10 Things I Hate About You (Reylo AU)

Chapter 2

Poe sipped his coffee gingerly, steam still rising from the orange mug in his hands.

"So, any progress?" Finn asked, his impatience causing him to break the silence. Poe quirked an eye brow at the couple across from him. He and Finn had had a complicated relationship. They were never official, but everyone knew something was going on. Finn and Rose had come out of know where, but it didn't seem to bother Poe any. Rey assumed he was in it for the long hall. He hadn't admitted nor denied it.

"Everyone says she's weird or that she's kind of a loner," he said, placing his mug down and clasping his hands on the table. "I mean they aren't wrong. She can also be intense at times. Remember that time right after you two met, and you asked if she had a boyfriend and she got all defensive and told you to mind your own business?" Finn nodded, sighing in defeat.

"What do we do then?" Rose asked, tapping her nails nervously on the table.

"Hire someone," Poe said as if it were obvious.

"Poe!" Finn gaped. "She's my best friend. I can't do that."

"You two wanna date don't you? Don't act like the thought never crossed your minds."

"He has a point," Rose said, gears in her brain turning.

"Rose, not you too," Finn grumbled, crossing his arms.

"That, or find someone who has things in common with her. Like that Ben Solo kid. You know the emo freak that everyone's afraid of on campus? He's an outcast and a total loner," Poe said.

"I heard he was such a trouble maker, his parents sent him away to live with his uncle in the middle of no where," Rose said under her breath.

"I heard he stabbed his father," Finn added, looking around as if Ben Solo would appear just at the mention of his name.

Poe shrugged. "Who knows."

"I've never met him though. I don't know what he looks like. He's a graduate student," Rose said.

"You would know him if you saw him. Trust me," Poe said, sipping his coffee loudly and sharing a look with Finn, both of them having run into the infamous student before. Poe, who was rather good humored had found himself in line at the dining hall once with Ben, his jokes not being well received when making conversation, Ben ignoring him entirely.

Fin thought back to first semester when he had Ben as a student teacher in his physics class, making sure to avoid eye contact at all times, not wanting to get on his bad side. Why was he even considering him as an option? The guy wasn't even gonna give them the time of day.

***

Finn and Rose climbed out his car, after parking outside the repair shop to pick up Rey from her shift. Her car broke down again on Saturday, so she was having Han and Chewie take a look at it for her. Apparently, a part was being shipped, so she was needing a ride for an undetermined amount of time. Finn had volunteered, hoping it might help sway her. Plus, it was the least he could do since she worked so hard all the time.

He and Rose were discussing their conversation with Poe when a tall guy with dark hair and grease stains on his hands and shirt was leaving one of the stalls to head home. "Oh my god. Is that--?" Finn said, halting Rose in her tracks.

Rose sized up the emo looking college student scrolling angrily on his phone, a deep scowl on his face. "If I was going to be afraid of anyone, I'd pick him," she said, watching the guy grumble under his breath. "Let's go talk to him."

***

Ben stared down at a message on his phone from the vender he had found for a new engine. He had already patched up the left wing, reupholstered the seats, maintained the propulsion systems and cleaned out the old fuel. The most expensive part was all that was left. The vender had asked for sixteen thousand dollars, and Ben had saved up just a little over that the past four years, and worked his butt off at his dad's shop to earn that money. His father hadn't replaced the engine in a decade. The plane was old, but when Ben turned eighteen, his father said it was his if he fixed it up. Ben had wanted nothing more in life than to fly planes like his old man, and this was how he would prove he was serious about it. Except, now the guy was asking for seventeen thousand.