Two shots rang out in quick succession. Rey reacted without thinking, putting herself between Ben and the oncoming blaster fire. Her arm extended, and quick as a flash, the combat umbrella opened. She was just in time to shield herself and Ben from the blaster bolts—mostly.

Another shot sounded, but this time, Ben was ready. The bolt froze in mid-air as Rey stared on. He'd stopped it dead in his tracks and kept the shot from hitting her exposed arm. Before the Ovissian could get another shot off, Armitage's droids leaped from their posts and intercepted the male just as he turned to flee.

With a flick of his wrist, Ben redirected the blaster bolt and it shot harmlessly into the duracrete ground. Rey blinked at him and his, frankly, surprising display of power, but before she could say or do anything, the crowd reacted.

People started screaming—some were pushing, and the last thing Rey wanted was to get caught in the middle of a stampede. Fortunately, the droids were doing a good job of containing the Ovissian and the crowd.

At least they're good for something, Rey grumbled as she quickly ushered Ben to their waiting shuttle just before the crowd started to lose it. Fortunately, they were in the shuttle and out of the chaos before anyone could properly register what had happened.

Breathing hard and seated together on the long bench, Ben and Rey looked at each other.

"That was…"

"Shitty."

Rey looked down at her leg and realized she was hurt. Part of the deflected blast had rounded the curve of the umbrella and simmered along Rey's leg, burning a hole through her pants, singeing her skin. She'd not noticed until they were in the shuttle, but it wasn't a bad wound and she'd been through worse. Before she could scoot away to deal with her wound, Ben had captured her around the waist and was pulling her against him.

"We have to stop this or people are going to start getting ideas," she joked as she again found herself in his lap.

I'm going to start getting ideas if he keeps this up, she silently added to herself.

"I don't care what people think. I care about you, and you're hurt."

Rey didn't know what to say to that, so she just let him hold her for a moment because it was both what he seemed to need and what she secretly wanted. Eventually, they calmed down enough to assess her injury.

"Just a flesh wound," Rey quipped, though it did fucking hurt. She'd deal with it once she got back to Ben's—she'd definitely packed a first aid kit with some bacta.

"That you got protecting me," Ben replied, more somber than she'd ever heard him sound. His arms tightened around her middle again. He held her like he was afraid she'd slip out of his arms and out of his life.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Ben blinked. "Am I okay? I'm fine. You got shot!"

"A scrape, really. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

Ben shook his head. "This is my fault. I should have insisted that Armitage call in more security after that woman jumped on the stage."

Rey frowned. "This isn't your fault. We don't even know that they were shooting for you!"

"Who else would they be aiming for?"

Rey pointed at her chest. "Me? I am a notorious smuggler with warrants out on several planets."

Ben didn't look amused. "And I'm the son of an infamous senator and… Look. There're more reasons that someone would want to shoot me than you."

"Are we arguing about this?"

"No, but stop trying to minimalize your injury. I was… For a moment…," Ben stalled and Rey realized that he wasn't angry, he was scared—for her.

She didn't think that anyone had been quite so concerned for her wellbeing before. Maybe Finn and Rose, but they knew what she could handle. Ben… he didn't know what her life was like or what she'd been through, not entirely. And he was worried for her and upset that she'd been hurt trying to save him.

"It's my job," she reminded him quietly. "I am your bodyguard."

"True, but next time avoid using your literal body to guard me, okay?"

Rey sighed, but snuggled in closer. "I had an umbrella," she insisted, but at his crestfallen expression, she uttered a soft, "I'll see what I can do."

Evidently, he had no intention of letting her go, so Rey let her head fall against his shoulder as Ben's fingers trailed along the strip of skin revealed low on her back. His comforting scent and warmth enveloped her as she tried to calm her frantic heartbeat. As worried as Ben had been about her, she'd felt the same for him.

They didn't say much on as the shuttle skimmed through the Arkanis skyline back to Ben's place. He seemed upset about it all, even though she'd been hired specifically to do what she'd just done because there was legitimate cause for concern about Ben's safety.

