Isabella started awake at the sound of her comm ringing, loud and obnoxious– and far, far too early in her opinion.

The mattress shifted and she heard a deep groan. Crosshair's voice was rougher than usual, “Ugh, don’t answer–” He was face down covered almost entirely in the thick covers, an almost disembodied arm reached blindly for the offending noise.

Kriff, that's sexy, the thought burned in her chest. Isabella dodged his aimless move easily, “It’s Desi. Could be an emergency–”

Voice still muffled by the pillows, he countered, “They’ve got it covered–” This time, he emerged from the covers, hair attractively mussed, leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder.

With some effort, she resisted the urge to lean down and return the kiss and have a very different kind of wake up call. Instead, she angled herself just enough to keep Crosshair out of frame and answered the call, “Desi? What’s wrong? Is everything alright?”

The face of her dearest friend appeared on the holo, her face bright and full of energy, “Yes, Izzy, everything’s fine– wait.” She paused, squinting suspiciously, “Are you still in bed?”

“Mhmm.” Isabella nodded, hoping the fact that she’d just woken up would hide the renewed flush of her cheeks.

“Wow, two days in a row! That’s gotta be a record for you. Did Crosshair tie you down or something?”

Isabella coughed, catching Crosshair’s slight devious smile out of the corner of her eye, and shot Desi an intense glare.

“Oh, based on that blush maybe he should.”

“Anyway!”

Crosshair chuckled beside her and she shot him a wide eyed warning glare.

If Desi noticed, she said nothing. She clicked her tongue and grinned, “Alright, well, up you get! Get dressed. I’m on my way with pastries, but I still have to stop for the caf. You want your usual?”

Isabella gasped, almost choking on her own saliva, “No!” She yelled.

“No…” Desi scrutinized her friend more closely, “Izzy, you never say no to caf and pastries…” Movement drew her eyes down and to the side, Crosshair’s arm had wrapped around Izzy’s waist, pulling her closer. “Oooh! No wonder you’re still in bed.” Her eyebrows wiggled provocatively,  “Chuckles, that wasn’t really what I meant by keeping her busy, but…”

Isabella could feel his cheeky smile against her back and he mumbled, “It worked, didn’t it?” Earning him a swift elbow to his side.

“I’ll meet you at the Cafe, Desi.” Izzy snapped out a quick goodbye and ended the comm. “You both are going to end me.”

Crosshair, arm still curled around her waist, pulled her in close, finding comfort in how she simply followed the tug of his arm and curled up against him once more. Later his mind would likely find some way to convince him he should be afraid of the closeness they’d developed, or how much he craved it, but for now he would indulge.

Shortly, and much shorter than either truly wanted, Isabella extracted herself from their tangled embrace, and the enticing warmth of the covers, and placed a parting kiss to his temple. She took her time getting dressed, taking care of all her hygienic needs, before turning her focus to fixing her tangled hair. She sat at her small desk which was situated in the corner across the small room. She leaned forward, staring into the small mirror and willing her curls into braids, then forming the braids around two large buns. In the reflection, she watched as Crosshair sat up on the bed. His hair was wildly messy atop his head and she had to bite her lip to suppress the heat building at the sight of him. His eyes met hers in the reflection and he arched an eyebrow at her. Caught!

She cleared her throat, ignoring the pounding of her heart in her ears, and said, “Feel free to make yourself at home… not that you have to just sit around waiting for me to come back. You can leave, if you want. But you're welcome to stay…too.” She looked down instinctively as she stumbled over her words, feeling slightly like an awkward teen talking to their crush. 

When she looked back up, Crosshair rolled his eyes and stood, in two long strides he was behind her with a self satisfied smirk, “Hunter and Omega wanted me to come by to help with something, anyway. He thinks I'm avoiding him.”

“Are you avoiding him?”

“Only when he's being a pest…” Isabella stared pointedly at him and he shrugged, “So, Yes.”

She shook her head and stood, now finished with her hair, and reached a hand up to run her fingers through his curls “You've really let it grow out. I like it.”

He paused, thinking for a moment, then shrugged, “Hmm.” He glanced at the chrono and made a shooing motion, “Go on, don't keep Desi waiting.”

She nodded, gathered her things and took one last glance in the mirror before heading to the door, taking the leather jacket Crosshair had gifted her. She halted at the threshold and turned back around, biting her lip, “You– You could come back tonight… And stay. If you want.”

