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Jim and Bones sat next to each other on the shuttle back to the Academy, both staring straight ahead. Every time Jim glanced at the man beside him, he turned red and had to look away. Bones couldn't even glance over. It had all been too horrible.
They had been dating exclusively for long enough that McCoy decided it was time to take Kirk home for the holiday break to meet his mother and the rest of the family. Everyone had been thrilled that Leonard had moved on and were excited to meet to his new man. Including Jocelyn, his ex.
Then they had met Jim and realized several things at once. One: He's James Kirk, the Kelvin Baby, son of the hero George Kirk. Two: He's the hottest thing to walk through their doors in a long time and all the partner-less McCoys (and extended family) took notice. And Three: He's clearly out of Leonard McCoy's league.
The last one was unfair and born of jealousy and pettiness of cousins that were envious of Leonard's early success and took far too much delight in his later perceived failures only to be flummoxed by his seeming ability to pick himself up and dust himself off. He lost a prestigious practice only to be clearly on his way to a more prestigious research position. He lost a good looking wife only to walk in with a better looking boyfriend. He left an alcoholic afraid to fly to come back steady handed and piloting the shuttle that brought them to Georgia (he needed two more hours of practical atmospheric flight experience and they thought their vacation would be the perfect opportunity).
Jim was, unfortunately, oblivious to all of this.
There was plenty of family that were happier for him than they could say. There were just as many that would happily see him take another tumble off the pedestal the first group kept putting him on. It was one of those members that had invited Jocelyn and her fiance to dinner. A dinner that ended in a fist fight between Leonard and Clay, the fiance. Unfortunately for both men, Jocelyn wasn't one of Leonard's detractors.
“I can't believe the both of you!” she had shouted. “Leonard, I left you for a reason, a reason I thought you had outgrown and THAT gave me reason to be proud of you, but just because you've made good doesn't mean I want you back!”
“I didn't think you did! This clown...”
“Yes, that clown,” she had seethed. “I can't abide jealousy! I dealt with his, I won't deal with yours!”
“But, Jocelyn, sweetheart, I honestly thought....”
As Clay chased a furious Jocelyn out the door, Leonard sat on his ass, sore jawed and shamed faced, having thought the woman still hated him and Clay having thought she wanted him back. Half of his family looked embarrassed for him. The other half looked derisive, shaking their heads and muttering how they weren't the least surprised. Jim was just unhappy.
“Bones,” he sighed as he helped him to his feet. “I thought you said this wouldn't happen.”
“I didn't mean for it to, he just...”
“I know, he was being insufferable, but you and I both know you're not interested in her and she has done nothing but expressed her happiness for you... I wish you could have just ignored him.”
And that's when Jim's ignorance of the interest he was being shown bit him in the ass. Cousin Teddy, Leonard's first cousin on his mother's side, had been working hard to befriend the cadet. He was knowledgeable about engineering and had intrigued Jim into conversations about warp core designs that were supposed to increase ship speeds. Amazingly, Jim didn't recognize the desire in the man's eyes. Before he had committed himself to Bones, he was fully aware of every look of lust that crossed other people's faces while looking at him, but he was, for some reason, rusty.
“Come on, Jim,” Teddy had sympathetically. “Let's give Leonard a moment to gather his dignity.”
He had placed a hand on Jim's shoulder and led him out of the room and off on a walk around the property. A walk that took them to a secluded pond that was an infamous make out spot for all young McCoys courting a new partner.
“Where's Jim and Teddy?” Leonard had asked once he got himself cleaned up and out to the back porch, expecting to find them out there.
“Oh, I think Teddy took him for a walk,” his cousin Linda drawled with evil glee. “Out by the pond.”
Leonard knew that Jim wouldn't do anything, but he also knew that Jim wasn't aware of the significance of the pond. He had intended to take him out there himself and show him. But Teddy, Teddy knew. Leonard had never a reason to distrust him before, but now he was seeing red. He ran down the path, hoping to catch him before he could make a move on Jim.
Unfortunately for Teddy, Leonard didn't make it. When he got there, he found Teddy on the ground, holding his own jaw and Jim holding his fist, his knuckles red.
“He tried to kiss me,” Jim bit out in way of explanation.
“I thought you said we weren't going to do this?” Bones shot back.
“I didn't do anything to encourage him!”
“I know, I meant fighting!”
They decided to leave, that afternoon. Leonard's mother had been unhappy, but understanding, and had promised hell for the people that had caused the trouble in the first place. So, there they were, days ahead of schedule, heading back to campus on a commercial shuttle, so embarrassed they couldn't even look at each other.
“You know,” Jim finally managed, “it really wasn't our fault.”
“I know,” Bones sighed. “I'm far from mad at you. I'm mad at my family for being jerks and making what should have been a great trip a nightmare. I'm mad at myself for playing right into, as usual.”
They were quiet for a few minutes before Jim opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again.
“I'm not mad at you,” he said, and tentatively placed his hand on top of Leonard's.
“You still want to see me? Even with that family?”
“Yeah,” he replied, and was rewarded with Bones turning his hand over in his and gripping. “Maybe next time, we skip the big holidays so we can avoid your extended family, though.”
“Deal,” Bones nodded.
They spent the rest of the trip quiet, holding hands, and still not making eye contact. (They'd get over it soon enough.)
The End