Author's Note: Well folks, this is it. The angstiest chapter has arrived. Thankfully, this is as angsty as it gets and it all gets better from here. ;) Also, my best estimate for how long this fic will be is currently at about 25 chapters. This is subject to change, but at least you have somewhat of an idea how much fic is left. :)


Chapter 16

Three Years Ago

Ben's mind spun as he jumped into the car still waiting outside of Snoke's building, giving the driver the address of Rey's building. His heart raced, despite knowing that Snoke was lying. Rey wasn't the type to accept a payoff like that. She didn't beg for money on the streets. She played. She wrote music. She performed. It was different. She hadn't ever cared about being rich.

Plus, she had told him she loved him.

He repeated these things to himself as traitorous voice in the back of his mind wondered how well he really knew her. Despite all the time they'd spent together, their mutual confessions of love, Ben had consistently felt that Rey was withholding a part of herself. He could never explain the feeling, because Rey had always seemed so open, so vibrant when she was around him. However, there had been those times when she had hinted—or outright admitted—that her cheerfulness was a front to cover her sadness and loneliness.

What if she had done the same thing with him? What if she had merely been having fun with him, putting on a show? She had refused to move in with him, after all, and had shut him down so many times before finally agreeing to having sex. He had been the one to say "I love you" first.

He pounded his fist against the window, the driver glancing back at him with a frown. He hated this, hated that he had any doubts. Rey loved him. She wouldn't accept money from Snoke to leave him.

His knee bounced up and down as the driver made his way slowly across the city to the poorer section before finally stopping in front of the condemned building Rey had made her home in. He jumped out, telling the driver to leave. He would find his own way home.

He rushed up to the building, pausing at the dilapidated entrance. He paced back and forth a few times, trying to calm himself down. He didn't want Rey to think he was doubting her.

He wasn't.

Snoke was lying.

He had to be lying.

Swallowing and exhaling sharply, he knocked on the door and then resumed pacing, running his hand through his hair.

When several minutes had passed with no answer, he knocked again, louder and longer.

Rey usually answered pretty immediately. Ben checked his watch, verifying that it was late enough for her to be back at her home. She generally stayed in the building once the sun set, knowing she was the risk of danger was much higher at night.

When there was still no answer, Ben ran a hand through his hair, kicking the side of the building.

His panic erasing whatever worries he might have had at being rude, Ben decided to just barge into her home. What if she was hurt? And if she wasn't there, he'd wait for her. He tested the door, unsurprised to find it wasn't locked. He frowned at the reminder that Rey would rather stay in her dangerous living situation than move in with him. He walked further in, through the rotting shell of a building to the back, where Rey kept her things and slept.

He cursed under his breath. No. He couldn't accept Snoke's offer. He couldn't leave Rey here. This was dangerous. Setting aside the lack of security and potential for intruders and other squatters, the building looked one stiff breeze away from crumbling. He didn't care what he had to do; he was going to convince Rey to live with him. If he didn't think she'd call him crazy, he'd propose they elope. He knew there was no one else for him, and maybe a proposal would have convinced her his feelings were permanent. But he also knew her well enough to know she'd think he was crazy. That they were moving too quickly. He exhaled, feeling exasperated at her stubbornness.

When he finally reached the small room Rey kept her things, he pulled up short, blinking rapidly as he took in the room.

It was completely devoid of all of Rey's personal affects.

He stepped in, looking around, hoping maybe she had just moved things around. But no. It was completely empty. Gone was her sleeping bag, the crate she used as a makeshift dresser empty, none of the little knickknacks she had collected over the months were lined up the wall.

He ran both hands through his hair, tugging at hit as panic hit him square in the chest. Where had she gone? Had something happened to her? He should have gotten her a phone and forced her to use it earlier. What if someone had taken her, stolen everything she had, and she hadn't had a way to contact the authorities for help?

Swallowing, he looked around, feeling helpless, until a scrap of paper and a broken pencil caught his eye. He rushed over, picking them up. The paper looked to be a receipt. He turned it over, scrawling quickly on the back.

Rey,

I'm not sure where you are, but please if you get this, come to my apartment so I know you're safe.

Love always,

Ben

He glanced around, wondering where to stick the note so that she would see it. He remembered an old corkboard at the front of the building with a couple thumbtacks still on it. He raced up to the front, crushing the note in his hand.

