"Daddy Issues. I have them. You have them, too."
-Ben Solo, probably.
"Chewie! Chewie, no!"
What is that giant hairy thing? Finn thinks as a beast charges through the parking lot straight at them. "Rey!"
But Rey laughs as the creature—a dog, oh, it's just a dog—leaps up to put its paws on Rey's shoulders. "Hello!" she says, dropping to her knees to pat the fluffy animal.
Finn hovers behind her, ready to intervene if necessary but hoping it won't be. He's never seen a dog this size before in his life.
"Chewie!" A man with gray hair and wearing a vest and faded jeans jogs up to them. Somebody's dad, no doubt. "Sorry about that."
"I like him," Rey declares, stroking the dog's head.
"Yeah?" The man cocks his head. "I think Chewie kinda likes you, too."
Chewie barks at Finn. He takes a step back.
"Han," interrupts a lady who, despite her casual outfit, carries an aura of dignity about her. "Let's not—"
"You're Leia Organa!" Rey shrieks, jumping to her feet. Chewie whines. "The diplomat!"
"I used to be," Ms. Organa corrects Rey, but with a soft smile. "Are you both new to Jedi Academy? I don't recognize you."
"I'm Rey, and this is Finn." Rey jerks her thumb in his direction. Finn bites his lip.
"Rey Kenobi?" Han—Ben's dad, Finn realizes—asks.
She nods.
"I knew your grandfather," Han tells her. "We both did." He looks to Ms. Organa. "He was a good man."
Rey's face flushes. "Really?"
"And you must be Lando's kid," Han says, turning to Finn.
"He's not my father," Finn says quickly. Ms. Organa's lips tighten in sympathy.
"Well, no, I didn't mean that," Han states. "Lando's an old pal of mine. Back from my smuggling days."
Ms. Organa rolls her eyes. Finn struggles to keep his jaw from dropping. Han's so open about it, so unashamed. Finn envies him. "That's cool."
"Yeah. He's a good guy. He said he might be coming up tomorrow, see your game."
"What?" Now Finn's jaw does drop.
"Han, that was supposed to be a surprise!" Ms. Organa cuts in.
Han shrugs. "Oh well."
"No," Finn says. "No, I'll still act surprised." He grins. Lando cares enough to come visit? He barely emails him. Maybe Lando just sucks at communication.
Rey jabs him in the side with her elbow as if to say, see? People think you're awesome.
"Ben's your son, right?" Rey asks. "We have a lot of classes together. And he lives next to Finn."
"Huh. How is he as a neighbor?" Han asks Finn.
"Fine. He's fine. Good," Finn says, electing not to mention the screaming fight Hux and Ben got into the night before that got so loud Poe intervened. Apparently it started not because of Hux's OCD but because Ben keeps stealing Hux's weed. It ended with Ben throwing a wad of cash in Hux's face.
"Hm," Han says, watching Finn as if he can see straight into his mind. Finn stares at his scuffed sneakers.
Chewie leaps at Rey again, and she hugs the dog. "He's awesome."
"Most loyal dog you'll ever meet," Han confirms.
"We're on our way to Yavin 4 now," Rey says. "We were just out buying snacks."
"Aren't students only allowed out on Saturdays?" Ms. Organa asks, arching her eyebrows.
Finn cringes. Han laughs. "Please, Leia, I've heard your stories about sneaking out over the fence when you went here."
"Don't encourage them!" Ms. Organa swats at her husband. Rey and Finn fall into step behind the couple, Finn clutching the bags of junk food that they buy with the allowance their scholarship gives them,
"So how do you kids like it here?" Ms. Organa asks.
"It's great," Rey says, her hand still brushing Chewie's back.
Finn nods. "I like it."
"I'm glad to hear it," Ms. Organa says, smiling over her shoulder at both of them, but especially Rey.
Maybe Ms. Organa was close to Rey's grandfather when she was here, Finn thinks. His chest stings, because he will never know what it's like to meet someone who knows a family member, because he has no family.
"That's not your fault, Finn," Maz told him in their last counseling session.
And yet somehow, it latches onto him and won't let him go.
Lando's coming tomorrow, Finn reminds himself. And you've got Rey and Snap and Jess for friends. And you have Poe.
"Ben!"
No.
He glares up from his laptop to see his mother and father swarming his dorm room, along with Chewie, the one Ben's actually somewhat happy to see. Not that he'll show it.
Hux's father sneers when he sees Ben's dad. He grabs Hux's arm and steers him outside, mumbling something about what a "pigsty" their dorm room is. Ben smirks.
