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“Oh, c’mon, Rey. Finn and Rose already agreed to be there.”
“I need to run these sales reports, Kaydel, I don’t have time for this.”
“Rey, are you even listening to me?”
Rey stopped walking and turned to Kaydel in annoyance. “I already told you, I do not want to go to Poe’s Christmas party. I don’t go to parties.”
“Please, Rey. Even you can’t deny that you need a break. I’ve never seen a worse workaholic than you. Well...except maybe Ben. The two of you stay here at the office long after we all go home. Like, when do you ever have time off? Trust me, having a little fun will be good for you, Rey.”
Rey rolled her eyes. It was the same conversation every year. Each Christmas, Poe would host a party at his house for his coworkers. And, each Christmas, Rey refused to attend. Having Kaydel try to convince her to come every year was getting old. Well, maybe if I go just this once, they won’t ask me next year, Rey thought.
“Wait, do you know who Poe’s inviting?” she asked, eyeing Kaydel suspiciously.
“I don’t know for sure, not yet.”
“Fine. As long as he isn’t there, I’ll go.”
Kaydel didn’t need to ask who “he” was. Saying that Rey and Ben didn’t get along was an understatement. It was common knowledge that they hated each other. They knew exactly how to push each other’s buttons, and every trivial issue became a shouting match.
“I’ll—I’ll let Poe know.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Come on, man, just this once?” Poe said, following Ben quickly, trying to keep up with his longer strides.
“I have no interest in attending your little ‘Christmas gathering’, Dameron.”
“Ben, you don’t even have to bring any presents or anything.”
“You know that’s not my problem with this.”
“So you’re not the most sociable guy in the world,” Poe said with a shrug. “You don’t necessarily need to talk to anyone. Plus, you work too much, Ben. Maybe if you uh, loosen up a bit, it’ll help you, ya know, relieve some...stress.”
“Who says I’m stressed?”
“Uh, well...you do have a bit of a...short fuse sometimes.”
“You talking about me and Rey? Cause—”
“No! No, I’m saying in—in general...” Best not to talk about Rey around him, Poe thought to himself.
“Is Amilyn going to be there?” Ben asked, trying to change the subject of Rey.
“What?! No, no no nooo. I did not invite Holdo. Rule number one of hosting work parties of any kind, do NOT invite the boss. Next thing you know, she’ll be micromanaging your own party, too.”
“I didn’t know there were ‘rules’ for hosting parties,” Ben said flatly, rolling his eyes.
“I learnt by experience,” Poe said, ruefully remembering last year, when he had made the mistake of inviting Holdo.
Ben sighed. Perhaps if he indulged Dameron just this once, he would be free of his yearly pestering from now on.
“Okay, I’ll go to your party, just as long as Rey isn’t there.” Ben walked out the door before Poe could say anything. I have to talk to Kaydel asap, he thought, feeling panicky. Because he had already asked Kaydel to get Rey to come to the party, as well.
Kaydel had just gotten home when her phone started to vibrate.
“Hey, Poe! I have great news—”
“Kay, did you already talk to Rey?” Poe asked urgently.
“Yeah, that’s what I was about to—”
“Did she say yes??”
“Yes, Poe,” she said, annoyed. Poe was always interrupting her. “She said as long as Ben didn’t show, she would be there. I was just about to text you—”
“Oh no.”
“Uh, what’s wrong? Didn’t you want her to come?”
“That’s the thing... Ben already agreed to come if Rey won’t be there.”
They both groaned. “Did we just crash your Christmas party before it even began?” Kaydel said sarcastically.
“There’s nothing we can do now. I guess we’ll just have to put up with them being in the same room for the whole night.”
“Oh, great.”
“I’ll just text everyone and tell them to bring earplugs,” Poe said with a half-hearted laugh. Kaydel scoffed grumpily.
“Where do you want these lights?” Finn asked, a box of Christmas decorations in his arms.
“Take them over to the living room, I’ll set them up later,” Rose said, holding a huge bundle of stockings.
Finn and Rose were at Poe’s house; they had volunteered to help him decorate for the next day’s Christmas party. Rose always said that the Christmas party was the highlight of her holiday, especially since her sister Paige had moved away. Finn didn’t think Poe was all that good of a host, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
“Hey, Finn?”
