Chapter Text
art by @theriseofswolo
art by @ratsandlove
REY
A very hot dude was brushing Rey’s teeth.
And she probably should have been embarrassed, but she was too drunk, too far gone, to feel anything but grateful.
Thanks, Mr. Dude.
My mouth is gnarly.
It was oddly erotic. She wasn't sure if his eyes were dark because he was staring, or if it was actually dark. Either way, his eyes were giving off something very sensual. And somehow the dim lighting of his small bathroom added to the strangely sexual mood. He moved the vibrating toothbrush gently and rhythmically over her teeth. Tenderly angled the brush around the curves of her mouth. His careful movements felt like a massage, a sweet consideration.
Rey let her pliable body purr quietly as she gazed up at the hot man, wide-eyed.
And he huffed one chuckle, gave her a sideways smile.
She responded with another drunken purr. Louder, coming out more like a moan.
Would I act like this if I were sober?
He shook his head shyly at her noises, this time with a full grin. Rey kept her glassy eyes on him, happy to see his own crooked smile, crooked teeth, and deep dimples.
Yes. Yes I would act like this.
Not much changes when I’m drunk.
He bared his teeth, opened his mouth, and stuck out his tongue, things he expected Rey to mirror so he could really get in there. And he looked completely ridiculous but every dorky expression made her heart flutter in her chest.
“That’s good.” His voice was low. Deep. So deep, it felt like he was melting her bones. “Perfect. Just like that, Rey. Open up. Just a bit more. We’re almost done. You’re doing good.”
His words were a rumbling, pleasant hum that warmed her blood.
“So good.”
She might have whined his name. Maybe. She just met him a couple of hours ago. Was it too early to whine his name?
Ben.
Ben Solo.
Goodness, she was just too drunk.
Rey watched his muscular chest rise and fall with even breaths. He had nice breathing. Long full breaths of warm air hit her neck, soothing her. His sturdy forearm flexed as he held the brush, and his thick biceps tightened, bulged, and softened as he moved the brush back and forth in her mouth.
Rey wondered if she should use this in her comedy routine somehow.
“You think you have it bad, girls? Well, the most action I’ve ever gotten is some guy, that I barely knew, brushed my teeth after I threw up on his carpet. And yes, of course, he was hot. Like. Really hot. Like, out of control. Not just cute-guy hot? Hotter than the guy that you pretend you’re not following around at the grocery store. Mr. Toothbrushing guy is the kind of sexy that housewives whisper about in church. You can’t even help yourself.”
Rey could see people laughing at that.
Perhaps.
Maybe she should get on a stage and find out.
But even in this heavy, inebriated state, Rey felt a flood of dread in her chest at the prospect of being that risque on stage.
Ben interrupted her regular panic attack of admitting that she was just a wannabe comedian and not, in fact, an actual comedian when he said: “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about this.”
That was another thing. Ben was so starkly sober, so proper and articulate, that it made Rey feel even more groany and puddley than she already was.
So put-together.
So in charge.
“Is that ok?” he whispered. Ben gently pulled the toothbrush out, and nodded to the sink, signaling her to spit. “I know it’s weird to brush someone's teeth, but it would suck for you to deal with that stuff in your mouth, and you seem kinda…” He blew out a breath, a hapless smile. “You couldn’t really walk, so I thought you couldn’t really do this. Anyway, I hope it was ok.” Was he babbling? And how did he make babbling so sexual? “You were a good sport.”
“Really good.”
She learned that night that her entire body could blush. And she wasn't sure why but thinking about it later, she assumed it was because Rey wasn’t used to being taken care of. And from the toothbrushing, to his low voice, and his kind words, Rey felt drunkenly helpless to her body’s next reaction when his eyes were definitely staring at her, which was to shiver.
Hornily.
Her movement made him pause, and when his gaze meandered down to her chest, Rey hugged herself to hide what he already saw: her erect and eager nipples, the goosebumps on her arms.
Rey spat the white foam into the sink, and Ben gently lifted a cup of water to her lips. She swished it in her mouth and held on to the balloons of observations that were floating away.
Dark hair…
Dark eyes…
Handsome…
So handsome…
A very full mouth and lips like…
Pillows? A pillow sounded nice.
