Pothos and the Neikea

14. What Pothos always wanted

Kylo was edgy all day long. Let's not talk about how his research went, which was terrible. And let's not talk about the way Hux was looking at him: as if he could tell what was about to happen. He didn't pay too much attention to him though, just made a reminder to be careful around him. If Hux hadn't gotten him in any trouble for hitting him yet, that did not mean he had forgotten about it. And Kylo knew that.

When he got home, he realized that Rey had said she would come over, without saying when. He panicked, searching for the notes he had promised her, and cleaning up his stray laundry that laid all around the apartment. But he was done within half an hour, and then he had nothing to do with himself. He just sat there, waiting. Until his phone buzzed.

Is around nine a good time?

He had almost forgotten she had his number. Of course, he hadn't forgotten he had hers. He had spent many hours hovering over his phone, trying to decide whether he should call her. But the text didn't calm him down just because she was coming. It was also because she was coming pretty late. It couldn't possibly be just for the notes, could it?

It's perfect.

He had time to kill, and he decided to kill it by cooking some dinner. After all, he barely ate lunch and was starving. He didn't know why Rey would be hungry at 9 pm if she had already eaten, but he thought he should be prepared just in case. And so he didn't make something easy and quick, like spaghetti, but rather hot chicken wings with fries. The amount that he made was a lot more than a bachelor would normally need. But it took his mind off and gave him something to do while waiting.

He ate before she came. For a second he thought about waiting for her but didn't want to just look like he assumed she would eat there. He had just made more food just in case, and as far as Rey was concerned, it could be for the next day, and not her.

It wasn't even nine yet -he knew because he kept checking- when his doorbell was heard. He thought it was someone else, and got ready to throw whoever it was away before she came. But when he opened the door, Rey was standing there with a smile.

He forgot how to interact with people.

"Um… may I come in?" she said, and it dawned on him that they were just standing there.

"Oh, right, yeah." He opened the door fully, and after giving the road a double look for anyone that could have seen them, he closed it.

And then he realized what exactly he'd done. He had let a student of his in his house after dark. And it was bad and inappropriate. And he was worried that if someone saw them, he could get fired and get Rey in trouble. Up until then, he mostly saw her as Rey. The young girl Hux used to date. The girl he'd spend a lot of time with because they had common friends (well, mostly Hux, again). The girl he'd slept with when he was drunk.

But now Rey was his student.

He regretted telling her to come over. No matter how much he wanted her- no matter how he thought and dreamt about this moment for months- he could wait longer. He could wait until he wasn't her professor, he could wait as long as she'd like. But then again, no one said she would wait too.

He walked over to his desk that sat at the corner of the living room. Well, it was the living room, plus his office, plus basically the hall. At the far end was the door that connected to the only room, then on the left was the door to the bathroom, and a corridor that lead to the kitchen.