Chapter Text
Jim’s supervisor, Carol Marcus, was especially welcoming, and she quickly became like the older sister he never had, offering him tips on everything related to work and not.
“He likes you, you know,” she mentioned casually one night when her shift was over, leaving while Jim closed with Sulu.
“Who, Sulu?” Jim asked, taken aback. Not that the other boy wasn’t nice, he just preferred Leo, and Carol laughed.
“No, Leo. We were talking about it the other day, remember?” She sighed when he shook his head, and placed a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “Just ask him out. I can give you some tips if you want. Or set you up. Text me when you get off,” she concluded with a pat to his shoulder before dashing out into the night.
Jim sighed, wishing Carol would have stayed to talk some more. It was going to be a long night, he decided, noting that there was less than two hours left in his shift and wishing for some lightning to shut down the pool. Unfortunately, he knew he wouldn’t get that lucky. He’d just have to wait until he got home to talk to the slightly meddlesome but still lovable girl.
“Hey, you okay?” Sulu asked when Jim nearly fell over the ladder for the fifth time since the pool closed, and Jim nodded.
“Yeah, just thinking about some stuff. Complicated, “ Jim said slowly, and Sulu raised an eyebrow.
“Something I should know about?”
Jim waved his hand. “It’s dumb, just relationship stuff. Carol thinks she’s a matchmaker.”
Sulu laughed. “She kind of is. You know she used to date Christine, right? Just a warning, if it’s someone here, it might not work. We never seem to make good couples among ourselves.”
Jim’s heart sank, but he forced a shrug. “It’s not like I’m sticking around forever. I mean, I’m going to college in the fall, so it won’t follow me. Probably.”
Sulu took another look at Jim before nodding. “Okay. Just be careful, I don’t like seeing any of my coworkers get hurt. Especially over something dumb.”
“I’m a big boy, don’t worry. I can handle it,” Jim promised, but he wasn’t sure if he could handle being turned down by the one boy he had ever truly liked.
‘Are you sure about him liking me?’ Jim texted quickly to Carol before he left, pushing Sulu’s worries to the back of his mind as he typed.
‘Positive. Ask him out. Cute bi guys are hard to find, and I’ll take him if you don’t.’
Jim laughed as he dropped his phone into his cupholder and pulled out of the lot, promising himself he would talk to Leo first thing in the morning. He could do with an early swim, and if it just happened to coincide with Leo’s shift, who was he to complain?
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“Hey,” Leo greeted Jim with a yawn and a shiver, making the latter laugh.
“Late night?”
“And early morning on a freezing deck. Didn’t you close last night?”
Jim nodded. “Mornings are the best time to swim though. Here, my warm up jacket is in my bag, and Chris did say that we can wear them on deck. You can borrow it if you want.”
“I’m fine,” Leo insisted. “See, Christine even brought me a towel to wrap up in.”
Jim raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “I’m going to go swim, then. You can have it if you want it.”
Leo nodded, his eyes continuing their path along the family pool as Jim sighed and crossed into the lap pool where Christine was guarding, sighing as he put down his bag.
“Just let me drown, Christine,” he grumbled, and she laughed.
“I’ll tell you a secret, Jim. Boys are incredibly dense, you’ve got to make it really obvious for him,” she said, grinning when Jim started to protest. “Ask him out, but make it super obvious that you do feel the same way for him. Just tell him how you feel.”
Jim spluttered, trying to defend himself before sighing and giving up. “Fine. But let me at least swim so I can think.”
“You’ve got ten minutes until we switch,” Christine said happily, and Jim groaned.
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“Shit!”
“You okay?” Leo asked, frowning as Jim climbed out of the pool.
“I’m gonna be late to school! I’ll talk to you later, I gotta go,” Jim said, dashing off towards the locker room and mentally berating himself for not paying more attention to the clock as he swam. Now he didn’t have time to ask Leo out.
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‘Hey, you wanna go see a movie this weekend? The new Star Wars movie is supposed to be good,’ Jim texted to Leo, anxiously awaiting the reply.
