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1. First time undercover as a couple
Ben's been keeping a list of why exactly going undercover with Rey on this case is a bad idea ever since Poe first suggested it last Thursday, and he likes to think it’s a pretty comprehensive one. After all, at this point he’s up to thirty-seven bullet points.
But then Rey steps out of the ladies' room an hour before they’re due to make their first appearance as a couple at the Mos Eisley Cantina, and Ben instantly regrets not adding a thirty-eighth.
Somewhere between his tenth and eleventh crossed-out references to his unrequited feelings for Rey and how much this evening is going to hurt, he really, really should have considered the possibility that he is utterly unprepared for the devastating sight that is Rey in a dress.
“Bloody hell,” Rey grumbles as the door swings shut behind her, a scowl on her face as she tugs at the scandalous hem of her skin-tight dress. They’ve been partners for an entire year, and yet somehow this is the first time he’s seeing her in a dress, first time he’s seeing miles and miles of toned and tanned legs, thousandth time he’s realizing all over again just how out of his league she is. “Why do these things always have to be so—”
Rey looks up without warning, and suddenly the scowl on her face gives way to something hesitant, something… hurt, Ben realizes with a sinking feeling in his stomach as he finally picks his damn jaw off the floor.
Before he can apologize for making her uncomfortable with his gawking, she drops her eyes to the ground and glares at her borrowed heels as if she might set fire to them if she just tries hard enough. “God, I look stupid, don’t I? Screw this, I’ll just ask Rose to go with you—”
He reaches for her before he can even consciously decide to do so, wraps his hand around her wrist and gently tugs her back around while his brain finally catches up and starts yelling at him because contact. He’s made contact. With bare skin.
God, the inside of her wrist is so soft.
“Rey,” he rasps, voice scratchy and barely audible with nerves. Ben clears his throat and tries again, drawing strength from the fact that she hasn’t shaken his hand off, from the fact that she’s looking at him with those hazel eyes he’d happily spent eternity drowning in. “Rey, you… it… this… you look stunning.”
Her lips part to release an audible gasp, and she does pull her hand away from him then, and fuck he’s said too much, now he’s really done it, she’s never going to be comfortable around him again—
Rey laces their fingers together, gives him a soft little smile that absolutely destroys him. “You’re just saying that so we can get going already,” she teases, but the harsh lighting of the precinct illuminates a rosy glow to her cheeks that no rouge could ever replicate.
And for the first time in a year, Ben wonders if maybe, just maybe, things aren’t that hopeless after all.
2. First (but not last) bridal carry
It is downright unfair how good Ben looks in a suit.
Worse still is the fact that he actually looks comfortable in it, while she’s been fixing her straps and smoothing down her skirt and struggling with her heels all day. Finn and Poe had decided to keep the wedding party small, and with Ben stepping in as Poe’s best man she’s the only one in their small party of four struggling not to sink into the grass as the photographer leads them across the park to take a hundred more pictures by the lake before the reception starts.
A warm hand reaches out to curl around her arm just as she forcefully yanks her stubborn heel out of the ground for what feels like the tenth time in five minutes, steadying her before she can tip over.
The burst of static that accompanies the touch and the little shiver that runs down her spine tells Rey exactly who it is seconds before she straightens up and finds her face mere inches away from Ben’s, the usual height difference between them minimized by both the height of her heels and the way he’s looking down to check on her.
“Doing okay there, partner?”
It’s the first time he’s touched her since their short stint as a fake couple last month, and Rey tells herself it’s merely the unfamiliarity of the touch that leaves her speechless for a little too long. It isn’t until Ben’s brow starts to furrow that she finally snaps out of it.
“Yes, fine, just these stupid heels—” she huffs, tearing her gaze away from Ben’s to point at the troublemakers. They’re gorgeous, just as her entire maid of honor outfit is (courtesy of Finn, despite all her protests that he’s the one who should be getting a wedding gift from her, not the other way around), but the airy floor-length chiffon dress and matching peep-toe heels just aren’t her style at all. It’s like the red mini dress and Rose’s terrifying stilettos from last month all over again.
Ben’s hand, still loosely curled around her elbow, slowly falls back down to his side. If she were a more delusional person, or a less pessimistic one, she might entertain the thought of Ben seeming almost as reluctant to let her go as she is to lose his touch. But she isn’t either of those things, she’s a hardened cop and his partner for god’s sake, so Rey takes a deep breath, steels herself, and looks back up at him, all the while willing her heart to calm the fuck down.
