Author's Notes: Uhhh, this got a LOT longer than I planned, but then parties are hard to write about quickly. So much happens and things take time to happen. I basically just pictured the frat house and first college party I attended when I wrote this. Of course, I wasn't this lucky. I just got creepers out of it thanks to my drunk friend giving my phone number out to people.

A Brief Lesson in Chemistry
liquid courage

The night began with a twist - because of course it did. Right when Cassian was about to text Jyn that he was heading over, resigned to the fact that they would be using his POS car, he received a text from her saying that she was on her way. It was the first time she had ever warned him that she was coming over, something that had Kay raising his eyebrows over Cassian's shoulders as he read the message himself. Cassian never bothered hiding his phone from Kay, who was tall enough to see over everything it seemed.

When they walked out, a car was just pulling up. The passenger window rolled down to reveal Jyn, who waved at them. Cassian and Kay glanced at one another, steeling themselves for the night, and then got in the back. She spun around in her seat to greet them, grasping the back of the seat. "Figured since you invited us, we should give you a ride."

Kay looked around appreciatively. "I did not expect you to have such a clean car."

"Oh, it's not mine," Jyn replied dismissively. "It's Bodhi's."

Bodhi, who was driving, waved a hand. "Hi."

"We appreciate the ride," Cassian put in, knowing that Kay would fail to say anything. Not because he was rude, but because he simply forgot and thought the gratefulness was already implied.

"No problem," Bodhi said. "It just gives me a reason to not get drunk."

Jyn gave him a mournful look and reached out to ruffle Bodhi's hair. The driver tried to jerk his head away, but laughed as she messed his hair up. "A shame too. He's really quite a fun drunk. Loves to sing and dance."

"Except I'm terrible at both," Bodhi added.

Cassian couldn't help but smile. There was definitely something about Bodhi that smoothed Jyn out. She became softer around him, more at ease. Perhaps it was because Cassian had the same effect on her at times that Jyn had on him. Mostly comfortable, but sometimes incredibly tense out of nowhere. Bodhi was an all-around good guy, if not a bit talkative if he got on a subject he liked or was nervous, but it was easy to see that she was fond of him and even when he was nervous she was relaxed.

"Have you ever been to one of these parties?" Jyn asked as they pulled off campus.

"No, they are not my thing, as you pointed out," Cassian answered. He didn't care if it made him sound lame. At least Kay didn't pipe up that it was because Cassian was too busy studying or playing video games and eating cheap jalapeno poppers for dinner or something like that. It would make him sound like a lame nerd. "But I did not think I should turn down the invitation either. It sounded fun."

"Oh, they're a bit more than that," Jyn laughed.

"Have you been to one?" Kay questioned.

"Only once." Before Kay could demand how, she continued, "I know some of the people that run in the same circles as Solo. It's not like I got a personal invite." She smiled at them, but there was something wolfish about it, like she knew things that they didn't. Seeing as how she had been to a Solo party before and they didn't, she very likely did. "It was very...interesting. Things can get rowdy and turn into a mess and some of the people seem downright unsavory compared to college kids, but Solo is pretty good at setting ground rules. Anyone that causes too much trouble gets thrown out and banned."

"Sounds hypocritical to me," Kay said. He had a high opinion of everyone outside of Cassian clearly.

Jyn shrugged her shoulders. "It takes a ruffian to deal with ruffians."

The house in question was too far away from campus. It was in a little neighborhood with just enough distance from other houses to give neighbors some peace and mind. From what Cassian had heard, Solo had a deal with his neighbors so that he could throw these infamous parties. Cassian could not deny being intrigued. His eyes were glued on the house as they parked, watching people stumble about in the lawn and conversing, but when he looked away, he found that Jyn's eyes were on him. She turned in her seat quickly. He couldn't tell if she was embarrassed at being caught or if she was merely ready to get out of the car.

Unfortunately, Cassian found that he still had a few nerves left. He thought that he had rid himself of them long ago in the foster care system, but it appeared as if a few had straggled on, just to cause him social anxiety at a college house party. How inconvenient. Kay didn't seem to mind at all, but then he was oblivious to most things. Nothing bothered him. He'd get to talking and loosen up after a few drinks. Jyn seemed utterly confident as they walked to the house. Only when he spotted Bodhi, subconsciously reaching up to adjust the goggles he wore for work but weren't there, did he realize that he was not alone in being slightly nervous.

