Ben took Rey home that evening. Weak as she was, it still had not been a simple task. He was sure that she wouldn't be well by the morning; in fact, the migraine seemed to have gotten worse. He had indulged her 'how will I get to work tomorrow' question with a simple solution: he would come by and pick her up. This presented a whole new set of problems. The biggest, and most obvious, being that Rey had never missed a day of work, and there was not a doubt in his mind that she would lie through her teeth to keep it that way. On his way home from her apartment, he concocted a plan that solved the dilemma completely.
He was going to cancel classes for tomorrow.
Ben sent the email to all of his students when he got home and notified the correct authorities that he would be taking a sick day. That night, he took a bath and climbed into bed early, book in hand. Like everyone else, Ben had read 'Slaughterhouse Five' in high school. It wasn't until college that he began to tear through Vonnegut's other works like wildfire. He revisited them often now - they held a comfort that he had yet to find elsewhere.
In the middle of 'Breakfast of Champions', roughly four hours after he had sent out the email, Ben's phone began to ring. It vibrated violently on his nightstand. Figuring it was likely a scammer, he let it go to voicemail. There were a few more moments of silence before it started to ring again. Absently, he reached over to check the caller I.D. and found Rey's contact photo staring back at him. Anxiety spiked in his chest as he pressed the green button.
Ben swallowed hard. "Hey, what's up?"
"Hey." Rey's voice crackled through the receiver.
"Are you okay?" There was a pause.
"I was actually going to ask you the same question." Weariness and worry colored her voice. "I just got a text from a student wondering if they could turn in work Monday since you canceled classes for tomorrow."
Well, fuck. That backfired. "You can tell them that's fine."
"Are you sick?" She asked.
His plan had been to text her in the morning. He hadn't intended to lie, per se, just catch her off guard. After all, how many questions was a person willing to ask at 6 am when they could just go back to bed? Fuck him. He should have just called earlier. "I'm fine."
There was a long, tense silence. "What's wrong, then?"
"Um-" Ben took a deep breath. "I just wanted to make sure that you had enough time to recover." He could almost hear the eyebrow raise through the phone.
"Wait, what?"
"Rey-"
"No, no - let me see if I have this right. You canceled class and didn't tell me because you decided that I wouldn't be able to come to work tomorrow?"
"...yes. I was going to tell you in the morning."
"Wow, okay." Rey laughed incredulously. "I'll see you Monday, then. Have a great weekend."
Before Ben had a chance to respond, she hung up. He stared at the 'call ended' screen, a familiar dread sweeping over him. Eyes closed, he took a deep breath. This, at least, was something he had expected to come. It had been about a month since he'd last had a panic attack, and this day had brought so much stress - Ben reached for the bottle of Xanax on his nightstand. At least he was home, in a place he could get ahead of it. He dry swallowed two pills and sat back in bed. Determined to distract himself, Ben picked up 'Breakfast of Champions' again and began to read while he waited to fall asleep.
He was in the kitchen, cooking something. Smoke rose from the skillet, sweet and savory smells wafting through the small space. Ben looked around. It was an apartment he didn't recognize, but it felt familiar and safe. A few steps and he was standing in the living room.
"Hello," he called. It was calm, nearly silent, aside from the whistle of a gentle breeze through an open window. There was a soft, padded sound - bare feet on carpet. It came from the other room, growing closer. Ben focused his gaze on the nearest doorway, and another person stepped through.
Rey. He drank in the sight of her, completely naked before him. Her body was small, lean muscle visible on her arms, legs, and stomach. He followed her curvature, tracing the gentle swells of her hips and breasts with his eyes. But the smile on her face was what made him nearly dissolve. It was sweet, sultry, and knowing, but hungry with desire. She stepped into the space slowly, though far from a manner that was unconfident. It took all of his willpower to stay and let her come to him. Rey placed a hand on his chest. "You're here."
"I'm here," he repeated, completely enraptured by her closeness.
