Author's Note: Hey guys, here's Chapter 14! I'm going to be pretty busy over the next two weeks, then I start college, so I'm sorry if updates are slow from here on. But anyway, enjoy this chapter! There's some gross medical stuff, not too bad but just to warn you guys.
Finn dropped one of Ben's boxes on the bed that was made up for him, and Ben dropped the last one next to it. "Alright, so here's the deal," Finn said, crossing his arms. Ben glanced at him, sitting on the corner of the bed, and coughing a bit. "First off, This is only temporary, so you're gonna have to be looking for a more permanent place to live. Second, make sure you father your own kids. Don't make Rey do everything for you, you're in charge of feeding them and all that. Obviously, we'll help out if you're out or something, but even that's gotta have a limit, please don't leave us to deal with your responsibilities unless you're going out to look for jobs or-"
"I can't get a job, actually, I'm technically on disability 'cause I can't 'control myself around people'…" Ben spoke up.
Finn glared at him. "Shame," he mumbled. Ben raised an eyebrow and smirked a little. "You're going to have to control yourself around my family, got it? Or you can't stay here."
"You really hate me, don't you?" Ben chuckled.
"Third thing to remember, don't you dare smoke in my house. Not cigarettes, not weed, nothing," Finn continued. "Get at least fifty feet away from the house outside if you really have to."
"I can't even count to fifty, bud, but I'll do my best," Ben chuckled.
"Do you understand those rules?" Finn asked.
"Sure."
"You gonna follow them?"
"I'll try," Ben teased. Finn glared at him, and he laughed a bit, then coughed. Finn just kept glaring so he pouted and glared right back. "You're not any fun at all, you know that, Finn?"
"You're a child. And a bratty one at that," Finn shot back, going to the door. "Oh, and you'll be doing chores while you're here. I work during the day, and Rey stays home with Mikey. We share the house work, but there's still plenty for you to do, so don't think you're just going to be sitting up here on your ass all day."
"At least I don't act like I have a stick up my ass all the time," Ben mumbled, loud enough for Finn to hear him.
"At least I'm not a pain in the ass like you," he retorted.
"You gotta nice ass…" Ben told him. Finn opened his mouth, turning red and closing it, frowning. "Just sayin'!" He started coughing again.
"Cover your mouth, there are three kids in the house, we don't need them getting sick," Finn scolded him.
"Relax, it's probably just a cold, I used to get em all the time," he wheezed, coughing again.
"Cover your mouth," Finn said again sternly.
"Uh oh, is Benny sick?" Rey questioned, walking over to the room, holding Christina and Noah.
"I'm good," Ben sighed. Rey went in and handed Noah and Christina to him.
"Alright, well, I just put Mikey down for a nap, so if you want, I can set up the pack and play in here for them," she told him, walking back towards the door.
"I have one, I'll get it out, no worries," he said. "Thanks for letting me stay with you guys, I really appreciate it." She smiled and nodded. She took Finn's hand and brought him downstairs.
"Thank you, Finn, for doing this. I know it makes you uncomfortable to have him here…" Rey said quietly.
Finn sighed. "I know how much you care about him, I wouldn't want you to be worried," he pointed out kissing her head. They walked to the kitchen and Rey started looking through the cupboards to see what she could make for dinner. "Hun, I can get dinner ready tonight, if you want, it's my turn."
"No, you helped Ben move in, I'll cook," she said. She looked in the cupboards again, then the refrigerator. "Um, we can have pizza, or I could make macaroni and cheese… I have to go to the store tomorrow, I ran out of healthy options this morning."
Finn chuckled. "Anything sounds good, honestly, I haven't eaten since breakfast," he said.
She turned and looked at him. "Why didn't you eat lunch?" she asked worriedly, walking over and hugging him.
"Had to work through lunch, some guy came in with a bullet wound to the chest and we had to revive him," Finn explained.
"Oh, baby, that's scary," Rey said. "Are you okay?"
Finn smiled a bit and kissed her. "Yeah. We had to do emergency surgery but we got him stable and he'll be okay," he explained. '"I was one of the only EMTs available, my boss said if I hadn't been there, we could have lost the patient."
"You're a hero, Finn," she told him with a slight smile. He blushed a little.
"I-I guess…" he mumbled.
"You are. So I'll make whatever my hero would like for dinner," she chuckled. "And I'll make dessert too, because you're such a good husband and daddy." He laughed a bit and kissed her again. "And besides, it's Valentine's Day~"
Finn's face paled. "O-Oh my god, Rey, I forgot," he breathed.
She just laughed. "So did I, sweetie, it's alright. As long as we're here together, that's all I need," she told him. He sighed a bit and kissed her. "Now what am I making for dinner, baby, I should start making it now."
"How about both pizza, and mac & cheese?" he suggested. Rey chuckled and hugged him.
"Sure thing," she told him. When she didn't let go, he smiled warmly, walking backwards and sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs, pulling her down with him. She giggled and kissed him, holding herself on the back of the chair. "I love you…"
"I love you too," he breathed against her lips. "I'm the luckiest man on Earth."
"Yeah? Why's that?" she questioned, climbing to sit in the chair with him, cuddling up in his lap and wrapping her arms around him.