They pushed their way inside, Bodhi offering unheard apologies, both Kay and Jyn dead silent, and Cassian falling somewhere in between. Upon reaching the living room, someone called out his name and they all froze. Leia Organa managed to squeeze herself through the dancing mob, somehow managing to look radiant and very daring in a pretty white outfit, and threw her arms around Cassian, pulling him down into a hug that he somewhat stiffly returned. If she noticed, she didn't care.

"You made it!" Leia exclaimed. "I'm so relieved. Most of the people I invited haven't shown up yet."

Cassian scratched the back of his head. "You invited me. It would have been rude of me to turn the offer down."

Leia's smile was bright and genial, making it very obvious why people gravitated towards her. She greeted all of them warmly, shaking Kay's hand and introducing herself to Bodhi, though it was unnecessary. Jyn was the last one, hanging in the back, her arms folded across her chest. She didn't look happy, but she didn't look mad either, just wary for the first time.

"You must be Jyn," Leia said in a more careful tone. Jyn glanced at Cassian, probably wondering how her name was known since she wasn't well-known throughout the campus. Leia was smart though: she caught the look on Jyn's face and a conspiratorial yet amused expression crossed her face. "Cassian told me about you when I invited him to the party."

Jyn looked surprised, her eyes widening and mouth parting slightly. Cassian looked away before she could connect eyes with him again, clearing his throat, determined not to blush. His face felt hot though. If he kept his attention on the lopsided pictures on the wall, he wouldn't have to look back at her. Kay huffed dramatically, either annoyed with Cassian's refusal to admit things or with the fact that he'd talked about Jyn in the first place.

"But we're here to have fun now!" Leia exclaimed cheerfully. "Come with me into the kitchen. It's a bit grimy, but I'll get you all some drinks."

"I thought this was Han Solo's party," Kay pointed out, but he followed her regardless. They all did. Now that people recognized her, they gave her room to walk so that they didn't have to fight their way through.

Leia winked. "We'll let him keep thinking that, shall we?"

Kay didn't know how to respond to that, so he stayed quiet, looking a little bemused. Cassian pat him on the back. Best not to overthink it. Solo had it bad for Leia and, since this was her first time here, he had likely told his group to make sure that no matter what, she was having a good time. Little did he realize that he was handing her this party on a silver platter. Luckily, Leia was a generous person, if not fiery.

True to her word, Leia got them all something to drink. Cassian was not surprised that Jyn stuck with a simple beer while both Kay and Bodhi opted for something fruity to hide the taste of alcohol. She seemed to have warmed up to Leia, but she was still cool and strangely quiet. The confidence she'd had walking in here was subdued as she held onto the beer with two hands, her fingers delicately laid over top one another. His eyes moved around the room, trying to think of something, when he finally spotted just what he needed.

Picking up the bottle and two small shot glasses, Cassian pushed his way over to her. "Shot?"

Jyn let one hand drop and lifted the other to take a swig of the beer, her eyes latched onto his. He didn't look away, returning the challenging look. "Sure you can handle that?"

"Please," Cassian scoffed, "it's tequila." He smiled. "Unless you cannot?"

Using her free hand, Jyn snatched the liquor bottle out of his hand. "Set the glasses down. No need to dirty dishes." She titled the bottom of the bottle up, taking what looked like a monster swig, and then quickly chased the shot with a few gulps of her beer. He couldn't decide whether to be impressed or scared, so he settled on merely gaping at her. She closed her eyes and took a few breaths to steady herself before opening them again and shoving the bottle against his chest. "Your turn."

Cassian wiped the look off his face as he set the shot glasses down and took the bottle from her, a little harder than he'd intended. He took the same shot, but only needed one gulp of his beer to chase it. He slammed the bottle on the counter and grinned down at her. "Wasn't so bad."

"Oh yeah?" Jyn narrowed her eyes, took another swig of her beer. He did the same. Warmth tingled in his belly from the liquor. Luckily he'd eaten a hardier dinner than usual. No way was he getting sick. Besides, this wasn't his first time taking shots, despite his so-called goodie-two-shoe ways. "Say, how are you at beer pong?"

"I have been told I have excellent aim," Cassian replied. "Why? Want to be partners?"

