Kylo's lips on yours seemed almost like a fever dream, so soft, yet the intention behind the kiss was course, almost as if he were trying to claim you through his lips alone. He felt so familiar, so right in that moment...his lips on you, his body pressed against yours, felt like home.
It took you nearly a full minute to come back to yourself, parting the fog that had clouded your mind as Kylo's tongue brushed across yours, before you gripped Kylo's shoulders and pushed him roughly away from you.
"Are you fucking delusional?!" you yelled, barely able to make out his facial features in the middle of the blackened alley. You scoffed, immediately turning your back on him. An almost explosive rage coursed through your veins as you dodged people on the sidewalk, walking in the direction of your apartment. It wasn't long until Kylo caught up to you, grabbing your arm and turning you to face him.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Kylo asked, his irises blown black in anger.
"To my fucking apartment, the fuck does it look like I'm doing?!" you yelled, throwing your hands in the direction you were walking before you were so rudely interrupted. Kylo ran a hand through his hair roughly, looking back towards the club, biting his lower lip, almost as if he were contemplating exactly what to do in that moment.
"Let me walk you home..." he mumbled. Your eyebrow quirked up in disbelief. The laugh bubbled up in your throat before you were able to stop it.
"You really are fucking delusional. First, you tell me to go fuck myself, scream at me to go home, then shove your tongue down my throat, but now you want to make sure I make it home okay? No, absolutely not. Go back to getting a lap dance from your new little toy, by all means...Don't let me interrupt..." you scoffed, turning away once again.
Kylo didn't attempt to come after you this time, which you silently counted your blessings for as you practically power-walked through an oncoming crowd, just to put more space between the two of you. The chilled wind seemed to wrap around you, sinking deep into your bones and causing goosebumps to erupt on your skin. You wanted nothing more than to strip your body of this ridiculous costume, slip into an almost scalding bath, and then sleep well into the afternoon.
To your surprise, your side of town was nearly deserted by the time your apartment building was in sight. Your head nearly pounded in time with the sound of your heeled boots striking the pavement, the deep ache of a rather wicked hangover making itself known before you had even rid your body of the alcohol still swirling in your system. Finally, you pulled the door open to your building and the heat seemed to envelope you almost like a hug, or a blanket fresh out of the dryer.
The elevator ride up to your floor was rather uneventful, besides the brightness of the new lights that had been installed making your head pound incessantly harder. Right as you were about to unlock your apartment door with the key you had hid in your bra with your ID and credit card, you heard your name from a familiar voice a few doors down.
"Hey, Poe. Happy Halloween." you said, finally shoving your door open. Poe stood before you, looking as if he were about to head out for the night, a coat tucked tightly around him, a few strands of silver hair near his temple gleaming under the flourescent lights in the hall.
"Happy Halloween. I wanted to ask, do you have a minute? Mom told me what happened and I figured we could talk." he said, taking his hand out of his pocket and resting it on the door. His thick eyebrows were pulled together in the middle, the wrinkle that puckered between them seemed to age him almost instantly.
You felt as if you had been punched square in the stomach, the air almost completely dissipating in your lungs. Of course, Shara had heard already and told Poe. You had been so caught up with the drama of Attorney General Organa and her relationship to Kylo, along with your forced resignation, that you hadn't even begun to think about how it had affected your nursing staff, let alone Shara. Your heart nearly shattered at her reaction, along with the possibility of her being disappointed in you.
"Uhm, sure...Come on in," you said, stepping out of his way and into the small kitchen, "can I get you anything to drink?" you asked, peeking out behind the fridge as he closed the door and hovered in the entryway.
"No, I'm fine." Poe said curtly, slowly making his way into the kitchen, leaning his elbows on the kitchen island counter top, watching you pour yourself a glass of water.
The silence between the two of you was nearly palpable; an almost tangible, living, breathing entity. You kept your back to him for a moment, attempting to collect your thoughts as you gulped down your water, wishing more now in this moment that it were vodka or whiskey. Slowly, you set the glass in the sink, bracing your hands on the countertop, taking in a deep breath.
"Is she disappointed?" you mumbled, staring at the glass in the sink in front of you. Your eyes burned, tears threatening to pool and stream down your cheeks, but you were quick to blink them away before facing Poe.
"No. She was surprised, but she knows you, knows where your heart lies, and swears up and down that something 'fishy' happened. Mom could never be disappointed in you, even if you did break the lid to her cookie jar when we were kids." Poe said, a smirk pulling at one of the corners of his lips.
You huffed a laugh, crossing your arms over your chest.
"Technically, that was Vic's fault, but he knew I would take the blame for it. Little asshole..." you whispered, smiling at the memory. Shara had simply rested her hands on her hips, quirking an eyebrow at you until you admitted to taking the fall for your brother and her son, then holding and rocking you while you sobbed and continually apologized.
A more comfortable silence grew between the two of you. You could feel Poe's eyes trailing over you as you stirred over the memories of growing up with him so many years ago.
"How have you been doing, though?" Poe said, tearing his eyes away for a moment, fiddling with a loose thread on his coat when you finally peeked in his direction.
