Well, we've met Rey and we've met Poe and they've met each other. Now let's get this show on the road... I mean, this plane in the air.

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Rey was still counting breaths, trying her best to not hyperventilate, as the plane made its way down to the head of the runway. The man beside her hadn't said anything else after his inquiry about the clouds, and she kind of hoped he wouldn't. Though she had answered him well enough, without panicking, she was sure she would make a fool of herself if he continued to try and make conversation.

But as the plane made its turn at the top of the runway, Rey began to wonder if she really wanted silence on this flight. After all, she was sitting next to Poe Fucking Dameron, the hottest actor currently on the face of the earth. How would she explain herself to people when she told them she had been in close contact with the man for almost two hours and yet never spoke to him? How could she turn down this opportunity? How would she be able to live with herself with the regret that would surely follow her if she got off this plane without at least saying more than two words to him?

The plane accelerated suddenly, and a new sense of agitation filled her. She grabbed the armrests on either side of her, holding them in a death grip, totally forgetting that the armrest on her right was being shared by the man she had been so focused on seconds before. Her breathing quickened and her heart started beating so hard she could feel it. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the plane pick up impossible speed, thinking not for the first time that humans were not supposed to go this fast. Or fly. There was a slight jolt as the plane's wheels left the tarmac, and then the horrible grinding noise that indicated the landing gear was being drawn up into the belly of the plane. The roar of the propellors was so loud that Rey worried that the plane was struggling to get into the sky. It was going to fail, she thought. It was going to fall.

"Pretend you're the pilot," said a soft but firm voice next to her.

Her eyes popped open. Oh, my God. He was watching her lose it. "What?" she gasped.

"Imagine you're in charge of this plane," he continued. "Close your eyes again, and imagine you're in the cockpit."

Rey's mind began to race as she focused on his words. Was he really trying to talk her out of a panic attack? She looked at him, almost as scared of what she might see in his expression as she was of this take-off. He was indeed watching her intently, but there was no amusement in his eyes. They were soft and compassionate. He nodded at her slightly. "Go ahead," he said. "Close your eyes."

Rey did as he asked, facing the front once more.

"Okay," Dameron continued. "These planes have a yoke, usually black," he told her. "Imagine you're the one holding it. You're pulling it back toward you, asking the plane to go up. You control the pitch."

Rey felt her breathing slow as she imagined she was piloting the plane. She felt the aircraft begin to turn, the left side rising, the right lowering. Another surge of adrenaline hit her as she instinctively felt like she was falling to the side, but Dameron's voice was right there.

"You're turning that yoke now," he said, his low voice soothing. "You're the one rolling the plane, making it turn. It doesn't have wheels, you know. You have to physically move the body to make it change direction. Right?"

She nodded, opening her eyes to focus on the back of the seat in front of her. "Right." She took a deep breath as the plane leveled out. "I'm usually okay when we settle in one direction." She glanced at him just as the plane dropped suddenly. "Whoop!" she gasped.

"It's okay," he said, his voice unchanged. "We just hit an air pocket. No harm. Nothing up here to hit."

The plane stabilized again and Rey felt her grip on the armrests loosen. "Smooth from here, right?" she mumbled.

He laughed softly. "As smooth as a short flight can be," he told her. "If it was longer, we could go higher, and it would be smoother, but that's why short flights are more fun."

She snorted, but then looked at him. "How do you know so much about planes?"

He looked surprised by her question. "I… I got my pilot's license when I was eighteen," he told her. "I haven't flown in a while, though," he shrugged. "Too busy with other… things."

Rey was shocked. She thought she knew everything about this man, but she had never read that he was a pilot. "Well, thank you," she told him, finally bringing her hands away from the armrests, folding them in her lap. "I've never liked flying in general, but it's the take-offs and landings that really wig me out." She gave him another embarrassed glance. "And I think you're right. It's mostly because I'm not in control."

