Trekkies in Love 3: All Our Yesterdays

[therumjournals]

Title: Trekkies in Love 3: All Our Yesterdays
Author: therumjournals
Pairing: Chris/Zach
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 10,400
Summary: Chris comes to NYC for a Star Trek convention in 2002. Third installment of Trekkies in Love.
Warnings: mention of Zach/OMC, awkward sex, angst
A/N: Dolores is Zoe Saldana’s character from the movie The Terminal - she plays an airport employee who goes to Star Trek conventions dressed as Yeoman Rand.



To: ltcmdrzach@aol.com
From: Chris.Pine@yahoo.com

May 7, 2002

Hi Zach,
This is Chris (jtk1980). I know it’s been a while – I don’t even know if you check this email any more, but it’s the only contact info I have for you besides your last phone # from CMU. I’m writing because I’m going to the Star Trek convention in NYC in a month and I was wondering if you might be there. I think last time we talked you said something about wanting to move to New York, but I don’t know if you ever did. Well, anyway, I just wanted to see if you might be going to the convention at all and to let you know that I’m going to be over on the east coast for once. It would be cool to see you again, if you wanted to, but I understand if you don’t.

I hope it’s not too weird, me writing you like this. If you even get this email, which you probably won’t.

~Chris

PS – I just got a cell phone so if for some reason you wanted to call me it’s 213-924-1702 (I tried to get 1701 but someone else has it!)


To: Chris.Pine@yahoo.com
From: zqgraphics@geocities.com

May 13, 2002

hey chris,
got your email at my other acct. yeah, i live in the city now. i’m pretty busy that weekend, so i don’t know if i’ll make it to the con. i guess i might have time to grab coffee or something.
zach


To: zqgraphics@geocities.com
From: Chris.Pine@yahoo.com

May 28, 2002

Hey Zach,
Just wanted to let you know that I’m getting into New York on Thursday afternoon. Would you want to meet up for a drink or something? I’m staying in the Marriott near the convention center, do you know where that is? Anyway, let me know.
~Chris (213-924-1702)


To: Chris.Pine@yahoo.com
From: zqgraphics@geocities.com

May 31, 2002

chris,
i’m busy thursday but could get coffee on friday – 10am at starbucks? it’s across from your hotel.
zach

*

Chris bounced his knee under the table and ran a hand through his hair for the fiftieth time. He scowled at the empty grande coffee cup in front of him before pulling out his Nokia and starting another game of Snake. He was well on his way to beating his personal record when the phone buzzed in his hand. Shit. For a second he debated not answering, then he laughed at himself and rolled his eyes. As if that had ever been an option.

“Hello?”

“Chris?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s Zach.”

Chris squeezed his eyes shut and didn’t answer.

“Um, are you at Starbucks?”

“What the fuck do you think?” Chris burst. He bounced his knee a little harder and everything on the table jumped.

“Look, I’m sorry. I can still make it over there…”

“Don’t bother. I gotta go.”

“Wait, Chris.”

“What?”

“Do you…I mean, do you want to get lunch or something?”

“I don’t think it’s gonna work out, okay? I’m here for the convention, and I already missed one panel waiting for you. So, I guess I’ll see you around.” Yeah, like, never, he thought bitterly.

“Oh. Um. Okay.”

“Yeah, okay. Bye, Zach.”

“Have fun at the con-” Zach was saying as Chris pressed End. He shoved the phone in his pocket and pushed out the door, squinting as he stepped into the sun.

Five minutes later, the phone buzzed against his thigh. Chris pulled it out and frowned when he didn’t see a missed call, but instead a little envelope blinked on the screen. A text message?

dinner?

The number wasn’t in his Contacts, which meant that it must be Zach. It took him a second to figure out the text function, and another minute to figure out that it was actually filling in the words automatically. Weird. He finally managed to type out a comprehendible message.

Can’t. Meeting up with some friends.

after?

I don’t think so.

come on i feel like shit

Okay, that made Chris feel a little better, but before he could reply he got another text.

skip the room party? ;-)

Chris grinned, then hastily wiped the smile from his face. What the fuck was Zach playing at, standing him up one minute and throwing memories in his face the next? Fuck him. He stuffed the phone in his pocket and walked across the street.

Fuck.

Fine. Where do you live?

we can meet near your hotel

Don’t really want to get stood up again. Where’s your apt?

Zach texted him an address, and Chris spent half of Patrick Stewart’s speech slumped in his seat in the back, planning out his route on a subway map.

*

Zach opened the door of his apartment to find Chris chuckling to himself in the hallway. He raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” Chris said, shaking his head. “Just, for a minute I pictured you having the ears on when you opened the door.” His smile faded and they both went silent as they looked at each other for the first time in forever.

Chris was taller now, Zach noticed, and he seemed to know it, standing a little straighter, looking a little more confident than Zach remembered. He’d filled out a little, too, and Zach wasn’t sure why it surprised him that Chris knew what he was doing with his clothes, his t-shirt clinging to his broad chest under a black leather jacket. Zach let his gaze travel upwards to Chris’s face, god he was handsome, a strong jaw, clean-shaven. Fuck, he’d forgotten about those eyes. No. No, that was a lie, he hadn’t forgotten about them. He just…hadn’t remembered the effect they’d had on him, or maybe he’d thought he was immune now, after so long. He wasn’t, and he tore his eyes away, blindly gesturing for Chris to come inside.

Chris had taken his time looking Zach over, knowing Zach had been doing the same. Zach was still thin, and his legs still went on forever, but he seemed more comfortable in his body now, less gangly, more poised. Chris could see toned biceps where his t-shirt sleeves ended, and he’d done something remarkable with his hair, and his eyes, fuck, dark and framed by gorgeous lashes, just the way he remembered them, only a little more guarded now. He wanted to keep looking, to see if he could get a little deeper, but Zach was turning away, and Chris followed him inside.

The apartment was a tiny studio, a couch and coffee table taking up most of the room, with an entertainment center along one wall and a desk on the other. The kitchenette was tucked into a corner, separated from the rest of the room by a high countertop.

“What are you drinking these days?” Zach asked, peering into the refrigerator.

“Anything,” Chris laughed. But he nodded his approval when Zach turned around with two Smirnoff Ices in his hand and took one gratefully. He dropped onto the couch, and Zach hesitated for a second before dragging his desk chair over to the other side of the coffee table.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Chris said, at the same time that Zach said “Sorry about this morning.”

An awkward beat passed, and Chris focused intently on the lip of his bottle. He took a deep breath and looked up at Zach with a forced smile. “It’s okay. I’m sure you’re really busy and stuff. Do you, like, have your own business now or something?”

