AN: Thank you guys soooo much for the comments. Seriously, every one of them just makes my day. Also, happy Mother's Day, everyone! (And happy Mother's Day to Leia, who we all know deserved better)

Chapter 11

"You sure you're ready for this, buddy?"

"Yeah, yeah, absolutely! I am so ready."

Finn almost believed his own words at the time, but now he was severely regretting them. The moment the small plane started moving down the runway, even before it had taken off, he could feel his stomach tying up in knots.

Oh God. Oh God, oh no, I should not have done this, I-

He let out a terrified shriek as the plane shot up into the sky at a nearly vertical angle. Poe, meanwhile, seemed to be having the time of his life, laughing with exhilaration as he maneuvered through the air as easily as a fish through water. Glancing over towards Finn, who was shaking and sweating after they did a flip, Poe reached over to pat him on the shoulder reassuringly.

"It's okay man, relax. It's just like a rollercoaster-wait, don't tell me you've never been on a rollercoaster before either?"

"Yes, I've been on a rollercoaster," Finn snapped, then looked away sheepishly. "I mean, it was a kiddie one, when I was about ten, but still..."

Poe snickered. "Alright, alright, I'll try to fly more like a granny then, just for you."

Finn's hands gradually stopped trembling as the plane settled into more of a slow, flat course. As he relaxed, he was finally able to take a moment and look out the window to the view down below. The sheer distance to the ground was nerve wracking, but at least the miles and miles of snow-covered evergreens were something calming to look at.

"This is nice," he finally admitted to Poe. "At least, when I don't feel like I'm going to die."

The pilot beamed. "Think I can kick it up a notch yet?"

Finn hesitated, biting his lip. "Maybe a little...No flips though! Or diving straight towards the ground like you're trying to crash..."

"Oh, alright. We'll just go sideways then."
"Wait, what?!"

"No. Sorry. You can't stay here."

Luke always looked bored and exhausted with life in general these days, but he had never appeared so apathetic as now, when his nephew had begrudgingly come to his door to ask for help. After Kylo had wasted the time and the gas money to drive out to this shady cabin in the middle of the woods, practically begging for a place to stay, that was all Luke could say to him? Staring blankly at his uncle, Kylo couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Seriously? I know this is a small place, but surely you have a couch or something..."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Luke shrugged. "Either way, you're not staying here."

"But why?!"

"Because I don't want you to," said the older man simply, crossing his arms over his beige night robe.

Scoffing indignantly, Kylo turned away in disgust. "Great. Just fucking great. You were my last resort."

Luke let out a hollow laugh. "Oh, thanks. That really makes me want to help you."

"Whatever," Kylo muttered, already storming off when his uncle called after him.

"Go home, Ben."

Whipping around furiously, Kylo's eyes narrowed, challenging Luke to call him by that name again. "What did you say to me?"

"Go. Home. Ben," Luke repeated with a dull sigh. "They miss you."

Kylo snorted and started to trudge off again, boots crunching in the snow and leaves as he went. "No, they don't."

"Well, if I was your last resort..." continued the older man. "It doesn't seem like you have too many options, does it?"

Clenching his jaw, Kylo stood still, his back still turned on his uncle as he tried to think. Sleeping in his car, he soon found, was impossible. He couldn't afford a hotel. His office, if he could call it that, was a shared one, and it was probably against some sort of rule to sleep there. Then Rey outright refused to help him, telling him the same tired suggestion that Luke was giving him now.

But, as Luke had said, what choice did he have left?

It was over. Oh, sweet relief. Finn wanted to leap out of the plane and kiss the ground as soon as they landed, but he managed to contain his joy. As Poe helped him out of the aircraft, he awkwardly tried to think of something to say.

"Hey, uh...I just wanted to say thanks. That was actually kind of fun."

"Anytime," Poe nodded, flashing a smile before giving him a casual embrace. It was brief, but comforting. Once again, Finn felt different than he thought he should. It was a feeling he couldn't quite describe, or perhaps, was afraid to. No, it couldn't be that, it was probably just leftover adrenaline from flying, or maybe-

"Oh my God," he gasped as he suddenly realized something.

"What is it?"

Finn pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, shaking his head as if ashamed at himself. "I just realized Rey's birthday is coming up in a couple of days and I haven't gotten her anything! And I don't know what I would even get..."

"I'm sure it's fine. I mean, I don't usually get my friends anything on their birthdays except maybe a beer-"

"No, no, if I don't get her something, I don't know if she'll have anything," Finn said worriedly, then lowered his voice. "She doesn't have a family, Poe."

Poe's expression fell. "Oh. I knew her situation was...different, but I didn't know it was that bad. Wow." Poe rubbed the back of his neck, looking off pensively. "Well, maybe we can throw her a surprise party. At work. We'll get a cake, everyone will be there...it'll make her feel special. I promise."