“So you won’t tell anyone?” he asked as he dabbed the wet corners of her mouth. “I don’t want other people to think I’d brush their teeth for them. Poe gives me enough crap about being the anal roommate.” He lifted his fingers in quotation at anal, and Rey snorted.
“Pfft,” she blurted. Ben said anal. “I’m sorry, I’m twelve. Ok yeah. I won’t say anything.”
So, this experience was just for her and him. A very personal and intimate experience with someone she barely knew. Her best friend’s boyfriend’s best friend.
The tree went like this: Rey’s best friend was Finn, and Finn was dating Poe, whose best friend was this guy: Ben.
Ben was like a best-friend-in-law.
“I’m sorry I got trashed at your game night, and you’re in here helping me,” Rey said as evenly as she could, but every word felt like work. “You should be out there entertaining.”
He shrugged, one big shoulder up and down, and Rey watched his heavy bicep fall against his body.
Damn.
Damn, Ben Solo.
“Can’t leave the life of the party to fend for herself now, can I?” He smiled again. Crooked teeth, teasing eyes. Should she be hiding her little sighs? Probably. He lifted the glass to her lips again. “Drink.”
“Oh, I’m that girl then?” Rey groaned after a long sip. He stood and held out his hand to help her up to her feet. Her fingers barely covered his one massive forefinger, and Rey wondered if he was really as big as he seemed, or if she was drunker than she thought. “The girl that got blitzed-out drunk from two glasses of wine, did a silly song to show off, and in the middle of it vomited purple on your carpet? That's what they're labeling the life of the party now?” Rey squeezed her eyes shut as her brain started to piece it all together. “God, I’m so, so sorry, Ben.”
Ben’s bedroom was very clean. Like he was staging it to sublet. It was so clean, it had zero scent. Just the lingering manliness of him. Ben sat Rey down on his enormous bed and she could feel the pillow top, the fancy down comforter, pressed her fingers on one of the neatly arranged dozen or so pillows. This might have been the nicest bed she'd ever seen.
“I kind of hate myself right now.” Rey’s fingers felt almost numb, making her want to touch soft things. She spread her hands over his silky sheets, curious hands.
“Don’t hate yourself. It's okay. You just had a little too much,” Ben said as he turned around and handed her something from his dresser. "And you're young." Perhaps it was too much. And she didn't think eighteen was young, but maybe it was to him. How old was he? Probably Poe's age, so like, twenty five? She hoped she'd have a nice big bed like this when she was twenty five. She took the thing Ben was handing her: a classic soft, heather gray UCLA shirt. “I think you should change.”
Rey looked down at her dress, one that she characteristically took too long to pick out and she winced at the sight. Her bright pink with black polka dot retro eighties dress was splotched with a harsh mess of her sick.
“You’re like an angel, you know that, Ben?” Rey said as she watched him turn. “You really brushed my teeth and gave me a shirt to change into? A gentleman and a scholar, you are.”
“It’s just that if you keep that stuff on your teeth, it could erode enamel? And we should treat your dress because the wine can stain,” he explained, still turned away. “I won’t turn around if you want to change real quick.”
Wow.
Finn picked a great guy if this was going to be her best-friend-in-law. Respectful. Rey quickly slipped out of her dress and pulled on his shirt. It was so big on her that it fell to her knees but it was so cozy she cuddled into it.
“Ok, I’m done,” she murmured as she sat back down on the bed, the spongy feeling of drunkenness still lingering.
Ben turned back, walked the two steps towards Rey, and sat on the bed next to her, his weight making it dip down and flouncing her almost up in the air.
Goodness, gracious.
He was so much bigger than she realized. So masculine up close. Rey’s sloshy brain fought to stay focused.
“You can lay here and rest for as long as you want,” Ben said as he took her dress in his hands. That’s when she noticed him dabbing a stick over the stains. Was he really laundering her $3 dress? What a domestic best-friend-in-law. “I’ll get a bucket and put it near the bed if you feel sick-”
“I think I’m ok. The water helped,” Rey assured him. “You know how to launder? That’s like really cool, Ben. Skills.”
