Work Text:
A giggle burst from the couch, jolting Rose out of her notes on human robot interaction. Her distracted glance had Jannah turning around from her phone, with a sorry face where a smile lingered.
“Sorry Rose.”
Nevertheless, Rose followed Jannah’s fingers, typing excitedly on her screen, and waiting for Rey to receive her message at the other end of the couch. A broad grin lightened the features of the archeology major while her thumbs tap danced a reply.
Rose curled back into her cave, grunting lightly over her hoard of papers, books and the multitude of documents opened on her laptop. It would have been far simpler to have a desk in her room but studying here was already a luxury she put herself in debt for.
Measuring her chance to live on this prestigious campus and study in the field of her dreams, Rose resolutely turned another page. A small smile of gratitude floated on her face as she thought about her roommates, allowing her to live this dream. She should be grateful to be where she is, Rose read in between the lines of “Advanced Robotics and Computation”. She was grateful.
Yet, repeating this mantra did not prevent her mouth to twitch downward when Rey headed for their small kitchen. Rose sank on the dining table each step of the way through the Scooby-Doo sized sandwich Rey made herself.
“Want some?” She genuinely offered on her way back to the living room.
“No, thank you,” Rose attempted to remain polite when Rey presented her the full meal that she stacked between two slices of breads.
Rose was not sure what her roommate saw on her face, but the light frown creasing between Rey’s brow was certainly not a good sign.
“Take a break Rose,” She invited with a soothing voice that scratched Rose’s nerves. “You barely left this table since midday.”
“I’m fine! I just–” She needed calm. But how in the world could she admit that her roommates?
They all made efforts during each other’s finals. Rey’s snacks kept them fed during long sleepless nights and Jannah had planned their study times with military efficiency. And now that Rey had passed her last exam and Jannah’s paper was not due before a month or so, the only ball of stress left was Rose. Aggravated by the smallest noise her carefree roommates were making.
Jannah caught Rose’s fleeing gaze from the couch.
“Rey’s right. Go get a nap.”
Argh! No, there was too much left to do. And a nap would do nothing. All Rose needed right now was two uninterrupted hours without anyone snacking or giggling at their Instagram feed.
“I’m gonna go to the library.” Rose stated eventually, “I’ll have a walk up to there.” She argued to Jannah as her mouth twisted in disbelief.
Alright, library was not happening.
Rose hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder, cursing those pretentious business students who decided to mark every corner of the library with marketing boards and economic papers. They glared Rose away from every study rooms with predatory eyes, like the sharks they were studying to be.
How did she forgot their finals were happening this week? They always found a way to be a pain in STEM students’ asses. Grumbling in the hallways, Rose resolved to try one of the empty classrooms. If she found one without a class taking place, perhaps she could steal an hour.
But that’s so short! To think about packing her stuff so soon after setting up was nerve-wracking.
Rose walked down the hall, checking the schedules over the doors. All condemning her to go further. English literature, Architectural history, Gender Studies, Psychology, Macroeconomics, ew!
She stepped back to make sure the Psychology class was not ending earlier than she read, when– wait… was that door here earlier?
Stuck in a weird corner where there seem to have no place for an actual room, Rose found a door half covered by painted hollyhocks, probably the work of the Art majors. And it had no card reader…
Her hand was already on the doorknob, pushing the panel open. Without an automated light, Rose fumbled in the dark to find a light switch. A bright light shone on what she could only describe as a Room of Requirement. Rose almost dropped her bag at the sight of the large conference table equipped with outlets, the stationary white board and its rolling counterpart next to a big sofa.
Her curious steps brought Rose forward on auto pilot, hands touching every brand-new markers and HDMI connections as if they were going to vanish.
This room was perfect!
In a rush of selfishness, Rose closed the door behind her. Maybe this was too good to be true, but at this point she was not about to ask herself the why and how. All she wanted was to work in peace!
And for the next few days, it was heaven.
As relaxing as studying for finals could be of course. Although this was not the same fun without Rey and Jannah to support her, Rose was finally getting work done this week. The only downside, she learnt the first day, was that without window or scheduled snack breaks, she let the time fly.
So much of it that on the fourth day, she was dozing on her computer. It had been a mistake to move to the couch, but it was… so comfortable. The lines of Neural Networks and Deep Learning started to mix before her eyes. And Rose fell into deep slumber.
