Hey everyone!

I know I haven't updated daily like I was but it has been a crazy and hetic couple of days for me so I didn't have to to get on here and update. But here is the next chapter, so enjoy!

Disclaimer is in Chapter 1: Meeting His Match

luvs, crzychigurl343


Make-up

It's been seven months since Valarie left the stunned Kirk and Bones at their lunch table. But in typical Kirk fashion he brushed it off and attempted to forget everything about Valarie. He tried to forget about her beautiful Italian looks and the playful way she teased him and kept him on his toes. He tried to forget about how much fun she was to hang out with and just go bar hopping if he wasn't in the immediate mood to hook up with someone. Valarie Esposito was the first woman to capture and keep Kirk's interest and he still found himself worrying about her from time to time.

He could vividly remember her walking away from him at the cafeteria. The normally strong woman looked like she was trying not to cry and the tremble in her hands as she gripped her tray made it worse. What made Kirk even more upset was how readily she hugged Hawkings and cried into his shoulder, Kirk has never gotten more than a one-armed hug from her and that was only once. So to see her embrace another man made his stomach clench and his dislike of the researcher grew to hatred. And then when the guy couldn't even hug her back and properly comfort her Kirk's frustration multiplied a hundred fold. How could the man not embrace an amazing woman like Valarie and never want to let go? That is what Kirk would do if he was in Hawkings position and then beat the shit out of the guy who upset her so much.

It was clear that six months of friendship with Valarie Esposito was enough to create a strong urge to protect her, even Bones fell into it. It seemed like Bones was contemplating on punching Kirk for what he did, but upon seeing the man's pathetic face as she walked away and hugged Hawkings he thought it was enough punishment in his book. Well for then at least, everyday afterwards Bones deemed it was necessary to comment upon Kirk's stupidity of pushing Valarie away because he was jealous and then being "too cowardly" to apologize. But Kirk refused to admit he was wrong to any woman and would never apologize for the things he said to Valarie; she would have to be the one to say sorry to him. Because he knew deep down that he was right that she and Hawkings would never work out.

So he was content to sit and wait for her to come crawling back to him. But as the days turned into months his hope was slowly dying away as he would occasionally see her with Hawkings laughing at his jokes or just exchanging loving looks down the hallway. They seemed to be stronger than ever and Kirk couldn't help but pine for Valarie even more. He just missed his friend; he wanted nothing more out of Valarie at the moment other than for her to give him one of her witty comebacks and smile at him or to give him a "lesson" on how to pick up other women.

"Jim, just say you're sorry already. She will forgive you if you really mean it because this is getting ridiculous to watch you look at her like a wounded puppy." Bones sighed as they watched her and Hawkings turn into an empty classroom doing god-knows what. Kirk just gave his best friend a serious look of disbelief at his words. He really did doubt the fact that he and Valarie would ever be friends or acquaintances at all.

"I'm not saying she will just welcome you back with open arms but I know Val and she will give you a second chance or at least she will think it over." Bones persisted and encouraged the womanizer.

"Why don't you talk to her first?" Kirk side stepped still not wanting to compromise his manhood by apologizing to the cadet he could not forget.

"Damn it Jim! You don't think I haven't already tried that? But she is as stubborn as you are, especially since she knows you're in the wrong on this one buddy." He said sarcastically in his usual southern drawl.

"Ok… Why do you care so much then if you have been trying to get us both to apologize?" And Kirk was curious as to how his best friend would respond.

"Because both of you have been miserable since the fight and like I said you look like a wounded puppy every time you look at her, it's pathetic." His words unknowingly lit a fire in Kirk. He said 'both of you have been miserable' which meant that Valarie stilled cared about him in some capacity. This meant that he had a chance of getting her trust back and getting everything to go back to normal. Well as normal as it could get with her dating his current number one enemy, Hawkings. At this Kirk quickly began to walk over to the room to where Valarie and Hawkings disappeared to ten minutes ago not caring what he interrupted; even taking pleasure in the idea of doing such a thing.

"Where the hell are you going?" Bones called out and attempted to follow.

"I'm going to follow your advice!"

