Work Text:
12:34 PM
On a Monday
“Bloody hells, is it raining more now?” questions Rey, leaning closer to the windshield of the car. Thick summer raindrops pelt the car as it drives down the busy street.
“Looks like it,” Poe responds, adjusting the speed of his windshield wipers.
Rey leans back into her seat, looks at the speedometer, “Poe, we’re gonna be late if you keep going that slow.”
“You sure I should be taking suggestions from you, Speed Demon?”
Rey makes an indignant face and mutters something in a mocking tone. “Speed Demon” is the new nickname for Rey after her racing incident from a few days ago. What was supposed to be a normal drive from the supermarket to the Skywalker-Organa-Solo barbecue turned into a high-speed drag race between Rey and her cousin Ben. Rey won, but not without leaving fresh tire marks on Aunt Leia’s lawn. Needless to say, Luke confiscated Rey’s car for a month.
“Why didn’t Ben get his car taken away?” Rey thinks out loud.
“Because he’s a grown adult who makes his own car payments?”
“That’s what he wants you to think, but I’m sure Aunt Leia and Uncle Han are still paying for it.”
“O-kay.” Poe taps his fingers on the wheel. “Did you two ever decide where you want to eat at?”
“Uhhh… we could go to Pizza Hutt - no, I had that for dinner last night. Could you just take us to Dex’s?”
“Sure. Then where?”
Rey shrugs and makes an “I dunno” sound.
“You don’t know how to plan a date, do you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re just going to a two-star diner and that’s it?”
“Dex’s is a very fine establishment, and lots of people just go on lunch dates, Mr. I-Don’t-Have-a-Partner.”
“I may not be dating anyone now, but I have been on dates.”
“Well, I know what I’m doing.”
“Okay, I just thought you’d want some advice to make things go well.” Poe turns off of the street and leads the car down a winding road. Through the thick layer of rain, Poe and Rey can see the sprawling mansion of the Calrissian family. “We’re here.”
As Rey scrambles out of the car and up the steps to the mansion door, Poe reaches back to move BB the Eighth’s dog blanket off of the backseat. Although Rey lost her car, nothing was stopping her from going on her date, even if Poe has to be the chauffeur. When he looks back, Poe sees Finn, Rey’s date and co-pilot in the race incident. He and Rey still stand on the covered porch, presumably talking about their plans for today. Poe remembers seeing them secretly conspiring together at the barbecue before asking him to drive them. Of course, Poe made sure to make a big deal about it, and that’s how the rest of the Skywalker-Organa-Solo-Calrissian family learned that Finn and Rey were going on a date. It was worth the bashful looks on their faces, and it helped relieved the tension after the incident.
Finally, Rey and Finn leave the porch and rush to Poe’s car. The two squeeze into the backseat.
“Hey, Finn.”
“Hey.”
“Still going to Dex’s?”
“Yes, Poe,” Rey answers.
“Alright. Buckle up, you two.”
“Fine, only if you don’t drive like a grandpa.”
“It’s called being a responsible driver, Rey.”
“Whatever.”
Fifteen minutes of responsible driving later, Rey and Finn finally arrived at Dex’s. The two agreed to split the Triple-Double Bacon Cheeseburger Stacker Rey wanted to try and nestled themselves in a booth by a large window.
“Sorry I got your car taken away,” Rey says, twirling her straw in her glass.
“It’s okay. I should have told you not to race him.”
“Yeah, but then he would have rubbed it in our faces. I wasn’t going to let him have that.”
“He’s twenty-seven. Doesn’t he have better things to do than pester high schoolers?”
Rey and Finn ponder that question. “Nah,” they say.
Finally, the cook calls Rey and Finn’s order number, and Finn gets up to retrieve their food.
“Food, food, food,” Rey chants as Finn returns, joining in on the chanting. He sets down a plate with an enormous burger surrounded by curly fries before settling back into his seat.
“So, how long is your dad keeping your car?” Finn asks as Rey works on dividing the burger
“A month.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, what about you?”
