The Mentor - A Reylo College AU

7 - Ferocity

Rey's scent lingered on the sheets Saturday morning, and Ben pulled them up to his nose with a deep breath. He couldn't pinpoint the exact smell of her soap, but the little whiffs he got of it when he was near her, and the remnants of it on his sheets now drove him crazy.

To his surprise, Rey had dodged him after Biology lab Friday morning. Following the events of Thursday evening, he wasn't expecting her to continue to maintain such distance between them. Ben had tried to catch her, but she was too quick and able to duck into the busy midday crowd of students moving to their next class. Instead, Ben was subjected to Voi's endless flirting that followed him to the parking lot where he left her standing, even though he was sure she was hoping he'd offer her a ride. It didn't matter how rude he was to Voi; she had continued not to take the hint that he wasn't interested. It also didn't help that his mom always pleaded with him to be nice to her considering she was friends with Voi's parents.

Rey's avoidance of him bothered him to no end, and it was all he thought about all evening. Even when Gwen begged him to go to his favorite bar with her and Hux, he knew he couldn't bring himself out of his slump enough to enjoy his evening, so he declined. Rey must have done the same because Gwen made a big show of complaining about both of them being party poopers.

How bothered he was by her avoiding him came to its head after he texted her at 9 that night to tell her that he would pick her up at 11 the following day, but she never responded before he fell asleep. Sleeping on the floor the night before had left him exhausted, and eventually, he could not fight the drowsiness that kept creeping up on him.

The night seemed too short when his alarm went off at 10 am Saturday, and Ben flipped over with a groan, instinctively reaching for his phone. At 12:30 am, Rey responded with a simple 'okay,' which Ben frowned at because of the time stamp and the shortness. Had she been ignoring him for three hours? He tried to assure himself that she was probably up doing something like homework or art, and he tried not to think too far into it while questioning why he was so hopelessly worried about this girl, something he had never experienced before.

At eleven on the dot, Ben pulled into the dorm parking lot, spotting Rey sitting on the front step, the dark clothes they picked out Thursday night looking unnatural on her in the bright morning sun. She stood as he approached the curb, carrying the boots with her, having chosen to wear a pair of sneakers, which he liked better anyway.

"You're missing part of your jeep," Rey teased, and Ben felt his anxiety wash off of him.

"Can't waste days like this," Ben responded as she pulled herself into the vehicle. "What's the point of a jeep if you always have yourself closed up in it?"

"I like it," she assured and buckled herself up, handing him her boots and bag to throw in the backseat.

"By the way, I forgot to stop by my parents and grab a shirt from my dad, so I need to stop there quickly."

"Works for me," she agreed, putting her sunglasses on and flipping her hair back over her shoulders. Ben couldn't help as his eyes followed her hand and watched the soft hair brush across her shoulders almost in slow motion, wondering if she knew that he hung onto every little thing she did.

-

The warm air rushed around Rey through the open sides and top of the Jeep, and as they picked up speed, Rey grabbed the blue hair tie from her wrist to secure her hair. Ben still wore the yellow one, and while she thought about asking for it back, she stopped herself, enjoying that he wanted to keep a tiny part of her with him.

"My parent's house is about thirty minutes away," he told her as they turned onto the busy road that connected Crait to Canto.

"Okey dokey," Rey chirped back, looking around and soaking in the warm air on her face. Ben unashamedly kept stealing glances at her, but she ignored him, tipping her head back so the sun warmed her face.