My mess of plot ideas:

Theme: "I love you" through music

Ben is a pianist who plays at this restaurant every night. Rey always goes there sometimes just to sit and listen to him play. She thinks he's gorgeous and plays beautifully but never gets up the nerve to talk to him. One day she goes and she hears different music playing and sees that it is someone else on the piano. She finds the manager and asks what happened to the guy who used to play. He quit or something else happened. She finally talks to him and admits she's admired his music and always wanted to learn how to play piano. He starts to teach her and they fall in love?

Or

Rey is also a pianist who had an accident or possibly Ben is the one who has the accident and one of them tried to teach them how to play again? So you know it's going to be angsty but also cute and fluffy. Both stubborn and prideful. Ben gets frustrated with her and vise versa but the frustration is just because they love each other so much and want the best for the other.

Foster parents crushed Rey's hand when she was just getting good/famous. Ben's music reminds her of how she used to play. He actually quits because he wanted to do more than just play at a restaurant but he felt he would never be able to do it. Rey tracks him down and tells him that he can't quit and she will help him. Somehow her disability is revealed but not the story behind it yet. She's only comfortable enough to tell him once they start to fall in love. Slowly but surely she also starts to learn to play again. Not after countless fails however. She's bitter when Ben tries to give her hope, she lost hope years ago.

(I ended up doing this idea)

The actual unfinished story I ended up writing:

Rey walked into the restaurant as she did countless other times. She had been going to this place for a while. There wasn't anything particularly special about it, but she liked the food and the people there. She grew to be friends with the workers and even the owner. Rey had a habit of creating family wherever she went as a result of never really having one growing up. On this particular evening Rey came alone. She was wrapped up in a puffy coat with an oversized light blue scarf covering her mouth and nose. It was a chilly winter night and she had been tired of sitting at home all day. She found herself sometimes getting lost within her own thoughts when she was alone on nights like these. Thoughts about the past, thoughts about the future. "What if's" start to creep up in her brain until she's drowning in all the possibilities that were shattered by one moment that only took two seconds. She could stay like that for hours until her thoughts would almost come to life. She had to get away from it so she decided to come here. She sat heavily down on the stool at the bar portion of the restaurant right in front of Finn, the bartender who was cleaning glasses behind the counter.

Rey beamed up at him but he didnt see it because he continued to dry the glasses in his hands.

"Hey stranger." Finn puffed but still didn't look up from his busy work.

Rey pouted and snatched the cup right from his hands.

"Hey!"

"Are you mad at me?" Rey asked genuinely worried.

Finn sighed and placed his elbows on the counter, resting his chin on the meaty part of his fingers, looking right at her.

"Silly girl. Of course I'm not mad at you. I missed you."

Rey sighed in relief. Finn was one of her best friends and one of the best people she's ever met. She met his eyes and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I know I haven't been around lately. You know how it is this time of year. I can sometimes shut myself out."

"I know. Which is exactly why I worry about you so much. You know you don't have to shut me out. Ever.

"I know." she whispered.

"Good." Finn said and grabbed the cup back from her but not before blinding her with his famous white smile. Rey laughed. His smile never failed to make her happy. She was content to just watch him as he worked when she heard it. The piano in the corner of the restaurant. That piano seemed to haunt her everytime she came in, just begging for someone to play it. Yet no one ever did. She never understood why they had that piano if it was never going to be used. She grew accustomed to its haunting presence and learned to ignore that tug in her heart and that tingle in her broken fingertips.

Rey stiffened as the music grew louder until it seemed to almost be right in her ear. She didn't dare turn around and look. She had finally lost her mind. That piano was playing by itself and she knew it was trying to inflict pain on her.

"Rey, are you okay?"

Rey looked up to see Finn's smooth face creased with worry lines. He placed his hands on her gloved ones. They were shaking.

"The music." Rey was able to let out. "Tell me you hear it too and it's not just my imagination."

