Author's Notes…

Slightly smaller chapter, but for those who are regular readers of my works, you know that I pump out chapters faster because they're not very long! Anyway, I'm so glad everyone is so excited over this story, because I'm having so much fun writing it! It's only been a few days so far, but it's already a blast!

For Carla

Chocolate

Chapter Three

In Her Heart

You can't run this time, Rey!

But… bloody hell, how she wanted to.

To run and run and never look back.

How did he manage to make her feel this way? So completely out of control? It didn't make any sense. She'd always been so practical! One look at Ben Solo, and she went absolutely barking mad.

What was it? Those sharp, dark eyes that didn't miss a thing? The knowingness that lurked there? The smile that always hovered on the edges of his mouth? The way his deep voice, like the most decadent of chocolates, played over every nerve in her body and made them melt?

"I feel it, too, you know," he said, his eyes never once leaving hers. The smile lines in his cheeks showed as his amusement rose to the surface. It was that long mouth of his. It transformed his face into something breathtaking.

"This isn't funny!"

Total seriousness eclipsed his face. "It's far from funny."

"You're smiling at me."

"You're hard not to smile at."

Rey couldn't… come up with any sort of… comeback to that… All she could do was bow her head, her heart nestled oh-so-snugly in her throat. No one had said things like this to her before. She wasn't equipped to deal with it.

Her head jerked up, her eyes wide as they stared into his.

What kind of a thought was that to have? She wasn't equipped to deal with it? Why not? How could she be so damaged as to not be able to handle—?

"I think you're scared."

Was it normal…? To be this afraid…? She hadn't been… "afraid" of what she felt for Poe. No, that had always been a whirlwind of pain—the painful certainty that he'd never notice, that he'd never—

"Why me?" she whispered.

"Rey." He chuckled softly. The wind picked up, rustling his hair, making the tree leaves whisper against each other and the swings nearby creak. "Why not you?"

Her knees gave out.

He caught her, his eyebrows flying up in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Er—yeah…" Rey cleared her throat. If she had thought herself embarrassed before, it was nothing compared to this. "I… um… I can't feel my legs."

She gripped onto him, hoping he would catch her meaning, and this wouldn't have to be drawn out longer than it had to. And, oh, he did—the smug little smirk that appeared on his mouth showed just how much he understood.

Ben snuggled her closer, resting his chin on her head. "You never answered me."

She hid her face against his shoulder. It was a safe haven from the rest of the world. "…Didn't I just do so?"

"Yes," he murmured into her hair. "Yes, I suppose you did."

The sunlight glinted off skyscraper windows as the cab rolled through traffic. Rey gazed past them, lost in thought, her lower lip between her teeth. It was nearing five in the evening. She hadn't left the park that long ago.

These new feelings still frightened her. They were blossoming so pleasantly and without any restraint from her heart. She meant what she'd said not an hour ago—she barely knew him. And, yes, they could "remedy" that… but not overnight. Not in the next ten minutes she'd given him before she'd made up some piss poor excuse and bolted.

Rey closed her eyes.

Beat her temple gently on the passenger window.

Christ.

Ben hadn't even given her a hard time for leaving. He'd deposited one last kiss to her forehead, said, "Okay," and returned to his spot beneath the tree. She'd stared at him for several moments, lost, and then walked away, her gait somewhat unsteady.

Get to know him…

She wanted to.

She really… really wanted to…

"Poe!" Rey exclaimed.

"Rey!" Relieved, Poe pushed off the wall beside her door and grabbed her by the arms. "Oh, thank God! I was so worried about you!"

Rey wasn't ready for this.

She would never be ready for this.

"You know I'm fine," she said. "Finn told you. He keeps you updated, I'm sure." Finn had all the subtlety of a child running for the ice cream truck, and he couldn't keep a secret to save his life.

"That's not the same thing, and you know it," Poe said severely. "Why are you avoiding me? C'mon, I deserve to know. We've been friends for… for I don't know how long, but—years. You know?"

