"Want to dance?" a warm voice asked coming up behind her.

"You know I don't dance," she said dryly taking another slow drink of her wine. She'd been nursing it for almost an hour now as the festivities continued.

"Come on," he cajoled dropping himself into the chair next to her and gesturing to the dance floor. "That doesn't even really count as dancing. It's mostly just swaying. You should be able to handle that."

"Not going to happen, Andor."

"How about after another drink?"

"If you're so desperate to dance, go ask Kay."

Cassian gave a short laugh. "Kay always tries to lead and can only do the waltz."

"Ask Shara."
"Already taken by Kes," he said pointing out on the dance floor where the couple was doing more making out than dancing.

"How about Leia?"

"Her and Han disappeared into the garden about an hour ago and they're either still fighting or starting in on the other type of foreplay."

She rolled her eyes. "You could ask to cut in on Bodhi and Luke?"

"And interrupt the happy couple? I would never. Come on, Jyn, just one dance, humor me. It's your brother's wedding for goodness sake."

"Brother's wedding or not, I still don't dance," Jyn said resolutely.

"It's really not that hard."

"Says you," Jyn snorted. "You always look like you know what you're doing. I always look like a floundering idiot."

"It's not like I haven't seen it before," Cassian teased. Jyn shot him a glare that dared him to go on. She swore she was going to punch him in the face if he brought up the high school dance where she'd been spun into the refreshment table, ass-first into the punch bowl, by an overeager Ruescott Melshi. A freshman at the time, she hadn't thought she could be anymore embarrassed, but when her well-liked brother and his other junior friends, including Cassian, and started to laugh she'd thought she was going to die. Bodhi had of course apologized the second he'd realized she was upset, but the damage had been done and she'd decided dancing wasn't her thing.

"I'll make you look good, just trust me."

"No dice, I don't trust anyone that much," Jyn shrugged.

"You danced with your father earlier."

"Yeah, well, my father has better threats than you," she said moodily. Her generally absentee father had played the one card he knew she wouldn't fight – it's what your mother would have wanted. So she'd let him spin her around the dance floor once and done a quick dance with Bodhi before stubbornly finding a chair to watch the revelries from afar. Cassian wouldn't be stupid or tasteless enough to try and evoke her mother's memory just to get her to dance though.

"Hey, I'm sure I can find some sort of blackmail to use if that's what it takes." Cassian gave her a slow dangerous smile. "I'm sure everyone would love the story about the time I caught you practicing kissing on a pillow."

"Don't you dare, Andor," Jyn threatened. She'd been 14 at the time and thought she was home alone. Cassian had always been naturally stealthy and he'd slipped into the living room looking for some CD Bodhi had sent him searching for. "If you even think about it, I'll tell Han who told Leia about his and Lando's trip to the strip club last month."

The grin quickly morphed into a glare. "You play dirty."

"You're the one who narced to Leia."

"I thought she knew! I didn't think Han was brave enough or stupid enough to go to a strip club without telling her," Cassian defended. "Besides I've already suffered for that. I was home when she decided to light into him about it, to which he decided his best defense was saying that strippers needed to make a living too." Jyn winced at that. "Yeah, that resulted in a two hour long fight that ranged from yelling about toxic masculinity, honesty in a relationship, and defending sex workers rights without being the one to employ them."

"You're just lucky she decided to do it in your guys' apartment and not ours, or you would have had to deal with my wrath too," Jyn shot back. She'd been trapped by more than one of Leia and Han's fights in their apartment. Cassian and her had rotated putting up with the volatile couple since Han had first become roommates with Cassian two years ago. Bodhi had moved out to move in with Luke, and Luke had recommended his new friend Han as a good replacement since Kay refused to live with anyone. Jyn still wasn't sure what Luke had been thinking despite it seeming to have worked out in the end.

Jyn was just thankful that after a year and a half of pure fighting her roommate and Han had finally admitted their mutual attraction. Given she'd now heard some uncomfortable things through their shared bedroom wall and it was always an on-again, off-again affair, but Jyn figured it was too late to replace her entire friend set.

Jyn and Leia had met in a women's studies class sophomore year of college and had bonded over ripping the patriarchy a new one. After college they had decided to be roommates and moved into the apartment across the hall from her brother and Cassian. Between three years in college and four years living together after, she figured she and Leia were lifers.

