This is a follow up to my story Crash. You don't have to read that first for this to make sense but it might seem like an unusual pairing if you haven't.

Katrina lay propped up in bed and watched her girlfriend run around the room flapping. They'd just had what Katrina considered to be particularly good sex and she was struggling to find the will to get up, whereas Tilly had even more nervous energy than usual. Katrina didn't blame her; she vaguely remembered being a bit nervous the day of her graduation too, and when you added the 'introducing your parents to your (much older) girlfriend' part into the equation as well, it was no wonder the girl was twitchy. Katrina had tried to calm her down with oral sex, but although Tilly had seemed to enjoy herself at the time, she was now just as hyped as before.

'Shit!' Tilly swore as she fumbled a hairpin and it dropped on the floor. Katrina pushed herself further up the pillows and levelled a look at her.

'Hey,' she said, and Tilly turned a slightly manic gaze on her. 'Come here.' Tilly stood and crossed to her, staying just out of Kat's reach.

'Please Kat, I don't have time. I'm nowhere near ready and I'm really stressing about this!'

'Which is why you need a hug,' Katrina responded firmly. She leaned forward and took the girl by the hand, pulling her into a reluctant embrace. 'Calm down,' she whispered soothingly into her ear. 'It's all going to be fine.' After a moment she felt Tilly relax a little in her arms. When the girl pulled back, she looked slightly less manic. 'Better?' Tilly let out a rush of breath.

'Yeah. Thanks. Sorry.' Kat smiled.

'No worries.' She pulled the covers back and slid out of bed. 'Can I do anything to help?' Tilly ran her eyes over her.

'Yes. Put some clothes on, you're distracting me.' Katrina grinned.

'Oh really?' she purred, stepping forwards and slipping her arms around Tilly's waist. She leaned in and kissed her; Tilly returned it for a second but when Katrina tried to deepen the kiss she pulled back with a hint of hysteria back in her eyes.

'Kat!' she whined crossly and Katrina stepped away, raising her hands in resignation.

'Ok, ok! I'll go take a shower.' She considered adding 'Want to join me?' on the end but thought she'd rather not attend the ceremony with a black eye. She made her way into her little ensuite bathroom and turned the shower on high before stepping under the stream.

It had been several months since the two had been rescued from Ceti IV after their shuttle had crashed. Katrina now felt fully recovered from her trauma, was back on active duty and had been dating Tilly since. There had been one or two raised eyebrows when people had discovered they were a couple, but far less of a reaction than Kat had expected. They hadn't actually seen that much of each other due to Tilly being stationed on Discovery but had corresponded regularly and managed to spend a few nights together in Kat's guest quarters whenever she 'had' to deliver orders in person. Today was Tilly's graduation and was the first time they'd be together for a few days in a row since they'd left the planet. Tilly was staying at Kat's for the duration; she had arrived yesterday and so far they'd mainly had a lot of sex, eaten some takeaway and had more sex. However, they were due to meet up with Tilly's parents in an hour and Katrina knew that Tilly was more nervous about this than the ceremony. She tried to put herself in the girl's shoes but struggled; when she'd graduated she'd been sleeping with Gabriel and had kept him as far away from her parents as possible. She shut off the water and dried herself, wrapping a towel around her body before she left the bathroom in an attempt to avoid eliciting the wrath of Tilly again.

She realised she needn't have bothered when she found the bedroom empty and assumed from the sounds issuing from the kitchen that the girl had moved her whirlwind of panic elsewhere. She dressed quickly in her dress uniform, dried her hair and put some makeup on before making her way through, slightly apprehensive about what she might find. Tilly turned when she entered and frowned at her.

'Dammit, you look hot. How am I supposed to concentrate when you look just as sexy in uniform as out of it? I made coffee.' Not sure which part to respond to first, Katrina took the proffered mug of coffee and slid onto the bar stool by the worktop.

'Thanks. And thanks.. I think.' She took a sip. 'You ok?'

