In no time at all, Luke and Biggs have become best friends. Luke's confidence soars and Biggs admits that Luke is one of the only true friends he's ever had, but Luke soon discovers feelings in himself that he doesn't know what to do with.
Luke would have sneaked off the property if he had to but luckily Uncle Owen was in a lenient mood and allowed him a free afternoon. It'd been three days since that first flight in Biggs' skyhopper and he hadn't stopped thinking about it since.
The Darklighter estate had a small landing bay with both skyhoppers and a few other craft and vehicles parked in it. Luke had never seen a private collection like it before but the best part about it by far was Biggs devoting the whole afternoon to teaching Luke everything he could with the time they had. Of course, he promised that it was just the first of many lessons which made it even better.
Then there was the friendly banter in between.
"Your uncle's gotta give in once in a while."
"Sometimes, when I get dragged out with you guys."
"Dragged out!" Biggs laughed. "Sure, you're just dying to get back into a skyhopper."
"… Well, yeah. But—" Luke was grinning back despite the rebuttal.
"See if I let you fly mine again."
"Hey, I get out of work when I can! Sometimes we're busy."
"I bet you never used that excuse with the others."
"All the time! The difference is with you it's not an excuse."
"… Yeah?" Biggs' smirk faded, really searching Luke's face for honesty.
"Yeah." Of course, Luke was being perfectly honest.
A broad smile. "… Alright then."
This was nice. Luke felt relaxed, happy, like he didn't have to walk on eggshells to please anyone or make special efforts to stay out of anyone's way. Not only did he feel accepted, he felt wanted, and he didn't have to do or prove anything to make it happen.
And then, Biggs… He and Biggs bonded more over just a few days than he had with anyone in his life. Luke would watch him demonstrate proper maintenance on his skyhopper but sometimes Luke wouldn't be watching the process. He'd be watching Biggs' deft and skillful hands, then his expression, the way his softly curved brows furrowed when he was concentrating or the hint of smile lines already forming on his young face, indicating he was someone who smiled a lot. His dark eyes were never hardened, never tense, but always seemed to be quietly searching, gentle, deeply caring, and when they were on Luke there was something about Biggs' gaze that made him feel unashamedly drawn in and irrevocably safe.
Luke didn't want the day to end.
Fixer was jealous. He hadn't been jealous of Biggs' flying abilities because Biggs was older, more experienced, and he'd earned his place as number one pilot in the region. No, he was jealous of Luke. The kid had barely been flying a month and he was already capable of maneuvers that Fixer had only dreamed of. However, Luke didn't have his own skyhopper yet so he still wasn't racing with the others and Fixer wanted it to stay that way. If Luke was able to beat him to the end of Beggar's Canyon he'd never live it down.
The whole group knew it and it was becoming the source of some contention between them. Fixer was even worse to Luke than usual and if Biggs hadn't been around Fixer surely would have attempted to make his life miserable.
Windy and Deak were fairly neutral on the matter and when Biggs wasn't there Luke stuck mostly with them, even if they were somewhat dull. At least they weren't making mean-spirited jokes at his expense.
Then the day came that Fixer was dreading. Biggs had convinced his dad to let him and Luke fix up his old skyhopper and get it running again. It was an older model but a good one and it only needed a couple replacement parts. It was clean and fired up in a matter of days and Luke was ecstatic to inform the others that he'd be participating in his first race. He'd been practicing and performing some pretty impressive times through Beggar's Canyon on his own. Now it was time to prove that Biggs was right and the others were wrong. Even Luke would be proven wrong, all those times he began to doubt himself. He wanted to prove himself wrong. He was excited for it.
There had never been such a ruckus at Tosche Station before. The cheers and hollering were deafening and Luke couldn't see, his hair had been ruffled so many times that it was hanging in his eyes. Second place was far better than he'd expected to do in that ancient skyhopper and especially for his first race. Biggs was the only one he hadn't managed to pull ahead of but that came as no surprise to anyone. The only one who wasn't joining in on the celebration was Fixer, again, to no one's surprise.
"You must've cheated. There's no way you could have beaten me fair and square." It's clear he was fed up with it and had finally decided to speak plainly.
Fixer wasn't the only one fed up. Luke rounded on him with a newfound confidence. "Biggs beats you all the time. Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are." There was a sudden rush inside him. He'd never been able to talk to Fixer like that before. It felt really good.
Fixer stood up, his face suddenly tightened with anger. "Oh please, Biggs is a cheater. His family's got all that money. Everyone knows he's been taking lessons since he was a kid."
This brought such a surge of anger and outrage rushing through Luke. He wasn't sure where it came from but he wasn't about to let Fixer get away with it. "Biggs is not a cheater and it has nothing to do with money! He's just got more talent and guts than you'll ever have!"
Biggs had stayed quiet until now, when Fixer looked like he was ready to tackle Luke and start pummeling him. "Fixer, sit down." When he ignored Biggs and came at Luke with balled fists, Biggs quickly stepped between them. "SIT DOWN!" Even Tank looked ready to throw himself on Fixer if he had to. Then as Fixer finally, slowly complied Biggs turned around and looked at Luke with an expression he'd never seen on him before. It was somewhere between shock and gratitude, or maybe a mixture of both. There was something else there but Luke couldn't quite put his finger on it.
