Chapter Text
The pitter-patter of three children's footsteps running down the wooden staircase was impossible to ignore. The sacred game of hide and seek had just begun. All the lights in the house had been shut off pre-game to ensure a more "exciting" game. Although you were terrified of the dark, you decided not to make a big deal out of it in front of the boys to prevent them from taunting you. Shuffling around the rooms of the house, the wooden floors creak, causing your anxiety to perk up.
Darkness consumed every speck of light the house had ever known but somehow you still managed to notice Kylo running into the downstairs closet on the left side of the hallway. With his heavy thumps against the floor, you take a deep breath and follow him. Although this was all just a game, you feel your heart thump with the pressure of finding a good spot. Although the dark ominous hallway always freaked you out the most, you followed him hoping to score a good spot. You assumed he always knew better since he was the most mature.
"10...11...12...", Matt exclaims, making sure everyone could hear him.
Kylo goes to shut the closet door behind him but you grab a hold of it, causing him to turn around in shock. His dark, moody eyes search you, his eyebrows furrowing with that mixed look of annoyance and frustration. You feel your heart skip a beat, as his luminous figure towers over you.
"Let me hide with you", you whisper with anticipation, gulping. Even though you were surrounded by a blanket of darkness, you noticed his facial expression turn into a frown as you hear an aggravated sigh exit his mouth. "No. Now go find another spot", he says annoyed, trying to close the door. You grasp the handle, not letting him close it fully. You hear a sigh, and peak through the small crack. "Pleasseeeee. I promise to be quiet" you plead, hoping your face looked like a begging puppy dog. "No Y/N. Leave me alone", Kylo says while slightly raising his voice just enough to still have it pass as a whisper. Your heart drops with disappointment, but what did you think would happen? Kylo's always been like this.
"18...19...20... ready or not, here I come!", Matt yells as he throws open his bedroom door. Your heartbeat speeds up as you hear his footsteps make their way through the upstairs hallway, almost reaching the top of the staircase. You freeze, standing as still as a statue. You hear Matt's footsteps and you take a shaky breath. You did not want to lose, this game was too sacred to be ruined.
You turn back to the closet and see that Kylo has already shut himself inside. "Leave", he says once again. You stick out your tongue at him, well knowing he can't see you. It's the thought that counts. As you're scanning the rest of the hallway for an available hiding spot you hear a voice coming from the basement door. "Pssst. Over here", a voice calls. "It's me, Ben." Although that's who you assumed it was, you were relieved to know that the mysterious voice wasn't some kind of ghost. The basement door widens and you see Ben's head pop out. His resemblances to Kylo always seem to shock you, even though you see them almost every day. He makes a hand motion telling you to come inside with him. You hesitated. The basement frightened you especially since it was darker than ever down there.
You hear Matt close the bathroom door and realize that your only options were the unknowns of whatever the basement held or being made fun of for being the first to get caught once again. Without making a sound, you make your way inside the basement and Ben closes the door behind you.
By now Matt had reached the bottom of the stairs and began scanning the living room. Ben begins to make his way down the basement stairs but realizes you hadn't moved. You didn't realize it but were frozen, staring down into the dark. "Y/N, what's wrong? Why aren't you following me?" Ben says concerned. You hated to admit it but you didn't want to leave Ben hanging. "I-I'm scared... scared of the dark", you say as you look down at the floor. Ben smiles and lets out a small laugh under his breath. "It's not funny!", you say in an annoyed tone. Ben makes his way back up to you. "I know. C'mon. It'll be okay... I'm here", Ben says reassuringly.
You smile. You always felt safe with Ben and you knew he would always be there to protect you. He held out his hand and without hesitation, you took hold of it. He guided both of you down the stairs and the fear that once consumed you whole was gone.
Once you reached the basement floor, Ben pointed over to what you could only make out as a workstation, signaling that you'll both be hiding underneath it for the remainder of the game. You both crouched and plopped yourselves down on the dust-covered cement floor. After a few minutes of listening to the creaking of Matt's feet making impressions on the hardwood, they stopped. Not even a half a second later you heard the sound of the closet door opening and Matt shouted with glee. "Got ya!", Matt exclaimed. "It's not fair! I didn't have enough time! Y/N made too much noise!", Kylo argued. You could tell he was infuriated and blamed you for his loss, although you hadn't done anything wrong.
