A/N: You guys have been amazing in support of this story. Thanks again for giving it a chance! I love our fandom Also…this chapter is in no way supporting/not supporting any religious beliefs. Just part of the plot.

"Leia?"

The voice was soft and slurred, and it stirred Leia from her troubling thoughts. She had lain in bed awake for hours. It was around 4 in the morning now, and when she heard Luke's voice and heard his soft footsteps pad into her room, she was glad for the reprieve from replaying her conversation and kiss with Han out on the lawn.

"Luke, are you okay?" she mumbled, turning on her bedside lamp as he closed the door with a soft click. He came over and crawled onto the edge of her bed. He seemed still a little tipsy, but there was a big triumphant grin on his face as he looked at his twin.

"I'm alright. Thanks for not running back and telling mom and dad," he scratched his head sheepishly.

"Who says I didn't?"

"Because dad would have been waiting out on the porch to kick my ass, that's why," Luke laughed a little bit. Leia was surprised herself that it had been so easy to sneak back in and crawl back into bed like she had never been gone. Something had been so different about their parents since they had come here. It was like their mom cared less, and she seemed so sad and distant. And of course their dad didn't seem to think about anything other than the campaign.

"Who brought you home?" she asked, finally starting to feel the effects of her lack of sleep as her eyes fluttered in protest against the light of her lamp.

"Mara," he said. And she knew that was where the big grin was coming from as it instantly resurfaced as he said her name.

"Go to sleep Luke," she smiled. She was half pissed at him and half proud of him. He was braver than she would ever be, to be able to ignore their parents' rules and do something so reckless. It wasn't like him, but she was sensing things were changing.

Even with her.

"What's going on with you and Han?" Luke asked smugly and she just rolled her eyes and went back to lying down, pretending to ignore him. He turned the light off and quietly slipped out. After a few seconds she heard the door close to his room. They had both gotten away with it.

And now that she had one less thing to worry about, her mind turned back to the searing kiss she shared with Han. It scared her, because she liked it so much. And the last thing she wanted was to fall for someone right before going off to college.

A she forced her eyes shut, willing herself to just sleep, a thought plagued her.

It's not that you are afraid of falling for him, you are afraid of him rejecting you

Even though he had kissed her, and she as undeniably attracted to the man, he came across as a rolling stone, someone who lacked commitment and someone who had just a little more danger to them than she wanted to deal with.

But if Luke could bend the rules and change from the goody-two-shoes kid he was back in Georgia, maybe she could let her bossy, take-charge side come out a little bit more.

Maybe tomorrow I will just walk up to him and kiss him. And see what he does, she thought. But her stomach turned uncomfortably. What if he tells you that you are a stupid, childish little girl? And he doesn't want a woman like that?

The thoughts plagued her for a while longer before she fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning Leia woke up to the glorious smell of frying bacon and the rumble of a thunderstorm coming in from a distance. She crept downstairs tentatively in her pajamas and saw Luke and her father already eating, her mom cooking in the kitchen. Everyone seemed normal. She took a deep sigh of relief, and could see the same relief in Luke's eyes. Crisis averted.

"Morning sleepyhead," her father said to her over the paper. He took a long sip from his coffee as he folded down the paper to carefully scan how he was doing in the polls. Neither Luke nor Leia were surprised that he was ahead by nearly 8 percent. She used to be so into the campaign, so into moving—but now she had other things on her mind. A heaping plate of biscuits and bacon were placed in front of her and they all shared a family breakfast. Leia couldn't help but notice that the smile on her beautiful mother's face was thin and drawn.

"Clean up guys, church in an hour," she smiled at her children after breakfast and they both went to get ready. Leia took extra time curling her long brown hair so she could look a bit more girly. She was planning on going over to the guest house and asking Han if he wanted to go to church with them. It wasn't something that Leia enjoyed so much as had to do as it had become second nature growing up. Her mom had always been insistent that Leia and Luke grew up with a strong sense of morals and values. Luke always argued that stuff like that came from within, and Leia fell somewhere in the middle.

But because of the campaign, their father had found the most populated church in town and insisted they attend Sunday service there. Leia finished her morning rituals and walked back down the wooden stairs in the pretty old house before making her way onto the porch. The first thing she noticed was that the sky was dark and it looked like the heavens were going to burst open with rain at any second. And the second thing she noticed was that Han's truck was gone.

Her heart sank. She remembered what he had said before the kiss last night, that he was frustrated working for her and for her family, and that maybe he just might up and leave.

And apparently he had.

