"Are you going to make us go back?" Rey ventures after an hour or so of talking, all of them sitting on one of the beds.

Han exchanges a glance with his wife. "Legally," Leia says. "You're adults. We can't force you to do anything."

"But we'd like it if you would consider finishing your education," Han puts in. "But… I understand if you don't want to go back to Jedi Academy." He's not even sure he should have said the first part.

"Everyone will know, won't they?" Ben asks, and Han wants to swear, wants to pound something, because he can't believe he let that happen to his son.

"Luke's doing his best to keep it under wraps," Leia puts in.

But, it's high school. And they all know it. Han hates it.

"They'll know about me, at least," Rey says. She glances at Ben.

"There are—" Han starts, about to launch into alternate options.

"I think I can handle it."

Ben's eyebrows rise. "Are you sure?"

Han's shocked. This girl—she's incredible. She's just like her grandfather, just like Ben's namesake. Brave as hell. A fighter in the best sense of the term.

She shrugs. "No. But I want to graduate. I want that diploma."

"If you go back, I'll go back," Ben says.

Oh, Lord. Han isn't sure what he thinks about this, but if there's a way—and there might be. "If you do that," he says. "I will stay in town for the next month, until you graduate."

"You don't have to," Ben insists.

"Do you want me to?" Han sighs as he watches his son's face twist in confusion. "It's up to you, Ben. Whatever you want to decide. If you want me to stay in town, if you want to stay with me when I stay in town, that's fine. I'm more than happy to take a leave of absence from that menial job anyways, But if you want me to go back home and you want to stay in dorm, that is fine too. You get to choose."

Rey puts her hand on Ben's shoulder. Ben looks to her and then looks back. "I want you to stay."

Han's heart lifts. His son wants him. He doesn't deserve it, but Ben still wants him.

Leia nods. "I'll spend as much time there as I can."

"Are we going back tonight?" Rey asks as she yawns.

"Well, Kes Dameron's credit card is paying for this room until morning, and until we reimburse him," Leia says. "It's two am. No. I say we get some sleep and then drive back."

Chewie snores as if he agrees.

Han, Ben, and Chewie take one bed, and Leia and Rey the other. Long after the lights go out, Han lies awake, listening to Chewie snore and everyone else breathe.

He should have been more concerned, followed his instincts when Ben began pushing him away. Maybe it wouldn't have gotten to this point. Even now, there are so many fissures in their relationship, Han wonders how he can ever mend them.

He doesn't know, but he's got to try. He misses his son.

And Leia… all the times he's fought with her lately, Snoke tearing them apart by messing with their son. She still loves him, and Han still loves her. He needs to work this out.

Ben stirs in his sleep, and Han swallows. Years.

He was always so busy. He and Leia both.

We missed so much.

Maybe, Han hopes, they can forge a future.

Come morning, Han tries to shake Ben awake as everyone else gets up. Ben groans and curls into the pillow.

"Let me," Rey announces, grabbing her pillow as she slides off her bed. She whacks Ben with it. "Good morning!"

"Hey!" Ben's eyes snap open and he grabs Rey by her wrist, pulling her closer.

She giggles. "Time to get up, sleepyhead."

Han swallows as he watches them. Ben's grin is unlike anything he's ever seen on his son's face before.

"I love you," Ben tells her.

Rey cocks her head and smirks. "I know."

Han blows out his breath and looks at Leia, who shakes her head and smiles.

"What?" Rey asks.

"That's an old line Han and I use all the time," Leia informs her. "'I love you.' 'I know.'"

"Wait, really?" Rey turns back to Ben, whose face flushes. "You used your parents' line on me?"

He shrugs as if embarrassed, but Rey kisses him quickly. "I think it's cute."

"Rey! Ben!"

They barely arrive on campus before their friends fly at them. Finn grabs Rey in a hug, and she sees Poe grabbing Ben. And then Jess, and Snap, and Beebee-Ate.

"How was the hotel?" Poe asks with a wink.

"Oh my God," Ben says, scowling at Poe.

