decide to stay."

"But..." Maureen says weakly, but voice gaining in strength as he mentions the protest. "But you shouldn't try to talk them into stopping it. I'm allowed to protest if I want to, what you are doing to the homeless is unfair and-"

"Unfair? For Christs sake Maureen, you have to see some reason in all of this." He cuts her off. "I don't agree with kicking them out of their makeshift homes and making them move from one shitty block to another shitty block but the person who owns the land does have the right to do whatever he wants with it. You have no right to stop him. And you're being selfish because you would rather have this meaningless protest rather than have your best friends live rent free for life." He says. "I've busted my ass for Mark and Roger, what have you done lately?"

Maureen's eyes are wide, her jaw dropped. She is in utter disbelief because Benny just verbally tore her a new asshole and for once...she doesn't have anything to say back to him. She lets out a small exhale as an awkward silence filled the room.

"Why didn't...why didn't you ever tell us?" Maureen asks, her voice soft once more.

"You wouldn't have listened to me..." Benny says, his anger broken for now, being replaced by a sort of depressed realization of his current situation. Almost as if saying it out loud made it more real. "You guys made up your mind about me the moment you didn't come to me and Alison's wedding...we missed you there you know..." He mutters softly, looking down at the floor. "Especially you." He mutters.

"Especially me...what do you mean?" She asks softly, absentmindedly taking a step closer to him. "Why am I different?"

"It's not that...I expected Mark and Roger not to be there." Benny mutters, forcing himself to look back up again, meeting her eyes. "I wanted you to be there though. I was hoping for it." He mutters.

"But why?" Maureen asks, unable to see what Benny was trying to get at. After all of the things she has said and done to him, why would he still want her to show up at his wedding.

"I just...like you more than them." Benny says lamely, trying to look back up at her, but unable to meet her eyes

Maureen steps forward again, pressing a finger beneath his chin, lifting his face up to meet his. "You like me more than them?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. Does he mean what she thinks he does?

"I've always...loved you Maureen..." Benny says, his eyes looking into hers, showing her that he isn't trying to mess with her.

Maureen's mouth drops again as he says this. "You...you what?" She asks, slightly breathless by this statement.

"I love you Maureen." Benny says with a small sigh. "Have since I first saw you on the fire escape..." He mutters. This time it's he who takes a step forward, leaning his head in slowly and pressing his lips against hers gently.

Maureen's eyes go wide as he kisses her, her hands raising to push him away, but as they rest on his shoulders her barriers drop, and she allows it. Her arms wrap loosely around hims shoulders, pulling him closer.

The kiss slowly begins to heat up as Benny backs her up into the door, pressing his body against hers, pinning her there. She groans softly against his lips, her hands beginning to move across his back, pulling him a bit harder against her, whimpering almost desperately against the kiss.

Benny slowly pulls away, eyes opening slowly to look at her, smiling a little bit. He has been waiting for so long to do that, and it felt better than he could have imagined. His tongue runs across his lips, eyes still looking into hers, almost expectantly.

Maureen looks back at him, completely speechless. On one hand, that kiss felt amazing. She felt a passion with him that she hasn't felt with Joanne very often and she knows that it would only get better with him. Say whatever you want about Benny but he is a passionate man. On the other hand...she's with Joanne, and she's trying hard not to do wrong by her.

She's so confused, and the way that he is looking at her, like he's expecting her to say something. The problem is she doesn't know what to say to that, her mind is racing so much she can barely think at all. Finally she just decides to open her mouth and let whatever come out come out.

"I'm still doing my protest tonight..." She says, wincing a little bit as soon as she realized what she said. She could have said anything, why did she say that?

Benny's face falls so suddenly it was almost like a light bulb going out. He mouths wordlessly for a few seconds before looking at the ground, biting his lip a little bit. Why did she...after what they just did? He gulps, looking back up at her, looking at her sad face. "OK...OK..." He says softly.

"Benny, I-"

"No, I get it." Benny mutters, shaking his head. He pushes Maureen aside gently, opens the door and walks out.

Maureen closes the door after him, looking at the spot where he was in complete shock. She then walks over to the couch and collapses down, burying her face in her hands.

"IIIIII am fooorbiden to produce...milk. In cyberlaaaand we only drink...Diet Coke."

Benny pushes through the crowd of people, trying to get a better look at her up on the newly constructed stage.

She really is something else up there, Benny thinks with a small smirk, shaking his head a little bit. He lets out a small sigh, his head full of what happened between them earlier. His hands slip into his pockets as he watches her getting the crowd all riled up.

"Leap of faith, leap of faith. Leap of faith leap of faith..."

Benny raises an eyebrow at her. Was she looking at him? Did she make eye contact with him...if she did, it was probably because this entire protest was aimed at him. That's it.

"Moo with me..." Maureen says, with this manic look in her eye. "Come on sir..moo...moooo..."

Benny is trying to keep himself from cracking up as he looks at her up there. Everyone is beginning to moo and she looks like she lost her damn mind. Wait...or was that the rest of the crowd that has gone mad?

There are some yells, loud crashing sounds. "Fuck!" Benny calls out as the police sirens blare and the boys in blue start rushing in.

He wants to look around, to make sure everything is ok, and to make sure he doesn't get trampled, yet somehow his gaze is brought back to the stage where Maureen stands. Her body is almost haloed in the stage light, making him stare mesmerized at her. This time he is sure that she is looking back at him.

The whole scene slows down, the people falling and fighting slowing down to a halt and all of the noise begins to sound dull to his ears. All he can think of is the girl up on that stage, meeting his gaze, looking right back at him, a stern, intense look on her face.

Then...she smiles.

She smiles, and gives him a small wink. Suddenly nothing else matters nearly as much anymore.