A/N: Wanted to clear something someone asked from the previous chapter. What triggered Ben? The simplest answer is because of his insecurities. He's someone who has been dealt crappy cards his whole life and although Rey was a burst of sunshine, one tiny hitch can make a person fall back instantly. You guys can relate, right? I can because I was Ben practically my whole life. I'd beat myself up for no reason at all, beat people to the punch and tear my own self down so no one else can hurt me. But once you take a step back, you'll see that no one else is looking down on you. It's taken me 30 years to realize that and I'm only now starting to see the bright side of things.

We all have our demons, and we all cope with them differently. Sometimes we don't realize that we're hurting the people we don't want to hurt by hurting ourselves.

As for what's next? Poe said it best, "Now, now, you know how this goes. First the bad news to get everyone sad, then the good news to get everyone happy again." There's a light at the end of the tunnel for Ben and Rey. They just need to weather the storm for a bit.

Sorry for the rambling. Here's the next chapter!

~XXVI. Things Will Never Be The Same~

"So, what are we watching tonight? Comedy? Action? Thriller?" Poe asked aloud. "Or should we go old school and watch Disney? You know how much I love my Goofy Movie!"

"That explains why you're such a child!" Finn teased him.

It was movie night at Rose's apartment and after a long week – especially the previous weekend that Poe had – he wanted nothing more than to have a relaxing night in with friends.

"I've got the second 'It' movie if you guys haven't seen it yet," Rose hollered from the kitchen as she prepared some snacks for everyone.

Finn was about to agree when their other friend spoke up.

"No!" Poe immediately shot that down. "I want something lighthearted and easy tonight, nothing that will cause me nightmares," he demanded.

"Oh come on, Pennywise isn't that scary!" Finn tried to reason. "It's just a clown."

"Yeah a clown of death!" Poe shuddered at the thought. "Unless you two want to take care of me and my night terrors tonight, I suggest we pick a different movie!" he commanded.

"Fine, no scary movies, ya big baby," Rose stuck her tongue at him from the kitchen.

"I have the newest Jumanji movie on Blu-ray," Finn held the disc in the air.

"Oh man I heard it was super funny. Put it on!" Poe hopped on the couch, beer in hand.

Rose stepped into her living room with two bowls of popcorn.

"Well I will agree with you on one thing, Poe," she said. "I want to have a relaxing evening too."

"Agreed," Finn chimed in.

He queued up the movie on Rose's media player and hopped over to the couch to sandwich himself between his girlfriend and best guy friend.

"Ahhh! When was the last time we had movie night?" she said excitedly.

"Too long!" Poe exclaimed.

"I wish Rey were here though. It hasn't been just the four of us in forever!" Finn said.

"I know, I miss our little family," Rose pouted.

"Hey, let her be happy," Poe said. "Even though she and Ben deny it so much," he joked.

"Amen to that, brother!" Finn agreed.

"Seriously, I mean I know they're being so coy about it, but when it's becoming so obvious when will they just downright admit it?" Rose asked the guys.

"Who knows with them," Finn laughed with this girlfriend.

"Which is why Rey needs to spend time with Ben tonight and not with us," Poe said. "They need to finally get together already for reals. Plus, with their no alcohol rule it wouldn't be much fun of a movie night if Rey doesn't want to drink!"

"No, it would not," Finn chuckled.

"I'll drink to that!" Rose cheered.

The three friends laughed and clinked beer bottles. Once the opening credits rolled, they settled comfortably in their seats and proceeded to watch the flick.

Halfway through their movie, there was a knock on the door. Rose paused the film.

"Wouldn't it be great if that was the pizza we should've ordered an hour ago?" Finn joked. "I don't think all this popcorn and beer will get me full for the night."

"I'll go order one right now. Poe can you see who's at the door?" Rose got up and fetched her phone in the kitchen.

Finn shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth and brought their empty beer bottles to the trash bin. Per request, Poe lazily got up from the couch and walked to the door. Upon opening it, he was surprised to see their other friend.

"Oh hey Rey! What's-"

He was at a loss for words. Rey was standing at the door with puffy red eyes, makeup running, and fresh tears already streaming down her tired cheeks.

"Holy shit come here," he grabbed his friend and pulled her in to a much needed embrace.

"Hey dude, who was at the door?" Finn hollered from the other room.