"Jyn, please? I'm bored. Kay already headed back to the hotel and everyone is pairing off."

"So go get another drink. There must be some other eligible woman here for you to hit on."

"I literally know everyone at this wedding. There isn't. Dance with me."

"Never," Jyn said decisively. "But you can get me another drink while you're getting your own."

Cassian grumbled but headed off and Jyn grinned. She enjoyed annoying Cassian, since she'd always felt too guilty to really give Bodhi a hard time as he was so tender hearted. Her father had adopted him when Jyn was 6 and Bodhi was 9. Bodhi and Jyn's mothers had been friends since college and colleagues after that. When Galen's job had taken them to America, the Rooks had followed shortly after as Lyra was able to get a job for Bodhi's mother working alongside her at a university. They'd both been killed in the same terrible car accident about a year later. With no other family to take Bodhi in Galen had adopted him, not that her already distraught father had known what to do with another child. He hadn't even known how to handle his own after her mother's passing and buried himself in his work. Jyn was grateful every day of her life that at least she and Bodhi had had each other to cling to.

In fact, it'd probably made them overly attached to each other, which was most likely partially to blame for why she'd originally hated Cassian. When Bodhi had first brought his new friend home to work on a school project somewhere in the middle of his freshman year of high school, Cassian had seemed cold and unfriendly and had dismissed Jyn almost immediately, being particularly condescending when she'd made a suggestion on the boys' project, which had quickly devolved into a shouting match. Bodhi had made the fatal mistake of backing up Cassian instead of siding with her, which was rare in and of itself, and she would realize years later that that may have been due to Bodhi having a slight crush on Cassian at the start, but at the time she may have called them both assholes and stormed away to sulk in her room. Jyn had made a point of giving him the cold shoulder whenever Bodhi brought him over after that, which had also been an insult in and of itself that Bodhi still wanted to hang out with him when Jyn so clearly disapproved, and Cassian had barely acknowledged her presence in return.

Things probably would have stayed that way if Jyn hadn't realized Cassian was almost as fiercely protective of his friends as she was, not that she'd had many friends outside of her brother at the time. She'd been at one of her brother's soccer matches and overheard some boys making fun of Bodhi behind his back. She'd been about to round the corner of the concession stand and intervene when Cassian had showed up out of nowhere and verbally destroyed them, second language not holding him back for a moment. In fact she'd looked up some of the Spanish words he'd laced into the tirade later and been even more impressed. He hadn't known she was there and she'd never told him, but she'd gone out of her way to be nicer to him after that and, while confused, he'd ultimately responded in kind.

They hadn't really gotten close until college though, when Cassian had taken computer science as an elective his junior year and had had to swallow his pride and ask her freshman self for help. Not to mention she often crashed at his and Bodhi's off-campus apartment when her randomly assigned freshman year roommate turned out to be more interested in fucking every dude she could get her hands on rather than attending college classes or sleeping. Even after that roommate, Bodhi and Cassian hadn't been able to get rid of her once she'd realized Cassian knew how to cook. She was pretty sure Cassian enjoyed feeding people even though he'd never admit it and always grumbled about her being a mooch.

A glass of wine materialized in front of her and she beamed. "Took you long enough."

"My apologies, I didn't realize you were waiting for me."

Jyn froze as she reached for the glass. She knew that oily voice and worked to make her face neutral. "Mr. Krennic."

"Jynnie, how many times have I told you to call me Orson?" the man said settling into the seat next to her.

Jyn gave him a smile that probably looked more like a grimace, but she'd never been good at hiding her feelings so it was the best she could do. Krennic had worked with her father ever since she was a child. Her mother had never liked him, nor her godfather Saw Gerrera, and as Jyn grew up she'd started to see why. The man was a snake of the first order, still he was a good money man and lobbyist and made her father's work with clean energy possible, even if it often meant he had to lease his brilliant mind to less peaceful classified projects in exchange for that funding. There'd been more than one fight in her household over Krennic before her mother had died, and after it'd been the final wedge between her father and her godfather. Jyn had a feeling the man in question would be more than proud to hear it. He'd always been weirdly obsessed with her father and been one of the many forces that kept Galen late in the office. Not that her father wasn't a workaholic on his own, Jyn had spent much of her childhood missing her father, but Krennic knew just how to manipulate the man into working harder, longer hours or going to just one more networking event for the "betterment of the world."

