Chapter Text
The fact that this was a perfectly legal, perfectly normal proceeding within the American judicial system was absolutely abhorrent. How, when she’d been humiliated and mutilated and torn to shreds—not just the once but with every criminal proceeding since—she was now forced to relive that night.
Not only to relive it, but for its validity to be questioned.
For her pain to be questioned.
And for the fault to be placed on her.
She’d been coached by her legal team purely in an attempt to keep her from being totally caught off guard by the horrors that would ensue.
She was still horrified.
“You had met the defendant’s brother prior to the night of the alleged incident, correct?”
Alleged?
“Is it true that there was alcohol present at the party where all of the attendants happened to be underage?”
Rey bites her tongue.
“Objection, your honor! Relevancy.”
At least Rey’s attorney seemed just as appalled as she was.
“It’s highly relevant to question the sobriety of anyone at the house, outside of which is where the alleged attack took place.”
“Overruled. Answer the question, Miss Kanata.”
Rey’s eyes water and her jaw tenses.
“I have no idea,” Her eyes roll despite her valiant efforts to keep an unaffected face. “If there was, I didn’t pay attention to it and I certainly had none of it. Every single cell in my body was exploited and examined, so I’m sure there’s a toxicology report you could reference somewhere in all of that.”
“Objection, your honor.”
The weasel behind the desk of the defense team had the nerve to protest Rey’s outrage.
“I will remind miss Kanata to answer the question and refrain from any additional commentary.”
Rey’s outrage is slowly shifting to disbelief. This couldn’t be real. How was this right?
“I don’t know.” She mumbles, defeated.
Maybe she could resign herself to be essentially catatonic for the remainder of this hell. It was a last ditch effort that was quickly proven to be impossible when Ben’s name came up.
First, they’d reiterated—confirmed—that she had never been in a relationship prior to the assault.
Then, they asked about her current relationship.
“Are you not in a relationship with Mr. Solo now?”
“Yes.” Rey’s head shakes slightly, her eyebrow arched high on her forehead. She failed to see how this was in any way relevant.
All of this would taint her forever. There was no need to drag Ben into it, too.
“And is he not six years your senior?”
“He’s twenty-three and I’m eighteen.”
“And you’ve known him for how long?”
Rey huffs, and she swears she’s likely breathing fire at this point.
“He and his younger brother Finn were my next door neighbors. I’ve known the entire family since I was adopted when I was thirteen. Finn’s been my best friend since then.”
She vaguely notices Ben shift in his seat in the back of the courtroom. It seemed he was coming unglued, too.
“So, you could say that you’ve been close with him since you were just thirteen?”
“In the way that you’re cynically and disgustingly implying, no,” Rey fumes. “Absolutely not.”
“So you two… what? Suddenly pursued a romantic relationship only after you turned eighteen? Isn’t it more probable—more likely—that you were close with him, an adult, when you were still a minor—“
“Objection! How is this even remotely relevant, your honor? The defense is harassing my client.”
Rey had refused to look over at the blazingly orange piece of shit sitting by the defense, but her eyes blink across him in a single second. His face was smug and pretentious as he whispered to the lawyer sitting beside him. The face of the man that took her youth away. Took her innocence away. And he had the nerve to be smug.
She reverts to autopilot for the remainder of questioning for the day, and when she’s finally escaped the confines of the stuffy courtroom, she finds a very frantic Ben Solo pacing behind his mother.
She’d not seen him this physically angry for years. It’s not that he’s violent… she wondered if it was actually a possibility for him to be, but he was highly vocal (and at times, profane) and highly mobile. Never towards her, of course. Rey watches as his poor mother ties to calm him and decides to intervene.
“Ben?”
His head snaps around to meet her, and once she’s in his sight, she watches as the tension leaves his body in what seems to be a wave of defeat. His shoulders slump and he lets out a deep breath once she’s in his arms.
“Are you okay?”
Ben scoffs sardonically.
“I should be asking you that,” he sighs. “Rey… Jesus, that was fucked up. How the hell did that judge allow the objections to slide? They can’t harass you like that. You were… what that piece of shit did to you, and now he gets to watch you get fucked over by our fucking legal system. I swear to god if I ever get my hands on that motherfu—“
“Ben,” Rey squeezes him a little tighter. “It’s okay. I’m angry, too. But, I… we have to be better than them.”