He held onto her and kissed her jawline gently. "Because I'm married to the most beautiful, sexy woman in the whole universe. And we have an incredible little son together, and our family is just perfect, and I'm happy," he explained. Rey kissed him deeply. He hummed and kissed her back. They both turned their heads as they heard the sound of little footsteps on the tiled kitchen floor. "Holy shit-" Rey elbowed him gently and laughed. Mikey grabbed at his Dad's legs and climbed onto his lap with his Mom.
"Mikey, you're supposed to be taking a nap," she gasped. "Did you climb out of your crib?"
"Did he climb down the stairs?" Finn questioned worriedly. She shrugged and bit her lip. "Guess we're gonna need a baby gate…"
"Mama!" the baby cooed. Rey moved him up so that he was completely on her lap, not wanting him to fall off the chair.
"Yes, baby, Mama," she said happily. She had been nervous, and very ashamed of herself when she had heard Christina talking for the first time. The slightly older girl could speak very well for her age, and although he was quiet, Noah could speak almost as well as her. Ben had also shown her that they could speak basic Spanish as well, when he had pointed to Leia and Christina had called her abuela without any hesitation. The anxiety must have shown clearly on her face, because Luke had leaned over to her and whispered "he'll get there."
Mikey hadn't spoken a word until around this month, when he was a year and a half. He hadn't walked until three months ago, either, and she hadn't thought anything of the delays until she had seen his cousins exceed. Still, Mama seemed to be the only word he could manage. "Can you say Daddy?" Finn tried, looking at him. Mikey watched his lips while he said it again.
"D-Dada…" Mikey tried.
"Yeah, that's really close, buddy!" Finn grinned, rubbing at his son's coarse black hair.
"Dada!" Mikey repeated, squealing a bit with excitement.
Rey looked overjoyed, her eyes watering, and Finn kissed her cheek. "See, it's just taking a little longer, but he's getting the hang of it, sweetheart," he whispered to her. She sniffed, and wiped her eyes. She looked towards the door as Ben came down the stairs coughing, pulling his cigarettes out of his pocket. "You're going outside with those, right?"
Ben hesitated in the kitchen door way. He pulled out one of the cigarettes and put it between his lips. "No, bud, I came downstairs to smoke 'em right in front of you, just like you wanted. That was the rule, right?" he taunted.
"Don't even take them out in the house," Finn said seriously. Ben was about to retort when he started coughing again, quickly turning away from them.
Rey frowned and stood up, carefully placing Mikey on Finn's lap. "Honey, you're sure you're feeling alright?" she asked nervously, putting the front of her wrist on Ben's forehead. He pushed her hand away. She sighed. "Ben, you know it's the cigarettes-"
"Yeah, sure, Rey," he agreed. "I'm working on it."
"Are you?" she sighed. She put her wrist back on his forehead. "Ben, you feel warm, you should go lay down and rest…"
"I'm good, Rey, seriously, been smoking since I was fourteen, I'm-"
"Ben, you have to stop!" she gasped. "That's ten years you've been putting that crap in your lungs!"
"How many packs a day are you smoking?" Finn spoke up.
"At most one… sometimes two…" Ben told him, backing away towards the door. He was feeling ganged up on. Rey glanced at Finn, wanting him to stop.
"So about thirty pack-years… that's an estimate seven years off your life already, and I mean scientifically, I can't see you living past 70, realistically 65, so, you good with dying at 63 or sooner, man?" Finn asked.
"Finn!" Rey gasped.
"Dude, why don't you shut the fuck up?!" Ben snapped at him. Mikey hid quickly against Finn's chest, scared of the yelling.
"And what about your kids? You're fine with taking years off of their lives too?" Finn continued.
"Seriously, dude, you ever been hooked on anything?" Ben hissed at him.
"Didn't even have a drink until last year sometime," Finn answered.
Ben growled. "Well aren't you just a fucking angel. Even your wife's smoked a blunt or two in her life, and while she was pregnant no less. What's her life expectancy, huh, what about your fucking fucked up kid?!" he yelled at him. Mikey started crying, and Ben looked down at him, seeing him look right back at him. Ben backed away towards the door again, feeling like he was going to cry.
"Ben just go outside…" Rey told him quietly. He looked at her, then at Finn.
"I know you don't want me here, Finn. I know you hate me," Ben scoffed. "You want me to leave so you can live to your full life expectancy with your perfect wife and your kid, and your life will be perfect and you'll have a good-paying job and you'll have friends and you'll get grandkids that you'll get to know. I'll get out of your hair soon enough, I promise, I'll get some low-income house with my disability money that's barely big enough for my ex-husbands poor fucking kids, and I won't be able to get them into college, and they'll think I don't care enough for them, and they'll leave as soon as they get a chance, if I don't get them taken by the state first, and then I'll die alone at the premature age of fucking 50, all alone! Don't worry about me, man, I won't bug you for too long!"
"I'm not worried, trust me," Finn said calmly. Ben growled, then coughed violently and hurried out the door. Finn looked at Rey, who looked shocked and sad. "Maybe he'll stop now-"
"Why would you say all that to him...?" she breathed. She looked out the window, seeing Ben standing a ways away from the house, staring down at the ground. She couldn't tell whether or not he was smoking. Finn sighed. "He's not going to live here forever, could you at least try to be civil?!"
