Every Once in a While

Work the next morning, was a bit busy, which I was thankful for. I hadn't been able to stop and take a break all morning, meaning I was so wrapped up in work that I didn't have any time to think about anything else. You mean you didn't have any time to think about Poe....Or that girl

I didn't know what I was feeling exactly, I felt embarrassed even if I hadn't done anything. It was clear that Lorelie wasn't fond of me, and last night definitely let me know that she also wasn't fond of me spending time with Poe. It was written all over her face. Maybe I shouldn't be getting closer to Poe. We could be acquaintances, not friends, and definitely not anything more than that.

"Isla, do you the patient's files?" I could tell by the look on Noa's face that he had been trying to get my attention, So much for not thinking about Poe.

"Yes," I nodded, sliding the papers over to him, "Here you go."

"Patient in room 4 needs his lunch brought in." Noa added, he was flipping through the stack of papers. He glanced up at me, his eyes scanning over my face, "What are you thinking about?" I could feel my cheeks heat up. Great, now I looked flustered. There was no way I was going to tell him I was thinking about Poe.

I yawned, "I didn't sleep well last night, I was thinking about how great it would be to get into bed for a nap." It wasn't entirely a lie, my body finally shut down about three hours before I was supposed to be up for work.

"Now," He smiled, "That does sound great." I had enough of his staring, I excused myself and went into room 4. Before I walked in, I glanced to my left, catching Noa still staring at me. I sighed in annoyance, hoping he would hear.

"Anything good?" The pilot asked as I walked in, trying to sit up in the hospital bed, wincing at the pain. He sat back and sighed loudly.

"The usual." I walked over, the tray of food in my hands.

"I'm getting tired of this tasteless bread." He grumbled as I set the food down, walking over to help him sit up. I was never fully aware of how the pilots were hurt, just that they were hurt. Sometimes when I was assigned to paperwork, I would get to read over the cause of injury. Mostly all of them were from battle, that's as far as I allowed to read, other information was sealed in a white envelope. I never questioned what the pilots did, but I was curious as to why so many of them ended up in the med bay. Whoever they were up against seemed to have the upper hand. I knew little about the first order, only hearing it in faint whispers from people who worked on the base. One thing was for sure, everyone who worked in the resistance base was really good at keeping everything under wraps. I never felt unsafe on the base, and I was hoping that I could continue living in peace.

"Let's get you better, then you can leave the med bay and this tasteless bread behind." I said, setting the tray of food on his lap softly, afraid that I would somehow inflict pain on the already hurt pilot.

"Thanks." He grumbled, devouring the tasteless food anyways. My afternoon consisted of changing bloody bandages and helping feed patients. Break time rolled by and I all I wanted to do was go to my room and take a 10 minute nap. I decided against it, knowing all too well that I wouldn't be able to wake up on time. I was sitting against the side of the med bay, I crossed my legs, getting my legs out of the sun. I usually didn't sit outside but my usual spot inside was quiet, I was afraid of falling asleep on the job.

"Mind if I join you?" Say no.

"If you want." Contradicting my thoughts. Noa sat beside me, closer than I expected him to. His arm and leg were touching mine, I shifted slightly, hoping to get some space between us.

"Your hair," He smiled, "That's whats different about you today." I nodded slowly, finding it a bit odd that he had realized. I was in a rush this morning, I didn't have time to braid my hair.

"I like it like this." He reached over to touch a strand of hair. I couldn't even register what was happening, I just froze. I wanted to move away, I wanted to get up and leave, but I didn't do either. I made a humming noise, and turned to face him so that his hand was no longer on my hair. He dropped his hand slowly, never taking his eyes off of me.

"Am I interrupting something?" I jumped slightly, unaware that anyone else was around.

Noa laughed, nudging me slightly, "Maybe." He answered. I frowned at him and then up at Poe. How did he manage to appear out of nowhere?

"No," I argued, looking over at Noa, "We were just sitting around."

"Right," Noa nodded at me, grinning, "Just sitting around." His tone was making it seem as if we were hiding something, that we were doing more than just 'sitting around'. I scooted away from Noa before rising to my feet.

"Can I talk to you, Isla?" Poe asked, looking hopeful. A part of me didn't want to, knowing that it would probably be an awkward conversation. I only nodded, following him as he lead us to somewhere more secluded.

"Look, last night was not what it seemed like." He had stopped walking abruptly, I almost ran right into him.

What was he talking about?

"What did last night seem like?" I pondered. He looked nervous and he wasn't looking at me. It was kind of cute, but that didn't matter right now.

"You know," He rubbed the back of his neck, "Like I had spent the night with Lorelie."

"Oh." Right, I would be lying to myself if I said I hadn't thought about that. I reckoned that it was none of my business and tried to forget all about it. I hadn't thought about it all day, but it might have been the reason I couldn't get any sleep last night.

