What She's Worth (Reylo)

Chapter 15

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm moving out."

A pregnant pause. Then, a nervous chuckle from Ben. "Rey...you're joking, right?"

She didn't crack a smile. "I'm being perfectly serious."

Ben looked around, as if there was something, anything in the room that could provide him with the right words to say. But all he saw were their mementos—the frayed and aging rebel pilot doll he had made for her, the drawings she had made of them when she was younger, her shelf of trinkets, the small chest of datacards containing holos they had taken of each other through the years—keepsakes that would very soon be split between them once she moved. "Why would you want to move out?"

"It's simple, really." Rey pulled her feet up on the bed and folded her legs. "I just...want my own space. My own room."

"Was it something I did?" The desperation in his voice was crystal clear but he didn't care. He couldn't have Rey move. Not right now. "It was, wasn't it?"

He caught something in her eye. A flash of...something. But it was gone before he could even analyze what it was.

"No, silly. I just really want my own room." She smiled. "I'm a big girl, now. I'm not a kid anymore."

"To me, you are," he blurted out, and he saw Rey grimace.

"We both know I'm not, Ben." There was a meaning behind her words that Ben didn't understand until he remembered what had occurred the week before.

"You're...you're right." He sighed and shifted further into the bed so he could lean his back against the wall, his thoughts wandering to how Rey had handled herself in the academy garden earlier. He definitely hadn't expected that, and he was proud of her, yet at the same... "You have grown up. Faster than I expected or imagined." He tried to smile, but he couldn't even steady his lips enough to hold it. "You're still my baby sister right?"

His voice had cracked when he said it. He hadn't meant it to. And there was an ache blooming in his chest. He couldn't understand it. Why was he hurting so much from his own words?

Rey's eyes grew misty. A few blinks, and her hazel eyes became clear again. "Ben...I'll always be your baby sister."

It was supposed to be a statement of reassurance. But something in the way she said it felt more like a stab to the heart. "Rey...are you're sure of this? Absolutely certain that you want to move out?"

She nodded. "Positive."

"Is there...anyway I can convince you not to?" he ventured, hoping against hope that the answer would be yes, and as her silence stretched on, his optimism rose.

It all fell when she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Ben. It's not like before. People will talk."

Ben's temper suddenly spiked. He managed to calm himself, but he couldn't stop the irritation in his tone. "I thought you didn't care about that. You said so yourself when I told you my mother wanted you to move out."

"Like I said, times are different now. I'm not ten anymore." Rey continued to speak to him in a calm manner, so much so that he grew ashamed of himself. He's the adult here. He shouldn't be acting like a petulant child and demand for Rey to stay. He had to man up. But still...

"Can you at least wait 'til I get back from the trials?" he pleaded. "I only have a couple of days left before I'm gone for the Force knows how long."

"No, Ben." The determination in her words stung. "I have to move out as soon as possible. We can use the two days so you can help me move my stuff."