Resistance University and First Order Law Firm

Resistance University: Chapter 7

Rey woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar place. It took her a minute to realize she was still in Ben's bed. She looked over, Ben wasn't next to her. She rolled out of the bed and into the bathroom. She washed her face and used her finger to brush her teeth. She redid her hair and found a robe hanging there that was obviously Ben's and put it on. She walked out of the bedroom into the living room and heard sizzling.

"Good Morning, Rey" she heard Ben's brooding voice from the kitchen. She turned around and saw him standing over the stove cooking bacon. "Hope you're hungry," he smiled at her.

She walked over to him.

"My robe looks great on you," he told her, smiling.

Her cheeks reddened and she moved over to sit at the breakfast bar. "I'm starving," she said to him, and grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate. "Mmmmmm" she said as she took a big bite of it.

He looked up and shot her a side smile. It put a smile on her face just seeing it. "What are you smiling at?" he asked her as he put eggs and toast on her plate, made himself a plate, and came around to sit next to her.

"Hm. Something about your smile makes me smile," she told him, averting her eyes down to her plate and beginning to eat. "This is delicious," she said to him.

"You're just saying that," he said to her, even though he knew he could cook. "Ya know," he started to tell her, "I emailed the district attorney's office yesterday, I inquired about a job," he told her.

"What?" she asked. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said. "What you told me the other day, it really resonated with me. My job has taken everything from me, I want myself back," he said rather cryptically.

"What do you mean, took everything?" she asked him.

"Well, I practice law under a different name than the one given to me. No one has called me Ben in years. My mom wants me back, but I can't go back to her with this stupid name and this stupid job. I started too young and I didn't know what I wanted," he told her truthfully.

She stopped eating and looked at him, "Wow," she managed to get out, "that was more information than I was expecting," she said.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you all that, you don't need to be apart of this drama," he said, embarrassed.

"No," she assured him, "I'm honored that you felt comfortable enough to trust me with that information, Mr. Ben," she stopped, "I don't know your last name."

"Solo. Ben Solo. That's my real name," he said, proudly.

"Solo? Like Dr. Leia Oragana's son? After her husband died they published a piece about her family and mentioned that she had a son, Ben Solo, but she hadn't talked to him recently. You're Ben Solo?" she asked, mouth agape.

"In the flesh," he responded.

"And your fake name?" she asked

"Ren. Kylo Ren. It's the name I practice under, but I hate it. It's not me," he said, shuddering.

"Well I must say, I'm really happy that you are taking steps to make your life better. It can't be easy," she told him.

"Well I don't know if I'll even hear back, but I figured the worst they could say is no," he said. Then he added, "Now you know so much about me, tell me more about you, Rey..."

"What do you want to know?" she asked.

"Where do you come from, tell me about your family," he prodded.
"Well, I come from nowhere and I have no family," she said, simply, with no additional information.

"Ok, well where is nowhere? Everyone has some sort of family," he egged her on.

"Jakku is where I'm from, you've definitely never heard of it. It's a gross little town. My parents abandoned me when I was young and I bounced around the foster system until I aged out," she said honestly.

Ben didn't know how to respond. "I'm sorry," was all he could figure out.

"Don't be" said Rey. "I live a great life and I learned how to be independent and self sufficient. I wouldn't be who I am today without that shady past," she told him, confidently.

He was moved by her outlook. He felt like an idiot. He had had everything and gave it up to be a selfish idiot. She had had nothing and was making something of herself and working her ass off. He was so completely enamored with her in that moment, he couldn't resist himself. He looked at her, made intense eye contact, and leaned in and kissed her hard.