A/N: It never occurred to me when I wrote this story that there was an actual mini subplot. Apparently, it's about Poe :)

~XIV. Poe's Birthday~

Two and a half months have gone by since Rey and Ben started living together. Their bi-weekly check-ins with the counselor have gone well. They would be friendly, show the counselor that they had moved in and shared the space, and as the weeks went by, they started having more natural conversations that exhibited a developing bond. Things were looking good for the pair. What a rare thing to say about it.

Just as Finn guessed when they chatted out on the balcony in Vegas, Rey's time had been consumed with her project at work preparing for the summer gala. The only time Rey saw anyone aside from Ben was the night Hux and Phasma had stopped by, and that was only for a few hours. But, as Rey promised, she wouldn't miss Poe's birthday. She was looking forward to seeing her friends after a brief hiatus.

"Wow, Poe is really going all out for his birthday this year," Rey said when she stepped inside the bar to greet Finn.

"Would you expect anything less from the guy?" he laughed. "Besides, it's a milestone for him so a huge celebration is definitely in order!"

Poe, being the owner of the Cantina, had shut down for the night to host a private event: his 30th birthday. He invited his entire staff, his buddies at the rock climbing gym which he frequented in his free time, Ben, Rey, Finn and Rose, several 'lady friends' whom they were sure at one time or another have hooked up with Poe before, and even Hux and Phasma. To Poe, one friendly encounter was all he needed to consider someone an acquaintance. So inviting the folks he had only met once in Vegas wasn't anything out the ordinary. The more the merrier, he'd say.

"Rey! Oh my gawwwd! It's been too long!"

Rose practically squeezed Rey until she couldn't breathe when she and Finn made it to the far corner of the bar.

"I missed you too Rose but I'm starting to lose feeling in my arms!"

Rose giggled and let go of her best friend. It really had been a while since they even had girl talk that lasted more than a few texts a day.

"Girl, I really hope your gala is awesome because you've been working nonstop! I could barely squeeze in a lunch date with you."

"Sorry, Rose. It's been pretty hectic. Lando decided to host the event in Catalina, so a lot more work must be done. He even gave me a second assistant to help out."

"Oh wow, Catalina you're so lucky! I bet it's going to be amazing!"

Rose and Rey settled on a couple of bar stools while Finn decided to scout out Poe to inform him of their friend's arrival.

"I'll have another apple martini please," Rose requested to the bartender. Then she turned to Rey, "Want anything?"

"Ginger ale, thanks."

"You're still on the no alcohol thing?" she was surprised. "I thought you were joking."

"Last time I drank alcohol I woke up with a husband. I'm going to lay off it for a while," Rey chuckled.

"Speaking of," Rose shimmied her chest playfully. Yep, she was definitely drunk. "How's married life treating you? Is Ben as handsome as ever?"

"Rose!" Rey fought a blush.

"Hey, you said it that night we met him. I'm just repeating it," she winked.

After being upgraded to the penthouse suite at their hotel, Rey and Rose got ready together and Rey may have slipped that she thought Ben was good-looking. Rose encouraged her to have a good time with Ben, treat him like a rebound, so she could get over Hobbie. However, Rey wasn't one to have rebounds because she would never intentionally want to use someone for the basis of sex or even as a mere distraction. Little did Rey know that she would get into some outlandish shenanigans like marry the 'rebound' guy. Not that she ever considered him a rebound. He meant more to her than that. She just didn't really know what he was to her as of late.

"Yeah well given my circumstances let's just pretend I never said that," Rey sneered at her bubbly friend.

"Why, are you two not getting along?" Rose wondered. "Better yet, are you two going at it like animals?" she smugly grinned.

"Okay, maybe you've had enough to drink tonight," Rey tried prying away Rose's drink.

"Okay, okay no more teasing… for now," she teased. "But how's it going with that?"

"It's… going. We do our own separate things usually and sometimes we eat dinner together if we are home at the same time. Like what Poe said, we're basically just roommates. Nothing else."

Rey was being very selective with what she shared even though she was only telling half of the truth. In fact, they ate dinner together every night. There was no more 'separate routines' as they did almost all of their activities in close proximity to one another and if allowed, they did everything together – cook, eat, watch tv, sit in the balcony, sit at the computer desk, and talk a lot more than they've ever had. Was 'roommates' really the right word to describe them still?

"Oh reeeeally?" Rose quipped. "Then tell me this… why are you wearing your wedding ring out tonight, hmm?"

