Chapter Text
The problem with having chronic nightmares isn’t falling asleep. In fact, that never seems to be an issue for Ben Solo when he settles in for the night. He’s usually lights out within the first fifteen seconds of letting his head hit the pillow in his weird little black bedroom; pulling his blankets up to his chest and curling up on his side as everything fades to a satisfying and complete darkness around him.
It is the staying asleep, the continuous and steady REM cycle needed for a full night's rest, that is hard to maintain.
Which is quite difficult, when one wakes up gasping for air and sweat-soaked at least once a night. When one has to develop a routine for that particular moment, and the brain needs to catch up with what it has inflicted on itself.
So when Ben feels the desire to move, take a jog or a walk in the snow to clear his head after a particularly bad trip down memory lane, he follows it.
He follows it down the street, at two am, and past all the colorful little rented bungalows on the outskirts of the college town he’s currently trying to finish his masters degree in. The English degree he has no idea how he’s going to use, in a town that treats him more like a cheap TA-for-hire than a paying student.
At least he is getting experience, he knows, and a half decent paycheck as well. That is enough.
But this town is, despite its sleepiness, a nice place to walk at night. When the snow from two days before has started to settle in a little more, footprints and paw prints up and down the lawns marking the events of the past couple days. Streetlights, throwing a harsh yellow glow against the crystallized ice and reflecting onto the sides of cars that all have students bumper stickers denoting political affiliations, COEXIST , and the school mascot on them.
And a girl, standing outside her home in her pajamas and just kind of… staring at the sky.
Ben looks up from the concrete walkway, confused on exactly why she’s out here, all alone, as he sighs with a puff of cold air and he continues walking. Maybe he missed some astronomical phenomena online, some planets going conjunct or lining up in the sky like they seem to do every six months.
He sees nothing, quietly continuing to lament the existence of snow and cold weather as he sighs.
And he looks back down, just in time to see her face plant onto the snow covered grass of her lawn with a far too eerie thump.
What the fuck?
Ben freezes, one foot in the air and caught mid-step, as he tries to process what he just witnessed. He’s still about half a house away from her, but he definitely just witnessed a girl pass out in front of her house.
In the snow.
A week into January.
He takes another couple steps, stopping at the corner of her driveway and lawn. The lights don’t seem to be on inside of her home, but the door is wide open. And a dog is patiently sitting at the entryway, whining and nervously poking his head out of the building. Waiting, like a good pup , Ben briefly notes.
He stares, stretching his hands in his pockets as he sighs. He tries to figure out what to do here, aware that he is a six-foot-three man dressed in all black in the middle of the night with a pretty baritone voice. Aware that she might flip out if he shouts at her, or approaches her too quickly, and that there’s probably a pretty decent chance he’d get pepper sprayed if he doesn't do this very carefully.
But he’s not just gonna leave her, no, he can’t do that. Nobody else will see her until they’re right up on her, and he’s not going to leave some poor girl passed out in her soaking wet lawn when it’s nearly thirty degrees out, fahrenheit.
He clears his throat, hoping she’s not… passed out passed out.
Also hoping she’s not having a medical emergency or anything, as he sniffles against the cold and slowly takes a step up the pathway to her lawn as he clears his throat. “Uh, hey, uh, you okay there?” He hums, slowly raising his voice as he pulls his hands out of his pockets and shakes them out a little. “You-you alright? You need help?”
She stays silent, as Ben quickly has the fleeting thought that the woman is dead-
He mentally prepares to call 911, as he gulps and whistles at her. “Hey, there-“
He realizes she’s also wearing shorts , as he pulls off his hat and anxiously runs a gloved hand through his hair while he looks around for anyone else who might be able to help. Okay, cool. At least she also looks to be breathing from her place on the ground, even if the shorts are an alarming revelation. So, she’s not dead, yet, which is good.
She’s also tiny , a skinny little thing, and Ben knows he can’t leave her out here. He knows he can’t leave until she’s alright.
