Padmé woke suddenly, jolting upright as if she were late to something and had definitely missed her alarm. She quickly looked around, pressing a hand to her forehead while she remembered this was… Not her house. Not her bed. Because she was… in Anakin's bed.

There was one place she never envisioned finding herself again in her life.

She glanced to the place beside her but the blankets remained untouched. Where was Anakin? Her hands smoothed down the front of her clothes, thankful to still be in her dress after how many opportunities she had to ditch it hours ago. Luckily, it was soft and comfortable enough to almost double as a nightgown if not for the seams that had pressed patterns into her skin while she slept.

Padmé crawled out of what had to be a California king bed since it surrounded her like some kind of small island and made her way to the door. She rolled her shoulders and popped her back, still thinking about how she ended up here. Had she really fallen asleep and been so far gone he put her to bed without waking her at all? Quietly, she opened the bedroom door and walked out into the loft to look down into the living room below her.

There he was—awkwardly sprawled on the couch, a blanket lazily thrown over his side and his hand resting on the side of the sleeping Labrador on the floor. She took a moment to just admire him from a distance.

All of her worst fears about what the night actually meant to him and a few about how he'd react if she wasn't ready to do anything had been squashed the moment 'wow' left his lips thirty seconds after he'd opened the door. Everything from that moment on was moot. And then he'd opened up to her. Actually opened up to her in a meaningful way that was a start. It was a real start to something that felt like she might be able to have instead of only imagine.

That was a crazy thought, wasn't it? Having a relationship with Anakin again?

Maybe not.

She rushed off to the bathroom to wipe off her makeup and try to retain some semblance of a routine, hoping it wasn't all over his pillow and wishing he'd woken her up so she could've done it before bed. If she didn't have much bigger things—like a six-foot tall curly-headed man—to worry about, it would've driven her crazy to think about messing up her process.

Padmé carefully made her way down the stairs, hoping to not disturb him or the loyal canine at his side. The dog only lifted his head to look at her but didn't move. Anakin hadn't really given her an opportunity to meet his service dog, but she knew about him thankfully or that would be quite a morning surprise the last time she'd unexpectedly stayed the night. Maybe she should just start bringing an overnight bag… That would be a little presumptuous, though, wouldn't it?

She walked around the back of the couch and pulled the blanket over the rest of his sleeping form. He looked so at peace and so wildly different from the way she remembered him looking when he'd wake her up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat from a nightmare. She'd never seen a person look so scared as he did when he clung to her but now he laid there, lips parted, breathing softly. At ease.

It was all she could do to not wake him and soak up whatever extra time she could before it was time for the two of them to go back to their daily lives, but she couldn't bring herself to disturb him. Instead, she wandered into his kitchen and started a pot of coffee while she cleaned up from the night before. Dormé swore she was the only person that hadn't upgraded her coffee pot to an espresso machine or something fancier, and yet he still had a coffee maker years older than her own in the corner of his kitchen. Maybe that said something about the two of them. Or maybe she was just searching for reasons that made their stumbling into each other's lives again make sense.

Coffee in her hand, she stood at his back sliding door and watched the birds on the pond behind his house to soak in her own bit of domestic serenity. The bubble was soon to burst but for now… It was still real. Very real.

The sound of sweeping of footsteps came behind her and Anakin's arms wrapped around her small frame while he pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

"Good morning, angel." His voice slightly deeper than usual from sleep caused her teeth to sink into her lip when he whispered in her ear.

She spun around and reached to set her coffee cup on the counter before receiving a second, proper kiss.

"Hi, Ani." She smiled, kissing him again—because she was never going to be able to stop herself again after their night—before he pulled away to get his own coffee. The Labrador followed close behind him with his every move. "Who's this guy?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. This is Artoo. He's my… He's my service dog." Anakin motioned and the dog sat with the silent command. "Artoo, Padmé."

She stifled a giggle at the formal introduction, especially as the dog seemed to even raise his eyebrows at the comment. It was endearing, even if it was silly and sleep-laden.

"Nice to meet him."

"You get some sleep?"