The night was cold in the desert. Wind swept sand around in soft clouds barely visible in the darkness but it could be heard, whistling and scraping over the dunes in the distance. The giant bantha pelt was more than enough to keep both Luke and Biggs warm on top of the lookout loft near the front of the Darklighters' property. It had been built with the purpose of watching for Tusken Raiders but it also made a nice sleepover hideout for avoiding parental supervision.
Neither one of them was necessarily hiding but Luke didn't much care for Biggs' dad and they both preferred each other's company far more than anyone else's.
They had climbed under the pelt to sleep nearly an hour ago but couldn't seem to quiet down long enough to drift off.
"Fixer looked like he was gonna kill you."
For some reason this brought Luke unexplainable mirth. Usually you worry when someone threatens harm on you but Luke simply couldn't take it seriously. After all, that's the only thing Fixer could do and it was his helplessness despite his anger that made Luke laugh. "So what was I supposed to do? Just let him talk about you like that?"
"Oh, let him say what he wants."
"But it was a big lie."
"… Not really."
"Yes! It was! Biggs, why would you say something like that?" Luke's smile had entirely faded and his brows were knit softly at his friend in the dark.
"Because people say what they want about me all the time and it doesn't mean a thing." Even through the dimness Luke could tell that Biggs wasn't looking at him and seemed to be trying to convince himself of this more than anything.
"… What about what I said?"
Finally Biggs turned his head to Luke. "What you said?"
"Yeah." Anyone else might have guessed that Biggs didn't remember what Luke was referring to but Luke knew better. Biggs remembered. It stuck to him; it hit him hard and made him really think. The look he'd given Luke at that moment was one Luke would never forget. He'd said something that Biggs thought was profound and got to him in a way he'd never seen before.
After a moment of exchanged looks Biggs seemed to concede to the fact that he simply couldn't hide it, but he decided to take things in another direction. "Luke… why are you my friend?"
That was something Luke hadn't expected to hear and it took him a moment to answer in his surprise. "Wh—because… you were a friend to me first. And-… I guess because you're more of a friend than anyone else has ever been."
Biggs seemed satisfied with that response, even pleased. "That's just it, I don't know if anyone else would have answered that way. At least not honestly." He dropped his gaze elsewhere while his fingers absently played with a worn edge of the bantha pelt. "You know, Fixer only invited me to join the group because he knew my dad could afford whatever new parts we needed. I'm just a bag of money to him. And-… I don't know, I get used to letting people say what they want to me because in the end it's as if I don't even have the right to defend myself. They somehow feel I don't have that right, just because I'm the rich kid or the popular kid. I've got everything I could ever want or need so why would I need real friends?"
Since they'd met this was the first time Biggs had ever shown such vulnerability to Luke. It was a little alarming to see at first, the usually smooth and confident Biggs bearing his very real weaknesses and laying them out in the sand.
And Luke finally understood.
"You stood up for me, Luke." It wasn't a questioning statement or even really directed at Luke, but it seemed to be something that Biggs was still figuring out, trying out the words to see if they fit.
"Well… you did it for me first." To Luke that seemed like a no-brainer. Of course he would defend someone who treated him like a human being, saw potential and strength and encouraged him because he honestly believed in him.
When Biggs turned his head back to face Luke he was already looking at him, and they both grinned at the same time.
It was the warmth and slow movement of the body next to him that woke him up, much closer than he remembered. It was still dark and the wind still howled, and in that darkness Luke felt a warm hand reach up and brush against the side of his face. He gripped the wrist in mild surprise but only relaxed when he could see Biggs' dark, searching eyes staring at him and smiling calmly.
Slowly, Biggs moved under the pelt and climbed over him, resting his entire body on top of Luke's from head to toe, warm and heavy. His face was so close to Luke's and he was still smiling, so Luke could only smile in turn. His heart pounded and a heat pooled in his belly but he remained still.
There were no words exchanged and Luke barely even found himself questioning any of it. Biggs' fingers played in his hair and in no time at all their lips were touching. He could feel Biggs' breath warm and comforting on his face and it felt strangely natural to want more, and to get more. His hot, wet mouth and tongue sent fire down Luke's body and he reflexively pressed upward against Biggs' weight. Biggs pressed back, rubbed, circled his hips against Luke, coaxing a moan out of him.
Inexplicably Luke was naked but somehow this wasn't surprising to either of them. Biggs began moving down his body, licking and kissing the sensitive skin of his neck and chest, and soon disappeared under the pelt. Luke saw stars and his back arched against the woven mat beneath them. It felt like both an eternity and no time at all before a beautiful, exquisite pressure built up and then was suddenly released in a forceful wave of pleasure. It rolled up his body and made his toes curl, his fingers grip the mat tightly above his head, and his eyes squeeze shut against the bursts of light amid the darkness.
Luke woke up with a start and blinked blearily against the morning light. He was too warm and sweaty and started to kick the pelt off of him but stopped when he felt a cold, sticky wetness in his pants.
'Oh no…'
Somewhat fearfully he looked at Biggs who was still sleeping, turned away from Luke on his side. He could only see his dark hair and the pelt pulled up over his shoulder, slowly rising and falling. Luke felt his face heating up and he looked away from his friend in embarrassment. Gradually the dream he'd had was coming back to him and Luke felt some panic rising in his chest. He couldn't have anticipated this in a million years and it terrified him to think about what it meant.
He quickly grabbed his bag on the floor nearby, rifling through its contents for his extra clothes. Perhaps he could change before Biggs awoke.
