I'm quiet you know
You make a first impression
Well, I've found I'm scared to know
I'm always on your mind

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back you fall in time
I somehow find
You and I collide

Collide – Howie Day

"You! You did this." Jim sighed at the voice heading her way in the quad. Dealing with Pamela was not on her agenda for the day.

"How can I help you today, Pamela?" Jim asked sarcastically as she kept walking.

"You told Leonard to dump me," the woman growled.

"I can't tell Bones to do anything he doesn't want to do, first of all. Second, dump you? You were never together," Jim pointed out. "Don't be pissed at me if he pointed that out."

"You'll regret this," Pamela said to her.

Jim chuckled and pointed behind Pamela, "Actually, I think you're the one who's gonna regret this."

"Len," Pamela breathed when she turned around. Jim rolled her eyes. She loves Bones but these girls, who were older then him, keep falling all over themselves for his attention and it's a little weird.

"Don't call me that," he said as he walked over to them. "You good, Jim?"

"Fine. Two seconds away from punching the crap outta your friend," Jim answered.

"Don't do that. I had to fix your hand the last time you defended me," Bones chuckled before looking at Pamela. "I told you to leave us alone."

"But…"

"If you have a problem with Jim than you have a problem with me. There's no way to change that, no way to fix it. At the end of the day, I pick her. I'll always pick her. If you honestly think I'll go out with you after you insulted my… Jim then you're crazy," he said before Pamela could say anything. To be honest, Jim didn't know what to say either. "Just let it go."

Pamela looked at him for a long minute before she huffed and walked away.

"You're like a chick magnet," Jim mumbled.

"I have no idea how."

"I told you, it's the accent. Wins every time."

"What's up with you and McCoy?" McGraw asked when he dropping onto the grass next to Jim.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said without looking up from the physics research on her PADD.

"Ha. You two came out here together, joined ROTC together, live together, spend all your time together and you expect me to believe that nothing's going on?" he asked.

"He has a date later with Elizabeth Dehner," Jim said with a shrug. She was actually scratching her head over that one, Elizabeth was a psych major and Bones hates shrinks.

"Really? I must be off. I could swear you guys gotta vibe. The way you look at each other when the other one isn't paying attention. The protective thing you both do… McCoy's a bit more obvious about it. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it."

"Probably. I mean, we are best friends and we're close."

"Well," McGraw said, "some of the best relationships stem from good friendships."

"Dude, I'll be fifteen in a week, can we not marry me off to my best friend?"

"I'm telling you, there's something there," her friend told her.

She looked at him, McGraw was as serious as she's ever seen him. Maybe he had a point.

Jim sighed, "Your observations are noted."

"What's your problem?" Jim asked Bones when he walked into their apartment.

"Nothing." It didn't look like nothing. He was running his hands through his thick brown hair and muttering to himself as he paced back and forth on the other side of the room. After a few minutes, he looked at her. "This is your fault."

"What the hell did I do?" she asked, sitting her PADD on the desk. Jim couldn't think of any reason he would be mad at her. They've both been busy in the last weeks of the semester and the only time they were in the same place, they were at ROTC functions, in the same classes or sleeping.

"My date sucked," Bones huffed.

"Okay. What does that have to do with me?" she asked him. Jim didn't particularly like the girl he was going out with but she didn't hate the girl either. Like them, Elizabeth was young, fifteen, and she was sweet. Bones could do much worse. He stared at her but didn't say anything. "Bones, what did I do?"

"Nothing. You're just…"

"What? I'm just what?" She was trying to figure out just what she did that affected his date and pissed him off do much.

"You," he said before he walked across the room and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. Jim opened her mouth a few times to say something but closed it when she realized that she didn't know what to say. "You speechless, that's a first. I spent the whole date thinking about coming home to hang out with you."

"Okay," she breathed. Was that her voice? It sounded like someone else was talking for her. "So…"

"So," he smiled. Jim looked up at him. When the hell did he get so tall? And why didn't she notice the flecks of gold in his eyes when he smiled until now? "Told you I'd kiss you."

"You did," Jim whispered. "Sate your curiosity?"

"That's not what… That's not why I kissed you, Jim."

"Uh huh," she mumbled.

"I like you," he said. "I like you."

"What? Since when?"

Bones chuckled, "I honestly don't know. I just know that I can't stop thinking about you and it's driving me crazy."

"Me?" Jim couldn't believe that she stuttered over the small word. There was no way he liked her like that. "Don't try to make me feel better. I choose not to date those idiots but I don't begrudge you your love life."

"I don't know if I should laugh at that or be pissed off," he grumbled. "I'm not talking out of pity, Jim. I honestly want to go out with you."

"You want to go on a date with me?" she squeaked. "What about Elizabeth?"

"I told her that I didn't think it would work, which is the truth. I can't get you out of my head and I realized that… I don't want to," he paused. "Will you go on a date with me, Jim?"

"I've never been on a date," Jim whispered after a long moment.

"I know. I've only been on three. It won't be anything flashy, just us and food, somewhere other than here. Please."

"Okay, as long as you promise not to kiss another girl when it's over," she told him.

"Why would I do that when I could kiss you?"

"Are you sure I'd let you?" Jim asked with a smirk.

"I'm sure."

"Okay, Jim. Breathe," Miss Pippa said over the vid-comm.

What do you do when you need girl talk? Comm the closest thing you have to a mom, even if she's the guardian of the boy you need to talk about. After her conversation with Bones, Jim was a little bit confused. Normally, Bones calms her down but he was kinda the problem at the moment.

"You're gonna be fine, sweetie," the older woman said.

"How did I not know any of this?" Jim asked.

"Because you've had a lot on your plate. You have always taken care of everyone and everything that you don't pay attention to yourself. And Lenny is good as keeping things to himself, especially where you're concerned."

"See… that. I didn't know he was so worried about me," Jim said. "Or that he liked me like that."

"Yes, you did. If you think about it hard enough you'll realize that even when he's grumbling at you, he still cared. It just took him a while to realize how much he cared," Pippa told her. "And now you know how much he cares too."

"We're going on a date," Jim muttered. "I have no idea what to do."

"Just be yourself. Lenny likes you because you're you, so don't try to be anything other than that and you'll be fine."

Jim sighed, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. You're gonna be fine."