Close to Me {Poe Dameron}

five

"Yeah, sounds good." He motioned for her to lead the way.

Once they had settled, Poe looked at her thoughtfully. "You okay?" He finally asked. There was something off.

She turned to look at him from where she was watching those in the plaza. "Hmm?" She said as if he had pulled her out of her thoughts. Before he could reiterate his question it seemed to click for her. "Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She took a sip of her caf, hoping he would drop it. She had shared plenty with him yesterday, she didn't exactly want to bare her soul once again. She would have a few words with Leia when they got back to base.

Poe wasn't buying it. She seemed far too distant and it felt like she was trying to ice him out. He wasn't going to let that happen. He reached across the table and placed his hand on top of hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Talk to me."

They soon entered into a staring match, neither of them willing to budge. As the silence stretched on, Poe kept giving her various pleading and imploring looks to try and get her to crack. She just kept her steady glare but never pulled her hand away from his. He soon rolled his eyes, making Kat think she had won when he leaned forward on the table and gave her his best puppy eyes.

That made her finally crack. She let out a heavy sigh, looking down at her cup as she pulled back. "I guess I just never realized how much I repressed. This plaza turns into quite the spectacle for Life Day if my memory is correct."

"I can only imagine." He replied with a small smile. "You know if things get to be too much, all you have to do is say the word and we can go."

Her reaction was not what he had been expecting. Frustration covered her features. She was making one last effort to push him away, to keep him outside of her walls because she was so scared of what he could do to her heart if she let him in. "Why are you being so nice to me? We haven't gotten along since the day we met and now you act as though we've been friends for years. I nearly ruined everything the first day we were here and you haven't said a word about it."

"Is that what you want, Kat? To have our interactions to only be arguments?" He enjoyed a good banter and the two of them even had moments here and there, more so lately than in the beginning. He even enjoyed teasing her and ruffling her feathers a bit but the constant arguing was beginning to weigh on him a bit.

"It's safer that way." She stood, fully planning on walking away to gather herself so they could pretend to be Pip and Kit, a happily married couple so in love with each other. Of course, things didn't go as planned.

Poe reached out and grabbed her wrist. She spun back around, glaring at him but she didn't move to take her hand away and he didn't let her go. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I have suffered too many losses and been hurt by too many people. You cause such a stir in me already, I'm scared of what might happen if I let you in completely."

His hand went slack as he stared at her in awe. That had been the most honest she had ever been with him and he became utterly floored. He needed to talk to his father or maybe even Leia. Someone to help him wrap his mind around everything and how to maybe win Kat over.

She took that as her moment to make her getaway. She had surprised herself with how honest her answer had been and in true Kat fashion, she wanted to run far, far away from it. So she walked away with no real destination in mind.

Poe hurried after her once he realized she had left. He slid his hand into hers once he was close enough. She turned with a furious gaze to the person who interrupted her solitude. When she realized it was him, she let out a small sigh, relaxing a bit as she returned her gaze forward. He decided then, he would take whatever he could get.