"You asshole!" Ray screamed in the direction of the door. "How dare you!" Ray was pointing his finger at Jimmy while he was quickly taking strides towards the door. "You promised me…"
Fraser quickly stepped in front of Ray to stop him from advancing any further. He grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back away from the door and a smug Jimmy.
"I don't know what you're talking about Ray and it's sixteen eighty for the pizza, Benton." Jimmy replied to Ray but never took his eyes off Fraser.
"Ray, stop... and calm down!" Fraser sternly told Ray as he continued holding him back. "We don't need someone calling the cops."
"I am the cops, Fraser! Now, let go of me." Ray continued to struggle against Fraser's strong grip. Fraser shoved him back into the apartment forcefully. He jabbed a finger into Ray's chest and stared hard at him.
"You… stay here. Dief… don't let Ray move." Fraser instructed both Ray and the deaf wolf. Diefenbaker trod over and sat directly in front of Ray and let out a low growl.
"Whose side are you on, Dief?" Ray snarled back to the wolf.
Fraser walked back to the door, where Jimmy was leaning casually against the doorframe. He gave him a twenty for the pizza and Jimmy handed over the pie with extra pineapple.
"I believe that Ray has a few things that he would like to say to you, Jimmy. But, as you can see, now is probably not the best time for that conversation to take place. Unless of course, you want to end up with a few broken bones."
"Let me kick him in the head, Fraser!" Ray yelled over Dief. He began to take a step forward and Diefenbaker stood up and growled at Ray, effectively stopping his advancement.
Fraser turned around and glared at Ray. "You… zip it!" He turned to Face Jimmy again.
In a voice that was much calmer than he felt, Fraser said to Jimmy, "So, I suggest that you meet him at his apartment first thing tomorrow morning. The two of you can talk when he is much calmer. And, if you would kindly give me his key… I believe he would like for you to find a different place to spend the night."
Jimmy took his keys out of his pocket and worked Ray's key off the circle. He handed it over to Fraser reluctantly.
"Thank you kindly." Fraser said to Jimmy as he accepted the key from him. He slipped the key into his back pocket.
"Yeah, I've got a few things I'd like to say to him as well." Jimmy replied staring hard at Ray. He turned his gaze towards Fraser. " I may have a few things to say to you as well."
"Well, come on. Let's get it all out in the open now. Why wait until tomorrow, huh?" Ray's anger was coming through his voice loud and clear. He began to move forward again and stopped when Diefenbaker stood up and growled once again. "What is with you, Dief?"
"Ray, that is not a good idea. You need to calm down and I'm sure Jimmy here needs to get back to delivering pizzas."
"Actually, now is a perfect time. Yours was my last delivery. I'm off for the night." Jimmy replied.
Jimmy pushed past Fraser who tried stopping him but had his hands full of pizza. He shut the door with his foot and quickly deposited the pizza on the kitchen counter.
Jimmy was standing in the living room glaring at Ray. He had thought about advancing further but stopped when he caught sight of Dief growling. He wasn't in the mood to get bitten by the wolf.
"You…" Ray began as he pointed his finger in Jimmy's direction. "I let you into my home and you thank me by hitting on Fraser?"
"I was unaware that the two of you were seeing each other. You never mentioned that to me when you introduced us." Jimmy replied calmly. "How was I to know that he was attached?"
"He came out of my bedroom!" Ray screamed at Jimmy. "God, you couldn't take a hint from that?"
"Gentleman, please... we are all adults here. Let's all take a deep breath and start over." Fraser tried to get some semblance of order. He needed to get control of this situation soon.
"You know what Jimmy? It's just like the last time when you made a pass at Stella. I tried to be your friend again, but you never learn do you? Just because you're an all-time loser, who never amounted to anything and couldn't find your own person to love, you think you can just go after someone else's boyfriend. Well, not this time… no way. There's not going to be a repeat of last time. Get out of my life. Don't come back and stay the hell away from Fraser." Ray demanded.
"I think that Benton can make up his own mind who he wants to see Ray, and I don't think that you can make that decision for him. Boy, could I tell him some things about you that would make his skin crawl," Jimmy replied.
"And after what you've pulled you think he's going to choose you?" Ray asked in disbelief. "You would think after 12 years you would have grown up, but you never change Jimmy."
