Work Text:
u ok?
Hux frowned, rummaging around on his desk and pulling out his own notepad, printing in neat, blocky handwriting: Fine.
i don’t believe u. Poe accompanied this note with a wide-eyed stare that made Hux roll his own eyes, before acquiescing.
Fight with Kylo.
ofc. he doesn’t deserve u, y’know?
Hux let out a little laugh at that, and Poe could see his small smile all the way across the yard separating their two houses. You tell me that all the time. His door cracked open, and he had a brief exchange with someone on the other side, before turning back to face Poe’s window. Goodnight.
goodnight sleep well ;)
Poe shut his curtains with a heavy sigh, before sinking back down onto his chair. Nearly seventeen years of being neighbors and over eleven years of being friends, and Hux still couldn’t see what was right in front of his eyes.
---
“Hey, Huxie!” Poe shouted over the din, waving one hand to attract the redhead’s attention.
Hux noticed and headed over with a relieved smile. “Here you all are. I was getting concerned.”
“Aw, hear that, Finn? He was concerned for us.”
Finn chuckled. “I heard.”
Poe fixed Hux with a wide grin, scooting over on the bench to make room for Hux at the table. “You’re here just in time to join me against these two.”
“Oh?” Hux plopped his paper lunchbag down on the table and leaned forward on his elbow. “What are they doing now?”
“Defending the rights of pineapple on pizza!” Rey interjected. “Come on, Hux, you’re a man of culture, aren’t you?”
Hux raised one eyebrow. “But pineapple has no rights on pizza.”
“My man!” Poe all but whooped, throwing one arm around Hux’s shoulder and ignoring the particular twinge in his gut as he did so. “I told y’all he’d be on my side!”
“But does he have convincing arguments?”
Rey whispered something in Finn’s ear, and the both of them turned to confer for a moment. Poe took the chance to face Hux, beaming.
“If they’re going to scheme, we need to scheme too.”
“Right.” Hux dug in his backpack and pulled out a couple sheets of loose-leaf paper and a pen. “First things first. Our claim. Pineapple not on pizza, right?”
“Spot-on.”
Hux scribbled that down, tapping the pen against the table after he did so. “Next, our three main points. Besides common sense and decency, why shouldn’t pineapple be—”
“Hux.” A hand clamped down on Hux’s shoulder, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin.
“Ah. Hi, Kylo.”
Rey and Finn’s whispered conversation was halted as the two of them noticed the arrival of the taller boy.
“Hey there, Kylo!” Poe said amicably, trying to lighten the suddenly dark mood.
Kylo barely grunted at him in response. “Hux. Why’re you sitting with these losers?”
Hux blinked a couple times, already shoving his papers back into his bag and standing up. “Phasma’s snogging third-chair-flute in the bathroom, I couldn’t find you, and… and they’re my friends too.”
“Hmph.” Kylo cast a heavy glare over the occupants of the table. “Well I’m here. Let’s go eat in the courtyard.” He put his hand on the small of Hux’s back, practically shoving him out of the cafeteria.
“Ben, remember that Aunt Leia wants you home directly after school today!” Rey yelled.
Kylo flipped her off without even turning around.
“What a dick,” Finn muttered as the trio traded identical annoyed looks. “You still want to continue our debate?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Poe continued to stare after Hux, or at least the direction Hux had gone in. “Our teams aren’t even anymore.”
Finn shrugged, before Rey engrossed him in another fervent debate.
Under the table, Poe surreptitiously pulled out his phone and sent a text to his mother.
---
Poe weaved his way through the crowded halls, eyes fixed on a splash of orange near the entrance.
Hux was leaning against one wall as Kylo stood in front of him, passionately declaiming one thing or another with accompanying hand gestures. At one point, Poe saw Hux try to speak up with a sentence of his own, only to be silenced by a glare.
“Hey, Hux,” Poe broke in, not missing the expression of relief that flickered across Hux’s face, nor the disgust written all over Kylo’s.
