AN: To you lovely readers and followers...for those of you following Forever 18, I am still working on it still, since the last time I updated I've had so major repairs happening in my home and had to put the book away for a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed all will be finished and I can pull the book out again and pump out an update on that fic.

Just a warning this chapter is just a filler really and mostly a reflection synopsis for Ray.

Stay Sexy lovelies and enjoy.

The last 96 hours had been a whirlwind for Ray. He had met with his Aunt after dropping the bombshell that the Berry men were dead. He had left school after meeting with his Aunt who had booked tickets for the both of them. She had also been making arrangements stateside for the handling of the bodies should they in fact turn out to be the Berry men while Ray had been making the arrangements over the phone on the Italian side as he spoke the language where his Aunt did not. In the end Ray ended up threatening a few officials when they attempted to extort money from him. Ray had researched into his mother's side of the family when he had been recovering from surgery and found that she had old Sicilian 'family' ties in the country. He had created an encrypted email address and reached out with a brief message that simply stated who he was, that he was aware of who they were, he didn't care and that he didn't want anything from them other than permission to visit his mother's final resting place when he was in the country so he could pay proper respects to the woman who brought him into the world. When he casually dropped the name of his mother's family while the officials were attempting to extort him, they suddenly became very helpful and excessively eager to assist him with what was needed to expedite the process and paperwork for the bodies to leave the country.

He had also kept his word and met with Noah after school and briefly explained what he had done for his two best friends and promised to explain more in depth when he returned as he was flying out to Italy that night. He gave his friend some cash to put in his regular account to cover any emergencies for Sarah should they arise. He watched as Noah cried softly when he became overwhelmed with what Ray had done for him. With Ray's constant faith in him, Noah was slowly starting to believe that he was destined for more than Lima and that he wasn't a Lima Loser. Ray apologized to Noah for having to leave after dumping the information on him but he had to stop at Quinn's before picking his Aunt up at his Aunt Jean's and driving to the airport. He told his friend that he was welcome to stay at the house while he was gone if Noah needed to get away from his.

Ray spent the next 30 minutes at his girlfriend's house apologizing to both the blonde and her mother for having to bail on their standing dinner date they had every week just the three of them. Judy had waved away his apologies and had simply demanded that he let her know once he was back in Lima and they would reschedule at that time. She had left the young couple alone to spend some time together before Ray had to leave. Quinn didn't say anything while they sat cuddling on the couch. She just leaned against her boyfriend breathing him in knowing that she wouldn't see him for at least a week. As he was getting ready to leave she told him to turn around so she could check on his tattoo. He complied and stripped off his sweatshirt and tank top and Quinn applied the balm to his back before stealing his hoodie from him, telling him he would get it back when he came home. He laughed softly and told her to feel free and stop by his house when she needed a new shirt of his or to steal his old letterman that he had outgrown, but mostly to check on Noah as he was going through a tough time right now. Quinn agreed and the couple kissed good-bye. Ray had shivered under the leather jacket he was wearing for the trip as he waited for his truck to warm up. He grabbed another hoodie out of his duffle bag in the back and quickly put it on before pulling out of the Fabray's driveway.

Ray managed to spend a few minutes with his favourite Aunt where she told him to stay strong and keep his head up if it turned out that it was the Berry men. That it was ok that he was still angry about everything that had happened and come to light, as long as he continued to work through it all and that in the end giving forgiveness was so he could move on from it and let go of the hate in his heart and nothing to do with absolving the Berry men. Ray hadn't realized how badly he needed to hear that from someone other than his therapist until his Aunt Jean had whispered them in his ear. Ray had hugged her fiercely before letting her go and promising to bring her back something small as a souvenir. His aunt Jean gave him that beautiful smile of hers that was reserved just for him and her sister. He and Sue left shortly after and made it to the airport with time to spare. Ray had opted to valet his truck in the long term parking. Once the two had cleared security, they grabbed a light dinner while waiting for their 8 pm flight. It was a ten hour flight and Ray had ensured he had put some sleep aids in his carry on to help him sleep and to help his body acclimate to the time difference when they landed as his body would think that it was six am but it would be just past Noon once they landed in Naples. He had already arranged for a car service to take them from the airport to the police station and then to either the hotel or where they Berry men had been staying.

