When Rey goes downstairs for breakfast Christmas morning, she's better rested than she has been in a long time. She had woken up sometime close to dawn, seeing the first rays of the sun reaching through the curtains of Ben's bedroom. She had watched him for a moment, the rise and fall of his chest, his strong nose, and long hair in disarray. He was beautiful there in the half-light of the morning, and she knows with more certainty than ever, that she would like to see if they could take this further.

The sex was amazing. Certainly the best of her life, which hadn't been what she'd expected at all. But there was more there, a connection she hasn't felt with anyone. She wants to explore it, needs to explore it, get to know him better.

And she thinks he feels the same.

She thinks. But she doesn't know.

Ben is not there when she gets downstairs. But Shara is and when she sees Rey, she gives her a smile that almost seems brittle. "Coffee?" she asks and Rey is slightly taken aback. She expected…more…somehow. But she seems rather oddly quiet this morning.

Maybe that's usual. How would Rey know?

"You're a lifesaver."

"Hmmm…" is all she says as she pours the cup and pushes it across the table to Rey, leaving her to go in search of her own milk and sugar.

Poe comes down next and pauses at the doorway, giving Rey a bit of a smile, before remembering himself and walking over to wrap an arm around her and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Sleep well, dear?"

Rey can feel her cheeks heat. "Yes." She stammers over the word. She did sleep well. Very well. Too well, really. She'd come close to sleeping far too late in Ben's arms.

Poe's demeanor seems to echo his mother's and Rey just feels like something is off-kilter somehow. She expects more warmth, more happiness. It's Christmas and this family has been nothing but loving and welcoming since the moment she met them.

Finn arrives with fanfare. "Merry Christmas!" he announces happily, hugging first Poe and then her.

And then finally Ben wanders in, still bleary-eyed, and Rey has to keep tight control over herself not to rush over to him and kiss him like she did last night. Instead, she just looks at him and offers up a quick "Good morning." He nods in her direction and that's it.

There's so much more that needs to be said.

But not now.

Tomorrow. When they get ready to leave.

"Well," Shara says and there's still that strange note to her voice. "Now that we're all here." Rey has a bad feeling about this. A really bad one. Her eyes meet Ben's for a second. He looks away almost as soon as they meet.

And then Shara looks at her. Really looks at her and there is a hardness to her face, eyes narrowed a bit, a pinched look to the corners of her mouth. "I heard you," she says quietly. Oh fuck.

"Heard who?" Poe says.

"Ah yes, therein lies the problem. There were distinct sex noises coming from a room in this house…" She lets the words drop heavily into the room, and everyone is silent.

Rey feels panicked. She knows her face is bright red. She'd tried…tried…to keep quiet. But apparently either she or Ben had let loose enough that Shara heard. Oh fuck. Imagining her sitting in her room or outside in the hallway hearing everything made her want to crawl right under the table.

"We didn't," Poe says, standing suddenly. He puts a hand on Rey's shoulder. "We did no such thing. It must have been a dream."

"Oh do sit down. It wasn't you." Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Finn breathe a sigh of relief, sitting back further in the chair.

"Of course not." Then a beat. "What? Wait...who was it?" Poe glances around the room and Rey cringes as his eyes fall on Ben, who is also squirming a bit in his chair, cheeks and tips of his ears red.

"It seems that while you were dreaming of sugar plums and Santa coming…"

"Mom, I'm not five anymore," Poe interjects with.

"While you were sleeping, your girlfriend seems to have slipped out of her room and into your cousin's." Her eyes fall on Ben, who is watching with wide eyes and half parted lips. His eyes flit to Rey and then back to his aunt and he looks absolutely panicked.

Rey feels it building up inside her too.

"Poe, I'm sorry to have to tell you this," his mother says, reaching out to put her hand over Poe's. "But your girlfriend is a cheating whore." The last is said with so much venom that Rey is left breathless for a moment.

"Don't you dare…" Ben starts to say at the same time Rey jumps to her feet.

"I'm not!" She can't help the words as they tumble from her mouth.

Everything is silent for a moment.