Rey decided she'd try to get more out of the notoriously tight-lipped Maz when she got back to Takodana, but she realized she might have to settle for what Finn and Rose already knew, which probably wasn't more than she did. There was something more going on between Maz and Leia, and Rey needed to know what.

Before long, they were back at Ben's and inside his massive apartment. Ben tried to insist on helping Rey with her wound, but she waved him off.

"I smell like tabac, perfume, sweat, and blood. I need a shower—alone!" she clarified as a devious look crossed his face.

"Sure about that?"

"Yes, for now. Yes," Rey added. It wasn't that she was averse to the idea of showering with Ben, but after a long day and getting shot, it wasn't exactly the best time for a first-time shower together.

"I'll have 3PO prepare some food for us," Ben offered and Rey gratefully accepted before trying to find her way to wherever the droid had put her stuff.

"Third door on the left," Ben called as if reading her harried thoughts.

Right… she thought as the door slipped open as she approached.

Inside, like everything else in Ben's place, the room was massive. Large windows let in the dim light from the dreary planet, while a giant bed with sky blue coverings dominated the view. Her bags were waiting for her at the end of the bed.

Attached to the main room was a private bathroom, so Rey gingerly walked over to the bed, rustled through her bags, and grabbed her toiletries. The blaster burn was starting to hurt something fierce, so getting it cleaned and covered was top of her list of priorities. Still, her bacta spray was going to take hours to heal the wound, so she'd have to sit and suffer a little until then.

Rey stepped into the cavernous bathroom, and noticed the multi-spout shower—an actual shower with water, and not a sonic—as well as a sunken bathtub, all set against a peach marble backdrop. As much as she wanted to experience a real bath, Rey opted for the shower instead. She didn't want to get used to such luxuries and having a shower with running water was going to be a treat enough.

Rey peeled away the layers of her dark clothes before catching her reflection in a mirror. She was svelte, but her time with Maz had been good for her. She'd spent so much of her life scrounging for food that her reflection always seemed to show the haunting vision of a Jakku scavenger who'd gotten used to not having enough.

Her strength showed in the muscles of her back and arms, the curve of her ass, and the line of her long legs. Even her face looked less gaunt than she was used to. She looked like a warrior and, what was more, she was starting to feel like one. And with the day's antics, she needed her strength to keep herself and Ben safe.

Rey stepped into the shower which had at least a dozen spouts and seemed to be large enough for a group of sentients, and tried to make sense of the digital pad. After messing around with the temperature and water pressure settings, Rey stepped under the ample flow and just about cried for how good the water felf, though her wound stung something fierce.

Sonic showers, though efficient, weren't anything special. This was decadence. Though Arkanis was known for its water, it still felt like an extravagance to use all of this on just Rey. Still, she was going to enjoy it while she could and took her time washing, scrubbing, and standing under the relaxing flow.

Knots she'd not realized she had started to unwind as the water cascaded over her body. At one point, she'd rested up against the shower wall and nearly fallen asleep under the spray. Fortunately, she caught herself as her head bobbed, but she quickly finished up after this to keep herself from falling over in the shower.

Rey didn't dawdle and quickly dried herself off with what had to be the plushest towel she'd ever seen in her entire life before brushing her hair, teeth, and slipping into her pajamas—which consisted of an oversized shirt and underwear. She was well acquainted with using bacta, and the soft spray was cool against her skin as it worked to pull her back together.

Before long, 3PO was at her door with more food than she could reasonably eat in one sitting, and she had to fight herself from being disappointed that she wouldn't be sharing it with Ben.

"Master Ben sends his regrets that he can't join you in person," the glittering golden droid explained as he laid the food out on a hover-table.

"Is he avoiding me?" Rey joked, which was lost on the serious droid.

"Goodness, no. He's needed to attend to some business matters. He wasn't sure how long the holo-call would take, so he sent me to tend to you."

Oh, a call. And here I thought he'd ducked out, Rey thought before looking at the spread of food. She didn't even have names for everything that appeared before her.

"What's good, 3PO?" she asked, pointing to the food.

"Well, I'm sure I wouldn't know. But these are some of Master Ben's personal favorites. Recipes from Chandrila, mostly. A few from his mother's home planet of Alderaan. Hopefully, you will find them agreeable."

