"Hey, Rey," Mr. Skywalker says two weeks after spring break.
"Yeah?" Rey's come to dread her sessions with Mr. Skywalker, if only because Mr. Snoke keeps skulking about, finding excuses to slip into the office, and Rey isn't sure how to tell Ben that she thinks the principal is moving on to her. And she can't tell any adult without sounding paranoid.
"Come into my office for a moment, please?"
Rey shuffles in. Mr. Skywalker closes the door and she jumps.
"You all right?" Mr. Skywalker questions.
She nods.
Mr. Skywalker trudges over to his desk and fumbles with one of the drawers. "I understand it's your birthday tomorrow."
"Oh. Yeah."
"Ben told me," Mr. Skywalker adds. "I wanted to give you this." He holds out a small photo album, covered in blue suede.
Rey cracks it open to see photos of her grandfather, smiling and happy, photos of him interacting with students, giving kids way too old for it piggyback rides, a photo of him a young man with a sandy beard draping his arm around a tall boy with long, scraggly hair who bore more than a passing resemblance to Mr. Skywalker.
"That's my father," Mr. Skywalker says quietly.
Rey nods and flips through, finding more photos of him writing, of him smiling from behind an old desktop computer with a pregnant back. The last photo is of her grandfather grinning in front of the same principal's office Mr. Snoke now sits in, with what looks like a much younger, beardless Luke wearing a somewhat dopey smile, and a pretty girl with hair worn in what looks like cinnamon buns on the side of her head. Ben's mother, she realizes.
"Thank you," Rey croaks out.
"It was Ben's idea," Mr. Skywalker admits. "I mean, I printed the photos and put them together. But it was his idea."
Rey smiles and wipes at her eyes.
"You can go for the afternoon," he dismisses her. "Have a great prom on Saturday."
She hurries down to Yavin 4 and bursts into Ben's dorm room, throwing her arms around him and kissing him.
"What's this for?" Ben squeaks. "Not that I'm complaining."
She snickers. "Your uncle gave me this. He told me it was your idea."
"It wasn't," Ben admits. "It was actually Finn's suggestion. I just told my uncle."
"Really?"
He nods, and Rey kisses him again. "Now I need to go thank Finn."
"Not in the same way!" Ben yells after her. She flips him off with a smile on her face.
"Happy Birthday!" Poe sings to Rey in the morning.
"Welcome to adulthood!" Finn holds up his palm for a high-five.
Rey turns pink. "Thanks, guys."
"Where is he?" Poe mutters to Finn.
"On his way," Finn hisses back.
"If you guys are discussing party plans, I will leave and never talk to you again," Rey threatens as she peels an orange.
"So how does it feel to be an adult?" Poe asks.
Rey stuffs an orange section in her mouth. "The same as ever?"
"Exactly," Finn agrees, drinking his chocolate milk.
"Ben's here!" Jess squeals from behind Rey.
Finn turns around to see Ben dashing over, a small gift bag—black, of course it's black—although it does have some red—clutched in his hand.
"From all of us," Snap says.
"Oh come on, guys," Rey says, her face flushing again.
"You're excited," Poe declares, pointing his finger at her. "Don't even try to deny it."
"Happy Birthday, Rey," Ben says, handing her the bag.
Rey opens the flap of paper. "'Roses are red, violets are blue, we are your friends, and we all love you.' Aw."
"Poetry skills are still in the negative," Finn announces.
Ben shrugs, his eyes glued to Rey as she digs in and pulls out a gold, rectangular piece of cardstock. "Oh my God!"
"And just so you know," Jess drawls. "I'm going with you. We have appointments tomorrow at noon. And there's another gift from all of us in our room. But the guys don't get to see it."
"Hey, I'm not her date," Finn protests. "Why can't I?"
Jess shrugs. "Nope. Sorry."
"I can't believe you guys did this," Rey moans, covering her face as she grins. "You're all amazing."
"We know," Poe says, patting her shoulder.
This, Finn thinks. This is what friends are really like. He doesn't have to earn their love, but he gets to give them gifts.
Hux walks by and sneers at them. Ben rolls his eyes.
"Is he even going to prom?" Snap queries.
"Yeah, solo," Finn says. "I mean, he's going alone. Not that he's going solo. Rey's the one who's going with Solo."
Rey glares at him as Ben laughs.
"Just don't tell Ackbar if you plan to ride Solo," Jess says mischievously.
At that, both Ben and Rey turn as red as the ketchup Poe is liberally squirting on his eggs.
