"Are you okay?" Rey asks and rubs my upper arm; I keep my attention ahead and make sure we aren't going to crash into someone.
"Yeah, I'm fine,"
"You don't belong here, you know that don't you..." her words come off as more of a statement than a question, and I laugh.
"Why do you say that?" I glance at her momentarily.
"Look around, at all the people," she continues to look at me for a moment, but when I look down she looks away. "You shouldn't just be a nameless face in the crowd," she states, her words stop me, but she continues to walk until our arms tug at the distance she has put between us. She turns to face me, and people have to divert around us. I pull her closer, her feet stumbling slightly but I steady her when my free hand cups her cheek; her brows furrow and she is about to speak when I close her mouth with mine. She smiles with surprise against my lips. My fingers tingle and I don't know when – or if – it would be possible to get enough of her.
I break us apart even though Rey steps a bit closer to kiss me again, I rest my forehead on hers and she smiles shyly.
"What was that for?" She whispers, ignoring the commotion going on around us. I don't know how to find the words to explain how much what she said meant to me, so I decide to settle for flattery.
"At least now I am the nameless guy who kissed the most beautiful girl," my lips twitch and I can't hide my smile, she blushes which I will take as a thank you. I pull away, feeling a lot better. I hear the loud chime of the city clock, alerting us that it is 6:00. I see a small restaurant between a few buildings across the road; Rey has spotted it too and she nods when I look at her with questioning eyes.
We sit in a small cushioned booth on opposite sides from one another, looking at the menus and not knowing exactly what we want. A waitress comes over and we both order a refreshing drink called soda to start while we decide on our meals. When they arrive, Rey and I excited try it at the same time: the fizz tickles my mouth and some of the bubbles pop on my nose, it is sweet and cold but somehow it seems to warm me up. We place the glasses down and she looks at me with a giddy smile and I can't help but return it.
"What do we eat?" She asks, moving the small centre piece of flowers to the edge of the table.
"What would you like?" I counter.
"I asked first," I gesture for her to come closer, and we lean over the table.
"I was just going to get whatever you decided," I whisper and Rey tries to supress a giggle as I lean back.
"So was I," She admits and I snot out a small laugh.
"Why don't we just ask the waitress and see what she recommends," Rey nods in agreement and I call her over to ask.
She suggests that we try pasta which is freshly made each day which is tossed with herbs that are grown on the balcony of the restaurant; Rey and I agree we'll both try that. I call out a thank you as she walks away, writing in a small note pad as she leaves.
"Rey…" I begin and she looks up at me as she takes a sip of her drink, "What are we going to do? Will we stay here?" She sighs, puts her elbow on the table, resting her head on her hand.
"Where else will we go?"
"I don't know; why is this so hard?" I half ask myself. Rey leans over the table and stops my hand that is slowly spinning the glass around and takes it in hers.
"You never really got a chance to find yourself and discover what you want to do, anywhere you go isn't going to feel right until you figure it out," She's right, but I don't know what I want to do, or where I want to go or how I am supposed to figure myself out.
"How do I do that?" I ask, intertwining our fingers.
"You will have to find out what you want to do, and I think we both know cleaning hotel rooms isn't it, and I know working in a hot kitchen washing dishes isn't my calling either,"
"What do you want to do?" she flickers her eyes away from mine.
"Finish my training…" she mutters and I take my hand out of hers and sit back placing my hands in my lap.
"You want to go back to the island?" I question, and Rey shakes her head.
"No, well, we can't go back there after what happened with Kylo, so Luke thought we'd continue, back at Base," her voice fades slightly at the end and I feel my heart drop with it.
"He thought, so the two of you discussed this?" I mumble, not looking at her and focusing on the way the bubbles fizz in the glass.
"Yes, we did-"
I interrupt her while she stumbles to try and find more words. "You want to go back, don't you?"
"I will need to, eventually, but I want to be with you," I close my eyes, no matter what happens it always seems like I am called back there.
"So when you didn't want to be with me anymore you were going to go back?" I query, I'm not angry, rather disheartened, but our fingers still absentmindedly fiddle with one another's.
"No, silly, I told you I wouldn't push you away, so I'm not going to do that. I was going to convince you to come with me," Her tone is kind, but assertive and I feel the need to defend myself.
"How do you know I would have gone with you?" She retracts, as if I struck her and I feel guilt set in immediately.
"I just thought…" Her voice fades, and I look away from her.
We fall into a long silence, but regardless we continue to hold hands.