If that wasn't enough reason to dislike him, Krennic had taken more and more of an interest in her as she got older and always asked weirdly intrusive questions and made gross comments about her physical appearance and personal life. Nothing forward enough to ever really call him on it without making a scene and fucking up her father's work, and he was always careful to only do it when she was alone, but she always felt uncomfortable when he was around. Bodhi had made certain she didn't get left alone with him at the work and family functions they'd felt obligated to invite Krennic to, but she couldn't very well expect Bodhi to be watching out for her at his own wedding. Tonight was probably not the night to punch the man in the face, although she'd debated it for years.

"It was a beautiful wedding," Krennic commented eyeing Bodhi and Luke on the dance floor, "Even if it was between two men." Jyn's fist tightened under the table, maybe tonight was the night after all. "You look lovely though. Although I'll never understand why your generation feels the need to wear such form fitting things. I'm sure you have other qualities that would attract a man if properly applied." Jyn grit her teeth and debated throwing her wine at him as a compromise. "Are you still working at that dreadful little gym, darling? I keep telling your father we could use your computer skills at the lab if you ever actually want to use your degree and get a real job again."

Krennic never missed a chance to remind her she was failing at life. She'd landed a plush corporate job with her computer science degree after college, but quickly found she hated the corporate world, and gone back to her college job as a personal trainer. At least Saw had given her a few useful skills to remember him by before he'd fucked off and left her to go god knows where with his little anti-establishment environmental terrorist group or whatever the government was calling it these days. Saw hadn't had any clue how to help a mourning little girl who followed him around for lack of any other type of mentor and had decided he'd just incorporate her into his own routine of physical training based on a stint in the military, his own boxing history, and whatever he thought was necessary for the coming 'end times'. With that and a little bit of studying it'd been easy to get her personal trainer certificate in college. The "dreadful little gym" was actually a nice gym in midtown owned and run by Baze Malbus and Chirrut Imwe who had quickly become more family than mere employers, though through no real choice of her own.

"I'm doing fine on my own, thanks," Jyn said taking a sip of her wine and debating how to leave this conversation faster.

"As always," Krennic said mockingly. He reached out and put his hand over the one she'd stupidly left on the table. "So, Jynnie, anyone special in your life right now?"

And this is where the gross intrusive questioning would start. Jyn pulled her hand away on the pretense of pushing her hair back and opened her mouth to say something biting about not needing someone else to make her happy. She was startled by another wine glass set down in front of her and an arm slung around her shoulders.

"Mr. Krennic," Cassian said lightly nodding towards the older man.

"Ah, Andor, is it?" Krennic said pursing his lips and leaning back in his chair. "I don't believe I've seen you since you were in high school. I didn't realize you were still hanging about the Ersos. I hadn't realized they kept in such good contact with their high school friends."

"We actually all went to college together too," Cassian corrected. "Bodhi and I were roommates for years."

"Oh, you went to college? What a surprise. Well a man should always work to better himself. It's always so inspiring when people rise above their situation."

Cassian gave him a smile that Jyn had seen flashed at racist assholes and misogynistic bros before Cassian destroyed them. She gripped his knee to warn him off. Not that Krennic didn't deserve it, but she and Cassian really did not need to start a fight at Bodhi's wedding. They'd never hear the end of it, especially not since Jyn was often spoiling for a fight and somehow Cassian always got roped into backing her up so they were a little notorious for getting into trouble and causing scenes. "Yep, graduated and everything," Cassian said instead of whatever he had been about to say.

"And where do you work now? At the gym with Jynnie here?"

"I work for Senator Bail Organa."

"Oh, that does make sense," Krennic scoffed.

"How do you mean?"

"Well it makes sense you'd want to give back to your own people," Krennic said waving a hand in the air. "I mean the man is practically a socialist. You'll forgive me if I'm not getting in line to give my money away to a lazy poor person who can't figure out how to hold down a job. I mean look at you, you were able to get a good education and a job despite your background when you put your mind to it. Other people should be able to as well. Not expecting hand outs from the government."

