New kid on the block, of course, every new kid is labeled as weird, especially if this kid comes from the desert, can kick as much ass at sports as she can at art, and has no social skills. Rey doesn't mind though, she lives up to every bit of weird people throw at her.

Rey started seeing him sometime around her third year in High School, he was both hard to miss and easy to displace. He was like a black knight, ever vigilant of his surroundings, watching over the fair maidens of the school yard during the lunch hours. Rey had never seen anyone like him before, but that could be excused by her upbringing. Either way, for better or worse, she found herself attracted to him in the way that magnets were on opposite poles.

She sought him out, a fresh face in a new school and taking the first step to talk to someone that wasn't her foster sister, Rose.

It was in the middle of a busy hallway, nothing marvelous, but in that moment, she decided that he was. Up close he was even more stunning, the hardened face of a warrior with his sharp eyes and strange features. She wanted to take a picture of him, she wanted to take his face and stare at it until she had it memorized, convinced that it might change.

He was uncomfortable though, and she did not realize just how intensely she had been wordlessly staring at him. His tall frame hunched back in the lockers defensively as she leaned into his breathing bubble. How uncouth of her. Rey slanted her lips and got out a string of words, "Oh I'm sorry, I'm Rey, you're very interesting to look at, can I have a photo of you so I can stare at you more?" Instantly she wanted to slap herself. Who said that? Ever?

If he was taken aback by it, he did not let it show on his fascinating face. Instead, with all the grace of a knight, he offered her a kind curl of his lips and dipped his head in greeting, "Hello Rey," He relaxed back into the lockers, looking cool and cornered at the same time, like an iron maiden, uncomfortable and intriguing, "Is that normally how you ask for someone's picture?" She had the decency to blush,

"Well-no-I-You see..." She bit her tongue and frowned, what was wrong with her?

Movement moved her gaze from the floor to his hands, oh my, his hands were marvelous too. Rey bit her tongue harder, eyes widening before she snapped them shut, staring was unpolite, and clearly, this poor guy was trying to humor her. She opened her eyes when she was sure she was done wondering what his thin and deft hands were capable of.

He was holding a phone out to her, his phone. Rey's eyebrows came to a slow knit together, her lips parted, but he answered before she could ask, "You're a photographer then, you can have a picture of me if I get to have a copy," She stared up at him then, unsure of how to express the swirling confusion and joy in her chest. Instead, she took the phone and typed in a series of numbers and wrote her name, then, she pulled up the camera and went into full photographer mode.

Leaning back forty-five degrees, pivoting her foot, backpack hanging close to the floor off her arm, all she could focus on was how gorgeous he was. The picture to most people probably looked like nothing special, but the shot of him leaning carefree and confident against the school lockers was close to a gift to Rey. Eagerly, she sent herself the photo.

It really was something, the light needed a little tampering, and it could do with some contrast of shadows due to his dark clothing, dark hair and eyes. She blinked, well, everything about him was dark. She smiled to herself a little, what a fun picture to play with, the nuances stood out like a sore thumb to her, the slight curvature of his lips, the flow, and movement of his body, the way his hair curled around his ears.

Rey was so focused on the picture, that she didn't realize the real thing was looming over her shoulder with curiosity on his face. She nearly jumped out of her skin, and she was pretty sure she stopped breathing. He smelled amazing. She wanted to stick her face in whatever he was wearing and run away with it. She blushed at the thought, what kind of special creep would that make her?

His breath was soft on her skin when he spoke, "Very nice, you have some skill lady Rey,"

"A-and how shall I address a knight such as you?" she blurted, his nickname for her switching her brain to nerdom. She grit her teeth, he was going to recoil and say how weird she was and take back the photo from her. He didn't. Instead, he moved slowly around her, body tall and limber. The guy bowed to her. A show in the middle of the hallway that attracted attention that would make most squirm with discomfort, he didn't. He was just as bold as he was reserved. Just who was this fantastic man? "Ben Solo," He told her, giving her another one of his slight smiles before he bid her farewell, "And you are about to be late to class Lady Rey," She gasped, eyes going wider than an owls, and she spun on heel, dashing for her English-lit class, doing her best to focus on the task at hand rather than the dark and haunting figure of a man she left alone in the hall.

Rey didn't see him the rest of the day, she supposed that it was for the best, she seemed to forget how to speak around him and hadn't a clue as to what that would entail if they decided to sit and have a normal conversation. Rey walked her bike home, pushing it up a large hill and stopping atop it, mounting her bike, and riding down the rest of the way in a flash. She wondered if Ben Solo liked to feel the wind in his hair like she did.