"How is this on me? Ben can take care of himself, barely, but he shouldn't have those kids, and he should know it. You said you were going to stop treating him like a baby, don't you think he should know the truth?" Finn questioned.
Rey looked down and shook her head. She looked back at Finn. "He already knows the truth, Finn…" she sighed. "Everything he said to you, about losing the kids and dying alone? That's what he thinks is going to happen to him."
"It probably is what will happen, Rey," he pointed out, bouncing Mikey on his lap as the baby kept crying. Rey took the baby from him and started rocking him gently.
"Finn, he's sick…" she tried. "I don't know how to get you to understand that. He's never been quite right, and it's all I can do to make him feel at least a little normal. And to add to all the mental illness that he was born with, he's been a drug addict for almost half of his life, he just can't comprehend that some things will have long term consequences. He can't even help it, you need to cut him a little slack."
"I have cut him so much slack!" Finn hissed, standing up and going over to her as she started taking things out of the refrigerator and pantry. "He punched you in the face, he nearly broke your nose, and I didn't say a word to him about it! He's yelled at you countless times, and he's made you feel like shit, and it wasn't and isn't fair to you, and I didn't stand up for you once, and it made me feel like a shitty boyfriend, and a shitty fiance, and now I feel like a shitty husband because he's still doing it and I'm not doing anything about it!"
Rey burst into tears. "Finn, I know how to take care of myself, I know how to handle him!" she snapped.
"I'm supposed to take care of you, and Mikey, and he's in the way!" Finn yelled back.
"Stop yelling, you're upsetting the baby, and you're upsetting me!" she sobbed. Finn backed up. He waited for her to calm down a bit. "F-Finn he wouldn't ever hurt me on purpose, he doesn't know how it makes me feel when he yells at me, and that's fine, he just needs to let it out. And trust me, he would never ever lay a hand on Mikey. Did you see how bad he felt when he saw that he scared him?"
"But he did scare him, he didn't even care that I was holding a baby," he pointed out. "He would have hit me if Mikey hadn't started freaking out."
"Finn, he's sick, he's sick…" she sobbed. "Why can't you just understand that…?"
"Because if he's really that sick, he should be in a hospital, not around my wife and kid," Finn said. Rey shook her head and turned back to making food. Finn sighed and reached towards what she was doing. "Let me do it, Rey-"
"No! I said I would make you dinner, just go upstairs!" she snapped at him, glaring at him. "You worked all day, you're tired, just go rest upstairs and cool off." Finn looked sad, but nodded and went towards the stairs, pausing and looking towards the door. "Please, Finn just leave him alone, he's sick, trying to talk to him isn't-"
"If he didn't understand you the first time, he's not going to get it," Ben spoke up from near the front door. Rey turned her head, not seeing him. She gulped.
"H-How long have you been hiding?" she asked weakly. He came around the corner.
"Since around the time you said I was sick. The first time," he mumbled, walking over towards her and pulling his cigarette packs out of his pockets. She stared at him, confused. He glanced over his shoulder, at Finn, and threw the packs in the trash can next to Rey. He looked back at Rey, seeing how sad she looked. "Don't look at me like that… you aren't sorry. You should have said outright that it hurt you when I get mad. I shouldn't be staying here."
"Ben, no, I invited you-"
"I'm tearing your marriage apart already and scaring your kid and it's been, like, an hour. I'll be out in no more than two months. It takes a month for the disability office to approve housing for me. But in the meantime, I'll stay away from you guys," he told her and Finn, going back to the hall and passed Finn, hurrying up the stairs.
Finn looked at Rey. "I'm sorry-"
"You should go upstairs and rest," she said quietly, not looking at him. Finn frowned and nodded, going upstairs slowly.
Rey closed the door to Mikey's room silently and crept to her and Finn's bedroom. She closed that door quietly too, figuring Finn must be asleep at this point. He hadn't come down for dinner, but she hadn't even called him down. She hadn't even made it. She just couldn't. He had tried to apologize and she had just shut him down like a bitch. She snuck over to her side of the dresser. She turned slightly when the lamp on the nightstand turned on.
"So you can see…" Finn mumbled. She looked at his form under the blankets, not facing her, and she quickly walked over to the bed, falling next to him and hugging him, starting to cry again.
"I-I'm sorry, Finn…" she whimpered. He turned quickly, holding her close. "I was so mean to you-"
"No you weren't, Rey, I overdid it. I went too far…" he admitted. "I'm sorry…"
"I love you, Finn, please don't be mad at me…" she sobbed.
"I'm not even a little bit mad at you, Rey," he said seriously. "I love you to death, baby, with all my heart." She sniffed and let him hold her.
They could both hear Ben coughing from down the hall. "Do you wanna go check on him?" he asked gently.
"I-I'm sorry I care so much," she whispered.
"No, Rey, if you think you should check on him, you should," he told her seriously. She looked up at him nervously. "Really. Rey, I know-"
There was a loud noise from out in the hall and they both sat up. "What was that?" she gasped. She could hear Ben coughing violently so she quickly got out of bed. She hurried to the door and out into the hallway and to Ben's room. The door was wide open, and he wasn't in there. Christina was climbing out of her crib and ran to Rey, crying.
