As suspected, Ben woke up the next morning in that same little bed, to the sound of boiling water and kitchen cabinets being slammed at the other side of the apartment. The same sort of anxiety that he usually felt during any business trip seized him in the form of a knot tightening around his stomach, but the feeling passed quickly. Sure, this was still unbelievable and unsettling, but his senses weren't as alert as they'd been the day before. He didn't feel in danger anymore: Rey was easily reachable by text, and her roommates had managed to make him feel safe enough last night that he wasn't thinking about an excuse to avoid them. This whole situation was not ideal; yet, the life he'd ended up in could've been a lot worse.

Going to work felt more like a curious adventure than a burden, which was just as new as the company Finn and Rose provided during his breakfast. It'd been years since someone had asked him how he'd slept, and even though Rose offered him tea, Ben felt suddenly grateful for it. Each sip tasted a little better knowing she'd done it for him, out of genuine care. Finn even offered to drive him to work, though he didn't leave the car when they reached the garage, only increasing Ben's list of questions he wanted to ask Rey.

She'd sent him a text while he was sound asleep: a very detailed planning of how they should get organized for the end of the week, starting with him calling her as soon as his work with Poe was done. And so he did, as soon as he was sure his new boss couldn't hear him once he passed the Grateful Lantern- which still was a very odd name for a pub that wasn't near any lantern.

"Hey," his own voice greeted him after the second ring.

He almost apologized for waking her up- he'd recognized that sleepy voice even if it wasn't his-, then remembered she'd asked him to do it. "Hey," he replied instantly. The accent he'd kept all day was still there. "Sleep well?"

A faint groan echoed on the other side. "Better than last- oh yeah, the voice."

Ben let out a chuckle at her reaction, mostly out of nervousness. He definitely understood what she was going through; the first few seconds after waking up had been confusing to him too, along with the first time he'd opened his mouth. Luckily, neither Finn nor Rose had noticed how he'd nearly slipped and forgotten to adapt his natural accent to a British one. Lucky again, none of them had been there to witness how his entire face had gone crimson when he'd had to get dressed and face this new body again.

"You wanted me to call?" Ben asked after clearing his throat.

"Yes, sorry. Um, how was your day?"

This probably wasn't why she'd made him call and wake her up, but Ben went on and replied anyway. "Good," he said with the same caution on his accent as he passed a group of teenagers. Their uniforms unsettled him for a moment. "Poe was a bit quiet, though."

He hadn't known him for more than a day, but Ben was already concerned about Poe. The man who'd seem rather joyful and easygoing the day before had spent the day giving him faint smiles and forgetting to put music on, sometimes not even hearing whenever Ben called him. Rey replied with a long humming sound, only increasing Ben's concerns.

"Yeah, he does that sometimes," she said after a pause.

This wasn't exactly the answer he'd been waiting for, and Ben knew he shouldn't ask; yet, he did anyway.

"Is there… anything going on?" he started carefully. "Between them?"

Once again, Rey let out a small laugh he wasn't sure he'd ever heard coming out of him. "Between who?"

"Between… all of them."

He accompanied his words with vague movements she couldn't see, his uneasiness more and more evident. A man passed him with raised eyebrows, looking at him like he was some kind of weird kid- which, right now, he probably was.

"Hm sort of," Rey said evasively.

She didn't go any further, leaving Ben hanging with increasing curiosity. "So?" he asked impatiently.

"Ok but promise you won't say anything."

This time, he didn't quite recognize his voice. He'd never heard himself talk like this, which was just as unsettling as hearing himself. It kept him silent as he walked towards the park he'd visited the day before, not quite ready to go home yet.

"Ok," Rey said after a short hesitation. "They just broke up. Finn and Poe. Not because they don't love each other, but because Rose likes them."

A shiver ran over Ben as he sat down on a cold bench, frowning at her words. "Which one?"

"Both of them." Her tone had regained some confidence, even a hint of that little something Ben had noticed the first time he'd heard her speak with his voice. "They're sort of… trying to figure it out."

"Which is code for…?"

"Imminent threesome."

Ben felt his eyes widen at the bluntness of her words. He hated how his cheeks suddenly warmed up, how he suddenly felt very uncomfortable at the idea of knowing so much about people who were technically strangers to him. Yet, this explained the obvious awkwardness between Finn and Poe.

"London is wild."

Another one of those foreign laughs echoed in his ear, and Ben found himself wishing he had always laughed like this. He'd never liked his voice, or any sound coming out of him, but Rey was making it sound so much better with so little effort. It was like she was only using the best things in him, in a way he'd never been able to.