Zach shook his head. “Just freelancing.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“Yeah.” Zach took a long swig from his bottle. “So. Um. How’s the con?”

“It’s good,” Chris said quickly, thankful to have arrived at a more comfortable topic. “Saw Patrick Stewart today.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Yeah. That man is a god.”

“Heh, yeah. Did you, uh…did you go in costume?”

“Uh, yeah,” Chris said, holding back a smile.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“What, come on.”

Chris finally let his lips quirk up. “I’m emceeing the Trek Fashion Show tomorrow night.”

“You WHAT?! Fashion show? You’re fucking kidding me.”

Chris laughed. “Yeah, I know. You know, when I came out in college, I really just kind of stopped holding back and threw myself into it, no holds barred.”

“So I’d heard,” Zach said, dryly.

Chris swallowed and his eyes dropped to the floor. The air seemed to leave the room and an uncomfortable silence settled over them. Chris licked his lips. “Zach, I’m sorry…”

“Chris, stop,” Zach said with a forced laugh. “Look, don’t worry about it, alright? That was like what, four years ago? I’m over it.”

Three years and eight months ago, Chris thought, squinting at the ground, his elbows propped on his knees. But he nodded his agreement anyway before he looked up at Zach. “Um. Should we…maybe we should go get a drink somewhere?”

Zach eyed the mostly full bottle in Chris’s hand, but he knew what Chris meant. The apartment suddenly felt claustrophobic, and Zach was struck by the realization that they’d only ever spent time together in impersonal hotel rooms and crowded convention centers. Now Chris was sitting here in the middle of his stuff, his whole life visible, and he suddenly felt raw and exposed.

“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”

Chris stood in a smooth motion, rolling his shoulders to straighten his jacket before he took a long swig from his bottle. Zach swallowed, said he’d be ready in a sec, and slipped into the bathroom. He took a piss, washed his hands, and checked himself out in the mirror. He gripped the edge of the counter with both hands and glared at his reflection. He turned to leave, then turned back a second later to push a handful of product into his hair. Then gave himself the finger, pasted a smile on his face, and stepped out of the bathroom.

Chris was standing next to his desk, looking down at something in the clutter of papers, his fingers wrapped loosely around the forgotten bottle in his hand. Zach’s stomach leapt into his throat and he swallowed hard. Fuck.

Chris glanced over at him, then back down at the desk without a word, flipping a few more pages in the binder. Don’t flip to the back, don’t flip to the back, Zach thought desperately. Chris flipped a few more pages and stopped, his fingertips hovering above the page.

“I, uh…I got that out a few weeks ago.” Zach mumbled. “When you emailed.”

“What happened to this one?” Chris asked, not looking up from the binder. Zach took a few steps closer, like he had to look to see exactly what picture Chris was talking about.

“Uh. Not sure.”

Chris nodded. He knew what picture it was, or could guess. But Zach hadn’t removed all evidence of him, since under the blank space was a picture of the two of them, side by side in their uniforms, Chris grinning like an idiot at the camera and Zach trying to look stoically Vulcan or some shit.

“Did we actually think those haircuts were cool?” he asked, shaking his head.

“I’m pretty sure we never even approached cool,” Zach said, then he took a deep breath. “Look, I wasn’t actually busy this morning.”

“Zach…”

“No, listen, I just…” He ran a hand through hair, undoing his hasty styling efforts as his words came in a rush. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to see you, okay, and I know you said you’d understand if that was the case, but then I thought maybe I did, and I swear I wasn’t trying to, like, intentionally stand you up, I just got really…”

“Nervous?”

“No. A little.”

“Pissed?”

Zach gave a frustrated shake of his head. “Not exactly. Maybe. I…fuck, you know, I hadn’t thought about everything in forever, and then I got your email, and it was just like…like-“ He could feel his hands clenching at his sides and he was almost pleased to see a pained look cross Chris’s face. He crossed the room and sat down heavily on the couch and scrubbed his face in his hands. “Jesus.”

“Zach…”

“No, just – just let me get this out okay?” He dropped his hands and looked at Chris, but it was too hard, and his eyes drifted to the floor. His voice was quiet. “I know we only saw each other like five times, and that most of our relationship was conducted over Instant Messenger, but…it was real to me.”

“It was real to me, too,” Chris protested quickly, “Zach, I-“

“Chris.” Zach cut him off, gesturing for him to stop. “Do you have any idea what it was like for me? Any idea at all? I mean, one minute you’re calling me crying, saying you kissed some guy at a party while you were drunk, saying that you love me and asking me to forgive you, and like two days later, you tell me over fucking IM that you want to break up because there’s ‘more out there’? I know I said I was over it, but can you really blame me if I still harbor some residual bitterness? I mean, what the fuck, Chris?”

“Zach, look, I think I should just go, okay? I swear, I didn’t come here to dredge this shit up-“

“No, you know what, you don’t get to do that. Jesus, do you know how many times I’ve thought about what I would say to you if I ever saw you again?”

Chris swallowed and looked away. He dropped into the chair and dragged his eyes up to meet Zach’s. “What do you want to say?”

Zach shook his head, at a loss. “Just…what the fuck? What happened, Chris? I thought I knew you, and…you, like…you just changed.”

Chris stared at the ground while he formulated his response. “I did change. It was…so different, Zach, you have no idea what it was like, suddenly being in a place where I could be someone else, where I could be myself, where I could figure out who I was. I mean, you did know, kind of, because you were the one who-“ Chris huffed out a laugh. “It’s your fault, you know. You violated the Prime Directive.”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”

Chris grinned. “You’re the one who introduced me to…to like this whole new part of me that I hadn’t even known existed before…and I wanted to know more, and god, there was all this temptation at college, and I was…well, I was an asshole, but yeah. You knew that.”

Zach felt the corner of his mouth twitch. “So you’re saying I shouldn’t have introduced blowjobs to pre-gay civilizations?”

Chris laughed outright. “Um, okay, so maybe it was a slightly clunky analogy. Zach, I…fuck, the worst thing about it was, I always meant to come back to you, you know? It was just supposed to be a phase, it was just a phase, I just needed to…know, I guess, to find out what else was out there. And I think I knew in the back of my mind that it would never measure up, that it wouldn’t be anything like what we had. I just had to make sure. I was so stupid. Like, I thought you’d be sitting in your dorm room with your action figures, just waiting for me to come back to you. I was a fucking idiot who assumed no one else would be able to see what I saw in you. Yeah, right. I didn’t even consider it until I called you that one time and –‘

“And I told you I was dating Michael.”

“Yeah. What a fucking idiot.” He looked up at Zach. “Me, not Michael.”

Zach gave him a little smile. “Yeah, I know.”

