Chapter Text
Standing all alone at the edge of the diving board, Rey carefully considered her options.
Jump—the obvious solution. But that would involve falling from a dizzying height, and she wasn’t sure she had the stomach for that. Go back down the ladder—the sensible solution. But all she could imagine in her mind’s eye was a cowering dog with its ears flat, tail tucked between its legs. This image spoke of humiliation, failure, disappointment.
That left option three. Phone a friend—a middle-ground solution.
Rey’s fears subsided. Yes, that would work—she could save face. Her eyes quickly combed through the crowd on the patio. She singled out her best friend with ease; she was the only teenager still wearing a one-piece bathing suit.
“Rose!” she called, stretching out her hands. “Jump with me!”
Rose’s round face brightened, and she eagerly skipped over to the pool. “Okay, babe!”
Rey stifled her laughter as her friend pranced over, busty chest drawing stares from several older male family members. Rose was the only person she knew who could make men drool while also sporting—quite fashionably—a frilly, polka-dotted one-piece. Ah, the duality of women.
Rose reached for her outstretched hands, but their fingertips only brushed before someone shot out of the crowd and barrelled into Rose. She screamed, and they hit the water with an enormous splash. Seconds later she burst to the surface, gasping and spluttering.
“What the hell!”
Beside her, treading water with his trademark smirk, was Armie Hux.
“What was that for?” Rose barked, seething. But Rey could tell she was pleased; her cheeks were flushed, and she playfully swatted water at him.
Rey barely controlled her eye roll. Hux was in his twenties, and she’d always found his crush on Rose a little unsettling. He didn’t seem like a particularly kind or pleasant person, yet for whatever reason he was obviously half in love with her best friend.
Rose adamantly refused to acknowledge this crush or the fact that she might have feelings for him too. Inappropriate feelings, in Rey’s opinion—she was only sixteen, and Hux didn’t seem like the type of guy who would be patient when it came to getting what he wanted.
While Rose and Hux splashed each other in the pool in an obvious—and vomit-inducing—display of flirtation, Rey scampered over to a lounge chair to grab her phone. She stealthily engaged the camera and took some pictures of the two as they remained blissfully unaware. She even recorded a short video.
Ha! Perfect, Rey thought with a smirk. No way can she deny she has feelings for the creep now. The evidence was damning; Rose giggled and blushed and fluttered her lashes like a young schoolgirl. It would’ve been revolting if it hadn’t also been so endearing.
Rey was so busy with the camera and with zooming close to Rose’s face that she didn’t notice him until his hands grabbed her around the waist. She startled, phone fumbling in her grasp.
“Time to cool off!”
She recognized the voice. “Uncle Ben!” she cried, panicked, but he was already in the act of throwing them both into the deep end of the pool.
A shriek tore from her throat, and before they hit the water, her eyes found the phone—still in her hand.
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“Rey, hold on a second!”
Seething, she battled through the water, ignoring Rose’s sympathetic look and Hux’s eye roll. She stomped up the pool stairs and shoved her way through the sweaty crowd on the patio. Half-dressed adults holding wine glasses and beer bottles, sunglasses perched on heads and Birkenstocks strapped on feet, laughed lightly as she forced her way through them. She was just so glad she could be tonight’s entertainment.
“Rey!” Somewhere behind her, Uncle Ben was calling her name, but she was too furious.
She barrelled into the house, the sudden blast of air conditioning raising goosebumps on her arms and legs. It was quieter in the house, the kitchen counters filled with trays and bowls of food ready to be served, but it still took Rey the better part of a minute to locate the person she sought.
“Mom!” she cried, lip already trembling.
Kaydel Dameron whirled around, spoon in one manicured hand. “Hey, darling! What is it?”
“Rey, I love your bathing suit!” Paige Tico exclaimed, sucking La Croix enthusiastically through a straw. “Where’d you get it?”
Ignoring Paige, Rey stomped up to her mother and held out her hand. “Look!”
Kaydel glanced briefly at the phone while she mixed a fruit salad with a big stainless steel spoon. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Uncle Ben shoved me in the pool! Now my phone’s ruined.” The anger returned with a vengeance; of course this had to happen just after she got those amazing pictures of Rose and Hux! Plus, she’d lost all the saved passwords in her notes app—her memory sucked, and writing them down was the only way she could remember for the next time.
“Oh no!” her mom exclaimed mildly. “That really sucks.”
Kaydel was significantly younger than her dad—there was at least fifteen years between them—so when she said things like sucks or oh shit or that’s wack it wasn’t too weird. Still, Rey wanted a mom-response, not a teenager one.
“What an ass!” Paige chimed in, eyeing her phone critically. “Can’t you put it in a bag of rice? Does that even work?”
