Oh no don't talk about it
No please don't talk about it
Oh no don't talk about it
It goes away

"Erase/Replace" by Foo Fighters

Rey walks into school her first day as a high school senior wearing her Warped Tour 2007 t-shirt.

Her first quiz in Calculus is, thankfully for Finn, multiple choice. Rey is filling in the last bubble on her scantron sheet, when her eyes flick over to poor Finn, who's sitting in the desk to her right. He's panicking.

Finn has never been very good at math and struggled severely in the Geometry and Algebra 2 classes that Rey shared with him. So, because Rey is a natural at math and has no qualms breaking rules to help a friend, she and Finn have developed a system over the years.

He places a red pen on the left hand corner of his desk, and Rey shifts in her seat as soon as she notices his signal. She glances at him, bringing her hands underneath her desk so that Coach Johnson, their teacher, won't see. She looks straight ahead at the white board and holds three fingers up for Finn to see. Three fingers for the answer 'C'.

Rey spots Finn quickly shading in an answer bubble with his pencil. They proceed like this for all ten questions for the quiz, with Rey purposely feeding him two incorrect answers so as not to raise suspicion.

They hand in their scantrons when the quiz is up, and Finn slips Rey some bubble gum as thanks.

Rey glances over at her phone every few minutes.

It's a Friday, and she's finishing up some work at Luke's studio, waiting anxiously to see if Ben will call her or not. Their normal Friday night hang outs have been up in the air as of late, with Ben constantly "working late". It makes Rey's skin itch, and the two hours she sees him every Saturday at the gym only make things worse. She can only look, not touch, and Ben has made it a habit to not linger too long after workouts, dropping her back off at the home almost immediately.

Rey is growing antsy. She misses Ben. Seeing him once, maybe twice a week doesn't feel like enough. In fact, she feels as if she could see him all day and every day and it would never be enough.

She's not sure how pathetic this makes her.

She's brewing a pot of coffee in the kitchen-office, homework spread out across the table. She smiles fondly, remembering how Ben used to sit in here with her and help out with her school work. And now Ben won't enter the studio if his life depends on it.

In fact, the only thing left of him in this whole room is his old, paint splattered stereo currently blaring Foo Fighters.

Rey leans against the countertop, watching the coffee maker gurgle out fresh coffee and glancing absentmindedly at the stack of disorganized papers that Luke has sitting by the sink. Aside from consistently walking in on conversations that she's not supposed to hear, Rey doesn't like to consider herself a nosy person. But when her eyes just happen to catch Andy Snoke, dealer scrawled in Luke's handwriting, followed by a downtown address… Well…

Rey slips the paper into her backpack not a moment too soon.

Luke enters the kitchen-office, looking weary but smiling at the sight of the fresh coffee. He immediately goes about pouring both Rey and himself cups, and Rey takes a seat in front of her homework.

There's a buzzing from her phone, and Rey practically leaps to flip it open. It's a text from Ben.

Held up late, prob can't make it. Sry kid.

She flips the phone shut quickly with a deep frown, not bothering to text him back.

"You brew a good mug of coffee, Rey," Luke compliments, inhaling steam from his cup before taking a tentative sip.

"Thanks." Her words come out surlier then she meant them too, and Luke raises an eyebrow at her. She flushes. "Sorry, just found out your nephew is ditching me again."

Luke sighs and takes another sip of his coffee, looking older then Rey has seen him in a long time. She waits a few moments for him to say something, and her anger mounts and mounts.

"It's because he's working late," she points out, eyes narrowing at the way Luke fidgets.

Her mentor continues to remain quiet.

The pencil Rey had been clutching snaps in her hand. "You know, I just don't get you Skywalker, Solo types! Do you just not care about each other at all?!"

Luke jumps slightly at her sudden outburst. "Rey! What are you—"

"Because—" Rey has to wheel in her emotions here; her eyes are threatening to tear, she's so suddenly furious. And that won't do. "Because Ben is obviously up to something illegal! Illegal, Luke! And you're doing nothing! Does Leia know?"

Luke sets his coffee cup to the side and stands straight, looking tired and taken aback and…and defeated. "Rey, this isn't any of your concern—"

"You know it is," she growls, quickly getting to her feet. She takes in a shaky breath, centering herself. "Ben is, well, Ben is the most important person in my life, Luke. And he's doing something—"

Her breath catches. Don't cry, Rey. Don't cry.

"He's doing something that's taking himself away from me and I don't know what to do! I know that whatever it is, it's bad. And he won't tell me, which isn't surprising, but… You know what it is, Luke. Don't you."

He won't meet her stare. "I know what Ben is doing, yes. But—"

"And you're doing nothing to help him." Rey's hands have become fists by her sides. "Have you forgotten that he's your family?"

