The next morning was rougher than Rey wanted to admit. She laid in bed, feeling the stiffness of her muscles, the aches all over her body. Eventually, her need to use the bathroom forced her from bed, gritting her teeth against the pain.

The knuckles on her right hand were swollen and purple and she could barely move her fingers. Not being able to use her dominant hand definitely wasn't going to make her life miserable. Not at all.

It only got better when she turned on the bathroom light and saw herself in the mirror. A bluish purple bruise spread across the left side of her jaw and up to her cheekbone. It surprisingly wasn't was as swollen or puffy as she'd expected, but the color was... vibrant.

After relieving herself, she managed to get the shower turned on and tried to wash up with one hand. She was clumsy and positive she did a shit job of actually getting clean but she felt a bit better when she was done.

Getting dressed was difficult. She just threw on a tank top so she didn't have to deal with sleeves and a pair of comfy sweatpants.

She felt kind of nauseous but forced herself to eat half of a muffin so she could down a couple ibuprofen. Poe had left her a message saying that under no circumstances was she to come to work and if he saw her, she was fired. Going to work was beyond her at this point but she knew she'd go stir crazy after more than a day of lazing around, injured or not.

Finn had also left a message, telling her to let him know if she needed anything and that he'd come visit her tonight. He said the police hadn't found the guy who'd attacked her yet, his tone making it clear that he was thoroughly stressed by the situation. Leave it to Finn to get more freaked out than she was, and she'd been the one who'd gotten assaulted in a dark alley.

Rey tried reading the book she'd been working on but got annoyed at how difficult it was with one hand and threw it across the room. She ended up turning the TV on, mostly for background noise. She felt restless and like her brain didn't want to focus.

Her thoughts kept straying to back to Kylo. He hadn't woken her up last night but she'd crashed really hard so that was no surprise. She'd hadn't heard him all morning though, and she wondered if he was out.

What would happen when he showed up at the cafe today and she wasn't there? Would Poe tell him what happened? Knowing Poe, he'd make up some elaborate story just to get Kylo rushing over here to check up on her. The thought wasn't completely unappealing, to be honest. Too bad she looked like she'd been hit by a train. Yeah, maybe it was best if Kylo didn't visit.

More likely, he'd see she wasn't there and leave, thinking she was sick or taking a personal day and just come back tomorrow.

Maybe he'd stop by and see if she was okay if he thought she was sick. She couldn't decide if the thought excited or worried her. If it came down to it, she could always pretend she wasn't home.

Rey dozed off on the couch, trying to remind herself in call the emergency clinic when she woke up to check on the cat.

...

She jolted up on the couch, hissing as she instinctively grabbed out with her injured hand. Her mouth was dry and she was disoriented, glancing at the clock. It was already five, she'd slept a huge chunk of the day away. What had woken her up?

Loud knocking came from her front door. Oh.

She checked her phone quickly. No missed calls. Finn wouldn't be here until later tonight and Poe would still be working at the cafe. That left one person.

Stumbling to her feet, she made her way to the door, swallowing. What were the chances it was actually Kylo? She really needed to install a peephole for just this reason. It wasn't that she was embarrassed that she'd been attacked, more that she didn't necessarily want her perpetually good-looking neighbor to see her in this state.

Freezing by the door, she turned her head, trying to hear. Was he still out there?

"Rey, open the door," Kylo rumbled in that deep voice of his. "I know you're there, I can hear you. Don't be embarrassed, I won't judge."

Fuck. How did he hear her when he was pounding on her door? Well, she couldn't ignore him now. Poe must have told him what happened if he was telling her he wouldn't judge, must have said she looked rough. Thanks, Poe.

She hesitated for a second, taking a deep breath. There was nothing for her to be self-conscious about, if he couldn't handle the sight of a bruise then that was his fault.

It took a minute of fumbling with her left hand to get the lock undone and door open.

For some reason, Kylo had a playful sort of smile on his face when she opened the door. It vanished as he looked at her, face paling. His eyes traced the bruise on her face then jumped to the swollen hand she was awkwardly holding against her chest.

"Hi," she said with a grimace, wiggling her hurt hand in a sad attempt at a wave.

"Rey," he breathed. "What happened?" Something dark flared in his eyes and his jaw went tight, a muscle jumping in his cheek.

"Who did this to you?" he demanded, his anger filling the space between them. His hands fisted at his side, knuckles white.

"Uh." Rey hadn't expected him to be so angry. Hadn't Poe told him what had happened? Why else was he here? "Did you not talk to Poe?"

