Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/12869457.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage
  Category:
      F/F, M/M
  Fandom:
      Star_Wars_Episode_VII:_The_Force_Awakens_(2015)
  Relationship:
      Armitage_Hux/Kylo_Ren, Armitage_Hux/Ben_Solo_|_Kylo_Ren, Phasma/Rey, Poe
      Dameron/Finn, Dopheld_Mitaka/Original_Male_Character
  Character:
      Armitage_Hux, Ben_Solo_|_Kylo_Ren, Brendol_Hux, Leia_Organa, Han_Solo,
      Phasma_(Star_Wars), Rey_(Star_Wars), Chewbacca_(Star_Wars), Poe_Dameron,
      Finn_(Star_Wars), Dopheld_Mitaka, Snoke_(Star_Wars)
  Additional Tags:
      Hoo_boy_here_we_go, Child_Abuse, Self-Harm, Drug_Abuse, Methamphetamine,
      Alternate_Universe_-_High_School, Homophobia, Violence, Statutory_Rape,
      Teacher-Student_Relationship, Not_In_a_Good_Way_-_Freeform, Underage_Drug
      Use, lots_of_bad_bad_things, Motorcycles, Brendol_Hux's_A+_Parenting,
      chewbacca_is_a_gigantic_mastiff, bb-8_is_a_pomeranian, Kylo_Ren_Needs_a
      Hug, Armitage_Hux_Needs_A_Hug, Poor_Dopheld_Mitaka, Everyone_Is_Gay,
      kylux_doesn't_have_sex_until_they're_both_18, Snoke_Being_a_Dick, So_many
      tags, Dead_Dove:_Do_Not_Eat, Bottom_Armitage_Hux, Top_Kylo_Ren
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-11-30 Chapters: 2/? Words: 1870
****** Far Too Young To Die ******
by PeroxidePrincet
Summary
     "Armitage looked back down at his phone, not wanting to be caught
     staring - despite the fact that the boy was most likely too strung
     out to even notice. How does a high school student even get drugs in
     the first place?"
     The high school au that nobody asked for feat meth addict Ben, child
     abuse victim Armitage, ballerina Rey, football quarterback Phasma,
     emotionally manipulated Mitaka, and the only happy ones, Finn and
     Poe.
Notes
     HEED THE TAGS! I don't want anyone getting hurt because they clicked
     this fic and tried reading despite the trigger warnings, because this
     shit is dark from the beginning. If you're triggered by anything
     here, please please please click away.
     Title is from Panic! At The Disco's song of the same name.
     Also, no, I'm not giving up on Seized. Just putting it on hiatus
     until I can rewatch The Force Awakens. :P
***** Chapter 1 *****
Armitage brushed his hair off his forehead, nerves making his hands shake. This
school was huge, and he was already lost. The hallways was pretty much empty
already, and he cursed as the bell rang. It was hard enough being a freshman,
but he was a freshman that had just moved from Ireland. He had no friends and
no idea what to expect from an American high school. He turned a corner and ran
right into someone, dropping his books. He yelped out an apology, and started
picking up his books. The stranger apologized as well, her accent close to his
own. He looked up in shock.
“You’re not American either?” he asked. The girl smiled, brown eyes sparkling.
“I am now. Dad moved us back here to be closer to his sister,” she said,
straightening up with his books in one arm and extending her other hand. “I’m
Rey Skywalker.”
“I’m Armitage Hux,” he replied, shaking her hand.
“You’re the one who just moved in down the street from us, Brendol’s son,
right?” Rey asked, handing him his books.
“Yeah…” Armitage trailed off.
“He seems like…”
“A right arsehole? Yeah, he is one,” Armitage mumbled. Rey giggled softly.
“Let me show you to class, you seemed a bit lost,” she said.
“Thank you,” Armitage said gratefully. “I’m trying to find Mrs. Smith’s class…”
“Oh, hey, you’re in AP English too? We can sit together,” Rey said, grinning.
Armitage smiled and allowed her to lead him to class, thankful for the help. As
he sat in his first class, he did his best to focus. The stinging pain on his
back was distracting, but he did his best to ignore it.