"Anyway," she said once she'd calmed down, "I wanted to ask you about today. What am I supposed to do?"

A sigh left Ben as he glanced at the time displayed on the phone. Nine o'clock. His days technically didn't start before 9:30, but he couldn't remember a day he hadn't been there at least an hour early.

"I… guess you could go to work." A sound that resembled a mattress creaking echoed, followed by footsteps. "You may not make it there in time," he added hastily as he tried to think quickly about a way not to make it suspicious. "Call Snoke. Tell him you're working from home today."

The silence that followed his instructions gave him enough time to second-guess this plan. He'd never done that. Sure, it was an option, one that many of his coworkers liked to use especially on Mondays, but not one he'd ever allowed himself to take. It wasn't like he'd ever been given a choice; but something told him Rey had it in herself to not be impressed by his boss.

"I can do that?" she finally asked, her voice somewhere between disbelief and excitement.

"Technically, yes." Ben bit his lips; he could already hear Snoke's answer: No. I need you here. "Just… don't ask for it- say you're doing it."

Rey gave him a hum of approval, then seemed to think for a few seconds before she spoke again. "What's your job, again?"

Shit. They hadn't been talking about him at all, had they? Guilt seized Ben at the realization. He'd been so anxious he'd showered Rey with questions while she'd just been waiting at his apartment with next to no clue about his own life. He'd gotten a good idea about hers, thanks to her answers and roommates, and she'd just been so patient. If she'd been holding any grudges so far, she'd been hiding them pretty well.

"Right, sorry," Ben murmured sheepishly. "It's a publishing company. It's called First Order."

The bench felt a little less cold as Ben answered all her questions and tried to explain what his job consisted of. It wasn't anything she couldn't do; if he'd learned everything in a week, so could she. Still, he was grateful she didn't have to leave his apartment just yet- he could guide her through her first day by text, without the fear of Snoke seeing right through her evident inexperience in this field.

"Now go call Snoke," he concluded ten minutes later. "And don't forget-"

"The accent," she cut him off impatiently. "I know."

All trace of sleepiness had left her, and Ben could almost hear his own accent in the way she delivered the last words. A small smile made it to his mouth. "Good. Anything else?"

"Call me tonight?"

Ben's smile grew wider.

"I will," he promised.

It was all he needed to go on with his day: the prospect of another night chat, and with it the unsaid promise that no matter the distance, they were in this together.

Luckily, Rey was a fast learner and only texted him twice in the hours that followed, which made it easier for him to not raise suspicions when her roommates came home. Just like the night before, they had all gathered on the couch with some food- which thank God wasn't one of those atrocious pizzas- and watched a movie: this time picked by Finn with a knowing smile directed at him as he said something along the lines of 'belated birthday present'.

"I didn't know Mrs. Doubtfire could be someone's favorite movie," he chuckled two hours later into the phone.

He'd called Rey as soon as he'd heard Rose's door close at the other side of the corridor, hoping his would be soundproof enough. No one had complained so far or seemed to have woken up, but he'd kept his voice low anyway. Still, a small laugh left him at Rey's reaction.

"It's a great movie! What's yours anyway?"

"I don't know," he replied with a shrug. "Do I need to have one?"

"Everybody has one."

The statement washed over him like a wave of sudden self-consciousness. How long had it been since he'd actually felt something during a movie? He barely ever went to the cinema anymore, and the Netflix selection wasn't even that good lately. He'd always been more of a book nerd- but then again, it'd been a long time since he'd read for his own pleasure.

"How was your day?" he asked before his feelings got too overwhelming.

Thankfully, Rey didn't seem to mind the change of topic. "Not bad," she said. "I'm glad you could help, though."

"And Snoke?"

"Rude but busy."

Another chuckle left Ben at her words. The description was quite fitting, and in a way, satisfying: the less Snoke cared about him, the easier it would be to escape his vigilance. Still, something tightened around his stomach at the thought that the man, indeed, didn't care enough to worry about his unusual behavior. He could almost hear his mother's voice, warning him about the man she'd tried to keep away from him for so long.

"Ben?"

His own voice pulled him away from his stream of thoughts just as his fists began to clench around the edges of his sleeves. "Yes?"

"I said you should talk to Rose."

The knot around his stomach loosened immediately, only to tighten more than before. "Talk to Rose?"

"She's into witchcraft and other spiritual things," Rey continued. "She might have an idea about what happened."

