Every Once in a While

I heard movement from inside and a muffled 'Hold on'. Just hearing his voice made me want to turn around and run to my room. My room was too far, I wouldn't be able to make it there in time. Those mere seconds while waiting for him to open the door was just enough time to fully take in my actions and deeply regret them. It was a bit late, he could've been in bed. I sighed, reaching up to rub my tired eyes. The door swung open and I stared at Poe for a moment, feeling embarrassed. It also didn't help that Poe had opened the door without a shirt on. Do not look at his body, Isla. DON'T

"O-oh." I stammered, taking a step back, "I can just talk to you tomorrow." His eyes look tired and his hair was messy, maybe he was in bed, and I came and bothered him.

"I was dozing off." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Oops." I blushed. Great timing.

I nodded, "Sorry. I'll just go-"

"Wanna come in?" He moved over slightly, holding the door open for me. I glanced around me quickly, checking to see if there was anyone watching us.

"Isla, I'm cold, come on." He urged. I sighed as I walked past him. Going over to where BB-8 was and saying hello. I had been in Poe's room before, but I felt more nervous about it now, maybe because I hadn't had a purpose for being here this time.

"Okay." I turned around, with all intentions to say what I needed to say and then leave. The plan backfired, I had turned and Poe was leaning against the wall, watching me. I couldn't control my wandering eyes, I looked at his naked chest. I gulped and crossed my arms over my chest, standing up straight.

"I wanted to talk." I whispered, hoping that I didn't sound nervous or even worse, flustered. Poe nodded, walking further into the room to take a seat at his desk chair.

"Yeah?" He raised an eyebrow, "Most girls don't show up at guys' rooms this late just to talk." I didn't say anything, his comment making me speechless. Don't even think of what he's insinuating. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

"I was kidding, Isla. Sorry." He mumbled, looking a bit embarrassed, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Right," I nodded, "I wanted to talk about Noa. About how I'll let him know that he's making me uncomfortable. I don't need your help." I had tried to keep my tone neutral but towards the end it sounded a bit stressed. He didn't say anything, he was looking at me though. I couldn't read his expression.

"I figured, I just wanted to talk to him." He grumbled, "He doesn't need you to protect him, Isla." He was probably referring to earlier, when I had practically dragged Noa away just so that Poe wouldn't get a chance to talk to him.

"Are you saying you'll tell him that he's been making you uncomfortable or are you saying that you'll tell him once he does it again?" He questioned calmly, never taking his eyes off me. I decided to look away, to look at my hands, my shoes. I just couldn't look at him any longer. Poe was just the kind of person that made me nervous. Because of his looks?

"I haven't decided that yet." I answered truthfully. It was at least half the truth. I knew I wasn't going to bring it up out of the blue, if Noa ever did anything I didn't like I would tell him there and then. I wouldn't shrug it off and try to forget it ever happened.

"I think you have decided." Poe said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "So which one is it?"

I sighed in annoyance, looking up at him just to make sure he caught my irked expression, "You're missing the point. I just said I would do it and I don't need any help from you, thank you very much." This time he raised both eyebrows, a small smirk appearing on his lips.

"So, by the sound of that, you're going to wait until he does it again." Poe shrugged, "Right?" I bit down on my bottom lip and huffed softly. Why does he care? I figured he understood now and maybe he would back off. Just leave. Go back to your room, I thought. That sounded like a great idea right about now. Or you can ask him why he cares so much.

My mind decided to go with the second suggestion, blurting out the words before I could stop myself, "Why do you care, Poe?" He looked surprised, but I interrupted before he could give me a response, "He hasn't done anything too drastic, if he ever makes me uncomfortable again, I'll let him know."

I couldn't stop myself, "Why won't you just say 'okay'? Why do you have to keep questioning me?"

"You're defending him," He pointed a finger at me, "So what if he hasn't done anything 'too drastic'? I don't care if the only thing he's ever done is look at you the wrong way. Someone needs to tell him that it isn't okay. And you aren't going to do it."

"I just said I was!" I exclaimed, rolling my eyes. I knew I was defending him, and I couldn't explain why. "I definitely don't need you to do it. You'll only make things weird for me. I have to see him everyday because I work with him, you don't."

"That's what I'm worried about, Isla!" He stood up abruptly, I took involuntary steps back. "What he'll do when I'm not around." I stayed silent, repeating his words over in my head. I didn't know how to respond, I was a bit baffled. His words had caught me off guard.

"He won't do anything-"

"Stop defending him." Poe demanded, "Don't make excuses for that guy, Isla." I glared, not quite enjoying the tone he had taken with me.

