Chapter 10:
five and a half months in:

Just like Chekov, McCoy had secrets in the relationship, too. Being more mature and experienced than Chekov, his secrets were more mature and experienced than his lover's. McCoy's secret was a personal one that he kept only from Chekov, because it only applied to his love life with the Russian. His secret was that, although he would never tell Chekov, he wasn't really gay.

As many of his friends, including Chekov knew, he had been married before he entered Starfleet. A lovely woman named Diana whom he was with for almost four years. However, any fond memories of her McCoy might have kept were ruined by the terribly messy divorce she insisted upon. She took everything, the house, the car, most of the money. McCoy had no choice but to join Starfleet.

But enough about his background. The point was that McCoy had been comfortably, confidently straight for so long, that he struggled considering himself as gay. He really couldn't even call himself bisexual, let alone homosexual. The truth was that he was still very much attracted to the opposite gender. He still had sexy space chick magazines that he jerked off to when Chekov wasn't around at night. He wasn't homosexual, he was what he liked to call Chekov-sexual. It wasn't men he was attracted to, it was just Chekov.

So, when the topic of sexuality somehow came up in conversation one day during break, McCoy didn't exactly know what to say.

"Who do you think out of all of us is most likely secretly gay?"

Of course it was Jim asking. He was reclining in one of the chairs in the recreation room his friends always hung out in, his feet crossed on the table. It was an hour before him and Bones would have to be back on the Bridge, so everyone was on break together.

Chekov responded first, because his response was an obvious one.

"I guess I don't count, Captain."

Chekov had no problem being openly gay. He had announced it to everyone pretty quickly after their first mission together. He gave McCoy a quick look and a goofy grin, getting a small chuckle out of the doctor, who was sitting slightly secluded from the rest of the group.

Scotty was the next to speak up.

"No one could possibly say Spock. Sorry, Chekov, but I assume he thinks being gay is 'not logical'. Do ya think that, Sir?"

"I do not think it is possible for a Vulcan to feel sexual attraction to the same sex. Pon Farr is naturally embedded into our systems. However, to avoid offending anyone here, I will say that, however being illogical, it is certainly not unacceptable."

Jim let out a snort and said, "Since when has not offending people been a top priority for you?"

"It always has, Captain. I just assume that my comments toward you do not offend."

Uhura answered next.

"Since I am the only woman here, I think I have the best answer. Being that I am female, I have a natural sense for those kinds of things."

"So who is it?" Jim eagerly asked. "You better not say me."

"Not you, Sir. I am pretty sure the one who is most likely to be gay is…McCoy."

Jim slammed his feet to the ground and stared at Uhura with giant, incredulous eyes.

"Bones!?"

Then his gaze switched over to McCoy, who, upon hearing his name had looked up and was now staring back at Jim.

"What do you have to say about this, Bones?"

"Well, I, er, I don't really know."

McCoy sincerely hoped he wasn't blushing right now.

Uhura, hoping she hadn't insulted McCoy, quickly added, "Sorry Leonard, you just give off that vibe. It's knowing that you used to be married and that you are so obviously masculine that makes you a likely candidate to be secretly gay."

"To tell the honest-to-god truth, I don't know what I am. Diana sort of messed up my sexuality in the divorce. Now all I am is an emotional mess."

Sulu, who had been quite until know, spoke up.

"An emotional mess? Hard to see that. If that's true then you hide it well. But, come on, you must know if you're gay or not."

McCoy considered everything that was going on. He knew that he wasn't really gay, and that he didn't want to say that he was front of everyone, but he also thought that saying he was straight might make Chekov nervous.

"Yeah, well, as far as I know I'm still straight. Sorry, Uhura, I guess your senses are a bit faulty."

McCoy glanced at Chekov, but he wasn't looking back. He hoped everything would be fine.

Well, to answer McCoy's question, Chekov brought the topic up that night. They were in McCoy's quarters and were snuggling in bed.

Chekov started the conversation asking, "You're not actually straight, right? Because then you wouldn't love me…"

McCoy lifted himself up a little so that he could look straight into his lover's eyes.

"What kind of question is that? First of all, Pavel, I love you so much that I'm offended that you would question it. Second, why does it matter that I have a specific title for who I'm attracted to?"

"Well, I suppose it doesn't. But will you just answer the question? Are you gay, Leonard?"

"I'm yours and that's all that matters."

McCoy leaned in and gave Chekov a light, loving kiss, ensuring what he said was true.

So, McCoy didn't really end up answering the question. He still got around it with his tricky words. But Chekov could tell that it was harder for the older man to feel something as definitive as being gay. And he could also tell that he was in fact McCoy's.

Author's note: This one is sort of connected to the previous chapter, it being about secrets in the relationship. Sorry to all the Spock/kirk shippers reading this. I too hardcore ship Spirk but I kind of messed up any chance of that happening in my Star Trek world. Maybe Spock's human side is just so gay it overwhelms the Vulcan feelings.