That explained the sage. And the infusions. Ben turned to the nightstand next to the bed, eyeing the tea Rose had given him before going to bed- something smelly and rather dark. "Like that works."

"Are you really going to question this when we swapped bodies?"

A sigh crossed his lips. She was right, as much as his science-oriented brain hated it. "Alright," he groaned. His back met the mattress with a thud as he threw himself on Rey's bed. "I guess she's our only hope."

"For now, yes. But we can trust her."

Ben stared at the ceiling for a moment, his breathing deep and calm as he tried to process what she was asking of him. He could always refuse; the worst Rey could do was be mad at him, but this wasn't something he wasn't used to. Everybody got mad at him eventually.

But she was right. And he hated how right she was.

"Fine. I'll talk to her tomorrow."

A sigh of relief echoed through the phone. "Thank you."

Her accent was back, brightening his voice up with that little something Ben couldn't quite place. Something rough yet soft, something authentic, something Rey. It painted the hint of a smile at the corner of his lips- her lips. His hand rose instinctively, tracing the shape of it with the tip of his new fingers. He wondered if this looked like the smile he'd seen on her old pictures.

"Can I order something?" Rey asked suddenly. "I'm starving, and your protein shakes taste awful."

Shit, his fridge must have been very empty if she'd fed herself with his shakes. Guilt almost seized him but was quickly defeated by the memory of the pizza from the night before. "Better than jellied eels," he retorted with disgust.

She let out an offended sound at it and then proceeded to try to convince him that the abomination was indeed very good when well cooked, like in a pie or, in her case, on pizza. Nothing reasonable resulted from the debate they went through, but it did keep them talking for a good half hour. Rey defended her country's cuisine until the last minute while Ben commented on her examples with various sounds of disgust, making the two of them laugh a little more every time Rey tried to change his mind only to fail a little more.

"Oh, I think the food's here," she said when the bell rang on her side. "I can stay on the line though."

"No, go- I'm falling asleep anyway." A yawn left him with perfect timing. "Enjoy the sushi."

"Thanks. Let me know about Rose."

The sound of footsteps echoed again, followed by the familiar rustling of what he knew were his hands going through his jacket's pockets. Another smile left him as he told her which coat to search, and the code of his card. "I'll tell you everything," he promised. "Now go eat something."

She did something with his voice; an amused, carefree giggle he didn't know he could do. It was the second time she'd made him appreciate something about himself that day. It rendered him mute as she thanked him and wished him goodnight before she ended the call, leaving him in a comfortable silence as he slowly felt himself stumbling to a sleepy state with much more ease than the day before.

The following morning, Ben woke up with close to no panic for the first time in three days, reinvigorated and relaxed. According to Poe's goodbye from the day before, today was the first day of his weekend, which meant no alarm set early and an excuse to oversleep.

It'd been months, years, since he'd last allowed himself more than five hours in bed. Weekends usually had him panicking back in Brooklyn: too much free time with too little ways to fill it. Even though he didn't exactly like his job, at least it kept him busy. Snoke kept him busy, and Armitage sometimes; and when none of them would, he found other things to focus on. Marathon training, when the weather allowed it- and when it didn't, the gym did the trick. It was solitary, but at least kept his mind busy.

Rey never mentioned her having a gym membership or interest in any activity, but if he had to guess, he supposed her weekends were very similar to her evenings: spent in the company of her friends. The thought dragged him back to the promise he'd made the night before, and suddenly, his Saturday felt a little more complicated.

Rose. He had to talk to Rose.

A loud sigh left him as he sat in the middle of the bed, his eyes struggling to remain open. Rey's phone was still on the nightstand, its screen filled with various texts from her that he quickly opened.

Rey | the sushi was amazing

Rey | hey what's the netflix password?

Rey | nvm found it

A picture was attached to the last one: boxes of takeout scattered over his coffee table, all empty, with his TV in the background. It took him a few seconds to realize the movie she was watching was Mrs. Doubtfire, and a few more to notice the middle finger rose in front of the screen.

He scoffed at that, raising his finger as well for comparison. Her hand was twice as smaller than his, but also much more calloused on the edges- still, her palms remained as soft as the skin on their back. A blush threatened to seize his cheeks as Ben remembered the other soft spots of her body. He quickly chased the memories with a shake of his head, face hot with embarrassment. Maybe a jog later wouldn't be a bad idea. Going now was very tempting, but Ben resisted the pull and jumped out of bed instead, focusing on the task he'd been assigned.

