"I'm done!" Ben shouted falling onto her bed after bursting into her room.

She looked up from her book she'd been reading since she got off work early. Hux was still on the bridge, watching everything. He wouldn't be back till later so she might as well help Ben without her boyfriend. She got up swiftly and walked over to her bed, sitting down next to him. He had his face down into the mattress clearly exhausted.

"Rough day with Snoke?" She asked stroking his hair. He picked his head up to look at her.

"You have no idea." He pouted, annoyed.

"What was it that he made you do?" She sighed.

"He made me hold myself upside down in the air for an HOUR!" He spat. He hit his head into the mattress after every word. Phas started to laugh.

"Stop hitting your head you'll get brain damage."

"I'm just tried." He mumbled.

"I can tell."

He groaned into the soft material below him to mute it slightly. She tried to think of a time when their lives weren't so difficult, remembering the times where the most stressful thing to do was watch Ben try to ice skate. She cherished times like that where they would all just smile.

"Go get changed." She said. "We can play chess if you want." He shrugged before going to his room to change.

It took some time but eventually she found the dusty chess box in her closet. She only had it because Ben would get frustrated or have panic attacks throughout the day and it was an easy thing for him to focus on. She'd ask why he enjoyed the game so much but he'd never tell her. She didn't expect him to though.

That's how the friendship worked. No one had to say anything about their past that they weren't comfortable with. Ben hadn't really a choice as Hux and Phasma were aware of his upbringing since he stepped onto a ship but he never shared anything truly personal unless he was drunk. Nevertheless, she set up the game and waited.

The game was set up the way Ben liked. She would play with white pieces, he would play with black. Ben was very adamant on the fact that he would always be playing with the black pieces. He had certain ways of doing certain things and usually got tense if something happened that got in the way of that, he was already anxious and uptight that day so she thought it best not to test his limits.

He came back into the room wearing his soft long sleeve shirt. Phasma frowned slightly, he only wore that top when he felt on edge or insecure about something. It made him feel smaller or invisible and in a way he found that to be better than facing the problem. He found it easier to hide from them than talk about them. She obviously didn't like that line of thinking but it helped put him at ease sometimes. At the end of the day she wanted him to be happy that's all she wanted. He came back with an anxious and quiet voice.

"Remember I play wi—

"The Black pieces, I didn't forget." She smiled and ruffled his hair.

She could tell something had happened between him going to get changed and coming back. She wanted to ask but stayed out of it. If he didn't want her to know, than she didn't have to know. She shook the thought out of her mind and made the first move.

Soon enough they were playing but Ben was acting odder than usual. He wasn't talking unless he needed to answer. His voice was shaky and slightly uneven, he kept tugging his sleeve as they played and he wasn't playing as good as he usually did. His moves weren't as calculated as they normally were and he actually made some very poor turns. She could see him biting the inside of his lip nervously as his eyes darted around the board. After about 15 minutes she just couldn't take it anymore.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly. "Is something wrong with the game or did I do something?"

"N-nothing I-is wrong...."

"Ben don't lie to me."

"IM NOT LYING!" He yelled. He realized he yelled and covered his mouth quickly.

"Ben?"

"Fine."

He got up swiftly and went to his room. He left the door open for her, by the time she got in to the room he was digging through the back of his closet. She didn't try to help because she didn't want to make him more upset. Eventually he came out and threw her an old holo-message player before hide his face in his pillows.

"Just listen to it." He grumbled. She raised her eyebrows before turning it on.

"Hey honey sorry but neither me nor your father can make it to see you on your birthday. Love you."

"Sorry sweetheart we can't make it to see you for Christmas."

There were 12 more messages of apology's for missed birthdays and Christmas's. The last one finally played.

"Honey look I know this is going to be hard to Hear but me and your father are getting divorced. It's nothing you did I swear! But we just can't keep doing this. I love you."

"She couldn't even tell me in person." Ben hissed. "I found the messages when I went to go change. 8 missed birthdays, 8 lonely Christmas's and one divorce." He laughed bitterly.

She hugged him suddenly which somehow made him feel a little better. She's always hated his mother, she hated how she treated him, she hated her excuses and she hated how she basically abandoned him. Her mother had died when she was young but she at least she didn't randomly leave her.

"You don't need her anymore." She muttered.

"I know." He sighed.

They would be okay. Crapy parenting was a regular thing in the First Order after all.