"I'm sorry Ray. I didn't even know you were gay. Does your mom even know?" Jimmy replied still calm.
Dumbfounded, Ray stared at Jimmy. "I'm not gay."
"Really? So, you're what... experimenting? That's hardly fair to Benton." Jimmy laughed as he stepped closer to Fraser then trailed a finger up his arm.
Fraser pushed Jimmy's hand off his arm with disgust. He stepped away from him at once.
"I believe that I can speak for myself and tell you, Jimmy, that I am only interested in Ray." Fraser said to Jimmy as Jimmy stepped closer to him once again. "And although I'm flattered that you appear to have taken an interest in me, I love Ray and I am not interested in pursuing a relationship with anyone else."
"Maybe this will change your mind, Benton." Jimmy took two lightening quick steps forward and pulled a startled Fraser in for a kiss. It was fierce and bruising. Fraser didn't have time to stop it before it happened.
Fraser finally found his bearings and shoved Jimmy back with such force, his back hit the wall. He wiped his hand across his mouth, repulsed and tried to catch his breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Ray. Time seemed to stand still as he watched Ray react.
Ray had had enough. He looked down at Diefenbaker and then back at Fraser who stood there in shock. Dief stood up and turned around to face Jimmy and stepped to the side. Ray had moved so fast Fraser didn't have time to react and Jimmy was so focused on keeping himself upright against the wall, he never saw Ray's fist as it connected with his jaw. The boxer within Ray had just come to life.
Jimmy staggered to the side a few steps and regained his balance.
"You fucking weasel!" Ray punched Jimmy again. Fraser recovered from the shock of being kissed and pulled a still swinging Ray off of Jimmy.
"Ray, please! Get a hold of yourself!" Fraser begged. He got a solid grip on Ray's shirt and shoved him to the other side of the living room and instructed Dief to guard him. He turned around and glared at Jimmy. Fraser was angry and Ray knew it.
"You…" Fraser shouted uncharacteristically. "Get the hell out! I have no interest in you and I don't want to ever see you here again."
"A simple no would have been sufficient, Benton. No need to get hostile." Jimmy opened the door and turned before he walked out. "See you around."
"I wouldn't count on it," Fraser replied as he slammed the door. He turned around and leaned heavily against it... He tipped his head back until it hit the door, then he closed his eyes. His head was throbbing. Ray winced at the impact.
Fraser lowered his head and locked eyes with Ray from across the room. "You know, I really don't like your friend, Ray."
"Yeah, well, that makes two of us. Now, would you please call off Dief? He's starting to scare me." Ray looked at the half-wolf and was afraid to move.
"Diefenbaker…" Fraser called. Ray could hear the exhaustion in Fraser's voice. Dief looked at Fraser then up at Ray. He got up from his position as guard and wandered into the bedroom.
"Thanks…" Ray began as he made his way towards Fraser. "Listen, I'm sorry. I guess I was angrier at him than I thought. It's just… God, I saw him standing there all smug and staring at you like the damn cat that ate the canary and I… I just lost it."
"Thank God no one called the cops, Ray." Fraser replied, still leaning against the door.
"I am the cops… you want me to arrest myself for defending you?" Ray asked.
"No, but a little self-control next time would be much appreciated. How's your hand?" Fraser asked Ray.
"It hurts... but it was worth it. I wish I would have hit him harder… knocked out a few teeth maybe." Ray replied with a wink. He suddenly began to laugh.
"What's so funny? I'm finding no humor in this situation." Fraser replied confused and irritated.
"I don't think I have ever heard you yell before." Ray replied flabbergasted.
"Well, it isn't something I do often." Fraser countered as he made his way into the kitchen. He opened up the pizza box and looked at Ray. "I'm suddenly not very hungry for pizza. Do you care if we order something else, Chinese perhaps?"
"As long as Jimmy doesn't deliver it, I don't care."
That brought a smile to Fraser's face, if just for a moment.
Fraser and Ray opted to go out for a few hours and eat their dinner at the restaurant. They left Diefenbaker at the apartment with the uneaten pizza. He was sure to be a happy wolf when they returned. They enjoyed the time out together as a couple, stealing glances and holding hands. It still felt a bit odd to Fraser to put your affections on display, but Ray didn't seem to care who saw them and that helped make him more comfortable.
