Moving Day
A/N: Part two of the non linear series 1138 Imperial Drive
xXx
"It's not so bad," Rey said with a big smile. She pulled a box off the back of her pick up and set it on the sidewalk. "Kinda far from work and school, but nothing an extra alarm in the morning won't solve."
"An extra alarm and two cups of coffee." Rose replied, picking up the box Rey put down and loading it onto a dolly.
Rey laughed, turning to get another box. "That too. Although, the be fair, I'm going to need that extra caffeine to get through our Mechanical Theory lectures in the morning anyway."
Rose grinned, loading a final box on the dolly. When the was finished she waited for Rey to grab a couple of large duffle bags and then together they made their way into the five story apartment complex that Rey would now call home.
Rey's apartment was on the third floor, facing the courtyard at the back of the building. It was a pretty decent place given her limited budget and while she'd definitely be eating discount store food for the foreseeable future, it was well worth it to finally have a place to call home.
"Meet any neighbors yet?" Rose questioned as she waited for Rey to unlock the door.
"No, not yet. I'm sure I'll run into them sooner or later." she replied succeeding in getting the door open.
The two women spent the rest of the afternoon unloading boxes into the apartment. The furniture had been brought in earlier that day, all mismatched pieces she'd bought from garage sales, thrift stores and collected off of curbs on trash day. She loved the mismatch of it all. It was proof, at least to her, that she'd made it out. This was her place; a bit wild, kind of a mess, so much chaos, but, totally hers. No one could take this from her. She'd seen the promised land and no one would ever drag her back down.
xXx
Hux sighed harshly, setting his coffee mug back down in front of him. He tapped away at his laptop saying nothing, but Ben could feel the tension bubbling.
Their new neighbor was moving in today. Movers had brought the furniture earlier and Hux had, had a few words to say about the new tenants lack of taste. Ben had just rolled his eyes. He loved his boyfriend but sometimes he had trouble shaking off the way he'd been raised.
For the last few hours it had become obvious that the new neighbor had finally arrived. Thumps, bangs and heavy steps could be heard above them, a steady rhythm of hard, insistent work. All of which was to be expected and wouldn't have garnered any reaction from either of them except that Hux had been under a bit of stress the last few weeks at work. It had gotten to the point where he had actually broken his own rule about bringing work home. He'd been working all weekend, much to Ben's chagrin and the complete irritation Hux felt at every little noise or interruption had caused a bit of tension between them as well.
"Oh for fucks sake." Hux finally snapped, following a particularly loud thump.
"They're moving in, Arm', the noise is to be expected." Ben replied never looking up from the book propped on his bent knee. He heard Hux grumble unintelligibly before falling silent. The keys of his laptop started clicking again and ben assumed he'd let it go.
He'd assumed wrong.
"I can't concentrate with this incessant racket!" he exclaimed some time later, another loud thump setting him off.
Ben sighed, looking up in time to watch Hux stand from the kitchen table. "You are not going up there." he said as Hux stalked toward the front door.
"Watch me."
Ben jumped up, following after him. "The first time we meet our new neighbor should not be when your irritable from work and lack of sleep."
"Well at the very least we'll have set boundaries." Hux replied, bypassing the elevator and storming up the stairs to the next floor. Ben stayed close behind, not entirely sure how to stop him without getting physical and causing a scene.
Within minutes Hux was pounding on the door one floor above them. They only had to wait a minute before it opened and every insult and undiplomatic curse died on Hux's tongue.
The young woman that stood before them was gorgeous. With her adorable button nose, smattering of freckles and deep brown eyes.
"Can I help you?" she asked when they didn't say anything. That seemed to snap Hux out of his shok.
"Armitage Hux," he began, offering his hand and a charming smile. "And this is my boyfriend Ben Solo. We're your downstairs neighbors." he explained. "We heard you moving around up her and thought we'd come introduce ourselves."
"Oh goodness, I'm so sorry. Was I making too much noise?" she asked and Hux, much to Ben annoyance, shook his head.
"No, not at all. You are moving in after all, it's perfectly reasonable."
She seemed to relax, smiling up at them again. "I'm Rey, by the way."
"Well, Rey, we will leave you to your work. We're right below you, so if you should need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you so much."
With that they left, making they're way back downstairs. Hux collapsed onto the sofa, Ben beside him.
"Wow," Ben began, breaking the silence. "Those were some hard boundaries you set, babe. I hope she doesn't think badly of us."
Hux scoffed and the silence returned, until;
"How come you don't flirt with me like that?"
Hux threw a pillow at him.