"Considering that they're cracking down—and by that I mean I heard Threepio saying he's literally searching out suit pockets to make sure we don't have hotel room keys—that might be kinda hard," Poe says.
"If you want the room to yourselves for a little while, I can crash with Brance," Snap offers.
"Just use protection," Jess sings, and Finn scowls at her.
"Won't Threepio be kinda checking rooms then?" Rey points out.
"Enough discussing this," Finn interjects. "Change of subject."
The truth is he's not sure he cares if Threepio is checking rooms. They're so close to graduation. So close. Granted, it was around this time last year when Nines borrowed his laptop and set Finn's world aflame.
What's a stupid risk, and what's a risk worth taking?
Finn's not sure he knows.
"I wish I could go," grumble Beebee-Ate.
"We'll take pictures," Poe promises.
When he sees her, Ben's jaw drops. Rey laughs and then promptly almost trips in her heels.
"Whoa there," Poe says from behind her, catching her. "Nice dress."
"Thanks."
"You look beautiful," Ben says softly, thumbs on her shoulders as he takes in her midnight blue dress with silver trim. The stylist arranged her hair so that it was loose and wavy, just touching the tops of her shoulders.
"You're not wearing eyeliner," Rey returns, and he shrugs.
"It'll be back tomorrow."
"Good. I kind of miss it." She winks at him and then whistles as Finn emerges in a puce suit.
"Hey, no hitting on my man," Poe jokes.
Hux emerges, grumbling as he tries to tie his tie.
"Let me," Poe says, fixing it as Hux scowls.
"Threepio took his alcohol away," Ben murmurs in Rey's ear. "Last week."
"And he wasn't suspended?"
"No, he hasn't kept it in our room, so they can't prove it's his. Threepio found it stashed under the bushes. Real bright."
"Did Threepio already inspect your pockets?" Rey teases.
Ben guffaws. "Yeah."
As it turns out, Mr. Skywalker is one of the many chaperones for the prom. So is Mr. Snoke. Ben stiffens by her side.
"Ignore him," Rey hisses. She will too. Her heart thumps, betraying her. She hates that man.
"Ben," Mr. Skywalker says as he jogs over to them. "You both look lovely."
"Thanks." Rey grins at him, grateful for the distraction, for Mr. Skywalker saving them from a ruined evening.
"Can I take a photo? To send to your parents?" Mr. Skywalker asks, looking at Ben, who nods reluctantly. He holds out the phone and then groans. "Oh sh—shoot, it's on video."
"No, leave it!" Rey exclaims, waving at the camera and leaning her head against Ben's shoulder. "Hi, Mr. Solo! Hi, Mrs. Solo!" Ben whispers in her ear, and Rey shrugs. "Oh. Hi, Ms. Organa! Sorry. Uh, we're gonna go dance now, okay? Bye!"
Ben waves too as Rey drags him away, leaving Mr. Skywalker chuckling.
"Your nails are pretty," Ben comments, holding her hand up and kissing her fingers. Indigo, teal, and silver sheer swaths of fabric drape downwards from the center of the ceiling, covering the lights and casting everything in an otherworldly, underwater glow. Fake candles line the wall.
"Looking good!" Jess calls, draped in a mint-green gown as Snap whirls her past them.
Rey dances with Ben for a little while, and otherwise, they stand and talk. Rey notices Phasma standing by herself and pokes Finn in the side. "Do something."
"On it," proclaims Poe with an overly dramatic flair. "This time, I will not fail."
Finn heads over to Phasma, with Rey and Ben tailing just far enough behind so as not to look obvious.
"Your dress is gorgeous," Finn says to her, and it is. Black and satin, it clings to her hips and chest in the most flattering of ways and contrasts with her short blond hair.
"So, I was wondering…" Poe's voice chatters as he approaches with Hux in tow. "Why you're hanging out with that Mitaka again? He's a problem. Don't you agree, Phasma?"
Phasma rolls her eyes as if she knows exactly what they're about. "You could do better," she allows to Hux.
"Oh look," Finn purrs as piano notes float through the air. "It's my favorite song. Let's dance, Poe."
"They're not subtle," Phasma scoffs after them.
"No, they're not," Hux agrees, shoving his fists into his pockets. "We could, though."
"Could what?" Phasma asks, turning to him.
Hux has to tilt his head to look in her eyes. "Dance. I mean, it's a good song—we both came alone—it doesn't mean anything—"
"Yeah," Phasma agrees. "Yeah, we could." He holds out her hand. Hux hesitates, but takes it.
"Oh my God," Rey says. "Finally."
"If a girlfriend can lift Hux out of his perpetually foul mood, I'm all for it," Ben says.
