Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of its characters.

"You told him you WHAT?!" shouted Uhura, gathering the attention of a few crew members walking down the hall.

Ellara shushed her friend, checking to make sure no one was still looking. "That I loved him."

Uhura shook her head, letting out a small sound of frustration. "Why would you even think of doing that?"

Ellara shrugged her shoulders, letting out a long sigh. "I don't know. I… It just sort of slipped out. I'd just spent, like, six hours doing paperwork and…"

Ellara was sitting, hunched over her desk with papers spread out over every available surface. There had been another small attack, only this time, many crew members were left feeling very anxious, and she'd had almost twenty sessions that day.

Leaning back, Ellara massaged her wrist as it had once again cramped up. She looked around, noting that the pile had decreased dramatically since six hours prior. Shaking her head, Ellara returned to her work.

She was so invested in the words before her that she didn't hear Spock open the door and walk in. Ellara only looked up when she noticed a shadow looming over her desk. Raising her head, she saw her stoic boyfriend standing in front of her desk. She quickly checked the clock on the wall and saw she was a half hour late.

Ellara let out a groan of frustration, and Spock watched as she dropped her head to the desk, it making a small 'thump' upon contact. "You did not show up." was all he said.

From her position, Ellara said "Mhmm."

"I assume it was from the copious amounts of paperwork here with you."

Another sound of agreement was heard.

"If you would like, I could offer my assistance."

At this, Ellara's head shot up and a small smile played at her lips. "I would appreciate it so much, if you could. Unfortunately, all of this information is confidential, and I would be breaking about ten rules by letting you help."

"I thought so. May I, at the very least, bring you food and perhaps some tea?"

Ellara nodded, her eyes closing with gratefulness. "Thank you. You have no idea how much I need that right now."

While Spock left to get her food, Ellara took a small time to spin her chair in lazy circles. She was almost done her work, so she could afford to waste a small amount of time and clear her mind up.

When he came back, Spock was carrying a plate with some sort of sandwich in one hand, and a cup of steaming tea in the other. He placed it in front of his girlfriend, and she practically moaned at the sight. "Honestly, I love you sometimes, Spock."

Upon realizing what she had said, that two stiffened, and Ellara's head shot up to look at Spock. "I- I mean. I… uhm…"

"I… believe that I should leave and let you work." murmured Spock, backing out quickly.

Ellara rose, as if to stop him, but couldn't think of anything to say. And so, Spock left, practically rushing down the hall to his room.

Sitting back down, Ellara let out a large groan and practically slammed her head into her desk, completely and utterly done with herself.

"I mean, it can't be that bad, right?" she asked, knowing it was pointless.

Uhura shot her a harsh look, immediately deflating any hope that may have resided within her.

The two finally reached Nyota's room and stepped in. "Thanks for letting me stay here." said Ellara for what may have been the hundredth time.

"It's no problem."

"Yeah. I'm thinking about replacing the couch in my office. Not as comfortable as I thought." Ellara cracked her back a bit as if to prove her point.

Nyota raised an eyebrow at her. "You really don't think Spock would let you sleep in your shared room?"

Ellara sat down with a huff on Nyota's couch. "It's not that. I just want to give him space to… I don't know. It just feels wrong to be there with him right now. I feel like I've already burst one bubble, and I'd rather not invade his privacy along with it."

Uhura rolled her eyes and sat down next to her friend. "Jesus, it's your room too, now. You share it. If he can't put on his big boy pants and accept it, then I don't know what to say."

Shaking her head, Ellara looked at Uhura. The other woman could see a few tears in her eyes, and put her arm comfortingly around Ellara. "It's not that simple. He's different. He's both the least and most sensitive man I know. And I know we've been dating for like, a year and a half now, but I sort of wanted him to say it first."

"Why?"

Ellara chuckled, "Well, I felt that if he said it first, it wouldn't be like I was pressuring him into saying it, and that it'd mean he really did… you know."

Uhura was silent for a moment as things seemed to click. "Wait, since when have you loved him?"

