The following morning, my stomach woke me grumbling. The smell of something seeping beneath my door calling it. I quickly went to the bathroom to freshen up and change, eager to be ready to go. When I entered the kitchen, HR is setting out the plates with food.

"Mmm. That smells delicious!" I exclaimed. "Do you really have to wear your armor while we're eating, though?"

He laughed.

"It's kind of a pain to take off and put back on. And we've only got 30 minutes or so before you need to go. "

I pouted at him, preferring to see him as I had yesterday. But I supposed it was better off with fewer distractions before going into a full day of training with Kylo.

The 30 minutes came far too quickly, and we said our goodbyes at my door. I needed a moment of quiet before facing what was to come, and I was already barely holding down my emotions. I had no idea how this was going to go, and I had so many things I wanted to say to him. Taking a breath, I turned the handle and entered the room.

I was once again met by a lack of light. When the door closed, I heard it lock, and I quickly scanned the room. My eyes fell upon Kylo, standing at the far end of the room just watching me. Him locking the door piqued my interest but brought about no fear. I stepped further into the space, feeling him watching my every move.

His hands slowly went to his cloak, releasing its hold and letting it fall to the floor. I let my eyes trace the outlines of his body, continuing to close the distance between us. My heart was pounding in my ears, and I had to remind myself to breathe.

Next, he took a step out of the darkness, the light painting across the textures of his outfit. When I was about a foot away from him, I stopped, waiting for his next move. My hand twitched as I fought its persistent pull to reach out to him. He shifted his head down, reaching up to his mask to release it.

With a hiss, it separated. He paused a moment watching me as my breath hitched. My mind was suddenly flooded with images from the dream I had had nearly a month prior. My hand reached up to touch the mask for a moment before he resolved to remove it. I couldn't stop the gasp that left my lips when he revealed his face to me. The hazel eyes filled with uncertainty, curiosity, and a hint of kindness.

My hand screamed out to touch him again, and this time, I didn't resist. I lifted my arm towards his face, gently grazing my fingertips over the scar that traced up one side of his flesh. He flinched at the initial contact but didn't step away. His eyes simply absorbed me, watching me intently. When his lips separated slightly, my emotions slammed into me like a wall, and his helmet was ripped from his hand and thrown across the room.

He jerked his head to follow its path, then snapped back to look at me.

"You need to learn to control this," he hissed.

The timbre of his voice without a barrier made me shiver.

"I... I don't know how," I answered breathlessly.

He reached out to grab my wrist, and my breath caught in my chest. I desperately tried to remember how to breathe as my eyes memorized the details of his face. I was fighting back the thoughts of kissing him, pleading with my mind to shut him out from hearing it. This time when he tilted his head, a small smirk passed over his lips.

He pulled my wrist up, causing me to fall into his body. I could feel his breath on my cheek as he leaned down towards my ear, my skin instantly filling with goosebumps.

"It would seem that you are enjoying this a little more than you should," he said in a sultry voice.

"Um," I managed to squeak out.

His eyes searched mine, but his face didn't betray any emotion. I remained frozen, my body pressed against his. With his free hand, Kylo reached up and tucked in a loose hair behind my ear. I relished in his touch, leaning into his gloved hand.

"Grab your weapon," he said suddenly, breaking the tension and releasing me from his grip.

I swayed for a moment, trying to find my own two feet. Wiping the sweat building in my hands, I scuttled over to grab a stick. I hadn't even fully turned back around when Kylo came crashing down on me. I narrowly avoided his attacked by pressing my back into his chest for just a moment before dropping into a roll.

The rest of the day, he continued to wear me down, aggressively attacking me. Somehow, I only managed to get struck twice. I was sure it was going to leave some nasty bruises. One across my thigh, and one along my side. Oddly enough, the only time Kylo's expression was something aside from emotionless or focused was when he made contact with my body, whether with his weapon or himself.

When I was barely able to stand, he finally set down his stick. I let out a breath of relief, my muscles screaming to rest. Training with Phasma had been a walk in the park compared to this.

"Sit," he commanded.

I obeyed, too exhausted to fight back.

Block me.

"I can't," I replied to him out loud.

You can. You will. You absolutely must.

I wanted to whine, but I knew it wouldn't do any good. So instead, I took a breath and tried to focus on putting up a wall around my mind. He easily crashed through it, traveling into my most recent memories. He quickly skipped over the ones with HR; I was grateful that he missed my thoughts about seeing HR without his armor. Then, he found my most recently returned memory. With his mother.

I stopped trying to block him, using the connection to travel into his head.

Mom?

His thoughts sounded sad. I chose to respect his privacy and backed out. Especially since he was no longer forcing his way into my mind.

"Kylo, I--"

"We're done," he said coldly as he went to his helmet and cloak.

"But--"

He whirled around, his gaze piercing through me.

"I said. We're done."

And once again, I found myself alone on the floor. I was utterly exhausted and frustrated that today had not gone the way I planned. I didn't get to ask him anything. Or to thank him. Though, the trade-off of seeing the face behind the mask might have been worth it all. I imagined the look he gave me when I reached out to touch his skin, letting the feelings consume me.

An odd, peaceful balance encased me, so I dove further into it. I focused on the feeling of my body against his. I tried again to put a wall around my mind. This time, there was no struggle. I started to float from the ground, letting the Force encapsulate me. Slowly opening my eyes, I attempted to lift my stick and return it to the weapon rack. When it was almost there, the door flew open, and I slammed to the ground.

I laughed through the pain, rubbing my butt.

"Thank the stars," HR said.

"What's with all the dramatics?" I asked, dragging myself to my feet.

"I take it there was another incident today?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Maybe? What now?"

"He destroyed the elevator."

I groaned, rolling my eyes. If we kept up like this, everyone on the base was going to know I was the cause of his outbursts as of late.

"Of course he did. Will you help me to my room?"

"Did he hurt you?!" HR asked, rushing to my side.

"I was a little slow a couple of times. I'll be fine. I'm more fatigued than anything."

In a blink, he had swept me up into his arms. I tensed at first, then relaxed into him, wrapping my arms around his neck and laying my head into his shoulder. Even on the short walk, I found myself dozing off to sleep. He brought me to the bed, laying me down and covering me with a light blanket.

"I'm going to make you some food. I'll leave it in the fridge. It should be enough for a couple of meals. Get some rest," he whispered.

I moaned as he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. I tried to fight off sleep, but the comfort of my bed quickly overtook me.