Jamie's excuse is that Spock has never experienced a proper American Christmas. Spock's excuse is that she doesn't really want to go home.
Jamie remembers the first summer they spent together and the way that Spock put off returning home then as well, preferring instead to let Jamie take her down to the beach and spend days sitting by the sea, ignoring the holiday-makers around them and sitting in their own little bubble. Spock revealed that she never much liked beaches – they were always too busy and the people there were always so loud and stared too much – so Jamie found the quiet parts, the bits with less sand and more rocks and the look on Spock's face when she breathed in clean sea air and watched the waves with her dark, thoughtful eyes made it worth the effort.
One of the days was grey and a little overcast and thus the beach was completely empty, and while Jamie hated these days and preferred to stay inside or rush from house to house, Spock adored them and the way that the streets and public places emptied, and she was happy to sit in the park for ages with a book and an umbrella – an activity that Jamie found frankly ridiculous.
Still, she was a good girlfriend, and she layered up and opened the door and they had an adventure – or as much as you can on a California beach – and found Spock's new favourite spot, and eventually Spock pulled her close by the sleeves of her sweater and kissed her chastely as a thank you. Spock was always awkward about starting kisses, hugs or really any form of affection, and Jamie was gratified enough by the way it felt to be kissed rather than kiss, for once, that she forgave Spock for dragging her out in the drizzle.
The sea rushed beside them when Jamie wrapped her arms around Spock's neck and pulled her down for another kiss and when Spock returned the touch, hesitant but still with purpose, Jamie felt the thrill of excitement stir inside her and when Spock let her lie them down in the sand and support herself above the taller woman's body she felt the thrill of joy at another wall broken down. It's slow progress, but when Spock let Jamie run her hand down her body, past her shirt and the high-waisted shorts she'd borrowed from Jamie to the expanse of smooth, dark skin, she felt the thrill of success.
The beach was deserted and when Jamie knelt over Spock, sat on her waist, and leant back to pull her hoodie off, yanking up the hem of her button down shirt to reveal the beginnings of her own skin, Spock bit her lip before reaching up to place her hand on Jamie's waist, and Jamie smiled down in the wickedest way she could and proceeded to teach Spock several new tricks.
It was slow progress, but Spock still told her that that day together was better than the rest of her holiday combined.
Iowa holds too many painful memories to return and neither really wants to travel too much, so instead they rent a cabin in the mountains and drive up, Jamie thankful for her stubborn resistance when it comes to tough driving and Spock's not-really-that-odd penchant for being able to read maps. They don't really have that much luggage, and Jamie knows better than to buy loads for Spock, knowing by now that she prefers something thoughtful rather than a lot of trash, and to be honest she doesn't even know if Spock has something for her, so their bags rattle around in the back seat and she only gets distracted by the pull of Spock's body when she curls up on the seat a little bit.
They arrive, having driven up one of the steepest hills Jamie's ever seen (it is a mountain, Spock reminds her) and the cabin is everything she ever wanted.
Wooden inside and out, plush carpet on the floors, one level with a kitchen and small dining area, single couched living room and a TV, one bedroom with the softest damn mattress she's ever felt and a bathroom just big enough to be roomy but small enough to be cosy. She exclaims her way through their little tour but she knows from Spock's little gasps and sighs that she's just as happy, and when Spock claims her side of the couch, her shelf in the bathroom, her side of the bed and her food-making chores, Jamie knows better than to argue.
Once they're settled they make a trip down to the local supermarket to stock up on food (they're there for two weeks, but there's a chance enough of snow that they decide to stockpile tinned food, just in case), choose a little tree and some decorations and get down to the serious business of decorating the cabin. Spock's a serious treat to watch with the way her eyes light up when she finds a decoration she particularly likes or something particularly tacky, and for all her maturity (and the fact that she's actually a few years older than Jamie) she sometimes seems like a child seeing the world for the first time, and Jamie kisses her between the freezers and behind a clothes rack and when Spock emerges a little more flushed than usual, it can only be a victory.
Once home, they decorate their cabin with a sense of desperate childishness, as if between the two of them they can render the little fractures whole with tinsel and tacky Santa baubles. Spock's still mostly a mystery to Jamie, and she knows she's more than a little bit of a mystery to Spock, and their relationship's more give and take than anything else – Jamie lets something slip accidentally, Spock tells her a little of her past.
Jamie tells Spock about the real reason she chose the emptiness of the wasteland over the Academy for so long, Spock tells her the real reason she left home to come there. Jamie tells Spock that she's scared that she'll never live up to the fame of her father, Spock tells her that she's scared she'll never live up to his expectations.
