Kylo was feeling bold. Not 'I'm going to wear neon green' bold, but bold enough to wear fishnets. It wasn't some scandalous thing, simply a fashion choice, but people did hold their biases against such fashion choices.
He wore a pastel red skirt with white fishnets that had sparkles sewn into the material. He wore a white crop top and a crown of faded red roses. He had his red eyeliner with silver sparkling eyeshadow and red lipgloss to match. He was wearing a pair of scuffed red high tops. Bold.
He had been tempted to tie his hair up, but found it too time consuming, as ironic as that was. He met up with Rey, as he always did, and she grinned.
"Damn." Was all she could say. He laughed bitterly, slamming his locker open. He grabbed what he needed and shut his locker more aggressively than he'd opened it.
"What's got you saltier than normal?" She asked in a teasing tone.
"Hux is hot and I'm bitter." Rey nodded.
"Got it." Kylo scowled at her and began to march away.
"Hey wait!" She called, running after him. Kylo swore he heard a voice down the hall call out: "I've got a new complaint!" They walked together down the hall until it was time to part ways. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and waved slightly before running off. He waved back only after she was out of sight. He turned and bumped into Hux. Again.
"Do you just wait in the same spot every morning for me to bump into you?" Kylo asked, voice betraying an edge of affection.
"And if I am?" Hux asked suavely. He had his usually gelled hair fallen in his face and was lacking a trench coat. Instead, he'd fitted himself with a muscle tank and skinny jeans. His combat boots were replaced with worn out skater shoes and he wore red, leather fingerless gloves. Kylo almost choked on his spit.
"I'd say you need a hobby." He managed to say back. Hux chuckled. He hated that chuckle. It made him impossibly more homosexual than he already was.
"Oh please, I have plenty of those. You just happen to fascinate me." Hux replied easily. Kylo's face reddened, but he kept it stern.
"Oh please," he mocked, "nothing fascinates you but the fact you think I'm hot."
"I'm also interested in why you're always so damn bitter all the time." Kylo clicked his tongue, his arms crossing in front of his chest. If only you knew, he thought sourly.
"If you don't mind, I have a class to attend." He gave Hux no chance at a reply before stomping off towards his class.
Poe greeted him as he usually did. Kylo made a gesture to let Poe know he acknowledged him.
"Has Hux taken you to the 'bone zone' yet?" Por asked playfully. Kylo gave him a deadly glare.
"Have you actually kissed Finn yet?" He rebuttled. He gasped in mock offense. Kylo rolled his eyes and turned his attention forward to the teacher.
~~~
By lunch break, Kylo had gotten at least six comments about the fishnets. Which, by extension, meant he was about to lash out at the next person to utter a single word against them. Rey's little group of friends had all complimented him, so that helped him relax slightly.
Today, Kylo was sat on the bench behind Rey, absentmindedly braiding little sections of her hair while she talked excitedly with Finn about anything and everything they could think of. Poe noticed Hux approach them before he did. Hux took a seat next to Kylo and smirked at him. Kylo glanced at him from the corner of his eye boredly.
"Can I help you?" He asked blandly. Hux didn't stop smirking. It really irked him, truly. It was like he was constantly being a fucking prick as opposed to occasionally.
"I'm curious about something." Hux murmured. He turned his body, placing the hand farthest from Kylo onto the latter's knee. He brought their faces close together and watched. Kylo leaned back, face steadily turning darker and darker red. Hux fucking grinned like the twat he was and pulled back, folding his hands in his lap.
"As I thought." He mumbled to himself as he stood up and left with a wave of his hand. Kylo stared shamelessly. He took in how Hux looked. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the red fingerless gloves were, what's the word, incongruous to the rest of his attire. Yet at the same time, he made it look so natural.
"Are you staring at his butt?" Rey asked in a playful tone. Kylo's face burned.
"No, I have some class." He lied.
~~~
At home that night, it was Rey that noticed Han's unusually silent behavior. He stared emptily at an old photo. Leia would occasionally offer him something, anything, to get him to look up. He never did for very long. She understood. She, too, had her own moments like that.
"Uncle Han?" Rey asked softly, walking into the living room. He gave her a sideways glance. She smiled warmly.
"Who's in the picture?" Han looked back down at it. He let his fingertips drag gently over one of the figures atop the glass of the frame. Kylo had entered the room to sit next to Rey.
"An old friend who was very dear to me and your mother. I haven't seen him in," he looked up to look over the two, "Twenty years?" It sounded like a question more than a statement, but it seemed as though he'd stopped counting. Rey's face fell into a look a sorrow. Kylo's stayed stern as he watched.
"Who was he?" She urged. Leia took a seat by her husband, holding his hand in her own. He took a breath.
"He was my brother," Leia said for him, "and he had been in a very serious relationship with Han before he vanished." Han smiled a pitifully sad smile.
"He was unique and smiled when you didn't think he could anymore," he explained with a quivering voice, "he cried when he was alone, when he didn't anyone could hear him, but I knew. Leia knew. So we tried to make him smile when we could." Leia pulled Han to her chest to hold him comfortingly, as she had done so often for Luke. Kylo looked confused, as to why his mother could be so calm about her husband talking about her brother like he loved him.
"I knew Han loved Luke when we got married. He apologized a lot, but he didn't have to. We found solace in one another, it would do no good destroying the relationship over it." Leia said, as though she had read Kylo's mind. He bit the inside of his cheek, glancing at Rey. She looked like she was about to cry as she glanced at Kylo. She dragged him upstairs.
"Maybe that's why Uncle Han looks so sad when he sees you, Kylo," she whispered, "you remind him of Uncle Luke. You hide away like him, maybe he's worried you'll leave like him, too." Kylo scoffed.
"I won't."
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Here it is. Are you guys enjoying this story? You're not leaving as much feedback as you did for SAYS so I'm just curious. Anyway, thanks for reading!
~Goblin