Chapter Text
FRIDAY
Pale dawn light streamed over Rey’s face and she blinked slowly awake, comfortable and warm on her left hand side. The room was dim and quiet. Still sleepy, she sighed, snuggling back into her pillow, cozy and soft against her cheek, sure she’d be asleep again in no time.
When one minute passed and she was still awake, and then another, she was forced to investigate what prevented her from falling back asleep.
Her legs were warm but her arm was cold. The sheet must be covering her unevenly. Lifting her head to get a look, she shivered in surprise. Things had changed overnight. Things being the relative position of her and Ben’s bodies. In the warm light of day, they lay facing each other. And Rey shuddered in a confluence of emotion, not sure if anything had ever felt so right and yet been so unfortunately wrong.
Her cozy pillow was Ben’s bicep, his arm curled under her neck. The warmth of her legs was due to them being sandwiched between his. And he was touching her—holding her—very, very close.
The heel of his hand lay heavily on her hip, firm and comfortable, like he owned the space; long fingers rested on the swell of her bare curves as her nightshirt bunched up under her ribs. Her hands curled into his chest, under his t-shirt.
How had that happened?
Reassured by his regular breathing, she dared to move her chin and look at him. She met the sight of his soft lips, relaxed in sleep, open and utterly kissable. She squeezed her eyes shut. If she could fall asleep right now, she’d have plausible deniability. This could be a dream, and probably was: the happy dream of a lonely, touch-starved girl, awaking in the arms of a man who’d never looked at her twice.
Definitely a dream.
Though her eyes were shut, her brain refused to be silenced. What time was it? How angry would Ben be if he woke up right now? Would the Elvis next door worry about her, when she wasn’t there to take her shower this morning?
The thought of her duet partner and the memory of his lovely, calming voice helped her drift back to sleep, or, more accurately, stay asleep. Because she was dreaming. She was asleep and dreaming because she could hear her neighbor’s voice softly singing in her ear.
“This is my heaven, being here with you. Make it last forever…” More Elvis, of course. “This is my heaven. It’s a dream come true. Make it last forever…”
She sighed, melting further into her reverie. Ben’s warmth mixed with her neighbor’s soothing voice singing words she’d always longed to hear. Forever. He said forever. It was perfect. He was perfect.
“Come to me now and take my hand. This is the paradise I plan. You’re like an angel sent from up above. Let’s stay close together; you brought me heaven when I shared your love.”
His voice flowed so sweetly and Rey gave herself over to the fantasy, humming along until, in the sleepy haze of morning, everything faded peacefully away. Sliding further into Ben’s arms, her lips brushed his collarbone as she dozed off. The singer faltered, his voice breaking on a gasp and Rey’s eyes flew open.
“Ben?” she whispered, gently sliding her hands down his chest, to extract them from his t-shirt. “Ben, are you awake?”
Maybe he wasn’t and she could release him as she should have already and he’d think this was a dream. Maybe he was half-asleep and unsure of reality. He sighed and snuffled closer, wrapping his arm all the way around her. He must be asleep.
Carefully pulling her hands away, her fingers pressed against his abdomen and she felt large muscles, flat and smooth, beneath her palms. Her fingers twitched into the soft skin of his belly and she heard a sharp intake of breath. Now he was definitely awake.
“Rey?” he rasped. The scratch and savor of his voice rumbled down Rey’s spine to her core; her thighs trembled where they lay, bent and relaxed between Ben’s knees. “Are you tickling me?”
She inhaled deeply, suppressing a giggle of panic, relishing his warmth before he inevitably took it away.
“Good morning, Ben.” Her voice was nearly as rough as his.
Slowly, very slowly, Ben straightened his arms and legs. Rey did the same, tugging her nightshirt below her hips as best she could. Disentangled but separated by inches, except for her toes, which still brushed his shins, Rey couldn’t bring herself to move any further; Ben wasn’t moving anymore, either.
“I’m sorry—” he began. His hand hovered over her shoulder.
“Please don’t apologize.” Her whispered words fell from lips less than two inches from his neck. “Please, Ben.” She felt him nod, his cheek moving against her hair. “I’m not—I’m not sorry—”
“Rey,” he started again. “There’s something I have to tell you—” He squeezed her arm, bringing her hand to his shoulder as his fingers wrapped around her wrist.
“Were you singing?” she interrupted, nearly breathless, as her mind pieced together the hazy memories of her dream. Her fingers curled into the collar of his t-shirt and she bent her head back to inspect his face with sleepy, searching eyes. “Earlier, or just now? Was I dreaming?”
“Rey—” He looked down to catch her eyes with his and she smiled, seeing his hair curling wildly in all directions and she stifled the urge to tame his bed head with her fingers. His nose bumped hers. “Let me explain.”
“Alright,” she agreed, stroking his jaw, enjoying the rasp of his morning scruff against the pull of her fingertips. She prepared to hear his explanation.
Instead, he kissed her.
With a sigh, his thumb caressed her throat, pressing gently as his lips moved over hers with focused delicacy. Slowly but surely the kiss grew hot, sweet honey caramelized by licks of fire, and she whimpered against the ache bubbling deep within her. Moving on instinct, her arms clung desperately to his solid body, but he grounded her, keeping her spiraling mind in the moment. He was kissing her. His generous, demanding mouth surrounded hers, pulling and pressing in equal measure, sipping from her lips until her body rippled against his and she fell away from the kiss with a cry.