He nodded. "Loss of control, especially to someone you don't even know, can be scary." He was still focused on her, giving her no indication that he wanted to be left alone now that she didn't need his help.

Take a chance, Rey, she thought. "I'm Rey," she told him, nervously offering him her hand.

"Rey," he repeated softly, as if he was testing the name out in his mouth. Then he brought his own hand up to grasp hers. "Poe."

She wanted to give him a smart-ass response, something like "I know," but the feel of his hand squeezing hers gently, his thumb ever so subtly rubbing along the back of her hand, silenced her. All she could manage was a small smile, and her heart started thudding in her chest once again.

She slowly drew her hand away, very aware that he didn't appear to be in a hurry to let go, either. His eyes were so pretty up close, she thought as she continued to stare into them. The pressure in her ears suddenly increased as the plane settled at cruising speed, and she was pulled out of whatever spell he had put her under. She looked away and sat back in her seat, but then she shifted her body ever so slightly toward him. Say something, idiot, she chastised herself.

"So, what were you doing in Jackson?" she asked. Was he filming something there? Did he have friends there?

He shrugged, also leaning back but keeping his body angled toward her. "I have property there," he said. "I live in Los Angeles, but I'm a country boy at heart. I need space."

Another thing she hadn't known about him, she thought. "Why are you flying to Denver?" she asked. "Jackson has direct flights to L.A., doesn't it?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but I'm meeting a friend who is currently in Denver. We'll fly to L.A. together."

Almost immediately, Rey envisioned that 'friend' as a woman. Poe Dameron had been seen dating a handful of actresses through the years, but apparently none of them were ever serious. She had an inkling he would keep anything serious as far away from the press as he could; he had always been very careful with his private life, hence the fact she had not known about him being a pilot or that he had a home in Jackson, Wyoming.

"What about you?" he asked. "Are you from Jackson?"

She shook her head. "I wish," she breathed. "I love the Tetons." She nodded her head toward the seats in front of her. "My friends and I just came up for the weekend to play tourist. We toodled around Jackson and drove up to the National Park."

"No Yellowstone?" Yellowstone National Park was directly north of Grand Teton National Park.

She shook her head. "No, too much to do there, and we just wanted to make a weekend of it." She shrugged. "Besides, I actually think Grand Teton is prettier. I live only minutes away from some beautiful mountains in Colorado and go hiking regularly, but there's just something about Jackson Hole and the Tetons. It's almost… spiritual."

Poe nodded. "I agree. That's why I bought property there. I've been all over the world, and I've never felt the peace I do in Jackson Hole anywhere else."

There was a brief but comfortable silence. Rey became aware of the seat in front of her jerking a bit, and tilted her head to see Rose's eyes, big and awe filled, peeking back at her through the gap between her seat and the hull of the plane. The sight made Rey giggle lightly. Due to the loud noise of the props, she was sure neither Rose nor Finn could hear what she and Poe were saying, and she knew she was going to get the third degree from her friends once they were on the ground again.

She looked at Poe who was watching her with one eyebrow raised. She shook her head, not sure she wanted to explain, but then she nodded toward the seats in front of her. "My friend," she told him. "She's excited I'm talking to you."

His eyes narrowed a bit and he tilted his head. "Let me guess?" he responded. "You're single and she's trying to set you up?"

Was that hopefulness she heard in his voice or was he teasing her? "She would be over the moon," Rey told him.

He seemed to study her face for a long moment, as if he was trying to solve some mystery, but then he looked up and past her out the window, and his brows furrowed. As Rey turned to look at what he was seeing, she made note that it had gotten much darker; there was no more sunlight shining in the windows of the plane, and when she saw outside, she realized why.

The white puffy clouds she had seen when they left Jackson had grown. The plane was now flying in the tops of those clouds, only they weren't all white and fluffy anymore.

"Looks like we've hit those storms the pilot was talking about," Poe said.

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