“So how long did you two date for, anyway?” Chris asked.

Zach looked off to the side. “We broke up like four months ago,” he said casually.

Chris’s mouth dropped open. “Holy shit. Seriously? You were together that whole time?!”

Zach nodded. “Three years. We both moved to the city after school.”

“Jesus,” Chris whispered. “Why did you…”

Zach shrugged. “I broke up with him. I don’t know. There were reasons.”

“God.” Chris leaned back in his chair and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry, Zach. I know saying that doesn’t really do shit, but just…know that I’ve beaten myself up over it, okay? I was selfish and horny and I learned my lesson. I didn’t deserve you, and I totally understand why you didn’t want to see me again. I’m sorry.”

Zach stared at him, his fingers playing with his bottle. Finally, he shook his head and looked away. “You really fucked me up, Chris,” he said softly. “I mean, you broke my fucking heart.”

Chris felt the tears prickling up behind his eyes and his vision blurred before he could do anything to stop them. He swiped a hand over his eye and it came back damp.

Zach looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Are you…crying?”

Chris shook his head. He looked up toward the ceiling and blinked a few times to press the tears back. He huffed out a laugh and nodded. “Maybe. Fuck.” He wiped his other eye and looked at Zach. “I just…I don’t want you to think it wasn’t real to me. It was. God, Zach. You were my first love and...and everything that that entails.” He ran his palms over his jeans and shook his head. “And I should probably go.” He stood to leave, and Zach stood too, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“I’m sorry about this morning.”

“’S’okay,” Chris said with a shrug. “I deserved it.”

Zach nodded and glanced at the door. Chris took the hint and walked over, putting a hand on the doorknob before he spoke.

“You know, I don’t think I’m the only one that changed, Zach.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t even see one fucking Star Trek movie on your shelves, much less your vaunted TOS collection.” He looked pointedly at a closed cabinet next to the entertainment center. “I never thought you’d be the type, Zach.”

“Jesus, I was in the bathroom for, like, five seconds, and you had time to go through all of my shit?”

Chris smirked. “It was a guess.”

Zach crossed his arms and glanced guiltily at the cabinet. Chris noticed.

“What? You got Kirk and Spock doing it in there or something?”

“No,” Zach said defiantly.

“They totally are, aren’t they?” Chris said, grinning mischievously. He was across the room in two long strides, Zach grabbing for his arm, stumbling forward as Chris wrenched it away, “Chris, don’t!”

Chris leaned down to open the cabinet doors, and for a minute he wondered what Zach was so worried about. There were his action figures across the bottom shelf, most still in their cases. The top shelf was full of VHS tapes, the movies mixed in with hand-labeled tapes with titles like TOS Edge of Forever/Amok Time. Zach even had a few DVD boxed sets that must have cost him a ton. Chris heard Zach mutter a curse behind him as his eyes landed on a picture frame lying face down in front of the movies. Chris reached for it, picking it up slowly, knowing what he would find. He recognized the picture, of course he did, he had the same one, worn around the edges and still sticky on the back from when he’d had it hanging on his wall freshman year. The two of them, their young faces grinning into the camera, sleep rumpled, cheeks just touching as they leaned close together on the hotel bed. The picture was in a dark wood frame, the glass in front cracked in two places. Chris winced. He could probably guess when that had happened.

“Zach…” Chris breathed, as the memories flooded through him. He was embarrassed to feel the sting of tears in the corners of his eyes again, and he blinked rapidly, willing them away.

“Give me that,” Zach said softly.

Chris glanced at him curiously. “Why?”

Zach reached over to tug the picture out of his hand. “So I can do something monumentally stupid,” he said, stepping forward and slamming their lips together.

Chris responded automatically, his hand finding Zach’s waist as he pressed into the kiss. “Okay,” he mumbled against Zach’s mouth.

Zach slid his hands into Chris’s hair and pinned him against the cabinet, plundering his mouth. Chris let him in eagerly, sliding their tongues together between the seal of their lips, and it’s not like Chris had ever been a bad kisser, but he must have picked up some pointers at Berkeley, because “Jesus, Chris.” Zach was panting hotly against Chris’s smooth cheek, only long enough to catch his breath so he could cover Chris’s mouth with his again. He scraped his teeth against Chris’s bottom lip and Chris moaned, and it was a sound so familiar and so forgotten that Zach had to stop again, had to wrap his arms around Chris’s shoulders and breathe him in.

“Chris…”

“I know. Zach, I know, fuck.” He dropped his arms as Zach’s hands came up to push the jacket from his shoulders, watching him with lust-dark eyes. Another lingering kiss, then they pulled apart simultaneously to yank their shirts off over their heads. Zach’s eyes slid down Chris’s broad chest, taking in the sight. He glanced up to find Chris giving him the same look, and they slammed together again, skin pressed against skin, tongues tangling together, and Zach slid a hand down Chris’s back to play at the waistband of his jeans.

“Fuck,” Chris said, pulling back, his face flushed as he glanced around the room. His voice seemed deeper, his eyes more serious now, as he asked, “Where the hell do you sleep, anyway?”

Zach curled his fingers in Chris’s waistband and tugged him toward the couch. Without breaking eye contact, he gave the frame a kick, and it dropped down to into a full-sized futon.

“Yep,” Chris said, nodding his approval, “that’s hot.” Zach sucked Chris’s bottom lip into his mouth and pressed him gracefully onto the bed.

Zach had barely brushed a hand over his fly before Chris was tugging at his zipper and yanking his pants down, kicking them out of the way before he turned his attention to helping Zach out of his. His own desperation didn’t surprise him, but the fact that Zach was just as frantic, just as eager to run his hands over Chris’s body, sent an unanticipated thrill up his spine. He thought he could detect a tenderness to his touch, beneath the lust, and he let his thumb trace gently over Zach’s cheekbone as their eyes met. Then Chris felt the hot length of Zach’s cock brush against his own, and tenderness was forgotten as he dug his fingers into Zach’s scalp and pulled him down for a brutal kiss.

Zach groaned into his mouth as they rutted against each other. Chris felt Zach’s hand on his hip, clutching at him like he was trying to stop himself from doing more. Chris shifted a little, and Zach slid a hand underneath him, squeezing at his ass, his fingertips brushing against Chris’s crack. He broke the kiss to breathe raggedly into Chris’s ear.

“So,” Zach panted, “have you reconsidered your position on things going near the butt?”

Chris moaned and squirmed, trying to urge Zach’s fingers closer. “Nnng, I got over it. Jesus fuck, Zach, please!”

Desire shot through Zach’s nerves at the sound of Chris’s tone, and he rubbed the tip of his index finger against Chris’s hole.