She sits up, suddenly, Ben jumping back a couple paces as his breath hitches in surprise. Okay, so, is she awake? What’s going on here?
She just sits there, staring straight ahead and making demon noises with her mouth as he tries to process.
Holy shit, she’s possessed. Ben found a demon-
Or she’s just sleepwalking , the more sane part of his brain suggests. She’s just sleepwalking, you found a sleepwalker.
Ben sighs as he furrows his brow, because aren’t people supposed to avoid waking up sleepwalkers or something? Isn’t that like… a cardinal rule of somnambulists? Don’t wake them while they’re walking? It could fuck them up?
He groans, because he doesn’t know , but he’d rather be safe than sorry.
He walks up to her, slowly, as she shivers a little. “Uh, okay-“ He hums, crouching down next to her and trying to get a good look at her eyes as she furrows her brow and blinks. “Hi. My name is Ben, I live about three blocks down that way.” He motions with his head, although she can’t see. He doesn’t know why he’s doing this, it’s not like she understands him, but it makes him feel better to know that he has at least tried to get through to the sleepwalking girl, “We’re gonna get you inside, okay sweetheart? It’s not a good idea for you to be out here all alone, especially at night. Is that alright?”
She snorts, making another series of nonsense noises as she sighs and rolls her head to the side like a Japanese horror film.
The hair on the back of Ben's arms and neck stands on end, because this is creepy -
“Yeah, okay, let’s get you inside.” He hums, straightening up and onto his feet before looking around. He is aware that she shouldn’t be out here all alone right now, because Ben isn’t an idiot . He can take a midnight walk because he’s a tall, white, cis-dude with enough muscle to pack a serious punch if needed.
And this girl , for lack of any sort of name or identification on her, while she looks to be strong enough and physically fit-
She’s small, cold, and asleep with her front door wide open . Ben Solo isn’t an idiot as to what could happen to her if he leaves right now.
So he gently grabs her hands with his own shaking palms, feeling her fingers wrap around his, and he slowly starts easing her up and onto her feet. It takes a moment, a lot of gentle maneuvering and grunting on Ben's end of things, but he gets her up.
And once she seems to understand what is being asked of her, the girl has no problem standing and swaying on her own two feet. Weird.
Ben stares for a moment, before gently taking her hands and leading her up onto the porch of her house. He quickly urges her inside after she trips on the steps, before he leans down and pats what he quickly realizes is a corgi as she barely makes it to the couch on her own. Jesus Christ , shouldn’t someone keep an eye on her?
“Keep your mom safe, huh bud?” He sighs, refusing to put any part of his body past the threshold as he gently pushes the doggy inside and he shuts the door on the two of them.
Ben shakes his head, exhaling as he shoves his hands back in his pockets while he walks back down the stairs.
Weird night.
~Z…z…z…~
Rey chokes on her coffee as she takes her morning break at the student bookstore the next morning, Kay covering the register for her as she hunches over and shakes with the force of her lungs trying to expel hot caffeine from her body. Holy shit-
She continues to cough for another couple seconds, Kaydel turning to her as she finally stops struggling to breathe and she can get a hold on her body for long enough to take a deep breath.
“You okay, Rey?” Kay asks, as Rey fervently nods. She’s fine, she’s totally fine.
She goes back to staring at the video Rose frantically texted her and asked her to check out, automatically sent to both of their phones after motion was detected at her living room and front porch security cameras sometime after midnight last night.
Rey scrolls back a couple seconds on the two minute long video clip, as a strange man bends down next to her on the lawn. “Okay, sweetheart?” He hums again, as she takes a second to memorize that specific statement to her hippocampus.
She starts coughing again, tears rising to her eyes as she tries not to laugh and make it worse-
Holy shit, she sleepwalked outside last night. She’s never done that before, and that’s not good! How the hell did she unlock the front door all by herself? How did Bebe not bolt on her?
Oh, god, and a fucking hot dude found her-