Chapter Text
"Hey, where the hell do you think you're going?" I snarled as my stupid stepsister snatched the car keys from the rack. I was just descending the stairs, my backpack slung on my shoulder. It was Friday night, and I was heading to my friend Hux's house for our band's practice. I had my guitar slung over one shoulder, my amp waiting by the door. My notebook was full of new music that I was eager to share with the gang. It was my night to have the car, as per the agreement we had settled on a year ago, when we learned that we were expected to share the vehicle rather than have our own.
"It's for your own good," Rey's mom, Qi'ra, said in her deceptively sweet tone.
She and my dad had sat us down and explained how sharing a car would teach us to work together and negotiate. All part of their continuing effort to get the two of us to get along (fat chance of that happening, even if for once we were both aligned in our outrage at the unfairness of having to share the car.) However, my indignation was far more justified than hers, as the car we were forced to share was the Falcon, my father's prized 1977 Buick Riviera. That was meant to be MY car, which was promised to me when I was a child, back before SHE entered our lives.
But we must share if we want a car at all. So we were told, sitting sullen and cross-armed on the couch. Han tossed us the keys, one set only, and walked away to do whatever, leaving us to seethe.
"This is complete bullshit," I grumbled. "That car is mine, whatever they say."
"I have worked more on that car than you ever have," Rey snapped. "If anything, I should have it since I actually know how to make it run."
"Whatever, that was just your kiss-ass way to ingratiate yourself with my dad," I snapped back.
"Ingratiate? Wow, such a big word for a loser burnout," Rey snarled, getting up off the couch. She was holding the keys.
"Hey, where the hell do you think you're going?" I asked, jumping to my feet.
"Out. I'm claiming today. You can have it tomorrow. We'll just trade off every other day or whatever. Bye, loser," Rey said and stormed off. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms to sulk some more.
And so, with that declaration, the arrangement was made. It holds firm even now and only changes contingent on negotiation. It was really the only time the two of us ever talked. Rey and I existed in a strange orbit of one another, barely acknowledging the other's presence unless we were involved in some family affair where keeping the peace was preferable to pissing off our parents.
At school, hardly anyone knew we were step-siblings. We existed in entirely different spheres. Rey was Miss Popularity, the core nexus of a group of the most insufferable people I've ever encountered. I'm talking jocks and Model UN types, student council members. She was involved in all of that stupid shit, like being on the yearbook staff and a cheerleader, as well as track. Literally the definition of an overachiever. It was almost pathetic how desperate she was to belong and be liked. She had already ordered her class ring.
My friends were a little more sane about things. We didn't feel that high school was anything more than a holding cell for four years until we were free to do stuff with actual meaning. None of the shit she was into would actually matter, save as shit to sob over twenty years from now when she's married and fat from popping out a ton of kids for her loser husband, eating to fill the void while lamenting the "good old days."
Me? Well, I have dreams and goals that spending time arguing about decor for a school dance would only hinder. My friends and I had started a band together, and it was actually fucking good. Our music would get us places, but only if we focused and practiced.
That is why, when I saw Rey snatch up the keys on my night, I saw red.
Though, what else was new when it came to Rey?
You know, if I had the chance to go back in time and change any past event, I know exactly what it would be. I'm not going to lie; I dwell on it often. If things had gone differently that day, I never would have ended up with Rey as my stepsister and mortal enemy.
What was that moment, you may ask? I'll tell you gladly. It was February 14th, 2016, in fourth grade. Our teacher, Mrs. Andor, had the genius idea for our class to make valentines for the "special friends" in our lives. It was stupid. Valentine's Day is stupid, especially when you are too tall and skinny, with ears sticking out and a nose too large for your face.
It was clear that all the boys felt the same about the matter, while the girls giggled and blushed while they applied glitter and ribbons to pieces of construction paper. They were dumb—well, dumb, save for one. There was, perhaps, a particular girl I paid attention to, though I would deny it if asked. She was new to the school, having only arrived at the start of this year. Rey.
