disclaimer: I do not own Star wars, or any of the related characters. The Star Wars series is created by George Lucas and owned by Disney. This fanfiction is intended for entertainment only. I am not making any profit from this story. All rights of the original Star Wars story belong to DISNEY.

AN: Hi guys, this is my first story, I recently watched all the star wars films and got obssesed with Padme and Anakins relationship, started reading bunch of fanfiction so I got inspired to write one for the fisrt time :) Please know that I'm still very new and unfamiliar with the Star Wars universe, so I decided to do an AU fanfic to avoid any mistakes about the Star wars universe. Please note english is not my primary language so there may be some (a lot) of grammar mistakes. feedback is always welcome as long as it is done nicely. If anyone ever reads this, hope you enjoy it ;)

CHAPTER 1

Anakin watched Padme walk into the office, she usually came around this time every day. They both worked in a brokerage firm, and she being part of the legal team had regular meetings with his boss to go over important details he could not really care to comprehend, he was a financial broker, and he was only familiar with the legal framework that was required of his job. As he saw Padme enter the meetings room, he realized she was wearing her hair down, which was unusual for her as she usually wore it up in a bun or some sort of hairstyle that was an updo, nevertheless she still looked very professional as it was stylized in a very neat manner. Anakin had a crush on Padmé when he first started working in the firm as an intern, he was only 22 at the time and she was 24, which he didn't think to be that much of an age gap but much to his demise Padme seemed to think so, it's not like he asked her out or anything but when he first started working in the firm she barely noticed him because she was always involved in her work and barely had any time to think of anything but that, but whenever they interacted she always made it a point to mention his age and how young he was, possibly because at first he could barely string a coherent sentence, she made him so nervous, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on and it was not even an understatement, quite a few guys at the office had a crush on her too but never really tried anything since she turned them all down in a very quick and blunt manner, she made it very clear that she had an strict rule about not dating in the workplace, apparently she had a bad experience in that regard and was not interested in making the same mistake twice, she told him so in one of the conversations when he actually manage to speak coherently, it was hard to do so because not only was she beautiful but she was also incredibly smart, funny and outgoing, while he was a bit more introverted but still he managed to make her laugh quiet easily and that alone would made his day.

He had it bad back then and he knew it, his friends would tease him non-stop but eventually he got over his little crush and they became great friends as they would interact a lot when he was still an intern at the firm, when he got promoted their interactions were reduced because he was now in a different department however they would hang out outside of the office, she had met some of his friends and he had met some of hers, she had actually become really good friends with Ashoka and from time to time they would hang out together without him (the nerve). Anakin was now 25 and Padme was 27, but they looked around the same age, well, the case could be made that Padme looked a bit younger than him, she is one of those people who look much younger than they actually are and also she is a bit short and has a small frame whereas Anakin is much taller which sometimes makes him look a bit older than he actually is.

"Hey" said Padme, he hadn't notice that she was out of the meeting, he got lost on his own thoughts and was pretending to work while his mind wandered, so he didn't even notice that Padmé had approached his cubicle.

"Hey" he responded glancing up from his computer and leaning back in his chair "how was the meeting?"

"It was ok, just business as usual"

"sounds interesting" he said sarcastically

"For your information, it was" "anyways, I'm not here to talk about work" she said as she took a sit in a chair that was next to him, he raised an eyebrow in sort of disbelief, he noticed as she sat down that she wasn't wearing a skirt as she usually did but an office trouser that hugged her hips tightly but had a flare that started on her knees, very fashionable and he was quite sure it was expensive, she had a great fashion sense and would wear luxury brands often. " You may find it hard to believe but I'm here on a personal matter" "I'm quite mad at you"

"What?" "What for?" ever since they became close friends, he realized he had a a knack for riling her up, he actually found it very amusing how she would sometimes get mad at him for the silliest reasons. "What the hell did I do this time?" she raised an eyebrow and look at him straight in the eyes, crossed her arms.

"I just heard about the Last Vegas trip from Ashoka" "She called me last night asking me if I had given any thought to the trip, and I said what trip? And she said, the last Vegas trip we are going on this weekend, Anakin was supposed to tell you about it" "you could imagine my surprise since I never got the invitation"

Oh fuck, Anakin was supposed to tell her about it but hadn't. He was planning on telling her about it tomorrow so that way she would only have 2 day's notice and he was pretty sure she wouldn't want to go to the trip with such short notice. Now, you might be wondering; Why would he not want her good friend to go on a trip of friends? Well the answer wasn't simple and it was certainly something he couldn't quite explain to Padmé, the thing is the trip's main intention was for everyone to get absolutely wasted … and well Anakin wasn't sure he wanted Padmé around for that, he also wanted to have the liberty to flirt and fool around if the opportunity presented itself and if Padmé was there he wouldn't feel as comfortable flirting and acting stupid, it may sound dumb, Anakin knew there was nothing going on between them, they are just friends and nothing more, he had accepted that a long time ago but still felt weird acting like a single 25 year old in front of one of his best friends whom he had had a crush when they first met.
He usually liked to be on his best behavior when she was around and wasn't sure he was ready for her to see him act like an idiot, also he was even more afraid of the fact that he would try to make a move on her while he was drunk, he may not like Padmé that way anymore but he still found her extremely attractive. He looked at her with a hint of guilt in his eyes, he noticed that she was a bit hurt by the fact he hadn't told her, although she was trying to act as if it wasn't that big of a deal. He decided to be partially honest with her. "I was planning to tell you later today; I barely saw you on Monday and yesterday you seemed so stressed out I just figured it wasn't the time" he could see that she knew he wasn't being completely honest, fuck she things I don't want her to come, he thought to himself, which was partially true but not for the reasons she was thinking, he loved spending time with her.

"That's a shit excuse and you know it" now she actually sounded mad "You know what is fine, whatever, you clearly don't want me to go, but you should've told that to Ashoka before she called me"

"No, Padme, that's not it at all!"

"Sure" "Hope you have a great time on your trip" she said as she stood up from the chair and left before Anakin could reply. Anakin knew Padmé wasn't one to have a temper unless she was really upset or hurt, in this case it could be both. She was usually easy-going and lighthearted, sure she could lose her temper when it came to politics or work-related topics but in the personal area of her life she managed her emotions well, much better than he did anyways. He felt like shit, he was being an idiot and now he had hurt Padmé which was the last thing he wanted to do, he needed to grow up.