1.8 - The Closet Was Too Cramped Anyway

~~*~~

After the incident, it took a week before Jim was comfortable with Cali going to the bar again. Cali had told him that the man responsible for attacking him had been expelled and banned from campus but that just made Jim angrier. He wanted to punish the man himself for daring to say such things about his boyfriend, let along lay a hand on him.

Though he didn't say it, Cali was actually appreciative of Jim's protective attitude and thought it was cute. Thus, he agreed to meet him at his dorm and they both go to the bar together rather than meet there like they had before.

Unfortunately, this had the undesired consequence of gaining Bones' attention, who then asked if he could come along, obviously not realising they were going on a date and not as friends since Jim had still yet to tell him. Not wanting to draw suspicion for Jim, who he knew was not ready to tell his friends that they were together, and also kinda wanting to get to know his partner's best friend, Cali smiled kindly and allowed him to join.

That's how they ended up all sitting round a table at the bar with drinks, already significantly drunk.

Unfortunately, Jim's drunk brain was making him either forget or simply not care about the fact that Bones didn't know that he was with Cali. With every drink, he was getting more flirtations with his boyfriend, getting closer to him physically and getting more touchy-feely with him.

Cali, though also very drunk, was sober enough to know that Jim was gonna give himself away if he wasn't careful and was trying to control his partner. But was rather unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Bones had begun to get suspicious early when he noted that Jim had yet to abandon the two of them to go and flirt with some random girl at the bar. This, on top of the fact Jim was acting like he wanted to get into Cali's pants, was making Bones highly suspect that the two were hiding something quite specific from him.

Luckily, after an hour of hanging out, a girl approached Jim while he was at the bar getting refills and the two started flirting. When the bartender gave him the drinks, he quickly picked them up and brought them to the table, leaning down so that his lips were at Cali's ear and completely hidden from Bones. He whispered to Cali, asking him for permission before he returned to the woman making Cali smile and nod as subtly as he could so Bones wouldn't get even more suspicious. Jim stood back up straight, a satisfied smirk on his lips before mock saluting the two and making his way back over to the woman with his drink. Both Cali and Bones laughed at his display, shaking their heads.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to Jim abandoning you for one-nightstands soon enough." Bones joked, taking a gulp of his new drink.

Cali happily took the excuse and played along. "It's fine, I've had friends in the past that were the same." Bones watched Cali carefully, but it didn't look like Jim's absence affected him at all. He was still extremely suspicious but let Cali play it off since he could tell he was not gonna say anything as the two decide to finish their drinks and then head out.

~~*~~

During that next week, Bones kept an eye on Jim and Cali. Specifically, around how they acted together. After noticing how close they were that night when they were drunk at the bar, Bones was very suspicious that there was more to their relationship than the two were letting on and wanted to investigate. He noticed how open they were with each other, able to talk to the other about literally anything, and how physically comfortable they were, always touching when they thought no one was looking. Deciding he'd seen enough; he finally breeched the topic with Jim when they were alone in their dorm.

"How's Cali doing?" he asked, looking up from his desk and over at Jim who had been laying on his bed daydreaming.

"He's good, he's in Klingon Studies at the moment, I think. Not his favourite class but not his least favourite." Jim answered casually, opening his eyes to think before closing them again.

Narrowing his eyes at him, Bones kept going, "Right, course you know his timetable, you two do seem to be getting close." Bones watched Jim closely for his reaction and saw as he quickly tensed his entire body, opening his eyes to look at Bones and he could see the apprehension in them.

"Yeah, haha." Jim forced a smile as he stuttered out his words, "We have a lot in common. Fast friends." His eyes stayed locked on Bones, but he couldn't make eye contact making Bones sigh.

"It's good to see." Bones said finally, turning back to his work. He could hear Jim let out a relieved sigh behind him but chose to ignore it. It was obvious Jim wasn't gonna answer honestly on the topic. Bones decided he'd ask him again when they were next around Cali, hoping the presence of his 'fast friend' would help calm him down and actually answer truthfully.