Cassian tensed further next to her and Jyn had no intention of listening to a well-reasoned argument for the next 20 minutes that would have absolutely no impact on the asshole across from her. Some people didn't want to learn, they just wanted to be proven right and nothing else mattered or penetrated their preconceived notions. No matter what Cassian said, Krennic wasn't about to change anytime soon. "Don't mind him, Cassian," Jyn said with a forced little laugh. "Mr. Krennic is just mad that Senator Organa blocked that military spending bill that would have benefitted one of his favorite clients."

"Pity," Cassian said dryly taking a sip of his beer. Jyn relaxed her fingers on his knee and shot him a smile.

"Yes, well we'll see how long that lasts," Krennic said shortly. "So Jynnie, you never answered my question."

"Oh?" she asked playing dumb and leaning into Cassian purely to put more space between her and Krennic.

"Still single as always?" Krennic asked sounding irritated. Cassian laughed at her side and she subtly jammed an elbow into his ribs. "Something funny, Andor?"

"Nothing at all."

"As I was saying," Krennic started. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be alone for so many years. Maybe if you were working in a real workplace you'd meet some eligible bachelors."

"Because you know the only reason to enter the workforce is to snag yourself a man," Cassian said wryly.

Krennic raised an eyebrow. "It does tend to filter out the underserving rabble you'd meet at say a bar. She should want to find a good man and have children before she gets too old. It does tend to sneak up on women now that they put off marriage for so long. I know your generation is all about playing fast and loose, but you deserve better than that, Jynnie. I know how your father worries since you're often a bit rough around the edges."

Jyn grit her teeth and focused on her wine. She hated this man. She really did not want to admit to him that she was just as single as always despite have little to no interest in marriage or children. She'd had two men that could possibly count as boyfriends in her life and neither were anything to write home about. She didn't even care, love was for people looking to get hurt, she just really didn't want to listen to the condescending comments laced with pity that were sure to follow the admission.

"Jyn's with me."

"I beg your pardon?" Krennic asked as Jyn whipped around to look at Cassian in surprise.

"Jyn and I are dating," Cassian said with a perfectly convincing casual shrug. He always was better at lying than she was. "Have been for almost a year now. I'm surprised Galen hasn't mentioned it."

"I'd expect he's trying to keep it quiet," Krennic snapped turning a vicious look on Jyn as if she'd personally wronged him. He opened his mouth again and she swore to all things holy that if he mentioned Cassian's race she was going to slug him, wedding or not. Bodhi and Luke probably wouldn't even mind once she explained. "I mean who'd want to be associated with Organa even by proxy?"

Jyn relaxed and belatedly realized Cassian had wrapped his arm more tightly around her, obviously anticipating her throwing a punch considering she'd done it on his behalf before. "I believe Papa voted for him actually, seeing as how Organa is a big supporter of clean energy and all." She felt more than heard Cassian stifle a laugh at her side.

"Well, as fun as this has been," Cassian started standing up from the table and Jyn had a brief panic that he was going to leave her. Instead he offered her a hand. "Jyn promised me a dance." What an absolute asshole. Jyn shot him an unamused look, to which he just benignly smiled back at, and she sighed in defeat before taking his hand and standing up. "Good to see you, Mr. Krennic. Do enjoy the wedding."

"You played dirty," Jyn said as soon as they were on the dance floor and Cassian pulled her into his arms.

"If you want to hang out with Krennic, by all means you're free to go back to the table," he said easily.

She stepped on his toes just for good measure. "Obviously I don't want that."

"You and Bodhi always said he was a creep, but I hadn't experienced the full force of it till now. Sorry about the 'us dating thing,' he just pissed me off talking about you like you couldn't get a boyfriend if you wanted one or like you needed one. Not that he was probably impressed with you picking me, but still."

"It's fine," Jyn said frowning down at their feet and trying to predict his next move. "Krennic has always been bizarrely obsessed with my dating life."

"Stop looking down," Cassian chastised. "Just stop resisting and follow my lead." Jyn stuck her tongue out at him. "He's probably been fantasizing about you for years."

"Gross," she hissed smacking his arm. "Probably true, but so fucking gross." He laughed and spun her out from him and back into his arms. Cassian had a great laugh even if it was rarely used. "And Krennic is an idiot if he's not impressed by you. Any girl would be lucky to have you."
Cassian's eyebrow shot up in surprise. "Is that so? What brought on this sudden bout of charity?"

