Author's Note: This oneshot was written for my "twin"s birthday. Grins. She is affectionately known as BoothyLove or AvatarofBones. Either way, she's great and I love her. Just sayin.
Cam couldn't sleep. Every lightning blaze or thunder crash only reminded her that she was alone. She was tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling. This case was affecting Cam more than she cared to admit. Something just wasn't adding up. This woman, this well respected intelligent doctor, was very clearly not happy with her life. She was...
She was alone, her mind finished for her. She had regrets.
Cam rolled onto her back. The other side of the bed was cold. She sighed, remembering why.
She, too, was alone. She, too, had regrets. But she didn't want to have any regrets. She didn't want to be alone.
"When you said you didn't need us to help you move in, I thought you were merely being polite," Brennan took another sip of her wine.
"I don't really do that," Hannah stated bluntly, earning an appreciative glance from Angela. Cam couldn't help but notice how truly attractive Hannah was.
Seeley always did have good taste.
"I'm still…" She swallowed, trying to cover her voice cracking. "This is everything you own in the world?"
She couldn't believe it. She was getting flustered over Seeley's new girl. This was SO not right.
"Mmhmm," Hannah looked at Cam. Those eyes…Cam thought, then mentally slapped herself. What was wrong with her tonight? "It's the life I chose."
"She travels light," Angela sighed. "I used to travel light."
"Booth won't even have to make room for you." Brennan tried to joke. Cam fought back an awkward smirk.
"Hey, man of the house. Come on in. Pretend you live her," the artist joked.
Booth walked in slowly, like he was scared. "Hi…What's goin' on?"
"Oh my God…Did you not mean it when you said I could move in?" The blonde panicked.
"No..oh. Well, Yes! I wanted you to move in."
"We offered to help her but…" Brennan gestured.
"This is everything," Cam finished, pointing to Hannah's four bags and a box.
"You're basically taking in a homeless woman," Angela explained.
"I prefer the term Nomad," she corrected.
"I used to be a nomad…who drank wine." Apparently, pregnancy had made Angela sarcastic and nostalgic.
"You don't drink wine anymore?" Booth asked, incredulously.
"Um…"
Taking her lower lip between her teeth, Hannah gave him a look that made Cam glad she was sitting down because it made her weak in the knees. Seeley was lucky; Hannah was HOT.
What are you thinking? She's female!
Cam shook her thoughts away as Booth finally figured it out.
"No…" he grinned.
"And…he just got it." Cam commented excitedly. Hannah smiled happily, as did Brennan, as Booth congratulated Angela.
"Listen, you have to act surprised when Hodgins tells you, okay?"
"Promise," they smiled. "You're gonna be a great mom."
Cam noticed the way Hannah was looking at Booth and found herself wishing the blonde would look at her that way.
"Speaking of which," Cam set down her glass, secretly happy for a reason to leave. "I've gotta get home to Michelle and I don't wanna reek of wine."
She stood, grabbing her purse. Then she noticed the way Hannah was looking at her. With her hair slightly tousled, a grin on her face and a twinkle in her eyes, Cam imagined that's how she would look just after making love. And, as disturbing as it should be, it wasn't. She suddenly wanted to be the person to put that grin on Hannah's beautiful face.
"Yeah, I should probably get home to Mr. Hodgins. Bye guys." She heard Angela say behind her. "Hey, wait for me."
Cam stopped just outside the apartment door.
"Do you need a ride, Ange?" Cam offered. "I know you drove over with Dr. Brennan."
"Nah," she waved the offer off. "I'm way out of your way. I'll just take a cab."
"Are you sure? I really don't mind."
"I'm sure," she said, smiling. "Hey, are you alright? You seemed a little jittery this evening."
Cam cursed herself for being so transparent as they reached the street, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just the wine on an empty stomach, the end of the case, you know how it is."
"Yeah, I understand," Angela hailed a cab. "Hey, you okay to drive?"
"Of course. Bye girl."
Still smelling of wine, no matter how little she had, Cam stopped by the local supermarket. It was the only place that sold her two favorite things, pretzel m&ms and diet sprite, and just happened to be on her way home.
She was browsing the pasta aisle, trying to come up with something for dinner the next day.
"Cam?"
She turned around, "Hannah! Hey. What're you doing here? I figured you and Seeley would…you know."
"Well. Just after you guys left, he stepped out to talk to Temperance. I got hungry, but of course he doesn't have any food in the house."
"So you ran out to get something. I gotcha."
They shared a small smile and Hannah's eyes sparkled. Cam was the first to look away.
"So I guess I'll see you later? We can grab lunch or something?" Hannah broke the silence.
She was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered, "Yeah, that sounds great, I'd love to! Let me give you my number and give me a call when you've got some free time. We can get together."
She quickly scribbled her cell number down on the back of a business card she had in her purse, and reached out to hand it to Hannah. She grabbed the card, catching Cam's fingers in the process and pulling her in for a hug. Their hands trapped between them, Hannah placed a kiss on Cam's cheek before pulling away.
