CHAPTER 9: THE TALK
The next few months went well for Rey and Ben. They dated happily and spent most nights together. After about 4 months, they decided it was silly to be living in two different places. Rey subletted her place and moved in with Ben.
"Ya know, the reason this place was so intriguing to me when we initially house hunted was the space it had for when you moved in here," he told her.
"No way, Ben," Rey said. "You couldn't have known then."
"I've known since the moment you dumped drinks on me in the bar. The second I saw you I knew," he told her. She responded to that with a passionate kiss. "The things you do to me," he told her, smiling at her.
"Ben," she said, her tone changing. "I...I want to talk to you."
"Oh no," Ben said, his expression dropping. "I scared you, didn't I. Ignore what I said," he replied, a look of pleading in his eyes.
"No, no, no, it's nothing like that. I.. I just feel like I want to know more about your past," she said. "We never talk about your dad or your time on the West Coast."
This was the conversation he was dreading. He knew it would come eventually. "Rey, that's the past. I've let it die, and you should to," he said, sounding colder than he intended.
"But Ben, there is so much about you that I don't know. I want to know everything. I want to know you intimately."
"We've been intimate," he said trying to steer the conversation off course.
"Ben," Rey said sternly.
"Ok," he sighed a big sigh and began talking, "When I graduated law school, I got an incredible offer from this huge law firm, The First Order, located in California. It was a TON of money. My mom and my dad begged me not to go. They knew it wasn't right for me. But, my Uncle Luke convinced me it was a good idea. He told me to leave the past behind me and move on. I started calling myself Kylo Ren, that way, no one could tie me back to my parents. I spent a few years there and I was moving my way up the company. My partner, Hux, and I were the go to lawyers at the firm. Hux was perfect for the job, he was cold hearted and took no prisoners. I tried to pretend I was too. I wasn't. I couldn't bring myself to defend these scum bags anymore.
A case came across my desk one day. I was supposed to defend this guy Snoke. He was a child rapist. He wanted to pay to me lie and falsify evidence so he could go free. I was absolutely disgusted. I went to confront him after hours. I told him exactly what I thought about him. He came at me with a knife. He got me pretty good," said Ben, gesturing to his scar, "I had a ton of stitches. While I was recovering from my stabbing, I got the news that my dad had passed. It was all too much. I packed a few of my important things, gave my resignation, and returned home a few weeks later. My mom, she's all I've got left. She doesn't talk to my Unlce Luke anymore and my dad is gone. My mom still has his pup, Chewie though," Ben finished.
"Wow," I replied. I planted a kiss on the top of Ben's forehead. "Thank you," I whispered in his ear.
"Your turn," he said to me. "I don't know ANYTHING about your family. You've never even mentioned them," he said to me.
"Yeah, well they aren't worth mentioning," Rey answered, unapologetically.
"Rey, I opened up to you, do you trust me?" Ben asked, the world sitting in his beautiful eyes.
"Of course I do," she replied. "It's just, I don't have anything to tell you. My parents abandoned my at a Fire Station when I was just under a year old. I don't remember them at all. They left me like garbage. I bounced around between foster homes when I was young and lived wherever I could until I was 18. I applied to college and lived away at college for a few years and now I'm here. No parents. No exciting story. I come from nothing," she said, diverting her gaze, a look of shame in her eyes.
He took her hands and tilted her chin up so her eyes were forced to meet hers. "You come from nothing, but you aren't nothing. Not to me," he said to her and kissed her passionately. "You are the strongest, most beautiful and amazing woman I have EVER known. I don't care what your parentage is, you are Rey and you are mine," he told her through gritted teeth. He was shaking, all his emotions staring at her through his dark eyes. She melted into him, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. They stayed like that for hours, holding one another and falling deeper and deeper in love by the moment.
