Author's Notes: Special thanks to LilyK and annieb1955 for the beta work. It's appreciated. Thanks always to Mellison who will get out of bed on a Sunday morning to pull it all together. My son text-messaged a picture from Chicago while he was at the Festival of Lights. You can view it here: http://www.therentgirls.com/dS/lights.jpg

It had seemed like a great idea at four o'clock that afternoon.

Ray would bundle up, grab Fraser and the two of them would head downtown for the Festival of Lights. Two years in Chicago and Fraser had managed, in Ray's opinion, to miss everything of any real cultural value.

Yeah, it had seemed like a great idea at four o'clock this afternoon. Now, at eight fifteen, with a weird, itchy feeling crawling around in the back of his neck, Ray wondered what the fuck he'd been thinking.

And because Ray couldn't stand it for even one more minute, he pulled Fraser into a darkened doorway. He couldn't stand the way the city lights shadowed Fraser's face or the way Fraser's soft "ohs" of pleasure hung in white warm mist in the cold night air. Mostly, Ray couldn't stand one more minute of Fraser giving his attention to everything and everyone but him.

So, he pushed Fraser into the darkened doorway and pulled him close.

"Ray, I was watching the parade."

"I know and I could not stand it."

"Then why in the world did you suggest that we come?"

"Because I didn't know that I couldn't stand it until I couldn't."

"Ah," Fraser said.

Ray knew then that he couldn't stand being alive even one more second without kissing Fraser. He pressed his cool, chapped lips against Fraser's smooth, warm mouth. Fraser's "oh" of surprise softened into an "ah" of surrender when Ray parted his lips with the tip of his tongue.

Sweetness, Ray thought. The kind of sweetness that he'd once shared with Stella and had feared he'd never experience again. Here on Michigan Avenue, with the parade floats and marching bands and half-frozen spectators moving past them, Ray had again found that sweetness, that dizzying hope and he knew he just couldn't stand to be without it again.

"Fraser?"

"Yes, Ray?"

"You feel it, too?"

Fraser nodded slowly, his eyes solemn in the faint wash of light from the fireworks above them.

Ray kissed him softly. "Because honestly, Fraser, I don't think I can stand to feel like this alone."

"You're not alone in your feelings, Ray."

"No?"

"No."

Ray nodded, sensing the absolute truth in Fraser's voice. "Great," Ray said, a goofy grin splashed on his face and his heart sailing high above Michigan Avenue. "That's greatness. What do you say we get out of here? Maybe go some place warm. Some place quiet."

"Some place like your apartment, for example?"

"Yeah."

Fraser smiled. "That would be perfect, Ray."

"Good," Ray said, kissing him hard before reluctantly releasing him then pulling him back into the throng. "Because, I got to tell you, Fraser, I don't think I can stand another minute of us not being more... um, intimate."

"Understood," Fraser answered and together they hurried through the crowded Chicago streets.