"See ya, Cam," she said, returning to her shopping.
"See ya."
She watched Hannah walk away, a million thoughts running through her mind.
What just happened?...She thought to herself. No. But maybe? What am I thinking? She just wants to have lunch. You're an old friend of Booth's, and she's his girlfriend. Nothing else. But what if...? I mean, she did kiss me on the cheek…No. You're being ridiculous. Get something for dinner and go home. She's just being friendly. Nothing is up.
Cam sighed and got out of bed to turn on a light. Deciding to make herself some tea, she then thought back to that first night. The night she first saw the spark. And now…Now they were in too deep.
They'd met for lunch later that week, something innocent. But their meetings started happening more and more frequently, until they were holding hands in private and sneaking looks in public. It happened so quickly that Cam hadn't even noticed it happening. Even in hindsight, it all seemed crazy.
After heating the water and dumping the tea bag in, she sat on the couch, cradling the mug in her hands. Then she smiled, remembering the last time she sat like this, drinking tea in the middle of the night.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be there…" Hannah said, brushing the tears from Cam's cheeks.
"I know…" Cam sniffled. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she'd been disappointed when Hannah hadn't shown up.
"They would've known, baby. I wouldn't have been able to look at you without everyone figuring us out."
"I was lonely today," she sighed. "The whole lab was walking on eggshells. Thinking I was upset just because I'm black."
"And I'm sure you told them otherwise," Hannah said jokingly. They were resting on the couch in Cam's apartment. Cam's head rested lightly on Hannah's chest, who had her arms wrapped around her protectively.
"Of course I did. I mean…I know my ancestors were slaves. It's common, accepted knowledge. But…"
"But knowing that it could've been someone so close…That your grandmother shared a name with someone….It affected you," Hannah finished for her.
"Yes…" she smiled weakly.
"I'm still sorry I couldn't be there for you," she
"I still think that if Seeley and Dr. Brennan were there together, you could've gone."
"You know that's not true…" Hannah brought her hand up to cup her cheek. "You also know that I love you."
"I love you, too," Cam placed her mug on the coffee table and turned to face her girlfriend fully. "I wish you would…leave Seeley. I wish we could really be together."
"I know…"
"Will you stay the night?" Hannah started to shake her head, but Cam stopped her. "Please…Just this once…"
"I don't know, Camille…I can't just not go home."
"Tell him you're working…or that a friend needs you. That wouldn't even be lying."
"Okay…I'll stay," Hannah kissed her softly. "Go get ready for bed. I'll call Seeley and be there in a minute."
Frustrated, she set the mug on the table in front of her a little harder than necessary, her mind racing wildly. Getting up, she started pacing the living room, trying to stop her mind from thinking.
Hannah. Hannah would set her mind at rest. Hannah would make her feel better. Hannah would calm her down. Out of everyone and everything, it's Hannah she wants to be beside her as she falls asleep and beside her when she wakes up, and doesn't want to go another day without that.
Cam didn't want her mind to keep running wild with regrets, and she didn't want to be alone. Hannah could fix that. Hannah would make the loneliness go away.
It was pouring rain outside when Cam exited her apartment and hailed a taxi. She fidgeted the entire ride and let out a sigh of relief when the cab finally stopped. Booth's apartment was located above a liquor store, three flights up. Cam ran up all three flights of stairs.
Knocking on the door, she prayed silently prayed that it wouldn't be Booth who answered.
"Cam? What are you doing here?" Hannah answered the door. She was wearing soft cotton pajama pants and a thin tank top. Cam almost groaned.
"We need to talk."
"Come on in…" Hannah gestured.
"Seeley isn't…?"
"Here?" She closed the door and lightly kissed Cam. "Nope. He hasn't been home yet. Texted me something about Temperance running off alone, but I didn't ask questions."
"Good…" She stood silent for a second, working up her courage. "Okay, I really need to say this, and I don't know how, so I'm going to just say it. I love you. I do. I love you more than anything in the world. I love that we can sit and watch The Hangover while eating an entire carton of ice cream. And then the next night, we're out at some club dancing like we can't get enough of each other. The night we met at the supermarket, you said that you don't really do polite. I love that about you. I love the look on your face right after you orgasm, and I love the look you get when you're being a tease. I know that you love chocolate ice cream and that your favorite thing ever is the feeling you get when you're on a swing at a playground. You make me feel better…no matter how down I'm feeling. When something good happens, I want to run to you and tell you. I want you in my life. I want to wake up with you every morning and I want to fall asleep with you in my arms. I love you. And…And I really need you to say something right now."
"I…I…" Hannah stuttered, shocked at her girlfriend's speech.
Cam was holding her breath, waiting for an answer when she felt Hannah's lips on hers. Their kiss was innocent enough, but it was full of promises.
"Yes…" Hannah said, her hands on either side of Cam's face. "Yes…Let's do it. You and me. Let's do it."
"Like…officially?...In public and everything?" She asked, shocked.
"Yes," Hannah nodded, tears of happiness streaming down her face. "Yes…Yes."