Chapter Text
Night One: Rock-Climbing
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Ben grumbled as he and Poe walked into the building with a large rock-climbing wall where the singles event would be taking place. As an avid rock climber Ben scowled at the wall like if had somehow offended him. Ben already had what one would call a ‘resting bitch face’ and the idea of climbing a wall only deepened his permanent scowl. “You’re with Finn, what are you even doing here?” he asked, knowing with his friend present he couldn’t just sneak out and lie that he had attended the event.
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Poe smiled as he looked around the venue. “I know you’d just bail on this shit the minute you walked in if I didn’t come. Watching you attempt to mingle will be extremely entertaining for me,” he snickered.
“Does Finn even know you’re here? I’d hate for him to get the wrong impression,” Ben asked, hoping a threat to text Finn would be enough to get Poe to leave.
“He told me to take video,” Poe told him with a grin, having far too much fun with the situation. Ben could tell he felt some sort of pride that his boyfriend would trust him at a singles event. Poe was head over heels in love with Finn so it wasn’t as if the other man had anything to worry about and everyone knew it.
“Fucking traitor,” Ben mumbled as he crossed his arms. Just because he was at the event didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. Ben had always found these kinds of events ridiculous. For lack of a better word, they were silly. An event filled with the multiple people doing dumb activities and making boring small talk was not exactly his idea of fun.
“Lighten up, you’ll never find a girl with that kind of attitude,” Poe told him.
Before Ben had a chance to respond he heard a woman say, “He’s right, you’re very unapproachable.”
“Yet here you are approaching me,” Ben said as he turned around to face the woman. He was ready to tell the woman to fuck off but the words died on his lips when he saw how beautiful she was. Ben wondered if she were at the event for the same reason as Poe because she was way out of any of league for all of the men at the event, especially him. Her smile alone could light up the room. He hair was pulled into a three bun style, which was both unique and adorable and showed off her beautiful face. In his opinion she was by far the prettiest woman at the event.
Then she opened her mouth and Ben realized why she was probably single, she held nothing back. She seemed to be quite the spitfire and it probably took a certain kind of man to handle her, none of which were likely to be in the room. Ben wasn’t looking for a timid girl but the last thing he needed in his life was someone to tease him, he got enough of that in his day-to-day life from his friends and family.
“Come on grumpy, join the events. At least pretend you want to be here,” she teased, completely ignoring the nametag on his shirt in favor of poking fun at him. “I’m sure your charming personality will make the women swoon,” she laughed at her own joke. She gave him a look over before adding, “I’m sure you could conquer at least part of the rock wall.”
Ben could tell Poe was unsuccessfully trying not to laugh. “Yeah I’m sure you’re a real hit with the men,” he deadpanned. Ben thought about telling her he could decimate the rock wall but decided against taking her bait.
”Sorry is an independent woman intimidating to you?” she retorted. She had seemed to hit a nerve with his comment, which only made her grin widen.
“There’s a difference between a strong woman and an annoying one,” he told her. “Right now you’re being the latter.” Poe elbowed him in the side as if to tell him to play nice.
To Ben’s surprise the woman laughed. “So charming, just like the scowl you’re sporting,” she didn’t give him a chance to respond, opting to walk away and mingle instead. What annoyed him the most was that she seemed to be friendly to everyone else but him.
“I like her, you should talk to her more,” Poe grinned. He had always seemed to like women that could put Ben in his place and, if he were honest, he liked them too. Poe had called him a masochist because he only seemed to date women that challenged him.
“Shut up, dumbass,” was the best response Ben could come up with. For some reason he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her the rest of the night, no matter how many women came up to talk to him. He wasn’t very social and women seemed to take that as a sign that he wasn’t interested. They weren’t wrong; Ben had already made up his mind that there was no way he’d find a woman to date at the event. If they liked the singles events then they probably had little to nothing in common with him, yet he still couldn’t help but watch the woman as she easily mingled with the other people.
