When the Stars Align: A Modern Day Reylo AU

Chapter 7

They re-entered the apartment, Rey following Ben in. They were in the kitchen again, which she was pretty familiar with at this point. He walked her through the kitchen and into a living room.

"Well, this is the living room," he said, sort of looking down like he was ashamed. Rey was taking it all in. It was sparsely decorated as though it needed a woman's touch. But it was huge. It had a wall of floor to ceiling windows and it was grander than any room she'd ever seen before. Her jaw must have been hanging open, Ben said, "I know it's not well decorated, but it suits me."

"It's beautiful," Rey replied, not able to keep the awe out of her voice.

"Well there's a formal dining room over here," Ben pointed to a room that was adjacent to the living room," and a half bath down that hallway."

"I thought you said you had a balcony," Rey asked, not seeing one.

"That's in the second half of the tour," Ben replied, seeming to get his confidence back. He showed her 2 spare bedrooms, each with its own full bath, and a "den", whatever that was for. The only place he quite obviously hadn't lead her was his master bedroom.

"My place downstairs has one bedroom, which I thought was fancy, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom," she said, realizing her whole apartment could fit in his living room, where they had settled after the tour.

"That's really all you need anyway," he replied. "Actually, my lease is up in a few months and I was thinking about moving into a smaller place. This is a lot of upkeep that I don't think I'll have time to do after I start my Ph.D. program," he added.

"Should we chat, about the elephant in the room?" she asked, thinking this was a good segue into their age discrepancy.

"I mean, sure it freaked me out to learn I was flirting with a high schooler," he said, the red returning to his cheeks, "But I don't think you are any old high schooler," he replied, realizing how bad it sounding being said out loud.

"It's a five year difference," he added, "it's not that bad," he said shaking his head, "and once you are not in high school any more, which is soon, it will become even more normalized that we're..." he trailed off, not knowing how to end that sentence.

"Friends?" Rey added quickly, unsure if it made her sound like a prude or an ingrate.

"Sure, friends," Ben agreed, with a serious smile. It was deafening silence for a minute after that.

"It's almost midnight," Ben said. "Will your foster parents wonder where you are?"

"Yeah, right," she replied sarcastically, quickly soon after realizing he was probably trying to get her to go home.

"Oh, but I have a big moving day tomorrow, so yeah, you're right, I should go," she said picking up her backpack and moving toward the door. "Thanks for the dinner, and the cake, and the tour," she smiled up at him, genuinely grateful for all he had done for her on this very extraordinary 18th birthday.

"Do you need help moving in tomorrow?" he asked.

"I don't have much stuff to move in, but I could probably use a helping hand. I also need to do some discount furniture shopping, maybe you'd like to join me?" she asked, hoping she was still within the boundaries of their friendship.

"I'd love nothing more than to bargain hunt for cheap furniture with you tomorrow," he replied with a smile. "What time are you getting your key?"

"I have an appointment to meet with the super at 9:30 and finish up the paperwork and get me key," she said almost giddy with excitement.

"I'll see you downstairs at 9:45," he said. Then they stood facing each other in awkward tension. He didn't know what made him do it or why, but he leaned down to her petite frame and kissed her gently on the lips.

Rey was caught off guard, but not upset. She leaned in and kissed him back, making his gentle kiss a little harder than he intended it to be. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, lips touching, his hand placed perfectly on the small of her back, her hand placed on his shoulder as if it were meant to be there. When they kiss broke, they both smiled at one another and Ben leaned his forehead against hers.

"Drive safely," he whispered to her, barely audibly.

"See you tomorrow," she whispered back, opening the door and walking out. When the door shut, she leaned her back against the door, smiling ear to ear. What a perfect day this 18th birthday turned out to be.

Once she left, Ben put both his hands up on the door, longing for her touch one more time before the night ended. He was smiling sadly, wishing he had asked her to stay.