Thanks to the lovely people who have followed/favourited, and thanks for the lovely reviews :) this story won't be a hundred chapters long, at the moment I have about 6 to 10 chapters planned. Please be aware that there will be mentions of upsetting themes - in this chapter, there is a brief scene of sexual harassment. I will try and warn you when other things come up. I tend to binge write and binge publish whilst inspiration strikes, so be prepared for a sea of new chapters with the occasional couple of weeks with nothing! I know it's annoying, sorry, I'm working on it :)

Reylo is the ship of dreams.

Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy :)

Rey hides most of the day, working in the greenhouse, mowing the back lawn, until it is mid afternoon and she has no other choice than to come and tend to the flower beds and bushes along the walls of the house.

Rey sees that Leia is standing in the dining room window, staring out, waiting. Han is washing the Falcon.

Rey and him exchange a little smile, then she turns to her flower beds.

Maybe he's not coming, she thinks, and at that exact moment she hears footsteps on the gravel leading up to the front porch.

"Ben!" Cries Ms Organa, rushing out of the door.

Mr Solo just stands there, staring at his son. Leia comes crashing into her son, holding him to her. Ben Solo does not even return his mother's embrace, instead sending his dad an unblinking glare.

Rey shakes her head. Gosh, he's already annoying.

She takes a moment to observe him. He's dressed in black jeans, and a black top with the sleeves rolled up. He's carrying a huge army bag on one shoulder. He's even taller than she remembered, and his arms look even wider. There is a long, thin scar that runs from his eye, down his cheek and into his neck a little. Ah. So she did leave a scar.

He catches her looking at him, and his eyes widen slightly.

"What is she doing here?" He asks his mother.

"That's Rey, she works here now."

"I know who she is. What do you mean, she works here?"

"She does the gardens, and... Well, she pretty much keeps the place running."

"I do that, too." Pipes Han Solo.

"Yes, but when your father doesn't know how to fix something, Rey comes in."

Ben Solo says nothing, instead staring at her. Rey shifts from foot to foot, refusing to look away first. She's sweaty. Her hair is pulled into two tight buns at the back of her head, because it's too short to stay back if she only does one bun, and it's too hot to let the bottom half of her hair down. She knows it looks dorky. There's dirt all over her trousers and her top. Her nails are brown.

She's not intimidated. Not by him.

"She's been a wonder." Adds Leia, insistent.

"Does she live here?"

"No-"

"No, I don't." Rey will be damned if she lets him talk about her like she isn't even there. "I come over from Jakku every day."

"The scrap yard."

"Yes."

"That seems a stupidly long distance to walk every day."

Is he calling her stupid?

"It's fine." Says Rey through gritted teeth.

"We've been offering her the cottage, but she turns us down." Leia is trying very hard to break the tension.

"It isn't a cottage if it is still attached to the house, mother."

"You know what I mean."

They stare at each other until Leia starts pulling Ben inside, thus forcing him to break eye contact. Rey releases a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

Leia and Ben disappear inside the house. Han Solo wipes his hands and makes to follow them, shaking his head in Rey's direction. She smiles.

They do not emerge back from the house, so Rey stays for about another two hours then calls it a day. She picks up her jacket, an old denim thing she's had since she was 11, and walks home.

"I think you should change job," says Finn.

They're sitting at the local cafe again, outside, because it's a lovely Spring day, one of those days when you can really tell summer is on the way. Rey likes early to mid Spring best, when all is green and fresh, and it feels like you can finally take a breath after the long winter.

"But I really like it."

"I wouldn't wanna be within reach of Psycho Ben, especially not if the last time I saw him I scarred his face for life."

Rey winces. She doesn't like that people call him Psycho Ben - it's too similar to the nasty nicknames kids used to call her at school, until she was strong enough to kick their asses for it.

"Yeah, well, at least he knows not to mess with me."

"I bet he's still mad at you."

"Ms Organa says he isn't."

"Ms Organa welcomed him back into her house, after he stabbed her husband, his own dad. I wouldn't trust Ms Organa's judgement, Rey."

"They're not married."

"They are. She kept her own name." Finn shakes his head, annoyed at the diversion. "Point is, you should change job, you shouldn't go back there. It's not safe." He pushes his plate towards her. "Here, have some of this apple pie, I can't finish it."

"Sure you can!"

"No, no, I tell you, I'm full."

"I have a salary now, you know. I can afford apple pie."

"I know. Just, it'd be a shame to let this apple pie go to waste, don't you think?"