“More?”

“Yeah, more.”

“How much more?”

“Fuck me, Zach, I swear to god, I want you so bad.” His voice trembled, his body practically shaking with desire.

“I want to, I wanna fuck you,” Zach breathed. His fingers hadn’t stopped moving against Chris’s ass, and Chris spread his legs a little wider underneath him.

“Glad we’re on the same page,” Chris said, parting his lips as Zach leaned down to kiss him again.

“I have to get up,” Zach said against his lips.

“No!” Chris tightened his grip on Zach and kissed him harder, thrusting lightly with his hips.

“Yes,” Zach whispered, and he wrenched himself away, standing and taking a few steps away from the bed to his dresser.

Chris watched him for a second before reality crashed over him, and he was forced to confront the fact that he was sprawled naked on a futon in the middle of an apartment, in the middle of Zach’s apartment, oh god. Zach, who he had thought about so many times, who he had tried so hard not to think about. Who he had thought he would never see again, much less – much less be sprawled naked on a futon in his New York City apartment, watching him root around in the top drawer of his Ikea dresser in search of lube. He closed his eyes against the weirdness of it all, and didn’t open them until he heard the drawer close and felt Zach slide onto the mattress beside him. He heard the click of the cap and looked down to see an expression of intense focus on Zach’s face as he squeezed lube over his fingers, dropped the tube, and reached down to brush the tip of a slick finger against his entrance.

“Wait, Zach-“

Chris’s voice startled Zach out of his concentration on the task at hand. “Yeah?”

“Kiss me first?”

“Right,” Zach said, nodding, and he leaned down to kiss Chris softly, his body relaxing as he made himself stop thinking about the more technical aspects of the process. He lost himself in the kiss and when he felt Chris’s spread his legs a little wider, he pressed his finger inside. Chris arched his back and widened his eyes at the sensation, and Zach slowly slid his finger out and in again.

“God,” Chris moaned, then he pulled Zach down to him again for a hard kiss, scraping his teeth against Zach’s lips and bucking his hips slightly in time with the motion of Zach’s finger.

“Okay?” Zach murmured against his lips, and Chris wasn’t really sure what he was asking, so he stilled for a second, said “um,” and then gasped as Zach pressed a second finger into him, twisting and stretching him. He pushed himself up a little to get a better position to pump his fingers into Chris. His cock throbbed - he loved this part, could almost get off on just doing this. Michael had always thought it was weird how much Zach liked fingering him, and fuck, why was he thinking about Michael right now when he had Chris in his bed, of all people, his Chris, fucking gorgeous and laid out in front of him, blue eyes looking at him with lust and want and affection and fuck. Zach pulled his fingers out fast and groped in the sheets for the condom, tearing the packet open with shaking hands and sliding it on.

He gripped his cock and lined it up so that the head pressed lightly against Chris’s hole. He shook his hair out of his eyes and looked at Chris.

“Um. I should probably tell you…I’ve only ever done this with one person.”

“’S’okay,” Chris said, exhaling. His voice sounded strained, but he gave Zach a valiant smile. “I’ve never done it sober.”

Zach’s eyes fluttered shut and he ran his free hand up Chris’s leg, pressed a tender kiss to the inside of his knee. He paused with his lips still touching the soft skin there as an unexpected ache settled in his chest. Then he tightened his hold on Chris’s hip and pushed inside.

Chris sucked in a breath and squeezed his eyes shut, and Zach forced himself to stop, even though all he wanted was to press farther into the tight heat of his passage. He took a deep breath, watching Chris’s face for signs that the pain was easing.

“Hey,” he whispered, running his free hand over Chris’s stomach, scratching lightly across his pale skin. “Relax a little, okay?”

Another flash of pain crossed Chris’s features, then he breathed in slowly and the lines in his forehead smoothed. He nodded slightly, and Zach pushed in farther, harder than he should have, maybe, but Chris was so hot, so tight around his cock, and he was rapidly losing his self-control.

“Fucking hell, Zach,” Chris groaned.

“What?”

Chris cracked an eye open. “You have a huge dick.”

Zach let out a laugh, sliding the rest of the way in. He leaned over and brushed a hand through Chris’s hair. “Feels so good, Chris.” And he was going to ask if Chris was okay, but then Chris clutched his biceps and met his eyes and said “Feels right,” and Zach couldn’t wait any more. He mashed his mouth against Chris’s and he felt Chris wrap a hand around the back of his neck, holding him close as their teeth scraped and their tongues slid together wildly for a hard, sloppy kiss. Zach moved his hips, pulling out just a little before pressing back inside, and Chris turned away from the kiss to let out a cry of pain through gritted teeth.

“Sorry,” Zach gasped, pleasure pulsing through his cock as Chris clenched around him.

Chris shook his head wildly. “It’s okay, it’s good, just – AHHHH!” he yelled again as Zach gave another shallow thrust. “No, it’s okay, keep going, fuck, fuck, ow, fuck, yeah, okay, no, god, don’t stop,” he panted as he writhed under Zach, squeezing at his hips to pull him closer even as he winced at the twinges of pain. Zach bit the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning at Chris’s stream of exclamations, and he shut his eyes as another wave of pleasure washed over him. He’d found a steady rhythm, and he leaned over to run his thumb across Chris’s lower lip.

“Hey, shhh.” He smiled when Chris made eye contact, and his tongue brushed against Zach’s thumb as he licked his lips. “The walls are kinda thin…”

“Yeah,” Chris said, swallowing, and he wrapped his arms around Zach’s back, clinging tightly to him, and Zach shortened his thrusts so he could stay in Chris’s arms. “Feels so good, Zach,” he said, his lips brushing Zach’s ear. “Feels amazing, god, can’t believe you’re fucking me.”

Zach smiled and brushed his lips against Chris’s hair, then almost without warning he felt the telltale heat wash over his skin, like a fuse had been lit in his gut, and he pulled away from Chris, wrapped two fingers around himself as he watched his cock slam into Chris’s ass.

“Chris, I’m gonna…fuck, I’m gonna come,” he said in a rush as his orgasm overtook him. He came hard, stilling above Chris, groaning and hoping that Chris wasn’t looking at the no-doubt ridiculous expression on his face. But Chris’s eyes were closed, his face screwed up in concentration as he fisted frantically over his cock. Zach shifted slightly as Chris clenched around him, and he felt Chris grip his bicep tightly in response.

“Oh god. Zach, fuck…stay in me, stay…fuck…” Zach pulled out slightly and pressed in again, wincing at the pressure on his sensitive dick, but it was all worth it as he watched Chris thrash beneath him, stroking himself a few more times before he arched his back and came with a groaning curse.