"Daddy sick," she whimpered. Rey saw the light in the hall bathroom on and the door partially ajar.
"Chris, you and Noah, go see Uncle Finn, alright?" she said quickly, seeing Noah jump out of the crib as well. "Ok, sweetie, right over there." Christina grabbed her brother's hand and ran to Finn and Rey's room. Finn quickly brought them in and looked worriedly towards the bathroom door, where Ben was still coughing. Rey got up quickly and ran to the bathroom, knocking. "Ben? Ben, are you alright?" She opened the door and saw him leaning over the sink, and she could see from his reflection in the mirror that his face was translucently pale, and all around his eyes was red and tears were running down his face, and blood down his chin. Her mouth fell open and she hurried over to him, trying to hold him up. She saw the the sink was running but was splattered with blood and black mucus. She grabbed a rag from the shelf near the shower and handed it to him. "Cough into this, sweetie, come on, we're going to go to the hospital…" She started leading him to the stairs, having to almost completely support his weight. She touched his forehead, finding it burning hot and covered in sweat. "Shit… Finn!"
Finn hurried out the door. "What's going on?" he asked.
"I-I dunn wanna go to the hospital…" Ben slurred, blood dripping from his chin and onto the floor. Finn quickly took his weight off of Rey and helped him down the stairs.
"Rey, he's super dehydrated, and his fever's burning him up," Finn told her. "You should stay here with the kids, I'll take him."
"No, Finn, I-"
"Rey, I owe this to you, please," he said. Rey looked scared. He kissed her gently. "I'll call you as soon as I get him there, alright?" She nodded hesitantly, and hurried back upstairs as Christina tried to get downstairs.
Finn got Ben into the front seat of his car and buckled him up quickly. He got into the driver's seat and started quickly towards the hospital.
Finn grabbed his phone out of his pocket quickly and looked around the waiting room apologetically, hurrying outside. He hit the accept call button and held it to his ear. "Hi, honey…" he sighed.
"Hi, Finn, what's happening, is he alright?" Rey asked frantically.
"Well, he's in a room right now, he's hooked up to a breathing machine, but they said he's in serious condition. It's not critical, his vital signs are stable and they can fix it, but he's really sick. They can't tell me anything specific until Leia gets here," he explained.
"You're a nurse at the hospital, you can't just get special clearance to ask?" she tried.
"Patient confidentiality…" he sighed. He looked up as Leia hurried through the hospital doors and over to the front desk. "Hey, Leia's here, let me call you right back, alright?"
"Okay, Finn, please don't be long, Christina can't sleep because she's so scared…" she whispered.
"I'll be as quick as I can. I love you," he said. He hung up and hurried over to the front desk. "Hey, Ms. Leia?"
The woman turned around and her expression softened. "Finn," she breathed, hugging him tightly. He blushed and hugged back. "W-Where's my baby? Is he going to make it?"
"Yes, yes he's going to be alright, they say he's very sick, but his vitals are stable at the moment," he told her. She took a deep breath and took her ID card back from the woman at the front desk with a slight thank you. Finn lead her upstairs to the room and let her go in first. She was hesitant, looking in at her boy hooked up to a breathing machine, but then hurried over to the side of his bed. She looked up at the doctor, and they exchanged quick introductions.
"What's wrong with him, why can't he breathe?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
"It seems to me that he has both bronchitis and pneumonia, both of which started off barely there, and were allowed to progress to the point that he's in now," the doctor explained to her. She looked down. "At some point today he broke some capillaries in his lungs and ended up with blood filled mucus starting to fill up his lungs."
"Of course, he would hold off even asking anyone for help until he's practically drowning internally… he's terrified of hospitals," she sniffed, covering her face for a minute. She sighed and looked up at him. "What can we do to get him better?"
The doctor looked at his chart and sighed. "Well, we got as much excess fluid out of his lungs as we could, and right now he's on antibiotics to try and fight off the infection. It says here that he smokes up to two packs of cigarettes a day?" he asked.
Leia glanced at Finn, who nodded. She shook her head slightly. "I guess…" she said sadly.
"Do you think you could help me by just filling out some of his medical information, Miss?" the doctor asked. "I'm going to fill out a few prescriptions for him, I'll need to know what he can and can't have."
"I can fill out my own stuff," Ben spoke up, his voice muffled by the breathing mask. The fact that he was awake made the doctor jump a bit. Leia looked over at her son as his eyes opened slowly.
"I'd better do it," she sighed, sitting in the chair next to his bed and taking the clipboard from the doctor. He pulled the mask away from his mouth so that Leia could hear him better, even as the doctor protested.
"Why, you don't think you can trust me, Mommy?" Ben teased his voice coarse and rough.
"You're going to lie about recreational drug use, you always do," she mumbled. He laughed lightly, then coughed.
"Where's Rey?" he asked, glancing over at Finn.
"At home with the kids," he explained. "I drove you here."
"Well, thanks for not letting my die, and sorry for being an inconvenience for you once again," Ben mumbled. He coughed and the doctor tried to put the mask over his mouth, but Ben pushed him back. "Don't touch me."