Rey was scrappy and different from the other girls in the class. Her clothes were always a bit more worn, usually baggy flannels and torn jeans. There was something punk rock about her (I had recently discovered my dad's old punk music and was quickly obsessed). She wore hair in this sort of weird fauxhawk, with three buns lining her head. She was pretty, too. Pretty cool! Not pretty, I didn't think girls were pretty, nope, nosiree…but if any girl HAD to be pretty, well, Rey might fit the bill, I supposed. Maybe. Sure. Of course, that was before I was stuck living in the same house with her. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that jazz.
So yeah, ok, I had a bit of a crush on her back then. Whatever. I was nine years old and dumb. And I would never be caught dead admitting it. All the boys in class thought she was trashy. I had heard rumors that she had grown up in a junkyard, digging around literal garbage her whole life. That she was an orphan whose parents dumped her at the literal dump and washed their hands of her. Lots of boys teased her, and so did the other girls. They would hold their noses when Rey walked by, pretending she stunk. Which wasn't fair because she smelled like green apple soap whenever I was near her. Not that I was sniffing her or anything.
What no one knew was that we had met the summer before, when she had been temporarily placed with my neighbor Maz before moving into her permanent home that August. The dust-up from my parents' divorce was still settling, with Dad taking off often for odd jobs and Mom occupied in DC. I was left mainly to my own devices, my mom's butler Cecil as my minder. So Rey and I often hung out, playing soccer in the street or climbing trees. She was cool and fun and knew more swear words than anyone I'd met besides my Uncle Chewie.
But school started, and girls don't hang out with boys and vice versa. Though, Rey didn't seem to hang out with anyone. I noticed how she didn't seem to have any friends and mostly sat by herself at recess, reading a book or sketching in this battered little notebook. I at least had my group of friends that I'd known since pre-school: Hux, Mitaka, and Tai.
So it was a surprise to see Rey hard at work making her own card. She was at a table in the corner, with a gap of other girls around her as if a force field surrounded her. She was bent over intently as she carefully glued her Valentine together. Rey was good at art; her projects were always the best in class. What was surprising was the color pallet, red and black accents of the typical pink or white.
As I carefully scrapped together a shitty card that would probably go to my mom since she was without a Valentine now that the divorce was final, I couldn't help but wonder who she was making it for. I couldn't think of any boy in class who would deserve it, as most ignored her.
Eventually, our teacher moved us on to our next lesson, and our pieces were set aside to dry. Finally, lunch and recess came around, and we all scampered off to eat crappy pizza with barely melted cheese or the mystery meat meal. Tai had an immaculate bento box made by his mother, which we all secretly coveted as the smell of soy sauce and rice rose from the container. Rey was in the corner, eating the free lunch of a slice of cheese slapped between two pieces of bread, scarfing it down in that feral way she always did.
At recess, my friends and I were hanging out on the spiderweb dome, our usual place. Mitaka was currently swinging upside down, his knees hooked over a bar along the top of the dome. The rest of us were perched on top, watching the rest of the playground. We weren't alone on the dome, which was a popular spot. I rolled my eyes at Poe and his gang doing flips off of the bars even though the teacher had yelled at him five times not to.
"Ben," a voice said softly from somewhere on the ground. I looked down and saw Rey standing there. She looked rather sheepish and shy. I was confused about why she would approach me after months of silence. I jumped down into the soft sand.
"Hey, Rey. What's up?" I asked, the confusion in my voice evident. For some reason, she was blushing, her hands behind her back.
"I, um…here," she said, thrusting what she was holding behind her back out to me. I took it and looked down to see the Valentine's card she had been making in class. It was a square piece of construction paper on which she had carefully created an image of my favorite character from Galaxy Wars with ribbon and glitter. Along the bottom were the words, "Take my hand, and we'll rule the galaxy together."
It was amazing. The artwork was immaculate, and you could see the care taken to create it. There were no hearts or any of the cliched crap you would usually see. It was made with a particular person's tastes in mind.
Mine.
My feelings were confusing and spinning up my insides. A growing flush of warmth and happiness was growing inside of me. Rey was staring up at me with her wide eyes. She was so shy but hopeful for something, some sort of reciprocation of emotions. I opened my mouth to say something, but whatever I would say was choked off when a mocking voice called out.