"I hear it Rey. The whole restaurant can hear it. Poe hired someone to play the piano the other day. He figured he ought to put it to good use. Okay Rey? It's not just you. Its real."

Rey cursed under her breath. She didn't know if that made it better or worse. She closed her eyes and let herself settle into the situation. Once she got past the anxiety she could admit that the music was truly enchanting. It hummed and then it soared through the restaurant. The notes seemed to weave a story into the air. What kind of story she wasn't aware of but she knew it was a story. Her own music was always stories. Stories of her life, stories she kept hidden within herself until they poured out into her music like liquid gold. Her music was her safe haven. Or at least it used to be.

"Should I look?" Rey said aloud to herself but Finn answered anyway.

"I think you should."

Rey nodded and prepared herself. She slowly swiveled in her stool to face the corner of the room that held the piano she wished she could have used to fill the room with music.

Sitting on the bench that she would sometimes sit to stare at the ebony and ivory keys was a very tall man. The bench was pulled farther out, allowing the man to stretch his legs out to the pedals at the bottom of the piano. The graceful length of his arms made it no problem for him to play with ease.

Rey was instantly enraptured. Here was this massive man and he was playing with such grace and finery. It left her breathless. She watched and she didn't know how long she was there just listening and watching, taking it all in like she was starved, depraved. Maybe she was. He seemed to dance while he played. His shoulders swayed, his back expanded and his neck lifted and fell with the music.

Rey felt herself blush as she noticed the way his lips parted when he become particularly entranced in the notes he was creating. His lips really were quite full. And red. So red.

"You're drooling." Rey was startled out of her trance by Finns amused tone.

"Was not." Rey frowned as she swiveled back in her chair and came face to face with Finn's smug look.

"You totally were."

"His music...it's beautiful." Finn's look seemed to say, "That's not the only thing you thought was beautiful." But he only smiled and nodded at her.

"How long has he been here?" Rey questioned.

"He's been here for the past week. Basically since the last time you were here. He's pretty quiet. Keeps to himself. I don't think I've heard him say a word yet." Finn mused.

Hmm, so he does his talking through music.Thought Rey. Just like her.

Rey tried to tell herself that she was only drawn to his music. His music that reminds her so much of how she used to play. Passionate, reckless, heart-wrenching. But she knew she was drawn by other reasons as well. By his long dark hair that sometimes fell into his eyes when he played. His elegant fingers as he swiped the wisps of hair back in place before diving right back into the music without missing a beat. She was drawn by those dark eyes, brooding and languished. By his scar. And those beauty marks scattered around his face. He looked rough yet soft and Rey wanted to know which one was more prominent. He truly was as beautiful as the music that he created.

She felt like she knew him yet she never talked to him. He was a mystery to her, an enigma that she was torn between wanting to know all about and wanting to keep as an illusion. However, she couldn't deny the desire any longer. The desire to know this man. But everytime he got up to leave at the end of the day all she could do was watch as he left through the door without so much as a single glance her way. She wanted to be brave, she wanted to talk to him but she just couldn't do it.

Then one day she came and he wasn't there. Rey thought maybe he was sick or taking a day off. But then he wasn't there again the next day, then the next and the next until Rey felt like a piece of her was missing.

Rey ran over to Finn for some answers.

"Where is he?"

"What are you talking about?"

Rey huffed in frustration.

"Piano guy! He hasn't been here for the past couple of days."

"Oh, right. I'm not really sure. Maybe Poe fired him?"

"Fired him!?" Rey roared, she could feel this mix of rage and panic fill her up.

"Where's Poe." Rey deadpanned.

"He's in the back-wait, Rey you know you can't go back there!" Finn shook his head as Rey ignored him and made a beeline for the back of the restaurant.

"Poe!" Rey shouted. "Poe I need to talk to you!"

Rey saw a curly haired head poke out from his office.

"Rey? What are you doing back here?" Poe questioned and he walked over to her.

