A/N: Thank you so much for the lovely comments! I am so flattered and so humbled that you guys like the story that I came up with while walking to the gym. Here is an extra long chapter with Part 2 coming soon!
On Christmas morning, Finn woke up in his boyfriend's arms to the warm aroma of cinnamon and vanilla. Rey was baking- something she only did on birthdays and holidays. Today was going to be a good day.
Rey sat on the cold kitchen tiles, her back against the sink cabinets, and her feet pressed against the warm exterior of the oven where twelve of her famous cinnamon rolls were rising. She wore a tight fitting blue t-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama bottoms. With an apron on that said "Shut the fuck up," and a mug of peppermint hot chocolate in her hand, Rey imagined her parents would have heart attacks if the saw her wearing short sleeves while it was snowing outside.
Pulling the red and white striped candy cane out of her mug, Rey broke the sharpened tip off with her front teeth and chewed on the crunchy sweetness. She turned her head when Poe and Finn stepped into the kitchen, wide smiles on their faces. "Good morning," she grinned.
Finn wore a green sweater with reindeer butting heads on it while Poe wore a plain white shirt
"Merry Christmas," Finn said and Poe nodded.
"Morning!" he said, stepping over her legs to reach the coffee machine.
"I have cinnamon rolls in the oven and plan on baking three pies and a shit ton of cookies. That gives Finn enough oven time to bake a chicken and Poe, you get to do the sides," Rey said, standing up. She winced when her warm feet made contact with the icy floor and set her mug down on the counter top.
"Are we all alright with mashed potatoes, salad, and green beans?" Poe asked as he began brewing coffee. The steady purr of the machine drew BB-8 out of his cat nest and into the kitchen.
"I want macaroni and cheese as well," Rey said, picking the orange and white cat up. He purred beside her before glaring at Finn. Poe narrowed his eyes at Rey before sighing and agreeing.
A Christmas movie was playing on the TV, so while Poe and Rey prepared breakfast, Finn kept BB-8 occupied with the TV and attempted at brushing his fur. It was a strange thing, their relationship. BB-8 only allowed Finn near him when Finn was asleep. BB-8 would then snuggle close to Finn and then bolt before he woke up.
Poe scrambled five eggs in one pan and flipped pieces of bacon in another. He watched as Rey pulled the oven door open and withdrew a pan of delicious looking rolls- each one dripping cinnamon. Rey retrieved her mixing bowl and a spoon and proceeded with doling out large amounts of icing onto the steaming goodness.
The cat screamed and instantly, Rey laughed. She did not have to look back to know that Finn was caught trying to brush the cat's fur. They had been trying to integrate Finn more into Bilbo Baggins the Eighth's life, but after BB-8 caught Finn wearing one of Poe's jackets, Rey assumed he took him as a thief and decided to claw him.
"Poe, the cat scratched me!" Finn shouted and Poe chuckled as he pulled three plates from the cabinet overhead.
"Bilbo Baggins the Eighth still doesn't like you," he called back in response. Finn scoffed and tossed the cat brush aside.
"Why on Earth is the cat named after a Hobbit? And why is he called the Eighth?" Finn asked as he made his way into the dining room. The cat scampered into the kitchen and sat down on Poe's bare feet. Rey looked to Poe as she began clearing the table of yesterday's work: a malfunctioning computer.
"Yeah, Poe, why did you name the cat after a Hobbit?" she echoed Finn's question. Poe shrugged, nudging BB-8 off of his feet and bringing the plates over to the table.
"Every single pet I've had was named Bilbo Baggins," he explained. "It began with my dog, Bilbo the First. Then it was the iguana; then the fish; then the hamster; then the horse; then the peacock-"
"We get it, you're rich!" Rey called out as she plucked silverware from the dishwasher. After placing the forks and knives onto the table, Rey pulled a can of cat food for BB-8 and placed its contents into the china bowl reserved for the cat. Rey and Poe were the only ones BB-8 allowed near his food.
Sitting with Finn at the head of the table, Poe watched as his two best friends clapped for an amazing breakfast and dug in. He loved them both and was truly happy that the three could spend Christmas together, however unorthodox it was.
Due to an actual tree being a fire hazard as well as a dangerous cat toy, their Post-it Note tree was stuck to a wall and had shoddily wrapped parcels beneath it. Once breakfast was cleaned up, the three companions made their way to the living room, each holding an extra cinnamon roll and a mug of their preferred hot drink.
The tree was a creation of Rey and Finn's artistic talent. Made entirely of green sticky notes, it was Finn who designed and made the tree while Rey created a solar powered string of lights and star that stuck to the paper on their wall.
"Alright, presents! Let's see…" Rey picked the ones she wrapped and handed one to Poe and the other the Finn. "You get to open mine first!"