Finn nodded, a smile starting to form, but then he thought of something else. "You think Leia would let us?"

"Oh yeah, she loves Rey," Poe said assuredly. "I'm surprised she hasn't adopted her yet, to be honest."

"Han, please. We both adore her, and it would just be until the spring semester. Just a month, really."

No matter how much Leia persisted, Han continued to shake his head, now waving his hand to emphasize his strong opposition to the idea. "Again,no. I really don't think that's a good idea. I mean, we both know from experience that parenting is not exactly our strong suit."

Scoffing, Leia continued to follow him as he made his way from the foyer into the bedroom. "Maybe you're a bad parent, but I'm not. And don't be so dramatic, it's not parenting! It's just temporarily taking in a poor girl who doesn't have a family to go to during Christmas."

"I didn't have a family either, I turned out fine," Han responded defensively. Leia clearly begged to differ.

"Well, too bad," she huffed, hands on her hips. "I already said she was welcome to stay here-"

Han almost choked. "You did what?!"

"-and guessing from how happy she was when I told her, she'll be here any day now."

Before Han could argue further, they were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

"That's not her, is it?" he hissed, panic evident in his expression. Leia just flashed a smug grin before going to answer the door, but her smile quickly disappeared when she saw it was not Rey standing on their doorstep.

Head lowered, with a suitcase at his side, Kylo gave her a dry greeting. "Hello, mother."

Walking up behind Leia to see what was going on, Han's jaw dropped. "Oh, for the love of..." His eyes shifted between his son and his wife, not knowing which one to address first. Questions started spilling out of him faster than he could think. "What the hell is going on? Why are you here all of a sudden? Leia, did you know about this? What's the suitcase for?"

Leia seemed to have lost her ability to speak. Kylo, meanwhile, brushed the snow off his coat and stepped inside the house, hardly caring if he was invited or not.

"I assume she didn't tell you about my visit a few weeks ago," he muttered, dragging the suitcase behind him into the foyer. "And I think it is clear what I'm here for. I need a place to stay."

Han threw his hands up with exasperation. "Of course you do. God knows you'd have to be desperate to-wait, what visit?" Han turned to Leia sharply, who shot him a look of warning.

"Han..."

"Since when, in the past-" he stopped, trying to count something on his fingers before quickly giving up. "-whatever amount of years, has he been visiting?"

"Just that one time, alright? I'll explain it later, so could you please, shut up for five seconds?" she snapped back at him, then turned towards Kylo, who had been watching their bickering with a bitter, humorless smile.

"Nothing has changed. What a surprise," he said emptily. "Home sweet home."

Saying nothing further, he started up the stairs with his suitcase, which was only the first of many bags he would be bringing in from his car. As he walked down the hall towards his old bedroom, he could hear his parents' arguing recommence downstairs. Ignoring them strangely came easier to him than before, even though he hadn't had to tune out their screaming in several years. Perhaps he simply cared less now.

Opening the door to the bedroom, he half expected it to be transformed into an exercise room or an office. But it wasn't. In fact, aside from the cleanliness that suggested someone had at least been dusting in there, it was practically untouched. Posters from embarrassing, out-of-style bands that he liked during high school still remained, clumsily taped to the blue walls. The single bed next to the window still had that tacky plaid comforter that Leia picked out for him ages ago. Her handiwork was also evident in the old clothes still hanging in his closet. As he pushed them to the back, a basketball jersey fell to the floor. He grimaced as he remembered being forced into the sport-apparently, just being tall was enough reason to think he'd be good at it. He wasn't.

Really, any sign of 'not fitting in' had been enough to make his mother consider calling a therapist. Han, of course, would have preferred sending him somewhere like boot camp. He almost did it too, after Kylo's first attempt at running away. Instead, Leia tried to force them all to go to family counseling. That, naturally, was a trainwreck. Leia couldn't stop questioning the therapist's methods, Han didn't take any of it seriously, and Kylo...well, he just refused to speak until everyone finally just gave up on him.

Just wait, all of that will come back. You thought it would go away when you graduated high school. You thought it would go away after your freshman year of college. But it never did. It doesn't matter how old you get, they will never, ever change.

He was shaken from his thoughts as Leia suddenly called up to him from downstairs.

"Ben!"

Coming to the balcony overlooking the foyer, Kylo looked down at her with a glare. "Don't call me that. It hasn't been my name for years, not even legally, so stop using it."

"In this house, it is your name," Leia retorted, her voice now fully reverting back to the old 'parent tone'. "Anyway, I just think you should know, we'll be having a guest here soon..."

Taken aback, he curled his lip with disappointment, imagining the 'guest' was going to be some third cousin he barely remembered, or a weird friend of his parents. "Might I ask, who?"

"Well, I don't know if this will be good or bad news to you," she hesitantly started to say, before deciding to just blurt it out. "It's Rey."