"Shut up," she said rolling her eyes and stumbling through another step. "As if you don't know you're a catch, Mr. Committed to the cause, do-gooder extraordinaire with a serious respectable job and a charming personality you can turn on at the drop of a hat, topped off by a sexy accent. Every time you come into the gym I have women asking me about you."

"How much have you had to drink?" Cassian asked with another beautiful, casual laugh.

Jyn glowered. This is what she got for trying to be kind. "I've said nice things to you before."

"Through gritted teeth," he teased.

"I'm sorry Krennic was so awful to you."

Cassian shrugged. "I've run into people like that before."

"Still, you shouldn't have to put up with it," she argued, feeling herself get worked up all over again. "You're twice the man he could ever hope to be, and it's bullshit that he gets to think he's better than you. Just know that if I ever do get married he certainly isn't invited no matter what's socially appropriate."

"I think you should invite him, if only just to torture him. Force him to think about your wedding night and all."

Jyn snorted. "Yeah, well the way my dating life is he'll probably be dead by then. I think I'd enjoy his funeral more than any wedding of mine though anyway."

Cassian opened his mouth to say something but was cut off as Luke and Bodhi danced up to them. "How did you get her on the dance floor?" Bodhi demanded. "Galen had to blackmail her and I had to beg."

"The first one, kind of."

Bodhi rolled his eyes and Luke grinned. "Are you guys coming to the after party? We're going to have to get out of here shortly, but everyone is moving to the hotel bar."

"Sure," Jyn said, "As long as there's no more dancing."

"You had options," Cassian said blandly before spinning her out and back into him again much to Bodhi and Luke's amusement.

"I vote we go now," she said with a glare.

"One last dance," Luke said happily. "We'll see you there." And then Bodhi and him glided away. The DJ called out the final dance and the music slowed down significantly.

"No."

"Guess it's back to Krennic then."

"We could just go early."

"And sit around like losers waiting for everyone else? It's one slow dance."

Jyn sighed. "Fine." She stepped in closer to him and moved her hands to his shoulders as both of his slid to her waist. She supposed dancing with him wasn't the worst thing she'd ever had to do. He was actually pretty good at not letting her look like a total spaz. "You're buying me a drink at the bar though."

"Of course," he said with a smile curling the corners of his mouth that told her the negotiation had ended in his favor like it always did.


"So here's the thing," Han said by way of greeting. "Leia is going to stay with me tonight so you're going to switch rooms with her and stay with Jyn."

Cassian glanced at his roommate and sighed internally before giving the bartender his and Jyn's order. "Does Jyn know this?"

"Yeah, Leia is telling her," Han said leaning back against the bar. "It's not like she'll care. You guys have slept over at each other's apartments before and there's separate beds."

"If Jyn's fine with it, I'm fine with it," Cassian said because really there was no point in arguing. Han and Leia, when they combined forces, usually got their way one way or another. "Just drop my suitcase in Jyn's room when you make the swap, ok? I don't need to walk in on anything just to get my toothbrush."

"You got it, buddy," Han said clapping him on the back and wandering away. Cassian waited on the drinks and tried to push down his annoyance. Not that he minded sharing a room with Jyn, but his idiot friends should have sorted out there relationship before the last minute so they didn't have to have the room situation sprung on them.

The bartender interrupted his musings by bringing the drinks. He picked them up and turned back towards the party in the hotel bar weaving his way through the crowd to spot Jyn in a corner with Leia. She looked lovely tonight, one of the rare occasions where she was willing to don a fancy dress and heels to stand up with her brother at the alter across from Luke and Leia. Not that she didn't look just as lovely sweaty and mussed from teaching a boxing class, but it was a unique look. Even after knowing her for more than a decade he could count the number of times he's seen her in formalwear on two hands. He lingered awkwardly waiting for Jyn and Leia to finish their conversation. He certainly didn't want to be the one to tell her. Leia gave her a little hug and bounced off before he approached.

"Heard the news then?"

"I don't know why we didn't just book the rooms this way in the first place," Jyn said in exasperation. She shot him a quick smile as he passed over the glass of wine.

"Because there was an equal probability they'd have gotten into some fight tonight and been ready to tear each other's heads off."

