A/N: Kyloben34, you and I have the same grandmas then! Hartmannclan, I love Streisand! Thanks for the rec! Was funny indeed. I could see similarities in the judges!

On that note, thanks for those who have been reading, following, favoriting or reviewing. I don't ever expect any response with what I post. This is all in good fun. So I appreciate anyone taking the time to read my stuff. Anyways, enjoy the chapter! It's a funny one. The story will start exploring more romance. Rey and Ben will be getting to know one another. But don't worry, with the constant teasing from their friends, there's still tons of humor sprinkled here and there!

~X. Judge's Orders~

"Can he do that?! Tell me he can't do that?!"

"He's a judge Rey, technically he can. And he literally just did," Poe replied, trying to calm his friend.

"And he thinks we're entitled?! He's the entitled fascist asshole!" Ben scoffed.

"Come on you guys. This day was shitty from the start. After this there shouldn't be anything else that could ruin it, right?" Poe attempted to be optimistic, but neither Ben nor Rey could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not after that fiasco.

"Aughhh!" Rey let out a guttural cry.

After the bizarre outcome of their hearing, Ben and Rey were pleading with their attorneys to see if they could get another trial, another judge, an appeal – anything. But even they had no answer that could please them. When the legal teams had left, Poe ushered his two friends outside of the building to the steps of the courthouse. They were still trying to grasp everything that just happened.

"Seriously of all the judges we get it had to be Snoke!" Ben said angrily. "That guy's a monster. The worse. Heard so much bad shit about him."

"Yeah, he took down the YMCA over in Wilshire without a care in the world and no second thoughts," Poe recalled hearing about that devastating news from way back.

"It doesn't surprise me he bends with the law to still get his ways," Ben huffed.

"That's what makes him so fearful and an arguably good judge, he's so full of trickery that it's evil. Which is ironic," Poe shared.

"Again, like I said. He's a fascist dick," Ben agreed with him.

"Guys! Focus! We still have a problem in our hands!" Rey cried.

"I don't know what to tell you, Rey," Poe apologized to her. He had no reason to, but his friend needed comfort. "I'm not above the law and that was your verdict."

"Shit," Ben cursed under his breath.

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Rey asked to no one in particular.

"I don't know… I mean, is it really that bad that you two have to stay married for six months?"

"YES!" Rey and Ben both shouted.

"Hey, I'm just asking," Poe raised his arms defensively. "But seriously, it's just a title, right? Go on with your lives. Then meet back in six months and put this nightmare behind you."

Rey shook her head animatedly, spouting a bunch of "no's" and started pacing about.

"What?" Poe asked, as if he were missing something.

Ben sighed, pinching the bridge of his noise to keep a searing migraine from forming.

"Our attorneys got the final write up. We are to live together as a married couple for six months. Same roof, shared assets, everything. He'll have a counselor stop by every other week to make sure we are actually trying with our marriage and living together. And no infidelity, fraud, or duress… all that crap."

"We literally have to play 'house'!" Rey exclaimed.

Whoa. Poe did not see that coming. Well, neither did Ben or Rey.

"Okay, well there's nothing wrong with that," Poe tried to reason. "So… live together. Think of it as having a roommate. You don't have to get along, you just have to be around each other and share stuff."

"It's not that simple, man," Ben countered the thought. "Rey and I don't want to force ourselves in each other's lives, especially because of a court order. We both just want to move on and do our own things."

"He's right," Rey agreed with him. "Ben's a nice guy and all but we just want to go our separate ways."

"Then go on with your personal lives," Poe said simply. "It's really not that difficult."

"What if I meet someone or Ben meets someone? We're not supposed to date other people when we're married," she told him.

"Are you going to go out to the bars and try to find someone in the next six months, Rey?" Poe raised an inquisitive brow at her.

"Shut up, Poe. You don't have to be an arse about it," She punched his arm.

"Hey I didn't mean it that way, kiddo," he grabbed on to the arm she hit. For a small girl she can pack a punch. "What I meant was I don't think you two are going to purposely seek out other relationships. I mean Rey you're busy with work and Ben doesn't even go out."

"Remind me again why we're friends?" Ben glared at him.

"Hey come on, I'm just trying to help!" Poe defended.

"Okay fine, maybe that won't be a problem. But it's still inconvenient that we are being forced to live together. We've got a lot going on in our personal lives as it is. You know that, Poe," she reminded him.

"Guys come on. You both need this. Rey, you're crashing with Rose, right?" she nodded at him. "Weren't you telling me the other day you don't want to be an inconvenience to her and wanted to try to find another place?"

