Rey never liked keeping secrets. She didn't ever want to be the keeper of someone else's secrets and she never wanted to have secrets for others to keep for her.

She definitely didn't like the thought of being someone's dirty little secret.

After Rey and Ben went on their first date , she wanted to shout it from the rooftops that she and Ben were dating. She would have too, gone to the roof of her high school with a bullhorn and shouted to all that could hear her that she went on a date with Ben fucking Solo and she wanted to go on many more with him.

The problem was Ben shut that desire to be vocal about their relationship down before she had a chance to tell anyone.

She woke up to a text stating, 'Please don't tell a soul about our date Rey. I could get in a lot of trouble and lose my position. Lets just keep it between the two of us. I'll see you tomorrow night at 8 pm. Wear that cute white eyelet lace romper that you wore to class last week. I loved seeing your legs in that outfit. You have no idea the dirty thoughts that popped into my head when you wore that. Its just for me though. Don't wear it to school for other boys to also have dirty thought about you'

Rey gritted her teeth and tried not to cry as she stared down at the message.

Her effort to stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks was fruitless because in the end she couldn't help it. She let out a sob as she thought about Ben not wanting anyone to know about Rey and him.

Rey wanted him to shout his love for her from the rooftops. She wanted him to be proud of being seen with her beside him, holding hands while they walked down the hallways at school.

He had made it clear that wasn't what he wanted. He said he didn't want to get in trouble for dating a student at school but Rey suspected there was something more there. He had been so cold to her at school lately but then when they were together she felt like it was just him and her against the world.

She didn't want Ben to look through her at school anymore but kiss her at home like he had the night before. It was a toe curling kiss that made her want much more. More kisses only in private though.

The next school day droned on. Rey counted down the minutes when she could burst through the front doors of the school and get back home. She kept thinking about Ben's text. She kept staring into space through each class period as the teacher's droned on in the background.

During math class, Rey stared out the window while Ben collected the previous night's homework. As he went to grab the paper off of Rey's desk she saw the tiniest smile creep across his face. She looked up at him and he nodded slightly at her.

Then he went back up to the front of the classroom to hand Ms. Barrow the collected homework sheets. Rey couldn't help but grin.

He smiled at her. Even if no one saw him do it, he had done it in front of the classroom. It wasn't a lot but that tiny grin was just for her, and it was enough for her at the moment.

Rey was up in her bedroom at 7:55 that evening smoothing down the wrinkles of her romper and adjusting the spaghetti straps that kept slipping down her shoulders when she heard a knock on the door.
She assumed it was Ben coming early so she ran down the stairs excitedly and flung open the front door with so much enthusiasm that it almost struck the person on the other side of the door. She was grinning from ear to ear.

Rey's smile dropped instantly when she saw who was on the other side of the door. "What are you doing ringing the doorbell, you have a key?", Rey asked her foster father.

Unkar Plutt reeked of beer and cigarettes that permeated every facet of his being; from his hair, clothing down to the drops of perspiration beaded on his head.

"I forgot them. That's why I came back. I'll be out all night so don't wait up for me. I need you to tinker with the Volvo's engine out back. Its not working and I can't put it back into the car till it is", he slurred.

Rey nodded. She didn't want to spend her weekend by herself, tying to fix an engine that had no hope at running again. She knew that Unkar had already been paid and didn't want to lose the money. She knew that he took the job knowing that he'd never be able to fix it so was relying on Rey to get him out of that mess.

Rey knew how to fix cars since he had taken in her in to his home as a young child. He taught her everything he knew not out of the goodness of his heart but as a way to have an apprentice that would do all of the work while he reaped all the benefits.

Rey rarely saw any of that money again. She suspected he spent it on booze, gambling and women. He certainly hadn't spent the money on Rey. She was lucky if she scrounged up enough food to feed her for 3 days of the week and her clothes were always old and torn. Typically they were too large for her tiny frame and she had to wear a belt or sew the tops to make them smaller. She knew that Unkar dived into the clothing donation bins at the local church and grabbed what he could. It didn't matter if it was men's, women's or children's clothing, he'd hand Rey what he found and expect her to wear it.

Sometimes Rey would find his secret stash of cash that he hid in the shoebox on top of the coat closet. She'd buy some new to her clothing at the thrift shop. When Ben started his teacher assistant job, Rey found herself doing that more and more. She wanted to look good for Ben. The romper was her latest purchase.

Unkar would be so drunk most days he never seemed to notice the missing cash.

She'd waved him out the door, his keys in hand.

He surprisingly didn't question her choice of clothing or why she was wearing it. He had barely glanced at her at all. He seemed more interested in getting out of the house. Rey assumed he was going to drown himself in more alcohol at a local bar. She really didn't care, all she cared about was seeing Ben again.

Rey stared at the clock. 8 pm rolled around and then 8:30. Finally around 8:55 there was a knock at the door.

She opened the door to find a frazzled looking Ben on the other side of it. His hair was a mess, sticking out in all directions, his clothes looked like he had just thrown them on in a rush as his T shirt was inside out and backwards.

