Chapter Text
Ren shifted about his small, overcrowded room looking to put together some ensemble decent enough for him to go out to school in. He pushed away stray bits of fabrics clumsily with his feet so he could make his way to the closet on the other side of the room. As he pulled it open, it creaked in protest and he let out an annoyed huff before flicking through the rack of frayed and hand-me down clothes with the occasional odd-looking piece of clothing Ren had attempted to create himself; he still hadn’t gotten sewing quite right and made a mental note to get help from Phasma the next time he made the attempt. Pulling an old black turtle neck from the confines of his closet along with a pair of overalls that Phasma had given to him which he had decidedly dyed black which was, surprisingly, less of a failure than his experiments with a sewing machine. After changing into the clothes that hung off of his frame slightly – he was still a little shorter than Phasma – he closed the closet door and looked into the dirty mirror that hung upon it. Carefully, Ren painted his full lips red and took his time applying a small amount of eye make-up around his deep brown eyes. Once finished, he made his way downstairs, deciding to leave his mess of black curls the way it was – besides Phasma had always told him that his unruly hair was attractive.
“Dad! Wake up! It’s seven-thirty!” Ren called as he bounded down the rickety stairs that creaked and groaned with every step. He sighed when he received no response, “Dad!” He called again, walking through the kitchen and putting on the coffee maker for his father before pushing his way into his room with an annoyed sound, stomping over to the window and opening the stained blinds to allow some sun into the dark room. His dad had always had problems getting up since Ren’s mother had left them, he hadn’t even gotten a job and he spent most of his time in bed or drinking and, as much as Ren loved his dad, it was getting ridiculous. Ren cleared his throat as he sat down at the edge of his father’s bed, nudging him hard, “Wake up,” he said sharply, his shoulders dropping in relief when he finally began to stir, waking up with a displeased grunt and sitting up slowly.
“I put the coffee on,” Ren commented, resisting the urge to roll his eyes when his father only grunted in response, “You should shower, you have that job interview later,” He commented as he looked around the messy room.
“I know,” Han grumbled, not sounding at all enthusiastic about the idea of a job interview. It didn’t surprise Ren in the slightest.
“You promised,” Ren reminded sharply as he looked back at his dad, a stern look on his face. He would not be happy if his dad skipped out on yet another job interview. He wouldn’t be shocked, but he would be disappointed.
“Stop nagging me, kid,” Han muttered as he shifted back on his pillows, huffing out a laugh when he earned an eye-roll from his son, “You’ve been gettin’ in pretty late, I haven’t had a chance to talk to you.”
“Its fine, I’ve just been working,” Ren assured his dad as he pushed hair off of his face, looking out the window as he shifted awkwardly on the bed. He hated these uncomfortable conversations with his dad and did his best to avoid them at all cost.
“Yeah? How’re you? How’s school? Is school good?” Han asked.
“No, but it’s always crap anyway,” Ren said with a roll of his eyes, wishing his dad would just drop the conversation and get up already.
“You ask anyone to prom yet?”
“No,” Ren said sternly as he stood up, “Just get up, dad,” He said exasperatedly as he made his way out of his dad’s bedroom, “I’m gonna be late for school.” He grumbled, earning a gruff laugh from his father.
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes again – honestly he was going to strain the muscles in his eyes if it keeps going on like that – Ren sat down and shoved on worn black Doc Martins that had a slightly hole forming at the toe of them and frayed laces which he desperately tried to ignore. He bought them second-hand from some thrift shop, it wasn’t surprising they were falling apart, but he certainly could not afford a new pair of boots any time soon. Unless, of course, his father decided not to blow off the job interview and actually started to work instead of lying in bed drunk on alcohol Ren’s pay-check paid for.
He took a deep breath, standing up and grabbing his car keys from the coffee table before pushing his way out of the front door, making his way towards his car. His car was a 1978 AMC Concord his father had bought him for his eighteenth birthday with money his mother had sent them for ‘child support’. It was too small for Ren who was pushing six foot three and was an ugly brown colour but it was the best they could afford, as he turned the key in the ignition he had to press the rewind button on the cassette player because, for some fucking reason, it wouldn’t start otherwise. As the crappy car finally began to start, Ren let out a relieved sigh, there was no way he could afford to get the car fixed any time soon so he supposed he should appreciate that the car was simply quirky.
Walking up the stairs of the school, Ren stayed out of the way of people and hurried towards his locker, needing to take out a few books before heading to class. Humming slightly to himself, he put in the combination and pulled the locker open albeit a tad too hard, causing a couple students to flinch and a blush to make its way up to Ren’s cheeks before focusing back on the contents of his locker.