He grabbed a couple rusty pins and ran back to the first doorway, tacking the note onto the doorjamb where she could easily see it.

He huffed, frustrated that he would be forced to wait, that he was so helpless to find her, that she hadn't come to him after Snoke made his offer.

When he finally exited the building, he nearly ran into someone on their way in.

"Watch it!" Came a harsh voice, eyes glaring up at him from underneath a stocking cap pulled low, a ratty coat offering likely very little protection from the chill night air.

Ben frowned at the man. "What are you doing here? Someone lives here already."

The man coughed into his hand. "I know. Me."

Ben crossed his arms. "No, you don't. I know who lives here."

The man coughed again. "If you're talking about Rey, she's the one who told me it was free."

Ben recoiled as shock rippled through him. "What?"

"She left a few hours ago with a couple bags. She found me at my usual haunt and told me I could stay there."

Ben shook his head. "No." Suddenly there seemed to be less oxygen in the air. "You're lying."

The man scoffed. "Why would I lie? She said her fortune had changed. She found a new place to live."

Ben grabbed the man's shoulder. "Where? Where is she living?"

The man rasped a laugh which dissolved into coughing. "You think she would tell me? We're not friends. She just wanted to repay the time I lent her a pair of gloves when she first got to this glorious city."

Ben shook his head again, backing away. "You're lying. She—She wouldn't leave without telling me."

Without waiting for the man's reply, he turned around and ran. He ran several blocks before his legs finally gave out and he hailed a cab to take him back to his apartment.

Rey wouldn't take Snoke's money and she wouldn't move without telling him. He just had to wait for her to find his note and meet him at his apartment.


Three Years Ago

Hux shoved the probably flea-infested coat and hat out to the homeless man he'd bought them from. If he got lice trying to secure Ben Solo for Snoke, he was going to demand a pay raise.

"Here's the other hundred dollars." He shoved the bill towards the man, who quickly snatched and hid it away.

Snorting, Hux turned, "Pleasure doing business with you."

He hurried back around the corner to the dilapidated building, his lip curling as he stepped inside.

What did that moron want with someone who lived in such disgusting and dangerous conditions?

He glanced to the left and spotted a white piece of paper tacked onto the doorjamb.

He read through it, snorting as he ripped it to shreds and let the pieces flutter to the ground.

He walked out the door, deciding he should definitely ask Snoke for a raise.


Three Years Ago

"Here you go."

Rey jumped as Lando set her tea down. She closed her eyes, inhaling to try to calm her nerves. She tried to smile, but could only manage to lift the corners of her mouth.

"Thank you."

Lando raised his eyebrows. "What's got you so down, Little Miss Rey of Sunshine?"

Rey paused, but then realized that Lando was a family friend of Ben's parents. Maybe he knew where Ben was, whether he had truly left with Snoke.

"I…I'm waiting for Ben." She swallowed at the tremor in her voice. "Have—Do you know whether he's still in town?"

Lando tilted his head, seeming surprised by her question. "I haven't seen Han or Leia in a few weeks at least."

Rey swallowed again, feeling like her throat was coated in sandpaper, and nodded. "Ok. Thank you."

She could see Lando staring at her in her periphery, but grabbed her tea, taking a sip as she tried calming her nerves. She had moved her things to her new living space after leaving Ben's. She had wondered about leaving a note at her old building for him, but at the time had felt it would be unnecessary.

She glanced at the clock on the wall, noting that it was now 11:28. She had been waiting for nearly an hour and a half.

She closed her eyes, feeling like her heart was cracking in two as she allowed herself to accept the likelihood that Ben had well and truly left her behind.

She set her cup down, feeling close to a breakdown and unwilling to cry in public. She forced her emotions down, taking a deep breath, and walked up to the counter, asking for a to-go cup. She ignored Lando's look of concern, grabbing the cup and heading for the door as quickly as possible.

She headed for her new dorm room. Since the Juilliard semester was already close to ending, they had found her a room without a roommate. She forced herself to think of other things during the walk there. She had spent many years hiding her feelings, learning early on in the system that tears only proved you were weak.

She climbed the stairs to her room quickly, feeling her façade rapidly deteriorating as the sounds of music filtered into the stairwell.