"Poe said that you'd had an issue closing up last night and took the day off," Kylo got out from between clenched teeth. "He said I should visit you and get the story, that it was one I'd want to hear in person."

"Then why were you knocking on my door and telling me you weren't going to judge?" she asked, bewildered. "I thought you were talking about my face!"

"He said you'd probably try to ignore me because you'd be embarrassed about what happened! I thought maybe you'd tripped and sprained your ankle walking home!" he exclaimed.

Rey wanted to smack her head against the door. Fucking Poe. He probably thought this was hilarious, sending poor, unsuspecting Kylo over here. She was going to kill him.

Kylo took a step forward. "Did someone do this to you? Was it a customer? Tell me who it was and I'll-"

"Calm down," she cut him off, stepping inside. "I'm tired and don't feel like having this discussion in the hallway. Come in and I'll tell you what happened, but only if you stop snarling at me."

He looked like he was contemplating punching a hole in the wall. She gave him a pointed look and he took a deep breath, visibly pushing his anger down.

"I'll make us some tea," was all he said, walking by her.

Kylo made her average sized kitchen suddenly feel tiny. He hadn't been in her apartment since he helped her down from the roof. She grabbed two tea bags as he filled the kettle and set it on the stove. Trying to rip the packets open with her teeth, she bit back a protest as he took them from her, opening them easily and pulling out the tea bags. Gesturing to which cabinet held the mugs, she leaned against the counter and watched as he grabbed two and dumped generous helpings of honey in the bottom of them.

Keeping his hands busy seemed to calm him down, some of the tension going out of his stiff shoulders.

"Sorry about the snarling," he said softly, glancing over at her. "You caught me off guard."

"It's fine," she said and meant it. His anger hadn't been directed at her.

He walked over to her slowly and she turned her face away automatically. His hand grasped her chin gently, guiding the left side of her face up to the kitchen light. She kept her gaze firmly fixed on him as he studied her, thumb softly brushing the underside of her jaw. She shuddered beneath his touch.

"Are you okay?" he murmured, brown eyes concerned.

She nodded minutely against his hand.

"How did you know someone did this?" she whispered. "I could have fallen into a counter."

His free hand reached between them and lifted her injured one up so they could both see it.

"I've gotten into enough fights and punched enough people to know what this is from," he said wryly. "It looks like you put some force behind it though. I'm not surprised, I'd always taken you for a fighter."

Something about him saying that made her heart skip a beat. Everyone else had lectured her for fighting back and here was Kylo praising her.

Moving slowly, he bent down and brushed his lips along the tops of her purple knuckles. His mouth was soft, the graze of his breath warm against her skin.

She gasped before she could stop herself, the sound loud between them.

He straightened, dark hair falling across his forehead. She couldn't look away as his hand came back up to cradle the unbruised side of her face, feeling his fingers tremble against her.

His dark eyes threatened to swallow her whole as he leaned in and pressed the softest of kisses to her cheek, right where the bruise bled up from her jaw. His lips lingered against her, his masculine scent filling the air between them.

Rey couldn't move, every sense focused on him and the delicious heat his mouth on her skin was sending spiraling along her nerves and to her stomach. She wanted him to turn his head and slide his mouth against hers, to kiss her like she'd been thinking about in the darkness of the night, alone in bed. Like she'd been trying to deny every time she saw him.

The kettle started to whistle on the stove but neither of them moved.

He breathed her name, a sigh, a whisper. "Rey."

Then he took a step back, swiping the shrieking kettle off the stove. His sudden movement left her gaping after him.

"Which mug do you want?" he asked, voice rough, back to her as he poured water from the kettle.

"Uh, either," Rey responded, her head spinning. What... what had just happened? For not the first time, she wondered if the tension between them was a purely all in her head. She took a deep breath and pushed it down. The last thing she wanted was to make Kylo uncomfortable.

He grabbed the mugs of hot tea and followed her into the living room, joining her on the couch. He sat stiffly, handing Rey her tea without looking at her. She could see that he was clenching his teeth though, jaw tight.

"I suppose you want to hear what happened," she asked lightly, trying to diffuse some of the stifling awkwardness in the room. She got comfortable, pulling her knees up and facing him, an empty cushion between them. Holding her mug in her left hand was uncomfortable and she had to really focus to take a drink without spilling on herself.

He nodded so she gave him the quick version of the story, voice getting thick when she got to the part where her attacker kicked the stray. Kylo didn't interrupt, just watched her over his mug, face impassive.