“Yeah?”
“Poe said both Rey and Ben will be here tomorrow.”
“Oh dear.” Rey was a good friend to both of them, but, when Ben was around, she was insufferable. “Remember that one time we tried to get them to go on a date?”
Rose laughed loudly. That had been a nightmare. It had all started when, about a year ago, she had caught Ben staring at Rey from across the room, and, at the time, it had seemed like a great idea to try to get them together. They were very alike in many ways: they were both often staying at the office late to get work done, they took turns being the first to arrive in the mornings, and they were both extremely competitive perfectionists. But they were also very different. Rey was usually bright and optimistic (unless she was behind on a project, then she would snap at people angrily and it was best to avoid her), friendly, and, while she always got work done, she was anything but organized. Ben, on the other hand, was serious, as introverted as you could get (unless he was arguing with Rey, of course), and meticulously organized and methodical. Everything was color-coded, alphabetical, order-of-importance with him. It had seemed like a good idea at the time (they hadn’t known the two of them very long at that point), but she could still remember their reactions when she had asked them if they wanted to go on a date together...
“Me? Go on a date with that grumpy neat-freak? I’d rather date the printer, it probably has a better sense of humor!”
“Me? Go on a date with that irritatingly-optimistic absolute slob? I don’t think so.”
It turned out that Ben’s staring at Rey was just him looking at her messy desk in disgust and watching for her to make an insignificant mistake for him to point out. The rest of their coworkers had quickly given up on them. They were clearly destined to loathe each other for eternity.
“I wish they would at least get along tomorrow night,” said Rose with a sigh.
Finn laughed dryly. “It would be a Christmas miracle, Rose.”
Rose glanced at something in a box beside her. “Uh, Finn, why does Poe want us to hang up so much mistletoe?”
Finn shrugged. “I don’t know, Rose. But I didn’t think you’d mind.”
Rose smirked, blushing slightly. “Be quiet and help me with this box, dummy.”
The next night, at the party, Kaydel stood in the corner of Poe’s living room, pulling at the collar of her bright green knit sweater. It was an unusually warm winter this year and a fire was entirely unnecessary, but Poe had insisted on lighting a fire in the fireplace, saying it was “traditional.” Actually, it’s just sweltering, Kaydel thought. Ben stood beside her in a sweater of his standard shade of black, looking bored.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door and, when Poe opened it, Rey stumbled in, looking slightly flustered.
“Uh...heyyy there, Rey...” said Poe, somewhat uncomfortably, feeling Ben’s eyes boring into his back.
“Hi, Poe. I’m so sorry I’m late guys, I—” Her voice trailed off when she saw Ben standing in the corner opposite the door. She frowned and headed into the kitchen without another word.
“You told me she wouldn’t be here!!” he half-whispered angrily at Poe as he watched Kaydel head toward the kitchen after Rey.
“Look, I’m sorry, Ben, I had already gotten Kaydel to invite her before I even talked to you. You’ll just have to put up with her being here, all right?” Poe said, exasperated. Ben just glared at him.
“You told me he wouldn’t be here, Kaydel!” Rey hissed at her as soon as she had walked into the kitchen.
“Rey, listen. Poe invited him before I could let him know!”
Rose, who was making cocoa, handed Rey a mug. “Look, you guys don’t have to talk to each other, ok? Just try to enjoy yourself, Rey. It will do you good.”
Rey sighed. “All right. But I’m still not happy about this.”
“I have something that might help,” Rose said, suddenly struck with an idea. “Be right back,” she called, running out of the kitchen to grab something.
Poe walked hurriedly into the kitchen, itching to escape Ben’s disapproving glare. “Is the cocoa ready yet?”
“Almost. Rose went to go get something,” said Kaydel. “And why in the world did you wear that?” She pointed to his sweater, a strange combination of yarn, Christmas lights, and something that resembled...cotton balls.
“Ehh, well...my mom made it for Christmas and, you know, I just thought it looked...festive.”
Rey and Kaydel both stifled a laugh. He looked like the Christmas decor aisle after being ransacked on the 26th.
Rose rushed back in, beaming and holding a tiny gift bag in one hand. “This is for you, Rey. I know it’s a bit early for presents but I thought this would help, uh, cheer you up.”