The boy climbed into bed, trembling and fighting back tears. He laid on his
stomach, unable to lay on his back due to the long, still-bloody lashes
striping his shoulderblades. He was just glad that the marks would be hidden by
his clothes, his failure and shame kept away from the public eye. He buried his
face in his pillow, letting out a soft sob that spoke of far more pain than any
fifteen year old boy should have to endure.
“ Máthair, chailleann mé leat, ” he whimpered in Gaelic, wishing his mother was
there to hold him, to kiss his wounds, to tuck him into bed. He missed her. He
missed her soft smile, her gentle, green eyes, her warm voice. Nothing here was
soft. Nothing here was warm. Nothing here was gentle. He sniffed and sat up,
rubbing at his eyes. He could feel his cheeks already warming from his tears,
his lower lip trembling and the sobs clawing their way up his chest. He
couldn’t make any sound, couldn’t let Brendol hear him. Crying meant weakness,
and weakness was what Brendol was trying to beat out of him.
“ Your whore of a mother let you get soft, boy, ” the man had growled.  “Weak.
You’re a failure. ”
Armitage wiped his eyes and stood, stripping down to his boxer briefs and
laying back down on his stomach. He turned his head into the pillows, wishing
he could go to sleep and never wake up.

Unfortunately, he woke up. And not only did he wake up, but he woke up on his
back, stuck to the sheets with blood, and covered in splotches of red. He bit
his cheek as he peeled himself away from the sheets, holding in pained
whimpers, and went to take a shower. He’d deal with his stained sheets later.
After a scalding shower, he did his best to wrap himself in the bandages he’d
purchased on his way home from school with the meager funds he’d managed to
keep from his mother’s inheritance, the rest of which had gone into his
father’s bank account, and got dressed. He looked at himself in the mirror and
sighed, slicking his hair into a severe side part with some pomade and willing
the dark circles under his eyes to disappear. He took a deep breath and went to
grab his backpack, wincing when it hit his back. He sighed and headed
downstairs, shouting a goodbye to his father and heading for the bus stop.
The bus ride was mostly uneventful, filled with other tired students who were
up far too early for their liking, until Armitage glanced over at the boy in
the seat beside him. They were both in the very back seats of the bus, so they
were mostly hidden, and the boy was tapping away at his phone. At first glance,
he wasn’t much to look at. He had greasy hair, dyed black (it was easy to tell,
from his light brown roots), acne, a big nose, and a weirdly angular jaw, but
upon closer inspection, the boy had the most beautiful brown eyes, full lips,
and sharp cheekbones. Armitage also noticed a scar on one wrist, revealed when
his sleeve rode up, that was too perfect, too straight of a line, to be
accidental, and that the boy had a bit of a twitch that was most certainly not
natural. Armitage looked back down at his phone, not wanting to be caught
staring - despite the fact that the boy was most likely too strung out to even
notice. How does a high school student even get drugs in the first place?
***** Chapter 2 *****
The weeks passed in a blur of studying, discipline from his father, and finding
an escape at Rey’s home. Her adoptive father, Luke, was a kind man, and was
more than happy to let him come over to study with Rey. Armitage was a bit
scared that the man could tell he was too eager to be out of his father’s
house, but didn’t comment on it.
Becoming close with Rey meant meeting her friends, Dopheld, Finn, and Poe, and
her girlfriend, Phasma, so now Armitage had a little group of friends he could
eat lunch with, wait for the bus with, etc. It also meant that he had
encountered Rey’s cousin, Ben, a few times. Ben was the name of the boy he’d
seen on the bus, the one with beautiful eyes and a scarred wrist. He was going
into his junior year. Rey told him that Ben was a junkie and that he should try
to avoid him. Armitage did his best.
 
Weeks turned to months, and soon it was the summer before his sophomore year.
