Chapter Five
Smile

Recommended Song:
Smile by Mikky Ekko

Rey uncertainly enters the mansion. She never mistook that Kylo Ren was actually a rich kid. It was a surprise to her.

No doubt the reason why Padmé chose him, Rey thought glumly. Padmé was known for her exquisite and pricey buys. Of course she'll pick a man with taste and is rich.

She narrowly missed knocking down the porcelain vase sitting at the corner. Rey sighs in relief, as she doesn't let it fall yet.

Kylo Ren gave her a raised look, but didn't speak. Instead, he guides her towards the confusing hallways, and they both enter a new dimension - Kylo's room.

It was messy, as Rey had depicted. But she didn't expect for it be this messy.

Magazines were sprawled at the floor, and a brown guitar, with a shiny surface, sat on the furry gray floor. There was a DJ board - making Rey envious - on the table, and a pair of black SkullCandy headphones beside it.

"Welcome to my den." Kylo growled behind her, and she heard the door clicked behind her too. Rey stared up to Kylo's black eyes, prowling at hers.

"So?"
"So what?"

Kylo rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me we are back there. We're getting nowhere if you continue this nonsense, Kenobi." Rey flinched.

"Rey, and I preferred that if you would be a bit more understanding towards how I feel, the safest bet'll be we'll be in good terms."

Kylo Ren then towered over her, his black eyes suddenly angry. "Do not talk to me like that. Do you understand!?" He roared, but Rey felt airy, and didn't back down.

She stood. "If you are just going to be temperamental like you are, I'm just going to leave!" She shot back, as her hands balled to fists. Kylo Ren was shaking in rage.

"YOU DO NOT DARE! YOU BETTER SHUT UP! YOU'RE LUCKY I HAVEN'T EVEN HURT YOU YET, YOU IGNORANT FOOL!"

Rey's knees started to waver, and Kylo realized what he had said, and whimpered. Rey never heard the Kylo Ren whimper.

"I'm.. sorry. I get driven by anger easily." Kylo Ren quietly said, when things have calmed down a bit, as a blanket of silence engulfed the both of them. Rey didn't reply.

Rey felt someone - Kylo - sit beside her, as the bed shook a bit. She suddenly felt his calloused fingers touching her soft cheeks, and Rey was forced to look in his void-like eyes.

"Look, I know how you are feeling right now. Look, I'm sorry about how I acted. Look -" He tried, but Rey silenced him with a sad look.

"It's okay. Let's just get this done."
A pause. "Okay."

"So what song do you suggest?"

Rey paused for a bit, as she brought out her mobile phone. She opened Spotify and checked her playlist. Rey might find some ideas.

Kylo was peeking too, without Rey knowing it. She scrolled down with her thumb, before supposedly pressing Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran, but it played Smile by Mikky Ekko.

Smile. The worst is yet to come. Kylo's ears perked up, and Rey felt embarrassed by the song and reached to change it, but Kylo pushed it away. "Try to get it." He said teasingly.

Rey let out a growl, before pouncing at Kylo Ren, knowing that even if he was a towering giant compared to her, she'll be able to tackle him at the bed.

"Oof!" Kylo Ren tumbled back to the bed, as Rey tackled him. She was able to, as she predicted herself. Rey laughed, as she bent to ruffle his curly black hair.

"No way, Kenobi!" He says, with a laugh before tickling her. Rey laughed. She laughed like there was no tomorrow, and Kylo Ren was smiling down at her.

Smile.
Rey heard the sound of the song, before erupting in a heap of giggles, with Kylo Ren still tickling her. She felt good.

"Stop! Stop!" She couldn't suppress any more laughs, that Rey's eyes begin to water. Kylo stopped, finally. Rey sat up.

"So?"
"So what?"

Kylo Ren laughed, with a broad smile. "Not that again. But we might as well choose the song. What was the song before you press Smile?" He asked.

Rey realized that the song was still playing, and immediately pushed the pause button. "Well, it was just a random song. I think Closer by Chainsmokers seems fitting."

"No."
"No?"
"No."
"Why Not?"

Kylo Ren scoffed. "Because I hate that song."
"But why? It's nice and has a good beat."
"Just no, Rey."

It was the first time that he used her first name, that Rey flinched again. Kylo ignored it.

Rey opted that he wouldn't listen to her, so she might as well ask him some questions. "Oh, yeah. Are you planning to audition for the school band? I saw that your guitar's out. I figured - that you might be thinking of auditioning for the guitarist spot."

"I'm not being hopeful or anything - but I am." Kylo Ren said, before his glance was fixed on something else. A picture frame.

It was he and Padmé hugging, like a happy couple. Rey felt envy burn in her eyes again.

Kylo Ren seemed to trace her gaze, and averted his gaze from it. Rey stopped, too. She didn't want to talk about it. About what she saw a while ago in Professor Calrissian's class.

"I think I should go.." Rey started to get up, but she felt a firm grasp on her arm. Kylo was staring at her, with a fierce expression in his midnight black eyes.

"Do you.. care to stay for dinner - Rey?"

Rey couldn't feel her toes. Was Kylo Ren asking her to eat in his house!? Rey thought, before thinking of an answer.

Unkar will surely get mad if Rey wasn't back home early. He'll make her do household chores, and those labor work Rey dreaded.

But Rey couldn't care less. It was her life. Her choice to live. Her will. "Um, okay."

Kylo Ren broke into a smile. A rare one, that Rey will soon find it a treasure to keep, and a memory to relish forever. "Great. I'll tell my butler to prepare one setting for you. Meet you at the veranda."

Then he left.

Rey found herself smiling, then laugh. The laugh that she hasn't laughed for a millennium.

A laugh that'll last forever.

So Smile, the worst is yet to come,
We'll be lucky if we ever see the sun.
Got nowhere to go,
We'll be here for a while..
The future is forgiving -
- So smile..
Smile.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's a bit shorter than most chapters but it was a bit heated and I just thought to end it like this. Just a heads up - I will be having many chapters for this book, because I'll probably compile all books in one book. I might do that.

~ Reyhanne Starkfelt ~