She unlocked her door with shaking hands, closing it behind her and sliding down it. Her tea dropped out of her hand, spilling all over the floor as Rey pressed her head to her knees, sobs wracking her body.


Three Years Ago

Ben didn't leave his apartment for days, skipping all of his classes without care, not wanting to miss Rey.

The first day, he had convinced himself that she just hadn't gone back to her old building, that she didn't know he was looking for her. He ignored the fact that they had seen each other daily since they'd first met.

The second day he trashed everything in his apartment. Glass littered his floor as he threw everything breakable against the wall until his neighbor called the police, thinking someone was getting murdered on the other side of the wall.

The third day, he threw on shoes, not caring that he hadn't showered in three days and probably smelled like a homeless person—an irony not lost on him—and ran to central park, to where Rey always played. When he got there, the spot was empty.

He immediately panicked, running full tilt back to his apartment. What if he missed her? What if she had chosen that moment to show up at his apartment?

When he got back, no one was waiting for him, but he couldn't talk himself out of his panic that he had somehow missed her, pacing back and forth in his destroyed living room, alternately running his hand through his hair and pulling it.

He ran out of energy at three a.m. that night, a sudden soul-sucking exhaustion hitting him as the reality that Snoke had been telling the truth hit him. He climbed into his bed, pulling the covers over his head.

On day seven—after ignoring all calls from his family, ignoring his mother when she had had the building's superintendent unlock his door in order to order him out of bed and back to school, and ignoring when she had changed tactics and tried to ply him with worry over his health until he had screamed at her leave him alone—Ben took a shower.

His clothes were loose after seven days of eating maybe once daily, but he didn't much care. He wondered if Snoke's offer was even still on the table, since he had missed whatever concert there had been scheduled in New Orleans. He hailed a cab, leaning against the door and staring unseeing out the window, feeling wrung out.

He rode the elevator up to the penthouse in a fog. When the doors opened, Snoke's face flickered from irritation to surprise before settling on sympathetic. Ushering Ben into the living room, he brought him a bottled water.

"I can see that you're understandably upset," Snoke said, eye him with concern on his face.

"Just get me a pen." Ben's voice came out in a rasp, though whether from disuse or from screaming at his mother the previous evening, he didn't know. "If the offer is still on the table, I want to leave as soon as possible."

Something Ben couldn't decipher glinted in the old man's eyes as he tsked sympathetically, offering Ben his pen and then making a phone call to have his private plane prepared for immediate departure.

When they embarked on the plane, Ben didn't even stop to marvel at the plane's interior, finding the first seat, putting in his earbuds, and turning on his angriest rock playlist.

He never wanted to set foot in New York again.


Today

Rey sat fidgeting in her seat, waiting for Ben's performance to start. The previous two evenings, she had been too nervous to pay much attention to her surroundings. Now, she looked around, noting that the theater was packed. It looked to be almost completely sold out.

It hit her then just how famous Ben was. She had known, of course, that he was famous, but somehow the reality of how many people loved his music had never hit her in quite the same way as it did that evening. He had truly achieved his dream.

She swallowed the bile in her mouth as she once again remembered this was his last performance in New York. She returned to shredding her program, as she had the previous two evenings, trying to talk herself down from the panic attack threatening to unravel her.

Why had she slept with him?

She swallowed down tears as she remembered the way he had cupped her face the previous evening, looking at her with so much emotion in his eyes. In the moment, she had really believed he loved and missed her as much as she did him. But that didn't change the fact that he would be leaving the next morning, abandoning her all over again.

She heard Rose's voice in her head, demanding she get closure. She gripped her dress, bits of paper falling to the floor. She could do it—would do it. She would demand to know why he had left her and would tell him what a mistake it had been to sleep together. It was well and truly over between them. It had to be. If she was ever to move on from the heartache he had caused her, she had to hear him tell her that he had left her because music was more important to him than she was, no matter how much those words would hurt to hear.

The lights dimmed, applause breaking out as Ben walked onto the stage.

Rey frowned. There was something off. He was walking stiffly, his back rigid, his hands in fists at his side.

He walked to the front of the stage, tension radiating off him as he nodded his head rather than bowing. He caught Rey's eye, the tension seeming to melt away as his lips curved up, though when he walked to the piano bench, his movement was still stiff.