"I drove you here because I had to make up for all the things I said earlier," Finn told him honestly. "Rey deserves a break, and I'm being selfish by making her do everything."
Leia handed the clipboard to the doctor. "Ben, you have to stop smoking. It's not an option anymore, you have to," she told him.
He glared at her. "I'm fine," he lied, coughing as soon as he said it.
"We can send you back to Dr. Kanata, if you want," she suggested seriously.
"I don't need to go back to rehab, Mom, I'm fine," he tried again, more firmly.
"Ben, please, I don't want to outlive my son as well as my husband…" she said quietly. He growled deep in his throat and looked down. "Please, Ben…" Leia looked up at him and he saw she was crying. "I shouldn't have to worry constantly about whether you're going to develop lung cancer, or overdose on drugs or alcohol…"
"Sorry," he told her honestly. She closed her eyes and he frowned. "I'll try. Okay?" She looked back at him. "I'll make an honest effort to stop, alright? I promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Ben…" Leia warned him.
"I will keep it, it won't happen right away but I'll actually stop by… June? Does June sound fine?" he tried.
Leia sighed and smiled a bit. "Alright, Ben, June is fine," she agreed.
"Um… hey, I'm just gonna step out and call Rey back real quick, alright?" Finn spoke up.
"You don't have to stick around. You should go home and be with her. It's Valentine's Day," Ben told him.
It was actually the fifteenth now, the clock said two AM, but Finn recognized that Ben was trying to be nice. So he smiled a bit. "Alright, Ben, thanks," he said. "Call if you need anything, we'll be around." With that he left to go home to Rey, even though he'd have to be back to the hospital in five hours for work.
"Can we go to the beach?" Poe asked.
Hux looked up at him. It had to be about noon, and Poe had been expressing his boredom all day. It couldn't hurt. "Sure," he agreed. Poe's face lit up.
"Really? And you'll go with me?" he pressed.
"If you'd like me to," Hux smiled.
Poe leaned over and kissed his cheek. "What beach can we go to?" he questioned.
"Anywhere in the world," he told him.
"Anywhere?" Poe chuckled.
"I'll bring you to Spain if it's where you want to go. Or Hawaii, or Brazil, or even Maine if you'd like to go there, although, I don't know why you'd want to go to Maine this time of year, I'm pretty sure there'd be snow on the ground…" Hux pointed out. "My point is, wherever you want to go, I'll make sure you get there."
Poe smiled and leaned forward, kissing him gently. "Well, here in Los Angeles it's 90 degrees and it never snows, so how about Venice Beach?" he suggested.
"I can arrange that," he agreed, kissing Poe again.
"Thanks," Poe chuckled. "I'll go get ready." He got up and hurried upstairs. Hux watched him and smiled lightly.
The last three months had been really great. Poe and he had spent Christmas and the New Year together and had celebrated it! Poe had made him get a tree and decorate the house and he had sung all the songs. Hux had never celebrated the holidays before, but he had to admit, it had been fun. Hux had met some of Poe's old friends a little a after New Year's Day and Poe had introduced him as his boyfriend! He didn't even know Poe thought of him that way, but it had given him this fluttery feeling in his stomach that he had never felt before and it made him smile. He guessed one would call it happiness. He liked the feeling, whatever it was, and he thought it was something he'd like to feel all the time. With Poe, it wasn't hard to always feel that way…
"You'd better get on something a little cooler, baby," Poe spoke up, coming back down the stairs in shorts and an unbuttoned short sleeved shirt.
"You aren't going to keep that unbuttoned out in public are you?" Hux asked with a chuckle.
Poe looked down at himself and shrugged. "I was probably gonna take it off when we got there," he admitted.
"How indecent," Hux teased, standing up and walking over to him.
"Gotta work on my tan, I'm getting a little bit pasty," he laughed, running his arms around Hux's shoulders and kissing him.
"There's nothing wrong with being pasty," he argued.
"Yeah, well, there is when you're naturally tan. When I'm pasty, I look sick," he laughed. "Go on and get something cooler on."
"Alright, but I'm grabbing you a change of clothes," he told him, going upstairs after pecking his cheek gently. Poe watched him walk upstairs and smiled as he hurried towards the kitchen. He had been really stressed out about Valentine's Day for some reason. He knew Hux wouldn't remember it, he probably didn't even know what it was, but still, he felt like he needed to show him how thankful he was for everything he had done for him, and just to make sure Hux knew how he felt about him.
He really did care for him, he was just so sweet and lovely and kind. He was convinced now that Rey and Finn hadn't given him enough of a chance, and they should just give him a second chance to show them he could be good. Even Snap and Jess had thought he was cool and good for him, they had pulled him aside when they had met Hux and had told him how perfect they were together. No one had ever said that about he and Ben. Hux had been so right, he could see that now. Ben and his relationship had been so strained and stressful. It had been unhealthy. Poe was always taking care of Ben, and Ben was in rehab for a good part of their early relationship, then they had suddenly gotten married, just so that Poe didn't have to raise his kids alone. He wasn't even sure anymore how much love has been there, they had always been so afraid, or focused on raising the kids. It was getting easier and easier by the day to let everything go and forget Ben. Of course he loved Ben… he had loved him… But now he was starting to feel a little more than head over heels for his ginger prince charming. He needed to make sure Colin knew how special he was, and how hard Poe had fallen for him. He had asked one of the maids, a girl a bit younger than him named Mary, what he could possibly get the boy who has everything. She had suggested a few things, like a watch and a book. He had gotten them, but he had taken it a step further too.
