LUCKY |Modern Sugar Daddy AU|

So This Is How It Ends

(two chapters were posted at the same time. make sure you've read the previous one!)

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Christmas Eve, the following year.

Rey and Sophie's house looked as it did every year for the party--covered in garland and lights. Sophie's homemade desserts covered the table, rows of cookies and brownies, a cake shaped like a snowflake. 

You leaned against the back of the couch, eggnog in hand, while Rey sat beside you with her legs thrown over yours. 

"You look tired," she said, her head pressed to the back cushion. Her hair was even shorter now.

"What's with you and cardigans lately?" you deferred her comment. You had been up all night writing, which you knew she would scold you about. "You're turning into an old lady."

Rey chuckled and rolled her eyes, but the peaceful smile on her lips didn't fade. "Soon you'll realize that there's nothing bad about getting older. It's actually kind of nice."

"That's just what old people say."

She laughed and you laughed too. The truth was that she was older but so were you. You didn't mind that time was passing. If time didn't pass, there were so many things that wouldn't have happened. And you quite liked things happening. How boring this all would be if they didn't. 

Games hadn't begun yet but you were already slightly drunk. You were trying not to think about the fact that you were at the party alone with a heart that was longing for someone who wasn't here. 

"You miss him?" Rey seemed to read your mind. Her brows were turned down with sympathy. You wished she wouldn't look at you like that. It only made you want to cry.

"Yes. He just really loves this party. It doesn't seem right without him now," you mumbled. Your eyes stung. No. No crying on Christmas Eve. 

"How long has it been now?" 

"A month," you answered with a small sigh. 

"He likes New York though?"

You couldn't help but smile. "He loves it."

Every night when you finally got to hear his voice through the phone, you could sense how glad he was to be in the city he loved. You visited often, sometimes for weeks at a time, but the last month had been hectic with the release of a new book. Somehow thirty days had slipped away before you even knew it, and Kylo had broken the news only yesterday that he would be stuck in the city over Christmas Eve. He was supposed to leave this morning and make it just in time for the party, but there was unexpected snow mixed with the responsibility of a work crisis. You tried to be understanding. Though he had been with the company for almost a year, his job still felt somewhat new, and he wanted to seem committed. At least it wasn't CorTech. At least it wasn't Snoke that was making him work on the night before Christmas. He promised he'd be here in the morning, so you could still spend Christmas together. You believed him. By now, he had proved to keep his promises.