“Probably not,” Rey grumbled, crossing her arms. Her stomach hurt; it always got this way when she was stressed out.
The sliding glass door opened, sending a blast of hot air through the house. Paige’s eyes shot over Rey's head.
“Can’t you do something?” Rey asked her mom, shifting anxiously on her feet.
A hand came down lightly on her shoulder. “Rey.” It was Uncle Ben, eyes wide and imploring. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry!”
Rey didn’t look at him. He sure as shit better be. This was a seven hundred dollar phone, and only a few months old too! She didn’t have any money saved for a replacement.
“Mom?” she said again, glaring unhappily at the room.
Paige glanced between Ben and Rey, smiling strangely like the whole situation amused her. This was one of the many reasons Rey preferred her sister; at least Rose had the grace to fake her sympathy.
Kaydel sighed and set down the spoon. “Rey, there’s nothing we can do today. If you haven't noticed, your father and I are hosting a party. Maybe this weekend we can set you up with a new one.”
This weekend? It was only Tuesday! Did she really have to wait four whole days for a new phone? None of this was even her fault, so why did it feel like she was the one being punished?
“That’s not fair,” she snapped, stomping her foot. “I was in the middle of something! I can’t wait until the weekend, Mom.”
Kaydel shrugged and moved to the fridge. “There’s nothing we can do, Rey.” She raised an eyebrow at her brother. “I’m sure Uncle Ben is very, very sorry.”
“Sorry isn’t good enough,” Rey spat viciously, whirling on her uncle when she felt his hands on her waist like he was about to draw her into a hug. “And don’t touch me!”
Rey fled the room, stomping loudly up the stairs and into her palatial bedroom. A dry sob surprised its way out of her, though it was more a sound of rage than upset. Why didn’t anybody seem to care? Now she couldn’t check in with Rose or Finn, and all her social media friends would be wondering where she was. If she didn’t answer soon, they might unfollow!
Another torrent of rage crashed through her, and with a scream she threw her phone as hard as she could at the wall. The screen shattered on impact and fell to the floor. The act and sight of the destruction eased some of the ache in her chest. Some.
Tears blurring her vision, Rey flopped facedown on her bed. Hopefully Rose would understand if she didn’t go back down and join her in the pool. Memorial Day Weekend parties were pointless anyway. All the adults got drunk, and all the kids stuffed their faces with her food and peed in her pool.
“Rey?”
Sniffling, Rey didn’t react as Uncle Ben carefully pushed open her bedroom door. The soft tread of his footsteps on the carpet grew closer and closer until they stopped by her side. The bed sank under his weight.
Rey’s head snapped up. “You’re all wet!”
“So are you,” he returned, not making any moves to rise. His bare chest was slick with pool water, and his shaggy black hair hung messily over his forehead.
Grumbling, she lay her head back down and closed her eyes. Go away, go away, go away, she thought furiously.
But he didn’t, and the silence quickly became too much.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” she said, keeping her face turned away.
He sighed. “You’re mad at me.”
“Obviously,” she sniped, annoyed by his I’m-an-adult-and-I-know-better tone. He wasn’t that much older than her. Maybe like thirty or something? Whatever. He was barely an adult compared to her parents. Her mom complained all the time about how he still didn't have a family of his own.
“Rey, I’m sorry,” he said again, tentatively running a hand down her back. “Seriously, I didn’t notice the phone in your hand.”
She huffed into the sheets as he stroked her skin. His touch felt nice, but it wasn’t going to make up for what he’d done. You had to be so dumb not to notice someone holding a phone near the pool.
“Maybe it was dumb." He grunted, shifting on the mattress. "Maybe I was distracted.”
Uh-oh. She hadn’t realized she’d spoken her thoughts aloud. That happened sometimes, and it was so embarrassing.
“Distracted by what?” Not that it mattered, of course.
Uncle Ben hummed and played with the crisscrossing bikini strings of her top. “You look very nice in this bathing suit.”
A smile edged the corners of her mouth. She loved compliments. “I got it from Target. Mom helped me pick it out.”
He shifted on the bed again so he was lying next to her on his side. “Well, she did a great job. It’s very pretty.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled, keeping her face pressed to the sheets.
“I have an idea,” he said suddenly. Without any warning he rolled on top of her. For the brief moment his whole weight was bearing down on her, Rey couldn’t breathe. Panic fluttered up her throat. But then he leaned back and straddled her hips instead, and she could breathe again.
“Hey!” she exclaimed, struggling to keep the fear out of her voice. What was all that about?
“Let me make it up to you.” Uncle Ben adjusted his position, his thick thighs on either side of her hips, and expertly began untying her bikini top.
Rey twisted her head curiously. “What are you doing?”
“I can feel how tense you are, sweetheart,” he said, giving her a small smile. “Massages are a great way to relieve tension, you know.”
