A/N: Listening to Dido's album 'No Angel' in the car the other day and heard her song "Don't Think of Me" and got the idea for this fic based on that song. This is the end result. Set between 6.01 and 6.02, the lunch meeting the next day being when Hannah shows up at the diner.
I don't own any of the Bones people, nor do I own or profit from Dido's music.
Will accept reviews instead of food. :)
Don't Think Of Me
Temperance Brennan sat on the couch in her apartment, a lone lamp cutting through the darkness surrounding her. The physical darkness could be easily cut by a lamp or a candle, but the emotional darkness could not as easily be changed.
It had been two weeks since their encounter. Two weeks since her friend, Seeley Booth had returned from Afghanistan. Two weeks since they had met on the mall and she had wrapped her arms around him, reveling in the feeling of his arms encasing her.
The "guy hugs" they shared had been one of the many things she had missed while digging in the fields of Maluku. Brennan had been looking forward to seeing Booth again, even if only for a short time. She returned to help Cam, but she had been doing a lot of thinking while away. She had come to the conclusion that, if Booth was still inclined, they should try a date while they were in Washington together. The words of "that night" had haunted her while they were apart. Adding in random dreams of the two of them together had forced her to stop and face the fact that perhaps Booth had been correct.
She had grown accustomed the last couple of days to sitting in the dark whenever she was alone. She was hiding from the light, hiding from the thing that would reveal the pain she was suffering. Brennan knew from experience that when the emotion broke through the wall, even if only a little, there was no stopping the onslaught of said emotion. But the sensation she had felt when she realized the full extent of the role Booth held in her life was overwhelming. She missed him. She needed him. She maybe even wanted him.
She sat in the dark, slowly turning the dolphin ring on her right ring finger. It was a habit she had developed over the last seven months; the involuntary task of a racing mind.
The music had faded from one song to the next while she was lost deep in thought. The cd belonged to Angela and she had lent it to Brennan before they had parted, hoping to expand the doctor's musical tastes. Normally Brennan would not have listened to the music, would have returned the cd with a 'Thank you' to her friend, and moved on. But at a time like this, the woman's voice spoke volumes to her in a way she had never imagined a song could.
As the song ended, Brennan pressed the REWIND button on the remote that directed the stereo on the other side of the living room. Something about the song had resonated within her. She listened intently as the voice started again:
So you're with her
Not with me
I hope she's sweet
And so pretty
I hear she cooks delightfully
A little angel beside you
So you're with her
Not with me
Oh how lucky
One man can be
I hear your house is smart and clean
Oh how lovely with your homecoming queen
Oh how lovely it must be
Brennan smiled sadly to herself as she remembered the one piece she had not thought to include into any scenario she had played out of her meeting with Booth upon their return.
Hannah Burley, the woman Booth had met while serving in Afghanistan.
When you see her sweet smile baby
Don't think of me
And when she lays in your warm arms
Don't think of me
Of course, she had not known of their meeting until the night on the mall, but in all scenarios she had run in her mind, the idea that Booth had actually moved on had never entered into the equation.
So you're with her
Not with me
I know she spreads sweet honey
In fact your best friend I heard he spent
Last night with her
Now how do you feel, how do you feel?
How could he move on?
When you see her sweet smile baby
Don't think of me
And when she lays in your warm arms
Don't think of me
And it's too late
And it's too bad
Don't think of me
And it's too late
And it's too bad
Don't think of me
That was the big question that ate at her heart as she listened to the music floating through the room. He had told her before she left that he knew from the moment he saw her six years earlier that she was the woman for him. He was the guy for her.
Now, seven months later, another woman's photo was prominently displayed on his phone.
The words being sung completed her thoughts as if the woman had written the song for her.
Does it bother you now all the mess I made
Does it bother you now, the clothes you told me not to wear
Does it bother you now all the angry games we played
Does it bother you now when I'm not there
Brennan sat, hearing the woman repeat the chorus again.
When you see her sweet smile baby
Don't think of me
And when she lays in your warm arms
Don't think of me
And it's too late
And it's too bad
Don't think of me
And it's too late
And it's too bad
Don't think of me
She wondered if Booth remembered what he had said to her outside the Hoover that night. Were the words real? Did they hold actual meaning? Her brain told her that her figurative heart knew he was sincere, but the rational part of her brain fought back that it was just a myriad of random thoughts brought on by the recounting of their time together with Sweets. A resurgence of the feelings that had been generated during that first case.
Perhaps the opportunity had passed, she surmised inwardly. Perhaps another opportunity would come in the future, once they had each completed their respective postings and returned to Washington full time.
She would return to Maluku and Booth would return to Afghanistan – and to Hannah, most likely – and nothing more would be said or done. Then, possibly, upon returning to Washington, they would both be single and could return to their normal "flow" and move forward together.
"Perhaps," she said out loud. "Maybe someday, Booth. I think I can do it someday." She got up from the couch, turning off her stereo and headed into her bedroom. Her mind was at ease now and she had a hope for what might come.
Brennan smiled to herself as she climbed in between the covers. She thought of talking to Booth the next day about the possibility of their future. It was the best thing, she thought.
They had a standing lunch meeting at the diner, as always, and she thought that now was the right time to lay out a plan with Booth on how they would proceed.