Once he’d managed to take all of his books out he was met with his best friend, Poe Dameron, waiting for him and leaning against the locker making Ren feel slightly more normal. Poe’s appearance was similar to his own, though he hadn’t dressed as dark. He wore round sunglasses along with an old brown leather jacket that Ren knew had belonged to his father before he passed. His jeans were old hand-me downs from his Foster siblings and his shirt was just as ragged as Ren’s overalls.
“Hi, Poe,” Ren said with a small smile on his lips, gesturing for the other boy to walk along with him to class. They had been best friends for as long as they could remember, Leia had been good friends with the Damerons before they passed away and they had practically grown up together. They went through everything together, coming out to each other and even when Poe had had an awkward crush on Ren Freshman year. “Are you gonna go to class today?” He asked in a teasing tone as they walked together, weaving through the other students and having to speak loudly over their chatter.
“Hmm, not sure I’m ready for that,” Poe joked with a small smirk, his hands shoved in his pockets.
“I’m sure it’ll be painless. Y’know… If Finn’s there.” Ren retorted as he quirked a brow at his friend suggestively, a ghost of a satisfied smirk slipping onto his lips as he watched a blush bloom its way up to Poe’s cheeks. Just as the other boy was about to respond, the bell chimed loudly throughout the corridor signalling that it was time for class, “Sorry, I have to go, I’ll see you at lunch.” He said quickly before weaving awkwardly through the other students and leaving Poe behind.
“I’ll go make reservations at the cafeteria then! Two by the window good?” Poe called back to Ren, causing him to huff out a laugh and shake his head in disbelief as he bit back a smile. His friend was a complete dork.
At the end of the day Ren was quick to make his way to his car, his last class of the day running over and causing him to already be running late for work. He had to bite back an annoyed groan when he saw Snoke standing by his car, leaning against the driver’s door and making it impossible for Ren to get into the car without talking to him.
“Ren, you look beautiful as always,” Snoke purred in a tone that made Ren’s skin crawl and his body tense.
“Snoke, move, I need to get into my car I’m running late,” Ren said sternly as he pulled his books closer to his chest anxiously.
“Y’know, we graduate soon and I was wondering… When are you finally gonna let me bed you?” Snoke asked casually, as if it was his basic human right to sleep with every queer boy in the school.
“How about never?” Ren retorted as he pulled his keys from his pocket and attempted to shove the other boy to the side so he could unlock his car. He was not in the mood.
“Y’know, I’ve liked you for years and you still treat me like shit,” Snoke said as Ren pulled the door open and caused him to stumble away from the car.
“That’s because you are shit, Snoke.” Ren said as he rolled his eyes and slipped into his car, slamming the door shut and causing the old car to rattle the slightest. He took a moment to breathe, knowing that if he didn’t he would try to run Snoke over and being put in jail before graduation was not the best idea.
At work, Ren sat behind the desk of the record shop sketching in an old notebook, Reckless Records, as named by his boss; Phasma who was stood in her six inch heels putting up a new poster on the other side of the shop. She was a very intimidating woman, already six foot three without her heels on and ready to kick anyone’s ass who looked at her the wrong way. Ren really admired her, in a time where being openly gay was seen as taboo Phasma went to Pride parades and protested outside any homophobic asshole’s house. She’d even told Ren stories about the times she’d been arrested for it, back in England, where she used to live, as well as in the US. She was kind of like a surrogate mother to Ren, now that he hadn’t a mother to talk to and his father was too awkward to hold a conversation with, especially when it came to things like dating.
“Hey, Phas,” He called over to her, the shop empty save a couple of boys who were most likely freshmen - Ren could vaguely recognise their faces, “Did you go your prom?” He asked curiously, tapping his pencil against his sketchpad absentmindedly.
Phasma nodded slightly to herself, “Yeah, I did,” She said with a small smile, looking over at Ren, “I went with Hux.” She said with a small huff of laughter.
Ren smiled at that thought. He knew Hux, he came in from time to time to buy records or pick Phasma up from work. The two were housemates and moved to the US together, Hux was some big shot businessman which was impressive seeing as the guy was only twenty one years old and, maybe, Ren was harbouring a bit of a crush on the slightly older man but really who could blame him? He halted his thoughts on Hux quickly, reminding himself that he was in the middle of a conversation with his boss. “Was it awful?”
“It was the worst,” Phasma said honestly, “I would’ve preferred to have gone with a girl but y’know… Thatcher.” She went on, wrinkling her nose. Ren knew little about British politics but he did know that the Prime Minister was homophobic because that was all Phasma talked about whenever the topic of politics came up.
