[SOL! Verse - I Heard It Through The Grapevine]

[nyota_uhura24]

Finally it was Monday. Nyota usually went several days without seeing Jim during the week, but the wait between Saturday and Monday always felt like forever. Thankfully her father had mostly recovered from his illness and told her he didn't mind if she kept her weekly dinner date with “Anna.” She felt a little twinge of guilt every time someone

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[owns_the_chair]

One full Sunday and the better part of a Monday had not even been close to sufficient time for Jim to calm down. Not after what he'd seen and heard before leaving the diner late Saturday night. After his last set, he'd packed up, then headed to the kitchen to see if he could steal himself a moment or two alone with Nyota. He'd gotten as far as the door when he'd stopped dead in his tracks and just... stared through the small round window. There she'd been, having a seemingly intimate conversation with Trent, and then the bastard had leaned in to kiss her. And she. hadn't. stopped. him. After that, he'd turned on his heel and gone back to the small stage to gather his things.

To add insult to injury, Kamau had been there, and at Jim's oh so very helpful hint that he go check on what Trent was doing with his sister in the kitchen, Kamau, the rotten kid, had smirked at Jim and informed him that Trent was allowed. Because he was her fiance. As in, the man she was engaged to be married to. At that point, Jim had put on his jacket, picked

[nyota_uhura24]

By the time he called out for her to come in she was only thinking about Jim. Sometimes her time with Jim still felt like a fantasy, but it was also the part of her life that felt most real, the part where she could simply be herself. She'd always loved and cherished her family, but had known all along that there was a part of herself she couldn't let them see. It wasn't until she met Jim that she'd found out what it was like to freely speak her mind, to dance, to be with someone she truly loved. There was a lot she wanted that she'd never have, but being with Jim always gave her a sense of possibility. He renewed her convictions that the world could and would change

[owns_the_chair]

He didn't look up from his records when she entered his apartment, simply put them back on the shelf with a 'thunk', and stretched his arms over his head. She was pretending for all the world that nothing had happened, and of course, in her mind, nothing probably had. She probably still thought he was some mindless sap she could string along for the ride until she either got married or grew tired of him. When she said she'd missed him, he had to bite his tongue to keep in the sharp retort, only replying to her with a bitter chuckle.

The kiss to his cheek made him want to either kick her out, or slam her against the wall and fuck her until she changed her mind about marrying Trent, and he had to take a deep breath to stop himself from doing either of those things. "The tango," he answered simply, then moved to the middle of the floor and held his hand out to her. "I thought it fitting."

[nyota_uhura24]

She blinked a little at the greeting. Normally he would hug and kiss her, tell her he'd missed her as well, instead of just immediately starting the dance lesson. She peered at him as he stepped onto the improvised dance floor, wondering if she'd missed something. He certainly looked a little tired, which wasn't really surprising given how hard he worked between the diner and the studio, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

"I've always wanted to learn the tango," she replied, smiling as she stepped closer to take his hand and put her other hand on his shoulder. Her eyes searched his face for the joy and love she was used to seeing there, but she couldn't find it. In fact, something about his expression on his face sent a little chill down her spine. Frowning a little, she asked, "Jim, is everything all right?"