“And, why are you here, Dameron?” Kylo asked coldly, and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Talking to Hux, actually.” Poe gave Kylo a quick, false smile, then sidestepped him and grinned at Hux. “You want to come over and work on our Bio project? My mom said she’ll even make some tapado if you want to stay for dinner too.”
Kylo snorted, surely muttering something derisive under his breath.
Hux just beamed. “I’d love to, Poe.” He stood on tiptoe and whispered something to Kylo, who grunted again and grabbed him by the shoulders, kissing him in a display clearly meant more for Poe than for any sort of real romantic feelings.
When they broke apart, Hux had the decency to look sheepish. “Right. Well. Bye, Kylo. See you tomorrow?”
“Call me tonight.”
“Right. Okay.”
“Great, we’ll be going now.” Poe linked his arm in Hux’s and the two of them headed out the door.
---
“He’s a real asshole, you know,” Poe remarked as they walked down the side of the street perpendicular to their neighborhood.
“So you say.”
“I’m serious, Hux. Why do you even stick with him?”
Hux shrugged, pausing and turning his head towards Poe. “He’s not all that bad. You just don’t know him.”
“The sex that good?”
“It’s mostly nonexistent, thank god,” Hux said with a laugh.
“Huh.” Poe stopped walking, suddenly giving Hux an alarmingly earnest look. “You deserve so much better than him, Hux.”
Hux shot him an odd look, continuing on ahead. “The sooner we get to your house, the more time we’ll have to work on the project,” he called back.
“Fine.”
---
Hux fixed Poe’s mother with a winning smile. “Ms. Dameron, you look stunning as always.”
Ms. Dameron chuckled, patting him on the shoulder and turning to her son. “You’ve got quite the charmer here.”
“He’s got a boyfriend,” Poe remarked absently. Better to cut off that train of thought before it got too far.
“Right.” Hux smiled again, though it was a bit smaller. “Is there anything I can do to help, ma’am?”
“No, but thank you, young man. You boys just sit down and I’ll bring out the food.”
Poe and Hux sat on opposite sides of the small kitchen table.
“So… you think our project’s done?” Poe started, just to break the awkward silence that had descended.
“Hmm. Maybe a couple more afternoons of work? The visual component could be a bit more—”
“Dinner’s ready!” Ms. Dameron interrupted as she set a bowl in front of each of the boys.
Poe shot Hux a quick smile, while internally shrieking. More afternoons of work? That would mean more hours of Hux over at his house, charming his mother and spreading papers out on his bedroom floor and overall being insufferably attractive. Poe was definitely going to die.
---
“Goddamnit!”
Poe could hear that even through the walls of his house. He moved towards the window, squinting down to see Hux pacing his front yard, phone pressed to his ear.
“Goddamnit!” Hux repeated. “Kylo. We were working on our project. And! And, he’s my friend. Friends hang out.” A pause. “And don’t— don’t bring Phasma into this.”
Hux rubbed the bridge of his nose and held the phone away from his ear. “Kylo. Please calm down.”
Poe almost considered opening the window and shouting down to see if he could be of any help, but decided against it.
From down the street, a neighbor shouted something, and Hux nodded to himself before moving the phone back against his ear. “Look, I’ve got to go. – No, I’m going home. – Well, I can’t reasonably be expected to stand in my yard listening to you yelling at me all night, now can I? – Goodnight, Kylo.”
Hux jabbed a finger at the screen and shoved his phone into his pocket a bit more angrily than was called-for. He ran one hand through his hair, then straightened his shoulders and headed back into his house.
---
Poe tugged on his suit jacket, before glancing out the window and noticing that Hux was sitting at his desk, already in his pajamas.
u going 2 the formal? Poe rapped on the glass until Hux looked up.
Kylo said it’d be lame.
screw what he thinks— u should come to the dance with me!
Hux paused for a second, and Poe almost died of sheer embarrassment before frantically scribbling again.
as friends! finn + rey + rey’s gf are coming 2
Ah.
we’re leaving in 30 mins 2 go 4 dinner first, u can come with
A small smile crept across Hux’s face, and he nodded. See you in twenty.
