Pothos and the Neikea

3. No Harm Done

It had been a week, but Kylo had heard nothing from Rey. He had barely seen Hux, only when they were both in the university, and they didn't say much. He thought perhaps Rey and he had broken up. Couldn't tell by their minimal interactions whether he knew what exactly had happened or not. But it couldn't have been that hard to deduce; Kylo and Rey had shared a cab in the middle of the night, she didn't show up at his place, and he avoided him at all costs.

But then he touched his shoulder, and he jumped a little, the idea that he was in danger ringing in his head. Everyone had left the lab, he thought Hux had too. He could totally win in a fight with him if he wanted to, but, well, he took his girl, how rude of him would it be if he broke his nose, too?

"You done yet?" Hux said next to his ear. Kylo didn't turn to look at him.

"Um… yeah. Yeah." He clicked to shut down the computer he was working on, and Hux tapped him and moved away.

"Good. Will you come over tonight? We'll watch a movie or something."

Finally, Kylo felt brave enough to look at his friend. If he was inviting him for a movie night, he probably didn't know. Unless he planned on murdering him there.

He stood up awkwardly, his palms smoothing down his pants, and he avoided eye contact as if it could kill him. "I don't really know, man."

Hux was already towards the door, putting on his coat. "Oh, come on! We haven't hung out since the concert." When he was finished, he pointed a finger at the tall, broad man. "If you're not there by 10 you're gonna suffer the consequences."

And then he left. Kylo sighed. He had to go, didn't he? If he wanted everything to go back to being normal, he had to go. Perhaps the soul-consuming guilt would get better over time.

***

Rey had been avoiding both Kylo and Hux. She had focused on actually studying a bit, and didn't initiate any socialization with other people. To her surprise, Hux didn't really look for her either. They did text a bit, but he never even questioned why she hadn't shown up at his place that night, or any night after that. She appreciated the space, and couldn't help but compare it to what Kylo would have done instead. The man simply had no manners. It was a miracle he hadn't shown up in her dorm room for God knows what yet.

She shivered at the thought. Not because she felt threatened by him. She hadn't remembered what exactly had happened on the night of their sin, but it was enough to know better than put all the blame on him. Damn, who knew how horny drunk Rey really was? No, she shivered because the idea of him at her door, surely taking up the whole space and barely fitting through, sent a rush of heat to her lower stomach. Apparently, she had forgotten about their time together, but her body hadn't.

"Are you cold?" Rose's voice brought her back to reality.

She shook her head and closed the math textbook she was pretending to be studying. Rose took that as an invitation to say more.

"So, what are your plans for tonight?"

"I thought about staying in…" she trailed off.

"But?"

"But Hux invited me over."

A mischievous smile appeared on the girl's round face. "Oh! Is tonight gonna be the night, then?"