Work Text:
Luke drummed nervously on the back of Leia’s chair as their father drove them to school. It was the first day of high school and he was more nervous than he wanted to admit. Leia was in the front seat of the car talking to their dad about the clubs she was planning on joining. Every so often Anakin would ask Luke his opinion to which Luke would just give noncommittal noises. As they pulled up into the long line of parents dropping off their children Luke’s stomach felt like it was going to eat itself. Leia hopped out of the car waiting for Luke to follow, albeit much more slowly.
“Luke!” Anakin called as Luke moved to shut the door. Luke leaned back into the car to see what his father wanted. “I noticed you forgot this at home,” Anakin said holding out a blue mechanical pencil with little teddy bear designs out to him. Luke rolled his eyes but took the pencil. The little heart charm on top was cold against his skin. “That brought you luck all through middle school so might as well have it on the first day of highschool,” Anakin said with a wink.
“Thanks dad,” Luke said closing the car door. He joined his sister, pencil clutched in his hand. They picked up their schedules and compared. Luke was disappointed to see that the only class they shared was lunch. They were both in the honors program so Luke had hoped to share classes with her.
“You’ll be fine,” Leia said with a smile, rubbing circles on Luke’s back. He gave his sister a shaky smile.
The warning bell rung sending the twins scrambling toward their respective classes. Leia had english first while Luke was headed for the science building. He let the crowd pull him along the halls. His anxiety started to spike as he looked at the numbers on the doors and realized they were not in numerical order. Why would a school not have their classrooms in numerical order? He went up and down the halls looking for this classroom but couldn’t find it. The final bell rung and Luke felt like he was about to cry.
This was pretty much the biggest cliche he could fall into and he couldn’t even ask anyone for help since it seemed like no one else had the same problem as him. As he turned to go down the next hallway he found his savior. There was a teen who honestly was tall and wide enough to be a teacher further down the hall. The teen had long dark hair that cascaded down his back. Luke thought he looked more like a college student than a high schooler. It make him feel like a fetus compared to the teen. Luke jogged toward the boy in relief.
“Excuse me, can you help me find labroom 112?” Luke asked titling his head to look up at the mountain of a teen. The teen mumbled something that Luke didn’t understand. The anxiety was back, Luke starting to hyperventilate. He felt a hand on his arm pulling him down the hallway. Luke had alway heard rumors in middle school about seniors beating up lost freshmen on the first day, but had assumed they were just rumors. If anyone was going to be able to get away with beating up freshman this guy would.
Luke had resigned himself to his fate, so when they stopped outside a classroom Luke was momentarily surprised. He looked at the number and realized that the teen had brought him to his class. Without thinking Luke hugged the teen tight.
“Thank you so much! Sorry for making you be late,” Luke rushed to say as he entered the classroom. Of course being late meant that everyone turned to stare at him in the doorway. The teacher didn’t help Luke be discrete.
“Glad you cared to join us. There is an open seat in the back,” the teacher said before continuing reading the syllabus.
Luke scrambled past the other tables toward the back. The only open seat was next to someone who looked way to old to be a freshman, the teen already had stubble. Luke carefully opened his backpack trying to not be too loud, pulling out his notebook. He snuck glances at the other teen since they were most likely going to be lab partners. The teen looked like a walking cliche with his bored attitude and leather jacket. Luke was ashamed to admit it but it was a good look. The teen was clearly not a freshman though which confused Luke. This was an honors Chem-Phys class which was only for freshmen, which meant if the teen was here he must have failed it the first time.
After going over the syllabus the teacher passed out a pre-assessment worksheet and told them to work with the person sitting next to them to finish it.
“Can I borrow a pencil?” The other teen said instead of introducing himself. A little surprised Luke just titled the pencil currently in his hand out to the teen. A moment too late he realized it was the pencil his dad had given him that morning. The teen looked at the pencil with its teddy bears and heart charm then back up at Luke a look of questioning on his face. Luke would have felt embarrassed about the childness of the pencil if he wasn’t horrified by the fact he had just given his favorite pencil away. Finally with a shrug the teen took the pencil.
“I’m Han Solo. Yes, I noticed you staring at me and no I’m not a freshman, I’m a senior.” Han said startling Luke.
“Luke Skywalker. I wasn’t you know starring,” Luke mumbled not making eye contact. Han snorted.
“What do you called it then?” Han asked leaning into Luke’s personal space.
“Observation. A key step in the scientific process.” Luke said fidgeting in his seat but not moving away from Han.
“And have you formed your hypothesis yet?” Han asked moving back into his own space.
“Of course. I would be a scientist without a purpose if I hadn’t,” Luke said with a smirk.
“Care to share with the class.”
“I’ll let you know when I reach my conclusion,” Luke said turning to his worksheet.
They worked well together. They finished the worksheet quickly neither really needing help which surprised Luke. He had figured that Han would need a lot of help being a senior in a freshman level class, but if his theory of Han failing the first time was correct then it made sense that Han wouldn’t need help with this seeing as it was his second time doing it. When they had finished they talked about the summer holiday. Both had spent the break traveling, Luke because of his mother’s work and Han just because he could.