"No," Jyn said, stepping close enough to him so that her chest was barely brushing against his. He stopped himself from sucking in a gasp of air. She tilted her chin up and smirked at him, the look she always gave him whenever she got this close to him, the kind that made him want to lean down and wipe it away. "I want to destroy you at it." Without warning, she brushed past him and shouted, "Shara! Want to partner with me and call next? We'll mop the table with these boys."

Cassian took a deep breath and raised his head. Stay cool. He had to stay cool. But he felt as if he had been holding his breath ever since he took that shot.

"You're doing it," Kay proclaimed disapprovingly.

"Doing what?" Cassian demanded, turning to face his dormmate.

Kay sipped on his drink. "Don't feign innocent with me." He wagged a finger at him. "You can trick others with that face, but not me."

"I am not feigning anything," Cassian replied, but then his eyes caught Jyn in the crowd and he stiffened when she stuck her tongue out at him. She disappeared into the other room with the girl she'd called out, a mutual friend he hadn't known they had, leaving him with a scoffing Kay and a polite Bodhi pretending to know nothing. "If you will excuse me, I am going to walk around the place."

"To find Erso?" Kay asked.

"No," Cassian said forcefully before he walked in the opposite direction she had gone.

He wasn't. He had been the one to invite her to this party; he wasn't going to follow her around like some sort of forlorn puppy. Just because he wasn't familiar to these sort of things didn't mean that he was a social disaster. He knew how to mingle. He was pretty good at it too once he put his mind to it. Talking came naturally to him, but what he was really good at was getting other people to talk to him. Alcohol made it that much easier. He would not look for Jyn. He would wait for her to come to him. He didn't understand a lot of her motives, but he knew that she would do that.

Thirty minutes later, as he stood in the backyard by a bonfire talking with a group containing a handful of college students, someone who may or may not have been dealing drugs, and a flight student, Jyn found him. One second the flight student was on his right and the next Jyn was at his elbow. Her hand stopped short of his arm when he turned back to look back at her.

"Still want to play?"

"Of course," Cassian told her. "How else am I going to knock that ego down a peg?"

Jyn snorted. "Do you have a partner?"

"Hm, let me see…" Cassian glanced around and then clapped the flight student on the shoulder. "Kes, would you like to help me show the ropes to these ladies at beer pong?" Kes, the young man in question, looked taken aback, clearly not prepared to being called out. He was slick in a plane, but apparently had trouble elsewhere. Another beer and he'd be good. "Shara is playing."

"I, uh-" Kes smiled nervously, but he was looking at Shara when he did so. The girl laid an arm on Jyn's shoulder, taller than her, and leaned her head on top of Jyn's in a show of physical affection that made Cassian strangely jealous. "Sure, Cassian, yeah, I can play. I've only played a few times though..."

"Do not worry about it." Cassian held out a hand, allowing Jyn and Shara to lead the way. The two boys followed dutifully. One of the beer pong games was just finishing up, the losers chugging the rest of their drinks. All four helped reset the table, filling the cups with water instead of beer. This place might be a madhouse, but please, they weren't above sanitation. "Need I remind anyone of the rules?"

"No," Jyn said, throwing him a ping pong. He snatched it out of the air. Both of them stepped up to face off to see whose team went first. The first shot, their balls somehow managed to hit one another. Both Shara and Kes missed theirs. When Cassian and Jyn faced off again, Cassian sunk one in while Jyn missed by a hair. She smiled, but with her teeth, obviously displeased. "Age before beauty."

Cassian chuckled as he handed a ping pong to Kes and lined up for a shot. "Calling yourself beautiful?"

"Do you not think I am?" Jyn asked innocently.

He missed his first shot so badly that Kes coughed and Shara laughed.

Oh, no, now Jyn was really going down. Cassian glared at her, ignoring Kes missing his shot as well, as she looked back at him smugly. The game was on. If she thought that he might go easy on her, well, she was wrong.

Kes had been honest when he'd said that he had only played a few times. He wasn't that good. He got steadily better throughout the game, but kept drinking even out of turn, so that eventually he became a bit sloppy. Shara was sharp and Jyn was good as well. They made a very dangerous duo. He could definitely see why Jyn had immediately picked Shara as her teammate. They had done this before.

But Cassian hadn't been lying. He was an excellent shot. He picked up Kes' slack with ease and was bolstered by his partner's confidence in him. Refusing to let Jyn get to him anymore, he kept an eye on any bounces. She caught one of his, smacking the ball so hard it knocked a guy in the back of the head and he almost started a fight. He was tossed out by a guy with shaggy brown hair that was somehow even taller than Kay and a lot more intimidating.

