Didn't they say that only love will win in the end

"Only Love" by Mumford & Sons

"Shit."

Rey, eyes half lidded and sleepy, smirks at her husband's swear. She'd sunk all the way down on him in one easy motion, and maybe Ben hadn't expected her to be so slick and ready for him since they've only been awake for approximately three minutes.

Yet he himself is incredibly hard inside of her.

His back against the headboard, Rey props her palms on Ben's shoulders and sets a languid rhythm, biting her bottom lip and gasping every time she slowly lowers back down onto him. She loves being able to ride him like this, being able to feel him inside of her at this angle. And she gets to take in his face, every minute expression. The way his lips begin to part as she shifts her hips, the way his pupils are wide in arousal and the low morning light. He moans a little when she braces more of her weight on her knees and picks up the pace.

Rey loves having sex like this with her husband. The kind of sex that isn't frenzied, isn't a rush to feel physically whole or to find release. In fact, Rey isn't too bothered with her own orgasm, too entuned to watching her husband slowly fall apart underneath her.

Ben has different ideas.

"Touch yourself," he orders, voice barely above a whisper. His gaze flicks away from hers, down to where her hips meet his. He watches, chest heaving, as Rey rises up and slowly sinks down on top of his cock. He whines, hands gripping at her hips. "Touch yourself. Please."

Grinning, she obliges him, hand reaching between them so that she can nudge at her clit with two fingers and he groans at the sight, entranced. She feels herself tighten around Ben further and they both make little strangled noises at the heightening pleasure.

His hands squeeze against her and he starts to thrust his hips upward, and Rey smiles a little at his sudden impatience. At how he's staring up at her now, as if he's meant to worship her always. She leans forward, nips at his bottom lip. And Ben moves his hands around to cup and squeeze and slap at her ass cheeks and the sound coming from between their bodies is delicious, makes her tremble—

Her orgasm rushes her without warning and Rey cries out, voice echoing around the room in surprised bliss. She convulses against her husband, seeing him but not really seeing him and he is kissing her neck, letting himself pulse inside of her now that he's made sure she's come before him.

They both sigh in unison, and Ben drapes his arms loosely around Rey's waist, bringing her closer with a look of contentment.

They both could go back to sleep with ease.

But they're supposed to leave in ten minutes. They shower quickly, and Rey throws on clothes and pulls her hair into a bun in a rush, laughing at Ben as he runs downstairs to quickly feed the dog and let it outside.

Rey is lucky enough to begin her days like this often.

They pull up to Leia Organa's massive house, and Rey still finds herself amazed that Ben grew up in a place that has columns.

"Looks like everyone else is here except for Poe and Finn," Ben observes, parking next to Rose's car.

"I think," Rey says, scrolling through their friend group's group chat, "that your mom forgot hamburger buns, so they ran to the grocery store for her."

Ben nods, climbing out of the car and then making his way to the passenger's side to open Rey's door for her.

He kisses her quickly before shutting the door behind her, and Rey smiles, titling her head back and basking in the rays of the early afternoon sun. It'll be a scorcher of a day, but Rey would expect nothing less from the Fourth of July holiday.

Ben holds her hand as they walk slowly up to the front door.

"Last night was fun." Ben is looking at her with a soft smile. But his eyes are mischievous.

"And peaceful," Rey agrees, bumping her hip playfully against his. He laughs, gently squeezing her hand with his own.

They step into the house, both relaxing a little in the rush of air conditioning.

"Is that you, Ben?" Leia's voice is coming from the kitchen.

"Yep!" Ben says, lifting his voice to be heard over the smattering of conversations and the whirl of the kitchen fan.

There's a happy shriek and hurried footsteps.

Pleased, Rey crosses her arms over her chest and steps aside. It's been this way for the past three years.

A little girl comes hurling down the hallway, chocolate smeared on her face and messy brown curls pulled into a tangled ponytail. "Daddy!" she exclaims, and Ben crouches down and opens his arms wide, grinning stupidly as their daughter hurls herself into his embrace.

He stands, easily holding her up with one arm. "Hey, sweetheart," he croons. "How was your stay with Nana?"

The three-year-old is beaming, hazel eyes bouncing back and forth between her parents. Her hands form little fists into her Moana t-shirt and she says, "We makin' brownies!"

"I can see that." Rey licks her thumb and attempts to wipe some of the smeared chocolate batter from her daughter's face. The little girl squirms, and Ben's eyes bug out a little as he reaches up to keep her from tumbling out of his grip. "Hanna, be still—"

"Did she tell you we're making brownies?" Leia is standing at the end of the hallway, and she beckons them with a wave. "Come on, Finn and Poe just got back with the hamburger buns. Everyone else is heading out back."

Rey sips at her cold beer.

"—just because Jackson might be involved and they might film in New Zealand doesn't mean it's going to be any good." Ben is impassioned, which means his voice has overtaken the conversation Rose and Rey are trying to have, as well as the backyard speaker booming music.

"Agreed." Rose's boyfriend sounds almost bored, but Rey knows him well enough by now to know that that's just him. "But I doubt Amazon would give the project a billion-dollar budget if they weren't taking this very seriously."

"It's unnecessary." Rey presses her lips together to keep from laughing at Ben's petulance. "I don't want to be disappointed again, and while Jackson's original Lord of the Rings trilogy is a cinematic masterpiece I'm not sure I trust him after the fucking garbage that was Battle of the Five Armies—"

At this both Rey and Rose roll their eyes and shuffle away toward the koi fish pond and accompanying fountain. Finn appears at their elbows, looking a little sweaty in the face.

