A/N: Poe was obviously shocked speechless by Rey's confession in the last chapter, but we know that's not going to last!

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"I'm very thankful for how you've watched over Rey," Luke Skywalker said. "I know that you are very fond of her. But you have to know that she is destined for bigger, better things than this town – or you – have to offer her."

"Sir?"

"No man in this place is worthy of my daughter. Especially not you."

The words, or words very similar, had been spoken to Poe by Luke Skywalker more than once from the time he turned sixteen to the week before he left for college. Even after that, Luke's icy glare seemed to follow him around whenever their families got together for the holidays. Those piercing blue eyes chastised, threatened, and discouraged. "Protect my daughter," they said. "But don't touch."

He never realized how much Skywalker's attitude toward him had affected the way he treated Rey. The way he thought about Rey. It was as if he had been brain washed into thinking of Rey only as his childhood friend and never as a woman. Even as he recognized her beauty, her maturity, her sexiness, he never acknowledged it as something he could ever have access to. This 'marriage' had changed things. He had been able to touch. To taste. To love.

And as he sat in his living room, still stunned by Rey's confession, he realized that Luke Skywalker had done nothing to quash this marriage that he believed was real. Had, in fact, seemed to be comfortable, if not happy, with it. Rey had stood her ground and Luke had accepted her decision.

What if Poe had told Rey the truth all those years ago, ignoring what her father had told him? What if he had told Rey he loved her, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her? Would she have stood her ground then? How different would their lives be now?

The sound of a key turning in the lock caused him to turn his head to watch the door. Was she back? Was there still a chance to fix this before the party?

Instead of Rey, Rose walked through the door. She stopped short when she saw him. "Oh, hi!" she said with a smile. "I didn't think you'd be here or I would have knocked."

Poe barely acknowledged her.

Rose seemed to recognize his despondent expression right away. "What is it?" she asked, rushing over to him. "What happened?"

Poe shook his head as she sat down on the edge of the couch, panic on her face.

"Did you know Rey is leaving?" he asked, his voice rough.

"Leaving?"

"She's been offered a job in L.A."

"What?!" Rose gasped.

Poe felt a moment of relief knowing that Rey's 'other' best friend didn't already know. He shrugged. "She's done with me, I guess. Tired of loving a man too stupid to realize how much he keeps hurting her."

Rose leaned back a bit. "She told you, then?"

Poe glared at her. "You knew?"

She took a deep breath and glanced down at her hands. She winced, then looked back at him. "Do you remember Senior Prom?"

Poe frowned. What did Senior Prom have to do with this conversation?

"Of course, you don't," Rose continued. "You weren't there."

Poe felt guilt flow through him. He had intended to go. He had made it all the way to the school that night, but he hadn't gone inside. He had known Rey would be there. That she would be dressed up and looking pretty. That she would probably want to dance with him. And he chickened out. Instead of going in, he had run into Qi'ra Vos. She had been dumped by her date and was trying to find anyone willing to ditch prom and have their own party elsewhere. Her selling point had been a case of beer.

"Rey only went with us because you had said you would be there," Rose told him. "Oh, you should have seen her! She was gorgeous! Her dress was this beautiful emerald green, and it fit her like a second skin. You know how she usually dressed so grunge back then?" She shook her head and smiled. "She looked so different. Grown up and amazing. She told me she couldn't wait to see your expression." She laughed softly, but her smile faded. "But you never showed.

"All the guys were looking at her. 'Oh, my God! Is that Rey Skywalker?' But none of them asked her to dance." She frowned at Poe. "They were all scared of you. Her protector. Her bodyguard."

Poe felt shame flow through him, remembering when Rey had told him essentially the same thing almost a year ago. He had done exactly what Rey's dad had wanted him to do: kept Rey 'safe' from all the local boys.

"She sat alone at the table all night," Rose continued. "Until she was just gone. I panicked. She wouldn't answer her phone. I called my sister and we drove around looking, and finally drove to her house, terrified to tell her dad that she was missing." Rose gave him a sad smile. "She was on her front porch, curled up in a chair. She had walked home, two miles, mostly in her bare feet because her heels started hurting her. And she was crying."

Her sad look turned into a glare. "That was the first time you broke her heart. It wasn't the last." She paused, and Poe dreaded what was coming. "Monday morning, we found out where you were. Qi'ra couldn't keep her mouth shut, especially when it meant bragging about having sex with Poe Dameron."

Poe closed his eyes, unable to look at Rose's accusing expression any longer. He had been drunker than a skunk, but not drunk enough to make him forget losing his virginity.

This had all happened over ten years ago, he thought suddenly. For some damn reason, Rey had stuck with him. Through their separation due to college, through his 'casual sex' phase, through four women he thought would make him happy. Four women who he left at the altar. The guilt he still felt about them was great, even if it was Rey who had reminded him that all four had loved his money as much as, if not more, than him. Four women who all shared a passing resemblance to each other… and to Rey.