He’s smiling when her eyes find his again, a barely-there thing playing on lips she’s wanted to kiss ever since her first day at the precinct. “Need a little help?”
The lake looks to be at least another five minutes away. That’s five minutes she could spend with Ben’s hand curled around her, five minutes they could walk side-by-side, five minutes of not feeling like she’s sinking into quick sand.
Rey flashes him a grateful smile. “Yes, please.”
“Okay,” Ben says with a shrug, and the next thing she knows the world turns sideways and there’s a whoosh of layers of chiffon skirts and oh dear god—
“Guys!” Poe calls out with a laugh from about ten feet ahead of them. “You do realize it’s our wedding, not yours, right?”
Ben, still holding her in a goddamn bridal carry, just laughs off Poe’s familiar teasing and secures his hold on her before he starts catching up with the others. “You good?” he asks, looking down at her with that adorable smile lighting up his whole face.
The words escape her before she can even think to hold them back. “Never been better.”
And Ben’s smile only grows wider.
3. First (official, non-undercover) date
After a year of watching them dance around each other, Poe will not shut up about the fact that his wedding had been the thing to finally, finally push Ben to ask Rey out after they danced the night away at the reception.
“I expect at least three shout-outs at your wedding, you hear me? At least,” he insists, leaning against the bathroom wall – which is disgusting, when was the last time this place got a proper clean? – while he watches Ben fuss with his hair in the mirror.
Ben shoots his sergeant’s reflection a look. “Dameron, it’s only our first date.”
Poe beams. “I know! It’s all so exciting, buddy. And these things move fast, just look at Finn and me. I’ll be embarrassing you with the ultimate best man speech before you know it.”
“I give up,” Ben announces with a sigh, to both his hair and Poe. He leaves the bathroom with Poe hot on his heels, stopping by his desk to power down his computer for the day and pick up his things.
“Seriously, though,” Poe says, his voice suddenly subdued enough to prompt Ben to look up from his task of collecting his wallet, keys, and phone. “Everything is going to go great, Ben. Trust me, you two are perfect for each other.”
This feels like a rare moment between them, complete with an actual, sincere smile from Poe that’s such a rare occurrence Ben can count on two hands the number of times he’s seen it throughout their lifelong friendship.
But before he can react to Poe’s rare show of sincere support, Rose draws the attention of the entire bullpen with a sharp gasp.
“Rey, that is so cute!” she squeals, and Ben follows her voice just in time to see Rey step into view, a bashful smile on her face as Rose gushes over her dress.
It’s a far cry from the tight number she’d worn for their undercover op and the flowing gown she’d donned for the wedding two weeks ago, a simple dress with a flared skirt that ends just above her knees and a print that looks like someone hand-painted sunflowers onto the off-white fabric. With her hair down, her makeup as light as ever, and her usual pair of Keds on instead of heels, this might be the first time he’s seen Rey actually look comfortable in a dress.
She takes his breath away nonetheless, just as she always does, and he barely hears Poe’s supportive go get her, buddy as he crosses the bullpen to reach her. Their eyes find each other halfway through, and his chest feels warm and tight in the best way as a smile slowly blooms on Rey’s face.
“Hi,” she whispers as he finally closes the distance between them, and out of the corner of his eye he notices Rose stepping away to give them some privacy.
“You look beautiful,” Ben blurts out freely, because he gets to do that now. They’re going on a date that Rey said yes to, and he gets to tell her how beautiful and amazing she is now, and even take the hand she’s offering him with the most radiant smile he’s ever seen.
“You clean up pretty nice yourself, partner,” Rey teases warmly as their fingers lace together. “Shall we?”
“We shall,” he tells her with a nod, and so the next chapter of their story begins.
4. First (undercover) fancy gala
“Stop fussing,” Rose murmurs as Rey tugs at her neckline for what must be the hundredth time that evening. “You look fine.”
It’s not so much about how she looks as it is how she feels, stuffed into this overly extravagant gown and teetering on overpriced death traps, but Rey supposes there’s no getting out of the dress code when you’re at a $100,000-per-table gala. Thank god Captain Holdo had made good use of her connections to get them in for free.
The operation is worth her mild discomfort, she reminds herself. If all goes well, they’ll end the night by taking down one of the most dangerous arms smugglers on the loose right now: Armitage Hux, currently leaning against the bar catching up with Ben.