“Oh, you know, a while,” Finn quickly resorts to eating a fry.
“It’s less than me, isn’t it?”
“Maybe.”
“Finn, it’s fine. You’ll get your car back sooner, and then we won’t need Poe to drive us everywhere.”
“True, but Dad says I have to drive Jannah to her horseback lessons after I get my car back.”
“Big deal. Jannah’s cool.”
“Except for when she’s saying that she’d never get in a race,” Finn snarks with an eyeroll.
“Oh, whatever.” Rey grabs her half of the burger and takes a bite. “Mmm, this is so good,” she says, mouth half full, “Uncle Han’s burgers could never.”
“I feel like I’ll get a heart attack from this, though.”
“But it’s worth it.”
Finn takes another bite of his half, considers Rey’s conclusion about the burger, and makes a noise to suggest that he agrees.
“So, do you want to do anything else after this?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Poe was just saying we should do something else besides just getting lunch, but what does he know about dating, you know?”
“Oh, yeah. I mean, is there anything you want to do later?”
“I don’t know. There’s not really much to do here.”
“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t really plan this date well. I guess I was just so surprised you said yes that I forgot how to actually plan things.”
“Why were you so surprised?”
“I guess I thought you’d find it weird going on a date with your best friend.”
“Not if it’s you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Nothing’s really weird with you, y’know.”
“Not really. We’ve gotten into some weird situations together.”
“Well, yeah, but I’m never like, ‘Oh no, something weird happened and Finn was there, I can never see him again.’ See what I mean?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Good.” She pokes the fry in her hand against the plate, hesitating to say something, “Also, I-“
The aggressive sound of a plate landing on a table startles Rey. She and Finn look over and see that the source of the sound is none other than Ben Solo sitting in the booth across them. Seated with him are his college friends, Phasma and Hux, each giving Finn and Rey nasty stares.
“What are you doing here, cousin?” Ben asks.
“Eating.”
“Are you two on your date?” Ben questions, putting air quotes around the word “date.”
“What’s it to you?”
“How’d you even get here? Steal your car?”
“Aunt Leia’s favorite son gave us a ride.”
“He is not Mom’s favorite son.”
By this point, Phasma and Hux have already grown bored of the bickering and instead focus on their food.
“Poe’s not in his college’s Centrists Club and isn’t in a shitty emo band though.”
“Don’t talk about my band like that.”
“Don’t we have better things to do than spat with children?” Phasma remarks.
“You do this every time she’s around,” Hux complains.
“Because she’s a punk that needs to be put in her place.”
“I need to be put in my place? I’m not the one being a dick to our family.”
“They just don’t understand me, Rey.”
“Oh, we understand alright-“
“Rey,” Finn interjects, placing his hand on Rey’s fist, “just leave him alone.”
Rey turns to look at Finn. Her angry look softens. “Fine,” she sighs.
Everyone goes back to eating their food, but there’s a notably tense silence in the room now.
“Do you want to move tables?” Finn asks quietly.
“No, then he’ll just make fun of us,” Rey whispers harshly.
“Okay.”
At Ben’s table, Hux leans forward, “Why’s she dating him now?”
“Beats me. He’s just as annoying as she is.”
Rey happened to hear that comment. “You’re just saying that because Grandpa said Finn’s his favorite grandkid.”
“And why should he be? Did Finn do a thesis project on Grandpa’s legacy?”
“No, but Finn’s a good person.”
“But he’s not one of us!”
There’s a stunned silence after that. Whatever Ben meant with that statement, the implications were not lost on Finn and Rey.
“Rey, let’s leave,” Finn says, a weariness in his voice.
She doesn’t hear Finn. With a clenched jaw and a fire in her eyes, Rey clutches some fries into her fist and throws them at Ben with all her might.
In retaliation, Ben reaches behind him, nearly smacking Phasma, and grabs a bottle of ketchup. Next thing Rey knows, Ben’s standing over her and squeezing ketchup onto her white hoodie.
