Author's Notes…

Yay! I'm so glad everyone had such a positive response to the last chapter! The journey continues!

I wanted to make a note for anyone who reads The Bond That Ties Us: I am currently rereading/editing the story because we're approaching the climax. I want to make sure that I've got everything consistent and lined up.

Some disclaimers: I do not own Muse's Time Is Running Out. I also borrowed an article from Elite Daily, and that link can be found here, although fanficnet is eating the first part of it: p/20-deep-questions-to-ask-your-crush-during-a-game-of-20-questions-2930739. It's mentioned and credited entirely in the chapter.

Slight NSFW in this chapter! Read at your own discretion!

For Carla

Chocolate

Chapter Seven

Twenty Questions

"Ah…" Ben rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "…Yeah, actually."

This was so—

Rey fought the urge to jump up and down. She was not twelve-years-old. She did, on the other hand, throw her arms around him. Two things happened in quick succession. The first: she lost the ice cream cone. The second: she remembered that she hadn't showered since the fencing match with Finn.

She immediately put five feet between them.

Ben's arms hovered awkwardly. They were paused mid-motion in returning her hug.

She swallowed. "Hey, so… I… I—I'll meet you back here in an hour!"

"What—Rey!"

"I will, I promise!"

She jogged off, grateful when he didn't follow. It meant he trusted her—or, at least, was taking her at her earlier word. But he didn't have anything to worry about.

She was most assuredly coming back.

Rey got back to her flat as quickly as she could. She stripped on the way to the shower. She scrubbed herself near raw, blow-dried her hair, attacked it with a flat iron. Barest bit of make-up—a black blazer over a simple white shirt with skinny jeans. Flats that she skipped into one-handed while pawing for her keys.

Blowing strands of hair out of her eyes, she finished stuffing her toes into both shoes. For the first time since she'd left the park, nerves tangled in her stomach. She clasped her empty hand over it, lowering her chin to her chest and closing her eyes. It wasn't that the anxiety was unfamiliar; that was a frequent friend where it concerned Ben. But it had a different flavor now.

Now she—really, really cared about how he saw her.

Oh, how the tides had turned.

She called Finn on the way down to the street.

"Yo!" he answered on the first ring. "What's up? You ditch him already?"

"No! Oh, my God, Finn!" She was speaking in a hushed voice, and she didn't even know why. No one was around—Ben wouldn't hear her confiding his secret to the man on the mobile. But, by all that was holy, she had to tell someone! "You're never going to believe this!"

"I have bruises on my ribs, Rey!"

She hopped into the back of a cab and directed them to Theed Park. "Yes, and we may discuss that at great length later."

"Rey Kenobi—!"

"Finn!" Rey cast a furtive glance at the driver, who was humming to some 80s hair band. He wasn't paying attention. Excellent. "Ben is Ashley Hayden!"

"—I can't believe you would just ignore how you—… wuh… say what?"

"He's Ashley Hayden!"

"Whaaaaaa? No!"

"He is!"

"Whaaaaaaaaaa? No!"

Rey's eyes narrowed. "If you're done joking?"

"Okay, but, seriously, he is? Damn, girl, that's crazy!" Finn trilled. "What are you gonna do?!"

She wasn't sure she liked how he'd asked that question. "What do you mean, what am I going to do?"

"I mean, are you gonna… you know?"

"Finn!" Rey half-shrieked.

"All right, all right! I'm sorry! You're such a prude, Rey! I was joking. What are you doing talking to me right now, anyway? Isn't Ashley Hayden your idol?"

"Well, I was—soaked through!" Rey argued. "I went to freshen up, I'm on my way back to meet him now!"

"Freshen up." Finn snorted.

"What?"

"You know what."

"No." Rey set her jaw. "I don't. What?"

"Gurl, you know you're going to hit that. All right, I'm gonna let you fight the good fight. Let me know all the details later!"

Click.

Why did wanting to be clean equate wanting to have sex?

Honestly!

