Chapter Text
Okay, she was already worried, but when bringing a boy home one generally tries to avoid having all their brothers and brothers' friends there to witness.
Well, for lack of a father she certainly had no lack of brothers, adopted and not-officially-but-might-as-well-be.
She took a breath as she got out of his car, a dingy old thing that looked exactly like a sixteen year olds first car would. "Don't be intimidated," Ahsoka began. "But there's at least one extra brother here."
"You said you had two brothers," Nyx said somewhat frantically, shoving his keys in his pocket.
"Well Rex is here."
"The senior, Rex?"
"He and Anakin are best friends."
He took a breath, squaring his shoulders and looking at her with an expression that confirmed he was trying to hide the obvious fear. "It’s not like we’re dating or anything, you just said your brothers would be really protective and stuff. I’ll be fine, right?"
Ahsoka didn't respond right away, biting her lip. "Probably."
Nyx placed a hand on her shoulder and for just a moment, her heart fluttered. "That's very comforting, thank you."
Well, Obi-Wan would admire his sarcasm.
"You'll be fine." She tried to convince herself of the same thing as they walked towards the back door. "You'll be fine."
So as the door creaked open she tried to forget Rex’s pickup blocking the driveway, or the extra set of shoes under the window, or the booming laughter of Anakin as they were doing something in the other room. Slowly, and with as much confidence as she could, she walked towards the stair with Nyx in tow. With any luck they’d be in her bedroom before anyone noticed.
“Hey!”
Well, she tried.
Anakin stood from where he sat on the floor with Rex and two board games seemingly being made into a franken-board game. She didn’t ask.
“Who’s this?”
His tone wasn’t angry, per say , but he had that trademark big brother look in his eyes and the way he stood to make his full six feet a little too apparent. She was short, and Nyx wasn’t much taller, so it was decently intimidating to someone of his stature.
Anakin let a smirk cross his face, though, once she froze. He held out his fist for a fistbump- she returned, but it most certainly wasn’t the most enthusiastic greeting she’d given him.
“This is Nyx, I'm helping him with chemistry,” She said slowly. “Nyx, this is Anakin.” The sophomore in question stuck his hand out, trying his hardest to put a smile on his face and look more confident than he was. It wasn’t as if they were dating , even if the thought crossed Ahsoka’s mind a few too many times in a day, but apparently just the thought of a boy in her bedroom was too much to ignore.
Ahsoka noticed Rex as her actual brother shook Nyx’s hand, waggling his eyebrows from behind. With any luck her friend hadn’t seen. But Ahsoka certainly did and she made sure to narrow her eyes at him.
“Nice to meet you,” She heard Nyx say. She didn’t wait for Anakin’s response.
Ahsoka grabbed the boy by the arm, beginning to drag him up the stairs. “We’ll be doing homework!” She called back, not waiting for permission. If Anakin could have Padme in his room Ahsoka could have Nyx. And besides, Nyx wasn’t her boyfriend. Yet.
No. Not today, not while literally in the presence of her object of affection.
Finally settled, Ahsoka and Nyx sat on the floor of her admittedly messy bedroom floor with notebooks strewn across the carpet. At the very least she could lose herself in her chemistry work for a while.
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And just like their entry, their exit seemed to be no less quiet.
It was nearing eight thirty, and although they had both decided to stop an hour prior, Ahsoka was hoping if she waited a little longer Rex might be gone, and Obi-Wan would have gone to take a shower so she could sneak out with as few big-brother speeches as possible. But just her luck, Rex was still there, and Obi-Wan was sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea.
“I haven’t been introduced,” Her oldest brother butted in as soon as they came quietly down the stairs. She hadn’t told him to be quiet, but they had both hoped for the most subtle exit possible. “Obi-Wan,” He spoke, holding a hand out to shake. At least he didn’t try to stand up taller like some sort of animal when they’re angry (like some brothers she knew). “And you are?”
“Nyx.” He shrugged his backpack further onto his shoulder after shaking hands.
Ahsoka bit the inside of her lip, impatient and ready for this to be over. “We were doing homework,” She said for what felt like an embarrassing number of times now. She didn’t want any rumors, especially not with her brothers, the Fetts, and the rest of the school. “He was just leaving.”
“Do you need a ride home?” Obi-Wan asked, trying to follow them to the door but quickly being stopped by Ahsoka.
“He has a car.”
“Oh.” Her brother seemed to get that look in his eye that reminded him yet again that the little girl he knew wasn’t so little. “Well, I hope we’ll get to see you again, Nyx,” He said, seemingly recovering quickly.
“Sure thing.” Nyx smiled courteously, obviously feeling a little bit awkward about still being there. She quickly gave her brother a clearly exasperated, annoyed look that told him enough. Ahsoka with pressed lips and wide eyes, Obi-Wan backed off. He gave up and walked back towards the living room where the other two still resided.
“Sorry about them,” She mumbled, opening the door.
Nyx waved a hand. “It’s fine. I’m just not used to having brothers.” She began walking him out, his beige car. (Yes, beige. It was only slightly embarrassing.)
“Thanks for agreeing to study with me,” He said as the door closed behind them. Ahsoka could practically feel Anakin’s eyes on them through the dining room window. “I’m trash at chemistry, it’s nice to work with someone who knows what they’re doing once in a while.”
She gave a soft chuckle as he leaned on the closed door of his car. She hadn’t turned on the outside light but the streetlights provided enough to see Nyx run a hand through his hair, and for a brief moment she had to remind herself to breathe. A second passed, two, and she remembered to reply. “Ya no problem. It was fun. We should do it again sometime.”
Ahsoka quickly clarified. “Next time we’re going to the library. I don’t need my brothers doing that again.”
They laughed, eventually saying their goodbye’s, Ahsoka walking back inside and awaiting the questions. She barely shut the door before she was being thrown different voices to respond to. Anakin’s first. “You didn’t tell me he was coming over.”
She threw her shoes down. “Ya I did. Yesterday.”
“You said you were bringing a friend over, not a guy.”
“Can I not have guy friends?” Ahsoka was quick to grab food from the pantry. A granola bar was the first thing her eyes landed on.
Anakin followed her. “Well sure, but not when you look at them like that .”
“Excuse me?” Ahsoka swung around, snack not yet unwrapped, watching as Rex joined them in the kitchen. “I don’t look at him like anything. He’s a friend. He doesn’t even like me like that.” She spat the phrase out of her mouth like poison. She had to at least act like she wasn’t lying.
Rex shoved his hands in his pockets as he spoke. “But he looks at you the same, you know.”
This time, she didn’t stop them.
“You didn’t see it?” Ahsoka shook her head, confused, hoping she didn’t look too desperate. He was a friend. That’s what he was always intended to be. It seemed, however, that her emotions were intent on mucking things up.
Neither elaborated, Anakin only adding, “He’s a good guy,” As he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and ruffled her hair with a smirk.
They didn’t seem too phased, only returning to separating the pieces of their weird, mashed up board game from earlier. Ahsoka on the other hand, didn’t stop to unwrap her granola bar until she had made it to her bedroom, having passed Obi-Wan to give a brief goodnight that she didn’t care whether or not it sounded suspicious. It seemed she wasn’t subtle.
Ahsoka pulled out her phone and dropped into her bed, pulling up Barriss’ contact and typing out a quick message.
I think Nyx likes me