'I'm fine. It's just a lot in one day, you know?' Katrina reached across the counter and grasped her by the hand.

'I know. It'll be fine,' she reassured her. 'I'll be on my best behaviour.' Tilly snorted into her coffee.

'Yeah, like that'll help.'

'Mum, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Katrina.' Katrina was impressed. After all the fretting this morning, there wasn't even the hint of a quaver in Tilly's voice. But then, this was a woman who was a brilliant Starfleet officer when she wasn't being Katrina's own personal nerve agent.

'Pleased to meet you,' she addressed them both with her best diplomatic smile and a handshake. Mr Tilly looked as if his hair had once been the same colour as her Tilly's and was large and round. Mrs Tilly was slim, of a height with her daughter and with the same alert gaze. Katrina tried hard not to notice that they both seemed to be about the same age as her. She got the impression they were doing the same thing.

'Please, call me John, and this is my wife Agnes,' the man said, pumping her arm enthusiastically. 'We've heard so much about you.'

'Oh?' Katrina replied, shooting a glance at Tilly.

'We're so glad Sylvia didn't get stranded by herself on that planet!' gushed Agnes. 'Thank you for looking after her.' Katrina smiled.

'We look after each other,' she corrected, taking Tilly's hand. Tilly smiled and squeezed Kat's fingers. There were a few more minutes of small talk as Tilly enquired after various relatives and Katrina tried to keep track. 'I'm afraid I have to take my leave now and go and join my colleagues,' she said after a while. Tilly's parents looked surprised.

'Aren't you joining us?' John asked.

'Kat's on duty,' Tilly replied, just a hint of pride in her voice.

'I'll meet up with you again afterwards,' she assured them. She turned to Tilly. 'Good luck, Cadet.'

'Not for long,' was Tilly's response. Katrina grinned and kissed her lightly on the lips before leaving.

The ceremony went quickly after Katrina processed in with the other Admirals. From her seat at the back of the stage she could spot Tilly, her hair making her easily recognisable in the sea of uniforms, and gave her a wink. She thought she could see Tilly's parents in the gallery and wondered again what they thought of their relationship. They'd been friendly enough, but this public reminder of the difference in both age and rank between her and their daughter might make them think again.

She had a role to play in the graduations of the medical students; handing pips to Admiral Winters for him to affix to the uniforms of the newly promoted officers and shaking their hands as they walked past her. She always enjoyed this part of the job, watching the pride in the eyes of the no-longer-cadets as they finally entered active service. It kept her busy and when she realised she'd shaken the hand of the last person she was caught by surprise. She returned to her seat and clapped as the other Admirals did the same with their departments. Soon it was Tilly's turn; Katrina watched as she crossed the stage and stopped smartly in front of Admiral Terral.

'Cadet Tilly,' he intoned, 'In light of your service aboard the USS Discovery and to reflect the significant contribution you have made to the war effort, I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant.' Katrina laughed in delight at the look of shock on the girl's face and applauded hard as Terral pinned the new pips to her uniform. She could hear whoops and cheering coming from the audience and only the remembrance of her position and where she was stopped her from joining in. She could tell by her deep blush Tilly had had no idea this was coming. Katrina had known but had been sworn to secrecy. Terral stepped back and saluted, Tilly returned it crisply and turned to march off the stage. She caught Katrina's eye briefly as she left and Katrina winked again at her, making the girl's face turn even redder. Chuckling slightly, Katrina turned her attention back to the ceremony.

Afterwards, she caught up with Tilly as soon as she could. The girl was standing with her parents facing the opposite direction, which meant that Katrina managed to sneak up on her without her noticing.

'Congratulations, Lieutenant,' she greeted her with a grin. Tilly's parents beamed.

'Did you know about this?' Tilly asked in a near shriek.

'Of course,' Katrina replied, still smiling, 'but you know I couldn't tell you. Besides, it was worth keeping it a secret to see your face!'