"Yeah but-"

"And Ben, Hux told me you lost your job. So, you're going to be low on cash for a while. Well, Rey can sublet with you for a bit. That way the bills are paid, and Rey can be out of Rose's apartment."

"But Poe-"

"It's the perfect solution for both of your situations, isn't it?"

They had to admit, that wasn't a bad suggestion - this coming from Poe, the resident clown of their respective friendships.

"I still don't know…" Rey was unsure of the whole thing.

Ben didn't have much of a reaction as well.

Poe groaned at the lack of compromise from his two friends. This was just blowing up in their heads too much. He angrily tugged at his hair and growled at them.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Poe had enough of this and lost his patience. "You're not being asked to hold hands and promise to be soulmates, you're just being told to 'try' to be civil with one another. How hard is it to do that?!"

When Poe - the ever-easygoing person anyone has ever met - gets angry, it was real.

"I mean… I guess you're right," Ben eventually agreed.

Rey shrugged, giving up as well. "Don't think we have any other choice, so okay."

"Finally, we come to an agreement!" Poe raised his arms in victory. He reached for their shoulders and insisted on a group hug to which Ben and Rey obliged, seeing as their friend was only trying to be supportive.

When the embrace was broken, a sigh of temporary relief had settled in. That being said, the usual 'Poe Dameron' came back.

"I'm just going to throw it out there... You guys can have sex whenever you want. I'm just saying. I mean, legally you're bound to-"

"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Rey yelled while Ben punched his arm.

"Hey ow! Okay, fine! Keep your marital bliss between yourselves… and the bedroom," he winked.

That was met with another punch on his other arm, this time from Rey. She took a firm hold of his neck with her arms while she was at it.

"Listen here Poe Dameron, you are not going to play cupid with me and Ben you got that?!" Rey had daggers in her eyes and poison in her voice. "We are roommates, nothing more. And we are capable of taking care of our own personal lives!"

"Yes, Rey. OW! Hey, stop!" Poe choked out as he strangled under her strong hold.

Ben couldn't help the amusement of seeing the sight in front of him. A girl a foot shorter than his friend stuck him in a headlock.

"Alright, alright, I think he's had enough. He did try to help us out this morning after all," Ben tried to pry Rey out of the death grip she had on their friend.

"Damn Ben, you got to get your wife in check, she nearly punctured my adams apple to the back of my throat," Poe said while rubbing his bruised skin.

"Poe, I swear!" Rey barked before attempting to attack him again. This time Ben was able to stop her by weighing her shoulders down with his hands.

"Alright dude, no more teasing. It's been a long morning for us," Ben offered a truce.

When Poe finally agreed to stop the teasing (for now), Rey confirmed with Ben that she would move into his apartment the following day and that they would hash out other details later. They weren't sure about the whole ordeal, but they were giving it a shot.

~.~.~.~

Later that afternoon, Ben and Rey shared the news with their friends. Correction - Poe had told everyone via text. Hux and Phasma blew up Ben's phone. They facetimed him during their lunch breaks and pried a bit more about said court orders.

"Wow Ben, such initiative to have a girl move in with you so fast."

"It wasn't really my decision, Hux."

"Still, what a vast improvement from your last relationship."

"Anyone is a vast improvement from his last relationship," Phasma laughed.

"Shut up," Ben mumbled.

"I'm so glad you didn't give Baz a key to your place. Dear god, Ben. What did you ever see in her?" Phasma told him.

"Can we please not bring up Baz? I want to forget that part of my life ever happened."

"Oh right, of course. How rude of us to be talking about your ex-girlfriend when we could be talking about your lovely new bride moving in with you," Hux teased.

"Another subject please!"

"Ben you're going to have to tidy up your place you know that right? Women don't like slobs."

"I'm not a slob, Phas."

"No you're not. But you've been moping around your place for a month because you got canned, and you've been lenient on cleanliness. Hux and I will come over tomorrow before Rey gets there to help."

"Thanks, but that's not necessary."

"Oh but it is, buddy! I mean we have to record this momentous occasion of our little Benny boy growing up and becoming a mature, responsible, 'married' adult. Oh, and take pictures of you and your lovely bride of course!"

"I need new friends."

"Yeah but you're not really the outgoing type so you're stuck with us, man." Hux snickered through the phone.

"So, do you think you can handle it? Living six months with Rey?" Phasma asked him.

"Sure I guess. How bad can it be living with a woman? You two do it."

"We're not talking about that, dude."

"What are you saying then?"