They were neck and neck in the end, one cup on each end and on their second drinks besides Kes who had gone through three beers. Neither one of them seemed capable of hitting the last cup. Jyn's bounced off the edge every time while Shara either undershot or overshot. Kes' aims were nowhere near, sometimes missing the table completely, while Cassian's just barely missed. One slid around the lip, but Jyn had leaned down and almost gently blown it out of the cup. He had not enjoyed watching that happen one bit.

"I thought you were a sharpshooter," Jyn teased.

"I thought you were going to destroy me," Cassian threw back.

Kes cleared his throat and stepped forward, slightly swaying on his feet. He had the ping pong ball in one hand and a mixed drink in the other. Where had that come from? He lobbed the ball in the air and all of them watched as it plopped a few inches away from the cup and then bounced right in. "Oh," was all he said.

Cassian didn't care if he hadn't done it himself. "We won!" People cheered around them. He could almost kiss the other boy for the sour look on Jyn's face, but didn't. Instead, he hugged Kes, who wore a loopy if not embarrassed grin, and took the drink out of his hands. Poor kid needed a break and deserved one after winning the game. Kes didn't even notice, not when Shara came over to congratulate him.

As the next game was being set up, Cassian swung around the table towards Jyn, who was finishing her drink as per the rules. He couldn't stop the broad grin from splitting across his face. "Well, that settles it."

"I suppose it does," Jyn replied before tossing her empty beer into a trash can. Again she wore that not happy but not mad look that he wasn't sure what to make of. She had a more difficult time hiding how she felt than he did, especially after drinking, so she forced her expression into something else. "I suppose you get something since you're the winner and all."

"I was not aware that the victor got a prize," Cassian said, still feeling high off his victory. He would have to thank Kes later when the boy was of sound mind and not completely focused on a very pretty girl. Because he was still feeling good about himself though, he didn't catch the intent in her voice.

A strange look flittered across Jyn's face: a cross between daring and shy. Her eyes hardened, but then she bit her lip, the two emotions contrasting beautifully on her face, like she was afraid of something but was going to do it anyways. "How about a dance?"

"A dance?"

The high was quickly fading, replaced by the steady buzz of alcohol. He let her take his hand and guide him into the very dimly lit living room where the music was thumping the loudest. If he had been able to pay attention to anyone but Jyn, who was gazing up at him determinedly, he would've seen Kay animatedly telling a story to two gawking girls while Bodhi looked on in amusement. He would've seen that Leia was actually dancing with Han Solo of her own violation. He might've noticed a hundred things that would've made him laugh.

But Cassian could only look at Jyn.

Both of them were either too nervous or uncoordinated due to the alcohol to dance well enough, but he didn't care. She looped her arms around his neck and he slipped his around her waist, pulling her close to him so that her body was flush against his. She was soft yet firm, pliant in his arms as they moved messily to the beat. No one was dancing well here, but it didn't matter. The room was hot and smothering and the music drowned out any chance of a conversation.

He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, just feeling the way she felt against him. This was the closest he had ever gotten to her. Normally, one of them pulled away, like the pull was too much to bear. With the help of alcohol though, he could ignore the fear that usually settled in his gut. He liked having her this close, wanted her closer even though he was close enough for her breath to mingle with his. She smelled like beer and tequila and mint. He kept his hands on her waist despite the urge to let them roam. He didn't want to push his luck and have her running away on him if he misread things.

And then she spun around, sliding under his hands, and pressed back against him that forced him to hitch his breath. His hands moved to the front of her thighs, then one back to her waist again. He had to get control over himself. They were in public, after all, and he was acting like an idiot. Except then she slid down before grinding back up against him, this time causing him to bury his face in the crook of her neck and groan. Her skin was soft yet slightly slick. He had to pull away before he did something stupid.

She was trying to kill him. This hadn't been a prize. This was torture.

"Jyn," he breathed into her ear, loud enough for her to hear over the music.

"Hm?" She kept dancing against him.

Cassian pulled her tight against. "You have to stop."

"Why?" So innocent and coy. She was playing with him. This was her revenge for losing. When she turned around to face him, it took every inch of his sanity that hadn't been taken over by the alcohol and Jyn to not pull her into a hungry, demanding kiss.

"Because you are a very cruel girl," Cassian told her.

"Not enjoying it?"

