Rey and Finn have been A Thing for a long time now. Since she was eighteen, to be exact. When Finn leaves on a trip to Europe for six months for work, Rey finally chases after him to Dublin to do what he seems to be putting off: propose.

She wants a family, after all.

The universe has different ideas. Her flights are delayed, storms hit, she loses her tickets and everything seems to be going horribly. To top it off, she ends up stranded around a rather irritating man by the name of Kylo Ren. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

A Leap Year AU.

Notes:

Story loosely based on the movie Leap Year (2010), which does not belong to me. Just FYI.
This will be a reylo slow burn (finished already, 39 chapters. I'm just now posting them on FFN as well as AO3), and I hope you all strap in because it'll be fun! Enjoy!

Rated T for now, will change to M eventually!


The loft is warm. Not the uncomfortable warm of a New York City summer with no air conditioner sort of warm, that wouldn't be for a few weeks yet, but of a late spring afternoon where the perfect yellow glint of late day bathes her hard wood floors and exposed brick in warmth, mixing with the heat from the oven where she and Finn had slaved for hours baking fresh loaves of bread for their get together that night. That sort of warm. The sort of warm that makes Rey think of homely comforts and happy memories. Rey smiles.

They are a loud bunch, these people. Finn's laughter carries raucously, infectiously, through the open floor plan of her loft as Jessika Pava regales them all with the latest gossip at The Resistance, the medium-sized circulation magazine for which they work. Poe's smile as he takes in Finn is that of an indulgent, patient boss despite him being just as amused by Jessika's tales as Finn is. It helps that he's already this shy of three bottles of beer already; he could claim deniability later. Bebe sits in their chair shoveling Finn's ridiculously delicious lasagna into their mouth, making strangled little noises in all the right places at Pava's tales.

The dinner was supposed to be Finn's send-off while he goes off to Europe and India to spend six months writing about its wonders. Poe would follow a week later. They had all squeezed themselves into Rey's little loft, loaded up the table with good food and better alcohol and got the music playing in the background in the light of the setting sun. Rey sits back and watches with an easy smile on her face. They still have a few hours yet before having to go to bed. Finn's flight was at ridiculous o'clock in the morning, for God knows what reason, and who even flies out that late? Rey hates the idea of red-eye flights, but Finn is needed on location, and so what is he to do but comply?

So they'd decided to do dinner in the middle of the afternoon instead of their evening plans, and currently all sat around the table discussing the latest bet going around the office: how soon would Lauren Kaydel pop. She's already two weeks overdue and still keeps going around the office, barking orders at everyone while waddling from one department to the next.

"I bet you it's no more than two weeks," Finn puts down his hand on the table with a smack, as if that solidified any betting.

Jessika lifts her eyebrows, "No way, have you seen her? She's the size of a school bus. Carrying twins is no joke. I give her no more than four days!"

Everyone giggles at the school bus analogy, Poe shaking his head but chuckling around the mouth of his bottle.

"Man I can't imagine how hard it is to have children," he pipes in after a long gulp. "Tiny babies running around making trouble."

"Yeah, if they take after you!" Bebe pipes in, pointing with a breadstick, and that sends the table back into laughter.

"They won't, Bebe, or are you forgetting I'm gay?" he says, arching an eyebrow. "No babies can come out from that hole."

Jessika cackles with a pinched nose, Bebe chokes on their breadstick, and Finn goes AWWWW MAN! We're at the dinner table! But his cheeks have gone a little darker and he's laughing his head off anyway, and Rey can't help but giggle even though she's too busy trying to remember all of it in her mind. This whole moment in its beautiful summer sunset light. Her friends, lit up like golden gods, laughing and having a wonderful time.

"You can adopt," she supplies with a grin, "or find a surrogate mother."

It's the first time she's talked and all eyes turn on her, including Poe's, whose illegally gorgeous face breaks into a shit-eating grin.

"Are you offering? Because I totally wouldn't mind my kids getting some of your cute genes thrown in with that little button nose of yours."

