Chapter Text
“You can’t tell anyone.”
Balancing the phone between his shoulder and ear, Ben chops a handful of carrots into tiny pieces. “Why can’t I tell anyone?”
He can hear Poe’s long sigh. “Because I’m not ready to come out with it yet.”
“So, you’re going to bring a date into the house, have them stay here for two weeks over Christmas, and not tell mom?” Ben asks, setting the knife down on the chopping board. He shakes his head. “And I thought I was the family disappointment.”
“Shut up, asshole,” Poe says. Ben knows him well enough to know that he’s probably rolling his eyes. “I just need some time, okay?”
Ben leans against the kitchen counter. “Okay,” he sighs. “But if things go tits up, it’s on you.”
The sound of Poe’s laughter echoes through the receiver. “Can’t wait to see your grumpy ass. We missed you at Thanksgiving.”
Their mom had planned a family Thanksgiving meal - which Ben was supposed to attend - but he ended up staying at college instead, working on his PhD dissertation. Truthfully, spending time with the family isn’t really Ben’s cup of tea, and he tries to avoid it at all costs. Christmas, however, is one holiday that he just can’t get out of.
So, here he is – back in his childhood home, preparing dinner for his mom and dad, and trying to keep the fact that his adopted brother, Poe, is bringing someone home that he’s been seeing for months. Without the family finding out.
Because that’s going to go so well.
***
Poe is set to arrive with his two guests on the 19th, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize how monumentally bad this idea is. Apart from the fact that their mom is a goddamn genius and will be able to spot their relationship from a mile away, the rest of the family are as sane as his right-wing grandfather – that is, not sane in the slightest.
His grandfather and grandmother had arrived earlier that morning, and his uncle had followed closely behind. They’re staying for a week this year, and the thought of spending that amount of time with his decrepit relatives makes a shudder roll down Ben’s spine. It’s an annual Solo family tradition that no one can skip out on – he had learned this the hard way back in 2011. In all honesty, he’s a bit of a scrooge when it comes to the holidays – the extended family time, the horrible cheesy commercials, the food, the snow, the fake decorations. It’s all absolutely awful.
Despite his mom being pleased that Poe is bringing home additional guests, the house isn’t actually big enough for all of them. He doesn’t know where they’re being put, but he does know he’s been transferred to the sofa. The bloody sofa. He’s beginning to hate Poe’s friends more and more.
While the family unpack for the week upstairs, Ben decides to get some of his dissertation work done - he’ll fall behind if he doesn’t keep up with it during the holidays. When he gets into the living room, his mom is already sitting on the sofa, trashy romance novel in hand.
“I can’t believe I haven’t seen my two boys together since last Christmas,” she gushes when he sits down. “I mean, I could have if one of them had decided to turn up for Thanksgiving.”
Oh, here we go. “I was busy, mother.”
His mom scoffs. “Too busy to spend time with your family over the holidays? I don’t think so, Ben Solo.” She sets her novel down on the side of the sofa, and clasps her hands over her lap, glaring daggers in his direction. “One day you’ll wake up and you’ll look around and realize that life has passed you by,” she continues. “You’ll have no girlfriend, no children, nothing to show.”
Ben rolls his eyes. “That’s not true,” he sasses. “I’ll have a PhD.”
“Let me tell you,” his mom says sternly, “you’re going to be a very lonely man if you don’t get your head out of your ass and meet a nice girl.”
Now, this isn’t the first conversation regarding his love life he’s had with his mother, and it definitely won’t be the last. Truth be told, there’s just no one Ben’s interested in. He slumps down further in his seat, pushing his laptop open. “I don’t have time to meet a nice girl, mom. I need to finish my dissertation.”
“Poe is bringing home not one, but two friends,” she replies. “He’s went to college and met people. When are you bringing home some friends for Christmas?”
“I have friends,” Ben says defensively.
“Then why haven’t we met them?” his dad interrupts, walking into the living room with a cold beer. He plops down on the sofa, changing the television channel to something loud and obnoxious.
Ben shrugs casually. “Maybe I don’t want to scare my friends off with my crazy relatives.”
“We would never!” his mom gasps dramatically, clutching her hand to her chest.
“Well,” Ben drawls, typing away on his laptop. “It would be just awful if you scared Poe’s friends away and I got my room back for the holidays.”
***
It’s nine o’clock at night on the 19th when a pair of headlights swing into the driveway, making his mom jump up excitedly, and rush over to the window. “They’re here!” she says enthusiastically. “Ben, come and help them with their bags.”
He looks up from over his laptop screen, groaning loudly. “Do I have to?”
“Ben Solo,” his mom scolds. “Get off that damn laptop for five minutes.”
