Two months ago Ben Solo made the worst mistake of his young life, and he felt like it was going to kill him. Two months ago, Rey Plutt, his best friend in the whole world- probably his only real friend in the whole world kissed him- and Ben Solo ran.
Two months.
Two months of hurt looks from the girl who used to be as much a part of his life as breathing. Two months of watching her walk the hallways of Coruscant High School without him. Two months of watching Poe Dameron flirt with her … watching the transfer student Finn (and Ben could never remember his last name) and Rose Tico take his place at her side. Two months of hell.
It's for the best. It's for her own good. Keep telling yourself that, Solo. You know who you are- what's in your blood. She's better off- safer- without you.
He stepped out of his car- a black and silver Dodge Charger, a gift from his parents- or a bribe to keep silent about what he had learned of their family- and made his way into the high school. He was wearing a black hoodie that was at least two sizes too large, and the hood he always wore up- until a teacher told him to pull it down- covered his head. He was too tall to completely escape notice- something he had inherited from his father along with his driving skills- but he did his best to blend into the background as much a tall teenager in black could in a small town high school where his mother served as mayor and his father owned the largest trucking company in the state.
And with every step he looked for Rey.
She shouldn't have been hard to spot. She was the poorest kid in school. She wore a battered white jacket, and ratty jeans and motorcycle boots no matter what time of year it was. Her hair was kept boyishly short, and no one could ever remember seeing her wearing makeup of any kind.
Ben thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
He had never told her that, of course. It would have sounded stupid and cheesy coming from him because Force forbid Ben Solo who was all arms and legs except for the part of him that was all ears and a nose- should ever tell any girl that she was beautiful. That was something for guys like Poe Dameron- not losers like Ben Solo.
He hated every time he saw her with Poe Dameron. Hated every time she laughed at one of his stupid jokes. Every time she blushed when he said something nice about her.
But as much as that hurt, seeing her with Poe meant that he was seeing her. That was all he had now. No talking. No texting. Just the chance to see her and know she was okay.
It was all he lived for.
But this morning there was no Rey. No matter where he turned, he didn't see her.
No Poe Dameron either.
He had the sudden mental image of Rey in Poe's arms … of having spent the night with him … and the white hot rage almost made him catch fire.
Lockers flew open. A nearby water fountain flew its tap. The glass in a classroom door shattered and fell to the floor.
Everyone looked wildly around to see what happened.
No. No. Keep calm, Solo. Calm …
It wasn't the first time that something strange had happened in Coruscant High, however, so when the poltergeist-like event ended as quickly as it began, something like normalcy returned.
Ben made his way into the commons. Armitage Hux and Phasma Parnassos were sitting at a table. Hux was a fashion plate- always dressed to the nines- but Phasma was something else. She was taller than Hux by six inches. A blue eyed blonde bodybuilder with a gorgeous face who was also the school's lead quarterback.
They were two of three people at the school who knew about Ben's gifts.
"Oh look," Phasma drawled. "Little Benny had another temper tantrum."
"Shut up, Phas." Ben sat down at the table with them. They weren't friends- exactly- but they were the closest thing he had since he lost Rey. "Either of you seen Rey this morning?"
"Oh look. He lasted all of five seconds before he asked about her," Hux observed. "Maybe he's getting over our favorite little scavenger."
"Don't call her that!" Ben slammed his hand on the table.
"I've seen her, Benny. Seen her collecting cans to sell. What else am I supposed to call her?"
This time it was with his own human hands that Ben reacted and not the power of his mind. He grabbed Hux by the throat and began to choke him. "Say one more thing about her and I swear to the Force I'll kill you, Hux."
"Let him go, Benny," Phasma warned. "He's not much but I like to keep him around. "Hux, try not to bait him. We saw Rey come in and leave just a few minutes ago. Poe ratted her out and the school called DCFS on her."
"What?! What happened?! What happened to Rey?!" He looked around desperately. "Where's Poe? I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kriffing kill him." He let Hux go.