"Hey, Mary, did you get a chance to wrap those things for me?" he whispered once he got to the kitchen.
The girl looked up and smiled. "Yes sir," she told him, pulling the wrapped gifts out from a cupboard.
"Cute wrapping paper," he chuckled, taking it from her. "Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver!"
"No problem, sir," she laughed. "Oh, and he's going to love the-"
"Poe?" Hux called from near the front door. They both looked towards the kitchen door and Poe smiled.
"Yeah, I hope he does," Poe said. "Thanks again, Mary!" He hurried out to the front and smiled brightly at Hux. "Hey, one second, I'm just going to run upstairs and grab my wallet." He handed Hux two of the gifts, wanting to save the other one for later, and hurrying upstairs. He grabbed his wallet and set the present on the nightstand, hurrying back downstairs. "Alright- hey you were supposed to wait for me to get back to open them!"
"O-oh, sorry," Hux said quickly, holding the book and the watch to his chest. "B-But… no one's ever given me a gift just because. What's the occasion?"
Poe walked over to him and kissed him. "Oh, right. Well it's Valentine's Day," he explained. He paused, waiting to see if Hux would understand. When he didn't, Poe continued. "Valentine's Day is a day where you tell your significant other how much you care about them, by giving them gifts, or just by telling them."
Hux looked shocked. "Oh no, I-I had no idea, I would have bought you something!" he told him frantically. "I'm sorry, Poe, I'll have to get you something while we're out."
"You don't have to, I'll just be happy to spend time with you," Poe told him. "Do you like them?"
Hux smiled. "Yes, of course, I love anything from you," he told him.
"Good, I had no idea what to get you at first, I figured I'd get something conventional. But I have something really special for later." Poe went to the door and put on his shoes.
"What is it?" Hux asked, following him out the door.
"It's a surprise, you'll have to wait until later," Poe chuckled, waiting at the passenger side of Hux's car. He heard the door click unlock and he opened the door, getting into the car.
"Why is it a surprise?" Hux asked, getting into the driver's seat and starting the car. Poe laughed and buckled his seatbelt.
"You'll see," he laughed, leaning over and kissed his boyfriend's cheek. He felt the other man's face heat up and he sat back in his seat as they started driving.
Venice Beach was only about a thirty minute drive from Hux's mansion. They were lucky to find parking as easily as they did, since there seemed to be a lot of couples spending their Valentine's Day here. They got out and Poe stretched, looking around. "Wanna walk around, or would you rather chill in the sand for a while?" Poe asked, walking over and taking his hand. Hux smiled.
"Whatever you'd like. We could walk around in the sand if you like?" he suggested. He looked around "We could walk the beach."
"Colin," Poe said. Hux looked down at him. "There's over thirty miles of this beach."
"We can walk part of it," he corrected himself quickly. Poe laughed and put his arms around his shoulders, kissing him. "Sound good?"
"Sounds great," he agreed. "We have to stay long enough to watch the sunset though, ok?"
"As you wish, my love," Hux agreed. Poe's heart swelled and fluttered upon hearing that, and they walked down to the beach together.
They talked about a lot. About where Poe's brothers were nowadays, how Hux's dad had been remarried four times, how Poe would love to get to have his kids back, and how Hux wouldn't mind having them around if it made Poe happy. Poe would take out his phone every so often and take a selfie of the two of them, or just of the ocean.
"I would allow an exception to our deal if you'd like your two kids to come live with us," Hux spoke while Poe was being cute and taking a picture of himself with the ocean in the background. He hesitated and looked up at him.
"I-I can't do that to Ben…" he sighed, taking Hux's hand again. "He doesn't have anything else…"
"They're your children, it's your decision," he pointed out. "Do you really think he's the best person to be raising them-?"
"I don't want to talk about them right now," he cut him off. Hux looked down at him and frowned. Poe was looking down at the sand as they walked now, a bit of his bright happiness gone. Hux could see what kind of emotions just thinking about Ben caused him. It made Poe sad to think about him. He still loved him, even if it was buried deep under the falseness of his love for Hux.
"I'm sorry," he told him.
"No, I brought it up…" Poe pointed out. He looked out towards the ocean. "The sun will be setting soon. Wanna get some ice cream?"
Hux smiled a bit. "If you'd like," he agreed.
They walked over to the boardwalk and went to an ice cream stand, Poe ordering cookie dough and Hux ordering strawberry. Poe still seemed to be a bit sad, so Hux took him to the end of the boardwalk and sat them both down on a bench, looking out at the ocean. They ate their ice cream in silence for a while, watching the sun cream closer and closer behind the horizon line. Hux looked over at him. "What are you thinking about?" he asked.
Poe glanced over at him. "Everything," he sighed, leaning his head on Hux's shoulder.