Zach pulled out slowly and collapsed against Chris’s side, burying his face in the mattress as they caught their breaths. When he could breathe again, he turned his head to the side to find his lips almost touching Chris’s ear.

“Good?” he asked softly.

Chris nodded, his earlobe brushing against Zach’s lips before he turned to meet him in a kiss. “Yeah.”

“Good,” Zach agreed, smiling into another gentle kiss before sitting up to drag himself off the futon.

Chris kept an appreciative eye on his naked form as he padded into the bathroom, then back out and across the room to pull two pillows and a comforter out of his closet. Chris propped himself up on his elbows as he walked back. “It’s okay if I stay?” he asked hesitantly.

Zach rolled his eyes. “Of course.” He picked up his discarded t-shirt and swiped it over Chris’s sticky chest before tossing it aside and pulling the comforter over them. Chris twisted up onto his side and grinned down at Zach.

“What?” Zach asked, suspicious.

Chris shrugged and ran a hand over Zach’s chest. “You’re still you.”

“God, don’t say that,” Zach groaned, putting a hand over his eyes.

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve spent the last three years working my ass off to not be the same person that I was when you knew me.”

“Ha. You’re not the only one.”

“It didn’t work, I guess?” he asked, peering at Chris through his fingers.

“Maybe it worked for everyone else. But I can see through to your inner geek.”

“Can you?”

“Yep. It’s blazing out at me. I need sunglasses to shield myself from the blinding light of your nerditude.”

“Fucker,” Zach said, chuckling against Chris’s lips as he kissed Zach softly on the mouth. “Go to sleep. Don’t you have a beauty pageant or something tomorrow?”

“It’s a fashion show, asshole,” Chris said, but he let his head drop onto the pillow and he snuggled in under the covers.

“Whatever, I knew it was something gay,” Zach murmured, and Chris could still hear the smile playing on his lips.

“You’re gay,” Chris retorted sleepily.

“Astute observation. I look forward to your next insight.”

“You suck.”

“Keep ‘em comin’.”

“I’m going to sleep.”

“Sweet dreams, my prince.”

“You’re so weird.”

*

Chris came awake in the darkness to the touch of Zach’s lips on his temple. He stretched back against him and smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Zach said, propping himself up on an elbow.

“I just had the weirdest dream.”

“Oh yeah? What was it about?”

“I dreamt that I was a total douchebag and I dumped you when I went to college and then you went and got all hot.”

“What a terrible nightmare.”

“Yeah. Except then we met again years later, and I seduced you with my charm and good looks.”

“Mmmm, that would never happen,” Zach said, tracing the line of Chris’s jaw with a fingertip.

“Yeah, I know. That’s how I knew it was a dream.”

“Does that mean it’s 1997 right now? Bodacious.” He ran his finger around the shell of Chris’s ear, pausing over his earlobe. “Speaking of 1997, did you have an earring?”

Chris chuckled. “For like a month, yeah.”

“What happened?”

“It looked stupid and it hurt.”

Zach laughed and kissed his ear. “You’re still you,” he whispered.

Chris craned his neck to look at him. “Was there any doubt?”

“I’ll admit to having a small doubt when you asked me to fuck you,” he said with a grin. “I seem to remember you curling your lip in disgust at the very idea of anything attached to me going anywhere near your ass.”

Chris curled his lip and Zach laughed. He slid his hand around to run his fingertips over Chris’s chest. Chris hummed contentedly and dropped his head back onto the pillow.

“Did you love Michael?” he asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.

Zach’s hand stilled for a second, then resumed its motions over Chris’s skin. “Yeah. Kinda hard to stay with someone for three years if you don’t love them, I’d imagine.”

Chris nodded.

“What about you?” Zach asked. “Boyfriends?”

Chris shrugged, avoiding Zach’s eyes.

“Convention hookups?”

Chris gave him a look out of the corner of his eye and smirked. “You kidding me? Everyone who goes to those things is a total geek.”

“Oh right. For a second there I forgot how cool you are now.”

“Yeah, well. Don’t let it happen again.”

They lay for a moment in silence before Chris turned toward him, and Zach caught a glimpse of desperation in his eyes before he buried his face in Zach’s neck, mouthing silent words against his skin. Zach found his mouth in the darkness, and Chris could have lost himself in the gentle play of lips and tongue if desire hadn’t swiftly had them both wanting more.

Zach slid his hand down Chris’s chest, just brushing his erection with a thumb as he slipped his hand between Chris’s legs and touched tentative fingertips to his entrance. His ass was still slick with lube, and he made an encouraging sound against Zach’s mouth, and Zach’s fingers slid easily inside. Fuck, he loved this, feeling Chris all hot and slick around him, crooking his fingers to press in harder, scissoring and sliding against his tight asshole. He was breathing hard, and so was Chris, they were barely kissing anymore, just breathing hot air across each other’s lips.

“Chris, fuck, I want…I think I want…yeah, you know what-“

He slid his fingers out and Chris made a sound of protest, but he parted his legs eagerly when Zach scooted down between them, and the next thing he felt was Zach’s tongue probing lightly at his throbbing hole.

“Zach, oh my god, what the-“ Chris started, but his words turned to incomprehensible moans as Zach licked sloppily at him, nuzzling up into his balls, just fucking licking everywhere he could as Chris squirmed beneath him in reluctant pleasure. Zach was dizzy with the taste and smell of Chris, he wanted more, so he spread Chris open with his thumbs and plunged his tongue inside. Chris keened and clenched around him, and Zach tightened his grip on Chris’s thighs, pressing forward to lick deeper into him, every spasm of Chris’s muscles going straight to his dick. He stabbed his tongue in a few more frantic times before he had to pull out, had to push two fingers into Chris instead and slide up to grab Chris’s cock with his other hand so he could pull the tip into his mouth and suck.

“Oh god, Zach,” Chris moaned, bucking his hips to thrust into Zach’s mouth. Zach had been sure he’d forgotten, but fuck if this wasn’t familiar, the feel of Chris’s cock against his tongue, his taste, the way Chris’s fingers twisted in his hair. “Zach, you have to stop, god, if you wanna-“

Zach pulled off quickly, but a second later Chris arched his back and muttered “shit,” as he spurted messy ropes of jizz across his stomach.

“Fuck, sorry, tried to stop,” Chris panted, but Zach was too busy slamming a condom onto his dick to care. He wrapped two fingers around the base of his cock as he lined up and pushed into Chris’s slick hole. Thrust once, twice, and then he was coming, his hand slipping against Chris’s hip as he shook with the force of his orgasm.

