Chapter Text
The heat is merciless.
Rey laments having to work on this sunny Saturday in this stifling, smelly garage with these assholes, but Unkar Plutt pays her better than bartending or waitressing, so she endures both the awful man (men) and work conditions.
Besides, she loves her machines. If she could afford an education, she would definitely study mechanics or something along those lines. She gets such huge satisfaction of seeing disparate parts come together and just… work. And no matter how complicated a machine is, there’s always a reason why it isn’t functional, and so far she’s always found the answer. So to her, they’re simple, easy to explain. It’s never a mystery for too long. Unlike her own state of mind.
She inhales slowly, deeply uncomfortable, wiping the sweat from her brows.
There’s a feeling in the pit of her stomach. It begins small but it grows steadily, until it becomes too strong to ignore. Like a pull of a magnet. Like a beckoning calling home. Like a string tied to her waist that insistently tugs and she wants to follow.
And she lifts her gaze.
A man is standing in the middle of the empty street, under the hard sun. He is tall and broad, pale skin and raven hair. He is wearing strange clothes, especially for this kind of weather: light blue cotton pants and a long sleeved buttoned up shirt with a white undershirt. He should be sweating under the awful heat but he isn’t, he looks impossibly comfortable in his attire. And he awkwardly stands there, mouth agape and wide-eyed, staring at her as if she were a ghost.
Normally, she would close off her expression, in hopes the guy would take the hint and fuck off.
But his face is so familiar, it’s like she knows him. And yet she’s never seen him in her life.
Time seems to slow down and close in around them.
The pull intensifies and she stands up, staring at him. Startled, he slightly recoils and his mouth trembles, but his intense eyes hold her gaze. They are haunted and deep, filled with emotions she can’t describe but she feels every single one of them. She wants to come closer and examine his fascinating face better, the alabaster skin contrasting so strongly with jet black hair and red lips so full and plump, she unconsciously licks her own.
“Girl!”
She turns around to the hateful figure of her boss calling her.
“What?” She spits.
“I’m not paying you to daydream!” He barks. “Get back to work.”
She narrows her eyes in annoyance and represses a growl. Not dignifying him with an answer, she turns back to lean over the engine and cables she needs to work on.
But when she looks at the street again, the man is gone.
She stares at the empty space he just occupied, her heart racing and her skin even hotter than it was before. The feeling in her belly fizzles out and it’s replaced by an emptiness that gnaws at her, like a hunger that can’t be sated.
She busies herself with her work, her mind elsewhere, lost in images of raven hair and full lips.
By the time Finn comes to pick her up, she realizes she’s gone through the day without a lunch break. Her stomach growls loudly as she takes the passenger seat.
Finn laughs. “You okay there, peanut?”
Rey forces a smile. “Yeah, I just… got distracted and forgot to eat.”
“Forgot to eat?” Finn repeats with a breathy laugh, genuinely surprised. “You? Forgot to eat?”
Rey sighs and her smile disappears, revealing her sour expression.
“Hey,” Finn turns to her while they wait for the green light at an intersection. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She replies, trying to relax her voice.
“Alright, don’t tell me,” he says teasingly, but when she doesn’t react, his grin disappears too, even if his tone is still light. “Can I interest you in a homemade meal then? Poe’s cooking tonight and we’d love to have you over. You can finally meet the new plants.”
Rey’s mood sours completely. She would love to see the plants but she doesn’t have the energy to spend a whole evening pretending she likes Poe and that everything is okay.
“If you say you don’t want to be the third wheel again I’ll kill you.” He says jokingly before she can think of a convincing answer.
“No, I...” she says, goosebumps making her scratch her arms. “I’m really tired… I just want to go home.”
“Okay,” he says, his tone a tad defensive. “No worries.”
There’s a pause where Finn sighs. “I miss you, you know?” He continues. “Just because I have a boyfriend now, it doesn't mean you're not my sister anymore.”
The conflicting emotions blurring her mind intensify and she actually considers jumping out of the moving car.
She’s usually good at diverting the subject through a convincing smile or excuse, but not today.
Thankfully Finn doesn’t press the matter. She only has to endure the silence, weighing heavily between them now.
They pull over in front of her apartment.
“I’m sorry, Finn...” She begins but trails off, unsure what to say.
“It’s okay, peanut,” Finn says wearily. “Go get some rest.”
“Thank you,” she says and she hates how small her voice sounds. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” Finn says a little too dryly and it leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.
She watches Finn’s car turn a corner and disappear, leaving her completely alone in the empty street.
Instead of climbing up the stairs to her apartment, she unlocks the side door of the warehouse where her car is parked with the other junk. She affectionately slides her hand over the hood of her dear broken down car. She thanks it secretly; the task of fixing it is the only thing able to distract her lately.
However, nothing can keep her mind off the feeling that’s still fluttering around in the pit of her stomach, from when she saw that guy. It’s not unpleasant, on the contrary, it’s a comfort for once. And her heart welcomes it.
She works on her car for an hour; she’s replaced the battery and now it’s only a matter of cleaning out the rust from the outside of the carburetor. She can’t wait to be able to drive to the overlook again.
“Soon, baby, soon.” She says to it, patting the hood after she closes it with a loud thud.
The building under her apartment has been empty for a while, just like most things in this part of town. The only sound on this Saturday evening is her feet dragging her up the stairs.
She turns the key.
The sun is setting and reaching deep across the living room and into the kitchen.
Her apartment is spacious, for the price she pays, which is not a lot. She can afford it even with Finn gone. The brick walls and industrial windows would fulfill the wildest dreams of the most hardcore hipster; the shitty neighbourhood, not so much.
