Kylo awoke with a jolt to the sound of his ship's intruder alarm blaring loudly throughout the room.

He sat upright almost immediately, and momentarily forgot where he was and what was going on.

Still disoriented, he slipped out of his bed and grabbed his lightsaber, angrily but cautiously trudging towards the door.

"Ben? What's going on?" a familiar voice called from behind him, making Kylo nearly jump.

He looked over his shoulder to see a very sleepy and perturbed looking Rey, her hair unkempt and her eyes red.

"Someone's on the ship," Kylo replied simply as he continued through the door. "Stay here."

"Someone's on the ship!?" she echoed back to him in disbelief, force pulling her temporary weapon to herself as well and following Kylo, suddenly very awake.

Kylo felt a familiar presence in the holding room of his ship, and he ignited his saber, stepping out to face the infiltrator.

Rey peered around him and then grabbed his arm that was holding the sword, her eyes wide.

"Finn!" she exclaimed, rushing up the the bewildered looking man that had broken into Kylo's ship.

The former storm trooper was in shock as he slowly lowered the blaster he had been brandishing and fixed his eyes on Rey and Kylo, his mouth agape.

"Rey! Are you alright?" he asked desperately, looking her up and down, a look of worry worn on his face. That worry quickly faded to confusion as he observed that she was not only perfectly fine, but very clearly wearing an oversized men's t-shirt.

He also couldn't help but notice he tall frame of none other than Kylo Ren standing behind her wielding a burning light saber, and Finn pulled Rey towards him, concern etched on his features.

"What the fuck is going on here?" he asked angrily, pointing his blaster at the new Supreme Leader while looking Rey up and down incredulously, pointing at her shirt.

"I can explain," Rey began slowly, placing her hand on Finn's shoulder. "Please put the gun down. Kylo Ren has turned."

"What makes you think that, huh?" the resistance member replied, not buying a word of what Rey was saying. "This is the man that killed Solo and ordered the base, our base, to be destroyed. He tried to kill you, Rey. He tried to kill us both."

"What makes you think you can break into my command shuttle?" Kylo spat from behind the two; Rey quickly whipped around and gave Kylo a pleading look, and Finn took a step towards the dark jedi, hate clearly written on his face.

"Was I talking to you?" he retorted, and Rey pulled Finn back, getting upset as well.

"I know what he did, but I promise you, it's not all what you think-," she started, but was cut off by Kylo interjecting with, "If I wanted you dead, then you wouldn't be here standing on my shuttle."

Rey turned back to Kylo and said, "Ben, please", but was once again interrupted, this time by a loud guffaw from Finn.

"Ben? Did you just call Snoke's poster child Ben?" he inquired in disbelief, and then turned to Kylo. "You're not Ben Solo. You're just an ugly little man who managed to become even more ugly by taking off a mask."

"Finn, do not talk to him like that," Rey snapped, her eyes narrowed. "Like it or not, Ben Solo is coming back to the base with us. He has changed, and I'm making him our ally."

Finn just stared at Rey, at a loss for words. He rubbed his temples and shook his head, shook to his core.

"Rey, I tried so hard to get away from all this," he began dismally, unable to look her in the eyes. "To get away from the First Order, to keep you and everyone else safe - and now you're telling me you want to bring Ben Solo back to our secret base while you're wearing his shirt?"

Rey balked at his statement and Finn rolled his eyes at her, adding, "And don't tell it's not his shirt."

"Finn, we need to talk. Alone," Rey added, looking to Kylo, who crossed his arms over his chest and stood his ground.

"I should be allowed to hear whatever it is you have to tell him," the dark jedi reasoned, looking to Rey desperately.

"Please," Rey begged Kylo, her eyes dewy.

Kylo hesitated, and glared at Finn, his brows furrowed.

"I'll be back in two minutes," he announced, his lightsaber still alight in his hand. "Don't touch her."