You sighed, tightening your arms around your chest, almost as if that would hold you together long enough through this conversation, until you could cry yourself to sleep once you closed and locked the door behind him.
"I mean, that's a bit of a loaded question...I was forced to resign from the only job I've ever known, I have no idea what I'm going to do next, Vic has been watching me like I'm about to dive head first off the deep end, similar to how you're looking at me right now..." you sighed again, biting your lip as you stared off into the distance, looking but not really seeing.
Poe simply nodded, looking down at the countertop beneath him as you ruminated, before you continued.
"I'm leaving the country," you huffed out, finally focusing your eyes and looking back to Poe, "Doctors Without Borders...Gonna be helping out the underserved..."
His eyes widened and he stood up to his full height.
"When?"
"Less than a week. I'll be gone for at least a year. Longer, but only if I want to renegotiate the terms of my contract." you said, attempting to gauge his reaction.
Poe just nodded, looking down at the counter, seemingly finding something on there a hell of a lot more interesting than you.
Obviously, not the kind of reaction we were going for...
Your feet seemed to scream in pain as you shifted on them.
"Alright, I've had enough of these fucking torture devices..." you said, disappearing through the doorway of your bedroom, just long enough to peel the Go-Go boots from your feet, sighing in relief once they were finally off and your feet were once again flush with the floor.
Just as you were walking through the threshold of your bedroom, back into the living room, you looked up to see Poe, aiming a gun at your head.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Poe!" you screamed, shoving your hands up in the air, your heart beating loudly in your ears. Poe kept a trained eye on you, watching as you stilled under his gaze. He sighed.
"I didn't want to have to do this..." he said your name, a sadness bleeding into his tone.
"Do what?! Hold me at fucking gun point in my own fucking apartment?!" you shrieked, your hands now trembling as you held them in the air.
"I had warned you that if you didn't stay away from Ren...that you could get hurt..." he said, clicking the safety mechanism off.
You attempted to draw in a calming breath.
"Poe, listen to me, okay? Put the gun down and we'll talk this out. I'm not with Kylo anymore. Whatever is going on, we can talk this out like adults and nobody has to know about this." you said, staring down the barrel of his gun, less than five feet away from you.
A tear trailed down Poe's cheek as his breath stuttered in his throat.
"That's the thing, we can't! I either bring you to them, or they'll hunt you down and kill you themselves, just to get back at him! No one fucking wins here!" Poe yelled, the gun trembling in his grip.
You tried to process what Poe was admitting to you, but you couldn't, not with his gun pointed at your head. Tears began to pool in your eyes as you thought about this possibly being your last moments, of Poe being the last face you'd ever see.
"Please...If you hurt me, what do you think it would do to Vic? You two used to be best friends. We all used to. He would be devastated...Or your moth-" you were interrupted by Poe rushing you back into your room, the gun practically within touching distance.
"Don't you DARE talk to me about MY MOTHER?!" Poe screamed, his grip on the gun now so tight, his once tanned knuckles, now pale in comparison.
The tears now streamed freely down your face, a hiccup escaping your lips as you tried to think of anything to say to talk him off of this ledge.
"Poe...please...you don't have to do this..." you whispered, your knees trembling and almost giving out from underneath of you.
Something seemed to have clicked in his brain then as he took a step towards you, his gun slowly lowering. You waited just a moment, taking a deep breath through your nostrils, before you barreled into him, attempting to disarm him.
Poe hit the floor hard, stunned from the sheer force you put into tackling him, but recovered quickly before you could force the gun from his hand. It was a struggle then, a fight to overpower the other, both having equal opportunities at gaining the upper hand over the other.
"Why didn't you fucking listen to me?! This could have been avoided!" Poe yelled at you through clenched teeth as he tried to pin you beneath him. You evaded his grasp, landing a few punches to his face, feeling the cartilage of his nose crunch beneath your knuckles.
You finally were able to throw the gun from his hand, far from where you were straddling his torso on the floor, Poe holding his nose in his hands, bright red blood pouring out between his fingers. Quickly, you stood and tried to get as far away from him as possible, scrambling for the front door.
Your hands were saturated in Poe's blood, making it damn near impossible to unlock and open the door once you reached it. Heart pounding in your chest and your anxiety levels rising, you tried to wipe the blood from your hands, trying anything to get as far away from your attacker as possible.
You hadn't even heard his footsteps behind you when his fingers knotted themselves in your hair, wrenching your head back to an uncomfortable angle, your body pressed up against the door by him.
"Nighty night, Princess." Poe grumbled in your ear, before taking all the force he could muster and slamming your head into the door. Your temple hit the peephole just right, knocking you unconscious almost instantly.
---
Hi, my loves!
Just a quick announcement!
As most of you know, I finally finished up RN school and I was able to pick a date to take my NCLEX! With that being said, I will be taking a break from this fanfic to study for it! It should only be about two weeks, but in that time, I know I will be taking breaks and writing chapters, hopefully to have them ready to post, once results are posted!
Thank you all for your love and support on this story! You honestly have no idea how much it means to me!
You guys are the best!
Lots of love,
Hannah ❤️