“Oh, uh, thanks, Rose,” Rey said, taking the bag from her slowly.
“Well, go on, open it!” Rose said, while Poe and Kaydel looked on with mild curiosity.
“All right.” Rey pulled out a small, silver object and pulled the top off to reveal the brightest shade of ruby-colored lipstick she had ever seen. Her eyes lit up. She had always loved bright colors.
“It’s beautiful! Thank you so much!”
“Why don’t you go try it on?” Kaydel asked as she helped Rose pull cookies out of the oven.
“The bathroom’s over down that hallway if you need a mirror,” Poe said, pointing her in the right direction.
“Thanks! I’ll be right back,” Rey said, setting down her mug of cocoa.
“Don’t take too long,” Rose called out to her, “or the cookies won’t be warm anymore!”
Rey walked through the living room, avoiding Ben’s eyes as she headed toward the corridor that led to Poe’s guest bathroom. Closing the bathroom door behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief and tried out some of the new lipstick. She smiled, grateful for friends like Rose who always thought of others first.
Finn sat beside Ben on the couch in Poe’s living room, feeling extremely awkward because of Ben’s taciturn silence. Why did he have to be the one left to try to be friendly toward Ben while everyone else fled to the kitchen to get the sweets ready? He should’ve asked Rose to at least bring him a cookie.
As Rey walked out of the kitchen, Finn swallowed hard, hoping that nothing would trigger another bickering session between these two. Thankfully, Rey ignored them both and left the room, heading down the hallway that led deeper into Poe’s house. This house has a really weird layout, Finn thought as he hungrily awaited the cookies he could smell baking in the kitchen. All of a sudden, Ben stood, mumbling a blunt “Excuse me,” before disappearing down the same corridor that Rey had just walked into.
Finn, glad for a opportunity to leave the suffocating heat of the living room (whose idea had it been to light the fireplace??), strode casually toward the kitchen. The heat was probably even worse in there since the oven was on, but at least there were treats there. He was trying to be patient, but his stomach wasn’t. Why does Poe always end up baking at the last minute?
Familiar footsteps and a gentle knock outside the bathroom door told Rey all she needed to know. She smiled widely as she opened the bathroom door and scanned the hallway quickly to make sure no one was watching, then headed to the end of the empty corridor and saw light streaming out from under one of the doors. She opened it and found Ben standing there, waiting for her with a smile.
“Took you long enough, sweetheart,” he said playfully.
Rey walked into the somewhat cramped room and closed the door behind her. Then she noticed the washer and stifled a laugh. “Ben, what are we doing in Poe’s laundry room?”
“Well, it was the farthest room from the living room, so it made logical sense.”
Rey took his hands in her own. “How long do you think it’ll be until they find out?”
“I don’t know, we’ve done a pretty good job of letting them think we hate each other, Rey.”
Rey laughed quietly, but Ben sighed and looked somber all of a sudden. “I was hoping that you could come over to my house this time...I was looking forward to spending Christmas with just us this year.”
Rey nodded. “It’s ok, Ben. We can still have a good time while we’re here.”
“It would be even better if we weren’t pretending to hate each other anymore.”
“Ben, it was your idea to keep this up. You said it would be fun.”
Ben smirked. “Hasn’t it been?”
Rey grinned. “I guess it has. They really have no idea that we’re together.”
“Maybe it’s best to keep it that way. They’d never let us hear the end of it if they found out.”
“True,” Rey said laughingly.
“Well, Poe said we didn’t have to bring gifts, but, I thought I’d find a moment to give you your Christmas present, Rey, so I brought it with me.” He fished a small box out of his pocket. “You need to close your eyes before I give you your present, though.”
“Okay then.”
Rey shut her eyes tightly and felt him gently fasten the clasp of a necklace around her neck. She opened her eyes and admired the delicate gold necklace that shone beautifully against her cream-colored cardigan. She smiled brightly at the sight. I love that smile, Ben thought.
“It was my grandmother Padmé’s favorite. She used to wear all kinds of over-the-top jewelry, but this simple golden necklace was her most prized possession because my grandfather Anakin had given it to her. And now I’m giving it to you, Rey.”
“Oh, Ben, thank you so much! I know how much her stuff means to you.”
“You mean everything to me, Rey.”