He didn’t see her leave with anyone but she did smirk at him on her way out, “See you next time grumpy.” It was then he realized that he didn’t even look at her name.
Night Two: Fondue Night
Ben wasn’t quite sure how he found himself at yet another singles event, especially a fondue night. He told himself it was Poe’s relentless hounding and the fact he’d managed to get Ben’s mother involved. Leia was not exactly someone he could say no to without a very good reason, at least not since they had reconnected after his father’s passing. Hating people was apparently not a good enough reason for her; in fact she seemed to think it was more of a reason for him to attend.
“You’re back,” he heard from behind him, knowing exactly who it was. Despite never having met the woman before the last event, he had somehow memorized her voice. Ben wasn’t ready to acknowledge why he probably remembered. “Good to see you still have your charming scowl,” she teased.
“You couldn’t even see my face,” Ben told her as he turned around. He took note of her name, Rey.
“Didn’t need to, your body said it all,” she retorted. “Where’s your friend?” She asked, looking around the room for Poe.
Ben felt his stomach drop; of course she was only talking to him because of Poe. All women seemed to talk to him to get close to Poe. Really it was the story of his life. It wasn’t that he wanted Rey to talk to him for him; it was just annoying that yet another woman was using him to get to Poe. At least that’s what he told himself. “Poe’s dating someone and gay,” he told her, the same response he gave every woman. “He only came last time to make sure I didn’t bail,” he admitted.
“Then why are you still here this time?” she asked, seeming truly interested in the answer.
Ben blushed. The fact that his mom made him come was rather embarrassing given he was thirty-one years old. “My mother,” he mumbled. He could have made up some dumb excuse but didn’t see any reason to lie.
“Aw, you’re a mommas boy,” she smiled. “Wouldn’t have guessed that.” He wasn’t exactly sure why she was still talking to him. She clearly found him to be unappealing just based on his personality and he knew he wasn’t the most attractive man; there was no reason for her to talk to him now that she knew Poe was not there and was in a relationship with a man.
“I’m not a mommas boy, my mother is just someone that you don’t say no to,” he blurted out, not sure why he’d admit to her that he’s scared of his mother’s wrath.
“So you are intimidated by strong women,” she smirked.
“I’m not scared of strong women,” he growled. The woman seemed to know how to push his buttons. Perhaps if she knew his mother was Senator Organa she’d understand or it’d just make it worse given his mother was only about five feet tall. “I’ve been around them my entire life, I think I know how to deal with strong women,” he huffed, part of him wishing she’d just go away while the other part liked the challenge. Maybe he was a bit of a masochist.
“What, you glare at them and hope they go away?” she joked. “Take the scowl off your face and go get some fondue,” she suggested, though it came across more like an order.
“I despise fondue,” he replied. “Everyone sticking their food into the same pot, someone is bound to do something unhygienic and before you know it everyone has caught some disease,” he explained. It made sense to him but based on the look she was giving him he was pretty sure she didn’t agree.
Rather than rolling her eyes or walking away she laughed as if he told some kind of joke. “Okay so you’re grumpy, scared of women, kinda a snob, and paranoid. Any other charming quality I missed?”
“I’ve been told I’m quite the asshole as well,” he didn’t bother correcting her that he was only scared of one woman, not all women, and he wasn’t paranoid, he just didn’t like the idea of sharing with complete strangers. She was unlikely to change her mind about him anyway, which begged the question as to why she was still talking to him.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” He knew it was a rhetorical question so he didn’t bother answering. Despite her constant teasing she continued to talk to him throughout the night, which he didn’t understand.
By the end of the night he actually found himself smiling a few times at things she said. Though she didn’t comment about it, the fact that she made him smile seemed to make her happy and for some reason he wanted to make her happy. “So why exactly are you here?” he asked. When she frowned he quickly clarified, “You don’t exactly look like the kind of person that would need help from a singles event to find someone.”
”I could say the same for you,” she replied without actually answering his question.
