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“So, why are you looking for somewhere new to live?”
Loft 3B has agreed that Jannah is supposed to question potential roommates since The Apollo 13 Incident of 2011. But, since Bazine left to work in a lingerie atelier in Paris, the loft has felt empty. There was a tipsy ad posted on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist with not, admittedly, great descriptions of the apartment. But, housing in Brooklyn is a hot commodity so there were twenty inquiries and counting by the morning. It’s been three weeks of interviews and they haven’t found anyone who didn’t seem like they would murder them in their sleep and would pay rent on time.
This led them to Ben Solo. He sent his CV, current credit score, and a current background check without being prompted. Kaydel ran another background search and he came back clean which means he got an interview.
He was much, larger, in person. Long, curly dark hair hung in his eyes trying and failing, to make him seem less intimidating. His eyes darted around like he was weighing every decision he was making. But, despite that, he commanded the space no matter how much he didn’t want to.
Rose thought he could be helpful when she goes antiquing or when they need to dust the fans.
“My prior living situation was no longer viable,” he recited as though he’d spent the elevator ride up practicing what to say to their questions.
“Why?”
Rose couldn’t stand it anymore. She needed to know more about who Ben was. She recognized his face from the First Order trials. Not as a defendant, but the key witness. He had to have enemies and she didn’t want them in her home or near her friends. Kaydel’s background checks were thorough, to say the least, but she wasn’t taking any chances.
“My… partner and I broke up. We lived together for the last four years,” he was smaller now. Like he wanted to swallow himself whole.
Rose felt the same.
“He, I mean they-” Ben looked frightened that he had slipped up and given too much of himself to the loft.
“Ben, it’s okay,” Kaydel, as much as she didn’t look like it, was the most delicate of them.
“Oh, uh, that’s nice. Tai couldn’t handle my work. I travel a lot for my business and I came home early to surprise him,” the girls knew where this was headed. They shared a glance, all knowing what road they were all about to go down.
Ben was lost in his memory of that day.
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Ben was ready to drop after the three flights it took to make it back to New York. A technology firm from Scotland called him in to see if he could infiltrate their building and improve their security processes. It took one day, coveralls, and a clipboard to fully infiltrate the building. It took a week to work through the immediate changes and make plans for Zoom meetings in between Ben’s site visits. Overall, he finished a week early.
Tai would be happy.
He hadn’t been lately. After the First Order trials ended and Ben’s security firm took off, Tai had been increasingly cagey. Ben was gone a lot for site visits but he tried to make sure he was never gone longer than two weeks. Tai had stood by him through college, Snoke, taking down Snoke, working with the FBI, the trials, everything. He deserved the world and Ben was trying to give it to him. Now that he had made a reputation for himself with security, he could slow down and spend more time at home.
Despite how wrung out he felt, Ben stopped at the florist for bluebells, Tai’s favorite, and the Chinese takeout place on the corner. It may not be a “date” but it was something. He walked up the steps to the little townhouse that had been their home together. He smiled seeing that the swing on the porch had finally been fixed. Tai swore that he wouldn’t be the one to fix it since it was Ben’s fault it was broken.
“You’re the size of a fridge, Benjamin. The swing never stood a chance when you flopped down on it,” he had laughed.
Ben juggled the food, flowers, and keys when he heard it. Laughter. It wasn’t Tai’s.
“Thank you so much for fixing that swing,” that was Tai.
“Anything for you, how did you break it? I don’t think you said,” that was the voice of the laughter, Ben thinks.
“Oh, a friend sat on it the wrong way. But now I should properly repay you, love” Tai refused to call Ben anything other than his name. It was a whole thing in college when they had first started. When he thought Tai was his salvation. They had argued for a month with Ben calling him all sorts of nicknames. Darling had been what stuck. Even as First Order had taken over Ben’s life, coming home to Tai had been constant.
