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“You want me to what?” Jyn coughed and almost dropped her milkshake. Which would’ve been a real shame because it was hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement.
“Please? Just this once? For a few hours,” Bodhi wheedled. “I’ll owe you, big time.”
“You’re Goddamn right you will.” Jyn adjusted the straw around a bubble and took another long pull of orange creamsicle. “What kind of crazy lie did you even tell?”
“Luke wasn’t going to come to the town fair but I told him he had to help me distract you because you and Cassian broke up.”
“You realize how insane that is, right?”
“He made eye contact! I was nervous, it was the first thing that came into my head.”
Jyn unlocked their apartment and kicked open the door, swollen shut in the humidity. “You mean me and Cassian breaking up was the first thing that came to your head?”
“No! I mean– you were fighting last week… I don’t know.”
“Well we’re fine now,” Jyn grumbled, collapsing on the sofa in front of the fan.
“So can you just pretend to be… not fine for like, three hours on Saturday?”
Jyn narrowed her eyes. “Sixty dollars.”
“Thirty.”
“Fifty, final offer. Enough for dinner at a nice restaurant.”
“Deal.”
Jyn spit on her palm and held it out.
Bodhi made a face. “Ew.”
“Baby.” She rolled her eyes. “I take cash or venmo.”
“You are aware this is ridiculous?” Cassian said as they paid the entrance fee and walked onto the fairgrounds thirty minutes before Luke and Bodhi were supposed to arrive.
“Fifty dollars, Cassian,” said Jyn. “Think about the steak you could order from the Coruscant Bar & Grill.”
He pouted. “This is the only day we’re both free and I wanted to come to the fair with you.”
"And you can.” She patted his arm. “As soon as Luke and Bodhi leave.”
“That won’t take too long, will it?”
“Hopefully I’ll convince them to leave in an hour or two. Just keep yourself busy until then.”
“Fine. But then we’re going up the ferris wheel.”
“Of course.” He still looked disgruntled, so Jyn leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. “Love you.”
He sighed. “Love you, too.”
She grinned turned around, jogging through the dusty thoroughfare to the main gate.
For the first time in her life, Jyn wished Luke Skywalker weren’t so Goddamn compassionate. She’d been hoping flirting with Bodhi would keep him distracted for the most part, but the first thing he said when he saw her was, “Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?”
Jyn did her best to look gloomy. “Yeah. Uh, not really.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
To his credit, Bodhi tried to save her. “Uh, I don’t think she–”
“It’s fine.” She had this part planned out. “Uh, we just got into this really big fight and decided to call it off.”
“That’s all?” Damn him, Luke looked even more concerned. “You two seemed really happy together.”
Not for the first time this week, Jyn counted backwards from ten to keep from shaking Bodhi for getting her into this mess. She shrugged. “Yeah, well…”
“You’re sure you don’t want to give him another chance?”
Jyn shrugged again.
Bodhi interrupted. “Let’s just check out the baking contests, shall we? Or photography. You like photography, right, Jyn?”
Jyn didn’t really care, but she shrugged and trailed after Luke and Bodhi, hoping her boredom came off as sadness. But luckily, for the next hour or so the boys left her alone and she didn’t have to work too hard.
So she relaxed, started agreeing to things without listening, and before she realized it they were at the animal pens and Luke clutched her arm. “Jyn.”
“What?” she said through a mouthful of popcorn. Then she looked up. Oh, shit. She should’ve known. The little petting zoo was always Cassian’s favorite part of the fair– and there he was, feeding the goats and making conversation with the farmer.
“We can still turn around,” Luke said. “He hasn’t seen us yet.”
He’d barely finished his sentence when Cassian looked up. He waved at her and nearly smiled before he caught himself and his hand dropped awkwardly.
Without thinking, Jyn waved back and just like that they were trapped. Fuck.
After forty minutes, Jyn was pretty sure Bodhi owed her way more than fifty dollars. She didn’t think she’d ever been this uncomfortable in her life. Which was saying something, because the first time she met Cassian’s family his Abuela had given her sex advice.
Realistically, she supposed the best option would be for Cassian to just leave, but so far he hadn’t and her best guess was that he was waiting for her to make good on her promise to get rid of Luke and Bodhi so they could enjoy the fair as a couple.
And she was trying. Boy, was she trying. If she had a quarter for every time she said, “I’ll be fine, you guys can go ahead,” she’d have enough to win Cassian a giant stuffed robot two times over.
But Bodhi clearly hadn’t considered the extent of Luke’s humanity when he had this half-baked idea because the boy kept insisting they stay with her for moral support. And had she really just been dumped, Jyn was sure she would’ve appreciated it. But as it was, she was seriously considering leaving for the bathrooms and just not returning.