---
“Sorry we were late!” Poe said dramatically, walking towards the table with Hux in tow. “We got a new crew member.”
“Hux!” Finn and Rey exclaimed in unison.
Hux gave a tiny wave. “Hey guys.”
Poe casually draped one arm around Hux’s shoulder. “This guy’s boyfriend said the dance would be lame, so we’ve gotta make sure he has fun.”
“Will do.” The second girl at the table finally looked up from her phone. “Hi, I’m Rose. Rey’s girlfriend,” she said, eliciting her a grin from Rey.
“Hi, Rose.” Hux shook her hand, before sitting down in one of the vacant seats next to Finn.
Rose leaned forward, chin propped up on her elbow. “So, who’s this party-pooper boyfriend of yours? I’ll have to smack some sense into him on Monday. I didn’t work for hours on decorations for him to diss our dance.”
Hux giggled, his eyes crinkling around the corners. “Kylo.”
“The emo kid?” When Rose received a nod of confirmation, she let out a long, low whistle. “I don’t know how you put up with him.”
“Amen, sister!” Poe plopped onto the last empty seat, leaning back and surveying the menu. “My mom’s paying, so go crazy.” After a second, he added, “Actually, please don’t.”
---
“Hey, Hux, didn’t you say your boyfriend is Kylo?” Rose asked.
Hux nodded then took a long sip out of his cup of lemonade.
“Well, don’t look now, but he’s over there.”
“What?” Hux turned to where Rose was pointing, letting out a heavy sigh when he saw that she was correct.
Kylo was looming over a shorter, clearly uncomfortable, boy, smirking and gesticulating wildly.
Poe peered around Hux. “Isn’t that the Donald kid or something?”
“Dopheld Mitaka. Second chair violin,” Hux answered, voice faint. “Very nice, but a bit over-anxious. Generally considered attractive.” He chewed his bottom lip for a couple seconds, then set his cup down on the bleacher and started over towards Kylo.
“Hey, hey, buddy.” Poe fell into step with Hux, tugging on the redhead’s blazer sleeve. “Where are you going?”
“To rescue Mitaka. The poor kid looks like he needs it.”
He really did. In just the few moments since Rose had pointed him and Kylo out, Mitaka had been backed up against one wall of the gym by a smirking Kylo.
“Kylo,” Hux said coolly, grabbing Kylo’s arm.
Kylo whirled to face him, dark eyes wide. “Hux!”
“Fancy seeing you here.”
“Same to you.” Kylo looked Hux up and down, his expression of shock morphing into one of disgust. “I thought you weren’t coming.”
“I seem to recall you were the one who said we shouldn’t go. Since you were being recalcitrant, I decided to go with Po— with my friends.”
Mitaka’s gaze bounced between Kylo and Hux, and he took the opportunity to fast-walk away towards the refreshments table.
Behind Hux, Poe crossed his arms and fixed Kylo with what he hoped was an imposing glare. “I suppose you didn’t want Hux to come so that you could secretly chat up unwilling sophomores?”
“Oh, why is he here?” Kylo snapped. “You getting other people to fight your battles now, Hux?”
“No, I can still fight my own battles,” came Hux’s impassive reply. “His point remains valid, however.”
Kylo snorted, stepping towards Hux, who simply looked up at him, nonplussed. “Dopheld wasn’t into it.”
“Clearly. And I’m not sure that helps your case in the slightest.” Hux folded his arms behind his back. “So.”
“So,” Kylo parroted. “So what?”
“You’re a dick, that’s what.” Poe blinked in shock after he said that, surprised something like that came out of his own mouth.
“He likes it.”
The corner of Hux’s mouth twisted up in a smirk. “I don’t, actually.”
“What?”
“Oh, you know.” Hux shrugged one shoulder. “Being an asshole is not all that attractive of a personality trait.”
Kylo stared at Hux in silence, then, whip-fast, grabbed a cup off a nearby table and splashed the contents into Hux’s face. “Fuck you.”
With that, Kylo stomped off, slightly unsteady, towards the exit.
