Bones + marriage proposals
Bones only proposes once in his life; at the early age of 20, when he’s madly in love with Jocelyn Treadway, and has been for 4 steady years. Of course, it doesn’t last. Having a kid makes everything better, for a while, until it just doesn’t. The divorce is painful, Bones is drunk for most of it - maybe even more so when he finds he’s driven her back into the arms of an older high school flame.
After the dust of that divorce is settled, and Bones joins Jim and the other on to the Enterprise, he’s changed. He’s still a romantic at heart, but he doesn’t believe in marriage. Losing Jocelyn has scarred him bad, and though he eventually starts dating again here and there - marriage is a thing not meant for him. He’s certain of that.
But that’s not to say he doesn’t receive proposals in his life. Quite a few, in fact. After getting over his divorce, he meets a girl in the Academy. They’re not serious or nothin’, he tells Jim when they’re drinking in the campus bar together, they work together on assignments and they have sex. Sometimes dinner first, or a movie. They date, but it’s not serious. Doesn’t feel as serious as Jocelyn had been, but maybe he’s just scared of getting hurt again. She thinks they’re serious, though, perhaps a little too much too quickly, because she casually asks about marriage on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Bones sat on her bed, quietly studying a case study on some alien disease when she asks him. Maybe a little insensitive, but he laughs out loud when she suggests it. “No, darlin’, I don’t think so,” he says, “if I were meant to be married, it would’ve lasted the first time I tried it.” He doesn’t hear from her after that.
The second time, it’s a guy. But does it really count? They’re visiting Earth shortly after defeating Nero and they’re celebrating their victory. Jim and Bones are out late, tipsy but not wasted. The guy that comes up to them is, though. He stumbles over, and Bones catches him before he falls. “You ruined it,” the guy says, “I was gonna fall for you, handsome. You’re a fine specimen- you’ll make a fine husband someday. Why not to me? There’s a chapel ‘round the corner.” “I– no,” Bones says, “thank you.” Jim’s laughing at him. The two help the drunk guy back to his hotel, and Bones declines his invitation to stay the night, thanking him kindly, though. “There’s a bucket next to your bed in case you need to throw up, okay?” Bones says when he helps the guy in bed. “Drink plenty of water. You want to stay properly hydrated, or you’ll have an even worse hangover. There’s a deli just around the corner for orange juice and a greasy breakfast.” “You hold on to this one,” the guy tells Jim, and he’s trying to point at Bones, but he’s very drunk, “you hold on to this one, and make ‘em yours.” Jim is still laughing about it when they get back to their own hotel an hour later.
An alien species has Bones under his spell, and his mind is not his own. He’s obsessed with her. Jim is shaking his shoulders, but the words his friend is saying doesn’t get to his brain. All he thinks, feels, even smells, is that alien girl, and it’s making him sick unless he’s close to her. She talks about marriage, too, but even her words barely have meaning to him. Really, he just does as she asks. That includes beating up Jim for trying to stop her. Jim isn’t fighting back - not really, and Bones fears he could’ve killed him if Spock hadn’t knocked him out with that incredibly painful Vulcan pinch. He wakes up on the Enterprise, Jim sitting next to him with a broken nose, but the worried look on Jim’s face is not over his own well-being, it’s over Bones’. “Are you okay?” Jim asks. “Are you?” Bones counters, “fuck, Jim, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop it-” “It’s fine,” Jim says, “no need to explain. I know it wasn’t you. We stopped her, you don’t have to worry. I gotta tell you though, dude, your taste in people is despicable.” Bones laughs, his hand reaching out for Jim’s face, fingers gently running under the bruise on his cheek. “Tell me about it,” he says.
With Jim, things are different. Jim is patient about Bones’ flaws, while simultaneously not taking any of his bullshit. Bones is dating his best friend, and for the first time, it feels similar to Jocelyn. Like it’s going somewhere, like this could be his forever. And Jim knows Bones doesn’t believe in marriage anymore, hasn’t believed in it since Jocelyn. But when a stranger in a bar in York Town hits on Bones openly, Jim’s a little jealous even if he has no reason to be. Bones has no intention to go home with a beautiful stranger when he can go home with his best friend.
“Would you have gone home with her tonight if we weren’t, you know, a thing?” Jim asks Bones later, after he’s politely rejected that girl and they’re walking back to their apartment. “No,” Bones replies. “She’s beautiful, though.” “Certainly,” Bones says, “I think I still would’ve rather gone home with you.” “But if we weren’t a thing.” “Still,” Bones replies, “I rather watch movies and get drunk on the couch with you, having stupid discussions on the importance of updating my piloting skills-” “Very important,” Jim nods. “- than going home with a stranger for meaningless sex,” Bones concludes.
They’re on the balcony of their apartment. It overlooks the plaza that leads to the terminals, and though they can’t see the Enterprise from here, she’s down there. Home’s down there, and it’s a comforting thought. Jim stands next to him, artificial breeze messing up that perfect little curl in his hair, and he smiles at Bones. “I gotta ask you something,” Jim says, standing up straight and tossing his beer bottle to the bin. He misses. It’s very classy (it’s not). “What?” Bones asks. Jim grabs both Bones’ hands, and he sinks down to one knee. He actually takes a knee for him. “Jim-” Bones starts, but Jim shakes his head. “Shut up. Listen. I know you don’t believe in marriage, and you don’t have to. We don’t need to get married. But I want you to know that I’m serious. I would be dead without you. Literally. And I’m just here, asking you to be my best friend forever.” Bones looks down at Jim’s totally serious face, and when he cracks a smile, Jim does, too. “You’re an idiot,” Bones replies, and Jim laughs. Bones pulls him back up on his feet, pulling Jim in for a kiss. “A wise man once told me to hold on to you and make you mine,” Jim says with a laugh, “I never forgot it. Guess I always knew that one day I might. So is this a yes?” “It’s a ‘you’re an idiot’, but I guess that’s also a yes,” Bones says. “there’s no one else I’d rather be with.”













