Hold On to Yourself

Fanfiction
Title:	Hold On to Yourself
Author(s):	Elaine Walker
Date(s):	1998 or before
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):
Relationship(s):	Fraser/Vecchio
External Links:	online here
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Hold On to Yourself is a Vecchio/Fraser story by Elaine Walker.

Reactions and Reviews

This is a very long story which deals with the finding of love and the hurts that result when one of the lovers is raped. That's an extreme simplification of a complicated, brilliant story.

Fraser and Ray discover each other and take a long time to embark upon the road to physical intimacy. Just when they have overcome their doubts, Fraser withdraws from Ray, and Ray finds him in the bed of a male suspect the police were investigating. However, Ray soons discovers that things are not what they seem, and that Fraser allowed the suspect to have sex with him in order to protect Ray. The story then chronicles the long road to recovery and intimacy for both of them.

As is usual in Elaine's stories, both Fraser and Ray are wonderfully in character. They and the other characters in the story sound like themselves, and behave that way too. The plot involving the police investigation is well-conceived, and never overpowers the emotional story. The sex scenes in this one are wonderfully tender and erotic, and never overdone. Elaine always manages to use Ray's family to good effect, and Ray's mother gets her turn this time, being wary at first and eventually sanctioning the lovers' relationship.

This story is what slash stories should be: it balances emotion, plot, sex, and characterisation effortlessly and still keeps you reading breathlessly until the end.