CONSTELLATIONS | Poe Dameron

CHAPTER XIX

It was dark by the time Ezra and I had finished talking. I filled him in on all of my bacta supplement research, and after seeing how much time I had poured into this project, he apologized for confronting me so harshly about it. I had agreed to have him present when doing my tests now so that he could keep notes of his own about the progress. I had to admit, sharing the load of this would definitely be easier.

However the weight that was removed by sharing with Ezra had been replaced by a heavy guilt in my chest. It was later in the evening, and I had an apology of my own that I needed to make.

After changing into some dark leggings and a loose, tan henley, I made my way to Poe's quarters, uncharacteristically nervous about confronting the pilot. The halls were quiet- my sock covered feet not adding any noise. I stopped in front of his door and took a deep breath to calm my nerves before softly knocking. A few seconds later, the door slid open to reveal Poe who wasn't looking very happy to see me.

"Hi." I said lamely. He continued to stare at me, one brow raised in question and his jaw set in a hard line. I sighed and ran a hand through my long, wavy hair. "Can I please come in?"

He stepped to the side as I made my way into his room. It was very similar to mine, but had a musky scent in the air. It was meticulously clean, which surprised me. BB-8's charging station was in the back corner, but the droid wasn't in the room. He must have caught my eyes in that direction.

"BB-8's in the hangar." It was such a casual statement, but Poe's voice was tense and guarded. Looking at the man, I could tell he was still angry about our earlier meeting.

"I owe you a huge apology, Poe. I'm sorry for kicking you out earlier, and I hope it didn't make you think I was ungrateful for your protectiveness. I also want to say thank you. I know you walked in on a... questionable situation, and I know what it must have looked like to you." Poe put his hands on his hips and looked at the wall, digesting what I had just told him.

"So I don't get any kind of explanation then?"

"I won't lie to you- I'm not going to tell you what Ezra and I were discussing. No yet, anyway. It's for the Resistance's protection. And yours."

He glanced at me with an annoyed look that I fully deserved. "I'm not going to beg you to tell me what was going on, but I appreciate the apology. I guess I need to apologize as well for storming out of there like that."

"You don't have to apologize for anything," I told him. "I pushed you to react that way and I understand. I will say though," I started as I walked closer to him. "Seeing you try to protect me like that was pretty hot."

My comment worked to lighten the mood as Poe let out a light laugh, shaking his head. "Is that right, doc?" I closed the distance between us and placed my hands on his chest, looking up to his face.

"It is. I also don't mind this new facial hair," I told him as I brought one hand up to run along his sharp, stubbled jawline. He smiled and leaned into my hand.

"I only have this because I haven't had time to shave, but I guess I'll keep it since it's making you look at me like this."

Now it was my turn to laugh as he brought his hands to rest low on my back and pulled me into him. However, my laugh quickly faded as I caught the lustfulness in his eyes. The look he was giving me caused a heat to flood throughout my body, and I was acutely aware of the thick tension that had filled the room. I knew Poe could sense it too.

He brought one of his hands up and pushed my hair over my shoulder. He held his hand behind my ear with my hair caught beneath it. I kept my gaze on the light flecks that were shining in his dark eyes, my chest rising and falling with my now quickened breath.