Cut To The Feeling (Reader x Professor Ren / Kylo Ren)

Be My Little Baby

"So, they're engaged?" Kylo asked as he finished his glass of wine. You were both sitting at the dining table he had outside on his patio overlooking the beautiful pool you never got to use. It was a pretty hot and humid day, so it looked absolutely delightful from where you were.

"Yep. They get married in May. I'm really excited for them," you took the last sip of your wine. 

When you landed, he got a car to take you both to his home immediately. There were few words, and when you got inside, he immediately poured the wine, and you made your way to the back. You were catching up now. 

"You are?" He looked skeptical. 

"Yes. He's a really nice guy, and he really loves my mom. I don't mind it a bit," you assured him. 

"You're going to have a stepdad. How does that feel?" He asked you, knowing how strange it would feel if it were him who was getting the brand new stepdad.

"I'm not really thinking about it like that. I'm just considering that my mom is getting to be happy with her best friend. And hopefully she'll get that for the rest of her life," you wet your lips. "She deserved that with my dad, but this is a lucky second shot."

"I'm glad you worked things out with her," he looked away. "It's been different back home. Without my dad and all."

You looked at him, empathizing with him tremendously. "How's your mom doing?"

"She's making it out like she's fine. But I know she's not," he leaned his head against his hand, looking back to you. 

"My mom did that. I hope she'll find something to help her heal," you crossed your legs, not sure what to say. 

He didn't say anything for a considerable amount of time. He looked like he wanted to tell you something, but he wasn't sure that he should--his lip twitched before he began. "Did I ever tell you that I changed my name? Like after I left the family business."

"No. But I knew," you admitted. No sense in hiding anything. 

"How?" His brow furrowed. 

"The first night you had me in your room," you gestured up to the second floor of his home, "you had a picture on the nightstand of you and your mom. I put the dots together and figured it out pretty easily. I knew who she was."

"Ah," he didn't even get close to mad. "Yeah. I changed my name, so I could have a fresh start. I didn't want to be associated with them anymore." He was struggling again. "My--uh--my name was Ben."

"That's a good name," you smiled at him.

"I kind of feel bad now for adopting this new identity. Since dad died," he swallowed nervously. 

You looked at him as he struggled. He obviously felt a lot of feelings that he wasn't quite ready to let go, and you could sense it. You stood up and moved your chair closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't feel bad about the stuff that happened before. It can't be changed, and you're still your father's son even if you changed your name." 

He looked at your hand and then back to you. His lip trembled again as he sought the words to express to you whatever was troubling him. You were struck that he told you that. You knew how much his secrecy meant to him. You knew how much he hated vulnerability. He was evolving in his own way, and for that, you were happy. You felt warm in your chest, and you smiled at him. 

"I don't mean to change the subject," you sat back in your chair, looking back to the pool, "but it is so fucking hot."

He seemed to come back from whatever place he was buried deep in and looked back to the door. "Oh, do you want to go inside?"