Chapter Text
“There you are!”
Finn sprinted forward when he finally saw the orange and white droid. He had been searching for awhile, along side Poe and Snap, and now that they finally found BB-8 he didn’t want to waste anymore time.
“Ok BB-8, tell us everything about Rey.”
BB-8 didn’t respond to Finn right away. Instead, the droid turned to Poe and sent off a few beeps his way.
“What was that?” Finn asked Poe.
Instead of responding to Finn, Poe kept the conversation going with the small droid.
“Hey buddy we just want you to help out with this riddle.”
BB-8 replied with a few beeps out of confusion.
“Sure you can. It involves Finn and Rey.”
That statement changed the droid’s composure. BB-8 looked over a Finn for a moment before turning back to Poe and gave a few beeps with a shake of the head.
Poe was taken back by this. “What do you mean you can’t help?”
“What?” Finn said angrily. “Hey who’s side are you on, the guys or the girls?”
BB-8 slowly rolled back and shook it’s head, giving off a few more beeps in defense.
“See this is why I don’t talk to the machines I work on” Snap interjected. “The clues just keep coming. Sometimes you just got to get the tools and crack the code yourself.
A never ending series of beeps went off as BB-8 dashed off at the speed of light.
“What the heck was that?” Poe yelled at Snap.
“Hey I was just giving a suggestion. I would’ve put it back together.”
Finn was ready to tear his hair out of his head. Every time he felt he was getting closer to the answer, there was another setback.
“I knew this wasn’t a code. That didn’t even make sense. It’s a game and BB-8 is on their side.”
“Yeah and probably on it’s way to Rey now.”
The 3 men looked at each other in a dawn of realization.
“Kriff!”
Finn ran as fast as he could with Poe and Snap behind him. When he finally caught BB-8 he realized he was too late and it already found Rey.
“Rey, hey” he said nervously as they came to a quick stop.
Rey stood surprised, only just after she exited the mess hall, BB-8 rolled up to her and hid behind her legs for defense once the guys arrived.
“What’s going on, why’s BB-8 acting all frightened?”
Finn tried to hide his panic. In a haste, he said the first thing he could come up with.
“Uh no reason. Poe was just trying to ask a question and it all came out wrong” he said elbow shoving the pilot next to him.
“Ah yeah that’s right”
Poe kneeled down and put on a genuine smile for his droid friend.
“Buddy, my bad for upsetting you. I promise I’ll explain things later. Are we good?”
The ball shaped droid looked up at Rey who gave an encouraging smile. Looking over, the others wore a smile that matched, but BB-8 knew the truth. BB-8 slowly rolled next to Poe and an instant, sped off in the distance in a blaze of orange and white.
“What was that about?” Rey asked Poe.
Poe forced a small laugh before replying, “Ah no problem we do this all the time” he lied.
“Are you sure? Don’t you want to find BB-8 and talk it out?”
“Oh no I’m going to see this thing through” he said looking at Finn.
Rey was confused at the statement.
“See what through.”
Finn gave Poe another elbow shove, much harder this time to match the glare. They were almost caught and he wasn’t quite sure if he should tell Rey the truth.
“What Poe was referring to were the plans for later” he lied.
“What’s up?”
Seeing Rey’s interest, Finn began to panic. This time he felt an elbow shove come from Poe, who gave him a look as a reminder of the situation.
“Actually, I was gonna hang with the guys tonight” Finn said quickly.
“Oh. What are you gonna do?”
“We’re gonna uh, we’re gonna...”
Finn looked back for help. Luckily Snap did quick thinking.
“Watch the game!” he blurted out.
“Yes!” Finn agreed out of desperation. “Exactly. I am going to hang with the guys tonight and we are gonna watch the game.”
Rey was curious, “What game?”
“Oh it’s big. It’s the um, what’s it called again Snap?”
This time Snap began to hesitate, not expecting being put on the spot. However, Poe made the save.
“Podracers!” The captain blurted out. “There’s been a few guys having a little tournament going on and tonights a big race.”
“Oh that’s sounds like fun!”
“No!” Finn nearly shouted. “I mean it’s just gonna be a bunch of dudes. I mean you know how we are” he forced a laugh.
Rey’s face dropped and Finn felt guilty.