She blushes and laughs but her chest aches because she wants a family more than anything. She wants to give her children a better childhood than she'd ever had. Then she catches the look Finn's giving her, because he's been there for most of it since she turned fifteen, and he knows. He averts his eyes quickly and so does she. They'd been dating for so long now, but the talk of marriage much less babies had never come up. Until—

"Nah! She'll have cute cinnamon roll babies with Finn! All that melanin and all that adorable cuteness all packed into one. Can you even imagine it?!" Jessika's excited little chime comes in as she leans forward. Jessika loves baby talk. "They're going to be so cute I want to eat them already."

"Whoa, Jess, don't go cannibal on us," Poe supplies, knocking back the rest of his beer. Bebe, however, has been staring between Finn and Rey, carefully nibbling on a piece of bread.

And in true Bebe form, they chime in in the worst way possible, unaware that it's a really sensible topic.

"They need to be married first, right, Poe? Before they have the babies," they affirm, all innocence, and everyone stops. Poe's brows furrows and he opens his mouth.

"Well, I mean, it's 2016, I don't think they have to be—"

"Why aren't you married yet?" Bebe asks, this time addressing Rey.

A pin could be dropped and it would be as loud as an orchestra, except perhaps maybe for the sound of Finn choking on his drink.

Rey's face turns about three different shades of red and she clears her throat, looking between Jessika and Poe before her eyes settle where she had avoided looking. Finn.

He's clearing his chest by thumping it repeatedly and his eyes are teary, but he notices her watching him desperately and his lips give this weird little upward twitch. It's not a happy twitch, or an amused twitch, it's that smile that's torn between a grimace and a sympathetic frown. Rey clears her throat.

"Uhm, I—" she begins, and thankfully Poe has the tact to intercept.

"Really, Bebe, talk about subtlety. That's their business…"

Bebe isn't ready to drop it though. And neither is Jessika, who, after years of putting together the wedding section of The Resistance, has taken to living vicariously through everyone who's getting married or having babies. She flips her gorgeous hair over her shoulder and tilts her head, resting her chin on the back of her hand as she pushes a bowl of bread further away with her elbow, staring straight at Finn.

"Yeah, Finn, why aren't you two married already? You've been together since forever and a lifetime ago. Seriously you're all but married in name: you've been dating since you were eighteen, sharing a home since nineteen, and you even work at the same place. I expected some cute babies by now."

Oh but it's all gotten super uncomfortable, and when outnumbered two to one, Poe shrugs and basically buries his mug into his drink, refusing to get between Jessika 'The Wedding Expert' Pava and Bebe. Rey shoots him a glare and he shrugs again, though this time it's apologetic. Never let a man between a woman set on match-making a la OKCupid style and Bebe, whom didn't know the concept of social boundaries if it bit them in the nose. He would not win.

If Rey is looking uncomfortable Finn looks ready to let the floor open up and swallow him. He clears his throat uncomfortably and pushes a napkin aside.

"Well, we're…" he starts, and his voice shakes a little on the we , and Rey arches an eyebrow but says nothing, "It's not the right time yet."

All eyes turn to Rey. She pastes on a smile and agrees, clutching her own napkin under the table in a tight grip.

Finn knew how much she wanted a family.

Finn, who has been there for her since she'd turned fifteen, who watched her bounce horribly through the system, then had watched her end up in Unkar Plutt's greasy hands. Finn who knew that the only reason they have this very same apartment is because Unkar Plutt is also the landlord, and as soon as he'd had enough to rent it, he'd taken her out from under Plutt the second she aged out of the system. Finn knew. He'd always known how much she wanted to have a family of her own, a place to belong, a place away from here. A place that was hers.

He'd always tell her she belonged with him, and somehow that reassurance had turned into dating. Dating had turned into sleeping together, and they'd remained in this same apartment for going on four years because rent in New York City is ridiculous, and Plutt is giving them a discount on the excuse of having his little girl close. Finn knew. And because of their situation, him as a writer and her as a freelancer, it had never been the right time.

Jessika gives them a glance that says she's not buying it, and Bebe's just looking at them curiously but without any sort of judgement. Poe has decided that his beer bottle contains the secrets of the universe. It stays tense for a breath longer before Rey finally gets up the courage to talk.

