━━ CHAPTER FOURTEEN / complicated

When Eliana woke up again, Poe was gone. She tried not to be disappointed but she was. He had moved her datapad to the bedside table and pulled the covers over her again but he wasn't there. And where he was lying was cold which meant it had been a while since he left. She rolled over onto her back, rubbing her face with her hands.

Then she heard a knock at the door and the panic set in. She wasn't dressed, she looked like crap and she was wearing yesterday's clothes. A soft groan escaped her lips. She couldn't ignore the door so she got up and pulled the door open.

Surprised to see Relya on the other side. Her mouth dropped open slightly and Relya smiled. It was a gentle smile, a kind smile.

"Can I come in?" Relya asked. Eliana nodded and stepped back. Then quickly remembered she was supposed to have a torn ligament so she limped backwards. As soon as the door closed behind Relya, she went back to walking normally, "I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay with you after last night." Eliana raised an eyebrow and walked over to the bed. She sat down on the edge of it and Relya followed her, perching next to her.

"What do you mean?" Eliana asked as she crossed her legs in front of her. Relya shrugged and then turned to face Eliana.

"There seemed to be some tension," She responded. Eliana pulled a face that perfectly encapsulated her confusion so Relya quickly added, "With Poe." Eliana shrugged. There was certainly tension but that was because Poe despised Relya. He would never openly admit to Eliana but he did. He had shown some disdain towards her but there was definitely more than just a friendly dislike. He seemed to genuinely hate her but Eliana couldn't say that.

"Oh. No, that's just him." Her words were nonchalant and very noncommittal. It was an avoidance tactic and Relya saw right through it.

"Does he not like me?" Relya asked as she tilted her head slightly. Eliana didn't know how to respond to that. She wanted to be honest but she didn't want to create a rift between them especially if Relya became part of her life again in a more significant way. They had to get on.

"He's indifferent." It wasn't exactly a lie. Relya nodded and looked over to the window across from the bed. The sun had long since rose over Coruscant and the buildings were shining in the mid-day sun. It looked gorgeous.

"What is he to you?" Relya asked curiously. There didn't seem to be any malicious intent behind her words, just genuine curious.

"A friend." Eliana didn't feel right saying that. They were just friends but there was something more. There always had been but she didn't know how to describe it. So, that was the best descriptor until something happened.

"Just a friend?" Relya knew there was something more. Eliana didn't have to say it, she had seen it with her own two eyes. Poe had seemed protective over Eliana the previous night and she had seen them at the soiree. They weren't subtle. It was so believable.

"It's complicated." Those words made Relya chuckle. She pushed herself back on the bed, resting back on her hands.

"That's what they all say," Relya responded. She was teasing Eliana and the brunette simply rolled her eyes.

"We're rivals. He's the best pilot in the Resistance and I'm trying to beat him. I have, many times but he's still better. We keep track of each other's mistakes. It's a complicated relationship." Though Eliana's attempt to elaborate only seemed to fall flat. It made it out to be more simple than it was. She hadn't even mentioned the incessant flirting and the attention he gave her.

"And now you're undercover as a married couple?" Relya asked and Eliana nodded. It made everything so much worse. Poe still flirted but now he also touched her. Not in a way that she hated. In fact, she adored his touch but he had never been like that before. They never hugged, he never held her hand or kissed her. They had always kept a respectful distance but the op had obliterated that barrier between them. The last thing that kept them strictly platonic.

"Complicated," Eliana mumbled with a soft sigh. Relya nodded.

There was silence for a few beats before Relya spoke again, "I smoothed everything over with the Investor." Eliana smiled.

"Thank you." It was a genuine response. The previous night had been a confusing one. Between Relya's discovery and Poe's stand-offish nature, it had thrown her through a loop. But knowing that everything was okay on the Investor's end was good. It also meant that he had no idea she had tapped into his communication channels.

"It's the least I could do," Relya shrugged and Eliana sent her a questioning look but Relya ignored it and continued, "I should have warned you when I saw you at the soiree." It must have been well-known that the Investor was overly suspicious of them but Eliana couldn't be sure. Relya didn't elaborate.

"It's fine. I avoided you," Eliana admitted. The soiree had been such an odd night. From Poe, the meetings she set up and seeing Relya, it had left her head spinning. Relya didn't get the opportunity to warn her of anything.

"I could tell," Relya muttered. Eliana cringed internally at that admittance. She had hoped that she was being more subtle, "And having Poe kiss you like that on the balcony? It was something..." Relya trailed off. The conversation came back to him and Eliana wanted anything but to think about him and him on that night. He was so gentle and sweet. He had reassured her while saying almost nothing at all and the way he kissed her.

"That was just us keeping up the act," Eliana said, cutting off her own thoughts. If she thought about the way it felt, she knew she would discover something that she didn't want to. So, she lied. She lied easily.

