Earth Bound High School AU

[sass_factory]

((Continued from here ))

Mostly it was responsibility, she was driven by it. She worked hard but did not finish the cliché by playing hard. Drinking wasn’t a thing that was scandalous at her home, well her father wouldn’t have been thrilled to find out she’d hidden a flask to go out, but she’d had wine with dinner since she was twelve or so if she wanted it. Her father made sure that temptation wasn’t due to being repressed. Smart man.

“He’s on a business trip,” She nodded. “He’ll be back Tuesday.” Said with all the air of someone for whom this was common place, and for a teenager living home alone the place was practically spotless. A cereal bowl and spoon rested in the sink but otherwise the place looked like it was tidy. Given how neatly she’d put her things away it was probably just how they were more than having a housekeeper.

“I’ve had friends over while he was away before.” She shrugged, though the more complete truth was that they were almost always female friends and the guys were generally just on teams or school event staff with her. So Han was something different, something special even. But it wasn’t exactly cool to say that, so she didn’t.

Leia lead him upstairs, if that was a view he enjoyed he got to see it in good form now. At the landing she gestured right, “Dad’s room.” She didn’t open the door or anything, just turned to the left and headed down the short hallway, hand sliding along the banister. “My bathroom,” She opened the door and only belatedly remembered she’d set it up for a bath for herself before the dance. The color scheme was a neutral combination of gray and blue, but the warmth of a sunset colored shower curtain brightened the room. The candles were unlit and the bath salts, scrubs and bomb say on a small side table beside the tub. The scent of something softly floral and an undertone of cinnamon faintly drifted out with the pull of the door. “Usually not so,” she rolled her wrist. “bath-y.”

Ok, that was pretty pathetic. But what could she do? She pulled the door shut and move on to the last door on this end of the hall that could be anything but a linen closet. Her room was big, by most kids standards. Queen sized bed with white covers and some sort of furry white rug on the hardwood floor beside the bed. A dresser and vanity sat off to one side with a window on either side of the padded headboard. It looked upscale for sure, but not stuffy, and the small gathering of stuff animals definitely took the edge off the room. A giant gray and white polka dot teddy bear took up fully a quarter of the bed, a coppery colored fluffy monkey sat next to it.

Right, well… ok so she had stuffed animals. A lot of people did. On the wall opposite the dresser was a desk, a computer, lap top, tablet and pile of books crowded together on it. A closet (much less tidy than the rest of the room) was opposite the bed and a wall mounted tv hung beside it. A couple of cords ran down to games and players and such on a stand beneath it. And that was her world. The walls had some pictures, mostly family pics like the rest of the house, but there was one of just a vast open space vista with a brilliantly colored nebula and dotted with bright stars. It didn’t seem to match the rest, but it was quite lovely.

“So that’s it.” She wrapped her arms around herself and waited, chewing her lower lip, for his reaction.

Comments

[runningscams]

A teenager largely living alone was familiar to Han, but the reason was very different. His father could have been home more, but didn’t want to be and this point, he honestly stopped missing the man. Han preferred that, when his dad did stop home, that he wasn’t there for occasion. It wasn’t unprecedented for Han to have to shell out his own money to buy groceries or pay to keep one of the utilities on. It was the way it had been since he’d started racing and working — but he didn’t quite earn enough to maintain a house all by himself.

He didn’t hold it against the people who had it better than him. Sometimes he wished he lived in a nice place like Leia did, though. Maybe he start trying to pick up a little bit more. His run down old place would never look like this, but it could look better than it did.

It was probably a little bit presumptuous to think that he could just sit on her bed without being invited first, but that was Han for you. He followed his instincts and right now his instincts were telling him that it was okay to sit there.

“It’s a nice house, Leia.” He said with a faint smile. She was nervous about what he thought, wasn’t she? “I’m a little bit jealous.”

“I guess I should have asked if you wanted to stay up here before I sat. The bigger TV is downstairs. Is that were you want to hang out?”

[sass_factory]

He seemed like he liked it, she hadn’t intended to make him jealous but for some reason him being comfortable was important to her. Probably why it didn’t bother her that he sat on her bed. She walked over and stood in front of him, hands still nervously twisting. “I hadn’t really thought about it. I mean I have all the same streaming stuff up here and games. The blurays are all down stairs.” She vaguely gestured back the way they’d come.

“I can bring popcorn up here, or pizza. Or we could order food if you’re more hungry than that.” She was trying to be a good hostess, but this was not her usual sort of gathering. Probably also another reason for her tipping that flash back a little more than normal.

“So I guess it’s about what you wanted to do.”

[runningscams]

“I wouldn’t say that I’m hungry right this second.”

Han shrugged out of his jacket and laid it down on the bed. He felt better after having it on for a couple of moments, just as he said.