Hux pet Poe's hair gently. "That's a lot to think about," he said. Poe shrugged slightly. "Would it help if I told you that… I understand what love is now?" Poe looked up at him. "I-I love you." Poe just blinked at him for a minute, and that scared him. What if he didn't feel the same? Then the other man leaned and kissed him softly. Hux smiled a bit and kissed him back.
When Poe pulled away, he was smiling again. He seemed happy and content with the situation. "I love you too," he told Hux. "We should get home. I want to give you the surprise present." They finished their ice cream and stood up, walking back down the beach and watching the sunset as they went. By the time they got to Hux's car, it was dark, and Poe laughed as they got into the car. Hux gave him a questioning look as he got in, so he leaned over and kissed him deeply. "I love you."
Hux smiled and kissed him back. "I love you too, Poe," he agreed. They began the drive back to Hux's house- no, their house. It was their house. They lived there together. When they pulled into the driveway, he got out and waited to take Hux's hand before going to the door. Once they were inside, Poe brought him up the stairs and to their bedroom, grabbing the present off of the nightstand and turning on the lamp. Hux's sat down on the bed and Poe sat down next to him. Poe took a deep breath and handed the present to him.
"Open it, I'll explain as you go," he said. Hux raised an eyebrow and began peeling off the wrapping paper. "So… I love you. And I've known I love you for a few months now… a-and I know this is probably untraditional and backwards or whatever, but…" He watched as Hux paused and looked at the little box he had just unwrapped. "O-Open it…" Hux glanced at him and opened the little box, his eyes widening a bit.
"P-Poe…" he breathed.
"I want to marry you… and I want you to marry me…" he told him, pulling the two rings out of the box. "I-I wasn't sure how to do this, I-I know there are different ways. But I figured since there's not really a woman in this relationship, we should both have engagement rings. I-I took one of the rings out of your dresser so that I could have your ring sized for you, but just tell me if it doesn't fit... I-I mean that is, if you want to marry me…?"
Hux stared at the rings for a moment. "You… want to get married?" he questioned, sounding surprised. Poe looked nervous.
"Y-Yes… I love you, and I know this has been a complicated ride, but after everything we've been through, you bringing me here, getting to know you… I feel so happy here, with you. Happier than I ever felt with Ben." Hux raised his eyebrows. "I know you don't believe that, but trust me. I want to spend my life with you." Hux opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and looked at the rings again. "I-I mean, I know I'll be here anyway, but I want to-"
"Colin!"
Hux looked up at the door, a look of horror falling over his face. "What? Who is that?" Poe whispered.
"My Dad," he hissed. He stood up and put the ring on his finger. He kissed Poe gently once they were both standing. "He can't know we're together, okay? I love you, I want to get married, but just pretend for a bit that we're just friends. Please…"
"O-Okay, yeah," Poe agreed, nodding and slipping his ring on. "Of course."
"Come out after me, wait until I'm downstairs-" he started.
"Colin Armitage Hux, I know you're here!" his father called again.
"Go," Poe said quickly. Hux nodded and hurried out the door.
"Yes yes, I'm coming," he called back, hurrying down the stairs. His father was waiting in the foyer with a young woman, who couldn't be any older than Colin. He sighed. "Hello, father, I wasn't expecting you."
His father glared at him, his hair grayer than it had been the last time he'd seen him. "I know you weren't, I would have called had I wanted to let you know I was coming. What took you so long to get down here?" he questioned.
"O-Oh, I was getting ready for bed," he lied.
"You have unfinished work. Finish that before you sleep," his father told him. Colin sighed and nodded. "Where's your wife?"
Colin looked up at him. "Um… we're divorced, father," he reminded him.
"Right. The child wasn't yours so you got rid of her," he agreed. "Boy, this is my wife, Grace."
"Ah. I see," he said, a bit coldly. "When did you get married?"
"Last Friday," his father told him. "Don't be all bitter about me getting married, boy. It isn't my fault that your mother was a whore."
"Oh…" Hux glanced behind him, seeing Poe coming down the stairs, looking shocked by what he had just heard.
"Who's this?" his father asked.
"My friend Poe. That's why I was so flustered by your sudden arrival, I happen to have company," Colin explained.
"A friend? Colin you don't have friends," his father laughed. Colin looked down as his father shook Poe's hand. "Who are you, young man?"
"P-Poe Dameron, Colin's friend," Poe told him.
The man raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to humor me, I know my bastard son doesn't have friends," he chuckled, winking as if Poe was in on some big inside joke. Poe looked shocked, looking over at Colin, who had his head hung slightly in shame. He had figured Hux was exaggerating about how much his father despised him and didn't care about him, like Ben did. But this was very real. He watched the older man stand back in front of Colin. "You look the same as you did last time I saw you… still scrawny. Not from my side of the family."
"Did you come for a reason, father?" Colin asked calmly, not wanting to hear how he wasn't good enough.
"Yes, it's been several months since you got divorced, and I wanted to know when you were planning to remarry?" Colin looked surprised. "What? I still have a chance at getting a legitimate son, and if you don't get married I won't sign the company over to you. And if I have a real son before I die, my company will be signed to him."
Colin's mouth fell open. "Father!" he gasped.