"We need new friends."

"Sorry, you're stuck with me."

Jyn shrugged. "I don't mind. You're clean, quiet, and cook, which is more than I can say about myself." He grinned at that and settled into the bench beside her.

"You're awfully complimentary tonight."

"I'm drunk."

"I don't think you've even completely finished one glass of wine tonight."

"But I've had several sips of many," she countered.

"I've seen you drunk, and this isn't it," he said squinting at her. Jyn drunk was a lively thing. Quick to fight and equally quick to laugh. She also shared the most when drunk and was at her most willing to accept offered help. He'd given her piggy back rides home from the bar when she was drunk, whereas he was sure she could have two broken legs while sober and still stubbornly refuse it. No, tonight she seemed more melancholy than anything else, and had even before Krennic had approached her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," she said shaking her head and faking a smile. "It's Bodhi's wedding, how could anything be wrong?"

"You're a terrible liar, Jyn Erso." She sighed, but stayed quiet. He bumped her shoulder lightly with his. "Hey, you don't have to tell me. We can just sit here and drink our drinks and rag on Han and Leia." He understood not wanting to talk about it. Jyn wasn't the only one with a troubled childhood. The reason he'd met the Ersos at all was because he'd been shipped off to live with an uncle in the U.S. after his other relatives just couldn't handle the pissed off adolescent he'd grown to be. His father had been a journalist in Mexico and investigated the wrong story. Both of his parents had been murdered when he was six. It'd taken years until he'd told Jyn and Bodhi the full story, and they'd never pushed him for it before he was ready. Sometimes your sadness was your own to hold.

Jyn surprised him by slumping into his side and leaning her head on his shoulder. He sat very still for fear of spooking her out of the rare display of physical affection. Jyn was only ever really comfortably casual about touching Bodhi, at least when sober. Even Leia often gave her a hard time for being standoffish or slow to offer a hug. Cassian privately blamed her father and godfather for that aspect of her. Neither men were particularly affectionate, and from what he'd heard of Gerrera tough love was the only type he was capable of giving. Bodhi had once privately admitted to being terrified of Jyn's godfather when they were children and had never quite understood her connection to the man.

"They look very happy, don't they?"

Cassian glanced from the top of her head to spot Bodhi and Luke in the midst of well wishers with their arms thrown around each other's waists and grinning unabashedly. "Yes, they do."

"There's a photo of my mama and papa on their wedding where they looked just like that," Jyn noted quietly. If Cassian had been barely breathing before he ceased it now. Jyn never talked about her mother. Cassian knew she'd died in a car crash with Bodhi's mother, but he'd learned that from Bodhi, not from her. "Sometimes it blows my mind that people take the risk."

"The risk?" he ventured to ask after a moment of silence.

"You love that hard," Jyn said simply. "You're bound to get hurt one day. If only because someone always has to die first."

"Mierda, that's some dark wedding day thoughts."

Jyn gave a self-deprecating smile. "Sorry. I'm glad they're happy, I just couldn't help thinking about it after I thought about how much it would mean to Bodhi if his mother could have been here today."

He risked it. "Or your mother for your wedding day?"

"Not too worried about that ever happening," she said shrugging slightly into his side and lifting her head. "I just miss her more sometimes when I'm at my happiest. Does that make any sense?"

Cassian took a drink and thought of all the times he'd been on top of the world only to feel the wrenching pain of something missing. Accomplishments his parents would never see. Moments and holidays that should be a family celebration with no family to celebrate it. "Yeah," he answered quietly. "I get that. But usually right after, I look around at all the people I still do have and it makes it better."

Jyn studied him for a second and then slipped her hand into his and gave it a quick squeeze before pulling back. "Always so full of hope."

"One of us has to be," he said nudging her again and enjoying the small upward tilt of her lips. "Your brother just got married to the love of his life, your friends are all here drunk and happy, and your father managed not to forget what day it is and turn up to the wedding on time. I think your mother would be sad if you were sad today."

"Then I suppose you'll need to say something that will cheer me up."

He thought for a moment. Pleasantries and platitudes wouldn't do the trick. Perhaps a distraction might? "Every year, hundreds of new trees grow because of squirrels forgetting where they buried their nuts."