~~*~~

Since the incident that Spock had witnessed, he found himself observing Cadet Caliaire more often. He already paid close attention to the cadet due to his open attitude in the classroom, often answering the questions that were posed to the class and asking ones about the work. He was the top student, and Spock had now witnessed that his classmates knew it.

What Spock hadn't noticed before was that the students in the class often turned to Cali if they ever needed help rather then turn to him, the professor. This explained why he always seemed to ask so many questions during the lessons while the rest of the class more often than not stayed silent or appeared to have their own conversations. He had to assume this was due to Cali's friendly personality and warm smile in comparison to his typical Vulcan schooled expression and logical, though cold, way of speaking.

After noticing how much Cali actually did in supporting his classmates as well as his own education, Spock found himself appreciative of having Cali in his class. Though, he still decided to question the cadet on it after one lesson.

"Cadet Caliaire," Spock called after dismissing the class, "please stay behind for a moment." The rest of the students all looked around, specifically at both Cali and Spock, likely wondering and theorising about what their classmate was needed for by the Vulcan professor. Spock found he disliked the academy's rumour mill that apparently all schools had.

After packing away his things, Cali quickly made his way forward so that Spock was not talking across the classroom. "Yes Commander?" Cali questioned, looking at Spock in curiosity.

"Cadet, I have recently noticed that your classmates rely on you to interact with me and to understand the subject matter and work." Spock explained and noted as Cali's curious look morphed to one who had just got in trouble, though he could not understand why as he wasn't telling the cadet off, simply making an observation. "I assume this is because you are more approachable than me."

Looking very guilty, Cali nodded his head, "Yes sir, I believe so."

Nodding, Spock looked over Cali and saw he looked very uncomfortable about the situation. "I see. Then I must thank you for ensuring that your classmates have someone to go to when they feel unable to approach me." Looking up, Cali was visibly shocked. Noting that the cadet was obviously unsure how to respond, Spock decided to mimic the line that was used on him, "Please Cadet, just accept the thanks."

Cali's head shot up with widened eyes, having recognised the line causing him to smile slightly in amusement. "Very well, you are welcome Commander Spock." He replied, parroting the previous response, "I'm glad to be of help."

Nodding in approval, Spock looked to his desk for a moment. "I request that you continue doing what you can but do ensure you put your own education first and allow your classmates to do some of the work themselves if you ever need a break. Additionally, if you ever need extra help after classes, feel free to stay behind to ask for help. Your classmates may not believe it, but I am here to support your education in any way I am able."

Smiling brightly, Cali nodded and agreed. "If it wouldn't be a bother, would it be possible for me to stay behind on Thursdays in order to complete the work and possibly make a start on any assignments? So that I would have help available if needed." Cali questioned, feeling slightly unsure despite the Vulcan's previous reassurance.

"Yes, that would be acceptable, your class is the last one I teach on that day so I would be able to stay around to help for several hours if need be." Spock agreed after a moments thought for his timetable.

"Thank you, Commander."

Satisfied with the conversation, Spock dismissed Cali. "If that is all you may leave Cadet." Cali nodded and gave a goodbye as he left the classroom on his way to his next class while Spock began planning for his next lesson.

~~*~~

It was a nice day outside, warm, and sunny with a cool but not chilling breeze. Bones and Jim were sitting outside on a grassy patch on campus under the shade of a large oak tree. Bones leant against the trunk while Jim sat casually facing him with his hands leant back behind him to keep him up. They were just hanging out, enjoying the nice weather and their day off when Jim spotted Cai walking not too far away. "Cali!" he called quickly without another thought upon spotting his boyfriend, perking up and lifting an arm up to signal the man over.

Upon hearing his name, Cali looked around and soon spotted Jim and Bones not too far away by the tree. Smiling brightly, he walked over and greeted them. "Hey boys, what you doing?"

As he sat down directly next to Jim, Bones gave the two a suspicious look, raising an eyebrow. It hadn't got passed him how Jim had been able to spot Cali in the crowed or how excited he had seemed to see him. "We've been enjoying the nice weather since it's meant to rain tomorrow."

"Don't you have classes?"

"Free day."