Instead of being camped out beneath a tree, Ben had found a nice bench to rest on. He was on his back, his eyes closed, his hands folded over his stomach, completely unconcerned about anything dire happening to his person. How could he have such a casual disregard for his safety? Was he that confident he could defend himself?

She found this both attractive and stupid. Attractive, because the idea of Ben defending himself against hooligans was… hot. Stupid, because—well, that was self-explanatory.

"I could attack you," she said.

He didn't open his eyes as he replied, "You could. It wouldn't end well."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I have a black belt." Ben sat up, pushing his fingers through his hair to make it fluff up. He rested his forearms on his thighs, his fingertips touching between them. "Although, I saw you fence. I wouldn't want to be around you when you're armed."

She laughed. "That's not precisely an everyday weapon."

He cracked a grin. "Regardless."

"A black belt, huh?" Since he wasn't getting up, Rey perched next to him on the bench. "Really?"

"I wouldn't lie to you. Anyone else, I would. But not you. Never you." His eyes roamed over the park. Searching for shady individuals?

"Why is that, exactly…?" Rey bit into her lower lip, chewing for a moment. The taste of her lip gloss—birthday cake—crossed her tongue. "You barely know me."

"I don't know." He put both of his elbows on his knees and shoved his hands into his hair. He kept his head down. A snort left him, mixed in with a self-deprecating snicker. He exhaled through his nose. "I've thought about it over and over again, and I haven't been able to come up with anything."

"Really?" Rey's heart fluttered. It was irritating, mostly because it made her glad she was sitting down. She wasn't sixteen! The madness had to end! Now, if only she could get her body to comply…

"Yeah." He laced his slender fingers together, took a moment to gather his composure, and then looked her directly in the eyes. "I've meant everything I've said. Let's pretend… that you don't know my pen name…"

That's going to be hard, she thought.

"…Would you still mind letting me into your life more?"

"I wouldn't."

Shite.

Why had she said that?

"I—" But she couldn't make herself take the words back. She tucked her hair behind her ears and wished she'd had the foresight to bring a hairband. "It's… been a long time since I felt this way. I've been in love with Poe for forever…" She shook her head, trailing off.

"Are you ready to admit that you don't care about making him jealous anymore?"

No.

"Rey… you're twenty-five, so… I'll say this as gently as I can manage. I know you're hurting over Poe… but—well: grow up."

Rey got to her feet, too restless to sit there. Ideally, were she on her own, she'd pace. She wasn't going to do that in front of him. He must have already thought she was a spaz. "If I said I was?"

"I'll do whatever you want," he said, echoing his words from the Saturday afternoon in this very park. "Even if you don't want to admit it. All I ask is that you stop running away from me."

She put her fists on her hips, tapping the toe of her flat against the grass. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. She often had this problem. "I mean…" She laughed softly. "You—you told me that you were… that you're basically my idol. I—I can't run away from that."

That wasn't what he wanted to hear, though.

Rey rolled her head back, watching the night sky begin to spread its claws through the clouds. "Honestly… I'm tired of running. Even—even if you weren't my idol. Christ." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's like I'm in the middle of a Muse song."

"A Muse song?" Despite it being an odd thing to say, he was curious. "Which one?"

"Don't worry about it."

I think I'm drowning, asphyxiated, I want to break the spell that you've created… You're something beautiful, a contradiction, I want to play, I want the friction… You will be the death of me… Yeah, you will be the death of me… ran through her mind.

"No, tell me," he insisted.

"Time Is Running Out," she muttered.

Under the impression he hadn't heard her, she gulped in the cooling evening air. But when she shook her head and decided to change the subject, she saw the evil little smile at the corner of his mouth.

Damn it.

"That's old-school Muse," he commented. She shivered, prompting him to say, "Let's go somewhere warm."

"Like where?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"That's such a complicated question," she laughed, conflicted to her core.

"Why?" He crept closer into her personal bubble.

Rey was never able to breathe when he was so near to her. She put her hands in her back pockets so that she wouldn't be tempted to touch him.