"Are you sure it was just that?" Relya could tell there was something more. Even if Eliana didn't want to admit it, there was something. Relya had seen it in the way that they looked at each other from across the room

"Yes." Eliana's words were firm. She wasn't trying to just convince Relya, she was trying to convince herself too, "We're not like that." She added after a moment. Relya hummed in response and again, the silence engulfed them for a moment or two before she decided to speak up again.

"Is he why you kissed me? Or was that the wine?" Relya asked. It was something that had played on her mind only a few times. But it was there. Eliana had almost let herself forget about it but her words brought everything rushing back.

"He doesn't dictate my actions," Eliana quickly rebuked as she turned to look at Relya. It wasn't the answer that either of them wanted but it was all Eliana could think to say.

"So it was the wine?" Relya asked. Eliana shrugged, "I had hoped you would have a more definitive answer." Eliana sighed and she stood up from the bed. She needed to get dressed and she needed to put space between them. If Relya was going to go there, Eliana couldn't be sat beside.

"We can't go back there, Relya." There was a firmness to her words but Relya ignored it. She didn't care.

"Who says we can't?" It was a genuine question and Eliana sighed. She opened her wardrobe and glanced over all her shirts. She needed something comfortable to wear but she didn't know what. She glanced back at the bed, her - Poe's - jacket was on the side. She would be wearing that no matter what.

"How we ended things means we can't go there," Eliana responded as she pulled a shirt off the hanger. She draped it over her arm and began to sort through her pants, "You don't understand why I'm in the Resistance and I could never understand why you continue to stand by the Senate. We're too different now." It was almost exactly the speech that Eliana had practised to herself all those months ago when they had originally broke up. Eliana had been so paranoid about Relya asking for her back that she had prepared exactly how to deny her in a way that wouldn't hurt either of them. It was odd how it only came in handy two years after they had ended it.

"Opposites attract," Relya responded and Eliana scoffed. She then took a pair of pants from the side and draped it over her arm, "We used to have fun." Eliana wasn't sure when Relya had stood up but she was now standing behind her and it felt wrong. When Poe did something like this, it made her flush. This just worried her.

"Yeah, we used to. We're too different now," Eliana shrugged as she swerved around the older woman. She placed the clothes down on the bed and snatched up the jacket, dropping it in the pile on the bed.

"I wish we weren't so different," Relya said as she watched Eliana move. There was purpose to her movements, Relya could tell that Eliana was trying to get away from her but she was still determined,"I wish we'd grown together rather than apart." Eliana sighed and pushed her fingers though her hair.

"We can't change it now," Eliana snapped. It was unintentional anger. She was usually so good at policing her tone but Relya was being unrelenting. It was not something either of them could do again. They were too different and Eliana's life was not made for love with a Senator.

"I suppose." Relya almost sounded disappointed. Though that didn't surprise Eliana, Relya had spent her entire life getting her own way. The two women met gazes and Relya smiled sadly, "I have a meeting to attend to but if you need anything while you're still here, I'm a comm away." There was a little shrug to her words and Eliana nodded.

"Thank you for the help, for everything." Her tone was genuine, any annoyance had disappeared and Relya smiled. They exchanged farewells and the Senator left. Eliana was glad to be alone and was quick to get a shower and change into her new clothes for the day. She had data-logs to read and she was not prepared for what she would find.

-

It had been a few hours of reading data logs when Eliana finally saw it. She had never really noticed the pattern or even really paid attention to the name but as she sipped her new cup of caf, she realised it. The long chain of messages she had been reading was between Relya and the Investor. Relya was investing in the First Order.

Initially, Eliana didn't quite believe it. And she had to triple check that it was the right comm number but when she put it together, her head spun. Eliana put her caf down and then went back, back-tracking through everything she had already read. Relya had been there the whole time. It was under a different comm number but she signed them all off the same and they read exactly how her messages always had.

Eliana couldn't quite believe it. Her hand rested against her face as she began to scroll through, re-reading the information. The logs had gone over two years back and when she found the first one, her heart sunk. They had been together when Relya had started investing. Relya had been willing to compromise her position as a Senator in more than one way.

A soft breath escaped Eliana's lips before she placed her datapad down on the bed. She wanted Poe to be here but he wasn't. He was still out following a lead and she had no idea when he'd return but he was right. She wasn't trustworthy.

Eliana's hands covered her face as she took a few more deep breaths. She should have seen this coming, she should have seen it. Relya had never been trustworthy and how had she known about their meeting with the Investor if she didn't have some sort of connection. Eliana had to know how much she invested.

She dropped her hands from her face and began to look through the logs specifically for Relya's comm numbers. It was so much. And the number only got bigger after Relya and Eliana split up. It was almost like Relya was holding back for Eliana's sake. Eliana had never been subtle about her dislike of the First Order. It was Empire remnants and Relya hadn't even cared. She saw it as a business opportunity.

It made Eliana feel sick and she had to stop looking. Her head was spinning. She had kissed Relya. She had contemplated getting with her again, began to fall for her again but it was all just lies. She was a liar and she was investing in the First Order. She was investing in everything Eliana was fighting against. They were just opposites anymore. They were enemies.

Eliana felt sick. How had she been so blind?

-