She didn't have much time to think about it when her mom called her back into the house and they all got into the car in the attached garage. She briefly smiled that she had first thought of taking his truck last night instead of trying to make off with her parents' car, because the garage door was so old it would have woken them up in an instant. But the thought of Han's car brought her mood back down to its low as they drove into town.

The service was nice, but a little too long in the muggy thunderstorm weather that the crowded little church seemed to exacerbate. It also didn't help that Leia's mind kept wandering to what she did wrong that made him leave. Her parents hadn't even seemed to notice his absence, and Luke told her that it wasn't a big deal. But she couldn't help but flush at the thought that she might have been a horrible kisser—and maybe she had ruined something.

She was so worked up by the time that they got back to the house and the ranch, Leia was practically fuming. She went up to her room, put a light jacket on over her dress and slipped out the back door, her feet bare as she headed down to the barn.

"If he doesn't want to teach me to ride, then fine, I'll teach myself," she grumbled stubbornly as she walked into the stables. She ignored the other horses and walked straight up to Falcon, petting her nose before unlocking the gate and taking her rope and leading her out. She grabbed for a saddle on the wall and it fell, and she knew she was in over her head trying to mimic something that she had only seen Han do a few times. But she managed to get the saddle on Falcon and lead her outside into the stormy gray Sunday light.

Leia's anger was beyond words. She had never been good with men, granted she didn't have much experience with them. She had always been the good girl, the valedictorian, the smart mouth that got away with it because she said it politely and she was always right. But now she just wanted to run and do something stupid because she just didn't care.

She didn't know who the Leia was who was attempting to climb up on Falcon, sticking her bare feet in the stirrups knowing that it would have pissed Han off. She couldn't deny that she was sufficiently scared. The last time she was on Falcon, Han was leading them around like she was on a pony at the state fair. But now she was all alone. She kicked the horse on her side and she took off, Leia gripping the nape of her neck and holding on as Falcon trotted down the hill towards the edge of the ranch, towards the clearing surrounded by some thin trees. Suddenly, Falcon took off on more than a light trot, sensing that she was free to do what she wanted to do and she started to run. Leia screamed a little to herself as she bounced in the saddle as she was being taken along for the ride. She started seriously questioning her judgment when Falcon ran into the clearing and turned quickly, throwing Leia off.

She landed hard on her side but wasn't hurt, just scared and angry.

"Falcon!" she yelled at the horse, which was running around the clearing like an arrogant child ignoring her and defying her. She realized that this horse was literally made for Han.

"Leia, what the hell are you doing?" she turned to see the man she was just thinking off riding up on Princess. He looked angry and confused and quickly jumped off the white horse to help Leia up from the ground. She brushed herself off but her dress was effectively ruined. She couldn't meet Han's eyes. All she heard was the annoying sound of Falcon running around like a crazy.

"Just leave me alone," she finally said, looking down at the ground. She couldn't help but be glad he wasn't gone, but even though she had literally been bucked off by his horse, the reason she was out there was to be alone.

"No. I'm not leaving you alone. I go into town for a few hours to get some feed and I come back to see you took Falcon out when you don't even know how to ride! Do you know how stupid that was? And fuck..your feet!" he groaned as he saw her bare feet in the damp grass. He looked manic, and for the first time he looked a little scared too.

"You can't talk to me like that!" she yelled at him, she had wanted to yell at him so bad, for being so infuriating and sexy and stupid. She moved away from him but he grabbed her by the arm, more gently that she expected. At that moment, thunder crashed and it started to pour.

They were both soaked in a matter of seconds. Leia's dress was clinging to her and Han's hair was flat against his forehead and his shirt clung to the outlines of his muscles.

"I can talk to you anyway I want," he told her in a low voice, "You could have killed yourself."

"What do you care? You said you wanted to leave last night."

"And then I kissed you! You are crazier than I thought you were!" he nearly started laughing there in the rain, looking at her, seeing how beautiful she looked dripping wet and angry.

"Maybe you didn't mean it…" she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I may say things I don't mean sometimes, but I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't want to Leia. I wouldn't have panicked when I saw Falcon gone and come looking for you. I wouldn't," he told her, wrapping his arms around her. She shook her head.

"I don't want to like you," she cracked a smile, but she still shook her head.

"Now that's a lie, sweetheart," he smirked and kissed her, tilting her face up to meet his lips in the rain. The drops fell down on her cheeks and ran down his nose as they kissed in the middle of the field in the warm summer rain.

A/N: Dun Dun Dun….this little scene will be continued in the next chappie! Hope you enjoyed!