Who said "I love you" first

That I was in love with Jim was no secret to me or anyone who saw the way I looked at him, according to my friends. It also didn't take me by surprise when I first came to the realisation. I had been ridiculously attracted to him from the very beginning, and in turn, I was in way too deep by the first date.

But I knew getting involved with Captain James T. Kirk was a risk. He had a reputation, but as I worked with him and got to know him a little better, I learned that his reputation was blown a bit out of proportion. That didn't make it less risky though. I could easily get my heart broken. But Jim was honest with me from the beginning.

"You don't strike me as the friends with benefits type," Jim said. It was our second date, nothing fancy, but that was just the way I liked it. It was late and the mess hall was almost empty. Jim had secured a table in a corner, and it seemed like the few stragglers who dropped by understood what was going on and kept well away from us.

"Maybe not," I replied. "But I haven't tried it. If the sex is good enough and the person annoying enough..."

Jim looked at me for a long moment, his head cocked slightly to the side and there was something in his eyes I couldn't name. Then he shook his head. "No. You're the forever type of woman."

"And you're not the forever type of man."

"No." He still looked at me with that thoughtful look, and it almost made me squirm in my seat. On which planet had the captain learned the skill of looking into your soul? "But I'm up for the challenge. With you."

Months later, I was hopelessly, irrevocably, utterly in love with him. He was everything I had thought I wanted and everything I didn't know I wanted. I truly loved him. But I was not going to be the first to say it. He had never given me a reason to doubt the feelings he showed me or how devoted he was to our relationship, but I couldn't help being scared.

So, I kept it to myself.

Until a very ordinary Thursday evening. We were two days away from our next exploratory stop, engineering was prepared, and the day had been uneventful and purely routine. Like most evenings, I retired to Jim's cabin after dinner. I read, Jim did some paperwork, we snuggled, showered and climbed into bed.

I curled up against his side, one arm across his stomach, head near his heart. The relaxed beating and the sound of his breaths deepening calmed me enough to start drifting off. But seconds before I was lost to the world, Jim spoke.

"I love you." His voice was sleepy. The arm around my shoulders tightened slightly.

I froze for a moment. Then turned my head up to look at him, see if he was talking in his sleep, maybe it was the ship he confessed his love to. His eyes were indeed closed, but he opened them seconds later and then smiled at what I'm pretty sure was my shocked face.

"I love you," he repeated.

My shock morphed into a smile to match his and I stretched to give him a kiss. "I love you too, Jim."

"Oh, thank god."