Stronger Together (Kylo Ren x Reader | Maia)

Love Hurts

"Gross," I muttered, putting a hand over my face. I didn't need to know that. The image of Kylo tightening his hands on her little waist shot pain through my chest. I wasn't sure which was worse: him with another woman or the fact that he apparently could not stand me.

"No, kid. You have it all wrong." I finally met his eyes, hesitant. "It's not," he shook his head, appearing frustrated. Then he sighed in resignation, and I saw his eyes barely flick to Luke. "It's not Kylo and Lola, it was Lola and me."

"What?" Luke exclaimed, startling me. I looked at him, wondering why he was so upset. "Are you kriffing serious, Han?"

"What? It was before Leia! Er, mostly."

Luke's mouth dropped open, and my wide eyes turned back to Han.

"I'll explain everything—but you gotta let me!" He shook his head. "When I was to marry Leia, I... well, I panicked. I ran to an old fling—Lola."

Han turned to the cockpit, but turned back when neither I nor Luke moved to follow. "Come on kid. I have something to show you." Then, louder and to the front, "Chewie! Put Kylo in my bed for me, would ya?"

With a shake of my head, I glanced back down at Kylo. My stomach twisted. I knelt and wiped the remaining blood off his face before going to the cockpit, slightly uncomfortable by the way Luke waited and watched me.

When I returned to Han, he was flipping switches, but picked up where he left off.

"I confessed to Lola that I didn't know if I loved Leia." He shrugged animatedly with his hands. "I wasn't even sure what love was anymore. Lola told me if I went to bed with her, then I did not love Leia. And in the end, she was right, because I could not go through with it." I sat when he pulled the ship up, but he remained low, flying above the bustling city. "Twenty-plus years later, when Kylo rented a room of hers to dine in peace, she saw his face. She called me, freaking out, asking what I wanted her to do. People didn't know who he was then. I asked her to watch over him, to tell me if anything ever happens. And, she tried. She always let me know when he was on the planet, 'in case I ever wanted to see him.'" He shook his head ruefully. I had been watching the city go by, but I realized we were near the edge now, beginning to lower altitude.

His head turned slightly toward me. "That's how I first learned of you, kid. I believe she called you a straight-faced firecracker."

"That doesn't make sense," I muttered. I was embarrassed for calling her a skank—though, it still wasn't far off. Who invites a man who's about to be married to bed?

"It makes perfect sense."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see. Anyway. Lola has been keeping me updated on his recent visits." What recent visits? "She's who sent the message today to tell me he had been drinking for hours, with no signs of stopping."

The Falcon jerked slightly as it touched the ground, but I wasn't sure where we were. Somewhere in the countryside, I thought. Even in the quieter surroundings, the sky was lit to the left of the viewscreen, lights shining in the city that lived more luxuriously than entire systems. Though I couldn't see the city from our position, I could feel it, like a buzzing hive in the distance.

Han turned and eyed me, and though I met his eyes, I was still feeling shattered. "She said she tried calling you first, but you were not with your ship."

I frowned. "She just called the Harbinger?" I asked dryly.

"Lola is an informant for both the First Order and the Resistance," Luke said before leaving the cockpit, still sounding annoyed.