“Oh fuck,” he groaned. “Fucking hell that was fast.” He pulled out slowly and pulled the condom off, then he leaned down, seeking out Chris’s mouth.

Chris wrenched his face away before Zach could get too close. “Are you fucking kidding me, you just had your tongue in my ass!”

Zach chuckled, then pressed his lips to Chris’s cheek, then his tongue, licking a damp trail across his jaw and sucking gently at his neck.

“Ah fuck,” Chris muttered, grabbing Zach by the hair to pull him up for a deep, open-mouthed kissed.

Chris’s fingers tightened against his scalp the first time Zach tried to pull away, and the second time he lost the kiss in the curve of his smile at Chris’s newfound eagerness.

“Not too bad, huh?” he whispered against Chris’s mouth.

“Ungh.”

Zach chuckled. “Right? Fuck. I never did that before.”

Chris pulled Zach up by his hair to stare at him. “Shut up.”

Zach blushed. “I’m serious. I always thought it was kind of gross.”

“Wow. I feel special.”

“What about you?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know. You never got that drunk?”

“Funny. Jerk. Okay, one time this guy tried to do it to me and I freaked the fuck out. So, uh. No.”

“Well. I feel special, then.”

Chris stroked his fingers lightly against the back of Zach’s neck, not trusting himself to respond.

*

Zach opened his eyes to find weak morning light flooding through his windows and Chris sitting on the side of the futon, pulling his sneakers on.

“Hey,” Chris said when he noticed Zach watching. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“S’okay,” Zach said, propping himself up on an elbow.

Chris looked at him for a second. “Come to the con today.”

Zach flushed a little and looked away. “I, uh, haven’t been to a con in a while,” he confessed. “Since the last one we went to together, in Vegas.”

“Well. You should come today. People ask about you all the time.”

“What, really? People I know?”

“Yeah. Remember Tasha?”

“Tasha…that annoying chick who totally had a crush on you?”

Chris rolled his eyes. “She did not, but I’m totally telling her you said that. Actually, it’s kind of cute – she’s dating that guy Jeff – the Borg, remember? They’re pretty serious.”

“You see her a lot or something?”

“Um, yeah. Kind of a crazy story actually – she transferred to Berkeley my sophomore year.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m serious. The first time I saw her on campus, I actually injured myself trying to avoid her. Seriously, I kind of dove into this bush and ended up breaking my finger. But then we ended up having a class together and we kind of became…well, friends, actually.”

“Wow. That’s…crazy.”

“Yeah. Who would have thought I’d end up being friends with a girl?” Chris said, grinning.

“So, did she ever ask about…I mean, what did you tell her-“

“About you?” Chris blushed and looked down at his feet. “First I just told her we broke up. Then a while later she kind of confronted me about one of the …douchier guys I was seeing, and yeah. I may have ended up crying into my beer and spilling my guts about ruining the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” He hazarded a glance at Zach. “That was you, by the way.”

Zach pushed himself all the way up, reached out a hand to pull Chris in for a kiss, a light brush of their lips.

“Come to the con,” Chris murmured, and Zach smiled at his persistence and whispered, “We’ll see.”

*

When Zach woke up again, Chris was gone. He stayed in bed for a few minutes, breathing in the smells of jizz and cologne and letting the memories of the night before come back in fits and starts. Chris’s fingers in his hair, lips and tongue and bright eyes and hot friction surrounding his fingers and his cock as he plunged into him and made him moan. An old, hot anger flared for a moment, but it was too late, he was hard and all he could think about were the soft words said and unsaid in the darkness, and he sat up, the blanket suddenly stifling. His eyes fell on the coffee table, and a hot flush crept across his cheeks as he noticed the VIP pass that Chris had set there. There was Post-it note stuck to it, and he leaned forward to read the simple message that Chris had scrawled in black marker - < b > Go. < /b >

Zach rolled his eyes even as his heart did a little flip in his chest.

What a fucking geek.

*

“Chris. Chris. CHRIS!”

Chris felt a sharp jab in his side as Dolores poked him. “What?!” He lifted his head from his arms and scowled at her.

“Can I have a fry?”

“Yes, have a fucking fry. Have all the fries, I don’t care.” He pushed his plastic container of decimated hamburger and fries across the table towards her and leaned his chair back on two legs. They were in a back hallway of the convention center, killing time as they waited for a panel to finish so they could set up for the fashion show.

“You are so spaced out today,” Dolores told him. “God, I thought Marcy was going to, like, demote you. You couldn’t seem to follow a single instruction she was giving.” Marcy was the fashion show coordinator and the reason they were hiding in a back hallway.

“She can’t demote me. No one else wants to be the emcee. Trust me, I already tried to get out of it.”

“Oh please, you know you love it.”

“I do enjoy watching your sexy ass sashay down the runway.”

“Bullshit.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Your ass does nothing for me. Sorry, Dolores.”

“It’s okay. Really.”

His eyes flicked over her costume and up to her impressive Yeoman Rand hairdo. “I still can’t get over your hair though. Soooo much better than last time.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

Chris grinned at her and was turning to reach for a fry, when he spotted someone at the end of the hall.

“Holy crap,” he murmured, as he watched Zach walk toward them. “I can’t believe he actually came.”

He stood up as Zach got closer, until they were standing a few feet apart.

“Hey,” Zach said, flashing him a shy smile.

“Hey. Wow. I, uh. I really didn’t think you’d show.”

Zach shrugged, and they looked at each other awkwardly for a long second, before stepping forward simultaneously. Chris went for a casual one-armed hug, but Zach wrapped his arms around Chris’s waist for a quick squeeze, and they pulled apart, smiling at the floor.

“Um. Zach, this is Dolores,” Chris said, gesturing to where she was sitting and grinning at the two of them. “Dolores, this is Zach.”

She flashed him a pretty smile and the Vulcan salute. “Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Commander.”

“You’ve heard of me,” he said, turning to raise an eyebrow at Chris.

Chris looked down, blushing furiously. “Um. Your name may have come up once or twice.”

The door to the conference room opened and a familiar high-pitched voice said, “Hey Chris, Marcy’s going to kick your ass if you don’t start getting – holy SHIT, is that Lieutenant-Commander Zach?!”

“Hey Tasha,” Zach said, smiling warmly at her. He looked back at Chris. “I’m never going to escape that name, am I?”

“No, probably not,” Chris told him with a grin. “So, um. I kind of have to get ready…”

“No, yeah. It’s cool. Um. Can I watch? I mean, the fashion show? I mean, where…”

“Oh, yeah, of course, right. Uh, it starts at 4:00. In the main conference room. I think you have to go...” Chris gestured vaguely down the hall, not really wanting to take his eyes off of Zach.