Maz was in the kitchen with some of her old friends from different places, they were playing a game of cards, chips and even small items were on the table. Maz gave Rey a gentle nod and smile before going back to the game, Rey took off her worn sneakers and socks and trudged into the laundry to stip her clothes.

Rose was already in the room, her clubs for the day having been canceled. She looked up from her engineering manual and gave Rey a bright smile, "How was track?"

"Legs are jelly, the new coach is a jerk, hurdles suck," Rey mumbled, slipping her bag off her shoulder and placing it on the floor by her desk. She looked up at the wall of printed photos and was reminded of Ben Solo. Rey turned and caught Rose's attention, flopping on the girl's bed and laying over her legs, earning a series of groans and protests from her foster sister, "Rey you're gross and sweaty get off me!" She was laughing though,

"Take a look at my new project," Rose put her book down over her face, pretending to snore,

"I'm sleeping, no energy for another Rey project," Rey slapped the book off playfully and put her phone on Rose's face,

"See how great it is?! See?!" She pushed it against her face. Rose squealed with laughter and wiggled in the bed until she was sitting up and holding Rey's phone in her lap with great care, staring hard at the picture with a smile that slowly faded. This was new, Rose never downright frowned at one of Rey's pictures. She leaned forward on the bed, crossing her legs tighter under her, "You don't like it?"

"How did you get this?" Rose asked her, tone serious,

"What's wrong with it?" Rey asked, trying to reach for her phone,

"You don't know who this is?" Rey stopped, pursing her lips and furrowing her brows, what kind of question was that? "Rey this is Kylo Ren,"

"Kylo Ren?" Rey asked, suddenly worried that she had messed up. Rose took one look at her face and sighed, "I forget that you're still new to the area, Kylo Ren is the residential bad boy, picking fights, stealing cars, smoking on campus and being a general nuisance. He's bad news, and most people that get involved with him end up going to Juvenile Hall,"

"But he wasn't like that at all," Rey mumbled, frowning at this new information,

"Was he on campus?"

"Yes," Rey said slowly,

"Figures, even graduated he thinks he owns the place," Rose frowned at the picture, and then gave Rey a hopeless look, "Just try to stay away from him, he's no good Rey."

Rey spent a good 20 minutes in the shower just thinking. Her eyes trained on the drain, watching the water swirl before being consumed by the darkness of the pipes. Ben Solo was Kylo Ren, why would he lie about his name? Had he acted the way he did to taunt her on her ignorance? She suddenly felt foolish, of course, she would get caught up in someone dangerous. It was like strangeness was in her name, and she couldn't shake it.

She sat at her desk, staring at the wall of photos for a long time, wishing that her past subjects could come forth and give her some advice. Clearly, Rose knew more about his Ben-Kylo person than she did, maybe Rey ought to listen for once and save herself some trouble. Rey's eyes fell down to the glowing screen of her phone, a soft vibration gaining her attention from the photos, a message splayed at the top of her screen. She inhaled sharply, "How's the photography going?" it read, she leaned down slowly, forehead resting against her desk with her phone in her lap. Should she text back? Could she?

Her fingers moved on their own accord, pressing send before she could read what she wrote. The little grey message popped up and she bit her tongue, "I need more reference photos," The urge to grow a third arm for slapping was strong within her. Rey cursed herself, wanting to drop her phone like it was on fire. It was hot, was that her? Was Rey the one overheating? Over what, over this guy? The old Rey would have rolled her eyes and laughed.

A message came, "I pick the place this time, same rules as last time, I get the photos you take"

"I'll bring my camera this time"

"Fancy"

"Only the best for my projects"

"Now don't I feel special"

"You should, it's a great honor to hear the click of the Rey Camera" Rey stilled, gods why was she such a nerd? She had this habit of being a dork without really trying, and as humorous as it was, it was often times more unfortunate than fortunate for her. She sighed and stared at the phone, waiting for a response to tell her that she wasn't as weird as she sounded. Nothing came. Her phone went dark in her patience, and Rey looked up, a red mark on her face as the blood rushed back to it.

She got up and saved her progress on her newest muse, closing her operating programs and then her laptop. She clicked off her lamp, falling into her bed a few feet away, she stared at the wall having mixed feelings about this knight character. She closed her eyes, whatever it was she was feeling about it all, it could wait until she had slept. Suddenly her cheek vibrated, and her hand pulled her phone from her pillow, clicking on the screen and squinting hard at the light. A text from the knight, "I will hold that honor as a knight until incident befalls me, Lady Rey" She smirked and almost giggled, if she was a dork, he was a wizard.

