A Reylo Ever After Story

Meeting

Rey's POV

We walked across the sand towards Finn and the others, and my mind continued to race.  I felt my heart racing with each step we took.  I felt the sun beating down on me, but I was sweating more from nerves and worry about the guys meeting one other.  Time seemed to go by too fast and we were soon in front of Finn and the group.  "Hey guys," I started.  "Master Rey, hello.  And hello to, oh my is that-" I cut C3PO off before panic set in.  "Everyone, this is Ben.  Ben Solo.  He's a good friend of mine."  I glanced over and saw Ben looking at me in a surprise when I said we were good friends.  I don't really know how to describe us, to be honest, but this is the simplest explanation. "We're going to be roommates, along with you three," I motioned to C3PO, BB8, and R2.  "But there'll be plenty of room so don't worry." In true droid fashion C3PO immediately replied "I am incapable of human emotion so I will not worry as you suggested."  3PO's lack of understanding of emotions was ironically comforting right now.  At least the droids couldn't understand how awkward this is, and they possibly couldn't make this worse. 

I looked at Finn and was met with a smile.  Thank goodness he released a little bit of tension that was hanging in the air, or so I thought he would.  "Hi, Ben.  I'm Finn, though I think we met before.  Still, it's nice to properly say hello."   Ben's face twisted into a look of pain and shame.  He looked down at his shoes and remained quiet. 

Ben's POV

I immediately felt guilty.  I knew all the terrible things I had done to Finn, and the entirety of the galaxy, but it hurts to see someone directly address me like this.  I know I deserve it though.  I guess Finn just wanted to meet me so he could put a face to his suffering.  Rey hit Finn on the arm and mumbled some words to him that I couldn't hear.  Was she defending me?  I don't know.  The droids were talking with one another, but I could only really hear 3PO's loudmouth over the howling desert winds.  A moment later, Rey finally spoke to break the silence, "Well, I have quite a bit of stuff, would you mind helping carry some, so Finn doesn't collapse under the weight?"  Rey directed her words at me, but Finn replied, "Are you implying something now?" "No, not at all.  I'm just telling the truth.  You can't carry everything," Rey said this with a smug look on her face.  "Look, I'm only letting you jab at me, cause you're not going to be able to do it for however long," Finn trailed off with his words.  Everyone knew what he meant though, the future was filled with uncertainties.  Especially with Rey and I together, no one knew where things would go and what would happen.  It was a blank canvas. 

Still, Rey and Finn looked happy now and now that they had a few laughs in, the tension and worry that had built up in my system had slightly subsided.  That is until Finn spoke directly to me.  "Hey Ben!" he called out to me, "Can you come over and help me lift this up?"  It was one of Rey's items, a trunk-like box.  "Yeah," I nodded and walked towards him.  I could sense Rey watching us, waiting for something to happen.  3PO, R2, and BB8 had already started to head towards the house.  I turned and saw that Rey had stopped walking and was looking at the pair of us, as I had suspected.  Finn saw me and yelled out to Rey "It's alright.  We've got everything."  "Are you sure? I can help," Rey answered back, loudly against the winds.  "Yeah, you go ahead.  Make sure the droids don't get lost," Finn spoke, making both Rey and I laugh.  He must have noticed because when I turned to walk his direction, he was looking right at me.  My heart was in my throat, and I looked once more at Rey only to find her ahead with the droids.  I was now alone with Finn.

Finn's POV

"Okay, I can carry this and these two bags, if you can get that," Ben started talking immediately, all while avoiding eye contact.  His voice was hard and to the point.  I had clearly made him uncomfortable.  "Uhh, okay.  Well, that only leaves me with one thing, so I can take a bag from you if that's alright."  Ben was busy already lifting one bag onto his shoulder when he said "I mean sure, only if you want."  He clearly was going to do everything himself, so I grabbed the second bag before he could get to it.  When he saw me do so, we actually made eye contact and he nodded at me.  Ben grabbed the other side of the trunk and lifted it up himself.  Rey was right, he could carry a lot more than me.  We started our descent on the sandy hills and headed towards the small house in the distance.  I could see Rey up ahead with the BB8 and the others, but we were a good distance behind them.  Ben and I walked in silence together, tension hanging in the air.  Neither of us really knew what to say to one another.  I knew meeting Ben was going to be weird, but this was just dreadful.  After about five minutes, I couldn't take it any longer.