Chapter Text
“Is it cute?”
“Yep. Do a spin.”
Rey twirls on her bare feet slowly, nails shining, rosy cheeked under the summer heat.
Ben looms beside her on the same wet, white tile, easily grabbing her by her little waist.
He’s gotten even taller over the winter.
Rey screams excitedly as the older boy carries her to the edge of the enormous pool.
“Very cute, Rey. Bet it’ll look better wet.”
Attempting to rip herself from the boy’s engulfing hands, Rey gets thrown into the water despite her will. But that’s exactly what she wanted.
Ben splashes in besides her, pulling her to his skin once he’s risen to the surface.
Dragging her to the deep end all while she continues to resist.
“Ben!! Ben! No!”
Rey’s still laughing though, and no one pays mind as Ben edges his hands along her frilly bikini top, fingers covering her ribs. All under the privacy of pool water.
“White looks good on you, Rey. Wanna piggy back ride?”
“Yes!!!”
Ben turns himself with a loose grip now on her thighs. She climbs comfortably against his back, then he pulls her in further by her legs.
“All snug?”
“Mhm!!!”
His fingers trail up further. “Wow, your bottoms are so short.”
Rey instinctively wiggles away from Ben’s wandering hands, but she can only go so far. Needing his legs to stay above water.
“They’re bikini bottoms, duh!”, she laughs it off.
Her fingers are on Ben’s bare shoulders, bright rays of sun glaring down her neck.
The taller one is treading them around the deep end, in a wonky oval.
At the edge of her clothing yet again, his hands are holding the indent of her thigh and her frills. Rey’s oddly heated.
“Ben- Take me back to the shallow end!”, she attempts to sound cheerful, brain spinning.
“Hold on a moment. C’mere.”
Ben drags her round instead, bringing her to his front again.
“Wrap your legs around me like you did to my back.”
“Uhm. Why?”, but does so anyway.
“Rey, I really like your bikini.”
Ben’s pulling her in closer again, even though she’s already hugging his chest with her whole body.
It’s the first instance she’s been permitted to wear a tiny swimsuit.
She wanted Ben to like her new bikini, she even thought of him when picking it out back in spring. But now that she’s with him and it’s on, he’s acting weird.
And talking low.
“White’s so pretty on you.”
“You’ve already said that!!”
“Yeah? Well. I love the little bow, right here.”
His fingers wiggle said bow, a bunch of fabric sewed to the middle of her bikini top.
She giggles.
“You’re embarrassing.”
Ben just holds her there for a minute. Rey doesn’t know what to think, and attempts to stay as still as the hands gripping at her bottom.
Finally, he’s swimming her back to the shallow end like she wanted, but Rey feels it. Something in Ben’s trunks prodding her every once and then.
She blushes and wriggles free as soon as she can, turning over and kicking away with her spine to him. Thoughts racing.
Ben doesn’t take the hint. He follows her, until she gets out of the pool.
It was probably just something in his pocket.
But Rey doesn’t get back in for the rest of the day. Because every time she tries, something in her mind has memorized the feeling of Ben’s swimming trunks, and won’t let her forget what was inside.
In fact, she avoids the entirety of Ben for the first time on a family vacation, smoozing with adults like that’s more fun than getting thrown into a pool.
It’s not.