FOOLS IN LOVE (are there any creatures more pathetic?)

Title taken from 'Fools in Love' by Joe Jackson

Disclaimer: Star Wars and all related characters are the possession of Lucasfilm and Disney.

A/N: This started off as a Valentine's short story which got out of hand (this seems to be a theme). All situations are fictional so any inaccuracy is down to artistic license. This is my first attempt at a Modern Reylo so be kind.

-o0o-

Chapter One: Dateless

Rey Smith rested her head on her folded arms on her desk and stared at the calendar. Four days to Valentine's Day and this year as every other, she would be spending it alone.

Everyone else was in a buzz, discussing plans and comparing who was doing what for the big day. Rey's best friend Finn Storm-who she had met in the system before he was miraculously adopted-already had a very special date planned for his boyfriend Poe Dameron. The two had met in the office and after a number of months of dancing around one another, the whole office had conspired to bring them together and they were now nauseatingly in love. Finn-dark skinned and handsome with a brilliant smile and a generous heart and Poe-handsome with a ready smile and outgoing personality-were a lovely couple and Rey loved them both but she was wondering if she could maybe swap desks into the female restroom for the rest of the week to get away from such nauseating flirting.

Rose Tico, Rey's other BFF, was just as excited but in her general positive-about-life and supportive-of-everyone manner. Her smile was bright as she described how she had been asked out for Valentine's just that morning.

"Honestly, it was completely out of the blue," she gushed and Rey had looked up.

"Oh?"

"Yeah-when I was called into his office, I really thought I was going to be reprimanded or even fired…" Rose continued. Rey sat up abruptly.

"What?" she asked sharply.

"I mean, I only ever thought he was stern and remote but when he smiled it was…so cute…" Rose said slightly dreamily.

"Sorry, are we really talking about…?"

"Hux," Rose sighed. "Yes. Armie."

"Armie?"

"Well, his name is Armitage-apparently some family thing that he hates-hence everyone calls him Hux, even his own mother-but he said I could call him Armie. It's cute…" Rose explained. Rey frowned and raised a finger.

"Are we talking about the man who got us all to rearrange the files in the office by alphabetic colour and then argued whether one was violet as opposed to purple? And then made us redo it because he thought one was carmine not red?" she asked. Rose nodded.

"He's just…so precise," she smiled. "An engineer should appreciate such precision…"

"There's precision and then there's OCD," Rey pointed out. "He got us to bleach all the mugs as well and checked them against a colour chart for cleanliness. Not that it affected me as my mug is black anyway…"

"She's gone," Jannah interrupted, gesturing at the smiling daydreaming Rose. "Did she tell you he gave her Godiva white chocolates when he asked her because he had noted they were her favourite? Or that he has prebooked her taxi already? And he found out her favourite food and located the highest rated restaurant on TripAdviser in that cuisine and booked them in before he asked her?" Rey blinked.

"Wow," she said. "That is some serious planning."

"OCD," Zorii mouthed as Jannah leaned closer.

"Apparently he's been crushing on her for a year and never got up the nerve to ask her," she whispered loudly.

"So why now?" Rey asked, her eyes flicking to the closed door of Armitage Hux, their Operations Manager. "There was a rumour he was with Gwen Phasma, the HR Chief." There was a chuckle.

"Where have you been, girl?" Zorii asked her. "Phasma has been with Ren for the last couple of years."

"How did you…?" Rey asked, her head spinning. Somehow, she had missed out on all this gossip, even though she had worked in the office for eighteen months now. The woman grinned, tossing her hair off her face.

"Matt," she revealed. Her boyfriend, a technician from the Third Floor, had long proven to be a veritable fountain of gossip and Rey wondered if she shouldn't just move to the technician's section to find out what was happening. Except she didn't have any qualifications yet so she wasn't eligible to do anything except routine office work-yet. But she was quick, determined and had a plan so she knew she wouldn't be in this office forever. One day, she would be an engineer and then she could follow her dreams.

Working in the admin offices of Resistance Engineering wasn't a taxing job but it was one that Rey loved, despite the repetitive nature of her tasks. It was a place that had welcomed an unqualified school leaver and made her part of the office family, supporting and encouraging her as she never had been before in her life. Abandoned as a small child on the steps of a Church-hence her uninspired surname-she had spent her life in the system, passed from home to home, some uncaring and some…worse…but through it all, she had survived. But when she had aged out and left school, her resources didn't stretch to College so she had taken a job with the hope of picking up online courses instead. And that job had been at Resistance Engineering.

She recalled how anxious she had been walking up for the interview in her one and only good dress, chestnut hair tied up in the three buns her mother had left her in which she considered as her lucky 'do. She had her Diploma and lots of experience in stripping down and repairing cars from her time with Unkar Plutt, her last and worst foster carer who had not only used her to scavenge from recycling and scrap yards but also from other car lots. Rey knew that what she was doing was called stealing but if it was a choice between playing along or being beaten and deprived of any food, then she would strip someone else's car willingly. Yet even her efforts had barely delivered enough food to survive and being locked in the cellar, allowed out only to school, had been an experience she had barely escaped. Finally, someone had turned Plutt into the authorities and while he had been thrown into jail, Rey had-for once-welcomed the system.

