Hey, here's a chapter! Cliff hanger cause I was in kind of a rush and promised to get a chapter out tonight! Enjoy!

Running was probably the wrong thing to do.

As soon as he got back into his room, he collapsed in a nearby chair, gasping for breath. He was too old to go sprinting around the ship like that and too old to be kissing his superior officers like a frisky little school boy. Leonard tilted his head back and stared at the dark ceiling of his quarters. I wasn't as if he could escape Spock. He'd tried for weeks and it hadn't stopped anything. There was a good chance the goblin would leave him alone for the night though. It was obvious that the doctor was in a very intense emotional state, and Spock didn't like to be around people when they were in such a condition. On the other hand, the commander seemed to be taking a particular interest in Leonard's health and mental well-being and his Vulcan concern might drive him right down the hall to check on the poor bastard.

Leonard sat up. He didn't want to see Spock. In fact, he was so terrified that Spock was going to come down the hall he wasn't even taking time to process what had just happened. Instead, he hopped up and began pacing the room.

He had just kissed Spock. Just imagining that seemed absolutely unreal to him. The feeling of those heated lips still tingled on the doctor's mouth and a thought passed his mind that he may be the only person in history to have ever kissed the elf. This made him stop dead in his tracks. He was enjoying that thought far too much. He was the only one to touch him like that. For a Vulcan…that was a huge deal wasn't it? He knew physical connections were nearly sacred to them. A kiss like that…what did that mean for Spock?

The door chime rang.

"Go away, Spock!" he snarled before he could catch his voice. There was silence for a moment before the calculated response.

"Doctor, it would be wise to speak about this." His voice remained low to respect their privacy. Leonard would have noticed this detailed if he hadn't just heard that damned title again. Before he could stop himself, he was across the room and jamming a finger into the door button. As soon as it swung open, he barked into Spock's face.

"How dare you come here, you hard-hearted computer?! After what just happened in there, what you saw, and what we just did, you still won't address me by my goddamn name! I don't wanna talk to you, Spock. Go back to your room and leave me the hell alone."

They stared at one another for a moment. Leonard could feel the heat in his face and wasn't trying to slow his breathing. He was angry and he wanted Spock to know it. He hoped it would scare the devil away, but he knew it wouldn't. Spock was never intimidated by the doctor and even less so when he was fired up. Instead of leaving, however, which Leonard had assumed he would, Spock stepped past him into the room, still remaining silent.

"NO. No, get out of my room right now. I don't want you here damn it, Spock, LEAVE."

"You cannot ignore me, Leonard-"

"Like HELL I can't!"

Spock remained stoical. The door slid shut behind Leonard and he remained still, chest heaving up and down in frustration, face twisted into a nasty scowl.

"What are you afraid of, Leonard?"

"Afraid of! Nothing! I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Then why are you angry?"

"I'm angry because-" He stopped suddenly. Why was he angry? Because Spock hadn't called him by his name? It was annoying, considering they'd just shared a somewhat intimate moment, but that's not why flames were shooting from his mouth. Why was he angry?

He was mortified. He had shown how weak he was and he'd revealed feelings to the emotionless man without having any way to protect himself. He was broken and upset and on top of his constant sadness and lack of passion for anything he had to now deal with losing the only person worth caring about.

With a much softer voice, and a look of shame on his face, he said "I'm angry because I…I'm embarrassed, Spock, I…well you wouldn't understand. It's a human thing. We don't like having our emotions out there for everyone to see. Especially not when we have…certain emotions for certain people and those people see and don't…respond."

Spock continued watching him. Leonard's eyes were glued to the floor, but he burned under Spock's gaze like a fire and found himself shrinking a little until the Vulcan spoke.

"Of course I understand," he said, his words as deliberate as ever. "Vulcan emotions are just as strong as human emotions, stronger even. It is humiliating for us to reveal our feelings to someone else. I understand exactly how you feel." Leonard slowly looked up to meet Spock's eyes. "And the reason I did not reciprocate," the Vulcan continued. "Was because I was unsure how."

Leonard blinked at him. Unsure how? As in he didn't know how to react to the situation? Of course not, he was probably confused out of his wits. A sudden expectant eyebrow perk and a little shy tilt of Spock's head told him differently. He didn't know how to kiss.

"You mean…you…didn't know how to physically respond to…what I did?"

"Correct. I have never experienced that sort of thing and I was unable to reciprocate appropriately. I thought it better to allow you to lead."

Leonard blinked at him. "Do you mean to tell me that you didn't mind me kissing you?"

Spock's eyebrow again shot toward his hairline. "On the contrary, Leonard, I have been expecting it for quite some time and had become slightly accustomed to the idea."

For a moment, the room was completely silent. It wasn't the terrifying silence that had occurred before, but just a peaceful one that almost brought relief. Leonard wasn't sure what to say. He tried desperately to sort out his thoughts before continuing.

"You seemed so shocked when you saw my thoughts though…" he said weakly.

"I was not shocked. Nor did I seem to be. I believe my exact words were that it was "unexpected". And it was. I speculated that you had romantic feelings for me by the way you were behaving, but it is much different delving into your personal thoughts first hand."

He had a point. Even if you really knew a person, it's very different being inside their head for the first time, or so he imagined.

"Well, how come you didn't mention it before?"

"I didn't think it was very important."

"Were you afraid of me?"

"No."

"You ah…said you've grown accustomed to the idea?"

"I have. You would make a fine mate."

"Mate…woah. Hang on their bucko, that's…a big thing you just said."

Mate…he had forgotten that Vulcan's only take life mates. There was no casual dating scene for them. It did more than a little bit for his ego though, having Spock tell him he could spend the rest of his life with the good doctor. At the very least, he would have expected Spock to go after a woman. Taking a man as a mate is illogical. You can't make little Vulcan's with two daddies.

"I am merely sharing my opinion with you. I do believe it would be illogical to join with you, but in my past I have been given advice that would suggest otherwise."

"And what is that?"

"What is right is not always logical."