Padmé stood on her tiptoes, casually spinning herself around before she walked up behind him while he peered into the fridge. "I did," she said as she gently traced the waistband of his sleep pants that hung low on his hips and made him jump.

"H-hey! Wh-what are you doing back there?"

She laughed. "You're really jumpy first thing in the morning."

"Yeah, well… Someone else is very touchy first thing in the morning." He turned back to her with a few eggs in his hands, his eyes bright and very awake now.

"Oh, I know you aren't talking about me after last night, thank you. And you shouldn't look so…" What was the word?"Touchable. If you don't want someone to touch you."

He shuddered when she bit into her lip softly and made her laugh again as he quickly slid past her. "You didn't complain at all last night."

She sure didn't. And she wasn't going to start now.

"Did you sleep down here all night? You shouldn't have. You could've left me, or woken me up!"

"Why would I want to wake you? Or… Leave you? I wanted you to be comfortable. Even if you are insanely heavy when you're asleep. Pure. Dead. Weight." He grinned after exaggerating each word and she fought the urge to elbow him.

She settled on a scoff and a swing of her foot that hit the side of his ankle. Just when she was going to offer the third solution—he could've slept beside her.

"Whatever."

Padmé perched herself on one of his tall bar stools and watched while he grabbed bowls, plates, and pans. A lot of work for the handful of eggs he'd dug out but he was clearly a man on a mission.

"Want breakfast? Y'know it's my speciality."

Was it really a speciality if it was the only thing she'd ever seen him cook? Aside from dinner last night. Which… She didn't actually see him make so he could've ordered it for all she knew. But breakfast he did know.

She still thought about all of the mornings he woke her up with breakfast in bed, especially if they'd… worked up an appetite during the night and he knew she had a long day ahead of her. He practically woke up with the birds anyway and tried to drag her out with him before the damn sun came up so many times. Still, to this day, she couldn't wrap her mind around why anyone would want to blind themselves first thing in the morning by staring at the sunrise like he did. Being served up pancakes and fresh fruit and veggie omelettes, though, did make up for part of the hungover feeling from staying up too late and waking up too early. Not to mention the fact it was surprisingly good. And now he was offering it to her again—under different circumstances—with all the attention and generosity she could ask for.

Which is why she hated herself for what she needed to say next.

"Ani—"

He crossed the area in two steps and tilted her chin up to capture her lips again. Despite how much she hated being cut off, she didn't by him and not when she was about to say something she didn't want to be true. Padmé wrapped her arms around his neck and accepted his motion to deepen the kiss when his tongue swept across her lips. This could be my every day, she thought distantly. I could just stay with him.

Her thoughts were growing more outrageous by the minute and proving her right. The whole reason she didn't think this was a good idea in the first place was that one of them was bound to get hurt and with the speed at which she was falling for this man, she was pretty sure it was going to be her.

But damn him and his soft lips that made it so easy to get lost in the way his mouth molded to hers. This morning. Last night. In the back of her mind where she could nearly feel the descent of those lips down her chest while his fingertips moved along her sides and up her thighs. Her thoughts betraying her caused her to moan despite herself into his mouth.

Anakin broke away and smiled smugly down at her.

"Why do you have to look so proud of yourself? I was in the middle of saying something to you…" She ran her hands down his chest and stomach, selfishly indulging in the feel of his firm body underneath her palms before pulling them back to her lap. Before they could betray her again, she fought back any other thoughts about his body and what it was capable of doing to hers. His voice firmly pulled her back to reality.

"Because… After all these years of waiting, it finally happened."

Her eyebrows knitted together tightly. "What finally happened?"

"I got my angel back."

Padmé lunged forward to throw her arms around him. "God you are so cheesy sometimes and I love you for it."

The damn word slipped from her lips faster than her brain could keep up with but when it did… Anakin's entire body tensed. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping and wishing and praying that didn't actually just come out of her mouth, knowing that it did.

"W-what did you just say?"