She perked up a bit then. She and her mom used to go to the spa to get facials and massages all the time. It had been a while, though. Rey blamed her father; Poe was having an early mid-life crisis that required him and her mom to go on, like, four vacations a year. Just the two of them, of course. They still hired a babysitter for Rey, too, even though she was way too old for that. It was super degrading.
“I wouldn’t be so stressed if you hadn’t broken my phone,” she mumbled, but she let him toss away her top and settle his hands around her ribs. He had really large hands.
“You shouldn’t be stressed at all, Rey,” Uncle Ben said mildly. “You have a great life here. Kaydel and Poe provide for you in every way.”
Rey wrinkled her nose. “Don’t get all preachy, Uncle Ben. Besides, I know that.”
His hands smoothed up and down her sides, rubbing slow, tight circles on her bare skin. A happy sigh escaped Rey’s mouth, and she closed her eyes.
“I hate to break it to you, Rey,” he murmured, pressing down on a spot between her shoulder blades. “But I’m afraid it has to be said. You, sweetheart, are a bit of a spoiled brat.”
Rey snorted. “Uh-huh, sure.”
Uncle Ben was quiet for a few seconds. “You know, you’re right. You’re not a bit of a brat." He squeezed her waist, and she giggled. "You are a major brat.”
“Not true,” she said, unconcerned by his assessment. People were jealous of the things she had access to--at least, that's what her mom had told her when someone at school yelled uppity bitch at Rey last semester.
Uncle Ben's hands dipped beneath her, thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts. Unconsciously, Rey arched into his touch, and his fingers lingered.
He let out a slow breath. “It’s very true. Someone needs to show you that life isn’t going to be so easy, sweetheart. No one’s going to hand you what you want on a silver platter.”
“Not unless you make them,” she countered. This was something Rey’s dad said a lot. He was involved in big business, whatever that meant, and he did a lot of negotiating. That's why he was so often out of the house. He even slept in his office sometimes, and she wouldn't see him for days at a time. Apparently those vacations weren't working so well.
Ben’s hands stilled. She frowned and squirmed impatiently, ignoring a certain pointy appendage digging into her backside. Men couldn’t help themselves, she knew. Their bodies reacted instinctively to things that aroused them, even when they shouldn’t.
“Uncle Ben?” She tried to twist around to see his face, but his grip was firm, and he suddenly pinned her flat, broad chest against her back. She remembered he was shirtless. His hands crept over her bare breasts and roughly squeezed.
“Not unless you make them,” he repeated in a strange voice. Like he was mulling something over.
“That’s what I said,” she gasped, trying not to react as he groped her bare breasts. She didn’t want to admit to herself that it felt really good. He was her uncle and he was old.
“Rey, I really am sorry about your phone.” He pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder. Another to the side of her throat. “I’m going to make it up to you.”
“How?” she asked suspiciously. His lips were soft and warm as he trailed them down her back. Ben was her uncle, yeah, but he was also seriously handsome in a dark, very...specific way. Big body, long hair, lots of freckles and moles… It all really worked for him. More than one of her friends had confessed a secret crush.
Instead of answering, Uncle Ben lifted himself off her and the bed, though not before squeezing her breasts one more time like he couldn’t help himself. Rey wiggled her backside, confused and annoyed, and he lightly slapped one cheek.
“Hey!” She blushed furiously and scrambled to her knees, hands covering her breasts.
“Don’t be a tease,” he muttered, and before she could adjust herself on the bed he was halfway down the hall.
Rey’s mouth gaped open as she stared after him. What the heck was his deal? He offered to give her a massage and then left halfway through? Good thing he wasn’t an actual masseuse; his ratings would be so low.
Fuming, she quickly retied her bikini top and tore down the stairs after him, hands bunched into little fists. She found him talking with her mother in the kitchen.
“You don’t have to do anything,” Kaydel said, eyebrows raised as if surprised. “Really, Ben—“
“It’ll work out,” he said, running a hand through his dripping wet hair. “I don’t mind, really, and I could use the help.”
“What are you talking about?” Rey demanded, planting her hands on her hips.
Kaydel turned to her with a small smile. “Well, it’s your lucky day, girlfriend. Guess who’s offered to buy you a new phone?”
Rey’s glare dropped off her face, and she looked wildly around the kitchen. “Is Daddy going to take me to the Apple store?”
Her mom laughed shortly. “No, honey. Daddy had to step out to the office for a little while. Uncle Ben’s going to buy you a new phone.”
Rey’s eyes flashed over to him. He looked a little too pleased with himself, but she didn’t care. “Really?” she squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “When are we going?”
“Hold your horses there, sweetheart,” he said, running a light hand over her hair. “The earliest I can do is tomorrow morning.”