“Hey!” Finn exclaims. Before Ben can empty the entire bottle onto Rey, Finn throws his drink into Ben’s face.
“You little shit!”
“You need a shower anyways, stinky bitch,” Rey insults.
Ben grabs his salad and chucks it at Finn and Rey. Both dodge it, but the food fight isn’t over.
Poe was out shopping when he got the call from Rey. Her words sounded very curt, so Poe knew something was up. He doesn’t know why he was so surprised to see Finn and Rey, drenched and stained, standing outside the diner. Poe wanted to ask what happened, but the door slam from Rey told him to do otherwise.
He looks in his rearview mirror to see Finn looking at Rey, unsure of what to say. Rey, on the other hand, sits with her arms crossed over the ketchup stain.
“Are you okay?” Finn asks.
“No,” Rey answers, a quiver in her voice. “Everytime I try to do something fun, he always shows up, and then we get in trouble.”
Poe hears Rey sniffle, and he looks in the mirror again to see her wipe her eyes.
“And he always has to bully me, and everyone thinks it’s just like siblings fighting, but it’s not.”
“I know.”
“Maybe if I just weren’t so stupid and stopped fighting with him, he’d leave me alone.”
“Rey, you’re not stupid.”
“But I keep ruining things for us because I keep fighting my stupid cousin. Why would you want to hang out with someone with an awful cousin who hates you?”
“Because Ben’s not you. I know he’s an asshole, but I’m not going to let him keep me from the people I care about, including you.”
Rey face Finn, sees the sincerity in his expression, and smiles. “Then I think I’ll do the same. I’m sorry our date’s ruined.”
“I wouldn’t say that yet,” Poe says as he puts the car in park.
“What are you doing?” Finn asks. He looks out the window to see that Poe’s stopped at the local arcade.
“Saving your date,” Poe says as he fishes through his wallet and takes out a twenty, “I know for a fact that Ben would never step foot in here. So, you two go have fun, and you can call me when you’re done.”
Poe holds out the money, and the looks on Finn and Rey’s faces are like a kid on Christmas. “This is why you’re Han and Leia’s favorite,” Rey says as she snatches the twenty. “Thank you, Poe.” She and Finn hop out of the car and run through the rain, hand-in-hand, to the arcade. Poe tells himself to ask the two about what happened at Dex’s later.
The arcade is hardly full save for some middle schoolers and two teenagers with stained clothes an overwhelming stack of tickets. Finn and Rey are hunched over a game. Finn balances a token in the coin slot.
“Okay, last token,” he breathes.
“Here comes the jackpot slot,” Rey points out. “You got this.”
Finn takes a deep breath. He waits a second. Then, he lets go of the token. It slides down the ramp and onto the spinning platform. Then, the coin sinks into the jackpot slot. The machine whistles and whirrs, flashing multicolored lights. Rey and Finn cheer as the tickets keep coming from the machine.
“You did it!”
“I did it!”
In the excitement, Rey wraps her arms around Finn. He does the same to her and spins her around. When Rey’s settled on the ground, she doesn’t let go of Finn. Instead, the two remain locked in their embrace. They wait with bashful smiles for someone to make a move.
“How the hell did you get that many tickets?” a middle schooler questions loudly.
Startled, Rey and Finn separate from each other. “Uh, luck?” Rey answers.
“Looks like it,” the kid says before going to rejoin his friends.
Finn and Rey look down at their now-larger stack of tickets, then to each other with a fiery determination. They grab the pile and scurry to the prize center.
The prize center hosts many tacky, colorful prizes probably worth less than they cost along with some of the other high-end rewards. Rey and Finn approach the counter and slam down their pile of tickets, eliciting a surprised look from the college-age attendant.
“You do know those are supposed to go in the machine, right?” she asks.
“Oh, yeah,” Rey says. She and Finn pick up their tickets again and rush to the receipt machine.
Minutes later, Finn and Rey return, and Rey slams the receipt onto the counter.
“What can I get you?” the attendant asks.
“The laser swords, please,” Finn answers, pointing to the two plastic swords crossed over each other.
