It turned out the heater was broken, and it made sense too, as Rey had spent the entire night huddled into her down coat, trying hard not to let the cold seep to her bones, eventually cuddling under the blankets and getting a half decent sleep.

It must have been morning already—the light from the outside world was bleeding in from the windows and already brightening up the dusty walls.

The birds were humming, squirrels chattering amongst each other and a light hum echoed between the trees. The silence was the shattering reality that she was no longer in Jakku; there were no more noisy cars with raging horns or buses that were inevitably off schedule.

It was just her and nature.

It took a moment to come out from the blanket burrito she'd curled into overnight, stretching warm legs and tight limbs, eventually standing and reaching to the ceiling and straining on her toes, and flopping back over in a huff. As much as she desired to stay and sit in bed all day—probably crying about one of her many issues—the growling in the pit of her belly demanded a walk to the empty fridge.

Lucky for her, and her stomach, there were two small airplane bags of peanuts stuffed in her bag, and she devoured them in minutes, barely feeling them quell her hunger. Her fingers twitched at her side, eyes searching every inch of the living room for anything to consume.

Any sensible person would've simply driven their car into town, or biked down the path and run into the nearest eatery for any ounce of food, but it was fucking cold out there, and she had no car or bike.

But the neighbor does

Oh god, she wasn't seriously contemplating stealing the mystery neighbor's car? Cause that was seriously the most fucked up new neighborly thing she could think of doing. They hadn't even met yet and she wanted to steal his car, but not like steal steal.

Just borrow.

Without his knowledge.

Huh…that was stealing.

The rational part of her brain nudged the idea of going over and becoming acquainted with him, shaking hands and all that, and then asking for his car. Or maybe they could go together and become best friends, buy each other coffee and all that.

But Poe did say he was a recluse so none of this would probably happen, but it was worth a try. She shed the previous nights clothes and dressed as warmly as possible, locking the door behind her and walking through the moderate layer of snow to the only other wood cabin for miles.

It was almost the exact same as hers; there were a few wind chimes hanging from the ceiling over the door, and a large wooden chair rested a few feet away. There were deep cracks in some of the wood—her slim hand glided along the railing as she climbed the steps to the front door, noting a few jagged marks littered the floor, stopping just before she reached the door.

It was hard to describe or put into words, but she felt strange. Not strange in a bad or good way, but just strange.

She shook it off to lightly knock on the door and wait patiently, rocking on the balls of her feet, turning once to look at the massive Hummer a few feet away.

There was no answer for a few minutes, prompting her to knock once more and slightly harder. There was no doorbell so she yelled, "It's your new neighbor!"

There was still no answer and well, maybe he wasn't home? But his car was literally right behind her so unless he was off frolicking in the woods, he had to inside.

"I really need to use your car! I don't have any way to get down and it's too cold to walk so I'd really appreciate it if I could use it for a few hours!"

She waited a beat but no answer came, only the howl of the wind echoed in response.

There was no point in waiting so she turned around and started down the short steps, glaring at the stupid Hummer that was her only way to get down—

"Ow!"

A pressure hit the middle of her back, not actually hurting more than simply startling her, turning around to stare wide eyed at the set of keys laying in the snow, looking back at the still closed door with a open mouth. Had he thrown his keys at her?

"Thank you!" She yelled with a laugh and eagerly picked up the keys, running to the car. It came to life with ease and she easily pulled away from the house, not looking in the rearview and missing the pair of eyes watching her leave through a crack in the door.

It was fairly simple to get into town, simply following the path and trying to avoid any particularly slippery patches of ice, eventually driving past a myriad of small stores; she'd never seen this many small businesses in her life. They ranged from coffee shops, to hardware stores…

And she pulled up front to the only shop that resembled any sort of bakery, making sure she wasn't in the red and paid off the meter for a handful of hours.

The colorful sign read 'Tico Town' and the open window showed a display of cookies, cupcakes and pies, which only helped in making her stomach grumble. There was no doubt she could destroy an entire pie in a heartbeat and maybe go back for a second.

