A/N: I felt that I needed to do the character of Benny some justice and write a story about him, seeing as I tend to neglect him a lot in my other stories. So here it is, the story of Benny & Alison, how they came to be, and how their relationship and future marriage survived. It will run through the actual events of the musical itself and beyond, with much focus on pre-RENT events.
Disclaimer: I do not own the RENT characters. No infringement intended.
Benny and Alison
April 15, 2008
New York City
"Daddy!"
Alison Coffin rolled over in bed and turned on the light. "Want me to get her?" she whispered to her half-asleep husband.
Benny sat up and rubbed the remaining sleep out of his eyes. "No. I've got it. Go back to sleep." He planted a kiss on her temple before swinging his legs over the side of their queen size bed.
Alison nodded, but made no attempt to fall back asleep. Instead, she rose out of bed as well and quickly padded down the hall towards the bathroom, hand rested gently on her swollen belly. With three children already to take care of, she smiled to herself as she realized that this fourth would definitely be their last. She turned on the bathroom light and rubbed at her blue eyes. Her normally fair skin was tanned, due to their latest vacation the week before to Disney World. The kids had loved it, and so had Benny, seeing as he was still a big kid himself, even though he was thirty-six years old.
Through the slightly cracked opening of the bathroom door, she could hear her husband comforting their three and a half year old daughter, Ava, who no doubt had woken up from a nightmare. It was nights like these that Alison remembered how good of a father Benny was to his children, and how good of a husband. At the end of the day, she loved him, and he loved her. They were a pair, and neither would have it any other way.
She quickly finished using the bathroom and returned to bed, where she turned on the television and surfed through the early morning broadcasts.
Benny had reached Ava's door just in time, for the toddler was feet away from the door itself. Large tears had filled the child's brown eyes and she bit her lip uncomfortably, staring up at her father.
He crouched down to her level and scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to her small bed. "What's wrong, princess?"
"I had a bad dream," she whispered. "It was so scary. Someone was chasing after me."
He nodded and ran his hand through her shoulder length light brown hair. "You're safe now. No bad guy is ever gonna come after my princess, got it?" He scooped her up and started tickling her.
Ava giggled and wrapped her arms around her father's neck. "Never ever, right?"
"Right," Benny smiled, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Never ever ever!"
She smiled and slipped back into her bed. Benny picked up the purple sheets and carefully tucked them around her before handing her Bear, the infamous white stuffed tiger given to Ava when she was a newborn. How Ava had settled on the name Bear was another story in its own.
"How come Uncle Roger was so mad at you today? And how come Uncle Collins had to die?" she questioned with childhood curiosity.
Benny sighed, not wanting to go into the earlier events of the day. He had already lived through them once, but he knew his daughter would not sleep until her questions were answered. He decided to tackle Collins first. "Uncle Collins was very sick, honey. Remember?"
"That's why he was in the hospital?"
He nodded. "Yes. He was very sick and the doctor's couldn't fix him…because what he had couldn't be fixed." Benny had tried to choose his words simply and carefully so Ava would understand.
"Oh. But why today?"
"I don't know, pumpkin. I don't know a lot of things. I don't know why Collins had to die today."
"But why was Uncle Roger so mad at you?"
He sighed again. "Uncle Roger's mad because of something that happened between us a long time ago, and he's really upset because Aunt Mimi's so sick now. And he's even more upset that Uncle Collins died. But he's really mad at me. That's why he and I were yelling at each other out in the hall today."
Ava nodded. "Is Aunt Mimi going to die?"
Benny nodded. "Yes baby, Aunt Mimi's going to die. But not right away. She's putting up a good fight."
"Can I see her in the morning?"
"I'll have to call her and ask, but I'm sure she'd like to see you, okay?" He turned off the light, making sure the nightlight was plugged in and turned on. "But how about you get some sleep, okay?"
"Okay," she whispered softly. "Wait, Daddy."
"Sure, sweetheart."
"I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, baby." Benny blew her a kiss and left the door opened slightly before walking back down the hall and into his and Alison's bedroom.
He found Alison sitting up in bed with a small on her lips. "What are you watching?" He joined her in bed and wrapped an arm around her.
She smiled and cuddled up against him. "I Love Lucy. It's the episode where Lucy does the commercial for that vitamin." Alison let out a small yawn then. "Did you get Ava back to sleep okay?"
Benny nodded in agreement. "Yeah. She had a bad dream like you thought. She asked me a lot of questions, about Collins, and why Roger was so pissed at me today."
"I thought she would. She was right outside with me when the fight started. You guys should have tried to work it out instead of walking away from each other. Mark had to practically drag Roger back down the hallway with Mimi."
"He's a bastard, Al," Benny muttered. "I've tried to make things right between us, but he's got such a fucking grudge held against me I can't even get through to him."
"I know," she replied softly. "And I'm sorry. We've all tried. But you two have to work something out. At least to the point where you're not both cursing the ground you both walk on all the time. You have to behave yourselves at the funeral."
"I know," Benny admitted. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I love you, Alison, you know that right?"
She laughed and rested her chin on his chest. "What's gotten in to you?"
"Nothing. Today got to me. Collins held us together all these years."
"I know." Alison took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently. "But you can't all fall apart on each other now. If we haven't fallen apart yet, then neither can all of you."
Benny smiled and kissed her quickly, reaching over her to turn out the light. After a few minutes with Alison comfortably pressed against him, he let out another laugh.