Then almost as fast as it had disappeared, silence overcame the house. No footsteps, no more complaints from Kylo, just silence. You listened, waiting for a sound, any sound besides the loud beating of your heart. Sweat poured down the sides of your face as you waited. "Please go away. Please turn around and walk the other way", you thought. You wanted to win this time.
Then all of a sudden, the basement door flew open and it made a loud bang as it hit the wall. You swore the whole house shook. Your heart immediately skipped a beat. Next thing you knew, the basement light was turned on and the room was illuminated, and exposed every inch of the room.ย
"Ewwwwwww. Gross!" Kylo said pointing at you as Matt laughed. The look of complete amusement on their face confused you. "Was it really that funny that I didn't win?", you thought. Then it hit you like a brick to the face. Your fingers had been interlocked with Ben's the whole time without even realizing it. Your cheeks glowed red as you looked up at Ben. His cheeks were almost brighter than yours. You instantly let go and turned away from each other out of embarrassment.
With Kylo and Matt still laughing, you began to feel anger boiling inside of you. As you were about to give them a piece of your mind you hear the front door open. "Kids! I'm home and I've got a surprise for you!" Han (their father) shouted from the doorway.
They vanished from the basement entrance and began racing to greet their father and the new surprise. You crawled out of underneath the now visible workbench and dusted off your leggings. They had turned a shade of grey due to the dust. With your cheeks still red, you tried to hide your face by looking at the ground the whole time. Although you couldn't see it, Ben had been doing the same. After dusting himself off, he looked back at you and decided you probably didn't want to speak about it, so he left. Truth be told, even if you did, you most likely wouldn't have been able to utter a single word. You were in a state of shock.
When he finally exited the room, you were able to take control of yourself again. Remembering Han's surprise he mentioned, you ran upstairs as fast as you could. Surprisingly you didn't slip.
When you reached the living room you realized everyone had been waiting for you. You still refused to make eye contact with anyone but you could feel their stares, waiting for you to take a seat. You sat down on the floor and crossed your legs, avoiding having to sit next to anyone else. You noticed Han had a cardboard box on the floor next to him and immediately knew what the surprise was. "I know you boys have been wanting this for so long, and your mother and I think you guys are finally ready to handle it. Now, with this comes a lot of responsibility but I'm sure it won't be a challenge since there's three of you, well, four, including you, Munchkin. You're basically a part of this family so it's your responsibility too as well." Han announced with a smile; he always made you feel welcome.
The boys were getting anxious now and were complaining about how long Han's speech was taking. You were beginning to get anxious, too. "Well, without further adieu, welcome the newest member to the Solo family!", Han said as he opened the box. The box fell over and a puppy jumped out. It began running around the room, only stopping to sniff random objects. The boys jumped up in excitement. They chased the dog, trying to grab a hold of their new pet. Its speed increased and you watched the boys run around trying to avoid bumping into any furniture.
Kylo finally snatched it off the ground while Matt and Ben stood around him. The dog began chewing on Kylo's sleeves. Surprisingly, Kylo wasn't mad and their faces glowed with excitement. You stood up and decided you wanted to see the dog for yourself. You had never owned a pet and even though the dog technically wasn't yours, you knew it was going to be a big part of your life. As soon as it noticed you making your way over, it leaped out of Kylo's arms. Out of curiosity, the boys let the dog go. You fell on your knees and embraced the dog in your arms. Shocked, they stood still and watched as the dog began licking your face. "This is definitely my dog", You thought to yourself, feeling as content as a child could ever be.
"Well, what are we gonna name it?" Kylo asked.
"What about Randy?" Matt asked.
"Randy is a stupid name!" Ben retorted.
"Well, Ben, do you have an idea?" Kylo retorted, defending his baby brother (by like, ten minutes).
"Well, um, no."
"How about... Chewie since he loves chewing on our clothes?" You said, observing that the puppy was gnawing on your shoelaces.
The boys all agreed, which was surprising, as they rarely do.
"Hi, Chewie!" You said, picking the tiny pup up once again. He licked your face, as you giggled.