By the time Bones had gone home Friday night, Jim was prepared never to speak to Maggie Jay again. He had never been one to enforce the silent treatment on anyone, but he thought in such circumstances he would be silent until she called him, at the very least. It wasn't that anything had worsened during the night, but it was tense, worse than tense actually. It was almost oppressive. The air between them crackled with pent up frustration and anger, and though he knew Maggie hadn't intended for that to happen, had she not stuck her nose in his business they would still be close to okay.

Even Joanna seemed to notice; only asking for their participation in her games a few times, preferring her boxes and imagination to the stilted atmosphere of the real world. He knew that she could tell something was wrong. Putting her to bed for the last three nights had been even more of a challenge than usual. Sunday, she had even wet her overnight pull-ups, something she hadn't done since a few days before leaving Iowa. Now and then over the weekend, when Jim and Bones were together, he would see her luminous blue eyes staring up at them, practically demanding to know, 'what the hell is going on here?'

Jim's dreams had been nowhere close to helpful, either.

Bones ran his hands over his stomach, lingering over silver-white lines and the thin scar just below his navel. Fingers traced gingerly, outlining and memorizing each line that had never been there before. His breath followed after his fingers, as his almost-green eyes stared up at him with a concentration unmatched by anyone else in the world.

Lips next, dragging along every mark. His breath hitched in his throat, not aroused but just overwhelmed. No one had showed his body so much appreciation. His heart beat faster in his chest, his hands gripping Bones' shoulders in intervals, holding on tightly when moist breath ghosted over his stomach, loosening when he pulled away. He couldn't turn away from Bones, couldn't move at all. He was completely captivated, surrendering to the devotion clouding that hazel gaze.

The first dip of Bones' tongue into his navel sent sparks through him. He could not control his body; couldn't control the way he arched against Bones' lips. He was almost helpless, writhing as Bones' nipped at his stomach. His hand carted through short brown hair, vividly feeling the softness of it, remembering how it felt before, in New Orleans.

Slowly, Bones lowered his head, hot air breezing along Joanna's scar. He reached to lowest point of Jim's Caesarean scar, before pressing the flat of his tongue to the healed over skin. A small noise escaped his mouth as he pushed Bones off of him, pressing the older man into the mattress…

He awoke on Monday to the sound of the computer blaring heart-stopping alarms throughout the suite. It was the first time Jim had needed it to wake him up since Joanna has started daycare. He quickly called for it to end, pulling himself out of his bed quickly to check on his daughter. The dream still preyed heavily on his mind, taunting him and pulling him further into his own self-doubt. He couldn't listen to it though. He couldn't be swayed. He had made up his mind.

He entered Joanna's room to see her rubbing her eyes with her small hands. He smiled at her, ordering computer to turn the lights on to sixty percent. Her fists came up over her eyes and she turned away from the light, her face twisting violently. He went to the edge of her bed, pulling her up from the sheets, into his lap, easily. He tucked her head under his chin, feeling older than his twenty-two years.

He almost couldn't believe that this was the first day of classes. He had been preparing for this day for the last week, but having it on him right now, he felt out of place.

Joanna's hands curled into his shirt, nuzzling into his neck. He held her tightly, while inconspicuously checking her overnights. She had wet them again. Jim sighed, pressing a kiss to her head before he set her on her feet. For a few moments, they stared at each other. Then, Jim ran his hand over her mess of lightly curled brown hair.

"C'mon, Jo-bear. Let's get ready for the day," he said, finally standing and reaching over to her standard Starfleet dresser to pluck out a pair of pull-ups. She had actual underwear in there, but in the light of the weekend, he thought it was better to get the disposables. As of yet, she had always been prompt in telling Jim when she needed the bathroom, but at the daycare, he thought it would be better to dress her in and send her with a few pull-ups.

He took her to the bathroom, following after her to throw the soiled overnights into the thrash recycler. He dressed her easily, though she demanded that she wanted to wear a dress. Jim knew it was supposed to be chilly that day so he bargained and bargained with her. Finally, he dressed her in a skirt and leggings, with a sweater on top. She wasn't happy about it, but she didn't throw herself on the ground, so he saw that as a win.

While she watched her show, the one with the four children from different planets, he locked and secured the only door to make sure she didn't leave as he went to take a quick shower. After he had dressed in the cadet reds, he exited the bathroom. She was no longer at the table. Her milk and cereal gone and she sat impossibly close to the holoscreen. Every so often, she would reach for a character, or she would still scream 'go' at the top of her lungs.