"Why are you getting so worked up? I said I would take care of it." I mumbled. There was knock at the door and I was so thankful for it. This conversation didn't go as smoothly as I had visualized it. Poe sighed, walking over to the door. It was the Admiral, he didn't say anything at first, he looked from me to Poe for a couple seconds. I imagined he was trying to make sense as to why I was in the Commander's room.

"Uh." He glanced at me once again. I figured it was something important, something I had no business of hearing. I didn't bother with a 'bye' or 'see you later'. I just walked out, not before greeting the admiral. I didn't dare look back, I don't know if I could handle one last look at a shirtless Poe.

I was up earlier than usual the next morning, sitting in the small nook in my kitchen. I had opened my blinds slightly, watching the sky. It was still dark out, I was sure I couldn't sleep due to my conversation with Poe last night. I kept replaying it in my mind, over and over. I was pondering over whether I was wrong for getting snappy with him. I guess he just wanted to help, but I had made it clear that I didn't need any of his help. I grabbed the small mug that was sitting in front of me, wrapping my hands around it, enjoying the warmth it provided. I had already gotten ready for work, now I just had to wait two hours before I could actually leave my room. I had been staring out my small window for what seemed like hours, peaceful hours. There was something serene about being awake before anyone else, about looking out at an empty base. That's when I spotted Noa, his room was some ways across from mine. He was jogging over to someone or something? I couldn't tell. I could see his lips moving as he motioned towards the med bay. Someone must have gotten hurt, I knew once the med droids came to join Noa. I closed my blinds, leaning back into the wall. I finished my warm beverage and then set in the sink. I decided to leave my hair down, not for the sake of Noa. I grabbed my jacket and walked out.

"I saw the commotion. Figured I should come in, just in case I was needed." I explained to the droid.

"Room 5, you might be needed." He replied. I nodded, heading in the direction of room 5. I was about to open the door before it swung open. Revealing Noa, he walked out, causing me to walk backwards.

"You're up early, Isla." He was rolling his white uniform sleeves down, buttoning them. I could spot small specks of red.

"I saw-" I mumbled, "What happened?" I asked. I moved slightly, so that I could peek past Noa and through the glass doors. Noa grabbed me, placing me back to where I had initially been.

"It's been handled. You can go back to your room, if you wish." He was still gripping my upper arms. I shrugged him off, wiggling away from him. "Isla." There was something in the way he was acting, like he was trying to keep me from what was going on.

"Who's in there, Noa?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow. He didn't say anything, he moved out of my way. He sighed and walked away. I pushed the doors in quickly, walking into the room quietly.

"Poe?" I asked quickly, walking over to his bed. "What's wrong? What happened?" I was by his side now. He had a bandage wrapped around his hand, it went all the way up to his elbow. It was lightly stained with his blood.

"Just a gruesome cut. It wouldn't stop bleeding." He shrugged.

"Is your x-wing okay?" I asked, assuming he had gotten hurt when he was flying. I was pretty sure that was why the admiral showed up at Poe's door, to tell him that they needed him for some top secret mission.
He shook his head, he looked as if he wanted to say something, but I was sure he wasn't allowed to.

"It's fine, I got hurt while...I wasn't on my ship when I got the cut."

"You're fine then?" I asked quietly. He nodded once, looking away from me and towards the doors.

"You tell him?" Poe asked. I furrowed my eyebrows, not this again. Not now. Noa was the last person I wanted to talk about. Poe looked fine, minus the arm. I was happy that he didn't get too hurt doing whatever he was doing.

"No."

"The grabbing wasn't crossing the line?" He asked, looking up at me.

"I'm glad you're okay." I changed the subject, hoping he would sense that I didn't want to discuss Noa with him again.

"Thanks. But that wasn't what we were talking about." I sighed, glancing around the brightly lit room. Trying to find some sort of distraction.

"I said-"

Poe interrupted, "You said you would tell him if he ever made you uncomfortable again." He was staring at me intently, "So either you lied or you like when he grabs you or touches you or whatever." He grumbled.

"I didn't lie" I said through gritted teeth. I was too caught up in trying to see who was in the room to even register what Noa was doing. It hadn't bothered me this time, mostly because I was paying no attention to him.

"Seems like it."

"Why do you care?!" I exclaimed loudly, not even thinking about whether or not I would be heard. "I'll do it when I feel it's right, okay?" I didn't need Poe to pester me, it had started to become annoying.

"Come on, Isla." He was smiling. He was actually smiling at me. I was angry and he was sitting there with a stupid smile on his face. What the hell was he smiling about?

"I thought it was obvious." He shrugged one shoulder, looking sheepish.

"Well, it isn't." I snapped as I marched out of his room.