"Don't raise your voice at me!" his father barked back. Colin cowered a bit. "I will sign over the company to you as soon as you have a wife, and a child on the way."
"T-That isn't how it works, your father signed the rights to you as soon as you turned eighteen-"
"I wasn't a bastard, or a skinny little freak like you!" his father said.
"B-Brendol, that isn't kind," his wife spoke up. Colin looked over at her. She was a small woman, with short blonde hair, and her accent had a slight southern twinge to it. He watched his father turn and touch her face gently. "Why do you talk to your son like that?"
"He was the biggest mistake I ever made," the older man said. He saw Poe out of the corner of his eye, looking horrified. "What, you don't like it either? Wait until you have kids of your own, even thinking about having a child outside of your marriage will sound horrible.
"I already have kids, sir. Two. A boy and a girl, born a week apart by two different mothers, and I'll have you know that I love them more than the world," he told him shortly.
"You don't have a company to run, and you don't have to worry about handing your life's work over to a mistake-"
"Jesus Christ, it isn't my fault!" Colin snapped. His father looked shocked. "I didn't ask for you to go fuck your secretary and then suddenly become sterile! I know you hate me but please, don't take out your mistakes on me! It was your stupid mistake-!" He was backhanded very suddenly and it had him stumbling back.
"It's going to be difficult to find a wife for you," his father told him calmly, although it was obvious that he was pissed. "Most women don't like brats…"
"Maybe I don't want to marry a woman, Dad! I'm already fucking engaged, actually!" Colin growled.
"To a man?" Colin froze and his face paled. "So your a horrible mistake and you're a faggot?"
"I-I-"
"Don't call him that, there's nothing wrong with liking men," Poe spoke up, standing close to Colin.
"Grace," the man said shortly. The woman jumped a bit and stepped forward. "Do me a favor, my love, and fuck the gay out of my… son." She looked shocked, and looked at Colin who looked just as shocked. "Go on."
"I-Is that really appropriate?" she asked.
"Father, that's ridiculous!" Colin tried.
"You'll do it, or you'll never run the company. Go. Now," his father demanded.
Hux looked at his father, then at Poe, then at Grace. He sighed and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the stairs. Poe and his father watched him go, and Poe glared at the older man when they heard the upstairs door close. "You're a horrible man," he growled.
"Maybe," the man agreed. "But it sure show you how much you mean to him, doesn't it? He'd cheat on his own fiance, right in front of him just to get my company." He smirked at the way Poe's expression turned a bit sad. "Stay away from my son, boy. I have enough to worry about…" With that the man walked away towards the living room, and Poe just say down at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Colin to be done.
"Colin, I'm so sorry…" Poe said, softly, touching his hair gently as he got into bed with him. Colin shrugged him off a bit, pulling the blanket closer around him.
"I hate him. I hate him so much," he growled.
Poe lay behind him carefully. "I know, hun, I understand," he sighed.
"I want him to die. I want him to get wiped off the face of this Earth. No one will miss him," Colin continued, his voice raising a little. Poe frowned.
"H-His wife-"
"Is half a year younger than you, she married my father for money. He's fucking seventy five years old, he's overweight, he's a greedy, horrible person, she doesn't love him." He rolled onto his back. "Do you know what she told me? She says he took a fertility test and it came back and she hid it from him because it says he's sterile. For some fucking reason. I think he did drugs after I was born. But if he knew, he'd divorce her and she wouldn't have his money. What a fucking world, where someone young and beautiful marries and fucks a disgusting old man for his money…"
"Yeah, sweetie…" Poe agreed. "I can't even imagine how her father must feel… if Christina ever did something like this I would personally kill the man she was with."
"Can you personally kill my father, please? Because he's hurt me so many times?" he tsked. He turned and glared at Poe a bit. "Poe I just cheated on you and you're acting like it's perfectly fine!"
"I'm not mad. You didn't want to. And he threatened to take away the only thing you've ever worked for in life- all your life, actually, the company was the only thing he was going to give to you, and he threatened to take it," Poe said. "So I understand… I just want you to be okay…"
Colin's expression softened, and he touched Poe's cheek gently. "I worked pretty hard to get you, my love," he reminded him quietly. "That took a lot of planning and effort."
"But you won't lose me. You'll never get rid of me," Poe chuckled, leaning down and kissing him, ignoring the fact that his lips tasted like what must have been his father's wife's strawberry lipgloss.
"I love you, Poe…" Colin said it weakly, like he might cry, even though Poe highly doubted he would. "I'm not going to let him get between us. We're going to have a big wedding, it's going to be huge and beautiful, and all of your friends and family can come. As soon as my father's out of the way…" He held Poe to him in a kind of backwards spoon, closing his eyes.
Poe didn't say anything for a while, taking in what he had said. Poe wanted to have a big wedding. He wanted Finn and Rey, and Snap and Karé and Jess to be there, and his kids. And his Dad, and his brothers too. But what did he mean, when his father was out of the way? He decided to trust Colin, he knew what he was doing. He was brilliant, and he would know exactly what to do to allow them to be together. "I love you too…" he finally whispered back. It earned him a slight hug, and what felt like a kiss on the head.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading, I'll get chapter 15 out asap! Don't forget to leave a comment to let me now what you think :)