"How about you don't even look at-," Finn began, but Rey quickly grabbed his arm and gave him a stern look.

Finn watched in seething silence as Kylo opened the door on the wall and left the two; the ex-storm trooper managed to peer into the room before the door slid shut, and he realized in horror that he had seen a singular bed with two sides of disheveled covers.

"Rey," he said, already knowing what the answer to his next question would be. "Where did you sleep last night?"

Rey just stared at Finn wordlessly, until she finally said, "Why does that matter?"

"Rey, did you sleep with Kylo Ren?" Finn asked in a fierce whisper, not believing the words leaving his mouth.

"I didn't sleep with him!" the brunette hissed, her face now flushed.

"Did you share a bed with him?" the man continued to interrogate, and Rey looked away, biting her lip.

Finn placed his hands on either of her arms, at this point not caring about the fact that he thought she had been kidnapped or that Kylo Ren had killed her. He just wanted to know what the hell was going on.

"What happened between you two?" he asked slowly, his eyes staring into Rey's earnestly.

"We've been connected by the Force," she explained, trying to choose her words carefully. "It had happened a lot during my training with Luke Skywalker. I saw that there was conflict in him, and-"

"And he didn't turn," Finn guessed, remembering the First Order's attack on Crait the day Rey had returned. Rey nodded.

"We met by chance again here," she continued, her face red yet again. "I decided to start over with him. There's just something about him, Finn - I want to trust him. I want to take him back with us."

"You love him," Finn said simply, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. Rey blinked.

"I…" She trailed off. Love was a strong word, but was it such a far reach? She shook her head, searching for the right words.

"What happened last night?" Finn inquired, pressing Rey for more information. She tried her best to throw away her pride and let Finn in, but she was also embarrassed.

"We fought, but then we talked and sat together. I held his hand," she spat out, almost finding freedom in confessing all of this to her friend. "I hugged him. I-"

"You kissed him?" Finn interrupted again, and Rey huffed at him, sick of being unable to finish a sentence.

"I kissed him, yes. Well, he kissed me. We kissed. I know," she began, feeling the need to defend herself as she studied Finn's agitated expression.

"You kissed Kylo Ren!? I brought Rose with me to come pick you up, you know," he expressed, irritated again. "What am I gonna tell Rose?"

His features suddenly became more serious, and he said in a hushed voice, "I can't tell Rose. I can't tell anybody. We have to cover this up."

"I'm tired of covering up how I feel," Rey replied exasperatedly, trying to reason with Finn. "So is Ben. That's why he's been so troubled."

Finn rolled his eyes.

"Oh, poor Kylo Ren. So troubled, having to hide his true feelings," Finn muttered, resigning himself for the time being to accept the situation.

He turned to Rey, who did not at all look pleased with him. At that exact moment, the bedroom door slid open, and Kylo Ren stepped out, donning his normal attire.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said simply, walking over to Rey and standing much closer to her than he needed to.

Finn narrowed his eyes but put his blaster in his holster.

"Look, Ren," he began, pointing a finger at the Dark Jedi. "If we're taking you back to the resistance base, I'm gonna have to put handcuffs on you or something."

"I'm not going to let you do anything to me," Kylo spat, and Rey gave him a very tired frown.

"Then give me your lightsaber," she said, secretly interlocking her fingers with his behind his back. "Does this ship have autopilot?"

"It does," Kylo replied, his tone softer as he squeezed Rey's hand in his.

"Good. You can have it follow us," the brunette explained, taking her hand from Kylo's after giving it one last squeeze.

"Whenever you're ready, Ren," Finn added, his dark eyes constantly flickering from Rey to Kylo, as though he was trying to see some invisible force between the two.

"Here," Kylo grumbled, handing his lightsaber over to Rey. "I trust that if we run into trouble, I'll get it back."