Phasma and Hux smirked at each other through the video chat.

"We're saying are you sure you can go six months without falling in love with Rey?"

"What? Where did this come from?"

"Oh he's dodging the question babe!" Hux chuckled.

"Who says anything about falling in love?!" Ben exclaimed.

"He's right, babe," Hux said to his girlfriend. "Maybe he's already in love with her, that's why he's so cool about this living arrangement."

"Okay I'm hanging up now."

"Still didn't answer us!" both his friends teased.

"Goodbye Hux. Goodbye Phasma."

"He's so in denial it's adorable."

"I know ri-"

*click*

With that last remark, Ben shut off his phone. Sometimes his friends were a handful.

He and Rey could do this right? It was just a roommate arrangement. Nothing else. Just two members of the opposite sex, who happen to also be married and at least physically are acquainted, living together. Alone. For six months.

"Ahh fuck," Ben said aloud. He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

~.~.~.~

Meanwhile, when Poe texted Rose and Finn the news, the couple opted to visit Rey during her lunch break with about a dozen questions.

"So, you guys are going to be living together for the next six months?" Finn was still trying to grasp it all.

"Judge's orders," Rey said reluctantly.

"Where are you two staying?" Rose asked.

"Ben has a loft in Santa Monica, downtown I believe. It's actually close to my work since Mid-City is technically in downtown also, so that's at least one perk," Rey said before taking a bite of her salad.

Finn and Rose exchanged animated glances.

"I'm sure there's more than one perk to get out of all this, Peanut," Finn winked at her.

"Babe!" Rose couldn't help but giggle, playfully swatting her boyfriend as he took a bite of his burger.

"Okay," Rey placed her fork down, wiped her mouth and looked at her friends squarely in the eyes. "I put Poe in a choke hold this morning so unless either of you want a searing migraine before you go back to work, there will be no talk of me and Ben falling in love just because we are going to be living together for a while."

"That's not fair, girl!" Rose whined.

"Yes, it is most definitely fair," Rey stood her ground. "I don't see why it's not."

"Oh my gawwd," Finn almost choked on his french fries from laughing too hard. "It's so obvious Rey."

"What is?"

"That you two like each other," Rose finished for him. She took a crisp bite of her pita chips for emphasis.

"We do not!" Rey glared at her friends. "At least not in that way!"

"Well what other way can you describe mutual sexual attraction, then?" Rose bluntly challenged.

It took every fiber in Rey's being not to let herself grow red.

"Sexual attraction doesn't automatically mean you like someone," she defended.

"So you do think he's hot?" Finn wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah she does," her friend smirked.

"I'm not going to merit that with a response," Rey continued trying her best not to let her face get hot.

Finn snorted so loud that the people sitting at other tables around them looked over to see what all the commotion was about.

"How much do you want to bet that they will get together?" Finn said to his girlfriend.

"That's not fair, we all know they will!"

"Okay, then we should start like a pool or something to see how long it takes."

"Oh that's a better idea! Count me in!"

"I can hear you two, you know that right?" Rey rolled her eyes at them.

"First rule of gambling that Poe taught me was to always place a bet on a sure thing," Rose said confidently.

"I need new friends," Rey grumbled.

"Oh come on, Peanut! We're only playing with you… for the most part."

"See ya," Rey was ready to get up and leave.

"Hey come on," he pleaded. "We'll stop alright?"

"Fine. No more of that falling in love crap for the rest of the day, deal?"

"Deal." They unwillingly obliged.

"On a serious note, do you think you and Ben can handle this court order thing for that long?" Rose asked.

"I think so," Rey said. "I mean it's only six months. And like Poe said, we're treating it like we're roommates. How bad could it be?"

She took another bite into her salad, pondering her own thoughts. Meanwhile, Finn and Rose exchanged looks again, this time actually believing something may come from this. Hopefully, they thought, it would be a good thing for Rey.

How bad could it actually be, right? Rey enjoyed Ben's company in Las Vegas. He was at the very least nice to look at. This 'roommates' thing will be a piece of cake. Nothing complicated about it. Don't listen to them saying you'll get with him, Rey. She thought to herself. This will be easy… right?

A/N: Preview of next chapter: Move In Day (Roommates; Settling In)

"Let's put the bags aside. Ben, we'll bring them to your room for now?"

"I can take them, it's my stuff anyway."

"No , no we're good. Plus, I wanted to show Rose this... thing."

The others caught on.

"And we want to see it too, right Hux?"

"Yup, let's go over to the room and see the thing."

And for the first time since Vegas, Ben and Rey were alone.