The attendant grabs the swords off of the wall and uses her calculator to subtract the cost from the total of tickets. “You still have five-hundred-and-two tickets left. You want anything else?”
Finn looks around at the other prizes. He sees Rey looking at a stuffed bear dressed in astronaut orange and worth four hundred tickets. “Can I have the bear?”
“Doesn’t bother me. What else you want?”
“Candy,” Finn responds. He picks out candy that he and Rey like and gets as much as he can afford. Once they’ve gotten all of their reward, Finn and Rey leave the prize center, each carrying a laser sword.
The rain went away while Finn and Rey were in the arcade.The sun shines onto the wet parking lot, giving it a glossy sheen. Rey swings her laser sword around, using the moves she’s learned from her sword fighting classes. Finn leans against the building, watching Rey. He still holds the bear in his hands.
“Hey, Rey.”
“Yeah?” Rey questions, turning off the lights on her sword.
“Here.” Finn holds the bear out to her.
A brilliant smile forms on Rey’s face. “I was thinking you wanted it.”
“Nah. It’s for you.”
Her smile grows wider as Rey takes the bear. “Thank you, Finn.” She runs her thumb over the bear’s fur, “I shall name him Spleef.”
“Spleef?”
“Mhm.” Rey tries to hold back laughter, but it comes out anyway, like water from a broken dam. Finn joins her, but his laughter isn’t as riotous as Rey’s is. He’s so enraptured with the giggling girl in a stained hoodie. As he notices the sunlight in the wisps of hair that fell from her buns, Finn wonders what he did to get to be friends with Rey. He also wonders why anyone would want to bury this sunny personality under hurt and anger. Finn won’t try to understand it. Instead, he’ll do everything he can to make Rey as happy as she is now, even if it means getting her a hundred astronaut bears or beating Ben with his bare hands or-
Finn’s starting to realize he’s really in love with Rey.
After Poe took them to get ice cream and got the tell-all about the diner incident, Rey and Finn had to end their date. Lando needed his son home to get packing for a trip, and Rey had to get around to doing the chores Luke assigned as part of her punishment.
Having finished doing laundry and cleaning the bathrooms, Rey lies down on her bed, holding Spleef to her chest. Her thoughts revolve around all things Finn- his kindness, his determination to make her happy. Rey hasn’t met a lot of guys her age that are like Finn. If only she got to tell him what she wanted to say at the diner.
“Knock knock.” Luke steps through the open door.
“Hello, Father,” Rey greets with a joking haughtiness.
“Evening, Daughter,” Luke says in a matching tone. “How was your date?”
“Pretty great.”
“That’s good. Heard you had a rough start, though.”
“How?” Rey questions, sitting up as Luke sits next to her.
“Poe told Leia, who told me.”
“Oh.” Rey fidgets with her bear’s arms. “Am I going to have to clean the gutters now or something?”
Luke chuckles, “No, nothing like that. Leia and Han think that we’ve been letting Ben get away with bothering you and Finn for too long, and I think the same thing, too, especially after what I’ve heard today.”
“Mm. What’re you gonna do?”
“Leia said she and Han will talk to him.” Luke notices the doubt in Rey’s expression. “Rey, I’ve seen how your aunt deals with people who’ve acted like Ben has. She won’t go easy on him, trust me.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t do anything about this sooner.”
“It’s okay. I’m not mad.”
“That’s good. I have a feeling your mom’s gonna be mad that it took me this long, though.”
“Probably.”
Luke laughs. “What’s this?” he asks, noticing the bear.
“Oh, Finn got this for me at the arcade,” Rey says as she holds up the bear. “His name is Spleef, and he’s a starfighter pilot.”
“Okay then. That was very nice of Finn.”
“Yup.” Rey holds back a smile, but her dad can tell.
“Well, how about we eat the takeout I brought home, and you can tell me about the good parts of your date?”
“Sounds good.” Rey gets off of her bed and follows her dad to the kitchen, thinking of ways to talk about her date without revealing she’s hopelessly in love.