Ray realised, after some thinking about it, that they'd become a permanent thing. That wasn't a bad thing -- hell, it was one of the nicest things he'd ever felt, because he realised that he had a spare toothbrush always at Benny's, and Benny's own spare toothbrush was sat on the shelf in his bathroom. And he had Benny's spare best uniform in his wardrobe, hung up and ironed by his mother, just in case.

No, it was a very nice thing, and Benny's easy smile still made Ray's stomach do flips.

The problem was only that Ray wasn't used to it. Girls saw him, they liked him briefly, then they didn't like him. Benny saw him, liked him, and kept liking him, no matter what. Ray had to suspect that Benny was the only person who would ever do that for him.

So the fact was that Ray had to keep Benny.

Not that that would be hard or at all unpleasant.

It was just that he wasn't sure Benny felt the same way.

He buried into Benny's bed, glaring balefully at the wolf who, while obedient to Fraser's orders to leave Ray alone, still gave him these looks. "You're not his mother, you know," Ray told Diefenbaker with a soft huff, "you don't get to decide whether I'm good enough for him or not."

The wolf whined softly and lay down, looking for all the world as if it disagreed.

"Maybe you should get out of bed," he heard Benny say. It seemed like a few minutes later but as he sat up he immediately noticed the clock.

A few hours.

Oh.

"I'll call in sick," he said, flopping down again. Fraser was dressed in his brown uniform, hat in his hands.

"Ray, umm..."

"You can stay with me."

There was a long pause. "I don't think I should, Ray. Though... I want to."

Ray peeked out from under the covers. "Okay."

Fraser turned to go.

"Oh, and Benny?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

He borrowed under the covers again and waited until he heard Fraser go out, closing the door behind him.