Chapter Text
Rey taped the last box and looked around the room. Most of the furniture had been sold or donated, and the last of her things were in this small, single box. She didn’t feel sad, per se, but she wasn’t exactly happy either. Arms slipped around her from behind and she sighed and leaned back against Ben, letting him support her weight and kiss the top of her head.
Rustling and voices came from the kitchen, where Rose and Snap were packing the last of the cookware as Poe and Finn pretended to help but really just went through the box of junk food on the counter and Paige fought a losing battle to keep everyone on task.
They’d have a group dinner at Ben’s once the last of Rose and Snap’s things were moved into the first floor two bedroom that Poe insisted was larger than his and Finn’s house (it was a slight exaggeration, but only slight).
Most of Rey’s things were already in her new home, the last of her boxes would be loaded into a moving truck in the morning and delivered in a couple of days.
She’d already been working with Cassian for over a month, spending alternating long weekends with Ben as he tried to wrap things up and hand them off at SOS.
Surprising them all, Luke had come back out of retirement to take over Ben’s responsibilities, but the pair had restructured it into an independently operating non-profit arm of the company. By his best estimate, Ben thought he had another three months at minimum before he could leave.
It wasn’t easy. She missed him desperately, and she did get lonely, but she didn’t really feel alone, not anymore. Largely thanks to the people in this apartment.
She felt something at her ankle and looked down, laughing as Deathstar and BB took turns winding in and out between her feet.
Rose had turned out to be something of a cat whisperer. There had been some kind of emergency while everyone was gone for the project, and Maz had come to Rose desperate for someone to keep Deathstar. Rose had already had BB and she knew about the issues the pair had in the past, but she did it because she was Rose.
Both animals had behaved perfectly ever since.
Even at home.
BB was calmer, and Deathstar no longer hid every time the wind blew.
Poe and Ben had accused Rose of everything from drugging or lobotomizing the animals to replacing them with well-behaved lookalikes. Rose’s response had involved words that made Snap blush, rude gestures, and a demand for feline visitation rights, which was why the two were currently wandering the flat and generally getting in the way as everyone tried to pack boxes and clean.
Rey shook her head and turned her attention back to the final box and any cleaning that had been missed.
She almost managed not to cry when Chewie came by for their keys and hugged both Rey and Rose close, insisting they were his favorite tenants ever (and delighting in Poe’s offended protests). She cried again after dinner, hugging everyone goodnight, and then again in the morning when she stepped out Ben’s door to head to the airport and found Rose, Poe, and Finn waiting to see her off.
She would be back. Regularly—frequently even. But something about this, having left the home she shared with Rose, felt more final.
Things had changed—Rey had changed.
For the better, though, and largely because of the people surrounding her.
She broke down again when Ben kissed her goodbye before she stepped into the security line. He watched her until he couldn’t see her any longer, and she cried as she sat at the gate.
They wouldn’t see each other in person for a month this time. It was the longest they’d been apart.
She managed to sleep most of the flight, and Armitage and Kaydel picked her up when she arrived, making the long trip to drop her off at her new place only minutes away from Andor machinery.
The next morning, she drove herself to work in the car she’d purchased with the exorbitant signing bonus Cassian had insisted on giving her and nodded politely at the friendly greetings from several people as she headed to her office near the labs.
She gasped as she flipped on the lights and saw the flowers, the same arrangement Ben had given her before, and the small, expertly wrapped box in front of it.
She slid the blood red ribbon off and peeled back the glossy, black paper, opening the box and gasping again at the contents.
“It’s always been yours,” said a voice from behind her and she yelped in surprise and spun.
“Ben! What are you doing here?”
She nearly dropped the box on the desk, the black and red pen falling out with a clatter, and threw herself into his arms, professionalism be damned.
“I decided a month was just too long to be away from you.”
“How long are you here?”
“Well, it’s negotiable, but I was thinking maybe…forever? Or at least as long as you are.” He reached out, picking up his (her?) Magma from the desk and holding out for her inspection. Something was off, a glint of metal near the black and red cap, and the sparkle of gemstones.
She gasped, hands flying up to cover her mouth as he slipped the ring off the end of the pen and untied the bit of ribbon that had kept it secured. He never looked away from her as he dropped to one knee.
“I know it hasn’t been long, not officially, but I meant it when I said you’re it for me, and if I have anything to do with it you won’t ever be alone again. I wanted to ask you this from the first moment you yelled back at me, and so many times since. Rey Jackson, will you marry me?”
She nodded, unable to speak, as he slipped the ring on her finger.
“It’s a moonstone, and the smaller stones are sapphires and diamonds. I wanted something as unique and beautiful as you are, but if you don’t like it, we can pick something else out.”
“It’s perfect Ben, absolutely perfect, and I would have taken just the pen.”
“Now she tells me,” he said to the ceiling before kissing her.
“Well, Solo, did she say yes?” Cassian called from the doorway, waving a bottle at them.
“Cassian, it isn’t nine yet, I think it’s a little early for champagne.”
Jyn popped her head out from behind him, and grinned. “Not in mimosas! Now, did you say yes?”
“Not technically,” Ben said, “She just nodded.”
“Fine. Yes! Yes, I will marry you Ben Solo, happy now?”
He kissed her and grinned. “Ecstatic.”
Jyn cheered and shoved Cassian into the office where they began pouring champagne and orange juice into the champagne flutes they’d brought and passing them out. “A toast,” Cassian said, “to my new design and development partner and her fiancé, the new Chief Financial Officer of Andor Machinery.”
Rey choked on her drink as the words registered. “I hadn’t told her that part yet,” Ben said sourly.
“We know,” Jyn said, throwing back the rest of her mimosa in a single gulp. “You two have things to talk about, celebrating to do, and at least two offices to defile,” she added, pulling Cassian out the door. “They’re soundproof, by the way,” Jyn called over her shoulder as Cassian reached back and closed the door.
Ben looked down at her, worry creasing his forehead. “Is this okay? It’s a lot I know, but I’ve been talking to Cassian about it for months and then when I found out he’d made you an offer…well, I needed it to be your decision, so I didn’t tell you. I was going to, but…” he shrugged and ran a hand through his hair.
“Ben, it’s fine. Perfect even. And even it’s not like I told you as soon as he made me an offer, so fair’s fair I suppose.”
“I really thought you’d be more upset.”
She let him settle his arms back around her and rested her hands on his chest. “Maybe I would, but…I want you here. We already know we work well together. And Cassian Andor is a shrewd businessman. He wouldn’t have hired you if he weren’t already certain you were right for the job. I do have one question though? Where are you staying?”
“Hm, well, I spent last night at a hotel, and I have the room for at least a week, but there’s this girl I’ve been seeing, and I was kind of hoping she’d let me crash at her place. I know she’s got the room.”
“I hear she has a really big bed, too, because her boyfriend is so tall.”
“Too bad her fiancé says she can’t have a boyfriend anymore.”
She giggled when he kissed her, then gave him a shove towards the sofa against the far wall. “Well, Mr. Solo, I believe we should get to work. I have a conference call at two and that means we only have a few hours to get through the to do list we’ve been given.”
“To do list?”
She pushed him down and straddled his thighs. “Uh hm. Well, just the two tasks really, something about defiling a couple of offices. It seems like a very important responsibility.”
In the end, they managed to defile both offices, an empty lab, and Rey’s new car before she dragged him home.
Home.
She finally had one.