#spacetico

sw moodboard: reylo ♥

pretending to hate each other au

read on ao3

There was a magnet on Rey’s refrigerator with two hundred dollars in cash stuck beneath it and a date circled on the calendar in a fat, black marker: January 22. The reason for it all innocently began New Years Eve at the Organa Foundation’s annual party. Hosted each year at Leia Organa’s lavishly decorated home, employees became family and the lines between wishes and wants blurred.

Finn catches her eye as she works through her second glass of wine and waves her over. She joins them as he leans against the wall, Poe and Rose each leaning over a shoulder. “So what do you say to a little money making scheme? Start the new year off with a bang?”

“Technically it’s money losing, in her case,” Poe amends.

Rey raises the glass to her lips. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“See! I knew she’d be into it!” Poe pumps his fist into the air.

“Into what?”

“Well…”

It should have been an easy bet for Rey to win. Ever since she started working with the others at Leia Organa’s foundation, she’d had a rather contentious relationship with one of the board members who just so happened to be Leia’s son. The others were more than reasonable to get along with but Ben Solo had been a piece of work. Though over the past few years he changed. He attributed to a therapist, his mother attributed it to genetics and everyone else attributed it to him getting out from underneath his previous work environment with a boss that Finn liked to call “the General Manager of Hell.”

Rey was pretty sure it was a combination of all three. And so the bet was made that Rey and Ben Solo would get together within three weeks of the new year.

For her to win, all Rey had to do was to keep from hooking up with him. Should be easy enough.

There was one convenient problem, one that Rey couldn’t help but see as particularly damning as the soft, perfect lips belonging to one Ben Solo trail down her neck, her hands curling and knotting themselves in his hair.

“They’re all betting we’re going to hook up within three weeks.”

Rey bites her bottom lip as he pulls away. He blinks once in the dim light, his eyes slowly coming into focus. Rey groans inwardly. She should have said no, shouldn’t have agreed to any of this–

He shrugs and shifts Rey more onto his lap. Beneath her she felt the coiled tension of him as his hands rub along her back in gentle circles. “You do know we’re already hooking up,” he says.

“Yeah, but they don’t know that,” she clarifies as she kisses the sides of his nose. “And they’ll owe me two hundred bucks if we win.”

“So you already made the bet?”

“Possibly?”

He frowns, his heavy brows falling over his eyes. Dark eyes watch her from under dark hair and Rey curls into his chest, peppering kisses along his jaw. “So what does that mean? That you’re going to hate me?” he asks eventually.

“Fake hate you?” Rey suggests. “I mean I hated you for three years, three more weeks shouldn’t be that difficult.”

Now two weeks and three days into the bet, Rey couldn’t imagine anything more difficult. She never mined working with Ben, at least not in the past year, but the past two weeks had been unbearable. Where they once exchanged back office kisses and whispered longings, they now shot stinging barbs and heavy scowls. And it wouldn’t have been so bad, if she didn’t spend almost every evening with him. And to pretend she hated his guts.

Rey turns in the mirror as she adjusts her blouse and smooths her skirt. She doesn’t look that bad. It is nicer than anything she’s worn to work, but not date nice. The event tonight didn’t have any particular dress code, but when she’s representing Leia Organa, it doesn’t hurt to put on something with a little effort.

But trying to pick out something to wear that doesn’t look like she was dressing up for Ben Solo when the only thing Rey wanted to do was dress up for Ben Solo was getting on her nerves and Rey is very much looking forward to this bet coming to an end.

“Just a few more days,” she mutters to herself. “A few more days and then you can go dine on their dime and have the best date of your life.”

Lord, it couldn’t come soon enough.

“You look nice.” Rose peeks into the bathroom, a very particular suspicion in her eye.

“Yeah, Ben and I got assigned to yet another fundraiser tonight.” She groans as she fiddles with her mascara. Rose just shakes her head from the doorway. “I swear, it’s like Leia’s out to get us or something.”

“You work well together,” Rose says flippantly. “That’s all.”

“He’s a self-absorbed dick who can’t seem to think of anything past his own hair care products.”

“Oh come on, he’s not that bad anymore. He’s really come a long way, though he does have amazing hair. You know he’s bought the department coffee for the past six months–”

Rey points her hairbrush in Rose’s direction. “I know what you’re doing, don’t think for a second I’m forgetting that bet.”