Oh, he was definitely enjoying it. Too much. Uncomfortably too much. Great, now he was going to have to excuse himself to the bathroom to calm down and there was probably a line. Awful, terrible girl. Even worse, if she was doing this, then she knew what effect she had on him. She knew . They were supposed to be friends, as strange as the friendship was. How was he supposed to face her now?

"Jyn," he said again, because he didn't know what else to say.

It was only then that he noticed how heavily she was breathing. Her mouth was parted slightly as she breathed, her chest rising and falling, and her eyes… It was dark in the room, but he could see how blown her pupils were when a random light flashed on her face. She'd stopped dancing, but she didn't pull away from him. Only a few inches separated the two of them. He could kiss her now and no one would even notice probably. He wanted to and he thought, crazily enough, that she did too.

"There you two are!"

Both Cassian and Jyn jerked away from one another and whipped around to face whoever had shouted at them. It was, predictably, Kay, who was too drunk to notice what he'd interrupted. Even on accident, he managed to burst in at the most inopportune times. Curse Kay for being such a light weight.

"Where have you been?" Kay demanded. He blinked down at them. "Oh, you're both sweaty . Gross."

Jyn glanced around, looking everywhere but the two boys. "I, ah, I need some air."

"I'll get us something to drink," Cassian added. Both of them darted out of the living room, leaving Kay on his own. It was rude and Cassian would apologize later, but right now, Kay was probably too drunk to notice how awkward the two of them had suddenly become. He merely huffed and waved a frantic hand at Bodhi while Cassian hurried to the bathroom instead.

After waiting in line and using the restroom, Cassian went to the kitchen to get two more drinks. He was waiting patiently, his mind elsewhere, when someone bumped into him and he glanced backwards.

"Oh, sorry!" It was only Luke Skywalker though, Leia's twin brother. As nice as Leia was, it was very obvious to everyone that Luke was the nicer of the two. Unlike her, he had been raised in the country and was polite in a way that was extraordinarily genuine. "This place was built like a haphazard jigsaw puzzle."

"It is nothing," Cassian said. He got along well with Luke, though he was closer to Leia. The boy was endlessly friendly though in a way that Cassian felt like he could only match when faking it. Luke was the kind of person that was potentially capable of befriending a person that was trying to mug him. He just had a way about him that convinced anyone to listen to him. It was hard to stay mad at him.

"Say, I didn't know you had a girlfriend," Luke pointed out as both of them grabbed their drinks.

"What?" Cassian turned around and gave him a confused look. "I do not-" Ah, so Luke had seen him and Jyn dancing then. He did his best not to flush. "She is not my girlfriend. We are friends. That is all."

Luke smiled, but his eyes glanced at the two beers in Cassian's hand before returning to his face. "Of course. My apologies again. I'm stumbling all over the place. Not used to drinking really." He pat Cassian on the arm. "I'll see you around!"

After that debacle, Cassian shoved his way through the crowd until he could get outside. It was dark and it was hard to tell the difference between people, but he finally spotted Jyn standing in front of the bonfire he had been near earlier, except she was alone and staring into it silently. More subdued again. He thought it was being around so many people for so long. It wore her out. She wasn't as capable at spreading her energy around like he was. Came from being something of a loner. Swimming was a loner sport, even during relays, from what he'd seen.

"Hey," Cassian greeted quietly, holding out the beer for her. Jyn took it, nodding at him, but then went back to staring into the fire.

It would've been cold out if not for the warmth of the flames. A part of him wished that she would lean against him or he was brave enough to move closer to her, but they didn't. He didn't find her silence discomforting. It felt good to be quiet after all the noise of the party and the struggle in his head. He thought about making a joke about s'mores, but then couldn't find the right words, so he merely stayed quiet.

Then, out of nowhere, he felt something brush against his hand. It happened again until he realized that it was her free hand, which was dangling down at her side. She moved to put her hand in her pocket, but then he grasped it, fitting her fingers in between his. She didn't look at him or so much as smile, only took a swig of her drink, but she gripped his hand tightly so that he could not mistake her intent whatsoever.

This, he couldn't help but think, holding hands with her, felt almost as intimate as dancing with her, if not more, because it was soft and gentle, none of the things she showed others. Maybe she had just needed a little liquid courage to get there herself. He could understand that. It even made him smile a little, but he hid it by taking a drink of his beer. It was a good party, the best one he'd ever been to, and the night felt like it had just begun.