More than once in high school, Rey had been the topic of the week's gossip. Sometimes the talk was based on facts (a drunk blowjob under the bleachers at a football game) and sometimes not (hooking up with five baseball players on the team bus.) Subsequently, she had developed a sort of thousand-yard stare for walking down the halls, looking straight ahead, creating a kind of tunnel vision and playing music in her head.
Turns out, this technique works as well for navigating a walkway with paparazzi on one side and screaming fans on the other as it did for walking down a hostile hallway.
Fortunately, there's also a large group of people coming in while Rey and Kylo exit. Rey can't even see who it is through their dense entourage, but the mob is more interested in whoever it is than Rey and Kylo, so they manage to tumble into the limo with no incident. She sits, blinking the spots from her eyes, on the opposite banquette from Kylo, who has his hand over his eyes. With a sigh, she slides her shoes off. The balls of her feet are in agony.
The limo seems huge and cold with only the two of them inside, and things are still…weird.
Not twenty minutes ago, Kylo lost control and punched another person in the face. But as pissed off as Rey is at him for doing it, she admits—to herself-that she's a little bit flattered that he did it. Deep down she does feel good about it, that he would defend her like that.
And it scares her.
For several minutes, as the limo negotiates its way into traffic, their only interaction is to make eye contact and then instantly look away.
As they finally merge onto the road, Kylo reaches over and touches a button. The driver's voice comes through the speaker underneath the partition. "Yes, Mr. Ren?"
"Take FDR Drive back downtown."
"Yes sir."
"Why did you tell him to do that?" She'd been fantasizing about which t-shirt she would put on when they get home, and how good it will feel to brush her hair.
"It's your last night in the city. The view isn't as nice as the California coast, but it's pretty spectacular, especially at night."
"Oh." She looks out the window but they're still making their way through Central Park, nothing to see but stone walls and trees. "How's your hand?" she asks, turning to him.
"It's fine," he says, flexing it a few times. "Shoulda seen the other guy."
"I did see the other guy."
"I'm sorry."
"Honestly, I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."
He moves to the seat next to her, eyes sad as he strokes her cheek with the back of his hand.
"I'll send him a fruit basket," he says as he leans toward her.
Rey reaches up and switches the flip to open the sun roof. As soon as she can fit through, she stands up. They're moving at a good pace, gliding past the city with the river on the left. It's like driving through a post card. As they round a curve, the Midtown skyscrapers soar above with golden windows, some of them lit by colored lights.
She pulls the pins and elastics from her hair and lets it flow free, holding her arms out and looking up at the sky. A couple of cars honk as they drive past. Rey waves at them and they honk again.
Soon enough, Kylo squeezes himself through the sunroof, his body pressing up against hers. "This is totally cliché, you know."
"I know. But it's my first time in a limo."
"Well then, that means I definitely have to kiss you." He brushes her hair away from her face and leans in again, but the car next to them starts wildly honking their horn. Rey jumps and turns around.
"Oh for fuck's sake," Kylo says as he sinks down again, onto his knees.
"Hey, come back."
"I've got a better idea."
"Wha—Oh fuck."
His right hand has found its way under her dress and is making its way up her thigh. His left is firmly squeezing her ass. He hooks his thumb under the strap of her thong and starts pulling it down.
"Hey," she says, smacking him on the head. "This may be the craziest night of my life but it's not getting that crazy."
"We really shouldn't let the car go to waste, though."
He has a point. The car is lush and empty and they have it as long as they want. She ducks back into the car.
"Can he hear us?" she asks, nodding toward the partition.
"Only if we push the button."
His eyes are dark and heavy and his bottom lip is just right there, all full and shiny. She hasn't kissed him properly in hours, so she remedies that, sucking his lip between her teeth and nibbling at it. He groans and climbs back onto the seat, pulling her with him.
She doesn't want to think about any of the bad stuff right now. It'll all be waiting when they get back to California. Right now she wants to grasp the last vestiges of a good evening and carry them home with her. So she hikes up her dress, a little ungracefully, and straddles him, reaching for the buttons of his shirt.
Kylo leans into her, kissing her collarbone. "You're the only thing that makes sense right now."
Rey nods and pushes him back against the seat, opening his shirt and reaching up under his tank top. His skin is soft and hot over his taut belly. She adjusts and reaches down for his zipper.
"Wait. Where's your zipper?"
The fly on his pants is fake. His pants don't open in the front.
"They sewed me into them," he says.
"What?"
"Something about clean lines or whatever. Wanted them as tight as possible and no lumps. So they sewed me into my pants. I'm starting to think it was bullshit and they just want to torture me. I don't think Bazine's ever forgiven me for wearing that top hat to the AMAs."
"How the hell are you supposed to take a piss?"
Kylo shrugs. "I'm not." He thrusts his hips, ever so slightly. "I can still get you off, though."
"Dry humping in a limo?" she laughs. "It really is prom night. Without the Boone's Farm and the humiliation. You know if I had my real purse I'd have my Swiss Army knife and this wouldn't be an issue."
"Mmm," he says as he pushes her dress straps off her shoulders, following the trail of his fingers with kisses. When he's got both straps down, he looks at her breasts—and frowns.
"What?" She looks down. "Oh!" She forgot about the pasties. The flesh-toned flowers cover her nipples.
"You look like a Barbie doll."
"No stylist wants their hard work overshadowed by hard nipples," Rey says. "Or that's what Karé told me."
"May I?" he asks.
"Please."
He keeps his eyes locked on hers as he traces his thumbs around the edges of the pasties. She leans into him as his thumbs graze her nipples. He licks his lips as he begins to peel them off, the slow pull of the adhesive releasing sending shivers down Rey's spine.