"Fina-frickin'-lly! Well I'm off to my next class and then see you, and hopefully Valarie, at lunch!" Bones exclaimed and walked off in the opposite direction. Kirk chuckled at his friend's use of words and hesitated to knock on the door because of what he heard coming from the other side of the door.

"I-I'm sorry Morgan." Valarie sobbed and he was about to burst through the door to find out what the hell was going on but she beat him to the punch. She threw open the door and literally ran into him. When she realized it was him she just gasped and ran away before he could say or do anything else. When Kirk looked into the room he saw Hawkings leaning against a desk and looking distraught as well. He glared at the dark man before running off to catch up to Valarie. He knew almost immediately where she was going.

Despite being in top physical condition, Kirk was still winded by the time he reached the roof. But it was worth it when he saw the outline of Valarie sitting down and looking out over the Academy grounds. It was her favorite spot when she was upset or had to think about something important and/or complicated. It soothed her to watch the rest of the cadets, commanders, ensigns, and even captains run around trying to get somewhere on the campus of sorts.

He remembered when he first found her up here on total accident. Kirk spied her from the ground and tried to wave her down but she just looked over him, her expressive, grey eyes telling him she was thinking hard about something. He came up here and just sat in comfortable silence with her until she noticed him. So, Kirk thought that maybe it could be the same way this time. But when he saw the tears run down her mesmerizing face he couldn't help but say something.

"I see some things haven't changed." He joked and wanted to quickly take it back after she glared at him, her eyes were pools of anguish and there was a hint of defensiveness.

"What do you want Kirk?" She asked with venom and he mentally flinched at how she greeted him. Valarie never called him by his surname or even his first name, only the affectionate pet name of Casanova.

"At first I came to apologize but now I'm here to comfort you if you will let me." He said honestly and saw the emotion of shock overcome her features. It even reached her eyes but it did not replace the anguish that pained Kirk to see.

"Really?" She questioned without any suspicion but with open curiosity as if she couldn't believe he just said that. Kirk couldn't believe himself either but was glad to see that he had the same ability to surprise her like she has done to him so many times in the past. He nodded firmly not planning on leaving his spot until she agreed to at least think about taking him back as a friend. But like typical Valarie, she surprised him with a hug instead of yelling at him like he expected.

She cried into his chest and buried her face into his identically red cadet uniform. It sort of reminded him of how she hugged Hawkings when they first fought. At the thought he hugged her back and held onto her tightly just like he claimed he would, trying to show her that he was nothing like the emotionally distant Hawkings.

He easily positioned her to sit in his lap so she could be comfortable as she cried. Kirk gently rubbed her back and never once thought about having one of his hands stray to feel her up. He would not ruin this moment of her trusting him to accomplish one of his goals that he has had since he first met her. Kirk just focused on quieting her sobs and getting her back to talking to him so he could find out if he needed to beat the crap out of Hawkings or get Bones to kill him with an untraceable poison he always threatened Kirk with to shut up.

"I'm sorry Casanova, I know this is probably the most awkward thing for you-" Valarie began to say but Kirk cut her off.

"Nonsense, I will always be here for you if you need a shoulder got it?" This made her give him just what he has wanted since their fight seven months ago.

"The infamous James T. Kirk comforting a crying girl? What is the universe coming too?" She exclaimed joyfully and smiled a stunning smile that had Kirk grinning back.

"Yeah well just don't tell Bones or anyone else for that matter. I have an image to uphold you know?" And the two laughed harder than they ever had before. Both had tears streaming down their faces and their sides were splitting before they stopped. They struggled to regain oxygen into their bodies as they looked at each other and started laughing once more. Kirk almost hated himself for doing this, but he had to know.

"So what happened between you and Hawkings back there?" And her laughter died immediately and silence overcame them. She struggled to put distance between them as Valarie noticed she was in his lap. But Kirk wouldn't let her go; he reveled in how close they were especially after not being in her presence for over seven months.

"Kirk-" She stated seriously.