The interview had been daunting, for the senior staff had all been there. That struck her as odd because her careers counsellor at school had talked through interviews and had never mentioned that all the most important people in the company would take part in appointing a mere secretary. Yet here they were: Harrison 'Han' Solo, the former racing driver and his wife Leia Organa-Solo, the politician, who were co-owners; Charlton 'Chewie' Bacchus, the President for Life; Luke Skywalker, the Chief Design Engineer; Gwen Phasma, HR Chief; Armitage Hux the Operations Manager and Kylo Ren, Managing Director. In fact, she had guilelessly mentioned the oddity when she sat down-which had drawn a deep scowl from Ren and a laugh from Leia.

"That's because every appointment in a company impacts on others," she explained. "Your position is extremely important and what kind of employer would we be if we dismissed it to a junior manager?" Glancing over the others present, it was clear not everyone shared her opinion and she was certain that Kylo Ren, for one, considered it beneath him. He was staring at her with an intensity that made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle and a blush creep up her cheeks. But she had chewed the inside of her cheek and reminded herself that working for a smaller engineering firm was the best option for her, for it would offer the greatest prospects of gaining some practical experience in the latter stages of her online course. So she smiled and prepared to answer their questions.

Kylo Ren had only two:

"How do you expect us to accept you when you don't know who you are?"

"Why are you really here, Miss Smith?"

But he hadn't really listened to the answers, instead scrutinising her with even more intensity and making her stumble over her words. He was infuriatingly difficult to read, though she could see her answers satisfied the others. She had completed some online courses in necessary IT skills and she just hoped they would give her a chance. She truly thought they could hear her heart pounding when they sent her out to deliberate and as she sat on the plain wooden chair, twisting her hands in her lap. She wondered what about her had offended Kylo Ren so much. She had barely settled when she was called back in by a grim-faced Phasma and Rey had feared the worst-but Leia and Han had been beaming as they invited her to sit down. She perched right on the edge of the seat, her muscles taut.

"We're delighted to ask you to join our engineering family," Leia had said, her voice reassuring. Han chuckled.

"You handled yourself well, kid," he added in his casual style. "Some of those questions were pretty tough…" Rey didn't miss the admonishing look he shot at Ren, who ignored him completely. In fact, he was looking bored again, his dark eyes looking past the tense young woman, his raven locks framing his face. Dismissing his disdain mentally, Rey had offered her brilliant smile and nodded.

"Thank you so much!" she said happily. "I really won't make you regret the decision. This is absolutely perfect!" The co-owners rose and shook her hand, followed by all the officers-except Ren. Determined not to be defeated, Rey stuck her hand out in his direction and stood uncomfortably long. Finally, he acknowledged her.

"Welcome to the company," he said, pushing himself to his feet and walking out without offering her another look. Rey stared: what had she done? Leia walked forward.

"I'm afraid Kylo isn't very tactile," she sighed. "But he is an excellent MD. He expects the highest standards and I am sure you will more than exceed his expectations." There were a variety of snorts and coughs from the others present as Leia snapped round to glare at them. Rey frowned.

"What?" she asked.

"Your job was a replacement for a position in the office that covers his workload," Han explained.

"Yeah-and you are the eighth replacement we've appointed in the last two years," Luke offered as Rey frowned.

"So about one every three months," she realised. "Don't worry-I won't let you down."

"I'm sure you won't, dear," Leia said. "And be aware: it's company policy that if you are having any problems, you can approach any of the company officers-ourselves included-and we will help you." She smiled. "Welcome to the Resistance!"

Rey blinked, snapping back to the present. The office had gone suddenly quiet and she was aware that Ren's door had opened, the usual cue for silence and furious concentration. The team all worked well and were perfectly capable of functioning while chatting but Ren preferred silence and no one wanted him to hang around more than necessary. Tall, powerfully built and aloof, he always dressed completely in black-black suit, shirt and tie-that emphasised his pale skin and dark eyes and hair. The only oddity was the pale scar that cut diagonally down over his right forehead, eyebrow, eye, cheek and neck, vanishing under his collar. Taciturn to the point of rudeness, Rey had the impression he missed nothing in the office and only spoke to people when he had a reason to do so.

Adopting the usual form-looking busy-she spell-checked the letter she had finished and hit SAVE. And then she realised Kylo Ren was standing right by her desk, inspecting her closely. She looked up and smiled.

"Can I help you, Mr Ren?" she asked him brightly, not letting her instinctive wariness of him show through. He pressed his lips together.

"Have you completed the invoices for Bespin Co?" he asked her suddenly and she nodded, gesturing to the black folder that sat on her desk.

"The last ones are printing out now and I was going to bring them to you at 12:15 as usual," she said, gesturing to the clock, which showed it was only 12:10. "I can bring it through as soon as they're done." He hesitated, then snatched the folder.

"Bring me the remaining invoices as soon as they're ready," he said brusquely and walked back to his office. Zorii met her eyes as she watched him go and stuck her tongue out before the door slammed shut.