Cassian was getting impatient, too. And he wasn’t being good about hiding it. Not that he couldn’t be subtle if he wanted to, but Jyn could tell he was fed up with the whole thing from the way he made increasingly obvious attempts to hold her hand, and when they went on the fair’s one roller coaster, almost managed to get in the seat next to her before Luke squeezed past him.
He rolled his eyes and sat next to Bodhi without complaint, but after that he bought a funnel cake. Her favorite, with powdered sugar and strawberry jam.
Damn him. She glared. Give me some.
He shrugged. Come and get it.
Jyn checked to make sure Luke wasn’t watching, then reached over and tore off a piece, shoving it into her mouth before anyone turned around. She felt powdered sugar fly all over her face and Cassian began shaking with laughter.
She elbowed his ribs. Shut up.
He elbowed her back. You shut up.
This was too close to flirting. She tore off another piece and walked a few steps ahead, rubbing her mouth with the back of her band.
Except then she came back for another. And another. And soon she was timing it so every time Luke looked away, she was shoving another piece of funnel cake into her mouth then stepping away so they still looked like they were standing an awkward distance apart.
She was pulling it off, too, and was convinced she’d be be able to keep it up for a lot longer if Cassian would quit laughing. He’d already feigned two coughing fits since buying the funnel cake and Jyn could see him biting his own tongue to remain in control.
Finally, when Luke and Bodhi seemed thoroughly absorbed in the craft tent, she pulled Cassian behind the porta-potties and smacked his arm.
“You’re ruining this! Get a grip, think about what’s at stake here. Fifty dollars for dinner.”
It didn’t help. If anything, the relative privacy meant Cassian stopped holding back and cracked up completely, bent double with laughter and holding the chain link fence to stay upright.
“Shut up!” She looked nervously around and tried to look stern, but the laughter– and the utter ridiculousness of what they were doing– was catching up to her and she could feel her lips curving up.
“I’m sorry,” Cassian said, wiping tears from his eyes. “But this is getting stupid. Just make Bodhi come clean and let’s go ride the ferris wheel.”
Tempting, but she shook her head. “No, that’ll set him back with Luke.”
Cassian sobered a bit and rocked back on his heels. “Fine. But I’m only doing this for one more hour. I don’t care how good the steak at Coruscant is.”
“Okay.” Jyn made to rejoin Luke and Bodhi.
“Wait.” Cassian caught her arm. “You have something on your…” He pointed to the corner of his mouth.
Jyn rubbed her cheek.
“Other side.”
Crap. “Did I get it?”
“Not quite.”
She was about to pull out her phone and just look when she saw him leaning in, a his eyes teasing.
“Cassian,” she whined, but tilted her mouth to give him better access. Soon the remains of the funnel cake were on the ground and she was pressed against the fence, full-on making out with what was supposed to be her ex-boyfriend.
And she was having a grand ol’ time, as she should. They loved the fair! It was the one time a year they really indulged in romantic, sappy, cheesiness and why did she let Bodhi take that from her?
“Jyn? Cassian?”
Dammit. That’s why.
Cassian tore away from her with a gasp and turned around, where Luke was staring at them.
Jyn was about to put together some half-formed explanation when his face split into a wide grin.
“I’m so glad you made up!”
Jyn gaped and tried to force herself to laugh, even though her face still felt frozen. “Yep! We… we made up.”
“Well, good for you guys,” Luke said. He winked. “I’ll just leave you two alone for now.” Then he turned and ran after Bodhi.
Jyn wondered briefly if she should protest, but Cassian grabbed her hand and shook his head. “Ferris wheel.”
The view was spectacular as always, although per tradition Jyn and Cassian didn’t take full advantage, preferring to make out in the privacy of the gondola.
“Thank God that’s over,” she said when they finally came up for air. She sank down on the bench seat and put her head in his lap. “Let’s never break up again.”
Cassian raised an eyebrow and she froze as she realized what she’d just said.
But the amusement didn’t quite leave his eyes. “Jyn Erso,” he said lightly. “Are you proposing?”
Her heart pounded in her throat. “Are you accepting?”
“I would.”
Oh shit, he’s serious. Jyn met his eyes, staring down at her with the same sincere intensity that always made her heart stutter.
“But I don’t see a ring.”
“Well,” she caught his hand and intertwined their fingers, sliding her thumb over his ring finger. “We can always go look for one.”
He smiled and pulled her up so he could kiss her, then she tucked her head under his chin and they watched the fair go on below them and Bodhi and Luke make out behind the popcorn stand.