If Jamie feels a little melancholy creep back in at the end of the day, she smothers it in turning the heater up, playing crap TV in the background and falling asleep on the couch wrapped around Spock, waking up when Spock deposits her on the bed and pulling her down to lie down next to her, holding her tight and kissing her firm and falling back asleep in her arms.
The next day she notices that Spock is wearing more layers than ever before, and she works out pretty quickly that while Spock loves Christmas and winter and spending time with Jamie, she hates the cold, and so she keeps the heater pumping high and plies her with hot drinks as they discuss what to do that day. There are four days left before Christmas, and neither of them feels like facing making a proper Christmas dinner, so with shopping ruled out and most tourist places shut, they settle instead for a drive and a walk in the crisp cool air.
Once back, Jamie catches Spock while walking out of a warm shower and she can't help but pull her close and kiss her hard, feeling the goosebumps rise as she ghosts her hand across Spock's skin before settling them on her waist, and she walks them over to the sofa and falls backwards, letting Spock balance herself above her and running one of her hands through Spock's short, dark, hair as the other slides around her waist, pulling her close. At the touch Spock makes a noise in the back of her throat and kisses Jamie harder, her breath becoming quicker and even more goosebumps rising across her bared skin. Jamie runs both hands down her body, sliding over the towel and down the length of her legs, feeling Spock's breath quicken on top of her neck and unfastening the towel even as Spock lowers her head to kiss across her breast and undo her shirt with the hand not supporting her.
When the towel comes off, Jamie sighs in admiration and wriggles around to get her hands in a better position, diving in without delay and bringing Spock to sighing, gasping release as soon as she can. Afterwards Spock rests delicately above her, barely letting her weight crush Jamie's own, and Jamie brings one hand up to caress her cheek, breath catching when Spock takes her hand into her mouth, sucking each finger clean. Without delay she presses a line of searing kisses down Jamie's chest, leaving tiny bruises on the swell of her breast and the side of her hipbone, kissing down her thigh as she pushes Jamie's jeans down until she can pull one thigh to the side and send Jamie's heart racing.
Afterwards, when they lie almost side by side, chests rising and falling as they catch their breath and put themselves back together, Jamie reveals why she didn't go home to her mother and Spock kisses her shoulder and reveals why she didn't go home to her father.
For all their differences, and there are many, they are all too similar.
Inside, the space heater of Jamie's dreams (seriously. She's considering taking it home) keeps them warm even in their naked/mostly undressed state, and outside the heavens pour down and Spock takes another shower, this time with Jamie.
With the barrier of closeness broken again, they seem to be constantly touching and as the weather chills they spend the next two days inside, lost in each other, books, films and mainly each other, kissing, making love or simply next to each other, silence conveying all that needs to be said.
Christmas day dawns late and excitement thrills throughout Jamie's body even now and she drags Spock out of bed (she is unusually clingy to the bed this morning, even considering how late they were up) into the kitchen to make her a Christmas breakfast, belting out carols as loud as Spock is comfortable with. Spock seems mostly bemused by the whole thing but the look on her face when she takes the first bite tells Jamie all she needs to know, and she climbs over onto her lap to lick the chocolate sauce off her lap and make Spock very happy they spent Christmas in a private cabin.
Later they open the presents (Jamie is delighted at the fact that all that time she spent trying to get to know Spock resulted in her getting what is more or less the perfect present) and sit side by side watching crappy Christmas movies and the typical TV rundown for the day, lazily kissing and sliding cold hands under each other's jumper to make them jump and shriek.
Spock has a small, affectionate smile on her face the whole time, and when she shivers Jamie turns up the space heater and wraps her up tight inside her sweater, kissing her all over and sending sparks of heat across her skin.
It may be cliché, but Christmas night is definitely a present for them both, and no matter how cold it gets Jamie keeps Spock warm and safe.
Merry Christmas! This is my first ever K/S fic so ofc I made it f/f.
Based off of "Sweater Weather" by The Neighbourhood & Ally Rhodes' cover.
Btw, Jamie is my name for fem!Kirk - it's a bit closer than Jane, I reckon.
Notes:
a) the sex scene is fairly mild, but is still a sex scene
b) Jamie is my name for fem!Kirk - it's more accurate than Jane imo.
c) This is a standalone extract from that uni AU fic I'll probably never write and probably makes more sense in the context of that fic, but hopefully is okay on its own.
d) have a great Christmas and an awesome 2013!