Hi. Sorry for any random questions marks in previous chapters. The Ao3 version has emojis in it and those apparently translate as question marks here. - skye

Summary:
The date.

A/N:
Thank you to skyeryder01 for reading this and reminding me of the nature of the flirting between these two lovable space idiots.

I waved my magic writer wand and declare that these two have had the birth control/ no STI conversation in a previous conversation because I just don't wanna write that. HOWEVER. Practice safe sex folx.

Wine and Flower Petals

Ben bribes Finn to help Rose babysit the kids so he and Rey can have an overnight date. Finn is easy to bribe; all it takes is Poe's number because somehow, bright, gregarious Finn is too shy or too besotted to ask for it. And if Ben drops a little hint to Poe, well, that can't hurt, right? If it helps his friends feel the way he feels about Rey, then he will absolutely help them along. The First Order had won the three-game series, and somehow they magically have an entire weekend before the next away set, so he intends to take full advantage of it, and he hopes his friends do too.

As for the date itself, Ben is at a loss, other than the pizza and orgasms he promised her. Half an hour before he's supposed to pick her up, he makes a liquor store run to stock up on anything and everything he thinks she might possibly ever want. He even stops at an outdoor flower stand, since he jokingly promised her flower petals. Anticipation ends up being too much for him, so instead of going home to chill the liquor, he goes straight to Rey's.

Finn's car is parked out front already, but Ben is kind of early, so he's not really surprised when Finn opens the door silently, gesturing over his shoulder at the shrieking laughter and loud music coming from the direction of Rey's room.

"Dude," Finn says when Ben heads in that direction after kissing the little girls on their heads and bumping knuckles with Jacen, "you do not want to go back there. They threatened me with a curling iron."

Ben chuckles and hoists the girls up on his shoulders, deciding to brave the chaos.

"Actually," Finn says, following Ben but hiding behind him, "you might have to rescue Rey. There's no telling what kind of torture they've inflicted on the poor girl."

"Oh no!" Ben says in a mockingly serious voice. "Can we rescue Princess Rey?" He jostles the giggling little girls on his shoulders before bumping his knee against Rey's door in a semblance of a knock.

More shrieking ensues from behind the door. Kaydel's blonde head pokes out.

"You're here early! Go away!"

Ben tries to peer past her, but can't see past the cloud of what he assumes is hairspray and steam from the shower.

"Save me, Ben! You're my only hope!" Rey's laughing voice comes from somewhere amidst the cloud.

"Hold on, kids, we're going in."

Ben pushes the door all the way in and chokes on the fumes.

Rey sits in front of a tall mirror propped against the wall, with Rose hovering around her holding a handful of brushes. She waves and mimes choking but laughs when Rose swats at her hand and yells at her to be still.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're rudely large, Sasquatch?" Rose yells from somewhere near his sternum. "Now scram. We'll be done soon."

Ben gapes at Rey, who just shrugs, so he does as he's told and escapes backward out of the room.

If a half-hour is soon , then they're done soon.

Rey emerges out into the sunlight where Ben and Finn are outside playing with the kids, and she looks beautiful as always, but since he fears the giant wrath of tiny Rose, he refrains from telling her that they're late.

"Hi," Rey says, almost shyly, and Ben tries to ignore the rush of blood that leaves his brain when she blushes and dimples up at him.

The light-blue dress she wears wraps closely around her upper body before flaring out from her waist and hitting half-way down her golden thighs. The v-shaped neckline crosses over and moves when she moves, and Ben has to grit his teeth to keep his jaw from going slack when he realizes that a ribbon tied in a bow around her waist is the only thing holding the dress together.

Rose gives him a knowing grin.

"Like what you see, Benny-boy?" Kaydel elbows him in the ribs, and all he can say is

"Ow."

Rey laughs at him, and her dimples grow deeper, and the sunlight picks out the green in her hazel eyes as she stares up at him.

"Jesus, you two, get a room," Rose says, then laughs at her own joke. "I guess that's the plan, huh."

"Shut up, Rose," Rey hisses before kneeling down to hug and kiss the girls. The blue dress splits over her thigh, nearly splitting to her hip, and Ben has to remind himself how to breathe. She hugs Jacen as Ben says his own goodbyes to the girls, and they won't let him go until he promises to cook for them when he stays over the next time.

