The new girl is driving him insane. Mysterious doesn't even begin to cover it. She'd arrived out of nowhere and Master Luke had simply acted like she'd always been here.

He doesn't really care though because when he'd first seen her odd three-bun hairstyle, it was like everything narrowed down to her luminous hazel eyes and her face had broken into the most glorious smile he'd ever seen. It was as if she wanted to run to him, the way he wanted to run to her.

But then everything changed. She keeps her distance, but he can feel her watching him. And Ben watches her, oh how he watches her.

He didn't know he could feel like this. Sure, he'd kissed a couple of the other apprentices, but that was just when they were playing challenge or revelation. There'd been a pretty twi-lek the last time he'd visited his mother, but now it all just feels … childish. Even a bit vulgar.

This, this is what, who he's been waiting for. Which is especially odd since he wants to be a Jedi Master, and Luke has never been seen with anyone. Is it even allowed? He'd never thought it would matter much to him.

But now, now it godsdamned matters, because he's in love. At least he thinks he is. He's 19 and he's never felt like this before, so it's hard to tell. And he's not going to ask anyone. He has a hard enough time hiding her from the voices as it is.

Because that's one thing he does know. Rey isn't to be shared.

With anyone.

Ben picks at his breakfast, not able to really focus on anything but her. Today he's going to talk to her. He doesn't care that she makes him so nervous his belly feels full of flitterbugs. He's going to gather his courage and really talk to her.

Before training begins, she usually goes for a walk in the field beyond the temple. He simply has to make words come out when he approaches her.

Stars, she's just so beautiful …

"Still mooning over the new girl?" Tai asks cheerfully as he sits down next to Ben.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he baldly lies. But if Tai has noticed, Rey is sure to have noticed, too and he throws down his fork. Bantha spit, he's so bad at this.

"What do you even know about her? Have you actually talked to her yet?" he asks, nodding in Rey's direction as she sits by herself, positively inhaling her food.

"No," Ben grumbles.

"Well, Daxon is making noises about getting to know her, so you might want to hurry it up."

Daxon? No, not Daxon. He's just awful and the thought of anyone trying anything with Rey makes him lose control for a moment, the water glasses vibrating with the Force and his fists clench.

Tai smirks. "Don't know what I'm talking about. Right."

Ben tries not to bolt after Rey when he sees her leave the dining hall.

He'd given it a few minutes, and now he's trotting to catch up with her.

"Rey?" he tries to call out but his voice cracks over her name. He cringes, already messing this up. Typical.

She startles and turns to him. He immediately wants to go to her, find out what's wrong. She looks so sad. But then her expression clears and she's actually smiling! At him!

"Hey, Ben. What do you need?"

You.

"I just saw you and thought I'd say, uhm, hi."

Her eyes flit back and forth and there's a clear point where she makes a decision. Taking in a deep breath she asks, "Do you want to walk with me?"

Ben's chest swells and he gives her what he hopes is a charming grin, but it's probably just a lovesick grimace. "Uh, yeah, that'd be … great."

She picks wildflowers as they walk and now he's absolutely sure that he's in love with her. He wants to weave them into a crown, place it on her silky hair. She'd look like the nymphs from his mother's old Alderaanian fairy tales.

He wants to talk to her, but his mind is a complete blank. Everything he can think of to ask just sounds stupid so he only tries not to stare. He doesn't manage it.

Suddenly, she breaks the silence. "Did you always want to be a Jedi?" she asks with an eagerness he can't quite understand. She wants to learn about him?

"Uh, no … not really. But, well … my powers started to really spike when I was 10 … my family couldn't handle me."

She nods, and he can sense she wants to know more about it but she goes quiet again.

Come on, Solo, get it together. "What about you? Is this what you always wanted?"

Rey looks like she might cry for a moment and his heart hammers in his chest. What did he do wrong?

But she breathes in slowly and says, "I didn't know I had the Force until a year ago."

"A year ago? But you're already so skilled!" She's almost as strong as he is, and that's saying a lot. He could watch her train for hours. He has.

"I … I met someone. He … he helped me."

He? Oh. Ben doesn't like this. At all. The look on her face, this other man is clearly important to her. "And where is he now?" he asks in a strangled tone.

Looking away for a moment, she whispers, "Gone."

"Oh. I'm … uhm, I'm sorry," he stutters out lamely. This is ridiculous. He is ridiculous. He's dined with diplomats and kings, why is he sounding like he's 12?