Poe laughs. "We missed you. Seriously." He bites his lip. "I'm sorry I kind of got you caught, too."

"It turned out to be a good thing," Rey tells Poe.

"Rey," a voice says behind her. She turns around to see Mr. Skywalker standing there, and she gives him a hug.

"Oh, sorry," she says, stepping back.

He shakes his head. "Don't be. Rey—" He swallows. "I want you to know that I am—I am so sorry. I never would have—"

"I don't blame you," Rey says. She blames Snoke. "Really, I don't." And yet it's surreal to have an adult apologizing to her.

He nods. "That's very gracious of you." He clears his throat. "All of you can chat later. I need to see Rey and Ben in my office. Han, Leia, you can come, too."

Once inside, Mr. Skywalker explains that though they've told no one, not even the other teachers, the explicit reason for Snoke's arrest, it's fair to assume that they can guess, as can the students. "All of them have been threatened with expulsion if they say anything. But I don't think you have to worry so much."

"Okay," Rey says, nodding.

"I would also like to recommend that both of you see Maz Kanata. Ben, I understand you've already seen her a few times, yes?"

Ben nods. "I'll go back. I want to go back."

"I don't mind, either," Rey says. Actually, she thinks it's a good thing. Neither of them have anything to hide. And she'll need to. The idea of Mitaka spreading rumors... she wants to hurl. But she also wants this diploma. She won't let Snoke pry that opportunity, the chance to walk across a stage and hear her name called out and hear people clapping for her—she's going to earn it, and Snoke can't stop her.

"And I understand that Han's staying at my house," Mr. Skywalker says, with a small smile. "Ben, you're welcome to stay as well, or to go back to Yavin 4."

"I'll stay in the dorm," Ben says. "I'll stop by after school though. Most days. And maybe for dinner."

"Can I get in on that?" Rey grouses. "At least sometimes?"

"Finally decided cafeteria food isn't all it's cracked up to be?" Ben jokes.

She shrugs.

"Fine." Mr. Skywalker taps his pen. "I already said this to Rey, but I'll say it again to both of you: I am so sorry. Ben, you're my nephew—I should have—"

"I don't want to talk about it," Ben says. "I'm not—" He shakes his head, and Rey can tell he was about to offer some sort of absolution to his uncle, but can't quite do it. Not yet.

"I'm scared of what they'll say," Rey admits to Finn and Poe.

"That they won't believe you?" Poe questions. Ben's parents talk to him down the hall.

"Yeah... and afraid that they will. Really, there's no good option." Rey presses her hand against her eyes.

"We'll shut them down," Poe promises. "If they try to start anything."

"Don't get in more trouble, please." She rolls her eyes.

"I know how you feel," Finn says quietly. "Rumors suck. Especially when they're about things that should be your business only."

"Yeah, you know, don't you? Not perfectly. But you understand, kind of." Rey looks to him with some kind of hope.

"Any advice?" Poe prompts. He feels so useless. There's nothing he can offer them. Except for his friendship.

"Just... it's lonely. It's scary. But you guys—you and Poe and Snap and Jess and Beebee-Ate—you kept me afloat. You helped me. You kept me going, because you cared and you loved me and you let me know. That's exactly what I needed." Finn smiles.

Oh. Poe's chest lightens. Be a friend. That, he can do.

Two weeks pass, during which Ben falls back in the rhythm of school. Police interviews kept him and Rey busy for the first few days, and whispers followed him and Rey through the halls, and he tried to ignore them but couldn't. Mr. San Tekka pulled him aside after he started shaking during history class and gave him some chocolate, telling him to take as much time as he needed before heading to his next class.

He, at least, doesn't see Ben and Rey as just victims, Ben knows. And they aren't.

Mitaka glares at Ben still, but the one time he came up to Rey to say something, Hux grabbed Mitaka by the shoulder and steered him away. Hux has been quiet and not in the room very much—out with Phasma, probably. Ben notices that Hux's books are crooked, but he hasn't even messed with them.

After a long session with Maz, Ben heads over to his uncle's house to visit his father. Mom's been coming up for weekends, and calling more frequently. Too frequently, really. Ben smirks.