She did not know what awakened her exactly, but as her body informed her of crooked position and fuzzy mouth, an uneasy feeling crept at the back of Rose’s neck. Like she was watched.
“Hrm…” She opened an eye, wiping drool from her crumpled cheek.
Rose’s sight caught a red spot before it took the shape of a– Oh so tall guy in impeccable shirt and dress pants.
“Finally, you’re awake.” His deep and impatient voice greeted her coldly.
Oh no! She fell asleep! Ah, well done Tico. Rose thought before she cleared her throat, “What are you doing in my study room?”
A haughty snort answered her. “MY study room you mean. I don’t know how you get in, but I’ll be glad that you take your bag and leave.”
His commanding ton whipped Rose straight up on the treacherous couch. She took a guilty look at the books and snacks she spread all around. Then a spark of clarity cleared her hazy brain.
She shot him back a defiant glare.
“Wait, this room is not assigned to anyone. I checked with the administration.”
The red head’s lips pinched as if she caught him both hands in the cookie jar.
“I– I’m the one who converted this room!” He tripped over his words. His pale face reddened just enough for Rose to deem him not as threatening as he wanted to appear. “The boards, the table, the projectors and cables,” He swept a long possessive arm over the furniture behind him. “I brought everything here to arrange this space in the most efficient study, and you will not enjoy it as your own!”
The span of a second, his outraged features almost made Rose yielded. After all, she would not have liked a stranger to use her space either.
Fuck, she should not act territorial over a room that she discovered only a few days prior. But after the weeks of anguish and stressful studying his entitlement pressed all of Rose’s buttons at once.
This room had been her only respite and she stubbornly refused to let it go just because this tall uptight ginger told her so!
Rose curled into a challenging tuck on the only furniture that didn’t belong to any of them. “I’m keeping the couch then!”
“True to the reputation of STEM girls I see, rude and lazy.”
Rose frowned at why he suddenly attacked her on her field of study when she spotted the Economics and Statistics Vol 3 in the red head’s arm.
“You’re a business student.” She scrunched her nose at him. “Should have known from the stench.”
The glare they shared next declared war for weeks to come.
The dramatic drop of Hux’s bag pack next to her did not even startled Phasma. The zip squeaked in pain as her classmate opened his bag to get his statistic books out.
“She was sleeping in my study room again!” Hux whispered angrily to not attract more dark glares from the other students in the library.
“The lazy STEM girl?”
“Rose Tico!” Hux hissed as if her name tasted awfully bad in his mouth.
Someone shushed Armitage, so him and his scowling face sat down next to Phasma.
“Didn’t you change the lock yesterday?”
Hux dropped a clicking piece on the library table. An old doorknob shone where Phasma looked up from her computer.
“She– unscrewed the handle!”
The corner of Phasma’s lips twitched up, but she carefully returned to her paper.
“After all this time you did not think of waking her up?”
Phasma earned an overly outraged stare, “And be in the same room as her awake?”
To say her friend was a PhD student amazed her, when the mention of this STEM girl was enough to reduce him to a 12 year old boy with a crush. It was amusing to Phasma that after all these years, Hux still had some innocence left in him. If only it wasn’t making him so oblivious.
The tall blonde woman braced herself when Hux took a big inspiration.
“Don’t you think she’s faking sleeping when you get there?” She cut him short before he launched himself into another thirty-minute rant about the STEM girl who stole his study room.
He closed his mouth as Phasma’s words sinking in. Would this obstinate vixen be so calculating? Hux conjured her image, spent and snoring lightly on the worn-out couch. Would she be able to fake the bags under her eyes? Her hands loosening around her books, dark strands of hair obscuring her face and begging him to pass it behind her ear–
“Or you can share the room.” Phasma jolted him out of his reverie.
Hux straightened, chasing the vulnerable image of his exhausted nemesis. “Over my dead body.”
Exhausting! That was what she was! Yet, Phasma had a point. Perhaps it was time to use the enemy’s weapon against her.
“He was SLEEPING! On the COUCH!”
Rose closed the apartment’s door harder than necessary, earning a disapproving look from Jannah. The last cleared her papers from the table from Rose to put down the groceries.
“‘I need this room to achieve my brilliant career’ my ass!” Rose fulminated, “He’s a pretentious jerk who doesn’t know how to share.”