"What's with you?" Rose asks, tilting her head at her friend in concern.

Finn jerks a thumb over his shoulder, indicating to where Poe is standing near the grill, Hanna propped on his hip. He's got his phone out and is showing the toddler pictures of BB-8, who has now grown gray around the whiskers.

Rose turns back to Finn and blinks at him in confusion. "I don't get it."

Finn sucks in and releases a big breath. He levels a Look at Rey. "Ever since you and Ben asked us to babysit last month Poe can't stop talking about starting a family."

Rey and Rose are both silent for a beat too long.

"Oh, is that…bad?" Rey asks, glancing at Rose for support and backup.

Finn opens his mouth to answer, then closes it. Opens it again. "Well, no. Actually, I can't wait to be a dad. But we've been dating for six years and I kinda thought Poe would've proposed by now."

Both Rey and Rose stiffen and then quickly try to look nonchalant.

"So? It's 2018," Rose supplies after a moment. "Why don't you propose?"

Finn looks shell shocked, as if this thought had never occurred to him before now, bless his heart. He taps his finger against his chin. "I just—I never—huh. Ladies, I need a minute." He walks straight over to the cooler and scoops out a beer.

Rey raises an eyebrow at Rose. "You're going to get Finn all in a tizzy when Poe is literally proposing tonight at the fireworks.

Rose grins devilishly. "I know. But he's fun to torture."

"Luke, I know more about Paw Patrol then any grown man should."

Ben and his uncle are talking about the state of children's cartoons, and Ahsoka chimes in periodically. They sit at Leia's long kitchen table, everyone agreeing that it's simply too hot and humid to try to eat outside. Rey finishes the last of her beer, eyeing her empty plate and leaning back in her chair in contentment.

Hanna is across from her, sitting in a high chair sandwiched between Poe and Rose. She tugs on the former's sleeve, asks her Uncle Poe-Poe for more chips. He proceeds to dump half of his plate onto hers in a single offering. Rose and her boyfriend have their heads together, deep in conversation. They'd met three years ago in grad school. Finn sits on the other side of Poe, laughing with Paige and Leia, looking much more at ease then he had been about an hour ago.

It's loud in here, enough to give anyone a headache.

But Rey loves it, loves all of it. Loves everyone at this table. This is her family. Some she chose for herself. Like complimenting a classmate's ugly green sweater in the cafeteria during 6th grade. Some the universe deemed to give her. Like being a lonely seven-and-a-half-year-old and walking in on an equally lonely teenage boy flinging paint at a sheet.

Ben kisses her temple to grab her attention. "Make funny faces," he says. He puffs out his cheeks and Rey crosses her eyes and gives him bunny ears, and Hanna lets out a delighted squeal of laughter from across the table. Her laughter gets everyone else laughing, and Rey and Ben break form in order to laugh too.

It is simply joy personified. And it is beautiful.

A/N:

That's all, folks.

I have four specific people I need to thank for this fucking Reylo novel I just wrote.

First, thank you to audreyii-fic. Once again we find ourselves completely immersed in a lovely, beautiful trash ship. Thanks for talking to me about characterization, listening to me bitch and vaguely panic, and for giving me the idea that Ben should burn down the studio. Originally, my plans for Ben were a lot darker. I actually wanted him to commit murder (YIKES in retrospect lmao) but couldn't figure out how to do it without him being in prison for way longer then four years. In swoops audreyii-fic, who was like, "Maybe he burns down the studio instead?" Which of course worked way better for the narrative I was going for. Thanks my dude. Couldn't have done it without you.

Second, thank you to violenthoure666. Becoming homies with you was definitely one of the coolest things to come out of this writing project. Thank you for being my cheerleader when I was a mess over writing the prison chapter, for continuously providing unwavering support and enthusiasm. You are a lovely human being and it has been a pleasure getting to know you.

Third, thank you to kikisothercat. This HOE probably won't even see this thank you note for another couple of months, because her ass is still in 2007 somewhere and she actively chooses to look at crime scene photos and read about serial killers instead of my fic. But she also is my best friend and would listen to me wax poetic about characterization and symbolism while we'd hotbox her car. Honestly, getting to talk through elements of my story with her was a godsend. Thank you my dear for you unwavering support and pride. And for bragging about this story in front of my brother, making him want to read it and lowkey horrifying me in the process.

Fourth, thank you, readers. You guys have made this process otherworldly. When I started this fic I wasn't expecting it to receive this much attention or love. So many of you have faithfully read and reviewed every chapter since the beginning, and I cannot adequately express my gratitude for your support and patience as I've posted this story over the past six months. It's true that fanfiction is shared not given, but part of the fun of sharing it is seeing the community it creates. Some of you guys have even told me that this story has been the highlight of your days, or that it's the only thing that makes you smile. And that frankly means the world to me. As I look back over the past six months I honestly can't believe I've gotten through some of the personal shit I've been hit with without losing it. And I think it's because I've been able to bring you guys along on this journey with me.

In the end I hope this story brought you all joy. And I hope it made you laugh out loud at least once. I really love to make people laugh.

Thank you all for everything. And be on the lookout, I absolutely have more Reylo projects on the horizon.

You can find me on tumblr under the handle 'likeadove' and twitter under the handle LikeADove_