Jim waited until the show was over before he took her to Sandcastles.

+ststst+

After dropping Jo off at daycare and talking to the instructor for a while, he headed back to the Academy. Bones still loomed on his mind, but Jim was determined not to let it take over him until the day was over. He had enough on his plate without constantly worrying about how he was going to clear the air, and he was going to clear it again, there was no doubt about it.

He entered into one of the several large buildings, knowing it was the one he needed after studying the map for a few short moments this morning before he left. The halls were still relatively empty, with just a few teachers roaming the hall. He supposed most the students were still eating or generally lazing in their dorms until they had to leave. Jim wondered if they would even be allowed into the class before the posted time it started. He had heard that some Universities and especially some professors were like that.

He drew closer to Archer's classroom, as his TA class was the first thing he had on Mondays, expecting the door to be shut. He should have known a little better. The door was open, inviting all who passed to enter. More importantly, he heard voices already, indecipherable at first, but as he drew closer they became crisp. By the time he was actually hovering in the doorway, he knew the Pike and Archer were already arguing about something again. Jim was quickly beginning understand that that was pretty much all they did.

"Get your ass outta my seat!" Archer demanded, standing behind his chair and glaring down at the top of Pike's head. "I just got it precisely how I wanted it and you're messing with all the buttons. Shouldn't you be harassing someone else?"

For a second, Jim didn't think the captain would respond. He sat in the chair the same way he did in his own, as if commanding it to make him more comfortable, that same large mug in his hands. He almost looked asleep. If Jim hadn't heard his voice just seconds, he would swear the man was taking a post-sleep nap. Pike was severely anti-morning.

When he did answer, his words were slow and quiet with a dreamy quality to them. "You know, I ask myself that about you every time you show up at my house. Consider this payback. You have no life outside work. I have no life inside work."

The glare worsened, before Archer walked over to his desk and grabbed a padd. He turned back to Pike, smacking him on the shoulder with each word he spoke. "Get. Out. Of. My. Seat."

Pike startled, his eyes flying open, but he still managed not to spill his huge cup of coffee. He stared up at the other man groggily and with the beginnings of a put-upon look on his face. "That's below the belt, Jon."

He got out of the seat, though, instead leaning against the desk. The admiral took his chair with a huff, still glaring at him. Jim wondered how long he could stand in the doorway before one of them took notice. They seemed pretty wrapped up in their system of early-morning bitchery. He bet he could stand there until class started and they would be none the wiser.

"So's saying I have no life outside work! I have a life. I've got Porthos." He gestured into the corner of the room, where Jim noticed for the first time a little beagle was lying on a pillow. At his name, the dog perked its head up, but just as quickly settled it down again on the pillow. Pike looked so jealous of that dog.

"When's the last time you had a date?" Pike retorted, still looking like he wanted to snatch Porthos' pillow and make use of it himself.

Archer grinned. "I could ask you the same question."

"I have an excuse."

"Yeah?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows in askance. "Let me here it. I may need to use it next time you ask me out."

"Sorry, Admiral, you can't use mine," Pike told him with an amused grin. "I'm leaving in three years. It would behoove me not to get into any sort of emotional attachment when I'll just be breaking it off. Starfleet grounded your ass."

Archer leaned back in his chair, staring up at Pike with a small frown. "You make me sound like a wayward eleven year old."

"If the shoe fits…"

Archer blew Pike a raspberry, and Jim actually chuckled at that, before stepping completely into the room. Both men looked over in his direction. Pike greeted him with a wave and a small smile, but not much else, while Archer said, "Stuff it, here comes the red."

He smiled, but his face scrunched with confusion. "The Red?" he asked. "You make me sound like some cheesy, dictatorial authority figure."

"With you hanging around him," Archer said with a nod towards Pike, "it's only a matter of time."

Pike didn't even grace that statement with acknowledgement; he just took a sip from his coffee cup. Then, completely ignoring the admiral, and physically showing that he was going to ignore him, he turned his back to Archer and asked Jim how his weekend was.

Jim didn't go into any of the details. He covered it with a simple, "okay," even if he knew he was lying. Neither Pike nor Archer seemed to catch him. Jim walked over to the first tier of tables and pulled a chair out from behind it.

"This is my chair," he said as he settled in it.

Archer raised his brows. "Want me to find you a pen so you can write your name on it?" he asked, cattily. He was probably still just a little bitter about having a TA, even if he had decided to keep Jim.

