fear-ciuil, you make a very valid point re Ben, and after I'd written him attacking Phillips I did wonder if I should keep it in. But how I look at it is that Ben really loves Evelyn. It's an all consuming love for him and when he hears someone has hurt her, he lashes out. As the story progresses, their relationship changesand he gets older, this may well change...hope it hasn't stopped your enjoyment though!

December 31st 1974

Six weeks later

"I hope they're not working you too hard."

Ben smiled at the sound of Evelyn's voice down the phone. He crooked the receiver between his ear and shoulder and rifled through the papers on his desk, "You know what it's like. Never stops."

"You work too hard," she chastised him.

"Yeah, well someone has to," he teased, "We can't all have fabulously glamorous jobs in high-class bars."

Evelyn snorted, "If O'Malley's is high class then I'm Ali McGraw."

"You're better looking."

"Quit with the flattery, Stone. It's not going to get you anywhere."

"Except dinner tonight," he reminded her, "don't forget."

"How could I?" she replied, "It only took me about six weeks and a hundred hours of overtime to convince my boss to give me the night off." He heard her smile down the phone, "I hope you're worth it."

"I'm hurt!" he replied. Looking up, he saw Bowyer crossing the bullpen towards him, "I'm going to have to go," he told her, "but I'll get you outside at six?"

"I don't even get picked up," she moaned, "what kind of boyfriend are you?"

"The best," he replied as Bowyer stood in front of him, his eyebrows raised, "Catch you later. Bye." He put the phone down.

"I hope that wasn't a personal call, Stone," he grumbled.

"Of course not," Ben replied.

"Good." He thumped a huge pile of files down on Ben's desk, "Cause at this rate, you're going to be here til next New Year's."

Ben looked at the files, "What?"

"These are all the files relating to the Burns case from two years ago. You probably heard about it on the news. Husband went crazy, took his wife and kids hostage, shot them, got life, the usual festive fun." Bowyer shook his head, "Well, his lawyer has just submitted Ryan Burns' notice of intention to appeal."

"After two years?"

"It was a long complicated case," Bowyer said, "and there's no time limit on appeal."

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"Go through everything, see what you can find out." Bowyer turned to walk away.

"Tonight!" Ben stood up quickly.

Bowyer turned back, "Is that a problem?"

"It's New Year's Eve. I've got plans," he said, plans he wasn't willing to break.

"Well, you'd better work fast then, hadn't you? Have fun."

Ben sat down angrily and lifted the first file. Smug bastard. Just because he didn't have anyone to spend the holiday with. As he read, however, he became engrossed in the complexities of the case and didn't notice people around him leaving for the night. He worked on and on, taking copious notes, until a shadow fell across his light.

"I didn't expect to get stood up, Benjamin."

He looked up and saw Evelyn standing, her arms folded, looking down at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, standing up, "I got landed with this case file and…" he trailed off, "is there any point in trying to explain?"

"None," she replied, "what's it in connection with?"

"I can't tell you, you know that."

"Oh, come on Ben. It's six-thirty on New Year's Eve, everyone else is gone and you're sitting here wielding the confidentiality baton?" She pulled up a chair, "Let me help you."

"Evelyn…"

"I'll read some files, take some notes and then you can rewrite them all in the new year," she lifted one of the files, "besides, if I'm going back to law school, I need to get back into the way of reading something other than Cosmo."

Ben cocked his head on one side and looked at her looking back at him. He really loved her, really loved her. "Ok," he said, "go ahead."

For the next hour, they worked in silence, side by side. Ben occasionally glanced across at her, smiling as she frowned, a pen clamped between her teeth. Over the last few weeks, she had really changed in his eyes. Gone was the sullen, angry Evelyn to be replaced with a much gentler, much happier Evelyn. She had spent Christmas with Ben and his family and she and his mother had gotten on like a house on fire, so much so that at times, he felt they were ganging up on him.

Finally, Evelyn threw down what she was holding and stood up. "Come on, that's enough."

Ben looked up, "We're not finished."

"I don't care. It's seven-thirty, we've already missed our dinner reservation and I'm tired. Let's go." She held out her hand, "Come on Ben."

"Fine," he said, standing up and switching off the light. They left the office and stepped outside into the swirling snow. Evelyn pulled her coat closer around her and pulled a large, brown woolly hat down over her head. Ben burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" she demanded. He pointed at her hat. "I'll have you know that a friend bought me this hat."

Ben was more taken aback by the fact that Evelyn seemed to have a friend, "Who?"

"None of your business," she replied, "I have more friends than you might think." They walked down the street in the direction of Times Square and Evelyn linked her arm through Ben's. "So, I'm guessing a fancy restaurant is out."

