Chapter 11: Poe Needs to Chill
The first time the doorbell rang, Rey simply ignored it and drew herself closer to Ben, curling up against his chest. However, the doorbell continued to buzz repetitively, prompting Rey to roll away and throw off the covers on her side.
"Who the hell does that on a Sunday morning?" Rey griped as she rubbed her eyes blearily and left the bedroom to answer the front door.
As she adjusted her tank top, she peered through the window. She saw Poe waiting outside the door, fidgeting impatiently. That struck her as odd, as he usually called her or Rose in advance to signal his arrival.
Opening the door, she began to greet her brother, "Good morning Poe, why—"
"Where's Ben Solo?" Poe interrupted firmly.
"What? I—You seriously came here at this hour and went crazy with the doorbell just to ask that?" Rey replied, flustered and annoyed at the sudden question. Poe ignored her and pushed his way into the apartment, looking around the kitchen and den, which were both empty.
He then walked over to Rey's room, prompting her to protest, "Hey! Stay out of my room! I didn't say you could go in there!"
Since Rey's door was still open, Poe immediately saw Ben, who just rolled out of bed and wore nothing but black boxers with pattern of red lightsabers.
"How long were you going to keep taking advantage of my sister?" Poe asked angrily, staring at the other man as if to challenge him to respond.
Ben raised his eyebrows at Poe's reaction and answered drily, "Wasn't aware you were Rey's gatekeeper..."
"Get out of this room now, you son of a bitch!" Poe demanded. He walked towards Ben and shoved him roughly.
Being taller, Ben barely budged and shoved Poe back, "Let me put my clothes back on first." Poe grabbed Ben's clothes and threw them out of the room. As Rey scrambled to catch the clothes, she spotted Poe yanking at Ben's arm aggressively.
"Stop it, Poe! Calm down and take a seat first!" Rey exclaimed just before Ben brought his free hand down forcefully on Poe's wrist, causing him to release his grip on Ben's arm. Poe swore as he shook his wrist and threw a retaliatory punch at Ben's shoulder.
As the fighting threatened to escalate further, Rey quickly jumped into the action and began trying to separate the two men from each other. While this took place, Rose and Finn barged into the apartment and quickly joined Rey in forcing Ben and Poe into separate seats.
"Well, talk about timing," Rey remarked as she settled on the couch near Ben.
Taking the cue, Rose explained, "Poe called us from Ben's apartment when he was dropping off some textbooks. He said Ben's roommate told him about Ben being here and being Rey's boyfriend. We left as soon as Poe told us he was coming here."
"Hux told you?" Ben asked Poe, immediately wondering if Hux did it out of spite because of the parking issue the previous night.
"Isn't that Rose just said?" Poe snapped.
"Okay, let's back up some more here. How did you two meet in the first place?" Finn asked Rey and Ben.
"Fucking Tinder!" Poe informed his brother, raising his voice, "Dammit, Ben. I was at your place when you got back from one of these dates over a month ago. I've heard you talking about dates and a girlfriend since. You've been with my sister behind my back all this time?"
Before anyone in the living room could speak or reply to Poe, Paige exited Rose's room and complained, "Ugh, can you all be quieter or take it outside? I have a raging headache..."
"Paige, did you know about this?" Poe asked as he watched her walking towards the bathroom. Rose got up quickly to get Paige a glass of water.
"About what?" Paige answered as she settled on a kitchen table chair with a bottle of tylenol and accepted the water, "Thanks, sissy."
"Rey's boyfriend," Poe said simply.
"Ben? Only because he's been around here. He drove us home last night," Paige commented calmly, having taken her water and medicine.
"Rose, has Ben been here before?" Finn asked his girlfriend.
Rey groaned in exasperation and spoke up, "Yes, Rose and Paige already knew about Ben and saw him here. I met Ben on Tinder. I checked in with Rose before I went on any date, just in case. I promised her I'd tell you guys if things got serious. We had a big argument about two weeks after the first date. So I wanted to wait a little longer and see how things went with Ben after that. And honestly, Poe, the way you've been acting this morning only justifies my waiting to tell you."
Poe crossed his arms and scowled at Rey's confession, mulling over her words. The room remained silent for a few minutes, with everyone fidgeting in some way. Paige's snoring broke the silence.
"Glad to see Paige is doing okay this morning... She drank way too much last night. Ben, thank you for driving her and Rey back from the party," Rose said, glancing over at her sister snoozing at the table.
"No problem," Ben responded.
"Thank you for bringing them here in one piece, Ben," Finn added, Rose to smack him lightly on the arm in response.
Poe sighed, finally speaking up again, "Rey, when you were at that charity party, you were there with Ben? I knew there was no way you arrived with that guy you pointed out to me..."
Rey nodded, "Yes..."
"And when I ran into you at Supremacy Hall?" Poe asked further.
"Poe, I'm twenty years old. I don't need to report everything I do alone or with others to you," Rey snapped.
"Can you at least let me know if you and Ben end up getting married? Or will that be a secret too?" Poe retorted.
Unexpectedly, Finn raised his voice at his brother, "Poe, stop! While I think she should have told us sooner, Rey's right. She's an adult, and she doesn't need to be supervised like she's two."
"So you're completely fine with the fact that Rey's with some jackass that can't be trusted to not hurt her when he destroys lab equipment all the time and got kicked out of his last program for being crazy?" Poe responded.
"That's not what I—," Finn answered before Ben interrupted.
"Poe, I won't deny breaking lab equipment, but what happened in my last program is extremely personal and none of your fucking business. That was also more than seven years ago. I didn't hide any of this from Rey, if that's your concern."
Poe huffed at Ben's response as he got up from his seat, "I'm going home and taking BB-Ate for a walk."
Poe then proceeded to walk out of the apartment, slamming the door and causing Paige to wake up once again. After listening to Paige grumble about noise again and move back into Rose's room, Finn spoke directly to Ben, "I guess you're not that bad if Rey can put up with you... Please tell me you're getting some help for your issues."
"Finn!" Rey and Rose exclaimed together while Ben rolled his eyes and put his face in his hands.
"Okay, okay! Why don't we move on from this conversation... Um, has anyone had coffee yet this morning?" Finn offered, finally breaking some of the tension from the sudden turn of events.
...
Note: Next update will be in two weeks! Only three more chapters to go now. Thank you for all the favs and follows! Please feel free to let me know in the comments what you think of the chapter or if you have any feedback/questions! Have a great week, everyone!
