"Are you fucking serious? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Poe heard the voice of Zarabelle Penthurst sneer over his headpiece.

It was immediately clear to Poe that Zarabelle was scolding somebody on the other end of the line. It was his third time landing on this planet, but the first where she was on air traffic control duty. He hadn't ever had the pleasure of Zarabelle being the one to guide the landing of his ship. He wondered if she spoke to everybody like this.

He broke out into a grin. He had missed her like crazy. They weren't anything official, and had only kissed a few times the last time he was here. But she was the sort of girl to immediately get under one's skin and stay there. She had been on his mind constantly since the last time he was here a month ago. Now he was back permanently, and perhaps something could happen between the two.

"Controller Penthurst, lovely to hear your voice again." Poe spoke up with a grin evident in his voice.

"Dear, this isn't Miss Zarabelle. She's just started her duty and is quite cross with me for a decision I've made." An older voice said over the radio, and it caused Poe to hit his head against the steering wheel of his ship. He couldn't remember the air traffic controller's name, but it was the one that caused those issues with him last time he landed.

"I request for Controller Zarabelle Penthurst to land me safely." Poe immediately demanded.

"He's asking for you." He heard the troublesome controller say off the microphone, presumably speaking to Zarabelle behind her.

As Zarabelle was in the background her voice was soft, but he strained to hear it.

"Who is? Why me?" Zarabelle shot back.

"I don't know. Do you want me to enquire?" The troublesome woman asked.

Zarabelle only let out a sigh in the background and there was a rummaging noise. The line was quiet, so Poe had to do a loop to line himself back up with the landing runway. He assumed Zarabelle was grabbing her headset.

"Controller Penthurst speaking. Can the pilot who called please repeat themselves. I need the spacecraft and call sign, please." Zarabelle asked in a cool and professional tone, very different to the one that was muttering profanities in the background mere moments ago. It wasn't the cocky voice he had come to care for. But he knew she was very invested in her career and thus he wasn't taken aback by her different voice.

It just made him grin as he was going to play into it.

"I'm currently piloting a T-85 X-Wing. I'm Black Leader of the Rapier Squadron." He stated, mimicking her professional voice.

"Rapier Squadron." He heard her whisper to herself and he could hear the keys in the background as she was furiously typing on her computer.

"Aw, come on? You don't remember the name of my squadron? Belle, I'm deeply hurt." He teased her.

"Oh, don't you worry Commander Dameron, I remember," She said through gritted teeth "It's just been so long since I've heard from you, I just needed to check. Anyway, runway two is free and has the best landing conditions for your X-Wing. You may proceed."

Poe cringed a little as her professional demeanor turned sour. Although she had never landed him, she had told him how she loved to be bubbly on the radio and give pilots tips and tricks to help their landings. Iolo had warned him that Roxy, Iolo's love interest and Zarabelle's friend, had told him that Zarabelle was really mad at him. He thought that Iolo was joking to irritate him. But maybe he was right after all.

"Will do. Now, tell me. When do you finish your shift? I'd love to take you out on a date." Poe cockily said over the radio.

He heard a frustrated sound come from the other end. Zarabelle didn't seem to be impressed with him. But he knew that she wanted to stay professional over the radio. He could use this to his advantage.

"I'm not going to land this ship until you tell me." Poe cheekily stated.

"Commander, I seem to remember that you got in serious trouble in your prior visit to this space port for not listening to instructions. I am instructing you to land on runway two immediately." Zarabelle firmly replied.

"Oh yeah? Are you going to report me?" Poe cockily stated as he turned his ship around in order to hover over the runway that Zarabelle wanted him to land on.

"I- uh…" Zarabelle stuttered, and he smiled as he knew he had gotten her. She was mad, but not mad enough to get him in trouble.

"I'll land my ship once you tell me when you get off work." Poe teased again.

"I only have a three hour shift today. I just started, so I'll be done in just under three hours." Zarabelle sighed, her voice full of defeat.

"Fantastic. Rapier Squadron leader now approaching landing for runway two of Whitefield City spaceport."

"Gah!" Zarabelle yelled in surprise when she saw Poe Dameron standing in front of her three hours later.

She had tried to sneak out of the back entrance to the staffroom, but unfortunately for her it seemed that Poe was anticipating this, as he stood there in all of his glory grinning at her, still wearing his orange New Republic pilot uniform. The only thing missing was his helmet, which was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah, Iolo found out about this exit from Roxy, and I figured you'd try and use it."