Ray was thankful that his aunt had booked first class tickets for the flight allowing for him to be able to actually recline properly, no he wasn't the tallest individual but even he appreciated leg room. He couldn't imagine being as tall as his aunt and attempting to recline in business class. He had set an alarm to go off an hour before they were to land in order to change his clothes into more appropriate wear. He had also sent an encrypted email advising of his flight and landing time and when he would be free for a meeting and that he was not alone. He turned his laptop off and set his phone to air plane mode. He had already taken a sleep aid once he had settled into his seat. He had fallen asleep fairly easily and woke with minimal grogginess. He quickly grabbed his wardrobe bag and changed in the bathroom into a pair of pin striped dress pants and a black dress shirt. He had left the top buttons undone and decided against a tie. He did however opt to use the suspenders that came with the pants. He had opted for dress boots in lieu of dress shoes. Looking in the small mirror, Ray had decided to wear the burgundy vest as it hid the suspenders. When he came back to his seat, he found out that his aunt had had the same idea and had changed into one of her business suits as well. Once they had finally entered the airport, Ray made a beeline for the restroom in order to properly style his hair and brush his teeth soon after the two cleared customs and found a gentleman holding a sign with their last name on it. Ray greeted the driver in Italian and was shocked that drivers services had already been taken care of. When Ray gave a questioning look the driver leaned in and whispered the name of his Mother's father and he understood right away. The driver also warned Ray that the car unfortunately had 'ears' so if he had anything that he didn't want the Italian Policia to hear to avoid discussing it in the car. Ray thanked the man for his information and quickly brought his Aunt up to speed. The ride to the police station was uneventful and the driver waited for them in the parking lot.

Once inside Ray was polite but kept a firm no nonsense tone as he met with officer in charge of the Berry men's case. Apparently the two men had been murdered. They had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, as an alleged turf war was going on. The officer attempted to question Ray before taking him to identify the bodies. Ray lost his polite tone and advised the man to quit wasting his time as they were the ones who demanded that the identification be done in person and not through picture confirmation. When questioned about his lack of grief Ray asked the officer why should he grieve the men who had abandoned him? The man didn't have a reply and quietly lead both Ray and Sue to the morgue viewing area where the coroner was waiting to pull back the sheet to reveal the faces. They both confirmed that it was in fact the Berry men that were currently residing in the morgue. After the positive identification, they were taken back to the bullpen area where a man in a three piece suit was waiting for them. Turns out it was the lawyer that had contacted Ray at school the day before. Ray showed the man the originals as well as provided him copies of Ray's paperwork showing proof of who he was and that the Berry men had adopted him when he was a day old to the most recent paperwork showing his emancipation. After verifying that the documents matched, the lawyer handed over a slim briefcase that had set of keys some paperwork that Ray began to skim through when his eyes widened in shock he started reading from the beginning. Outlined was the men's last will and testament. He flipped to the very last page to check the date and found that it had been notarized just two weeks ago. Ray was floored. The two men had, with the exception of a handful of personal items and a couple of houses in the States, left everything, their entire estate to Ray. The young man had to sit down as he was in complete shock. He shook himself out of his stupor and handed the briefcase to his aunt knowing she would hold onto it. The lawyer had switched to Hebrew with his next words, advising that the officers were pretty shady and were going to try and extort money from him as he was young and just came into a boatload of money. Ray had chuckled lightly and advised the man that they had already tried before he even got on the plane. The man offered his services in assisting Ray with any further legal issues while he was in the country. Ray graciously accepted as he knew that the cops were going to attempt to question him further regarding the Berry men. Good thing that he had as he and his aunt had spent another 90 minutes at the station with the police attempting to question them. They both allowed the lawyer to speak for them as Ray answered an email from Principal Figgins, letting the man know that he and his aunt would be back in the country by Monday, but he would need the week off in order to make arrangements for the services. He also stated that any and all homework could be given to any of his friends to bring to him and he would make sure that once completed they would bring it back to his teachers. Ray finally became annoyed with the officers and stated that he was leaving and that they had no legal grounds to hold him or charge him with anything. He had committed no crime, he had nothing to do with the untimely deaths of the Berry men here in Naples as he was in Ohio for crying out loud and could be alibied by at least four other people at the time the two men happened to be gunned down. He was young, not stupid and knew that this was just a ploy to attempt to get money from him as the men happened to be very wealthy as in 10 digit wealthy. Ray now had more money than he even knew what to do with. He left the police station with his aunt and the lawyer following behind them. The lawyer extended his services beyond just dealing with the Policia and promised to assist Ray in anyway with settling both Berry men's estates in Italy as quickly as possible. The rest of the small amount of time while in Naples was spent making arrangements to sell the property that the men had just purchased and meeting with his mother's side of the family.

Ray was brought out of his musings as his cell phone rang. The only person who knew he was back in Lima was Puck as he was going to show up at the school in time for glee, to surprise his girlfriend. He had gotten in late the night before and the Mohawk haired boy was crashing at his place.

"Whats up Noah?"

"You need to get to the school JewBro, Santana is about to kill someone and I'm about to go to jail if I can't contain her."

"I'm on my way."

Dun Dun Dun...