He's already texted Rey about his decision, and she responded with a thumbs-up emoji.

"Hey, kid," Dad greets him. "You ready for your exams?"

"More or less." Ben drops onto his uncle's sofa and grabs a throw pillow. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Um—yeah. Yes. Absolutely." Dad drops the magazine he's been flipping through and scrambles over. Ben rolls his eyes.

"I want to take a gap year."

Dad blinks.

"I don't know what I want to do. I don't want to do bio engineering anymore. And I don't want to do political science."

"Your mom will be glad to hear that," Dad says, shaking his head.

"Really?" Ben gapes at him. "I thought she wanted me to—"

"No, Ben. There's too much—too many dirty politicians politicking and playing games. You're better than that."

"Well, I was thinking about spending the next year interning… maybe doing a low-wage job, even, and applying to a different school."

Dad crosses his arms and leans back. "Is this school the one a certain young lady is going to?"

"Well—yes. It's a liberal arts school." The kinds of schools Snoke always scoffed at.

"Liberal arts, huh?" Dad shrugs. "Fine by me."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Han nods at Ben's fraying bag. "You seem to always be reading. Maybe you should look into literature."

"We'll see." Ben keeps his expression neutral, but he's actually already been thinking about that. Either way, he knows he needs a year off. "I'd probably have to live at home for a lot of the year."

"Your mom will be thrilled." Dad smirks. The late afternoon sunlight hits half his face, cloaking the other half in shadows that Ben can't see through, can't read.

"And you?"

"I'd be thrilled, too."

Ben bites his lips, scratches his nails against his palms as he dredges up the subject that still weighs heavy on his mind when he tries to sleep at night. "Dad—about leaking that to the press—"

"Was it Snoke?" Dad asks eagerly. Too eagerly.

Ben's heart tightens. "No. It really was me. I mean, Snoke might've been manipulating, I don't know, but I did it." He gulps, fiddling with a stray thread of the couch. "And I want you to know I don't regret anything more in my entire life. I am sorry."

"Hey." Dad wraps his arms around Ben, pulling him close. The thread slips out from his fingers. "I forgive you. I really do. Can you forgive me?"

He can hear his father's heartbeat, and it soothes him. "For what?"

"For failing you."

Ben pulls back and looks into his father's eyes. He nods.

"Good." Dad bounces his foot. "Your mother and I were talking, and if you're happy with this, we were thinking about asking a certain girlfriend of yours if she wanted to stay for the summer. You know. In the guestroom. Or in your room, if you'd both prefer that."

Ben's face burns. "I'd like that."

"Great. Ask her." Dad smiles at him.

"Well, obviously my answers is yes," Rey informs Ben.

"Not liking the strict rules and the thereby imposed celibacy?" teases Poe.

"Are you talking about us or yourself?" retorts Ben as he eats a spoonful of applesauce from his lunch tray.

Finn laughs. "Only a few more weeks."

"And then we'll be high school graduates," Jess sighs, sipping her milk from a straw. "Adults."

"Not that any of us will ever feel that way," Finn opines. "But actually."

"Hey, next year you'll have to visit," Poe tells Ben. "At school." He smiles, and Finn remembers how Poe's father has been calling him every other day now. A desperate gesture, but one appreciated nonetheless.

"I will." He grins. Rey winks.

"And then you can stay with Rey, without fear," Finn says.

"Are you and Poe rooming together?" Snap asks.

"We put in that request," Finn confirms. "No Threepio to ruin it this time."

Silence overtakes them. Finn spins an apple in his hands.

"When's You-Know-Who's first court date?" Jess asks softly.

Rey glances at Ben. "They already had an arraignment. There's another hearing in the fall. Unless he pleads guilty, I'll have to come for that."

"You know, if you want us to go with you to support both of you," Finn says, remembering his own court date when it was just him and Lando who knew the truth, when he waited to learn whether he'd go to juvie or not, and how isolated and terrified he felt. "We will. If you want us to stay away, that's fine, too."