Rey leaned in and took a deep breath. The warmth and aromas of the foods overwhelmed her senses. Even after all the time she'd spent catering to Aristo whims at their massive parties, she was still amazed at all they had at their fingertips. She'd have killed for this kind of meal on Jakku and had killed for less to keep herself safe and fed.

"Is there anything else you will be needing?" 3PO asked. Though his humanoid faceplate was frozen in one expression, he had a nervous sort of energy about him. The droid reminded her of a small animal that had spent its life trying to avoid being stepped on. Rey resolved to be as kind as possible to the droid because he seemed to need it.

"No, thank you, 3PO. This is lovely. I appreciate it all."

The droid's arms fluttered. "Oh, think nothing of it, Miss Rey," he replied. It still sounded weird to have the droid call her "Miss Rey," but at least it was better than "Mistress."

Rey carefully settled into a hover-chair and slowly dipped her fork into one dish after another. All kinds of tastes, from sweet to salty, to savory and spicy, slipped over her tongue. It was almost as if Ben hadn't been sure what she'd want to eat, so he'd had something of everything prepared. Rey picked out her favorites and felt no small amount of dismay that there was no way she'd be able to eat it all.

The thought of wasting food was repugnant to her, so after she'd finished, she stuck her head out of her room and called for 3PO, who was remarkably obliging when she asked if it'd be okay to wrap her leftovers up so she could enjoy it later. He'd carted the extra food out of her room and made one final offer to grab her anything she needed, but Rey'd declined.

Tummy full, and pleasantly sleepy, the only thing she wanted was to climb into bed and sleep forever. At first, it seemed like she'd be out as soon as her head hit the pillow, but sleep didn't come easy for Rey. She turned onto her side, hoping that a new position would help her sleep, but nothing seemed to work, and her leg throbbed. The minutes turned to hours, and soon it was late, and though she was very tired, she could not fall asleep.

The big bed was too soft, too big, and too much in a day that had been very stressful. Rey wasn't used to having this much space to work with, and instead of feeling freeing, it felt frightening and lonely. Grabbing a blanket from her bed, she dragged it down the long hallway in hope of… who knew what. Finding 3PO and having a chat with the droid?

By the time she entered the sunken living room, she realized she was alone. Rey wondered whether she should go and wake Ben up, but she didn't want to bother him. He'd seemed exhausted and, well, she was being a little silly and childish. Rey settled on curling up on his plush couch, wrapping herself in the blanket in a poor facsimile of a hug as she listened to the endless rain of Arkanis beat against the wide window while trying to ignore the pain from her wound.

She was almost asleep when the soft release of hydraulics caught her attention. Ben slowly padded out of his room, barely dressed in a robe and not much else. Slung low on his hips were similar shorts to the ones he'd worn beneath his gown, and they peeked out from behind the loose tie of his robe as he slowly strode towards her.

"I thought I felt you out here," Ben said softly, stopping just in front of where she lay.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" she asked, assuming she'd made too much noise. Her brain was too tired to fixate on what he meant by "felt."

Ben shook his head and his long, dark locks softly brushed into his eyes. "I only slept for a little while. My dreams were too restless."

She was just about to make a dark joke about how the only dreams she ever seemed to have were nightmares, but Rey hissed in pain and reached down to press her hand against the inside of her leg. For all of her insistence that it was fine, it still burned like a bitch.

"Would you like me to heal that?" Ben offered.

Rey scrunched her face up with confusion. "I'm not sure I follow."

Ben pointed to her leg. "It hurts, I'm sure. I can heal it."

"How?"

Ben smiled. "Magic."

Rey rolled her eyes. "Magic, really?"

"No, not really. But something like it."

"You mean the Force, or whatever?"

"Or whatever," he teased as Rey huffed.

"Don't you have a medical droid that could help?"

Ben shook his head. "It'd take too long—unless you want me to ask 3PO to do this?"

The thought of the anxious droid staring between her legs, fretting over what to do next, almost made her laugh—almost.

"I think you're just using this an excuse to get close to me," she countered.

"Do I need an excuse? I always want to be close to you, Rey."