Rey couldn't help the tendril of fear winding its way through her mind, telling her something was wrong. When he started to play, however, she knew for sure something was wrong.

The songs were the same as they had been the previous two evenings, and from a technical standpoint they was still flawless, but the emotion behind them were different. There were tendrils of sadness woven throughout the performance, intermixed with moments when she felt rage pouring out of his fingertips. Something was most definitely wrong.

Rey hardly blinked through his performance, her mind spinning over what could have caused such a change. Was he angry that he was leaving? That they had slept together? Was the sadness due to his imminent departure? Had he spoken with his family?

She jumped when raucous applause erupted all at once, surprised to find the concert was already over. The crowd surged to its feet, whistles coming from all directions as Ben stood, once more nodding in lieu of a bow. His eyes found hers and Rey was nearly bowled over by the intensity of his stare.

Unlike the previous two evenings, he didn't immediately rush off the stage, instead turning back to the bench and sitting down.

The audience quieted as they sat, eager to hear the encore that Ben had denied the previous two audiences.

Rey gasped when she realized she had never heard this piece before. She knew every single song he had ever recorded, and this one she had never heard. She hardly registered the murmurs in the audience as Ben let the emotion flow into the piece. It reminded her of something, the melancholy bluesy notes making her heart squeeze and her eyes fill with tears. For an encore piece, it was very muted and emotional, pulling sadness out of her heart against her will.

She jumped again when the audience applauded again, though she noted fewer whistles and when she looked around, she saw people talking to each other as they glanced at the stage. She even saw a few people wiping their eyes.

Ben stood, nodded once, and strode off the stage, his hands once more curled in a fist. Rey watched him leave, her concerns over what was wrong surging back to the forefront of her mind.

She continued to stare at the spot he had disappeared through, her mind whirling with all the possibilities for his sudden melancholy. Gwen Phasma appeared as if out of nowhere, startling her from her thoughts.

"Follow me please."

Without waiting to see if Rey would follow, Gwen turned and began walking towards the side door. Rey struggled to find something to say, to break the ice with this woman who clearly disliked her.

She cleared her throat. "How is it working for Ben—uh I mean Kylo?"

Gwen stopped so suddenly, Rey nearly ran into her. She turned around, eyes flashing as she narrowed them at Rey. "As a professional, it would be wrong of me to discuss my employer with you, and as his friend, I have no desire to break his confidence."

Rey blinked at her, nonplussed by the woman's vehement response. "I'm—sorry?"

Gwen said nothing, nodding once and turning back, continuing to lead Rey down the narrow hallway to Ben's dressing room.

Gwen stopped, knocking twice and then turning to leave without another glance.

Rey frowned at her retreating form, only peripherally aware that the door had been opened until she heard Ben speak her name on an exhale.

She turned, immediately forgetting about Gwen Phasma as her heart skipped a beat at the look in Ben's eyes. The heat and adoration she saw there caused previous night came rushing back to her. She bit her lip as her cheeks warmed.

Ben raised his hand, curling it around the sid of her neck, his thumb tracing her cheekbone. Rey's breath caught as her heart began an erratic staccato. He shifted his hand to the back of her neck, holding her gaze. She was nearly bowled over by the emotion pouring out of his eyes. He looked ready to both devour and cherish her.

Before she could fully process these emotions and what they might mean, Ben leaned down, brushing his lips against hers, seeming hesitant. When she made no move to push him away, however, he kissed her again, pressing his lips firmly against hers.

All thoughts of conversation melted from her mind as Ben consumed all the available space in her mind. She raised her arms, threading her fingers through his hair as she stood on her toes and pressed herself closer.

Whatever control Ben had had over emotions seemed to disintegrate. He pulled her into the room, shutting the door and locking it, pressing her against it. His hands roved over her, her shoulders, her waist, her hips, curving around and under her shirt to feel the skin of her lower back.

Rey was nearly as frantic, wanting to touch all of him at once, as if needing to prove to herself that this was real and really happening, that it wasn't just a fever dream. She mimicked him, her hands around his torso and up his shirt, feeling the broad expanse of his lower back.

She pushed her hands upwards, Ben pulling away just long enough to wrench his shirt off and toss it away.

He made to return to kissing her, but Rey placed her hands on his chest, gasping as she took in the bruising on his abdomen.

"It's nothing," he said, gently grasping her hands and pulling them off her chest.