He looked at Rose, standing up suddenly. "Is Finn still at home?"

Rose looked surprised. "Yeah. Why?"

"I need his help with something." An idea was forming in his head. He needed to tell Rey the truth. The party tonight would not be the best place to do so, but he didn't think he could wait until after, so… "I'm going to fix this."

Rose huffed out a laugh. "How?"

"I have an idea." He grabbed up his keys and headed for the front door. "You just help Rey get ready for tonight like you planned. Don't tell her you talked to me."

"Poe?"

He stopped at the door and looked back at Rose.

"Tell me you're not going through with this annulment."

He shook his head. "If this plan works, there will be no annulment." He winked at her as she grinned back, then he left, pulling out his phone and calling Finn.

An hour later, he helped Finn load his car with their purchases and gave him the key to the cabin.

"You got a play list?" Poe asked him.

"I think I got a good one, yeah. You're not looking for just slow, romantic stuff, are you?"

"Well, I'd like to think there were some romantic songs at prom," Poe responded with a frown. "But they don't all have to be like that. Just get what you remember."

Finn nodded and opened his door. "This is nuts," he said with a grin. "You're an idiot, you know that? Almost thirty years being friends and one year of marriage and you're just now getting around to telling her you love her?"

"Hey, she just told me today!" Poe argued, heading for his own car.

"You're both idiots!" Finn shouted as he slid in and closed the door.

Poe couldn't deny that.

As he headed back home, he made a quick call to Ben Solo. Once he arrived at the condo, he was relieved to see Rey's car in the parking lot. He heard voices coming from the guest room as soon as he entered the apartment. Scratch that. Just Rose's voice. She was chattering away, and Poe suspected Rey probably wasn't feeling up for conversation.

He quickly undressed and got in the shower. Shaking his wet hair out afterward, he remembered Rey's teasing about how long it took for him to get it ready, and decided to just finger through some leave-in conditioner rather than taking time to style it. His curls would fall wherever they wanted to but at least it wouldn't look frizzy. He shaved, then pulled out his best tux. As he put on his watch and noted the time, he smiled. If they were going to The Aurelia, he would be in panic mode about now, so he better act the part.

He left his room and faced Rey's door. "It's a quarter to!" he shouted. "We're gonna be late!"

"Fashionably late!" Rose yelled back. He heard more conversation between the women, then the door opened and Rose stepped out. She was grinning. "Are you ready?"

No, he thought to himself. "As I'll ever be," he answered aloud.

Rose moved to the side and Rey walked out of the room, her expression more than a little nervous.

Poe felt his jaw drop.

It sounded like a cliché, but she looked like a princess. The dress was long and flowing and he couldn't even describe the color. It was a greenish-silver, but as she moved and the skirt swished around her legs, he could see bits of pink and purple peeking out from underneath. The upper part was a halter-top, making her look almost prim as the material swept up to encircle her throat in an elegant collar, but it also left her shoulders and upper back bare. Her hair was up in a classic bun and the gold and diamond earrings he had given her for Christmas hung in her ears. She wore more makeup than normal, her eyes looking smoky and provocative. She raised those eyes to meet his and his heart stuttered.

"Poe!" Rose said. "You're drooling!"

He closed his mouth and cleared his throat. "I guess I don't have to say that you look amazing?" he said softly, never taking his eyes off of his wife.

"Thank you," she responded in kind. "You look pretty amazing yourself." She smiled briefly, then grabbed the little clutch that had been dyed to match the dress. "We should go." She headed for the door.

Poe watched her walk by. She was slightly taller than him, which meant the heels she had on under that skirt were higher than normal. He grinned, then gave Rose a side-eye as he followed Rey.

"Have fun!" Rose squealed.

They managed to make it down to the car without any real conversation, but Poe felt that the tension that had been between them earlier had dissipated somewhat. Maybe it was due to his reaction to her appearance, or maybe Rose's chattering to Rey had relaxed her. Either way, he knew it was bound to get tense again when she realized where they weren't going.

They made it all the way across town before Rey seemed to realize something was amiss.

"This isn't the way to the hotel," she said, looking at him in surprise.

"Nope."

She was silent for a moment. "Poe?" she said, her voice dark. "Where are we going?"

"I called Ben and he's going to tell everyone there tonight that we decided to celebrate our first anniversary by ourselves," he told her without really answering her question. She would figure that out soon enough.

"Poe," she argued immediately. "This is important. We need to make sure no one questions this marriage. You need the board to vote for you tomorrow."

He nodded. "If any one of the board members thinks this marriage is a sham after the last year, one more party together isn't going to change their mind. They'll believe what they believe." He glanced over at her. "I'm done playacting. And I'm tired of schmoozing. I want to have fun tonight."

She was silent again, considering his words, and when he glanced at her he could tell she was taking note of what highway they were on. He was pretty sure she now knew where they were going, but he was just as sure she had no clue what awaited them there.

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