"So I'm going to be stuck here for a few days I guess," she finished, sighing. "Poe won't let me come into work, which is probably a good thing since I can't really use this hand." She waved her right hand dejectedly.

Kylo was quiet for a minute. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to walk you home." His voice was heavy with guilt.

Rey laughed before she could help herself. "Really? I already have Poe beating himself up for going on a date and Finn for taking him. What's with you men wanting to take the blame for everything?"

"It's not funny," he said lowly. "You could have been seriously hurt or killed. I should have been there to protect you."

"I think I more than proved that I don't need a protector," she responded icily.

He stared at her then sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just- I should have been there."

"Well you weren't and that's that," she said calmly. "I'd really like it if I didn't have to keep comforting everyone else though. In case you guys haven't noticed, I'm the one who looks like she tried to fight off a bear."

Kylo gave her a small smile. "Something tells me you'd hate everyone fretting over you even more."

"Well maybe," she grumbled. "But I wouldn't mind just getting a minute to wallow in self-pity."

"Complain away, I won't tell anyone," he smirked.

Rey didn't hesitate. "This fucking hand," she whined. "I can't do anything. I can't hold a book, I can't open a bottle a goddamn water, I can hardly get dressed. Showering was utterly ridiculous. I don't know how I'm going to feed myself because I can't use my fucking can opener and I'll probably stab myself in the face with a fork if I use my left hand. Oh, and chewing hurts because my jaw is wrecked. And did I mention how bored I am? I can't do anything except lay around and think about how much I hurt and how bored I am."

Kylo burst into laughter. Rey gaped at him, indignation making her face red. Sure, getting him to smile was nearly impossible but he'd have a laughing fit over her struggles. Typical.

"I'm sorry, it's not funny." He bit his lip, trying to hold in his chuckles. "It's not funny at all. I just- I don't think I've ever seen you so pissed before."

"I live to amuse," she deadpanned.

He paused, obviously uncertain as to whether he'd offended her or not. "Listen, I'm not laughing at you. I don't think you realize how unfunny I find this situation. The fact that that bastard is still out there makes me want to go hunt him down and murder him for laying a hand on you."

Rey never thought she would enjoy hearing someone say something like that. But it sent a strange surge of satisfaction through her, that he was so angry on her behalf.

"Seeing you hurt and knowing I should have been there...," he continued. "I- I can't-" He struggled to find the words.

"I was only teasing you," she assured him, suddenly feeling wretched at the emotion in his eyes.

He shook his head, dark hair flopping around. "No, it's not funny, this fucking sucks for you and I'm sorry you're struggling." He paused, clearly hesitating. "If you're bored, I could stay and make you dinner. We could watch a movie or something?" he offered, surprising her with his boldness.

Like a date? No, he obviously wasn't really asking her out, but dinner and a movie still felt a little date-ish. That was probably just wishful thinking on her part.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother if you're busy-" she cut off as he shook his head.

"No, I'm not busy. I was going to make spaghetti for dinner, if you don't mind letting me use your kitchen..."

She laughed. "You're offering to make me dinner, my kitchen is yours."

He got to his feet with a shy smile, taking her empty mug from her. "I'll run over to my place and get everything if you want to pick out a movie?"

The second he was gone, she grabbed her phone.

Don't worry about coming over tonight, she texted Finn. I'm tired, going to turn in early.

She felt bad being dishonest to Finn but there was no way she was telling him she was spending the evening with Kylo. He would rush over here in a heartbeat.

She was spending the evening with Kylo. That was... unexpected. A little thrill shot through her.

Holding her phone, she remembered she was supposed to call the animal clinic and check up on the cat. She started to look up the number then stopped.

What if he had died? What if she called them and they told her he hadn't made it? She didn't know if she could handle that. There was a good possibility he had saved her life. She wasn't stupid, she knew there was a chance that once she'd gotten the robber inside and to the safe, he'd have killed her. Most criminals that didn't bother with a mask didn't intend on leaving witnesses to identify them.

That silly, orange stray might be the reason she was still alive.

Tears filled Rey's eyes. She had to check up on him, had to know.

"You might have to show me-" Kylo started, walking back in with an armful of groceries. He took one look at her, tossed his stuff on the counter and rushed over, kneeling on the floor in front of her.

"Hey, you okay? Are you in pain?" His brown eyes were wide as he scanned her frantically.

