Chapter 34

Convincing Chewie to let them use the Falcon took far less effort than Finn imagined. The Wookie had grown fond of Poe. If Finn had to guess, he would also say that Poe reminded Chewie of Han. They shared a lot of the same traits. Great pilots, disarming charm and a devil may care swagger that always managed to win others over.

Chewie did not like that they were doing this without Leia's blessing, but the Wookie was not going to lose another friend. He had already lost too many.

Rose was busy looking over schematics of the prison where Poe was being held. She didn't even hear Finn as he told her it was time to strap in, that they were taking off.

"Rose. Rose. Hey, Rose."

Finn finally had to wave his hand in front of her face to get her attention. Still looking like she was only halfway with him, Rose glanced up from the schematics.

"Is it time?"

"Yes," Finn replied. "No second thought?"

Rose's expression morphed into one of steely determination.

"None at all," she replied. "Let's go get our friend."

Finn couldn't resist reaching out and giving her hand a quick squeeze before turning to head to the cockpit. His motion was suddenly arrested by Rose pulling him back. He was so startled that he didn't even try to resist as she pulled him down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She smirked at him before pulling back and dismissing him with a quick flick of her hand.

"Let's get this show on the road Dummy."

Finn stumbled away in a daze. Sinking down in the co-pilot seat he brought his fingers up to his lips and touched them lightly. He could still feel the delicious heat of her lips on his. It had to be one the best feelings he had every experienced. Chewie chuckled beside him.

"What?"

Finn couldn't get a response from the Wookie. He just continued to chuckle as he went through the preflight sequence with practiced ease.

Looking behind him, Finn lowered his voice so that it would not carry through the ship.

"Say Chewie, what can you tell me about women?"

The Wookie just stared at him for a minute before launching the ship into hyperdrive.

,...,...

Sometime later, Finn psyched himself up to go talk to Rose. He wasn't sure where this newfound shyness came from, but he couldn't deny that there was a new wariness in him whenever he was around her. He liked Rose, a lot. He didn't want to mess it up. Being a stormtrooper had not prepared him for any kind of romantic relationship and he was unsure of how to proceed.

"Finn, come look at this."

It didn't appear that Rose was nervous around him at all. She possessed the same confidence and ease that she always had. Finn sat next to her on the bench and found that his palms were clammy. Wiping them on his pants, he scouted a little closer to her.

"I think we can gain access to facility using these sewage tunnels."

Scrunching up his nose, Finn let out an exasperated breath. "More sewage tunnels…hurray."

"What can I say, sewage seems to be pretty universal."

Resting her hand on his thigh, Rose moved a little closer to him.

"Don't worry. I think that this will work. We just need to do some reconnaissance to find out the prison schedule and what block they are holding Poe on."

Finn was mesmerized by her mouth as she spoke. He recognized the words she was saying but their meaning was lost to the beauty of the shape of her mouth, it's pale pink color and how soft Finn knew it would be.

"Hey, Dummy are you listening to me?"

Finn found that his tongue was tied so he did the only thing he could think of. Urgently, he moved his mouth to hers and kissed her with all the unbridled passion that he had kept bottled up. He nearly groaned as he felt Rose melt into his touch. He slanted his mouth over hers to deepen the kiss and brought his hand of to cradle the back of her head. Her hair was silky to the touch and he couldn't resist digging his fingers into it. Rose moaned in response and Finn thought his heart might explode from excitement. Breaking the kiss so that they could both breath, Finn rested his forehead against hers. Unwilling to let to much space get between them.

"Rose, I really like you." There, the words were out. No taking them back. Finn could feel this heart in his throat as he waited for her reaction. Sure, Rose seemed to like him too, but they had never had this conversation before. Of course, there were a million other things that they should be discussing right now. The rescue of their friend first and foremost but Finn couldn't go on without putting this out there.

Rose's answering smile was blinding. She practically crawled into his lap and kissed him back with unbridled passion. Breaking the kiss just for a brief second, she replied.

"I like you too."

Finn felt like his heart was going to burst with joy. He could not believe his good fortune. Rose liked him too. The allure of kissing her was just too much. She felt incredible pressed up against him and he wished he had more hands because he could not stop touching her. The urgency of their kisses only increased but it didn't seem like either wanted to stop.

Rose started to tug on his jacket, clearly frustrated with the offending piece of fabric and Finn scrambled to tug it off without breaking the kiss. Just as he got it off and moved to pull Rose even closer to him, he heard the most unwanted sound in the universe. Chewie had joined them.

Sliding off his lap, Rose blushed profusely at being caught by the Wookie.

"No Chewie, it isn't a bad time. Let me show you what I have come up with thus far."

Finn took back his earlier feelings about good fortune. Getting interrupted in the most intense make out session of his life clearly meant he was cursed.