Jyn's face broke into a smile and he felt a little victorious thrill before her face immediately darkened. "Fuck."

Well, that wasn't the response he'd expected. "What?"

"Krennic is here," Jyn said resentfully throwing back a gulp of wine. "I thought he'd go to bed since Papa decided to and leave us all be."

Cassian glanced over and saw the man working his way through the crowd clearly searching for someone, probably Jyn if the reception was any indication. Bodhi and Jyn had always made jokes about Krennic and clearly disliked him, but Cassian hadn't realized what a creep he really was until tonight. He certainly didn't like the way the man spoke or looked at Jyn. Krennic came closer and any minute he'd spot them. "Let's go."

"What?"

"Let's just go to bed. Bodhi and Luke won't even notice. It's not worth dealing with him."

"Doesn't that feel like running?" Jyn demanded. He took in the stubborn set of her jaw and debated the best way to approach it. She was clearly ready to dig her heels in, and he figured only blunt honesty would do the trick.

"It feels like you not bloodying the lip of your father's business associate at your brother's party," he said simply. "Deservedly or not."

"We barely touched our drinks," Jyn argued holding her glass up for proof.

"It was my money, and I say it's fine," he answered setting his beer down and moving to stand. "Come on, Jyn. He isn't worth it. Just leave it."

She grumbled under her breath but ultimately set her wine down and followed him, skirting behind a group of people to avoid notice and slipping out of the bar. "He's the worst. I don't know how Papa puts up with him. Sorry to cut your night short."

"It's fine," Cassian said shrugging. "I'd actually prefer to wake up after a wedding without a blinding hangover for once."

"Someone is getting old," Jyn snickered.

Cassian turned to shoot her a glare over his shoulder as they started up the stairs of the old hotel and instead frowned. "Are you kidding me?" he muttered before reaching back to settle his hand on her lower back and urge her to pick up the pace.

"What?" She started to turn, but he shook his head and kept leading her forward.

"I think Krennic is following us," he said simply, cursing Jyn's stupid heels in his head. They were really slowing them down.

"Are you serious?" she hissed. "Why can't he just leave me alone?"

"One more floor and down the hall and we're free. He can't possibly be creepy enough to knock, right?"

Jyn bit her lip and followed him up the next flight of stairs. "This is stupid," she said finally as they started down their own hallway. "I'm not going to let this man make me scurry off and hide. I'm not ten years old anymore."

Cassian sighed. Looks like they were going to have that fight after all. At least now if they caused a scene it wouldn't be in the middle of the party. "It's up to you, Jyn. I'll do whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Sure," Cassian answered truthfully. She should know by now he had her back, whether it was in a bar brawl or just showing up with water, medicine, and food after a hard night out.

"Good, then you should kiss me," she said firmly, that stubborn tilt back to her chin.

His brain stuttered to a stop. He certainly hadn't heard that right and he looked at her with probably less emotion than that statement demanded, "What?"

"Kiss me," she ordered again side-eyeing the hallway and stopping in front of their hotel room door. "And hurry up about it, he'll be up here any second."

"Still not following," he said swallowing dryly. He was having a hard time transitioning from a Jyn who would barely lean her head on his shoulder to one demanding he kiss her.

"You started it," she hissed. "Lying about us being together. Well, if he wants to be a weird stalker, I say we give him a show. He's probably coming to talk to me about dating you anyway."

"Jyn," he said shaking his head.

"Come on, it's not like you don't know how to do it," Jyn argued.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," he said quietly trying to ignore the man rounding the hallway corner that he could see in the periphery. Sure, it was just a kiss, but this was Jyn. One of his best friend's baby sister, the girl he'd known through gawky awkward adolescence, a woman who had become one of his best friends in her own right. Wouldn't it make things strange between them?

Apparently Jyn didn't agree though as the next thing he knew she'd fisted her hand in his shirt and tugged him down to her level, lifting up on her toes and pressing her mouth to his. He froze as her lips moved hesitantly against his and he could feel the frown start to form on her lips before she pulled back looking embarrassed and apologetic.

