As you sat across from Sam in the mess hall, you let out a sigh.

It had been a week since the last time you had seen Kylo Ren. You used this fact as an excuse as to why you had failed to follow up on General Hux's command. It was your hope that Kylo Ren had forgotten entirely about your existence and moved on to doing things more important than ratting out the engineer who worked on his ship.

"I just don't know why you didn't tell me earlier," Sam said, frowning.

"A lot of reasons," you said. "I didn't want to drag you into it. I didn't want to talk about it and him overhear somehow."

"I can't believe he read your thoughts," Sam said, as if it hadn't been slightly traumatizing. "What was it like?"

You narrowed your eyes. "Like getting a really big headache. It sucked."

"Jeez, fine, forget I said anything."

"It's just a little insensitive, dude."

Sam shrugged. "Sorry. What do you think you're going to do?"

"About what?" you said, wanting to avoid the question.

"About what General Hux asked you to do."

"I don't know," you said, scowling. "Who cares. What's the General going to do? Get mad at me because Kylo Ren won't talk to me? He's a child. I can see why he pisses people off."

And yet, as you said it, there was that awful, crushing pressure on your skull as all other noise was drowned out by your ringing ears. Gooseflesh crept down your arms as you gripped your head in the realization of what this meant.

"Get out of here, Sam," you managed to say, but before Sam had a chance to react, Kylo Ren was rounding the corner into the mess hall, cloak fluttering behind him.

Sam was scrambling against the wall as Kylo Ren glided toward you, fists balled.

"It's you again," said Kylo Ren, as if that was all that was needed.

You gulped and nodded. "Uh huh," was all you could manage to say.

"Come with me," he said, turning and walking with the expectation you would follow. You didn't disappoint him.

As you disappeared around the corner, you shot Sam a helpless look. You weren't sure what this meant. Sam's face was a mixture of awe and terror.

You trailed Kylo Ren's heels in silence, listening to the sound of his boots bounce off of the wall, each step growing the lump in your throat. At this point, you were almost certain you were dead. Your hands were squeezing each other to the point of popping.

Kylo Ren took a sharp turn into a room off of one of the corridors, and you followed. It was small, dark, machines everywhere--it seemed like a server room. He held out a hand and the door slammed behind you. Then that invisible pressure was on your shoulders, shoving you into the door, pinning your limbs to your sides..

"How are you doing this?" he asked as he held you still. The server lights were glinting off of the silver inlay on his helmet.

You didn't know what to say. You had no idea what you were doing.

"How?" he asked again, increasing the pressure on your body. The joints in your wrists popped.

A growl escaped your throat. "What are you even talking about, man?" you asked, shocked at your own audacity.

"You're in my head," he replied. "You're constantly in my head."

Your cheeks reddened. You were in Kylo Ren's head? "I--I don't..."

He came closer, his fury suffocating you. "I've had enough of it. You're going to stop."

A response wasn't coming to you. "Can you let me go?" you asked. It was difficult to think with all of the pressure on your limbs.

"No," he replied, lifting you from the ground--a punishment for even asking.

You grit your teeth. "General Hux wanted me to try and make nice with you, you know. I seriously doubt that's going to happen now."

"Really?" he replied. You could detect a hint of curiosity in his voice underneath the synthesizer.

You nodded. "You're an ass."

Kylo Ren's hand moved only a centimeter, and the pressure was on your neck, crushing your windpipe. You struggled against his grip, but no other part of you would move, either. Your mind was racing, heart leaping around your ribcage as he advanced on you. He leaned his cold, masked face close to your ear, and under it, you swore you could hear his breathing.

Goosebumps again. There was was an actual person underneath that helmet, those robes, those gloves. It was a thought you'd never had before.

"Such a naughty little mouth," he mumbled, voice low and dark.

A fire kindled between your legs, and you strained to get away from him, wishing you could ram your fist into his face. You couldn't even speak.

The pressure around your throat loosened, and you fell to the floor, ensuring a bruise on your tailbone. Though the nerves in your arms and legs were back on, you were paralyzed beneath him, your chest heaving with every breath. You didn't like what effect he just had on you.

Kylo Ren stared down at you. "For once, I agree with Hux. Continue with this, and I'm certain I'll remedy the issue myself." Without another word, he disappeared through the door and flung it shut it behind him, sending tremors rumbling through your back.

He wasn't there holding you down anymore--but movement was not coming to you. A hundred questions were whirling through your mind, and the biggest was the one you were asking yourself: why did Kylo Ren turn you on just now? He hadn't even touched you.

You shook your head, trying to throw it from your mind. But it stuck like slime to your brain--the warmth radiating from his body, the way his words rolled through your ear, the real, human breath that you were sure you heard...

A knock came on the door. "Hey, it's Sam--"

You were up and opening the door before he could finish. "Hey. Yeah. I'm in here."

He let out a long sigh. "I thought that's where I saw you go." He looked beyond your shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Did he take you to a server room?"

Your cheeks were burning again, and you crossed your arms over your chest. "Yeah, it was weird."

Sam's eyes widened. "What do you mean, weird?"

"Oh!" you said, holding up your hands. "Nothing like that. He, uh, had me look at one of the servers that the Command Shuttle communicates with." The quickness of your lie surprised even you.

"Huh," he replied. "Weird guy. Like he needed to drag you from dinner just from just for that."

You shrugged. "I know, right?"

Sam returned with you to the mess hall, where you both finished eating. He must have sensed your lingering uneasiness, since he walked you back to your quarters. As usual, he gave you a pat on the shoulder before wishing you goodnight, and as you walked into your room, you had the urge to cover your body in cold water.

Deciding to make good on that urge, you stripped your uniform off and turned the shower on, adjusting the temperature to an appropriate lust-dousing number.

As you stepped onto the tiled floor of the standard-issue Starkiller showers, the icy jets assaulted your body, pain shooting through your tired muscles. Despite your strongest will, it was as if Kylo Ren was in your head now. Your mind was turning the moment in the server room over and over. You thrust your face into the spray, and your body tensed like a rubber band.

You weren't sure how long you held yourself there, but you realized that your fingers and toes had become numb, and your nose was likely frozen solid.

"Okay," you said to yourself. Sighing, you turned the water off and pulled a soft towel against your wet body. After drying yourself off and wrapping your hair up, you eschewed the idea of putting on clothes and crawled into your bed with only the towel on your head.

The blankets became your cocoon as you shuddered against your standard-issue Starkiller bed, and you wondered what Kylo Ren would feel like against you--he seemed so tall and strong, and--

"Ugh!" you said, burying your face in your hands. "No, no!"

The cold shower hadn't worked. And you still had no idea how to solve the problem of Kylo Ren.