Contract With the Commander: Kylo x OC

Chapter 26

[[ AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am so so so so so sorry I forgot to put this note at the end of the previous chapter!! I'm going in now to do it, but for those of you who have already read chapter 25, please don't hate me! This chapter, chapter 26, is the last chapter in Contract with the Commander. This is the end of Quinn and Kylo's story!! I hope you've enjoyed the wild ride, or at least have felt some feelings while reading. Thank you so much for taking this journey with me and loving Kylo Ren as much as I do!!! I love you all, happy reading! ]]

Quinn

I've screwed myself by letting the situation between Kylo, Oh-two and I stew for a day. I'm standing at my work station on the command deck, but the Finalizer is docked in the atmosphere of Star Killer base, and will be for the next few days. I have nothing to do. Literally nothing. But I must stand here at my station all day. Stand here and stew over what happened last night.

It's strange to consider this a disagreement in a relationship. Kylo was going to kill my friend. And no part of me wants to break up with him. He's a violent man. This is war, and he's a commander. A commander with dark, magic powers. He murders people all the time on the battlefield. The thought still makes my stomach twist, but I understand why he does it. Why he is the way he is. And while Ap'lek commended him for being less conflicted than he previously thought, I've seen that conflict with my own eyes. I saw it in him when he was trying to push me aside and drive his magic laser sword through my friend.

He was so frightened. Frightened for me and my safety. My life. And that's the main reason why I still want him. I just have to figure out what to say. How to navigate such a strange conversation. We'll never have a normal relationship, and while that excites me in a complex and depraved way, it also makes navigating conflict difficult. It isn't like he merely insulted my friend in a conversation. He threatened her life!

So much of the impending conversation between us depends on his emotion. Whether he's still worried about my safety, or if he's even remorseful at all. He better be. But I can't guarantee it. He's opened up so much in the last two weeks since I first saw his face. But that doesn't mean he'll remain open all the time. He's a work in progress, that's for sure. And I decided a long time ago that I was willing to take him as he is... as long as he takes his helmet off when I ask him to.

By the time I finish my shift, I'm still not sure what I want to say. After everything that happened last night, I want to see Oh–two and Davy. So, I make my way through the Finalizer toward our meal hall. It's never very loud, but the hall is full of officers and troopers eating their meals or chatting quietly.

I'm the first of my friends here, but by the time I get my tray of bland food, I see Davy in line getting his. My heart jumps at the sight of him. I'm going to have to tell him, and I have no idea how he'll react. Will he still want to sit with us and be our friend?

I try to act natural and ask him how his workday was when he sits down with an identical tray of bland food. He stuffs his face and goes on a rant about the design of the new TIE fighters. Oh-two joins halfway into Davy's rant.

When he finally runs out of steam, Oh-two gives me a pointed look. "Might as well do it now while no one is listening."

My face burns, and I feel both my friends' eyes on me. My throat goes dry as I put my fork down and keep my gaze firmly on my meal. "You have to promise not to tell anyone."

My eyes flick up to my engineer friend. Davy looks confused but his response comes firmly and without hesitation. "Yeah, of course."

"I'm in a relationship," I whisper.