"I'll let you know," Ben says, meeting Finn's eyes. "Thank you." The words come out quiet and throbbing with sincerity.

"Your family will probably go," Rey says. "Your parents and Luke."

"Probably." Ben sighs. "I don't really mind, to be honest. I know they care. I'm tired of keeping them away."

"We know that you all care too," Rey adds. "Thanks."

"No problem." Poe begins eating his plain yogurt coated with sugar.

"Do you even have yogurt with your sugar?" Beebee-Ate asks, nose wrinkling.

"Do we have to be adults yet?" Jess counters, leaning over and blowing bubbles in her milk.

Rey finishes her French final early and leaves the room, glancing over her shoulder to see Ben still working. Their teacher's confiscated their phones, but she texts Ben anyways, asking him how it went.

In the meantime, Rey climbs the stairs towards the dean's office, pausing to stare at the clouds and the sun. I just took my last exam.

High school is over.

And her future—it's wide open.

She closes her eyes, the sun imprinting on her closed lids as she remembers the moments after Unkar hurt her, the next day, the terror in the six weeks afterwards when her body was too stressed to work right, when she was convinced her life was over and she was desperate to do anything, anything at all, to get her life back.

Thanks, Grandpa, she thinks. He took more care of her than her mother ever did, even though she's never met him.

And Ben—he has a second chance, just like her. Rey thinks of the summer ahead of them and grins to herself. She heads the rest of the way to Mr. Skywalker's office. He hasn't asked her to help him at all since they returned, and Rey hasn't pushed it. But she wants to see him.

Because, for all of his failings, he helped ground her.

"Rey!" squeals Artoo, wrapping her in a hug. "Exams finished?"

"Yup." Rey peers over Artoo's shoulder. "Is he around?"

"One second." Artoo knocks on Mr. Skywalker's door, and he calls for Rey to come in.

"How did your exams go?" he greets her.

"Pretty well." Rey wraps her arms around herself. He knew all along about Unkar. He doesn't see her as just a victim. She believes it. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. I kind of miss helping—"

"You do?" His eyebrows fly up to his hairline. "Rey, I thought—after how I—"

He really does blame himself, Rey realizes. And she'd blamed him too, in the immediate aftermath. And she can't deny that he failed Ben in an enormous way. But—"I just wanted to say that I really appreciated all you did for me. Getting me here, with the scholarship. And mentoring me, this year. Even with all that happened. I appreciate it, and I wanted you to know."

"Oh, Rey." Mr. Skywalker's eyes tear up. "You really do remind me of your grandfather."

"Thanks, Mr. Skywalker."

"You're welcome." He clears his throat. "Now that you're officially done with school, you can call me Luke."

"Okay." Rey's not sure she'll ever get used to calling teachers and staff—except Artoo—by their first names. Although Han and Leia she doesn't mind.

"Hey, Rey?" Ben sticks his head in the door.

"You finished!" Rey throws her arms around his neck.

"Finn told me he saw you heading in here." Ben faces his uncle, squeezing Rey's hand. "And I wanted to talk to you."

"Of course." Mr. Skywalker—Luke—nods.

"Mom told me you're thinking about resigning," Ben says, voice shaking.

"Well, I—"

"I don't think you should. Like maybe take a workshop on—on abuse prevention or something. But you've done a lot of good too. For Rey. For Finn." Ben swallowed. "And you helped find us."

Luke approaches, swallowing as he looks at his nephew with amazement.

Neither of them make a move. Rey sighs. "I know PDA isn't allowed, but hugging definitely is."

"Watch it," Luke warns her as she pushes Ben towards his uncle. It's an awkward hug, but Ben's face flushes and it's not from anger or embarrassment.

"So, Ben, did you pass?" Rey presses.

"Oui, mademoiselle." Ben winks and kisses her.

"No PDA!" Luke groans.

"Eh, we're done, aren't we, Luke?" Rey teases.

"Not until you have your diploma in your hand. Then you can do whatever you please."

"Poe's dad is coming up tonight and wants to take us all out to dinner," Rey reports to Ben as they leave the office.