Rolling her back in his arms, securing her against him, belly to belly, he reclaimed her kiss with an insistence she welcomed. Opening her mouth to admit his lower lip, she inhaled deeply, breathing in his air, before taking the plunge. He engulfed her mouth, swallowed her tongue, sucked her soft lips; she invited him to possess her with laps of her tongue against his.
Rey could have happily kissed him forever, let him use her open mouth for whatever he desired, but eventually, he did pull back. She did her best to conceal her pout.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you in your adorable green apron at the coffee shop,” he whispered.
She blinked, her lips open in shock and he kissed her again before she pulled back in confusion.
“What? Why didn’t you?”
He groaned. “Ask a cute barista for her number? No, I couldn’t have you thinking I was a creep. I contented myself with admiring you from a distance—”
“For three months, Ben?” Now that he was in her arms, distance seemed unacceptable. How could he?
He held her face steady with gentle fingers. “When you weren’t there on Monday, and the girl behind the counter said you didn’t work there anymore, I was devastated. Angry at myself for missing my chance.” His fingers traced her cheekbones, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I thought I’d never see you again. But there you were, in my office, so professional and lovely and— and I kept hurting you, kept embarrassing myself. I thought for sure I’d ruined any chance I might have had—”
“The way you acted, I thought you hated me!”
His eyes turned liquid. “And I’ll never forgive myself for how I treated you, you didn’t deserve it. I have no excuse except I panicked when you told Rose you’d been singing in the shower—sung a duet with your neighbor—and it was the strangest thing Rey, because that morning, I’d also had an duet with my neighbor, while showering—”
Everything fell silent as Rey inhaled sharply, memories flashing behind her unfocused eyes. Ben, spilling coffee—her neighbor, singing All Shook Up. Ben running away, the presentations falling to the ground, and Paralyzed. Ben’s tie in the shredder and Love Me Tender. Rey, not making the connections until—
“It was you?” Rey blinked at him as he hesitantly nodded. A riot of sensation shot through her. Elation primarily, but irritation, overwhelmingly. She growled through her teeth, more for show than for anything, as she rolled him to his back and straddled his hips. “Why didn’t you say anything!” Her fingers yanked playfully at the shoulders of his t-shirt, jostling him.
“I thought it was too late.” His throat contracted and his face flushed with regret. “I was so awful to you that first day, I thought I’d ruined everything.”
She sighed loudly, her frustration bubbling up and over. “No, Ben. You hadn’t.” She scowled and kissed his nose a touch too rough as he continued.
“I can’t tell you how terrified I was when you said you were going to knock on your neighbor’s door—”
She silenced him by sucking roughly on his earlobe, scraping it with her teeth until he seemed nearly out of his mind, his body taut beneath hers. She released it with a wet pop.
Frowning, she brushed his hair back from his forehead. “I’m still mad you didn’t come to the door when I knocked.”
“That was… a mistake,” he admitted, his chest heaving with deep breaths as he recovered from Rey’s tongue on his ear. “But the thought of seeing you there, when I was sure you’d be disappointed in— in this particular twist of fate? I couldn’t risk it, Rey. If you’d been unhappy, it would have ended me.”
She wrapped her arm further around his neck, bringing him impossibly closer, and she rubbed her knees against his sides, his muscles a wall of warmth she couldn’t wait to break against.
“But what if I hadn’t been unhappy, Ben? Things could have been different.” She tugged on his hair. “We could have showered together yesterday morning,” she whispered directly in his ear.
The groan escaping his lips did very good things for Rey’s ego and she teasingly sighed in faux disappointment as she pulled back.
“I guess we’ll have to see what happens…” She shrugged coquettishly, amazed she had the power to tease him when all she wanted was to stay in bed with him forever. What had he sung? Take my hand… Let’s stay close together… Rey liked the sound of that.
Smirking, Ben easily rolled them, the sofa bed mattress squeaking in offense as he switched their positions. He trapped her legs between his, his strong arms surrounding her. With another slow, drugging kiss he raised her hands above her head and settled some of his weight on her hips. She was delirious, warm and happy. He looked at her curiously.
“Rey, do you remember seeing the tree hit the bridge?” His nose nudged hers, meandering across her freckles like a lazy river path.
“Of course,” she nodded, her eyes clouding with the memory. “Unbelievable. I’ll never forget it. What it looked like, or how it made me feel.”
He kissed her cheek. “How did it make you feel?”
“It was terrifying,” she emphasized, remembering how Ben had held her so securely. “But also powerfully thrilling. I’ll remember it the rest of my life.”
Ben’s grin was satisfied and his tone was serious. “That’s what it was like for me, the first time I saw you,” he murmured against her lips. “And again, when you appeared in the break room on Monday.” Another kiss. “That’s how I felt when I heard you telling Rose you thought your neighbor’s voice was sexy.” He paused, smiling against one of her dimples. “Overwhelmed. The feelings rushed in.” His lips settled into a shy grin. “I couldn’t help falling in love with you.”
“Ben,” Rey shivered, his words reminding her of a familiar song she was sure he knew, too. A rush of liquid feeling went coursing through her veins as she softly sang up at him. “Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling, so it goes. Some things are meant to be.”
His smile took her breath away, so he took up the song. “Take my hand, take my whole life, too, for I can’t help falling in love with you.”
With a roll of his hips, he captured her mouth with his, silencing the lyrics. Even so, the melody persisted throughout the morning—in his groans and her sighs—until the sun had fully risen on a day, a week, a life scrubbed fresh and full of promise.