Snoke had hollowed him out and left him empty. What began with constructive criticism had turned into personal attacks turned into doing the dirty work of the company. Ben slid down a mountain to rock bottom faster than he could blink. Tai had helped him find his way out. He called Han and found a way to connect with the FBI field office that had been working for years to try to take Snoke down. Tai sat in the courtroom being threatened by First Order’s lawyers and made sure that Ben was calm enough to take the stand. He even bought Ben a new watch to celebrate his first security contract with his Uncle Lando’s firm in Bespin. He never thought it would end like this.
With trampled bluebells and cellophane and shrimp lo mein on their porch and a gently swaying white porch swing, Ben looked at the door.
His therapist would say he has two options, face the situation now, or do it later. He never quite handled it at all. Hux and Phasma went with him a few days later to get his things. He signed over the deed to Tai. He hasn’t slept more than an hour since.
But, Hux and Phasma’s apartment was way too small for the three of them. They each worked from home just as much as he did and Phasma’s girlfriend, Jyn, was over all the time too. He had to get out.
One night, he scrolled through Facebook and saw an ad for a loft. The pictures were blurry but light streamed in from large windows and the occupants, three women, were sitting on a large sectional laughing. Ben couldn’t find any mention of a preferred gender on the ad. He figured the worst that could happen is they would say no and he sent over as much information as he could to prove he wasn’t a murderer or, worse, someone who wouldn’t pay rent on time.
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The room was quiet when he finished explaining. Jannah really looked at him for the first time since he walked into the loft. She knew where Rose’s brain was at. Jannah had watched the trials too. She remembered the confident way he spoke on the stand, even under cross-examination. But, this Ben Solo wasn’t the same. He wasn’t dangerous, just hurting. Ben needed a new place to relearn himself and who he could be. Somehow, the universe decided that maybe Loft 3B was it.
“If you’ll excuse us for a minute, I think we need to talk,” Jannah tried to be measured with her words. But, she watched the air leave Ben’s lungs, thinking he had already ruined things.
The others followed her to the bathroom and Kaydel shut the door as quietly as she could.
“He’s in,” Kaydel was first to the punch. She had seen the same things in him that Jannah had. But, beyond that, she knew that there was no better protection than to have a man that large seen coming in and out of the loft.
“Wait, we don’t need another project. We already have to refinish the hutch in the dining room,” Rose was still hesitant, but her heart wasn’t in it. Someone with eyes that sad wasn’t dangerous and, she just knew, that if anyone tried to come after him, Loft 3B would keep him safe.
Jannah raised her eyebrow, part of living together for over nine years was knowing each other just a little too well.
“So, we’re in agreement that he’s our fourth roommate then.”
They all traipsed back to the living room where Ben was looking at his phone. He typed something quickly and ran his hands through his curls as the message whooshed away to its recipient.
“Sorry, I’ll leave soon, my friend decided to come up and walk down with me to the car. He had to park six blocks away,” Ben was quiet.
“Oh, will you be able to start moving in today? We don’t mind if you want to wait till tomorrow,” Kaydel said innocently.
“If you wait till tomorrow, I know a guy with a box truck. He owns a bakery but they’re closed on Sundays so we can use it,” Jannah was quick to add. Ben jerked his head to look at them, all smiling and Jannah was holding the loft agreement. Before he could say anything, there was a sharp knock on the door.
“It’s open,” Rose yelled through the loft. The door opens and in walks a tall man with bright red hair. He looked ready for a fight on Ben’s behalf, his jaw working under the smooth, pale skin. He looked at the girls holding the papers, Ben’s blank expression, and Rose’s smile.
“You overreacted again, didn’t you?”
Ben was still looking at the loft agreement Jannah had placed in his hands.
“Who are you?” Rose swore she didn’t always forget to filter herself. But, he was hot and she had been out of the game for just a couple of months too long to not know.
“Armitage Hux. Ben’s best friend and current landlord, but I am happy to hand that title over to you ladies now,” he was Irish and Rose thought she would combust.
“Will you be helping him move then?” Jannah choked at Rose’s words. She hadn’t dated since Snap left. Ben Solo was definitely going to breathe new life into Loft 3B.