Rey's breath caught and she couldn't manage a comeback to the raw honesty in his voice. He wasn't like every other Aristo she'd met. In a life where she'd learned the hard way not to trust anyone, Ben was slowly and methodically picking at the walls around her heart. And, worst of all, it didn't even feel bad. She actually kind of liked it.

And it wasn't as if he had an easy time trusting people either. Aristos didn't have friends. At best, they had frenemies, so at least they were similarly fucked up in that regard. But here he was, all sweetness wrapped up in a dangerously sensual package. And, truthfully, her leg did hurt a lot. What harm could there be in letting him help her?

"Okay... Heal it, if you can," Rey finally gave her permission.

"This might feel strange, but I don't think it should hurt," he warned.

Rey jumped a little as his hand reached out to skim over her thigh and he mumbled a soft apology.

"Sorry, it's really sensitive there… apparently," she replied, embarrassed that she'd reacted so much to his touch.

An amused look crossed his face, but he only gave a slight nod before resting his hand high on the inside of her thigh. His long fingers and big palm covered most of her wound as he touched her. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Ben was crouched before her, eyes closed, brow slightly furrowed, but the pain remained. Even if he wasn't able to use his strange powers to heal her, she had to admit it did feel nice to have someone fussing over her.

"I'm not sure it's working," Rey whispered as a small smile worked its way onto Ben's face, though his eyes stayed closed.

"Patience," he assured her. "It's not an ability that's easy to manifest."

Rey scrunched her nose a little and closed her eyes, too. Maybe it'd help if she focused as well? His touch was warm and sure on her thigh, which still radiated with heat and pain from her wound. She'd been so focused on the pain that, until she'd closed her eyes, she'd not been able to sense the other feelings that seemed to flow from Ben—comfort, desire, wholeness.

The connection between them was so subtle that she'd have shrugged it off as overthinking on any other occasion, but with his hand on her leg and him crouched before her, it was hard to deny how much feeling ran between them.

Once she focused on that blooming bond, her body seemed to respond in kind. A prickly sort of feeling trailed along the blaster wound, tickling and pulling at her skin. It reminded Rey of when a scratch was just about done healing, with the wound flaking away to reveal new, healed skin beneath.

Eventually, Ben took a deep, shuddering breath, prompting Rey to open her eyes. He was looking at her, hand still high on her thigh. He winked. "How'd I do?"

His hand trailed across her skin, sensation shimmering in its wake as he pulled away to reveal her perfectly healed skin.

"Damn!" Rey exclaimed. Words mostly escaped her, but what a skill that was! "You really did use magic."

"Told you," Ben grinned smugly.

But if he can do all that… Why is he…?

"I don't get it," she murmured.

"Get what, exactly?"

"Why am I hearing about Ben Solo the playboy and not Ben Solo the…. Uh, famous Jedi?"

It wasn't often that Ben looked uncomfortable. Given his status in society, Rey assumed that he'd been asked all sorts of completely inappropriate things, but she'd not realized that he'd be taken aback by this kind of question.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be nosey," she started, but Ben waved her off.

"No, it's fine. I've just spent a lot of my life avoiding thinking about what might have been. You know things didn't go too well with my uncle?" Rey nodded. She remembered him talking about his summers with his uncle and how it hadn't been a great experience for him. "Well, when I was young, my powers started to manifest, and my parents thought that it might be a good idea to get training with my uncle."

"Except that you didn't want to be a Jedi?" Rey guessed.

Ben chuckled dryly. "Not even by half."

"How'd it go?"

Ben sighed and shifted into a kneeling position before he snuggled his head into her leg. Rey supposed it was weird that he was still on the floor, but she could easily play with his long hair this way, which was exactly what she did.

Ben pressed into her gentle touch as he explained, "Not well. I've always been pretty strong-minded and the Jedi… There are so many rules, and things that are done just because that's the way they've always been done. Right away, I asked too many questions and didn't want to listen."

Rey hummed thoughtfully. "I've always been like that too. If I can't see a value to something, I'm not doing it. Never questioning why something's done a certain way is a good way to get taken advantage, at least in my experience."

Ben nodded, and his cheek rubbed softly against her thigh with the movement. "That, and I'm not really up for celibacy."

