Chapter Seventeen:

It had to be several days before Pavel woke up. He opened his eyes blearily to the light, and saw that he was in a white-walled hospital room. As his eyes came more and more into focus, he saw the faces of Kirk, Spock, Gaila, Hikaru, and even Len. Uhura wasn't there, or his Aunt Natasha, but he wasn't so worried about them.

"Hello, Pavel," Spock said, getting up from one of the chairs in the room. Pavel was in the cot, in a hospital gown, by the feel of it. "You were lucky. You only got some severe bruises and cuts on your person, but one of the men got you in the back of the head. Any harder and he would have caused brain damage. But as it were, you only needed a day of rest."

Pavel nodded and said, weakly, "Where's 'Tash and Nyota?" he said, mostly to his schoolmate.

Gaila smiled, "Ms. Scarlova had to go to work this morning, but Nyo's here. We both took the day off from school to stay with you…"

"You didn't have to do that, Gaila…" Pavel said, trying to sit up.

Gaila grinned, "As you're new honorary papa, I think I do," she said, going into a baby voice and pinching Pavel's cheek lightly.

"What? Are you and Uhura an item now?" Pavel asked.

"No!" Uhura said from the doorway, "But since we're roommates, we both have decided to share custody of my little boy!" she cooed, running to Pavel and throwing her arms around him. "That's why she said honorary papa, Pasha…"

Pavel laughed and realized that someone was missing. Everyone there was crowded on his right side… but Scotty wasn't present among them. Pavel freaked, but noticed that his left hand was warmer that his right hand. And that Pavel hadn't once looked left since waking up…

The pressure on his left hand intensified and Pavel finally looked, his grin getting wide as he looked into the brown eyes of one Montgomery Scott. They stared at each other for a long while, both grinning like idiots until Pavel's breath caught in his throat and he said, "Hi."

"Hello yourself, lad," was Scotty's short reply.

They both blushed a little, and Hikaru instinctively took Len's hand. "We better, uh… give them some time…"

Spock and Kirk nodded as Hikaru and Len lead the way out. "I'll tell the doctors he's awake. He can finally go home now that he's conscious," he pointed out, talking to Gaila, who was pushing Uhura out the door, the motherly beauty whining the whole time.

When they were all out and the door was softly closed behind them, Pavel turned back to Scotty, who was looking expectantly at him. "Why'd you have to run away like that? If you would have stayed… slapped me… whatever, you wouldn't have been caught by those boys! You gave me half a heart attack!" Scotty said.

Pavel looked away from the older male and whispered, "I'm sorry. I… You told me you loved me and I… couldn't handle it. Couldn't handle being in the same room as you…" he said, turning back to Scotty. "I was… surprised, is all."

"Is all?" Scotty asked exasperated. "Gaila managed to call the police on them, but by the time I got there, you were blacked out! Thank god you were still breathing. Uhura had a cow out there in the snow, and I got some bad verbal abuse from her about letting you go off like that," Scotty said.

Pavel chuckled, and then saw Scotty's slight glare, "Don't worry about her. She takes this 'Mama Uhura' thing a little too seriously. She likes you."

"I know that now…" Scotty said, pouting his lips out a little like a child. Pavel laughed out loud this time. Then there was a silence between them. Scotty was stroking the skin between Pavel's thumb knuckle and first finger knuckle with his thumb. Then he spoke again, "I'm sorry for startling you. I just… wanted you to know… how I felt. I mean… I think you confessed better than I did."

Pavel blushed and smiled a little at the older male. "I forgive you."

"And I forgive you as well. You're not dead, anyway."

"Nope, but I tried my best," Pavel joked, grinning.

Scotty couldn't help but grin back. Suddenly Pavel's face was dangerously close to Scotty's, and then the two were swept up in what was very much the first real kiss either one of them had had. Ever. "I love you, Montgomery Scott."

"The feeling still stands for me, Pavel Chekov."

Soon Pavel was on his way out the door. Grinning, hand-in-hand with Scotty on one side and Uhura grasping the other, he turned to look past Uhura at Gaila. "How much was the bet?" he asked.

"$30," Gaila replied.

"I hope you saved up your last few paychecks, Uhura," Chekov said, looking forward again.

"What? You didn't… oh my god… you did!" Uhura said, watching Chekov's face as it went from calm to grinning like a maniac.

Gaila's expression did the same and soon she was screaming at Uhura, "$30, right here. Chekov has more guts that you think, Mother-of-His!"

Everyone in the company laughed, and the staff didn't have to kick them out because they were all ready out in the cold January sunshine.

Pavel was about to go forward with the others before he felt a faint tug, and Uhura's hand slipped from his grasp. Uhura looked back, but saw the look Scotty was giving her. She went on ahead with Gaila, giggling as they went to wait in her car. The others went to their various vehicles, promising to get back to work by the next day, now that their wonderful little song-writer was okay and not broken.

Pavel turned back to Scotty, who swept him up in another kiss. When it was parted only a few seconds later, he looked into the fabulous green-brown eyes of the kid's and asked, "Now that we're over all this feelings stuff… would you like to have dinner with me on Friday?"

"As in, a real date?" Pavel asked, biting his bottom lip cutely.

"Aye," Scotty replied, wrapping his free arm around the younger boy and pulling him closer.

"I'd love to. I'll give you my cell phone number, all right? Unless Uhura forced it on you because you lost me the other night?"

"That's the one. The latter. She'd make a fabulous mother that one," Scotty said, looking up at her. "Puts my own mum to shame…"

Pavel laughed. "She and Gaila are crazy… but now we're a big happy family. Anyway. Call me…" he heard Uhura honk her horn. "That's my ride. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Aye," Scotty replied, letting go of him to watch him go. He shook his head as Uhura sped through the parking lot and made his way to his own car, glad his heart had finally slowed the hell down.

A/N: Not quite done with this story yet, dear readers. Got about... five chapters. But the worst is done.

Reminder: None of the bullies was Cupcake. Sorry for the mild confusion. *naffs off*