“I can’t stand what he did to you,” Ben’s voice finally breaks, and it sobers Rey. “And what they’re doing to you now… what they’re allowed to do to you now… I can’t—“
“Listen,” Rey takes a deep breath. “I won’t lie, it’s shitty. I’ll probably just cry when I get home, but I don’t really want to think about it anymore at the moment. The only reason I didn’t lose it in there is because I could look back at you.”
Ben sighs and leans down to kiss the top of her head.
“I’m sorry. Let’s go get something to eat, yeah?”
Rey smirks.
“Could that something to eat possibly be Emilio’s?” She grins mischievously.
Ben can’t help but laugh.
“Whatever you want, baby.”
Though it was definitely going to take more than shitty (in Ben’s culinary opinion) Italian food to help Rey get over this trial, Ben vowed he’d eat sub-par carbonara for the rest of his life if it helped in even the slightest.
Rey hated alarm clocks.
Alarms were shitty enough to begin with. Who in their right mind would like a sound that abruptly and surprisingly signaled the fact that they weren’t allowed to sleep anymore?
They were even worse while the trial had been going on.
Even in the weeks after, Rey found herself in a panic upon waking up until she realized it was over.
Despite the defense’s valiant efforts to make the piece of shit look like anything but, he would end up rotting in jail for the remainder of his pathetic existence.
The panic returned, however, when she remembered what this day had in store.
Her last two final grades would be posted in fifteen minutes. She had a 4.0 so far with her three other courses’ grades already finalized, but she was on the fence about her grades for Anatomy and English Lit.
And of course, they had been postponed until today. Christmas. Because there’s nothing anyone could want more than a tall dose of anxiety during the holidays.
Ben’s soundly sleeping body was all but forgotten in a rumpled mess of covers when Rey jumped up, grabbed her laptop bag, and ran downstairs. She just manages to log on to the school’s server when Ben makes it downstairs and plants a quick kiss on Rey’s temple.
“Merry Christmas, babe.”
“Merry Christmas,” Rey offers a quick smile as her eyes return to her screen. The wi-fi in the cabin could never in a million years be considered high-speed. “Come on… Jesus.”
“Last ones?” Ben asks, putting on a pot of coffee before sitting down beside her.
Rey nods anxiously as she stares at the ‘Final Term Grades’ link while refusing to click on it.
“Rey,” Ben chuckles. “What matters is that you did so well your first semester. You studied… you didn’t miss a single class. It doesn’t matter if you make an ‘A’ or a ‘B’. I’m proud of you regardless. You should be, too.”
“Okay, Mr. Summa Cum Laude.” Rey flattens her mouth and rolls her eyes.
There’s a hint of a smirk on Ben’s face before he rolls his eyes and scoots the laptop towards him, clicking the link for her.
He gives nothing away for way too long. Rey huffs in annoyance.
“Well?” She demands.
“Huh… This can’t be right. It says you got a ‘D’ in—“
“What?!”
Rey spins the laptop around and her eyes are frantic until she sees the list of all five of her classes, all with a shining ‘A’ listed beside of them. Her heart returns to her chest after falling into her stomach.
“You… ass!” Rey smacks the side of Ben’s arm.
“See? What’d I tell you? I told you… you’re a genius.” Ben grins.
Rey narrows her eyes.
“You thought telling me I basically failed would be a good idea? Seriously, Ben? A ‘D’?”
“Well… It could still be true,” He wiggles his eyebrows. “It’s actually highly probable that you’ll get a ‘D’ later.”
She doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of laughing at such a crude, horrible joke, but she can’t help it.
“You’re such an idiot, Ben Solo.”
“I’m insulted, truly,” Ben scoffs playfully, placing his hand over his chest before grinning evilly down at her. He quickly scoops her up and throws her over his shoulder. “I may just go throw you in the snow for that.”
“Ben!”
He has her casually held with one arm while the other sips on a cup of coffee.
“I’m so sorry. I can’t process any requests until I’ve finished my coffee.”
Ben sits said coffee cup onto the kitchen counter before letting his fingers trace against the skin of Rey’s exposed side.
“Ben, I swear to god I will pee.”
“We’ve discussed this, sweetheart,” Ben says coolly. “Kink.”
She smacks the part of his arm she can reach, but he continues to tickle her. It’s impossible for her to contain her squeals.
“It is too early for this level of commotion,” Leia’s voice sounds out from outside the kitchen, echoing in the cabin. Rey’s able to get a glimpse of her before Ben turns around and effectively shuts Rey out of the conversation. “Benjamin…”
“Morning, mother,” Ben replies nonchalantly. “I made a pot of coffee.”