Poe pulled Rey inside the apartment and continued to hold on to her in his arms. She was trembling. Finn heard the door shut and looked over. When he noticed who his friend was hugging, he jumped up and ran over to be by Rey's side.

"What's going on Peanut, are you okay?"

Poe shot him a weary look; they knew she wasn't ok. She was far from it.

Finn gently touched her hair, hugging Rey's backside, the two men sandwiching her in desperate comfort.

"Pizza's on the way! Who was at the-"

Poe and Finn let go of their friend in time for Rose to see what was happening. One look into her best friend's eyes and Rose welled up. She hurriedly ran over to Rey, a new set of tears on her own face and light sobs mewling around the quiet apartment as the two women embraced. No one knew exactly what was going on. All they knew was that Rey was broken.

~.~.~.~

"And he left, just like that?" Rose was shocked.

"It took some effort, but yeah, I finally managed to get him to leave."

Her friends let the words they just heard from Rey sink in. She had quite an afternoon.

"Damn. The nerve of Hobbie to show up unannounced and talk to you like that!" Finn's words were boiling with rage.

"I'm surprised Ben didn't break his neck or something," Poe grumbled. "I sure as hell would've liked a crack at that fuck."

"I told him not to intervene," Rey said between sniffles.

"You should've let him. That jerk deserves what's coming to him," Finn scoffed.

"I didn't want him to get involved," Rey said. "I needed to deal with Hobbie on my own."

After a good cry surrounded by her best friends, Rey settled on the couch with Rose; Poe and Finn sitting on the floor in front of them. Rey shared the events that took place merely an hour ago – her relaxing day that turned its heels with Hobbie's unexpected appearance and her screaming match with Ben. It was a lot for her friends to take in. After Hobbie left and her fight with Ben ended, she too didn't want to be alone in the loft they shared so she left their empty apartment and went straight to Rose's.

"Rey can I ask you something?"

"Sure Rose."

"You're not thinking of getting back with Hobbie are you?" her friend speculated. They were all wondering that.

"Of course not," she shook her head. "He told me he changed but he was still acting like he was controlling me. The man's never going to change his ways."

"We've been trying to tell you that for three years!" Poe said incredulously.

"Dude, come on!" Finn punched him in the arm.

"Ow! What?!" Poe said to Finn.

"Be any more considerate!" Finn frowned at his male friend.

"I am!" Poe defended.

"No, it's fine. You guys were right," Rey admitted. "I guess I just needed to find out for myself."

"Sorry Peanut," Finn patted her knee for comfort.

"Better late than never, right?" Poe touched her shoulder.

Rey sadly nodded at him.

"So… What about you and Ben?" Rose asked her.

Rey fiddled with the tissue in her hand. That was a good question. What about her and Ben? Clearly words were exchanged. Did any of them mean it? Who knows. But it still hurt them both. She honestly didn't know where they stood now.

"There is no 'me and Ben', you guys. How many times-"

"Oh cut the bullshit, Rey," Poe scoffed.

"Hey man, seriously knock it off," Finn was starting to become impatient with Poe's comments.

"No, I won't," Poe shook his head in frustration. He got up and started pacing around.

"Poe, please calm down," Rose was hoping not to make the situation any more stressful for Rey.

"I can't, Rose. I just can't. I'm tired of being quiet," he uttered angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Rey asked him.

"Look Rey, I love you, we all do. But I'm the only one who can say that I know both you and Ben better than Rose or Finn or Hux or Phasma because you're both my best friends," he stated. "It doesn't matter how this all started, and technicalities aside… You and Ben had something. You can't deny that. We all saw it."

Finn and Rose knew they couldn't chide Poe this time. He was speaking the truth. One of their friends had to break the silence. Hopefully it wasn't too much for Rey to handle.

"You're right," she stared blankly in front of them.

Her three friends exchanged surprised glances.

"Y-you're damn right, we're right," Poe didn't really know what to say. They all assumed she'd fight back.

There was no more denying it. Time had run out. Rey literally had nothing else to lose.

"We did have something," she began. "But we were too stubborn to say anything. We kissed, we fought, we made up… but our insecurities got the best of us. And we said words we didn't mean. But we said them, and we can't take it back now."

She sadly chuckled to herself. She and Ben had come a long way.