"So, you admit you know I don't really want to talk to you, but yet you continue to harass me?" Zarabelle asked as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow to show her annoyance.

"Yep, that's exactly it," Poe agreed "C'mon, Belle. Let me take you out!"

"Why didn't you reach out to me at all over the last month? Iolo has contacted Roxy many times." Zarabelle softly stated, the fire in her voice immediately disappearing.

This caught Poe off guard as he wasn't expecting her to calm down so quickly. But it wasn't calm. It was… sadness. She sounded genuinely hurt, a feeling he wasn't anticipating. He immediately started feeling guilty. He had assumed she would be far too busy with work and wouldn't have missed him. He also had been pondering whether she even liked him. He had been crazy about her, but he thought that maybe it was something more casual to her.

This is why he hadn't reached out. He was afraid he was going to get hurt. She was the only girl he had truly held feelings for since he left Zorrii. That scared him, and every time he went to contact Zarabelle he didn't know what to say. But in his quest to stop himself getting hurt, it seemed he had hurt Zarabelle instead.

"I thought you'd be busy and wouldn't want to talk to me!" Poe immediately began to defend himself.

"Bullshit." Zarabelle hissed, her voice turning to anger again.

"It's true! I swear!" Poe spoke up.

"Well, whatever. You're too late. I'm now seeing someone else." Zarabelle snapped.

Poe went silent for a second as he tried to read her face. He wanted to know if she was telling the truth or if this was said to try and take a cheap shot at him.

It was eerily quiet around them. The back entrance to the staff room led to the outside of the spaceport, so no one else was around. It was also a quiet time for landings and thus no ships could be heard around them.

Zarabelle didn't drop her angry glare, and he wondered if she was possibly telling the truth. He also was wondering what on earth to do about it. Should he fight for her, or let her be? He didn't even need to ponder it. Within seconds his mind was made up.

"Yeah? Well I'm sure he's nowhere near the sort of pilot I am!" Poe childishly quipped, hoping to get a rise out of her so he could determine if she were playing games or not.

"Probably not," she nonchalantly agreed before adding on "but his father would outfly you."

Poe was taken aback for a few seconds by her statement. He wasn't expecting her to randomly bring in this mystery man's family. That had nothing to do with his taunting at all. But her bold statement had piqued his interest, and against his better judgment he needed to know more.

"Yeah? What's this person's father ever achieved?" Poe mockingly asked her.

Once again he noticed Zarabelle remained completely cool, he was unable to get under her skin. That annoyed him. They had a playful sort of relationship, but right now she had the upper hand. She was cool as a cucumber whilst he was getting more agitated by the second.

"A few things." Zarabelle shrugged, keeping her nonchalant demeanor "Why? What's your best achievement?"

Poe thought deep and hard about what to tell Zarabelle. He had plenty of accomplishments he could list that people who worked directly within the New Republic would understand. But unlike Poe and those he worked with, Zarabelle was a civilian. Plenty of his missions would mean nothing to her.

So he said the first thing that came to mind, which he immediately regretted. At best, it would go straight over Zarabelle's head, as she wouldn't understand the spice trade. At worst, she would understand and he would accidentally share some of his past that he wasn't exactly proud of.

"I made the Kessel Run in seventeen parsecs. It normally takes twenty for an experienced pilot." He bragged.

This caused Zarabelle to cockily raise an eyebrow.

Unknown to Poe, Zarabelle knew exactly what the Kessel Run was. Thebago, the planet she lived on, was very similar to Kessel. It was a mineral rich planet that was known for the mining parts being dirty and depressed, whilst the non mining parts were sleek and full of wealth. However unlike Kessel, Thebargo wasn't a spice planet. Everybody in Thebago knew of Kessel because they had been educated in school that Thebago wasn't a dirty spice planet like Kessel.

But Zarabelle knew exactly about what the 'Kessel Run' was because of the pilot she was bragging about, Han Solo. During one of her prior visits to Ben, Han was there and spent a long time bragging about his past as a smuggler, and how he held the record for the fastest time to complete the run. Poe Dameron had inadvertently revealed to her that at one point he was a spice runner, if he was able to complete that run in a fast time. But instead of turning her off, it intrigued her. It made him far more interesting.