People on the other side of Jannah’s computer agreed with Rose, “This guy sounds like a douche.”
“Is that the ginger from the other time?”
“Yeah,” Jannah filled in her working group, “She’s still not over him.”
“He’s a pain in my ass!” Rose insisted emptying cans and noodles packs on the table. The noise summoned Rey, who close her geology book to give her roommate a hand.
“Next time, put glue on the couch Rose!” Someone else suggested. Rose winced at the reminder that even Jannah’s classmate followed her territorial feud over the secret study room.
“No thanks, sometimes I sleep on that couch too.” More often than not lately, Rose had to admit.
Jannah tried to take her group back to Political Theory, but Rose’s troubles provided a nice distraction to her classmates.
“Maybe he’s not that bad? Have you tried to ask him out?”
Rose dropped a can of beans that she swore she was holding tight.
“Ew! She deserves better.” Someone saved Rose from having to answer that.
“He’s not so bad looking on his Insta.”
“There are only photos of his cat and professional posts on there!” Another one complained after checking Hux’s profile. “I’m with Jaycee, she can do better.”
“Can we go back to our project?” Jannah sighed to her computer.
Rose followed Rey to the small kitchen, helping her filling their empty shelves for the week. By the end of it, Rey took Rose in, seeing through her things others couldn’t see.
“You look tired Rose.”
Rose snorted. Rey’s insight was usually deeper than that. But her friend’s concern suddenly made Rose aware of her current state.
“I hope I won’t look too scary for my oral exam,” Rose shrugged lightly, fleeing to the couch. However, Rey did not buy it.
“You’ve got a lot on your plate lately.” She pointed out, extending Rose a friendly hand to talk more about it.
“There’s a ginger one I’d like to get rid of from my plate.” Was the first thing on Rose’s mind.
“Him again?” Rey lifted one suspicious brow.
“Ugh, he keeps getting on my nerves with his– PhD pride! He’s been studying here for six years and now he thinks he owes everything!” Rose slumped on the couch, hardly keeping her eyes open. She rubbed them without being able to chase the upcoming drowsiness. “I’m not getting as much work as I should have because of him.”
Her roommate’s suspicion grew. “You can’t study with him in that secret room of yours? It’ll be easier if he’s knocked out like today.”
“It’s the first time I found him asleep… and the last thing I needed another passionate speech about my ‘blatant disregard for privacy!’ when he’ll woke up. So, I just fled.”
“You can’t go on like that…” Rey pressed a firm hand on Rose’s arm.
“Yes, I need a plan to shut him up for good.”
Rey swallowed her invite to get more sleep, and Rose got up before she surrendered to the plushiness of cushions.
“Without him, I’ll finally get my work done!”
Rey watched her friend go before getting back on her phone. She and Ben had been taking bets on when Rose would realize that her ginger problem was her main topic for discussion since she met Hux.
Ben was pessimistic. He had a point regarding their stubbornness. But Rey had hope. All they needed was to see what was right in front of them.
It was already dark when Rose pushed the door of the study room after her computing class. She dragged herself to her safe harbor, praying not to stumble upon a settler.
But of course, why would her karma be nice to her this time?
Which deity did she offend to find him huddled up on the old couch? His annoyingly tall body shouldn’t have fit on the worn-out furniture, yet he managed to squeeze himself on half the available space.
Rose dropped her bags, resolute not to flee twice. She had work… just the perspective of it made her want to sob. But this time he was going to leave her in peace. This time, she was throwing him out!
Her eyes had not left his frame, softly raising and falling, but it was only on a closer look that she was able to see him. His features had softened in his slumber, highlighting the bags under is eyes and the hollows of his cheeks. Even his combed back hair was spread in a disorder so unlike him.
A light snore shook Rose out of her contemplation. She tore her gaze away from his innocent face, knowing what kind of snake lied underneath when he was conscious. But when it was time to wake him up, her hands didn’t know where to go.
Should she shake his frail shoulder? Shout him to wake up? Oh no, this was a horrid way to wake someone up… Whisper then?
Ugh, Rose you’re ridiculous! You’re not gonna make coffee and cuddle him out of bed!
She shuddered from the pleasant feeling that coursed through her at this thought. It scared her enough to clear her mind and eventually put a hand down his arm. Rose shook him lightly without success. Hux was either a good actor or heavy sleeper.