Ben gives Jacen and Finn the universal dude half-hug, then takes Rey's overnight bag to throw it into the back of the Silencer after he opens her door. Once he's in the car, he rolls down the windows so she can wave as they drive away.

It feels like parents sending the kids off to prom, and he tells Rey as much. She grins at him.

"I have a feeling you hated prom," she says.

"I didn't even go."

"Oh, how sad. Why not?" she asks, peering up at him after sliding on large sunglasses.

Ben shrugs.

"Never had anyone I wanted to go with."

She puts her hand over his where it rests on the shifter.

"Too bad. I would have loved to see pictures of baby Ben in a tux."

He snorts at her but grins.

"I had the worst haircut at eighteen, and I was too skinny and all ears." He scowls a bit at the memory.

"I like your ears," she pouts at him. "What would I have to do to get you in a tux now ?"

"Aren't you a little old for prom?"

"Isn't there, like, a…baseball prom?"

Ben scoffs.

"Yes, but I've never been."

Rey gapes.

"There's actually a baseball prom?"

He laughs, flipping his hand over on the shifter to thread her fingers through his.

"It's not a prom, it's a formal party after the season's over, given by the owners…which," he pauses, "would now be Skywalker. So my mom is throwing a party for the teams she owns. Great," he groans.

"Oh, well if you don't wanna go…"

Shit, she wants to go?

"Do you want to go to a party like that?" he asks.

"Well, I would like to see you in a tux," she simpers at him.

"If I just wear a tux can we skip the party?" he tries to keep his tone light.

"Oh come on, don't you think it'll be fun?"

"A party, thrown by my mother, for all of the teams she owns? No, I don't."

Her face crumples a bit before he realizes that she really did want to go.

"Maybe I can go with Finn, if you don't want to go," she says in a small voice as she looks out the window so he can't see her face.

"Shit, Rey, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you actually wanted to go." He pauses. " Wanna go to the party with me?" he says in his best apologetic voice and raises their hands so he can brush his lips over her knuckles.

"Will there be food?" She still won't look at him, but she shivers at the touch of his lips against her fingers.

"Of course," he says.

"Hmm," she hums, peeking at him out of the corner of her eye.

" Fancy food. Leia Organa is known for her excelent taste in hors d'oeuvres."

She sighs.

"Will you dance with me?"

He doesn't answer until they reach a stoplight so he can look at her.

"Do you want me to?"

She nods almost bashfully.

"Then I will dance with you."

And her grin is big enough to know that she was messing with him the whole time.

"Good. And I'll find a dress just this side of scandalous. Deal?"

"S-scandalous?"

"Mhmm," and she flutters her lashes at him.

"And what does that mean?"

"It usually means no underwear."

Ben gulps at the thought of dancing with Rey in a dress that requires no underwear. His body temperature skyrockets, and he's extremely grateful that they've reached their destination.

"This is an interesting location for a date," Rey says peering out the window at the sign for the specialty grocery store.

"I thought you'd like to pick out your own pizza toppings," he says, grinning at her.

"And you are absolutely right! Let's go!"

And even though it's a little unconventional, it's probably the most fun he's had with her with their clothes on. He has basic ingredients for pizza crust dough: flour, salt, and yeast, but they wander through the aisles, choosing various items to adorn what Ben estimates will be about ten large pizzas, if they make them all at once. Rey, naturally, tries every sample and loudly proclaims her love for each one, except for the very smelliest of cheeses. They buy enough different cheeses and meat options for an army, and enough desserts for twice that.

The whole time they wander about the store, he can barely keep his hands off her, fingers itching to untie the ribbon to discover what's underneath. Instead, he limits himself to holding her close to his side as he pushes the cart haphazardly with one hand. She sneaks an extra box of lucky charms when he's not looking, and he pretends not to notice, and she pretends to not notice his pretending. Every few aisles, Rey will slide her hand in his back pocket and lightly dig her nails in while keeping a straight face and pointing out something silly, and it's all Ben can do not to throw her over his shoulder and run straight home.

When they're done and back in his garage, he begins unloading groceries, and she comes around behind the car to help him. She eyes the amount of liquor he purchased earlier.

