We Stay Together

You

Echo watched Cohen noting that she was troubled. She stared at the floor as though she were truly captivated by something below. She hugged her knees and rocked herself back and forth in her seat. He watched attentively, and she felt him but did not acknowledge his presence. They were seated in the cockpit, Tech and Hunter were at the very front, Cohen and Echo were seated behind, and Omega was with Wrecker in the back, playing around.

"Uh, are you okay?" Echo whispered to her.

"Uh-huh," she still didn't look back up.

Echo raised a brow watching her in complete distress. No one knew why, in fact, he was the only one who noticed.

"Out with it. What's wrong with you?" He said it was more demanding.

Cohen looked up, but not at him. She glanced in Hunter's direction. He was seated right in front of her. She could see one side of his face, his long strands of hair including his red bandana. She shuddered and looked back down as though she was afraid. Echo caught the glance. He sat up and observed Hunter, then Cohen. He watched them back and forth, trying to read Cohen, but noticing that Hunter was unusually quiet.

Echo smiled on the inside when he realized what he was witnessing. He shook his head trying to set aside his urge to laugh at the two, but it was no secret that he approved. Echo poked her on the shoulder taking her out of her funk.

"Ow," she finally looked at him.

"So it's Hunter?" He smirked.

"Not now..." she turned away from him. Clearly, something was on her mind, no doubt about that. She was afraid. Nervous. Ever since their moment in the cockpit, it really changed the atmosphere around them. They were awkward around each other. She stuttered when she tried to speak with him. Nerves shot through her body, she couldn't contain them. She hated the feeling so much, she decided to keep her distance as much as she could until she calmed down.

Cohen longed to come back when she could speak to him freely. When she could easily take his hand thinking nothing of it, but now, she had a rush of thoughts. He made her uneasy. His very presence made her weak to her knees, and now, she couldn't be around him without making a fool out of herself. But now more than ever, she wanted to hold his hand, speak to him, tell him that everything in her chest was eating her alive. Him. He made her vulnerable, and now that she knew that she cared for him, she felt boxed in. Something prevented her from doing any of it.

Hunter also felt it too. He replayed it in his mind. Waking up to find her standing and watching him. Her cheeks turned pink and fled away. At least she wanted to. Hunter kept a lot to himself, but his set of emotions, they were beginning to show. Since then, he kept his distance too but only because she started first. The more he thought about why she suddenly stopped, his doubt and insecurities crept on him thinking maybe it was all in his head. She was only beginning to be kind, that's why she avoided a kiss. That's why she hasn't spoken to him since. Because she couldn't possibly fall for a person like him.

The thoughts he formed in his mind were like daggers because for once he was caring about a person other than himself and his squad. For once he found something bigger than the war, the Empire, being a soldier. Cohen was like a breath of life, sinking deep within his soul. Only, he had convinced himself that it wasn't mutual, and besides keeping Omega safe, that was a hard pill to swallow. He was upset.

Echo chuckled to himself as soon as Cohen turned away from him. "I knew it," he murmured to himself.

As soon as they landed back on Ord Mantell, Cohen was the first to leave the cockpit. Echo couldn't stop laughing to himself thinking what the poor girl must be feeling. He didn't know much about sentiments, but he knew that it came with all kinds of nerves.