He sighs reluctantly and stands up, stretching his arms up above his head and cracking his bones satisfyingly. His mother scurries to the front door, and Ben can hear as she opens it wide and greets the newcomers warmly. His grandmother, Padme, trails behind to see what all the fuss is about. Ben can hear a male voice saying
“- and the snow is so bad here!”
He ventures out into the hall, and the first person he comes into contact with is a girl with his back to him. She’s struggling with her coat, but with persistence, eventually manages to shrug it off her shoulders. Figuring he should at least try and go with his mother’s orders, he approaches the newcomer.
“I can take your bags upstairs,” Ben offers. “If you want –”
The girl turns around to face him, and the rest of his sentence dies in his throat, replaced with an inaudible hngh. Ben has never made that sound before in his life.
“Thanks,” the girl grins widely, and he forgets how to breathe. Her brown hair is tied up into a bun, a few loose strands framing her face, and she looks like a literal angel – snowflakes dotting her hair and clothes. She’s wrapped up in a pink scarf, nose red from the cold, and Ben’s never seen anyone so appealing in his life.
Then he remembers exactly why she’s here.
This girl must be Poe’s girlfriend.
Ben wants to trash the place, or at least punch Poe in the face a little bit for bringing home the only girl he’s ever really been attracted to.
Poe pops up from behind her, clutching another boy’s arm. “Ben!” he says excitedly. “This is Finn.” He shoves the dark-skinned boy in front of Ben, and Finn waves awkwardly, giving him a shy smile. Ben waves back disinterestedly, not taking his eyes away from the girl.
His brother seems to be too caught up with his friend to remember to introduce his actual girlfriend, so Ben sticks his hand out. “I’m Ben,” he says, and she grips his warm hand in hers. His nerves are aflame. “And you are?” he manages to croak out after a second, his hand still clutching hers tightly. He never wants to let it go.
“I’m Rey,” she breathes, staring up at him with her big brown eyes. God, he’s doomed.
“Oh yeah!” Poe says, finally remembering his girlfriend. Their hands finally drop to their sides, and Ben misses her touch instantly. “This is Rey.” He gestures his hand to Ben. “Rey, this is my brother, Ben.”
Ben distantly wonders why Poe is reluctant to disclose the information that he’s dating Rey – she’s clearly perfect in every way possible. If she was Ben’s girlfriend, he’d be shouting it from the rooftops.
He has to keep reminding himself that this is Poe’s girlfriend, and absolutely under no circumstances can he go there – however, Rey doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to tear her eyes from him, either, and tension passes between them, making nerves bubble up in his stomach.
“Let’s get you to your rooms,” Poe says, after several seconds have passed with Ben and Rey standing in silence staring at each other, and they have to practically drag their eyes away from each other. “You’re taking Ben’s room, Rey.”
“Does he come with the room? Because that would be fine by me,” she whispers out the side of her mouth, and Poe laughs loudly.
Ben’s pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear that, and he tilts his head to the side, confused. He quickly brushes any stray thoughts away, thinking he must have heard wrong.
***
The two newcomers, and Poe, are exhausted after a long journey, so head up to their respective rooms straight away. While Rey takes Ben’s bedroom (he panics in case he’s left anything incriminating up there), Finn shares a bed with Poe, and it’s lights out pretty quickly. Ben’s a night owl, so he stays up late working on his dissertation.
In the morning, the smell of bacon rouses him from his restless sleep on the couch. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he wanders into the kitchen; however, he stops short when he sees Rey sitting at the table. Poe is making bacon and pancakes behind her, and he turns around when Ben enters the room.
“Hey, big bro,” he says, flipping a pancake into the air.
Rey looks up from her newspaper, eyes widening when she sees him, and a dark blush stains her cheeks. She quickly diverts her attention back to the paper, and Ben can see her squeezing her eyes shut tightly.
Oh crap.
He’s forgotten to put on a shirt - not used to having guests other than family in the house. Oh well, can’t go back now. He pulls a chair out and slides into it, Poe slamming down a plate of food in front of him.
“Sleep well?” Poe asks him.
“Not really,” Ben grumbles, wincing as his back twinges from a night of sleeping on the sofa.
Rey scoffs down a bit of bacon, chewing loudly. “Sorry about that,” she says around a mouthful of food. “I can take the couch If you want?”
“Nah, it’s fine.”
“Thanks for offering up your room,” she says brightly, smiling at him like a literal ray of sunshine. He wants to correct her and tell her that he didn’t exactly offer his room, but he refrains, giving her a small smile back. Her breath hitches, and she’s about to respond when Poe clatters his plate down on the table, interrupting her.
“So, what’s the plan for today?”
“I’m writing my dissertation.”
“Boo!” Poe shouts loudly. Too loudly for eight in the morning. “Come out and play with us.”