"Omg, did the freak give you a valentine, Ben?"
It was Hux, who had dropped down from the dome and landed next to me. The others followed, and unfortunately, Hux's jeering voice rang out across the playground, drawing all eyes to what was happening.
"Aww, are the two weirdos gonna live in the dump together? Build a little house out of cardboard?" Beau, a boy from the "popular" group, said with a sneer. That comment opened the floodgates of teasing as all the kids circled the two of us. While I had never been popular, I had never experienced the social rejection that Rey had been living through. As the other kids jeered and teased, I could see my social status tanking, falling lower and lower. All the while, I'm watching Rey's hope and happiness fade away, her face becoming steely and numb.
Here's the thing about humans: we're a tribal species of animals pretending to be more than that. Rejection from the group still triggers our ancient monkey brains into irrational fear. It will force you to do whatever you can to appease the group. So, here, at last, we come to the moment I have deeply regretted for many reasons.
"Ew, like I would be caught dead with a freakazoid like her," I spat out. "Her parents didn't want her, why would I?"
There they were—the words that changed everything. The second they passed my lips, I regretted them. I wished I could reach out and snatch them back, shove them back into my mouth where they could do no harm. But there was no taking them back, and my choice was made.
Everyone around us hooted and hollered as Rey's face grew dark with shame and anger. I can only guess that months of rejection and hurt finally came to a head within her when the only person who had been a friend to her flat-out humiliated her. This is probably why, instead of bursting into tears, she reared a fist back and slammed it into my nose.
Rey pummeled me, jumping onto me like a feral cat. I fought her off as best as I could, but even being attacked, I knew not to hit a girl. She was screeching like a bobcat as the others cheered on the fight while Mitaka and Tai tried to pull her off me. The fight only ended when the recess minder came running and pulled the two of us apart.
We were brought to the principal's office, where we waited for our parents to come for us. This was after we were sent to the nurse, where she staunched my bleeding nose and gave ice for Rey's swelling knuckles. We sat on opposite sides of the room, avoiding each other's gazes. I wanted to cry from the pain but also from the shame I felt for what I said.
I wasn't even sure if either of my parents would show up. They had both been absent so much recently. A fleeting thought that my words to Rey could easily apply to myself filtered through my mind, as mine seemed to have rejected me as well, but to my surprise, Han showed up. He sauntered in with his usual casual vibe, charming the office staff with his dry charm. I rolled my eyes, my arms firmly folded across my chest.
He took one look at me and one look at Rey and smirked. He knelt down and tilted my head back and forth to take in the bruises that were starting to spread.
"Well, I see you definitely take after your old man," Han said wryly. He patted my shoulder and stood again as another person entered the room. She was a short, pretty woman with hair tied in a high ponytail. She ignored us as she hastened to Rey, dropping down to examine the girl.
"Rey, are you ok, sweetie?" the woman asked.
"Yeah," Rey said softly.
"Qi'ra?" Dad said suddenly, his eyes wide as he stared at the woman. She stiffened and turned.
"Han?" Qi'ra said incredulously.
And that's how the two of them met again. They'd grown up on the streets together but had lost track of one another. After the fight, they began seeing each other increasingly, catching up over drinks. We stood at the courthouse a year later as they said their "I Dos." Rey and I avoided each other's gazes as we were suddenly thrust into family life together.
And there's the crux of the issue: if I hadn't rejected Rey so cruelly, she wouldn't have hit me. We wouldn't have gotten into trouble, and our parents wouldn't have met each other. We wouldn't have ended up living in Qi'ra's house after Han gave up the condo he'd been living in after the divorce, dragging me along with him after Mom gave up custody. If I hadn't said that, I never would have ended up sharing a car with Rey and had to watch her snatch up the keys that rightfully belonged to ME and saunter out in her usual "I'm desperate for attention, please fuck me" outfit while throwing a middle finger my way.
