Pothos and the Neikea

25. Balance restored (part one)

You might have thought that, as the days went by, Rey would think about Kylo less and less. If you did, you were wrong. She constantly shifted from hating him and trying to put a curse on him, to thinking this was all part of a bigger plan she couldn't see, and he would come by knocking on her door any minute now to kiss and make up. From saying she would never take him back, to knowing she would willingly become his bed-warmer, if that's all he wanted her for. The fact that she was in his class didn't help; she couldn't quite place what was different -maybe just the energy- but she could feel it. It had a strange impact on her psyche. Every time she came out of the classroom, it felt like returning from the underworld. How exactly did she know what returning from the underworld felt like? Well... she just did.

On the other hand, Kylo seemed to be doing better on the "getting-over-her" department. He looked at her less and less. He talked to her only as her professor. He never acknowledged her outside of class. Not that he looked necessarily rude; just living his own life and not involving her in it. She tried to do the same but surely she failed. There was no way he didn't notice how some days she appeared in his class with red eyes and wet cheeks. No way he didn't feel her staring. No way he didn't see the awful state her latest paper was in, scrambled and smudged and slightly ripped. The B she had gotten on it was probably just him being charitable.

It had been weeks... if he was planning on returning, wouldn't he had done it already?

Maybe she just needed to find someone new to get him off her mind. As his class ended, she took a peek at his strong body and walked out determined it would be the last. With her lungs full of air and her head held up high, she... fell right into someone.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled, grabbing a hold of the person she had almost crushed. The man raised his head and she looked straight into his green eyes, letting a soundless sigh escape her. "Hux."

Well, she said someone new.

"Hey."

So he was waiting outside her class now, too? She knew he was trying to get back together with her, trying to prove he was good. And he did a pretty good job. She had never seen Hux so engaged with her before, and they dated for three months. He was always paying attention, he was spending time with her, he showed interest. Things that would have been greatly appreciated had they come almost half a year ago! Now -it wasn't a secret- her mind and heart belonged to someone else, making Hux's constant invasion very, veryannoying.

"So, I came to greet you..." he mumbled, turning around to walk down the hall with her.

"Greet me?" Rey did her best not to sound like she was smiling, although she wasn't sure if it worked.

"Yes, I have some work to attend to, and I'll be back tomorrow noun. But we will be in touch, right?" Rey nodded. Hux smiled at her and leaned down, as if to kiss her, but she just forced a hug on him. He patted her on her back. "Alright, so what are you doing tonight? Are you going to see anyone?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I have studying to do."

"Ah," he simply said. "So you are just going to stay in, or...?"

"Yeah, probably. There is a chance I'll pop to the library at some point, but I think I'll be too bored to do that."

"Alright, have fun." This time she couldn't avoid the kiss he planted on her cheek. "Bye!"