She sniffled, wiping away tears. "Fuck, I'm fine, I'm sorry. I've been stupidly emotional all day. I'm trying to work up the courage to call the vet and check up on that cat. I just keep thinking they're gonna tell me he didn't make it." She felt her lip start to tremble again.

"Here," he reached into his back pocket, pulling out his phone. "I'll call them for you. What was the name of the place?"

"You don't have to do that," she protested weakly.

"I don't mind. It's the least I can do for that obnoxious furball," he said warmly. "I might actually be starting to like him after such a brave rescue. Is it the clinic on 5th?"

Kylo just admitted to liking the cat. She nodded wordlessly and he stood up, walking into the kitchen, holding the phone to his ear. Something about him being nice about the stray made her just want to cry more.

She tried to not listen in on his conversation, just catching the occasional word, nothing that revealed anything. A minute later, he walked in, tucking his phone back into his pants pocket.

"Is he-?" she couldn't finish the question.

"He's recovering," Kylo said. "The vet said he had some head trauma, likely a concussion and some bruised ribs. He said there's no internal bleeding and with rest and time, he should be fine. They'll let him heal then send him over to the shelter where he can get taken care of."

A tightness in Rey's chest loosened. She laughed wetly, beaming up at Kylo. "Thank you."

He shrugged, looking embarrassed. "I'm going to start dinner if you're hungry? It will take a little while to make."

She suddenly realized how starving she was. "Dinner sounds great. Let me show you where everything is."

To Rey's surprise, Kylo was making sauce from scratch, ripe, red tomatoes sitting on her counter. She tried to help, unsuccessfully, until he shooed her from the kitchen.

So instead, she lounged on the couch and watched him move around the kitchen over the counter that separated it from the living room. He moved with a confidence that she wasn't used to seeing on him, but it was kind of sexy. She wanted to laugh at herself. How predictable of her to find a man cooking for her attractive.

When she asked where he learned to cook, he explained that he'd been home a lot as a kid so to keep him busy, his housekeeper, a stern, older Italian woman, had him help her in the kitchen.

He spoke of her with a fondness that painted her as something of a mother figure for him. It was sweet as she imagined young Kylo helping stir pots and chop vegetables.

Eventually, the smells wafting from the kitchen made her mouth water.

"Mmmmh, that smells good," she moaned, stomach rumbling. It was a good thing they were going to eat too because her ibuprofen had worn off a while ago and the aching pain was getting harder to ignore.

"It will be done in a few minutes if you want to get the movie set up?" he called from where he was bent over the stove.

"I don't know what to watch, do you have a preference?" she asked, hauling herself over to her small collection of movies.

"Anything is fine. Do you have a favorite?"

She smirked, grabbing her favorite off the shelf, the battered case giving away just how many times she'd watched it. He did say anything.

When he came into the living room carrying two bowls of pasta a few minutes later, he found her glaring daggers at the movie case.

"I can't open it," she said petulantly.

He pressed his lips together to keep from laughing, setting the food on the coffee table. He popped the case open easily, raising his eyebrows at the cover.

"I've actually never seen this," he remarked, handing over the disc carefully.

"You what?" she spluttered. "The Princess Bride is easily the greatest movie ever created! That's just... it's just... inconceivable!" she cried, snorting at his confused expression.

"You're going to love it," she promised, going over to put it in her DVD player. "Or I'll never speak to you again."

"Threatening me before it's even started?" He smirked. "You must not be very confident it's going to win me over."

"Oh don't worry, you'll love it. The main character wears all black," she teased.

He opened his mouth then closed it when he glanced down at his outfit, dark wash jeans and a black henley. He scowled.

Rey pressed play then scurried back over, joining him on the couch. She set her bowl of pasta on her lap carefully, concentrating intently as she picked up her fork with her left hand.

Kylo was watching her from the corner of his eye.

"Don't you dare laugh at me," she warned him, already knowing this wasn't going to go well.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said, taking a bite.

She tried to twirl some noodles around her fork unsuccessfully, nearly dropping it. Scooping didn't work either, the pasta slipping off before it left the bowl.

Swearing under her breath, she tried again. On the screen, the grandfather showed up with his book to read to the sick kid.

"Here," Kylo said, gently taking her fork from her. He twirled a decent amount of noodles around it then lifted it to her mouth.

She blushed. Her poor dignity couldn't take much more of this.

"I won't tell anyone," he teased but his eyes were warm.