I stormed after Rey, my vision black and spotty from anger. She didn't need the damn car, for fucks sake. She had any number of boy toys who would be willing to pick her up for the chance at hooking up with Miss Popular herself.
It was ironic that the fight changed everyone's perceptions of Rey overnight. She went from a freak to a sympathetic figure among the other girls. When Kaydel Ko-Connix, the prettiest and richest girl in school, reached out an olive branch to Rey, Rey took it. She became a creature of materialism and a snotty attitude. This was helped when Rey allowed Qira to buy new clothes that fit her instead of the rags from her foster days, which she refused to give up.
By high school, she had wholly embraced vapidity and flitted from boy to boy. I had my fair share of girlfriends, sure, but nowhere near the level of conquering Rey did. Everyone just loved Rey and her sweet smile and genial manner. It was all a show, a calculation. I knew the real her was still there, fierce and angry at the world, hidden in a desperate attempt to belong.
And sure, she was hot. I'm not above admitting it. She had a natural beauty that was apparent to anyone who saw her. It made it easy for her to hide the evil lurking within. And if I noticed how juicy her ass had gotten, well, I'm a teen boy, and she pranced around in tight leggings and tiny shorts quite often. It's hard not to notice when you live with it. Unfortunately, a big ass can't hide a nasty attitude, but whatever.
Still, I couldn't help but notice her ass jiggling as she stomped down the hallway towards the garage. She was dressed rather casually for a Friday night, too, to my surprise. She wore a pair of thin black leggings, so worn that I could tell she wasn't even wearing underwear beneath them. I could see the shadowy cleft of her buttocks through the stretched-thin material. She had an oversized, black sweater on, and I was pissed to see it was one of mine, one that had been missing for some time. I ignored the strange jolt in my groin at the sight of her in my clothes and called out.
"Rey, goddammit, this is my fucking night!" I shouted.
"Fuck off, Ben. It's an emergency, ok?" Rey said.
"Oh, what sort of emergency? Did Rose break a nail? Kaydel discovered split ends?" I snarled as she ripped open the garage door and exited the house, slamming the door shut behind her.
"Dammit, Rey, I need the fucking car. I have band practice," I shouted. I caught the shutting door and slammed it back open, where it cracked against the wall with an angry clack. I didn't mean to open it with such force, and it caused Rey to jump with alarm. I didn't know much about her life before she was adopted by Qi'ra, but I knew she didn't like sudden, loud bangs. For a moment, I felt terrible, but then I saw the keys clutched in her hand, the two golden dice from the keychain glinting in the dim light of the garage overhead.
"Ben, no one cares about your stupid fucking band, ok? I know it's just an excuse for you and your loser friends to get high," Rey said.
"You don't know shit about my band or our plans. At least I'm trying to do something worthwhile with my life, unlike you, playing some vapid cheerleader cliche just because you pathologically need validation for everyone to make yourself feel important," I spat, advancing on her.
"Oh, forgive me, I didn't know that playing subpar music in a garage could be called 'plans'. At least what I do will get me into good schools, where I can have a career that makes a difference," Rey said.
Rey went to unlock the door right as I reached her. I grabbed her wrist and attempted to pull it back. I knew deep down that it was wrong to grab her like that, but dammit, I was so fucking pissed at her. We scrabbled for the keys. Rey was as scrappy as ever, but I was bigger and stronger.
"Give me the fucking keys, Rey!" I snarled as she elbowed me in the chest.
"Get the fuck off of me, you freak!" she yelled. She twisted in my arms, and I growled, throwing her against the hood of the car. I pressed up against her, bending her down, trying to keep the hellcat from clawing out my eyes.
She wriggled against me, trying to dislodge me, but I had her pinned good. But, as she moved, I became aware of my pelvis pressed tight against her ass. As she wriggled, she rubbed against my cock, which was concealed only by the basketball shorts I was wearing. I was too preoccupied with trying to pry the keys out of her hands to realize how hard my cock was growing.
But Rey noticed. She pushed back against me and then stilled, a soft gasp passing her lips. I stilled as well, surprised by my body's reaction. My cock had pressed between her thighs, tight up against her labia. Even through the thin material of my shorts and her leggings, I could feel how hot she was. We stood there for a long, interminable moment, neither sure what to do, our hearts racing.
