As Planned

I slowly stretched out with a yawn, groaning in satisfaction when my back popped. I let out a happy sigh and buried my face in the pillow. I definitely like this bed better.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

"Good morning, Han."

I slowly looked up from the pillow and immediately felt my face get hot from the sight of Han laying next to me.

Han smirked a little and asked, "Get any sleep?"

"Best Iv`e had in a while," I admitted.

"Mmm," he hummed. "Good. Best Iv`e had in a while too."

I blushed at that. Last night was the best birthday I have ever had. Well, if my friends from America were here then it would be the best. But for now this one holds the record.

"I think I like this bed better," I confessed in a whisper.

"The bed itself or the person in it?" Han teased.

"Both," I squeaked.

He grinned. "Good to know."

I blushed and buried my face back into the pillow. I could hear him chuckling and soon felt his hand rubbing my back. That was soothing, I`ll admit. Though I`ll never know how he found one of my weaknesses as quickly as he did.

"I wonder what you`d look like with long hair," He murmured, breaking the silence that had settled over us.

"Mom should still have a few pictures of me like that. But I should warn you, they`re all kid and preteen pictures. I`ll probably look quite silly."

"That`s fine. Just something else I get to tease you about."

"Oh hush," I muttered with a roll of my eyes. "When don`t you tease me?"

Han shrugged and smirked. "Whenever I can."

"And why is that?"

"It`s far too easy."

I pouted. "Is not."

"Is too," He snickered. "Your whining proves it."

I huffed and buried my face in the pillow for a minute before I thought of something. I slowly lifted my head and asked, "Does my age bother you?"

Han frowned and then pursed his lips, seemingly in thought. "I`d prefer you to be out of school but since I don`t know how long I`ll have with you.." He trailed off with a shrug.

"So if I didn`t have cancer you`d wait how long?" I questioned.

"After you graduated and either decided to work somewhere or went to collage. Or my personal favorite, come to work at the garage with me."

"The garage, huh?"

"Oh yeah. I`d teach you everything I know."

"I`m sure you would," I chuckled. I bit at my lip in thought. I hope I don`t get the answer I`m dreading. "Are you only with me because I have cancer?"

"Excuse me?" Han asked, sitting up quickly and looking rather upset.

I let out a sigh. Oh dear. Here it comes. "You said you would of waited till after graduation but you don`t know how long I`ll be alive. Does that mean you are only with me because you think you`ll lose me?"

"Amelia, I`m with you because I want to be. Or as close to being with you as I can. I would prefer you to be out of school so I don`t feel like I`m corrupting you all the damn time," Han explained, his tone becoming angrier with each word.

I frowned and resisted the urge to hide in the pillow again. It was true we weren`t dating. Last night we had expressed to each other our mutual want to be together, but with it being so late into the night by the time we had that conversation we decided to talk about it in the morning when we weren`t so tired. And something tells me this isn`t the way he wanted to start the conversation back up.

"I`m sorry," I whispered. "I was so worried I didn`t think to take the time to see things from your point of view."

"That`s right. You didn`t think." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Do you even want to date me, Amelia?"

"Absolutely! You do want to be with me too, right? Even after this outburst?"

"It wasn`t an outburst," He chuckled. "We could of talked about this differently though."

I nodded. "I know. I`m sorry."

"Stop apologizing. It was a misunderstanding. We fixed that, right?"

"Yeah. We fixed it."

"Are we good now?" Han asked.

"Yeah," I murmured. "I think so."

He nodded. "Good. Now onto the big questions."

I let out a groan before I could even attempt to suppress it. "What now?"

"Will you go out with me?"

I blinked in surprise. Did he just... "Did you just ask what I think you did?"

He chuckled and nodded. "I did. Are you gonna give me an answer?"

"Yes. I would love to go out with you," I answered, feeling my face heat up.

Han grinned. "That`s good." He stretched out, laid back down and began to rub my back again.

I sighed happily and moved closer to him so he`d have better reach. I heard him chuckle. His hand suddenly secured my hip and he pulled me right up against him. I ended up squeaking in surprise and that made him chuckle harder. After suppressing his chuckles he pressed a kiss to my temple and went back to rubbing my back. It didn`t take long for me to relax and before I knew it I was all but curled up against him. I never realized how warm Han was until last night. He`s like a space heater. And that is very nice for someone like me who gets cold very easily. I like that thought. My own personal space heater.

"You`re so damn cold," Han muttered, pulling me closer so I was curled up into his side.

"And you are a space heater," I teased.

"You don`t seem to mind," He murmured.

I shook my head. "Not really." I yawned and buried my face in his chest, humming happily.

"You are something else," he chuckled.