Fraser and Ray left the restaurant and began walking towards Fraser's apartment. Ray surprised Fraser by taking hold of his hand and intertwining their fingers. Fraser looked at Ray and smiled then squeezed Ray's hand, pulling him close.
"I'm really sorry, Ben… about all of today." Ray grew serious. "This morning when you were upset about your mystery kisser, I wasn't very supportive and then the fiasco with Jimmy. I'm sorry…"
"It wasn't all bad. I believe there were a few moments that we can still call memorable." Fraser leaned into Ray and stole a kiss. "I'm sorry that Jimmy didn't turn out to be a better friend."
"Yeah well, he wasn't a great friend back in the day. I hardly expected him to turn into one now, but I also didn't expect him to put the moves on you either. Hell, I didn't even know he was into guys."
"Can we talk about something other than Jimmy, please?" Fraser inquired.
"Sure, what would you like to talk about?" Ray questioned.
Fraser stopped walking and pulled Ray to a stop in front of him. His expression grew serious and he took hold of Ray's free hand in his own and squeezed them both. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"I need to know if this is more than just experimenting for you." Fraser was shaking as he spoke. "I need to know that what we share means something to more than just me. As I told you, I'm not good at relationships. It's always been rather difficult for me to learn to trust people."
"Ben, how can you ask that? You know I care about you. Is it because of what Jimmy said and me telling him I'm not gay?"
Fraser shook his head but didn't answer. He looked away from Ray, unwilling to look him in the eye. He suddenly felt like he had betrayed him by asking such a question.
"Ben, look at me." Ray whispered. "I'm not gay because you're the only guy I'm interested in, the only guy I will ever be interested in. I'm not attracted to other men… I'm attracted to you. Does that even make sense? Our relationship means everything to me."
"I just need to know that I'm not in this alone. I know as partners, I don't always give you a chance to keep up with me and I accept that I need to work on that. But I need to know that you're not going to give up on me either when I don't get it right." Fraser stared at Ray and grew quiet waiting for Ray to respond. The silence was deafening between them.
"Ben…" Ray began, then paused and collected his thoughts. "When I took this undercover gig, I was told my unofficial partner was a Mountie and I thought 'What the hell does that mean? And what's a Mountie doing in Chicago anyway?' I had to go through all of Vecchio's case files that you were involved in to get a feel of your partnership. I had to see what the two of you were like and figure out how to make it work between us. Then, you walked through those doors and it was game on, time to play the part. You and I… we just clicked." Ray smiled. "And then…"
"We became a duet." Fraser finished Ray's sentence, reading his mind.
"Yeah, Ben… we became a duet. I'm in this all the way with you."
Fraser let go of Ray's hands. He snaked one hand around Ray's neck and pulled his face in for a deep kiss. Ray parted his lips and allowed Fraser's tongue to slip in with ease. Unlike Jimmy's kiss that was fierce and bruising, Ray kissed Fraser with passion. Ray pulled Fraser closer to him until their bodies were pressed flushed against the other.
"Let's go home," Fraser whispered into Ray's ear. "I want to see you naked in my new bed."
Ray snickered in response. "The Mountie can yell and talk dirty. I learned something new today."
Fraser and Ray walked hand in hand back to the apartment. They opened the door and found Diefenbaker lying on the kitchen floor staring at the pizza box, which still contained a whole pizza.
"I guess Dief didn't want Jimmy's pizza either." Ray commented as he picked up the box and dumped the contents into a trash bag. He rubbed Dief's head and quietly promised him he would sneak him a doughnut at the station in the morning.
Fraser found the correct box that contained the new bedding and Ray helped him make the king sized bed. Fraser looked up and saw Ray staring at the newly made bed. He was wearing a lopsided grin.
"What's so funny, Ray?" Fraser asked seriously.
"This bed is so much bigger than that cot you used to sleep on." Ray looked up and locked onto Fraser's blue eyes. "You're going to need a map to find your way in and out of it."
Fraser climbed up on the bed and crawled across to where Ray was standing at the opposite side. He sat down on the backs of his feet and took Ray's hands and pulled him forward.
"Perhaps you can be my guide, Ray… keep me from getting lost."