And then Poe laughs. Laughs. "You lost your virginity? About damn time, Solo." And he tries to high-five him. Ben just stares at him like he's grown a second head.

This is not going the way she thought it would at all.

"Poe!" his mother says. "Do you not care at all? Beneath our roof, Poe. Our very roof, with you in the other room, your girlfriend is sleeping with your own cousin. I want her out of the house now." She looks at Ben then. "And I want him gone too. You are no longer welcome here, Ben Solo. You should be ashamed of yourself."

In her panic, Rey rushes at Poe. "I'm so sorry, Poe." She means that at least. She didn't mean for it to come to this. Fuck, Rey, what were you thinking? She could have confessed things, told Ben she'd like to see him after this was all over, fucked him then. But no, she had to do it here, now, right under their noses. And it's too late. Poe's parents knows everything.

Well, not everything.

"There's nothing to apologize for, Rey," Poe says, quietly reaching out to take her hands in his. He brings them up to his lips and kisses them before releasing them. "This whole thing was wrong."

"Poe," Rey says, a warning in her voice. "Don't…It's not worth it."

"It is," he finally says. "I've been hiding my whole life. Nearly thirty years. Maybe it's time I stopped hiding. And stopped hurting people." His eyes meet Rey's and then Ben's. The latter still looks somewhat panicked, his face pale, his lips pressed together in a tight line. And then Poe steps away from Rey and reaches out a hand toward Finn.

Finn steps toward him and lets him take his hand in his. Poe gives him a reassuring smile and Rey can feel a sort of half-smile on her own face as she watches them together.

"Mom?" Poe says, turning back toward Shara, who is watching the proceedings with raised eyebrows. "I'm not with Rey. Rey's…she's one of my best friends. She came here in good faith, but on a lie that I helped create and one I begged her to keep up. Even though she was obviously into my cousin." With that he turns toward Ben and gives him a bit of a cocky smile. "Though why she'd prefer him over me, I can't really figure out."

"Dameron," Ben growls, but there's no real bite to the word.

Rey's surprised to see him rise from his seat and walk around the table toward her. He stands close, a solid presence at her side. And she realizes she feels better for having him there.

"I'm kidding, Solo. Sort of." Ben shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "Mom, Rey's single. She's not a cheating anything. You can't take this out on her. I put her in a terrible situation and she made the best of it." He turns to Rey. "I just didn't quite expect you to make such a move now."

Rey shrugs and smirks. "When else was I going to do it?"

Poe watches her for a moment longer and then smirks. "True. Very true."

"Poe, what exactly are you trying to say?" his mother says.

Before he can get the words out, his father steps into the room and Rey feels her heart drop into her stomach. She can see the way Poe stiffens. He almost drops Finn's hand, but then she sees him steel himself and tightens his around Finn's.

"Dad," Poe says.

His father reaches out a hand and puts it on his wife's shoulder. "Shara, he's gay."

Poe's eyes widen.

So do Finn's.

Rey lets out a gasp and almost chokes on it, her coughing fit dissolving into sudden, uncontrollable laughter. Ben pats her on the back once or twice.

"Wh…" Poe starts to say.

"You think we didn't know?"

"I didn't!" Shara protests. She's still staring at them all like they're aliens.

"It's not like I didn't see you with…what was his name, that soccer coach?" his father asks.

"Mr. Johnson!" at least three people say at the same time.

"Are you kidding me?" Poe asks. "Did anyone not see us?" His mother starts to raise her hand. "Besides you, Mom."

"Boy, you and Mr. Johnson," Finn says.

Poe sighs.

"So…you're not dating Rey," his mother says, as if she's feeling out the words. "Then why…" And then her eyes move on to Finn. "Finn."

Finn offers up a little wave. And she feels sort of bad for him. He still looks nervous, like someone is going to eat him alive or throw him out in the cold with just the clothes on his back.

But Rey is getting a sense that it's not going to happen. Poe has talked a lot about just how religious his parents are, how they'd never understand, citing homophobia over and over again. But what she's seeing now leads her to believe he's been wrong. Or, at least, not completely right.

