Adore Thy Neighbor | Kylo Ren X Reader

Chapter Twenty Three

A/N

Happy to say that I'm working on the final chapter for this story, and starting this week I'll be updating every Monday and Friday again! It's a very emotional time for me as I've fallen head of heels in love with this plot and these characters. It's always so hard to say goodbye. Stay tuned everyone!

The dynamic was weird. The absolute silence that existed around you as you quietly stirred the pot of canned chicken noodle soup was weird. Kylo sitting on your couch staring at the blank TV with your favorite blanket thrown over his shoulders was weird. The fact that you were together, though? More comforting than you were going to admit. He leaned back into your couch, sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. The poor man was stressed beyond words, and you felt like you weren't doing enough to help him.

"You know, when I'm not feeling well my mom would make me homemade ravioli," You said, smiling at him from over your shoulder. You picked up your salt shaker and began adding the final touches to the soup you intended to share with Kylo. There wasn't much you could do when he said he didn't want to go home to an empty house. Hannah and Sam still weren't home, but Kylo confided in you that he was sure he wouldn't be able to look at them without breaking down--especially Sam. "I'm not really as skilled as she is, so I hope that chicken soup is okay." You said, sprinkling in a bit of pepper into the pot. The long noodles were cooked and swirling around the celery, chicken, and carrots, and it smelled divine. This was the kind of thing you'd eat when you were a kid on a chilly day after school, but Kylo said it sounded good so that's what was being made.

"I'm sure it will still taste good," Kylo moaned as if even speaking pained him. "Thank you, Clo." The small confidence boost went straight to your head. You wanted to say something about how you were sure the soup would never be as good as anything Hannah could make just to add some humor to the dreary situation, but you thought better of it. Perhaps not mentioning Hannah's name at all was the best course of action for however long Kylo decided he wanted to stay with you, and that was perfectly fine for you.

With a potholder guarding your hand from the freshly poured hot soup, you walked it over to Kylo and tried to hold a homely smile for him. He looked up at you, secured the blanket to his chest and tried to stand. It caught you off guard for a second, and then you remembered that you did have a place to sit and eat. You had never used the little dining table to eat, and you didn't intend to start tonight.

"Oh, here, you can just eat on the couch," You offered, holding the bowl of soup out for Kylo. He looked at you lost for a moment, like he didn't understand what you had just said, but after a second he settled back down. "I don't eat at the table too often anyway. I don't mind." You spoke as if it were your furniture, your table, and your carpet to be cleaned if it got splattered with food. Kylo didn't seem to care. With one hand holding the corners of your blanket to his chest he reached for the bowl and took it without any issues. You started to back away to get yourself a bowl but found yourself entranced watching as he swirled the spoon around the bowl a few times and then brought an entire spoonful to his lips. Without even blowing on the soup to cool it down he took the spoon into his mouth and swallowed the soup whole. Such a trivial thing shouldn't have meant much, or anything at all, but to you it meant so much more. Kylo was hurting both inside and out, and sitting here watching your normally so animated and silly boss simply stare into the void like this was haunting you.

"There's so many divorce lawyers in all of Georgia. Not sure which one I should hire," Kylo murmured as you poured your own bowl of soup. You scowled into the pot at his words. Divorce lawyers already? Hannah wasn't even aware of the situation yet. You just wanted him to relax.

"Don't you think that it's a little too early to think about all of that?" You brought the question up lightly, hoping it would do more harm than good. When you didn't get a response you continued your speech, thinking if you put something negative into his mind the best thing to do was to add something positive as well to balance it out. "Give it a few days. Once the dust settles I'm sure that'll be a better time to move forward." You sat down on the couch with your own bowl of soup next to him, smiling at him but faltering when he never responded. He didn't even so much as look at you as you made yourself comfortable next to him. This wasn't like Kylo. This wasn't like Kylo at all.