"I need to talk to you."

"You're not supposed to be back here." Poe said sternly but his eyes smiled at her. Poe had become like the big brother she never had but always wanted. Poe ruffled her hair.

"What's got you all riled up kid?"

"Why did you fire the guy who played the piano? His music was beautiful! He finally brought some life into this place with the way he played piano and then you go and fire him and-"

"Woah Rey, calm down. I didn't fire him. He quit."

Rey couldn't comprehend what Poe had just said to her.

"What?"

"He quit. He just came up to me the other day and told me he wouldn't be playing anymore. I enjoyed his music too. I was sad to see him go."

Rey shook her head in disbelief. "Why did he quit?"

Poe shrugged. "He didn't really go into details. I'm not sure if you noticed but he was a pretty quiet guy. Sort of a loner." Poe's tone saddened a bit. It reminded Rey of when she first met him. How he took her under his wing and cared for her, seeing the lonely soul inside her as well.

"What was his name?" She asked, realizing she never knew this whole time.

Poe looked down at her in surprise as if he forgot she was there.

"Uh, I believe he called himself Kylo Ren but his background check had the name Ben Solo."

"What's his address?"

"What?" Poe laughed at Rey's boldness."I can't just give out peoples address Rey. It's illegal."

But Rey was determined and she wasn't leaving until she knew how to find this Kylo Ren or Ben Solo or whatever he called himself.

It wasn't easy but Poe finally cracked.

Rey found herself standing in front of a apartment door in the middle of a neighborhood she never even knew existed with her heart hammering inside her chest. Rey was definitely going crazy. Why else would she be at a strangers door at 10 o'clock at night? Rey almost lost her nerve when she heard the music again. The music that started to become her alleviant; the cure to her madness. Or perhaps the reason for it. As the music showered over her, Rey was reminded of why she was there in the first place. She had to know the man who played such alluring music.

Rey's knuckles raked across the door with a sharp knock. The piano abruptly cut off at the sound of her knock and Rey felt the sharp pang of disappointment at the absence of his notes. Without the music helping her escape, the puddle of anxiety began to pool in her stomach once more and Rey was a second from bolting down the stairs when the door flung open. Her mouth flung open as well at the sight of him. He stood in the doorway shirtless with only a pair of jeans hanging loosely on his hips. Rey couldn't help but admire the massive strength of this man and the way his arm muscles tensed slightly as he leaned against the door frame.

"Who are you?"

The sound of his deep voice startled Rey out of her rude staring. Instead she looked up at his face to see a very annoyed as well as confused expression on his face.

She was at a loss for words...

"Uhh...why did you quit?"

She saw him scrunch up his face. "What?"

"At The First Resistance restaurant, you used to play piano there. Why did you quit?"

Ben narrowed his eyes as he took her all in as if trying to remember something. Rey fidgeted under his scrutinizing gaze.

"It is you."

"Me?"

"The girl at the restaurant who would always sit at the bar and watch me play." Rey felt her cheeks burn at his words.

"Um...yeah, that's me."

"What's your name kid?"

Rey frowned at that. She didn't mind when Poe called her kid, it felt right. But something about him saying it didn't sit right with her. How old was this dude anyway?

"My name is Rey." She said, still scowling. "What's yours?"

He barked out a scoff or maybe it was a laugh and shook his head which only made Rey's frown deepen.

"So you know my address but not my name Stalker Rey?" Rey wanted to punch his pretty boy face as his lips lifted in a lopsided smirk.

Rey crossed her arms and huffed in annoyance. "I am not a stalker."

Ben/Kylo/he still hasn't formally told her his name yet lifted a dark brow in protest.

"Are you sure about that?"

Rey felt like she had made a mistake in coming to his apartment. She felt foolish and stupid. What was she thinking? She was acting like a stalker. Rey felt tears sting in the back of her eyes and was about to leave when she heard him huff, "Do you want to come inside?"

