Breathe

Ben and Rey didn't take it beyond a few lingering kisses on her doorstep. He promised to call and she agreed with a smile.

Rey went to bed that night trying not to overthink what she had just gotten her self into. She tried not to think about how this could effect her career. She tried not to think about what her family would think of the relationship…what his family would think. She defiantly tried not to think about how she wished he would have followed her up to her apartment and she did not think about his large hands over her body.

She shook her head in an attempt to rid her mind of him. Instead she picked up the novel that she had been trying to get through over the past few weeks. Of course the boy meets girl plot did nothing to make her heart ache less.

The next morning Rey checked her phone perhaps ten times expecting at least a text form him, but nothing. Sighing, she put on some workout clothes and started her jog east past the Square.

"Hey Rey! Long time no see!"

Rey was breathing hard when she entered the building. "Jyn! Sorry I haven't been in all week…I've been distracted," she smiled at the word that had so offended Ben the night before.

"Oh! Did Brent pop the question?" The small woman with dark brown hair walked towards a white board and started to write the work out.

The smirk fell from Rey's face at the mention of her ex. She has brought him to the gym once and quickly found out that she could deadlift a lot more than he could. He had been upset with her for days for emasculating him, as if that was her intent.

After that she would intentionally run slower than him on their jogs or ask him to move a piece of furniture that she was perfectly capable of doing herself. In this moment she realized how much she had changed herself…lost herself while being with him.

Rey was once again thankful that she was helped out of that relationship. "Nope. I caught his assistant sexting with him and I called the whole thing off."

"Wow. What a douche!" Jyn said over her shoulder before calling the class to order.

Rey missed this. The rawness of her workouts. She never felt alone here, even though she was only competing against herself, she always had people cheering her on, pushing her to do her best. It was the closest she felt to home since leaving Florida.

At the end she was winded, sprawled out on the floor, sweating through her tank top and never felt better with a stupid grin on her face.

She left the gym and spent a few hours walking around an open air market. There were artist, musicians, and people from upstate selling produce and homemade wares. Rey bought an apple and a cut of cheese and sat in the Square watching people mill around.

There were tourists, young people from the university, and men and women from the business district in suits with sneakers. She watched couples laughing and holding hands and her skin heated at the memory of Ben.

For the first time in a while she felt content, not just because of the new excitement of what could come of her budding relationship with Ben, but with her life in general. In her relationship with Brent she had felt almost stifled. The same bar on Tuesday for drinks with his co-workers, the same restaurant on Friday, and take-out and Netflix on Saturdays.

Many times she felt that Brent was jealous of her career. Each time he would introduce her, his friends and colleagues would be impressed that she was an attorney. He would often down play it saying things like, She's only a divorce lawyer or She's still waiting to make partner. Rey would force a smile that never reached her eyes and return with a comment about the big client that Brent was able to bring into the firm.

Comparing Brent to Ben was not something she wanted to spend much time on but her mind couldn't help but wonder. She would never think less of someone because of their career choices or education and it would be easy to think of Ben as just a bartender, but he was so much more. He was an Ivy League grad, a Marine, a combat wounded veteran, a business owner, a Organa-Solo, and she laughed to herself at the final label…a prince.

But none of those titles mattered because of the way that she felt when she was with him. She had been more adventurous this past week than she had in years. There was a part of her that wanted to feel like this forever, whether it was with Ben or not, but she would find a way.

Sunday morning Rose showed up on her doorstep with laundry in hand. They took their normal ride down to the basement and started their weekend ritual.

"So…" Rose started, putting a load of her clothes in the machine.

Rey turned around and saw the knowing smirk on her friends face, "Don't look at me like that. You know what you did!"

Rose threw her hands up in the air, "Like I said before, it was a total coincidence running into Mr. Solo at that play."

"And the phone call?" Rey narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"Finn was having a closet emergency."

"I'm sure he was," Rey said skeptically rolling her eyes.

"Well I didn't hear from you all weekend so I figured it went fittingly. Perhaps even a repeat performance from last Saturday?" Rose raised her eyebrows with intrigue.

Rey's cheeks flared red, "Not that it's any of your business, but no, no repeat performance."

"Well that's no fun," Rose pouted. "Why the hell not?"

"Do you really need to ask that?"

Roes's facial expression seemed to say 'Well, yeah' as she shrugged her shoulders.

"There are so many reasons why! Like we both just got out of serious relationships, one of those we helped terminate! His family…my family," Rey was ticking off the reasons on her fingers before her arms and shoulders when limp with defeat.

"But…" Rose said fishing for more.

"But we've agreed to see where this thing goes." Rey looked up at her friend who was practically bouncing.

"I can't wait to tell Finn that Oppression Feather Ruffler was a success!"

Rey scoffed and rolled her eyes again.

