Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them.
Author's Note: I really had intended to make this a one shot, however, it just wouldn't let me, so welcome to another work in progress with no other point than to explore what eventually for our two favorite characters might look like.
It had been a year and three months and things were starting to get back to some semblance of normalcy.
Whatever that was.
Not that anything at all had changed in Booth's heart. Sure, he'd tried to move on, made a pretty significant connection with a woman who had been working for a human rights group in Afghanistan. Natalie seemed to be almost the perfect woman. Almost. He even entertained the idea of asking her to come to DC when she returned to the States, but he didn't put the invitation out there and they hadn't made any long term promises to each other when he'd shipped out to go home. The moment he'd seen Bones waiting for him at the coffee stand near the reflecting pool, he knew that he would have been wasting Natalie's time and his too and he was glad he'd just left the whole thing in Afghanistan. If it was his penance to bear loving a woman that would never love him back, then he would just shoulder it and trudge onward. Who was he to argue with what seemed to be his fate?
So here he was at nearly ten-thirty at night armed with take out and ready to knock on his partner's door knowing that this last case had been a bit more horrifying than either one of them cared to admit. He took a deep breath and hoped that he wasn't overstepping his bounds since it had been a long time since this felt okay.
Somehow she knew who it was standing at her door, and it caused the corners of her mouth to quirk upwards into a smile before she pasted on a patented semi-annoyed expression and opened the door. She cocked her head to the side. "Booth, what are you doing here?" She was inwardly thrilled that he'd shown up unannounced.
"I saw your light from the street." It was a complete and utter lie and they both knew it but it didn't lessen the smile on either of their faces as he held up the bags in his hand. "I have Thai." The fact that she was in track pants and a tank top was not lost on Booth, and he was thankful that she wasn't wrapped up in a robe with bed hair.
Brennan let him pass into the apartment and shut the door behind him. Even though she'd seen him nearly every day of the last three months since they'd both gotten back, she'd missed him, she'd missed this. For five years, they'd had an easy banter without the complication of the knowledge that he loved her or that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But his words had changed everything, had shifted things off center because she hadn't been ready to hear them. For someone who usually processed things in milliseconds, she had been mulling all of this over ever since the words had come out of his mouth and she had finally reached some semblance of understanding of where she stood on the issue. "You know, eating this much food is going to make us both fat." There was a twinkle in her eyes as she padded along behind him to the couch.
"I think it's going to take more than just an extra helping of Mee Krab to do that." He grinned at her and then hooked his thumb toward the kitchen. "You have beer in the fridge?" He knew he could use a beer, and he guessed that she probably could too.
"Yeah, I do." She had the microbrew that he liked instead of the Moroccan beer she knew he hated, as if she'd known that at some point he'd invite himself over and she'd have a reason to break it open. She pulled herself off of the couch, taking note of the fact that he had one of his favorite vintage rock t-shirts and a well worn pair of blue jeans on, vintage Booth really.
"I could have gotten it." He didn't stop her though, he simply admired the grace of the way she moved towards the kitchen, returning with two beers in hand, smiling as she offering him a bottle opener and one the beers.
"You're a guest." While her statement was technically true, he would never be just a guest in her home. He was part of her, intertwined in her life whether she liked it or not. A year away in separate part of the globe made her realized just how much she liked having his life overlapping on hers.
"To another case closed." His smile was easy as he reached over and removed the lid from her bottle before he undid his own and then softly clinked the bottles together. He was so glad this particular case was closed. The bad guy was in jail and Caroline Julian had all she needed to put the sicko away for life.
She simply smiled at him and let out a sigh as she watched him take a long pull of his beer out of the corner of her eye while she unloaded the cartons of food.
"You doing okay, Bones?" He was concerned, maybe a year off from death and murder hadn't been long enough for her.
"I've just been thinking." Brennan's smile was soft as she looked over at him. "You're a good man, Seeley Booth." She felt a wad of nerves unfurling deep inside her stomach and she knew with absolute certainty that regardless of the outcome, this was the time to share her conclusions with him.
He let out an amused chuckle. "We've known each other for how many years and you're just now figuring that out? I thought you were a genius." He hoped that his wink helped her understand that he was simply teasing her.
She smiled and nudged her elbow against his. "I am a genius. However, there are certain things that I apparently require more time to process than the average person." She hated to admit that she'd needed so long to reach a conclusion that had seemed so obvious to everyone else.
Booth didn't want to get his hopes up, but he really couldn't help himself as he studied the smile flickering across her face and the intensity in her features. "You feel like talking about it?"
She didn't hesitate and she looked at him fully. "I need to tell you that although things between us seem to have returned to normal, they aren't. I don't think they can ever be." She could see a hint of panic flash in his eyes and she reached out and touched his arm. "We're the center and I think we're off balance."
"I thought we were doing okay." He hoped that she didn't want to break up their partnership. They were doing better than he'd expected considering that his heart was still hers even if she didn't want it. He took another drink from his beer to drown the furious beating of his heart.
"Have you moved on?" She needed to know if her conclusion was worth even stating. If he'd moved on then what had taken her so long to realize really didn't matter, it couldn't matter.
Booth felt his heart thud, but he couldn't lie to her either. He had put himself out there once and he'd lost, but maybe it was worth another gamble, maybe she was asking because she had decided to stop running away. "No. I tried. I really, really tried. But I haven't been able to, I'm not sure I really want to. I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable." He really wasn't sure how she was going to respond, but squinty words were almost a foregone conclusion.
"I'm glad." She noticed the uncertainty on his face and continued. "If you are amenable, I would like to give us a shot." To make sure that he was completely clear, she had chosen to reiterate the words he'd used on her a year and three months before.
He was going to question if she was serious, but he could tell from the expression on her face that she was, and besides, this was Bones, she didn't do things that she wasn't sure of. He finally found his voice and a grin broke out over his face. "I am more than amenable."
"The I would assume you wouldn't mind if I kissed you." It wasn't a question. She moved towards him, pausing a fraction of an inch from his lips and smiling as she realized that he was going to close the distance between them.
Her lips were soft against his and unlike the last time he'd kissed her, she wasn't pushing him away.
Apparently the last year and three months had been worth the wait.