He was being stupid – it was just a kiss. Cassian leaned forward following her retreat and kissed her back. Jyn gave a little surprised gasp into his mouth, but was quicker to respond than he had been. Her hand came back up to his shoulder and he crowded her in closer to the door resting his hands on her hips. Her lips were softer than he'd imagined, not that he'd imagined it, and she melted into him in a way he hadn't expected. He added a little more pressure and nearly made a noise when one of her hands crept up to his hair and tugged a little bit. God, she was good at this, and fuck, was that her tongue? There it was again, and he wasn't about to deny her now. He opened his mouth and deepened the kiss and she responded in kind. He squeezed her hip and she pressed forward so he could feel all of her curves against his own lean frame, and he wanted more. Whatever this was he wanted more.

There was a clearing throat, and Jyn broke away from the kiss ducking her head against his chest, but not moving to distance herself at all. Cassian's first coherent thought was that he was going to punch whoever was connected to that noise right in their congested throat.

"This is a public hallway," Krennic drawled.

"Didn't realize there was anyone lingering around," Cassian said coldly. He turned his face to meet the man's glare with his own carefully stony look.

Jyn's hand dragged distractingly down Cassian's front before slipping a finger through one of his belt loops. "Did you need something, Mr. Krennic?"

"I was just on my way to bed," Krennic said gesturing down the hall and turning judgmental eyes on them. "Perhaps it's time you should turn in for the night too, Jynnie."

"Good idea," Jyn said with a wicked little grin that sent Cassian's already-pounding heart skittering. She slipped her key card into the door and kicked it open, dragging Cassian in with her by the belt loop. "Have a nice night, Mr. Krennic," she called cheerily before slamming the door in the older man's shocked face. Jyn smiled up at Cassian victoriously, and he tried to shake himself out of his daze. "You ok?"

"Yeah, yes, fine," Cassian muttered.

The smile slipped off her face and she stepped into his personal space again gazing up at him. "Sorry. I shouldn't have done that without you agreeing first, we were just running out of time." Jyn backed off and wrapped her arms around her waist uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have."

"No," he sputtered in a rush to comfort her. "No, it's fine. I was just a little surprised is all. It was good." Good seemed like an understatement, he couldn't remember the last time just a kiss had gotten him this worked up and flustered. Kissing didn't usually make him overheat from the tips of his ears down to his feet.

"Yeah?" she asked lifting her eyes back up to meet his a bit nervously.

"Yeah." Cassian reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear where it'd escaped from her up-do, trying to focus on something other than her lips.

She tilted her head to the side. "How good?"

"Jyn," he snorted, relaxing from the weird mood that had built up around them. She didn't smile though and her eyes were still dark and intent on him in a way that made him falter again. "Jyn?"

"I thought you were going to cheer me up."

"I'm pretty sure I had a squirrel fact for that," he said trying to crack a joke, but it came out off-kilter.

"Do you want to have sex with me?" Jyn asked bluntly still staring at him in that hungry way that was doing all sorts of funny things to his insides.

"Jyn, stop joking around."

"I don't see what the big deal is," she said calmly. "It's just sex. It's not like both of us haven't had one night stands before."

"We're friends," he said breathing a little harder. It wasn't like he didn't find her attractive, but he'd never been allowed to think about her that way, and doing so so suddenly was throwing him for a loop.

"So you don't want to?" she asked backing off and seeming to shrink into herself a bit. "Sorry, I shouldn't have, I just. The kiss was nice." She shook her head and nervously tugged at the hem of her dress. "Sorry."

Shit, he hated when she looked like that. Unsure and beaten. It was so rare he saw it, and he never wanted to be the cause of it. Especially when there was no reason for the self doubt when in all actuality there was nothing he'd rather do in this moment than push her down into the bed and fuck her senseless. He was surprised by just how good that sounded actually. After all it was just sex, and what straight man wouldn't want to sleep with a woman like Jyn? "Don't be sorry," he said reaching for her. "It was a great kiss." And then to prove it to her he leaned down and did it again. She gave a little murmur of surprise and then surged up to meet him. "Jyn, are you sure?" he muttered between kisses as her hand tugged his shirt out of his pants and snuck underneath it to touch the bare skin of his side.

Her other hand tugged him down harder by the neck and she pressed up on her tiptoes further to bite his ear softly. "Shut up, and fuck me, Cassian."

And he was lost.


A/N: So posting this here too, but I feel like most of the fandom is over on AO3... drop me a comment and let me know you're still out there and it's worth uploading! Ha