Ben never knew he could be so nervous. Given everything he's been through, he thought that there was no harder task than defeating Supreme Leader Snoke and the First Order. After that, rebuilding the Jedi Order with his Uncle and Rey was easy.
Despite what they had been through in the war, he and Rey had found some common ground. They both knew what it was to be lonely. Despite the fact that Ben had grown up surrounded by others, there really was no one who understood what it was to be a Force Sensitive child because his uncle was always off elsewhere.
Ben and Rey had started off as reluctant colleagues, maintaining friendly relations with each other for the sake of presenting a united front to their students. As time went on, they actually formed a tentative friendship, which grew into something more. Something serious enough that Ben had bought a ring and was standing outside the door to Rey's two closest friends in the entire galaxy.
His hand hovered away from the door. He knew that he had to knock sometime soon. It was already strange that he was there in the guest wing of the Temple. His parents had their own quarters near the barracks whenever they came to visit.
Ben took a fortifying breath and knocked on the door. Poe would be civil, the pilot was just that nice. It was Finn that Ben had to worry about. To say that the former stormtrooper didn't like him was an understatement. The man hated Ben for reasons that Ben could only guess at.
Ben had to steel himself. He was doing this for Rey, for the chance of a future with her. Her friends were important to her. He had to at least make an effort.
The door slid open and Poe was there to greet him. The pilot raised an eyebrow in question.
"Ben?" he asked, clearly confused since Ben had never visited them before.
"Hi," Ben awkwardly greeted. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Poe nodded, moving aside so Ben could enter.
Ben took in the guest room. Formally, it was Guest Room number 18, but informally, it was Poe and Finn's rooms. The pair had been offered rooms in the Residential Wing where Rey's room was, but they declined. They said that the Residential Wing was for Jedi, and that they weren't any of the sort.
Ben looked at the room and noticed that it had a homey, lived-in feel. Despite the fact that Poe and Finn spent only a little time there, the room was definitely theirs.
"Poe? Who was-" Finn asked as he walked into the sitting area. He stopped, surprised that Ben was there, and immediately scowled at the other man. "Oh you. What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask him that," Poe said in a much calmer tone than his partner. "I'm sure we can all sit down and be civilised about this?"
Poe didn't wait for the two to agree. He just sat down on the sofa and indicated that they follow suit. Finn did, although he was still glaring at Ben when he took the seat next to Poe. Ben swallowed, reminding himself that he was doing this for Rey.
"So," Poe began when Ben had taken the seat across them. "What brings you here?"
"I like what you've done to the room," Ben replied, making small talk because he wasn't quite ready to say what he had to yet.
"Thank you," Poe politely replied, reading the hesitation in Ben's body language.
"Is that a-" Ben asked, gesturing to the scale model of Poe's black X-Wing when Finn cut him off.
"Cut the small talk Ren," Finn said, a bit impatiently.
Ben flinched. He knew that Finn had not yet forgiven the First Order for taking him from his birth parents. Finn knew that Ben had nothing to do with it, but could not help but dislike him for the association and for all that had happened during the war.
Finn was aware that Ben had a good side, having seen him advocate for clone troopers on more than one occasion. That Rey liked him also meant that she saw something in him. Still, Finn couldn't help but be angry when he was around Ben. He tried to keep it under wraps when Rey was around though.
"Finn," Poe said, shooting his partner a sharp look. The pilot gave Ben an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Ben, and yes, that is a scale model of my X-Wing, Rey gave it to me."
"Yes, we worked on that together," Ben nodded, smiling at the memory. "And Finn is right, I should just get to the point."
"Good," Finn murmured. Poe heard him and elbowed him in the ribs.
"I," Ben began. "I'm going to ask Rey to marry me."
"WHAT?" Finn and Poe said at the same time. Poe's tone was more of surprise. Finn's was anger.
"You think you deserve her?" Finn asked, clearly mad. Poe sat there, leaning his elbows on his knees as he put his hands together.
"No," Ben shook his head. "I know I don't. But she makes me the best person I could be. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"Clearly," Finn replied. "But all I'm hearing right now, is all the good you're getting. What does she get?"
"I'd like to think I make her happy?" Ben cautiously said.
"Of course you'd think so," Finn said, fully prepared to launch into an argument.
"He does," Poe suddenly said, cutting off whatever rant Poe was going to go into.
"What?" was Finn's reply.
"I do?" Ben asked in a hopeful voice.
"He does," Poe nodded. "Don't give me that look Finn, you know he does."
Poe gave Ben a small smile.
"Every time we ask her if she's happy here," Poe explained. "She says that she is. She loves it here, she loves being here with you."
"She does?" Ben sighed a grateful sigh.
"Yes," Poe said. He nudged Finn in the side so that the other man could agree.
"Ow!" Finn exclaimed, Poe had sharp elbows. "Fine, fine. Rey does always say that she's happy."
"I'll admit that you're good for her," Poe shot Ben a smile. "Quick question though, why are you telling us this? Shouldn't you be asking her first?"
Ben gave them a sheepish laugh.
"I thought that you two should know my intentions," he told them. "You two are the closest thing Rey has to family that aren't related to me."
"Oh," Finn said, his face softening.
"You're such a sap, you know that?" Poe asked.
"Excuse me?" Ben's eye widened.
"You're a sap," Poe reiterated. "Rey told us you were, but we didn't believe her. Now I see it."
Ben sat there, at a loss for words. Finn was snickering at him, smug because this side of Ben Solo was as amusing to watch. That he was bending over backwards just to please Rey, even when Rey didn't know it, was a good sign.
They made polite small talk after that, shifting their topic to Rey and how she handles the younglings and classes. It was an enjoyable conversation, one that was free from hostility and subtle jabs at Ben's past.
"You have our blessing, by the way," Poe said as Ben was about to leave.
"Thank you," Ben nodded.
"Take care of her Solo," Finn said when they reached the door. "Word of advice: women always figure out the truth."
"I know," Ben smiled, knowing full well who that piece of advice came from. "Thanks Finn."
As Ben made his way back to his quarters, he thought about the box that was sitting in his cabinet. He was going to ask her tonight.
Rey rushed into Finn and Poe's rooms the early next day, not even caring that they were still in bed. She jumped in to join them in her excitement.
"He asked me to marry him!" she announced, the joy evident in her smiling face. "And I said yes!"
She raised her left hand to show them the engagement ring that he had given her the previous night. Poe just grunted and rolled over, not really a morning person. Finn was yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes and smiled at her.
"Congratulations Rey," he said. "When he told us he was going to propose, I didn't think he would do it so soon.""
"Ben said something about me finding out eventually," Rey shrugged. "So he told me all about your little chat. Thank you so much for looking out for me."
"What are friends for?" he asked, giving her a wide grin.
"How about letting their other friends sleep?" Poe grumbled, his voice muffled by a pillow.
"Wake up," Finn said as he pulled the pillow away from Poe. "Rey has big news."
"I heard," Poe replied, keeping his eyes firmly shut as he felt around for a substitute pillow. "Congratulations Rey."
"Oh no, you're not going back to sleep," Finn poked at Poe. "We're going to have a nice celebratory breakfast."
Poe just groaned.
Rey smiled as she watched her friends. They really were her family, not by blood but by choice. She loved them so much. That Ben acknowledged that and made the effort to talk to them made her love him even more.
Thanks to kyloren5ever over at tumblr for this prompt.
How was it? I was kinda stumped a bit on this one. Reviews? ^.^