Rose jumped off the dryer she had been sitting on top of and walked over to Rey, "Look, I know we meddled, but you were so miserable."

"Well I did just break up with my boyfriend. You ever think that maybe that was why?"

"No, it was more than that," Rose bit her lip and shook her head. "Ever since you met Mr. Solo…"

"I think he prefers Ben," Rey interjected. Each time Rose called him Mr. Solo she was reminded that he was the ex-husband of one of their clients.

"Okay," Rose drawled out. "Ever since you met Ben it has been different."

"He makes me feel different," Rey said softly, looking down at her folded hand in her lap. She was finally admitting it to herself, that perhaps this could be something real.

"Do you love him already?" Rose joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Rey blushed and kicked her foot out at Rose, "No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous."

They both started giggling as their wash finished.

Ben sat in his apartment with his phone in his hands, typing and then retyping out a text to Rey. Each time he deleted the words and then finally he gave up and threw his phone on the coffee table. He sat back on the couch and tried to distract himself with the Stanley Cup final hockey game on TV.

Finally Monday afternoon he picked his phone up again after checking the inventory for the bar.

Hi, he typed simply and hit send. It took a few minutes but he jumped when he heard his phone chime.

Hey.

He tapped his fingers across the screen of the phone, not hitting any keys, just thinking about what he should type but figured he would get straight to the point.

Do you have plans tonight?

None. What did you have in mind?

Ben thought about all the different dates he could take her on. The fancy restaurants that Jessa used to make reservations at, the cheesy rides through the Park, or the hip uptown bars. With each scenario his anxiety rose, his mind working too quickly, trying to calculate the pros and cons to each date option.

By the time he came out of his own mind he was squeezing his phone so tightly that he was surprised that he didn't break the glass. His heart was racing and a cold sweat broke out under his black tee-shirt.

A run.

He typed it out and hit send before he could change his mind. He needed to burn off his energy and wanted to see Rey, figuring he could do both. He was even more surprised when he read her reply.

Sure. Come around my place at 1730.

Having two hours to kill, Ben went to the market by his bar and picked up some essentials since it could get embarrassing if Rey came over and all he had was beer and mustard in his fridge. This is the first time in almost a year he was making decisions with someone else in mind. Only knowing Rey for a week spiked his anxiety again as he looked at orange juice, wondering if she like pulp or not.

Finally with only thirty minutes before he was to meet up with her, he finished putting away the last of the groceries. He laced up his running shoes and pulled his hair back with an elastic tie. He preferred his hair long so that it covered his ears that stick out too far from his head, but while he was running he always tied it back.

Outside of the bar he went through is stretches, mostly just to waste more time as it was only a ten minute run to Rey's building.

As he rounded the corner he saw her bent over stretching her hamstrings, her small shorts showed off the flexed muscles under creamy skin.

Hung upside down, the palms of her hands pressed to the sidewalk, Rey saw him jog up, "Nice Ranger panties."

Ben looked down at his green shorts that came to his mid thigh, "Ranger panties are black, and these are standard issue."

"Obviously," Rey quipped with a smirk and righted herself. "You gonna stand there all day or are you ready to do this?" She watched his eyes roam over her body before snapping back up to her face.

"You up for this?" He inclined his head towards the north.

"Are you?" With that Rey started off at a steady pace.

Ben quickly caught up and Rey almost cursed at having to take two steps for each of his. She focused on his breathing and tried to match the slow in and out. "How far are we going?"

"I usually do three miles but I need to make a stop on the other side of the Square so it might be a little further." He looked over at her to gauge her reaction, hoping that he wasn't pushing her too much. "Is that okay?" He finally asked.

"You think you were the only kid who had to do PT?"

He smirked and shook his head, still in disbelief how much Rey understood about his life.

They ran down 8th and then south on Broadway and stopped outside of a building that Rey was very familiar with. "What are we doing here?" She questioned.

"I just have to run in and see someone," his breathing was more labored now and he ducked into the building before she could reply.

Rey stood out on the sidewalk for just a moment before following him in. The smell of chalk and sweat hit her and she looked around the gym she had just been in two days earlier. She saw Ben and Jyn talking across the open space. Before she could speak up Ben turned and walked to into a back hallway.

"Rey?" Jyn called out as she saw her friend standing by the door. "We don't have a six o'clock today."

"Oh," Rey stammered. "I'm not here for class…I'm actually here with Ben."

"Ben?"

Rey pointed to the back of the building, "Yeah the guy that just…"

"You mean Kylo."

"Yeah, Kylo." Wanting to roll her eyes, Rey didn't know how Ben kept up with being known by two name. "How do you know each other?"

"He used to come in more often when he first moved to the city, now he just drops in from time to time. But I fill in at the bar when he needs nights off." Jyn started to wipe down the white board with that day's workout. "How do you know him?" She looked over her shoulder at Rey.