She couldn't take her eyes off the bruise. It had to have been extremely painful. In fact, had he gone to the doctor? It looked like the sort of thing that might lead to damage of the internal organs.

"How did it happen?"

When he didn't answer right away, Rey looked up. He was staring at her, breathing hard, his hands on either side of her head against the door, bracing himself. Something flickered in his expression before he looked away.

It hit her then.

"Did Snoke do this?"

With a growl of frustration, Ben pushed off the door. "It's nothing."

Rey gasped when he turned away and she found a matching bruise on his back, following him as he walked to the couch, running his hands through his hair.

"That is not nothing, Ben."

He sat gingerly on the cushion, leaning back and dragging a hand down his face. "I don't want to talk about it."

Rey stood in front of him and crossed her arms. "I don't care if you don't want to talk about it. If Snoke did this, then you need to go to the police."

Why would he let Snoke get away with this? Why was Snoke even still his manager?

"I can't go to the police."

He sounded weary, but Rey didn't care. She felt anger on Ben's behalf bubbling up, anger she had kept repressed for the past three years.

"What do you mean you can't go to the police?" She sat next to Ben, pulling his hand away from his eyes, trying to force him to look at her. "You can't let him get away with this. You have to leave."

Ben stared at the ceiling. "I have a contract, Rey. I can't just leave."

Rey huffed. "Don't be a moron!" She stood, feeling restless. "He could kill you, Ben. Have you even been to the doctor?"

A muscle ticked in Ben's jaw and when he spoke, it was through his teeth. "Would you please just drop it?"

"How can you stay with him?" Rey's voice was getting louder as her frustrations grew beyond her ability to repress them.

Ben stood abruptly, towering over her, his voice cracking with emotion. "Because I don't have a choice!"

Rey's anger deflated as quickly as it had inflated as surprise and confusion replaced it. "What do you mean you have no choice?"

Fear crept up her spine, feeling like a cold spider was walking up her back.

"I'm stuck in a contract." Ben's voice was hardly above a whisper, but Rey saw the helplessness in his eyes. "I can't leave. If I do, I'll lose everything I have left."

Rey stared at him, at a loss for words. What could he possibly lose that was worth letting Snoke get away with abuse?

Rey didn't realize she had voiced the question out loud until Ben answered.

"He'll take all of my music with him if I leave. I'll have nothing."

Rey grabbed his hand, kissing his palm before clasping it with both of her hands and pulling it to her chest. She looked up at him, finding him already looking down at her, wary.

"You'll have me." She swallowed. "I'll help you. I—I've been studying under Luke."

Ben's expression shuttered close. "After everything he and my mother did to me, why would you let him mentor you."

Rey grasped his hands tighter, her heart squeezing at the hurt in his voice, willing him to set aside his old arguments for a moment.

"He's not the same. He's changed."

Ben snorted, looking away. "That doesn't change what he did." He looked back at her. "He tried to ruin my life and my mother helped him."

Rey nodded. "I know. And I'm not saying that anything they did was ok, but Ben, I'm telling you, they both miss you. We…we never talk about you, but on the few occasions I've seen Leia, she's a shell of the woman I first met. And Luke…Luke is the most uplifting mentor I could have. He challenges me, but he also knows how to get me playing at my best. If we go to them, I'm sure they'll be able to help you." She swallowed again, her throat feeling coated in sand. "They miss you."

Ben's face turned stony. Pulling away from her, he turned, walked a few steps, before turning back, the hurt and anger evident in his voice.

"So what you're telling me is that Luke treats you better than his own family."

Rey shook her head. "Please just let him apologize to you. If you come with me, you'll see that he's changed, that he regrets pushing you away."

Ben crossed his arms. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Rey mirrored him, crossing her arms and glaring at him. "Yes, I do! I know how he treated you. I was there, remember?"

"I remember you saying five minutes ago that you never talked about me, so you don't actually know how he feels." Ben sighed, exasperated, and ran his hand through his hair. "I burned those bridges, Rey. I left without saying goodbye, and I haven't talked to any of them since I left. I can't just go back because of a minor issue."

"Minor issue?" Rey's voice rose several octaves in those four syllables. She gestured towards his abdomen. "This is not a minor issue. Ben, he's abusing you."

"Will you just drop it?"

