Spock woke up first this time, and the first thing he noticed was the warmth in front of him. He opened his eyes to reveal that their heads were pressed together, and nothing else. He willed his heartbeat not to speed up, willed his body not to produce more heat. All he did was look at the human before him, who seemed to be frowning even while asleep.
Spock quietly and efficiently slipped out of bed, gathered some clothes, and took a very hot shower. He appreciated the heat that he could get, even from the smallest things. Hot anything- food, drinks, spaces, objects, Leonard- helped him cope with the Winter climate. Leonard said once that it "don't get too cold in Georgia," but compared to Vulcan, it was quite cold outside- especially in the mornings and evenings.
He exited the shower, the steam filling the small bathroom and fogging up the mirror. He dried himself as best he could, and got dressed and brushed his teeth. His civilian clothes that he preferred were quite plain- standard blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and a dark grey sweatshirt. Nothing to make him stand out amongst the rest of the people Earth. He didn't like to stand out.
"Over here!" Joanna yelled at them from across the park. Leonard looked to see that she was standing next to some bench tables, Sean and Jocelyn there as well. As Leonard and Spock approached, some small kids cutting off in front of them as they played tag, Joanna and another girl met them about half-way. The other girl had curly blond hair, and a very sweet smile. Joanna looked around before saying quietly, "This is my girlfriend, Stacey Darla. Stacey, this is my dad Leonard and his boyfriend Spock."
Leonard gave her an exasperated look when she called Spock his boyfriend, but she hardly noticed. He instead turned his attention to Stacey and smiled, holding his hand out. "Hello, nice to finally meet you." Leonard said politely, and the girl shook his hand. She was only a little bit taller than Joanna, but seemed significantly more... proper. Joanna was quite the sporty and nerdy child.
"Oh, and Spock doesn't shake hands. He does what's called the ta-al." Joanna said, and held up her hand for Stacey to mimic the gesture. She did it flawlessly, and smiled up at Spock, who returned the gesture (without the smile, obviously). "Good! Let's go meet up with my mom and Sean before they get too suspicious." Joanna decided, and they all started walking again.
They all sat at one table; Leonard and Spock on one side, and Jocelyn, Sean, Joanna, and Stacey all on the other side. Leonard was actually relieved that they were separated in this way. Personal space was nice.
Sean grabbed some bags and started unpacking some sandwiches, handing them all out. Then came chips, cans of soda and beer, and some other items. "It's nice, eating outside like this after so long." Leonard commented, and Jocelyn nodded.
"I can imagine so." She said, smiling at him. She was being pretty nice to him, which was very strange, but definitely not unwelcome. He just enjoyed it while it lasted. He noticed Spock hesitated to grab his sandwich, and was about to open his mouth to ask something, but Leonard cut in instead.
"Say, did you bring any vegetarian meals with you?" Leonard asked, opening a can of beer for himself. Sean's smile disappeared.
"Vegetarian? No I don't have any. This wasn't an issue yesterday." Sean said, and Jocelyn glanced at him. Leonard blinked at him.
"Yeah, it wasn't an issue yesterday, considering that meat wasn't the only source of food then." Leonard said, keeping his voice level. Sean scoffed.
"But meat is essential to the diet! Surely you can eat it anyway, right?" Sean said, trying to laugh it off. Leonard was getting irritated now.
"It is not essential to the diet, considering there are other ways to consume the nutrients that meat would otherwise provide." He explained, and Sean was about to retort, but Leonard continued anyway. "If you have no vegetarian meals, then I apologize, but Spock and I will be eating somewhere else."
"No, please stay just for a little while!" Jocelyn pleaded, just as Leonard was about to get up. "Please, we're all happy that you're here." She said, and gave The Look to Sean. "And it would be nice to just keep talking for a while." She smiled sadly at them, and Leonard tried not to sigh.
"Alright." He said quietly, looking at Spock. The Vulcan had been looking at him this whole time, and Leonard had to glare at him so that he wouldn't blow their cover. The last thing he wanted was Jocelyn and Sean figuring out that they were together.