He also found out that Han was not there because he had failed the first time, but because he had transferred from a school that did not require Chem-Phys and now he had to take it or he couldn’t graduate. Luke was suddenly grateful to have him as a lab partner. Maybe he could make an excuse of needing a study buddy and get Han alone in his room.
By the time class had ended Luke had forgotten he had loaned Han his pencil.
“See later kid,” Han said exiting the classroom pencil in hand.
The rest of the day Luke was annoyed. He wanted his pencil back but would have to wait until tomorrow to get it back. During lunch he caught up with Leia along with some other friends from middle school. They chose to sit out in the courtyard. Across the lawn Luke spotted Han along with the hulking teen that had helped him that morning. He must had been staring because Leia had to slap his shoulder to get his attention.
The next day Luke was in his seat early not wanting to repeat the disaster of the first day. When Han came in he gave Luke a nod and sat down. Luke watched Han pull out his notebook and pencil that Luke had loaned him. He gave a Han a second to see if Han would give back the pencil.
“You still have my pencil,” Luke said when Han didn’t say anything. Han looked up at him confused for a second and then looked down at the pencil.
“I still need one,” Han said with a shrug. Luke quickly dug another pencil out of his backpack and held it out to Han.
“Take this one instead,” Luke said forcefully. Han gave him a smirk.
“I don’t know. This one has grown on me,” Han said with a laugh. Before Luke could protest the final bell rung and the teacher begun their lecture. The whole class period Luke was looking at Han from the corner of his eyes. It was just a lecture so Luke didn’t get another chance to talk to Han and the other teen basically ran out of the room when the bell rung.
During lunch Leia could tell Luke was agitated.
“Who are you glaring daggers out?” Leia asked with a laugh making Luke look away from where Han sat.
“The person I sit next to in Chem-Phys borrowed my pencil and won’t give it back,” Luke complained.
“It’s just a pencil, what’s the big deal,” their friend Biggs asked.
“It was a my favorite. My mom gave it me,” Luke explained. Leia’s eyes widened a fraction then formed into a glare. Luke knew Leia would understand because she had a matching pencil as well.
“Who?” Leia said in a decidedly calm voice. Luke gestured over to where Han sat.
“His name is Han. I haven’t decided what I think about him yet,” Luke admitted. Leia gave him a look. She had always been able to see right through him which meant she knew Luke was starting to form a crush on the teen. He couldn’t help it though. Even though Han had now become his mortal enemy for taking his pencil, he was still really cool. He was staring again and this time Han caught him. The teen raised a hand in greeting with Luke’s pencil in it. Luke frowned and looked away.
Chem-Phys became torture for Luke. He would have a new pencil ready every morning hoping to trade but every time Han would reject them. One time Luke had tried to forcibly take the pencil away from Han, practically flinging himself into Han’s lap. Han had just laughed and held the pencil out of Luke’s reach. Luke had struggled until the teacher sent them to the principal's office. That had been an awkward call to his parents.
After the first month of school Luke still hadn’t gotten his pencil back. It was time for drastic measures. At lunch he bypassed his normal spot next to his sister and walked over to where Han held court on the steps of the auditorium. Han smirked up at him twirling his pencil in his fingers. Luke rolled his eyes, Han seemed to have a second sense about when Luke would appear and pull that stupid pencil out. Luke sat down on the steps next to Han and pulled his lunch out of his backpack. He ignored the looks from all of Han’s friends.
“Luke, what are you doing? Your girlfriend is glaring at me,” Han said gesturing toward where Luke normally sat. Sure enough Leia was glaring over at them.
“That’s my twin sister,” Luke gagged. He knew people mistaken them as significant others all the time but that didn’t make it any less gross. Han raised an eyebrow and leaned in toward Luke.
“Well then welcome to the squad,” Han said opening up his arms. “This is Lando and Chewie.” Han clapped the large teen that was Luke’s savior from a month ago. Luke nodded at each of them.
Luke started showing up where everywhere Han was. His new plan was to annoy Han into giving the pencil back. He spent every lunch on the steps of the auditorium. While they didn’t share any classes other than Chem-Phys they had similar schedules meaning Luke walked Han to most of his classes.
“Chewie, I think I gained a stalker,” Han said with a laugh as Luke found him walking toward the English department. Chewie mumbled something that Luke didn’t catch but the larger teen smiled at him so it must not have been bad.
“Well as long as you have my pencil, I am going to be your shadow,” Luke assured. Han shook his head but didn’t say anything. Luke thought he saw a frown on the teen’s face and wondered if his plan was working.
Even though his plan was to annoy Han it did nothing to stop his growing crush on the teen. If Luke’s mind wasn’t playing tricks on him, it seemed Han was interested in him. When they walked down hallway Han will casually brush shoulder with him. During class and lunch Han invades Luke’s personal space at every opportunity. At the first football game of the year Han had shrugged off his letterman jacket and draped it over Luke’s shoulders when he had shivered. Leia had rolled her eyes at that and glared at Han.