Rey frowned briefly, but then considered that this was a major improvement. Tomorrow morning instead of four whole days away? She’d take it!
“Okay,” she said brightly. Then, remembering her manners, added, “Thanks, Uncle Ben!”
“How about this,” he said, eyeing Rey closely. “I’ll let you pick out whatever phone you want. Don't worry about the cost. ”
“Ben—“ Kaydel grimaced unhappily.
“Even the newest version?” Rey’s eyes popped. No one had the iPhone X4 yet. It cost literally thousands of dollars.
Her uncle nodded. “Anything you want. Promise.”
Rey squealed and threw herself into his arms. Uncle Ben picked her up around the waist and swung her once in a tight circle. She wrapped her legs around his waist so she wouldn’t accidentally hit anything with her feet.
“Thank you, thank you!” she chanted excitedly, squeezing his neck. “You’re the best, Uncle Ben!”
He laughed and kissed her temple. “You’re very welcome. You know I only want you to be happy, Rey.”
“I know!” she sang. “Thank you so much!”
They hugged each other, Rey giggling and Uncle Ben murmuring silly things into her ear. Kaydel rolled her eyes, but she seemed relieved. Rey couldn't blame her--she could throw a monster of a tantrum when she needed to.
“Now go outside and play,” Kaydel commanded, pointing a stern finger at the back door. “And please eat something, Rey!”
“I will!” she called over Ben’s shoulder as he carried her outside. Well, she would intend to, but she’d probably forget. Everyone was always complaining about how she was too thin and how she needed to eat more, which only made her want to avoid food altogether. Besides, she was getting the nicest phone ever bright and early tomorrow morning!
“You wanna go swimming for real this time?” Uncle Ben said, shifting his grip so one hand supported her bottom. The other trailed down her spine, sending goosebumps all over her skin.
“Yes!” she said, scanning for Rose. “I promise I won’t yell at you this time."
He hummed in the back of his throat, obviously unconvinced, and she giggled into his neck. Across the yard, by the shallow end of the pool, she spotted Rose. Her friend was lounging on the stairs and talking to Armie Hux still, who had one arm casually thrown over her shoulders. Rey rolled her eyes. What a dirtbag.
“You know what you’re gonna get?”
Rey tore her eyes away from Rose and refocused. “What?”
He mock-pouted and kissed her cheek twice. “Pay attention to me!”
Rey laughed loudly, not at all offended. “Is that your impression of me?”
“Did it seem familiar?” he asked, squeezing her bottom.
She lightly smacked his chest. “Don’t be mean.”
His grin widened, but he didn’t say anything else. He strode confidently across the crowded yard, apparently unbothered by the added weight. Rey glimpsed quite a few curious stares as they cut a path towards the pool.
“I want the X4,” she announced imperiously. Don't ask permission, ask for forgiveness. Another one of her mother's life lessons.
He groaned good-naturedly. “Of course you do, sweetheart.”
“What does that mean?” she demanded, swinging her legs as he stopped at the edge of the diving board.
“It means,” he said, deftly hefting himself up the small ladder, “that pretty girls like to spend men's money.”
“That’s not true!” she exclaimed, knowing that—at least in some part—it was very true. “I don’t have a job yet, so I can’t exactly pay for things myself, you know.”
“I’m well aware,” he said, wrapping his arms tightly around her, binding her body to his as he sauntered to the edge of the diving board. Their faces were very close.
She sniffed. “You did call me pretty though.”
“I did,” he said with a smile. “Because you’re the prettiest. Obviously.”
A huge grin surged to her lips, and she kissed his cheek to hide her blush. “I love you, Uncle Ben. You’re my favorite!”
“God, you’re adorable,” he muttered, eyes darkening. He kissed her quickly on the mouth, lingering just long enough for her to taste the beer he'd drank earlier. “I love you too. But you know that.”
“Are you gonna jump or what?” Hux called tauntingly. “Looks like you two are gonna stand there smooching all day.”
Rey stuck out her tongue, her best defense since there were too many adults around to properly curse him out.
“Hold your breath, okay?” Uncle Ben murmured.
She nodded quickly and buried her face in his neck. “Don’t let go after we jump, please.”
Balanced on the end of the diving board, he snuck a quick kiss to her neck. “I promise. I won’t let you go.”
She tightened her grip, and then they were airborne. The sudden weightlessness made her gasp sharply, and when they hit the water she imagined the splash soaked everybody in the yard.
They sank to the bottom of the pool, clinging to one another like to be separated meant death, and Rey imagined, for a brief time, that it was just the two of them here in the backyard—adrift and weightless but together. Uncle Ben pressed his mouth to the curve of her neck, and she cupped the back of his head to keep him there.
Quietly, peacefully, they sank, and when the last of their oxygen inevitably ran out, they would rise to the surface together.