She lifted his hand and placed it on her cheek, eyes pleading. "Kiss me."
His hand snaked around to the back of her neck as he bent. There was an urgency in the kiss, and she moaned softly into his mouth. Tentatively, he ran a hand down her torso, fingertips tingling with sensation. He traced back up again, coming to cup her breast. She was so perfect. Ben kneaded the tissue gently, rubbing his thumb over the nipple, feeling it rise at his touch. Rey moaned again.
"Ben," she whispered, breaking the kiss. Her eyes met his. "I want-"
His phone was ringing, buzzing wildly on the nightstand. Ben squinted, reaching through the dark. Just an alarm. He silenced it and fell back into bed with a groan. Fuck. He'd forgotten just how wild Xanax dreams could be. And this one - Christ. A full erection pressed against his boxers. With a sigh, Ben slung his feet over the side of the bed. He just needed a cold shower, needed to wash away what it had felt like to touch her.
When he came out of the bathroom, it was 7:30. He sat back down on the bed and turned on his phone. Two unread messages from Rey. Ben took a breath and opened the lock screen to read the first text.
7:00am
Hey I wanted to aplogize. I know u wer jus trying to help.
His brows furrowed. Rey had never been one to use text abbreviations, and she certainly didn't misspell words or forget introductory commas. He scrolled to the second text.
7:05am
Sorry.
Before he could talk himself into just texting back, Ben pressed the call button and waited as it rang.
Ben's contact photo in Rey's phone was his staff picture. She had dared him to smile, and the result looked like a baby attempting to mirror the expression of an adult. It never failed to make her laugh. Even now, as she knelt on the cold tile of her bathroom, hunched over her toilet, the picture brought a smile to her face. He called three times, and Rey picked up right after she finished gargling water in an attempt to get the taste of stomach acid out of her mouth.
"Hi," she croaked in the receiver.
"Hey," Ben began, tone apologetic and apprehensive. "I got your texts. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine." Blinding pain and vomiting aside, of course. "I just felt really bad about earlier. Turns out you made the right call, anyway."
"Does your head still hurt?"
"Yeah."
Ben sighed. "Migraines can last a long fucking time - even after the headache's gone, there's a period where you'll be really fatigued."
She was pretty weak now, but that was more likely related to her inability to keep anything down. "Sounds like I've got an exciting day ahead of me."
There was a pause. "I'm going to bring you some stuff."
"What?" She heard a rustling noise in the background. He was putting on his clothes. Shit. "I'm okay."
"Do you want breakfast?"
Just the thought of food made her gag. "No."
"Alright," he said. "I'll be there in thirty."
Fucking christ. "Ben, I'm sick."
"Yeah, I know." She could hear the faintest of smiles in his voice. "I'll see you soon."
He was coming over. To her apartment. The realization sent her pulse racing for a variety of reasons, some of which she didn't understand and was unwilling to examine too closely. Thankfully, her apartment was clean at the moment. She, on the other hand, was an absolute mess. She reeked of vomit and sweat; her hair fell down her shoulders, wild and full of tangles. Slowly, Rey stood up. Blood rushed to her head as she reached to turn on the water for a quick shower.
After everything he had done for her, smelling nice was truly the least she could do.
The attempt to blow dry her wet hair was a futile one - it just aggravated the headache. Instead, she wrung it out the best she could and threw on a big hoodie to stay warm. Ben knocked at 8:07.
"It's open," she called, tugging on shorts and digging a pair of socks out of her drawer.
A rush of cold air came in as he opened the door, and she could make out the rustling of multiple bags as Ben moved through the living room. "Don't leave your door unlocked anymore."
Rey stepped out of the bedroom. "It was just for a minute. I didn't want you to wait in the cold." He looked a little more rested than usual, but there was an air of stress about him. It had sunken into his eyes and the lines on his face.
"Don't do it again." Ben set the bags on the counter before looking her up and down. "Why don't you sit on the couch - I'll put everything away."