"Dessert anyone?"

And suddenly there's a sigh of relief from the men, Finn piping in that he's been waiting for cannolis all day, and Rey takes the diversion to wander off into their tiny but well equipped kitchen, pulling the cannolis from the fridge and using the solitude to compose herself. She takes a deep breath, her hand resting on her stomach, then closes her eyes and counts. One. Two. Three.

She makes it to ten and opens her eyes, then glues a happy, charming grin on her face as she returns.

"Fresh made!"

Everyone starts showering her with compliments over the dessert and she laughs.

"Yes, I am super skilled at baking. So skilled that it only took a call to that authentic Italian restaurant two blocks away and BAM! Delicious sweets."

The conversation devolves into giggles and playful jabs, and it's as though the marriage and baby talk had never happened. Everyone takes their leave when Finn finally looks at the clock and very apologetically informs everyone that he has to go to bed, because one o'clock will be here before they even know it. Rey takes care of the dishes and Finn kisses her on the cheek for being so sweet, and by the time Rey comes into the bedroom he's already passed out on their large king-sized bed. She sighs, a soft smile coming up to her lips as she pulls off his shoes. He hadn't even bothered to take them off before falling face first into a pillow. She sets them aside then slowly makes herself ready for bed, watching the dimming light coming in through the windows.

Rey rubs the heel of her hand into her forehead with a sigh, finally letting out a deep breath she had been holding all night.

She should let it go. She knows she should. It's stupid really. But she can't. Bebe's why aren't you married yet? Keeps rattling around her skull, and Rey would have never thought herself the kind who would be waiting on any man to propose, to sweep her off her feet and carry her to her happy ever after, but damn it she'd never had a happy ending up until Finn arrived, she'd never had a secure future, and… well. She feels stupid for thinking that marriage would provide her that, but Finn is perfect. He is perfect in every sense of the word.

He's the sort of guy who would call in sick if she was sick, only to stay home and baby her. He's the kind of guy who planned romantic dinners for no reason, and ended them on the couch watching chick flicks and being just as invested in them as she was, and would totally watch that k-drama without any sense of shame over crying his eyes out right along with her at the super sad moments. He's the sort of guy who'd wrap her up into a hug and shower her in kisses in the middle of a lazy afternoon, and tell her she's beautiful, and how lucky he is to have her. He's the kind of guy who made sweet love to her as though she were made to be worshipped.

She looks at him, snoring lightly into the pillow.

Finn is a good man.

She'd let it go. They'd be ready eventually. Eventually, it would be the right time.

She grabs her macbook pro from where it rests under her side of the bed and powers it up because she still can't sleep, and after a moment of scrolling through reddit and Making Star Wars, and finding absolutely nothing new or of interest, she hops on Facebook. There are photos of Bebe, Jessika and Poe at a bar, the phone held front-facing by Poe's long arm as they all give cheesy smiles into the camera. The flash is on and there's darkness behind them but she notices some purple blue lights in the back, and they're all holding those cheesy red cups full of cheap beer. A nightclub. Rey grins, they'd taken the party on the road.

Good for them.

She keeps scrolling.

It proves to be a mistake.

There are pictures of her coworkers, more specifically, of the ever pregnant Kaydel cuddling with her husband. and some of her high school friends she never talks to anymore. And they all seem to already be having the picture perfect lives, flashes of engagement rings blinding her eyes even through the screen, and pictures of cute little toddlers running around with sweet messages like:

Carly writes

"Running around trying to chase each other with the fake sabers daddy bought them during their trip to Disney. Haven't been able to put them down in two weeks! Aren't they wonderful!"

Rey slams the screen down and shoves the laptop back under her bed. She lands on her soft pillow with a huff and crosses her arms over the duvet, staring at the ceiling with a frown.

Seriously? When had she turned into the girl that would pine for marriage and babies? She was only twenty three! She should be out with Poe and Jessika and Bebe getting shit faced, not sitting here throwing side glances at her partner wishing the man would do something about it. But after a life of having nothing she wanted so much more. Was that irresponsible of her? Naive or stupid? Rey worries at her lip.

