What She's Worth (Reylo)

Chapter 22

"Excuse me?" Ben asked, his tone laced with incredulity as his hands curled into fists and planted themselves on either side of his hips. Did he hear this boy right? "You want to what?"

"I want to ask your permission to court Miss Rey," Kreio repeated, his shoulders squared, seemingly bolder now that he had spilled out what he had wanted to say. "I actually asked her first, but she told me that if I was serious, I have to go through you. And sir, I have never been more serious in my entire life."

Ben opened his mouth to speak, but finding himself at a loss for words, closed his mouth again. He couldn't believe what he was hearing; couldn't believe the audacity of this boy to ask him if he could ask Rey out.

A surge of emotions so intense welled up inside Ben. Concern. Annoyance. Protectiveness. Anger. Did this kid have some sort of death wish? Yet in all his inner turmoil, his expression did not betray any of what he was feeling. Why that was, he wasn't entirely sure. Perhaps it was the shock of it. He'd never, in his wildest dreams, imagined anyone would have the guts to stand before him as Kreio Thorsen was doing right now. Through the years, he'd cultivated a reputation not just among his peers, but to their juniors as a volatile and generally disagreeable man. Except when it came to Rey.

Rey. Someone actually wanted to court Rey. His Rey.

Kriff.

"Sir?"

"How old are you again?" Ben practically growled.

"I'm thirteen, sir."

"Aren't you a bit too young to even be thinking about going into a relationship?"

"I understand that sir," Kreio nodded, the brown strands of his bowl cut hair bouncing, "and I fully understand as well that Rey would not give me her answer until she and I are of age."

"So why the kriff are you asking me this early on?" Ben pressed on. His teeth were beginning to hurt from constant clenching.

"I just want to prove to Rey that I'm serious. That I would brave asking you. And I would like to think that out of all her admirers, I'm the first one to formally ask you."

Wait...did that mean Rey had many suitors aside from Kreio? The thought made him queasy. Almost sick even, and he began mentally tallying how many graves he would have to dig.

No, no, he shouldn't think like that. No need to overreact. He just had to keep his cool. Be the adult here and do his duty to protect Rey from heartache, preferably without killing anyone. He just had to make sure this kid wasn't playing around.

Then again, hadn't Kreio already taken a giant leap forward by coming up to the Ben Solo and asking a very loaded question? And far as he recalled, especially by what Lennett told him, Kreio was a good kid: studious, well-mannered, though he could be quite timid. But that only added to how serious the boy was. Timid, and yet he had summoned up the courage to do what Rey had told him to in order to prove himself.

Ben felt a grudging sense of admiration grow inside him, but that did little to squelch the irritation throbbing at his temples.

Finally, he asked, "Why Rey? I'm sure there are a lot of other girls in your class. Why single her out, hmm?"

The question seemed to have startled Kreio, and Ben smirked inwardly. If this kid was going to give a litany of Rey's many attractive features, then a swift 'NO' was in order.

But Kreio surprised him yet again. "She's one of the kindest girls I've ever met, sir. She's smart, very diligent, and always has a ready smile for everyone, even to those who don't exactly like her."