Rey looks away. Ever since they were kids, Finn has always pretended not to be able to finish his food, in an effort to feed Rey. Everyone knew she had no money. Everyone had seen her picking from bins. Everyone thought it was a disgrace to let a foster kid in such a hellish home. No one ever did anything. Rey takes the apple pie, eats without looking at Finn. She is almost as embarrassed as she is touched.

"I just like the place too much," she tells Finn. "I love looking after the gardens. Fixing things, all that."

"You could go to uni."

"I just like the place too much." She repeats, pushing the empty plate back towards him. "Delicious. What should we do after this?"

"I was gonna do a run or something, I failed the last stamina test."

Finn is training to be a firefighter, and devotes most of his spare time to exercise.

"Ill come with you," offers Rey.

She's got the weekend off, as usual, which means that she must find an excuse not to go home.

They go on a run, then go back to Finn's mum's house to play some mario kart. The lady feeds Rey as much as she can, and when time comes to go home, Rey makes her way slowly towards the scarp yard.

"' I'm just going to meet Finn for a quick coffee,'" nags Unkar when she enters their shack-like house. "Took you long enough. What were you doing? Taking charity?"

"His mum invited me for tea."

"It's called dinner, you Brit." He farts, then carries on talking to cover up. "Anyway tomorrow you're not going anywhere, I need your help with the finances. And you can help Jora with the van."

"Jora?" Rey pauses as she was about to walk past him.

"Yeah."

"Why him?"

Jora was one of Unkar's boys. In the past, Rey had got into a couple of fights with him over his attitude towards her. It had gone from bullying her as a child to groping her as a young woman.

"Don't worry, I told him. He knows you're my best girl, and no one touches my best girl."

He's meant for this to be reassuring, but Rey barely holds back a look of disgust. She locks herself into her room.

The next day, Jora is as insufferable as ever. He leers at her, asks her private questions, winds her up as much as humanly possible.

"So I heard you spend a lot of time with the black boy, little Rey?"

"His name is Finn."

"Is he your boyfriend?"

She ignores him.

"Little Rey!" He whistles. "Not so little anymore! So I take it you like big black dicks, then?"

He's being crude and offensive because he knows that's exactly the opposite of what she's like. Rey focuses on the battery she's trying to fit into the van they're fixing. Too tight, she might have to sacrifice the radio.

"I'm not criticising, it's just an observation. Nothing wrong with a bit of dick. I've always thought you could do with a good f-"

"'Nothing wrong with a bit of dick', is that the working title of your autobiography?" Rey snaps.

"Watch your mouth!"

Rey smiles. Jora is so predictable, all you need to do to wind him up is make any kind of allusion to him being gay. If only she could get him to snap! Unkar said he'd fire Jora if he hurt her.

"Or what?"

Jora knows she's trying to provoke him. He does know. He's just not that smart.

"You play all hard to get," he starts, walking towards her. "You think you're so much better than us."

"I am better."

Rey turns away from him and goes to check the notebook, to see what else there was to do on the van. She knows she shouldn't turn her back on Jora. She also knows she's now visible from Unkar's office window. He'll be at his desk, he'll see the rest, whatever happens next. Jora follows her and comes up right behind her, pressing against her back, trapping her against the table.

"When you're tired of your boyfriend," he says in her ear, "come find a real man."

Rey reaches behind her and grabs his groin, squeezing as hard as she can.

"If I see one I'll let you know!"

She lets go, and Jora stumbles backwards, holding on to his groin.

"You... You little...!" He makes to slap her and she dodges, punching him in the nose. He gets up and starts moving towards her, and Unkar finally emerges from his office.

"That's enough!"

"He touched me!" Rey accuses, pointing a triumphant finger at Jora. "You saw him, didn't you?"

"I saw you hit him," says Unkar. "He was only teasing you, grow up, sweetheart."

"But...!"

"You started this, Rey. Grow up!"

"You said...!"

"So what, if he touched you? What are you gonna do about it? You're free to go, missy, I ain't holding you back! You got anywhere to go? You got anyone who'd want to take you in? Even your parents didn't want you, I'm here, I'm letting you stay with me, I feed you, I offer you work and shelter, and you just go around hitting my employees? Is that how you repay me?"

Rey doesn't say anything, half scared she might cry of rage.

Jora stalks away, rubbing his cheek, a malicious glint in his eye. Rey kicks the desk in frustration.