“Maybe next time?” he offered.
“That’s ok.”
Huh? Finn thought.
As Rey walked by him, Finn remembered how the last time she said that line the vibe between them changed. He didn’t want things to get worse so without thinking, he took he reached out and took her hand.
“Hey you good?” he asked her.
“Yeah Finn have fun with your friends. I’m fine.”
…
Rey walked off in the distance and Finn could only stand and watch as a cold chill swift through his body.
“Burr. There it is again” Snap said, rubbing his arms together for warmth.
“Yeah I felt it this time too” Poe agreed. “Maybe it’s some trick with the Force?”
Finn shook his head slowly. His thoughts going a thousand miles in his head. The whole day had been confusing but he knew one thing for sure.
“That was not the Force.”
“Well it has to be” Poe said. “How else would you explain it?”
Snap clapped his hands together. “Maybe she used the Force to give you another clue.”
“No” Finn said quietly.
“I tell ya, this girl is skilled with the riddles” Poe said.
“No” Finn said, getting frustrated.
“I’m writing it dow-”
“That’s it! Forget this!” Finn shouted and took off and the direction of Rey.
Poe and Snap stood shocked for a moment at Finn’s outburst. They took a look at each other before deciding to follow him.
Finn ran up and found Rey only to see she was not alone, but with BB-8, Jessika, and General Organa.
“Rey, Rey!” he called out as he made his way up to her.
“What?” she asked, clearly peeved.
Finn noticed the irritation but decided enough was enough, he needed to talk to her now. Still, as Poe and Snap came up behind him, he noticed how much of an audience they had.
“Uh, do you think we can talk in private?”
Rey folded her arms. “Anything you have to say, you can say it now Finn.”
The older women behind her copied her gesture as if they were testing Finn. Finn began to feel the pressure building.
“Well hey I don’t know why you’re mad at me” Finn said in defense.
“Oh I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you keep ditching me!” Rey shot back.
“That’s just because I was trying to win the game!”
Rey dropped her arms confused. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you and your riddles. Or your codes, or whatever. All the hints, clues, messages, I can’t take it anymore!”
“What? I haven’t done any of that.”
“Yes you have.”
“We have-”
“Forget the notes Poe!” Finn yelled.
Poe took a step back and hid his pad behind him. Meanwhile, Rey felt like she was losing her mind.
“Finn I don’t know what you’re saying. It’s like you’re speaking a different language.”
“Me? No I’m speaking normal. You’re the one being all confusing. Like what you did earlier when we were working on the X-Wing.”
“That?” She asked surprised. “That was nothing.”
“Yeah, right” he said sarcastically.
Rey threw her hands up. “I don’t believe this. All this just because of something I said?”
“Well it’s not what you said, it’s the way you said it.”
…
After that last statement silence filled the air. Finn and Rey took in the conversation and stared at each other a moment longer. Until they both burst out laughing.
Their laughs filled the air. It was as if they both mutually realized the ridiculousness the day had been for them. More than anything, they both were relieved to laugh with each other for the first time since morning.
Rey finally composed herself. “Wait. So why are we arguing?” she asked honestly unsure of they got so tense just moments before.
“I don’t even know” Finn replied. His laughter died down and he scratched his head in thought for a moment. Given all the crazy conversations of the day, he figured he finally settle for a simple one.
“Look Rey, I like you, a lot actually.”
Though Rey was no longer laughing, her smiled stayed. A smile the matched the brightness of her eyes after hearing Finn’s confession.
“I like you too Finn”
Suddenly, Rey gave another chuckle out of relief.
“Wow. I wish I could of just said that a lot sooner.”
“Me too” Finn agreed.
Rey took a step closer, nearly closing the gap between them.
“We shouldn’t play games. Let’s just be honest with each other.”
Finn’s eyes sparked up. “So it was a game. I knew it!”
“Finn” she warned.
“Right” he quickly adjusted, not wanting to ruin the moment. “So what do you say?”
Finn wrapped his arms around Rey’s waste and she gladly leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned even closer and gave him a soft kiss on the lips, to which he gladly followed.
An applause was heard and the two stopped kissing to be reminded that they were surrounded by their friends. The claps and cheers from everyone kept going in joy and celebration.
“I say, you won the game.”