“Okay,” Zach said, not even looking where Chris was pointing. “I’ll, uh, just do that. Go there.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

They stared at each other for another few seconds before Tasha tugged on Chris’s arm. “Seriously, Chris. Marcy’s going to flip.”

“Oh. Right. I gotta go, Zach.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah. Watch me, okay? I’m going to be funny.”

“I’m sure you are.”

Chris grinned at him as he tried to follow Tasha, and only narrowly missed crashing into the door frame before Zach finally turned to head down the hall.


“Oh my god, Chris, tell me exactly what just happened,” Tasha hissed as the door closed behind them. “I thought he stood you up! When did you see him, oh my god, Chris, did you, like, get with him, I thought he was mad, was he mad, he didn’t seem mad.”

“Tasha, Jesus Christ! Shut up for one second so I can tell you!”

Tasha shut her mouth, and Chris shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”

“WHAT?!”

“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you.” He took a deep breath. “I kind of stayed at his place last night.”

“Oh my god, are you fucking kidding me? Are you serious? You’re kidding. Are you serious?”

“I’m serious.”

“Oh my god! And he wasn’t mad or anything?”

“Um, yeah. He was mad. He was actually pretty bitter. But. I guess we kind of hashed it out, and…you know. Yadda yadda yadda.”

“Is he single?”

“God, yes, he’s single, come on, what kind of guy do you think I am?”

“Um, I think you’re the kind of guy who would-“

“You know what,” Chris said, cutting her off. “Don’t answer that.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and slumped against the wall with a moan. “Fuck, this is so bad.”

“Why is it bad?”

“Because…I don’t know, it was just so good, and it’s like, what if it’s just a thing, you know, what if it was just a one time deal and now he’s over it. Or, what if he’s secretly still really pissed and he’s just fucking with me?”

“He’s here, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. I know. That’s a good sign, I guess.”

“Did you tell him about the job-“

“No. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because. I just don’t want to jinx it, you know?”

“Okay. But you should tell him.”

“I will.”

“Alright, come on. Let’s get you buttered up.”

*

Despite his VIP pass, Zach stood in the back of the auditorium to watch the fashion show. The lights dimmed, and Zach felt a strange flutter of nerves in the pit of his stomach. A lone spotlight appeared onstage, and Chris stepped out into it – dressed as Khan. The crowd broke into thunderous applause, and Zach clamped his hands over his mouth – whether to prevent himself from laughing or hyperventilating, he wasn’t sure. Chris looked amazing, and Zach was sure he’d made the remarkably accurate costume himself. The atrocious wig and unnaturally shiny chest, Zach wasn’t so sure about, but it was Chris, and the combined effect was strangely attractive. He felt his nerves settle as the show went on, slowly replaced by surprise at how comfortable Chris seemed up on stage, then admiration at the ease with which he dropped one-liners that had the audience exploding in laughter. He barely noticed the actual fashion show itself, his eyes always flicking back to Chris, even when he was just waiting on the side of the stage.

When the show finally wound to a close, Zach pushed against the crowd, heading for the stage. He was up on it in one jump, jogging into the back to find Chris pulling his wig off, throwing his head back to laugh at something Dolores was saying. “God, I know,” he was saying, still squinting with laughter. “I’m sorry, but something isn’t working when I can’t figure out if you’re supposed to be dressed as a Talaxian or a Ferengi.” Dolores gave a loud laugh and Zach had to stifle a chuckle himself. “At least there weren’t any- oh,” Chris said, his words catching in his throat as he caught sight of Zach watching him. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Zach couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face. “You were awesome up there,” he told him, meaning it.

Chris blushed and looked down at the floor bashfully. “Thanks.”

Dolores glanced between the two of them. “Well, I’d better get going. I’ll see you at the costume workshop tomorrow, Chris. It was nice to meet you, Lieutenant-Commander.”

“Uh-huh,” said Zach, not taking his eyes off Chris as Dolores slipped away. “You look pretty good without the wig,” Zach said with a grin. “Your chest is so…shiny.”

“Yeah,” Chris said, “um, it’s actually butter, by the way, so you might not wanna-“

Zach ignored the warning and pressed himself up against Chris, sliding a hand to the back of his head and kissing him hard.

“Or,” Chris panted against Zach’s mouth, “you could just do that.” He parted his lips to suck on Zach’s tongue, and the little grunts Zach was making into his mouth went straight to his stiffening cock.

Zach slipped a hand in between them to tease his thumb over one of Chris’s nipples, then slid his hand down Chris’s buttery chest to rub his knuckles across the trail of hair below his belly button. “You’re so fuckin’ hot and slippery,” Zach breathed.

“Mm-hmm,” Chris agreed. “Like a sexy muffin.”

Zach snorted a little laugh against Chris’s stomach as he dropped to his knees. He looked up as he worked at Chris’s fly, and Chris felt dizzy with the rush of blood to his groin. Zach unfastened Chris’s pants and slid his aching cock through the slit in his boxers, circling his hand loosely around his length before pulling the tip to his mouth and sucking gently. Chris moaned and tipped his head back as Zach fluttered his tongue against the head, gripping and stroking the shaft at the same time. He reached his other hand up to slide it against Chris’s chest, which was hot but a little strange, then Chris gasped as Zach slid his hand up under his boxers and rubbed a greased-up finger down his crack.

“Zach, nngh…yes,” Chris panted, squeezing his eyes shut, waiting… Zach pressed into him, all slick and eager, fingering Chris’s twitching hole until he spilled down Zach’s throat with an unintelligible grunt.

Zach stood up quickly, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

“Did you come?” Chris panted.

“No,” Zach said, fumbling with the button of his own jeans. “Touch me.”

Chris moaned and reached down to wrap a sure hand around Zach’s cock, jacking him hard and fast the way he liked it – the way he used to like it, at least, and apparently that much hadn’t changed, because Zach was pressing his forehead to Chris’s shoulder and thrusting into Chris’s fist and spurting all over Chris’s hand in seconds.

Zach’s hands were shaking as he reached up to clutch at Chris’s hair, mashing their lips together for a lengthy kiss. Chris’s tongue curled around his like it belonged there, and he licked deeper into Chris’s mouth until he couldn’t breathe. He trailed sloppy, possessive kisses along Chris’s jaw, reveling in the light stubble he found there, in the way Chris arched his neck and pressed into his lips. When he finally had to pull away, he had the courtesy to look chagrined.

“I gotta go,” Zach said, catching his breath.

“What?” Chris asked, his brain still swirling in a post-orgasmic, sexy make-out haze.

“Yeah, I gotta go to this thing.”

“A thing?”