"Of course," Rey replied, marveling at the large lightsaber handle. She hadn't been able to hold it for long before, but she couldn't help turning it over in her palm and admiring every detail of Kylo's blade, so different yet similar from Luke's.

She noticed Finn and Kylo watching her, and quickly stowed the weapon in her bag, her hands now behind her back.

Finn rolled his eyes, and he marched over to the exit, peering back at the pair as he did.

"There's a girl named Rose who's going to be travelling with us," he explained in a warnful tone, his eyes on Kylo. "Do not talk to her. Don't even look at her."

Kylo frowned, wondering why Finn was even bothering with this anecdote. He only had one person he was planning on paying any attention to the entire trip, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let an ex-Stormtrooper or some resistance girl get in the way.

"I have no interest in a Resistance member," he said coldly, his thoughts somewhat clouded on account of the growing fear in his heart of seeing his mother again and perhaps never going back to his familiar bridge on the First Order Destroyer.

"Oh, I think you do," Finn said back haughtily, and Kylo shot the shorter man a look that could kill.

Rey clicked her tongue at Finn, and the three finally left the command shuttle and stepped out onto the melting snow on the island.

Kylo made sure to lock his bay doors before the trio left; he was carrying two bags, one containing some essentials for the trip, and the other one belonging to Rey.

The dark Jedi hung back and let Finn gain a lead ahead of him and Rey, and when he thought the rebel scum was finally out of earshot, he brushed his hand against Rey's, his heart beating loudly in his chest once again.

"Rey," he began, his voice soft but also insecure. "What did you tell Finn?"

The woman hesitated, unsure how Kylo would react if he knew just how much about last night she had divulged to her friend.

"I told him that I trust you, and that's all he needs to know," she replied, trying to keep the topic cut short.

"Seemed to me like he knew more," Ben pointed out, but Rey merely shrugged in response.

Kylo hesitated, then said in a low voice, "I don't mind if people know what happened."

Rey brushed her knuckles against Kylo's, and felt her face heat up as the weight of what he really meant hit her.

"Let's wait and see what happens after we arrive at the base first," she replied, trying not to get Ben's hopes up.

As ecstatic as she was about what had happened between them last night, she wasn't sure if she wanted all of the Resistance knowing she had spent the night with Kylo Ren.

"...Are you ashamed?" Kylo asked, his voice steady but his face clearly concerned.

"I am not," Rey assured him, linking her index finger with his. "It's nobody's business but ours, and I'd prefer to keep it private."

"Do you think you'll always want to keep 'us' private?" the dark-haired man questioned, and Rey nearly stopped walking.

"I don't know what exactly 'us' is," she said softly, biting her lip.

Kylo didn't know how to answer Rey, exactly. To him, they were at the very least allies, but last night had certainly pushed him to think of her as more. He had told her he cared for her, and she had returned his feelings; wouldn't that make them lovers? Or would he have to formally ask?

The Dark Jedi's head was beginning to pound as he thought things over, and realized things might not ever advance between them with no label.

Before he could reply to her, Finn called out to the two.

"We're here," he hollered over, standing by the Millenium Falcon and a petite girl in an orange jumpsuit and leather jacket.

Kylo felt his skin crawl at the site of that accursed ship.

"I do not want to fly on this ship," he hissed, and then accidentally made eye contact with the orange-clad girl that Finn had warned him about.

Immediately, she whipped out what appeared to be a taser from her jacket pocket and turned towards Kylo, her teeth bared.

"Rose, don't!" Finn shouted out as the girl drew closer to Kylo, her hand trembling but her intent clear.

Instinctively, Kylo held his hand up to push her away with the Force to protect himself; unfortunately, Rey had done the same only a few feet from him, her eyes wide with fear, and Rose was sent flying into the Falcon, her back hitting the exterior with a painful sounding thud.

There was utter and complete silence, save for Finn's belabored breathing, and the black-haired girl lay face first on the ground, not moving.

