Thanks once again to ShouldIGetOutandPush for reading this silly little random thing I wrote and making me publish it.

Her slight weight was resting heavily against his left side, her left hand pressed against his abdomen in an attempt to steady herself a bit more. The touch might have been more welcome had he believed it was some form of intimacy rather than simply keeping herself from falling over as she stumbled along next to him.

Princess Leia Organa had definitely had too much to drink. And Han Solo was feeling more than partially responsible. He'd known the woman for less than a year, and while he liked to think that they were friends, she had actively worked to keep her distance from almost anyone. Except maybe Luke, who she never seemed to have trouble opening up and talking to. That drove Han crazy, although he would never admit it to anyone.

In his frustration he often enjoyed teasing her, as it seemed to be the only way he could garner any sort of emotional reaction. Seething anger and irritation seemed better to him than cold, business-like responses. Earlier that night the Rebels had been enjoying a casual evening of stress relief that involved music and drinks in the mess hall after they'd eaten.

Han was already on his third drink of the evening, laughing it up with the Rogues when he saw the princess enter the room. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, often her standard when in a situation she wasn't entirely comfortable in – a vain attempt at shielding herself from everyone. Luke was seated with a few of the other pilots, and Leia immediately walked over to the young man when her eyes found him. Even with Luke she didn't appear all that comfortable in the room. What did she have against having a little fun?

Stepping away from the Rogues he walked over to their table, immediately noticing the irritation in Leia's eyes when she saw him approach. He saw her exhale a long breath when he sat down to join them. He'd offered her a drink, and she'd declined. He'd seen the woman drink before. Once or twice he'd even seen her enjoy it. For some reason it bothered him that she was abstaining that evening and he gave her a hard time about it.

He couldn't remember exactly the words he'd used or which phrase had finally pushed her over the edge, but she had finally decided to challenge his ideas that she was above having some fun with everyone and got herself a drink. And then she had another one. And not long after that he saw her with a third. Then he lost count.

It wasn't until much later when he saw her swaying on her feet in the middle of a group of a couple of mechanics and pilots that he started to worry. He saw the way they were looking at her. He'd definitely looked at other women in her position the same way more than once. She'd turned so her back was to him, and he saw the man to her right put his arm over her shoulders and she leaned into him.

It was when the man's hand started sliding lower and lower on her back that pushed Han over the edge. In three strides he had his own hands on her shoulders, pulling her away and telling the oglers that it was time for the princess to say goodnight, much to the immense disappointment so evident on their faces. Leia protested a bit, and Han contemplated throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her out if he had to. But he knew she would never forgive him for that kind of embarrassment. He wasn't even sure she'd forgive him now, so he restrained himself and eventually she'd relented and started to follow him out of the party.

Her quarters weren't far, thankfully. But the short walk gave him enough time for his conscience to finally get to him as he felt the guilt of goading her into drinking so much. He had a sickening feeling in his stomach when he thought of what might have happened if he hadn't gotten her out of there. He'd never seen her so compliant as she continued along with him towards her door.

Walking into her room, he lowered her down on the bed onto her back, her head simply flopping to the side in her tiredness. He probably should've just left her as she was, but he wanted to make sure she was at least a little more comfortable, so he sat down at the foot of the bed and gently took her foot in his hands. "I'm just takin' your boots off. Don't get any ideas."

She gave some sort of muffled groan in response and offered no resistance as he slowly pulled the boots from her feet and placed them on the floor. Again he felt a pang of guilt when he thought of what other clothing she'd be willing to let someone remove if someone wanted to take advantage of her. Not that he wasn't slightly tempted to see if maybe he should put her in her pajamas or something. But he shook that thought away. He may have done some questionable things in his past, but he'd never taken advantage of a woman like that. He wasn't sure he could say the same for a few of the men he had just taken her from – the ones who were bound to do more than just change her clothes. "You feeling okay?"

She rubbed her eyes, obviously trying to pretend she wasn't that tired. "Why'd you bring me here? I was having fun."

"Yeah, maybe a little too much fun."

"I thought that was what you wanted from me – to finally have some fun."

That certainly was what he'd wanted, he just didn't expect it to turn out quite like that. "A couple of guys out there started seeing you as an easy target."

"Easy target?"

"Yeah, to get into bed without much protest."

"I can handle myself, thank you. And it seems like you're the one who's gotten me into bed," she smirked at her own little joke as she rolled to her side and lifted her hips when he tugged on the covers, lowering them down.