“I know I’m not the most attractive man, you don’t need to mock me,” he told her coldly.
“So we need to add delusional to the list as well,” she shook her head, confusing him further. He had been made fun of plenty of time for his features, particularly his nose and ears. He learned if he grew his hair out he could cover the ears for the most part but his face wasn’t exactly conventionally handsome, or so he’d been told on multiple occasions.
“You didn’t answer my question,” her failure to answer him only made him more curious.
“Nor do I plan to,” she replied. “I’ll see you next time grumpy,” Rey turned and started walking away.
“I have a name,” he called after her.
Rey turned to him and smiled, which made him more relieved than he’d like to admit. “I know,” she grinned. “But there are multiple Ben’s here and you’re nothing like them,” she walked away without further explanation and he wasn’t sure if she meant it as a good thing or a bad thing.
Night Three: Painting
Ben knew he couldn’t just stand in the back and observe without it being painfully obvious that he did not want to participate. That night was painting night. It was an activity where someone walked everyone through how to paint a picture while people painted while drinking beer or wine and at the end had an open mingling period. Ben chose an end seat, leaving room for only one person to sit next to him. If he were honest there was really only one person he wanted sitting next to him: Rey. The problem was that he was pretty sure he pissed her off last time even if she did end up smiling at him before she left. She had said she’d see him next time she was nowhere to be found, which only increased his anxiety. Ben thought about leaving and never coming back, as much as he hated to admit it, there was really no reason for him to be there if he weren’t going to see Rey. In just two nights she had grabbed his attention and none of the other women there would compare.
Suddenly the door burst open revealing an out of breath, slightly disheveled Rey. He’d never seen her in such a state, clearly still in her work clothes with a smudge of grease on her cheek. He knew from their previous conversation that she was a mechanic, which surprised him.
Rey’s eyes seemed to widen when she saw him, which was followed by a sudden glare. He knew that he seemed to have upset her last time they talked but he didn’t think it was to the extent that he earned such a cold glare. Ben watched as she practically stomped over to him. “Thanks for saving me a spot,” she said as she basically pushed another woman out of her way, taking the seat next to him that the other woman clearly planned on taking.
Ben was almost too shocked to say anything. “Uh, you’re welcome,” he managed, causing the woman to walk away with a huff as she mumbled something Ben couldn’t make out.
Rey’s mood seemed to do a complete 180 as she turned to him with a small smile, “Glad to see you’re actually participating grumpy. I’m gonna go grab a drink make sure to save my seat.” Rey walked away, leaving her bag in the seat to ensure no one tried to take it. Ben just watched her, completely dumbfounded by what had just happened.
When Rey came back with her beer Ben decided it was his turn to tease her, “So you just wanted to sit next to me that badly, huh?”
“Uh, I was just doing you a favor,” Rey blushed “I think she’s slept with like every guy here, I wouldn’t want you to catch something,” they both knew she was lying. The woman was one of the very few new people at the event but Ben decided against calling her out on it.
“So, do you like painting?” Ben asked, not sure what else to talk about but not wanting the conversation to end.
Rey smiled, happy that he didn’t call her out on her lie. “No, I suck at painting. I’m sure by the end of the night there will be more paint on me than the canvas,” Rey laughed at her own joke, which made Ben laugh. “You know you’re not so bad when you don’t have a permanent scowl on your face,” she told him as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
“I’ll keep that mind,” he couldn’t help but smile. “You know you never did answer my question as to why you come to these things,” he was curious as to why such an attractive woman would come to a singles event, even if she indicated last time that she never planned to tell him why she was there. Poe thought it was because Ben was there and had told him on numerous occasions to just ask her out but each time he shot down the idea of her being attracted to him. Poe called him an idiot, he preferred the term realistic.
“Well, at first it was to appease my friend Finn,” she told him, hesitant as to how much she should divulge. “But now I’m not so sure,” Rey shrugged; clearly she wasn’t going to provide any further clarification. “Are you coming to the event on Saturday?” She asked.