He hummed slightly, glaring at a kid who gawked when Phasma mentioned the idea of taking a girl to prom, causing him to flinch and look away from their conversation. “I mean, part of me wants to go and get it over with but another part of me wants to blow off the whole thing,” Ren said with a small sigh, leaning back in his chair.
“I’d go if I were you,” Phasma said honestly, “And if you don’t like it, you can leave,” She added, walking over to Ren and sitting down next to him, giving his shoulder a slight reassuring squeeze, “I just don’t want you to… Not go and then regret it.”
Ren nodded slowly in understanding, he supposed that maybe Phasma was right… He could go to the dance with Poe, knowing he wouldn’t have the guts to ask Hux to go with him. He would, no doubt, laugh in his face before telling him that he would never want to be caught dead with him.
As soon as that thought had crossed his mind, the bell chimed signalling another customer entering the shop causing Ren to jolt in surprise in his seat and turn to face the person who had entered. As he caught site of red hair his breath caught in the back of his throat and it took all he had not to fall off of his chair.
The person, of course, was Hux and Ren was not expecting him to show up at the shop until much later. He leaned against the counter, all long legs and perfectly combed red hair with a suit that fit him perfectly and caused Ren’s mouth to water. He was attractive, unbelievably so, and Ren believed that he could actually cut himself on the man’s cheekbones. He briefly watched Hux and Phasma talk, taking in the older man’s appearance and flushing deeply when he was caught – bright green eyes meeting his own with a curious expression. He was probably wondering why the hell Ren was staring, though it was a common occurrence, the younger boy couldn’t help but stare whenever he had the chance even if he wasn’t confident enough to make a move and knew very well that Hux would never bother with someone like him. Ren bit back a dreamy sigh as Hux walked away to look at records, leaning against the counter as he watched him from behind.
“Stop drooling, Ren,” Phasma chided teasingly, smirking when Ren shot a glare at her as his cheeks began to heat up.
“I’m not drooling,” He grumbled with a roll of his eyes, looking back down at his sketchbook and going back to his drawing as he tried to will away any thoughts about how well fitted the suit pants were on Hux’s amazing ass.
Silence slowly passed throughout the shop and Phasma had decided to go out for a smoke, leaving Ren in charge of the shop while she left and also leaving him alone in the shop with Hux - He could have sworn she had done it on purpose just to mess with him.
“Ren,” A voice interrupted from in front of the counter, startling Ren from his thoughts and causing him to drop his pencil onto the ground.
“Shit,” Ren cursed as he bent down to pick it up quickly, snatching it from the ground, and sitting back up with flushed cheeks and a bewildered expression, “Oh, hi, Hux.” He managed breathlessly when he finally made eye contact with the man who had interrupted his thoughts.
To Ren’s surprise, Hux smiled at him almost fondly, “Hello,” He said in that clipped British accent of his that made the younger man weak in the knees thanking God that he was sitting down.
“Can I… Help you?” Ren asked hesitantly, putting his sketchbook down on the counter infront of him and leaning on it with his elbows as he looked up at Hux.
“I- Yeah,” Hux decided with a nod, “Yes,” He added in a more professional tone, “What do you recommend?”
Ren’s eyes widened slightly at that, bit his bottom lip, clearly taken off guard by the question. Hux rarely spoke to him, let alone asked him for record suggestions. He almost missed when the other man’s eyes seemed to flicker down to his lips on their own accord, “What do I recommend?” He asked slowly, clarifying that he had not hallucinated and this was an actual thing that was happening to him. “Well, Um… Gentlemen Take Palaroid’s by Japan? Or maybe…. Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam and the Ants?” He suggested, knowing it wasn’t really Hux’s type of music. He had asked for Ren’s recommendation after all.
Hux just nodded at the recommendations before heading off towards the records once more, leaving a perplexed Ren sitting behind the counter watching him with a look of confusion especially when he returned not two minutes later with two records in his hand, placing them on the counter.
“You’re getting both of them?” Ren asked, looking from the records back at Hux with his brows furrowed as he tried understand what the hell was going on. He bit back a sigh when the other man just simply nodded. Frustrating. Hot, but unbelievably frustrating. “Cash or charge?” He asked as he totalled the prices.
“Cash,” Hux responded as he took out his wallet, handing Ren a twenty before picking up the two records from the counter, “You can keep the change,” He brushed off before sweeping towards the door.
Ren gaped slightly in both shock and confusion, “Wait, aren’t you picking up Phasma?” He called back to Hux, still holding the folded dollar bill in his hand.
Hux simply let out a small laugh that sent a shiver up Ren’s spine and made his knees feel weak, “No, Ren, Phasma has a date tonight.” He called back before slipping out the door without another word.