"Three," Rey mumbled to her feet. "Three years…"

"Right! Three years!" Poe shook her gently, mock growling at her while laughing. "What's going on? You're my best friend. That hasn't changed because I'm married."

"Hasn't it?"

He drew away a little, taken aback. "What?"

"Nothing," Rey said quickly. "Look, there's nothing going on. I've simply been—busy." She winced inwardly. Finn would have told Poe how very not busy she was, aside from work and the like.

The curly-haired man gave her a stern frown. "Rey."

"What?"

"I—don't lie…"

"I'm not lying!" Rey, well… lied.

"Fine. You're clearly not busy now. Let's go have a drink."

"That doesn't seem right," Rey said, growing uneasy. "What would Rebecca think?"

"Then we'll take Rebecca!" Poe was laughing again, his eyes dancing with mirth. It was the sort of thing that had made Rey go floaty. Once. "She can meet us somewhere. Call Finn, we'll all go out as a foursome—"

"No," Rey said, pulling out of his grip.

It was like he'd never seen her before. "No? Rey, what—?"

Hurt.

He was hurt.

Damn it…

That was the one thing she couldn't quite shake—the overwhelming need to never make him sad or upset. But she couldn't do this anymore… She couldn't let this run her life. If she was going to appease him, then she'd do it on her own terms.

"I'll call… my boyfriend," she said. "Finn can come if he wants."

"Your boyfriend?" Poe said disbelievingly.

Rey had never felt more offended. She took a step forward, her hands balling into fists. "Yes," she said. "My boyfriend."

"You mean that guy at the bar a couple months back?" Poe raised an eyebrow. "I mean… Finn told me that you haven't seen him since then…"

Finn!

Bloody Finn!

If he could ever keep his damned mouth shut—

"Of course, I told him that," Rey said, staunchly refusing to back down. She was so close to telling him to bugger off. She would do so now, if it wasn't for the need to prove to him that she could have a boyfriend perfectly well, thank you very much. "I wasn't ready to talk about it until I knew for sure."

"Rey…" Poe cajoled.

"Well, you wanted to get those drinks," she said. "Come inside. Let me change, and I'll call him. You want to go to Mos Eisley again?" As she unlocked the front door, she tossed her keys on the kitchen counter and her purse on the sofa. Poe hesitated over the threshold. "What?"

"Nothing." He shut the door behind him. He was rattled. It was petty to feel vindicated. Rey knew that. It didn't stop her from rejoicing slightly. How dare he laugh to her face and all but call her a liar for saying she had a boyfriend?

Even if she technically didn't.

That was beside the point!

There were certain things you didn't say to a lady. And while Rey was an utter tomboy, she was still a lady.

She smiled widely at him and waved before stepping into her bedroom. There, she slipped her phone free from her back pocket and bit the bullet. There wasn't time to question herself, not with Poe in the next room. If she backed down now, she'd never be able to live with herself.

"Hello?" Ben answered the call with some surprise.

"Is that offer to make him jealous still on?" she muttered in the quietest way possible, but in a way that he would still be able to hear her. It was Poe she was worried about.

Ben went with it, on the same page without question. "Where do you need me?"

"Stop sounding so… smug," she said, remembering his earlier attitude at the park. She could hear it in his voice.

"We both know this isn't really about making him jealous. You didn't answer the question."

"The same place as before. Mos Eisley. And as soon as possible. If you get there first, I won't be long." She hung up, not wanting to hear anything else from that wicked mouth of his.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against the door, holding the phone to her chest.

Her heart was pounding again.

And it had nothing to do with the man standing in the next room.

Why? She'd only called Ben for what she'd said—to make Poe jealous. To show that she could be strong without him, that she wasn't there to be at his beck and call. But when she thought of that bar, of seeing Ben there, her stomach got all fluttery. Abruptly, she grew very concerned about her hair and make-up, not only her clothes.

"I'll be a minute!" she yelled, and without waiting for an answer, she stepped into her bathroom to freshen up.

"Hey, Rebecca and Finn are gonna meet us there in about half an hour. That gives us plenty of time to get downtown. So—" Poe's words trailed off.