She sighed then opened her mouth, feeling like a child. He carefully fed her the bite and she couldn't help the groan that escaped her. Tomato, garlic, basil. Holy hell, this was delicious.

"That is so good," she told him. He smiled self-consciously, feeding her another bite.

"You eat too!" she insisted. "And don't miss the movie!"

"I can multitask." But he turned back to the movie, eating some of his own food.

He managed to somehow eat his own food and feed her hers, all while keeping up with the movie. He laughed more than she expected, immediately declaring Westley as the best character. He watched the sword fight scene intensely, grinning hugely when they both switched to their dominant hands.

To Rey's surprise, she was enjoying watching him almost as much as the movie. He was so expressive when he got caught up in it, his face lighting up. And also, to her surprise, she quickly discovered that she didn't mind him feeding her.

A part of her found it almost erotic. The thought made her flush and she was glad for the dim lighting. But he stared intently at her mouth as he brought a bite to her lips then always locked eyes with her, making sure she was enjoying it. The way he was so attentive to her needs and enjoyment was sending her mind straight to the gutter.

An hour into the movie and they were sprawled out on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table, empty bowls on the counter. Rey was feeling delightfully full and cozy, even the throb of her injuries seeming a little less awful.

"Not going to lie, that was much better than I expected," Kylo admitted as the credits rolled.

"I told you," Rey said smugly. "Westley was my first fictional crush. The mustache really did it for me as a young girl."

"I don't blame you, I'm struggling with my own crush after watching that," he replied with a straight face, making her giggle.

He stood up and stretched, his shirt lifting and revealing his hip bones and the distinct V line that disappeared down the top of his jeans.

Rey averted her eyes, mouth dry. Jesus, what was with her tonight?

Kylo went into the kitchen, grabbing their empty bowls on the way. "I'll tidy up really quick, mind if I throw everything in the dishwasher?"

She jumped to her feet. "You just cooked dinner, there's no way I'm letting you clean up."

He walked around the counter, crossing his arms. "I'm pretty sure you can't stop me... at least, not one handed."

"Didn't you hear, I just beat up some guy with a stick. You'd better watch yourself," she growled.

"Oh yes, you're very intimidating," he said flatly.

She flung one of the couch pillows at him, missing by a mile. He just looked at the pillow on the ground then back at her, eyebrows disappearing under his hair.

"Shut up," she muttered.

"Just let me clean up really quick, I'm not leaving your kitchen a mess." He walked away before she could say anything then she heard the water running.

She grumbled to herself, going to use the bathroom while he was busy. She downed a few ibuprofen that Finn had left on her bedside table, wincing as they scraped down her throat. It was only eight and she felt wide awake since she'd spent most of the day sleeping.

Kylo was putting the last pan in her dishwasher when she came back into the kitchen, leaning against the doorway.

"Thank you for dinner," she said. "You really didn't have to, but I'm glad you did."

"You're welcome, it's been a long time since someone enjoyed my cooking." The factual way he said it made her sad. "Well, I guess I'll head back-"

"You could stay for another movie," she blurted out. "Uh, if you wanted, I mean. If you liked Westley, I have another movie he's in. It's not as good but still pretty funny."

There was that surprised look he always got when she wanted to do something with him. "You aren't too tired?"

Rey shook her head. "You don't have to stay if you don't want, my feelings won't be hurt. But," she continued, looking up at him. "I'd like it if you did."

Kylo smiled. "As you wish."

...

Rey reluctantly said good night after the second movie. It felt strangely intimate to say goodnight to him then go crawl into her bed and listen to him do the same. The wall between them felt thinner than ever.

She imagined him laying in bed, listening for her too. She swore she could feel him on the other side of the wall, that undeniable tension between them reaching through it.

Tonight had been fun. There was no better word for it. Just a few weeks ago, she was yelling at Kylo's door in the hall and now he was over in her apartment, taking care of her and keeping her company while she was hurt.

Life seemed to bring people into her life in the strangest ways, she mused.

The next day, Kylo showed up at her door around lunchtime with a tag of takeout dangling from one hand, the other clutching a stack of movies.

"You showed me your favorite so I thought it was only fair I do the same," he said hopefully.

She grinned and stepped aside to let him in.

Yay, I managed to bust out two chapters in two days! Hope you all enjoyed this one! And hopefully, you've seen The Princess Bride so you got the references and scenes I was dropping. These two make my heart hurt but I love writing them so much *wipes tear* Thanks as always for the amazing feedback guys, you rock! Nothing feels better than knowing people are enjoying your writing :3