"What did you bring?" she asked, curious.
"Some stuff for pain management - meds, cold packs, warm packs." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Have you been throwing up?"
Rey nodded.
"I brought some Pedialyte too." He took out big bottles of purple liquid and handed one to her. "Go sit and drink this."
She obeyed, albeit slowly. A thought crossed her mind. "Hey, Ben?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you going to stay?" The question heated her cheeks, but she needed an answer.
He looked up from what he was doing. "Do you want me to stay?"
"Yes." The word vibrated through her small apartment. A smirk curled the corner of his lips.
"Good."
She watched him for a moment, allowing herself to acknowledge the flutter that had formed in her belly. She took a heaving sigh and sat down on her couch. Fuck, he was handsome.
"Have you taken another Excedrin?"
"Not since 7 last night."
A few moments later, Ben appeared with two pills in hand and a sleeve of Ritz crackers. "Here," he said. "Eat what you can."
"Thanks."
He sat on the other side of the couch, so Rey had plenty of room to stretch out. "Comfy?" He asked.
She nodded. "If you want to turn on the TV, you can. It won't bother me."
"I brought something, just in case," Ben said, book in hand.
Rey squinted. "Which Vonnegut is that? I can't read the title."
"'Breakfast of Champions.'"
She smiled. "Pretty good one."
"Not your favorite?" he asked, amused.
"Call me basic, but 'Slaughter House Five' will forever have my heart."
"I bet you say that to all the Lit Bros."
"Definitely not." She sighed. "I don't trust men with Literature degrees." Then, with a smile, she added. "Present company excluded, of course."
Ben chuckled. "I'm honored to be the exception."
It took an entire day, and it was a grueling day at that, but the migraine eventually passed.
At 8pm, they sat together on Rey's couch and ate a celebratory tub of dairy-free ice cream. Sometime during her sleep, she had become too warm and taken off the baggy hoodie, so she sat next to him now in a sports bra. He had never seen her in anything sleeveless, and the amount of ink on her upper arms and back took him by surprise. There was one piece that particularly piqued his interest.
"Is that Medusa on your back?" He asked.
Rey froze mid-bite. "Yeah," she said, slowly. "It is."
"It's beautiful."
"Thanks." She smiled. "That's actually my most recent. I got it last month."
Ben raised his brows. "Wow. Why Medusa?"
"Do you remember her story?" Rey asked.
"Yeah, of course."
She nodded slowly. "When Poseidon raped her in Athena's temple, Medusa was the one Athena punished." Rey lowered her eyes. "She's become a symbol for victims of rape and sexual assault - a way to reclaim the narrative."
Ben desperately hoped that the horror he felt could not be seen in his expression. "You were raped?"
"Yeah," she said, voice small.
Fuck. "How long ago?"
"My freshman year at Lone Pine. I went to a house party - he put Ketamine in my drink." Rey sighed. "I don't remember much, but I can remember who he was."
Ben's jaw clenched. "Where is he now?"
"He's still at Lone Pine."
"So he didn't get in any trouble?"
Rey shook her head. "I went through all the procedures you're supposed to go through. They found his sperm in my body and ketamine in my system, but he was a 'good guy'. The worst he got was a stern talking to from the Dean."
Ben ran his fingers through his hair, throat working to swallow. "What's his name?"
Rey studied him, a trace of humor in her eyes. "You can't kill him."
"Sure I could."
She snorted. "No, because then you would actually go to jail, and I would have no friends."
He considered this. "He hasn't spoken to you since?"
Rey shook her head.
He exhaled. "Okay, well. Just...call me. If you're in an uncomfortable situation." Truthfully, it was probably best that Ben didn't know this man's name. And if he ever heard about someone hurting her again-
"I appreciate that a lot, Ben. Thank you." Rey's eyes were downcast, but he could make out the quaver of her lower lip. "You're really great."
Ben felt his heart stumble in his chest. He reached for her hand and squeezed. "I care about you. No thanks needed."