Rey blushed, and then gasped, her eyes widening in a sudden realization. “Oh no... I thought I wouldn’t have an opportunity to give you your present without the others noticing, and I left it at home! I’m so sorry, Ben.”
“It’s all right, sweetheart, you didn’t have to—”
“Wait,” she said, a smile creeping back onto her face as suddenly as it had left. “Maybe I do have a gift for you after all, Ben.” He followed her gaze to what hung from the cabinets on the wall above them. Mistletoe. He looked at her with a smirk.
“You need to close your eyes before I give you your present, Ben,” she said smugly.
He wrapped his arms around her before closing his eyes, and she kissed him. Ben smiled into the kiss, grateful that, even though they had been forced into attending this Christmas party rather than being able to spend the night together without the others (and Poe’s outrageous Christmas sweater), he was still able to be with the one he loved. He kissed her back gently as he buried his hand in her beautiful hair, both of them forgetting entirely where they were.
Until the door opened, that is.
“Who in the world still uses cloth napkins?” Finn had asked while stuffing a cookie into his mouth. The only reason these cookies tasted delicious was that Rose and Kaydel had helped Poe bake them. It was no secret that Poe was a terrible cook.
“Yeah, Poe,” said Kaydel, walking into the dining room with a tray of somewhat sloppy-looking gingerbread men, “don’t you waste a bunch of water washing these after every meal?”
“I don’t use them for every meal, but this is a special occasion. And my mom gave me these napkins...”
Kaydel rolled her eyes. Rose walked in to find Finn reaching for another cookie. “Finn! Stop eating the cookies before everyone is at the table!” Finn withdrew his hand sheepishly.
“We’re just waiting on Ben and Rey,” Poe said, eyeing the gingerbread men hungrily.
“Where are those two, anyway? It’s not like either of them to be late to anything,” Kaydel said thoughtfully, an eyebrow raised. “Maybe Rey got lost in your weirdly-shaped house, Poe.”
“My house is not weirdly-shaped,” Poe exclaimed defensively.
“It really is, Poe,” Finn said with a shrug. “Seriously, who has a kitchen, dining room, and living room all bunched together at the front of the house and then a tiny little hallway leading to the rest of the house?”
Rose rolled her eyes as Poe and Finn began to debate about house layouts. “I’ll go find Rey and Ben myself then,” she said, striding out of the room and toward the hallway.
The door opened and revealed Rose, her eyes wide in shock. Ben and Rey turned to face her, both blushing as red as Rose’s holiday sweater.
“Rose!” Rey exclaimed, her voice coming out as an embarrassing high-pitched squeak.
“I—I can explain,” Ben stumbled over his words.
Recovering from her surprise, Rose supressed giggles. “What is there to explain? Just wait until I tell the others.”
“No!” Ben and Rey blurted out simultaneously.
“We, uh, didn’t want anyone to find out yet,” Rey said anxiously.
“Don’t tell anyone, okay?” Ben said, only half asking.
“All—all right, then,” Rose said, a confused expression on her face. “We’re about to eat, though, so you should come with me before they get suspicious.”
“You go first, Rey. I’ll show up after,” Ben said, his annoyance at being caught and interrupted apparent on his face.
Rey followed Rose into the dining room and took a seat beside her. Poe and Finn were still arguing about the benefits of open floor plans, and Kaydel was scrolling through pictures on her phone. Do Poe’s parties always end up this boring? Rey wondered.
“Poor girl got lost in your ‘artistically complex’ floor plan, Poe,” Rose said with a hint of sarcasm, and Rey breathed a sigh of relief. Poe glared at her, but Rey knew that nobody could ever stay mad at Rose for long.
A minute later, Ben walked in, taking a seat with a muttered “Sorry I’m late.” Rey had to avoid his gaze to keep from breaking out in a smile. She knew he really didn’t want to be there, and she instinctively wanted to go over to him and hug him close, but she couldn’t, not with everyone watching.
“Hey, Poe?”
“Yeah, Finn?”
“Why in the world did you have us hang up so much mistletoe? You even told me to hang some in your laundry room for goodness’ sake!” Poe, sitting at the head of the table, could’ve sworn that he saw Rey and Ben share a small smile at that remark. No...he had to have imagined it. He had probably misinterpreted a scowl as a smile.
