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This fic is based on the song, 'Better' by Tom Baxter. It's a fantastic song so please go check it out!
There was something about Monty's voice. Something that pulled you in and coaxed you to stay. It was warm, like a firelight glowing in the darkness, a lamp hung out on the porch to guide the way, a sweet feeling beyond all words. For too long, Leonard couldn't put it into words. It was just a strange sensation altogether and unfamiliar to him, which was a rare enough phenomenon on its own, considering Leonard believed he'd seen and experienced everything life had to offer him.
He was very wrong.
The realization of what Montgomery's presence did to him came very slowly.
One day, Leonard was sitting in sickbay as he did when they were in deep space and there was nothing for miles, completely bored because there was no one in need of medical attention, so it was a slow day. At that moment, Montgomery walked in smiling like a glowing star and Leonard had the strongest urge to smile back. Weird, right?
He and Montgomery chatted for what felt like two minutes(which was actually an hour) before Montgomery was summoned to the bridge suddenly. And when he was gone, Bones shivered and he concluded there was a draft in medbay...or the thermostat was broken.
Which meant he had to call Montgomery to come fix it the next day, and his stomach twisted when Montgomery arrived with that brilliant smile and soft voice. He checked out the thermostat and found no problems whatsoever and then they talked about it over coffee some more before he had to return to Engineering, much to Leonard's surprising dismay.
This was getting more serious by the moment, and that fluttering feeling was more intense than ever. That voice.
That day, Leonard learned that even he was not immune to Montgomery's voice.
The first time Montgomery laughed, really laughed, was when they had just settled at the bar for some late-night drinking in celebration of their last diplomatic mission that went terribly and then somehow--magically--righted itself. They were due for shore leave on Risa very soon, and Leonard wanted nothing more than to celebrate with his good friend, Montgomery, over a nice bottle of bourbon he'd been saving for the right occasion.
Leonard didn't know exactly how it happened--wait, no he knew exactly how it happened--how they became drinking buddies. Leonard was at the bar as usual, whiskey tumbler in one hand, looking over medical reports on his PADD with the other. And then Montgomery was next to him, asking if it was alright if he could sit and Leonard just nodded.
That was that.
They'd been drinking together ever since, and Leonard had to admit the company wasn't bad at all. Not at all.
Jim used to be his drinking buddy, but that blond farm boy could never keep up with his drinking habits AND he wasn't a fan of whiskey at all. Jim enjoyed the fruitier drinks with more sugar and less alcohol.
And he didn't ever mind when Leonard switched him with Montgomery, said it gave him more free time to "look over reports". What he really meant was "Spock and I play chess every night now, and I love him above everything else in the world, so now I have more free time to ogle him" which Jim already did 24/7. It was nice to see him branching out and making friends instead of friends with benefits though.
That night, the first time Montgomery laughed, well.
Leonard felt warm, for sure, instead of cold.
And he smiled right back, chuckling a little because Montgomery had such a wonderful laugh. The whole time Leonard was unconsciously thinking, "How have I gone so long without this?" and now that Montgomery's laugh was in his memory and definitely on his mind, he strived to make him laugh as often as possible.
It was surprisingly easy.
Leonard was becoming very aware of how much Montgomery had an effect on him, but pushed it to the back of his mind.
They were on a five-year mission in deep space for christ's sake! There was no time to think about anything like that.
Like 'what', Leonard had no clue because this was all very strange and new. Unlike his marriage, which was him falling in love with a country girl, settling down after she got pregnant when they were still young, and then divorcing soon after. Even then, this wasn't like that.
It was...something more profound.
When Leonard took a report down to Engineering, he found himself in a deep conversation with Montgomery two hours later(not that there was a rush to leave, there was no one to take care of in med bay) but still, during that conversation, he felt young and...and like he was glowing.
He was ignited by the warmth Montgomery constantly gave off, and much to everyone's surprise, Leonard found it extremely difficult to not smile for the rest of the day.
After that, he found every excuse to go to Engineering: reports, returning items, signatures. Jim often needed the CEO to sign things and Leonard would insist on taking it to Engineering for him. At first, Jim was sure he'd have to return the favor because Leonard was never nice for no reason, but that day, he was.
Or.
At least, Jim couldn't see the reason.
There were other things too. Things that set Leonard on fire.
Montgomery's hand would brush his arm or their shoulders would brush in the smallest way, and Leonard would spend the rest of the day overthinking it.
Finally, it was all too much and Leonard was positive he was going crazy, so he consulted his best friend, Jim.
Leonard talked for 45 minutes about these...feelings and sensations he was feeling and whether he was absolutely insane and what is happening Jim please help me--
It should be noted that for the first time in their friendship, Leonard was coming to Jim for advice instead of the other way around.
And after Leonard was finished, Jim just gaped at him open-mouthed and in disbelief.
When a solid minute of silence passed, Leonard crossed his arms tightly. "What?"
"It's no-nothing...just. Wow."
