He was roaming the halls of the ship when she popped into his vision again. Each encounter was bittersweet. He relished in the warmth she exuded, in the comfort of her existence. But the insurmountable distance between them, even when standing right next to one another, it pained him.

She seemed not to have noticed him yet, as she continued in an animated conversation with someone. Her eyes shone as she beamed at her companion. He felt a pang of jealousy. She never appeared that comfortable around him. Perhaps something close, before she rejected him. He watched, entranced by her happiness. He allowed his mind to wander, allowed himself to imagine she was smiling at him like that, regarding him as she did whoever she was speaking to.

When she reached up, wrapping her arms around that invisible figure, his heart dropped to his stomach. "I'm just glad you're safe, Finn." She murmured to her friend.

Finn. FN-2187. The Traitor. He scowled and stomped forward. "Get away from that traitor." He hissed into her ear.

Rey's easy smile fell, replaced with aggravation and a tinge of regret. "Oh, crap!" She exclaimed, slapping her hand to her forehead. "I forgot something in my room. I'll be right back." She reassured her companion with a soft smile. She was silent for a moment then nodded in response to whatever Finn had said, then rushed down the hall with a smile and a wave.

Kylo stalked after her like a predator tracking its prey. "You shouldn't be associating with traitors." He spat when she finally stopped. You should be here with me.

"I'll speak to who I please!" Rey replied indignantly. "You have no right to tell me who I can and cannot talk to." She snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Finn is my friend, and you would do well to call him by his name. He is perfectly loyal. Just not to you." She defended him, her voice carrying a warning tone.

Kylo scoffed. "Yeah, we thought he was loyal too." He retorted. "I'm just looking out for you best interests." He lied. It was his own interests he was really looking out for, his own fears of losing her to the rebel scum in more ways than one.

"Like you were on Crait when you tried to shoot me out of the sky?" She argued. "Face it, Kylo. You don't care about anybody but yourself. Finn, Leia, my friends? They care about me."

He groaned in frustration. She really didn't get it, did she? "I care about you." He murmured. More than you know.

'Really?!" She asked, exasperated. "What happened to 'You're nothing'?" She countered, arm waving wildly as if to punctuate her annoyance.

"Not to me!" He exclaimed, moving closer to her, wanting more than anything to pull her into his embrace. "You're everything to me." Tears pricked his eyes as he felt the truth in his words, and he held her gaze, imploring her to know he truly meant it.

"We've already been over this." She sighed, tearing her eyes away from him. "You're too attached to your ambitions for us to..." She trailed off, hands balling into fists by her sides. "I'm not nothing to them." She whispered, staring at what he assumed to be the door, beyond which the last remnants of the Resistance sat plotting his demise.

"Rey, please." He pleaded with her. "You mean the galaxy to me, please don't be like this."

"LIKE WHAT?" She shouted. "ANGRY? YOU DON'T WANT ME TO BE ANGRY WITH YOU?" She lowered her voice, aware one again that she was not alone at the Resistance base. "I trusted you." She seethed. "I trusted you, I cared about you. You broke my kriffing heart, Ben!" Tears welled up in her eyes, and threatened to spill over. "You chose power over me. I just wanted you, but you took one look at that kriffing throne and-" A sob overtook her and she clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle it. "To think I almost loved you." She lamented bitterly.

Ben's mouth fell open in shock, but he closed it quickly. "You think you're the one who was betrayed?" He asked lowly. "You think you're the only one hurting?" His voice rose. "You were the only person for over a DECADE to truly give a damn about me, and you abandoned me! You left me unconscious on the floor!"

"You didn't leave me any choice!" She retaliated, pushing his chest with her open palms. He stood unmoving, his breath heavy. She pushed again, harder.

"You chose to reject me." He returned, his voice hollow, eyes damp.

"It wasn't you I was rejecting." She contended, tears trailing down her face. He opened his mouth to reply, but didn't know words that could reflect the full extent of his inner turmoil. Instead, he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. She sobbed openly into his chest, and he allowed his own tears to fall.

The next time they met, they would refuse to acknowledge this moment of tenderness had ever occurred. But for now they allowed themselves the comfort of one another's arms.

AN: It's not by best because I'm kinda blocked right now. I just had some time so I figured anything would do. If I hate it later I'll just delete it. BUT you can comment or PM requests/ prompts so hopefully I'll have something to write even when I can't think of anything.