The following morning, Rey gets up before dawn and starts making her way to Alderaan House. She's still fuming. The walk takes the anger out of her.

Unfortunately, the cool air of dawn does nothing for her feelings of desperation, and when Rey reaches Alderaan grounds she mostly feels sadness.

It's still quite dark, everyone will still be askeep, and Rey heads to the greenhouse first. She waters the tomato plants there, checks on the basil. She wonders how the first night went for the reunited Solo-Organa family. A part of her mind whispers that maybe Ben has murdered his parents, and maybe she'll find the bodies, this afternoon, when she finally enters the house to look for them, and suddenly the door will shut behind her and Ben Solo will be-

"You are extremely early. It's not even dawn yet."

Rey jumps so hard she knocks a watering can over. She turns to face Ben Solo, a hand over her beating heart.

He's standing there just outside the greenhouse, tall, dark, sinister. He's staring at her. Does he ever blink?

"It is dawn." She argues, as if dawn would be a suitable time to come to work anyway. "You're up early."

"We got up early in the army."

Rey nods. He's still blocking her exit, and she starts getting a bit nervous - her previous thoughts of murder and bloodied corpses laying on the floor of Alderaan House still fresh in her mind. Maybe she ought to address the elephant in the room.

"Look, I'm sorry about your... Face. I didn't think it would leave a scar. I just... Thought I better fight back."

He frowns.

"I wasn't about to hurt you."

"Yeah, well, could have fooled me!" She forces a smile. "The bottle was too much, though. I went too far. I'm sorry."

He says nothing, looking somewhat confused, so she picks up the empty watering can and makes her way outside. She doesn't know much about gardening, but she's learning, and she's learnt that it's better for greenhouse plants if the water you use on them is the same temperature as their surroundings. When she walks past him, she notices that the top of her head comes under his chin, and Rey isn't short. She starts walking towards the back of the house, where the outdoor tap is, hearing him following close behind.

"Why do you come so early?" He asks.

"I just like the fresh air."

"Did something happen this weekend?"

She nearly trips, and glances over her shoulder at him. His eyes are on her, knowing. Does he read her mind? Is she this obvious?

"It's fine." She stammers.

It's not a no, and he picks up on it.

"Is it Unkar Plutt? Has he done something to you?"

"No! I wouldn't let him, anyway! Unkar's a dick but he's fine."

"One of his employees, then?"

"Just let it go. I like the fresh air."

"You look tired."

"Yes well you're not too hot yourself!" She snaps, picking up her pace.

She reaches the tap and angrily starts filling the watering can. Once it is full, she stands and starts walking back.

"Let me get that." He reaches for the can. She yanks it back.

"I got it."

Rey knows she is walking a bit too aggressively, and water keeps tipping out of the can. One little look at him tells her he is frowning, eyes cast down. She feels a bit guilty for snapping at him. Not to mention, she did break a bottle over his face. Stopping, she turns to face him, meeting his eyes.

"Look," she sighs, "I'm fine. It's just not a nice place, and the guys are dickheads, so yeah, I like to get away. But it's not that bad, and it's nothing I can't handle. Alright?" She tries to give him a cheerful smile. "Enough about this. What's it like being home?"

"Why aren't you moving here?"

Her smile falls.

"Pardon?"

"You're old enough to leave that place. You spend your days here. My parents are offering you the cottage. Why aren't you moving here?"

Damn. She doesn't want to answer that question. What would he say if she told him that she remembers her parents' car driving away, leaving her at the gas station just outside of town? That they'd said to stay there, they'd be back? If they came back looking for her, they'd start searching at the children's services, would they be able to be able to trace her if she moved from her foster home? She doesn't want to say all that aloud, because it's private, it's painful, and it's ridiculous.

"I don't want charity."

"They'd deduce the rent from your salary, if that was true."

"What do you mean, 'if'?"

"Are you scared to tell him?"

"Who?"

"Unkar Plutt. Are you scared to tell him you're moving out?"

Rey is stunned into silence. Yes, there is that, as well. Damn. This is the most she's spoken to Ben Solo since forever, and he's reading her like an open book.

"That's what it is, isn't it?" He insists, searching her eyes. His now have a wild light to them. "You're too scared to tell him."

"...maybe."

Rey sets off again, unable to hold his burning gaze any longer. Why can't he just leave it alone?

"I could come with you." He calls after her. "To tell him, and get your stuff."