Fuck. Me. He heard her, which meant she had definitely just used the word 'love' alongside the words 'I' and 'you' after a single date. Well… To her credit, it wasn't exactly a single date. It was probably closer to the thousandth or so but it was the first one in long enough that she knew that was not the thing to be saying. But it was too damn late now for taking it back. And she didn't want to even if it wasn't, she just wished she'd used a little more discretion before it went flying out of her mouth.

She hid her face against his side and hoped her words were muffled enough against his skin. "I said I… really like that about you."

Anakin made a sound of disbelief and then held her shoulders to push her back. Embarrassment washed over her as she dared to look up. "Uh, no. No, I don't think you did, actually."

Padmé groaned and hid her face again. "Are you really going to make me say it again?"

"Make you?" he asked, indignant. "I didn't make you say it in the first place and if you didn't mean it, then—"

"I'm not someone that likes repeating myself so shut up and come here so you'll hear me this time." She grabbed at the air in front of him until he leaned down, just far enough outside of her reach. "I said… You're so yourself. I'm used to people bullshitting me, lying for a living. For sport. Saying one thing, meaning something completely different and then saying the opposite when I leave the room. But here you are with no filter and I don't ever question when you tell me things. And I love that. I do mean it."

"Fuck, I love absolutely everything about you. You're perfect." Anakin cradled her face in his hands, tangling his fingers in her hair, and crushing his lips against hers once more.

His sudden cursing and the intensity in the way he looked at her before he moved had her head spinning from far more than just his kiss.

Padmé felt herself starting to panic, thinking of all the ways this was destined to go wrong, spiraling before crashing into a flaming disaster. She needed to step away, clear her mind, in a place where she wasn't being consumed by his hands and his affection, or his words. And did he just basically say he loved her?

He loved her?!

Never mind any of that anxiety or stress because he was still kissing her and she was still leaning into him and things were still fine in the world. The world she was grounding herself to with her hold on this man.

Maybe she'd underestimated him and it was all her fault to begin with. She'd considered the possibility that he could grow to love her again but maybe, just maybe, they were on the same page already. And if that were true, she could fight her reaction to run away from him as fast as humanly possible after her stupid slip-up and his stupid response. For once, she could just let it be.

Anakin left her with a series of sloppy kisses all over her face that had her giggling and squirming to get out of his grasp when he finally let her go, chuckling to himself.

"Okay, okay!" she called out, swatting at his chest and trying to beat back the impossibly bright smile creeping onto her face. "You were making breakfast, remember?"

"And you were about to say you can't stay. So, those were for you to remember me by since I won't have a chance again for a while."

"Don't be like that. You know you're going to see me again as soon as possible."

"Do I?" he asked, spinning around and resting against the counter. She couldn't tell whether he looked offended or defensive but whatever the look in his eyes was supposed to convey, it had her straightening her own posture and fighting her instinct to cross her arms against her chest.

"Excuse me?"

"Do I know you'll be back as soon as possible?"

For the love of…

"Please. Didn't we do this already? I don't want to go back and forth with you anymore, Anakin. I'm telling you, and if my word isn't enough… Then I don't know what else I'm supposed to do here. I just don't want to make a big deal out of this while we're figuring it out."

"What are you telling me we're figuring out?" A glint of a smile graced his face and now she was sure what she wanted to do was deck him if he was close enough. Ruthlessly pushing her until she thought they were about to argue only to tease her instead?

He was the worst.

"Sorry, do you need to come closer again?"

"I might. Y'know I'm losing hearing in one ear. The VA takes it very seriously."

She bit back a smile and held her hands out. "They better or I'm going to write a letter."

Anakin chuckled and pulled her to her feet. "Strongly worded?"

"The strongest," she said, laying her head against his chest. "Us. Figuring us out and what that looks like for the future."

"You don't want to rush back into being with me. Got it."

She squeezed her arms tighter around him, determined to take his comment in a positive light and not the argumentative way she thought of first. Because his comment was eye-roll-worthy. If this—whatever 'this' was—was going to work, he needed to follow her lead. And she was being considerate of his life anyway with not rushing into things.