Then, Rey moved an almost imperceptible amount, rubbing herself along my cock. I was still frozen, unsure if she meant to do it when she did it again. I groaned softly, barely enough to be heard, but she could feel the vibration of it against her back. I had one of her hands pinned under my outstretched hand, and my other was braced on her hip. I tightened my grip and pushed against her again, rubbing my cock against her cleft.
"Oh!" Rey gasped softly. She didn't tell me to get off of her, and I was harder than I'd ever been in my life, so I did it again. And again. Rey shifted, tilting her hips up slightly so that I was able to press deeper into her vulva, the tip of my head catching along her clothed clit. We rocked together, both silent save for our pants, chasing release. Her hair smelled like apples, as it had when we were kids, and for some reason, that spurred my arousal even more.
I ground harder and harder, my eyes closed as I focused on the sensation. I could scent Rey's arousal in the air, musky and sweet, and felt how the cloth of her leggings was sliding effortlessly from the growing wetness. I forgot about who she was and how much we hated each other. All I could focus on was how, despite having had sex before, this was far better than anything I'd ever felt before. I could feel my cock catching and rubbing along her clit, each time drawing out a gasping groan from Rey.
"Ah, ahhh!" Rey cried out suddenly, and I could feel her pussy spasm against me as her body shuddered. Had she actually orgasmed? The knowledge of that spurred on my own, and I grunted as I came into my shorts.
We sat there momentarily, each catching our breaths, as the realization of what happened suddenly washed over us. I abruptly pulled away from Rey's body, shame rising inside of me as I backed away. Rey straightened up, her shoulders up defensively, not looking at me. What had we done? Fuck, she's my stepsister, and I just dry-humped her like a dog in heat. What the fuck was wrong with me?
“R-Rey…I…” I stuttered, not sure what I could even say.
"Don't," Rey said, turning to face me. She was still flushed from our activities, her chest heaving.
"Just… don't," she said again. "This never happened."
Then, quick as a flash, she unlocked the car door and slid in, slamming the door shut. She smacked the garage opener, and the door lifted with a rattle. The Falcon started with a roar, and she peeled out of the garage. I just stood there dumbly, staring into her eyes as she receded, acutely aware of the tacky wetness in my shorts. The door closed, leaving me alone in the garage with only the scent of arousal and cum, the only clue that anything had happened at all.
I rubbed my face and returned upstairs. I wiped off the drying cum from my skin and changed my shorts. Then I just sat on my bed, thinking about what had happened. But my mind was already spinning excuses. It didn't mean anything. We weren't even undressed. It was just some strange fluke and would never happen again. It's not like it actually counted.
Feeling a strange urge, I got up and opened my closet. I could see an old shoebox stashed on the highest shelf the day I moved into this house. I pulled it down and opened it up. It was filled with mementos from childhood, tickets to concerts and movies, and seashells from trips to the beach. Stuff like that, you know? I pushed the stuff aside and pulled the piece of paper from the bottom of the box.
The construction paper was old and smelled oddly dusty, but the picture was still crisp and clear, even if some of the glitter had long fallen off. It had been lost in the sand during our fight, but I had returned for it when no one was looking the next day. Regardless of what happened afterward, I couldn't stand to see my first Valentine tossed away like trash. I sighed, feeling all sorts of confused.
Then, my phone pinged, and I was brought back to reality. I pushed the Valentine back into the box and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. I saw a text alert from our band chat.
HUX: "Dude, where you at?"
Fuck, I was late. Time had disappeared for a short spell, but reality was back. Rey had taken the car off to do whatever "emergency" she was responding to, and I could not get there by foot. I couldn't walk the several blocks carrying a guitar and heavy ass amp.
"Car gone, need a ride," I texted back. I fell back on my bed and sighed, trying to make sense of this bizarre, seismic shift that just upended my entire world. Because, as much as I wanted to deny it, as much as I couldn't stand to be in the same room as Rey…I wanted to do it again.