"What the hell!?" Finn groaned, walking over to Rose and checking her pulse; he breathed a sigh of relief when he found that she was in fact alive.

Finn pulled out his blaster again and aimed it at Kylo, his nostrils flared.

"You went too far, Ren," he warned, his finger dangerously close to squeezing the trigger.

"It was my fault," Rey blurted out, rushing over to where Rose was. "I pushed her back as well. The combined force is why she flew back so hard. Ben wasn't trying to hurt-"

"Why did you push her back, Rey? And stop calling him Ben in front of me," the ex-storm trooper snapped, and Kylo aggressively approached Fin, taking Rey's arm.

"Don't tell her what to do, and don't act like your friend wasn't acting out of line," he growled, almost possessively holding Rey close to him.

The Jedi girl was at a loss for words, and she simply shrank into his touch, fearing Finn's next retort.

"Help me get her on the ship," was all he said and he turned his back to the two.

Rey felt a lump form in her throat as the tone of Finn's voice fully registered with her; he was hurt, and disappointed. She didn't know what to do.

She felt Kylo squeeze her arm reassuringly and then let go, grabbing the bag that Rose had been carrying and letting Rey assist Finn in helping her up.

The three quietly boarded the ship, although Ben did so reluctantly.

Rose was unconscious still, and Finn laid her on a cot in the ship's common area.

Kylo was concerned. He had never liked FN-2187, but now that he saw how angry the man acted around Rey, he was almost certain that FN was jealous of him and her interacting.

He thought about saying something to Rey about it, but the air between them was somewhat awkward since the small conversation they had about the "us" matter.

Rey was currently hovering by Finn, which didn't help Kylo's mood at all.

"Need a co-pilot?" she asked optimistically, happily studying the familiar controls of the Millenium Falcon.

"I have one," he retorted, starting up the ship and motioning towards Rose's limp form on the cot.

Rey frowned.

"You don't want my help?" she asked, sitting down in the co-pilot chair with her arms crossed over her chest.

"That's not it," Finn said in a tired voice, turning his chair towards the brunette woman. "I want you to make sure Kylo doesn't do anything."

"He won't do-"

"I don't trust him on the ship without supervision, and especially with Rose unconscious," Finn interrupted, pointing to the holding area and motioning for Rey to go.

Rey rolled her eyes and stood up, making her way out of the cockpit.

She stopped for a moment in the doorway and flashed her friend a smile and added, "Thanks, Finn. For trusting me."

"Yeah, yeah," Finn replied as the ship began to launch, and Rey ran back to where she knew she'd find Kylo no doubt moping.

"Hey," she said softly, sitting down beside him; the two were seated on a bench opposite Rose's cot, and Kylo had his elbows resting on his knees and seemed to be deep in thought.

"What's on your mind?" Rey asked, studying Ben's face curiously.

He sat up and turned to look at her, his face stoic but tinged a light pink.

"I never thought I'd be on this piece of junk again," he grumbled, frowning as he looked around. "It brings back bad memories."

"Well, it's the fastest ship we have, so you won't be riding it for too long," the brunette assured him. "Anything I can do to make the ride more livable?"

Kylo hesitated, his dark eyes boring into Rey's amber ones.

"Yes," he began in a low voice, resting one of his hands on Rey's knee; she felt goosebumps form along her skin at how warm yet foreign his touch still was, and she swallowed.

"What?" she questioned, her mind swimming with possibilities. She had a pretty good idea of what was coming next, however.

"Let me kiss you again," Kylo all but demanded, his hand sliding up and feeling more of Rey's soft, supple body, yet through her trousers; the brunette's breath hitched in her throat and she felt her heart speed up ten-fold at Kylo's request.

"Here?" she asked in shock, her bright eyes instinctively flickering to Rose's silhouette under her blanket, then to Kylo's smoldering eyes, then to Kylo's large hand on her inner thigh.