"Don't tempt me," Jim warned, with a small smile pulling at his features. "I've done it before."

He really shouldn't have been surprised when Archer opened one of his drawers and pulled out a permanent marker. Jim laughed as he held it out towards him, but took it. He got out of his seat, and tipped it over, writing on the bottom of it, 'Jim's chair' and 'Don't touch.' He had a satisfied grin on his face when he returned the chair's legs to the floor. He tossed the marker back to Archer, before he looked at Pike.

The captain rolled his eyes with a sigh, pushing off from the desk. "I gotta get outta here before these childish frivolities affect my brain." He gave them both one final look, his eyes settling on Jim. "Have a good first day," he said. "Try to keep Jon in line."

"Hey!" Archer protested.

Jim's grin only grew and he waved his goodbye to Pike. The captain exited the large room, practically breathing in the scent of the coffee to keep him awake as he passed by a few cadets who were entering. Jim watched them with interest, while Archer leaned back in his chair, beginning to adopt a look that matched Pike's 'I'm going to be very evil very soon, and a lot of people aren't going to like it' face. Jim honestly felt pity for these poor fools. He had a feeling Archer was one evil sonofabitch when it came to teaching, and judging from the look on his face, he enjoyed every second of it.

Two hundred and fifty students filed in quickly. Jim even recognized one of them as a cakette from Shipyard Bar. Surprise, surprise, the cakette recognized him, too, sending him a bewildered look as Jim continued to sit at the front of the large auditorium-style classroom with Archer. By eight o'clock, Archer looked up at the chronometer and at eight o' one he kicked his feet up onto the desk.

"Computer, shut and lock door."

The door slid shut, and in the mostly quiet room it sounded ominous. Jim even saw a few students squirm uncomfortably.

Archer smiled giddily.

"Welcome to my torture chamber," he called out to the cadets.

Jim was just going to love this class.

+ststst+

Jim was in the cafeteria sitting at a table alone. His food was pushed away from him, and he had a padd on the table, skimming through some pages for one of his classes. Most of the morning classes were ridiculously easy, even those meant for second year cadets. He knew he would barely even have to look at most of the chapters, but he thought it would be good to at least look at the suggested readings.

Mainly he was just trying to distract himself. He still hadn't figured out a way to bring up the conversation that he needed to have with Bones. He knew it had to be done, but he just…really wanted it to dissipate on its own. He didn't want to have to explain himself, and he knew if they started talking it would all come tumbling out of his mouth. Bones didn't need to know how badly Jim wanted him; it would only confuse the situation and would completely undo Jim's resolve for friendship only.

He needed to find a way to quickly resolve the situation, while keeping the friends only demand intact.

He sighed, pressing the page-over icon on his padd. There was no way he would be able to figure out what to say. He had no clue how even approach this situation.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when a tray settled across from him. He looked up quickly to see Bones taking the chair to his left.

"Hey," Jim greeted him quietly. Bones cast his eyes to Jim quickly, before he settled them on his food again, pushing it around with a mild look of disgust on him face. Jim watched him for a moment, before asking the safest question he could think of. "You enjoying your classes?"

Bones stabbed at a piece of broccoli. "Is that a rhetorical question?"

Jim stared at him blankly for a moment, trying to decipher if he should take the irritation in Bones' voice as being directed at him or at the vegetables that had been overcooked. Perhaps it was directed at his classes, his teachers, or maybe just Starfleet in general. Bones really had no limit to what could irritate him. Jim rubbed his forehead, feeling a tension headache coming on.

He took a deep breath, taking a plunge, and hoping for a positive outcome. "Come on, Bones. I wanna know how your day was."

Bones dropped his fork onto his plate before leveling Jim with a glare. Apparently a good majority of his irritation was with Jim. Even more apparent, he was done biting his tongue. "Why?" he asked, and Jim knew damn well he wasn't asking why he wanted to know about his day.

"Don't do this here," Jim demanded. The headache was worsening. He looked around at the people who still occupied the cafeteria. They were mostly minding their own business, but Jim knew that if they continued this here more people would become interested. He really didn't want to become the entertainment of the afternoon.

Bones glared at him, his features tight with anger. "Where the hell do you want to do this then? On the quad?" Jim didn't answer, just met the doctor's gaze with a calm he didn't really feel. Bones' lips tightened as he continued glowering at Jim. "I just want to know why."