She doesn’t like the fact that the plan puts her boyfriend in harm’s way, but as Hux’s prep school classmate he’d argued that he’s their best way to get close to the guy and everyone else had eagerly agreed. The precinct needs a big bust, sure, but is it really worth the risk of that unhinged criminal nursing a vendetta against Ben for the rest of their lives?
A gentle hand wraps around her arm. “Hey,” Rose says softly, her wide eyes kind and understanding as always. “He’s gonna be okay, Rey. The whole squad’s here, we’ve got eyes and ears everywhere, and we made sure Hux didn’t sneak anything past the metal detectors, remember? Everything is going to be—”
Before Rose’s reassurance can work its magic, a crackle in her ear signals their comms coming to life, and a second later Ben’s low, frantic voice comes through the line. “Hux knows I’m a cop, he’s trying to get away—”
His update is met with a frustrated groan on Poe’s end, but Rey is already tuning them out and sweeping the ballroom for any sign of their target.
“I’m on it,” she tells the squad as soon as she spots a flicker of copper hair, kicking off her heels as she picks up speed. The well-heeled attendees part with affronted gasps as she pushes her way through them, but her focus is solely on Hux, especially once he throws a glance over his shoulder and notices her with a look of panic.
He breaks into a run, and so does Rey, a trail of blood-red satin fluttering behind her. The comm line is going nuts with everyone else coordinating their locations and hurrying over to back her up, but she’s so close—
Hux turns around to shoot her another panicked look and hastily topples over a cocktail table, champagne glasses and all, in a doomed effort to slow her down. Rey scoffs at his desperation as she prepares herself to make the jump, and easily clears the hurdle to crash right into her target, making quick work of tackling him to the ground and subduing him.
“Here!” She looks up at Jannah’s voice to find Rose’s new partner tossing her a pair of handcuffs. Rey slaps the cuffs on a snarling Hux who’s spewing empty threats about his father’s wrath, not knowing that Brendol Hux had been the one to tip them off about tonight in the first place, and quickly reads him his rights before yanking him up to his feet and handing him over to a couple of uniformed officers who’ve just come rushing in.
The squad is scattered around the ring of spectators surrounding her, and as Rey smooths down her skirt she finds Ben in the crowd just in time to see him say to Poe, his eyes still wide and awed and focused only on her, “I’m going to marry that woman.”
The rest of the team turns to him, and she can see the exact moment he realizes that his comm is still on and all of them, including her, heard that. Before Ben can panic though, she shoots him a reassuring smile and clearly says into her hidden wire, “Sounds like a plan, babe.”
Ben insists that it doesn’t count as a proposal, but they’re engaged by the end of the week anyway.
5. First look
“Dude, breathe,” Poe tells him for what feels like the hundredth time this morning.
“Easy for you to say now,” Ben mutters as he stuffs his hands into his pocket to keep himself from messing up his hair. “Weren’t you drunk by this point?”
Poe lightly shoves him in fake affront. “Excuse you, I was tipsy at most. Also, that might not be a bad idea, should I go steal some champagne from the bridal suite?”
He’s nervous enough that he might actually welcome some liquid courage at this point, but before Poe can go ahead with the plan they hear the tell-tale sound of a keycard being swiped, and the door to the honeymoon suite opens to reveal—
“Oh, hey babe,” Poe calls out happily as Finn lingers in the doorway.
“She’s ready,” Finn announces, looking directly at Ben even as his husband crosses the room to take his hand.
Ben’s nerves build to an all-time high, and for the first time he finally understands why Rey had insisted they do a first look before the ceremony. If he had to see her all dressed up as his bride for the very first time while she was walking down the aisle in front of all their family and friends, he might’ve passed out from sensory overload alone.
As it is, he’s feeling pretty faint as Finn and Poe lead him down to the bridal suite where Rey’s waiting. After one last pep talk, the guys leave him by the door and walk over to join Rose and Jannah near the elevator, helping themselves to more champagne.
Keycard in hand, Ben takes a deep breath and taps his shaking fist against the door. His heart skips a beat at Rey’s muffled come in, and the beep of the keycard sounds impossibly far away as he enters the room to find his soon-to-be wife standing by the balcony door with her back to him, a blinding vision in white bathed in golden sunlight.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
His voice is so faint it’s a wonder she hears him at all, but it’s enough for Rey to turn around and take his breath away all over again. He doesn’t know the first thing about wedding dresses, about all the little details his mother and the bridesmaids have been helping Rey figure out these past few months, but the end result is nothing less than perfect, just as she deserves.