His father, for all his military bearing, seems completely at ease with it. His mother looks a little shell-shocked, but she's not screaming so far.

No, instead she's muttering to herself and Rey hears the words, "It all makes so much more sense now."

Poe is staring at his father like he's grown horns on his head or something. "Dad?"

"You think I don't know my own son?" he says quietly and there's a moment of deep sadness there that makes Rey feel even worse about the whole charade.

"But…"

"God loves us all, Poe," his father says. "God created us all. And we are all imperfect beings who are perfect in His eyes."

Rey feels a little choked up at it. She's not ever been particularly religious, but there's something about a higher being that loves you regardless of your foibles that touches her. She glances over at Ben who's watching her with a small smile on his face. It looks good on him. He doesn't make a move to comfort her, but he looks concerned and she likes that.

"I…" Poe starts to say and she can see the tears in his eyes. Finn looks like he's about to faint. "Really? You're not going to throw us out?"

"What kind of parents would we be if we did such a thing? What kind of Christians would we be?" He shakes his head. "No, son. We're not throwing you out."

"You're gay," his mother says and Rey is not sure she's completely come to terms with it. And then she finally looks up at Poe and her eyes seem to come back into focus. "But that means I'll never have grandchildren."

And she sounds so distraught over that. But it makes Poe burst out in laughter. "Don't worry, Mom, maybe someday Finn and I will adopt."

And that makes Rey laugh, because Finn looks absolutely panicked. "I'm only 25. I'm not ready for kids."

Poe laughs even harder and claps his boyfriend on the back.

And then his mother actually lets out a small, choked giggle. "You better adopt someday, Poe."

Poe steps forward and hugs his mother. "You bet, Mom. I'll promise you that much. Being gay doesn't mean I don't want kids. I'll find a way. Maybe even a surrogate. So, you know, the kid's still part me."

He glances at Rey and she chokes. "No way, Poe. Don't you dare look at me for that."

Ben growls something unintelligible and then all eyes are on him.

And on her.

"And you two?" Shara says.

Rey bites her lip and looks away. What can she say to that? She did, after all, just fuck her nephew in her home. There's no lie there.

"Yes," Ben says and she's surprised when his arm comes around her and pulls her closer to him. "I like her, Aunt Shara."

"Yes, we all heard" she says and the words are so deadpan that Rey isn't sure if she should cringe or laugh. "So I set you up with my nephew completely by accident?"

"Something like that," Rey confirms.

Shara nods. "I'm sorry for what I said."

"Thank you. You didn't know."

"No, I certainly did not. It seems my son and I need to have a discussion. Probably several." She glances at Poe.

"Right, Mom. No problem."

She nods and levels her gaze back on Rey and Ben. "Now, you two." She waggles a finger at them. "No more shenanigans while you're under my roof. You have separate rooms. Please make sure you make use of them."

She sounds so prim and proper that Rey tries not to giggle. She supposes there are still some things that her religion dictates. She'd much rather it be 'no sex before marriage' than throwing Poe out because he's gay.

"Of course, Aunt Shara."

And then her eyes widen when she glances over at Finn and Poe, the implication right there beneath the surface. "As for you two."

"Oh boy," Finn mutters. "Here it goes."

"We have no more guest rooms, I'm afraid. Finn, you're going to have to take the couch tonight."

"Mom…" Poe starts to say.

"No arguments, Poe. I will not have you two sharing a room now that I know the truth of your relationship."

"It's fine, Poe," Finn says. "The couch is way better than sleeping on the street or something."

"We'd never," Shara reiterates and then claps her hands together. "Well, now that the entire world has tipped upside down, let's eat so we can get to opening presents."

Rey breathes a sigh of relief. Everything is out in the open and it's going to be ok.

Ben grabs a plate and sits next to her, watching with amusement as she tucks into her food at long last. "You know," Rey says as she leans a little closer to him. "This might have been a complete mess. But I can't regret the whole thing."

Ben catches her meaning right away and bumps her shoulder with his. "Me too."