Jim stared at him for a moment, wondering what to say. Bones wanted to know why, but he couldn't really explain it. They just couldn't. Bones would leave. Bones would hate Jim. Jim would fuck everything up. It was just easier this way, and he really wished the doctor could just understand that. He was impressed that Bones had held his tongue for so long, but Jesus, why couldn't Bones have just…not lingered on him? Why did he have to like the idea of 'them' so much?

Jim rubbed his hand against the back of his neck, saying as gently as he could, "We can't just pick up where we left off, Bones. It doesn't work like that."

"Well, no shit. You think I haven't thought of that?" he asked incredulously. He leaned over the table closer to Jim, making this argument just as personal as all the previous ones had been. Up close, breaking barriers, generally portraying a comfort with him that he shouldn't have.

Jim wanted to physically push him away, wanted him out of his space. He couldn't do that, though. He didn't know why they were being so adult about this entire thing, but the fact of the matter was that they were. Jim could only sit there, feeling his head pound while staring at Bones tiredly. "Then what the fuck do you want from me?"

"I want you to at least consider it."

"I have," Jim snapped. "I considered it, and I'm asking to just stay friends. Why is that so wrong?"

"Because I'm not stupid, Jim. You don't wanna be 'just friends.' You've been making googly eyes at me just as much as I have at you."

"I don't make googly eyes," he said, affronted at that statement, which was honestly ridiculous considering what else had been stated.

A lingering silence hovered around them for a few moments, in which time Jim stared at Bones' untouched plate of food and the fork that had been thrown down into it. He noticed his padd had automatically turned to sleep mode. But he couldn't find anything else to say. He didn't even want to try to find something else to say, not here and not now. When nothing was forthcoming from Jim, Bones leaned back with what Jim could only equate as a huff. "I can tell that you don't want to stay the way we are. I can see it. I'm not blind."

"I never accused you of it," he said blandly, still looking at the messy fork.

"Why are you being like this?"

"It's complicated."

Silence again, coupled with Bones' eyes burning holes into his skin. Jim's head was pounding, and he wished it would go away so he could explain this better, without short answers that were vague and unhelpful to their situation. He didn't mean to be like this. He would have liked to give some type of meaningful answer, truthful or not. He didn't care at the moment. He just wanted this to just go away!

"Well, it better get uncomplicated," Bones said quietly. Jim looked up to him finally, and he could see the almost-green of his eyes focusing on him with relentless intent. The doctor opened his mouth, and by the set of his face he meant business. "I'll let you have your 'just friends' kick for now, but there had better be a damn good reason for it. You've made it clear that you're not leaving. I think I should make it clear too. I'm not going anywhere, and unless you have a damn good reason, I'm not going to settle for this melodramatic bullshit. I've spent every night dreaming about you; wasted hours fantasizing about you; lost countless moments just wondering about you. For three years, you were the good memory that got me through bad times. And now you're right within arms' reach, and you have everything I ever dreamed of…"

He faltered and Jim almost laughed at the fact that he could say everything that Jim needed hear, all of the cheesiest most romantic shit that Jim had never wished to hear yet always hope he would, and he still looked so pissed off. It was so classically Bones that it was almost heart-stopping.

"I've got to go to class," Jim said, standing up quickly. "I'll see you when we pick Jo up."

Bones deflated, almost looking defeated as he pushed his tray away from him. Jim wanted to tell him it would be okay, but until he could sit down, and stop running, it mostly likely wouldn't be. Jim thought it was strange that he was the one leaving, when he had been the one who wanted to have this conversation. He felt guilty about it, too. Bones was trying, and all he did was block.

+ststst+

His last class of the day was Intergalactic Ethics and he knew just by reading the texts that it was going to be the most boring class in the history of all classes designed. He hadn't even entered the auditorium, but he knew he was going to hate it.

As he did enter the classroom, he paused to look around for a seat. A lot of cadets were already there. He hadn't had a lot of time to get from his last class to this one so he was about two minutes from being late. From where he was looking, seats were scarce. Perhaps if he sat in the very back of the room he would be able to procure a seat with relative ease, but he usually like sitting between rows three and eight.

He continued looking, aware that some of the cadets were staring at him as he stood blankly at the front of the class. He didn't care, though. He had been observed by what he had considered more important people. His eye caught that of a pretty brunette with dark brown eyes. She almost reminded him of Helen in appearance, but she smiled at him too kindly, maybe a little flirtatiously. However, she didn't have a seat available by her so he quickly moved on.