Not a sound echoed around the apartment as he ventured out of the room; not a sound until he reached the corridor leading to the bathroom and passed Rose's room. Before he could think about a way to word his situation or even wake her, the door opened partially on the young woman's face, her eyes full of concern.

"Hey, sunshine. You're up early?"

Was he? Nine actually felt like a late morning. "Yeah, I suppose."

"You alright?"

He hesitated for a few seconds, then one too many. "Not… exactly. Can we talk?"

The woman's eyes narrowed briefly then she nodded, stepping aside to let him in as if they'd done it a million times before. But then again, maybe they had.

A strong smell immediately hit him, warm and spicy. It was somewhere between the smell of a Christmas market and his mother's garden, the whole thing followed by the scent of wood. It could've felt like too much, yet, for some reason, Ben found it inexplicably welcoming. When Rose closed the door behind him, he took a glance at the room, curious and embarrassed all at once.

Just like its perfume, Rose's room was full. Full of shelves, books, pictures and other things that made her space look like a small cabin in the woods full of memories and collectibles. A particular shelf close to the window caught his attention: only one book was on it, surrounded by colorful stones and wooden boxes of various shapes and sizes. Under it, what he first mistook for tinsels appeared to be dried plants hanging upside down- which explained the garden smell.

"So," Rose began with a smile. "What's bugging you?"

She sat at the edge of her bed, her long black hair tied in a messy bun. She didn't look like someone who'd just woken up: she was wearing the same black jeans he'd seen her in the day before and had wrapped herself in a grey tunic. Another sigh left Ben as he realized what he was about to say.

"It's, erm, hard to explain." A nervous laugh crossed his lips as he looked away. "You wouldn't believe me."

"I'll always believe you."

The sincerity of her words, of her tone, encouraged Ben to look up and meet her eyes again; and at that moment, the way she looked at him shook something within him. The trust in her eyes, the utter devotion and concern in the way she tilted her head to the side warmed his heart and somehow made him jealous. Because he wasn't the one she was looking at; all this love was directed to her Rey. Rey who'd spent the last two days alone, far from the ones she loved and who loved her.

"I'm not me."

Rose tilted her head to the other side with a frown. "As in you don't feel like yourself?"

God, she really wasn't going to make it easier. Ben ran a hand through his hair and gritted his teeth, trying hard not to avoid the young woman's look as he continued, determined not to chicken out.

"I'm not… her," he added tentatively. "This isn't Rey."

"Rey, what are you-"

"Ben," he corrected. "My name is Ben."

The amused smile that'd begun to bloom on her face disappeared gradually as understanding seemed to hit Rose. She stayed silent for a long moment that felt like hours, staring at him from her bed like he'd just announced something she was highly skeptical about. The joyful roommate facade quickly made way to a more serious face as she got up, not once breaking eye contact.

"Rose-?"

The silence persisted, only filled by the sound of her bare feet as she slowly walked around him, inspecting him with her eyes for only tool. Once, twice- she made three full circles before she finally stopped and took his face between her hands and planted her eyes into his like she was searching for something. Her hands were warm against his cheek, soft and careful; still, Ben couldn't help the instinct that pushed him to back away immediately at the contact.

When their eyes met again, her look had changed.

"You're not Rey," she breathed out.

Where he'd dreaded to be met with fear or anger, all Ben saw was realization. Her frown was gone, but the concern was back along with a new sort of curiosity.

"I'm not."

"How?"

To Ben's greatest surprise, the words left him with ease as he began to explain what he'd been living for the past two days. From his first morning here to the reality checks, he tried to give as many details as he could, praying that she would believe him and not blame it on drugs or wild imagination. Something in Rose seemed to relax when he mentioned Rey's phone calls, her face a little brighter than before.

"Two days ago," she repeated once he was done. "You said it was your birthday too?"

"Yes," Ben confirmed immediately. "Does it mean something?"

A shrug shook her shoulders as she scanned him again, her eyes boring into his with this curiosity again. "How old are you?"

"Thirty."

The answer surprised him both by its evidence and its reality. Thirty. He'd turned thirty two days ago, but his life was nowhere close to what he'd once thought it would be. Still, he hadn't expected it to shock Rose that much: her eyes went wide and she left her bed, walking around her room like she was searching for something, a few words in incomprehensible gibberish leaving her mouth.

"What now?"

"Seven," she repeated. "It's a powerful number. The moon influences many things, but- hold on."