"I could say the same about you," I murmured. "One minute you`re pushing everyone away and the next your rubbing my back and giving me tea while I throw up blood. You are a walking contradiction, my dear."

"I push people away so I don`t get hurt when they leave me."

I frowned and slowly looked up at him. He was staring at the wall, his eyes watery and glazed over. It wasn`t hard to figure out he was reliving the past. But there it was again. That part of him that seemed off. I noticed it the second I met him. And there it was again, right in front of my eyes. I can`t believe I didn`t realize it before. He has the same look mom did after dad died.

"You lost someone, didn`t you? Someone you were very close to."

Han nodded and murmured, "I did." He sighed and rolled over onto his back. "She was.." he paused to scrub his hand over his face with a groan. "I loved her very deeply. I didn`t think it was possible to love someone like that. We went everywhere together. Traveled to so many places. Experienced amazing things."

"Can I ask what happened?"

"She died saving my life."

"Just like a game of chess."

Han sat up, knocking me off him in the process. He looked pissed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

I winced and sat up. "I didn`t mean it the way it came out. I`m not saying your relationship was a game. I just meant...in chess the queen protects the kings. That`s what it sounds like she was doing: protecting her king."

He nodded and slowly relaxed. "Sorry. I uh," he cleared his throat, "I didn`t mean to snap at you look that."

"It`s okay," I murmured. "She`s a sensitive subject for you. My mom is the same way about my dad. To this day she can`t talk about him without crying. If she talks about him at all. He was the love of her life. And it sounds like this girl was yours."

"Maybe she was," He chuckled humorlessly. "Does it bother you if she was?"

I shook my head with a smile. "No. Only a few people are lucky enough to find that kind of love. My mom had it and so did you. I didn`t expect to be the love of your life or for you to even love me before I die. I don`t expect anything from this other than to be treated well and to be as happy as I can be before this cancer takes me."

"And what if you don`t die of cancer?" He asked. "What if you beat it and you live a long life?"

I shrugged. "That doesn`t really change anything. I just want to be happy."

Han nodded. "Then I`ll try and do that."

"Thank you." I slowly laid back down and curled up to him, resting my head on his chest. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything you want," He murmured.

"Can you try to not push me away anymore? It kind of makes me feel like I`m not enough."

"I`ll try not to. And you know that wasn`t my intention to make you feel that way?"

"Yeah. You just didn`t want to get hurt. I can understand that."

"Amelia?"

"Hmm?" I hummed, glancing up at him.

Han gently grasped my chin and murmured, "I`d like to kiss you now."

"Go ahead," I breathed.

His lips twitched into a smile and as he leaned down I closed my eyes. I was finally going to get a proper kiss from Han.

"Yo, Han! Do you know where Amelia is? We can`t find her." Or not.

"I`m gonna kill Twinkie," Han groaned.

"Not if I get there first," I grunted.

Han climbed out of bed and sluggishly crossed the room, wrenching his door open so hard I thought it would hit the wall. Twinkie stood in the doorway with wide eyes, his gaze moving from Han to myself.

"Good morning Twink," Han growled.

"Yes, good morning Twinkie," I grumbled, climbing out of bed and adjusting the night shirt so it went back down to my knees instead of bunched up around my upper thighs. I quickly crossed the room, pressed a kiss to Han`s cheek and went to my room to change.

After changing into some pants and a tank top I exited my room and went to the kitchen where everyone but Han was. Earl, Reiko and Twinkie were all sitting around the small table used for breakfast. They all looked rather nervous.

"So you stayed with Han last night?" Reiko asked, the first to finally speak up.

"I did," I replied.

"Wearing only a shirt," Twinkie grunted into his coffee.

"Did you shag?" Earl asked, causing Reiko to smack the back of his head and Twinkie to choke on his coffee.

I patted Twinkie on the back and glared at Earl. "I did not, as you so kindly put it, shag Han. It was cold and I didn`t feel like being alone so I slept in his room."

"Did you do anything interesting?" he groaned, looking far too hopeful.

"Earl, for the love of god let it go," I groaned. "We did nothing but sleep. Han happens to be a gentlemen."

"To you," Reiko snickered.

"Yes to me," I sighed. "Just drop it. I`d like to have my breakfast without talking about sex."

"We can strap him to the car and drive him around for you," Twinkie suggested with a grin.

I snorted. "Oh please. You were just as anxious to know what happened as he was. I should be strapping you to a car. You have to worst timing."

"Timing?" Twinkie questioned. "Timing for what?"

"You`ll never know," Han answered while walking into the kitchen.

"Exactly," I snickered, all the while listening to Twinkie try and figure out what I meant. This was definitely going to be an interesting day.