“What I really need for you to do is relax.” He says, putting his hands on her hips. “I get this feeling like you’re worried I’m just going to bolt on you. I’m not.”

[sass_factory]

“I’m relaxed.” Except that anyone who says it that quickly and that emphatically is not, in fact, relaxed. It was so obvious that even she had to hang her head. “I mean, I want to be.” She liked the way his hands held her, so she rested hers on his shoulders, stroking along his neck and toying with the fringe edges of his hair.

“I like you, and you’re not exactly the usual kind of guy that I’ve gone out with. Maybe that’s why I like you.” She shrugged. “And I don’t want to screw anything up.” Which was possibly exactly what she was doing by talking.

[runningscams]

It was sweet that she cared so much about impressing him. It was nice that she even cared at all about him, honestly. He was used to people coming to quick judgments and not really taking the time to get to know him, so she was already exceeding any expectations he had.

“You’re not screwing anything up.” He says with a slight shake of his head. “I know people don’t really get me, but I promise I’m not as hard to impress as you think I am. You’ve got me here because I like you too.”

With that though uttered, Han disengaged a little so that Leia can join him on the bed.

[sass_factory]

She took a seat beside him and smiled, grateful for the reassurance he offered. She turned and folded her legs under her, tucked in neatly and bracing herself with one hand on he bed.

"So tell me about you. I know you race and you know your way around cars. What else do you like?" She was all ears and rapt attention. If Han wanted to be the sole focus of someones attention he was getting that now, with Leia's big dark eyes fixed on him.

[runningscams]

Han is motivated when people pay attention to him. He also finds himself feeling motivated to make people pay attention to him when he doesn’t feel like he’s being giving him his due. It, probably, made him a little more inclined to talk about himself than he would be otherwise. He was feeling the booze a little bit now, too.

“Motocross is my event. So those big dirty tracks with the jumps are what I do when I’m out racing and I’ve been doing it for a while now.” He said, because he feels like it’s important to specify. “I’ve been competing as semi-pro since I was thirteen. My dad lied on all the forms so that I could start racing early.”

“I work at a garage too. More during the off-season because trying race, work and go to school is kinda hard. It was one my dad used to work at, so the owner was willing to give me a shot. There aren’t so many around that are willing to hire someone so young, you know?”

“My dog, Chewie, is my best friend.” He pauses and adds, “I’m not really sure what to do after graduation. If I graduate. Lot of kids are talking about college applications and I don’t know ...”

He lets his voice trail off and reaches out wordlessly for the flask.

[sass_factory]

"Isn't it dangerous?" She remembered thinking his helmet had been a little beat up, it made sense that it came from racing. But that meant the rest of him had to have taken a beating too, and that concerned her.

"Yeah, that sounds like a lot." Too much really, when did he sleep? But asking something like that was probably not the smartest thing given her general work load, who was she to criticize anyone? But he shouldn't have to work on top of everything else, it just seemed, well, unfair.

"You have a dog?" It was more of an excited utterance than a question, but she light up with it. "We never had pets, we traveled too much and dad said if we weren't there to take care of it properly then we weren't being responsible." She looked down at her knee and picked at a lose thread on her jeans. Head popping up at his next comment, even as she handed him the flask. "Of course you'll graduate. And you can do anything you want to."

[runningscams]

Han takes another sip from the flask. It’s funny how just a couple of personal details felt like revealing too much of himself to Leia. He’s not even all that sure of why it’s so hard for him to talk about these things besides the fact that it wares him down to think on them.

“Yeah. Of course I will.”

He murmurs, but he doesn’t seem all that convinced when he hands back her flask. He’s not doing great in math and if he doesn’t pass ... well, maybe he’d just drop out. He’d only hung in there this long because it seemed dumb to drop out in senior year.

“You can meet him sometime if you like. Chewie’s pretty friendly around most people.”

[sass_factory]

Leia tipped back the flask, finishing the rest of the small container and capping it again. She didn’t shiver nearly as much now and seemed more relaxed, it was probably working some, and his own words had put her at ease as well.

“I’d like to meet him.” She grinned about the dog, maybe he played fetch or something, that could be fun. Not like having her own pet but kind of like borrowing one for a while anyway.

“Hey, I’m pretty good with school stuff.” She laid a hand on his arm. “If you ever want to study or have someone look over a paper I’d be happy to.” And he could come over more, or she could go to his place. She could see him and that would be nice she thought. Really nice. Like his eyes, those were really nice too. Focus , Leia! Be a supportive friend here not some dumb girl with a crush. She looked away from his eyes and shrugged. “If you wanted I mean.”