“We’re going to the shops, and then Poe said we could visit this super cool arcade ‘cause I really like games,” Rey babbles. “You need to come with us it’ll be so much fun.”
“Um, I don’t know. I have a lot of work to do.”
“Come on, Ben,” Poe says. “You can take one day off.” He butters a pancake, and then shoves it into his mouth in one go. “I promise we’ll leave you alone tomorrow and you can do all the work you need to," he mumbles through his mouthful of food. Most people would find it hard to understand his brother as he chows down a whole pancake, but no, Ben has it down to a fine art.
Before he has a chance to respond, Finn blearily walks into the kitchen, pausing in the door frame.
“Hello, handsome,” Poe grins cheekily at him. Finn smiles in return, and Rey moves over one seat closer to Ben without hesitation, letting Finn slide into the chair beside Poe.
That’s weird, Ben thinks. Rey doesn’t even seem bothered, too busy eating her food and reading the newspaper, cup of coffee in her hand.
The four individuals chat amicably for half an hour, before Anakin, his creepy grandfather, comes down and disturbs them. “When I was your age I was out of the house by half six in the morning,” he mutters from his position at the fridge. “Lazy bastards, your generation are. Makes me sick to the stomach.”
“Yeesh,” Poe says. “We’re going, we’re going.” He stands up from the table, and beckons the group to follow him. “Let’s get ready and we’ll meet at the front door in an hour, got it?”
“I didn’t say I was coming,” Ben says, leaning against the kitchen door frame.
Rey turns around to face him, puppy dog eyes on full display. “Please come, Ben,” she says. “I would love to get to know you better.”
Jesus, how can he say no to that?
***
And that’s how he ends up plastered against the wall of the shopping mall, sweat beading on his forehead. He fucking hates shopping. Poe, Finn and Rey have wandered into a clothes shop, leaving him outside. He really can’t stomach this anymore.
After a few minutes, Rey comes out of the shop, approaching him with a sympathetic expression. “So, I spoke to Poe, and he said we should just head to the arcade.”
“Without him?” he asks, panicking at the thought of being left alone with Poe’s girlfriend.
“Yeah,” she begins. “Poe and Finn would like some alone time anyway, so they’ll join us in an hour or so.”
“Right.”
Poe wants Ben to take his girlfriend to an arcade so he can spend some alone time with his best friend? His brother sounds like a fucking dick.
The arcade is just around the corner from the shopping mall, so the walk only takes them ten minutes. The whole journey, Rey doesn’t stop talking, and he learns more about her in that short period of time than he’s ever learned about his college friends in five years. He learns about her martial art classes, and her time being an engineering student. He learns about her friendship with Finn – he had been the one to introduce her to Poe. For the first time in his life, he’s actually glad to be paired with someone who talks as much as she does, as it means he can take a step back from the conversation and just listen.
When they reach the arcade, Rey runs over to the skeeball machine. God, she’s like a child at Disneyland. “I bet you I can beat you at this,” she says, grinning wickedly.
“I don’t think so,” he smirks, shaking his head. “I’ve got height as an advantage.”
“Well, why don’t we make a wager?” she says. “If I win, you need to come on another day out with us.”
“And if I win?”
“I leave you alone for the whole two weeks I’m here,” she says. “And you can do your dissertation in peace.”
Ben considers it for a moment. “Deal.”
***
Ben stares, mouth hanging open.
She has absolutely slaughtered him. Annihilated him. Crushed him.
Beaming triumphantly, she turns around to face him. “So, I guess I win,” she smirks. “Looks like you’ll be joining us on another day out.”
“How –”
“How did I do that?” she interrupts. Ben nods his head mutely, still in shock. “Finn and I used to play all the time when we lived together,” she says. “I used to spend every Friday night in the arcade on my block.”
“You’re amazing,” he breathes, staring down at her. He’s literally never met a more perfect girl in his entire life.
She bites her lip, light blush staining her cheeks. “I –”
Poe and Finn burst through the door, intruding on their moment, laughter booming throughout the tiny arcade. Ben wants to curse, but he refrains, knowing fine well he’s in the wrong – his brother can come and see his damn girlfriend, for goodness sake.
“Hey guys,” Poe beams. “Having fun?”
“I just handed your brother his ass at skeeball,” Rey says.
Finn groans loudly, patting Ben on the back. “Dude, never play Rey at skeeball,” he says. “She’s undefeatable.”
“Noted,” Ben coughs awkwardly.
The group mill about the arcade for a few more hours, playing each other at different games. As much as Ben doesn’t want to admit it, he’s actually having a lot of fun. Rey makes things enjoyable and exciting, and even Finn isn’t the worst company. Poe is the same as always, loud and boisterous and everything Ben isn’t.
Now, he just has to remind himself to stay away from his brothers' girlfriend for two weeks, and everything will be absolutely fine.