He had almost resigned himself to looking further back for a seat, when all of the sudden, "Kirk!"

His head snapped around, as did several others, for the source of the voice. A hand shot into the air to hail his attention, beautiful shade of cocoa, and he wouldn't have needed to see her face to know her as Uhura. She had the most beautiful hands, well, aside from Bones'. He started for her, sitting on the far side of the room from where he was and up about six rows.

She had a free chair open beside her, which Jim found a little odd for how pretty she was. He would figure every guy and a lot of the females would be flocking around her and vying for her hard-to-obtain attention. As he hopped up the steps to the sixth row, she moved over a seat, getting a bizarre look from the man beside her, as if shocked that she was sparing Jim any attention.

"Hey," he said as he took the seat she had just vacated. "Thanks."

Her smile wasn't radiant, but it had amusement underneath the small upturn of her lips. "Don't mention it," she said as she tapped her padd to life. "I couldn't bear to watch you stand up there with that lost look any longer."

"Very sweet of you, Miss Uhura," he said, feeling his own amused grin playing at his lips. "Here I thought you actually wanted my company."

She looked up at him and raised her brow. "No, I just have a bleeding heart."

Without thinking he told her cheekily, "I know a doctor who could fix that for you."

He paused. He would be meeting up with Bones soon, and most likely he would have redoubled his efforts to crack Jim. He seemed to be the persevering type, the kind that didn't hold back until they got what they wanted, whether it be an understanding of the human body or an understanding of Jim's cracked mind. Jim knew he was going to be coming back though. His small, heartfelt, but angry speech had reassured him that, at least until he lost hope, Bones was going to be there, perhaps relentlessly.

Jim wasn't sure he was ready for that, or would be ready for that, but he sure as hell wasn't ready for Uhura to size him up, and say with calculated tact and coyness, "Your husband?"

Had Jim had a drink at hand he would have spit it out and that would have just sucked because there was a Tellarite seated in front of them, and they weren't the cuddliest people to begin with. He looked at her, stunned. "My what?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's what I thought." When he continued staring at her, his mouth open, his brows drawn down in complete confusion, she continued. "The man you've been running around with for the past week," she explained. "Rumor has it that the two of you are married and that Joanna is your daughter. I knew it wasn't true."

"No, we're not married," Jim said, feeling that tension headache coming back. Having that Locke woman at Sandcastles think he and Bones were married was one thing. She was old, eccentric, and they had yet to even bother to correct her. Having the entirety of the Academy cadets thinking they were married…Jim was going to need so much ibuprofen before the semester was over.

Uhura nodded. "I had figu…wait." Her eyes narrowed on him in what he would easily consider a dangerous way in the future. She lowered her voice to what hardly even qualified as a whisper; it was so quiet. Jim actually had to lean in to make out what she said. "You mean she really is both of yours?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I thought that would be obvious. Jo looks so much like him."

"Any kid can look like they belong to the people standing next to them if you look hard enough."

"Well, in this case, she looks like him because she is his." He flicked his eyes forward, when the door slid open but they went back to Uhura when she made a small noise of confusion, which Jim classified as a squeak.

"How…?" she began to ask.

"I'll explain it later," he said with a sigh. "Teacher's here."

Uhura immediately snapped upright and turned to face the front.

Jim's day just kept getting better and better. He really hoped this headache left him alone before he picked Jo up, which reminded him that he was meeting Bones after this class. Uhura probably wouldn't be that patient to get the nitty-gritty details of his and Bones' affair after lecture ended. He wondered if he could delay the onslaught of questions until tomorrow or something. Maybe they could meet for lunch and he could satisfy her curiosity then.

Just because the angry heathen gods hated him, Intergalactic Ethics really was the most boring class ever.

+ststst+

Jim had been able to beg Uhura off rather easily. He only had to bring up picking up Jo from the daycare and she had bent, while looking seriously unhappy about it. Apparently, just because one seemed incredibly proper, did not mean one was above a good gossip story. He doubted she would really spread it around, but that didn't make her any less of a gossip. She had asked if they could meet for lunch tomorrow, and though Jim had been unsure if Bones would be joining him, at all, any more, ever again after this afternoon, he had said it would be fine.

His headache hadn't dissipated, as he had hoped it would, but it wasn't killing him. He felt like he could take Jo home without worrying that all he would be able to do would be lounging on the couch for the night. The few times he had done that in the past, he had felt guilty for it when Jo looked at him with big, pitiful eyes, wondering why he didn't want to play with her. With any luck his headache would stay down, and he wouldn't have to do that to her this evening.