Luke jerks, as if she's slapped him. "Rey, Ben is a grown man. He's responsible for his own decisions and he must own up for the mistakes he's made on his own. I… Ben is beyond my help. And Leia, I suspect she has her suspicions. But do you really think that her reaching out would help?"

Rey's breath is sporadic, but she forces herself to mull over Luke's words before answering. Finally, she exhales slowly and says calmly, "Then tell me what's going on and let me help him."

Luke is already shaking his head. "There's nothing you can—"

Rey lets out a cry of sheer frustration. It reverberates around the room and Luke falls silent, watching her with both caution and curiosity.

"If anyone can help," she says shakily, "it's me. And I think we both know that."

The air falls still and silent as Rey waits for Luke's answer. Her heart is hammering and she watches him unwaveringly, hope slowly growing as another moment of contemplative silence passes between the two of them.

That hope is quickly dashed.

Finally, Luke picks his coffee mug back up and gives Rey a sad, sad look. "I'm sorry, Rey. But if I tell you, it could put you in danger. And, forgive me, but I couldn't live with myself if any harm came to you because of information I divulged. And if something happened to you because of me, well, Ben…" He says the next sentence with deep seriousness. "Ben would kill me."

Luke exits the kitchen-office quickly after that.

And, perhaps it's because she misses Ben so much she channels him, Rey grabs her own coffee mug and flings it into the kitchen sink with a shattering crash.

Then Ben's stereo dies. Nothing Rey does gets it to come back on.

Rey gets home that night in a restless, reckless mood. She marches into her room and is thankful to see that Rose has gotten back early from her Friday hang outs with Finn.

Rey rummages through Rose's nightstand, her best friend watching with inquisitiveness, before finding the scissors and holding them out to her.

"Please. Cut off my hair."

Rose gasps in delight.

Rey can barely pull her hair back into a ponytail. Her new sharp and jagged side bangs are too short to pull back, and they fall about her face as she runs through her warm up the next morning.

She ignores Ben as he instructs her through fifty burpees and one hundred pushups. She ignores him when she puts on her hand wraps by herself. She ignores him when she starts battering into the punching bag, anger hot and red and begging to be let out.

She ignores him as she marches to the bathroom to splash cold water onto her face.

An irritating voice that sounds alarmingly like Rose is speaking in the back of her head, telling her that perhaps she's being a tad immature, giving Ben such attitude.

But Rey isn't sure how to talk to someone she wants to kiss and punch at the same time.

She makes her way back into the main room from the bathroom, body already pleasantly tired. She goes for Ben's water bottle, managing a tiny swig before it's snatched out of her hand.

She splutters, water dribbling out of her mouth and down her chin.

Ben is glaring down at her, and this only makes her angrier. The nerve.

"What's your problem, kid? You've been giving me the silent treatment all morning."

Rey's mouth sets in a firm line and Ben stares at her for a moment before rolling his eyes. "Is this because of last night? Seriously? Are you thirteen again?"

That stings.

That stings a lot, actually.

She turns and walks swiftly away, lower lip wobbling a little bit as sits down on a bench beside Ben's gym bag. Out of the corner of her eye she sees him look up at the ceiling and run a hand through his sweaty hair. However, she stares pointedly ahead when he walks over to her and stands in front of her.

"I have a job, okay? Friday nights can be busy. I'm sorry. I don't really know what you expect me to do about that." His voice is still harder then she'd like, but she catches an undertone of pleading.

"I just want to spend more time with you," she says to Ben's knee with a dejected shrug of her shoulder. "I feel like lately I barely see you."

Ben is quiet for a long time.

Then he sits down on the bench next to her, and Rey realizes with a flush that he still hasn't put his shirt back on from when he'd taken it off to spar.

"It's just," he begins, and Rey can already hear his frustration. As if he's not sure how to talk about the words weighing in his head. "My job is very consuming, Rey. It demands more and more and more of me. And I… The time I get to spend with you is like a rare escape."

The heat coming off his bare skin makes Rey shiver, and she raises her head and looks at him, takes in his tattoo and sweat slick body. "Why don't you just tell me what you do? Maybe I can—"

"No," Ben cuts her off sharply. "Rey, I will never, ever involve you because I— Because I can't. I won't." His jaw sets and he looks more determined then Rey has seen him in quite some time. His brown eyes flick about her face, taking in every minute expression that she gives away, and she studies him with just as much intensity.

"Let me help you," she breathes, and his eyes squeeze shut.

When he opens them, Rey thinks that he's going to say something. Something important. Her heart lurches.

Instead he simply hands her his water bottle before standing up and walking away.

A/N:

Small chapter is small but I'm quite fond of it? I feel very confident that we're properly set up for what's coming up now. Two more parts left in 2007 and they are doozies. In a good way?

Thank you guys for continuing to douse this fic in love! You are all wonderful and delightful, and reading your comments makes me squee!

If you liked let me know?