"I…" she breathed.

"Come to my place," he said.

"What?! No!" She covered her blushing face with her hands. There went that tactic.

"You like my books, right?" He traced a fingertip along her hairline—toyed with a strand of her hair. Her knees, predictably, went numb. She was proud of herself when it didn't show. "I promise I won't do anything you don't want me to."

Rey eyed him dubiously.

For the first time, a flicker of impatience showed on his face. "You want me to trust you? It goes both ways."

"All right." She swallowed so hard it hurt. Stupid lump clenching her throat. "We can go there." She held up a finger. "But on the way, we play twenty questions!"

He kissed her temple. "If that's what you want."

Legs.

Not working.

He grabbed her by the waist and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Oi!" she cried. "Put me down!"

"But it's proven to be effective."

"I don't care!"

His laughter was deep and resonated just as deeply in her heart. After traveling a few feet, he set her down, and she smoothed her clothes out, scowling at him. The only good thing that had come out of that was that she could stand without aid again.

"You should know something," he said. It took only a moment to hail a cab. Rey mused that whenever it concerned Ben, she got exceptionally lucky with cabs being available. Normally, it was a struggle.

"What?"

He gestured she enter the vehicle first.

Once they were both situated and the door was shut, he answered her. "No one knows anything about me, and I prefer to keep it that way."

Rey wavered. Should she take back her demand about twenty questions?

He gripped her hand and squeezed. "I want to tell you."

Rey's throat constricted anew. "See, it's when you say those kinds of things that I grow fearful."

"Why?" His head listed slightly to the side.

"I think you know why." Had he ever thought about playing the piano? His fingers were so—

Rey's cries rang in her ears as she clutched at the sheets of Ben's bed. His elbow rested near her head as his hand played between her thighs. She was wet, considerably so, and when his fingers scissored, her hips bucked into him. He kissed her to muffle her moans, his thumb sliding up to her clit, rubbing fiercely.

It took everything she had to sit there and not throw herself out the other side of the cab. Half of the reason was because the car was already on its way to Ben's flat.

A fragment of that drunken night had returned to her.

"What is it?" he asked in a way that told her he knew exactly what had happened.

"N-Nothing." Flustered, she kept a steady hold on his hand. Releasing it would be another show of weakness. She refused to allow that. "You were saying that you didn't mind telling me about yourself?" Argh, a segue straight back into what she'd stated made her afraid.

Her head was fit to combust any moment now.

"Yes. And you were saying that it terrified you."

"I'm just not—" She shut her eyes, searching for the words. She wasn't as eloquent with them as he was. She wasn't the writer. "…I've never been… special to anyone before. This is new territory for me. All right?"

And that wasn't even including the fact that he was Ashley Hayden!

Ashley bloody Hayden!

"No one's ever been special to me before," he replied.

"Do you get these smooth lines because you write romance?" she asked. Historical romance with plenty of action to go around, but, at the end of the day, still romance.

"They're not lines," he said. "Do you want to go first?"

"All right…" She cleared her throat. "Parents?"

"Alive. Together. Yours?"

"Dead. Abandoned me. I have an adoptive father. Favorite color?"

"Green."

"Really? I could have sworn it was black. That's all you wear."

"You wear it a lot, too. Is it yours?"

Touché.

"No. I really like blue. Favorite book?"

"The Giver."

Hm. Interesting. "I read it when I was twelve. It's rather good."

"It's the best goddamn book on this planet." He said it so matter-of-factly that Rey knew it was useless to argue about the good and the greats of the past. "You?"

Rey ducked her head. This line of questioning hadn't been wise on her end. "…Er… well… it's one of yours, actually…"

She had the delight of watching the tips of his ears turn red.

"Where were you born?" she asked, breezing past the actual title. She'd gotten the impression that he grew embarrassed whenever his work was brought up in such a fashion.

"Here in Coruscant."

"Raised here, too?"

"I've traveled a lot. Britain?"

"What?"

"You. Is that where you born?"

