A/N: So here we are again! Another letter! F is the theme for this one. Let's see how long it goes! There are plenty of F words out there, I'm sure... Enjoy! R&R!

FIRE

Chapter 1: Fire

Rey had been living in the same apartment complex for years. She'd come to see how many people came and went. She knew that there was a neighbor she didn't particularly care for. He was so aloof. He was so... brooding. He seemed like trouble. They'd passed each other collecting their mail and she'd even had to deliver mail to his apartment that was accidentally shoved in her box. Ben Solo. Sounded like a play on words. Has he really been solo all this time? She chuckled at the thought. What kind of name was that? Was it really Benjamin? Benny? Or was it just Ben? She played with the name off and on throughout the time he became a tenant. But she never really pushed it. If he wanted to use an alias, then so be it. But at least pick a better one!

She checked her mail and sighed as she saw a lot of Ben's things in her box. As she flipped through the mail, she noticed a card that came for her from her friend Finn. She smiled and opened it, Ben's mail under her arm forgotten. She read the card and giggled at Finn's eagerness and chatty behavior. Even in writing, he was so wordy. She smiled as she leaned against the wall, reading silently. She smiled and folded it up. He was getting married in a few weeks. To Rose. She was so happy that those two decided to become official. They were good for each other. Included was a wedding invitation and Finn urged her to bring a guy with her. She sighed indignantly. There was no way she would bring someone. She was fine being single. She was better off on her own. She thought a little to herself. Maybe...

No. She walked up the stairs quietly, holding Ben's mail under her arm. When she reached the top of the stairs, she saw him standing at her door. She tilted her head curiously. "Can I help you?" she asked as she approached.

He turned to her and held out her mail. "Apparently, the mail person can't figure out our apartments are different. I swear they're dyslexic."

She took her mail from him with a small smirk. "I suppose it's easy to mix up 202 and 220," she said with a small grin. She held out his mail. "Trade ya," she said as he took it with a sigh of irritation. "Could be worse," she said as she walked to her door and unlocked it.

"How?" he asked as he glanced over his shoulder at her.

She impishly looked out her door at him with a wide grin. "I could be ordering inappropriate things in your name," she teased as she stuck her tongue out at him.

Ben's face blanched at her suggestion. "Inappropriate," he scoffed as he stalked to his room, his face turning a bright shade of red when it sank in.

Rey giggled and went into her own apartment, closing the door behind her. She thought more on their brief exchanges. She'd been getting more playful with him lately, she realized. Maybe it was just her figuring she would tease him a bit since they interacted so much. She didn't know what started it. Maybe it was because everyone else feared him or was extremely wary of him. He seemed lonely, but not all bad. He seemed like trouble initially. She was still on the fence, honestly. There were some days where he was in such a terrible mood that it seemed he could go off on anyone and anything. But then there were days where he was just... standoffish. Today was a standoffish day, so she teased him. But on his bad days, she usually just leaves him alone. She didn't know what to really make of him.

Shrugging it off, she walked over to her kitchen and started to make herself some dinner. Afterwards, she'd go to bed early.

X~X~X~X~X~X

Rey awoke several hours later, coughing and smelling something burning. She sat up in bed and coughed more when she realized that there was a fire somewhere close by. Her eyes widened as she stood from her bed and fell to the floor. She coughed more and more and felt her vision blurring. No, she couldn't do that. She had to go. She had to get out. She crawled on the floor, staying low as she could as smoke typically rose. She coughed violently as she made it to her living room. She heard footsteps and screams fading in and out of her ears. Everyone was running. Everyone was panicking. She felt the ground rumbling from everyone fleeing for safety. She felt her vision start to teeter again and just as she made it to her door, she opened it and collapsed onto the ground, her vision going black.

X~X~X~X~X~X

Ben had woken up not too long before Rey. He coughed as she opened his door and saw everyone running down the hall to exit the building. His thoughts briefly went to his neighbor. Did she make it out? She was the only one that ever really spoke to him. She was the only one that didn't look at him with fear. Rey was her name. He'd learned that from her mail. He pushed onward and coughed more as he exited his apartment when the crowd cleared. He'd made his way down the stairs and out the building, his eyes scanning the crowd of tenants. He looked around at everyone's faces. When he didn't see her, he wondered where she had gone to. Then he heard a woman come out, screaming, "There's a young girl still inside! Please! Someone help her! I'm not strong enough to lift her from the second floor down!"

Ben rushed back into the building, flames shooting out of the entrance he came in through. He coughed more and rushed up the stairs quickly, taking long strides with his long legs. When he made it to the second floor, he looked through the thick smoke, coughing violently as he frantically searched for the girl that was still here. When his eyes landed on a body lying in the walkway, that wasn't there before, he rushed to her and lifted her into his arms. He rushed out the building, his shirt over his nose to keep out as much as possible. When he made it outside, the woman from before cried in glee that he had rescued her. "You're such a brave man! Thank you so much!"

Ben walked over to the ambulance that had shown up and laid her on the gurney, at the EMT's request. He watched nervously as the EMT did his job, trying to get the girl some oxygen and figuring out what was going on with her. "Do you know her name?" the EMT asked.

"Rey. Rey Skywalker."

"Age?"

Ben hesitated. "19?" he questioned, not really sure, but going off of what he'd heard from the other tenants. They were always talking about her. How she was a sweet girl, so young and not even 20. He'd listened and paid attention, and he was glad he did.

"Relation to her?"

"Uh... neighbor." Ben hesitated.

"Is that all?" EMT asked, glancing over at Ben incredulously.

Ben sighed. "My mother's brother adopted her. So... cousin?"

"Hop in."

Ben's eyes widened. "Uh... no, that's-"

"You're the closest kin at the moment. Please get inside. We need to go to the hospital." Ben hesitantly got into the ambulance.