When the Stars Align: A Modern Day Reylo AU

Chapter 20

 At lunch the next day she went to the cafeteria where they always had lunch. Rey's lunch was already waiting at the table with Ben. He looked so pitiful. His eyes were sad and his face was wrought with despair.

"Rey, I'm sorry," he said aloud for the first time since this incident happened.

"Sorry you got caught? Sorry you had no faith in me? Sorry you disobeyed my wishes?"

She asked him. She still hadn't made eye contact with him. She was still angry with him, even though he looked so desperate.

"All of it, I'm sorry I let my anger get the best of me. I hate Hux and I hate that he treats you differently," Ben said.

"It has literally nothing to do with you," she said louder than intended. "It's my fight, and

mine alone, I don't need a prince charming to rescue me, I'm not a damsel in distress. I don't need to be saved," she said, starting to cry.

"I know," he said, his eyes downtrodden. "I know," he repeated. "You are an incredible badass woman. I don't need to save you, I just want to. I need to learn impulse control. Just because I want to fight your fights for you, doesn't mean I should," he responded. "I love you. More than literally anything, I couldn't stand the thought of Hux anywhere near you, let alone making your life hard," he said. "I can do better. I will do better. I need you, Rey," he said, taking her hand.

She didn't push his hand away this time. "I'm not saying that I'm just forgiving you, no

questions asked. But I am saying that was a formidable apology and I will consider it." she said.

"Will you come home," he asked, desperation wreaking havoc on his face.

"Yes," she answered him. "Thanks for lunch," and she took he things and was on her way.

That night, when she got home after work, Ben had made her dinner. He prepared her favorite dish and had it waiting for her. "I made you dinner," he said.

"Ya know, food doesn't fix everything," she said to him, a small smile creeping into the corners of her mouth. She sat down and began eating. "MMMMMM, but it's a good place to start," she said. He smiled at her and they enjoyed the Chicken Cordon Bleu together. They enjoyed some mind blowing, passionate sex that night, too. It almost doesn't get better than this, she was thinking to herself.

A few weeks later things had gone pretty much back to normal. Rey's birthday was coming up. She was very excited. It meant that the term was almost over and summer was just around the corner. Rey always looked forward to this time of year. She loved the warm air peeking through the chilly nights. She adored sleeping with the windows open and hearing the peepers. But most of all, she loved the prospects of new hope, just around the corner.

She had a trip with her robotics team lined up for the summer. She also had an internship that worked around her work schedule with a local corporation that built necessity robots. Her and Finn would be working together at the coffee shop, she had lined up a job there for him this summer. She was happy. It was more than content, she was happy. She smiled to herself. This was a new feeling.

"Ya know," she said to Ben, as they sat lazily on the couch, her comfortably in his nook, "It was just a year ago that we met and started dating. Now we're living together and in love," she smiled at him, girlishly.

"That's right," he answered her. "What a wonderful year it has been," he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Tall, black," she said.

"High school," he answered back, landing a big sloppy kiss on her face.