A Lesson to Learn

Chapter 10

It was finally Saturday afternoon, her first official date night with Kylo Ren, the man Rey had to constantly will her thoughts away from, and she could not be more nervous. She wanted this to be perfect, and she wanted tonight to be the night that she made it clear to him what she was looking for: exclusivity and commitment. Hopefully that didn't have him running for the hills the second it was voiced out loud.

Rey set about cleaning her house the minute she woke up, making sure that everything was spic and span, even dusting off or organizing areas that Kylo wouldn't even necessarily see. When it came closer to six when he would arrive for dinner, she would light some candles or incense to make sure that the space smelled amazing. For now, she sprayed down her couch with a room spray that smelled of cedar, clove, tobacco leaves, leather and amber. It was her favorite scent for when she wanted everything to smell clean yet inviting and comforting, and it had the added bonus of smelling like fall nights with good looking men in motorcycle jackets.

It was around 2:00 pm now and Rey wasn't sure what to do with her time. It was too early to start cooking and too early to do all her finishing touches. Rey looked over at Chewie who was sitting on his haunches, attacking a rubber toy with no remorse as he struggled to get the peanut butter out of the inner compartment. She decided that a walk to burn off some of his energy would do both of them some good. Rey called Chewie over and clipped him into his harness, determining that she could stop by the local nursery to pick up some flowers to liven up the space and also have an excuse to talk to Finn to calm her jittery nerves.

***

Kylo awoke to the noise of a vacuum. He sprung upright, whipping his head to the side to figure out the source of that monstrous sound. His annoyed expression turned into one of satisfaction when he spied Rey in her pajamas, hair in a bun with a headband, charcoal face mask on, furiously going about and cleaning her apartment. It made something inside of Kylo warm and expand to see her going through such efforts to please and impress him. Hell, he could feel through the bond just how much she wanted him to enjoy himself tonight and appreciate her space.

It was then that Kylo decided he would have to lay claim to her tonight. He would have to let her know he was in it, all in and only for her. There wasn't anyone else he would rather be with, he couldn't even imagine being with anyone else or wanting anyone else. And he certainly couldn't think of a single time he had felt any of the emotions he felt for Rey and she had only stumbled upon him in the thrift store a mere two weeks ago. It was time to let her know his devotion to her. In perhaps slightly less intense terms, Kylo chuckled to himself. He didn't want her running for the hills, after all. He needed her to stick around and finally, officially, become his.

Gathering his wits about him and with what few coherent thoughts he could string together as his onslaught of emotions raged within him, Kylo made the decision to leave the apartment until he could pop back just outside and knock on her door at six. He wanted to be properly surprised at what Rey was cooking up, wanting his reaction to be genuine as he stepped through the threshold of her door later tonight.

Given his limited options of where he could go due to the limitations of the ring, Kylo figured he could finish his book at the First Order as he waited. It was either that or loiter around Rey's favorite Trader Joe's or the gym for hours, or worse, one of her friends' houses. There weren't too many places that Rey frequented, meaning that his choices for places to transport to weren't expansive since he could only go wherever she was or wherever she went to often enough to leave imprints. It briefly flashed through his mind just how much of a homebody Rey was. Not that he minded at all. More to keep for himself once he got her to commit to him.