The day before Rey moved in with Ben, she had explained to Rose the court orders, as well as some rules that she and Ben agreed upon. One was to wear her wedding ring only when she absolutely had to, such as on their bi-weekly check-ins. The whole ordeal, while legal, was still uncomfortable to them at the time and wearing a ring on her finger made it almost unavoidable to accept the truth of the matter. Rey even promised to give the ring back to Ben since he did buy it for a lot of money. But that was ten weeks ago. As they got to know more about each other and their comfort level settled in, slipping the ring on was almost natural. Almost right. And those fluttering thoughts that were not leaving Rey alone were always tugging at her whenever she'd stare at her ring finger or be thinking of Ben. Luckily a small mishap a few days ago gave them both a reason to allow her to wear her ring more often. Something they certainly didn't mind at all.

"Because I almost dropped it in the sink when we had a check-in two days ago," Rey started to explain. "We almost completely freaked out, but we saved it from falling just before the counselor came. Ben and I decided that I just wear it all the time so I don't lose it. It's really nothing, just convenience," she tried being nonchalant about it.

"Oh sweetie, you can tell yourself all you want that it's just convenience, but you're face says it all," Rose snickered. "You are starting to like him, aren't you?"

"Where the hell did that come from?!" Rey was aghast.

"It's called reading between the lines, Rey. I'm your best friend of seven years. Give me some credit, I know you."

"Well apparently not enough because there's nothing going on between me and Ben," she defended herself.

"If you say so," Rose sipped on her drink, entertained by her best friend's denial.

"Rey!" Poe shrieked when he and Finn reappeared.

"Happy Birthday Poe!" she gave the man of the hour a big hug. "You always throw the best parties!"

"You know it!" he proudly said. "Did you just get here? Where's Ben?"

"He was helping Phasma with a photo shoot today. Going to hitch a ride with her and Hux to go here. By the way, that was nice of you to invite them."

"Rose and I bonded with Hux, and Phasma's a cool gal, the more the merrier is what I say!"

"Indeed, it is," Rey laughed along with the birthday boy.

Shortly after, Ben arrived with Hux and Phasma. Poe spotted them and waved for the trio to head over to their corner of the bar.

I can't believe you actually own a bar, Dameron." Ben greeted his long-time friend. "Happy birthday, buddy."

"Living the dream, Ben!" Poe beamed.

"Happy Birthday, Poe! Thanks for inviting us," Phasma hugged him.

"I got to admit, this is better than any college party I've ever been too. Happy birthday man," Hux greeted.

"Thank you, thank you! Drinks are obviously on the house. Go have fun tonight kids!"

With that, Poe was already being dragged to another part of the room where his rock-climbing buddies were starting some sort of drinking contest.

Ben, ignoring everyone else, immediately walked over to Rey and smiled at her. She smiled back modestly, and they casually made small talk together. It was effortless between the two.

"Um, when did that happen?" Finn asked Rose, Hux and Phasma, to which the four were only a few steps away, watching the 'married couple' interact seamlessly.

"I think you mean it's about time," Hux joked with Finn.

"And here she was telling me nothing else was new between them," Rose playfully rolled her eyes at the sight.

"I mean, is it really new? They've been flirting with each other since Vegas," Hux pointed out to everyone. "They're just being more open about it."

"Barely, but it's progress," Phasma added.

"Rose and I were going to place bets to see how long it takes then to get together," Finn said to Hux and Phasma.

"I give them one more month," Phasma claimed.

"Please? You know how slow Ben is admitting things, babe? It'll be close to the five month mark!" Hux proclaimed.

"Rey's probably just as slow!" Rose added.

"You know what, she's right," Finn agreed with his girlfriend. "She probably doesn't even know she's flirting with him!"

"My god if it takes them the full six months, they'll regret all the time they wasted flirting," Rose giggled.

"Yeah but think of how great it'd be for all of us to say 'I told you so'," Phasma joked.

They all laughed.

"Man, everyone who meets them can obviously tell something is going on," Finn added.

"Oooh we should open up our betting pool for a bigger pot!" Rose half-joked.

"It's easy money," Hux high-fived her.

"Just like Poe taught us!" Rose agreed with her gambling buddy.

"Are we bad friends for making money off of their relationship?" Finn joked.

"Nope," Hux, Phasma and Rose said at the same time. The four of them exchanged glances and laughed even harder.

Ben and Rey were in their own blissful little bubble when their friends finally interrupted.

"Ahem," Hux cleared his throat.

The pair broke from their conversation, suddenly feeling very shy. If it weren't for the dimly lit bar, their slightly tinted cheeks could've caused endless teasing.

