Not so Far and Long Ago

Chapter 48

       I woke up early the next morning. We had to fly to Orlando for Star Wars Celebration. After the alarm clearly wasn't working, I shook Finn awake than went to get ready while Finn was waking up. I took a quick shower and put on enough makeup that I didn't look dead. I put my hair back than retreated to my usual airport apparel of head to toe black. By then Finn was moving, however had made no progress getting ready.
      "You know we have to be the airport in 45 minutes and it's a 30 minute drive. You have 15 minutes to get dressed and make yourself decent," I said firmly.
"But I'm always decent," Finn wined. I looked at Finn strictly, "Fine," he finally responded, taking his clothes to the bathroom to change. I made my bed and added a few items to my carry on, than waited for Finn to take me downstairs.
"You ready?" He asked smiling, now looking awake.
"Yeah," I replied, "Let's go to Orlando." Finn and I smiled as we went down the stairs, "After my foot gets better hopefully the next time you carry me like this is our wedding."
"I don't know, I kinda like this. I like how it feels when you're so close to my heart. I think it makes the both of us feel safer."
      "I was about to come up there and see if you guys were alive!" My dad said energetically. He had clearly had several cups of coffee, "You guys ready to go now?"
      "Yeah, if you're good with that," I said to Finn, him nodding along as we went to the car.

After the several hour flight, we finally arrived in Orlando. As soon as we exited the plane, the hoods went up. We couldn't be recognized by even one person, unless we wanted to sign autographs for everyone here. The airport was packed with Star Wars. I struggled to find someone who didn't have a Star Wars shirt. I saw one person who had a suitcase with my dad's face on it.
      We had an exclusive floor again, however this time, the elevator wasn't programmed to only allow us to exit. Soon after we got there, we had a quick meeting to attend.
       "Alright," J.J. said, "There's a few rules everyone needs to follow. First off,  if you're going to leave the hotel, dress like a fan. I have a rack of costumes in my room, so when you go to get coffee, that frappe is for Darth Vader. Don't worry, that's normal for the next few days. 7:00 is your curfew. We have to leave tomorrow at 8:00, and we have a panel at 10:00. If you have have any questions or concerns, my room number is 578. Any questions?"
"Can I be Darth Vader?" Ben asked, full of excitement in his voice.
"If you want, any real questions?" Everyone shook their heads, "alrighty than. See you all at 6:00!"
"I haven't seen you guys in forever!" Poe said happily, "What's changed?"
        "Not much. I know a few things have with you though." Finn said, patting Poe on the back, "So, you ready?"
"To get married?" Poe responded, "Yeah. We're going to the courthouse next weekend, than we'll be Mr. and Mrs. Poe Dameron." I looked at Finn, hoping he could read the message from my eyes. Jess hadn't yet told Poe. I wouldn't be shocked if she was waiting until after they were married. The other possibility was that Poe was told to keep it quiet, and didn't know that we knew.
       "So how did you ask her?" Finn questioned.
"She had just had a fight with her father, and came to me crying. I wasn't planning on doing it, but I realized we were meant to be. I didn't have a ring or anything, so I took a flower from the rose bush beside me and asked her. The next morning I went and bought the ring. We both agreed to keep it quiet, not wanting a wedding. Now enough about me, there's gotta be something interesting with at least one of you. I wouldn't mind hearing the story behind your foot."
"Are you ok with that Rey?" Finn asked, he seemed hesitant for me to tell what happened.
"I'm telling some of my stories to thousands of nerds tomorrow. I think I can handle telling Poe what happened to my foot." I said, explaining the story to Poe. Afterwards, he was somewhat surprised. Poe had heard the least about my past out of our friend group, so I wasn't shocked by his reaction.

"Rey?" Finn asked me over dinner, causing me to look up jumpy, "are you alright?"
"Yeah. I'm just tired. It's been a long day, why would you think there's any thing wrong?" I responded, quickly, and somewhat nervous.
"You have been playing with your fork for the past 30 minutes. The only exception is when you started squeezing your lemon in your water."
"I'm just having an off day."
"You've been like this for a while now when you're out in public. Quiet, always fidgeting, jumpy. Rey, if there's something wrong, just tell me," Finn said.
"We're in one of the most visited cities in America. And Plutt knows I'm here. It's been close to three weeks and he still hasn't been found. I'm scared he's gonna strike." Finn stood up from is seat and moved over to the booth I was in, wrapping his arms tightly around me. We didn't talk for about ten minutes, until the waitress returned with our bill.
"Would you like to sleep in my room tonight?" Finn offered as we left. I nodded as we went behind the hotel to take the service elevator. I stopped by my room to change and brush my teeth, than walked over to Finn's room down the hall. I knocked on the door, Finn opening the door immediately after.
"I'm going to go ahead and sleep. Unlike you, I was alive on the plane," I said, laying down on the second bed.
"We can sleep in the same bed. It's not like anythings going to happen."
"I'll move into your bed at about 3 am when I can't sleep."
"I'll leave you a spot," Finn said laying on the other bed. Soon after we both fell asleep.
You really thought you could attend this event and talk about me, without any objection. Well Little Rey, you are wrong. I've purchased my meet and greet ticket, and got a stormtrooper outfit, so you'll never recognize me. But don't worry, I'll know when I see you.
I woke up at midnight the same way I always did. Sweat dripping down my face, combined with tears and a feeling of sickness. I quietly crept out of the bed, into Finn's arms, than stared into the darkness outside the window, knowing, with full fear, Plutt was out there and ready to strike. It took me several hours to fall back asleep, and when I was finally fully asleep, the alarm went off.
"Tired?" Finn asked.
"Plutt is here. And he wants to get me," I responded, "can you try to protect me?"
"Of course. I always will," Finn said as I cried into his shoulder.