•balance• reylo au

IV

before we start this chapter; let's take a moment to appreciate my favourite photo of adam!! 🥺
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We had only been walking for 20 minutes and Ryder was already complaining. Asking "how much longer?" won't make it go any quicker.

I was taking him up a mountain, well..it was more of a big hill. But the view was stunning, he had to see it. We were almost at the clearing, I could see the blue sky poking through the trees as we climbed up to the top. As we made it to the top, I took a deep breath. The base looked almost nonexistent from up here. There was a comfortable silence until I heard Ryder finally speak up.

"Wow.." He said, his breathing was getting heavy from the climb, "it is beautiful up here Leia."

"Yeah I know, why do you think I brought you here? You want to be my friend..so here is one of the places I come to think." I sat down, looking at the view.

I felt him sit down next to me, this was weird. I wasn't used to having friends my age. My mom and dad raised me in the desert, I never hung out with anyone except them (as well as Finn and Poe when they visited). Sometimes I would play with some of the kids in town when I was a toddler and I would go to school surrounding by kids my age. But most of my time was spent at home or school where I chose to keep to myself. I was okay with that, and I still am. This feels so weird, to have someone who wants to hang out with me not out of obligation.

I felt a nudge on my arm, pulling me out of my thoughts. Ryder was smiling at me, I smiled back.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, not breaking my eye contact with him.

He smiled "No reason, I was just observing"

"Observing what exactly?"

"Did you know that your face softens when you start overthinking? It is as if you are at peace when you are lost in your thoughts. Also I was thinking about how you just..just led me up here without thinking. You are so spontaneous and I really admire that. That was what I was observing."

"Okay" I said, turning away from him. I didn't know how to react, no one really says stuff like that to me.

There was silence again, he was waiting for a proper response.

I sighed, turning to look at him again.

"Sorry..I just don't deal well with sentimental stuff. That was really sweet of you to say, so thank you. I really appreciate it" I smiled, trying to break the weird tension in the air.

"It's all good, I get it. You don't have to try and explain yourself. Just know, I am totally the type to get all weird and appreciative so you better get used to it Leia" He said with a genuine smile.

We looked at eachother and starting laughing. Damn it, I hate that I like being around him.

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We stayed up on that hill for hours. We talked about nothing and everything. I talked about my childhood and my parents, he talked about his life spent on the base.

His voice interrupted my thoughts.

"I really want to travel around the galaxy. Hopping on random transports with new people. I want to see it all for myself. The closest I have got is when I went to Naboo for a vacation with my mom after...my dad left." He looked down, I could tell talking about this hurt him. I looked at him and put my arm around him, trying to comfort him. I wasn't good at this.

He took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry..um...tell me about when you started flying?" He said, smiling and changing the subject.

"I first started when I was 14, after I realized that I wasn't force sensitive in any way. It was too late to start training anyways so I had lost my chance. I needed to find something to do with my time. Poe taught me, He even gave me an old X wing star fighter from the rebellion era. But anyways, I realized I was good at it so I stuck to it. I haven't stopped since and I don't plan on it." I smiled "Poe really changed my life, whether he knows it or not. He helped me find my passion, he trained me even though I was hesitant. He took care of me when my parents were away on business. He even helped me with my homework when I was struggling in school."

If Poe saw me gushing about him like this, he would make fun of me and call me soft. In the end though I know he would appreciate it.

I looked at Ryder, he was smiling like an idiot. I could tell he was enjoying this, seeing me get all emotional about my family.

I was suddenly aware that I was still holding   him. His smile got softer and he looked into my eyes. I could see him starting to lean into me, slowly but he was definitely leaning. My breath hitched, was he going to kiss me?

Before I could even start overthinking, he closed the gap between us. His lips were on mine, holy fuck...Ryder Torrsade was kissing me. My thoughts was racing but all I knew was that I liked this feeling. After what felt like forever, I kissed him back. Our lips fit together like a puzzle piece.

I let my arm fall from his shoulders and my hands went to his hair. His soft and amazing hair, I couldn't help but run my fingers through it. His hands were on my waist, god this felt good.

Just when I was getting into it, he pulled away, smiling as he did. I rolled my eyes, what the hell was that?

"I'm sorry, I just..I want to do way more than kissing right now but I don't really know you that well yet. What I know so far I like and I know that I really really enjoy kissing you." He said, smiling at me.

Jesus, he really knew how to make a girl blush.

"Well..if it makes you feel any better, I really like kissing you too. Maybe you aren't as bad as I thought Ryder Torrsade." I left out the part about this being my first actual kiss, but he doesn't need to know about that.

He laughed "Okay well here I was thinking that you liked me, but I guess knowing you don't hate me is enough"

I couldn't help but laugh too. I went from being annoyed with him, to wanting to run my fingers through his hair and kiss him. What the fuck was wrong with me today.
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Hey guys!!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

What do you guys think of Ryder and Leiana? I am sooo ready to write about them, I have so many ideas for their story!!

Let me know what you guys want to see and if you have any feedback❤️❤️