FLYBOY_ POE DAMERON IMAGINES

- imagine #28 //

"You really don't have to sit here, Poe," I said, casting the pilot a look from over my shoulder. "You have got to be exhausted."

He was sitting on an overturned crate, chin propped in one hand as he watched me work. A crooked grin tugged at one side of his mouth. "What? And leave my baby all alone with you?"

I rolled my eyes at his teasing, but as I turned back to his ship, a small smile was on my own lips. "Honestly, your "baby" might be better off in my hands than yours. Considering all the pain you've caused it." I shined my light into the fuselage, double checking my work.

"Low blow!" he countered from behind me. "If you recall, I was getting shot at."

"Come on, you know I'm teasing." I chuckled, stepping back away from the ship and wiping my greasy hands on the back of my pants. I turned back around to face him and moved closer until I was standing in front of him. Poe automatically wrapped his arms around my waist to prevent me from moving away. "You came back in one piece. That's what I care about," I added, running one hand though his hair as he nuzzled his face into my stomach.

"You're stuck with me forever. Remember?" he said, his voice muffled in the front of my shirt.

I laughed, trying to ignore the skip of my heart at his words. Poe and I were friends. Just friends. We had been for years, though we were both very much aware of the bets going around the base about when we would finally get together. I always rolled my eyes and scoffed, but I knew from an outsider's perspective, we probably didn't seem like just friends.

It was in the way he slung his arm around my shoulders as we walked to the mess hall for meals, or the way my hand always seemed to find his whenever we sat next to one another at briefings or gatherings. It was in the way that I was always the first person he searched for after returning from a mission, his eyes filling with relief when he found me before pulling me into a strong, warm hug. Then there were the nights spent together, curled up side by side, neither of us wanting to sleep alone. We'd talk for hours before falling asleep, his head resting on my stomach, or my body pressed against his chest. It had never gone any farther than the lingering touch or kiss to the forehead.

Though sometimes when he looked at me, I'd wondered if he'd ever thought about it. It had crossed my mind more than once...the idea of him and I as something more. It was never something I acted on, though. There was too much risk involved, too much uncertainty. The idea of not having Poe in my life, even as just a friend, hurt me almost as much as the thought him not returning from a fight.

"I know," I murmured, letting my hand drag through his hair a second time, the thick locks sliding in-between my fingers. I tried to step away but he tightened his hold on me.

"No, not yet," he grunted, peering up at me with a mischievous smile. Easily making me melt. He knew he had that effect on me, there was no way he couldn't see it.

I laughed. "I'm almost done...just a couple more minutes. Then we need to get you to bed."

He let out an exaggerated sigh of defeat but released his hold on me. Still smiling, I turned back to the ship to finish up. I hummed under my breath, my body still zinging a little from the electricity of his touch. It wasn't just my body he affected either, but my entire mood. I could feel his dark eyes on me, following me around as I replaced some of the singed wires before closing the hatch on the fuselage.

"Think she's all good," I said, surveying the ship with my hands on my hips. When Poe didn't answer right away, I turned around. He was still watching me, looking almost...conflicted. "What are you looking at me like that?"

He hesitated a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

I snorted with laughter. "Oh come on, that's not fair! What's on your mind, Dameron?"