She stopped by the shelf he'd noticed earlier and grabbed a heavy notebook from which a few pages were threatening to fall. The cover looked rather modern, scattered with sprinkles and engraved stars- but when she opened it, Ben caught glimpse of some scribbles handwritten among the pages, sometimes accompanied by sketches or glued pictures.

"Ah. Yes. Intentions." She placed her index between two pages, keeping them open as she began to read. "The full moon is propitious to changes, cleansing and charging energies. It is also the most suitable phase to work with when pursuing one's desire or setting intentions. Did you… wish for anything?"

Something about the way she said it felt a tad judgmental for someone who seemed to believe in moon phases and their influence, but Ben chose to ignore it and focus on his memories instead. He remembered the dinner, the restaurant Snoke had chosen and the supposedly fancy menu. He remembered how boring the evening had been, Hux with his annoying habit of correcting people's grammar and how sad it'd been that out of the millions of people on this earth, these two were the ones he was spending his birthday with.

It wasn't like he'd had a choice- Snoke wasn't exactly someone he could say no to, and Hux… well, Hux was their boss's shadow. The three of them had only met out of the office for work-related matters; and yet, for some reason, Snoke had insisted on taking them out for his birthday. Ben remembered the awkwardness of being offered to spend what was supposed to be one of his most important birthdays with work acquaintances; but worst, he remembered the self-pity of accepting it. Because, as awkward and sad as it was, these two were the only people he had shared a semblance of relationship with.

Ben let out a sigh as he focused back on the evening. He remembered how even the care hadn't been that good, and how he'd fought the desire to roll his eyes while blowing the candles as the waiter told him to make a wish-

Make a wish.

He'd rolled his eyes, blown the candles and made just that- a wish.

"I did," he blurted.

"Can I ask you what?"

He hated what he was about to say. He hated that he'd even wished for it. "I wished to get away from my shitty life," he recited with disbelief as the details came rushing back to him. "I wished I…" He paused briefly, smiling at how stupid and pathetic he'd been. "I wished I wouldn't feel so alone anymore."

If Rose had been rather composed so far, his last words seemed to unsettle her a little. Something passed in her eyes, something Ben couldn't quite decipher. She remained silent for a moment then rose a hand to his shoulder, but stopped herself at the very last moment, seeming to recall his earlier reaction to physical contact.

"Sorry- can I...?"

Ben nodded vaguely, allowing her hand to rest on his shoulder and squeeze it lightly. She pulled away two seconds later, careful like he was some feral creature that could attack her at any time. He couldn't really blame her; she didn't know who he really was and, for all he knew, could be lying about his identity.

"It sounds insane," she murmured. "But I believe you." Her eyes averted to the notebook in her hand. "I can't say for sure, but if I had to guess, I think the universe heard your wish and…"

Her voice trailed off as she proceeded to flip through the pages again, leaving Ben anticipating every time she opened her mouth only to close it again.

"Seven- it's a very powerful number," she repeated. "You and Rey were born exactly seven years apart. This must've created some sort of link between the two of you when you made your wish. You were asking for a full change and some company and… well, you got it."

It did sound insane. Like something straight out of a Christmas movie, with a naive conclusion and some silly song on top of a happy-ever-after montage. It would've been ridiculous enough for this; and yet, Ben couldn't deny that it was, indeed, very much happening. No songs blasted out of nowhere as he felt a strong sense of guilt hitting him. If Rose's theory was correct, this was his fault. His fault, and no one else's, all because he'd been strung out enough to make some stupid wish that seemed to have actually worked.

"How do we fix this?" he asked, swallowing the lump that'd started to form in his throat.

Rose hummed something as she finished reading her page, then looked back at him. "I would wait for the next full moon."

"That's it? I just… wait and make a wish under a full moon?"

"It's all I can think of," Rose said with a shrug. "It'll give me a few weeks to gather some things and find a chicken to slaughter. Joking," she added when his eyes widened.

She closed her notebook with a brisk movement and gave him the same warm smile he'd seen on her for the last two days. "Well, glad to meet you, Ben."

The rest of the day went surprisingly well. After an hour-long conversation with Rose who insisted she wanted to know more about him, Ben managed to leave the apartment for a well-deserved jogging session around the neighborhood. He got lost a few times, found his way back then got lost again, and only stopped when his stomach complained through loud growls. Even though London was different than New York, there was something both cities had in common: street food. Luckily, Rey seemed to be in the habit of forgetting money in the pockets of her jacket, leaving Ben with just enough to get himself the nice burger that'd lured him into running a few more streets in search of its delicious smell.