He hesitated only briefly, crushing the sharp tinge of fear in his chest, “Would you like me to, Bells?”

Her stomach bottomed out and she swore he could hear her heart thumping across the room. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, unable or too afraid to say the words out loud.

“Hmm?” He smirked playfully, but his eyes darkened slightly.

“I'd like you to stay, Cross.”

A simple nod, “I'll be here.”

The Cafe was only a ten minute walk from her home. It was set on a lovely overlook of the West side of the island with a striking view of the ocean against the horizon. The owner, an elderly Twi'lek couple who’d lived on Pabu for three generations, had cultivated a lovely hanging garden for customers to sit beneath as they enjoyed their drinks. Izzy had chosen their favorite table beneath an aromatic array of florals and with a direct view of the waters below. 

“Have a nice long night, Izzy?” Desi teased as Izzy took a seat across from her.

“You’re terrible.” She chuckled but leaned in and winked, “But yes.”

“Crosshair’s really brought out so much more of your personality, Izzy. I've missed that. And he seems as determined as I am to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

“Yes–yes, I get it. I’m bad at taking my own advice…” She sighed, leaning back and staring up at the flowers hanging above. It was a beautiful arrangement of colors against the bright blue of Pabu’s sky. The view always gave her a strange sense of nostalgic longing. She sighed, “Aren’t we a pair… First, he refuses to take care of himself and now he’s throwing my own words back at me.”

Desi mumbled under her breath, “Hm. Wonder what that could be like…”

“Listen–” Izzy sat up straighter, grabbing her cup with both hands, a soothing action.

“I guess the grump’s not too bad…” Desi  chuckled.

Izzy’s eyes squinted, “Wait– that sounded almost like– approval. Desi, who are you?” 

“I never said I didn’t approve! You have every right to be interested in whoever you want. I just wanted to be clear that if he hurt you I’d break his face.” Desi shrugged and her face softened as she spoke, “It did take some time, but I think he’s growing on me. It’s obvious that he truly cares for you, Izzy. And that’s all that I ask.”

She sipped her caf slowly, “Didn’t take you two long to gang up on me though…”

Desi huffed, “Well if you’d stop pretending every other person is more important than you, then we wouldn’t have to.”

The force of her words shook Izzy, guilt and shame souring the contents of her stomach.

Desi reached across the table, placing her hand softly over her friend’s. “I don’t think you understand how important you are to people– to me. And now to Crosshair.” She gave a gentle squeeze, “Izzy, you have people who love you and when you refuse to take care of yourself and prioritize every other person but yourself– It scares me. We’ve both lost enough family. I don’t want to lose you, too.”

Barely managing to hold back her tears, Izzy met her eyes, “You’re right, Desi,  I’m sorry. I–I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask.”

After a heavy moment of silence, Desi smirked, “Now, tell me about this date with Crosshair…”

Crosshair didn’t wait long after Isabella left before getting himself ready to go, aside from taking the time to brew a cup of caf, which he drank while he tidied the room. He located all clothing articles, his boots, and the bag he’d borrowed from Wrecker and made one last sweep of the room for anything missing or out of place. He still had a few hours before he was set to meet with Hunter and Omega, but he couldn’t stay. It was too uncomfortable being in her space without her there, even if she had invited him to stick around. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he didn’t belong here without her.

Finally ready to go, he sat for a moment on the end of the bed sighing to himself. Perhaps he had been avoiding Hunter… maybe. He didn’t particularly want to see that smug look on his face when he asked about Isabella. Kriff, I hate it when he’s right.

[A few weeks ago-]

“So– When are you going to stop brooding about her–”

“Hunter.”

“She’s shut herself up behind endless work. You're worried and you're taking it out on everyone else.”

“It's fine, Hunter. Keep your nose out of it.”

“Look, you need to talk to her. She listens to you. And then apologize to Omega… after your last lesson she came back in a rage mumbling about you calling her shots lazy and sloppy. She hasn't stopped practicing but to eat and sleep for days.”

“She's dedicated. That's good.”

“Crosshair… you shouted at her and she still hit every target. She's just a kid.”

“Fine. But not because you told me to… Because Bells is gonna kill herself if she keeps going like this.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself, Cross.”

He had later “apologized” to Omega by gifting her a stabilizing attachment for her bow. It seemed to be enough.