Looking down, Ellara tried to think of the exact timeframe. "I'd say… it was the first time we kissed. It was about a week before he asked me to move in with him."

Nyota's mouth gaped wide open. "That's six months!" she cried in outrage.

Ellara nodded quickly, her head dropping to her hands. "I know. I just… I'm so scared, Ny. What if he doesn't love me? What if he never loves me?!"

With that, she began crying, leaning her head onto Uhura's shoulder. Meanwhile, Uhura was thinking up of ways to help her friend. However, she couldn't come up with anything. It would be up to Spock to help with this one.

"Ellara, wake up." came a gentle voice.

She could feel her shoulder being shaken, but Ellara simply did not want to get up. She'd had an amazing dream.

"Please, Ellara." said the voice once again.

Taking it in, Ellara was tempted to open her eyes. That sound, it was cold and calculating, yet had a warm undertone that spoke of hidden treasures beneath. Gently opening her eyes, Ellara found Spock kneeling in front of her, his hand on her shoulder. Once he saw that she was awake, however, he let go and stood back up.

"I have been trying to wake you for ten minutes." he said, his voice becoming hard as he remembered that Nyota was standing behind him.

Ellara sat up, pressing a hand to her head as she got a small head rush. "I'm sorry. I was… tired." murmured Ellara.

She felt the need to apologize, to make an excuse. She didn't feel like she was good enough for him. Spock seemed about to say something, but paused, turning around. He looked at Nyota, and said, "If it is alright, I would like to speak with Ellara in private."

Uhura didn't need to be told twice and practically bolted out of the room. He had no doubt that her and Jim would be listening in, however the semblance of privacy was comforting.

Spock looked at the ground for a moment, as though to gather his courage. Finally, he spoke. "I have missed you."

Ellara blinked a couple of times, not believing what she had heard. He'd missed her? She thought for sure that he was here to berate her, or break up with her, or- She still had to answer. "Oh." was all Ellara managed to squeak out.

"I do not know why you chose to sleep elsewhere, however, I find that it has helped me realize something. I could not sleep without you next to me. I," he took a deep breath, "I love you." The words were stiff, and cracked slightly as they left his mouth, and the way they came out sounded off, but it was perfect coming from him. Ellara immediately jumped up and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him and running her hands through the short strands of his hair. He returned the action, and she felt him pull ever so slightly at her cropped hair.

The two broke apart, and Ellara ran a hand down him until it rested where his heart was. She could feel it beating fast, and she could see the love in his eyes. "I love you, too, Spock." she replied, a smile breaking out across her face.

From outside the room, the happy couple heard Uhura squealing in excitement and an "ow!" coming from the ship's Captain. Ellara chuckled, happy to know those two were perfectly fine.

"I'm sorry for leaving. I thought you'd be upset with me." whispered Ellara, looking down at her feet.

Spock moved impossibly closer, and replied in his own hushed whisper, "I could never be upset with you, my ashal-veh."

Ellara's eyebrows shot up at the Vulcan used in the sentence. Whispering back, she said, "I have no clue what that last part meant."

Spock looked down into his girlfriend's' eyes, the corner of his lip tilting upwards ever so slightly. "It means 'darling'."

Eyes widening, Ellara said an elongated "oh" of understanding. "In Rendorian, we say 'El'ownen.' It means 'my precious one'. I heard my mother say it to my father every day."

Tears filled her eyes for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure and smiled even wider. "You are el'ownen."

"It is a beautiful word." commented Spock.

He leaned his head down and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips before pulling away. This time, he moved a few steps back and Ellara leaned forward unconsciously.

They would be ok.

I know, I know, I'm late. I had asked someone to help me write the kiss(it was supposed to be much more... passionate...), except they then told me they couldn't and then I kept putting off writing it because I felt awkward and I didn't want it to suck... So, sorry. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, though, and I will be putting up the poll once again with the new results(I'm trying to do a sort of trial by elimination. Four options left).

So, yeah!

Love. Fiction. 2016: Thanks.

Bookl0ver1998: Woops...

- fangirl0012345

Updated February 9th, 2017.