"Yes, here," Kylo replied huskily, losing his patience. His hold on her thigh tightened, and Rey emitted a small whimper, almost, and Kylo took that opportunity to close the remaining space between the two.

Kylo's lips pressed against Rey's needily and hungrily, with far more desperation than their first kiss; Rey felt herself melting into the tall man as he kissed her more deeply, and she would be lying if she said she hadn't missed his sweet taste.

The jedi found herself wrapping her arms around Kylo and pulling him in closer, and the dark-haired man's hands gripped Rey's hips in turn, earning him a small gasp from the girl.

The Knight of Ren took the opportunity to slip his tongue into Rey's mouth, and her hands fisted in his cloak as her inexperienced tongue pressed back against his.

The two broke apart briefly, their eyelids half mast and their breathing heavy; Kylo brushed his lips against Rey's left ear and whispered torridly, "Do you like it when I kiss you?"

Rey could literally feel her face burning with embarrassment; Kylo's breath tickled her ear and his deep voice sent shivers down her spine as she stared into his onyx eyes.

"I do," she said simply, although she wasn't sure why Ben was asking her this out of the blue.

"Was I your first kiss, Rey?" the dark Jedi continued, his breath ghosting from her ear down to her neck now; Rey held the man even tighter against her as she tensed at the feeling of his warmth by her throat.

"You were," she replied hoarsely, perturbed that Kylo wasn't being her third kiss right this second.

"You were mine, too," Kylo admitted in a voice she could barely hear against her ear, and Rey's eyes widened; she screwed them shut quickly again as Kylo's tongue swiped languidly along her neck, and then his lips connected with her jugular and he began to kiss and suck the flushed skin he found there.

All too suddenly, the ship lurched forward and into warp speed without warning, and quite violently; Kylo found himself on the ship's floor within seconds, with a very surprised looking Rey on top of him, her lips still red from his attentions.

He found himself staring at her lips, transfixed, wanting to make them red all over again, but Rey immediately tensed against him as the bulkhead doors behind them pair slid open.

"Rey, I heard a crash," Finn began, his eyes first fixing on Rose, and then downwards to Kylo and Rey sprawled out in a heap on the tiled floor. "Is everything o…"

The pilot trailed off as he processed the sight before him.

Rey and Kylo were disheveled and red in stark contrast to the white interior of the falcon, and Rey looked as if she had seen a ghost as she fearfully looked at Finn.

Kylo was just plain frustrated; he feared their night on his ship might have been the only alone time he would ever get with her.

"Sorry," Finn muttered as he turned away and slipped back into the cockpit, wishing the scene from his mind.

Kylo groaned internally, realizing just how sexually frustrated he really was. He felt the way he had felt last night; his mind was foggy and he had a not-so-easily hideable bulge in his pants. He quickly sat up and shifted away from Rey, not wanting her to discover his secret.

Rey felt like electricity was shooting through her every nerve and pooling in her center, but in a very foreign and arousing way.

She stood up and turned away from Kylo, but he abruptly grabbed her arm and pulled her back against him, his brow furrowed.

"What?" Rey asked simply, and Kylo held her face in his hands and just stared at her, his expression one of longing and lust.

"I want more," he said simply, his breath mingling with Rey's as he brought their lips together closer.

Rey simply closed her eyes and leaned in; the two Force-users shared a short, chaste kiss, and Kylo was far from satisfied, but he pulled away rather quickly and went to sit back on the lounge.

Rey was checking on Rose when the ship went through some more turbulence; the two knew that meant they had left warp speed.

"What happened?" an unfamiliar voice croaked, making Kylo whip around in Rey's direction.

Rose had come to, and was staring up at Rey in utter confusion.

"You fell unconscious, but we're heading back to the Resistance base," the brunette replied, but Rose was no longer paying attention.

She was glaring daggers at Kylo, and she ripped her blanket off and sat up with the intention to charge at the man, Rey being the only thing quite literally holding her back.