When her nipples are bare, Kylo sticks the pasties to the car seat, after a few attempts to shake them off of his fingers. He stifles Rey's giggles with a long kiss, one hand behind her head and the other on her breast, rolling her nipple between his fingers.
"Did you have fun tonight?" he asks, before bending to take the same nipple in his mouth. His other hand drifts from her neck to her back, dipping down into her dress and pulling her closer, his dick painfully hard under her.
"Mostly," she says, and takes his earlobe between her teeth. He shudders and presses her even closer, bucking his hips against her.
"What was your favorite part?"
She rolls against him again, finding the perfect spot, the right amount of pressure, the exact amount of friction. "Ah," she sighs in his ear. "This."
"And this?" he says, slipping his thumb into her panties.
"Fuck, yes." She's aching for him to slide his fingers inside her, but he keeps his thumb pressed against her clit as she rocks against him.
It doesn't take her long to come, and it's a different sort of climax than she's had from his mouth or hands or with him inside her. Less intense, but drawn out. As the shockwaves die down, she fists her hand in his hair, somehow still aware enough to not damage his shirt. He groans and bucks against her again, sending another ripple of pleasure through her.
"Are you going to come?" she asks.
"Not a good idea," he grinds out.
"Okay. Okay. I'm done. I promise." She starts to get off of him but he holds her in place.
"You'll get cold," he says, resting his head against her chest. It's true. She's covered in a sheen of sweat and the cool air in the limo is already chilling her skin.
Kylo looks up and out the window. "We're almost home."
"How long until we're home and I can cut these fucking pants off of you?"
"About five minutes."
"We should probably try to look presentable in case any paps are hanging out."
Rey slips her straps back onto her shoulders and finger combs her hair. There's no use trying to get it back into anything resembling its former style. Kylo runs his hands through his own hair and Rey uses a napkin from the bar to wipe her lipstick from his face.
"Mr. Ren?" the driver says through the intercom.
"Yeah?"
"Looks like there's a few fans on your stoop. Should I send them away?"
Kylo looks at her. "What do you think?"
"They're your fans."
"Seriously, it's up to you."
Rey peers out the dark window. There are three girls, probably in their late teens. Two of them hold onto each other as they stare at the car, and the other one frantically searches in her backpack.
"They look so excited."
"How about I go talk to them for a minute. I need a cigarette, anyway. You can wait here until they leave."
She looks out again. It can't be that bad, and it seems cowardly to hide from them. And they might think it's snobby.
"No, I'll go with you." She puts her jacket on and checks her makeup in the mirror over the bar. Faded, a little smudged, but okay. She looks over at Kylo. His hair is insane and his shirt is rumpled, but at least he's not sporting a massive erection anymore.
The girls gasp and stifle squeals when Kylo gets out of the car. She takes his hand and steps out, and the girls sigh.
"Do you want to go on in?" he asks her.
"No, I'm fine." She smiles at the girls. The smallest one, a freckled brunette, pushes a blonde girl with braces forward.
"Kylo, can you um, can you sign some stuff?" Her voice quivers, and she can barely look at him.
"Yeah, if any of you have a lighter."
The driver reaches into his jacket pocket but the small girl produces a bright pink, glittery lighter from her pocket first. Kylo takes it and lights a cigarette. A clove.
"Tomorrow's a school day, isn't it?" He asks as he signs a CD and a poster.
"We don't start back until Monday."
"Your parents know where you are?"
"We're spending the night at Nikki's," the blonde says, pointing to the little one. "And we went to get dinner." She hands him a CD, still avoiding eye contact. "Um, make that one out to Nayelis."
Kylo smiles as she spells her name. "How long ago did you leave for dinner?"
"Nine!" says the third girl, her face crimson when everyone looks at her.
"Where'd you eat?" Rey asks her.
"Oh we just grabbed deli sandwiches, but Nikki's mom thinks we went to Two Boots."
Kylo nods, at ease with these girls, at least on the surface. It's not the same role he's played all evening—that guy's way more distant and cool—but he's totally playing a role. Still languid and slightly above it all, but at least somewhat interested in what his fans have to say.
"Can we get pictures with you?" Nikki asks.
"Not tonight," he says, shaking his head. "We're looking a little worse for wear. The afterparty was kind of, um, intense."
"Okay," she says. "Thanks for talking to us though. And signing the stuff."
"You'd better head home before the bars let out," he says, taking a huge drag off his cigarette. "Lots of assholes around then."
"We can handle it."
"Yeah, but I'll worry about you. Where's your house?"
"25th and 9th."
"How about this. Manny's gotta leave soon to go pick up Mikey and Moff. He can drop you guys off on his way."
Three jaws drop. The quiet one recovers first. "Okay! Yeah. Oh my God!"
Manny opens the door and the girls pile in, eyes wide.
"Stay away from the bar!" Kylo admonishes. Their squeals are cut off as Manny closes the door.
After seeing the car off, they head up to the loft.
"That was sweet."
Kylo shrugs. "It gets them out of our hair. They'd have stayed out there all night. Probably called Nikki's mom and told her they were staying at blondie's house or something."
"Does that happen a lot?"
"A couple of times before."
"What do you usually do?"
"Ask them nicely to leave. Call the cops if they don't. It's not safe for them out there."
"Do they get mad at you?"
He shrugs again. "Honestly I don't know."
At the top of the stairs, Rey freezes, putting her hand on his arm as he unlocks the door.
"Kylo," she says.
"Yeah?"
"Did you leave my pasties on the car seat?"
"I thought you grabbed them."
They both look toward the door, back at each other, and burst out laughing.
"Those are going to end up in a scrapbook, aren't they?" Rey says.
"Nah. More likely on eBay." He takes her hand and pulls her inside. "Now what were you saying about a Swiss Army knife?"