Chapter Text
Finn was beyond relieved that Poe finally fell asleep a little before midnight. Sleep was the most challenging thing for
Poe at the moment due to his increased night terrors and flashbacks that plagued his mind, especially while he slept. However, Finn had been able to convince Poe that nothing was going to happen to him as long as Finn was there beside him. Finn could chase off the demons, or so, Finn thought.
He finally snuggled against Poe with his arms wrapped around the Resistance pilot. He closed his exhausted eyes and pressed his head into the back of Poe’s neck and began to drift off with the smell of Poe’s shampoo in his nose and the feel of Poe’s skin against his.
When Finn awoke, it was to a shift in the weight on the bed and his arms enclosed around nothing. Finn patted the spot that Poe had resided before snapping his head upward when he didn’t feel him. It wouldn’t be the first time that Poe had wandered due to one of his nightmares and flashbacks convincing him that Kylo Ren and the First Order were hot on his heels. They certainly didn’t need a repeat of that.
Finn straightened and instantly relaxed when he realized that Poe was still on the bed. He was sitting up on the side of the bed with his legs touching the floor as weak coughs shook his frame. Poe had lost a little weight since the final battle with his ribs showing under his skin. Finn did his best to remind Poe to eat when he was working himself to the ground, but evidently it didn’t always work.
“Poe,” questioned Finn as he dragged himself forward in a sitting position behind Poe.
Poe turned his head slowly before his tired eyes met Finn’s. “Sorry,” he rasped, his voice almost completely shot. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll try to be quieter.”
Finn shook his head as the sleep seemed to fade from him. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m awake now,” he pointed out as he lifted one hand to rub against Poe’s elbow. “Everything alright? Spit go down the wrong pipe?”
“I wish that was all that it was,” answered Poe with a snort of amusement. “Nah, I think that I’m getting sick.”
That was something that they hadn’t had to deal with yet. There had been too much going on for either of them to become ill. Now they would have to contend with not only a sick Poe, but an emotional Poe as well. Finn wasn’t complaining. He would do whatever it took to make things better for him. Finn just wasn’t quite sure how.
Poe let out another cough that seemed to cause him to hunch forward. His fist was pressed against his mouth to catch each heavy expulsion of air. He struggled to catch his breath and he looked uncomfortable once he had. He glanced around fearfully in the dark room with his body going rigid.
Finn squeezed past Poe and reached out to turn on the lamp beside their bed. Poe’s face was illuminated by the yellow hue. Finn could see the slightly terrified expression on Poe’s face. Finn lifted a hand and rested it under Poe’s curly hair that slightly stuck to his sweaty forehead. He could feel the dry heat almost pulsing from Poe and he cursed himself for not realizing that Poe had a fever when the two of them had gone to bed.
Ever since the final battle, Poe had been struggling with nightmares and severe flashbacks. Any loud noise or sudden disruption could cause Poe to be mentally transported back into a terrifying fight. They had been working through it as much as possible and Finn was finally thinking that they had made at least a little progress. However, there was no saying how a fever would effect Poe.
“You’re warm,” Finn murmured as he removed his hand from under Poe’s bangs and then felt his cheeks with the back of his hand.
Poe instantly leaned into the touch. “Am I?” There seemed to be a faraway look in Poe’s eyes until they started to close as he leaned against Finn.
Finn lowered his hands much to Poe’s distain. “Let’s see if we have anything for that.” He drew himself from behind Poe and landed gingerly on the ground. “BB-8, think you can help?”
The orange and white droid instantly rolled forward and gave a beep of agreement. Finn still couldn’t speak binary, but he knew what BB-8 had meant. He nodded as he drew forward and headed into the fresher with the BB unit rolling behind him.
Poe was left still sitting on the bed. He shivered thanks to the fever and gave a bleary sniffle. The coughing had released some of the congestion from his stuffed up nose and caused it to run. He hadn’t felt this awful when he had went to bed the night prior. He had come back from a walk and his throat had felt a little scratchy and dry, but he had assumed it was just because of how much talking he had been doing. Now he knew better.