He spent it with his newfound friends. He even found himself growing fond of
Ben, when the boy decided to come out of hiding and hang out with them. He was
never sober, when he hung out, but that was better than hiding away in his room
all day. Armitage had taken to sitting beside him, trying to engage him in
conversation. He was quiet, broody, but once Armitage got him talking, he found
out that Ben liked music and art, and was quite intelligent, despite his habit.
In July, Ben pushed Han off the roof.
Armitage had been cleaning fresh lashes when he got the frantic call from Rey
that they were going to the hospital, and that there was so much blood, and
that he needed to come. He promised he’d be there, and hurriedly wrapped his
wounds and got dressed. He rushed out the door and sprinted the mile to the
hospital, chest heaving by the time he got there. He gasped out Han’s name, and
the nurse pointed him in the direction of the waiting room. Rey rushed to him
and threw her arms around him, and he tried to hide his wince, hugging her
back.
“H-he could’ve died, Tidge!” she choked out, hiding her face in his chest.
“What happened, Rey? Talk to me,” he said, gently grabbing her shoulders and
pushing her back to look at her. Rey sniffled, wiping her eyes.
“H-Han asked him to come up onto the roof, to help him replace a few shingles,
a-and… s-so he could try to talk him into rehab again, and… he snapped, Tidge,
I’ve never seen Ben like that before… he pushed Han off, and it was lucky he
landed in the bush because it broke most of his fall, b-but his wrist and leg
are broken, and he had a huge gash in his side, a-and-” she broke off with a
sob, pressing her hand to her mouth. Armitage hugged her tightly again, until
Phasma came in, and Rey ran to be comforted by her girlfriend. Leia followed
her, looking stricken.
“Ms. Organa,” Armitage said, going to her. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, Armitage,” Leia said softly, her eyes full of grief. “The police have Ben
in custody…” Armitage bit his lip.
“Tidge, what’s that all over your back?” Phasma asked suddenly. Armitage froze.
“What?”
“You’re bleeding,” Phasma said, sounding worried. “Are you ok?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I was cleaning out my closet earlier and something fell on
me, scraped up my back. I’m alright,” Armitage lied. Leia didn’t seem
convinced, but didn’t comment.
The next time Armitage saw Ben was after his mother tried and failed to
convince him to take the choice of rehab over juvie. Rey had offered him up as
the only one Ben had talked to in the past two years, and he was happy to try
and help, since Rey was the first friend he’d made in the US. He walked in and
his heart sank at the state of the boy in front of him.
“Ben,” he said softly, taking a seat in front of him. Ben was trembling, hair
greasier than before and nails bitten to the nub. He had scratches up and down
his arms.
“What do you want?” Ben mumbled, rocking in his seat.
“I want to talk to you,” Armitage murmured, reaching out to very gently touch
Ben’s wrist. Ben flinched, but didn’t pull away. “Why won’t you get help, Ben?”
“Because it won’t  work, ” Ben muttered, reaching up with his other hand to
pull at his hair. “Nobody understands, nobody understands…”
“We can’t understand if you won’t let us, Ben,” Armitage said softly. He took a
deep breath. “We want you to be happy, Ben.”
“No, no, nobody does… don’t deserve it…”
“Yes you do,” Armitage said, taking Ben’s chin and making him look at him.
Those gorgeous eyes were wild, terrified. He looked like a deer staring down a
shotgun barrel. Armitage’s own softened. “Please, Ben. We all care about you.
Please, just get some help.” Ben stared for a bit longer.
“Fine,” he whispered. “As long as you get help too.” Armitage froze.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play dumb,” Ben hissed, suddenly very sober. “Your dad is beating you.
I’ve seen the bruises on your arms.”
“I don’t-”
“I’ll get help if you do.”
“I… Ben, it’s not that simple…”
“It is, though. Turn him in.”
“And then I’ll be a ward of the state, bouncing around foster homes until I
turn eighteen. It’s not that easy,” Armitage said.
“Rey,” Ben mumbled. “Tell Rey. She’ll figure something out.”
“Alright, fine,” Armitage said. “Sign these.” He presented Ben with the
necessary paperwork, and he signed each page.
Ben was taken to rehab the next day. Armitage didn’t tell Rey a thing.
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