Sweet Release//Modern Kylo AU

16

Previously on Sweet release

"So? You wanted to continue the conversation earlier...Well, I'm here, aren't I? So what now."

Kylo sighs. "I want to tell you what happened between me and my ex-fiance. Rey Palpatine."

You suck in a small breath wondering why that name sounded so familiar. You could feel your face turn pale slightly, Rey Palpatine you had heard of her. She was one of the counselors at Takodanna University, not only that but Rey Palpatine was Malcolm and Avery's aunt.

~~~~~~~~~~

You sip your drink as Kylo runs his hand through his hair, he stares at you waiting for some sort of reaction. Anything, but you give nothing. You have to or else he'd think he has a way into your emotions. 

"Where do I begin I guess..."

"How about when did you two even date? Let alone get married, isn't she 10 years younger than you?" You fiddle with your stirring tool in your drink as he sighs.

"We weren't married, just engaged...Also, the age shouldn't matter aren't you 20 something years younger than me? Guess I just have a charm with younger women." Kylo smirks a bit then clears his throat. 

"We met through my mother a long time ago before I became a professor and she became a counselor at Uni. My mother sort of...took her in. Over time she became part of the family, even lived with me at one point. Rey and I understood each other like nobody else at the time, she became my best friend. When the time came we began to fall for one another, so much so we got engaged shortly after and stayed that way for a while. That was until my parents began talking about who would take over the university when they passed."

Kylo's face grew hard and stiff, the slight grit of his teeth made you flinch. Not out of fear but out of the contagious rage he felt, you could see it behind his eyes. The way his knuckles turned white, his shift in gaze.

 "My father felt that Rey should get the university instead of me due to my lack of interest in the politics of it, felt that I was...too impulsive to understand anything about it. My mother wanted originally to hand it down to me as I was the first and only born, I practically grew up in these halls. Then we found out Rey was a Palpatine, she began to embrace the money, the power, the relatives."

~~~~~~Kylo's flashback~~~~~~

"Rey someone's here for you!" I hear my mother call out, I groan.

"Can't she just tell them not today like a normal mother-in-law?" I hear her giggle, her beautiful brown locks falling in front of her face as she puts up her hair.

"No darling, I believe she's what you'd call smothering? I quite like it if I'm being honest." I walk slink out of bed slipping my shirt on as I walk up to the back of her. I wrap my arms around her small figure.

"You've gained weight, good I'm glad you're finally settling into eating like a normal person." She laughs a bit and turns around to face me.

"I can't help that I grew to have a little appetite, you get used to living in an orphanage for the food is scarce."

"I know Rey." I kiss her forehead and open the door. "I'll wait for you downstairs." 

I walk down and see someone I don't recognize, a man with brown hair like Rey's and two younger children at his feet. 

"Who are you?" And what the hell are they doing asking for Rey?

"Ben! Be nice to our guests, these are Rey's niece and nephew Malcolm and Avery. And this is Rey's grandfath-" 

I scoff. "Rey doesn't have any family or siblings. She's an orphan, her parents were killed in a fire." 

The man runs his hand behind his neck a bit. "You're not wrong her parents did die in a fire but I am her biological grandfather, Sheev Palpatine."

Palpatine my parent's rival competitor to buy the University? I feel myself begin to grow angry, my fist balling. "Liar, Palpatine didn't have any children. He had to sell his company due to lack of an heir."

"What's going on here? Who are these people Ben?" 

...

"So...I have biological family?"

"Yes child, and I have your endowment right here. Listing all the things that are yours once you sign take the name and accept your real lineage."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wait so Rey wasn't originally a Palpatine?"

Kylo huff and looks away.

"No. She had taken the name of my uncle, Skywalker. He mentored her in the politics of everything and basically became her surrogate father. For awhile Rey was happy and the same girl I had fallen for, but over time she became less happy more aggressive. She had clung to the idea the University was hers to manage, my father had basically given it to her by then. But...my mother objected, claiming Rey wasn't the same, corrupted by the money and expensive lifestyle she was given by birthright. And when Rey found out...She blamed me."

Swallowing your caution you remember, you know this man...for the most part. The love he showed you wouldn't come from a horrible man. You scoot closer to kylo feeling him holding something back, you place your hand on his arm and squeeze. You smile slightly as he looks at you, you lose your smile as you look into his and see pain. Pain, betrayal, sadness, anger, it was all there plain as day. She had hurt him but you didn't know which way yet.

"There are rumors...that you-"

He flinches. You had never seen him flinch before like that thought had slapped him in the face. Kylo scoots away from your touch and looks away again, you sigh and pull back yourself.

"I know what the rumors are. And they're false...I would never lay a hand on Rey, no matter what the situation. I loved her. " 

You feel a weight lift off your chest, you could suddenly breathe again like you didn't realize you weren't doing it before. You looked back onto your drink and took another sip listening to the loud silence between you both. With hesitation, Kylo spoke and the words that came out infuriated you.

"That didn't stop her though...Eventually, I gave my rights to the university to her. Someone had to be mature about the whole thing. We broke it off and...that was it. I haven't spoken to her since." 

You freeze as Kylo begins to scoot out of the booth and begin to re-cuff his sleeves. You're frozen as the realization begins to set in, the rumors by Malcolm and Avery. She was related to them so it would've been easy to place blame on Kylo as he was misunderstood from the start. All it took was that fight to set the match and everything went up in flames. 

"K-kylo I- did she-" 

Kylo offers his hand to you as you slowly look up at his soft expression, you slip your hand into his.

"Yes. So now that you know." He runs his hand through your hair and tucks it behind your ear. "Can you forgive me?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ALRIGHT Hi! How are y'all! It's been a REALLY long time since I've written and Sweet release has gotten so many readers now in my absence. Thank you so much I really can't thank you all enough. I haven't been in a good place mentally or emotionally enough to write up until recently and I finally feel like I've gotten my mojo back. I'll be working on slow updates to my fics again as a start and work my way back up to when I was updating weekly. Thank you guys again for the unconditional love and support, it means so much to me.

-guava <3