He walked out to the middle of the quad, looking around the milling cadets for a surly, southern doctor who was sure to be wearing the darkest scowl this side of the Mississippi. His blue eyes scanned for a minute, two. He was genuinely startled when a hand rested on his shoulder, tensing, before he realized that it was his surly, southern doctor, indeed with said dark scowl on his face. He glared at every cadet around them and even at a few of the instructors, with a passion that made Jim think that he hadn't had the best day, and he had been an intricate part in making it that terrible.

He let himself be guided through throngs of cadets until they were in the throngs of civilians, heading away from the Academy. Jim stepped away from Bones, but kept close to him. Bones frowned at him for a moment, before taking a deep breath. "Will you at least try to explain it to me?"

Jim thought about where to start, all the places he could go with his explanation, what Bones would be mostly likely to respond to. He couldn't think of anything proper to say, though. He wanted to keep his personal issues to himself, but he didn't want to pretend like he could read Bones like a book and say that the doctor would just grow bored with him. He couldn't see the future; he knew that. They had just as much chance of making it in whatever type of relationship Bones wanted to pursue as they did of falling apart. It just wasn't a chance he wanted to take.

"Look," he started and stopped just a quickly. He glanced around them and the slightly crowded sidewalk they were traversing. He grabbed Bones' hand, and pulled them to a stop. He wanted to look Bones in the eye when he said this. "I don't deny that I still harbor feelings for you. In three days, you completely turned my life around, and not just because of what I got to take home with me. You actually cared, and up to that point I hadn't had a lot of that."

A small smile stole across his lips, before it faded. "But we're two completely different people now, and as great as it is that Jo has both of her parents, we just might not be compatible. I think it would be best if we just… stayed like we are, because we're pretty awesome like this. Don't you think?"

He forced his smile to stay after that, like he was trying to force Bones to believe that what he was saying was real.

The doctor stared at him for a long moment, his eyes practically boring into Jim's soul, looking for a give, and dammit, Jim needed to learn how to lie to that man. He already knew he had been caught in his own explanation. Bones shook his head slightly, saying, "If you know we both still have feelings for each other, then why would you want to stay friends? We may be different than how we were before, I understand that, but I already told you that I understand it won't be just like New Orleans. You're not making any sense, Jim."

He looked down at the ground. This was not working to his favor. Bones was out-logic-ing his logic and it really sucked! He sighed, his mind working rapidly.

Then it came to him. "Will you wait until the end of the semester?" he asked suddenly. The end of the semester was three months away. By then Bones should run his course with whatever it was he was feeling. He would realize that Jim wasn't worth the effort. They would be friends, and it would all be okay. If he could just get Bones to wait, to stop wanting him before they ever entered into a relationship, it would be okay!

Bones wasn't following, which was fine. He wasn't supposed to understand. He was just supposed to agree. "What?" he asked incredulously.

"Will you wait until the end of the semester for me?" Jim asked again, gently touching one of his hands to Bones' chest, loving and hating the warmth that lay beneath the red shirt. It was hard not to just take his words back, to just say to hell with all of this. But he couldn't. It would be better this way. He nodded at Bones, reassuringly. "You're right, we should try, but…I'm not myself right now. This is a lot to deal with. I want to get used to the idea of just you before I try to get used to the idea of with you."

Bones stared at him, and beneath Jim's hand, beneath his shirt and warmth, his heart picked up pace, like it used to when Jim bit down on the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Bones gave him a short nod, a small smile forming on his lips. "Yeah. I'll wait as long as you need me to."

He brought his hand up to Jim's and gave it a content squeeze. "I'm not going anywhere," he said again.

Their hands slipped down to their sides, and Jim nodded to him. "Well," he said with false relaxation. "Now, that that's taken care of, will you tell me about your day?"

Bones shook his head, rolling his eyes, but slowly explained about his basic Xeno-Anatomy and Physiology class as they continued towards Sandcastles. Jim liked that they were talking again, even if it felt kind of wrong to give Bones what felt like false hope. Not that it would really matter, Bones would forget about him by the time semester ended. No, what really felt wrong to Jim was giving himself false hope.

+ststst+

A/N: I honestly have nothing good to say here. I wish I had a little doodle section so I could give you a butterfly smile-y or something, but I don't so…you're on your own. Imagine me saying something witty.

InnocentGuilt