“But he smells nice,” Rose muses. Rey looks to her in shock. The other girl shrugs. “He lives with Finn and Poe, they talk about cologne all the time and how Ben has the best taste.”

Rey frowns and finishes her hair with the last of her pins. Rose peeks out the window as a door slammed shut.

“Oh looks like you got a car again.”

It was standard procedure for anyone in Leia Organa’s retinue. Rey had ridden in a number of private cars chartered by the mogul, though there was always a healthy mix of cabs and ubers dropped in. Since New Years, however, there had only been private cars. And they always arrive with the privacy screens already raised.

She groans as she finishes with hairspray. “Ugh why is he so early?”

Rose shrugs. “Maybe because he wants to spend more time with you?”

“I highly doubt it.”

Not that it matters, as Rose quickly ran to get the front door. Ben’s shout carries through the apartment. “Hurry up! We’re going to be late.”

Rose flashes Rey a grin when she runs back. Rey gestures as if to say see?

“Oh god-forbid we be late,” Rey mutters. “Just give me a minute!”

She steps out of her room to find him leaning against the open door. Wearing a black suit, casually pressed, with his hair only barely passing as brushed, Rey furiously resists the blush attempting to flood her cheeks. She was supposed to hate this man, not eye him like a piece of meat, but fuck.. He cleans up nicely.

Rose snickers and eyes Ben openly. “Looking good, Solo.”

“Thanks,” he says gruffly before looking back to Rey. He taps his foot impatiently. “You’ve had three hours to get ready. It shouldn’t take this long.”

Rey groans loud enough for Rose who conveniently left them for the kitchen. She shoves her lipstick into her clutch and pulls on her heels. “Not that you’d ever know but some of us actually care about how we look. Not to mention, you’re a fucking asshole, you know that, Solo?”

He throws his hands up in the air before slamming the door shut behind them. “It’s the only thing you tell me! How could I know anything different?”

He walks down first, his long legs quickly overtaking her pace. They aren’t stupid. He doesn’t hold any doors open for her, refusing to look back. Rey trails behind just close enough to step on the heels of his shoes, smiling in satisfaction as he stumbles, barely catching himself.

He snarls. She smirks.

When they got into the car, they sit as far away as possible. Rey puts her clutch between herself and him while he leans forward and gave the driver the address. With a practiced ease of people determined to win, they wait until the car was at least three blocks away before turning, his big arms reaching out and pulling her close. She slides easily across the middle seat, her legs curling up underneath her as she tucks herself in next to him. His breath tickles her ear.

“Was that too obvious?” he asked, deliberately avoiding her lipstick. “I think that’s too obvious.”

“No that was good, you really were an asshole,” she says. “Sounded like you hadn’t changed.”

Ben breaks away and frowns. Rey laughs and delicately kisses him on the cheek.

The event was a simple fundraiser, partially hosted by the Organa Foundation, so all Rey and Ben had to do was show up. They didn’t have to talk to anyone, no one in particular wanted to talk to them, so Rey grabbed herself a glass of wine and a glass of water and made her way over to a high-top in the corner where she could watch the night pass and be out of the way.

The fact that she and Ben got to wait in the shadows out of the corner of anyone’s eye was merely a side benefit.

“You know they’re going to find out sooner or later,” he says in the soft, rumbling voice that she’s become so accustomed to.

“Mmm,” she mumbles as he nuzzles in the crook of her neck. They were in the shadows, no one there would notice. “Maybe we should let them.”

“Three days,” he says placing a kiss on his nose. “Think you can keep fake-hating me for three days?”

She shrugs as he spins her around and rests his chin on the top of her head. Rey leans in and takes a deep breath. Damn, he really does smell nice. “I think I can manage.”

Poe sits on the couch in his apartment with Finn and Rose on either side and Leia on speakerphone while somewhere else in the city, Rey and Ben rode to an event on their behalf. Originally it was supposed to be Finn and Rose’s event, but it didn’t take much effort on Leia’s part to conveniently change the memo and put Rey and Ben on the list instead.

The change took place five minutes past midnight January 1st. As did several others.

“So how many more events can we put on their calendar before the twenty-second?”

Leia’s sharp voice crackles from the phone. “I can find a way to conveniently lock them into a filing closet tomorrow,” she offers.

Poe claps his hands and points at his phone. “I knew I loved working with you for a reason.”

“They’ve got to be so close to cracking,” Finn mutters.