She looked up to see him looking at his shoes. The sight of this big shirtless man becoming shy almost made Rey laugh. She nodded her head when he looked back up at her. He stepped to the side and let her walk past him into his apartment.

Rey found herself in a modest apartment with a couple of mismatched pieces of furniture that was surprisingly endearing. It made Rey smile.

"I'll be right back." Kylo/Ben said before disappearing into a room down the hall. Rey was left to her own devices and her own thoughts. He's not gonna come back out with a knife and kill me right? Rey thought to herself. I really hope not, that would suck.

Rey looked around and saw the piano he was just playing a minute ago tucked in the corner of his living room. It was a classic black piano with sheets of music scattered across the top. Rey's heart ached at the sight. She remembered how she would spend hours composing, trying out the notes on her piano until it finally felt right. She remembers crumpled up papers and eraser dust, the tick of the metronome and the ringing of melodies in her head long after she had shut the fallboard.

Ghosts of the past seemed to push her forward until she was sitting on the bench, her fingers caressing the keys. They felt foreign yet familiar. Melancholy yet mirthful. She was so entranced in her own little world she didn't notice the man she had worried might kill her with a knife watching silently behind her.

"Do you play?" Rey was startled once again as Kylo came into the room. He was wearing a shirt now and Rey had to bite back the weird sensation of disappointment at him being clothed.

"I used too." Rey laughed humorlessly as she got up and away from the piano. Her body language saying that was all he was going to get out of her on that subject.

"You know I could sue him for that?" Ben thundered.

Rey looked up at him with shiny eyes, worried for Poe. "Oh, please don't! It's really my fault! I pressured him into it, he didn't want to. He knew it was illegal, but I just had to know-"

Ben waved her off, flustered by the way she was looking up at him.

"No wonder the guy cracked." Ben mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing." Ben grumbled. "I'm not going to sue anyone okay?"

Ben saw Rey visibly relax and he remembered what she was about to say.

"What did you have to know?" Ben asked, his curiosity peaked. She looked at him confused. "You said you made him tell you my address because you had to know what?"

"Oh." Rey lowered her head again, refusing to meet his gaze. "I had to know why you quit." She whispered.

"Why?"

She looked at him then and the resolve in her eyes left him paralyzed just staring at her.

"Your music brought me to life again. It gave me something to look forward to. It was so beautiful." Ben could see the shine in her eyes, the slight promise of a tear gathering above her waterline. "It reminded me of myself. Of who I used to be, before-" Her voice cracked and the tear slipped down her cheek. Ben was never good at this. He was an emotional person. Take one listen to his music and you won't be surprised. But he could hardly control or tame his own emotions let alone another person's. Yet as he saw this girl pour her heart out to him because his music made her feel something, Ben was filled with overwhelming need to comfort her and an irrational want to hurt those that hurt her. Ben's hand trembled slightly as he reached out to her. Rey, lost in herself, forgot where she was until she felt a hand brush her cheek, gently wiping away a tear that she hadn't realized was there. Rey jerked away, wiping furiously at her face.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know why im crying or why i'm even telling you this." Rey was too busy fussing to see the flash of disappointment in Ben's eyes.

"No it's okay. Really." Ben watched as Rey continued to hide her face from him and he sighed.

"I quit, because I gave up on my music."

Rey looked up at him then, shock on her face.

"What? Why? Your music...it's-it's-" Rey couldn't even form a sentence, the shock of his words completely frying her brain. Why would he ever want to quit playing? He's brilliant.

Ben sighed again. "It's a long story."

Rey was already in too deep. "If you haven't noticed, I have nothing else better to do." Ben chuckled and told her to sit on the couch. He plopped down next to her and ran his fingers nervously through his long dark hair, pushing it back so Rey got a peek of his ears underneath. They were big and adorable and Rey smiled despite herself.

Ben looked at Rey again, her eyes wide and red from crying but the openness of her face made Ben want to tell her everything. It was weird. He usually pushes people away, yet Rey had this effect on him and he hardly even knew her.