He forced her to kneel down the couch to shake him again, and finally he began to move, only to wrap his arm around her. Hux turned in his sleep, bringing Rose with him. She muffled a yelp, trying to understand how she was suddenly nestled against this unsufferable… and warmer than she imagined.
Rose wanted to fight him, but the second her body sank in the cushions, her tensed muscles gave up all at once. The hard lines of his chest were not so bad against hers. Especially with that pretentious and soft sweater of his… In any other time, Rose’s overthinking brain would have fried with anxiety. But countless hours of worried studying had completely burnt out her nervousness.
It was so easier to let her head fall against Hux’s shoulder and let herself be hold.
The sun had barely begun to color the sky in pink. A color that had not left Rose’s cheeks since she woke up. It was her first full night in months, and she did not spend it in her bed… Her face still bore the marks of the couch under an incredulous expression.
The clicks of her keys in the apartment’s lock were the lightest in the history of the campus. She would have been a great spy, she congratulated herself as she slipped inside and close the door weighed down by her books. But her espionage career was brought to an abrupt end by her roommates.
“Morning,” Rey hardly repressed a smirk behind her morning coffee. At the table beside her, Jannah interrupted her scrolling to stare at Rose too.
They either stayed up all night or they rose early. In both cases, Rose was going to have a hard time justifying her walk of shame.
She attempted to break the growing silence with a “Hey girls…” But even to herself Rose sounded guilty as charged.
“Slept well?” Jannah bit down a laugh threatening to burst.
The hint of a smile reached Rose’s lips. As if she could have resisted sharing this with her friends. And she could use a coffee too.
“Alright.” Rose yielded excitedly as she sat down. “Just… can you keep this for you?”
The drop of their smiles for a split second had Rose worrying.
“What–?” Her voice lowered to a breath.
Jannah slid her phone on the table, her fingers scrolling through her Instagram feed until it stopped on a post from an account named ‘Captain Phasma’.
A post with 634 likes… and counting!
The picture was all sensations in Rose’s mind. Of melting warmth and faint smell of after shave. They were so eager to flee from their embrace this morning that Rose had not considered how soft they looked in each other’s arms.
Her head had nestled right under Hux’s. One of her hands laid gently against his shirt. His arm was keeping her from falling off the couch, holding her with a surprising tenderness.
The stolen picture captured their exhaustion perfectly, from their rumpled clothes to the matching shadows under their eyes. They seemed so peaceful… younger too.
Under the picture, the caption said:
Spotted at Hosnian University.
Raise awareness on the effects of sleep depravation on college students.
“Rey bet you’d like the photo,” Jannah got Rose out of her reverie. The first glanced at a pretty smug Rey, not believing she was right again.
“Did you talk to Hux?” Rey came back to Rose.
“No, I… oh shit! I can’t I have a Robotics class in thirty minutes!”
“Take a shower at least!” The ever-pragmatic Jannah yelled at Rose when she fetched her books in her room.
Rose came back into the living room, bouncing into a new pair of jeans and half of a shirt buttoned up.
“Can’t! I’m already running late!”
Her scheduled unfolded in Rose’s mind, mixing with her to-do list and the lasting impression of her new Instragram fame. She needed to see him again… What will I say to him?
Rose yanked the door opened and found herself at loss of words.
In the hall, a tall –and very comfortable– red head PhD student stood, just as speechless as she was.
Unlike Rose he smelled of mint and soap, under his ironed shirt. He held his usual gear, topped with two cups of coffee from the cafeteria.
The contempt he usually showed her had melted into something softer. As if he could not summon the right mood to tease her this morning.
“Hey,” Rose let out in a pleased breath.
“Hello! I– huh… I wish to apologize for huh… oversleeping, and… coffee?”
To see that words were as hard to find as it was for her was a small relief. For once, twisting her neck to meet his green eyes was agreeable even. In between their awkward stares, a whole new ground was taking shape. It smelled like coffee and a new day.
“Oh, thank you I– actually I need to get to class.” She recalled.
“Of course! Can I… walk you there?”
“Sure!”
With more eagerness than she intended, Rose closed the door on her curious roommates. She took their encouraging smiles with her as she walked by the side of a former enemy and took a warm cup of coffee from a new friend.