Broken (a novella)

4

When they reached Kylo's room, Rey flopped on his bed as though she owned it. It smelled of him: cigarette smoke and sweet tobacco, along with something else she couldn't quite place. It was woody and musky and also smoky, but it was also earthy and pleasant to her nose. Maybe it was his cologne. In any case, she watched him as he entered the room behind her and closed his closet door again before joining her on the bed. She lay on her stomach, and he lowered himself down next to her, close enough that she could feel his body heat. The room suddenly felt very warm all of a sudden.

While she blushed, Kylo pretended not to notice and unwrapped the package of blue clay. "Let's make it like a bean," he suggested. We can hollow it out and make it shaped like half a kidney bean, and then we can use the excess clay to label the folds."

She nodded. "I agree. Maybe we can even get it finished before your dad gets dinner ready." She took the clay from his thin, white hands, brushing against them in the process. The touch of his palms gave her chills down her spine and caused her arms and legs to erupt in goose bumps. The dark need was back in the pit of her stomach, and as she watched, their eyes locked and his pupils dilated. His fingers closed around hers and held them for a moment.

She was trembling, he noticed. Her doe's eyes looked ready to run again. That was something he did not want. "Don't be afraid," he whispered. "I feel it, too." He reached over with his free hand, and his finger gently brushed her tanned, silky skin in a slow, deliberate motion. He leaned toward her slowly, slowly, until his lips caught hers in a gentle kiss. He opened his eyes to find that hers were closed. She was enjoying this just as much as he was. However, the second his lips started to move, she pulled away.

"No," she whispered. "I shouldn't have done that."

Kylo nodded and released her hands. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It's okay, Ben."

For once, he didn't mind that she'd called him Ben. The taste of her still lingered on his lips. Then, he was horrified by what he had done. He had kissed her, the very girl who was probably the most off-limits girl in the entire world to him. In horror, he rose from the bed and ran his hands through his hair. "You're right," he replied. "I made a mistake." He couldn't let himself be near her. She was a Kenobi, after all. If anyone found out that he'd kissed her and Snoke found out, Kylo would be out of a job and would probably have to fear for his life.

Rey was also horrified. She had Poe! How could she now kiss Poe, knowing that her lips had tasted the forbidden fruit that was Kylo Ren? Even more than that, she was ashamed at the dark desire that had welled up inside her against her very will. Everything in her screamed no to trust this boy, and yet she had let him get in her head. And after the ugly things they had said to each other in biology today! Rey was reminded of why she hated Kylo. He was probably manipulating her, the sneaky bastard. She didn't trust him. The kiss had been a moment of weakness, and she swore to herself not to let it happen again.

But the dark desire inside her remained. She could feel it deep within her belly. It was somehow more real, more intense than anything she had ever felt before in her life, even for Poe. Yet, it wasn't because she had kissed the boy who called himself Kylo Ren. It was because she had kissed the dark, hopeless boy who knew his name was really Ben Solo. A boy so lost and broken he didn't even realize that his own father cared about him. "Ben," she said quietly.

Kylo ran his hands through his hair again. For some reason, it didn't bother him when she called him by his birth name. The name Han had given him. It sounded different when it came from her lips. Not a curse, but a privilege. "Let's just work on the stupid mitochondria," he said quietly. "Okay, Rey?"

She nodded, biting her lip thoughtfully. "Okay."

They spent the next hour in silence, only breaking the quiet to discuss the project. Eventually, there was a knock on the door, and Han peeked his head in. "Dinner's ready," he announced, beaming happily at Rey. "I hope you're hungry, kid."