Leonard McCoy sat on the too-narrow cadet bunk and turned the small black box in his hand over and over. Jim would be back from class any minute, and Bones was no closer to figuring out what to say than he was when he first found the box in one of Jim's drawers.

He hadn't been trying to snoop, really. The drawer was unlocked - and that had been the first surprise of the day. Jim Kirk, leave something unlocked? This was the kid who had a thumbprint scanner attached to the light panel so no one could surprise him by turning off (or on) the lights. Jim Kirk didn't leave things unlocked. Bones had long since figured that if a cabinet or drawer opened immediately, it was one of his. He'd been looking for his backup PADD, not even noticing which drawer he was opening, when he'd seen a box - not even hidden, right on top - that definitely didn't belong to him and realized he was in Jim's drawer.

The box he now held in shaking hands. The box that held a ring. An engagement ring.

It wasn't the fact that Jim was planning on getting married that upset him, really. He'd known it was going to happen. The kid was going places, but he didn't have the breeding to make it higher than Captain on his own merits, and Bones knew Jim aspired to Admiral at least. He'd make it too. The right political match would get his foot in the door and Jim's own charm and competence would do the rest.

No, it wasn't the idea of Jim getting married that upset him. It was that Bones hadn't *known*. He still had no idea who the lucky lady was - he hadn't noticed Jim spending time with anyone really. Which means Jim had deliberately hid it from him. Which means Jim didn't trust him. And that hurt more than Bones had ever thought possible.

He'd really thought they'd gotten past that. Sure, loyalty and trust were in short supply in the Empire, and even rarer in the Imperial Fleet, but Bones really thought he and Jim had built something. He'd been terrified when Jim found out about Joanna, but instead of taking advantage of McCoy's weakness, he'd offered up his own in exchange. The day he'd given Jim the article about Frank's death - the same day Jim had given him Joanna's tapes - he'd thought after that everything had changed. They'd both been privy to a weak point in the other's armor, and rather than exploit it, they'd both shored up the other's weakness as best they could. McCoy'd held no secrets from Jim after that, and Bones thought he'd known all of Jim's too.

Except the proof that there was at least one secret he didn't know was in his hands right now. And it was a doozy.

Of course, feeling sorry for himself hadn't brought McCoy any closer to an answer for what to say to Jim, and he could tell from the sounds in the hallway he'd lost his chance. He'd just have to wing it. Like that'd never blown up in his face before.

Jim practically bounced into the room, and his "Hey, Bones!" was so *normal* McCoy could almost believe the last half-hour had been some sort of horrible nightmare. But as soon as Jim looked and caught sight of what McCoy held in his hands an expression he'd never seen before flitted across Jim's face. On anyone else, he'd have called it panic.

"I wasn't snooping," Bones said, quickly. "You left the drawer unlocked. I was looking for my backup PADD. Why'd you leave the drawer unlocked, Jim?" Because if Jim had locked the drawer Bones would never have found the box and he wouldn't have this horrible sensation in the pit of his stomach like he was about to lose his best friend.

Jim ran a shaking hand through his hair, which was a mess before he touched it and remained a mess after.

"Ok. Ok. I wasn't really planning to do this tonight but you know what they say no time like the present just I hadn't really figured out what to *say* yet but that's never stopped me before so here goes . . ." How he got all that out in one breath Bones wasn't sure, but he didn't say anything. There was nothing for him *to* say and he figured he should at least hear the explanation. He owed the kid that much at least. Jim moved over and sat on the corner of the bed, nearly falling off to keep from touching McCoy and wasn't that just another stab to the heart. He looked down at his hands when he spoke, which unnerved Bones, who had rarely ever seen Jim less than confident.

"You know me, Bones. I play angles. I want someone to do something for me and I figure out what angle I need to use to get them to say yes and then I do it. And I'm *good* at it. So I thought about that, at first. And the thing is, I could do it. I know I could. I could figure out the angle that would make you say yes. But none of them really worked. I could say we should do it so I could help protect Joanna, but you know, or I hope you know, that I'd do that anyway. And I could say I need you around so I had someone I could trust to patch me up without stabbing me in the back but I know you'd do that anyway. And Pike would probably tell me it's a good idea to keep control of your future CMO but I wouldn't do that to you and M'Benga would probably tell you it's a good idea to have an in with your Captain but you wouldn't do that to me.

So this is just me, Bones. I got no more angles. I want you to say yes because I just really want to be married to you."

It was a beautiful speech. Really. The kid had a way with words and Bones would probably be sobbing about now if his brain wasn't still stuck on the part where *he* was supposed to say yes to something *Jim* wanted.

"This," he held up the box. "This is for me?" Ok, maybe that was a little stupid, but seriously, when did this stop being about some society chick? Jim, who had looked nervous before, now looked at him as if he were crazy, or maybe just really slow.

"*Yes* Bones. It's for you. Who the hell else would it be for?"

"I didn't know. That was the point, I didn't know. I thought you'd have told me if you were seeing some girl but Jim I thought you wanted to be Admiral some day? How are you going to be Admiral if you marry me?" His voiced cracked a little on the last word but overall Bones thought he was doing pretty well under the circumstances. Jim laughed. It was a beautiful sound.

"It'll happen, Bones. By the time I'm ready for Admiral I plan to have so many favours piled up they'll have to give me whatever I want. Or maybe I'll just do something so amazingly awesome they'll have no choice but to promote me. I'm not worried about it. And I'm sure as hell not going to marry one of those spoiled tarts."

"Oh." Well there went that whole megaton of interior angst down the drain with a handful of sentences. Bones thought there was something else he should be saying here, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Oh. Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay, as in yes, I'll marry you okay?"

"Yeah. I really wouldn't mind being married to you either."

The grin that split Jim's face was blinding in its intensity and Bones had to look away a moment. When he looked back Jim's eyes were shining and he barely had time to react before Jim launched himself across the bed, pinning Bones to the sheets and kissing him and murmuring "Thank god" under his breath over and over. And then Bones rolled them over and nothing more was said until morning.