“No,” he shook his head. “My friend is having a game night, plus it’s dancing and I don’t dance,” Ben realized at that point neither of them had painted anything and were well behind on the painting. “Looks like we fell a little behind.”
Rey turned her attention to the front of the room and shrugged again. “Oh well, it’s not like it was going to turn out well anyway,” she smiled but he could tell something was off.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Honestly? Now I have no excuse not to go out with my friend on Saturday,” she admitted, making it clear that if he weren’t going then she didn’t have a reason to be there.
“Isn’t that better than spending your night at one of these events?” he hoped her answer was no only because at least he was at the events, but he didn’t have high hopes.
“I don’t even know what Finn has planned or who is going to be there. He said something about his boyfriend but I haven’t met the guy and I don’t want to be a third wheel. I just recently moved here and he’s really the only person I know other than my co-workers,” she explained, though they both knew it wasn’t the full answer.
Ben was silent for a moment. At first he wondered if maybe her friend Finn was the same Finn that Poe was dating but figured it wasn’t when she said they were going out on Saturday. Finn was definitely going to game night where he and Poe would be disgustingly adorable. “Well, maybe you’ll meet someone while you’re out and won’t have to come to another one of these things,” Ben but his lip hoping that she wouldn’t meet someone.
“I think we both know I already met someone, he’s just too dense to ask me out,” she blushed, hoping he’d get the hint.
“Oh,” Ben wondered if he had misread all of the signs or if she was actually talking about him. “You know, as a strong, independent woman you could make a move,” he suggested, not wanting to make an ass out of himself for assuming she was talking about him. When Rey’s only response was to roll her eyes he figure he had definitely read it wrong and immediately changed the subject. The rest of the night was filled with a weird tension that Ben couldn’t quite place, but didn’t like. He decided in that moment that maybe it would be best if he never went to another singles event.
“Bye grumpy,” Rey said at the end of the night as if she knew they’d never see each other again.
Game Night
Ben cursed the incessant knocking on his door as he quickly jumped out of the shower. Poe had run to the store for more beer and they hadn’t been expecting anyone for another half hour so he figured it had to be Finn. He pulled on a pair of jeans, not bothering with a shirt; it wasn’t as if Finn had never seen him shirtless. Ben opened the door and locked eyes with a smiling Finn, “Why the fuck did Poe give you a key if you aren’t going to use it?”
“Well, I knew Poe wasn’t home yet and for all I knew you could be walking around naked,” Finn said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked before,” Ben retorted.
Finn suddenly burst out laughing the stepped aside to reveal two women were with him, “I have, but they haven’t.”
Ben turned bright red and his eyes widened when he saw Rey standing there. She looked highly amused and curious as to why Finn had seen him naked. “He, uh, thought Poe was in the shower and just walked in while I was showering,” Ben quickly explained.
“Poe almost died laughing when he found out,” Finn added. “So, are you gonna let us in or make us wait in the hall?” he asked. Ben moved aside motioning for them to come in. “Ben, this is Rey and you know Rose,” Finn introduced them, clearly not knowing they had already met.
“We’ve met,” Ben blurted out and immediately wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole when Rey shot him a look. He hadn’t considered that she wouldn’t want Finn to know that they knew each other.
“How did you guys meet?” Finn asked as he took off his jacket and shoes.
”Remember that guy I told you about from the events?” Rey asked, surprising Ben that she talked about him to her friends.
“That’s Ben?” Finn asked before laughing. “That makes so much sense,” he told her, leaving Ben extremely confused.
“What exactly did you say about me?” Ben glared expecting it to be something bad.
“That you’re an idiot that doesn’t know when to ask a girl out,” Finn told him, making Rey blush. “Which is so true, you’ve always sucked at knowing when women are interested in you,” he told Ben before turning to Rey, “Ben does not realize he’s attractive. He wasn’t trying to seem humble, he really thinks that people think he’s ugly.” It was clear to Ben that she had told him about their conversations.