Luke started spending time outside of school with Han. He would watch football practice from the bleachers pretending to work on homework. Afterward he would meet Han outside of the locker room and they would wander around. They might end up at the local independent theater or a coffee shop. It felt like they were dating but Luke knew they weren’t. It kind of hurt to experience it without actually having it.
“So how’s your boyfriend?” Leia casually asked during a family dinner. Anakin choked on his drink and Luke gave Leia a confused look.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said taking a bite of food knowing exactly what Leia was talking about. He wasn’t bitter at all about the lack of boyfriend.
“Luke,” Anakin said in a warning voice. Luke rolled his eyes. His father was always over protective and Leia just threw him under the bus. “You know the rules.”
“No dating until we’re 30. Yeah, I know,” Luke said with a groan. Padme laughed from the head of the table.
“That’s right,” Anakin said soundly.
“It doesn’t even matter since he’s NOT my boyfriend,” Luke said glaring at Leia.
“Doesn’t mean you don’t want him to be,” Leia said with a shrug. “Who knew you liked the bad boy type.” With that Leia left the table dropping her plate off in the sink. Anakin was gaping like a fish making Luke wonder if he could get away with maiming his sister.
“To be fair he is also a jock, he just gets a bad rep because of the leather," Luke said before excusing himself. He gave his mother a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying toward his room. As he ran up the stairs he heard his mother trying to calm his father down. If that was his reaction to the idea of one of them dating he couldn't wait until it actually happened. While he might be on hold with Han, Leia wasn't doing too bad herself. Luke had noticed the swarm of boys who followed at her beck and call.
The longer Luke hung out with Han the more he fell for him. He loved the way Han was loyal to all of his friends. He was the only one that seemed to understand Chewie’s mumbling and one of the few people to try and sass Leia other than Luke himself. During all the times they hung out together it would have been so easy for Luke to lean just a little further in and kiss Han but he didn’t. Han was senior humoring him. What would he want with a freshman like Luke?
So slowly Luke distanced himself from Han. He stopped waiting up for football practice to end. He went back to sitting with Leia during lunch. Science class was hard since they were still lab partners, but Luke never said more than he had to. Part of Luke had hoped Han would notice and call him out on the radio silence treatment, but the senior just accepted it making the whole thing a lot easier. Leia had seemed satisfied with the whole situation at first. When Luke stopped being as vocal in their friend group, he knew she started to worry but didn’t really care. He noticed her a couple of times talking to Han but didn’t think anything of it.
After school one day he ran into Han. Luke moved to avoid the other teen, but Han herded him back into a corner.
“Hey, kid.” Han said cornering Luke so he couldn’t pass him. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
“Wow, I’m happy to see your deductive reasoning skills are astute as ever,” Luke said trying to shoulder past Han, but the larger teen grabbed onto Luke holding him in place.
“Is this about that stupid pencil? What is the big deal?” Han asked.
“It was a gift from my mother. She gave Leia and me matching pencils she had gotten on a trip to Japan before we started school. She said it would be our good luck charm. It’s silly but it’s something that me and Leia share. That’s why I want that pencil back but that’s not why I was avoiding you.” Luke explained. Han gave him a confused look.
“That is surprisingly cute,” Han said in a sincere voice. Luke smiled despite himself. He had expected Han to laugh at his attachment to a pencil but he hadn’t. “You know if you had just told me that in the beginning I would have given it back.” Han took the pencil out of his pocket and tossed it toward Luke who caught it. “It was just a lot of sun teasing you and then you made it very clear the only reason you were hanging out with me because of it so I kept it.” Luke frowned at that.
“You kept it so I would hang out with you?”
“As thrill as Chem-Phys is, it isn’t really the best place to flirt with someone,” Han said with a laugh. Luke’s head reeled. So all those times he had thought Han was flirting with him, he actually was. He had not expected that, although all of the rom-coms he had watch should have prepared him.
“You like me?” Luke said bluntly. He needed to know once and for all. Han rolled his eyes.
“Finally caught on did you.” Luke playfully slapped Han’s arm at that. “Now that we have that cleared up how about we do this again expect properly. Luke Skywalker will you go out with me?” Han asked holding a hand out toward Luke.
“Of course Han Solo, although you may have to fight off my sister and father.” Luke said taking Han’s hand. He was not thrilled to have to tell his family about this. His mom would be happy for him, but he wasn't sure his father would be ok with it. If Han was ever to meet his parents Luke would have to make Han lose the leather jacket.
“So have you come to your conclusion about me,” Han asked swinging their hands. Luke liked the way his hand felt in Han's as they walked. He had almost forgotten about that from the first day they meet. The fact that Han had remembered made Luke smile.
“I think I have."
“Well, let’s hear it,” Han insisted.
“Total boyfriend material,” He said before pulling Han down into a kiss.