"Rey…" Rose started, but she didn't know how to continue.

Poe was going to say something, but he was also at a loss for words. Instead, he patted Rey's arm in sympathy.

"I'm sorry for the harshness, kiddo."

"I needed it, Poe," she sadly smiled at him.

"Peanut," Finn said sadly. "Tell us what we can do to help you."

"There's nothing really you can do," she admitted.

"Do you want to go somewhere? Clear your mind?" Finn suggested.

"No," she shook her head. "Just be here for me," she told her friends.

"Of course, girl. We're here for you always," Rose hugged her.

"Are you going to talk to Ben?" Finn wondered.

"I don't know. I think we said all that we needed today…"

"You don't know that. It was a spur of the moment thing," Rose argued.

"Everyone says things they don't mean when they're angry sometimes," Poe tried to reason.

"Yeah, but deep down, some of what you say is the truth."

"You don't know that," Rose reiterated to her friend.

"Guys," she stopped them. "Don't tell me that we can work it out. Just… don't. Please. Not tonight," she silently begged her friends.

They looked at her remorsefully, one by one slowly nodding at her request.

"It was always supposed to be this way. We weren't meant to fall in love, we were only meant to live together," she reminded herself out loud. "And in seven days, this will all be over. For good."

Rey allowed new tears to fall from what she just said but didn't want to cry about it. It was the truth. She couldn't argue with that.

"Is that what you want, Rey?" Finn said. He asked her that same question on the night she called him when she was on her 'almost date' with Ben.

She looked at her friend and sadly smiled.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Finn."

They were all about to respond but couldn't find it in their hearts add on to her grief. Tonight, they'll let her be. Tonight, they'll be her support, not her voice of reason.

Rose suggested they all spend the night at her place, for obvious reasons. Shortly after their talk, Rey excused herself to splash water on her face and clean her makeup off. Poe, Finn and Rose tidied up the living room, declaring movie night to be over.

"Did you catch the part where she said they kissed?" Finn asked the gang while they put their beer bottles in the trash.

Rose and Poe lightly chuckled, acknowledging his question.

"Oh yeah," Rose nodded.

"The one time she actually shares something juicy with us and we can't pry," Poe joked.

"Well she definitely has gotten better at admitting her feelings, no matter how subtle they are," Finn pointed out. "So that's something good to take out of this."

"I guess," Poe said.

"And you know what? As sad as this was for her and Ben to fight, this was completely different than when she and Hobbie broke up," Finn shared.

"What are you talking about? She moped over him for two weeks here," Rose reminded them.

"Yeah, but she moped because she was sad that things didn't work out with a promising relationship," Finn argued. "Or so she thought it was promising," he got them to laugh a little.

"Right," Poe agreed. "And this time she's moping because she's heartbroken over someone she actually cares about. Not just a relationship. If they even called what they had one."

"I guess you're right," Rose realized Finn and Poe's words were true. "Shit, she really did like him, didn't she?"

"I'm thinking it was love," Finn shared. "'Like' doesn't produce this many tears."

The three friends nodded in agreement.

"I don't think she'll admit it to us, but I'm sure she still loves him," Poe said. "And I'm almost positive Ben feels the same too. Even after all this."

Poe, Finn and Rose stood for a moment in the kitchen, taking in the realization of the things they shared with one another.

"You know what she told me when I was in the bathroom with her earlier?" Rose said. "She's looking forward to things going back to normal. Always trying to find the bright side of things… Our little Rey of sunshine, huh?"

They all sadly smiled.

"But that's the thing…" Finn trailed. "Things will never be the same after this. There's nothing any of us can do to mend her broken heart."

"Unfortunately, you're right bud." Poe sighed.

Rose nodded sadly in agreement.

"I hate that Hobbie messed up another one of Rey's relationships. That gets me the most," Rose grunted.

"I know," Finn agreed with her. "He wasn't even a part of this one either, but that asshole still played with Rey's weaknesses."

"Ben's too probably. Fucking jerk," Poe scoffed, agreeing with Finn's remark.

"I really hope this is the last we see of him," Rose said.

They continued to clean up in silence for a moment.

"Is our Peanut going to be okay?" Finn asked his friends.

"Only time will tell, babe," Rose rubbed her boyfriend's arm. She then turned to Poe. "Is Ben going to be okay?"

