Kylo Ren wanted to be angry, he wanted to punch someone, specifically the cop from the cafe, but the rational side of his brain was for once, in charge. He knew he should have told her. Had planned it out in his head, Kylo had known that in such a small town, his secret was bound to get out, and yet he had the nerve to be surprised when it did. Not only that, but he was angry that she reacted the way she had. He couldn't blame her, though. Most people heard gang, Snoke, or jail and immediately assumed the worst. Kylo Ren had not been the worst, he had been a relatively minor player in the grand scheme of things, but no one seemed to realize that.
The First Order had been in charge of many things, had controlled everything from drug rings to politicians. Snoke had been their leader, the ringmaster of everything. Snoke had been the one with all the ideas, but the enforcers were the ones who had gotten their hands dirty. Phasma, a woman whose first name Kylo never learned, had been in charge of anything military-related. She had controlled the armed force. She'd even started a war once, all because Snoke asked her too.
Hux had been the one who had made sure that nothing political happened without Snoke's say so. Armitage Hux had blackmailed so many politicians that even now, a decade later, many people assumed he still had control over some politicians. Though no one could prove it, Kylo was confident that the rumors about Hux controlling the president were true.
There had been people who controlled money, everyone's money, they even had people in place to blackmail doctors, lawyers, and entertainers, there were very few things in the big cities that Snoke did not own. The First Order had run everything, and Kylo Ren and his knights, the six men he worked with, had made sure that no one who worked for Snoke decided to quit. Kylo Ren had been in charge of making sure that if anyone ever became discontent with their position, they weren't around long enough to complain. He'd never killed anybody, only threatened, and given orders to others. To some, what he did was as bad as pulling the trigger, Kylo had spent ten long years in jail because of it, but in his mind, he was never as bad as Hux or Phasma.
Kylo came out of his thoughts as he approached his house. The home, which was much larger than the surrounding homes, was a marvel of architecture and to Kylo, only a prison by another name. His parents put on a brave face, smiled for the cameras, claimed they were happy their son was home, but Kylo knew the truth. They had never forgiven him for joining Snoke. In fact, they had warned him against it from the very beginning; however, their words had meant nothing to him at the time, just as their caring words and fake smiles meant nothing to him now.
"Where have you been?" The second he walked through the doors, Han's harsh worlds greeted him.
"In town," he replied, used to having to answer for his whereabouts.
"With that girl, you told us about?" His mother meant well; she did. However, the fact that she always seemed to be in his business bothered him to no end. Also, the fact that she had to bring up Rey, sweet innocent Rey, who might never forgive him, added salt into the infected metaphorical wound.
"Yes," he responded through gritted teeth hoping that would be the end of the conversation. He was not that lucky.
"When will you tell us her name? When will we get to meet her? What is she like?" The questions all came rapid-fire from his mother, who was looking at her son eagerly. Han looked bored but knew better than to interrupt his wife.
"It probably won't happen, I won't be seeing her again." Kylo hadn't realized until then that he genuinely believed it was over.
"She learned about your past, did she?" Han asked, snorting, "serves you right."
Kylo Ren clenched his fist. This was why. His parents claimed they had forgiven him, that they accepted that he had made mistakes and were willing to try to get to know him again, but there was always the surprise when he told them he had friends and the snide remarks when something in his life went wrong. Kylo knew they thought they were supportive, but in all actuality, they were demanding, rude, and made Kylo feel worse about himself than he already did.
Turning on his heels, Kylo headed back towards the door, not sure where he was going but knowing he couldn't stay there. "Where are you going, Ben?" his mother called at him.
Just a few weeks ago, Kylo would have lashed out at his mother for using that name, but now he no longer had the energy for it, and he knew it was his fault that he felt so beaten down. "I'll be back before dark."
Before either of his parents could say another word, Kylo Ren was out of the house and heading towards his car. He stopped when the midday sun shone down on a familiar face.
"We're not supposed to be within one hundred yards of each other, Armitage." Kylo said to the familiar redhead "That was part of the deal"
"When Phamsa said you'd moved out to the middle of nowhere to live a quiet life with your parents, I just had to come and see it," Hux responded, leaning against the side of the house. "I show up, and not only do I find you doing exactly that, but you've also found yourself a little nobody to do it with." Kylo bristled but said nothing. "What happened? You used to be fun, now look at you."
"How long have you been here, Armitage?" Kylo asked, not in the mood to deal with his nemesis turned, kind of friend.
"Long enough to know that if you stay here much longer, you'll take up farming, or banking, or something else that is a monumental waste of your talents." Kylo Ren raised an eyebrow at the almost compliment "Look, I know we don't always see eye to eye, but even I have to admit, you were good at what you did, some of us from Snoke's First Order are starting up a new gang, The New Order, there is a place for you if you want it.