"They know that you're together!" Joanna said over the phone, crying hysterically. Leonard froze in the middle of the sidewalk, causing Spock to look back and raise an eyebrow. Just before Leonard could ask questions, Joanna started talking again. "After you guys left Stacey and I went to the public bathroom together, and we were talking about it, and mom happened to be there- we didn't know! We didn't know she was there, I promise!"
"Shh, honey it's okay." Leonard said, trying to calm her down. Spock came closer to him, and they both sat down on the bench. "It's okay- they were bound to figure out anyway, the way they kept prying about everything. It's not the end of the world. Do they know about you and Stacey?"
"No they don't, we were only talking about you two as a couple." Joanna answered sadly. Leonard sighed, feeling bad for her. Spock was looking at him intently.
"Well, if they don't know about you, then we don't really have a problem." Leonard explained, trying to make her feel better. "I'm not the one who has to live with them for the next few years. It's all okay, Jo-Jo. I promise."
"Yeah, okay... I'm sorry, and I love you." Joanna said, making Leonard smile.
"I love you too, Jo-Jo." He replied, and hung up the phone and sighed. "Well, Jocelyn and Sean know about us now. That'll make dinner tonight pretty interesting... Or we could just not go?"
"They insisted on providing us with the meal in order to make up for earlier. Would it not be rude to decline?" Spock said, and they both stood up to walk into the restaurant. It was a simple place, that actually had a vegetarian menu likes most restaurants did by that time. They weren't living in the iPhone ages, for gods sake. People were a lot more respectful.
The waiter seated them in a booth, gave them their menus, and wrote down their drinks. After she left, Leonard continued the conversation. "Yeah, it would be rude to say no. I guess we'll have to deal with it."
"You did not have to start an argument with Sean about the food choice. I could have fended for myself." Spock said, staring at him. Leonard glared at his menu, looking at the vast array of meal choices.
"Yeah, you could have. But you shouldn't have to. This whole place is my home, and you're a guest. Guests should be treated right." Leonard said, deciding that he'll get a shiitake burger. It was one of his favorite foods that he hadn't had in a long time. He slapped his menu shut and sighed, still glaring. "Some people 'round here just forget their hospitality. Especially when it concerns non-humans. This day 'n age, xenophobia won't get you nowhere."
Spock stayed silent at that, so Leonard looked up at him. The Vulcan's silence throughout the whole trip was somewhat worrisome, but not altogether unwelcome, honestly. But Leonard couldn't help but feel that Spock was just feeling passive since he was in a new place with old-fashioned people that he didn't know. The waitress took their orders, and when she walked away, Leonard couldn't help but eye her retreating form. He really couldn't help it! Old habits really did die hard... But look at that ass!
They spent the next couple of hours walking around the city, visiting several shops and attractions until it was time to go to Jocelyn's for dinner. They found where they parked the rental car, and Leonard took the wheel and drove them to the house.
Leonard was going to wait longer to give it to her, but he decided to take the box of stuff out of the back of the car to give to her as soon as he saw her. Jocelyn answered the door with a smile. "Come in, come in!" She said, ushering them inside. It smelled like cleaning chemicals, and Jocelyn rushed to open a window. "Sorry, time got ahead of me while I was cleaning. I'm trying to air the house out now, get that chemical smell out. Uhh, what's that box?"
"Oh, Jim Kirk- our Captain and my best friend- got Joanna some presents of some sort. Probably to make up for never meeting her in person." Leonard said, setting the box down next to the couch. Jocelyn eyed it for a couple seconds before smiling and moving herself into the kitchen.
"How nice of him!" She exclaimed, and started wiping down the dining table, even though it was already spotless. Leonard frowned and moved closer to her. "Ah, sorry, I'm just trying to keep things clean." She said nervously, scrubbing at the table. Leonard grabbed her wrist gently and she pulled away quickly. "Don't touch me, Leonard!" She demanded, pointing at him. He held up his hands in surrender, but continued to frown at her. He'd never seen her act like this. "We don't take kindly to gays around here, you know. As soon as I knew the truth, I had to clean the house. Had to rid it of the-"
"I'm not gay!" Leonard rushed to tell her, putting his arms down. Jocelyn actually looked relieved at that.
"Oh, thank the Lord. Then that means that it's just a pass time- just a... a distraction. Not actual love!" Jocelyn laughed harshly, and Leonard glared at her.