"Worked for you."
"Well, kind of. I was getting a little tired of myself anyways," Ben says as Rey drags him out onto the dance floor.
Poe and Finn slip out around about a half hour before it's scheduled to end, and she turns to Ben. "Want to go someplace quieter?"
His eyebrows rise.
"I mean, like—whatever," Rey huffs.
His hand clutches her shoulder as they head out. "Quieter's good."
He takes her exactly where Rey wants to go: the quad, and even though she knows it's spring and the ground is thawing and her dress is too expensive for this, she drops to the grass anyways, taking off her heels. "God, my feet are killing me."
Ben laughs and wraps his arms around her, kissing her. They can't go that far. Not in a place like this. But…
Rey takes Ben's hand and moves it to the strap on one of her shoulders, helping him pull it down. The strapless bra she borrowed from Jess keeps her covered, and her heart pounds and memories haunt the back of her mind, but then they're gone. Ben's touch is gentle, nothing like Unkar Plutt, and all Rey wants to think about is the feel of his lips on her mouth, on her neck and her chest.
"Ben?" Rey murmurs.
"Yeah?"
"Next Saturday, when we can leave campus... do you want to go somewhere, get a room?" She hopes he doesn't shoot her down, but maybe he will and she's not sure she can blame him. "If you want to—you know. I can get condoms. I know where to."
He pulls back and chuckles. "Oh, you do?" He starts to grin. Rey shoves at his shoulder and he pulls her closer again, and tingles spark in Rey's fingertips.
"Yeah," Ben says in her ear. "Let's do that."
Rey kisses him again, and his hands reach under her bra.
And then, two thuds. Footsteps. "Shit." Ben helps her yank her dress top back up.
"You two," intones the worst possible voice Rey could imagine. "Get over here."
Fuck.
Rey climbs to her feet, shoes still beside her in the grass. She clutches Ben's hand. We don't have to walk over. We don't have to. We don't.
"We'll go back to the prom," Ben says quickly.
"To your dorms," Mr. Snoke corrects. "Prom's over."
"We're sorry," Ben says quickly, because evidently he feels it's better to apologize first, stave off any attacks.
"Right away," Rey agrees, picking up her heels and scurrying away with Ben behind her. Dammit. He's following them.
If it were Mr. Skywalker or any of the teachers, she would give Ben a peck goodnight, but she can't in front of Snoke. She pauses by her dorm and gives him a quick hug. "Thanks."
Once inside her dorm, Rey texts Ben. Did he try anything?
No. He didn't even speak to me.
He will, though, Rey knows. Snoke's not one to stay quiet very long.
"You okay?" Finn questions as he enters the bathroom to find Ben stepping out of the shower. Because he's pretty sure he heard sobbing, and Ben's eyes are distinctly red.
"Of course. How as your night?" Ben asks slyly.
Finn isn't falling for this. "Did you and Rey break up or something?"
"Of course not! I love her." Ben grimaces. "It's just—things are complicated."
"How so?" Finn queries, leaning against the wall.
"You wouldn't understand."
"I might more than you think," Finn counters.
Ben blows out his breath. "Do you ever feel like you're not good enough for Poe? Like you have too much baggage and you're just fucking his life up even more than life's already fucked him up?"
"All the time, man," Finn assures Ben. "He probably feels the same way. And Rey too."
"Really?"
"I don't think your feelings are like super unique, Ben." Finn studies the kid in front of him, who he used to hate, who lied to get Finn in trouble, and who's now looking at Finn like he's offering him living water. "Rey likes you. A lot. I don't know why, but she does. Unless you're like, still using drugs and all, I don't think—"
"I'm clean," Ben says. "I just… yeah. How can you stand me? After what I did to you in December?"
"Because you've changed. At least I think you have. You're still emo and you still are way too loud sometimes, but you're less angry and less… I don't know. Rude." Finn shrugs. "You know I used to always hope my biological parents, wherever and whoever they are, would change? Change their minds, and come for me?"
Ben frowns. "I'm sorry."
"I started to think people couldn't change. Especially after what happened at my last school. And you've kinda proved that wrong."
Ben shudders as if Finn's words are the last things he wants to hear, and Finn doesn't understand why.
"You know Poe and I consider you a friend, right?"
"Yeah." He nods.
"If you ever need my help, Ben, I live right next door. Or if you want to talk to someone." Finn grabs his toothbrush.
"I wish I was more like you," Ben says with a sad smile.
"How?" Finn scoffs.
Ben shakes his head. "Long story. I'll tell you sometime. Maybe. Good night."