Chapter Text
Kirk’s B&B was a humble stone cottage in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Winona Kirk ran it with the help of her son, James, now that Sam had gone off to university in Scotland, and James would soon follow suit. Nevertheless, Winona enjoyed her business, and cherished every guest who came through her humble home. Many of them were Americans, reminding her of her past life before George was positioned at an American base outside of London and the entire family had to make the long move. She was currently expecting another pair of Americans on holiday, two medical students named Leonard and Geoffrey who had booked a two week stay, taking up two of her three rooms.
Leonard McCoy was lost, and Geoff wasn’t helping.
“Leo, I thought you knew where you were going,” he complained, leaning on his suitcase. “We’re lost, let’s just ask for directions.”
Leo groaned in defeat. “Alright, you’re right. I’m sorry, I’m totally disoriented. Excuse me,” he said, noticing a boy maybe four years younger than he walking the other direction, “do you happen to know where I can find Kirk’s B&B? It’s on Enterprise Street?”
“Yeah, I’m actually headed there myself,” the boy said, his accent letting the ls slip. “I’m James, my mum runs it. It’s not far, just a few hundred meters up the road.” He gestured in the direction they had just come from, and Geoff groaned.
“Thanks, James,” Leo said gratefully as they started to walk with their suitcases. “So, can you tell us what’s fun to do here?”
The blond eyed two Americans. “How old are you? Both over 18?”
“Um, yeah, he’s 22, I’m 21,” Geoff said, surprised. “Why?”
“You can both drink here. That’s what’s fun to do, unless you like looking at trees,” James said bluntly. “Oh, or the vintage bookstore. That’s my favorite place, it’s about a ten minute walk up the road. Turn here,” he added, pointing to the right down Enterprise Street. “Mum’s been expecting you two, we’ve got everything ready. One of you is in Sam’s room, right next to mine-Sam’s my brother, he’s off at uni so mum’s turned it into a guest room, and the other one is right across the hall. I don’t remember who’s where, but mum will know. We’re right here,” he turned up a driveway leading to a three story stone cottage, with a neatly lettered sign on the gate. Unlocking the door, he called up the stairs. “Mum, I’m home! And I found the Americans on my way home!”
“Thanks, love! Hello boys, it’s nice to meet you,” Winona finished, a little out of breath as she ran down the last few stairs. “I’m Winona Kirk, and you must be Leonard and Geoffrey.”
“It’s great to meet you, Mrs. Kirk. I’m Leo, and this is Geoff,” Leo said, shaking her hand. “May I ask where you’re from?” Her accent was much lighter than her son’s, and she sounded almost American to his ear.
“Call me Win, boys, and I’m from Iowa, dear. My husband, God rest his soul, was in the Air Force and we moved here so he could be a liason between the two countries before he passed a long time ago. I couldn’t stay in the South, and I couldn’t afford to move back to the States, so here we are,” she said, sounding understandably sad. “But let’s get you boys your bags,” she said, grabbing two keys off of the table and waiting for them before starting up the stairs. “Right, Leo, you’re right in here. This is my older son’s old room, you’re right next to James if you need anything, and Geoff, you’re right across the hall here. Here are your keys, I’ll let you both get settled in now,” she handed them each a key and smiled kindly as she ducked into her younger son’s bedroom.
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“So, where do you want to go to dinner?” Geoff asked as he sat down on the bed in Leo’s room, and Leo shrugged. “I don’t know. Want to just hit that pub we saw? Pub food has a reputation for being awesome, probably for a reason.”
Geoff shrugged. “Sounds good to me, I’ll go grab my shoes and then we can go whenever you’re ready.”
Leo pulled on his own shoes, and struck by bravery, he stuck his head into James’ room. “Hey, Geoff and I are going to the pub for dinner, care to join us?”
“Hmm?” James looked up from his textbook and blinked a couple of times, pushing his glasses back up on his nose. “Oh, no thanks. I have a physics exam tomorrow, have to study up. Maybe next time, though. I really appreciate the invite.”
“Okay. Next time, for sure,” Leo agreed, and strode over to join Geoff at the top of the stairs. “So, dinner?”
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Geoff was apparently allergic to cod, as they discovered that night. His reaction wasn’t severe enough to need a hospital, but he was vomiting for several hours and Leo forbade him from leaving the bed aside from using the toilet, as James called it. As it was Friday night, James had invited the two of them out, but Leo didn’t want to leave his friend. Stubborn as ever, Geoff insisted he would be fine alone if the two of them went out, so Leo pulled his thick blue sweater from his suitcase and met James in the front hall, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans.
“So, where are we going?”
James just smiled and opened the door for his guest. “The best place in town. You’ll love it, or my middle name’s not Tiberius.”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “Ouch. Mine’s Horatio, don’t feel too bad.”
James laughed, and began pointing things out as they passed through the town. There was a war memorial, the bookstore he had mentioned, a hospital, the local pool, and a lot of cottages. They passed several restaurants before James ducked into Caffe Tirreno, an Italian place in the town center. The waitress recognized James and sat the pair at the window after a brief conversation in Italian that left her laughing, and Leo couldn’t help the pang of jealousy that tore through his heart.