Rey recoiled at Ben's sharp voice, at the anger in his eyes, his hands fisted at his sides. Swallowing, trying in vain to remoisten her throat, she stepped towards him. Ben watched her with a wary expression.

Her voice trembled when she spoke. "Ben, I'm worried something worse will happen to you. You can't be hit repeatedly forever. He'll slip up and do something worse."

Ben's lips trembled and he looked like he was chewing on his words as he stared down at her. Rey held his eyes as she slowly reached out, wrapping her arms around him, leaning her head against his chest.

"Please let me help you," she whispered.

She didn't understand why Ben would allow Snoke to get away with this, why he would risk his life over music. Why was his music so important that he would throw everything away for it?

Ben stood frozen for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her in return, squeezing her so tight it was a little hard to breathe, and resting his chin on top of her head.

They stayed like that, unmoving and silent, Rey closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Being with Ben felt so right. It always had, but she had forgotten just how right it felt. Her breathing grew shallow when she remembered this was the last night she'd be with him before he left her again. And what would she do if she didn't get him away from Snoke and something even worse than bruising happened? What if she never saw him again? She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not moderate her breathing as she attempted to keep herself from crying.

She had spent three years not crying in front of people, but Ben had broken down all her defenses before he had even entered New York. The past several days she had felt completely rung out. How was she going to survive his abandoning her again?

Before she could stop herself, a sob broke through.

Ben tensed, pulling away, his hands grasping her shoulders so he could look down at her. Rey kept her eyes closed, ducking her head and holding her breath as heat flooded her face. She tried twisting out of Ben's grasp, but he held her firmly.

"Hey." His voice was soft and filled with concern. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Rey took a deep breath, knowing she needed to rip the bandaid off once and for all. "I'm scared for you…and we need to talk, Ben."

She opened her eyes when he didn't respond, surprised to find panic in his expression. He let go of her and turned away, running a hand down his face.

"Do we have to do this now?"

Rey squared her shoulders, swiping at her eyes. "Yes. It's your last night here and we need to talk about what happened three years ago."

Ben tilted his head back, and she could see the way his muscles tensed. Eventually he sighed, turning. "It's not my last night."

Rey blinked rapidly, caught off guard. "What do you mean?"

A corner of Ben's mouth curved up. "I'm staying for another four nights." When Rey didn't answer, his lips curved into a small smile. "I don't have another performance scheduled for five days, so I told Carnegie Hall to open up more performances."

He started walking towards her, but Rey felt frozen. He wasn't leaving? But he would still leave eventually. Did Snoke know he had done this? Why was he staying?

As if he could hear her thoughts, he said, "I'm staying so I can be with you for longer."

Rey's breath shuddered as she inhaled, her heart refusing to listen to reason, to remember that it was only for a short while and they had resolved nothing between them, only caring that Ben said he was staying for her.

He stood so close to her, mere inches between them as he raised his hand to cup her cheek. His eyes flicked between hers as he lowered his head, as if waiting for her to tell him to stop.

But she didn't want him to stop, her emotions soaring at his confession. Rising up on her toes, she pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him close.

Time seemed to slow as Rey once more reveled in how right it felt to be with Ben. A voice in the back of her mind, sounding like Rose again, tried to remind her to get closure, to talk about what had happened in the past, but Rey shoved it back. Maybe it made her pathetic, but she didn't want to know the truth right now. All she cared about was that Ben wanted to stay for her.

No one had ever wanted to stay for her.

Eventually they pulled apart, staring at each other silently.

Ben curled a piece of hair behind her ear, cupping her jaw. She saw his adam's apple bob, his voice hoarse when he spoke.

"I promise we can talk. Later." His eyes shuffled between hers. "Ok?"

Rose was yelling in her head again, but Rey nodded. "Ok." She pulled away. "But we do have to talk. Promise?"

Ben frowned, looking worried, but nodded. "I promise."

Rey frowned back. "So what now?"

Ben's frown relaxed into a smile. "Now, you get to see what it's like to play in the great Carnegie Hall."


A/N: I know I know...when are they going to talk right? LOL My outline has Rey and Ben figuring out what happened starting in Ch 18, though I've always been terrible at guestimating how long something will take to write, so it could be next chapter if my bullet points don't take up enough chapter space. Either way, soon. ;)