'I can't believe they made me a Lieutenant! I can't believe you didn't tell me they were going to make me a Lieutenant!'

'Another step up the ladder to becoming Captain,' Katrina remarked, but Tilly was still in too much of a daze to really notice. 'Shall we go and get some lunch?' she asked, mainly addressing Tilly's parents.

'Sounds good to me!' agreed John. 'Where would you recommend?'

Katrina had actually booked them a table at one of her favourite restaurants, knowing how busy a lot of places got after graduation. It wasn't far so they walked, but as they did Katrina was aware of Tilly's euphoria dissipating quickly. By the time they got to the restaurant, she looked downright miserable.

'You head in and find our table, it's reserved under Cornwell,' she said to John and Agnes. 'We'll be in in a minute.' They glanced at Tilly but nodded and went inside, and Kat pulled the younger woman away from the door.

'What's up?' she asked. For a moment she thought she was going to deny there was anything wrong, but whatever it was was obviously making her so miserable she couldn't. Her eyes were shining with tears as she looked at Katrina.

'This rank,' she said, indicating her pips. 'Is anyone going to think I actually earned it or will they just think I got it because I'm sleeping with you?' She paused and looked at Katrina. 'Did I just get it because I'm sleeping with you?'

'Oh, baby, no,' Katrina replied, pulling her into a hug. 'You earned that promotion a hundred times over. You practically ran engineering on Discovery when Lieutenant Stamets couldn't. You were the one who oversaw everything during the jumps that gave us the cloaking algorithm! It's no wonder you've been bumped up a rank compared to your classmates you've done nothing but sit in lectures.' Tilly sighed but stayed rigid in her arms and after a moment Katrina pulled back. 'I actually did bring it up with Admiral Terral myself though,' she admitted, and Tilly looked at her in surprise.

'You did?'

'Yes. I was concerned about the implications for both of us if people thought what you've just thought. He was of the opinion that if he promoted you now, at the same time as a small group of other people who were being promoted for the same reason, there would be no reason for anyone to see anything amiss. He was adamant that you deserved the rank and wasn't going to hold you back just in case of idle gossip. And I agreed with him.' Tilly's eyes were shining again, but Katrina thought it was for a different reason now.

'Really?' she asked, voice a little shaky.

'Really.' Katrina replied firmly. 'You're one of the most capable officers I've ever met and you're not even nearly thirty yet. You are going to be unstoppable.' Tilly launched herself at Kat, kissing her with such intensity she was caught off guard. She responded instinctively, returning the kiss with equal fervour until she remembered herself and pulled away. 'Hey, uniforms, public place, remember?'

'I don't care,' Tilly grumbled, chasing her for another kiss. Katrina chuckled and pulled further back.

'Your parents are probably watching us,' she pointed out, and that brought Tilly up short.

'Right,' she said, flustered. 'Parents. Public place. Uniforms.' She brushed herself down, straightening out her jacket absently. She looked back at Katrina almost shyly. 'Thanks.'

'No problem. Are you ready to go in now?' Tilly flashed her a smile and Katrina was momentarily dazzled.

'Yes. I'm good. Let's go.' She took Katrina's hand and they headed inside.

Lunch was more fun than Katrina had expected, possibly helped by the rather nice wine that Tilly's parents had ordered. She found she genuinely got on well with John and Agnes and they had more than just affection for Tilly in common. She realised belatedly she shouldn't have been surprised by this but she'd been so busy trying to ignore the fact they were her peers that she'd forgotten the advantages that would bring. They hadn't been sitting down long when Agnes got a small package out of her handbag and passed it across the table to Tilly.

'We got you a small present to say congratulations,' she said as she did so. 'We hope you like it.' Tilly looked between her parents with a smile.

'Aww thanks!' she grinned, before diving in and beaming when she had unwrapped it. 'Ah I love it, thank you!' she repeated, pulling it out and showing it to Katrina. It was a photo frame, the kind you could load as many pictures as you liked onto and display with different settings.