While Finn carefully undid the tape on his package, Poe tore through his. Poe pulled a rolled up sheet out and frowned at Rey's beaming face before beginning to undo the rubber band that held it together. Unrolling the sheet of paper, Poe's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. "This is a signed Dale Earnhardt poster. It's signed. Oh gosh, I'm touching something Dale Earnhardt touched!" Poe turned to Rey with a slack jaw and shook his head. "How did you get this?" he demanded. Rey shrugged before saying, "Ebay."
Poe, unable to control his excitement, tackled Rey and a hug and the two fell over, laughing. "Get off of me, you jerk!" Rey laughed. "I have to watch Finn unwrap his!" she giggled.
Once Poe was calmly situated, he watched as his boyfriend pulled a box out from the wrapping paper. "Circuit Board and solar powered engineering starter kit, ages eighteen and up," he read out loud. Poe barked a laugh as Finn's shoulder shook with sarcastic laughter. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny, Rey," he said and Rey nodded.
"Now you won't have to touch my Circuit Boards because you have your own!"
The three spent all morning opening gifts and watching TV. Rey laughed when Finn gifted Poe with a set of bathroom stickers shaped like racecars and laughed even harder when Poe gave Finn a set of coloring books to fill in his spare time. "You're the best artist I know," was Poe's excuse.
Rey was delighted to find that Finn had painted and lacquered a new bo staff for her. It was painted with many trees and had a racecar and paintbrush on it. "So you'll always remember us when you go on to become the greatest engineer slash black belt slash badass in the history of badasses," Finn explained. Poe gave Rey pairs of gloves, some for sturdy work, and some for a chilly winter day, as well as a flashlight.
"Because you're a Rey of light!" he exclaimed before cracking up at his own terrible joke.
Later on, Rey found herself in the kitchen, cleaning up the mess she made while baking and wondering what she forgot to do. There was a knock on the door. "Poe, can you get that?" Rey called.
Poe answered the door and standing in front of him was Kylo in a black suit. Poe blinked at the man and called for Rey. "Were you expecting anyone?" he asked as Rey swore.
"Shit, oh my gosh-" almost dropping a plate, Rey ran from the kitchen to the front door, colliding with Poe and almost knocking him down in the process. "Kylo!" she exclaimed as a laughing Finn helped Poe off of the wall.
"I'm guessing you forgot about lunch?" Kylo asked with an amused look. He looked at Rey's t-shirt and flannel bottoms as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Yes, I did. I'm so sorry- um, come in! I'll get dressed and- fuck!" Rey cried out as she almost fell over the cat.
Kylo stepped into the sweet smelling house and Rey led him to the living room. "Kylo, this is Poe, my roommate, and his boyfriend, Finn. Finn, Poe, this is Kylo Ren. Be nice to each other," Rey said and retreated into her bedroom, slamming the door shut.
Kylo sat down on the white sofa and cleared his throat as Finn and Poe stared at him. "Merry… Christmas," Kylo said and Finn nodded.
"Yeah, mate. Merry indeed. You're the first person she's been on a date with in four years," he said. Kylo felt his ego expand.
"We're not dating... and I don't think this qualifies as a date," Kylo said and Poe shook his head.
"It's a date," he stated. Poe watched as Kylo fiddled with the collar of his sweater and cleared his throat.
"Should I have gotten her a present?" he asked and Poe shook his head.
"Rey doesn't accept presents unless she's very close to someone. She might give you one, though. Means she doesn't think you're a complete psycho," he grinned as Rey's door opened.
Rey wore a striped shirt with white jeans and had a gray coat in her arms. She tossed her coat onto the sofa and made her way into the kitchen, snatching plastic wrap from the table. "Kylo, what kind of pie do you want? I have apple, blueberry, and cherry!" she called and Kylo raised his eyebrows.
"Rey, you really don't have-"
"Take the blueberry one," Poe whispered. Kylo turned to the younger man as he urged him to take a pie. "Rey only bakes a couple times a years and I promise you, it'll be the best tasting pie you've ever had."
Kylo nodded and looked back into the kitchen where Rey was placing a pie in a Tupperware container for him.
1 hour before:
Kylo sat in an early session in Alliance Protest's main office, wondering how every person there was available to sit in on Christmas. He had barely had time to down a coffee before before he was told by the CEO of First Order Inc., Mr. Alder Snoke, to go and discuss an impasse with the protesters.
"Alaska is out of the question," Mr. Ackbar said. Kylo glared at the bald man before shaking his head.
"We still don't have government permission on Alaska, so let's talk about things that actually make sense right now. California, for example," Kylo snapped. He pulled at his necktie and wondered if he could talk his way out of strangling Ackbar or his idiot partner, Calrission. "Hux, the files," Kylo looked at his partner and watched the redheaded man remove a manilla folder from his briefcase.
The warm conference room was well lit and very quiet. Glass panes surrounded them, but the curtains were drawn to keep peeking Alliance workers away and for that, Kylo was grateful. He did not have the patience to deal with prying eyes.