"That's not what I said. You don't know how much things can change overnight, okay? Can't we just enjoy each other? You don't want to share me with all of Massachusetts right now, do you? Because that's what happens if we dive right in." She refused to leave things on a note like this, even if he wanted to be stubborn about alternative meanings for her words. Especially not when she knew him as well as she did, which included that thinly veiled possessiveness he tried to pretend didn't exist. "I want you and this. I do. I just— I just want to be smart about it."

"What does that mean? I can have you, but only in private where no one else knows? Because I'm not gonna be some stupid secret."

"Don't. Don't do that. Don't twist my words. I'm trying to come up with a plan. I just need you to work with me. Give me a single day, at least."

He sighed deeply as his hand ran over the loose curls draped down her back. "I'm sorry. I don't want to share you, you're right. I want you all to myself and I guess that means taking what I can get."

"Not forever. It won't be forever. I can—we can plan times for me to sneak off. Just us." She ran her hands up the expanse of his back and hummed while his trailed lower down hers. Her voice lowered into something she hoped was sultry and able to get them onto a more… pleasant train of thought. Even if she couldn't believe what she was about to propose. "I have ten days off at the end of the month. We can go to the beach house and you won't have to share me with anyone. For a whole week, if you want."

Anakin's head fell back while a deep sound rumbled in his throat that made Padmé shiver.

"Are you serious?"

"I'm always serious about you. Is that a yes? Or do you also want a day?"

"I want all seven with you in an empty beach house." His finger hooked underneath her chin and tilted her face up to kiss her. "Seven fucking days."

His emphasis on the middle word was very clear, along with the warmth that rose to her cheeks. And here she thought he was going to say no…

"I told you I could come up with a plan," she noted playfully. "And you can help me come up with something to tell my team before they go scheduling a hundred things on my behalf. Though… Dormé and Sabé are probably already dying to hear about this."

"Just call them now."

"Now?!"

Anakin laughed and went back to his cooking while she stood there contemplating if he was being serious. Based on his continued laughter and the shrug of his shoulder, he apparently was.

"You were going to the second you left, right? Call them. Unless you don't want me to hear whatever you were going to say. Then okay, but if that was why you weren't staying for breakfast… I can say hi to Dormé myself."

She hated that was part of the reason she was rushing off. The other part being that she didn't want to explain why it was after noon when she finally got around to calling her friend that she undoubtedly knew was waiting for a call. This would solve both, she supposed. But what Anakin didn't get was that it wasn't what she said that worried her. It was whatever wild comments were going to come from the mouths of her friends in front of him.

"I guess you're right," she said begrudgingly, but not truly. "Let me just… Where did you put my phone?"

"Oh, sorry. It's on the charger." He pointed with a thumb over his shoulder. "Do you want peppers in your omelette or just cheese?"

"Both," she yelled on her way into the living room. She smiled, scrolling through her contacts while he yelled back at her that he knew that, that he was just testing her. And then she was making the last call she envisioned herself making, which should just be expected now. The day was a whole series of the last things she could imagine herself being a part of.

"Good morning, Madam Senator," Dormé said with a yawn. "Didn't think you'd be calling me already."

"Did I wake you? I thought you'd be waiting for a call from me the second I woke up."

"No," she said with another yawn, followed by a series of noises Padmé assumed meant she was stretching.

"Yeah, you sound wide awake. That's for sure."

"Late night. And not for any of the good reasons, either. You? Guessing you didn't follow my advice?"

If she only knew the half of it. Of how fucking difficult it was to not do just that.

"Well… Funny you should say that…" she said before catching Anakin's eye and sliding her phone across the countertop. He raised it to his ear and winked at her.

"Morning, Dormé! How's the weather?"

Padmé heard a distinct thud and a muffled 'fuck, shit, fuck, fuck, fuck,' but decided not to ask whether that was an indication her best friend had fallen out of bed, or ran into a wall. Instead, she just failed to contain her laughter.

"Are you okay?!" she asked after catching her breath.

"Is… Did…" She sounded exhausted. "Anakin? You're still with Anakin? Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?!"

"Alright, cool, guess I'm gonna go back to my place of not existing. Nice talking to you!"

Dormé huffed. "Shut up, Anakin!"

"You shut up!"