"Oh." Rey chuckled at herself. "Yes. We came here years ago for my father's work." Catching the look in his eye, she said, "And since you're going to ask me about his work, I'll ask you about what your parents do first, since it's my turn."

"My father's a contractor and my mother's a senator."

"A senator?" She was suitably impressed. Not wanting to get into politics, she answered what he'd wanted to hear. "My father's an anthropologist. He received an offer from Ilum."

"That's a major Ivy League."

"Right. I see him on holidays. Your favorite movie?"

"A Quiet Place."

"Don't—make fun of me—"

"Oh, I wouldn't dare…"

She glowered at him.

He grinned lazily.

"Mine is Tristan & Isolde."

"James Franco?"

"He was so fit, and he really knows how to cry!" Rey giggled. "I preferred it when he was slender. But it was truly a good movie, in my opinion." She leaned into her seat. "Favorite show?"

"Parks and Rec."

"Ron Swanson?"

"April."

"Must be the sarcasm."

"And her general aloofness. Let me try and guess yours." He turned her palm over and traced her lifelines. Just when she'd gotten comfortable, too! Bastard. Did he want her to get hot and bothered enough to jump him?

Stupid question. Deserved a stupid answer.

"I suppose…"

"The Handmaid's Tale."

"Close," she said, privately impressed. It was on the list.

"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

"Going for topical?"

He went in the reverse. "The Office."

Rey shifted.

Ben smirked. "Which version?"

"I enjoy both," she replied stiffly. "Is dystopian your favorite genre?"

"It's an exception. I generally enjoy literary fiction." He veered into a different subject by pulling out his phone. "I'm running out of questions. Here. . '20 Deep Questions To Ask Your Crush During A Game Of 20 Questions,' by Cosmo Luce." All said with complete seriousness.

"Was that the first thing that popped up in Google?" she asked incredulously.

"It was near it. All right." He scrolled. "Have you ever dined and dashed at a restaurant?"

"No." Rey was horrified. "You?"

"Eh. The thought's crossed my mind, but no. Oh, goodie, here's one." She loved the layer of sarcasm he was able to incorporate into his tone that wasn't entirely dry. "If you could star in a movie, what movie would it be?"

Rey had to think about that one for a moment. He was still stroking her palm with his free hand, providing an unhelpful distraction. "…Can I change it to a TV show?"

"Sure."

She nodded decisively. "Gilmore Girls." She was prepared for his eyeroll and thus was not offended. "You? Movie?"

"Jurassic Park. That movie scared the shit out of me when I was a kid."

"So the old one?"

"I tend to prefer the classics. Are platonic relationships or romantic relationships more important to you?"

Rey took her time to answer this one, as well. She hadn't been in very many romantic relationships. Of course, she'd spent years pining after Poe, but… "I suppose it's platonic, but—it's only because that's what I'm used to. Not because I want it to be that way."

"I feel the same," he said with a faint smile. Then his eyes brightened with mischief. "You'll know the answer to this one for me. Even though the world has its problems, was any time period better than this one?"

"It's not World War II? I always hear about World War II from people."

"Is that yours?"

"No. We have the same answer again."

"What was your favorite dinosaur as a child? Mine was a raptor."

"Everyone's is a raptor," Rey sighed.

"They're scary as fuck. And, if you're interested in paleontology, there's an interesting history there. You didn't answer the question."

"I liked Littlefoot from The Land Before Time?"

He chuckled. "Would you rather someone always tell the truth or protect your feelings?"

"The truth," Rey said immediately.

"Agreed. And… the rest of these, I don't care for." He paused as the cab pulled up at the curve to his apartment. "Fourteen questions so far. Want to continue the rest upstairs?"

Upstairs.

The last time she'd been here, she'd done a walk of shame.

"Hey." Ben squeezed her hand. "You don't have to come up."

"No," she said firmly, tamping her nerves down. She was having a good time, and she believed him when he said they would only do whatever she wanted. "I'll go."

He smiled.

Her body tingled all over.

Double damn.