The door jingled when she stepped in and a girl with hair that had ends that defied gravity yelled, "Welcome to Tico Town, I'm Rose Tico!"

Rey tried not to shy away from the slightly aggressive tone and smiled at Rose Tico, "Hi Rose, I'm Rey." She stepped to the counter and held out a hand, "I just moved here and Poe told me I should stop by. His boyfriend Finn is actually—"

"FINN!"

Rey flinched at the sound of the other girls screech, watching as a dark skinned man came out from the back room with a distressed look, "What's wrong? Are we being robbed? Are you okay?"

Rey gave him a shy wave while Rose gave him a bright smile, "Someone's here to see you."

"Dammit Rosie, isn't there a rule about not yelling unless we're being robbed?" Rose nodded behind the counter with a mischievous look before going back to rearranging the display case, leaving Rey to walk over to Finn and introduce herself.

"Poe told me to drop by, said he was your boyfriend. I'm Rey, just moved here."

Finn eagerly shook her hand, "Yeah, Poe called me about you last night, mentioned you were from Jakku." He scratched his head, "Haven't been there in a while. What brings you all the way down here?"

"I thought Poe would've told you. Obi-Wan left me his house up in Woodland Road." Much like Poe had, Finn seemed a little shocked at her living up there.

"Hm, not much life up there."

She was tempted to ask about her neighbor, hopefully he knew anything, "Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me anything about my neighbor. He gave me his keys but I haven't really seen him."

"Then how'd you get the keys?"

She struggled a smile; "He sort of threw them at my back."

Finn huffed through his nose, "Sounds like Solo. He tends to keep to himself…" He thought for a moment, "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him in a while. Hoped the wolves hadn't gotten to him or something."

Solo?

"His name is Solo?" What a strange name, but sounded right for someone who lived in isolation.

"It's all anybody really calls him. He's come in a handful of times, never really says much. I see him maybe once a week at the Grocer down the street, man eats a lot of red meat."

Rey nodded and took mental notes about the mysterious Solo, "Do you know if anyone around is offering any work? I'd go crazy if I spent all my time up there."

His eyes lit up, "Well, funny you should ask that. Rosies's sister Paige just got engaged and moved away, meaning we need a new hand to help out back with the prep and all that. Can you bake?"

She wouldn't call herself a bad cook, "I can follow a recipe?"

"Good enough. Welcome aboard!"

They shook hands, and then decided to just hug; Finn animatedly started rambling about her pay—$15 an hour with one week of combined sick leave/vacation per month with added dental after passing the four-month probation trial.

It was this overwhelming joy that she felt, and it made her smile even wider at Finn, following him behind the swinging door into the bakery.

It was just past 3:30, and she'd learned how to work every mixer and processor and cookie cutter alike, that Fin sent her on her way out. "We open at 8 so try for 7:30." But not before giving her outfit a once over, "And do try for something a little cuter."

Any other time she would've been offended, but her shoddily put together outfit was a little ugly.

The one and only Grocery store in town was Holdo's, and it was a quick walk from Tico Town that had her grabbing a shopping cart out front and walking through the automatic doors. It was relatively empty for a food store, but she made her way through the few sections of fruits and vegetables—taking mind to ignore things like celery and cucumber but grabbing a handful of peppers, apples and mangoes.

A purple haired woman was reading a magazine behind the meat counter, idly turning the pages before looking up at Rey, a large smile overtaking her face, "Well, I haven't seen you around before."

She stood and held out a hand over the glass separating them, "I'm Amilyn Holdo, I've been running this place over ten years and I typically know everyone in town."

Rey shook Amilyn's hand, "I'm Rey, I moved in last night." Amilyn nodded, releasing her hand. "Funny enough, I just got a job at the bakery down the street. Do you know Finn?"

"Everyone knows everyone Rey, its' how small towns work." Amilyn perched back on her chair, motioning to the array of meats and fish, "Anything specific in mind?"