"We're kinda seeing each other…" she didn't know how to describe what they were doing but this seemed the most simple way.

Jyn stopped what she was doing and took a few steps towards Rey, lowering her voice almost to a hiss, "He's married."

"Divorced," Rey was again reminded of her part in all of this. "As of last week."

"Oh," Jyn looked down. "I knew he was living at the bar but he didn't tell me it was official." She reached out and grabbed Rey around the wrist. "Be careful with him."

Rey's brows scrunched together, "What do you mean?"

"He has his issues…"

"Don't we all?" Rey wanted to snatch her arm away. Deep down she knew that Jyn was trying to protect either her or Ben from getting hurt, but it wasn't Jyn's place to do so or to disclose any of Ben's history.

"True," Jyn looked embarrassed. "He's one of the good ones but I hope you know what you are getting yourself in to."

Ben walked out with two bottles of water in his hands, "You ready to go?"

Rey smiled up at him but it didn't quite meet her eyes, "Just waiting on you."

He handed her a bottle of water once they were back out on the sidewalk, "So you met Jyn."

"I actually know her." When he looked at her confused, Rey continued. "I've been working out here for two years now."

Ben smiled, shook his head and laughed, "It's amazing that we never ran into each other before last week."

"It's a miracle for sure," Rey exclaimed as she finished her bottle of water.

"How so?"

"Do you think we would have ended up anywhere but here," she motioned between the two of them with her hand, "even if we met years ago."

He rubbed at the back his neck thinking how much worse it could have been if they started an affair back then because he already knew that if he would have met her before he decided to leave Jessa, he wouldn't have been able to stay away from Rey.

"No," he started. "I think it would have started off innocent enough, maybe just partnering up at the gym or going out for drinks as a group, but you are right. We would always end up here."

Rey stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and Ben noticed after a few paces, turning and walked back to her, "Are you alright?" He reached out his hands and placed them on her shoulders thinking something was wrong.

"I'm perfect," she fisted his sweat covered shirt and pulled him down to her lips, kissing him for just a moment before starting back on her run, leaving him in a stupor for a beat before he took off after her.

"You play dirty Kenobi," he called out after her.

He again caught up to her with ease and they finished his normal circuit with just an extra half a mile for his pit stop. At her doorstep he offered another quick kiss before he jogged off back towards his apartment.

Rey was enjoying these little encounters. They may have started their relationship by jumping into bed with each other, but now they were doing it right.

They texted throughout the week, just little comments and jokes. Rose and Finn would exchange knowing looks when Rey would be captivated by her phone with a smile plastered on her face.

The week was nearing it's end and she had not seen him since Monday. She understood their schedules didn't really make for a lot of time together, she worked days and he worked nights, but she always received a Good night text from him around ten o'clock.

It was Thursday night and she was itching for more than just a text from him, so she threw on a pair of jeans and a comfortable tee before heading out to the street. The few blocks walk did her well and she tired to think of an excuse for turning up at his bar.

When she was finally outside with the Den of Ren sign hanging overhead, she smirked, realizing that she didn't need an excuse for wanting to see Ben, and she doubted he would mind.

The bar had a different atmosphere than when she was here on a Saturday. Most of the crowd was from the university and the music was more indie with a live band playing. She made her way to the bar and easily found a seat.

The other bartender, Mitaka was the only one manning the bar and Rey frowned since in his earlier text Ben said that he was working tonight. Thoughts started to run through her mind, unkind thoughts of Ben lying to her and really being out with another woman. She started to feel foolish for coming to bar at all without letting him know first.

Mitaka approached her and set a red cocktail napkin on the bar top, "What can I get you?"

Rey needed to get out of her head and the band was kind of good, so she decided to stay for a drink. "Amaretto and cream, please."

"Why don't you just make it an Orgasm?" Came a slurred voice next to her.

"Excuse me?" Rey asked with annoyance looking at the clearly drunk college kid taking up the bar stool next to her.

"Your drink…add a little more alcohol and you got yourself an Orgasm."

"If this is your idea of a pick up line, I can tell you with certainty that you are barking up the wrong tree." Rey toyed with the black straw that was sticking out of the tumbler that the bartender had set in front of her.

College kid got a cocky smirk on his face, always enjoying the ones with a little bit of spunk. "And why's that?" He leaned on the bar and shifted slightly into her space.

"Because she's mine," Ben's voice was strained between gritted teeth.

AN: Work, depression, and compassion fatigue are not friends of a writer. Sorry for the longer wait, I've only wanted to sleep this past week. I hope to get the next chapter out soon since it is already written in my head.

Thank you for the ongoing support and love. It means so much to me.

Chapter Title Song: Astrid S - Breathe