"Commander, I-I.." I was talking quickly, stammering over my words, "You don't have to explain yourself to me."

"You left upset and I-"

I waved him off, embarrassed that he knew I was upset, "I get it. You didn't spend the night. I'm not upset."
He nodded once, shifting on one foot to the other, "And that?" He cocked his head towards the med bay, "Was that what it seemed like?" Our eyes had locked and I couldn't look away, Poe looked hopeful awaiting my response.

"I don't understand."

"With Noa." He said quietly, "You looked pretty cozy." Why does he care? Did it bother him?
I couldn't calm my nerves, there was a huge knot forming in my stomach. My mind was racing of the possibility of Poe being bothered by Noa being so close to me. I was getting ahead of myself, maybe he just wanted to know. It probably didn't have any effect on him at all.

"It was nothing, he was getting too close." I whispered.

"So you should have told him that." Poe responded calmly.

"He hasn't done anything yet," As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I sounded absolutely ridiculous. Yet? What was I doing? Waiting for him to try something with me, waiting for him to cross the line?

Poe walked over to me, reaching over to grab my hand, "Isla, if he's making you uncomfortable, you need to let him know."

Noa made me uneasy but he hadn't actually done anything. He's just wasn't aware of the way he came across. Why are you defending him?
"He's fine. He just-"

"I'll let him know then." Poe interjected, dropping my hand.

"No!" I exclaimed as quietly as I could, he had started to walk away. This is just great. Good job, Isla.
I scurried after him, grabbing hold of his arm, I held on as tight as I could. Poe was still walking, dragging me along.

"Poe, please." I let go quickly, running to stop in front of him. I set my hands on his chest, preventing him to go any further. "Don't." I pleaded. If Poe told Noa to back off it would just make things weird for me, especially at work. I would deal with Noa myself, if there was ever any reason to.

Poe sighed, "Just let me talk to him."

I shook my head, just the thought of it was making me freak out, "No. Poe, it's fine." He glanced at me for a second, before stepping around me and making his way to where I had been sitting minutes before.

"Oh, god." I mumbled as I ran after him. Noa was still in the same spot, he spotted me and a smile appeared on his face.

"Look it's Lorelie!" I grabbed Poe's arm once more, I looked over, already knowing that Lorelie would be giving me the death stare. Where was she when I actually needed her? I needed someone to distract Poe because I obviously wasn't doing a very good job. I had almost wanted to call her over, to ask her to take Poe away.
Poe was going to make things worse for me, Noa would only be angry that I had been talking about him to Poe. Lorelie wasn't going to come to my rescue, she had already stalked off in the direction of her room. I slid past Poe, shooting him a glare, I sprinted back to the side of the med bay. I was going to beat Poe, I wasn't going to let him do this, not right now.

I grabbed Noa, pulling at his arms. I wasn't going to explain the situation Noa, I was just hoping he wouldn't find it odd that I was trying to get him back inside. He looked confused but he stood up, watching me with an amused look.

"Let's go." I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the building quickly. I was hoping Poe wouldn't follow us in. Noa gave me a puzzled look as I dropped his hand and sighed loudly, my heart was beating rapidly. If I was lucky I just prevented an awkward conversation. You've avoided it for now.
Would Poe be upset with me now? Now that I had prevented him from talking to Noa. I rubbed a hand over my face, and then rubbed my temples. It was fine, for now. If Poe wanted to follow us in, he would've done so already.

"What was that about?" Noa asked, leaning up against the wall beside me. He was as close as he was when we were sitting outside.

"I don't know. I have to check in on some patients." I mumbled as I walked away. I found myself constantly glancing out the huge windows, expecting to see Poe. Waiting for him to come in and make matters worse. My mind was playing with me, Poe never showed up. That didn't mean he was going to forget all about it. A part of me knew Poe was going to have a talk with Noa no matter what I said. He would probably do it when I wasn't around just so that I wouldn't be able to stop him.

The walk to my room that night was far from peaceful, I had a dreadful feeling deep inside my stomach. I couldn't stop thinking about what would've happened if Poe had actually had the chance to talk to Noa. I shouldn't have said that he was getting too close. But he was. You didn't like how close he was.
So maybe Noa was getting a little too close but I shouldn't have said anything about it to Poe. Now I had caused something I didn't have any control over. I could try to reason with Poe, tell him that I would tell Noa that he was making me a little uneasy. It was only right, Poe had no reason to be involved, this didn't concern him. Before I could register what I was doing, I was standing in front of Poe's door. The light was shining through the blinds, indicating that he was home. I shook my head, what the hell was I doing? I stood there silently, arguing with myself internally. I was going to tell him that I would handle it and I didn't need any help. That should work, right?

I reached out my hand slowly, almost hesitantly. I knocked softly, waiting nervously. Too late to turn around now.