The next morning Rey walked into The First Resistance unaware of the smile taking up her whole face. When she plopped into her usual stool Finn looked at her in surprise.

"Woah Peanut, can you close the blinds a bit? The sun is getting in my eyes." Rey tilted her head in confusion, smile still unwavering. Finn gestured and smiled his own blinding smile. Rey laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oops sorry." Rey bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling too much. Finn watched her with a knowing look.

"What or who happened?" Finn questioned.

"What are you talking about?"

"Rey, come on. Last night you were coming in here yelling about the piano guy and now you're here this morning smiling.

Rey couldn't help but smile again as she told Finn everything.

He didn't have the reaction she expected.

"Poe!"

"Finn! What are you doing, shut up!"

"Poe!" Finn continued to yell for the owner.

Poe came crashing through from the back, his curls wild around his face.

"What? What happened?!"

"Did you really give out the poor piano man's information to Rey last night?"

"Finn." Poe growled. "I swear, you almost gave me a heart attack. Don't start yelling my name like there's a fire just to hit me with this nonsense okay? I just turned 35, I'm not as resilient as you young kids."

Finn rolled his eyes. "Okay old man, but you still shouldn't be giving people's information out there, especially not to scavengers like Rey."

"Hey! I'm right here you know!"

"Have you seen this one when she's determined?" Poe gestured to Rey. "It's terrifying."

"Yes, as a matter of fact I have and that's why I'm immune to her tricks."

Rey stuck her tongue out at him and huffed.

"You two will definitely be the death of me. I know it." Poe started to pace around the restaurant, talking aloud to himself. "I take two foster kids under my wing and this is the thanks I get."

"Oh please Poe, you know you love us." Rey teased.

"Yes. I do. That's the problem."

Finn threw his head back in laughter. "Aww, we love you too Poe."

Poe shook his head but softened a bit.

"I also wanted to talk to you about a job."

Both Finn and Poe stopped to look at Rey in surprise.

"Really?"

"You want to work here?"

Ben's musings

Ben felt an instant warmth towards this girl who just showed up on his doorstep so to speak, randomly and for the most peculiar reason. He should feel violated or weirded out or something other than this lure to keep her talking so he could continue to admire the pink at the edge of her nose from the cold. The coat she was wearing seemed to swallow her up and the wisps of brown hair curled around her ever increasing red cheeks.

Ben really was insufferable. And he couldn't help but tease her. But then he went too far and he could see she was going to leave. So being the impulsive and reckless person he is, he invited her in.

This stranger.

Who found his address somehow.

And actually came and knocked on his door at night.

He was an idiot.

But how much damage can a slim, 5 foot 7 girl really do to him?

Gosh, he really was an idiot.

Ben noticed her. Of course he noticed her. How could he not? It was because he noticed her that he ignored her. He noticed her freckles and the way that her eyes would be more green some days and then more brown others.

Extra Scenes

Ben's fingers danced across the piano, the music seemed to become tangible in the room. He felt himself become apart of the melody, his soul intertwined in every note. Rey found hers was doing the same. Their spirits filled the room along with the music. At one point it became so much Ben had to stop, his fingers were shaking so badly. He was hyperventilating when Rey sat heavily next to him on the bench and grabbed his hands within her broken ones. Steadying them. He looked at her with tears welled in his eyes. She squeezed his hands. "Don't be afraid. I feel it too."

His music was too emotional. His music was his very being. His very essence. His music told his story. Everything he wasn't willing to tell people in words but was desperate to say in notes. In melodies.

Ben took Rey's hands and examined them. He turned them over and traced her palm with his fingertips. Then he lifted her hand, brought them to his lips and kissed the tips of each of her fingers with veneration. Rey's breath caught in her throat and she could feel a sting in her eyes as she fought back tears.

"You're perfect." he breathed. "Absolutely perfect."