"Uhm…"

She thought about it for a moment, but seeing as Jakku never really had meat that wasn't snake, she was a bit out of her element.

There was an array of ground meats, a few floppy tilapia and tuna, perfectly cut steaks marbled with fat that would cook up nicely. An odd thought punched its way through, Finn's words about her neighbor's favoritism of red meat prompting her to say, "I'll take 3 Strip Steaks, please."

But a simple question slipped out before she could stop herself,

"Do you know Solo?"

Amilyn's manicured hand that had been reaching for the steaks stopped, eyes darting up to watch the sun kissed girl with trepidation, "I said it before Rey, everyone knows everyone."

"So you do know him. Can you tell me anything? I live next door and I'd like to get to know him, seeing as were up in Woodland Road together."

Amilyn nodded, "Hm."

Rey was handed the packaged steaks with a stern but friendly eye, "He used to come in here a couple times a week but now…"

A far away look crossed Amilyn's eyes before disappearing in a blink, "I'd be a little careful with him; he wasn't always the best at controlling his anger."

Rey nodded and finished up buying the basic supplies, paying the pimple faced cashier the $65.78 and running to throw the bags in the car.

The last thing on her mental list was a bike, and Poe had only mentioned a man named Snap who had car rentals, but a bike would be just fine, seeing as there was a pathway paved to leave Woodland Road. Snap's Rentals was just two blocks away, and a tall white man was perched on a stool by the entrance.

He started speaking as she stepped from the car, "You lookin for a rental Miss?"

And she scratched her head with making a face, "I was wondering if you knew where I could get a bike, or rent one at least."

There was a look she couldn't quiet place on his face, "If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get this car?" He continued before she could even answer, "I remember selling it to a man as big as a mountain, and he sure as hell didn't look like you."

Solo was as big as a mountain.

She tucked that information away, "I asked my neighbor, Solo, if I could bring it into town to get some things." He slowly nodded.

"So… any bikes?" She gave her best smile and he luckily had a beat up one in the back, "No one really rides these things anymore so it's yours, if you want."

The drive back up was as easy as it had been coming down, and she shut the massive car off with ease, simply sitting and staring at her neighbors house through the windshield.

How the idea hadn't popped into her head earlier was a mystery, and she easily pulled down the top compartment where the drivers licenses typically were…except there was nothing there, which made her shut it close and stare at his home with a huff.

It looked the same, and she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, eyeing the bag of groceries in the passenger seat.

"If I were an isolated mountain man, would I like steaks?"

The groceries didn't respond and Rey hopped out of the car, running around to get the groceries, vowing to come back for the bike later. The car locked with a beep and she slowly walked up the steps, his keys jingling at her side while a weary look rested on her face.

She still decided to knock.

And as expected, there was no answer.

"I have your keys!"

Rey looked back and forth, and decided to press her ear to the door, trying to hear if he was even in there. Her cheek was flush with the cold wooden door, eyebrows pinched in concentration while trying to listen…

And jumping back at the heavy breathing resonating from the other side.

He's right there.

Her heart jumped to an odd beat, watching the door with dry lips and questioning eyes. He knew she was right there, and if he was anything like a mountain, than he had a higher chance of hurting her than her hurting him. And yet, this was the second time today he refused to show himself to her.

"Well, I'll just leave your keys out here." She audibly dropped them on the floor. "I heard you like steaks too." And placed the bag with three juicy steaks on the doormat. "I'll just…go I guess."

The door still didn't open, and it simply made her frown.

Groceries in one hand and bike dragged across the snow in the other, she walked to her porch without looking back, clumsily opening the door, but first setting the bike on the porch, seeing as the wheels were caked in old dirt.

A slam shot through the air and Rey jumped, ready to fight off any bears of wayward goats, but saw nothing around. Had she been hearing things?

Maybe the wind had knocked over a tree branch, or some snow had fallen from a decent height, she looked to her neighbor's porch…

And smiled with a laugh making her way back into the cold of her own home.

The keys and steaks were gone, and Rey knew, this was only the beginning.