As if being back at home with her parents wasn't enough to drive Myri absolutely insane, having Syal home just twisted the screw into her brain that much more. As much as both were trying to avoid one another, the siblings found themselves crossing paths constantly.
Myri hadn't been paying attention to how much time had gone by since she had left the Corellian Diamond, nor the interesting visit Hobbie had paid. Adding the amount of stim she was using to the equation and it felt like it had only been a few days since she had been reunited with her family, as opposed to the month and a half it had been.
After hearing voices in the main sitting room, Myri came out of her bedroom and glanced over the balcony. She saw Wes, Tycho, and Hobbie sitting on several couches in the room. She hurried back into her bedroom to clean herself up a bit, changing into a sleek pair of pants and a light blue tunic. She went into the bathroom and tousled her hair to give it volume as well as applied a bit of makeup to brighten up her features, which showed slight signs of exhaustion from the after-crash of stim.
Myri finally headed downstairs to interrupt what was apparently a very amusing story that Syal had been entertaining the group with. Wedge and Iella were also listening behind the open bar counter that separated the kitchen and living area.
For both Hobbie and Wes, Syal's story had suddenly fallen on deaf ears when Myri entered the room. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room that slightly satisfied her. She felt empowered by the fact that her presence commanded so much attention, be it positive or negative.
Syal and Iella were both confused by the cool looks that passed between Wes and Myri. It was hard for anyone else to ignore the crackling tension that filled the air as she crossed the room to greet her father's friends.
Myri heightened the discomfort in the room when she sent Hobbie a sly smirk as she said, "Hello boys."
She moved to give each one of them a kiss on the cheek. She lingered only slightly when she came to Wes, keeping her lips against his cheek for an extra heartbeat that was long enough to make him feel slightly sicker than he had when she first walked in the room.
"What's to drink, daddy?" Myri asked, walking into the kitchen and leaving Syal to continue her story. She could feel Wes' gaze lingering on her.
"Whyren's Reserve, actually," Wedge told his daughter, "Would you like yours straight up or mixed?"
"Straight up, please."
"Should you even be drinking at all, darling?" Iella asked a bit too cheerfully.
"If I'm not mistaken, Myri's legally old enough to make that decision for herself," Wedge saved them from argument, pouring the riche amber liquid over ice and sliding it across the counter to Myri.
The young woman deftly fielded the glass and took a sip, smacking her lips. She leaned up and gave her father a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you, daddy."
Myri left a satisfied father and dumbfounded mother in the kitchen, walking out to the balcony that led off from the main sitting area. She leaned against the cool ferrocrete railing, soaking in the last of the evening sun. She watched as various vehicles flew by in the streets in the valley below their estate.
The distraction left her mildly surprised when she felt a pair of strong arms come around her own and heard Wes' voice in her ear, "I heard about Hobbie's little visit…or should I say Derek's?"
Myri scoffed, sipping from her glass, "What about it?"
She was expecting her nonchalance about the whole thing to get on his nerves. What she didn't expect was for him to take hold of her arms and turn her to face him, "Don't you think that sleeping with my best friend is a little foolish, immature even?"
"You must be kidding. You're 47 years old, lecturing me about immaturity, while your foolish and immature actions regarding a certain Twilek you 'bagged'," she mocked him vehemently, "started this."
"True as that may be, two wrongs don't make a right, Myri."
"What do you want me to do? Forgive you? Act like it never happened and follow you around like a lovesick waif? I've had many men tell me they loved me before, Wes."
"Because you took your clothes off for them," he snapped, his eyes slamming deflector shields down to his emotions as he moved closer to her, "Tell me, how many of them have you slept with and still told you they loved you the next day?"
Wes could see tears begin to glaze over her eyes. He nearly thought he had taken too low a blow until she hid them behind another sip of brandy. It numbed the pain that she felt when he pointed out how worthless most people had thought she was.
"I came out here for privacy," she said, seemingly in less control of her voice, "My father is going to be very suspicious if he sees us out here alone together, especially if you're standing this close to me."
It was true; Wes was standing so close to her that he could taste the brandy on his own lips. His senses were completely barraged by her. All he could see was her eyes. All he could smell was the liquor. All he could hear was her voice.
For a long time, neither spoke. They stared one another down, both equally unsure of just what they were feeling for one another. There was a dangerous storm brewing between them and the only thing that they could agree on was that it was real. Finally, Wes' jaw relaxed from its slightly agape position and his eyes softened.
"I love you, Myri Antilles."
"I love you, Wes Janson."
"Stop sleeping with my friends."
"Stop sleeping with the rest of the galaxy."
Myri silenced their banter with a ferocious kiss. Wes' hands pushed against her back, drawing her closer as he drank in the mind blowing taste of the passion that existed between them. She left him breathing heavily on the balcony, turning back towards the sliding doors and walking back inside. Wes had to shake his head to clear the fuzzy feeling that came with kissing her. Every time was like a whirlwind.
When he finally composed himself enough to come back inside, the rest of the group had already sat down for dinner. Wes couldn't keep his eyes off of Myri while they were at the table; the way that she flipped her hair and laughed at her father's jokes, the way she became uncomfortably reserved when her mother spoke, the way that she rolled her eyes as her sister talked about the work she was doing. He was enthralled by every move she made. He was completely infatuated with her.
That was why when dinner was over and the former pilots were sent on their way to the hostel where they were staying during the proceeding week before a banquet that was being held to celebrate the longevity of Rogue Squadron, Wes quietly made his way back to the Antilles household.
He was able to duck past all the security systems without a problem. He would have been ashamed of his loss of skill had he not been able to. He snuck around the back of the house and faced a wall of windows. If he chose wrong, he could be expecting very painful, yet accurate blaster wounds from a sleepy, angry Wedge Antilles. He studied the windows for several long moments and sighed. There was only one way to do it.
Wes picked up a stone from the ground and closed his eyes, randomly pointing a finger at the second floor of the house. He opened his eyes and tossed the stone at the nearest window to the place he had pointed. It bounced off with a soft 'thunk' and came back to the ground.
Wes waited in pure fear for someone to come to the window. When he saw a wild cascade of brunette hair through the transparisteel, a smile lit his features.
"And they say Corellians don't run from the odds," he watched as Myri slid the window aside, "Hey, beautiful."
"You're insane," she whispered down to him with a grin, "What are you doing here?"
"Couldn't sleep. You were running through my mind from the moment I left," he answered softly, "Let me in."
"My sister just went downstairs; you can't go that way," she glanced at the thick vines that crawled up the side of the house, "Thank you can get up those?"
Wes walked to the wall, giving an experimental tug on one of the vines. It didn't move. He looked up to her, hoping the grin on his face was more reassuring to her than he felt it was, "It's worth a shot, but if I fall, tell your father that I was chasing an intruder."
He took a strong hold of the vines, using them as a rope to climb his way up the side of the house. By the time he reached her window, he was panting and sweating. He was more embarrassed by his apparent lack of endurance than his appearance.
"I'm getting too old for this," he said, grabbing hold of the windowsill. Myri laughed and took hold of his wrists, stabilizing him so that he could bring his feet up onto the sill. Wes swung himself inside and in one swift move took Myri into his arms and leaned her backwards, giving her a breathtaking kiss.
"How's that for a heroic entrance?" he gasped when they broke for air.
"I only hope that you have enough energy for the rest of the night," Myri told him, an enticing grin crossing her features for a few moments before she pushed him back to her bed.