[runningscams]

“Well, I’m sure we’ll get a chance to.” He says with a nod and a slight. “Won’t be all that hard to arrange time with the dog.”

As for her offer? That he was a little more unsure about. He could use the help, but he would have to be willing to let Leia see him struggle with school work and that was kind of a tough pill to swallow. He wanted her to be impressed by him and not give her reasons to want to run off with JV Football guy.

“I think it would be tough to work out the timing. If I’m at work till nine or ten, it’d be hard to find time for that.” He says, putting a hand on her leg for an affectionate squeeze. “... but it’s nice of you to want to help. I appreciate that.”

[sass_factory]

“Oh.” She seemed a bit crestfallen on that, she did want to help him and that schedule was way more hours that he should be working anyway. He couldn’t be sleeping well. Was he sleeping at all?

She needed to think of something, something that could make his life a little bit easier but also something that wouldn’t insult him. He didn’t strike her at the type that would look kindly on charity or not feeling like he earned something in his own way. It would take some thinking but there had to be some options out there. Leia believed there were always options if you looked hard enough and pushed for them.

But, either way, “I’m glad you had time to come over tonight. I’ve had a really good time with you so far.” And then there was a follow up on that. “So, how long can you stay?”

[runningscams]

He worked two nights during the week as well as longer shifts on the weekends. It was a real struggle to open his books after getting out that late and that was probably part of the problem. Who wanted to look at homework after that long of a day? Certainly not Han, who struggle to see a lot of the point of school work to begin with.

“I have no timetable for when I need to get back.” He says and then, thinks about it for a moment. “I mean, I have to feed and let out Chewie in the morning, but I wasn’t thinking that you wanted to put up with me all night.”

Or did she?

[sass_factory]

Leia made a note to think more about this when she hadn’t been drinking or excited from a dance or, well, sitting on her bed with a hot guy. Because, yeah that was seriously distracting in what she considered the best possible way.

She licked her lips and shrugged. “I mean you were down for a horror movie so if I get scared you’re pretty much going to have to stay. Leaving would just be ungentlemanly.” Right? So she stretched and grabbed the remote off her nightstand, baring a substantial bit of belly as she did. She pulled back and handed him the remote. “If you want to pick something out I can go make us some popcorn.” That had sounded pretty casual right? Not at all like she was nervous about it. If he only knew how much farther he’d already made it than Robert he might not worry about the JV guy anymore. Poor Robert had never even made it past the 50 yard line and there was Han practically in the in zone.

[runningscams]

Gentlemanly is exactly what he’d been trying to be. There had been a little bit of flirting between them, sure. A few kisses at the dance had been a little more suggestive that there was chemistry between them, but he’d still not gotten a clear picture of exactly what kind of friend Leia was looking for him to be. He was older than her. It seemed more important to be sure, in this case, or maybe he was more nervous about messing up in front of her.

Regardless. The kind of boy that spent the night over when her father wasn’t home was a pretty big hint.

“You know I think you’re right about that. I probably should stay.” There was a mischievous edge to Han’s smile now. He felt a little more free to act like Leia was more than a friend all of a sudden. “I’ll start scrolling through Netflix and have something picked out when you come back.”

But before she goes, the scruffy-haired scoundrel gives her reason to hurry back in the form of a kiss.

[sass_factory]

The kiss caught her unprepared but she practically melted into it, leaning hard against him and some sort of noise a sigh or something escaped her. He was such a good kisser. When she pulled back her cheeks were flushed and her eyes just a tiny bit shining.

“Ok, I’ll just go… popcorn…” Her words were failing her a little as she walked for the door, sort of sideways to keep looking at him and then took another long look before she stepped into the hall.

She had three minutes, give or take, for the popcorn and dashed downstairs to start it. After the beeps of the microwave she went into the smaller downstairs bathroom to brush her hair and teeth and dab on just a little fresh eye liner. She looked at herself and turned in the mirror, she thought she looked pretty good, if a bit pink.

When the microwave beeped she dumped the popcorn in a bowl, grabbed a couple cans of coke and headed back upstairs, walking slower now that she’d had a chance to chill a bit. She was already speaking when she rounded the door and stepped in the room. “I hope coke is ok, if not there’s water and iced tea, or I could look for something else.”

[runningscams]

Han had help himself to her remote controls and true to his word, he spent those three minute that she had been downstairs picking out a movie for them to watch. But. Also getting comfortable in her room. He got up to hang his coat over the back of her chair and then he arranged himself in a comfortable way — back against the headboard, pillows in a pile for him to lean against.

After that, he commenced scrolling and decided on ‘The Conjuring’. It didn’t seem that old and appeared to be about a creepy porcelain doll. It looked unsettling in the preview so it should have Leia curling into him when it started to get spooky. He hit ‘play movie’ and immediately hit the pause button so it was ready.