She didn't know whether to question him more on this, or reveal that her current lover's father was more talented at navigating what Poe was trying to brag about.

She decided to just nip it in the bud and reveal exactly who she was currently (sort of) seeing.

"Seventeen, nice. It's not exactly twelve though, is it?" Zarabelle teased, her face scrunching up to add to the effect.

"Yeah well, Han Solo is very talented. He's one of few pilots who could outfly me, I agree. He knows my parents, you know?" Poe bragged, and he was surprised that Zarabelle knew of Han Solo's record on the Kessel Run.

Han Solo was widely known, but he wasn't a household name in every corner of the galaxy. Besides, those who knew him usually knew him as being a war hero. Not many people knew of the bad stuff he used to get up to (or still did, according to Poe's father who knows him).

"So you admit it? Han Solo is a better pilot than you? 'cause uh, that's the dad of the guy I'm referring to…" Zarabelle stated, and she couldn't help but feel nerves rise in her.

Suddenly this didn't feel like a great idea. She was mad at Poe, but the anger was suddenly starting to wash away, and she was only left with regret. She liked Poe, she really did. That's why she had gotten so angry at him for not contacting her within the last month. She was now confessing to him that she had begun relations with somebody else. Surely this would be the end of the road for her and Poe, there was no coming back from this.

In hindsight, she felt stupid for sleeping with Ben. It was a dumb thing to do. She wanted to think that she did it as an extremely foolish and impulsive way to deal with her anger at Poe. But deep down, she knew that wasn't the real reason.

Ben had a really strange hold over her. When she was away from him, she rarely thought about him. But in his presence she went completely weak for him. It was as if in Ben's presence he had cast a spell over her to make her completely submissive to him. No one had ever had that control over her before. Not even Poe. It scared her.

"You started dating Han Solo and Senator Organa's kid? Seriously?" Poe asked her as his eyes opened wide.

She sent him a guilty nod, which wasn't missed on Poe. She was faltering. He didn't know why, but suddenly she wasn't so cocky. Those weren't the actions of a girl who wanted nothing to do with him. This was his chance to jump in whilst she was starting to feel a little vulnerable instead of angry.

"Wow, so maybe you have traded up. I'll give you that. But will you give me one chance to win you back? C'mon, one drink?" Poe asked her.

Zarabelle quickly looked up so she could study his face. She wasn't expecting that reaction. After all, if he had told her that he was dating somebody well connected in the months absence she would have gruffly bid him goodbye forever. But he was still in front of her, begging for another chance.

She realised he must have had strong feelings for her after all. Either that, or his ego was bruised and he wanted to fix it. She needed to find out.

"Sure, okay. But in return you need to explain why you've completed the Kessel Run in the past. No bullshitting to try and make yourself look innocent, either. I want to know more about the real Poe Dameron, and not the slightly cocky goody two shoes pilot you pretend to be." Zarabelle said with a wink.

One drink turned into two, which eventually turned into four. They were drinking strong ale so the two got quite buzzed, but it was over the space of a few hours so they weren't sloppily drunk.

During the first drink the two had an extremely awkward conversation, ignoring the rather large bantha in the room. Zarabelle was dating somebody else, and Poe had purposely avoided speaking to her for a month. But Zarabelle had opted for a second drink even after the first drink hadn't been the successful conversation Poe had wanted.

"I'll have a second, if you fulfill the terms and conditions you promised in that you'd spill about your past as a spice runner." Zarabelle teased him in a tipsy state, even wrapping her hair around her index finger and biting her lip to show flirtatious nerves.

During the second drink, Poe cautiously told Zarabelle about what he got up to before he joined the New Republic. He told Zarabelle about his role in the Spice Runners of Kijimi and some of the questionable activities he got up to.

By the third drink Poe was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. He hadn't intended to ever tell Zarabelle about Zorrii. Not just because it hurt him to talk about the only person he had ever come close to loving. He didn't want to talk about his old love interest with his new one. But by the third drink his lips were loosened. So he accidentally went to town and would go on to spill everything about Zorrii to Zarabelle.