"What's so funny?" she mumbled, half asleep.
"I was remembering how drunk you were the first night I met you."
"Oh, thanks Benny. You're not supposed to make fun of your pregnant wife." She said this with a slight smile and turned over onto her back. "And for the record, you were too!"
"I was not," he laughed, propping himself up on an elbow to face her.
"I don't remember."
"Yeah. But maybe we should take some time out to remember it," he grinned mischievously. "Or celebrate it."
"It's three in the morning."
"Never stopped us before."
Twenty-two year old Benjamin Coffin the third, a recent graduate of Brown University, glanced around the crowded room uncomfortably, wondering how the hell he was exactly supposed to entertain himself at this party.
The holiday party was being held in honor of Mr. David Grey's Manhattan branch of his real estate company, Grey Real Estate & Communications. It was such a company that provided for Benny's current internship, as well as his paychecks. The pay was good, and the job could even be slightly entertaining at times. Getting an entire office to yourself and working from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon suited Benny just fine, as well as the workload. Mr. Grey had hired him on personally to help out in the field, and he and Benny would often spend mornings together, showing different high end, pricey apartments, townhouses, and lofts to potential tenants throughout Manhattan.
Benny glanced down at his watch impatiently as he grabbed another cocktail from a passing waiter's tray. He wasn't sure how much longer his presence would be needed here, and it was already quickly approaching eleven. He had promised Mark, Roger, and Collins that he'd be home by midnight, for the sake of the Christmas holiday.
Roger Davis and Mark Cohen were both twenty and had lived in 'the loft', a shabby apartment on the fourth floor of a former music publishing factory in the East Village for about two years now. Straight out of high school, Roger had bought the apartment when he was eighteen and had lived in it by himself for a little less than a year. An aspiring musician, he had pieced together a hard rock band, popularly known as 'The Well Hungarians' to the underground music scene. The band gigs seemed to pay the rent, but also paid for Roger's heavy drug addiction, which was currently pot and cocaine.
Benny had shared a dorm with Mark during his junior year of college at Brown, which had been Mark's first. He knew Mark had never been too content with Brown in the first place, and wasn't surprised when his friend informed him that he was dropping out and heading to New York City to stay with a friend. That friend turned out to be Roger, but seeing as Mark had no job, Roger covered most of the rent.
That was until Thomas B. Collins had joined the ranks that same year. Mark had taken a class of his in the summer of '93, and the two became quick friends. When Mark learned of the rent hike in Collins' apartment building, he quickly offered him a place to stay, and by the fall of '93, Collins had moved in with Roger and Mark.
After graduating from Brown in May of '94, Benny was offered the internship with Grey Real Estate & Communications in Manhattan and quickly realized that he would need a place to stay as well. One day he looked up Mark, offered to split the rent, and Mark, Roger, and Collins willingly agreed for him to move in. Most of the time it was a tight squeeze in the apartment. With only three bedrooms, two actual beds, a mattress, and a beaten down couch, sleeping arrangements were a little hard to agree on.
"Ah, there you are, Benjamin."
Benny sharply broke out of his daydream and came face to face with Mr. Grey himself. "Good evening, Mr. Grey," he spoke politely.
David Grey regarded him with a kind smile and nod. "I don't believe you've met my daughter, Alison. Alison honey, this is my newest intern, Benjamin Coffin. He just graduated from Brown University this past May. Alison's a sophomore at New York University."
Benny nervously smiled and was stunned when he realized that his employer had such an attractive young daughter. "Nice to meet you," he offered, shaking her hand lightly in his.
She laughed and Benny spotted the champagne glass in her hand. "You too," Alison smiled. She brushed a strand of her shoulder length light brown hair out of her face and stared at him with her blue eyes. Her opposite hand rested on the hip of her black eveing gown. "I've heard a lot about you. My father's told me that you've done great work for his company."
By now, Mr. Grey had mingled and walked away, leaving the two of them behind. Benny nodded casually and sipped at his cocktail. "I try my best."
"Benny, do you want to know something?" she questioned with a laugh.
"Sure," he admitted. "What?"
"I hate these parties. But don't tell my father I told you that," Alison laughed again.
Benny realized she was slightly drunk on the champagne, but nodded his head. She looked beautiful in the black evening dress she was wearing, and there was something about Alison that drew him to her. "I'm not really too crazy about parties myself."
"Glad I'm not the only one!" she laughed again. "The only thing good is the drinks and the food. Other than that, everyone is boring. I'm sure you have something better to do than stand around here all night. My father won't mind if you leave."
"I just have some friends to hang out with later tonight, but it's no big deal. I could still stick around for a few."
She smiled and nodded. "Can I shake your hand again?"
Benny blinked at her. "What?"
"It's just something I have to do. You see, my father introduced us, but I never introduced myself. So I'd like to meet you all over again." She stuck her hand out politely. "Alison Grey."
He grinned and shook her hand. "Fair enough. Benjamin Coffin, but please, call me Benny."
"Nice to meet you, Benny."
"Likewise."
Alison dropped her hand and finished off the last of her champagne. "Want to get out of here?"
He seemed a little taken aback by her flirting, but agreed nonetheless. "Where would we go?"
"I don't know. Let's go to Times Square." Her eyes darted around. "Let me just find an excuse to give to my father, and I'll meet you downstairs in ten minutes.
"Okay," he smiled. "Sure." He watched her walk away quickly, shooting another smile at him over her shoulder. Maybe the night would turn out all right after all.
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