"It's alright," she says softly, her eyes so wistful. Then she shakes her head and she's smiling again. "What did you want to be, if not a Jedi?"

Ben blinks at the return to their topic. "I suppose I always thought I'd be a senator, like my mother."

"Senator Organa?" she asks with warmth in her eyes.

"Yeah. So you've heard of her?" he says with a lopsided smile. Of course she has. Everyone has.

She raises her eyebrows. "She is kind of famous."

Ben sighs. He can never get away from his family. He loves them, he does … but just once he'd like to only be Ben.

That's when the most amazing thing happens. She stops walking and takes his hand. Rey is touching him! On purpose!

"That has to be hard. Having all that legacy on your shoulders."

The way she's looking at him. Like she really sees him makes his tummy do a strange little swoop. Oh, he's such a goner for this girl.

That's how it starts. He walks with her every day now. She hasn't taken his hand again, but it's alright. He gets to spend time with her and that's enough.

For now.

She spends a lot of time talking to Master Luke, more than any of the other apprentices. Often they're hidden away in his private chambers. Ben wants to ask what they're talking about, but she gets strange, uncomfortable, when he asks her too much about herself. He doesn't like making her uncomfortable.

Mostly, she asks about him. She seems to like stories about his father the best, so he spends much of his time traveling his memories, trying to find a new outlandish tale to make her smile.

Today Rey is particularly quiet and he decides to take a chance and ask her what's wrong.

"Rey?"

"Hmmm?" she responds in a faraway voice.

"Are you … are you okay?"

"Oh, I just … I'm just missing my friends from …" She hesitates before continuing, "Back home."

"You've never told me where you're from." Maybe today she'll open up a bit.

"Oh … uhm, I'm from … uh … Takodana."

"Brilliant! Do you know old Maz's place?"

Genuine panic fills her eyes and she shakes her head back and forth frantically. It's strange, because everyone should know about Maz if they're from Takodana.

"I mean, of course I know of Maz, I just, I never met her."

"My dad used to take me there all the time. She's something else. Maybe someday I could introduce you?"

"That … that's okay. I don't think I'll be going back there."

Rey really seems unsettled and he frowns. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Just didn't sleep well, I guess. Uhm, I'm gonna go get ready for training, alright?"

Ben watches her rush away and whispers to himself, "What did I do?"

The rest of the day is awful. He loses his sparring match with Voe of all people. And right in front of Rey, too. She kept looking at him sadly, like she's disappointed in him or something. Did he screw everything up? Of course he did. That's what he does.

Now he's sitting on a rock at the edge of the meditation clearing, looking up at the moon. His throat is tight and he wipes away furious tears. She'll never want him back, now. Stupid, stupid, Ben Solo.

He clutches his legs to his chest and hides his face between his knees, ashamed of his sniffles.

Finally, he feels like he can face being around people again when he senses her. He always seems to know where she is. Is that part of loving someone? He'd like to ask his uncle, but he's been stranger than usual, lately. Almost like he's afraid of Ben.

She gets closer, and Maker, he hopes she won't be able to tell he's been crying.

"Ben?" she asks in that lilting accent of hers.

"Hi," he croaks.

"I … I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about disappearing on you earlier. I don't … I don't want you to think that anything's wrong with us."

Us? She said, "Us." Hot damn, she said, "Us."

"It's fine," he lies.

"Scoot over," she requests and he swiftly complies. She sits right next to him and he can feel her body heat. The moonlight glints off her hair and her eyes are so deep and dark. Stars, he just wants to put his arm around her, but he doesn't dare.

But then she puts her hand on his wrist. "I like you, Ben. You know that right?"

"Uhm. Yes? I mean … I hoped." he manages to say through the absolute bliss of her fingers on his skin. He's never felt anything as good as her touching him.

"Things are complicated for me right now, but it's not you, it's not your fault. I just … I didn't want you to think … I didn't want you to think I don't like you," she rushes to say.

"Okay," he says dumbly. He wants to tell her that he likes her, too. More than likes her, but his mouth won't move.

Then he can't think because she threads her arm through his and leans her head on his shoulder. It's almost like holding her and he's never been so happy in his life.

Rey likes him!

A/N: A plot bunny grabbed me by the throat and teen Ben would not shut up. I hope this is relatively short, as I have no intention of getting sidetracked from 'Tethered' and wrapping up 'Unbidden'.

Thank you for reading!

And of course, thank you to my partner in crime, ArtemisBare.