"What is he doing on the Falcon?" Rose spat, pointing an accusing finger at the ex-First Order member.

"He's turned to the light," Rey sputtered, trying to get Rose to lie back down. "It's okay. He's with me."

The petite girl turned her attention back to Rey and suddenly realized she was meeting the Rey for the first time, the Resistance hero.

She look at her in admiration, but there was a prevalent glimmer of doubt in her eyes.

"Are you sure?" she questioned, and both women glanced at Kylo.

Kylo simply nodded, but inside, he felt much turmoil over the question at hand. In his mind, "turning to the light" wasn't just some simple thing like Rey made it out to be. He had killed his father, his master, and maybe somewhere along the life, even Ben Solo.

But he was willing to follow Rey down whatever strange and alien path his emotions were leading him towards, and that seemed to be enough for both of them at the moment.

"I'm Rey, by the way," Rey greeted Rose, extending a hand to the now conscious girl; Rose eagerly shook it, and smiled, replying with, "I know. I'm Rose."

All three people in the lounge looked to the doors on the left wall as they then opened, and Finn stepped into the room.

"We're here," he announced, and the ship was most definitely sinking down.

Finn's eyes lit up as he saw that Rose was finally awake, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You feeling alright, Rose?" he asked the girl, who eagerly nodded in turn.

She frowned quickly after, though, her disposition towards Kylo's presence not the best.

"I know," Finn mouthed wordlessly, motioning for Rose to follow him. "Let's go."

Finn and Rose left Kylo and Rey behind as they exited the Falcon first, and Rey walked to the doorway to follow them; she lingered behind when she saw that Kylo was still sedentary on the ship lounge.

She turned to him and saw the familiar lost expression he had worn so many times during their Force connections, and even in person - he was conflicted.

"What's wrong?" she asked the seated man, who gazed up at her with a resigned air.

"This is all wrong," was all the dark-haired man could mutter in response, looking back down at his interlocked fingers in his lap. "I should have never come here."

Rey gave him a pained expression and sat down next to the slouching Kylo, her heart feeling like it was caught in her throat.

"You'd rather go back to the First Order?" she asked hoarsely, hoping he didn't earnestly want to return there.

Kylo shook his head, twiddling his thumbs in his lap.

"Honestly, I want to take you to the outer rim and start fresh," he explained, a hint of a laugh in his voice, but also a hint of desperate truth. "But I know that's impossible for you."

"Meeting your mother again will be hard, I know," Rey replied softly, a blush worn on his face due to the outer rim comment. "General Leia is kind. She wants you home. You have nothing to worry about beyond today, Ben."

"I have you to worry about, now," Kylo breathed, turning to Rey, hoping for some kind of reaction; instead, she just stared at him, still worried, and her eyes still searching.

Kylo stood up and strode ahead of her, and the Jedi's gaze fell on his back.

"Let's go," he ordered, marching out ahead of her, the harsh sunlight of the planet they had arrived on streaming into the Falcon from the open bay doors.

"Ben," Rey called after him, scrambling to her feet, but he was already on the gravely ground, worn down from the many spacecraft landings over the years.

Kylo felt numb, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Between Rey's dismissal of what he'd said and their awkward conversation about what they "were", he was feeling especially small and alone on this unknown planet he'd been brought to.

He could hear Rey's footsteps behind him, but they barely registered as very suddenly, the blood in his veins ran ice cold.

There was a ringing in his ears, and he staggered forward, clutching at his chest; every belabored breath he drew came as a struggle.

This familiar, frigid, unsettling feeling in his gut was hitting him ten-fold, and he could remember exactly where and when he'd felt it before.

He whipped around just in time to witness Rey about to crumple to her knees; in one swift movement, he held onto her and kept her upright.

They locked eyes, and when he saw the fear and disbelief etched on her face, he knew that the disturbance he had just felt in the Force had come to pass.

Leia was gone.