“Ben, I know for a fact your mother has a taser with her,” Rey threatens him. “If you don’t put me down, I’m sure she won’t mind loaning it to me.”
“It’s no bother as long as I get it back.” Leia grins.
“From the mouth of my own mother,” Ben sighs. He turns his head to place a quick kiss to the skin on Rey’s exposed side before letting her down. “You’re the one who called me an idiot, baby.”
Rey flushes. She’s still a little shy with the PDA around their families, even though Ben is unwaveringly affectionate.
“Yes… Well. You were being an idiot.”
Ben just rolls his eyes before turning his head to his mother.
“Rey got the last of her final grades,” He grins. “She has a 4.0 for the semester.”
“Of course she does! Congratulations, honey,” Leia walks over to hug Rey. “It shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. We all know how smart you are. I’m proud of you, regardless.”
“Thanks, Leia.”
Their yearly ritual of having a late brunch before dinner and presents was something Rey had always looked forward to. But this year, she couldn’t help but be a just a little happier than usual. She had her family and she had Ben. And things weren’t horribly awkward. She could sit on Ben’s knee when the living room was crowded without anyone noticing. If he leaned down to give her a kiss before walking out of the room, no one made a fuss.
Unless Finn wanted to tease Rey. Which was common. She could tolerate his teasing. It was never malicious.
After everyone had finished dinner, they’d began the annual gift exchange while they all sat in the living room around the fireplace.
Rey was in hell.
Literal hell. Not figurative.
Finn had gotten her a new skiing jacket, and Poe had gifted her the matching hat, gloves, and scarf. Of course, she’d immediately put it on and then gotten sidetracked by Ben’s gifts.
She’d made him promise to not go overboard, so he promised her there were only two gifts.
He’d found ways to make her wish she’d made more rules.
She couldn’t fully blame him for the new laptop. Hers was on its last legs, needing to be attached to the charger at all times in order to function and having a very sticky ’s’ key that never wanted to work properly. The one he’d gotten her was much nicer than any she’d ever buy for herself, of course.
If Ben Solo was anything, he was over the top when it came to her.
The bracelet, while definitely just as expensive as the laptop, was something Rey couldn’t be mad about, either. There was an engraving on the tiny gold bar of the chain, and she tried to make it out in the low light as Ben put it around her wrist.
“What’s it say?”
“It has the date and the coordinates of when and where I told you I loved you for the first time on it… Do you like it?”
“Of course I do,” She laughs, laying her head against his chest. “Thank you. I love you. All I got you was a new watch.”
“You got me the other… stuff,” Ben smirks. “The stuff you can’t give me in front of our families.”
Rey flushes.
“Shut up.”
She’d gotten him another gift… consisting of an array of incriminating polaroids that Ben was forced to keep hidden and items of ‘clothing’ that were definitely not for him.
Not that he minded. At all.
“You’re like a furnace,” He changes the subject, and Rey glances around the room to see everyone else preoccupied. “Wanna walk outside for a second?”
She eagerly obliges, desperate for cool air.
Once she’s through the patio doors, she sees them.
Lanterns. Tons of lanterns lining the perimeter of the patio, overlooking the dark, snowy mountains.
“Ben. We agreed. Two gifts.”
She’s nearly in tears, though she tries to laugh it off. The sight was beautiful.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ben smiles. “C’mere.”
Ben pulls her over to the railing and Rey wraps her arms around his waist and lays her head against his chest.
“Rey,” Ben begins, and she hears him swallow. “I love you. I can’t adequately put into words how much I love you. I feel like... like I’m in a dream. All the time. You’re so strong. Resilient. You’re smart, so much smarter than me, and yet for some reason you stick around, so..”
Rey feels tears in her eyes as they both laugh.
“I could’ve never in my wildest dreams come up with someone as perfect as you are. Rey... you’re so beautiful. Your compassion, humility... your kindness and disregard for your own well-being for the sake of others makes you even more so. You are the sweetest thing I’ve ever known, and you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I want to be with you forever.”
She’s silently sobbing when he lets her go and lowers to one knee, pulling out a small black box, flipping open the lid.
“Rey Kanata, I love you. Will you marry me?”
Although she’s completely floored, she manages to choke out some form of a ‘yes’ before launching herself at him, burrowing into his chest as his arms wrap tightly around her.