"How bout a burger?" he asked.

"You're kidding?"

"Nope."

"Well if that's or starve, then I'll take a burger."

They stopped at the first street vendor and bought two burgers, Evelyn squirting a mound of ketchup onto hers and biting into it gratefully, "God, I'm so hungry!"

It was only now that Ben realised his stomach was growling with hunger and for a good few minutes they walked in silence devouring the meal. When she was finished, Evelyn wiped her mouth with her napkin and tossed it in the nearest trashcan.

"Well, that was certainly a meal worth waiting for."

"I'm sorry," he apologised again, "I promise I'll make it up to you."

"When? Next New Year's?"

"Probably," he laughed.

They lapsed into silence again as they reached the hub of the square. The crowds had gathered for the dropping of the ball, everyone eager to get a good spot, despite the biting wind. They paused at the edge of the crowd and looked up at the big screen which was showing an old episode of 'I Love Lucy.'

Ben took the plunge, "You never did tell me what happened here that night."

Evelyn turned to face him, the smile gone from her face, "It's New Year's Eve, Ben. Let's not go there."

He shrugged, "I just thought you might be ready to tell me."

"What is it with you?" she shot back, "Why can you never leave something alone? You must be a brilliant lawyer, Ben, you just don't stop." She turned back to face the crowd, shaking her head in frustration. "You seem to think that we have to share everything, but we don't. I don't know everything about your life, why should you know everything about mine? So I made some bad decisions, some choices I wish I hadn't, but I refuse to be browbeat about it every minute of every day, ok?"

He didn't say anything for a moment, letting her calm down after her rant. "I'm sorry."

"Can't we just put it down to something that happened that I'd rather forget about?"

He nodded, "If you want."

"I do want, thank you." Evelyn dug her hands in her pockets. After a while, she turned back to face him, her smile back in place, "Let's not spoil the evening." She sidled closer to him and gave him a quick kiss, "Come on, buy me a drink before I die of thirst."

Ben nodded and they went into the nearest bar, which was full to the gills with fellow revellers. Their conversation flowed as if the short exchange of words had never taken place, but it remained at the back of his mind, like a nagging voice that wouldn't go away.

As the clock moved closer and closer towards midnight, people began making their way back out into the square to celebrate the beginning of the New Year. Evelyn grabbed Ben's arm and pulled him into the crowd.

The revellers were all in high spirits and he put his arms around her waist to stop her from being dragged away by the crowds. She didn't resist and put her own arms over his. The countdown began and all eyes were on the ball.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…" the crowd shouted…"4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!" Everyone started going crazy, hugging and kissing, jumping up and down as they greeted 1975.

"Happy New Year," Ben whispered in her ear.

Evelyn turned in his embrace and looked him square in the eyes, "Happy New Year, Ben."

SSSS

A dog howling in the distance did nothing to deter the two people in the bedroom. Months of frustration had finally spilled over and as the first few hours of January 1st 1975 rolled past, Ben made love to Evelyn for the first time. There had been almost an unspoken agreement between them since the clock had struck midnight. After staying in Times Square for a further half hour, they had wordlessly gone back to Ben's apartment where she had let him undress her with no reservations and carry her to his bed.

It was everything he had hoped it would be. She was open and willing and as he caressed her gently, he elicited from her, moans of passion that only stirred him further. He kissed down her body, but after a while, she seemed to grow impatient of him teasing her and thrust herself hard against him, telling him without speaking that she wanted him inside her.

When he entered her, she cried out and gripped him closer to her, wrapping her legs around his back. He kissed her mouth, her face, her eyes, everywhere as he moved inside her. Evelyn was no slouch either, and for all his leading, she was more than able to match him.

For hours, they delighted in each other until, as dawn slowly began to break, Ben took her in his arms and held her to him, feeling her heart beating against his chest. As their breathing returned to normal, he felt her shaking and realised she was crying.

"What's wrong?" he asked, pulling her face up to his and seeing, in the dim light, her cheeks streaked with tears, "Evelyn?"

"I love you, Ben," she said, "I love you."

"I love you too," he hugged her.

"I know I'm not the perfect person and I know I probably don't deserve it but… please…please promise me…promise me, you won't ever leave me?"

He didn't know where this fear had come from, but he was determined to quell it, "I'll never leave you, Evelyn. I promise, I'll never leave you." Evelyn continued to cry softly, but he didn't say anything. Maybe it harked back to her home life, maybe it was to do with what happened in Times Square, but something was definitely bothering her and he only wished he knew what it was.