"Her crazy uncle left a month ago. The scav- er, Rey- has been living on her own ever since. She apparently told Poe last night and he called DCFS."
"He's in the nurse's office. Apparently Rey broke his nose when DCFS showed up."
"Fine. I'll kill him later. Where's Rey? You said she left. Where did she go?"
"You're her best buddy, Solo. You tell us." Hux rubbed his throat. It was red from Ben's grip. "Or at least you were. Why do you even care? She hates you. She's said it often enough."
"Because he's in love with her, dolt," Phasma pointed out. "Rey broke free from DCFS and bolted. Couldn't have been more than ten minutes ago."
"Jakku," Ben said, more to himself than the others. "She's going back there." He got up. "Thanks. I've got to go."
"He's going after her, isn't he?" Hux asked.
"Of course he is. You're learning."
Ben stopped and looked back at them. "Yes, I'm in love with Rey. I'm an idiot, but at least I'm honest about it. You two have been crushing on each other since middle school and both of you have been to Porg-crap to say a word about it. Don't make my mistake; tell each other before it's too late because you don't know what it's like to lose the person you love more than anything else in the world."
Why am I wasting time on them? Rey! Got to get to Rey!
He dashed back out to his car, jumped in, and roared out of the high school parking lot through the small streets of Coruscant. He knew the town like the back of his hand, and took every shotcut he knew, but it was still minutes before he reached the Jakku junkyard.
Rey had lived there since she came to town. She had lived with her no-account Uncle Plutt since she was a little girl. The bastard kept a roof over her head, but that was about it. A lot of times Rey wouldn't eat if she didn't collect enough scrap metal to pay for her own food.
He had never reported how badly Plutt treated Rey because she begged him not to. She didn't want to go back into foster care. "He's an asshole, but he doesn't beat me and he doesn't try to touch me- that's about all I can hope for, Ben."
As he neared the junkyard, he heard a semi engine sputtering to life.
The Falcon! She got the Millennium Falcon running!
The Falcon had been his father's first truck back when he had been a solo operator. Somewhere along the lines he'd lost it- he swore that he didn't lose it in a card game- and Ben had thought it gone forever until he found it in the Jakku junkyard while walking around there with Rey. Rey was good with her hands, good with cars and trucks, and he had been paying her to restore the Falcon as a present for his father. It was the only way Rey would accept money from him, and maybe it would heal the breach that had formed between his father and himself that had been growing ever since Ben's gift developed.
Now Rey had found another use for the Falcon. In that old big rig, no one would be able to stop her from crossing the county line.
He drifted the Charger into the Junkyard's exit (fortunately there was only one). She would have to go through it- through him- if she was going to get away.
The Falcon sputtered like an angry hippo. Rey looked down at him from the cab. "Solo?! What the hell are you doing here?"
"Rey- don't go! I can't let you go! I love-"
"No! No!" Rey wailed. "You don't get to say that to me now, Ben Solo! You tore out my kriffing heart out! You don't get to say you love me now! You don't have the kriffing right! Now get out of my way!"
"No."
"No? I swear to Force I'll drive right through you, Solo! Get the kriff out of my way!"
"Without you I'm dead already. I'm not moving."
Rey backed the Falcon up. "Last chance, Solo. I'm going. You can't stop me!"
"No." He can feel her rage. Her pain. It makes him weep. "I can't lose you now, Rey. I can't!"
"You already have!" And she slammed her foot on the gas pedal.
Kriff! She's really going to do it!
Ben tried to shield himself from the impact, but he felt his car crumple like an accordion and the world went black for a moment. When it cleared, he was laying on the ground and Rey was above him frantically wiping blood away from his face. "Ben... Ben …"
"I'm okay, Rey. Just don't leave me. Please." He reached out and grabbed her face and tried to pull her in for a kiss but she was having none of it and pushed back against him.
"Ben, you're an idiot." She forced herself to breathe calmer. "The glass didn't get in your eyes, but you're going to have a nasty scar on the side of your face." She gave him a crooked smile. "Still think I'm worth it?"