‘I’d love to. I have a gift card to that ice cream place over there too, should we head there afterwards? My treat,’ was Leo’s reply, and Jim grinned.
‘Sounds perfect, but a little bit cold. How about coffee instead? We can do ice cream when there’s no snow on the ground.’ Jim was taken aback- Carol was right, if Leo’s offer was any indication.
‘True. Coffee it is. Let me know what time and I’ll meet you there. Saturday?”
‘Will do. Saturday is perfect. See you then :)’, Jim replied, thinking the smile on his face may never fade.
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Jim put his best jeans and a thick sweater on Saturday morning, but gave up on fixing his hair in the bitter late February cold, figuring that Leo had seen him in worse states. He ran across the lot from his heater car to the lobby of the movie theater, warming his hands before he grabbed his phone to text Leo.
‘I’m in the lobby, I’ll meet you’ he had typed out when he saw Leo pulling the doors open, smiling and waving when he spotted Jim.
“It’s effing freezing out,” Leo complained as he rubbed his hands together and jumped up and down, his equally unstyled hair bouncing around, and Jim laughed.
“That it is,” he agreed, noting how Leo’s green sweater brought out the green flecks in his eyes and his jeans- oh god, Jim couldn’t even look at those jeans without wanting to stab himself because of how incredible Leo’s ass looked in them, and-
“Are we waiting for someone else?” Leo wondered aloud, snapping Jim out of his thoughts and back into reality.
“Hmm? Oh, no, just us,” Jim blushed, scuffing his foot on the ground. “Hope that’s okay.”
Leo smiled, reaching over to tip Jim’s chin up with a single finger before chastely pressing his lips to the blond’s. “It’s perfect,” he assured, and Jim thought he was going to pass out.
“I might faint because I think you’re perfect, just a warning,” Jim murmured as he reached up to kiss Leo again quickly, and Leo laughed.
“It’s a good thing I know CPR, then,” he teased, and Jim’s smile grew again.
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“Ny, I’m going to turn the fill on before I go, so make sure it gets turned off in a while,” Carol said to her friend when her shift was over. “And where the hell did Leo go, it’s time for Paul to leave,” she asked, more to herself than anyone on the deck.
“I think I saw him go into the closet,” Ny called helpfully as Carol walked away, and she nodded.
“I’ll check!”
As she crossed the deck, Carol thought she may have heard a muffled bang, but passed it off as just a normal noise in the Starfleet facility. She pulled open the doors to the closet and nearly screamed.
“Oh!” she exclaimed to allow herself some expression when she realized what she was seeing. Jim was pressed up against the lockers, his arms wrapped around Leo, both staring at Carol with equal expressions of horror, shame and apology.
“Hey, Carol,” Jim finally squeaked out, unwrapping his arms from Leo’s neck. “Um...”
Carol merely nodded. “Leo, it’s 7. Go punch in and take Paul’s tube, okay?”
Leo nodded and squeezed Jim’s hand quickly before ducking his head and walking away, embarrassed by the situation.
Carol reached over to pull the handle that would turn on the fill for the pool before turning to Jim, who was awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.
“Jim,” she said softly, reaching for his hand. “I’m happy for you. And I’m glad you listened to me,” she smiled as she spoke, and Jim’s grew to match.
“Thank you, Carol. I guess I was just dumb and needed a push but now that we’re together I-” he started babbling and smiling wider and wider until Carol cut him off.
“I know, Jim, I know. Just... If things end badly, it’s going to be awkward at work, okay? And next time, don’t make out in the closet. Or, I don’t know, hang a sock on the door,” she laughed, and Jim squeezed her hand.
“I think we’ll just keep that for other places. But, Carol?”
“Hmm?”
“Can you just kind of... Keep this between us? I’m only out to a few people, including you, and Leo isn’t really out to anyone except me, thought a lot of people suspect. And I just don’t know if we’re ready for everyone to know about us yet...” Jim trailed off, hope in his eyes, and Carol nodded.
“Of course, Jim. I’m glad you’re happy, I really am. Now go home, don’t bother Leo on his shift, okay?”
“Kay,” Jim grinned again and reached for his sweater. He loved his job, and his coworkers especially.