"Excuse me, what now?" Rey balked.

Ben snorted. "Yeah, Jedi aren't allowed to get married or form any strong romantic attachments. My uncle was somewhat flexible, but the Jedi life is one of sacrifice and I'm not entirely certain it's a selfless kind of sacrifice. At any rate, it wasn't for me, especially considering…," Ben trailed off.

"Especially, what?" Rey prompted.

"I fell in love—puppy love. But I realized soon that the Jedi life wasn't for me."

Rey curled a lock of Ben's hair around her finger. "You're a romantic with your reputation?"

"Not everything you see in the gossip holos is true, Rey," he chided as she gave him a disbelieving look.

"You are literally known for being the galaxy's most eligible playboy, and you want to tell me there's no truth to the rumors? I've seen how you play, Ben."

A satisfied smile spread across his face. "I have had a lot of fun, but not as much as people think. Most of my relationships have been long term."

"And the Jedi life wouldn't allow for that?" Rey asked.

"No, not at all."

"Sounds kind of shitty," she mused. Special powers were one thing, but having to live your life according to a strict set of rules didn't sit well with her, but rules never did sit well, in general, with Rey.

"So, you went to Bespin?"

"So, I went to Bespin," Ben chuckled softly. "And here I am."

"Had a lot of fun, I guess?" Her fingertips traced along the curve of his cheek before Ben turned his head and pressed a quick kiss into her palm. "Too much. All thanks to my Uncle Lando—you'll love him. Everyone does."

Rey quirked her head to the side. "And when am I going to meet him?"

For a moment, Ben's calm expression faltered, as if realizing something. "Well, now that I think about it, I didn't ask if you'd be willing to come with me to Bespin for the event…"

Rey's hand stopped as she processed what he was saying. "You want me to be a bodyguard for you and Cirraen."

"Yeah, I'm realizing how that sounds, but no. I just want you to come to Bespin with me. The rest, I can handle on my own."

"Until someone's trying to shoot you at the opera."

Ben huffed out a laugh. "Weren't you trying to convince me earlier that you were the target?"

Rey glared. "Might be, but what if I'm wrong? Cirraen isn't going to do shit to protect you."

Ben nuzzled his long nose against the inside of her thigh. "And you would."

"Obviously. Talk to Maz and see what she can arrange," she started, but the smile on his face made her realize that he'd probably already done just that. "You really are the worst, Solo."

His lips lingered against her skin and she felt him smile against the inside of her thigh as he purred, "I love it when you say that."

"What, that you're the worst?"

Ben chuckled as his molten gaze locking with hers. "Yeah, because you really don't know the half of it, but I'm open to providing you some much-needed clarity on just how bad I can be."

Rey nibbled her lip and turned away from the heat in his eyes, but she didn't take her hand back. Almost against her will, Rey's fingers clenched in his hair, pulling just a little as if she was imaging just exactly how he'd show her every wicked bit of him.

"Interested?"

"Of course not."

Ben's hand lingered on the inside of her thigh, just below where the blaster mark would have been. "Want me to kiss it better?" he teased.

Rey huffed a little. "No one's ever kissed any of my wounds better before, why start now?"

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Ben asked as his head popped up from between her legs.

"No one's ever kissed anything better on me before," she admitted quietly as she realized the gravity of what she'd just admitted.

Growing up alone on Jakku, there wasn't anyone else to make her feel better when she got hurt. The things she'd read about, the comfort others got from a loved one, had been absent from her life. Rey sometimes forgot that how she grew up wasn't how most people lived. Most kids had parents, but some, like her, weren't that lucky.

It was almost casual, the way her past sometimes rolled off of her tongue. Almost like, if she were just flippant enough about it, it couldn't hurt her anymore. Sometimes, the truth came out before she realized it, and it wasn't until the shocked expressions appeared that she would realize that she said something strange.

Generally, Rey'd pretend she was kidding or laugh it off, but she couldn't do that with Ben because he'd know she was lying—he always knew. Which meant she was caught, admitting the truth of her past, to a person she was trying and failing to remain emotionally distant with.