"Fuck. Are we having a party?" She hefts two of the larger bottles up by the necks.

"Well, I wanted to be prepared," he replies nervously. "I wasn't sure what you would want."

She grins at him.

"Maybe we can have our own party," she says.

Please, gods, he thinks.

Rey doesn't speak again until they're in his apartment. She's barefoot and perched beside him on the counter again, glass of wine in hand, occasionally adding flour or water to his dough as needed.

"Ben?" Rey says, then takes a large gulp of wine, swinging her legs where they dangle over the edge of the counter.

"Yeah?" He dabs the tip of her nose with flour.

"I'm kind of- I mean I don't," and then she groans and downs the rest of her wine in one go.

"What's wrong?" He asks as he dumps the kneaded dough into an oiled bowl to rise.

He's washing the goo off his hands when she sighs deeply.

"The wine helps, I guess."

"Helps what?" Ben goes to stand in front of Rey, wedging himself between her knees. With her on the counter, he's eye level with her chest, and he is quickly losing the internal struggle to keep his hands to himself. So he compromises by placing his hands lightly on her hips. His hands nearly span her waist, and some primal part of him is pleased that he's so much bigger than she is.

"I'm…I'm nervous, Ben," she admits, a blush covering her chest.

He snaps his head up to meet her eyes.

"Nervous? Why?"

She's so perfect for him, so good and so sweet. What does she possibly have to be nervous about?

Rey buries her face in her hands, and her answer is muffled.

"Long time…not much…sex…nervous."

Ben strokes his thumbs along the bottom of her ribcage.

"We don't have to, if-if you don't want to."

He might die, but if she's nervous…

"I want to," she says through her hands. "It's just… you're so big ."

Oh.

OH.

That primal, animal part of him preens at that, and he hopes he manages to stop the enormous grin that's threatening to split his face.

"Rey." He wraps his hands around her wrists and tugs gently until she lets him pull her hands from her face. "You're worried because it's been a while?" He moves her hands so that one is rested on his shoulder, and the other, he holds in his own and presses her palm to his lips.

She nods.

"And you haven't had a lot of…experience?" He kisses the soft skin of her wrist and slowly works his way up her forearm.

Her breath catches before she speaks.

"I've had experience , just not a ton and not with… someone like you."

Now his mouth is at her collarbone, and he just barely traces it with his tongue.

"Someone like me?" He nips the base of her throat and sucks a mark into her skin, smiling against her as she starts squirming beneath him.

"Ben," she says. "Pay attention."

"I am," he says, working his mouth up her neck to the soft spot beneath her ear. He bites down lightly, and her back arches, thrusting her body flush against his.

Rey backs up a bit and places a hand on either side of his face, pushing him away from where he's contentedly marking her neck with his teeth.

"Benjamin."

His eyes meet hers and he can't quite read the emotion that he sees there.

"What is it?" Now he's worried. He racks his brain, trying, to figure out what he did wrong.

"I don't," she pauses and sighs. "I don't know how to be with someone like you. You're so attentive and so good to me." She looks down, away from him. "I don't want to disappoint you," she says in a very small voice.

How could she possibly believe that she'd disappoint him? Ben resolves to hunt down and hurt anyone who's ever made her feel that way.

"Rey," he says, trying to keep the growl out of his voice. "You can't disappoint me." He pauses. "Look at me." She does, slowly. "I want you. Do you want me?"

She nods.

"And I care about you, Rey, a lot. Have I done anything halfway with you?"

Rey shakes her head.

"I guess the real question is do you trust me to take care of you?"

Her thumbs graze over his cheekbones before she leans forward to rest her forehead against his.

"I do," she whispers.

And that's all he needs to hear.

Ben scoops Rey off the counter and into a bridal carry. She's still quiet, but she nestles her face against his chest as he carries her down the hallway before kicking open the door to his bedroom and placing her gently on the floor.

Her lips are soft and warm as he molds his to hers, and she softens beneath his touch. And then his words from earlier in the week come back to him.

"Shit! Rey!"

Rey leans back, cracking her eyes open and looking confused.

"What did I do?"

"I forgot the fucking flowers!"

"What?" she asks, confused.