"Hux, Phasma. Hey!" Rey went to hug Ben's friends.

"Rose, it's nice to see you again," Ben gave her a hug. "Finn, how's it going?" he shook hands with him.

"Just enjoying drinking all of Poe's beer," Finn chuckled. "Glad you guys came out tonight!"

"Well, we couldn't miss Poe's birthday. The man would probably kill us if we didn't show up," Ben joked.

"Yeah, you'll never hear the end of it if you missed tonight!" Rose agreed.

The group slowly dispersed into smaller cliques. Ben, Finn and Hux became drawn to the hardy banter from the chugging contest, taking their drinks (Ben opted for a coke only) and watched Poe beat almost every challenger. Meanwhile, Rey, Rose and Phasma stayed behind sitting at their little corner at the bar.

"Is Poe's liver going to be alright after tonight? He's drinking more than he's breathing," Phasma observed.

"Nah, he'll be fine," Rey assured her. "He's barely getting started."

"Poe swears that just because he's half-Cuban that he's got a steel liver," Rose teased.

"Oh no don't tell Hux that!" Phasma chortled. "He'll challenge him to a drinking contest because he swears and I quote, 'the Irish are the only ones who know how to hold their beer'."

"They already did when we went gambling in Vegas! They kept chugging their beers to see who would finish first. It was a close tie, but they kept insisting one of them reigned supreme," Rose shared.

They three women laughed at that ridiculous story.

"Poe's quite a lady's man, isn't he?" Phasma had suddenly noticed the number of women at the party who were vying for the birthday guy's attention.

"More like a man whore, but let's go with lady's man, sounds more grown up," Rose joked. "You didn't notice his nightly escapades when we were in Vegas?"

"I just met the guy, I didn't want to assume," Phasma chuckled.

"Poe just loves women," Rey said. "Tall, short, sweet, crazy – you name it."

"Crazier than Baz?" Phasma smirked at Rey.

"No one's crazier than Baz," Rey emphasized. The two girls laughed.

"Who's Baz?" Rose wondered.

"Ben's ex," Phasma shared. "I take it Ben told you about her?" she asked Rey.

"Right after the whole incident happened."

"Incident? You met her?!" Rose was shocked.

"She was about ready to murder me! Good thing Phasma and Hux came over to protect Ben and me."

Rose grew wide-eyed. Phasma nodded, assuring her that shit indeed went down.

"Why would Ben get with some crazy chick in the first place?" Rose wondered.

"No idea. Just a phase maybe?" Phasma answered. "She had that resting bitch face I always wanted to punch. That twat."

Rey and Rose laughed.

"She was manipulative, got Ben to do whatever she wanted. Which is why they stayed together for too long. Thank god he finally had the balls to dump her. This bitch is another level of crazy," Phasma explained.

"I can attest to that!" Rey high-fived Phasma.

"So what happened when she showed up?" Rose asked.

"Well she found out that Ben got married," Phasma shared.

"Uh-oh, dramaaa!" Rose dramatized.

"It was the scariest moment of my life," Rey shuddered at the memory.

"Please, Baz wouldn't even be able to harm you, girl," Phasma assured her. "Anyway, she had the nerve to give him an ultimatum between her and Rey. Obviously, Ben chose Rey." Phasma smirked at the last part.

Rey couldn't hide her evident blush this time. Rose noticed and started cackling.

"We've got to stop talking about Rey and Ben's secret romance before Rey spontaneously combusts," Rose teased.

"There's no secret romance," Rey grumbled.

"Denial's not just a river in Egypt!" Phasma played along.

"Oh that's a good one!" Rose complimented her cheeky remark.

"Can we please talk about anything else?!"

As much as she wanted to skip the subject about her and Ben with her friends due to embarrassment, especially given what they knew of how their whole 'relationship' started, Rey also didn't want to think about it or him for the time being. Ever since the night Baz had come over, Rey and Ben's dynamic shifted a bit. Sure, they talked about it over a bowl of ice cream, but since then Rey had been feeling some mixed emotions for him that she wasn't ready to figure out. On top of that, she was also feeling guilty for complicating Ben's love life, despite that Baz was a poison that needed to go away.

Ben was also feeling a slight shift in his and Rey's energy. He feared it was all his fault for putting Rey in the middle of a very uncomfortable situation. Since that day, he started making more of an effort to talk to her and try to get things back to a comfortable normal. However, he was often staying up at night still trying to pull apart his own words spoken. I choose Rey every time. He still wasn't sure what he meant by that, by Hux's teasing, or what these odd pressures in his chest meant when he thought of her. Honestly, he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

Rey didn't want her friends to know what was going on between her and Ben – good or bad. Neither did Ben. Even though their friends knew they had to live together, and no matter how much they teased, they wanted to keep the personal things personal. At least until they each figured out their own feelings.