"For both of you?" Cali asked, looking over to Bones who had been left out of the conversation so far, simply observing.

"Yeah, I had a class this morning, but I'm done for the day now. Where are you coming from?"

"Cool. Uh, Language Studies. Very fascinating subject."

Jim smirked cheekily and tried to slip a very obvious "Nerd." In between coughs making Cali shove their shoulders, though with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Ass." Cali moaned, barely containing his smile before turning back to Bones, "I feel like I haven't seen you in a while, how are you doing?"

Smiling at the friendly man, Bones couldn't help but think he was glad that Cali had been introduced into their group, especially with the close relationship he had with Jim. "Yeah, it has. Been good, you?"

Cali hummed in response, "Same, had several Vulcan lessons which always make my day."

"Cause you're a teacher's pet." Jim joked.

"So what? I'm not ashamed to admit it." Cali replied with a smug smirk, very content in the knowledge that Commander Spock favoured him.

"I still have no idea how you can get a Vulcan to openly favour you."

"Because Vulcan's are not emotionless robots like humans stereotype them as. They actually feel much more strongly and deeply then human and have to meditate daily to ground and control themselves."

"I say again; nerd." Jim states again making Cali roll his eyes and lean back on his hands.

Watching them banter, Bones decided to breach his curious topic again. "You two seem to be getting very close."

Immediately, the warm and friendly atmosphere grew tense as Jim froze. Cali continued smiling as if not noticing and laughed, "Yeah, I suppose we are. If you can count him constantly calling me a nerd as close." At his words, Jim gave a stiff smile and tried to play off his tension, but Bones had already seen it.

Now knowing for certain that he wasn't going to get an answer if he didn't actually ask the question, he did. "Okay, I'm gonna just ask since you're not answering. Are you two dating?"

Jim's eyes widened at the confrontation of something he hadn't wanted to talk about yet, not having known how and looked away from Bones, purposefully in the opposite direction of his boyfriend. Seeing his anxiety, Cali quickly connected their hands behind the backs. If he actually looked for it, Bones would have noticed, but he was too focused on studying their faces to see the action of comfort.

Looking back at Cali at the contact, Jim saw so much comfort in those hypnotizingly blue eyes and warm smile that he had fallen in love with that he took a deep breath to steady himself and looked back to his friend. "Yeah." He nodded finally, still unable to meet Bones eyes despite his sudden and slight burst at confidence flowing from Cali's touch. "We have been for a couple of weeks."

At the admission, it finally registered to Bones. Sure, he had his suspicions that they were, but actually having it confirmed was different. "Oh, wow, okay." He managed out before looking at the two of them, settling his eyes on his close friend, "How come you didn't say?"

Looking at Cali for comfort, who gave a small reassuring nod in his direction, Jim explained, "I was confused for ages about what it meant that I liked him, I had to figure myself out."

"So, you've figured it out now?" he asked carefully, curious but also not wanting to push his friend.

"Yeah." Jim nodded, feeling a lot more confident, "I'm straight."

Suddenly very confused, Bones looked between the two men, "Wait, but you're—?"

"Yeah," Jim interrupted quickly to explain, "I'm gay for Cali, but other than that, I'm straight."

"Daw, love, that's cute." Cali commented, looking at Jim with an amused and content smirk.

"Right." Bones nodded slowly, getting his head around the idea before looking to his friend's boyfriend, "And you're?"

Looking from Jim to see Bones looking in his direction, Cali smirked, "Oh, I'm 100% gay."

"Okay." Bones nodded again before he remembered the night that had made him suspicious to begin with, "Wait, but you went off with some girl the other night?"

"Yeah, it's an open relationship, we're together, but we can still see other people." Jim explained confidently, not so worried about that part of his relationship.

"Right."

Knowing that Bones knew and didn't care made all of Jim's anxieties fade away. Shuffling slightly closer to Cali, he pulled their connected hands forward so that they were rested in between them. Cali smiled at the action, loving that Jim now felt comfortable admitting that they were together. As they continued hanging out, the two stopped being so careful about how they act with each other and felt free. It was nice to be open, Jim decided happily.

~~*~~