"It's good to see you," Mom gushes, wrapping an arm around him. Ben stiffens.
"Hey, kid," Dad says, reaching out to ruffle Ben's hair. Ben jerks away, patting Chewie. And then the dog yelps and barges out of the room towards Rey.
"Chewie really likes her," Dad explains.
Ben fights to keep the smile off his face. Rey's laughter floats through the air.
"Met one of your neighbors," Dad says. "Seems like a nice kid."
Ben shrugs. "He's all right."
"So how is everything?" Mom settles down in his desk chair. "Your classes? Your applications?"
Ben folds his hands behinds his back and wrings them. "Those have been sent out. Mr. Snoke finished the letters. Classes are fine."
Mom and Dad exchange a look. Dad crumples his lips as if to say I told you he'd say that.
"Oh, for Christ's sake, just say it. I know I suck at French, okay?" But I'm not a failure. I can do better. I just slacked off. Not that he'll admit any of that. But should he? Which is better, letting them think he's naturally struggling or that he's not even trying?
"You will do better," Mr. Snoke snarled earlier. "I don't want my name tarnished because I wrote a recommendation for a lazy, entitled punk."
Ben needs Snoke's letters to get away from Snoke. None of the schools he applied to are in the same state. He needs to get in to them to get the hell away from here. He's using his mentor just as Snoke's using him, and on and on and on and on because it's a carousal that stopped being funny two years ago, but Ben can't fling himself off of without splatting on the ground.
His life is an endless cycle of using. He uses others. They use him. His parents use him to brag about him, except when they can't because he doesn't ever do anything praiseworthy besides get decent grades. And if he fails all of his classes, beyond just French? What then? What use will they have for him then?
And Ben—he needs Snoke's wisdom. He's learned a lot from him, and he needs Snoke's recommendations so he can get away from that man, so he can stop doing things that make him gag and keep him up at night when he's desperate to sleep.
"We're sure you'll do fine," Mom reassures him. "If need be, maybe you can ask a friend for help."
I don't have friends. Aloud he says: "Yeah, sure."
Rey is in his French class…
No. All he needs to do is get off Reddit and actually try. He doesn't need her help. And he doesn't want to pretend to need it, because judging from the bits and pieces he overheard between Uncle Luke and his mother, Rey's been used her whole life too, and he won't be a part of that.
"Bye Chewie!" Rey calls, and Chewie meanders back over to Ben. "What am I, second best?" he teases the dog.
"You should ask Luke again to mentor that girl," Dad says to Mom.
Of course. Of course they'd rather talk about anyone but him. He's relieved and wants to lash out at the walls, at his bed, at his own body at the same time.
"Like Snoke mentors me?" Ben asks. "Mr. Snoke?" But his uncle isn't like Mr. Snoke, Ben reminds himself. He wouldn't hurt Rey… touch Rey.
"Well, the kid could use that type of thing on her college apps," Dad points out.
"I'll bring it up with Luke," Mom acquiesces. "He's just… you know. Reluctant. He still thinks Obi-Wan's death was his fault."
Chewie whines and presses his head against Ben, as if the dog knows, as if he cares. Because clearly his parents don't. Ben wraps his arm around Chewie's neck, burying his face as his parents discuss everything but him.
"Hi, Ms. Organa," Poe stammers as he shakes the hand of the woman his parents raved about, the woman his mother had as her maid of honor in her wedding.
"Poe Dameron!" She looks him up and down and smiles. "How are you doing?"
Poe shrugs. "Not bad. Our soccer team has a winning record."
"Yes, I saw the game yesterday. You played well." It's Sunday now, and Poe's spent most of the weekend holed up in his room, except for the game and for going out with Finn and his foster father afterwards. Poe never met Lando Calrissian before, but he likes the man.
"Thanks," Poe says.
"Shall we?" Ms. Organa was taking him to lunch in town. Poe follows her towards the gate.
"Poe!" Rey runs up to him. "Hi, Ms. Organa. But, Poe, you'll never believe what just happened!"
"What?" he asks eagerly.
"Luke Skywalker just asked me to be his assistant! Like an internship. I'll get to help him out twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays." Rey's beaming.
"That's awesome!" Poe hugs her.
Ms. Organa smiles. "Keep my brother in line, Rey."
She giggles. "I'll try." Rey waves at them as she darts off, probably to find Finn.
They head to Greedo's, a small comfort food restaurant made of wood that looks like a log cabin.
"How is your dad?" Ms. Organa inquires.
Poe scans the menu. "He's… okay." He doesn't want to mention that his birthday is in three weeks, and if he even gets a phone call on that day, Poe will be impressed.