He told Zarabelle about the weird 'almost' relationship dynamic he had with Zorrii, where they were a couple, but not really. He even launched into the story where he betrayed Zorrii's mother, the leader of the spice runners. Zorrii wanted Poe to help her defeat her mother so they could rule the gang together as proper lovers. But instead, Poe turned his back on her and ran off, not wanting to be a criminal any longer. She had begged him to stay and even offered to give up the spice running for him. But he blamed her for the life of crime he had fallen into and couldn't bear to be around her anymore.

Now some time had passed he knew it was unfair to put the blame squarely on Zorrii. He may have been an impressionable adolescent who was convinced to leave his family and join her for a life of passion and crime. But he was never threatened or forced into it, he was just a horny kid who thought he was in love. His blame had wavered but he still held no regret for leaving Zorrii behind. There was no way he could move on with his life with her in it. Even if it had broken her heart.

"You don't regret it for a second though, right? I mean your experience has given you great…experiences to help you with your new team in the New Republic. You learned how to manage people, and how to run missions. To me, it seems like it was all worth it because it led to a really noble and worthy cause. Don't regret your past for a second!" Zarabelle slightly slurred after Poe had told her about the last few dark years of his life.

This made him blink as he could almost physically feel his appreciation for her grow inside of his heart. He had tried to ignore it, but he had thought of a few similarities between Zorrii and Zarabelle and it wasn't just the first letter of their names. They were adorably cocky and determined in their chosen life paths. But Zarabelle was pure, as much as she would have denied it if he ever voiced this opinion. She just wanted a fun and carefree life.

"My dad was the one I ran back to with my tail between my legs. He welcomed me back with open arms of course, but he made it very obvious that he believes I should regret and forget the last few years of my life. He was the one who enrolled me into pilot training for the New Republic, so I could be like both him and my mom." Poe went on to explain.

"Besides your dad, does anyone else know what you got up to? Besides the people involved in that trade, of course." Zarabelle asked curiously, perhaps against her better judgment as she wasn't sure how to handle the heavy conversation.

"Nope. Just you and dad." Poe confessed as he downed the last of his third drink.

Zarabelle didn't speak up, but she reached under the table to grab his hand to give it a squeeze. She wanted to convey that she appreciated he had divulged this information to her, and that she didn't judge him one bit for his past.

Poe read her body language and understood her immediately. But he didn't let her hand go and kept holding on for dear life. Damn, he really liked this girl. He had already held feelings for her, but after today he really, really liked her. It was too soon for love, but this had to be the closest thing.

It was then he remembered that she had told him she had been seeing someone over the last month. Not just someone else, the son of the great Han Solo and Senator Organa. He breathed deeply as he wanted to swallow his insecurities and jealousy. He would use this next drink to actively win her over.

Luckily for Poe, the same feelings were growing within Zarabelle. All of her anger had long since disappeared. Poe had explained that Zorrii was partly the reason why he had been afraid to contact her, and now it made sense to her. Zarabelle still felt that Poe had gone about things the wrong way, but she forgave him for not reaching out to her.

She too felt an intense attraction to Poe. Not quite love, but something extremely strong. And she wasn't afraid to admit to herself that she liked Poe far more than she liked Ben.

As soon as the waitress set down the fourth and final drinks, Poe watched in curiousity as he saw Zarabelle rip her hand out of his hand, only for her to grab her glass and quickly pound down her drink.

"What's the rush?" He asked her, growing fearful that she may have wanted to call an end to their date.

"We need to finish these, so we can go back to mine." Zarabelle grinned cockily.

Poe wanted to make a joke and ask her why she was so sure he would agree to the plan. But he had won her over (or at least, he assumed he had) and didn't want to push her away. However, there was one lingering question he couldn't hold back. It was what he wanted to discuss over the last drink. The other man.

"You sure your er…other lover, won't mind?" Poe asked her, he was too tipsy to bring it up any other way. If he were more sober he would have asked in a far more tactful manner. But in his current state the playful response was all he could think of.

"What other lover? Who the heck cares about him, it's not like it's serious. Besides, I'm contacting him tomorrow to call things off." Zarabelle confessed with a large grin.

"Really? Why?"

"Don't act like an idiot, you know it's because I want you and only you," Zarabelle huffed with a roll of her eyes but she smiled to show she was joking "Okay, let's get out of here. My droid loved you when he met you last, he's going to be so excited to see you."

"Awwww, I love BB-8 too. How's the little guy going?" Poe asked as they both jumped off their stools and hastily made their way to the exit, in order to retire to Zarabelle's apartment for the night.