"The flowers! I told you there'd be wine and flowers but I forgot to do the thing with the flower petals on the bed. Fuck. They're still in the fucking kitchen!" Ben rakes his hands through his hair, berating himself for being so ready to see her that he'd completely forgotten his plans for romance.

Rey blinks up at him a few times, then turns around, shoulders shaking.

"Rey?"

She turns back to face him, tears streaming down her face.

She is laughing at him.

"Oh, gods, Ben. I don't need flowers. I just want you ." She wipes her eyes, then presses her body into his and reaches her face back up to his.

"Are you sure?" he asks. "I promised you flowers."

"Later," she says, her voice getting husky. "Don't you think we've waited long enough?"

Rey is ready , so she steps back from him, separating their bodies. She holds up a hand between them when he starts to follow her, and with her other hand, she unties the bow that holds her wrap dress together. Looking up at Ben's face, she can tell that he's stopped breathing. Somehow, the two pieces of the dress remain closed, despite being untied. So Rey reaches up to push the two pieces apart, but Ben's hands stop her. He takes half a step closer, reaching between them. With agonizing slowness, Ben reaches beneath the fabric to slide his fingers up over her ribcage and chest to her shoulders, where he gently pushes the sleeves of the dress down, finally making it gap open over her body. Ben lets out the breath that Rey knew he hadn't realized he was holding and pushed the dress the rest of the way down her arms.

Standing before him in nothing but scraps of lace, Rey can finally bring herself to meet his eyes.

Her earlier reaction was silly, she knows that, and she feels every ounce of trepidation leave her body as Ben stares at her. The light-pink lace of the bra is barely there and does nothing to hide the darker pink of her nipples, and she can tell when Ben notices that they're already pebbled and waiting for him to draw them into his mouth because his eyes go nearly black and never make it past the bra to the matching lace of her now-damp, barely-there panties.

"Ben?"

"Mmm?" He's pulling her closer to him and is in the process of lowering his mouth to hers.

"You remember the first time you slept over and you had too many clothes on?"

His eyes are still on her tits as he murmurs his assent.

"Well. It's happening again."

Rey reaches between them to start unbuttoning his shirt, slowly exposing the exquisitely muscled planes of his chest. Once all the buttons are all undone, she mimics his earlier movement and pushes the sleeves all the way down his arms, enjoying the feel of hard muscle beneath her fingertips. Ben has remained surprisingly still, and when she looks up at him, he's watching her like she's prey about to be devoured. When she meets his eyes, her fingers trail down over the hard planes of his stomach and down to unbuckle his belt and unbutton his jeans. He groans as she pushes his jeans past his hips and quickly kicks them off.

And when they're both staring at the other's mostly-naked state, something between them snaps into place, and he pulls her to him, threading one hand into her hair and placing the other on the juncture of her neck and shoulder and just stares into her eyes. Rey feels both of their hearts pounding as she goes up on her toes, pressing her entire body against the hardness of him, and slanting her lips to fit his. The moment their lips touch, Ben goes into action. The hand at her neck grips tighter and he uses the hand in her hair to tug her tightly against him. His tongue flicks over the seam of her lips and she gladly opens to him. One of his thighs pushes between her legs, and she grinds against him. He makes a sound deep in his chest and moves his hands to reach around and unhook her bra, sliding the straps gently over her shoulders before dropping the lace to the floor.

Before she can make a quip about how easy that was for him, Ben has kissed his way down to a nipple and bites down harder than he has before, and all words leave her head as his tongue swirls over her now reddening skin to ease the slight pain. Then his other hand leaves her hair and trails down between her breasts before splaying out over her belly and dipping beneath the pink lace that barely hides her sex.

He lets out a satisfied growl against her skin when he finds her completely smooth and wet for him. One finger slips between her folds and sinks into the wetness there and Rey nearly keens at how good he feels.

She gasps his name as he presses the pad of his thumb over her clit and slowly curls his finger inside her. Rey's hips buck involuntarily as he moves his mouth to her previously neglected nipple and bites down like he did before. "More," she pants, pushing against his hand.

He obliges, slowly pressing another finger into her, stretching her walls. Rey reaches between them to wrap a hand around him, slowly pumping her fist. Ben jerks involuntarily and crooks his fingers inside her. They each rock their hips into the other's hands until Rey decides that she has had enough .

