When the Time Comes

Chapter Ten

Ben was petrified. He thought he'd made progress after his talk with his mother, but that all flew out the window when Rey confessed she was in love with him. It threw him completely off balance. And he didn't know why.

So he ran, like an insolent child. Because that was his solution when something scared him, to run. He didn't even know why he did it, he was in love with her. That much he knew, he knew the moment he feared for her life when she was screaming in pain in Snoke's throne room.

"I'm not enough for her."

There it was, he said it out loud to himself when he slumped down on his bed. The thought hadn't occurred to him until she said something that seemed so final. Ben Solo might not act like Kylo Ren anymore, but his alter identity was still there and he would carry around his crimes for the rest of his life. Rey needed somebody who wouldn't drag her down.

For the next few days he avoided her, and after the first day she seemed to get the picture. He just didn't know what to say so he avoided her like a coward. He could see the hurt in her eyes, and it rocked him to the core. But he selfishly kept away.

After that first day, she began to keep herself busy. Sometimes he would just watch her and wondered what was going on in her mind. Was she thinking of him? Probably not. Was she giving him time? No, she was probably coming to terms and thinking he didn't want anything to do with her anymore. He knew he needed to talk to her soon, or he would risk throwing everything he had with her away.

She was angry, so angry. In a second, he changed completely. Just because he didn't feel the same way she did, it didn't mean he had to shut her out.

The first day she tried to talk to him, but he would always take off in the opposite direction. After several attempts, she let it go. If he wanted to talk to her, he would. And should he dare to think they were still going to continue on as they were before she told him she loved him, he would have lost his mind.

On the fourth day, she became infuriated and lost it. Their rooms were right next to each other, he couldn't avoid her forever. So when he left his room at the same time she did, she chased after him.

He walked as fast as he could outside, hoping to avoid her in all the vegetation. He was sadly mistaken.

"Ben Solo!" Rey screamed at the top of her lungs, stopping him in his tracks. Everyone around them stared.

What Rey didn't realize is that when she pointed at Ben, she had used the Force to stop him in his tracks. When he didn't turn around and walk to her, it occurred to her that he was staying still against his will and she let go. The moment she did, he rounded on her.

"That was over the line!" He marched up to her.

"Over the line? You mean like walking out on me the other day?" Rey fired back. This was turning into a very public argument with half of the resistance listening.

Ben looked around and noticed, then took Rey's hand.

"Come with me, we can talk where nobody can listen." He dragged her back inside and into his room, shutting the door.

"Now we can discuss this." He proclaimed.

"Let's discuss how you have been cowering away from me." Rey immediately started.

Ben rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"And that was AFTER you walked out on me when I told you something that made me very vulnerable." Rey began to sob.

That broke him. He stepped forward and took her in his arms, running his fingers up into her hair and cradling her head against his chest.

"If you didn't feel the same way, you just had to say so. It wouldn't change how I feel about you, and it wouldn't change us." She said, quiet and at peace now. She had missed this.