"What is wrong with him?" she asked. "Would it kill him to actually say 'please' or 'thank you'?"

"You should be honoured," Rose commented, looking up. She had been surreptitiously conducting online research into anything she find out about Hux in between answering correspondence. "You get full sentences." Rey frowned.

"What?" Rose sighed and sipped her cold coffee.

"When Ren joined Resistance Engineering about a year before you did, he was practically monosyllabic," she revealed. "It was just 'Invoices!' 'Letters!' He's loosened up since he arrived here but you're the only one he's nice to."

"Nice?" Rey asked, incredulously. "You think that way nice?

"Comparatively, girl," Zorii commented, chewing gum-another of his pet hates.

"That's not nice!" Rey protested. "He's extremely rude and abrupt. He seems to be immune to all the normal social niceties. Does he even know what 'please' and 'thank you' mean? And he treats us all like drones rather than people. Kriff-he never even uses anyone's name, just their surname. At best. Or 'you'." Rose giggled at her impression of his deep, snapped 'you' that they were all familiar with.

"Don't worry," she soothed Rey. "He's only your problem 9 hours a day Monday to Friday. After that, you don't have to even think about him." Rey smiled.

"And that's the way I like it," she commented and turned back to her next task.

-o0o-

In his office, Kylo Ren was resting his head on the desk, groaning. Sitting opposite him and looking immensely smug, Hux was smirking at his distress.

"I can't do it," Kylo muttered. Hux steepled his fingers like a school-master and humphed.

"You won't make any progress marching out there, snapping at her and then walking away," he told his friend. Kylo glanced up.

"And you're any better?" he taunted his ginger-haired friend. Hux brushed an imaginary speck of lint off his flawless deep grey suit and nodded.

"Firstly, I am at least capable to managing social intercourse," he told Kylo directly. "Hello. Goodbye. Please. Thank you. Any of them ring any bells?"

"I may have heard them used," Kylo conceded grudgingly.

"Maker-what did they teach you at that Boarding School?" Hux muttered and immediately regretted it, for his friend's face closed and he pushed himself upright.

"To be self-reliant and do whatever is necessary to further one's ambitions and advantage," he said tightly. Hux ran his hands through his perfectly styled hair, shaking his head. It had been a gamble because Kylo had never admitted what had happened, only that he ran away in his final year and ended up working in First Order Construction…until… He sighed.

"Then what is necessary to achieve your goal-if this is actually a goal-is to listen to me and learn to be a human being," he snapped, his pale blue eyes showing his exasperation. "Use people's names. First names. Or at least Miss or Mister. Using someone's surname only is very cold."

"You call me Ren and I call you Hux," Kylo pointed out.

"Even my mother calls me Hux because I have the worst first name ever," Hux retorted.

"You want to compare names? I'm called Kylo," the raven-haired man added.

"From what I understand, you made up that name and chose it yourself!" Hux groaned. "Can you keep on topic?" Kylo sighed and drummed his fingers on the table.

"Well, from your extensive experience in chatting comfortably and easily with the opposite gender, what do you suggest?" he asked sarcastically. Favouring the aloof approach, Hux managed not to blush: both men knew his success earlier this morning was a shock to him and to Phasma, who had been wagering on the results with Chewie.

"Research," he managed to choke out. "I found out everything I could on her and prepared my approach…."

"Which she thought was a prelude to her dismissal," Kylo told him smugly. Hux's eyes widened in shock.

"Really?" he asked. Feeling more comfortable, Kylo nodded.

"Though she was impressed at the chocolates. A good touch," he said as Hux did blush then…and then he snapped his fingers.

"Okay-since you seem to have this uncanny ability to observe the minutiae of our office colleagues' habits, you can shower her with gifts," he offered. Kylo blinked.

"Oh no…I couldn't…" he began but Hux rolled his eyes.

"You can leave them on her desk," he said quickly before his friend backed out of the idea completely. "Leave them with a clue. You can do that calligraphy you mentioned to me as a way of disguising your writing…" Kylo scowled.

"This seems unnecessarily risky…" he muttered.

"Ren-you arrive practically before the security guard who opens up! There will be no issue with you smuggling any gifts in unseen," Hux snapped.

"Knowing my luck, I would probably get arrested for trespass," Ren grumbled. "Or stalking…"

"Do you want to do this or not?" Hux demanded as the door opened and Rey poked her head round.

"I'm sorry, Mr Ren," she said contritely. "You did ask me to bring these as soon as they were ready." He nodded as she walked awkwardly to the desk and rested them on the untouched black folder. He nodded curtly. Rey paused for just a second. "Is there anything else I could get you?" she asked. Hux shot him a meaningful look.

"No…thank you…Miss Smith…" Kylo ground out, sounding as if he was about to explode. "That will be all." She nodded and turned to leave. Hux collapsed back in the chair. "What?"

"You sounded like you were about to launch into a tirade that would end in her clearing her desk!" he groaned, face-palming. Kylo frowned.

"I said thank you…and used her name…" he protested. Hux rolled his eyes.

"This is going to be hard work," he groaned.