The Hopper The following story line is mine. Don't try to copy it cause I'll get mad
In a like vain, Star Trek and all characters are the sole property of someone other than me.

++"Just how old are you?"
"Old enough to know better, too young to care"++

A month went by. Then two. Deneb's newspaper was well received among the crew, and they greatly enjoyed the plays and musical performances she put together. She even found a few people who painted and convinced them to display some of their work.
"I think every ship ought to have one of you, lassie!" Scott exclaimed after performing a series of Scottish jigs for a "packed house" Deneb smiled and chuckled a bit. She couldn't deny she wasn't enjoying herself, she couldn't deny she was the happiest she'd been since she started hopping. And yet a pervading sadness had settled in the back of her mind, reminding her that it wouldn't last. One day she would feel suddenly peculiar and she would disappear from this place, and arrive in another. And she'd have to start all over again. And who knew if that place would be as welcoming as this.
She had continued to learn the Vulcan meditive postures with Spock, but she had found a kindred soul in Dr. McCoy who had told her to call him Bones.
"You're not Starfleet so there's no reason a friend of mine shouldn't call me what my friends call me" he exclaimed. She found it sincerely pleasurable to simply be in his company, trading insults and banter back and forth. He told her stories about their previous missions, his exploits as a child and as a young man. The Captain often fitted into those stories and Deneb began to learn quite a bit about the man from those tales. Bones reminded her of David, her beloved brother, but (from the stories) Kirk reminded her more of her father, a man she deeply respected and admired.
After the encounter in the arboretum, both Kirk and Deneb had done their best to avoid each other. Deneb because she could feel a certain "vibe" between them, and she knew what it would lead to. She knew what it would build into and she knew where it would end: with her leaving.
Kirk had different reasons. The two months had been trying for him, having her so close and yet so far. He knew she was right to stay away, that any relationship would only cause them undo pain. He was familiar with that kind of pain. He was willing to risk his own pain, but not hers. She already had so much, he would not inflict even more on her.
"You say you are in love with her" Spock had tried to council him one night.
"That's right" he freely admitted. He'd always been one to fall hard and fast. But he felt different about Deneb than he ever had before. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but this felt more like what his mother had always described as that "happily ever after, through thick and thin" kind of love.
"The logical course of action, then, is to pursue her" Spock announced.
"I can't Spock! I love her too much!"
"That is not logical, Captain"
"It never is, Spock"
But when another month had passed and she still hadn't hopped, as she'd predicted, he began to feel the strain. He watched her from a distance. She was popular among the crew, she knew everyone's name and she always had a kind inquiry to make about their lives. She smiled more, Kirk noticed, and it was a beautiful smile that lent its brilliance to the very soul of whomever it was directed at. She was dedicated and worked hard to put on the events she'd planned, and as far as he knew she'd never canceled or delayed anything she'd ever had planned. Kirk saw it this way; the ship was his love, the crew was hers. Oh he had pride in his crew, and every confidence and he'd die to protect any one of them, he'd ruin his name to prove them innocent of any fault. Yes, he was loyal. But there was a difference between his loyalty, the loyalty of a Captain, and hers. Hers was the loyalty of love and friendship. It wasn't something he could compete with, nor did he want to. His crew would miss it were it ever to disappear, but he was already convinced she'd never hop again. Spock, had he voiced this belief, would have hurriedly pointed out that she had said her stops had been getting longer and so, though she'd now been on the ship slightly longer than any of her previous stops, there was no indication that her presence was permanent. Kirk pushed the logic to the back of his mind.
He hadn't been planning on it, but when he came upon her in the arboretum, in the same place he'd held her in his arms while she wept, he knew he was going to do something about it. Enough suffering in silence, he told himself.
"Still looking for the stars?" he asked quietly. There was no one else near by. She had the window panel open and was staring out at those heavenly bodies which were speeding by. She didn't bother to turn.
"They're the only things that don't ever change" she replied, just as softly. Was she, too, tired of this strain between them? This unhealthy denial of "vibes", as she called them? Kirk didn't say anything, he just lifted a hand to her bare shoulder. Her long chestnut-red hair was flowing down her back over the azure colored vest-coat she was wearing. He could feel her lean into his touch and so he squeezed her arm, turned her around so that she was molded to his chest. He could see the fear in her green eyes, but he could see the longing too. The longing was winning out. He pushed his mouth down onto hers, crushing her tender lips beneath his, and kissed her with all the strength in his heart. And she responded. She was pushing back into him, winding her arms up around his neck, into the nape of his hair. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close as he could physically get her.
He felt it just a second before she pulled away.
"No!" she said, "We can't!"
"Yes we can" he tried to pull her to him again but she resisted.
"And what happens when I hop again?" she demanded.
"Maybe you won't. Who knows? You've already been here longer than anywhere before. You could be here forever!" and he could feel himself believing in his own lies, his own false hopes. But she wasn't so quickly convinced.
"And what if I'm not?" she wanted to know.
"Then we'll both have something we can treasure forever" he said. It must have been the right thing to say because he could see her give. Maybe it was what he had said, maybe she believed it. But maybe she was just too lonely to stand life anymore.