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure this is exactly what those other guys had in mind." She flopped on her back again and he slowly slid the blankets over her body, moving to sit next to her torso as he did so.

Her hands took the covers and brought them up to her chin as she snuggled into her bed. "So? What do you care?"

"I just don't want to see you get hurt, that's all." She finally looked at him with glassy eyes, and he found himself needing to be sure that she didn't think this sort of treatment was special just because it was her. "I mean, I don't want to see any woman in your position get hurt like that."

Her expression softened and she seemed more childlike as she asked her next question. "Why are you so mean to me all the time?"

He'd never considered the good-natured ribbing he gave her to be mean. His heart hurt a little that she had seen it that way. "I'm not tryin' to be mean, sweetheart," he responded as he took the blankets and tried to tuck her in just a little tighter. "It's just kind of fun to tease you, that's all."

She turned her head away from him. "I just don't understand why you don't like me."

He reached up and placed a hand against her cheek. "Leia, I don't waste time teasing anyone I don't like."

Turning to face him again, she smiled a little and then she said softly, "I like you, you know. I've liked you a lot since I met you."

He felt his heart beat a little faster, but she'd had an awful lot to drink. He'd said some pretty stupid stuff when he'd been drinking too much. When she was sober he was pretty sure she'd regret having said that. Sober Leia certainly didn't seem to like him that much. "You don't really act like it."

"That's just because you're always making fun of me."

He heaved a sigh, frustrated that there was really no way to win this argument, apparently. "I'm sorry if you think I'm trying to be mean. It's just how I act sometimes, you know?"

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess, cuz maybe I don't really know how else to act around you." His eyes drifted to the floor.

"You could try treating me like a human being. Maybe even with a little respect." She rolled onto her side facing him, her eyes shut again as exhaustion started taking over.

His head snapped up in disbelief. He'd respected her since the day she'd taken charge of her own rescuing. He couldn't understand how she didn't know that. "Hey, I respect you." Looking down at her, his eyes were drawn to her full lips while he briefly wondered for the thousandth time what it would be like to kiss her. "Maybe a little too much."

She gave another muffled response indicating her disbelief. He needed to tell her, even if she wouldn't remember in the morning. "I like you a lot, Leia. Otherwise I wouldn't have brought you back here."

She stayed quiet, and for a few moments he thought maybe she had fallen asleep and he couldn't decide if he would be happier if she never heard him say that. Then she stirred a bit, rolling onto her back, her eyes remaining closed. "There was nothing to save me from, you know. None of those men would've touched me. Nobody ever even thinks about it."

"Are you kiddin'?

"No. I know what they all think of me. Miss high and mighty princess, no feelings of her own. Nowhere near as pretty as a princess is supposed to be." She then rolled over so she was facing the wall, her legs curling up underneath her.

He reached over her and placed hand over to rest on hers as it lay idly on the bed. "Hey, I don't want to hear you talkin' like that." Wondering why he was suddenly opening up so much, he still couldn't stop himself from continuing. "Listen, I'm going to tell you something. I'm not telling you this just to make you feel better, either. I'm just tellin' you because it's true. Leia, you are a very beautiful woman."

He saw her smirk a little even though she was still facing the wall. "Well, I don't believe you."

"You should," he said, feeling a bit more relaxed at seeing her smile.

She stayed quiet for a few moments and he wondered if maybe it was time for him to leave. "Han?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being nice to me."

"Anytime."

"And Han?"

"Yeah?"

"You're… well, you're not so bad to look at." He saw her cheek turn red as she said it. He fought to keep from laughing. "I mean, some of the girls say that, anyway."

"Just some of the girls?" he asked, thinking to himself that lately there was only one girl whose opinion he cared about. "What about you?"

She was breathing deeply now, her mouth slightly agape and he knew he was losing her. He wondered if he'd ever get her to talk so openly again. "I…. I'm… I'm tired."

Realizing he'd pressed his luck to its limit on the issue, he simply smiled as he saw her starting to drift off to sleep. Tucking the blankets around her one last time, he glanced at her beautiful face and had a tremendous urge to kiss her. Even if it was just a little kiss on her forehead. But he was afraid she might not want that. He wasn't even sure if she'd remember, and would it really be worth it if she didn't?

He leaned in and planted a gentle kiss against the smooth skin on her temple, pausing for a moment to inhale the sweet smell of her hair. He brushed a bit of it away from her face and thought he saw a hint of a smile before she snuggled down into her pillow.