A Lesson to Learn

Chapter 12

When Rey finally came back after what felt to Kylo like an eternity, he immediately crushed her to his broad chest, kissing the top of her head and stroking her hair. Rey relaxed into his hold, rubbing her cheek against his chest and sighing happily. Kylo was sure that if she had been a cat, his little kitten would absolutely be purring right now. The thought made Kylo flush with mild embarrassment, unused to feeling so attached to and enthralled by somebody else's contentment. He had never in his whole life put anyone (or anything) else before himself (why would he?), but now he knew that it would be fine if he was never happy again as long as Rey was happy for the rest of her days. The feeling was overwhelming.

Kylo knew he was being needy and clingy, but he was thrilled to finally have Rey in his arms. He made a mental note to never tease Lillith and Hux again for their PDA, having now gained an understanding of the complete and utter joy one could get from a simple touch from someone they loved. Love. There it was again. That four letter word that threatened to absolutely and utterly wreck him. And he would gladly let it, too.

"I can't stay in bed for too long, Kylo. I'm an idiot and scheduled myself for a shift later." Rey voiced out loud, breaking Kylo out of his tender thoughts.

He growled at that, unable to stop his primal side from coming out - the need to keep her in bed with him all day (maybe all week if he could swing it) was strong. "What if you call in sick?"

"Kylo, you know I can't do that." she laughed with a sigh, amused at Kylo's reaction. Rey reached up and bopped his nose with her finger as Kylo pretended to chase after it and bite it. She snatched her hand away last minute and swatted his arm, drawing a scowl from her big precious manchild.

"Come on, handsome. You can come visit me and I'll make you your favorite drink!" Rey said, her voice ringing out in a sing-songy way at the end as she tried to tempt him.

"Hmph. No, I think I'd rather just have you stay here." he replied, smirking down at her.

Rey tilted her head in thought, carefully thinking of a reasonable bribe to present to the hulking giant that seemed more and more unwilling to let her go. "What if I let you braid my hair? It looked so nice yesterday, everyone loved it. I loved it. Then I can show it off to everyone again and brag about you all day at work."

Kylo beamed at that and nodded. "Okay, yeah. And you can't take it out at work. I want to do it... Uh... That way you don't get it all... tangled and knotted." Good save, Kylo thought to himself.

"Okay, you weirdo. I won't take it out. Now can I go get dressed now?" she asked, rolling her eyes at him again. That earned her another good-natured smack to her backside. "What was that for!? We compromised! I was playing nice!"

"Respect your elders," Kylo reprimanded with a wink, craning his neck to land a quick peck to her mouth before he released her.

Rey huffed, untangling herself from Kylo and then leaning over and to give him another kiss with a smile before she moved to get off the bed and start getting ready. "Will you still come visit?" she asked quietly as she rummaged through her clothes.

Kylo nodded and then followed up verbally with an "of course" once he realized Rey couldn't see him nodding from where she was. He leaned back against the pillows, his hands behind his head, as he watched Rey shuffle around the room to gather her things, his eyes lazily tracking her movements. He could definitely get used to this, but realistically he knew it would probably be some time before this was his norm. That's okay. He had already lived more than a lifetime before Rey and he would eagerly live a thousand more in wait for her if it meant that in the end she'd love him as much as he loved her.