Title: Along With Me
Author: Tearsofamiko
Character(s): Jim Kirk / Leonard McCoy
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing about Star Trek (2009), its characters or plotlines, including any recognizable dialogue.
Summary: Birthday's have never been easy for Jim. This one is especially difficult.
A/N: Continues The Life in Your Years
.:::.
Jim's soaking wet by the time he gets back to his quarters on campus, thumbing open the door with a tired sigh.
He's barely a step inside the door when a thick towel appears over his shoulders, Bones' strong hands firm as he leads them to the bathroom. Steam is already rolling out of the shower stall and the humidity is a comforting thickness in his throat as he breathes in, the smell of hot water and damp cotton heavy in the air. With efficient movements, Bones strips them both, leaving their clothes tangled in a puddle on the floor, socks still inside boots and shirts caught in coat-sleeves.
Thirty, his mind whispers and he shudders, both at the thought and the sudden sting of perfectly hot water against his chilled skin. Bones' hands never leave Jim's skin as capable fingers scrub shampoo through short blond hair and smooth soap down twitching muscles, leaving calm and comfort in their wake. They linger in the hot water after Bones is done, Jim's forehead against Bones' shoulder and Bones' arms loose around Jim's waist, until the last of the shivers stop.
Bones dries and dresses them quickly, pausing only long enough to shake Jim's t-shirt out of his battered leather jacket and fish the worn holopic out of the right pocket, carrying them in one hand while he tows Jim out of the bathroom with the other. He pushes Jim down to sit on the bed and tosses the jacket over the back of the desk chair, moving to the nightstand to prop the holopic against the lamp, where it can easily be seen from the bed. Tugging back the comforter and sheets only far enough for them to climb in, Bones hauls Jim up to the pillows and under the covers, briskly tucking them under and around Jim's front before snugging himself in at Jim's back, arms warm and grounding around Jim's shoulders and waist. Only then does he speak, once he's sure Jim's warm and clean and not likely to catch cold.
"If having him meant losing you, if having him meant losing this," Bones breathes wetly into that place when neck curves into shoulder and Jim's eyes slide shut against the aching burn of tears. Bones never completes his thought, just presses tender open-mouthed kisses along Jim's neck and shoulders, nuzzling into his hairline and whiffling softly into the hollow behind his ear, until Jim melts limply into the mattress and drifts off to sleep.