Transformation: Becoming Ben Solo (A Reylo Fanfic)

Chapter 36 - An Unexpected Visitor

A/N - Hi my Reylo Lovelies!  We're getting deeper into the story.... and I hope you're still enjoying it.  I have more plans for this one, so thank you for staying with me!  Please vote and send me your comments and reactions - I really enjoy reading them all!  Enjoy!!

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The doctors decreed that Rey needed to spend the night in MedBay.  She kept insisting that she was fine, but Kylo put his foot down.  If the doctors wanted her to stay – she'd stay.  Resigned to her fate for the night, Rey grudgingly gave in, but saw no reason for Ben to spend an uncomfortable night in a chair.  Given his massive size, it would be even worse for him than it was for her.  Glancing over at him, she told him.  "You look exhausted.  And I really am fine, so why don't you head back to the room and get a decent sleep?  You can come back and spring me from here tomorrow morning."

He looked shocked that she would even suggest such a thing.   Shaking his head he replied.   "I am not going anywhere.  Today's events scared me half to death – and I am not yet recovered.   I wouldn't be able to sleep anyways.  So, before you continue to argue, let me repeat it.  I am not going anywhere."

She sighed.  "Why are you being so stubborn?  The pain meds are going to make me sleepy – so I'll probably be knocked out the whole night.  There's no point in you being uncomfortable."

Looking down at her, he smirked.  "You're calling me stubborn?  Sweetheart, you invented the word."  Shaking his head, he continued.  "Did you leave me when I was in here?  If I remember correctly, you spent 4 or 5 nights in this chair – even when it was clear I was going to be fine."

Her face coloured and her eyes flicked away from his briefly.  She could feel him moving closer, and when she glanced up, realized that he was leaning over her for a kiss.  Before he touched his lips to hers, he whispered.  "Besides, I like watching you sleep."

When he finally kissed her, it felt like her heart was going to melt in her chest.   She could feel all of his emotions flow through to her.  What she felt most was an overwhelming sense of shaky relief and protectiveness – and underneath it all, that constant thrum that she knew was his love for her.  She wasn't even sure if he knew, or even recognized that it was love.

In so many ways he still felt undeserving of her – and that was why he just couldn't say it.   She knew – just knew – that deep down, he still believed himself to be a monster, and because of it wouldn't dare admit he loved her.  Well out loud at least, but she wasn't even sure if he had admitted it to himself.  It would be like crossing some sort of imaginary line he'd drawn, and he simply had too much honor for that.  But it didn't matter to her – one day she'd make him see, or he'd eventually figure it out on his own.  The fact that he was willing to kiss her here – with the nurses nearby, already showed how much progress he had made.

When he pulled away from their soft kiss, she looked at him languidly, her sleepy eyes full of contentment.  He swallowed thickly, his heart suddenly pounding at what he saw in her eyes.   If they were back in his quarters, he'd slowly undress her and make love to her so tenderly that she'd be boneless – a mass of quivering jelly – by the time he was done.  Not realizing that he had let that slip through to her, she pulled him back down for another soft kiss.  "Tomorrow."  She whispered.  "I love you."

He leaned his forehead onto hers and sucked in a deep breath to control his emotions and his body, trying to break the spell she had unwittingly cast upon him.  "Tomorrow."  He stoked her cheek and kissed her one last time, before leaning back.  "Now, go to sleep – you need to rest."  She smiled back and nodded before reaching her hand out to entwine her fingers through his, and closing her eyes.  He kissed her knuckles and sat down in the chair, holding her hand for the rest of the night.