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"Kriff, she’s so beautiful” was all Poe could think when he saw you. His friends didn’t see it, and thought he was crazy for crushing on someone three years older than him - a fact they reminded him of daily. In what galaxy would a 17 year old ever be interested in a 14 year old, Dameron? Come on, there’s plenty of girls your age here. But he didn’t care.
You were beautiful when you were sitting under the trees in your yard, worrying your bottom lip with your teeth as you studied for the Flight Academy’s entrance exam, the warm jungle breeze of Yavin IV blowing strands of hair across your face.
You were beautiful when you were covered in grease, sweaty and grimey after a long day of helping your father repair speeders in his shop, but somehow still smiling and laughing.
You were beautiful when you thought no one could see you, when you danced in the moonlight to the sound of music drifting up to your backyard from the cantina in town.
Sometimes, you were on his mind so much he could hardly stand it. He was sure that he’d just snap one day… just walk up and tell you how he felt, consequences be damned.
Apparently, today was the day he hit his breaking point. Watching you reclining casually on the shore of the lake in your swimming clothes, resting your weight on your elbows, he couldn’t stop staring at you. Thankfully you were keeping an eye on the younger kids splashing around in the shallows. He averted his gaze quickly - he’d probably die on the spot if you looked up and caught him staring.
Maker, he had to do something about this. He had to act on this crush of his that was spiraling out of control. He couldn’t take this anymore!
An idea hits him, and suddenly he’s up and moving towards the rope swing at the deep end of the lake. Was this a bad idea? Of course. But would it work? Probably. And probably is all he needs.
He walks towards his friends who were standing by the swing, ignoring their urgent whisper-yells as he passes them. “Dameron, what are you doing?” “Poe, you can’t swim well! Get your ass back here!” “Dameron, come on, you’re gonna make a fool of yourself in front of Y/N!”
Oh, he was going to make a fool of himself all right, but he was going to go out in a blaze of glory. Grabbing the empty rope, he swallows the knot in his throat and backs up slowly. With a scream that sounds like excitement, but is at least 50% fear, Poe swings out over the lake and lets go.
The instant he hits the water, he remembers how much he sucks at swimming. His arms are flailing, his legs thrashing, desperately trying to keep his head above the surface of the water. He’s forgotten why he thought this was a good idea.
Then, slim but strong arms are hooking under his shoulders. They’ve flipped him on his back, and are pulling him towards shore. Thank the Maker. He catches a glimpse of your face through squinted eyes, water droplets glistening on your face like stars in the sky. And he remembers.
Slowly, quietly, Poe sucks in a deep breath and closes his eyes completely as you pull him up on the shore. He makes sure his body is limp, just dead weight. He feels you lean over, hover your cheek close to his mouth. His lungs are screaming for air, but there’s no way he’s backing out now.
You shout for someone to get help. Poe wills himself to hold on a bit longer, hoping he’s right about what comes next.
Trying to keep your panic under control, you bend back down over the boy in front of you. Of course Poe Dameron jumped off the rope swing. He was cute, sure, but he was reckless sometimes. Most of the time, actually. Unfortunately, you liked that about him. It was one of the reasons you had a huge crush on him.
You hover your face an inch from his, pinching his nose and taking a deep breath before you get ready to seal your mouth over his. Just as you’re about to close the gap, you see his eyes fly open. Before you can pull back, the cheeky little shit is pressing his lips to yours, kissing you sloppily, tongue and all.
You hear a chorus of hoots and hollers from Poe’s friends at the other end of the lake as you pull back, shrieking at him as he hops to his feet and runs away. “POE DAMERON YOU ABSOLUTE NERF HERDER! GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF HERE BEFORE I KICK IT!”
Keeping up your seething exterior, you round up the younger kids and send them home to their parents. One withering look at the group of older boys has them scuttling off as well.
Running your fingers through your damp hair, you make your way to where you know Poe will be hiding. Two can play at this game.
Hiding in the Koyo grove behind his house, Poe is shaking. Partly from excitement: he just kissed the girl of his dreams! And partly in fear: who knew the girl of his dreams was terrifying when mad?
He hears a rustling behind him and stands, thinking it’s his dad coming to reprimand him for his little stunt. But his excuse for what he did dies on his lips when he sees it’s you.
“Y/N!” he exclaims, and turns to run. But you’re faster than him, and grab him by the wrist.
“Wanna tell me what that was all about, Poe?” you ask, gently but firmly.
Poe blushes, from his neck all the way up to his hairline. “I.. um… I…” he stutters out, not sure what to say. Why did actions have to have consequences?
You fix your gaze on him, determined to get your answer. “Poe, just tell me”.
He takes a deep breath, his heart hammering faster than it did before he kissed you. “I… IreallylikeyouY/NandIknowthere’snowayyou’dlikemesoIjustwentforitandkissedyouI’msosorryit’llneverhappenagain.”
You blink rapidly and raise your eyebrows. You’d gotten about 3 words out of the sentence he just said. “Um, slower this time, Poe?”
He sighs, and looks away from you, obviously uncomfortable. When he speaks again it’s still a mile a minute, but at least understandable. “I really like you Y/N, and I know there’s no way you’d like me so I just went for it and kissed you. I’m so sorry, it’ll never happen again.”
You can’t contain your giggle, and immediately regret it seeing the hurt flash across his face. Letting go of his wrist, you grab his chin and gently force him to look at you. “I have two things to say to you right now, Dameron. One, never ever scare me like that again. I thought you might die.”
He nods his head vigorously, swearing to himself to never worry you again, and opens his mouth to say as much when you silence him with a finger over his lips.
“Two, I’m kinda bummed to hear you’ll never kiss me again. I like you.” You press a kiss to his cheek before skipping off back towards town, leaving Poe standing dumbfounded behind you.
Slowly, a grin overtakes his face, and he sprints off after you. If this was what came of being reckless, he was going to have to do it more often.