Vignette 19 - 1985

Spring

Lily dashed along the halls, hoping not to be late. She'd overslept and was cutting it fine; this wasn't like her and she honestly had no explanation for it.

Rounding a corner, she was almost knocked over by a young man doing the same thing as her in the opposite direction, and her bag fell to the floor, making her cry out in surprise.

"Sorry about that..." the student said, picking it up to hand it back to her. Then their eyes met, and she felt butterflies in her stomach. He was incredibly handsome; there was no denying that.

"Um...it's okay. My fault, really," she replied, taking the bag back. He smiled and held out his hand.

"Ben Slater." She took his hand; it was warm and soft and the butterflies increased. It was love at first sight for her.

"Lily Twist," she introduced herself, and he nodded. As much as they would have liked to stay here and talk, they were both about to be late for class, and took leave of each other. Lily found herself thinking of him all through her class.

By a stroke of luck, they found each other again later on after class, and decided to get a coffee. Sitting in the coffee shop, Lily thought about what Jack had told her; that when he'd met Ennis, a part of him just knew that he was the one. She was starting to feel this herself, and wondered if Ben was feeling the same.

Summer

"Jack, would you sit down?" Ennis asked, a little exasperated. Lily was coming home for the summer and bringing her new boyfriend to meet them for the first time, and Jack couldn't keep still. It was moments like these where they truly felt like parents, and Ennis had to admit he liked the feeling.

Jack eventually relented, sitting next to him. Ennis was half-tempted to sit on him just to keep him still, but it was a bad idea with company on the way; they could end up necking or more on the sofa right as their guest walked in.

There was a knock at the door and Lily poked her head in, looking around and grinning at them. "Hey!" They got up and hugged her, happy to see her home for the first time in months. They broke apart and she indicated the young man standing a little further away, waiting to be introduced. She'd told him about her uncles' relationship and he'd told her about his brother in return. "This is Ben Slater," she said, and he came forward to shake their hands, knowing that they were sizing him up.

"Hey, Ben," said Jack, a little less protective than Ennis and more welcoming. Ennis thought that the young man was pleasant enough, but he would be watching like a hawk to make sure he was good enough for their girl.

"Hey."

"Nice to meet you both," Ben replied, determined to prove himself to them and to Lily.

Fall

"Mmm..." Jack sighed as Ennis rolled off him, gazing up at the ceiling as they tried to get their breath back. He felt thoroughly appreciated and cared for after what Ennis had just been doing to him; Ennis always got like this when it was one of their birthdays. He loved it when they could be rampant and go after each other like the horny teenagers they once were, but this was always good; it was, after all, making love.

"You doin' alright, darlin'?" Ennis asked him, turning to look at him. Jack smiled and rolled onto his side.

"Sure am...that was pretty damn good."

Ennis shrugged. "Figure I oughta take it slow, it bein' yer birthday an' all." He laced his fingers into Jack's. "Been together over twenty years, bud..."

"Yeah..." Jack sighed, hardly able to believe it himself. "Been so long...but I remember Brokeback like it was yesterday. Workin' all day, doin' it all night..."

"And sometimes durin' the day," Ennis added, smirking. Jack laughed, breaking his hand away to stroke Ennis's chest.

"Yep. We was somethin', weren't we?" he mused, twirling chest hair around his finger. "Had so much energy. That's probably why this place has done so well. Settin' it up while we was so young and could get things goin'. Lot of hard work at first, an' now we can enjoy the benefits."

"Sure can, darlin'." Truth be told, Ennis liked that they were still working hard around their place; it was their home.

Winter

The five of them were sat at their favourite restaurant in town, celebrating Lily's twenty-first birthday. Ben had even come down from Nashville to spend it with her and her family.

Their glasses were filled and Jack smiled, raising his own. "To Lily; a credit to her mother and to us. Here's hopin' that she carries on doin' well at college an' makes somethin' of herself. That's all we've ever wanted." They drank to her and the others gave similar toasts.

Ben watched Lily throughout the meal, thinking. It had been almost a year now and things were going very well. Ennis and Jack seemed to approve of him and he and Lily loved each other. The time to make a commitment to her seemed to be on its way; he wanted to propose to her at some point. He knew it was too soon yet, but maybe in the coming year.

He was a believer in tradition; he would ask Ennis and Jack for their blessing first, as they were her guardians. But he had a feeling they would be happy about it.

Ennis and Jack had wondered if Ben might propose to Lily; they had, after all, been together for a lot longer than the two of them had before settling down. It had only been five months for them until they moved onto the ranch, so they knew that a marriage between the two younger ones could work out; love was never wrong, so they knew.