He wanted to meet her in a park, late in the evening with the sun hanging behind the trees and painting the sky orange. She had nothing better to do, perhaps because she canceled the rest of her plans for the day. She wondered why it was that he picked a park, and why at night. At first, she assumed he'd murder her and steal the single photo of him from her. That was quickly dismissed.

She stepped on a twig on the beaten path and looked up and around, afraid to have disturbed anything, she saw movement, a tall darkness swaying confidently toward her. Ben Solo's voice was a welcome sound in the wind of the early night, "You came,"

"I couldn't pass up an opportunity to take more great photos," Rey said, hand touching her camera. Ben gave her his strange half-smile, eyes crinkling slightly in the corners. He fell in step with her and led her around a small grove of trees, she heard laughter and loud conversation, it hadn't occurred to her that there would be others.

She looked over at him then, and noticed in the darkness that he wore a dark red scarf, she liked that color on him, it made his eyes stand out, he looked at her then, "You should wear red more often," She told him, watching the way his eyes danced in the darkness, "A royal color for a knight," His lips did the thing, and she smiled back.

There were several other people around the bonfire, they all had some drink or snack in their hand, a few even sported cigarettes. She found herself pressing closer to Ben, their arms brushing, she stepped back and frowned awkwardly, Ben did the talking, "This is Rey, she's going to be joining us tonight," A few people cheered and others gave her a nod and welcome. A girl walked over to her, "Here, try this," A drink unopened was passed to her, and Rey twisted her lips to the side, "Uh, I don't drink,"

"OH! Well, we have plenty of other stuff, it's over in the cooler," She said with an understanding smile, and Rey wondered just what she was really doing there. The girl then looked down, eyes catching the reflective film of her camera, "Oh! You're a photographer!" She gushed, a few other people looked up at the pair. Suddenly a hand came for her camera and she stumbled back, hitting something hard and stopping.

Ben's hand was grasping the girl's wrist, "It's an expensive piece of equipment, and unless you plan on paying her back for any damages, don't touch it," the girl blanched and slid away into the crowd. Rey let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, relaxing back into Ben. She looked up then, realizing that he was looming over and around her. He was so big. She blushed, "Why are you so tall? It's weird,"

"Speak for yourself shorty, I like being tall," His face did something then, and she lifted her camera, flipping off the lens cover and snapping a few rapid frame shots of his face hovering over her in the firelight. She looked down at the screen, smiling as a look of shock develops on his face in each frame. His hair brushes her ears as he looks over her shoulder, "I like that one," He brushes his hand against her wrist to point, and Rey then realizes, just how close he's gotten to her.

"I um, I'm gonna go take more pictures," She says suddenly, her face hot, and she can't figure out if it's the fire or him. She steps off into the woods nearby to cool down and catch her breath. What is this? This hot feeling swirling in her chest, like her heart is squeezing and swelling at the same time. Rey pressed a hand to her forehead, she was there to take pictures, whatever this was, she would figure it out later.

Throughout the night Rey gets a few candid shots of Ben in his crowd of people, laughing through his nose and sipping from a label she doesn't recognize. Midnight rolls around, and many of the partygoers have left to return to a warm bed, and she herself is shivering in the cold, despite the heat of the fire.

She sits on a log in front of the fire, listening to the fire and the noise of conversation and music, the steady beat comforting her. her fingers click on what could be close to 100 photos. She sighs, getting rid of faulty and out of focus shots, and she realizes, that in one of them, he looked up at her as she pressed the shutter, his eyes were molten in the light of the fire. She bit her lip, he looked like he was peering into her soul, coaxing her emotions and deepest thoughts from her person with a single look. A twig snapped, and she looked up. Ben stood with his label in hand, a curious expression on his face.

Rey patted the log invitingly, and Ben sat beside her slowly, his knee touching hers, "You're shivering,"

"Am I?" She looked down at her legs, they were trembling, but not from being cold, Rey blushed, "I'm not used to the cold," Wordlessly, Ben reached up and slipped his scarf from his shoulders in a single motion. His label placed on the ground as he leaned over, putting his arms around her, wrapping Rey in his scarf. He leaned away, satisfied with his lip twitch and eye crinkle, Rey blushed, "I got lot's of photos, I can't send them to you from my camera,"

"I can give you my email,"

"They'll take a few days to process,"

"Then I can see you in the meantime," She looked up, his nose brushing hers.

Rey froze, sharing a bubble of air with the enigmatic and confusing Ben Solo, his gaze was heated, flicking over the features of her face, pausing on her lips, on her rosy cheeks, and then, pinning her in place with his eyes. Rey gripped the tree bark beneath her, he leaned in, brushing his lips over her jaw, right next to her lips.