Then she turns on her side and looks at Finn before closing her eyes. She needed sleep. One o'clock will be approaching soon.

It goes in the blink of an eye.

There's a hand shaking her and Rey grumbles. Finn plants a soft kiss on her temple.

"Come on, sleepy head, I have to make it to the airport."

They only have the one car, so Rey would drive him then drive herself back. That was the agreement. She nearly tells him to just take the car and she'll take cabs forever until he's back, and perhaps she does say it because Finn is chuckling.

"You could never afford that. Come on, Peanut, time to get up."

Rey sits up with a sigh and rubs her face. Finn's already dressed up as he walks around and starts shoving stuff into his suitcase. It's literally his whole wardrobe. He'll be gone for six months. The idea sours her stomach. Six months without him. Six months without Finn to come home to, or to help her through rough patches, or to act as a shield between her and Plutt. She almost wants to ask him to stay. She wouldn't be so worried if Poe wasn't joining Finn in a week, well and truly leaving her with no back up in case Plutt got handsy again. He'd tried a couple of times.

He comes around and gives her another kiss as if knowing what she's thinking about.

"It'll be over before you know it," he reassures her. Rey grunts but gets up and goes to brush her teeth and get ready, then grabs her wallet and her keys.

Twenty minutes later they're weaving through the thankfully mostly deserted streets of Manhattan and off towards JFK. John F Kennedy airport was huge, and also literally the main airport to New York City, as all New Yorkers knew. La Guardia was the sadder little cousin to JFK, really. Which meant that soon enough traffic would start piling on.

The drive is quiet. She catches Finn looking at her every once in a while through the rearview mirror, a worried look on his face, but she keeps her eyes on the road, trying not to think too hard on this. Once she pulls up to drop-off, she finds a place to park at the entrance along the curb and unbuckles her seatbelt, and Finn pulls her into the warmest embrace, as if making up for the six month absence, holding her there until she needs air.

"I'll miss you, Peanut," he murmurs into her neck, and Rey sighs and hugs him tighter. Air can wait. She's never been this far from Finn since she was a teenager and he's not even gone yet.

"Come back soon, alright?" she whispers in return, her hands fisted into his tan leather jacket. He nods, then plants a soft kiss on her temple and pulls away. He unbuckles and gives her the dazzling smile she's always associated with him.

"Back in a heartbeat."

One last soft peck on the lips and he's gone, and Rey's staring at him from her driver's seat until she can no longer see him past security check, letting out a shuddering breath. She sits at drop-off for way too long. So long, in fact, that a van comes up from behind and honks obnoxiously at her to move. A whole family looking ready to be dropped off. With a sigh, she pulls her car into gear and makes for the exit, thoughts on the dinner again.

It keeps bouncing around in her head and she grunts, turning on the radio to max to forget against the noise. Except the universe hates her when Livin' on A Prayer comes on.

She says, we've got to hold onto what we've got.

Why had she let Bebe and Jessika get to her? She should know better. She's known for a long time they weren't ready. It shouldn't make a difference.

It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not.

But it does make a difference.

We've got each other and that's a lot for love.

She accidentally misses the fact that she cut someone off and somebody honks angrily at her. Rey curses, speeding up enough to give the person enough room to accelerate with an apologetic wave of her hand.

We'll give it a shot.

Rey stares at the airport as she drives by.

Whoa, we're halfway there.

She bites her lip.

Whoa, livin' on a prayer.

She thinks back to all the damn pictures on Facebook and grunts. Everyone else had gone after what they wanted, and here she was putting what she wanted on a plane to Europe, not to see him again for six months. She can't let him go like that. Not without saying something.

Take my hand, we'll make it I swear.

With a huff, she turns the car around. She finds the nearest exit and heads right back to the airport.

She hadn't made up her mind. Not when taking the exit, not when finding parking, not when pulling up to the airport breathless from running. She doesn't know what she'll say to him. She's acting on instinct and pure adrenaline and it's not like her and damn it, she'll do it anyway.