He sheepishly grinned at her. "I'm really sorry babe. I got caught trying to sneak out of the house by my mother and had to eat dinner with her and my father. I finally excused myself, changed my clothes and headed over to see you".

Rey waved him in. His excuse was lame but she didn't doubt that he was telling her the truth. He held up a carry out bag full of boxed food. "I pick up some Chinese on the way here. I hope that you like chicken lo mein", he said.

Rey grinned at him while grabbing the bag and taking it to the table. "Anything sounds better then a can of chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs that's been in the kitchen cabinet for a year", she told him.

As they ate the dinner and then later cuddled together on the couch, Ben's arm slung around her shoulders as they watched the latest season of Scandal on TV. Rey smiled as she leaned against Ben's warm, solid chest.

She mused about how different he was around her out of the classroom compared to in the classroom.

Here they didn't have to steal glances and tiny smiles that were only meant for each
other.

Here Ben opened and was more talkative. He told her about his friends.

He had played lacrosse all four years of high school and was one of the star players. He had gone to many parties and was well liked by many of his peers. He didn't have any best friends but he hung out with his lacrosse buddies most of the time.
He had several friends in college. He played Lacrosse at a club level. He went to parties and bars frequently on the weekends but told Rey he'd rather hang out with her then get blackout drunk with his friends. His best friend was his roommate Armitage Hux, who he referred to as Hux. Hux encouraged Ben to study harder and concentrate more of getting good grades. He had been the one who had set him up with the Teaching Assistant job.

Here Ben let her know about his family life and how his parents treated him growing up. His mother, worked for a high power law firm in downtown Los Angeles. Her firm handled corporate espionage and they had the top echelon clients. They were the type of clients that would make the news if theie cases were lose. Leia Organa almost never lost a case according to Ben. Never losing a case meant not being around a lot for Ben. Ben said that he mostly spoke to his mother through facetime more often then he did in person.

Ben told Rey that she was still controlling in every aspect of his life and he tried to tell her as little as possible about his personal life but that she knew about his last girlfriend because they had been in a serious relationship and he felt that he needed to tell his mother about her.

His father, Hans Solo was a airplane mechanic and retired fighter jet pilot for the military. He was supportive of Ben but sometimes acted distant and drank a lot.

He had an Uncle Luke that he was close to growing up but Luke had gone to New York to take a teaching job and he hadn't seen him in a while.

He told her about his first girlfriend that had dumped him over a year ago. Her name was Bazine. They had met each other during freshman orientation. He thought she was overbearing and rude but after hanging out at her sorority house several times and chatting with her they had an instant connection.

Ben swore that they broke up more then a year ago when he found out she had cheated on him with one of his lacrosse teammates. He had caught them going at it in the locker room. Then he met Rey, she had caught his eye immediately and he reassured her that he only had eyes for Rey. Bazine was his past.

Rey loved that he had been so forthcoming about his life with her. She felt like they were bonding.

In return she opened up to him. She told him about how miserable she was with her foster father. She felt like she was basically abandoned and living on her own as he never was home and barely assisted her with getting anything she needed. That she fended for herself and kept up his business. She didn't have any dating history because her first real date was with Ben. She explained that although she did have friends there wasn't anyone that she could call in the case of emergencies or to help her.

She explained to Ben that was basically on her own.

Ben kissed the top of her head and told her that she wasn't alone anymore. That he was there for her.

She was zoning out during movie when she felt Ben nudging her. His the head moved swiftly down so that his mouth was on hers in moments. Ben kissed her as if he needed no air to breathe. Rey almost forgot to take a breath in between the kissing.

Her hands moved behind his neck. She pulled away from him and gasped for air. "Ben you take my breath away", she exclaimed.

"That's a good thing baby", he said softly, smiling.

She leaned forward brushing her lips against his once more, when she heard his phone ringing from his pocket.

Ben ignored the call at first, pressing his mouth against hers and moving his tongue around until it found her tongue.

The ringing stopped momentarily but a few minutes later it began again.

Ben moved away from Rey and got off the couch. He pulled his cell phone out of the pocket and looked down at the name of the person calling.

"Shit, sorry. I really need to take this", he stated as he moved away from Rey into the kitchen area to answer the call.

Rey heard Ben talking but his voice was muffled, and she couldn't make out what was being said.

He came back into the living room looking flustered. He smoothed his hand through his hair. Rey had ruffled his hair earlier with her fingers when they were making out.

He grabbed his jacked that he had thrown over a side chair. He moved over to Rey and kissed the top of her head. "Sorry baby, I can't stay. Something has come up. I gotta go".

Ben's cheeks were flushed, and his eyes appeared to be red, as if he had been crying.

"What's wrong? Do you want me to come with you?", she questioned.
Ben shook his head. "No, don't worry about it. I need to handle this on my own. I'll see you at school on Monday. I'll text you when I can".

Rey watched as he walked out of the front door. She was confused as to what had happened.