Chapter Text
There was so much tension in the tiny car that you were sure that the air was getting hotter by the second and the car would explode like a balloon. And there was absolutely nothing you could do to make it any easier on yourself. If you were to start talking to Anakin, you feared that you would say something that you regretted, but if you were to keep sitting here silently like an idiot there was no way that awkwardness wouldn’t follow.
You positioned yourself so that your legs were crossed and your knees faced the door of the car, angled slightly away from him. Every so often you would look into the front mirror and catch his eyes, looking at you with an intensity you’d never seen from anyone else before. You were surely just imagining it.
Right?
When the car took another exit off of the highway and merged onto the one going north, you heard him sigh from next to you. “You’re not much for conversation, are you?” He asked in a playful tone. Great, now he thought that you were some weirdo who didn’t want to talk the entire car ride there. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to talk to him, it was that you were sure you could blow this whole situation out of proportion with only a few sentences. The way that you felt around Anakin was nothing like you had felt before and frankly, it was beginning to terrify you just a little bit at how much you liked him. You had only known him for a few weeks or so. Though, in those two weeks you kept wanting him more and more with each passing day. “Or are you just tired?”
“Not tired,” You answered. “I guess I’m just not sure what to talk about. I’m not sure if we have anything in common.” Good, maybe this way you could get the attention off of yourself and he would talk about his life. Like his kids or his beautiful wife, and you would listen no matter what because it was at least better than you blurting out how stupidly handsome you thought that he was.
He chuckled. “I guess you’re right. The only thing you really know about me are the kids and Padmé, and the fact that we’re next door neighbors.”
“Exactly my point.”
“Well, you also know that I’m a lawyer. I went to Northwestern School of Law and graduated not too long ago and I own a firm with one of my friends: Obi-Wan. We also hired a few of our law school friends,” He explained. “Padmé and I moved here because it wasn’t a long commute and to work on our marriage.”
You raised your eyebrow. Now that was some interesting news. Anakin and his wife seemed to have the perfect marriage, but was it all just some sort of show? Was there something that was preventing them from being a perfect, happy family? There was also the question of why he was telling you all of this. He didn’t know you all that well . . . Unless he wanted you to know the information for a specific reason. You wouldn’t get your hopes up, however, and simply hummed in response and tried to think of a response. Well, since he was telling you this, maybe you could get some more information as to what is going on. “What is going wrong in your marriage, you and Padmé seem so happy together.”
“I’m glad it seems that way. We’re really trying to make a good impression on the neighborhood, you know, being the new people in town. There were some problems out in the city with a guy named Rush Clovis and her getting into something bad with another firm owned by a guy named Maul.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s okay, we’re working on it.”
“Then why did you leave the dinner party to come with me? Don’t you think you should be with your wife?”
Perhaps that question went a little far, because Anakin stayed silent for a moment and when you turned to look at him, his eyes were fixated on the road, like he was intentionally making sure they were there so as to not give anything away. He sucked in a breath and shook his head, a few strands of hair fell onto his face, bouncing with their own curl. You wondered what it was like to run your hands through it, if it was really as soft as it seemed. Maybe he wanted to come with you because you weren’t making up this attraction towards him.
A few more seconds passed before he said, “I guess I just really don’t like dinner parties.”
You sighed to yourself, somewhat silently as to not draw attention to it. You don’t know what you were expecting. Some sort of declaration of love? He was married with two kids. There was no way that he would risk all of that for someone like you. Anakin was just being nice, that’s what you had to keep telling yourself so that all these dumb feelings would just go away. “Me neither,” You said, deciding to switch the conversation as much as you could so that maybe this now semi-awkward ride would go by just a little bit faster than it was going now. “My mom is always having them too. That’s how this whole neighborhood is though, so I would get used to it.” There were always a handful of dinner parties happening a week. Honestly you were surprised that your mother didn’t invite more people.
After a bit more of small talk, you both arrived at your destination and you were quick to slip out of the car and grab what you needed. In less than five minutes, you came back to the car and found Anakin on the phone, muttering something to someone else. You only heard a little bit of it, but it sounded like it was his wife. Glancing at the time, you saw that it was getting late and that Padmé had probably decided to go home. Opening the door and getting into the car, Anakin muttered a small goodbye and hung up the phone, putting the car into drive and beginning your ride back.
“Thanks for driving me again,” You said to him. “You’re already my favorite neighbor.” It was a tease, maybe a little flirty with the tone you put it into, but you were nervous going any farther. No matter how attractive Anakin was, he was still a married man and you didn’t want to give him the wrong impression if you were making your small amount of chemistry with him up.
He stifled out a laugh, but it didn’t sound like a pity laugh, it sounded real. And for a moment you chuckled too, looking out the window at the array of street lights passing you by with each passing second. It was easy to zone out, that you didn’t even hear Anakin say anything to you. Instead you kept staring, that was until his hand came and rested on your thigh, shaking it as if to get your attention. That was enough to snap you out of your daze, jumping just a small bit and turning to look at him. His hand was still on your thigh and you didn’t even want it to go away. “I was asking you if you were going to the Shepherd wedding but you seemed to be in another world,” Anakin said. “What were you thinking about?”
Well, if you keep your hand on my thigh, I won’t be thinking about anything. You thought to yourself, trying to keep a straight face as you attempted to formulate a sentence. What did he ask you about . . . The wedding! Two of the longest members of the cul de sac had a daughter who was getting married next weekend and all of you were invited, and they probably had extended the invitation to the Skywalker family, since everything about the neighborhood was accepting, as long as you stayed in between the lines that is. And considering Padmé was running politically, you were sure that the Shepherd’s were trying to get into their good graces.
You took a deep breath. “Yes, I’ll be at the wedding. The bride is a close friend of mine, we went to high school together. They’re high school sweethearts, you know.” You didn’t know how Maria Shepherd was already ready for marriage, especially because you were the same age. You still felt young. And you were, maybe she was just ready for something you couldn’t even really think about. “I don’t know how she’s doing it. But they’ve loved each other since they were little.”
“Marriage isn’t for everyone, but it sounds like they’re perfect for each other,” Anakin said. You nodded, shrugging your shoulders and looking down at his hand. For some reason, it felt perfect on your thigh, with just the right size to hold you, veins slightly popping out that made you take in another deep breath.
The rest of the ride you two engaged in small talk. Once he parked in his driveway, you got out of the car with Julia’s laptop, walking around to say goodbye. He stood out of the car and gave you a smile, it made your stomach feel all fuzzy, but you tried your best to ignore it. “So I’ll see you tomorrow then? At the block party for the Fourth?” You asked him.
“Yeah, I’ll see you then. Maybe you can tell me the inside scoop on everyone in the block, you seem to know a whole lot,” Anakin teased.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to take all the attention away from your wife.”
“Oh, she’s not coming, something about a political strategy meaning, some sort of press stunt. What better day than the fourth?”
You sighed. “Well, then I look forward to your company tomorrow.”
“So do I. Goodnight, Y/N.”
“Goodnight.”