"I need you. Now," she says against his skin. Ben growls and stalks forward until the backs of her thighs touch the softness of his bed, and she crashes down, bringing him with her. His body cages her in, and for a moment, the darkness of his eyes and his body towering over hers make her feel like prey about to be devoured, and oh, how she needs to be that for him. Slowly, with a final twist of his fingers inside her, Ben pulls both hands to her hips to draw the lace down over her hips, flinging the scrap of fabric behind him. Hooking her fingers into his boxers, Rey pulls the waistband down so she can really see him. And she purrs at the sight, at him looking down at her, chest heaving and pupils blown.

Hooking an arm beneath her knee, Ben slowly pulls her leg up until her leg is pressed into her chest, with his hand beside her head. She can feel him at her entrance, so she flexes her hips to brush her slick heat over him. The hand gripping her hip flexes, pushing her hips back down into the bed, and his eyes close as he leisurely rocks his hips to brush his head through her folds.

"Ben," she pleads, needing him now . "Tease me later, god damnit."

" Such a dirty mouth, Rey," he says, pressing the tip of his cock into her. "Don't you want me to take it slow?" He pushed another inch into her.

Not enough .

"I want you," she says through gritted teeth, "to fuck me." Wrapping her free leg behind his hips, she uses it for leverage to pull herself up, impaling herself on his cock.

Gods above.

The stretch is almost too much for her, and she's so full she can't breathe . But her hips move of their own accord, and suddenly Ben is moving with her, thrusting so deeply inside her that a sound that is more animal than woman tears itself from her lips.

And they're gasping together and it's so good so good just what I needed-

When he stops. And pulls out.

"Stand up, Rey." His voice comes out deep and husky and Rey finds herself scrambling to obey him. He stands too and walks around behind her, fingers brushing lightly up from her hips up to her nape and around to cup her breasts, thumbs flicking over her nipples. Then he moves one hand down to grip her hip.

"I said I wasn't going to fuck you bent over the bed like a caveman," his breath tickles her ear, and chills spread over her body at his words. "But I think you liked the idea, didn't you?"

Rey nods even as he's shoving her upper body down so her tits are flattened on his black sheets, his hand pinned beneath her. Ben's thick fingers find their way between them, spreading her folds before plunging back into her. They moan in unison when he bottoms out, his hips slamming into the globes of her ass.

And then he's fucking into her and it's all she can do to keep from melting into the mattress. His hand beneath her finds a nipple and pinches, hard, and Rey's eyes roll back as she feels the beginnings of her release start to crash through her like waves in a hurricane.

Rey growls his name when her walls start fluttering around his cock and he presses his chest to her back, rutting into her through the orgasm that won't stop coming . She goes limp when she feels Ben's muscles seize against her back, and he shudders, spending himself inside her.

He collapses over her back, resting his weight on his arms, and brushes a kiss over the back of her neck.

"I really did plan for flowers and candles and shit," he whispers.

"You can make it up to me later," she whispers back, turning her head so he can kiss her temple.

He gathers her up into his arms and gently turns her face up, then places her at the head of the bed.

"Wait here," he says. "I'll be back with wine and snacks."

Is it too soon to love him, she thinks, sighing happily as she watches his gorgeous backside disappear through the door. Contentedly, she falls back against the smooth coolness of his pillows, sated and smiling.

She must have fallen asleep, because when she jerks upright, Ben is nowhere to be seen, but two glasses of sparkling wine and a tray of fruit and cheese wait on the nightstand beside her. A faint sound of running water comes from behind a door she hadn't noticed earlier, so she pads over to it and toes it open to find Ben leaning over an enormous jetted tub, dumping what looks to be an entire bottle of bubble bath in. Every flat surface in the room is covered with candles and flowers, and Rey takes it all in as she leans on the door frame.

"Candles and flowers, huh?" she asks, smiling down at him.

Ben jerks upright, dropping the bottle in his startled haste to stand.

"Um. Yeah." His stammering is adorable, especially after the way he just fucked her. "I mean, I promised." He shrugs.

"You're an idiot, Solo," she says walking over to him and wrapping her arms around him. "I only ever wanted you."

xxxxx

Thank you all for the lovely comments I've gotten. It's so wonderful to see people liking my silly baseball story.

Rey's Dress