“So, what’s good?” he asked, trying to be nonchalant as he picked up his menu and turned it over.
“Do you trust me?” James asked, and Leo just stared at him. Sighing, the younger boy repeated the question.
“I do,” Leo answered honestly.
“Then let me order for you,” James said, reaching over to take the menu. “What do you want to drink?”
“Um, water is fine. You don’t have to-”
James waved his hand. “No, I enjoy it. Gives me a chance to brush up on my Italian. I’ll deny it if you tell anyone, but I’m trying to catch up to my friend Nyota-she’s best in our year. I think she speaks eleven languages fluently, and I only speak three-English, French, and German. I’m getting better in Italian, but it’s tricky. So is Russian, I have a lot of trouble with that, though I’m mostly trying to learn it so I can talk to the new kid a little easier. He’s a physics genius, and I’d love to pick his brain on some ideas I have, but he doesn’t speak English very well.”
“Do you want to be a linguist, then?” Leo asked, honestly intrigued. “That would be a great career, or an interpreter.”
“Nope, I want to study physics. I’m trying to get into Oxford for uni, it’s the best in the country for physics and it would be incredible to get to go there. I have the grades and the A levels, I just don’t have the money. I’d need a huge scholarship to be able to go. I’ve been applying for everything I can find, so all I can do is hope, I guess,” James started tracing shapes on the tablecloth as he talked about the money issues he faced, and Leo’s heart broke. “But enough about me, what about you? I barely know you,” James said, looking up from the table, and Leo laughed.
“I’m not that interesting, promise. Just a kid in medical school on vacation in England.”
Before James could push, their waitress came back, and the blond ordered quickly, and Leo completely missed the conversation. James was nearly fluent, and he spoke so quickly that Leo probably wouldn’t have been able to understand even if he spoke a single word of Italian. Their waitress giggled as James winked at her, and she took their menus and left as James turned back to the American.
“No, see, a kid in medical school on vacation in England is all I know about you, and I want to get to know you, Leonard. What’s your story? Where are you from? Do you have a focus? What are your parents like? You know everything there is to know about me, now I want to know about you.” James raised his eyebrows as he took a drink of his freshly delivered water with lemon, and Leo sighed.
“I grew up in Savannah, Georgia, right on the coast. My parents had a house about a mile away from the beach, so I practically lived there in the summers when I was a kid. My dad was a lawyer, he spent a lot of time at the office and brought his work home a lot, but when he got sick, I just wanted to help him. I saw him tearing down people a lot, and I wanted to fix them. My mom was a high school English teacher, but when my dad passed away, she started working part time at the local bookstore for some extra money to put me through school. Dad’s life insurance would cover four years of undergrad at the University of Georgia as a pre-med student, but not the four years of med school I’m starting my third year of. My focus is orthopedic surgery, and I’m at the University of Mississippi, more commonly known as Ole Miss. I have to start applying for residencies at hospitals soon, and I’m hoping to either get in at the Children’s Healthcare Center in Atlanta or at the University of Iowa- they’re the best teaching hospital in the country. And that’s me,” Leo finished lamely as their pasta arrived. “I’m not terribly interesting.”
James laughed. “You’re incredibly interesting, Bones. I’ve never met anyone like you.”
Leo threw the balled up straw wrapper in front of him across the table at James. “Where the hell did ‘Bones’ come from?”
“Orthopedic surgery,” James said, as it were the most casual thing in the world. “That’s your focus, so your nickname is Bones.” He deftly returned fire with his own balled up straw wrapper, managing to hit Leo square on the nose and promptly cracking up as the med student glared across the table.
The rest of their evening was spent bantering, learning about each other, and throwing little half-smiles back and forth. James was four years younger than Leo, but Leo found himself not caring as he fell hard for the English boy. They walked back to the B&B in a comfortable silence, close enough to brush against each other and blush when they awkwardly made eye contact after James bravely slipped his hand into Leo’s.
“Why do I feel like I’ve just been on an incredible first date?” Leo finally asked when they were turning onto the proper street, and then began to stammer. “I mean-”
James chuckled and kissed Leo’s cheek. “Maybe because that was my intention,” he said quietly, stopping a few houses away. “If you’re alright with that, I mean.” His face flushed as his eyes dropped to his shoes, and Leo chuckled.
“If this was a usual date, I’d kiss you at the front door, but since we’re staying together, I guess your bedroom will have to be where we part ways,” he said softly, squeezing James’ hand, causing the younger boy to look up.
“You mean,” James whispered, bringing his face closer to Leo’s, eventually close enough to whisper against his lips, “You’ve never kissed someone before you took them all the way home?”
“First time for everything, I guess,” Leo whispered back, before pressing his lips softly to James’. They stayed like that for a few minutes, lips moving gently against each other’s until they were both out of air.
“Do I still get that kiss at my bedroom door, or did I ruin your tradition?”
“Think it might be time for me to make a new tradition,” Leo murmured back. “Sooner we get to your bedroom, sooner I can kiss you again.” He tugged gently on James’ hand, and the younger boy grinned, falling in step with his new- date, he supposed.