“How?” Bones asked, not unsympathetically.

Jim turned from his friend’s gaze. “I told Spock.”

“Told him what?”

He sighed. “That I loved him.”

“Oh.” Bones’ voice was soft, tentative. Like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jim supposed he was.

“And it went about as well as you could imagine.” Jim shrugged. “He looked at me as though I was some science experiment he couldn’t quite figure out. Like he did when I told him I’d miss him when I thought we were being separated.”

“Jim—”

“Now I have to find a way to salvage this.”