"I am not letting you go until you tell me what Hawkings did to make you so upset that you instantly stopped being angry with me and then hugged me." He replied firmly and after a few jerk motions from her she quieted down and looked at him. She studied his face probably trying to make sense out of his actions thus far today, and honestly he couldn't himself. All he knew was that he would do anything to get Valarie back and that was that. Valarie sighed and he knew she gave up and was going to tell him.

"Morgan's study is almost up, in a month to be precise." She began with. She seemed to need to take a moment to figure out what she was going to say and Kirk let her not wanting to push her.

"He- he said that during a study, one shouldn't get too emotionally involved or attached to anything." Again she had to search for words to describe what happened but Kirk seemed to catch on.

"He's breaking up with you." He finished and was seething at the thought of how idiotic Hawkings was. Who in their right mind would dump a girl like Valarie? Kirk sure as hell wouldn't if he was into the whole dating scene.

Nope I just let her walk away and out the door. That was his mistake, and one he would never make again. Hopefully Hawkings won't come to the same conclusion as him until it is too late for him to do anything about it unlike Kirk.

"Oh, no! He didn't want to stop seeing me at all, quite the opposite actually." She replied quickly at his tone.

"Huh?"

"Morgan wanted me to go back with him... travel with him wherever his research takes him." Valarie gushed and a light pink dusted her face.

"Then why did you say- oh…" Kirk managed to contain the joy he was feeling and the weight of the universe was lifted off his shoulders at the thought of her saying no to Hawkings. Valarie nodded and the blush grew deeper.

"Why?"

"Well, I have aspirations on becoming the best engineer I can be. I don't want to be in charge of a ship or anything like that but I would like to be the go-to girl and I can't do that if I am following Morgan and his research all over the Galaxy while respecting his traditions where the woman gives up her career upon entering a serious relationship like he was offering. And that is when I realized that I didn't love Morgan like I thought that I did." She explained which made Kirk happier but he somehow managed to keep a straight face on at her words.

"How so?" He pressed wanting to know what Hawkings did or didn't do.

"I would like to think that if I was in love with someone, and truly in love, then putting off my career goals to be with that man wouldn't be a problem. The fact that I wanted to work on my career more than be with Morgan tells me that I am not in love with him, or as much as I should be." Kirk felt disappointed that the only reason why she dumped Hawkings was because she wanted to work on her career and that he didn't do anything specific to warrant her rejection. When she said that she should have been more in love with Hawkings was off putting as well but that just made Kirk want to prove to her that she made the right decision with staying at Starfleet.

"Hey, don't have such a long face! Tonight I will be your wingman how does that sound?" He jested and raised one eyebrow at her which made her laugh once more.

"As wonderful as I bet you are as a wingman I am not interested in pursuing any romantic relationships for a while." She shook her head in amusement and the sun lit her hair on fire.

"Good because I wasn't going to actually help you, I just want to get you drunk enough to help me outsmart the Kobayashi Maru test!" He exclaimed and the two chuckled together.

"You are so bad Casanova; I swear I wonder how you are not in jail already or anything like that!" She retorted and the two finally untangled themselves from the other and stood up.

"You have your Uncle to thank for that." He winked at her and she groaned.

"I know my Uncle is known for making some risky decisions but I think you make it to the top of the list!"

"I'm hurt Val, and here I thought we were beginning to be civil towards each other."

"Please, this is civil for us Casanova. Now come on I'm starving and Leo is probably trying to figure out how you got back into my good graces." Valarie Esposito teased before leaving Kirk on the roof trying to figure that out for himself.


Hey so I hope you guys liked this chapter :) I first wanted to say that I know it was early to get them back together and for her to not be in a relationship with Hawkings anymore but I don't think their characters would allow me a chapter or two of where they weren't friends because both would be too stubborn to talk to the other and do something crazy enough to fill a chapter. And I don't think they could be friends while she was dating Hawkings. Hopefully you understand and if you don't then at least be happy that Kirk and Valarie are back together again :)

luvs, crzychigurl343

p.s. don't forget to comment on how well I am doing thus far. Maybe you guys can tell me what I need to change or give me a scenario that you think would happen between my OC and Kirk? Really I don't care if you leave me a flamer, it would hurt but at least it's something to go off on.