Rey fills a cup with water and takes a few gulps while the watering can fills up.
First, she waters a monstera that she saved from a dumpster last week. Its foliage has already grown so much; she admires the baby leaves that were all curled up and are now unraveling and seeking the sunlight.
She turns to the other big one she owns but doesn’t know the name. It’s taller than her and only has a few large leaves that span at least two palms each.
She finishes her tour watering the plants in Finn’s old bedroom, which has more plants than any other room in the house.
Rey rubs her chest, now regretting having said no to Finn. Maybe she should have gone, made an effort…
Strawberry jam over a white bread is all she can stomach and she eats it while drawing a bath.
She pours in the salt and some bubble bath. Stripping to her skin, she steps in and settles into the tepid water. It relaxes her body completely, pulling a long moan from her throat, the fatigue of the day being washed away.
But when she closes her eyes, she sees dark ones along with pale skin and raven hair. How tall was that guy? He was big, at least 6 feet. She bets he could manhandle her until she’s wet enough for him to fuck her, but he wouldn’t, not yet, he would lick her pussy first, make her come once, maybe twice with two, maybe three fingers buried inside her. Then he would fuck her nice and hard. She’d let him come wherever he wanted.
She comes on her fingers in the water, biting her lips and quietly moaning through her nose.
Strange clothes, those light blue ones, she thinks afterwards. And why wasn’t he sweating at all? A guy that size under that sun?
Those dark eyes. She’s seen them before. Except she hasn’t.
She stays there until her hands and feet have pruned completely and the water goes cold. She has to convince her body to cooperate after being so comfortable suspended in the water.
Going through her nightly routine as fast as she can, she plops in her bed under the feeble ceiling fan, naked, thinking about big, soft hands all over her body.
~*~
Sunday, she goes to the park in a desperate attempt to avoid her empty apartment.
She has her phone in her hand with an unread text from Finn inviting her for brunch from three hours ago.
She can’t afford it, anyway. And Finn would make a fuss about paying for her and oh god Poe probably would too and that would be just perfect.
There are birds everywhere and a lot of people have come to see them. It annoys her that they feed the animals even though there are signs everywhere saying you’re not supposed to because otherwise you’ll create dependent birds or something.
She feels like an idiot, sitting here at the park completely alone, watching birds.
The feeling in her stomach tugs again. She gasps and her eyes scan around her until they land on a figure standing only a few meters from her.
Same clothes from yesterday, same stunned expression.
Rey gets up. A violent thrill runs up her spine and she shivers despite the summer heat. The string pulls her to him again. The strangeness and power of it all could have alarmed her but all she can think about is his warm brown eyes.
They stare at each other for a moment until she finds her words again.
“Who are you?” She asks in a whisper.
“How…” His voice is like velvet, soft and comforting. And the flutter in her chest is so familiar, like she recognizes the way he sounds. “How are you here?”
Her brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
His mouth opens and closes around words that won’t come out.
When she comes closer he flinches, so she halts.
He is beautiful. His features are strange but together they make up the most fascinating face she’s ever seen. But it’s more than that.
Her lips turn into a tentative smile and her hand fidgets on her side, willing to reach out to him.
A loud noise of birds squawking behind her makes her turn around and when she looks again, he’s gone.
She scans her surroundings looking for him but can’t find him.
Why did he run away from her? And how? Where did he go?
Confused, she rubs her chest reflexively to abate the sudden feeling of loss that assaults her.
She’s a little hurt on top of everything. She remembers ghost stories and chuckles, incredulous at her own silly thoughts. Maybe she’s gone a little crazy after all.
~*~
Rey’s week passes with her working herself to the bone as always. She keeps glancing at the street however, hoping to see him but he doesn’t show up.
The rides home with Finn are spent with her purposefully asking questions about him: how are classes going? Is that professor still giving you a hard time? How’s work?
He answers them all, his usual energy missing from his voice. He’s not mad at her, she knows, but there’s disappointment there and she wants to shove it away in a box, bury it and pour concrete over it.
Exhausted, she collapses on her couch, ready to spend hours just lying there.
But the string pulls at her for the first time in a week and she sits up.
The man is standing there in her living room where he wasn’t a second ago.
She screams and recoils, until her back painfully collides with the not so soft cushion of the arm of her couch.
He gasps and steps backwards, his hands in a defensive gesture.
“What… the fuck…” she breathes out. “How the fuck… how…”
He just stands there, looking startled and worried.
“How did you get into my apartment?” She yells.
“I-I… what? Apartment?” He mumbles.
“You just…” she hesitates, searching for the right word. “Popped up!”
“Y-you… you too… Every time.”
“What do you mean?” She says, exasperated, and rubs her back, groaning.
“You okay?” He asks.
She looks up, almost surprised at the question. “Yeah…”
She should be terrified at a guy who looks like he could break her in half with his bare hands that magically appeared in her living room.
But the feeling insists and pulls her to him and her body relaxes, the surprise being replaced by comfort and warmth. There’s not a trace of fear in her heart.
“Are you here?” He asks breathily, his eyes round and soft. “Are you here with me?”
She’s not sure what he means. “You’re here with me…” She answers just as softly.
“I can’t see your surroundings,” he says, looking around, then his brows rise when he focuses on her. “Just you.”
Puzzled and fascinated, Rey stares at him. “So… you’re not here?” She asks. “Where is here for you?”
His face falls and he gulps. But he has no time to answer because he simply vanishes into thin air.
That dull sadness hits her again, stronger than any shock at the fact that a person just disappeared in front of her eyes.