"Force, yes! Don't you know how I feel about you, Rey? Can't you feel it?"
"Ben … you shut me out, remember? I can't let you back in. It nearly killed me. You left me, Ben Solo. My parents abandoned me. Uncle Plutt eventually bailed without even saying goodbye. Even Poe betrayed me- but you were supposed to always be there. You were supposed to never leave me- you promised me you would never leave me- and then you ran. Why, Ben? You don't like girls? Is it because I'm not pretty enough? Not girly enough? Too poor or too short? You broke my kriffing heart, Ben Solo. How can I let you back in now?"
"Rey … I like girls. I like you. I love you. I told you about my Gift just like you told me about yours. You're beautiful- you're perfect. You're everything I want and need! I love you, Rey Plutt. I always have. I always will."
"Then why-?"
"I'm a monster, Rey. I'm going to be a monster."
"Because of your Gift? If that makes you a monster I am too-"
"No, Rey. No. Not that." He shut his eyes for a moment. "You remember hearing about Darth Vader and Palpatine? Their Empire Gang?"
"Yeah. They're the reason we have to keep our Gift a secret- because normal people are terrified of people like us. They totally destroyed Alderaan City."
"You know my Mom is adopted, right?"
"Yes. She and your Uncle Luke Skywalker found each other and helped take down Vader and Palpatine. That's when they found out that they were related. That's when your parents met. You only told me that story a dozen times. What does that have to do with us?"
"Darth Vader killed Mom's birth mother."
"Oh, Ben, I'm so sorry-"
"You know how their dad's name was Anakin Skywalker?" He closed his eyes. "That's the name he had when he married Grandmother. But he took another one later- Anakin Skywalker was Darth Vader!"
"Ben- it doesn't matter to me. I don't even remember my parents. You seriously think finding out that your grandfather was Darth Vader would make me not want you? You aren't him, Ben."
This was the hard part. "Before they fired him, Mr. Snoke- our old guidance counselor- he showed me my private file. That's where I found out about Grandfather Anakin being Darth Vader. I saw my therapist notes. My parents' therapy sessions- they're afraid that I'm going to become another Darth Vader. That's why I spent part of the summer with Uncle Luke. He told them he could help me- but he saw my future. He saw what I would become, Rey. He was so terrified by what I would become that he almost suffocated me with a pillow. He just barely stopped himself in time."
"Force, Ben. That's all kriffed up."
"I was going to tell you... but you kissed me. And all I could think of was me becoming another Darth Vader. Killing you like he killed Grandmother. If Uncle Luke with all his power can't see any other fate for me- there's no hope. I'm going to be a monster. That's my fate. That's my destiny. And that's why I ran from you- so you wouldn't get caught up in it."
She stared at him for a moment then she bent down and kissed him savagely. "Kriff destiny, Ben Solo. Kriff your uncle and you parents and Snoke and everyone else. You aren't a monster, Ben Solo. I know you better than anyone alive. And you are not going to become a monster."
"Rey, you can't know that-"
She kissed him again.
"We're going to get you to the hospital. We're going to get your face taken care of. And then I'm going to face the music with DCFS. But you know who I am, Ben Solo?"
"The most amazing girl I know."
"Well, yes. That too." She kissed him again. "I'm the girl who isn't leaving you. I'm the girl who isn't giving up on you."
And she never did.
Author's Note: I have various AU ideas in my brain about Reylo now. Some just give me ideas for individual scenarios like this one. It's a Real World AU, but one where Force powers exist and Jedi and Sith are rather like the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants from Marvel comics. Naturally I ha to fudge the age difference a tad- in this scenario Rey is 16 and Ben is 17. Ben's car was a bribe from his mother to keep quiet about their heritage because she doesn't want that to hamper her political career. Future Alternate Universes will be different though I might touch on them more than once if I particularly like them and enough people clamor for more. 8-)