Zach nodded, idly stroking his thumb across Chris’s cheekbone. “I’d invite you, but a bunch of Michael’s friends are gonna be there, so…”

Chris gave him a weak smile and pulled away. “No, yeah, it’s cool. No problem.”

Zach looked at him, as if making sure he was telling the truth. “Can we get coffee tomorrow though? Or are you busy with con stuff all day?”

“I can get coffee. What time?”

“Let’s meet at 11:00. At Starbucks.”

“11:00 at Starbucks,” Chris said, nodding. “You gotta show up this time, though, Zach.”

Zach smiled and gave Chris a kiss on the tip of his nose. “I’ll be there.”

*

Chris gave Zach 45 minutes before he called. He pressed the phone harder against his ear as it rang a third and fourth time.

“Chris.”

“Please tell me that you overslept or that the subway isn’t running or that you encountered a hostile alien species or something.”

Zach was silent.

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

“Chris…”

“Are you serious?” Chris felt his face go hot and he clutched the phone a little tighter and tried to remember to breathe. His voice went flat. “Jesus, Zach. I really thought- but yeah, fuck, obviously, I’m such an idiot.”

“What-“

“I mean, I actually thought it, for one second the other night, I thought maybe you were fucking with me, getting me all worked up, reminding me, just so you could turn around and show me how much it hurt. But then I was like, no, he wouldn’t do that. But apparently you would.”

“Chris, I-“

“Stop it! Just- stop fucking saying my name, okay?” His voice was all high now like he was about to cry, even though he totally wasn’t. “Thanks for the life lesson, Zach. Like I didn’t already know how it felt. And now you get to find out what it feels like to be the asshole.” He swallowed down a million other things that he hadn’t gotten the chance to say. “Bye, Zach.”

He was pretty sure Zach said his name again as he hung up the phone.

*

Chris’s mood hadn’t improved by the time his convention obligations finally wound to a close. He stalked quickly through the convention center toward the hotel, avoiding eye contact, intent on going straight back to his room, ripping his costume off, and drinking the entire contents of the mini-bar. Except, not really, because he was totally cheap, so more likely he’d end up going up to Jeff’s room and mooching off any leftover booze from last night’s party. Life sucked.

He was almost to the elevators before he glanced something out of the corner of the eye that made him stop in his tracks. Zach was sitting on a couch in the lobby, elbows on his knees, looking anxiously toward the main doors. Chris recognized Zach’s jacket right away as part of the uniform he’d made for him, even though he was now wearing it open over a black t-shirt and jeans. But it wasn’t until Zach ran a hand through his hair that Chris noticed the oversized, plastic Vulcan ears. He smothered a grin as he circled around the couch and took a seat next to Zach, not looking at him.

“Wow. You broke out the big guns.”

Zach glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “I just dropped ninety bucks on these, so this had better work.”

“Ah, so you went with the cheap ones. I see how it is.” Chris smiled a little and looked over.

Zach could feel Chris’s eyes on him, and he swallowed nervously. “I wasn’t fucking with you.”

Chris felt something inside of him unclench, and he nodded once. “Okay.”

“When I saw you the other night, I didn’t know…I had no idea what to expect. I thought maybe we’d have an awkward drink together and that would be that, you know?”

Another nod.

“And I just got out of a relationship, and-“

“Zach.”

“What?”

“Tell me why you stood me up this morning, and then skip to the part where you ask me to take you upstairs and ravish your Vulcan ass. And if that’s not what this is about, then at least buy me a fucking drink.”

“Just, I don’t know, everything came flooding back and-“ Zach stopped, looked at Chris, and swallowed dryly. “You want to ravish my Vulcan ass?” he asked, like he didn’t quite believe what he’d heard.

Chris gave him a “duh” look and motioned for him to continue.

“I just…fuck, Chris, I fucking want you, okay, and it’s just like before and I…I forgot how much it hurts when you leave.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I just didn’t want to put myself through that again.”

Chris nodded and picked at his cuticle.

“So. What time do you check out?”

“Saturday.”

“Satur…wait, what?”

Chris looked at him sideways, the corner of his mouth curving up in a smile. “Yeah. Actually I, uh…I have a few job interviews lined up this week.”

Zach gaped at him in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me, asshole?”

“You really know how to woo a guy, you know that?” Chris said. Zach gave him a shove that sent him sideways onto the couch cushions. Chris sat up grinning, but Zach actually looked kind of pissed. “I’m sorry, okay? I just, I didn’t want to jinx anything and – okay, this is kinda stupid, but…I didn’t want you to think it was because of you. ‘Cause it’s totally not.”

“Totally not.”

“Not at all.”

“Not one iota,” Zach deadpanned, and Chris felt a rush of heat in his belly.

“You’re a raging dork, you know that?”

Zach laughed. “That’s why you l…um…” He coughed into his hand and looked away.

Chris watched him for a few seconds. “I do, you know. I don’t think I ever stopped.”

Zach shook his head. “Chris…”

“No, I’m serious. Do you know how many times I almost said those words to you the other night?”

Zach looked at him.

“Like, five times. I kept track.”

“Chris, I don’t know if I can- What? Why are you grinning?”

“I’m sorry, Zach, I cannot take you seriously right now. I mean, Jesus, have you seen those ears?”

“You are such a fucker, Chris! God, I’m trying to tell you something serious, here, and you just…” Zach couldn’t help himself, his mouth curving up to match Chris’s grin, and he looked away and laughed. “I hate you.”

“You don’t.”

“Yes, I do. I hate you.”

Chris stood up and offered Zach a hand. “Come on. You can tell me all about how much you hate me while I’m taking your pants off in the elevator.”

“I really hate you.”

Chris tugged him up from the couch and into a hug. “You don’t hate me.”

“Yes I do,” Zach said softly in his ear. “I fucking hate you for making me love you again.”

Chris closed his eyes with something like relief, and he tightened his embrace. “Zach?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you please take the ears off now? They look absolutely ridiculous.”

“I’m leaving them on”.

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes, I am,” Zach said, dropping his arms so he could point a finger into Chris’s chest. “I’m leaving them on, and you’re going to fuck me with them on. AND-“

“No, Zach…”

“Yes. You are going to call me Lieutenant-Commander.”

“Fuck you,” Chris groaned.

“Fuck you, Lieutenant-Commander,” Zach corrected, dragging Chris toward the elevators. As they waited for the doors to open, Zach wrapped his arms around Chris’s shoulders again, pulling him in for a kiss. Chris rubbed his thumb over Zach’s plastic ear.

“Aww, look,” someone next to them exclaimed. “Trekkies in love!”

Chris and Zach broke their kiss to respond together.

“Trekkers!”


(Final installment: Trekkies in Love 4: The Motion Picture)