"Kes and Shara were high school sweethearts," Ms. Organa says. "He had such a huge crush on her. It took him two years to ask her out."
Poe grins. "Really?"
"Mm-hm." The waiter comes and Poe orders a burger and cheesy fries and a shake. Ms. Organa orders a sandwich and tea.
"What was my mother like, when she was in school?" Poe asks as the waiter returns almost instantly with a cup of tea.
Ms. Organa adds some honey to the brew. "Kind. Popular, but not in a snobby way. We were both… kind of rebels, you might say. Your father, too."
Poe's jaw drops. "He's always told me not to get in trouble."
"Well, not all of our troubles were worth getting into," Ms. Organa admits. "Although some of it was fun. Pretty fun."
"Can you tell me more about them?" Poe asks, suddenly craving information about all the things he should have asked his mother, would have asked her, if only they'd had more years. All the topics he can't ask his father about, not any more. And judging by how Ms. Organa looks at him, she knows about Kes Dameron's unmoving grief.
They talk for over an hour, and by the time Poe heads back to his dorm, his spirits have lifted.
"Your mother would have wanted Han and I to look after you and your father," she tells him. "If there's anything you need, please ask."
It's kind of her. But what Poe needs even Ms. Organa can't secure for him.
Ms. Organa spots her husband and son and heads towards them.
Ben sits outside on a bench, scowling as Mr. Solo sighs. "Ben, can't you just listen to me?"
"Say something worth listening to," Ben retorts.
Poe blinks. His father would kill him if Poe ever spoke to him that way.
And then Ben glares at Poe, as if he's jealous. Poe flings his hands up.
"Ben, cut it out," Ms. Organa snaps.
"I'm not—" Ben's face turns red and his eyes skitter to Poe's, almost as if he's pleading with him. It's not about me, Poe realizes.
"We hardly ever get to see you—"
Poe starts to back away.
"And whose choice was that?" Ben demands, but there's something new, a rawness to his voice that Poe's never heard before. He glares at Poe again as if to send the message that he wants this conversation to be private, and Poe scuttles into the dorm.
"You better get your grades up," growls a very angry, hefty looking version of Hux. Brendol Hux Sr.
"Yes, Dad," mutters Hux, head lowered. He spots Poe slipping by, and his jaw tightens.
"See you later, kiddo," Lando's saying to Finn. He embraces Finn, who stares after him in amazement.
"He came," Finn gushes to Poe when they're alone in their room. "I can't believe he came, and he was so nice—I mean, I thought when he shipped me off here, he was getting rid of me in the nicest way possible, but still getting—you know—"
Poe takes Finn's hand. "I'm glad." He is. Finn deserves some kind of parent in his life.
He still has one, but barely. More and more, Poe's father is starting to feel like a ghost.
"Excuse me," comes Threepio's voice. "May I come in?"
"Of course!" Poe leaps up and opens the door. "What's going on?"
Threepio folds his arms and sighs. "I've heard a report that the two of you are dating. Is that true?"
"Um—" Poe glances at Finn. "Yeah. It's true. So?"
"So," Threepio says with a sigh. "I'm afraid the two of you cannot keep rooming together, if that's the case."
"You okay?" Rey asks as she approaches Ben, sitting and scowling on a bench. "Did your parents go?"
"Yeah." He picks at his threadbare backpack.
"They're nice."
"To you."
"They aren't nice to you?" Rey questions, because she saw no traces of coldness, of simmering anger, in Han or Leia. Not like the anger that always brewed under Unkar Plutt's skin.
He shrugs. "They nag me. Grades, college, everything."
Because they care? "I wish my mother bothered to nag me."
Ben studies her, black hair falling over his eyes. He brushes it away. "What happened to her?"
His tone invites her in, asking her whether she wants to trust him, to share. Rey hesitates. "I don't want to talk about it."
"That's fair," he acknowledges.
"Working on the French assignment?" she asks, pointing to the sky blue book in his lap.
"Trying to."
"Your pronunciation sucks," she informs him.
"I'm aware," he mutters, shoulders sagging, and Rey's heart twinges. She didn't mean to insult him.
"Do you... want help?" she ventures, not sure if he'll shove her invitation back in her face like he usually does when someone's kind to him. Not that many people seem to be, except his parents.
He bites his lip, eyes flickering upwards to take in her face. "I need a tutor," he admits.
The great and mighty Ben Solo, admitting he needs help? Rey bites down her sarcasm. "I can try."
He holds the book out to her, and she takes it.
"Don't tell anyone?" he requests as she takes a seat next to him. His shoulder brushes hers.
"I won't."