Her head pulls back and he immediately kisses her with no reservations. Rey’s not sure how long his mouth stays on hers, but at some point they break away and Ben gently removes her left glove.
As he slides the ring onto her finger, she feels her teary eyes bulge out of her skull.
“Holy fuck,” she feels the air leave her lungs. “Ben... holy fuck.”
“Is it... do you like it? I knew you wouldn’t like anything flashy, so I figured the simpler the better... it’s my grandmother’s wedding ring band. Dad had used the diamond in mom’s ring... it originally had an oval shaped diamond in it, but I thought I’d do something different—“
“It’s... Ben.”
It was stunning. Absolutely breathtaking. She wasn’t sure what it was called because she wasn’t exactly an expert on these things, but it was one of those rectangular diamonds that had a geometrically linear cut. It sat on a tiny gold band, which only served to make the ring look even bigger than it was... and it was huge on her small hand.
Gigantic.
A fitting metaphor for Ben’s presence in her life.
She brings her hands up to Ben’s face before pulling him down for another kiss.
“I love you.” She whispers.
She couldn’t believe he was the one who thought he was dreaming. If anyone was dreaming, it was her.
“I love you more.”
“Impossible,” Rey’s thumb traces against Ben’s cheek, and she watches how the light of the lanterns flickers in both her ring and Ben’s eyes. She wasn’t sure which was brighter, but her money was on his eyes. “I love you, Ben. So much.”
“I love you, too, fiancé.”
Fiancé. She could get used to that.
For New Year’s, Rey is reunited with Rose (and Lane), Finn, Poe, Kay, and Jess. She wished Kira could’ve come along with everyone, but she was in Japan visiting her extended family with Mitaka.
She still couldn’t wrap her head around that.
There was apparently someone for everyone.
Kay and Jess had originally invited everyone to their sorority house at UPenn, but Ben had not so subtly suggested that the drive home might be a little difficult with the snowstorm that was supposed to hit late on New Year’s Day.
So, everyone was staying in Virginia with Rey and Ben.
She’d started slipping up during the planning, referring to Ben’s place as ‘our house’.
It wasn’t a far stretch. Rey was there more than she was in her own apartment, and arguably had more of her things there, as well.
Of course, when they all arrive, it’s all squeals and hushed profanity in the name of awe and surprise. Rey only barely had a boyfriend the last time they’d all been together. Now, she had a fiancé. And a rock on her left hand to prove it.
“It’s a fucking boulder,” Kay blurts. “You’re gonna get carpal tunnel from carrying that thing around on your hand.”
“It’s not that crazy,” Rey tries to defend herself. “The band belonged to Luke and Leia’s mom. The diamond that was in it is in Leia’s ring, but it was an oval, I think. Ben thought I’d like something simpler…”
“I’d hate to see what he would’ve gotten if he thought you’d have liked something more extravagant,” Jess snickers. “I mean, it’s unlikely he had to compensate for anything. Look at him.”
Rey narrows her eyes.
“He’s taken, Jess.”
“We know, Rey,” Jess laughs. “We just strive for what you have. A big bank account and an even bigger di—“
“Okay, if you don’t steer the conversation away from my fiancé’s genitals, Jess, I’m going to throw you out in the snow.” Rey flushes as she laughs.
Ben wouldn’t be home until everyone was fast asleep. He had an international conference call that would start at 12:30 a.m. and put him getting home a couple of hours later around 2:30. He’d been at his office all day reigning in the madness of everyone rushing to get everything in order for the call.
He sulked for a week once he learned he’d miss giving her a New Year’s kiss.
Rey was more upset at the fact that he was upset. She didn’t really care about a silly tradition. It meant more to her that he wanted to be with her.
After she gets Rose, Lane, Finn, and Poe settled into the guest rooms for the night, she climbs into bed and stares at the clock, waiting to hear the garage door opening. She doesn’t even give him the chance to make it in the door before she runs downstairs and meets him.
“Hey, baby—“
Rey cuts him off with a kiss before pulling away.
“I missed you,” She admits. “How was the call?”
He rolls his eyes.
“Fucking unnecessary,” He flattens his lips. “I wish I could’ve been here with you. Did you have fun?”
“It was great seeing everyone,” Rey smiles. “They’re all asleep in the guest rooms….
Well, Rose, Lane, Finn, and Poe are. Kay and Jess ended up haphazardly strewn all over the couch downstairs.”