When the men came back to the bar, they spent most of the evening watching Poe do crazy dares while he was intoxicated. Poe was always one for a good dare, as everyone knew by evidence of that back tattoo. Towards the end of the night, many of Poe's guests had gone home, with the rest enjoying a nightcap and light conversation. The six friends had camped out at the bar for the rest of night.

Poe stumbled over with a woman whom he had an arm around.

"If this is what being in my 30's is like, I'm going to like it more than my 20's!" Poe announced.

"How do you even have the mindset to even still be walking? What with the 20 beers your chugged," Finn pointed out.

"I'm a heavyweight champion," Poe sloppily grinned. Then he turned his attention to the woman next to him. "Guys, this Kaydel. Kaydel, these are my friendsFinn, Rose, Rey, Ben, Hux and Phasma."

They all waved and nodded back to Poe's guest.

"Nice to meet you Kaydel," Rose being the nearest to her shook her hand. "How do you know Poe?"

"Poe and I have had dinner a few times." She gave him a coquettish smirk. "We're… acquainted."

"Yeah, she's awesome," Poe gazed cheekily back at her.

"Sounds like you guys are more than just acquaintances," Hux waggled his eyebrows at them.

Phasma, although she agreed, smacked her boyfriend's arm for being too forward about it.

"We'll see," Kaydel winked at Poe. "So, how do you all know each other?" she asked the group.

"Rose, Rey and I met Poe when we were in college," Finn said. "We were at this bar one night and some drunk guy tried to start a fight with me. Poe stopped him and we just all became friends."

"Aw, you're their hero," Kaydel cooed at him.

"Yes I am," Poe boasted.

"Don't give him another reason to boost his ego," Rose and Rey giggled.

Kaydel snickered as well and turned to the others.

"And how about you guys?" She asked Ben, Hux, and Phasma.

"Poe and I were childhood friends," Ben told her. "We reconnected a few months ago when we were in Vegas the same weekend. He met Hux and Phasma there too."

"Oh Vegas, it's been so long since I've been!" Kaydel exclaimed. "I must admit, I've got some wild stories there."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Finn asked.

"Oh gosh, where do I begin," she started. "My sister's bachelorette party we did a scavenger hunt on the strip. Had the stupidest dares like get a piggyback ride from a stranger. My 21st birthday we were hungover the next day but was scheduled to go zip lining – never do that!" she joked. "But the wildest story of all was when I graduated college and my friend Aayla and I went to Vegas, got super drunk and somehow managed to make our way into a VIP concert. Didn't remember a thing the next day, but then I saw people post stuff from the event and tagged me. Apparently, I made my way to the stage, kissed the bassist, and crowd-surfed! If I never saw the pictures, I would've never believed I did that!"

"That is pretty wild," Poe admitted. "But nothing beats the crazy that Ben and Rey shared when we were in Vegas last."

"Poe Dameron, I don't care if it's your birthday I will kill you," Rey warned him.

Everyone but Ben laughed.

"Why what happened?" Kaydel grew curious.

"Poe, please don't," Ben pleaded.

"What?! It's not like you killed a man!" Poe defended. "Plus, it was months ago, it's all good now right?"

"Okay now I want to know!"

Before anyone was able to stop him, he spoke up.

"In an act of spontaneity, Ben and Rey tied the knot."

No matter how elegant he put it, it still shouted 'they got so hammered and shacked up'.

"Aww that's awesome!" Kaydel cooed.

Everyone but Ben and Rey laughed.

"Not to them," Rose said. "They got blackout drunk, didn't even realize they did it until their wedding photos were sent to them the next morning."

"What?! That's insane! How long have you two been dating?"

Again, laughs went all around… well except from two people.

"They just met that weekend," Hux shared.

"Kill me now."

"Yes, please me too."

"Oh my gosh okay you two win for the craziest Vegas story!" Kaydel shouted. "I mean, you two could've fooled me. I wouldn't have ever guessed you had just met, let alone got married."

"That's not even all of it," Poe started. "They're still married. Court ordered. Had a jerk of a judge for their annulment petition and he's forcing them to live together until he decides when they can separate."

"WHAT?! So, you two are a couple now?" she presumed.

"No, they're just legally married until they can get the annulment," Phasma informed her.

