"He's gone, on an escape pod, headed for the resistances base" Kylo said as he came back into his quarters. Rey had waited there, still, sat on the bed, not daring to move for fear that she might be tempted to snoop around. She didn't want to be that person.
Rey felt herself smile broadly, "Thank you Ben, I...wait...". She frowned, how did he know where the base was? Had Snap told him? She doubted that. One thing that Snap definitely was, was loyal, he'd have died first rather than give the resistance up. "How did you know where to send him?"
Kylo shook his head, avoiding her gaze. Rey stepped closer to him, "Ben?"
He pretended to busy himself, peeling off his gloves slowly, one finger at a time, never looking at her as he spoke, "I've known for days"
Rey looked down at her hands, processing what that actually meant. He had known for days, known that he could take his troops over to Ajan Kloss and wipe them out, and yet he hadn't.
When she looked back up at him he was watching her intently. Rey smiled a small smile at him, "Seems like I have a few things to thank you for".
Kylo stood awkwardly, holding his gloves, "Rey...". His voice trailed off and his eyes dropped down to the ground.
Rey felt a subtle shift in him and watched with surprise as his lip trembled, his hand coming up to cover his eyes. A small noise came from him then, choked and thick and Rey realised with a start that he was crying. Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order was crying. Rey came to him, her hand coming up to prise his from his eyes, soothing him softly,
"It's ok, it's ok...." she whispered, holding his newly freed hand in hers, her other carefully wiping the tears away as they fell. He wouldn't look at her, he kept his eyes firmly rooted to the ground. "Come here" Rey soothed, tugging him over to the narrow bed.
There was only room for one of them to sit down and Rey allowed him to, crouching between his legs, her hands automatically coming to rest on his thighs. They were thick, muscle apparent even through the dense fabric of his trousers, and Rey was suddenly very aware of how intimately positioned they now were and she shifted, beginning to lift her hands from his legs.
"Don't". His voice, deep and commanding and yet soft at the same time stopped her in her tracks and she looked at him questioningly. His eyes were down, his cheeks wet. He had stopped crying and his breathing was loud in the quiet room. Very slowly he lifted his gaze to meet hers.
His eyes were shining and full of pain and his hands moved to cover hers, which stayed on his legs. Rey tilted her head to one side, "Ben what's wrong?" She asked softly. He lowered his gaze momentarily and then brought it back up to meet hers,
"You dont need to thank me for anything. I couldn't hurt you if I tried. Rey I'm so tired. You make me so weak, I've tried to fight it. It's impossible", he shook his head, "it doesn't work. I don't care about any of it, any of this", he gestured around with his hands, "I only care about one thing"
His hands squeezed hers.
"What? What is it you care about?" Rey asked, knowing the answer instinctively but wanting to hear it from his mouth.
One of his hands rose up and carefully, lightly, pushed a strand of hair from her eyes. He swallowed, his mouth opening soundlessly before closing again.
Seeing his struggle, Rey lifted her hand and caressed his cheek gently. He leant into it, his eyes closing for a moment. "What do you care about Ben?" Rey repeated softly.
His eyes opened then, lazily roaming over her face, his fingers running up and down the back of her neck before he finally spoke,
"You. Rey I only care about you"