When Ben pulls away, his eyes are glossy with want, and Rey is sure her heart exploded. Ben looks down, eyelashes brushing his cheeks, she sees a tint of pink on the tips of his ears, "I'm sorry," He says suddenly, "I'm a little drunk, and I think you're beautiful,"

"Beautiful?" She echoes, lips parted in shock,

"No," He says then, "Stunning," His eyes find hers again, "Beautiful doesn't do you justice,"

"You think... I'm..." She doesn't think, she doesn't formulate words, she just swallows the saliva that has built up on her tongue and stares owl-like at the fire. They both fall into a strange kind of silence, no one has ever called Rey beautiful, or stunning.

Someone came to stand before Rey, they were dark clothed like Ben, she looked up, readying her camera. Her eyes caught flame red hair and a snarky face, Rey tried not to frown, how ordinary. His blue eyes glinted with a sharp judgment, "Where did you pick this one up?" He asked, not to her, but to Ben. Ben made a sound beside her, an angry scoff, or perhaps a snarl, "Fuck off Hux," Rey blinked, swear words sounded appropriate coming from Ben's lips, and she wasn't sure why. She wanted to hear him say it again, specifically to this ginger.

The redhead, Hux, smirked behind the rim of the bottle, sipping it like tea, "I've noticed this one likes to take pictures, care to share?" Something told her not to let go of her camera, she pressed it closer to her chest and held it tighter, "I don't share photos,"

"Well that's hardly fair, I'm sure I'm the star of many of them, I deserve at least a peak,"

"No, you don't," She huffed, feeling herself tip into dangerous territory, she couldn't remember the last fight she had, there had been so many they all blurred together, but now her fingers were itching to dig into his pasty face. Hux frowned and bent to grab her camera from her, Rey stood, Ben stood, and suddenly Hux was on the ground a few feet away.

Her hand stung.

Ben was the one to speak, level and angry, "She said no, Hux," Rey looked down at her hand, blood was smattered over her knuckles, she glanced at the asshole named Hux and saw, delightfully, that his nose was gushing with the red substance.

A hand was on hers then, and Ben was pulling her away from the bonfire. They marched hurriedly through the darkness of the park, back to a trail, his hand squeezing hers the whole time. They stopped when she tripped over her own feet, so caught up in staring at the way his shoulders moved that she lost track of the path. Ben twisted and caught her, how cliche, Rey grinned at it, "Hux is an asse," Ben blinked, the twitch happening again,

"Yes," He agreed, pulling her up steady and walking slower beside her, "If you didn't hit him I would have,"

"Your hands are too pretty to be bothered with his starchy face," She said absently, staring at their feet as they walked.

"Rey," She looked up at Ben Solo, and he was looking down at her, she liked the way he said her name, "Go out with me,"

"What?" She laughed, a bubble in her throat that wouldn't stop,

"Is that a no?"

"Why would you go out with me?" She wasn't asking for her benefit, she was curious, he made a face.

"You said I was fascinating without doing yourself the justice, Lady Rey," She took a breath,

"Wouldn't a knight such as yourself seek to court a lady than sweep her from the floor?"

"I suppose you're right," He fell into it, his lips doing a thing, pulling to the side, his tongue swiping his lip, "But I'm slightly drunk and impatient, and I think you'd enjoy it,"

"By 'it' you mean you?"

"Well that's part of the package," He said cheekily, glancing at her wrapped up in his scarf. He stopped walking, standing across the street from her place,

"What more do I get in this package fair knight?" He hummed in consideration, his eyelashes sparkling in the streetlamps, she flipped off the lens cap silently, lifting the camera slowly, snapping pictures the whole way. He turned right when she was level, his eyes filled with raw desire and mischief, "You get a photo opportunity for your new project every time we go out," He supplied. Rey bit her lip, smiling at him in the streetlamp, he was gorgeous. Even slightly drunk.

"I'll consider your proposal," She told him, turning off her camera and sliding it to her side, his face relaxed into what could be restrained joy, "I've decided," She said then. Ben blinked, shocked, and she was in his bubble, "Yes," She told him, standing on her toes and gripping his shirt and shoulders, pressing her lips on his throat and chin.

"Yes?" He breathed, his deft hands slipping up around her biceps, squeezing her softly, looking down at her,

"Yes," She said,

"Can I kiss you?" He asked breathlessly, Rey giggled,

"Yes."

Hello, This is a bit different than what I'm used to writing, I like doing the dark and emotional stuff, but I tried my hand at something slightly humorous and fresh, let me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed it.