When she finally reaches the gate, the plane's boarding.

No. No, no no no.

She makes her decision.

She runs back to the counter.

"I want a ticket for that plane!" she points to the big flight times display, and the lady at the counter gives her a strange look.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but that plane is readying for departure," the woman offers apologetically, "perhaps I can schedule you for another one?"

"No! My boyfriend's aboard that plane. I need to get to him. I have things to tell him, you see?" she argues for her case with a near pleading tone. The woman gives her a sympathetic look, the sympathetic look of someone who's seen far too many love stricken people trying to stop planes like in the movies, not knowing that captains and airlines were sticklers about departure and arrival times.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I could ask them to stop so he can come out…"

Rey shakes her head.

"No, he has to get to Dublin. But if..could I just..?" she asks. The lady shakes her head.

"No, I'm sorry." Then she looks at the screen. "Sorry, ma'am. Even if I could help…" She points to the big flight times display.

The plane'd been marked as departed.

Rey sags.

She'd missed him.

The counter lady taps her on the shoulder. "Ma'am?"

She'd decided.

If it wasn't the right time, she'd make it the right time. Finn kept putting it off, so she would do it for him. She'd propose.

Rey turns robotically.

"Are there any flights going there right now?" she asks. The lady shakes her head, then noticing that Rey isn't looking, speaks her negative outloud.

"No, ma'am. These are red-eye hours. The next one leaving for Dublin won't be until eight in the morning."

Rey takes in a deep breath, then opens her wallet. She looks inside. She only brought her keys with her, her phone, and her wallet. In it were her ID, her passport - which she'd always kept in her wallet in hopes for a just-in-case impromptu romantic trip with Finn, she thinks wryly - a ticket to a long-over broadway musical, rubbed at the edges and fading, ten dollars and some change, a debit card and her credit cards. Rey didn't have much in her savings account. Oftentimes she was paycheck to paycheck as it was.

She sets her lip and whips out her credit card.

"One seat, please." She requests.

The counter lady didn't think she'd go through with it, probably because nobody ever went through with it, but then she sees Rey's stern set to her jaw and nods.

"That'll be three thousand dollars round trip," she says, bringing up her screens.

Rey nearly falls on her face.

"How much?" she manages to croak, also passing along her ID and passport.

"It's a last minute trans-atlantic flight, ma'am. Or would you like a one-way?"

Rey swallows. She could buy a one-way ticket, but her sense of self preservation tells her a round trip ticket would be the best thing she could hope for. She shakes her head and accepts the round trip ticket, passing over her card. The ticket alone maxes it out. The most she has on it is about ten dollars after that, and she internally aches at spending that much money.

The counter lady gives her a soft smile as she passes Rey her brand spanking new three thousand dollar plane tickets.

"Nothing to check in?"

Rey shakes her head quietly.

"Gate E3, off to your left. Good luck, ma'am. I hope you get to him in time."

Rey looks at the lady and bites back on the anxiety crawling up her chest. She nods and gives a thank you rather mutely, before going through security. She's not wearing much. Sweatpants and a t-shirt, because she had intended go right back to bed. They usher her through and soon enough she finds herself at Gate E3, with literally nothing but her keys, a cellphone, and a wallet with one maxed out credit card already. She sighs, looking out the dark windows at the sprawling space where silent winged metal creatures sit.

This is stupid. This is so stupid. And she's doing it.

Rey plops herself on an empty chair. The whole place is deserted except for a few people walking about, staff and tired flight attendants, and a few civilians wandering around even though everything's closed for the night.

She curls up on a chair, knees to chest, arms wrapped around, and drops her head onto her knees, finally exhausted.

It's so stupid.

But her options would be to go back to an empty apartment and a lonely life for six months and a creepy landlord who also happened to have been her foster father for a really uncomfortable four years. No.

She's going to Dublin.

She's going after Finn.

She's doing this.


Author's note: Hello, all! Welcome to A Proposal by Any Other Name. Hope you enjoyed. The song lyrics are from Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer.

This story is finished. I am just posting it here as well. There are 39 chapters and will be updating weekly (as consistently as I can make it).