He let out another sniffle as he lifted his hand to rub at his slightly streaming nose. “Hey, here!” Poe glanced up as Finn returned with BB-8 right behind him. He had a box of tissues in one hand and some liquid medicine in the other. He set the liquid medicine down on the end table beside the bed before pulling out a few tissues from the box. He handed them over to Poe with an outstretched arm. Poe took them and wrapped them around his nose, giving a weak blow. He crushed the tissues into a ball as he gave a small cough, his eyes partially closing.
Finn set the box of tissues aside before pouring some of the liquid medicine into a tiny cup. “This stuff is old, but it does the trick better than any of those old Rebel injections,” Finn boasted as he came over to sit back down beside Poe. He handed the cup over with the almost radioactive orange medicine. “Take it down all once.”
Poe raised an eyebrow. “I have been sick before,” he reminded the former Stormtrooper with a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Embarrassment washed over Finn as he looked down at the ground to try and disguise his blush. “Er, right. I forgot,” he stammered.
“I haven’t been sick with someone beside me in so long,” Poe continued as he looked to Finn. “The first one to even try to take care of me was my mother.” Just the mention of her caused emotion to well in Poe’s throat, almost causing it to close. “You remind me so much over her, Finn.”
Finn looked up when he saw how conflicted Poe was. He instantly felt a tug in his chest as he reached out his hand and gripped Poe’s knee before giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I really wish I could’ve met her. From what you’ve told me, she sounds like a wonderful women and mother. She would’ve had to have spunk to to deal with you.” He leaned over and playfully hit his shoulder against Poe’s.
Poe forced a tiny laugh. “Yeah, she was. Not only did she have to deal with me, but she also had to deal with my father. She was incredible.”
Finn could hear the grief in Poe’s voice. Poe rarely spoke to Finn about his parents and upbringing. Finn was sure it had something to do with the fever that Poe was talking about it now. He wouldn’t willingly offer up this much personal information otherwise. Finn didn’t want to take advantage of it. He could bet that when Poe was less tired and more lucid, he would be slightly embarrassed of what he had told Finn.
“How about you take the medicine and we can go back to sleep? We can talk about this later,” Finn offered, knowing full well that the likelihood of them continuing this conversation was slim to none. Finn was willing to put his curiosity aside and respect Poe’s privacy at least until he was truly ready to tell Finn about his childhood. Finn would wait because that was what Poe deserved.
Poe muttered something that Finn couldn’t catch before throwing back the medicine like a shot. He shuddered at the taste before setting the empty cup aside. He coughed as the bitter liquid seemed to shift even more of the congestion and sent it almost leaking from his runny nose.
“Alright, let’s get you back to-“
Finn trailed off as Poe’s breath started to hitch. Finn immediately grabbed another bundle of tissues and pressed them against Poe’s hand quickly. “Hih...huh....KtcShoo! KtchShoo! KtchShoo!” Poe blew his nose in the aftermath, but it did little good. His nose was too stuffed up.
“Bless you,” Finn whispered as he tucked a spring of Poe’s hair behind his ear from where it had fallen forward. He rubbed gingerly at Poe’s shoulders so not to startle him. “Are you alright?”
Poe crumpled the used tissues and set them on the nightstand. He struggled to clear his throat before nodding. “Fine,” he replied with as much conviction as he could muster.
Finn wasn’t so sure, but he couldn’t fight it. He could worry for the rest of the night about Poe, but Poe needed to get some sleep. Finn gingerly grasped at one of Poe’s cold hand and started to pull him back. Poe didn’t fight it as he leaned back and swung his legs onto the bed while Finn shifted beside him. He propped some pillows up for the both of them so that Poe could breathe easier. He settled Poe down before grasping the covers and brought them up to Poe’s chin to tuck him in to make him as warm as possible. Finn laid beside Poe to share his body heat.
Poe stayed where he was for a moment before shifting so that his head was rested on Finn’s chest. He could feel Finn’s strong heartbeat and his warm skin against his own. Finn wrapped his arm around Poe and the two were able to pretend that things were simpler. There was no war wounds or struggles for them to fight through. They could just relax for the time being.
It wasn’t long before Poe fell into a heavy sleep. His mouth was slightly ajar since his nose was clogged as he let out some heavy snores. Finn’s eyes glowed in affection before he closed his eyes with his head tilted back as he drifted off into a heavy sleep.