“Girls like guys that have skills,” he said in a dopey voice.
Rey’s jaw fell at the reference and automatically added, “Nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills. BEN! Are you really quoting Napoleon Dynamite right now?”
“I know it’s like this dumb movie-”
“It’s my favorite movie,” Rey laughed, feeling like she could hold on to the floating balloons of observations this time.
Goofy laugh…
Floppy hair…
Big manly chest…
Whew. So manly.
“I take that as a four-star compliment to my taste then,” Ben said assuredly as he folded her dress in a perfect square. “If a comedian like you likes it, I shall never be ashamed.”
“Psh,” Rey rolled her eyes. “Gotta do some stand-up if I can call myself that.”
“I call your song earlier stand-up,” Ben said. “You got some skills too, Rey.”
“Just fooling around.” Rey shrugged. She looked around his room. Dim and comfortable. His bed, a dresser, and a desk were the only things in it. The dresser was just as clean as his bed. Nothing on the surface– literally nothing. Like he wiped it down ten minutes ago. The only area in his room that looked slightly awry was his desk. It was mostly taken up by one huge desktop computer. What was the point of something so big? She could hear the hum of fans keeping it cool. Two flat-screen monitors hung above that, several stacks of books piled neatly next to the computer, a few spiral notebooks, and a cup of pens - all the same - and one big blue highlighter.
She nodded at his desk.
“Computer hacking skills?” Rey asked.
“Just fooling around,” Ben winked.
Her head felt like one big stone on her aching neck, and Rey could feel her face turn green.
“Just lay,” he insisted. “It’s ok. Seriously. I want the star of tonight’s gathering to relax.”
Rey allowed him to lay her on his bed and shut her eyes. Soon, she felt a light softness of a blanket covering her, and then the dim light turned off, making her able to relax her eyes and thoughts.
“I’m so sorry. I think I made a fool of myself…” She murmured, drifting off.
“I liked it,” he said in a gentle, hushing tone. “You were so free. Uninhibited.” He pulled the blanket up her shoulders, and she could smell his clean skin, the manly musk of his deodorant. “Rare to see someone with their dick out.”
“Your what out?” She smiled, eyes closed.
“Just rest, Rey.”
And she felt the heat of his body move away, the bed creaking as he lifted himself off. She pouted at the loss of him. No one had ever taken care of her like this.
Something inside her clicked somewhere between the brushing of the teeth and the laundering of her dress. And being around Ben made her feel like she needed to simultaneously cling to him and run wildly into the night to fight off the adrenaline. And even though she just met him, nothing about it felt unnatural. Ben felt like the furthest thing from a stranger. He was so overwhelming and addictive that she wasn’t ready to let go of him yet, and as he opened the door, her brain rolled around in her skull as she thought:
Don’t go. Stay. Please stay. Feels good when you’re here. Don’t go.
And she drifted off to a drunken, hazy sleep.
“Coffee and some sweatpants” were the words Rey heard when she woke up with a start. “Sweatpants might be big, but they have a drawstring- Oh shit, is she sleeping?” She opened her eyes to a dark room illuminated by a faint light streaming in from the hallway.
“Not anymore,” Rey said, her voice croaky and dry. “Hi, Finn.”
“Hey, Peanut.” She heard the sympathetic smile in his voice as her sight clarified and she warmed with relief. Even upon waking up in an unfamiliar place, Finn’s even demeanor always calmed her. “Feeling better?”
Finn’s dark skin was radiant, flush. His thick hair styled in a perfect fade. Even the simple white T-shirt he wore was crisper than anything she’d ever seen him wear. He had that healthy glow of falling in love, and Rey thanked God for Finn’s new boyfriend, Poe.
“Yes,” she said as she blinked and looked on.
“Here, have a sip of this first,” a low voice, a different voice, a voice that made her ears tingle, said as a glass of water appeared in front of her.
Oh. Mr. Toothbrush Dude.
Ben was sitting up next to her, a laptop open in front of him and a pair of very nerdy horn-rimmed glasses over his deep-set eyes.
Rey couldn’t help the breathless gasp she let out as she accepted the water, allowing him to tip it towards her and feed her.
