I couldn't sleep last night and this popped into my head, and demanded to be written. Short and fluffy, with a pinch of angst. Set somewhere between tlj and tros because you can't convince me that these two didn't have any contact at all during that gap.

It was something that Rey had been trying to ignore all day; an uneasy, almost sick sensation in the pit of her stomach, a strange fuzzy sense in the back of her mind, and more then once she found herself borderline dizzy if she moved to quickly.

It wasn't until she had a moment to herself back in her quarters that she sat down to figure out the cause. At first she was confused, finding that physically, she felt fine. A moment later it clicked, however; the queasy, uncomfortable feeling was coming from Ben's side of their bond that she had been trying so hard to ignore.

She frowned. She was still mad at him for what happened on the Supremacy and didn't really want to talk to him. Unfortunately, however, it didn't stop the incessant wonder, the need to know if he was ok and what had happened. With a sigh, she carefully, slowly opened up her side causing her vision to shift. While she couldn't see the surroundings, she could see a bed just before her with a tangled mess of blankets on it and only a small tuft of hair poking out from the top.

She approached him slowly, her frown deepening as she heard the horrible, wracking coughs coming from somewhere beneath the heavy blankets. Before she could stop herself, she was kneeling down next to the bed, a soft, worried "Ben?" escaping her.

The mass under the covers stirred, and slowly moved until she could see his face. There was a pang in her heart at the sight; his face was tinted red with fever and his lips were cracked and dry. His eyes were a bit glazed over, and she knew he wasn't seeing her clearly.

"Rey…?" It came out weak and hoarse, making the pang in her heart grow worse. He reached out an unsteady hand, and she didn't stop him as he gently placed it on her cheek.

His hand was warm, and she wasn't sure if it was because of the fever, or if it was just his normal temperature, but she didn't care, instead leaning into his touch. She sighed, her mind wandering what it would be like if she had taken his hand that day, to have the chance to be with him in the same space all the time, to share a bed with him…

"Be with me." His voice was barely above a whisper, and she was so tempted to give in right then and there – but she knew she couldn't. She couldn't just abandon the resistance and all her friends there –

But it was hard, so, so hard not to just jump in the nearest x-wing and fly to him, and to just be together. She knew he wanted it just as badly as she did; but they were at a standstill.

"Ben I-"

"Rey? What are you doing?" Finn's voice cut in and she abruptly found herself back in her room and kneeling in front of her workbench, her hand still halfway up to her cheek where Ben's hand had been.

"Nothing, it's nothing. Just thinking." She stood up, awkwardly brushing off the imaginary dust from her pants as she tried to resist the urge to touch the spot where she could still feel Ben's lingering warmth. "Did you need something?"

Finn gave her a disbelieving look before answering. "The General wanted to have a meeting about our next move and I volunteered to come get you."

Rey couldn't concentrate, even when she knew she should be, these meetings were important to furthering the resistance, but she couldn't stop thinking about him. Ever since Snoke's ship Ben had continued to try and talk to her, keeping his side of their bond fairly open, while she had done the best to blatantly ignore him, trying to close hers as much as possible. But after the events of today she felt acutely aware of his presence, and now that she was paying attention, she could tell just how wide open his side was, as if he didn't have the strength to close it even an inch.

Makes sense I suppose, with how sick he is right now.

She wanted to scream, to yell, to do something to release the pressure that she felt building up inside. He was horribly sick and alone, with no one to take care of him. She knew what that was like; sick and alone, with no one really around who cared if you lived or died. She didn't like the knot that had settled firmly in her stomach, or the tears that were prickling the corners of her eyes as her mind kept going back to the image of Ben huddled under his blankets.

Rey didn't know if he still would've gotten sick if he was here, but if he did at least neither of them would be quite so miserable about it. He should have come with her. He should be here with her right now –

"You're not alone."

"Neither are you."

What was the point of any of that if he was just going to-

"Rey."

Rey jumped, sharply looking over at the owner of the hand she felt on her shoulder, half expecting to see the amused face of Ben –

"Oh, hi Rosie." Her shoulders dropped slightly when she was not, in fact, met with Ben.

"Don't sound so disappointed." Rey knew that Rose was just teasing, but it didn't stop the stab of guilt that went off in Rey's stomach.

"Sorry, I just…"

"Have a lot on your mind?" Rey nodded and Rose continued, "I had a feeling as much when I saw that look on your face during the meeting, and it was only confirmed when you didn't even notice when everyone else left."

"What?" Rey looked around, a look of disbelief crossing onto her face as, like Rose had said, they were the only two left in the room. She groaned softly; she honestly hadn't thought she was that distracted…

Rose laughed softly from her seat next to her. "Don't worry, I don't think quite everyone noticed, but the General covered for you, and I took notes."

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver."

"Anytime."

A moment of silence passed, before Rey decided firmly on something. "Rosie, do you know any good soups for when you aren't feeling well?"

Ben's limbs felt like lead and he couldn't even began to describe what his head felt like, but it brought him a vision of Rey being there with him, so he wasn't really sure that he wanted to complain. He had fallen asleep shortly after the vision had ended and it was only when he had felt something brush against his forehead did be begin to stir back into consciousness. He opened his eyes slowly, painfully to the confusing sight of a small container sitting on the bed in front of him.

Forcing himself to sit up so he could get a better look, he reached over and took the container in his hand, to which a spoon and a small note with scribbled, yet adorable handwriting had been attached to the lid.

'Get better soon, jerk.' The note read, and he knew there was the subtle, unspoken 'how dare you make me worry about you.'

Maybe the Rey from earlier hadn't been a hallucination after all; he carefully removed the note so that he could keep it, setting it aside and slowly opening the container, to be greeted with the gentle wafting steam of fresh soup. It was only in the privacy of his own room where no one had a chance of seeing, did Ben let the smallest of small smiles slip onto his face.

There was still a chance; he would have his queen in the end.

(Not pictured: Rey getting into a sneezing fit later as this is why you don't kiss a sick person)