Ben chuckles as he removes his jacket and loosens his tie before pulling it off.
“I’m assuming they brought alcohol, then?”
“Kay had Lane stop and buy some,” Rey nods. “I didn’t get brave enough to try anything other than a sip of Rose’s cheap champagne. It was horrific.”
“I told you, it’s okay if you would’ve drank something,” He reminds her. “God knows I was stealing shit from Han’s liquor cabinet at sixteen. I was just worried they might talk you into going a little crazy with it. I don’t want you to have any… panic resurface or anything, you know?”
“I know,” Rey wraps her arms around Ben after he’s kicked off his shoes and sat his work bag on the kitchen counter. “I’m just glad you’re home. Sleepy?”
“Almost,” his voice breaks into a whisper before he kisses the top of her head. “Let’s go to bed.”
If there was something Rey had learned about Ben in the six months they’d been together, it was his intonation.
He definitely hadn’t been referring to sleep.
If she’d ever doubted that conclusion, all doubt flew out the window when he started placing kisses down her stomach, multitasking as he unbuttoned his shirt and pants. He’d still been working on removing his underwear when he started kissing the inside of her thigh.
When he nuzzles his nose against the damp center of her baby blue underwear, her fingers clutch at the sheets.
“Ben…”
“I know, baby.”
He hooks his fingers into each side of her underwear before pulling them off. He licks her once before raising his head to glance at her.
“I look forward to tasting you—here—all year long,” He tells her with a smirk. “You taste so good, Rey.”
She thought that maybe with time she’d be able to hold herself together a little while longer when his head was between her legs.
She was wrong.
She comes—harsh and quick—and the air leaves her lungs in a gasp before he leans up to fill her mouth with his tongue.
“Do… do you want me to…” she lazily gestures down between his legs.
“No, I wanna be inside—you—fuck, Rey…” He pushes inside in one smooth stroke.
The feeling never faded. Having him inside her was still the single most beautiful and overwhelming experience she’d ever had.
“I love you, Ben.”
“I love you,” He pants, lowering himself closer to her body to kiss her temple. “You feel so fucking good, baby…”
When she falls over the edge again, she claws at his back, begging him without words before he lays his chest directly on top of her, letting some of his weight press her further into the bed.
“Goddamn, baby…” He grunts, his hips still rocking in and out of her, his pace quickening.
“Come inside me, Ben… Please…” Rey breathes, dazed.
“Fuck, Rey…”
He continues thrusting just a minute more before his mouth covers hers and he spills himself inside her. Once he slips out and they both clean up they mess they’d made, he pulls her back onto his chest.
His fingers trail back and forth over her spine as she listens to his heartbeat slowing back down.
She wasn’t sure which was better… the sex or the lazy bliss prior to falling asleep that occurred afterwards.
“I can’t wait to marry you,” He whispers. “Happy New Year, Rey. I love you.”
“I love you, Ben.”
Rey’s sophomore year goes a lot like her freshman year. Her courses are a little more intensive, but she’s more used to the routine and feels a little more comfortable around the psychology department staff. Ben was even worried her criminal psychology professor liked her a little too well.
Rey found the situation hilarious considering Dr. Michaels frequently brought his husband to department events.
She finally gave in and told Ben when he’d broken the kitchen faucet after gripping it a little too tightly as she told him about the email her professor had sent her about wanting her to participate in a research seminar in DC with him.
It’s also during her sophomore year when Rey attends her first party.
‘Party’ was a loose interpretation of the small gathering of ten or fifteen academics where there was no beer or cheap liquor involved. There was wine, however.
That’s when Rey discovers she really likes wine.
It’s also when Ben discovers Rey is really handsy—and mouthy—when she drinks wine.
He barely gets the car in park after going to pick her up before his fly is open, her head is in his lap, and her lips are wrapped around him.
There’s an almost guilty sense of testosterone-fueled pride when he catches the gleam of the diamond ring on the small hand wrapped around the base of his cock.
He’s never more glad that he doesn’t have close neighbors and that he has a garage than when Rey moans loudly as she lowers herself onto him in the driver’s seat.
He’s also never more glad that he has leather seats when he sees the mess they’ve both made.
Rey wakes up the next morning in a daze. Pink floods her cheeks when bits and pieces of the night before creep back in to her mind.
“Advil and orange juice,” Ben walks into the bedroom and sits down beside her. “How are you feeling?”