Hux watched him go, then burst out in laughter. “Oh my God,” he chuckled, wiping off his damp face with his sleeve. “That was the best fun of my life.” He sniffed his sleeve. “And that drink was mostly vodka.”
“Glad you thought that was so fun,” Poe said cautiously. “But, seriously, you’re fine?”
Hux’s eyes were bright. “Better than I’ve been in a long while. Now, c’mon.” He grabbed Poe by the hem of his jacket and tugged him towards the middle of the room.
“What’s this?”
Hux beamed. “I came here to have fun. And right now, I think the best way to have fun is to dance.” He put one of his hands on Poe’s shoulder and the other in Poe’s left hand, nudging him a little with his knee. “Come on, Dameron. You know how to dance, don’t you?”
“Oh… yeah, of— of course.”
“Then lead on.”
Poe’s brain almost short-circuited. Hux’s hand was warm in his, and it felt like it fit perfectly. And was Hux’s hair always this vibrant of an orange? Were his eyes always such an intense shade of sea-green?
“What are you looking at, flyboy?” Hux teased as the two of them fell into the moves of a slightly clumsy waltz.
“Nothing.” Poe flushed a bright red. “Just you.”
“Just me, huh? I’m sure there are better things for you to spend your time looking at.”
“Maybe. Oh! No! I mean, no. There aren’t.” Poe gazed at Hux with what he felt like was slightly off-putting intensity, considering they started the evening clarifying that this was just friends, and only were… whatever this was at the moment, though he didn’t stop.
Hux’s mouth quirked up again, inspiring not-so-chaste thoughts to spiral through Poe’s brain at a rapid-fire pace. “You think too much,” he murmured, leaning in close. Poe could feel Hux’s breath tickle his neck as the redhead leaned against his chest.
They swayed in a graceless sort of way for at least a minute, before Hux raised his head. “So, I think Kylo and I are over.”
“Whatever made you think that?” Poe said sarcastically, but with a good-natured manner to his voice.
“Touché.” Another moment of awkward silence, during which Hux’s gaze bounced all over the place, from Poe to the people dancing around them to the floor and then, always, back to Poe. “Which means I’ve got a vacancy. For the boyfriend spot.”
“Oh?” Poe’s thoughts were bouncing around his brain like ping-pong balls, and he wasn’t sure he could get out much more of a coherent thought.
Hux blushed an alarmingly adorable shade of pink. “Yeah. And. Well.” He looked up at Poe, a bold gleam in his eye. “I was thinking. I’d like to… formally invite you to fill that vacancy.”
Poe dropped Hux’s hands, stepping back and pointing to his chest. “Me?”
“Yes, you. If you— if you want. You can say no. God, this was such an idiotic—”
Poe silenced Hux with a finger to his lips. “No, Hux,” he whispered. “Well, I mean, yes. No to saying no. So yes. This is a mess. Sorry.” He shook his head from side to side a couple times to clear it. “Yes, Hux. If you’re offering, I’d be more than happy to… fill that vacancy.”
“Be my boyfriend?”
“Yes.” Poe leaned his chin on the top of Hux’s head. “Yes, I’ll be your boyfriend.”
A soft noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob, came out of Hux’s throat, and Poe pulled back with a hand on each of the redhead’s shoulders. “What is it, babe?”
That made Hux make the noise again. He wiped at his eyes, before breaking out into one of the widest grins Poe had ever seen from him. “I… wow. I… I’m not sure if I thought you’d say yes, but… wow.”
“Wow indeed.” Poe buried his nose in Hux’s hair, mussing it up as he did so, and silently marveling that this was something he could do now. He was allowed to do this; to be this close to the boy he’d been crushing on for so long. Because they were boyfriends. Boyfriends.
“Expect me to be all mushy the second we’re together at school on Monday,” he said, shifting slightly and tugging Hux closer. “And to change your name in my phone to have tons of heart emojis.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Poe smirked. “Now what do you say we ditch this joint and see what sort of trouble we can get up to, darling dearest boyfriend?”