Learn You Inside Out
Summary: Moments are just tiny fragments of time, but people should know better than take them for granted, because it's those moments that everything that matters is built upon.
Disclaimer: Not mine
A/N: Just had to write! Just had to post. And you'll figure out the rest. Reading, reviewing. You know the procedures. Thanks!
Chapter 1 – Acknowledgement
The silent, mutual agreement of acknowledgement that pass between two people is a milestone in any relationship. Friendships included. Because it doesn't just mean acknowledging it to yourself and the other person in question but also the rest of the world. It means that it's no longer something new, you simply acknowledge your ties to the other person, no matter what type of relationship you've entered.
Booth clearly remembered the one moment he really felt that his relationship with Brennan, although platonic but nonetheless a very strong friendship, was official and no longer "new". It had been rather late, a good 18 months into their partnership. They had been at some fancy ceremony hosted by the FBI, attendance mandatory for both the FBI and the concerned counterparts at the Jeffersonian, a type of event that thankfully wasn't a common occurance.
The party was held at one of the more luxurious hotels in D.C, requiring the whole package. In other words fancy, expensive dresses although not necessarily floor length gowns, tuxedos, fancy hair do's and no controversial ties in flashy colors. It had been rather late, well after midnight and the party was winding down. All the handshaking and fake-smiling was over – for this time at least. It was in the middle of August and even though the days were still as warm as in the middle of the summer, the nights had already started to become rather chilly.
Booth had gone out on the balcony, the vast area having enough space to house several smaller tables, benches and a bar. He was tired, he remembered. They had just closed down another case which had been rather tough on the whole team and putting on a tux and smile for all those bureaucracy types wasn't really what Booth was in the mood for. But still there he was. Deeply inhaling the fresh air, Booth walked over to the bar, asking the bartender for another drink.
He'd spotted his partner across the patio, sitting by a table, having a rather animated conversation with one of the professors at the Jeffersonian that Booth had once been introduced to but then forgotten the name of. But that wasn't what he noticed about her. Of course he'd noticed earlier that evening that she looked stunning. He'd seen her all dressed up on a few rare occasions before and wasn't that surprised. The simple flowing black dress hugged her curves perfectly, something that hadn't gone unnoticed by Booth.
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and immediately a small smile appeared on his face. Despite the animated discussion she was enjoying herself, the sparkle in her eyes that usually was ignited when she was arguing with Booth was present and it was enough to bring a smile to Booth's face. But the thing he noticed, that would make him never forget this evening was the fact that she was wearing his suit jacket.
Booth had shed his suit jacket pretty early into the evening. The buzz of activity caused by at least 200 people had generated a good amount of heat which had caused him to quite quickly hang his jacket on the back of his chair. Then the evening had progressed, rather slowly. Awards ceremony, dinner and dancing. He hadn't given his suit jacket a second thought. Until now.
Seeing a woman wearing his clothes always awoke the possessive side of him, but seeing Brennan wearing his jacket in front of all their co-workers and friends made something else come to life inside him. Suddenly she looked up, catching him staring at her. His first instinct was to look away but when she didn't break eye contact but instead smiled at him, the secretive smile that he still didn't know what it meant, he felt a warmth spread throughout his body. He knew that she knew that he'd noticed the jacket.
After getting his drink, Booth had joined his partner and the professor, listening with half an ear to their conversation. They didn't interrupt their talking but Brennan's slight shift closer to him as he sat down next to her, was enough acknowledgement. The partnership was not only official on paper s that passed between the Deputy Director of the FBI and the board of the Jeffersonian Institute. It was official between them and the mere thought of it was enough to cause Booth's smile to widen.
He'd insisted that she take the jacket, at least 'til the next day, but as he'd forseen, she'd kept it and neither of them had brought it up since then.
And probably never would.