Chapter Summary: Prompt from anonymous: Can you do one with Poe Dameron and a female reader where he clearly likes her but she thinks he's just arrogant and a hotshot, so she acts like she hates him (but secretly kind of has a crush on him), and they get stranded together on a mission and they admit they like each other and get together? Thanks so much!
Whoever had thought a recon mission to Hoth had been a great idea needed to go get their head checked out.
The icy planet had been left alone for the most part since the Rebels had occupied it years ago, but suspicious activity, most likely the First Order, had been enough to warrant sending someone out to investigate.
And lo and behold, your partner was the infamous Poe Daemon, the poster boy of the Resistance.
He also happened to be your longtime crush, but you would die by the hand of Snoark before ever admitting that.
It wasn't much surprise to either of you, considering that you both were among the Resistance's best fliers and could handle the unpredictable weather patterns Hoth had, but the idea of being on a trip with just Poe Daemon for company was enough to have your stomach flip-flopping from nerves. But General Organa wouldn't budge on the assignment: she did not want to lose anyone on a recon mission and you two were the best choices.
And now you were stranded on Hoth, your fighters lost somewhere in the icy desert of the planet and both of you trying to keep warm in some cave that had once belonged to a wampa. It didn't help matters at all when Poe decided to drop the cheesy line of "Wanna cuddle to keep warm?" with a waggle of eyebrows after hearing your jaw start to chatter violently. You answered him with a snowball to the face and turned away to keep him from seeing a blush burn across your cheeks.
"Is that locator beacon working yet?" You asked, crouching near the small fire that you two had managed to build in a fruitless effort to keep warm. Your mind was spinning in circles, a steady stream of 'I'm alone with Poe Daemon, I'm alone with Poe Daemon' reminding you of the situation and making it impossible for you to relax even for a moment.
"Relax, babe," Poe assured you, tossing a charming smile in your direction. Something twisted in your stomach at that smile. "Why are you in such a rush to get us found? Don't you want to spend some quality time alone with the best fighter pilot in the Resistance?"
"What I want," you tell him. "Is to get back to someplace warm and away from here." Away from being alone with you, but you didn't say that. You couldn't feel your fingertips anymore, no matter how many times you tried to get them warm. At least your suits were designed to keep you warm. You two would have succumbed to hypothermia without them.
"Ouch," Poe groaned theatrically, clutching his chest and leaning over the makeshift beacon in false agony. "You wound me!"
"It's not my fault you have such a delicate ego." You retort back. "Maybe you should have one of your fangirls kiss it better when you get back."
"I've got a better idea. How about you kiss it better?"
You almost snapped something in your neck from how quickly you looked at him, eyes wide at the suggestion. Poe is grinning at you again, but there's something different about the smile. It's not as cocky and there's a warmth in his eyes you haven't seen there before.
The blood starts pounding in your ears, and the knots in your stomach seemed to have burst and released a thousand butterflies in your intestines.
"That's not funny." The words slipped out of your mouth as Poe's words blasted your higher functions momentarily off-line, leaving you scrambling to deal with this…whatever it was.
"It wasn't meant to be." The grin disappeared, leaving behind a very serious look on his face. The strangeness of seeing a serious Poe Daemon was enough to jar you out of your shock. Poe Daemon didn't do serious; he was all flashy smiles and quick comebacks, even facing down Kylo Ren and certain torture.
"Good." You turned away from him, focusing stubbornly on the fire. This shouldn't be happening now; if it hadn't been for that ice storm, you two would be flying home to let the Resistance know everything was safe, they had no reason to worry. The emptiness of space and your own cockpit would have kept things from getting too personal or awkward, but there's none of that in the small cave. It's just you and him. "Because that was the worst joke ever. Try it on another girl."
"Do you have snow in your ears or something? It wasn't supposed to be a joke."
"Poe," his name comes out weakly. "Please." You don't know what you're pleading for, for him to stop talking or to keep talking, but your heart feels like it's being squeezed.
"I'm not kidding. I wouldn't joke around with something like this." You can feel his gaze on you, but you refuse to look away from the fire. You're afraid to see his face, to see the emotions there.
"What do you mean, 'this'?" You fight to keep the tremor out of your voice. It's not caused by the cold.
"This," he says again and finally you look at him. He makes a gesture between him and you, like there's a line tying you two together. "Why do you think I asked General Organa for you to be my partner? I wanted to spend time with you." A sudden frown mars his features and he looks outside where the snowstorm is howling. "Okay, well, this wasn't how I wanted to spend time with you, but hey, I'm not complaining."
"What?" You stare at him, dumbfounded, as the words register. "You asked General Organa to go on a mission together? Why?"
Suddenly fascinated with examining the locator device and avoiding your gaze, he spoke. He had never talked like this, quiet and without fanfare. "Because you were always busy flying missions or helping the Resistance. I never had time with just you; it was always with friends or with the bosses. I…I wanted a chance to spend some time with just you and I." The tips of his ears were red and not just from the cold. "I like being around you."
You know you should say something, say something back like 'I like spending time with you too, even if I act like I don't' but the words get stuck in your throat and your jaw refuses to work properly. I like being around you. Like, as in, enjoyable and preferable. Something sought after. Poe Daemon liked being around you.
The whole universe seemed to shift.
"_?" Poe asked, sounding so uncertain it dragged you from the whirlwind of your thoughts. Another first: you had never heard him sound unsure. "Are you in there? Can you, I dunno, say something? This is kind of awkward now and I'd rather not spend the rest of the night feeling awk-"
"I like you too!" The words jump from your lips, unbidden, and as soon as they escape, you clap a hand over your mouth and stare at Poe, horrified that your true feelings escaped so easily. He stares back at you, eyes just as wide and mouth open mid-word. Crap, crap, crap, that was not supposed to happen! "I-I mean, I like spending time with you too! I mean, I know I act like I don't and sometimes I don't, especially when you get all cocky, but you're also really fun to be around-"
Sudden laughter stops you in your tracks and Poe shakes his head, grinning from ear to ear. "I heard you. You like me!"
"You heard wrong!" You protest vehemently. "I said I like spending time with you-!"
"Noooooo, I heard you! You said, 'I like you too'!" He shot back, wearing the devil's grin. "_ likes me, _ likes me!" He shouted, the sound echoing badly around the cave.
"Poe, knock it off!" You snap. There's no one around for miles, but the age-old instinct of discretion is strong.
"Sorry." He says, not looking a bit sorry at all. "I've got to tell something that the most amazing girl likes me." The compliment startles you and your heart begins to feel like it's going to burst. "So does this mean that we're a thing since we like each other and like spending time together?"
"You have to take me on a proper date first before I consider it." You say nonchalantly, but a roaring blush crawls up your face and your heartbeat is pounding like war drums. "And that means we have to get out of here first."
A sparkle enters his eyes. "Sounds like a deal to me."
I had to go through and edit this from 'Poe Daemon' to 'Poe Dameron'. I was working on 'You Say Spark, I Say Soul' while writing this so I got the two mixed up, but by the time I noticed the blunder, too many people had already liked and reblogged it. Teaches you the importance of checking this before you post them; I also tried to write Leader Snoke as Leader Snoark in the early first draft and almost kept it in there too without realizing. Gotta love being a writer sometimes, huh?
I will admit romance is not normally my forte, but most of the requests are romantic in nature and it's actually kind of fun trying to write a new way. Hopefully I'll get better as time goes on and I won't have to rely on so many cheesy tropes to get the same point across.
As always, the fics are on Tumblr as well and I hope you are having a great day!