Why would he do that? She nearly asks him, but she's not sure she wants to know why. She is hit with a brief memory of being at the cafeteria at school, feeling a shudder along her neck and looking round to see him staring at her from across the room. No, she'd rather not know why he's helping her. Besides, he's giving her an opportunity to leave...does she really want to be questioning it? The image of a nervous Unkar Plutt cowering in the corner as Ben Solo gives him a death stare is undeniably a happy one. She is tempted, and he can sense it.

"I could even go for you, today. You'd never have to set foot in that place again."

Temptation takes over pride. Rey puts the watering can down in the greenhouse, ready for the next day. Outside, the birds have started chirping, and the sky is turning a gold pink. She watches it a moment, caught up in its beauty. When she turns to him, Ben Solo is watching her. She winks at him.

"Are you sure this isn't a scheme to get me to move here so you can murder me and bury me in the wall?"

He blinks.

"What?"

"Never mind." Her smile falters a bit, she looks at her shoes. "You..you'd be able to do it today?"

"Anytime."

"And your parents would deduce the rent from my pay?"

"If that's what you want."

"...ok. But I'll come with you. This afternoon. The guys will be out, he'll be alone. Are you sure you don't mind? Are you sure your parents want me to move here?"

"Think they'd rather have you than me," he says bitterly. "I'm sure. This afternoon it is."

He stalks away, not giving her the chance to change her mind; his tall, dark figure like something out of a gothic novel.

And so, later that day, Rey stands nervously at the front door of Alderaan House - she's not done any work, too engrossed in her own mixture of exhilaration and downright panic. Ben and Han Solo emerge from inside, followed by Chewbacca, and Han Solo gestures for Rey to get in the Falcon. Rey lets out an incredulous laugh.

"All three of you? He's not that mean and scary, you know."

"We're here for this one, mean and scary." Mr Solo says, pointing at his son. "Don't want things to escalate."

"Not that Han knows how not to escalate things," Leia cuts in, walking out onto the front porch. "You'll have dinner with us tonight." She tells Rey.

On the way to Jakku, Rey feels her heart constrict with fear. Chewbacca is sitting in the back with her and he gives her a little nudge and a smile. Then he says something in Norwegian.

"He says 'don't worry, kid'," translates Han Solo. "And he's right, you shouldn't worry. This will be over quickly."

Rey has to admit, the look on Unkar Plutt's face when she arrives surrounded by three men, including the giant Chewbacca and local terror Ben Solo, is well worth the anxiety she's felt all day at the idea of facing him. It's also worth asking Ben Solo for help, and appearing weak in front of Mr Solo.

Han Solo does most of the talking, and whenever Unkar looks like he's about to try and speak to Rey directly Chewbacca happens to stand between them, looking very much like a bouncer. A great, big, mean, hairy, muscly, Viking bouncer.

Ben follows Rey to her bedroom, to her great embarrassment, and watches her pack her things.

There isn't much - two pairs of trousers, a pair of shorts, six tops, two sweaters, sandals, her trainers, her toothbrush, hairbrush, underwear, all easily stuffed into a torn backpack she's had since middle school. She grabs her denim jacket, then reaches under the bed to pull out her baseball bat, which Ben eyes with curiosity.

"Could you take these?" She asks Ben, handing him her box of National Geographic magazines.

They walk out, and, when her things are in the boot and she is about to go, Unkar suddenly grows a pair.

"Rey, wait, sweetheart, what are you doing?"

Rey ignores him and goes to pick up her potted plant from the kitchen, heading back to the car straight afterwards.

"Rey. Rey!" He follows after her. "You better get back here, girl! You ungrateful-"

Unkar reaches for her arm, when he is seized by the throat and pushed, or rather, thrown, roughly to his arse. Blinking, Unkar holds onto his bruised throat, looking up in fear at Ben Solo.

"I'm moving out," says Rey, her voice shaky. Mr Solo and Chewbacca look ready to jump in any second to restrain Ben. "I work somewhere else now and they need me to stay there."

"What are your parents going to think if they come find you here, and you've gone? Huh? I certainly won't be telling them where you went."

Rey stills, a hand on the door of the car.

"We'll be fine without your help," says Mr Solo. "Come on, Rey. Dinner will be ready."

Rey gets into the car, and, as it drives away, she turns to look out the back to Unkar Plutt, and the scrap yard, her childhood, her loneliness, until it all disappears from view and the only thing left to do is to look forward.

She sees Ben Solo, in the passenger seat, flexing his hand.

She takes a deep breath.

She's free.