Poe grabbed a beer from Rose's refrigerator and took a gulp before answering.

"You know, of all my guy friends, Ben is the most decent one I know," Poe said.

"Hurtful," Finn feigned upset. Poe and Rose chuckled.

"Jokes aside, if anyone was perfect for Ben, it's Rey," he shared. "They bring out the best in one another. They balance each other out. It's like they're two sides of the same coin. They were meant for each other. I know he's hurting too... But knowing Ben, the only person that could fix him is the one who hurt him. But he hurt Rey too. So, I don't know if he'll be okay. I don't know if Rey will be either. I just really wished things worked out for them and they stayed together."

They all nodded in agreement.

Little did they know Rey was on the other side of the wall listening to Poe's confession.

~.~.~.~

Ben returned to the loft late that Friday night. After his nightmare of a fight with Rey, to which he had regretted from the moment it started, he found solace at Hux and Phasma's place. It was as he expected the night to go. He shared what had happened – the closeness they started to show the past week to the sudden appearance of her ex-fiancé, to the nasty words exchanged between him and Rey before he stormed off.

Phasma chastised him for being stupid and for leaving Rey alone.

"Ben, you're an idiot you know that?"

"Thanks for pointing that out, Phas, I didn't know," he said sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Hux consoled him for messing up and possibly losing her.

"I'm sorry, Ben. I know how special she was to you."

"Yeah well, since when did I ever deserve anything special in my life?" Ben sighed.

"So what are you going to do now?" Phasma asked him.

"What do you mean? There's nothing else to do. It's over."

"That's only if you want it to be," she said.

"I messed up once again," Ben confessed. "The best thing to do is just go our separate ways and move on."

"You really think that's the best solution?" Hux asked.

Did Ben think it was the best idea? Of course not. Did he want to do it? Hell no. But he was still tortured by what Hobbie said and how their fight went down, that his demons were pretty much speaking for him. Rey is better off without you. You don't deserve her.

"She's better off without me," he echoed his fears.

Phasma of course didn't like it, but she knew he was vulnerable, so she didn't push. And while Hux wanted to point out that Ben was in fact doing what Rey said he would do (giving up), he decided against making his friend feel even worse (if that were even possible). Reluctantly his friends accepted his decision. No matter how wrong they thought it was.

It was the first night since they started living together that Rey did not come home. Ben was so used to having her around or anyone for that matter. This large one-bedroom loft apartment was too big for just one person to live. He realized while standing next to his kitchen island how empty his place was. How much of a presence Rey had been in the loft and in his life. Without her there, he had never felt so alone.

Ben woke up the next morning from barely a few houses of forced sleep. He started his day the best he could, though it wasn't easy. Everywhere he looked and everything around him at the loft got him drifting his thoughts to think of Rey. The smock she used when she cooked in the kitchen, the mug she claimed as her own in the cupboard (a Mickey Mouse shaped cup from Disneyland – which he promised to take her someday), and a throw pillow on the couch that smelled of her shampoo because she laid on that pouf every time she rested on the sofa. It drove him insane. He still felt miserable with the offending words he said to her the day before. Did he mean any of it? Maybe. But he never meant to say anything to hurt her. If he could take it all back he would, but he knew that wasn't an option. He missed her. He missed her so terribly much.

By the time 6 PM rolled around, he was still alone in the loft. They weren't going to have their first date. That he concluded the night before when he was talking to his friends. Though a part of him wished she'd come back - a part of him held on to that hope. But hope wasn't usually on his side so even though he waited it out until the very last second, he was forced to cancel their dinner reservations and forget about the magical evening he had planned for them. After getting off the phone with the restaurant, Ben shut the blinds, turned off all the lights and retired to the bedroom. Alone.

Everyone who knew him was right about one thing. For as long as he can remember he had always wanted no commitment and no responsibility. It's what he was always chasing for the past thirty years - privacy. More like seclusion.

That night he realized that the solitude he craved suddenly wasn't what he wanted.

A/N: Preview of next chapter: Our Last Night

"I'll head out to the balcony. Give you some space."

"Ben?" she blurted. "Stay with me? Just for today."

A faint smile flashed briefly on his face before Ben tossed his book on the kitchen counter and walked over to Rey.

"I'm not going anywhere."