Kylo accepted the files from his partner and opened the first one. "Mr. Snoke is willing to forego the Sacramento spots in exchange for freedom in the African oil reserves," he said, pulling two documents out. Hux smirked and Kylo waited for the two other lawyers to read through the papers. Kylo's hand was fisted around his fountain pen and he was seconds away from snapping it.
"Absolutely not," Calrission said. He was outraged that Ren had the gall to even bring the African oil reserves. "The African reserves are non-negotiable. How can you want to negotiate humane working conditions?!" he demanded. Lando wanted to punch Ren's smirk off of his face. They'd been taking turns shouting at each other while reading documents for four hours; it was almost noon.
"How about you return the Sacramento spots to the government and then we can negotiate a way to keep our protesters away from the San Antonio area. You'll have your oil and you won't be disturbing any trees in Texas," Ackbar said, passing a document over to Ren. He crossed his fingers as Hux looked at Ren. They waited with baited breath as the two First Order lawyers read over the new papers presented.
Everyone wanted to leave. Ackbar wanted to be with his wife and sons. Lando wanted to be with his wife and their daughter in her first Christmas home from college. Hux wanted to go back to his office at the First Order building and play videogames with the door locked. Kylo needed the meeting to end as quickly as possible so that he could go to lunch with Rey.
"Hux, call Mr. Snoke," Kylo said to his partner.
It took a phone call to Snoke, a read through of all documents, and a third read through in order for Kylo to finally agree to the terms. "The Sacramento rights will be returned to the government, but I promise you, if I get word of one protester in seeing range of the Texan deposits, I will be suing you," Kylo threatened. The two other lawyers seemed unfazed.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Lando said and held his hand out to shake.
Kylo stared at the outstretched hand and shook his head, packing his briefcase. He was going to be late for lunch with Rey if he did not leave soon.
Once the signed documents were safely stowed in his bag, Kylo nodded to the other lawyers. "Hux, call me tomorrow," he said, pulling his jacket on.
After leaving the conference room, Kylo made his way back to the elevator, basking in the glares he received from the people that worked at the Alliance building. He even knew a few people and found that they were the ones that glared the hardest.
Pressing the button on an elevator, Kylo waited for it to arrive. The Alliance building was unsurprisingly unmanned, due to it being the holidays, and he hoped the elevator would arrive quickly due to its lack of manpower on Christmas.
When the elevator doors opened, Kylo frowned as a person with a box full of food pushed past him with a familiar sounding "excuse me."
Holding the elevator door, Kylo waited for another person with arms full of boxes to step out. The person turned and Kylo froze when he saw who the second person was. "Ben?" Han Solo looked hopeful and Leia Organa set her boxes down, her expression a mixture of surprise and worry.
"Ben, honey," Kylo wanted to run, but his mother was faster. She grabbed his hand before he could enter the elevator and pulled him backwards and into her arms. Kylo dropped his briefcase and blinked rapidly, trying to disentangle himself from her grasp. "Do you have Christmas plans? Are you alone? Ben, why haven't you called?" Leia asked and Kylo watched as his father crossed his arms.
"I have to go," Kylo managed to say. "I have a date," he gently pulled away from Leia's arms and picked his bag up.
Stepping into the elevator, Kylo pressed the button for the ground floor as his mother called out for him to return home.
Before the elevator doors could shut, a hand jabbed through the crevice and Han Solo stepped in. "Ben, why haven't you called us?" he asked and Kylo glared at him.
"I don't go by Ben anymore," he said. "It's Kylo, and I need to go." Han peered at his son and shook his head.
"Why do you go by your middle name? What's wrong with Ben?" he asked and Kylo rubbed his forehead. Because I found out that it was a Kenobi that betrayed my grandfather and led to his death, Kylo thought.
"Mr. Solo, I really need to get going; my date will be waiting for me."
Han stepped backwards, hurt. He watched as his son adjusted his suit and closed the elevator doors. Standing backwards, Han felt Leia's hand on his shoulder as the elevator reached the ground floor. "It's Christmas and he's working," Leia sighed, picking her boxes up.
"Leia, we're working too," Han said as they made their way down the halls of the twenty-first floor. "We work every day and on holidays as well."
"That's because we have each other," Leia said to her husband. "Be- Kylo is alone and I don't like it. Ever since he graduated from law school, I just… Han, he hasn't been home since he started college and I want him back." Han opened the door to Leia's office for her, allowing her in.
"Well, Ben said that he had a date so maybe he's not alone for the holidays," he sighed. "Leia, our son's going to be fine… I just- I'll find a way to get him home, alright?" Han said with a smile. "Did you tell Rey, Finn, and Poe not to worry about anything until February?" he asked and Leia nodded, stacking the boxes of chicken and catered side dishes that would feed the people working in the Alliance building for the holidays. The savory smell of good food filled her office and Leia placed a hand on one of the boxes.
"Those three work too hard," she smiled, trying to push the thought of her estranged son aside. Leia thought of the three hardest working Alliance member and looked at her husband. "I heard those three weren't going home for the holidays. We should get them something for Christmas, maybe invite them over for dinner."