"I know. Mom's coming up with him." Ben grins as they pass Phasma and Hux, entwined on a bench.

"It's over!" shrieks Finn, racing up to them and laughing with glee.

"Almost," Poe remarks, sauntering over as Mr. Ematt shouts at Hux and Phasma.

"What can they even do?" Rey wonders. "They can't suspend us or anything."

"Good point." Poe grabs Finn and kisses him far more passionately than Rey expected.

"Well then," observes Leia's voice.

Mr. Dameron beams.

"Are you ready for this?" Poe asks Finn as he perches his cap on his head. Finn and Ben abandoned Hux to get ready with Poe and Snap.

"Don't worry. There will be hours of boring speeches before we actually get to walk across a stage," Ben deadpans.

"Wait, actually?" Finn questions.

"At least an hour and a half," Poe confirms.

"Swell," Snap says sarcastically.

"Seniors, gather in the courtyard!" Threepio squawks.

"I will not miss that man," Ben mutters.

"None of us will," Poe agrees.

Threepio ushers them to the cafeteria, where they're all supposed to line up. Hux glances in every window they pass, scowling as he repeatedly attempts to flatten a strand of hair already saturated with gel.

"Phasma will mess up your hair anyways," Poe comments.

Hux rolls his eyes, the sun beating down on them.

Someone else I won't necessarily miss, Finn thinks. Although everything else—the covered stone walkways, the brick buildings, the trees now finally blooming full and green and hosting chirping birds—he will miss. It's funny, he's only been here a year, and yet it's been more of a home to him than any house he stayed in his first seventeen years.

What if college isn't the same?

It probably won't be. But Poe will still be there, and Rey, and hopefully Ben eventually. And Lando's in the audience for him today.

That's home. They're home.

Rey rushes up to them, squealing. Jess follows.

"They told us not to wear heels because we might trip," Rey announces, sticking out her feet to reveal the same strappy shoes she wore for prom. "So we all wore them, of course. Even Phasma."

"Now she really towers over Hux," Snap remarks, watching as Hux leans his head against her shoulder.

"Doesn't look like he minds," Finn says.

"Line up!" barks Mr. Ematt. "Alphabetically!"

"See you," Finn says to everyone but Ben, because he's directly behind him. He grins at his friend. He doesn't have to say anything. Ben grins back as they march out, Finn holding his head high because he's proud.

The speeches are indeed boring, but to Finn's relief, Mr. Skywalker does not touch at all on the scandal that deposed their previous principal. And then they're reading the names, and Finn hears his and walks across the stage, collects his diploma and a handshake from Mr. Skywalker, and caps fly in the air, and it's over.

"Yes!" Rey shrieks, racing to Ben and throwing her arms around him, and he lifts her up. Poe worms through the crowd to find Finn and kiss him. Jess starts dancing.

"Congratulations, kid."

Finn turns around to see Lando. Poe's dad wraps his arm around his son.

"Thanks," Finn says. "Seriously. Thank you." Because he wouldn't be here without Lando.

"You know you're welcome to stay with me over the summer. And come home on breaks," Lando adds.

"I know." Finn wraps Lando in a hug, and the man hesitates, and then gives in.

Finn lifts his head to see Poe smiling and posing for a photo with his father. At least they've finally worked that out, more or less. Or, really, they're working it out.

Mr. Dameron did invite Finn to visit for a few weeks, and Finn's agreed. His eyes search through the crowd until he finds Leia, Han, Luke, Ben, and Rey all posing together, like they're a family. And then Ben moves aside and gestures as if asking his parents to take a picture of just him and Luke.

"Well," Poe drawls, coming up beside him and slinging an arm around Finn. "We survived."

Finn lifts his head. "We excelled." He catches sight of Hux breaking away from his parents and taking Phasma's hand. She towers over him, but Hux beams up at her.

"Speak for yourself. I don't want to think about how I did on that math final." Poe winks.

"Nah, you didn't just excel," Beebee-Ate interrupts. "You guys kicked some ass."