"But they don't like using labels so who knows with these two," Finn teased.

Rey was about to smack Finn and Poe and literally all of them, but Ben was able to stop her from inflicting harm on anyone, holding her arms down in defense.

"Okay, I think that's enough of a stroll down memory lane, hmm?" Ben ended it. He was feeling uncomfortable and was almost certain of Rey's discomfort as well.

"I'm sorry," Kaydel said to everyone. Then she turned to the pair, "But for what it's worth, it's almost sort of the most romantic thing ever, you know? A wonderful 'meet-cute'," she smiled at them.

Rose and Phasma were biting their cheeks trying their best not to laugh at her comment. They exchanged looks and then turned to Rey. She rolled her eyes at them.

"Oh, shut it."

~.~.~.~

Later that night when the pair arrived back at the loft, they shared a couple of waters and a light snack at the breakfast table to come down from the evening's events.

"Hux was right. I don't think I've ever gone to a party like that when we were in college," Ben said.

"Poe knows parties that's for sure," Rey said. "When we lived at the dorms, he always tried to get me, Finn and Rose to come to the Cantina and party. The man literally tried getting us to go out every weekend!"

"I didn't know you were a party animal," Ben teased.

"You're funny," she rolled her eyes at him. "We stayed in most of the time because we had to study. But when he did get us to go out, maybe like once a month, we definitely saw the wild side of him. His bar was always crowded."

"I don't know how Poe can still have this much energy at his age," Ben chuckled. "I start to feel sluggish by 9 PM."

"Maybe it's because you eat so much junk food, Ben," Rey teased him.

"Hey, if I kick the bucket in the middle of eating a burger and a milkshake, I'd die a happy man," he poked back.

Rey laughed at his remark.

"I get what you mean though. He's older than me, Finn and Rose, but he's got more energy than the three of us combined," she agreed. "And don't even get me started on his alcohol consumption!"

"He's probably got more alcohol than blood in his system," Ben jabbed.

"That's what I said to Finn one time!" Rey excitedly shared.

They both laughed about their friend's unhealthy fixation with alcohol.

"That Kaydel girl, she's got a handful if she's going to get with Poe," he said.

"I like her, she's nice," Rey grinned. "Might be the perfect girl to tame our little party animal."

"If she can actually tame him!" Ben joked.

"Hey, everyone can find the right balance with the right person," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

With the sudden realization at what Rey had said, they both got lost in thought. The air became uneasy for them because of it.

"Uh, we should probably call it a night. It's getting late," Ben said.

"Yeah, I've got a lot of work to do tomorrow," Rey agreed, thankful that the weirdness would be over.

They walked to the bedroom to get ready for bed. Rey excused herself to the bathroom to change, like she always did, while Ben changed quickly in the room. When she stepped back out, they stood clumsily in place.

"Well, I better head to the couch," he pointed his thumb to the general direction.

She walked him to the door, for no reason at all. What the hell am I doing? She thought. To be fair, Ben wasn't usually in the room by the time Rey finished getting ready for bed. But tonight, he lingered, for no reason at all too. What am I still doing here? He said to himself.

"Well, goodnight," she said timidly.

"Goodnight," he replied.

Without thought, they gave each other a hug. Okay, this is new, Rey thought to herself. It's just a hug. This is fine. Totally normal. When they let go, Ben felt the need to hold on to Rey at her sides. She too stayed latched on to him with her arms on his shoulder. What the hell is going on?! Ben was so confused by both of their actions.

They gazed at each other, scared to move, even though this current position they were in was the cause of their trepidation. After god knows how long, Ben finally let go, prompting Rey to do the same. They stood awkwardly in place, not knowing why they embraced, let alone held each other at all. Can this night get any weirder? Finally, Ben stepped aside and grabbed the handle to open the door.

"Sweet dreams," he said to her.

"You too," she said back, and he rushed out of the room.

Ben stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind him. He paused with his hand still on the doorknob, feeling a bit dizzy and suddenly very warm. What the hell was this breathless, agonizing, pleasurable sensation that was aching in his gut and in his chest?

Rey leaned against the door once he left, holding her breath, placing her hand on her chest. Her heart was racing faster than she's ever felt. Her palms were sweaty, and her face was absolutely flushed. What in the world was going on with her?

There was only one explanation to describe this feeling for both of them.

Butterflies.

A/N: Preview of next chapter: Burning Bridges

"Well fuck him. Don't give him back his stuff."

"What am I supposed to do with it, then?"

"Let's burn it. All of it! Let the past die. Kill it if you have to... Or in this case, burn it!"