"I don't want it," Kylo said, his voice sounding unsure even to himself.
"Really? Don't you miss it? The thrill of being so close to danger-"
"Close to danger?" Kylo scoffed, cutting Hux off. "What do you know of being close to danger? You were a politician; you were never close to danger."
"No, but with the New Order, I've gotten my hands dirty, I've seen action." Kylo leaned against the house next to Hux and eyed the scrawny older man.
"Is that so?" he asked.
"Yes, in fact, that's why I'm here" Kylo remained quiet, gesturing for Hux to continue. "You see, Snoke was big and powerful but he got greedy, The New Order is smaller, with fewer people and we've decided to start small.
"You're going to rob the Takodana bank?" Kylo guessed.
"Exactly, but I could use a partner."
Kylo was about to laugh in Hux's face, go back inside and pretend the conversation never happened when he froze. He had no Rey, she already thought he was a monster, and he couldn't stay with his parents forever. Kylo Ren had no skills outside of crime; he had gotten involved in the first order too soon in his life to have developed any. There was nothing here for him anymore, robbing a bank with Hux would be just the ticket he needed.
"What's the plan?" he asked.
At the end of her shift, Rey lingered at the cafe. Something she hadn't done that much in the month and a half since she had met Kylo. Rey was dreading having to walk home, was dreading the memories that the walk would dredge up. Rose came out from the back of the cafe and stopped when she saw Rey still standing behind the counter.
"You've usually rushed out to meet your man by now." she commented, "What's wrong? Is he not picking you up today, do you need a ride?"
Rey gave Rose a small smile; the girl was so sweet, she was ashamed she didn't know her any better than she did, mainly since they only lived a few houses down from each other. "Kylo won't be picking me up today or for the foreseeable future." Rey confided.
"Why not?" Rose asked, "Did you two break up? I mean, I know I never saw you together much, but what I did see was so sweet."
"We were never together actually," Rey confided.
"Really?" Rose asked incredulously, "You two sure acted like you were together."
"We were friends, but today I found out he's been lying to me since we met, and well, I don't know if I can forgive him for that."
"Wow, y'all spent so much time together it is amazing he was able to lie to you so much," Rose said, taking on a sympathetic tone.
"Well, he wasn't lying exactly, he mostly didn't tell me about his past, he was a criminal, you know, part of the First Order and he didn't tell me."
Rose looked like she was searching for words before she blurted, "Can you blame him?" Rey gave Rose a quizzical look, "I mean, I hate to play devil's advocate and all, but did you tell him about your past?"
"That's completely different, Rose," Rey argued.
"Is it? you were an orphan who scavenged to survive, you're ashamed of that, right?" Rose did not give her time to reply, "Well, he got involved in a life of crime very early, and I imagined he's ashamed of it. I imagine he didn't tell you any of this because he was afraid of how you'd react, after all, isn't that why you haven't shared anything with him about your past?"
Rey could only stare at Rose; she was incredibly insightful. "Maybe you're right." She conceded, distractedly.
"I usually am, but people always seem surprised." Rose joked. When Rey didn't even snicker, Rose looked over and noticed that her co-worker looked utterly out of it. "I'll just call Finn and see if he will take you home," Rose said, reaching for her phone.
"No!" Rey yelled, Rose looked startled, and Rey quickly amended herself, "I mean, no, I'll walk, I need the fresh air to clear my mind."
Rose still looked skeptical, but she let Rey go, knowing she had a lot to think about.
The next day at work, Rey was still considering what she was going to do about Kylo when three police cars rushed by the cafe. Rey thought nothing of them and forgot about them until near the end of her shift when Finn came into the cafe. Something about the look on his face made Rey freeze, the look he was giving her was a combination of elation, fear, and anxiety, and it was a look she had never seen on her best friends face before.
"What's wrong? Where were those police cars going earlier?"
"Someone tried to rob the bank," Finn responded.
"Who, anyone I know?" Rey asked. A bank robbery was one of the most exciting things that had ever happened in Takodana.
"You could say that," Finn responded slowly, looking like he didn't want to be the one having to tell her this.
"Who was it, Finn?" Rey asked, already knowing the answer but needing to hear it.
"Rey, it looks like it wasn't his idea, and I mean, this is probably my fault, and I don't want you to-"
"Who was it, Finn?" She practically hissed.
"Today, we caught Armitage Hux and Kylo Ren trying to rob Takodana bank."
I'm so sorry this is late. I try to post every Monday, but these couple of weeks have been hectic, I moved into my dorm and started my freshman year of college. Getting set up and moved in took up so much time that I forgot to post, and then the first two weeks of getting used to hybrid online and in-person classes took some getting used to. But if anyone reads this and if anyone cares, the next couple of chapters have been written and just need to be edited. Thank you to anyone reading. The next chapter is shorter but will be up Monday 08/31