"You-" Leonard was about to start accusing her of things related to their divorce, but the front door opened.
"Ah! Sean and Joanna are back from the store!" Jocelyn exclaimed, and Leonard gaped after her as she met them at the door.
"She's gone completely psychotic..." He muttered, and almost suggested that they leave, but Joanna ran up to him.
"Daddy! Are you guys okay?" Joanna asked, then lowered her voice to say, "I think she's going psycho." Leonard nodded, and exchanged a look with Spock before talking to Joanna again.
"Yeah, it seems so. Take that box by the couch. It's from Jim. Make sure they don't confiscate it." He said quietly, and she nodded and ran to get the box. Leonard took a deep breath, and smiled sarcastically. "This'll be fun!" He exclaimed, and Spock gave him a look. If he was interpreting right, the look either said 'don't start anything' or 'I fucking hate you.'
Honestly, it could've been either.
They all sat at the table, eating silently. Joanna kept glancing between Leonard and Sean, but both of them stayed silent for most of the dinner. That is, until Leonard decided to make a completely acceptable comment. "Very good dinner, Jocelyn. The vegetables are especially exceptional." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.
"Why thank you, Leonard. I really appreciate it." Jocelyn answered, and Sean eyed the two of them. No doubt trying to figure out if they were being sincere or not.
When they all finished their meal, they were all ushered to the living room to chat about things. Except for Leonard, who meandered back towards Jocelyn.
"I'll help you with the dishes. Help you get them all clean." Leonard said with a smile, and walked into the kitchen before she could object. When it was just the two of them, Leonard whispered, "What's your deal now? I'm the same as I always was. I'm not gay, I'm not-"
"Not gay? Are you sure? Because you're dating a man! Isn't that what gay means?!" Jocelyn retorted, also keeping her voice low. Leonard glared at her.
"Listen, I didn't even want a relationship with him in the first place. The only relationship I ever wanted was with you, and look what you did with that! Cheated on me with some guy you dated back in high school!" Leonard argued with her, and she scoffed.
"You don't want a relationship with him? Then why don't you leave it?! And you didn't want to be with me! You were always more interested in your work! You never had time for me!" She sighed and tried walking away, but Leonard grabbed her face in his hands.
"Jocelyn... I promised you that I would dance with you until the end of time. That night, when you chose me over Clay so that we could dance together... Didn't you feel anything?" Leonard pleaded with her, wanting answers after all these years.
"Of course I felt something!" Jocelyn said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I've only ever loved you, Leonard. But all you did was work, and I was lonely, and-"
"And so you slept with someone else and kicked me off the planet?!" Leonard dropped his hands from her face and shook his head. "I don't understand you anymore, Jocelyn. Time can't repair any of this- you, me, Joanna... It's all done. You need to kick your old habits of sleeping with three men at one time, because honey, one of these days Joanna's going to get hurt worse than you ever did. One of these days, karma's going to catch up with you. And you need to prepare for that." He didn't really know what he was saying- all he knew is that he wanted his daughter to be safe. If Jocelyn can stay safe at the same time, well, he won't count that as a loss.
"I know, Leonard. I know." Jocelyn said, and she walked forward and embraced him. He hugged her back, and closed his eyes. This is what could've been. But it wasn't. And sometimes he was happy for that.
"Sean!" Joanna yelled from the other room, and Leonard felt a sudden burning pain on his cheek. He separated himself from Jocelyn and rushed into the other room, where he found Spock standing stiffly, one hand to his face. As soon as Leonard could register Sean's position in the room, he was on top of him. He punched the man square in the face, ignoring Joanna's screams in the background, but Sean also fought back. He socked Leonard in the jaw, which only made him more angry.
They continued to hit each other until hands grabbed Leonard and pulled him roughly off of Sean. "Get off me, Spock! Sean, you bastard!" Leonard was yelling, and squirmed his way out of Spock's grasp. Sean eyed Spock, seemingly ready to attack, but Leonard stepped in the way. "Touch him again, and I'll put you in the fucking hospital quicker than you can even imagine." He threatened, and Sean eyed him, as if thinking about trying to call the bluff.
Leonard silently dared him to call it.