"What?"
"Bones, if I'm reading this situation correctly, I think you have a crush."
That word.
Leonard's face felt white-hot to the touch.
Because in reality, he'd already known. And was just afraid of the answer.
"I-what? That's crazy," He choked out, and Jim burst out laughing, smiling as bright as the moon.
"Look at you! You're blushing! Bones, you're blushing!"
"I am not-"
"You are! You totally are!" Jim jumped up from his seat(they were in the meeting room) and walked(more like skipped) toward Leonard. "Oh my god! You have a crush on Scotty!"
"Shut up, Jim!" Leonard looked around, even though there was no one in the room and the doors were closed.
"Oh my god-"
Jim was interrupted by a hand over his mouth from a very impatient doctor. "Alright. Fine. If--hypothetically--I had a...crush on Montgomery, how-how would I go about it?"
After a moment, the doctor dropped his hand and Jim replied, "Alright, hypothetically, what do you want?"
"What do you mean what do I want?"
"You know..." Jim gestured vaguely which only served to confuse Leonard more. "Just sex? A fling? A relationship?"
Leonard grimaced. A fling was literally the last thing either of them needed right now, stuck in the middle of nowhere. And just sex never really worked out either. No...He wants...
"A relationship. I think."
Jim beamed at him and smack his arm like he was his dad teaching him to throw a ball. "Yeah! That's a start!"
And it was indeed a start.
From then on, Leonard decided he would keep these feelings to himself. He still had a lot to learn about Montgomery before he even attempted to make a move. And he was also trying to scope out if the feelings were mutual.
It felt like working a muscle that hadn't been worked properly in years, and Leonard was having trouble figuring out if Montgomery was interested in him.
He did, however, have the help and advice of Starfleet's glorified sex god.
When Montgomery's shoulder brushed his, he leaned into the contact the slightest bit and was immediately grateful for the almost imperceptible hitch in the CEO's breath which could mean a thousand different things.
Other times when they were standing close together, Leonard let his hand fall to his side and graze Montgomery's. It was electric and very small of a gesture, but Leonard wasn't one for big romantic gestures or fast-moving concepts.
If Montgomery did indeed like him back, he'd need to take this slow.
Several weeks of this subtle contact, of Leonard's gaze lingering just a fraction too long started to build up.
The euphoric effect doubled when Montgomery returned these subtle gestures.
Their contact was even longer now, and when Leonard's gaze lingered, Montgomery would look away bashfully and smile a soft smile.
So there was hope.
At least, Leonard hoped.
He would not get a final answer until one day in Med Bay when Len was listening to Jim go on and on about how cute Spock was, Montgomery walked through the door.
Both he and Jim just stared at him until the captain finally got the idea and made up some excuse about "being needed on the bridge all of a sudden" to give them their privacy.
They were left alone in silence, just looking at each other before Leonard finally spoke, "How can I help you, Montgomery?"
Montgomery's cheeks were stained a faint red and he took a cautious step forward. "Ah've got something te say and ye might not like it, but Ah think ye need to hear it anyway."
Leonard's heart sunk a little bit, but he kept a neutral face. This was surely a rejection. Why hadn't he seen this coming? Was Leonard's subtle touching making him uncomfortable? Oh no...oh god- "Yes?"
Montgomery blinked, glanced down, took several steps forward until he was sitting on the side of Leonard's desk, facing him. They were so close, their knees practically touching but Leonard hesitated to close the contact between them, because if this is what he thought it was, then Montgomery would want to be nowhere near him.
The CEO opened his mouth then closed it again. The words appeared difficult coming out of his mouth, and after a second, Leonard sighed.
"Look, I get it. You don't want to date me. Which is-" He sighed again, "-is fine. I just hope we can move past this and still be...friends."
Montgomery's eyes widened. "What? Nae! Where'd ya get such a bowfin idea?"
Leonard blinked once. "I. Well I thought that's what you wanted to-"
"Nae, of carse not!"
There was that smile that could light up a thousand suns. And Leonard smiled too.
Those warm hands found either side of Leonard's face and he closed his eyes, because WOW this can not be real!
But it was.
When Leonard opened his eyes again, Montgomery spoke, "Ah came 'ere to tell ye Ah think our relationship has changed."
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Montgomery cocked his head to the side, trying to find the right words. "It's not the same. And...and the only way to say it is te say it."
"Say what?" Leonard's heart thrummed in his chest, anticipating the words that were bound to fill the air with something other than the glaringly obvious adoration that already did.
"With ye. It's better. Always has been. Ye make things," Montgomery paused, "Better."
If Leonard hadn't been blushing before(which he definitely had), he was blushing now. His skin seemed to be on fire, but not in a painful sense, in a warm radiating starlight kind of sense.
"You're right. It's better. But not because of me."
They both leaned in and let the light take them to another plane of existence.
New, and exciting, the final frontier, but most importantly.
Warm.
Like a lantern glowing in the darkness.