“You thought I was joking?” Ben asked, to which Rey just nodded. “You’ve seen me right?”
“Have you seen you?” she asked, her eyes flickering down to his chest before looking back at his face.
Rey’s actions seemed to remind Ben that he was still shirtless, “You guys make yourselves comfortable, I’m gonna go put on a shirt.” Ben hurried out of the room; he could hear Finn say something but couldn’t quite make out what he said. The first shirt he grabbed was one of his Galaxy Wars shirts that had a suggestive saying on it, which he quickly threw back into his closet in search of just a plain black shirt. He heard the front door open and knew Poe was home. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not given the Rey situation.
When Ben walked into the living room Poe grinned at him, “There’s Ben! Hey Ben, who would have guessed that Rey knows Finn?”
Ben glared at him as he started to connect the dots, “I have a feeling that you did.”
“Me? How would I know? I just met Rey,” he tried to play dumb, but they both knew the Rey was not a common name for a girl and while Ben may have never heard of her, he was almost certain that Finn had told Poe about her. For all he knew Finn had told Poe everything that Finn and Rey talked about, including him. “I mean I might have had my suspicions, but I didn’t know for sure,” Poe acted innocent but Ben had a feeling that Rey was the reason he had been so adamant about him going to the first event.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Ben grumbled before grabbing himself a beer. He didn’t bother to ask if anyone else wanted one, opting to just sit on the couch until everyone else got there.
Ben felt the cushion next to him dip and looked up to find Rey sitting next to him, “So, grumpy is just your default setting? It’s not saved for events?”
“Must you always make fun of me?” he huffed. Ben considered just going to his room and locking the door until everyone left.
“I’m just teasing,” she told him as she grabbed the beer from his hand. “Isn’t that how people flirt?” she asked as she took a drink of his beer before handing it back to him.
“Flirting?” he asked and she looked at him as if he had grown a second head.
“Ben, are you serious right now? Even after all Finn just said you still don’t get that I want you to ask me out?” she asked. Rey shook her head with a sigh, “Let’s go for a walk.” Rey put the beer on the table in front of her as she stood up. When Ben didn’t move she grabbed his hand, not giving him a chance to say no.
Ben complied and followed her out of the apartment without either of them saying a word to the other occupants of the apartment. They walked for a while in silence, neither knowing exactly what to say. “So,” Ben started, but didn’t have much to say. When Rey suddenly stopped walking he was worried that she had changed her mind about him.
She stepped closer to him, never breaking eye contact. He couldn’t help but notice that she still hadn’t let go of his hand. If anything she squeezed his hand tighter as if he were going to run away. “Let me make myself very clear,” her voice was stern. “I am interested in you and would very much like to date you,” she told, stepping forward until there was very little space between them. “Is that enough of a move for you?” she asked, referencing their previous conversation about her being a strong independent woman.
“Yeah,” he confirmed before closing the gap between them. They ignored the stares of the people passing by as they stood in the middle of the sidewalk. He deepened the kiss, pulling her flush against his body. Rey’s hands tangled in his hair as if they were the only two people around.
“Get a room!” a man yelled as he passed them, causing them to pull apart. Rey started laughing while Ben blushed as he looked around at the people staring at them.
“Well, since your place is currently occupied, maybe we could take this back to my place,” she suggested with a smile and a wink. “Wouldn’t want to get arrested for public indecency,” she added, making her intentions as clear as possible.
“I’d like to take you on a date first,” he said, surprising her. Most men would have jumped at the opportunity to go back to a woman’s place and have sex. “I know a good Italian place nearby,” he suggested.
“Sounds perfect,” Rey said as she ran her hand down his chest.
Ben stepped away, part of him wanting to throw away the idea of having dinner and push her against the wall of the nearby alleyway instead. “I do plan to take full advantage of you after dinner,” he told her with a smirk before grabbing her hand and pulling her in the direction of the restaurant. She smiled as she happily followed him, excited for what the night would bring.