“Good… relatively,” Rey flushes, taking the two pills and downing the orange juice. “Was it that bad?”
“Bad? I thoroughly enjoyed myself,” Ben smirks, earning a noncommittal smack from Rey. “After your finals are over, I will buy you some more wine. Whatever kind it is you drunk last night.”
He keeps his promise, too. And after finals, before Rey heads home to visit her parents for a few weeks, Rose, Finn, and Poe all come over to visit.
It’s concerning when a normally chipper Rose is calm and subdued the entire weekend.
Rey asks Finn and Poe if they know what’s up, but they both seem as in the dark as she is.
“We asked her on the drive here,” Poe sighs. “She’s not acting like herself. But, she swears she’s fine. Just tired from finals.”
“Is everything okay with Lane?”
Finn and Poe exchange glances again.
“That’s what we thought,” Finn draws his mouth into a line. “But, she was really adamant about her relationship being okay. I told her we were only worried about her.”
“Maybe she’d open up to you?” Poe asks.
Rey nods.
That evening, she talks Rose into sitting outside on the back porch with her. Ben had caught on to Rey’s concern and asked his brother and Poe to join him for some sports game Rey had no intention of pretending to be interested in.
“I know it’s a little early to talk wedding planning,” Rey begins, deciding not diving in to Rose’s own issues immediately was probably the best idea. “And I had considered it a forgone conclusion, but I was hoping you’d be my maid of honor.”
For the first time during the visit, Rey sees a flash of a genuine smile on Rose’s face.
“Definitely a forgone conclusion,” Rose’s smile fades a little, but stays put. “Of course I will. I can’t believe you’re getting married. I can’t believe we’re old enough for you to be getting married.”
Rey laughs before a silence falls. She debates for a moment on how to talk to Rose.
“Remember when you told me I could talk to you about anything?” Rey asks quietly. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciated that. With everything that happened… It made me feel isolated sometimes.”
Rose’s smile falls and her eyes stay fixed to the ground.
“I’m here anytime.”
“So am I, Rose,” Rey places her hand over Rose’s forearm. “I think it’s about time I pay you back for everything you did for me. I can tell something is up, but I don’t want to force you to talk about anything you’re uncomfortable with. I do think it might help you, though. Maybe.”
When Rose finally does move from staring down at the ground, Rey sees trails of tears falling from her eyes.
“I didn’t want to… I thought it would be selfish to talk to you about it. And Poe and Finn… I love them and I know they care, but they’re guys and it’s different and—“
“What’s different?” Rey shakes her head.
“I got sick right before spring break,” Rose sighs, wiping at her eyes as tears continue to escape. “Put off going to a doctor until my last class the Thursday before… I didn’t know what was wrong. Everything else was normal with me. With the birth control I’m on… I mean, I never have an actual period.”
Rey’s heart sinks.
“Lane took me to the doctor that evening. That’s when we found out I was pregnant,” Rose knits her fingers together nervously. “I just… we’re both in college and we’ll have student loan debt for years and… I couldn’t do it. Rey, I felt horrible. I knew what you went through just to be told you’d never have the choice to have a child on your own terms, and I… I was afraid to tell you. To tell anyone.”
Rey pulls Rose over to her, leaning her chin on the top of Rose’s head.
“Nothing that happened to me is your fault or your responsibility,” Rey breathes. “I could never think ill of you for doing something in your best interest. I love you, Rose, and I’m so, so sorry you had to go through that. Believe me, I know how horrible it is. I hate that you felt you couldn’t tell me. You can always tell me anything. I’ve been through enough shit that nothing will bother me at this point. If you ever commit murder, just call me and I’ll show up with a shovel and bleach.”
Rose laughs through her tears, wiping her eyes with her jacket sleeves.
“You’re too wise to not even be twenty yet,” Rose snorts. “You know… you always used to tell me that you were lucky to have Ben. That he was an anchor for you. I know he’s immeasurably good to you, but I’ve gotta tell you, Rey… I think you’re your own anchor. Sometimes you might need a little reminding about how strong you are, but look at what all you’ve risen above. Maybe an anchor isn’t the right… a life raft. That’s more like it. A life raft that’s been put through the shittiest of hurricanes, tsunamis… and you’re still here. Just floatin’ along.”
“There might be some duct tape patches here and there…” Rey adds with a snort from Rose.
“But the point is—you’re still floating.”
Rey nudges Rose’s shoulder with her own, smiling.
“We both are.”