“Yeah, he makes a point,” Kaydel cut in, looking up from her phone. “The only ones who are dating here are Finn and Rose.” Finn chuckled nervously and Rey blushed. “Who could possibly need that much mistletoe?”
“Well, if you want, we could—” Poe began, raising an eyebrow at Kaydel.
“Absolutely not.”
“What?! I didn’t even say anythi—”
“Just, no, Dameron.”
“All right, all right” Poe said, raising his hands in mock surrender. Kaydel resumed scrolling with an annoyed huff. For the second time, he thought he saw Ben and Rey smile at each other across the table. Was he seeing things?
He was about to make a comment about it to Ben when he did a double take. “Uhm, Ben?”
“Yes?”
“What’s that, er, on your...face?”
“On my face—wait, what?”
“Yeah, like here,” Poe said, pointing vaguely toward his own mouth to show him.
A bewildered expression on his face, Ben picked up one of Poe’s precious cloth napkins and wiped his lips with it in total confusion. Then his eyes widened in sudden realization. The pure white of the napkin was smeared with red, the exact shade of bright ruby-red as Rey’s new lipstick.
“That’s not frosting, you haven’t had any cookies,” Poe said, staring at the napkin blankly.
“It’s lipstick,” Kaydel screeched, looking up from her phone to gape at Ben.
“I, uh—” Ben stammered, carefully avoiding Rey and Rose’s eyes.
“Wait just a second...isn’t that—” Kaydel said, her eyes wide.
“Let’s find out,” said Rose, practically jumping form her seat and running over to the bathroom. Rey’s heart stopped when she realized she had left the lipstick there before going to meet Ben.
Rose rushed back into the room, triumphantly holding up the brand-new ruby-hued lipstick. “Let’s make sure,” she said, and proceeded to rub some of the lipstick onto the napkin.
“Rose! Those are my mom’s napkins!!” Poe exclaimed.
“Hush!” Kaydel said angrily while studying the two smears of lipstick. There was no denying it. The two colors were identical. Everyone at the table looked over at Rey, who blushed deeply.
Poe jumped to his feet so quickly he almost knocked his chair over. “I KNEW IT!”
“No you didn’t!” Kaydel said, rolling her eyes.
“Wait, you guys—wha—I—” Finn said, fumbling over his words in shock.
“I caught these two kissing in the laundry room earlier,” Rose said proudly, with a smug expression on her face.
“In my laundry room??” Poe asked incredulously.
“You—what—since when??” Finn asked in disbelief.
“Well, uh, we’ve been dating for months now,” said Ben, somewhat sheepishly.
“YOU WHAT?”
“Well, after that time you guys tried to get us together, we were the last ones to leave the office, and we apologized for being so rude to each other about it. Ben admitted that he didn’t actually think it was such a bad idea, and I didn’t think it was either, so we went out to eat together without you guys knowing,” Rey said with a small smile. “We’ve been dating ever since.”
“Then how come you guys still hated each other??” Kaydel asked.
“Well, uh, we assumed, since you guys already thought we hated each other, that you wouldn’t understand that we were uh, together, you know? So we just decided to keep pretending. It was kinda fun though,” Ben said with a nervous chuckle.
“You thought we wouldn’t understand? Of course we would understand! It’s classic rivals-to-lovers!” Rose said excitedly.
“What’s that?” Ben and Rey asked simultaneously.
“You’re both such clueless dorks. You’re perfect for each other,” Kaydel said sarcastically, going back to scrolling though pictures on her phone.
“Seems like the mistletoe in the laundry room had a purpose after all,” Finn said with a laugh.
“Yeah, bet you guys didn’t think lipstick and mistletoe would be the downfall of your little secret, did you?” Poe said.
Rey stood and walked over to Ben’s seat at the table. “No, we didn’t,” she said, leaning over Ben’s shoulder lovingly. “But I’m actually glad that it happened. It was getting hard to pretend we didn’t love each other.”
“Yeah, it was getting tiring for us, too,” Poe said earnestly.
Ben smiled and the rest of them laughed heartily. Maybe coming to this party wasn’t so bad after all, Ben thought happily. Surrounded by Rey and their group of coworkers (and best friends, he had to admit), it was the best Christmas Ben had had in as long as he could remember.