How Soon Is Now? [Kylux]

One - A Pain That I'm Used To

Ren

"Ben, be a dear and pass me those peas."
Benjamin Solo- no, dammit, -Kylo Ren, was at his kitchen table listening to his Walkman. His "Best of Sid and Nancy" mixtape.
"Ben?"
He nodded his head to the beat, his unruly black hair bouncing into his face and obscuring his vision.
Not that his eyes were open.
"Ben! Your mother is talking to you!"
He pulled off his headphones and looked between his father, Han, who was watching TV on the couch, and his mother, Leia, who was cooking dinner.
"What?" He mumbled, placing his Walkman in his jacket pocket.
"The peas. Beside you."
With a slight eye roll he handed her the can that had rolled away from her and landed beside him. She accepted it with a tight smile and proceeded to open it with their new electric can opener.
Han was always bring home little gifts for Leia, from work, of course. It was obviously to keep her pleased, so she wouldn't kick him out onto the streets. Kylo knew his mother wasn't made happy by material things, but she accepted them anyways, because she was desperate to keep their house under control.
Han had a job in the import-export business, and everyone knew a lot of illegal items were smuggled through, but Han always denied it. He worked there with his best friend, Chewie, a foreigner.
Frankly, Han was almost always working, or so he said. Kylo tried to ignore when his father came stumbling through the door at 3 and his mother would shout loud enough to wake the neighbours.
Kylo believed that if he pretended not to have heard them, then they would pretend it never happened. It usually worked, because the next day would always be the same as the last; smiles and light conversations.
"Isn't Rey coming over tonight?" Leia looked up from her cookbook.
"No," Kylo replied gruffly. He stood up and started to walk up the stairs.
"Well, why not?"
He sighed and stopped walking. "She has stuff."
He didn't want to admit he had yelled at her for skipping class to hang out with some new kid - Flynn, or something. She only did that for when she hung out with him.
She was his friend. He didn't know why they remained friends; he was mean to her and she was too innocent. But she loved Kylo's parents, and they loved her back, so here he was.
Kylo shut his door behind him and fell into his bed. He replaced the cassette in his Walkman with a New Order mix, then leaned back as the first track started to play.
He hated when his parents called him Ben. It was a stupid name, and he didn't want to be associated with the Solos. It was bad enough that he was half Skywalker, the family known for when his mother and uncle found out that they were long lost twins, after they had dated for awhile. Han occasionally liked to bring it up and laugh about it, only to have awkward silence follow.
Kids at school joked that Ben Solo was actually a product of incest, and that was why he was so damn ugly. That was why his ears stuck out and he was covered in freckles and little moles. So that's why Kylo wanted to start new, grow out his hair, block everyone out with his fucking awesome mixed tapes.
His parents thought it was silly. Leia felt bad that her son was made fun of, and his dad just laughed until his sides hurt over the name Kylo Ren. He laughed even harder when Leia had misheard the first time and repeated it as 'Kyle Ron'.
Screw them, he thought.
He closed his eyes, only to be interrupted by a loud noise downstairs. He paused his music and sat up, trying to hear what was going on.
"Han, I swear, you are not leaving tonight. I have been cooking a meal for us all to sit down-"
"Chewie needs me down there, I can't say no!"
"Yes, you can!"
Something smashed.
"What, you're throwing things now?"
"I can't raise Ben alone, Han! I can't keep sending him to Luke's when we fight, it's not fair! I'm trying to keep this family together, and you leave every night to go drink and probably pay some girl-"
"Hey!" Han boomed suddenly, "I do not, ever, do that. Ever. Now listen, I got something to do. I'll see you later."
The door shut and Kylo could hear his mother crying softly. He sighed and put away his music.
Quietly, he made his way back downstairs into the kitchen. His mother quickly wiped away her tears and smiled. She leaned down to clean up the broken bowl on the floor, but Kylo hook his head and grabbed a plastic bag.
"Here, let me. You finish cooking, and I'll set the table."
Leia hurried towards the pot of stew that was starting to boil over, quietly cursing. He continued the put the broken pieces of glass into the plastic bag, then watched his mother stir with a large spoon. Even as she got older, she was still beautiful. Her hair had started graying a few years beforehand, when Han and her started fighting more. She had lost almost all of her natural dark hair, but still enjoyed keeping it in unique styles.
"Mom?"
She turned around and looked at Kylo as he tied the bag closed. "Yes?"
"Am I going to have to go to Luke's tonight?"
She stopped stirring and swiped a stray tendril from her face. "No. Not if you don't want to."
"Well, I don't."
She went back to tending to the dinner, then grabbed two bowls from the cupboard. "Ben, I don't know why you don't like staying with him, he spoils you and-"
"He treats me like a kid. Not a lot different than how Han acts."
"Ben-"
He threw the bag in the garbage and leaned against the counter. He grabbed some spoons and cups and placed them on the table. Leia came and placed a bowl of her stew in front of Kylo, then sat down.
"Dear, I don't want you to talk about your father or your uncle like that. Please. I- it shouldn't come to that."
He sat down across from his mother with a small scowl. He looked at his bowl and poked at it with a spoon.
The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, and Kylo was glad that Rey hadn't come over for dinner, or else the evening could have been a lot worse, if that was even possible.