"Oh, please. Both of you shut up," Padmé added, snatching her phone away before the two of them could go any further. "Yes I'm still with Anakin, no I didn't follow any advice you gave me, and I am very much still your best friend."

"Yep, she's very sane about how crazy she sounds," Anakin called over her head before leaning down to kiss the side of her neck. "I'm only keeping her for breakfast then you all can have her back for a few weeks."

"For a few weeks? Padmé, get me off of speakerphone and tell me what the hell that's supposed to mean."

She glanced over at Anakin, seated at the table and stuffing a bite of omelette in his mouth. He gave her a knowing look and then a nod that she took to excuse herself into the backyard.

"I can't believe what I'm about to tell you but I just need your support, okay?"

Dormé fell silent for a few moments before she finally said, "I can do that. Whatever it is."

"We need to call a strategy meeting for the announcement, because I think…"

She paused, taking a moment to consider her next words. It was the longest she'd mulled over a decision since the last big announcement to her team and her decision to run. And even if that wasn't quite public knowledge… She should've said something to Anakin first, shouldn't she? Before she went off declaring her love for him and desire and the promises of how they'd work it out, she should've told him she made a decision. Her campaign wouldn't just be about her if they truly did work this out and that could easily be too much stress on a new relationship. What the hell was she doing? Or thinking? And with her brain rather than the other parts of her that lit up and practically vibrated any time she heard his voice. How could she possibly be thinking of her dating life at a time like this? But she was. She had. And beneath the relentless panic and urges to catapult herself into the sun over it, it's what she wanted. No matter what angle she looked at it from or how many ways this could end in disaster and heartbreak in the middle of her campaign trail, she wanted to be with Anakin. Starting with a trip to Martha's Vineyard, just the two of them, for a week.

"You think what?" Dormé asked, cutting through yet another rambling stream of consciousness.

"This is going to sound crazy, but Anakin and I are going away together on my next break and I just need that to be okay. Can you make it happen? I need that to happen."

"You know your wish is my command, but—"

"But? No buts. I need time off the grid with him if we have a chance in hell at working out."

"Yes ma'am," Dormé said, her smile evident in her voice. "Taking my advice or not, I guess you had one hell of a night. What brought all of this on? I mean, clearly you've been dancing around him for weeks now. Just… Not like this."

"Dormé, I…" Padmé walked down the steps of his back porch to feel the cool dew on the grass beneath her feet. A luxury she rarely had living in her townhouse and one that somehow gave her a much-needed boost of confidence. "I care about him. So much. And I know it's stupid and it's too fast and this is all a risk I don't need to be taking right now, but it doesn't matter. I have to figure out whether I'm making two of the best decisions of my life, or the worst mistake since… I don't know. A decade ago, I guess. And I won't if I can't have this. Please."

"We take big, stupid risks every day, and somehow we make it to the other side every time. Padmé, you know this whole game better than anyone I know. The idea of the perfect time for love is an illusion. There's always a reason to delay, but you shouldn't. Not anymore."

"I know," she said, taking a deep breath. "I didn't know that I knew but then Sola told me this whole thing about 'doing life' with someone and I just could not stop thinking about it every second I spent with Anakin last night. Even if it's the dumbest thing I do, I'm going to anyway. And I'll just cross my fingers that it all works out."

"Well, then here's to doing dumb things and hoping for the best. If I ever write a memoir, I'm stealing that to make one hell of a title."

"Doing Dumb Things and Hoping for the Best, My Life with Padmé Amidala. I'd buy that book," Padmé said with a laugh. "Thank you."

"Well, I do serve at the pleasure of the future president of America. Your week off the grid? Consider it done. Go enjoy your breakfast and I'll see you when I do."

Today, she had no argument, no comeback, and no desire to do anything differently.

"You're the best, Dormé."

"Yeah, I know," she replied with another laugh of her own.

Padmé said her goodbyes and leisurely made her way back into the house to grab her food from the counter before joining Anakin at the table. He took her free hand in his own and smiled at her.

"Everything okay?"

"Yes." Padmé smiled back at him, genuine and absolutely full of love. "For once, Ani… Everything's perfect."