His eyes were wide with shock before his face softened into something like understanding. But not pity, thank Gods. She couldn't stand his pity. She was already pitiful enough, near-destitute smuggler that she was, and Rey didn't need her past to add another layer to that sadness.

"May I be the first?" he softly asked her permission.

For some strange reason, tears pricked the corners of Rey's eyes. She didn't trust her voice enough to reply, so she managed a quick little bob of her head as Ben slowly dipped back between her legs. His hands reached out, warm and solid on her thighs as he held her wide. His lips were whisper-soft against her skin as he slowly pressed kisses along where the blaster mark would have been.

And it felt… it felt too nice. Like the kind of lovely that would have her dreaming about this moment for many nights to come. His hand caressed along her thigh soothing as his lips trailed higher. His mouth pressed into the soft part of her thigh, holding tight for a moment as if he wanted to keep going, to do much more than press chaste kisses along her healed wound.

"I don't have to stop there, if you want," he said casually, as if he were talking about the weather.

"Nowhere else hurts," she feigned ignorance.

Ben captured his full lower lip between his teeth before asking thoughtfully, "But are there any other places that could feel better?"

Rey stared down at him and realized what a precarious position he was, slotted there between her legs. She'd had to stretch wide to let him settle between her, and now, the broad width of him was warm and intimately pressed against the skin of her thighs.

"I'm a very good kisser," he assured her, and Rey believed him. She'd been on the receiving end of enough of his kisses to know he didn't brag without reason, but he wasn't talking about kissing her mouth.

Lovemaking had always been a harried, mostly disappointing affair, but Ben seemed content to slowly, patiently open her up to a world she'd never experienced. She was quite certain that he meant that he wanted to kiss between her legs, among other things.

She wasn't innocent, but somewhat inexperienced, and that… well, it wasn't yet one of the things she'd experienced. But maybe she was mistaken?

"I'm not sure if… What do you mean?" Rey asked. She needed to make sure that he was saying what she thought he was saying. Because as much as she'd learned from her romance holos, the last thing she wanted was to make assumptions and make an ass out of herself.

Ben blinked up at her as a smile bloomed on his handsome face. "I was hoping you'd let me kiss you here," he replied as he pressed the tip of his nose against her core.

Rey gasped a little at the contact, swallowing thickly he confirmed exactly what he wanted to do to her. Nibbling her lip, Rey stared into Ben's eyes. A wicked smile worked its way onto his face as he kneeled before her, like some sort of dark prince waiting to do her bidding. She liked that, probably a little more than she should have.

His expression was calm, but his tension belied how much he wanted her to say yes to his proposition. He wanted this too. Rey reached out again to thread her fingers through his thick, dark hair, idly stroking as she considered what she wanted.

Breathless moments stretched between them as the rain continued to pelt soothingly against the windows of Ben's apartment. Finally, Rey skimmed her fingers along the curve of Ben's jaw as she softly admitted, "I think I'd like that. Will you show me?"

Ben released a slow, shuddery breath as he promised, "Anything you want, sweetness."


Author's Notes: I'm SORRY (honestly). It got to like over 11 k and I just don't have the energy to edit that all in one go (and honestly, it's a pain to read that all in one sitting), but I'll get the next bit up asap 😊 I just have to break up the amount of time I spend writing/using my mouse because my wrists and arms hurt really fucking bad if I do any of that for too long in one sitting. I AM SORRY. BUT more's coming. It's smutty, so if you're into that, the next bit's for you. If not, that's fine too, but I'd probably read this on FFnet, where I've got an edited version going 😊 And if you're reading this on FFnet and would enjoy smut, head over to Ao3 where this is also posted and enjoy there because the next bit will be heavily edited. I feel bad not including it here, so I'll also leave you with a lil teaser below (you can read it out of context if you'd like, or you can wait for the next chapter. Up to you! I might end up editing it, so like don't hold me to it being word for word the same lol).

Anyway, hope you're all staying safe and healthy. Thanks so much for all of your comments/reviews. And thanks so much for reading and for all of your lovely comments (which I will try to answer soon!). Appreciate your support and kindness in what's been a pretty ass year (for so many of us). Big hugs! Any mistakes are my own and keep me humble.