'We thought it might liven up your quarters,' John said with a smile, slightly red in the face as if his daughter's thanks had embarrassed him.

'We've already loaded a few of our favourites on but there's plenty of space for more,' added Agnes, and Tilly flicked the switch on the side to look. Katrina leaned over her shoulder and chuckled at their choices; they were mainly shots of Tilly when she was a child, laughing and playing with friends and relatives, some more formal shots and one of her with her face covered in ice cream. At this one she made a face and switched it off, ignoring Katrina laughing next to her.

'Yeah thanks for that, there's some real gems in there,' she said drily.

'You're welcome,' replied John. 'There's plenty more where those came from too,' he added to Katrina with a wink and she laughed again as Tilly buried her face in her hands.

'Argh Dad! Did you actually buy a manual for embarrassing your daughter in front of her girlfriend?'

'No,' he replied in a tone dripping with false innocence, 'Why, can you recommend one?'

'I need more wine,' Tilly grumbled, reaching for the bottle as everyone else around the table laughed. When she'd poured herself a generous helping, Katrina spoke up.

'I've got you a graduation present too,' she said, fishing the box out of her pocket and trying to hide the fact she was actually quite nervous about this. She handed it to Tilly who took it with a smile before opening it. Inside was a Starfleet Academy ring. 'It's mine,' she explained. 'I knew you hadn't had a chance to buy one yourself yet and I thought it might be nicer if you had one with a bit of meaning to it. And this way you've always got part of me with you even when you're in deep space.'

'Kat..' For once Tilly seemed lost for words, instead leaning over to kiss Katrina. 'Thank you,' she said as she pulled away.

'May I have a look?' asked Agnes politely. Tilly passed the box over and as her parents exclaimed over it, Katrina felt herself relax. She had been worried it was too much but was yet again discovering that she and Tilly had found themselves on the same page without realising. John passed the ring back to Tilly and she put it on, smiling at Kat and squeezing her hand when it was in place. Katrina answered the Tillys' new questions about Starfleet and the tradition of graduation rings to the best of her ability and they were soon distracted by the arrival of their food.

After lunch the Tillys said they'd like to see some of the sights of San Francisco. Katrina agreed but suggested they stop off at her apartment on the way so she and Tilly could change out of their uniforms; she didn't much fancy being a representative of Starfleet at all the major landmarks in the city. They left John and Agnes in the living room and went through to the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

'Don't even think about it!' Tilly hissed fiercely as Katrina opened her mouth. 'I am NOT having sex with you while my parents are in the next room!' Katrina closed her mouth, then opened it but again Tilly was faster. 'And don't even deny that you were going to suggest it! I could tell by the look on your face!' This time Katrina burst out laughing.

'We sound like an old married couple,' she managed to gasp out in between breaths. Tilly started giggling too as Katrina clutched at her for support. Eventually she straightened, wiping her eyes. 'Come on then, let's get changed.' Katrina went to her wardrobe to find something suitable, while Tilly rummaged in her suitcase. She took a moment to appreciate the view of her girlfriend bending over the bag then watched as Tilly straightened up and removed her jacket.

'Stop it,' commanded Tilly without turning around.

'How do you do that?!' asked Katrina, half exasperated, half impressed. Shaking her head, she turned back to her wardrobe and selected a shirt and jeans. When she turned back around, she was disappointed to find Tilly already clothed. 'You spoil all my fun,' she complained. Tilly crossed to her and gave her a quick kiss.

'Sorry,' she said, 'But you're such a perv.' Skipping backwards with a grin to avoid Katrina's swat, she poked out her tongue and headed towards the door. 'I'm going to keep Mum and Dad company. Don't take too long.' She gave Kat a pointed look as she opened the door and stepped outside, closing it again behind her. Katrina dressed quickly and headed out to join them. Tilly gave her an approving look and they all left the apartment together.

This was going to be a multi-chapter fic but the ratings difference between the two parts is massive so I'm going to post the next part as a separate story.