Chapter Text
Ben came back. He made a fool of himself last time so why he came back will forever elude him …. Well actually that is a lie. He knows exactly why he came back, and it is having to do with the absolutely stunning barista behind the coffee counter. He gave himself a silent pep talk, mainly consisting of him yelling at himself not to be an idiot, and entered the door.
“Hey, Mister Unicorn is back! The frappe is off our menu currently but I’m sure I could whip it up just for you, if you ask nicely that is?” she cheekily claimed with an air of mischief. The traitor, Ben made a mental note to stop calling him the traitor, and another man were towards the back of the coffee bar making drinks for the scarce number of customers in the shop.
Just before he could respond she pulled Felix out from where he was making drinks and basically dragged him to the counter and proceeded to ignore everyone in the shop as she went, “You mister gloomy owe Finn an apology” with the glare of a lifetime—successfully making a scene.
In true Solo fashion, he takes criticism just as well as his father, about as gracefully as trying to bathe a cat, “I don’t owe that traitor sh*t.”
He was an idiot.
Her glare went from menacing to murderous.
He really really was an idiot
“You made his life hell in New York with your bossy holier-than-thou attitude you arrogant spoiled piece of shi-” her voice was rising with every word into a yell.
“Okay, Rey that is more than enough.” Oddly enough it was the traitor, Finn, not Felix, that saved him from more humiliation. “Was he an asshole, yes, was he also being manipulated by that absolute raisin of a man, also yes. Give the guy a break, it was years ago” and then said to her more quietly “Be nice, he looks like a kicked puppy”
“Wait, how do you know about that” Ben startles, no one should know what he went through with Snoke.
“Dude, we weren’t blind, you started at the company at 18 after running away from home, you have major anger issues, and were constantly begging for the old guy’s approval while you were working yourself to death,” he said like it was as plain as day.
“Oh, okay” like his world wasn’t crashing around him that he was read by someone so easily, “for what it's worth, I really am sorry, I was a dick”
“All good man! You still take a triple espresso black?” Finn said with his sunshine smile.
“Uh, yeah, how do you know that?”
“We learned to keep you caffeinated so you were less mean…. I mean you were still mean but less so,” it was said with a shrug, but Ben can’t help but feel even worse. “We’ll get you that, on the house.”
Ben grumbled his thanks as he went to sit down in the far corner of the shop. Finn dragged Rey away, they were arguing but Ben couldn’t make out the words, but he distracted himself by messing with his phone. A few minutes later a cup was placed down as someone sat in front of him. He looks up and his heart skips a beat, sitting across him was Rey looking properly chastised? That confused him, she didn’t do anything wrong in his opinion, He was a dick.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you” she tumbles out “Finn was my first friend and I tend to act out when someone is mean to the people I care about, I met him right after he stopped working for you and- oh my god I need to stop talking,” she ends her word vomit with, “I added whipped cream since you wanted it last time, I hope you don’t mind” and Ben just stares “okay bye before I embarrass myself more.”
“wait” he finds himself saying “My name is Ben”
“Hi, Ben.”
“Hi,” he really was an idiot. She shuffles awkwardly as he stares at her.
“Um…. I’m gonna go”
“Would you want to get coffee with me sometime” he blurts but she looks like she’s about to burst out laughing,
“Despite working in a coffee shop, I despise the bean juice, I’m a tea girl all the way.”
“Oh, ok it was a stupid idea anyway, bye” he is going to throw himself into a volcano
“Though I wouldn’t say no to dinner?”
He short-circuits “what? Really?”
“Yes?”
“Okay, I didn’t expect you to say yes” Her answering laugh is like breathing in fresh morning air
“here’s my number” She passes him a napkin with some mostly legible scrawl on it and says, “Text me and we'll plan it.”
With that, she gets up and walks into the back storage area. Ben looks into his whipped creamed coffee and decides he needs to buy Lactaid on the way home, he can’t bring himself to be mad.