Crosshair sighed, mentally waving away those thoughts, running a hand over his short curls, the feeling bringing a sudden warmth to his chest. Maybe I’ll keep it for a little longer, the thought. He took time to water the little struggling plant Bells kept in the kitchen and secure the area before leaving. He made mental notes of unsecured entry and exit points and resolved to talk to Bells later about fixing them.

It was a rare quiet walk to Hunter’s, a soft, warm breeze adding a strange sort of melancholy that Crosshair couldn’t put his finger on. So he elected to ignore it.

Before the house even came into view, Crosshair could hear Omega, she yelled something unintelligible at Hunter, followed by that unmistakable laugh. As he rounded the corner, Omega came running with a wild grin on her face, nearly crashing into him in her haste. Little menace.

“Crosshair!” She grabbed his hand and tugged, wasting no time with any further greetings.

He sighed but followed the tug of her hand. She led him into their yard, it was strewn about with tools, paints, and various sizes of brushes. Once there she let go of his hand and rushed off inside, leaving him standing awkwardly in the yard. Wonderful.

“You done avoiding me yet?”

Crosshair rolled his eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic, Hunter.”

Hunter ignored the dry comment, cocking an eyebrow with an infuriating smirk, “...How was your date?”

“Off limits.” “

He clicked his tongue, “What's not off limits?”

Omega burst out from the house with a startlingly familiar helmet, catching Crosshair's attention, “Where’d you find this thing, Kid?” He lifted it from her hands, rotating it slowly to get a good look. It was a standard issue clone cadet helmet. 

She beamed up at him and pulled it back from his grasp, “Echo brought it back with him, said he thought I’d need it looking after you two.” She plopped it over her head with a dull ‘shunk’, “‘Sa little big, though.” Her voice was muffled within the helm.

He rapped his knuckles twice against the top, “You’ll grow into it.”

Hunter grumbled quietly, “-Rather she didn’t…”

Crosshair rolled his eyes and tapped the top of Omega’s helmet once more for good measure. “Didn’t you need help with something?”

Omega was spurred to action, grabbing Crosshair’s hand and pulling him to follow her, “Come here! I want to customize my armor– like you did, like our squad!” He was led around the side of the yard where splayed out on the ground were various small pieces of armor, not a full kit, but enough. Omega sized. Shoulder pauldrons, vambraces, leg and shin guard attachments, a chest plate, and the newest addition– the helmet. They’d all been stripped of any identifying marks or colors and it was obvious she’d spent time cleaning and caring for each piece.

She removed the helmet, holding it against her side, like a soldier. Hunter’s voice was clipped, “I tried to tell her she doesn’t need armor…” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Omega rolled her eyes and fixed him with a pointed glare, “Hunter, I’ve been captured by the Empire twice…”

He cleared his throat and huffed a heavy sigh, “Doesn’t hurt to be prepared...”

Her face lit up- victory! She bounced and ran back to gather the brushes and paint.

Crosshair leaned in close to Hunter, “Gave you the Tooka Eyes?”

“...”

“You’ve gone soft, Hunter.” Crosshair teased.

“She wanted you here, too. For this. Wanted us to work on it together.”

“...I'll check my schedule.”

Back she came, a chaotic whirlwind, with arms precariously full of small cans of paint and various sizes of paint brushes, “Tech and I made the rest of the pieces! What do you think?” She dropped the items in a messy pile, yanking a small item from the bottom and holding it out on display, “Oh! And Wrecker gave me this–” in her hand was a miniature Lula attachment, likely for a belt or bag, “He said it’s for disarming explosives!”

Omega was vibrating with excitement, jumping up and down, “We should update your armor, too, Crosshair.”

“My armor is fine…”

She leaned up, eyes sparkling and big as saucers, “Oh! Maybe Izzy can help!”

He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, “O-kay- Slow down, kid.”

Hunter didn’t bother hiding his laugh, earning a glare from Crosshair, then walked away towards the mess of paint supplies.

Omega became suddenly quiet, watching her brothers preparing the area for their joint project.

“What’s all this about, Omega?” Hunter had that concerned dad look on his face, “The armor, the painting, you’ve been training with Wrecker and Tech more. I know you want to be prepared–”

Omega squared her shoulders, “I don’t want my family to be forgotten… The Empire’s not going to stop, they’re not slowing down, and I’m gonna be ready. And when it happens I’ll have you all with me.” She kneels down next to the armor and touches the helmet softly. 

Crosshair and Hunter remain silent for a long moment before locking eyes and nodding at each other. Hunter placed a hand over hers, “They won’t stand a chance.”

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