“Were you sitting here this whole time?” She asked and wondered if either of them could hear the pout in her voice.
“Was that-” Ben’s long neck flexed with a swallow. “Did you not want me to? I thought you asked?”
Shoot. She was drunk talking.
Again.
“You stayed?” And she really didn’t hide how adorable she thought it was this time because she was starting to understand what was happening to her. That click inside her.
She had a crush on her best-friend-in-law.
“Coffee, sweats?” Finn interrupted gently as he made his way to Rey’s side of the bed. He nodded up at Ben. “You’re off the hook, big guy. I can take it from here. You’ve got new people showing up anyway.”
“Right,” Ben nodded and turned to Rey. “See you out there, Rey.”
After Ben shut the door, Rey slipped on Finn’s sweatpants he must have fished out of his gym bag and sipped coffee. She pulled back her limp hair into a big dramatic topknot and wiped off the stray eyeliner from around her eyes.
“Did you and Ben…” Finn trailed off. “Did I interrupt…”
“Oh no,” Rey shook her head.
Not if you count a very sexy toothbrushing, nothing rated R happened in this room.
“You sure? You two have been in here for awhile. It’s almost 1am.”
Dang. That was a long time. And for a short moment, she wondered why Finn just let her sleep in a room with some random guy, but she took one look at Finn's goofy smile and she knew: he was busy being in love with Poe.
So, she did a quick inventory of her body. She was pretty sure she was okay. She’d never had sex before, but she would know if someone got inside her panties or kissed her or touched her. Nothing was different.
Besides, Ben wasn’t like that. She literally just met him, so maybe she didn’t know him, know him, but he was well-spoken, concerned with her tooth enamel, knew how to clean a wine stain, and quoted Napoleon Dynamite.
So no, he was a solid guy. Not a cad.
A cad? Jesus, am I one hundred years old?
“He just…” Rey grinned down at her lap. “He took care of me. He was really nice.”
“That tracks,” Finn agreed. “He is kinda quiet most of the time. Keeps to himself. So hot though, right?”
“You really should have told me how hot he was. I wasn’t prepared.”
Rey stood to her feet, slipped on her wedge heels, and tucked the oversized shirt into the sweatpants. Rey knew she looked ridiculous, but it was ok. She’d made a fool of herself earlier. How much worse could she make it with a silly ensemble?
Silly was her thing, for goodness sake.
Finn led her back to the party after confirming that she was ok three times. Everyone being ok was his thing. Rey sipped the coffee and brushed away the achy feeling between her eyebrows with giddy thoughts of Ben Solo.
She listened to the conversations ahead, unable to see anyone from the hallway just yet. More new voices. Happy, girlish voices. And Ben’s low laugh.
“Who are the people that are showing up?” Rey asked.
“Oh yeah. I should have told you this, but I didn’t think it would matter,” Finn said as they turned the corner. “Ben just signed this big web development contract with Vivid Girls, the adult film company?”
“What? Adult film? Like porn?” She joked.
Haha, that horn-rimmed cutie? Good one, Finn.
“Yeah. Ben has been making sites for a few girls, and they did well, and now-”
And she turned the corner and saw where the girlish giggles were coming from.
Girls.
HOT ones.
Gorgeous leggy ones. Wearing sparkly expensive things that barely covered their perfect tits, their round butts. Full makeup, full hair. A half dozen beautiful girls surrounding Ben.
“Well, they’re here now.”
Oh.
And Rey was ok. Well, less than ok. But, ok. Rey was wearing two-year-old wedges with a tent as a shirt, and droopy old sweats in front of glamorous Barbie dolls, but it was ok. She could hang. So what if Ben was surrounded by flawless girls who got paid for how hot they made sex look?
Ben brushed her teeth. He laundered her dress. He kept a clean bedroom and wore horn-rimmed glasses.
He hung out with Rey and joked with Rey and took care of Rey. Rey the blushing little virgin with ridiculous sex jokes in her head that could never come out of her mouth no matter how hard she tried. But he seemed to like her, right?
Right?
Ben Solo was not a cad.
But then he spoke to the girls.
“Sup, my dirty sluts?!”
Oh.