On the Fence

Chapter 4

Tw: drinking and secondhand embarrassment.

-

Everyone sits around the outdoor table on the patio as you eat the hot dogs/veggie dogs Han grilled up.

(A/N I'm here for u veg girlies)

You're beside Ben, meanwhile across from the two of you sit Poe and Finn. Han and Leia are at opposite ends of the weathered glass table that has seen many gatherings.

"How have you boys been?" Leia asks.

"We've been good," Finn says, "Poe's having a great racing season."

"That's great, hope you're wearing your seatbelt." She says.

"Sure am."

"When are you back to work?" Han asks you.

"I have a week left til I go back. God knows when they'll pop another baby out."

Han chuckles.

"Have you thought of going to school?" Ben asks.

"I did go to school." You say, tone tense.

"Yeah, for 12 weeks." Finn teases.

"Anyways," Leia says, opting to change the subject, "who won?"

"We did," Finn says, "no one won Marco Polo."

"Nice to see you kids laughing again."

-

The evening is warm and the air is filled with the ambience of cicadas chirping and idle conversation.

The only people who aren't talking are you and Ben.

He glances over at you. You have your one knee pulled up while your other dangles. The bruise on your neck has nearly faded, your face still has a ways to go though.

You look over at him and meet his eyes, "take a picture, it'll last longer." You say with a straight face.

He plays your bluff and pulls out his phone. As he takes the picture, you reach for it with your hand.

He pulls it further away, and snaps another one.

You look over and see everyone has gone inside aside from the two of you.

You put one knee up on the table so that you can reach it, but he still manages to keep it away.

"What?" He says, putting his hand back down. "You told me to take one."

You sit on the now cleared table, "it's a figure of speech. Did you skip English class?"

"No, but I think you did." He says.

"Excuse me?"

"You said omg earlier."

"No I didn't." You say quickly. Have you been texting too much?

"You definitely did."

"Give me your phone."

"Where are your manners?"

There is no way you're going to say please.

There was a look you perfected when you were a child. One you used whenever you wanted to get your way. You look at Ben with wide eyes and pout, not too much.

"Come on," he says, "you know that doesn't work on me."

You get off the table, and bend down close to look in his eyes. He looks confused, and you bite the inside of your cheek before flicking him right in the middle of his forehead. He blinks and recoils, which is when you snatch his phone out of his hand.