He closes the distance between them slowly, without even consciously deciding to do so, as if drawn to her in a trance. The smile on Rey’s face tells him she already knows everything she needs to as his hands settle on either side of her waist, but the words escape him anyway.
“Rey… you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” He’s momentarily distracted by her warm laugh and the touch of her gentle hand curving around his jaw, but eventually he finds his voice again. “Always have been, always will be.”
“We’ll see if you still feel that way when we’re old and grey,” Rey says, and she sounds absolutely delighted by the thought of it – the two of them, fifty or sixty or maybe even seventy years from now, old and grey and together.
Ben lifts one hand from her waist to trace a feather-light touch across her lips, the ghost of a kiss he can’t give her just yet. “When we’re old and grey,” he tells her, voice unexpectedly thick with emotion at the idea, the promise of it, “every line on your face and every strand of grey in your hair will be evidence of all the amazing years we’ve had, of the life we’ve lived together. Sweetheart, how could I ever find that anything less than beautiful?”
If he had thought to spare her makeup by refraining from kissing her, it’s a lost cause. They’re both crying now, just like the lovesick saps everyone always accuses them of being. Rey laughs through her tears and uses the hand still curved around his jaw to gently brush his away. “You’re a total cheeseball, you know that?”
“Your cheeseball,” Ben reminds her as he leans in for a kiss because… what the heck, Rose is already going to kill him for ruining Rey’s foundation by making her cry. “Forever,” he promises her between kisses.
“Forever,” Rey echoes with that same smile he first fell in love with all those years ago.
+1: First Rocky Horror screening
“I feel like I’m one deep breath away from Hulking out of this thing,” Ben grumbles as he finally emerges from the men’s room, tugging at the neckline of his costume with a scowl on his face.
Rey swats his hand away with a barely suppressed laugh and smooths down the white collar. She’s quite a fan of his smooth chest herself, but years of lighthearted teasing from Poe while growing up have left Ben permanently self-conscious of the pale and hairless expanse of skin, no matter how sculpted it is.
“Take short, shallow breaths,” she says simply, fixing the white suspenders that lead down to a frilly apron. “Women have been doing it for centuries.”
Ben sighs and drags a heavy hand down his face; thank goodness the makeup isn’t on yet. “Remind me again why I let Poe talk me into this?”
“Because twelve men have disappeared from these screenings over the past two months, and literally every other lead has been a dead-end,” Rey dutifully reminds him for the tenth time since Poe arranged this op four days ago.
As whiny as he’s being right now, she knows Ben won’t back out of this, not when there are lives at stake. Even if it does mean he has to play the Magenta to Poe’s Frank N. Furter all evening. “Just be glad you don’t have to wear heels too.”
“Neither of us have to wear heels,” Ben points out. “That’s a choice Poe is making, and it’s a stupid one. Everything about this is stupid. I look ridiculous.”
Rey takes a step back to evaluate the sight of her giant of a husband stuffed into a flimsy polyester French maid costume that’s at least two sizes too small, and cocks her head to the side in consideration. “Actually… this is kinda working for me, babe.”
That successfully draws out his first laugh of the day, and Rey’s heart warms at the fond smile Ben gives her as he gently places one hand on her bump. “No offense, sweetheart, but that really isn’t saying much.”
The man has a point – six months into her pregnancy, he really doesn’t have to do much to make her want to jump him – but still. “If you promise not to change before you get home, I’ll wait up for you.”
Ben raises an eyebrow at that. “Wow, you really mean that.”
“Like you said,” Rey shrugs as she takes his hand to lead him back to the bullpen where Rose awaits with his wig and a kit full of makeup. “It doesn’t take much these days.”
He stops her just before they step into view, and Rey turns around prepared to cajole him like a child once again. But Ben still has a smile on his face as his free hand curves around her cheek. “Go home and get some sleep, okay? I promise I’ll save this for another time.”
The moment is ruined by a sudden flood of tears, and Rey huffs in exasperation at her hormones before she gives Ben’s hand a squeeze. “You really do love me, don’t you?”
Ben laughs and pulls her to his side, and even at six months pregnant she still fits perfectly in his arms, her favorite place in the world. “More than you can imagine. Now come on, let’s get this over with.”
To reward him for being so sweet, she barely even takes any pictures of him in costume. Really, capping it at fifty is an immense show of restraint on her part.
Poe happily hams it up for the camera while a reluctant Ben scowls at her from under three layers of ghastly pale foundation, but he indulges her nevertheless when she begs for just one last picture.
Yeah, he really does love her.