The apartment was still silent when he came back hours later, tired and sore from his long walk. A square, green piece of paper had been glued on his door, informing him that both Rose and Finn had left but would be back before dinner. This wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting, but Ben found himself surprisingly grateful for the few hours of calm. He hadn't had much of it lately, and something told him that Rose had felt it and tried to give him enough space for him to call Rey- which he did as soon as she gave him a sign of life.

"A month," she repeated once he was done. "Okay. That's… a lot."

"I know," Ben breathed out. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

Within seconds, the remorse and guilt he'd managed to chase away during the day resumed with greater intensity. "It's my fault," he explained. "I… I made a wish on my birthday."

"Ben-"

"And we have an exact seven-year age difference, which Rose said could've connected us and-"

"Ben. I made a wish, too."

Her firm tone made him stop right away, his heart pounding in his chest as he processed what she'd just said. For a moment, he forgot that the voice she'd been using wasn't exactly hers- all he could hear was the panic in her words, the way her accent got more noticeable anytime she said his name, and a hint of relief in the breath she let out.

"You… what?"

"I made a wish," she repeated. "I think I did."

A mass of emotions passed through her voice, all more contradictory than the other. They all vanished progressively as Ben felt the knot around his stomach loosen a little, letting him take a deep breath. "What did you wish for?"

"I…" A sigh left her, shaky and hesitant. "Don't tell Rose, ok?"

He gave him a nod she couldn't see, silently encouraging her to continue.

"I love her. I love her, and Finn, and Poe, but… I don't know. I was feeling alone. I've always felt alone, but lately… they're all getting together in some way, and I just… I'd never felt so alone."

The last words left her in a whisper; she'd obviously been keeping these forbidden thoughts for a long time. Maybe she'd even tried to ignore them. Ben knew the feeling. He knew all about feeling lonely in a crowded room and long nights with nightmares for only companions. These were all memories he'd buried deep inside years ago, but he didn't mind sharing them tonight.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," he murmured.

A sniff echoed on Rey's side, followed by a strangled, "what?"

"It's my favorite movie."

She sniffed one more time, and Ben swore he could hear the hint of a smile in his own voice when she spoke again. "Why?"

"I always wished my family was as united as Charlie's. My mother wasn't home a lot, and neither was my father. Both my uncles spent their life flying around the globe, and I never met my grandparents. I always wished I could get them all to sit on a giant bed and tell me stories, like Charlie's grandfather."

The faint giggle he heard in his ear made Ben smile despite how gritted his teeth were. These weren't memories he had planned to explore again; but if this was the price he had to pay to hear Rey laugh, well, he could handle it.

"I always hoped I'd get my own Mrs. Doubtfire," she murmured. "Someone who would love me enough to just… you know, fight for me. Someone who would care about me."

"I think your friends care about you," Ben remarked.

"But for how long."

The way she said it, Ben felt his heart fall a few inches inside his chest. Now, this tone, he knew it; he'd heard it from himself way too often to know the sorrow that'd reached her. He knew the doubts and fears behind it, and how much she believed the words she'd just said.

"For what it's worth," he offered tentatively, "I care about you." A small 'thanks' echoed through the line as he took a deep breath and gathered his courage to add, "You're not alone, you know. Not anymore."

The short silence that followed made him wonder if he'd gone too far until Rey spoke again. "Neither are you."

This time, his heart dropped down to his knees and missed a beat on its way. When it came back to a normal pace, Ben held the phone close in his palm, listening to the sound of Rey's sniffing and her heavy breathings as she, too, seemed to regain some control on the body she currently inhabited.

"Hey, Ben?" she asked after a moment. "Put the phone down."

A frown crossed his face at her request, but Ben placed the device on his chest without further queries. "Done."

"Put your hands together."

Even though he wasn't used to being given orders, Ben obeyed dutifully. His eyes remained on his hands as their palms met, watching the fingers lace together with wonder.

"Close your eyes," Rey continued. "Now it's like we're together."

Whatever she did with his voice made him want to believe anything she said, but also hear it from her own. His grip tightened at the idea, almost crushing the other hand. If he thought about it hard enough, it was like holding someone else's hand. Like holding Rey's hand. The sheer thought of it made him smile, and he held onto it even tighter. For now on, they had each other. For the next four weeks at least, he could count on her as much as she could count on him. And for a long time, her words would remain engraved into his brain like a promise he would hold onto anytime loneliness felt like too much of a burden.

"Like we're together," he repeated in a low voice, his fingers absently tracing the lines of her palms.