Rey liked to imagine she was on a runway. She strode with the confidence of a model to the kitchen, the loose curls of her hair swinging around her face. The scent of Clinique In Bloom was a heady waft in the air. As she stretched over for her keys, the hem of her black dress rose, barely covering the curve of her arse.

"Uh…" Poe had to clear his throat a couple times. Rey didn't pay any attention to him, opening her silver clutch and tossing things into it. "What are you all dressed up for?"

She smiled at him through a long sweep of her lashes, giving her clutch a neat snick closed. The dress was simple, a loose rectangle form over black tights and heels. It had a white checkered pattern near the hem and along the collar. Combined with a thin silver necklace that hugged her throat and the smoky eyes she'd given herself, she really hadn't done too much.

Hehe.

"For Ben, of course," she said, being honest with Poe for the first time that evening. "You ready?"

"Yeah…" Poe studied her closely as she locked up. "You never wear lipstick."

"Don't I?" she laughed. "You're beginning to hurt my feelings, Poe. It's almost as though you forgot I'm a girl."

"Of course, I didn't!" he said indignantly.

"Right, right…"

"I didn't!"

"Mhm."

"Rey!"

"A grown man, whining. I've seen it all."

"What's gotten into you…? Man…"

Rey ragged on him all the way down to the street. They hailed a taxi fairly quickly. Poe held open the door for her, ever the gentleman. Despite her confidence in the flat, she made sure that her dress was suitably covering everything as she stepped into it. She didn't actually want to flash anyone. She was too much of a prude for that.

Poe kept up a nonstop prattle all the way to the bar. More than once, Rey tuned out, wringing her fingers in her lap. She tried not to chew on her lip. She didn't want to ruin her lipstick or get any on her teeth. The anxiety in her stomach… It wasn't that she wasn't accustomed to that feeling—she'd gotten more than her share of it in the last three years. That didn't make it easier to bear.

It was… different now, though…

Daylight refused to release its hold on the sky even though it was pushing seven in the evening. Spring was truly in high gear. Finn and Rebecca were enjoying a smoke outside the door to their favorite bar. Ben wasn't anywhere in sight.

Rey's anxiety increased.

He'll be inside. Calm down. Calm down.

"Hi!" Rebecca said sunnily, immediately going in for a hug.

"Oh—" Rey clipped a smile onto her face and patted her awkwardly on the back. It wasn't that she wasn't a hugger. She hardly knew the woman, and she'd stolen Poe from her… "You look… well."

"Marriage suits me, I think," the blonde chuckled.

"Mmm!" Rey agreed through her smile.

"Daaaamn, Rey!" Finn stepped in while Poe embraced his wife. He lowered his voice when he put his arm around her and spoke into her ear. "So, uh, what's this I hear about Creepy McGee being your 'boyfriend' now?"

"Stop calling him that, I mean it," Rey replied sternly. She had yet to drop her smile, so most of her words were coming out hissed. "Be cool, nerd."

"I will if you stop quoting How I Met Your Mother at me," Finn hissed back through his own mega-watt smile. "While are we smiling like this again?"

"To show how much we support this marriage," Rey said amiably. "Now let's move in the direction of the door and hope they don't start snogging—"

"Oh, too late—"

"Lovely—"

"I feel like we got Botox—"

"Just keep it up—"

The smell of cigarette smoke on a new level greeted their senses, along with refreshing cool air, as Finn and Rey made it into Mos Eisley. Their aching facial muscles relaxed, and they took out their IDs. Finn asked for a pool table—Rey's eyes went straight to the bar.

A familiar form was at the corner, scribbling on a notepad.

Adrenaline hit her in a heady rush.

And it was like he knew it.

Ben looked up right at that moment and met her eyes across the room.

He smiled slowly, the way a predator did when it had spotted its prey.

As he tapped the end of his pen against his notepad, Rey gripped onto Finn's shoulder, her knees wobbling.

Ben's smile widened into a knowing grin.

Bastard.

"Whoa—you okay, Rey?" Finn asked, grabbing hold of her and steadying her.

No.

But she thought… that, for once, that may be all right.