“Coke is fine.” He says with a slight nod to the TV. “The movie is all set.” She’ll notice Han’s legs are slightly spread apart and it would be a perfect place for a Leia to get cozy in.

[sass_factory]

He'd made himself at home, now that she saw him sprawled on her bed she felt like maybe her bed was small, first time she’d ever had that thought. Leia sat the bowl of popcorn on the bed and the cokes on the nightstand in easy reach. She started to get on the bed but then eased back and crossed near to the door and flipped off the lights. Couldn’t very well watch a scary movie with the lights on right? Defeated the purpose.

“Ok.” She returned to the bed and eyeing how he was situated it seemed like she could sit very comfortably in front of him, so she did. Easing herself down and leaning back against him. He was warm and it felt really nice resting against him. Like it had on the bike except no wind, and she wasn’t staring at his back of course. As an afterthought she pulled out her hair tie so it wouldn’t be in his face, her long brown hair fell over one shoulder and she twirled it around a finger. “So what did you pick?” She asked, fishing a few kernels out of the bowl.

[runningscams]

“The Conjuring.” Han said in a murmur. “Looks like a movie about a creepy doll.”

Now that Leia was there and they were ready for the movie, Han hit play. She had picked a good spot for getting cozy together and within moments, he’d managed to slink an arm around her waist. He wasn’t pulling her against him just yet, but he probably would get to that a while in.

If she didn’t move, that is. If she did? Then he’d change plans. He reached for his own handful of their buttery snack and tried not to much directly in her ear.

[sass_factory]

She'd heard about that one, but hadn't watched it. It had sounded scary and dolls, save the two stuffies she was now a little chagrined at being beside them on the bed, were always creepy.

"Sounds pretty scary." She settled back against him, nibbling on popcorn as the screen filled with a really terrible looking doll as a girl started telling story about the doll and a spirit. The story unfolded about the doll moving on it's own and Leia tensed up slightly, leaning forward as the story drew her in.

She jerked when the walls started pounding and drew her knees up, planting her feet close to her bottom.

[runningscams]

If he was being honest? He definitely settled on something he thought might get her wanting to turn away from the screen half-way through. The idea that Leia might want to snuggle into his chest and largely ignore the film, or even turn it off, was not something you’d hear him complaining about.

That said. Getting her really anxious and afraid wasn’t very sexy. He didn’t know he well enough to know how well she handled a horror film and now he was starting to wonder if maybe he made a bad choice.

“Is this one okay?” He murmured so softly into her ear that it might be hard to hear over the movie. “We can change it if you want.”

[sass_factory]

Leia jumped slightly when his breath and words were right there at her ear. It broke her tension and made her laugh lightly at her own reaction. She turned and he was right there near her, tip of her nose almost grazing him. “No,” She whispered, “this is fine. Just.. don’t let go, ok?” She held his arm around her, his hand warm on the sheer fabric that separated him from her skin.

Leia swallowed and settled a bit more back against him, though her attention was not as drawn by the film anymore.

[runningscams]

When Leia turned to him and ended up that close, he couldn’t help but notice the way that it made him feel. A little turned on. A little exposed exposed by how deeply she was suddenly looking into his hazel eyes, but he didn’t turn away.

“Yeah. Sure.”

It only took a slight nod to assure that he heard her and anything more would have bumped their heads together. She felt his arm flex more closely against her while turned back to the screen. Where they had started close, but not too close, their bodies had now settled in a way that was pressing against each other. It was different than all the grazing they had done up until this point and Han was having a bit of trouble paying attention all of a sudden.

He reached over for another handful of popcorn and didn’t try so hard to not chew in her ear this time. He was feeling the way that they were laying right now and he didn’t want to spoil it.

[sass_factory]

It was dumb to get scared over a stupid movie, but it had scared her and she had curled up. But he'd been so sweet, and with his arm holding her like that she felt safe enough to relax and be amused or embarrassed by her own silliness. But still it felt really good sitting with him like this, her back against his chest, his arm secure around her she could felt his movement when he shifted for popcorn.

Leia was not so much pay attention to the film as she was their closeness when a jump scare came and she did as intended. Leia turned to the side, ducking into him, her knees drawn up, her head on his chest, her hand holding the side of his neck. She was barely a tiny little ball of a girl curled up against him.

"I hate when they do that."

[runningscams]

She had completely and entirely curled against him. Which was a bit of surprise to him. She had mentioned getting a little bit scared during horror movies, but he almost wondered if she was playing it up to get close to him.

... As if she needed to ...

“The jump scares?” Han murmured softly, just before pressing a soft kiss into her temple. “It’s easy to tell when they’re coming. The sound gets all quiet before hand.”